Youtube comments of peabase (@peabase).

  1. My friend, a former UN peacekeeper like myself, served in the Golan Heights a decade or so ago. He has pictures of wrecked Panzer IVs that had been there since the Six Day War.
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  2. Ain't it great that someone makes weapons that put the fear of God into the Orcs.
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  3.  @hotforteacher7540  In a real world scenario, the nation to sink your carrier would be a nuclear-capable nation. You'd trade your country for theirs.
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  4.  @tomcollins5112  And your comment is relevant how?
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  5. If you're a Russian male, you don't have to imagine it.
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  6. So, not everyone's a traitor in Vance's extended family.
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  7. It was more common to shoot at bunker ports with phosphorous rounds. Anyone splattered by the phosphor was in for a very long hospital stay.
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  8. The Lahti found other uses, too, when tank armour improved. I knew a farmer who was a Lahti gunner in the Continuation War. He was often called in to eliminate a sniper optimistically hiding behind a armoured shield. Another time, the Soviets had a shield on skis. Obviously, neither was a match for his "elephant gun".
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  9.  @catalinxnecula  Aggressive expansion of NATO? Defensive expansion more like. Finland is a case in point. For decades, NATO membership was considered optional. This much-vaunted "NATO option" was only to be exercised in case relations with Russia took another turn for the worse -- which they certainly did when Russia invaded Ukraine. It's interesting that it's the Finnish populace that has been energetically pushing for NATO membership, whereas some of our MPs would like to proceed slowly, but they're starting to feel their seats getting wobbly. Perhaps you should put your money where your mouth is and start pushing for the UK to leave NATO. Brexit worked wonders, didn't it?
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  10.  @anacc3257  Did you get the memo that Modern English is an amalgamation of many, many ancient languages?
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  11. I briefly served as a Finnish conscript in Taistelukoulu, a training centre for officers, in the eighties. A major had us conscripts test all manner of assault rifles and relate our experiences. I immediately took to the AR pattern. We even had a rare 7.62x39 version of the M16. The thinking was that the Soviet cartridge was better suited for Finland's heavily forested environment, where a twig would supposedly send a 5.56 tumbling.
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  12. In Finland's case, these were not Arisakas, but Swiss Vetterlis, or as the Finns called them, Graftons, after SS John Grafton, the ship that brought them in. Some of my then-living relatives were involved in unloading and/or transporting the rifles. They probably 'borrowed' a few for moose hunting, judging from old pictures.
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  13. Trump's spreading fake news for a change. Real fake news, that is.
    81
  14.  @bhekinkosincube2157  He can't return to Putin's Russia, but post-Putin Russia is another matter altogether.
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  15.  @donbass4russia313  You sound quite the hypocrite.
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  16. The UK has learned the hard way that no country economy is an island.
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  17. Linus Fahlcrantz Dutch army instructors warned us that the FAL transformed itself into a light anti-aircraft weapon when used in full auto mode.
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  18. Not just denial, but puerile lies, too.
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  19. The pyrotechnics were a bit over the top.
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  20. ...and these exercises were RIGHT NEXT TO FINLAND.
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  21. I second that. In the Dutch army, I was made to carry a MAG after an instructor tricked us, supposedly wanting to see who could do the most push-ups. Later, as a reservist in the Finnish army, we got the PKM, which had by then replaced the crappy Valmet LMG. I felt the PKM was superior to the MAG all right.
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  22. I'm sure Russia's political establishment does worse, but manages to keep a lid on it.
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  23. It means the Nigerien junta can no longer blame France. It's a national tragedy.
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  24.  @AERONOOB  Sad times for Putin trolls. Cope.
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  25.  @josephineamawiafe9428  No one's poking the bear. The bear has left its cage and blundered into Ukraine -- that's the problem.
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  26. What if there's a new protocol, successfully negotiated and ratified by both parties, but the NI unionists decide they don't like that one either? Will this be the pattern for the next 300 years?
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  27. So, explain why Russia is at war. I'm waiting with bated breath.
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  28. The authoritarian instincts of the CCP are just too strong.
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  29. Each generation thinks it’s special. Nothing new under the sun.
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  30.  @classone1576  44 of those countries haven't even started fighting. If they had, they'd been in Vladivostok around June.
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  31.  @HedgehogZone  You must be a fanboy. The NEMO was specifically designed to fit smaller vehicles, because of space and weight constraints. You could fit a fully automated mortar on a warship, but that would defeat the purpose of such a weapon.
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  32. Don't forget the spin-offs: Scexit and Nixit.
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  33. Netanyahu responded: "We give the orders around here!"
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  34.  @tavish4699  It sounds more like Von Rosenberg hired his causes, not the other way around.
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  35. The unelected criticises 'the unelected'?
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  36. No one wants to say it aloud, but I think a lot of Trump voters will switch to Bernie.
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  37.  @leonleon2021  Nope, polls show that a majority thinks a referendum isn't needed. NATO's Stoltenberg has said the door is open, to both Finland and Sweden. You're not much of a betting man if you can't figure out the odds.
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  38. Sheep farmers as far afield as New Zealand are grateful for Brexit. Own goals are allowed. Not clever, but allowed.
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  39. There's a distinct difference. In the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, Russia promised to respect Ukraine's existing borders, which encompassed Crimea and Donbas. I suppose Russia's signature means nothing.
    42
  40. Totalitarianism, here we come.
    41
  41.  @OlegSimonenko  It's a quadcopter. You can tell from the spinning front rotors. A quadcopter doesn't reach 200km/h.
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  42. He'll be splattered by then.
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  43. True, but in other countries they are the norm.
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  44. "I don't care what's going on in Ukraine" (read: "I don't care what's going on in the world").
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  45. Why? China practically has the whole of Russia as a neo-colony. China can set the prices for oil and gas as it sees fit and Russia just has to grin and bear it.
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  46. Can't win them all, but maybe this is sufficient warning... for the likes of Trump.
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  47. You don't say. There haven't been border controls between most EU members for nearly thirty years.
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  48. "Day of infamy" gains a new meaning.
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  49. The prize for the silliest name for a weapon type goes to Sweden. The literal translation of "machine gun" in Swedish is "bullet sprayer".
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  50. Duh. If you're far-right, everyone else is leftist to you.
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  51. I know a Swedish expat couple that adopted a dumpster baby in Malaysia. She's ten years now, and at the top of her class.
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  52.  @supershayloman961  If you're referring to the ICC's arrest warrant for Putin, that one applies to way, way more than "the West". 124 countries are treaty-bound to arrest Putin if he sets foot on their soil. The fun part is that the arrest warrant applies to several BRICS countries and even Russia's CIS, CSTO and EEU partner Armenia. It's as if the Netherlands, for example, would arrest Macron should he pop over for a visit.
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  53. Aw. Were you planning on migrating to Finland?
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  54. It seems the US played its cards right, while Russia had to fold.
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  55. Anything embarrassing that transpires in Russia is an immediate candidate for a cover-up.
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  56.  @lovyrituraj  Russia has a worldwide PR problem.
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  57. Even dictators need popular support. Even so, they quell dissent, like Erdogan has done, so "popular support" does not equal "democratic support".
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  58.  @lodewijklangeweg742  <-- Lowietje has a long way to go before he understands the value of freedom and democracy.
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  59.  @lappo2534  Let us help you with that straitjacket. We don't want you to hurt yourself.
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  60. Kronik_Infidel I'm not surprised that you can't make the connection -- or rather, the lack of one. I'll explain: unlike Western Europe, Russia has not seen an influx of Muslim asylum seekers, yet it's experiencing an upsurge in anti-semitism. It demonstrates that the two phenomena -- Islamic migration and anti-semitism -- are not necessarily related.
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  61. +Ford Prefect There are plenty of indigenous designs that have stood the test of time. The Suomi submachine gun and the Lahti pistol come to mind, and more recently, the Sako TRG has proven its worth.
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  62.  @Mrac-zz8vh  True, I would expect you to surrender the very moment Russian troops set foot on Hungarian soil. Very courageous indeed.
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  63.  @bojanveljovic559  A Serb trying to extract sympathy for a logical consequence of Serbia's past militarism. Pathetic.
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  64. This time around, Turkey doesn't want to stage any protests because that would ruin their tourism business. Iraq has nothing to lose in that respect.
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  65.  @mamadujalo4184  How exactly do you prepare for nuclear winter? By stocking up on cyanide capsules?
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  66.  @vwduiven3072  Rather, Finland's relationship with Russia has always been an uneasy one. We're taught from childhood to defend ourselves against an age-old enemy. No prizes for guessing which neighbour that is.
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  67.  @darkmatters6525  It's for the better that Russia doesn't take part in the Qatar World Cup. Russia's constantly shifting goalposts would ruin the game.
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  68. You've got it backwards. Serbia is in a similar position to Armenia here. Also with respect to Russia. No help forthcoming from that direction.
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  69. I'm surprised he didn't rename it Erdoganistan.
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  70.  @briancarno8837  Uh, Ukraine is attacking here, not fleeing. The only fleeing soldiers we've seen in this conflict were the Russians troops that were routed in the Battle of Kharkiv in 2022.
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  71.  @jaydon707  Sky News is British, bot.
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  72.  @alasdairmmorrison74  Russian nuclear weapons enthusiasts don't think that far ahead.
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  73.  @sluger-qu3gy  Russia is 64% out of pocket compared to last year, owing to nosediving oil and gas revenues alone. To plug the deficit, Putin is dipping into Russia's national wealth fund. It literally means your pensions are going up in smoke in Ukraine. You won't live very well in old age, in other words.
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  74. She's a candidate for NATO secretary general, so your suggestion is not totally off the mark.
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  75.  @nenadmitrovic3469  Actually, China landed massive mining concessions from Afghanistan while it was under Karzai and Ghani. Facts be damned, eh?
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  76. I should think they know about Putin already.
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  77. The Moskva had long-range SAMs, short-range SAMs, AA guns and a close-in weapon system. Still, Russia's proud flagship is sleeping with the fishes👎
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  78. +Bundeswehr des Vaterlands Finnish is a language in its own right; nothing pseudo about it. It's German and the Slavic languages that are related.
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  79. Do you have to be a vassal to one or the other? I thought Indian independence kicked in in 1947.
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  80. Here in Finland, you're very innocent till you're proven guilty.
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  81. Safeguarding international maritime trade routes? You need to fix C to "*Provocation and spying". Seize every opportunity to improve your English. That's a good bot.
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  82.  @TRIPPLEJAY00  Taiwan wasn't made in the CCP variant of China.
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  83. The supreme irony is that the USA needs NATO more than ever. Master Xi is grinning from ear to ear.
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  84. Ukraine is scratching the soft underbelly of Russia, but Russia is not pleased?
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  85.  @MarkyMark2177  Please do.
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  86.  @bynrdskynrd  In the Dutch army we used to say that the FAL, when set to automatic fire, turned into a light anti-aircraft weapon ;-)
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  87.  @marczhu7473  Nope, not in 1943. There was plenty of excitement in 1944, when the USSR launched the Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive, which ended with a series of defensive victories for Finland. Soviet casualties were thrice those of Finland.
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  88. Indeed, the Africans would do well to study Russia's colonial history. The Russian Empire was heavily into backyard colonialism and proud of it, too. In terms of atrocities committed, the Russians are up there with the worst offenders. Not only that, the colonial age never truly came to an end in a Russia. The Soviet Union kept at it and the Russian Federation is still at it.
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  89.  @v_fencer  It doesn't matter that the sample was taken before the Olympics. Trimetazidine has no short-term effects, but it may bring long-term benefits as in being able to train longer and harder.
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  90. RIP far-right populism, rather.
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  91.  @Stevarooni  Ian mentions it in the video. Not grass, but snow.
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  92. I wish the US would also tap Israel on the shoulder when Israel forgets about the basic norms of human decency in its treatment of the Palestinians (excluding Hamas).
    28
  93. As if Boeing is doing so well as it is. They had better switch back to wood again.
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  94. They're not out to solve problems. They're just looking out for their own interests. Otherwise they would be protesting in front of the Russian embassy.
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  95. In the grand scheme of things, it hasn't been a total disaster. Germany sold hundreds and hundreds of ex-Bundeswehr Leopard 2s to Poland and Finland. Although the Cold War ended, neither of these two front line states let their guard down, while Germany naively disarmed, assuming that it would soon be BFFs with Russia. Common sense prevailed, just not in Germany.
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  96.  @yourharbour3450  Aren't you cute. The Serbs are the ethnic minority in Kosovo.
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  97. The Balts were never comfortable with Russian troops on their soil, period.
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  98.  @Pythoner  Your laws bend every which way that suits Pootie-Poot.
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  99.  @cmcm142  The Banana Republicans are the problem here.
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  100. Hungary just dug a deeper hole for itself.
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  101. +Kronik_Infidel And how would you explain the rise in anti-semitism in Russia?
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  102. Russia's African military junta allies would do well to pay attention and draw the necessary conclusions.
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  103. Russia loses yet another opportunity for hybrid warfare and there's the little matter of Russian ineptitude as well. Russia's failing grid could've caused blackouts in the Baltic states, too. It's like they've cut off a gangrenous limb.
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  104.  @tygik7383  You're making it up. Prisoners have intel value and are needed for prisoner exchanges.
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  105. I have a higher opinion of the Brazilians.
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  106.  @youngmasterzhi  It's "bullet sprayer", when literally translated from Swedish to English. My great-grandfather told my father how the Reds smashed his rifle butt with a "bullet sprayer" but missed him. We still have the Winchester 1895 in the family -- with great gramps' DIY buttstock.
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  107. And Hungary would prefer to side with Russia instead of NATO.
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  108. ​ @marczhu7473 I'm inclined to believe that you've had no military training, since defence in depth appears to be a foreign concept to you. The Germans learned from bitter experience that that was the only way to stop a Soviet strategic offensive. Ironically, it's also how Ukraine won the Battle of Kyiv. The Russians must be slow learners. Anyhow, after stopping the Soviet offensive, the Finnish Army was far from beaten, and the fact wasn't lost on Stalin, who was suddenly agreeable to a negotiated peace. Finland had been open to a peaceful settlement from 1941 onwards, but the ongoing war between Germany and Russia didn't allow for one. The opportunity did present itself in 1944, when Germany was suitably weakened. Finland didn't hesitate to seize the opportunity, even though it meant that Germany would try to seize or hold on to strategic positions in Finland. They failed in all their objectives. Finland showed its mettle in fighting both the Soviets and the Germans.
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  109. It's a bit of an overstatement to say that von Rosen financed the Finnish Air Force. One swallow does not a summer make: Eric von Rosen gifted one plane. At the time, the Finns had a number of airplanes on order, but because of delivery problems, von Rosen's plane arrived first. Latvia, too, used swastikas on their warplanes. Tilted ones, too, like the Nazis.
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  110. China showed similar "strength" by having one of its fighter jets collide with a US spyplane in 2001. The "strong" fighter pilot didn't live to tell the tale.
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  111.  @bhaashatepe5234  So, what you're saying is that Russia magnanimously saved the Baltic countries from Russia? In other words, the occupier decided to cease and desist and you expect the Balts to be eternally grateful?
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  112.  @youknowme2003  I cited the Budapest Memorandum. Over to you, cite a treaty that forbade NATO from expanding. UNSCR 1244 refers to the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia. Where is this 'Yugoslavia' on the world map? Also, UNSCR 1244 set the stage for Kosovo's independence. Tell me more about your alleged NATO lies (the US doesn't come under my responsibility). Specifics, please -- no more vague accusations.
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  113.  @wokeaf1337  What do they teach you in school nowadays? The former GDR was in the Eastern Bloc, but never in the Soviet Union.
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  114. Scotland as a whole has voiced aspirations of becoming a Nordic country. Norway footing the bill would be ideal.
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  115. Now I understand why Zuck gave up on fact-checking on Facebook. The expense, because of Trump alone, would've become prohibitive.
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  116. UK: "We made a mistake, let us back in!" EU: "Yeah, about that..."
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  117. Kenya is literally cool.
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  118. You're spot on. This whole episode is like a toxic relationship that has unravelled. Putin is the spurned lover, who's stalking and threatening Ukraine out of sheer rancour. No wonder Ukraine wants a restraining order from NATO.
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  119. No-one celebrates defeats like the Serbs.
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  120.  @merlin5045  Unlike whataboutism, chronology is not your strong suit.
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  121.  @JimKat5646  You can ask Russia how that's working out. Over there, supermarkets have to fit anti-theft devices on bars of butter.
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  122. What's keeping Finland from closing Russia's consulate in Åland? The last latent remnant of Finnlandisierung?
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  123.  @bustabusts  Was that a Freudian slip? Ukraine hit a legit military target, and you're suggesting that Russia will hit back at Ukrainian civilians in retaliation. No one is surprised, but it's good to hear a Krembot admit how debased Russia is.
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  124. A day won't go by without Putin's nuclear sabre-rattling.
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  125.  @agreat8745  The country is called the United Kingdom, sport. And don't you pride yourselves for being a melting pot?
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  126. That's not it. The Finnish Brewsters were lighter Model 239s, while the infamous one that saw combat with the Americans, Brits and the Dutch was the Model 339 or 439. The Finns actually didn't remove anything -- that was the Brewster factory's doing, which stripped even the instruments. It came as a rude surprise to the Finns. Everything missing was replaced, of course, except for the tailhook, which was obviously surplus to requirements. Actually, the Finnish Brewsters were uparmed, too, by replacing the sole .30 machine gun with a .50 heavy one.
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  127.  @davemaverick8438  Russia is the bargain basement of BRICS. The other BRICS members all happily trade with the West. Russia, on the other hand, has to flog its wares at hefty rebates to fellow BRICS members, often even below cost, because it has little choice. Especially China can't prevent itself from benefiting from Russia's predicament. India, too, is benefiting from a wealth transfer from Russia.
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  128. What a terrible outcry there would be if the Ukrainians somehow managed to repay in kind in Moscow.
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  129. I have another one. If Ukraine wants to leave Russia's imaginary sphere of influence, let Ukraine join the EU and NATO. Russia should not interfere.
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  130. +Neil Mckay That's a very poor impersonation. Finnish is nothing like German.
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  131. Let's be honest. The same people celebrating here will celebrate the next coup in Mali. Then they'll celebrate French troops re-entering Mali. Nothing ever changes.
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  132. It's worth noting that Eritrea was the only African country to cheer Putin's landgrabs in Ukraine. Then Mali, which has a military junta that is propped up by the Wagner Group, joined them. Birds of a feather flock together.
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  133.  @narcopilehptique6341  They say every country has the government it deserves. Sadly, it applies especially to Russia. It's not like Putin only recently came to power in a KGB-engineered coup d'état. The Russians have tolerated and even enthusiastically supported him up for decades now.
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  134. My guess is that there's significant overlap between the two groups. One is strictly closeted, of course.
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  135.  @marczhu7473  1943 was a quiet year in the Continuation War. Why?
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  136. These are anti-tank mines. Russia should not drive its tanks to Ukraine and everything's fine and dandy.
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  137. Freeloading? You're blaming us for you not producing products that we want. Or if you do, you've outsourced their manufacturing to low-cost countries, so they don't affect the trade balance. You should be kicking yourselves, not us.
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  138. +Pingan They sure can, but why is it any different from what NATO is doing in the Baltic states? They're are in NATO, after all. Besides, the UK and the US owe the Balts.
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  139.  @webasto70  No we aren't, silly.
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  140.  @peterwong4779  We've seen your Siberian teddy bear in action.
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  141. You can't deny that they've been right about Russia all along.
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  142.  @weseehowcommiegoogleis3770  And Putin's Rosgvardiya have spontaneously coloured their underwear brown.
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  143. Interesting. Israel holds 2 million Palestinians hostage, while Hamas holds 200 Israelis.
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  144. Lech Walesa has his work cut out for him again.
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  145. I don't think you get your seventy-two virgins by watching on the sidelines and then dying of famine when the nuclear winter sets in.
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  146.  @hairybubbles127  Hamas don't think martyrs are screwed. Unless Israel rethinks its policies towards the Palestinians, we'll see a resurgent Hamas (New Hamas?) launch an even more devastating attack, and this time from two sides, Gaza and the West Bank. This is not a conventional war.
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  147.  @kutter_ttl6786  Ian is way ahead of you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xovdRJYg_-o
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  148. Biden can be voted out. Lukashenko? Cannot.
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  149. It is also important to make the Chinese understand that the CCP was on the wrong side of history.
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  150. 375 million years is a short period in astronomy.
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  151. This is just fanning the flames of revolution.
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  152. I wish they'd done Monty Python's Fish-Slapping Dance instead.
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  153. It is remarkable that Russia suffered yet another severe foreign policy setback with regard to its backyard, compounding the enduring one in Ukraine. Ukraine is lost to Russia forever, and now are both Armenia and Azerbaijan, too. It begs the question who's next to wriggle free from Russian overbearance.
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  154. So, Turkey has given up on the US, too, and acknowledges that the US has gone over to the dark side.
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  155. Heel herkenbaar. Ik heb mijn dienstplicht in 1987-88 in Finland vervult (Finse moeder). De motivatie om het land te verdedigen tegen een Russische inval is inderdaad torenshoog. Het was frappant dat er nog een Nederlander bij ons in de compagnie zat. We konden het goed bijbenen ook, want hij schopte het tot onderofficier en ik tot reserveofficier.
    22
  156. He would've made an excellent Waffen-SS Oberst-Gruppenführer, I'm sure.
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  157. Iran is endearing itself further to its neighbours. The isolation wasn't deep enough, it seems.
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  158. You can falsify election results, but Covid-19 is a different kettle of fish.
    22
  159. It helps to close ranks when the likes of Trump and Putin start drawing battle lines. Thanks Donnie and Pootie!
    22
  160. There is poetic justice in it. The re-branded Bombardier CSeries, the Airbus 220, is a hit with operators. Boeing really screwed themselves over.
    22
  161. It's pretty common. My grandfather had an Ukko-Mauseri and so did my godfather. My granddad never explained how we came to own his, but we have our theories. After the war, he was briefly held in custody on suspicion of illegally caching weapons in the event of a Soviet occupation. It must be true, because he kept a box of hot 9mm SMG ammunition -- too hot to handle for the C96 -- till the day he died, suggesting there's still a private cache somewhere out there with a Suomi SMG in it.
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  162. Which is? We're laughing at him.
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  163.  @WhyNot0004  Congrats, you've got personality cult down pat.
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  164. Orban stretches the bounds of opportunism.
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  165. It must be a fluke then that Europe tends to dominate all manner of indices that measure human achievement and progress. Perhaps you don't want to improve yourselves? If so, isolationism will serve you well.
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  166. Stalin tried his utmost to subdue Finland but failed.
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  167.  @Chrisicola  Ducks must be good at facial recognition, too. I live in the city and often walk to work, always with bread for the ducks. They leave others in peace, but me they besiege. I'm not wearing the same outfit every day, so it must be my face.
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  168.  @tweedy4sg  Where exactly is the hypocrisy?
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  169.  @Camerabetrapt  Jij bent levend bewijs dat beschaving een dun laagje vernis is.
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  170. Trump's toadies do damage control.
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  171. No biggie. Russia can choose between selling India dirt-cheap oil, or crying and selling India dirt-cheap oil. It's not like there's a queue forming at Russia's doorstep for oil, and it desperately needs the foreign currency, even if the effective exchange rate sucks to high heaven.
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  172. Sure, if you can't secure your own territory, someone else will come and secure it for you. This is not a new situation for Lebanon. Study history and all will be revealed.
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  173. The coping is strong with this one ⬆
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  174. When the mosquitos reappear, I let the first ones enjoy their blood meals in peace so as to build up resistance. Afterwards, when you get the inevitable bites, you don't get the itchy bumps.
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  175.  @Jason-fm4my  It was three .50s and one .30, which then became four .50s. One famous Brewster pilot, Lauri Pekuri, caught a broadside from a Soviet Hurricane fitted with 12(!) .303 machine guns. It cracked his seat armour, but he survived. It's funny when "experts" expertly comment that Finnish Brewsters lacked armour.
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  176. There was something seriously wrong with the plane. A crop-duster shouldn't shed a wing like this. They're built like tractors.
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  177. Oh, Hungary's payment is easily arranged. The EU just needs to withhold the sum from the Cohesion Fund allocations to Hungary. Hungary is a EU net beneficiary, after all.
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  178. Wow, another colour revolution.
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  179. Sweden is a reliable and capable partner in any military endeavour. I witnessed their calmness under fire first-hand in Lebanon.
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  180.  @Klovaneer  Your martyr complex is acting up.
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  181. Please, do describe when and how Ukraine initiated hostilities against Russia.
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  182. None of the three Baltic states has bought electricity from Russia since 2022, dum-dum.
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  183.  @linmei4188  It's in the UN Charter that countries have the right to self-defence. You may always need someone to kowtow to -- be it a dictator or a party dictatorship -- but Ukraine clearly prefers freedom.
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  184.  @southstar9931  Why would Sweden and Finland go at it alone, if practically unlimited reinforcements can be had? War is not cricket. You strike with overwhelming force.
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  185.  @SachinKumar-pj3cu  There's no basis for the accusations of drugs use. Likewise, if I decide to accuse you of using drugs, you're accused of taking drugs.
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  186.  @richardboote2370  You don't seem to comprehend that the EU officials are duly mandated representatives of 27 nations and their peoples in Europe. If they suck, we all suck.
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  187.  @blolee-gc1sr  So, you joined YouTube on Aug 20, 2023. Say no more.
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  188.  @Lady0fIce  The Axis were autocratic regimes. So are China and Russia. North Korea and Iran, ditto.
    20
  189.  @UkraineNeeds  I'm afraid the Germans will turn this into an advantage as well, as future leaders in renewable energy and related technology. In the mean time, Russia becomes an agrarian society and reintroduces serfdom.
    20
  190. ​ @Srt092  The VVD are best described as 'conservative-liberal'. This must be an oxymoron to the Americans, who've given 'liberal' a whole new meaning. Anyway, they seem to think 'republic' and 'democracy' are mutually exclusive, so what do they know.
    20
  191.  @marczhu7473  My shit military experience? Now you're just getting offensive. Goodbye China fanboy, you're blocked.
    20
  192. Some Lebanese have a working sense of self-preservation.
    20
  193. You'd need their permission, like Jordan gave to the USA.
    20
  194. Yeah, we're not into the self-praise thing.
    20
  195. I'm sure there was a plaque on Orban's beemer that read: "Funded by the European Union".
    20
  196. 0:02 Kijk eens aan, een T-34. Lekker realistisch, nu Rusland het met oeroud Sovjet-spul moet doen.
    20
  197.  @Pointi69  A lot of EU countries have given money to Poland, and we've got no dark history with Poland. Seeing how the Polish economy has developed, it was a sound investment, too.
    20
  198. Uh, NATO exercises all the time, usually in Europe, however.
    20
  199. If I were California, I would start exploring Calexit.
    20
  200.  @musaib34  Allah doesn't think much of human rights then.
    20
  201. Has Lukashenko been checked for polonium poisoning? And his underpants, any traces of Novichok on them?
    20
  202. Lucas Colley In one word, USA. Finns have deep-seated misgivings about superpowers on account of the Cold War. While the main reason was the USSR, the US is still considered part of the problem. It didn't help that the US foolishly embarked on the Iraq War, which truth be told wasn't a NATO operation, but with the USA being the single biggest contributor to NATO, some of the blame stuck nonetheless. The irony is that without the Iraq War, Finland probably would've been a NATO member already. Who knows, maybe even Russia would have.
    19
  203. Then there's Anatoly Sobchak, mentor to both Putin and Medvedev, who died of a heart attack in 2000. Questions arose when it became known that Sobchak's two bodyguards suffered heart attacks at the very same time. It must've been the first recorded case of mass heart attacks. Sourpusses suggested poisoning.
    19
  204. Ahem, these people are clearly not buying Putin's war propaganda.
    19
  205.  Jinga Randy  Your extreme nationalism is getting the better of you.
    19
  206. Poor Pootie-Poot. It's not just South Africa -- he's has to give a whopping 123 countries a miss for the very same reason.
    19
  207. Why did Erdogan pick the Jews to make his point? He could have stayed closer to home and picked another ethnic group that was subjected to genocide: the Armenians.
    19
  208.  @krasav  Do we need to go over the UNGA voting results again? 143 countries in favour of condemning Russia's invasion, 5 against. That world.
    19
  209. If Neo-Nazism and Russian patriotism are one and the same, sure.
    19
  210. I remember only too well how airports in Western Europe were overcome by the freak winter weather in 2010. At the time, Swedes were laughing at their inability to deal with a bit of snow -- much like you are now. A few years ago, Sweden was struck by raging forest fires. The Mediterraneans were wondering why no airtankers were used to put out the fires. It's what you prepare for.
    19
  211. No, it's called "losing the war".
    19
  212.  @efim_sivacholi  Was that a Freudian slip, Effie? The flag state of the tanker in question is Cook Islands. Are you fessing up that it's a Russian military ship instead?
    19
  213. I don't see a problem. The Milky Way is a galaxy and our planet is part of it. The company is not called Virgin Intergalactic. The mesosphere is 'near space', so SpaceShipTwo is appropriate, too.
    19
  214.  Theofil Stratilat  China has already made it clear that it's not trans-shipping spare parts to Russia. China doesn't want to risk being sanctioned itself. The same goes for Turkey.
    19
  215. You're making it appear May is negotiating from a position of strength. When will you Brexiteers learn?
    19
  216. You don't make them in sufficient numbers.
    19
  217. Israeli developers and realtors are following close behind.
    19
  218. Uh, Norway is a founding member of NATO.
    19
  219.  @kemannystoute9416  It's best for Russia to stay within its borders.
    18
  220. Birds of a feather flock together, eh?
    18
  221. Different strokes for different folks. Over 8% of Sweden's population identify as Muslim. Sweden had better learn to live with the sensibilities that come with it.
    18
  222. The whole world has questions for Russia about its Fascist past and present.
    18
  223.  @mickeskogen3184  Ask yourself: how was Napoleon defeated in Russia, the USA in Vietnam, the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, etc., etc. Defeat doesn't have to involve capitulation. Russia will eventually retreat from Ukraine. It will count as a defensive victory for Ukraine, and a defeat for Russia.
    18
  224.  @JohnCSmith-lp1qr  I don't find any credible information to that effect, but I suppose 'credible' doesn't appear in your vocabulary?
    18
  225.  @VicharB  You've got it backwards. If you throw around accusations, you're expected to be able to substantiate them. In other words, the burden of proof is on you. You alluded to factual errors in DW's reporting. What are they?
    18
  226.  @rad4924  "Wir haben es nicht gewußt", but now in Russian.
    18
  227.  @briancarno8837  Ukraine has launched three successful counter-offensives and is currently holding its own, no matter what the Russians are throwing against them. I should think Western aid has found its way into the right hands, or none of that would be possible.
    18
  228. *Varusteleka Särmä Windproof Smock. Thanks for the tip about the price rise, since I have to get another. I gave mine to Ukraine.
    18
  229.  @nenadmitrovic3469  Not true. The bidding process was no different for US mining companies. However, it's a moot point. No one, including the Chinese, managed to exploit Afghanistan's mineral riches because of the security situation. Interestingly, that's still the case with the Taliban in charge. The Afghan government is very displeased with the Chinese. Try to keep it factual. You're embarrassing yourself with your unfounded claims.
    18
  230.  @Pers0002  Oh, but Ukraine has put up a helluva fight. Estimates put Russian casualties at 80,000 and armour losses at 4,000. By the way, you'd better not try to guess what the exact number is, because if you get it right, you'll be imprisoned for seven years -- it's the law in Russia.
    18
  231. Frustration with Indian men serving as Russia's cannon fodder in Ukraine?
    18
  232. ​ @matthewnewell4517  Weight is an important consideration. Our ex-Volksarmee PKMs rarely break, and when they do, we just get another one from storage. We bought the PKMs for a pittance, since newly-unified Germany didn't like the sight of them and thought -- like pretty much the whole of Western Europe -- that the new Russian Federation would behave.
    18
  233.  @rocknepoovey4381  That's just utter nonsense. Finnish Lottas didn't see any combat.
    18
  234.  @RaduPremium  If you want to play it like that, Airbus is Dutch -- as a company. The Airbus Group is registered in the Netherlands.
    18
  235. The theocrats are setting themselves up for a similar fate.
    18
  236. And now Finland needs to remilitarize Åland. The islanders, being more Swedish than Finnish, could use some encouragement from Sweden.
    18
  237. The ICC clearly thinks otherwise, or they wouldn't have put out an arrest warrant for Putin on war crime charges. What are your legal credentials again?
    18
  238. You're grasping at straws. Bart De Wever is no Eurosceptic.
    18
  239. The Kurds are certainly worthy of our support. I joined my cousin, a professional videographer, on a trip to Iraqi Kurdistan. As a former drill instructor and active reservist, I felt I had nothing to teach them.
    18
  240.  @sinisatrlin840  He's looking for validation... and got the opposite.
    18
  241. Someone ought to tell Musk that cash-for-votes is developing country stuff.
    18
  242.  @760HorsePower  For your info, Finland just seized a Russian shadow fleet tanker that was also fitted out as a spy ship. Russian hawks are crying out in indignation and threatening war and whatnot. Keep up with the news!
    18
  243. It would be poetic justice if Putin's underpants got the Novichok treatment.
    18
  244.  @Tylersel  NATO expands by popular demand, in reaction to Russia's military aggression. Russia is free to let new members join its anti-NATO, the CSTO. Somehow, there are no takers. In fact, we don't know if the CSTO practically still exists. NATO, despite its expansion, hasn't stationed nukes closer to Russia, but don't let facts bother you.
    18
  245. Russia does a pre-admission of guilt.
    17
  246. @Dan I really question your claim that the US is somehow the 3rd oldest country on earth. Care to elaborate? Most stable country doesn't ring true either in the light of your civil war and the polarisation that we're seeing once again. "In fact" implies that it's a fact-based observation. Do share the facts.
    17
  247. It's the Trump effect. Trump doesn't think or consult experts. He does and undoes and does.
    17
  248.  @gdiwolverinemale3rd  History of the West? Is there a common history? You Putin trolls are getting zanier by the day.
    17
  249.  Nad Nad  Russia might as well drop a Tsar Bomba on Moscow. Same effect.
    17
  250.  @rodneyagesa1851  Ukraine doesn't need bots. It has won the hearts and minds of the free world.
    17
  251. Sounds like the Madagascar Plan from 1940, which envisioned the forced relocation of Europe's Jews to the island off the African continent.
    17
  252.  @avex3903  It sounds like you're the one who needs to exchange his pen for a sword. Neither is exactly mighty, but your pen must be the duller one.
    17
  253. The hair was less troublesome than on the real Trump.
    17
  254. Weird and weirderer had an online chat.
    17
  255. Netanyahu is making Hamas great again. His pet project, it seems.
    17
  256. That's interesting. If the bears and the wolverines don't get them first, the Sami herdsmen will slaughter them for food.
    17
  257.  @RubiaStorm  Russia is quite dependent on European money for its oil and gas. Without it, the poorly-diversified Russian economy would grind to a halt before you can say when. Do you have other half truths to share? How about the dependence of China on Europe? Trade is a two-way street.
    17
  258. We're all upset about Russia's illegal war of aggression.
    17
  259. Walesa sought freedom for the Poles, and now he wants the Ukrainians to retain theirs. What's the problem, lolly?
    17
  260.  @Nick_S0  Another clue is that the Russian army didn't lift a finger to stop Wagner from marching on Moscow. Putin must've been livid. And now the heads are rolling.
    17
  261. In your book, it's an open provocation if a sovereign country exercises its right to strike alliances as it sees fit? Till not too long ago, Russia kept saying it's entirely up to Finland if it joins NATO or not. You're an anachronism.
    17
  262. I don't see it, but do let us know when the US illegally invades Cuba. Then we can revisit your claim of irony being involved.
    17
  263. Let's hope Azerbaijan, too, respects international law and recognises that genocide and ethnic cleansing are big no-nos.
    17
  264.  @KjkpHiG  Rather, Canada will gain quite a few new provinces, formerly called blue states.
    17
  265. Of course it's a problem, but there's a difference. The Med is a sea. Here, we're dealing with a land border. We do what we can to stem the flow.
    17
  266. Do they need Israeli accreditation? It's Palestine, after all, not Israel.
    17
  267. Next, quit this world.
    17
  268. I felt perfectly welcome for the fifteen years that I lived in Asia. Two years in Africa, same thing. And I'm as white as they come.
    16
  269. Your geopolitical insight doesn't dazzle. Finland was already in Putin's crosshairs on account of Finland's EU membership and close NATO partnership. This just makes it official.
    16
  270.  @mitamajr  The 7.62 is inherently more stable in flight that the 5.56. I've experienced myself how the soft-nosed .308 splatters when it hits a twig on elk hunts (that's moose hunt for the New Worlders), but that's not exactly applicable to combat.
    16
  271. Covid-19 is China's gift to the world.
    16
  272.  @mndmnd9822  You have delusions of grandeur. The Russian bear has turned out to be a weary teddy bear, with one eye missing and the stuffing coming out.
    16
  273.  @luminon9635  You'll find that Sweden's neighbours aren't enthused by the idea that Sweden uses them as shields. In the interest of continued Nordic co-operation, Sweden needs to pull its weight.
    16
  274. I expect Belarus to be slapped with at least a temporary ban on international flights.
    16
  275.  @Bigsmallcountry  You must think the Indian Ocean is Indian. Or the Gulf of Mexico, Mexican. Gulf of Finland, Finnish. The world is simple to simpletons.
    16
  276.  @gweejiahan9336  Taiwan is justified in mistrusting Chinese pharmaceutical companies. They're all subjected to state control and we all know how China habitually threatens Taiwan with war and violates Taiwanese airspace as a matter of course.
    16
  277. Bollocks. The European electorates and their elected representatives (that's politicians, in case you can't make the connection) seem pretty unanimous on Trump: the guy sucks.
    16
  278. DW is German press, innit?
    16
  279.  @alistairbeveridge2753  Who crossed the border and in which direction?
    16
  280. Watch us.
    16
  281.  @aflyingcowboy31  Truth be told, the US isn't spending 2% of its GDP on NATO. It's spending roughly half of its defence budget -- 3.5% -- on military assets in the Pacific. Then there's the Middle East and even Africa. None of those come under NATO.
    16
  282.  @patriotpep  Bad spellers of the world untie.
    16
  283. Russians still like to travel to Turkey. If there's another mobilisation round, they'll like it even more.
    16
  284.  @somewhatdamaged2946  Fact is, we've been pulling bigger weights than you have. Didn't you listen to Macron explaining it to Trump like to a child?
    16
  285. ...to those who earned their bribes.
    16
  286.  @bobroberts2371  Roll across Europe? Russia can't roll across Bakhmut, much less Ukraine. China hasn't fought a modern war, like ever.
    16
  287. Hmm, Napoleon is considered the greatest military leader of all time. Zhukov sometimes makes top 10 lists, but not nearly always.
    16
  288. The RK62s with stamped receivers are kept in storage, because otherwise Finnish conscripts would abuse the hell out of them.
    16
  289. You forgot Armenia. The country designated Putin a fugitive from justice on war crimes charges.
    16
  290. ...and freedom of speech.
    16
  291. Biden has a job to do. Send Trump, he can be missed.
    16
  292.  @davidnavarro4821  Not Putin-friendly, but Scholz is the timid sort.
    16
  293. I did mine as a Finnish Dutchman in 1986-87. I stayed on as a 'summer sergeant' and did foreign tours with UNIFIL and KFOR. I'm still in the reserves for a few more years.
    16
  294. Why don't you expose it.
    16
  295. Nobody foresaw China countering with tariffs of its own -- except everybody.
    16
  296. On a positive note, EU leaders will think twice about letting Serbia into the EU.
    16
  297. Kosovo into NATO and Serbia will tone it down.
    16
  298. I think we need a video about whataboutism, its Soviet origins and why Krembots in particular are so keen on it.
    16
  299.  @v_fencer  What matters is that trimetazidine is a banned substance and that it was discovered in her sample only six weeks before the Olympics. You should focus your wondering on why she took the drug in the first place. It's typically prescribed to those who suffer from coronary heart disease. Maybe heart patients can compete in the Olympics in Curling, but certainly not in figure skating.
    16
  300. Not a chance. Russia's military is as proficient as you at spelling.
    16
  301. Yes, Russia received a formal invitation from Assad's blood-soaked hands.
    15
  302.  @첸새로운날  Your vocabulary is very limited.
    15
  303.  @UnionGunSlinger  Don't lie. Putin has said no such thing. The idea of following in Norway's footsteps in having no permanent NATO bases and no nukes has been floated by centre-leftist and leftist parties in both Finland and Sweden. However, it looks like Finland prefers ambiguity in the matter, as in having a nuclear option, but not exercising it unless Russia ups the ante.
    15
  304.  @wumaobot  Giving away Mali's resources for free would defeat the whole purpose of staging a coup d'état. The Malian military leaders can only enrich themselves by selling resources.
    15
  305. And Putin's got both extremes covered, the Communists and the Fascists.
    15
  306.  @blitzkrieg0136  Cope, Bottie McBotface.
    15
  307.  @YeTao-i4v  The Olympic Games 2024 have been a smashing success, sports-wise and organisationally. The TV ratings say it all, the world is in awe. Cope, Ivan, cope.
    15
  308. Because there's a no man's land, as it were, between the Finnish and Russian checkpoints. Russia has no qualms about letting them die there, but Finland is a civilised country.
    15
  309.  @DanDan10101  The UN isn't fighting against Israel, dum-dum.
    15
  310.  @SoldierGeneral64  The troll is deflecting. Don't fall for it.
    15
  311. Ukraine may have infantry tactics down pat, but not combined arms.
    15
  312.  @lg2058  Nah, the scruffy teddy bear has lost its best customers. Its new customers pay 50 cents on the dollar.
    15
  313. Then Russia is a parody.
    15
  314. Who says they're welcoming them? I know Lebanese who call Hezbollah a cancer.
    15
  315.  @SheryAwan123  ...and Kadyrov was fighting against the Russians, not with them, in the First Chechen War. Kadyrov is a turncoat.
    15
  316. Don't be a drama queen. There are many other traits that Bosnia and Albania have in common with the rest of Europe.
    15
  317.  @VolsSlimJimmy  Sure, they believe Putin is a 4D chessmaster, but in fact he's the pigeon in pigeon chess.
    15
  318. Denial, the first of the five steps of grief.
    15
  319. A portion of the missiles always gets through. Russia likes to congratulate itself with having the best air defence systems in the world, but nonetheless we've seen the Israelis and Turks push home their attacks in Syria and Libya, even destroying the air defence systems in the process.
    15
  320.  @JohanKermitBoback7204  I heard the Swedish Greens are coming around and admitting that nuclear energy is green after all. They must've had a good cry about it.
    15
  321. It's called totalitarian and it's nothing to boast about, sport.
    15
  322. Argentina needs change, but electing a right-wing populist is like peeing your pants. First you feel warm and cosy, but then cold and miserable.
    15
  323.  @Wolfvain-qs5su  You should read up on NATO. Collective defence. Estonia will do their bit, and more.
    15
  324. Russia kicked out DW. Truthful reporting isn't to Putin's liking.
    15
  325. Plenty more victims in the making, as Russia will have thousands upon thousands of traumatized killers on the loose.
    15
  326.  @MasterNeoRNCP  Your coping mechanism is as creaky as Russian weapons.
    15
  327.  @sionrouge1697  So, betrayal is hot now. Got ya.
    15
  328.  @AaronC123-q9t  Wrong war, buddy.
    15
  329.  @DaveWhite12  There's the first whataboutist.
    15
  330.  @thanos7691  The nukes in question come under NATO's nuclear sharing policy. It means the host countries are deciding if and how to use them. None of these host countries borders Russia. Russia, on the other hand, has nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, which borders nuke-free Poland and Lithuania. Now Belarus, which borders three NATO countries no less, is gaining nuclear weapons. Can you spot the hypocrisy?
    15
  331.  @thekillers1stfan  Russian soldiers carry a knife. The same goes for the Finns, whose RK62 served as the intermediary step towards the Galil. If you have a knife, there's no need for a bottle opener.
    15
  332. Sláinte!
    15
  333.  @johnwinter2252  No, it isn't. You must be confused by the German Panzer, which translates to armoured fighting vehicle in general. You'd raise eyebrows among the cognoscenti if you were to talk about infantry fighting vehicles, armoured personnel carriers and the like as tanks.
    15
  334. As a Dutch conscript, I had to fill sandbags during an earlier flood. Morale in the Dutch army wasn't at an all-time high then, but it did shoot up temporarily. After all, we were saving the country from going under, literally.
    15
  335.  @droiddevx03  There's a jealous Putin bot. Say, do you get a few roubles extra if you like your own comment?
    15
  336. Yeah, thank you for not being a complete pest any longer. Just a pest.
    15
  337.  @eveleung8855  It all depends on popular opinion towards NATO. In the case of Finland, 79% and were in favour of membership. That being the case, it's perfectly acceptable to let the parliamentary process take over, which resulted in a 96% majority in favour of NATO membership. Your comment begs the question if you practice what you preach. When has the Chinese electorate given the CCP the right to govern in perpetuity?
    15
  338. You notice wrong. There's the centre, too, as in RE, which is currently in power (how did you miss that?) and the centre right, represented by LR. The far left, that would be FI. You should pay better attention.
    15
  339.  @lomax343  That was Carl Gustav von Rosen, Eric's son.
    15
  340.  @gdiwolverinemale3rd  Wow, you're doing the "no, you are" comeback. A (preschool) classic!
    15
  341.  @lovemamahouse  Why did you bring up the US and Europe? Bot much? China is alone with its claims of ownership over the South China Sea. Instead of the US and Europe, you should've mentioned Asia. That's where the other claimants are.
    15
  342.  @davidcox3076  We can tell from the type of snow how cold it is. This isn't cold. When it's powdery, it's getting nippy.
    15
  343.  @weekdays_warrior  What's the Dutch word for whataboutism?
    15
  344.  @christopherczajasager9030  Not especially, actually. Corruption in the EU manifests itself on a national level. One could say that corruption is an age-old tradition in the nations affected. It's a local problem that needs local solutions.
    15
  345.  @Gudang9  Ahem, products are manufactured goods. You're saying that Russia has commodities, not products. It's poor consolation, since they can't turn them into products themselves. Instead, they have to rely on foreign manufacturers, which increasingly won't do business with Russia. It's like you're saying that Russian cavemen were the richest of the Stone Age, because they had oil and gas a few kilometres under their feet.
    15
  346. Perhaps a mirror has the same effect. Have you tried?
    15
  347.  @IndependenceforScotland  The world is not with Russia. If this were a football match, Russia would've lost 141-5. Even Celtics' many fiascos pale in comparsion.
    15
  348. I think the UK needs more time in the desert.
    15
  349. Really now? I can think of several European countries that easily match and even exceed Germany in safety and orderliness. Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, the Netherlands...
    15
  350. O, bestaat er een wikipedia voor complotdenkers? Zoja, dan ben jij zeker een vaste klant.
    15
  351. Frank Andersson I have to differ on that score. I have no political agenda in stating that the Germans treated Finnish civilians with restraint in the Lapland War. The vastness of the material destruction can't be denied, of course, but very few civilians lost their lives as a result of direct military action. The military encounters with the Germans were bloody at times, but they were just scraps compared to the war of attrition conducted against the Red Army. Then there's the material value of the territory that had to be ceded to the Soviet Union, not to mention the war reparations that the Soviets were demanding.
    14
  352.  @shenjiejason8350  Like Western nations? Haven't you heard of Evergrande? You don't need to go abroad for examples of ghost cities, and you don't even need Olympics.
    14
  353. Yet this is about genetics.
    14
  354.  @enndee989  Finland bullying Russia? What kind of topsy-turvy, make-believe world do you live in?
    14
  355. So now Finland blew up NordStream. Your conspiracy theories get wilder by the day.
    14
  356. What fascinates about Russia is the phenomenal ineptitude.
    14
  357. Unlike Taiwan, they're not jumping for China to get involved.
    14
  358. Russia's nuclear sabre-rattling is supposed to hide its impotence.
    14
  359. If you're so easily perturbed, perhaps you shouldn't join NATO to begin with. If you immediately start whining about Erdogan being a meanie and consider selling one of your own down the river, then maybe you aren't ready to take your place in NATO.
    14
  360.  @richardboote2370  MEPs are elected by the relevant electorates. How's this different from the House of Commons? Can you vouch for each and every British MP? It seems your problem is democracy. What would you like to replace it with?
    14
  361. I'm not sure Putin understands English that well.
    14
  362. Hooray to that. Truss more than halved the previous record set by George Canning, and she did it without dying in the process!
    14
  363.  @jtfike  He doesn't run any country. Finland is a parliamentary republic, which means the president enjoys residual powers only. The prime minister and his cabinet run the country.
    14
  364. *Some Europeans. Quite a few European countries endured colonial exploitation themselves. We hear little of it nowadays.
    14
  365.  @IsraelistheJewsland  Your logic is off. I'm an impartial observer. But do explain to me how this would differ from the pogroms perpetrated against the Jews in Russia.
    14
  366.  @julia2k8  People should be sick of coup d'états.
    14
  367. Russia wasn't cornered to attack Ukraine either, yet it foolishly did so nonetheless. Putin has demonstrated a susceptibility to foolishness, so NATO must prepare.
    14
  368. A rules based international order sounds perfectly good to me. If countries adhere to it, it builds trust, too.
    14
  369.  @thematic3893  The problem is, Latvia's Russians are "fully integrated" in the Soviet Union, which is no more.
    14
  370. You have some weird notions about BRICS and its role in the world.
    14
  371.  @samuraijack1371  Of course it is. Iran escalated tensions by having their general there, so Israel de-escalated that particular tension.
    14
  372. The storm poked the Russian bear and the teddy bear came apart at the seams.
    14
  373.  @eetsnada1831  Do you routinely carry an AR-15 in public spaces? If it's a pistol instead, I'd like to see how you'd fare against a trained firearms instructor and reservist who's wielding a long gun fitted with a scope.
    14
  374. How clever of you. Next, are you going to explain the etymology of Fascism to us?
    14
  375.  @angelo3998  After the Winter War, Stalin made the same claim about the Finns not being to attack, but the Continuation War proved him wrong. The Finns quickly retook all the Finnish territory lost in the Winter War.
    14
  376.  @commieprop  I am a reserve officer attached to an artillery regiment. What are your military credentials? You completed Call of Duty?
    14
  377.  @commieprop  Close enough. We were taught the ins and outs of ballistics. We did the calculations ourselves, with pen and paper. But you wouldn't know a thing about that, now would you, fanboy? It figures that you can't even deal with a video game.
    14
  378.  @OntologicalShock777  Sarcasm works poorly on trolls.
    14
  379. How's that even remotely relevant? This is about an intensely jealous Russia taking revenge on Ukraine for striking up a relationship with the EU. Putin can't see the world in any other way than through his old KGB-issue Cold War glasses.
    14
  380. The question is, will Russia abandon India? It will take Russia 250 milliseconds (the average human reaction time) to do so if there's a confrontation between India and China.
    14
  381.  @kennyken4461  Which European 'coloniser' would you like to blame in particular? The Ottomans -- who can hardly be called Europeans -- were the actual colonisers. When the Ottoman Empire came crashing down, European Britain was awarded a mandate over Palestine by the League of Nations, with the aim of preparing the territory for independence. Britain soon grew weary of the assignment, ending it even prematurely.
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  382. It's them elevator shoes that Trump insists on wearing.
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  383. Add popular support. There was no popular support for a war of conquest in Finland. When the Finnish troops advanced beyond the pre-Winter War border, many soldiers refused to advance any further. Their number was such that the soldiers in question were quietly transferred to fortification duties instead of court-martialled. Moreover, Marshall Mannerheim, the Finnish commander-in-chief, opposed attacking Leningrad, stating that it was inconsistent with Finland's war aims.
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  384.  @hovawartfreunde4599  Excellent dry humour.
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  385. Russia as a strategic partner is a liability for India. We're seeing that already in India's reliance on Russia arms. Russia can't deliver because of manufacturing challenges, compounded by insatiable domestic demand. The serviceability of India's existing Russian kit doesn't bode well either, since Russia has been forced to buy back spare parts from its (former?) customers. Moreover, as Russia grows more and more dependent on China, there's no question of Russia increasingly choosing China's side at the expense of India. You had better rethink your strategic partnerships.
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  386. Let me guess, the afterburner didn't burn 'after' enough.
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  387. It's interesting that Finland could spare the manufacturing capacity to export the Suomi to Switzerland, considering it was at war at the time and the Suomi KP was perpetually in short supply.
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  388. Do you have a popular mandate of some sort from Danish voters? If not, pipe down.
    14
  389.  @kartikeyatiwari2502  "Let's see what happens in the upcoming referendum which russian army is about to undertake" -- do you see anything wrong with this sentence?
    14
  390.  @jereflechis4014  Nah, you're just making excuses for Venezuela's own piss-poor management of their economy. Next, you're going to blame the EU, right?
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  391. Ukraine is quite the meat grinder for Russian soldiers and their foreign soldiers of fortune. Or should I say soldiers of misfortune in this case?
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  392.  @vlatkoangelov5954  It's abundantly clear which one is the moral superpower of the two.
    14
  393. You must be too young to remember the LA riots, which were sparked by LAPD officers abusing Rodney King.
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  394. Sure thing, but don't forget to mention that he turned Putin into a joke.
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  395.  @commanderred5573  The Three Kingdoms period, the Manchu Conquest, the Taiping Rebellion, the An Lushan Rebellion... those alone are good for more than a hundred million deaths. And how exactly are they caused by Western meddling? Most of these conflicts took place well before Marco Polo had set foot in China.
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  396. I actually liked Chiang Ching-kuo's "one China, better system" counter-proposal, but I guess that's off the table now that Xi has gone Mao on us.
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  397. Easy. CDU/CSU are centre-right. SDP is centre-left. As for the far left, there's a myriad of Stalinist, Trotskyist, Marxist-Leninist and anarchistic parties that can be rightfully describes as far-left, but they have no seats in the Bundestag, nor anywhere else for that matter. If they didn't take themselves so seriously, I would describe them as joke parties.
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  398.  @BlindBosnian  The world happens to think Crimea is Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia. There's no two ways about it.
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  399.  @actualfacts1055  Oh, it will happen. The Orcs will retreat either voluntarily or involuntarily.
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  400.  @Freak-px9uk  You think there's no nuclear winter awaiting Russia?
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  401. I just travelled from Singapore to Europe after a prolonged stay. Covid-19 infection rates are about the same. What's not the same are the restrictions that are in place. Singapore's are draconian in comparison, yet it doesn't seem to make a difference. I think you're unduly flattering yourself.
    13
  402.  @skankhunt420  If you can't see beyond the end of your nose, it doesn't mean the Swedes can't either.
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  403. Finland becoming a NATO member was the result of "aggression, discrimination and war paths [sic]" -- Russia's, that is.
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  404. I wish he'd pick the governmental capital of the Netherlands. The Hague, for those not familiar with Dutch idiosyncrasies.
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  405. In Finland, we used to call all handguns 'prouninki' after John Moses Browning. My grandfather brought along a Colt revolver when he returned from America. He always referred to it as his prouninki. Likewise, my uncle brought back a Soviet Nagant from the front. Another prouninki.
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  406. Sure it is. Alibaba itself will end up on the sanctions list if it is found to be in violation. That would ruin their international business. Russia is peanuts in comparison, so the choice is easily made.
    13
  407.  @harshm6930  I'll answer that. The US did worse. Europe has more than twice the population, so a higher absolute number of deaths is only to be expected. It's funny you say there have not been any "factors". Plenty of elections have taken place, including one in Belarus that erupted in massive protests, which, by the way, are still ongoing.
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  408.  @stefanbuban1122  Educate yourself before you comment. Finland has never been a heavy user of natural gas. It's used for industrial purposes, not domestic.
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  409. The bulk of them would flee Russia the moment they receive their call-up papers.
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  410. So, you think Russia will retaliate by launching stand-off weapons at Ukraine? Wait...
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  411. The irony. Russia shuts down a ground-breaking Russian chat app. Russia's web entrepreneurs can pack their bags and head westward.
    13
  412. Europe? I think it's the prevailing attitude worldwide.
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  413.  @johnadam2885  Uh, it's the Soviet Union that's never coming back. In fact, I wonder if the Russian Federation will endure the same fate. Finland and the Baltic states may gain new neighbours in Karelia, Ingria and Amberland. Separatism is on the rise in Russia.
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  414.  @YinWhoo-zx2sz  They'll sing any song that Russian "intelligence" tells them to. Torture has that effect.
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  415.  @johnny-ih5es  You're making it up as you go along. There was an parliamentary election in Finland after the country applied for NATO membership. Some candidates tried to run on an anti-NATO ticket, but failed to get elected. Also, there was an electoral backlash against all but a few incumbent MPs who had opposed Finland's NATO membership.
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  416.  @botshelomoatshe3153  It's perfectly fair and relevant to draw Russia and China into this discussion. Trump is giving ammunition to Russia and China that their territorial ambitions are legit, too.
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  417. Russia thinks itself a superpower, but that doesn't make it so.
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  418.  @josephalvinalmedatv8  Russia would get to share Finland's fate, even if NATO would mysteriously refrain from striking back at Russia. Weather patterns dictate that Russia would condemn St. Petersburg -- its second largest metropole -- to acute radiation poisoning.
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  419. ​ @frankrenda2519  Soviet-style? You insult the victims of Communism, the Polish ones included. PiS has been only too keen to enjoy the fruits of European integration, but the burdens, not so much.
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  420. Beggars can't be choosers!
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  421. Respond in kind? Russia has had missile bases, troops and what have you straddling the Finnish border for ages.
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  422. I have family associations with quite a few of these handguns. My grandfather carried a Mauser C96 in the Continuation War. A machine gunner in the Winter War, he was shot through the shoulder and being deemed unfit for further combat duty, he was made company clerk and issued a C96. He said it was accurate enough with the shoulder stock and his aching shoulder could stand the recoil. He once shot an elk (moose for the Americans) with it. My godfather was a fighter pilot who carried the Browning Hi-Power as his service weapon. Interestingly, I was supposed to be issued with the Hi-Power DA when I deployed to Kosovo, but because of problems with the type, I was given the Walther P1 instead. My British commander called it a toy gun till I put him to shame at the shooting range. My uncles, Continuation War vets too, all had booty Tokarevs and Nagants, which "disappeared" when gun laws were tightened.
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  423.  @marijanstankovic8036  What hypocrisy. Russia -- in its various guises over the centuries -- has been the most active invader of them all. And to add insult to injury, Russia hasn't properly decolonised either, like the former colonial powers have.
    13
  424. You haven't heard of Kaliningrad? Your geography teacher must be face-palming himself.
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  425.  @Nobody-Nowhere  The whole point of NATO membership is that Finland could pick its preferred alliance without duress. 1941 was dictated by events. It was a matter of either submitting to Stalin's murderous subjugation, or fight back.
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  426.  @Andy.p-v3d  As in crushing invading Orcs? Sure thing, that takes soldiers and artillery. Now there'll be NATO air power as well. Putin is crying himself to sleep tonight.
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  427. Abnormal? We've been at it for millenia.
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  428. Are the moral implications lost on you? Russia is waging an unprovoked war of aggression on foreign soil, while Ukraine is defending itself against said ruthless foreign invader. Spot the difference?
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  429. Don't we already? There's been quite a bit of consolidation in the defence industry as it is. What's lacking is investment -- government investment. Procurement programs also need to be synchronised, so as to prevent countries from unduly favouring domestic players.
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  430. Putin doesn't dare to play, because for him personally, all chambers are loaded. Putin's retirement plan sucks.
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  431. Your nuclear sabre-rattling never gets old, does it? It's desperation speaking.
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  432. @G Man Self-determination? Russian supposedly annexed the four oblasts. Power in Russia is very much centralised, meaning the oblasts determine very little for themselves.
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  433. Undoubtedly this reflects very badly on Russia.
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  434.  @mortvald  It's interesting that Trump isn't bound by anything his predecessors did or promised, but Zelenskyy is not afforded the same privilege. Amerithink.
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  435. The whataboutism is strong with you.
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  436. Uh-oh, Russia losing even more customers.
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  437. Eduardo, why single out Germans? I hear British and American PoWs entertained themselves in a very similar manner.
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  438. So, you're saying that humanity has lost credibility. In they eyes of whom exactly? Sometimes your lot forgets that you're part of this world, too, and hence, of the UN (note that I'm conveniently assuming you're not an extraterrestrial).
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  439. Sustainable forest management, does that ring a bell? I suppose not.
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  440.  @xinyiquan666  The whataboutism is strong with you. As a non-US person, I have no desire to discuss US affairs -- past or present -- with you. We can discuss China and maritime law, however.
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  441. Don't get your knickers in a twist. "Three new Arctic navy vessels, doubling the number of planned long-range surveillance drones to four, as well as satellite surveillance." The USA, too, is frantically trying to boost its presence in the Arctic, but it's hampered by lack of expertise in building oh-so necessary icebreakers. It needs Finland(!) to pull it off.
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  442.  @Inkkari9  You're trying to converse with the most clueless Kremtroll in YouTube's entire history. Don't bite.
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  443.  @awex7  Didn't you try that before with a less-than-ideal outcome?
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  444.  Investigative Audit  I hope you're Australian. Medicare extends mental health services to conspiracy theorists.
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  445. The frequency with which Russia engages in nuclear sabre-rattling is indicative of its weakened state. Still, we should prepare for the worst. As we say here, a cornered cat makes strange leaps.
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  446. If so, the UK needs a new government that can actually negotiate a withdrawal agreement. The whole world laughs at the current one's epic failure. Maybe you should get your house in order first?
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  447. RN's ultra-nationalist elements can't wait till after the elections.
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  448. If Orban is on such chummy terms with Putin, couldn't he get permission to stage his peace march in Moscow instead? That's where it's most needed.
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  449. Russia's bromance with North Korea backfires.
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  450. My granddad left us a wooden box full of 9mm SMG ammo. It's a mystery why he kept the box, and if he had an SMG stashed away somewhere.
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  451.  @meso8848  You gotta be kidding. Support for NATO membership became so overwhelmingly strong in Finland (and in Sweden, for that matter), that it shocked the politicians into action. Being politicians, they would've loooved to discuss the matter endlessly, but their fear of voter backlash was stronger. Democracy in action.
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  452. Incidentally, the real Gibraltarians prefer Spanish to English.
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  453. +4thGradeDropout No, you struggle with difficult words. Nomen est omen.
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  454.  @hawksrock3024  Not all of them, but I guess we'll see a detectable rise in IQ nonetheless.
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  455.  @mahenoplumbing5707 Against democracy, more like.
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  456. Unlike Norway in NATO's case, Mexico and Canada aren't keen on having the Russians over. You need better analogies.
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  457.  @jaydon707  Zelenskyy knows how to tease laughs. Bolsonaro, unwittingly, is a laughing stock.
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  458. You're seriously behind. The Palestinian Authority has (conditionally) recognised Israel and vice versa, Israel has (conditionally) recognised Palestine. There was a clear avenue for a two-state solution. Netanyahu chose to give it a miss. And now Israel sits with the baked pears, as the Dutch say.
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  459. The US Army didn't have a problem counting corpses in Vietnam.
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  460. Both the EU and the US struggle to satisfy Ukraine's demand for artillery shells. Why? Artillery doesn't feature so prominently in their defence strategies. Airpower does.
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  461. I distinctly remember how the EU's northern and more nimble members wanted to ally themselves with the UK in reforming the EU... only to find out Cameron wasn't interested -- he was interested in securing unique privileges for the UK. The call for reform is a constant in the EU, with or without the UK.
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  462. Your Russian friends need to make some first. And I don't mean parade props.
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  463. If the Ukraine war won't do it, what will it take for Austria to join NATO? Or for Austria to properly support Ukraine, which doesn't require NATO membership.
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  464.  @obviouslytrollmster1532  Just the other day, Assad was pitifully begging for support from all and sundry, Russia included. That's not how hostages behave.
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  465. Usually, it's the retreating defender that resorts to a scorched-earth policy. In Soviet Russia's case, it's the attacker that adopts a scorched-earth policy.
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  466. Putting things into perspective is hard.
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  467.  Ebrar Yoshi  You'll find that the polarization in the US has to do with the de-facto Republican-Democrat duopoly, which has become toxic. Free speech in itself is not to blame.
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  468. Your standards are extremely low.
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  469. Israel doesn't seem to care about avoiding civilians casualties. The mere appearance is enough.
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  470. If so, it's implied that Russia was desperate first. Ukraine won't be doing anything that Russia hasn't done to Ukraine first.
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  471.  @alexanderaleksandar2030  I already told you you're cute. A majority of UN members disagrees with you.
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  472. Perhaps you should, with Putin.
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  473. You're confused as to who the Nazis are. Ukrainians aren't the ones calling Russians subhumans and they aren't waging a war of aggression.
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  474. I'll cry myself to sleep. Iran's theocrats no longer look up to us!
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  475. 'Aaron' from communist Kerala doesn't understand that EU net payers earn their investment back from less affluent EU members in the form of a boost in trade. Germany in particular has benefited from Poland's resurgence as an economic power. A true win-win, but what would a communist know about business?
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  476. Russian excuses never convince. Why bother, Ivan.
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  477. Weird, France is doing rather well exporting their subs. Which one would you have preferred?
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  478. I wonder what Orban got from his pal Putin for this. For his sake, I hope Orban didn't accept roubles.
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  479.  @MJMilano7  If that's true, it's weird that the money flows the other way.
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  480.  @ab1858  There, there. We know you're putting on a brave face, but you have to release and process your emotions. Only then healing will come.
    12
  481. The problem is not the UN -- it's Russia's permanent seat in the UN's Security Council. Russia's veto takes the sting out of any condemnation.
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  482. OK, here goes: you're old-fashioned.
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  483.  @AliKondo-gb8ix  NATO is not actively taking part in this fight, Skippy.
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  484. Only Russia isn't winning.
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  485. You're generalising. Some of us never let our guard down.
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  486. A fanboy of Kadyrov, aren't you?
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  487. The US finds itself with fewer and fewer friends these days...
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  488. These reports would become awfully dreary if they had to contain disclaimers to address all of your concerns and reservations.
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  489. Israel had better rein in its settlers. The war is already ruining its rep.
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  490.  @NamaGenesis  Russia nuking "Russian" territory? That'll be doubly embarrassing.
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  491. Simple. As the former colonial master, the UK is morally obliged to look after the well-being of their erstwhile subjects. Besides, those eligible are an economic asset to any developed country.
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  492.  @MoDa87  Nope, no cigar. Our parliamentary sessions are aired on TV and/or the public can attend.
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  493.  @B15HOP  Sadly, Australia is no stranger to right-wing populism either. What's your excuse?
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  494. The Iranians are Persians, not Arabs.
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  495. Is Putin listening to himself? Putin's little military adventure in Ukraine has led to unacceptable civilian victims.
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  496. So you're saying Asians don't care when a human tragedy unfolds elsewhere, because it doesn't immediately concern you? Principles be damned, pragmatism rules, eh?
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  497. Except that these Iranian Shaheds have a relatively puny 40kg warhead. The V1's warhead was 850kg and the V2's 1000kg. The Russians are merely making a nuisance of themselves, like a toddler acting out.
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  498.  @davemaverick8438  The coping is so strong with you that wishful thinking has displaced reality. It's common knowledge that Russia badly needs foreign currency to meet its basic necessities, so taking a hit on the 'exchange rate' is more rule than exception.. And don't upvote your own comments. We've talked about this.
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  499.  @___beyondhorizon4664  It's back to Spanish then for California and Texas. Poetic justice? Just a little bit?
    12
  500.  @raskolnikov1461  The "no you are" comeback is a prime example of a juvenile comeback. You may want to make a mental note.
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  501.  @mirekslechta7161  But more specifically, the overwhelming majority of NATO is firmly in favour of getting Sweden and Finland onboard. In case you haven't figured it out, the pros and cons were extensively discussed in all 28 parliaments that have ratified their accession so far. NATO isn't relying on artillery to the same extent that Russia and Ukraine are, hence the (looming) shortage of artillery shells. If Russia is so strong, why is its 3-day "special military operation" taking more than a year? Say, are you sure you're not a Krembot?
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  502. Starlink doesn't come close in capacity to these fibre-optic cables. But thanks for playing.
    12
  503. Was the Iraq War a NATO op? Also, you'll find that the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki fell well before NATO was founded. I sense desperation in your blame game.
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  504. The terrorist attacks have received ample attention. This is about unwarranted retaliation against the innocent. You know, like when your boss bawls you out and you take it out on your wife.
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  505. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
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  506. If not having occupied foreign lands were a prerequisite for G7 membership, China wouldn't make the grade either. China occupied Tibet in 1900s and continues to do so until this very day.
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  507. Don't walk and chew gum at the same time. You'll trip or choke -- one or the other.
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  508. Both Poland and Lithuania are well above NATO's 2% target for defence spending. Poland is heading for 4%, while Lithuania has set its target at 3%. If you wanted to portray yourself as an ignorant American stereotype, kudos.
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  509.  @davidittmann  Even conservative estimates put Russian casualties at 21,000. That's more than 10% of the total number of troops sent to Ukraine. Units become combat-ineffective if they suffer such casualties rates.
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  510. Ask your MP?
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  511. Brilliant sleuthing on the FSB's part. I'm surprised they didn't implicate the Easter Bunny.
    12
  512. Calling Trudeau a far-left extremist makes you a far-right extremist, I'm afraid. Are you comfortable with that label?
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  513. On a slightly different topic, is Assad getting enough military aid from Russia now that Russia itself is running low on weapons in Ukraine? Should we be worried?
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  514.  @wm4934  I take it you have authoritative international indexes to fall back on? I can't help but notice that China scores much worse than Canada and Lithuania on human rights in the Freedom in the World index. The Democracy Index puts China near the bottom of the pile. The US and Taiwan shine in comparison to China in the Freedom of the Press index. It's all very contradictory. It's also interesting that while this video and Mathew's comment deal with Lithuania, Taiwan, Australia and Canada, you bring up the US. Pavlov couldn't have conditioned you better.
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  515.  @waldensmith4796  You're trying to have a meaningful conversion with a known bot. An exercise in futility, in other words.
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  516. Putin wannabe.
    12
  517. Putin's Ukrainian adventure doesn't go well so he takes it out on Navalny.
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  518. Yeah, by flooding the ballast tanks. Here, the Russians flooded the whole interior. Oopsie!
    12
  519. I don't think they are many Iraqis in Gaza.
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  520. ​ Nok_Su Kao  You've never heard of federations? Germany made the switch, and so did the USA. India and Pakistan, too, emerged as federations after decolonisation.
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  521. A lot of Finnish reservists have one as a keepsake. It was tradition that when our service period was coming to an end, we'd "lose" the bayonet. Of course, we had pay for it, but the replacement cost was quite reasonable.
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  522. When did you leave NATO?
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  523. I would like to see a piece about YouTube commenters who have trouble focusing.
    12
  524. The gay community worldwide is very disappointed that Putin didn't go bare-breasted this time.
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  525. I remember how we faxed leaflets that told the truth about the massacre to Chinese companies.
    12
  526. Yup, Russia likes to pick on weaker countries, like Georgia and Ukraine.
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  527. Zuck has gone over to the dark side.
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  528. Just about everyone that matters in Europe thinks otherwise about Orban. I wonder when the Hungarians, too, tire of him.
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  529.  @madselmvig1457  The irony is that those pro-Erdogan Turkish expatriates don't suffer the consequences of Turkey's chronically bad economy. They can just lap up Erdogan's populism without having to endure the foul aftertaste. My friend, a retired store owner, is happy to live back in Turkey. His generous Dutch pension and the low cost of living are a match made in heaven. He must be quietly thanking Erdogan every single day.
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  530. Actually, China and India have this female infanticide thing in common. The Chinese went about it in a more gruesome manner, too.
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  531. Don't you wish it could. But it can't even help itself.
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  532.  @Djamonja  Sure thing, France makes nuclear subs. Australia's sudden switcheroo from French to US subs had more to do with AUKUS. Australia got a security partnership and nuclear subs, in that order of priority. The interesting bit is that Australia never asked France to bid for nuclear subs.
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  533. ​ @NottinghamForest24  "Europeans" (I thought most Russians were European) won't travel to Russia no matter what. Your tourism industry will have to make do with domestic tourists, but considering that they have no disposable income for holidays, that's a dead end, too.
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  534. How deep a hole is Putin intending to dig for Russia?
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  535. Russia's space cadets must be lighting their farts on fire.
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  536. Je moet bij Poetin zijn met je bedankjes.
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  537.  @tomcollins5112  If so, wouldn't it follow that every republic is communist?
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  538. Why? The Republic of Ireland is a sovereign country and an EU member. Northern Ireland is a colonial relic. Stop imposing your problems on others.
    11
  539. Being a dictator with an aversion to any form of power-sharing and -- supposedly -- challenging "the hegemony" are two different things altogether.
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  540.    Does it matter when they were invented? I'm not aware of any expiry date on life hacks.
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  541. The victim mentality is strong with you.
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  542. Where to? Brexit Britain won't take in more Polish plumbers.
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  543.  @oknevals  Three days? Napoleon spent five weeks in Moscow, waiting for the Russians to offer terms.
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  544. I feel like Russia's defeat in Ukraine is close.
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  545. Serbia won't stay together, EU or no EU. I experienced the intense hatred in Kosovo first-hand when serving there with KFOR. We had to do our utmost to keep the ethnic factions from killing one another. A divorce is long overdue.
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  546.  @Kingofmycastle6  Not up to date? That much is clear. When you're out, Brexshit happens.
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  547. Your spelling is ubeatable.
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  548.  @travishabursky4362  Finland isn't known for high industrial output, you say? Finland's Nokia has produced more cell phones than any other brand. Just saying.
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  549. But we hear Russia's voice here.
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  550. It's ironic that a committed Brexiteer is among the first rats to flee the sinking ship.
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  551. So what is it that they got wrong?
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  552. What's a "propaganda peace" exactly? Don't you wish you still had the British Council teach you English?
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  553. Yeah, a full withdrawal from Ukraine shouldn't be long in coming.
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  554. You still have to discover passive smoking, right?
    11
  555. Actually, it was the Brits who invented them. Boer War.
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  556.  @parts1982  Remind us in more detail, which countries did NATO invade again? Was it with or without the UNSC's blessing? And did the population welcome us?
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  557. You earned a medal from the Russian Ministry of Disinformation, for your unwavering support. You went above and beyond all right.
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  558. Representative democracy must be a novel concept to you.
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  559.  @johnny-ih5es  Hah. You're conveniently forgetting to mention that the promoters of said referendum launched a follow-up petition that called for NATO membership without a referendum, because it quickly became apparent that popular opinion in support of membership was so overwhelming that a referendum was entirely superfluous. I was greatly amused when some Finnish politicians were wrongfooted by this tsunami of people power and tried to drag their feet, but quickly realised that the electoral backlash would drop them from parliament come next election. Which is exactly what happened to the few that persisted. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. During the uneasy peace that followed the Winter War, Finland first sought alliances with Great Britain, France and Sweden, but they came to nothing, for obvious geopolitical reasons. Do you need those explained to you, or can you figure it out yourself?
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  560.  @mladenpopovic379  Montenegro voted in favour of the UNGA Resolution that condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for an immediate withdrawal. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
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  561. Wasn't Russia approaching NATO's borders when it illegally invaded Ukraine?
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  562.  @alexanderaleksandar2030  Sure. 102 out of 193. That's 52.8%. Vucic has a wild imagination.
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  563.  @MrGatzby  Yet Putin has gone on record saying that Ukraine is not a country and that the Russians and Ukrainians are one people. So why would he stop at Donbas? Moreover, language doesn't make the Donbassians Russian. Try telling the Irish that they're English. I dare you. And Boris is not my man by any means. Wrong nationality, for starters, and wrong union, too.
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  564. A conspiracy theorist running his mouth. That's just meh.
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  565. Please set us right! You always tell us how we're misled, but you don't lead us to the truth! We're begging you, since you appear privy to the truth!
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  566.  @jimcazador6057  That's a fanciful representation of events. It would be more accurate to say that the UK was in terminal decline (being referred to as the sick man of Europe) till it finally managed to join the EU. And now, out of the EU again, the sickness and terminal decline are back.
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  567.  @MrThartofwar  You're spouting nonsense. Under international law, countries are within their rights to defend themselves when under attack. Counter-attacks to oust the enemy are part and parcel of said defence. You know nothing about the art of war, Mr. Poser.
    11
  568. ​ @gdiwolverinemale3rd  Thanks for proving my point about uniquely American definitions. However, in international company, a republic simply refers to a country that hasn't got a (constitutional) monarch as its (titular) head of state, but rather, a president. Being a democracy in addition to either is a separate matter, but it's by no means incompatible. In fact, the top 10 democracies in the world are a mix of republics and (constitutional) monarchies.
    11
  569. Power corrupts. I for one believe in the adage that politicians and diapers are alike. Both should be changed often, and for the same reason.
    11
  570.  @meoffmymeds1770  It's also possible that the moon is made of cheese. We haven't drilled to the core yet, so the (admittedly rather slim) possibility remains that under the crust of our natural satellite there is cheese.
    11
  571.  @Robert-xy4xi  It's factually incorrect to say that the Baltic states sided with Germany in WW2. Being occupied by the Soviet Union and then Germany, the Balts didn't have any choice in the matter, which also goes for the Balts being forced to fight for either side. After the war, Churchill insisted that the Baltic states had willingly joined the Soviet Union. Stalin had no objections to that interpretation. Truman whimpered for a bit. But what's certain is that the Soviet Union sided with Germany in WW2.
    11
  572.  @saikumarmadadi7524  You're still dodging the question. Is India willing to concede territory to China and Pakistan to stave off further aggression? If you don't, stop urging Ukraine to do same.
    11
  573.  @rickydaley3347  Russia had some combat hardened troops, but they've foolishly expended them, only to replace them with barely-trained convicts. That's why they're welcoming North Koreans. It's a sign of desperation all right.
    11
  574. The US stock markets have decided they don't like this game.
    11
  575. Which country started the war again?
    11
  576. North Vietnam failed to win any battles against the *Americans, but still it won the war.
    11
  577. It's nice to see a government official here. Just out of interest, what's your exact role?
    11
  578. Counter-productive, I'd say. Erdogan reinforced the widely felt impression that Turkey is a capricious and unreliable partner.
    11
  579.  @altrfryd5859  OK, troll.
    11
  580.  ibrahimmoncada2710  Wagner advanced so rapidly towards Moscow because the Russian armed forces were lukewarm about stopping them. It speaks volumes about the confidence that Putin instils.
    11
  581. The .303 bullet from that Lee-Enfield will pierce practically any type of body armour. The same goes for helmets.
    11
  582.  @Ronniejamesleo  Geography isn't your forte. Great Britain is to the west of Germany, while Poland is to its east. And neither is Austria on the way to Great Britain.
    11
  583. More like Russia, which has nary a friend left.
    11
  584.  @adamcottrell6454  Our botty friend is exaggerating, but some Abrams tanks in Iraqi use did fall victim to ISIS. The Iraqis failed to provide infantry support (where have we heard that before) or simply abandoned them (we've heard that one before, too).
    11
  585. Sovereign nations have the right to enter into military alliances as they see fit, Ukraine included. If they invite alliance members to station troops on their soil, that's their prerogative as well. Russia has troops on foreign soil as well, only it's not nearly as popular a military partner as the USA -- or other NATO members, for that matter. I think your problem is jealousy, not foreign military bases per se.
    11
  586. Not just the EU, but also, NATO. Putin rocks as a recruiter!
    11
  587.  @_loss_  Frankly, I don't see a problem with either scenario, i.e. Åland swapping autonomy for independence or joining Sweden. From a Finnish perspective, Åland has always been the odd one out, demilitarized and detached from the mainland -- literally, figuratively, linguistically, culturally and whatnot. When Finland gained independence, Åland had to join Finland because influential Swedish-speakers in Finland wanted to see more of their kind -- and this against the islanders' express wishes. Anyhoo, the point here is that the Ålanders actively take part in defending their homeland instead of outsourcing their defence to the Finns -- or, for that matter, the Swedes.
    11
  588.  @nextinstitute7824  You need to unleash your superior diplomatic skills on Putin and make him withdraw his troops to pre-2014 borders. The war will be over in a jiffy. There's your diplomacy.
    11
  589. Finland and Sweden have been in the *EU since 1995, dum-dum.
    11
  590.  @ECECECECEC  Farage an ex-Tory MP, you say? He was a Tory once, but never an MP.
    11
  591.  @madukp  Who in particular do you mean by the unelected bureaucrats? For your info, all top leaders in the EU are democratically elected.
    11
  592. @Drifter11 Rather, Finland scored. Sweden is the next one to score.
    11
  593. You quoted the quote, but you still don't know what quotation marks stand for? Curious...
    11
  594.  @pektowanderlust  LOL yourself. It depends on what type of vessels are concerned. We're having four corvettes built for 1.45€ billion as we speak. Their 'ice class' is just short of that of ice breakers. LOL.
    11
  595. Putin was mumbling something about a sphere of influence. It was just as non-sensical then as it is now.
    11
  596.  @TuanTran-h5f  Don't be so gullible. The US and France still operate dozens of military bases in Africa.
    11
  597. It's called brachytherapy, where a radiation source is placed inside or next to the treatment area. In this patient's case, where the malignancy is uncommonly severe, a caliber of 120mm is advised.
    11
  598. Yup, these Africans should roll up their sleeves and take their destiny into their own hands. The mind boggles how the French managed to sap all the life energy out of them for generations.
    11
  599.  @davidjones-wt2qq  The Russians are negotiating an orderly withdrawal from said bases. Staying is not an option.
    11
  600. There's that and the fact that they didn't confiscate his firearms either.
    11
  601.  @spxram4793  Practically lost as well.
    11
  602. You may want to send them LNG if you're so loving.
    11
  603. "Should of been". Maybe France should teach you English.
    11
  604. So, you're speculating whether Russia will invade Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and/or Turkey, where NATO's nukes are to be found? And Russia is already struggling to invade further into Ukraine.
    11
  605.  @SapphiR3_  These particular Druze, the Golan Druze, are not so enamoured of Israel, since they prefer to retain their Syrian nationality, although Israel has offered them Israeli nationality instead.
    11
  606.  @Max_Mustermann  You're trying to apply logic to Russia's actions. That's illogical.
    11
  607. Elites? We manage our democracies better than you do yours.
    11
  608.  @hansdampf640  No-one in the know is in the least bit surprised at that. HEAT rounds are effective against concrete, much more so than against armour, in fact.
    11
  609.  @fellowcitizen  That's an odd viewpoint. Russians enjoy sauna, as well as the odd war.
    11
  610. Maybe Hungary should respect rule of law and it wouldn't have to face accusations of flouting it. BTW, there's a long list of accusers within the EU -- it's not just Sweden and Finland.
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  611. It did come to fruition, but only in 1918. My great-grandfather took part in what eventually came to be called the Finnish Civil War, although my grandparents always referred to it as 'revolution' or 'rebellion'. The story goes that he went to war carrying one of these Vetterlis -- no doubt salvaged from the shipwrecked SS Grafton -- but came back with a Winchester Model 1895, which he had personally liberated from a Russian soldier. We still have it in the family.
    11
  612.  @denisgorjunov  Turkey experiencing modest growth after years of recession is nice, but if close to 70% of Turks claim they struggle to pay for food, the economic situation is far more dire in Turkey than in Finland, where I'm sure no one goes hungry. Say, how are you doing food-wise in Russia? Keep some potatoes to eat. Not everything should go into making vodka.
    11
  613.  @BobSmith-ss2eb  So you haven't served at all. I was in Lebanon with UNIFIL and with KFOR in Kosovo.
    11
  614. The Finnish Greens had a change of heart. Nuclear is the lesser of two evils, they realised.
    11
  615. Orban corrupt? Well I never!
    11
  616. Turkey is clearly the one with the gravest problems. If you think this is a victory for Turkey, think again. A coup attempt is in itself a disgrace, but the aftermath -- Erdogan viciously going after every official who doesn't stand squarely behind him -- makes matters even worse. I see a civil war brewing in Turkey. Another Syria in the making?
    10
  617. +Juni Kim How do you explain Vietnamese boat people? 2 million of them sought refuge abroad after the Vietnam War. Then there were 150,000 Tamils who fled the Sri Lankan Civil War. Can we please generalise that Asians are bleeping cowards, too?
    10
  618. Frank Andersson You seem to have lost the plot on this one. Your original assertion was that the Lapland War was more destructive on Finland than the Continuation War. I set you straight, pointing out that the Lapland War was a mere skirmish in comparison, both in terms of casualties and loss of property. No one else but you is blowing things out of proportion, or straying from context.   
    10
  619. It could be argued Fascism is rising in Turkey, with Erdogan's authoritarianism in overdrive after the attempted coup. Yes, Fascists are making a play for power in Europe, but Erdogan has succeeded where they're still trying.
    10
  620. +4thGradeDropout Well, just to be safe, steer clear of the Himalayas. You might run into the Abortionist Snowman.
    10
  621. You have a knack for getting everything backwards, Ivan. You can flap your gums about NATO, but the world at large is not fooled. The overwhelming consensus is that Russia is the aggressor here, not NATO.
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  622. At any rate, Putin isn't laughing. Crying, more like.
    10
  623. This war won't be decided on the battlefield. We'll see an encore of the Soviet-Afghan War, which did the Soviet Union in. The question is, in how many pieces will this latest iteration of a Russian empire fall apart? I think the Russian Federation will set a new record. You?
    10
  624. Their extremist right-wing views? Their crypto-Fascism?
    10
  625. Ukraine strikes military targets, Russian strikes civilian targets in retaliation. Which has a bigger military impact?
    10
  626. 1 is easier said than done. The EU is not rolling out the red carpet.
    10
  627.  @blitzkrieg0136  Your "argument" is a non-argument without evidence. One could say you're speculating.
    10
  628.  @sergueivergounov1961  Russia has two options regarding war reparations to Ukraine: pay or cry and pay.
    10
  629. Cause and consequence elude you.
    10
  630.  @kemwittalltree9650  So we've come this. Investigating war crimes is contrary to US interests. There goes your credibility as a morally upstanding nation, right down the drain.
    10
  631. Even if Stubb were a head case, he couldn't implement his crazy ideas. In Finland, the president has only residual powers.
    10
  632. It's not a competition. It's widely known that the Poles have plenty of guts, something the Finns don't need to teach you. If a Pole and a Finn decided to compete over who can sit the longest on an ant nest, bare-bummed, the competition would go undecided, because the ants would abandon their nest.
    10
  633.  @tomcollins5112  The current king has proven very divisive, as evidenced by the mass protests. That can't be good for staving off foreign domination. Also, I wouldn't put it past him that if a billion baht were to appear on his bank account, China would get all kinds of royal "gifts".
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  634. No-one seems to think so, not even Russia. You're an oddling all right.
    10
  635. If it comes to a trial, Lukashenko will be tried in absentia. The Russians are getting his dacha ready as we speak.
    10
  636. Especially this guy. He may want to consider changing his surname, however.
    10
  637.  @dimitristsekeris2000  They've gone home by now, sport.
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  638. @HealthExposedUK Which part of "representative democracy" don't you understand? Referendums are organised when the opinion of the electorate is sought on a matter of great importance. That happened in the UK with Brexit, right? Myself, I voted in a referendum about joining the EU. Parliament acted in accordance.
    10
  639. Orban's and Poland's relationship had already soured over Ukraine.
    10
  640. You're the type that can't walk and chew gum at the same time, right?
    10
  641. A Singaporean developer will snap it up. It won't go unfinished for long.
    10
  642. One of those volumes speaks against India deserving a permanent seat on the UNSC. India has a wet noodle for a backbone.
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  643. Similar modern research is afoot in Finland, which can't grow cotton because of the climate alone, but has a handle on paper and pulp production like no other. While feasible, the process is tricker because of higher levels of impurities in wood-based cellulose. Interestingly, eucalyptus trees look most promising, fast-growing and combustible as they are.
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  644. ​ @arisplugis5197  I still find it hilarious that a former Latvian immigrant to the UK is so opposed to immigration, as if migrants are making a beeline for Latvia. The truth of the matter is that population decline in Latvia is nearing 1% yearly. You should accept anyone -- ANYONE -- who's willing to come.
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  645.  @krollpeter  But in a way, Xi is digging his own grave. Directly or indirectly, he's ruining world-class Chinese companies, who'd do much better without interference from the CCP. There would be no Huaweis and Tiktoks getting the boot in the West. I bet the newly-affluent Chinese, who've tasted international success and yearn for more, are growing uneasy with Xi driving away their customers, one by one. China's social contract is unraveling.
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  646.  @terrytumble162  A real chess grandmaster, Garry Gasparov, fittingly called him Pu Tin, the regional governor of the northern Chinese province of Ruxia.
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  647.  @mikkorenvall428  You're a drama queen, methinks. Stubura and Valtonen aren't push-overs when push comes to shove. Also, shooting ranges are booked full on weekends. You don't have to wait for marching orders to do your bit as a reservist.
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  648.  @catbertevil750  High on drugs? Clichés won't cut it if you want to insult me. Chinese law requires even publicly-traded corporations to form party committees and have CCP members on their board of directors or in their executive team. We also know how the likes of Jack Ma go missing when they don't toe the party line. What was so wise about Fosun paying extra for a distribution agreement that covers Taiwan, a market they can't touch? Financially, it makes no sense whatsoever, so it must be political. You apparently know zilch about commercial agreements. There is no international law that forced BioNTech to lump Taiwan together with China. The poor sods just didn't realise their mistake when signing. Fosun's political commissar must've broken out the champagne in anticipation of a promotion to the higher echelons of the CCP.
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  649.  @davidnoelfranks1124  General Winter favours troops that are well supplied. The Russians' supply problems are endemic.
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  650. Sure you are, Ivan.
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  651. It goes without saying. Populists are opportunists.
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  652. Other states should follow suit.
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  653.  @24hours24kynta  Neither China nor India elected to come to Russia's support at the UN. But they're with Putin all right, when cheap Russian resources are up for grabs. China and India can dictate the prices, and Russia just has to grin and bear it. Oh, the irony. Putin wanted to recolonise Ukraine, but turned Russia into a neo-colony, with respect to China in particular.
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  654.  @maddoo23  OK, wumao.
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  655.  @gwhite5720  Ah, you still can't string words together to form a proper sentence. UK exporters are not fine with the new customs arrangements, which are putting a huge damper on business. Lorries bringing imports to the UK return half-empty. Their EU customers are apparently finding other suppliers, who're not tied up in red tape.
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  656.  @mimovil8730  The question is, what kind of UK will rejoin. If it's the one that left, no thanks. The UK needs more than 40 days in the desert, I'm afraid.
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  657. Give it a few years, and no one admits they ever did support Putin. It was the same after the collapse of the Soviet Union. No one had ever been a communist.
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  658. Uh, Trump is upsetting a precarious balance that formed after numerous trade wars. There are always counter-tariffs when one side introduces new tariffs. No-one is innocent in this respect. You're making it appear like the USA is imposing tariffs for the first time ever.
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  659. A conspiracy theorist. YouTube conspiracy theorists, take note.
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  660.  @oppenzhumer  The Mickey Mouse Club has to approve as well.
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  661.  @pena3656  You get a whataboutism point for that comment. Enjoy!
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  662. For a frozen conflict it's pretty hot, at times even searing hot.
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  663.  @solschwarz5169  WP can be used against military targets only. Previously, the IDF claimed to have used it on open ground only. Gaza and open ground is practically an oxymoron.
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  664. Coalition governments, which are considered the norm in top democracies, must be news to you.
    10
  665.  @Th4tIrishGuy  We have a lot of Russian draft dodgers seeking asylum. So Russia is losing and should surrender?
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  666.  @drakker2116  NATO didn't start the Yugoslav Wars. It did end the final episode, however. Finland and Sweden didn't ruin their relationship with Russia. Russia did by invading Ukraine. NATO members can act proactively in unison, but there's no obligation to that effect. Only invocation of Article 5 comes with an obligation to act reactively.
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  667. He did nothing but make a fool of himself.
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  668.  @user-bi4nm5zp7f  OK, conspiracy theorist. You've had your daily fix.
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  669. You're right. The loss of exports to Russia hardly matters.
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  670. Remember, RT is your safe space & echo chamber.
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  671. When are yours arriving?
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  672.  @viralkenyan6249  Shadow boxing with a pretend adversary is heroic now? No-one's respecting Russia right now -- or otherwise. Russia is an international pariah. The UN couldn't have been clearer on the matter.
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  673.  @mandarinandthetenrings2201  You're doing some fancy historical revisionism there. Even a Soviet-era history teacher would sigh when you claim that "Democracy's of West [sic] elected Napoleon Bonaparte". There was no "West" and Napoleon had enemies all over what much-much later became to be known as the "West". Say, did you have any form of education?
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  674. Actually, Britain refused to consider the EU's proposals for special arrangements for touring musicians. They've got only themselves to blame.
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  675. In all likelihood, Sweden and Finland will adopt the Norway model of NATO membership: no nukes, no permanent NATO bases.
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  676. Go directly to your safe space. Do not pass go, do not collect real information.
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  677.  @palar4195  Now you're just being silly. The border wall will cover a short stretch, and it serves to discourage Russia from using asylum seekers as a weapon, like Belarus did against Poland and Lithuania. Don't thumb up your own comments. It's seedy.
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  678. You're generalising. Estonian is an Finno-Ugric language, as is Hungarian. They're clearly distinct from Slavic or Baltic languages.
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  679. It's as if Israel strives for international isolation.
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  680.  @johnny-ih5es  You claimed that "Some Finns are definitely upset because they are not consulted." Your "some Finns" is a diminuitive number. The Finnish parliament rarely passes anything with such a massive supermajority as Finland's NATO bid. Let's talk about the here and now and Russia's alliances. Russia is allied with North Korea and Iran, both rogue states that not too long ago, Russia was actively sanctioning on account of their nuclear weapons programs, which mainly serve to hold the world hostage. If you want to go further back, there's the unholy allicance between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, which the Soviets frantically denied almost till the end. That brings us back to the impromptu alliance between Finland and Nazi Germany, which was a direct consequence of continued hostile Soviet policy after the Winter War. The SU realised its mistake, but Finland would never trust the Russians -- a stance that is equally valid now as it was then.
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  681.  @johnny-ih5es  If you know where to look for the first petition, you'll know where to look for the follow-up petition. You're repeating yourself without adding anything new to the discussion. Also, I seem to remember you've been explained why opinions and bumholes are alike? Something about ubiquity and smell?
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  682.  @MrGatzby  So you would want us to believe. In October 2022, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution that deemed the referendums and the annexations illegal with a whopping majority, 143 vs. 5. Only two UN members have recognised the occupied territories as Russian. To add insult to injury, Syria is was the other
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  683. This is about Germany, you silly boy.
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  684. I see you're wholly unawares of Africa's past contributions to UN peacekeeping. Come back when you've studied up on the matter.
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  685.  @strongfoot2009  Kissinger may be old and frail, but his self-confidence isn't fragile, unlike yours.
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  686.  @TheRealBillBob  So, in Ukraine, 3 days became 590 days and counting. If Russia's estimate for "swallowing" Latvia is 2 days as you say, in reality we'd be looking at 393 days and counting. Since Latvia is in NATO and NATO is obliged to come to Latvia's aid, you'd think NATO's overwhelming reinforcements would make it to Latvia in far less time. In fact, I think that on day 393, NATO would be mopping up after the conclusive Battle of Vladivostok.
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  687. It is rather intriguing that one of the last vestiges of British colonialism is right next door to Britain. Oh well, nothing Brexit won't solve.
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  688. You're preaching to the choir. In Finland, we've prepared for Russian invasions since forever. We have AT weapons in plentiful supply and every reservist knows how to use one, too. I do wish we'd been more generous in gifting some of them to Ukraine, because every tank that is destroyed there can't be used against us. I can't help but smirk at the fate of a Russian elite unit stationed near our northeast border, the 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade. It has suffered badly at the hands of the Ukrainians in Kharkiv.
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  689. Shouldn't you be addressing Putin? You're blaming the victim.
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  690. Tough leader? Trump has dramatically weakened the US, perhaps even permanently.
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  691. Why? Germany has a rather restrictive and responsible policy with regard to sales of military equipment. Uniquely, half goes to EU, NATO and NATO-equivalent countries (Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Switzerland). I don't think you're going to bag a Pulitzer Prize with this one.
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  692. She took out a personal loan from the EU, too. Now she's complaining about having to pay it back.
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  693. The Russian Air Force has been been notoriously ineffective over Ukraine. What has changed?
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  694. Terrorists are by definition militants. Militants have opted for violence to further their cause. Terrorists are militants, but not necessarily vice versa.
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  695.  @iam5085  It's the first piece of advice in Trolling for Dummies: when you can't think of anything else, give whataboutism a try.
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  696. You'd more convincing if you could spell the word 🤣
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  697. OK, Putin fanboy.
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  698. I'll try to break it down for you. The poor boy was killed because of his religion, which happened to be Islam. If he'd been Jewish, Hindu or Christian, it would've been the same thing. In fact, similar hate crimes have already occurred elsewhere, like an Egyption policeman shooting dead two Israeli tourists for no other reason than their nationality. It was also widely reported. Whataboutism is puerile, by the way. Decidedly Soviet, too.
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  699. There's no need for NATO to occupy any part of Ukraine. Ukraine would join NATO willingly. They've made that very clear.
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  700.  @hightimes8079  Walk into an Irish bar and test your theory on the patrons that they're English on account of the language that they speak. Please post the video on YouTube.
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  701. Give it some time. I suspect that in my lifetime, there will be three NATO and EU members called Amberland, Ingria and Karelia.
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  702. I fail to see how they're mutually exclusive. You wouldn't believe it, but one can walk and chew gum at the same time!
    10
  703.  @DemocratsRigElections  Means, motive and opportunity are all there.
    10
  704.  @springbloom5940  Hey, don't bite the hand that feeds you! Prigozhin, who said as much, is ultimately your employer at your Saint Petersburg troll factory. It's not just about your continued employment, but Prigozhin has a violent demeanour, too. He thinks sledgehammers are instrumental in conflict resolution.
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  705. No need. Every day of the year is April Fool's in Kadyrov's Chechnya.
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  706. If so, neither do most of NATO's existing members. Kurdish refugees are all over the place. The problem has nothing to do with harbouring terrorists, but Turkey's definition of terrorism. If you're Kurdish and criticise Erdogan, Turkey thinks you a terrorist.
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  707. The headline is perfectly fine. You must've missed the quotation marks.
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  708.  @ЯБезымянный-о5ф  Easy. The UN General Assembly. The UNGA condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine in no uncertain terms, calling for an immediate and complete withdrawal. Educate yourself.
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  709. The Brits have effectively rolled out the red carpet for illegals. The French aren't as accommodating.
    10
  710.  @serglet8236  Nonsense. The tsars, during whose reign the Russian Empire was formed, were insistent on Russia being recognised as a colonial power right alongside the other colonial powers of the time. Not only that, Russia employed some of the most gruesome methods to subdue the local populations -- even genocide. In the colonial age, there was no "West" as we know it now. Most of what are now considered Western countries didn't engage in colonialism. In fact, some were subjected to it themselves.
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  711. Arquebus would be an even more appropriate term.
    10
  712. "From now on, we'll threaten with nuclear war twice a day, because once isn't cutting it."
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  713. Ja, of over iets anders. Het maakt niet uit wat, als het maar de aandacht afleidt.
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  714. 'Everything will be fine, you'll grow your limbs back.'
    10
  715. We have a great tit peck the window whenever we've let the bird feeder go empty. The bird clearly has made the connection between the bird feed and the great apes inside the house. They watch us, too, as if we're on display in a zoo.
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  716.  @davidcruz8667  You're not as unique as you think. In Finland, we've got an unbroken tradition of hunting that goes back to the dawn of time. Not only that, we were the last hunter-gathers on the continent -- our cromagnon-like skeletal proportions are testament to that. More so than anywhere else, big-game hunting is a national pastime in Finland. Ever since practical firearms became available, we've put them to use. Every able-bodied male Finn knows how to handle a rifle, if not from boyhood, then after compulsory military training. My late grandfather, a Winter War veteran, made sure all his male grandchildren qualified as marksmen. Many of us reservists keep practising in our own time. We own our semi-auto rifles and keep them at home, too. Myself, I've got a bit of a collection going. Licenses have never been an issue. The only truly unique aspect of American gun love is your need to arm yourselves for home defence and against tyrannical government. I've never felt the need to resort to firearms to protect myself against my compatriots. I blame our elaborate welfare system and our surprisingly functional democracy.
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  717. NATO's Article 5 implies that defending the Baltic States is not a matter of belief. NATO is duty-bound to defend them, just like any other member that is subjected to an attack. If you're not sure, you should start making your exit from NATO.
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  718. Not only that, Putin practically killed off his anti-NATO competitor, the CSTO, by flouting its Article 4, the collective defence clause, and leaving Armenia high and dry. Putin is a gift that keeps on giving.
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  719. Putin will send you two Christmas potatoes for that.
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  720. Yup, the Drama Queen in Chief has assumed office.
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  721. OK, hairdressers reopen, but how to lure BoJo into one?
    10
  722. In fact it is. The cold air comes from Siberia. Every Scandi knows that.
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  723. ​ @OogaBooga-tq7jc  Oh, Churchill did want to intervene in the Winter War, and in case you've missed it, it wasn't to help out the Soviets. During the Continuation War, Churchill finally gave in to Stalin's incessant demands to declare war on Finland, but it never came to blows. Roosevelt, however, stood fast and refused to give in to Stalin. And Churchill, who wasn't completely heartless, sent a nice letter of apology to Mannerheim, blaming contingencies of war for his decision.
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  724. The last crisis is that only now Netanyahu came to realise that prison awaits him if there's peace.
    10
  725. So, you still believe in fairy tales?
    10
  726. @@ummerrahh The energy foible that's still dragging Germany's economy down is a temporary setback. In fact, it makes Germany speed up its progress towards a carbon-free future. But no worries, if you enjoy watching economies tank, there's always Russia. Unlike Germany, it won't disappoint.
    10
  727. GMLRS means one rocket, one hit. Russian MLRS means hundreds of rockets, one hit. Maybe.
    10
  728.  @eyaklen4804  Sure, in WW2, the Western Allies were supplying the Soviet Union. Now, the West is supplying Ukraine. Makes all the difference. Slava Ukraini!
    10
  729. It didn't occur to you that Putin could stop the war overnight? Odd, that.
    10
  730. @MSD Group If you're going to spam the same comment all over the place, you should ask one of the translators at your troll factory to proof-read it first.
    10
  731. Which polling organisation do you speak on behalf?
    10
  732.  @PlaYer-sn5or  Don't worry your pretty little head. The EU's economy is $24.22 trillion. Russia's -- pre-war -- was $293.5 billion.
    10
  733. I know what CCP apologists like you do. No lengthy explanations needed.
    10
  734.  @abijitguptatrading  You should really try to kick this blame game habit of yours. It's not doing you any favours. Whenever you're faced with a mirror moment, you blame "the West". You'll draw the wrong conclusions and fail to better yourselves.
    10
  735. Priceless.
    10
  736.  @iamhardwell2844  If the separatists wanted freedom they'd bet on Ukraine. Russia is a sure bet on dictatorship.
    10
  737.  @danielpuran2384  But Russia confessed to the gaffe. You're botting over spilled milk, Danny boy.
    10
  738.  @Borka23  So, Hungary has been the butt of the EU's ire for failing to meet the standards that the EU has set for itself in democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. That suggests Hungary is the fascist one and not the EU.
    10
  739. Don't you think Russia would veto such a move?
    10
  740.  @Arch497  Don't be silly. The Vietnam People's Air Force operated the MiG-17, MiG-19 and MiG-21 during the Vietnam War. And with some measure of success, too.
    10
  741.  @chasingthefish9042  I have both an AK and an AR. If I want to hit something, I use the latter.
    10
  742.  @bobbybastable1061  Julius Caesar, Emperor Claudius, Ragnar Lodbrok, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Ivar the Boneless, Ubba, Harald Hardrada, William the Conqueror, Canute the Great, Louis VIII, Isabella of France and Michiel de Ruyter would like to have a word with you. Something about invading Britain.
    10
  743. Dictators find solace in like-minded company.
    10
  744.  @JohnSmith-ux3tt  You think Trump a diplomat? He doesn't know the meaning of the word. Last time, he fired all the US ambassadors and kept forgetting to appoint new ones.
    10
  745. There's an interesting legal avenue for that. Russia's permanent UNSC membership was never properly ratified. The UN Charter was never amended, it still speaks of the Soviet Union. No mention of Russia.
    10
  746. Is Moldova the next destination for Putin's little green men?
    10
  747.  @ecyt2447  That's a clear lie. Fascism never gained enough support in Finland to make a real impact. When WW2 broke out, the Finnish Fascists had already been marginalised. Finland did end up going to war with Germany against the USSR, but all the while Finland pursued its own interests, as in reconquering the territory lost in the Winter War. After achieving that goal, Blitzkrieg turned into Sitzkrieg for the Finns. As the Germans struggled to make gains in the High North, the lack of support from the Finns soured relations, which weren't the best to begin with, considering that Germany had sided with the USSR in the Winter War. All that wasn't lost on the USA, which was at war with the Axis powers, but not with Finland.
    10
  748. @Clec Torres It's not colonisation; it's decolonisation. And besides, NI voted to stay in the EU.
    10
  749.  @springbloom5940  It was a race to the bottom. The Russian priest won.
    10
  750.  @quanganhvu6791  I was about to comment the same. Copium is copiously used by our resident Krembots.
    10
  751. So are you saying that India is like a house of cards? If foreign media blow at it, it will come tumbling down? You need to work on your national ego.
    10
  752.  @hydrohasspoken6227  A Ukrainian will think no price is too steep, while a Russian mother will wonder what exactly was gained when she's handed an urn with the ashes of her son.
    10
  753.  @TheLegendOfNiko  Every country has the government it deserves. About time the Russians think hard if they deserve better.
    10
  754. That's rich, considering that the RN has sowed division like no other. Democracy is all about majorities. The PiS, which won last year's Polish election, couldn't convince anyone to join in a coalition with them either. That's what you get when you alienate potential partners. But the far right can't help itself in that respect.
    10
  755.  @peka7776  Ze hebben wel het internationaal recht wat booby traps betreft geschonden. Dat heeft consequenties voor Israel als rechtstaat.
    10
  756. Perpetuating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict doesn't defend Western values in any way. On the contrary, it's against human rights, which the West is expected to uphold at all times.
    10
  757. Or the cause of death is a heart attack, just like those of Anatoly Sobchak and his two bodyguards. In Soviet Russia, heart attacks come in threes.
    10
  758.  @toushiqurrahman  A generation of Afghan girls got an education. Their daughters won't be so lucky.
    10
  759. Switzerland is not facing any existential threats. Ukraine is.
    10
  760. Huh? I count only one warmongering country.
    10
  761. If the USA pays money for this sort of thing, you should start charging it rent for occupying your mind.
    10
  762.  @F-om1jx  The Russian Empire collapsed as a result of WW1. The Soviet Union collapsed as a result of the Soviet-Afghan War. I can see the writing on the wall for the Russian Federation and this war.
    10
  763. We pay our dues, and in kind, too. All able-bodied Finns are reservists till we turn 60 years. Have you served?
    10
  764. I don't think you realise that 'Whiskey on the rocks' was an embarrassment for Sweden's navy. Likewise, in 2013, the world was abuzz about another incident, dubbed 'Russian Easter', where Sweden's Flygvapnet failed to intercept Russian nuclear bombers seemingly headed for Stockholm. The Danes had to do the honours. A year later, an embarrassed Sweden started putting its defence back in order again.
    10
  765.  @dancostello6465  Who cares whether Belgium qualifies as a country or not. It's still a great place.
    10
  766. Tired clichés don't make good botting. I'm afraid you only get half a potato for that.
    10
  767. Maybe this is an elaborate ploy to refuel the Moskva.
    10
  768. It made an emergency dive without any plans to resurface, like ever, OK?
    10
  769. +skyesfury Ford is amused, not pissed off. Just so you know, he's laughing at Trump.
    9
  770. +Milan Borizovski Well, the bombing of Metrojet Flight 9268 claimed more Russian lives than these Paris attacks killed French citizens. I don't see Russia sending in ground troops, neither to Syria nor Egypt.
    9
  771. I guess it's Soviet chic to queue for food in Russia once again...
    9
  772. It seems the UK is broke first.
    9
  773. Yeah, buy into hate-mongering instead.
    9
  774. ***** You're not far off. The Bundeswehr is re-issuing the original, the G3, as a marksman rifle -- probably because their G36 has accuracy issues and because the 5.56 cartridge lacks range. As a peacekeeper in Lebanon I felt inadequate when I saw the Swedes, the Danes and the Irish bang away with their big battle rifles -- AK4s, G3s and FALs -- at the range, but on foot patrols it was rather nice to carry my lighter RK62.
    9
  775. Then please vacate Crimea.
    9
  776. So Sons of Anarchy is on Russian TV, too...
    9
  777.  @shenjiejason8350  No, it's an example of failed economic management by the CCP. Sure, unbridled capitalism can mess up any country. That's why developed countries have extensive checks and balances in place. China is still underdeveloped in that respect.
    9
  778. I'm an earthling and I think Wagner sucks. Ergo, everyone on earth thinks Wagner sucks.
    9
  779.  @WhyNot0004  You're funny. I thought you could tell that I'm not exactly enamoured with personality cults, but then you suggest I'm jealous? As a matter of fact, I hold the notion that politicians and babies' diapers are alike. Both need to be changed often, and for the same reason. Try to get a room with Trump, or failing that, Elon.
    9
  780.  @Art-ot2jn  None, in fact. No NATO soldiers fight in Ukraine. Desperate Krembots might as well claim that UN forces fight in Ukraine, because we're all UN members.
    9
  781.  @J.M.254  Then explain how 141 UN members came to condemn Russia for its illegal invasion of Ukraine. A measly 4, apart from Russia itself, supported the action.
    9
  782. I see things are getting desperate over there. Has the troll farm cut your wages again?
    9
  783.  @jussim.konttinen4981  Did I suggest otherwise? I made the point that Indo-European is a language family. Genetics and language are two different things.
    9
  784. But what you fail to appreciate is the extent to which the Chinese go. It would be economically unfeasible to do the same elsewhere, but in the PRC, money is no object if it glorifies the CCP.
    9
  785. Or excessive height. He can't be the Kremlin Gremlin if he's too tall.
    9
  786.  @evolassunglasses4673  Sure, Roman salute, too. The Fascists specifically drew inspiration from the Romans, including their name, which comes from the Roman fasces. The outstretched arm and the chest-thumping, it's all part of it.
    9
  787. When Serbia reverts to old bad habits with regard to the other former Yugoslav republics, will Poland be the first one in to sort out the situation?
    9
  788. Ahem, the declaration was watered down till all G20 members could just about stomach it. That's exactly the sort of thing that is typical for these summits. Also, the problem wasn't the "West", but rather, the "East" -- Russia's overt military aggression in Ukraine and the evasiveness of the "East" in the matter. Tell us in all honesty, should India negotiate about Kashmir and Ladakh? Should Pakistan and China respectively invade India in order to get India to the negotiating table? Is it Indian policy to reward aggression, or does it only apply when another country is subjected to it?
    9
  789. It's as if the Russians peed all over the drone. Pervy.
    9
  790.  @grimaffiliations3671  I'll have a go. Bolsonaro was an eco-disaster personified. His anti-vaxxer antics caused a lot of unnecessary deaths. Brazil suffered diplomatic isolation as foreign leaders gave the man wide berth. Democratic instutions suffered and political polarisation worsened. All in all, Bolsonaro did a lot of deconstruction, but little construction. Not a very constructive leader, in other words.
    9
  791. Without Western technology, all Russia can hope to tap into is Western humanitarian aid.
    9
  792. Kudos to them for their bravery. Going to Kyiv is one thing, but it's quite another when Chechen and Wagner death squads are on the prowl for Zelenskyy.
    9
  793. When did the US join up? I must've missed it.
    9
  794.  @davidcritchley3509  Yeah, that argument could work if Russia hadn't used cluster munitions from day 1 of the invasion.
    9
  795. If history interests you that much, you should be counting the countries in the whole world that Britain hasn't invaded at any time or another. It's easier than the other way around.
    9
  796. To perk up his sagging spirits, Putin joins a meeting of his fanclub.
    9
  797. Not really. It says accidents happen.
    9
  798.  @onemoresmartone  You offered nothing in defence of your viewpoint. We'll just have to file your comment in the bit bucket.
    9
  799. It's official. Berlusconi has gone senile.
    9
  800. That's lethal in China all right.
    9
  801. Your constant nuclear sabre-rattling is getting old.
    9
  802. Their ranking was shown at 0:11, 158th place. Really embarrassing, if you ask me.
    9
  803. I'm not sure if the Russians feel invaded or liberated.
    9
  804. As a matter of fact, Finland never let its guard down after the Cold War. On the contrary, when the likes of Germany and the Netherlands foolishly disposed of their "surplus" Leopard 2 main battle tanks, Finland didn't waste time making an offer. The same applies to Dutch M270 MLRS. The Germans and the Dutch have been kicking themselves ever since. Finland's war-time co-operation with Nazi Germany amounted more to a dalliance than an alliance. You couldn't even call it a marriage of convenience, because it concerned one enemy only: the USSR. No hostilities between Finland and the Western Allies ever took place. Even when the going was still good with Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, Finland wisely stopped advancing when its war aims had been met, meaning the recapture of the territory lost in the Winter War. Hence, Finland steadfastly refused to play an active role in the Siege of Leningrad and made no serious effort to push deeper into Russia, much to Hitler's chagrin. Hitler even tried to pressure Finland to advance by blocking vital grain shipments, but to no avail. Hitler's crusade against Bolshevism was not Finland's fight.
    9
  805. It's not Brexit that ails Germany, sport. It's poor energy policy. Keep up with the news.
    9
  806.  @norbertbarsony4280  Firstly, defence is first and foremost a national issue. The EU doesn't prevent its members from up-arming. That's purely a domestic choice. Secondly, the EU leaders are elected. The European Parliament and the European Council are directly elected, and together these two elect the European Commission. You really need to educate yourself before you blurt out nonsense. And don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    9
  807. You've got it backwards. Israel is calling the shots, not the US.
    9
  808. Russia does find NATO scary, yes. Supposedly, that's why Russia invaded Ukraine, to thwart the latter's NATO membership plans.
    9
  809. It does speak of arrogance if Putin thinks it's okay to do land grabs at Russia's neighbours' expense.
    9
  810.  @wionporky9937  OK, Kremlin apologist.
    9
  811. It's a small price. Giving the finger to dictators (and one-party dictatorships) is priceless.
    9
  812.  @mayerseyer3109  Religious tyranny, you say? Sounds like your right-wing evangelicals.
    9
  813.  @freespiritable  Rather, conspiracy theorists such as yourself take their share. Let us know about any EU-level corruption cases involving cohesion funding. In case you don't understand how it works, the onus is on you to provide proof.
    9
  814.  @sogerc1  ...not to mention the ongoing Russian military occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
    9
  815. Internationally recognised and accepted? Hogwash. They'll have to rebrand, and without the brand recognition, they'll have to start from scratch. With saturated markets, failure is a foregone conclusion.
    9
  816.  @ftu2021  I think you just lost your VPN privileges. Or your social credit score took a nosedive.
    9
  817. China is not a poster child for moral values. The opposite, more like.
    9
  818. Nice conspiracy theory. No ship registered in the EU or in a NATO member country would drag its anchor for 160 km without noticing that something is amiss. Besides, they would be adversely affected by this themselves.
    9
  819. I'm not concerned. If the US were to ignore EU interests, the EU would accelerate plans to form a military alliance of its own, to the detriment of NATO and hence, the US. Many feel this is already long overdue. Let's face it, NATO has historical baggage and its biggest member, the US, is prone to military adventurism.
    9
  820. Source: trust me bro.
    9
  821.  @princessanineveh  Yup, we built schools and offered humanitarian aid -- mainly to improve the plight of girls and women -- in Afghanistan to the tune of 1 billion euros. Thanks for asking.
    9
  822.  @MWENDA-vv5im  Be that as it may, Russia can lower another coffin, that of the CSTO, in the same grave.
    9
  823. The Middle East unrest predates the EU, wisenheimer.
    9
  824.  @mnro123  What's ridiculous about taking resolute action against corruption?
    9
  825. On a related topic, how's your love for Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Mladic, Taylor? Just curious if there's a pattern there.
    9
  826. Cloth bandage or Vaatelaastari(R) is actually a thing in Finland.
    9
  827.  @Козахь  Ukraine is fighting off an aggressor, and doesn't want to feed said aggressor's war machine, which is entirely understandable -- and commendable, too. That's enough info for me. Let the poor saps who didn't see this coming play the blame game.
    9
  828. No one is disputing Hungary's sovereignty. Hungary is perfectly entitled to make bad decisions. And we're perfectly entitled to make it known to Hungary.
    9
  829. It must come as a complete surprise to you that Swedish is, and has been since the late 19th century, a representative democracy.
    9
  830. No, why do you ask? Are you a n00b to democracy?
    9
  831. Quite the contrary. Prior to joining the EEC, Britain was considered the sick man of Europe. And it's showing signs of sickness once again.
    9
  832. Elaborate. You Canadians condone violence against peaceful protesters?
    9
  833.  @paulgibbon5991  Whataboutism always reminds me of a traffic court appearance, where I contested a ticket. The lady who went before me had a brilliant defence: "The two cars in front of me also ran the red light but they weren't stopped". Everyone had a good chuckle.
    9
  834.  Varaha Shakthi  You have something in common with the Chinese. Who would've thought?
    9
  835. @Ahmet Akgun Among others, I read Indian newspapers and the South China Morning Post. While not diametrically opposed to Russia, their in-depth analysis of Russia's poor military performance is strikingly similar to those of Western newspapers. The only thing Russia has going for them is artillery. They have to saturate their targets with massive artillery barrages before they can make the tiniest advance. Russia is making slow progress, and bleeding out in the process.
    9
  836. One would think they've done enough.
    9
  837.  @colemanmoore9871  In Finland, reindeer are semi-domesticated and ear-marked by their owners, who're typically indigenous Sami people. I suppose the latter can offer them for hunting, but it's not very sporting to shoot a reindeer. Even though they roam free most the year, they're not particularly shy of people. Last winter, when I took part in a veterans' biathlon, it was like they were cheering me on from the sidelines. I could've bagged quite a few as the dumb animals stood around the targets.
    9
  838. ​ @luiscarlospallaresascanio2374  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I haven't seen the US annexing any foreign territory lately. They have their foreign bases, but with the explicit blessing of the countries in question. If asked to leave, they will, like in the Philippines -- much to the dismay of the locals.
    9
  839. *Pu Tin. Regional governor Pu Tin of Ruxia, the northern province of China.
    9
  840. ​ @JackTenrec-qk4zp  Alas, Turks living in Europe don't make Turkey more European.
    9
  841.  @ultonian63  The statute of limitations doesn't apply to treason, so hopefully they'll stay out of Ukraine, too.
    9
  842. ​ @chefchaouni7921  El Salvador en Honduras hadden een voetbaloorlog. Alles kan wat de gemoederen hoog doet oplopen.
    9
  843. Hence NATO, Einstein.
    9
  844.  @srinjoyghose  Let's hope so.
    9
  845. More likely, we'll see the UK re-emerge as the sick man of Europe once again. Not that I expect you to understand such complicated matters, but the EU operates by consensus. To put it in terms that you can understand, this means that the playground bully has to check first with his victims if they agree to being bullied. If all 27 agree that they're up for some bullying, the bully can proceed and do his thing. Some bully, that. By the way, don't you -- yourself hailing from an emigration-prone country -- have some immigrants to bully?
    9
  846. The sooner we see Musk depart for Mars, the better.
    9
  847.  @mynjeri5469  The arms race and the Soviet-Afghan War ruined the Soviet economy and spelled the end of the USSR. The war in Ukraine is proving far more costly to Russia than the former did to the USSR. Plus the economic sanctions are taking a huge bite out of the Russian economy. And you think the European economy, which is nearly ten times as big as that of Russia, will collapse first?
    9
  848. ​ @gdiwolverinemale3rd  There you have it. US Constitution. It's not like the UN Charter, which is an international document, and as such bound to use internationally accepted terminology instead of esoteric oddities. You're right about one thing, however. It does seem like US democracy has eroded. The Economist Intelligence Unit, famous for its Democracy Index, has long since recategorised the United States as a 'flawed democracy'.
    9
  849. How does the annexation of Crimea fit into your narrative of a peaceful Russia?
    9
  850. Amusingly, you're forgetting that the Baltic countries are in the EU. At the table, voting, and sometimes vetoing, too. And what matters more than the EU as a whole is what electricity providers Finland, Sweden and Poland do. All get on like a house on fire, so no worries. It's not like Finland, Sweden and Poland are anything like Russia, or for that matter, like the Soviet Union.
    9
  851.  @samielalazar1800  Pray tell, what is factually wrong with what I wrote earlier? It is a fact that the Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive was stopped with a series of Finnish defensive victories. Stalin nixed all plans for further attacks because he urgently needed troops to take Berlin. You're the one making up stories. Finland wasn't broke in the 90s and the child war refugees, with very few exceptions, returned from Sweden after the war. I should know, my mum was one.
    9
  852. I was already wondering what kept you conspiracy theorists from chiming in.
    9
  853.  @saikumarmadadi7524  Putin is bent on more Lebensraum. As an Indian, why don't you offer him some of yours? It might appease him -- for a while, until he comes asking for more.
    9
  854. Putin was pissed with Erdogan making him wait, so he had to act out.
    9
  855. Of course you can. There are precedents aplenty.
    9
  856. Hypocrisy, the standard counter-argument to any criticism towards India. But tell me, is there an admission there, and you think your vague whataboutism constitutes a mitigating factor?
    9
  857. I am very sure the Indonesians can take very good care of their cultural treasures. You've never been there, right?
    9
  858.  @andidevrede822  And I lived in the Netherlands till I turned 21. From those days, I remember well how Rembrandt's famous painting, De Nachtwacht, got vandalised. Maybe an Indonesian museum should take over, because the Dutch can't be trusted to keep it safe. In the past, the Netherlands has seen a lot of Christian fundamentalism and as of late, right-wing extremism. That's a far bigger worry to me than Islamic radicalism in Indonesia.
    9
  859. Schiphol was once jokingly called the UK's largest domestic airport, because Heathrow was such a bottleneck. It appears Brexit is now solving Heathrow's capacity problems once and for all. Speaking of silver linings...
    9
  860.  @123Andersonev  Israel is being accused of dropping a JDAM, a guided gravity bomb, on the hospital. It's nowhere near as fast as a Qassam. You may want to rethink your argumentation.
    9
  861. The only battlefield you'll advance in is in video games.
    9
  862. Out of the frying pan into the fire, eh?
    9
  863. It's not about what the UK did or didn't do. It's about the Hongkongers' right to self-determination. It's being denied by Beijing here and now.
    9
  864. Aren't you a drama queen.
    9
  865.  @glenngentry7523  I'm not American, silly. Castigate yourselves as much as you want, but we're not supporting the US, but rather, Ukraine. If NATO was fighting Russia, the Battle of Vladivostok would have taken place in, say, the first week of June 2022?
    9
  866.  @glenngentry7523  Looks like you've joined Russia already. Of course, you'll deny it in a few years' time. Wir haben es nicht gewusst!
    9
  867. Strange. Putin has made several land grabs. Trump, the incorrigible man-child, is toying with the idea. You seem to struggle with putting things into perspective.
    9
  868. Because Putin is fighting for his life, political and otherwise. Dictators struggle to retire gracefully, especially failed dictators.
    9
  869. Little do you know. I personally experienced how after the Beirut barrack bombings, the hard-hit French were soon back in Lebanon. The Americans never made a comeback. Also, we were in the habit of using the French as a bogeyman. If the locals didn't behave, we told them the French would get involved, and nobody wants that. There were nods all along and things quieted down. I expect that if we had threatened them with the Americans, the reverse would've been true.
    9
  870. Who knows, but it looks like Iran's proxy wars will be scaled down if not stopped altogether. The return on investment appears negative.
    9
  871. Finland didn't want your precious Leningrad. Those Leningraders who experienced the siege knew it full well, too. I've seen the street signs that indicated which side of a street was safe. That was the side that would've been under Finnish artillery fire, had Finland taken part in the siege. The fact of the matter is the USSR tried its best to subdue Finland, but came up short, time and again. The Finns turned out to be most uncooperative. Admittedly, Stalin had a bigger headache in Germany, but it begs the question why he had to seek out conflict where it could've been avoided. The Red Army suffered close to one and half million casualties because a dictator got greedy for Finnish land. There's your mistake. And you had to repeat it, didn't you, in Ukraine.
    9
  872.  @princejayntinda9348  You're advocating protectionism and effectively isolationism, too. You're perhaps forgetting that tariffs always trigger counter-tariffs. It's like the OP insinuated, Trump might as well have increased sales taxes for Americans.
    9
  873. Why single out the US? 99 other UN members deemed the Crimean referendum invalid.
    9
  874.  @alphaclot302  Ukraine is fighting a defensive war, in full compliance with the UN Charter -- which Russia broke, by the way. Therefore, the EU/NATO is entirely within its rights to support Ukraine in any conceivable manner.
    9
  875.  @miloszforman6270  Nonsense. Putin stoked unrest in East Ukraine. He tried to use Ukraine's containment efforts as justification for a full-fledged war against Ukraine, but he has failed spectacularly. A whopping 141 UN members condemned Putin's war, while only a pitiful 5 supported Russia. And still you're trying to peddle Putin's lies.
    9
  876. You need to update your tired old anti-EU propaganda and get your facts straight. Guy Verhofstadt is a directly elected MEP. Juncker was nominated by the European Council and elected by the European Parliament. Both are composed of elected representatives of the people.
    9
  877. The poor Brits think the Germans, the Dutch and the Danes equally rude. The Brits wear their sensitivities on their sleeves.
    9
  878.  @Writeous0ne  The T-72 reached the end of the road a long time ago in terms of design life. The end-of-the-road T-90 and the woulda-coulda-shoulda T-14 are testament to that. The Leopard 2 has a lot of life left in it, like the KF51 Panther upgrade shows. You sound like a WW1 general who dismissed the tank as a fad. Tanks vs. anti-tank weapons will always be a race. Tank armour became resistant to HEAT and HESH rounds, and drones and top-attack missiles will be defeated with APS.
    9
  879.  @commieprop  I tried to explain to you that I have hands-on experience, but alas, it doesn't register.
    9
  880. You're right, I suppose no fragile egos were hurt this time.
    9
  881. Netanyahu has no qualms about biting the hand that feeds him.
    9
  882. You leave nothing to the imagination as to your political stance. <Cough>Nazi<cough>.
    9
  883. If you want to save money on healthcare, introduce universal healthcare. The figures don't lie, it works out cheaper that way. I'm just afraid you'd spend the money saved on ill-advised military adventures of your own, like the Iraq War.
    9
  884.  @mr.metallic5310  I think it's Putin that is fighting for dear life, at least in a political sense. Russia can still save itself -- if it divests itself of Putin. Save itself from itself, that is.
    9
  885.  Dj for The present  Look up the Raid on the Medway and you'll peep differently.
    9
  886. Russia did a lot on conquering, too. Hypocrisy isn't far off.
    9
  887.  @Samb0o0o0  If Wagner are the second best army in Ukraine, that makes them the best army in Russia. It's not much, but it's enough.
    9
  888. Turkey is greedy and has wet dreams.
    9
  889. I see it differently. The PRC has usurped a monopoly on the BioNTech vaccine that covers Taiwan. If don't know if you're an adult, but if you are, you wouldn't be happy with your parents regaining guardianship over you, right? This amounts to the same thing.
    9
  890. They're birds of a feather, Hamas and Netanyahu.
    9
  891. What gymnastics? It's obvious that she gained US citizenship through adoption.
    9
  892. Russians tanks, on the other hand, toss their turrets at the slightest sign of trouble. Wearing flip-flops and head towels is entirely optional, but they worked extremely well in the 80s.
    9
  893.  @MattWhite-vh6xh  If the US were to adopt universal healthcare as well, it would actually save them money. They've invented the most expensive healthcare system in the world with the worst coverage among developed nations. Hooray for US exceptionalism!
    9
  894.  Firm Buttocks  No, but incest may explain your learning difficulties.
    9
  895. You may want to flesh out that bold assertion with arguments. I see an increasingly isolated Netanyahu, whose political career is drawing to an end owing to a string of miscalculations, the gravest one being his confrontational politics vis-à-vis the Palestinians, which have led to this situation.
    9
  896. The CCP made their admiration for the Myanmar junta publicly known. Just stating facts, bro.
    9
  897. You've got to admit that history is starting to rhyme. And Russia can't invade each and everyone of its neighbours. And for your info, Zelenskyy is a comedian, Putin is the (sad) clown.
    9
  898. It's a grand idea to save Africa from China's evil clutches. Africans have seen presidents-for-life rule them with an iron fist for decades. Now that they've made some democratic progress, Xi Jinping -- China's iron-fisted president-for-life -- comes to undo it.
    9
  899. I am still missing trucks carrying looted washing machines. They should parade them, because it's the Russians' only tangible achievement in this war.
    9
  900. One hand giveth humanitarian aid, the other taketh lives.
    9
  901. ​ @yankeepapa304  I lived in Frankfurt, next to a former Berliner, a decorated WW2 veteran. He told that during the Berlin airlift all was forgiven. They had a US cargo plane almost crash in their backyard. The whole crew perished. Later, he went to work for a company that provided logistics services to the USAF. Interestingly, he was very keen to volunteer for another airlift that brought relief to Russians left destitute after the collapse of the USSR.
    9
  902. Even so, we'll see a repeat performance of what happened in Poland, where 'victorious' PiS was relegated to the opposition. This is not America, fortunately.
    9
  903. Maybe you can enlighten us about Ukraine's role in the colonisation of SEA. Come on, don't be shy now.
    9
  904.  @slinkey1644  That's right, they shouldn't. Anyhoo, the real instigator is Iran.
    9
  905. The warmonger turns peacemaker. Yeah right.
    9
  906. You approve of vague whataboutism, that's for sure.
    9
  907. Yet sometimes they're hiding in plain sight, and you refuse to see them.
    9
  908. But it's bad to see Brexit Britain having shot itself in the foot so spectacularly.
    9
  909.  @KINGKING10109  You'd better get with the program. Parliamentary democracies have a head of state, who's either a monarch or a president with titular powers or a president with residual powers, and a head of government, who's either a prime minister or a chancellor. In Germany's case, it's the chancellor, currently Scholz, who's in charge. So, there's more to the world than your United States of America and your presidential system. To confuse you even further, there are semi-presidential systems, too, like that of France. Sure, it's all a devilish ploy to confuse you Americans. Everyone's in on it.
    9
  910.  @kid--presentable  So why are you here?
    9
  911.  @ruzziasht349  France would have to do a Frexit in order to sell Leclercs to Russia.
    9
  912.  @Rick_Riff  Ricky, emigrate already.
    9
  913. Wasn't Mexico supposed to pay for Trump's abortive wall project?
    9
  914. She's made known her plans to retire a looong time ago, but silly you must've missed it.
    9
  915. Denial is the first of the five steps of grief. Don't worry, acceptance is the last step.
    9
  916.  @parrotcraft7503  Thank you for underlining my point so eloquently. You would also benefit if the video were to discuss possible cures, if any, for whataboutism. Alas, whataboutistitis sovieticus may be a chronic disease.
    9
  917.  @parrotcraft7503  What was I whatabouting about? As a long-time sufferer you should understand the symptoms of your condition, but it appears you don't, which suggest you have a cognitive condition as well.
    9
  918. Let's hope we won't see another Katyn massacre.
    9
  919. Similar to what Cyndi Lauper sang, we see Israel's true colors shining through.
    9
  920.  @thematic3893  Nope, not all Africans are on the fence. Benin, Botswana, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Tunisia and Zambia had the guts to condemn Russia's military aggression. The clown face suits you. You should always sign off with one.
    9
  921. No danger of that happening. Turkey comes nowhere near meeting the Copenhagen criteria.
    9
  922. Try to incentivise even more. The more the merrier -- literally. If parties need to collaborate to pass legislation, they have to keep it civil at all times. Multipartisanship is built in, as it were.
    9
  923. I suppose you have a credible source. No, actually, I suppose no such thing.
    9
  924. The system is failing the electorate, that much is certain. Two "meh" candidates who're badly overdue for retirement.
    9
  925. Your inferiority complex is speaking.
    9
  926. I think the title should read "Putin: I am engaged in a battle for my life".
    9
  927. Estonia is inherently defensible. And it's not like the Estonians are at it for the first time. Read up on the Battle of the Blue Hills.
    9
  928.  @CRYBABY99999  Don't you worry your pretty little head. Our arms factories are going at it full tilt.
    9
  929.  @themsmloveswar3985  You raise a valid question. But how valid is Assad's mandate to govern over Syria? If a leader turns against his own people, even massacres them, it's a very valid question indeed.
    9
  930.  @johanj3674  The T-72 and MiG-21 were phased out a long time ago. Sweden, too, procured the BMP, be it the older BMP-1.
    9
  931.  @bigbird6039  There's a world of difference between these Irish and the Dutch in Srebrenica. The Irish are among the most respected UN contigents, together with the Canadians and the Nordics. The Dutch sent conscripts to Srebrenica, with the known results. Not that their commander was any better.
    9
  932.  @zelenskyy-the-blackmailerh5920  Your silly impersonation isn't working. Ask your troll factory handlers for a different persona.
    9
  933. I'm part Dutch and proud of it, but you're too kind in listing the Netherlands as a major buyer of Brazilian goods. It's called the Rotterdam-Antwerp effect and it distorts trade statistics, because many goods are just transshipped though the Netherlands. To France, for instance.
    9
  934. Scandinavian airlines don't fly to and fro Russia, and the reverse is true as well.
    9
  935. Russia has no choice but to pick China. It's Russia's economic lifeline. India is optional.
    9
  936. What exactly are you trying to prove? If anything, Russia's military adventure in Ukraine is proving to be a mistake of catastrophic proportions. It could very well spell the end of the Russian Federation.
    9
  937. Little do you know. Max Burgers and Sibylla will quickly close the market gap. For your info, former McDonald's restaurants in Russia quickly reopened under a new brand. After all, the suppliers were domestic. Interestingly, they used blank packaging for a while. That's the problem with American brands -- they're just that.
    9
  938. You may also want to stage protests.
    9
  939.  @rainland8335  I thought you Yanks loved the Kurds, too. Still, Trump sold them down the river.
    9
  940.  @evdm7482  Rich, too, considering that China's expansionism is alive and well. Slavery, too, continued in China till 1949. Not only that, their treatment of the Uyghurs amounts to modern-day slavery.
    9
  941.  @deepone5005  Tell us more about these provocations. I'm particularly interested in the alleged genocide in the Donbas, for which Russia utterly failed to produce one shred of evidence, despite having unfettered access to the region.
    9
  942.  @martycoldschool910  The Taliban developed from the Mujahideen, who kicked Russian butt to the extent of the Soviet Union collapsing. Should we also discuss the First Chechen War?
    9
  943. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
    9
  944. The facts check out. Your conspiracy theory does not.
    9
  945.  @oneone8318  You're clearly not in the know. Finland has a centre-left government. What's dishonourable about Finland's "past and history" (you committed a tautology there).
    9
  946. Trump heeft het overigens nooit gekunt.
    9
  947.  @michaelcollins4982  Electing Trump in 2024 equates to capitulation.
    9
  948. Tomorrow's cannon fodder.
    9
  949. Let's ask the UN. Oh, West Bank it is.
    9
  950. You can't even help yourself. It's America that is slipping towards Fascism.
    8
  951. moussa1819 Putin's shills... a.k.a. Russia's troll army.
    8
  952. Uros L Please, educate me about independently verifiable accounts of persecution, where ethnic Russians have been systematically targeted by Ukrainian or Georgian authorities. Since we're on the topic, there are independently verifiable accounts of persecution of non-Russian Crimeans, post-annexation.
    8
  953. "...we also believe that small countries should not continuously make trouble for no reason. It's normal for life to have ups and downs..." China's arrogance is palpable.
    8
  954. Is "abortion" low-intellect'ese for "abomination"?
    8
  955. In one word, Trump.
    8
  956. Wow, that spells GAME OVER... in your copium-softened mind.
    8
  957. ​ @HyperboreaDani  The OSCE considers Russian claims about Ukrainian "genocide" in Donbas as unsubstantiated. How do you explain that?
    8
  958. So, she should've dodged that sniper bullet that travelled at supersonic speed?
    8
  959. Russia is always portraying itself as the victim. It's nothing out of the ordinary.
    8
  960. I find it even more incredible on account of Australia nixing the sub deal with France.
    8
  961. You must running on fumes delusions of grandeur.
    8
  962.  @90skidcultist  Indo-European is a language family, silly. Americans are English if it's only language that counts.
    8
  963. You should be talking. Murica subsidizes stuff left right and centre. Your military industrial complex is all about subsidies, only you don't call them that.
    8
  964. *The US, *losing, *its. Three mistakes in a short sentence. It's such a pity that the British Council had to quit Russia, isn't it.
    8
  965.  @masterlightjames950  Oh, but NATO air power was easily holding the Taliban back in Afghanistan. The Taliban only launched their final assault when said air power was no longer applied, as per Trump's ill-considered withdrawal deal.
    8
  966.  @ulihanel7078  What freedom? Mali has a military dictatorship in power.
    8
  967.  @Thomas.Deverell  It appears Russia struggles with geography. Its military keeps spilling over its own borders. Non-NATO borders, that is. NATO does a sterling job demarkating its members' borders in a manner that even dense Russia understands.
    8
  968. Maybe our livers aren't big enough. Or if they are, they're tainted by alcohol.
    8
  969.  @VictorBonello  The Cossacks originate from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. That's by and large Europe, which extends all the way to the northern and western shores of the Caspian Sea. Moreover, the Pontic-Caspian Steppe is said to be the ancient homeland of the Indo-Europeans.
    8
  970. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    8
  971. @aleserban9322 The Baltic countries were held back by the Soviet Union, but once out of the cage, they've left Russia eating dust. GDP figures don't lie.
    8
  972. Is what we're seeing in Ukraine merely paranoia? I'm sure drinking on the job isn't allowed in your troll factory.
    8
  973. Tongue-tied? Maybe the Russian Ministry of Disinformation can throw you a bone.
    8
  974. Can't tell the Balkans apart from the Baltic states?
    8
  975.  @cafepablo1968  I see a conspiracy theory in the making. Go on.
    8
  976.  @mischadebrouwer9855  Good point, the Netherlands has a score to settle with Russia. I hope we'll soon see Igor Girkin in the Hague, clapped in irons.
    8
  977.  @MMA-gb6to  How Pavlovian of you to bring up the US. Did you know that you can choose from no less than 141 countries if you need to pick one that opposes Russia?
    8
  978.  @angelanabozny72  You are a case in point, I'm afraid.
    8
  979.  @СергейМонин-д7с  But you're a pariah state that's shunned internationally.
    8
  980. Accession of Finland and Sweden? The two have been EU members since 1995. Hungary itself only joined the EU in 2004, which meant that Finland and Sweden had to give their say-so before Hungary could join. Both have been funding Orban's corruption spree, too.
    8
  981.  @rajg2969  "usa hegemony on cuba people [sic]" -- try to be more specific and, for good measure, try to find an American to whatabout with. This is the comment section of a European news agency and I'm a Euro. "War in iraq" -- same difference, we were diametrically opposed to a military invention. France bore the brunt of America's wrath. Again, you picked the wrong comment section for your silly generalisations. Your North/South division may have been relevant during the American Civil War, but now it's just silly twaddle.
    8
  982. Neither the Taliban nor ISIS-K possess UCAVs that could perform drone strikes. The Afghan Air Force didn't have any to begin with, and the Taliban repairing crashed USAF or RAF Reapers is entirely hypothetical. Moreover, how would they operate them? The control stations are on other continents. I do expect the Taliban to fly around in captured Mi-17s and Mi-24s for a while, but the question is, will these rickety helicopters be more dangerous to the Talibans or their enemies?
    8
  983. Maybe common, but still invented by Germans.
    8
  984. Too bad 'you' built it on foreign land. The Chinese are building stuff throughout the developing world. You think it's OK they take over the land, too? Double standards are duplicitous.
    8
  985. Wouldn't it be counter-productive for France to agree? They're adopting this law to prevent being overrun by Comorians.
    8
  986.  @danutahanyga4834  Some informal assurances were made relating to Soviet borders, but that, too, remains a matter of controversy. At any rate, no treaties that curtailed NATO's eastward expansion were ever signed. And NATO doesn't equal the US. Russia can insist on carving out its sphere of influence till it goes blue in the face, but at the end of the day, sovereign countries have the right to choose their own alliances. Putin has set himself up to fail.
    8
  987.  @herrwahnsinn4229  Your poor self-esteem is not something we all suffer from.
    8
  988. The Ruscists are the new Fascists, boyo.
    8
  989.  @arifcso6633  Estonia is officially a Northern European country as per the UN geoscheme. Besides, 'Nordic' isn't the badge of honour you seem to think it is. Most foreigners will use 'Scandinavia' to refer to us, unaware of the fact that Finland is not part of Scandinavia. Estonia certainly isn't, but like the Finns, they're not making any claims either. In fact, as a Finn who's officially allowed to call himself a veteran, I feel a stronger kinship with the Estonians than my fellow Nordics. As Finns, we know for a fact that the Estonians can fight, and will, too.
    8
  990. It will be a mirror moment when Chad can't blame France for its misfortunes.
    8
  991.  @restlessactivity8696  Right-o, Crimea has a huge body of water at its disposal. The problem is, it's a tad salty.
    8
  992. Yeah, there should be a channel reserved for whataboutists.
    8
  993. Trudeau laughed at Trump, too.
    8
  994.  @ads13924  It's factual, I'm afraid.
    8
  995. Let me guess. You failed geography... hard.
    8
  996.  @imaanhadi1340  You're a bit of a mess, aren't you? Your random accusations have no bearing on anything I wrote earlier.
    8
  997.  @MossMini  We make your 4G and 5G networks, for starters.
    8
  998. It's Murica in particular that suffers from climate change-induced extreme weather.
    8
  999. That's not it. He's just an oaf.
    8
  1000. As Sir Patrick explained, a lot of Leavers feel misled by the false promises and are bound to react. Brexit-Britain isn't the Promised Land after all. False Promise Land, is more like it.
    8
  1001. You put a lot of stock in "the Global South". Your South couldn't even agree to disagree.
    8
  1002. Sure they do, because it's factual.
    8
  1003. Don't besmirch Poland's valiant effort to fight evil.
    8
  1004. Krembots for Trump, eh?
    8
  1005. ​ @Paveyourway88  You do realise, right, that with only a few modifications, Putin could use the very same justification to stay in Ukraine?
    8
  1006.  @lovetsumugi.a  Duh. Hypocrisy.
    8
  1007. Freya had better head back north where clams are more plentiful. Another walrus, Stena, died of malnutrition in Finland a few days ago.
    8
  1008. No worries, the EU will impose counter-tariffs as a matter of course. I had better get a bottle of Jim Bean before the price goes up 50%.
    8
  1009. Interestingly, too, a lot of the troops won't be coming back. Ukrainian farmers are grateful for the fertilizer and the tanks.
    8
  1010. That's a tall order, considering the IDF with all its might can't achieve that goal either. But if you feel capable of achieving that goal, feel free to apply for a posting to Lebanon with UNIFIL.
    8
  1011.  @luff675  Hamas doesn't receive Western aid. The aid is delivered directly to Gazan schools, hospitals and the like. In the EU, where Hamas is designated a terrorist organisation, it's illegal to fund Hamas in any way.
    8
  1012. You're making it appear like China invented open source. China was been a big adopter, but less so a contributor. It's nice that it's finally making amends.
    8
  1013.  @RuskiVanka  You've got no freedom of the press, that's why.
    8
  1014. What goes around comes around.
    8
  1015. You should do your own research. With this electronic network thingy about -- the Internet -- information is literally at your fingertips. Over the years, ECOWAS has intervened in Ivory Coast (2003), Liberia (2003), Guinea-Bissau (2012), Mali (2013) and Gambia (2017).
    8
  1016.  @neilnelson7603  Not the same diff. Dubya didn't annex anything. Putler wants Lebensraum.
    8
  1017. Hello, Typhoid Mary.
    8
  1018. My great-grandmother hails from Gävle, Sweden, and I have Swedish roots from other ancestors as well, judging from a DNA test that I did: 50% Scandinavian and 50% Finnish. It's only because of my great-grandfather, who got terribly upset with Sweden for not properly helping Finland out during its existential wars with the Soviet Union, that we stopped speaking Swedish in the family. However, an aunt of mine switched back and my cousins are now native Swedish-speakers. I'd never dare to suggest they're not Finnish. They mix it up, though. It appears cursing is more effective in Finnish.
    8
  1019. It's an entirely silly video. We see Su-25s transform into an attack helicopter and back. The FAC has binoculars that he found in a Cracker Jack box.
    8
  1020. That is extremely debatable. I see this as something similar to the Uyghurs signing a 'unity declaration' with Al Qaeda.
    8
  1021.  @stormelemental13  As bittersweet as it sounds, the war in Ukraine is speeding up the green shift. High hydrocarbon prices are an extra incentive to invest more in carbon-free energy. It's a pity it couldn't be done with ecotaxes instead, but what can you do when maniacs like Putin are running wild?
    8
  1022. Russia is fighting a losing battle everywhere.
    8
  1023. For your info, Germany easily outscores the USA in the Democracy Index, as do a whole horde of European countries. Even a few South American and African countries do.
    8
  1024. UN peacekeeping missions require UNSC approval. No prizes for guessing who'd veto.
    8
  1025.  @anarabbasov8634  Are we to "respect" Putin's self-styled sphere of influence? How about you respecting Ukraine's sphere of influence, as delineated by Ukraine's national borders?
    8
  1026. More like throwing his toys out of the pram.
    8
  1027. Er, a negative trade balance is not a matter of pride.
    8
  1028. Who's Putin kidding? Russia's military folded like a cheap lawn chair when Wagner made their presence known.
    8
  1029. They know more than you; they know where the real fascists are. Hint: much further to the east.
    8
  1030. Aw, so there's isn't a lid for every pot after all.
    8
  1031. It was Turkey that was trying to make amends with the EU just a while ago. I appears mercurial Erdogan has now reversed course and prefers to make enemies again. We have a saying that a cornered cat makes weird jumps.
    8
  1032. Unlike America, France hasn't started any eye-wateringly expensive wars for a while, so your point is moot.
    8
  1033.  @masakitonguba8919  It bears reminding that Ukraine has the support of 141 countries in its bid to ward off Russia's attempts at forcibly changing the government in Ukraine, including that of your Philippines. Russia has a pitiful 3 backers left, down from 4. One, Syria, just had a change of heart.
    8
  1034. Even in the Kremlin, they've grown bored with that excuse.
    8
  1035. Scholz isn't Ribbentrop, but Putin is only too eager to play the part of Molotov. And that of Stalin, of course.
    8
  1036.  @jeffreyroot6300  Wapitis. Your first settlers, being from Britain, didn't know what a real elk looked like. They called the first large animal with antlers that they encountered "elk". When they came across the real thing, they had to think of something else.
    8
  1037. Badges of honour. India doesn't even get a participation award.
    8
  1038.  @larsjohansson6542  But they're not in Ukraine, dum-dum.
    8
  1039. You don't have to imagine it. King Fhilippe wrote a formal letter of apology to the president of DRC in 2020.
    8
  1040. It's interesting that France's leading WW2 fighter ace, Pierre Clostermann, had German roots while two of Germany's greats, Hans-Joachim Marseille and Adolf Galland, had French ancestry.
    8
  1041. Russia excels in one thing -- extrajudicial killings.
    8
  1042.  @billrerikson6378  If not its underperforming military, then Russia's relatively small and poorly diversified economy disqualifies Russia as a superpower. Russia simply doesn't have what it takes.
    8
  1043. ​ @f0xixtaiail2000  Purely ballistic missiles are relatively easily to intercept owing to their predictable ballistic trajectory. The ATACMS jinks before it hits the target, making it much harder to intercept. It's interesting that Russia, despite pioneering the technique in their missiles, can't counter it as well as the US Patriot.
    8
  1044. You're not the sharpest tool in the shed, I'm afraid. Typically, countries strive to be energy-independent, but especially now with renewables such a wind and solar in the picture, at times output and consumption can be at odds so that interconnected grids benefit from one another's stabilising effect. One day, electricity flows one way, the next, the other way. Savvy?
    8
  1045. You're the clown here, Enrico. There are 746 million Europeans. Hungary accounts for 10 million of them, and Russia, 110 million, since the bulk of Russia's 147-million population lives on the European continent. You're implying that a fraction of those 120 million support Orban and his ill-advised policies. Orban truly is isolated.
    8
  1046. That's a contradiction in terms. Europe is not a nation.
    8
  1047. What about whataboutism?
    8
  1048.  @ЭЮЯ-о3к  Are you rewriting history, Soviet-style? Was the "whole West" (who would that be?) pitted against the Russia in your revisionist take on history?
    8
  1049.  @ЮрийКастро-м5в  And now you're on a watchlist. Don't bother to apply for French nationality.
    8
  1050.  @miteshghadi3146  Russia has tasted defeat many, many times over, so it's far from a first. Do we need to go over the more recent ones?
    8
  1051. Russia had better get a dacha ready for Lukashenko, maybe next to that of Yanukovych, so the two can lament their fates together.
    8
  1052. I served in two defence forces, the FDF and Netherlands Armed Forces. It was no different, only fewer woods in Holland. And as a MAG gunner, one got hoarse quickly.
    8
  1053.  @gosolvideos  No, Ruxia, the new northern province of China, with Pu Tin as its regional governor.
    8
  1054.  Bill Platers  I love your "Commonwealth to the rescue" bit. The reverse is true, Britain's erstwhile victims of colonisation will just reach for the popcorn. When they've had enough amusement, the Indians may just buy up the rest of Britain's luxury brands.
    8
  1055. 14 countries have joined NATO since the USSR collapsed. Thirty years later, not one of them has nuclear weapons on its soil. Russia, on the other hand, has stationed nuclear missiles in Kaliningrad. You and your pal Putin are barking up the wrong tree.
    8
  1056.  @blank557  True dat. My Finnish grandfather brought a Colt revolver back from the States, where he worked as a miner till he could buy out his siblings and take over the family farm. He always called it his "prauninki". Many a pig was killed with the gun.
    8
  1057. @@JeremiasIsraelnumberone If Netanyahu goes to prison, shouldn't you join him? You did vote for him, right?
    8
  1058.  quotetheraven90  Judging from what appears to be your year of birth, you may not have consciously lived through it, but I distinctly remember how Europeans were at odds over the Iraq War. Look up "freedom fries".
    8
  1059. Unfortunately, sometimes they do. The debris of a great many land harmlessly, too. Russia shouldn't be firing missiles at Ukraine in the first place. It also bears reminding that Russia could stop this war overnight by withdrawing its troops beyond its internationally recognised borders. Interestingly, Russia does the very same to Ukrainian missiles and drones, and then hypocritically accuses Ukraine of terrorising its civilians.
    8
  1060. Tricky. Latvia is a signatory to the Ottawa Treaty, which bans anti-personnel mines.
    8
  1061. The problem is, the locals don't want independence. Mayotte is a case in point. The Mahorans rejected independence from France twice, in 1974 and 1976. The nearby Comoros did go for it, with the result that Comorians are now flocking to Mayotte to rejoin France, as it were.
    8
  1062. Russia seems to have taken a leave of absence from it.
    8
  1063. Speaking of gravitas, Trump has none.
    8
  1064. No worries, Russia accepted defeat in the First Chechen War. WW1, same difference. We're not breaking new ground here.
    8
  1065.  @bachelor3846  The East Germans were pretty pissed that they couldn't travel freely, while the West Germans could, and did, too. It certainly was a contributing factor in the demise of the GDR.
    8
  1066. At the end of the day, I don't think Belgium can conjure up the will to move forward as a single country. The break-up is long overdue, like the dissolution of a marriage of convenience that turned inconvenient a long time ago.
    8
  1067.  @dieterhofner7043  Hey, Flanders is okay -- more than okay, in fact.
    8
  1068. Define relevance. All political systems -- left, right and centre -- have adopted certain aspects of Marxism. Also, studying Marxism also keeps us from repeating other aspects that proved unworkable or even outright mistakes.
    8
  1069. Don't you worry your pretty little head. We've been preparing since 1944. We know a thing or two about defending ourselves, particularly against the Russians.
    8
  1070.  @Diomedes99  What do mean by Russia barely being able to make a cellphone? They can't make cellphones at all. The last Russian company to try, Yota Devices, went bankrupt in 2019.
    8
  1071.  @yaucharles91  But China lacks standards such as an independent judiciary and constitutional safeguards against government meddling. In short, we just can't trust Chinese companies with sensitive data.
    8
  1072. Don't delude yourself. Russia's supporters worldwide are as elusive as dark matter. What was the score again, 141 countries against vs. 4 for?
    8
  1073.  @helios7212  Night of the Long Injection Needles?
    8
  1074. The UK is more like a cat that at first couldn't decide whether to go outside or not. Now, the cat is finally out, but it's waiting in front of the door, licking its paws.
    8
  1075. Lithuania is north of Germany, Ukraine is to the south. Did you fail geography, like hard?
    8
  1076. Scholz is clearly going for the Moshe Dayan look. I wish he'd act more like it, too.
    8
  1077. Don't walk and chew gum at the same time. You'll trip.
    8
  1078. Uh, we don't have empty shelves.
    8
  1079.  @1247.cccccc  Party politics is fine... in a true multi-part democracy, not in a stagnant duopoly.
    8
  1080. You exaggerate. Lavrov is not that respected. Putin's little messenger, more like.
    8
  1081. You're wrong on all accounts. NATO, if you go by its members, is still somewhat divided on Kosovo. However, 87% of its member base has recognised Kosovo and its borders. Worlwide, recognition of Kosovo stands at 53%. In other words, we've got a global majority supporting Kosovo's sovereignty.
    8
  1082. You need to make a beeline for your safe space.
    8
  1083. Perhaps the US, another proud and independent democracy, shouldn't interfere by vetoing the next UNSC draft resolution that condemns Israel's actions against the Palestinians.
    8
  1084.  @johnwinter2252  The etymology of the term 'tank' is well known, but it doesn't prove your point. Do your research. I used to work for a defence contractor that made lightly armoured APCs, mainly for UN peacekeeping duties. Had I referred to them as tanks in front of my customers, I would've lost all credibility and never closed a deal. You may want to steer clear of defence industry jobs.
    8
  1085.  @commieprop  It depends. We're talking about a product of my erstwhile employer's. What's your real-life exposure to the NEMO?
    8
  1086. Free and fair elections?
    8
  1087. Putin made himself a coffin on February 24 this year.
    8
  1088. Where Novichok failed, the Russian prison system did him in.
    8
  1089. What should take its place? The League of Nations? I think your beef is with humanity as a whole.
    8
  1090. The middleman cuts out the profit for Russia. Not all that bad.
    8
  1091. I've got news for you. Reporters often cover more than one country. Nigeria, as the bigger and more influential country, seems a better base.
    8
  1092.  @TreyMax  By my calculations Russia is ahead in withdrawals. Vietnam War, 1-0. Soviet-Afghan War, 1-1. First Chechen War, 1-2. War in Afghanistan, 2-2. Syrian Civil War, 2-3. Russia is losing... it.
    8
  1093. Of course he's trying to make political capital out of this. Populists are per definition opportunists.
    8
  1094. It will be a short interlude, I'm afraid.
    8
  1095.  @crazyoilfieldmechanic3195  Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    8
  1096. Will you ever tire of using colonisation as an excuse for everything? We're Westerners all right, but we endured colonisation as well. We enjoyed a 30-year head start on you in becoming independent, but it doesn't occur to us to blame colonisation, like ever. Funny that.
    8
  1097. The 2008 Russo-Georgian War did the trick.
    8
  1098. I think yours is the only reasonable comment in this whole comment section.
    8
  1099.  @hong-enlin4651  FYI, the Taiwanese and Hongkies will get red carpet treatment in any developed country that has a greying population.
    8
  1100.  @rexsceleratorum1632  Not after the GMLRS obliterated the Russian ammo dump with all the necessary MLRS rockets in it. That's what we're witnessing now.
    8
  1101. Does he have any allies left?
    8
  1102. Why EU? Internal electoral affairs are just that: internal. Paranoia is not something you should flaunt, BTW.
    8
  1103. Trump's ego certainly is UGE. Too bad it's very fragile, too.
    8
  1104.  @OzzyBloke  There's no two ways about it. Russia invaded Crimea and started fomenting unrest in the Donbas in 2014. The aggression is all Russia's. There, solved it for you.
    8
  1105.  @darkgalaxy5548  I actually watched the vid. There's nothing in it that suggests there's no centre, centre right or far left. BTW, I don't think France 24 will get upset if you do some background research yourself.
    8
  1106. Do nuclear fall-out shelters make great offensive weapons? Russia should quit its aggression against Ukraine and the wider nuclear threats that go with it, and all this would go away, practically overnight. It's Russia's war of choice, not ours.
    8
  1107. No, on the contrary, France has shown integrity at the UNSC. The UK is vacillating, the USA is a disgrace.
    8
  1108. For a very long time, both have managed fine without China.
    8
  1109. It's standard practice to counter-attack in order to contain a breakthrough and dislodge the enemy before they manage to dig in.
    8
  1110. Russia has made gay-bashing its moral pedestal. The blame is entirely deserved.
    8
  1111. Are you an unemployed bus driver then?
    8
  1112.  @timhammick8230  NATO suffers from recurring US military adventurism. Excise the US and the problem is solved.
    8
  1113. Denying Russian tourists visas would have the added benefit of making them go to Crimea for a beach holiday. I hear the Ukrainians organise nice fireworks displays there.
    8
  1114. Feeding the Gazans. You're not scoring any sympathy points for Israel.
    8
  1115. Crowds are fickle, especially unthinking ones.
    8
  1116. Sovereign nations get to decide for themselves which alliances they enter into. Like it or lump it, Robbie.
    8
  1117. Cruise missiles, regardless or origin, are by nature hard to shoot down. They fly low, so they're hard to pick up from a distance with even the best of radar systems. The defender needs to have short- to medium-range anti-air systems along the flight path of the cruise missiles, and get a clear shot. Cruise missiles tend to hug the terrain, or even duck behind buildings, so it's not always a given. I guess Ukraine didn't have enough of such anti-air systems around Lviv.
    8
  1118. Take it easy. Trump has left the White House and his poor handling of the pandemic is no longer a matter of concern. The need for diversions is gone.
    8
  1119. Sure. When an ayatollah cuts a wet fart, the West is to blame, too.
    8
  1120. Not having to vote in four years' time suggests something else altogether.
    8
  1121.  @TheLiberal-d3n  What's so hard to understand about the left and the right having their own subsets, as in the far and the centre? It appears the left -- as in the far left and centre left -- are capable of co-operating. On the right, not so.
    8
  1122.  @slartibar  The weather is not terrible. I moved back from the Netherlands and found Finland a tremendous improvement weather-wise. But I'm not a fan of eternal rain and wind.
    8
  1123. 6 oligarchs and counting.
    8
  1124.  @kid--presentable  That much is clear, but you seem lost. Shouldn't you try to pick a vid to comment that is somehow related or sympathetic to your viewpoint? This one is not. It's like if I were to start to talk enthusiastically about rain gauges and shovels, expecting to find a fanbase here.
    8
  1125.  @xinyiquan666  I'm defending maritime law, dum-dum, not the US. It's not my fault that you get the heebie-jeebies when the US is mentioned, and you start vomiting your bile all over the place.
    8
  1126.  @scottwebb4722  Simple-pimple. In NATO doctrine, airpower has replaced artillery as the 'king of battle'. NATO simply wasn't prepared for two post-Soviet countries employing Soviet doctrine against one another. The profiteering is in your mind. In fact, I think you're projecting. Russia is the 'king of corruption'.
    8
  1127. Don't make us laugh. Orban will back down when the EU starts talking about stopping the flow of money to Hungary. If he still refuses to, his days are numbered.
    8
  1128. Saudi Arabia joined BRICS, innit?
    8
  1129. Not too long ago, Putin and Erdogan were at loggerheads. Opportunism prevails in their international relationships.
    8
  1130. RT would be in German if hadn't been for the Western Allies.
    8
  1131. Pieter heeft inderdaad goed werk geleverd.
    8
  1132.  @efeme04  You're confused. Russia is busily annexing territory, not the US. Pay more attention to the news.
    8
  1133. If countries with pathetic governments need conquering, the USA is at the top of the list.
    8
  1134.  @RamSingh-hd6bg  Whoa, a statement like that suggests that you are stretching the political spectrum so far to the right that binoculars are needed to spot you.
    8
  1135. How?
    8
  1136. So, Putin will fire Musk. If Musk doesn't resign first.
    8
  1137. Wrong place though. Moscow is the right venue for peace marches.
    8
  1138. Duh, Finland didn't partake in the First World War, but fought no less than three separate wars during the course of the Second World War: the Winter War, the Continuation War and the Lapland War. All three ended with the Soviet Union and, lastly, Germany, excusing themselves to attend to more pressing matters.
    8
  1139. The war in Ukraine has demonstrated that India is still too immature for a permanent seat in the UNSC. We need less -- not more -- unprincipled egotists.
    8
  1140.  @tarrasteno  Oh, I'm not referring to the USA per se when I'm referring to freedom and democracy. For your information, the Muricans have had a few hiccups lately. Since we're eagerly doing the whataboutist thing, what about Russia? Russia has never known freedom and democracy. Worst of all, it likes to export its non-freedom and non-democracy.
    8
  1141.  @bigtamis  No more geriatric presidents, please. That includes Trump.
    8
  1142.  @realnapster1522  Be specific, which German billionaire has thrown an ultra-lavish wedding party for his obesity-stricken son?
    8
  1143. I wouldn't mind if he starts experimenting -- on himself.
    8
  1144. I guess you've never been to Gibraltar and seen the place for yourself. An independent Gibraltar simply isn't a viable proposition.
    8
  1145. Monarchies in the 21st century are utterly weird.
    8
  1146. But you're not indigenous. There are no indigenous peoples living in England. The closest people to you that qualify as such are the Irish in Ireland.
    8
  1147. That would leave Putin high and dry money-wise, because Russia doesn't have much else to sell than hydrocarbons. He'd have a rebellion on his hands in no time.
    8
  1148. Your imaginary magic sky friend should have secured a design patent for the rainbow.
    8
  1149.  @TheAscension11  You might as well ask yourself why Airbus doesn't replace the four jet engines with anti-gravity generators and use the small auxiliary power unit in the tail for propulsion.
    8
  1150. Funny, no other EU member thinks so. Hungary always stands alone.
    8
  1151. Racism doesn't come under freedom of speech.
    8
  1152. Are you sure the Dutch will have you?
    8
  1153. Reports have it that you're a sad bot.
    8
  1154. You're not getting it. Out of a 2,000 unemployed -- any group of 2,000 unemployed -- a certain number is bound to find a job in two years' time. The question was, will that number be more or less with among those 2,000 participating in the trial as opposed to 2,000 who're not. That way, you can judge whether the trial is making the unemployed lazier or keener to find a job. It appears they're neither keener nor lazier. Just happier.
    8
  1155. I think he flew. Amazing as he may be, Zelenskyy can't walk on water. And he certainly didn't take a detour via Russia.
    8
  1156.  @KennethGiuffre-i5n  The USA meets its 2% NATO target in name only, unlike the bulk of NATO's European members, who're above and beyond. For the US, the figure 1.7% of GDP is about right.
    8
  1157.  @josmaes4375  Good botting for Putin, Joske.
    8
  1158. Russia is a shoo-in for winning gold in turret-tossing at this year's Military World Games.
    8
  1159.  @Babesinthewood97  No worries, Trump's global war on trade has lit a fire under Canada's and the EU's trade negotiators.
    8
  1160. For better or worse, the EU will get the UK back, piece by piece.
    8
  1161. So you know, I'm reporting you for hate speech.
    8
  1162. @Градиентная Оптимизация Naw, we just want to see how you crawl out of the hole you've dug for yourselves.
    8
  1163. @Градиентная Оптимизация The war in Ukraine is an unmitigated disaster for Russia, and not just militarily, but even more so politically and economically. And what has Russia gained? International pariah status, a moribund economy, a depleted and demoralised army and, to add insult to injury, two new NATO neighbours. All you can do is wallow in victimhood and pretend we're out to get you, while in actuality we don't want any part of you -- literally and idiomatically. You can quietly stew in your own juices for as long as you care. Oh, and don't you worry your pretty little head about our petrol and gas. Haven't you heard of the Green Shift? I've been driving an EV for years. I used to buy the odd bottle of gas for the barbecue, but I've switched to charcoal since.
    8
  1164.  @jessehachey2732  We stuffed the water jackets of our Maxims full of snow to keep the barrels from overheating. Actually, that was my grandfather and his machine gun team in the Winter War. I carried the MAG, too, in the Royal Netherlands Army. I did enjoy the shooting part, but the carrying part, not so much.
    8
  1165. Aw. Wallowing in victimhood, are we?
    8
  1166. ​ @wietla  The Ukrainian counter-attack, which, in Pirogozhin's words, caused a whole Russian brigade to flee Bakhmut, pushed back its capture by another hundred years.
    8
  1167. It's unrelated, silly.
    8
  1168. No such thing is koming.
    8
  1169. ...and the conspiracy theorists are out in force.
    8
  1170. No, the Russians have a long memory, especially where their forebears were killed by the Estonians.
    8
  1171.  @breakfast00club..11  Oh dear, you didn't look up the Battle of *Khasham.
    8
  1172. @Gray Jedi Don't be silly. We all vote for our leaders, or we wouldn't be in the EU.
    8
  1173.  @mattayele1906  Oh, Russia will extradite Putin, just like Serbia extradited Milošević.
    8
  1174.  @Exxperiment626  In the grand scale of things, Russia's got a tiny and irrelevant economy. Putin's social contract with the Russian people is based on security and prosperity. When prosperity makes way for poverty, security goes out of the window. Putin does too, perhaps even literally.
    8
  1175. You poor Krembots. This must be a very testing time for you. And then there's the constant fear of being called up.
    8
  1176. Good coping. You should become a therapist for Krembots.
    8
  1177. Simply put, the countries on Russia's doorstep want to join NATO because they don't want to be forcibly joined to Russia.
    8
  1178.  @murrayflewelling1258  Nice semi-covert attempt at whataboutism.
    8
  1179. If Scholz were to resign over this and new elections would follow, the world would be better off for it.
    8
  1180. Yeah, I tried it on for size but it sucks. Got anything that actually makes sense?
    8
  1181. You're very much dependent on the so-called West. The development aid, the generous low-interest loans and the remittances sent by your workers in the West -- if all that were to stop, you'd be left high and dry. In other words, you'd be on a popcorn-only diet.
    8
  1182. Well, democracy hasn't exactly been prevailing under Erdogan, who's shut down the free press and now seems to be weeding out his critics from the judiciary.
    7
  1183. The Le Pen dynasty, so divided. Imagine them in government.
    7
  1184. +Dan Martin It's more like Murica is experiencing a total meltdown, left, right and centre.
    7
  1185. Nah, the UK has looking for more privileges, not reform. In fact, some EU members were prodding Cameron to get a partner in the UK for pushing real reform, but Cameron snubbed them. History will know Brexit as Cameron's Folly.
    7
  1186. Uros L Then try the UN Human Rights Council. Oh no, Russia was just kicked out of UNHRC for indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Syria.
    7
  1187. So Putin, by controlling the media, stokes anti-Western sentiment in Russia, causing nation-wide hysteria about an imminent NATO attack. His most bellicose adherents go as far as suggesting that attack is the best defence. When the West reacts and bolsters its defences after decades of post-Cold War neglect, he says it's "insane".
    7
  1188. It's going to be hard on the homeowners. Many won't be able to recuperate their money (Spain had a real estate bubble), so they can't afford anything decent back in the UK. Also, a lot of property coming onto the market is going to depress prices even further. They're screwed, in other words.
    7
  1189. One wonders, were bribes involved, just like in the Saudi arms deal?
    7
  1190. I'm sure cowpunchers are in great demand in Australia, but sharkpunchers?
    7
  1191.  @BlueIvory4  We built roads in rural Kenya, paid for by development aid. Not only that, we actually paid local subcontractors to do part of the work. The Chinese were at it, too, but they expected repayment of the loans that paid for them. Plus the Chinese used Chinese workers exclusively. These workers were fed poorly, so at times we fed them as well. Not long after, the Chinese roads were washed away by the rains, while ours withstood the rains with little damage. I bet the Kenyans are still paying for these Chinese roads.
    7
  1192. Your imagination in action.
    7
  1193.  @alexanderpepkin4110  We have universal healthcare in Western Europe, sport.
    7
  1194. Iranian generals keep putting themselves in mortal danger by associating with Hezbollah. They should know better.
    7
  1195.  @krzywygeneral  So, you'd enjoy civil war because it causes a rift with Europe. Civil war sounds plenty rifty to me.
    7
  1196. Voter fraud is the last refuge of the Republican.
    7
  1197. You cherry-pick your historical facts.
    7
  1198. Or officially rebrand the country "Russian Olympic Committee". We're kind of used to the name by now, and I guess they'll never stop doping their athletes.
    7
  1199. It just goes to show that India doesn't deserve a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
    7
  1200. You're right -- you are blind. You're blind to the fact that Hamas doesn't represent the Palestinians as a whole. The Palestinian Authority does, and they've signed on to the two-state solution. The trouble is, Israel drags its feet. Netanyahu was only too happy with the Hamas-Fatah split, because it put off Palestinian independence indefinitely.
    7
  1201. Why troll farm management doesn't recommend you for combat duty in Ukraine is a mystery. You possibly couldn't do worse there.
    7
  1202. If you were a surgeon, none of your patients would survive. Better stick to washing dishes.
    7
  1203.  @gdiwolverinemale3rd  Please, rehearse your comedy routine elsewhere. Also, take your US whataboutism to a US news channel.
    7
  1204. Did you study, like anywhere? Reading your comments, I can't help but wonder.
    7
  1205. Are you new to the Tour de France? More often than not, the Tour makes a foray into a foreign country. I once witnessed the contestants riding by my house in Belgium.
    7
  1206. Are you and your family leaving to apply for political asylum, by any chance? Try Canada or Mexico, Europe is struggling to process applications.
    7
  1207. Governments come and go, only you conspiracy theorists are a constant.
    7
  1208. A true fanboy would know that the F-35 was named the Lightning II. The F-22 is called the Raptor.
    7
  1209.  @Shahar_C  Try meeting them halfway for a change.
    7
  1210.  @xinzhong01  Even so, it means the CCP has managed to set back China's development by years, if not decades. It bears reminding that China brought this on itself. I would like to urge you to elect better leaders, but I realise you can't.
    7
  1211. French productivity per working hour is quite good, but then again the French don't work that many hours.
    7
  1212.  @a2182jg  An American would wonder how a US state can join the European Union.
    7
  1213. You're projecting, Boris.
    7
  1214.  @jdocean1 "Our overwhelming fecklessness"? You're one to jump to conclusions. As it happens, we're offering Leopard 2s to Ukraine, but Germany is stopping us.
    7
  1215.  @AlRask-j3b  I can name many. Kaja Kallas springs to mind. Mind you, Stubb was not bad as a lecturer and now as a lecturing president (for those not in the know, in parliamentary Finland the president has mainly residual powers). His tenure as 'unelected' PM, which lasted less than a year, wasn't all that noteworthy. He was quickly sidelined as party leader, too, after his party came second in the election. Oh well, Stubb found his place, eloquently telling people what to do instead of doing it himself.
    7
  1216. Je mag bij de ontmijners. Ze hebben zelfs geen handen nodig.
    7
  1217.  @Abyss-d1g  The sky is blue, water is wet, women have secrets, and Finland has always been a target for Russian aggression.
    7
  1218. Could it be your own gender fluidity is making you make such a claim? Sexual orientation and gender fluidity are two altogether different things.
    7
  1219. I'm surprised the Russians aren't blaming the Moon Naz*s, too, for the attack.
    7
  1220. Actually, Washington has been more reticent about striking targets inside Russia. But why would a bot concern himself with facts.
    7
  1221.  Boomer Galactica  Really? How come the GDP per capita of all three exceeds that of Russia? Lithuania and Estonia are even far better off than Russia.
    7
  1222.  @pneuma2260  Don't legitimize whataboutism.
    7
  1223.  @nozhki-busha  Yup, some are able to reform themselves. Germany and the UK have. Russia, nuh-uh.
    7
  1224.  @jarednovel  I would regard a 64% drop in tax revenue from Russia's oil and gas exports a HUGE problem. Let's not forget that Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country.
    7
  1225.  @razpor  Fellow Axis member Japan was trying to make its way into India, but that went pear-shaped, thanks to the tenacity of Indian soldiers.
    7
  1226.  @mc-lb9dk  Akrotiri and Dhekelia on the island of Cyprus are British overseas territories. In other words, the Republic of Cyprus is not hosting British military bases on its land.
    7
  1227.  @Greyhound10075  Perhaps you should become a UN peacekeeper and see what you can do.
    7
  1228.  @huhujojo1968  It speaks volumes that you can't get the name of the organisation right.
    7
  1229. I'm going to say it. It has "Wagner Group" written all over it.
    7
  1230. How many sensibilities got hurt when Ian called the US Army a cowboy army?
    7
  1231. Why would you bring up an entirely hypothetical scenario? Mexico has no interest in becoming a pawn for a regional power half a world away. Remind me, this NATO non-expansion agreement, when and by whom was it signed?
    7
  1232. The reverse is true, but trust you to get it wrong. Can't you get a brain transplant with your trolling money?
    7
  1233. You don't seem to understand that Greta's appeal is very much related to her young age. Her generation will be more impacted by climate change than your dad's. Also, she doesn't have to be the premier expert on climate change. If that were a prerequisite, none of the world leaders should utter a word about climate change.
    7
  1234.  @OleDiaBole  OK, Serb.
    7
  1235. And you're in... Taiwan?
    7
  1236. Oh what fun it is to ride on one's much-maligned royalty.
    7
  1237. It's third-largest, actually, if the IMF and the World Bank are to be believed. Tip: Don't string together too many emojis or you'll look like a child.
    7
  1238. That's an interesting take. Americans like European imports, so much so that Trump is mighty upset about it.
    7
  1239.  @lg2058  Sales soar during a fire sale, sure.
    7
  1240.  @nethansamuel96  But Russia has been cancelled. Its fanboys just don't realise it yet.
    7
  1241. Norway and Iceland would top the charts, but they're not in the EU.
    7
  1242.  @pierrefraisse8610  I don't have time for your silly conspiracy theories.
    7
  1243. Don't play the victim card. The EU's findings are corroborated by other authorities on the matter. The verdicts of the EIU/Democracy Index (flawed democracy), Freedom House (partly free) and University of Würzburg/Democracy Matrix (deficient democracy) agree with the EU's assessment.
    7
  1244.  @YusufDuale-eq4kl  I don't see the "West" ruling -- or dividing -- in Syria. Turkey on the other hand...
    7
  1245. ​ @doctorpanigrahi9975  Quite not. Russia has to export its plentiful natural resources and buy them back as finished products, because it can't manufacture them at home. Russia's relatively small economy remains notoriously undiversified, despite Putin's numerous promises to become more self-reliant.
    7
  1246.  @norbertbarsony4280  No, you appear to have nothing to say -- nothing of substance anyway. In your naivety, you must think the EU is some kind of presidential system like the USA. The EU is akin to a parliamentary system, in which the executive relies on a parliamentary majority at all times. Just like a cabinet in a parliamentary democracy, the European Parliament can send the Commission packing at any time. Moreover, the Council retains executive powers in key areas, which leaves the Commission with fewer powers than a cabinet in a parliamentary democracy. So, for laughs, tell us about parliamentary democracies in the EU where the electorate elects the head of government? I'm waiting with bated breath.
    7
  1247.  @mapogoktmr.trastabigmakdre939  Do you honestly think China is going to make any inroads in Afghanistan? The Afghans have shown the Communists the door already once. And the Afghans know full well how the Uyghurs are faring under Chinese tutelage.
    7
  1248.  @greegorygrimlee5487  That's a doozy of a conspiracy theory. I served in Lebanon, and all the spoils of war I got was a spent mortar bomb fragment that landed on my butt while I was taking cover in a drainage ditch. I get to show off the burn scar at reunions.
    7
  1249. Don't you worry on our account. I'm sure Latvia is at the bottom of their list destination-wise. You just concentrate on finding ways to keep Latvians from emigrating.
    7
  1250. She'd do well to put in her testament that the throne should be left vacant.
    7
  1251.  @mohmadem8459 Fifth time lucky, eh? Have you considered the possibility that coup d'etats aren't the answer?
    7
  1252. Short and sweet, Trump inciting hatred against journalists.
    7
  1253. Je moet je vooral afzijdig houden als er een gewapend conflict is in Europa. Nederland deed het toch goed in 40-45? Maar 250.000 slachtoffers. Zelfs Frankrijk en Groot-Britannië betreurden er relatief gezien minder.
    7
  1254.  @Itapirkanmaa2  Not true, and I guess that with "EU edict" you're clumsily referring to an EU directive. It still needs to be enacted into law domestically. Even so, Finland and other countries managed to introduce a exemptions to the latest EU firearms directive, mainly catering to reservists' access to semi-automatic rifles and high-capacity magazines. It's not ideal, but it doesn't interfere with me keeping up my proficiency as a reservist shooter.
    7
  1255.  @Itapirkanmaa2  Don't makes up silly stories. An edict is something an absolute monarch would issue. It's nothing akin to a EU directive. Were you in a prolonged coma when the latest EU firearm directive was devised? Are you even a gun owner, or are you just a fiery fanboy?
    7
  1256.  @Itapirkanmaa2  But the EU isn't saying any such thing. And Finland is fully involved in deciding about EU directives. It's interesting that you want to compare notes with the US. In the EU, there's nothing akin to a federal executive order. Now, are you going to rail against the US, comparing it with the Soviet Union? Please do -- I'd like to see the responses. It's interesting that you didn't confirm that you are a gun owner. I would sooo explain your ignorance.
    7
  1257.  @firstconsul7286  It's not very dignified. I mean, how is a politically correct Swedish officer to report to his superiors that he turned a bullet hose on the enemy?
    7
  1258. What's your major malfunction? Dancing on someone's grave, is that something you do for fun in your neck of the woods?
    7
  1259. Your non-sensical comments never stop.
    7
  1260.  @taichiwinchester1102  In other words, Fosun bamboozled BioNTech. Fosun knew full well that the Taiwanese market was off-limits to them, yet they tricked BioNTech into awarding them exclusivity for it. There's no sense in agreeing on profit-splitting if there are no sales.
    7
  1261. You don't need iPhones?
    7
  1262. Marines? Was there a great need for amphibious landings in continental Europe?
    7
  1263. Don't throw your baby out with the bathwater, Olga. You'll be prosecuted for infanticide.
    7
  1264.  @mrityunjaytripathi5588  The USA did win all the battles in Afghanistan. In Ukraine, Russia has lost all the major ones. And, unlike the USA, which is prone to military adventurism, Ukraine won't grow bored of Ukraine and pull out.
    7
  1265. U heeft gewonnen een auto band ventiel dopje!
    7
  1266. Be that as it may, the Turkish Air Force doesn't have the luxury of waiting for "another 5 years" for new F-16 fighter aircraft and upgrades to its older ones. It's a public secret that the USA won't approve the arms deal unless the Turkish parliament ratifies the accession of Sweden and Finland into NATO. Erdogan is a bazaar merchant. He knows when to make the transaction. It's not like he's getting F-35s if he keeps making a nuisance of himself.
    7
  1267.  @kenw5104  Cameron is not well-remembered in the EU. The best we can hope for is that he offers sage advice to Sunak's umpteenth successor on how not to proceed with the EU.
    7
  1268. Yeah, you support Russia as well. You need a foreign master at all times.
    7
  1269. ​ @gmanno  Not only that, Frida Kahlo would be so jealous of his unibrow.
    7
  1270.  @jimg1056  Because the OP's description fits Putin perfectly and Trigga here echoed my assessment.
    7
  1271. That's a very interesting take on the whole affair. Are you actually saying Georgescu is the EU's favoured candidate?
    7
  1272. The foot-in-mouth syndrome is strong with Musk.
    7
  1273. The reference to excrement in both Macron's original and DW's translation suggests that they're spot on. In Dutch, we'd literally say let them smell poop.
    7
  1274. ​ @kirstinstrand6292  How have the two supported US warmongering? I remember only too clearly how both opted out from the Iraq War, much to then chagrin of Dubya and his merry band of neocons.
    7
  1275.  @steamengine4719  You must be trolling. Paavo Väyrynen is a complete and utter joke, who's so full of himself that he failed to understand that the bulk of his supporters are deceased or demented by now. That's why he failed to garner enough support for his candidacy. He's a walking tragicomedy.
    7
  1276.  @rogerburn5132  Russia might as well aim those missiles at itself. As far as they're concerned, the end result is the same.
    7
  1277. Another gift bestowed upon Syria by Russia.
    7
  1278. Those rich people won't be so rich now.
    7
  1279.  @johnwinnerdz1  The Neptune is a competent piece of kit. QED.
    7
  1280. It's easy to see which part of the island is better off. And Northern Cypriot passports are a joke in 192 countries.
    7
  1281. You're waiting to see the end of the EU while the only show running is The End of the UK. Funny, that.
    7
  1282. Swedish Vikings founded Russia. Therefore, it could be argued that they kicked themselves in the butt.
    7
  1283. Yup. Ukraine's right to self-defence is enshrined in the UN Charter, while Russia's territorial expansion by military means is explicitly condemned in the very same document. By the way, Western arms manufacturers are flogging their kit to India like never before. Should we stop if India once again becomes a victim of Pakistani or Chinese military aggression?
    7
  1284. ​ @sandybrown4957  Article 51 of the UN Charter infers that Ukraine is within its rights to respond to Russia's military aggression by attacking military targets on Russian soil. Summa summarum, Ukraine is on the right side of international law, Russia is not.
    7
  1285.  @bgdabg6769  You're grossly generalising. Polish jokes are a US phenomenon, an Americanism. In Western Europe, we think of Poles as very hardworking -- even frustratingly so. There was a joke that the Belgian employment service arranged Polish language courses for unemployed Belgian cleaning ladies. That's because Belgians only hire Polish cleaning ladies.
    7
  1286.  @youssefhakim1055  Passive smoking is a thing outdoors, too.
    7
  1287. The home invader is trying to negotiate what he can steal and keep.
    7
  1288.  @residentgrey  You're setting the bar low with Putin.
    7
  1289.  @bobbuilder1255  Thank you for that marvelous piece of CCP-approved propaganda, "Bob the Builder". Here's your 0.50 yuan.
    7
  1290.  @bobgonzales9680  All the while when being (militarily) neutral, Finland maintained a large reserve that has its equal only in Israel and Switzerland. So much for Finland trusting that neutrality alone thwarts Russia's unwelcome attentions. In fact, Russia ruined this neutrality when it invaded Ukraine. Finland and Sweden drew the conclusion that neutrality was pointless in view of Russia's renewed belligerence.
    7
  1291.  @Blitzkers99  Which part of NATO's ratification process still puzzles you? Finland is done and dusted.
    7
  1292. When I served there in the late 80s, the Israelis mortared us "by accident". It was hard to respond without heavy weapons of our own. Later, they told us they had a few mortar bombs fall short -- as if we hadn't noticed. My cousin followed in my footsteps and spent a rotation serving alongside the Irish. He said they were the quintessential UN peacekeepers. Disciplined and resolute, yet humane.
    7
  1293. Putlerjugend in the making.
    7
  1294. You have no sense of proportion.
    7
  1295. Victory? We just witnessed Turkey blackmailing the US for older fighter planes. If we have to appoint a loser, I guess RuZZia will do.
    7
  1296. The take-away here is that the US should be commended for their intelligence apparatus. Not only did they predict this year's concert hall attack -- which Moscow dismissed as scare-mongering -- but also, they predicted Russia's special military operation and thus could provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons to withstand Russia's initial attack. That was also a rather nasty surprise for Putin.
    7
  1297. Yes, what about whataboutism.
    7
  1298. I bet you got vaccinated against the measles as a tot. Measles used to exact a heavy toll on humanity, although nowadays it's a somewhat rare childhood disease. It's because of routine vaccinations, which you seem to take for granted.
    7
  1299.  @marynamalitskaya3534  In our case, your wish came true already in March and June 2022 respectively. No oil, no gas from Russia ever since. The only "luxury natural resource" were missing out on is Russian caviar, but there's always Chinese, Italian and French caviar, which had largely taken over the market from Russian caviar anyway. Forestry products we have in plentiful supply. We're exporting them to Norway, in fact.
    7
  1300. The PM drives his own car to pay the king an official visit. That's down-to-earth Netherlands for you.
    7
  1301. I thought China already had the bear locked in a bear hug.
    7
  1302.  @d15ude  No biggie. The Cubans can give them tips how to keep old cars running.
    7
  1303.  @Wolfcamp555 There will come a time we won't do business with you until you offset your carbon emissions. That will cut you down to size.
    7
  1304. Nope. You lose.
    7
  1305.  @mohamedhussein4124  Uh, NATO has no reason to attack Russia unless Russia attacks first. Nuclear strikes against Finland are problematic for Russia, because in the process, Russia would treat Saint Petersburg to nuclear fallout as well. Finland has fallout shelters in sufficient numbers, but Russia does not. There would also be the small matter of NATO raining down nukes on Russia in retaliation. You would also have to ask yourself how you're going to survive the nuclear winter. I think you'd come to envy those who died in a flash.
    7
  1306.  5L  Me, I'm lolling about Trump's weapon of mass deflection.
    7
  1307. Million-dollar missiles? To be very exact, the Block II AIM-9X Sidewinder costs US$381,069.74. I bet the ones used against the balloons were nearing the end of their service life, so they'd been largely written off. FYI, India doesn't have any indigenous short-range air-to-air missiles. There's only the radar-homing beyond-visual-range Astra Mk 1, the price of which comes to about US$1,000,000. Hey, there's your million-dollar missile. Alas, not American, but Indian. Next time, try to know your stuff.
    7
  1308. He's even more gentlemanly than you think. In addition to South Africa, he won't put another 122 countries in an awkward position. Putin is courteousness personified!
    7
  1309. No doubt, but their(?) leaders are the X factor.
    7
  1310.  @Hochspitz  Nah, the facts favour Macron. Trump only has alternative truths on offer -- and few takers.
    7
  1311. Petras, or Valmet Hunters, are still pretty common. You regularly come across them on elk hunts (that's moose for the Yanks).
    7
  1312.  user-qf80q9ch3i  Don't regurgitate lies about UN members reversing their position. EU and NATO members decide for themselves. We're not a dictatorship.
    7
  1313.  @yam2050  Two bots trying to comfort themselves.
    7
  1314. No worries mate. Finland hasn't just recently come to the conclusion that Russia is an aggressor. You should study Finnish history for a bit.
    7
  1315. Actually, Johnson's government is hanging on by a thread. With a majority of one, many of whom are rebels, BoJo's position is anything but strong. You're in la-la land.
    7
  1316. ​ @ЕвгенийБеридзе-ц5з  Interestingly, at the 2010 World Sauna Championships, the very last one to be organised, a Russian contestant died because of the extreme heat. As befits a Russian athlete, he had used doping.
    7
  1317. Exercising their freedom of navigation. German is not laying claim to the South China Sea -- China is -- so I'm afraid the colonialism accusation boomerangs on China.
    7
  1318. You conspiracy theorists... what would the USA gain from delaying Sweden's NATO membership bid?
    7
  1319.  @patriotpep  I wonder. This latest comment of yours speaks volumes (grammar, capitalisation, punctuation).
    7
  1320. Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement is paying dividends already.
    7
  1321.  @pyotrbagration2438  That's the assessment of both UK and US military intelligence. Feel free to introduce other credible sources.
    7
  1322. Whenever a Putin troll feels insecure, the nuclear sabre-rattling starts. Yawn.
    7
  1323. Don't give the CIA any ideas.
    7
  1324. He'll have to choose his bedfellows more carefully if he plans on succeeding.
    7
  1325.  @pungraboss855  Actually, the USA is quite picky about selling US weapons. Congressional approval is needed, which means it's all out in the open. Sometimes even US allies draw the short straw, like Turkey lately.
    7
  1326. Nice story, but a poor analogy. The Taliban effectively want to reintroduce feudalism and withhold modern education and healthcare from the Afghans.
    7
  1327. Uh? More parliamentarism is just what France needs.
    7
  1328. The Soviets tried to Russify the Balts for more than half a century. No dice.
    7
  1329. Nah, the Greenlanders would vote Scandinavian welfare state time and time again. Greenland is not economically self-sufficient. Both US statehood and independence would mean a drop in living standards.
    7
  1330. You've got a vicious magic sky friend there.
    7
  1331. It rather looks like Russia and China are the imperialists here, the both of them encroaching on their neighbours' territory.
    7
  1332.  @toninhosoldierhelmet4033  The Finns were never considered Aryans by the Germans. When Finnish volunteers were covertly recruited for the Waffen SS after the Winter War, the Germans preferred Swedish-speakers, who were predominantly of Swedish extraction, and this for racial reasons.
    7
  1333.  @mikhailmik  I understand that you have a trolling quota to fulfil, but try to keep your replies relevant, even remotely so.
    7
  1334. What's far worse are the 70,000 IT professionals who've left Russia. Their departure not only cripples Russia, but also, it strengthens us. A double whammy for Putin.
    7
  1335.  @ry1023.3  The only Asians that have demonstrated a fondness for Russia are the Norks and the Syrians. International pariahs, in other words.
    7
  1336. The question is, when nuclear winter has set in and all the cows have been eaten, will Jamal eat his neighbour or will his neighbour eat Jamal? I hope we can enjoy the spectacle from Valhalla.
    7
  1337.  @michealoflaherty1265  I'm not a doctor either, but I was told that it takes 50 ml of air to cause a life-threatening air embolism. That means fifty of these 1 ml syringes, all filled with air only.
    7
  1338. Me, too, although it was millenia ago.
    7
  1339. I'm sure he'll try to impose tariffs on Airbusses. It's his answer to everything.
    7
  1340.  @saikumarmadadi7524  You're conveniently sidestepping the crux of the matter. Why are you in favour of Ukraine making territorial concessions to Russia, while India isn't ready to do the same vis-à-vis Pakistan and China?
    7
  1341.  @pate4885  Yours is a minority opinion. She's doing rather well in the polls.
    7
  1342.  @amunra5330  You're acting as if you wouldn't "eat radiation" in the event of a major nuclear exchange. Even if you're somehow spared the lethal radiation, the nuclear winter will do you in.
    7
  1343. The Siegfried Line endured pretty much the same fate as the Maginot Line. Patton described such fixed fortifications as monuments to man's stupidity. Keep on gaming!
    7
  1344. Uh, we can't vote in the US elections. And please refer to us correctly. The plural form of European is Europeans. No apostrophe.
    7
  1345. Because the EU is Russia's biggest trade partner? You're not very bright, are you?
    7
  1346.  @johnjanssens8998  Or they got a Lada, minus ABS and airbags. I hope they're careful drivers.
    7
  1347. It's a stalemate, which is embarrassing enough for Putin.
    7
  1348.  @samsmith2635  It's a public secret that the 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, one of Russia's two prestigious Arctic brigades, was decimated in Ukraine. In just three months of fighting, the brigade had lost 18 of its 26 T-80BVM specialty tanks and was down to 60% of its pre-war manpower.
    7
  1349. Brextremists are racking their brains how to blame the EU for this... and judging from the lack of comments to that effect, coming up empty.
    7
  1350. Energy prices are down, inflation is down, salaries are up. What does this tell you? Nothing, I suppose. Drama queens will be drama queens.
    7
  1351.  @soundscape26  You're replying to a known Putin troll there. Everything spells the end of Western civilisation to these drama queens.
    7
  1352. How could you miss that these children are in fact Germans?
    7
  1353. It's kinda hard for Ukraine to hit Russian civilian targets inside Ukraine. Russia has no such problems, as we keep seeing time after time.
    7
  1354. Let's be honest. NATO expansion is a nuisance to Putin, because it underscores Russia's declining regional influence. But it's not the threat he makes it appear to be, because NATO is not launching any unprovoked attack against Russia, not now nor at any time in the future. As to Putin's desires, he simply wanted Ukraine, and the NATO expansion excuse had to do for lack of a more convincing one. The excuse is backfiring on him now, because Sweden and Finland are joining NATO as a direct consequence of his Russian expansionism (read: imperialism). No Russian with half a brain can ignore the political defeat that Putin is about to endure.
    7
  1355. In WW2, Leningrad would've been spared major destruction if the Soviets had had the foresight to surrender promptly. Hard to disagree with your logic...
    7
  1356. You must be a military kit fanboy. Putin's new toys don't make a difference.
    7
  1357. I see you're very much in favour of appeasing aggressors.
    7
  1358. Nuclear weapons aren't of consequence here, so why make a big deal out of them? There's a very steep threshold for resorting to nuclear weapons. You don't see headlines that say: "Nuclear powers US, UK and France send conventional weapons to Ukraine", do you?
    7
  1359.  @trutharrow5311  Since when have Western countries stolen from Turkey? When it came to colonialism, Turkey led the way.
    7
  1360. Peacekeepers from Iran? That's a contradiction in terms.
    7
  1361. Are you commenting on the right video? Everything these days seems to deteriorate into a discussion of US domestic politics.
    7
  1362. They're not disarming the Serbian Armed Forces, smarty-pants.
    7
  1363. Aw. Always blaming the West, like a teenage girl blames her mother for everything.
    7
  1364. Are you new to parliamentary systems? Coalition governments are the norm.
    7
  1365. Their starting point was very modest, too, after nearly a century of Communist mismanagement.
    7
  1366. Some more than others. Those with a weak and undiversified economy will feel the pinch sooner.
    7
  1367. The same applies to the ex-Royal Netherlands Army M270s, which are even more in demand, now that the HIMARS proved a game changer in Ukraine.
    7
  1368. It's always the nukes with you fanboys. Two can play that game, so neither will. MAD -- read all about it.
    7
  1369. I'm no Muslim and I have sympathy for Palestine. Just none whatsoever for Hamas.
    7
  1370. Reminds me of Putin's infamous Sochi ice hockey game. He scored 8 goals, no less, but fell flat on his "victory lap".
    7
  1371.  @ritwik5774  The only difference between "Western" colonisation and Russian colonisation was that where the few Western colonial powers went overseas, Russia went overland. Russian citizenship rights were an oxymoron. During the heyday of Russia's empire-building, serfdom was still a thing.
    7
  1372.  @craig32r  That's so old. No-one has made such promises apart from the Germans, who promised not the set up new military bases in the former GDR. And they've kept their word.
    7
  1373. Swedish exceptionalism is crumbling.
    7
  1374. Als we het niet als onze oorlog beschouwen dan heeft Poetin nog een oorlog in petto, ook voor ons.
    7
  1375. Undergoing a reorganisation? It's been widely reported.
    7
  1376. Putin fanboys can't afford to be.
    7
  1377. Provide examples.
    7
  1378. @mi2bc NATO is something else than the loose alliances with France and Great Britain of 1940, both of which had war-wearily failed to prepare for an encore.
    7
  1379.  @PearlTheFrenchie  He's a TikTok soldier all right, with his $1,500 Prada combat boots.
    7
  1380.  @hyhhy  You desperately need to read up on constitutions. Don't they teach you anything in school nowadays?
    7
  1381.  @pwn5047  Don't start about international observers. No international election monitoring organisation vouches for the veracity of the results. Russia could've easily called in OSCE monitors, but we all know that would've thrown a spanner in the works for Putin.
    7
  1382.  @Chinunit22  The Pentagon can't negotiate on behalf of Ukraine. You're confusing the USA with the USSR. Try to get with the programme.
    7
  1383. It's the International Criminal Court and it's recognised by 123 countries. How did you do in school? Not that well, huh?
    7
  1384. It's all good and well if you know how to handle a firearm, but there's more to soldiering than that. I prefer to be part of well-regulated militia rather than be a lone wolf survivalist that's armed to the teeth, but no match for a trained soldier.
    7
  1385. If you're on the extreme outer radical far right, sure.
    7
  1386. You should save your rejoicing for when we see people power in Africa. So far, it's just military power.
    7
  1387. Would you care to share your non-opinion on collecting navel fluff as well?
    7
  1388.  @somerandomboibackup6086  You seem hilariously oblivious of the fact that the US can't seem to manufacture much in terms of products that we Europeans consider worth buying. In contrast, you Americans have a healthy appetite for European products. That's why Trump is so terribly upset about the lopsided trade balance. Keep up with the news.
    7
  1389. Stalin: "A statistically significant number."
    7
  1390. Ukraine has 44 million of the Tank Man of Tainanmen Square.
    7
  1391. The Iranians are really something. They continue to resist oppression, despite the steep cost.
    7
  1392. Russia would be better served by replacing Putin.
    7
  1393. Judging from the messages written in Russian, foreign language skills are no longer a requirement. Scraping the barrel, they are.
    7
  1394. Putin is like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, except that he didn't get rid of the rats first -- he set them free, in fact. Big rats, too. Orcs.
    7
  1395.  @ntf5211  Exactly which EU bases are you referring to?
    7
  1396. The NLAW, Javelin, Panzerfaust 3 and Bayraktar checked Russia's advance on Kyiv, decimating its formations so that retreat was the only remaining option. Certain weapons perform best in certain situations, but in others, their significance is less pronounced. Now it's heavy artillery that counts.
    7
  1397. So, how are the Russians treating you in their outsourced troll farm in Bombay? Do they pay you in oil?
    7
  1398. I see you and your equally clueless fellow Brextremists here are new to parliamentary ratification of treaties. Five months is reasonable, especially if the treaty warrants proper debate. If you need some context, US Congress took 202 years, 7 months and 12 days to ratify an amendment concerning their pay. In fact, the myriad of problems that the UK is "unexpectedly" experiencing with the trade deal -- most notably with the Northern Ireland Protocol -- suggests that ratification by the UK Parliament was badly rushed. I understand that Boris Johnson's grasp of practical realities is very limited, but one would think that at least one among your 1,441 MPs would've wanted to understand the contents and raise concerns with its implementation. I'm afraid your political leaders once again made themselves look like nincompoops.
    7
  1399.  @generalstack6540  No, the Taiwanese are not. Educate yourself about TMSC, for instance.
    7
  1400. The denial is strong with you. Mind you, I do understand how humiliating it is to have to rely on the Hermit Kingdom for manpower, but you'll have to come to terms with the desperate situation that Russia finds itself in. Beggars can't be chosers.
    7
  1401. No can do. They'd have to join first.
    7
  1402.  @mirekslechta7161  So you are a Krembot. Enough said.
    7
  1403. ​ @brunosmith6925  It's normal procedure. In WW1, they had enemy intersections pre-sighted and they would regularly spray them with plunging machine gun fire from several kilometres away.
    7
  1404. I suppose it hasn't sunk in with you that the present government in Mali came to power in a coup d'état, and the government they replaced had come to power in a coup as well, and all that within the span of a year. Before you know it, Russian friendship and support may become unrequited.
    7
  1405. The cope is strong with this one ⬆
    7
  1406. Why do you need assurances?
    7
  1407. It was *an insurrection, as in a violent uprising against an authority or government. Which part don't you understand?
    7
  1408. Chinese and Russian missiles don't fit Saudi jets. NK doesn't know how to make air-launched missiles.
    7
  1409. I see you're ripe for emigration to Mother Russia. Go for it, don't dawdle on YouTube!
    7
  1410. They might as well save them for themselves. It's quicker that way.
    7
  1411. Would a British upper-class accent be more appropriate for reporting on Britain having its banking sector gutted? I suppose it would be more sarcastic.
    7
  1412. That's an oxymoron all right.
    7
  1413. This is inconvenient for the usual gaggle of anti-EU conspiracy theorists who insist that Juncker and Tusk dictate EU policy.
    7
  1414.  @muhammadahmed8022  I can't make head nor tail of your comment.
    7
  1415.  @Find-Your-Bliss-  Why are you even asking? Casual Veemo is a survivalist, and he'll laugh some more when he's gunning down his hungry neighbours. Conveniently, he can save the last bullet for himself when his food supplies run out.
    7
  1416.  @NoName-ml5yk  The most striking thing here is that Russia's highly sophistimacated doohickeys -- their state-of-the-art air defences -- didn't prevent the ATACMS from hitting home.
    7
  1417. The UK is increasingly marginalised and the USA has lost a lot influence and friends because of Trump's shenanigans. Your "West" has shrunk considerably.
    7
  1418. It's not that big a novelty. There was the US spyplane that got clipped by an equally foolhardy Chinese fighter jock. The Yanks had to make an emergency landing on Chinese territory, while the Chinaman tumbled to his death.
    7
  1419. They're defending Israel -- not Netanyahu -- against what they perceive as an unjust accusation. Besides, Germany supports Palestinian statehood, unlike Netanyahu. Keep up with the news.
    7
  1420.  @wanwanmahmud6601  Netanyahu thought it an excellent strategy to support Hamas to undermine the more moderate Palestinian Authority. It worked, but the side effects are proving extremely worrisome. We could even say that we're witnessing a moral bankruptcy of Netanyahu's policies.
    7
  1421.  @scottwebb4722  Russia is the one regressing. Economically, intellectually, morally... you name it, Russia is backsliding.
    7
  1422. The irony is that before the fateful Brexit referendum, Cameron could've found allies in other likeminded EU members. The Netherlands was among them, but the EU's Scandinavian members, too, had similar aspirations. Cameron ignored them and his would-be allies gave up on the UK. Well, we know now that *exit is not the way.
    7
  1423. Don't dumb down your readers any further, Sun. The title should read "its own rocket". No apostrophe in the possessive of the pronoun "it".
    7
  1424. Why are you so ashamed of your place in the political spectrum? What would you like to be known as? The left? Centre? Centre right?
    7
  1425.  @s9ka972  It depends on the product in question. These countries can't freely re-export sanctioned goods to Russia either, or the companies in question risk being sanctioned themselves. It also applies to intellectual property. Bigger companies quietly oblige.
    7
  1426. Macron, the statesman, needs to spell it out to the reality TV host.
    7
  1427.  @Kartoffelsuppe_m_Wursteinlage  Your analogy is silly. We don't need the Swedish police to tell us that Nord Stream didn't see any use when it went ka-boom. It was common knowledge. Also, do you think the Swedes get their streaming content from Latvia? You're even sillier than I thought.
    7
  1428. The F/A-18 has better short field performance than the F-16, but it's not keen on rough runways either. Both types are susceptible to foreign object damage, meaning their engines will suck up debris from the runway. The MiG-29 doesn't mind, as it closes it main air intake and temporarily sucks in air from a better shielded intake. FOD is no joke. I worked as an trainee at the Fokker factory, where F-104 Starfighters went for repairs. One had ingested a ricochet from its autocannon during a strafing run. How the badly damaged engine got the aircraft home was a mystery. The pilot was reportedly told to punch out, but he didn't fancy a swim in the dead of winter.
    7
  1429. Distance is often a formidable barrier to trade. And regulations aren't EU-only.
    7
  1430.  @kosarkosar7683  Tell me more about Germany allegedly wanting to withdraw from NATO's nuclear weapons sharing agreement. When exactly did it happen? Hard facts, please.
    7
  1431. Yet Finland has whipped the bully's butt on several occasions. Can you say the same?
    7
  1432. What are the Panzerhaubitze 2000 and the Flakpanzer Gepard? Chopped liver?
    7
  1433. Read: Putin is trying to raise morale after his TikTok warriors were thrashed in Kursk.
    7
  1434. It's a shelter for civilians. Military facilities are elsewhere. They're dispersed all over the country.
    7
  1435.  @alexlazar4738  Rather, Russia forgot the lessons of Afghanistan. All iterations, in fact.
    7
  1436.  @Kartoffelsuppe_m_Wursteinlage  That's what this is all about. Polls suggest PiS is going to lose its parliamentary majority. PiS is frantic.
    7
  1437. You are wrong. Active territorial disputes, internal and external, are obstacles to membership.
    7
  1438. Russia is a modern-day banana republic.
    7
  1439. Why did she take the drug then? Of all Olympic athletes, the Russian ones should know the consequences of getting caught.
    7
  1440. With his ill-considered referendum, Cameron plunged the UK into a political crisis that is turning chronic. That much is certain.
    7
  1441.  @thodorisd5136  For starters, Hungary falls short of the EU's Copenhagen criteria. If Hungary were to apply for EU membership now, its application would be rejected out of hand.
    7
  1442. @Clec Torres No, why, I'm suggesting the Irish get back what's theirs.
    7
  1443. Where did Belgium disappear in 1914? I studied history at the University of Leuven (the library of which was famously torched by the Germans), but we were never told of this disappearance. Likewise, did a great many European countries disappear and miraculously reappear during and after WW2? At least a part of Belgium -- the Ypres salient -- remained unoccupied in WW1, where the small but spunky Belgian army put up a spirited defence together with the other Allies.
    7
  1444. "Got to give it to the British"? You forget the French, who're the prime contractors for the cannon.
    7
  1445. Stop your race-baiting. It's getting old.
    7
  1446. Your insight is staggering. Best of all, you can reuse it for every country in the world.
    7
  1447.  @TrixiLovesYou  Not to worry, when the Russians are in desperate need of money again, they'll try to sell Kaliningrad, like they tried once before. It will be small change.
    7
  1448. That's just you, Tommy.
    7
  1449.  @Jonathan-yv2qj  If these protesters are in the UK and want to fight, the easiest way is to go to the nearest British Army recruiting office.
    7
  1450.  @la7dfa  In my experience, based on several visits to the Norwegian side of the border, the Russians there are vastly pro-Putin. The Nordic countries should put a stop to giving citizenship to those who don't relinguish their Russian citizenship in the process.
    7
  1451. Ik dacht dat het juist de Russen waren, of heb ik alweer een complottheorie gemist?
    7
  1452.  @zoomzoom3950  Desperate plea for help? It seems to me a unified approach to the Taliban makes perfect sense in trying to contain the Taliban's worst excesses. And it's not like Russia packs much power over the Taliban -- if any. The Talibans are not so naive as to forget how Russia eagerly provided military assistance to the Taliban's enemies during after the civil war phase, and later, how it willingly armed Karzai's Afghan government. It also bears reminding that Russia, just like the whole global community, endorsed the NATO-led intervention in Afghanistan. I bet that behind the scenes, Putin is pleading with Xi for help. China actually does pack some power. They, too, have collaborated with the Taliban's enemies, but at least not militarily. And the Chinese, being the opportunists that they are, are already chummy with the Taliban.
    7
  1453. OK, Krembot.
    7
  1454. Give up on pretending to be a democracy and crown him Tsar already.
    7
  1455.  @mamo1761  Russia has thrown every weapon at it except nukes. If NATO helps Ukraine gain parity, how is that escalation?
    7
  1456. Make that extremely silly people. Russia sucks at trolling, too.
    7
  1457.  @growsoul1334  Then something is rotten in the state of Denmark, which is a constitutional monarchy. Don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    7
  1458. Cope, Vlad.
    7
  1459.  @huascar66  I wonder how to entice places like New York to eradicate bed bugs. I took my Swedish girlfriend there, her first trip to the States. The first morning, she complained about "skin allergies". I kept mum and promptly switched us to an uptown four-star hotel. Back in Sweden, I fessed up. We had to look up "bed bug" on Wikipedia. We split up later, but I don't think she's ever been back stateside.
    7
  1460. If Putin was striving for a multipolar world, he's taken Russia out of the running. Russia is a pariah state, only second to North Korea.
    7
  1461. American much?
    7
  1462.  @omaral-falahi5005  Netanyahu keeps forgetting about the hostages, since he's so preoccupied with killing Palestinians. And now he's expanded his repertoire, adding the Lebanese to his victims.
    7
  1463. Spain actually withdrew their offer after realising that their stored Leopard 2A4s were in "close to useless" condition.
    7
  1464. Tell us, should Ukraine withdraw its marauding troops from Russia and in one fell swoop, end the war? Or is it the other way around?
    7
  1465. There are laws of war. It is the duty of the civilised world to remind Israel of it. If Israel want to be considered a civilised country, it is expected to protect the lives and property of non-combatants. As for Hamas, they're a lost cause. The path they've chosen -- terrorism -- is the antithesis of the above. Terrorists pick out non-combatants and maximise violence. Israel would do well to minimise violence and take out the combatants only.
    7
  1466. Nah, Prigozhin embarrassed Putin, and had to die for it.
    7
  1467.  @jamespugh6827  Explain Trump's peace plan then. All we've seen so far is how he intends to help himself to Ukraine's mineral riches, as if those are an obstacle to peace.
    7
  1468. I never lost faith, but Germany needs a better PR chief.
    7
  1469. Be that as it may, Israel speaks of itself as a 'Jewish state'. Besides, the Golan Heights aren't even part of Israel.
    7
  1470.  @davidtrotman5990  Not really. Napoleon just sauntered in.
    7
  1471. Don't flatter yourself. Practically all conspiracy theorists copy their favourite theories off the internet, sheepishly swallowing them whole. You're not original -- just contrarian.
    7
  1472.  @Omni_Shambles  Which war was that? Don't tell me that Ruscist historical revisionism is extending now into the future as well.
    7
  1473. You don't know the Chinese. They just can't stop themselves from benefiting from Russia's woes. It goes against their very nature. To them, win-win is acceptable, but win-lose is better. Also, being keen students of history, the Chinese haven't forgotten that a little over a century ago, Russia has among those who benefited from China's semi-colonial status during the 'unequal treaties' period. It's very tempting to think "payback!" in Beijing.
    7
  1474. Putin's little helper, more like, and now also Trump's little helper.
    7
  1475.  @soreeyez  The "excuse" for Finland joining NATO? In one word, Ukraine. Are you slow on the uptake?
    7
  1476.  @colinkillian9265  We have few restrictions on firearms in Finland yet we're very much part of the EU. A great many reservists like myself keep up their marksmanship on weekends using our own kit. I own half a dozen rifles and shotguns for hunting, too. In addition, I have a bit of a military collection going. Perhaps you should pay more attention to this channel -- Finland is up all the time.
    7
  1477.  @901thuggin  Terrorism isn't defence.
    7
  1478.  @geppiemockingbird1489  The Netherlands are the promised land of silly surnames. We had a young English teacher called Aarsman. Inspired by Ali G, we called him Battyboy.
    7
  1479. Surely you're exaggerating. Finland had 2.62% war deaths between 1939 and 1945. The WW2 deaths of many countries were far in excess of that. For example, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Germany all lost more than 10 percent of their populations. I'm not pooh-poohing it, but Finland's deaths could've easily jumped to double digits if we had let the Soviets in. The Baltic countries are testament to that.
    7
  1480. Actually, just like Germany, Sweden let their guard down. They drastically reduced their defence budget, abolished conscription and got rid of their emergency stockpiles. Finland, Sweden's eastern neighbour, wisely maintained their preparedness and even bolstered their defences by snapping up surplus kit on the cheap from the naive and the clueless. Poland, too, understood the importance of eternal vigilance. Sweden has made amends since, but they're still kicking themselves.
    7
  1481.  @myspace1876  Russia is known to waste its soldiers willy-nilly. If you want to be human waste, go right ahead.
    7
  1482. I'd be surprised. Don't project your ignorance onto others.
    7
  1483. Yup, we're getting flu jabs annually and the flu doesn't go away. What else do you have to share with us? That water is still wet?
    7
  1484. Russia can't be seen to respond to allegations that conflict with their version of the truth. We're supposed to come to the conclusion unaided that Sokolov is still alive and kicking.
    7
  1485. I bet you made similar excuses when you handed over your lunch money to the school bully.
    7
  1486. @lolipopcrashIt sounds literally unbelievable. Afghanistan can't miraculously conjure up the infrastructure needed to exploit its natural riches. Chinese companies hold the mining concessions, and they, too, have been unable to exploit them. Unlike Russia, China isn't strapped for cash, but the security situation has made mining on an industrial scale impossible. Finally, you may live on copium, but the Afghans can't live on natural gas alone. Afghanistan needs foreign currency, not copium.
    7
  1487. Angela is finished by her own choice. Trump is finished because he stands to lose the 2020 election. One is bowing out gracefully, the other is carried out kicking and screaming. Spot the difference?
    7
  1488.  @jimmielin1141  That doesn't appear to be a logical conclusion. A logical conclusion is that if you want to participate in the Olympics, you should not wage an illegal war of aggression.
    7
  1489. I bet you're not giving anything to Ukraine, yet you're complaining as if you were giving away the last of your personal possessions.
    7
  1490. Germany's woes have everything to do with a misguided energy policy. Do I need to spell it out? Phasing out nuclear energy and an overreliance on Russian natgas.
    7
  1491. In your nightmares. It explains the bedwetting.
    7
  1492. Seeing is believing. Having seen it with my own eyes, I'd let the Irish have my back any time.
    7
  1493. Fascism is back.
    6
  1494. At your end, don't sell out to Putin, OK?
    6
  1495. They've got you riled, don't they.
    6
  1496. Zo'n groot verschil is er niet. In het buitenland zien ze Nederlanders als half-Duitsers. Nederduitsers, zeg maar.
    6
  1497. Frank Andersson Here's me still wondering what provoked such an acute hostile reaction from you. You must feel cornered and afraid for some reason.
    6
  1498. +Dan Lough It's more like the British expats are losers. They've seen their pensions effectively cut and they're stuck with property they can't unload.
    6
  1499. +swampratzozzle When did World Wars 3 to 110 happen?
    6
  1500. +parabellum1262 The Suomi KP/31, too, featured a quick-change barrel.
    6
  1501. Rus<cough>sia!
    6
  1502. Uros L So tell the Kremlin to vacate their seat on the UN Security Council. In more than one instance, Russia has rendered the UN fucking useless.
    6
  1503. ***** We keep saying the 7.62x39 is better suited for forested and urban environments, whereas the 5.56 veers off after hitting a twig or lacks the hitting power to punch through obstacles. But yes, Afghanistan has shown that all standard-issue intermediate cartridges -- Russian, Chinese or NATO -- have shortcomings. Still, the Taliban is worst off with their AK47 clunkers.
    6
  1504. It's as if you're trying to convince yourself. Yawn.
    6
  1505. Spoiler alert: the E in EU stands for European and the U for Union.
    6
  1506. Come what may, there won't be a shortage of Putin trolls on YouTube. Russia already has outsourced troll factories in India. So don't ask them about the weather in Saint Petersburg, because it's Bangalore.
    6
  1507. Don't sell out, Ms. Meloni! BRI is a debt trap!
    6
  1508. In your scenario, leavers should keep an a knife on the table, to slit their own throats if their demands aren't met. Also, you seem to think overconfidence is a sound negotiation tactic. Why would 27 bend to the will of one?
    6
  1509.  @shenjiejason8350  Did someone put a gun to the CCP's head and force it to adopt a home-spun version of capitalism that led to Evergrande overextending itself? You seem to think that capitalism is somehow a holy doctrine to us, just like Communism was -- and partly still is -- to you. If I could choose, I would have China to adopt democracy first and then see about the economic model that is best suited for the country.
    6
  1510.  @kingb3 Even if true, it beats having the bodies of your loved ones literally go up in smoke without you ever knowing about it. That way Russian state doesn't have to pay out any compensation.
    6
  1511. Did a reporter of theirs die in the strikes or are you just disseminating conspiracy theories?
    6
  1512. They'll have to pay for the damage they've caused in Ukraine, for starters.
    6
  1513. Bellingcat is Netherlands-based. Its citizen journalists are from all over the world.
    6
  1514. No, the ethnically Armenian inhabitants have rights. We need to discuss those.
    6
  1515. You're clearly out of your comfort zone. Go back to RT.
    6
  1516.  @michaelthomas5433  I would say just other Africans.
    6
  1517. Hungary was a client state of the Soviet Union, not part of it.
    6
  1518. No worries, Balikbayan are considered heroes both at home and abroad. Having worked in the Philippines, I taught my late father, who was in a nursing home, some of the little Tagalog I know. He always greeted and thanked the Filipino staff in Tagalog.
    6
  1519.  @lawrencekling8598  You need to see an eye doctor.
    6
  1520. Wait, Russia's latest moon landing was a smashing success, quite literally.
    6
  1521.  @hypoyt0015  Are you having a crack at English? Keep trying, maybe you'll make yourself understood one day.
    6
  1522. There's talk all right. Inside your head.
    6
  1523.  @adam_da_2024_official  Don't cry. Grandfather Frost will bring you copium.
    6
  1524. You missed the mobilisation and Wagner filling its ranks with convicted criminals.
    6
  1525. The FSB, you mean?
    6
  1526. You're taking your whataboutism to the extreme.
    6
  1527. That's helpful. I support Arsenal, BTW.
    6
  1528. What you're saying is that what's good for the British goose isn't good for the Scottish gander?
    6
  1529.  @lucasmate1582  And soon made in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia or India.
    6
  1530. Got what, two desperate dictators?
    6
  1531.  @michaelmurphy839  You're confused as to what constitutes a tank. Greece gave Ukraine old BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles and only after Germany 'backfilled' Greece with Marder IFVs. Germany gave the same Marders directly to Ukraine, too.
    6
  1532. In case you haven't noticed, Putin is not very good at special military operations. He sucks at it, to be honest.
    6
  1533.  @PavulonWielki  Napoleon did conquer Moscow as well, unopposed and with the city ablaze, in 1812.
    6
  1534. Amounts to the same thing, wisenheimer.
    6
  1535. Perhaps we should ask the UNSC. Oh, we have already, and many times over. Israel must keep within its internationally recognised borders.
    6
  1536. What do you think UNRWA is for?
    6
  1537. You don't know your weapons. It's quite a stroke of luck if the Russians struck the Leopards with indirect artillery fire, using HEAT rounds. It typically takes dozens and dozens of shells to score a direct hit. A Leopard is not perturbed by a near miss, which leaves a hole in the ground as if somehow poked it with a stick. You really have to look for it.
    6
  1538. Germany and the UK were there at the same time, practically for the whole duration of the war. Keep up with the news.
    6
  1539.  @wahidali9592  I thought Kemal Atatürk was. In contrast, Erdogan has a regressive influence on Turkey.
    6
  1540. Nah, Finland joins the European bloc inside NATO. The Finns are in familiar company thanks to decades of EU membership. Would you like Freedom fries with that?
    6
  1541.  @alanbudde8560  The interesting bit was that China weighed in and re-affirmed its support for Kazakhstan's territorial integrity and sovereign, as if to tell Putin: "Hands off!" China's trust in Russia must be wearing thin.
    6
  1542. Trump doesn't know the meaning of the word. He embarrasses himself on a daily basis.
    6
  1543. FT mentioned her showing off her grade-three piano skills.
    6
  1544. Why so? NATO just grew stronger. In the meantime, Putin's anti-NATO, the CSTO, died a quiet death.
    6
  1545. This is a demonstration of coup fanboy and fangirl power.
    6
  1546. I couldn't help but laugh when I heard that "Pituffik Space Base" on Greenland comes under the newly-baked US Space Force. I can't help but think of Steve Carell as General Nerd in the sitcom.
    6
  1547. Russia is invincible... in the turret tossing contest.
    6
  1548.  @abdur1300  I have a strong feeling you wear a tin foil hat.
    6
  1549. To that pariah state that is especially hateful toward Africans? Have you ever been to see a soccer match in Russia?
    6
  1550.  @barrystubbs983  Have you been living under a rock? In the event of a no-deal Brexit, Scotland will force another referendum. This time, the disgruntled Scots will surely vote for independence. Northern Ireland can't accept a hard border with Ireland, so it will follow suit. Who knows, maybe Wales, too, will abandon ship. There's no honour in going down with a ship unless you're the captain.
    6
  1551. If Krembots had to pay a tax on predicting the EU's downfall and the tax revenue would go towards arming Ukraine, Russia would lose in a jiffy.
    6
  1552. Gerasimov certainly soiled his underpants. Initially, he didn't dare tell Putin of the incursion. I'd hate to be in his shoes.
    6
  1553. You're clearly new to all of this. Counter-sanctions were to be expected.
    6
  1554. Yeah, but look at where it got you. Soon enough, you're a Balkan country.
    6
  1555.  @80-80.  Gazans may qualify, unless they take the Russian route at the behest of the Russians. Sudanese, same. Say, why don't you take in your friends? You did refer to them as friends, so be friendly.
    6
  1556.  @marcobaraco3000  They say every country has the government it deserves. If the Russians don't wake up from their slumber now, they doubly deserve Putin.
    6
  1557. Stop the press.
    6
  1558. Ideology aside, the MiG-21 is clearly a step up from the F-86. It's a generational thing.
    6
  1559. It's hardly "half of it's[sic] money". US military spending amounts to 3.4% of GDP. That's way more than most other developed countries spend, but it's not exactly half of GDP.
    6
  1560. Er, the Swedes have a military-industrial complex of their own. From the top of my head, I can't think of any particularly expensive American weaponry that they're buying except jet engine halves. Maybe some upgrades to old SAMs? Swedish weapons, however, find many takers. The Yanks buy them, too. We love their IFVs, and so does a good part of the free world.
    6
  1561. Speak for yourself, we're 86% covered. I just have to mosey over to the cellar and close a heavily armoured blast door behind me.
    6
  1562.  @tyronevaldez-kruger5313  Top comment!
    6
  1563. How come? Don't you want the Israeli–Palestinian conflict to end once and for all?
    6
  1564.  @soreeyez  Eastern Europe did not stop at Poland. NATO was like: if y'all are so sure, come and join us.
    6
  1565. The drama queenery is strong with you.
    6
  1566.  @lisapet160  Germany didn't have a dam fail, since they maintain them in case of severe floods. In Russia, maintenance amounts to officials pocketing the money and letting fate take over.
    6
  1567. You seem unsure about your sexual orientation, Kev.
    6
  1568.  Mr Nice_Hong_Kong_guy  You make a great candidate for CCP membership. Have they approached you yet?
    6
  1569. A once-revered diplomat on a comedy tour of pariah states...
    6
  1570. That shouldn't be too hard. Criminals have a criminal record, which is public information. Trump's own criminal history is there, too.
    6
  1571.  @ulpl8007  Look at it this way: Belarus lost its sovereignty without firing a shot, becoming a colony of a neo-imperialist Russia, while Ukraine fights bravely -- and successfully -- to retain its sovereignty. Nothing good can come out of this for Belarus -- or Russia for that matter -- but for Ukraine, things can only get better.
    6
  1572. Eesti, Eesti, Eesti, kaipaan sinne perkeleesti!
    6
  1573. I'm curious if Trump, while in prison, will write his "Mein Kampf."
    6
  1574.  @duncanprice3088  Deciding over NATO membership is not a EU proceeding. NATO members decide their stance individually. Hungary was a sad laggard in the Sweden's drawn-out NATO accession, but it didn't veto anything.
    6
  1575. Don't give him any ideas. Actually, Putin might have watched Iron Sky already and he's about to install his Nazis on the moon.
    6
  1576. ​ @Memovox  The Taliban were just a fledgling member of the Mujahideen coalition when the latter beat back the Soviets. They rose to prominence during the Afghan Civil War, with generous support from Pakistan. I wouldn't jubilate about their martial prowess in defeating "the yanks" either. The Taliban waged a low- to medium-intensity insurgency, being mostly content to wait things out in Pakistan, while the US grew bored with a never-ending war. Strategy-wise, not too shabby, but it won't go down in history as a great military victory.
    6
  1577. Your then-Russia was in fact the Soviet Union, a communist country. Russia is the opposite, a crony capitalist country if there ever was one. Besides, Russia was and is guilty of imperialism to a degree that only a few now-Western countries ever were. The latter have long-since decolonised -- independent India and Pakistan are cases in point -- whereas Russia holds on to its conquests tooth and nail, and even tries to grow its colonial empire further. You're off your rocker if you think Russia is morally superior to "the West" in any respect.
    6
  1578. On the whole, it's been the other way around. Many a European HQ has been relocated from the UK to a EU country.
    6
  1579.  @davidjuke2386  Those speakers represent a minority among their fellow MEPs. Fact. I'm curious why Brexiteers always wish doom and damnation upon the EU, even now, when the political and economic divorce is only days away. Misery loves company?
    6
  1580.  @somerandomguy4240  He's caught in a time warp. Probably still thinks gay means happy, too.
    6
  1581. @HealthExposedUK I understand it perfectly. So you have a cynical theory that voting serves no purpose. Yet you don't bother to provide tangible examples that support your theory. What's dubious about the Brexit referendum? Do you dispute the outcome? War in Syria -- what's the relevance here? Did Assad organise a referendum where the Syrians could decide if they were going to have themselves a civil war and when the result has negative, Assad nonetheless went ahead and started a war against his own people?
    6
  1582. Don't get your hopes up. The Houthis are rather limited in their options. It's a very uneven match.
    6
  1583. I can't help but notice that you kept mum about Erdogan's economic record. His empire is a giant with feet of clay.
    6
  1584.  @moivile  So, if it was Russian policy not to harm Ukrainian civilians, why were civilians summarily executed in Bucha and the like?
    6
  1585.  @rka-truthalwayswins5127  As a supranational union -- the only of its kind -- the EU is a sum of its parts. The parts rate among the most democratic in the world. What is it that you don't understand about representative democracy?
    6
  1586. You call defending one's country against foreign military aggression madness? OK, you be you <cough>coward<cough>.
    6
  1587.  @filipe5722  France isn't happy about having to support its colonial remnants as it is, so why take on another burden?
    6
  1588. Any space-based laser weapon worth its salt would have to be nuclear to generate the energy required, so we're talking about the same thing.
    6
  1589. Wouldn't Russia have to take Odesa first? It's 14 times the city that Bakhmut was, and Bakhmut proved an almost insurmountable obstacle to Russia.
    6
  1590. He needs to be very particular about where to buy his underwear, too.
    6
  1591.  @windwaveswindwaves5329  Even if true, how does that excuse Putin's warmongering? Whataboutism is so tiresome.
    6
  1592. They said something along these lines: Soviet Russia does not join military alliances. Military alliances join Soviet Russia.
    6
  1593. You're blind to your own hypocrisy. NATO hasn't been exactly proactive in arming its easternmost members with nuclear weapons. Poland, for instance, joined in 1999, but has yet to see any nuclear weapons on its soil. Vice versa, Russia has them in Kaliningrad, which borders Poland.
    6
  1594. @@user-jt4pk8ii4z The loss of the Il-22M has been compared to Russia losing 150 main battle tanks. Not that Russia can replace its MBTs, but this one will prove irreplaceable for the duration of this war, if not longer.
    6
  1595. A. If it's B, Russia can still make an insurance claim. If it's A, an act of war, it's not covered.
    6
  1596.  @MrBoliao98  Duh, Singapore is close by. If the price is right, Singaporean retirees will flock there. Services will follow.
    6
  1597.  Jack W  I suppose there are plenty of Portlands in the US where Trump needs to deploy federal troops in order to maintain order/have a shot at the presidency.
    6
  1598. Now this is what I call enthusiastic conspiracy theorizing. Not convincing, but the enthusiasm is there.
    6
  1599. Why doesn't Putin proclaim himself tsar already. We know he wants to.
    6
  1600.  @rogerengland7692  Spare me the replacement theory mumbo-jumbo. I called out a hater, whose country lacks immigrants in significant numbers to justify his hatred. A hater without a cause, in other words. It's the saddest thing.
    6
  1601. Trump fancies himself the master of the universe. Reality checks aplenty ahead.
    6
  1602.  @wionporky9937  Will you ever stop playing the Kremlin's propaganda ocarina?
    6
  1603. OK, armchair general.
    6
  1604. Here's half a potato for you, Pyotr. Times are hard in Russia and Krembots, too, need to tighten their belts.
    6
  1605.  @Supastrikers0280  It looks more like Israel has +50 states in North America.
    6
  1606. And Trump told them to give it a rest.
    6
  1607. Wrong video, pal.
    6
  1608.  @pedtrog6443  Typically, damage to undersea cables is from fishing gear or anchors dropped on them. Dragging anchors for miles on end is a different kettle of fish.
    6
  1609. Turkey won't stand for it. Turkey has clout with the new regime, not Russia.
    6
  1610. Not Western supplied ones, and occupied Crimea and Donbas count as Ukrainian territory.
    6
  1611. Economics isn't his forte.
    6
  1612. Funny you should mention the Artic. Russia is about to be surrounded by NATO countries in the Arctic. If anything, that puts a damper on Russia's grand plans for the Arctic. Not that Russia would have access to the necessary technology anyway, with all the economic sanctions in place. Moreover, the Americans don't get "bring" military infrastructure to Finland, just like that. Norway, as a founding member of NATO, opted not to host any permanent NATO bases. As long as Russia behaves, Finland may very well follow suit. The US just has to grin and bear it. NATO is not the Warsaw Pact, after all.
    6
  1613. New F-16s and upgrade packages for Turkey's old ones. They're bazaar merchants at heart.
    6
  1614.  @markfrost9005  I think Congress put safeguards in place to prevent that, but the Appeaser in Chief might still achieve the same effect, without the US officially leaving NATO.
    6
  1615.  @vervetech9395  As I tried to explain, Western franchises -- the real thing -- have already saturated these "friendly" markets, making it an uphill struggle for the Russians to gain a foothold. Also, unlike Russia, these countries do recognise Western IP, so the Russian brands can't just copy established trademarks. A proper rebrand is necessary, in other words.
    6
  1616.  @lester9448  If the US government were to rescind the plea agreement, it would ruin the whole system of plea bargaining. I highly doubt they'll want to go there.
    6
  1617. Hasn't it, and several times over?
    6
  1618.  @Lybrel  In most of these countries, there's alternative civilian service in lieu of military service. If both military and civilian service are unacceptable, it's either prison or emigration.
    6
  1619.  @danielarcadia7243  We've long since outsourced final assembly of price-sensitive products to China and to other low-cost countries, in some cases even to Russia, but no more. I'm talking heavy and high-technology manufacturing, which drive our exports. Not services. But enough about us, let's talk about Russia. Russia's main exports are raw materials, truly befitting a future developing country. Ironically, Russia exports raw materials to its neighbouring countries, which turn them into products and sell them back to Russia at a tidy profit. Can you see anything wrong with that picture?
    6
  1620. Only people who can't walk and chew gum at the same time forgot about Ukraine.
    6
  1621. Too much copium causes hallucinations.
    6
  1622.  @markojuric4954  Right, European mercenaries. You Putin fanboys live in fantasyland.
    6
  1623. A rebel without a cause, apart from rebellion itself. You'd think the Hungarians eventually grow up, but no, not thus far.
    6
  1624. What's the engineering challenge? Passenger jets routinely face even colder temperatures while at cruising altitude.
    6
  1625. With Brexit, the UK has similar challenges. Maybe shaking off that (post-)colonial mindset would help.
    6
  1626. Giving her money, which she then misspends?
    6
  1627.  @momon4868  Do non-Western countries have a different definition of democracy? Let's hear it.
    6
  1628.  @CMoore8539  It doesn't look good for Russia either. Without succeeding in their ultimate aim -- regime change in Ukraine -- they'll be stuck with a lingering conflict in Ukraine and crippling sanctions to boot. Colour revolutions are looming, if not in Russia, then Belarus or Kazakhstan. Ukraine, Moldovia and Georgia are joining the EU, while Finland and Sweden are joining NATO. It positively sucks to be Russian.
    6
  1629. Yet it's all very reminiscent of Russia kicking out foreign NGOs, including Amnesty International. Is that the example you want India to follow? Are you aspiring to become an international pariah as well?
    6
  1630. Trust issues? No matter how you twist and turn this, it's no feather in Azerbaijan's cap.
    6
  1631. As usual, you don't get it. She needs to be confirmed by the European Parliament, the members of which were all recently elected by popular vote. They may very well reject her. To instill some perspective into this, the UK is about to select a new PM. Only members of the Conservative Party have a vote.
    6
  1632.  @rexrolex4145  Frappant. Ik ben door geen van beiden lastig gevallen. Integendeel zelfs.
    6
  1633.  @МихаилЧерников-п2т  I guess it's because Ukraine is embroiled in an existential battle for survival. Russian soldiers, on the other hand, fight for Putin's political survival -- which, in Russia, tends to equate to survival.
    6
  1634. I suppose the dopes think that bearing arms epitomizes freedom.
    6
  1635. Priggie shat his pants. Zelenskyy was the one who wanted -- and got -- ammo.
    6
  1636.  @davidhess6593  In that case, the USSR was a participant in the Vietnam War, and great many other wars, too.
    6
  1637. Where are all the BRICS fanboys and -girls? They should be criticising this to the best of their abilities (which isn't saying much).
    6
  1638. Ahem, Barbados is committed to remaining in the Commonwealth. They aren't the first republican member either.
    6
  1639. They didn't mention baby seals being clubbed to death either... for shame!
    6
  1640.  @princessanineveh  Rather than fantasize about geese, you should look at organisations like the World Bank, their Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund and how its money was spent. But like I wrote, I don't think you bother with facts.
    6
  1641. India should try appeasement. After all, you're advocating same with regard to Ukraina and Russia. If you just kowtow enough to China, it will surely change its habits. Right? Right?
    6
  1642. We survived Stalin. Putin is a teddy bear in comparison.
    6
  1643.  @miguelgarcia6170  Putin will be remembered like Milosevich, or perhaps even like Saddam, Gaddafi, Ceaucescu or Mussolini. Ruthless dictators rarely make graceful exits.
    6
  1644. France is about to overtake the UK in vaccinations, to say nothing of the six other EU countries that already have. You thought the vaccination programme a 100-metre dash, but it's a marathon. Forget about a place on the podium -- your betters are taking all the medals.
    6
  1645. It's called foreign policy. And Ukraine is slated to become a EU member. And Ukraine had its sovereignty and territorial integrity violated.
    6
  1646.  @fellowcitizen  You picked a run-of-the-mill press release as proof positive of wrongdoing? Tech companies co-operate widely. An investigative journalist you're not.
    6
  1647.  @hustlersgame8759  Trolls will be trolling. Scurry back to your troll cave before someone steps on you.
    6
  1648.  @Antidelouvian  There's no irony. The EU's corruption woes are due to corrupt members like Hungary misusing funds. In other words, corruption in the EU manifests itself on a national level, where the EU, as a supranational union, has no jurisdiction. In a way, it's fortunate that Hungary was caught breaking the rule of law principle, because with access to the EU trough barred, Orban will have to find another way to keep his oligarchs fed. And if they go hungry, so does Orban.
    6
  1649.  @Painorchocolatte  You're trying to reason with a whataboutist. You may want to consider more worthwhile pursuits, like playing chess with a pigeon.
    6
  1650. Uh, Russia is far from a superpower. Russia's poor performance in Ukraine begs the question if Russia can even be called a regional power.
    6
  1651. And coup d'états will do the trick? To date, Africa has seen 214 coups, of which at least 106 have been successful. That's twice as many successful coups as Africa has countries. You'd think Africa is totally, absolutely, thoroughly and utterly liberated by now.
    6
  1652.  @phillipholland6795  No matter which country invests in Africa, sooner or later it will be branded imperialist. Moreover, Russia and China are the experts at imperialism. Western countries are rusty.
    6
  1653.  @TheRealBillBob  Finnish kit is being used to good effect in Ukraine as we speak, botski.
    6
  1654. How so? Britain's civil war took place twice as long ago as Murica's. I didn't hear Sunak dispute the outcome of the election. Instead, he was all smiles when passed the baton to Starmer. I don't recall an assassination attempt against Starmer either.
    6
  1655. If you insist on using that analogy, it's like the US has more than one family, of which only one is NATO. On the side, Uncle Sam maintains romantic relationships in the Far East and the Middle East, which don't come cheap. Perhaps Uncle Sam isn't quite the family man he purports to be.
    6
  1656. I still suspect it's Sweden's fault somehow. Erdogan can't put his finger on it quite yet, but he will soon. He's got his best men on the case.
    6
  1657. Remember to tell Putin.
    6
  1658.  @parts1982  There was no invasion in Libya. In Kosovo, the populace welcomed us. I was there myself, keeping the ethnic Serbs safe.
    6
  1659. It's a sign of confidence that the EU can and does select female leaders. Less confident powers have to resort to strongmen.
    6
  1660.  @MaxHohenstaufen  I wonder who's managed to finish school without falling in love with at least one teacher. In my case it was my second grade teacher, who loved football. Every Monday in class, she would discuss the games played over the weekend. Imagine the marital bliss of landing a wife like that, regardless of age.
    6
  1661. Aren't you confused.
    6
  1662.  @diegoflores9237  Don't you have any other point to make? You're repeating yourself over and over again.
    6
  1663.  @wc8246  Doe, a deer, a female deer...
    6
  1664. Developing countries should seriously consider becoming more self-sufficient in food production.
    6
  1665.  @splendidrush1  It's more like we have fifth columns all over the UK.
    6
  1666. You're trying to find method to Musk's madness.
    6
  1667. "Rightful annexation" is a contradiction in terms, silly.
    6
  1668. No problem at all. Educated Indians are greatly appreciated in developed countries. And it's not a racial thing either. We're equally happy with Hong Kong's BNOs, who've had it with the CCP asserting its influence.
    6
  1669. Why don't you offer some of your territory? Lead by example.
    6
  1670.  @Pelsluisje  Tut, tut. De PvdA behaalde maar liefst 53 zetels in 1977. Toch kwam er geen PvdA-kabinet. Nieuwe verkiezingen kwamen er evenmin.
    6
  1671. Defence in depth. I know, it's a novel concept to a WW1 armchair general like yourself.
    6
  1672. Russia acting out again, now over the loss of Kherson.
    6
  1673.  @stefanbabic4450  That's a double negative. In English, double negatives cancel one another. So you're saying that Russia did annex Crimea.
    6
  1674. A great job tormenting Uighurs?
    6
  1675. Yup, the extremes are getting more extreme. Pay close attention to the temperatures this coming summer.
    6
  1676.  @quocbaonguyen8308  How did Russia earn its permanent seat in the UNSC? They de-facto inherited it because no-one objected at the time. The UN Charter still speaks of the Soviet Union as a permanent UNSC member. Russia isn't even mentioned.
    6
  1677.  @ronwhitehouse23  Real men don't hit women, Ronnie.
    6
  1678. My English teacher, a Brit, always derided the Americans for having the 'attention span of an American'. Can't blame them for lack of patience in Afghanistan, though. A waiting game of 20 years. The Taliban won.
    6
  1679. Don't leave the farm then.
    6
  1680. How's work at the outsourced troll factory in Mumbai? Are your Russian masters treating you well?
    6
  1681. Your empire is long gone, so why not get rid of the last vestiges?
    6
  1682.  @marynamalitskaya3534  But we're not Europe. We have over 50% renewable energy, complemented by nuclear energy, which we never gave up on. Our power stations are multifuel, which means they burn wood chips and municipal waste just as eagerly as coal, oil or gas. Domestically, we've never relied on natural gas. Summa summarum, your precious Mother Russia is surplus to requirements as far as we're concerned. We knew all along that Russia was an unreliable partner, so we came prepared.
    6
  1683. Shouldn't Serbia join Putin's Eurasian Economic Union instead?
    6
  1684. Don't worry, it's mostly about brands. The Muricans have taken outsourced manufacturing to the extreme, and are now blaming the world for it.
    6
  1685.  duncan smith  I can't recall NATO starting a war in Europe. It did stop several, though.
    6
  1686. What's unclear to you about how the EU countries appoint their leaders? You may want to educate yourself before you reply.
    6
  1687.  @cybronichuman  You're not up to date on the origins of Linux. It's Finnish in origin.
    6
  1688.  @davidnoelfranks1124  Your authoritarian tears taste bitter.
    6
  1689. And a week in advance, too!
    6
  1690. The bumbling Russians jammed GPS, as a result of which the transponder sent out flawed data. I suspect they saw a "drone" on active radar, representing the real location of the Azeri E190, but its transponder reading put it somewhere else. In other words, they confused themselves with tragic consequences.
    6
  1691. Investigative journalism literally investigates. You should give it a try in your country. You'd be the better for it.
    6
  1692.  @johnny-ih5es  I don't parade my personal opinions as if they're, as such, valid arguments. You do, repeatedly.
    6
  1693. Call me a cynic, but why would China help Russia develop its manufacturing sector? It's much more advantageous to China to source raw materials from Russia and turn them into manufactured goods in China instead. It's been a recurring theme that Russia will diversify its economy, yet time after time, Russia has failed to make significant progress. Now, with access to the necessary technology and investment cut off, it's even less likely to happen.
    6
  1694. Did you pick the wrong account for botting today, GreatUkraine?
    6
  1695. Slavic people are among the most ardent critics of Russia.
    6
  1696.  @jamesgreen1116  You seem confused about the role of NATO in Afghanistan. NATO went in as a stabilisation, reconstruction and training force, with a strong UN mandate, after the Taliban had fled the country and hid away in Pakistan. Sadly, it transpired that at the end of the day, the Afghanis didn't care for stability and didn't want to be trained to run their own country in a civilised manner. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.
    6
  1697.  @lubanskigornik282  Don't give up your day job to go on a comedy tour.
    6
  1698.  @0trov_  Had Kosovo been a UN member, it would've naturally voted in favour of recognising itself, silly. So the balance would've tipped even further in Kosovo's favour.
    6
  1699. You may want to consider having yourselves a true multiparty democracy. The current duopoly combined with populism invites extreme polarisation.
    6
  1700.  @meso8848  It pays to watch the video accompanying this comment section.
    6
  1701. Do as you please, but when you realise your international relations have suffered as a result, it will take a lot more money to regain influence. But please, go ahead. We can do with less America, and if you're voluntarily taking a step back in world affairs, all the better. I've always wondered why the USA needs to be such a global busybody despite the fact that Americans in general aren't all that interested in 'worldly' affairs. Maybe the anomaly goes away now.
    6
  1702. I find Germans to have a great many opinions, on politics in particular. What do you base the above opinion on?
    6
  1703. Als belastingsbetaler betaal je voor de zorg van longkankerpatienten, waarvan er zonder roken 90% minder van zouden zijn.
    6
  1704. Which part of 'far right' don't you understand ? It's the far right side of the political spectrum, the extreme part of the right.
    6
  1705. It's good that you understand the problems associated with right-wing populism. I would say you're at step 5 -- acceptance -- already. Good job.
    6
  1706. You've fallen bady behind. Fatah, the dominant faction in the PLO, recognised Israel as part of the Oslo Accords. Israel dragged its feet in the subsequent peace negotiations. Israel's intransigence proved tragic.
    6
  1707.  @strongfoot2009  Aw. Thanks for reconfirming that your self-confidence is in the pits.
    6
  1708. Blaming Iran covers it.
    6
  1709. 118 billion dollars. And we Europeans have already stepped up higher, as in 132 billions euros -- 137 billion in dollars.
    6
  1710. What's holding you? Remember the sunflower seeds, so your sacrifice won't be in vain.
    6
  1711.  @sergueivergounov1961  Who exactly is joining you? Russia stands isolated. Russia's friends can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
    6
  1712.  @davidprins5504  There were quite a few Dutch veterans that fought on the Allied side in WW2 fighting in the post-war Dutch East Indies, too. My grandfather was a case in point. He served in the Prinses Irenebrigade and then, the 'police actions' in future Indonesia. When repatriated, he married my war widow grandmother and adopted my dad.
    6
  1713.  Steve Arthur  Ukrainian troops in Russia? No need for that. Napoleon's army got badly clobbered during his infamous Russian campaign. It is considered his worst defeat. The victors never set foot in France, but were victorious all the same.
    6
  1714. Maybe idioms are too challenging for you.
    6
  1715. The PLA is now officially involved in dealing with the Hong Kong protests. A line was crossed. I'm sure Beijing instead could've sent professional street-sweepers from the mainland, too.
    6
  1716. Good luck with that. WTO is hamstrung by your great orange friend in the White House. Disputes won't get resolved, and as always, trade is rife with disputes, big and small.
    6
  1717. 'Missile' suggests that it was guided, which it wasn't. 'Rocket' would be more appropriate.
    6
  1718.  @eliotness4029  Some do, some don't. But what's certain is that no-one, not even the ethnic Russians, leave the Baltic States for Russia. And have you noticed how the Kaliningradians increasingly have aspirations for their homeland to become the fourth Baltic State? They can't get their head around the fact that their neighbours are making great economic strides, while their head honcho in faraway Muscovia leaves them poorer still.
    6
  1719.  @maartenaalsmeer  There are also the matters of adopting the euro and the UK rebate, which would not be on the able again. Both rude surprises to entitled Brits, I'm sure.
    6
  1720. And the majority regrets Brexit already. Told-you-so.
    6
  1721. Hello, sad conspiracy theorist.
    6
  1722. Would you also like to go to prison for calling a war a war?
    6
  1723. If a coup d'etat is a 'no' against French exploitation, you've said 'no' five times already, four times to no avail. Fifth time lucky? How about voting in a government democratically that says 'no' to France? ECOWAS can't act against an democratically elected government, and neither can France or the USA for that matter.
    6
  1724. It looks like the Australian officials negotiating with their French counterparts were completely blindsided by the decision. In fact, only weeks before AUKUS was announced, the former expressed great confidence in the project. In other words, the Aussie defence experts got shoved aside by their all-knowing politicians. No wonder Australian defence procurement is a tragic mess.
    6
  1725. Crimea is Ukrainian territory, so no worries there. The Black Sea attacks were conducted with Ukrainian-made Neptunes and naval drones.
    6
  1726.  @Shenzhou.  This is about personal freedoms, not economic advances. One does not preclude the other, as the mainlanders seem to think (or try to convince themselves). Besides, Hong Kong's strength is its finance industry, which does not rely on extensive port facilities.
    6
  1727.  @Wolfvain-qs5su  Duh, you need to arm yourself to exercise your inherent right to self-defence. It's in fully compliance with the UN Charter. And which part of NATO's Article 5 don't you understand? Should Russia attack Estonia, it will meet the full force of NATO. I told you already, read up on NATO.
    6
  1728. It's about time the world rejects Netanyahu.
    6
  1729.  @hzlh2254  Uh, why would I spill a tear? The only reason I can think of is if I get popcorn in my eye.
    6
  1730.  @donatta1857  I have, like all my compatriots, a squeaky-clean conscience in that respect. Since we're attributing blame at will, should I hold you responsible for Idi Amin's atrocities? Same difference.
    6
  1731.  @bhaashatepe5234  Don't pretend. It's not 9 but 141 countries that support Ukraine. As for support to Russia, there's Eritrea and Mali in Africa. In Latin America, there's just Nicaragua. Southeast Asia, none whatsoever. India and China, no, they don't officially support Russia either.
    6
  1732. Before long, there'll be a new military junta in Mali. They change them like undies.
    6
  1733. That's two actors, dum-dum. You may want to redo first grade.
    6
  1734. Spain is full of churches that used to be mosques before the Reconquista. Also, it's hard to single out Islam as intolerant in the light of the Crusades. We were mucho intolerant there.
    6
  1735.  @robijorum4113  No, merely curious. You gave no grounds for anger. Go on, try to explain yourself further. I'm curious why we're supposedly *on our knees. Again, cute emoji work. I bet you're the envy of your kindergarten class.
    6
  1736. Because Hamas is no longer attacking, but the Israeli genocide is still ongoing.
    6
  1737. Woah, you're getting carried away there! Only Eritrea and Mali support Russia. None of the other African countries do. That's 52 out of 54 countries that don't.
    6
  1738. Family guy gets the American people so right.
    6
  1739. Good job indeed. With very few exceptions, all developed countries afflicted with a low birth rate are hoping to attract foreign talent. Educated Indians are very much in demand.
    6
  1740. You must mean Kherson, not Kharkiv.
    6
  1741. No worries, we dislike the US, so it's all well in balance.
    6
  1742. Better cancel NATO then.
    6
  1743.  @Bear-form  Welke chaos? Ik was vorige week nog in Helsinki voor een begrafenis. Schiphol was een chaos.
    6
  1744. And what might those negative consequences be? Having to endure your impotent rage?
    6
  1745. ...or appeared to do so. Image is everything.
    6
  1746.  @123Andersonev  Which part of "gravity bomb", as in an aerial bomb falling as a result of gravity, don't you understand?
    6
  1747. I'm sure you are, busily pestering Putler to vacate Ukraine with immediate effect. He alone holds the key to peace.
    6
  1748.  @Notrusbot  So why is Russia trying to emulate a superpower like the US? Russia is a regional power at best.
    6
  1749. But the ICC are investigating. It was widely publicised when the Trump administration infamously tried to sanction the prosecutor in charge.
    6
  1750. I thought the deal was that the PRC would convince Taiwan of its benevolence by demonstrating how well it handled "One country, two systems" in Hong Kong. An impressed Taiwan would rush to "rejoin" China. How did it all go so pear-sheaped?
    6
  1751. Sixth Republic. France just needs to get with the program and institute true parliamentarism.
    6
  1752. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    6
  1753. FSB agents at work?
    6
  1754. Russia's influence over Ukraine died in 2014. You're still smarting.
    6
  1755. Rather, it's no Russian aggression, no need for NATO. Thank Putin for giving NATO a lease of life.
    6
  1756.  @sirihsirih4938  Isn't Ukraine Europe and didn't Russia invade it all right?
    6
  1757. Yabba dabba doo to you, too.
    6
  1758. Use correct wording. You're cheering for the far right.
    6
  1759. It's *run by Arabs, actually. You're not in Kansas anymore.
    6
  1760. Taking pot shots at the messenger, eh?
    6
  1761. I think the protesters in both Hong Kong and America are heroes (rioters are another matter). FYI, I'm in "the West" -- just not the Wild West.
    6
  1762.  @Silver_Prussian  Cope, Ivan. You're on the losing side.
    6
  1763. I don't know about the CIA, but Mossad is very happy indeed. They just had another plausible excuse to prolong the conflict served to them on a sliver platter.
    6
  1764.  @Beyond12345  Turkey suffers from the same problem as Russia. Both have delusions of grandeur, but economic means, not so much.
    6
  1765.  @nobodyelse7911  Read up on France's semi-presidential system. Wikipedia is your friend. It's supposed to be the best of both world's -- presidential and parliamentary.
    6
  1766. That's an exercise in futility. The US will vote against it once more and, if it were to pass, veto it.
    6
  1767.  @Tapio86  You should know. You're named after the god of the forest.
    6
  1768.  @apollo6154  From a UN perspective, it's ambigious whether Russia is the successor state of the USSR or not. The UN Charter was never amended to reflect Russia's succession, and neither the UNSC nor the UNGA voted about the matter. In other words, Russia's unilateral decision has been tolerated, but never officially accepted. Then there's the little matter of Russia breaking the UN Charter by invading Ukraine. IMHO, for a permanent UNSC member that is supposed to be exemplary in upholding the charter, it's downright unacceptable.
    6
  1769. Yan, it's ludicrous to suggest that Russia somehow nurtured nationhood in the countries you mentioned. Rather, Russia held them back. Imperial Russia actively tried to substitute local languages with Russian. It failed, but now you're trying to turn failure into accomplishment.
    6
  1770. It's the most common second foreign language in Finland. We learnt it the Netherlands, too, and no one has ever called us Waffenbrüder.
    6
  1771. Trumpland is trying that, with poor results so far. For sure, the stock markets aren't having it. The EU just needs to derisk with regard to China, and rely more on the likes of Vietnam and India for low-cost labour. With China's economy suffering the consequences, Xi and the CCP will have to adjust their attitude accordingly.
    6
  1772. You're all obtuse. It's a truism of history that the Treaty of Versailles paved the way for WW2. Macron paid attention in history class, you didn't.
    6
  1773. That's what Stalin thought in 1939, too. Just like with Putin's abortive advance on Kyiv, parade uniforms and band instruments were recovered from the dead. Putin should keep parading his army in Moscow, that's what it's good for.
    6
  1774. Populism divides.
    6
  1775. You'd think strapping a nuke onto an intercontinental ballistic missile would be more effective, but what do I know.
    6
  1776. You'd had better stay away from international new channels. You can't handle it.
    6
  1777. No need. Putin's got Hungary already. He didn't need to invade Ukraine either with pre-Maidan Yanukovych still "at the helm".
    6
  1778. The future of the Dutch people will be bleak without immigration. The demographics are merciless.
    6
  1779.  @andreal5947  Were you born yesterday? Not enough babies.
    6
  1780. Gravity?
    6
  1781. Militarily non-aligned, and even that was debatable.
    6
  1782. I would advise Boeing to keep a low profile when apportioning blame.
    6
  1783. The EU isn't all that keen on having the UK back any time soon. The UK needs its forty days in the desert.
    6
  1784.  @TGWazoo1  This is a European news channel. Liberalism still means classic liberalism in these here parts.
    6
  1785.  @davecullen5986  Even your pro-Brexit tabloids report on them.
    6
  1786. Soon it's Wagner vs. the Russian Federation. Which one will get your glory?
    6
  1787.  @spiderknight9893  What a well-founded comment. Or do you have psychic powers?
    6
  1788.  @RubiaStorm  You certainly didn't bother to mention that it's mutual dependence, but it's good that we've now established that the dependency is pretty much balanced and favours neither side -- in oil and gas. In high-tech products, however, Russia is unilaterally dependent on the EU. Vice-versa, nope, not at all. Suppression, you say? Russia is being sanctioned by the EU for its shenanigans in Crimea and East Ukraine. If that weren't the case, Russia would literally have gotten away with murder. But Russia is counter-sanctioning the EU, so isn't that Russian counter-suppression? You conveniently left that out. Be specific, which EU countries and which war crimes? I don't care for the US and the UK, since despite them being part of your so-called "West", as a EU voter I have no influence whatsoever on their behaviour.
    6
  1789.  @binbi8177  Sure, the China is mighty respectful of the Uyghurs and their culture, so respectful as to lock them up without a trial. China's predatory loans that force developing countries into debt bondage are also a mark of respect. Truly win-win -- in the Chinese sense.
    6
  1790. You picked the wrong video to comment on. Not everything is about your precious Murica.
    6
  1791. You're not exactly spoilt for choice there. Electoral reform is what you need.
    6
  1792. The best story I've heard was about a Dutch mounted policeman who got thrown off a startled horse in the middle of "violently" protesting squatters. The latter helped the man back into the saddle, handed him the walkie-talkie he'd dropped and sent the policeman off with "Hi-yo Silver!"
    6
  1793.  @bryanandreandonny4657  When did this war between NATO and Veitnam [sic] take place?
    6
  1794. This is not about the Finns. It's about stemming uncontrolled migration that will overwhelm the system. Anyone who's able and willing to contribute to society is welcome. Many of your compatriots have done so already, and in due time, undoubtedly many more will follow.
    6
  1795. UN peacekeeping missions come under the UNSC. You can direct your question directly to permanent members China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States. You can also wonder why unaminity is so difficult to attain. The divisiness of the world may have something to do with it.
    6
  1796. The only way to break the political apathy of the ordinary Russians is to make them feel the consequences of their leaders' actions.
    6
  1797. It's like Russia is reverting back to 19th-century Tsarist times, when conscription lasted decades, even a whopping 25 years.
    6
  1798.  @johnwinter2252  You're still trying to redefine well-accepted military terminology. Good luck with that.
    6
  1799. If you're referring to Australia's abortive French sub project, it takes two to tango. My former boss was a project manager for Australia's procurement of their Swedish subs. The TLDR version of the story is that Fawlty Towers-like, we had to warn our colleagues "don't mention the sub". He couldn't stop venting and his day would be ruined. He needed a whole bottle of Absolut to recover and this was in Saudi Arabia, which banned alcohol.
    6
  1800. When where you crowned drama queen?
    6
  1801. 'Evidence' doesn't have a plural form, or it's the same as its singular form. And do easy on the emojis. The more you use, the more puerile you look.
    6
  1802.  @rd123.  Hamas did. Gaza as a whole didn't.
    6
  1803.  @archyarchfiendx2938  What's the prob with supporting Palestine? Hamas is another thing altogether, but I guess you're too myopic to spot the difference.
    6
  1804. They're not mutually exclusive, buddy. You don't have to be anti-Semitic to be pro-Palestinian.
    6
  1805. I suspect he summoned Shiva to do the honors.
    6
  1806. That was a default on ruble-denominated debt, sport. The foreign-currency default was in 1918.
    6
  1807.  @randalsaladbar  What are you on about? Iceland and Norway have never had any nuclear power plants. Iceland is at 87% in renewable energy and Norway is at 72%. In Australia, renewables account for 13% of the energy mix. In the UK, it's 18%.
    6
  1808. Nonsense. There are many Western countries that endured colonisation at one time or another. Unlike you, we're not cry-babies, blaming others for our inadequacies.
    6
  1809.  @1989TS..  You're funny. The US is China's biggest trading partner; the EU comes second. Also, you've foolishly outsourced most of your manufacturing to China. Europe has been much better at retaining its manufacturing base. We're busy reshoring from China to Europe. You're reshoring to... Mexico. Trade-wise, the US most definitely needs Europe. Otherwise, why would you bother with trade wars with the EU? Why not do an Afghanistan and sheepishly withdraw?
    6
  1810. Don't be silly. Macron isn't Napoleon, and there's such a thing as nukes.
    6
  1811.  @GoodMan_000  Russian MPs have *publicly said they want Finland back. They wouldn't say so without Putin's say-so.
    6
  1812. It's slowly but surely headed that way. Germany's KMW has merged with France's Nexter, respectively the Leopard's and the Leclerc's manufacturers. The UK got Rheinmetall to turn the Challenger 2 into the Challenger 3. If the politicians can't consolidate, at least the defence industry is.
    6
  1813.  @tom4115  It's nonna my business, but I believe the French offered the US victory on a silver platter in the American Revolutionary War, after the decisive Battle of the Chesapeake, which pitted the French navy against the Royal Navy. Also, the final episode, the Siege of Yorktown, wouldn't have ended well for you if the French hadn't landed reinforcements and prevented the British from doing same. Maybe I'm being too forward, but since you're dealing with an international audience here and everyone here knows about the frantic white flag-waving in Afghanistan on your part, it ill behoves you to criticise others for same.
    6
  1814.  aji har  Turkey's economy is fundamentally weak and investors -- both Turkish and foreign -- may just have had it now that Erdogan is intentionally ruining Turkey's relations with the US and the EU. You can try to blame the latter, but it's exasperated investors who'll push Turkey over the edge.
    6
  1815.  @csuporj  I'm pretty sure Shoigu and Gerasimov ordered their troops to stop Wagner, but to no avail, it seems.
    6
  1816. The G7, who epitomise capitalism, are contributing to $7.5B to the COVAX fund, which seeks to vaccinate people in poorer countries. That's free, by the way.
    6
  1817. In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch reigns, but does not rule.
    6
  1818.  @dawert2667  Correct me if I'm wrong, but tourism wasn't much of a thing then.
    6
  1819. Tank crews in the Royal Netherlands Army used to taunt us footsloggers with the catchphrase: "What animal is that... it's a pantsergrenaDIER". "Dier" is Dutch for "animal". Bastards.
    6
  1820. OK then, you think Russia will go to war against Serbia.
    6
  1821.  @des_moines840  You saw in it in your tea leaves?
    6
  1822.  @des_moines840  That's your reasoning? Fact is, Italy would be even a bigger economic mess without "the UE". And isn't it a bit conceited of you to assume that Italy's exit would mark the end of the EU? You're no Britain, and Brexit turned out to be a storm in a teacup.
    6
  1823. OK, Ivan, you earned a potato.
    6
  1824. Why are you fanboys always drooling over the Tsar Bomba? It's long gone. If you save up all your allowance, maybe one day you can go see the shell of one in a museum.
    6
  1825.  @thechosenone1533  Let me guess, you're American? Flaunting one's ignorance isn't the thing to do in Europe.
    6
  1826. You don't say. Today, my dad received his 2nd and final jab.
    6
  1827.  @projectedone  So, let us get this straight. In your assessment, if you don't submit to Russia's bullying, Russia is within its rights to invade? For your info, practically no-one at the UN General Assembly, where all the world's countries gather to have their say, sees it that way.
    6
  1828. Again, Russia captured or destroyed them even before they were delivered. Or they became stuck in the mud.
    6
  1829.  @abdiyousuf7882  So you're advocating that Russia escalates the war to NATO territory? That'll be the end of you, too, dum-dum.
    6
  1830.  @GoreTexTillEndEx  Emojis always remind me of the little stickers I would get on my paper when I got my sums right in second grade. It's less cute that our resident Krembots still find them cute.
    6
  1831. A Dutch ex-girlfriend must've hurt you terribly.
    6
  1832.  @kvarnerinfoTV  Sweden and Finland are a litmus test. Both are staunchly independent, but when they start getting upset with Russia, something must be terribly amiss with Russia.
    6
  1833. It appears you're trying to deflect.
    6
  1834. Your obvious whataboutism aside, this isn't helping the Gazans nor is it helping Iran. Iran managed to divert attention from the plight of the Gazans to Israel's new shooting war with Iran. This new war is not a land war, so it does practically nothing to relieve the pressure on the Gazans. At best, Israel will divert some aerial assets to bomb targets within Iran, but it's no biggie for an air force like Israel's. Perhaps most importantly, Israel scored some sympathy points, and Israelis are closing ranks, too, feeling even more embattled. And what was previously a pure proxy war is now a direct conflict, where Israel feels justified to strike at targets within Iran -- something it has not done previously. Netanyahu must be mighty pleased with the Ayatollahs -- they prolonged the crisis and silenced some of his critics, keeping him longer in power.
    6
  1835. Why aren't you in Moscow, arguing your point?
    6
  1836. That is simply untrue. I can name many instances where the far right was shunned by the other parties, including centrists and even centre-rightists. Far-left radicals have sometimes suffered the same fate, but not nearly as often.
    6
  1837. How so? The Spanish flu was most probably American in origin.
    6
  1838.  @matchaa121  The irony is that many Estonians of Russian ethnicity move to Finland and suddenly find the motivation to integrate. Language-wise it shouldn't make an iota of difference.
    6
  1839. Functie elders?
    6
  1840.  @Andreas-gh6is  Racism? I've lived a good many years in Taiwan and Hong Kong. I have the utmost regard for both. And why would you automatically assume that I'm American? You have no clue about my history.
    6
  1841. On the contrary, trade unions have been odds with the EU on more than one occasion. Their relationship with the EU is best described as ambiguous. But hey, don't let facts get in the way of your diatribes.
    6
  1842.  @davidnoelfranks1124  Let's see when the Kaliningradians rename their country Amberland and become the fourth Baltic state. I know several who can't fathom why they have to be poorer than the Lithuanians and Poles.
    6
  1843. Great idea, but even the Nordic countries, having the most elaborate socioeconomic schemes known to man, fail to crank out more kids.
    6
  1844.  @RockBrentwood  You're wasting your time on YouTube. You should be getting rich by writing techno-thrillers!
    6
  1845.  Firm Buttocks  I don't know -- what's a "platitudeed"? I'm not your son. I would be ashamed if I were.
    6
  1846. I'm afraid you're uneducated about Europe. Ministers without a seat in parliament aren't exactly unheard of on the continent either. The federal government of notoriously ungovernable Belgium has no less than four unelected ministers and two unelected undersecretaries. Belgium must be absolutely brilliant in your mind.
    6
  1847. By releasing the brakes and applying power?
    6
  1848.  @marcdoeseverything  I'm thinking petulant.
    6
  1849.  @TheUnknown187  Did you fail geography? Russia has unilaterally pushed its borders closer to NATO. And no, Russia doesn't get to carve out a sphere of influence for itself. The "sphere" gets to decide for themselves which alliances they join.
    6
  1850. "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.", Thomas Jefferson
    6
  1851.  @darkgalaxy5548  I don't think it fair to expect France 24 to sketch the political landscape in France as a preamble to each and every report on French politics. I'm sure they've reported plenty on Macron's centre and Les Républicains. Don't blame France 24 for your ignorance.
    6
  1852. If there's a loud bang in the sky, that attracts attention. Russians have smartphones, too.
    6
  1853. @@severk5774 It's even more incredible considering that many don't even know how to ride a bike.
    6
  1854. Aid to UNRWA has been suspended by some donors. There's a difference with defunding.
    6
  1855.  @sRazor96  That's right, and the Norwegian Krag-Jørgensen and the Swedish Mauser used the same 6.5x55mm ammunition. The Germans famously used the Norwegian rifle and the ammo in the Battle of Narvik.
    6
  1856. Sweden's surface ops need work. Unlike Finland, Sweden failed to throw the book at Yi Peng 3, the Chinese ship that cut two undersea cable near Öland. It was the Royal Danish Navy that finally detained the ship.
    6
  1857. Let's try not to make everything about the US, shall we? It's like going to a party and having to listen to a person that only talks about himself, his family, dog, car, etc. Boooring!
    6
  1858.  @jt7891  Guterres has repeatedly called on Hamas to release its hostages. Try to be more observant.
    6
  1859. Yay, it'll be fun watching Farage scream blue murder when his EU pension is taken away.
    6
  1860. And the sanctions were imposed why?
    6
  1861.  @hardeepchaudhary893  UN rules. Do your research before you speak up.
    6
  1862.  @Sarayne13  Speaking of which, Trump's foreign policy turnaround doesn't bode well for AUKUS either, now does it? Soon you'll have to go back hat in hand to France, assuring them that bygones are bygones and that you'd like some French subs pretty-please toot sweet.
    6
  1863.  @billyungen  Not all former colonies are so daft as to consider Russia a champion against colonialism. Kenya’s UN ambassador denounced Russia at the UNGA and drew parallels between the Ukraine crisis and Africa’s colonial past. At least Kenya sees Russia for what it is: a past and present colonial power.
    6
  1864.  @benjamindover4337  Attal didn't shout it from the rooftops. The media made it a thing, just like you're making it a thing now.
    6
  1865. Your Herr Chamberlain was rather like the Italians, wasn't he? Prone to capitulate.
    6
  1866.  @graemesydney38  You are desperately trying to forget Chamberlain's notorious policy of appeasement. It paved the way for WW2.
    6
  1867.  @greytuesday28  It's an unfair comparison, because if anyone, Putin can confidently state "l'état c'est moi." Even Putin's oligarchs are walking piggybanks to him.
    6
  1868. Tourism will suffer, that's for sure.
    6
  1869. Hungary can be very disobedient, but outside the EU. It will stop being a drain on our funds, too.
    6
  1870. ​ @gee8883  I can enlighten you there. Pew Research asks every year what the world thinks about various topics. Pew's polling shows that the world holds positive views of the US (61% favourable vs. 35% unfavourable), NATO (66% vs. 26%) and the EU (69% vs. 27%). To put things into perspective, global views on Russia are very negative (10% favourable vs. 85% unfavourable). Sorry if I burst your bubble.
    6
  1871. You should either pick a more credible user name for yourself, or ask your handlers about enrolling in English class, Sveta. You're fooling no one.
    6
  1872. Ik zit hier heel alleen kerstfeest te vieren De straf die ik verdiend heb zit ik uit Ik stal voor ons gezin Maar dat had toch geen zin
    6
  1873. Omtzigt finds a lot of problems, but solutions, that's another cookie.
    6
  1874.  @anand_jha9999  I'm afraid that ship has sailed. Your ancestors should've emigrated to the Americas and Australia when they had the chance. Since we're on the topic of migrations, I consider it a great pity that my ancestral people headed northwest when the ice age came to an end. I would've preferred them to have ventured southeast to warm and fertile India. Can we still change our minds?
    6
  1875. So your point is that Russia hasn't made any progress in tank design during the last 70 years? OK.
    6
  1876.  @krakendragonslayer1909  Aw, you poor thing...
    6
  1877. Whataboutism is eternal.
    6
  1878.  @seanwebb605  Otis? More like Schindler, KONE or Thyssenkrupp.
    6
  1879. Which greedy rulers in particular? Try pointing them out rather than leave it at clichés.
    6
  1880. ​ @BruceJ999  Uh, why would I cry if you bots have found soulmates in each other? Go right ahead and celebrate your love!
    6
  1881.  @royangomes5173  NATO's shared B61 bombs are in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. None of those countries borders Russia. Kaliningrad, where Russia keeps Iskander missiles and their nuclear warheads, borders Poland and Lithuania -- both NATO countries. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, so should NATO invade Kaliningrad?
    6
  1882.  @oscaar5  Come back when the meds have kicked in.
    6
  1883.  @calvinsylveste8474  Because it brought the EU economies to a standstill. Any more questions?
    6
  1884.  @gazpachopolice7211  CSTO is dead. It was buried in Nagorno-Karabakh as the OP suggested, when Russia failed to come to Armenia's aid.
    6
  1885. They're not from "Russian jails and prisons". Most have valid visas for Russia, and have been living there for some time as students and whatnot. Those with expired visas are fined and then booted across the border.
    6
  1886. Don't try to play the hypocrisy card. Typically every mass protest has an element of rioting to it. In France, the Yellow Vest protests attracted the usual bunch of anti-establishment rioters, for whom any excuse will do. It's the same with G20 summits. The authorities in any country will act against rioters. But trying to brand peaceful protesters as rioters appears to be a Chinese thing.
    6
  1887.  @scottwebb4722  What a non-sensical reply. I'm starting to think I can't get anything sensical out of you, so I'm leaving it at this.
    6
  1888.  @shrawankumar-yp4xs  NATO expands as a result of countries explicitly wanting to join it. Do you have a problem with their right to self-determination? If so, perhaps India should give up its sovereignty and rejoin the British Empire.
    6
  1889. More like 'Opportunists for Xenophobia'.
    6
  1890.  @kinngrimm  It's not the countries, but their companies that break sanctions and end up being sanctioned themselves. Huawei could tell us a thing or two about how detrimental that is to business.
    6
  1891. It all falls under the right to self-defence. Read the UN Charter, it's very explicit about it.
    6
  1892. Because the data cable in question sees much use, while unused Nord Stream had already turned into an relic?
    6
  1893.  @Adam-rj9wz  I clearly know that you far-right populists desperately try to convince yourselves that there are dark forces are at play that take advantage of you. It's the far-right credo: always feel victimized. Always have a scapegoat ready.
    6
  1894.  gogosmkkk5138  Developed countries tend to plateau growth-wise, while China -- a developing country by its own admission -- still has a lot of untapped potential and a lot of catching up to do. Nothing new under the sun.
    6
  1895. There's a Canadian version of DW? What makes you think that?
    6
  1896. I think they've matured quite nicely. Putin's childish tricks were nipped in the bud.
    6
  1897. Cats sometimes purr to put themselves at ease. Krembots have a similar coping strategy. They post reassuring comments on YouTube.
    6
  1898.  @oizorref2615  Try to improve your reading comprehension.
    6
  1899.  @kuzma2214  Serbia is one of the legal successors of Yugoslavia. Consequently, Serbia had to reapply for UN membership.
    6
  1900. Long Covid.
    6
  1901.  @carljohnson2194  The Taliban mostly definitely made themselves complicit by harbouring Al Qaeda. Of course, the US could've bombed the both of them to the stone ago and left the Afghans to rot. Decisions...
    6
  1902. There-there, whataboutist.
    6
  1903. Every Dutchman knows about the role of Canada in the liberation of the Netherlands. Each year, we used to have Canadian veterans over. As schoolkids we handed flowers to them. It seems they even taught us baseball, which we've played ever since.
    6
  1904.  @ChuckHuffmaster  The US didn't do a thing for Finland, though. Not before, during or after WW2.
    6
  1905. @ Can you repeat that in English?
    6
  1906. For the sake of argument, what would you have done in their shoes? Protested on YouTube, like you're doing now?
    6
  1907. That isn't English. Try another translation engine.
    6
  1908. It's not the same as membership. Sweden has no decision-making powers within NATO, and only part of NATO's capabilities can be brought to bear on Russian attackers. With assets up close, it will be up to its Nordic neighbours to come to Sweden's aid.
    6
  1909. Think of SilkAir Flight 185. It dove straight down from an altitude of 12,000 ft.
    6
  1910. Whatever the outcome, it's more of the same.
    6
  1911.  Jigger2361  Canadian soldiers were -- and still are -- highly revered for the determination with which they liberated the Netherlands. While in school in seventies, we handed out flowers to the returning veterans and their wives. Some were overcome by emotion, which, as I recall, was infectious.
    6
  1912. He has regulars for these photo ops. It gets a bit embarrassing when people start comparing notes.
    6
  1913.  @mihiec  It's Russia and China that are cashing in. Western weaponry tends to be on the expensive side for the Africans.
    6
  1914.  @Passin_Thru  I'm not impressed with your strategic prowess. With Finland and Sweden in NATO, the Baltic Sea is suddenly a NATO lake. In the Arctic, Russia finds itself surrounded by NATO members. And Russia had such high hopes for the Arctic.
    6
  1915. On the contrary, pay without say makes even less sense.
    6
  1916.  @tomnicholson2115  What are you blabbering on about? It's a simple matter of Northern Ireland organising a referendum about reunification. If someone's not happy with the result, they can vote again, this time with their feet. No one's being forced out.
    6
  1917.  @briancarno8837  Let's ask the UN General Assembly. No, it's not buying your tripe.
    6
  1918.  @eedragonr6293  I don't know how to respond to such a rambling message. Don't rely too much on Google Translate.
    6
  1919. Yeah, Trump spoke about peace, but far more so about helping himself to Ukraine's mineral riches. You seem to be an appeasement aficionado. An unjust peace will only whet Putin's appetite for Lebensraum, just like that of the Austrian painter in Munich in 1938.
    6
  1920. You need to find yourself a proper job or you'll never make it out of your parents' basement.
    6
  1921. Russia, proudly placed 146th in the Democracy Index.
    6
  1922.  @summer031977  Will? You haven't been following the migrant crises in Europe, have you?
    6
  1923. Texas, you supposedly know about politics, yet it's painfully clear Trump doesn't.
    6
  1924.  @randomcustodes.2355  You're not very good at analogies. The Afghans -- and the South Vietnamese -- wouldn't stand up for themselves, despite all the help in the world. The Ukrainians are very much standing up for themselves. Trust you not to understand the difference.
    6
  1925.  @randomcustodes.2355  Are you slow on the uptake? Ukraine needs our support to keep fighting, but unlike the Afghans and the South Vietnamese, they're putting it to good use. Verrry good use, in fact.
    6
  1926. Satellites are of little help there. IR can't detect a drone, and radar is ill-suited for satellites.
    6
  1927. China's expansionism?
    6
  1928.  AndyWoohoo666  This one is legend. I've never witnessed him saying anything coherent.
    6
  1929. Since you've taken it upon yourself to be a Kremlin apologist, how do you justify these summary executions of civilians perpetrated by Russian troops in Bucha?
    6
  1930. Let me guess. The central election commission will reject 5,001 of the 105,000 signatures, leaving Nadezhdin one signature short.
    6
  1931. The majority welcomes him.
    6
  1932. You could do better than elect a president that sucks less.
    6
  1933.  @bryandimery6509  The actual 21% interest rate is plenty humiliating. And we will see it jump to 23% soon enough.
    6
  1934.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  I couldn't care less which region of the UK serves as your excuse.
    6
  1935.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  Your poor English? No thanks.
    6
  1936. A hicktown with a commie mayor isn't auguring a Communist world revolution. Like him, I'm more concerned about Turkey having reverted to authoritarianism.
    6
  1937. ​ @MarincaGheorghe  A mobile network maintains a register of which base station you're connected to and how good your connection is. With that info, it's easy to establish a search area. A search team with a radio direction finder will nab him in no-time. The only problem here is that the authorities have no idea who they're looking for -- or whose wife, for that matter.
    6
  1938.  @jarnomon1  Grundgesetz translates to constitution. Constitutions are part and parcel of every free society, but Americans think it's a manifestation of American exceptionalism.
    6
  1939. It was a gaffe by a PM who was soon set right by the Polish president. You Krembots creamed your pants, so you missed the latter part.
    6
  1940. Finland is defined by its age-old struggle against Russia. It's a personal matter for each and every Finn to defend hearth and home. Yet you pretend to know better.
    6
  1941.  @FamilyR-G  Trade routes were cut with just about everyone else but Sweden and Germany, so Swiss currency wasn't it. Strategic materials maybe, or gold.
    6
  1942. It could be worse. The Russians still insist they had nothing to do with shooting down MH17.
    6
  1943.  @Starrider.  It's very simple. When Russian troops have either been removed by force from Ukraine or Russia has agreed to withdraw unconditionally, the ensuing peace talks can concentrate on how much Russia is going to pay in war reparations.
    6
  1944. Got it. Exchange your humdrum job for a body bag.
    6
  1945.  @siamaklighvani3951  How about Indians, would that be 21 coats of DDT and a DDT suppository for good measure?
    6
  1946.  @wolfswinkel8906  It's better than that. Russia will never fight like Russia expects. In reality, Russia fights worse. The war in Ukraine attests to that.
    6
  1947. *Foxholes. You'd enter a sewer through a manhole.
    6
  1948.  @kartikeyatiwari2502  I don't think you have a clue. You don't conduct a referendum in a warzone -- or a battlefield, for that matter. Neither does an army conduct one. It should be up to the UN and the OCSE, but Russia can't risk an unfavourable outcome, so they're not invited.
    6
  1949.  @KeldAndersen-e9u  Greenland is part of the North Americam continent. That's just a geographical fact.
    6
  1950. I'll tell you that you're a drama queen.
    6
  1951. Sukhoi does its bit, too.
    6
  1952. The significance of the UK being able to access the EU's single market is far more significant than the other way around. We in the EU can make do with losing a smallish preferred trade partner, but can you afford to lose a huge one? Moreover, the EU losing its fishing rights in UK waters has relatively little economic impact, since it's more of a political matter. It's the UK that loses big economically.
    6
  1953.  @LapkaKutiapka  Sure, welcome to the modern world, where prices are subject to supply and demand. In this case, Russia isn't involved, because it hasn't been supplying since 2022. Something to do with an illegal war of aggression, perpetrated by Russia, in Ukraine.
    6
  1954. Na de beginfase van de oorlog heeft Rusland zich voornamelijk teruggetrokken. Feiten zijn lastig voor trollen.
    6
  1955. Who cancelled the right to self-determination and appointed you world dictator? Sovereign states decide for themselves which alliances they enter into. Not the EU, not the US and certainly not Russia decide these matters over the heads of those concerned. FYI, Finland is becoming more pro-NATO by the day. Just in one month's time, popular support for membership has shot up from 28% to 45%. NATO owes Putin a recruitment bonus.
    6
  1956. It is egomaniacally impossible for BoJo to keep a low profile.
    6
  1957.  @alexgibb8406  What gave you that idea? Hungary and Slovakia don't want to donate, but that's it. Ukraine won't notice the difference.
    6
  1958. Rheinmetall keeps very busy.
    6
  1959. But Trump is receiving Brexit-Britain with open arms. There may even be future statehood in it. I like the sound of it, Old England, the 51st state of the United States of Murica (New England is taken, and no doubt the non-English bits of the UK will prefer to join the EU). You're very generous to mention Russia. They're minor league when it comes to world economies.
    6
  1960.  @jessehachey2732  Respect! An instructor overheard me boasting about the number of push-ups I could do (I had just demobbed from the Finnish Army after two years of service, so my arms were like hydraulic jacks), so I got picked to carry the MAG. I kicked myself for that! Two of my Finnish nieces are doing their voluntary military service as we speak. One just made border jaeger, which is a privilege reserved for only 10 females a year. I can't match her in push-ups either!
    6
  1961.  @oneone8318  I'm afraid your knowledge isn't much to go by then. On and off, Finland has had leftists parties in government, just like right-wing parties, and always as part of a coalition government. Sometimes, the left and the right have formed a coalition, leaving the centrists out. You should study up on the make-up Finnish governments throughout the years. It's not rocket science.
    6
  1962.  @robertaskajokas4645  Don't be so sure. Ramzan Kadyrov has a lot of experience fighting Chechnya's gay community. But something must've rubbed off, because he's wearing $1,580 Prada combat boots now.
    6
  1963. The Irish seceded from the UK? Are you trolling? The Irish freed themselves from foreign rule! The right to self-determination is an universal right that the UK, as founding member of the UN, has pledged to respect. The problem here is not Irish nationalism, but rather, lingering British imperialism.
    6
  1964. Musk fanboy much?
    6
  1965. Venezuela could've easily done it without US help.
    6
  1966.  Hans Otto Kroeger Kaethler  Simple-pimple. An Irish lessor could get a local court order for the seizure of a "Russian" aircraft that lands in China or India. Especially China is bound to comply, because it has nearly as many aircraft leasing companies as Ireland. If there's no reciprocity, the customers of these Chinese companies could just leave their bills unpaid, because there are no consequences.
    6
  1967.  @christophermichaelclarence6003  Isn't New Jersey in the States?
    6
  1968. Oh dear, you belong in a previous century. In this one, major powers don't get to make decisions on behalf of smaller ones. Maybe Doctor Who can help you return.
    6
  1969. Tell you what, we'll send you extra-strength copium and all's well.
    6
  1970. You're confused. The Catalonian separatists have no quarrel with Brussels; they have one with Madrid. Separatists all over Europe see the EU as a lifeline. Haven't you heard about the Scottish SNP wanting to leave the UK and immediately apply for EU membership? I know conspiracy theorists prefer to cherry-pick their facts, but reality is a good, well, reality check.
    6
  1971.  @oldscratch3535  My granddad sure did. When my grandmother predeceased him, she left an unlicensed Walther PP pistol. My granddad must've arranged it with the local police chief, because that was the end of it.
    6
  1972.  @kuzakani4297  Orcs are the critters that are occupying parts of Ukraine -- and dying in droves while at it. Try to come up with your own material.
    6
  1973. The Russians' tomfoolery is reserved for a domestic audience. They know better as well, but they prefer to be lied to for now. Sooner or later, the knives will come out, however.
    6
  1974. Aren't you in denial mode.
    6
  1975.  @lurchamok8137  Germany is providing air defence systems and comms equipment. How are those genocidal?
    6
  1976. What about whataboutism?
    6
  1977. That would make three clowns that make Putin's life a misery: Scholz, Macron and, of course, Zelenskyy. Putin is in real danger of developing coulrophobia (you'd better look it up).
    6
  1978.  @lunatic_lad  But India's time-tested friend is abandoning India at the behest of this friend's new BFF: China. Russia is dependent on China for its economic survival. Like a jealous husband, China won't allow Russia to dally with India.
    6
  1979. How pathetic of you. When you get into an argument with your mum, do you blame the neighbours across the street?
    6
  1980. It looks like a M3 Grease Gun that got caught in a vice.
    6
  1981. So, from one extreme to the other. It's bound to give Argentina's extreme left a new lease of life.
    6
  1982.  @tokio2032uk  That's just your imagination speaking. I find that Germany in particular is well vaccinated against Fascism. In contrast, countries like the US appear to be low on anti-Fascist antibodies, judging from the disgraceful coup attempt. Oh, and don't upvote your own posts. Bad form, that.
    6
  1983. My Finnish cousin is training Ukrainians in the UK as we speak. He served as an instructor in Iraqi Kurdistan, too. He's totally overshadowing me, who trained Estonian Home Defence volunteers shortly after Estonia's independence.
    6
  1984.  @jaredwmac  And Prigozhin got a nice send-off by the public in Rostov. Putin, nothing, no public displays of support whatsoever.
    6
  1985. We look to our past for inspiration. We'd also love you more if you made your military fit for purpose again. The drawdown of Sweden's military was painful to behold.
    6
  1986. +Jonny 01 A bit of schadenfreude is in order, especially since the 'schaden' is self-inflicted.
    5
  1987. Steve Johnson You're barking up the wrong tree. The moment Russia stops supplying the separatists, the fighting dies down.
    5
  1988. Right. But nothing saves the Russian athletes from impotence and developing features of the opposite sex, thanks to the performance-enhancing drugs they've taken.
    5
  1989. +philajfran Farage is an MP all right, an MEP in fact. Britain kept him out of parliament, but the "undemocratic" EU didn't. Telling.
    5
  1990. And Germany isn't?
    5
  1991. So Trump is a Putinist.
    5
  1992. He's been bankrolling UKIP. And now it's time to pay the piper.
    5
  1993. So you're building a bridge between Poland and the UK. I thought Brexit was for a large part brought on by Polish immigrants snatching away jobs from Brits, who reacted by voting for Brexit, for sealing the borders. An Anglo-Polish bridge would bring in more Polish jobseekers.
    5
  1994. Once again, Russia is the sick man of Europe. Only this time, the illness affects the brain. Delusions of grandeur at the very top.
    5
  1995. Is Congress about to vote on adopting Sharia law or what sparked the protest?
    5
  1996. Because a vote for Le Pen is a vote for Putin.
    5
  1997. They've come clean. Turkey has not.
    5
  1998. All I see is a man-child destroying his own credibility.
    5
  1999. Sailesh Kuturu So you foolishly assume I'm American. Putin's dynamism? He's doing improv, constantly catching even his closest associates off guard. They, like you, have to put a positive spin on his erratic behaviour, as if it was all part of a master plan. Then Putin goes and ruins the elaborately concocted cover story. Dynamism indeed. If anything, Brexit is a joke on the Brexiteers. Haven't you noticed how utterly disorganised they are? Like Putin, no plan. Just desperate efforts to make the best of a bad situation. That and their sudden reluctance to actually quit the union take the wind out of the sails of the Eurosceptics, bolstering support for the EU rather than weakening it. In your shoes, I would pick my heroes more carefully. You sound decidedly North Korean in your hero worship.
    5
  2000. Trump-style? Get outta here.
    5
  2001. +patriotistopiano South Africa wasn't devoid of human habitation when the Dutch arrived. I've read journals of the early settlers, and they clearly show otherwise. Nigeria can boast many different cultures. The Igbo people are distinct enough to have pursued independence in the past. You're too blind to see that culture and a dark skin colour don't go hand in hand. In a similar vein, I'm Dutch-born but ethnically 100% Nordic, and no one can tell one way or the other from my appearance, but I'm very aware of the cultural differences. African tribes living next to one another are no different in this respect. Africa is intrinsically multicultural. It must come as a rude surprise to a white supremacist like yourself that our ancestors used to be black Africans whose descendants gradually lost their pigmentation as they slowly spread northward. The simple explanation is that we could better synthesise vitamin D with less pigment absorbing the diminished UV-light. You're making a big fuss about tans.
    5
  2002. Please follow your own advice.
    5
  2003. +AwoidElite I'm surmising that you're inexpertly trying to strike a comparison with mobile telephony, in which case it would be "2G and 5G". The G stands for generation, not gigahertz. Speaking of mobile telephony, it's amusing to recount how Murica trailed behind in adopting mobile telephony. Iranians were happily texting while Muricans were still coming to term with the fact that SMS wasn't just for voicemail notifications.
    5
  2004. All will be revealed... after a regime change.
    5
  2005. +beanie0112 My theory is that the inauguration was attended by an unusually large number of naval military personnel in their white dress uniforms. They tend to clump together, too.
    5
  2006. Putin and Lukashenko may be dictators, but they're astute leaders all the same. Trump is just plain dumb.
    5
  2007. Was it the euro or the pound that just collapsed?
    5
  2008. +Evan Friend What am I not getting? I've got a deactivated Suomi SMG in my collection. My cousin, a licensed gunsmith, did the deed. Maybe you're confused by your own ambiguous assault rifle ban, because we've had no bans in place against assault riles in particular. As a case in point, I own an AK that's illegal to import into the US to this very day. We were specifically discussing this new EU firearms directive and its repercussions before you chimed in with your unhelpful comments. I'm keenly aware of its contents, having followed the process from the start. For the fourth time, I'm not affected, and I own two military-calibre semi-auto rifles. Spare me the platitudes. Appointments to EC are per se no different than Trump nominating his weird friends to posts in his administration. In the former case, the council nominates and the EP approves -- both are elected bodies. If you're really worried about democratic credentials, you've got your work cut out with the flawed US electoral system and it's infamous product, Trump, repeatedly bypassing congress.
    5
  2009. Trumpist America doesn't know its arse from its elbow.
    5
  2010. Rather, Trump brings along the putrid smell of American arrogance and ignorance. They always seem to go together.
    5
  2011. Alex Silver Again, don't be lazy. Tell me how I'm off. None of that "google and you'll find out". 
    5
  2012. Put him next to Putin and he looks like a little angel.
    5
  2013. He's finally found one. Brexit.
    5
  2014. ***** How can Finland be neutral or friendly towards Russia if it has sanctions in place against them, just like the rest of the EU, as we speak? And this while Finland has more to lose in a trade war than most other EU countries.
    5
  2015. Now he has to lead. And there lies the problem. It's one thing to campaign, but quite another to lead. He still can't seem to snap out of sowing division, while instead he should strive to unite a very divided country.
    5
  2016. That's what you get when you pour all your resources into waging a very costly and ultimately futile war of aggression, while neglecting your public infrastructure. I expect it will only get worse.
    5
  2017.  @johnmaguire2185  Nah, nobody understand Trump's thought process, not even the man himself.
    5
  2018. You omitted the scare quotes.
    5
  2019.  @Qunitlius  I'm on Linux, not Windows. Linux hails from Finland. Nowadays, there would be no internet without the OS. Android, too, borrows heavily from Linux. IPhones are crammed with European-patented technology. Not only that, in America, just about every cellular call goes through a European-made cellular network.
    5
  2020. There's a country that treasures its past.
    5
  2021. How does that work? Starbucks leaves Russia on its own accord, Russia replaces it with a substandard knock-off. Hilarity ensues, not tears.
    5
  2022. Both in good and bad.
    5
  2023. I thought the UK left for sovereignty reasons. Ironically, this is about EU members exercising their sovereign right to suspend AZ vaccinations when possible serious side-effects come to light that warrant further investigation. In contrast, the EU has consistently advised them that the AZ vaccine is safe. You should love sovereignty with all your heart -- not just when it suits your anti-EU rhetoric.
    5
  2024.  @dynamiteplayz4332  Russia retreated from Kyiv. Front lines ebb and flow.
    5
  2025.  @krzywygeneral  You have quite a chip on your shoulder there, mate. So, you can't wean yourselves off them, so you're hoping they'll cast you off.
    5
  2026.  @Hachithedoggiestofdogs  Ah, a self-taught military "expert" reported for duty. Conversion training for experienced T-72 crews takes 4 to 6 weeks. Heavy maintenance can initially be done across the border, in Poland. Incidentally, Poland converted from the T-72 to the Leopard 2. There's nothing new in terms of ammo supply and transporting heavy equipment.
    5
  2027.  @thomas6069  You're praying to Putin, that much is clear.
    5
  2028. Mie-mie-mie.
    5
  2029.  @allancrotch2953  Shall I inform the Indians that they're once again the jewel in your crown? How about the Yanks, shall I notify them, too, that independence is revoked?
    5
  2030. Read: the poison must leave his system before he can leave the country.
    5
  2031. That doesn't appear to be the case here. Every non-autocratic country must agree that it's time for Maduro to go.
    5
  2032. So a merger between the EU and BRICS+. I think not. In fact, I prefer not to think about it.
    5
  2033. Ethnicity? You do realise, right, that a great many Israelis were born abroad? That applies especially to their leaders. To date, half of Israel's prime ministers are European-born.
    5
  2034. It's the Georgians. Roughly half of them do want European integration. The EU peoples, on the other hand, struggle to have an opinion on the matter.
    5
  2035.  @brandonbrown4819  I think it's a good extrapolation on the 'casualties of war' excuse that the OP is trying.
    5
  2036. Great power? Which country do you mean by that? You can't mean Russia, which is a greatly diminished regional power.
    5
  2037. ​ @letmelie4757  NATO's area of responsibility covers North America, Europe and Turkey only. So, a military conflict in the Pacific won't necessarily trigger NATO's Article 5, but be that as it may, the US needs NATO to contain Russia, which won't hold back in the event of a US-China conflict. Long gone are the days that the US could fight -- and win -- two major wars plus some minor ones at the same time, as its defence strategy once prescribed.
    5
  2038. Sigh. You didn't watch the video.
    5
  2039.  @morphkuhani4081  The world has had its say.
    5
  2040. Ukraine would be daft to launch a head-on attack, Russian-style. They'll go around Bakhmut and wait for the encircled defenders to surrender. That is, if the Russians haven't made another goodwill gesture (read: ran for their lives).
    5
  2041.  @captainwin6333  Well, well, well. The Hungarians are a Finno-Ugric people, just like the Sami people in Lapland, who're one of the few indigenous peoples in Europe. The Sami are as Northern Europe as you can get.
    5
  2042.  @filipe5722  Poland may be a wise investment economically and labour-wise, but politically -- not so much. It's as if the Poles and their Hungarian friends don't think this democracy thing is a worthwhile pursuit.
    5
  2043.  @wanderlust0120  They're not. At this pace, Russia will be in Kyiv in 2102, and they've gone bankrupt twenty times over.
    5
  2044. The colours must be a Soviet throwback. I can vouch that the Fenno-Russian border has red-green border posts on the Russian side. Seen it with my own eyes, I went skiing there two months ago.
    5
  2045. No, it's not normal for Iran to be present in Iraq. Neighbours should respect one another's territorial integrity, just like any other country.
    5
  2046. I suppose the enduring superstitious belief that body parts of albinos have magical properties is the exception that proves the rule.
    5
  2047. The real question is, what have they been doing there for 46 years? Would the situation be worse, better or the same if the UN hadn't gone in? Curiously, when you really press the matter, both sides want the UN peacekeepers monitoring whatever tenuous peace exists in between the clashes, although Israel in particular obeys the UN only when it happens to feel like it.
    5
  2048. Are you sure you're paying your way yourselves? I wonder...
    5
  2049.  @petersouthernboy6327  Nah, we teach survival skills to wide-eyed American soldier boys. We've always relied on ourselves first and foremost.
    5
  2050. You trolls always struggle with the difference between cause and consequence.
    5
  2051.  @wolfswinkel8906  Early last year, Putin tried to deny Finland and Sweden the right to join NATO, which was immediately interpreted as a direct affront to their sovereignty. Then he invaded Ukraine. These miscalculations amounted to Putin rolling out the red NATO carpet for all three. He's an accomplished NATO recruiter all right.
    5
  2052. I, for one, remember in what state Russia was in the nineties. Immune to economic crisis, you say? They had the area and the resources then, too.
    5
  2053.  @everest9707  Polls suggest that a majority of Brits have turned against Brexit. Facts are a biatch.
    5
  2054. Yes, you're being branded crazy radicals and deservedly so. Expect to lose the support of those who still have an inkling of sense.
    5
  2055.  @terranu1  Aren't you funny. The Germans will curse when they rip out their gas pipes, but at the end of the day, they're only hastening a development that's in motion already. It's Russia that will be left high and dry. Hydrocarbons are their only true export success, and even there time is running out.
    5
  2056. A RIB is pretty susceptible to small arms fire.
    5
  2057.  @hj-xb2tr  At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, we do perform better in just about every societal aspect if authoritative international comparisons are to be believed. For your info, we haven't looked up to the USA for a long time when comparing ourselves to other top achievers. It's always other European countries and typically Canada and New Zealand. As to our alleged insecurities vis à vis Americans, I find the reverse to be true. In my experience, you Americans tend to get defensive the moment I mention that I'm a Euro. Mileages vary on a continent so culturally diverse as Europe, but in our neck of the woods, we associate bragging with having bad body odour.
    5
  2058.  @SERGE_Tech  A semi-exclave with a NATO lake shoreline doesn't yell strength to me.
    5
  2059. Why don't you have a talk with your pal Putin? He's waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, not the other way around.
    5
  2060. Well, it did come to blows between the US and Iran. Not exactly anti-war-like there.
    5
  2061.  @johnadam2885  So, you're saying Ukraine will regain full control of Ukraine, just like Iraq and Afghanistan are controlled by Iraqis and Afghans respectively. No argument with that. BTW, you made a boo-boo: it's not Americans but Russians who're occupying parts of Ukraine.
    5
  2062. Because it's entirely irrelevant here. She was not protesting in support of Hamas, but against illegal Israeli settlements. Everyone should be protesting against the latter.
    5
  2063. With regard to China, India should take the advice to heart that Indians give to Ukraine: withdraw and negotiate an unequal peace with China. No? Why not?
    5
  2064.  @TomWakeman-ul7om  Syria was under Ottoman and French rule. Hard to put blame on the Brits here.
    5
  2065. He's experienced all right... in soliciting aid and bribes.
    5
  2066. @John Smith Per capita, silly. The IMF says Lithuanians earn $34,826 annually, Estonians $34,096 and Latvians $29,901. Russians come last with $29,267.
    5
  2067. Rory, Trump's line that the US is paying the others' bills may go down well with his domestic supporters, but internationally, he makes Americans look like poor saps who can't negotiate trade deals. Apart from Trump, who has delusions of grandeur as a deal-maker, I don't think there's a leader in G7 who would oppose having the WTO go through all the various trade tariffs -- in the US and elsewhere -- and see what's fair and what's unfair. Trump must know that his claims about unfairness don't stand scrutiny.
    5
  2068.  @LoseTheWorld-KeepYourSoul  I don't quite understand why the views of a politician who lived in a 18th-century proto-democracy are all that relevant today. Political parties aren't your problem -- your dearth of them is. True multi-party democracies -- such as parliamentary democracies with proportional representation -- don't experience your extreme polarisation.
    5
  2069. You would think the Germans know best, Adidas being a German brand and all.
    5
  2070. The CCP has a lot of undesirables these days. Maybe a reason to look in the mirror?
    5
  2071. The EU doesn't have to do anything to make the UK fall apart. The UK is already in auto-destruct mode.
    5
  2072.  @barrystubbs983  Remainers are in the majority in Scotland, so I'd say yes. The same applies to Northern Ireland, but if they vote to join the Republic of Ireland, they'll be back in that way. If Wales leaves the UK, it makes sense for them to join the EU as well.
    5
  2073. Low-tech, rather. Russia can't get the good stuff from China either. China isn't going to risk being sanctioned as well should it export products containing Western IP to Russia. They can choose between exporting to Russia or to the rest of the world. It's a no-brainer.
    5
  2074. I think the Ukrainians have gotten the message without your encouragement.
    5
  2075. Explain this military adventure that has led to an economic disaster for Russia, to say nothing of the eye-watering military losses. It bears reminding that this was and is a war of choice for Russia.
    5
  2076.  @seriouslythough603  Are those your only options?
    5
  2077. Can't the warmaker, Putler, be the peacemaker? After all, he started the war and he just has to pull his Orc invaders back from Ukraine, and the war is over. I'm sure Zelenskyy won't refuse.
    5
  2078.  @NottinghamForest24  Whatever, buddy. It doesn't make an iota of difference if you aren't welcoming, because we aren't coming. Vice versa, we'll see an influx of educated Russians who've had it with Putin and the lack of decent job opportunities in Russia. In contrast, we're very welcoming. It's called brain drain and it's Russia's undoing.
    5
  2079. US-sponsored, at the very least.
    5
  2080.  @soreeyez  The "no you are" comeback. Are you in kindergarten? Remind me, when did NATO invade Russia?
    5
  2081. You're sore because Salvini miscalculated, big time.
    5
  2082. No, Putin has helpfully given NATO a new lease of life. Putin needs foreign enemies to divert attention from his domestic woes.
    5
  2083. My grandfather, a seasoned veteran as well, led a group of fresh Swedish volunteers in the latter stages of the Continuation War. He always told us they were the bravest soldiers we ever served with. They were reluctant to disengage when the Soviets were about to break through and when they were ordered to retake their positions, my grandfather had trouble keeping up. Eventually, my grandfather couldn't think of anything else to curb their enthusiasm than to threaten them with writing their grieving parents that they died in vain. After the war, my granddad would join them on hunting trips in Sweden at one of his Swedes' estate, a count no less.
    5
  2084. Wow, you're clearly a Trump disciple.
    5
  2085. Interestingly, the only time NATO's Article 5 was invoked was when the twin towers were hit. In New York. We had to help out the US as per its express wish. My compatriots spent twenty years fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, so that the Taliban could replace the Taliban.
    5
  2086.  @vividsunn8459  Don't do the historical revisionism thing. That's so Soviet.
    5
  2087. Only to invite a new one?
    5
  2088. Move over Taylor Swift.
    5
  2089.  @AkenValle  There's no evidence of an Ukrainian rout, but the defending Russians have definitely been routed. Try to keep up with the news.
    5
  2090. The Western world? The USA couldn't count on a single European ally in the Vietnam War. Their only truly Western ally was Australia. Present-day Australians don't exactly consider it their proudest moment in history.
    5
  2091. Enlighten us, what's the EU's role in any of this? You might as well claim it's the UN's fault, because Romania happens to be member there, too.
    5
  2092.  @BennyKaipada  Duh, there are plenty of examples of airliners being struck by AA missiles and nonetheless continuing on. The damage incurred can vary widely, depending on the warhead in question and the proximity of the blast. My guess is that this missile had a fragmentation warhead with a proximity fuse, which is effective against drones, but less so against bigger aircraft. It begs the question if the plane had landed safely if the Russian had let it.
    5
  2093.  @huhujojo1968  Nothing. Like you demonstrate to us on a daily basis, trolling is counter-productive. And I can't help but notice that you have nothing to counter my arguments.
    5
  2094.  @roll-outcommanders6520  It must be the reason why the USA is considered a 'flawed democracy'. Comrade.
    5
  2095.  @SonicVisualGR  Rest assured, astronomy hasn't changed in 375 million years. Nor will it ever.
    5
  2096. That was in 2014, right, when they illegally annexed Crimea and actively fomented unrest in Donbas?
    5
  2097.  @frankrenda2519  So what is Russia going to do with all the gas it can't flog? Russia is the only game in town all right -- the only cartridge for an Atari 2600 in a one-horse town.
    5
  2098.  @joshboehmke6145  Manufacturing was "stollen [sic]" from you? You foolishly outsourced the bulk of it to low-cost countries. You should prosecute your own outsourcers for theft.
    5
  2099. Where's the positivity? The vid is just coolly stating facts. Did you even bother to watch?
    5
  2100. Whataboutism detected.
    5
  2101. Nope, it's just as much about the US yet again failing to inform its so-called allies. Anyhoo, France, like any member of the EU, has the right of veto, so we can't ignore French concerns while the EU is negotiating a free trade agreement with Australia. And it sounds to me like a valid trade-related concern. What's the value of a trade bloc if it doesn't defend its members' interests?
    5
  2102. Your preoccupation with the topic speaks volumes. Get out of the closet already.
    5
  2103. Shouldn't India surrender? I mean, that's what you advocate to the genuinely brave Ukrainians.
    5
  2104. Which territories has the US annexed lately?
    5
  2105. You should steer clear of all foreign news channels. You're bound get your feelings hurt.
    5
  2106. When sitting at a table, Putin needs to grip it like his life depended on it. I suppose we won't see the garden gnome anywhere near a bike.
    5
  2107. I wonder why it didn't fly in court.
    5
  2108. True, Russia needs a generous helping of humble pie similar to what the UK and France were served in the 20th century. Like them, Russian needs to come to terms with the fact that imperialism is a definite no-no in this day and age.
    5
  2109. Then is why is your lot risking life and limb to reach Europe?
    5
  2110. @Kamar Hussain In your wet dreams they can. It's a done deal!
    5
  2111.  @coin9007  Which countries has Cyprus colonised? Teach us your alternate history, please.
    5
  2112.  @snoreberry1786  The US should try to become more competitive instead. Protectionism just worsens your competitiveness, because your lazy corporations can take it easier still.
    5
  2113. She's incompetent because she pointed out Trump's mental incompetence?
    5
  2114. It's pegged, not owned by France, and if indeed it were a matter of ownership, it would be the Eurozone rather than France that "owns" the CFA franc. Or did you miss the memo about France adopting the euro in 1999? Likewise, West Africa could finally adopt the unpegged eco. Interestingly, France has lost market share since its Eurozone partners now trade with West Africa on the same terms. But I suppose you don't like trade and prefer poverty for the West Africans?
    5
  2115. A shrinking one, too.
    5
  2116.  @lifeshevchenko3683  "Hopping for USA poverty"? Are you planning to organise a jumping bag race to raise funds for the poor and homeless in the US? That's fine and dandy, but Russia suddenly has 121,000 internally displaced to contend with. Maybe they deserve your immediate attention?
    5
  2117. If yours is a Russian-made car, sure thing. And they sure break down a lot.
    5
  2118.  @lilacer6841  Did you get your call-up papers? I'm curious, because you make a lousy Krembot.
    5
  2119. Typically dictators get closer to 100% of the vote. In his heyday, Saddam Hussein got a full 100%.
    5
  2120.  @StokesburyUSA  You're merely compensating for your inferiority complex by feigning a superiority complex. I've never understood the former. Something every Murican is born with? Don't you going dying on us on account of the truckloads of popcorn you're stuffing yourself silly with. Yonder, obesity is a grave concern as it is.
    5
  2121.  @TheDa6781  You're either trying to be cute or you don't know the meaning of nuclear winter.
    5
  2122. Afghanistan under the Taliban is per definition a failed state.
    5
  2123. Except the recipients aren't held hostage by China.
    5
  2124. Your spelling suggests you're worse off.
    5
  2125. Belgium should take matters in its own hands and revive the once-proud Minerva car brand.
    5
  2126.  @tank_destroyer7499  Americans certainly are royalty now, if obesity is a yardstick.
    5
  2127. He thinks he can bribe or coerce them, if need be.
    5
  2128. It's a parliamentary democracy You should read up on it.
    5
  2129. That's not what the protests are about. Fail.
    5
  2130. Inaction in the face of aggression poses a much bigger risk. Did you have your backbone surgically removed or is your condition congenital?
    5
  2131.  @herrwahnsinn4229  I see you're an anti-freedom anti-democrat. Makes sense for a Putin fanboy.
    5
  2132. So the further south you go, the more emotional people appear? You and your stiff upper lip must be new to this world.
    5
  2133. While you're gorging on popcorn, it will get nippy outside. Read up on nuclear winter.
    5
  2134.  @Lennybird91  Warsaw Pact? That went down the toilet together with the USSR. There is was a successor in the CSTO. However, after the Nagorno-Karabakh debacle, where Russia turned a deaf ear to Armenia's pleas, we ought to demand proof of life for CSTO as well.
    5
  2135. I wonder if Marx would've approved of a hereditary socialist monarchy. He might've been squeamish about the idea, me thinks.
    5
  2136.  @No_borders_means_no_welfare  Where's the evidence? The OSCE clearly disagrees with you about Ukraine supposedly bombing Donbass civilians, and they were there with 700 monitors. This is where you scurry off, like the good troll that you are.
    5
  2137. There's a Dutch urban myth about a motorcyclist crashing into a canal. A witness jumps in and drags out a lifeless body. When applying mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the saviour notices the bad breath... and the skates the victim is wearing.
    5
  2138. Draghi is a true statesman all right. It was about time for Italy.
    5
  2139.  @MaleAdaptor  Regardless of whose side you take, it is abundantly clear that Hamas is getting clobbered. So, are you saying that Russia would be equally incapable of fighting a conventional war against NATO, having to revert to desperate insurgency tactics from the very beginning, and cynically using Russian civilians as meat shields? Is Russia a death cult as well? Obviously, NATO would be fighting a defensive war against a known aggressor. You don't need to motivate the Estonians on that score.
    5
  2140. Prevention. Prevention is better than cure.
    5
  2141.  @Lilib130  Sure, Trump would've sold Ukraine down the river, paving the way for a resurrected USSR.
    5
  2142. They must be descendants or loggers and miners. They're hardier still than the average Finn in Finland. I've got cousins in Duluth, who're crazy strong -- I learned early on that you don't wrestle with anyone from that branch of the family, although we've got an Olympic wrestler in ours.
    5
  2143. China can't have an economic slowdown because the EU is in one? YT commenters never cease to amaze me with their bizarre comments.
    5
  2144.  @lagrangewei  When will YT commenters learn that growth in developed countries and in developing countries is like apples and oranges? Growth in developed countries tends to plateau, because potential is carefully tapped already. In developing countries, not so. Even with what appears as brisk growth, China's economy is geared for higher growth. When said high growth doesn't pan out, overextended businesses start failing en masse. Please, study some macroeconomics.
    5
  2145.  @Liboch  If so, you need to get out of said club. But don't go crying about the loss of subsidies after you've left.
    5
  2146. Yeah, but you're a Krembot.
    5
  2147. She's Dutch. As a Dutchwoman, she doesn't get a penny of British taxpayers' money, and never has. Also, contributions to the EU budget aren't hiked up after (or should I say if) Brexit kicks in. Sure, the net recipients will have to tighten their belts, but since the Netherlands are a net contributor, there's no effect. Get your facts straight.
    5
  2148.  @theoriginalpauly  In independent Niger, you have the Nigerien military seize power from a democratically elected Nigerien government, and you're whingeing about colonialism? Deflection detected.
    5
  2149. Hello, Putin apologist.
    5
  2150.  @joshr24  Don't give racists the attention they so desperately crave for.
    5
  2151.  @jianliluo8437  Authoritarianism is a recipe for political and economic turmoil on the long run. Belarus is just the latest example.
    5
  2152.  @Itapirkanmaa2  What do trade regulations have to do with anything? This is about the EU firearms directive. If you want to stray from the topic at hand and lambast the EU in general, go find a more suitable forum. Gun fanboy.
    5
  2153.  @Itapirkanmaa2  Concerns us equally? It appears the EU firearms directive didn't concern you at all, because you know nothing about how it came into being. Every gun owner and active reservist in Finland was concerned about it. We even had our most senior Greens' MEP speak in favour of exemptions, which raised a lot of eyebrows among her foreign colleagues. Just keep playing your FPS and leave the serious talk to those who have a real stake in this.
    5
  2154.  @shadowslayer9988  NATO has no operation in Syria, wisenheimer.
    5
  2155.  @aksbeixhev  Not quite. It's a dual-key system, so both Germany and the US need to agree on the use of the B61s stationed in Germany. The Germans need to deliver them, too.
    5
  2156.  @ireallycant4416  It's very clearly a stereotype. The point is work ethic, not the profession. You can't take a joke.
    5
  2157.  @blankscreen3702  The US is in a very clear minority there.
    5
  2158. Why does a dog lick its balls? Because it can.
    5
  2159. You may want to learn a language. Any language.
    5
  2160. You seem blissfully unaware that the US doesn't recognise the jurisdiction of the ICJ.
    5
  2161.  @in-my-view  Let's also bear in mind that Russia has lost more soldiers trying to take Bakhmut than NATO lost in Afghanistan in twenty years.
    5
  2162.  @Matt-fl8uy  Who needs proper body armour when you can ask your mum or wife for tampons to plug your bullet holes?
    5
  2163.  @ihikebc  The connection between the ancient Anglo-Saxons and the British of today is a bit sketchy.
    5
  2164.  @gc4434  Far, far less?
    5
  2165.  @catbertevil750  China made it political. If Fosun hadn't tricked BioNTech, there would've been no politics.
    5
  2166. Russia, as we know it, is finished. You just don't know it yet.
    5
  2167.  @carnalcarnivore  Russia scores badly in international indexes on the topic. 19/100 or "Not free" is what Freedom House thinks of it. Instead of you starting to whine about their assessment, you could point us to credible research that suggests otherwise.
    5
  2168. Russia is unbeatable... in tossing tank turrets.
    5
  2169. For doing his job?
    5
  2170. They have an effective air defence system in their own minds. It's a start.
    5
  2171. Criminal soldiers are an improvement in your book?
    5
  2172.  @richardwright4265  We were right about the Iraq War and we're right about the impending Iran War. American military adventurism, when is it going to end?
    5
  2173. Francoism is alive and well. Sod democracy, eh?
    5
  2174. They could also start advertising royal toilet paper on HSN. Dignity be damned.
    5
  2175. Misery loves company.
    5
  2176. Get yourself a Russian mail order catalog.
    5
  2177. An air strike would lead to unacceptable losses to the attacking aircraft. A missile strike would most likely fail to cause significant damage, assuming the aircraft are dispersed and/or in revetments. After all, Ukraine's air force has been able to operate throughout the conflict.
    5
  2178. Rest assured, there were a lot of protests when Serbia was bombing.
    5
  2179. Retribution and justice should be one and the same thing, but often they're not.
    5
  2180. Does that unity of yours include the 700,000 Russian reservists that fled abroad to escape mobilisation?
    5
  2181. Jij zou Duits spreken als Nederland het ook lekker zelf had mogen uitzoeken in de Tweede Wereldoorlog.
    5
  2182. Israel is not in existential peril here. And neither is Christianity, now or ever. Stop making everything about religion.
    5
  2183.  @maddoo23  Because buying "opinions" is a 20th-century Communist thing to do.
    5
  2184.  @stevemcgowen  Kopeks are worthless. Krembots are paid in potatoes now. At least they can make vodka out of them, so they don't have to worry about their impending mobilisation.
    5
  2185. 0:23 That's a Nokia 880, the sister model of the very popular Nokia 2110i.
    5
  2186.  @mark_sugar42  The Dutch navy acquitted itself well in the Battle of the Afsluitdijk, where a Dutch gunboat silenced the German artillery before an attack on a fortress that protected the causeway. Consequently, the German attack failed miserably. The battle marked a rare defeat for the Germans at a time when they chalked up victory after victory. The very same gunboat, the HNLMS Johan Maurits van Nassau, was also instrumental in preventing the Germans from making use of a crucial airport near Rotterdam.
    5
  2187. I wonder what Mandela would've said about tying your own shoelaces together first.
    5
  2188. The UK is practically the same.
    5
  2189.  @Gissa319  It's called populism.
    5
  2190. They are the ones with the healthy red glow on their cheeks... or are those radiation burns?
    5
  2191. Aren't we in the driver's seat already? Our use of renewable energy will exceed 50% by the end of this year.
    5
  2192.  @Mwahaha105  And Estonia in particular has been very generous with its military aid to Ukraine. It's only right to make up for the shortfall.
    5
  2193. Sorry, the AMRAAM has a maximum range of 160km.
    5
  2194. Naughty IS.
    5
  2195.  @williamsjohnthe3rd  The USA are self-sufficient in oil nowadays. Try to keep up with the news.
    5
  2196. You armed ISIS-K? Even the Taliban is going to hold it against you.
    5
  2197.  The Messenger  I warned you, but you still decided to go for a platitude. I asked you juxtapose the US constitution with those of comparable developed countries.
    5
  2198.  @saarbrooklynrider2277  Who says they're asylum-seekers? For all we know they're dual nationals, students, foreign residence pass holders, etc. Besides, I expect Russia's brain drain is at full tilt now. If Russia wants to rid itself of the young and the gifted, they're welcome to it. It's their loss and our gain.
    5
  2199.  @Rashidiill  He's overcompensating.
    5
  2200. My great-grandfather left home with a 'krauhtoni' to fight in the Civil War and returned with a 'ryssänvinsu', a Winchester Model 1895. We still have the latter in the family.
    5
  2201.  @harshm6930  I don't remember mentioning India. Belgium is a tiny morsel of Europe, both size- and population-wise. Therefore, Belgium is not representative of Europe as a whole, since we also have countries that have barely been affected. So which is it, barely affected or worst affected? I know, you don't even barely make sense.
    5
  2202.  @_Redronin_  ...and in increasing numbers, Cypriot passports.
    5
  2203. Oh, but Golden Dawn is far worse. They're a criminal organisation.
    5
  2204. Just speak for yourself, don't pretend to speak for others.
    5
  2205. It does appear to be a palace coup of sorts. Excitable coup supporters should take note.
    5
  2206.  @stevenliew2507  Wow, a truck. Dubya flew a supersonic fighter, but he didn't make a great world leader.
    5
  2207.  @norman4588  Iggy has consumed enough vodka already. Give that last brain cell of his a fighting chance.
    5
  2208. De Mariniers inzetten? Ik weet niet of ze tegen de kou kunnen.
    5
  2209. Kylie is plenty popular in Europe. I'm a Euro, by the way.
    5
  2210. Finland and Sweden have been sanctioning Russia together with the rest of the EU since 2014, so good luck severing already severed trade ties. Perhaps Russia could expel companies that have already left on their own accord? Sweden have neglected their defence somewhat, but they have a very capable defence industry to help them up-arm again. Finland never let its guard down and is well armed already. In your shoes I would be more concerned about Russia replacing its losses in Ukraine. You'd better start looking for the blueprints of the T-34 and the MiG-15.
    5
  2211. Boys and girls, user infopirates here has reached the so-called 'bargaining' stage of the grieving process, and in record time, too. However, I suspect that in his haste, he has skipped the preceding 'denial' and 'anger' stages. That's no good. 'Acceptance' can only come after experiencing all the previous stages of grief, including 'depression'.
    5
  2212.  @princessanineveh  Take your word? Darling, I know for a fact that there are schools we built in the provinces of Herat, Badghis, and Ghor. It's said we build and reconstructed 1,000 schools in Afghanistan altgether, and ours was one of the smaller ISAF/RSM contingents.
    5
  2213. You've been posting this mumbo-jumbo for years. Change your record, bud.
    5
  2214.  @ChessPlayer78  Ahem, Finland is the darling of the EU's total defence thinking, and that of NATO as a whole.
    5
  2215.  @Siempre1978  So, you decided to supplement your meagre income by botting for Putler. I guess little streams make big rivers. I suppose five like you could scrape together a decent living -- for one person, that is.
    5
  2216. I think you're trying to live out your own fantasies.
    5
  2217.  @graveperil2169  Try to get it through your thick skull that the EU hasn't attacked AstraZeneca. Individual EU countries -- and a number of non-EU countries -- have voiced concerns about side-effects and suspended vaccinations temporarily. The EU as an organisation has been consistently supportive of AZ's vaccine. The EMA has not changed its stance after certifying the vaccine. Also, you ultranationalistic Brits keep forgetting that AstraZeneca is partly Swedish-owned. As it happens, Sweden was among the countries that temporarily suspended AZ vaccinations.
    5
  2218. No worries, the EU won't process British applications for renewed membership for some time to come. Unless they're from soon-independent Scots, that is.
    5
  2219. Thank you Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway.
    5
  2220. It's part and parcel of the design. Russia is a space-faring nation, after all.
    5
  2221.  @danielsu1645  But I have practical knowledge of tanks, too, and the Leopard 2A4 and 2A6 models in particular. I used to be attached to a tank regiment. In our Leo 2s, ammo is not routinely stored in the hull, but in the turret compartment alone. If hit, it will blow outward. No jack-in-the-box effect, in other words.
    5
  2222.  @fellowcitizen  Jumping to conclusions is your prerogative. Leica, Zeiss and the lot work with practically all major mobile phone brands. Huawei, like most other manufacturers, work with Google on Android, so the US are also implicated in this nefarious plot, right?
    5
  2223.  @clickbait9744  So, you'd rather tolerate your own to die in terrorist attacks and battle for all perpetuity?
    5
  2224.  @atmenhilft516  Yeah, it begs the question what all the hullabaloo is about. Russia never applied for planning permission for the Kerch bridge with Ukraine, so it's only fair that Ukraine has it demolished.
    5
  2225. Brazil keeps screwing up at electing presidents.
    5
  2226. inoculate /ɪˈnɒkjʊleɪt/ verb treat with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease; vaccinate. "he inoculated his tenants against smallpox"
    5
  2227.  @moiseshuerta3984  Oh right, we forgot that it was a careless sailor who smoked the Moskva.
    5
  2228.  @hamish1309  It's often forgotten that Napoleon made Russia sue for peace, not once but twice. He himself didn't sue for peace after his infamous invasion of Russia.
    5
  2229.  @williamzk9083  I believe him. A bathtub with all them little Russian ships at the bottom.
    5
  2230. Don't get used to it. Soon China won't allow Ruxia's regional governor, Pu Tin, to fraternise with China's geopolitical rival.
    5
  2231.  @niburu1508  What about US draft dodgers? The youngest of them are in their seventies. You must be a US history fan.
    5
  2232. I suppose every dictator bent on world domination needs a Dirlewanger Brigade.
    5
  2233. We don't do personality cults in the EU. It suffices that they're the leaders of the two biggest EU members. For now.
    5
  2234.  @garryh3126  We rate among one of the smaller countries in Europe, but we alone can field 870,000 trained troops. If we were to apply the same soldiers-to-citizens ratio to the US, you'd have to field 53 million troops. It seems you are more than 50 million soldiers short.
    5
  2235. Trump literally trumps him.
    5
  2236. As a species, we're all from Africa. It'll be a reunion.
    5
  2237.  @-NEH-  Finland in particular. By their own admission, the Soviets conquered only enough Finnish territory to bury their fallen.
    5
  2238. -20C is nippy, no more.
    5
  2239. Zeg maar gerust Führer.
    5
  2240.  @NickNov  Judging from your name, you have a genetic disposition towards tolerating communist overlords. The Hongkongers, not so.
    5
  2241. Any misfortune that befalls an Eastern-backed dictator is automatically a Western plot. It says so in An Idiot's Guide to Running a Successful Dictatorship.
    5
  2242.  @martytrueblood5902  So, you're no longer in need of medical care because you've got a computer (or at least a smartphone)?
    5
  2243.  @t3nta380  The analysts have slapped the label 'AUTHORITARIAN' on Russia. And with good reason, too.
    5
  2244. ​ @OctagonFinancialSystems  You're the one desperately coping here. ISS is currently served by the Soyuz and the SpaceX Dragon, and soon, the Boeing Starliner as well. Russians, too, have hitched rides on the Dragon. Keep up with the news.
    5
  2245.  @colinsmith1288  Somehow the EU is still strong enough to butthurt Georgia's pro-Russian regime something fierce. You may want to explain the apparent contradition with your theory.
    5
  2246.  @silafaupaulmeredith7251  Oh gawd. Try to keep up with the news. RuZZia.
    5
  2247. If California were Republican Trumpist, it would've done a helluva job in Trump's view.
    5
  2248.  @goodmusik2760  So you're saying that the gas supply to Moldova was cut off by mutual consent of the supplier and the transporter. That seems clear enough.
    5
  2249. I think you just scored three potatoes there. Don't turn all of them into vodka, however.
    5
  2250.  @jimmybaldbird3853  Except that Americans are out of their depth just about anywhere in the world, not just in Europe. Let's take Afghanistan...
    5
  2251.  @jimmybaldbird3853  I'm not surprised that your knowledge of English idioms is lacking. Murican is, after all, a subset of English.
    5
  2252. Before Putin went nuts, we exported plenty of food products to Russia. Interestingly, when all Russian products were pulled off our supermarket shelves, hardly any empty spaces were left. Gherkins turned out to be Russia's biggest export item. And some candy, but only Western brands that were made in Russia because of the cheaper labour. That ought to give you an idea of the "attractiveness" of Russian food products. Of course, your prices are lower, but so is your purchasing power -- much lower than ours, in fact.
    5
  2253.  @Damn6real  Finland fought its own Continuation War (1941-1944) with the Soviet Union. That one, too, the USSR started.
    5
  2254. Trump never gets it quite right, does he?
    5
  2255. And if the Greenlanders vote 'NO', will you start with the 'Stop the Steal' stuff?
    5
  2256. Trump is having yet another senior moment. Rubio, hurry back, clean-up on aisle Trump.
    5
  2257. Counter-attack.
    5
  2258. The Trump administration is enthusiastic about military spending -- hard power -- but it has no qualms about cutting on soft power. China must be absolutely thrilled.
    5
  2259. Don't spout clichés, or keep it in the US.
    5
  2260.  @johnsmith5028  Let us see... Far-right, check. Authoritarianism, check. Ultranationalism, check. Opposed to liberalism, Marxism and anarchism, check. Strong leader, check. Yup, you're Fascists all right.
    5
  2261. Maybe the whole of Taiwan should become independent.
    5
  2262. Explain why Russia, if innocent, would come up with coarse lies about a bird strike and non-existent fog.
    5
  2263. The pot calling the kettle black. The US is no stranger to neo-colonial practices. In fact, you've honed your skill to perfection in Latin America. Teach yourself a lesson.
    5
  2264.  @GreenHellTube  That does not compute.
    5
  2265. I'd think the young and healthy are capable of finding a cure without their parents dying. Besides, the cure may very well come from an elderly scientist.
    5
  2266. What about whataboutism? Do you think it's effective?
    5
  2267. So, Canada needs Murica to effect regime change? Then you might as well apply for statehood.
    5
  2268. And you're the president of Somalia, or at least, his spokesperson? You've got to have a popular mandate to speak on behalf of the Somalis.
    5
  2269. That's fortunate for you. Your embarrassment won't be so complete.
    5
  2270. It's extra independence insurance, pal.
    5
  2271. Let us know if you see any Abrams tanks launch their turrets into low orbit, or can you wait forever?
    5
  2272. Myopic much? Hamas is the enemy here.
    5
  2273. How many salty tears did you shed for PiS in Poland last year, when it won the election, but was consigned to the opposition benches because all potential coalition partners balked at co-governing with PiS? It happens often enough.
    5
  2274. And you made such a hullabaloo about MeToo.
    5
  2275.  @gdiwolverinemale3rd  So young yet so cynical.
    5
  2276. ​ @psnaris  Parliamentary systems are robust. Extremists may make inroads, but because of their very nature, they fail to make a real impact. The irony is that gaining real power, as in forming a coalition government, is a poisoned chalice to them. We're going through similar times as those before and after WW2, when democracies had to weather Fascism and Communism respectively. The stronger ones kept both in check. Admittedly, France, with its presidential system, is vulnerable to extremism. They're so ripe for a Sixth Republic.
    5
  2277.  @-pw5bj  FYI, Google Translate can only do so much.
    5
  2278. At this glacial pace that Russia advances, that will be in... 2052?
    5
  2279. Brave, too. Judging from its size, Mama Bear is not far off. I would've had my head on a swivel.
    5
  2280. @Kitty Cat In Norway's case, it has lasted 73 years, Kitty.
    5
  2281.  @palar4195  NATO had plenty of reason to attack Serbia after the country went on a genocidal streak in Kosovo. Yugoslavia had effectively ceased to exist long before. Before you snap into troll mode, no, there's no evidence whatsoever of Ukraine committing genocide in the Donbas.
    5
  2282. This time, the break-up of the Russian Federation may prove a messy affair, so the defence spending spree may continue even after Russia throws in the towel in Ukraine. As part of the package, we may be gaining new NATO and EU members that need defending against rump state Russia, a.k.a. Muscovy.
    5
  2283. When the authorities in Finland introduced a new business entity, for a publicly listed limited company, they initially wanted to use the abbreviation "Joy" for them. It's good thing someone knew English, so they made it "Oyj".
    5
  2284. Conspiracy theory emerging?
    5
  2285. No, you can't cherry-pick individual EU members for trade agreements. It's not called a single market for nothing. Try to get it through your thick skull that there'll be no cherry-picking. Besides, the wishes of the individual EU members are already closely reflected in the current negotiations. Britain has tried on more than one occasion to drive a wedge between them, but to no avail.
    5
  2286.  @rajkishorebehera7489  You're welcome, but I'm not used to being lavishly praised like that, so please, take it down a notch.
    5
  2287. CSTO is dead as a dodo.
    5
  2288. To call JFK a pacifist is quite a stretch. He authorised the Bay of Pigs Invasion and escalated the Vietnam War. And don't confuse appeasers for peacemakers.
    5
  2289.  @GavinGas  No fake news. We went over to train the Estonian 'Kodukaitse' in the early nineties. The Red Army was garrisoned nearby, as the buggers wouldn't pull out.
    5
  2290.  @rogerrussell9544  The Russian warships will need to sail to Baltiysk or Kronstadt in the Baltic, or alternatively, all the way to Murmansk in the Arctic. It remains to be seen if they make it without breaking down en route.
    5
  2291. The Orcs demand blood. Children's blood.
    5
  2292. Russian hubris. The bully never expected the tables to turn.
    5
  2293.  @Romans-nk4wt  I drink three pints of milk a day and I haven't had Covid yet. Thus, the empirical evidence is overwhelming.
    5
  2294. But Russia is an international delinquent. Can't have that.
    5
  2295.  @martinliftfield6481  Who're you calling bottom feeders? Each one of the three Baltic states easily tops Russia in GDP per capita -- nominal and PPP.
    5
  2296.  @Nauda999  Hogwash. Hungary has had its snout in the EU's trough all right. Hungary has received and continues to receive to this day billions and billions in EU cohesion funding alone. Orban channels the money through public procument contracts to his cronies, many of whom have grown immensily rich as a result. The only difference with Putin and his oligarchs is that while the latters' wealth comes from oil and gas, that of Orban's clique comes from the EU.
    5
  2297. Who's selling? We're donating.
    5
  2298. So you think Russia is more likely to invade Finland? That just confirms that Finland's decision was the right one.
    5
  2299. Ukraine is fighting the good fight. We can support them as we please.
    5
  2300.  @WhatHappenedIn-vt3vq  Ultranationalists, whether Serb or Russian, have a very limited imagination.
    5
  2301.  @StrongRespect  The Americans are no strangers to braggadocio, but they're no match for Russia in that department. What's so humiliating for Russia is that its state-of-the-art Pantsirs get taken out by both Israel and Turkey. It's very difficult to provide good air defence coverage if you don't know the targets, but when the Pantsirs are the targets, they should be able to at least defend themselves. Not so in Syria and Libya. First Russia loses its most lucrative customers for oil and gas, and now its "advanced" weapons no longer find buyers. Russia is already an economic basket case, but worse is still to come.
    5
  2302.  @ИнтИнт-д5т  So that means civil war in Russia. Go for it, if you must.
    5
  2303.  @БелаяГвардия-о4ю  St. Petersburg, no doubt. I bet the Krembot is desperate to make himself useful, or he'll be called up to fight in Ukraine. Keyboard skills aren't that useful over there.
    5
  2304.  @jeffreyroot6300  The ancient Brits had hunted the elk to extinction, so it's an honest mistake. Unlike your caribou, our reindeer are half-domesticated. There was an public outcry here when Sarah Palin was shown shooting a caribou. She might as well have shot Bambi.
    5
  2305.  @jeffreyroot6300  I was referring to an adorable Disney character, not the real thing. Hunting is uniquely popular in Finland. You might raise a few eyebrows in the US by saying that you hunt, but no one here will bat an eyelid.
    5
  2306. You are the company you keep.
    5
  2307. You're not setting the bar high.
    5
  2308. Vraag ze eens of er politici zijn die ze vertrouwen. Maar 31% zegt van wel. Een heleboel Poetin-stemmers haken dus af.
    5
  2309.  @cristianaoliveira7878  If you hadn't mentioned Brazil, I could've kept a straight face. Some example you are!
    5
  2310. Yet polls conducted throughout the world show that he's exceptionally unpopular for a US president. To give you an idea, he's roughly on par with Putin.
    5
  2311.  @branilavvasic9727  Nope, it's still 102 out of 193 UN members. Kosovo's UN membership status is inconsequential here.
    5
  2312.  @timmo491  Give over congratulating yourselves. Several EU countries have overtaken the UK in rolling out vaccines, and that's without cutting corners in order to start early. You thought it was the 100-metre dash, but it's a marathon, and there's no podium place in store for the UK.
    5
  2313. Making the best of a bad situation? Not progress, but damage control.
    5
  2314. Give us an example of French or Polish double-dealing or blackmail. Don't be shy.
    5
  2315.  @rayelabd4307  As to Russia not being allowed to join the EU, it's very simple. Russia doesn't meet the so-called Copenhagen criteria. For starters, Russia falls fouls of having democratic institutions and respecting human rights. Moreover, 27 out of 27 EU members would object to Russian membership, and it takes just one to scupper the deal.
    5
  2316.  @MrGatzby  True dat. The two empires are different all right. The British Empire lost its colonies and as such, has been consigned to history. The Russian Empire, now renamed the Russian Federation, largely retains its colonies and is very much here and now, with its imperial ambitions intact.
    5
  2317. ​ @moiseshuerta3984  So, Russia got a bit of land in exchange for international isolation and economic meltdown.
    5
  2318.  @MrDosonhai  All 141 of them? Don't think so.
    5
  2319. Ollongren is van Finse afkomst. Daar schrikt *Poetin toch wel van.
    5
  2320.  @alkuperainenkantasuomineit5902  Forced on the entire nation? I can't recall an instance where popular and parliamentary support for something was as overwhelming as it was when Finland applied for NATO membership.
    5
  2321. Defund Orban.
    5
  2322.  @ik1408  You stranded in the wrong discussion forum. This is about Lavrov lying.
    5
  2323. Het is een kwestie van implementatie. De TETRA-netwerken elders ter wereld werken wel prima.
    5
  2324. I think they finally dropped.
    5
  2325. They'll come in handy when a civil war breaks out in Russia. May the best oligarch/warlord win.
    5
  2326. You'd think India has had no exposure to political wrangling. Or is it just you? Too thin-skinned, eh?
    5
  2327.  @azurebadger  What a flaccid response. No argumentation whatsoever. You haven't even mastered capitalisation.
    5
  2328. In answer to your question, 141 countries support Ukraine. In contrast, Russia's supporters number a measly 4. That should tell you enough about which party they consider civilised and which one not. Cope.
    5
  2329. Your comment would pack more punch if it wasn't the British bureaucrats who're destroying the imported bees.
    5
  2330. If so, why don't you take a hike?
    5
  2331.  @thewedge8823  Are you denying that Zhirinovsky was a veritable Neo-Nazi? Don't upvote your own posts. It's sleazy.
    5
  2332. Don't flatter yourselves. Modi has to eat humble pie when he goes shopping for arms.
    5
  2333.  @shobhitdagur1086  You must be blissfully unawares that Western countries set conditions for arms exports. The more sophisticated the arms, the tighter the controls. Hence the serving of humble pie.
    5
  2334.  @konstantinospapadopoulos4643  Two decades ago, Russia was toying with the idea of joining NATO itself.
    5
  2335.  @pyotrbagration2438  400,000 casualties on the Russian side. That says enough.
    5
  2336.  @The_Ballo  Yeah, the Russians should take better care of their fallen.
    5
  2337.  @ndetokiio3563  We should rather get rid of the vetoes altogether.
    5
  2338. Sure, but can you cope without resorting to whataboutism?
    5
  2339. If there are 20 Russian generals in Ukraine, a fourth has died already. To say they've been decimated would be a gross understatement.
    5
  2340. Not at the hands of Russia, that much is clear. Putin's military adventurism has given NATO a new lease of life. Of course, Putin needs NATO to divert attention from his domestic woes.
    5
  2341. Tell us about your alternative universe. Oh, you haven't made up anything yet...
    5
  2342.  @Michelle-os9ul  Do I have a channel? You do make stuff up!
    5
  2343. Depressed, more like.
    5
  2344. @ Coming from someone from a regional power, you're not all that credible. But keep the emojis coming, and don't let anyone tell you that they're childish.
    5
  2345.  @guylawrence8705  Size does matter. I happened to check, if mutual trade were to come to a complete halt, we'd lose 2% of our national exports (on the average, a EU member would suffer a 8% hit), whereas for you, the comparable figure would be an economy-killing 42%. In other words, we'd suffer a cut finger, but you, you'd gush arterial blood.
    5
  2346. "Combined together" is a tautology. Better look that one up.
    5
  2347. Let us know who's morally superior and let's investigate their record. Go on, don't be shy.
    5
  2348. France spends well above the agreed NATO target. I posit that it's the USA that doesn't meet its target -- according to my calculations, it's a subpar 1.7%. But by all means, withdraw from NATO. It's ironic that US military strategists clamour that the USA needs NATO more than ever.
    5
  2349.  @anasjudge1937  No more trade punishment? The current trade spat between the US and the EU is all about Boeing and Airbus. As a founding partner in the latter, the UK is and will remain on the receiving end.
    5
  2350. You haven't heard about the tariffs? Keep up with the news.
    5
  2351. You can say that again.
    5
  2352.  @toninhosoldierhelmet4033  Be that as it may, Aryanism has connotations of Nazism. You can identity as Aryan, but the Finns certainly don't.
    5
  2353.  @mikhailmik  That must be a very powerful insult... in Russian.
    5
  2354.  @CheatertrollOne-te4xo  Guterres was pretty clear on what he thinks of Hamas. Israel got mad because of its sense of entitlement.
    5
  2355. Anti-woke isn't saving Russia, however.
    5
  2356. The fact of the matter is that an overwhelming majority of countries do not recognise Russia's sovereignty over Crimea. Yes, just like all sovereign states, they happen to be UN members, but even if the UN disbanded tomorrow, Russia would still find itself isolated.
    5
  2357. laurejon, it's not a matter of self-determination. Russia annexed Crimea illegally and now suffers international sanctions because of it. Had it been about Crimean self-determination, Russia -- or rather, the Crimeans -- could've gone about it differently, without bringing on the sanctions that have put a serious dent in the Russian economy.
    5
  2358.  @HeyJoeHUN81-PCRPGCommunity  "Whole Europe"? Some European countries adopted timely lockdown measures and have been rewarded with low infection rates and deaths. The Nordic countries -- with the exception of Sweden -- stand out, but the likes of Greece and Portugal haven't fared badly either. Smaller countries seem to be the nimbler ones.
    5
  2359. They ought to make you an armchair general toot sweet.
    5
  2360. No but yeah, but no but yeah, the RN doesn't represent the right. Just the far right.
    5
  2361. The Russians should be emphatically supportive of Ukraine receiving F-16s. When they themselves were the victims of military aggression, they received thousands and thousands of fighter planes, a great many of which were Hurricanes.
    5
  2362. Perhaps Putin should try to sort out his own army first. I mean, his is such a shambles that he had to resort to a private military contractor to make a difference in Ukraine. Suddenly, that PMC turned around and snapped at his throat. And now Putin is too embarrassed to address his people about what happened.
    5
  2363. We get it, you hear voices.
    5
  2364.  @JegSkaSkiido  And we fought in Bosnia. The Bosnian Serbs won't forget Operation Bøllebank in a hurry.
    5
  2365. Duitse connecties? Oranje-Nassau is letterlijk van Duitsen bloed.
    5
  2366. Don't drink so early in the day, Edda.
    5
  2367.  @Zelda_Kitty  If sisu isn't genetic, what is it then? I'm genetically 100% Finnish, but my father was adopted as a war orphan by a Dutch family, while my mum ended up in Sweden as a child war refugee. On a whim, I left for Finland to do my mandatory conscription, rising to reserve officer rank. I continued serving as a short-term contract soldier and a two-time UN peacekeeper. Sisu may have helped me along a bit.
    5
  2368. I think you've invoked the drama queen inside of you.
    5
  2369.  @ricky_pigeon  Uh, humid air and freezing temperatures don't go together. Physics. I'm getting the idea you've never travelled to colder climes. It's the wind that gives you an extra chill in the subarctic.
    5
  2370.  @David_7171  About 20% of the Golan Druze have Israeli citizenship, which means 4 out of 5 don't.
    5
  2371. And what prevents them from going insurgent on the Taliban? Two can play that game.
    5
  2372. Unsubscribe from -- is there a GoFundMe campaign for English lesson for Putin bots? If not, someone needs to get busy.
    5
  2373. Yeah, Farage wasn't put in charge because he wasn't deemed worthy. MEP yes, MP noooo!
    5
  2374.  @Peringrid  You're giving the Leavers too much credit. They simply had no clue as to what they were doing, except wanting to stick it to the EU. They dreamily expected that nothing would change, apart from gaining some more exclusive privileges by way of a farewell gift from a teary EU. The easiest trade deal in human history, the story went.
    5
  2375.  @saikumarmadadi7524  Irrelevant. This is about Russia's imperialistic ambitions. India, of all countries, should condemn imperialism in all its forms. The fact of the matter is that Putin wants more land, yet he's faced with the harsh reality that the Ukrainians are having none of it. So, India to the rescue, and at the same time, you can repay your perceived debt to Soviet Russia. Maybe Putin will throw in a few oil tankers, too, if you let him have Kashmir and Ladakh. It would solve your long-standing territorial disputes as well... or make them Russia's problem. Win-win!
    5
  2376.  @davidalexsebastiank6250  Try to look forward, not to the past. We all have historical bagage. In my forebears' case, 700 years of colonisation, but we're not constantly whining about it.
    5
  2377.  @hzlh2254  I don't have any "smelly frenchman [sic] mercenaries" in my pay, not anymore than you command foreign soldiers of fortune either. Do you see bogeymen everywhere? Have you been diagnosed? Paranoia and hallucinations, is it?
    5
  2378. There are trade tariffs every which way. The EU is just as guilty as the US, as is China. The system needs adjusting from time to time, and that's what we're seeing. Trump is trying to portray the US as a victim for his own political benefit, but at the negotiation table cooler heads will prevail and all angles will be examined closely. However, Trump doesn't realise that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I bet China and the EU are already discussing how to put Trump in his place.
    5
  2379. Due process. It's been followed here, just as it is with rapists and terrorists. But you drama queens don't understand the fundamentals of law and order, do you?
    5
  2380. Open-air museum, more like.
    5
  2381.  @sydneymartin6941  The entire populace of the USSR was once grounded... just saying.
    5
  2382. Russia is doing a good job destroying Ukraine.
    5
  2383.  @vLadimir333-dodji-i-vidi  Duh. Russia invaded Ukraine and is now actively supporting -- with arms, money and even troops -- an insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
    5
  2384. Very.
    5
  2385. ​ @annan7728  You're giving off a bad impression of your intellectual capabilities if you can't tell depleted uranium and nuclear propulsion apart from tactical nuclear weapons in terms of destructive power. The latter are veritable weapons of mass destruction, whereas the former are not.
    5
  2386. Western Africa scores an own goal.
    5
  2387.  @nyali2  I'm sort of preoccupied as an active reservist in the armed forces of a front-line state. Orban is not pushing for a just and lasting peace. He's merely doing Putin's bidding in the latter's propaganda war. Interestingly, if Ukraine falls, Hungary will become a front-line state, too. Then the Hungarian wailing for help would become deafening.
    5
  2388. People constantly forget Russia is in Europe, too. Besides, both continents are part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Eurasia could've been split any which way into continents.
    5
  2389. Wishful thinking.
    5
  2390. You can safely say that there are no dream teams in this race, Democrat or Republican.
    5
  2391.  @aadalmahgari8650  The old colonisation excuse. What you're basically saying is: "I'm an underperformer, but it's not my fault. I blame colonisation. My great-grandchildren will still blame colonisation."
    5
  2392.  @branbran9129  Expanding is easy. Becoming a functional whole is not. When push comes to shove, BRICS+ can't even agree to disagree.
    5
  2393. That's your idea of democracy, internet voting?
    5
  2394.  @JaayTea2595  And why exactly would China succeed now considering they've consistently failed before? You need a modicum of peace to exploit your mineral rights, and that's even less forthcoming now.
    5
  2395. Een Nederlander zou gewoon bloes zeggen.
    5
  2396. It goes without saying that Russia would veto such a resolution ;-)
    5
  2397.  @zahidnoori6874  The shipping lane is outside of Yemen's "territorial waters". Incidentally, the Houthis attacked a Russian ship as well.
    5
  2398. A foretaste.
    5
  2399. Who else thought of her getting the MBS treatment, like Jamal Khashoggi?
    5
  2400. Oh, I think the problem will resolve itself when Russia starts falling apart in a third wave of decolonisation after its inevitable defeat in Ukraine. We'll probably see Kaliningrad transform into a fourth independent Baltic republic -- Amberland -- in due time. It will be a good example to ethnic Russians in the Baltic countries. They'll finally realise that their future is separate from that of rump Russia.
    5
  2401. If you aspire to be a banana republic, then I suppose the answer is no.
    5
  2402. You must also believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy.
    5
  2403. You don't "defeat" an attack, you repel one. Considering that both parties are repelling one another's attacks, it's fair to call the situation a stalemate, or a draw. Having said that, Russia has suffered such staggering losses while having its recent attacks repelled that they have a taste of defeat to them.
    5
  2404.  @suportbghelp4938  You have a short memory. The Taliban let Al Qaeda use Afghanistan as a base camp for its September 11 attacks, triggering NATO's Article 5. A 20-year war followed. Putin would be stark raving mad if he were to open up another front, this time against the most powerful military alliance known to man. He can't deal with Ukraine as it is, so why make matters infinitely worse for Russia?
    5
  2405.  @0warfighter0  It is too late. The Flemish aren't going to stand for economically propping up a politically failed state for ever. The rifts are only deepening.
    5
  2406.  @0warfighter0  With all respect, why would you want to keep together those that never belonged together? I for one believe the Flemish and the Walloons would get along much better if they weren't trapped in the same country. It's not like Belgium would undergo the same fate as Yugoslavia. In Belgium's case, the world would just wonder afterwards what all the fuss was about. As far as the Flemish are concerned, the question of separation is not so much a matter of "if" but "how". The former is an easy decision, the latter anything but. Still, a majority of separatists in the Flemish parliament suffices to set things in motion. For that, not even new elections are needed -- just a realignment in party policy.
    5
  2407. Not too shabbily, all things considered. But the point here is that you'd do better if you were still in it.
    5
  2408. Kudos to Prince Harry for dismantling the Royal Family.
    5
  2409. I second that. Somewhat ironically, the Soviets got their wooden fighters right, although the Finns where the pioneers in manufacturing and using weather-resistant plywood. It's just that the crucial ingredient, phenolic resin, couldn't be had during the war.
    5
  2410.  @glowbright  Remember to report him for spamming.
    5
  2411. Which part of "I hate foreigners" is so hard to understand?
    5
  2412. Orcs make the best fertilizer, hands down.
    5
  2413. Let me guess, your former hero was Baghdad Bob?
    5
  2414. US-made? They were made by Fokker and SABCA in the Netherlands and Belgium respectively.
    5
  2415. You might as well spoil your ballot. It's a duopoly.
    5
  2416. Quickly, before you embarrass yourself, read up on the Schengen visa. It's not just about Polish borders, but about the whole so-called Schengen area. It's practically the whole of the EU and then some.
    5
  2417. Cope, Vlad.
    5
  2418. Or it was another rout. Maybe the panicky Orcs threw their morals overboard and saved themselves at all cost. It's been known to happen.
    5
  2419. You've been spamming this for ages, Fredde.
    5
  2420. *Libya. Syria has been there since 2014.
    5
  2421.  @UVGardener  No, cutie, Julian Assange is not *imprisoned in *the EU.
    5
  2422.  @АнтонинаКондратьева-ц8о  Your problem is that the East is crumbling and increasingly wanting to be part of the West. Ukraine and Georgia are only the latest examples. The phenomenon has been at work for more than 30 years now. If you think about it, it's the domino theory working in reverse, except there there's no hand to force the dominoes to fall. They tip themselves over.
    5
  2423. ​ @katarinakrasinsk6520  Russia is engaged in expansionism here, missy.
    5
  2424.  @_JOJ_  Not true. These modified RKG-3 anti-tank grenades can punch through up to 220mm of armour. On top, the armour on a T-72 can be as thin as 20mm.
    5
  2425.  @zhangruyi3153  The low voter turnout suggests the opposite. Interference or not, it is very embarrassing for Beijing's CCP overlords. Your "Please leave HK to the people of HK" makes an excellent pro-democracy rallying cry.
    5
  2426. Any ceasefire is temporary in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if it's up to Netanyahu.
    5
  2427. Aren't we? "In total aid (military, financial and humanitarian combined), the European Union and its countries have provided the most to Ukraine, according to Kiel Institute, whereas the United States has by far provided the most in military aid."
    5
  2428.  @eetsnada1831  Aw, you snapped into victim mode.
    5
  2429. I bet plans for his assassination have already been drawn up, just waiting for Putin's blessing.
    5
  2430. So, you want both Navalny and Assange to go free or just Assange? I suggest you don't keep deafeningly silent about Navalny either, because that gives the impression that you're nothing but a silly whataboutist.
    5
  2431. And vice-versa. But you're facing difficulties exporting to 27 countries. We, to just one. Our losses in earnings and jobs are spread over 27 countries. You get to endure them all in one country. When will you learn who's more exposed?
    5
  2432.  @Leftistsareevil  So, now it's suddenly not nothing any more.
    5
  2433. I had a WW1 bike when I served in the mid 80s. The Helkama Jääkäris were too small for my tall Dutch frame. When I went on to serve in the Royal Netherlands Army, my fellow conscripts couldn't believe it, but they were jealous all the same.
    5
  2434. Don't feel sorry. Soon enough, we won't even know the bands. Or they've quit because there's no living to be made.
    5
  2435.  @truegreenbeard7874  Israel's use of overwhelming force, which is a given, will play into Hamas's hands. They'll get their martyrs, but their popularity will surge.
    5
  2436.  @artemvaleev947  Right, the lesson being that the West and Russia itself both overestimated Russia's military capabilities -- and in Russia's case, even grossly so.
    5
  2437. I see very few Ukrainian men around these here parts. Russian men of fighting age, however, are plentiful. Some have taken to wearing both Russian and Ukrainian flags on their sleeves, to make it clear where their sympathies do not lie.
    5
  2438.  @Diggnuts  Says someone whose country sucks at soccer.
    5
  2439.  @adlib8096  In one word, ignorance.
    5
  2440. They did emerge victorious from the First Chechen War, but yeah, against the Russians...
    5
  2441.  @christopherkeegan3823  Truth be told, you're talking about the Kadyrovites. They've given their best performances on TikTok. Reality has been a harsh mistress to them.
    5
  2442. I should think Russia's very own separatists wish to irritate *Muscovy next. With Kadyrov presumably dead, the Chechens may be sharpening their knives already. And there are many more where they came from.
    5
  2443.  Bamsi Cerkutay  No, that would be the French. The term is derived from the word "commune" and the suffix "isme". You may want to add "authoritarian" to your description. Also, I would put a question mark after "progressive", because Xi has clearly put the country on a regressive course of late. But speaking of descriptions, the CCP explicitly describes itself as communist. Have CIA operatives infiltrated the party after all?
    5
  2444. You're grossly generalizing. And I wouldn't exactly describe China's rigidly state-controlled media as an oracle of truth. It also bears reminding that China's initial slow response to Covid-19 went together with Chinese authorities trying to suppress Dr. Li Wenliang, who paid the ultimate price for his whistleblowing.
    5
  2445. Please elaborate, how's Putin springing the trap?
    5
  2446. ...or the Mickey Mouse Club.
    5
  2447. Luckily, the Russians value their laundry, too.
    5
  2448.  @OFM-u1r  Are you arguing against yourself now?
    5
  2449.  @davecullen5986  To a degree, we're all in the same boat, but Britain's plight is compounded by Brexit. You get to endure double whammies whenever there's a disruption to European trade.
    5
  2450. Duh, Putin is practically a president-for-life. That's no badge of honour.
    5
  2451. Israel's adversaries tend to come off worse. That's just a factual observation, not a moral judgement.
    5
  2452. Explain. It looks like Amsterdam is being colonized, not vice versa.
    5
  2453.  @dayegilharno4988  If so, it was a very ill-considered move from Putin to annex the Kherson Oblast. It looks like he's ceding Russian territory to Ukraine. The chess master wasn't thinking ahead.
    5
  2454. Which particular wars did Obama start and Trump end? Please be specific.
    5
  2455.  @danielmartin7838  Sure thing. Not only that, but Trump has hinted at an encore if he loses again.
    5
  2456. It's *defence over here. And will the US fulfil its commitment to NATO? I see a lot of spending on military assets that don't conribute to NATO. Mind you, the UK isn't innocent of diverting funds elsewhere either, but it does so to a far lesser extent.
    5
  2457. This time in Russia, I'm afraid.
    5
  2458. Still desperately looking for vindication?
    5
  2459. According to Putin, Russia wasn't going to invade Ukraine either.
    5
  2460. Gunboat diplomacy is so 19th century. Gibraltar may be a British dependency, but they're still very dependent on Spain. Gibraltar can't even provide housing for its workforce, many of whom commute from Spain. If Spain were to clamp down on such arrangements -- and with Brexit looming they're just biding their time -- Gibraltar's GDP will suffer a body blow. Funny you should use the "jewel in the crown" idiom. We all know what happened to the best known one. Gibraltar won't escape decolonisation either.
    5
  2461. There's still a speaker's corner in Hyde Park, right?
    5
  2462. Which part of Lebanon being a failed state didn't you understand?
    5
  2463.  @Sowsowbby  You have a poor sense of proportion. The disparity between the sizes of the economies involved is staggering. And Russia is no longer a key supplier of any commodity that the West needs.
    5
  2464. It's so sad that they have to forego their Big Macs.
    5
  2465. It's not really a matter of position. NATO stands or falls with its Article 5, which says an attack against one member is considered as an attack against all members. Enrolling Ukraine, which is under attack by Russia, would mean all the other members are mandated to come to Ukraine's aid militarily. It would be tantamount to NATO going to war against Russia.
    5
  2466. Littering? Beauty must be a crime in Ruscia.
    5
  2467. I'm sure President Navalny wouldn't have a problem with it, because he'd be the one who extradited Putin. As always, the Russian people would just go with the flow.
    5
  2468. Rutte is secretary general of NATO, not of the EU. Keep your eye on the ball.
    5
  2469. And you are? I'm puzzled why your opinion would matter a great deal.
    5
  2470. Your decorated general did very poorly in the Winter War.
    5
  2471.  @Eugene-rq8kr  Er, how is your reply related to anything I wrote earlier? If you wanted to convince me that not Russia, but the EU has a PR problem, provide a credible source to that effect. Your personal opinion on the matter carries no weight whatsoever.
    5
  2472.  @hopeforbetter382  But Russia is going to be ravaged by COVID-19. Their healthcare system has been neglected for decades. Their most vulnerable, the elderly, are often forced to live in appalling conditions. Even as it is, many succumb to pneumonia. Russian gallows humour has it that when nursing homes run out of space, the nurses open the windows. No, Putin has little reason for pleasure. The coronavirus may yet ruin his intricate plans to stay in power for life.
    5
  2473. Those learnings won't do much good if they're six feet under. They're cannon fodder all right.
    5
  2474. ...but you can't think of any right now, eh?
    5
  2475. Germany had a best-in-class autocannon-based CIWS in the Dutch Goalkeeper that could take out drones with relatively inexpensive 30 mm ammunition. Then it went for a US missile-based system. I guess no-one was really ready for the drone revolution.
    5
  2476.  @johnwinter2252  Aren't you insistent. For all I care, you can call your wife your sister, but likewise, don't be surprised if people give you funny looks. Since we're on the topic of education, I have a double masters. And I'm a captain in the reserves. Until I transferred to artillery, I was attached to a tank brigade.
    5
  2477.  @IbnBahtuta  Read up on Lotta Svärd. In its day, it was the largest women's auxiliary organisation in the world, and Finland had a relatively small population.
    5
  2478.  @anteromano5559  I bet there will be 21 victorious Russias, as many as there are republics in the Russian Federation.
    5
  2479. It's great if it's greener still, eh?
    5
  2480. No, Russia just wanted to admire Kyiv's suburbs from up close, after suffering disproportionate losses to get there.
    5
  2481.  @coachking5208  What are we missing? Please enlighten us.
    5
  2482. @Mota bhalu You implicating the whole European continent in ruining India and stealing "billiuons [sic]" is like blaming Indians for attacking Pearl Harbor and starting the Pacific War. India and Japan share the same continent, right?
    5
  2483. So she's a shape-shifting, blood-drinking Reptilian? Goody, I thought you Icke followers had gone extinct.
    5
  2484. Who exactly has been preaching neutrality? Not Finland. You're confusing Finland with Sweden. Sweden, a self-proclaimed moral superpower, likes to preach.
    5
  2485. They can't, since they haven't been around since the 11th century, thanks to William the Conqueror. Any other ancient expansionist civilisations that you have a problem with? The Mayans? At least they still exist as a distinguishable ethnolinguistic group. The Anglo-Saxons do not.
    5
  2486. The Kremlin is still trying to decide if it was a prank call. With Trump being such a weirdo, it's hard to tell.
    5
  2487.  @realnapster1522  You guys could dissolve CSTO to set an example. It's no biggie, since it practically has dissolved already.
    5
  2488.  @MS-jz9ne  Yup, the volume of Russian artillery fire has dwindled to a third of what it once was. And artillery is king.
    5
  2489.  @commieprop  So which department did you work at?
    5
  2490. I expected worse from the US. They're prone to military adventurism.
    5
  2491.  @garyholley3476  Of all the NATO members, the US is the one that's prone to military adventurism, not France. And if there were a European army, what makes you think Europe would agree on "marching on Moscow"? And which part of MAD don't you understand?
    5
  2492. It's not like the EU elected Orban for any top job. The presidency of the Council of the EU rotates among the member countries on a six-month basis. It's Hungary's turn and Orban happens to be its head of state. What can you do.
    5
  2493.  @GoodMan_000  That would be late Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who went on record numerous times with his belligerent views on Finland. Last year, it was Andrey Gurulyov, who threatened Finland with a fate similar to Ukraine's on Russian state TV. Then you have state TV anchors and guest propagandists like Vladimir Solovyov and Sergey Mikheyev, who respectively claimed that the Finns want to rejoin the Russian Empire and that not only Finland, but also Poland, Alaska, Hawaii, and California should become part of it. I guess this is where you scurry off to your troll cave.
    5
  2494.  @simplicius11  *Oops? Or did you mean United Parcel Service or uninterruptible power source? That's a different kettle of fish. Other Russian-owned assets can be frozen, but whether or not they can be seized is highly questionable, since they're not verifiably state-owned.
    5
  2495. One would think Brits can walk and chew gum at the same time.
    5
  2496. That's quite a sweeping statement. Our far right is already losing steam. I suppose we're ahead of the curve.
    5
  2497. Our prime minister is there, for instance. As a head of state, she's a member of the European Council. The Council nominated the president of the European Commission. The European Parliament elected the president. So, everyone involved in the process is elected -- Council members and the MEPs directly by their national electorates, and Ursula von der Leyen indirectly, by the former. Any more questions?
    5
  2498. Trump can veto aid packages to Ukraine, but it won't gain him favour with Republican congressmen who do understand geopolitics. With the Trump cult at its peak, many backed Trump because going against the stream was highly detrimental to one's career, but they haven't taken leave of their senses altogether.
    5
  2499. Turkey's economy is already on the verge of a collapse. The sanctions may well be the final nail in the coffin.
    5
  2500. Really? Asian opinions of China are tied between unfavourable and favourable. Russia is viewed slightly more favourably than unfavourably. You don't seem to know what you're talking about.
    5
  2501.  @UltimateSeduction  Which part of "majority" don't you understand?
    5
  2502.  @byzughtfarnault2519  Don't just cherry-pick your way through history. Russia has experienced some smarting defeats, too. At the hands of France and Germany, too.
    5
  2503.  @barrybrodin7085  That's a very optimistic view. I would say the jury is still out.
    5
  2504. China should consider bringing peace to Ukraine instead, which is an entirely feasible proposition. In fact, one phone call from Xi to Putin should suffice.
    5
  2505.  @galvinstanley3235  It's so unfair that bullies don't get to do their job in peace. Victims should line up and wait for their turn to get bullied! No ganging up on the bully!
    5
  2506.  @FroddeB  France got rid of their monarchy in a rather drastic fashion a long time ago, but it hasn't hurt tourism. France is consistently the world's top destination for tourists. It appears it's not about who's inside the palaces, but the palaces themselves.
    5
  2507. Western countries have been lavish with development aid to both Asian and African countries. China is lavish with loans, which the debtor countries eventually default on. You're dangling pie at them, but eventually you're taking a bigger piece back. We call it neo-colonialism for a reason.
    5
  2508.  @Dendarang  EU- is more appropriate than EU+. Iceland is, after all, a pay-but-no-say hang-around member of the EU, like Switzerland and Norway. Having no say is a big minus in my book. You can call it taxation without representation, although it's all voluntary.
    5
  2509. The UK is trying the 'pay-but-no-say' EU affiliation model on for size.
    5
  2510.  @B15HOP  I'd say Australia's problem is indeed similar to that of the USA. Foreigners, even visitors, are somehow instinctively treated as poor immigrants, who have to mimic your ways to be regarded as your equals. Not only that, I detected an undercurrent of racism in Australia -- whenever I travelled there with my Singaporean Chinese co-workers, more often than not they drew extra attention from airport immigration. I, as a Caucasian, was never subjected to the same scrutiny except once, when I demanded an interview, bored with having to wait for my colleague to finish hers. The official was clearly annoyed with me, but obliged nonetheless. Maybe it's an Anglo-Saxon thing -- New Zealand and Britain share the same uppity attitude towards foreigners. Curiously, Canada is the exception. It must be their overbearing neighbours.
    5
  2511.  @bluefishactcl1464  What are you on about? I related my own experiences -- experiences I've gathered over many years. No one taught me to think anything.
    5
  2512.  @tricky1581  Australia could've gotten French nuclear subs, too. It forgot to ask.
    5
  2513.  @des_moines840  No, Germany isn't leaving the EU. According to polls, the CDU/CSU bloc is headed for a victory in the upcoming election, and they're firmly committed to the EU. An official YouGov Survey shows that 55% of the Britons regret Brexit as opposed to 31% who still cling to the hope that it was the right decision. Please don't make stuff up. It's like I'm conversing with a bambino.
    5
  2514. I'm sure you can still receive RT. And you can write your comments onto your belly, as the Dutch say.
    5
  2515.  @foilhat1138  Unlike Kyiv, Russia probably would've taken Moscow in 3 days had Prigozhin refrained from horse-trading.
    5
  2516. You're creating divisions where there are none.
    5
  2517. @MSD Group Finland will ask Russia for help when hell freezes over.
    5
  2518.  @Anya-cc2tu  A successful resistance movement needs a measure of popular support. There's none of that in Russia, not to a significant degree anyway. Most Russians are fine with an absolute ruler. They actually want a tsar for a president.
    5
  2519.  @notimportantperson6382  You can't blame Russia for not trying. In 1939, it tried its utmost to capture Finland, but failed with abhorrent losses. The intent was there, but so was the incompetence. And now history repeats itself in Ukraine. Putin's grandiose plans are thwarted by Russia's military incompetence. Can't a dictator get a break?
    5
  2520. Britain wanted exclusive privileges to the detriment of the others. I'm actually looking forward to the accession talks, when Britain comes crawling back to the EU (assuming it ever lets Article 50 kick in) and the rebate, which it always took for granted, is off the table.
    5
  2521.  @bangcockkonghong3121  Japanese and German companies are much more prominent in the UK car industry.
    5
  2522. And on whose authority are you imposing such a rule? Finnish much?
    5
  2523. "Stope [sic] payments"? Trump is upset because Europeans don't buy American goods and services as eagerly as the other way around. I mean, why would we like American cars?
    5
  2524. En natuurlijk de reptielmensen aldaar. Complotdenken moet je meteen goed doen.
    5
  2525.  @Joshdyisdifh  Nope, the Spaniards have made it clear they won't use their veto against Scotland joining the EU. Besides, I see the EU -- willingly or unwillingly -- enabling the orderly break-up of old nation states that were once formed to fend off unwanted attentions from one another -- something that is not applicable any longer. Smaller countries tend to perform better, too. Personally, I'm looking forward to seeing a Republic of Flanders and a Kingdom of Wallonia in my lifetime.
    5
  2526.  @Amidat  Is it? The Chechen Wars suggest otherwise. France had the decorum to decolonise. Russia, no such luck.
    5
  2527. Autocratic birds of a feather flock together.
    5
  2528.  Nuclear Alex  If Putin first tries to poison Navalny, then banish him and finally, hide him away in a gulag, I'd would say he's very upset.
    5
  2529. The US may want to look a bit further ahead as well. It's abundantly clear that Netanyahu's hard-line policy towards the Palestinians has failed spectacularly. Netanyahu bolstered and played Hamas against Fatah in an effort to undermine the latter's efforts to reach a peaceful resolution, i.e. the two-state solution.
    5
  2530.  @Haggerty3030  You no savvy... Friedrich Trump, DJT's German grandfather, emigrated to the USA in 1885. Adolf Hitler was born years later, in 1889. Nazi Germany came about in 1933, when Hitler and his Nazi Party gained power. Friedrich had died well prior to that, in 1918. What you're suggesting is an anachronism.
    5
  2531.  @zimagorec  Russia's tax revenues are seriously down while state expenditures have shot up. Soon, Russia can't afford to maintain a single ballistic missile.
    5
  2532.  @noticing_patterns  You're confusing Iron Sky with a documentary...
    5
  2533. The big diff was that in Hong Kong, the protesters were demanding democracy. In the US, they were attempting to overthrow democracy.
    5
  2534. You've misread the memo. NATO is a defence alliance. Not an automaton that provides troops whenever a US president feels like going on a military adventure again.
    5
  2535. For supporting a brutal military aggressor? A new low for Iran.
    5
  2536. Fail. It's going to be displayed in a museum. Also, I believe Max Havelaar is still required reading in Dutch schools, so no need for respinning anything, nor forgetting.
    5
  2537.  @tnsaxlover  An escalation is simply an intensification. If the West were to respond to a Russian nuclear attack, things would most certainly get intenser still. Hence, escalation.
    5
  2538. The oligarchs are blaming Elvira Nabiullina, the head of Russia's Central Bank, for the economic malaise. Hello? There's an elephant in the room (well, he looks more like a newt than an elephant).
    5
  2539. That's just your conspiracy-ridden mind speaking.
    5
  2540.  @curiositycloset2359  JD Vance thought the Hitlerian analogy apt with regard to Trump. Then he focused on his career.
    5
  2541. Going forward, the Afghans will miss any kind of cohesive government. Afghanistan is a failed state, run by warlords who'll fight one another in the absence of a common enemy.
    5
  2542.  @ramdev9578  So you don't want Apple's business.
    5
  2543. The caption should read Voldemort Putin.
    5
  2544.  Yulis  You can call it imperial, but it's not a matter of ego. Both the Canadian and Australian Sabre outperformed the US original thanks to better engines. The latter also swapped the obsolete machine guns for autocannon.
    5
  2545. That brand of copium still works for you?
    5
  2546.  @margelatu79  Nazi tactics? Fascist ideology never gained a firm foothold in Finnish politics, not even during its heyday in the 30s. But don't let facts interfere with your Fascist diatribes.
    5
  2547.  @margelatu79  You haven't done your homework. The Finnish blue-on-white swastika stems from a WW1 warplane gifted to Finland by Swedish Count von Rosen, who had his good luck symbol painted onto it. Hitler was a lowly corporal then. Is that really all you've got?
    5
  2548.  @richardsanders4624  Ukraine has the right to defend itself. Moreover, we know what happens when Russia captures Ukrainian soil. In one word, Bucha.
    5
  2549.  @blackwhite6391  Zelenskyy doesn't resort to clownish behaviour in politics. BoJo is the very definition of a political clown.
    5
  2550. You're too weird for words.
    5
  2551.  @ЭЮЯ-о3к  Navalny is not destroying Russia. He's destroying Putin.
    5
  2552. And Putin is (still) hoping for a piece of Ukraine.
    5
  2553. Was Paddignton an illegal worker till now?
    5
  2554. Let's call it a war, too, eh?
    5
  2555. Which part of the democratic process confuses you now, Sleepy? Didn't we go over the workings of a parliamentary system once already?
    5
  2556.  @artonio5887  Spain has Yolanda Diaz as the incumbent labour minister. She identifies as a communist.
    5
  2557. Netanyahu is very unlikely to stay on when the smoke clears, but it won't help the Gazans.
    5
  2558. Pakistan loves Bollywood.
    5
  2559. One doesn't need a crystal ball to predict that Hungary will achieve nothing.
    5
  2560.  @truthfinder7064  Have poor untrained Ukrainians murdered 400+ Russian civilians in a Moscow suburb lately?
    5
  2561. There's no genetic commonality between the Finns and the Hungarians. Just a faint linguistic connection.
    5
  2562. Mussolini II would be more appropriate.
    5
  2563.  @susannamarker2582  The Finns are the best judges in the matter.
    5
  2564. Russia has these wildfires every. single. year. The way they let them burn suggests that they aren't greatly troubled by them.
    5
  2565.  @salokin3087  You're dealing with a whataboutist. Don't waste your time.
    5
  2566. Not only that, the US has no part in this. Beijing troll much?
    5
  2567. What makes you think it's either-or? The Nordics lead the way is renewable energy. And climate change does affect Finland differently from Uganda. Finland, owing to its cool climes, will not become unliveable in the foreseeable future. In fact, Ugandans will migrate northward to escape the heat, as will many other southerners.
    5
  2568.  @JJORIS4199  Nou, dit jaar was er enkel een T-34 beschikbaar voor de jaarlijkse overwinningsparade in Moskou. Dat belooft niks goeds.
    5
  2569.  @joaquinandres8142  "Politicising sexuality" by reporting on Berlin's Pride march and noting that some countries lag behind in recognising their right to do so? You seem to favour media censorship.
    5
  2570.  @tonyatgoogle6076  You'd better explain what NATO, in your humble opinion, did in Iraq. Hint: do some research before you respond.
    5
  2571. No, you'd be whining to be let in again.
    5
  2572. Aw, you're angling for compliments.
    5
  2573. I failed to detect a point in your comment. Or are just underlining that in the Kremlin, desperation is setting in?
    5
  2574.  @XKS99  The OSCE, including its Russian SMM observers, think otherwise.
    5
  2575. War or no war, helping the poor is not the American way.
    5
  2576.  @lin8049  You haven't understood how it goes in Russia. For every Russian mobilised, three flee abroad to escape mobilisation. The odds are not in Russia's favour.
    5
  2577. Hard to say because Nigeriens no longer have a say over their government.
    5
  2578. You see the far left under your bed and in your closet.
    5
  2579. Hungry-exit, more like.
    5
  2580.  @rogerhearn5243  I would say he's right on the money. 74% of the world's nations condemn Russia's invasion. Democratically speaking, that's a supermajority.
    5
  2581. She laid it on thick. It's as if she wanted to be investigated for corruption.
    5
  2582. I thought you didn't like autocracy and curtailed freedoms. You learn something new every day.
    5
  2583.  @Courage2006  You're not very well informed. If a NATO member is subjected to an armed attack, the others must to come to the aid of the victim. You may want to educate yourself about NATO's Article 5. US military adventurism is another matter altogether.
    5
  2584. Try to keep abreast of the times. I much rather have Germany's democracy than the bipolar democracies of the UK and the US.
    5
  2585. Seriously, are you still trying to peddle that story despite having found no takers for all those years?
    5
  2586. The Germans formally promised not to expand NATO to former East Germany. They've held on to that promise. Georgia and Ukraine haven't entered NATO, not in 2008, nor now. Language issue?
    5
  2587.  @benjamindover4337  Would you like to verify Sunak's sexual orientation as well?
    5
  2588. You must stay inside your echo chamber if you want to keep believing that. Shoo!
    5
  2589. We have plenty of granite to quarry, but importing oak lumber to make coffins that are burned during cremation makes absolutely zero sense. The funeral business clearly needs new ideas.
    5
  2590. You should as well.
    5
  2591.  @craigfinnegan8534  If you're blow to bits, you need many parachutes.
    5
  2592. Als Navalny president van Rusland wordt, dan kan de verzoening snel verlopen.
    5
  2593. Uh, do you realise that you're bringing up EU inflation in connection with a news report about Turkey? Turkey's inflation is out of this world. The EU's inflation rate stands at 2.5%, while that of Turkey is a whopping 47.09%. For futher perspective, the inflation rate in the USA is 2.7%. Those cute emojis of yours must be laughing at you!
    5
  2594. Aren't you easily misled.
    5
  2595. Why aren't Türkiyes complaining about the spelling... what was it,Turkije?
    5
  2596.  @leepham650  No thanks. In doing so, we'd have to take the people as well, because they'd jump at the chance of living in Finland rather than in Russia. I'm all for being on the receiving end of Russia's brain drain, but these formerly Finnish territories are backward to the extreme.
    5
  2597. An insincere one. It's in China's interest to see a greatly weakened Russia grow more and more dependent on China. I suppose an uneasy truce will have the same effect, but a war of attrition brings results quicker.
    5
  2598.  @UkraineNeeds  And now the tables have turned and it's Russia that has turned Fascist/Ruscist. The West is busily expanding East as we speak. But the important thing is, the Fascists are losing ground.
    5
  2599. Mali is a new to the club. I guess it's the Wagner effect. Prigozhin is waiving his fee in exchange for Mali's vote?
    5
  2600.  @sully9836  Let me guess, that action would be drawing another red line?
    5
  2601.  @TheAndropoff  Most of the crews are Filipinos.
    5
  2602. Russia would do well to be a better neighbour -- for starters, one that doesn't invade its neighbours -- and it would find that the supposed Russiaphobia would lessen dramatically.
    5
  2603. NATO has Greenland covered. What's the prob?
    5
  2604.  @kevt3318  I see you're still utterly confused. The GFA says there's to be no border between NI and ROI. Given that the UK is no longer in the EU's customs union, there has to be a border, and the only realistic place to put it was in the Irish Sea. WTO tariffs, which would apply to all trade between NI and GB, would really put the hurt on NI. Savvy? Or is it all just too taxing for you?
    5
  2605.  @turbino  Er, Europe is not a country. Let's hear it, which countries are democratic then, and according to whom exactly? Credible sources only, please.
    5
  2606.  @zhufortheimpaler4041  France has supplied the SCALP, which has done sterling work against Russia. Estonia has done more than its fair share for Ukraine, but the keyword here is 'share'. Being a diminuitive economy compared to France, it's definitely not "more". Estonia's gifts are mostly old Soviet stock and while welcome as such, they're another thing altogether than SCALPs and Tauruses.
    5
  2607.  @elmersbalm5219  Macron founded a political party and won the French elections with it -- not once but twice -- within 18 months. In case you haven't noticed, the US and the UK aren't really that hot in the democracy department nowadays. The US recently got downgraded to flawed democracy status and the UK has an unelected narcissist trying to muzzle parliament. Still, both are considered to be miles ahead of Russia democracy-wise.
    5
  2608. This reminds me of staying at a hotel in Bayswater, London. I had picked it because it had central heating. Only my room was ice cold. When the staff offered to bring up an electric heater, I complained bitterly. Finally, I got a suite with working central heating, but it ran so hot that I had keep a window wide open. I made a mental note never to visit Britain in the wintertime, if I could help it.
    5
  2609. There's always room for whataboutism.
    5
  2610.  @abhi974mu  When have Pakistan's Ukrainian-made T-80UD tanks rolled into India? I keep a close tab on the news, but I've missed that.
    5
  2611. Uh, there's a pandemic going on. Doesn't that ring a bell?
    5
  2612. Well, the Congo was his personal fiefdom, before it was taken away from him because of gross mismanagement.
    5
  2613.  @justmytwocentsdontgetmad  They can vote with their feet. Many, many do.
    5
  2614.  @ehinspections  I dared to call myself a soldier only after 12 months of intensive training. Is that why Marines don't want to be called soldiers?
    5
  2615.  Genghis Khan  You're reported for poor grammar.
    5
  2616.  @piccalillipit9211  Boris must be kicking himself for letting Ursula beat him to it. I bet he had a speech prepared how Brexit made his visit possible.
    5
  2617. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness. - Oscar Wilde.
    5
  2618.  @eliakimjosephsophia4542  The centre-right won the EU elections. If that's anything to go by, the Tories should win this one as well.
    5
  2619.  @suportbghelp4938  You're a Putin bot all right. You pitch in with your whataboutism, instead of addressing the criticism levelled at Putin.
    5
  2620. And Sir David Attenborough should've changed his name to Boaty McBoatface.
    5
  2621. ​ @aighti Ni!
    5
  2622. Force multiplier at work. Cope harder.
    5
  2623.  @mohamedhussein4124  Oh, sanctions are working as well as can be expected. Russian businesses are going bankrupt left, right and centre. Also, why is Putin's crowd making such a fuss about them if they don't matter?
    5
  2624. Yet she's a successful prime minister and you -- you're just a misogynist.
    5
  2625.  @parrotcraft7503  Maybe you can go back to school to work on your reading comp.
    5
  2626. So you're going to make clubs and spears.
    5
  2627. A coronation is a very good excuse for pomp and circumstance. The public needs occasional infusions of national pride. And soldiers must parade now and then to strengthen their esprit de corps. The French, who sent their royals to the guillotine, still parade like no other on Bastille Day, don't they? In their case, who would you like to blame for the expense?
    5
  2628. They've tried and failed. Another approach is needed.
    5
  2629. Huh? The ruble is worth 0.0092 USD. Not even a cent, in other words.
    5
  2630.  @bobbybastable1061  Harald Hardrada, William the Conqueror, Louis VIII, Isabella of France and Michiel de Ruyter would still like to have a word with you. History isn't your forte, eh?
    5
  2631. Ottoman Impair?
    5
  2632. Uh, unlike Russia with regard to Belarus, the US isn't putting nukes on foreign soil without the consent of the countries concerned.
    5
  2633. Except that the protesters in HK wanted democracy. The Capitol rioters wanted it revoked.
    5
  2634. Maybe there's a better venue for your whataboutism. US or British news channels, perchance? DW is German, you know.
    5
  2635.  @grwth4722  That's a very imaginative rationale. UNSCR 1244 doesn't preclude Kosovo's independence. Rather, the opposite is true. Also, Serbia's constitution is not an overriding principle in the matter.
    5
  2636. If not the EU, the US or Russian navies will blow you out of the water. You can say goodbye to Gibraltar while at it.
    5
  2637.  @jeffreyschwarz3699  You're not very observant. The ICC indicted Ibrahim Al-Masri, a Hamas kingpin, at the same time. Try to keep up with the news.
    5
  2638.  @CodeBluMagik  We can narrow it down somewhat. There are 193 sovereign countries and Putin is wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity in 124 of them, which leaves 69 prospective travel destinations for Putin that don't involve incarceration and deportation to The Hague.
    5
  2639. I think you should take your fixation with Biden to comment sections of US news media. It's not relevant here.
    5
  2640. Mind you, the Battle of the Bulge has a genuine effort on the Germans' part to recapture the port of Antwerp and to encircle the Allied armies to the north. It was a very optimistic plan, but a genuine effort nonetheless.
    5
  2641. You're applying the "appeal to common sense" fallacy. Common sense doesn't apply when Russia is concerned.
    5
  2642. Which Palestinian leadership are you referring to? Hamas has Gaza and Fatah the West Bank. Warts and all, Fatah recognises Israel and strives for a two-state solution. Israel doesn't, which puts them in the Hamas camp in that respect.
    5
  2643. Why would Mexico volunteer to became a pawn for a dying regime?
    5
  2644.  İbrahim Moncada  It's bad form to copy-paste the same comment all over the place. Boring, too.
    5
  2645. Nothing changes, sport. There's no new source, just the old, already non-Russian ones. The Baltic countries haven't bought Russian electricity since 2022. I can't believe the Kremlin has briefed you bots so poorly.
    5
  2646. Iron Curtain 2.0
    5
  2647. Should Zelenskyy wear an overlong red tie and smear orange makeup on his face, too?
    5
  2648. It would be greater still if it were 192 countries against Russia, but you can't have it all. That said, there's a case to be made that it's actually 141 countries against 5, with Russia firmly on the losing side, of course.
    5
  2649. And I think she's practically won already.
    5
  2650.  @yeshuaislord6880  That's a conspiracy theory in itself. Or do want to give some examples?
    5
  2651. Talk is cheap. What is India actually achieving, apart from securing access to cheap Russian oil?
    5
  2652. ​ @michaelkopischke2255  Actually, thousands and thousands of US tanks saw use on the Eastern Front. For instance, both the M3 Lee and M4 Sherman saw use in the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle ever and a decisive defeat for Germany. Your knowledge is spotty.
    5
  2653.  @item6931  If we let our guard down, Russia will be back. They got thoroughly humiliated by the Chechens, but it wasn't to last. But you're right about the apartment buildings. Ironically, Putin had to blow up apartment buildings inside Russia to bring the Chechens to heel. Let's see if he'll try the same in Belgorod.
    5
  2654. In Russia, challenging the sitting president is extremism punishable by decades of imprisonment. Elsewhere, it's called running for the highest office.
    5
  2655. @Frankly Frank Swedes are also progressive to a fault. They must behave differently just because... period. I don't call that brainsome.
    5
  2656. Because France is finally giving credit where credit is due? You're an odd one.
    5
  2657. Your definition of purity differs from that of the rest of mankind.
    5
  2658. Get help.
    5
  2659. You don't know your stuff. India has two official languages, Hindi and English. Zimbabwe holds the record with 16 official languages. But what an bureacratic nightmare that must be. The right to self-determination doesn't equate to the right of separatism. Russia itself would be in a constant state of civil war if that were true.
    5
  2660. You're right about one thing. Russia is a gas station... masquerading as a country. Russia's economy is critically dependent on oil and gas revenues... which are seriously down, because it foolishly went to war. The moral of the story? Don't alienate your biggest and best customers. You'll go broke.
    5
  2661. Your bully got cornered and is crying now, pretending to be the victim. The regret is all yours.
    5
  2662. Actually, Belarus scores only slightly worse in human rights than Russia. In democracy, Russia scores worse, 144th place in the Democracy Index, while Belarus is at 137th. For the Belarusians, it's more of the same, really.
    5
  2663.  @datadavis  I bet, but Belgium didn't do a disappearing act. It's as preposterous a thought as Norway disappearing in WW2.
    5
  2664. That was in *2014, and the 2% target was set for 2024. Don't spread fake news.
    5
  2665. Don't you worry, Russia's ICBMs literally fly from one continent to another.
    5
  2666. This being Brexodus, the sea might part so they can cross on dry ground.
    5
  2667. Finally? France has been critical of israeli excesses for ages.
    5
  2668. France is on the right side all right. 146 out of the 193 UN members recognise Palestine as a sovereign state. I don't know how familiar you are with democratic principles, but that amounts to a three-quarters supermajority. Israel -- and you -- should get with the programme.
    5
  2669. I fear they will abandon the whole continent and head for Europe as the economy sours even further.
    5
  2670.  @EUistheFourthReich  Come on, sources. Don't deflect.
    5
  2671. Price cap? How about 0€ per whatever unit is applicable?
    5
  2672.  @virtuehonor9625  Individual soldiers don't necessarily know their whereabouts. It's not like they get to keep their phones when they're on ops.
    5
  2673. The Brits aren't really experts in fighting wildfires. The Southern Europeans are.
    5
  2674. And he'll end the Ukraine war over the weekend, travel back in time and prevent the Hamas attacks, solve world hunger, cure cancer, etc.
    5
  2675.  @rusosure7  Ah, it's rusunsure0. What an ambitious conspiracy theory you've got going there! Are you sure you want to go there? Millions of Russian viewers saw it and that's what counts.
    5
  2676. I don't know about the hilarity. My late Finnish granddad was clearly disturbed by the carnage he caused as a machine gunner in the Winter War. Rumour had it their adversaries had enjoyed a generous serving of vodka before launching their human wave attacks.
    5
  2677. In ten years, you've forgotten all about your conspiracy theory. You've moved on to how 7G spells doom for humanity.
    5
  2678. No, they went from bad to worse. What's so difficult to understand about that?
    5
  2679. Wow, you must be very, very old.
    5
  2680. Which Russians, in your honest opinion, would make good candidates for holiday-making while Ukrainians are dying?
    5
  2681. According to Kremlin propagandists or real experts?
    5
  2682. What's aggressive about NATO expanding? Peaceful countries joining -- on their own accord -- a defensive alliance doesn't make NATO aggressive. It's in stark contrast with Russia that tries to expand militarily, very much against the wishes of its victims.
    5
  2683. Same here. I was issued a Walther P1 when I deployed to Kosovo with KFOR. I was supposed to get a FN HP-DA, but there were some issues with the type, so I ended up with what my British superior called a "toy pistol" at first. I got back at him by taping my tightly-grouped target onto the fridge. I was "Pistol Piet" after that.
    5
  2684. That's simply not true. By the way, what prevents you from petitioning your government to send in UN peacekeepers of your own, who'd do things differently? Maybe you can even join them. Keyboard warriors can only do so much!
    5
  2685. Then India is in deep, deep trouble.
    5
  2686.  @Gudang9  NATO is expanding because there's a steady stream of new applicants. Sure, those applicants want to be rid of Russian influence.
    5
  2687. I was surprised that my Danish girlfriend's landlord, whose attic she was renting, got to keep his G/75 at home while in the Home Guard. I'm a reserve officer and a UNIFIL/KFOR veteran, but the Finnish Defence Forces would never trust us with service rifles to keep at home. Anyhoo, the landlord once came back dead-tired from an exercise (on his bicycle!), so I offered to clean his rifle for him. He was skeptical, but I had it field-stripped in no time. We had cross-trained with the Swedes' AK4s in Lebanon.
    5
  2688. ​ @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  If you've failed to master basic spelling and grammar, it doesn't bode well for serious conversation. Hence, I'm giving you the miss.
    5
  2689.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  Aw, you poor thing. A victim of impromptu grammar correction. Luckily, thanks to Brexit, your NHS is now aflush with money, so they can offer you counselling.
    5
  2690. Als halve Fin ben ik stemgerechtigd in een republiek. Ik moet dus noodgedwongen de politiek in Finland volgen om toch een geïnformeerde keuze te kunnen maken. Helaas gaat het er precies zo aan toe als hier in Nederland. Moeizame monstercoalities zijn de norm. Misschien lukt het de Finnen ietsjepietsje beter, want Finland scoort 9,30 in de Democracy Index, terwijl Nederland 'maar' 9,00 scoort. Wat ook interessant is dat de helft van de top-10 meest democratische landen republieken zijn. 'Republiek' en 'democratie' sluiten elkaar dus geenzins uit.
    5
  2691. Napoleon suffered his worst defeat in Russia, but not before he took Moscow and stayed there till he grew bored. The territory he had taken didn't do him any good. How's Russia going to occupy hostile territory with its already fatally-wounded economy? The sanctions aren't going to lift themselves.
    5
  2692. Oops, you're on a watchlist now. You can forget about international air travel.
    5
  2693.  @Bermuda-e7f  That must sound much better in another language.
    5
  2694.  @ZlogsUK  Oh, Kashmiri militants have no Pakistani connection at all. News to me.
    5
  2695.  @kennyken4461  There-there, Kenny. Those meds aren't optional.
    5
  2696. But Allah is supposed to be the same Abrahamic deity that Jews and Christians pray to. If you can't agree on how to share, I think Judaism, the oldest religion of the three, has dibs on him.
    5
  2697. I do know that you're a bit of a drama queen yourself if you honestly believe that.
    5
  2698. +Soul Mastery 13 33 Don't be a revisionist. Murica only came close to winning in the minds of Pentagon analysts who had a very tenuous grasp on reality.
    5
  2699. Hungary, as in the country that goes by that name, temporary holds the presidency of the Council of the EU. That doesn't mean Orban is president of the EU.
    5
  2700.  @NowisEvollovetion  Just admit that Trump is an opportunist of the first order.
    5
  2701. Your anti-UN sentiments would make more sense if you weren't from a pipsqueak country.
    5
  2702.  @domenicaantje  Hey Sherlock, if I recognise your handle, you should be able to place me geographically. The WFO deserved their Nobel Peace prize all right, but you certainly don't deserve a Nobel prize for common sense. Where should I start my research? The top 5 conspiracy theory sites?
    5
  2703.  @domenicaantje  Thanks for confirming that you're a conspiracy nutter. Please confirm also that blood-sucking, shape-shifting NWO reptilians pull the string at the UN. Lachen!
    5
  2704.  @piotr.leniec-lincow5209  The largest cargo planes are Antonovs. Made in Ukraine. Why are you waxing lyrical about Soviet achievements? The Soviet Union ceased to exist in 1991.
    5
  2705. Does Asia care about Congo?
    5
  2706. Aren't you sore.
    5
  2707. You've bet on the wrong horse.
    5
  2708. Say who? A far-rightie?
    5
  2709.  @tomzamp8547  At the bottom? Lithuania has come out smelling like roses after Soviet occupation. Millenial much? It would explain the lack of perspective and/or the drama queenery.
    5
  2710.  @summer031977  I can tell you've had no military training.
    5
  2711. The same went for the Chechen wars and Grozny. Russia isn't disturbed by civilian casualties, period.
    5
  2712. So all UN peacekeeping missions equate to military occupation in your book? You do know, right, that Germany wasn't at it alone? About a third of all the countries in the world were "occupying" Mali.
    5
  2713.  @thekaiser4333  Sad to say, high IQ in a species (that's us) has been shown to be detrimental to nature.
    5
  2714. You'd think Russia could learn from its mistakes, but nooo....
    5
  2715.  @MRT-co1sd  You're a layman preaching to the clergy. I've lived in Finland since 2014, and I speak the language. Throughout the years, both countries have kept their NATO options open while edging ever closer to the alliance. Both militaries are "NATO compatible" and exercise regularly with NATO. In Finland, even before the Russia's "special military operation", NATO membership was to be an election theme. The right-wing party that endorsed it even then is poised to win the upcoming parliamentary election. Also, neither country has pursued neutrality since they joined the EU in 1995. Military non-alignment is the official term in use.
    5
  2716. The spot price of electricity fluctuates. It varies from one hour to the next. Nothing to do with Russia, which has been closed out of the Baltic electricity market for years now. Cold snaps are usually the cause for upswings.
    5
  2717. Journalism is a serious crime in Soviet Russia.
    5
  2718. Duh, all drugs have side-effects. It's a matter of weighing the pros against the cons. Here, the nays have it.
    5
  2719.  @londop.a.3048  It's because those units have either been decimated in Ukraine or have just been deployed there.
    5
  2720. It seems you can't let go of your colonial mindset. If it took France to prod ECOWAS into action, all the better. African solutions to African problems.
    5
  2721. Whataboutism is so Soviet. Get with the times.
    5
  2722. Any Reptilians involved? It's so hard to keep up with conspiracy theories.
    5
  2723. It's a pity Macron, a true leader, has to take time out to entertain a mere figurehead.
    5
  2724. ...and that of the next one. Rinse and repeat.
    5
  2725.  @annoyingbstard9407  Not true. There's no confusion about the matter whatsoever. We haven't made ourselves any halos. I'm not sure you can say the same.
    5
  2726.  @tjmarx  False equivalence fallacy detected.
    5
  2727. Create peace? Indonesia has been on the side-lines, creating nothing.
    5
  2728. Excusing Israeli genocide with Russian atrocities goes a bit too far.
    5
  2729. What's your diagnosis?
    5
  2730.  @piotaape6171  I asked the medically-challenged Putin fanboy/fangirl a question. Butt out.
    5
  2731. What would you know? Estonia reportedly has a reserve of 227,072 soldiers.
    5
  2732.  @lifegamerpro4033 That's right, Russia can only observe, like a neutered dog.
    5
  2733. They must be really old.
    5
  2734. He had a death wish and he realized his wish was about to come true?
    5
  2735. From which planet are you? The French like to protest and often, violently.
    5
  2736.  @heartofsteel7821  That's rich considering Putin wants to resurrect the Russian Empire. Putler ticks all the boxes Fascism-wise, too.
    5
  2737. Are you talking about NATO? NATO famously did not attack Iraq. Try to keep up with the news.
    5
  2738. More than that, Putler is an existential problem for Russia if the Russians allow him to play with nuclear weapons as if they were matches.
    5
  2739. 🦃
    5
  2740. And your point is?`Russia has been claiming that the fire spread from the industrial facility and that the shopping centre wasn't in use. Both claims have been debunked.
    5
  2741.  @andrewcroft7995  There's a lot of trans-shipment between Sweden and Finland for geographical reasons alone. Russia could plant a submarine in Swedish waters to threaten the sea lane. With its limited resources and because of the shallow nature of the Baltic Sea, the Swedish navy might not locate the sub. NATO can't yet freely operate in Swedish waters, or lacks the means to do so effectively. It's crucial that Sweden gets in on the game, or capabilities will always be lacking to some extent.
    5
  2742. There's an air of desperation about you and your pitiful denials. To borrow a well-known slogan from a burger chain, I'm lovin' it.
    5
  2743. @Spooter Hogman It's EU directives that allow me to keep a Saiga AK and a Bushmaster AR. Poland may have more constrictive domestic legislation in place than what the EU directives call for. Their choice.
    5
  2744. It is a Mickey Mouse band-aid on a gaping wound that's gushing arterial blood.
    5
  2745.  @ruyaal  Hamas does enjoy a measure of support in the West Bank. It's unclear in how far that support translates to armed struggle, but there it is.
    5
  2746. 13 (and counting) Putin bots in denial.
    5
  2747. The Carcano rifles didn't arrive in time to see service in the Winter War. Nazi Germany held up arms shipments to Finland, because at the time, they were still allied with the Soviet Union.
    5
  2748. So? The EU isn't the US.
    5
  2749. You're mistaken. Some countries within the EU have suspended AZ vaccinations, just like others have outside of the EU. The EU's EMA still allows the use of the vaccine, but they don't have the final say.
    5
  2750. These protests are the result of growing anger against Putin's dictatorial urges, the rampant corruption, the dropping standard of living and the persecution of opposition figures. Navalny is just the catalyst.
    5
  2751. Murica has gone hard right and you accuse the EU of being Fascist? If the latter were true, the EU should rejoice, innit?
    5
  2752.  @yo2trader539  "Most Russians" have no business letting or not letting Ukraine join alliances of its own choosing. Putin can form whatever spheres of influence in his head, but real life is another matter altogether. Russia needs to know its place once and for all.
    5
  2753. You know whom to call.
    5
  2754. In Soviet China, democracy is selfishness.
    5
  2755. You're regurgitating old Soviet propaganda. The Soviet Union had secretly agreed with Germany how to divvy up Europe, as per the secret addendum to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which "gave" Finland to the Soviet Union. The land swaps were just a ruse. Even the Soviets finally admitted to the existence of the secret addendum. You, on the other hand, still seem to be in denial.
    5
  2756.  F Offenton  Way to go, confusing nuclear weapons and nuclear power.
    5
  2757.  @fingerprint8479  You're having a hissy fit there, aren't you?
    5
  2758.  @levismith7444  China needed no invitation to buy US treasury bonds. I suppose they won't be such avid investors anymore, with so many evergrandes to bail out.
    5
  2759. Aug 31st. It's not in Taliban's interest to have Afghanistan suffer a crippling brain drain, so their lack of enthusiasm shouldn't come as a surprise. They need educated people -- women, even -- to keep the economy going, or they'll have a civil war on their hands.
    5
  2760. Rather, lack of progress in the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority on the two-state solution -- because of Netanyahu's intransigency -- led to this. Remember how Netanyahu eagerly watched Hamas grow more influential, because it happened at the expense of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority? Netanyahu didn't give peace a chance, so he got war.
    5
  2761. Incidentally, Törni organised his own weapons cache, part of which is now on display at the Military Museum in Helsinki. One exhibited item is the late president's, Mauno Koivisto's, personal weapon, an 'Emma' LMG.
    5
  2762. I'm using 5G mobile data to post this. You're a goner now.
    5
  2763.  @DMEU77  Has Islam branched out to languages as well? The European Convention on Human Rights ensures freedom of religion in the EU.
    5
  2764.  @TCK71  Chomping? The Krembots turn the potatoes into vodka. They can't function without.
    5
  2765. This just underlines that the overwhelming majority of the HK electorate wants full democracy. It doesn't mean that they have it. Chinese brilliance my foot. You're just trying to put a brave face on a humiliating defeat.
    5
  2766.  @II_II_II  Robbie is projecting. It's a bad day for Putin fanboys.
    5
  2767. So what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander?
    4
  2768. sexy05gal I see you're new to googling: http://www.globescan.com/images/images/pressreleases/bbc2014_country_ratings/2014_country_rating_poll_bbc_globescan.pdf I can tell where you're coming from. Keywords like "US puppet", "zionist" and "fascists in Kiev" speak volumes. You're a bigot -- not worth my while. Forget I responded.
    4
  2769. No, we want peace and harmony, underpinned by international justice. Putin is the one who fell foul, at least this time around.
    4
  2770. +ToothsomeCookie OK, there comes the "...but America...", the standard response of a Putin apologist. Such a worn-out record.
    4
  2771. Nathan Donaghy The fact of the matter is that Norway is more integrated with the EU than the UK, despite not being a member, which the UK still is -- for who knows how long. "Pay but no say" is stupid.
    4
  2772. +Serg Chaidez Murica has become the laughing stock of the world, I'm afraid.
    4
  2773. I see little wrong with less nationalism.
    4
  2774. BritishFreedom Fine, put your faith in butterflies changing your destiny. If anything, the Leave campaign demonstrated how at odds the inner and outer perceptions of Britain's importance are. Prepare for a rude awakening.
    4
  2775. Juni Kim What has your friend got to do with the price of tea in China? The Vietnamese boat people had many young men of military age among them, only they were last on the list for resettlement to the West. Since we're doing anecdotes: I went to uni with a male Vietnamese boat refugee of my age, a recent arrival. He specifically mentioned he didn't want to serve in the Vietnamese military. Myself, I had to take a year off to do my compulsory military service, followed by a one-year deployment to the Middle East. As a refugee, my Vietnamese friend didn't have to do either. Yet I had no inclination whatsoever to call him a bleeping coward on my return. I think you're aggrandising yourself at the expense of the Syrian refugees. Be like Bob.
    4
  2776. Uhmu You're no rubber duck. Putin's land-grabs in Ukraine were supposedly necessitated by a fascist coup d'état in Kiev, or that's what his elaborate propaganda machine is trying to drill into people's heads. There's even a Russian troll in this very thread alluding that fascists are taking over in Lithuania, too. If there's no pattern of aggression there, I'm the rubber duck. The only good thing in all of this is that the Balts are not going to bow down before Russia, not this time.
    4
  2777. Cody Crouse There's that and the fact that they're launching yet another propaganda channel, Radio Sputnik, in 34 countries and 30 languages. It's like Russia is paraphrasing Adam Savage from Mythbusters and saying: "I reject reality and substitute my own!"
    4
  2778. +patriotistopiano There's definitely multiculturalism in Africa. South Africa is a given and practically every other African country has at least a sizeable Indian community. While in Kenya, I befriended a contractor who claimed he was 5th-gen Indian-African. China has large Uyghur and Tibetan minorities -- very distinct from the rest of the Chinese, who're culturally subdivided, too. Initially it struck me as odd that colleagues of mine from Beijing and Hong Kong had an insurmountable language gap that they could only bridge by resorting to English. Japan has a sizeable Korean community stemming from their shared history. Can I ask, do you have a passport?
    4
  2779. It's not about giving them money -- that's been the case for ages -- but about lowering the threshold to seek employment, even it's part-time or otherwise low-paying.
    4
  2780. +TekkGnostic Sure, Trump is issuing executive orders left, right and centre. Most will be judged unconstitutional, will amount to nothing for lack of funding or are otherwise infeasible. Of course, the Trumpists with their short attention spans won't notice a thing. Or they'll blame the elitists. Trump should replace "Make America Great Again" with "Appearance is Everything".
    4
  2781. Being sold out means you have something to sell. The Wallonians are practically broke.
    4
  2782. Clickbait. "Twin-engine" missing from the title.
    4
  2783. And why's that? One after another, the pro-Brexit leaders deserted: Johnson, Farage, Gove and now, Leadsom.
    4
  2784. +ALEKSANDER REGOSZ That's just blatant Soviet propaganda. Before WW2, Soviet Karelians were ruthlessly repressed by Stalin. In consequence a good many Soviet Karelian PoWs, who'd been pressed into service with the Red Army, volunteered to fight the Russians. Religion didn't enter into it. To this day, Finnish Karelians are either Lutheran or Orthodox.
    4
  2785. Rather, it's politicians pandering to people's baser instincts and they're falling for it.
    4
  2786. What an inane comment.
    4
  2787. And what was so newsworthy about it?
    4
  2788. Then why do you keep bringing Romania to the fore? You're acting like a bore at a party who can't stop talking about himself. And just so you know, this vid has nothing to do with Romania's "big" plans.
    4
  2789. There you go again, Romania-Romania-Romania. You must've missed that Trump is neither a very attractive host nor guest for state visits.
    4
  2790. You mean there's an exodus ongoing that threatens to leave Europe uninhabited? If you want to be a xenophobe, get your terminology right.
    4
  2791. Oh, again the ultimate wet dream called the Commonwealth. When it still had economic significance, you Brits considered it a relic and the EC the future. Study the recent history of the Commonwealth and you'll realise how members such as India and South Africa use it with great relish to shaft the UK.
    4
  2792. +havefun behappy Putin democratically elected? During the last presidential elections, the OCSE reported serious irregularities affecting at least a third of the polling stations. Then there was the infamous switcheroo with Medvedev, which allowed Putin to continue as the de-facto president despite constitutional limits to a presidential term. In Putin's Russia, the law follows Putin!
    4
  2793. Britain is paying lip service to Gibraltar. Whenever there's a clash of interests with Blighty, Gibraltar will end up losing. It has happened many times over during decolonisation. Why should it be different now?
    4
  2794. +october dawn Trump has found that pandering to baser instincts pays off. And it looks like instincts are getting baser in the US.
    4
  2795. Well, if BoJo is looking for other unions in Europe to join, there's always Putin's Eurasian Economic Union.
    4
  2796. +Stephen Yount Sure, I consider myself liberal, but only in the European, classic sense. This is Euronews, so take your silly Americanisms and clichés elsewhere.
    4
  2797. +Evan Friend You're still not getting it. This is about properly deactivating firearms in order for them to qualify as such. You're not in favour of putting assault rifles in terrorists' hands, are you? The European Parliament had a big hand in reshaping the directive to its present form. MEPs are directly elected representatives. Mine did a good job in this respect. I should send her a thank-you note. For the third time, no rights were stripped.
    4
  2798. What happened to the 'patriotic Russian hackers' storyline? Doesn't Putin remember his KGB propaganda training?
    4
  2799. +Craig Smith Liberals as in Libertarians? Or don't you know your political arse from your elbow? Don't spread Americanisms.
    4
  2800. +Nicolas Perez Putin's entourage hasn't understood that if you lie about something, you must be very consistent about it. If you're not, you're giving the game away. Why should we believe they've got it right now, after they got it so wrong before?
    4
  2801. FortuitusVideo You realise you're grasping at straws to establish some semblance of relevance?
    4
  2802. Alex Silver Don't be lazy. Try making a real point.
    4
  2803. You mean similar to the Nazis' Heim ins Reich programme?
    4
  2804. John Brown You don't know very far then: "President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia is supporting the opposition Free Syrian Army, providing it with air cover, arms and ammunition in joint operations with Syrian troops against Islamist militants." http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-putin-idUSKBN0TU1B020151211 You'll find that Assad is a recipient of ISIS oil, too. It happens through independent intermediaries, but the origin of the oil is known to all. Arms go the other way, with Assad-supplied militias selling arms and ammunition to ISIS. There the origin is Russia.
    4
  2805. +Jeanine H The only conceivable way Trump can bring about unity is when the Republicans and Democrats start working together to impeach him.
    4
  2806. How about: In my humble opinion, the BBC got their reporting on this topic wrong because [copy-paste fresh Kremlin propaganda here].
    4
  2807.  @timmytab2836  EU? Since when has the EU condoned Israel's illegal settlements? Try to get your facts straight.
    4
  2808. In English, if you please.
    4
  2809.  @crushnevnikita8575  For starters, you're breaking the UN Charter, which explicitly forbids violations of territorial integrity. Actions have consequences, buddy.
    4
  2810.  @viakhnine  The bunker grandpa? Pfft.
    4
  2811. Uh, the Finns are Europeans and Finland seized the ship and has detained the crew members suspected of committing the sabotage. Did you expect an immediate execution by a firing squad or some such?
    4
  2812. It turned out the UK didn't need the EU to throw the NHS under the bus. The UK alone deserves full credit.
    4
  2813. Had you posted this a few days earlier, you would've competed for the Conspiracy Theory of 2023 prize.
    4
  2814. I can't think of anyone who prefers toilet paper to dollars.
    4
  2815. Merry Conspiracy Christmas to you!
    4
  2816. Perhaps you should let the Germans decide about that. Oh, they do already. EU it is.
    4
  2817. Have yourself checked for early onset dementia.
    4
  2818.  @Josma432  No kidding. The commenter to whose comment I replied singled out Western Europe, as if it were the US of A. An interesting case of ignorance.
    4
  2819. Europe's last two dictators have a tête-à-tête, before disappearing into oblivion.
    4
  2820. Same diff.
    4
  2821. This bot needs a translator.
    4
  2822. You fail to appreciate that Russia desperately needs to flog its oil and gas to Europe. If Europe shopped elsewhere, Russia would face insolvency in no time. With a poorly diversified economy, Russia needs European goods and services in return. It's called economic co-dependency, and it's a good way of preventing war.
    4
  2823. @jhdg Since Ukraine mobilised, Russia has been losing rather than gaining territory. Importantly, Ukraine is fighting a prepared enemy, something that couldn't be said of Russia when it made its early gains -- only to lose most of them when Ukraine had prepared for war. The writing is on the wall, Putin is meeting his Waterloo in Ukraine. We may see another Stalingrad as well, if the stubborn dictator refuses to pull back his troops in time.
    4
  2824. I don't think they have the range.
    4
  2825. Liberating? What are you smoking? The Shia in Southern Lebanon have no love lost for Israel.
    4
  2826.  @rsrs8632  Er, that's nothing out of the ordinary by European standards. Any liberal (that's classic liberal for the Yanks) who wants to scrap those commits political suicide.
    4
  2827. Ah, a recovering conspiracy theorist. Was it Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous that helped you quit?
    4
  2828.  @6axy3  There's no basis in truth for your genocide claims. Produce an OSCE report that says otherwise. Troll.
    4
  2829.  @juhomaki-petaja  Ask Finnish army armourers. You might want to try googling for "snow barrel bulge" as well.
    4
  2830.  @SteamCrane  Exactly. There's a reason why biathlon athletes have a snow cover on the muzzle of their rifles, although it takes time to flip it open and closed.
    4
  2831. But not on your side, I'm afraid.
    4
  2832.  @katiecannon8186  Why, Katie? Studies show that democratic institutions are in much better shape in Europe and Canada than in the US, which is categorised as a flawed democracy as opposed to our full democracies. Our education systems are considered superior to yours, too. The problem with the trade imbalance is that US products are not that attractive to European consumers in particular. Maybe the US should make up the difference with cheaper commodities. It worked for Russia till Putin went on the warpath.
    4
  2833. China gets bargains on raw materials, Russia gets China's moral support. Lukashenko gets a reprieve. Militarily, nothing has changed for the better for Russia.
    4
  2834.  @trev5.566  Be that as it may, both the UK and the USA are by and large two-party democracies, the USA more so than the UK. It's no wonder that the Democracy Index doesn't put either in its top 10, with the UK in 18th place, and the US in 29th. Moreover, the USA is categorised as a flawed democracy. It's not the system per se that led to the downgrade, but it was the eroding trust in democratic institutions that did it. Trump's presidencies are symptomatic, and the divider-in-chief certainly doesn't improve matters either.
    4
  2835. Uni-party? The EP is chockablock with parties. Ten at last count.
    4
  2836.  @appletree6741  Explain to us how you reconcile your view with the fact that 146 out of 193 UN members -- that's 75% -- do recognise the State of Palestine. Yours is clearly a minority view.
    4
  2837. Crypto-Nazis will be crypto-Nazis.
    4
  2838.  @matthewslatter8791  Try to learn to spell "lose". You'll need it soon, when Trump does a repeat performance of 2020.
    4
  2839. Likewise, you could argue that it's perfectly OK to sell drugs to kids, because if you don't, someone else will.
    4
  2840. Rotating corpses won't make them any fresher.
    4
  2841.  @EVOpower  So you've got an empty attic to let, as we say.
    4
  2842. Then tell your imaginary friend in the sky to shape up.
    4
  2843. Extrajudicial killings are hardly the cure for Africa's woes. Latin America tried death squads. The wounds still run deep.
    4
  2844.  @marcusmiller9176  We've been prepared since 1944, sport.
    4
  2845.  @natiaandguladze  It's the election result that counts. If it's trustworthy.
    4
  2846.  शांतिपूर्ण जीवन Gandhi  You're not in a position to gloat. India has just locked out China's jewel in the crown, Huawei, from its 5G trials. Let's see if the CCP manages to extort Ericsson, who's got huge investments in China, to withhold 5G technology from India.
    4
  2847. If nothing else, we're going to see the Taliban fight the Taliban. Now that the Crusaders have been vanquished, they'll turn on one another, settling old scores and jockeying for position. The point is, the formation of the Afghan National Army was an extremely bad idea. No Afghan was invested in it. Tribal warfare is the national custom.
    4
  2848.  @manuelromeroarcos8160  Newsflash, the British Isles lie on the European continental shelf. Your long-suffering geography teacher would facepalm at you.
    4
  2849. The Chinese sort of know -- or at least once knew -- but somehow they can't keep themselves from committing the same mistakes as they did with Mao. China desperately needs another Deng Xiaoping.
    4
  2850.  @TheKkpop1  You're making unsubstantiated claims that China is supremely altruistic, while other countries are not. The truth of the matter is that China is just one of many participants in the WHO's COVAX programme, which aims to prevent hoarding of limited vaccine supplies at the expense of poorer countries. According to official figures, China has pledged 10 million doses out of the 2 billion targeted by the WHO. As such, China's contribution really doesn't stand out from the rest. To compare apples to apples, India is supplying 200 million doses through COVAX. "The West" easily even triples that.
    4
  2851. "Everyone think [sic] Ukraine is losing"? Whatever gave you that idea? Russia making marginal gains at immense cost in lives and materiel, that's what we're thinking.
    4
  2852. Righto. Back then, the UK was referred to as the sick man of Europe. Let the good times roll again!
    4
  2853.  @spacecube8561  I'm not suggesting otherwise. I was responding to the OP/troll.
    4
  2854.  @zattefles  In its despair, Russia will take any victory. Even Pyrrhic ones.
    4
  2855. Orban has practical concerns. He needs the EU's Cohesion Fund to pay his cronies.
    4
  2856.  @rafalkolendo1702  What's eating you?
    4
  2857.  @detroitandclevelandfan5503  Hmmm. Russians have an on-and-off relationship with the truth.
    4
  2858. I think you're confusing them with another country, where accidents political assassinations are routine. No prizes...
    4
  2859. Juu-u, oltiin sodissa peräänantamattomia. Siksi ruåtsalaiset vapaaehtoiset eivät viihtyneet rintamalla.
    4
  2860.  @monirarahman-mi9uk  Before Euromaidan, Ukraine was perfectly willing to trade with both Russia and the EU. But Putin got intensely jealous, and tried to nix the association agreement with the EU. The rest is history.
    4
  2861. @Gabriel So young yet so cynical.
    4
  2862. Feel free to correct. If you've got a clue, that is.
    4
  2863. Let's see, the Russian Federation has allies in North Korea (won't supply arms, however), Iran (supplies arms, but won't offer diplomatic support), Syria (a drain on Russia's already dangerously dwindling resources), Eritrea (uh, what to say) and Belarus (yeah, chickened out from attacking Ukraine for fear of a civil war). Who did I forget?
    4
  2864.  @ttVegas1  *2014 and by *2024. Germany hasn't broken any commitments so far.
    4
  2865. That would amount to a monopoly. Thankfully, there's Nokia and further afield, Samsung.
    4
  2866. Nothing new under the sun. In both countries, revisionism is part and parcel of historiography.
    4
  2867.  @marczhu7473  Ah, an embittered wumao. That's the spirit.
    4
  2868.  @johnsony6191  So what we're seeing in Ukraine, with Russia looting Ukraine's grain supplies, is trading?
    4
  2869.  @RamMohammadJosephKaur  *Here's. I'm so jealous of you wumaos. You get 50 cents.
    4
  2870.  @wumaobot  Here, it would appear they're corrupt leaders supported by Russia. I know they stage coups in Mali at a frenetic pace, but try to keep up.
    4
  2871.  @ΜΠΟΥΚΑΣΣΠΥΡΟΣ  No matter how you slice it, their achievements pale in comparison with those of the West Germans. Even the poorest West German states are still wealthier per capita than all East German states.
    4
  2872.  @davve6057  Ooh, make yourself known to the Swedish media. You'll get your 15 minutes of fame. As socially responsible Swedes, they'll get you help, too.
    4
  2873.  @benitopepolini1249  I'm not "your guy". I'm centre-right. Zhirinovsky is ultra-nationalist far-right.
    4
  2874. Why don't you wear your badge proudly?
    4
  2875.  @appletree6741  You'll still be singing Trump's praises when it all ends in tears. No doubt, you'll try to pass it off as a brilliant victory. To get up to speed on making excuses, explain to us how Trump took a "Historic Step To Achieve Peace" in Afghanistan, when he made a peace deal with the Taliban. The rest is, indeed, history.
    4
  2876. Trump's smell is so overpowering that it's hard to tell.
    4
  2877. Opinion War? Bad spellers of the world untie!
    4
  2878.  @BRAINWASHEDIDI0TSKEEPPRAISINGZ  China landed a lot of contracts, only to delay construction because of the poor security situation. It looks like they were in the same boat, and what's more, they still are.
    4
  2879. Don't grow complacent. China has stealth planes, India does not.
    4
  2880. Still, it's great that the Brits have found proper use for their top idle rich. And you elected your felon.
    4
  2881. It would've been an exercise in futility. The outcome wouldn't have been any different; popular support for NATO membership was that overwhelming. Referendums have their place when consensus is difficult to gauge.
    4
  2882.  @bojanm986  Which accidents have befallen Snowden, Assange and Puigdemont?
    4
  2883.  @bojanm986  So, to confirm, none of them tumbled out of a window, found his underpants laced with a nerve agent or stopped a bullet? Interestingly, Puigdemont lives and works as an MEP in Belgium.
    4
  2884. Sovereign nations have the right to form alliances as they see fit. And NATO expands by popular consensus. Sweden and Finland are cases in point. Popular support for NATO membership jumped to 76% in Finland the other day. NATO is problematic for Russia all right, because it checks Russia's aggressive expansionism.
    4
  2885.  @haroonvlogs5437  Not with a cherry-picking mentality, no.
    4
  2886.  @philyew3617  Truth be told, Reagan starting an arms race and the already economically weak USSR responding in kind did bring about the latter's downfall.
    4
  2887.  @userAndrew5  Truth be told, Poland has given us quite a return on investment. We've provided the funding for new infrastructure, and they've not only meticulously built said infrastructure, but also, they've put it too keen use. Moreover, the Poles' work ethic sets the bar high for the rest of us. When I lived in Belgium, a joke went around that the government was organising Polish language courses for the unemployed. The rationale went that if these unemployed were mistaken for Poles, they would be hired on the spot.
    4
  2888. @lovelybitofbugle6762 You didn't watch the vid.
    4
  2889. @lovelybitofbugle6762 Aren't you silly for suggesting that you alone are representative of the UK's improving economic fortunes -- even if your claim has a basis in truth. The macroeconomic figures don't lie. The UK is worse off without the EU, period. And don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    4
  2890. Your surname is awkward.
    4
  2891. Diplomat? Nationalism and populism don't work so well in diplomacy.
    4
  2892.  @frankrenda2519  NATO wouldn't fight artillery duels with Russia, like Russia has in Ukraine. NATO air power would succeed where the Russian Air Force has failed.
    4
  2893. I wonder if you've ever applied for a passport.
    4
  2894. There is a bit of terror involved here. The Muscovites in particular seem to think they're not particularly affected by the war in Ukraine. If a bit of mind terror is needed to make them come to the realisation that it's not just a far-off affair, so be it.
    4
  2895. Russia has flouted the UN Charter, so how's this worse?
    4
  2896. After his Novichok caper failed, Putin figured that de-facto banishment would be his second best option to neutralise Navalny. That didn't work either. Now he's turned Navalny into a regular Nelson Mandela. Poor Putin, it's one failure after another.
    4
  2897.  @basilmagnanimous7011  Russia would fare even worse if it were to invade Finland. Finland's heavily forested terrain doesn't favour tanks and mechanised warfare in general -- "ambush country" describes it well. The same goes for the coast, which is speckled with islands and treacherous shallows that, once again, favour the defenders. Finland has a small standing army, but an unusually large reserve and a well-trained one at that. Mind you, Russia could do serious damage to the infrastructure and economy, but occupying Finland is beyond Russia's capabilities -- past, present and future.
    4
  2898. More like, in Bakhmut, Russia lost the strength to resist Ukraine's upcoming counter-offensive.
    4
  2899. Why do they need to leave in the first place? Are you a fan of ethnic cleansing?
    4
  2900. There's a Lancet article that says a 12-week interval yields better immunity than a 3-week one. Also, with limited supplies, more people can receive their first shots, so they won't end up in intensive care even if they do become infected. Who dares wins, eh?
    4
  2901. By embarking on a ruinous trade war with China?
    4
  2902. Grow a stronger ego.
    4
  2903. True dat. Like Putin, Orban has transmogrified from a progressive reformer into a conservative autocrat. Perhaps Orban still hasn't managed to induce Russian-style political apathy in Hungary, however, so there's hope.
    4
  2904. The Notre Dame is owned by the French government. France has a strict separation between church and state.
    4
  2905. That's weak trolling, but I think you know already. Spice it up, if only for entertainment value.
    4
  2906.  @jesusaguilar4585  You're regurgitating old excuses. After fixing its economy, Russia had plenty of time -- and money -- to institute democracy. It chose not to.
    4
  2907. They're in crisis management mode (read: panicky).
    4
  2908. Yet Tito's partisans did. It's *au contraire.
    4
  2909.  @echo2332  Why would I knowingly wish to provide humanitarian aid to Russians who'll soon starve as a consequence of Putin and his cronies ruining the economy? It won't be the first time either. I remember the nineties only too well, when many Russians were struggling to survive and we were sending over basic necessities.
    4
  2910.  @jonathanhammerton9418  That's just wishful thinking on your part. You're not very observant either. Italy already had its flirt with far-right populism. Did you miss how Salvini's self-serving shenanigans saw his party ousted from government? The EU-27 lack unity on many issues, but Brexit isn't one of them. There hasn't been a hint of disagreement in how to deal with the UK. And this despite several attempts by the UK to cosy up to potential dissidents. Brexit has shown that the EU stands strong.
    4
  2911. They wanted sovereignty at any price and they got what they wanted. Interestingly, the price keeps rising.
    4
  2912. There's no love lost for the Trumplican Party anywhere abroad, except in Russia and Israel, which have entirely self-serving reasons.
    4
  2913. Yeah, Britain is frantically trying to matter.
    4
  2914. You're an anachronism, and a conspiracy theorist at that. Japan and Germany pose no danger to world peace. China does. And it's China's turn to experience deindustrialization, a.k.a. derisking.
    4
  2915. More like a spoiled child demanding that daddy come and help after the brat angered the neighbourhood kids.
    4
  2916.  @luciusdomitiusaurelianus1024  Duh, you don't know your 'then' from your 'than', to say nothing of '[sic]'. Anyone with an academic education would know the difference.
    4
  2917.  @davidjones6389  Just out of interest, what kind of footwear did your other mother wear?
    4
  2918.  @johnnybrave7443  Maybe the far right has gone mainstream in France, but it's still the far right. Why won't you wear your far-right badge proudly? It's like you're ashamed of something.
    4
  2919. You could set an example by avoiding foreign online video sharing sites.
    4
  2920.  @sandervanderkammen9230  Thank you for that, Captain Obvious. The ALL CAPS and bold type are very helpful. Not maniacal at all. Airbus manufactures wings in Wales and Northern Ireland. As to ownership, UK-based investors match Spain's share of the company. Sorely lacking from list of shareholders is indeed a significant Dutch one. I'm alluding to Fokker, which -- with more foresight --could've joined Airbus. Now the Netherlands was no aircraft manufacturing, period.
    4
  2921.  @sandervanderkammen9230  You, too, oh shouty bold one, name a Dutch company that still makes Zeppelins.
    4
  2922.  @Miancheng  I'll give you a free English lesson. The antonym of 'disappear' is 'reappear', suggesting that the condition may be reversible -- in China, after successful re-education, that is.
    4
  2923.  @trumpforever6706  Napoleon left Moscow because he got bored when Russia wouldn't offer battle. He left it too late and he had neglected logistics. When a bloodied Russia withdraws from Ukraine, may we hail it as a great victory, like Napoleon's Russian campaign is hailed as a great victory by Russia? I'm asking, because a great many vatniks pretend that NATO has to take Moscow in order for Russia to lose the war.
    4
  2924.  @johnthikongo259  Zelenskyy got even more money from the EU. He's better than good, or Ukraine just deserves all the help it can get.
    4
  2925.  @josephsardena3525  I'll spell it out for you. It's widely known among illegal immigrants and immigration authorities alike that working and living illegally in the UK is far easier than in other EU countries. Identity cards, we have 'em, you don't.
    4
  2926.  @JohnJohn-km6fs  Oh, you're in the market for fighter planes. Is it a big private air force that you're building?
    4
  2927.  @Duncan_MacLeod_84  Expose? DOGE has launched conspiracy theories. Big diff.
    4
  2928. Every businessman? Thus far, my Russians handlers have failed to report for duty. You strike me as an alarmist. It's common knowledge that the Russians have been bankrolling the far-right parties and politicians in Europe.
    4
  2929.  @Cursed_Mark  Or rather, check his underwear for Novichok.
    4
  2930.  @jeckjeck3119  That, too. I remember the times when Russian customs officials solicited bribes. Everyone in a position of authority did. It won't be long now before those times are back.
    4
  2931. Terry, the British space industry has landed subcontracts worth more than the money UK has poured into Galileo. Unless the UK manages to negotiate a deal akin to those of Norway and Switzerland, or launches a UK-only GNSS substitute (which will easily cost the British taxpayer £4B extra), the future of your space industry looks very bleak. How's that a win?
    4
  2932. Terry, you may or may not get your cash-back but at any rate you have to pony up an eye-watering £5B in order to build yourself a substitute for Galileo. That's a very expensive way of saying "up yours" to the EU. Even if we take note, we'll shrug it off with a "those Little Englanders..."
    4
  2933.  @Ephys  By your logic, Russia's T-72s, T-80s and T-90s would all get bogged down in Ukraine. What counts is ground pressure and hp per ton. The Leopard 2 is superior to its Russian contemporaries in both respects.
    4
  2934. It's called intelligence. Must be lacking in Russia.
    4
  2935. The repairable ones have suffered relatively minor damage. Crew fatalities are possible, but more likely, their crew survived. The jack-in-the-box variety, which left no one alive, is only fit for smelting.
    4
  2936. Well, Sweden did launch an imaginary crusade against Finland, so they had to redo it a century later, for reals this time. This second crusade was somewhat embarrassing, too, because the Finns had Christianised themselves already.
    4
  2937.  @sarah.sonninem  Don't flatter yourself. You haven't learned about neo-colonialism yet.
    4
  2938.  @Tillu_dream16-39  You're asking a known troll to substantiate his claims? I can't think of a worse waste of time.
    4
  2939.  @reshmithramesh7110  When exactly did NATO invade Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan? Would you just as eagerly claim that it wasn't Russia, but the Warsaw Pact that invaded and annexed Crimea?
    4
  2940.  @spartanx9293  Airbus subsidiaries are equally involved in manufacturing components for the F-35. The Eurofighter was no real option for Germany's nuclear sharing role. Moreover, Germany ordered a relatively small number of F-35s. Germany's smaller neighbours Switzerland, Finland, the Netherlands and Italy have ordered more. Airbus is fussing on principle, not because it got its arse kicked. It's not like Airbus lacks orders with Boeing blundering all over the place.
    4
  2941. Oh, NZ will still trade with the UK, but just not on as favourable terms as with the EU. Once again, it shows that the Commonwealth saving Brexit Britain was but a wet dream.
    4
  2942.  @AmonTheWitch  No doubt. It's odd that while Russia's conquest of Ukraine was turned into an abject failure, they're still dreaming of other conquests. What is it, Alaska, too?
    4
  2943.  @MaxSchwarz-jd2wy  You're seriously behind the times: "In 2016, Svalbard had a population of 2,667, of which 423 were Russian and Ukrainian, 10 Polish, and 322 non-Norwegians living in Norwegian settlements"
    4
  2944.  @Vanyushka88  Trolls sure like them emojis...
    4
  2945. You'll find that the EU's finest run circles around the US in terms of democracy. The rest of the world pretty much, too.
    4
  2946. No need to remind us. He's making Putin laughable on a daily basis.
    4
  2947. I'm sorry to hear that. It's a huge financial loss for Russia.
    4
  2948. If my former boss's accounts are true, the French lucked out. His employer sold the previous generation of subs to Australia, and according to him, he and his colleagues all suffered from PTSD afterwards. Macron is democratically elected. I don't know if that means anything to you. Or matters.
    4
  2949. That's doubtful. These are not true seagoing tankers, which means they were headed for Kerch harbour to offload their oil into a bigger seagoing tanker. If the Ukrainians attacked them with drones or some such, they would've had to negotiate the Kerch bridge, which is rather well defended. And you'd think the bridge was a bigger prize.
    4
  2950.  @BY-sf6dn  Nope, I'm nothing of the sort. If you ask me, the US is another case of democracy in peril. Still, it's funny how you desperately blame external forces for the anti-China sentiment in Hong Kong, as if the Hongkongers needed any foreign encouragement. Ironically, what you think is a consequence is actually a cause. Anti-China sentiments are now on the rise internationally, and not in the least because of the CCP's brutal clamp-down on the Hong Kong protesters. The CCP is a public relations disaster area.
    4
  2951. Not collapsing. Stagnating. One swallow doesn't make a spring.
    4
  2952.  Oskar Dirlewanger  Your idol, the real Oskar Dirlewanger, certainly was insane. You may want to pick a better messiah to follow.
    4
  2953.  @chickenfishhybrid44  You know little about the European arms industry. France just leapfrogged Russia to become the world's second-largest arms exporter. The French make US arms manufacturers squirm, snatching away "done" deals from under their nose, forcing the US to copy French technology-sharing deals. Germany, too, is a top 5 arms exporter. Perhaps you should acquaint yourself with the global arms industry before you comment -- you'll defo look smarter that way.
    4
  2954. Putin has lost so much face that he's got none left.
    4
  2955.  @temistogen  I have control over the plot of land that I own. Who do you think I am, Temmy?
    4
  2956.  @sirgo0se97  Why would your "circumstance" be different from our "circumstance" on the continent? Forming coalition governments isn't exactly rocket science.
    4
  2957. I thought Gavrilo Princip started WW1, with Austria dragging Germany into the war. Also, the USSR co-started WW2.
    4
  2958. Because it's less costly to defend than to attack. It makes perfect sense for Ukraine to inflict maximum casualties on Russia while incurring the minimum. Moreover, every Russian casualty is replaced by a reservist with less training, poorer equipment and lower morale.
    4
  2959. Only some European countries engaged in colonialism. Most did not. If you were correct, Scandinavia, for instance, should be significantly poorer than the former colonial powers. That's not the case, however. Maybe hard work and a strong urge to better oneself has something to do with it?
    4
  2960. Great Britain has a not-so-proud colonial past, but its accomplishments in abolishing slavery are admirable. China lagged far, far behind in that respect.
    4
  2961.  @patachon4882  Ah, we either submit to Putin or he commits murder-suicide?
    4
  2962. I hope you survive all of your annual bouts of Covid-19.
    4
  2963. You should offer them your services as a consultant. How long have you been active in the arms industry again?
    4
  2964. We Finns imported precious little from Russia food-wise. When Russia attacked Ukraine, the grocery chains immediately took all Russian products off the shelves. It was some veggies and, surprisingly, Mentos candy.
    4
  2965. Let's not forget how Morales' blatant and continued disregard for presidential terms limits severely eroded his democratic credentials. Presidential terms exists for a reason.
    4
  2966.  @jirachi-wishmaker9242  Post something relevant for a change. Everything with you is "bu-bu-but America..."
    4
  2967.  @vladnickul  The sack of potatoes on pay day makes it all worth it!
    4
  2968. Would that be Russia?
    4
  2969.  @stofjes4204  Rusland, het rijkste land op aarde? Bodemschatten hebben ze, maar de ontginningskosten, vooral in het noordpoolgebied, zijn torenhoog. Daar komt nog bij dat de Russen niet aan de technologie komen om er mijnbouw te kunnen bedrijven. Je zou even goed kunnen beweren dat men in de steentijd steenrijk was omdat er diep onder de grond olie zat.
    4
  2970.  @itsJPhere  ...and after they voted at gunpoint.
    4
  2971. Defused*
    4
  2972. What should we call your lot then?
    4
  2973.  @JiTiAr35  Republic of Russia is overly ambitious. Municipality of Muscovy is more fitting.
    4
  2974.  @mrpotato4070  Nope, German AIP is superior.
    4
  2975.  @guilherm3779  Information is literally at your fingertips: "Current president Emmanuel Macron has used a Renault Rafale and DS 7 Crossback as the first luxury SUV by French manufacturer DS Automobiles for his investiture. For his day to day travel, Macron uses an armoured Peugeot 5008 and a Renault Espace."
    4
  2976. Be that it may, it's in Europe's interest to ban Huawei, US or no US.
    4
  2977.  @bojanm986  Ukraine stealing Ukrainian land? That's a contradiction in terms.
    4
  2978. Pack a a parachute for that BASE jump off the cliff.
    4
  2979. Where do you think "the West" will go? Russia is, however, following in the footsteps of the USSR. All viable bits will secede. We might as well call what's left Muscovy.
    4
  2980.  @faisalagah5423  I have no use for your logical fallacies, little buddy.
    4
  2981.  @faisalagah5423  I think you're trying to say: "nowhere *in *life." English is hard. I've made it already, and I didn't get where I am with logical fallacies.
    4
  2982. We're too busy laughing at your boss.
    4
  2983. That begs the question, why are you still here? The EU isn't going anywhere. To the contrary, it's steadily expanding, with countries queuing to join. Russia seems to be your only refuge, and even Russia may join the EU some day, be it piecemeal, when it disintegrates like the USSR before it.
    4
  2984.  @filipe5722  It seems very relevant to me, if the French answer to Comoros' request to rejoin France is a resolute "NON! JAMAIS!"
    4
  2985.  @filipe5722  *personal. Let me get this straight: you're speculating whether or not it's advisable for the Comoros to rejoin France. Why don't you make things easier for yourself and speculate whether the Comoros should join Monaco instead? After all, Monaco has the highest GDP per capita in the world. Yes, let's quietly ignore the fact that Monaco, like France, aren't in the least bit interested in saddling themselves with the Comoros.
    4
  2986. I heard the pilot had forgotten to take along Nicorette, but he found a pack of smokes in the cockpit. The rest, including his Su-35, is history.
    4
  2987. Perhaps the most peculiar case of the Iron Cross being awarded to a woman was that of Dina Poljakoff, a Jewess. She served as nurse in a Finnish field hospital that treated German wounded as well. She didn't accept it, but she reportedly did go have a look what her medal looked like.
    4
  2988. What are you on about? Coalition governments are the norm in Europe. France is the odd one out.
    4
  2989. Russia is spelled R-U-S-S-I-A, not A-M-E-R-I-C-A.
    4
  2990.  @stairway_to_kevin  You're right. You are ignorant. Not to worry, Wikipedia has a helpful article on "In Soviet Russia." Just a little background info, also from Wikipedia: "In March 2009, the Russian envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, while not ruling out NATO membership at some point in the future, stated: 'Great powers don't join coalitions, they create coalitions. Russia considers itself a great power.'"
    4
  2991. What are you on about? Putin hasn't been anywhere near the battlefield. Zelenskyy is the one who has.
    4
  2992. For a moment, I thought this thread would be spared the obligatory whataboutism, but no.
    4
  2993. To achieve "growth", Russia is burning through its national wealth fund at an alarming rate. In two years, its liquid assets have nearly halved. Moreover, Russia is cranking out shells, cannons and tanks, which do nothing for the long-term economic growth of the country. Seeing how poorly those arms perform in Ukraine, and how its arms exports were in steep decline even before the war, Russia's arms industry is an unwise investment if there ever was one.
    4
  2994. You should read about how a Swedish sub played hide and seek with the US Navy, at the latter's request. It drove the US sailors batty.
    4
  2995. It's not about patents, but rather, protected designations of origin. A PDO is more akin to a trademark than a patent.
    4
  2996.  @Rainbow-Dash  The same troll has been posting this piffle for months now. Oddly, it buys him time.
    4
  2997. Nothing has changed from 1939. We still love our freedom and democracy, and unfree and undemocratic Russia still likes to conquer foreign lands. This time it was Ukraine, but next time, it could be the Baltic states, or Finland again.
    4
  2998. Not in your lifetime, bud.
    4
  2999. Nonsense. Europe is giving religion a miss. We don't need your fairy tales, nor those of anyone else.
    4
  3000.  @happymelon7129  You should worry about Russia's neo-colonial status vis-à-vis China rather than make up stories about Germany and the US.
    4
  3001. Elect better ones.
    4
  3002. Not true. There are export controls that China and India have to honour, or they'll be subjected to sanctions as well. Russia's underdeveloped manufacturing sector can't pick up the slack either, even if they flout intellectual property rights altogether. To give you an idea, Russia can't even produce microprocessors crucial to its arms industry -- obsolescent processors of its own design -- because it lacks the manufacturing capability. Russia is boxed in all right.
    4
  3003. So Russia lost WW1 to Germany and Germany lost WW2 to Russia. Whose turn is it now?
    4
  3004.  @trevorpfeiffer7613  Better not, or the Ukrainian farmers are needed once more.
    4
  3005. Which part of "extreme weather" don't you understand?
    4
  3006.  @esQmo  Duh, the UN Security Council consistently and unanimously voted in favour of US presence, as part of NATO-led ISAF, in Afghanistan. Justification can't get any better than that. Don't try to muddy the waters with other wars that received no UNSC backing. And if you must know, we were dead set against the Iraq War in the absence of clear evidence of WMDs. The gung-ho Americans called us 'Old Europeans' for that and tried to name our fries 'Freedom fries', as if they were French to begin with.
    4
  3007. Developed countries foot the bill themselves.
    4
  3008. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So much so that no provisions have been made for lunch, tea and supper.
    4
  3009. I don't think combatting crony capitalism is necessarily a leftist phenomenon. I'm a rightie (well, a centre rightie, but the distinction with hard righties may be lost on you), but I certainly applaud this action.
    4
  3010. I upvoted your comment but then reread it more attentively. At first, I thought you wrote something along the lines of the unvaccinated blaming vaccines for failing to protect them. Intensive care stats certainly prove that the unvaccinated have missed out on the protection that the vaccines provide.
    4
  3011.  @munksoe  The League of Nations failed to prevent WW2 after Germany, Italy and Japan left (and the USSR was unceremoniously booted out). Ironically, now the US finds itself on the dark side.
    4
  3012. Is the odd political assassination still allowed in Putin's book?
    4
  3013. ​ @arisplugis5197  Even the Ukrainians are reluctant to come and stay. Let's face it, Latvia is a thoroughfare to Scandinavia. We've been over this, but just for laughs, ask a die-hard Brexiteer what he thinks of the Latvian plumber and if his Europe is for Europeans.
    4
  3014. Judging by the quality of their comments, the latest troll farm recruits can't be called English speakers with the best will in the world.
    4
  3015. Here's more relevant historical context for you: Russia retreated very tactically and very repeatedly when Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812. In fact, Russia's oh-so-many tactical retreats made Napoleon grow bored and homesick in Moscow, so he decided to make for home. To cut a long story short, I've never seen or heard anyone call Napoleon's Russian campaign a French victory.
    4
  3016.  @shijuh.pallithazheth8425  Your punctuation needs work. Is "more harder" supposed to be proper English? "Dollors"?
    4
  3017. In Rusland heb je dit soort problemen niet. Migratie is een optie.
    4
  3018.  @EchoBravo370  The Palestinians -- and their Arab neighbours -- resented the terms, which, according to just about every historian who's delved into the matter, were abysmal. You should have a go, too.
    4
  3019. Yup, Pootie-Poot brought both peace to Ukraine and prosperity to Russia, in equal measure.
    4
  3020. Don't read too much into it. Erdogan needed an anti-air missile system for personal protection and the cash-strapped Russkies were desperate enough to comply. The US-supplied AA systems wouldn't do because they wouldn't lock onto Turkey's US-supplied combat aircraft without tweaking, which the US didn't allow. Erdogan's requirement to shoot down his own aircraft isn't that ridiculous in the light of the failed coup, which saw rebel F-16s target him.
    4
  3021.  @joskoeleman950  Het sarcasme druipt eraf, maar jij hebt niks in de gaten. Frappant.
    4
  3022. Nah. Russia only finds itself more isolated, now that relations with formerly neutral Israel have soured considerably. I have a hunch the Orcs will soon get a taste of Israeli weapons.
    4
  3023. How's that going to benefit either side?
    4
  3024.  @hughfranklin4002  Making your exit from NATO now? Yay.
    4
  3025. Uh, what you're putting on your wishlist is exactly what's happening here. EU member countries can deport non-EU citizens without consulting the European Parliament(?). What gave you the idea that they're deprived of the right?
    4
  3026. I smell a conspiracy theory.
    4
  3027. Oh, so Russia will destabilize Belarus, too, if the Belarusians elect a government that doesn't meet with Putin's approval? Western propaganda doesn't appear to be the problem here -- Russian interference is.
    4
  3028. Embassy or consulate? It's not the same difference.
    4
  3029.  @in-my-view  Get your quotes straight. Nowhere did I mention "American lives". The keyword here is NATO, which led the UNSC-endorsed ISAF mission -- yes, fully endorsed by Russia and China, too. Moreover, when NATO went in, the Taliban and Al Qaeda were already safely tucked away in Pakistan. You may want to find yourself an American to play your game of whataboutism with.
    4
  3030.  @richardbayer5702  Interestingly, Erdogan wouldn't agree to Sweden joining NATO unless Turkey got F-16s from the US. NATO's autocrats are placated with warplanes, it seems.
    4
  3031. Sure, Wagner Group isn't bound by any rules of engagement, let alone human rights.
    4
  3032.  @imaanhadi1340  Do you have trouble finding the right Reply button? Are you a YouTube n00b?
    4
  3033. And council workers! Dogcatchers are no longer elected either!
    4
  3034. +Max74747 *continent. Don't generalise. We do a fine job at it. Unlike you Yanks, we haven't left our defence to the lower classes of society either.
    4
  3035.  @paulwalker427  Those F-35s looked fantastic over Damascus as well, and Russia's state-of-the-art S-400 and Syria's S-300 couldn't do anything about it.
    4
  3036. I'm no fan of Bibi's, but research his military record.
    4
  3037.  @samjepsen8165  It's not a biggie to salvage the wreck from such a shallow depth, but the sub is scrap metal now. Russia had better safe itself some trouble and build a whole new toy.
    4
  3038.  @catbertevil750  What exactly is a lie? Try to be specific. To be clear, I have not claimed that there's no commercial agreement between Fosun and BioNTech -- I did write it's a dodgy one, something that BioNTech realise only too well by now. Moreover, Foxconn, TSMC and YongLin bypassed the ban by using a Swiss pharmaceutical company as a go-between. This impromptu arrangement is hardly ideal, and now the go-between in question is switching to Moderna's vaccine, who haven't signed any dodgy distributor agreements. In other words, Fosun and BioNTech are losing out because of the former's political games. I have to say it, you wumaos stink at arguing your case. Are you working off some list of talking points prepared by the CCP? I'm asking because your counter-arguments never seem to find their mark.
    4
  3039. Staat er 'COMPLOTDENKER' achterop jouw jas?
    4
  3040.  @lancerevo9747  The Russian Federation started to pose a real and present danger to Finland when it invaded Georgia, another neighbour. Then another neighbour, Ukraine, had its territorial integrity violated by Russia, as in Russia occupying Crimea and coming to the aid of the separatists in the Donbas. Russia's attempt to conquer Ukraine as a whole was the last straw -- not only for Finland, but for Sweden, too. Russia pretends to be a brotherly Slavic nation to Ukraine, yet it has no qualms about waging a war of aggression in Ukraine and killing Ukrainian civilians by the thousands. The Finns no have such ethnic connection with the Russians, and there's the troubled past, so why would Finland stick its head in the sand?
    4
  3041.  @JR-vc4gm  Both are accepted demonyms.
    4
  3042.  @vernnoir  Airbus created the A350. It's very effective.
    4
  3043.  @richardwright4265  Europe isn't a culture; it's many cultures. Mine's never been bent of world domination. You may want to educate yourself so as not to come across like an ignorant Yank -- although I have my suspicions.
    4
  3044.  @danielarcadia7243  You're the clueless one here. I'm in intellectual property. If that doesn't spell 'innovation', I don't know what does. Product development, technology strategy, competitor intelligence, I've done it all. Putin's Russia is an all-round failure. You'd better find yourself another fan club, because that one is closing shop. Fanboy.
    4
  3045. The problem is, that sovereignty -- over Crimea -- isn't internationally recognised. Russia made a land grab and now pretends its territorial rights have been violated.
    4
  3046.  @danielarcadia7243  Interestingly, Ukrainian neo-Nazis gained no foothold in Ukraine's state duma. In contrast, neo-Nazis have a permanent foothold in Russia's duma. Are those CIA agents, too, you think?
    4
  3047. You made sense till you brought up Trump.
    4
  3048. Russia presents a clear and present danger to its smaller neighbours. The Lithuanians don't need to be told that by American foreign policy makers, nor by anyone else for that matter. They've known all along, from bitter experience.
    4
  3049. Oh, Murica is now turning against democracies as well.
    4
  3050. Judicial murder of a rapper instead of a drive-by. Iran almost broke new ground.
    4
  3051. French-American and German-American engines, that is.
    4
  3052. There's a whole centre and centre right in between the two. Neither are mad about your far right.
    4
  3053. The French literally led the Allies to victory in WW1. I see you're no history scholar.
    4
  3054. @Ahishek s Don't make stuff up, Abishek. Norway is a founding member of NATO, but has never let NATO build permanent bases there. It's doubtful Finland will either. You don't know the fiercely independent Scandis, do you?
    4
  3055. Nah, it's a question of beggars not being able to choose their friends. It's interesting that Russia's current BFFs are North Korea and Iran, both of which Russia -- together with the rest of the world -- was sanctioning not too long ago.
    4
  3056. A more relevant question is why does Russia drive its neighbours into the arms of NATO?
    4
  3057. Buddy, Ukraine isn't out to capture cities like Russia did with its Pyrrhic victory in Bakhmut. Ukraine is aiming to liberate the occupied territories as a whole. At this stage, cutting Russian supply lines is much more important than capturing urban centres. Without supplies, the cities will fall.
    4
  3058. The Iron Cross is WW1-vintage. The Balkenkreuz is WW2-vintage.
    4
  3059.  @Mail2sumit88  It just so happened that the Norwegians had a 787 at their disposal. Airbus A340s have landed on Antartica before.
    4
  3060. Coalitions are troublesome in the Netherlands with so many parties and opinionated politicians galore, but Rutte nonetheless kept things together as well as could be expected. With 32 members in NATO, some of them quarrelsome, the experience will stand him in good stead.
    4
  3061. Agree, but that does beg the question if Hong Kong is entitled to same.
    4
  3062. Not going home, I guess. Ukraine is littered with Russian immobile crematoriums, also known as tanks.
    4
  3063. @Kamar Hussain Putin has been crying himself to sleep for over 400 days now.
    4
  3064. How was a teen amateur pilot able to land his sport plane on the Red Square? Never underestimate the incompetence of the Russian military.
    4
  3065.  @socomxx  Greenlanders are EU citizens as it is, so US citizenship doesn't have quite the attraction that you think it does.
    4
  3066. And I thought whataboutism was the last refuge of the Putin troll.
    4
  3067.  @lewis123417  For now, the UK is enjoying higher growth simply because the UK is clambering out of a deeper pit. That doesn't change the fact that the UK lags behind the US and the Eurozone in recovering from the pandemic. It seems that every global setback hits the UK twice as hard economically. To put it in medical terms, you have an underlying condition. It's called Brexshit and I'm afraid it's chronic.
    4
  3068.  @TheRedland284  OK, wumao.
    4
  3069. An overwhelming majority of the Commonwealth members are republics, 36 out of 56. 15 have Charles III as their king, while another 6 have monarchs of their own. The UK could easily become a republic, while Charles would stay on as the nominal head of the Commonwealth, as he is now. The only problem I foresee is the Commonwealth members balking at financing his lifestyle.
    4
  3070. Maybe you could chop your country up into 50 independent ones, so you would no longer be the largest funder? In the process, you'd gain a more direct version of democracy, too. There, solved it for you.
    4
  3071. Russian courts are still a sham. There's no rule of law, only rule of Putin.
    4
  3072. Yeah, the powered paragliders of the Hamas Air Force are no match for Israel's F-35s. But you were worried for a moment, weren't you?
    4
  3073. Yet they're choosing not to.
    4
  3074.  @avinashagnihotri5616  You're implying that India's human rights situation can't bear international scrutiny. If you want quid pro quo in the UK, I'm sure they'll let you set up an NGO for that purpose.
    4
  3075.  @nerisalobo  Are you living under a rock? Russian dissidents are targeted left, right and centre. Litvinenko, Politkovskaya, Nemtsov, the Skripals, Navalny... and they're just the tip of the iceberg. In your own words, you completely support that.
    4
  3076.  dražen g  So? Some Western countries were involved in the conflicts you listed. "The West", as in a collective, was not. In fact, many of them -- the Iraq War in particular -- were highly controversial among "Western" partners. NATO nearly broke apart over than one. Afghanistan was a UN mission as far as many were concerned. Try to wrap your mind around that.
    4
  3077. @MSD Group How can you even begin to compare Brexit to Russia's sanctions? The Brits tied their own shoelaces together and are now stumbling as a result. Russia, with much smaller economy than the UK's and a poorly diversified one at that, no longer has legs to stand on.
    4
  3078. If the World Press Freedom Index isn't trustworthy in your book, then point us to an alternative source that arrived at a different ranking. Don't be shy.
    4
  3079.  @sterlingarcher2366  Nah, your lot can't express yourselves in an unambiguous manner. If you were smarter, you would've gotten the gist right away. But those are the cards you've been dealt.
    4
  3080. Plenty. Read the report.
    4
  3081. I don't know which digital assistant is used for the Abrams, but the reminder is set to go off in not 6 months but 12 months.
    4
  3082. Oh, he is, very much so.
    4
  3083.  @PhilipZeplinDK  You can simply report him for spamming, you know.
    4
  3084.  @nuke_Godjira  Come again? This time in English, please.
    4
  3085. Yeah, what about whataboutism!
    4
  3086. You like them autocrats, don't you?
    4
  3087. TFX had better stay in the chat, too, and not attempt anything foolish like... fly?
    4
  3088.  @diegoflores9237  You don't say. I'm peering into the not-so-distant future.
    4
  3089. It could be argued that the Hamas-held hostages aren't Netanyahu's priority.
    4
  3090. You'd think Putin would prefer to recruit for his CSTO and Eurasian Union, but no, he's distinguishing himself as NATO's and the EU's most productive recruiter. So selfless!
    4
  3091. Board member of what? A flag factory that is planning on bringing out an old design?
    4
  3092.  @supersayianjim2-real-face  The US is the instigator here. China is retaliating to ensure that the pain is felt by both. If Trump keeps up the pretence that the US is the stronger party, he won't respond with counter-counter-tariffs, which would only trigger counter-counter-counter-tariffs from China.
    4
  3093. Don't spout your tired clichés. France hasn't exactly shied away from projecting power. Try to keep up with the news.
    4
  3094. Whose Pupenjungen are the Indians themselves? India is the biggest arms importer in the world. Its largest supplier, Russia, just did a disappearing act from the global arms market. Who's India's go-to arms supplier now?
    4
  3095.  @foreverlearn3866  The IDF's death toll says otherwise.
    4
  3096.  @fionasmith6868  Are we doing global whatabouting now? It must be such a mess inside your head.
    4
  3097.  @seamonster936  Fighting an insurgency implies that you're in control of the area that you're laying to waste. Russia isn't.
    4
  3098. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, or SARS-Cov-2 for short. You're welcome.
    4
  3099.  @GoodLookingGentlemen  Atlantic Conveyor? 14,946 tons. But it's apples and oranges. A merchant ship is relatively easily to sink. They're not built to go in harm's way.
    4
  3100. Don't generalise. It's the Gazans who have to endure Hamas's rule. The majority of the Palestinians, on the West Bank, do not.
    4
  3101.  @wilsonpatterson6729  You would expect that from any rebel, wouldn't you? But unlike Washington, Kadyrov has turned his coat twice. That makes him more like Benedict Arnold than George Washington. The question is, if Russia starts coming apart at the seams as a result of a post-Putin civil war, will Kadyrov switch sides for a third time?
    4
  3102.  @nasimhossain7683  Yup, I always saw them exchanging DVDs. Same taste in movies and music, it seems. I found both nationalities enjoyable to work with as a UN peacekeeper.
    4
  3103.  @AAAAAA-tj1nq  Alibaba's sales to the West -- and pretty much elsewhere, too -- will grind to a halt if they're cut off from international banking services. I just read about a Western businessman who helped a Russian oligarch evade sanctions. He's now on the sanctions list himself. Being forced into retirement, he now struggles to collect his pension and pay his bills. Banks refuse to serve hiim.
    4
  3104. A single-issue party, that'll do the trick. Britain just sinks deeper.
    4
  3105.  @old-gamer-01  Your reading comprehension leaves something to be desired. Australia never even tried to procure French nuclear subs. It seems like it went for AUKUS, and the US/UK nuclear subs were a cherry on top. Incidentally, I had a boss who in a previous role had delivered Swedish subs to Australia. We warned one another not to mention subs in any shape or form, or he would go on a bender, trying to self-medicate his PTSD.
    4
  3106. Can't you call your vassal, Russia, to order and have it quit its imperialism in Ukraine?
    4
  3107. Why is Putin so upset about Western military aid to Ukraine then?
    4
  3108.  @chilledrush9664  It's not about which countries happen to neighbour which, but about foreign soldiers making their home in sovereign countries regardless of geographical location. Besides, with their current numbers in Iraq, the Americans don't pose a military threat to Iran -- maybe they're a threat to Iranian interests, but that's another matter altogether.
    4
  3109. You're not very up to date on defence matters. German Leopards have been an export success ever since they started making them.
    4
  3110.  Mila Brujic  I'm not a fan either. I wish HBO would cancel the series and put my money towards quality programming.
    4
  3111. With whose army? Not his own, that's for sure.
    4
  3112. And each time, with popular consent in the new member states. The Little Rocket Man doesn't even understand what purpose popular consent serves.
    4
  3113. The culprits in question are out for personal gain. NATO, or defence in general, is not the issue here.
    4
  3114. The gas prices will lower themselves automagically when demand dwindles.
    4
  3115. Explain why even Russian OSCE observers failed to uncover any evidence to that effect?
    4
  3116. The ICC is 123 countries. If that's your "West", it must've expanded something fierce lately. Curiously, the US is not part of your "West".
    4
  3117.  @antoniorsoftware  Putin's dictatorship relies on his minions in the State Duma rubber-stamping all his decisions. Others might develop opinions of their own.
    4
  3118.  @connieslchan  So which organisation officially appointed you to be their spokesperson?
    4
  3119. ​ @sunnydisinfectant  It wouldn't be the first time a Kadyrov has changed sides. Ramzan's daddy famously defected. His former brothers-in-arms didn't take it well and assassinated him.
    4
  3120. ​ @francismusali676  I don't care much for the US and their social failures, but having travelled extensively in both Russia and the US, I'm still partial to the latter. Have you been?
    4
  3121.  @mahon257  It remains to be seen how quickly Assad needs to look for a new dacha, perhaps next to Putin's in Inner Mongolia. I bet an equally miserable Putin loves company on his bare-chested horse rides, but Assad may not be a Brokeback Mountain fan.
    4
  3122. It was an obvious screw-up. Intentionally clipping the turboprop of a Reaper is like voluntarily putting your hand inside a spinning blender. The prop might as well have chewed up the cockpit.
    4
  3123. To me, wind turbines are preferable to mines.
    4
  3124.  @princessanineveh  It's all very factual, but I suppose you're not too keen on facts. They ruin your diatribes.
    4
  3125. So, let us hear your suggestions for reforms.
    4
  3126.  @NguyenNam-rl9he  The honest part is sort of negated by the botting part. Can you deliver me a pizza, by the way? I'm getting peckish.
    4
  3127.  @Siempre1978  A wumao? You're even worse off than I feared.
    4
  3128.  @ricardosmythe2548  You'll find that both the US and the EU throw up trade barriers whenever they see fit. I don't know which one is worse.
    4
  3129.  @UnforeseenJonny  Who's got such powerful psychic abilities?
    4
  3130.  @worldwide8587  NATO fighting wars everywhere is a canard. NATO's article 5 has only been triggered once, in response to the September 11 attacks. The NATO operation that followed, ISAF, enjoyed the UNSC's unanimous support. Sure, the US has military adventures now and then -- most notably the Iraq War -- but those are extramarital affairs as far as NATO is concerned.
    4
  3131.  @JUAN_OLIVIER  We're not crying, we're laughing at you. Keep Trump in power for as long as you want. It's your loss and our gain.
    4
  3132.  @MaximPerepelitsa51  The UN Charter was not amended to reflect Russia taking over from the USSR. The document makes no mention of Russia and its -- supposed -- special powers.
    4
  3133. More than Chinese news media.
    4
  3134. In 1944, the Soviets tried to force a breakthrough in Finland with extreme numerical superiority, but the results were only marginal. The country, which is ambush country per se, doesn't lend itself to manoeuvres involving massive troop numbers. Now even more than then, Finnish artillery would ground the Russians troops to a pulp.
    4
  3135. Yeah, asylum seekers are unlikely to roll across the border in T-72s. There are other arrangements for Orcs in T-72s -- not fences, but Spikes, AT mines and NLAWs for starters.
    4
  3136.  @mycosys  True dat. The Airbus A350 as we know it only came about because of fierce competitive pressure from the B787 Dreamliner. Airbus had to redo the whole design.
    4
  3137. Deep inside his bunker, with the presidential guard tripled.
    4
  3138. But they aren't rising.
    4
  3139.  @michaeljunior1445  You're missing the point. At the end of the day, herd immunity is a given for all countries, but there are different roads to get there. A bad one, which Sweden seems to have chosen, is where many critical patients die because the ICUs can't cope with their sheer number. On the other hand, if you manage to flatten the curve with lock-downs or whatever restrictions and achieve a better match between ICU demand and availability, many otherwise-doomed patients will be saved. When the dust settles, the top-ranking health officials in Sweden will be facing early retirement. You always err on the side of caution.
    4
  3140.  @hustlersgame8759  OK, troll.
    4
  3141. Don't flatter yourself. Nobody, absolutely nobody, is surprised.
    4
  3142.  @historypandas7  No they didn't. Those guilty of crimes against humanity were hunted down like the animals that they were. Eichmann's retirement wasn't exactly a happy one.
    4
  3143. Aren't you lucky that you don't have to have to pay that price, grudgingly or otherwise. It's simply a matter of fate and circumstance, not your strength of character, in case you thought differently.
    4
  3144. How so? Please be specific.
    4
  3145.  @Iosef426  Nice attempt at whataboutism. A tacit admission that Lavrov is contemptible, bu-bu-but...
    4
  3146.  @gerardbosvonhohenfels1866  Rustig maar. Je denkt te Amerikaans. Ik heb het over een parlementair systeem, zoals die al in Nederland bestaat, maar dan zonder vorst. Geen presidentieel systeem dus, hoewel de president toch iets in de pap te brokken zou hebben. De president zou dus meer staatsman zijn en zou zich niet bezighouden met dagdagelijkse kwesties. Een voorzitter van de raad van bestuur, als het ware.
    4
  3147.  @hendrikdependrik1891  Actually, interceptions serve to make it known to whoever is closing in on national airspace that their presence has been duly noted and if they could kindly refrain from venturing any closer. It's not a incursion per se. But contrary to what your bot friend is trying to claim, Russian planes have violated their Baltic neighbours' airspace and do so with some regularity.
    4
  3148.  @Antidelouvian  How so? The EU seems like a pretty mixed bag to me. Check out the Corruption Perception Index. Hungary is judged embarrassingly corrupt (similar to Senegal and Ghana), but there are several EU countries in the global top 10, as in least corrupt.
    4
  3149. When fitted with AIP, that is.
    4
  3150. Nederland weer bij Spanje. Wim-Alex van Oranje in de petoet.
    4
  3151.  @yp77738yp77739  Not only did Trump not start any new wars, but he stopped one, too. Trump "negotiated" an end to the War in Afghanistan. The Art of the Deal, applied to geopolitics. Enough said.
    4
  3152. Yeah, let the CCP destroy it instead.
    4
  3153. The Dutch military was a poor yardstick. It had lost its mojo long before conscription was finally abolished.
    4
  3154. Still on your whataboutism tour, Georgie Porgie?
    4
  3155.  @varionbranzuela6894  Ukraine can attain peace the moment Russia decides to comply with UN resolutions and withdraws from Ukraine.
    4
  3156. Just like the plan was for the First Chechen War?
    4
  3157. Before that, Lebanon was a Syrian colony. Are you new to this world?
    4
  3158. Plenty of digital nomads in Thailand.
    4
  3159.  @acmelka  Yeah, tourist visas mostly. I used to be one of them. I didn't mind the visa runs one bit.
    4
  3160.  @houseofdiamonti  Which "Europe" has "said that certain beliefs systems, [sic] aren’t compatible with European values"? You and your hamster?
    4
  3161. I'm far more concerned about certain wannabe autocrats, like Trump, regaining power.
    4
  3162. Putler is desperately trying to make hay.
    4
  3163.  @xman1533  For your information, it's mighty embarrassing that Putin can't visit half of his BRICS colleagues for fear of arrest. I suppose you're not that well-versed in diplomacy in general, but a visiting head of state is expected to invite his host for reciprocal visit. In Putin's case it would be a faux pas, however, because Putin would be clapped in irons on arrival. Not very conducive to maintaining diplomatic relations, I'm afraid. Putin is a social pariah.
    4
  3164. Hoarding food, I guess.
    4
  3165. Every generation to date has thought that they live in unique times.
    4
  3166. I suppose you think you insert a bill into on a stranded aircraft and that makes it go.
    4
  3167. If impeachment was his goal, he's doing a good job.
    4
  3168. Cope, Vlad.
    4
  3169. Because this promises to be a repeat performance of "Peace for our time". Better look that one up. If you still can access Wikipedia.
    4
  3170. Neutral as in non-committal. If Ireland was capable of defending itself, it would be another matter.
    4
  3171.  @copyclaimthis  *Bepaalt, vrind.
    4
  3172.  @lovebites73  I wasn't addressing you, but you're welcome... or wait, you're not welcome anywhere near me.
    4
  3173. If they had outbreaks nearby, by all means. Only it doesn't appear to be so.
    4
  3174.  @londop.a.3048  Not merely "quite good". Finland is perfect ambush country. Had Russia invaded Finland like it attempted to overrun Ukraine, its columns would have been ground to a pulp by artillery. With Finland in NATO, the pulping will happen twice as fast, with NATO air power joining in in the turkey shoot.
    4
  3175. It seems that every country with a democracy deficiency is susceptible to colour revolutions. As to China, the question is not if but when.
    4
  3176.  @Foxtrottangoabc  Turkey has plans all right, but their indigenous tank programme is hampered by German and French arms embargoes. The tank, the Altay, still lacks a suitable powerpack and armour -- two rather critical components as far as tanks go. They've now turned to South Korea, but the Koreans are licensing German technology as well.
    4
  3177.  @Yudhiswara  Yeah, it's a mystery why we don't see more horse-drawn vehicles.
    4
  3178. Not just maybe.
    4
  3179.  @colinsmith1288  Ah, you're broaching a new subject. I foolishly assumed there was some logic to your comment. My mistake. But to answer your question, Russia sure is smarting. In the EU, it has lost its biggest energy customer and it's practically irreplaceable, too. If Putin's dog-eared KGB handbook had a chapter on economics, he would've thrown in the towel already -- or never started his military adventure.
    4
  3180.  @colinsmith1288  No it isn't. Ourselves, we're managing economic growth despite our closest trading partners having mismanaged their energy policies and paying the price for it. As a matter of fact, we're selling them our excess of green energy. Just a thought, but you may want try your hand at argumentation. Unsubstantiated opinions are naff.
    4
  3181.  @vicsiffs4132  Emoticons are a godsend to the semi-literate.
    4
  3182.  @MetallicReg  War is a crime in itself. Plenty of political leaders have been prosecuted for starting wars.
    4
  3183.  @MetallicReg  I don't think you're very informed on the matter. There is such an internationally accepted principle as casus belli. Russia didn't have one when it invaded Ukraine.
    4
  3184. So you think Russia's belligerence will rub off on the hermit kingdom?
    4
  3185. Going by your logic, Britain could never have set foot outside of Blighty. There was always something amiss. Better surrender that permanent UNSC seat as well, to, say, Germany or India.
    4
  3186. Er, Andorra has been independent since 1278...
    4
  3187. It's for camouflage netting, silly.
    4
  3188. UK's Yellow Vests?
    4
  3189. Culturally yes, but politics is another kettle of fish.
    4
  3190.  @Damn6real  Are you condemning the USSR for aggression or celebrating its successful landgrab? Please clarify.
    4
  3191.  @Damn6real  I'm curious, are you also condemning Russia for collaboration with the fascists? I'm just trying to establish if you're a hypocrite.
    4
  3192.  @Damn6real  So, to make it abundantly clear, you condemn Russia's collaboration -- as the dominant national republic of the USSR -- with the fascists between 1939 and 1941 as per the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and culminating in the joint invasion of Poland? Also, I can't help noticing that Russia has rehabilitated Stalin. Not only that, the previous admission of the USSR having started the Winter War unprovoked seems to be overturned. You've reverted to your old lies, in other words.
    4
  3193.  @DutchFR1908  It's actually far worse than that. Naively, the Royal Netherlands Army shed its tanks and MLRS. In present circumstances, it's next to impossible to replace them.
    4
  3194.  @aoe2thisweek633  You're talking about imports, I was talking about exports. Besides, Germany's Energiewende is a blessing in disguise, even far beyond its borders. How are you doing in phasing out hydrocarbons?
    4
  3195.  @penduloustesticularis1202  Ground penetrating radar is far superior for this sort of work. GPR was perfected with the aim of discovering Viet Cong tunnels with the antennas strapped to the skids of low-flying US Army helicopters.
    4
  3196. The UN is the sum of its parts, its members. That includes you.
    4
  3197. Coalition building isn't a French specialty.
    4
  3198.  @carldavies2005  True dat. Putin's launched a special military operation. Prigozhin launched an even more special one.
    4
  3199.  @marynamalitskaya3534  NATO is defensive, you silly girl.
    4
  3200. "Far-right" is the keyword. It implies populism, which is short for irresponsible governance.
    4
  3201. China loves cheap Russian resources all right. Or should I say cheap Ruxian resources, from China's northernmost province, where a certain Pu Tin is regional governor.
    4
  3202. Taiwan is democratic and doesn't want to be part of the PRC. That settles it.
    4
  3203.  Razer Mantis  And when Salvini's Fascists march, it's Putin who pays, no?
    4
  3204. Hope so. May X follow Myspace into oblivion.
    4
  3205.  @Infopirates  Of course I have. I have also travelled to Russia's rural areas. We brought aid there after the collapse of the Soviet Union. People were starving and in rags. It's a little better now, but I fear it's going to be the same again -- soon. Estonia's PISA scores clearly exceed those of Russia, but I guess facts aren't your thing. You sure like them emojis. You be you, don't let anyone tell you that you're childish.
    4
  3206. Yeah, why keep up the pretence that Russia is not an aggressor.
    4
  3207. That's an idea. Cuba should throw in its lot with a failing regional power half a world away. Cuba has enough on its plate as it is.
    4
  3208. I'm sure RFK Jr. has some voodoo magic to nip this in the bud.
    4
  3209. If you lose your job in the process, will you be entertained?
    4
  3210.  @haruc  No doubt. The UK would face disrupted trade with 27 partners, while the EU would have only one problematic trading partner to contend with. Only a few EU countries stand to benefit from an exodus of international companies from the UK.
    4
  3211. Are you sure? China is at it now.
    4
  3212.  @Polo-rn8ly  Sure, China is worming its way into Africa, but Russia? Russia is going Africa on us rather than going to Africa.
    4
  3213. Or he could endorse Trump's Truth Social as the alternative to Instagram.
    4
  3214.  @nicke0b  "Putin could get help" like from its supporters in the UN General Assembly? Let's see, North Korea, Eritrea, Belarus, and Syria. Belarus couldn't even help Russia out in Ukraine, for fear of a popular uprising.
    4
  3215. True dat. A fallen soldier can't fight another day.
    4
  3216.  @catthegipsy25  Mali and Kazakhstan haven't applied for NATO membership. NATO expands by popular consensus. Russia has to use force instead.
    4
  3217.  @applepie58  Yup, you and your fellow Putin fanboys think so. Or are paid to say so.
    4
  3218. Touchy.
    4
  3219. Of late, Russia has made heavy use of modified FABs, which glide to their target and thanks to their much-improved range, can be released from a safe distance. That said, Ukraine just downed three Su-34s, the workhorse for such attacks. Maybe Russia got overconfident and left off the mod kits.
    4
  3220.  @Dima-px6pr  Don't rely too much on Google Translate, Mr. Ribbentrop.
    4
  3221. ​ @kilikdudley  For existential reasons alone, Russia can't risk a nuclear escalation. So nukes are of no help. Also, Russia isn't self-sufficient, not even relatively speaking. Their manufacturing capacity is and will remain woefully inadequate. Without access to Western technology and investment, renewed attempts at diversifying Russia's economy will come to naught.
    4
  3222. Examples?
    4
  3223.  @cobrajeff96  Er, being a republic simply means there's no monarch as the (titular) head of state. Having a constitution is perfectly compatible with both monarchies and republics, and none of the above is incompatible being a democracy as well. You're peddling a tired old Americanism.
    4
  3224.  @cobrajeff96  Fact? And who are you calling a leftist? Everyone who doesn't buy your nonsense? Let's face it, you Yanks made up the term by summarily combining two already established terms. There were constitutions and republics well before Columbus stumbled upon your precious Murica. In fact, the ancient Greeks and Romans were at it as early as 350 BC. If you want to come up with a unique term for your supposedly unique system of government, I suggest you try one of these: - Yankee Doodle Dandy System - Yippie Ki Yay System - Yee Hah System
    4
  3225. Oslo, of all places? Shouldn't you be looking at Monaco, the Riviera, Marbella and the like. You Yanks, always keen to flaunt your ignorance...
    4
  3226.  @TheKkpop1  The whataboutism is strong with you.
    4
  3227. Russian tanks, too, are known to launch their turrets at incoming anti-tank missiles. Sadly, the propellant charge destroys the tank and kills the crew, but the main thing is, the missile is neutralised.
    4
  3228. You're not the sharpest pencil in the cup. The whole point of Finland joining NATO is its Article 5, which means that NATO's combined manpower will be brought to bear against Russia should it try to invade Finland. The EU is doing well, thank you very much. There's always a queue of would-be members. Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia are only the latest examples.
    4
  3229. Don't pretend this is some kind of geopolitical tug of war. Belarusians are simply fed up with Lukanshenko. They didn't need any encouragement from the EU.
    4
  3230. Is it a novel concept to you that developed countries see their economic growth plateau? China is still clearly a developing country.
    4
  3231.  @jpx08  My native Netherlands had a great run after declaring itself neutral in the run-up to WW2. Despite putting up only a brief resistance to the German invasion, it suffered disproportionate casualties during the course of the war, most of which were civilian. It's safe to say the Dutch government failed its people by failing to prepare for war. You're advocating future failure.
    4
  3232. The US is a de facto duopoly, which is only one step up from a one-party system. Not only that, it has led to extreme polarisation. Forming a government may not be the problem in the US, but governing is, and very much so.
    4
  3233. It's Russia that we see crumbling before our eyes.
    4
  3234.  @Wolfcamp555  You can't use your carbon credits for more productive things then. Your loss.
    4
  3235. Easy-peasy. Something is rotten in the state of Russia. The cargo spacecraft came from Russia.
    4
  3236. If Prigozhin's march on Moscow was about reinforcing Lukashenko's presidential guard and repositioning troops to Belarus, it was a very, very elaborate scheme indeed. I don't think Putin appreciates being humiliated for something so trivial, however.
    4
  3237.  @iusefacebookalso  Knowing the Russians, they've mined the front and the back of their lines. In WW2, the Soviets placed their defences not on top of ridges, but against the slope. That way, there would be no retreat.
    4
  3238. The victim mentality is strong with you.
    4
  3239. With Navalny back, even the sweetest champagne will taste bitter to Putin.
    4
  3240. After losing Kherson and being driven back across the Dnieper, it's even less likely than before that Russia will capture Odesa.
    4
  3241. Get back to us when RT shows anything critical of Russia.
    4
  3242. Putin takes one step forward and two steps back. You call that progress?
    4
  3243. Russia sure have lost Ukraine forever.
    4
  3244. They did that already in Crimea. McDonalds became MakDon, KFC became Crimean Fried Chicken and Starbucks is now Starducks. No points for originality.
    4
  3245. Rather, you should worry about China's neo-colonialism in Africa. That's real and tangible.
    4
  3246. Het gaat hier niet om geld, maar om wapens ter waarde van. De Amerikanen hebben hopen oudere wapens liggen, die ze dus aan Oekraïne gaan geven. Die gaan ze vervangen met nieuwe, en daar berust het bedrag op. Ze mogen die nieuwe wapens ook nog eens zelf fabriceren. Dus een groot deel van het geld blijft in de VS. In het geval van Europa zou een veel groter deel niet ten goede van Europa komen.
    4
  3247.  @pogo1140  According to the UN, Russia is waging an illegal war of aggression, so nothing is a valid target in Ukraine.
    4
  3248.  @redpillbulgaria-v2.063  The title of this video refers to heads of states or government of the EU members. Are you saying they're not duly elected? Really? It's no secret how Ursula von der Leyen was elected. Hint: the EP did in parliamentary fashion, not unlike prime ministers are voted in on a national level.
    4
  3249.  @elvangulley3210  What a flaccid response.
    4
  3250. Let's ask the UN Security Council. Oh, we have already. In 1967, the UNSC called for Israel's withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The binding resolution was adopted unanimously and without abstentions. It was reaffirmed in 1973. In 1981, the UNSC dismissed Israel's de facto annexation of the Golan Heights as null and void. All members voted for the resolution and none abstained. So, under international law, you have no leg to stand on.
    4
  3251.  @cybronichuman  Please uninstall Linux.
    4
  3252. A Man, the whataboutism is strong in this one.
    4
  3253. Well, Putin is motivating neighbouring countries to join the EU, just like he's pushing them to join NATO as well. He's being very selfless, too, because while actively recruiting new members for the two, Putin has neglected his own anti-EU and anti-NATO, the Eurasian Economic Union and the CSTO respectively. So much so, in fact, that one wonders if the CSTO still exists after it ignored Armenia's pleas for military support when Azerbaijan invaded it.
    4
  3254.  @MrOner07  Newsflash. The rouble is Monopoly money.
    4
  3255.  @che1591  You're in denial. Russia has adopted strict capital controls, which artificially bolster the rouble. The best analogy I've heard is that it's akin to peeing your trousers, and enjoying the warmth.
    4
  3256. Don't you wish the British Council was still giving English lessons in Russkia.
    4
  3257. How many airlines do you want to bankrupt?
    4
  3258. I know, it's because you're not a thinking person. I bet you've never bothered to vote either.
    4
  3259.  @johnny-ih5es  I can't argue with your smelly personal opinions, that's for sure.
    4
  3260.  @davidblair9877  The EU has no shortage of arms manufacturers. In fact, the problem is that they're too many of them, as EU countries try to buy locally-produced weaponry whenever possible. Further consolidation and standardisation is what's needed.
    4
  3261. Stop pretending. Beijing is very upset with the countries that are rolling out red carpets for disaffected Hongkongers.
    4
  3262. The problem is, Putin thinks that war is a splendid idea. And your misplaced pacifism helps him realise his dreams.
    4
  3263. Ask your hero Putin to withdraw and no-one has to fight. Strange that that doesn't occur to you first.
    4
  3264.  @mike4769  Funny that you'd insinuate Finnish gun safes or their locks are somehow inferior. Yale is a Finnish-owned, BTW.
    4
  3265.  @netiturtle  By now, China by and large plays by international intellectual property rules. China has made great strides in becoming a IP creator itself, and it wants its own patents respected, too, which calls for reciprocity. Just don't try to contest their patents in a Chinese court of law. It's an exercise in futility.
    4
  3266. I expected France to throw a Frenchy party, but no, it was truly international.
    4
  3267.  @lg2058  So? It goes without saying that NATO expands when more countries join. Putin should give Russia's neighbours no cause to join NATO, but the 4D pigeon chess master does the exact opposite. I expect NATO remembers him with a gift basket for Christmas.
    4
  3268.  @Musck  You're planning to go from bad to worse? Poor you...
    4
  3269.  @cyborg2050  I don't need a crystal ball to see how it plays out. In Russia's case, diversification means inferior products at a higher price. Without export subsidies, there's only a domestic market for them. Back to the USSR, in other words.
    4
  3270.  @deathsquadanthrax  The Finns love their bonfires. With NATO joining the party, we can get a much bigger one going should Putin try his luck with Finland next.
    4
  3271.  @Nauda999  Don't get our hopes up. It would save us net payers a lot of money.
    4
  3272. Het zijn allang geen omgebouwde Amerikaanse jeeps meer. De techniek is 100% Japans.
    4
  3273.  @blinbby8633  The Inuit emerged as the surviving indigenous culture, but genetically speaking the Inuit absorbed the Saqqaq who came before them. Something similar happened to the descendants of the first Norse settlers. They, too, got absorbed if they didn't leave first. Practically all Greenlanders have European DNA to some degree.
    4
  3274. I thought it was a joint effort. In fact, American troops formed a minority in Afghanistan when the withdrawal started.
    4
  3275. You can vote with your feet, but I think you have other concerns.
    4
  3276.  @hemendraravi4787  It's hard to decipher someone as capricious as Erdogan, but my take is that he convinced himself that the US was bluffing about the F-35. That turned out not to be the case. Anyhoo, Turkey is already planning to replace the S-400 with an indigenous air defence system. They reportedly found the performance of the S-400 against low-flying targets unsatisfactory.
    4
  3277. Be fair. Trump is the laughing stock of the entire world.
    4
  3278. At least your coping strategy works. The same can't be said about Russia's defensive stategy in Kursk.
    4
  3279.  @vikutoawomi7548  No it doesn't. The UNSC has made it abundantly clear that Israel may not increase its Lebensraum at the expense of its neighbours.
    4
  3280.  @noneshere  Do you read your own comments? You write that Ukraine is jeopardising *Russia's security. Two sentences earlier, you boast that Russia surrounds Ukraine from three sides.
    4
  3281. It occurs to none of the commenters that this is a totally unnecessary war for Russia?
    4
  3282. There's you hoping. And praying. And hoping.
    4
  3283. Calling out an extrajudicial killing on foreign soil amounts to dividing India?
    4
  3284. I only knew about Dunder Mifflin.
    4
  3285. Gaddafi met his end at the hands of his own people. Zelenskyy's popularity holds at home and abroad.
    4
  3286. Hitler was suitably impressed with the French, having faced them personally in WW1. When the Free French showed their mettle in Bir Hakeim, Hitler reportedly felt vindicated. I think his soldiers were equally impressed when the Free French started rolling up the German forces in France.
    4
  3287. The takeaway here is that they suffered racism while eradicating the very worst manifestation of racism.
    4
  3288.  @hamwhacker  You're just in denial that "we helped to save Europe in the war" is a controversial statement if you consider the whole of Europe. Historical records clearly show how Churchill cynically paved the way for Eastern Europe to become Stalin's stomping ground. In exchange, Stalin wouldn't fuss about Britain preserving its Empire, which was just as much an affront to the Atlantic Charter. Something tells me that history is just a cherry-picking opportunity to you.
    4
  3289.  Yuri-uy5mu  A Russian Tochka missile fitted with a cluster munition warhead came down near a hospital in Vuvledar on Feb 24, 2022. That was the very first day of the invasion. Now you're trying to put the genie back in the bottle.
    4
  3290. Being disliked by Russia is a feather in your cap.
    4
  3291.  @jamiealisson8298  Sure, but Russia should mourn the depths to which Putin has sunk the country as well. Without Putin's imperial ambitions, the boy would still be alive.
    4
  3292. What about whataboutism?
    4
  3293.  @SA..................  You and your dog?
    4
  3294.  @welshcelt9406  I believe Farage hasn't been naturalised as a German citizen yet, so yes, he's still one of yours. As a non-Brit, why would I remoan or, for that matter, cry? We're still here, and doing great. You're lagging, both in economic growth and recovery from the pandemic.
    4
  3295. Yet somehow India refrains from condemning Putin's foray against Ukraine...
    4
  3296.  @branilavvasic9727  I wrote "in a similar position", not "in an identical position". You've got world opinion against you. It grates on you, doesn't it? But denial won't work.
    4
  3297.  @georgiossgk7384  "Most countries in the world" most definitely recognise Kosovo. Moreover, Serbia recognises the jurisdiction of Kosovo's present authorities over Kosovo.
    4
  3298.  @danijelmatic8441  In terms of the five stages of grief, I suppose you're at stage 4, depression. Not to worry, acceptance comes next. Most of your fellow Serbs here are forever stuck at stages 1 and 2, denial and anger.
    4
  3299. This world has become too diverse for you.
    4
  3300. No, that's not it. You're making it up as you go along. Ivan.
    4
  3301.  @aleserban9322  The Iraq War, the Vietnam War, the Korean War and the Falklands War were not NATO ops. The War in Afghanistan (ISAF) had UN mandates. Will you Krembots ever get it right?
    4
  3302.  @chadgtr34  Nonsense. 5G by Nokia and Ericsson dominates in Europe.
    4
  3303.  @poika22  I'm a reservist shooter and I definitely prefer my present Bushmaster AR to my former Sako S92, or for that matter, my Saiga AK. The 5.56 is much nicer to shoot in comparison to the 7.62x39. Finnish army instructors insist that the former lacks punching power in a forested environment, but I take that with a pinch of salt. If it were a problem, it would've come to light in Vietnam.
    4
  3304.  @vasiliyshukshin7466  Yup, you think of human rights as garbage -- say no more. You're right, too, to note that Russia has nary of friend in this world.
    4
  3305.  @Anna_talks_  Huh? Serbian weapons, bound for Bangladesh.
    4
  3306. @Lauren Lewis EPIC troll fail.
    4
  3307. High time.
    4
  3308.  @kooros100  It depends on the politicians, don't you think? Billionaires will run government like a corporation, which don't exist for the benefit of their people, the employees. The government should exist for the benefit of the people.
    4
  3309. In this equation, "Hong Kong patriot" equals to "CCP minion".
    4
  3310. Don't you wish that the British Council still gave English lessons in your country. There's something amiss with that verb of yours, "helen".
    4
  3311. The queen reigns but does not rule, missy.
    4
  3312. Have you had a look at the rouble's exchange rate lately?
    4
  3313. Finland has an excellent memory. Russia has tried to forget the embarrassing bits of its history with Finland. To its detriment, I'm sure, if Russia wants to have another go at Finland.
    4
  3314.  @ABanRocks  How boring of you to bring up the Muricans.
    4
  3315. As for the EU, I only see 27 democratically-elected governments. The EU, as such, does not have a government, only representative bodies of national governments. Brextremist much?
    4
  3316.  @martinwinther6013  I did mention "literal translation", duh.
    4
  3317.  @xtbum3339  Yeah, when Me-262s came in for landing. When the Germans installed flak along the approach lines, the losses diminished considerably.
    4
  3318. So you believe in rewarding aggression.
    4
  3319.  @72marshflower15  I have a degree in history and I say go for it.
    4
  3320.  @thechrisandphaedrusshow  It's the perfect restraining order. Despite all the bluster, Putin wouldn't dream of breaking it.
    4
  3321. Can't you pray to your magic sky friend to fix the underlying problem instead? We need less death and destruction, not more.
    4
  3322.  @dawn_alex  Lacking basic sanitation facilities is indicative of lacking in other areas, too.
    4
  3323.  @michellekemp3104  The problem with US politics is not political parties, but the lack of them. Both dominant parties are forced to pick less-than-ideal candidates to stand a chance of winning. In parliamentary democracies, voters are spoilt for choice. The parties have to behave, too, because their former adversaries may be their future coalition partners. Extremists and populists have it tough.
    4
  3324. Naive or not, opposition politics in Russia is suicide.
    4
  3325.  @Q_QQ_Q  Don't be silly. The EU is not NATO and no amount of stalling is going to make the EU let Turkey in. Besides, it's Turkey that's in a pickle because the US is refusing to sell it F-16s and upgrades to its existing F-16 fleet unless Turkey starts behaving.
    4
  3326. All fars are wrong.
    4
  3327.  @5tre55full  And you call Zelenskyy a comedian.
    4
  3328. Trump must be inspired by Garry Kasparov calling a certain Pu Tin the regional governor of the northern Chinese province of Ruxia.
    4
  3329.  @nemojedermann2845  The F-16 is General Dynamics, sport.
    4
  3330. And why do you think a president couldn't do same?
    4
  3331. Hard to tell. They've been at the top for a long time, switching back and forth with Japan between 3rd and 4th place. Any more questions you could easily find the answers to yourself?
    4
  3332.  @SergioK111  Is there such a thing as a 'constitutional coup'? You bots are so funny. Also, do you put 'salty sugar' in your tea?
    4
  3333.  @gavasiarobinssson5108  The UK was not harassed by the EU. Far from it, the UK wanted exclusive membership benefits at the expense of the other EU members. Unsurprisingly, that didn't fall on sympathetic ears. Some members tried constructive engagement by trying to team up with the UK to tackle certain EU policies which they weren't fond of either, but the UK arrogantly rebuffed them. After all, exclusive benefits aren't exclusive if everyone enjoys them, the British thinking went. The irony of it all is that when the UK has spent its 40 days in the desert, it can't have its earlier privileges back either.
    4
  3334. This war has turned into a war of attrition ever since Bakhmut. The point is to inflict maximum losses on the enemy while incurring the least yourself. Ukraine has mastered the concept. Russia has mastered the reverse.
    4
  3335.  @MrGreFunky  Dagestan is effectively a Russian colony. Russia never properly decolonised after colonising their backyard.
    4
  3336.  @harrym740  And China. And those chains never come off.
    4
  3337. I have an idea. Let's have the heads of state (or government) of all the EU member countries nominate candidates for the presidency of the European Commission (as currently held by Ursula von der Leyen). From those, the duly elected members of the European Parliament could elect the candidate they deem most suitable. How does that sound? Wait...
    4
  3338.  @dilonkumar4960  Was that English? I do recognise the words...
    4
  3339. It's better than floods, that's for sure.
    4
  3340. Yup, it's established once more, Americans wear their ignorance on their sleeves.
    4
  3341.  @springbloom5940  Swoosh.
    4
  3342. Don't dump your toxic waste here.
    4
  3343. The Finnish president is male. As an Indian, you should know about prime ministers and presidents.
    4
  3344. The same UN that recognises economic exclusion zones also recognises historic fishing rights. Many of the UK's neighbours can lay claim to those. Which law of the sea overrides which? Besides, the countries affected could just stop buying British fish. In no time, the British fishermen would be up to their necks in rotten fish. The irony is that the UK is now independent, but has no freedom to operate. Welcome to Brexit Britain ;-)
    4
  3345.  @madzoukinkimanvouli3966  You think so? I could think that the UK is being hostile by not acknowledging age-old French fishing rights. OK, it really sucks for the UK that France -- unlike the UK -- happens to be a member of the world's largest trade bloc and as per the EU's rules, enjoys the power of veto and is obsessed with anything that concerns food. None of that should be news to the UK, having enjoyed the same rights before and living next door to France since... forever. You apparently don't appreciate the fact that the UK is risking its trade not with one country -- as France is -- but 27 Frances.
    4
  3346. China is communist in name only. Authoritarian and undemocratic yes, communist no. North Korea, on the other hand, is a communist monarchy, a contradiction in terms. Had Karl Marx learnt of such a thing, he would've thrown a fit.
    4
  3347.  @ragnarironspear1791  You'll lose it once more when the Irish take back what's theirs. I served in Lebanon and Kosovo, but as far as I can tell, it had nothing to do with the price of tea in China.
    4
  3348.  @dil2370  Maybe so, but the French have a fine reputation for disposing of royals. Don't waste the opportunity.
    4
  3349. For your information, Kurds are known for their wide variety of religious affiliations: Sunni Islam, Shia Islam, Kurdish Alevism, Yazidism, Yarsanism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity.
    4
  3350.  @Michelle-os9ul  "Your channel", you wrote. I don't own DW, dum-dum.
    4
  3351.  @ltm9729  What's there to negotiate? Putin can end the war any time. No negotiations needed.
    4
  3352. Germany's inoculation against fascism holds firm. I'm more concerned about America's oversized military combined with its democratic decline, which is exacerbated by Trump's apparent comeback.
    4
  3353. Turkey real concerns aren't directed at Sweden and Finland. Turkey thinks NATO is a bazaar.
    4
  3354. It's a very fluid plan. See also: moving the goal posts.
    4
  3355.  @obamavariant9128  The Russian Army can no longer maintain such a volume of artillery fire. Its supply lines have grown too long for that. You must've suffered a news blackout. Do I need to spell it out? H... I... M... A...
    4
  3356. @sleepyjoe7843 Do I really need to? You could check it out for yourself, but here goes. Parliamentary democracies form a cabinet that enjoys majority support in parliament, hence the term. The head of state -- the king, queen or president -- has either just a titular role or has residual powers only. The head of government -- the PM or chancellor -- rules the roost, but only with enduring parliamentary support. Voters typically do elect the PM, who heads the winning party. Exceptions to the rule exist, because it's still all about parliamentary majorities. If you can bring yourself to mosey over to Wikipedia, for instance, and read the entry for the Democracy Index, you may be astonished that parliamentary democracies dominate the top 10. Weird, huh? So, was I right about your Muricanness? It would explain your ignorance fixation.
    4
  3357. Russia was supposed to keep the peace in Nagorno-Karabakh. Since "peace" has been conclusively "restored", Azerbaijan will kindly request Russia's "peacekeepers" to make themselves scarce. Russia's sphere of influence just shrank considerably. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are out.
    4
  3358.  Mr X  Learn history.
    4
  3359.  @lasigh1478  Don't bother, it's like playing chess with a pigeon...
    4
  3360.  @Red1Green2Blue3  There's no 'Western-style democracy'. There's just democracy, or there isn't. In China, there isn't.
    4
  3361. Guy has impeccable foresight. Brexit and the GFA were never compatible.
    4
  3362. Explain to us how a coup marks a turning point for Africa. Africa has had 107 "successful" coups to date, and as many failed attempts. If a coup is a turning point, Africa must be spinning constantly!
    4
  3363. What matters is that Russia's federal budget revenues from oil and gas have fallen 64% year-on-year. For a gas station that masquerades as a country, that's nothing short of disastrous. Russia is forced to plug the budget deficit by tapping from the national wealth fund, set aside for pensions. In other words, Russian pensions go up in smoke in Ukraine. If anyone, the Russians should take to the streets and protest against Putin's "pension reform".
    4
  3364. By abandoning the 'one country, two systems' principle, the CCP is not only distancing Taiwan, but the rest of the world as well.
    4
  3365. I know, I know! It tells us that you're a rabid anti-vaxxer.
    4
  3366.  @dmitrygorbunov9219  Did the UN's overwhelming condemnation of Russia's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine turn you into a cynic?
    4
  3367. That'll do, Ivan. Try something else for a change.
    4
  3368.  @skitariiranger4346  Aren't you exaggerating a wee bit? We're an actual front-line state.
    4
  3369. Zelenskyy is open to negotiations, Putin isn't.
    4
  3370.  @GhANeC  I second that. Iran has a heavy hand in the current misery of the Gazans. Yemen, too -- or at least their Houthis are only exacerbating the situation, undoubtedly at Iran's behest. The same goes for Hezbollah, they're lending credence to the claim that it's Israel that's under siege, not Gaza. People forget quickly, or just can't put two and two together.
    4
  3371. Walz already appears to be taking the wind out of Vance's sail, whose "commitment" to the working man now sounds very hollow indeed.
    4
  3372. You've been shouting yourself hoarse, Jimmy, and the demise of the EU isn't any closer.
    4
  3373. TD, there lies your problem. The referendum met with rejection worldwide.
    4
  3374. TD, I am talking about the world at large, and you're talking about a single country, Russia, that also engineered the annexation of Crimea to begin with. Of course they didn't reject the referendum that "validated" their illegal actions.
    4
  3375. TD, a full 100 countries deemed the referendum illegal, while only 11 thought it legal. So if loss of territorial influence is your explanation why they did so, say, Micronesia condemn the referendum? Try harder, you aren't convincing anyone.
    4
  3376. TD, I made a factual observation that your view -- and that of Russia -- is a marginal one. The world overwhelmingly rejected the validity of the Crimean referendum and condemned the annexation of Crimea -- since you like exact figures, 90% said so. And this vote took place in the UN General Assembly, so there was no fraud or other irregularities, as has been suspected of the Crimean referendum. Try refuting my facts rather than make this a matter of your opinion against mine (which I haven't brought forward). You might also want to produce something more convincing than your humble, butt-hurt opinion that the USA (as you apparently insinuate) pressured 99 UN members to vote their way. Otherwise, you're just flapping your gums.
    4
  3377. laurejon, not true, the sanctions have been renewed time and again. Each time there was a discussion as to whether they're still justified. And each time the EU members agreed unanimously to continue. The sanctions aren't all-encompassing, nor would it make sense to completely isolate Russia. Trump may relent on sanctioning Russia, but I very much doubt congress agrees. Putin needs to understand that his actions have consequences.
    4
  3378. There's more. After turning the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake, Putin managed same with the Mediterranean. Without Tartus, Putin's warships will need to set sail for Murmansk for repair and replenishment.
    4
  3379. It's because neither has any. Harbouring terrorists is a no-no, but those facing political persecution are granted asylum.
    4
  3380. Not really. Western countries are committed to the WHO's COVAX programme, which pretty much rules out asking for favours in return, since all the dealings are out in the open.
    4
  3381. I thought Kim Jong-Un was rocket man.
    4
  3382. They're an apathetic people.
    4
  3383. Career? His tenure is up in 2027, when term limits kick in. It's pretty much over then, with perhaps temporary assignments as UN peace envoy to look forward to. Macron is too outspoken to become UN secretary general, and it's doubtful if that's a step up.
    4
  3384. I suppose Kadyrov could pull a Prigozhin and go all the way, but I have my doubts about his staying power. The latent racism in Russians is strong.
    4
  3385.  @mathiasandersson4153  I missed out on Bosnia, but I did rotations in Lebanon and Kosovo. I was shelled and shot at, but never fired off a shot myself.
    4
  3386.  @GemsOfIndianRight  That's funny, coming from an Indian. You felt you owed the Soviet Union, and Putin somehow inherited your debt. It must be massive.
    4
  3387. You want to condemn them to economic hardship. Gotcha.
    4
  3388. No need to make a distinction. There's no Eastern-style democracy, period.
    4
  3389. Whataboutists incoming... 3... 2... 1...
    4
  3390.  @gaborrajnai6213  How is it related to the topic at hand? BRICS is an economic bloc... in the making. Geopolitically, its members are far apart. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a case in point. Some BRICS nations are on friendly terms with Israel, others anything but. You may want to consider what you're writing before you post.
    4
  3391.  @E_O_S_  It's said that every country has the government it deserves. That's true for Russia at least.
    4
  3392. Mutual capitulation? I suppose both countries could capitulate to the UN and comply with UN General Assembly Resolution ES‑11/1, which means Russia has to withdraw from Ukraine, including Crimea. I'm all for it.
    4
  3393.  @ricky_pigeon  It's a different type of cold. I know from my years in the Netherlands that you can easily brave humid cold, but sub-zero cold, from double digits onwards, makes you succumb to hypothermia if you don't dress for it. I did a traineeship at Rovaniemi airport, to where British Airways flew charter flights with the Concorde. The flight engineer declined our offer for winter clothes -- and ended up having bits and pieces from his toes chopped off. We didn't think it cold.
    4
  3394. I was thinking the same. I would not waste a Storm Shadow on a rusty old T-54.
    4
  3395. Logistics? Ukraine only needs the weapons and a bit of training in their use. Transporting them is not an issue.
    4
  3396. I'd say the Muricans have mastered arrogance far better. It's unique, too, in that it contains more than a fair dose of ignorance -- another American trademark.
    4
  3397. You should ask the UN Security Council. Only the UNSC can authorise UN peacekeeping missions.
    4
  3398.  @jeffbeck9347  Sure, many missionaries went around the world to do good and many did very well indeed.
    4
  3399.  @abuntanda1166  There was talk about NATO not moving closer to Soviet borders.
    4
  3400.  @blolee-gc1sr Availability of uranium, a de facto commodity, is not France's problem. Global warming and consequently, cooling its nuclear plants are more of a concern. It's ironic, because nuclear energy is green energy in my book.
    4
  3401.  @phurian_6560  We most definitely endured 700 years of colonisation. Could it be, perhaps, that you're jumping to conclusions as to where I'm from? Don't expect a Pulitzer Prize for "exposing" the colonial horrors perpetrated by France. Great that you learned about them by watching movies. I studied them in uni.
    4
  3402.  @phurian_6560  I dropped enough hints in this thread that I'm not French. You're just not the sharpest tool in the shed.
    4
  3403. Lebanon has a tenuous hold on the Hezbollah, if at all.
    4
  3404. Perhaps we should've been neutral on apartheid. You can't ignore evil.
    4
  3405. Corvids are a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs, and nutcrackers. There are not 19, but 120 species in the family.
    4
  3406.  @Jimmy-bi7nu  USA is finishing itself, thanks to Trump.
    4
  3407. There's another Russian innovation that has taken Ukraine by storm. Russia's tanks have destroyed a great many anti-tank missiles by launching their turrets at them. Admittedly, there are still some kinks to be worked out, like the propellant destroying the tank and killing its crew, but the success rate of the system is very high indeed.
    4
  3408. We're always plinking between going in and out of the sauna. I've shot small game while at it. Retrieving one's prey can be painful with nettles about.
    4
  3409.  @rooroo5580  Iran doesn't dare to engage Israel mano a mano. You know as well as I do that Israel isn't facing anything here that it can't handle.
    4
  3410. Abkhazia is supposed to be an independent republic, but very few countries recognise it as such. That said, I'm sure that when Russia says "jump", they ask "how high?".
    4
  3411. If you love it so, you should learn to spell it. IMHO the biggest disaster to befall Russia was the forced closure of the British Councils. No more freebie English lessons for Krembots.
    4
  3412. The THO, the Trump Health Organization, is an utter sham.
    4
  3413. They do it to themselves, sport.
    4
  3414. China is concerned that toppling the dictators in Myanmar will have a ripple effect on China.
    4
  3415. ​ @sumantsumant9219  Majority rule doesn't mean the majority can ride roughshod over freedom of religion. That's why we have constitutions.
    4
  3416. Russian Federation (*1991 †2024)
    4
  3417.  @Lala-kc2fw  Not only that, our (bot?) OP is plain wrong in portraying the West as opposed to a Gaza ceasefire. The opposite is true. Of the UNSC permanent Western members, France was firmly in favour (again), the UK was on the fence (again) and only the US was opposed (again). The non-permanent Western members -- Japan, Malta, Switzerland, South Korean and Switzerland -- all voted for the ceasefire and for a second time, too.
    4
  3418. It would be *to its knees, but please, explain further. Your emojis are cute, but not informative.
    4
  3419. @Bot at the end of the universe Canada is a founding member of NATO. Mexico and India have never expressed an interest in NATO -- I suppose because Russia isn't posing (read: can't pose) a threat to them. More silly questions?
    4
  3420.  @ripplingeffect9339  Sure, Putin says a lot of things. The pipeline to China doesn't come close in matching the western ones in capacity, and building more pipelines is nigh-impossible without Western technology. Besides, the East is eager to benefit from Russia's pariah status and buy its oil and gas on the cheap. We're already seeing this in the price difference between Brent and Urals crude. In case you can't figure it out by yourself, Russia is not only losing market-share, but also, revenue. Summa summarum, Russia isn't going forwards, but backwards. Fast.
    4
  3421. Were you born yesterday?
    4
  3422. I carried a stamped-receiver RK62 in '86 - '87. The sights were peep sights and no folding stocks either. Nothing wrong with them as far as I could tell, but us "spool arses" we weren't quite as heavy-handed with them as the "grass drills".
    4
  3423. Denmark wants the Greenlanders to decide their own fate. Incidentally, the Greenlanders -- 85% of them -- don't want their fate to intertwine with that of the USA. How do you propose to make that problem go away? Ethnic cleansing or even genocide? Something more traditional perhaps -- give them blankets contaminated with smallpox?
    4
  3424.  @bobgonzales9680  = an outsourced Krembot. Couldn't get a call centre job.
    4
  3425.  @nyali2  Sure, the Hungarians were screaming for Western help then, too, and Ukraine was totally subjugated by Russia, even more so than Hungary. I think you just committed a false analogy. I'm training other reservists, if you must know, being over-age for combat. I already did my foreign tours, in Lebanon and Kosovo. And what have you done for world peace, except flapped your gums on YouTube in defence of dictators?
    4
  3426.  @annoyingbstard9407  Don't be silly now. I could've applied for and gotten German nationality, but why bother with three EU nationalities already.
    4
  3427.  @annoyingbstard9407  Oh, UK too, except it was my parents who decided we shouldn't bother with it. I hear your compatriots are making a beeline for EU nationalities. I wonder if Farage has secretly started the paperwork. It was German nationality he was eligible for, wasn't it?
    4
  3428. Netanyahu constantly forgets about the hostages. He wants to fight Hamas, and the hostages stand in the way.
    4
  3429.  @lesterquintrell4844  OK, have it your way. Russia is crying and bearing it.
    4
  3430. They might as well slit their own throat in doing so.
    4
  3431.  @tkautzor  If a US tourist tries to board a plane bound for, say, Zurich, the airline will won't let him unless he can produce a vaccination certificate. I'm very obviously talking about entering the country legally.
    4
  3432.  @lunatigannie8860  What language is that?
    4
  3433.  @filipe5722  I'm sure the Balts warned the Germans about taking possession of a territory with a large ethnic Russian population. It's not necessarily the population per se that's the problem, but the Kremlin autocrats now and then develop an overpowering urge to "liberate" them -- against said population's wishes, if need be.
    4
  3434.  @makemap  You're new to the Belt and Road Initiative then? Fancy that.
    4
  3435. @D R Germany has Typhoons, Tornados, Airbus military transports, tankers and helicopters, all of which are partly German-designed and built. FYI, only two European countries are nuclear powers, France and the UK, of which only the former has an independent nuclear strike capability. Speaking of which, the Luftwaffe also has a nuclear strike capability -- they just ordered F/A-18 Super Hornets to be able to drop US nuclear ordnance. Tell me, is the UK occupied, too, in your book? How about Italy, Belgium, Poland and Norway, just to name a few other candidates? You've established yourself as even a bigger clown than I thought at first.
    4
  3436.  @greatspeeches1184  No, what gave you that idea? Duly appointed UN ambassadors speak on behalf of all 54 African countries. 52 of them declined speak up in support of Russia when the UNGA had its last vote on the matter.
    4
  3437.  @nobodyisbest  Of course I know what the Ottawa Treaty is. I brought it up. Duh. Maybe the treaty is obsolete in present circumstances, but Latvia has signed it, as have 163 other countries. You're saying international treaties can be flouted just like that. Not so.
    4
  3438. What about whataboutism?
    4
  3439. What's the connection with the topic at hand?
    4
  3440. Niet Europa, maar Finland zelf bepaalt wat er met de Fins-Russische grens gaat gebeuren. De rechtse coalitieregering aldaar besloot in sneltreinvaart om de boel dicht te gooien. Je klachten zijn dus niet van toepassing.
    4
  3441.  @peterquennellnyc  Liking other candidates and having them on the ballot paper are two different things, it seems.
    4
  3442. Citizen-soldiers too, just like the Finns.
    4
  3443. That's not how NATO works, sport. You may be too young to remember, but the Yanks were dying to make their not-so-successful WMD hunt in Iraq a NATO affair, but the "old Europeans" strenuously declined. In NATO, decisions are based on consensus.
    4
  3444.  @jeckjeck3119  Fill the vodka bottles with antifreeze, and Bob's your uncle.
    4
  3445.  @timminh468  Because the OSCE found no evidence of targeted shelling of civilians by Ukraine. You keep repeating this canard. One wonders why.
    4
  3446.  @alexwars8327  Nixit may happen first.
    4
  3447. What did you do for peace all those years? Don't be shy.
    4
  3448.  @Seriouslyfunny1 I wonder why you would say that as an aerospace engineer. The Soviet Union failed to produce a successful moon rocket because the Soviets fitted theirs with no less than 30(!) rocket engines. They had no choice -- they didn't have suitable ones that packed more thrust. Scaling up has its limitations.
    4
  3449.  @matthewnewell4517  The PKM has a reputation for reliability. Maybe it's not quite up there with the MAG, but it's more than good enough for government work. By wrapping more iron around a hole, the MAG could be made more reliable still, but I suppose you know what that would mean.
    4
  3450. What would you say to the other UN peacekeeping contingents that Mali is kicking out together with the Germans? A total of 66 countries took part in the operation, with the bulk of the troops coming from non-Western countries, like Chad, Bangladesh, Senegal, Togo and Egypt -- just to name the top 5 troop contributors. You seem blissfully ignorant of this inconvenient truth.
    4
  3451.  @sticky59  Still trying to peddle that story? You have to ask your handlers for fresh material.
    4
  3452.  @shurikkupitman5407  Your comment makes no sense. Try to run it by your English teacher.
    4
  3453. Sure, The End Is Nigh... can't you go stand on a street corner with a placard, like loonies did in the good old days?
    4
  3454. He's Secretary of Defence, Ruth.
    4
  3455. Reporting on and influencing are the same in your book?
    4
  3456.  @presidentJameskpolk-rm8gl  Evidently the US didn't "utterly destroy" either the Taliban or the Vietcong, or they wouldn't have won their respective wars.
    4
  3457.  @KPsTboy  No argument there. And to think that many Russians believe they're on higher moral plane.
    4
  3458. You're disregarding the fact that Zelenskyy finally urged the Azovstal defenders to surrender. You need to spin your conspiracy theories more carefully. This one was too easily debunked.
    4
  3459. The Balts won't go bust without Russian tourists, but Russia will if it can't flog its oil and gas. The rest is just window dressing economy-wise.
    4
  3460. I heard there's going to be a reality TV show called "Keeping up with the Kims".
    4
  3461. Believe it or not, but seizing a ship in international waters can be construed as piracy. According to Maritime Law, the authorities of the diminutive Cook Islands, halfway around the world, should've done the honours(!). It'll be interesting to see if and how the Cook Islanders prosecute those responsible. Maybe they'll think twice about being a flag of convenience.
    4
  3462.  @rominabeitseen3171  NATO's Article 5. If Russia were to foolishly attack either country, they'd mount a vigorous defence in depth, but to push back the invaders, NATO reinforcements will come in handy, especially in the form of air power. Besides, with both in NATO, Russia won't push its luck.
    4
  3463. The world is bored with your eternal whataboutism.
    4
  3464.  @ggbel3320  Shh, that's his majesty the 'king of the Belgians' speaking. It can't be anyone else than Flipke, since he's the only Belgian in existence.
    4
  3465. So you're saying we can't compare Trump to Hitler any longer, like Trump's candidate for veep once did?
    4
  3466.  @Банкивасограбят  Don't flatter yourself. There are alternative sources for uranium. Face it, Russia lost the energy wars.
    4
  3467. I trained with this type of weapon while in the Finnish army in the mid-eighties. We had a special training version that command-fired a wooden plug at a moving, plastic-covered cart. It was no big deal to score a hit.
    4
  3468.  @davidhoyles8595  Why do you say that? There was plenty of evidence of Trump's defamatory statements. Trump publicly provided them himself.
    4
  3469. Orban has demonstrated the flexibility of his backbone many times over. He always comes around when enough pressure is brought to bear. I expect he'll fold quickly and move on to make misschief elsewhere.
    4
  3470. You're clearly trying to console yourself.
    4
  3471. In these here parts we shoot bears.
    4
  3472. I don't think Rishi is a keeper. His party is frightfully divided, and the electorate is tired of the Tories.
    4
  3473. The war is fought on many fronts, buddy.
    4
  3474. Macron can speak for himself. Those European nations that once had the Soviets lording over them or awkwardly shared a border with the Evil Empire knew all along what they were up against. They sought security guarantees by joining a lukewarm NATO and/or uparmed themselves while an overly optimistic Western Europe was letting its guard down. Poland is a commendable example of 20/20 foresight. Finland, too, knew that while hoping for the best is fine and dandy, preparing for the worst is better still.
    4
  3475. It's like you think they're receiving luxury items. Just concentrate on your Karens.
    4
  3476.  @MountainDuude  Try to explain yourself. I hope you have the brain for it.
    4
  3477. "Their"? You education level shows.
    4
  3478.  @lindaselander9602  Sure, America has the best healthcare money can buy. Lots of money, that is.
    4
  3479.  Palemo Rigo  The whataboutism is strong with you.
    4
  3480. Uh, Ukraine has been in Europe ever since we started defining the continent's borders.
    4
  3481.  @maxmd113  Hmm, the Dutch chose Surinam over New York. Hindsight is always easier than foresight.
    4
  3482.  @denisgorjunov  Don't cherry-pick. Napoleon's overall score against Russia is a tie.
    4
  3483. They pretty much keep in step. Care to give an example where Finland and Sweden deviate significantly in foreign policy or defence?
    4
  3484.  @mtdorghost8708  Your "successful referendum" fared extremely poorly in the UN. It was almost universally rejected.
    4
  3485.  @WillieFungo  Including? Especially in European countries. European countries dominate the top 10 of the Quality of Life Index. The USA comes in 12th place, trailing 9 of Europe's finest.
    4
  3486.  @surojeetvedantic6047  I can understand that your thought process doesn't match with wars of aggression, like the one Russia is waging in Ukraine, but what's your mismatch with Ukraine fighting tooth and nail for its survival? If you were in their place and China assumed the role of aggressor, would you choose not to defend yourselves?
    4
  3487. Come off it, Netanyahu just uses all this as an excuse to wage his forever wars. Besides, Assad and Netanyahu had an understanding of sorts. They wouldn't bother one another directly.
    4
  3488.  @BB1CC666  Canada will just have to close ranks with the EU, the UK and Mexico. Canada can pretend there's a unnavigable sea between it and Mexico.
    4
  3489.  @shdmd2118  But we arm ourselves against Russian aggression. The more Ukraine uses our arms to stem Russian aggression, the less need there is for them at home. It's an investment that's paying dividends. Every roasted Orc is one less Orc invading Finland.
    4
  3490. Putin values your input.
    4
  3491. Uh, there was a G8, which Russia was a member of. Russia got booted out when it started making war in Ukraine. Keep up with the news.
    4
  3492.  @Silver_Prussian  Like I wrote earlier, you're on the losing side. Try to cope.
    4
  3493. As in having a far-right party in the opposition? I thought both Germany and France have that already.
    4
  3494. More like a riot.
    4
  3495.  @TRAZ4004  It's about half-half now. Generalisations are never "true". Tell me, if you had two sisters and you were the only son, would you think it fair to call your family all-female?
    4
  3496. NATO is not fighting, Z-bot. If it were, we would've witnessed the conclusive battle of Vladivostok in June 2022.
    4
  3497.  @richardmarsden5610  So you tacitly agree that in a conventional war, Russia is absolutely no match.
    4
  3498. India has its work cut out to earn more medals. It's nowhere near where it should be in the Olympic medal tables.
    4
  3499. It would've been much faster still if Turkey hadn't played silly buggers.
    4
  3500. They had a chance to hone their skills in Syria. There's little to suggest that they actually did.
    4
  3501. Even if she were a self-hater on Google Plus, she'd still be within her rights. Intellectual property needs to be respected. If you disagree, you should move to North Korea or Russia.
    4
  3502.  @attilamarics3374  What matters is that 141 UN members condemn Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine vs. 5 members taking the opposite view. What's even more damning is that Russia's annexations in Ukraine go unrecognised by practically all UN members. 190 out of a total of 193 UN members maintain that Russia has no sovereignty over the occupied territories. In case you can't tell, I just destroyed your argument. Russia is waging a war of agression.
    4
  3503. They seem very upset. Explain that.
    4
  3504.  @maxcc2501  So you think you do, try to explain. Don't be shy.
    4
  3505.  @springbloom5940  What did I lie about? You being able to hold a job, be it at a troll factory?
    4
  3506. If he isn't, he at least made it appear so.
    4
  3507. Why, will the Hongkongers be granted full democracy? This will just reinvigorate the protesters.
    4
  3508. Don't ever take part in a pub quiz.
    4
  3509. Fat chance.
    4
  3510. Go easy on the copium. You'll need every bottle that you've hoarded.
    4
  3511.  @ssss8162  I think France secretly agrees. The islanders themselves, not so. Ask the Comorians and Mahorians. The former desperately want to make their way to nearby Mayotte, because it remains part of France, whereas the Comoros opted for independence and are now facing severe economic hardship.
    4
  3512. Don't they teach you English in school any longer? Was the British Raj all in vain?
    4
  3513. *Its allies. All four of them?
    4
  3514. No proof of fraud whatsoever, bud.
    4
  3515. Putin accounted for this one, buddy.
    4
  3516. Whataboutism must weigh heavily in their performance reviews. I can't think of any other explanation.
    4
  3517.  @alexsilent5603  Then why did he return to Russia to face certain imprisonment? Not only Navalny, but the whole world knew what was awaiting him. It proved a major embarrassment for Putin, who went to great lengths to force Navalny into self-imposed exile. For once, try to get your arguments sorted before you respond. It's tedious to respond to your half-baked comments.
    4
  3518.  @alexsilent5603  There you go again with your conspiracy theories. Useless.
    4
  3519.  @terencefirth616  I'm sorry, I assumed too much. My figures are from HM Treasury. You fail to fathom is that the EU is far, far bigger than the UK. Hence the 8% exposure vs. the 53%, your absolute figures notwithstanding. I consider it a badge of honour that our products are more desirable than yours. Why do you think Trump ranted to the Chinese about the trade imbalance?
    4
  3520.  @Ganymede559  *its. About to? Germany's military budget is about $50B.
    4
  3521.  @Leftistsareevil  You can argue that it's not enough, but it's not nothing.
    4
  3522. Or get a pair of Karelian Bear Dogs. The breed literally eats bears for breakfast (OK, they need a little help from a hunter).
    4
  3523.  @Кипящийразум  You made a mess, sport. A very, very costly mess for yourselves, too.
    4
  3524. It's rather a lot of snow, and I bet I've seen more snow than you ever will.
    4
  3525. Is it? There's been a queue at the EU's door practically from the start. The Copenhagen Criteria prescribe that only fully democratic countries get to join. Therefore, it would be a contradiction in terms that a democratic country were join the EU against the will of its people. Are you sure you're not confusing the EU with the Eurasian Economic Union? It tried to expand against the will of the people, but then Euromaidan happened. In a fit of blind jealousy, Putin started what will become known as the Russo-Ukrainian War. The aggression is all Russia's.
    4
  3526. We'll make sure to have popcorn at the ready when India becomes the victim of Chinese military aggression. We're rehearsing our execuses for staying on the fence as we speak: "They had it coming", "They were poking the dragon", "India is Pakistan"...
    4
  3527.  @citronski  You can be Hungarian by ethnicity and/or nationality. Sometime there's no overlap. What's so difficult to understand about that?
    4
  3528.  @cyberfunk3793  You're dealing with a Krembot day-dreaming about NATO's demise. It's a survival technique after those nightmares about Putin's downfall started.
    4
  3529. USA and UK are creepier still. The populists are already in power.
    4
  3530. You may want to work on your sense of proportion. The Canadians add snow in order to make up for natural fluctuations in snowfall. Here, the Chinese don't have any to begin with.
    4
  3531. Have you just found out about France and their fondness for demonstrations?
    4
  3532. The question is, will it be a glorious tenure? We've seen Trump in action already. Lots of drama, less results. Oh, and they'd better install a revolving door for the staff.
    4
  3533. Let the games whataboutism begin!
    4
  3534. You're not very knowledgeable about Russia's foreign troop deployments. Russia has a significant number of troops in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Syria, Tajikistan and Ukraine. If you want to do the useful idiocy thing for Putin, I suggest you do your homework.
    4
  3535.  @angelawhitehead6187  NATO party line? NATO doesn't set policy apart from matters relating to defence, and even so, members have a lot of leeway.
    4
  3536. Stel je niet zo aan. De PvdA heeft in het verleden tot tweemaal toe de verkiezingen gewonnen, maar is desalniettemin in de oppositie beland. In een parlementair systeem met dit kiesstelsel is dat altijd mogelijk. Zelfs als het de PVV betreft.
    4
  3537. There's a queue of new entrants at the EU's door, in case you haven't noticed.
    4
  3538. I don't think Pol Pot was a Muslim. Neither was Stalin. Or Mao. Hitler.
    4
  3539. I don't know if you were born with a silver spoon in your mouth, but the overwhelming majority of people have to earn their living. It's a worldwide phenomenon.
    4
  3540. Actually, bed bugs feel at home even in the cleanest of houses.
    4
  3541. He got that from the KGB handbook that he keeps by his bed.
    4
  3542.  @majus1334  As a clock enthusiast I would guess that clocks that use the 50 Hz mains frequency as a time base run truer now. You know, Russian tech...
    4
  3543. Your imperialists are, sadly, in Russia. In case you haven't noticed, Putin publicly hankers for the glory days of the Russian Empire, and sternly critizes Lenin and the Bolsheviks for allowing Ukraine to become a Soviet republic in itself, separate from Russia. He lauds Stalin for trying to bring the Ukrainians back to heel. Indeed, the imperialism is strong with this one, this Putin fella.
    4
  3544.  @sarahcarter94  Isolationism it is then. China will happily fill the void left by Murica. You always were a bit provincial.
    4
  3545.  @cabrasalmonte  Leningrad was a siege. The longest siege in history lasted 26 years, from 1694 till 1720. The first siege of Ceuta, it was.
    4
  3546.  @kovichni  Interesting. You urge me to grab a calendar and prove your point. Are you incompetent or just too lazy to formulate your own arguments?
    4
  3547.  @TomStan-sw2wj  And now in English...
    4
  3548. Belarus has just been subjected to de facto Russia military occupation. Putin's troops put out roots wherever they go.
    4
  3549. It's not exactly a sign of strength either that Russia has to befriend these international outcasts in order to have friends.
    4
  3550. Could it be... no, it can't be... but still, could it be that Russia is going to launch missiles at Ukraine in retaliation? Or has it tried that repeatedly already, to the best of its abilities, without any decisive effect?
    4
  3551. AfD have a wonderful future behind them.
    4
  3552. You've set the bar very low.
    4
  3553. Offensive to racists, that's for sure.
    4
  3554. ​ @Piss-Poor-Infantry  Please don't lie. Poland, Hungary and Czechia joined NATO in 1999. More than twenty years later, there still isn't a single nuke in any of the these countries. Your beloved Kremlin propagandists are making stuff up and you're parroting it. Why didn't Putin push for nuclear disarmament if nukes were the real issue? We could've gotten rid of the nukes aimed at us in Kaliningrad, too.
    4
  3555. I wouldn't go that far. The aerodynamic shape of the Horten suggests it had a smaller radar cross section than the Mosquito. Also, the plan was to use charcoal in the Horton's plywood to make it radar-absorbing. How well that would've worked in practice is unclear, but it wouldn't have hurt either.
    4
  3556. A bit of both, judging from what transpired in Amsterdam. Knowing the prevalent denominations in the Netherlands, Protestants must've partaken in the protests there, too.
    4
  3557.  @UKVeteran2024  With the PVV in the opposition, they can concentrate on opposition politics, like before. Let's face it, it's what they're best at. The burden of power is too much to bear for right-wing populists.
    4
  3558. You may want to explain yourself.
    4
  3559.  @benvandam369  Are you the OP's sock puppet?
    4
  3560. They say Lavrov has a good head on his shoulders. Has he advised Putin to issue a withdrawal order yet?
    4
  3561. Your opinion aside, the UN is the premier peacekeeping force.
    4
  3562.  @Ray-bh1le  Interesting. So Brexit was all about the UK quitting the UN?
    4
  3563.  @postcodeox278  Allegedly 95.6% of the Crimeans voted in favour of joining Russia, but as there were no accredited international observers present, it might as well have been 110%. It's not credible that the US bribed the whole UN General Assembly, but I understand that in Conspiracyland, anything goes.
    4
  3564. It could be civilian contractors as well.
    4
  3565.  @pattheegreat  Putin isn't quite so sure about the sanctions not hurting the Russian economy. Remember, don't bite the hand that feeds you. He may repay you with a tour in Ukraine, and I don't mean they touristic kind.
    4
  3566. Hamas has a seat in the UN? Nothing of the sort. The Palestinian Authority -- controlled by Fatah, Hamas's political nemesis -- has observer status in the UNGA.
    4
  3567. Comical Ali was intensely loyal, too.
    4
  3568.  @AlkoDehond-xz3js  Bewijs? Er is een leerzaam antecedent. Voor en zelfs tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog was Nederland netjes neutraal. Toch kregen we navenant hoge oorlogsverliezen te betreuren, veel ergere zelfs dan in de omringde landen die zich niet neutraal opstelden. Geschiedenis wordt onderwezen zodat je er iets van leert.
    4
  3569. The overwhelming majority of the world community fully agrees that Putin should start negotiations leading to a withdrawal from Ukraine. It was amply demonstrated on 2 March 2022.
    4
  3570. K... maybe they're saving us from the fatal side-effects of this vaccine.
    4
  3571. Then explain why there was no love from non-EU participants either.
    4
  3572. The highest elected office Farage has ever held is... Member of the European Parliament. It appears a seat in a non-EU parliament is beyond the realms of possibility.
    4
  3573. @Kev Fit You poor boys, try to cope. But save some copium for even bigger setbacks. It won't be long.
    4
  3574. Any insurrection is fuelled domestically. You'll find that the EU is lukewarm about Georgia's possible EU membership.
    4
  3575. @sasan9019 Putin also does what he denies. He invaded Ukraine nonetheless.
    4
  3576. Context eludes you.
    4
  3577. Putin manages a disingenuous apology. Still, that's a huge improvement from MH17.
    4
  3578. The CCP is getting antsy about the power the Ant Group wields. Communists aren't fans of power-sharing, you know.
    4
  3579. Nah, the pilot was high on coke and got careless with hand grenades. What, everyone believed Prigozhin met his end that way.
    4
  3580.  JoopZweetsok  Israel did sign off the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, and its Amended Protocol II Article 7(2) prohibits the use of booby traps. So did the Netherlands, by the way. Do you prefer a rule-based international order, or complete anarchy?
    4
  3581.  @frannybgood  Oh yes they were. What makes you think otherwise?
    4
  3582. In favour of another geriatric case?
    4
  3583.    Right, life doesn't need to be more complicated than it is already.
    4
  3584. Brazil has a lot of untapped potential, but "one of the most powerful countries in the world"?
    4
  3585.  @sundarmaha7200  China's grand plans for exploiting Afghan minerals and developing Afghanistan's infrastructure have suffered a serious setback, and Beijing knows it, too. Apart from the crazed Islamists -- the Taliban -- there are no winners here.
    4
  3586. Sure, the end is nigh.
    4
  3587. Lookie here, Medvedev, Putin's nuclear attack dog, has a puppy!
    4
  3588. On the other hand, the grandmaster of 4D chess in the Kremlin could easily render Zelenskyy's efforts ineffective. By withdrawing his Orcs from Ukraine. No more war, just like that.
    4
  3589.  @appletree6741  How many more innocent Gazan lives is Israeli leverage worth?
    4
  3590. South Africa hooking up a with a regional power in terminal decline, that's a smashing idea.
    4
  3591.  @pokey5736  Time to curb presidential powers, or even adopt a parliamentary system. True multi-party democracy, wouldn't that be something?
    4
  3592. NATO has no ongoing operations in Africa, Bozo.
    4
  3593.  @johnwinter2252  I've got the definition spot on, but I see you struggle with punctuation. And it's your native language.
    4
  3594. We have our elks (that's moose for you Anglos). Not nice to play dodgems with those. My fridge is half-full with their meat.
    4
  3595.  @MetaView7  First move? Scholz wants Germany to synchronize its moves with the US, with latter providing Abrams tanks.
    4
  3596. Within a similar timeframe in WW2, Germany took far larger swathes of Soviet territory than France. That happened after the Fall of France, so the Soviet Union should've been forewarned. Also, by 19th century standards, Napoleon waged quite a Blitzkrieg against Russia, which barely offered battle.
    4
  3597.  @sensualeye  You seem confused about cartridges. I think you mean 5.56 or .223, in metric and imperial respectively.
    4
  3598. Nuck? I believe it's a baby pacifier brand. You may have earned yourself a one-way ticket to Ukraine.
    4
  3599. OK, back to the troll cave with you.
    4
  3600. Are you in the mistaken belief that Finland isn't in the EU already? You're 27 years behind, boyo.
    4
  3601. Wait till Master Xi lays down the law in his new northern Chinese province of Ruxia. You'd better start learning Mandarin.
    4
  3602.  @a13xdunlop  We know what you want. Peace for our time, or appeasement.
    4
  3603. I don't know about that, but Carrie Lam certainly doesn't.
    4
  3604. The last time the Russians tried to worm their way in through Finland, they suffered incommensurate casualties for very little gain. The Nordic countries are among the least religious countries in the world, so your little conspiracy theory sounds very dodgy indeed. Embassies personnel wouldn't risk their careers by moonlighting for religious fringe groups.
    4
  3605. Your posturing would be more convincing if Trump hadn't just backed down on imposing tariffs on Chinese imports in exchange for little more than vague promises. The US has foolishly outsourced manufacturing to China to the extent that any trade war with China would result in you cutting your own flesh. US companies moving production elsewhere in a hurry would inevitably face disruptions in deliveries. Retailers hate vendors who can't deliver, so they'd increasingly switch to non-US vendors. Unless the competition screws up in turn, lost market share is hard to regain.
    4
  3606. True, but the cycle is up to 120 years in the Nordic countries. A cold climate makes for slow growth.
    4
  3607. This tired cliché has been making the rounds since 1918.
    4
  3608. Truth be told, doing the opposite is a challenge. Products that we associate with the US are made elsewhere. For instance, if you're buying a Tesla in Europe, it's made either in Germany or China. The Americans have dug a hole for themselves, and they're blaming us for tumbling in.
    4
  3609. ​ @SteamCrane  It's an interesting court case indeed. Bible vs. law, or more particularly, a law pertaining to incitement to ethnic or racial hatred. I'm sure the Bible contains thousands of excuses to break the law, and not just ours, but yours, too. Neither of us lives under a Christian equivalent of Sharia law, after all. Anyhow, what's the relevance of your comment? Are you getting people together to bust Ms. Räsänen out of prison (she's facing a fine at worst) and you need guns to do so?
    4
  3610.  @MrDgwphotos  Yeah, thank God for that and let's keep it that way.
    4
  3611.  @louger-tp5pl  Be that as it may, Russia's anti-air defences have proven ineffective against the West's missiles, and against stealthy cruise missiles in particular. It's somewhat unclear still to what degree that also applies to warplanes, but it doesn't bode well. I expect a tough times for Russia's "high-tech" arms exports -- if they ever get off the ground again.
    4
  3612.  @gdiwolverinemale3rd  Many pilots use the US Armed Forces as a stepping stone to a career in civil aviation. Airlines prefer to hire those with experience on multi-engine transports. They're an instant fit, fighter jockeys are not.
    4
  3613. We'll be missing a sinking boat all right. When will it finally dawn on you that you can't be a member of club and enjoy its benefits without paying dues?
    4
  3614. That's odd. Neither Australia nor the UK lead in renewable energy. In fact, neither is even in the top 10. If you want to congratulate someone, Iceland and Norway are a good start.
    4
  3615. Green tea? The Novichok is in Prigozhin's tighty-whities.
    4
  3616. Unfortunately, both are needed. Also, Azerbaijan has armed itself to the teeth. Cause and consequence seem to elude you.
    4
  3617. OK, troll factory worker, tell your supervisor that you need more English lessons.
    4
  3618. This was a rookie mistake on Elon's part. The SEC had no choice but to react. No conspiracy theory here.
    4
  3619.  @squirejohnson5878  They're called investors. They'll gladly invest in independent Chechnya's oil industry if there's a ROI. Capitalism must be a novel concept to you.
    4
  3620.  @knowledgeispower6726  Whataboutism is the last refuge of the witless.
    4
  3621. It'll be good to exchange notes on winter warfare. I suppose the major difference is that we use skis where you use snowshoes.
    4
  3622. That would be nice, but I'm afraid we'll see the door hit them repeatedly on their way out.
    4
  3623. It will come down, as will Russia's earnings.
    4
  3624. Ukraine was neutral and Russia still invaded. So it appears neutrality isn't working for them. Not with Russia in the picture.
    4
  3625.  @captainwin6333  Cope, Vladdy.
    4
  3626. You don't know squat about the Finnish military, that much is clear.
    4
  3627.  Ted Bundy  Bolllocks. Lukashenko and "free and fair elections" shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence. Don't upvote your own posts. It's self-gratification.
    4
  3628. Because there was an international arrest warrant out for Puigdement?
    4
  3629. Who're you kidding? China has a high tolerance for authoritarian regimes -- a preference even. After all, China is no better in that respect. China will do nothing about the Myanmar coup.
    4
  3630.  @anthonyofarrell513  I think that honour goes to Russia. There's a Baltic-Karelian population with an estimated size of 11,000 bears.
    4
  3631. Not exactly spoilt for choice. When will the US become a true multi-party democracy?
    4
  3632. The US publicly expresses concern for the refugees, but behind the scenes, to Israel, it's like "don't mind us, that was PR".
    4
  3633.  @steinarnielsen8954  In trade wars involving the EU, any barriers to trade directed against an EU member are countered by the bloc as a whole. The likes of China have to think twice about taking action against an EU member. The EU has the heft to make it count. Norway, not so much.
    4
  3634. You got it all wrong. Zelenskyy makes the jokes, Putin is the butt of them.
    4
  3635. I'm more worried about Putin's fate. Russia isn't kind to failed tsars.
    4
  3636. "Alleged" says enough. The definition of the word says there's no proof... yet.
    4
  3637. You tell us.
    4
  3638.  @alexrz4196  Actually, all the original BRICS countries are in G20. Plenty of photo ops there.
    4
  3639.  @alexrz4196  In other words, it's now official that Russia will continue as a semi-colony of China. It's poetic justice, since China effectively became a semi-colony in the 19th century, with Russia being one of the colonial powers that ruled over China.
    4
  3640. That's bad form, and besides, Russia is perfectly capable of breaking apart voluntarily, when the time is ripe.
    4
  3641. By the looks of it, Germany and Japan are far less inclined to engage in military adventurism than the likes of the USA and Russia. It seems both of the latter must be constantly reminded that failure is always an option.
    4
  3642. Baudet zou dus een afkeer moeten hebben van geweldpleging tegen politici, maar toch uit hijzelf bedreigingen. Frappant.
    4
  3643. Yeah, let's do fairy tales.
    4
  3644.  @MrGatzby  My math is fine. NATO has a clear area of responsibility. You should study it and then comment further. Hint: you just made my point. Cute emojis, BTW. Kudos for embracing your inner child so publicly.
    4
  3645. Save your conspiracy theories for pandemics and some such.
    4
  3646.  @knowledge3563  I reported you for spamming. Try to give it a rest.
    4
  3647.  @waeljallad671  Reportedly, Russia isn't all that happy with the glut of rupees. It doesn't know what to do with them, because unlike China, India doesn't have much to export to Russia. Russia could dump them, but India wouldn't appreciate the sudden drop in the rupee's exchange rate.
    4
  3648. Rocket launchers, more like. Mortar tubes aren't open at both ends and they wouldn't lie this flat. What strikes me about the car is that it's burned to a cinder, but not bent out of shape, which suggest it wasn't hit by a Hellfire missile. Only the trunk lid is deformed. My guess is that the terrorists fired the rockets and their back blasts set the car on fire.
    4
  3649.  @BlackyHawk95  Aw.
    4
  3650.  @Gridlocked  It did appear that Russia backed down under NATO pressure. At best, it was a stalemate for Russia.
    4
  3651. It only hurts when you rub salt into open wounds. These have long since scarred over.
    4
  3652.  @dpelpal  It kept the USSR going economically. Convicts are cheap labour and labour conditions don't matter.
    4
  3653. Maybe you should ask your compatriots, who've been there. India is one of the largest contributors to the troop strength of UNIFIL. Ask them if they've just twiddled their thumbs over there.
    4
  3654. The Duma rubber-stamped it. That's enough charade.
    4
  3655. Is that how you smurf Erdogan... I mean, call Erdogan in the Netherlands? Priceless.
    4
  3656. Methinks these thugs are more into mindless thuggery than dialogue.
    4
  3657. Have you told Putin? He wanted this war.
    4
  3658. That would be me. Joined up voluntarily to get it over with. Or so I thought. Stuck around for 4 years, and I'm still sticking around as a reservist. Hasn't hurt my career. On the contrary, it gave me quite a boost.
    4
  3659.  @Mr.Clownensky  But Russia has been hitting "back" many times over with no appreciable effect. Maybe give peace a chance, eh? We tend to forget that Putin can end this war with a witdrawal from Ukraine, practically overnight.
    4
  3660. Russia is a regional power. Not a superpower.
    4
  3661. Let's be paranoid about your grammar, capitalization, spacing and punctuation.
    4
  3662. En jij bent opperhoofdbevelhebber der Nederlandsche Strijdkrachten ter Sociale Media?
    4
  3663. Perhaps you should be concerned about Uralvagonzavod, Almaz-Antey and the like. Their foreign customers must be more than just miffed about the performance of the weapons they purchased.
    4
  3664.  @M10-i6b  Did she by any chance work in a certain district of Amsterdam where lighting is predominantly of the red variety?
    4
  3665.  @brandoneliazar365  Right. Authoritarian regimes are ticking time bombs. It's not if but when their people start demanding their rights. If they fight it, they'll just stiffen the resolve of the people. It will never go away.
    4
  3666. Baldrick: "I have a very cunning plan. Let's sacrifice seven military aircraft and their crews -- including an irreplaceable airborne command centre -- so that we can redeploy Wagner to Belarus, from where they'll reopen a front against Ukraine and bring sweet victory to Russia."
    4
  3667. So, two bombs were accidentally dropped -- boo-boo #1 -- and then the other one doesn't explode -- boo-boo #2. Boo-boo upon boo-boo. Things that come in pairs. In the West, it's scissors, glasses, pants and the like -- in Russia, it's boo-boos as well.
    4
  3668.  @elonchu  Are you two wumaos having a good time?
    4
  3669.  @xAce99x  More than quarter of the UK's government debt is foreign-owned.
    4
  3670.  @calidude1114  They speak English, not Murican.
    4
  3671. Duh, Damascus just fell practically undefended.
    4
  3672. I wouldn't go that far. CDU/CSU are fiscally conservative, the Finnish SPD is anything but.
    4
  3673. It looks like Orban wants no friends in the EU. Not that they'd have him for a friend, mind you.
    4
  3674. I hope you can spare a thought for the innocent Gazans, too, who've been equally indiscriminately killed by the IDF.
    4
  3675.  @larryferd1510  Who's we? A smattering of pariah states, such as North Korea and Syria?
    4
  3676. Your understanding of military affairs is nothing to write home about. Finland and Sweden, together with Norway, form the northern flank of Fortress Europe. With both in NATO, it's now sealed against Russian incursions that would destabilise the whole of Europe, plus some. The Norwegians are rejoicing, and so are the Balts, but what do they know -- you're the military genius here. Even without NATO in the picture, Finland is Sweden's shield, but Sweden is Finland's strategic depth. Sweden has formidable aerial and naval assets that can swiftly be brought to bear on a Russian invasion force as long as Finland's equally formidable land army first delays and then traps the Russian invaders. However, if Russia were to attack a non-NATO Sweden only, for example by launching an amphibious attack against Gotland, Sweden would struggle to withstand it. With both countries in NATO, Russia's amphibious assault force would face strong resistance and counterattacks from three directions. Russia's attempt would be doomed from the start.
    4
  3677.  @denisgorjunov  You're barking up the wrong tree. Uncle Sam is not fighting in Ukraine. What is it with you Krembots and your eternal preoccupation with Murica? Zelenskyy is ready for negotiations, provided Putin conforms with UN resolution ES‑11/1, overwhelmingly adopted by the UN's General Assembly.
    4
  3678.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  Nah, we'll go ahead and forgo the extracurricular military adventurism and focus on keeping the Orcs in Mordor, who have quite a few bases just across the border. We're well above the prescribed 2% NATO standard and we do defence on the cheap, too, thanks to a well-regulated militia of citizen soldiers that has no equal on this continent. Not on yours either.
    4
  3679. ...all over the world.
    4
  3680.  @samuelweir5985  Give it time and Russia will have to answer to Beijing for its foreign policy decisions.
    4
  3681.  @haryballzonya  The Kiel Institute begs to differ with you on that score: the EU has clearly outspent the US on aid to Ukraine. Unlike you, they actually study these matters in detail.
    4
  3682. You didn't get the memo that she's dead? Oopsie.
    4
  3683.  @PassengersMusic777  What do you have against the Ottomans?
    4
  3684. Good idea. Russia could set an example. Let's have Russia's republics and oblasts vote about independence. See what gives. If it's a success, Ukraine could confidently follow Russia's example.
    4
  3685.  @julianbrelsford  Russia's chess masters have left the country. They can think ahead and they saw Russia losing.
    4
  3686.  @deven6518  No one in his right mind claims invincibility. However, there's no question that the Leopard 2 is by design more survivable than your average Russian tank. The carousel autoloaders with their exposed rounds make the latter inherently more vulnerable.
    4
  3687. Taiwan be damned, eh?
    4
  3688.  @pohatuthereactor1693  Gaining formal independence and being ruled by Beijing's communist autocrats are two different things. The latter isn't working out so well for Hong Kong, is it?
    4
  3689.  @Ksgggg  Did you read my comment, dum-dum?
    4
  3690. I don't see any bigotry except, perhaps, on your part.
    4
  3691. 0:13 T-34 in attendance, ready for service in Ukraine. Let the retro games begin. RuSSia can only hope Ukraine won't cheat by letting the Leopard 2s loose.
    4
  3692.  @prajwal1341  Ah, we're doing alternate realities, where imagination is the only limitation. Don't upvote your own posts.
    4
  3693. I totally agree, if that's what it takes to get Britain off the UN Security Council.
    4
  3694.  @Fleloniousrumpt  They need to hit a daily quota or there's a re-evaluation, to see if the sword is mightier than the pen in their case. In their defence, they're supermotivated for combat duty!
    4
  3695.  @lterry3876  The reunification of Germany was about self-determination of the German people. When democracy was finally reintroduced in East Germany, the electorate immediately voted in favour of reunification and in overwhelming fashion, too. By rights, the USSR didn't have a vote, and neither did the UK, France and the USA. You're still thinking in terms of spheres of influence, just like your ideological companions tovarish Molotov and Herr Ribbentrop. Get with the times, buddy.
    4
  3696.  @raskolnikov1461  Uh, you need help with comebacks and English. Start by looking up 'mental note'.
    4
  3697.  @kgjekdl  Nord Stream 1 and 2 were both unused, and would have remained so till they rusted through. There were some pity points in it for Russia. Russia sure likes to revel in victimhood.
    4
  3698.  @eveleung8855  By independent opinion pollsters, of course. Do you honestly think NATO is one? It was the electorate and their duly elected representatives, the MPs, who both decided overwhelmingly in favour of NATO membership. Did you think Finland's party-girl PM has dictatorial powers? The truth is that she held back expressing her opinion on the matter, so much so that her party lost the top spot in the polls (no, still not "NATO polls") and hasn't regained it since. She's can party on, because a second prime ministerial term is not on the cards for her. I see you completely ignored my question about whether or not the CCP enjoys a popular mandate. I understand -- you'd deal a lethal blow to your social credit score.
    4
  3699. If you bend that way. He's very hateful.
    4
  3700. The reason is that Russia is hosting this summit. Russia is a military aggressor that has been condemned as such by the UN, as per a resolution accepted by the UN General Assembly 141 to 5.
    4
  3701. When did we make you our spokesperson?
    4
  3702. Ukraine has too few Patriot systems to provide full coverage against cruise missiles, which are notoriously difficult to shoot down anyway. For reference, the Turks have been disappointed with the S-400, the Patriot's Russian counterpart, because S-400's poor performance in countering low-and-slow targets -- cruise missiles, for instance. It looks like Russia massively oversold the system, or Turkey somehow thought the laws of physics didn't apply.
    4
  3703. How are your English classes coming along? Did your troll farm manager approve them yet?
    4
  3704.  @smitprmr  Your respect from India doesn't change the fact that Trump never instilled much confidence globally. When Biden took over, he scored dramatically better, simply by not being Trump. Google "Pew Research" and "global confidence".
    4
  3705. You've got it backwards. Unlike the West, Russia very much wanted to be the colonial master in Ukraine, but to the Kremlin's surprise, Ukraine was having none of it. The Kremlin has now officially revised its estimate from two days to three years. Still, it's a long wait for Russia's inevitable defeat.
    4
  3706. It's not religious persecution; it's rightful persecution of hostile militants. Putin weaponised the Russian Orthodox Church. These monks are reaping the rewards.
    4
  3707. Your A-10s would be shot out of the sky in no time. They're no match against even older Soviet-era jet fighters.
    4
  3708. You're preparing to go hungry as well?
    4
  3709. Surely, with Brexit, this is not possible!
    4
  3710.  @CaliSteve169  You're cherry-picking. Airbus hasn't released its official numbers jet, but Bloomberg puts Airbus orders for 2023 at 2,000. Boeing trails far behind at 1,200.
    4
  3711.  @Howiex-is8gq  The bot deserves credit for novelty. It's a novel variation on the "loosing" misconjugation that bots habitually use.
    4
  3712.  @Devotee777  The ignoramus is confused. Russia has nuclear missiles in Kaliningrad, right next door to nuke-free Poland and the Baltics states.
    4
  3713. Your kids will have a hard time coping when they grow older.
    4
  3714.  @geoms6263  We don't want to go back that far in history.
    4
  3715. Rubio had better get used to clean-ups on aisle Trump.
    4
  3716. If we're playing the whataboutism game, what about China practicing slavery until 1949?
    4
  3717. @MSD Group You don't know? You struggle with English.
    4
  3718.  @joexavier4070  How would you define liberalism? The Murican way or the globally understood way?
    4
  3719. Nope, the boomerang will veer toward developing countries. You're not in the business of making friends, are you?
    4
  3720. Elon Musk has crossed over to the dark side.
    4
  3721.  @edwardphillips6738  We're a constitutional republic, and we're judged a top democracy, too, unlike the USA. I don't see any mutual exclusivity.
    4
  3722. Sweden delivered Archer SPHs to Ukraine, too. France is providing similar Caesars, which are proving an export success.
    4
  3723. The Evil Empire strikes again.
    4
  3724. It's deuced weird that other European countries don't have to choose between supporting Ukraine and funding their national health service. Why is only the UK facing such a choice?
    4
  3725. Don't you worry. We'll make sure to keep you at arm's length.
    4
  3726.  @nsevv  The F-14 Tomcat has long been retired -- except in Iran, where they can't replace the type.
    4
  3727. The far right does best when in the opposition. The burden of power is too much for them to bear. Sure enough, they buckle under the weight.
    4
  3728.  @cerezimsi5013  You're in a very self-congratulatory mood.
    4
  3729. You got your sovereignty back eight months ago and you haven't noticed?
    4
  3730. I hope Putin paid tribute to Russia's biggest submarine, the Moskva.
    4
  3731. You have no sense of proportion, Kath.
    4
  3732. That's what I was thinking, but when my fellow reservist shooters introduced me to ARs, I had a change of heart.
    4
  3733. It's only the US that exercises jurisdiction over Guantanamo.
    4
  3734.  @jam6636  Guantanamo has nothing to do with NATO. Likewise, the EU has no say over its members' territorial make-up. That said, the EU has made its members grant the same citizenship rights to those in their remaining overseas territories. Since that's a costly affair, some of the countries concerned would actually like to grant them independence, but the population seems to think otherwise. So, when will China decolonize Tibet, you think?
    4
  3735.  @jam6636  You're making up stories. NATO was bitterly divided over the Iraq War. There was no NATO backing, not for the war nor for the Guantanamo detention camp. Are you too young to know this or do you have a shoddy memory? How does Europe and Germany specifically enable the Americans' unpopular wars? Give specific examples, please -- your credibility is poor as it is.
    4
  3736.  @gabrielmoreira5580  Think global, act local.
    4
  3737. Yeah, Farage will get Brexit done. And the UK, done for.
    4
  3738.  @AaronOkeanos  Green energy, as in solar, wind and hydro, is susceptible to fluctuations in yield. Unless we find efficient ways of storing energy, nuclear energy is necessary to make up for the occasional lack of sunlight, wind or water.
    4
  3739.  @RUTHLESSambition5  Russia has a relatively high production cost for oil. Cheap oil spells economic doom. I'm afraid your New World Order will have to make do without Russia.
    4
  3740. You're from Kazakhstan, not Finland.
    4
  3741.    Thanks to the ICTY in the The Hague, Radovan Karadzic and Radko Mladic are both serving life sentences. Feel free to explain for what you think you deserves kudos.
    4
  3742.  @nudisco7882  Sun Tzu concurs.
    4
  3743. There are building codes and planning permissions. Knowing Germany, they are strict and rigorously enforced.
    4
  3744. Wat defaitisme betreft ben je goed bezig.
    4
  3745. Yup, when the laser detector goes off, it's 0.3s till impact.
    4
  3746.  @demonhalo67  But we've seen it all before. Britain whined to be let in. In 1973, you got lucky. Third time lucky.
    4
  3747. What's keeping you here? A compelling need to whine about it?
    4
  3748.  @rwmroy  "Primary pillager", was that a Freudian slip? If you're Chinese, your social credit score just suffered a body blow.
    4
  3749. 27 member states have to accept the plan. Ursula only makes the EU's intentions clear, she's not the one to decide. Study up on the workings of the EU and you'll appear much smarter.
    4
  3750.  @zankou5611  He's refusing payment in rubles. Potatoes are the bots' favoured currency. Not only do they keep the hunger pangs away, but also, in a pinch, they can be turned into vodka.
    4
  3751. There's no cake to be seen, but in the Brexiteers' defence, they didn't eat it.
    4
  3752. Propping up a moribund repressive regime isn't quite right either.
    4
  3753. *American-Dutch.
    4
  3754. Get a room, you two.
    4
  3755.  @Alec72HD  You've tried your pseudo-intellectual mumbo-jumbo on me before. I'm not going to entertain you again.
    4
  3756. Make that a few of us wondering. Only the Not-so-United States of Murica and a smattering of ministates still use the obsolescent Fahrenheit scale.
    4
  3757. No, that's you living out your fantasies.
    4
  3758. Whatever gave you that idea? Austria, Cyprus, Ireland and Malta are in the EU, but not in NATO.
    4
  3759. So, will they remind Putin of WW1, when Germany didn't make significant inroads to Russia?
    4
  3760. They have an international branding issue. The 'Basic Finns' would be appropriate in more ways than one.
    4
  3761.  @Freedomfighters55  A Jan 6 rioter got shot to death by the Capitol police. 138 police officers were injured. Isn't that violent enough for you?
    4
  3762. The television ratings worldwide suggest you're rather alone with your opinion.
    4
  3763. Which part of the report didn't you understand? "Underfunded", "effectively part-time" or "just enough support to survive"? Lebanon is a failed state. Hezbollah's and Israel's forever war isn't helping.
    4
  3764. For your info, Munich hasn't seen this much snow since they started keeping records. 44 cm of snow is even exceptional for New York City, which is subject to the lake effect of the Great Lakes. Murican much?
    4
  3765.  @marcuskingstanley9522  *Moat? American tourists in particular luuurve Paris. They make it across despite "the pond". You're stuck in past grandeur. Being too preoccupied with one's historic success prevents one from looking forward. Mind you, France suffers from the same ailment, but I think you've got it worse than them.
    4
  3766. Watch Ukraine win.
    4
  3767. The Space Karen will just make more noise if he's ignored.
    4
  3768.  @A_Takacs  No hypocrisy. As a EU member, Hungary is expected to meet the so-called Copenhagen criteria, according to which Hungary is to preserve democratic governance and human rights, have a functioning market economy, and accept the obligations and intent of the European Union. If you don't abide by those rules, there's the door. You can leave on your own accord, or be escorted out.
    4
  3769.  @TheMusic4Soul  The word you're looking for is *expect. No, it is not a well-known fact that Russia has the best judiciary in the world. In fact, the very opposite is true: Russia's judiciary is widely seen to flout even the most basic principles of rule of law.
    4
  3770.  @roll-outcommanders6520  I can't spot any content in your reply either. You must be a YouTube noob, so I'll explain. I have a secondary profile, to throw off stalkers such as yourself.
    4
  3771.  @fujihita2500  Ukraine can trace its national identity back to the 9th century. There's nothing to suggest that Ukraine has played a role in colonising Southeast Asia. Yet, for some reason, you think this is a payback moment. Since we're doing guilt by association -- or should I say guilt by geographical proximity -- can I hold you responsible for Pol Pot's heinous crimes against humanity? How about the Nanking Massacre? Russia is an Asian power, too. It should concern you if someone in your region turns rogue. Next, you may be on the receiving end.
    4
  3772.  @duckcensorship7446  Absolutely. They elected Trump, didn't they? I can't think of any other explanation than that the Americans didn't have their brains on them in the voting booth.
    4
  3773. Not on Putin's terms, no. Appeasing dictators bent on territorial expansion doesn't end well.
    4
  3774.  @mikeharris7780  France and Spain supplied Panzer IVs to Syria as well.
    4
  3775. Decolonisation is problematic.
    4
  3776.  @Svjitghy  Bots can't tell cause and consequence apart.
    4
  3777.  @DavidSibley040461  "David", you're mixing up the Gulf War and the Iraq War. If there's an error in your troll handbook, report it to your troll factory manager, please. Also, "do no aggression" sounds odd from an Anglo-Saxon. We can't have you revealing your true identity straight away, can we? No fun otherwise.
    4
  3778.  @yarnickgoovaerts  I thought I made it clear that I have had military training and how it was demonstrated to me that older tanks are more vulnerable to modern anti-tank weapons than more recent ones. Of course tanks are scary, but as an infrantryman you arm yourself accordingly. We trained extensively with anti-tank mines and rocket launchers, some of which were becoming increasingly ineffective as tanks grew more resilient. For example, we had to stack two 10 kg AT mines to score a mobility kill against a T-72, while with the T-54/55 one sufficed. Likewise, a single LAW hit could destroy a T-54, but for the T-72 it was estimated that four hits were needed. Progress, in other words.
    4
  3779. I fear you'll have to fight your colonial wars elsewhere. No suck luck here.
    4
  3780. Duh!
    4
  3781. 0:18 "We learned in the GDR. We are not easily taken in by our leaders" Huh? The hapless 'Ossies' were taken in by their leaders for more than fifty years.
    4
  3782.  @anonanon7235  The question is whether or not Russia has engaged in brutal colonialism. The answer is a resolute yes. Russia hasn't busied itself with Africa yet, but give it time.
    4
  3783.  @Kitiwake  Every Finn remembers the empty promises made by the UK in 1939, during the Winter War. Self-servingly, Britain was after Sweden's iron ore. Helping Finland was just an excuse.
    4
  3784. Ericsson and Nokia are ranked 2 and 3 market share-wise in mobile network infrastructure. Both have pulled out of the Russian market, as has the number one, China's Huawei, who're supposed to be chummy with Russia. Mobile networks are considered strategic, as Huawei has found out to its detriment. Phones are more like a commodity. Still, I could start about Russia's first great hope, Yota Phone, which barely registered as a blip on the world radar before it went belly up. Or the next great hope, the AYYA, which runs a Finnish OS copy/knock-off. But let's leave your humiliation at that.
    4
  3785. Is that a random thought that occurred in a jumbled mind, or do you have anything to back up your claim?
    4
  3786. It seems like the cargo is more valuable than the ship.
    4
  3787. No, Putin must withdraw his forces from Ukraine as per UNGA resolution ES-11/1.
    4
  3788.  @kevt3318  Ever heard of the GFA? You don't sound very clever.
    4
  3789. The point here is that the US wants to be polyamorous.
    4
  3790. We zijn het eens. De Russen dus.
    4
  3791. @Jay I studied both classical Greek and Latin. If you do well at it, it means you're good at rote learning. Intelligence is another matter altogether.
    4
  3792. To-may-to, to-mah-to. It's not like the EU is expanding by military force, like Russia tries to.
    4
  3793. Who needs English tuition if you have a Russian-English dictionary.
    4
  3794. Britain needs a changing of the guard at 10 Downing Street.
    4
  3795.  @mmtravel9726  I guess there are many ways to lose people. Their hearts and minds, for example.
    4
  3796. He's a statesman alright. He should've landed von der Leyen's job as commission president.
    4
  3797. I would think Central Europe has no choice because of Russia. They're tired of being Russia's doormat.
    4
  3798.  @Donut-d3t  Yet the US trade imbalance with Europe drives Trump up the wall. Explain that.
    4
  3799. Sure, people are alerted to the threat that the extreme right-wing poses.
    4
  3800. So you're saying that you're dead to the French government. I don't think they even realised that you existed.
    4
  3801. Kremenchuk is nowhere near the front, dum-dum. With its current rate of advance, Russia would reach the city in 2034.
    4
  3802. You're confused with the French, who take a dim view of military rifles and cartridges in civilian hands. There are still a lot of Finnish Mosin-Nagants around in Finland, including my grandfather's that I keep in my gun cabinet. I bagged my first elk (that's moose for the Americans) with it. Sako, too, still makes the bespoke 7.62x53R ammunition for them. The same goes for 7.62x39, which I used with my Sako M92S.
    4
  3803. At civilians, that is. Militarily, the effect is negligible. They're clearly out of ideas.
    4
  3804. Left, not far left. Pay attention.
    4
  3805. CSTO is well and truly down the toilet then.
    4
  3806. OK ultranationalist.
    4
  3807. I've heard of the LDPR. They're well-represented in the Russian State Duma.
    4
  3808.  @Randomized91  The ruble has also dropped against the Chinese yuan. Chinese exporters reportedly have suspended their business with Russian e-commerce platforms for fear of currency exchange losses. Also, Chinese banks increasingly refuse to do business with their Russian counterparts for fear of being sanctioned themselves.
    4
  3809. They can preach, but the USA ranks as a flawed democracy. Trump is a symptom: his rise to power was a result of a growing distrust in democratic institutions in the US.
    4
  3810. Russia is like a naughty child that craves attention.
    4
  3811. Head-on? Winning? The self-delusion is strong with you.
    4
  3812. Your cracked Indian periscope onto European politics needs fixing.
    4
  3813.  @xinyiquan666  When did I praise the US? Your imagination is running wild. I merely noted that the US are within their rights to traverse this area as they please. It's not about the US per se. It might as well be Japan or any other country that flies their planes there. I see you can neither stay on topic nor keep a civil tongue, so this discussion is over as far as I'm concerned.
    4
  3814. You'd think the Russians could spare a hardened aircraft shelter for such a rarity.
    4
  3815.  @paulgennson  141 countries condemned Russia for its brutal invasion of Ukraine. 5 were against. That is pretty much the whole world.
    4
  3816.  @babblo1389  Why would you want referendums and people's rights? You're a Putin troll. Putin trolls couldn't care less about giving power to the people.
    4
  3817. You think Russia will turn to France when they start re-equipping their depleted tank force?
    4
  3818. I suppose so, if you're American and haven't come to terms with socialism. Or if you're a wacky conspiracy theorist and dread cultural Marxism.
    4
  3819. No, you're not. Macron called him home. Why lie?
    4
  3820. There come the conspiracy theories...
    4
  3821. You're funny. None of your great heroes was ever democratically elected.
    4
  3822.  @dragilxcom4176  Not so. Estonia is quite defensible against an attack from the east. You should study up on WW2 history.
    4
  3823.  @frostflower5555  What exactly happened in Donbas between 2014 and 2022 that the Ukrainians supposedly ignored? The OSCE monitors recorded every shell impact during the conflict. None of the allegations you Krembots keep making is even hinted at in the OSCE reports. The Kremlin fomented violence in Donbas, got exactly that and now blames Kiyv for resisting.
    4
  3824.  @maurx6179  Would you like to have a crack at fleshing out your opinion? It's all bone now.
    4
  3825.  @raymondadams7570  Whatever. I suspect you're just too dim-witted to understand what you've lost.
    4
  3826.  @maurx6179  Nowadays colonies are just a drain on government coffers. The problem is not how to keep them, but how to get rid of them. I was alluding to Britain's diminished political clout, the dramatic drop in exports and the fast-sinking GDP.
    4
  3827. It has seemed like that for two and a half years. And now more so than ever.
    4
  3828.  @kremzle5688  I bet somewhere where the nuclear winter sets in. On earth, in other words. It would be interesting to observe if our starving "Philip" resorts to cannibalism or falls victim to it.
    4
  3829.  @hourbee5535  Assad's Syria used Russian kit, too, to shoot down a Russian maritime patrol aircraft in 2018.
    4
  3830. Huh? The Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson *offensives were smashing successes. Russia can only dream of similar success.
    4
  3831.  @parrotcraft7503  Your reading comp failed you. I haven't even started about Soviet crimes. Whataboutism may be naff and puerile, but it's not deemed a crime. For your info, the Soviets practically invented whataboutism.
    4
  3832.  @parrotcraft7503  Which language was that?
    4
  3833.  @dmitryletov8138  So, tell me, if you were in court accused of murder, would you have your attorney counter every piece evidence that the prosecution produces with equally damning evidence from another, unrelated case? You don't seem to know the first thing about legal precedents.
    4
  3834.  @barryfield-o4y  Not my strong point? One of my masters is in history. How about you, any academic achievements in the field? Naval Station Guantanamo Bay is leased from Cuba. There's an open-ended contract to that effect. So no invasion there either.
    4
  3835.  @JC-rr1wu  Krembots, too, need to eat. Although, I think we're dealing with an outsourced Indian Krembot here.
    4
  3836.  @PixelZoft Putin has no trouble recruiting trolls -- they are a dime a dozen -- but sophisticated weapon systems are beyond his means.
    4
  3837.  @account-369  Who's pulling whom by the nose? If Serbia wants to better itself by seemingly complying with the EU's accession criteria, it's no skin off our backs if you do, even if you consistently fall short. Serbia will be less of a powder keg that way -- less Balkan wars, in other words.
    4
  3838. *Vive. And it's not happening, she says.
    4
  3839. We rather like your spices. In fact, there's an Indian grocery store a bowshot away from my place. They do brisk business, and Indian expats form a minority of their customer base.
    4
  3840. You missed the part where the Orcs retreated headlong from Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson.
    4
  3841. What from do they need saving?
    4
  3842.  @Charlie-yv8dd  Juliana was ook al een dikkertje op jongere leeftijd. Het kwam goed uit dat ze geld had en Bernhard juist niet. Er was vraag en er was aanbod.
    4
  3843. So you really like Scandinavia's Saamis. I like them, too, them being the only officially recognised indigenous people in Europe. Plus some in Russian Europe, but I suppose they don't really identify as Europeans. Where do you plan to go, by the way?
    4
  3844.  @jeffreydumez7271  Don't be cheeky. The Russians can hit a barn with uncanny precision -- if they fire the missile from the inside.
    4
  3845. There's absolutely no need for us to feel jealous. 73% of the world's nations oppose Russia's aggression. Russia's supporters are few and far between, and international pariahs in their own right.
    4
  3846. More like got bored and left.
    4
  3847.  @gabenewell3955  Russia and China are both authoritarian states and they've seen strongmen arise in Putin and Xi. The cults of personality are there, too. Dictator is just the right word to describe the both of them.
    4
  3848.  @zhugeliang3905  The national dish of England has been Chicken Tikka Masala for some time already.
    4
  3849.  @oizorref2615  Your arbitrary National Security Law makes it possible to brings terrorism charges against someone who breaks the tail light on a public bus. Hong Kong went over to the dark side when it was passed.
    4
  3850.  @mistressfreezepeach  Ah, the ever so childish 'no, you are' defence.
    4
  3851. Racism in England, mainly. Are you surprised? English football fans are known to be the very worst.
    4
  3852. This pope has style.
    4
  3853. France is the world's top tourist destination. So, no wonder foreign pickpockets make a beeline for Paris.
    4
  3854.  @alexlazar4738  You're ignoring the fact that Russian-speakers don't equate to ethnic Russians. Try suggesting to the Irish -- or the Americans, for that matter -- that they're English on account of the language that they speak and hence, their countries should the rejoin the British Empire without further delay.
    4
  3855. The new cadre of junior officers needs to grow some more.
    4
  3856. Niger should have a referendum about it, like an election. Oh, wait...
    4
  3857. You're basically accusing the whole of Europe of being greedy. You don't get along with your neighbours, do you?
    4
  3858. Het was mooi toen de Canadese bevrijders nog leefden en een bezoek brachten aan het Keukenhof. We mochten als schoolkinderen bloemen aan hen uitreiken. Een paar konden hun tranen niet bedwingen. Wij dus ook niet.
    4
  3859. Those are not mutually exclusive terms.
    4
  3860. Rigged by liberal lunatics? Did it register with you that Scott Morrison and his Liberal Party won, together with the National Party of Australia?
    4
  3861.  @mbarbe007  How does this supposed corruption of yours work if you consider that Germany just had a new government installed? The CDU/CSU had to bow out, while their erstwhile junior coalition partner, the SPD, continues in the current coalition government, together with the FPD and The Greens. Most leading politicians in government have been replaced, which leaves only SPD leaders as corruption suspects. That ought to narrow things down, enough for you to pinpoint the corrupt ones. Have a go at naming them -- or could it be you're just peddling conspiracy theories?
    4
  3862. You should ask yourself why the self-proclaimed No. 2 army in the world needs an irregular bunch of convicts led by a former convict, who hasn't had any military training, to capture a small city. Tellingly, said former convict wants to pull out now, to save himself the indignity of surrendering the city to the encircling Ukrainians.
    4
  3863. Rather than whine, you may want to elaborate on what they missed.
    4
  3864. What a joke you are. You're not content with leaving a club, you want to to burn it down, too. Anti-social members are best expelled.
    4
  3865. You trolls always get the Iraq War wrong. It bitterly divided NATO, even before the Americans unilaterally invaded. In fact, Russia was more amenable to military action against Saddam than many NATO members. You should have a course about it in troll school.
    4
  3866.  @wolfswinkel8906  Russia was defeated by tribesmen in sandals. Sounds familiar?
    4
  3867.  @wolfswinkel8906  Oh dear, how forgetful you are. You claimed that "Russia cannot be defeated". I showed that Russia was defeated by tribesmen is sandals. With your analogy, you're lending credence to my point. Russia can and has been defeated. Should we delve into the First Chechen War, too? Or WW1?
    4
  3868. Uh, Le Pen wasn't in the running for the PM role. That was supposed to be Bardella. And Marine can now write the presidency on her belly, too.
    4
  3869. Uh, nothing changed. And the move is addressing the imbalance created when Russia's deployed its Iskanders in Kaliningrad and Belarus. You should ask what Putin was thinking -- didn't the 4D chess master foresee a reaction from NATO? Also, don't forget to wonder what the Russian people think of their bunker grandpa painting crosshairs on them. Tackle the root cause first. The consequence is literally secondary.
    4
  3870. Nope, Russia's Lada class has yet to see air-independent propulsion, which even according to optimistic estimates (and they always are) will only appear in the middle of this decennium. Your precious Ladas can run but not hide.
    4
  3871. You're naive to think we're naive. It has happened oh-so many times, and in the West, too. Franchisees exit franchises all the time.
    4
  3872.  @ricardosoto5512  The same can be said about the difficulty of refining Urals crude. Sulfur is not the only contaminant, but there's blood, too. Blood oil would be a better term for it than sour oil. And unlike the sulfur, the blood cannot be removed.
    4
  3873.  @alexsilent5603  The real question is, why pour scarce funds into hypersonic missiles that have no civilian applications? They're vanity projects befitting a president-for-life of a modern-day banana republic. As for space rockets, you've clearly failed to grasp -- despite my earlier hints -- how Elon Musk just redefined space flight. All around the world, a deep sigh could be heard from the Russian space agency, who can't sell rides on their obsolete Soviet-era kit any longer. Sure, repressive despotic regimes could buy some extra time with nukes, but there's no room for such regimes in the modern world anyway. We've seen their long-suffering subjects express their feelings on the matter very clearly. Besides, Russia didn't trust the dictators in question with nuclear weapons either. How exactly are Trump's silly wall and the BLF protests holding the world hostage? The former only affects poor Mexicans who can't afford a plane ticket, while the latter have forced the more progressive among the former colonial powers -- which obviously excludes Russia -- to take a cold, hard look in the mirror. I call that a good thing.
    4
  3874.  @thebestevertherewas  I fail to see any relevance to the topic at hand in your comment. Try again. And leave off the conspiracy theories.
    4
  3875. Don't we all. India is busily trying to flog the HAL Tejas "fighter" wherever it can. Too bad it's got a US engine, which means the Americans get to have their say-so about prospective customers. I suppose the indigenous Kaveri engine is effectively in the bin.
    4
  3876. Aw. Why don't the "victims" join the CSTO? Oh, it's defunct. I forgot.
    4
  3877.  kashmir pandit  Ukraine absolutely deserves it, too. Thanks to Ukraine, Russia -- and China -- will think twice before acting on their imperialist ambitions.
    4
  3878.  @rickschroth9869  Be that as it may about Brits all(?) driving German cars, but in this day and age, Germany is deemed the more democratic of the two. Sadly, the US has fallen behind both. Lend-Lease was a success, I guess. Germany and Britain ought to give some back, so that the US can catch up.
    4
  3879. One Schröder does not a Germany make. He's not exactly been a mainstream politician for a long while.
    4
  3880. Really now? Last year, my erstwhile neighbour from Holland sailed to the Red Sea onboard his frigate, as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian. He's a bit of a wild one, so maybe he's cavorting somewhere in Thailand instead? Maybe they all are, the US sailors included. You insult your own.
    4
  3881.  @darkmatter5424  You're missing the point. Why did she resort to doping and risk disqualification and a ban? It's weirder still if the drug in question, trimetazidine, isn't performance-enhancing, as you claim. It's not like anyone pops TMZ pills for their taste. There are, however, some indications that TMZ allows an athlete to train harder and longer. That won't go amiss if you're going to the Olympics. You seem more concerned about how she got caught rather than the fact that she did get caught. Weird, weird, weird!
    4
  3882.  @speakup18  Aw. Will all African countries stage a coup d'état and kick the French out?
    4
  3883. And parading is what the Russians do best. They must be heartbroken that it has come to this.
    4
  3884.  @TyinAlaska  There's more reason to be concerned about the erosion of democracy in the US. There have been no recent attacks on the Reichstag, after all.
    4
  3885.  @amadeuz8161  It's worthwhile noting that while these countries have been generous, they're being reimbursed by the EU for the weapons they're sending to Ukraine. Especially Estonia is using this EPF scheme to upgrade its military. As a frontline NATO member, Estonia's new weapons won't go amiss, but it is gaming the system.
    4
  3886. Here's an idea. Why don't you hop over to mainland China? There, you can experience the full love of the CCP.
    4
  3887.  @user-fgh21  Ben je al lang lid van 'Complotdenkers voor Poetin'? Betaalt het goed? Toch geen roebels, hè.
    4
  3888. Can it eject its turret? Otherwise it's not really a Russian light tank.
    4
  3889. "The entire internet" as in you and a smattering of other malcontents in a YouTube comment section? The TV ratings suggest something else altogether.
    4
  3890. France led the Allies to victory in WW1, bleeding itself white in the process. Know your history (which you clearly don't).
    4
  3891.  @jimmyripshite9024  Take your pick from 141 countries that officially supported Ukraine at the UNGA. It's too tiresome to list them all.
    4
  3892. Maybe a flaming phoenix bird struck it.
    4
  3893.  @Carl-p3e7z  Arbitrary? They are the tenets of the EU. Compliance -- or the current lack of it -- is indeed work in progress for Ukraine. For Hungary, it's a case of abandonment.
    4
  3894. You're mixing up the Kinzhal and the Iskander. The Kinzhal was to be Putler's unstoppable V-2, but alas, no. The Patriot showed its mettle by downing at least one.
    4
  3895. You could do worse. Oh yeah, you did.
    4
  3896.  @ttVegas1  No, I'm right and you're wrong. At the 2014 Wales summit, NATO members, for the very first time, committed to the 2% GDP defence spending target, by 2024. You should get your dates correct and add that you're musing about what might be.
    4
  3897. The record-breaking world-wide TV ratings suggest something entirely different, but let's trust your judgement instead. If it's posted in a YouTube comment section, it must be true.
    4
  3898.  @danascully6670  The Russians would vote Putin's horse in as consul.
    4
  3899. Oh, Russia is economically in dire straits, but it's in denial till there's a collapse. Soon enough, we'll have to send aid -- once again.
    4
  3900.  @TheShrike616  They're not just wet dreams. The Swedish Strix mortar round seeks out enemy armour autonomously. Top attack is implied, so even the heaviest of MBTs will struggle to survive a hit.
    4
  3901.  @Anamorgan200  For your info, the vote wasn't split along religious lines.
    4
  3902.  @treverblanco  So true, even because of self-injurious behaviour. Schizophrenics are prone to suicide.
    4
  3903.  @ee9546  Sure, "the West" has outsourced much of its manufacturing to China, but it can outsource it to other countries with cheap labour, too. In fact, the latter is an ongoing trend.
    4
  3904.  @danielwhyatt3278  *Hear, *hear
    4
  3905. It's no laughing matter. The WWF should put Russian generals on the critically endangered list.
    4
  3906. The rails are easily replaced, but if the reinforced concrete suffered heat damage in the fire -- which it probably did -- the whole bridge span needs replacing.
    4
  3907.  @Kneejair  They did have a civil war. The Northern Alliance successfully kept the Taliban out of Northern Afghanistan before NATO troops arrived.
    4
  3908.  @bryandimery6509  The truth is, Ukraine has had trouble keeping up with the Russian troops retreating pell-mell. Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson -- each time, the Russian exit was rather swift. I would almost say the Russians are expert at retreating, but then again, they do tend to leave much of their heavy weapons behind. That can't be right.
    4
  3909. The coronavirus doesn't have a monopoly on death.
    4
  3910.  @a564-c3q  Putin trolls are getting more desperate by the day.
    4
  3911. Pretence, is that a good coping strategy? Or is it self-delusion?
    4
  3912. Who would that "migrant" be?
    4
  3913. A defensive pact implies that North Korea would rush to Russia's aid when the latter is attacked. Russia did the attacking here. What you're talking about is an aggression pact.
    4
  3914. So you think only foreigners are imprisoned?
    4
  3915. China sure is trying out a lot of shapes and sizes for its spycraft.
    4
  3916. Which territories has NATO conquered and annexed lately? Or ever?
    4
  3917. Drama queen.
    4
  3918. Putting down the public is a no-no.
    4
  3919. It's too bitter a pill to swallow for those oil-producing countries that have little else going for them, but swallow they will, one way or the other.
    4
  3920. Opportunism is part and parcel of far-right politics.
    4
  3921. I would say commemorate rather than celebrate. And you can celebrate the heroism of those involved, no matter what the outcome. Any war heroes in your family?
    4
  3922. He hasn't set foot in any of the 124 countries that have signed the Rome Statute. I don't think he will either.
    4
  3923. ​ Joseph Kaluwa  Non-lethal, you say? Dawn Sturgess most definitely died from the Novichok in the perfume bottle that Putin's assassins discarded.
    4
  3924.  @maverick7291  Uh, I'm centre right in my political outlook, but I realise that if you're on the extreme right yourself, pretty much everyone is politically to the left of you. OK, you have to be a bit self-centred, too, but I think you qualify. To be honest, I don't see much of the far left these days. Are you sure you would even recognise a communist if you stumbled on one? Your lack of perspective suggests you're too young for that. I travelled to the USSR when it was at its lowest ebb. Never seen such drabness. You should at least try to read about it, so you can put things into perspective. And don't upvote your own comments -- we've talked about this.
    4
  3925. Heil Trump.
    4
  3926.  @GiftigeBalspuwer  Een militaire *coup in Oekraïne in 2014? Dus de Oekraïense strijdkrachten hebben toen een staatsgreep gepleegd? Is er een generaal aangesteld als president? Frappant. Je bent de eerste die over zoiets begint. Weet je zeker dat het geen verzinsel betreft? Hebben we het over speculatieve fictie?
    4
  3927. It's interesting that US psychologist come in various political flavours. How about a fact-based apolitical variety, do you make those, too?
    4
  3928. Actually, till Erdogan suddenly came up with his ruse to extort concessions from NATO and/or the US, Finland and Turkey were on amicable terms. Arms sales weren't really an issue, after a Finnish manufacturer of military-grade armour set up shop in Turkey after having an export license revoked. As a bit of an industry insider, I know both parties are very happy with the alternative, which increased Turkey's self-reliance, too. Ironically, Finland still has a lingering problem with Greece on account of the latter's fiscal irresponsibility, which eventually sparked the European Debt Crisis. Finnish tourists gave Greece a miss and opted for Turkey instead, but I guess the pendulum is swinging to the other extreme now. Kurds, like any ethnicity, are eligible for political asylum in Finland. Sometimes they're granted asylum, too, but never terrorists. I hope you realise Turkey is burning bridges left, right and centre.
    4
  3929. It wouldn't be a first for ECOWAS.
    4
  3930.  @brandonlance3601  The Nuland Conspiracy Theory is old even by Russian standards. Change the record.
    4
  3931. In your wet dreams. A superpower needs an economy to match. Even for a regional power, Russia's economy is weak.
    4
  3932.  @kupper123  The central business district is commonly referred to as Saigon.
    4
  3933. She's consorting with a dubious character all right.
    4
  3934. He didn't mention clubbing baby seals to death either. Should he have?
    4
  3935.  @revyval2128  What if the Russian proxies are neo-Nazis, too? Russian fighters in Donbass openly flew Zhirinovsky's LDPR flags till the Kremlin thought it awkward and ordered them to keep a lid on it.
    4
  3936. It adds insult to injury that Hungary still gets to draw money from the newly-devised EU defence pot, only to strengthen its fifth column within the EU.
    4
  3937. Sorry, you've made yourselves dependent on Ukrainian grain.
    4
  3938.  @Seastallion  There's an agreement about 2% of GDP. Actually, the US itself spends about 1.7% on NATO. Someone ought to tip off Trump.
    4
  3939. Because Ukraine isn't as asinine as to send in tanks unprotected, Russia-style. You can bet your bottom dollar that the art of combined operations has been drilled into Ukrainian troops.
    4
  3940.  @jannarkiewicz633  Have you tried raking those forests like Trump told you to?
    4
  3941. You've got the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance mixed up. Putler's Russia is analogous to the tyrannical Galactic Empire -- the Dark Side -- since he's an autocrat as well.
    4
  3942.  @Mike-y6g8s  You said it yourself: "also".
    4
  3943.  @catherineleslie-faye4302  Russia is currently seeing professionals and the rich leave for greener pastures. I don't know if that's common enough for you, but it's gotta hurt.
    4
  3944.  @leaderofmass  Bitter? I have no dog in this fight, "bro", so I'm not blinded by nationalism. If you insist on playing the hypocrisy card, there's plenty of hypocrisy in India's human rights record. As a matter of fact, France easily outscores India in human rights according to the Freedom in the World index. France is in 39th place; India, 87th. You needn't worry about Europe in general either. Just about all European countries do better than India.
    4
  3945. Before you toot your own horn, you should know that a Dutch sub managed the same feat during a NATO exercise in 1999, "sinking" USS Theodore Roosevelt and escaping, too. That was six years prior to Sweden's me-too performance.
    4
  3946.  @UkraineNeeds  The Dutch colonies were predominantly in the West Indies and the East Indies. Why just focus on Africa in condemning colonialism? For good measure, you might as well include Siberia and the parts of Central Asia and the Far East that Russia colonises to this day.
    4
  3947. If you do a modicum of research, you'll find that Greenland is geographically part of the North American continent. It's autonomous, too. Also, Greenland is not in the EU.
    4
  3948. It'll be a welcome change not to have to pour billions in development aid to these countries. The thing is, our government is about to pass a law that cancels all development aid to developing countries that are sympathetic to Russia's military aggression in Ukraine. So, it's up to Russia to plug the gap. Hahahahaha... who am I kidding?
    4
  3949. The EU is enabling cultural appropriation. Can we have cabbage made from meat?
    4
  3950. Speaking of Russian objectives, regime change in Kyiv remains elusive as ever. However, regime change in Moscow is coming along nicely, slowly but surely.
    4
  3951. Your hero Putin is.
    4
  3952. Rather than denying Ukraine the means to defend itself, shouldn't you address the root of the problem, i.e. Russia terrorising Ukraine?
    4
  3953. Tell us more about your juicy conspiracy theory. Who's behind it all? Don't act mysterious.
    4
  3954.  @piotr.leniec-lincow5209  Sigh. You're still waxing lyrical about past Soviet grandeur. Let's talk about the here and now. Three out of four of Russia's commercial aircraft are of foreign manufacture, and hence, subject to sanctions.
    4
  3955. You're plagiarising yourself.
    4
  3956.  @jimmyjames754  Glory to brutal invaders? When will you learn?
    4
  3957. Rather, Macron alluded to the fact you're not that reliable an ally with a loose cannon like Trump calling the shots.
    4
  3958. Nice try. Sun Tzu got it right 2,500 years ago: "Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness".
    4
  3959.  @soniamolcho6689  “Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation,” Avner Cohen, a former Israeli religious affairs official who worked in Gaza for more than two decades, told the Wall Street Journal in 2009.
    4
  3960. It's a moot point, because Turkey doesn't make the grade. Turkey falls woefully short of the Copenhagen criteria.
    4
  3961. Explain. Muricans with guns on another continent isn't helping.
    4
  3962.  @hansdampf640  I'm afraid your training left something to be desired. Anyhoo, to let you out of your misery, the manufacturer, Dynamit Nobel Defence, lists penetration of the standard Pzf3 as 1,600mm in concrete, whereas that of steel is 700mm. Over to you, Besserwisser.
    4
  3963. I see it the other way around. The UK thinks it's entitled to member privileges even after leaving and ceasing membership fee payments. You should personally use this approach with one of London's members-only clubs and see how it goes.
    4
  3964. @Peacewar2020 For your info, the EU helps itself first and foremost on a national level. Several nations -- Hungary, Slovakia and Austria are cases in point -- have neglected to help themselves and are now crying out. They were warned well in advance. The EU is not a daycare centre.
    4
  3965.  @summer031977  I think it's spot on.
    4
  3966.  @adinnaikhwani6255  Turkey's neighbours need Turkey like a hole in the head.
    4
  3967. No-one's buying that. Even Russia and China can barely disguise their amusement at Orban's silly antics.
    4
  3968. It's not AI, so no danger.
    4
  3969.  @oceanwave4502  Don't generalise. This concerns the UK. Besides, China is stingy with aid, but lavish with loans. The latter come with strings attached.
    4
  3970. So Trump pardons his brownshirts.
    4
  3971. Once upon a time, an American couple asked me in passable French how to get to the Louvre. The accent was obvious, so I switched to English. I explained patiently that they needed to take the Thalys high-speed rail service to Paris, because they were in Brussels. Wrong country. Sorry, couldn't resist.
    4
  3972.  @davidjones-wt2qq  Since we're doing whataboutism, the USA didn't fall apart after the Vietnam War either. Different strokes for different folks.
    4
  3973.  @наташа-картошкина  Learn English.
    4
  3974. That's a novel conspiracy theory. Is it yours? If so, try using more reality.
    4
  3975. So, Putin has finally forced the Russian Air Force, whose performance has been lacklustre so far, to adopt a more aggressive posture. This is the result.
    4
  3976.  @MRT-co1sd  I wouldn't count on its. Norway, a founding member of NATO, has always made it clear that there won't be any nukes on Norwegian soil. It's likely that Finland and Sweden will adopt the same stance. The same goes for permanent NATO bases.
    4
  3977. Rather than clap your thighs like a fishwife, you should educate us what "the West" is missing. Unless you haven't got a clue.
    4
  3978.  @alexlazar4738  OK, you've gotten off your lazy bum and bothered to come up with some talking points of your own. Interestingly, kleptocracy and crony capitalism are mostly associated with Russia and China. Russia has its oligarchs and rampant corruption, while China's CCP has made sure it has guaranteed access to the trough. Corruption makes for nice bonuses. But why your fixation with the US? Europe has a completely different social model, and its economic model, while not completely immune, is much less subject to corporate interests. It looks like you need to find your way to a more US-centric discussion forum.
    4
  3979. Losses do matter for Russia. When casualties start piling up among the Muscovites and Petersburgians, they suddenly matter.
    4
  3980.  @toushiqurrahman  Recent history suggests otherwise...
    4
  3981.  @HabahabaYerry  Not quite, but look at Gazprom's losses. It looks like Russia's cash cow is going dry.
    4
  3982. Ah, an all-knowing conspiracy theorist weighs in. Just what we needed.
    4
  3983.  @julianpetkov8320  A Russian called Finland corrupt? Russia rates as very corrupt, while Finland rates as very clean.
    4
  3984. He should patriotise without EU money, but nooo, he can't do without.
    4
  3985. The Pyörremyrsky would've just as easily fallen apart because of the poor glue.
    4
  3986.  @josephjoseph1981  I see you're a proponent of rewarding aggressors. Ukraine is no threat to Russia; vice versa, very much so. Putin is behaving like an abusive ex-husband, who's overcome by feelings of jealousy and abandonment.
    4
  3987. Not only that, it has a cleaning effect on the gene pool, too.
    4
  3988.  @denisniwemugisha4020  And I've lived in the same three continents and Asia. For the Western world, colonialism -- in the true sense of the word -- is well and truly over except for little remnants that the former colonial powers can't seem to get rid of. However, if you really need a cause, Russia and China are worthy ones. Russia is at it under our very noses.
    4
  3989. The Russians could also run their already wonky economy into the ground.
    4
  3990. In the late eighties, I had the privilege of smuggling electronic parts to then-Soviet Estonia, intended for local radio amateurs. It's sad to see the Russians are still at it, trying to subdue their neighbours, but at least Estonia is secure now.
    4
  3991. Russia is squirming at the sight of this.
    4
  3992. Belarus should leave the sinking Russian ship. If Lukashenka doesn't agree, he could walk the plank.
    4
  3993. In Israel? Gaza isn't Israel.
    4
  3994.  @joydeep3928  Would that be China's new northern province, Ruxia, with Pu Tin as the regional governor?
    4
  3995. How do you explain the UK and Ireland dodging the bullet?
    4
  3996.  @eddoes8915  If you'd bother to do some research, you'd find that only a minority of European nations engaged in colonialism. Many endured colonialism themselves. The Russian Empire, incidentally, was one of the most active and most brutal colonisers. It also bears reminding that where the Western European colonisers have decolonised, the Russian Federation still holds on to colonised territory. It can even be argued that the recent Russian annexations of Ukrainian territory qualify as such.
    4
  3997.  @jacquelinebrooker2683  You're not observant then.
    4
  3998. True, but 124 countries are now off-bounds to them, unless they fancy an all-expenses-paid one-way trip to The Hague, where free, but somewhat austere accommodation awaits.
    4
  3999. You don't have what it takes to become an engineer of any sort. I hope your guidance councillor has told you so.
    4
  4000. Klopt.
    4
  4001.  @ruotuz  Don't drag the US into this -- you're automatons that way. If you want to deplore atrocities in Syria, try blaming Assad's regime, Russia or Turkey.
    4
  4002.  @ruotuz  You're not on to anything new. The Syrian Civil War was already well on its way before the Americans started arming the opposition. One of reasons behind the civil war was the lack of democracy. Nothing seems to have changed in that respect.
    4
  4003.  @anasttau9908  There was initial reluctance to send lethal weapons to Ukraine for fear of an escalation, but since Russia thinks no holds are barred, things are plenty escalated already. No one in the EU in any kind of leadership function suggested that we stay neutral. As it is, Portugal is providing Ukraine with main battle tanks. Land-based weapons practically don't get heavier than that.
    4
  4004. The Kerch Bridge is a main supply route upon which traffic flows in support of military operations. A legitimate military target, in other words.
    4
  4005.  Mikko  You're exaggerating. The PM, Antti Rinne, resigned when his position became untenable. No one seems sorry about that, not even his own party, the Social Democrats, who'd been following Rinne's bumbling with growing concern. They're still in charge, now with a new prime minister.
    4
  4006. Diaper blowout, I'm sure.
    4
  4007.  @iiMubarak  You're about to be proven wrong. The UN General Assembly will vote this week on a draft resolution that condemns the invasion. It's estimated that two-thirds will vote in favour, while abstainers will outnumber those who're against. It was no different when Putin took Crimea.
    4
  4008. Having a large neighbour go bankrupt isn't a boon to any European nation -- militarily, politically, or economically. The Soviet Union imploded relatively peacefully, but how Putin's Russia will manage is anyone's guess.
    4
  4009.  @FTA38yearfreeride  OK, Ivan, your radioactive levels will go up, too.
    4
  4010.  @askkedladd  Sure, Captain Obvious. We've got Turkey, Israel and, now, Indonesia claiming to mediate. Which concrete steps towards peace has Indonesia taken? Don't be shy. And who said NATO was mediating?
    4
  4011. Your politics can't stand the light of day? International scrutiny worsens your inferiority complex?
    4
  4012. Did you miss the part about the challenger, who prefers dialogue with the EU? Orban is not forever.
    4
  4013. You only like fascist fragrances?
    4
  4014. They've got their own set of problems, like how to quell popular dissent. Both have to resort to increasingly repressive measures to stay in power and that just fuels more dissent. Yeltsin famously warned about making a throne of bayonets. Putin is clearly squirming on his.
    4
  4015. Actually, what you're forgetting is that China still rates as developing country and that its economic growth should exceed that of Germany at all times. Germany is a developed country, which tend to plateau in terms of growth because there's less untapped potential left. They're constantly at or near peak performance, so gains are relatively small even at the best of times. China's main problem is that its economy is geared towards high growth. When said high growth doesn't materialise, a great many companies will collapse because they've overextended themselves in the mistaken belief that China's economy is immune to shifting fortunes. The CCP has its work cut out propping up heavily-indebted megacorporations and trying to keep the Jenga tower from collapsing. It will get worse before it will get better.
    4
  4016.  @bartmacaluso  Oh, we in the EU countries pride ourselves in our ability to build bridges. You Yanks are the reverse, you excel in digging chasms.
    4
  4017.  @tonyatgoogle6076  Whataboutism, here we come.
    4
  4018. @@Georgiangeorgian744 The best Prigozhin can hope for in Belarus is to attack a KFC bucket.
    4
  4019.  @oneone8318  At the risk of repeating myself, I have to conclude you understand very little at present. I hope you'll do better soon.
    4
  4020. Simple-pimple. A much-diminished military aggressor that will think twice before embarking on yet another military adventure.
    4
  4021. I fail to see what the scoop here is. Has India been secretly at war with Africa and you've finally decided to kiss and make up? Or is an amicable hug more significant with Western leaders in attendance?
    4
  4022. When Putin made president, he promised to raise Russia's GDP per capita to Portugal's level -- at the time, the lowest in the EU -- within two terms. More than two decades later, it's still only half of that. And we're talking pre-Ukraine war figures, unaffected by the sanctions that followed.
    4
  4023.  @nomordarlin  OK, Mr. Lavrov. That'll do.
    4
  4024.  @BestMovieActors  If that's the case, it will be because Prigozhin challenges Putin to a team deathmatch. Russians always pose the biggest threat to themselves.
    4
  4025.  @rosaelinav8036  No need to differentiate between Biden and the United States, or Trump for that matter. It's all the same to us.
    4
  4026. Because France hasn't fallen for China's Belt and Road Initiative. Italy has.
    4
  4027.  @pieter0630  Get a room, you two.
    4
  4028.  @fagreed3938  What's a fire bag? Is it the Russian version of Borat's wedding bag, with which he tried to get Pamela Anderson to marry him?
    4
  4029. ​ @kingb3  Tough talk. Don't you wish the Russian armed forces could walk your talk? Stumbling and falling is what Russia is demonstrating. No amount of Krembot posturing is going to change that.
    4
  4030. Did or did not Russia invade Ukraine without provocation? You can stuff your pseudo-philosophical pondering.
    4
  4031.  @_Twink  In terms of military kit, Sweden has a credible air force and navy, but both lack manpower. Ten years ago, Russia simulated a nuclear strike against Stockholm with two strategic bombers. Because of "staffing issues", Sweden couldn't get its excellent fighters up, because the pilots needed their kip. Finally, Denmark had pity on their dozy neighbour and sent up fighters to see the Russians off.
    4
  4032. A lot of water will have to flow under the bridge before Russia is forgiven.
    4
  4033. There-there. Think about it this way: you have more reason to blame NATO when Russia inevitably loses. Maybe you'll save a smidgen of face.
    4
  4034. What a joke. Russia would be just another fox in the henhouse.
    4
  4035. Lavrov even had the gall to claim that Ukraine attacked. Laughter ensued.
    4
  4036. While not outright fans, an increasing number of Palestinians believe that Hamas is the only faction that can make Israel take note of them. In a way, it is a monster that Israel helped create.
    4
  4037. Drama queen detected.
    4
  4038. WW1, actually, at 0:46.
    4
  4039. Better than those who press knees into necks.
    4
  4040. Thus far it's been two Chinese vessels that dragged their anchors across undersea gas pipelines and data cables.
    4
  4041. Is it really relevant what the UK did or didn't do? Democracy is an unalienable right, regardless of who your past or present colonial masters were or are. Taiwan has earned itself the classification of full democracy, so why not Hong Kong? The Hongkongers certainly had the ambition, till the CCP clamped down on them.
    4
  4042.    True, and the US Armed Forces are a social welfare programme as well. If the US didn't spend as much on the military, it would spend the difference on food stamps and prisons.
    4
  4043.  @bdsanchannel9856  On the contrary, you and Russia practically stand alone with your views. The latest UNGA vote couldn't have been clearer on the matter. 143 countries were opposed to Russia, with only 4 supporting.
    4
  4044. These crop-dusters should be able to hang off their propeller. It's not like it was carrying a heavy load either.
    4
  4045. Interesting. De Niro is a twice-over Oscar winner, and has been nominated a whopping 9 times. Quaid hasn't even landed a single nomination.
    4
  4046.  @thomaskirchberger7401  You'll find that smaller countries are almost without exception pro-EU. They see the merits of co-operation rather going head on with bigger countries, whose economic and political might they cannot possibly match. The EU evens the playing field, allowing these countries to thrive where they would otherwise struggle. Trump is a case in point. He'd love to extract trade concessions from individual EU members, bypassing the EU altogether, but instead he has to deal on equal terms with the EU. Where even a regional economic powerhouse like Germany would cave in to Trump's demands, the EU can stand firm. Besides, what's the difference between someone from, say, Nieder-Sachsen, relinquishing some political power to the German federal government as opposed to, say, a Dutchman vis-à-vis the EU? You could say the Dutch have cut out a middleman.
    4
  4047.  @bojevnik10  The Ukrainians have been using Soviet-era RKG-3s on their drones, which weigh little more than a kilo (no biggie for even a smaller drone) and blast through up to 125mm of armour steel. As long as the IFV is hit right, its armour is no match.
    4
  4048. They'll be processed all right. Letting them in doesn't guarantee that their applications for asylum are automatically approved. What else do you need to have explained to you?
    4
  4049. You should consider switching from American English back to British English. You can keep your aboot, though.
    4
  4050. Since you're such a stickler for abiding to agreements, don't keep mum about Russia breaking the Budapest Memorandum, in which Russia agreed to respect Ukrainian territorial integrity. Canada is free to join Putin's recently dusted-off CSTO and invite the Russian military in, like Kazakhstan just did. Likewise, Mexico could enter into a military alliance with China. However, both are loath to do so. NATO has the reverse problem.
    4
  4051. Let's also have Pakistan and China "defend" themselves on sovereign Indian territory. The UN needn't vote on condemning the invasion, because it's in self-defence. Or rather, we'll abstain. Tell me, how would it feel if the shoe were on the other foot?
    4
  4052.  @vlatkoangelov5954  What a flaccid response.
    4
  4053. ​ @tootlingturtle7254  True, Ukraine being free isn't an existential threat to Russia, but a free Ukraine is an existential threat to Putin. I hope Putin has a plan B involving a dacha somewhere in Chinese Inner Mongolia, where he can ride horsey with his shirt off.
    4
  4054. Artillery is still king, that much is clear.
    4
  4055. Why is it hard to understand that independence as a EU member beats devolution? Any political scientist could tell you that.
    4
  4056. As a faithful Putin bot, remind us how the Kremlin spun its ignominious defeats in and around Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson. We're talking huge swathes of territory, and supposedly Russian territory, too.
    4
  4057.  @kongthai..  Officially, Russia's annexation of Zaporizhzhia is deemed illegal. The UNGA was extremely clear about Russia's landgrabs. Of the measly four UN members that voted in support of Russia, only North Korea and Syria have officially recognised the annexed territories as part of Russia. So, unless you're a Nork or a Syrian, you're not officially recognising them either.
    4
  4058.  @psnaris  Buffer zones are per definition not supposed to be threats, but rather, non-threats, i.e.neutral. The threats are beyond the neutral zone.
    4
  4059. And you're using "its", a possessive determiner, where you should have used "it's", a contraction of "it is".
    4
  4060. The coronavirus certainly breeds conspiracy theories.
    4
  4061. If you're a foreigner and Schadenfreude is your thing, sure.
    4
  4062.  @sniperviper4922  Yes, you have the most successful military-industrial complex in the world. On a more personal level, do you consider gun nuts superior, too?
    4
  4063.  @ahm848  By any chance, could you try again and use argumentation to make your point? In case the concept is foreign to you, argumentation is the action or process of reasoning systematically in support of an idea, action, or theory. I have to ask, because I can't find a trace of reasoning in your reply.
    4
  4064. I think you'll find them rather rich, and given Merkel's long tenure, she's inevitably got something to do with it.
    4
  4065.  @sanjaiyadav2080  Kid? Aren't you impertinent. You obviously struggle to follow the conversation. My point is that India doesn't have a friend in Russia. India's love for the Soviet Union/Russia goes unrequited. India will have to look for new friends.
    4
  4066. You applaud military aggression. Got it.
    4
  4067. Nice compliment to Labour.
    4
  4068.  @CorruptMediaLies  Perhaps you're not very familiar with democratic processes. Referendums have their place when the matter at hand is controversial and the outcome is uncertain. There was nothing uncertain about the outcome in either country. In fact, the MPs grew worried about a voter backlash if they didn't use the power they'd been entrusted with. The world has had its say about the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia. An overwhelming majority of the UN general assembly rejected both the referendums and the annexations. Russia could've opted for UN-supervised referendums, but we all know how that would've worked out. Since you "prefer facts", then give us a factual account of which countries NATO has destroyed and based on whose assessment. You may want pay attention if it indeed was a NATO op and if there was a UNSC mandate for the op in question. Come on, fact boy, give it a try.
    4
  4069. There comes the inevitable reductio ad Hitlerum. How original of you.
    4
  4070.  @frankjames7272  No it isn't. Educate yourself.
    4
  4071. I lived on the Costa del Sol and found that the British expats were instrumental in keeping their rowdier compatriots in check. My neighbour, a retired prison guard, patrolled with local police. His missed his truncheon, I guess. I observed the same phenomenon in northern Thailand, where young American trekkers were kept at bay by American retirees who'd settled there. Many of the latter were former teachers, who unsurprisingly were quite adept at it.
    4
  4072. British fish, too. British fishermen, not so.
    4
  4073. Orban must be kicking himself for not having bribed her himself. He's not trying hard enough.
    4
  4074. You may want to explain yourself. Only Iran is openly supporting Hamas.
    4
  4075. Rather, Russia has to make a decision how much it wants to spend on war reparations to Ukraine, because the sum grows larger by the day. And Russia will either pay or cry and pay.
    4
  4076. I think you're suffering from confirmation bias. Vocal minorities don't decide elections. Otherwise, Trump would've been reinstated on Jan 6, 2021.
    4
  4077. And Trump is not Murica...
    4
  4078.  @liaja5524  That's a very fanciful theory. As if Assad cares for Palestine.
    4
  4079. Very heavy to extreme coping detected.
    4
  4080.  @imperialmotoring3789  If it's too hard for Zelenskyy, maybe Putin should try surrendering.
    4
  4081.  @claudiopereira9900  OK, I see, your logic goes like this: since Russia is a regional power, it has a smaller quota for international mischief than the US, a true superpower, but still, it has a quota to fulfil. Just for the sake of argument, which country do you think I'm from? You seem awfully sure about yourself, but all the same you're mentioning Britain, Portugal and Spain. I'm confused. You didn't really get the bit about the association fallacy either. I'm afraid I'm starting to question your intelligence.
    4
  4082. Be that as it may, the Americans issued a warning about an imminent terror attack in Russia, and lo and behold, there was a terror attack. Putin dismissed it as a lie, a provocation, which it clearly wasn't.
    4
  4083.  @bonnie7898  You're throwing facts at a Krembot. They're immune to facts.
    4
  4084.  @MixedRaceAndProud1690  I think there are better ways of reaching the editorial team than posting a public comment.
    4
  4085. If tanks are accompanied by infantry as doctrine prescribes, they're still plenty useful. The point is not to use them as battering rams, but to have them take out enemy strong points from afar so that the infantry can advance.
    4
  4086. Your comment proves beyond reasonable doubt that you should not think. Nothing good will come out of it.
    4
  4087. Is MAD a foreign concept to you? Gawd, you teenagers...
    4
  4088. Aren't they talking about lefties banding together?
    4
  4089.  @eddastrohmayer251  Edda, I'm sure you've notified Putin, the instigator of this war, of the senselessness of it all. Or would that endanger your livelihood?
    4
  4090. You're not wrong there. Communism gave rise in eastern Germany to what is aptly termed as a lost generation. The reason why they haven't left for Russia is that they know full well that matters would take a sharp turn for the worse if they did. Bitterness and 'Ostalgie' is all they have.
    4
  4091. There's no new government yet, just a coalition agreement in anticipation of forming a new government. I predict it won't be a long-lasting coalition government either, since it's amateur hour now. The key parties lack experience at governing, and with their opposition instincts, they're bound to shoot themselves in the foot sooner or later. It's just a matter of time before a motion of no confidence will bring it down.
    4
  4092.  @ae3809  It's a public secret. US congressmen admitted privately that Turkey will only get a batch of new F-16s and much-needed upgrades for its older F-16s if Turkey ratifies the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO. Two can play that game, it seems.
    4
  4093. Try to make a point instead of appealing to the stone.
    4
  4094. By calling Scholz far left, you're just emphasizing that you're far right.
    4
  4095. Who knows, the controllability of the plane was such that landing would've posed a problem, no matter where. But yeah, the delay may have compounded the problem.
    4
  4096. Kursk? It's a classic Sun Tzu move. Ukraine made it clear from the onset that it wasn't there for the Lebensraum, like Russia is in Ukraine.
    4
  4097. The far right is open to the highest bidders.
    4
  4098. I'm left wondering if you're delusional, in denial or just putting on a brave face. BoJo and JRM have nothing to cheer about.
    4
  4099. Closer trade ties will make Russia subservient to China. It's not exactly a relationship of equals. China has one of the biggest economies in the world, while Russia's economy is about the size of Italy's. Unlike the EU, China has no qualms about strong-arming its smaller trade partners. Australia is a case in point.
    4
  4100. Actually, the USA steals all the laughs.
    3
  4101. John Stoner For Life 77 VIP protection and CQB are hardly a mass market, hence niche. Pick up a dictionary if you don't know the word.
    3
  4102. So big that Trump had to re-use a crowd shot from Obama's inauguration?
    3
  4103. Oh, but this does serious harm to Russia's propaganda efforts. They want to lump ISIS and the Syrian rebels together.
    3
  4104. infinitecanadian Idioms aren't your forte then. Agree with GeoStreber that the situation has changed -- radically. Erstwhile pro-UK Scots didn't sign up for a suicide pact.
    3
  4105. gamevalor Sure, the EU has challenges ahead, but the question is still whether or not the UK will be better off outside than inside. Maybe you shouldn't be comparing the UK to the EU average, but to the more affluent members -- and they're in no hurry to leave. It's not entirely unthinkable that Scotland and Northern Ireland remain in the EU while England and Wales leave. A precedent already exists in Denmark and Greenland. No doubt May's cabinet will opt to stay in the single market, which means the English and the Welsh are relegated to observer status, while the others actually enjoy decision-making powers in the EU. Oh, and you'll pay, of course.
    3
  4106. But Putin promised Russia would never become a totalitarian state again! He promised!
    3
  4107. So you prefer a one-party "democracy" without dissent. Figures.
    3
  4108. It's outside of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights. You'll have to take up your matter with an international court of law. Nice red herring, by the way.
    3
  4109. +Fseirst Lrest Due to geography alone, the UK should remain in the EU, at least from a US point of view. Geography has never been their forte. With the UK in the EU, there's less to remember.
    3
  4110. +Birkenstock Boy You're alluding to cannabis, but the report is alluding to Russia using the drug as a pretext to block Wikipedia altogether. You know, ordinary Russians could find out that the Kremlin's truth is in clear conflict with that of Wikipedia. They could start asking inconvenient questions.
    3
  4111. Are they somehow mutually exclusive?
    3
  4112. VTBbank Your choice of words is indicative of racism. Obama's paternal line leads to Kenya, but he was born on US soil to a US mother. I suppose you know little about citizenship laws, but that makes him a US citizen twice over. Like I said, the new NATO members pushed hard for membership, meeting considerable opposition from the existing members along the way. Nothing suggests any of that was orchestrated by Washington. Only a conspiracy theorist such as yourself tries to convince himself otherwise. It's sad that Russia's western neighbours and erstwhile "allies" have fallen out with Russia. It's sadder still that Russia, under Putin, chooses to alienate them further. But the saddest part of all is that you lie to yourselves about what's cause and what's consequence. I guess the truth -- having no friends -- is too hard to bear. By the way, NATO enlargement is still ongoing. I'm curious to see whether Sweden and Finland join before or after Russia's next economic implosion. But join they will.
    3
  4113. Hypocrisy is RT's trademark.
    3
  4114. maybeauty june Putin understood no such thing, or he's in la-la land. The Gülen puppet thing is a fabrication of Erdogan's, who saw his chance to sideline a rival, no more. The conspiracy theories are rife in your head.
    3
  4115. The weather in the Netherlands can be very sucky indeed.
    3
  4116. And completely devoid of content!
    3
  4117. +Yetaxa You'll leave your influence at the door, that's for sure.
    3
  4118. Some Stuff You won't laugh when May & Co. broker a deal with the EU, similar to those with Norway and Switzerland. You're stuck with EU laws, but you won't be invited to draft them.
    3
  4119. Nathan Donaghy I think that Norway's arrangement with the EU, as an alternative to full membership, is indeed stupid.
    3
  4120. +scott stealth Like doping doesn't have negative health effects.
    3
  4121. The focus here is on Trump. Nothing about that shouts Hillary.
    3
  4122. +George Mauricio You're being too generous...
    3
  4123. Mäk Kylis But more often than not, Russia helping its neighbours leads to these countries having to endure annexation and/or occupation. Ukraine is only the latest example.
    3
  4124. The Jumbex You don't seem to understand the very concept of a trade block. The EU as a whole is obligated to act if Russia were to single out one member for sanctions. Russia is more dependent on us buying their gas than we are on them selling it to us. Finnish power stations are purposely designed to burn both coal and gas. Unlike citizens of many Central and Western European countries, we won't go cold if Russia were to cut gas deliveries.
    3
  4125. GNU/LINUX It's smug to think the Alaskans, Canadians and Norwegians can't deal with conditions as harsh ours. Moreover, I had the pleasure of teaching orienteering to Dutch Marines. In a matter of days, they reached a proficiency that the average Finnish conscript struggles to attain in 6 months.
    3
  4126. Cameron was out for British privileges, not EU-wide reform. The irony is that he would've readily found allies within the EU if his cause had been about reform. Foolishly, he sidestepped these would-be allies and pursued British interests rather than trying to find common ground with the reform-minded. History won't be kind to Cameron, I'm afraid.
    3
  4127. BritishFreedom They were walking a tight-rope. More concessions to Britain would've angered their own electorates, who according to some polls were already leaning towards Brexit. When faced with irreconcilable differences, divorce is the best option. The good thing about Brexit is that Cameron's last-ditch EU deal, which was supposed to save his hide, is now off the table. A more cohesive Europe remains.
    3
  4128. BritishFreedom The fact of the matter is that populist parties with far right leanings are the only vocal EU critics in continental Europe. Ergo, you root for them.
    3
  4129. Hamad Oman So they're not supposed to broadcast this report, because it reflects badly... on Russia?
    3
  4130. Looks like Trump's getting his marching orders. While at it, maybe Putin can give him some tips on how to gag the media.
    3
  4131. +Sean Bruce In other news, the USA opened a consulate in Sevastopol, Crimea. The controversial move, which amounts to official US recognition of Russian sovereignty over what the UN considers occupied territory, coincided with a tweet from President Trump: "Pootie-Poot, for services rendered!"
    3
  4132. +aptisme Last time I visited Poland I saw a lot buildings and bridges bearing signs that they were EU-funded. Are you saying they're for the benefit of Germans only? Mind you, despite the cost and the political hiccups I strongly believe Poland's infrastructure is well worth investing in. It's up to the Poles to decide if Poland is merely a thoroughfare or a hive of economic activity, too. At the end of the day, you can only help people help themselves.
    3
  4133. Macron won the election with a very comfortable margin. Sure, the general distaste for Marine Le Pen and her Front National had something to do with, but it only goes to show how divisive she is. So you're barking up the wrong tree if you're worried about division. But please, elaborate on your chosen NWO conspiracy theory. Any lizards or reptilians involved?
    3
  4134. He sure made them equal. Sadly, equally poor.
    3
  4135. +Google User Don't patronise -- answer the question.
    3
  4136. amartinjoe To be fair, there's been ass-kicking to and fro since time immemorial.
    3
  4137. Matthew Chenault As a native Germanic speaker, don't count me impressed. Americans are among the worst monoglots on this planet.   
    3
  4138.  @kissthis5361  You'll find that Finland is defined by thwarting Russia's unwelcome attentions. Nothing is new there.
    3
  4139. +Jamey Mikels Whatever happens, the role of the USA in NATO will diminish politically and militarily -- and by extension, globally too. And that's all a good thing.
    3
  4140. ***** I'm not contesting that the Ukrainian authorities initially denied their involvement in the destruction of Siberian Airlines 1812. The crux of the matter is that they did so in unison with Russian authorities. Which part of "Putin" don't you understand?
    3
  4141. +Tarzan101 Jungle Is the French parliament about to vote on adopting sharia law? No, I didn't think so. Hence, you're drama queen.
    3
  4142. Trump's aides must be kicking themselves for not having the foresight to recruit Russia's troll factory workers as crowd-fillers.
    3
  4143. ...and the Ku Klux Klan, why didn't they get an invite? Burning crosses would've added nicely to the atmosphere.
    3
  4144. Ameri sami Seek and and ye shall find. Search "BBC News Palestine". The report about Jewish settlers torching a Palestinian baby is an eye-opener.
    3
  4145. Soon enough, Trump is telling his mirror "YOU'RE FIRED!"
    3
  4146. +Ralf Rath Sure, if Putin rescinds the annexation of Crimea.
    3
  4147. puppetken The United Nations General Assembly voted, too -- 100:11 against the legality of the referendum.
    3
  4148. ***** I thought the Putinist narrative was that the Ukrainians were the Nazis -- you're insinuating the Russians are. Count me confused!
    3
  4149. puppetken One hundred countries disagree with you. Discount that.
    3
  4150. I sure hope they manage to find that clean coal Trump was referring to.
    3
  4151. +L. Lander Yes, is this a 'wag the dog' move?
    3
  4152. Richie, when I was studying in Belgium and us students were running out money, endangering our beer intake, we went to a local Turkish "vzw" that had the cheapest beer. No doubt they identified as Muslims.
    3
  4153. As the foreign secretary, he's Britain's top diplomat. He needs to read the manual on diplomacy.
    3
  4154. Budgetary cuts. The losers are the beneficiaries of the cohesion fund. In short, Eastern Europe. Britain betrayed them after WW2, so they're sort of used to it. Ironically, it means even more Eastern Europeans heading west and that, my friend, spells hard Brexit.
    3
  4155. +farmerned6 Plans are drawn up for all manner of eventualities, but the crux of the matter is that Operation Unthinkable wasn't executed and it wasn't for Stalin holding back. Churchill signed the Yalta agreement, didn't he, giving Stalin carte blanche to subdue Eastern Europe. Not only that, Churchill thought it hunky-dory that the USSR annexed the Baltic States in contravention of the Atlantic Charter, adopting a fanciful stance that the Balts joined willingly. One betrayal after another.
    3
  4156. +patriotistopiano There are nearly a million Koreans in Japan. You failed math, didn't you?
    3
  4157. +patriotistopiano I didn't claim the Dutch discovered South Africa. Who exactly did, that's a sausage to me -- to use a Dutch expression -- but my money is on the indigenous people. Oh, you've got an imaginary friend in the sky who kindly created the superspecies that you supposedly belong to. But isn't that the Judeo-Christian deity that the Zionists also claim as their own? My ancestors lived as part-time slash-and-burn farmers and part-time hunter-gatherers for far longer than the average European, which by necessity meant a nomadic existence in a very thinly populated area. We retain the bone structure -- evidenced by our well-defined cheekbones -- that goes with the lifestyle. The Africans kept at it for a long time, too. As a Northerner, I am more individualistic and less social than the Dutch, but am I of a different race? The are no real human races, just some minor genetic variations. In fact, other species, if they were sentient, would laugh at our species' lack of genetic diversity, calling us inbreds if they could speak. Scientists agree that Homo Sapiens was struck by some disaster that left only a homogenous group of 1,000 or so individuals alive. If you treasure racial purity, you've got it, but it includes all of us.
    3
  4158. +patriotistopiano Thank you for clearing that up. It's sad if someone hates his own species, but somehow it's consoling when the hater reveals himself as a first-class weirdo. You did well in that respect.
    3
  4159. Last I heard was that Putin's farts smell like roses.
    3
  4160. If you hate foreigners, then, yeah.
    3
  4161. +3rk4u It's been also a recipe for success. It's the outer borders that need better checks.
    3
  4162. TwistedPuppy Well, Madsen is Danish and so is Lego.
    3
  4163. If you can't tell the difference between individual athletes cheating and a state pushing performance-enhancing drugs to their athletes en masse, then your moral compass is badly out of whack.
    3
  4164. And they wonder if the pope wears a funny hat...
    3
  4165. The FN Hi-Power is Belgian, not French.
    3
  4166. ***** Block the nutter already.
    3
  4167. I have an idea. Trump once and for all takes the wind out of their sails... by releasing his tax returns.
    3
  4168. nolife son It makes you wonder if the handlers of this guy understand that such rabid propaganda has the opposite effect... of well, he must be paid a pittance for spouting such crap.
    3
  4169. +Johnny English A fraction? Brits on the whole get 99.86% back.
    3
  4170. Reading comp.
    3
  4171. +majorevangelism Right, Russia has overused plausible deniability to the extent that it has become implausible deniability.
    3
  4172. But we had politicians like that in Europe. Fascists and Nazis, they were called.
    3
  4173. Seems I caught a live one.
    3
  4174. You'd think Russian sports can't sink any lower, but they surprise us time and time again.
    3
  4175. +CGR AFSR Exactly how did Holland partake in Nazism? Statements like yours suggest that you're not exactly a scholar of history.
    3
  4176. +CGR AFSR Wow, you've found out about the NSB! So "Nazizm" is your favourite historical topic? One would think you'd have learnt to spell it. The NSB never secured more than a few seats in parliament and their support was already on the wane when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. Even then, Hitler refused to give NSB leader Mussert any position of real authority. Since you obviously can't see the forest for the trees, tell me which democratic country in the 1930s didn't have a Fascist party. No, you're not impressing me with your knowledge.
    3
  4177. +CGR AFSR Now you're just desperately flinging insults. You might as well admit you've lost the argument. I wrote "democratic country" -- sadly, pre-WW2 Turkey didn't qualify as such.
    3
  4178. +CGR AFSR So in which language is Nazism spelled "Nasism"? You really are a hoot.
    3
  4179. Suicide for life Then you have all the more reason not to copy the Americans. Certain influences are best left where they belong.
    3
  4180. +Teacher Ray So why is the Kremlin crying foul over NATO's expansion then? It's like you're trying to console yourself, pretending that Russia isn't increasingly isolated and outgunned.
    3
  4181. Teacher Ray Look at that foul mouth on you. Take a few English lessons, will you.
    3
  4182. Yeah, how many dead this time?
    3
  4183. You sound like an attention-hungry Romanian.
    3
  4184. So you are Romanian and desperately craving for the limelight, too. You'd do well to tone down the nationalism.
    3
  4185. Russia is closer to defaulting on its loans than the EU. Have you heard about the chronically dismal state of the Russian economy?
    3
  4186. They did hint that the Buk launch platform can also operate autonomously, using its own radar.
    3
  4187. colourmegone Now you're giving the straw man attack a try. The sad truth is that in a democracy, the people get the government they deserve. Maybe the Greeks have finally realised that they deserve better -- I don't know -- but I do know that putting the blame on foreign "bastards" is not solving the issue. I also think austerity has run its course and it's time to try something different. Grexit followed by Grentry?
    3
  4188. +Maz Zomboni Quickly, get rid of your iPhone!
    3
  4189. Trump should ask Putin for advice on how to gag the media.
    3
  4190. Er, the evidence brought to forward by the Dutch investigators is highly technical in nature and makes extensive use of satellite imagery, radar data and the like. Ballistics tests were conducted in Ukraine and Finland with real Buks. You're not helping your cause by trying to dismiss the self-evident. But you're right on one account. No doubt Trump, Putin's minion, would criticise the outcome once in office.
    3
  4191. +Trash Bin Trash-talking Obama. Pardon the pun.
    3
  4192. +Corention Naisse But going forward, is Belgium flexible with national exemptions to the new EU Firearms Directive? I was a little worried that I would have to give up my semi-auto rifles (I'm in Finland), but it's not coming to that, it seems, thanks to the wisdom of our national legislators.
    3
  4193. +Evan Friend The new EU firearms directive addresses serious shortcomings in national gun laws pertaining to deactivated firearms. Legally-bought but subsequently reactivated Czech AKs were used in the Paris terrorist attacks. Enough said. I wonder where you got the idea that Europe trails in democracy. We're consistently dominating the top spots in international comparisons. The same goes for freedom of the press. I think you need to get off your soapbox. As for the directive, I think I just explained carefully that we're not losing our "cartridge box". As to the Belgians, it's up to them.
    3
  4194. +Evan Friend I bought my Suomi KP at a police auction. A condition for sale was that it would be deactivated. I wasn't complaining since it was corroded beyond repair. Given its history -- it was recovered from a secret arms cache -- I thought it would make a nice present for my grandad, who was involved in post-war arms-caching himself. When he passed away, I inherited it. You need to take up your grievance with Adolf Hitler, who coined the term "assault rifle". I'm curious, what's your preferred term? Semi-automatic-rifle-with-the-outward-appearance-of-an-assault-rifle-but-not-an-assault-rifle-in-the-strict-sense? For the fifth time, there's no issue with military calibres or magazines in these here parts. Go belly-ache to someone who's affected. It's not just your electoral college, but also the fact that your electors can change their pledge if they see fit. In fact, electoral colleges were invented in Europe, but we've moved on. Again, you miss the point. Take Mattis and Carson; they weren't elected into office, and for that matter, they've never been elected to any position of political significance. The EU commissioners, on the other hand, all have high-profile careers in national politics behind them. Germany, which has 15 times the population of Finland, has exact the same number of commissioners as we do: one. I grant you Merkel wields more power than our Sipilä in the EU, but if we weren't in the EU, she would have even more power over us. We pride ourselves as a stubborn people, but we know there's strength in unity. Democracy-wise it makes no difference whether a somewhat disappointing president or a bumbling one issues executive orders. It's undemocratic all the same.
    3
  4195. +Evan Friend I bet you find it unacceptable that statues don't move. Besides, I've seen how you botch Suomis when making them legal. If anything, that's sacrilege. There was no controversy around bolt-action rifles, of which I own several, including a Pystykorva in original, working condition. As you say, they're all over the place. You're defeating your own argument. You screamed bloody murder about unelected EU commissioners, but in the case of Mattis, the matter is suddenly irrelevant. FYI, in parliamentary systems we don't elect ministers, but they are expected to hold a seat in parliament. If you're dead set against the EU, logic dictates that you should be even more opposed to your own union. Guns laws are illuminating. You've had federal firearms laws for ages. We only just got one. Still, German authorities have no jurisdiction here, but your BATF can come and kick in your door at any time. For the umpteenth time, you're missing the point. As I keep trying to explain, we gained exemptions, including for so-called reservist's rifles -- your maligned semi-auto assault rifles -- and their high-capacity magazines. To put it in terms you might finally understand, I don't have to live in fear of Germans prying my 30-round mags from my cold, dead hands.
    3
  4196. Why? Erdogan has made it easier to keep Turkey out. Now, there's no question Turkey is failing the so-called Copenhagen criteria regarding democracy and rule of law. You should cry your eyes out.
    3
  4197. ***** Belgians fought on both sides. Let me guess, you're not European?
    3
  4198. And you have to make this about Murica...
    3
  4199. You don't know how to vote?
    3
  4200. Alex Silver You're still being a lazy arse. Your stats show that the Yanks are spendthrifts, but what else? Sure, that Russia is a big spender, outspending everyone in Europe both in absolute and relative terms. After much grumbling but finally realising the threat that Putin poses to world peace, the Euros promised to up their defence spending to 2% of GDP. Russia nearly doubles that, topping even the gun-crazy Yanks. Who's the warmonger now?
    3
  4201. Alex Silver So you lazy bumsy couldn't be bothered to do the math. Let me. Canada spent 1,843 USD per km2, Russia 5,135 USD. I'm using your Wikipedia sources, which only go till 2013. Good luck telling the Canadians and Germans that they're all suddenly Americans. Pfffrrt.
    3
  4202.  @TheAlmightySnobDog  The UK becoming stronger is just wishful thinking. I'm talking about foreseeable developments with a genuinely negative impact.
    3
  4203. No, I believe Melania is being sincere. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
    3
  4204. Let's see, Verhofstadt is Belgian and he didn't start anymore wars than Belgium did. The count is zero. And the economy of Belgium actually rebounded quite nicely after WW2 thanks to Belgium's colonial riches. You're sorely mistaken if you think anyone who matters in the EU is looking at the USA as an example of how to organise the union. Not before and certainly not after we were treated to a spectacle where said self-congratulatory nation chose a populistic narcissist as its leader. The USA is tearing itself apart and a silly Yank is calling for more European unity?
    3
  4205. +Benjamin Tynes I'm sorry to hear about your inferiority complex. The inhumanities committed in Leopold II's name predate Belgium stepping in and annexing the Congo. But I can't quite see where you're going with this, or did you want to switch topics and discuss the evils of colonialism? So as not to worsen your inferiority complex, should we avoid mentioning US atrocities committed in the Philippines, or for that matter, your ill treatment of native Americans? I'm neither Belgian nor German, so keep trolling.
    3
  4206. If so, the BBC have a willing accomplice in Trump. He's only too keen to provide material.
    3
  4207. What did Einstein call nationalism again? Oh yes, the measles of mankind.
    3
  4208.  @firstLast-jw7bm  Rather, immobilise the turret by 'welding' it to the hull with a well-aimed shot between the two. It supposedly worked.
    3
  4209. +Trollip Trollup In Russia, it's those in charge who misuse public funds. In France, it's the opposition.
    3
  4210. +Trollip Trollup Everyone knows about Putin's efforts to discredit Navalny with trumped-up charges. The Russian legal system is a joke.
    3
  4211. John Brown Hah, so you lost your nerve and went ad hominem! Way to lose an argument! I hold no fondness for Erdogan, so there's another fallacy, a silly straw man attack.
    3
  4212. The evidence is strong with this one.
    3
  4213. ...says a guy whose country ranks among the 20 most corrupt countries in the world.
    3
  4214. I shouldn't gloat over Innar Koït Chtofenbeurg putting you in your place, but I am anyhow. Do some research before you hit the keyboard ;-)
    3
  4215. +Immaculate Heart I see. But wasn't it Christians who're always turning the other cheek?
    3
  4216. Wow, I'm speechless. See, if you put your mind to it, you can Putin-troll properly.
    3
  4217. They're*
    3
  4218. Without a paddle?
    3
  4219. Own goal, that is. They broke out the champagne in Beijing.
    3
  4220. Remains of remains...
    3
  4221. That would be the "evil" hand of the whole world. Russia, as a country, was caught cheating and now Russian athletes are paying the price.
    3
  4222. China's dilemma is how to make sure that Putin's successor sees eye to eye with China. By now, Beijing must've concluded that Putin is a liability and a political zombie. If I were Xi, I would start putting out feelers among Russia's siloviki about a palace coup. China could offer to take Putin off their hands, retiring him to the steppes of Inner Mongolia, where Putin can strip half-naked and ride horsey to his heart's content.
    3
  4223. Neither is invading Iraq at present. When Russia can say the same with regard to Ukraine, it's free to participate again.
    3
  4224. It's even more more amazing to see the Ukrainians destroy these T-90Ms with the same ease as other Russian tank types.
    3
  4225.  @topg_napoleon5203  It wouldn't call it begging. Zelenskyy and Ukraine are fighting the good fight, so they deserve all the kit we can muster. It must suck to be on the wrong side of history, but I suppose you'll become a turncoat sooner or later. I've travelled far and wide in Russia, but I've met precious few communists. It was always "the others".
    3
  4226. ​ @richjacobs9736  Enough about little old me -- this is about saving Ukraine from the clutches of an evil wrong-doer. Now would be the time to unleash some of that biblical wrath.
    3
  4227.  King Crusader  Don't you worry, there's a lid for every pot. You may get lucky one day, too.
    3
  4228.  @cainiwakura  I hate to break it you, but there are no nuclear missiles stationed in European NATO countries. There are, however, Russian ones in Kaliningrad, between two NATO countries. So who's the aggressor again?
    3
  4229. Civilization is but a thin veneer, eh?
    3
  4230. Contempt of Congress. Nothing unclear about that.
    3
  4231. Prosecuting corrupt MEPs is not a problem. Prosecuting corrupt national politicians like Orban in Hungary is a problem, because the EU expects Hungary to sort out its own messes. Well, I have an inkling we'll see Orban behind bars, in Hungary.
    3
  4232. The whole of NATO will. Read about its Article 5.
    3
  4233.  @ismschism8408  Everything is "a chemical", silly.
    3
  4234.  @wor53lg50  Please explain to us what kind of advantageous deal the UK has with Mercosur. It also bears reminding that EU Britain was highly critical of French agricultural policy, which held up this deal. Therefore, you should be quietly celebrating this, with the emphasis on quietly, since you're (down and) out.
    3
  4235. Moscow couldn't put tanks in the Vatican, even if the Italian army looked the other way.
    3
  4236.  @bruceli9094  There's no comparison. This is way worse than Afghanistan.
    3
  4237. Populism is like peeing your pants. You feel warm and cosy for a while, but then colder still.
    3
  4238. Let's not forget. He couldn't have done it without Trump's groundwork. It was a rare bipartisan effort.
    3
  4239. No need to boycott Greek restaurants in Germany. The Greeks are already shooting themselves in the foot by dissuading German tourists from visiting their country. Based on past experiences, Turkey could offer Greece a few pointers on that.
    3
  4240.  @josephbowman1092  Not so weird. Neo-Nazism is pretty big in Russia. The LDPR has 7.55% of the seats in the State Duma.
    3
  4241. @Hamza Ahabbane Not true, that. The AZ vaccine has demonstrably kept people out of ICU.
    3
  4242. You'd better explain how that would work.
    3
  4243. So, one gains India's favour by supplying weapons to it. Understood. I suppose Russia has fallen out of India's favour because Russia can't supply any. Its arms exports have imploded, and whatever it has supplied, is doing poorly in Ukraine.
    3
  4244.  @SFPhilo  I fail to understand the relevance of your comment.
    3
  4245.  @shenjiejason8350  I've heard the story before, that democracy is an American ploy. Be that as it may, democracy does remain an existential threat -- a potent poison, if you will -- to authoritarian regimes. Hong Kong, Belarus and now Kazakhstan... there's no immunity to it. My take is that the CCP feels that the mainland Chinese as a people can't be trusted to decide about their own affairs. Can you blame them? It's a matter of self-preservation.
    3
  4246.  @jw7518  It's irrelevant what the Brits did or didn't do in Hong Kong before 1997. They are gone, for good. Or are you trying to prove that China sucks less? Even so, China still sucks.
    3
  4247. It doesn't matter to whom you think Hong Kong belonged or belongs to -- what matters is that the people of Hong Kong have the right to self-determination.
    3
  4248.  @Buppasiri1  Sure, Germans laughed at Trump like the rest of us, but not in this respect. Germany is painfully aware of neglecting itse defence. It's not a laughing matter among the Germans. Let's face it, despite its defence spending, the UK is woefully ill-equipped to wage a Ukraine-style war. In that respect, it's no better than Germany.
    3
  4249. I wish the UN would copy the League of Nations 1.0 in how it tore up the Soviet Union's membership card.
    3
  4250. The problem here is that Trump gave Maduro an extension with his silly sabre-rattling. It allowed Maduro to rally the troops, putting their minds off deposing him for a little while longer.
    3
  4251.  @lominiski  "I can hardless [sic] remember the Ukraine War."
    3
  4252. And what do you foresee as the outcome of said negotiations? Ukraine conceding territory to an aggressor? Should Putin be rewarded for illegally invading its neighbour?
    3
  4253.  @chandanaik3453  You're disregarding the fact that Russia is essentially withdrawing from what it considers Russian sovereign territory. If China and Pakistan were to occupy Ladakh and Kashmir, would you also dismiss it as a 'no biggie'?
    3
  4254.  @music-dog  We'll see about that in the Hague in a few year's time.
    3
  4255. Remember to tip off Putin.
    3
  4256.  @Scoo_B_dont  That's a weird allegation. Russia is a full member of the OSCE. Still, you accuse it of partiality. If there was a cover-up, Russia should've gone public with it.
    3
  4257.  @dimitrimorakhovski5287  Well, once independent, the Baltic countries left Russia in the dust economically, too. Nothing to do with Soviet benevolence -- something about the Balts being more industrious. If the Baltic countries hadn't endured Soviet occupation for close to 50 years, they would be on par with the Nordic countries. On a side note, it will be interesting to see how independent Amberland (present-day Kaliningrad) will fare in the future compared to Rump Russia. Or how Ingria (Leningrad Oblast) will do. I'm optimistic.
    3
  4258.  @dark_master_Makei  How so? Their GDP per capita easily trumps that of Russia. You must be green with envy.
    3
  4259.  @PaulV.  The amusing part is that Russia loses money on the deals. A lose-win situation, in other words. Russia still keeps at it, because it needs the foreign currency for crucial imports. Putin's failure to diversify the Russian economy bites.
    3
  4260.  @Avatar_2025  You'll have to write to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, telling them to take back the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize from the EU. Come to think of it, as a EU citizen, I'm a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. How about you?
    3
  4261. @peace ful They sure think whataboutism works wonders.
    3
  4262.  @larsjohansson6542  OK, I'll oblige you for a bit. How come there's always a series of alternative conspiracy theories for each major event? They can't all be the cruel truth and facts, not even to a gullible enthusiast like you. How do you pick one and convince yourself it's the right one?
    3
  4263.  @IbnBahtuta  OK, your imaginary sky friend entered the chat. Say no more.
    3
  4264. You're repeating yourself.
    3
  4265.  @richiesquest3283  Did you understand anything of what I wrote? Try going over your argumentation before you hit the reply button.
    3
  4266.  @dillonhillier  If Cuba and Venezuela were to join CSTO, the US would just have to grin and bear it. Of course, bringing in nuclear weapons is a different matter. It should be noted that despite NATO's enlargement, its nuclear weapons haven't moved an inch eastward. Russia, on the other hand, has brought it nukes forward, to Kaliningrad and Belarus. So you're not just being hypothetical, but also, hypocritical.
    3
  4267. The US supplies 78% of Saudi arms, wisenheimer.
    3
  4268.  @juhomaki-petaja  It can make a nice bulge in your barrel, for starters.
    3
  4269. Who have we divided now? The only division I can think of is Russia dividing itself from the world, but that's all Putin's doing.
    3
  4270. The UK may want to rethink its soft touch on illegal immigration and labour market regulation, which let's British employers freely exploit illegal immigrants. Let's face it, you've made the UK a haven for illegal immigrants. Don't act surprised that they're keen to come over.
    3
  4271. Russia's biggest export products are now millionaires and IT professionals.
    3
  4272.  @user-wo8Iw9km4w  That's one step forward and two steps backward for Russia then. Ukraine's accession may indeed be delayed, but Finland and Sweden did join NATO, and totally in response to Russia's overt military aggression in Ukraine. I think we can label Putin's ill-fated military adventure as counter-productive, don't you agree?
    3
  4273. Don't get your knickers in a twist. Germany has already agreed to Polish Leopards going to Ukraine. And it's just a matter of days before German Leopards follow. We've seen it all before.
    3
  4274. Mainstream media? Don't copy American cliches.
    3
  4275.  @sushmag4297  That's entirely fair. If developing countries knowingly choose for the Dark Side, there's no obligation for "the West" to ply them with development aid any longer.
    3
  4276.  @wanglei5500  China is verifiably sending patrol aircraft to US and Japanese "backyards". China is within its rights to do, as are the other countries and their patrol aircraft with regard to the South China Sea. If you unilaterally claim a territory, expect unilateral adherence.
    3
  4277. An interesting proposition, the descendants of immigrants opposing the arrival of would-be immigrants. Nothing new, of course. An American friend of mine, who's of Irish heritage, has an ancient sign in his toilet that says "Irish need not apply".
    3
  4278.  @marcelaruiz1006  I fully appreciate that there are enough migrants in the world to bring just about every developed country to its knees. What I don't understand is why they have to be demonized -- called drug dealers, criminals, rapists and terrorists, to quote Trump's exact words. Surely their home situations and motives are similar to those of earlier immigrants to the US. I smell hypocrisy.
    3
  4279.  @Oimbubi  While at it, the parading soldiers could press-gang the spectators into the army. Russia would end up with a lot of female and child soldiers, but beggars can't be choosers.
    3
  4280. Okay then, Timmermans to the rescue. Wilders, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    3
  4281. You must be too young. I distinctly remember the Rote Armee Fraktion, Action Directe and Cellules Communistes Combattantes.
    3
  4282.  @mistressfreezepeach  Tell us about these terrorist attacks then.
    3
  4283. False equivalency. And who's we exactly?
    3
  4284.  комиссар полиции обвиняет  If so, why is Russia fomenting WW3? If anyone, Russia needs to be kicked out of the UNSC.
    3
  4285. It's clearly wasted on you.
    3
  4286. Free Nelson Mande... Alexei Navalny!
    3
  4287.  @J.M.254  I'm referring to the UNGA vote, which was super clear on what the world thinks of Russia. Sanctions are another matter altogether. Many countries have no appreciable trade with Russia, or as developing countries, they can ill-afford to sanction anyone, period. Refraining from sanctioning Russia is not tantamount to supporting Russia. So, what concrete evidence do you have of international support for Russia? The only verifiable African supporter is Eritrea, and in Asia, there's just North Korea and Syria. In North and South America, not single country saw fit to support Russia.
    3
  4288.  @lynda6338  BRICS+ is not an option, as I just explained. If the R and the C democratise and abandon their expansionism, then maybe in some conceivable future. And the I may take the opposite direction, where the R and the C are now.
    3
  4289.  @davidalexsebastiank6250  Germany pays the going rate for commodities. And gives development aid rather generously.
    3
  4290.  @antoninagarkalna1444  Goody. Russian regular forces have forged a reputation of cutting and running whenever Ukraine makes a push. Most recently, around Bakhmut, but Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson come to mind as well. Of course, they euphemistically call them goodwill gestures, brilliantly executed tactical redeployments and whatnot. Only spoilsport Prigozhin, who lacks military training altogether and doesn't know military jargon, calls them spades spades.
    3
  4291. Explain yourself. I have never seen any monetary support from the US, nor have my parents or their parents.
    3
  4292.  @HANSMKAMP  FYI, Trump, like all his presidents to date, will give very little money to NATO, since NATO's joint budget is rather small. The resources that the US makes available to NATO in the event of an Article 5-triggering crisis don't cost the US as much as its entire defence budget either, since the US military has plenty of extracurricular activities besides NATO. Halve the US defence budget, and it's about right. Hilariously, that's less than the 2% of GDP that the man keeps clamouring about.
    3
  4293. OK, Z-bot.
    3
  4294. Stop being so fixated on America. You'll make their heads swell dangerously.
    3
  4295. "African Heroes Alliance"... so let me get this straight. In Africa, you become a hero if you're the military and you seize power from a democratically elected government (or in Mali's case, from another military junta). Some heroes you have over there.
    3
  4296. The customer is king, friendo. Germany would sell India a pig in a poke and even put lipstick on it if that's what you specify.
    3
  4297.  @magnacz  Sure thing. I can't think of any European country that sought out to become a Soviet satellite.
    3
  4298. That stiff upper lip sure comes in handy.
    3
  4299. Your syrupy ode to Putin would sound better if you knew how to spell *fazed.
    3
  4300. Or a B-list actor <cough>Reagan<cough> or a reality TV star <cough>Trump<cough>... Fortunately that doesn't happen in Murica.
    3
  4301. It was a joke. It has quietly ceased to exist. Its members know full well, but they keep mum about it, except for Armenia.
    3
  4302. So a full Russian withdrawal is imminent? Goody.
    3
  4303.  @Istrino  I fear Putin and Lavrov agree one hundred percent that Trump has stolen the clown show from them.
    3
  4304.  @r34l1z3r  Troll farmhands are the biggest cowards of them all.
    3
  4305. This is not political rejuvenation, this is political dumbification. Being Dutch, you should know that.
    3
  4306. Orban gets chuckles in China. They know full well that the man is a political lightweight and that he represents the EU in name only. And Orban does lip service to peace.
    3
  4307. @Amanda Hughes Back then, we weren't in the EU, so if any bribes were paid we can't possibly be held accountable. But wasn't Heath the duly elected PM then? Every country has the government it deserves. As to you being the sick man of Europe, you earned that label in the late 60s already. Joining the EEC didn't bring about an abrupt reversal of fortunes, but things did slowly pick up from there. Modernization is a painful process.
    3
  4308. Twisted Realpolitik that had a place in the 20th century, but in not the 21st.
    3
  4309. It looks like the Russians are well on their way liberating the UK from the EU. Their oligarchs can buy the rest of London.
    3
  4310.  @lawrencekling8598  You have an eye problem. Everyone else can tell that he means Russia denying something means it's true. Duh!
    3
  4311. Who's we? Just speak for yourself.
    3
  4312.  @barendleroux6618  OK, I have you down as a an empty vessel.
    3
  4313.  @tommeiner9983  You could try to explain yourself. Unfounded opinions aren't all that useful.
    3
  4314. Plus $83 million for Jean Carroll. The Orange Man is seriously out of pocket.
    3
  4315.  @HBC101TVStudios  Let's call a spade a spade, not a gardening tool. The Philippines were a US colony. All the trappings of colonialism were there.
    3
  4316. Oh, it was an easy decision to make after Russia invaded Ukraine. Popular support for NATO membership remains overwhelmingly high in both countries. It's as if the politicians were forced to act fast or face an electoral backlash. Both countries maintain a strong defence that will only be bolstered by NATO. Their economies are none the worse for wear. On the contrary, international buyers and investors were momentarily wary of a Russian attack, but the prospect of NATO membership and Russia's poor showing in Ukraine has more than restored confidence.
    3
  4317. Pay but no say. Strangely, that's how Switzerland (and Norway) want it.
    3
  4318.  @ZipMapp  Switzerland is not the richest country in the world, not by GDP per capita, nor when adjusted for PPP. Luxembourg, which is in the EU, surpasses it in both categories. There goes your argument. By the way, you don't have to be smart or a strategist to check simple stats. They're literally at your fingertips.
    3
  4319. Pray tell why it never occurs to your ilk that if Putler finally calls quits on his ill-advised military adventure and orders his Orcs to withdraw whence they came, there's no more war? Don't feel bad about yourself, the obvious eludes many.
    3
  4320. Don't you worry. The charges against Salvini relate to his actions in 2019, whereas Kaili got nabbed in 2022. Her's is an open and shut case, whereas Salvini may just get away scot-free.
    3
  4321. Aren't you full of yourselves. Congrats on reinforcing the stereotype about American arrogance.
    3
  4322. I'm confused. Russia won no medals in Beijing.
    3
  4323.  @Bdigital9482  Beria met his end at the hands of a Praetorian Guard of sorts. Marshall Zhukov nabbed him and General Batitsky pulled the trigger.
    3
  4324. We call them civil servants, but never mind. I guess you weren't served brain matter with a ladle, but rather, a teaspoon.
    3
  4325. It's Russia, Qatar, Egypt, UAE and Turkey that are waging war in Libya. Long-standing dictatorships rarely if ever unravel nicely.
    3
  4326.  @urmo8354  I'm sorry, but unsubstantiated personal opinions aren't helpful. I'm afraid nothing of what you've posted so far (a six-word one-liner is your best effort) suggests that you understand the topic at hand.
    3
  4327.  @VINLAND_777  You're trying to engage a mindless bot in a rational conversation -- an exercise in futility if there ever was one. Soreeyez has yet to produce a single rational comment. Silly one-liners are the best he can do.
    3
  4328. Free Nelson Mandela! Oh no, wrong video and my timing's off, too. What made you pick the wrong video?
    3
  4329. You should leave for Amerika already.
    3
  4330. Maybe Lukashenko had a vision about a post-Putin world, where things get very hairy for him unless he makes amends. To wit, his survival instincts kicked in.
    3
  4331.  Donald Kasper  Ahem, hemp has been grown in Finland since the Stone Age.
    3
  4332.  @DG-ie5ip  How are my eyes shut, pray tell? Try to formulate a full sentence.
    3
  4333. Er, exactly which discredited government are you referring to? The WA was ratified on 23 January 2020. Johnson became prime minister on 24 July 2019.
    3
  4334. American much?
    3
  4335. Stalin also considered making peace with Hitler when the going wasn't good.
    3
  4336.  @Elias-yb3xv  Let's give Bolsonaro a participation trophy already.
    3
  4337. Strange bedfellows...
    3
  4338.  @misterloser1.4  If you equate submissiveness with common sense, sure. You be you.
    3
  4339. ..diens hielen men likt?
    3
  4340. I'm afraid your Russian "humour" misses the mark here. And don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    3
  4341. When you buy an iPhone, you should make a matching donation to some carbon offsetting operation. Asia pollutes because we outsourced manufacturing to them.
    3
  4342. It doesn't matter what you think of the UN. What matters is that the world had its say about Putin's war of aggression. The result leaves nothing to the imagination.
    3
  4343. The dead don't recover well. There was one fatality.
    3
  4344. Report to your local chapter of Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous.
    3
  4345. No, we expect commitments to be honoured. Reciprocity, too, in vaccine exports.
    3
  4346.  @coldrain6042  Finland values its independence so much -- and that of nations, like Ukraine and its Baltic neighbours -- that it decided that joining NATO is the best course of action in stemming Russian aggression. Cope harder, Sasha.
    3
  4347.  @hekeng  "Love it or leave it" is your credo, eh? It's ironic, since a lot of Hongkongers did indeed fall out of love with Communist China and left. Now it's their sons' and daughters' turn to move on to better pastures.
    3
  4348.  @BigDsGaming2022  That's swell, but the point here is that the US Armed Forces retired the F-4 in 1996, while in Luftwaffe service, it soldiered on despite its advanced age till 2013.
    3
  4349. In the UK they can. It's called an illegal job market. It's huge in the UK, and employers that benefit from it get a mere rap on the knuckles when caught.
    3
  4350.  @ruouy3453  So, in your not-so-humble opinion, are we going to see another Exodus from Gaza or will it be a genocide? How about the West Bank? Hamas isn't that big over there -- yet.
    3
  4351.  @Fiftycents50  We'll make sure to slap a counter-tariff on US-made iPhones. They'll be very expensive to begin with, and even more so with the tariff on top.
    3
  4352.  @johnhurstrom3808  You lack perspective. Movies, video games and social media are the same everywhere. Still, school shootings are widespread in Murica, but not so elsewhere.
    3
  4353. Europe cuts gas use and causes WW3? The causation is lost on me.
    3
  4354. Been there, done that. SEA is not without its challenges. Bad internet, floods, blackouts and crime come to mind. Of course, there's practically none of that in the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong, but life is no longer cheap either.
    3
  4355. An "In Soviet Russia" reversal joke detected.
    3
  4356. It's also a good reminder of how dependent China is on exports. The CCP, which rules with the tacit approval of the Chinese middle class, will be even in more trouble than they are already on account of mishandling the initial nCoV outbreak.
    3
  4357.  @vjbd2757  Fine? Will you fork out $2,000 for an iPhone that's made in the USA?
    3
  4358. Your god tolerates worse. Ukraine and Gaza come to mind.
    3
  4359.  @foxhollowantiques7098  But your god applies his wrath selectively, as in singling out gender-obfuscating sins for divine retribution, while quietly turning a blind eye to murder and mayhem? Odd.
    3
  4360.  @pelateiene3142  Ukraine holds a huge chunk of a Russian oblast according to Russian logic.
    3
  4361.  @rogermoore9810  I only see the USA waving a white flag here.
    3
  4362. You guys. Israel is a parliamentary republic where the president's role is mostly ceremonial.
    3
  4363. ​ @marijanstankovic8036  Will you ever tire of wallowing in victimhood?
    3
  4364. You conspiracy theorists can't help yourselves.
    3
  4365.  @bojanm986  So you went off on a tangent in true whataboutist style. The OP specifically mentioned "accidents". You failed to show that extrajudicial killings are the norm in the West, like they are in Russia.
    3
  4366. Is she supposed to apologise to a bunch a rioters?
    3
  4367. It's not up to you, bud. They have inalienable rights.
    3
  4368.  @TheDonMan97  That's been the mantra for years, but there's little to show for it.
    3
  4369.  @haroonvlogs5437  First and foremost, Cameron squandered an opportunity. Like-minded EU members approached Cameron to propose a joint bid for agricultural reform, but the good man dismissed them. Cameron wasn't out for reform, but more exclusive privileges. Predictably, after Brexit, the UK found little sympathy in these countries. On the plus side, if the UK were to reapply, exlusive privileges are no longer an issue. The EU will make sure they're not on the agenda.
    3
  4370.  @marcwells03  This is about those held "without charge or trial". They can justly be called hostages. Is the presumption of innocence a foreign concept to you?
    3
  4371.  @thelogician1934  China's domestic market isn't big enough the absorb the manufactured goods that China currently exports. Also, while many goods are Chinese-made, it means final assembly of foreign designs, made up of foreign components, which is to say China adds relatively little value to said products. They are not easily replaced with Chinese counterparts either. The question is not if China will face stormy weather, but how well China will weather the storm.
    3
  4372. Only you can't. FPTP.
    3
  4373. ​ @coldrain6042  Sasha, don't copy-paste the same comment all over the place. Also, try to use proper grammar, capitalization and punctuation. You don't want to appear nekulturny.
    3
  4374. Healthcare is at such a low ebb in Afghanistan that the vulnerable die of other preventable diseases just as easily, or even more so. The Taliban will shrug it off with an inshallah.
    3
  4375.  @goldfingerhardcore  Why exactly. With Airbus involved, the Brits are in the same boat. Unless they want to exit from Airbus as well.
    3
  4376. ...not to mention Turkey's economic capabilities. It takes a solid economy to be a great power. Erdoganomics and solid shouldn't appear in the same sentence.
    3
  4377.  @_Redronin_  Turkey could be so much more, but with Erdogan in charge, it isn't.
    3
  4378.  @etherealrose2139  If Greenland were to agree to become a territory of the United States, the Greenlanders are bound to do so only on condition that they keep their Euro-style universal healthcare. Wouldn't that create an uncomfortable precedent for the US? I mean, those unable to receive life-saving medical attention elsewhere in the US would use their last dollars to buy a plane ticket to Greenland.
    3
  4379. Did he tell the children to wave the white flag, too?
    3
  4380. Sorting something out means you don't leave a mess. Boris left a mess.
    3
  4381. Survivalists stock up on food. Why not terrorists?
    3
  4382. Katyn déjà vu.
    3
  4383. You can't deny DW News their Schadenfreude after patiently enduring all that bluster from the Brits.
    3
  4384. Wouldn't that be Brits as well? On the continent, we take care of our sick and elderly, and we don't pretend it's either-or support Ukraine.
    3
  4385. It would seem the Eastern powers didn't mind their own business either. They gave NATO a clear mandate to operate in Afghanistan, along with the rest of the world. There are no two ways about it.
    3
  4386. Duda's party, the Freedom Union, is defunct. He's merely aligned with PiS.
    3
  4387.  @taha.Rabeeah  That's too weird for words. Serbia was conducting ethnic cleansing in Kosovo when NATO put a stop to it. For sure Serbia was acting alone. Even its great friend Russia joined the chorus and made madman Milosevic finally see the light.
    3
  4388. She's brown. You didn't get the memo?
    3
  4389. Voor er nieuwe verkiezingen komen moet het stokje doorgegeven worden aan nummer 2, dus GL-PvdA. Het is geen hogere wiskunde.
    3
  4390. Interesting. Germany vs. Russia in 1918 ended with a win for Germany.
    3
  4391.  @americanclip03proud  Make that billions of euros -- 132 € billion, to be extact. The US trails at 114 billion in euros.
    3
  4392. Why, Trump hasn't been jailed once.
    3
  4393.  @samuelross9884  Sure thing, Crimea belongs to Ukraine. There are several UNGA resolutions to that effect.
    3
  4394. If not far right, what then? Extreme right? Radical right? Hard right? Righter right? You'd better come up with something palatable or the label stays.
    3
  4395.  @hoilst265  You're suggesting that only Germany observes rule of law. That's a bit of stretch.
    3
  4396.  @ugvadugvaw  Russia confidently stated that they don't join military alliances, but rather, found them. I guess that was at least true for the CSTO -- of which everyone wonders if it still exists.
    3
  4397. You seem unhinged.
    3
  4398. @Sreja Aćimović You're not familiar with how artillery works.
    3
  4399.  @arumforyou  Let's ask the UN. Oh no, we have already. Do we need to go over the results?
    3
  4400. Your excuses are wearing thin.
    3
  4401. Spreek voor jezelf. De Polen en de Finnen weten verdomd goed dat de Russen niet onverslaanbaar zijn.
    3
  4402. The question is, are the coup leaders legitimately in power?
    3
  4403. After 2,000 years?
    3
  4404. I hope they remember Putin with a gift basket. NATO should, too. Putin is their best salesman ever!
    3
  4405. @Master Chef I think you'll find all the rooms occupied. Repatriated British expats will need a place to stay.
    3
  4406.  @andia968  And a great partnership it will prove. There are a great many Americans with Vietnamese ethnicity, who've done very well for themselves. They'll be in good position to help turn Vietnam into an economic powerhouse.
    3
  4407. It's geographically impossible. The same goes for Western Russia. Europe can't leave it.
    3
  4408. Dat was de 2e W.O. ook niet totdat de Duitsers binnenvielen.
    3
  4409. How come? Trump was very critical of the new deal Boris negotiated with the EU. With his comfy majority, Boris will surely get it through parliament.
    3
  4410.  @_ADM_  Asymptomatic or not, having had Covid-19 doesn't render you permanently immune to the virus. I was about to add that I hope your upcoming bout with Covid-19 won't leave you with the brain fog associated with Long Covid, but then I realised that in your case that, too, would go unnoticed.
    3
  4411. You should've built the canal across the continental US instead, don't you think? Well, mistakes happen, but you have to bear the consequences of your mistakes.
    3
  4412. *Its cargo. No apostrophe in the possessive of the pronoun "it", Jason. The UN Charter clearly states as follows: "Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations [...]". So, Ukraine is entirely within its rights to defend itself and hence, Australia can help it do so. Besides, there's no war on in Ukraine as far as Russia is concerned -- just some "special military operation".
    3
  4413. Russia sought to demilitarise Ukraine. Instead, it remilitarised the whole of Europe.
    3
  4414. Yet they're not a political liability for Thailand.
    3
  4415. Rosgvardiya, Russia's national guard, are like a cross between riot police and military police. They don't fare so well in combat, as has been demonstrated in Ukraine, where they casually tried to enter towns, only to be beaten back bloodily by Ukraine's real national guard. Rosgvardiya is ideal for quelling internal unrest within Russia and neighbouring client states. Combat, not so.
    3
  4416. Tell me, how's Brexit Britain doing with regard to migrants? I have to ask, because what I hear through official channels is far from encouraging.
    3
  4417.  @ТиберийКински  A whopping 141 countries condemned Russia's neo-imperialism, while a measly four approved. That's a pretty damning verdict.
    3
  4418.  @ТиберийКински  Oh, you decided to change the topic. I understand.
    3
  4419.  @TheRealDuckofDeath  Russia has no democratic institutions or traditions. For a while, when it was trying to reinvent itself after the Soviet collapse, it was a proto-democracy of sorts, but even that didn't stick. I'm sure post-Putin Russia will revisit the idea, but I'm afraid the authoritarian Teflon just adheres too firmly to make democracy stick this time around either. That being said, if the Russian Federation were to fall apart, its newly-independent western parts could perhaps pull it off. Who knows, maybe one day the EU -- and NATO -- will gain new members in Ingria (Leningrad oblast) and Amberland (Kaliningrad).
    3
  4420.  @eng3d  Check out the TV ratings, or do you have credible sources that suggest otherwise? No? Back with you to the ol' troll cave then.
    3
  4421. From the get-go, both countries have been lacklustre in providing aid to Ukraine, to say nothing of actual military aid. They fear the scorn of their colleagues.
    3
  4422. Don't cloud the issue with your whataboutism. Besides, it's boring.
    3
  4423. More like a silly banana republic.
    3
  4424.  @jmvpams1380  No danger of that. The US is disintegrating, not integrating other countries.
    3
  4425. ...and the net result is that you'll be waist-deep in rotten fish, reminiscing about a war that took place three generations ago. You are the UK, the promised land of eccentrics.
    3
  4426. @John Smith You're still being silly. The figures I quoted are GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP).
    3
  4427. Chris, you expect the world to forgive and forget the moment Trump leaves office. That's not how it works. The world expects the US to take responsibility for its past actions no matter who's in charge.
    3
  4428. Is Trump having a senior moment? Even if intends to go Hitler on the Americans, he's not supposed to say it out loud before he's seized power.
    3
  4429. Sticking with Britain is one thing, but sticking with Brexit is quite another. The Gibraltarians must be wringing their hands raw.
    3
  4430. @Light up the dark You may want to be a bit more specific as to why you think the EU will be finished in two years. I'm curious, because the last European elections suggested nothing of the sort. Just listing names of countries isn't convincing.
    3
  4431.  @peterholmer9278  Frogfoot yes, Hellduck no. The NATO name for the latter is Fullback.
    3
  4432.  @bcase5328  Unless China offers him asylum, Putin will cling on to power like his life depended on it -- because it probably does.
    3
  4433. India adorns itself with borrowed plumes.
    3
  4434.  @tomhenry897 Nonsense. In the EU, corruption manifests itself on a national rather than on a supranational EU level. The usual suspects fail to tackle corruption nationally, and the EU, which by design lacks jurisdiction on a national level, is more or less powerless to call a halt to it. The EU is not supposed to be a nursery for naughty toddlers.
    3
  4435.  @OlaFosheimGrstad  Personally, I don't care how much oversight Romania is subjected to, but I do have a problem with the EU assuming more and more federal powers. Individual EU members can be nanny states if that's their choice, but we don't need a nanny union.
    3
  4436. ​ @appletree6741  Well, in Russia, he would've taken a tumble out of a high-rise.
    3
  4437. The indictment is in the mail.
    3
  4438. They'll quickly go underground when faced with a determined force.
    3
  4439.  @MrKarlyboy  Actually, my experience is the reverse. Asians wonder how they can get along with Britain if Britain can't get along with its neighbours. Moreover, in Singapore, where I (normally) spend most of my time, there's a barely disguised contentment that the British Empire has now truly and utterly come to an end. The Singaporeans were flattered by the Singapore-on-Thames hype, but they were quick to dismiss it as delusional.
    3
  4440. Do you know what it means in an international context? This is where the USA is not your oyster.
    3
  4441. It follows that you are: a) Belarusian; b) Eritrean; c) North Korean; d) Syrian; e) Lying.
    3
  4442.  @univeropa3363  "Inconclusive" is the official verdict on the 2006 Lebanon War.
    3
  4443.  @univeropa3363  Sure, Israel had high hopes of neutralising Hezbollah and it failed to do so, but militarily, Hezbollah managed little more than to prove that it's capable of resisting Israeli incursions into southern Lebanon, be it at a very high cost. It could prevent Israel's incursions by not provoking Israel, but Tehran has other ideas.
    3
  4444.  @univeropa3363  OK, I promise to be more succinct, with your short attention span and all. Tehran won, by perpetuating its proxy war with Israel, which only harms Lebanon. I wonder if the Iranians still feel the same, after Israel started to take the fight to them directly. Syria is becoming quite a graveyard for Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
    3
  4445. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Germany vs. Russia 1-1?
    3
  4446.  @dustywoood  The Kremlin is where you should direct your complaints.
    3
  4447.  @Bigliever  Je rolt dus een rode loper uit richting Poetin. Ik heb nog een engelstalige uitdrukking voor je: survival of the fittest.
    3
  4448.  @aliquill2252  Wikipedia, for instance, has an article that's titled "United States invasion of Afghanistan". It states that ISAF oversaw the military operation in Afghanistan after the initial invasion, suggesting that NATO joined the invasion at a later date, after gaining a UNSC mandate. Moreover, two years into the conflict, the UNSC expanded ISAF's mandate to proceed further into Afghanistan (read: invade further), meaning beyond Kabul. Call that phase two of the invasion. That's when a personal friend of mine was permanently disabled by an IED.
    3
  4449.  @johnreynolds5407  Degrees in IT, in fact. Russia will have to dust off the abacuses from Soviet times (still cracks me up -- I couldn't believe what I saw when I first visited the USSR).
    3
  4450. Try to become pro-peace as well.
    3
  4451.  @luciusdomitiusaurelianus1024  "I'm more educated and well-read then [sic] you"... Say no more, Mr. Academicus.
    3
  4452.  @WilhelmKarsten  I just explained that the UK is, but the Netherlands isn't. Consolidation and bankruptcies have been a thing everywhere. Defunct aircraft manufacturers galore, all over the world. Some were acquired, others just faded away.
    3
  4453.  @sandervanderkammen9230  There's the bold type again. I'm talking about aircraft manufacturing, which takes place in Broughton and Belfast. I'm sure they're locally incorporated as Airbus subsidiaries. How about the elephant in the room, Fokker? Still keeping busy?
    3
  4454.  @WilhelmKarsten  Why would I correct you? You're arguing a different point from mine. Correct me if there's no aircraft manufacturing taking place in the UK.
    3
  4455.  @WilhelmKarsten  Still off on your own tangent? Why don't you make straw men yourself? You seem awfully adept at it.
    3
  4456.  @WilhelmKarsten  ...and made in the UK, too. Passenger jets don't fly all that well without wings. Which part of 'straw man' don't you understand?
    3
  4457.  @WilhelmKarsten  You're very wrong. Germany hasn't made Zeppelins in decades. There, two can play the straw man game.
    3
  4458.  @WilhelmKarsten  ⬅This bot is malfunctioning.
    3
  4459.  @scottvino1141  There's no proof of that whatsoever. Russian OSCE monitors reluctantly have to concur. Facts are a biatch, aren't they?
    3
  4460. In the olden days, they would've stamped your service record with "lack of moral fibre".
    3
  4461.  @mammothmotouk  Well, thank you, but you should know my overseas tours offered little in terms of excitement. I could count the firefights and the shelling on the fingers of one hand. A piece of advice: don't flaunt your cowardice. It's generally frowned upon.
    3
  4462. When there's proof, I suppose. I don't think Seymour Hersh has any, or he would've produced it already.
    3
  4463.  @JohnJacob33  Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    3
  4464. Or people are being too touchy. There's a microfissure in a tiny border town. No need to be a drama queen about it.
    3
  4465.  Giver and Receiver  Are you trying to demonstrate that you're not the sharpest tool in the shed?
    3
  4466.  Giver and Receiver  You're weird.
    3
  4467. Ukraine is winning by not losing. For Ukraine, it's a defensive war, and not a war of conquest.
    3
  4468. Too bad for you the two are practically synonymous. Oh wait, there's Belarus, the last genuine dictatorship in Europe. Unlike all the others, they're not affiliated with the EU nor have they indicated an intention to join.
    3
  4469. To be honest, Russia was misunderstood the essence of scorched earth tactics many times over. More often than not, they destroy cities they're attacking -- not retreating from -- so as to deny themselves their use. Mariopul and Bakhmut are cases in point.
    3
  4470. That's your problem, tradition holds you back.
    3
  4471.  @green9766  Ukrainians and their Antonovs fly cargo all around the world all the time. It's called a business.
    3
  4472. And they're suspected of supplying arms to whom exactly?
    3
  4473. The B-52, an early Cold War design, is stealthy? You're a hoot.
    3
  4474.  @hansdekorver7365  Poetin is juist goed bezig om Rusland uiteen te laten vallen. We gaan nog meemaken dat Karelië, Ingerland en Amberland onafhankelijk worden. In één klap drie Baltische staten erbij.
    3
  4475.  @ometriaslong3069  Putin is a class apart. Also, in other countries there's a free press. Outside of Russia, troublesome journalists are less likely to meet with an unfortunate "accident".
    3
  4476. No can do. His table is just too looong to transport.
    3
  4477. Looks like you're not getting your wish, little buddy.
    3
  4478. Care to give an example?
    3
  4479. The Battle of the Bulge took place in Belgium and Luxembourg, not France. The Americans suffered defeats against the Germans at Kasserine Pass and Hürtgen Forest. If you insist on focusing on battles fought on French soil, there was the Battle of Metz, which is considered a German strategic victory.
    3
  4480.  @jorryaime5249  I bet you'd fight fire with surrender.
    3
  4481.  @hicrhodushicsalta6648  In the post-Trump era, facts matter again.
    3
  4482.  @jarednovel  There comes the whataboutism. Why do you have to draw the US -- a country foreign to me -- into every convo? Seek help for your fixation.
    3
  4483. Terry, you may not be concerned, but your industry insiders definitely are. Hence the big stink in Whitehall. Also, for GNSS, you need three dozen or so satellites. The £5B price tag is optimistic. Galileo, even after some cuts, came to £8B. I'd say it's a foregone conclusion that the UK will buy its way back into Galileo, but at what price and which terms (full member or observer), that is the question.
    3
  4484. I've wondered why Prigozhin, their boss, hasn't come up with the idea to fill Wagner's ranks with trolls now that convicts are a no-no. Or maybe he has. The trolls had better reread their contracts with a magnifying glass.
    3
  4485.  @childofeternity  Funny that there were no OSCE reports to that effect. Putin must've made it all up.
    3
  4486. ​ @rasmusgustavsson3426  The Baltic Sea with its relatively shallow waters makes operating large warships unpractical. With limited room to manoeuvre, they become very vulnerable to mines and airpower. I supposed you haven't heard that earlier this year, two huge cruiseferries sailing between Sweden and Finland ran aground within as many months. And they try to stick to safe routes. Rather than a big-ship navy, Sweden is much-better served by small missile boats and attack aircraft.
    3
  4487.  @rasmusgustavsson3426  You're clearly a military fanboy. Strong opinions, substance -- if any -- overshadowed by glaring mistakes and oversights. Yup, you're a clear case. The Pohjanmaa-class are as of yet undelivered corvettes. Even if you insist on redefining them as frigates because of their tonnage, a frigate is still one class below destroyer. Not to worry, I'm not Swedish. Again, your tenuous grasp of geography is hampering your judgement. Poland is at the other end of the Baltic Sea. The topology of the sea bottom is quite different from that up north.
    3
  4488. My grandfather took part in the so-called Sausage War, which had them perform a bayonet charge. He said it was the craziest thing he did in a series of crazy battles. If he were still alive, I'm sure he would very much advise against bayonet charges, no matter how heroic.
    3
  4489. He's stuck "liberating" Ukraine. It appears the Ukrainians are none too keen.
    3
  4490. Go where? He's still president.
    3
  4491.  @sarah.sonninem  I've got a double masters, in history and political science. Over to you, what do you bring to the table?
    3
  4492. Beggars can't be choosers.
    3
  4493. India is supposed to be big in peacekeeping. Why aren't you proactively offering to send troops?
    3
  4494.  @MissRed92837  Samo-samo, but it's not realistic to get everyone into a shelter if the distance is too large. Here in the capital region we have an overcapacity of 134%, because in urban settings people tend to have a fall-out shelter both at work and at home.
    3
  4495. Yup, militarism rules in Russia, now even more overtly.
    3
  4496. How long have you been stateless?
    3
  4497. Putin's assassin? Russia's leaders tend to go out with a bang, sometimes literally.
    3
  4498. "Special recruitment operation" has proven a rare success for Russia.
    3
  4499. It begs the question why Russia and China don't have Eastern puppets that capture the imagination of the Western masses. How come your puppets are unloved?
    3
  4500. They should send a ship instead of a boat.
    3
  4501. You may want to explain that further. "The West" is more than the USA alone. Us non-Americans very much deplore the behaviour of Israel towards the Palestinians, and we don't hide our opinions. If facts mean antyhing to you, study the UN voting records.
    3
  4502. He should do NASCAR next.
    3
  4503.  @benyou406  You've got it backwards. Finland is choosing peace by getting a restraining order against Russia. It's a proven one, too -- never has Russia dared to break one issued by NATO.
    3
  4504. That's Russia.
    3
  4505.  @dicklong30  Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. But what's the relevance to this discussion?
    3
  4506.  @TheBlackIdentety  For Turkey, it's F-16s. Turkey desperately wants new ones and upgrades for its older ones, but the US is dragging its feet.
    3
  4507. The French can't cross those bridges because they've burned them before they got there.
    3
  4508.  @huhujojo1968  Not only is your spelling off, but also, your sense of reality leaves a lot to be desired. BRICS is still far from a trade bloc or -- as the wildest wet dreamers would have it -- a geopolitical alliance. Looking at some of the members and their mutual antipathies, it never will be either. BRICS is like an engagement, with the wedding still off, to say nothing of hegemony, which is just glint in your eye.
    3
  4509.  @huhujojo1968  My debating skills are just fine. I bet you didn't even understand what I meant by it.
    3
  4510. It's looks like you're new to democracy and rule of law. Parliament makes the laws and your supposedly "left wing" judiciary sees to it that they're followed. As we'll see in this instance, parliament will quickly change the relevant law, and the judiciary will see to it that this amended law also gets followed. Did you sleep through maatschappijleer?
    3
  4511. ​@MSD Group Don't stop. Chechens, Tatars, Karelians, Cossacks, Circassians... there's a lot more where those came from.
    3
  4512.  @ForgottenWeapons  If Russia mobilizes cows next, we come prepared.
    3
  4513. There's a measure of schadenfreude in seeing an aggressor being punished with a weapon for which he doesn't have a defence.
    3
  4514.  @roll-outcommanders6520  You'r projecting. The EU isn't greatly troubled by diminishing trade with Russia. You have a very inflated opinions of yourselves. You should really worry about the effect it has on Russia, which is also known as a gas station that is masquerading as a country.
    3
  4515.  @ecurewitz  Putin is shooting himself in both feet. First Finland, then Sweden.
    3
  4516. I bet this guy can't get life insurance.
    3
  4517. Cats will be cats.
    3
  4518. So Hong Kong belongs to China, and ergo, should suffer the same undemocratic rule as the rest of China. Got ya.
    3
  4519. You don't start preparing for war after the proverbial fecal matter has hit the rotary oscillator.
    3
  4520. The Taliban rendered the US militarily impotent. Are we to take a cue from you?
    3
  4521.  @Legiion513  Yes, we also saw how the US "wanted" to quit Vietnam to spare yourselves an ignominious defeat. And it still ended in tears, just like Afghanistan. You're right, military adventurism isn't Europe's thing. It isn't yours either, but you never learn.
    3
  4522. India's space agency should outfit subsequent landers with a 4G smartphone, so they can stream better video back to Earth. I'm waiting for your (hopefully educated) response with bated breath.
    3
  4523.  @ulpl8007  Russia is still very much struggling to subdue Ukraine, and you can't blame Russia for pulling its punches. In other words, Ukraine is succeeding in holding the fort. Or did you think Ukraine was trying to take Moscow?
    3
  4524. Yup, I expect Russians' will to fight will collapse, as it has in the past, too. Ukraine will win by forfeit.
    3
  4525. You should be vying for a Darwin Award.
    3
  4526.  @modarkthemauler  The Swedes and Danes were jealous of our Valmets, which are awfully similar to the Galil, when I served with them in Lebanon. Having to lug their heavy G3 variants and ammo on foot patrols must've had something to do with it. Good shots, though, especially the Danes.
    3
  4527.  @scottp7587  You need to make everything about Murica. Didn't you get enough attention as a child?
    3
  4528. Our two frigates are just about to enter the Suez Canal. Thanks for asking.
    3
  4529.  @bck481  You're mixing up the Soviet Bloc and the Soviet Union. The Baltic states don't amount to half of the Soviet republics.
    3
  4530.  @bck481  The Soviet Union consisted of 15 republics. After its dissolution, three former republics joined NATO: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Three out of 15 is one fifth, not half.
    3
  4531. We pried a lot of Soviet Mosin-Nagants from cold, dead hands.
    3
  4532.  @Tex5bal  It's called lethal aid. It aids Ukraine in defeating those who're hurting their families and children.
    3
  4533.  キューティ・プラス  Did you have a point or are you just here to cry your eyes out?
    3
  4534.  @jasonhua5202  Be that as it may, but Covid-19 and China are clearly interlinked.
    3
  4535. A blessing became a curse.
    3
  4536. What is whataboutism to you? The ultimate coping mechanism?
    3
  4537. That depends on the outcome of the upcoming European election. You may want to read about it, and about democracy in general.
    3
  4538. I wish I would get a dollar every time a conspiracy theorist tells people to open their eyes. I could probably donate a million a month to Ukraine.
    3
  4539. @antiwef You're so clever with emoticons! Does your kindergarten teacher know?
    3
  4540. What makes you think it still works? Unmoderated, it will turn into a freak show in no time.
    3
  4541.  @SeeLasSee  Germany has a strong defence industry that's firing on all cylinders, and has for quite some time. Sadly, the same can't be said about their defence force.
    3
  4542.  @notfound3358  And you're the farmer's sock puppet?
    3
  4543. Many colonizers have been colonized themselves. This includes China.
    3
  4544.  @mantelikukkapenkki2368  Don't get carried away. The law wouldn't have passed without support from the political left in Finnish Parliament.
    3
  4545.  @ansgarm.cordie9659  You'll be pleased to know that a great many of the asylum seekers that arrive in Finland "disappear" during the applications process. A great many of those reappear in Germany. Your authorities are silently pleased at this.
    3
  4546.  @ansgarm.cordie9659  Whatever gave you the idea that the constitution is suspended when the new border law is enacted? It's gone through several rounds of assessments and it has been deemed to conform with the constitution.
    3
  4547. She's academically schooled and professionally accomplished. You, on the other hand, suggest yourself that your head isn't worth much.
    3
  4548. If you stop illegal immigration with illegal means, prison beckons, sure. In countries where rule of law still applies, the end does not justify the means.
    3
  4549. If so, NATO has had a patriotic cause for years, with Iskanders and Su-27s in Kaliningrad.
    3
  4550.  @bearmerica6668  You're playing Putin's game, that much is clear.
    3
  4551. Uh, it's quite customary for a veep to run next.
    3
  4552.  @kleopatra6234  Well, assuming the USA is still a functioning democracy, the answer to your question is that the US electorate let "Obiden" into the White House. I heard that the loser, whatshisname with the orange complexion, disputed the outcome of the election to the best of his abilities, but failed miserably at it, time and again.
    3
  4553. "Loosing [sic] territory" would mean that the territory in question somehow drifts off from its moorings and Zelenskyy intentionally loosens the ropes that hold it. Isn't English an official language in India?
    3
  4554. Disintegration, not victory, is in the cards for Russia.
    3
  4555.  @casteretpollux  You can fantasize as much as you want, but it doesn't change the fact that neither ISIS-K nor the Taliban possess game-changing weapons.
    3
  4556.  @masabamutalechristopher6436  How the tables have turned.
    3
  4557. You're congratulating the crypto-Fascists too soon. My guess is we won't be seeing a PVV-led coalition government in the Netherlands. Say, do you know about coalition governments?
    3
  4558. These Tupolev have been launching missiles at Ukrainian targets ever since Putin started this whole ill-advised war of his. The only regret is that Ukraine didn't strike them sooner.
    3
  4559.  @ИванЛарзалев  The war has come home to roost, buddy.
    3
  4560.  @jasip1000  Whatcha talking about? There was a snap election in 2014, after Yanukovych failed to fulfil his constitutional duties (read: fled to Russia like a thief in the night). The snap election saw Poroshenko being elected president. Poroshenko served a full term, after which Zelenskyy won the presidential election. Nothing untoward happened in a democratic sense when Yanukovych was removed from office. Even fellow party members of Yanukovych concurred.
    3
  4561.  @briseboy  No shit Sherlock.
    3
  4562.  @stanleykubrick8786  That's an idea. If you'd put a RKG-3 shaped charge into the nose of a jet-powered F-16 RC scale model, it would make a helluva kamikaze drone.
    3
  4563. "NATO-like" it says in the title, Greg -- or should I say "Greg"?
    3
  4564. Orban protects his own interests, first and foremost.
    3
  4565. You conveniently ignore the fact that the centre-right has long dominated in Brussels. And what's a "European chancellor"? EU politics isn't your forte, is it?
    3
  4566.  @Bols847  Says the far-right populist, to whom everyone else is left.
    3
  4567. There's much to be said for her claim that sovereignty is about pooling our strength. Unlike in the UK, we in the EU don't suffer from delusions stemming from past grandeur.
    3
  4568.  @fpxy00  You're not very clued in if you don't realise that North Korea is a democracy in name only. It's flattering, however, that even the most autocratic of nations have to pretend being democracies. It says something about its universal allure.
    3
  4569.  @stefanm5636  Come off it, Russia has been scraping the bottom of the barrel as it is. If it wants to muster more forces, Russia has to resort to reservists and conscripts for combat duty. Morale would plummet even further.
    3
  4570. How dark is it on the Dark Side?
    3
  4571.  @mrpotato4070  I'd rather buy German. They're quieter still.
    3
  4572. You're being too kind to Iran. Iran is not much of a naval power, and they'd prefer their proxies -- in the case, the Houthis -- to do the dying on their behalf. Soon -- if not already -- the Houthis will realise that this is not serving their purposes, but strictly those of Iran.
    3
  4573.  Brett Mitchell  The outcome of the referendum, too, was non-binding.
    3
  4574.  @RonPerry-h4c  Don't pretend. You guys were so butthurt about Iraq that you had to rename French fries to Freedom fries. Our guys spent 18 years in Afghanistan, only to see the Taliban replace the Taliban. My fellows vets are mighty sore about it.
    3
  4575.  @moos8756  Wikipedia on Elections in Iraq: "On 16 October 2002, after a well-publicized show election, Iraqi officials declared that Saddam had been re-elected to another seven-year term as President by a 100% unanimous vote of all 11,445,638 eligible Iraqis, eclipsing the 99.96% received in 1995."
    3
  4576. Where to begin...
    3
  4577.  @MarszaekVideoStudio  I trust you know what they say about the similarities between opinions and anuses. Something about everyone having one and the stink. Germany has legislation in place that forbids arms exports to conflict zones. Laws can be amended. Don't get too fascinated. Fresh polls in Finland show that support for NATO membership now stands at 44%, while 25% remains opposed. A month earlier, the respective figures were 28% and 42%. I call that a rather dramatic reversal in fortune. Sweden, too, has seen a recent uptick in support for NATO, although the three camps -- the undecided being the third -- are still more evenly divided.
    3
  4578.  @midwesttraveler2485  One can hope. Trump bollocksed up the peace negotiations with the Taliban. Let's hope he's learned something.
    3
  4579.  @sisenor4091  It's just doubling as an artifical reef.
    3
  4580. Give it time, and Serbia will overtake Russia.
    3
  4581.  @freepalestine4344  There are loans and loans. Chinese ones land you in debtors' prison.
    3
  4582. At least Randy Andy went to war.
    3
  4583. Are you botting for the American Meat Institute, Billy Bob?
    3
  4584.  @i.canalista7718  Russian companies no longer investing in the West? We'll have to pay extra attention to notice the difference.
    3
  4585. ​ @Alec72HD  France doesn't consider the "loans" in question illegal, whereas Russia, if the tables were turned, would. After all, Russia forced the British Council to close its offices for "tax violations". You should ask your handlers for a briefing on Europe's political landscape. Not knowing Marine Le Pen is a bit of an embarrassment for a prolific commenter such as yourself.
    3
  4586. Don't they ever. We call it authoritarianism.
    3
  4587.  @robertbaratheon8635  Then explain why the UNGA thinks very little of the Crimean referendum. Even a very clumsy chainsaw juggler could count the number of countries that recognise Crimea as Russian on the fingers of one hand.
    3
  4588.  @Americanwarrior-j1m  Conspiracy theorists need facts like a hole in the head.
    3
  4589.  @filipe5722  You must have a penchant for exercises in futility. What perspectives are there of Comoros rejoining France? None whatsoever.
    3
  4590. "Internal conflct generated by the indulge of the West"... sigh. If you want to gain the respect that you feel you're entitled to, you'd better snap out of that pitiful colonial mindset, where you blame all ills on former colonial masters, rather than take a cold, hard look in the mirror. To educate yourself, you could compile a list of countries that you consider "Western", tick the ones that engaged in colonialism and see which way the scale tips. Hint: it's not colonialism.
    3
  4591.  @memofromessex  I wonder. Argentina's air forces in particular were severely curtailed by a US arms embargo. Otherwise, Argentina might have dealt such crippling damage to the British invasion fleet that it would've had to withdraw and call the whole thing off.
    3
  4592.  @Liberty-Jamie  The US did, too, support the UK despite severe US doubts about the outcome. Vitally even, with fuel, intelligence and ammunition.
    3
  4593.  @EatMyShortsAU  Russia can't. The intensity of Russian shelling has already dropped to a quarter of what it was previously.
    3
  4594. So the EU's medical authority deemed the AstraZeneca vaccine safe and reasserted that standpoint after concerns had been voiced all over the world. What exactly is your problem with that?
    3
  4595. FYI, Putinist Russia is losing another friend here.
    3
  4596.  @HarryPotter-ym8co  Unaffected? Do you think Russia can teleport the pipelines going west to go east instead, just like that? The gas pipeline going to China has far less capacity than the western ones. It's very doubtful Russia can increase capacity without access to Western technology.
    3
  4597.  @StevenWalkey  It's hard to tell what my branding is. Both my parents were dual nationals, which left me with no less than three nationalities. I have Luxembourg as my tax residence, but curiously, I've never actually lived there.
    3
  4598. No worries, they wouldn't employ a Putin troll anyway.
    3
  4599.  @IRosamelia  The Morocco team is a moral winner. No one can take that away from them.
    3
  4600. Get what exactly? Here, the bear went after a cub instead. Its sibling, too, we're told.
    3
  4601.  @GoreTexTillEndEx  ..dodgy livers, too. I hope the new logistics chief of the Russian army has increased the vodka rations, or the reservists won't be able to function at all.
    3
  4602. So, Tommie, what's the soundbite you're referring to?
    3
  4603. The EU is a supranational union, truly one of a kind. You haven't seen anything like it; you have no reference point.
    3
  4604. ​ john hansberry  A steam engine isn't an internal combustion engine, period. You're desperately trying to assert your superiority -- and failing hard.
    3
  4605.  @Ese_osa  This is not propaganda. While Ukraine fights off a brutal aggressor, it's an entirely justified move to deprive said aggressor of the gas revenue that feeds it.
    3
  4606.  @don_peleon  Where the Yanks party to this deal? Don't be a boring whataboutist.
    3
  4607.  @Mrap233  Will me coping harder make Putin a braver person? As much as I'd like to have such psychic powers, I fear he's going to remain the coward that he is.
    3
  4608. A mangy cat, more like.
    3
  4609.  @ELL289  Rivals? As it happens, Russia is the single largest country in Europe and the Russians are the most populous nationality within Europe. These are facts dictated by geography. It bears reminding that Europe, as a continent, extends from the Iberian Peninsula to the Ural Mountains.
    3
  4610.  @zenastronomy  If you were to speak of patents in this context to anyone in the industry, you'd raise eyebrows, and for a good reason, too. A patent is valid for twenty years max, while there's no time limit for PDOs. Also, if you were to copy a patented product, you'd soon face legal action, but a PDO'ed product can be freely copied. You just can't call it by its original name. So, no monopolies, and yes, competition.
    3
  4611. Yeah, the US 1.75% contribution to NATO, let's talk about that one. And still we went to fight in Afghanistan.
    3
  4612.  @azmagaref  Russia's casualty figures dwarf those of Ukraine. Cope, bot, cope.
    3
  4613. Sounds a bit optimistic. Wikipedia puts the number at 50.
    3
  4614.  @erlindaekvall6229  The French are a bit prone to hyperbole, especially when it comes to culture. I've seen worse cases of braggadocio, however.
    3
  4615.  @samk2266  A Reaper, a non-stealthy UAV, isn't that hard to shoot down. Even a Vietnam War-era Soviet SAM will do the job. Long-range ballistic missiles are another kettle of fish. One practically has to have a space program to develop the anti-missile technology. Iran isn't there yet.
    3
  4616. You're exagerrating the significance of Iron Dome. Israel is bound to use long-range missiles to strike Iran, meaning missiles that leave and re-enter the atmosphere as part of their trajectory. Iran would need the equivalent of Israel's Arrow or David's Sling to counter those. Iron Dome is short-range only. It's good for targeting potentially dangerous fragments from a stricken ballistic missile that fall down from great altitude, but little more than that. But Iran is screwed all right.
    3
  4617.  @vinm300  So, you made it across the moat once, but a scary encounter with an angry Greek spoiled everything? I've perhaps travelled a bit more (at this rate I'll break the 100 countries barrier before retirement) and I've been treated with kindness everywhere. A few bad experiences are part of the package, but I haven't had my upper lip tremble, like ever.
    3
  4618.  @1234Mwafrika  You're generalising. Executive orders and decrees in general are mostly a US affair. In parliamentary democracies, they're practically unheard of, or strictly reserved for national emergencies.
    3
  4619.  @Pierluigi_Di_Lorenzo  Opposition to NATO membership isn't exactly an expression of lurve for Russia. For instance, die-hard nationalist Finns insisted that the country could've kept Russia at bay without outside help.
    3
  4620.  @moemoo11  Hah, what made you think I'm a Yank? Buy yourself some imagination with the little money that you have.
    3
  4621.  @annarock8966  There was no sense in invading Ukraine, yet Putin sent his Orcs across the border.
    3
  4622. Don't put all your eggs in one basket? Besides, India is already a major player in outsourced services, something which China can only dream about. Also, China's political stability is overrated. Sooner or later, the Chinese will demand their political rights. We already had a foretaste in 1989.
    3
  4623. It's a quote.
    3
  4624. Deflection detected.
    3
  4625. Rather, Macron is showing moral courage -- courage that Germany lacks.
    3
  4626.  @buravan1512  Why has Sweden had to endure Russia's unwanted attentions then? Russian infiltrations of Swedish territorial waters alone are infamous, but Russian military aircraft habitually violate Swedish airspace, too. Popular opinion towards NATO membership is a good indicator of whether Russia is a problem or not. Polls show that Swedes clearly see Russia as a problem.
    3
  4627.  @buravan1512  Russian or not, perhaps you're too young to have heard of the infamous Whiskey on the Rocks incident. Similar infiltrations, only not quite as dramatic, continue to this day. If you're not young, you're certainly naïve. Russia routinely jams GPS whenever there are military exercises in Norway, endangering civil air transport not only in Norway, but also in Sweden and Finland. Russia has also engaged in other forms of hybrid warfare, like making asylum seekers cross into Norway -- on bike, of all things. Say, do you live under a rock?
    3
  4628. The Germans are not greatly inconvenienced here.
    3
  4629.  @GorgeGeorg  It's only natural for observers to put two and two together. It's as if Sweden doesn't want to join NATO after all.
    3
  4630.  Purpleemp  Don't twist facts. There was the so-called OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine. 700 monitors from 53 countries documented each and every shell impact from 2014 to 2022 in Donbas. None of their reports suggests that Ukraine wilfully targeted civilians, as the Krembots keep parroting.
    3
  4631. Putin is the man to talk to about peace. NATO isn't invading Ukraine.
    3
  4632. That's overkill. It can be taken out with a toy drone carrying a 3D-printed grenade.
    3
  4633.  @marcok.6734  Cute emoticons. How about a language course?
    3
  4634.  @russianazista  ...and another candidate for a language course.
    3
  4635. So? We have elbow room.
    3
  4636. Are you referring to the communication company which is majority-owned by Indian, French, Japanese and Korean companies? More shares are in EU hands than in British hands, to be exact.
    3
  4637.  @time-kn5qp  To be fair, China has levelled similar accusations against the US. In their shoes, I would've tried for the moral high ground, but I suppose their propagandists couldn't help themselves.
    3
  4638.  @Luiz-w5s  Since you're asking, the US -- and NATO -- had a justification to be in Afghanistan as per a UNSC mandate. Russia -- and China -- eagerly supported the ISAF operation.
    3
  4639.  @rolydio  You may think so, but the flipside is that young Latvians emigrate en masse for exactly the same reasons as the Africans. I don't know about you, but I see the same phenomenon at work. It appears poor Āris hasn't got the moral high ground.
    3
  4640.  @rolydio  Yes, Captain Obvious, it goes without saying that Africans who've entered Europe illegally can't find legal employment. Illegal job opportunities are few and far between, except perhaps in the UK, where the authorities struggle to catch them. That being said, you cannot deny that the Africans' motivation is the same as that emigrating Latvians. Both are looking for a better life abroad. So no moral high ground for you or Āris in condemning one but not the other. Āris is a self-confessed Fascist. How about you?
    3
  4641.  @reecom9884  Actually, Russia can sail little warships from the White Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea through a series of inland waterways. The Russians desperately want to believe it makes a difference.
    3
  4642. So, Russia blocks Ukrainian grain from reaching hungry Africa and you become less pro-Ukrainian. Ding-dong!
    3
  4643.  @belkacemnaili7584  Even if there were Western mercenaries in Ukraine, they wouldn't be on Russian land. They'd be cleansing Ukraine of Russian troops, of which a great many already fertilize Ukrainian soil.
    3
  4644. Funny, you're implying that Israel has hypersonic fighter jets.
    3
  4645. I'm sure they've been aware of the Airbus A400 for some time.
    3
  4646. @mvsoooo Solder? Bad spellers of the world untie!
    3
  4647.  @DgurlSunshine  I keep close tabs on corona stats. The overwhelming majority of IC patients are unvaccinated. What other proof do you need? Mind that Caps Lock.
    3
  4648.  @robbiemeikle2919  Don't bother. Conspiracy theorists eschew facts.
    3
  4649. Those Martians, always stirring up trouble.
    3
  4650.  @Liboch  Not from Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, I can tell you that.
    3
  4651. You need to read up on the Antarctic Treaty System. You'll make a better impression that way.
    3
  4652. purportedly /pəˈpɔːtɪdli/ adverb as appears or is stated to be true, though not necessarily so; allegedly. "the photos purportedly show Nina with a lover" You should crack a dictionary more often.
    3
  4653.  @rogerengland7692  All conspiracy theorists should pay tribute to David Icke. He's furthered your cause like no other. Pffft!
    3
  4654.  @rogerengland7692  You wormed your way into the discussion with your conspiracy theories and now you're desperate to discuss them. I can't help you. I find conspiracy theories a giant waste of time, and by extension, you as well.
    3
  4655.  @georgejackson2631  UN.
    3
  4656.  @carlogambino1979  We seem to be talking at cross purposes. My concern is for the shareholders, who want to see a maximum return on their investment. You concerns seem to be entirely unrelated.
    3
  4657. It's important to make a clear distinction between the far right and the centre right. The far right seems to think they're the somehow responsible for the latter's accomplishments, which couldn't be farther from the truth. Just like the far right like to portray themselves as the legitimate patriots -- as if xenophobia and racism are prerequisites for patriotism.
    3
  4658.  @ambessaseway5594  I should think Chad had something to lose when Gaddafi tried to subjugate the Chadians and France put a stop to it.
    3
  4659.  @aquilatempestate9527  You must be getting desperate since you stoop to name-calling. The commission doesn't decide anything. It just takes one member to say "we're not paying more" and there's no contribution hike. You really don't know what you're on about, do you? Tell us, what are the funding stresses you're referring to? Since you uniquely understand this, pray tell.
    3
  4660.  @aquilatempestate9527  Oh, and the UK is the fourth-largest contributor to the EU budget.
    3
  4661. The Finns had the Brewster Model 239, which possessed superior flying characteristics to the later Model 339, which the Brits named the Buffalo. In addition to that, the Finns adapted their tactics, just like the Americans did with the Wildcat, which was clearly inferior to the Zero.
    3
  4662.  @dimas3829  Military-age Russian males are *safest outside of Russia.
    3
  4663.  @prophetsnake  If not the UK, there will be Little England to worry about, and how it can attract enough visitors as an open-air museum.
    3
  4664.  @GlobalistGazette  Your rattled paranoid mind sees the hand of the EU everywhere, but truth of the matter is that the EU-27 have had no hand in any of it since successfully concluding negotiations with May's cabinet over the withdrawal agreement. Little did we know she hadn't a clue as to how British parliament would receive her deal. While her epic fail is one for the history books, parliament will get a chapter, too, for going into complete deadlock over what to do next. It's not up to the EU to organise a second referendum -- that's purely a domestic affair. In my humble opinion, the EU-27 should pre-empt the second referendum and cut the cord -- before you strangle yourselves with it. Let's face it, the UK is not EU material. Why would we want a millstone around our necks?
    3
  4665.  @TrevorCrook-c1s  I'll quote you what he said: "No the president of Syria asked for Russia troops to be there he never did the same thing for NATO they just forced themselves in which is ILLEGAL." You need to work on your reading comp.
    3
  4666. Britain has been critical of Israeli excesses against the Palestinians. The same applied to Apartheid. Try to keep up with the news.
    3
  4667. 'Koning Flip' beat the Dutch to it by three years. You Kiwis, too.
    3
  4668.  @trickydickybeer1  No, why do you ask?
    3
  4669. And the GDR was a reminder to seek safety guarantees against an expansionist Russia.
    3
  4670.  @ENGLISHMURPHY  So Belarus has relinquished its sovereignty to Russia. Or is it also so that the president of Belarus is asked if the president of Russia is to his or her liking? Since you're the clever one, explain -- or run along, troll.
    3
  4671.  @ENGLISHMURPHY  You're asking me to reason my way out of something I haven't reasoned myself into. You're the one who was inferring that Belarus has lost its sovereignty because they're in a union with Russia, and therefore, Russia has a say over who gets to lead Belarus. I was wondering about reciprocity, because in a merger of equals Belarus should have the same right vis à vis Russia. If the latter doesn't apply, Belarus is not in a union with Russia, but rather, a vassal state of Russia. Since you want to draw the EU into this, how has Germany influenced Greece's choice of leaders and vice versa? It appears you haven't got a clue what a union is or does. Or, for that matter, what you're trying to say.
    3
  4672.  @AXXeYY  It's what cavalry units or dragoons would use nowadays, sure.
    3
  4673.  @AXXeYY  My UN veteran friend served with the Norrland Dragoon Regiment before retiring. They most definitely had the CV90 when we went over for a reunion.
    3
  4674.  @AXXeYY  I said cavalry.
    3
  4675. To fight what is essentially an insurgency? Do you have any idea what it would do to Israel itself if it were to nuke the Gaza Strip, or southern Lebanon for that matter? Nukes are very messy.
    3
  4676. As we tend to say, maybe you're smelling your upper lip.
    3
  4677.  @CorruptMediaLies  It's up to the individual EU members. Not everything needs to be a EU matter. We're in the EU and we have mandatory bomb shelters in apartment and office buildings above a certain size. Switzerland is not and they have them, too.
    3
  4678. An eye for an eye makes everyone blind.
    3
  4679. The havoc never ceases in the UK. In Scandinavia, drivers get their brains into gear very quickly.
    3
  4680. Duh, nothing to do with Russia. Don't they bother to brief you Krembots any longer?
    3
  4681. Of all the countries in the world, France gets the most tourists. So either the tourists thinks so or they take it in their stride. "To see Paris and die"...
    3
  4682. ​ @localdude3702  Nah, that's your coping mechanism kicking in.
    3
  4683.  @Datníğğa123  Yup, I know, I've been on overseas deployments twice. Lad.
    3
  4684. The point here is, the Hongkies don't get to decide for themselves whether to have two, three or four systems. The one system, the least desirable one, is being rammed down their throats. Your whataboutism sounds so Soviet. Any connection there?
    3
  4685. I've been saying all along that Western arms manuacturers should remember Putin with a gift basket this Christmas. Putin greatly boosted demand for arms while at the same time taking Russia out of the arms market, so that the others can divvy up Russia's market share. The move is almost as brilliant as Putin's handling of Russia's oil and gas exports. Russia lost its best customers and now has to peddle its hydrocarbons to new "friendly" customers -- below cost. Oh, and China and South Korea should send gift baskets as well. They're big beneficiaries of Russia's arms market boost and withdrawal as well.
    3
  4686. That's what war reparations are for. Russia will cry and pay, but pay nonetheless.
    3
  4687. Hamas is not acting according to the interests of the Palestinian Authority, if that's what you're suggesting. The PA still pursues peace negotiations for a two-state solution, Israel's intransigence notwithstanding. In fact, Hamas was Israel's favourite, when it was mainly undermining the PA's authority. Israel created a monster and got bitten.
    3
  4688.  @annan7728  The US has money to fix its crumbling infrastructure, but chooses not to. Just like the US could offer affordable healthcare to all its citizens, but chooses not to. Call it American exceptionalism.
    3
  4689.  @Ivan-tm9pd  Nothing prevents private and universal healtcare from co-existing. Germany's been at it since 1883. Individuals and their employers can pay extra for better or more timely care if they so choose. In some countries, you can freely choose your insurance company and healthcare provider, while still covered by universal healthcare. Myself, when living in Belgium, went to my downstairs neighbour, a gynaecologist whom I had befriended, with all my (manly) health concerns. Admittedly, the stirrups were a bit of a bother. You've got a different problem on your hands with the lobbyists. You may want to curtail their influence because of other concerns as well.
    3
  4690. I'd rather have political oversight -- political as in democratic and constitutional -- rather than giving criminals, terrorists and propagandists free rein.
    3
  4691.  @MrRight1000  Funny you should quote Benjamin Franklin. Despite being a proponent of the free press, he was critical about the lack of constitutional checks and balances pertaining to it. You're lending credence to my viewpoint.
    3
  4692. It cheapens Murica, but no matter.
    3
  4693. Actually, he's giving Brits ideas for Brexodus.
    3
  4694. Whataboutism. A desperate commie measure.
    3
  4695. BICS, perhaps.
    3
  4696.  @razorx6905  Rest assured, I never watch CNN. Always hated it. I'm not counting on a rational response, but why is it -- in your opinion -- that Putin goes on and on and on about nuclear weapons? I have no other explanation than that the poor devil is utterly desperate. After all, he's facing an existential crisis. Russia isn't, but he is.
    3
  4697. Don't be silly. There's a sharp increase in the global price of butter, mainly because the Chinese have developed a taste for it. Are you claiming that the US isn't part of the global economy? That the law of supply and demand doesn't apply to you?
    3
  4698.  @Q_QQ_Q  The whole world wins. One less powder keg in the Balkans.
    3
  4699.  @hardroxxx5923  Self-interest before everything else. India doesn't deserve a permanent seat on the UNSC.
    3
  4700.  @julianalaveraz  Don't get your hopes up. Ukrainian widows want real men, not meek cowards.
    3
  4701.  @lesterjohnston8888  The EU sends humanitarian aid to and funds aid programmes in the Occupied Territories. The former, as in food and pharmaceuticals, make poor weapons. The latter, as in funding schools, is hardly lethal either. In fact, the EU designates Hamas as a terrorist organisation, which makes it illegal to give money to Hamas and its affiliates, by or from the EU. Les, I don't know whether I should put your baseless claims down to ignorance or outright libel. I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and bet on ignorance.
    3
  4702. Well, mostly for historical reasons, the UK is in the UNSC as a permanent member. India's spinelessness will impede its bid for a permanent seat.
    3
  4703.  @prathit7541  Oh, we will see all right. The UNSC doesn't need another permanent member that looks the other way when the UN Charter is brazenly broken. And although India was decolonised, the colonial mindset still seems to linger in India.
    3
  4704. To be fair, Poland is modernising and building up its armed forces from a worse starting point than the UK. Moreover, Poland's procurement process is odd to say the least, even by British standards. For instance, Poland has saddled itself no less than four MBT types: K2 Black Panther, M1 Abrams, Leopard 2 and PT-91 Twardy. Self-criticism is good, but the UK is not the worst in terms of mismanaging defence, not by far.
    3
  4705.  @delta_glider4362  One miniscule military exercise (85 US military personnel) does not an alliance make. Armenia is still formally in a military alliance -- CSTO -- with Russia, and economically it's allied too, as in the Eurasian Economic Union. Let's have Armenia formally end those alliances and enter into new ones with the US. Then we can speak of a US alliance.
    3
  4706.  @skankhunt420  Funny that you automatically assume I'm Swedish. Jumping to conclusions must be a favourite pastime of yours. Russia's military may be greatly dimished, but their military is not a spent force. They're still capable of doing damage, if not on the battlefield, then by striking strategic (read: civilian) targets behind the lines. You'd be mad not to prepare for that eventuality as well.
    3
  4707. True story. The crew even had T-shirts made.
    3
  4708.  @Grogzter  Isn't the point of exercises to prepare for the real thing? If so, the US Navy is ill-prepared for combating hostile submarines. Top US naval commanders have a reputation for neglecting anti-submarine warfare, which they don't consider sexy. Sure enough, in a shooting war NATO allies are expected to pick up the slack. One can only wonder that will happen if Murica entangles itself in yet another unpopular war, prompting NATO to stay out of the whole thing, and the enemy happens to have a capable submarine force.
    3
  4709. I wonder if the Dutch "football fans" were football fans to begin with. Amsterdammers aren't anti-semitic. On the contrary, they're often a target of anti-semitism, especially when facing Feyenoord fans.
    3
  4710.  @ryanhuntrajput474  Not to worry, I believe the Chinese have a soft spot for the Brits. The Opium Wars are water under the bridge. The current spat about Hong Kong is of no consequence either. The Chinese would never repay in kind and take advantage of Britain's weakness.
    3
  4711. I prefer eye-watering taxes of tobacco. Since we have universal healthcare, the tax revenue would pay for chemotherapy, radiation therapy and lobotomies (lung lobes, mind you, although the other variety could prove an effective cure for the underlying condition).
    3
  4712. You must think this is a game of Risk. Germany still held huge swathes of French territory when Germany sued for peace in WW1. Likewise, Napoleon was comfortably in Moscow when he grew bored and decided to wind up his Russian campaign. Did either of the two set terms? Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
    3
  4713.  @snowyowel7961  No need to shout your head off. The next GE will produce an even uneasier coalition than the one that went before it.
    3
  4714. Prostate surgery commands a lot of attention if said prostate is royal.
    3
  4715. Orcs got fried, that's the main thing.
    3
  4716. I see you've had your emergency ration of copium.
    3
  4717. Are you going to put them into a hole, like in Katyn?
    3
  4718. Danny, there was no monarchy in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Learn your history.
    3
  4719. How old are you?
    3
  4720. That's just an empty allegation unless you flesh it out.
    3
  4721. OK, drama queen.
    3
  4722. We don't trust you to do that. Here, you'd be out of your comfort zone.
    3
  4723. Boohoo.
    3
  4724.  @danielarcadia7243  As a currency, the rouble is as hard as three-ply pillow-soft toilet paper.
    3
  4725.  @romeob.8369  And you fancy yourself a sage of some sort? Let me guess, you also wear a bicorne hat and keep your hand in your waistcoat.
    3
  4726. Left or right, populists don't have much to offer in terms of solutions to real problems. Once in power, they'll have to transform themselves into negotiators and problem-solvers, but I fear their voters won't have the patience for it. At best, this wave of populism will pave the way for political renewal, but not thanks to the populists. Hopefully, traditional parties will feel challenged to reinvent themselves and make themselves electable again.
    3
  4727. Wow, I didn't know we have colonies. We never did, you know.
    3
  4728.  @Nathann99  Since you asked, the Fall of Singapore. It's known as the largest British surrender in history.
    3
  4729.  @marcm.  In Soviet Russia, you can be employed and not get paid. Happens all the time.
    3
  4730.  @alphatango831  Glad you agree.
    3
  4731.  @petitben5240  Shouldn't you address your grievances about a European war to Putin, the instigator of this war in Ukraine? BTW, appeasement is like feeding a crocodile, hoping it'll eat you last.
    3
  4732. Je hebt gelijk. Hoe vreemd het ook klinkt, egoïsme ligt ten grondslag aan altruïsme. We doen elkaar een plezier omdat het bij onszelf een goed gevoel geeft. Zo ook egoïsme en medeleven. Een psychopaat kent geen altruïsme of medeleven, omdat die zich niet kan inleven. Het draait dus allemaal om onszelf.
    3
  4733.  @brandenburg2388  That would be tantamount to Ukraine giving up its sovereignty. It has fought long and hard to prevent that from happening. Has anyone told you that you're an anachronism that belongs to the first half of the 20th century? Well, I suppose I have now.
    3
  4734.  @splinterborn  Whataboutism much?
    3
  4735.  @michaelmontagu3979  I misread yours as Mightily Butthurt.
    3
  4736. But we are learning. Appeasement is the wrong choice when dealing with war-mongering dictators. Lesson from WW2.
    3
  4737. Your assertions pertaining to NATO sound odd. NATO's budget for weapons procurement and maintenance is very small, considering members maintain their own armed forces separately. It seems that you artificially implicated NATO in your own messes.
    3
  4738.  @samg1879  In the UK, the monarch reigns but does not rule, you lemon.
    3
  4739. There you go again, expressing your intense fascination with Pride. You've got quite an obsession going there. Why don't you come out of the closet and join in for reals?
    3
  4740. Being charitable is Marxist now?
    3
  4741.  @CDang-ms6dc  You're an anachronism. Russia doesn't get to carve out a sphere of influence any more than the USA does. You seem to think the great powers get to run roughshod over sovereign countries, like Ukraine, when they feel their interests are jeopardised.
    3
  4742. Don't get your hopes up that this is more than a symbolic gesture. I just listened to a radio news broadcast where a journo had crossed the German border a dozen times before we was actually stopped by the police. The policeman probably was on to him and out of pity, decided to cooperate.
    3
  4743. Who isn't.
    3
  4744. I'm a European and we've never looted Africa. Likewise, we endured colonialism but you'll never hear us make excuses. We have poured billions in development aid to Africa, even to the point of ensuring on the spot that it goes where's it's supposed to go instead of lining the pockets of Africa's corrupt leaders, as it would otherwise. Helping Africa overcome its chronic teething problems is a thankless task indeed. Grow up, finally.
    3
  4745. We don't really have a say in Romania's internal electoral affairs. Of course, you see the hand of the EU everywhere, but the good news is that paranoia can be medicated.
    3
  4746.  @piratesofthebarentssea  You're on to something, but it's not Ukraine's turn to cease to exists. It's the Russian Federation that's living on borrowed time. It's not a question of if it will fall apart, but in how many parts.
    3
  4747. Far-right populism can't shed its inherent extremism. They try to hide it to appeal to a broader public, but it always comes out in the open, one way or another.
    3
  4748.  @DesignFIaw  Hungary is an Eastern European tragedy, for sure. Sadly, it doesn't appear to be the most fertile ground for democracy to take root. A lot of work remains to be done.
    3
  4749. Don't say that. I have a hunch they're relieved at making it out of this war in one piece.
    3
  4750.  @Robert-hr6sh  No need for coffins. After a catastrophic ammo cook-off inside a Russian tank, there's literally nothing to bury.
    3
  4751.  @Mail2sumit88  I know about aircraft engineering. That's what I was specifically referring to. The A350 is largely made of carbon composites, even more so than the 787. Airbus customers forced Airbus to go above and beyond in reducing weight.
    3
  4752.  @kap1526  I was active in the industry. Try to add to the discussion.
    3
  4753. Whataboutism?
    3
  4754. Remind us, how many lawsuits were brought in connection with Trump's 2020 defeat? They all turned out to be baseless.
    3
  4755.  @SpanishKnight1  The lawsuits were found to lack merit. Hence, baseless. It's called the rule of law. Try to adhere to it.
    3
  4756. Don't use your copium all at once.
    3
  4757.  @mitseraffej5812  No, Europe chooses democracy, rule of law and self-determination. Russia isn't a fan of any of those. The US seems more in tune with Europe's aspirations. Russia is the odd one out.
    3
  4758.  @lewis123417  Nope, all that's based on official British Parliament figures. In 2Q21, the UK's GDP was still 3.3% down year-on-year, the Eurozone's was 2.5% down and that of the US was 0.9% up. The growth figures were respectively 5.5%, 2.2% and 1.6%. Growth in the US is normalising and the Eurozone is getting there, but the UK still has much catching up to do. Consider your parade rained upon.
    3
  4759.  @TheRedland284  The CIA tried to manipulate discussion forums to favour their views, but came to the conclusion that it was counterproductive. When will you learn? Also, you may want to reconsider the merits of your eternal whataboutism, which you nicely illustrated here as well by bringing up the CIA. Whataboutism, too, is a Communist relic.
    3
  4760. @Josh Linton OK, wumao.
    3
  4761.  @HarhaUkko  Rather, the then centre-left government was taken by surprise and needed a breather to come to terms with the sudden reversal in popular opinion. And it was a vote in parliament -- 188 for and 8 against -- that pushed the NATO accession bill through. Referendums are reserved for contentious matters, where the will of the electorate is unclear. Nothing was unclear here. Besides, the following parliamentary election provided a prime opportunity for NATO sceptics to bank on anti-NATO sentiment. One out of the 8 parliamentary naysayers, Ano Turtiainen, dared to run on an anti-NATO platform -- and didn't have his political career prolonged. I'm sorry for your loss.
    3
  4762. You're right. Huawei is bad for you.
    3
  4763. There's the little matter of the UNSC, Russia being on it as a permanent member, and its power of veto.
    3
  4764.  @meganh9460  The difference between 1939 and now is that Germany is a genuine democracy now, even clearly surpassing your precious Murica in the rankings. Russia, despite their token efforts to democratize, remains an authoritarian regime, of course, but as long as we stand firm, they can nibble only at their weaker neighbours, the former Soviet republics.
    3
  4765. Frappant, jullie defaitisme.
    3
  4766.  @pantherheartthedruid4134  Does it surprise you that Russia fully supported NATO's Afghan mission, ISAF, in which Ukraine participated -- in mostly a medical capacity?
    3
  4767. ​ @pantherheartthedruid4134  I specifically mentioned that Russia backed ISAF. Now you want to move the goal posts, because you suddenly realised that I was right all along.
    3
  4768. Yes, the mere thought of US reprisals caused the Iranians to panic and shoot down PS752.
    3
  4769.  @bps7209  Yeah, this is an international forum. Here, you'll have to adhere to internationally accepted definitions of 'republic' and 'democracy'. In the big wide world, the terms are not mutually exclusive. Outside of Murica, being a republic just means not having a monarch as the titular head of state, but rather, a president, but more often than not with limited powers. Parliamentarism is a big thing worldwide. You should give it a try. The present system is not really working out for you.
    3
  4770. Duh, China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Any resolution against China would immediately get vetoed by them. In other words, China has a permanent get-out-of-jail-free card. The CCP can ride roughshod over human rights, and they do, too.
    3
  4771. @hapi i Amnesty International is what it says, international. They have to be headquartered somewhere. I've said it before, set up an NGO of your own to address British colonial crimes that, in your view, have gone under-reported. You'll do the Brits a favour. Yourself, too, because then you can dispense with the childish whataboutism.
    3
  4772. So, we're to believe that just by sheer coincidence, Western Africa is experiencing a spate of unrelated coup d'états. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Kenya is not one for coups.
    3
  4773.  @frazel22  Some of the most prized works of art are made of canvas and paint. So, what's the hullabaloo with limestone?
    3
  4774. Come on, the Israeli troops have developers and realtors in tow.
    3
  4775. OK, you're claiming that a vast nuclear arsenal gives Russia the right to carve out spheres of influence, Molotov-Ribbentrop style. You're clearly ignoring that Russia's nuclear arsenal is neutralised by NATO's even bigger nuclear arsenal. Say, did you get your big idea -- holding the world for ransom with nuclear weapons -- from Kim Jong-un?
    3
  4776.  @t1mb3rfps80  Sound logic. Very refreshing in a YouTube comment section. Upvoted.
    3
  4777.  @hhgk6963  Good girl!
    3
  4778. I hereby warn us *about Brabantian ultranationalists. Mark my words.
    3
  4779.  @terrencempengesi4200  No targets inside Russia were hit in the Kerch bridge attack. Besides, Ukraine didn't give planning permission to the bridge, so it's within its rights to demolish it.
    3
  4780. @Chris Viking By now, there are British and German GMRLS platforms in Ukraine as well.
    3
  4781. Lebanon and the Hezbollah -- a state within a state -- are two different things.
    3
  4782.  @TriggaTrey361  Echo.
    3
  4783.  @PhyrexJ  Me, spouting clichés? How so? For your info, Wilders is most definitely far right, because he's certainly not centre right. The far right doesn't represent the right as a whole, like far right yokels want us to believe.
    3
  4784.  @erikwillemcoenen7473  Maybe California should join together with Canada first, after which Calanada?... Canafornia?... can join the EU. Double whammy for Trump!
    3
  4785. You're right: you don't get it. The EU hasn't been against the AZ vaccine as such. Some EU countries have followed a different path, which they're perfectly entitled to do. Why is that such a troublesome concept for you?
    3
  4786. Don't you worry your pretty little head. Ukraine's two previous counter-offensives were smashing successes (no pun intended).
    3
  4787. In a properly heated sauna the benches get too hot to sit on comfortably. Sure enough, you'll want your "pefletti".
    3
  4788.  @wolfganglaun2319  I said: a properly heated sauna. And I do go bare-arsed, like umpteen generations of ancestors before me. The lower bench, on which you rest your feet, doesn't get nearly as hot as the upper one.
    3
  4789. Then Trump and corona happened. Double whammy.
    3
  4790. Is it the Lord's Resistance Army, you think?
    3
  4791. ​ @NGC1433  Not true. Coal is a relative minor energy source for us. Its consumption is easily surpassed by nuclear energy, hydropower, wood fuels and even wind power -- each. We're still on track for carbon-neutrality by 2035. How about you? No need to answer if you're ashamed.
    3
  4792.  @AstroLightening  What hypocrisy? Taking someone to task over whataboutism is hypocrisy in your book? You trolls get weirder by the day...
    3
  4793. Get yourselves a parliamentary democracy for starters.
    3
  4794.  @louispatrick4442  If so, you're making just as little sense. Trump is a very polarising influence. If the "Western World" prefers Trump, the "Western World" wants to disintegrate.
    3
  4795.  @helenooft9664  I don't think we can hold them off that long. The generations that opposed the EU purely for nostalgic reasons are dropping off like flies. The exceptionally high Covid-19 death toll in the UK alone may have tilted the balance decisively in favour of EU membership.
    3
  4796. You don't like a get out of jail free card.
    3
  4797. Silly. Israel took a neutral stance in the Ukraine conflict, supposedly so it could play mediator.
    3
  4798. Why are you so exclusively concerned about the Ukrainian victims of this war? Why ignore the vastly worse casualties among Russia's poorly-trained and under-equipped mobiks? Besides, it's Putin who can put an immediate stop to this bloodshed. All he has to do is order a withdrawal. Shouldn't you direct your concerns to him?
    3
  4799. Er, Erdogan happened. Under different leadership, Turkey would've been in the EU already -- and it would've had a solid economy firing on all pistons, giving its fellow EU members a run for their money.
    3
  4800. Trump of Romania at best. Romania is hardly Europe.
    3
  4801.  @austinfrogman1336  Wait till the Flying Spaghetti Monster gets involved.
    3
  4802. ​ The Messenger  But constitutions are commonplace. What's so special about yours? No platitudes, please.
    3
  4803.  The Messenger  Let's recap. You claimed that the US is special on account of its constitution. I asked you what's special about it, since all comparable developed countries have one and they're strikingly similar at that. You can't seem to put your finger on what those supposedly unique US features are, which to me is a clear indicator that you don't know what you're talking about. FYI, referring to rioting Nigerians and Hongkongers does nothing to illustrate your point. I specifically mentioned "comparable developed countries". Nigeria is still a developing country and Hong Kong is clearly developing in the wrong direction -- from proto-democratic to proto-autocratic. For once, try comparing yourselves to the best.
    3
  4804. The sawmills don't like it none.
    3
  4805. You loose your bowels, but you *lose your sense of reality.
    3
  4806. I'm sure HTS has kept a keen eye on Afghanistan and wants to avoid the Taliban's mistakes. They've been trying to rid themselves of their terrorist associations. It wouldn't make sense to change tack now.
    3
  4807.  @Robsheph  Never been to war? In Holland, the Canadians are rightfully honoured for liberating the country in WW2. They rolled up the German defences very efficiently, despite the Germans doing their utmost to stop them. Canada hasn't received enough credit for that feat.
    3
  4808.  @EmmaShadyLilly  Touché.
    3
  4809. Who knows if Little England ends up joining the US, just to play the blame game once more.
    3
  4810. That will be This was the day.
    3
  4811. Yes, he should never be in government. Not his thing.
    3
  4812.  @carl94-h9h  The F-16s are long range artillery as it were. Air-launched stand-off weapons will reach further than surface-launched ones. That's how the Russians predominantly use their combat aircraft nowadays.
    3
  4813. @leyshonzi Going forward, the party will probably tear itself apart. It's not only a single-issue party, but also a protest party. Their supporters know what they don't want, but I highly doubt they can agree on what they do want. That's Brexit for you from the start. No clue as to what next.
    3
  4814.  @alpharius_nox  The USA lost the Vietnam War, even though there was no US surrender. Similarly, Napoleon suffered his worst defeat in Russia, and Russia still considers it a great victory of theirs. There was no French surrender then either.
    3
  4815. It's a start.
    3
  4816.  @ehisgeorge414  Yeah, Russia's celebrated hypersonic missile has turned out to be a game changer in the war in Ukraine, unlike the HIMARS, M777, PzH 2000, Javelin and NLAW. Or was it the other way around?
    3
  4817. After all, you gotta spend the rest of what remains of Russia's sovereign wealth fund -- the thing that's keeping Russia's economy going -- wisely. I mean, half of said fund already went up in smoke in Ukraine -- literally.
    3
  4818.  @babajikaghanta8842  You're taking Soviet-style historical revisionism to the extreme. Ukraine, being part of the Soviet Union, was on the winning side in WW2.
    3
  4819. Maybe Pakistan should have a go at India with them big ones. You'd get an idea what it means to be on the receiving end.
    3
  4820. NATO grows by popular demand. If the Russian population wants to join, we'll have to give it serious thought.
    3
  4821. What's it to Iran? They're just another invading force.
    3
  4822. @synco pated And how is that relevant to this discussion? Try to stick to the topic at hand. I spent a year soldiering in Lebanon. Say, isn't that part of the Middle East?
    3
  4823. I'll tell you why. It's because Russia can't keep its grubby little hands off its neighbours' lands.
    3
  4824.  @ecologyrocks2969  The crux of the matter is that Russia violated and continues to violate Ukraine's territorial integrity. Ukraine being in dire straits economically is not an extenuating circumstance.
    3
  4825. Remember to tell us. We might not notice otherwise.
    3
  4826. Tells us more about this 'Blue on Blue' incident.
    3
  4827. Stalin didn't spare his old friends either.
    3
  4828.  @markgreen4612  Putin's days are numbered. His successor will celebrate her as a hero.
    3
  4829.  @sleepyjoe7843  No, Mr. Cynic, when renewable energy marginalises fossil fuels. We're already past the halfway point. Natgas has been relegated to industrial use only, and the trend there is downward rather than upward as well.
    3
  4830.  @sleepyjoe7843  Speak for yourselves. I know exactly where we are at. Past the halfway point.
    3
  4831.  @livingtribunal4110  AA missiles don't leave that big a hole. They have a fairly small warhead. Also, AA missile self-destruct if they miss their target. Nice try, troll.
    3
  4832. Het is wel zeer merkwaardig dat alle mogendheden nog over conventionele wapens beschikken. Je moet ze eens de les lezen. Wees wel bereid op hoongelach.
    3
  4833. Are you on the editorial board?
    3
  4834. Google nurses Dorothy Field and Mollie Evershed. Their hospital ship struck a mine and sank.
    3
  4835.  @Nielson941  Why wouldn't I dare to say Vietnam War? NATO played no part in the war, that was all the USA's doing. We were against the war from the onset. You seem a bit confused there.
    3
  4836.  @VoirEisenwald  If it's a proxy war, NATO didn't start it -- Putin did. And incredibly foolish it was of him of him, too. I'm afraid historians won't be kind to your hero.
    3
  4837. Maybe you should put your sanity in the service of peace and persuade Putin to stop his war of aggression. If you succeed, the war ends overnight.
    3
  4838. There's a "good Trump"? Yeah, do the switch!
    3
  4839. If so, it would've been sunk with limpet mines. The landing ship is ablaze, but still afloat.
    3
  4840. Sadly, everyone but Trump himself.
    3
  4841.  @GEngineerAU  I'm afraid you don't make the grade as a BRICS fanboy. Fanboys, BRICS or otherwise, fixate on one thing to the exclusion of all others.
    3
  4842. As in shearing sheep?
    3
  4843.  @LordVessel21  Thanks, sock puppet.
    3
  4844. Anyone who's critical of the CCP is automatically a CIA troll, eh?
    3
  4845. Retaliate in kind? Beat their wives, too? You sound like an agent provocateur.
    3
  4846. UN peacekeepers in Lebanon haven't kept the Israelis at bay. I speak from personal experience.
    3
  4847.  @justonecornetto80  All the Karelian Finns left Karelia prior to Soviet occupation and Russians moved in to replace them. That being the case, Finland would set itself a trap if it were to take back Karelia. The Baltic states had no choice, but Finland does. Besides, I wouldn't rule out that Karelia and Ingria declare independence if the Russian Federation -- like the Soviet Union before it -- disintegrates. Kaliningrad may even precede them. Rump Russia won't like it, but there's a solution to that. Sweden just opted for it.
    3
  4848.  @MariaMMCardoso  It's in Europe's interest -- and by extension, that of the whole world -- to end Putin's war of aggression in a manner that doesn't reward aggression. And you're worried about personal discomfort.
    3
  4849.  @MsSherlock69  What about whataboutism?
    3
  4850. Little do you know. Besides, I think you need to worry about how the shifting geopolitical sands are affecting you. As China and Russia grow closer, Russia grows apart from India. China won't share. Also, Russia's arms industry is imploding, which puts India, a big buyer of Russian arms, in a spot. India has no option but to curry favour with NATO countries, in the hope that their arms manufacturers will fill the void left by Russia. Let's be honest, it means India's growing rapprochement with the West. You'd better start acting nice.
    3
  4851. Yeah, but as a side-effect, wieners may start to drop off. The job market will be inundated with Russian eunuchs.
    3
  4852.  @tomalmow3814  You could've stuffed yourself silly with popcorn already, because this is just more of the same. There's always some kind of trade dispute going on between the US and the EU. I enjoyed the one in particular where Trump tried to slap a 300% tariff on Canadian Bombardier passenger jets. Long story short, Airbus ended up with the hottest selling jet in its category, for which Boeing has no answer, because its JV with Embraer fell through.
    3
  4853.  @subitnath8751  No, Prigozhin will be PM of India.
    3
  4854. Are you aware that patients are quarantined to prevent a disease from spreading? In other words, it's no cure, but a preventive measure meant to protect others. The way you tell it, it sounds like they left you to die, but you survived despite receiving no care.
    3
  4855. So you're saying Russia sucks less than it did in the 90s. Is there a law of nature that dictates that Russia must always suck -- even if it's a tad less than previously?
    3
  4856.  @user-0xDEEDBEEF  No they don't. Among developed countries, Russia is the pits democracy-wise. In comparisons, Russia even trails China, which is politically still a bastion of Communism.
    3
  4857. I bet he sent out orders to that effect.
    3
  4858.  @Gaucho-h1g  We Europeans pump billions in development aid to Africa. Do you mean BRICS countries will suddenly try to match us?
    3
  4859. Russia needs the money. Do you think they're being charitable?
    3
  4860.  @Manntashsh-Pyrre34  I don't know where you're going with this. Ukraine signed the Belovezha Accords, but never became de jure a member of the CIS. Is that your beef with Ukraine? Also, I don't understand why you think Crimea(?) doesn't belong to Ukraine on account of it "not fulfill[ing]" the Belovezha Accords. Moreover, if you think Poland, Romania and Hungary have legitimate claims on Ukrainian territory, what business is that of Russia? As sovereign states, they can sort out their own affairs directly with one another -- if need be with the help of the UN, but Russia is surplus to requirements. You seem to have a unique interpretation of what's "fair" and you expect everyone to abide by that. That brings up the question: who made you God?
    3
  4861. Everyone and their dog thinks that.
    3
  4862.  @graveperil2169  Ursula is right to speak up about AZ's delivery failures and to insist on reciprocity. I can tell you her Swedish colleagues aren't happy either, with Sweden having had a rough time with Covid-19 as well. I bet the Swedes rue the day their Astra agreed to a merger with your Zeneca. So now you acknowledge that only certain EU leaders have been critical of AZ. Why don't you mention them by name instead of sloppily blaming the EU as a whole? You remind me of Russian and Chinese bots and their fixation with "The West".
    3
  4863.  Shawn Li  The fact of the matter is that Hong Kong is inextricably linked to much of China's international trade. Foreign companies routinely sign agreements that are subject to Hong Kong law, since PRC courts aren't seen as competent or trustworthy in settling disputes. Hence, if Hong Kong is taken out of the equation, trade with China and the rest of the world will suffer greatly as China's trading partners no longer have a viable legal recourse.
    3
  4864. If you're a Putin fanboy, sure.
    3
  4865. Then you've seen the fall of the USSR and the Iron Curtain. The fall of Russia -- or rather, the Russian Federation -- will be the cherry on top.
    3
  4866. You've copied this to oh-so-many discussion forums. Trolling, trolling, trolling, rawhide!
    3
  4867.  @Evan102030  Like kids, Krembots say the darndest things.
    3
  4868.  @fellowcitizen  I'm afraid the joke's on you. As a true multinational, Huawei operates in just about every market in the whole world. Ergo, there's a Vaticanese, Andorran, Sammarinese, Liechtensteiner and Monegasque perspective to this story. Is it interesting that they buy Huawei phones, too? Nope. I see you're still upvoting your own posts. Yuck.
    3
  4869. OK, here's a potato for you, on the house.
    3
  4870.  @ashokagarwal78  Now you're just playing silly buggers. Russia went to war, no one else.
    3
  4871. "Trust me bro."
    3
  4872. Corruption in Russia is far, far more endemic in Russia than in Ukraine. We've seen examples of how ruinous an effect it has on the Russian military, with soldiers having to buy their own body armour and beg their womenfolk for tampons to serve as field dressings. Power outages are of concern to the Ukrainian civilians. Ukraine's military has the means to generate its own electricity. Cope, bot.
    3
  4873. I smell copium. Let's face it, Britain's lost a great deal of gravitas after Brexit. So much so, in fact, that Britain should've vacated its permanent seat in the UNSC. There have been calls on France to transfer its permanent seat to the EU. Of course, French pride was hurt, but France does still pack a punch, and if not otherwise, then as a major EU member.
    3
  4874.  @HenryHalamadrid  Here's another one for you. "Calvary" is the site where Jesus was crucified. "Cavalry" is the word you're looking for.
    3
  4875. Make an offer for it.
    3
  4876.  @morbus85  Unless Russia foolishly triggers NATO's Article 5, there's no obligation on Croatia to do a anything the US says. You must be confused about how NATO operates. Its members can act on their own or in unison with a limited group of other NATO members, but in that case it's not a NATO op. It has happened before, and probably will again. No dramatic break-up resulted.
    3
  4877.  @mikefay5698  Don't upvote your own posts. It's self-glorification.
    3
  4878.  UFO  You snared a boring one, too.
    3
  4879. There was also Anatoly Sobchak, Putin's mentor. Maybe he got in the way.
    3
  4880.  @iljastalberg5610  Maybe the Russian doctors found that Navalny had Coca-Cola Light and Mentos at the same time? Keep the excuses coming, Putin troll.
    3
  4881. You don't know the meaning of 'quote', do you? Iran routinely makes false accusations. France 24 can report on them, as such.
    3
  4882. Everyone remembers? No-one remembers it that way.
    3
  4883. What are you, The Salvation Army?
    3
  4884. I think the Ukrainians have better things to do than worry about (newspaper?) clippings.
    3
  4885. It's always the nukes with you fanboys.
    3
  4886.  @ruhithudakara2802  The best defence is a good offence, it's said. If Russia had the men and the materiel, it would both defend and attack at the same time, but no, it's resigned to rolling with the punches the best it can.
    3
  4887.  @AbuBawa-sw1ut  If Russia believes its own nonsense, then it's the other way around. Ukraine is occupying Russian territory, not the other way around.
    3
  4888. Protesting for democracy, too? Why is this not in the news?
    3
  4889. How is that necessarily mutually exclusive?
    3
  4890. Populism is like peeing in your pants. For a while it feels warm, but then you feel colder still.
    3
  4891. Nonsense. I'm literally surrounded by world-leading chip designers. While working for ARM, I had the pleasure of shaking Sophie Wilson's hand. Try to figure out who she is, and you'll change your tune.
    3
  4892.  @wionporky9937  So, why is Putler being so helpful to the Yank arms manufacturers at the expense of his own? You do realise, right, that Russia needs arms exports in order to defray R&D costs? It desperately wanted India to partner in the Su-57 program, but India bailed on Russia. It looks like the whole program is coming to naught. Really, Putler should get a gift basket from the Americans. NATO, too, should give him a Recruiter of the Year Award.
    3
  4893.  @gooldii1  I once witnessed a single Swedish double-barrelled mortar system land 14 rounds on target simultaneously. Range, of course, is more limited than that of a howitzer. Sweden has GPS-guided rounds for it, too.
    3
  4894.  @Samaa-os7hx  Aren't you cute. Nowhere did I insinuate that Europe is anything but a geographic region -- a continent, to be exact. The EU earned itself a Nobel Peace Prize. Quite an achievement for "a fascist war driven dictatorship". Has Iraq -- or the Arab Leaque -- ever landed a Nobel Peace Prize? You've seen more than your fair share of dictatorships, so you should've racked up quite a few.
    3
  4895. Yeah, the stuffing may come out. The teddy bear has seen better days.
    3
  4896. A Nokia phone, perchance?
    3
  4897.  @jake20479  Gain speed to penetrate? The NLAW is not a kinetic energy weapon. HEAT warheads can defeat armour even at zero speed. In WW2, the Germans had the Haftladung, which a brave infantryman was expected to slap onto an enemy tank by hand. There's a scene in the movie Stalingrad where they take out T-34s with it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVvoo1qFPDo
    3
  4898.  @user-dd4lh1ze9v  Do you think underlings have never turned on their master?
    3
  4899.  @АндрейДемидович-ц8ю  NATO expands by the popular demand. The US has little to do with, but Russia's military aggression, all the more.
    3
  4900. "Europian"? There goes your credibility, out of the window.
    3
  4901.  @wutheringheights739  If you can't even spell "European", you can't be considered an expert on matters European, now can you? You misspelled it not once but twice.
    3
  4902.  @residentgrey  Putin is the West's best? Sorry, I don't entertain conspiracy theorists.
    3
  4903.  @YossiCohen10421  It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. Incidentally, Napoleon's height was the same as Zelenskyy's.
    3
  4904. China needs to understand the EU is a democratic collective. One could ascribe any opinion to the EU by focusing on specific MEPs, which come in all colours of the rainbow. Dissent is tolerated in the EU. In China, not so.
    3
  4905.  @lucaskim8791  You and China need to understand the difference between what individual MEPs say and what the EU officially adopts as a standpoint. We're not going to stifle democratic discussion because China's overly-authoritarian communist leaders may otherwise hurt their feelings.
    3
  4906. The Krembot creams his pants.
    3
  4907. Did they escape from a penal colony, you think? Spelling.
    3
  4908. Political renewal, Dark Africa style.
    3
  4909. I'm wondering what the hullabaloo is about as well. My uncle volunteered to fight in WW2 when he was 17. He had joined the territorial army at 16. His first combat assignment took place a few days shy of him turning 18. Myself, I concluded my national service at age 19, after which I could be called up at a moment's notice. We thought nothing of it.
    3
  4910. Putin and Kim have much in common. Height, for starters. Or is Kim wearing his elevator shoes again?
    3
  4911. Any interesting new developments in Assange's case? Is his life in danger, too? Please make up for DW's nasty omission and tell us ASAP!
    3
  4912. You fanboys. Every new type of weapon is an instant game changer in your excitable minds.
    3
  4913. It's an age-old custom to celebrate the end of summer with fireworks.
    3
  4914. It's called journalism. Foreign affairs.
    3
  4915.  @Lemingtona-x5g  Zelenskyy's jets are happily letting loose Storm Shadows and SCALPs on Crimea. Explain that.
    3
  4916.  @karlmckinnell2635  They all are on a business jet.
    3
  4917.  @marcstruglia5910  That would amoung to corruption and perverting the course of justice, but not insurrection, which is the crux of the matter here.
    3
  4918.  @rouz0  The supreme irony is that while Russia, according to your narrative, averts becoming a Western colony, it's fast becoming a colony of China. Garry Gasparov saw the writing on the wall when he congratulated Pu Tin, the new regional governor of the Chinese northern province of Ruxia, on his nomination.
    3
  4919. Industrial target, bud.
    3
  4920. Rather, where are the Turkish Bayraktar drones?
    3
  4921. Ukraine is fighting the good fight, so you don't have to. Show some gratitude.
    3
  4922. Useful idiocy much?
    3
  4923. You just said Allahu Akbar in English.
    3
  4924.  @lisacollins3304  I would guess RFK Jr.'s support base abroad is infinitesimally small, but you must have something to back up your claim. What, nothing? Well I never.
    3
  4925. Nope, they'll need at least a $10 bill.
    3
  4926.  @jdoe3006  Not any. If there's a resolution on the table concerning the humanitarian situation in Palestine, the USA vetoes it.
    3
  4927. Europe is a whole continent. The Nordic countries have all gone carbon-free in electricity and they're exporting their excess -- to an energy-starved Germany, among others. No Russian oil or gas either. Germany is not representative of Europe as a whole, and sadly, the Nordic countries aren't either.
    3
  4928.  @branmanforshure  You gotta be kidding! Russia has a brutal history of colonialism. Their backyard colonialism was rife with genocide and exploitation. Not only that, Russia refuses to decolonise -- instead, it tries to expand its empire further. Ukraine is a case in point.
    3
  4929. You should find-replace 'Russia' with 'Putin' in your comment and there would be a semblance of truth in it. Russia is better off without Putin, and deep down, the Russians know. It's just that they're clueless as to how to pick a better leader.
    3
  4930. They're accusing the Russkies of meddling in their election and plotting a pro-Russian coup. True or not, Putin must be very happy with Trump.
    3
  4931. That's your ignorance speaking. Estonian soldiers have a fearsome reputation from WW2.
    3
  4932.  yesnoyes noyesno  A lot of Indian leaders are going to reincarnate as insects.
    3
  4933. For crystal-clear reasons, Russia's neighbours are the most concerned about a Russian invasion. Who're you to deny them collective security guarantees with a known bully living next door? Sovereign states can strike alliances as they see fit, and NATO is a defensive one. Likewise, Russia has its CSTO, but I fear it has more leavers than takers nowadays. One wonders why.
    3
  4934. Oh, we're giving plenty. As one of the few front line states in the EU, we're acutely aware of the threat that Russia poses, and that in discouraging Putin's neo-imperialism, the Ukrainians are doing a helluva job.
    3
  4935.  @RamblingRamul  If that were true, he'd be wearing a net bandage and serious dressings.
    3
  4936. You'll find that Russia is moving its nukes westward rather than NATO taking its nukes eastward. Russia's newest launch sites are in Kaliningrad and Belarus. In contrast, NATO's nukes have stayed put throughout NATO's whole post-Cold War enlargement. You talk about NATO's intentions, while Russia is actually guilty of bringing their nukes forward.
    3
  4937. This is about NATO, not the "liberal EU", friendo. You Krembots are so easily confused.
    3
  4938. It's no great loss. I'm sure that as a keen economist, Macron will privately be pleased to be rid of New Caledonia, to say nothing of the other money pits that are called French overseas territories.
    3
  4939.  @millmoormichael6630  The Finns weren't Vikings. The Viking raiders steered clear of Finland, too. Something to do with sensory memory related to pain.
    3
  4940. You'd have to send a few air tankers along, too, to keep the fighters topped up.
    3
  4941.  @MidWitPride  What you're describing is a pretty common occurrence in parliamentary democracies. Boris Johnson first made PM in the same manner. Australia must hold the record for PM switcheroos without elections.
    3
  4942. You can take your far-right alternative facts and stick them where the sun don't shine.
    3
  4943. @McQuade 1 The Belgians invented "French" fries. American soldiers in WW1 named them such because they didn't realise they were on Belgian territory, not French. It figures, because even to this day, geography baffles the Americans.
    3
  4944.  @lighterudite  Bad example. You do enjoy visa-free travel privileges with these countries. Myself, I get to enjoy said privileges with no less than 174 countries, but alas, they're not colonies of ours. Unlike you, we missed out on having colonies when it was still in vogue.
    3
  4945. Trump is a stain on Western democracy. Why would we want to imitate that?
    3
  4946.  @JacksonSpencer-h1z  Who're you to set terms?
    3
  4947. We love our ASHPs. In the winter, too.
    3
  4948.  @rhino_force7679  It depends on how the electricity is generated.
    3
  4949. Any Reptilians involved?
    3
  4950. "Fight back"? What "back"?
    3
  4951. You're not being fair. What else do you expect from Putin? He's pulled out all the stops: he took a huge political risk by invading Ukraine and trying to take Kyiv, sacrificing tens of thousands of his troops and severely depleting his war machine. Taking Kyiv and deposing Zelenskyy didn't pan out, but you can't blame Putin for not trying. Short of starting a nuclear war, I can't think of anything further he could do to get rid of Zelenskyy.
    3
  4952. Why not. You just have to get close enough to let them do their work.
    3
  4953.  @edwardbernthal160  Not true. The EU has released Hungary's frozen funds, on condition that Orban and cronies behave.
    3
  4954.  We The idiots  Genocide isn't the proper description for the French trying to quell independence movements in their former colonies. Genocide is about destroying a people. It's simply bad business for a colonial master. You don't get to exploit cheap labour if you've killed off the labour force. Anyhoo, I didn't hear Macron make comparisons with the pre-war plight of the Jews -- Erdogan did. All I'm saying he could've used a homegrown example.
    3
  4955.  @john-9074  It's not censorship if YouTube bans comments emanating from one and the same site -- in other words, a Russian troll factory. However, in YouTube's shoes I wouldn't resort to banning. The trolls' comments are so obvious and their quality is so low that their propagandising is just counter-productive. Only the Chinese wumaos do worse.
    3
  4956. Try to make your own point.
    3
  4957.  @michaelhensley8203  And what have you done for world peace lately? Talked big on YouTube?
    3
  4958.  @michaelhensley8203  If the UN can't reach unanimity about Myanmar, how is that a bureaucratic problem? If you were blaming UN programs for inefficiency, you could have a point, but this was a direct vote. Sorry, you come across like a populist whiner.
    3
  4959.  @BigMamaDaveX  Putin? Statesman? Rather, he's a mob boss who thinks nothing of putting contracts out on his opponents. He's turned Russia into a pariah state and an economic basket case. Democracy is underdeveloped in Russia, but thanks to Navalny, it's nudging ahead again. Navalny or someone else, people want an alternative to Putin.
    3
  4960.  @russianpower4252  If not our democracy, what kind of democracy do you need then? But as things stand now, Russia just doesn't qualify as any sort of democracy.
    3
  4961. What leads you to think so? The top 10 countries in the Democracy Index shine bright in the Corruption Perceptions Index as well.
    3
  4962.  @nerzhul2455  There, in your troll factory in St. Petersburg, as well.
    3
  4963.  @Jole30  NATO hasn't moved any nuclear weapons closer to Russia's border for more than half a century. In fact, it has withdrawn nukes from Greece and Canada. In the mean time, Russia has brought them forward, to Kaliningrad and Belarus. Facts are a biatch, aren't they?
    3
  4964.  RC RC  it appears you don't have a clue about federations, republics and kingdoms vis-à-vis democracies. Per se, a democracy is not mutually exclusive with any of the former. Many of the top democracies in the world are monarchies. Republics and federations are there right at the top, too.
    3
  4965. Very few would be my guesstimate. The overwhelming majority of the Sweden Finns made their way to Sweden during the 1950s and 1970s.
    3
  4966. @Johnny Rep Or the cosmonauts wanted to celebrate their love for IKEA, whose house colours they're wearing.
    3
  4967. The social democrats lost badly in the German election, but it looks very much like they'll be back as a governing party, be it as a junior coalition partner this time.
    3
  4968. You should've checked out the battlefield after the Battle of Khasham in 2018. It was strewn with corpses of Wagner mercenaries.
    3
  4969.  @pietjeBell-q9w  Je moet eens opzoeken wat chronocentrisme betekent.
    3
  4970.  @pietjeBell-q9w  Als PVV-fanboy weet je er natuurlijk het fijne van, maar je kan het helaas niet verwoorden. Spijtig!
    3
  4971.  @pietjeBell-q9w  Helaas is het juist andersom. Zoals ik al opmerkte, je kan niet verwoorden waarom het nu anders zou verlopen.
    3
  4972.  @pietjeBell-q9w  Dat bedoel ik nu. Je kan het niet verwoorden. Het is een natte droom van je.
    3
  4973. Of course they can, but they're entitled to it. Would you accept being told by your insurance company that while you claim is valid, they won't pay out because you've got money?
    3
  4974. Everyone was surprised by Assad's swift fall from power, the HTS included.
    3
  4975.  @michaelangelo5580  It's an entirely objective observation that the Soviets lost in Afghanistan. Russian historians, too, have blamed the Soviet-Afghan War for bringing the USSR down. Where's the fun? And where's your brain?
    3
  4976. I bet the abundance of Comorian migrants in Mayotte beg to differ on that score.
    3
  4977. You're repeating what was carefully explained in the video.
    3
  4978. So jealous. I own some forest in northern Scandinavia, and it takes 80 years for the trees to mature for harvesting.
    3
  4979. You're very delicate. It's an age-old tradition, as old as artillery itself.
    3
  4980. Amrica is not fighting in Russia, Raviji. Neither is it fighting in Ukraine.
    3
  4981. Don't be such a bore. If you want to fight colonialism, your culprits are in the East, not in the West.
    3
  4982.  @FinanceHubb_  You're the only one laughing. When will Russia and China decolonise? Actually, I know the answer to the first one already. When Russia loses the war in Ukraine. We'll witness the emergence of independent states Chechnya, Tatarstan, Karelia, Circassia and Kaliningrad -- just to name a few.
    3
  4983.  @FinanceHubb_  OK, you're unable to counter my argument in a rational manner. Goodbye, hollow vessel.
    3
  4984.  @battleoid2411  What is your major malfunction? Two inaccurate machine guns don't make a more accurate combo if you pair them up. Besides, accuracy isn't a primary concern with machine guns. They're designed to spread their shot to a certain degree. Educate yourself.
    3
  4985.  @Habib_Osman  There's an interesting precedent in the UN's predecessor, the League of Nations, when it unceremoniously kicked out the Soviet Union for invading Finland in 1939. Sometimes history should repeat itself.
    3
  4986.  @novemberalpha6023  On the contrary, old hands will immediately associate the eyepatch with one of Israel's former defense ministers, who had lost an eye in WW2. I'm sure Scholz doesn't need to be told of the resemblance.
    3
  4987. Whether he wants it or not is inconsequential. What matters is that Russia is not only a social and an economic failure, but also, a military one. Russia won't play in the big leagues in our lifetimes.
    3
  4988. Actually, unconverted PPSh-41s would shoot the 7.63x25 Mauser cartridge, and that's what the Germans (and the Finns) mostly used on captured PPSh-41s. However, they preferred captured Soviet ammo whenever it could be found, as it packed a bigger punch.
    3
  4989. Aren't you being a drama queen? NATO has tactical nuclear weapons in six member states, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Turkey. In addition, the UK and France both have sub-launched ballistic missiles. None of these countries borders Russia. In contrast, Russia has ballistic nuclear missiles in Kaliningrad, which does border two NATO countries, Poland and Lithuania.
    3
  4990.  @sulil1938  We're chemical beings as it is, loon.
    3
  4991. Russia admitted it, sport.
    3
  4992. So China can never democratize? If so, China will always drag HK down democracy-wise. Sucks to be Chinese...
    3
  4993. Yuck no.
    3
  4994.  @batteriebrettchen6761  Would you call cabinets Merkel I to IV left-wing? If so, say no more -- your political affiliation leaves nothing to the imagination <cough<AfD<cough>.
    3
  4995. They usually don't get that far. Usually these systems self-destruct when a rocket motor fails to ignite and the missile drops back onto the launcher. A nice bonfire ensues.
    3
  4996. I can't recall any union-level corruption scandals in the EU happening off late. Instead, it's always individual members, who fail to stamp out age-old endemic corruption, or engage in it systematically -- like Hungary. Help me out, where are the big corruption scandals that don't fall under national jurisdiction?
    3
  4997. This is more about Russians popping over to the EU to have their cars serviced.
    3
  4998.  @paulkirkland3263  To be a bit more specific about Prince Andrew's service in the Falklands War, at times he and his helicopter served as an Exocet missile decoy. It's the aerial equivalent of falling on a grenade. An unenviable task if there ever was one.
    3
  4999. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan have been fighting the Houthis since 2015. Why-oh-why should they shed crocodile tears when the Houthis get their comeuppance?
    3
  5000. The same goes for the very north of Europe. No drought, but above-average precipitation.
    3
  5001. Human rights have something to say about that.
    3
  5002. Just out of curiosity, how many conspiracy theories do you subscribe to? 1, 10 or 100? My money's on the last one.
    3
  5003.  @cobrajeff96  Correction, I don't hate linguistically challenged people. I pity you.
    3
  5004.  @real_MacrocosM  Did I suggest otherwise? Hamas is a death cult. Israel may not want to mimic them.
    3
  5005.  @donntabale2054  Hence my question marks. I'm afraid you're unable to express yourself properly.
    3
  5006.  @donntabale2054  You wrote nothing of substance and you expect us to guess what you're on about? Okay...
    3
  5007.  @maxkazzora4234  Nonsense. Shoigu went from silovik to faint earworm.
    3
  5008.  @iaingroves1939  You've clearly deluded yourself as to what I'm on about. Farage couldn't get into British parliament, but getting into the European Parliament wasn't a problem. I could've used a number of British MEPs as equally deserving examples. Their stance on EU membership is irrelevant. You need to work on your reading comprehension.
    3
  5009. China's UNSC membership is legit (in a legal sense -- I'm not talking about morals), but the UN Charter still speaks of the Soviet Union. Never has the UN decided that the Soviet Union's permanent membership should go to Russia. Interestingly, Ukraine is another contender, since it was a UN member in its own right before the Soviet Union collapsed. We should open that can of worms, if only for entertainment value.
    3
  5010.  @J3r0n1m0j0  I got that. It's abundantly clear that the Putin bots can't come up with anything else that conspiracy theories to justify Lukashenko staying in power.
    3
  5011. Are talking about Trump's insoles or a *shoo-in?
    3
  5012. I don't think any of them gave this kit to the Afghans. Trump, on the other hand...
    3
  5013. As compared to whom exactly?
    3
  5014. Actually, the South Koreans make military kit that is currently very much in demand -- for starters, the K9 Thunder and the K2 Black Panther. It's just that neither type has seen much combat, which competitors are only too eager to point out. I wouldn't be surprised if the South Koreans aim to fix that by letting the Ukrainians have a go.
    3
  5015.  @bldmyamean8352  It's a win-win. Orcs die, and the weapons that do it well receive the recognition they deserve.
    3
  5016. It didn't help Germany win WW1 when they were still inside France and suddenly everything went pear-shaped. A similar outcome is very possible for Russia. After all, even the extreme apathy of the Russian people has a limit. Or the siloviki decide that enough is enough, and shove Putin aside -- or, per Russian custom, out of the window. I expect post-Putinist Russia will swallow the bitter pill and agree to less-than-ideal peace terms, but they can always blame it on Putin.
    3
  5017. Everything is relative. I haven't seen her try to overturn a presidential election result.
    3
  5018.  @СергейМонин-д7с  ...and the bulk of them are not on friendly terms with Russia.
    3
  5019.  @nandominus3025  It appears you don't understand them "just straight up facts". I think I'll do the math after all. If the USA had eight journalists murdered between 1992 and 2021, that means 0.024 journalists per one million inhabitants died as a result of homicide. In the Netherlands, the equivalent number now stands at 0.056 per million. Ergo, Dutch journalists are statistically twice as likely to get murdered in their own country than their American colleagues. You might want to sing a tune lower.
    3
  5020. Remind me, how many MPs does the Brexit Party have?
    3
  5021. Wat heeft Rutte nu met Assange te maken? Je gaat wel heel erg ver met je Sovjet-whataboutisme.
    3
  5022. If you vote in Reform UK it may be a match made in (far right) heaven.
    3
  5023. Totalitarianism is one step closer.
    3
  5024. Is Germany keen on Kaliningrad, you think? After WW2, the USSR forcibly expelled the German populace and repopulated the territory with Soviet citizens. It it were to rejoin Germany, Köningsberg would be like a colony to Germany, except with none of the perks of colonialism -- only the burdens. Germany would be saddled with half a million Russians whose standard of living is clearly below that of Germans in general. In order to offer the locals the same basic services that the rest of Germany enjoys, it would have to pump a lot of money into the place. Maybe a once-again-bankrupt Russia will try to sell Kaliningrad to Germany -- as it allegedly tried in 1990 -- but in order to succeed this time, it would need to expel the Russians first. Me thinks Kaliningrad's best bet is to seek independence. I hear they've picked a name already. Amberland.
    3
  5025. You made that up, didn't you?
    3
  5026.  @testingmysoup5678  Shells can't crack open a dam of this size, or we're talking about a resurrected Schwerer Gustav.
    3
  5027.  @gearrazkarraysgyfarnogod8554  True, and we don't want any members that would use NATO to settle old scores.
    3
  5028.  @palar4195  Which part of "genocidal streak" don't you understand?
    3
  5029.  @palar4195  "Greater Serbia" is another.
    3
  5030. And Finland benefits from post-glacial rebound, too. Rising sea levels don't matter, because the land rises even faster.
    3
  5031. Lavrov is even funnier than Comical Ali, Saddam's Media and Foreign Affairs Minister.
    3
  5032.  @staypositive950  A great many of descendants of the ancient Judaeans and Samarians are Palestinians. You should crack a book about genetics.
    3
  5033. @M W NATO doesn't have an army either, yet it's the most formidable military alliance in human history.
    3
  5034.  @mtkoslowski  True dat. Amazingly, Russia is still an official member of NATO's Partnership for Peace programme, which is considered a track that leads to full NATO membership.
    3
  5035. Not only that, we must also thank Putin for a renewed effort to wean ourselves off fossil fuels. I'm sure the megalomaniac will console himself in prison that he and he alone averted climate apocalypse.
    3
  5036. Enemy? Russia, for starters.
    3
  5037. So, are you willing to go to war against Belarus and Russia? How's your soldiering, any military skills worth mentioning?
    3
  5038.  @武當山-f6d  Russian reservists are still having to buy their own body armour. And tampons, to plug bullet wounds.
    3
  5039.  @MKSense1  Hungary doesn't need to approve anything, silly. NATO members are free to come to one another's aid, as they have on numerous occasions already. In the previous subsea cable-cutting incidents, warships and coast guard vessels from Sweden, Finland and Denmark and Germany checked in immediately. NATO may act more in unison at a later date, but nothing prevents its members from acting immediately, jointly or separately. You must confuse NATO for the Borg Collective.
    3
  5040.  @MKSense1  What does this sentence mean: "Not when they have to apply article 5 ignorant"? English translation, please.
    3
  5041. Euthanasia would solve you problem.
    3
  5042. I hear your brain fetches a high price on the market. It has seen little use.
    3
  5043.  shutup  WW1 and WW2, spot the difference.
    3
  5044. And Mickey Mouse is the spawn of Satan.
    3
  5045. What did you prove? That the bear was, in fact, a teddy bear, and it's missing an eye and its stuffing is coming out?
    3
  5046. You're a fan of authoritarian societies. And what's your problem with big tech?
    3
  5047. Did you misspell 'morsels'?
    3
  5048. How would that work? Turkey's friends are few and far between. Turkey would have to kick itself out.
    3
  5049.  @marisvandenhof4487  Je doet aan wensdenken. BRICS is niet tegen de VS(?) gekeerd, en BRICS+ helemaal niet.
    3
  5050.  @juliapigworthy  Ah, you added a proviso that they have to leave the EU first. Fair enough. But I can't think of a better antidote to leaving the EU than Brexit, and it's only getting better. Britain was a net payer among many in the EU. Per capita, we've always paid more into the EU coffers than the UK, owing to your not-all-that-great GDP per capita and your infamous rebate. You have too high an opinion of yourselves. But hey, what else is new? We don't refer to Brits as "the lords" for nothing.
    3
  5051. Interestingly, the Iranians pray to the same Abrahamic god. The shared deity has a dilemma on his hands.
    3
  5052.  @ΝικοςΧατζηιωαννου  That changes everything. Not.
    3
  5053. A gift basket is more appropriate.
    3
  5054.  @NTraveller  You'd so much like to worm your way into the EU, don't you?
    3
  5055.  @NTraveller  Let's be clear. You're green with envy.
    3
  5056. If you were to send in a cheque, it would bounce <cough>Evergrande<cough>.
    3
  5057.  @calanmacleod3948  Actually, it was the Finns themselves who said jump. The politicians wanted to debate Finland's NATO membership at length, but eventually they grew anxious of voter backlash if they dragged their feet some more. The US of A wisely kept quiet during all of this, because it wouldn't have added any value -- on the contrary, even. Can I ask a personal question? Is Soviet-style historical revisionism a hobby of yours, or something more serious?
    3
  5058. Perhaps we should ask the UNGA. Oh, we have already. 191 nations consider the Golan Heights Syrian.
    3
  5059. The Brits can't even defend their ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
    3
  5060. Your love for Putin doesn't seem to extend to your government, which condemned Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
    3
  5061. They're living rent-free in your mind.
    3
  5062.  @Nauda999  The slop in Orban's trough is getting less, but it's still pouring in. The EU did freeze funds bound for Hungary, but a large part was subsequently unfrozen. Try to stay on topic.
    3
  5063.  @Nauda999  Uh, I did mention Hungary having its snout in the EU trough to slurp up the slop.
    3
  5064. The whataboutism is strong with you.
    3
  5065. DW did a piece on that yesterday, sport.
    3
  5066.  @suportbghelp4938  Sure, there's that and the fact that Russian weapons systems have underperformed in Ukraine. In Syria and Libya, the Russians could explain that the Syrian and Libyan operators were at fault, but after Ukraine, that excuse no longer works either.
    3
  5067. Conspiracy theorists know something we don't.
    3
  5068. "As long as you leave Putin alone"... enough said.
    3
  5069. Yet everything was overshadowed by negative achievements.
    3
  5070.  @johnsmith-yk6yf  Let's explore that for a bit. At last count, Zelenskyy had 141 supporters among the sovereign nations of this world. Putler had 6.
    3
  5071. So you've done your homework? Please clarify which OSCE SMM report mentions deliberate shelling of civilians by Ukraine. I'm getting a bit desperate, because I've asked everyone who's made the same allegation and I'm always drawing a blank. Don't let me down.
    3
  5072. Don't cry. Xi will offer your hero asylum.
    3
  5073. Interestingly, militaries the world over use simulators, which are basically modified computer games.
    3
  5074.  @dan-bz7dz  That'll do, Ivan.
    3
  5075.  weaverspell  Just curious -- how is it that you haven't noticed how difficult it has been to reach a consensus in the matter because each and every EU member state has a say, and the right of veto to boot? So much for your Brussels politburo. Yank much?
    3
  5076. We'll be paying though the nose. Squashing corruption is far from enough to make Ukraine prosperous.
    3
  5077. You're funny. The Dutch and the Flemish have shared the same language for eons. Did you think the similarity just dawned on them "a few years ago"? It's *Walloons, by the way.
    3
  5078. FYI, conspiracy theorists don't add value to the discussion, they detract from it.
    3
  5079. Actually, Russia was overestimated till a year or so ago. Now it's the laughingstock of the world.
    3
  5080. Aw. You voted with your tiny little paws.
    3
  5081.  Himars cooks Orcs   But he'll get a Lada without ABS and airbags. I wouldn't mind so much if Daddy Dugin turns out to be a reckless driver.
    3
  5082. In the meantime, you could tell us if the USA has met its commitments.
    3
  5083. @hightide4782 Oh, but we've more than put up, but braggadocio is more your style. Have you carefully studied US military doctrine? Can you confidently say that you have, and still claim that the USA has met its 2% NATO commitment?
    3
  5084. It's always interesting to note how poorly Americans cope with foreign accents. Must be the monolingualism and the limited exposure to foreign influences.
    3
  5085. Let's hear your conspiracy theory then.
    3
  5086. Don't be such a drama queen. Regional elections never score well in terms of turnout. France's two-round voting system doesn't do them any favours either. Le Pen will never gain a majority to form a government, because unlike the USA, France is not a duopoly that swings one way or the other. Hence, mistakes like Trump are less likely to happen.
    3
  5087. Sure. When you're clueless, rely on your invisible sky friend.
    3
  5088. Glad you approve, Eddie.
    3
  5089.  @qinby1182  No one's claiming that it will be watertight, but since passenger flights from Russia are banned, would-be tourists have to make their way into the EU over land. It's good that at least Estonia is blocking their way.
    3
  5090. It was overdue, but I'm afraid you'll be sorely disappointed when it doesn't solve all your problems. And what's Wilders going to do, when the wind has been taken out of his sail?
    3
  5091.  @jwserge  You should take it up with YouTube editors. I'm not the one shadow-banning you. You must be under their magnifying glass.
    3
  5092.  @hamwhacker  You're overplaying your hand both in an economic and a historical sense. Western Europeans may owe Britain gratitude for their liberation in WW2, but the same cannot be said about Eastern Europe. To add insult to injury, Churchill sold the Eastern Europeans down the river. They've got a term for it, Western betrayal. You may want to keep that in mind next time when you feel the urge to brag.
    3
  5093.  @hamwhacker  You summed it up nicely. That's what the Eastern Europeans can say to you.
    3
  5094.  @hamwhacker  Sick-minded? It's one thing to avert WW3 just after WW2 ended, but it's quite another to toady to a ruthless dictator, giving him free rein in Eastern Europe. The Atlantic Charter, which Churchill made a mockery of, was his and Roosevelt's initiative. The irony is that Churchill sacrificing his morals was all in vain, because the British Empire still fell apart. Why? Because the Indians refused to police it. Just as ironically, Brexit is the final nail in the coffin of the British Empire. Not that it still exist, but clearly, you harbour such illusions.
    3
  5095.  @timmy-wj2hc  Don't you worry your pretty little head, Timmie. Russian diamonds will be classified as blood diamonds. Which they are.
    3
  5096. Little do you know.
    3
  5097. It's interesting that Russia's parade tank, the T-14 Armata, was nowhere to be seen. Maybe Russia has given up on pretending that the type will ever be combat-ready.
    3
  5098.  @Muirton66  As it happens, Bibi is on trial in Israel as we speak, and if he manages to steer clear of jail in Israel, he'll have to answer to the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
    3
  5099.  @hopecafeanew9623  Keep your shirt on. You're clearly mistaking me for a Sanders sympathizer. At best I feel ambivalent about the guy. My point is that a sizable portion of the American electorate is clearly drawn to non-conformist politicians. The same phenomenon that brought Trump to power now works in Sanders' favour. Populism isn't the reserve of the (far) right. The left has been at it since... forever. In Europe, many far right parties have demonstrably prospered at the expense of the left. The pendulum will swing back. The question is when and how far.
    3
  5100. They left literal trails of poison when they assassinated Litvinenko and tried to kill the Skripals. It's always amateur hour at the FSB.
    3
  5101.  @welshcelt9406  This is the EP. You kept voting in Farage as MEP, while he never managed to become an MP, no matter how many times he tried. How's that for British democracy?
    3
  5102.  @archeroo3243  Right, but if you want to compare apples to apples, you'll have to look at spending per capita by percentage of GDP. Estonia tops the list. Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia and Sweden outspend the US, too. Where do you think our euros come from, if not from taxpayers?
    3
  5103.  @surojeetchatterjee  Uh-oh, Dunning-Kruger effect spotted. IFF has been a thing for the better part of a century. Also, I just specifically mentioned the Patriot and the F-16. You're going on about the F-35, as if it's the first plane to carry IFF.
    3
  5104.  @georgepeel1484  The US Armed Forces are fighting in Gaza? Which alternate reality are your referring to?
    3
  5105.  @georgepeel1484  "US armed forces are in Gaza, alongside other nationalities, but where did I mention US armed forces?" I rest my case.
    3
  5106. Don't you wish you had a parliamentary system instead of a presidential one. A simple no-confidence vote would send the wannabe dictator packing.
    3
  5107.  @timmo491  Vaccinations are still ongoing, Einstein. And that's where the UK is trailing many EU countries. Why should we care about AstraZeneca's vaccine? We've got the gold standard, German BioNTech's vaccine, in ample supply.
    3
  5108. Sometimes negative developments in the US lead to positive developments elsewhere. Thanks, USA.
    3
  5109. Thanks for wording our suspicions.
    3
  5110. France led your guys to victory in WW1. Fact.
    3
  5111. The USA hasn't exactly shied away from military adventurism. The Iraq War comes to mind.
    3
  5112.  @prizefighter8699  Russia went to war against Napoleon on four occasions, won twice and lost twice. 2-2 draw. The last two wars fought between Germany and Russia ended in a 1-1 draw, with Russia losing in WW1 and winning in WW2.
    3
  5113.  @aleserban9322  OK, then there's no difference between USA and the UN either, which implicates Russia as well. In fact, Russia, too, eagerly voted at the UN Security Council for NATO's ISAF mission in Afghanistan, and many times over at that. China, same. Where you even born when the Iraq War started? There was a huge rift in NATO about it. France and Germany were dead set against military intervention. Even Russia took a milder position.
    3
  5114. That's interesting. I thought the ill-advised Iraq War, which destabilised the whole region, had something to do with it. Please elaborate.
    3
  5115. Let me get this right: you're inviting a known home invader into your home, because said perp never invaded your home? During the Age of Imperialism, Russia aggressively expanded to Siberia, the Far East, Central Asia and Europe. Imperial Russia's colonial record only differed from European colonialism in that the Russians went overland instead of overseas in order to kill and conquer. Russia didn't shy away from genocide either. So, shouldn't you be condemning colonialism on all continents? It's as if you're only too willing to turn a blind eye to Russia's past (and present) colonial exploits.
    3
  5116.  @benyisg7633  Don't you think it would be problematic to hold a referendum about a war? If the country is subjected to an attack, like Ukraine is now, there's insufficient time and when the country is doing the attacking, like Russia, the referendum and the campaigning that precedes it sort of give the game away. You must be very young.
    3
  5117. ​ @SwordOfTheSpirit-I-  The problem is, Russia acting on its supposed national security concerns violates Ukraine's sovereignty. In other words, Russia's national security concerns equal aggression.
    3
  5118.  @benyisg7633  I'd be surprised if any adult French person with a modicum of education doesn't know about Libya. French involvement in the fighting in Libya marked a turning point in WW2 and the restoration of French pride. It's important to note that the aerial bombing campaign in Libya had the UNSC's blessing. There was some mission creep, but it's a hard to sit idle when a dictator starts murdering his own people. During Gaddafi's rule, just about everyone had commercial dealings with Libya under the guise of Realpolitik. You seem to have a idealised vision of democracy. Direct democracy is, sadly, an illusion.
    3
  5119.  @SwordOfTheSpirit-I-  But Ukraine never threatened Russia's national security. A prosperous Ukraine threatens Putin's job security. Russians would start wondering why they can't enjoy the same level of prosperity. Eventually, their eyes would lock onto Putin.
    3
  5120. ​ @thiagovidal8972  On the contrary, the Russian Empire was among the worst colonisers of them all. When the indigenous population proved unenthusiastic, Russia didn't shy away from genocide. The tsars were adament, too, that they'd receive recognition for their colonial conquests from the other colonial powers. The USSR didn't endeavour to decolonise either. Putin does lament that the Bolsheviks let go of some territories. He'd like to have them back, in fact. Ukraine is a case in point.
    3
  5121. Every day, in the privacy of his bathroom, Putin is shouting to the mirror: "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"
    3
  5122.  @vasiliyshukshin7466  Forever vaguely blaming "the West", that's all you do. I can't think of a single death that can be attributed to us, and I served in the Middle East. Russia is the ultimate death factory. You have no regard for the lives of others, but your real expertise is killing your own.
    3
  5123.  @alexlong3714  Whatever gave you that idea? Governing coalitions are typically forged after an election and not before. Parties want to see how strong a mandate their potential coalition partners will gain before they'll consider tying the knot.
    3
  5124.  @artemis549  Russians are easily the most numerous nationality in Europe, too, but they're still far from a majority. And the rest are banding together -- against Russia. Also, Ukraine doesn't come close to having the strongest military in Europe, but nonetheless it's bravely holding Russia's marauding Orcs at bay.
    3
  5125. Someone forgot to give Pootie-Poot a heads-up. Sloppy!
    3
  5126. RFK Jr. subscribes to more conspiracy theories than you can shake a stick at.
    3
  5127. It's a very juicy story, innit.
    3
  5128.  @joerogain5025  That's an interesting claim. In order to see St. Petersburg from your window in Finland, you'd have to be in an skyscraper at least 2,000 m high.
    3
  5129. Russia doesn't have anything but.
    3
  5130. He's in Belgium. He wrote a nice letter of apology to the president of DRC in 2020. Sorry if I made you feel less self-righteous.
    3
  5131. There's no adequate "head protection" against an armour-piercing bullet from a sniper rifle. The same goes for body armour.
    3
  5132.  @mikhailandreev1879  None of those 150 dare to sell the high-tech stuff to Russia -- not even China. Sure, they all want bargains on Russian oil. Today's rebate on Siberian crude is 23.37%, by the way.
    3
  5133. Another Tour n00b.
    3
  5134.  @maxhugen  The Challenger 2 has a unique feature in that it can reach out and knock the bejesus out of Russian armour at ranges that baffle the Russians. Its rifled gun and HESH rounds are unique in that respect. Let's see how the Orcs cope with an unseen enemy.
    3
  5135.  @bernhardb4711  No wonder, Hitler and Stalin were allies until 1941. No honour among thieves.
    3
  5136. Report to your nearest Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous. You need the help.
    3
  5137.  @John_Doe448  Thanks for asking. Israel has targeted Iranian assets in Syria with their ATACMS counterpart, the equally quasi-ballistic, jinking IAI LORA. Syria's state-of-the-art Russian Pantsirs have proven incapable of stopping them. There are reports about the S-400, too, failing to stop even the simpler GMLRS in Ukraine. Reportedly, there's a mismatch between the former's detection capability and speed. The Kh-47 Kinzhal is hypersonic whereas the ATACMS is merely supersonic. Not comparable, in other words.
    3
  5138.  @John_Doe448  No weapon is foolproof. Drones are troublesome for Patriot-like SAM systems, which struggle with low and slow targets. However, the S-400 appears to do worse there, too, if the Turks' experiences are anything to go by.
    3
  5139.  @agoodchow  The CCP is upset about it, too. Remember to toe the party line.
    3
  5140. The respect came back after France managed to regroup, as the Free French, and show their mettle in the Battle of Bir Hakeim. Afterwards, Hitler, a WW1 vet who fought in France himself, reportedly burst out in adulation, calling the French the best soldiers -- after the Germans, of course.
    3
  5141.  @glintongordon6811  True, Russia has friends. Belarusians, North Koreans, Eritreans, and Syrians. What percentage of the population, that's anyone's guess, because all four countries are authoritarian, with little or no tolerance for dissent.
    3
  5142.  Wili Wds  What a flaccid response, Willie.
    3
  5143.  @Skynight-e45  I don't see any flaw with that. The UN General Assembly concurs.
    3
  5144.  @alystero8838  China loves win-lose deals. No prizes for guessing who's losing, Russia or China.
    3
  5145. I care. It's entertaining. A clown suit on Trump wouldn't go amiss.
    3
  5146.  @sebastianriemer1777  Fenno-Swedish, in fact, but the same great-grandfather of mine who fought in the Civil War decided that Sweden betrayed Finland in 1939, so no Swedish was spoken in the house ever since.
    3
  5147. What makes you think you were the only donor? Sure, you grossly misspent your money, but you weren't the only spender.
    3
  5148.  @thewho5786  Are you sure about that? Because Ukraine did launch counter-offensives that sent the Orcs packing from in and around Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson. Those were unmitigated successes by any standard. Russia can only dream of such success, like the slow-as-molasses advance on Bakhmuth proves.
    3
  5149.  @thewho5786  No-one "tomded" me. It's crystal clear that there are no Orcs in or around Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson.
    3
  5150. So, you admit Kursk is Ukrainian? OK...
    3
  5151.  @zoolkhan  I don't know about you, but I could actually live off the land in the far north. It's not too many generations ago that my ancestors did just that. And why would we set off firecrackers in St. Petersburg? We didn't want it in WW2, let alone now. We're not in the business of military aggression -- that's the Russians' prerogative.
    3
  5152. It's a not perfect world, but Turkey would use the weapons offensively against the Kurds. Saudi Arabia uses them defensively against the Houthis' Iran-supplied missiles. Try to get your head around that one.
    3
  5153. So, are you saying that 'Eastern media' are rejoicing that Afghanistan is slipping back to the Middle Ages? Except for the Taliban, there are no winners, not in the East, nor in the West. You seem blinded by hatred.
    3
  5154.  @dawn_alex  Really. I've stayed in the poshest hotels in India, including the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai. I could see from my room that when dusk fell, people on the street started laying out pieces of cardboard to sleep on. Guards wielding sticks kept them from coming closer. If that doesn't make you feel queasy, I don't know what does.
    3
  5155.  @ash1kh  Pakistan could use some "western slavery" -- it would keep the repo men away.
    3
  5156. I think the message here is that Mr. Farmerguy doesn't want Trump to trigger trade wars in the first place.
    3
  5157. Let me guess, civilians will die, but militarily, the impact is negligible.
    3
  5158. The ICC doesn't have jurisdiction in the US since the country is neither a signatory nor a state party to the Rome Statute. Educate yourself.
    3
  5159. You've earned your scare quotes all right.
    3
  5160. So, as to Afghanistan, Biden continued on the path chosen for him by Trump. It seems to me you're twice unlucky at choosing a president.
    3
  5161.  @sylvanusnicholasdadzie1801  I guess you couldn't find the right reply button. You must be thinking of a presidential system, where the president is both head of state and head of government, as is the case in the USA. In republics with a parliamentary system, a president is head of state, but a prime minister is head of government. As such, the president is no different from a constitutional monarch in a parliamentary system. Likewise, some presidents merely enjoy ceremonial powers, but others may hold so-called reserve powers, like a limited power of veto. Dissolving a government is just a formality that follows a no-confidence vote in parliament. Again, no different than if King Charles III were to dissolve Truss' cabinet after the MPs grow exasperated with her economic policies.
    3
  5162. @bhante1345 Don't be so quick. NATO is supporting Ukraine with arms and training. Intelligence, too.
    3
  5163.  @scottwebb4722  Ah, you're referring to the Great Northern War (1700–1721). You're off by a whole century. Sweden lost Finland to Russia in the Finnish War (1808–1809). How clumsy of you. No-one is planning to conquer Russia. What on earth made you think otherwise? Are you well?
    3
  5164. It's called political renewal. Happens all the time in real democracies.
    3
  5165. Our professor-president will lecture you to death on international affairs, but that's about it.
    3
  5166. Why would you implicate the West as a whole? We have no dog in this fight.
    3
  5167. Cameron could've easily found allies in reforming the EU, but he gave them the cold shoulder. To say he squandered all remaining goodwill within the EU is an understatement. The consensus among the EU-27 was that Cameron was out for more unique privileges, not reform. No wonder that in the subsequent Brexit negotiations, the UK faced a unified front that didn't falter once. Hubris before the fall.
    3
  5168.  @jackthenap3609  Oh, you think it's an admirable quality that a politician says one thing and does another.
    3
  5169. Yes, you'll have to deal with an increasing number of British riff-raff and spongers as economic growth dips even further.
    3
  5170.  @tormentorxl2732  It was an AIM-9X that killed it. The AA missile exploded all right, but its destructive effect is based on a rapidly expanding ring of rods that cuts through the target. So it must've cut a huge chunk out of the balloon, deflating it instantly.
    3
  5171.  @Crashed131963  It makes perfect sense to let the Poles train the Ukrainians. Poland converted from the T-72 to the Leopard 2. That makes them more expert at conversion training.
    3
  5172.  @FIVESTARBOOKINGTRAVEL  Switzerland isn't considering to join NATO. S-W-E-D-E-N. Learn geography.
    3
  5173.  @tomweiss9600  What, Bakhmut and Avdiivka? Both still pale in comparison to recaptured Kherson, which is nearly ten times larger than Avdiivka going by population size.
    3
  5174. Perhaps you should take advantage and jump in. While you go about your shady business, less lives are lost to gun violence. As an added bonus, you'll gain free board and lodgings. Nothing fancy, but still.
    3
  5175.  @Martyntd5  You must've been living under a rock. All EU leaders, all of them elected, too, have been actively involved in brokering the deal. Macron even famously fussed about using his veto in case French fishermen were cut off from their age-old fishing grounds. None of that registered with you? I distinctly remember voting for EU membership in a referendum in 1994. So much for your first and only.
    3
  5176. What makes you think Russia lets through mobilised reservists or conscripts as it is? Undoubtedly, some will risk illegal border crossings, but those won't happen anywhere near the border checkpoints that were or are being closed.
    3
  5177.  @anilkrmost  Your lot are trying to twist criticism back on the critic. That's the very definition of whataboutism. In other words, you have no retort, so you deflect with unrelated counter-criticism. I'm not French, so there's no hypocrisy. I don't know what to do with your "Western hypocrisy". Definition please? Try to explain how it differs from Eastern hypocrisy, or for laughs, from Martian hypocrisy.
    3
  5178.  @markomaric903  That's not how it works. Two wrongs don't make a right.
    3
  5179.  @markomaric903  I can tell you're a dilettante in international conflicts. I used to lecture about them. And you're combative and too eager to draw conclusions, too, so I'll give it a pass.
    3
  5180. It's the usual tin foil hat crowd. Relatively few in number, but all the more noisy.
    3
  5181. Yeah, because being out of the EU has worked so well for the UK.
    3
  5182. I guess detachable shoulder stocks on semi-auto pistols were an 'in' thing then. Broomhandle Mausers and long Lugers were similarly equipped. And then, suddenly, it wasn't fashionable any longer.
    3
  5183.  @Ǿœ0œǾ  At least you got the first part right.
    3
  5184.  @gauravdey4163  You're failing to keep up with the news. Since the EU's oil ban and the G7's oil price cap kicked in, Russia's fossil fuel exports have collapsed by 17%. Worse still, with the price cap in place, there's no taxable profit in it any longer. In other words, Putin's war chest is not getting replenished. You'd better start lobbying your government to pay a premium for Russian oil, because no one else is.
    3
  5185.  @elcerrado  Nope, Soviet weaponry was divvied up among the ex-Soviet republics that gained independence. Ukraine didn't take any nukes, because it thought that in exchange for them, it would get iron-clad guarantees that Russia, who did take them, would respect its sovereignty. Iron-clad my foot.
    3
  5186. @An1Kum Where do you think Ukraine got its arsenal of Soviet weapons from? Did it salvage them from a skip? Famously, Ukraine ended up with 19 Tu-160s, the Soviet Union's cream-of-the-crop strategic bomber. Ukraine found them surplus to requirements, so it sold off eight newer ones to Russia. Now, if you're right, why would Russia agree to buy back its own property?
    3
  5187. It's been a matter of time for, what, 1 year, 4 months, 1 week and 1 day?
    3
  5188. Why don't you yourself try to elect better leaders? First it was an egotistical narcissist whose biggest talent was firing people (you should've known) and now it's geriatrics to the resc... Zzzzzzzzz...
    3
  5189.  @ruthlesstruth8639  So Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be safe? Good to know.
    3
  5190.  @cristiangaban960  The poor spelling seems legit, however.
    3
  5191.  @springbloom5940  Oh noes. What a flaccid comeback.
    3
  5192. I'm more worried about the self-proclaimed Leader of the Free World succumbing to "Najism". It nearly happened already, and a second attempt is in the works.
    3
  5193. They're paying us back as we speak, sport.
    3
  5194.  @Neojhun  Decimation is 1/10th -- this is much worse. I wouldn't count the Chechen "general" as one, however. The 36-year old was leading a regiment, a job that is usually reserved for a colonel. I guess he encountered real soldiers.
    3
  5195. And SpongeBob SquarePants is a CIA operative.
    3
  5196. @WhyMe The UK did agree to the present Northern Ireland Protocol. Before that, there was May's backstop, which the EU-27 were perfectly fine with. The backstop would've prevented a border south and east of Northern Ireland.
    3
  5197. Jolly sporting of Iran to throw the towel into the ring.
    3
  5198.  @madzoukinkimanvouli3966  This sovereignty of your is of little value if the UK's freedom to operate is severely curtailed by practicalities. I think the UK, because of enduring delusions of grandeur, has a harder time than most in coming to terms with the fact that the world is becoming smaller place. There's less and less wiggle room for individualists. China is not going to dissolve itself or play fair just because you think them hostile. I agree with the EU that a Singapore-on-Thames is wholly unacceptable. Individual EU members will call for measures to combat unfair competition and Brussels can't shut their ears. I wonder when it will finally sink in in the UK that cherry-picking is a no-no. The EU is no longer under any obligation to pursue British interests.
    3
  5199.  @ragnarironspear1791  And what should the Irish protect themselves from? From basking in former glory? Oh no, that's you Brits. You've never contributed to our freedom.
    3
  5200.  @ragnarironspear1791  OK, neo-Nazi.
    3
  5201.  @arisplugis5197  Don't copy silly Americanisms. You're Latvian, not American.
    3
  5202. Which verb would you prefer in lieu of "evacuate"? Death-marched?
    3
  5203. That's a topic for a different video. Unlike you, DW isn't all about whataboutism.
    3
  5204. From the frying pan into the fire. Five years ago, at a NATO summit in London, Trump was famously the butt of jokes.
    3
  5205.  Geek X  My foot. Under Trump's watch, the USA got downgraded from "full democracy" to "flawed democracy". Britain's democracy is archaic and cryptic -- at times, they can't even figure it out themselves. Neither country is an example for others to follow.
    3
  5206. Putin actually managed to turn the Russian judicial system into a bigger joke than it was already. That required some serious effort.
    3
  5207.  @joekey8464  NATO tried to form a national army in Afghanistan, which, in retrospect, was a grave mistake. Had NATO lavished the Northern Alliance with supplies instead, things would be quite different. Sure, the Northern Alliance could still stand its ground and, with NATO air power, even drive back the Taliban, but that's a political impossibility for now. An opportunity squandered.
    3
  5208. Thank you for your service, Captain Obvious.
    3
  5209.  @dragilxcom4176  Military training grows stale over time. Russia doesn't believe in refreshers, meaning Russia's older reservists have forgotten most of what little training they did receive. What's really imprinted in their minds is the hazing -- how to take it and how to dish it out. It won't impress the Ukrainians, however.
    3
  5210. Sure, cope.
    3
  5211. No you don't. Check Nigeria's voting record at the UNGA. Nigeria has condemned Russia's actions in Ukraine many times over.
    3
  5212. @sleepyjoe7843 Uh-oh, "sleepyjoe" doesn't understand how parliamentary democracies work. And he claims to be from Belgium. I smell a Murican with a fixation on all things Murican.
    3
  5213.  @ItumelengS  I see my comment found its mark.
    3
  5214. That's a doozy of a conspiracy theory, well done! Keep at it and you may make their hall of fame.
    3
  5215. Since you're so keen to get all details right, you should know that the official abbreviation is "km", not "KM".
    3
  5216.  @__-tw1gi  To keep your criticism constructive, you may want to give Biden -- and us -- pointers as to how to act. We have a proverb that says that the best helmsmen are ashore (we're an old seafaring nation). Let's see if the proverb still holds true.
    3
  5217.  @danielzhong4224  The PLA isn't unique in this respect. As a conscript, I was deployed to scour the woods for a missing woman. At another occasion we were deployed to fight a forest fire.
    3
  5218.  @danielzhong4224  We sometimes wore track suits and overalls. All very uniform in appearance. I suppose you refuse to call British bobbies policemen, because they don't routinely carry firearms.
    3
  5219.  @danielzhong4224  You always think China is wildly dissimilar from anything else, anywhere. Not so.
    3
  5220.  @danielzhong4224  That would be *dissimilarity. You think you're so special, but you're not.
    3
  5221.  why-lj5tc  Erdogan had to get the S-400 from Russia so he could shoot down his own aircraft in the event of another coup d'état (his Patriot refused to fire at a F-16 piloted by a rebel during the last one). The combination of S-400 and F-35 in Turkish hands would've proved a perfect opportunity for the Russians to improve their anti-stealth know-how. Turkey's arms production is such a hit-and-miss affair that the danger of the F-35 getting Turkish competition from the TAI Kaan is very slim. Turkey failed to produce an MBT of their own, so they essentially rebadged a South Korean one as their "own".
    3
  5222. The EU is outward-looking all right, signing free trade deals left, right and centre. It's the UK that's fast becoming isolated. If anything, going at it alone will put you at the mercy of bullies, of which you've already had a foretaste, courtesy of the USA, supposedly your new BFF. If they -- and China, and India -- don't bankrupt your businesses outright, they'll take them over for a pittance.
    3
  5223.  @SPENKER52  So you chose not to answer my question. So young yet so cynical.
    3
  5224.  @SPENKER52  What's there to understand? If you accuse the Europe's leaders of duplicity, you must have a reference point.
    3
  5225. It's fitting, too, that Germany atones for its Fascist past by strongly supporting the fight against Fascism.
    3
  5226.  a 2345193  What's sefdom?
    3
  5227. It depends where you operate, and what the requirements are. Nuclear subs are surplus to requirements in the Baltic Sea, for instance. The Black Sea, same.
    3
  5228. It's a supranational democracy. Try to get your head around that one.
    3
  5229.  @ShadowsFateOfficial  Sure thing. There's Hvaldimir, a Russian spy whale that's currently visiting Sweden. He's quite a celebrity.
    3
  5230. It can still be chilly in the Nordics in June. We've even had snow in June.
    3
  5231. These new entrants won't be the richest members in the EU, so money from the so-called Cohesion Fund will start flowing their way. It has set the EU's poorer members on a growth path. Economic growth is not beneficial in your book?
    3
  5232. De oorlogveteranen zouden jou ieder geval afwimpelen als een drama queen die er niks van heeft gesnapt.
    3
  5233. ...which accepted the UK as a member only after much hesitation. De Gaulle had keen foresight.
    3
  5234.  @davemurphy2020  De Gaulle saw the UK as a US Trojan Horse. He hasn't been altogether wrong on that score. Britain was them (and still is) keen to do America's bidding, sometimes even to the detriment of Europe.
    3
  5235. I understand that as a tunnel-visioned American you struggle to understand this, but DW, like the world at large, has no agenda when it comes to the Mueller Report. Your CNN, and Americans in general, have picked their side, but in us the whole matter just doesn't elicit strong feelings. We're merely observers in what turned out to be a bit of a disappointing development, drama-wise.
    3
  5236. Even if Russia becomes more self-reliant, it just means that Russia will revert to its old Soviet ways. It will make inferior products at higher cost. Eventually, when Russia returns to the international fold, all those domestic manufacturers will go bust. History, in other words, will repeat itself.
    3
  5237.  @SneakyGhosty  Kicked out of the UNHCR only, sadly.
    3
  5238. Sorry, your neologism is not catching on. I hope you at least got a potato for that. Okay, half a potato.
    3
  5239.  @denisgorjunov  The CIA doesn't need to try anything. It's plain as day that Russia can't squeeze even a meagre a victory out of this by any measure. The war is now all about Putin's survival, and not just politically, but physically as well. If Putin doesn't make a well-timed exit to China or North Korea, Yanukovych-style, there will be a very realistic reenactment of Ides of March 44BC.
    3
  5240. Be that as it may, Russia had to go hat in hand to Iran and scrape the barrel for wildly inaccurate anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles. If they launch ten, maybe one ends up in the general vicinity of the target.
    3
  5241. varanid9, Häyhä didn't kill a single German. All his victims were Soviets.
    3
  5242. Yeah, if you like political isolation and your influence curbed.
    3
  5243.  @benvandam369  I hope you don't think me callous, but if the herd needs thinning, it's good of you to volunteer.
    3
  5244. You're at the wrong address with your conspiracy theory. This is about Assange.
    3
  5245. The CCP is bad for business, that much is clear.
    3
  5246. Krembots ought to love your idea. It would totally wrongfoot "warmongering" NATO.
    3
  5247. Western MBTs are more survivable. Cope.
    3
  5248.  @christopherlees1134  There's the brutal dictator wannabe again.
    3
  5249.  @Anonymous-nz4li  I have a hunch Putin and Navalny will be trading places soon enough.
    3
  5250.  @markojovanovic1750  You're skirting the issue, the illegal landgrab Russia did at Ukraine's expense.
    3
  5251. According to you bots, it's been over for three years.
    3
  5252.  @Greksallad  It's the weirdest thing that Krembots think this Russo-Mexican military alliance meme makes for a strong argument.
    3
  5253.  @ahmedbokhari7048  What do you make of the "staving NAT-O"?
    3
  5254. Perhaps you should pray to Putin. He can end this war right now.
    3
  5255.  @TurbidSugar19  Zelenskyy is perfectly in tune with his electorate. The Ukrainians very much want to continue the fight. Also, the right to self-defence is enshrined in the UN Charter. Where Russia is breaking the UN Charter, Ukraine is enforcing it. They're a hero nation all right. I have an idea. I don't know where you're from, but perhaps you should push your leaders to offer Putin a choice part of your country. Maybe that will satisfy Putin's lust for Lebensraum. Deal?
    3
  5256. Bad spellers of the world untie.
    3
  5257.  @APPLEtv4VIERACAST  Nice save. Still a bad speller.
    3
  5258.  @hommetattoe3861  We didn't do squat in Iraq, Libya or whatnot. Who exactly do you take me for?
    3
  5259.  @redko79  You gratitude is misplaced. China uniting with Russia is a gross exaggeration. China may harbour geopolitical sympathies for Russia, as in chipping away at Western hegemony, but economically China is much more united with the West. Benefiting from Russia's failed energy war is a nice bonus, but on no account will China knowingly jeopardise its lucrative exports to the West -- which are already under strain from de-risking -- to help out Russia. In other words, China won't risk transhipping Western products and leaking Western intellectual property to Russia for fear of its companies -- or even China as a whole -- becoming a target for Western sanctions. After all, Russia's economy is diminuitive compared that of the West, and Chinese economists know full well that Russia is heading for bankruptcy if it keeps making war instead of peace.
    3
  5260. Exercising overflight rights in accordance with the Law of the Sea convention, dear.
    3
  5261. I'm pretty sure he was executed right after this incident. On no account could the Chinese authorities ever let him to talk to the free press.
    3
  5262. ​ @emmawang1999  Once again, you're trying to redefine accepted terms to suit your purposes. A popular mandate is the authority granted by the people to certain lawmakers to govern. Who's to judge what amounts to good governance and competence? The people of course, and we find out by asking them directly. What exactly makes you conclude that most elected officials obtain their position fraudulently? Despite of Trump's blustering, election fraud is exceedingly rare in developed countries. As to breaking campaign promises, there's an efficient correction mechanism for that: elections. The offenders don't necessarily sit out their term, since a no-confidence vote can bring down the whole government if parliament deems the offence serious enough. Mature democracies are remarkably fault-tolerant. Checks and balances ensure that officials can't overstep their authority. Poorly prepared bills don't pass scrutiny. But you still haven't answered my question. If not elections, what then? Flagging problems is OK, but you're expected to suggest a solution as well.
    3
  5263.  @emmawang1999  Er, we have a thing called full suffrage. Anyone above 18 can both vote and stand for office. Now you seem just ignorant.
    3
  5264.  @emmawang1999  Now your ignorance is really showing. If you look at the countries that top the Human Development Index, your should be able to tell that the majority have no colonial past as in having had colonies. Rather, there are plenty of those that were subjected to colonialism themselves at one time or another, such as Ireland, Australia, Iceland, Finland, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. If looting and plundering makes for rich countries, why isn't China in the Top 20? You certainly have a very rich history in that respect, with China's colonialism even persisting to this day in Tibet, to say nothing of the neo-colonial Belt and Road Initiative.
    3
  5265. Captain Obvious!
    3
  5266. That's Trump's modus operandi. Don't project.
    3
  5267. Right-o, be a camp follower. Leave all the green tech opportunities to us. We'll license the tech or sell you the products at a tidy profit.
    3
  5268. If Mexico chooses to join the CSTO, the USA will just have to grin and bear it. But how high would you rate the chances of Mexico joining an military alliance headed by a regional power half a world away? I say non-existent.
    3
  5269. Too late for that, innit? The whole point of getting the withdrawal deal through was to stave off a hard Brexit.
    3
  5270.  @angry1109  Your hero Putin can always withdraw his troops from Ukraine.
    3
  5271. The noun 'evidence' is uncountable, which means its plural form is also 'evidence'. Don't you wish the British Council still operated in your country.
    3
  5272.  @fingerprint8479  Try to improve your delivery. It's painful to watch.
    3
  5273.  @butstill3333UA  I'm trolling, silly.
    3
  5274.  @ahmedhemissi1677  I suppose you believe that when the Big Bad Wolf huffs and puffs, a prop blade bends like that, too.
    3
  5275. William Pitt the Younger was younger still.
    3
  5276.  @tokajileo5928  Russia isn't fine. How do you think the gas-station-masquerading-as-a-country will manage when demand for oil and gas inevitably plummets, and Saudi Arabia alone, where oil practically bubbles up from the ground, can meet global demand?
    3
  5277. More likely, there'll be a newly-independent Ingria to the northeast of Estonia. Ingria will be apply to join NATO, of course. Lithuania will gain a southern neighbour called Amberland.
    3
  5278. Heel wat landen hangen goed samen zonder koningshuis. Vervang gewoon de koning met een president. Die laatste kan naast lintjes doorknippen ook nog iets nuttigs doen, zoals de boel een beetje in de gaten houden. Mentor spelen en strategie uitstippelen. Het hoeft geen Trump te zijn. Zelfs geen Macron.
    3
  5279. The Soviets certainly did, as Ed correctly explained. My gramps was at Ägläjärvi to throw them back. They did extremely well, too, destroying the whole attacking division despite being heavily outnumbered.
    3
  5280. The majority aren't after handouts. They prefer to live and work illegally in the UK. Make that harder and the influx will dwindle.
    3
  5281. Timmermans is a true statesman. Maybe he can bring about the social cohesion that the Dutch so badly need.
    3
  5282.  @imagrev4360  You're tired of Ukraine not giving in and of your precious Russia treading water.
    3
  5283.  @norsie45  Not quite. Actually, many Palestinians descend from the ancient Israelites, who became known as the Samaritans. They were forcibly converted to Christianity and later, Islam. Many Palestinians also have Jewish and Crusader blood.
    3
  5284. Lukashenko may be disappointed to learn that Wagner's tactics amount to sending out the convicts first. When the enemy has run out of ammo, they send in the regulars. I wonder if Belarus has enough convicted criminals to implement such tactics. Political prisoners, plentiful and brave as they may be, make poor cannon fodder.
    3
  5285. "The all-time record is still held by a United States Air Force Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. In 1974, Maj. James Sullivan and Maj. Noel Widdifield flew their aircraft from New York to Farnborough Airshow just outside London at 1,806 mph, completing the journey in an impressive 1 hour, 54 minutes and 56 seconds." Google is your friend.
    3
  5286. Thank you. Si vis pacem, para bellum.
    3
  5287.  @eddastrohmayer251  For a rational realist, you seem rather irrationally unreal.
    3
  5288. Russia would cry like a girl at the "injustice".
    3
  5289. ​ @berkovsky49  In Sweden's case, Turkey accepted the ransom, US F-16s. Here, an acceptable ransom hasn't been agreed on yet.
    3
  5290.  @ИнферноСРБ  Yes, Ukraine has suffered casualties as well. At a ratio of 1 Ukrainian for every 5 Orcs.
    3
  5291. Je zit al 4 jaar in de toekomst te loeren. Frappant.
    3
  5292. @Alex Devereaux If there's a fight, it's over the rebates that various EU members have been receiving on their budget contributions, the UK especially. They're an unnecessary complication, so it's better to rethink the rules and strive for more uniformity. There needn't be a hole if the EU budget is cut, as it should be. It's like when a young one leaves the nest, the household budget goes down.
    3
  5293. Russia used to trade vigorously with Europe, remember? And now it can't flog its gas to Europe, leaving Gazprom seriously short on moolah. And it's not like the Russia's economy is anything like Europe's, as in highly diversified. Russia has become so dependent on China for essential goods that we can start calling Russia a Chinese neo-colony.
    3
  5294.  @Wolfvain-qs5su  Oh, NATO is all about you, isn't it? If you refuse to do your duty and fight, the whole of NATO won't either? NATO stands or falls with Article 5, but it doesn't fall because of your personal dereliction of duty. Perhaps your military is in such a sad state because your egotistic mindset has permeated it. Luckily Estonia is better off. I sense jealousy.
    3
  5295. And it starts.
    3
  5296.  @darkroses3479  There will be a future shipment, as in singular. If Russia fails to deliver, there are reserves and alternative suppliers. Replacing gas supplies is more challenging because of logistics, but that, too, turned out to be a non-event. Russia is cutting its own flesh.
    3
  5297. Um, Trump's recent performance hints at dementia.
    3
  5298. Now why would you go ass-u-me'ing that I'm a Brit? But yes, I enjoyed the Baby Trump balloon. It sure rattled Trump's gilded cage.
    3
  5299.  @naapsuvaimne740  The horseshoe theory has long since been rejected.
    3
  5300.  @MotoRide.  The West won't switch strategy to prepare for massive artillery duels in the event of a war involving NATO and Russia, if that's what you're trying to say. The war in Ukraine has been marked by a relative absence of air power on both sides. Hence the over-reliance on artillery.
    3
  5301. Let's whatabout the moon landing, too. Or the shape of the earth.
    3
  5302.  @TarasBohdan  It does amount to a tacit admission that the rule of law doesn't apply when politics are involved.
    3
  5303.  @TarasBohdan  Don't expect a Pulitzer Prize for that observation. Pardons by heads of state are standard practice. Unlike Trump, however, most exercise their preogative very selectively. I don't know which is more embarrassing: supposedly holding political prisoners, or freeing rioters who were found guilty in a court of law of seditious conspiracy, trespassing, disrupting Congress, theft, weapons offenses, etc., etc. No matter how which stance you take, it marks a colossal failure of the US judicial system, either in prosecuting them or releasing them.
    3
  5304.  @jeffbeck9347  Whoosh?
    3
  5305.  @Josh-xz4ec  For what it's worth, the EU-27 seem very united in agreeing on how to deal with Brexit-Britain. The Brits have tried numerous times to drive a wedge between them by cosying up to potential dissenters, but with zero effect. You could say that the EU-27 -- 27 very dissimilar countries -- are more united than British Parliament, which, among themselves, can't agree on anything related to Brexit. Maybe you can't put things into perspective?
    3
  5306. You must be joking with your independence day wishes. Afghanistan wasn't under foreign occupation, as it was under the Soviets. The 20-year nation-building exercise did turn into a dismal failure, but being a perpetually failed state under the Taliban is hardly an improvement.
    3
  5307.  @StormedCause  We fire politicians for lying. You should give it a try.
    3
  5308.  @mastervindu1070  It's a fact.
    3
  5309.  @peterjicmon4188  Again, the polls suggest she's doing fine. Don't make up stuff.
    3
  5310.  @baykal6  They have, in a way, in Israeli hands against the Syrians. Syria has an elaborate Russian-made air defence network.
    3
  5311.  @s0ycapitan  "Most people" expect Putin to have two choices: 1) withdraw his troops; 2) cry and withdraw his troops.
    3
  5312.  friedlmitderleerentasche386  One supreme commander named Eisenhower disagrees with you.
    3
  5313. If you don't like them apples, you can always seek refuge in Brexit Britain. It's a short hop.
    3
  5314. The Russians' desperation leads to desperate measures. And the civilians' plight is of little concern to the Kremlin.
    3
  5315. @SamardeepJohal Let's not forget Turkey -- it's presently in NATO, too. Turkey can't manage its economy and has a casual approach to human rights, but the Turks sure can fight.
    3
  5316. You should educate yourself. Non-EU nationals with a valid EU residence permit have to commit a serious crime before their permits can be cancelled. Thoughtcrime is no crime in Finland. Also, EU residence permit holders can travel freely within the Schengen area.
    3
  5317. Liar liar, pants on fire. The Dutch East Indies were under Japanese occupation during WW2.
    3
  5318. I suggest you implore your precious CCP to condemn the Myanmar coup and the human rights violations happening there. Think global, act local.
    3
  5319. The coping is strong with you.
    3
  5320.  @andre8860  Santa takes a dim view of warmongering Russia ruining Christmas and Russia's imposter, Father Frost.
    3
  5321.  @yuzeymaokanime583  That could be the case if Turkey was presently in the market for a missile system. Only they acquired the S-400 years ago.
    3
  5322. The Storm Shadow is relatively small, stealthy and flies low, hugging the terrain. That makes is much more difficult to shoot down that an Su-24, which is a bit of a behemoth and has a large radar cross section.
    3
  5323. What are you talking about? Russia can't decide the war in Ukraine and the USA is rotting from the head down.
    3
  5324.  @olga66  Emojis as a comeback... How old are you, Olga?
    3
  5325. The UN General Assembly concurred, and overwhelmingly so.
    3
  5326. Germany, Netherlands and Austria are net payers to the EU budget, so the effect would be limited.
    3
  5327.  @DavidGitongawriter  Russia knows it can't maintain its bases in Syria, and HTS knows that Russia knows. So, why attack them if the Russians are sheepishly evacuating as we speak?
    3
  5328. So, God, as an afterthought, created bed bugs? Your magic sky friend truly works in mysterious ways.
    3
  5329.  @Bloodless1986  I said Denmark wants the Greenlanders to decide their own fate. My opinion is of no consequence. Yours doesn't matter either, by the way. You're merely speculating that if independence is off the table and the Greenlanders have to choose between the US and Denmark, their choice falls on the US. More likely, they'll stick with the status quo. NATO cannot allow Russia or China to take Greenland. If either tries anything, it immediately triggers Article 5, which means the whole of NATO mobilises in defence of Greenland. Not only may you defend Greenland, you also must, just like all the other members of NATO. Your point is, therefore, moot.
    3
  5330. No, this is bad. Russian trolls get paid by the comment. Their extended families are going hungry now.
    3
  5331.  @peterbalogh8138  Sure, Ukraine is heading for a defensive victory. Study the history of warfare and you'll find plenty of examples. You'll find even Russia congratulating itself over a particular one.
    3
  5332.  @peterbalogh8138  I'm sure the outcome of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, which counts as a German defensive victory, perked up Hitler. Likewise, Napoleon enjoyed some defensive victories, although he clearly preferred to be on the attack. But Napoleon was involved in a great defensive victory: his ill-fated Russian campaign. Stalingrad, too, was a defensive victory, and the Battle of Britain. The Battle of the Bulge is another example. Be honest, you're not very knowledgeable about matters military, or you would be familiar with the term.
    3
  5333.  @peterbalogh8138  And now you're suddenly the expert on defensive victories. Likewise, it must've been news to you that there are battles, campaigns and wars, all of which can have different outcomes. WW1 was mostly fought in France, with Germany occupying large swathes of the country, a situation that persisted till the very end, till Germany sued for peace. That is the history that will repeat itself in Ukraine, with Russia suing for peace. The question is, will the Russians rid themselves of Putin before or after?
    3
  5334. Why should the UK apologise? The French know full well that the UK is a camp follower of the US.
    3
  5335.  @ludara8697  Yes, there are other markets, but Russia would starve before they could make up for lost revenue. Laying pipes doesn't happen overnight.
    3
  5336.  @UTBLADES  Don't be pedantic. That was the case before Oct 7, too.
    3
  5337.  @andrewallason4530  The G3 is heavy and it's a battle rifle. We cross-trained with the Swedish AK4 version when I was in Lebanon. I have to say, I much preferred our Valmet assault rifle. Handier to get in and out of APCs and on patrols, too, the weight wasn't such a chore. Our Swedish colleagues wouldn't admit it, but when they had peacekeepers rotate in with the then-new FNC, the old fogies were suddenly jealous.
    3
  5338. How infantile to blame someone else for your own problems.
    3
  5339. A former colleague of mine claimed that he suffered from PTSD after dealing with the Australians in building the previous batch of submarines.
    3
  5340. Prepare yourself for a long wait.
    3
  5341.  @officialreplik5095  You can't live on food alone. Russia's industrial capacity is woefully inadequate. Even the USSR did much better in that respect.
    3
  5342. Ik had liever Kaja Kallas gehad, maar goed.
    3
  5343.  @leavesinautumn5959  Are you a sorry Trumpster?
    3
  5344.  @zorjo  The "continent of uk"? Are you for real? The Britsh Isles lie firmly on the European continental shelf.
    3
  5345.  @nkydn  In the civilised world, we call your 'celebration money' a bribe, too.
    3
  5346. @D R Germany is one of the driving forces behind Airbus, you clown.
    3
  5347.  @Novic09  Eva, you must have a wife beater for a husband. When you displease him, he beats you around, and you agree that it was all your fault.
    3
  5348.  @Jay-vt1mw  Ukraine may well retake Crimea, but the chances of Russia surrendering are practically nil. I do believe Russia will sue for peace and, eventually, agree to unflattering terms that include paying war reparations to Ukraine, but a wholesale Russian surrender is just not in the cards. Trapped units may surrender, but not Russia itself. Not every war ends like WW2. Most end with a negotiated peace.
    3
  5349. ...and you misspelled it.
    3
  5350. ​ @kwektans  Where's the hypocrisy? Ukraine is fighting to defend itself, to safeguard its sovereignty. Russia, the invader, is waging an illegal war of aggression. Spot the difference?
    3
  5351. Lock him *up?
    3
  5352.  @Janshevik  The Winter War is a reason for both Finland and Ukraine to join NATO.
    3
  5353. Kimi has the political acumen of a jellyfish.
    3
  5354.  @filipecoutinho5706  You'll have to try to secure Finnish citizenship in order to cast your vote for Kimi. Not easy, that.
    3
  5355. Didn't Russia stage a rather large raid inside Ukraine two and half years ago? That wasn't provocative?
    3
  5356. We have representative democracy in the EU. You'd do well to acquaint yourself with the phenomenon and copy us.
    3
  5357.  @nigeljohnson9820  Nope. As it is, the UK imports 70% of the fish it consumes, while 80% of what it catches gets exported. So I was exaggerating a bit, 80% of the British fishing fleet could be sold off for scrap. Or blown up, since you're the violent type. The French, among others, have been fishing in what is now regarded the UK's economic exclusion zone for centuries. The UN, which oversees the laws of the sea, recognises both EEZs and historic rights. You don't have a clear-cut case there. But all that may be moot, since the EU can simply decide not to buy British fish till the stench in your harbours simply becomes unbearable.
    3
  5358.  @biokomalabo9468  It's too funny that you took the proverb literally.
    3
  5359. Fat chance. So many simmering tensions.
    3
  5360. Become independent?
    3
  5361. Tot spijt van wie het benijdt.
    3
  5362.  @benvandam369  He's the US president. That's all I need to know.
    3
  5363. No, we can stand as independent candidates as well. For municipal elections, all we need are ten signatures from eligible voters, some of whom could be, for instance, my next-door neighbours, who hold PRC passports. In fact, these neighbours of mine could stand as candidates themselves, too, under the exact same conditions. Before registering them, the authorities wouldn't be allowed to ask them about their political leanings or if they harbour "hostile" feelings towards their adopted homeland. Welcome to full democracy.
    3
  5364.  @barrycuda1722  I think the Salvation Army is #7 and Russia #8.
    3
  5365. Don't be a drama queen. It's all in the hands of Romania's highest court. The EU is not party to any of this, and why should it? In the EU, member countries sort out their own electoral affairs.
    3
  5366.  @matejvohl4305  Looky here, we have a conspiracy theorist coming out of the woodwork. The "davos [sic]" is a dead giveaway. Next time, you may not want to be so obvious.
    3
  5367. ...a conspiracy theory?
    3
  5368. Africa's catch-all excuse.
    3
  5369.  @anasqader3851  The USSR gained enough land to bury their dead. Their words, not mine.
    3
  5370. Like you supported the Polish plumbers? Poland sure didn't support you during the Brexit negotiations. And join with the UK in what? British Empire 2.0?
    3
  5371. Who's going to rescue the pound?
    3
  5372. You should stick to VK, your safe space.
    3
  5373.  @wellardme  I believe the OP is referring to the UN Charter. Of the three, only Russia has broken it. Try to stay on topic.
    3
  5374.  @budbud2509  I don't want your precious Heathrow. It's one of the worst big airports in Europe.
    3
  5375. Next, above-wing engines like on the VFW-Fokker and HondaJet?
    3
  5376. I don't know, who wants to be part of that loser outfit? The Russians know full well that when Putin stops making war, this stops, too.
    3
  5377. Enough is enough.
    3
  5378. You've been diagnosed with the Brexit Blues? No rejoining for you, I'm afraid.
    3
  5379. ​ @ayushkumar-bg1xf  Yup, and if we're doing whatabouting, let's whatabout about India's lost wars. The Sino-Indian War comes to mind.
    3
  5380. That would be Allah, too. He must be conflicted.
    3
  5381. They sure don't. The French far right split with Germany's AfD after one the latter's honchos suggested that Waffen-SS members were cool.
    3
  5382. Is there such a thing as Eastern democracy?
    3
  5383.  @tinaandro1178  The question is, what makes a democracy Eastern as opposed to a Western one? Should we also make a distinction between Eastern water and Western water, or is it all just H20? Me thinks those who criticize "Western" democracy are just apologists for authoritarian regimes, which just aren't democracies, period.
    3
  5384.  @ankpms830  News channels tend pull out a map of Ukraine whenever the war comes up, so it's fair to assume that if the Americans couldn't place Ukraine before, they can now. A more valid question is, do Russians know where Russia isn't?
    3
  5385.  @Ordinarygentleman-sx8vl  Since you're big on facts, tell us about a treaty that forbids NATO's eastward expansion. Apparently, the signatories suffer from amnesia and no one can produce a document to that effect. For unknown reasons, the press didn't cover it either. You must have a clue because your lot keeps bringing it up, as if it's true.
    3
  5386.  @Ali-hu8jr  An African Spring would mean widespread anti-government protests and popular uprisings. So far, we've just seen a bunch of soldiers seize power, more or less out of the blue, like they always do in Africa. You're flattering yourselves.
    3
  5387.  @michealcurrie8272  My own mind? You're the one spouting clichés.
    3
  5388. Let's see if Syria's new government will revoke said agreement. Such agreements bind states, not just their leaders.
    3
  5389. It's not only the lowest point in relations between the US and Ukraine, but also, the lowest point in US foreign relations as a whole.
    3
  5390.  @Corazon-y5k  Russia is a centralised autocracy that, as such, will never democratise. I believe the Western regions will, but only if they manage to break free and become separate entities. Who says we would break up Russia? That's your job. No one in their right mind wants to come and die in your endless ethnic conflicts.
    3
  5391.  @dancahill9585  Brexit?
    3
  5392. Nice save... not.
    3
  5393. Maybe Revell will turn it into a scale model kit.
    3
  5394.  @davidhoyles8595  Why do you say that? There was plenty of evidence of Trump's defamatory statements. Trump publicly provided them himself.
    3
  5395.  @ethimself5064  Thanks for reconfirming the obvious. After all, the obvious does escape many.
    3
  5396. Anyhoo, the science doesn't matter as long as the Chinese authorities keep lying through their teeth about the real Covid-19 situation in China.
    3
  5397. Having travelled the world, it wouldn't stop at the USA and Europe. It's a world-wide phenomenon. Asia is no exception.
    3
  5398.  @kestutisi  Not to mention the soaring TV ratings. The global audience is thrilled.
    3
  5399. If so, Africa would miss out on an awful lot of development aid. But not to worry, China would gladly lend money to Africa, no strings attached.
    3
  5400.  @athelwulfgalland  Finland specifically relied on Germany as a source for phenolic resin glue. It's interesting that you should mention the Mosquito. Plans were afoot in Finland to reverse-engineer the Mosquito and fit it with Daimler-Benz engines, but then the war came to an end.
    3
  5401. I think they're giving them for free. Not good business, that.
    3
  5402.  @somalilanddefendermuwaadin4758  What you fail to comprehend is that US interests reach far beyond its borders. It's those interests that Trump is jeopardizing by alienating the world. No country is an island.
    3
  5403. Rusland had daar vooral militair niets te zoeken. Bij oorlogen vallen helaas burgerslachtoffers, maar ook daarom moet je geen oorlogen beginnen. Poetin doet het wel, keer op keer.
    3
  5404. Monoglot much?
    3
  5405. Een honderdtal van de Nederlandse Leopard-tanks zijn in Finland beland. De Finnen weten er wel raad mee. Als het tot een treffen komt, zal Nederland de Russische tanks vanuit de lucht bestoken met de Apache-gevechtshelikopters. Die zijn veel sneller ter plekke dan tanks.
    3
  5406. Compensation? The idea is to alleviate the suffering of the Gazan civilians. You must think yourself the god of wrath of the Old Testament.
    3
  5407.  @Johno1992  That may be true, but as the cruise missile attacks against Assad's Syria proved, Russia can't effectively counter those either. Russia's much-lauded, state-of-the-art Pantsirs couldn't make a difference. Hypersonic missiles, which are admittedly even harder to counter, are causing a minor shift in balance, but a game changer they're not. Besides, we've seen countless of times how the Russians congratulate themselves with having superior weapons, but more often than not they turn out to be flawed, unready or simply unaffordable to them in significant numbers.
    3
  5408.  @krto7663  That's doubtful. His own party is practically disowning him.
    3
  5409.  @jimmyfloyd6  Klopt, en we maken gretig gebruik van de ex-KL Leopards -- en de ex-Bundeswehr Leopards. Als Belg/Nederlander/Fin en reservist mag ik wat dat betreft de vaandel toch een beetje hoog houden.
    3
  5410. If so, India can get rid of its conventional military. Go for it!
    3
  5411.  @ericp1139  About those perks, the unequal US healthcare system works out twice as expensive per capita as universal healthcare in the EU countries. Think about it, if you were to introduce universal healthcare in the US as well, you could boost your defence expenditure even further! Would that be great!
    3
  5412. Relevance?
    3
  5413.  @mobihome1599  Russia is hardly a poster boy for dealing with Covid. Its authorities are lax, the Russian people don't trust them and the death toll has been disproportionate -- we can only guess how disproportionate.
    3
  5414. ​ @dmitrykorovnikov2035  Napoleon's disastrous Russian Campaign was not so much a heroic Russian victory as a logistical failure on Napoleon's part. It does serve as a nice example of a defensive victory, however, like the one that we will witness in Ukraine, when Russia finally withdraws with its tail firmly tucked between the legs. You'll ask for peace terms, which won't be favourable to Russia. For your info, practically the whole of Europe went to war against Napoleon, including some of my forebears. Pretending that Napoleon led Europe in a crusade against Russia is just too ludicrous for words. What do they teach you in school?
    3
  5415.  @ngp1868  No, I'm in the firm belief that the main motivation behind Brexit is xenophobia.
    3
  5416. There should be a tax on predictions of the EU's doom. I'm sure it would prove a welcome and enduring contribution to the EU's budget.
    3
  5417. It once made sense to buy energy from Russia, and for Russia, to sell energy. It was a mainstay of the Russian economy. Then Putin foolishly threw a spanner in his own works. And now Russia is in a downward spiral.
    3
  5418. Have you tried to get in touch with the editors directly? You can find their contacts details on the DW website.
    3
  5419. Mixed heritage is pretty normal for France. Get out of your cocoon.
    3
  5420. Huawei should press the Chinese government to relax its cybersecurity law, which forces Chinese companies to give the government access to their data. This justifiably arouses suspicion abroad. With such draconian policies, the CCP is holding back Huawei and other Chinese multinationals.
    3
  5421. You and your poodle?
    3
  5422.  @davidnoelfranks1124  Europe is home to the top democracies, buddy.
    3
  5423.  @TheTryzna  No, you cannot and Jordan most definitely gave the USA permission to set up shop in Jordan. The two signed a "Acquisition and Cross-Servicing" agreement to that effect in 2006. However, you're right about Assad's brutal regime in civil war-torn Syria not giving permission. I very much doubt Assad has the Syrians' permission to rule over them.
    3
  5424.  @mooz01  You're feeding a notorious troll.
    3
  5425. It's going to eat a lot of bandwidth, and with America being weak in 5G, it's a real problem.
    3
  5426. That's BRI. We have ample proof of that by now.
    3
  5427.  @surojeetvedantic6047  You went off on a tangent there, didn't you? Answer my question, do you have a problem with the right to self-defence? Is it an Indian aversion, one that applies to Ukraine only, or is it a universal thing?
    3
  5428. Klopt. Verliezen betekent niet altijd compleet verslagen zijn. De Vietnamoorlog en de Indonesische Onafhankelijkheidsoorlog zijn verloren door respectievelijk de VS en Nederland. Militair waren allebei nog slagkrachtig, maar het was een hopeloze strijd.
    3
  5429.  @Apollo-fp4cu  Je moet ooit eens een geschiedenisboek openslaan. Dit zijn keiharde feiten.
    3
  5430. That's his audience, I'm afraid.
    3
  5431.  @СергейСергей-э6э2н  The Red Army, too, had itself convinced that Finnish soldiers would lay down their weapons and welcome their liberators with open arms. Then the Winter War happened.
    3
  5432. Not altogether. All other religions should make way for communism.
    3
  5433. ​ @rhyceise9000  Sure thing, Russia is expected to rebuild -- or pay for the reconstruction of -- the territories it briefly 'annexed'. Russia has two options: either pay or cry and pay.
    3
  5434.  @wvvwwvwvv  Is it just Tesla that's making EVs? You must think so.
    3
  5435.  @ANDR0iD  Crypto-fascists, the lot of them.
    3
  5436.  @kevindhargu641  It's estimated that Russia will suffer a further 2,000,000 casualties if it wants to reach its revised goals in Ukraine. Moreover, Russia's rate of advance has been compared to a snail's pace. The snail wins.
    3
  5437. It's a cunning plan. Russia want us to believe they're incompetent. When they've lulled us into a sense of security, they'll reveal themselves as blithering idiots.
    3
  5438. Could you restrict your silly infighting to US fora? You're like a bore at a party who can't stop complaining about his lousy family.
    3
  5439. Have you even begun to realise that NATO is a sum of its parts and that a great many of those parts are in the EU? In your shoes, as a Canadian, I wouldn't go boasting about military might.
    3
  5440. It follows you should leave NATO as well.
    3
  5441. That's your coping strategy kicking in, Maria. You can't handle the truth.
    3
  5442.  @anotheranon3118  All former Combloc countries have residual problems with corruption, but Russia refuses to break with tradition altogether.
    3
  5443.  @annoyboyPictures  You're poorly informed. Russia can't finish the war it started in Ukraine, let alone start more wars. Finland has been off Russian gas and oil since May and June this year respectively.
    3
  5444. Let's see, we have 52.7 out of every 1,000 of our citizens (including yours truly) serving actively or in the reserves. The equivalent figure for the USA is a modest 6.3. As to footing defence bills, as I see it, the USA spends 1.75% of its GDP on NATO, whereas our NATO spending is 2.4% -- and would be higher still if we paid our national servicemen (and -women) proper wages.
    3
  5445.  @TRAZ4004  You're blaming NATO's Top 2, the US and Germany, for neglecting their defences? Okay... Most of Europe's NATO members have already crossed back to the good side in budgetary terms. Spending it is more of a concern, because defence contractors' order books are full and deliveries to Ukraine tend to take precedence.
    3
  5446.  @richardmarsden5610  I haven't had the chance, but my gramps did just the opposite.
    3
  5447.  @Tabula_Rasa1  What a childish straw man fallacy. For your info, I have a masters in history. I'm bowing out, this is like playing chess with a pigeon.
    3
  5448.  @Tabula_Rasa1  I have a double masters, pal. Let me guess, yours is an associate's degree in sanitation? Gotta know how to swing that mop.
    3
  5449. So young and so naïve.
    3
  5450. She's crossed over to masochism.
    3
  5451.  @PlaYer-sn5or  Sorry, not playing whataboutism with you. Grow up.
    3
  5452. Hooray.
    3
  5453. Human meddling with natural catchment areas is a problem, but the rise in annual precipitation levels is a bigger one. When downpours are this heavy, the catchment areas slow down the flooding, but they cannot prevent it. In other words, they can save lives, but the economic damage is still there. Climate change is still the biggest culprit here.
    3
  5454.  @springbloom5940  Er, why would I? Are you calling Prigozhin a liar?
    3
  5455. Judging from the indignant Indian comments here and the enthusiastic likes that they gather, India is very much bothered by this.
    3
  5456. Bewaar jij maar de vrede, als Poetin dat juist niet doet.
    3
  5457. Imagine how it will be when the Chinese launch their first spy satellite. Wait a minute... they already did, almost 50 years ago.
    3
  5458. The superstition is strong with you.
    3
  5459. Isn't Ukraine the aggrieved party that has suffered tremendously from Russia's military aggression? The UNGA clearly thinks so. I don't know of any higher-ups to ask.
    3
  5460. It's eerie, isn't it. First, there was the Vietnam War. The Soviet Union had its Vietnam War moment in the Soviet-Afghan War. Then there was the 20-year War in Afghanistan, which ended with the Taliban back in charge. Now Putin's Russia is experiencing a War in Afghanistan moment of its own, this time in Syria. It's like Russia is copying US military misfortunes as a matter of course. Or vice versa.
    3
  5461. Damage? Silly Tiktokkers got excited. They've watched a zillion videos since.
    3
  5462. Who would've thought. The US, despite all its bluster, becoming the weakest link.
    3
  5463. The best medicine for Turkey's economic malaise is Erdogan's departure from politics. Turkey has competent economists (as an age-old trading nation, of course it does), but sadly, Erdogan isn't one of them.
    3
  5464. Because UNIFIL lacks troops to bring Hezbollah to heel. You could always volunteer yourself. UNIFIL is a sum of its parts.
    3
  5465. Hong Kong goes CCP.
    3
  5466. Must be the Spanish/Catalan edition of Wheeler Dealers.
    3
  5467.  @moonnightgodofegypt4998  That much is clear. But English is still taught in the state of Kerala, right? What's your excuse?
    3
  5468. Not true. Ukraine's MiG-29 have been equipped with HARM anti-radiation missiles, which pose a serious headache to the Orcs. It's unclear still if the MiG-29 was selected to launch the JDAM-ER gliding smart bomb, but it stands to reason. By the looks of it, the MiG-29 is an effective stand-off launch platform in Ukrainian hands.
    3
  5469. Don't upvote yourself.
    3
  5470.  @classicFASHIONISTA  Your sense of proportion deserts you there.
    3
  5471. It's not so much the US, but the former Soviet satellite states that expressed a keen interest to join NATO. Heck, even Russia contemplated such a move. I suggest you stop blaming everything on the US and start pondering why Russia's neighbours were so keen to seek NATO membership. Could it be an ingrained distrust with Russia? Be that as it may, it's as if Putin has been very helpful in showing them right.
    3
  5472.  @isupportthecurrentthing.1514  But you've got your head stuck up Putler's backside.
    3
  5473. Russia has no colonial mentality? You must be joking -- or you're very, very ignorant. Russia colonised its backyard, and never properly decolonised. And now it's trying to recolonise Ukraine.
    3
  5474. Trump style.
    3
  5475.  @slapkit51  In 2017, Trump imposed a 300% tariff on Canada's Bomdardier jetliners at Boeing's behest, even if Boeing wasn't truly competing in the same segment. Long story short, Airbus took over Bombardier's production lines and ended up with a hot seller, eroding Boeing's market share further. Trump's love for tariffs didn't do America any favours. Tariffs aren't the answer, competitiveness is.
    3
  5476. Let's see how long the UK survives post-Brexit without breaking up.
    3
  5477. @Xeino Correction, the world is coming to die there, not dying to come there. The US is the promised land of Covid-19.
    3
  5478. Greece's debt crisis was self-inflicted. The EU should've saved the Greeks from themselves sooner, that's all.
    3
  5479.  @aysenuri2419  Your diplomacy is akin to haggling with a bazaar merchant. It's uniquely your style, in other words. You could do so much better.
    3
  5480.  @richardploss4494  What has the USA specifically done for Sweden, and -- speaking of new NATO members -- Sweden's eastern neighbour, Finland? It's your ignorance that I have problem with, or to be precise, with your ignoramuses who bombastically flaunt their ignorance.
    3
  5481.  @alexsilent5603  Navalny clearly showed with his courageous return after the FSB assassination attempt that Russia is where he wants to be.
    3
  5482. And what about whataboutism?
    3
  5483. I'll give it a go. "The king reigns, but does not rule." Sink your teeth into deciphering that one.
    3
  5484. Winds tend to shift. Don't you worry, Russians will get an opportunity to glow in the dark.
    3
  5485.  @BOPOH_Sml  There comes the Russki denial. Why no fanciful excuses, like a CIA-operated Star Wars tractor beam interfering with the flight path of the missile? You're clearly losing your touch.
    3
  5486.  @ihikebc2295  So, you're saying that Russia couldn't have done it because it would be stupid, and in your expert assessment, Russia would never-ever do anything stupid. Sorry, I need a moment to roll over the floor and laugh. Russia does stupid things by design -- the whole invasion of Ukraine is a perfect example -- or by mistake. I can't say which of the two applies here, but what's certain is that Russia never owns up to its actions when they go awry.
    3
  5487. That's an ugly face then.
    3
  5488. Unification? Like in German unification? My, what will they call the country, Chindia or Indo-China (I suppose the latter name is available again)?
    3
  5489.  @hellooutthere8956  The Whataboutism is strong with you.
    3
  5490. OK, Krembot.
    3
  5491. Een groene toekomst? Dat was sowieso gepland.
    3
  5492. You'll have to pin your hopes on Trump. Good luck with that.
    3
  5493. You should've gone with your first instinct, not saying anything without knowing about it. Finland hasn't seen volcanic activity for 2 billion years. In fact, the biggest threat to the repository is the next ice age, but it's designed to withstand even that.
    3
  5494. Are you a millennial?
    3
  5495.  @frenkieschinkels6597  So, what's the explanation for your naivety then? Do you realise that this isn't the first time the Taliban rules the roost in Afghanistan? That first time reads like a horror story.
    3
  5496.  @not_a_human_being  What a hoot you are. Ukraine should be demilitarized so Russia's inept military stands a chance of capturing Kyiv the second time around? Let's have referendums inside the Russian Federation to see if any of the republics fancies independence. Not that it matters, since I believe Russia will break apart as a result of this war, just like the Soviet Union did after the Soviet-Afghan War.
    3
  5497.  @ЯБезымянный-о5ф  What would constitute the rape in question? At worst, the Norwegians can be accussed of launching Viking raids a thousand or so years ago.
    3
  5498. The boy needs to find his dad a retirement home in Boca Raton. Bibi will go to jail if he stays.
    3
  5499. First it was nuclear strikes, but then Master Xi said tut-tut, so now the Kremlin Gremlin has pinned all his hopes on the *Oreshnik. Needless to say, the desperation is palpable.
    3
  5500. Replace "Ukraine" with "Pakistan" and "Russia" with "India" and what do you get? An occupied Pakistan. And you think it's all fine and dandy.
    3
  5501.  @Alejandro-te2nt  Then how would you describe your deep admiration for a cad like Kadyrov (sorry, I couldn't resist).
    3
  5502. You may want to pipe down so as not to appear a braggard. Munich, Germany, got 50 cm of snow on Dec 2, 2023. The snowcover in Lapland, including Swedish Lapland, peaks at around 50 to 75 cm during the entire winter.
    3
  5503. The meteoric rise of conspiracy theories is more mysterious still.
    3
  5504. What of it? They're on Putin's leash.
    3
  5505. Sure, totalitarianism "unites".
    3
  5506.  @soitis9028  Those meds are not optional. Take them.
    3
  5507. Only a handful of EU members were colonial powers. And we revoked the club membership of the biggest one, Britain. You'll also find many countries in Europe that were colonialised themselves at one time or another, sometimes brutally so. Wallowing in self-pity is just so 20th century. Make something out of yourself, Africa.
    3
  5508.  @ГеннадийШуплецов-р8п  The tsars, who busily kept adding territory to Imperial Russia, would've disagreed with you about Russia never having colonies. They even openly boasted about heir new acquisitions to the other colonial powers. The only difference with the latter is that Russian colonisation was overland, not overseas. And, perhaps most importantly, that Russia still hasn't properly decolonised.
    3
  5509. But it appears you don't have a clue?
    3
  5510.  @Ese_osa  Don't you worry your pretty little head. I'm coping just fine. You Krembots have it much, much worse. Your hero has no way out of this, and you know it, too.
    3
  5511.  @enghamseahmed3841  You're overexcited. When Afghan tribesmen massacred Elphinstone's army in 1842, what happened? It became a footnote in history.
    3
  5512. It's uncanny that my late dad served with Irish peacekeepers in Cyprus, and myself with the Irish in Lebanon. By a stroke of coincidence, an Irishman that I befriended had his dad serve in Cyprus, too. Brothers in arms in two generations.
    3
  5513.  @lifegamerpro4033  How exactly did we help killing Azeris, in the West? I can call myself a historian, so be precise.
    3
  5514. IKEA colours, too. Russians pine for them.
    3
  5515. That would only go so far. The worst flu pandemic ever wasn't Chinese in origin. Maybe a hungry US soldier nibbled on roadkill?
    3
  5516. The sooner the GOP drops Trump, the sooner the healing can begin.
    3
  5517.  @robertmusil5831  Aw, another one who doesn't know how reporting works.
    3
  5518.  @daddyandy9591  I fear you'll have to move when Crimea is returned to its rightful owner. Ukraine doesn't take kindly to traitors.
    3
  5519. Those who endured German cruelty are long dead, and so are several generations that came after them. Perhaps try to focus on the here and now?
    3
  5520. Let France take Vietnam back then, too. Fair is fair.
    3
  5521. This was no direct bearing on Ukraine winning or losing. Morale among the civilian populace isn't crumbling. On the contrary, it's making the Ukrainians -- civilians and soldiers alike -- more determined to beat back the aggressor. Russia is scoring an own goal here.
    3
  5522. Hello there, wumao.
    3
  5523. Good on her, but too bad there's a royal succession. I would like the sound of 'Republic of Denmark'.
    3
  5524. ​ @jamesgreen1116  There are B61 aerial bombs in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. I suppose there's a tactical nuclear weapon gap of sorts, as Russia's hypersonic Iskander missiles can reach their targets sooner than NATO's aircraft-delivered B61s. Russia's toys are also closer to NATO's borders than vice versa. It's clear that Russia is upping the ante, not NATO.
    3
  5525. What are you on about? Macron is and remains president till 2027.
    3
  5526.  @DMAK99-h4f  You two get a room. You can exchange conspiracy theories instead of smoking a cigarette afterwards.
    3
  5527. I suppose it depends on Trump's upcoming electoral success. For your info, Zelenskyy is a comedian. He pokes fun at people like Putin, making them appear clownesque. Zelenskyy sure has done quite a number on Putin.
    3
  5528. There's just the one. This 'special military operation' begs the question if Russia is even a regional power.
    3
  5529.  @emirefe5452  Turkey would very much like to buy new F-16s and upgrade its existing ones. Domestic production is no short-term solution, and it remains doubtful if it will satisfy Turkey's long-term needs either. Turkey has had its fair share of problems with indigenous weapons systems. Some successes, too, but glaring gaps remain.
    3
  5530. What has free speech got to do with the misuse of public funds? She can speak freely all right, while in prison or at home, knitting baby socks for her grandchildren.
    3
  5531. Comedy hour lasts 4 years in Trumpland.
    3
  5532. It's not up to NATO to see to it that international law is being followed. That would be the UN itself.
    3
  5533. Now a word about the Iranian taxpayers. Don't be shy.
    3
  5534.  @zionti5634  True dat. The Brits and the French went about divvying up the region with a map and a ruler, with scant regard for ethnicities and their homelands.
    3
  5535. ...because he can't decide. Only poor options are on offer.
    3
  5536. He should go topless, too, if only to please a certain sexual minority that now reveres him as an icon.
    3
  5537. Fact is, the UK enthusiastically invested in this particular toy. The British space industry successfully competed for a lot of lucrative Galileo contracts. No one else seems to be as sorry as you Brits.
    3
  5538. She won her vote with a comfortable majority. I think you're just airing a lightweight opinion.
    3
  5539. Don't let Russia drag you down further into poverty. You know Russia's a sinking ship, right?
    3
  5540. You always get it backwards: Putin is the clown, Zelenskyy is the comedian. People laugh at clowns, not at comedians.
    3
  5541. You'd better start growing and pickling your own veggies, like in the good old times.
    3
  5542. Your great-gramps should've simply registered his guns. My granddad had a regular arsenal, all weapons of war: a C96, three Mosin-Nagants and an SVT-40. Also, my colleague just got a collector's license for a Luger that he inherited from his late father. His vast firearms collection numbers one item now.
    3
  5543.  @eschur  You don't seem to understand that there are different sides to the UN. There's the security council, the general assembly, the secretary-general and the various agencies, all of which can present different viewpoints. It must be superconfusing when you're only capable of binary thinking.
    3
  5544.  @stop_lying_again  You're raising conspiracy theories to a new level.
    3
  5545. ​ @maybe9617  Which promise is Finland breaking? Please be specific.
    3
  5546. Preppers' paradise is upon us.
    3
  5547.  @OFM-u1r  No, why would I cry over you arguing against yourself? It's funny, actually.
    3
  5548. India is one of the biggest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions. What am I missing?
    3
  5549. The UN can insist all it wants, but Russia will veto an peace initiative till Putin has exhausted all possibilities of saving face in this conflict -- or until he's unceremoniously removed from power. I guess it's not in his nature to step down, nor would it be a prudent move, since the knives will come out once he relinquishes power.
    3
  5550. When Ukraine and the EU sought closer ties with one another, how was that "interfering in the affairs of other nations", pray tell? It was Russia, like a spurned suitor, that interfered.
    3
  5551. Never speak ill of the dead. Berlusconi really puts that saying to the test.
    3
  5552.  @tripleceven  The UN's "existence/presence is proof of its failure to keep [the] peace [cute emoticon]?" Now that's illogical. I'd say that you're a good candidate for a UN-sponsored English course. Your spelling leaves much to be desired.
    3
  5553. News channels are no longer allowed to report the news? Or is it just when India is portrayed in an unflattering manner?
    3
  5554.  @rippspeck  Amazingly, Russia is still a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace programme. PfP has been characterised as a track to full NATO membership. That's certainly true for all former PfP members.
    3
  5555.  @Imprudentman  Wikipedia has a pretty good article on the Winter War. Try reading it -- if you still have access. Where did I claim Finland defeated the USSR? Historical revisionism is Russia's favourite pastime, not ours. As a matter of fact, Stalin very much wanted the whole of Finland. Just like Putin with regard to Kyiv, Stalin sent a brass band for a victory parade in Helsinki, but the column in question got mercilessly destroyed. Even after the Winter War, Stalin pleaded with his then-ally, Hitler, for a second chance, but Hitler was not agreeable. The interesting bit is that Hitler had lost all respect for the Red Army's fighting prowess on account of the Winter War, and thought it opportune to put the USSR out of its misery. Having grown up abroad, I'm more a soccer fan, but Finland beating Russia -- or should I say the Olympic Athletes from Russia -- in hockey is always a tasty treat. While it's an achievement in itself, the combination of Russia's sense of entitlement and the severe disappointment makes it tastier still.
    3
  5556. ​ @dayegilharno4988  Wishful thinking. Now, the Russians are even less likely to believe that the annexation of the four oblasts was legit -- or worth dying for. Furthermore, Putin made himself look weaker still, because he wasn't able to defend Russian territory against a much smaller adversary. As a matter of fact, I think we can safely conclude that Putin wasn't thinking, not ahead and not backwards either.
    3
  5557. ​ @dayegilharno4988  How exactly did Putin play "the rest of the world"? If anyone, he's played the Russian people. Putin failed to deliver on his promise to raise to standard of living to equal that of Portugal, the poorest EU member at the time. Portugal's GDP per capita remains twice that of Russia. Instead, he squandered Russia's wealth on oligarchs, vanity projects and a military apparatus that dropped from second place in the world to second best in Ukraine. But perhaps worst of all, he's robbed Russia of its future. Russia's poorly diversified, overly hydrocarbon-centric economy isn't going to recover from this.
    3
  5558.  @maxdout564  Trump is in awe of "strong" foreign leaders. Kim Jong Un is a case in point.
    3
  5559.  @mensen4488  When the initial euphoria dies down, the surprise and euphoria will make place for disappointment in Wilders. Had his party not done quite as well, the PVV would've secured a place in government as a junior coalition partner. Since the roles are reversed, the chances of finding suitable coalition partners -- junior partners -- are slimmer. Wilders is a victim of his own success.
    3
  5560.  @Nickle314  The bondholders know Russia is good for it, but it's the domino effect that should really worry creditors and Russia alike. When Russian corporates start defaulting on their foreign debt, there are going to be asset seizures as per usual. No wonder Putin has to keep his oligarchs under house arrest.
    3
  5561.  @embar9585  It's the Copenhagen criteria that keep Turkey out of the EU. Erdogan eschews democratic governance and human rights, and while he wouldn't say no to a functional market economy, it's not happening under his "expert" tutelage.
    3
  5562. You whine about colonialism while it's all about a military coup...
    3
  5563. Nuke fetish, Richard?
    3
  5564.  @ernestkhalimov1007  ...and now they're being whipped by their betters.
    3
  5565. That comes next.
    3
  5566.  @jesusaguilar4585  Pashinyan has cause to blame Russia. According to the CSTO's Article 4 (similar to NATO's Article 5) Russia should've sped to Armenia's aid -- but we all know Russia is otherwise engaged. It doesn't help that Russia maintains a 2,000-strong "peacekeeping force" in Nagorno-Karabakh that is best at sitting on its hands.
    3
  5567.  @ziljanvega3879  Russia has to pretend that it's fighting the USA, because getting butt-whipped by Ukraine is too embarrassing.
    3
  5568.  @callisto3605  Wow, you really are new to this democracy thing! Let's put things into perspective. How many people get to vote for Theresa May's seat? Maidenheaders only, of whom there are 74,951 of voting age. In contrast, 4,838,566 Flemish are eligible to vote for Verhofstadt. Don't you feel stupid now? Oh, you can spare me your incoherent rants. Facts only, please.
    3
  5569. Belarus, too, is getting its just deserts. Lukashenko has some explaining to do.
    3
  5570.  @maickstream  You can report racists comments, you know. A few clicks and it's done.
    3
  5571. Instead of merely flapping your gums, you could set them right. Troll much?
    3
  5572.  @us7wqtrnek7uu  Hah, a whataboutist chimes in. Don't you ever get tired of yourselves?
    3
  5573. Isn't there a Telegram or VK channel for you to post relevant comments, Mr. Bot?
    3
  5574.  @binbi8177  The Xinjiang Papers, as they've became to be called, are pretty graphic. You need to look up the word 'predatory', because it appears to be missing from your vocabulary. Also, you need to find yourself an American playmate to play your favourite childrens' game, Whataboutism.
    3
  5575.  @bag3lmonst3r72  Oh, Lavrov is aware how his speech was received.
    3
  5576. Because they didn't. Navalny returned on his own accord. The man's got balls of steel.
    3
  5577. Airlines of the EU countries, the US, Canada and the UK haven't ventured into Russian airspace for close to three years.
    3
  5578. @AFDAL MAGHREB It can be argued that what the masses mean by the internet was invented in Switzerland. The iPhone doesn't even come close to being the first smartphone. That honour goes to Finland.
    3
  5579.  @peterdul3876  Strange. In the not so recent past, your hero, Vladimir Putin, publicly stated that Finland, as a sovereign nation, is free to choose its path with regard to NATO. If there was such a neutrality clause, surely Putin would've refrained from making such a statement.
    3
  5580. You can count on that. I'm sure they'll hang turn-coat Kadyrov from the highest tree in Grozny.
    3
  5581.  @agfitts  Interesting. 20 US states still impose the death penalty.
    3
  5582. What does the EU have to do with the price of tea in China? This is a domestic affair of Romania.
    3
  5583.  @Western_Decline  Oh, we don't have a recession. And what about my skin colour? Racist much?
    3
  5584.  @tonyatgoogle6076  When NATO entered Afghanistan -- with an unanimous mandate from the UNSC -- the Taliban were already safely ensconced in Pakistan. The Iraq War most certainly wasn't a NATO op. Don't you remember Rumsfeld raging at "Old Europe"? Or were you busy having your nappy changed? You trolls always get it wrong.
    3
  5585.  @keevee09  Break it up then. Small countries work better.
    3
  5586.  @chomasensi  You must think it's an either/or situation. Either a monarchy or a military dictatorship.
    3
  5587.  @zorgonfire  The Covid passport will sort them out.
    3
  5588. Only if Blighty starts subsidizing Gibraltar even more than now.
    3
  5589. Gibraltar would be hard-pressed to survive without the military bases and the lax regulation that paved the way for the online gaming industry. I see a parallel with the Yanks giving native Americans the right to open casinos on their reservations. Even the most casual of observers immediately notices that Gibraltar isn't British and the Gibraltarians aren't Brits.
    3
  5590. Fek The First, you're the one who's boyishly naive if you think the British Empire was about spreading democracy and the rule of law. In a few cases these happened to be pleasant byproducts, but just as often British colonies were brutally exploited and saddled with problems that affect them to this very day. Curiously, you also seem to think those colonised hadn't languages of their own. Gibraltar does employ Spaniards, and yes, they'll be affected, but I'm sure Spanish national pride outweighs such concerns. It must be your naivety acting up again, but by Gibraltar failing to provide its workforce housing I obviously meant that Gibraltar hasn't got the space to house all of its workers. For them to rent or buy, savvy?
    3
  5591. Fek The First, I see you're foolishly assuming I'm Spanish. To borrow one of your idioms, reading comprehension isn't your cup of tea, is it? It speaks volumes that a "supercarrier" (the Yanks must be so amused) gives you a hard-on, especially one which lacks strike aircraft and the ones it will eventually get are overpriced duds. If you were really keen on facts, you'd know the Gibraltarians aren't thrilled about Brexit.
    3
  5592. 0:26 So Russia would not negotiate with itself.
    3
  5593. Hamas? You must mean the Hezbollah, which was active in Syria, till it met with misfortune at home. Also, Russia has pressing business elsewhere.
    3
  5594. Don't cry your eyes out. China's SIGINT planes fly close to Guam with the very same purpose in mind.
    3
  5595.  @xinyiquan666  Your reading comprehension is poor. I clearly wrote "close to Guam". Late last year, China sailed a whole aircraft carrier group near Guam.
    3
  5596.  @nagalon7255  Sad indeed, but they're not losing their lives, as the Ukrainians do. The Russians can also look in the mirror when they need someone to blame for their misfortune.
    3
  5597.  @JamesSmith-ij8nj  You take a walk.
    3
  5598. Did you misspel Acidic? Heartburn can be treated.
    3
  5599. I expect Bolsonaro's backers to get their money's worth. And they are.
    3
  5600. @Skyyy Putin must have a very poor grasp of geography. Russia has NATO borders with the Baltic countries, Poland and Norway -- and very soon, Finland - but not Ukraine. Besides, NATO expands by popular consent. And sovereign countries can strike alliances with whomever they want. Until recently, Russia said so repeatedly.
    3
  5601. It's because the ammo is stored in the turret and there's a human loader instead of an autoloader. That said, the Leclerc does have an autoloader.
    3
  5602. Russia had to move back and/or disperse its ammo depots when longer range missiles became available to Ukraine. As their range grows further, logistics become even more challenging for Russia. Logistics wins wars.
    3
  5603. Don't they already? You appear particularly ill-informed.
    3
  5604. Didn't it occur to you that Russia has a permanent seat on the UNSC, which means they'll veto any resolution faster than you can say Jack Robinson?
    3
  5605. Let me guess, Greta hurt your feelings.
    3
  5606.  @jhorvath700  Poor comeback. Just so you know.
    3
  5607. Which part of "terrorist" don't you understand? Hamas doesn't care about lives lost on either side, their own included.
    3
  5608.  @node33  The winter of 1939-40 was especially harsh. My grandfather fought in the Battle of Tolvajärvi, obviously on the victorious Finnish side. It's widely known that the Finnish defenders made full use of the wintery conditions by blocking and isolating the Soviet invaders, who then largely succumbed to frostbite. The Battle of Raate Road is a prime example. When Khrushchev denounced Stalin, he called the Winter War a "moral defeat" for the Soviet Union. Yeltsin called it a "war of aggression" on the USSR's part. You must have missed the OP's comment, which lauded winter as Russia's most decorated general. I made the comment that his General Winter did very poorly indeed in the Winter War. Have you always struggled with reading comprehension?
    3
  5609. For all their faults, the Yanks observe human rights and have rule of law. China fails miserably on both accounts.
    3
  5610. Short-range triple-A has never gone anywhere. It's becoming more prevalent, sure.
    3
  5611. Gross overuse of the term has rendered it impotent.
    3
  5612. Taking English lessons would allow you to make yourself understood. Just an idea.
    3
  5613.  @timonsolus  OK, if the UK is no longer interested in solving the Palestinian question, let's pull the UK's permanent seat in the UNSC out from under it. It's time anyhow.
    3
  5614.  @YY-ms1dz  Hospitals all over Europe are being set aside to deal with coronavirus patients exclusively. Besides, building whole new hospitals in such a short period of time effectively means putting up tents, which aren't ideal to treat pneumonia victims in the best of times.
    3
  5615.  @DarthVaderoftheShire  How does that relate to Russia routinely using its soldiers as cannon fodder? Do you think they'll make an exception for the Norks?
    3
  5616. Turkey's worries were imaginary. It's all about Erdogan not getting his F-16s.
    3
  5617. Or witnessing history being rewritten. The CCP is happy.
    3
  5618.  @XMysticHerox  I already alluded to RAM having replaced the Goalkeeper. And it's not so much about how you put projectiles in the air, but where and when. The Otomelaras and Mausers don't have the sensors and targeting systems that dedicated CIWS have, at least not in the German Navy. In Ukraine, the Gepard SPAAG has proven the most cost-effective drone killer. The Goalkeeper is its closest naval counterpart. We were discussing how to counter drones, where CIWS are perfectly adequate. Countering missiles is obviously more challenging because of speed alone.
    3
  5619. Why don't you show us how it's done? Start negotiating with Pakistan and China. I'm sure you can arrive at some land-for-peace deal concerning the disputed territories that India holds.
    3
  5620.  @joerosen5464  You must be a monoglot if you fear languages so much. But thanks for chiming in to reinforce my message about the need for further consolidation. I guess.
    3
  5621.  @barryc733  We're dealing with a commando raid here (you'd better look up "raid"). Commando raids used to drive one Herr Gitler up the wall, so much so that he ordered all captured commandos to be executed in contravention of the Geneva Conventions. Expect the same behaviour from Gospodin Putler.
    3
  5622.  @760HorsePower  The S-400 has struggled to intercept even HIMARS rockets, whereas its supposedly inferior US counterpart, the Patriot, has demonstrably knocked down Russia's much-vaunted hypersonic Kinzhals. Missiles and drones are the future, and the S-400 struggles with both.
    3
  5623. Yeah, it's like suggesting that the tobacco industry will ban smoking.
    3
  5624. I don't think Sweden is sufficiently infantile for tit-for-tat games.
    3
  5625. Shall we talk about Russia's brotherly involvement in divvying up Poland together with the Nazis?
    3
  5626. Good speech, wrong place.
    3
  5627. The Conservatives need to deliver Brexit or the party is history. It will ruin the next PM's career, but hey, Boris wants it. A perfect patsy, in other words.
    3
  5628. Nord Stream was an utile futile before it went ka-boom. May it rust in peace.
    3
  5629. What's clear is that Trump voters underestimated his stupidity.
    3
  5630. ​ @skp8748  You'll have to elaborate on what you're on about. I know about Turkey not getting permission to hack the Patriot, the coup attempt, and shooting down a Russian jet, but it's not clear to me how they relate to NATO and the EU. If Turkey doesn't like the face of NATO, it should leave. Likewise, if Turkey doesn't like the looks of the EU, it should stop pursuing EU membership (read: try to worm its way in using unsavoury methods).
    3
  5631.  @soreeyez  You can give up defending Turkey. Your beloved Russia thinks Turkey has turned into an 'unfriendly country'. As a Krembot you should keep on top of these things.
    3
  5632. It'll have to wait. The Kerch Bridge is next.
    3
  5633. The wheels have come off this tandem.
    3
  5634. Had Nederland in de meidagen van 1940 ook genoeg gedaan?
    3
  5635. Priggie has become a waste of space... and time. Our time.
    3
  5636.  @Dan-yf2df  There were also lots of resistance fighters. Eisenhower heaped praise on them, calling them invaluable.
    3
  5637. Russia lacks the economic basis for taking on a developed economy in any kind of prolonged warfare, especially since the latter will band together. The question is not if Russia can subdue its neighbours militarily, but if the West can subdue Russia economically, while putting up a credible military defence. The answer is "easily."
    3
  5638.  @Gerrard_Pike2008  Go away, troll. You've tried to peddle that story many times over. I'm not going to correct what you know to be wrong.
    3
  5639. There's a Pulitzer Prize coming your way. Or not.
    3
  5640.  @crdudley  Don't upvote your own comments. It's sordid.
    3
  5641. Worked wonders for Trump.
    3
  5642.  @FrankiePo89  I'm not being obsess [sic] with China. I'm merely stating that the US needs to be competitive where it can, without resorting to protectionist measures. Protectionism against China just opens the door for foreign competitors, who enjoy a competitive edge over the US. Then there are the retaliatory measures adopted by China, which are designed to hurt the US economy in equal measure. Trade wars have no winners.
    3
  5643. @MSD Group Don't you worry your pretty little head. The Abrams does just fine in the cold. Better even, engine-wise, than anything but the T-80, owing to the gas turbine on both types.
    3
  5644. Sanctions are never completely watertight. If something trickles past, it's no biggie. Their impact, however, is biggie.
    3
  5645. Why theorise about EU involvement? Assange has the option of brining his case to European Court of Human Rights. It comes under the Council of Europe, of which the UK remains a member to this day. In other words, there's no unclarity about jurisdiction.
    3
  5646. Je bewijst het weer. Complotwappies staan altijd paraat.
    3
  5647. Were you born yesterday? Navies exercise, each and every year. Russia does, too.
    3
  5648. I wouldn't call the beginning of Cold War 2 an anti-climax.
    3
  5649. We're actually training up American troops for winter warfare in Scandinavia.
    3
  5650. And who's been dragging their feet leaving? It's been one extension after another.
    3
  5651. Are you suggesting that India's internal matters can't stand the light of day?
    3
  5652. The Biggest Loser, to be exact.
    3
  5653. You like to generalise.
    3
  5654. Dacht je dat er iets uit te voeren valt zonder ambtenaren? Politiemensen zijn ambtenaren.
    3
  5655.  @springbloom5940  Try to get it through your thick skull that it's Hezbollah, not Lebanon, that's fighting here. Especially in Northen Lebanon, people wouldn't shed a single tear if Hezbollah disappeared overnight.
    3
  5656. Your idol, Putin, was so concerned about NATO that he sacrificed a long career in politics in an abortive effort stop NATO. In the end, Putin ended up making NATO stronger instead. Great use of emoticons, by the way. Not childish at all.
    3
  5657.  @AK-ej5ml  Which country did Ukraine attack?
    3
  5658. Should? Retaliatory tariffs are a given. The EU for instance has consistently responded to previous US tariffs by imposing its own on the US in equal measure. It's like Murica is banging its head against a wall. It hurts back.
    3
  5659.  @carloschalepondia1496  I happen to think Russia must compromise and give up its imperialist ambitions once and for all. The world agrees with me.
    3
  5660. We're doing both. The right to self-defence is even mentioned in the UN Charter.
    3
  5661. The Israelis aren't so keen on your Jesus. Just to be sure, they're going to ask the Messiah if it's his first visit to Israel.
    3
  5662.  @ksb921  I suppose India should've declared itself neutral in order to stave off colonisation by Britain. I'm sure it would've worked wonders.
    3
  5663.  @ksb921  Whatever, but India sure was colonised by Britain. So, it was because of your neutrality that you ended up subjugated? And you still think it's a viable strategy in this day and age with a treacherous neighbour like Russia?
    3
  5664.  @mcmc6621  Interestingly, The Economist's Democracy Index puts Switzerland only in 8th place. I don't think all that much of our democratic credentials, but we seem ahead.
    3
  5665. Developing countries have a lot of untapped potential, developed countries not so much anymore. It's only natural that growth will plateau. Besides, China has been banking on continued brisk growth. A sudden slowdown will inevitable bankrupt ambitious companies that have overextended themselves. In their wake, even healthier companies will fail. Evergrande's panicky suppliers are a case in point.
    3
  5666. The Russian Orthodox Church absolves war criminals or their war crimes. How depraved can you get?
    3
  5667. Weapons caching occurred after the Continuation War, not "during civil war [sic]". Even on the best of days, the C96 makes a poor poacher's weapon, stock or no stock. You'll never get close enough to wild game, especially in Lapland, where the shooting distances are longer because of the sparse forestation. And "hunting" reindeer, a domesticated animal in Lapland, would've been a dangerous undertaking. Their angry Lapp owners would've hunted the poacher down and turned him into carrion.
    3
  5668. Estonia had excellent foresight, ever since the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. It sent Estonia's alarm bells ringing, while Western Europe pooh-poohed the war and even sought to curry favour with Putin. That backfired spectacularly, with Putin thinking he could get away with murder. If any country has a clean conscience, it's Estonia.
    3
  5669. Don't you get excited. Together, Mastercard and Visa have 75% global market share, while UnionPay only has 20%.
    3
  5670. It would put a stop to international air travel, shipping, global trade, etc.
    3
  5671.  @fisherflush  Ain't that the truth. If Russia were to clean up its act, there would be no need for NATO.
    3
  5672. Where's the benefit in ordinary Russians dying from treatable conditions? If anything, high-tech exports should be cut off entirely. What's getting through props up the arms industry, allowing Russia to continue its military aggression.
    3
  5673.  @GoodMan_000  So you think Russian MPs are comedians and have no official role? I have no problem with that assessment. The Russian State Duma is, after all, often described as a rubber stamp.
    3
  5674.  @GoodMan_000  For the record, I wrote that there are Russian MPs that want Finland back. You asked for a source and I provided two. Then you became all incoherent and combative. Puzzled by your weird behaviour, I asked you if you were inebriated. It looks like I hit the bull's eye.
    3
  5675.  @psilocybinsoughtme6164  There's no favourable outcome in sight for Russia. We'll see an ignominious retreat, just like in the Soviet-Afghan war. The question is, will Russia survive? The Soviet Union didn't.
    3
  5676. We Are the Champions - Queen
    3
  5677. *thrive?
    3
  5678.  @squirejohnson5878  No, it's reality. When investors see an opportunity to make a buck, they swoop in. Maybe even Native Americans, who want to invest their casino money. It's the most normal thing in the world. You're not a very skilled debater, are you?
    3
  5679.  @nikoa97  Tell us, what exactly happened war-wise in Finland in 1945? There was what you could optimistically call a Sitzkrieg, but that one fizzled out uneventfully in April, 1945. The Finnish soldiers had to be told that the war they were fighting was over, or it would've gone by unnoticed. I think you've revealed yourself as a Putin bot. A true Finn would know these things.
    3
  5680.  @Vicious_Species  The inoculation against Fascism that Germany received in WW2 holds well. I'm much more concerned about the hyperopic types who can't see it take root under their noses. <Cough>Jan 6<cough>.
    3
  5681.  @jamesgreen1116  You're conveniently ignoring that Russia was a faithful backer of ISAF. China, too.
    3
  5682. Alliance? Berlin, together with the whole of the EU, has imposed economic sanctions on Moscow. You live in an alternate reality.
    3
  5683. In all likelihood Sweden and Finland will remain nuclear weapons-free, like Norway has despite being a founding member of NATO. If you're looking for a cause célèbre, try focusing on Russia's nukes in Kaliningrad, and how that upsets the balance with all the non-nuke NATO countries around it.
    3
  5684.  @LeifurHakonarson  If a material self-ignites under certain conditions, you'd think there's chemistry involved, right? Because that's what DU does. When a DU shell penetrates the crew compartment of a tank, it's briefly turned into a furnace by burning dust. Tungsten relies solely on pressure and spalling.
    3
  5685.  @chill29394  Nomen est omen. It's what it says, an international forum -- not a world government. When you have yourself a bash, are only elected guests welcome?
    3
  5686.  @tom4115  Why are you spouting well-worn American clichés then? The French have a long and well-documented military history, with its ups and downs. Yours is much, much shorter, but sure enough, you've managed to fit in some downs as well. The French led the allies to victory in WW1. Why would the others willingly gather behind a bunch of white flag-wavers? If anything, the French commanders were too aggressive and their poilus too brave, since France bled itself white in WW1. France, like Belgium, had the misfortune of serving as one of the battlefields of Europe. Don't delude yourself that Australia only fought in WW1 to save France. Maybe the French should've sent a machine gun team to fight in the Emu War. It's a pity they didn't, because otherwise, you might have won.
    3
  5687.  @nadimabdelaal6494  Unoccupied East Ukraine shows no signs of falling. Ukraine is fighting off everything that Russia throws at it. Russia has lost a whole brigadeful of men and materiel in Avdiivka alone recently.
    3
  5688. The Nordic countries power data centres purely with carbon-free electricity, which for a good part comes from windmills. The cool climate keeps the servers relatively cool, too. Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Apple see the beauty of it, but you must be the cleverest of the lot.
    3
  5689. China must be very displeased with this, especially after claiming that their involvement in the first incident was merely accidental. I mean, Russia has nothing to lose, but China still has some self-respect left.
    3
  5690.  @Ciupanezu1923  I'm amused. Are you actually suggesting that savings from the UK's contributions to the EU budget compensate for the recent trade-related losses? Not too long ago, it was reported that the UK suffered the biggest drop in economic output among the G7. Then there was the disastrous 42% slump in UK exports to the EU. Over to you.
    3
  5691. Cry? The bazar merchant that masquerades as a president is mighty pleased with his coveted F-16s.
    3
  5692.  @lestbestvergezicht7780  Gefeliciteerd. Je bent getrakteerd op moderne 'Potemkin-dorpen'. Je moet eens in Russisch Karelië gaan rondneuzen. Ik heb van mijn oma, die er geboren is, een liefdadigheidsinstelling 'geërfd' dat als doel heeft om de Kareliërs -- etnisch of Russisch -- vooruit te helpen. Ze leven er in bittere armoede, niet ver weg van de rijken in Sint-Petersburg en over grens in Finland. Het helpen gaat alsmaar moeilijker door de bemoeienissen van Moskou. De jongeren wiens studies wij in het buitenland bekostigen vertikken het om terug te keren. Sterker nog, ze halen hun familieleden ook weg uit Rusland.
    3
  5693. And what's the medicine? Platitudes and populism?
    3
  5694. So, North Korea is going to fight off Russia's imperialism in Ukraine. Got it.
    3
  5695.  @JP-xd6fm  Look up the meaning of "si vis pacem, para bellum".
    3
  5696. Some of the warmest countries in Europe struggle the most with keeping themselves warm in winter, while the likes of Finland and Estonia, with their cold climate, manage the best. Oh, the irony.
    3
  5697.  @mistressfreezepeach  Kissinger was a self-fulfilling prophecy in this respect.
    3
  5698.  @DennisTheChicagoMenace  Thanks for confirming my point.
    3
  5699. Yours is the opinion of a very small minority, especially in Finland.
    3
  5700. Dutch is the majority language in Belgium.
    3
  5701.  @robertseaborne5758  You're not setting the bar very high if you compare China to the USA. The US is notorious for having an unusually low life expectancy for a developed country. The lack of universal healthcare is obviously a big factor, as especially the poor tend to die prematurely. Also, politically, the US deservedly ranks as a flawed democracy owing to the de facto duopoly, the extreme polarisation and the widespread distrust in democratic institutions. Why don't you compare China to the best-in-class instead?
    3
  5702. The ATACMS is not easily shot down. It's quasi-ballistic, meaning even a S-400 will struggle to shoot it down. We've seen evidence of that already.
    3
  5703. It's almost as if it's scripted. Wait, it is.
    3
  5704.  @cryptocrypto8736  Grijp eens naar de Dikke Van Dale.
    3
  5705.  @isseabdirahmanweheliye9010  Don't you worry about Iran's seeming ineptitude. Iran's air defence doctrine just differs from Israel's in that Iran's interceptors double as military buildings.
    3
  5706.  @kineticstar  How nice of you to educate the Finns about the Russians. Do you have advice for the Inuit about snow?
    3
  5707.  @justinwolf7490  Murica's social woes are not "the price of freedom". The world's top democracies aren't similarly affected. Explain that.
    3
  5708.  @RogerMellie-yk3gw  Tomato-tomato. The presidency in Israel is mostly ceremonial, like in parliamentary republics in general.
    3
  5709. One British cigar-smoking and brandy-swilling politician was like that, too, in 1940. The present equivalent of the Austrian artist is in the Kremlin, by the way.
    3
  5710.  @joshuapaul2022  I'm sure you have an endless supply of unconnected Kremlin propaganda. However, I didn't invite you to start regurgitating it.
    3
  5711. History won't be kind to him.
    3
  5712. Poor little rich girl.
    3
  5713.  @whi1e  You've got it all backwards. No point in going around in circles. Just answer this: Why did Fosun enter into an exclusive agreement with BioNTech regarding distribution in Taiwan, a market that they knew is off-bounds to them? It's like YouTube procuring content distribution rights for China, a market they're barred from. Explain that and we can continue the discussion.
    3
  5714.  @maryfinelli9390  But our domesticated animals became just that because they sought our protection. Factory-farmed animals are another matter altogether, but that's where we consumers have a choice.
    3
  5715.  @maryfinelli9390  We'd go against our nature. Why are vegans offered fake meat products? It's a tacit admission that you feel you're missing out.
    3
  5716.  @kappa882  You got it backwards. Americans, with no apparent reason and perhaps without realising it themselves, get defensive in the presence of Europeans. So it's not because of our supposed arrogance. Well, the French may be a bit guilty of the latter, but it's not specifically aimed at the Americans.
    3
  5717. Iceland doesn't even bother with a token army.
    3
  5718. You need to read up on the Copenhagen criteria. A military pact isn't part of them, but as long as the EU has non-NATO members, it's practically impossible to demand NATO membership. And if not NATO, which military alliance?
    3
  5719.  @kimmorepo6870  Oh, Finns living in Russia should protest against the border checkpoint closures. They're equally inconvenienced. In fact, everyone inconvenienced by the closures should protest in Russia. Russia is the cause.
    3
  5720.  @gfan83  Duh, you specifically singled out Finland and Sweden as "first target [sic] for missile strike [sic]". As we've seen over and over again in Ukraine, Russia's conventional missiles have very little effect on the strategic situation. I'm sorry, but your reasoning is as sloppy as your grammar and spelling.
    3
  5721. There are Russian nuclear missiles in Kaliningrad, which borders Poland and Lithuania, but where exactly are NATO's nukes along Russia's border? Geography doesn't appear to be your strong suite. Gathering factual information, even less so.
    3
  5722.  @tomas6179  You got your words jumbled up. Let me help you out: "Because NATO expansion is about this whole war". There, fixed it for you.
    3
  5723. Het frappante is dat een groot deel van de asielzoekers niet in Finland blijft, maar enkel op doorrreis is. Onder andere naar Nederland. Een leuker klimaat en er zitten hier al veel vriendjes van hen.
    3
  5724. Euronews: soldiers capture enemy soldiers. The police arrest suspects.
    3
  5725. Duh. The Iskander is a short-range ballistic missile. It can't engage aerial targets.
    3
  5726. Lavrov's on a comedy tour. You can't arrest people for being funny.
    3
  5727.  @Arvidje  Boos wel, maar niet geweldadig. Geweld lokt geweld uit.
    3
  5728. Dude, don't you know the NWO is a bad word?
    3
  5729. @MSD Group Power supplies? Don't we all have them in abundance from old phones?
    3
  5730. Presidents-for-life are commonplace in democratically-challenged countries. The switcheroo Putin pulled with Medvedev, the president and prime minister temporarily trading places, now that had some originality to it. Why no encore?
    3
  5731. The Azov Regiment is part of the National Guard of Ukraine. Not the International Guard. It's "Ukraine" by the way, not "the Ukraine". We could also restart referring to Israel as "Palestine", too.
    3
  5732. As a non-German, I see Germany doing their fair share, more even in monetary terms. What's bugging you?
    3
  5733.  @MrGatzby  Then bye-bye, Murica. I guess isolationism beckons once more.
    3
  5734.  @MrGatzby  The US spends 1.75% of its GDP on NATO. In case you failed math, that's less than the agreed 2%.
    3
  5735. You have to find them first.
    3
  5736.  @monicageorgson4870  Egypt has come with an ingenious solution. They flood the tunnels with sewage.
    3
  5737.  @globalchinesearmy2307  Maoism is back.
    3
  5738. There are elements of Dr. Evil to him as well. Bond baddies are pure evil, but Musk spices it up with tragicomedy.
    3
  5739.  @knowledge3563  Be that as it may, but you can't go copy-pasting the very same comment all over the place. YouTube takes a dim view of spammers. You just earned yourself a shadow-ban. You might as well save yourself the trouble of posting duplicates.
    3
  5740.  @BlackHawkTejas  Don't flatter yourself. India has a serious trade deficit with Russia. Indian newspapers are full of it.
    3
  5741.  @skywillfindyou  Nothing? Russia sells oil well below Brent crude to India and doesn't know what to do with the rupees it gets. Moreover, Russia's oil revenues are in steady decline. I can't make it any clearer for you than that.
    3
  5742. Next, you're going to tell us that the Stern Gang wasn't a terrorist organisation either, because they fought the British to achieve independence, too. Oh no, they referred to themselves as terrorists. Confusing! P.S. You may want to refer to the terrorists as Hamas. Israel was more than the Stern Gang, too.
    3
  5743.  @johnkidd1226  Everything's relative, I suppose. My grandfather served continuously in combat roles from 1939 to 1944, in the Winter War and the Continuation War. His only real war-time respite was in hospital and in reserve officer school. When he was finally demobbed, my five-year-old mother wondered who this strange man was and why he got to sleep next to my grandmother.
    3
  5744.  @teceffect9826  The world begs to differ.
    3
  5745.  @rkustanto  No sweat. Russia was kicked out of the G8. There were no consequences.
    3
  5746.  @serene1275  If you feel the EU is not giving you your money's worth, by all means, you should leave. But the supreme irony is that you thought you could leave and still enjoy cherry-picked benefits. You arrogantly thought the EU-27 would stand for it. Don't try to pin the blame on any imaginary bureaucrats that supposedly hold sway over the EU -- it's 27 nations that unanimously agree that Brexit-Britain isn't getting in on the cheap.
    3
  5747. I think he just tripled or quadrupled his popularity.
    3
  5748. It's fair to say democracy is under threat in the US, but the contrast with China is still glaring. It speaks volumes that you have to try to drag the US down to the level of China to feel better about China.
    3
  5749. Naive BioNTech was led astray. I expect the obligatory CCP commissar on Fosun's board got a promotion for tricking the Germans into closing themselves out of the Taiwanese market.
    3
  5750. Who cares about Venezuela's stance on anything.
    3
  5751.  @esense9602  I have no idea idea what you're yelping about.
    3
  5752. I think you're getting your wish. Even more so than ever, Venezuela is a pariah state.
    3
  5753. Dress code is so important when you're insecure.
    3
  5754.  @cteal2018  Yeah, how're you going to play pond hockey otherwise?
    3
  5755.  @mohamedsafanmohamedhamdan5903  You think China wouldn't be affected by Nuclear Holocaust? If it's not the blasts or the radio-activity, then the Nuclear Winter will get them. You, too.
    3
  5756.  @Macusakk  What did Russia's air defences do in Iran, when Israel paid a visit?
    3
  5757. Weber's CDU/CSU received 10,794,042 votes in the 2019 European elections, or 28.9% of the total number of votes cast. The joke is on you -- in case you couldn't figure it out by yourself.
    3
  5758.  @the_white_rabbit  You have exposed yourself as a political dilettante -- or to put it in terms you'll understand, you're a n00b in international politics. Unlike the US (and to a somewhat lesser extent, the UK), Germany is not a duopoly where you have republicunts and demonrats effectively splitting the vote among themselves. It's a true multiparty democracy, where 28.9% is a solid result, the best one out of a total of six parties, in fact. I know that in your Fascist dreams, an outcome of 100% is preferrable, but then we're no longer talking about a democracy.
    3
  5759.  Филип Трендафилов  The whole of NATO cares about Estonia, and that's what counts.
    3
  5760. You do realise, right, that Seymour Hersh has never come up with anything that substantiates his claims that the US and Norway are behind the Nord Stream explosions? His account of a Norwegian mine sweeper and US demolition divers simply doesn't add up. All Hersh has to fall back on is his fast-eroding reputation from times past. Sad, really.
    3
  5761. The elite, are they Reptilians by any chance?
    3
  5762.  @sammoore9689  That's for 2024.
    3
  5763. Collect your 50 cents at the counter.
    3
  5764. It's fortunate that we have in Macron a leader who's good with kids.
    3
  5765.  @robm805  Aren't I drawing attention to the plight of the Gazans, most of whom demonstrably didn't want this war?
    3
  5766. I'm more inclined to think along the lines of Israel's incursions into South Lebanon.
    3
  5767. They were Greek air force pilots. Sure, the plane was a Canadair.
    3
  5768.  @00Tenrai00  Was the USA flush with Communist agents after Saigon fell and you had to let in your South Vietnamese collaborators? I'm curious, because I hear they're quite the success story -- the median income of a Vietnamese American is three times that of the average American.
    3
  5769. Dat is puur oppositietaal.
    3
  5770. The 737 design had no life left in it. The MAX was an evolution too far. Boeing didn't see it. Which other, yet undiscovered miscalculations have they made?
    3
  5771. Aren't you in the UN? What do you think you did wrong, on your part?
    3
  5772.  @891delta  So isolationism it is? Fine, at least the Palestinian-Israeli conflict stands a chance of being resolved.
    3
  5773. ​ @bruceparker6142  Like shoot up reporters with Apache attack helicopters and play not-so-playful SM games in Abu Ghraib?
    3
  5774. So Netanyahu gets to enjoy one last proper war before he's forced to bow out from politics. Good riddance, too.
    3
  5775.  Rachel Goldberg  Why is it absolutely imperative that Hong Kong, or for that matter, Taiwan or Tibet, remains part of China? Self-determination is an inalienable right. I've lived in Hong Kong both under British and Chinese rule. Politically, Kong Kong is much different from the "People's" Republic of China. Why do you think the CCP still goes on about "one country, two systems?"
    3
  5776.  @shenoyglobal  I don't know if you ever served in the military, but I do know from personal experience that you rarely if ever use automatic fire in combat. I was issued with the selective fire version of the SLR, the FAL, which, according to my instructor, became a light anti-aircraft weapon on auto. You really had to fight muzzle climb with such a powerful round. You can step down from a battle rifle to an assault rifle that fires an intermediate cartridge, but then range becomes an issue. If it was an issue for US soldiers in mountainous Afghanistan, I can picture it being a problem in Kashmir as well.
    3
  5777.  @shenoyglobal  The AK47 doesn't have better range than the M-4. In fact, the 5.56×45mm NATO outranges the 7.62x39mm. In Afghanistan, the Taliban switched to shooting with Dragunovs and PKMs at US soldiers. The latter couldn't respond effectively because of the inferior range of their M-4s. I'm sure the militants in Kashmir would do likewise once they realise the villagers are armed with AK47s. When the defenders have been eliminated from afar, or have expended their ammo, they'd swoop in for the kill.
    3
  5778. Better dead than red, you used to say.
    3
  5779. They bungled the poisoning and shot him. Hey, I spotted three similarities with modern-day Russia.
    3
  5780.  @xXAlmdudlerXx  The de-facto duopoly may have something to do with it. In parliamentary democracies with proportional representation, political parties cannot afford to wage a holy war against one another, because today's political enemies can be tomorrow's coalition partners. Our right-wing populists are beginning to get their heads around it. Their voters, not so much.
    3
  5781. You're easily bamboozled.
    3
  5782. Imaginary sky friends rarely deliver.
    3
  5783.  AP  US-made, but no, still Afghan.
    3
  5784.  @Chepawala  TRT? That's an odd suggestion. For a start, try googling "French forces in Afghanistan". It doesn't take much to come up with an idea like that, but nooo...
    3
  5785.  @Chepawala  Oh, I hooked myself a conspiracy theorist. Back you go, to grow yourself some brain cells.
    3
  5786.  @Chepawala  Pray tell, who would benefit from faking French involvement in the War in Afghanistan? Let's hear your theory... don't hold back.
    3
  5787. The Finnish Leopard 2A4s are in fine working order. Only last summer, while on a refresher, they kept thundering past my tent while I was trying to kip after a night exercise. They nearly shook my fillings loose.
    3
  5788. Not that I care one way or the other, but hasn't Texas contributed to the federal budget that paid for all the federal stuff?
    3
  5789.  @bobtrask2217  You must think the federal budget is an ATM. Somehow the money just materialises in there. Answer this: do Texans and Texas-based businesses pay federal taxes, yes or no? For your info, I have no romantic feelings towards Texas, independent or otherwise.
    3
  5790.  @amnedits4898  It appears you're 2% short to speak for the majority of New Zealand.
    3
  5791.  @Ryanlexz  With the electoral system they have in NZ (and considering the number of parties contending), it is a landslide. As in most true multi-party parliamentary democracies, coalitions are the norm.
    3
  5792. I think Romney is no good for the Republicans because he's got one. A backbone.
    3
  5793.  @Rosbif06600  Sure, during the Brexit negotiations, BoJo and the UK leadership in general tried to curry favour with potential dissidents within the EU-27, but failed miserably at it. I suppose they remembered the UK's prominent role in the UK-France-USA 'Western betrayal' all too well.
    3
  5794. Jimmy is a sad clown.
    3
  5795.  @American-In-Mykolaiv  India is desperately trying to balance itself on an ever-wonkier fence. It's a hopeless task, because India needs Western arms to counterbalance China. Russia can't even meet domestic demand, and also, the quality of Russian weapons leaves a lot to be desired. India had better curry favour with the West (no pun intended).
    3
  5796. Somebody set the afterburner too high.
    3
  5797.  @jasonwalker2950  People started caring about fiscal conservatism when the previous government went on a spending spree and someone needed to pick up the pieces.
    3
  5798. Zelenskyy is acting in accordance with the UN Charter, which specifically mentions the right to self-defence. Your beef is with Putin, who's at odds with the Charter. The UN General Assembly, too, couldn't have been clearer about it.
    3
  5799.  @sPACEmANtYLERSPACE  Then Russia should stop destabilising its neighbours. If Russia poses no threat, there's no need for them to seek security guarantees from NATO. When will Putin realise that you reap what you sow?
    3
  5800. For your info, there's a broad concensus in "the West" that what the region needs is a two-state solution, which would see the Palestinians establish a sovereign state of their own exactly where they are now, right next to Israel. Israel, however, is dragging its feet.
    3
  5801. Think global, act local. Tell your precious Putin to abide by UNGA Resolution ES-11/1. The war will stop overnight.
    3
  5802. China's apparatchik still need Hong Kong to hide their ill-begotten wealth.
    3
  5803. @JohnJacob33 Trump's first tenure covered four of those years, but he's not one to engage in self-criticism.
    3
  5804. Nose candy that eats your nose.
    3
  5805.  @gioreda5126  Glad you agree that Russia is an international pariah.
    3
  5806.  @ebarsan  Yes, better pray for divine intervention.
    3
  5807. If FN had no Finnish patent, Ahlberg was free to copy the pistol. The principle endures to this day, between all countries.
    3
  5808. @Carl Sagan You yourself were the only one to upvote your comment, while I got 13 upvotes -- excluding my own. What does that say?
    3
  5809. @VladimirStepanov-e6h It's murkier than that. The Cook Islands enjoy the protection of New Zealand, but New Zealand doesn't legislate them. In other words, the Cook Islands alone have jurisdiction over Eagle S.
    3
  5810. Do we also have to start fighting unpopular wars that have nothing to do with NATO?
    3
  5811. And whose guys are you?
    3
  5812.  @vishrutkrishna8469  Western, you say? Valentine's Day is an Anglo-Saxon thing. Hence, it's more commonly celebrated in former British colonies, like India, than in many Western countries. You may want to be more careful with your generalisations.
    3
  5813. Yup, the Kremlin is really annoyed with the sanctions. Plenty of official soundbites attest to that. If you're ignorant, it doesn't mean they are.
    3
  5814. @Silver_Prussian Gawd, didn't they teach you in school about supply and demand? Demand for Russian products has dropped significantly, because the world's wealthier customers give them a miss. Russia's supply remains unchanged. It follows that Russian prices drop. To add insult to injury, Russia's production costs have gone up because of its manpower shortage due to the war, which has forced producers to raise salaries. Sure, there are still opportunistic buyers, but they are aware of Russia's predicament, so they dawdle till desperate Russia offers them a special price -- they're BRICS buddies, after all, right?
    3
  5815. OK, Neville Chamberlain.
    3
  5816. I see. Misery would like some company.
    3
  5817. There are no 'game over' weapons apart from strategic thermonuclear ones, bud. The game has changed many times over, and will change many times more going forward.
    3
  5818. Should your refugees stay as far away as possible from Europe's welfare states?
    3
  5819. So, you are rattling Russia's little nuclear sabre for them?
    3
  5820.  @lapun47  Gaza was never Israel's to give. I'm sure you'll applaud Russia's benevolence as well when it finally "gives" back its occupied territories to Ukraine.
    3
  5821.  @lapun47  You're a fanboy of aggressors, that much is clear.
    3
  5822. You conspiracy theorists are terrible bores.
    3
  5823.  @pohatuthereactor1693  I'm a Hong Kong resident. I find it amusing that you're trying to lecture me.
    3
  5824.  @gcdumful  Again, we played no part in colonising anyone -- not India, not Africa, yet you're only too eager to tar every Westerner with the same brush. I wrote that "we enjoyed a 30-year head start" on independence, which means 1947 -- the year India gained independence -- minus 30 years. Well? Arithmetic can't be that hard. Furthermore, if you want to compare notes for how long we each endured colonisation, well, for us that would be from 1150 onwards, which means nearly 800 years. So, by rights we should whine thrice as hard as you do. But miraculously, we don't whine at all. We've never been keen on coal. My great-grandfather was a stoker with the railways, but he never touched a lump of coal in his life. Biofuel, the newfangled name goes.
    3
  5825.  @harsimarsingh3676  Let's see. New Zealand officially became a British colony in 1841. Independence followed in 1947. Ireland came under English rule in 1603 and gained independence in 1949. So, no cigars for anyone.
    3
  5826.  @Pshaurk  I haven't got the faintest idea where you're going with this. New Zealand is irrelevant, but just so you know, what I wrote about New Zealand becoming a British colony and gaining independence are irrefutable facts. My grandfathers were both born under colonial rule. In our case, we're talking 25 generations of colonial rule, whereas in yours it's 10 generations. I could start about a brutal climate and infertile lands, but that would sound a lot like whining. I'll leave the whining to you.
    3
  5827. When was this? Everyone seems to have missed it.
    3
  5828. Your claim about the EU's leftism is problematic considering the EU is clearly more rightist than leftist judging from the make-up of the European Parliament. But hey, but don't let facts bother you. A good conspiracy theorist never does.
    3
  5829.  @vrsimulo1234  The Dutch are great believers in the rule of law. So, what's the charge?
    3
  5830.  @michaelotieno6524  At any rate, India would be mad to buy Urals crude above market price, which is currently a tad above $65/bbl. More likely, India's payments are below the $60/bbl price cap.
    3
  5831.  @Tititateo63  You're trying a straw man attack. Being a Euro, it would be preposterous for me to claim that Spanish is an indigenous language in the New World. Fact is, Spanish was dominant in both Texas and California before English took over. Instead of one replacing the other, maybe the two will merge to form a new language. It has happened several times to English.
    3
  5832.  @Tititateo63  Congrats, another straw man attack. Why-oh-why would I go claiming that any of those languages is an indigenous language in the Americas? Your imagination is running amok. FYI, I have a masters in history, from one of the oldest universities on the European continent. And as it happens, I'm a triple EU citizen.
    3
  5833. Hungry ;-)
    3
  5834. Je capituleert zeker graag?
    3
  5835. Musk fired the bulk of Twitter's content moderators. Keep up with the news.
    3
  5836. For your info, the G7 is no trade bloc, but an economic forum where members don't co-operate, but rather, "co-opertate". Its main function appears to be keeping EU vs. US trade wars to a minimum. With your colonial worldview, you must be thinking that the G7 is about the West shafting India, while it's more about the West not shafting itself.
    3
  5837. There's the centre right and then there's the far right. The two don't mix too well. Don't oversimply things.
    3
  5838. Orban appears a toughie, but he always gives in eventually.
    3
  5839.  @HgHg-yp6ft  I'm more inclined to believe the reports about a 30%-50% long-term decline in economic activity in Russia. Keeping Putin at the helm will only end in tears for Russia.
    3
  5840. Your paranoia is acting up. "Regional players" are per definition not Westerners, sport.
    3
  5841.  @puraLusa  Megalomaniacs aplenty on YT. I bet this one wears a bicorne hat, too.
    3
  5842. Populism is per definition opportunistic. Right-wing or wrong-wing, populists will brush ideological concerns aside if there's an opportunity to boost their popularity -- on the short-term.
    3
  5843. Russia faces more sanctions. Something like this won't be left unpunished.
    3
  5844.  @Coecoo  Sweden has been a few days in NATO and already the infighting begins. So much for the famed Nordic unity.
    3
  5845.  @eddgar-ce3md  The AfD is bound to gain more protest votes in a regional election than in a national one. Choosing a chancellor is serious business.
    3
  5846. You trolls. You see a silver lining on the darkest of clouds. Time to pay the eye doctor a visit.
    3
  5847. How is it good? The Brits employed a lot of East Europeans.
    3
  5848. It's nice that Lavrov is resigned to NATO expanding. He knows, too -- but cannot say it out loud -- that it's a reaction to Russian aggression.
    3
  5849. But the point is, they don't taste so good.
    3
  5850.  @springbloom5940  Mental institutions sometimes have in-patients that think themselves doctors. It's amusing to meet one, be it virtually.
    3
  5851. Correct him then, Gen. Armchair.
    3
  5852. Charity is Communism?
    3
  5853. I don't know, but you're crapping in your own nest.
    3
  5854. And we have a lot Valmet Petras, which are basically semi-auto AKs in .308.
    3
  5855. The aggressor "liberates" all right.
    3
  5856.  @koiguidenishikigoi4972  Well thank you. You're too kind.
    3
  5857. ​@W.A M.P Politicians politically motivated? Well I'll be damned! The Brexit process, more specifically the UK side of it, is a perfect demonstration of how incapable the Brits are of governing themselves.
    3
  5858. Apples and oranges. Economic growth in developed countries tends to plateau. All potential is tapped already.
    3
  5859. True dat. The Russians would've put up a helluva victory parade in Kyiv if only the Ukrainians would've let them, the spoilsports.
    3
  5860. At least the Chinese are honest about it. No silly Putin-Medvedev switcheroo antics there.
    3
  5861. @Randy Not really. I've serviced both.
    3
  5862. To 193 minus 124 countries, that is. And even if he's not liable to arrest, he's simply not welcome.
    3
  5863. You've settled the matter once and for all. A lone voice on the interwebs decides everything.
    3
  5864. Johnson negotiated a deal with the EU, had it approved by parliament and immediately reneged on it. Is any new deal worth the paper it's written on? BoJo the Clown doesn't know whether he's coming or going.
    3
  5865. If the US were to match the military aid it has given to Israel in humanitarian aid to the Gazans, the latter would develop an obesity problem.
    3
  5866. Let's hope we won't see another Katyn massacre.
    3
  5867.  @GingerIndiana  You're ignoring the facts. The Palestinian Authority endorses the two-state solution. Read up on the Oslo Accords.
    3
  5868. But the happiest country on earth is Finland. And they've become happy only after joining the EU. Explain that, Dutchie.
    3
  5869. ​ @TheUnknown187  So all you've got is whataboutism. Don't waste my time.
    3
  5870.  Jhon Gonzalez  I see you're struggling with the notion that this so-called "West" is multipolar in itself. There's Europe, North America and Oceania, each of which is multipolar in itself as well. I think you have some more growing up to do before you can see the world for what it is.
    3
  5871. I don't think France 24 are holding Assange.
    3
  5872. Quick, back to your safe place.
    3
  5873. That is a likely outcome should Russia foolishly attack Ukraine.
    3
  5874. Swedish and Finnish holidaymakers are already giving Turkey a miss.
    3
  5875.  @darkgalaxy5548  Aren't you cute.
    3
  5876.  @Nerwesta  Fix it then. I'll keep a keen eye on what the other editors think of your "corrections".
    3
  5877.  @Nerwesta  Chicken.
    3
  5878.  @roccocarlino067  Yet Russia had prepared for a victory march in Kyiv mere days after Z-Day. The troops had packed their dress uniforms and their band instruments, but the spoilsport Ukrainians had to rain on their parade! No fair!
    3
  5879. How about NATO 'defending' itself on Russian soil? Would that pass muster with you?
    3
  5880. They're literally trolling for their lives. If they're deemed unproductive, it's off to Ukraine with them.
    3
  5881. @@leoa1893 Russia has lost all respect, so what does it matter?
    3
  5882.  @Spirit_Circle  Don't do that. You're taking the sting out of his lunacy.
    3
  5883. That seems to apply to both of the parties in this crisis.
    3
  5884.  WarLeaks Compact  You're making stuff up. The Oerlikon autocannon on the Gepard fires NATO-standard 35 mm ammunition. There's a long list of operators of the autocannon.
    3
  5885.  @PhoenixtheII  So you only recognize direct democracies as democracies. You're pretty much alone there.
    3
  5886. It's also good for the Germans to remind themselves that BioNTech was founded by a husband-and-wife team of Turkish ethnicity.
    3
  5887.  @kevinyoung9557  You needn't go that far back in history. We still had bicycle marches when I did my basic training in 1986. Hilariously, my bike was WW1 vintage, because my large Dutch frame proved too large for the standard-issue bikes of the Finnish Armed Forces.
    3
  5888.  @hlyeo98  You've beat them to it, with the Uyghurs slaving away on your cotton fields in Xinjiang.
    3
  5889. Likewise, you'll have to put it to a vote at the UN. Works both ways. Hint: don't bother.
    3
  5890. Musk did such a fine job transforming Twitter. What could go wrong now?
    3
  5891.  @SR-pr2xz  I prefer full democracies to Murica's flawed democracy and I have to say, I am twice lucky in that respect.
    3
  5892.  @SOTV1968  Because France votes consistently in favour of measures that would stop the wholesale bloodshed in the Middle East. The UK votes blank and the US appeases an increasingly belligerent Israel.
    3
  5893.  @umnayazhopa  To the ever-dwindling temporarily occupied territories? Sure, why not. May they soon be liberated, like the others that went before them.
    3
  5894. ​ @fergusdenoon1255  What nonsense. NATO doesn't own all the military kit in, for example, Germany. Very, very little of it is in shared ownership, in fact. Germany neglected its defence, and it's not NATO that's to blame.
    3
  5895.  @JohnDoe-jt5lb  You're awfully quick to jump to conclusions.
    3
  5896. In one word, wumaos.
    3
  5897.  @SnowyNI  Give it time. The last-minute FTA is only a reprieve.
    3
  5898. ​ @beastieboy3926  Farage has gone on record saying he absolutely must have his EU pension, but of course, without the UK paying for it. A classic case of having your cake and eating it, too.
    3
  5899. ​ @phoearwenien4355  We're at cross purposes. It goes without saying that a government should enjoy a parliamentary majority, but there are more ways than one to skin a cat. I'm referring to the process of forming a government, and which party has dibs on trying. If PiS gets first try on account of "winning" the election, it's only natural they'll try to break the Tusk election coalition. PiS may only have a theoretical chance of doing so, but there it is, they'll try, even if only to delay the inevitable.
    3
  5900.  @Djamonja  Ukraine has Antonovs. Same difference.
    3
  5901. "Family member" Russia could offer peace terms. If 'full withdrawal from Ukraine' is there, peace is attainable.
    3
  5902. Or maybe prisons? Wait...
    3
  5903.  @RayBetterThanEvilCanival  Good point. Finland donated 6 mine-clearing Leopard 2s to Ukraine. 3 were lost in one go. Mine-clearing vehicles alone are not the answer.
    3
  5904.  @RayBetterThanEvilCanival  Spartak9101 is spamming the same comment all over the place. Don't expect a sensible answer.
    3
  5905.  @jonathanhammerton9418  That's just self-congratulatory hogwash. The UK would be critically exposed in the event of a no-deal, WTO-rules Brexit, while we'd suffer a spell of mild discomfort that would go unnoticed by the vast majority of EU citizens.
    3
  5906. ​ @oldbagira2192  Be that as it may, Russia's "budget for military exercises" won't cover the replacement cost of all the materiel that it has lost in Ukraine. Not that it matters, because even with all the roubles in the world, Russia can't manufacture replacements with similar specs. You can only hope that the blueprints of the T-34 are still filed somewhere -- the same goes for the MiG-15.
    3
  5907. Is treachery also in your bloodline?
    3
  5908. You forgot to mention the primus motor. Putin.
    3
  5909. Yeah, let's give placebos a chance.
    3
  5910.  @tropicaldimitri7374  If this is a real combat situation, they should be concerned about Russian counter-battery fire. They're shooting but not scooting.
    3
  5911. @Kotomine Berndrewd I'm an aircraft mechanic, bozo.
    3
  5912.  @blanka7794  The Crimeans haven't been properly asked if they want to remain part of Ukraine. Fact.
    3
  5913.  @lhk7006  You don't understand. If Ukraine cuts the supply lines to Crimea, or even reduces their capacity to a significant extent, Crimea will 'wither on the vine'. Russia had better start pulling out its Russians settlers then.
    3
  5914.  @RobespierreThePoof  How would that work? A hit squad? YouTube commenters say the darndest things...
    3
  5915.  @tony16991  That's just your coping mechanism kicking in. We don't charge Ukraine for the Orc removal instruments we send them.
    3
  5916. They're preventing inadvertent escalations. Deliberate escalations by both sides are another matter.
    3
  5917.  @bittoochatterjee2661  I think you need to start building Putin a retirement dacha in India. Just to be clear, he's used to a toilet.
    3
  5918. All over Ukraine, basically. Russia achieved temporary air superiority over Avdiivka, but at a steep cost in aircraft. Had Ukraine anticipated Russia's intentions and brought forward more air defences, the cost would've been steeper still.
    3
  5919.  @trivedihari5629  Lay off Russian copium. It's so tainted that you'll go blind from overuse.
    3
  5920. Oh gut. Die nieuwe en onervaren partijen moeten op bijles, liefst in de oppositie.
    3
  5921. By that logic you commies should go and live in North Korea.
    3
  5922. The front line ebbs and flows. Surely you noticed Russia's humiliating retreats after losing the battles of Kyiv and Kharkiv? Those are the largest and second-largest cities in Ukraine. I don't even know how Lysychansk ranks.
    3
  5923. You seem to have a split identity there, or has Norway suddenly pulled itself loose from Europe and sailed west?
    3
  5924. Blijkbaar dus wel. Wel kijken, hè.
    3
  5925.  @RifetOkic  Niet duur doen. Hypersonische raketten zijn op zich niet destructiever dan supersonische. Wel moeilijker om te onderscheppen, maar Finland heeft sowieso geen anti-raketafweersystemen. Wat jij je niet beseft is dat een atoomaanval op Helsinki St. Petersburg zou bedelven onder radioactieve fallout. Zelfmoord dus, zelfs zonder een nucleaire tegenaanval van de NAVO.
    3
  5926. Interesting that you'd bring up Finland. Recently, Finland ended up with a right-wing coalition government, the wonkiest government in a long, long time. The weakest link, the far-right Finns Party, had its first minister announce his resignation 11 days after being appointed, after his neo-Nazi links came out. His replacement is best known for switching parties after reports of his transgressive behaviour toward female colleagues got him sidelined. He's now expected to work side by side with the very people that got him ousted. Technically speaking, the Finns Party is not new to government, but last time around the party split in two after a spectacular palace coup, which consigned it to the opposition. It has experienced two more splits since, both times shedding extremist elements, but not quite enough of them, it seems. I'm giving this government 12 months tops before PM Orpo follows in Dutch PM Rutte's footsteps and let's his doomed coalition government out of its misery. No doubt, the Finns Party will suffer terribly in the follow-up snap election. Like Rutte after the upcoming Dutch election, Orpo will go on to form a new government, but this time without your "right" Finns Party. I wouldn't be surprised if the Social Democrats replace the Finns Party. The moral of the story? Real power is a poisoned chalice to far-right parties.
    3
  5927.  @Courage2006  Be sure to explain to the Brits what their role in AUKUS is. They're a bit lost.
    3
  5928. Flying pigs caused the Orcs to vacate Kherson, too. Russian territory it was too, in the minds of the Kremlin crowd.
    3
  5929.  @mikefox955  Coping means imagining things. I listed only facts. You imagining that they aren't, that's coping.
    3
  5930. Sure you can. There's American Otis, Finnish Kone and Korean Hyundai. However, all have pulled out or are in the process of pulling out from Russia. Putin will have to take the stairs.
    3
  5931.  @zoolkhan  As in "Russia may start a war against Finland, but Finland will Finnish it"?
    3
  5932. We? Those are Russians who've acquired Finnish nationality in addition to their original Russian nationality.
    3
  5933.  @maxineporter8848  Oh, I've experienced a badly snowed-under Manhattan, and I'm not easily perturbed by snow -- I was born smack on the Arctic Circle. However, in NYC snow comes quickly and goes quickly. In the Arctic, the first snow falls in September and the last bits melt in June. It tends to pile up, too. One and a half metres is pretty normal and that's for months on end.
    3
  5934. You keep signalling all right, but the walking away part, that's where you fail every time.
    3
  5935. And on what authority do you speak for others than yourself?
    3
  5936.  @Jocky8807  It's interesting to note that when the NATO-led ISAF mission was still ongoing in Afghanistan, Karzai's government awarded the bulk of mining concessions to Chinese companies. It doesn't gel with your conspiracy theories, I'm afraid.
    3
  5937. The sanctions against Russia have been in place for years, yet there's no sign of Russia bettering itself economically, despite numerous promises made by Putin about finally diversifying Russia's notoriously one-sided and thus vulnerable oil & gas-driven economy. Russia is and remains a giant with clay feet.
    3
  5938. No, the EU is engaging constructively with other countries in combatting COVID-19. The same can't be said about the US. Worse still, as the disease spreads uncontrolled thanks to your deficient healthcare system and Trump having gutted the CDC, we'll soon be treated to unsavoury scenes of Americas killing one another over a can of tuna or a roll of toilet paper. Preppers must rejoice.
    3
  5939.  @calebr6747  We've closed our borders, twit.
    3
  5940.  @Ganiscol  I remember the times when we threw packs of cigarettes from our cruise ship to Soviet soldiers, who were posted as sentries in the harbour of Tallinn, Estonia, pre-liberation. They must've made a nice extra income from them.
    3
  5941. Ik wil hier ook meer over horen. Ik heb altijd een fascinatie gehad voor complotdenkers. Je zou ook eens kunnen toelichten of je al een psychische diagnose hebt.
    3
  5942. The EU has no veto in the UNSC, dearie. Of all the EU members states, only France has. France has never used its veto to the detriment of the Palestinians.
    3
  5943. Toy drones? 100 or so Israeli warplanes, including state-of-the-art F-35s, had free rein in Iranian airspace, bombing Iranian targets at will. Iran's air defences were completely impotent.
    3
  5944. Hooray, you've earned yourself another bottle of copium. It still works wonders on you, but know that on the long-term, its efficacy lessens. You might actually start complaining about the falling standards.
    3
  5945. So Russia had Hamas attack Israel? You'd think they have more than enough on their plate in Ukraine. You've got quite an imagination on you.
    3
  5946. At least according to Russia. In 1999, Russia thought it opportune to bomb its own apartment blocks so as to have a pretext for recommencing hostilities against Chechnya. And it propelled Putin to power.
    3
  5947.  @thereita1052  Independence movements wax and wane, but they never disappear altogether. Europe's borders are the result of distinct yet similar regions banding together to stand firm against their not-so-similar and formerly-not-so-friendly neighbours. There's no such need any longer, so the glue that's holding these regions together is losing its strength. Anyway, small is beautiful. Europe is rife with small countries that get top marks in governance, democracy, absence of corruption, etc.
    3
  5948.  @fujihita2500  OK, so what we're witnessing here is some form of cultural appropriation or neo-colonial mansplaining. Even though you're an outsider, you pretend to know best how the Asians should react to the war in Ukraine. You're advocating indifference, which you feel is justified in the light of past European colonisation of SEA -- but then you go on to confirm that Ukraine had no part in it. One comes across many weirdos in YouTube comment sections, but you take the cake.
    3
  5949. Bernie is the best president the US never had.
    3
  5950. Donny watched international news and saw what's happening to Imran Kahn in Pakistan. He wants to bring the same excitement to his dull life.
    3
  5951.  @ronald3836  NSC is another LPF, I'm afraid. Not only that, I fear he's giving PVV a chance at governing.
    3
  5952. ​ @bartschlief2574  I'm afraid that if the NSC wins, we'll sit with the baked pears. Actually, I don't see it sit at all. The best steering lazy should stand on the wall.
    3
  5953. Perhaps in terms of body mass. Your mall cops sure like them donuts.
    3
  5954. Explain. Murica's rather conservative.
    3
  5955. As a UN peacekeeper, I saw some of the carnage that ensued when Israel struck Hezbollah targets -- or targets they claimed were Hezbollah -- in Lebanon. It was gory, not glory. Unless you're a psychopath, there's nothing comforting or enjoyable about seeing broken bodies.
    3
  5956.  @ppo2424  That would 'new old stock' rather than "brand new" Jeeps.
    3
  5957.  @aleserban9322  You're deluding yourself. Pro-Russian in this conflict means Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria. Tens of millions tops.
    3
  5958. Then they don't put their minds to a lot of things. When Putin gained power, he pledged to modernise and diversify Russia's economy. The target he set for himself was boosting Russia's GDP per capita to match that of Portugal, the poorest EU member at the time, during the course of two presidential terms. More than two decades later, Portugal's GDP per capita is twice that of Russia.
    3
  5959.  @Dominic-s9q  None of what you wrote makes economic sense. The GDP figures (Russia's $12,575 vs. Portugal's $24,495) predate the sanctions, when the rouble was still a freely exchangeable currency. Raw materials are nice to have, but Russia is by and large unable to turn them into manufactured goods. That's another endemic problem Putin has failed to solve, despite repeated promises to the contrary. The military is a drain on the economy. I understand Russia has been very systematic in looting Ukraine's resources such as grain, toilet bowls and washing machines, but I highly doubt they cover the cost of the lost materiel and expended ordnance, to say nothing of the pensions owed to the fallen soldiers' families.
    3
  5960. Divisiness and democracy aren't mutually exclusive.
    3
  5961.  @petepowaaa  The DPP emerged as the winner, that much is certain. Likewise, in other leading democracies, you very rarely see the biggest parties secure more than half of the popular vote. Recently, in the Netherlands, the winning party won 23% of the vote, and it was considered a landslide.
    3
  5962. You forgot to explain why.
    3
  5963.  @yarnickgoovaerts  Let me guess, you lack military training altogether. I had the privilege of taking a practice shot at a T-34 with a LAW. The shot went through and through. A T-72 would merely suffer a scratch.
    3
  5964. But the EU are very much needed. 70% of the UK fish exports go to the EU.
    3
  5965.  @craigbowler5248  Er, because France vetoes the trade deal and high tariffs on British fish make EU buyers shop elsewhere? As to other markets, read my earlier comment (hint: look out for "rotten fish").
    3
  5966. Lavrov is trying to outdo Comical Ali. What a sad way to go for a once esteemed top diplomat.
    3
  5967.  @La-Stranger  I haven't received my OBE yet, so no need to addess me as "Sir". I am, however, a UN peacekeeping vet who studied both history and political science. I did my other thesis about ethnic conflicts. As part of my research, I visited Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan. And I did tours in Lebanon and Kosovo. So you can rest assured that I know the score. The UNGA recognised Israel, too, but that doesn't mean the Palestiniians forfeited their land rights. You can apply the same to the Armenians and the Azeris that once inhabited Nagorno-Karabakh. Both have been greatly wronged, and you can't wash that away with maps, UN-approved or otherwise. Ethnic minorities do have rights.
    3
  5968. Recaptured then.
    3
  5969.  @pohakumana  The UNGA speaks for the world. 141 countries voted against Russia, 5 for. The world has spoken.
    3
  5970.  @michaelthompson9548  You're seriously behind. Try to keep up with the news.
    3
  5971. It's because the earth became flat overnight, OK?
    3
  5972. Then how about the USA and 9/11? Or the UK, as in the Falklands War? India and the Kargil War? If you were right, nuclear powers wouldn't bother to keep conventional forces.
    3
  5973.  @zimagorec  So you got your call-up papers then. Remember to carry sunflower seeds so your life won't be entirely in vain.
    3
  5974. Ukraine's will be a defensive victory. Unlike Russia, Ukraine has no territorial ambitions at the expense of the other. Mark my words, there will be a Wikipedia entry on the Russo-Ukrainian War that describes the result as "status quo ante bellum" and mentions a Ukrainian victory.
    3
  5975. When will whataboutists stop their eternal whatabouting?
    3
  5976. Why would you dispute the obvious? A majority of Americans identify as white, which suggests that they're of European ancestry. Also, a great many Latino Americans, who don't identify as white, have predominantly European ancestry owing to their Iberian roots.
    3
  5977. Who cares about rugby. It's even less popular than women's soccer.
    3
  5978.  @tooltalk  How about what?
    3
  5979. What's more relevant is what the world would do. Just like after the Tiananmen Square Massacre, there would be economic consequences for China. This time, however, the consequences would be far more profound given China's vastly increased international trade. Since "Made in China" would be off-putting to many consumers, China would lose manufacturing to other countries, like India and Vietnam. Also, in a political sense, the Belt and Road Initiative would be a victim -- every elected politician would think twice about giving China a foothold, if not out of principle, then for fear of a voter backlash.
    3
  5980.  @cryptocsguy9282  Exactly. And the USSR had its own Vietnam War in Afghanistan. Then its successor state, Russia, emulated the War in Afganistan in Syria. Those copycats... Hint: whataboutism works both ways.
    3
  5981. When you say "we" you must mean you're going to war personally. Don't be half-hearted now.
    3
  5982. ​ @kevt3318  I thought I clearly wrote that the border is in the Irish Sea at present, but I see now that even ordinary phrases overstretch your very limited powers of comprehension. If the UK had left without a deal, you would have (not "would of") broken the GFA, because there would have (again, not "would of") been a border all right, and in the middle of the island of Ireland. The WTO is very clear on borders and border checks.
    3
  5983.  @vicgallimore6756  Biden's son is not a reservist, sonny.
    3
  5984. In terms of diplomatic prowess, could you possibly set the bar lower than Trump does? 90% of Youtube commenters are better diplomats than Trump, and that isn't saying much.
    3
  5985.  @truthmediarebel5816  Good luck with that. Expect a 5% GDP drop -- if things go well.
    3
  5986. You're living in the distant past. Try to break out to the present.
    3
  5987.  slade wilson  I bet that you beat your (future) wife and then blame her for making you do that to her. And, of course, you'll blame your parents, teachers, NATO, Murica, etc.
    3
  5988. If the better part of your customers give you a miss, your turnover will plummet. Importantly, the Russian state takes a big cut in taxes -- which will suddenly amount to considerably less revenue. What's not working about that? The sanctions aren't a quick fix. They'll remain in place long after hostilities have ceased in Ukraine, "motivating" Russia to cough up war reparations and whatnot. There are different solutions to different problems.
    3
  5989.  @soheilhassani2458  Tough titty that Allah and Yahweh are one and the same deity. I think the Jews have dibs on him, too.
    3
  5990.  @zhufortheimpaler4041  Le Monde puts French military to Ukraine at €3.2 billion. Bloomberg's figure is €3.8B.
    3
  5991. Russian apathy has enabled Putin. How will that suddenly change?
    3
  5992. There's a good Putin fangirl. Have you joined Putlerjugend Nashi yet?
    3
  5993.  @KaterinaBudyakova-hf7rk  Oh, but I wouldn't have you in my organisation. Don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    3
  5994. Life is for the living.
    3
  5995.  @elmersbalm5219  Thanks for confirming my point. The US and the UK with their archaic electoral systems aren't setting good examples. That doesn't, however, make Russian poo smell any better.
    3
  5996. ​ @elmersbalm5219  You're getting sidetracked there, with your treatise on French colonialism. Mildly interesting, but entirely besides the point. Your premise was that Western democracies aren't capable of political renewal. I proved you wrong.
    3
  5997. That must sound better in your own language.
    3
  5998. If they have an adequate plan B, that is.
    3
  5999.  @looneytoons171  The difference is, Germany has dealt with its dark past. The UK still has to process many hitherto-closed dark chapters.
    3
  6000.  @looneytoons171  I get it, you changed topics. We're no longer discussing unatoned old sins, but you're on the lookout for news ones. Yes, Germany could adopt a more assertive foreign policy. That said, I have no complaints when it comes to them condemning the Navalny poisoning, however. The UK could be a bit more vocal there because of the Skripal and Litvinenko poisonings. True, you have 350,000 second-rate citizens in Hong Kong.
    3
  6001. Onze hond vindt het allemaal prachtig. Het dier bleek een echte Scandinaviër toen we naar Zweden verhuisden.
    3
  6002.  @ElonMuskIsPsycho  You should be talking. We get Indian asylum seekers, too. Don't give them cause.
    3
  6003.  @ElonMuskIsPsycho  Oh, I'm not making it up. I don't have the latest official stats, but some years ago, Indian nationals were in third place among the asylum-seekers we got. It's ironic, because at the same time, we actively try to attract Indian talent to make up for a shrinking birth rate. Don't you worry about my academic credentials and employment status -- both are hunky-dory. And I can spot Indians from afar, having lived in Asia for well over a decade. At one time, the bulk of my co-workers were NRIs.
    3
  6004.  @viorelpiscanu9425  You managed a non-argument.
    3
  6005. UN General Assembly, which has a bit more clout, voted differently.
    3
  6006.  @grimaffiliations3671  It's not quite that bad. There's a precedent in Montenegro adopting the euro without being an EU member. Like Montenegro and the EU, Argentina will just have to model its economy after one of the poorer states in the US, in the hope that its interests are served that way. It's not like the US will try to manipulate the Argentinian economy by tinkering with its own.
    3
  6007.  @Balibaliadashi  You guys have no clue. This is like Brexit Britain vs. the EU but on steroids. The Brexiteers were pooh-poohing the whole thing till Brexit really happened, and we're not even talking sanctions, but mere barriers to trade. Considering that Russia is a relatively poor country with a notoriously undiversified economy, the consequences will be all the more devastating for Russia.
    3
  6008.  @blackturbans7525  You still don't get it. I'm sure there's a British Council in Germany where you can go for English lessons.
    3
  6009.  @calvinsylveste8474  Now that's a loaded question. Some EU countries have been exemplary in their handling of the corona crisis, others not so. I deduce from your clumsy generalization that you're not European yourself. Glass houses? Anyhoo, whether or not we've taken the right measures in a timely manner, the economic fallout appears to be much the same for all. In case you haven't noticed.
    3
  6010.  @krishnakatikitala  Putin doesn't share your optimism. He gave the BRICS summit in Jo'burg a miss because he feared arrest. The South African authorities must be terribly brave in your book.
    3
  6011. Aren't you sticking around for money and a better life? It works the other way around, too. You can move to a poor country with less-than-ideal living conditions.
    3
  6012.  @AnnaAnna-gt6eh  Wandering or wondering? I suppose my ancestors made tools, garments and shelters to survive in one of the most forbidding climates in Europe.
    3
  6013.  @nublex  Israel only holds on to the Shebaa Farms, of which it isn't entirely clear if they're Lebanese or Syrian territory. Fact is, Hezbollah has dealt Israel several bloody noses, so much so that Israel, under domestic pressure, was forced to withdraw from Lebanon, abandoning its proxies in the South Lebanon Army, which totally collapsed as a result. Interestingly, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan was like a carbon-copy of the SLA's collapse. I suspect you're not really up to date on factionalism in Lebanon. Hezbollah is a state within a state. A great many Lebanese would love to see Israel destroy Hezbollah, but they realise Israel's militarism is only counter-productive. Like Hamas, Hezbollah only benefits from Israel's militarism.
    3
  6014.  @dontcare7086  In fact, nearly 70% of Norway's exports are hydrocarbons. Exports means technically it's not Norway that's producing the CO2. Also, in the Norwegians' defence, their adoption of electric cars and their use of renewable energy are phenomenally high. The irony here is that the one country that needs hydrocarbons the least has plenty of them.
    3
  6015. He should visit the hospitals full of maimed reservists who did use these Kalashnikovs.
    3
  6016. Who says it is? Hungary's treatment of its LGBT community is yet another example of Orban flouting the principles that the EU upholds. If it's not one thing, it's another. Say, Putin's Eurasian Union has nothing against homophobia -- rather, they encourage it. So, why doesn't Orban switch Hungary's membership to that one instead? Putin doesn't mind corruption. A free press, no need to keep up appearances. Democracy, yech! Seems like a match made in heaven...
    3
  6017.  @johnsmith5028  There's no place for bigots in the EU. Your comment about the Danes makes precious little sense.
    3
  6018.  @Duncan_MacLeod_84  On which ballot did Musk's name appear?
    3
  6019. Don't you understand that Israel's adversary here is Hezbollah, which is a state within a state? Apart from Hezbollah, whose orders come from Tehran, Lebanon has no appetite for war.
    3
  6020. ​ @goldsilvervscrisiscollapse4320  Call it what you want, but Putin suffered a stinging moral defeat. The former commander of the Russian troops in Ukraine suddenly finds himself arrested -- or defenestrated for all we know -- while the ringleader got off with a slap on the wrist.
    3
  6021. Truly original? You must be talking about the Sámi.
    3
  6022. So it starts. Russia's air transport sector is coming apart at the seams.
    3
  6023.  @katkatduoadventures5711  Yup, credible news reports, citing Chinese suppliers.
    3
  6024. Which specific acts of terrorism do you accuse Ukraine of?
    3
  6025.  @rons5319  That's you. Not all humans are humane.
    3
  6026.  @alexsilent5603  R-i-ght. I suppose you would prefer us to take your word for it rather than that of Freedom House, who rank Russia 149 out of 179 in press freedom. How do you reconcile such a piss-poor ranking with your unsubstantiated claim? It's funny how you keep elevating your own, purely personal opinions above those of respected institutions. How old are you? 12, 13?
    3
  6027.  @alexsilent5603  OK, please provide similar analysis prepared by Russia's analyst friends that puts Russia in the top spot in media freedom. I know you're an extremely dedicated Putin fanboy, but that doesn't make you an analyst. Not too long ago, you made the preposterous claim that Russia is the second strongest economy in the world, right after China. Also then you couldn't produce anything to back it up. You're a fanboy all right.
    3
  6028.  @dav_did5609  For your info, Taiwan's territorial claims don't carry weight either when these freedom of navigation missions are conducted. The same goes for Indonesian, Vietnamese and Philippine claims over the South China Sea.
    3
  6029.  @Leed831100  Be that as it may, the reality is that Chinese aircraft and ships harass foreign ones, and not the other way around. Again, this is not about the US. It's about China's shenanigans against foreign vessels, Murican and whatnot. Give your fixation with the US a rest.
    3
  6030. If you make them that way...
    3
  6031. Lately, Russia has refrained from imposing counter-sanctions, because it would just exacerbate Russia's already dire position. Of course, Putin is trying to put a brave face on it. Russia not intervening militarily in Ukraine? Are you having a laugh?
    3
  6032. No need. They can't get off the ship without a visa.
    3
  6033. Aren't you a loathesome fellow, but we don't expect better from Krembots/Putin fanboys.
    3
  6034. What a misguided comment. What have the Druze done to Israel?
    3
  6035. Britain already is. Do the Houthis, who're Iran's proxy, ring a bell?
    3
  6036.  @jimmybutler3728  You're just a silly self-important conspiracy theorist. J & J's vaccine not only originates from Europe, but also, it is produced in Europe.
    3
  6037.  @jimmybutler3728  So "Jimmy", English isn't your first language, eh?
    3
  6038. I've seen that in the past. Wait...
    3
  6039. Could you please rework your conspiracy theory so that it features Reptilians? It dreary and plain without.
    3
  6040.  @bigmoe9856  No doubt, setting your own prices will give you a great sense of pride, but without trade deals in place, your end-customers will see different ones.
    3
  6041.  @bigmoe9856  And who might "we" be? The UK doesn't have time. BoJo painted himself into a corner by setting an unrealistic time limit for trade talks with the EU. It's a paradox, isn't it, this enduring US inferiority complex.
    3
  6042.  @scottwebb4722  I'm a Euro, your supreme silliness.
    3
  6043. Toendra is over het algemeen zeer drassig.
    3
  6044. How on earth can you spin this as a masterstroke by Putin? It's a major setback for the megalomaniac. Are you sure you aren't a Putin troll at heart?
    3
  6045.  @lolidasterner414  I'm not impressed with your assessment. Geography alone dictates that Finland is the shield, and Sweden its strategic depth. You may not be aware of the nature of the Finnish Gulf and the northern parts of the Baltic Sea in general, but it's not conducive to large-scale naval operations. What remains are land forces, where Finland dwarfs Sweden. Naïvely, Sweden gutted theirs, abolishing conscription in the mistaken belief that Russia had mended its ways. They've reintroduced conscription now, but their land forces remain a shadow of their former selves. I've trained and served with Swedes, and while in other respects they regard us as their little brothers, the same can't be said about our military.
    3
  6046. ​ @wendysmith2255  What leads you to conclude an EU army is about to take on America? It seems you're the one harbouring childish fantasies. Also, don't count on the "English" Commonwealth siding with the UK on anything. Britain's dominance in the Commonwealth is long gone and never to return. Besides, other Commonwealth members wished for Britain to remain in the EU. If they're forced to choose between the two, Blighty has a problem.
    3
  6047. Uh, are you aware there's a North Korea and a South Korea? Your repeated references to mere "Korea" suggest you aren't.
    3
  6048. We should ask the Turks. They bought the S-400 to counter their own(!) F-16s. Some sources report that Turkey is not happy with the S-400.
    3
  6049. Argentinians have been converting their currency at every possible juncture. You needn't tell them that.
    3
  6050. @@Rick-sk7fw It did occur to me that this is a Canadian news channel. In fact, that's the reason why I posed my question. Let's say we have an African warning Canadians about the dangers of contracting malaria in Canada. If I ask why this is relevant, I bet you'd chime in saying that it surely must be so, because the Africans know the disease from bitter experience.
    3
  6051.  @trolleyob  The Tridents act as a nuclear deterrent, but they are of precious little value in a conventional war like Ukraine's, that much is clear.
    3
  6052. Same Abrahamic god, Mr. Biblebanger. Copts, who're Christians, even refer to their god as 'Allah'.
    3
  6053. Both countries just had an election. The far right didn't emerge victorious in either country. You're not one for democracy, are you? Absolute monarchy, is it?
    3
  6054. The UN was invited to Mali, and now, disinvited. Let's see if there's another invitation after Mali has its umpteenth military coup. Which should be in 3... 2... 1...
    3
  6055.  @nvmffs  Capable? Let's review what happened. The Yanks off an Iranian general, the Iranians get their revenge by killing 130 of their own.
    3
  6056.  @sawtooth808  That's certainly a concern. It doesn't bode well either that the president, who is relatively powerful in Poland, is a PiS collaborator.
    3
  6057.  @olexkutikov9839  There was no need for a referendum. East Germany had just had its first truly democratic election, which has clearly won by pro-unification parties. Their newly-elected Volkskammer promptly voted to join the Federal Republic of Germany. The latter's Bundestag approved the application overwhelmingly. In both cases, there was a very clear supermajority, so no one -- until you, that is -- has questioned the popular support for German reunification on either side. But maybe you're forgiven for not understanding the workings of a representative democracy. I hear that the Russian State Duma is a rubber-stamp affair.
    3
  6058. Amateur hour in the White House is a permanent fixture under Trump.
    3
  6059. Let me get this straight. Thanks to their superior intelligence, Russian troops haven been driven back on all fronts?
    3
  6060. Is she a Reptilian, too, you think?
    3
  6061. It's always the last refuge of frustrated Leavers, isn't it, claiming that you're happy to see the back of Scotland. I hope you're equally happy to see the backs of Northern Ireland and Wales. I wouldn't be surprised if London punches the eject button, too.
    3
  6062. What has changed?
    3
  6063. @Холст Масло McDonald's is effectively closing, even if Tasty-and-Moldy takes over its assets.
    3
  6064. And isn't he doing a grand job, too, securing the means to send the Orcs packing?
    3
  6065.  @Adam-rj9wz  Then you've naively fallen for the far-right narrative. The current Polish government may not be strictly far-right, but populist they certainly are, and only too keen on securing the support of the far-right. No surprise there: populists are per definition opportunists. Poland, like any other sensible country, attempts to attract foreign investment. The Germans are next door, in case you failed geography. It's an irrefutable fact that Poland draws heavily from the EU's cohesion and agriculture funds. Poland is even the biggest cohesion beneficiary, receiving funds -- without having to pay any of it back -- to the tune of 82.5€ billion per year. Infrastructure -- the basis for your conspiracy theory -- only accounts for a fourth of it.
    3
  6066.  @itsabunchofrandomlettersajdtni  How about other beehives you'd like to stick your nose into?
    3
  6067.  @АртёмЛепехов  No, why? I make sure not to have any business dealings with Russia, directly and indirectly. Also, I make it a point to boycott companies that still do business in Russia.
    3
  6068. Don't be coy. You are what you are.
    3
  6069.  @sergiocampa5281  The UN Charter has an article, the very first one in fact, about the right to self-determination. Constitutional hurdles are just that, hurdles. I wonder for how long Spain can deny the Catalans their right to express their desire for independence in this day and age. There have been and there will be more such referendums -- Scotland, Northern Ireland and Belgium come to mind -- and the Catalans will rightfully ask themselves why they're denied a choice in the matter.
    3
  6070.  @SecularSlayer1984  Tut-tut. We got -- and are getting -- quite a few IT pros from Russia. They get to rub shoulders with Indian IT pros, also lured to Finland by our booming IT industry.
    3
  6071. Saddam's tanks were easy enough to pick off in the desert, but the same could not be said about Milosevic's tanks in Kosovo. Despite an intensive aerial bombing campaign, NATO destroyed embarrassingly few of the latter. In a heavily forested environment, camouflage literally grows on trees.
    3
  6072.  @beautifulmind1125  NATO hasn't put any nuclear missiles "over your house." If you want to berate someone for stationing nuclear missiles in Europe, berate the Russians and their Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad.
    3
  6073. Present it already, "Dale".
    3
  6074. As if. Britain is as rich as a caveman standing on top of an oil deposit that he can never get at.
    3
  6075.  @danielbailey5849  Europe has been at war ever since Russia invaded Ukraine. Did you fail geography?
    3
  6076. So, why doesn't Putin withdraw? He holds the key to peace.
    3
  6077. If you're a masochist, sure.
    3
  6078. Let's explore that statement. Respectively, Germany and the Netherlands accounted for €33.2 billion and €6.6 billion in EU budget contributions in 2021. The EU budget was €164.2 billion. I think you need to report back to your long-suffering math teacher for re-education.
    3
  6079. As if Russians brands have been able to compete in anything abroad. Exceptionally, Stolichnaya did for a while, but that, was PepsiCo's doing.
    3
  6080.  @dannybuoy138  The Finns especially know that you should never trust Russia, so they've never relied on Russian natgas, for instance. The Swedes have somehow retained their instincts, too. They did, however, neglect their defence, which means they had less choice in joining NATO now that Russia has once again shown itself in its true colours.
    3
  6081. These kids didn't choose their fate. Where's your humanity?
    3
  6082.  @annetoronto5474  I'd say you're blinded by hatred. Likewise, should I blame you or your forebears for the sexual abuse committed against indigenous children in Canada? These children aren't beyond help. A close eye should be kept on the parents, however. Finland, as a Nordic country, has the necessary child welfare resources.
    3
  6083.  @hjjiang7766  China lends money for development projects, brings in their own workforce. Predictably, the Africans prove unable to service said loans, after which China seizes collateral or otherwise puts the screws on the poor buggers. Europe offers development aid, charges nothing, employs locals. Spot the difference? Neo-colonialism, development aid?
    3
  6084.  @teqfreak  Het zou een leuke grap zijn als Koning Willem-Alexander tot premier werd benoemd. Erger dan Wilders kan het toch niet zijn. En Het Verhaal van Nederland - Oranje Nassau zou een interessante ontknoping krijgen.
    3
  6085. I take it you're a long-time prepper, who's been disappointed time after time.
    3
  6086.  @TheRealBillBob  Bourbon isn't all that popular in Europe, or Trump wouldn't shout his head off about the trade imbalance. Beside, binge drinking is more us a US phenomenon.
    3
  6087.  @aadanaadan9109  Oh, it's true enough. The HKSAR National Security Law considers acts of vandalism terrorism if the perp is a political activist.
    3
  6088.  @oizorref2615  Alas, your reading comp has not improved.
    3
  6089. You seem lost. Very lost.
    3
  6090.  @mistressfreezepeach  No, I'm saying you are childish with your 'no, you are' defence. You don't hear that often outside of kindergarten.
    3
  6091. Are you appealing to the Russians? Krasnodar Krai, where this behemoth came down, is controlled by them.
    3
  6092. Why would Ukraine spend a precious HIMARS rocket on a target that's easily within range of its howitzers? But you're right, I think the prisoners had interesting stories to tell -- about Russian atrocities.
    3
  6093.  @thematic3893  Oh, I'm suddenly every European now? Vice versa, do I get to pick and choose from your continent's past sins and hold you responsible as I see fit? As it happens, we endured colonialism ourselves. We never-ever imposed it on it anyone. Despite that we've pumped billions into development aid. Post-colonial rich man's guilt clearly doesn't apply. Also, I've never claimed that Africa doesn't belong to the Africans. You know full well that I meant your Africa's claimed support for Russia. It is a fact that of all the African nations, only Eritrea officially supports Russia. You could've claimed that Africa isn't democratic enough for the UNGA vote to represent the true will of the Africans, but as they say, we've got the governments we deserve. Kenya made it known that it sees clear similarities between Russia's actions in Ukraine and colonialism. It appears you condemn colonialism very selectively.
    3
  6094.  @rizkyadiyanto7922  90%? I'm assuming you're confidently referring to an opinion poll to that effect. Let's have it. Actually, we've been very critical of Israel mistreating the Palestinians. You're not keeping up with the news.
    3
  6095.  @margsomerville21  The EU exports more to Andorra than vice versa. Should we be overly concerned? Size matters, silly.
    3
  6096. How exactly do vast uninhabited areas and raw materials that it struggles to exploit work in Russia's favour?
    3
  6097.  @girijathesaviour9290  Ukraine's strategic value to Russia is secondary to the Ukrainians' right to self-determination. They're clearly in favour of joining both the EU and NATO rather than Putin's pathetic Eurasian Economic Union and his recently dusted-off CSTO. You're badly behind the times regarding Finland. The country has been in the EU for a quarter of a century and according to recent polls, a clear majority of Finns supports NATO membership. Its parliament is discussing NATO membership as we speak.
    3
  6098.  @AdamWeiss-v7l  Red Terror, too, was Lenin's doing.
    3
  6099. I'm not surprised that you've been colonised. The Ukrainians aren't as readily subjugated.
    3
  6100. ​ @bluenose007  Many a true word is spoken with electrodes to the scrotum. Slightly irrelevant, but Hale and Pace had it all figured out.
    3
  6101.  @alighieri1393  Bien sur, but it's nowadays known as the crypto-Nazi Rassemblement National. Don't you have Reptilians to hunt?
    3
  6102. *Kyiv. The problem is, Pootie-Poot's bargaining position is weak. Giving up would spell political suicide.
    3
  6103. Er, no, pith helmets aren't à la mode in Africa. The Vietnamese army wears them, but apart from that, no one.
    3
  6104. @Alexander Aw, you spilled the beans. You should've let the confusion set in properly with poor Aris.
    3
  6105. Israel already provided empirical evidence that the S-300 can't see the F-35 when the IAF took theirs on a sight-seeing tour over Damascus.
    3
  6106. IRIS-T. Keep up with the news.
    3
  6107. *Cut is the past participle, not cutted. Kimberley Process Certification Scheme. Read all about it. Hint: you may want to delete your comment to avoid further embarrassment.
    3
  6108. Read: you cannot risk annoying Russia because you think Russia is your BFF (but little do you know that Russia now has to be BFFs with China, which doesn't want its BFFs to be BFFs with India, too).
    3
  6109.  @clownadiannews8461  You need to read up on green steel. Completely fossil-free.
    3
  6110.  @ChuckHuffmaster  Very indirectly. Finland just didn't feature in US strategy in any meaningful manner. Finland was an afterthought for Germany, too.
    3
  6111. You're implying the EU is dead, while it's clearly alive and kicking. Unlike the populists, Merkel has something else to contribute that just criticism and scapegoating.
    3
  6112.  @myspace1876  You got the reference! And they say you bots don't have a brain on you!
    3
  6113.  @wolfswinkel8906  Russia was by far the most dominant of the Soviet republics, and Russia calls itself the successor state to the Soviet Union. Russia managed to land the USSR's permanent seat in the UN Security Council, too. We could reassess, of course, if it was justified. Do a web search for "list of wars involving Russia" and pay close attention to the 'Result' column. Plenty of red ink to mark defeats. I don't think you have your nose in history books much, but Chechnya was de facto independent after the First Chechen War. Rightfully, it's marked as a Russian defeat. The historical revisionism is all yours.
    3
  6114. Yours, I presume?
    3
  6115.  @petritutka  Perhaps you don't understand. The little green men pave the way for annexation.
    3
  6116. Rather, the US would be known as Canada.
    3
  6117.  @davidyolchuyev2905  Coercing the victim group to flee and preventing its return also fits the definition of ethnic cleansing. If Azerbaijan denies them re-entry, it's ethnic cleansing all right.
    3
  6118. You're funny. The gas has been there for hundreds of millions of years, yet you're afraid it will escape if not tapped.
    3
  6119.  @michaelweston1042  Louie would need to join the Orcs. He knows better.
    3
  6120.  @michaelkopischke2255  Do your homework. Soviet preference for indigenous designs doesn't negate the fact that they threw everything into the fight that they could lay their hands on. You could check out the formations that took part in the Battle of Kursk and what they were equipped with. Wikipedia is a good start.
    3
  6121.  @johnadam2885  Nope, no rout. You really need to acquaint yourself with military terminology. Let's go over the basics: rout /raʊt/ A panicked, disorderly and undisciplined retreat of troops from a battlefield, following a collapse in a given unit's command authority, unit cohesion and combat morale (esprit de corps).
    3
  6122.  @srijanme  Interesting statement. Your Arjun tank is heavily influenced by the Challenger series, up to the rifled gun and obsolescent HESH ammo, which the Brits are now wisely replacing on the Challenger 3. Glass houses and stones...
    3
  6123.  @npc2480  Duh, global consumption of hydrocarbons isn't increasing, but rather, decreasing. If Russia loses a customer, it cannot regain its market share without resorting to dumping. The other producers, whose exploitation costs are lower, will follow suit and outcompete Russia on price. Let's face it, Russia and Germany are stuck to one another energy-wise. Russia needs the oil and gas revenue as much as Germany needs the oil and gas. Over time, Germany can opt out from this toxic relationship. If they do, Russia, with its poorly diversified economy, is left with only poor options, like signing yet another bad gas deal with China.
    3
  6124.  @Wolfvain-qs5su  Sweden is cranking up production of 155mm shells quite nicely. In case you don't know, Sweden has a sizable defence industry. Bofors cannon are legend.
    3
  6125.  @trvman1  True. Let them wear out their rickety jet engines.
    3
  6126.  @jamesclapp6832  That's curious. Australia has never had any F-16s.
    3
  6127. Sure, why? Airbus was and is making a better plane in the A320neo.
    3
  6128.  @uchennaabosi7651  Poverty is a grave concern, even to foreigners. The Venezuelan exodus has taken on epic proportions. Venezuela's neighbours can attest.
    3
  6129. Explain. If you have the prerequisite language skills.
    3
  6130.  Dean Jones  The lizard people are at it again.
    3
  6131.  @alexsilent5603  You're grossly exaggerating when you boast about Russia possessing the "most advanced technologies." With a wonky commodity-driven economy, Russia simply can't afford to fund weapons research that would allow it to maintain a commanding lead in just about anything. The best Russia can hope for is to maintain some degree of credibility in some areas. If Russian technology were so superior, wouldn't that translate to high-tech civilian products that would sell like hot cakes? I can think of none. Anyhoo, nuclear weapons do nothing to advance a country economically, as North Korea and Iran can attest. The contrary is true, nukes are an unwelcome economic burden for those who're saddled with them. At the end of the day, all they're good for are holding humanity hostage. And in case you haven't realized it yet, Russia's space might is crumbling right before our eyes. YouTube is full of it.
    3
  6132. Erdogan has made himself appear god-like. Hubris before the fall.
    3
  6133. So, if Trump offers Greenland universal healthcare, as it enjoys already, how will he prevent medical mass tourism from the 50 US states to Greenland? Free higher education, same.
    3
  6134. I've got a more worthwhile cause for you. Vietnam is at 96th place in the Corruption Perception Index (higher numbers mean more corruption). European countries fare much better. If you need specifics, France is in 23rd place.
    3
  6135.  @Vietnam-mintDotCom  Get to it then, sport. Why bother with Europe? Corruption, while not completely eradicated here, is mostly a marginal phenomenon.
    3
  6136. Haven't you suffered enough Brexshit consequences already?
    3
  6137.  @branbran9129  If the ICC is a joke, then ICC indictees Putin and Netanyahu aren't laughing. Especially the latter is seething. Would you laugh, if you were liable to arrest in 123 countries? Or let me guess, you've never applied for a passport?
    3
  6138. The Norks are looking at all possible provocations with an electron microscope, in the hope of finding something.
    3
  6139. Islamists are keen about the USA either, buddy.
    3
  6140.  @justlittleoldme7283  Ukraine will never get through to Putin, but a palace coup is on the cards. Or a military coup.
    3
  6141. It's your megalomania speaking.
    3
  6142.  @orest7026  A war of attrition is above all a war between economies. Isolated Russia is not winning that one. In the past two years, Russia has seen half of its sovereign wealth fund go up in smoke -- literally -- in Ukraine. In another two years, it's off the cliff for Pootie & the Boys.
    3
  6143. Too much copium is making you imagine things, Marky. It's a known side effect. Lay off the stuff for a while.
    3
  6144.  @hanneliesnow7930  Explains the bellies on you lads.
    3
  6145.  @j7j7j7j7x  This is about France and Germany, not about the US. Not everything is about you.
    3
  6146. They could go old skool on Priggie and have him and his bodyguards suffer simultaneous heart attacks. It worked well on Putin's ex-boss, Anatoly Sobchak, and his two bodyguards.
    3
  6147.  @Wolfcamp555  There's more than one gas station. And it's not Europe that's going broke. Russia is.
    3
  6148. It's an indication of the poor quality of people they hire to work at your troll factory.
    3
  6149. @Can't mossad the Assad You're referring to less-armoured Turkish Leopard 2A4s, which the Turks helpfully turned into static targets.
    3
  6150. It's not such a big deal. The aircraft just needs to tell the missile "GO!" and it takes it from there. The Storm Shadow is pre-programmed on the ground.
    3
  6151.  @thodorisd5136  Is there a point to your comment? I couldn't locate it. Trias politica applies to the EU as well.
    3
  6152.  @bellevuebellevue8131  Sticks and stones, Belle. Try to make an argument instead.
    3
  6153. Ik heb een sterk vermoeden dat je ze straks weer welkom mag heten. Tenminste, wat de kabinetsformatie betreft.
    3
  6154. What do you think, is the perimeter of Kyiv longer or shorter than the combined length of Ukraine's northern and eastern borders?
    3
  6155.  @babblo1389  Bablo-Bubbles the Bot doesn't understand democracy.
    3
  6156. You make it sound like there's an international law that says mainland Chinese companies must have exclusive rights over the Taiwanese market. That is not the case. International law says contracts, even ill-advised ones like BioNTech's with Fosun, must be honoured. BioNTech have failed Taiwan and they're deservedly taking a PR beating over it. The PRC doesn't come out smelling like roses either, but I guess we're all used to the bad smell by now.
    3
  6157.  @simpdefendmlady6579  Pootieboy has managed to lose 900,000 of his citizens abroad, and the country isn't even being invaded. Don't sell him short!
    3
  6158. And Murica was a laggard, too.
    3
  6159.  @MarincaGheorghe  Early this year, 59% of Americans said both Biden and Trump are too old.
    3
  6160. Poland and Hungary are not your friends. Despite the UK's desperate attempts to curry favour with them, they've been unanimous with the rest of the EU in matters relating to Brexit.
    3
  6161.  @stevenmoens5427  We're talking about countries disappearing, not FN's commercial concerns.
    3
  6162. Aw. Brexiteer much?
    3
  6163.  @sardonumspa8113  The CFA franc is a voluntary arrangement. Some African countries have already left of their own accord. Some have even (re)joined. And there's a clear roadmap for replacing the West African CFA franc with the Eco, endorsed by France and the EU. I think you need to look for a better stick to try to beat France with.
    3
  6164.  @jirachi-wishmaker9242  Thanks for illustrating my point. Oh the embarrassment, if a permanent member of the UNSC were to state that a major war on this planet of ours is of no interest to them. Did someone suggest Ukraine for the UNSC? What did I miss?
    3
  6165.  @jirachi-wishmaker9242  Sure, India should have intervened as in taking a stance and condemning what amounts to an illegal war of aggression, something which the UN Charter specifically forbids. Hence, fence-sitters like India need not apply for a permanent seat on the UNSC.
    3
  6166. 'Going nuts', the expression goes. It is a shocker, and not just to France 24. Practically the whole world has its mouth ajar.
    3
  6167. WhiteCamry, you mean no waterboarding or Abu Ghraib-like shenanigans took place then?
    3
  6168. Russia thinks it's Russia, so the joke's on you.
    3
  6169.  @eedragonr6293  Oh dear, you're still making precious little sense. You'd better stick to VK.
    3
  6170.  @aluminium3574  So what about Libya, Iraq and Syria? We were in Iraq, training the Kurdish Peshmerga how to beat ISIS. That they did. What's your complaint?
    3
  6171.  @aluminium3574  I don't keep up with your silly conspiracy theories.
    3
  6172.  @harrietharlow9929  There's a reason for term limits. There's ample reason for age limits, too.
    3
  6173. We are, to the tune of 132 billion €. The USA, despite Trump's outlandish claims, is only at 114 billion €.
    3
  6174. Take it up with the EHCR. That's what it's for.
    3
  6175. Let's hear your conspiracy theory.
    3
  6176. Paranoia? All three have ample reason for concern. Labelling Russia as a treacherous neighbour is an understatement.
    3
  6177.  @TheKkpop1  Interesting "observation". German-owned Meyer just delivered the largest cruise ship ever. To the Americans.
    3
  6178. Punishing your customers isn't a sound tactic in my book.
    3
  6179.  @CutieSenussi  Uh, where's your overview that puts things right?
    3
  6180. I'm sorry if your Indianapolis is unimpressive, but if it helps, I can think of even larger unimpressive places in the US. France 24, like other serious media so far, is unable to verify the Ukrainian claims. That explains the 'Kyiv says' -- it's a standard disclaimer. In other words, they're not rejecting the claims either.
    3
  6181. Sage advice. You must be familiar with the work of a certain Captain Obvious.
    3
  6182. You're forgetting that Russia and its close pal China, who can't get enough of the war, are in the UN Security Council, vetoing every effort to put a stop to it. The UNGA, however, couldn't be clearer about what they collectively think of Russia's military aggression.
    3
  6183. Kadyrov has switched sides once before, and a repeat performance may not be long in coming.
    3
  6184. The stoopid duopoly is tearing the US apart.
    3
  6185. Fine, but have you considered that it would require a certain degree of masochism on the EU's part to let the UK back in? Not sure the enthusiasm is there.
    3
  6186. And Zelenskyy is putting them to such great use, too. I feel your despair!
    3
  6187. Before Trump's presidency, you might've had a point.
    3
  6188. Relativeren, dat lukt je van geen kant.
    3
  6189.  @captainwin6333  Trololololl.
    3
  6190. I was about to write how the tables have turned, but come to think of it, Russia was right there, arm-in-arm with Germany, both invading Poland as per their infamous mutual non-agression pact (read: aggression pact) when WW2 started.
    3
  6191.  @markbowden7238  So, is self-delusion a good coping strategy?
    3
  6192. ​ @gilanthegrey  Feel free to elaborate on your "charge". The what, the when and the where, please.
    3
  6193.  @АртёмЕфремов-х7ю  Perhaps you should start proceedings through the UN to have Crimea declared independent. Putin hasn't done you any favours in that respect.
    3
  6194. India's been the biggest democracy in the world for ages, bud.
    3
  6195. If Putin pulls the wings off 100 flies, will he be seen as a strongman again?
    3
  6196. Try transmitting to Putin.
    3
  6197.  @andreaaltan3982  The UN Security Council gave its blessing to NATO's mission in Afghanistan. As a permanent member, Russia voted in favour time after time. Facts are a biatch, aren't they?
    3
  6198. Don't get too comfortable. The moment the Brits realise they can't get a Canada-style free trade agreement, to say nothing of the Canada+++ FTA they think they're entitled to, they'll do a reverse spin-off where they'll become a Canadian province.
    3
  6199. It's 13 degrees C and mostly cloudy in St. Petersburg, isn't it?
    3
  6200. Russia is demilitarizing itself. As a case in point, it's down to one parade tank, and parades is what it does best.
    3
  6201.  R U WAKING UP R U  I provided arguments, you retaliated with opinions. And I'm not debunking your NWO conspiracy theories. That's a job for a licensed therapist.
    3
  6202. You're funny. Canada and Mexico would never join Russia in antagonising the USA. From time to time, they have issues with their overbearing neighbour, but you're having a wet dream if you think they'd rather side with Russia. No, Russia can only befriend dictators who're at the end of their tether, and only if they lavish them with arms they can barely afford themselves.
    3
  6203.  @GundamReviver  If -- or rather, when -- Putin has to withdraw from Ukraine with his tail tucked firmly between his legs, Ukraine will have achieved a defensive victory. Next, Putin will have to use his troops to stem the protests in Russia. His already demoralised troops won't have the stomach for it. Exit Putin. Then victory will be complete.
    3
  6204. More importantly than China, the Soviet Union sided with the Norks, too. Soviet bloc countries were involved as well. 16 UN members played an active role in the fighting, but some provided only a token force, like Luxembourg with its 44 troops.
    3
  6205. Serbian much? Your bitterness is legend.
    3
  6206. Don't you worry. Orban is quite the Trump fanboy. And a Putin fanboy. Sycophancy works on both.
    3
  6207.  @Callummullans  No more cod for you.
    3
  6208. The reason is that two out of the five permanent seat-holders in the UNSC are autocracies. Can you guess which ones?
    3
  6209.  @wolfswinkel8906  Those war crimes would be the likes for which Putin is sought in 123 countries (124 when Armenia signs the Rome Statute).
    3
  6210. There's a sound reason why Kaja Kallas got picked to represent the EU on foreign affairs and security and not smiley-boy professor-president Stubb and his three things.
    3
  6211.  @jpht1964  The Fokker D.XXI became obsolete very quickly in Finland, too. It could only hold its own against the Soviet I-16 and I-153 by diving away from them. I've met several war-time Finnish fighter pilots, all of whom spoke fondly of the Brewster Buffalo and the Bf-109, but none extolled the Fokker.
    3
  6212.  @boydcrowther285  'Fraid not. It's 15 years alone for using the word "war" instead of the approved "special military operation". She'll probably get another 10 years on top for hooliganism.
    3
  6213. You're in a very poor state economically. Better feed your poor for once.
    3
  6214. For your info, the US are a beginner when it comes to losing wars in Afghanistan. Russia has lost no less than three wars there, in 1926, 1929 and 1989. You'd think Russia would learn from its mistakes, but noooo...
    3
  6215.  @kirilld6206 I see you like to rewrite history like the Soviets before you. There was the the Polish-British Common Defence Pact, an annex to the Franco-Polish alliance. Casus foederis, in other words. Try looking up the term if it doesn't ring any bells.
    3
  6216.  @abrahamdozer6273  In the Winter War, the Red Army pushed barely trained conscripts across snow-covered fields, without skies or snowsuits. In granddad's words, the charging troops made no effort to take cover and barely fired their rifles. It was, as he described it, tantamount to mass murder. Fresh troops, perhaps, but professional, my foot.
    3
  6217. Rutte must remind Trump to jack up the US contribution to NATO, too, starting with the 2% target.
    3
  6218.  @pb5014  Did you expect Finland to blow up an unarmed tanker, full of highly-flammable fuel? Are you an armchair Rambo?
    3
  6219. It's work in progress. For now, €6.3 billion of Hungary's EU cohesion funding is frozen. I wouldn't rule out a suspension of Hungary's EU voting rights either, now that the once-powerful Visegrad Group is coming apart at the seams.
    3
  6220. @FriendlySmartMonkey Five rubles is four eurocents. Even a Krembot would balk at that.
    3
  6221.  @shahnavazvhora2286  So, the Soviet Union got a blank check from India, and for reasons unexplained, Putin gets to cash it in. It's like you felt deprived of a colonial master, needed a new one, and Putin got the job.
    3
  6222.  @csuporj  Not so. As demand withers, the oil price will drop to unprofitable levels for all but a few producers. Russia, with its highest production cost, will be among the first to close shop.
    3
  6223.  @jjefferyworboys8138  Nos paenitet (OK, not Roman, but I rarely get to show off my classical education).
    3
  6224. Nou, ik heb als halve Nederlander, halve Fin eerst mijn dienstplicht in Finland gedaan. Dat was razend interessant -- de motivatie zat er goed in bij de Finnen -- en het vak lag me wel, maar ik dacht dat ik als beroepsmilitair beter aan de slag kon gaan in mijn geboorteland Nederland. Dienstplicht in Nederland bleek een ramp. Niks motivatie. Zelfs de leiding had er amper zin meer in. De andere dienstplichtigen vonden mij een uitslover, terwijl ik juist mijn best deed om niet op te vallen. Gelukkig wilden de Finnen mij ondertussen voor de VN-vredesmacht in Libanon, dus ik ben met de noorderzon vertrokken. Mijn ouders kregen de Marechaussee voor de deur, maar ik moest toen als meerderjarige sowieso kiezen voor één nationaliteit, en het werd dus onverwacht de Finse. Ik heb ondertussen mijn Nederlands paspoort weer terug, maar op militair vlak ben ik alsnog alle respect kwijt voor de Nederlandse krijgsmacht. Als het tot een treffen komt, dan weet ik waar ik moet zijn.
    3
  6225. The plural form of 'this' is 'these', bot.
    3
  6226.  @frankthetank5708  Hungary is getting there.
    3
  6227. The EU is not a theocracy. You confused it with Iran, silly.
    3
  6228. Charles III? Right you are.
    3
  6229. Is there a particular contingent you would like to blame or is it all of them, from all the 46 countries that have participated to date?
    3
  6230. ​ @yanivgluck9549  Are you actually suggesting that Lebanon had or has a UNIFIL contingent in Lebanon? You're a hoot!
    3
  6231. "Me abonnement" zegt genoeg.
    3
  6232. You're a known bot.
    3
  6233. So Muslim hearts thrive on human rights abuses? Kadyrov sure does.
    3
  6234. @Malia Kharotai If so, your beef is with the thread starter above. Kadyrov is notorious for killing and torturing.
    3
  6235. After a professional army lavished with money, the British Army, failed dismally?
    3
  6236. America did pioneering work in cell phone technology, but I remember the days when Americans were absolute laggards in the adoption of smartphones.
    3
  6237. What are you on about? "10 months" and "not selling weapons in warzones"? The first arms shipments went out mere days after Ukraine became a warzone, and they were gifted, not sold, as they still are.
    3
  6238. Have you been into conspiracy theories for long or is it a recent hobby?
    3
  6239. Interestingly, 146 out of the 193 countries that we have on this planet recognise the West Bank as part of the State of Palestine. Expect a jump in the number soon, as the whole EU comes to recognise it.
    3
  6240.  @Geckotr  Internationally recognised? I doubt that very much. Especially neighbouring countries have age-old names for one another, which may differ wildly from what the countries in question call themselves. Turkey may insist on being called Türkiye at the UN or in the Olympics, but by which name we refer toTurkey is our business.
    3
  6241.  @セ千尺丂セ  So Serbia has a war criminal for a brother. I can see why it's not a concern for Serbia, considering Serbia's recent past.
    3
  6242.  @johnsmith-lb4mo  Did you miss the part about "Iranian targets in Syria"?
    3
  6243.  @bryandimery6509  Who else could be humiliated other than Russia? Use your head. Oh, our economy is growing. And Russia's economy is "growing" because it has cooked the books. Lying to yourself is counter-productive, but so is the whole war special military operation.
    3
  6244. Exactly -- if you're in the market for more Lebensraum, because the West is having none of that.
    3
  6245.  @Wolfcamp555  You'd be surprised how much sea cargo bound for the US passes through the Red Sea. This goes especially for US West Coast. Besides, if spot prices for shipping shoot up, the US will suffer along with the rest of us.
    3
  6246. Which book would that be, Mao's Little Red Book or Xi Jinping Thought?
    3
  6247. Fat chance. There's a complete ban on capital punishment in the EU.
    3
  6248. You're giving way too much credit to the US. Their erstwhile trade with Russia was dwarfed by that of the EU. It's the EU that's putting the thumbscrews on Russia.
    3
  6249. Yup, blame the victim. Putin can end this any time.
    3
  6250.  @Tpry  "Immigrate out" -- that's an interesting choice of words. If Trump wants the Gazans out, why not "immigrate them out" to the US?
    3
  6251.  @TheRealBillBob  Have you seen a doctor?
    3
  6252.  @zhugeliang3905  Pull the other one. You'll toe the party line or your VPN privileges will be suspended.
    3
  6253. Ze heeft altijd een zitkussen mee. Handig.
    3
  6254. Putin has no reason to laugh. He signed his own political death warrant on Feb 24.
    3
  6255. So, you didn't like this topic, so you decided to switch topics.
    3
  6256.  @michaelbocchino9887  Democrats as opposed to Fascists or what?
    3
  6257. Aren't you Turks providing that yourselves, with American weapons to boot?
    3
  6258.  @asmirann3636  You're encouraging a Great Replacement conspiracy theorist. It's almost as bad as psyching up a psychopath to do his worst.
    3
  6259.  @andrewareva4605  It's opened wider than yours already.
    3
  6260. Sweden's military reserve is rather pathetic. The 2010-2017 conscription holiday left a huge hole, but even after reactivation, the 4,000 Swedish conscripts that are trained annually stand in stark contrast to Finland's 27,000 -- and Finland has a population half the size of Sweden's. It looks like Sweden is up to its old tricks again -- once again, you're preparing to fight to the last Finn.
    3
  6261. The military-industrial complex also keeps a lot of potential and borderline criminals off the streets by inducting them into the armed forces. It's a social welfare program, too.
    3
  6262.  @hizzlemobizzle  Well, maybe reorganize the armed forces along the lines of the Salvation Army then. The white nationalists can still get their kicks from the uniforms.
    3
  6263. Aren't you a keen student of history. Relevance?
    3
  6264. Not only that, the dump-and-burn maneuver was beyond spectacular. I've seen Royal Australian Air Force F-111s do them at air shows, but their performances looked like lighting a fart. This MiG-31 just kept spewing fire from its backside.
    3
  6265. Don't make stuff up. Our so-called Charter of Fundamental Rights explicitly prohibit discrimination based on race, which means we can't grant or deny residence or citizenship based on race. A US citizen with 100% European ancestry is exactly in the same position as an African with no European roots whatsoever.
    3
  6266.  @Bill-ed1hr  Stop playing silly buggers. And Ukraine is not out for territorial conquest in good old imperialist Russian tradition. Russia is.
    3
  6267. Uh, the Baltic countries are the EU -- for their part. And it's not like the EU controls the national grids -- the members do, and they see value interconnecting their power grids. Peddle your conspiracy theories elsewhere.
    3
  6268.  @daniel8728  Thanks for the invite, but I've had my fill of the US, including Florida. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, yadda yadda yadda.
    3
  6269. Let me guess, Russian nuclear suicide? Your silly insinuations are getting very old.
    3
  6270. If so, it's unlikely that any single party would gain an outright majority, so coalition governments would become the norm. The added benefit would be that the parties would have to keep a civil tongue in their heads, because you don't want to burn your bridges come next election. We've seen what a lack of civility has brought the far right yokels in Europe. The other parties wrap a nice cordon sanitaire around them.
    3
  6271. No, but its own citizens may wanna know.
    3
  6272. ​ @kristjanvendelin3566  You fail to understand that the judiciary only interprets the law -- it doesn't make the law. That's the job of duly elected representatives of the people. If they so choose, they can pass laws that forbid convicted felons from holding office. If the applicable laws are in conflict with "the people's will", those laws needs changing. A democracy without rule of law is a mobocracy.
    3
  6273.  @Lawrence4000-s3k  Are you sure the US bases outside of NATO's area of responsibility come absolutely free? Or the US Pacific Fleet: 250,000 Navy sailors and Marines, 2,000 aircraft and 200 ships? Are they unpaid volunteers and freebie kit? Besides, US defence strategy says that the US must be able to fight two major wars simultaneously and a few minor ones thrown in for good measure. I'm actually being generous when I suggest 2 as the divisor.
    3
  6274. It could be worse. This summer, a walrus took a wrong turn and ended up in the Finnish Gulf. The beast succumbed to malnutrition.
    3
  6275.  Joseph Stalin  You're not as funny as you think. In the eyes of the world, Ukraine's borders haven't changed. Not in 2014, not in 2022, not ever.
    3
  6276. It's OK to talk. Besides, the US has to keep its NATO partners happy or they'll start looking at alternative security arrangements.
    3
  6277.  @crazychinese7315  It's the German authorities who've been delaying it. BTW, Germany is the name of the country. German is the demonym.
    3
  6278.  @crazychinese7315  Fair enough, but there are other things at play that you don't understand either. Russia can deliver all the gas that Germany needs without Nordstream 2, but it chooses not to, as part of an effort to extort Germany into opening the pipeline.
    3
  6279. The US doesn't have anything to steal it to. It's like they'd steal plans for a car without having a single car factory.
    3
  6280. Prigozhin has special dispensation from Putin. Putin likes to keep the military on their toes. Igor Girkin may be in for a bit of tough love, however.
    3
  6281. You're suffering from hyperopia, a.k.a. far-sightedness. Worry not, it's easily corrected with glasses.
    3
  6282.  @tstocker6926  Haha, you believe in fairy tales. The few remaining European royals rein, but do not rule.
    3
  6283. You're quite the alarmist. Forming a government takes time, especially a coalition government. In the past, your northern neighbours, the Belgians, have taken more than a year to do so. The Fifth Republic should make way for the Sixth, with France adopting a true parliamentary system with proprotional representation. Coalition governments would become the norm.
    3
  6284. Here's an idea: let the Ukrainians decide for themselves what they want to be.
    3
  6285. Both economies, China's and Germany's, are sputtering. Which one are you referring to?
    3
  6286.  @jin_asap  China, as a developing country with still a lot of catching up to do, is necessarily geared for high growth. If the expected growth doesn't materialise, companies will suffer. China has temporalily managed to stimulate the economy with deficit spending, but the government readily admits that it's no recipe for long-term success. It also doubtful if China's growth figures are completely based in truth. Germany, as a highly developed country, has a plateauing economy, which can't be compared to China's. Apples and oranges, buddy.
    3
  6287. Feel free to chum up with China at all cost. Speaking of cost, it will cost you Arunachal Pradesh. For starters.
    3
  6288.  @garmbryhewwert7059  Inexperienced? So far, Ukraine has put its own artillery -- limited in numbers as it may be -- to good use. Ukraine is claiming that its artillery has accounted for more Russian losses than the much-hyped Javelin. It has no reason to downplay the effectiveness of the Javelin.
    3
  6289.  @dandun30  Russia needs to reveal the evidence of that, because no one else has seen any.
    3
  6290. The EU sets conditions for membership. Present-day Russia doesn't even come close to meeting them.
    3
  6291. As a dual national, I was a MAG (a.k.a. M240) gunner in the Royal Netherlands Army and I remain an active reservist in the Finnish Defence Forces, where we have the PKM. It's potayto, potahto. I suppose I prefer the PKM because of its lighter weight.
    3
  6292. Putin, while a young KGB officer in East Berlin, was reportedly traumatised by the downfall of East Germany. Now the nightmares are becoming reality again.
    3
  6293.  @anotheranon3118  Please, let him. I derive great pleasure from the despair of Putler bots.
    3
  6294.  @gfys756  Oh, they do. Our aid has never been returned.
    3
  6295.  @gfys756  But we're not being kicked out. You're one to jump to conclusions, aren't you?
    3
  6296.  @BeatriceManlabao  I'm not sure they'd take me. And I've served humanity already, in Lebanon and Kosovo. How about you, what have you done for humanity? Don't upvote your own posts. It's seedy.
    3
  6297.  @she825  I'm old enough to remember how the USSR was supposed to last forever. And then it suddenly imploded.
    3
  6298.  @sackykamati7071  You're practically begging Ukraine -- in a YouTube comment section of all places -- to agree to peace talks that would save Putin's face and allow Russia to keep parts of Ukraine as a reward for its aggression. And you blame Ukraine, which has a UN-mandated right to defend itself, for militarily resisting aggression? It's painfully clear who the warmonger here is. If Russia weren't the warmonger, it would cut its losses and withdraw. No more war.
    3
  6299.  @domenicaantje  Dems voter? You really are as thick as they come. I'm not eligible to vote in US elections.
    3
  6300. Russia and North Korea are at odds with international law by instigating and/or engaging in military aggression -- that's what this is about. Defensive arrangements, like NATO and the military co-operation between the US and South Korea, are something else.
    3
  6301. Poor Putin believed that the Ukrainians would welcome his troops with flowers. Their greatest feat of arms was supposed to be throwing a military parade in Kyiv. Putin's Potemkin army is really good at that. Anything else, not so much.
    3
  6302. The words you're looking for are 'consulate' and 'Syria'.
    3
  6303.  @prajwal1341  Which war did Boris start?
    3
  6304.  @josephlandry8787  Actually, the US would have even more money to spend on the military -- should you so choose -- if it were to introduce universal healthcare. The case for universal healthcare is ironclad.
    3
  6305.  @piotr.leniec-lincow5209  Russia, a powerhouse in airplane manufacturing? Then why are virtually all of its passenger jets Western-made?
    3
  6306. Sure enough, the French LeClerc has an autoloader, but because its better design, the tank is not susceptible to the T-72's jack-in-the-box effect.
    3
  6307.  Vince  Sure, and to us Americans and Canadians are indistinguishable.
    3
  6308.  Vince  Flemish, bud.
    3
  6309. Looks more like an infantry fighting vehicle than a proper tank. It makes a decent transformer, I'll give you that.
    3
  6310. In the eyes of the world, Russia never acquired them in the first place.
    3
  6311.  @Worldaffairslover  Western military analysts? You'll want to be a bit more specific than that. Also, it's not a military matter. Diplomatic recognition is key. Russia isn't getting it.
    3
  6312. Make that freedom to follow EU directives, without having a say in them.
    3
  6313. It seems like they've forgotten more than they learned.
    3
  6314. What's unjustifiable is that he acts like a petulant child as a result. Oh well, the results could be just as disastrous if he were in a good mood, like promising Putin Alaska or something.
    3
  6315.  @rdallas81  Russia sure needs some place to store its petrochemicals. Russian fossil fuel sales just collapsed.
    3
  6316. Yup, China is callous that way. Human suffering doesn't concern them all that much.
    3
  6317. Don't get your knickers in a bunch. The battlefield of Europe has moved east, and that's were the Yanks are heading, too.
    3
  6318.  @nikocat2008  The rule of law, specifically? Do elaborate.
    3
  6319.  @akuma7969  There are emergency shelters for 85% of the population. In major urban centres like Helsinki, it's over 100%. In sparsely populated areas people won't have the benefit of shelters, but these areas are far less likely to suffer nuclear strikes.
    3
  6320. Super-size meatballs certainly aren't going to solve the obesity crisis.
    3
  6321. Let me guess, you're the submissive type.
    3
  6322. I suppose it matters what you've experienced while in combat.
    3
  6323.  @summer031977  Put up then. Tell us about your military career (branch, specialty, rank, deployments).
    3
  6324. Even if they see can them, it'll be interesting to see how the Russians counteract Challenger 2s that fire their accurate HESH rounds from beyond the Russians' range. When hit, older Soviet-era armour will act like a shaken snow globe, except that the particles swirling inside are jagged pieces of metal.
    3
  6325.  @rathindrasarkar3238  India also feel.
    3
  6326.  @soundscape26  The only explanation I can think of is Russia's zero medal haul at the Olympics. Oh well, Russia should've respected the Olympic Truce.
    3
  6327. Iran isn't Arab. Persian.
    3
  6328.  @CHMichael  Government indebtedness is a guilty pleasure of most developed countries. In other words, we can make the same excuse.
    3
  6329.  @meharihabtemariam3035  A loan is bad if it the issuing bank aims to repossess your house no matter what. Were you born yesterday?
    3
  6330.  @ifumie3267  It's a relief that no one ever will pass the nuclear football to you.
    3
  6331. That plot of land must be evil. But what about the people?
    3
  6332. Your Brexit Party was very keen to get in, but by all means, leave already.
    3
  6333. Aren't Texans very religious yet they're the worst affected? I spot a paradox.
    3
  6334. You're confused. It's about 25 EU members reprimanding two wayward members, who're now acting out like the little unruly children that they are. Don't keep your hopes up about direct free trade deals with either country -- they'd have to be booted out first.
    3
  6335. Please give away Kashmir and Ladakh to Pakistan and China so you can enjoy peace, too. For a little while, at least.
    3
  6336.  @ultonian63  Not quite true. This Nata wanted English lessons from me, but I wouldn't do it for free. We didn't come to an agreement.
    3
  6337. Not really. Poland erased a big chunk of the goodwill it has earned by energetically supporting Ukraine. Politicians understand the value of populism with an election looming, but PiS is pushing it.
    3
  6338. The bots are frantic. There's a recruitment drive at the St Petersburg troll factory. They're deciding in whose hands the pen is mightier than the sword. No prizes for guessing that swordsmen get transfer orders to Ukraine.
    3
  6339. The problem here is that the transgressing party is RUSADA, the Russian state-controlled anti-doping agency. Putin brought this on himself -- he let the athletes down, big time.
    3
  6340.  @in-my-view  So, in your book, court officers go around arresting people or, in the UN's ICJ's case, arresting nations?
    3
  6341. If you take the last century or so, Russia is not exactly a poster boy for political stability. I can name many democracies that coasted through the same period without much shock to their system.
    3
  6342.  @GaBeeLuv  We should let the UN General Assembly have its say about the justification of Russia invading of Ukraine. Oh, we have already. The UNGA overwhelmingly told Russia to pull the other one and make itself scarce from Ukraine.
    3
  6343.  @HolisticHealthEducation  So, you still think a Nobel Peace Prize nomination has some merit. Nuff said.
    3
  6344.  @Daniel-gc9ws  The A10 was designed and built to knock out Russian tanks rolling westward. Now the opportunity presents itself, and they can't be used?
    3
  6345.  @jerromedrakejr9332  The crux of the matter is that the Sukhoi Superjet demonstrably suffers from serious technical issues. That's a recipe for disaster. You can blame all and sundry for it, but the fact remains.
    3
  6346.  @geoeconomics3067  Yes it does. The EU is a union of democratic states. If you're not democratic, you've got no business being in the EU.
    3
  6347.  @stefanolov  Except to the EU. Sweden got a bit hasty there.
    3
  6348.  @gdiwolverinemale4th  Joe here has 17 thumbs up and you, zero. Just sayin'.
    3
  6349.  @lundqvjrl9359  Don't you get that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages? It's claimed that smoking lessens the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, but it's definitely a fact that smokers are far more likely to die from lung cancer, emphysema and heart disease than succumbing to Parkinson's. If you believe your own nonsense, you should become a smoker -- if you aren't already.
    3
  6350.  @lundqvjrl9359  Both the pros and cons of hydroxychloroquine in preventing Covid-19 are somewhat sketchy still. We have to go by the little information that we have, and that information doesn't favour the use of hydroxychloroquine. It appears you're keen to accept the pros, but you're just as keen to discount the cons. That suggest to me that snake oil salesmen couldn't wish for a better customer than you. Your analogy is skewed. Terminal cancer patients are hardly comparable to healthy persons who may never contract Covid-19. Even if they do, they're bound to make a full recovery.
    3
  6351.  @Solder-of-Empire  Is one of those subs the former guided missile cruiser Moskva?
    3
  6352.  @FabianMacGintyONeill  I'm sure my great-granddad would've agreed. He was a keen hunter, so I'm sure he appreciated the more common ammo.
    3
  6353. Don't be a drama queen. The French love to riot.
    3
  6354.  @marcust123  You're muddying the waters. He'll be locked up in what is euphemistically called a 'school home' (koulukoti) in Finland. Its international counterpart is a juvenile detention centre. In Finland, such "homes" are run by social services, but the regime there is very similar to that of juvies worldwide. Nothing wrong with trying to fix him with therapy. And if that proves impossible, there are other institutions that cater to adults, too. When he's an adult, of course.
    3
  6355.  @billcipherproductions1789  Be that as it may, it's not the UK deciding, but the people of Ireland and Ireland alone. There's your period, again.
    3
  6356. Don't get your hopes up. It's more likely that a coalition government without the PVV will emerge than one with it. Not exactly a strong coalition, but one holding a majority nonetheless.
    3
  6357. In more democratic countries, someone who wins the popular vote is declared the winner. Trump's didn't, but was.
    3
  6358.  @yakov95000  A court would have to convict them of a crime -- not merely charge them -- in order for them to be deemed criminals. Innocent till proven guilty, eh?
    3
  6359. Samo-samo. I wonder if today's kids have had MAD properly explained to them. Russian politicians struggle to grasp the concept as well.
    3
  6360.  @christinamoxon  Thanks for confirming my point. Charles is no political leader. He's a figurehead.
    3
  6361.  @Putin_Playbook_12345  Considering that the US has been the keenest developed country to outsource manufacturing to China, it would only be just. It's fair to say that the US has burdened China with its greenhouse gas emissions.
    3
  6362. This has very little to do with democracy. Syria is ranked 164th in the Democracy Index. That's three rungs up from North Korea, which occupies the bottom spot.
    3
  6363.  @ruotuz  The US didn't bring any kind of democracy to Syria, not intentionally nor unintentionally. How you arrived at the latter will probably forever remain a mystery, because I suspect you'll never be able to explain it in a humanly intelligible manner.
    3
  6364.  @gwtpictgwtpict4214  Read the whole thread. You were (unwittingly?) lending credence to a posited theory that Finland is actively ignoring unflattering aspects of its war-time past. There's no indication of that. On the contrary, Finland should be applauded for its brutal honesty. Only the Germans out-self-criticize the Finns, but they have more material to work with.
    3
  6365. What gave you the idea that we're neutral in the Ukraine war? Every EU country gives aid to Ukraine, and with the exceptions of Hungary and Austria, weapons, too.
    3
  6366. Putin, congratulations... what, too soon? No harm done, literally everyone knows the outcome already.
    3
  6367. Why is it that some republics get top marks for governance then? Also, half of the top 10 democracies in the world are republics, and the other half constitutional monarchies. Democratically speaking, the distinction appears irrelevant. By the way, the UK isn't among the top 10 democracies.
    3
  6368.  @JamiuJilan  Weren't we discussing the Kerch bridge? You Krembots are so easily distracted.
    3
  6369. He just realised that his rockets aren't as pointy as Putler's. Kim's rocket designer is going to get it.
    3
  6370. Homophobes flock together.
    3
  6371. Then why did you invite the Americans back? They politely vacated Clark and Subic Bay when Corazon Aquino asked them equally politely. You can't seem to make up your mind about whether you want the Americans in or out. Correct me if am wrong, but isn't there a common interest in stemming Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea? Could it even be so that the Philippines' interests outweigh US interests in this respect? After all, the US isn't losing territory.
    3
  6372.  @iiMubarak  You truly are a gullible fool. We were in Afghanistan to build girls' schools and in Kosovo to police Kosovar extremists, so they wouldn't take their revenge on Serbian civilians. Try to get it through your thick troll skull that not everyone is American. It's the whole world against Russia, so don't be so one-sided.
    3
  6373.  @AlexP-mi2bc  In fact, Russia's battle-hardened veterans, if they weren't invalided out with missing limbs, are turning soft and mushy --- six feet under.
    3
  6374. But the one we're seeing is proving an enduring disaster. Not an example one wants to follow.
    3
  6375. If you were to flee, say, a flood, would you forfeit your right to return home? I have a hunch many will -- or at least, will want to, when circustanstances allow it. Let's see what Azerbaijan does.
    3
  6376.  @mo85710  Russian political apathy has paved the way for Putin's war of aggression in Ukraine. The Russians should've realised who they were dealing with ever since the Second Chechen War, but they squeezed their eyes shut.
    3
  6377.  @deise69  The Gibraltarians will vehemently disagree with you.
    3
  6378. Interesting assessment. Have you been diagnosed yet?
    3
  6379. Had Putin honestly wanted to avert that, he could've made the negotiations about nuclear weapons. Besides, NATO's eastward expansion -- 14 new members -- hasn't led to any nuclear weapons being placed in said countries.
    3
  6380.  @babyyoda6567  Only Russia keeps nuclear weapons right next to NATO. NATO isn't doing same to Russia.
    3
  6381. The Nordic countries have all imaginable incentives in place. Yet birth rates are still declining.
    3
  6382. If you pay billions in taxes you must earn gazillions.
    3
  6383.  @dainagrn7030  You're preaching to the choir. Finn here. The fact of the matter is that the world sheepishly looked away when the Soviet Union forced a costly and uneasy peace upon Finland after the Winter War. That's why Finland is adamant that Ukraine won't suffer the same fate. Russia's military aggression must not be rewarded, or go unpunished.
    3
  6384.  @agent3268  Sure, civilian cargo airlines transport weapons all the time, in this case Serbian ones bound for Bangladesh. Were you born yesterday?
    3
  6385. Get with the times, boyo. This is drone footage.
    3
  6386.  @tonyatgoogle6076  I'm not. You can stop your eternal whatabouting.
    3
  6387. I disagree. One is a Chihuahua and the other a Bernedoodle or something.
    3
  6388. "There must be war", that's Netanyahu's credo. His political life depends on it.
    3
  6389. So you'd sacrifice democracy to keep Trump in office. No wonder the US was downgraded from full democracy to flawed democracy in 2016.
    3
  6390. ISIS supporter much? They have a thing for beheadings.
    3
  6391. You may want to expand on that (conspiracy?) theory. Or be a troll, whatever.
    3
  6392. Ukraine is making history all right. Chances are the Russian Federation will be consigned to history soon, leaving only Muscovy to keep up the pretense that there's still a Russia.
    3
  6393. Russia's problem is one of entitlement. Sadly, there's no basis for privileges and special treatment.
    3
  6394. You can't get the components, bud.
    3
  6395. Dunno, but Kaspersky effectively is.
    3
  6396. What do you expect? That the war hinges on Russia downing a single F-16?
    3
  6397.  @brexistentialism7628  It's interesting to note that a great many 'Ossi' AfD supporters hunker for the good ol' GDR days, when they didn't have to worry about anything as long as they put up with totalitarianism. The GDR was decidedly leftist, extreme far leftist even.
    3
  6398.  @CarlWheatley-wi2cl  Maybe Russia will cut a deal to move its military bases to Libya, but it's not another kettle fish, but rather, a very similar one. Interestingly, Turkey is backing a Libyan faction that is opposed to Russia's favoured faction. History may not repeat itself, but I bet it will rhyme.
    3
  6399.  UkraiNAZ  Speak for yourself, KremNazi.
    3
  6400. Let's see if Meloni lasts longer than Liz Truss.
    3
  6401. Tanks weren't exactly wonder weapons then either. The USSR held the record with 83,500 tanks lost.
    3
  6402. The desperation is dripping off your false analogy.
    3
  6403.  @LloydBraun9000  You must be quite new to this world. In my time, I've seen coalition governments with left and right-wing parties. Admittedly, they each had one arm tied behind their backs, since their pet projects were designated no-go areas, but it's doable.
    3
  6404. What's clear is that your strength isn't "on grammar", but the emojis compensate for your grammatical ineptitude. On second thought, I would add another five for good measure.
    3
  6405. Except what's mostly hypothetical in Germany is bitter reality in the USA.
    3
  6406. Them being in the EU they rely on themselves, too. And their northern and southern neighbours, respectively Finland and Poland, vice versa rely on the Baltic countries. Grid interconnections are a two-way street.
    3
  6407.  @robertfreeman5054  Then why is Priggie making desperate pleas for ammunition from Shoigu and Gerasimonv? Try to keep up with the news.
    3
  6408. Didn't you get the memo about Brexit?
    3
  6409. You're trying to dig deep in history.
    3
  6410. Russia's pseudo-democracy is being tested.
    3
  6411. German cooperation comes with an infusion of morality, which is an area where France is lacking when it comes to arms exports.
    3
  6412. Ukraine failed to evacuate them, as was the case with many Ukrainian civilians, unfortunately. You're conveniently forgetting that Russia boldly invaded Ukraine, militarily, without provocation. You're blaming the victims of Russian military aggression, which the world community overwhelmingly condemns.
    3
  6413.  @FA-rn1nc  Yes, Sweden turned out to be a fine neutral party in the Cold War, because earlier, Finland had stopped the marauding Soviet hordes well short of the Swedish border. If not for Finland, Sweden could've made a fine Warsaw Pact member.
    3
  6414.  @andreainzaghi7373  Sadly for Venezuela, socialists don't have a monopoly on poor economic management, but it has gone from bad to worse.
    3
  6415. And we need people like you to make the world dumber still.
    3
  6416.  @zoom777  Russia Ruxia is China's northern province, with Pu Tin as its regional governour.
    3
  6417.  @bigmuchknow342  What are you on about? Our own arms manufacturers have full order books. They can't keep up with demand, both from Europe and outside.
    3
  6418. I served under a British major with KFOR. The quintessential soldier, he was. Didn't like sauna, however.
    3
  6419. I can lay your suspicions to rest. Politician Anatoly Sobchak (and two of his aides), businessman Roman Tsepov and journalist Yuri Shchekochikhin all died of poisoning in Russia.
    3
  6420. Good luck trading on WTO terms. Your great saviour, Trump, wants nothing to do with the WTO. Maybe he'll throw you a bone in the form of a bilateral trade deal, but if Trump flouts WTO rules, the rest of the world will follow suit. I can just imagine how the economic misery in the UK will bolster the likes of UKIP and BNP. Now there's real Fascism for you.
    3
  6421. *Sold.
    3
  6422. Who are you trying to address?
    3
  6423. The Russian Federation has never qualified as a superpower. It's a regional power at best, but after the Ukraine debacle we'll have to re-evaluate that, too.
    3
  6424.  @jounik  You're not making sense. Whoever provides the cargo doesn't necessarily run the ship. It's the flag state of the ships that matters in a legal sense. In two previous two cases, it's China. It doesn't necessarily mean China is guilty, but it is responsible for prosecuting those who are, or failing that, face sanctions itself.
    3
  6425. ​ @TruForcedL  Putin still has his private paramilitary force, the 340,000-strong Rosgvardiya, to draw from. Only these "national guardsmen" didn't fare so well in Ukraine when faced with Ukraine's real national guard last year. I suppose clubbing unarmed protestors is right up Rosgvardiya's street, but fighting off opponents who shoot back, not so much.
    3
  6426.  @stephenrickstrew7237  Truth be told, the Winter War was a fairly low-tech affair in WW2 terms. SMGs saw more widespread use than before and the guerilla tactics employed by Finnish ski troops had some novelty to them. I wouldn't call it appeasement (the USSR did get unceremoniously kicked out of the League of Nations), but global commitment to stop aggressors in their tracks was certainly lacking. I suppose we're slightly better off in that respect nowadays, but only slightly.
    3
  6427.  @mrtee3477  Are you and your sockpuppets going to have a "discussion" about cryptocurrencies now?
    3
  6428.  @raleighnaas935  Why would I be critical of the sacrifices made by my countrymen and immediate relatives, too? The point I'm trying to make is that Finland did rather well, all things considered, in protecting its citizens from Russian aggression. It could've been much, much worse, after all. Incidentally, I trained Estonian 'Kodukaitse' self-defence force volunteers while still in service myself. They all said Finland did the right thing in resisting the USSR militarily, while Estonia tried appeasement. Never again, they said.
    3
  6429. You'd better. Special relationship. And after the Brexit debacle, you need all the friends you can get.
    3
  6430.  @strahaironscale571  Salvini is known for flip-flopping? Populists are.
    3
  6431.  @pulse4503  For starters, Salvini dabbled with left-wing politics -- rubbing shoulders with even the communists -- before reinventing himself as a right-wing populist. If that isn't turning one's coat, I don't know what is.
    3
  6432. I like your thinking. Mongolia rates as a flawed democracy, which is two notches above Russia's and China's classification (i.e. the lowest of the low, meaning authoritarian) according to the Democracy Index. So it's a workable proposition, since NATO insists on majority support for membership. By the way, NATO doesn't invite new members. They apply of their own volition.
    3
  6433. Among the far rights' fanbase in the West? How can that be a bad thing?
    3
  6434.  @NPCONSULTING247-jy3pz  They dig pipes deeper in Siberia. I've experienced extreme cold, as it happens, in the likes of northern Scandinavia and Canada, well above the Arctic Circle. The sky is cloudless on the coldest days. When clouds appear and it starts to snow, everyone knows they're in for a respite.
    3
  6435.  @legendunited152  First things first. You need to remind us of an agreement that restricted NATO's eastward expansion. When was it signed, by whom and what did it say? Please be specific.
    3
  6436.  @leonardoorellano6652  Russia is throwing infantry -- without armoured support -- across minefields at dug-in Ukrainian troops, who're supported by artillery. Of course you get very lopsided casualty figures. Even with proper support, attackers always suffer worse casualties than the defenders. I don't think you have much military experience. Am I right or am I right?
    3
  6437. Very valuable for Putin's useful idiots to receive their marching orders from, that is.
    3
  6438.  @davidrose5566  No, but I'm sure you're dying to enlighten us. Don't be shy.
    3
  6439. @Justa Computa That's a bold statement, which -- I bet -- you'd struggle to substantiate. Mind you, not that I think you'll try. Anyhoo, so as not to stray too far from the topic at hand, the EU has no doctors on its payroll, nor does it warehouse medical supplies. Individual member states can help one another where they can, but right now, everyone's struggling. Maybe it's the pessimist in me, but I can image you refusing to help, claiming it's everyone for themselves. Still, you whine about the EU.
    3
  6440. The world isn't ready for drama queens of your magnitude.
    3
  6441. Your Napoleon complex is showing.
    3
  6442.  @Moscow_Will_Burn  It's not a tank but an IFV. If the drone was carrying a shaped charge that was suitably angled, it sliced open the IFV. Otherwise, the crew just got a nasty scare.
    3
  6443. You forgot the irony quote marks.
    3
  6444.  @arisplugis5197  Legal hurdles and resource constraints, I've understood. While we're at it, perhaps you could offer your views on why Latvians, too, are so keen to seek their fortune elsewhere?
    3
  6445.  @shayaldwarka7907  How many NATO ships did Serbia and the Taliban sink?
    3
  6446.  @TheCaniblcat  Hey, you and your army could go make a difference. You should waste no time and petition your government to send a UN contigent to Lebanon, yourself included. Maybe 3 million soldiers -- twice the IDF's troop strength -- because Israel, too, consistently fails to subdue the Hezbollah.
    3
  6447. Estlink-2 runs between Finland and Estonia. Sweden and Denmark are much further to the west.
    3
  6448. So you're saying that Israel is a willing henchman?
    3
  6449. Under international control, not Turkish control. The Kurds will never trust the Turks.
    3
  6450.  @salad7776  I guess he's the hotdog now.
    3
  6451.  @mendeldrive  That's utter hogwash, especially in an international forum. I happen to live in a top democracy, which is also a republic, too, and we most certainly have a constitution.
    3
  6452. Virakotxa, for a long time, Britain has been a conduit for intelligence to and from the EU. Now they're losing that status, and they're growing concerned.
    3
  6453. No, why? It's the individual members states that have cushioning the blow so far. This is about funding a long-term recovery.
    3
  6454.  @blind8686  Ingria and Karelia will follow sooner or later. Rump Russia may as well switch back to calling itself Muscovy.
    3
  6455. Vanilla is a weak race then.
    3
  6456. It may pain you to realise that it doesn't warrant such international enthusiasm. There will be some relief that Murica finally managed to solve a problem of its own making, of course, but going forward, I'm sure you'll create many more problems for yourselves. Productivity would be adversely affected if we gave people a day off whenever the US sorts out its own affairs.
    3
  6457. What have "Russian villages" got to do with the price of tea in China? Ukraine is liberating Ukrainian villages.
    3
  6458. The evidence suggests otherwise.
    3
  6459.  @soundscape26  It's understandable. Diego always got picked last in sports.
    3
  6460. No need, the Irish Sea is a good natural boundary.
    3
  6461. Polen is zijn defensie in sneltreinvaart aan het moderniseren. Ze hadden veel oud Sovjet-spul, waarvan nu een groot deel richting Oekraine is gestuurd en dus vervangen moet worden. Wat slagkracht betreft heeft Polen nog werk aan de winkel.
    3
  6462.  @a.s.etaboo8769  Snake Island is Ukrainian. They don't need your traffic lights to re-occupy their own land.
    3
  6463. Did you watch the video? Are you going to lambast the Russians' use of anti-personnel landmines -- mines that don't disable themselves -- or are you selective that way?
    3
  6464.  @ahm848  You'll find that for a long time, Finland maintained a so-called "NATO option" that it would exercise if Russia crossed the line. Russia crossed the line in Ukraine. For your information, NATO has not joined the war.
    3
  6465. You have a point. Veeps have always been a solution looking for a problem.
    3
  6466.  @BPD1586  Sorry. When Sweden and Finland join NATO, they're probably going to adopt the same stance as Norway to nuclear weapons and permanent NATO bases. No and no.
    3
  6467.  @oxidemeta7793  It's common knowledge, dum-dum. GDP growth in the EU is projected to be 0.3% in 2023.
    3
  6468.  @prakashthapa2165  Afghanistan has vast natural resources. As things stand, those resources are as valuable to the poor Afghans as they would be to prehistoric cavemen. If a post-Putin Russia is wracked by civil war, like some predict, Russia's vast natural resources will be just as worthless till the country (or perhaps, countries) regain some semblance of order.
    3
  6469.  @Perun944  Save the tired clichés for an American audience. They never tire of them.
    3
  6470. Nothing wrong with the right per se. It's the extreme right that has us worried.
    3
  6471. Don't you think BRICS should start at home and sort out its internal disputes, meaning the India-China border issue that prevents BRICS from ever evolving beyond a loose economic union?
    3
  6472.  @MrThartofwar  He should pay a visit to the administrative centre of the Kherson Oblast, which is supposedly part of Russia, too. Just how Russian, Putler should find out by himself. Next stop, The Hague.
    3
  6473. Based on past experiences, Britain will be back for more... yet another extension.
    3
  6474. Let's see, Sea King as in the Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King is US in origin. The Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma is decidedly French. The first operational jet fighter was obviously the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe., not the Gloster Meteor.
    3
  6475. Have a gander at Kiel Institute's analysis on donations to Ukraine. It shows the EU outspends the US, you silly Ameripoor. 🤣
    3
  6476. Quite a peacemaker Putin is, too. I see a Nobel Peace Prize in his future. Wait...
    3
  6477. When the migrant crisis was at its height, Russia let migrants cross to Norway on bikes. Something to do with border formalities. Mariya Vladimirovna should take note.
    3
  6478. It's 141 countries that hate Russia for what it's doing to Ukraine. The EU is a mere 27 countries.
    3
  6479. @Sunny Choudhary Which part of WORLD Trade Organization don't you understand? The US is just one out of a total of 164 members, i.e. the world.
    3
  6480. If Trump could have his way, he would quit NATO, the UN, the Mickey Mouse Club and whatnot.
    3
  6481. The US gubberment should fine itself, too, for letting Boeing self-certify its aircraft. I call that criminal negligence.
    3
  6482. Because the UN's General Assembly overwhelmingly looks on the war in Ukraine as an illegal war of aggression by Russia. Ukraine, on the other hand, is defending itself, a right that the UN Charter reserves for every member nation.
    3
  6483.  @kastus77  Your whataboutism brings back memories of the Soviet Union.
    3
  6484. @drive 95 Democracy is an American ploy now, is it? You're a master of excuses.
    3
  6485. Nope, he's at 290.
    3
  6486. DW could do a story on the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in the Donbas. 700 monitors from 57 countries, including Russia, spent time there from 2014 to 2022. Only there was no story.
    3
  6487. There was the post-war Fokker F.25 with a pusher configuration, not a push-pull one.
    3
  6488.  @claudiopereira9900  No, I don't think it's an accepted legal principle that the accused goes free because unrelated similar acts probably have been committed by others in the past. Also, guilt by geographical association ("the West") doesn't really fly in court either. Whataboutism amounts to trying to nip discussion in the bud by raising similar, but ultimately irrelevant accusations. Not only that, I find it self-defeating. It's like you're admitting that Russia sucks, but in its defence, Murica sucks as well.
    3
  6489. "A ton" is an understatement. If you're correct about what makes a shill, you have more than 16 million verified shills. 17 million who're not. Prorated, every other Brit is a shill.
    3
  6490. The EU is weathering Brexit just fine. But we are forced to watch a very unsavory and very public suicide of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
    3
  6491.  @victorzvyagintsev1325  I wonder what the crashed Mi-8s, Mi-35 and Il-22 in the wake of Wagner's advance towards Moscow were about then. An unusual spate of pilot errors? I've seen no footage of Wagnerites being challenged by members of the public in Rostov. Chants of "Wagner! Wagner!" and handshakes and hugs I did get to see when they left.
    3
  6492.  @francissantos7448  If the Russians are clever about it, they'll tunnel though buildings rather than move through the streets, where they'll be ambushed for sure. More likely, the Russian commanders will send in Asian conscripts or Syrian mercenaries as bait so that the defenders reveal themselves. It's quicker that way and Russian casualty figures don't seem to matter, to say nothing of Syrian casualties.
    3
  6493.  @MattBiden  You need to pick up a paper and read the economic news. Why is that Americans like to flaunt their ignorance?
    3
  6494.  @anantapadmanabhmyatagiri  Hit me hard? Your nonsense? What exactly is your major malfunction, by the way? You need to bow to a master, and you've picked Russia for a change?
    3
  6495. We all know about the political apathy of the average Russian. Navalny was trying to break it. He may yet do so -- posthumously.
    3
  6496. What are you on about? Israel itself has scored oodles of aerial victories with French fighter planes. Based on its combat record, France's Mirage III must rate as one of the most lethal fighters in modern history, and that's mostly because Israel put it to very good use against its Arab adversaries. Israel's very best, the F-35, has never engaged in aerial combat.
    3
  6497. Wake up to the dangers of right-wing extremism?
    3
  6498.  @santusanturohit4832  When India's economy is 17 times that of Germany, then you've got the Germans worried. Hint: in Europe, we think in relative terms. When a German travels to Luxembourg or Switzerland, he won't start bragging about his riches, because the average German knows full well that he's poorer than his Swiss or Luxembourger counterpart.
    3
  6499.  @samcooper2474  ...and you add nothing to the discussion.
    3
  6500.  @samcooper2474  I suppose you know so little about Dutch politics that you don't realise that Wilders himself is bound to pull the plug on this tenuous coalition and rather sooner that later. Anyhoo, I'm talking to a hollow vessel. You only serve to worsen the signal-to-noise ratio here.
    3
  6501.  @samcooper2474  You don't have a point and I doubt you ever will. Now butt out.
    3
  6502. Putin's Eurasian Economic Union isn't exactly the success story that you make it out to be. The last time a country (supposedly) wanted to join it, a popular uprising followed. Euromaidan, we call it. Rather than take it in its stride, an intensely jealous Russia had to resort to military violence against Ukraine, making matters only worse for itself.
    3
  6503.  @Aleph-alpha  Not all "Western" countries are equally active in development aid, but development loans issued by the governments of countries that are serious about helping developing countries don't impose overly strict conditions or demand collateral like China does. So, no, China does sound worse. I've seen the Chinese build roads in Kenya that were washed away by the rains shortly after. Nonetheless, the Kenyans were still stuck with the Chinese loans. We built roads that lasted, free of charge to Kenya, and we hired locals where we could. The Chinese used an all-Chinese workforce, which they fed poorly, too. We had them over for rice, till their bosses forbade it.
    3
  6504. That's a weird intepretation. Iran is stoking trouble throughout the Middle East, with global ramifications. Are you not part of this world?
    3
  6505.  @Dave5843-d9m  MANPADS? ATGM make Russian tank turrets fly, but I don't think surface-to-air missiles are needed to shoot them down.
    3
  6506. I know you Chinese are very angry with NATO for leaving Afghanistan. We'll soon see Uyghur freedom fighters setting up training camps.
    3
  6507.  @peedan2  You're welcoming Uyghur freedom fighters to enter China? I hope that won't get you into serious trouble with the CCP censors.
    3
  6508.  @UVGardener  I just wanted to make sure you got your thirty pieces of silver...
    3
  6509. It's just your imagination speaking. You're stuck in history -- I can only assume because your glory days are well in the past.
    3
  6510.  @sjc5411  In case you haven't noticed, the CCP is in the midst of a public relations disaster of its own making. As a result, China is suffering the consequences globally, both politically and economically.
    3
  6511. There's no better antidote against <fill in country>exit than Brexit. It works wonders in Britain, too.
    3
  6512.  @abuseofmainstreammediacanh5713  Russia is threatening with nuclear winter, not NATO.
    3
  6513.  @webdev217  Haven't you seen heart-shaped Mylar party balloons? You can glue any shape together, but for party balloons it's too labour-intensive to go octagonal.
    3
  6514. An excess of copium has you spouting nonsense. Putin not only gave NATO a new lease of life, but also, NATO has grown in size and capabilities. In the mean time, Russia's military capabilities have been severely degraded in Ukraine and its anti-NATO, the CSTO, is shrinking -- if indeed it still exists.
    3
  6515.  @jameswambede4524  You offer no arguments to support your opinions. Typical Krembot behaviour.
    3
  6516. No can do. You'll have to call a male escort.
    2
  6517. Soon enough, you'll want to see Trump go, too.
    2
  6518. That's for the courts to decide.
    2
  6519. ***** What, no lizards involved?
    2
  6520. Trouble in paradise?
    2
  6521. +John Stoner For Life 77 That's a rather fanciful story. Jali Timari's company had numerous security breaches, which led to their license being revoked. Production later resumed under a different name, but the gun didn't sell. That's the end of it.
    2
  6522. John Stoner For Life 77 First off, it's Jali Timari. With or without CIA involvement, he provided the authorities with ample reason to revoke his gun-making license. I know for a fact that he at least solicited airline pilots to carry samples of the gun illegally to the USA. The police also recovered unmarked Jatimatics in excess of those stolen in the burglary, Maybe the CIA produced those and planted them with criminals? Conspiracy theories have to be highly imaginative in order to qualify as such, don't they?
    2
  6523. John Stoner For Life 77 Jali died a bitter man, which may explain his wild claims.  Ingenious as it was, the Jatimatic was hardly a game-changer. The deep-diving subs were in some respects.  Golden Gun did try to restart production, but the project was beset by problems, first and foremost lukewarm customers.  
    2
  6524. John Stoner For Life 77 I guess hip-firing is overrated. Where supply meets demand but the demand isn't there, bankruptcy follows. Too bad you and your friends don't command more influence in arms purchases. No, I think patriotism got the better of you. 
    2
  6525. John Stoner For Life 77 What you're doing is called a single authority fallacy. VHS beat Betamax because the cassettes allowed longer recordings. Still, Betamax found its niche with professional users. The Jatimatic found no niche.
    2
  6526. +Mark Keith I don't want fake news, but Trump gave us a dose by ripping off a picture of Obama's inauguration crowd. News sure doesn't come more fake than that.
    2
  6527. +Mark Keith He did, too. Pictures are easy to trace. And the media was quick to pick up on the blunder.
    2
  6528. So would you prefer the UN peacekeepers to fight alongside the pro-Russian rebels, specifically Zhirinovsky's LDPR volunteers? Neo-Nazis, and the real deal, they are.
    2
  6529. omglabel I entertain a theory that she's a failed mail-order bride, and even said as much once, which made her blow her top. Go figure. But her claim of being British is implausible, if only because she's got no clue who Simon Cowell is. I once likened her foul personality to his, adding that at least Simon bothers to explain why he hates someone. Vierotchka is just pure hate.
    2
  6530. Vierotchka I'm starting to change my opinion about you. Instead of a failed mail-order bride, I think you're YouTube's version of The Simpsons' Crazy Cat Lady (make my day by telling me that you've never heard of them). Since throwing cats at people doesn't work so well in hyperspace (you've got the bad temper and gibberish parts down pat, however), you throw odd-ball insults at them. This recent "whatever floats your sinking boat" is my favourite so far. Second comes "if I jump down from a church steeple, I reach your level of IQ". Keep it up! You make people laugh (at you).
    2
  6531. Democracy and rule of law suffered a defeat.
    2
  6532. infinitecanadian You can bet your bottom dollar that Northern Ireland will organise a border poll if there's even a hint of Whitehall striking a bad deal with the EU. Even if the border poll doesn't lead to reunification, the UK might find itself in the EEA as a result, nixing just about everything the Brexiteers set out to achieve, and more.
    2
  6533. Where's the much-maligned "right sector" now?
    2
  6534. Of all the expats in Spain, the Brits are the worst assimilated. I don't know what conditions the Spanish impose, but it doesn't bode well for them.
    2
  6535. Peace, man ;-)
    2
  6536. TRUMP FOR PUTIN'S PUPPET 2016?
    2
  6537. That conflicts with a mid-2014 GlobeScan/PIPA poll that suggests 67% of Germans view Russia negatively vs. 21% holding a positive view. Elsewhere in Europe, the trend is very similar. It's safe to conclude that Russia's popularity is going from bad to worse.
    2
  6538. Death .Watcher A camp follower in Russia's Troll Army is my guess. I wish they'd come up with new material. Day in day out the same angry drivel.
    2
  6539. Who was your queen again?
    2
  6540. Think. Think also hypocrisy.
    2
  6541. That's obvious. You want the Syrians immigrants to let go of Syria. But you Canadians can't let go either.
    2
  6542. Connie Maheswaran CNN is tiresome even if they don't get it wrong. Typical American-style news reporting -- patronising and slow-paced.
    2
  6543. Me think you're suffering from an inflated sense of self-importance. Fact is, Poland is a net recipient of EU funds, and so are your supposed allies, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. All four are still in recovery mode after decades of ruinous Communist mismanagement. Don't mistake apparent economic strength for a fundamentally sound economy.
    2
  6544. +Marcin Dobrowolski Let me rephrase. Not only do you have a hugely inflated sense of self-importance re. the Visegrad Group, but also, you have an inflated sense of how knowledgeable you are. How do you propose Poland should be bankrolled by the EU if not by improving infrastructure? By showering uncompetitive Polish companies with lavish subsidies or by putting EU money directly into the hands of individual Poles? Infrastructure spending boosts the economy both directly and indirectly. The latter should outweigh the former by far, but only if you make the investment pay for you. By sitting on your hands you can make it pay for the Germans, too. For us longer-standing EU members, having to compete with Germany is nothing new -- it's been standard practice from day one. No doubt staying out of the EU would've kept many domestic, now-defunct companies afloat, but to what end? They've been replaced by companies that can compete with the best of them, German ones and Polish ones. I wonder if you're suffering from some throwback to Communist times -- that someone, somehow will solve all your problems and if not, they're solely to blame. In your case, that someone is the EU. The EU is a framework that helps you thrive, but only if you know how to help yourself, too.
    2
  6545. +Little Leon So what's your alternative fact for the leverage Putin's got over Trump?
    2
  6546. Could it be any clearer that Putin's got Trump in his pocket?
    2
  6547. +VTBbank Don't mix Obama into this. I don't think the man-child Trump is capable of normal dialogue, period.
    2
  6548. This is getting good -- like Trump, you're a birther, and most likely a racist, too! It just so happens I'm neither a Yank nor an Obama fan, so dump on him as much as you want. But I am able to see Trump for what he is. A joke!
    2
  6549. Nicolai Can not Die Don't quote tainted sources or you'll be tainted.
    2
  6550. Trump's condition is only marginally better than his.
    2
  6551. Stefan Grobe is German. As a foreign correspondent, he's entitled to report whatever he and his employer, Euronews, see fit. I am assuming press freedom still applies in the USA.
    2
  6552. Some Stuff Don't delude yourself that leaving the EU turns the UK into Switzerland. Like the Norwegians, the Swiss authorities are painfully aware of how little wiggle room they have vis-à-vis the EU. Both have outsourced a good part of their lawmaking to the EU.
    2
  6553. Nathan Donaghy For a Brit your spelling is rubbish. What if I told you I hold a Norwegian passport?
    2
  6554. ***** It sucks, doesn't it, that wishful thinking doesn't translate easily into reality. Speaking of which, the sad truth is that Russia is slipping away further and further from re-attaining superpower status -- if indeed it ever was one.
    2
  6555. sexy05gal So you keep saying. Quote surveys, studies or whatever to back up your claim. If 250+ million EU citizens, as you purport, oppose NATO, there must be something to show for it. Bring it on.
    2
  6556. +alfabravo80 None of that absolves the rebels for shooting down MH17... nor the Russians, assuming they had a hand in it, which looks all the more likely now.
    2
  6557. ***** In or out of the EU, the working class will hurt. Change always hurts.
    2
  6558. tomlinid I'm not disagreeing. Boris should've stuck with journalism. In international politics, he's a big liability. His charm and jokes aren't universally appealing. It's not Boris, but Liam Fox who's brokering the trade deals. Boris can concentrate on ruffling the feathers.
    2
  6559. +schnarre0 Just curious, how exactly are you going to resurrect the British Empire? The erstwhile colonies want none of it. In fact, one in particular, India, enjoys collecting British companies, sometimes only to shut them down, all because they can. No, Britain needs another serving of humble pie, just like before joining the EEC.
    2
  6560. No worries, Trump will reverse all that -- he'll unite the people against him.
    2
  6561. +Golden Phoenix It's true that Assad's regime still clings on to Syria's seat in the UN, but that doesn't legitimise them as the representatives of the Syrian people. Even a child knows that Syria is in the midst of a civil war, and large swathes of the country are in open revolt against Assad. Interventions by Russia, Iran and Hezbollah have bought him more time, but the tide is not turning in his favour. There's an interesting precedent of UN membership being held by the wrong party in a civil war. Taiwan represented China in the UN from 1945 to 1971, even though it was extremely clear that the Nationalists had been well and truly clobbered by the Communists. The roles are reversed in Syria, with Russia and Iran propping up an ailing regime. I'll leave your anti-US propaganda for what it is. Even if one takes a critical view of US policy, your silly slogans don't help your cause.
    2
  6562. Yes, but Russia has an unhealthy obsession with it, not unlike North Korea.
    2
  6563. Mäk Kylis You don't seem to appreciate that Russia targeting Finland with trade sanctions would drag the whole EU into the dispute. The EU would not only impose counter-sanctions on Russia, but also compensate Finland for loss of export earnings. Conscription isn't incompatible with NATO. It has been common practice during a big part of NATO's history.
    2
  6564. Yup, the dumbing down of America is now official.
    2
  6565. BritishFreedom Britain leads? That's rich. As I mentioned, the smaller, affluent EU members did look at Britain for leadership, but found a country contemplating its navel instead. The rabid hate campaign didn't do you any favours either. Sure, Europe's far right may look for inspiration and leadership in UKIP and Farage, but I wouldn't boast about leading a bunch of neo- and crypto-fascists.
    2
  6566. BritishFreedom You portray EU leaders as autocrats who have it in their power to grant Britain any wish. The fact of the matter is that they are answerable to their peoples, and as I've tried to explain to you, polls suggested that they'd gone too far already in making concessions. I'll leave your flag-waving for what it is. Don't hold your breath that the EU is falling apart any time soon. Your neo- and crypto-fascist allies won't carry the day.
    2
  6567. ...to grope them?
    2
  6568. The Catholic Church had to clean house. You should be thankful.
    2
  6569. Hamad Oman It's called a human interest story. Which bit, according to you, is propaganda?
    2
  6570. Hamad Oman Me? Are you familiar with my work?
    2
  6571. If a lapdog in the White House won't use the US Navy to check Russian expansionism, where's the superiority?
    2
  6572. +Geberan Right, Germany has taken in the most refugees by far. So much so, in fact, that Merkel was considered a favourite for the Nobel Peace Prize. I suggest you pay more attention to real-life events.
    2
  6573. More like Orange Revolution à la russe. Putin's worst fears coming true.
    2
  6574. Reminds me of The Three Little Pigs. So he huffed and puffed...
    2
  6575. BoJo is eating his own dog food. Serves him right.
    2
  6576. What exactly is propagandistic about it?
    2
  6577. +Hannah Dyson It's more terrifying still that BoJo is Britain's top diplomat. He still thinks he can score points with populist standpoints.
    2
  6578. republicofsandals I don't doubt they started poor and the USA didn't help matters trade-wise either (politically they were extremely helpful, however). Still, even in those circumstances Cuba could've done better economically. Economically, communism always disappoints. I bet my knowledge of history runs circles around yours.
    2
  6579. Richard Taylor Trump trumps Hillary in divisiveness.
    2
  6580. +Jager Mitchell It's kinda sad candidates get votes for who they're not rather than who they are and what they stand for. The USA is so ripe for electoral reform.
    2
  6581. Why even bother. He admitted as much before the allegations came to light. Only die-hard Trump supporters can't put two and two together.
    2
  6582. Your comment is delightfully off-topic.
    2
  6583. +Google User Bingo! Next time, before replying, you might want to get your Sarcasm-o-Meter out. You don't seem to be capable of detecting sarcasm unassisted.
    2
  6584. Alan metclaff Aw, you're confused.
    2
  6585. 41088avl01 Yes, Putin deserves the Nobel Peace Prize... pffffrrrt. 
    2
  6586. Big Bob The Russians are more willing to sacrifice their citizens, yes, but don't discount ineptitude.
    2
  6587. Wild conspiracy theories, on the other hand, are harmless.
    2
  6588. +Harry Lord You suffer from confirmation bias. Logical reasoning isn't your forte either. If Soros is losing money it doesn't follow he's destroying Murica and Europe. How about NWO lizards, seen any lately?
    2
  6589. BULLOCK1973 Assad's airforce has 'em.
    2
  6590. Giovanni Foulmouth Crony capitalism is the term you're looking for. Russia proudly occupies 2nd place in The Economist's Crony-Capitalism Index.
    2
  6591. Clever? So far Russia's food import substitution has been far from a success. Import tariffs would achieve the effect you're looking for, but in a more controlled manner.
    2
  6592. +George Taylor The report showed that Ukrainian air force regulars, who operate the Buk within the armed forces of Ukraine, weren't anywhere near the launch site. Since the Buk is considered too complex to operate by reservists -- in this case Ukrainian reservists turned rebels -- it's likely that Russians operated the Buk, too. Russian air defences are known for their bungling. Does Mathias Rust ring a bell?
    2
  6593. ***** Alma Atey, the Buk's manufacturer, got their marching orders from the Kremlin and tried their utmost to draw away attention from the true course of events. It's telling that they only stepped into the breach when the Ukrainian fighter jet theory had become untenable. I'm curious to see if there will be yet another alternative theory that exonerates Russia -- one that's completely at odds with the previous theories, of course. It's funny, too, that you should mention Siberia Airlines Flight 1812. The Ukrainians were behind it all right. Their Soviet-made S-200 missile malfunctioned -- instead of self-destructing after its intended target, a military target drone, was destroyed the missile locked on to the airliner with disastrous consequences. The potential for loss of prestige (and lucrative arms sales) was sufficient for Putin himself to speak up and deny the possibility that the S-200 was at fault, but the Ukrainians later admitted as much. It appears the Ukrainians' big blunder was keeping crummy Soviet kit in service.
    2
  6594. +Tarzan101 Jungle Stop being a drama queen.
    2
  6595. It would be in vain considering that Putin needs to keep tensions up in order to divert attention from the constantly worsening domestic situation in Russia. Wag the dog, eh?
    2
  6596. +My Lord To put it in terms that Donald Rumsfeld would approve of, the insurance industry prefers known unknowns. Unknown unknowns are too risky for their liking.
    2
  6597. Amanda Russo Are you seriously suggesting that RT America is American-funded? That's a conspiracy theory worthy of a certifiable schizophrenic.
    2
  6598. Under Trump, we all suffer intolerably and wish we would die.
    2
  6599. "200,000 Hungarians fled". Oh the irony.
    2
  6600. +Mehmet Yok Well played!
    2
  6601. What's 'proxy' about Saudi Arabia's involvement? Saudi Arabia has ground troops in Yemen, engaging the Houthis directly. Now, Iran is fighting a proxy war in Yemen.
    2
  6602. You seem to favour Poland's isolation then.
    2
  6603. Raul Castro is still firmly in charge, and has been since 2006.
    2
  6604. Maybe you, too, should give up wishing Hillary dead. The Secret Service already gave Trump a talking-to about his veiled encouragement to gun her down.
    2
  6605. dan3nad It's good to remember that Ukraine seeking closer ties with the EU triggered the whole crisis. Putin felt cuckolded, thinking that the EU was running away with his subjugated wife, and decided to dissuade her by giving her a good thrashing. You might hold a different view, but the Ukrainians seem to think the EU is hot. 
    2
  6606. The world at large doesn't think so.
    2
  6607. conservativeautocrat Uh-oh, you're an NWO conspiracy theorist. Enough said.
    2
  6608. Vladimir Obama Should we believe RT then? That's a hoot.
    2
  6609. But he's got a glass jaw.
    2
  6610. Really now. It's Russia that's teetering on the brink of recession as we speak, and worse is yet to come. It doesn't help either that saving the Crimean economy from imminent collapse is very costly. The US and the EU economies are far better off. Wishful thinking...
    2
  6611. Hardly a loss.
    2
  6612. It's in short supply in the summer.
    2
  6613. Masterashman I'm sure lightning-fast RT beat slowpoke CNN to it, of course blaming the assassination on Obama, not Pootie-Poot.
    2
  6614. Sailesh Kuturu I see you're intentionally ignoring Chechnya. You must think I was born yesterday. The First Chechen War (1994-1996) was an eye-opener to the Balts. The Russians brutally squashed the Chechens' bid for independence. Understandably, the newly-independent Balts grew concerned -- very concerned, because they had seen it all before. Lo and behold, Russia established a pattern of aggressive behaviour: Chechnya (again), Georgia, Crimea and Ukraine. In hindsight, yes, we can only commend the Balts for their foresight. At the same time, we should blame NATO's older members for the lack of it. There was much debate about whether it was prudent to enlarge NATO to the borders of Russia, until someone came up with the idea that the enlargement should not stop at the Russian border. Rogozin's statement proves that Russia was not unreceptive to the idea. NATO does not vet US foreign policy. Also, the Pentagon doesn't dictate to NATO members what they must and must not do. They have a say in the matter. You must be confusing NATO with the defunct Warsaw Pact, which the Kremlin controlled 100%. By the way, have you noticed how the latter's members made a beeline for NATO once the Iron Curtain fell? Again, nobody held a gun to their head.
    2
  6615. +James Barry Ooh, you're resorting to personal insults and juvenile ones at that. Try to hold it together, old sport. I already explained where and how the betrayal happened. You couldn't refute that, so you drag the honour of fallen soldiers into it. If you knew your history, you would've made a case that Churchill's actions where dictated by political expedience. Expedient or not, there's a debt to be repaid. You can have your Brexit as hard as you want. I won't bear the consequences.
    2
  6616. +ByteMe We're modern-day Rip Van Winkles.
    2
  6617. Thank god for Trump? The bugger's aides seized control of his Twitter account after Trump started umpteen wars of words online. Now the hothead has control over the US nuclear arsenal.
    2
  6618. Who cares, as long as Trump is a no-term president.
    2
  6619. No, the racists lose. Get used to the bitter taste of defeat.
    2
  6620. Come on, the beeb even published satellite pictures of the troop build-up near Ukraine. Enough with the wild conspiracy theories.
    2
  6621. Tom Sullivan It's easy to claim they're fakes. Have your friends in the Kremlin take similar pictures that show empty spaces, and we'll talk. Oh, ask them to put today's edition of The Guardian on display, so we know for sure they aren't fakes. It trust state-controlled Russian agencies far less that state-funded, yet independent BBC.
    2
  6622. You mean do the far-right thing and vote Nazi?
    2
  6623. It would be worse if Obama were to say that -- and then fail to suppress his laughter. I for one couldn't keep a straight face.
    2
  6624. +Full Vid Clips Yes, the EU is in the midst of a migrant crisis of unprecedented proportions and Turkey can help, but in the long-term, I wonder what Turkey would do if EU membership is off. Forge closer ties with the Middle East and/or Russia? The Middle East is perpetually in crisis and Russia is turning into an economic basket case fast.
    2
  6625. Jasminewynja Now with Russia imposing sanctions on Turkish imports and tourism from Russia about to plummet, Turkey needs the EU more than ever.
    2
  6626. Jasminewynja It's not clear yet, but we can safely assume that Turkey stands to lose billions of US dollars in trade. On the other hand, Russia is dependent on Turkish imports, especially fresh produce. They'll suffer food shortages if they keep up the sanctions, so it's possible that they'll be quietly relaxed. It's not like Russia has many friends left.
    2
  6627. Tom Usher I'll give it a miss. Your zealousness and liberal use of insults hints that a rational debate is just not in the cards. If you take it down a notch and skip the ad hominems, you might actually succeed in snaring someone with half a brain.
    2
  6628. You have no clue. There's definitely a degree of discomfort in the Nordic countries because of Russia's militarism. You know nothing.
    2
  6629. It all depends on your viewpoint. I wonder if I can saunter into any British traditional gentlemen's club and demand free service. It's a tad unfair towards contributing members, don't you think?
    2
  6630. Dumbo Don't flatter yourself. On a per capita basis you're not the biggest net payer, not by a long stretch. I alluded to "free service" with the desired outcome for Brexiters -- free access to EU markets without paying dues. Wishful thinking, that.
    2
  6631. Dumbo Ah, you prefer not to compare apples to apples. You're a bit of a drama queen if you believe EU-UK trade would grind to a halt overnight. It's bound to decline gradually as products become less competitive on account of import tariffs. Of course, it would be tit-for-tat, but the biggest loser is the British consumer, who'll see prices rise. EU consumers might not even notice, since British products are easier to replace. But in your shoes my greatest worry would be dwindling foreign investment and more factory closures. It's already clear there'd be a short-term negative impact -- the money markets have already made their pessimism known. But what's unclear is if there's a long-term rebound. I'm inclined to think the pessimism is a self-fulfilling prophesy.
    2
  6632. Dumbo No one's twisting your arm to invest in Greece. Fact is, you can only make the UK look good by comparing it to the EU backwaters. Did you need more fruit metaphors? About bank bailouts and excessive public debt, the UK managed to get embroiled with all that despite not being in the eurozone. But no doubt you'll find a way to pin your stupidity on the EU, too.
    2
  6633. Dumbo Oh, we're doing opinions now. Mine's that should Brexit happen, the UK will spend years trying to regain its economic footing. Since globalisation is the name of the game, the question is not if the UK has hamstrung itself, but how badly.
    2
  6634.  @LucienCallidus  Hang on, isn't this about telecoms? What are you discussing then, microwave ovens or radiation therapy? The OP clearly mistook gigahertz's for generations. They're not the same.
    2
  6635. ***** The UK is a net contributor to the EU budget. That is to say, it receives back 0.24% less than it puts in: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget_of_the_European_Union#Net_contributors_and_recipients "Your" and "you're" are not interchangeable, by the way.
    2
  6636. ***** No, Daily Mail is spot on. But to put things into perspective, most EU net contributors have shouldered an even bigger burden in recent years: http://english.eu.dk/en/faq/faq/net_contribution Among them, the UK doesn't stand out, but there's been an upward leap, explained by a strong economy and Cameron allowing UK's infamous rebate to be cut. You should ask yourselves if the budgetary imbalance outweighs the extra-budgetary benefits of EU membership. British industry seems to think it doesn't.
    2
  6637. ***** You didn't it get. What the British taxpayer puts in, the British industry rakes in almost tenfold. The Germans are smart enough to understand the same effect on their economy. Summa summarum, a Brexit would send the UK economy in a steep downward spiral. Don't mind my opinion -- it's practically a self-fulfilling prophecy because of what the CBI thinks of it all. Personally, as a non-Brit, I wouldn't mind if the UK spent its 40 days in the desert. I have no association with Kapp Bea, whoever that is.
    2
  6638. Letting Greece into the eurozone was a failed idea from the start.
    2
  6639. +TekkGnostic It take it you don't know the meaning of the word. I am convinced that Trump made a cynical calculation that by pandering to the instincts of the disgruntled masses, he'd be elevated to power, and that, to America's eternal shame (and I admit, to my surprise), is what happened. Trump may succeed in making life difficult for illegal immigrants and refugees, but neither that nor his protectionist trade policies are going to bring back coal-mining and manufacturing to the US. Oh well, maybe Trump's bread and circuses will keep your lot quiet while he hobnobs with the elite.
    2
  6640. And I applaud them.
    2
  6641. Everyone who knows his airliners will wonder if this one is supposed to be larger than the four-engine behemoth called the A380. Airlines think the A380 is too large, so it would be surprising if they built a bigger one still.
    2
  6642. It's commendable that Putin has developed an interest in international law. Too bad it didn't happen before he sent Martians and holidaymakers to Ukraine.
    2
  6643. +tom thompson In the event of a hard Brexit, Gibraltar will wither, regardless of what Spain and the EU do. At the end of the day, Gibraltar's beef is with Whitehall, not with Spain or the EU. The same applies to the British expats in Spain. Whitehall either coughs up the money for their health care or they're back en masse.
    2
  6644. You're*
    2
  6645. The separation of powers is overrated, huh?
    2
  6646. +Jeffrey Harrison Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Kremlin had a lightbulb moment. They stereotypically figured that Jews are good at business and since Russia's economy is in a shambles, the returning Jews can come and fix it.
    2
  6647. It's definitely imaginary that they could ever fend for themselves economically.
    2
  6648. Something is rotten in the state of the UK.
    2
  6649. The Greeks did it to themselves. And the Brits were there, too, to do it to the Greeks.
    2
  6650. The EU is by invitation only. I expect that an economic basket case like Ukraine is facing a decade of reforms before it's in any shape to join. Moreover, I don't doubt that a spiteful Russia will do its utmost to sabotage the process by continuing to destabilise Ukraine.
    2
  6651. John Sedwick Patriots with a fascist streak?
    2
  6652. Jonathan Williams You're off on a tangent. Trump has been accused of racism on various occasions. His counter-suing over defamation came to nothing and in the end, he had to pay up. Facts.
    2
  6653. Stikibits Are you so cynical that you really believe that Boeing celebrate the death of 298 passengers and crew? It must suck to be you.  
    2
  6654. Netanyahu should be grateful instead. The move both fits his narrative that Israel is beleaguered by hostile Arabs and fulfils that self-fulfilling prophesy.
    2
  6655. Brand131 It's not about telecoms alone, is it? It's about Israel increasingly becoming the target of consumer boycotts. Orange is a strong, worldwide brand. The organisers must see this as a victory, and Netanyahu's indignant reaction as a nice bonus.
    2
  6656. Superfamily Allosauridae If Russia tries to impose sanctions on Finland, the whole EU will react with counter-sanctions. The EU would also compensate Finland for the damage it sustains. That sorts out the economic side. NATO would sort out the military side, where the same logic applies. Stronger together.
    2
  6657. mambafication Russia might very well test NATO with an incursion into Finnish territory, which doesn't automatically trigger an armed response from NATO, but was a similar destabilising effect as if a NATO country were attacked. I know it's not a very likely scenario, but in defending one's country you don't just prepare for likely scenarios. It's also worth reminding that after the Winter War, Finland was desperate for allies to stave off further Soviet aggression, and the third and final choice proved awkward to say the least. Neutrality has served its purpose and it's time to do our bit in halting Russian aggression.
    2
  6658. Shanghai Noon Why bring up Amurica? I actually hail from a small country, so do we have a small quota, but a quota nonetheless, for territorial mischief? Will I win in court if my neighbour accuses me of moving the fence and I argue that China started it?
    2
  6659. Shanghai Noon Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not aware of the USA making any territorial claims in the South China Sea dispute. If you must know, I would prefer UN arbitration to US arbitration, but neither is acceptable to China. China prefers to divide and conquer, it seems. I don't know if it was your intention, but you're basically claiming that China is entitled to more "Lebensraum". I wouldn't go there if I were you.
    2
  6660. Time to pay the piper.
    2
  6661. Александр Иванов Russian soldiers are known best for dying in droves.
    2
  6662. You'd think your sort would've piped down by now, but noooo...
    2
  6663. +BritishFreedom Fragility doesn't enter into it. My side is going from strength to strength. So you've adopted Trump's coping mechanism. Figures.
    2
  6664. James The I was wondering why it took you so long to get abusive. Losing your edge, eh?  You clearly didn't understand the question I posed. Please report to the nearest British Council for complimentary language training.
    2
  6665. Putin is the hitlerite here. But thanks to Putin, NATO has a mission again. As a thank-you, NATO should send him a hamper with some dried and canned foods. Flowers would be nice, but Putin needs the fat reserves for the lean years ahead.
    2
  6666. Geography has never been Murica's strong suit.
    2
  6667. +Resolution Still trying to peddle the Turkey buys ISIS oil meme? For the sake of credibility, you might want to focus on Turkey's real wrongdoings, like targeting the Kurds abroad for domestic political purposes.
    2
  6668. Resolution No, the smuggled oil to Turkey is a drop in the ocean compared to the oil Assad buys from ISIS. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
    2
  6669. Scandinavians and Russians have very little in common.
    2
  6670. +sam raynes The colonial era is well and truly over. Gibraltar is special in many ways, but it's a colonial relic all the same. Anyhow, Britain has to choose between pursuing the interests of 30,000 Britons in Gibraltar vs. the 300,000 British expats in Spain. Speaking of which, in my decade-long experience, sympathies for the Gibraltarians run low among the expats, who're not only far more numerous, but also much more vulnerable in the event of a hard Brexit. Also, it always struck me as odd that my better assimilated British diving buddies, with whom I often went to dive off Gibraltar, spoke Spanish with the Gibraltarians. They prefer it to English. No, Gibraltar needs to come to terms with its destiny, which isn't as part of Great Britain. Independence is a non-starter, so autonomy it must be.
    2
  6671. Off with you then. And don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    2
  6672. I'll educate you. Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. Cause and effect. You mistake effect for cause.
    2
  6673. +Josue Rodriguez ...and Ceuta and Melilla belong to Morocco. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
    2
  6674. +Josue Rodriguez Don't try to get off on technicalities. It's no different from what Britain is trying with regard to Gibraltar, only the details vary. Both Spain and Britain should just get on with decolonisation. France, too.
    2
  6675. Exploatores Sure, I privately own semi-autos in both 7.62 calibres (well, strictly speaking the other is .308). The difference is striking.
    2
  6676. Start making better stuff. For laughs, you could look into the etymology of the expression "to go on the fritz". If they can turn the tables, you should, too.
    2
  6677. Joshua Paul The Finnish Buks, although replaced because of concerns about Russian tampering, are relatively modern. First you claim that no technical data was taken into consideration. Now it's just data about Ukrainian Buks. If you catch the culprit holding a smoking gun, do all gun-owners need an alibi? Besides, the investigators went through a lot of data that turned out to be irrelevant and therefore, did not go into the report.
    2
  6678. Joshua Paul As a matter of fact, I do know. They detonated a Buk warhead to assess the fragmentation pattern. There's little to worry about expiration dates there. And although withdrawn, the Buks in question were serviceable till 2015. Why are you using a misleading handle? You're clearly not a native English-speaker.
    2
  6679. Joshua Paul Of course you can detonate a warhead that's been removed from the missile. It's not rocket science (pun intended). So, why fake being a native English-speaker -- unless you're trolling for money for Putin.
    2
  6680. Joshua Paul In the West, it's customary to do a thorough investigation and not go off half-cocked, like Russia has done in this case -- not once but twice. How many tries do you need? And what do you mean, JIT not publicising their data. The report is chock-full of it.
    2
  6681. Joshua Paul Oh, you think I'm Ukrainian? You're way off.
    2
  6682. But a lot of Turks still do. If Erdogan doesn't handle the matter deftly, it may come back to haunt him. Remember Euromaidan?
    2
  6683. Nope, that'll be Cameron. He gambled with Britain's future and lost. Britain's xenophobia is home-made.
    2
  6684. It's interesting to note that Brits can't compete in the workplace with Eastern Europeans whose language skills are inevitably poorer.
    2
  6685. +armando garcia I think you're the ideal running mate for Trump.
    2
  6686. +Corentin Naisse There's that, but the directive has its merits, too. We're lucky in having a strong hunting culture and I guess the fact that every able-bodied male is firearms-trained doesn't hurt either. As long as the necessary exemptions are passed, there shouldn't be a problem.
    2
  6687. +Evan Friend You don't have to dwell on your disdain for deactivated weapons. It was boringly obvious five comments ago. But you pique my curiosity: how many fully operational SMGs do you own? And remember, emasculated and elongated ones don't count. No country is forced to be in the EU. Britain is a good example, although judging from the bremoaning, they're bregretting their decision already. Here, I can't help but think of your ACW. I suppose a Cexit wasn't within the realm of possibilities. The powers of the commission are nowhere near those of your cabinet. I've tried to use the firearms directive to illustrate the point -- the draft was sent back many times by parliament and as time went by, what was unacceptable slowly evolved into something acceptable. But all my careful explaining falls on deaf ears because you're preoccupied with frothing at the mouth. I'll try one more time: do you have a fundamental problem with enacting common laws but allowing individual states leeway in implementing them? Before you answer that in your off-the-cuff style, consider why Californians can't be trusted with the serious stuff, while Hicktown USA is brimming with it. I feel sorry for those Europeans who don't feel passionate about defence, but we don't have that problem. It's amusing how you apply your standards to the rest of the world and expect us to abide by them. You certainly reinforce the awkward stereotypes about Americans. I tried to explain that we officially refer to semi-automatic assault rifles as reservist's rifles, but I see my efforts were wasted. But you being your gullible self, you somehow assume being in the reserves is a prerequisite to possess one. Not so. Besides, being in the reserves isn't a quick fling for us -- it's a lifelong affair.
    2
  6688. But how is Putin going to sell a withdrawal from Crimea to his people?
    2
  6689. dim loboda It's funny how quickly oppressors become victims... in their own mind.
    2
  6690. +Janeta Nagy Bad spellers of the world untie.
    2
  6691. ***** You're excused... I guess. "Future Belgians" would've been more appropriate, because the country only came into being 15 years after the Battle of Waterloo. Interestingly, Belgium remains as divided as it was during the battle. In our lifetimes, we can look forward to a political Waterloo that sees Belgium split into the Republic of Flanders and the Kingdom of Wallonia. And maybe there'll be a City State of Brussels, too.
    2
  6692. +Looncan There you go, spreading silly Americanisms. The Yanks got confused and started to refer to social liberalism as liberalism and classical liberalism became libertarianism in Yank-speak. I happen to be a classical liberal -- which is not incompatible with finding Trump a clumsy oaf. It's only logical.
    2
  6693. +Looncan I have a suggestion for you. Vote with your feet. Never show your face here again.
    2
  6694. OK, priapist, I was drawing attention to the similarities between killstreamable's opinion and the Nazis' Heim ins Reich programme. I stopped far short of calling him a Nazi. You creatively connected the dots. You also seem to self-identify with him. Peculiar.
    2
  6695. Trump ain't funny, ever.
    2
  6696. Abominable Snowman Authoritarian right, far-right populist -- to-may-to, to-mah-to. I've been following the trials and tribulations of the True Finns, who're definitely right-wing populists. Exceptionally, they made it into government as part of a three-party coalition. Interestingly, they've been crushed by the burden of power. Political power and populism mix like oil and water.
    2
  6697. With friends like these... 
    2
  6698. Nahbow Torome Come on. The two bungling assassins, Lugovoy and Kovtun, left behind a radioactive trail of polonium-210, to and from the venues where they met Litvinenko on two separate occasions, nearly a month apart. Kovtun foolishly bragged to a friend about the super-expensive poison he was carrying. Soon afterwards, even before Litvinenko was diagnosed, he complained to his family that he, too, was poisoned. That's as good as a smoking gun. Both Lugovoy and Kovtun have links to Russian state intelligence services and polonium-210 -- well, non-state actors might as well call it unobtainium.
    2
  6699. It sure would live longer and better without Putin at the helm.
    2
  6700. Trump doesn't need Putin to make himself look stupid. Trump is self-sufficient in that regard.
    2
  6701. JohnPaul Dixon Good one, the bit about Alan Turing. Let's crank up the discomfort level for the homophobes by noting that practically all smartphones and tablets are powered by an ARM processor. The ARM architecture owes its existence to Sophie Wilson -- born Roger Wilson.
    2
  6702. +zokit0 It doesn't look like it's working out. Even Russian officials warn of food shortages -- meat and dairy products -- and this was before the Su-24 wandered into Turkish airspace and got knocked down. I guess we can now add fruits and vegetables to the list, too, as Turkey exports $1bn worth of them to Russia annually. If Turkey decides to hit back with counter-sanctions -- as it probably will -- then the lifeline of the Russian economy, the oil & gas industry, will be hit. Turkey exports essential machinery to even a greater value than the fresh produce.
    2
  6703. ***** Well, considering you won't win the Germans over to give Nazism another try, you might as well join IS. Your cause is very similar.
    2
  6704. ***** You're an extremist worthy of IS all right. Same hate, different scapegoat.
    2
  6705. ***** Of course, to a Hilter-loving-Jew-hating Nazi like yourself "centre-right" is indeed leftist, just like everywhere else is to the south if you're standing on the North Pole. Nope, still no genocide comes to mind that my countrymen have partaken in. So, are you a Holocaust-denier as well? Mind how you answer, because Germans laws being what they are, you could get the Polizei for a visit.
    2
  6706. moonspellsdumb Have you bandied about how our Christian God has a penchant for murder and mayhem? If he's not slaying anyone himself, he's commanding someone else to do it. Pestilence, plagues and famines are his doing, not to forget mass infanticide. Kids really aren't his thing: if they hit their parents, they die; or if they don't wash up before dinner, they die. But neither are adults: adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, blasphemers, sabbath-breakers, false prophets, interracial couples and those who murmur, he wants 'em all dead. I think you get the picture.
    2
  6707. Not likely. She was suicidal to begin with. Moreover, she claimed the face transplant saved her life.
    2
  6708. +Dev Light If Amurica is anything to go by, then the French death toll would be much, much higher.
    2
  6709. It actually costs more to put these murderers to death than to keep them in prison for life. Fact.
    2
  6710. +TheDarkvam Cluster bombs. Don't pretend to know.
    2
  6711. CobraSFX Snake oil cures all ailments, too.
    2
  6712. Peggy B No, you'll find that the Eastern EU members are with Germany on this. Merkel is trying to save what can be saved. Greece can't, it seems.
    2
  6713. They have the right to organise referendums. No issue there.
    2
  6714. +Crimeariva I'm not surprised that this vid gives you Putin trolls a hard-on, but what about your constant whining that the Western mainstream media only spouts Russophobic propaganda?
    2
  6715. Too bad the EU won't let you cherry-pick. Or you forgo access to the single market. Switzerland tried to curb free movement of people and now find themselves in a bind.
    2
  6716. So anti-gravity generators it is?
    2
  6717. Yup, there's always a sinister force that guides their hand. It's not like the Arabs are capable of quarrelling without external provocation. Nope, there's a conspiracy behind everything.
    2
  6718.  @working2bselfsufficient724  Murica is a dark spot on the world map in terms of economic inequality. The UK had better start building prisons and strengthening its military to contain the inevitable social unrest that follows from copying Murica.
    2
  6719. OK, Ivan, I have a feeling it will outlast your Soviet Union Russian Federation.
    2
  6720.  @dylanvogler2165  Would there be a practical difference, even if he declared himself tsar?
    2
  6721. Ukraine's democracy shines all right, when compared to Russia's sorry autocracy.
    2
  6722. Let's not get carried away. Would Zelenskyy want that mess on his plate? There's a fair chance we get to say "toodeloo" to the Russian Federation, which disintegrates after another protracted civil war.
    2
  6723. It's a troop carrier+, an infantry fighting vehicle. It's designed to actively engage the enemy, whereas an APC is merely expected to defend itself in a pinch.
    2
  6724. The UK is very ambitious in administering the vaccine. In your conspiracy-ridden mind, isn't that going to overload your already-stretched NHS with Brits and Brits alone?
    2
  6725. Go Kenya. I spent two years there, building infirmaries and roads. It's nice to see Kenya make great strides.
    2
  6726. Jesus should go to Putin instead. Maybe your sky friend can knock some sense into the man.
    2
  6727.  @viswanath4473  It occurs to me that many more Indians visit Canada than vice versa. You're just making it harder for the Indians to have their visa applications processed.
    2
  6728.  @redherring6154  You still bow to King Chuck 2. You have to take the bad with the good.
    2
  6729.  @freethinker--  Bush & Blair sure are their faves, but other fave troll topics are the Cuban Missile Crisis, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Hitler, Napoleon and the weirdest of them all, a long-lost tribe that ceased to exist a millennium ago, the Anglo-Saxons.
    2
  6730. The misogyny is strong in you.
    2
  6731.  @lozah9036  You need sources? Easy-peasy: UNGA Resolutions 68/262 and ES-11/4. They leave nothing to the imagination. I have nothing against Welsh or Scottish independence, if they so choose. By the way, the Scots rejected independence in a 2014 referendum. Unlike with Crimea and the Donbas, the UNGA did not pass any resolutions that disputed the outcome.
    2
  6732. Ursula von der Leyen is no stranger to controversy. She left Germany's military is a horrible state after her controversial stint as defence minister. Deservedly, it ruined her bid to become the German chancellor after Merkel. I, for one, wouldn't shed a tear if she made way for Merkel, like tomorrow.
    2
  6733. Sadly, there's little enthusiasm among the Dutch for a reunification with Flanders. The last time, your northern neighbours were lukewarm, too. The Calvinist bankers were wary of the spendthrift Catholics down south.
    2
  6734. Take your meds, Andrew. And remember that you wouldn't have them without biomedical research.
    2
  6735. Could it be because Russia is at war, and Poland isn't? Live by the sword, die by the sword.
    2
  6736. As in Russia making a large move like Bakhmut? Pfft.
    2
  6737.  @TheRealBillBob  It felt more like Macron gently educated the reality TV host about statesmanship, a concept that remains foreign to Trump.
    2
  6738. It doesn't bode well for your hero. Law-abiding citizens should think twice about backing a criminal.
    2
  6739.  @AndrzejPiotrowski-l2o  Try argumentation to make your point. Now you're just flapping your gums.
    2
  6740. ​ @PhiloSurfer  Whatever. You're suggesting that critical observations about China must be erroneous because unrelated earlier observations about China proved wrong. That's a doozy of a fallacy.
    2
  6741. Shoddy housing and poor politics.
    2
  6742. The whataboutism is still strong in you.
    2
  6743. It looks like he must... if only to pardon himself.
    2
  6744.  @VinayWebstar  Thanks for confirming that India's friendly relations with Russia are a thing of the past.
    2
  6745. ​ @michaeldvorak8140  Your understanding is flawed. There's something called the EU Common Security and Defence Policy. It's just that, a policy or a defence cooperation framework of sorts. The EU has no armed forces in the traditional sense.
    2
  6746. That would be NATO minus USA and Canada. I don't see a standing NATO army anywhere.
    2
  6747.  @GHSK_edits  Je kan de S-400 op bepaalde coordinaten afvuren, maar pantservoertuigen zijn mobiel. Niet dus.
    2
  6748. And why exactly would Russia hold back? You're just posturing.
    2
  6749. Don't you wish you had democracy, too?
    2
  6750. @Bebop 27 countries managed to agree on a withdrawal agreement. The remaining one failed. Spectacularly.
    2
  6751.  @reunificationRights  Hello wumao.
    2
  6752. +Val Beaumont Live out your sexual fantasies elsewhere. Being a moderate centrist, I don't care much what type of government will replace Maduro's failing one, but Maduro's time is up, that much is certain.
    2
  6753. +Val Beaumont Even a child knows Maduro's days are numbered. What's your excuse?
    2
  6754. +Val Beaumont Ooh, you are Nostradamus fanboy. The ever-worsening food crisis alone will do Maduro in. I don't know where you did your schooling, but hunger is the classic reason for the masses to revolt. Even committed Chavez supporters have now joined in to protest against Maduro. It's not so much that they reject Chavismo, but their beef is with Maduro and his sheer incompetence to lead the country.
    2
  6755.  @pjanke2  Why are you still here?
    2
  6756. It's not a contest.
    2
  6757. @Tagedieb I'm more concerned about the Americans, and their fondness for military adventurism. Germany is the opposite.
    2
  6758. It's called a defensive victory. Russia is very proud of its past defensive victories.
    2
  6759.  @univeropa3363  I already suspected that you wouldn't get it. The celebrated Russian victories I'm alluding to are Napoleon's infamous Russian Campaign and the Battle of Stalingrad. Educate yourself.
    2
  6760.  @univeropa3363  Ukraine is pulling it off. In case you haven't noticed, the war is already in its third year, while it was supposed to be a three-day affair. Have you studied the Russian Campaign? Napoleon took Moscow, but grew bored when Russia still refused to offer battle. In the end, winter, poor logistics and illness did the withdrawing Grande Armée in, but Russia considers it a great victory. That's defensive victory, in case you still don't savvy.
    2
  6761.  @univeropa3363  History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. I gave you two examples of well-known Russian defensive victories, because judging from your clueless reply, you were wholly unfamiliar with the concept. The First World War also had elements of a defensive victory in it. The Germans were still deep inside France when they sued for peace. In that respect I think the war in Ukraine will be more repeat than rhyme. Russia was defeated in WW1, by the way. It's an oft-ignored fact among you Russia fanboys.
    2
  6762.  @univeropa3363  Aren't you suppose to argue your case why Ukraine can't win? Did you forget or is arguing one's case an unfamiliar concept to you as well? I'm not going to compare opinions with you.
    2
  6763.  @davidnoelfranks1124  BNO holders. Try to keep up with the news.
    2
  6764.  @asemaq  The Hongkies have a higher GDP (PPP) per capita than the Poms. Mate.
    2
  6765.  @lominiski  You can correct yourself. That's a positive. Now, if you could admit it, too...
    2
  6766.  @lominiski  Laughing at yourself? That's a positive development, too. Perhaps your ego isn't as fragile as I first thought.
    2
  6767. You'd better start paying royalties to the descendants of the Normans and the Vikings.
    2
  6768. Jouw opinie is doorslaggevend. Vooral als je 'm niet beredeneert.
    2
  6769. Spent US or EU rocket parts don't come racing down to earth in an uncontrolled manner. China's playing Russian roulette with theirs.
    2
  6770.  @amandapeluso4217  Come on, make an effort. These Middle Eastern wars, which ones in particular? The UN Security Council -- including its permanent members Russia and China -- was fully onboard with the Afghan op. So should Putin, Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao and Xi Jinping also be charged as accessories to an illegal war? Why have no charges been levelled against any of those on your list? Because there was no case? Try to make one.
    2
  6771. Two-state solution, dum-dum.
    2
  6772.  @dark_master_Makei  Wrong. In terms of GDP per capita adjusted for PPP Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania still surpass Russia, all three of them.
    2
  6773. Putin's crowd isn't picky. They'll accept anyone. Patrick Lancaster is a case in point. What's with the US Navy, BTW? Lancaster is a former sailor, too.
    2
  6774. Russians can point out Ukraine on a map, but not take it. Whose impotence is worse?
    2
  6775. I always wonder why your sort never direct your heartfelt appeals for peace to Putin, the instigator of all this.
    2
  6776. Rejection of reality in favour of wild conspiracy theories is a far more common -- and serious -- condition among YouTubers. Have you sought help yet?
    2
  6777. Je kraamt onzin uit. NAVO wilde deze oorlog niet. Poetin juist wel.
    2
  6778. The only Lebanese territory that Israel occupies is the Shebaa Farms. Is that the point of contention here?
    2
  6779.  @AntoniOrszykowski  Poland appears embroiled in an existential war against LGBTQ. It would appear such orientations are more widespread among the Poles, because they don't stir up such strong emotions elsewhere. Well, maybe in societally backward Russia.
    2
  6780.  @eriknielsen1849  You're exaggerating. The sanctions are hardly all-encompassing. Yearly exports from the EU to Russia still amount to €85 billion. All EU members unanimously agreed to the sanctions. Why blame the US and the UK?
    2
  6781. So funny, Putin hiding at home from the law.
    2
  6782.  @larsjohansson6542  Lars, are you his sock puppet? If not, get a room.
    2
  6783.  @larsjohansson6542  No, why? I'm enjoying democracy to the full, in the West.
    2
  6784. Your crocodile tears aren't wanted. Your lot relishes the chance of spreading anti-Muslim hatred. You're doing sterling work for ISIS.
    2
  6785. The people's elected representatives still very much have a voice in the matter. I think Barnier will survive the upcoming no-confidence vote and end up with slim majority support.
    2
  6786. Is he a candidate? I think he's a candidate for retirement to a dacha in Russia.
    2
  6787. Where's the problem? If the patient doesn't wish to undergo euthanasia, he or she is free to suffer till the inevitable end.
    2
  6788.  @davidlamb591  You must be American. With universal healthcare, your scenario doesn't apply. I don't know about you, but we have the checks and balances in place that prevent politicizing healthcare. If the government acts against the interest of the electorate, they risk a no-confidence vote, which, if successful, means new elections and a government that's more in tune with the electorate.
    2
  6789. Western intelligence concurs. They've got those satellite thingies, you know.
    2
  6790. China should care. Contracts between Chinese and foreign companies typically conform to Hong Kong law. If the latter lose confidence in the legal impartiality of Hong Kong, their Chinese counterparts will miss out on international business opportunities. Since China relies on export for economic growth, it doesn't bode well.
    2
  6791. That's a doozy of a conspiracy theory. Yeah, let's all live in la-la-land instead of reality.
    2
  6792. I wish they'd sent the Admiral Kuznetsov, which no navy in the world can match... in generating smoke. The question wouldn't have been if it breaks down, but simply when.
    2
  6793.  @svanimation8969  It sounds like you smear dung all over yourselves and then, to your delight, the flies come.
    2
  6794.  @ifumie3267  In COIN, air power is key, especially in a rugged country like Afghanistan. The Taliban's newly-inherited air force is practically unserviceable. China won't be able to make a difference unless they go Soviet on Afghanistan. And we all know how that would end.
    2
  6795. It's EU sanctions that will bring Russia to its knees. US sanctions certainly hurt, but they're not fatal. The EU exports amount to 40% of Russian imports, US ones only 5.4%.
    2
  6796. Yup, it sounds the death knell for Russian energy exports. We only want carbon-free electricity.
    2
  6797. How come?
    2
  6798. American navel-gazer detected.
    2
  6799.  @juanguzman9031  Yup, we've caught ourselves a real Yankee dimwit.
    2
  6800. You're not in the EU, sport.
    2
  6801.  @mas2pek  The Scandinavian countries have eradicated poverty and they're consistently among the Top 10 of the most democratic countries in the world. You can't accuse them of exploiting other countries either. Just a thought, but maybe China should adopt them a role model?
    2
  6802.  @francescoguzzetta  I spent some time in Hong Kong and Singapore last year. The authorities in both made me submit to a flurry of PCR and anti-body tests because they distrust the Chinese vaccines. Coming back to Europe, there was no testing whatsoever.
    2
  6803.  @maareentak  Dan is het goed.
    2
  6804. He's human, but what does a Putin troll know.
    2
  6805.  @miakeogh6844  Aren't all the Britishers who can claim Irish blood applying for Irish passports?
    2
  6806. Xinnie the Pooh is laughing at his balding poodle.
    2
  6807.  @TEMPLAR969  Give them a chance and they will. Israel certainly isn't giving them a chance. Nor is the US, by giving Israel a carte blanche.
    2
  6808. Not really. As taxpayers, we're paying a high price for the destruction of the Russian armed forces and the crippling sanctions imposed on Russia. Happy to help Ukraine, however.
    2
  6809. If that were the case, you'd think the CCP would dare to democratise China.
    2
  6810. Cherry-picking is not for real historians.
    2
  6811. Duh, there's a confession.
    2
  6812. It's an achievement all right, especially in the light of comparable populous countries like China completely failing to democratize, but you shouldn't get too comfortable. India is still judged a flawed democracy.
    2
  6813. But it was their supporter who committed this heinous act of terrorism.
    2
  6814.  @alexlo7708  You present a very imaginative explanation for the Aeroflot 1492 crash. The Russian aviation safety authorities aren't blaming the avionics, European or otherwise. There are criminal proceedings against the pilot, suggesting pilot error. It would appear you're shifting blame, and very sloppily at that.
    2
  6815.  @alexlo7708  It seems the media jumped the gun. Russia is better known for great fiction than journalistic integrity. I've both experienced lightning strikes as a passenger and I've dealt with the aftermath. One instance in particular comes to mind. A DC-10 has struck in the nose cone, with a hole the size of a fist as a result. The radar came in for repairs. The static dischargers in the wings had melted to mere nubs, suggesting that it was a massive jolt. It's a miracle if the avionics aren't at least temporarily affected, but lightning rarely if ever causes a plane to crash.
    2
  6816. So, you'd like to give "peace for our time" another go, in case it'll work the second time around. The last time, that's how the madness really started.
    2
  6817. Read some. There's more to a newspaper than the funny pages.
    2
  6818. My Irish peacekeeper colleagues carried it in Lebanon, too. Swedes, too.
    2
  6819. Critical-schmitical. I don't think Scholz has been a fan of Schröder's for a long time, even if they're nominally members of the same party. You seem unable to differentiate between lobbying and decision-making.
    2
  6820.  @funnyoldworld6894  I would guess none, because they all condemned Russia. If they did blame "the West", they wouldn't have condemned Russia, right?
    2
  6821. In the very likely event that Finland will join NATO, there's bound to be an arrangement similar to that of Norway, meaning no nukes and no permanent NATO bases in the country. The same goes for Sweden. Both countries are inherently defensible, and not lacking in weapons, skill and motivation either.
    2
  6822.  @theawesomesausage  You would pack more credibility if the MEP who made the Nazi salute weren't a fan of Nazi ideology.
    2
  6823.  @rollingthunderinho  Good to know. As a Finn, I luuurve trees.
    2
  6824.  @StevenSmith-mk5fg  Apart from that, I've never understood why the silly Putin trolls go on and on about the Tsar Bomba. The sole remaining example was dismantled decades ago.
    2
  6825. Misery loves company, eh?
    2
  6826.  @canemcave  I like your frantic excuses.
    2
  6827. You should rent out your empty attic instead of letting the US live there rent-free.
    2
  6828.  @matthewstokes1608  Boris Johnson renegotiated the WA, Einstein.
    2
  6829. Too bad for China, even money can't buy you good engines.
    2
  6830. Your comment is off by two and half years.
    2
  6831.  @marcusmiller9176  You've got it backwards. When the USSR invaded Finland, it was aligned with Hitler. Hitler took a lot of flak for supporting the Soviets in the Winter War, even from his most ardent followers. I suggest you take your historical revisionism elsewhere.
    2
  6832.  @timcasady4750  You sure? Dubya was going on and on about the "War on Terror" then.
    2
  6833.  @zodiaczone5107  So the Iraq War was retaliation for Iraq not having WMDs?
    2
  6834. They tried to build an army of regulars, kontraktniki, but that one failed miserably in Ukraine. Now they're reverting to the old Soviet model. Cannon fodder describes it well.
    2
  6835.  @nidhinv8406  Don't kid yourself. India is a big contributor to China's CO2 emissions. By buying Chinese-made products, India has outsourced, as it were, a great deal of its CO2 emissions to China.
    2
  6836.  @jaimejimenez4223  I wasn't pity in my case. I moved by the heroism of the Ukrainian people.
    2
  6837. Talking about the Russian economy, now that would be fun! For once, Schadenfreude is entirely justified.
    2
  6838.  @AGENT_PR0V0CAT3UR  Don't make everything about yourselves. And if India's missile is as "hypersonic" as Russia's, you've got nothing to boast about.
    2
  6839. Putin is claiming to fight this war because of NATO. Feel free to describe him as a drama queen. Warning: your potato supply may be in jeopardy.
    2
  6840. Don't you hate it when your side is losing and you have to take to the internet to try to feel better about it? Coping, it's called, but who am I to tell you. You're the expert.
    2
  6841. I, on the other hand, am convinced Russia is behind all of this. But who is the world going to believe now as the two foremost opinion leaders in the world, you and me, disagree?
    2
  6842.  @manuelromeroarcos8160  Sort of tough, that one. Just as hard as getting Russia out. Geographical boundaries are what they are.
    2
  6843. Extremists hate moderates the most. What else is new?
    2
  6844. The hypocrisy part of your vitriolic diatribe is unclear. Assad's crimes against humanity aren't news. The definite proof is.
    2
  6845. Where have all the Krembots gone? I'd like to add "long time passing", but that's wishful thinking.
    2
  6846. It has come to this. Russia has to buy friends.
    2
  6847.  Dark Lord  You mean the famous ancient Greek physician?
    2
  6848. And they're not reporting on the price of tea in China either. Shame!
    2
  6849.  @jussim.konttinen4981  I can hear a Finnish accent if I listen to myself, sport.
    2
  6850.  @davidtuttle7556  Did I accuse you of being a Pommy?
    2
  6851. Loose an arrow or what? Bad spellers of the world untie.
    2
  6852. It's too bad Europe is on this planet, eh?
    2
  6853. You're such a cynic. If your condition worsens, remember to seek help for self-harm.
    2
  6854. ​ @ramonguzman475  Again, you're jumping to conclusions. My beliefs have nothing to do with anything. I was merely conveying what Beijing has stated publicly, that they're happy to work with the Taliban. The Taliban reciprocated with assurances that they won't give shelter to Uyghur militants. These are facts -- you can check up on them yourself. Google News, keywords "China Taliban". Uh, and didn't I suggest that China doesn't care about the Taliban flouting human rights because they're equally guilty themselves with regard to the Uyghurs? Jeez, what put the bee in your bonnet...
    2
  6855.  @colinsmith1288  I'm sure Orban has good relations with Putin, too, but that doesn't improve his global standing any. Instead, it isolates Orban, especially within the EU and NATO. Smart man my bum-bum.
    2
  6856.  @woffydo  Come on, the terms were such that it was no wonder that the Palestinians didn't go along with it. The partition was a prime example of a failure of diplomacy.
    2
  6857. On the contrary, but it was also a tragic mistake.
    2
  6858.  @harukrentz435  I saw it with my own eyes, sport. Your reading comprehension leaves something to be desired. It was a mistake to set up a national army, which no Afghan feels invested in. We should've poured our efforts in the likes of the Northern Alliance.
    2
  6859. Ben, Juncker's father was forcibly conscripted into the Wehrmacht. Would you call the Dutch and the Belgians who were forced to build weapons of war for the Nazis collaborators, too? Juncker's supposed Nazi ties on account of his father-in-law are as insubstantial as those of King Willem-Alexander's to Argentina's Dirty War. As to Juncker's grandfather, I can't find any allegations of collaboration. Incidentally, neither could The Sun when they wrote their notorious defamation article on Juncker.
    2
  6860.  @Devilfromthecaucusmountains  Language evolves, terms take on new meanings. 'Gay' is a case in point.
    2
  6861.  @AurelDuka  What are you on about? The Peregrine didn't smash into the moon. Don't upvote your own comments. It's sordid.
    2
  6862. Uh, you left Afghanistan one and a half years ago. But this is a Hitler situation. Hitler started out nibbling at Germany's neighbours, and when there was no firm response, his appetite for Lebensraum only grew. We've seen the same happening with Putler and Georgia, Crimea and now, Ukraine as a whole.
    2
  6863. That's a contradiction in terms.
    2
  6864. I have an idea. You could appeal to your leaders that they make an effort to satisfy Putin's lust for Lebensraum. Give some of your own territory to Putin. I have a hunch Putin would welcome the offer, since Ukraine is proving too hard a nut to crack.
    2
  6865.  @yurinator6380  Taxation without represention is smart, huh? Wars of independence have been fought over the injustice of it all, but already-independent Norway and Switzerland subject to it voluntarily. It beggars belief...
    2
  6866. Maybe not militarily, but politically and economically it's a bitter defeat all right.
    2
  6867.  @ДмитрийЩербаков-ш2я  I fail to see any relevance in what you wrote. Are you trying a clumsy straw man attack?
    2
  6868.  @russell6075  Of the current EU members, Germany invaded Poland and France failed to prevent it despite earlier promises to contrary. What do the remaining EU members, all 25 of them, got to do with the price of tea in Poland?
    2
  6869. Dit kabinet zit nu al in de oppositie.
    2
  6870. I have a bridge to sell you.
    2
  6871.  @r3dpowel796  You're a former Gaddafi fanboy then? The Arab Spring did your idol in.
    2
  6872.  @r3dpowel796  You're too kind.
    2
  6873.  @urmo8354  Tell me about what they've been up to lately. I know of nothing particular. Details, please.
    2
  6874.  @gerardmazzarese9363  A well-built sauna has proper ventilation. It's just that German saunas often aren't built well in that respect. I've seen German public saunas employ personnel to flap a towel about inside. Seen it in Belgium, too.
    2
  6875. Hint: there's a helpful Wikipedia article on him.
    2
  6876. How much sarcasm does your comment contain? 100%?
    2
  6877. FN makes ammunition for portable weapons, like pistols, rifles and machine guns. Ukraine needs the heavy stuff, as in artillery ammunition. Obussen, in your weird language.
    2
  6878.  @ivanluyten6282  Easier said that done. I still remember the infamous Obussenschandaal. Belgium had to approach US and Dutch manufacturers to procure artillery ammunition. FN wasn't bidding.
    2
  6879.  @artman12  You're too kind. We in the EU have no dog in this fight.
    2
  6880.  @mamabearblue5622  But the same Abrahamic god, in the guise of Allah, favours the Muslims. Seems like quite a conundrum.
    2
  6881.  @mamabearblue5622  The problem with your biblical truth is that it's also Islamic truth. Christianity builds on Judaism and Islam builds on Christianity. To me, they're all variations on the same theme. Great wisdom that transcends time, but also bits that may have made sense once, but certainly do not now.
    2
  6882.  @mamabearblue5622  A Jew or a Muslim could very well use similar arguments against you and call you a heretic or infidel. As an outsider, who can't understand your ever-ending squabbles, religious and otherwise, whom should I believe? You know you can't rely on the Bible for "facts" -- it hardly qualifies as an independent source.
    2
  6883.  @mamabearblue5622  And what guarantees do we have that Christianity isn't one of the false religions? None, I suppose.
    2
  6884.  @mamabearblue5622  You're convincing no one. I think you're all haters with a superiority complex. You want your Armageddon so bad that you may very well engineer one.
    2
  6885.  @mamabearblue5622  Your lot has seen the end of times around you for two millennia. That makes you extremely unreliable witnesses.
    2
  6886.  @mamabearblue5622  You should look into a socio-psychological phenomenon known as "self-fulfilling prophecy". It describes you to a tee.
    2
  6887.  Tống Bạch Đằng  Try to keep up. Spain has already clarified that they're not going to veto Scotland's accession to the EU on account of Catalonia. France has not even hinted at such a possibility re. Corsica. That being said, Scottish independence will undoubtedly embolden separatists all over the continent. Spain and France aren't the only ones affected. Belgium and Italy immediately spring to mind. Luckily, we have a framework in the EU that keeps things nicely together all the same. It all makes perfect sense if you consider that Europe's nation states came to be out of a necessity to protect themselves from their neighbours -- a totally outdated idea in this day and age. The Scots have it all figured out.
    2
  6888.  @valdismoseley6935  If camouflaged properly, the Russians will have a hard time locating the M-777s. And Excalibur rounds will foil Russian counter-battery radar, making it impossible to deduce from where they were fired. Ukraine is bringing in supplies by the truckload, so why not towed howitzers?
    2
  6889.  @mabhodlelajj1195  Of course they did. It was central to how the US prosecuted the war. Body count was considered a measure of progress, and according to the stats, the USA was winning. You don't know much about the Vietnam War, do you?
    2
  6890.  @DG-ie5ip  Little do you know -- literally. Funny that you didn't ask how I arrived at my conclusion, but then again, I fear you wouldn't understand my explanation. So let's leave it at that. Please don't bother me again.
    2
  6891. It is too. It's been around since 1993.
    2
  6892.  @lisachrister9990  The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 afforded all citizens of the EU member states citizenship of the EU as well, so yes, it is "a thing". Your government was a signatory and your parliament ratified it, too. Am I to assume you don't believe in their legitimacy? Taking away one's citizenship is not illegal. I used to hold three nationalities and now only two. I could not claim it any longer -- something about not living in that country for the last 30 years and holding two other passports... EU citizens are always citizens of another country, too, so statelessness doesn't enter into it.
    2
  6893.  @dtanatheist  Besides travelling at hypersonic speeds, hypersonic missiles are also expected to maneuver upon re-entry into atmosphere.
    2
  6894.  Donald Kasper  Ahem, Finland has very few mountains. The few that it does have, are in the arctic High North and thus not exactly arable land.
    2
  6895.  @gavs06714  Erdogan singled out Sweden for extra punishment, since Sweden hosts more Kurds than Finland. Besides, Erdogan knows only too well that half of NATO harbours Kurdish dissidents, but he can't touch them. Bullies always like to single out one victim at a time.
    2
  6896. It's a token effort, nothing more. Iran can't afford to prop up Lebanon's economy.
    2
  6897.  Anthony Mcdonnell  I'm of mixed origin as well. My mum's Finnish, so I was invited to do my mandatory military service in Finland. I could've dodged it by giving up my Finnish passport, but I thought an all-expenses-paid arctic survival course was too good to miss. I survived and even stayed on as an instructor, till I was asked to apply for service in Lebanon. I did and to my surprise, got selected. My experiences of the Hezbollah are purely local. No one there was in doubt about who the aggressor was. The Hezbollah kept the IDF at bay when our rules of engagement stopped us. Occasionally, they'd use us for target practice, but we knew there wouldn't be any major escalations. The IDF, on the other hand, was entirely unpredictable. I have a scar to prove it ;-)
    2
  6898. A tinfoil hat will fix that.
    2
  6899. You should teach yourself to walk and chew gum at the same time.
    2
  6900. Now why would Stoltenberg spread disinformation? Finland has made no such decision. In fact, the country just voted in a new president, who wants to keep the nuclear option open. That being said, it's doubtful that NATO wants or even needs to keep nuclear weapons in Finland. In fact, over the years, NATO has steadily expanded eastward, but its nukes have stayed firmly put -- something that can't be said about Russia's nukes, which have nudged westward.
    2
  6901. Yeah, drones are useless against attacking aircraft. And Iran just had its primary air defences obliterated.
    2
  6902.  @allazharduisenbek9936  No, we don't steal registered IP. If the Chinese patent something internationally, we honour their patents. I see it happen all the time.
    2
  6903.  @twiston43  The key words here are 'UN' and 'geoscheme'. Educate yourself.
    2
  6904. What makes you think illegal immigration is an unknown phenomenon to Europe? The irony is that we endure it largely because of your enduring military adventurism.
    2
  6905. Should humanitarian aid and development aid programmes be stopped? The law forbids EU entities from dealing with Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organisation.
    2
  6906. Do or don't? It's hard to keep the peace when there's no peace to keep.
    2
  6907. You forgot the surprised Pikachu face.
    2
  6908.  @YankaBakasci  The US Navy shot down its own jet in a case of mistaken identity.
    2
  6909. Democracy is wasted on you.
    2
  6910. Geography (and correct spelling) always eludes you. AI can't replace you soon enough.
    2
  6911.  @carsonianthegreat4672  It must say something about your precious ideology that you're ashamed of it.
    2
  6912. India's abstention just underlines that it shouldn't get a permanent seat in the UNSC till it grows a backbone.
    2
  6913. Wagner is passé, I'm afraid. Look further for a new colonial power.
    2
  6914.  @PlaYer-sn5or  Rubbish? BRICS is having a summit in South Africa this August. Since South Africa is an ICC member, I guess Putin has to Zoom in.
    2
  6915.  @PlaYer-sn5or  You should get yourself checked for psychopathy. Fantasizing about murder-suicide is a strong indication.
    2
  6916. Will samizdat ebooks become a thing?
    2
  6917.  @hornyfuckinturtle  I corrected your comment: "Russia needs an enemy to fight and Ukraine will have to do, because the others have protection."
    2
  6918.  @kimsoon6927  Better not go there. This guy needs professional help.
    2
  6919.  @coldrain6042  NATO will never have you. Not even Turkey.
    2
  6920. Let me guess, you prefer seeing footage of Palestinian babies dying of malnutrition.
    2
  6921.  @BigDsGaming2022  That doesn't appear to be case with the Luftwaffe's F-4s. Germany was a relatively early adopter of the type. The F-15 and F-16 are (still) irrelevant in a German context.
    2
  6922.  @Sannypowa  Not to worry, Britain is in the process of giving back Northern Ireland. A no-deal Brexit is a sure-fire method of achieving Irish reunification.
    2
  6923. Should we torment Afghan refugees because of what the Taliban is doing in Afghanistan?
    2
  6924. You'd think Russia, having such brilliant designers, would have a significant number of 5th-gen fighters by now. But no, the not-so-stealthy Su-57, which turned out to be a bit of a dog in other respects too, effectively got cancelled.
    2
  6925. Come on, it may look like piss, but it's a pretty good beer!
    2
  6926.  @homeguardster  You caught a creepy-crawly!
    2
  6927.  @rezakarampour6286  Try to make your own points.
    2
  6928.  @rezakarampour6286  You may want to flesh it out a bit.
    2
  6929. No, lack of labour in Germany is.
    2
  6930. As things are, it doesn't make sense for Hungary to be in the EU. Oh wait, the generous handouts...
    2
  6931.  @alemalder9176  Yugoslavia "tarted" it then, perchance? Serbia hid behind the incredibly shrinking Yugoslavia till the very end, till practically only Serbia was left.
    2
  6932. We haven't seen what they can do yet. Are you running scared? Did you get your call-up papers, "Stephen"?
    2
  6933. It's the Montreux Convention. It basically says warships can't pass though the Turkish Straits in wartime. Turkey should check with Russia if there are any wars in and around the Black Sea. Russia will answer that there's an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow special military operation going on. So no worries.
    2
  6934. Don't flatter yourself. This is pure NATO, but in a different sense: No Action, Talk Only.
    2
  6935.  @23merlino  There's a distinct possibility that the EU will get Britain back in bits and pieces first. Northern Ireland as part of a unified Ireland and Scotland as an independent country. Anyhoo, it's none of the EU's beeswax. Similar separatist developments are afoot within the EU. Borders aren't carved in stone.
    2
  6936. The net payers among the EU members aren't agreeing to increased contributions to the budget. Inevitably, the net beneficiaries are in for some belt-tightening. They won't remember the UK fondly, since the money was used to improve their infrastructure, which had suffered from decades of communist mismanagement. I can just picture a disgruntled Eastern European member wanting to put Britain's EU deal to a referendum. It takes just one member to nix it.
    2
  6937.  @romanzusman2892  What's sure is that a HIMARS rocket couldn't pull off a caper like this. This malfunctioning missile appears to be guided and highly manoeuvrable, which suggests it's an anti-aircraft missile. If the fins on a HIMARS rocket were somehow damaged or failed to unfold, it would corkscrew or fly in an arc. We can safely assume Blitzkrieg013 has no clue.
    2
  6938. The EU's demand was for presidential elections, not parliamentary elections. Did your Sputnik fail to spot that?
    2
  6939.  @Lucas-wn5wm  OK, act like a weirdo and get ignored.
    2
  6940. Give the man a break. His bone spurs are acting up.
    2
  6941.  @Svenne-man-1880  Actually, modern non-nuclear subs are quieter than nuclear ones. Endurance isn't an issue either within the relatively small confines of the Baltic Sea. Besides, Russia is still committed to diesel-electric submarines, like the unfortunately named Lada class.
    2
  6942. It's just a tiny sliver. Norway claims a far bigger slice of the continent.
    2
  6943.  @robertsmith4681  What gave you that idea? It appears there's lithium underneath our ancestral lands, and it's most definitely going to be exploited.
    2
  6944. Give us examples of Christian nationalism. Please, don't hold back.
    2
  6945. That's a conspiracy theorists' cliché, not an old adage.
    2
  6946.  @heartofsteel7821  You two get a room already.
    2
  6947.  @mgronich948  Zelenskyy "shelling Russian-speaking residents of the Donbas" is a complete fabrication. Even Russian OSCE observers, who had full access to the Donbas between 2014 and 2022, won't swear to something like that ever happening. It's pathetic how you lie.
    2
  6948. So, you're saying the French would provoke a Russian nuclear strike by not invading Russia?
    2
  6949. I doubt that. The Supreme Court of the United States just rejected Trump's bid to delay his sentencing. I suppose he'll just have to go through life as a convicted felon.
    2
  6950. Let's see, in Syria, Assad's military lays waste to schools and hospitals. There are circumstances in which warplanes save schools and hospitals, to say nothing of pupils and patients.
    2
  6951. But you've just lost your morals -- if you had any to begin with.
    2
  6952. Let's not forget that a substantial part of Hong Kong's population had fled Communist rule on the mainland. They voted with their feet, which goes to show which alternative was preferable, Communist repression or British colonial rule.
    2
  6953. Your precious Bibi has no long-term plan, none whatsoever. And his previous long-term plans led to this.
    2
  6954.  @StrategicHistoryIN  I think your colonial mindset is showing. Man up.
    2
  6955.  @meganh9460  What a ridiculous, uninformed American viewpoint. If anything, Germany's European allies want Germany to bolster its defences. No one in their right mind believes the Germans are against us. Germany is an economic powerhouse, but in a Western European context its economy is by no means unique in anything but size. With today's complex supply chains, we as much complement one another as we compete with them. True, Germany should pull its weight militarily, but you have no clue to what end. Go home, Yankee!
    2
  6956. So young yet so cynical...
    2
  6957. Didier, what's wrong with pay-without-say? They can't reach the brake pedal any longer.
    2
  6958. But you don't get to stay unless we decide otherwise. Same for the Brits now.
    2
  6959. The pound will tumble, that much is certain.
    2
  6960. Google Translate is failing you.
    2
  6961. Oh noes, now Russia has to invade Kazakhstan as well.
    2
  6962. It goes without saying that Goebbels would root for the Fascists. Ergo, Russia.
    2
  6963.  @StPiter111  Putler's regime ticks all the boxes of Fascism. It's uncanny.
    2
  6964. When Pakistan and China invade India, we'll call it self-defence and reach for the popcorn. Deal?
    2
  6965.  @AbuBawa-sw1ut  One way to withdraw from a deal is not to extend it. You're making excuses.
    2
  6966.  @chomasensi  Russian grain? Russia is preventing Ukrainian grain from being exported by sea. Try to keep up with the news.
    2
  6967. Of all people, the Taliban are experts in hiding in caves.
    2
  6968.  @e3498-v7l  The winning party of the European elections and the European Council -- that's the EPP and the heads of state or government of all the EU member states -- nominate a candidate for Commission President. Next, the entire European Parliament votes on it. If said candidate fails to gain a majority, there's another round. What's there not to understand? It's no different from appointing a prime minister in a parliamentary democracy.
    2
  6969.  @wm7531  Yet in your shoes, I wouldn't put myself on a pedestal. The Balts could've resisted Soviet annexation 50 years earlier. Don't act like your poop doesn't stink.
    2
  6970.  @Abyss-d1g  I have a degree in history, sport. You're spouting nonsense. In accepting Finnish independence, Lenin was faced with a fait accompli. Try to get some academic studies under your belt before you get back to me.
    2
  6971. Putin could thwart their wicked plans with a simple stroke of the pen. By signing a withdrawal order.
    2
  6972. Don't be so pessimistic. Putin can still make a break for it. I'm sure Xi will have him, on condition that Putin devotes his remaining years to riding horsey bare-chested.
    2
  6973.  The Hostage Continent  You're too silly for words.
    2
  6974. This is what it's about. Free and fair elections.
    2
  6975.  @mitevstojan4296  I think it's a rather apt term for Covid-19 anti-vaxxers.
    2
  6976. No Putins would make NATO superfluous. We'll go for it when they're all gone and never coming back.
    2
  6977.  @Shlevel  You forgot about China's and Russia's backyard colonialism. Both greatly expanded at the expense of their neighbours, and continue to occupy their territory. The Uyghurs, Chechens, Circassians and Tibetans can attest to that, just to name a few subdued peoples.
    2
  6978. You must be American. You're abusing the term. In global usage, a republic can be democratic, oligarchic or autocratic. In Russia's case, clearly the latter two apply. But above all, it's autocratic.
    2
  6979. Finland has been stalling to let Sweden catch up. Now they finally have.
    2
  6980. What, Wilders being consigned to the opposition again? I suppose that's at least the silver lining here.
    2
  6981. You're not really up to date on previous transatlanic trade spats, are you? It's always tit for tat.
    2
  6982. Foreign embassies and consulates in Russia can issue residence permits to asylum-seekers as per normal.
    2
  6983. Putin doesn't care about being a wise leader. It's all about him being perceived as a strong leader. That perception is badly cracked now, like Humpty Dumpty's eggshell.
    2
  6984. The world at large begs to disagree.
    2
  6985.  @w3s77  If their residence permits are in order, why not. Same with Russians living over here.
    2
  6986. With what weapons? Your Russian turret-tossing tanks? Your rickety Soviet-era aircraft? In case you don't know it, you've lost your top arms supplier in Russia. You'll have to go hat in hand to France and the US for more.
    2
  6987.  @NorCalMoDo  Yup. In the Red Sea, the Houthis are jeopardising an essential sea lane. It serves the two biggest ports in Europe, Rotterdam and Antwerp, among others.
    2
  6988. In 1944, after very careful deliberation, Hitler came to the same realisation in his bunker.
    2
  6989.  @Austine1452  Pitcairn Islanders out, too.
    2
  6990.  @charleslefeuvre5267  France was in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2012. How would you judge your involvement? Abortive?
    2
  6991. Why don't you address the root of the problem, America's wacky electoral system? Or while at it, why not adopt a parliamentary system together with proportional representation? And if you need a (nominal) head of state, I'm sure the Duchess of Sussex would make herself available.
    2
  6992. He played judge, jury and executioner on himself. Shot himself.
    2
  6993. Your irony is sadly misplaced. Russia isn't exactly a poster child for forest management. Every year, they have devastating forest fires, many of which they simply let burn out. If you want an example of responsible forest management, Scandinavia qualifies. Their livelihood depends on it.
    2
  6994. It's interesting that during the Korean War, when Gen. MacArthur speculated about resorting to nuclear weapons, the general was promptly removed from command. With Russia's leaders and propagandists, it's more rule than exception that they threaten the world with nukes.
    2
  6995. Don't just threaten, unsubscribe now.
    2
  6996.  @e.o.9094  For us as well. Just behind France in the medals table, but we have less than one third of the population.
    2
  6997. If Ian takes his shots, it'll be OK.
    2
  6998.  @mikicerise6250  Ahem, Hong Kong swears by crony capitalism.
    2
  6999.  @VINLAND_777  Good job.
    2
  7000. Yeah, no.
    2
  7001.  @AP-do6sv  Russia's bases in Syria serve no offensive purposes any longer. They're in self-defence and evacuation mode. It wouldn't be beyond the rebels' abilities to force them to surrender.
    2
  7002. Uh, Russia is behind this one, dum-dum.
    2
  7003. And military coups help how? Africa's sure had enough of them.
    2
  7004.  @chrisrobert5252  We've had Finnish instructors training Ukrainians in the UK for some months now. It's somewhat challenging to teach proper winter warfare in the UK, however. There's more to it than camouflage.
    2
  7005. Were you sound asleep during previous transatlantic trade wars? NATO is growing nonetheless.
    2
  7006. But Russia did invade Ukraine in 2014. Didn't the annexation of Crimea register with you?
    2
  7007.  @mjfan653  Interesting that you keep the oldies around as well. When I served in the Finnish Armed Forces in 1986-1988, we still kept Stens in ready storage, in addition to war-booty Degtyaryovs. In NCO school, we had to strip them, too. Our ex-Imperial Russian Arisakas were reportedly swapped with these Stens after WW2. Later, as a reservist, we made semi-clandestine trips to Estonia to train up the locals. Amusingly, all we had for rifles were plywood cutouts. One trainee didn't like it and brought along a Kar98K, which his family had kept hidden since the end of the war. I can imagine what the Soviet occupiers would've done to them had they found out.
    2
  7008.  @mastervikingchief3837  Come on, you can do better than that. In the Information Age, information is literally at your fingertips. Assange is held in a UK prison pending an appeal about his once-denied extradition to the US to face espionage charges. Sweden is no longer seeking his extradition for rape, having found the evidence lacking.
    2
  7009. Your timing is off. The EU just slapped the US with tariffs. Join the club.
    2
  7010.  @kevt3318  Not really. Airbus is at the very source of this latest trade spat between the EU and the US. The UK is a partner in Airbus -- a camp follower of sorts.
    2
  7011. Sound advice: don't walk and chew gum at the same time. You'll trip.
    2
  7012.  @RaviSingh-nm7lg  Tease? I thought English was a formal language in India?
    2
  7013.  @yacinekcl  Just for reference purposes, how would you describe the Chechen wars? The Russian colonizer always speaks of "bandits" and "terrorists" staging attacks. Same difference? Except Russia still hasn't decolonized Chechnya.
    2
  7014. It's not a fair comparison. Putin is a president-for-life.
    2
  7015. Around the world, military parades are nothing special. The taxpayers should see how their taxes are spent.
    2
  7016.  @mario8849  It's ice cold resolve, not desperation. But you wouldn't understand.
    2
  7017.  @jollyroger7102  It came straight from the horse's mouth. In Pryamya Liniya of 2014, Putin finally admitted on-air that Russia deployed troops in Crimea (the infamous Little Green Men). You make a lousy Kremlin apologist.
    2
  7018. Ik schiet al dertig jaar met de AK47. Tenminste, met de Finse versie ervan. Ik heb er duizenden en nog eens duizenden patronen mee afgevuurd, maar de keren dat ik er volautomatisch mee geschoten heb zijn op één hand te tellen. Het heeft ook weinig zin.
    2
  7019.  @Keanopro123  Gaap.
    2
  7020.  @kemwittalltree9650  The ICC is an international tribunal that happens to sit in the Netherlands. Would you describe the UN as an American institution, because it's headquartered in New York? I'm sure the Chinese will eventually answer for their human rights abuses in The Hague. But it's interesting that you equate yourselves to the Chinese. Your use of whataboutism, an all-time favourite of communist regimes, is interesting, too. Enjoy your isolation.
    2
  7021.  @kemwittalltree9650  OK, you're back-pedalling. You originally wrote "directly elected by US citizens". Now you're modifying it to "elected by our Senators who are elected by citizens". That means indirectly elected by the citizens. The ICC member states elect the ICC judges in the same manner. Unlike the USA, Afghanistan is a member state of the ICC. In consequence, the ICC has jurisdiction in Afghanistan, so they're within their rights to investigate possible war crimes committed there. The US has no reservations about investigating crimes committed by foreigners on US soil. So what's good for the goose isn't good for the gander? You're repeating yourself. I have no use for your personal opinions on the UN or Bretton Woods.
    2
  7022. So, Russia's defence ministry must've lied when they admitted their naval HQ had been struck.
    2
  7023.  @chaosking911  Don't crush the boy's spirits. He's been using this "NAT(Orc's)" everywhere, like it's the best thing since sliced bread. The poor boy doesn't know better.
    2
  7024.  @wanderlust0120  You're projecting. Compare alcohol consumption between Russia and Finland and you'll be astounded.
    2
  7025. ​ @katalinkozak9869  I'm obviously referring to the OP.
    2
  7026. Isn't that the role of the media? To say the unsaid? In my opinion, the media are rightfully pointing at the manner in which the withdrawal took place. A gradual withdrawal, backed up by air power, would've given the ANA a fighting chance. I bet that the ANA's regional commanders drew their conclusions from Trump's peace negotiations and conducted their very own, and the result is what we see now.
    2
  7027. ??? The left never picked him up.
    2
  7028.  @aliquill2252  Again, we can argue till the cows come home whether the post-Taliban Afghan government, or for that matter, Assad's beleaguered Syrian government, had the authority to call in foreign troops. Let's just agree that from at least one party's perspective there was an invasion by foreign troops.
    2
  7029. Oh, he could end up with polonium in his tea in London, too.
    2
  7030.  @saundrakielborn2201  It was actually the UN that paritioned Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, and an 'international' zone, Jerusalem. By the time, Britain had grown very weary of its troublesome mandate, and wished to give it up soonest.
    2
  7031. I wouldn't go that far. YouTube is the go-to place for populist far-right radicals to spew their hatred.
    2
  7032. 46% of Israelis claim to be secular, so what's the big deal? Also, you'll find that there's a vast difference in the treatment of Messianic Jews and Palestinian Christians, although their religion is the same.
    2
  7033.  filipe5722  Perhaps so, but only because Hamas is experiencing an existential crisis -- a crisis that it brought on itself.
    2
  7034. What's your problem with that? Psychiatric cases with a propensity for violence don't get off lightly. Many spend the rest of their days confined to a very prison-like psychiatric hospital, whereas most convicted criminals eventually do get out of prison.
    2
  7035.  @andrecoxa  But you're unable to put it in words? Aw...
    2
  7036.  @davidjones6389  I don't have to hide behind my mum's skirts (or camo pants in your case). I deployed to conflict zones twice.
    2
  7037. Cadet Bone Spurs saves the military.
    2
  7038. Since they go off like a rocket.
    2
  7039.  @sandervanderkammen9230  The UK aircraft industry rebounded nicely thanks to Airbus. Where's Fokker, by the way?
    2
  7040. Go for it, the EU will be stronger for it.
    2
  7041.  cornpotato tomato  <Grin> As a test, we should cut off Hungary from the Cohesion Fund and see how long Orban lasts.
    2
  7042. Hydrocarbons are on the way out. If not because of Russia proving an unreliable supplier, then because of the environment. Your environment, too.
    2
  7043.  @UVGardener  Your definition of 'republic' is obsolete. Republic and democracy are by no means mutually exclusive, nor are constitutional monarchy and democracy. Do try to break out from the past.
    2
  7044. flavhub, we might be dealing with a useful idiot, as the Soviet propagandists called them. If it worked for the Soviets, it must work for the Russian Ministry of Disinformation, too.
    2
  7045. Putin lost one vote out of the 5 he could count on at the UN General Assembly, out of 193 votes in all.
    2
  7046. Defensie doet z'n werk.
    2
  7047. More like a failed state.
    2
  7048.  Kirin Sama  Failed states are just that, failed, no matter whether they're independent or not.
    2
  7049.  Kirin Sama  You assume too much. Afghanistan was regarded a failed state under the Taliban the first time around. This time around, why would it be any different? The Taliban are not into power-sharing, so those who actually have a clue of how to govern a country are sidelined. Afghanistan is the land of the one-eyed, where the blind are kings.
    2
  7050. "in case"... no danger of that happening during his tenure.
    2
  7051.  @SoloTravelerOffTheBeatenPath  Sure, Salvini could've won Eurojackpot, too, if he had had the winning combination. Only he didn't.
    2
  7052. Yeah, Russia could take a tactic into use that was reportedly devised by Chairman Mao. The first day, 1 million Nork soldiers surrender. The second day, another million. The third day, if Ukraine still doesn't sue for peace, yet another million Norks surrender.
    2
  7053.  @maxy1648  What if there were weapons? Is storing weapons illegal for a country defending itself against foreign military aggression?
    2
  7054. The whole UN peacekeeping mission in Mali is over. In terms of troops that remained, France was a minor contributor, with Chad, Bangladesh and Egypt being the top 3 contributors. Jubilate over that.
    2
  7055.  @zoom777  If so, Putin must have recurring nightmares about said puppet show.
    2
  7056.  @billballbuster7186  The Battle of Hürtgen Forest was far more costly, with 33,000 US casualties vs. 2,851 in the Battle of Metz. I think you're getting your battles and campaigns mixed up.
    2
  7057. You're really trying to milk it, but that cow is dry.
    2
  7058.  @hicrhodushicsalta6648  I thought her given name was Ivanka.
    2
  7059. Try explaining. All I hear is whining.
    2
  7060.  @ottz2506  And you too. Try to explain what it is that's incorrect about the report. If you can't, you are indeed whining.
    2
  7061.  @Rohan123-b9t  The old "in Soviet Russia" reversal jokes were funny, but your adaption is just meh.
    2
  7062. Oh, it's not worth it for Russia, but Putin is another matter. Putin is fighting for his life. Retirement plans for failed autocrats are notoriously poor.
    2
  7063.  @Ephys  Er, what does Russian soil have to do with the price of tea in China? Ukraine is Ukrainian soil.
    2
  7064.  @rasmusgustavsson3426  You must have failed geography. Does Norway have a Baltic Sea coastline?
    2
  7065. Abrahamic religions are like that.
    2
  7066.  @Wiers75q  Economists would tut-tut you for comparing the GDP growth of a developing country to that a highly developed country. Many Chinese corporations have banked on continued high growth and thus overextended themselves. When they sink, they suck down their suppliers, too. China is bracing itself for a wave of bankruptcies.
    2
  7067. One of the pitfalls of an arranged marriage, I suppose.
    2
  7068.  AhmetTekinA  The Chinese have actually cleaned up their act in that respect. They want reciprocity, as in their IP being respected as well -- and they do own a lot these day, particularly in telecoms, much to the chagrin of the Americans.
    2
  7069. I really don't see any Anglo-Saxon connection here, transsexual or otherwise. Very faintly, perhaps, on account of tiny Malta's public broadcaster being involved in Euronews, assuming they've got ethnic Brits onboard who identify as transsexual. But hey, don't let facts stand in the way of a juicy conspiracy theory.
    2
  7070. WEF? Poof, suddenly your credibility is gone.
    2
  7071.  @homtanks7259  You're odd.
    2
  7072. Bot response.
    2
  7073. Your childish emoticons notwithstanding, it's going rather well from a Western perspective. From a Russian perspective, the opposite is true. Both Russia's war machine and economy are sputtering.
    2
  7074.  @iamsorryforbeingrudebefore1626  Again, speak for yourself. You needn't necessarily spend years, or even weeks, in a nuclear fall-out shelter. You seem to have lost your survival instinct and gone all lethargic. Well, survival of the fittest.
    2
  7075.  @Its.Mine1  What's your budget?
    2
  7076. Dark Africa is challenging, too.
    2
  7077. With Farage's ingrained victim mentality, he would be sorely disappointed if he weren't victimised, for reals or suppositiously.
    2
  7078.  @waitingforapril  So the annexation is complete? I bet Elmo calls it playfully 'der Anschluß'.
    2
  7079. Your comment strikes me as odd, considering that Trump was happy to accept Putin's demands for territorial enlargement at Ukraine's expense. Also, Trump wasn't prepared to send US peacekeepers to Ukraine, let alone fight for Ukraine. You're trying to turn betrayal and cowardice into virtues.
    2
  7080. You easily buckle under criticism. Sad.
    2
  7081.  @antilarge7860  The French saved your bacon in 1781. Without them, there'd be just one big Canada -- not too shabby, now that I think about it.
    2
  7082.  @antilarge7860  No, and neither does Napoleon sweeping the floor with all of Europe's armies at one time or another. Since your memories across the pond aren't all that great, it bears reminding that the French led the Allies to victory in WW1. If anything, the French were brave to a fault in WW1, something for which they paid the price in WW2. Hitler, himself a WW1 veteran, was greatly impressed with the French. His impression was reportedly restored after the WW2 Battle of Bir Hakeim, where the French held off a German-Italian force ten times their size. You're good at clichés -- history, not so much.
    2
  7083. @male princess Your words, not mine. I'm just observing that heads of government in democratic countries aren't "elected" for life, like in Belarus.
    2
  7084.  @uncleadi  Ah, we've descended into alt right conspiracy land. Count me out.
    2
  7085. Why is it relevant? Do you think that likewise, mainland China should never enjoy democracy because it has never experienced real democracy, not before the CCP took over, nor thereafter?
    2
  7086.  @JayWill-o4y  It's your intellect that's failing you.
    2
  7087. Home insurance?
    2
  7088. The (blind) nationalism is strong with this people.
    2
  7089.  @deppen123  We actually don't know that, because it isn't true.
    2
  7090. Ambiguous warfare, or so Putin thinks. One would think he has exhausted plausible deniability a long time ago, but no... the KGB playbook is all he has.
    2
  7091. We did bicycle marches when I served in the Finnish army in the '80s. Being half-Dutch and exceedingly tall by Finnish standards, I found the regular bicycle frames too small, so they found me a WW1-era German bicycle. I had no complaints. It was just like veldrijden.
    2
  7092.  @worldgonecrazy  Party members? Sure, Communist ideology is what Hong Kong needs to make up for losing skilled workers and capital. They'll outnorthkorea North Korea.
    2
  7093. Has Prigozhin magically transformed into a John Rambo, a veritable one man army? Because the rest of his army won't make it to Belarus.
    2
  7094.  @klassjogren831  Are you suggesting someone should go Anders Breivik on them?
    2
  7095.  @spartanx9293  Your knowledge is off. Airbus offers three military aircraft: the A400M airlifter; the C295 tactical transport and the A330 multi-role tanker/transport. Which one of these is a multi-role fighter in competition with the F-35? As to your next claim, that "Airbus has been getting ass kicked [sic] by Lockheed Martin", how so? The only overlap is the C130J Super Hercules. The A400M is replacing it, slowly but surely.
    2
  7096. Sadly for you, capital punishment is no longer de rigueur in France.
    2
  7097. Simple-pimple. Canada doesn't want Russia's help in defending its territory. Nor is there any threat of the USA encroaching on its territory.
    2
  7098.  @erikt1713  Made-up victimhood? If there's something the Palestinians have plenty of, it's victimhood. Another nation that likes to wallow in victimhood -- also real but well in the past -- makes sure of that.
    2
  7099.  @TheHookahSmokingCaterpillar  Experience helps a bit, but since Russia doesn't normally do refreshers, they'll need to be retrained. Chances are Putin will be finished before their training is finished.
    2
  7100. For being presidents-for-life?
    2
  7101. I'd like to explain, but it's beyond your grasp.
    2
  7102.  @armchairdude8524  Yeah, it begs the question how much Putin had to pay for Xi's visit. No free lunches for Putin the Pariah.
    2
  7103. The Taliban won't have a government. A failed state doesn't need one.
    2
  7104.  @theconchonetwork498  Didn't you learn from Russia's ill-conceived and consequently abortive advance on Kyiv that imagining things isn't conducive to military success?
    2
  7105. Duh, they're smirking at him. A vassal came to pledge allegiance. And for your info, Putin isn't into LGBT stuff, at least not officially.
    2
  7106. We were unified all right when the UK tried to drive a wedge between the EU-27 in order to get a better Brexit deal. No doubt it will be the same here. With the UK on our side, this time.
    2
  7107. "Erdogan" has so many negative connotations that while at it, the man should seriously consider changing his own name, too. He seems to favour the Turkish equivalent of "Führer". Best make it official.
    2
  7108. You mean *far-right *voters are fed *up? Spelling matters, just like black lives matter.
    2
  7109. Are you overcompensating for your latent inferiority complex? It sure sounds like it.
    2
  7110.  @dicklong30  I really don't care to discuss the US at every possible juncture. I literally couldn't care less of what you think of them.
    2
  7111.  @linmei4188  Yup, you are a slave in need of a master.
    2
  7112. Let's not sweep under the carpet that Britain has invaded 90% of the world's nations at one time or another.
    2
  7113.  @DropdudeJohn  So in your honest opinion all the invasions were benevolent? I don't see how commonwealths, British or otherwise, have anything to do with anything. Remember, just like with post-Brexit relations with the EU, cherry-picking from history is a no-no. You have to take the bad with the good.
    2
  7114.  @DropdudeJohn  Ooh, self-aggrandizing. I notice you wilfully dodged my question.
    2
  7115.  @DropdudeJohn  It seems you'd rather not get involved in scrutinizing Britain's "glorious" history for fear of finding out about the embarrassing bits. Understandable for a self-aggrandizer.
    2
  7116. Now is not the time to go nationalistic on us.
    2
  7117. I think they are already.
    2
  7118. You can console the PiS in Poland with the very same message. They failed to find coalition partners to govern the country with.
    2
  7119. This doesn't speak of political maturity. In a parliamentary system, the winning party would've tried to form a coalition government. Had they failed, the party that came second would've taken over and given it a try. Here Macron made an educated(?) guess as to which coalition would succeed. France is so ripe for the Sixth Republic, which should be a parliamentary one with proportional representation.
    2
  7120. It's only fair anti-vaxxers don't travel abroad to spread the virus.
    2
  7121. The PLO recognised Israel in 1993, bud. Likewise, Israel recognised the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. Keep up with the news.
    2
  7122. Watch this space.
    2
  7123. No matter what? Get out into the big wide world from under your rock.
    2
  7124. Tipping is an American custom. It's because you don't pay your waitresses properly.
    2
  7125. +Stealthy Cooper Sadly, China and Russia are no strangers to imperialism. Not even by today's standards. Spratlys, Crimea, Tibet, etc.
    2
  7126. Investigations are ongoing, sport.
    2
  7127.  @cantiaci  Nope, you got it wrong as well. France never left NATO.
    2
  7128.  @ciybersal3499  Asia powers ahead? China's economy, Asia's biggest by far, is facing severe headwinds. Don't compliment yourselves unduly.
    2
  7129.  @ciybersal3499  As official developing countries, China and India are supposed to grow quicker than developed countries, whose economies have been plateauing because relatively little untapped potential remains. China's economy in particular is geared for high growth. If said growth fails to materialise, heavily-indebted corporations start failing -- as we're witnessing now.
    2
  7130.  @antoniussamuelson3748  You do have a reputation for "reclaiming" land, and it's not from the sea.
    2
  7131. ​ @antoniussamuelson3748  I can do one better. We've got lands across the border that we had settled since the last ice age ended. Reclaiming it would require WW3, so no. Moreover, religion makes a poor excuse for territorial expansion, especially when different religions waxed and waned among the original inhabitants, like in historical Palestine. Their genetics are an inextricable jumble with no correlation with religion. Interestingly, Arab and European genetic features are the best clue among the present inhabitants, but it remains a hit and miss affair.
    2
  7132. Thank you for asking, but we Euros can walk and chew gum at the same time.
    2
  7133. ​@Rasgulla You'd better check if the Russians accept returns. And don't settle for store credit. It's all junk.
    2
  7134. Maybe you're puzzled because your economy is a chronic basket case and you simply don't understand these matters. Oh, we did have to shave off a percentage point from our growth estimate, but we're not expecting a recession. Besides, Putin provided a great impetus for increased investment in a carbon-free future. He should get an environmentalist award or something. He'll have something to console himself in his prison cell in The Hague.
    2
  7135. Sure, you survived the Blitz and the V1s and V2s. Brexit, however, is akin to setting off bombs of your own making amongst yourselves. I can think of better ways of showing off your tenacity.
    2
  7136. *Moldova has an unresolved internal territorial dispute with the Transnistrians. That's a no-no for NATO.
    2
  7137. Irrelevant.
    2
  7138. 2009, rather. I don't foresee any competition for Airbus and Boeing emerging from Russia any time soon. Embraer and Bombardier may have some concerns with regard to the Sukhoi Superjet 100, but otherwise, no.
    2
  7139. They should train a pigeon to play chess with Putin so that the much-hyped chess master could feel good about himself after his Ukraine debacle.
    2
  7140. NRIs with Canadian citizenship can't visit India? How does that work to India's advantage?
    2
  7141. When Russia implodes, how is that going to reflect on Xi? Xi should hedge his bets.
    2
  7142. "Antagonizing a war"... come again? Google Translate made a boo-boo there.
    2
  7143.  @frankrenda2519  *You're. And watch your punctuation and capitalisation. I don't want to appear like I'm conversing with a child. Actually, we're a case in point. We ceased Russian gas imports in May and received our final shipment of Russian oil in June. And we're none the worse for wear.
    2
  7144.  @frankrenda2519  *Which. I am conversing with a child.
    2
  7145. The Russians should carefully consider if Putin's military adventurism is worth risking nuclear war for.
    2
  7146.  @blackwhite6391  Ukraine, the most corrupt country in Europe, you say? Ukraine has a problem, but Russia is ranked worse in the Corruption Perception Index. Gotta love them facts.
    2
  7147. The EU isn't the only game in town. EU members make up the bulk of NATO, and there are voices arising that the six out 27 -- Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Malta and Sweden -- that still remain outside of the military alliance, collectively join NATO. NATO knows no better recruiter than Putin.
    2
  7148. Turkey withdrew their reservations, sport.
    2
  7149. The EU will resort to tariffs when there's no alternative. China's dumping may be a good enough reason, but otherwise, no.
    2
  7150. World leaders will mock Trump again when he makes president, but with more finesse.
    2
  7151. That's a good tip for dictators. They can march their armies through cities and villages and then declare themselves elected.
    2
  7152.  Chi Ng  But I'm talking about the protesters, whom they did support.
    2
  7153. It's interesting how they go into overdrive. It says something about the gravity of the situation.
    2
  7154. I've got bad news for you. The Turkish lira is weak by any parameter.
    2
  7155. If they violate Western-held patents, they won't be selling their planes anywhere where these patents have been filed, China included. Anything based on expired patents is up for grabs. Within these constraints, everyone copies everyone.
    2
  7156.  @adineatha9766  Yeah, about Finland annexing Karelia. The present Russian population would come with it. Before you knew it, Russia would start making up stories about genocide against ethnic Russians, just like they do in Eastern Ukraine. No one outside Russia would believe it of course, but within Russia, many would lap it up. I'm sure the Russian Karelians would be more than keen, however.
    2
  7157. Anti-personnel mines are banned by the Ottawa Treaty.
    2
  7158.  @Miffytang86  You're actually right. Ukraine elected a comedian, who made a joke... out of Putin.
    2
  7159. Why do you think Putin would be off the hook when the war in Ukraine finally ends? Germany's and Japan's WW2 war criminals still faced trial. After the Yugoslav Wars, Milosevic, too, got a one-way ticket to The Hague.
    2
  7160. I posit that the US spends less on NATO than its fellow NATO members, who by and large are meeting the 2% NATO target. In order to arrive at a more realistic figure for US spending on NATO (and NATO alone) the 3.5% (or 2.8% according to other sources) US military expenditure should be halved. Do the math, as they say.
    2
  7161. Admittedly, it would improve India's notoriously humble medal haul, but not by much. Myself, I miss Quidditch. Those flying wizards and witches would be quite the sight.
    2
  7162.  @mountaindragon7289  Explain where I went wrong, or prove yourself to be a Beijing bot.
    2
  7163.  @cgchiang  Let's stick to the topic. When exactly, in your interpretation, did China finally abolish slavery? Verifiable facts only, please.
    2
  7164. "Russia's sovereign territory of Ukraine" says it all. Russian imperialism never dies.
    2
  7165.  @donaldapolala1271  You're getting ahead of yourself. NATO hasn't even made its appearance in Ukraine.
    2
  7166. The F-16s may not end the game, but they're game-changers all right. Russia has been forced to change its tactics many times over, whenever new Western weapons made their entrance. And nothing ever changed for the better for Russia.
    2
  7167. Yeah, a far-right party. Weber is right-wing himself.
    2
  7168. How exactly is Putin getting stronger here? Russia is subjected to crippling sanctions, and its economy wasn't sound to begin with. Occupying Ukraine comes with a huge price tag. Let's see how ordinary Russians endure the hardship.
    2
  7169. I'm a proud owner of a 'Kodukaitse' armband. I got it when I visited Tallinn just before independence, to smuggle in spare parts for local radio amateurs. I'm looking forward to tightening military relations between Estonia and Finland once again.
    2
  7170. When there's real remorse. Now it's just panic.
    2
  7171.  @microfarming8583  Don't do the straw man thing. Where did I claim that the vaccinated don't spread the virus? The human gene pool thanks you for volunteering for culling. Our IQ can always use a boost.
    2
  7172. Funny you should say that. Lukashenko literally had a Mini-me in his son. I bet the boy eventually saw how embarrassing it was, to the both of them.
    2
  7173.  @sweetlachok  You're clearly not in the know. In 2018, Finland had 6.8 million tourists visiting, with 53% of them from the EU. My mum always said that boring people get bored. You qualify.
    2
  7174.  @sweetlachok  In 2017, there were 6.7 million foreign tourists, and no world cups in Russia. 47% is way off the mark, since the 2017 figures show that only 12% were Russians. I worked and lived in Finland. It's a beautiful country, but perhaps architecture isn't its main attraction -- unless you're into modern architecture. Too bad you can't afford Finland, but maybe it's for the best. I think you're better off in Mallorca, binge-drinking with the Brits and eating all-day English breakfast when you've sobered up.
    2
  7175. An escalation would mean making capabilities available to Ukraine that Russia itself lacks. Yet Russia has been using long-range missiles against Ukraine from day one.
    2
  7176. So better stick to your safe space. YouTube isn't it.
    2
  7177. The EU banned Russian caviar in 2022 already. As the world's top importer of caviar, how would the US compensate?
    2
  7178. Medical help is more appropriate.
    2
  7179. In one word, Iran.
    2
  7180. Let's just stage a NATO exercise and not mail invitations to the US, Canada and Turkey. Presto, European army!
    2
  7181. How would you personally force them out and where to exactly? By operating a machine gun, perhaps? Been there, not done that.
    2
  7182. Hybris before the fall.
    2
  7183. [desperate attempt to gain sympathy in the midst of a global PR disaster]
    2
  7184.  @jirachi-wishmaker9242  That was mighty relevant. You're an empty vessel all right.
    2
  7185.  @calistusfrancis1340  Show me where I supported the US. Go on, don't be shy now.
    2
  7186. NATO's gift basket is on the way! It goes without saying that there's some surströmming in there. May the can explode in Putin's face.
    2
  7187.  @kitcarpo4745  Brexit has been "temporary" for a very long time now, don't you think?
    2
  7188. Ukraine made overtures to the EU and NATO. Putin got intensively jealous and lashed out against Ukraine. Aren't you barking up the wrong tree?
    2
  7189. If anything, this should stop your eternal whining about having been colonised once. India had a British ruler, and now Britain has an Indian ruler. So nix the whining.
    2
  7190.  @hddun  Actually, only the Germans had the magnetic Haftladung, but they expected the Soviets to copy it. The Soviets never did. It's unclear if the use of Zimmerit, the paste that you're describing, dissuaded them.
    2
  7191. Yanukovych's Moscow handlers orchestrated the former's downfall. They didn't count on Ukrainians actually having a will of their own, being accustomed to apathetic Russians.
    2
  7192.  @techcafe0  There's always the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. And becoming a member is easy: you just have to agree with their aim.
    2
  7193. The striking difference here is that the Spaniards are too level-headed to fall for conspiracy theories that blame all and sundry for their domestic troubles.
    2
  7194. At least according to fresh conspiracy theories. Oven-fresh, I would say.
    2
  7195. It's been a recurring theme in British decolonization. Nothing new about it.
    2
  7196. Unlike the G7's 1 billion vaccine donation, Russia exports its vaccine for monetary gain. A vaccine that Russians themselves increasingly refuse to take, because they mistrust their authorities. You keep strange bedfellows...
    2
  7197. It takes all kinds. We put up with Farage, didn't we.
    2
  7198. That'll do, Putin fanboy.
    2
  7199.  @andymartinez767  It depends on the altitude of the balloon. Canada's CF-18s can't go as high as the US F-22s. Perhaps the former would've had to use an expensive AMRAAM to hit it, while the Americans got away with a cheaper, short-range AIM-9X. And maybe the Americans had some Sidewinders lying around that were about to expire.
    2
  7200. Boris, if so, the neo-Nazis in Ukraine were quick to lose power again. They got no seats in the 2014 parliamentary elections. You're a sucker for Russian propaganda.
    2
  7201. Boris, me, trolling? I was merely stating a cold, hard fact: if indeed neo-Nazis usurped power in Ukraine, it's not apparent from the composition of their parliament, which is devoid of neo-Nazis. So, it's US meddling in foreign affairs -- real and imagined -- that makes you gulp up Russian propaganda without chewing. If you weren't so gullible, you'd see that both superpowers (well, one real and the other a hasbeen/wannabe) like to try their hand at meddling in foreign affairs, but more often than not the results are unsatisfactory, or at best, of little significance. Examples that spring to mind are Yanukovych being manipulated into rejecting closer ties with the EU in favour of the EEU, which was political suicide. The other example needs no further explanation: the Iraq War.
    2
  7202.  John Burrett  You're comparing apples and oranges. It should go without saying that we have MPs of our own as well, and as it happens, they have far fewer constituents than our MEPs. Or do you think we did away with our MPs when we joined the EU? You're funny.
    2
  7203.  @ricardosmythe2548  I see you're not well-versed in European history. Anyhoo, with a chronically stagnant economy, Italy isn't benefiting from their past grandeur either. But maybe you'll bump them up, with the UK once again becoming the sick man of Europe.
    2
  7204. A Himars rocket doesn't have the range. Moscow is too far away.
    2
  7205. Russia included.
    2
  7206. That's for a large part imported, too.
    2
  7207. The gift that suddenly stopped giving. Farage is perplexed.
    2
  7208. Yeah, and let's not forget that Sweden is a moral superpower, at least in their own appreciation.
    2
  7209. Russia agreed to WADA's terms and failed to deliver. It should surprise no one that WADA springs to action. Where's the demonisation?
    2
  7210. Een slechte bedreiging. Voor Brexit deed het Verenigd Koningkrijk het economisch heel goed. Daarna dus niet meer. We kunnen het experiment herhalen, maar toch liever niet.
    2
  7211. No, they're back as a PITA.
    2
  7212.  @soundersounder8785  You're making it appear as if NATO expands by sending in the cavalry. Nothing is further from the truth. Interested countries apply to join, after which the existing NATO members ponder the merits and may or may not approve their applications. Decisions have to be unanimous. Basing foreign troops in a NATO country is subject to a whole slew of considerations, but it's nothing like a requirement. 'Privilege' would be a better description. At any rate, the NATO member in question specifically has to want it. So, you're proposing that Mexico is interested in joining CSTO and will invite Russia to base troops on its soil. If that were the case, NATO would just have to grin and bear it, Mexico being a sovereign country and all. I just can't think of a single reason why Mexico would be even remotely interested in such a course of action. And not just because CSTO died a silent death last year.
    2
  7213.  Brett Mitchell  Your parliament also rejected a no withdrawal agreement scenario.
    2
  7214. Beijing's intransigence destroys Hong Kong.
    2
  7215.  @gabrieloricho1028  I thought South Africa was to arrest Putin should we have popped over for the Johannesburg BRICS summit. Something about an extradiction order to the Netherlands on war crimes charges. Also, South Africa didn't believe in Putin's SMO when it came up for a vote at the UN General Assembly. Very few countries did. I counted one African state among them -- Eritrea, an autocracy itself.
    2
  7216.  @mariahewitt9787  My hypochondriac uncle drinks only sterile water and he never caught covid. Thus, sterile water must be the answer. Oh, he's a recluse, too, but let's not get sidetracked.
    2
  7217. I wonder if Trump would ever get a majority in Congress for a US withdrawal from NATO. More than a year ago, Biden signed into law that a US president may not unilaterally withdraw from NATO, so an exective order won't do it. Interestingly, the anti-presidential withdrawal bill was spearheaded by Marco Rubio, Trump's current secretary of state.
    2
  7218. Hier in Zweden associeren we hevige sneeuwval met een warmere winterse periode. Als het echt hard vriest, dan sneeuwt het niet.
    2
  7219.  @andreaWBW  We agree on that, so stick to the topic at hand.
    2
  7220.  @TheDa6781  You make yourself scarce, simpleton.
    2
  7221. Dubya doesn't disappoint.
    2
  7222. Have you told Putin?
    2
  7223. ​ @stevensanto5934  Tell Zelenskyy that his is not a sovereign country and that he should submit to Moscow? The Ukrainians weren't too happy with Yanukovych when he did exactly that.
    2
  7224. Yet you're here to cry about it.
    2
  7225.  @incurableromantic4006  Judging from your "retort", I scored a bullseye.
    2
  7226.  @imalloutofbubblegum3274  A slight variation on Billy Joel's Goodnight Saigon. We will all go down together.
    2
  7227.  @northcarolinian-vv8vc  Aren't you in luck. Panama abolished its standing army 1990. You could march into Panama City like Putin's army intended to march into Kyiv. Putin will be mighty jealous, but relieved, too, since he's no longer the only aggressor. Fix the CapsLock, will you.
    2
  7228.  @prosl11  You're perpetuating a myth. There's no evidence of Ukraine targeting civilians in Donbas.
    2
  7229.  @jeffrey4181  The price of not resisting Russian aggression is higher still. And Russia may have to pay the highest price of all. International isolation doesn't come cheap.
    2
  7230. 6.8 is also under consideration by the Finnish military.
    2
  7231.  @filipe5722  Ooh, touchy. Don't do debate, you'll get emotionally scarred.
    2
  7232.  @filipe5722  "At this point, wouldn't be [sic] better for Comoros to ask to join France, then?" That sounds awfully like speculation. It's not my reading that's at fault. There's a problem with your writing -- apart from the obvious grammatical errors.
    2
  7233.  @sejembalm  Things have changed, but during my years of active service, everything about the Finnish Defence Forces cried Spartan. We got somewhat better gear on foreign deployments, but I remember how my British KFOR commander made fun of my 'toy gun', a Walther P1, of WWII fame.
    2
  7234.  @jonobester5817  For all intents and purposes? Had Ukraine been in NATO, the conclusive Battle of Vladivostok would've been fought a year ago.
    2
  7235.  @dogzdigital  Russia had no reason to attack Ukraine, yet it did. In fact, to the very end, Russia assured it wouldn't. We have a proverb for this. A cornered cat makes strange moves.
    2
  7236.  @Lifeistoliveit  It doesn't bode well. But worry not, the friendship can be rekindled after Putin has been disposed of, Russia-style. Don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    2
  7237. Mickey Mouse is older. The older the better, it seems, in American politics.
    2
  7238. What's the connection to the topic at hand?
    2
  7239.  @ThisHandleWasTheOnly1Available  East Germany and West Germany overwhelmingly voted in favour of reunification. By now, it couldn't be clearer that Ukraine has overwhelmingly voted against reunification with Russia. Moreover, I think we'll soon see republics within the Russian Federation vote against continued unification.
    2
  7240. Putin has a penchant for drama.
    2
  7241. Any relation to Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex?
    2
  7242. You do realise, right, that the UN is a gaggle of the sovereign nations on this earth? Soon loving or leaving earth is a realistic option. Start saving.
    2
  7243.  @Someone-cd7yi  Not true. If that were the case, your skin would bubble off, too.
    2
  7244.  @再逢明月照九州  You've got it backwards. Putin needs an enemy in NATO and the EU. Otherwise, the Russians may get too interested in domestic problems.
    2
  7245. You can add Iran to the mix.
    2
  7246.  @protocolsoftheeldersofchic1215  Iran isn't peaceful, not by a long shot. They actively wage proxy wars all over the region. The fact that you don't admit that begs the question what kind of programming you've undergone.
    2
  7247.  @p.g.u.d  Miguel hasn't said anything to the effect that Europe were a country. Dyslexia much? Also, it looks like he refuted all your claims and that made you very, very cross.
    2
  7248.  @ivegotsomevids.foryou2047  Putin has used explosives before. 350 times, if you count the dead of the 1999 apartment bombings separately.
    2
  7249.  @Mrap233  You're falling into repetition. If you can't think of anything else, ask your manager for more material. How about some whataboutism for a change? You trolls think it's the bee's knees, don't you? Really retro, too.
    2
  7250. @ Read again: "If money was no issue,..." Our Special jaegers use the SCAR. You should talk to one if you get the chance. No upvoting your own comments, please.
    2
  7251. Italy broke a rule they had previously agreed to abide by. There's no pissing off here.
    2
  7252. Oh-so obviously trying to polish a turd, the Swedes.
    2
  7253. Perhaps they could join BICS, after Russia has made its exit, to use an euphemism.
    2
  7254.  @benjamindover4337  Aw. You're upset.
    2
  7255.  @zenastronomy  You're being too defensive. You can't call an axe a knife although both are cutting implements. You may not know the difference between the two, but those who work with them most certainly do. The same goes for patents and PDOs. Even those with a modicum of knowledge about intellectual property know the difference. And it's not like Switzerland has a monopoly on chocolate, although it has some of the best-known brands. And the Swiss most certainly have to deal with competition from foreign manufacturers. Don't upvote your own comments.
    2
  7256.  @Groggybandito  Unless you're God and you've suddenly taken an active interest in this planet, your opinion is inconsequential. The European part of Russia covers 40% of the continent and European Russians represent 15% of Europe's total population. Embarrassing but true.
    2
  7257. Considering that Nigeriens are 98% Muslim, trying to convert them to Christianity would be an exercise in futility, if not counter-productive. You need to put more effort into your conspiracy theories.
    2
  7258.  @richarddufresne7620  Are you conducting a monologue? I thought you get your extra roubles only if someone else replies to your comment.
    2
  7259. I'm sure everyone was on tenterhooks waiting for the outcome.
    2
  7260. The US isn't a party to the war, but it isn't neutral either. Much like Xi, who promised Russia China's firm support, Biden isn't in a position to draft a peace deal.
    2
  7261. Don't give up your day job. Comedy is not the right career move for you. NATO's Stoltenberg has gone out if his way to reassure Finland and Sweden that they're more than welcome. It's said that Finland's Baltic neighbours will race to ratify Finland's membership. Finland holds the key to the Gulf of Finland, which is the only sea lane to and from Saint Petersburg, Russia's second largest city.
    2
  7262. ​ @MrBoliao98  Interesting. A Singaporean couple I used to rent a luxury apartment from just moved into it themselves upon retirement, in Kota Kinabalu. I recall nearly all my neighbours there were Singaporeans, even then.
    2
  7263. Duh, it's not cricket. In military conflicts, it's routine to bring overwhelming force to bear.
    2
  7264.  @Djamonja  A PM should listen to the intelligence services in the short term, medium term and long term. Netanyahu reportedly refused to.
    2
  7265. Weapons down the Russian throat, more like. Hey, I seem to recall that Russia also fought in Afghanistan, incurring much worse losses in half the time, and perhaps most significantly, bringing about the collapse of the whole Soviet Union. NATO still stands strong.
    2
  7266.  Collin Grayham  Since when has UKIP been in government? You're living in a world of make-believe.
    2
  7267.  Donna Duns  How embarrassing. You don't know your own history. Slavery in China goes back to 1600 BC, to the Shang dynasty. There were no Brits then.
    2
  7268. Unwittingly, Putin is telling us that he's very concerned about the rumoured Ukrainian counter-offensive. He fears another rout, just like the one his Orcs suffered during last year's Kharkiv counter-offensive. Once it starts, there's no stopping it, so Putin can only try to prevent it from happening. But Ukraine is not perturbed.
    2
  7269.  @MOCHI-ek6rc  You have to elaborate. Putin is a pigeon chess master.
    2
  7270.  @wilbur948ie  You're lolling sounds hollow. It's too late for Turkey to change its mind about Sweden's accession. The deed is done, Erdogan signed.
    2
  7271.  @firestarter8202  The number of shipwrecks littering the bottom of the Baltic Sea suggests otherwise. It's not called the world's largest underwater museum for nothing.
    2
  7272. The old idiom "to vanish into thin air" is making way for the more modern "to vanish like a Chinese minister".
    2
  7273. If we ever master time travel, I'm sure you'll go back to 1941 to advise Stalin not to be so Hitlerophobic.
    2
  7274.  @lvjinbin28  Communism didn't do anyone involved any favours. Fortunately, it has been consigned to history.
    2
  7275. Putler will strike schools, hospitals and shopping malls in retaliation? I thought he'd been there, done that and bought the T-shirt already (and worn a hole in it, and used it for a duster, too).
    2
  7276. Don't forget to count the taxpayer money you wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan.
    2
  7277. In case you don't know it, you've done a lousy job policing Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. It seems you were put back into your place, again and again and again.
    2
  7278. You could reinforce your message with a toddler tantrum -- you know, crying and flailing your arms and legs. Please post the video.
    2
  7279. Faire l'amour toute la nuit? These developing countries must be quite taken with Macron. Ooh la la.
    2
  7280. Should he kill more kids to satisfy your bloodlust?
    2
  7281. Let's talk about your copium abuse.
    2
  7282.  @cuibono7622  OK, I'll start: "Cui, your copium consumption is excessive. Don't you know it leads to brain and crotch rot?"
    2
  7283.  @alexsilent5603  Being young and fit, the "Red Army" will survive, but the veterans and their children will be the losers.
    2
  7284. @ F24 brought up a meme that's doing the rounds and they've debunked it. And you blame them for it? You don't like the free press or freedom of speech, do you?
    2
  7285. Maybe King Willem-Alexander should depose her in an encore of the Glorious Revolution. Dutch common sense would set the Brits right in no time.
    2
  7286. You misspelled "Putin".
    2
  7287. Rather, Vlad the Wannabe-Tsar will end up living in China. That is, if he manages to flee before he's extradited to stand trial in The Hague.
    2
  7288. So, what are the lessons? Assuming you're not a braggard, it would appear you have a very keen understanding of their failures.
    2
  7289. Pffft. The prospects of the Russian Federation as a whole are greatly exaggerated. Russia is facing economic doom.
    2
  7290.  @starcraftleonov6487  Interestingly, the 50+ years old grandpas (and grandmas) can speak Finnish. Estonia had a window on the West through Finnish TV broadcasts, which they could receive. It goes a long way to explain why Estonia hit the ground running when they threw off the Soviet yoke.
    2
  7291.  @Eric-lx8hp  You've got your work cut out for you correcting grammar mistakes on an Al Jazeera comment section, but by all means, go for it!
    2
  7292. You being a nativist Latvian and all, don't forget the big bonus that the EU exodus of Latvian migrant workers has now been effectively halted as well. Who knows for how long you're prevented from rejoining the swelling ranks of those who're desperate to make their way to the wealthier EU countries, but there it is, there's a halt for now.
    2
  7293.  @arisplugis5197  Obviously, as a nativist, you're strongly in favour of a Heim ins Reich policy. It also seems to go without saying that you can't grasp the moral hypocrisy of you railing against migrants originating from outside of the EU while your very own people are only too eager to follow suit and do so purely for economic reasons, which can't be said of the refugees among the migrants. Moreover, you're not bearing the brunt of the migration crisis. We are. Finally, you're a sicko for applauding the coronavirus pandemic for its supposed beneficial effects. People are dying while you revel in your Fascist fantasies.
    2
  7294. If Russia sees a colour revolution as a result of Putin's fatal decision to go to war, I guess that counts as a win for Russia.
    2
  7295. Hold your horses. Russia's real friends, who support Russia through thick and thin, are Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria, period. 141 countries think Russia is an insufferable bully.
    2
  7296. How is this EU-related, apart from the fact that Germany happens to be a EU member? What you're saying is akin to claiming that all EU citizens wear Lederhosen, because you've seen Germans do it.
    2
  7297.  @branimirsalevic5092  Reading comp isn't your strong suit?
    2
  7298.  @elig3671  There are 50+ countries with nuclear weapons? You need to read up on nuclear proliferation.
    2
  7299. We prefer the Nordic countries in Finland, including Estonia. I hope Kaja Kallas makes NATO Secretary General. She has more 'sisu' than any Finnish politician, too.
    2
  7300. "If Putin can get away with murder, so can I!"
    2
  7301.  @РоманМоре  Why would Russia broaden the front? It can't deal with Ukraine, so dragging NATO into the war would be counter-productive, don't you think?
    2
  7302. The Scandinavian countries all do much better than Germany in renewable energy. And they didn't forswear nuclear energy.
    2
  7303.  @hypertronic2559  If the USA pays to look good, Trump negates the effect.
    2
  7304. There's no Lady ATACMS in Ukraine. Hopefully, Lady GLSDB will make her their presence known soon.
    2
  7305. Trouble in paradise between the US and Israel?
    2
  7306.  @tisFrancesfault  Sure, Chad should realise that security guarantees from Russia aren't worth diddly-squat. And it's not just Assad's Syria, but Armenia as well.
    2
  7307.  Global Ez  Don't be a drama queen. No one will go hungry, not in developed countries. Developing countries will feel the pinch, but it's absurd that they overly rely on food imports.
    2
  7308.  @bennymuller3379  True, but there are more parallels between Emperor Putin's abortive march on Kyiv and Napoleon's disastrous Russian campaign. Ultimately, both failed because of poor logistics.
    2
  7309.  @WangMingGe  Napoleon's Russian campaign saw some pitched battles, but those belied the overall lack of fighting that typified the conflict. The vast majority of losses were due to poor provisions, lack of suitable clothing and disease. It's interesting that you accuse me of "holes" in my knowledge, but you don't put your finger on them. Tactical retreats are neither a harbinger of victory nor of defeat. Both sides resort to them if the situation calls for it. In Ukraine, both have. That was my whole point, but it was lost on you, wasn't it? You're not much of a military historian yourself if you can't see that there are age-old rules that still apply to modern warfare. Why go on about Sun Tzu if wars are no longer fought with bows and arrows?
    2
  7310. Dus je gelooft niet dat er een coalitie komt met de PVV erin. Dat is een pak van mijn hart.
    2
  7311. ​ @aquilatempestate9527  You're making it up. The agreement is that budget contributions of the EU-27 won't rise. This means that administrative costs need to be cut and that the Cohesion Fund -- which mainly helps Eastern European members recover from the ravages of Communism -- will experience a hit. Don't expect any goodwill from them in the upcoming trade negotiations. As to Rotterdam, sure, they'll be hit by if shipments to the UK decrease. The Dutch can console themselves with only suffering a cut finger, while you've slit your wrists.
    2
  7312.  @pf844  It's not just the Tu-95 Bear that poses a threat to Eire. The Russians have the Tu-160 Blackjack as well. Ireland would truly need a high-performance interceptor to counter those, because if push comes to shove, an attacking Tu-160 would likely make a high-speed dash before launching a stand-off missile. Best left to the RAF's Typhoons, in other words.
    2
  7313. I care. I can imagine an impoverished and readmitted Britain being a drain on the EU's Cohesion Fund, which lessens the economic disparity between members.
    2
  7314. Why would you want to compare yourselves to gun-crazy America? I would hold myself to a higher standard.
    2
  7315. ​ @MLVL312  What a crock. France makes more money from tourism than the UK, and the French gave their royals the chop a long time ago.
    2
  7316. You got confused by bunker grandpa in Moscow. Zelenskyy works for his money, pressing the flesh. Mind you, Putin might too, in his bunker, but it doesn't involve others.
    2
  7317. Don't be so modest. It's 141 countries against Russia.
    2
  7318.  @murinikoletta9754  Neither is Kaliningrad on "Russia's border". Those Putin allies that urge Ukraine to trade land for peace should put their money where their mouth is and give Russia some of their own. India and Serbia come to mind.
    2
  7319. More Kursks.
    2
  7320. You're trying to cope especially hard there, Ko.
    2
  7321.  @henrikl4244  False analogy. Swedish-speaking Finns aren't Swedes and haven't been so since the Middle Ages.
    2
  7322.  @thodorisd5136  Yeah, not playing conspiracy theories with you. You only have conjecture on offer.
    2
  7323. That'll be the illiterate and semi-literate peasants who think Allah will provide if Erdogan can't.
    2
  7324.  @asdfghjkl92213  Even if India and the US were to qualify as failed states, aren't you generalizing a wee bit? There's a name for your logical fallacy: The Hasty Generalization Fallacy. I can't think of a better measure for success that the Human Development Index. China is at a shared 85th place and Vietnam at 118th. All the major developed countries, which also happen to be democracies, outscore both and by a wide margin at that.
    2
  7325. Since when is Russia a champion for democracy? Putin couldn't care less.
    2
  7326. Brexit is shaking the UK apart, not the EU. In fact, I consider it a small miracle that the EU27 have acted in near-perfect unison in sorting out Brexit. I would've expected one or two members to break rank, just to win concessions in unrelated matters, but no, not one could be bothered. Brexit is a debacle all right, but it's all on the UK. I just returned from Australia, which is pro-UK by nature, and the consensus there was that the poms have gone bonkers.
    2
  7327.  @richardlee9207  Wow, four replies of yours to one of mine. You're foaming at the mouth, aren't you? Nothing wrong with my English. By contrast, your writing is rife with mistakes, both in terms of grammar and spelling. Your seemingly uncontrollable rage aside, you seem to agree with my premise that democracy-wise, things weren't ideal under British rule. However, four comments later, you've produced nothing to show that things have changed for the better. I stand by my claim that HK has moved from bad to worse.
    2
  7328. It's a first for the Brits, not for the Ukrianians.
    2
  7329. 0:42 I guess the Orcs aren't taught to spread out.
    2
  7330. Educate yourself.
    2
  7331. So, Russia has justified fears of Estonia marching on Moscow? With all due respect for Estonia's few-but-spunky soldiers, I didn't know Russia's armed forces were in such a bad way.
    2
  7332.  @diemetrio  Pffrrt.
    2
  7333. An overwhelming majority voted against Poland, so what's your point? Qatar paid them all off? Qatar is not exactly known for its adherence to rule of law, so you'd think they'd be sympathetic to Poland instead.
    2
  7334. @smoothoperator2008s Sure thing. We're a top democracy and rule of law is a criterium. Never did the colonisation thing either. So, how do you score in the Democracy Index?
    2
  7335. Nah, electorates need to relearn that populism and good governance are a contradiction in terms. Political extremes -- left and right -- belong in the opposition, because real power is like a poison pill to them.
    2
  7336.  @abhilashpaul9237  Blah, blah, blah. Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
    2
  7337.  Douglas Costa  You missed by a whole continent, you oaf.
    2
  7338.  @mal6232  Russia has been *militarising the border for years. Ironically, Ukraine has done a stellar job demilitarising it, as the Russian troops stationed there got decimated in Ukraine. One unit alone, the "elite" 200th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, lost 40% of its men and materiel.
    2
  7339.  @robharris8844U  Weren't France and Germany clever when they put their weight behind NATO? And it was cleverer still that in doing so, they gained extra protection against Russian aggression. But wait, didn't the UK do the same? It's a pity that the UK is relegated to bit player in really putting the fear of God into Putin. In case you haven't noticed, it's more economic warfare than anything else and the EU is in a league of its own. Even the Yanks are jealous.
    2
  7340.  @robharris8844U  Trust you not to get the economic warfare bit. Then again, you've never understood that Brexit isn't a matter between equals. Cute emoticons. Not childish at all.
    2
  7341.  @robharris8844U  Oh dear. You must really think that the Light Brigade is charging the Russian guns in Ukraine. It's economic warfare. Sanctions. The bigger you are economically, the harder they bite. That is, ours bite, yours nibble. What a dolt you are.
    2
  7342. Waste of time. Defenestration await Prigozhin.
    2
  7343. You need to up your game.
    2
  7344.  @AXXeYY  While at it, have your committee design a horse, so that you can equip a camel corps. Sorry, couldn't resist.
    2
  7345.  @ireallycant4416  You're not getting it. Britain had to brexit because of Polish plumbers. I had nothing to do with it. I'm very keen on Polish plumbers, in fact. The Poles' work ethic is legend. The Belgians joke that local women are taught Polish so they can get jobs as cleaning ladies.
    2
  7346.  @2010kulka  You're not making any sense. Biden is not going to repeat Dubya's military adventurism in Iraq.
    2
  7347. As an EP veep, she held a position of trust. If the trust is gone, she should step aside, one way or another. If -- or rather, when -- her case goes to court, she'll have ample opportunity to tell her story.
    2
  7348. So shoot it already?
    2
  7349.  @rouz0  The German arms industry is firing on all cylinders, silly.
    2
  7350. Is a matter of picking the lesser of two evils. Countering Iran is of overriding importance here. Can't argue with that logic.
    2
  7351. Putin created a monster, managed to banish it at great cost, and now Lukashenko wants play with it?
    2
  7352. @grabdaCikan That must've been a generous helping, but I don't know your starting point.
    2
  7353. What's lost?
    2
  7354.  @Kodakcompactdisc  Putin's superlong table is too cumbersome to transport.
    2
  7355. There must be an unwritten law that populists must sport a weird hairdo.
    2
  7356. Thanks for imaginative conspiracy theory. You have ambition. No sense, but ambition.
    2
  7357. Don't crack a window.
    2
  7358. Must? The AfD can try to form a coalition that enjoys a majority, but that's bound to fail if the other parties have placed a cordon sanitaire around the AfD. Then it's up to next in line to have a go at forming a coalition. It's all very democratic.
    2
  7359. Don't sell the Ruzzians short. Prigozhin has sounded the alarm bell many times, and now he's withdrawing his troops to save them from encirclement.
    2
  7360. CSTO is an empty letter. Armenia just found that out, much to its detriment.
    2
  7361. You're not for this world.
    2
  7362. You can wax lyrical about true warriors and courage, but Israel just took out Iran's primary air defence systems. This blustering is just for domestic purposes. It's Iran that is highly vulnerable to attack from the air.
    2
  7363. You're posting the very same comment in several comment sections. When someone corrects you, you don't bother responding. You're the very definition of a troll.
    2
  7364. I once read about a WW2 pilot who was ordered up to shoot down an escaped barrage balloon. He did his very best, but couldn't close in. They later figured out it was the planet Venus.
    2
  7365. Arrou, Meuse, Pagny-sur-Moselle, Croisilles and anything in between. Information is literally at your fingertips, sport.
    2
  7366.  @thomasshone2488  Lazy much?
    2
  7367. You Russkies were already complaining about the EMA boycotting Sputnik before you'd submitted an application for approval to them. Why must you always peddle lies?
    2
  7368. Don't you realise the EU will retaliate in equal measure? The EU is not some poorly diversified economy/gas station masquerading as a country like Russia, but quite the opposite. Besides, Trump needs an ally in the EU if he's going to tackle China's unfair trade practices for reals. A two-front trade war is going to hurt the US as much -- or more -- as its intended targets.
    2
  7369.  @dorothyruh7463  Whataboutism is not bound by geography, or any sense for that matter.
    2
  7370. The Zs are easily scrubbed off. Ukraine fields similar or identical equipment, like T-64s, T-72s and T-80s.
    2
  7371.  @jimmytimmy3680  For your info, Jimmy, Timmy or whichever it is, the USA and Russia have only clashed once, during the so-called North Russia Intervention of 1918-1919, which sort of fizzled out. People struggle to remember it.
    2
  7372. Being an apologist for China, is there good money in it?
    2
  7373.  @throughput6674  Aren't you nostalgic. The Anglo-Saxons ceased to exist as a cultural group in the 11th century, after the Norman conquest.
    2
  7374.  @JR-vc4gm  You must have a curious notion that the East Germans want to go communist again. Nuh-uh -- speak for yourselves.
    2
  7375. ...out of a high-rise window?
    2
  7376. A game over, more like.
    2
  7377.  Right Wing Media  In the mean time, Boris is reinstating English tyranny in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. What's good for the goose isn't good for the gander.
    2
  7378.  @goldfish2379  Don't be silly. If Australia's experience with their Collins class of submarines is anything to go by, the subs will be truly ready only in 2060.
    2
  7379. Within the confines of the Copenhagen criteria and the mutually agreed directives, yes, EU members should make their own laws. It's those Copenhagen criteria where Poland and Hungary fall short. It's a matter of keeping your promises.
    2
  7380. No sweat. Lithuania has an LNG terminal in Klaipeda.
    2
  7381.  @jadler457  Some do, some don't. Goes for Israelis as well.
    2
  7382.  @davidmitchell3020  You can choose which bill to pay and when, but the interest may be hefty if you choose wrong.
    2
  7383.  @davidmitchell3020  Then you'll get the hefty bill. To misquote John Donne, no country is an island.
    2
  7384. Voici une pomme de terre pour toi.
    2
  7385.  @hamwhacker  Let's review what really happened. After umpteen rounds of negotiations, the UK government agreed on a mutually acceptable deal with the EU-27 -- only for this deal to be massively rejected by the House of Commons, and not once but twice, thoroughly embarrassing May's government, and by extension, the UK. I don't know, should the EU-27 have negotiated with Corbyn, Farage or you instead?
    2
  7386. And with Brexit and the problems of the fishing industry, it only gets worse.
    2
  7387.  @snowflakemelter7171  Freedom from a long life, more like it.
    2
  7388.  @alexverweij8328  Gaap. Elke wappie denkt zo.
    2
  7389. 2020? LOL. You're literally living in the past.
    2
  7390.  @carnalcarnivore  So your source is the infamous "trust me bro". Got it, say no more.
    2
  7391.  @dexon777  That does not compute.
    2
  7392. Imagine if mysterious objects in space had done that for the better part of a century.
    2
  7393. You could always concoct a conspiracy theory that says that he was. It's all the rage now. Everyone can do it.
    2
  7394. No worries, for the next hundred years or so, there'll be a surcharge on Russian oil and gas that will pay for the damage they've done.
    2
  7395. No one in his or her right mind questions the supreme evil of Hamas, but the problem here is that Israel has proven a willing henchman. Some of us (still) hold Israel to a higher standard. Israel, too, professes to uphold a higher standard, although it's not apparent from its lack of restraint.
    2
  7396. I dunno, it's internationally recognised that Trump's presidency was a step backwards democracy-wise. To be fair, the whole world is plagued by populism, but in Murica it took root in the highest echelons of power.
    2
  7397. Forget Norway. Sweden is in dire need of therapy after being callously ignored. They've declared themselves a moral superpower, and this is the thanks they get.
    2
  7398. Let's hope your cowardice won't rub off on the Ukrainians. Pffrrt, who am I kidding?
    2
  7399.  @AnnedolfFrankler911  You're talking about results that are deemed invalid worldwide. Do we need to go over the UNGA results that say so?
    2
  7400.  @hakinadedeji  Aw, you're getting offensive. It's clear sign of losing your patience -- and the argument. I have no special love for Western brands, but this news clip happens to be about Western franchises that have exited the Russian market. In fact, I frequent Jollibee (Philippines), MOS Burger (Japan) and Komala's (India) whenever I'm in Singapore.
    2
  7401. ​ @snowyowel7961  Neither will the remainers. The political paralysis will just continue.
    2
  7402. They eat your holy cows like there's no tomorrow.
    2
  7403. De vice-directrice doet niet onder.
    2
  7404. Uh, cluster munitions aren't banned in either Russia or Ukraine. Russia tried its utmost to implicate Ukraine in terrorist attacks, but convinced no-one.
    2
  7405. Trying to shoot the messenger?
    2
  7406. Hongkies are brave.
    2
  7407. Oopsie or infighting?
    2
  7408. From which planet are you? We have very ambitious targets for combatting climate change.
    2
  7409. Chinese democracy is a contradiction in terms.
    2
  7410. You should tell Russia that. The country is bankrupting itself over this war.
    2
  7411.  @sakarijukarainen2321  Your PM doesn't think so.
    2
  7412. Some Ossies would welcome them, I'm sure. They've never adapted to post-Communist life, or fending for themselves. They also somehow think today's Russia is like yesteryear's Soviet Union, or as East German propaganda presented it.
    2
  7413. ...for himself. The supreme irony is that Orban enriches himself through his cronies with EU money. So he's literally biting the hand that feeds him.
    2
  7414. No worries. As a Rome Statute state party, France is obligated to arrest Netanyahu should he enter the country.
    2
  7415. No, why? It's more a Night of the Long Knives, with Prigozhin in the role of Röhm and Wagner in that of the SA.
    2
  7416.  @nicolatesla254  You should have a chiropractor release your Caps Lock key.
    2
  7417. ​ @danielarcadia7243  It's 66% and our manufacturing sector is humming along nicely. Russia's notoriously undiversified economy is a basket case, now even more than before.
    2
  7418. They are few icebergs near its home port of Miami.
    2
  7419. The monarchy is not a regime. It's expensive, but mostly harmless.
    2
  7420. More trouble in Putin's paradise.
    2
  7421.  Ei Dirst  Not a problem with the right rifle or shotgun. It's a "bear" necessity in the northern parts of Northern Europe.
    2
  7422.  @inharmonywithearth9982  OK, SHOUTING treehugger, I haven't killed a single bear and I hope I never have to. It's just that as apex predators, bear have a similar diet to ours. I've encountered wild bears while fishing, berry-picking and once when hunting. Our young hunting dog decided a bear was more exciting prey than an elk. Except for the dog, no one present was pleased by the encounter. Shooting a bear without a license is a serious offence and the few licenses that are awarded annually concern bears that have suffered injuries or pose a public hazard. I guess that in your la-la-land such things don't happen, but in the real world they do.
    2
  7423. You must be a Krembot if you still cream your pants over US deficit spending.
    2
  7424.  @SlavaKalibru  That's a stretch. You were clobbered the first time you advanced on Kyiv.
    2
  7425. The toothless bear is gagging on Ukrainian sunflower seeds.
    2
  7426. Currently those terms are interchangeable.
    2
  7427.  @GGLD888  You're making silly assumptions, but hey, you're a conspiracy theorist -- it's what you do. Whether lockdowns are effective or not, that's something I'm neither denying nor confirming, but to assume there's a deep state conspiracy behind them, that's just plain silly. Unscientific, too.
    2
  7428. Germany lost WW1, but was soon back with a vengence. History provides interesting lessons.
    2
  7429. It will be interesting to see a former colony gulp up its former colonial master. I wonder what they'll call your state, Ye Olde England?
    2
  7430. How about Russia denazifying and demilitarizing itself? The war would end overnight. Russia's neighbours -- Ukraine included -- wouldn't need to join NATO. In fact, NATO would be rendered redundant.
    2
  7431. Russia's been training really hard for the turret-toss event at the Military World Games.
    2
  7432. I hear that at least Russia's young IT pros have decided to pursue peaceful development and opportunity... abroad, and in the tens of thousands. Brain drain on steroids.
    2
  7433. Both will find another dictator to admire. In a pinch, even Lukashenko.
    2
  7434.  @migrationsforschermitbreit6744  Likewise, all English-speakers are English. Wait...
    2
  7435. So Euronews should only convey Trump's viewpoints and ignore all others? You acquaint yourself with the basics of journalism.
    2
  7436. A hasbeen, sure. Next year, samo-samo.
    2
  7437. So? The Taiwanese are overachievers. Afghans, thanks to the Taliban, are the very opposite. As a parent, would you invest in the religious zealot or the child prodigy?
    2
  7438. When China and Pakistan occupy Ladakh and Kashmir, will you respond with peace talks? You should do it!
    2
  7439.  @johnlenin830  Belgium's so-called East Cantons -- where German is uniquely spoken in Belgium -- were wrongly allocated to Belgium after WW1, and, to add insult to injury, returned to Belgium after WW2. Those of Russian ethnicity in Estonia are post-WW2 settlers and/or their descendants in what was Soviet-occupied territory. There's no comparison.
    2
  7440. Didn't get the memo? Russia got booted out. Something about stealing land.
    2
  7441. Take care? The Taliban are going to extort aid from both in exchange for not sheltering their militants.
    2
  7442. It'll be RN against a wide anti-RN coalition. Cordon sanitaire, in other words.
    2
  7443.  12 Volts  The pedantry is strong in you.
    2
  7444. ..and, inevitably, a conspiracy theorist reports for duty.
    2
  7445. Don't like your own comments. It's seedy.
    2
  7446.  @ysw8291  There are other... um... ways. Also seedy.
    2
  7447.  @angelovalentini2115  An Italian appeaser? Maybe that's your way, but not that of the Ukrainians, who know how to fight.
    2
  7448. You're talking public debt. A government can also be in debt to domestic lenders. Japan is a good example; their public debt is huge, but it's mostly held domestically.
    2
  7449. Shouldn't they be drilling to counter internal enemies, such as, say, armed mutineers marching on the capital?
    2
  7450. Considering that a very large proportion of the Hong Kong population descends from refugees from Communism, it's kowtowing to Beijing that bugs them.
    2
  7451.  @somerandomnon-importantper3219  I'd go further than that. Putin and Trump will compete over who gets to have not-so-Great Britain for a yapping lapdog.
    2
  7452. Actually, I served alongside the FFL in Lebanon, decades ago. They were tough on the Hezbollah. The IDF, less so.
    2
  7453. Polexit and Hungexit are starting to look desirable. I equate it to debriding politically gangrenous tissue. Also, while Brexit was a loss for the EU in budgetary terms, Polexit and Hungexit would be wins. Italy already had its flirt with nationalist populism. It did nothing to turn things around. The Italians desperately need EU-backed loans to reform their chronically stagnant economy.
    2
  7454. ​ @mp40submachinegun81  There's an entire ocean between the two countries, so the cannon fire was really ineffective. I'm sure the rounds went in and out without exploding. I imagine that the AIM-9X with its interlinked steel rods forming a giant cookie cutter is the other extreme. The payload must've dropped like a brick.
    2
  7455.  @LIfe-of-Brian-Survival  Ik dacht van niet. En het zou niet zoveel uitgemaakt hebben of je nu Duits of Russisch sprak. In elk geval zou je familie uitgedund zijn, of in concentratiekampen of in goelags.
    2
  7456.  @slicksal568  Now try taking a baby step. But remember, don't chew at the same time or you'll do yourself an injury!
    2
  7457.  @tatyana5532  If the HIMARS is rubbish, are we to believe that all the destroyed ammo dumps are the result of Russian soldiers being careless with matches again?
    2
  7458. Er, materials, components? Don't you think those are needed to produce any kind of weapons -- unless you consider prayer a weapon.
    2
  7459.  @ftu2021  Use Google, if you dare.
    2
  7460.  @bps7209  That's what political polarisation leads to. Our political parties have to keep it civil, or they'll be on the sidelines when a new coalition government needs forming, since no single party can count on an outright majority in parliament. Whether they want it or not, they have to look for compromise instead of conflict.
    2
  7461. Even Russians have a limit.
    2
  7462. The Titanic was British, right?
    2
  7463. The "bear" is picking its belly button here.
    2
  7464. Serbia goes berserk now and then, it seems.
    2
  7465.  @basavanagowdah5806  Worrying is in order. India can't supply pharmaceuticals to Russia if they're covered by Western intellectual property -- which they are for the most part.
    2
  7466. So any penalties imposed on Boeing would have to be paid by the US taxpayer in one form or another. It's not like the USA has many alternatives besides Boeing.
    2
  7467. Work your way through the five stages of grief and you'll find acceptance.
    2
  7468.  Post Post  I'm not interested in your olfactory sensations. If you want to contribute to the discussion, address the questions I posed.
    2
  7469.  @Marc_Gagne  You can't tell apart cause and consequence.
    2
  7470. We've talked about this. In the mean time, thousands of Orcs are going down, to the fiery pits.
    2
  7471. Your name strikes me as Indian. The current secretary of ASEAN is Cambodian (I just checked), so you're not representing ASEAN. Which Asian intergovernmental organization are you the leader of?
    2
  7472.  @trumpforever6706  Hardly. In recent times, the DUP propped up Theresa May's Tory-only minority government for a spell. No coalition government, in other words. Incidentally, the DUP had offered to do the same to Labour, had it found itself in a similar predicament.
    2
  7473.  @robertenglish3921  You're a bit late to the game.
    2
  7474.  @evertblad8760  Keep your clichés to yourself.
    2
  7475. If the Democracy Index is to believed, Sweden should educate the USA on how to run a democracy. Sweden is ranked 4th, the USA 30th. Just saying.
    2
  7476.  @jasongreensword6065  And yet you understood nothing of what I wrote. Pray tell, what's NATO-style democracy? Is it Norwegian-style (1st) or Turkey-style (102nd)?
    2
  7477.  goff0103  China's economy is very dependent on exports to Europe and the USA. The latter two are much more self-sustaining. Therefore, in a trade war, China is by default the biggest loser. We're already witnessing the first signs, with Chinese factory output slowing dangerously.
    2
  7478.  @jamesheseltine2011  It's exactly your kind of haters that the European Project doesn't need. Good riddance, I say. I only wish you wouldn't let the door hit you on the way out. Again and again.
    2
  7479. That's not Germany's problem. You must be projecting.
    2
  7480. I'm sure they have carefully checked the auxiliary power unit before attempting this sort of thing. Hot refuelling is not advised -- that is, if they had to refuel.
    2
  7481.  @uefamikep  Napoleon suffered his most crippling defeat in Russia. Russian troops never set foot outside of Russia in that one. Ukraine is heading for a similar defensive victory.
    2
  7482.  @F355  The Kaan won't see service. Or perhaps we'll see a tweaked Su-57 being presented to the world as the Kaan. Turkey is quite flexible that way <cough>Altay<cough. Don't upvote your own comments.
    2
  7483.  @contemporiser  You live in an alternative reality. We're getting vaccinated in a strict order where age and risk are factored in. Income level and social standing carry no weight. No one's losing any rights, but rather regaining them. Right-wing populist much?
    2
  7484.  @Kayasvadji  I'm sure there are a lot of cope videos. In the mean time, Russia screams blue murder about Ukraine getting F-16s.
    2
  7485. Another nail in Putin's coffin.
    2
  7486. It's practically a done deal. NATO's wayward members, Hungary and Turkey, just need to be convinced there'll be no more bargaining for concessions.
    2
  7487.  @dsm5d723  With all your conspiracy theories, little remains that's worthy of serious discussion. Your last paragraph is a hoot. Russia's professional army has been bled white in Ukraine. Russia is incapable of replacing its losses, both in terms of manpower and equipment. Technology gap? Remind me whose tank turrets are sent flying, and with whose weapons?
    2
  7488. ​ @eddastrohmayer251  Putin fanboys and girls couldn't agree more. Which is a good thing.
    2
  7489.  @anairis4987  Nonsense. Our two presidential candidates partied together after the other won.
    2
  7490. Or Medvedev's favourite duck could become president. There wouldn't be a discernible difference.
    2
  7491.  @AsemSaleh  What do I care, if the thievery has stopped. You should try to move on as well.
    2
  7492.  @knightrider693  China can't call in its loans to the US, so it's inconsequential how much public debt the US has, and to whom, from a leverage point of view. Public debt is no source of pride, but it isn't the leverage you think it is.
    2
  7493. Because there's more to this world than Muricans.
    2
  7494. Heb je je zorgen kenbaar gemaakt aan Poetin? Hij heeft meer voor de Westerse wapenindustrie gedaan dan wie dan ook. Nieuwe NAVO-leden aanwerven, dat doet hij ook uitstekend.
    2
  7495.  @hermit146  Bad spellers of the world untie.
    2
  7496. The CCP must think vinegar catches more flies than honey.
    2
  7497.  @mayden126  The question you should ask yourself is, does the IDF want to be viewed as a terrorist organisation as well?
    2
  7498.  @foreverlearn3866  Math isn't your strong suit. The IDF has inflicted over 10,000 civilian deaths in Gaza, while Hamas -- according to Israel's revised figures -- caused 1,200 across the border.
    2
  7499.  @timetraveler_0  Keep up with the news. There's a huge backlash against Trump the world over. In a proper democracy, parliament would convene on a Saturday and vote against him in vote of confidence. Sorted.
    2
  7500. Germany imposes strict export conditions on its weapons and technology. Sweden does too, by the way. A good example were ex-GDR Soviet-made howitzers that Finland picked up, only to sell them to Estonia, which gave them to Ukraine. All three, but first and foremost Germany, had to agree to the transfer.
    2
  7501. Or Dubya's "mission accomplished".
    2
  7502.  @zelenskyy-the-blackmailerh5920  Your trolling is becoming more desperate by the day. You think it will keep you from being called up and sent to Ukraine?
    2
  7503. Stop being so US-centric.
    2
  7504. Weather permitting.
    2
  7505. ​ @panchovilla5940  In essence an EU army already exists as a subset of NATO. Or did you think there's a single-entity NATO army? And what is it to the "UK and any other European countrys [sic]"?
    2
  7506. Het is een makkie voor de NAVO om de Finse Golf af te sluiten. Dit onderstreept het enkel.
    2
  7507.  @JR-vc4gm  I'm playing chess here with pigeons...
    2
  7508.  @sandrawinterton9175  I'd say it's abundantly clear this parliament can't deliver Brexit.
    2
  7509.  @wisenber  All the same, pulling out of Vietnam amounted to the US losing the war. With South Vietnam overrun by the communists -- which the US intervention was supposed to prevent -- the outcome certainly doesn't qualify as a stalemate. In the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia won't surrender unconditionally, but it will eventually have to agree to conditions that won't be exactly favourable to Russia. And those conditions are worsening by the day.
    2
  7510.  @wisenber  Your logic escapes me. Russia clearly failed at its objective, too, and neither is the country at risk. What's at risk is Putin's political future, which is about the only reason why this war is still ongoing.
    2
  7511.  @cutekrizu8214  It's no different for my father's side of the family. They were labour movement activists, with some fighting with the Reds in the Civil War. It didn't work out well for them, as the last surviving one got shot by the Bolsheviks when trying to flee back from the Workers' Paradise. I think it inoculated them against communism once and for all. My grandfather, a staunch Social Democrat, always said communism was for ants and bees. He died a wealthy businessman, and a decorated war veteran.
    2
  7512. Aren't you silly. Orban hasn't given any money to Ukraine.
    2
  7513. Those gas heaters won't run on electricity, I'm afraid.
    2
  7514.  @chthaman  We don't have gas, silly. You're one to jump to conclusions.
    2
  7515.  @callsigndd9ls897  You're preaching to the... I don't know who're preaching to. Of course everyone should get along.
    2
  7516.  @aaabbb-py5xd  Nice deflection. China's economic woes are self-inflicted. Poor management of the pandemic, a housing bubble of ginormous propertions, and derisking by a world that wants to hedge its bets supply chain-wise.
    2
  7517.  @FabiusPolis  That's a moot point anyhow. Candidates for NATO membership have to be approved by all existing members. Russia must've realised that the likes of Poland would never-ever let Russia in. After all, Russia was the reason for them to join NATO in the first place. We can only commend the Poles for their foresight.
    2
  7518. @synco pated There are 5,000 US troops left in Iraq. You can't launch a land invasion with those numbers against Iran and expect any measure of success. Besides, Iraq would have none of it.
    2
  7519.  Steve S  Try to make a point instead, you little troll.
    2
  7520.  James Bortles  Congrats, you established the oh-so obvious fact that the US presence in Iraq is a threat to Iran being in Iraq. But my premise -- to put it in words you may understand -- was that the US presence in Iraq is not a threat to Iran in Iran. To reiterate, I am opposed to any foreign forces maintaining a presence in Iraq. Again, I made no claims about Qassem being a terrorist or whatever. Your overly fertile imagination is acting up once more. I'm sure my intelligence runs circles around yours. Your poor reading comprehension and confused straw man attacks attest to that.
    2
  7521.  @prunabluepepper  You should listen to your neighbours. I grew up in Holland, and there was still the odd outburst of anti-German sentiment, as if for old times' sake, after which the queen had to go make amends so that Germans would still buy Dutch tomatoes. There's been none of that for a long time. Instead, the Netherlands has actively pushed for all manner of military co-operation with Germany, and even resorted to shaming Germany into action over Ukraine. There's something similar at play in Poland, their current populism notwithstanding. Tusk, during his tenure as Polish PM, famously called for Germany to adopt a more outspoken foreign policy, including investing in military rearmament. Boy oh boy, was he right.
    2
  7522. In doing so, they're thumbing their noses at Putin, who himself can't travel for fear of arrest and extradition to the Netherlands. I mean, the Kremlin Gremlin can't even attend BRICS summits.
    2
  7523. Promise?
    2
  7524.  @bmjnation6351  The same Putin promised more than twenty years ago that Russia would reach the same standard of living as Portugal in 15 years' time. No such luck. And that was supposed to be by 2014, before the West started sanctioning Russia for Putler's hunger for Lebensraum.
    2
  7525. Eli, the UK falling apart over Brexit is a far bigger possibility. Also, Trump is laying the foundations for ACW2 as we speak. In comparison, Germany is a poster child of harmony.
    2
  7526.  @luff675  "Palestine", which would mean the Palestinian Authority, has recognised Israel in the Oslo Accords. Hamas does not represent "Palestine", not by axiom or otherwise.
    2
  7527. Germany can never match the USA. In arrogance and greed, that is. And ignorance, which is synonymous with the US.
    2
  7528. He can never play with guns any more. I think his life has no meaning.
    2
  7529.  @Frank75288  Since you're a David Icke fan, do you also believe in blood-sucking, shape-shifting reptilians (please say yes)?
    2
  7530. Putin may be a mafia boss, but his capo di tutti capi in Beijing only sent his consigliere to Moscow.
    2
  7531. That's nice. After two vetoed UNSC draft resolutions, the US develops remorse.
    2
  7532. So you're saying that without Putin, Russia would be worse off still. In other words, Putin sucks less?
    2
  7533. Let me guess, they didn't want you for *UNIFIL? Deemed unfit?
    2
  7534. After a thorough investigation, Boeing decided that it's gravity that makes bits and pieces fall off its planes. Hence, Boeing is not to blame, because gravity affects all matter.
    2
  7535.  @guff9567  Whatever, clueless buddy.
    2
  7536.  @RyzenShanks  So, you decided to rephrase your earlier comment without adding anything new to the conversation. I think we're done.
    2
  7537. It's the Chinese claims to the South China Sea that are one-sided. The Law of the Sea convention is very clear on overflight and navigation rights. China is in breach, not the USA.
    2
  7538.  @deslow7411  You should be a bit more careful in your wording. Of all the EU countries, Finland never neglected its defence. Instead, it only bolstered it when the Cold War ended, seeing an opportunity to snap up used but still perfectly serviceable weapons on the cheap from the likes of Germany and the Netherlands, who naively cut too deep. Finland never scrapped conscription either, unlike most other EU nations. The motivation to defend one's country never flagged either. Also, Finland joining NATO never sparked off a national discussion about giving up on the 2nd largest reserve military force in the EU (after Greece) in favour of fewer and more specialist NATO troops. The thinking is still that we'll do the honours and stop the Russian invaders ourselves, but NATO air power can help, because despite having the strongest artillery in the EU, the destruction of the enemy won't be as fast and as complete with artillery alone.
    2
  7539. Which part of "illegal" don't you understand?
    2
  7540. Is this the moment that the AfP started its death spiral?
    2
  7541. So, Russia vetoing UNSC draft resolutions that would put a stop to the war in Ukraine is not a problem?
    2
  7542. The Trump administration would like a complete monopoly on regulating AI, and not be subjected to any itself. For some reason, complying with foreign regulations, like GDPR, is a bitter pill for the USA. Vice versa, we just take it into out stride, without whimpering about it.
    2
  7543. OK, I'll switch to conspiracy theory channels.
    2
  7544. But you're living on government benefits, so you're not effectively paying for it.
    2
  7545. I don't see it. Cameron gambled with the future of the UK and lost. Tusk is right on the money.
    2
  7546.  @pazitor  It goes both ways. The Dutch importing flowers grown in Kenya has led to a booming horticultural industry there. It's better for the environment, too.
    2
  7547.  JamesConnorr  What did you expect? There's a change of watch, one geriatric replacing another.
    2
  7548. The matter has already been decided in Ankara, where they're not keen on Russian military bases in Turkey's neighbourhood. The fact that a weakened Russia negotiates with what it called terrorists and launched airstrikes against only a week ago is embarrassing, but when those negotiations fail, it will be embarrassment upon embarrassment. There's still a third embarrassment in store when we're treated to news reports about the destruction in the hastily evacuated bases, after the Russians have put the place to the torch, preventing HTS from leasing the bases intact to whoever makes the highest offer.
    2
  7549. Glory indeed. Two out of the five BRICS countries have to arrest Putin on arrival and ship him to The Hague to stand trial for war crimes.
    2
  7550.  @JuanCarlos-vr3bs  Oh, there'll be Chechnya treatment in store for Russia. Chechnya 1.0 treatment, that is.
    2
  7551. ​ @JuanCarlos-vr3bs  It's not about my dreams. Rather, it's about Putin's nightmares. He'll go down in history as the leader whose attempts at restoring the Russian Empire led to the disintegration of what remains of the empire. It's telling that he's trying to deflect blame already.
    2
  7552. They're probably less critical of the French than of the Americans.
    2
  7553.  @albertinsinger7443  Extreme far right, much?
    2
  7554. The CSTO -- Russia's counterpart to NATO -- is supposed to do the honours, but Russia's "special military operation" seems to have broken the CSTO's Article 4 (its equivalent to NATO's Article 5). Who knew? Well, Azerbaijan, I suppose.
    2
  7555. I wonder if Biden ends pardoning Trump to avoid the ignominy of having a former US president in prison.
    2
  7556. No worries, Amy, I have no use for your dodgy backbone. Mine's a different one, and a strong, healthy one at that.
    2
  7557.  @Infopirates  You may need professional help.
    2
  7558.  Twisted Life  I take it you're wholly unfamiliar with the expression "rats fleeing a sinking ship". Put down your smartphone and pick up a book.
    2
  7559. These people do. These people are not all people. Have you always had problems with relativizing?
    2
  7560. Wouldn't they love to dock in Sevastopol or Novorossiysk instead, but that's not within the realms of possibility.
    2
  7561. Inside Russia, where Ukraine has no territorial ambitions, Ukraine can well afford to conduct a defence in depth, constantly falling back to prepared positions and maximising Russian losses, while incurring fewer of their own. Conventional wisdom has it that Russia needs thrice as many troops to drive the defending Ukrainians off, but knowing Russia's inability to conduct combined arms operations, the casualty rate will be equally lopsided.
    2
  7562. ​ @izajahmed8863  Oh dear, your cute emojis blow my arguments out of the water. And if someone calls you girly, don't pay attention. You be you be.
    2
  7563. It was a solid plan, but it didn't allow for Putin's criminal insanity.
    2
  7564. I suppose not. China is not yet done colonising Russia. Not that stopping the war would spare it from colonisation, but a Russia impoverished by war ripens quicker.
    2
  7565.  @QuietJugung  Don't just flap your gums. Give an example.
    2
  7566.  @oceanwave4502  You should be comparing social benefits, not defence budgets. If the US were to keep the welfare system in Greenland intact (without which the Greenlanders might not give their blessing), while still allowing free movement between Greenland and continental US, I expect a great many of the unemployed, sick and elderly would find their way to Greenland.
    2
  7567. Putin personally wants to present you with a potato for that comment.
    2
  7568.  @laught-l9b  So you should be second in line to Europe in getting compensation. Maybe it's our manners, but Europe doesn't demand payment for gifts.
    2
  7569. So Belarusians are modern-day serfs, because Lukashenko and Putin say so. Take the the latter two out of the equation, and the Belarusians -- and the Russians -- can enjoy freedom.
    2
  7570. Because this wasn't about any of those issues.
    2
  7571. It sank into a hole?
    2
  7572. Has Volkswagen gone bankrupt? Are you visiting us from the future?
    2
  7573.  @shakushaku2646  An Iranian top commander was just killed in Iraq. I suppose he was an Iraqi militiaman, too?
    2
  7574. I thought Putin was. Your conspiracy theories are so confusing.
    2
  7575. Carolyn, don't be too hard on the Putin trolls. Their job security took a sharp turn for the worse after the UK announced plans for blocking the troll factories. If the likes of Youtube follow suit -- which I expect to happen -- massive redundancies will follow.
    2
  7576. Poutine (Quebec French: [put͡sɪn] (listen)) is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. Enjoy!
    2
  7577.  @nigeljohnson9820  Again, I fail to see any relevance in your comment with regard to the ongoing fiasco that is known as British arms procurement. Speaking of which, there is an illustrating (and relevant) example in Britain's two new aircraft carriers, which are fundamentally flawed in only accepting one type of fixed-wing aircraft, which also happens to be fundamentally flawed, not to mention ridiculously overpriced. You Brits got some help from the Americans on this one, but it's just deserts given your poor planning. Glass houses...
    2
  7578.  @ambessaseway5594  Commodities are called such because of their wide availability. Suppliers aplenty. Switching gas suppliers is troublesome, but suppliers depend on their customers in equal measure. It appears only Putin didn't get the memo.
    2
  7579.  Fadave Miller  Ka-ching! Another ¥0.50 into your pocket. Don't spend it all in one place!
    2
  7580. Who can blame them, they have first-hand experience of Russia dominating them. Hoping doesn't enter into it. NATO's Article 5 mandates the whole alliance to come to the aid of a member that's subject to armed attack. And it's just a matter of time before Ukraine joins NATO, too.
    2
  7581.  @frozenbox597  That's a bit of a stretch. There was a thing called the Russian Revolution. Finland and the Baltic states seized their chance. Separatism had been brewing in all four countries for a long time.
    2
  7582.  @stefanjarl3672  The Russians have the Pantsir, which can deal with drones. However, they forgot about maintaining them, so they ended up abandoning them because of shredded tyres.
    2
  7583. So, you're anticipating a desperate counter-offensive from Russia then, one that fails to prevent the liberation of occupied territory, and essentially breaks the back of the occupier? Sound good to me.
    2
  7584. The crew ingesting radioactive dust is the least of their worries. DU is incendiary, meaning it will momentarily turn the crew compartment into a blast furnace. You'll hear no complaints from the crew about radioactivity, or about anything else for that matter.
    2
  7585. Cry and pay.
    2
  7586. Wait for it.
    2
  7587.  @dildo196  The same has been said for 2023 years.
    2
  7588. If Russia has the presence of mind not try similar antics with Norway, why bother? Norwegians and Russians travelling on legit business need not be punished unnecessarily. If there's no problem, why try to fix it?
    2
  7589. Is it? France is ahead of the curve in far-right extremism.
    2
  7590. If the British Council wasn't shuttered in Russia, they could teach you how to form proper sentences and how to spell "bastards". Or are you aiming for something artsy-fartsy, like Quentin Tarantino with his "Inglourious Basterds"?
    2
  7591. You're alluding to the monarchy attracting tourism. France gave its royals the chop centuries ago and still it outperforms the UK in income from tourism. Just like the UK, France has its monuments and horse guards, all paid for by taxpayers. What the French don't have is a scandal-prone royal family, whose lavish lifestyle must be funded to the tune of £100m+ a year.
    2
  7592. That's a pipe dream now.
    2
  7593.  @morbus85  You may want to read up on the Iraq War to educate yourself. The US very much wanted NATO's backing for invading Iraq, but a number of its European members were strongly opposed, most notably France and Germany. There was talk of rift in NATO, but NATO has only grown stronger since.
    2
  7594. These weapons have been primarily procured to ward off Russian aggression. Said aggression is taking place in Ukraine as we speak. In doing so, Russia has expended its weapon stocks to the extent that Germany can easily afford to give some to Ukraine.
    2
  7595.  @gweejiahan9336  I'm afraid Max Ma x has a strong case that WW2 started with the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Japan's militarism prompted Western powers to stop providing crucial raw materials to Japan. Unable to feed its war machine, Japan attacked them, triggering the Pacific War. WW2 ended in Asia as well.
    2
  7596.  @frank-ko6de  Statistica says 2.8% of GDP. But tell me, how much is 3.5% divided by two? Is it more, equal to or less than 2%? Let's test your basic math skills. By the way, you didn't even try to contest my logic. You contested my source.
    2
  7597.  @leandervoots3217  Waarom emigreer je niet naar de oostkant van Eurazië? Wel goed bijhouden hoelang je nog "pro Euroasia" blijft.
    2
  7598. Nee, gewoon een nieuwe formatiepoging op basis van de huidige verkiezingsuitslag. Moet lukken.
    2
  7599. Little do you know. The Maorais -- the citizens of Mayotte -- rejected independence in 1974, while it could gone for it when the Comoros became independent. Let's be honest, Mayotte is a burden on France, a burden it would rather be rid of.
    2
  7600.  @nsierra2297  Did you know that the Russian army now accepts foreign recruits? Go and volunteer as a mine stomper.
    2
  7601.  @maik1982  Het is juist andersom. Een republiek heeft een president. Als je die ook nog wat macht geeft, dan kan die Rutte een beetje intomen. Een president staat ook boven de partijpolitiek, dus minder machtspelletjes.
    2
  7602. You youngsters can't stop fantasizing about nuclear war at every twist and turn.
    2
  7603. Yup, Russia is a great peacemaker. Wait...
    2
  7604. Homophobe spotted.
    2
  7605.  @nyali2  Agreed, let's ask someone else then. You provide a credible source that shows Hungary in a better light corruption-wise.
    2
  7606. It's a long-standing legal tenet to speak of "alleged" crimes till the defendant is found guilty of said crimes in a court of law. Seriously.
    2
  7607. You don't know your history. Russia and Germany have clashed during the last 100 years or so. The century previous to that the two fought alongside each other, against Napoleon for starters, rather than against each other.
    2
  7608. That could break the deadlock in British Parliament. Of course, many MPs would come down with Novichok poisoning. Plenty of by-elections, too, I suppose.
    2
  7609. You always get it backwards. Russia attacked, not the US, not Mars.
    2
  7610.  @mostlyinterested1016  You seem to struggle with the fact while Brits are welcome as tourists in a great many countries, settling in a foreign country is another matter altogether. You just lost your freedom of movement to 27 EU countries, remember?
    2
  7611. You're living a drama queen's life. Take a chill pill.
    2
  7612. Good point. Will we see monuments throughout Russia that honour the Ukrainians for liberating Russia from Fascism? They could even repurpose the existing ones. Only minimal changes needed to the inscriptions.
    2
  7613. I don't see us in the West jubilating. This applies especially to us who have UN peacekeepers out there, whom Israel doesn't mind targeting if they get in the way. Don't misrepresent facts.
    2
  7614. Russia is a semi-colony of China, so its initial can indeed be dropped. The C covers it.
    2
  7615. Self-administered slap*
    2
  7616. 'Tis but a scratch, the Kremlin claims.
    2
  7617.  @ela7893  Uh, Arabism is a cultural thing. Religion is only part of it. Lebanon's sizable Maronite and Druze populations are considered Arabs, with only religion setting them apart from mainstream Arabism. Elsewhere in the Arab world, there are similar religious minorities, like the Yezidis in Iraq and the Copts in Egypt.
    2
  7618. ​ @mikhailmik  I fail to see why Orban is relevant to Russia's superpower/regional power status. Furthermore, we don't hold Orban in very high regard.
    2
  7619. ​ @mikhailmik  Establish relevance to my earlier comment and I'll consider writing a rebuttal. You're all over the place.
    2
  7620.  @Douglas850  Narrowness of the seas has nothing to do with it. If you need to stay submerged for extended periods of time, you need to go nuclear or fit AIP.
    2
  7621.  @truefact4439  Not so true a fact, I'm afraid. Sweden did colonise Finland in the Middle ages, mostly the western seaboard and southern coastal areas. It's just part of the genetic and cultural make-up of Finland. Up north, in Lapland, many have Sámi genes, and in the eastern parts of the country, there's an infusion of Slavic genes. In Ostrobothnia, where my family hails from, we don't take kindly to being called Swedes, although DNA-wise that's 40% accurate in my case.
    2
  7622.  @startracksha  Russia has scorched its own earth on more than one occasion. Let's leave it to you, shall we? And not only that, more Russians have died at their countrymen's hands than at those of anyone else.
    2
  7623. As in BNP members?
    2
  7624.  @randydnarmooreroom3363  Don't sell him short, he's proven to be the greatest Divider in Chief in American history.
    2
  7625.  @janwoldens1696  If you're clumsily trying to refer to the *hypersonic Kinzhal -- they don't work so well after all, as we've seen in Ukraine.
    2
  7626. Are you kidding? This makes Russia's position in the south even more vulnerable. Logistic were a problem before. With a cut supply line, things just went from bad to worse.
    2
  7627. True dat. Russia has suffered zero (0) casualties in Ukraine, give or take 200,000.
    2
  7628. Smoking is not compatible with universal healthcare.
    2
  7629.  @SuperLusername  Yanks not only struggle with geography, but history as well.
    2
  7630.  @manmanman2000  For your info, Nord Stream 1 and 2 were inoperational. Russia just gave them a coup de grâce, in the hope of scoring some pity points.
    2
  7631. Creating the situation, more like.
    2
  7632. +Bob Marshel That implies Google was hacked.
    2
  7633. It's not like Sweden and Finland are clamouring to get them.
    2
  7634. In that case, Iran is a very willing accomplice.
    2
  7635. Could signal? It most certainly does. Russia just lost the Med and the Middle East.
    2
  7636. It's not either-or. Israel needs specialist stuff, Ukraine needs a bit of everything.
    2
  7637. You're clearly extreme conservative. And we're not. We choose our leaders accordingly.
    2
  7638. Right back at ya.
    2
  7639.  sanjayafernando4534  I'm talking about all coups in Africa to date, like I specifically wrote above. You may want to work on your reading comprehension. Hard.
    2
  7640.  @bongoeshebantu6713  Illiterate point? You're quick to resort to ad hominems. I've lived in Africa., before Easy Jet came about. Meanwhile, you're still trying to master the correct spelling of the continent.
    2
  7641. Nah, the failure is all yours. I'd say you're in the bargaining stage of the grief process, which is not bad, unless you've skipped denial and anger. You may to take two steps back.
    2
  7642. Don't inflate their egos any further, please. They're about to pop.
    2
  7643. Whom are you critisizing, China or DW?
    2
  7644.  @SurajMandal-lj6hc  Uh, any country can declare foreign diplomats persona non grata without an explanation. It may be legal, but it's not conducive to good relations -- that's the issue here.
    2
  7645. Question. Why didn't the Global South support Russia at the UN General Assembly when the invasion of Ukraine came up? The reverse was true, in fact, and overwhelmingly so.
    2
  7646. Self-delusion won't help.
    2
  7647.  @sulil1938  The Rolls Royce engines on the 787 Dreamliner are a source of continuous grief. General Electric's 787 engine isn't faring much better. Airbus is in the same boat as Boeing, since they rely on the same big-three engine manufacturers. Jet engines just are notoriously difficult to get right.
    2
  7648. It's called the UN.
    2
  7649. Not true. France won the Anglo-French War (1778–1783), which paved the way for US independence. Then there were the wars of the First (1792-1797) and the Second Coalition (1798-1802), which both saw France emerge victorious, with Great Britain on the losing side.
    2
  7650. Are you going to curse God if Trump's efforts turn out an abject failure?
    2
  7651. There's a lot at stake here for Iran's theocrats. I fully expect them to use coercion to nip this in the bud, because another round of protests could very well spell the end of their monopoly on power.
    2
  7652.  @safuwanfauzi5014  Serbia isn't rich. The IMF even considers Serbia a developing country.
    2
  7653.  @tomzamp8547  Are you telling me you're being paid in roubles? Have you looked at the exchange rate? Better take the potatoes...
    2
  7654. Don't get your hopes up. Croatia wants more political rights for Croats in Bosnia - which aren't for Sweden and Finland to grant -- and Turkey wants F-16 fighters -- which neither makes. Both Croatia and Turkey are bargaining for favours that have nothing to do with either Finland or Sweden.
    2
  7655. To be fair, Hamas supporters (estimated at 58% in Gaza) have been radicalised by Israel to the point that they believed that only Hamas could make a fist against Israel. Israel could've played it differently by negotiating in earnest with the Palestinian Authority about the two-state solution, but no, Netanyahu thought it fun to play Hamas and Fatah against each other so there wouldn't be a two-state solution.
    2
  7656. In online scams?
    2
  7657.  @richardwills-woodward  You'll have to be more specific which particular Europeans you expect gratitude from. I can think of several European nations that have grounds for feeling resentful instead. As for myself, it's ambivalence.
    2
  7658. The green shift is ongoing, but how is that going to translate into prosperity for Russia? Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country. Even if developing countries continue burning oil, the law of supply and demand ensures that Russia will be among the first producers to be priced out of the market.
    2
  7659. There's separatism in India as well, as in separatists feeling colonised by India. It's they who might get inspired even more.
    2
  7660. Corruption tends to be rife in post-Communist countries. It's no surprise that Russia takes the cake.
    2
  7661.  @sz5263  A clownish king is like an incurable disease. A clownish president, however, is a temporary condition.
    2
  7662.  @DOBERMAN715  Democracy is all about choice. But I think I know what you're after. Just sending Farage is yet another way to prolong the matter. Just like Brexit.
    2
  7663.  @freemusicforyou2011  I happen to know a thing or two about the Estonians. In the early nineties, we trained their 'Kodukaitse' -- Estonia's fledgling home guard. Their motivation was topnotch. We had no weapons -- except for a single German WW2-vintage rifle that one of our trainee's family had kept hidden ever since. At the time Estonia was still brimming with Russian soldiers, who, unlike us, were armed to the teeth. It was the Estonians who reassured us, not they other way around.
    2
  7664.  Dave Von Saunder  The US have a looong history of riots. DO NOT GENERALIZE.
    2
  7665.  Dave Von Saunder  The so-called "West" can boast some of the most stable, harmonious and egalitarian societies on earth today. South Korea can't quite match. Sure, the US is something else altogether.
    2
  7666.  @peterthomas1861  You can dish it out, but you can't take it. Priceless!
    2
  7667.  @Kodakcompactdisc  Wot? Putin is a 4D chess master... in pigeon chess.
    2
  7668. Don't you think it would be better to lock up Xinnie the Pooh?
    2
  7669. Klopt niet helemaal. Volgens het Kiel-instituut staat Nederland op de 7de plaats wat steun aan Oekraïne betreft.
    2
  7670. ​@ Wat aardig van jou, Steffie. We hebben het wel over percentages van het BNP, anders is het moeilijk vergelijken. Volgens het Kiel-instituut heeft Nederland dus 0,8% van het BNP als steun aan Oekraïne verleend. Dat staat in schril contrast met Estland, die 2,2% heeft gegeven. Je had het zelf kunnen googelen, maar ja, niet iedereen komt erop.
    2
  7671. I see it quite differently. Netanyahu was supposed to keep Israel safe. Something went terribly amiss here. The Israeli electorate won't be well pleased.
    2
  7672. You remind me of the joke about human brains being sold at a market. A Jewish would-be buyer is outraged that Arab brains cost more than Jewish brains. The merchant explains that the Arab ones have seen little use.
    2
  7673. They don't, but don't let facts stand in the way of your conspiracy theories... what am I saying, they never do.
    2
  7674.  @crushnevnikita8575  Putin needed a two-bit dictator from Belarus to help him out. Also, a looming civil war is hardly an endorsement of Putin's leadership.
    2
  7675.  @mourka01  It would be the first military coup against a military leadership that leaves the government intact. You have to be a total sap to believe that.
    2
  7676. How is Trump still relevant in international politics?
    2
  7677.  @jayrock4696  Oh, we're doing conspiracy stories. I only like those with lizard people in them.
    2
  7678. And how exactly did you gain a mandate to speak on behalf of "average Europeans"?
    2
  7679. You seem blissfully unaware of the ESC and how representative it is of "Euro artists". The big stars tend to give it wide berth.
    2
  7680. Goody. Let's sell it for a tidy profit.
    2
  7681.  @readisgooddewaterkant7890  On the plus side, Russia is adept at strategic withdrawals. We evidently mistook the one near Kharkiv for a rout -- the most embarrassing thing to happen to a military force.
    2
  7682.  @superjossos  Als EU-lid kan Hongarije dat op z'n buik schrijven. En zonder EU-geld kan Orban zich niet verrijken.
    2
  7683. Oh dear. Putin hasn't many friends left and this one is dissing him.
    2
  7684.  Faiez Cader  Impress us with your alertness then. How is Putin going to extricate himself from all this? I've never heard a Putin fanboy or girl explain that one.
    2
  7685. Oh noes. Orcs in our midst.
    2
  7686.  John Bull  But Germany agrees with the demands. And so do the other 26 EU members, without exception. In fact, the EU has shown an astounding degree of unity in dealing with Brexit.
    2
  7687.  John Bull  So you're saying politicians make behind-the-scenes deals with one another? In other news, water is wet.
    2
  7688.  @Cosmopolite999  I second that. The Vietnamese are one of the most industrious people to walk this earth. Practically without exception, the boat refugees we took in have all prospered. Vietnam's dabbling with communism has cost the country dearly.
    2
  7689.  @warlock-uv7yn  Argentina is officially a developing country, one of the few that have slipped back from developed to developing. Unless it wants to revisit the horrific political strife it experienced earlier, it needs to institute social programs that pull people out of poverty. Just improving the economy won't cut it.
    2
  7690.  @aryank1769  I'm still a soldier, be it a citizen soldier, but a soldier still. The fact that you don't know what it means to be in the reserves speaks volumes. If you think me inexperienced, give it a try -- try to fool me. So far you've questioned our expertise (in very vague terms), but offered none in rebuttal. Hollow vessel much?
    2
  7691.  @aryank1769  You questioned our military expertise. If you know nothing about the topic yourself yet you choose to comment as if you were an authority, it's not information warfare on your part -- it's information bumbling. You don't know me, you don't know where I'm from and I haven't brought forth any other views that this video sucks for the reasons I listed. You can't do any better than just lament Russia's "unfair" treatment by someone unspecified. Hollow vessel it is.
    2
  7692. Atlantic continent? That's a contradiction in terms, unless you're referring to Atlantis. If we get to banish countries from the European continent, let's do Russia.
    2
  7693. 0:40 nakkipipo!
    2
  7694. It's your own fault. You forgot to wear your tin foil hat.
    2
  7695.  @Samar3n  You're inviting one the worst colonizers in human history -- one that refuses to decolonise and wages war to expand its empire as we speak -- to "replace" ones that have given up their colonial empires ages ago? You need to get rid of your colonial mindset to be truly free, and not invite new masters to rule over you.
    2
  7696. Duh, who says it's NATO that would be talking peace with Russia? There would be quite a crowd around the negotiation table.
    2
  7697.  @colinsmith1288  Are you using Nokia and Ericsson 4G and 5G networks? Don't bother answering, you are. Your mobile is brimming with their patents, too, a few of which are attributed to yours truly. Incidentally, I used to get royalties from Microsoft and Google. Do you get any point, ever?
    2
  7698. ...yet it likes to show its ugly side.
    2
  7699. Grapjas.
    2
  7700. Does Euronews need to ask? A sham, of course, like elections in Russia proper.
    2
  7701.  @MetallicReg  It's not about how Russia (re)defines casus belli. It's about what the international community accepts as a valid definition. We don't even have to speculate, because we can extrapolate from the international response to the Crimean Crisis that Russia's home-grown definition doesn't fly. A casus belli involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war. Was Russia subjected to Ukraine's direct offences or threats? The answer is an unequivocal "no."
    2
  7702.  @hughjorgan7871  You think might is right? Suits a Putin fanboy.
    2
  7703.  yesnoyes noyesno  Then travel to India and stomp on every insect.
    2
  7704.  @eusunt123  You're supporting Hamas by incorrectly insisting that all Palestinians support Hamas. Doesn't that make you an enemy of Israel, as in aiding and abetting the enemy?
    2
  7705.  @tyrson2445  UNIFIL's mandate -- or its rules of engagement -- don't allow for disarming Hezbollah and/or keeping Israel out. If you disagree, you should petition for your government to take up the matter at the UN and have UNIFIL's mandate changed to suit your wishes. Either way, if you want to make a difference, you may want to consider serving in Lebanon yourself as a UN peacekeeper. Go for it, I say.
    2
  7706.  @freddiethompson58  It sounds like you want to butter up the weather god with human sacrifice. Civilisation is indeed a very thin veneer.
    2
  7707. @Achaà Ladka🔵 Nah, you're just ultra-conservative.
    2
  7708.  @chinathesideyoudontsee8157  China is -- by its own admission -- still a developing country. China very much likes the "special and differential treatment" that it's afforded by the WTO on account of being categorised a developing country.
    2
  7709.  @soreeyez  IFF is optional in Soviet Russia, it appears.
    2
  7710. Oh, the ignominy of having to call in the National Guard to conduct an election.
    2
  7711. You may get your wish. Soon.
    2
  7712. The moral of the story? Steer clear of populists.
    2
  7713. Maak dat de Poetin maar wijs.
    2
  7714. That's weird. Seven out of the top 10 democracies of the world are European. Is that pointy cap of yours a dunce cap?
    2
  7715. The authoritarians perhaps, but you're a dying breed.
    2
  7716. Government jobs are valued higher in Bangladesh that elsewhere?
    2
  7717. It's a gerontocracy as well.
    2
  7718.  @kennychad2821  Airplanes, too. In present circumstances in particular, Russia can only dream of having a gem like Embraer. China, too, for that matter.
    2
  7719.  @Damn6real  For the sake of peace? Those were the terms on offer. Likewise, Russia had to like it or lump it when it signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918. The terms of the peace treaty were clearly unfavourable to Russia, and historians rightly concluded that Russia lost WW1 -- to a loser. You had better get used to such an outcome, because I'm convinced that history is going to repeat itself with regard to Ukraine. When Russia finally signs a peace treaty, the terms won't be favourable, but Russia will sign, if only to save what can still be saved of its economy. I'll ask you again, which crimes did Finland commit? Remember, guilt by association won't do, because otherwise we have to convict Russia of the very same crime.
    2
  7720.  @bempowered138  It's no secret that Israel gave Hamas a big boost. Netnyahu even openly advocated support for Hamas in a effort to undermine the more moderate Fatah, which was making gains in the peace talks at Israel's expense, Netanyahu felt. Israel created a monster in more ways than one.
    2
  7721.  @ClarksonsinUSA  It's an ongoing process and you're far ahead of Belgium, where public debate about removing racially-offensive monuments only just began. You've already had how many Confederate monuments removed? A hundred? Two hundred? This channel has literally thousands on videos. You just posted a comment in the comment section of one. Didn't you notice?
    2
  7722. Ahem, if there's a currency crisis, it involves the sterling, not the euro.
    2
  7723. Pita.
    2
  7724. Terms of engagement change. Besides, Russia, too, is using its warplanes as launch platforms for stand-off weapons. We'll see few if any dogfights.
    2
  7725.  @Links_uitroeien  146 van de 193 VN-leden denken daar anders over. Binnenkort ook Nederland, als het kabinet gevallen is en Wilders weer zit waar hij hoort. In de oppositie.
    2
  7726.  @tat3179  India is pushing for less stringent visa norms for its professionals. Visas and residence permits are still two separate issues. I wonder, have you ever worked in a foreign country, short-term or permanently? I have, in half a dozen countries in fact, China included. I'm intimate familiar with the crushing paperwork involved, both as a former non-EU national and an EU national. If you think millions of Indians are going to descend on Europe and live off welfare, you don't understand reality.
    2
  7727.  @tat3179  Good luck persuading yourself that you're making a strong argument while you're not.
    2
  7728.  @tat3179  That's another matter altogether. Your debate skills need work.
    2
  7729.  @tat3179  In case you're new to debating, you're supposed to come up with arguments in support of your views. Mere opinions don't cut it.
    2
  7730. I'm confused -- NATO seems to be on a winning streak, with two new members joining. And Ukraine is work in progress.
    2
  7731.  @IbnBahtuta  Hungary broke the rules. In fact, Hungary has arrived at a place where it would no longer be accepted at a EU member should I have to apply anew. Hungary clearly flouts the Copenhagen criteria.
    2
  7732. Out of solidarity, you could let Pakistan and China occupy Jammu and Kashmir and then sue for peace to avoid bloodshed. Go on, see how that works out for you.
    2
  7733.  @dopecat15  Copium is your best defence.
    2
  7734. Navalny's predicament reminds me of visiting East Berlin during the dark days of the GDR. It was impossible not to incur a fine for some imaginary traffic violation.
    2
  7735.  @park1776  Let's ask the UN. Oh wait, we did already. What was the outcome again? 141 UN members said no, 5 (including Russia) said yes. The resolution that told Russia to get the hell out of dodge passed with flying colours.
    2
  7736. Sucks to be Putin.
    2
  7737. Remind me, who's failing to subdue Ukraine?
    2
  7738. Whenever one of Putin's toys is sunk, Putin throws his other toys -- missiles -- out of the pram. It's a recurring theme with him.
    2
  7739. A gift card is in the mail. I hope Russia's Starbucks Stars Coffee knock-off will redeem it.
    2
  7740. He can have as many medals as the North Korean generals now.
    2
  7741. 21 innocent people were hurt, Stuart. Assuming you're not a Russian bot, you could've been one of them.
    2
  7742. Did you think the land masses of Finland and Russia just collided recently? Finland has been preparing for an Russian incursion since 1944.
    2
  7743.  @RedbadvanRijn-ft3vv  It's a good thing you and your countrymen don't have 'em.
    2
  7744.  @soreeyez  You're trying to disregard less flattering parts of Russian history. Besides, your hero, Putin ,is invoking history whenever he sees fit. Cherry-picking, in other words.
    2
  7745.  @befr123  Democracy is a failure all right -- for autocrats and oligarchs.
    2
  7746. The Canadians tried to gun down a rogue weather balloon in 1998, with the very same Vulcan 20 mm autocannon as on the F-22. The stricken balloon still flew across the Atlantic to touch down in Scandinavia.
    2
  7747. "Israel to stand with Nitanyahu [sic]"? Whether Israel supports Netanyahu or not is of no concern to Zelenskyy's. You earned a weird comment trophy.
    2
  7748. It's a mixed bag. You should study Transparency International's findings on corruption. Russia comes in at 141th place out of 180 countries, meaning it does very shabbily indeed.
    2
  7749. Now why would the Germans be pissed? The more publicity Navalny gets, the more Putin squirms.
    2
  7750.  @WhyWorldWet  Pence grew a backbone. Vance lost his.
    2
  7751. I don't see a problem. Russia has failed to establish air superiority over Ukraine and Ukraine's air force regularly operates both MiG-29s and Su-25s from its airbases.
    2
  7752. The UK would do well to halve its cost as well. Garrisoning the islands and maintaining an air base there don't come cheap. Keeping colonies is a burden nowadays.
    2
  7753.  @Marc-js8rx  AT missiles don't rely on a blast effect, but rather, they squirt out a thin jet of molten metal that makes a neat hole in the armour. So, the guy on top may very well have made it. In the end, his mates may be worse off, having been splattered by metal particles inside the BMP. They may have bled out in the field.
    2
  7754. Poppycock, Russia has lost plenty of wars. And this one will add to the list.
    2
  7755.  @peaceleader7315  The flow seems to go the other way. Hordes of babushkas cross over to buy Finnish cheese and sausages. I think the Russians manage to grow potatoes themselves, but I hear they all go to troll factory workers.
    2
  7756.  @mohammedmustapha-e2w  A counter-offence is when Prigozhin calls Putin a liar after being called a traitor by Putin.
    2
  7757. The US makes up a third of NATO. I'll leave you to try to figure out for yourself what the EU countries' share is.
    2
  7758. Isn't this Brussels (and, to a lesser extent, Strasbourg) where all the individual members are fully represented, and on more than one level? You need to read up on the EU's workings before you go public with your silly notions.
    2
  7759.  @soreeyez  Don't play silly buggers.
    2
  7760. You're grossly overestimating the military strength of Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are militias, not conventional military forces. Israel could easily handle both on its own, be it at a painful cost. It bears reminding that the wars Israel fought against its neigbhouring Arab countries were real wars, whereas these clashes with Hamas and Hezbollah are better described as insurgencies and border clashes. They fit the definition of asymmetric warfare perfectly.
    2
  7761.  @milosbogdanovic3050  Thanks for the Serbian view. Will your salty tears ever stop flowing, you think?
    2
  7762. They're working on it in Russia. The question is, will it be better or worse? With an apathetic population, I fear the worst.
    2
  7763. Russia is a regional power at best.
    2
  7764. Prepare yourselves for the Battle of the Geriatrics.
    2
  7765.  @Serenity-hy  You should really make your forebodings known beforehand, not after the fact. Complete this sentence: "Hindsight is..."
    2
  7766.  @Serenity-hy  I don't need to pretend. That's your department.
    2
  7767.  @Serenity-hy  What a flaccid response.
    2
  7768. True dat. Expat Iranians are bright and well-mannered. You'd never believe their country of origin has become such a shitehole.
    2
  7769.  @Infopirates  Estonia's GDP per capita still clearly exceeds that of Russia, no matter how you measure it, PPP or no PPP. Also, it wouldn't hurt if studied up on service economies.
    2
  7770.  @Infopirates  So cute!
    2
  7771. With a demissionary cabinet and the opinion polls showing what they do, you're stating the obvious, Captain Obvious.
    2
  7772.  @tombrazy12hunnit  French fries are Belgian, Tommy-boy.
    2
  7773. If companies in said countries are found to be in violaton of the sanctions, they will be the target of sanctions themselves. That's probably ruinous for them, so exporting sanctioned goods to Russia is tantamount to closing shop or filing for bankruptcy.
    2
  7774. France voted in favour, sport. There was no unanimity in your so-called West.
    2
  7775.  @neilcarley9030  War of 1812. The Brits came a-calling and set the White House and the Capitol on fire.
    2
  7776.  @yelenashishkina8804  You give sooo much credit to the US. They're really omnipotent -- god-like even -- in your conspiracy-ridden mind.
    2
  7777.  @DJX435  I don't think you understood my clinical diagnosis. ROI stands for return on investment. Murica's getting precious little in return for a massive financial investment in Afghanistan. Decades from now, you'll still be paying off the loans.
    2
  7778.  @battleoid2411  You definitely are a bore of the first degree.
    2
  7779. You're preaching to the clergy.
    2
  7780. Oh noes, Russia needs to invade another country.
    2
  7781. I wish they'd spirited Gérard Depardieu to one of Putin's less-favourite palaces and kept him there under lock and key, out of sight, out of mind.
    2
  7782.  @Manntashsh-Pyrre-yr1yp  OK, we demand that Belarus leaves the CSTO forthwith. For good measure, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan should go as well. Armenia doesn't matter that much -- they probably left on their own accord, without telling anyone.
    2
  7783.  @donbabilio8298  The EU has enough on its plate with the poorer parts of the Eurozone.
    2
  7784. It's still going to be a risky business to intercept them. If a shadow fleet tanker were to dangle its anchor just below the surface and that would be mistaken for an another act of sabotage, the intercepting ship would technically commit piracy. UNCLOS needs be more specific about these matters.
    2
  7785.  @thedarkenigma3834  You also have mass shootings in the US, like every other day. Have you ever wondered why there's no clear correlation between gun ownership and standings in respected indexes that measure human freedom, freedom of the press, democracy and some such? I mean, shouldn't the USA top each and every one of those since it's brimming with guns? Yet it isn't so.
    2
  7786. Seeing to it that Russia's imperialism is no longer threatens world peace, of course.
    2
  7787. Rather, you should concern yourself with Putin's impotence -- his impotent rage, that is, because that's all this is.
    2
  7788.  @haruc  There would be job losses on both sides of the Channel, so it doesn't really matter.
    2
  7789. How are we to understand that? The Baltic States were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. Not their proudest moment.
    2
  7790. Right, blame the victim.
    2
  7791. Nuh-uh, that's impossible.
    2
  7792. Any air defence system can be overwhelmed by an abundance of targets. You should ask Russian air force pilots if they think Ukraine's air defences are a waste. Or perhaps you should let them mourn their fallen comrades for a bit.
    2
  7793. That Special Military Operation wasn't really a smashing success for Putin, now was it? Putin may want to steer clear of further surprises if he values his freedom.
    2
  7794.  @aanandika9975  Well done. Here's another handful of lentils for you.
    2
  7795. Freedom House thinks that Hungary hasn't been a democracy since 2020. The EIU is more lenient and calls it a flawed democracy. Which research institutes think that Hungary is 'truly free'?
    2
  7796.  @kwtinternational4451  Uh, NATO isn't out to conquer territory. You're confusing a defensive military alliance with a hasbeen/wannabe superpower, bent of territorial enlargement by military force, meaning Russia.
    2
  7797. Your sky friend should evict Putin's Orcs from Ukraine. Just a thought.
    2
  7798.  @anoldpotentin2446  Micronesia will beat Tanzania to the punch.
    2
  7799. Even if true, I don't see how one relates to the other. There are poorer countries than China with far, far better democratic credentials. In fact, China isn't setting the bar very high.
    2
  7800.  @biomechanique6874  So far Ukraine has been given weapons in order to defend itself against Russia aggression -- aggression of which it has already had a foretaste. It's not really good business sense, is it, giving away your products for free.
    2
  7801.  @biomechanique6874  You're the naive one here. Had you been alive in 1941, I bet you would've dismissed the Nazis preparing for Operation Barbarossa as an attempt to get into the Guinness Book of Records with the largest picnic ever.
    2
  7802. Ah, the puerile "no, you are" comeback. Say, how are the English lessons coming along, did you get approval from the troll farm manager yet?
    2
  7803. Laser technology or lazier technology?
    2
  7804. Your insult would carry more weight if you could spell.
    2
  7805. Has Russia ever heard of winning hearts and minds?
    2
  7806. I think you only deserve half a potato for that flaccid propaganda piece. No, make that a slice.
    2
  7807. Keep the conspiracy theories coming.
    2
  7808. Trump doesn't care what his closest advisors think. He ad-libs.
    2
  7809. Shrinking your customer base is smart in your book, eh?
    2
  7810. Don't make too much of the Queen's acceptance. If the government would ask her to sign a law that replaces the Union Jack with her bloomers, she wouldn't think twice before putting pen to paper. After all, a constitutional sovereign reigns but does not rule.
    2
  7811. Pro tip: don't walk and chew gum at the same time. You'll trip.
    2
  7812.  @TheKkpop1  It's a rather accurate observation on my part, based on what you (repeatedly) write here. Or do you struggle with English to an extent that you don't understand what you write?
    2
  7813. Krembots are in full agreement with Stoltenberg. To console themselves, they even pretend NATO is fighting alongside Ukraine.
    2
  7814. Why are Russia and China so impotent, you think?
    2
  7815. Not so great leader in matters economic.
    2
  7816. There's such a thing as freedom of navigation. If we start encroaching on it, China may also demand that "its" South China Sea is no longer subject to it. However, there are other considerations, like unsafe ships and "poor" seamanship, like dragging anchors willy-nilly over the seafloor, that need to be tackled, but appropriately.
    2
  7817. Bannon's off to prison.
    2
  7818. But it comes natural to you. You're a conspiracy theorist.
    2
  7819. In case you didn't watch the video, or just failed to understand the message, Scholz implored Netanyahu to accept a two-state solution. Watching before commenting is highly recommended.
    2
  7820.  @BVibezCDN  So you admit that you were wrong to insinuate that Germany isn't supportive of a two-state solution. Thanks, that'll be all.
    2
  7821. There's no honour among thieves. And Prigozhin is a twice-convicted one.
    2
  7822.  @rahrahrobbbieee  *medical attention.
    2
  7823.  @yannigBrezh  I'm afraid the French have set the bar too high for Los Angeles. Hollywood stars and props won't save the day.
    2
  7824. Are you a Yank? It would go a long way to explain the far-right rhetoric and above all, the ignorance. Spain has never been a net contributor to the EU budget. Germany is a net contributor, but it's accompanied by ten or so other EU members. Incidentally, the excess goes towards helping the former Communist bloc members recover from nearly half a century of economic mismanagement. So rather, we're negating the effects of Communism. The Brits apparently want to opt out. It's their loss.
    2
  7825.  @AlexPThorn  Let's face it. You can't formulate an intelligent response.
    2
  7826.  @AlexPThorn  Aw, you poor thing. You must be an absolute beginner at commenting on Youtube. Slander, I don't see it, and I do have a law degree. That said, maybe it's lèse-majesté if you're the King of Thailand and you're called an American. ฝ่าบาท? Hit and run? If so, I'm running over you time and time again. As to calling you by your first name, you'll have to take that up with the Youtube web developers. I simply hit the relevant reply button, which I see you managed as well, despite being the n00b that you are. Yes, do yourself a favour and leave, because Youtube is too dangerous a place for the likes of you. The risk of having your feelings hurt is just too great. I'll wait for the karma police to come and arrest me.
    2
  7827.  @branilavvasic9727  Russia is edging ever closer to collapse as the war in Ukraine empties its sovereign wealth fund (already down to 50% in two years of fruitless fighting) and Russia's profits on hydrocarbons remain perilously low. Over to you, what signs of impending doom for the EU do you see? For once, try to construct a proper argument, based on verifiable facts. Your worn-out propaganda slogans serve no purpose.
    2
  7828. It's unlikely that Netanyahu's far-right government will survive for long when a cease-fire has been brokered. His day of reckoning will come soon enough.
    2
  7829. ​ @nandominus3025  You exaggerate. The US has seen eight journalists murdered between 1992 and 2021. I won't do the math, but we can safely say that in terms of prevalence per capita, the Netherlands has taken a firm lead over the US with just this one case. If you have a large population, more bad stuff happens... at least in absolute terms.
    2
  7830. The aviary variant of kopi luwak, in other words.
    2
  7831.  @enn2763  The EU and USA don't total 141 UN members, but only 28 of them, so it's a little more than the EU and USA that support Ukraine.
    2
  7832.  @bjrnhjortshjandersen1286  True dat. Tesla sales in the Nordic countries -- which are among the keenest EV adopters -- have plummeted already. Musk will rue the day he got into politics.
    2
  7833.  @josephmartin1543  Stop spamming then, Ivan.
    2
  7834.  @josephmartin1543  Spare me your silly conspiracy theories.
    2
  7835. Individual schools have been banning them. Now it's nationwide.
    2
  7836. You could've fooled us.
    2
  7837. You've eaten bugs your whole life. Milled grains always contain insect fragments.
    2
  7838. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    2
  7839. That's an awkward analogy. I'd say you made a lunge for the door, but now you're teetering on the threshold, unsure of what to do.
    2
  7840. +Carl 123 You're in denial, or a bit thick. True, EU law no longer reigns supreme in the UK. In the future, when Brussels passes a new law, Whitehall gets to make a pantomime of it, pretending that the bill is 100% British before passing it. Gullible Brexiteers such as yourself will be jubilant, because the "decision" was made in London, not Brussels. As a matter of fact, this is already the new reality. In a year's time, Whitehall has already rubber-stamped 700 EU laws, and the pace is picking up.
    2
  7841. I'd negotiate. Assad in exchange for a lenient evacuation schedule? Russia needs the military kit there more than it needs Assad.
    2
  7842. Tell that to Finland and Sweden. Your Pootie-Poot took a baby step forward, followed by two big strides backward.
    2
  7843. But you can't praise them for their originality.
    2
  7844. Sun Zsu would very much approve of a move like this, but what does a highly-respected ancient master strategist know? YouTube armchair generals are the best.
    2
  7845. Only Putin wants this war, you silly goose.
    2
  7846. Better start building those interplanetary rockets then. This is as good as it gets.
    2
  7847. For trademark reasons you'll probably have to rename it Hungry Russian's.
    2
  7848.  @dallastaylor5479 Give it a rest, not everything is always about the US.
    2
  7849. It says "fighter bomber" in the description. That's consistent with the role Ukraine has in mind for the F-16.
    2
  7850. So it begins.
    2
  7851.  @मगरमच्छ  "We" means you and your hamster?
    2
  7852.  @DutchWeazel  I'm not complaining about Germany either. If I were Canadian, I would be more concerned about Fascism re-emerging in the USA.
    2
  7853.  @BananaRama1312  The Germans coined the term. Wikipedia is your friend.
    2
  7854. Master and underling, perfect.
    2
  7855. Aren't you the drama queen.
    2
  7856.  @michaelmichelsson  ...and 100 metres to go before the land mass plateaus, I hear.
    2
  7857. Thank you for your service in Ukraine.
    2
  7858. They were not so speechless after the Taliban reconquered Afghanistan, but if they still want to play the hypocrisy card as eagerly as before, they'll keep very mum about that one, too.
    2
  7859.  @jagman84  If percentages mean nothing, it follows that Andorra can dictate terms to the EU, since the EU has a trade surplus with Andorra. I bet you've started to believe it when your partner reassures you that "size doesn't matter".
    2
  7860. China has used Uyghurs as forced labourers in its shoe factories, too.
    2
  7861. No more colour revolutions for Belarus, because Putin's troops will crush them like it's 1968.
    2
  7862.  @crishhari5903  Thank you for that amateurish lecture about the history of my continent. With an MS in history (and another in political science), I could return the favour, but I'm not into smart-arsing. You fail to appreciate that a great many European countries were colonised themselves. I don't know what kind of antidote we got in 1917, but we never developed the habit of whining endlessly about it, or using it as an excuse for our own failings. Holier than thou? Less whiny than thou!
    2
  7863. You'd think Israel had a hand in it, but keep up the pretence.
    2
  7864. Putin has succeeded in creating a permanent rift between Russia and Ukraine then. History won't be kind to him.
    2
  7865. The US doesn't represent "the West" in this matter.
    2
  7866. Don't you understand that NATO is a sum of its part, the parts being national defence forces? There's no standing NATO army.
    2
  7867.  @olgabondarenko1594  Enjoy your isolation.
    2
  7868. How's that gonna work? You can't blame France.
    2
  7869.  @武當山-f6d  Russians manage to combine a high tolerance for misery with apathy, which is uncanny from a Western viewpoint. Call it masochistic apathy.
    2
  7870.  @yokartik  Nah, 'coopetition' is the way to go. Russia has been self-sufficient in its arms production and look at where it got them. Jack-in-the-box tanks and missiles that more often than not miss their mark. Good luck following in their footsteps.
    2
  7871. Physically he's on the mend, but politically he's poorly. Don't mention the EU trade deal, or he'll suffer a physical setback as well.
    2
  7872. The trouble is, the Hamas fighters pray to the same Abrahamic god.
    2
  7873.  @mikakorhonen5715  Don't pretend you're not paying into Putin's coffers as well.
    2
  7874.  @Halcon_Sierreno  The Taliban hate kite-flying, considering it haram. What you makes you think they can fly a fully-armed combat drone? And they don't have 'em.
    2
  7875.  @asdfghjkl92213  That's an interesting claim. The Afghan Air Force never had any. In case the Taliban somehow managed to capture intact Reapers from the Americans or the Brits, how exactly are they going to pilot them? Send Taliban fighters to the UK or the US and hope that they're going to be let into the ground control stations? I'm very interested to hear your take on this.
    2
  7876. But wouldn't you love to exchange your jack-in-the-box T-72s and T-90s for them? Oh, you do, because India has no choice but to switch to Western military kit now. Russia had left the arms export market.
    2
  7877.  @davedaniels8211  Murican much? Belgians speak French. Swiss do, too. Luxembourg. Monaco. Canada. And 23 African countries.
    2
  7878.  @escallite  If Ukraine were to blame, it would come out eventually, and have a detrimental effect on foreign aid to Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, has nothing to lose. Its international reputation is already shot.
    2
  7879.  @Sigma00009-l  Was that English?
    2
  7880. No Pulitzer Prize for you.
    2
  7881. Demolition charges were set off prematurely by a nearby RPG explosion. The building, as intended, came down, but with IDF soldiers still inside. It sound like an occupational accident. Soldiering is inherently dangerous.
    2
  7882.  @drunkdrftr  You're clearly having a ball.
    2
  7883. I can sense your utter desperation.
    2
  7884. Is Iran in Syria for a boy scouts' jamboree, you think?
    2
  7885. The fun part is that Russia loses three times as many men as draft dodgers as it manages to bring under arms.
    2
  7886. So? We've had Eurasians in Singapore for centuries.
    2
  7887. You're a bit behind the times. 105 years, to be exact.
    2
  7888. But with feet of clay. And he's not exactly a giant either, as the idiom insists.
    2
  7889.  @juliapigworthy  You were implying that some EU members will soon follow in the UK's footsteps and leave the union. I argued that it makes precious little sense even for the rebelling ones in East Europe. Not only because the mere process of leaving would prove very costly (the Bank of England can attest), but also, they'd miss out on the Cohesion Fund. Because of your shortsightedness you can't see the benefits, but I consider the Cohesion Fund a sound investment, since East Europe has a lot of growth potential. In the end, we will all benefit -- except for you, that is. Your "Singapore-on-Thames" scenario is not a credible proposition. In response, the EU members would demand more tariffs and quotas to protect them from what they consider unfair competition. That would jeopardize the UK's financial sector in particular and another wave of Brexodus would follow. Moreover, even a partial dismantling of Britain's welfare system would pave the way for a Labour government, which would quickly turn back the clock. Having lived for fifteen years in Singapore, I know its austere social model is wholly unacceptable to the British electorate.
    2
  7890. I can think of better sources for jealousy.
    2
  7891. The world begs to disagree.
    2
  7892. What's your beef?
    2
  7893. Same goes for China. Flexible morals are good for business.
    2
  7894. Does that include the Russian defence ministry?
    2
  7895. Be that as it may, the UK isn't setting a very good example for how to leave the EU. Not only that, you're literally tearing the country apart in doing so. In your shoes, I would worry about that rather than fantasize about the demise of the EU.
    2
  7896.  @atruebrit6452  Misery loves company?
    2
  7897. By breaking the UN Charter, Putin is effectively waging war against the international community, and NATO has risen in opposition. What's so hard to understand about that?
    2
  7898.  @ericp1139  My take is that the FM in question got inspired by the Madagascar Plan.
    2
  7899.  @StrongRespect  That isn't saying much. Wagner's edge is better motivation among their non-prisoner troops and their willingness to suffer inordinate casualties among their prisoner troops. They can't top the Ukrainians, who're fighting for hearth and home, except that the Ukrainians have the presence of mind to opt to fight another day if the situation calls for it. WW1 tactics have no place in the 21st century.
    2
  7900.  @rosadacaro  Laurel and Hardy comedy, you mean.
    2
  7901.  @lg2058  You contradicted yourself. Reread you own post. It's as clear as day. Putin can shout himself hoarse about Russia's geostrategic interests, be it with regard to Ukraine or Finland, but unless his topics of interest agree, it's of no consequence. Spheres of influence aren't defined unilaterally in this day and age. Ever since the end of WW2, Finland pursued a policy of armed neutrality, just like Sweden. More so than Sweden, Finland stuck with its armed neutrality after the Cold War. I'll give you two guesses which invader in particular the Finns were -- and are -- preparing to fight off. No, not NATO, not Sweden, but...? Are you trying to claim that Russia invaded Ukraine because of Stoltenberg? Your argumentation seems a bit off.
    2
  7902. If she's describable you should, by all means, try to describe her.
    2
  7903.  @Musck  Let me clear up a confusion there. You're living in an autocracy, which means you don't get plan anything pertaining to your future as a country.
    2
  7904.  @Musck  You should study political science. Then we can talk.
    2
  7905. It's only fitting that the UK version of Trump has a John Bolton, too.
    2
  7906. Poland managed all right.
    2
  7907. Allegedly, a single rocket misfired and went astray. Even if a whole barrage or rockets misfired one after the other, they wouldn't hit the same spot. A Qassam-3 rocket packs 20 kg of explosive lined with ball bearings. If its warhead exploded in a parking lot brimming with refugees, the quoted casualty count is realistic.
    2
  7908. Nice summary. Trump's crowning achievement with regard to North Korea is crossing the DMZ, proving that he's still able to walk unaided. Aside from that, he's not really withdrawing from anywhere. He's made lofty promises about withdrawing from Syria, but in the end 50 out of 1,000 troops got a ticket home.
    2
  7909. The SPD feels more at home in the opposition, it seems.
    2
  7910. ​ @JD-Media  The idea of England joining the EU will be met with as much enthusiasm as Turkey's bid. That's just a political fact.
    2
  7911.  @JD-Media  I'm not referring to human rights abuses or authoritarianism. I'm referring to the self-serving motives of both the UK and Turkey with regard to the EU. It was painfully apparent before the referendum, when Cameron tried to extract more concessions from the EU. While this was going on, reform-minded, smaller members of the EU tried to form a bloc with the UK, but they quickly realised that Cameron couldn't care less about their aspirations. It was all about securing more exclusive privileges for the UK at the expense of the others. Privileges aren't exclusive is they apply to all and sundry. Good riddance, I say.
    2
  7912. I pressed the one under your comment. Happy?
    2
  7913.  @martinfiedler4317  Germany hasn't gone overboard in outsourcing all manufacturing to China either, like the US.
    2
  7914. It's pretty tightly controlled after blood diamonds became a thing. What matters is that it's a big net loss for Russia.
    2
  7915.  @DT-mw3ge  Russia knows painfully well that Finland makes for premium ambush country, so it's best avoided for offensive operations. If not, we'd see a repeat performance of the 40-mile convoy that ground to a halt before Kyiv last year, but this time it would happen sooner and with the difference that the Russian column would've been ground to a pulp by Finnish artillery. The Soviet Union tried massed attacks against Finland in 1944, only to conclude that pouring in more and more troops still didn't achieve the desired result -- on the contrary, the cost-benefit ratio only grew worse. Stalin soon gave up on Finland and focused on Germany instead.
    2
  7916. That would be Bakmuth and Vuhledar. It's more Sitzkrieg than Blitzkrieg for Russia.
    2
  7917. ...their hurt pride?
    2
  7918.  @kimwit1307  True dat. Schadenfreude contributes to happiness when: a) a bully is on the receiving end, and, b) the Schaden is self-inflicted.
    2
  7919. You're very unobservant then. There are 6 million Ukrainian refugees across Europe. This is a new low for you, Alex.
    2
  7920.  @vjsilva9792  Why on earth would a unionist party be Irish? You'd better come to terms with the fact that Ireland effectively has sovereignty over NI -- thanks to Brexit.
    2
  7921. If Russia shuts the taps, its life blood stops flowing. Without revenue from oil and gas exports, Russia's woefully undiversified economy will grind to a complete halt.
    2
  7922.  @graveperil2169  Cotton from Xinjiang they're not.
    2
  7923.  @graveperil2169  You'll have to explain that further. The boycott concerns both raw and processed materials.
    2
  7924. Set us right then, oh wise one.
    2
  7925.  @azamatshayakhmetov1825  For your info, the EU is very much against Israel's illegal annexations of foreign territory. That's something the EU agrees on unanimously.
    2
  7926. You should take your grievances to Putin. He started the hostilities, and could stop the war overnight.
    2
  7927.  @GoToMan  Educate me then, oh wise man from the East. Trudeau shouldn't call out an extrajudicial killing on his soil?
    2
  7928. No one is suggesting we leave the Ukrainians in the lurch... except you.
    2
  7929.  @dpelpal  Judging from the depth at which the Moskva lies, 45 to 50m, it'll prove a nice wreck dive site. Can't wait to go have a look.
    2
  7930. You don't even know what liberalism means in a European context. *Choking.
    2
  7931.  @havanascp9602  Russian oil is already over and done with, silly.
    2
  7932.  @SpanishKnight1  We've closed our eastern border, sport.
    2
  7933. Right, like hiding in ground clutter. Or using terrain features to hide, like staying behind hills, mountain ridges and whatnot. Radar technology 101.
    2
  7934.  @FROOBELINKALIKAT-p9z  You should be a philosopher. On second thought, don't give up your day job.
    2
  7935. You must've missed the Trump era altogether. Coma?
    2
  7936. No, we're not. Your imagination is getting the better of you.
    2
  7937. Rather, it was supposed to be the autocannon/missile-armed Pantsir that makes short shrift of these kind of weapons, but all too often, the reverse is true. The Turks and Israelis have made a sport out of destroying Pantsirs with their drones in Libya and Syria.
    2
  7938.  @julietator3948  Which bad bet failed? Are you actually mixing up Finland and Ukraine?
    2
  7939.  @backsync613  Why, I hold three nationalities. I can vote in more elections than I can shake a stick at. Now off you go -- you were supposed to be gone, remember? Shoo!
    2
  7940. It's too bad Shakespeare isn't around to write a play about him. Actors would refer to it as "The Russian Play".
    2
  7941. Rather, COVID-19 has it in for you conservative boomers who're in denial.
    2
  7942. Bundeswehr, silly.
    2
  7943.  @graveperil2169  Actually, Catalonia's beef is with Madrid. Staying in the EU was never an issue. They're happy to do so.
    2
  7944. How is that related? Oh wait, Iran's proxies wars.
    2
  7945. ​ @markiowa5437  Let's explore your German aircraft carriers. Carriers make easy targets for modern subs, as the US Navy has found out time after time. Not only that, the Baltic Sea, with its narrows and shallows, makes a poor area of operations for big vessels. Even more so that elsewhere, ultra-quiet AIP subs would make mincemeat out of them. Incidentally, Germany makes the best AIP subs. Stealth bombers. Germany just ordered 35 F-35s for NATO's nuclear sharing role. How many megatons of destruction are needed?
    2
  7946. When has the Russian Federation been "allowed into" Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Sweden?
    2
  7947. ​ @chidera66  I have a masters in history. Try to answer my question.
    2
  7948. The Panama Papers implicated Xi Jinping's brother-in-law. Extradition wouldn't bring him to trial. China's "red nobility" is above to law no matter where they are in the world.
    2
  7949. Your research is a sham, I'm afraid. When the Soviet Union fell apart, its military arsenal was divvied up among the 15 independent states that were subsequently formed. A number of these states also inherited nuclear weapons in addition to conventional weapons, but the nuclear weapons were eventually all transferred to the Russian Federation. In Ukraine's case this occurred in 1994, but only after Russia had given Ukraine guarantees to respect its existing borders. That's clearly something that slipped Putin's mind.
    2
  7950.  @itzhakrabin  Muddy ground is no more an issue to either type than to the Russian MBTs. The keywords are ground pressure and power-to-weight ratio. The Leo 2 and Chally 2 equal and/or exceed the T-72, T-80 and T-90 in those respects. But I guess facts don't bother you.
    2
  7951.  @Maki-nk5vs  Haha, you fell for it. You were done in by your poor spelling. Mr Hippocrates and Mr Hypocrisy are not acquainted. Just to humour you, Assange can reveal details of his health as he desires. Without his consent, his doctors cannot. That's because of the Hippocratic oath, which covers medical confidentiality. The lesser-known Hypocritical oath is something else altogether ;-)
    2
  7952.  @Maki-nk5vs  Interesting -- a normal person would make an effort to ensure he's properly understood. I can't think of anything to suggest I'm indifferent to Assange's plight or why he might be my own anymore than he's yours. I fear your lack of attention to detail is not just a matter of spelling. Just for the record, what I find annoying in you is the way you repeatedly abuse Assange to divert attention from the topic at hand. In other words, you trivialise him. Be honest, he's just a tool for you.
    2
  7953.  @Maki-nk5vs  In that case, I have double proof that I am a normal person. You fare worse. If you were really concerned about Assange, you would be similarly concerned about Navalny. You give your true self away praising one and condemning the other. The question is, are you a Kremlin bot or even more pitifully, a useful idiot of theirs?
    2
  7954.  @dachochiyo3992  You must think France conquered the whole world.
    2
  7955. If you think the Netherlands needs to be dragged through the mud, sure, applaud him.
    2
  7956.  joe caterman  Transmitters made in the EU or China.
    2
  7957. That's what military alliances are for. Russia, with its pitiful one-way CSTO, can only watch and weep.
    2
  7958. That would be Serbia. No need to pretend any longer. Let's also not ignore the genocide that brought it on.
    2
  7959.  @namename-qb5xe  What's that supposed to mean? The Vikings were skilful seafarers, feared warriors and prosperous traders with a lively culture that in many forms endures to this day in Scandinavia. Associating Vikings with the N*zis is merely testimony to your lack of judgement.
    2
  7960. 80 times.
    2
  7961.  @MySiamesedreams  I suppose you've never visited the High North. It's a forbidding place if there ever was one. We used to say that you can afford to make one mistake, but not two.
    2
  7962. In your wet dreams. On the plus side, they might make it to Moscow.
    2
  7963. That begs the question if Trump will increase US defence spending to 10%, as its two-war military doctrine dictates.
    2
  7964.  @KarinaTvorcova  What about NATO and 2014? NATO is within its rights to support Ukraine in warding off Russian aggression.
    2
  7965. Myanmar just took delivery of two spanking new Su-30 multirole fighter jets, with four more awaiting delivery. Actions cause reactions.
    2
  7966.  @jirachi-wishmaker9242  Democracies and constitutional monarchies are by no means mutually exclusive. In fact, half of the world's top democracies are monarchies as well.
    2
  7967. NATO's Article 5 was invoked after the September 11 attacks.
    2
  7968. Practically every country has or had a local cola drink. How come Turkey is such a laggard?
    2
  7969. The root cause of all this is that Russia can't stomach Ukraine being friendly with anyone but Russia. Ergo, Russia has no friends.
    2
  7970. Him continuing to be responsible won't change matters for the better.
    2
  7971. @Niko Belić Russia doesn't get to carve out a sphere of influence at the expense of its neighbours. Firstly, this is the 21st century, in which leaders of foreign powers, be it Putin or Johnson, can't make decisions on behalf of other sovereign nations. Secondly, Russia has a two-bit army that can't subdue even a much smaller and poorer neighbour. Russia is a giant with feet of clay.
    2
  7972.  @marksbikeexports5123  To be honest, I found the whole post-Cold War Dutch conscription army a joke. No wonder Srebrenica happened.
    2
  7973.  @marsjuliusagustin1117  Are you having a HTTP 404 moment?
    2
  7974.  rickylo3271  Ricky doesn't get the joke.
    2
  7975.  @DarkstarDarth  So you go out of your way to seek them out overseas. Is that what you're saying?
    2
  7976. Note that they had to adjust the result downward ever so slightly to prove Peskov wrong. Nailed it!
    2
  7977.  @sittingduck02  Uh, tell everyone you're Canadian?
    2
  7978. Indo-Europeans aren't a race but a language group. Likewise, there's the Finno-Ugric language group, of which the Hungarians, Finns and Estonians form the majority. The so-called Blond Belt covers the whole of Northern Europe, including Finland and Estonia. I don't know if you've ever visited either country, but you'd notice blond hair and blue eyes are common, even boringly so. Blondes dye their hair to feel special.
    2
  7979. Unlike you, Zelenskyy can walk and chew gum at the same time.
    2
  7980. And why would that be?
    2
  7981.  @azhivago2296  And where would they move them in preparation for a nuclear counterstrike? There's no safe place.
    2
  7982.  @mahmudanooz227  It does, but what has that got to do with the price of tea in China? If you're trying to establish Russia's moral superiority, you'll have to do better. Collateral damage, even outright war crimes, aren't something that Russia can claim being innocent of.
    2
  7983. The opposition in both countries has gone underground. Literally, i.e. six feet under.
    2
  7984. You should start charging Murica rent. Letting it live rent-free in your mind sets an awkward precedent.
    2
  7985. Numero uno in kitschy long conference tables, sure thing.
    2
  7986. I suppose the Irish who don't speak Gaelic aren't Irish in your book either, but rather, English. Try to float that idea in an Irish pub and see what happens.
    2
  7987. Is the concept of royalty a novel concept to you?
    2
  7988. Denial is the first stage of grief. If you keep at it, you can work your way to acceptance.
    2
  7989. The Syrians are offered a choice between bad and worse. Can't blame them.
    2
  7990.  @MrDosonhai  It's definitely more than NATO. There's more to the free world than NATO alone.
    2
  7991. I think the term you're looking for is "one-night stand". You also misspelled "lose". You want the verb, not the adjective.
    2
  7992.  @clementtan1981  You left out a couple of articles. One indefinite, the other definite.
    2
  7993.  @clementtan1981  "It is a like one-night stand, they lose interest after the withdrawal."
    2
  7994.  @hiufgterde  A superpower needs an economy to match. Russia's economy isn't super-sized, and it's shrinking fast, too.
    2
  7995.  @crusaderlatin732  It's all in your imagination.
    2
  7996. If you had written 'neo-colonialism', you would've had a smidgen of a point. Also, have you heard of mirrors?
    2
  7997. Yawn. Antisemitism is Bibi's go-to rebuttal.
    2
  7998.  @ROCKDEES1  Aren't you trying to put a positive spin on things. Mexico and Canada are still disgusted with Trump. They just decided to humour Orange Man for a bit, so he can pass off this silly 24-hour trade war of his as a great victory to the Trumptards, and Mexico and Canada can get on with business. It's like shutting a baby up with a pacifier.
    2
  7999. China already has dibs on Russia, or should I say Ruxia, China's future northernmost province. One Pu Tin is slated to become its regional governor when the acquisition is complete.
    2
  8000. ​ @twostix67  Whatever for would I weep? We just had a troublesome appendage removed, which was turning gangrenous. Soon, it will disintegrate, too. You'd better change the lyrics to "RULE LITTLE ENGLAND, LITTLE ENGLAND RULES THE RIPPLES!"
    2
  8001.  @mickethegoblin7167  Hitler to the members of the German general staff in June 11, 1942: “You heard what Koch just said. Bir Hakeim is new evidence of the thesis I always defended: the French are, after us, the best soldiers in Europe. Even with its current birth rate, France will always be able to field a hundred divisions. After the war, we will absolutely have to build a coalition which may contain a country capable of military exploits such as Bir Hakeim which stun the world”.
    2
  8002. Fret not. You'll pay less in taxes when the Russians will do the collecting. Of course, your income will plummet dramatically. And you can forget about getting much in terms of services in exchange for your taxes. Apart from mandatory military service for your son, that is. However, you could land yourself a Lada car if things go pear-shaped for your son.
    2
  8003.  @norbertgeorge  You're clearly not in the know. The ICTY in The Hague tried a number of war criminals from the Yugoslav Wars, whose nationality is that of a NATO country. You're spouting conspiracy theories.
    2
  8004.  @josephalvinalmedatv8  Your comment made no sense whatsoever. Did you have trouble locating the right reply button?
    2
  8005. Offenders of Serbia's past miltarism?
    2
  8006. En jouw vlag dan? Krijg je ook je loon in aardappels?
    2
  8007.  @LinksFascisme  Aardappelen dus. Geen vodka van maken, hè?
    2
  8008. The suspense is palpable like thin air.
    2
  8009. @WSINH Right-o. India always feels beholden to someone. If it isn't Russia, it's Israel. No permanent UNSC seat for those guys.
    2
  8010. Yeah, we don't need more Orbans to sabotage the EU.
    2
  8011. Naïveling.
    2
  8012.  @airhabairhab  The Soviets' war in Afghanistan lasted ten years and took a whole superpower down. Russia is a mere shadow of the Soviet Union, and Russian losses far exceed what the Soviets endured in Afghanistan. 5 years max.
    2
  8013. We've kept our eyes peeled for a month. Nothing to see.
    2
  8014.  @fabiennemitchell2371  Why do you keep harping about the media? You agreed earlier that they weren't relevant in deciding the election. It's the lawsuits that matter. So far, Trump's campaign and his allies have brought 50 cases to court, of which only one, about moving a deadline, has been successful. Even conservative judges appointed by Trump are exasperated by the frivolity of the cases. That does not bode well for appeals. You can muse endlessly about what's still going to happen, but four weeks of intense legal wrangling have brought nothing whatsoever to light that could possibly overturn the result. Even the blind can see there's nothing to see here. Move along.
    2
  8015. The Anglo-Saxons occupied a part of England before the Normans conquered and assimilated them. Unlike the Normans, the Anglo-Saxons never made their presence felt beyond England. Would you like to spin another conspiracy theory about another lost tribe? You, too, seem lost in time.
    2
  8016.  @Digmen1  There's a thing called freedom of navigation. If NATO starts to encroach on it, you can bet your bottom dollar that Russia and China will follow suit. Admittedly, UNCLOS lags behind with to regard to undersea infrastructure in international waters. Damaging said infrastructure comes under piracy, but if a foreign navy or coast guard takes action and it turns out to be unwarranted, they're committing piracy themselves.
    2
  8017. No, why? Haven't you heard about the looming trade war between the EU and the US? Keep up with the news.
    2
  8018. Coalition governments are Nazi? They are the norm in parliamentary democracies, the bee's knees democracy-wise.
    2
  8019.  @shafts2447  It's too bad that the Wagner Group's founder, Dmitry Utkin, can't take his Nazi insignia off. He's got them tattooed on.
    2
  8020. You Germans were telling yourselves that Russia couldn't start a war of aggression -- and an energy war against Germany -- because that would amount to Russia cutting off its nose to spite its face, as the expression goes. Asinine Russia did it anyway.
    2
  8021. Birds of a feather flock together, eh?
    2
  8022. At terrorising civilians, yes. But at striking military targets as intended, not so much.
    2
  8023. So you'd like to draw attention away from Russia's endless battle for Bakmuth. Figures.
    2
  8024. @dawn_alex Did I just write that? I wrote that the Taj Mahal Palace is posh. Do they even let you in?
    2
  8025.  @iljenshumilin467  Arkadi Rotenberg owns the mansion. He'd forgotten, but Putin helpfully reminded him.
    2
  8026. BICS will weather the storm.
    2
  8027. Media's what are?
    2
  8028. Shush, you will still get your unemployment benefit.
    2
  8029.  @larsandrune  You (two lover boys?) have no military experience whatsoever? Am I right or am I right?
    2
  8030. It's quite the opposite, my Chinese friend. Finland is getting a restraining order against Russia. Russia has never dared to break one issued by NATO.
    2
  8031.  @Q_QQ_Q  When has Turkey stated that it will ratify the NATO accession of Sweden and Finland only if Turkey gets to join the EU? You're a fantasist.
    2
  8032.  @Swedishpolymath  The AfD most definitely is far-right, the crypto-Fascists.
    2
  8033. If you like isolationism, sure.
    2
  8034. Maybe so, but the bad PR may end up costing them far more.
    2
  8035. Russia has been actively preventing software engineers from leaving. We hired five. I bet they're earning us more money than your Oreshnik ever will.
    2
  8036. You'll find that Tibet is very much occupied by China as it is, and has been since 1951.
    2
  8037.  @spuitpoesje6244  Poetin is letterlijk het Noorden kwijt. Finland en Zweden lekker bij de NAVO, en uiteindelijk Oekraine ook.
    2
  8038.  @azurebadger  You just managed another non-argument. It's like you're throwing your toys out of the pram, crying: "no it isn't so sob-sob-sob".
    2
  8039. You can keep your antiquated morals to yourselves.
    2
  8040. It's not just his hair. His orange tan would come off.
    2
  8041.  @markuss4133  One hopes, but Putin is very good at hiding, even from the grim reaper.
    2
  8042.  @scottwebb4722  You're getting your kings and emperors all mixed up. Napoleon decided to march on Moscow, but years later. The same Napoleon had given his Russian colleague carte blanche to attack Sweden, which led to Russia conquering Finland. When Sweden finally recovered from the defeat, their new king, Napoleon's former marshal Bernadotte, realised the Finns weren't keen on rejoining Sweden, so he left it at that.
    2
  8043.  @detlefkerkau2609  Especially since no one is immune to it. Politicians are like babies' diapers. Both have to be changed often and for the same reason.
    2
  8044.  @toolfreak78  Een beredenering voor het tegengestelde zou leuk zijn, of verwacht ik teveel van jou?
    2
  8045. Self-preservation is not their foremost concern. If I had to wield a Molotov cocktail, I'd go for the original design, a closed bottle with storm match strapped to the side.
    2
  8046. Iconoclasm is a age-old tradition.
    2
  8047. Prepare to shift your soft power expenditure to hard power -- many times over. Your military industrial complex will love it. The taxpayer, not so much.
    2
  8048. It's a stalemate, innit? Russia can't make significant gains any longer, and Ukraine is biding its time. That being said, Russia's failure to win is a defeat in itself.
    2
  8049. 124 countries think otherwise.
    2
  8050. Those meds don't take themselves.
    2
  8051.  @spacecube8561  No argument there, but I was referring to others than Norway and Switzerland. Context is everything.
    2
  8052. "Our". It's repo time.
    2
  8053. You should go into broadcasting. You broadcast the very same comment in multiple discussion forums.
    2
  8054. Indeed, the separation of Finland from Sweden wasn't voluntary, but when the deed was done, Finland didn't exactly volunteer to rejoin either. Marshall Bernadotte, the future king of Sweden, had the presence of mind not to pursue the matter any further.
    2
  8055. ​ @konstantinospapadopoulos4643  I prefer a fact-based approach. The US is a "flawed democracy" as per the Democracy Index -- I guess that's a democracy nonetheless. The compilers, the EIU, qualify Russia as "authoritarian", but because Russia insists that Putin is democratically elected and that their elected State Duma actually wields power, "false democracy" wouldn't go amiss either. Did you get it, true/false? You asked me if I have free speech. Unlike the US, ours is a "full democracy" and Freedom House gave us a perfect score for political rights and civil liberties. So I'm inclined to answer "yes". I not sure I've ever watched CNBC -- apart from this vid -- but I must've on my not-so-frequent-anymore visits to the US. I prefer my news to be served in a more sober, European manner -- something that the Americans would consider boring.
    2
  8056. No, by that logic Cuba should get a ballistic missile defence system akin to the Aegis. But I bet Cuba is loath to get embroiled in Russia's ill-advised military adventurism. Unlike the Soviet Union, Russia can't prop up Cuba's failing economy -- Russia can only make it worse. By the way, Russia has nuclear-capable Iskanders in Kaliningrad and it has now given some to Belarus, too. By that logic, NATO should station ballistic nuclear missiles in Poland and Lithuania.
    2
  8057. I see multilateralism as something desirable. We have no desire to be the centre of the world.
    2
  8058.  @insanekos1  You need that much copium?
    2
  8059.  @realtruenorth  The media is the media, their job is to pick and probe. It doesn't, however, excuse Trump's behavior, which is intentionally antagonizing, and therefore, divisive. The Republican-Democrat duopoly is already polarizing in itself, but Trump is only too keen to stoke the fire. He doesn't mind one bit being president to only half the country. I thought I made it clear that I don't have a side.
    2
  8060. You'll find that the European Parliament was properly elected. No archaic first-past-the-post nonsense there.
    2
  8061. Russia celebrates its WW2 victory over the Nazis, yet it has gone Nazi itself. The irony.
    2
  8062.  @Dstew57A  Trump has only gotten the US deeper into that quagmire.
    2
  8063.  @momcilojabucilo9320  Russia has been struck twice by Islamist terrorists in short succession. Which alliance do you speak of?
    2
  8064. Russia could stop invading its neighbours. Yet time after time, Russia gives NATO a new lease of life.
    2
  8065. You have what it takes to become a successful conspiracy theorist. Keep up the good work and you'll be in a straitjacket in no time.
    2
  8066. Are you sure your rank isn't Captain and your surname Obvious?
    2
  8067. Correction, China first. China holds the all the trump cards in this game (pun intended).
    2
  8068. What are you on about? Macron's presidential term lasts till 2027. The French constitution prevents him from running for a third term, so he's out no matter what.
    2
  8069. ​ @TheRealBillBob  Poor Billy-Bob is tongue-tied and has to resort to emoticons. Childiiish!
    2
  8070.  @DrVictorVasconcelos  You should open a YT news channel of your own.
    2
  8071. I wouldn't hire the engineer. The back blasts of the rockets would (or did) set the car on fire. Unguided rockets are always inaccurate, but the shortness of the launch tubes suggests that these particular ones are wildly inaccurate. Their diameter suggests that the rockets carried smallish explosive charges, so even if one hit its mark, the effect would be rather limited.
    2
  8072. Uh, we "VAT" everything, our own goods and services included. And the US contribution to NATO isn't all that it's cracked up to be when you consider the vast US military commitments outside of NATO. Braggadocio, however, is an area where you're absolutely superior to everyone else, ever.
    2
  8073.  @ArmandoParra-gz9ps  Little do you know. By the time I finally leave the reserves, I've been in for 45 years. I take it you've never served, and never will either. Yet the braggadocio is still there.
    2
  8074. Hungary is learning the hard way that you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you.
    2
  8075. Uh, Macron is not leaving. His term as president runs till 2027. As for his party, political renewal is a constant in any democracy worth its salt. Love him or hate him, Macron has had a stellar career in French politics. He conjured up a political party from thin air and won consecutive elections with it, in addition to being voted president, twice. Also, despite his domestic woes, Macron is the best-liked EU leader, which bodes well for him if he has EU aspirations. That's how the cookie crumbles, I'm afraid.
    2
  8076. Got a anti-MSM campaign going there, Vic?
    2
  8077. Like Russia tried to rename Kherson? That didn't last.
    2
  8078. If the case were to go to court, I'm sure Huawei, urged by the CCP, would refuse to co-operate in any investigation. The saddest thing of all is that the CCP has started to stifle Chinese corporations, if not directly, then indirectly. Huawei is such an indirect case.
    2
  8079.  @nenadmitrovic3469  I'm not sure whether you're being deliberately obtuse or the real thing. Putin was hoping to blackmail Europe with gas deliveries. Europe gave him no ammo. So, you didn't want to comment on Serbia's high dependence on Russian gas? Figures.
    2
  8080. The closest it came to action was during the aftermath of the Suez Crisis, when Finnish UN peacekeepers carried it.
    2
  8081. OK, Chamberlain. Back from the dead, none the wiser?
    2
  8082.  @PeterLindstrom-x4w  So the backup pressurization controller was faulty?
    2
  8083. ​@Chris Viking Don't flatter yourselves unduly. Ukraine wants to set a precedent with the Chally 2s. With the Leo 2s, it wants to roll the invaders back.
    2
  8084. New conspiracy theory in the works?
    2
  8085. Sure, Russia is presently managing to squeeze out modest growth, but it comes at a great cost. The quality of living in Russia has taken a severe blow and recovery there is much slower. The big question is, will the Russians' patience last? It's not so much the sanctions that are keeping the GDP down -- and let's be honest, Russia brought them onto itself -- but the oil price, which, despite recent gains, is still painfully low by Russian production standards. There's little to show for Putin's much-vaunted economic reforms. Investors remain wary of Russia, which means raising the necessary funds is challenging. There seems to be widespread distrust of Russia both economically and politically, and the sanctions are -- again -- only part of it. Here, too, Russia should look in the mirror. Actually, in the 90s, I had a ringside seat watching the Russian economy transform itself. I briefly managed a charity set up by my late grandmother to help the poor in her former birthplace. We had city officials queue for soup and bread since they hadn't been paid for six months. Russians tolerate hardship like no other, but unfortunately, they also have a high tolerance for leaders who don't act in their best interest.
    2
  8086. Another colour revolution in Russia's backyard. Putin must be getting nervous again.
    2
  8087.  @kevbrown1867  I think Kev wants to be with Putin. Get a room.
    2
  8088. You forgot to add that Russia is bankrupting itself in the process of making the EU go green.
    2
  8089. Valmet tractors were renamed Valtra more than twenty ago. Also, Valmet hasn't made any rifles since the mid-eighties.
    2
  8090. You'd think Russia was enough on its plate with Ukraine. Forcing NATO to enter the war would spell utter disaster for Russia.
    2
  8091. It's your funeral, but I'd think playtime is over.
    2
  8092. You loose your bowels. Wars are neither loosened nor tightened.
    2
  8093. ​ @MarijnZuidweg  Nederland telt 6.500 reservisten. De rest zou zichzelf of elkaar doorzweven met een MAG. Zo'n ding is niet aan groentjes besteed.
    2
  8094.  @mikeincalifornia  The top democracies of the world beg to disagree.
    2
  8095. And then he started selling rice.
    2
  8096. Causalities, meaning relationships between cause and effect? An education pays off, wumao.
    2
  8097. Ukraine won two battles, for the largest and the second-largest city in Ukraine. Now Ukraine lost two battles for far less significant cities -- after they were systematically destroyed by Russia. It appears Russia has scaled back its objectives significantly.
    2
  8098. It's hilarious how you try to deny the obvious. It may work in Russia, but not here.
    2
  8099.  @robertneven7563  Alledrie, en in Rusland ook.
    2
  8100. Nope, Russia desperately needs all the money it can still get.
    2
  8101. And what's that got to do with the price of tea in China? This is Russia's war of choice.
    2
  8102.  @alex.zidaru  You're asking a Putin fan?
    2
  8103. I hope the military industrial complex remembered Putin with a gift basket. After all, he's the sole reason they're raking it in. Not only is Putin their greatest salesman, but also, Russia exited the international arms market, leaving the others to divide the spoils. The unselfishness of the man is truly exemplary.
    2
  8104. Rather, they hate Iran's mad theocrats.
    2
  8105. You want money, that much is clear.
    2
  8106.  @fiorini_mochachino  Give it a rest, bot. Don't hide behind foreign handles.
    2
  8107.  @sboganatham  The Brits could gather along the coast with oars, paddles and cricket bats and start to row furiously towards America and, on arrival, apply for US statehood. Who am I kidding, the Brits would row every which way and stay put.
    2
  8108. Nowhere near happening.
    2
  8109.  @Martoto94  Well put. Āris is a Latvian neo-Nazi, BTW.
    2
  8110. Delish.
    2
  8111. Can you break it down how much aid you've given and to whom exactly? Because I can, with respect to Africa.
    2
  8112. This isn't about Europe, Zippy. Euronews reporting about Murica's messes. Do you favour a news blackout?
    2
  8113. I wouldn't go that far. The USA hasn't been a leading light in ages.
    2
  8114. Because rule of law applies for the time being.
    2
  8115. Can we also reopen cases of Russian expansionism, even genocide? There's no shortage of potential cases.
    2
  8116. gradually /ˈɡradʒʊli/ adverb in a gradual way; slowly; by degrees. "the situation gradually improved"
    2
  8117. Russia is not at war. Russia is at special-something-something.
    2
  8118. War is always painful, Captain Obvious.
    2
  8119.  @rizkyadiyanto7922  Ireland ranks as a top democracy already, unlike the US. You, too, would do well to copy the Irish.
    2
  8120. Shoulda woulda coulda. With rare but well-known exceptions, the Russians as a people are apathetic to the hilt.
    2
  8121.  @mynjeri5469  Russia doesn't really benefit from the higher energy prices. Europe is looking elsewhere for hydrocarbons, while it goes green at an increasing pace. In the meantime, Russia needs to flog its hydrocarbons elsewhere, and at a hefty rebate at that. Replacing its once-best customers is but a distant dream, both in terms of volumes and profits. Russia is truly and royally screwed. The US will suffer more from a worldwide recession than it stands to gain from energy sales. Unlike Russia, the US is not an undiversified economy that's critically dependent on oil and gas income.
    2
  8122.  @normanswindon518  No worries, they'll swim over to our side and become dinner.
    2
  8123.  @normanswindon518  You're so wrong. A fish that leaves British waters does a personal Brexit and is no longer British property.
    2
  8124.  @perryblanco1446  No, that's simply not true. "Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.9% both in the euro area and in the EU in the third quarter of 2024, after +0.6% in the euro area and +0.8% in the EU in the previous quarter". Source: European Commission, Oct 30, 2024. If you were savvier in the facts department, you could've checked that yourself beforehand, but bots be bots, eh Perry?
    2
  8125.  @luciferjohnson8495  Modi and Putin should get a room.
    2
  8126. What good are resources if you can't find buyers for them, or you have to sell them at a loss?
    2
  8127.  @anasjudge1937  It sounds like you're scraping the bottom of the whiskey barrel, argumentation-wise.
    2
  8128. Fix your keyboard.
    2
  8129.  @inmobiliariagat7060  Ah, you managed to fix your keyboard. Good boy.
    2
  8130.  @lg2058  Reading between the lines is not your forte.
    2
  8131.  @tanjt  He's just parroting Trump, I guess. Populists are opportunistic by nature.
    2
  8132.  @jordyb57  What has changed exactly, Mr. Ad Hominem? We're all ears.
    2
  8133.  @phuckerby  Well, we don't call you Brits the Americans of Europe for nothing. American tunnels of visions are narrower still, but in a European context, yours are the narrowest.
    2
  8134. Speak for yourself. Trump's worldwide acceptance figures were piss-poor.
    2
  8135.  @civicblade1  My world is none of those, in fact. The way you jump to conclusions, you should be playing hopscotch with the girlies.
    2
  8136. Lamar, are you taking on the case like this Syrian human rights lawyer has done in this instance?
    2
  8137. I don't think anyone at DW has suggested that "Russian [sic] will be defeated in Bahkmut [sic]". Ukraine's got a war to win, not a battle that won't shift the strategic balance one way or the other.
    2
  8138. Not like an absolute monarch, like your Maduro. Macron's choice for PM and government still needs a parliamentary confidence vote. It may all still fail spectacularly.
    2
  8139.  @rpoutine3271  Beat you to it. Read the whole thread.
    2
  8140.  @rpoutine3271  Scroll back five comments and Bob's your uncle. Now leave me be.
    2
  8141. On what charges exactly?
    2
  8142. More like a man-child with a tenuous grasp on reality.
    2
  8143.  @maxmango4305  Russia did bomb their own people, and very literally at that. In the First Chechen War alone, Russia's military killed an estimated 100,000 civilians, 35,000 of whom were ethnic Russians. Killing their own has never bothered Russia.
    2
  8144. Traffic accidents would skyrocket due to collisions with elks (that's moose for Anglos). Bears, wolves and wolverines would move in and snack on the occasional human as well, to say nothing of livestock, which would go extinct in no time.
    2
  8145. It's all good and well that Albania has Argentina's moral support. What they want, however, is monetary support.
    2
  8146. But Russian imperialism is the problem here. Of all people, you Indians should spot it immediately. You must be unawares that France -- which is decidedly Western -- has consistently voted at the UNSC for ceasefires in Gaza and against the disproportionate use of military force by Israel. To its shame, the UK has mostly abstained -- just like India at the UNGA when Russia's military aggression in Ukraine has come up. I hope the UK gives up its permanent UNSC seat -- but not to the benefit of India, which is still strangely beholden to Russia.
    2
  8147. Trump should have brownshirts rough up uncooperative reporters, eh?
    2
  8148. Have you considered using Hamas terrorists for the purpose? Their methods seem to be more to your liking.
    2
  8149. They're all yours, them "Nahtzis".
    2
  8150. Why doesn't Kanal13 report on flying pigs? Same reason.
    2
  8151. Heard of Wikipedia?
    2
  8152.  @Joel_Wiell  How is exposing the population to the coronavirus going to help finding a vaccine? All countries, even those with far fewer cases than Sweden, have access to antibodies in sufficient quantities to develop a vaccine.
    2
  8153.  @MrKooikerhondje  But whether or not the T-cells prevent another infection is very much unclear still.
    2
  8154.  @jgee9160  Ukrainians took part in a few Winter War battles. The Soviet forces were mainly composed of ethnic Russians, however.
    2
  8155. And after that, we'll tackle the last vestiges of Spanish colonialism, right? French, too.
    2
  8156.  @M7ner08  You need to ask why? Fascist motives.
    2
  8157. gladify, a functioning democracy relies on a large number of capable leaders. Authoritarian leaders do their utmost to prevent potential competitors from rising to the fore. That's why presidents-for-life are incompatible with democracy.
    2
  8158. gladify, how would you explain the all-too-apparent voter backlash that has swept established parties and leaders from power, replacing them with new ones? Is there a sinister éminence grise that orchestrates these changes? Are you an NWO consipracy theorist by any chance? If so, I'll move along quietly, because there's nothing to see here.
    2
  8159. Or Novichok Airlines.
    2
  8160.  @deepmishra9940  What has Russia gained? Scorched earth?
    2
  8161. The Belgians are remarkably devoid of nationalism. The Serbs, on the other hand, are ultranationalistic. The contrast couldn't be starker.
    2
  8162.  @thedeadlygamer6283  As a Finn, I can say there's a great deal of Schadenfreude to be had for us when your hero, Putin, flees to China or North Korea. If he manages to escape, that is.
    2
  8163.  @bikikalita13  No doubt about it. Russia is at its weakest in post-Soviet times -- its regular army has been decimated and its best kit destroyed in Ukraine. Finnish weapons and tactics helped bring it about, too. NATO, already the strongest military alliance in human history, is growing stronger still. Your emoticons are cute. Childish, but cute.
    2
  8164.  @bikikalita13  Russia would have to be suicidal to invade Finland. The heavily-forested central and southern regions are premier ambush country and the arctic north is practically intraversible -- either too snowy or too soggy. NATO airpower will deal with the invaders faster, but their fate would be sealed no matter what. Finnish generals were salivating at the thought of unleashing with artillery on the insanely-long military columns in Ukraine -- artillery that Ukraine lacked but Finland has. Now we have to let NATO bombers join in the fun, but sharing is caring.
    2
  8165. What are you waffling about? The only nuclear missiles at a Russia-NATO border are Russian ones, in Kaliningrad. While NATO has expanded eastward -- by popular demand -- nukes have not inched eastward. Westward -- yes, they have. You're barking up the wrong tree.
    2
  8166. 0:03 That's two Maxim guns, dating back to 1884.
    2
  8167.  @SteamboatW  You can count the 1918 Invasion of Åland as another unfortunate war. The Swedish invaders suffered one casualty, due to suicide. To add insult to injury, Sweden failed to annex the Åland Islands, much to the chagrin of present-day Finns.
    2
  8168.  @asceticblur  That, too.
    2
  8169. You're deluding yourself if you think this is going to impede Hezbollah's recruitment efforts. The opposite is true. Hezbollah, like Hamas, is a death cult.
    2
  8170.  @dannyp8170  NATO has gradually expanded eastward for the last 33 years. Its nuclear weapons have not. In contrast, Russia is pushing its nukes westward, most recently to Belarus, and before that, to Kaliningrad. So, you're speculating about what NATO might conceivably do, should Ukraine join, while Russia has actually done it, and not once but twice. The hypocrisy is strong with this one.
    2
  8171.  @Alec72HD  Nah, it's holding China back.
    2
  8172.  @manueldeabreu1980  Finland never partook in the Marshal Plan. Postwar, Finland did take out US loans, however, and somewhat naively from a European perspective, it thought said loans should be repaid.
    2
  8173.  @lifessogood2995  Here, have a razor-thin potato slice for your efforts.
    2
  8174. You have to try to find a new term to describe your political nirvana that eschews elections. Democracy is about elected representatives -- and in order to elect them you need elections. How else do you ensure that the people's representatives are the ones the people actually want? It's not a coincidence that the overwhelming majority of the countries that top the Human Development Index are democracies. Real democracies, that is, ones that stage elections.
    2
  8175.  @galatheumbreon6862  I know most Republicans would breathe a sigh of relief if California were to break away from the US.
    2
  8176. @Nicholas P Sure, in America's shoes Putin wouldn't have left Afghanistan. He likes to keep his "peacekeepers" in country for perpetuity. Of course, it would've bankrupted a weak economy like Russia's, but Putin isn't a great economist. Recent events are proof positive of that.
    2
  8177.  @johnjobs3027  Rather, the East has come to the West. It's a voluntary movement, and it enrages Putin.
    2
  8178. Lol. On Russian TV, Putin literally called it an "armed mutiny".
    2
  8179.  @anissah161  To each their own. Conspiracy theorists in particular.
    2
  8180.  @dagramirez  Your subjective opinion aside, during Obama's presidency the US has still considered a full democracy. And Obama, unlike Trump, enjoyed solid popularity the world over. It's all been downhill since.
    2
  8181. Putin knows better than to increase the price of vodka in particular. A disastrous war doesn't concern the apathetic Russians, but an increase in the price of vodka would trigger a revolution.
    2
  8182.  @bobanultra476  Serbia was pretending to be Yugoslavia at the time. There's your Serbian sovereignty.
    2
  8183.  @bobanultra476  Oh, I do. I even served in Kosovo. But that one isn't Serbia.
    2
  8184. Dream on. Turkey stands isolated. If anyone, the Germans will shy away from a resurgence of authoritarianism, as experienced in Turkey.
    2
  8185. Duh, VAT -- or GST, or sales tax -- equally applies to all products, regardless of origin. You're taking your victim mentality a bit too far, methinks.
    2
  8186. Don't be silly now. The ship must've been under the control of a US pilot. Therefore, if it was an eyesight issue, it was a domestic issue. Also, it's *affected, not effected.
    2
  8187. Is mismanaging Covid-19 a common denominator for right-wing populists?
    2
  8188.  @gaborrajnai6213  If so, Osama is laughing down there, not up there. He's a bottom-dweller now, having been buried at sea, since no country in the world would accept his remains.
    2
  8189. Berlusconi's politicking predated that of Trump. Hence, Trump is the Berlusconi of Murica.
    2
  8190.  Derek Lowe  Sure, after Trump grabs everyone by the crotch, literally and figuratively speaking.
    2
  8191. NATO's European component doubles as the EU's military, sport.
    2
  8192.  @eminemisdogshit4626  Fact is, Trump is overwhelmingly disliked in Europe (actually, worldwide), so you don't need to restrict your observations to any specific group.
    2
  8193. Strange company you keep. I wouldn't be so welcoming to the Butchers of Bucha.
    2
  8194. India has a total of 36 Rafales as we speak.
    2
  8195.  @samielalazar1800  Uh, did you have a point? Hint: there's no paywall on Wikipedia.
    2
  8196. So what do we find?
    2
  8197.  @mikespencer4922  Britain had the Channel, but not thanks to you.
    2
  8198. What's unique is that your hate for the US drives you into the arms of Mother Russia. Her embraces smothers you. Ask the Eastern Europeans, who made a beeline for NATO and the EU after throwing off the Russian yoke of tyranny.
    2
  8199.  @veljkoivetic1903  I saw Serbian soldiers run in Kosovo. We dug up a few runny ones, too.
    2
  8200. OK, you're spouting American clichés there. For your info, the USA barely makes the top 25 of the Democracy Index. The ones higher up tend to be small welfare states that take very good care of their citizens and have no qualms about taxing the rich and giving to the poor. It's sooo tiresome to have you Putin trolls and wumaos always heap us together with the US, who're not the gold standard, not in democracy, nor in human development. Perhaps you should have a look at said indexes and see how China and Russia perform in objective comparisons. I have to warn you, the picture is not pretty, not even in comparison to the US.
    2
  8201. No, to ensure peace and stability. Putin will think twice about attacking a NATO member. It annoys him no end that he has to keep his paws off the Baltics states, for instance.
    2
  8202. They love them more than life itself, literally.
    2
  8203. Well, Trump effectively rejected democracy in 2020. Expect a second public rejection by the's year end.
    2
  8204.  @Paulyy_D  I think you can technically loose your bowels. Come to think of it, I think that's what's happening in Russia.
    2
  8205. And now Putin is busily reversing Gorbachev's achievements.
    2
  8206. @Alex Devereaux No, you don't understand. The net beneficiaries in the EU benefit from the Cohesion Fund, which net contributors pay into. The money goes towards setting past wrongs right, like the decades of communist economic mismanagement that has kept Eastern Europe back. This aid is paying dividends already, as the countries affected are starting to live up to their full potential once more. With the UK gone as a net contributor and contributions of the remaining ones not rising significantly, the Cohesion Fund will inevitably take a hit. Infrastructure projects in the net beneficiary countries will have to be scaled down, but such is life. In all fairness, the UK, since it's no longer investing in the future of Europe, shouldn't benefit from the new economic opportunities to the same extent as those who still do. Just like you reap what you sow, you shouldn't reap what you haven't sown.
    2
  8207. And you're a drama queen.
    2
  8208.  @havanascp9602  The last order for Russian oil was placed a month ago. You're crying over unspilled milk.
    2
  8209. For unconditional surrender, you need boots on the ground, and boots made for walking, not for cowering in trenches, WW1-style.
    2
  8210. You should try to find out if Putin is in the market for a boyfriend.
    2
  8211. So was Europe previously under full control of Luxembourg? And before that, Portugal?
    2
  8212. Ends like how? Russia gains just about enough Finnish territory to bury its dead? Those are not my words, but those of Red Army general who fought in the Winter War.
    2
  8213. Turkey and Serbia, sure, like two peas in a pod. Both more or less openly want to join the EU, but fall short of the criteria. Existing EU members wonder how to put it nicely -- you know, let's not rush into a relationship, let's just be friends.
    2
  8214. Tinfoil hats negate the effects. Oh, you already wear one...
    2
  8215. Faraday cage, silly. Did you sleep through physics?
    2
  8216. Smart meter guards? Are you for real? How did you not get the sarcasm? Forget the tinfoil hat. Now I'm thinking you're wearing a dunce cap.
    2
  8217. Ah, you wear both a tinfoil hat and a dunce cap. Clever.
    2
  8218. Is it news to you that both spouses can be breadwinners?
    2
  8219.  @AllThat-Is  I take it you also want to see measures in place that remove the gender pay gap, too. It wouldn't be fair otherwise, now would it? And I thought you were sexist.
    2
  8220. ...and that Americans are still hopelessly divided and would be better served by a true multi-party democracy.
    2
  8221.  @kym1160  Please tell me that shape-shifting, blood-drinking Reptilians prevented Farage from taking his rightful seat in the House of Commons.
    2
  8222. The projection is strong with you.
    2
  8223. ​ @nikoa97  You can't tell Kursk Oblast and the city named Kursk apart?
    2
  8224. The appeasement is strong with this one ⬆,
    2
  8225. It is extreme if you aren't prepared for it, which is painfully apparent here. In more northern snow-rich climes, this would be just another day at the office.
    2
  8226. You're right, there's no free speech for the mainland Chinese. Post a picture that likens Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh. And remember to keep posting, so we can tell you haven't been arrested.
    2
  8227.  @araara4746  The Russians abandoned their positions near Kharkiv running for their lives. In military terminology, it's called a rout. Kherson was a more organised Russian retreat, but still one dictated by desperation. Sun Tzu would've been very proud of the Ukrainians.
    2
  8228.  @MrMegaTubs  No, it will be a firesale. The savviest will relocate. Oh, but they are already.
    2
  8229.  @NorceCodine  Why, South African authorities would be duty-bound to arrest him. Did you think the ICC has a flying arrest team?
    2
  8230. Actually, Britain is akin to the US. The archaic first-past-the-post electoral systems favours the big parties, the Tories and Labour. We're still talking de facto duopoly.
    2
  8231. Stop grandstanding.
    2
  8232.  @aniya8759  Greece has an emperor now, and with a fleet of oil tankers no less? Or are we talking about the Galactic Empire from Star Wars?
    2
  8233.  @okayvision3413  That's just another pipe dream, I'm afraid. Despite all the lofty words, Russia has failed to diversify its economy to any measurable degree. In fact, Russia is more dependent on exports of raw materials than it was in 2008. Try to keep up with the news.
    2
  8234.  @thomscott1247  No, but we'll pay for keeping our own F/A-18s in the air, and going further, our own F-35s. Just out of interests, are you paying by the hour to keep the oh-so-many US warplanes flying in UK airspace?
    2
  8235.  @Nickle314  If you're referring to the 2007 Haarlem court decision, that doesn't constitute a crime. An error in judgement, that's for sure, but not a crime -- otherwise he would've been prosecuted for it. Likewise, Trump has had many of his ill-considered decrees overturned on constitutional grounds. He hasn't been impeached for those, nor will he face trial for them.
    2
  8236.  @Kamal.Uddin.  If the PA and Israel come to an agreement about two states, what is there to revenge?
    2
  8237. "Brave" soldiers more like. We don't really know what the Gabonese people think about the whole thing, do we?
    2
  8238.  @Shining237  Hah, a Krembot is caught up in his own web of lies. Ask your handlers if Abkhazia is part of Russia or not. Be warned that they may subtract a few potatoes from your salary, however.
    2
  8239. Sure, you want them to take out predatory loans and turn Africa into a debtors' prison, with China as the warden.
    2
  8240. Of course not. He'd lose his confidence if they were.
    2
  8241. I've heard about your square states, but spare states are new to me.
    2
  8242. Um, that would be the Liberation of France, from 1944 to 1945. The Free French steadily pushed the Germans out of France and into Germany. Are you really French, by the way? You should know this.
    2
  8243. Your dearly beloved Russia easily tops every other nation in corruption, even China, who have far, far more money to corrupt themselves with.
    2
  8244. Yeah, make everything about the US.
    2
  8245.  @amateur9626  I'll tell you what prevents Russia. There's no incentive for those countries to throw in their lot with a declining regional power like Russia. Staying aloof is more profitable.
    2
  8246.  @amateur9626  Easy-peasy. Russia is an international pariah. Russia's military reputation is in tatters. Economically, Russia is a complete basket case. Do you want me to continue?
    2
  8247.  @sumantsumant9219  You're not ripe for democracy then.
    2
  8248. Russia is too dependent on German money for its oil and gas. Or for that matter, on oil and gas in general. Russia desperately needs to flog its oil and gas or its people will go hungry.
    2
  8249. Their egos are too big to fit in the same room. This bromance is not going to last.
    2
  8250.  @Worldaffairslover  Anyone with a Dutch education would know that, but about your movie, what is it called? Is it on Netflix?
    2
  8251.  @robijorum4113  Hey, I called your emojis cute! No anger, only amusement. By the way, you still haven't explained yourself. I can only assume you don't know yourself what you were on about.
    2
  8252. There are precious few Israeli embassies in Arab countries, wisenheimer.
    2
  8253.  @artman12  It is whataboutism. And the hypocrisy remains entirely unproven. In fact, I provided a compelling counter-argument why it's not applicable: India performs poorly in the World Press Freedom Index. Europe, while a mixed bag, does much better on average.
    2
  8254. But the UK rejoining the EU is not what the union needs right now. Come back in a decade or so.
    2
  8255. If Putin needs to foment trouble abroad every time there's a domestic crisis, he makes it our concern. Besides, human rights are universal.
    2
  8256.  @toyotaprius79  The empire has decayed away a long time ago. This is just the last vestige.
    2
  8257. You're not the sharpest tool in the shed. For every 10 blocked EU trucks in Dover, there will be 8 British ones in the same predicament on the continent. You think that's conducive to British exports? Moreover, the 10 stalled EU trucks carry goods from all 27 EU member states, whereas the British 8 are filled with British exports only. In other words, the pain is shared among all 27 EU members, whereas the UK has to bear the pain alone. No prize for guessing which particular economy is dangerously exposed and which ones are merely inconvenienced. Secondly, you clearly haven't understood how EU governance works. Since you call it a dictatorship, I'm inclined to believe you lack the intellectual capacity to understand, even if I were to explain it like to a child.
    2
  8258.  @stuartbeard966  Nuclear energy is green energy. As long as you don't use a flawed design, like in Chernobyl, and don't build one near an active fault line, like in Fukushima, nuclear power plants are safe.
    2
  8259.  @аднанзекэщау  Hah, another Putin bot snaps into whataboutism mode.
    2
  8260.  @dungnguyen-vx2sc  The personal assets of EU politicians wouldn't go very far in helping Ukraine. The frozen assets of Russian oligarchs, on the other hand...
    2
  8261.  @soreeyez  Your precious Orcs aren't capable of beating Ukraine, much less European NATO. The point here is to make it abundantly clear to neo-imperialist Russia that it shouldn't even toy with the idea of attacking Europe's NATO members.
    2
  8262. Not so. It's a matter of balancing the budget. The EU's net beneficiaries will have to reduce their spending on infrastructure, but us net payers won't see any change, since we're not increasing our contributions to any significant degree. In your shoes, I would more concerned about the double whammy of a no-deal Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic, which clearly slipped beyond your control. We, in the EU, can support one another. Who will you be going to for support? The IMF, like all the economic basket cases?
    2
  8263. How dare they come to the aid of the victim!
    2
  8264. Who's "we"? Speak for yourself and not as the president of some imaginary fan club.
    2
  8265.  @TheArrowFist  Duh, China sets the price at which it buys gas from Russia. It's a colonial master's prerogative.
    2
  8266.  @AnmolKumar-yb3sl  It's interesting to see that Indians, too, are falling for WEF conspiracy theories. One would hope you'd at least be original and come up with your own conspiracy theories. No such luck, I see.
    2
  8267. Don't be a drama queen, governments come and go, especially coalition governments. This one was an uneasy ensemble to begin with. You're not new to parliamentary democracy, are you?
    2
  8268. Depends. US anti-vaxxers can forget about entering Switzerland.
    2
  8269. The Republicans have taken a leaf out of Erdogan's book.
    2
  8270.  @aodriseu  It's the funniest thing. All too often, Europeans equate the various "presidential" roles in the EU with the US presidency. Yuckerama, that's not what we signed up for.
    2
  8271. Donnie, why aren't you massacring your elites then? You have the guns.
    2
  8272. Why focus on young kids? Young and old are protesting in Hong Kong.
    2
  8273. It appears this actor is reinforcing it. I would hope that if a second referendum is going to be held, this time all alternatives are properly explored. If it's just May's deal that's going to be voted on, I fear it will be rejected by Brexiteers and Remainers alike.
    2
  8274.  Paul _  You didn't get the point. The US will get its fair share of nuclear Armageddon in the process. Plus you're tacitly admitting that you can't protect your carriers. And it's not just the Swedes who've put the US Navy to shame like this. A Dutch sub crew had T-shirts printed when they pulled off a similar feat.
    2
  8275. Vaccine diplomacy is a thing, just like vaccine nationalism is, of which the "West" is accused. Russia and China have discovered the former, too, and are keenly making "friends". Incidentally, there's a vaccine against both vaccine nationalism and vaccine diplomacy. It's called the WHO's COVAX programme. No strings attached when poorer countries draw from it. I believe the US is now the top monetary contributor, closely followed by the EU.
    2
  8276. American Revolutionary War? Nothing?
    2
  8277.  @abrahamsneo7783  You do realise, right, that's there's quite an overlap between BRICS and G20 member-wise? You may want to rethink whatever point you're trying to make. I should hope that developing countries improve themselves. That way we don't have to send as much development aid to them.
    2
  8278.  @AnNE-nn5bx  Please clarify, who invade Ukraine?
    2
  8279.  @sebastianwrites  The UNGA vote is a fact. Or do you suspect vote rigging? I could do with a juicy conspiracy theory on a lazy Saturday.
    2
  8280. There's no "the West" in this conflict. Standpoints on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict vary widely in the West. If you had a look at voting behaviour at the UNGA on resolutions pertaining to Israel, you'd know.
    2
  8281. More importantly, your lot doesn't command a majority in parliament.
    2
  8282.  @GeneTickles  Tell us about your travels and how that creates a desire for Lebensraum.
    2
  8283. The Kremlin thanks you for your kind effort, but declines to send you a sack of potatoes, because your botting is not up to scratch. Your call-up papers are in the mail.
    2
  8284.  @uhwake  Same difference.
    2
  8285. False equivalency, buddy. Russia has no legitimate claim on Ukrainian territory according to the UN, which was extremely clear on the matter. The Palestinians, however, can refer to a raft of approved UN resolutions that assert and re-assert their territorial rights.
    2
  8286. Retirement for Pope Francis. This amounts to elder abuse.
    2
  8287. @ Pray for Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and you're praying for Putin.
    2
  8288.  @nobodyisbest  I wrote "tricky". If you really want to give your AT mines a chance to do their job, you practically need to intersperse them with anti-personnel mines. No, as a Ottawa Treaty signatory, the Latvians practically cannot lay anti-personnel mines.
    2
  8289.  @southpole4776  You're the one implying that only NATO countries have morals.
    2
  8290.  @antiukrosheteputinstrong Ukraine is advancing, dum-dum.
    2
  8291. You have it backwards. Russia suffered a rout -- its troops literally fled the battlefield. From a military perspective, nothing is as ignominious. The real question is, will the Russian army recover from this?
    2
  8292.  @veganpotterthevegan  It's a foregone conclusion that the Taliban will split into warring factions now that the "Crusaders" have been vanquished. Eventually they'll reach an understanding of how the warlords get to divvy up the country, but by then the fiercest of their erstwhile enemies, the Northern Alliance, will be fighting fit again. There's plenty of violence in store, and it remains to be seen if China has the stomach for it.
    2
  8293.  @veganpotterthevegan  For ten years or so, the Chinese concession holders have been blaming the security situation and the lack of infrastructure for reneging on their promises to start mining operations. There's no improvement in sight for either problem. I'm sure the Chinese aren't too concerned about Afghans killing Afghans, but when their people can't work and their return on investment is in doubt, it's a no-go.
    2
  8294. ​ @PavelZaitsev  You picked the wrong comment for your reply.
    2
  8295.  @Alex-wn5pd  After the losses incurred in Ukraine, Russia can't manage a hot war for years -- decades even -- to come. Post-Putin Russia will crawl back into its shell -- until the next Putin arises.
    2
  8296. These are 30mm grenades with a small warhead. You have lay down a high volume of fire for them to have effect.
    2
  8297.  @fingerprint8479  All you have is clichés and emoticons. Nekulturny much?
    2
  8298.  @fingerprint8479  Which facts have you presented? Do you even know what a fact is?
    2
  8299. OK, Ivan.
    2
  8300. How many times do you wanted to be turned into glass? Or do you fancy a nuclear winter?
    2
  8301. Which part of "buy and deliver" don't you understand?
    2
  8302. No worries, whataboutists such as you will always come to the rescue.
    2
  8303. Go for it. Become a Nordic country while at it.
    2
  8304. Get a room then.
    2
  8305. By incurring more debt, obviously.
    2
  8306. Bad English?
    2
  8307. You think something that makes up 0.1% of the UK economy is so significant? Is this some kind of Britannia Rules the Waves thing for you, i.e. if the Royal Navy is no longer capable of dominating at sea, then British fishermen must step into the breach?
    2
  8308.  @tedcrilly46  For how long is Ireland going to hide behind Mother UK's skirts?
    2
  8309. The rifles you're referring to weren't Arisakas, but Vetterlis. The responsible Japanese general was Akashi Motojiro, and about a thousand or so of these so-called "Grafton rifles" did make their way into the hands of Finnish revolutionaries.
    2
  8310.  @robust5615  Wars coming home to Ukraine? That makes no sense. Ukraine didn't launch any invasions against foreign countries.
    2
  8311. Give us your deeper than deep analysis then. Don't be shy now.
    2
  8312.  @benvandam369  But feel free to take a dump in your own nest in front of an international audience. It has some entertainment value.
    2
  8313.  @ronanrogers4127  You don't dare to say it out loud, but I can tell you're referring to Turkey. Ironically, Erdogan wanted the S-400 because the US Patriot is programmed not to shoot at Western military aircraft. And why is that important? In 2016, Turkish F-16s were to be used against Erdogan in the event that he would take to the air. The Patriot would've been useless in protecting him, but not so the S-400. There's your so-called "superiority" -- an autocrat wanted a system that could shoot down his own aircraft. Perhaps Putin should invest in the Patriot, because after his ill-fated Ukraine adventure, a coup d'état in Russia has grown more likely.
    2
  8314. It didn't occur to you that Google -- not DW -- have a hand in this?
    2
  8315.  @JosephHoggang-bk4bk  But China was already taking "care of Africa" as an integral part of MINUSMA. Mali's military junta it was a "failure".
    2
  8316. For what it's worth, France has consistently voted for all ceasefire-related resolutions, regardless of who proposed them.
    2
  8317.  @bobroberts2371  Don't lie to yourself. China's is still very much an export-driven economy. It's not for nothing called "The World's Factory" -- the final assembly of a great deal of Western products is done in China. If said products can no longer be exported to the West, the outsourcers will find contract manufacturers in other countries with low-cost labour. China will feel the pinch. Resources and people do not a modern military make.
    2
  8318. The Commonwealth is a sport and culture club, not a trade bloc.
    2
  8319. And Brexodus is in full swing. Better stay close to the light switch so no one will flick off the lights, thinking they were the last ones to leave.
    2
  8320. There'll be another duopoly unless you ditch FPtP.
    2
  8321. Uh, Georgia has officially applied for EU membership. The law in question is obviously a hurdle to accession, maybe even an insurmountable one.
    2
  8322.  @constantinenm  You two, get a room.
    2
  8323. It's actually about the secret protocol to said pact. Many Russians remain unaware of it to this day.
    2
  8324. Some European nations did; however, most didn't engage in colonialism. Some were subjected to colonialism instead. You may want to be more careful with your generalizations.
    2
  8325.  Bit Of Wizdumb  Sure thing, soccer must be boring when you have the attention span of an American.
    2
  8326. You're wrong about the composition of the teams. 140 countries are on Ukraine's side, while a measly 4 are on Russia's team (Eritrea, North Korea, Syria and Belarus). India is a fence-sitter all right. As are China, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
    2
  8327. NATO is not fighting this war, dum-dum.
    2
  8328. Don't you worry your pretty little head. States have the inherent right to use of force in response to an armed attack. It's enshrined in the UN Charter.
    2
  8329. Spijkstaal, dat was het merk van de busjes. Elektrisch ook. Hun tijd ver vooruit.
    2
  8330. There's a long list of British-made or -designed airplanes that were adorned with the Finnish blue-on-white swastika. Blenheim, Hurricane, Lysander, Anson, Bulldog, Moth, Gamecock, Hart, Ripon... and that's just from the top of my head.
    2
  8331. Trade figures are misleading. The value of China's exports looks convincing, but you have to consider that it's final assembly hub for a lot of foreign companies. In other words, they add relatively little value to the products. If trade figures were based on added value, China wouldn't fare so well.
    2
  8332. And that's all you've got. And you needed to edit a four-word sentence.
    2
  8333. You haven't understood the big picture here. Except for Russia, every BRICS member trades happily with the West. That leaves Russia in a position where it needs to flog its wares to a limited buyers' club, whose members know full well that they don't need to pay full price to a desperate Russia. In other words, BRICS has an unofficial bargain basement in Russia. We've seen this already with China's and India's oil and gas purchases, where Russia loses money on the deals.
    2
  8334.  @salmaansheek6110  Glad you agree!
    2
  8335.  @abdirahmanahmadalifarah926  Cute emojis. Not childish at all. Which part of "below cost" don't you understand?
    2
  8336. You don't know any better.
    2
  8337. But our bunkers are made with nuclear war in mind. What else?
    2
  8338. All the way to home base? Putin, of all people!
    2
  8339. Any major Russian push to retake Kherson? I though not. Russian has significantly scaled down its objectives, it seems.
    2
  8340. So do their hostages, I'm afraid.
    2
  8341.  @ScottishScot  I was stationed in Lebanon when the Hannibal *Directive came about. The excitement level went up a notch.
    2
  8342. It would've been a doozy of a blunder on the pilot's part. Something else must've been amiss.
    2
  8343. Just speak for yourself. The US already fell by the wayside in 2016, when you were reclassified as a flawed democracy. Flawed and exemplary don't go together.
    2
  8344.  @abfree5501  Any blood-sucking, shape-shifting Reptilians involved? Please say yes...
    2
  8345.  @wecantcontroltime  Arab Christians pray to 'Allah', too. It was originally a generic word for supreme deity. Ironically, many cultures simply have taken the name of their most powerful pagan deity and reused it for their newer Abrahamic god. If you can't beat them, join them.
    2
  8346.  @jonpetter8921  That, too, varies country by country in Europe. I rather like the air transport infrastructure that they have in the US. Europe's extensive high-speed train network, however, is the future.
    2
  8347.  @henryseidel5469  A fat lot of good it will do the Russians if they keep their gas. Without hydrocarbon exports, Russia's economy will come to a screeching halt. I suppose the green shift is a novel concept to you?
    2
  8348.  @henryseidel5469  Your personal opinions have nothing to do with you? You're an odd one. Russia clearly isn't getting what it needs from its "partners". Its industrial output is in serious decline because of a lack of parts and tooling. The likes of China and India aren't risking sanctions themselves -- they'd lose a massive market to keep a puny one. As a matter of fact, I visited St. Petersburg just before the pandemic broke out. I'm the chairperson of a charity that sponsors gifted Russians to study abroad. Sadly, they rarely if ever return. Can't blame them.
    2
  8349.  @putatdaun  You're incoherent. Too much vodka?
    2
  8350. The victim mentality is strong with you.
    2
  8351.  @craig4867  Projecting, me? For your info, we enjoyed a healthy kill ratio over Russian fighter pilots when we engaged them in aerial combat the last time. Face it, you Russians constantly whine about how everyone is out to get you, while more often than not, the opposite is true.
    2
  8352. But Napoleon did take Moscow. And so did the Mongols (no less than four times) and the Poles (twice).
    2
  8353. Trump just pardoned the worst swamp monsters (Bannon springs to mind), so they wouldn't squeal on him.
    2
  8354.  @tsubaki4412  A lot of former British colonies have successfully democratized after decolonisation. So you're suggesting it's for legacy reasons that Hong Kong can't follow suit? Not because the CCP hates democracy?
    2
  8355. You have Israel to thank for that.
    2
  8356. Ah, a conspiracy theorist reported for duty. I guess it's inevitable, just like the ever-present bible-thumpers and cryptocurrency pyramid schemers.
    2
  8357.  @technosamurai9825  That would be the Hezbollah. Try to get your facts straight. Official Lebanon is very uncomfortable with this flare-up of violence on their southern border.
    2
  8358.  @Hepsewind  Hooray to that, and I'm part Dutch.
    2
  8359. Finnish troops managed to trap entire Soviet divisions and let cold and hunger do their work. Sadly, Ukraine has neither the forces nor the terrain for full-fledged 'motti' tactics, and temperatures are on the rise, too. Harrying the supply lines till life just becomes too miserable for the Russian troops is their best course of action.
    2
  8360. Countries like Lithuania, Slovakia, Poland and Finland were even more dependant on Russian oil imports. You don't hear them whining like Hungary.
    2
  8361. Stalin strategically weakened the Red Army as a result. I guess Putin has nothing to lose...
    2
  8362. Orban needs EU funds to pay off his cronies.
    2
  8363. Pent-up frustrations from Ukraine? These Rosgvardia troops didn't fare so well there.
    2
  8364.  @EmperorAshokaTheGreat250BC  Really? This conflict has revealed India as a Russian toady. The colonial mindsets persists, only the master changes.
    2
  8365.  @tfbrooks1668  You must think Palestinians and Hamas terrorists are synonymous. That speaks volumes about you and your take on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Also, it's interesting that you applaud Israel for not behaving quite like terrorists. The way you put it, that must be an unexpected bonus for you.
    2
  8366.  @Unknown-ek1ox  Russia is thrives on victim mentality, we all know that.
    2
  8367. Let me guess, you're the type that struggles to walk and chew gum at the same time.
    2
  8368.  @Corazon-y5k  No objection, although Northern Ireland will be part of the Republic of Ireland. And you forgot Flanders, Wallonia and -- the oh-so obvious one -- Catalonia. The beauty of it all is that Russia will face just as unified a front as before. Russia indivisible? Russia is past due for decolonisation.
    2
  8369.  @vbrotherita  "Follow the money"... could you possibly be clearer that you're cliché-loving conspiracy theorist?
    2
  8370. The Taj Mahal was a pretty good investment. It's still paying dividends.
    2
  8371. Why concerning? This infighting is a sign of Putin's Russia coming apart at the seams. We can only applaud that.
    2
  8372.  @AndyM_323YYY  Putin is out of ideas. I hope at least the autopsy brings something interesting to light. Prigozhin supposedly juggled live hand grenades aboard his jet. Navalnyi picked at a scab and died from an infection?
    2
  8373. Vodka is not exactly a health tonic.
    2
  8374. One will swing to the left and the other to the right -- so where's the similarity? Also, Labour has experience governing, while RN has none. You didn't think through your comment, did you?
    2
  8375. I'm hoping she's the one who signs Putin's extradition order to stand trial in The Hague.
    2
  8376. Syria is in the midst of a civil war. The Assad regime's sovereignty over Syria has been questionable ever since he started barrel-bombing his own people.
    2
  8377.  @ssuwandi3240  Aw, the CAPITALS lend your comment supernatural powers. Have you considered adding emojis? You can never have too much of a good thing.
    2
  8378. We? Do you realise you'll get Sarah Palin as part of the package?
    2
  8379.  @ivancho5854  Finland couldn't even source it from Germany. And Sweden was just as cut off trade-wise.
    2
  8380. Realising that there's no hope of achieving his objectives, Putin might finally come to his senses and pull his Orcs out. That rates as a defensive victory as well -- and that's what Ukraine is aiming for.
    2
  8381.  @cleasberg3461  If the French don't take to the streets to protest once in a while, then there's cause for concern.
    2
  8382. Please don't become a political analyst. You would bore us stiff.
    2
  8383. Let me guess, a repeat performance of Chamberlain's Peace in Our Time?
    2
  8384. You're excused. I was once in a sports bar in Chiang Mai, Thailand, when Berlusconi came on TV. A somewhat inebriated Italian spontaneously apologised to everyone present for his country bringing forth Berlusconi. We tried to assure him that our heads of state were pretty crappy, too, but I'm afraid we didn't convince anyone, ourselves included. He sure took the cake.
    2
  8385. I know there's a complete lack of sunshine in there, but how do you deal with the stink?
    2
  8386. Same-old-same-old excuses. You must be boring yourselves stiff.
    2
  8387. That's an easy one. Because Ukraine is subjected to an illegal war of aggession. Ukraine is flouting the core principles of the EU. If Hungary were applying for EU membership now, it wouldn't make the grade.
    2
  8388. They don't, but it's very worrisome -- and extremely embarrassing for Putin -- if someone with a military-grade nerve agent is running amok in Russia. Putin had better get to the bottom of this.
    2
  8389.  @renjingtu3611  NATO is invasive? Its new members very much wanted to join -- they wanted to be "invaded", to use your own words. NATO expands by popular consent, Russia expands by military force. Note the difference?
    2
  8390.  @zallyzally2698  OK, fanboy.
    2
  8391.  @michaelkovacic2608  You're better off with a P38 than a P1. I hear the P1 suffers from cracked frames.
    2
  8392.  @shsh-he5qg  NATO can't stop Putin from withdrawing from Ukraine. Use the power, Putin!
    2
  8393. It's Palestinian land. The world concurs.
    2
  8394. Het is ook geen tank, maar een 'battlefield taxi'. Nederland heeft het wel door, want ze hebben weer Leopard 2's besteld -- na er honderden voor een prikkie verkocht te hebben toen Rusland zogenaamd geen bedreiging meer vormde.
    2
  8395.  @ЭЮЯ-о3к  Russia's space tech is ripe for museums. Cellphones are a measure of one's high-tech industry. Just like in spaceships, Russia fell by the wayside.
    2
  8396. You just reposted the very same comment, word by word, under a different account, that of Дориан Грей. How many sock puppets do you have?
    2
  8397. I think you just put your name on a watchlist. Don't make any international travel plans.
    2
  8398.  @sanjaiyadav2080  Oh, Russia knows better than to attack us. It's said that a snooty British general asked one of ours how many Russian soldiers we had stationed within our borders. He answered: "A few hundred thousand" and then added "six feet under".
    2
  8399. That's you, not the French.
    2
  8400. ​ @bwilliams572  Brexit lives rent-free in your mind. The French have long since rented out that space for other purposes.
    2
  8401. Russia will finish itself when it realises that the balance remains negative no matter what. The aftermath will be interesting. Status quo ante bellum, civil war, or a relatively peaceful dissolution of the Russian Federation?
    2
  8402. Not a draconic one. In France, breaking a tail light on a public bus doesn't make you a terrorist.
    2
  8403. Right. Please remind Putler that he can end this war overnight. He just needs to call his Orc backs.
    2
  8404. Sorry, we can't let you back in before you've dealt with the likes of Johnson, Reese-Mogg and Farage. Mind you, you don't have to chop off their heads and mount them on London Bridge, but just deal with them politically, OK?
    2
  8405.  @Gamer_Sebby  That's what I was implying with "politically". While at it, you may want to get rid of FPtP and introduce d'Hondt. And learn quickly how to form successful coalition governments.
    2
  8406.  @Gamer_Sebby  I studied political science as part of a double major, the other being history. Political renewal can be notoriously slow, especially in the UK, but you had your chance and you blew it. In 2011, you decided to keep FPtP despite sound advice to the contrary, just like you botched the 2016 Brexit referendum. Either you Brits are no good with referendums, or you're just very conservative, as in rejecting change -- or reality -- as a matter of course.
    2
  8407. Yours is called a conspiracy theory.
    2
  8408. Internet lore has it that Denmark has more pigs than people.
    2
  8409. The manufacturer must have a hot sale going on, after all the cancelled foreign orders.
    2
  8410.  Egert Roos  Language and prehistoric ancestry are closely interrelated. The Finnic tribes, including present-day Estonians, migrated westward at some point in prehistory from (or stayed put in) the Volga-Ural region, as did the Turkic tribes. Indo-Europeans, who make up the bulk of Europe's population, did the same. Sorry, nothing suggests that you're somehow special or different from the European Russians -- or any other Europeans for that matter -- in terms of your prehistoric ancestry.
    2
  8411. You really think Biden will reunite the nation? I wish he could, but I very much doubt it.
    2
  8412. You have Rubensians "romantic" fantasies.
    2
  8413. A republican here. Why can't you Aussies switch royals for a change? Letsie III of Lesotho may be interested.
    2
  8414. The coping is strong with you.
    2
  8415. Democracy is not at stake in Spain. It's about an already autonomous community wanting to take the next step in self-determination. And Spain isn't alone in this. The UK, Belgium and Italy are more or less in the same boat, and similar sentiments are simmering elsewhere, too -- and outside of Europe as well. Why should the existing borders be carved in stone? Smaller countries tend to perform better, too.
    2
  8416.  @today8100  I bet I found them before you were born, sonny. Try this one for size: the USA has no jurisdiction over Sweden and Finland.
    2
  8417. I'd say it's only obvious if you jump at every opportunity to start your conspiracy theorizing.
    2
  8418.  @phillipeggensh  Huh? We have only a small footprint, especially a carbon one.
    2
  8419.  @phillipeggensh  But sadly for you, you'll soon be in the market for new heroes. Or do you have a backup plan in the form of Kim Jong-un or Xi Jinping?
    2
  8420. Oh, you don't eat or drive a car, and live outside.
    2
  8421. Hong Kong is considered a flawed democracy, and rightfully so.
    2
  8422.  @MattHaller-l4w  Let's call a spade a spade. The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been going nowhere for years on end. Hamas isn't helping, but neither is Netanyahu's crowd. Anyhoo, Bibi is on the way out. Hopefully his successors will realise a different approach is called for.
    2
  8423.  @davidchin1008  There's a Taipei Representative Office on Alexandra Road. For all intents and purposes, it's the same thing as an embassy. Go Taiwan!
    2
  8424. The UK had French help.
    2
  8425.  @aburetik4866  Zelenskyy is getting help from the West, there's no question about that. What is Russia getting from China, apart from lip service? And Zelenskyy may be a former comedian, but Putin is a current joke.
    2
  8426. The quality of your comments certainly is line with Boeing's quality.
    2
  8427. Not only that, Brexit Britain managed to drift away from Europe, with some pretending it's no longer part of the European continent. Annoyingly, it's still there, exactly where it was before.
    2
  8428. They could feed themselves and the oldies, who're not so adept at feeding themselves. There's a reason population pyramids should be pointy.
    2
  8429. There is such a thing as an unworkable coalition. Too many compromises are made, or the unholy alliance unravels at the first sign of trouble.
    2
  8430. Even the far right has abandoned Orban. What is this world coming to?
    2
  8431. The title is fine. It's the Chinese who put themselves more at risk. They've already suffered one fatality because of such antics.
    2
  8432.  @robquithoven9547  Voordat de Baltische landen NAVO-leden werden, deden ze mee aan het Partnership for Peace-programma van de NAVO. Het was toen alom bekend dat het een voorportaal van de NAVO was (en is; Finland heeft dit jaar de oversteek gemaakt). Rusland vond het allemaal dik in orde, en speelde zelf ook met de gedachte om NAVO-lid te worden. Het frappante is dat Rusland nog steeds PfP-lid is.
    2
  8433.  @oceanwave4502  I bet you don't realise that this is a European news channel. To put it in terms that you may understand, would you want an overbearing neighbour, who makes a lot of noise and threatens to move the fence?
    2
  8434.  @ovidiuvirtosu105  The Red Army had many Ukrainian generals in WW2. So you're claiming that the Red Army counted Nazis among its leaders? Okay...
    2
  8435.  @calvinhoward3808  Yup, Israel is still a major exporter of weapons. Thus far, Israel has refrained from sending weapons to Ukraine, saying that would hurt relations with Russia. Relations between the two countries have now been severely hurt, with Russia having chosen the side of Iran and sabotaged efforts to condemn Hamas's attack at the UN. I hope Israel now sends over whatever Ukraine needs.
    2
  8436.  @Gerrard_Pike2008  Don't make up stuff. Russia and Israel have a mutual agreement about staying out of one another's hair in Syria. Israel bombs Hezbollah forces in Syria with near-impunity, despite Syria sending up missile after missile. Russia with its slightly upgraded air defence systems would fare little better.
    2
  8437. Not only are you pathetic, but your unpaid (goes without saying) trolling is pathetic, too.
    2
  8438. WTO terms are the last refuge of the clueless.
    2
  8439.  @tawseeftaher9109  Same difference. China practically owns Pakistan.
    2
  8440. Like Syria till recently, Libya is stuck with a frozen civil war. Russia's favoured warlord, Khalifa Haftar, may well face the same fate as Assad. Interestingly, his main opponents, the GNA, are backed by Turkey. If Russia wants to build more bases on shaky ground, Libya is certainly the place to be.
    2
  8441.  @ChristianPareATLAS  If you associate with terrorists, you're innocence is highly debatable.
    2
  8442. Just Me, let's say celibacy makes priests more prone to engaging in paedophilia. Abstinence leads to sexual frustration, and some can't prevent themselves from getting their jollies from children, whereas otherwise they'd be in normal relationships. Frustration leads to abnormal behaviour.
    2
  8443.  @kwokfung5644  Actually, China doesn't dare to sell sanctioned parts to Russia, even if they're made in China, as long as they contain Western intellectual property. China wants its own intellectual property to be respected in the West, too, so it has no choice but to reciprocate.
    2
  8444. Western this, Western that. You'll find that Western media come in all shapes and sizes. Everything being relative, journalistic standards do tend to be highest in "the West", however.
    2
  8445.  @khabibnurmagomedov9707  In Finland, the president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. And what a dull boy you are.
    2
  8446.  @fredrikbergquist5734  *Its. Punctuation and capitalisation wouldn't go amiss either. For sure, originality is not your thing. Well-worn clichés, on the other hand, are.
    2
  8447.  @darkpenguin1978  I spent two years building roads and later, dispensaries in Kenya. None of it entailed taking anything away from the Kenyans, since we covered all expenses. Development aid, in other words. We employed quite a few locals, as workers and through subcontractors. The Chinese, on the other hand, charge for the roads and the infrastructure they build and more often than not, they bring in their own workers rather than employ locals. Workmanship is reportedly so shoddy that the roads soon wash away. You can't say the Africans in questions are left with nothing, since they're still left with the loans to repay.
    2
  8448.  @richardmarsden5610  "Opinions are like bumholes. Everyone's got one, and they stink."
    2
  8449.  @Tabula_Rasa1  I suppose that in your exquisite mind, the Ottoman Empire wasn't Turkish.
    2
  8450.  @Tabula_Rasa1  And you sound the opposite. Which part of "empire" don't you understand?
    2
  8451. Smaller and more inaccurate, rather. Out of desperation, they're already using S-300 SAMs against ground targets. Their warheads lack punch and their accuracy leaves much to be desired.
    2
  8452.  @coolbreeze9713  Reindeer are livestock. I assume you kill cows, pigs and chicken?
    2
  8453.  @harmless6813  Bots will be bots.
    2
  8454. Might of been common knowledge.
    2
  8455.  @EyesonEnforcement911  Professional Russian soldiers faced national guardsmen in Ukraine as well, and still fared poorly.
    2
  8456. Except he isn't "president of the EU". Orban is merely the prime minister of the country that's currently holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Hungary's role is to facilitate meetings of the council. Here, Orban is doing something else altogether. 'The Viktator' is making a laughing stock of himself, since everyone else, including his gracious hosts, knows that he's unwittingly on a comedy tour.
    2
  8457. You're conveniently ignoring the fact that both Russia and China have been actively sanctioning Iran, too, on account of Iran's illicit nuclear activities. On the other hand, you seem completely oblivious that IMF comes under the UN. Hence, Russia and China, in addition to 188 other countries, Western and non-Western, are members. In just two senctences, you managed to make quite a fool of yourself.
    2
  8458. Oh, Saudi Arabia will still accept payment in dollars and euros.
    2
  8459.  @maxcc2501  "This move seriously infringes on China's sovereignty, grossly interferes in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal affairs, and seriously violates international law and the basic norms of international relations," said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. Zhao seems very upset.
    2
  8460. So, should the world's emissaries convene in your mum's living room instead?
    2
  8461.  @speedking7224  You're not getting it. I'm not against the UN. You are.
    2
  8462. You should put your "economic" towards English lessons. Emojis don't help.
    2
  8463.  @mapletibits6372  You're right. You're repeating yourself. Ad nauseam.
    2
  8464. Yet France led the allies to victory in WW1. Hundred Day Offensive, read all about it.
    2
  8465. The trouble is, the EU will slap back, as it always does. A two-front trade war doesn't bode well for Murica.
    2
  8466.  @Lukky_Luke  Keep in mind that Trump negotiated a helluva deal in Afghanistan, too. Peace prevailed and all's well in Talibanland, the land of milk and honey.
    2
  8467.  @doug6018  Don't congratulate yourselves unduly. Compare WW2 ace stats of European and US pilots and you'll be sorely disappointed. Heck, even Japanese aces outscored yours many times over.
    2
  8468. As in when exactly? It's more like you want us in on your military adventures. Iraq and Afghanistan come to mind.
    2
  8469. After Napoleon, France (alone) waged a long, long list of wars, a great many of which resulted in French victories. Too many to list here, really. You should enlighten yourself.
    2
  8470. OMON is quelling the protests as we speak.
    2
  8471. Putin is one of the reasons why the UN is rendered useless. Kicking Russia out of the UNSC will go a long way in fixing the UN.
    2
  8472. You've removed yourselves from Europe? Fine by me.
    2
  8473. Russia's arms manufacturers are better off -- too bad their sole customer is domestic, and steadily heading for bankruptcy. Meanwhile, their erstwhile export customers are flocking elsewhere, taken aback by the poor performance of Russian arms. But hey, right now, the going is good!
    2
  8474.  @eetsnada1831  Let's recap before you leave. Supposedly, you don't feel stressed even if there's a very skillful maniac about with a semi-automatic rifle, because you have a peashooter and you've trained yourself to use it. When I confront you about the discrepancy, you get all defensive. Nothing about you suggests that you have what it takes to confront this killer.
    2
  8475. I'm sure Putin will put him up, on condition that Assad never speaks of what just transpired.
    2
  8476. I think he should get him a VR headset. He can use it in his cell in The Hague, reliving his bare-chested horse rides.
    2
  8477. Thirty years ago, I was there too, wearing the same blue beret. Nothing has changed.
    2
  8478. ​ @johnlenin830  It's a popularity contest. NATO is quite a hit, while Russia's contestant, CSTO, just isn't. Russia shouldn't complain because the alliance is both unpopular and unable to fulfil its commitments. That's why Armenia wants to quit CSTO.
    2
  8479.  @musiconabudget3712  Don't flatter yourselves. Russia has isolated itself, and in doing so, it has dealt a serious blow to the likes of BRICS, who're being dragged down together with Russia. If anything, this illegal war is a step backwards -- both morally and economically -- and not a step forwards in challenging the West. Also, the West has closed ranks, both in sanctioning Russia and providing economic and military aid to Ukraine. Furthermore, the West is up-arming while Russia's military grows weaker by the day. Even China has started to grow concerned about Russia's internal stability. All in all, Russia is proving an ever-weakening partner to China. China can console itself that while it's losing a partner, it's gaining a colony.
    2
  8480.  @Dr.SHERIFF  Some did, some didn't. You're one for collective punishment, aren't you? If the same principle is applied to you as well, I wonder how you'll come off.
    2
  8481. I know what happened. One of BoJo's savvier aides spotted "Brexit" in his speech draft and suggested "finest hour" instead. The Churchill fanboy was immediately sold.
    2
  8482. You must've missed that the EU just rammed through a $54bn aid package for Ukraine. I'm afraid you're reinforcing stereotypes about ignorance... Since we're on the topic, introducing universal healthcare in Murica would lead to cost savings and boost overall productivity. Summa summarum, you could give more money to Ukraine, not less.
    2
  8483. Don't you know the difference between Hezbollah and Lebanon?
    2
  8484. Sounds like Rumsfeld's unknown unknowns.
    2
  8485. @Skittle9999 It's enough to nick a subsea power cable to put it out of action. When its outer insulation is perforated, the electricity is automatically switched off. Repair means replacing the damaged portion.
    2
  8486. And you've picked 850 boogers out of your nose.
    2
  8487.  @1ndragunawan  Nonetheless, recent estimates put support for Hamas in Gaza at 58%. However, that figure may have dropped since Hamas foolishly plunged the territory into all-out war.
    2
  8488.  @yakivpopavich  Is the joke on Zelenskyy or Putin? Please clarify.
    2
  8489.  @citronski  Don't do the straw man attack. It's juvenile.
    2
  8490. Have you received your call-up papers already, Dima? If so, you can go test in person how receptive the Ukrainians are to your theories. Remember to pack tampons in case they welcome you with a hail of bullets.
    2
  8491. True dat. Coalitions work.
    2
  8492.  @dp5559  They're commies all right when it comes to monopolizing power.
    2
  8493. You seem unable to discern shades of grey.
    2
  8494. Greece being a democracy (and the birthplace of it), you have the leaders you deserve. No use pulling a Trump and whining Obama this and Obama that. Muricans the lot of them.
    2
  8495. The Pariah Games.
    2
  8496. So, you're going to pour development aid into Africa now. Nice to know.
    2
  8497.  @Trutifruity  Er, we're at cross purposes. I was talking about development aid, you're talking about investments. It's not the same difference.
    2
  8498.  @pratiktare6240  I won't blame you if you're unfamiliar with the appropriate terminology. After all, you're new at this. Development aid aims to help locals to develop themselves and their country. The name says it all. No worries, you'll get the hang of it when you get busy.
    2
  8499.  @juri_xiii9977  Who's denying? But have you slaughtered any reindeer lately?
    2
  8500. How fitting. Putin pays homage to a Neo-Nazi.
    2
  8501.  @icu17siberia  You seem poorly informed. Afghanistan quickly became a NATO op, with full UNSC backing, too. NATO members contributed troops till the very end. Heck, we weren't even in NATO at the time, but contributed troops nonetheless, with scores of casualties as a result.
    2
  8502. It appears Abkhazia's love affair with Russia isn't what it seems.
    2
  8503. @Козырь Who did indeed. Perhaps we should ask the OSCE.
    2
  8504. And win he will, when the Orcs withdraw with their tails firmly tucked between their legs. 'Status quo ante bellum, Ukrainian defensive victory", the Wikipedia entry on the Russo-Ukrainian War will summarise.
    2
  8505. ​ @dramareynes9319  Duh, I already gave it away. Russia will withdraw. The question is, will Putin still be among the living. It does look bleak for him.
    2
  8506. Putin enters a bar. The bartender asks, "What's your poison?". Putin answers, "Polonium, Novichok, why do you ask?"
    2
  8507.  @Anglo_Browza  What's it to you, Krembot?
    2
  8508.  @terencefirth616  When will it sink in that your exports of goods to the EU amount to 53% of the total, whereas for the EU countries the reverse is 8% on average. A normal person of average IQ should readily understand who's suffering more from a disruption in trade.
    2
  8509.  @yancybassman66  You may want to stop electing geriatrics. Goes for the orange git, too.
    2
  8510. ​@coldpotatoes2556 The elderly are easily manipulated. Try to find someone younger to vote for. Gerontocracies are so... old.
    2
  8511. You said it, hyperbole. You're guilty as charged.
    2
  8512.  That Bearded Guy  I only see a US-made mess here...
    2
  8513. @Jon Seymour Populism and nationalism can be found all over the political spectrum, although the far left and far right have it worst. At any rate, neither leads to anything constructive.
    2
  8514.  @michelrot3024  Inderdaad, dat Nederland niet overstroomt lijkt me toch beter.
    2
  8515.  @pipiqiqi4010  Which part of 'outsourcing' don't you understand? The factories aren't Western-owned. They're in Chinese or Taiwanese ownership. Western companies place orders and the factories fulfil them. If the former were to offer more money, it wouldn't go to the workers. The factory owners would get richer still. The best Western governments could do is impose tariffs on Chinese goods if they're produced by exploited workers. It's a last resort, because China would retaliate with equally damaging obstacles to trade, sparking a trade war. Like I wrote, charity begins at home. You're trying to 'outsource' the problem of raising China's low wages to the Western countries. You're barking up the wrong tree.
    2
  8516.  @oceanroamers  OK, you go surrender to someone.
    2
  8517.  @Inkkari9  Both, the bike and being able to ride it. We love our bikes.
    2
  8518. I know you have priors, but give it a rest.
    2
  8519. In 1994, Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees, which explicitly mentioned Russia's commitment to respecting Ukraine's borders. While that obviously amounted to nothing, it's rather hard for Ukraine to launch a first strike considering they've nothing to strike with.
    2
  8520. You're probably too young to associate him with Moshe Dayan. Big shoes to fill there for Scholz.
    2
  8521. He's far from finished. He's already got Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia lined up for recruitment. In the more distant future, there are Karelia, Ingria and Amberland.
    2
  8522.  @paulcunningham2859  I'm asking because West Germany had decent armed forces. They started cutting after reunification, which was in 1990. That's a little over 30 years ago.
    2
  8523. ​ @paulcunningham2859  West German spending on defence stood at 3% GDP when Reagan was elected. That's twice as much as it was before the recently announced increases and well above the NATO-mandated 2% of GDP.
    2
  8524. Reptiles calling the shots? Please let it be reptilians.
    2
  8525. More like their own lazy people. Italy's productivity has been down for decades.
    2
  8526.  @goranborjesson5593  You're wrong again. Georgia most definitely didn't invite 6,000 (some say 10,000) Russian troops to its break-away regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Likewise, Moldova isn't exactly happy with the 1,500 Russian troops in Transnistria. Ukraine -- Crimea -- has a whopping 40,000 Russian troops on its soil. Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh has 2,000 of them. Tajikistan, too, has a Russian military presence, estimates of which range from 5,000 to 7,500 troops. You really ought to do your homework for a change.
    2
  8527.  @Redbaron9495  Please, call the Americans dumb and ignorant; nothing to do with me. As to fascism, Zhirinovsky ticks all the boxes. He's ultra-nationalistic, anti-democratic, racist, demagogic, belligerent and expansionist. On occasion, he's compared himself to Hitler. It seems you're the ignoramus here, Baron.
    2
  8528.  @Redbaron9495  Puh-lease. The man calls for abolishing political parties and instituting autocracy, with the president being elected by five to six thousand wise men. You clearly haven't got the slightest idea what democracy entails. Hitler, too, gained power through elections. I've visited Ukraine -- why do you ask?
    2
  8529.  @SPIDERM0OSE  Don't exaggerate the significance of BoJo's pledge to defend Finland. Finland's fate doesn't hinge on BoJo's promises. UK forces, if they arrive in time, serve merely as a tripwire.
    2
  8530.  @onedaywewill  Oh yes, during WW1 Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which greatly favoured the Central Powers. Putin is still sore at Lenin. Uh, didn't I write that Germany "got beaten in WW2" by Russia? Tie? Your reading comp needs work.
    2
  8531. You make precious little sense. To say 'The West' is divided over Gaza is an understatement. This applies to the EU, too, which is what this Georgian election was about. As a case in point, Israel recalled their ambassador when we recognised Palestinian statehood.
    2
  8532. I bet you had a (man?) crush on your teacher.
    2
  8533.  @s.a.3894  You've got a bit of a dilemma on your hands. As a future NATO member, Finland is expected to come to the aid of these existing NATO members should they be attacked. Assuming you're a male without serious physical or mental impairments, you'll have to register yourself as a conscientious objector. Go for it.
    2
  8534. Goed idee! Je moet wel heel stil blijven, zoals de onderduikers van weleer.
    2
  8535. Any relation to a certain Nigel Farage, who, despite a sizable following, only ever got elected into the European Parliament, but never-ever into the House of Commons? With the UK in the EU, he exercised real power. Outside, none.
    2
  8536. No colonising in my national past. Aren't you generalising a wee bit?
    2
  8537. Here's a potato.
    2
  8538.  @RedPiece0601  What brought that on? Wrong reply button?
    2
  8539.  @Vzzdak  MBS and Putin are birds of a feather. What's reasonable for the nation is overridden by what's reasonable for the autocrat.
    2
  8540. Persona non likey is a better description.
    2
  8541. Putin for president-for-life... oh wait, he is already.
    2
  8542.  @ГеннадийШуплецов-р8п  Where did I go wrong? Russia demonstrably spent centuries conquering and colonising Eurasia. By and large, the conquered territories remain part of Russia to this day. Russia's government remains strongly centralised. Moscow has all the hallmarks of a present-day colonial power.
    2
  8543. Not every country is land-locked and mountainous. Or plain lucky.
    2
  8544.  @gigaware4533  Canada seems to do a lot of things right that the US utterly fails at. That's not inconsequential.
    2
  8545. Remind us, which side of the conflict was deemed the aggressor by the UN General Assembly? Was it Russia or was it Russia?
    2
  8546.  @ChillingCharlie  Actually, Western intelligence has already had a good look at the innards, courtesy of the UAE, whose armed forces have the Pantsir.
    2
  8547.  @ilovemybharat12  I think you're drunk on jingoism.
    2
  8548.  @cedricngoran7045  Perhaps he's no criminal in the legal sense, but there's cause to question his morals, which matter a great deal as a Supreme Court judge.
    2
  8549. I'm sure he would be mentioned if he had followed through with evidence to back up his wild claims. Don't you think?
    2
  8550.  @mSparks43  I see you chose not to pursue your point. Instead, you went straight for whataboutism. Pity, but I half expected it.
    2
  8551. Jack, too bad Putin didn't squash purely Russian corruption as well. Russia remains one of the 20 most corrupt countries in the world.
    2
  8552. You should stay away from Euronews. It reinforces your minority complex.
    2
  8553. Bad news for racists.
    2
  8554.  @WingkKong  Don't get your hopes up. The US has always prepared for fighting on two fronts -- major conflicts, that is.
    2
  8555. FYI, Trump is not well-liked globally. Only Putin and Xi do worse.
    2
  8556. FSB mechanics gave them a helping hand.
    2
  8557. They own a crackpot dictator, just like in Syria.
    2
  8558.  @CrookeRogozinsky  You like to take hostages, sure.
    2
  8559. ​ @svanimation8969  This isn't a US news channel. You should seek help to get rid of your fixation.
    2
  8560. Wrong vid.
    2
  8561.  @sumfatdude4824  Pu Tin's boss is Xi Jinping, a.k.a. Xinnie the Pooh.
    2
  8562. In vain, the cordon sanitaire will hold.
    2
  8563. The MEPs are duly elected by the electorates of the EU members. What's your problem? Can't vote or don't know how to?
    2
  8564.  @robertoRanni  No, both YT and myself agree that you should quit while you're not too far behind.
    2
  8565.  @robertoRanni  So, what prevents candidates for the EP running on an anti-immigration platform? If there's enough electoral traction, they'll get elected, right? Again, where's your problem?
    2
  8566.  @robertoRanni  Don't whimper, just answer the question.
    2
  8567.  @robertoRanni  Perhaps you should pick your words more carefully.
    2
  8568.  @robertoRanni  I'm sure there were inflammatory bits in there.
    2
  8569. I'm sure you're going to set us right. So what's been fake lately?
    2
  8570.  @roadtohope  *They're.
    2
  8571.  @naureen4justice991  You're stretching the truth a wee bit. The ICC's arrest warrant against Netanyahu isn't out yet. The ICJ has ruled against Israel, not Netanyahu. The ICC prosecutes individuals, the ICJ handles disputes concerning nations.
    2
  8572. With only one lung and his advanced age, he's courageous all right.
    2
  8573. You're going to war over Hong Kong now? De jure, there's no difference if China invaded Alaska or Hawaii in order to defend them.
    2
  8574.  @chrissy-up5fz  Indian bot, that is. He's working in an outsourced Russian troll farm in Bombay.
    2
  8575. Corruption? It's as if you don't know the meaning of the word. Poor secrecy, that's the point here. Words and their meanings matter.
    2
  8576. You do realise, right, that Wagner played a key role in committing the atrocities in Bucha? I wouldn't allow them anywhere near mothers and children, African or otherwise.
    2
  8577. You've got everything backwards. Russia invading Ukraine reinvigorated NATO, not only giving it a new lease of life, but also letting it do what it does best: checking the expansionist ambitions of the Kremlin. Last time, NATO saw to the implosion of the Soviet Union. Why would the rump state, Russia, fare any better? The EU is not facing an existential threat, Brexit notwithstanding. And it's in a totally different league from your EEU, which is just a poor excuse for a counterweight to the EU -- a lightweight squaring off against a heavyweight. Yanukovych himself was favourable to an association agreement with the EU, until he had a last-minute change of heart (Putin rang?), signing his own political death warrant in the process. His executors were the Ukrainian people, not the EU, NATO, CIA, Zionists or whoever you chose to blame instead.
    2
  8578. It's the Irish who set the course. We back them up, like any union that support its members. Outsiders are just that, outsiders.
    2
  8579. Which one is it? You can't seem to make up your mind.
    2
  8580. That would amount to 'peace for our time'. Appeasement will only amplify Putler's lust for Lebensraum.
    2
  8581. Je moet toch echt Nederlands kunnen als je hier Krembot will uithangen.
    2
  8582.  @RocketSailing  Heavy? You don't say. I had to show off how many push-ups I could do, so our master sergeant made me a MAG gunner. Schlepping it was no fun. Shooting it was fun, though.
    2
  8583.  @timk8003  Since you claim to have an idea yourself, enlighten us, when is Russia going to pull out its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria?
    2
  8584.  @timk8003  Quod erat demonstrandum.
    2
  8585.  @timk8003  Yes, they're an occupying force.
    2
  8586.  @timk8003  I think I do. I did two tours myself.
    2
  8587. What about whataboutism?
    2
  8588. The good news for your lot is that tin foil hats work. They also double as dunce caps, which is good news for the rest of us.
    2
  8589.  @jackspecht3418  Unfortunately for Russia, China doesn't think being BFFs is an exclusive thing. Besides, China is happy to use Russia's economic predicament to its advantage, striking deals that aren't exactly win-win. Copying Russian military tech is also a favourite pastime of theirs. Let's hear about you unfake poll results that put Russia in the "highly regarded" category. No need to reply if you're done trolling.
    2
  8590. Never use any natural fibres in any form. Synthetics only for you.
    2
  8591.  @tkautzor  Because your successive comments seem to contradict one another. I don't believe for a moment that you're as well-travelled as you claim.
    2
  8592.  @tkautzor  I cannot say encountering a self-important poser in a YouTube comment section is good for me. Mildly annoying, I'd say.
    2
  8593. Er, the thing with Covid-19 is that in some patients, it causes the immune system to overreact. The stronger your immune system, the likelier you'll become a fatality. Hence, if your theory is correct, Africa would suffer a higher death rate.
    2
  8594. Bibi knows that if the war stops, his political career stops, too.
    2
  8595. India is in luck. The quality of India's Russian weapons isn't anything to write home about either. Jack-in-the-box tanks anyone?
    2
  8596.  @993Redveg  That's what the UNSC is supposed to be for. Only it's hamstrung by US vetoes.
    2
  8597. They're already using drones, but I'm sure the potential for 72 virgins will appeal to them.
    2
  8598.  @distantraveller9876  As to BRICS becoming a military alliance -- that's a pipe dream. India and China are constantly at each other's throats. China is self-sufficient, but with Russia's arms industry imploding, India will have to go hat in hand to Western arms manufacturers. Export licenses can't be had if India is considered a military rival. Brazil and South Africa have enough on their plate in providing for their disaffected poor. Participating in an arms race is just a catalyst for more social unrest. I'd say BRICS is more likely to fall apart than gain a military dimension.
    2
  8599. Untested? The Leclerc was done rather well in Yemen -- better than the Abrams, some claim. Try to keep up with the news.
    2
  8600. The "Western Forces" will first have to get there, won't they?
    2
  8601. It must come as a rude shock to you that there are 746 million Europeans, and of those, only 448 million are EU citizens.
    2
  8602.  @kudr66  I don't recognise Germany in your description. Anti-war sentiments run deep and wide in Germany, even to a fault. The USA, on the other hand, fits your description perfectly. Their vast military-industrial complex and their bumbling president need enemies more than friends.
    2
  8603.  @Virakotxa  I made no such claim. You're like little kids. I ask you to explain yourselves, and instead of even trying, you act out. Kindergarten stuff.
    2
  8604.  @davecullen5986  The EU isn't letting either Ukraine or Turkey in. Ukraine is a warzone thanks to Russia and Turkey falls woefully short of the Copenhagen criteria.
    2
  8605.  @danielbailey5849  How come someone with the name Daniel Bailey can't string together words to form a proper English sentence?
    2
  8606. Both are crony-capitalists by today's standards.
    2
  8607.  @aetherion7  I'm centre right in my political outlook, you silly goose. For your info, "presentable" means clean and decent, which haven't been traits associated with the RN in the past, which is far right rather than mere right-wing. I am willing to believe they are some rightwingers in RN who cynically saw a chance in RN to bring themselves to the fore, but I guess they'll just as cynically distance themselves from RN when it's opportune to do so. I hope Les Républicains keep these opportunists out.
    2
  8608. Drag? Sweden voted with a supermajority to join NATO. It's an alliance of the willing. You've got NATO confused with the defunct Warsaw Pact.
    2
  8609. It all started when you were first taught geography and you were perplexed that there's a whole world out there. The shock was clearly too much.
    2
  8610.  @xiao-rongpeng9804  No, you're just deflecting. Whataboutism went out of favour when the Soviet Union collapsed. Is it just a coincidence that it's suddenly very popular among CCP trolls? Desperation setting in?
    2
  8611. China has held rights to much of Afghanistan's mineral resources for over a decade. They've done precious little to exploit them, citing security concerns. They can keep citing them, too, as Afghanistan slowly but surely slides back to civil war.
    2
  8612. @not today No need to address me as "Sir"; my knighthood is still pending. It's funny how always some ancient wrongdoing, as long as it was perpetrated by "Westerners", lies at the root of present Arab vs. Arab wrongdoings. You'd think the Turks, who occupied Arabia for three hundred years, could've gotten in some mischief with repercussions that last to this day, but no such luck.
    2
  8613.  @tomatertate  Maybe they surfaced and are being seasick somewhere.
    2
  8614. Moving forward in "peace for our time" wouldn't be all that awesome, however. You don't appease a dictator.
    2
  8615. That's the prerogative of the opponents of press freedom. After all, the Trump administration launched the term "alternative fact" when they were caught lying.
    2
  8616.  @Fief13  Europe is far, far better off *than Russia economically.
    2
  8617. The West was made a peace offer? Was -- or is -- the West at war with Russia?
    2
  8618. Amersfoort is hardly reclaimed land, nor by the seaside.
    2
  8619. That's just the US driving a wedge between Armenia and Russia, to help along Armenia's impending departure from CSTO and to make official the collapse of the CSTO as a whole. Any day now.
    2
  8620.  @Mestari1Gaming  Tasty-and-Moldy or some such, they call it.
    2
  8621.  @bletrick3352  Part of Georgia is in Europe. It's a transcontinental country, just like Turkey and Kazakhstan.
    2
  8622. They took far more than they were gifted.
    2
  8623. Are you lost? This isn't Fox News.
    2
  8624.  @zeitgeistx5239  China may not be communist in the economic sense, but it definitely is in the authoritarian, non-democratic sense.
    2
  8625.  @crushnevnikita8575  Out of 192 countries -- other than Russia, that is -- only a single one recognises Crimea as Russian: North Korea, a.k.a. the Hermit Kingdom. We can safely assume that Syria, now under new management, no longer does.
    2
  8626.  @Egill2011  Could it be Russia is a bad neighbour, a bully even?
    2
  8627. ​ @obsidianjane4413  A Dutch court of appeals ordered a cease-and-desist while the export license is re-examined. Of course it's based on the law. Courts don't have any other recourse than the law. The USA routinely nixes export lisences for arms. This is more less of the same.
    2
  8628. Exactly. Global warming slows the Gulf stream, which keeps Scandinavia warm. Hint: don't flaunt your ignorance.
    2
  8629.  @leonardocolossi2270  And the Russian imperial project has started? Me thinks Russia never ceased to be an empire, it just went through a few rounds of rebranding. Backyard colonialism is and has always been Russia's objective.
    2
  8630. Trump has clearly been inspired by Putin and his quest for Lebensraum.
    2
  8631.  @henrikl4244  You gotta love ignorant Yanks. Always eager to flaunt their ignorance.
    2
  8632. You bollocksed it up. The Ukrainians did stand up for themselves.
    2
  8633.  @unrealharry  You'll just split the vote and hand victory to Labour.
    2
  8634.  @unrealharry  I would care if I had to use tactical voting and pick a party that (possibly) sucks the least.
    2
  8635. Do you really want to go back that far in time? To put things into perspective, the Russian Empire was expanding like crazy then. Russia had just killed 1.5 million Circassians as part of Russia's conquest of the Caucasus. Whataboutism in a biatch, it works both ways.
    2
  8636.  @FN-hg2el  Palestine worked out quite well for the UK -- and the world, didn't it?
    2
  8637. I blame Bolsonaro's populism. Brazil is reaping what he sowed.
    2
  8638. I'm surprised Putin didn't fly to Kaliningrad. Being a semi-exclave land-locked by NATO, it's much harder to march to.
    2
  8639. Yeah right. The date will live in infamy. This time, it's a self-inflicted wound, too. Individual acts of courage can't erase the huge stain on American democracy. If Trump isn't held accountable in one way or another, the world will laugh at the USA.
    2
  8640. @Peter Romanov Russia is a suicide cult.
    2
  8641. Have you told Putin? He can.
    2
  8642. Correct me if I'm wrong, but was no sovereign nation called Russia taking part in WW2. The Russians are eager to take full credit, but their role clearly diminished when the USSR imploded.
    2
  8643.  @jiula  And then some. How did the expression go, Cossacks will take anything that's poorly fastened?
    2
  8644. The EU has already borne the bulk of supporting Ukraine.
    2
  8645. Europe? Greenland isn't even in the EU. It's a Danish colonial matter.
    2
  8646. ...and in with whom? Anyone with half a brain will decline.
    2
  8647. ​ @thephidias  I said "half a brain", so no.
    2
  8648.  @chomasensi  You must be talking about an African context. Do you have any reliable indication that the coup leaders enjoy popularity beyond the usual gaggle of excitable fanboys and fangirls, who habitually go bonkers whenever there's a coup, no matter who's behind it?
    2
  8649. Someone from half across the world, who feels beholden to the Soviet Union Russia, comes and offers expert advice?
    2
  8650. You're praying for a conspiracy theory?
    2
  8651.  @snaplaw1654  Oh, but I can call myself a historian. BTW, your sentence is grammatically lacking. Punctuation and capitalisation matter.
    2
  8652. Another conspiracy theory?
    2
  8653.  @samanthaw4955  Nice bout of whataboutism there, Samantha.
    2
  8654. Polish defence procurement is a bit of a mess, to be honest. They kicked us out and then pulled us back in it. We adjusted our price upward, too.
    2
  8655. As compared to Trump? You cracked a joke.
    2
  8656. Nice. Have you received your call-up papers yet?
    2
  8657. They'd need an antarctic force, right?
    2
  8658. Wot? The UN couldn't have been clearer about condemning Russia's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine. 141 UN members voted in favour, 5 against. Russia couldn't drum up more than 4 friends!
    2
  8659. Were you badly hurt? You need to take a good look in the mirror. Serbia went on a genocidal streak in Kosovo before any bombs started falling.
    2
  8660.  @freeloader247  You said it. Russia broke the UN Charter, and should be booted out of the UNSC for it.
    2
  8661. It's misleading to say that Boris is "more loved by the international community". Rather, he's less hated by the international community. We just couldn't keep up with Boris' plummeting domestic popularity. It's not like we're constantly keeping tabs.
    2
  8662. You could proactively offer some of your territory to Russia, to see if that appeases Putin for a spell. Don't come crying to us if Putin is soon back for more.
    2
  8663. Russia has proven that it's imperialist to the hilt by trying to conquer Ukraine. Where's the "West alliance" imperialism? Which countries have we annexed parts of lately?
    2
  8664. Just speak for yourself. And Trump is unloved in your country.
    2
  8665. After the abortive and humiliating attempt to "liberate" Ukraine? That's rich.
    2
  8666. The Vikings weren't a thing in Finland. They tried, but struggled to gain a foothold.
    2
  8667.  @masarykowesady  Great! Please stay put!
    2
  8668. It didn't appear that way. Au contraire.
    2
  8669. They're proposing to merge them before dissolving them, on paper.
    2
  8670. No need to remind us that Russians, as opposed to modern people, are into personality cults.
    2
  8671. Which part exactly?
    2
  8672. Yup, we're keeping the Ukrainian economy ticking over, too.
    2
  8673. It's not losing, much to bunker grandpa's chagrin. What's in it for Russia, as opposed to Putin himself, who's political career and possibly, his life, hinges on the outcome of this war? Truth be told, Russia has already lost. Nothing that it has gained from Ukraine -- or still could -- makes up for the losses that Russia has sustained.
    2
  8674. She'd need subtitles and we all know what Americans think of those.
    2
  8675.  @adamredwine774  That makes Bibi's constant abuse of the term even more deplorable. If you cry wolf all the time, people grow indifferent, but it doesn't mean wolves no longer exist.
    2
  8676. Did you misspell 'aliens'?
    2
  8677. Joseph, note how Lithuania's Andrius Kubilus got appointed EU's new commissioner for defence. Also, note that Estonia's Kaja Kallas is slated to become EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, an even higher rung in the EU hierarchy ladder. She still needs majority support in the European Parliament to clinch the appointment, but that's practically a given unless she somehow manages to louse up her job interview by the MEPs. All this suggests that you're in the minority with your views. We, the majority in Europe, clearly congratulate and reward the Balts for their foresight with regard to Russia and their unwavering support for Ukraine. Or should I address you as Ivan?
    2
  8678. Sure, their morals are shot.
    2
  8679.  @johnwinter2252  Shocking. Be that as it may, definitions change over time. Or are you gay whenever you're cheerful? Remember to tell everyone.
    2
  8680. Turkey doesn't make the grade. The EU sets clear conditions for accession -- the so-called Copenhagen criteria -- and Turkey doesn't fulfil them. In fact, Turkey falls foul of most of them, if not all.
    2
  8681.  @760HorsePower  Israeli F-35 pilots have gone sight-seeing above Damascus, and this despite the country brimming with S-300s and S-400s. The Syrians are livid. The S-500 is still work in progress.
    2
  8682.  @Unknown-hq4cp  That's a doozy of a conspiracy theory. Tell us more!
    2
  8683. Try to get a room with Putin.
    2
  8684. Coming up with imaginative ways to kill Navalny is just making Russia look worse.
    2
  8685. How it works in France is that there's now a no-confidence vote in parliament which may topple Barnier before he can say Jacques Robinson. Even French PMs can't govern without majority support.
    2
  8686. Aimo Lahti, who was self-taught, had a reputation for wrapping a lot of iron around a hole.
    2
  8687. Lavrov looks likes he's on his last legs.
    2
  8688.  @omezH4400  Why does Russia fuss about the Storm Shadows then? They're air-launched.
    2
  8689.  @karlos-tq5ir  Ottawa Treaty, buddy. Finland is a signatory.
    2
  8690. Eurofighter Typhoon has a lot of made-in-Germany parts. The Saudi M1 MBTs have a German cannon. Saudi soldiers carry an assortment of German infantry weapons. You don't know what you're talking about.
    2
  8691.  @soreeyez  I couldn't care less what you do. All I know is that you're lousy even for a bot. Do me a favour and never respond to anything I post.
    2
  8692. It's all relative. Which one do you prefer, a commander-in-chief with the odd senior moment, or an inveterate liar-in-chief? It looks like you'll have to pick the one that sucks less.
    2
  8693. It's called contract manufacturing. It's shifting to even lower cost countries, away from China.
    2
  8694. De Russen zien hunzelf als slachtoffers. Slachtoffers maken doet ze niks.
    2
  8695. ​ @stephfran9761  In every YouTube thread, there's a conspiracy theorist who's the only one privy to the truth. I so long for the days when your lot stood on street corners with 'The End is Nigh' signs.
    2
  8696. That's just a figment of your imagination, or rather, that of your Kremlin handlers. Have a peanut for parroting it.
    2
  8697.  @kurtpleavin  Nokia, as a handset brand, is enjoying a resurgence. It's as if Nokia Corp, the brand owner, anticipated Microsoft's anti-Midas touch.
    2
  8698.  @kurtpleavin  Exactly. Only when the cord with Microsoft was cut and HMD Global was set up, Nokia handsets had a chance again.
    2
  8699. If Brexit is an economic catastrophe for the UK, that would amount to sheer economic annihilation, akin to setting off a nuclear device in Rotterdam harbour.
    2
  8700.  @mmm-mmm  You got that right. Winter diesel is the norm in colder climes. In the winter, we put arctic diesel in our Leos, which can withstand temperatures below -40 degrees C. Once, I took part in a refresher when temperatures dipped to -38 degrees C. The Leopards' engines didn't miss a beat.
    2
  8701. Nothing wrong with our morale. We've fought the Russians for eons, and we're still here.
    2
  8702. It's not a matter of money. Advanced air defence systems don't grow on trees.
    2
  8703. Not too log ago, a pawn shop in Oulu was selling an Arisaka bayonet for 50€. It caught my eye, because I have one as well, a family heirloom. The hilt shows some wear, but the (very long indeed) blade is in perfect condition. It's sacrilege to clean off the patina. It will take another hundred years to reappear.
    2
  8704. Like Syria needs more religion.
    2
  8705. Both desperately crave attention.
    2
  8706.  @rd123.  Britain never owned Palestine. Britain had a League of Nations mandate to administer the territory till it was ready for self-administration. Arabs held land rights, as did Jewish inhabitants. The nascent UN's partition plan heavily favoured the Jews, which expectedly angered the Arab inhabitants. It was a major screw-up on the UN's part -- a blunder with long-term repercussions. It's about time historic wrongs are set right, or the conflict will last another 75 years.
    2
  8707.  @alexitselentis7904  I'm not going to respond to canned statements that you spread all over -- you even copy-pasted it twice in one and the same thread! Are you a complete YouTube n00b?
    2
  8708.  @saascarlson5597  What a flaccid response. Fact is, the Russians are getting poorer, EU citizens are getting richer. In Russia, it's just the oligarchs -- Putin's piggy banks -- that are getting richer. Crony capitalism at its finest.
    2
  8709. You didn't watch the video. They're soon worthless for international use, and there are way too many for domestic needs. It's as if Russia is sitting on fresh produce that's starting to go putrid.
    2
  8710. ​ @philipnankabao9290  Ah, you must be Eritrean, because no other African country supports Russia. You can't be South American, because no country on the continent supports Russia. These are cold, hard facts.
    2
  8711. NATO is defensive, Russia is aggressive. Hence, NATO is against Russia, as is any self-respecting nation that disapproves of redrawing borders with military force. In fact, the UN General Assembly was very clear on the matter.
    2
  8712. There's a humanitarian crisis in Venezuela and we should turn a blind eye to it? Where's your humanity?
    2
  8713.  @holonow4298  If they're well entrenched they've got nothing to worry about. The terminator can't get closer either because of the trees. These guys know what they're doing.
    2
  8714.  @jenalatz3589  Sure, but not for us.
    2
  8715. A tank crew wouldn't be much worse for wear. A thermobaric weapon scaled down to such proportions is only good for anti-personnel use.
    2
  8716. Things must be in a bad way if you have to take to YouTube to beg Ukraine to stop the war.
    2
  8717.  @leatherface6352  And you haven't figured out that Putin can stop the war overnight? I don't know if it's possible to fail an IQ test, but if so, you certainly would.
    2
  8718.  @SteamCrane  You're preaching to the choir, but in all honesty, there are enough troubling passages in the Bible that misguided zealots could start drawing inspiration from for Sharia-like laws. Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army are a case in point.
    2
  8719. Men? It strikes me that women are willing accomplices here. If not the mothers themselves, then their mothers or mothers-in-law.
    2
  8720. I guess it paid off that Tom Cruise does many of his stunts himself.
    2
  8721. The statute of limitations on insurrection is three years?
    2
  8722.  @s3ra9h1m  What was missing from the definition? Violent uprising against the authorities -- it all checks out.
    2
  8723.  @jackt6112  EU members won't negotiate piecemeal. Most likely, it will be Barnier who'll be negotiating bilaterals as well.
    2
  8724. For a loser, Zelenskyy is putting up helluva fight. Russia, if it didn't effectively lose already, seems utterly lost.
    2
  8725. ​ @premro  And your source is... let me guess... trust me bro?
    2
  8726. Four years ago Trump called bitcoin a scam.
    2
  8727. You betcha. Muslims, too, and Latinos in general as well.
    2
  8728. Just an idea, but instead of wailing, you may want to set the record straight.
    2
  8729. Aw, Russia doesn't like it that the boot is on the other foot.
    2
  8730.  @factsoverfear9771  Borrow equipment? They're given to Ukraine and they were made to turn Orcs into fertilizer to begin with. The Ukrainians are more than happy to use them for their intended purpose. If weapons were self-aware, they'd be happy, too, to fulfil their destiny.
    2
  8731.  @wvvwwvwvv  Trump's blabbering is getting weirder by the day. He must've had a senior moment when he blabbered about Gaza. The alternative is worse still.
    2
  8732. ​ @oneshothunter9877  Kadyrov is an experienced turncoat, no worries.
    2
  8733. ACW2, when?
    2
  8734. We're watching the dying embers.
    2
  8735. Insightful. Now, how to get you a crayon to doodle virtually on the walls?
    2
  8736.  @titaniumskunkogkush4365  The Chinese invented gunpowder. The Chinese are Asians. Hence, you Asians are to blame for everything. How do you like them stereotypes?
    2
  8737.  @zanza8197  So those Russian "allies" would be Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Mali, Nicaragua and Syria. A smattering of international pariahs and votes-for-hire, in other words.
    2
  8738.  @JackFieldBand  When pressed on the matter, neither party wants UNIFIL to leave. However, peace is not something either party really wants, so the UN should leave and let them stew in their own juice.
    2
  8739. @MiketheLord I bet that as a Trump supporter, you didn't even know about Belarus before this happened.
    2
  8740.  @Nick-kn6il  I distinctly remember how the US wanted us to go to war in Iraq, but we weren't having any of it. How does that gel with your colony theory? Oh, and would you like to have Freedom fries with that?
    2
  8741. Milosevic, check.
    2
  8742. But then Turkey wouldn't have gotten its F-16s. At the end of the day, that's what counts.
    2
  8743. Let's see how many protest votes Le Pen got this time around. A national election is a different kettle of fish.
    2
  8744. You'd have to move the political centre very much to the right to pretend that there's still a far left in the Netherlands. You must be young, naive or both.
    2
  8745.  @mauritsmutsaars182  Scandinavische eilanden? Verzin je het zelf? Scandinavië is tot voor kort heel dun bevolkt geweest, en zelfs nu is de bevolkingsdichtheid er de laagste van Europa.
    2
  8746. You do.
    2
  8747. Putin saw fit to turn Yashin into a political prisoner and then he was part of this year's high-profile prisoner exchange. Keep up with the news.
    2
  8748.  @startarot5876  Let's ask the European electorate. Oh, we just did, and guess who got her old job back?
    2
  8749.  @startarot5876  It's a foregone conclusion with the power balance in the European Parliament. Weep.
    2
  8750.  @startarot5876  Did you pay any notice to the outcome of the European elections? I'm afraid your gratuitous use of emojis betrays your puerility.
    2
  8751.  @antisnowflake8618  Which EU leader is gay and black?
    2
  8752.  @GoodMan_000  So? Zhirinovsky was an MP and Gurulyov is one at present. Are you drunk by any chance? You fail to understand simple concepts and you're combative. It would explain a lot.
    2
  8753.  @GoodMan_000  So you are drunk, blabbering about matters that are totally irrelevant to this discussion.
    2
  8754. Scholz had to dig deep, but he eventually found a pair, it seems. Kudos to the man -- finally he can call him that.
    2
  8755. He'll stop when they slam his cell door shut. He must be vying with Trump in the number of investigations into his dubious affairs and court cases against him. With each new one, the possibility of him enjoying his retirement out of prison gets slimmer and slimmer.
    2
  8756. Self-help would be in order. Time for Africa to pull itself up by its bootstraps.
    2
  8757.  @southpole4776  If an international tribunal decides that Russia must pay reparations to Ukraine and if it refuses to do so, it's perfectly legal to seize Russia's assets and make them available to Ukraine.
    2
  8758.  @simplicius11  Oh, we've found €300 billion of the Central Bank of Russia's assets alone. To put it in terms you may understand, those bills are firmly locked inside a giant freezer of ours.
    2
  8759. Why do the Dutch get to name the storms nowadays? It's not just this Henk, but Gerrit as well.
    2
  8760. I'm not so sure. Judging from their repetitive comments, they've tricked themselves into believing they specifically voted for "no deal". Now they're putting their hopes on the EU somehow disappearing into thin air.
    2
  8761. Yes, sadly, Putin is a European.
    2
  8762.  @stmg3656  If you knew English, I'd take you to task about the EU members' supposed wrongdoings in Africa. Alas.
    2
  8763. Let's take a reality check here. The UK lost the Cods Wars, to Iceland. Need we go into which had the bigger navy?
    2
  8764. Russia's toadie.
    2
  8765. *Its, *its.
    2
  8766. You gotta give credit to Putin for this one. He's the instigator.
    2
  8767. Pew Research does and they're reporting a sharp rise in unfavourable views of China. The same goes for Xi's unpopularity, which is at an all-time high. At any rate, China is suffering a PR disaster.
    2
  8768.  @S3aCa1mRa1n  Everyone knows Biden's redeeming quality is that he's not Trump. Sad indeed for Murica. Maybe rethink that Republican-Democrat duopoly, whether it serves the nation well?
    2
  8769. Not against the people, but for the people, by the people.
    2
  8770.  @damienroberts934  I think he can explain best what he meant. There's no denying that WW2 was a humiliation for France. I can understand the resentment caused by de Gaulle's résistancialisme, but that still doesn't amount to betrayal. Self-delusion and arrogance perhaps, but those were French problems. There was a time when both Churchill and Hitler had themselves convinced that WW2 would be fought in Scandinavia, simply because fighting another war in France was considered too costly. A century earlier, present-day Belgium actually had found itself playing host to the Battle of Waterloo, which certainly wasn't about Belgium either.
    2
  8771.  @jimmygreen281  I second that. This much snow isn't unheard of in Finnish Lapland, but only after a whole winter of snowfall.
    2
  8772. Contributions to the EU's Cohesion Fund by the EU's net payers would have to skyrocket in order to bring India up to the EU's economic standards. Sorry, no can do. Maybe India can turn to BRICS for money, or join China's BRI (only to have its assets seized).
    2
  8773. De facto? Since 1949.
    2
  8774. You using the term 'scapegoat' implies that NATO is somehow making Finland invade Russia. That's your analysis? The most astounding thing is that commenters here praise you for your analytical skills.
    2
  8775.  @guff9567  I'm afraid the sadness is all yours. You just don't realise it yet.
    2
  8776. So, what does Russia have against Serbia or Bangladesh? It pays to watch the video, even if you're an excitable conspiracy theorist.
    2
  8777.  @SPIDERM0OSE  I don't know about slimy, but definitely Limey!
    2
  8778.  @Ciupanezu1923  Facts suggest otherwise.
    2
  8779.  @oprophetisfake9482  We were talking facts. Instead, you come up with a soundbite from Barnier that has little or no relevance to the matter at hand. Obviously Brexit is a common failure, but more so with regard to the UK than to the EU-27. You're paying a higher price than we are. Who else is wanting to leave? I can't think of a better vaccine against potential EU leavers than Brexit. And no one's ruling over elected parliaments. Haven't you heard of the EU members' power of veto?
    2
  8780. Ben je ooit eens in Rusland geweest? Perspectief ontbreekt je.
    2
  8781.  @lestbestvergezicht7780  Allebei, slimmerd. Rusland is het beloofde land van vriendjeskapitalisme. In een echte democratie zou zoiets nooit getolereerd worden.
    2
  8782. You have to add that Russia is literally advancing at a snail's pace. And don't get us started about the stupefying price it pays in men and materiel.
    2
  8783.  @johnrcornell  I don't know what to do with your comment. What has Germany got to do with the price of tea in China? Try to make a proper point.
    2
  8784.  @eamonnclabby7067  So true. The British style of professional soldiering has definitely rubbed off on the Irish (or vice versa?). I served with Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon and had a British superior in Kosovo. The similarity in style has very apparent. As a reservist on active duty on both occasions, I felt like an amateur in comparison.
    2
  8785. Belongs to Russia? Only North Korea and Syria recognise Russia's annexations of Ukrainian territory. Including Russia itself, that's 3 out of the world's 193 countries. That makes you the liar.
    2
  8786. Surprised? If so, you're the only one.
    2
  8787. BICS has a future, but not BRICS.
    2
  8788.  @mostafizurrahmanshakil5006  It's a Buk. Other versions of the same video show the launcher. It's a Buk launcher all right.
    2
  8789.  @manodiptam100  It's the pharmaceutical companies that patent the drugs. Our governments can't prevent them from doing so short of dismantling the whole worldwide patent system, but that would cause 99% of high-tech innovation to grind to a screeching halt. As a holder of multiple patents, I can say it's a crappy system, but like democracy, it's the best we've got.
    2
  8790. Both countries have maintained a credible defence of their own, like forever. In a one-to-one comparison, you come much behind the Finns, for example.
    2
  8791. In a democracy, lying politicians get their comeuppance. In a dictatorship like Russia, they're made president-for-life.
    2
  8792.  @WinterGK  Trolls don't bother with arguments. They just appeal to the stone.
    2
  8793.  @dinazorpipisi  You two lovebirds give a lot of weight to your opinions. Haven't you heard that opinions are like bumholes -- everyone's got one and they stink.
    2
  8794. Not that again. It never worked on Obama.
    2
  8795. *Self-sufficient?
    2
  8796.  @constantinenm  When did this happen?
    2
  8797.  @constantinenm  Which event? Was it documented by OSCE, and if not, why not? Were the Russian OSCE monitors napping again?
    2
  8798. So it was the racists who tipped the scale! I knew it!
    2
  8799. And your message carries weight because...?
    2
  8800.  @vivekbond007  What about them Iranian and Nork missiles and drones? If Russia can make its own kit, why did it go begging for stand-off weapons from these two pariahs? I wonder if Russia came begging to you for the BrahMos, too.
    2
  8801.  @findingsolutions198  I replied to a follow-up comment that referred to the whole of Europe. FYI, Europe ends at the Ural Mountains, deep inside Russia.
    2
  8802. It's a well-known fact that the Brexiteers thought Brexit would amount to nirvana. Now that it ended in tears there's a similar mistaken belief among the Remoaners that the EU will have the UK back in a jiffy. Not so. Britain needs its forty days (years?) in the desert.
    2
  8803. @Gunter von Esling Are you aware that neither Finland nor Sweden has a coastline that faces the Arctic Ocean? Norway does, but they've been in NATO from the very start.
    2
  8804. The business definition of "Greater China" is what companies want it to be. You must be so conditioned to state control that the thought that companies define their own markets is alien to you.
    2
  8805. @FischerNilsA No choice indeed, especially considering Iceland has no standing army. I wonder how the NATO 2% defence investment guideline works in their case.
    2
  8806.  @samhalldorsson1102  Fine, but we do all that and maintain strong armed forces, backed by a reserve that is only second to Israel's and perhaps Switzerland's. Iceland would do well to rethink its need for a military, now that the Arctic is growing more and more strategic in both economic and military terms. Moreover, it takes decades to equip and train a military that can do more than merely guard airports and radar stations.
    2
  8807.  @johno3799  You're conveniently ignoring the fact that with our strong export-driven economies, we benefit in other ways than by receiving EU "handouts". In fact, those "handouts" are worthwhile investments. Just look at Poland and its brisk EU-fuelled economic growth. When I lived in Belgium for a spell, it was joked that unemployed Belgians would find it easier to land a job if they were taught Polish. That ought to tell you something about the Poles' work ethic.
    2
  8808. We're apex omnivores, aren't we?
    2
  8809.  @жительСпб-в4м  Dry your tears. The B-52 has jet engines. Soon, new ones, too.
    2
  8810. You're on a real war footing. Drama queen much?
    2
  8811. The EU membership made Italy more spendthrift. Like Greece.
    2
  8812. Another conspiracy theorist. Yawn.
    2
  8813. Were the immigrants rioting on the streets as well? I must've missed it.
    2
  8814. Americans shouldn't congregate under any circumstances. Or perhaps they should change the gun laws. Whichever makes more sense. Hint: maybe the latter.
    2
  8815.  @bps7209  Too few choices? Get yourselves a true multiparty democracy already.
    2
  8816. I guess you don't like humanitarian aid.
    2
  8817. Friends don't take advantage of one another.
    2
  8818.  @gfan83  For your info, if Russia were to launch a nuclear strike against Finland's major population centres, the Petersburgians would start glowing in the dark. This while the Finns would enjoy their state-of-the-art fall-out shelters, playing floorball and going for a swim. YouTube ought to impose a tax on Russian nuclear threats in its comment sections. Alphabet Inc. would easily jump from 3rd place to 1st as the world's largest technology company.
    2
  8819.  @ommsterlitz1805  The EU has already given more to Ukraine than the UK ever will.
    2
  8820. En de winnaar krijgt een auto ventiel dopje!
    2
  8821.  @Northman-from-the-North  You're confused. What goes by the name 'Palestinian territories' -- the West Bank and the Gaza Strip -- have never been given to Israel, not by the UN or anyone else, for that matter. In fact, the UN's International Court of Justice refers to them as 'Occupied Palestinian Territory'.
    2
  8822. And yet you don't know how to spell the word.
    2
  8823.  @FlyInTheLotion  Trump negotiated a heck of a peace deal in Afghanistan. He got results all right.
    2
  8824. Iran and its Shia allies in Iraq already have more capable missiles. Did you miss the memo that the US withdrew from Afghanistan? There are no US bases within reach.
    2
  8825.  @indacage271  That would be like a welterweight taking on a heavyweight.
    2
  8826.  @alexrz4196  You should ask the BRICS head honchos why they are so keen to have their pictures taken.
    2
  8827.  @alexrz4196  Nice piece of circular reasoning on your part. I'm wasting my time here. Over and out.
    2
  8828.  @abba4844  Syria is still caught in a civil war. Who's the legitimate leader and who's not is still a matter of contention. The US legitimises its presence in Syria with Assad more or less tolerating ISIL's presence there, since Assad's forces were and still are mostly preoccupied with fighting the Syrian rebels instead. The same goes for the Russians, who're supposedly fighting ISIL, but keep forgetting.
    2
  8829.  @thefourthrabbit9516  You don't need to put the adjective 'Western' in front of 'democracy' to make a distinction with 'Chinese democracy'. The latter is an oxymoron. Moreover, this is a matter of transparency, rule of law and human rights. All of which apply to China in a limited capacity -- or in a manner that suits the CCP best.
    2
  8830.  @AlexanBudni  If so, it sucks for you that you're fast becoming a province of China.
    2
  8831.  @karlvongazenberg8398  It's the Rotterdam effect. Shipments from non-EU countries to Russia often go through the port of Rotterdam. These aren't Dutch exports as such, but they are counted as such.
    2
  8832. You mean PiS, right, and their PM's fatal PR disaster? Indeed, the Polish election doesn't bode well for PiS.
    2
  8833.  @phildavies6020  ...and for good measure, being spritzed with Novichok on the way down.
    2
  8834. No, Dude, you're oblivious to the various NWO conspiracy theories that make their rounds on the internet. "New world order" only has negative connotations.
    2
  8835. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
    2
  8836. So have Dutch subs and French ones. It says more about aircraft carriers than subs.
    2
  8837. I can't think of a single reason why the EU should pay for the USA's military adventurism like, for example, the Iraq War. Saddam's WMDs are still missing, aren't they?
    2
  8838. A good part of Russia has mostly pines trees occurring naturally. Pine trees thrive in cold climes.
    2
  8839. What's the difference between the two? PMC is a euphemism, no more.
    2
  8840.  @petepotr4078  Like Pu Tin must do what Xi says?
    2
  8841. Is it so hard to figure out? The Orcs are on the defensive now.
    2
  8842. Take a leaf from Russia's book, you mean?
    2
  8843. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is alive and well, thank you very much. The Russian Orthodox Church has gone over to the dark side, however.
    2
  8844.  @henkmertens7120  It's easier to list countries in Europe that have no budding consumer boycotts of US products. Shoot, can't think of any.
    2
  8845. Melodrama is more his thing.
    2
  8846. So you love Putin.
    2
  8847. And what is your excuse? You are in the UN, right? Are you also aware that UN members have to commit troops to UNIFIL? Have you at any time pleaded with your government to strengthen UNIFIL?
    2
  8848. @Lily Shanti Well, you had the chance to use your votes wisely, but then you chose Trump. Oh, you can spare your sympathies for the Hongkies -- unlike you, I live in a full democracy.
    2
  8849. I'm not sure this is the real deal. Real body armour is uncomfy because of weight alone.
    2
  8850. You're worse than the Spanish Inquisition. How about making them scrub clean the protective glass that covers the painting? In other words, they got you good.
    2
  8851. Aw, you're trying to legitimise Russia's unprovoked military aggression by comparing it to Israel's very much provoked retaliation to a terrorist attack. Good luck with that!
    2
  8852. Give it up, "Keith". Ask your troll factory manager if you can pick a more realistic name for yourself.
    2
  8853. It must've slipped Trump's mind that his administration signed the peace deal that stipulated a US troop withdrawal. The War in Afghanistan and its tragic outcome was a real bipartisan effort -- you can commend yourselves for that.
    2
  8854. Traditional fishing rights, for starters. French fishermen have been at it in what are now considered British fishing grounds for aeons.
    2
  8855. That was refreshing!
    2
  8856. So you did a quick referendum? How brave of you to venture there in a time of conflict.
    2
  8857. Is this the end of Israel's power of veto in the UNSC?
    2
  8858. Reptilians in this NWO?
    2
  8859.  @thechosenone1533  Don't give up your day job to go on a comedy tour. It will end in tears.
    2
  8860. And the prize for the least relevant comment goes to... wait for it... this bot⬆
    2
  8861. This is why we think you mainland Chinese are crazed Communists.
    2
  8862. I'm being generous, I replied to your comment. The troll farm now owes you 85 roubles or 1.12€. Don't spend it all in one place.
    2
  8863. For your info, it just adds to your humiliation when you so desperately deny the presence of Nork soldiers in Kursk. It's a tacit admission that you're super-embarrassed about calling on the Hermit Kingdom for military aid. Meat aid, I should say.
    2
  8864. Next what? Deal Russia punishment?
    2
  8865. What is this "socialist climate agreement"? Please elaborate. And is there a capitalist climate agreement?
    2
  8866. What can we do, we apparently negotiated with the wrong person. And to add insult to injury, the new negotiator seems even poorer at it.
    2
  8867. France ain't leaving.
    2
  8868. Jesuits? Why not blood-drinking, shape-shifting Reptilians?
    2
  8869.  @allabold8528  No gibberish, please.
    2
  8870. I call insurance fraud.
    2
  8871.  @busterdan22  Putin invaded Crimea. Crimea is in Europe. Russia is being sanctioned for it by the EU. So you're wrong on all accounts.
    2
  8872.  @daghli21  No it isn't. Have you even been? If you ask nicely, I could help you get a tourist visa. But please don't overstay.
    2
  8873. So a coup d'etat is just of a matter of comme d'habitude in Niger?
    2
  8874. Muslims sure have hang-ups about nakedness. It appears that Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise not because they ate from the forbidden tree, but because eating from the forbidden tree somehow made their fig leaves drop off and that was the ultimate no-no.
    2
  8875. Didn't you watch the vid? 85% of the Greenlanders reject Trump's advances.
    2
  8876. The road that the Netherlands took in 2001 clearly hasn't led to hell. On the contrary, more countries have legalised euthanasia since. Besides, the patient's consent is a prerequisite.
    2
  8877. This is about the Kremlin wanting a monopoly on fake news.
    2
  8878. There's a rare Jatimatic SMG right behind Jonathan's head.
    2
  8879. "In Conspiracy Theories We Trust".
    2
  8880. You're too clever by half. The B-52H has exactly that, two pilots: the aircraft commander and the copilot. The remaining three crew members are the radar navigator, navigator and electronic warfare officer.
    2
  8881. Oh what a flimsy web you weave.
    2
  8882.  @realnapster1522  Unlike you, we don't make religion a matter of supreme importance. Britain has a Hindu for a PM, and the rest are pretty much non-practicing, like Ireland's former PM, also with Indian roots. I don't see us congratulating Islamic countries either. Generally, they're seen as socially backward, even more so than India.
    2
  8883. You're being a drama queen. Put up and produce opinion polls or whatever to that effect, or shut up.
    2
  8884.  @ctdesing  What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?
    2
  8885.  @haeveen8255  Why is Putin so upset with Navalny then?
    2
  8886. Human Rights Watch is not media, sport.
    2
  8887. We know, 'banker' is a red flag for conspiracy theorists.
    2
  8888. Putin wanted to try an airbnb for fish.
    2
  8889. Hello desperate whataboutist.
    2
  8890. Are you suggesting the "peaceful" ruble as the alternative? That must be the Joke of 2023 on so many levels.
    2
  8891. Nice. The USA becomes a one-party dictatorship, like China. We always suspected democracy wasn't really your thing.
    2
  8892. Let's have all the Filipinos move to the US, too. Abu Sayyaf fighters included, naturally. Sorry, what goes around comes around.
    2
  8893. Friedrich Trump, Donald Trump's German-born grandfather, emigrated to the US before Adolf Hitler was born. Just saying.
    2
  8894. Ukraine is not going to waste Leo 2s on Bakhmut. They've got bigger fish to fry.
    2
  8895. I smell a conspiracy theory in the making. Please elaborate.
    2
  8896.  @JohnWick-stardawg  Yeah, he must be dying now, too.
    2
  8897.  @nanteb.4605  Prigozhin is no soldier. He served all right, but in a penal colony as a twice-convicted felon. Donning fatigues does not a soldier make.
    2
  8898.  @svenNL  Yup, a Putin troll's word is gold.
    2
  8899. Wagner expended their convicts. But ex-criminal holds true at least for Prigozhin himself.
    2
  8900.  @pacman0_0  Boats? German U-boats are the bee's knees!
    2
  8901.  @Skyhawk2077  Thanks for the beer!
    2
  8902.  @Skyhawk2077  That's what I was alluding to. I've visited the place.
    2
  8903.  @watcher805  They can, too.
    2
  8904.  @watcher805  Legally? Please elaborate. Go teach us.
    2
  8905.  @lanabarow6485  Treaties don't persist into all eternity. There are plenty of precedents where old treaties have been declared null and void, sometimes even unilaterally, with nary a reaction from the other parties concerned. The Paris Peace Treaties of 1947 are a case in point.
    2
  8906. Where? When? What should we protest about?
    2
  8907. Yeah, Khrushchev and Castro dared.
    2
  8908. Omdat ze in Rusland doen alsof het een democratie is. Dat ze zo'n poppenkast moeten opvoeren spreekt al boekdelen. Als je een objectievere beoordeling nodig hebt, google eens naar de 'Democracy Index'. Spoiler alert: Rusland staat op 146de plaats.
    2
  8909. You're such a sage. You may want to dial back the braggadocio, however.
    2
  8910.  @zeffez8161  So, if Jack has 10 apples and gives 4 to Sally, how many apples has Jack left? Your answer: 10. You must've driven your first grade teacher batty.
    2
  8911. It makes perfect sense. The land of the free Trump may turn on its own like a rabid dog.
    2
  8912. Putin is investing billions in swaying public opinion worldwide in Russia's favour. This is a good antidote.
    2
  8913. Why not? Taranto and Pearl Harbor aren't the deepest of ports, but major blows against enemy naval power were struck in both ports.
    2
  8914.  @malloc7108  Brilliant. Putin's city-state of Moscow would go bankrupt in a jiffy.
    2
  8915.  @Tabacish  Foreigners are the source of all evil?
    2
  8916. Ouch. They must've lowered the bar for recruiting wumaos.
    2
  8917. That'll do Scandinavian Airlines in.
    2
  8918. What's the diff with #projectreality? The fears are fast becoming reality.
    2
  8919. The problem is that the Russians living along the Finnish border in what was previously Finland would love to become Finnish nationals. It would, however, be prohibitively expensive for Finnish taxpayers to raise them up to the same standard of living -- even if that were possible. Poor and backward doesn't begin to describe the conditions there.
    2
  8920.  @trickslies844  Federal taxes would be relevant when determining future ownership of federal assets in Texas. Like most US states, Texas is a net payer in terms of federal taxes rather than a net beneficiary. In fact, it appears Texas contributes more in excise taxes to the federal budget than any other state, so a divorce settlement could favour Texas. Having said that, Brexit didn't turn out well for the Brits. Unknown unknowns, like Rumsfeld would say.
    2
  8921. So Russia's near-complete isolation makes the world more multipolar? Rather, we're seeing one pole, Russia, melt before our very eyes.
    2
  8922. Howaboutism... there's some novelty to that, I guess.
    2
  8923.  @straighttalking2090  Klaus* Schwab is the new be-all and end-all of zany conspiracy theorists. It's good to know, so you can ignore the silly gits.
    2
  8924. USA, UK, Moon N*zis... the list is just too long.
    2
  8925.  @RaRa-eu9mw  The bots certainly have been hyperactive of late. There must be a recruitment drive at the troll factory. Post lots or "volunteer" for Ukraine.
    2
  8926.  @editto7560  Uh, I was doing business in both Taiwan and the PRC when you were only a twinkle in your daddy's eye.
    2
  8927. It's not escalation, it's retaliation. It's funny, Russia can literally dish it out, but it can't take it.
    2
  8928. On the contrary, the German far left is experiencing a resurgence according to the polls. All thanks to the AfD, no doubt.
    2
  8929.  @Memovox  Provide some evidence to that effect and we'll give it consideration. Otherwise, you're just flapping your gums.
    2
  8930.  @oceanwave4502  Yeah, road and rail aren't as efficient a method of transport as by sea. Peru, being on the western seabord of South America, doesn't give access to the eastern seabord, like the Panama Canal does. The major markets for Chinese exports are in Brazil and Argentina -- that's more the eastern side of the continent.
    2
  8931. There's Rosgvardiya, Putin's life guard and riot police, but indeed, they're at their best when clubbing protestors.
    2
  8932. No, let's try to focus on the topic at hand.
    2
  8933. They'll gain lustre when Trump's legacy is analysed.
    2
  8934.  @FalloenMatrix  Snake Island is too far from the Ukrainian mainland for ordinary artillery. They'd need the M777 or PzH 2000 and costly special rounds to reach the island.
    2
  8935. The same applies to Gibraltar. Spaniards and other Schengen citizens are waved through at the border. UK citizens have to produce a passport, even if they fly in directly from the UK. That's sovereignty for the Brits.
    2
  8936. The victim mentality is strong with you far righties.
    2
  8937.  @James-hm9on  OK, Botty McBotface.
    2
  8938. It's their planet, too.
    2
  8939.  @E3ECO  Report him for spamming. That's what the three dots are for on the right. No doubt, he'll be back with a new account, but at least he's won't get the visibility he's craving for.
    2
  8940. It's all good, bro. Russia's been always like that.
    2
  8941. Haven't you gotten the memo? India is to switch allegiance from Russia to... someone else. Russia and China are BFFs now, and India is a third wheel in the relationship.
    2
  8942. BioNTech, unlike Chinese corporations, are not government-controlled. In the free world, companies have the freedom to sign distribution agreements unsupervised, even ill-considered ones suggested to them by the CCP, which they naively accept, like in this case.
    2
  8943.  @MH-pz8wf  BioNTech deserve part of the blame. Their business sense failed them spectacularly. At least they're embarrassed. China, of course, is unrepentant.
    2
  8944. Kinda pathetic that you Krembots have to beg for peace in YouTube comment sections, but I get it, desperate times call for desperate measures.
    2
  8945.  @АндрейПерегуд-п6я  I'm an active reservist and we're in NATO. I'm completely unawares that I fought in Bakhmut. Must be acute-onset amnesia.
    2
  8946.  @darkworld3441  Antarctica is huge. It should be someone's daddy because of size alone, but it's childless.
    2
  8947.  @raysondetre  Actually, the other day the Houthis attacked a tanker that was carrying Russian oil. It's as if you're suggesting that Russia is complicit in -- alleged -- genocide.
    2
  8948. Remember, this is not your safe space.
    2
  8949. There was little trust between the Tories and the EU to begin with, so what are you crying about?
    2
  8950. The accuracy of Russia's repurposed S-300s is such that hitting a specific target is too much to ask for. If they hit the right city, they can count themselves lucky.
    2
  8951. True, it's an old and sad song about Russia. A regular tearjerker, but the Russians like it that way. It plays nicely into their victim mentality.
    2
  8952. @ImrightImright-y2v No disagreement there. In parliamentary democracies, it's important to keep it civil, because your current political opponents may be your future coalition partners. However, the far right feeds off combative and polarising politics. What is a crypto-Nazi to do?
    2
  8953. It's perfectly acceptable to let the electorate decide the fate of corrupt politicians. It's sad that it doesn't work in Hungary, but it's a valid concept in countries with developed democratic institutions.
    2
  8954. You made a funny.
    2
  8955. Netanyahu is settling down to his favourite pastime: sabotaging the peace (read: "peace") process.
    2
  8956. Dutch? French? Didier Reynders is Belgian and francophone, despite having a Flemish surname.
    2
  8957. Don't you worry your pretty little head. It's a no-brainer for the EU to cut the cord when the UK becomes too much of a nuisance. It's just that we have pity on you while you try to solve your ever-worsening political crisis. Our patience has limits.
    2
  8958. After his political cronies, the military are the last to go hungry. Maduro is not suicidal.
    2
  8959. France is so ripe for the Sixth Republic. The UK should take note, too.
    2
  8960.  @bigboss.800  *Americans. Germany may have skimped on its military spending, but it has made a tidy profit from the spending of others. Germany is a major exporter of defence equipment.
    2
  8961.  @asynchronicity And failing hard at it. Putin trolls never stand out in terms of intelligence.
    2
  8962.  @asynchronicity  No wonder. They are paid in potatoes, which they turn into vodka.
    2
  8963. Aren't you rich.
    2
  8964.  @pv1767  Don't flatter yourself. Your truths come out of a work of fiction.
    2
  8965.  @pohatuthereactor1693  Bollocks. You're a poser.
    2
  8966.  @lindao1327  The American Century is drawing to a close, just like Britain's Imperial Century ended. I've never been an outright fan of the former, but for the sake of my descendants, I dread what's next.
    2
  8967. It doesn't work if you refuse to take it, like many Russians do.
    2
  8968.  @ismailyahaia3312  You have to ask? Putin's "special military operation" is a clown show.
    2
  8969. That changes everything. Not.
    2
  8970. @Marie Corso Ah, you must be far-right. Then indeed everyone is left of you on the political spectrum.
    2
  8971. Just Ukraine and Italy will suffice.
    2
  8972.  d s  They don't make the grade. Communism is the antithesis of democracy.
    2
  8973.  @jdemeulenaer123  Economically, yes, capitalism. Politically, very much communism.
    2
  8974.  Ronove  Like never, then. Communism is a theory that is unfit for human consumption. It turns sour the moment implementation starts.
    2
  8975. The truth is stranger than fiction. I blame hubris.
    2
  8976. ...beer? ...wine?
    2
  8977.  @nathanboyea9964  The US leads the EU in Covid-19 deaths adjusted by population size. To date, 757,489 deaths have been recorded in the EU/EEA. In the US, there have been 648,474 deaths to date. The EU/EEA has a population size of 453.51 million. The US population is 331.45 million. This means that the EU/EEA has suffered 1,670 deaths per million and the US 1,956 deaths per million. I call that a clear lead.
    2
  8978. Trump himself is chronically in arrears on his bills. What should we do to him? Let Russian debt collectors have a go at him? Will the Secret Service still protect him?
    2
  8979. I was wondering when the first hater would report for duty. Don't you know that in these trying times, your lot stays in the woodwork?
    2
  8980. @@ummerrahh It's a public secret that Russia feeds the IMF imaginary economic data. Earlier this year, Russia's finance ministry admitted that Russia's oil and gas revenue had dropped by 47%. For a gas station that masquerades as a country, it's nothing short of a disaster. Carbon-free is laughable? There are several countries that have already passed the 50% mark in favour of renewable energy. Incidentally, these countries enjoy healthy economic growth. For your info, all our winters are cold, and we're none the worse for wear. Nuclear power stations like their cooling water cold.
    2
  8981.  @davidnoelfranks1124  Turret-popping is not a desirable feature in a tank.
    2
  8982. Toldyouso
    2
  8983. Have a potato.
    2
  8984. Are you paying enough?
    2
  8985.  @LondiweMtshali-yy5kf  Warmongers? This is Putin's war and his alone.
    2
  8986. Apathy is not an admirably trait.
    2
  8987. Lame.
    2
  8988.  @huas5350  Nowadays, Chinese warplanes enter Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) as a matter of routine, but they steer clear of Taiwanese airspace. Note the difference, ADIZ and airspace.
    2
  8989. A bot with a faulty projector.
    2
  8990. Conspiracy theory detected. It's temporary employment at best, and some of us don't even get paid a salary -- merely a daily allowance. Being on the dole is more lucrative.
    2
  8991. Ik vrees dat Poetin niet zo gul zal zijn als het zover is.
    2
  8992. "Just a simple guy trying to make use of the internet in helping others." With an emphasis on 'simple'.
    2
  8993. How sporting that the Kadyrovites were included, even though their abilities lie elsewhere than on the battlefield. Play-acting in TikTok videos, to be exact.
    2
  8994.  @radicaltiestiessen8634  I would thank you profusely for your kind advice if I indeed were British. Instead, I'm a contented EU citizen three times over (no multiple personality disorder, but three passports).
    2
  8995. I guess democracy is a novel concept to you. How sad.
    2
  8996. Europe has tabled an idea how to achieve peace in Ukraine. Trump only came up with an idea how to help himselves to the spoils of war.
    2
  8997. I dunno, Americans tend to swoon with delight when they hear an upperclass British accent.
    2
  8998. I'm sure other airlines aren't keen on KLM gaining an unfair competitive advantage either. If you don't care about consumer protection, you should at least care about unfair trading practices.
    2
  8999. I'm sure conspiracy websites are rife with such fairy tales.
    2
  9000. A clash of egos seems entirely plausible.
    2
  9001. Which part of "veto" don't you understand? There's a price to pay for having a warmonger as a permanent member on the UNSC.
    2
  9002. 'Going postal' has aquired a new meaning.
    2
  9003. Russia is selling crude oil below cost to China. How is that a win?
    2
  9004.  @TheLunatrick  You're creating a convenient precedent for China. They're building stuff for their Belt and Road Initiative all over the world. Can they annex the territory in question as well?
    2
  9005. Based on what survey? TrustMeBro Inc's exhaustive research?
    2
  9006. Self-betrayal is more like it.
    2
  9007.  Firm Buttocks  OK Brexiteer. You're projecting your own fears.
    2
  9008. You're alluding to the Elgin marbles?
    2
  9009.  @thierryherreman6286  No doubt. But what I meant was the songtext of België/Is er leven op Pluto by Het Goede Doel. Fun fact: they replaced Belgium with Luxembourg in the English version. They must've figured that Belgium's secret charms shouldn't leak out any further.
    2
  9010. Your sensitivities are too sensitive for French cultural fare.
    2
  9011.  @ShwarcArnold  Oh dearie, you responded with an emoticon. Let me guess, you can read -- just barely -- but stringing together a proper sentence eludes you?
    2
  9012.  @carsonianthegreat4672  Describe in detail what the role of the EU was in that case. An entirely passive one, eh? But that doesn't stop you conspiracy theorists from making up stories.
    2
  9013. Maybe she was prettier.
    2
  9014. You tell us then (pffrt!).
    2
  9015. Don't play the victim card. Germans don't bear India ill will.
    2
  9016. Wallowing in victimhood is second nature to Russia. In their mind, Napoleon's 210-year old foray into Moscow is proof positive that everyone's out to get them. People have been committed for less severe forms of paranoia.
    2
  9017. If Greta's religious, mostly likely she's Protestant. Catholicism is very marginal in Sweden.
    2
  9018.  @JulianY2K12  What is the real agenda here? Teaching them tolerance?
    2
  9019.  @Underline78  Sure, hide your kids away. However, when they want to go out into the real world, they'll have a hard time adjusting.
    2
  9020. Are you suggesting that unlike the Ukrainians, the Georgians willingly allow Russia to lord over them, implying that the Georgians are weak and submissive? I suspect that claim says more about you than it says about the Georgians. You may want to grow a pair, buddy.
    2
  9021.  @TheAlchaemist  I bet Russian recruitment officers have been paying visits to troll factories, if only to motivate the poor little blighters.
    2
  9022.  @neolord50pro77  I expect we'll see yet another "tactical" Russian withdrawal from the rest of Kherson when Ukraine punches through to Melitopol. No doubt, you'll call it yet another gesture of goodwill, followed by even more goodwill, to the point of Russia withdrawing to pre-2014 borders. Russia is full of goodwill. Ukraine just has to make it abundantly clear to Russia when goodwill is called for.
    2
  9023.  @WalterWiperi  Good as well? Occupation talks? You're both a comedian and a coward.
    2
  9024. ​ @Dylan-sp7oc  Klopt. Mijn woordenschat ging er flink op vooruit toen ik in Antwerpen ging studeren. Later verkastte een Vlaamse vriend naar Amsterdam en ontmoette aldaar een lief waarmee hj ging samenwonen. Ze schafte de Dikke Van Dale aan om te checken of alle woorden die hij gebruikte wel echt bestonden.
    2
  9025. You shouldn't generalise. Russia's arms exports are seriously down, with even Russia's biggest customer, India, switching suppliers.
    2
  9026.  @sddsds768  The difference between cause and effect is a complete mystery to you.
    2
  9027.  @bca-biciclindcuaxel7527  The French have always been more keen on pomp than the average European. What appears right in a French context isn't necessarily so elsewhere. We're not all alike. Get with it.
    2
  9028.  @zoka7108  Nonsense. China officially tried to abolish slavery in 1910, but slavery was fully eradicated only in 1949. I suppose the Communists were suddenly in hurry, to have an excuse to "liberate" Tibet without looking like total hypocrites.
    2
  9029.  @Dave_Sisson  Funny you should equate Latin with Catholicism. Classicism was and remains popular in the UK, which is not very Catholic at all. I was brought up a Protestant, and I took Latin and Greek.
    2
  9030. Are you saying Musk Industries doesn't have shareholders? Make that worried shareholders.
    2
  9031.  @ruin1619  It's the US that's backing out of supporting Ukraine.
    2
  9032.  @ruin1619  Historic core lands? The Russian Empire expanded by brute force, in true colonial style. Backyard colonialism, it's called. You may as well claim that Africa is composed of British and French historic core lands.
    2
  9033.  @parkerburrus289  Orban was hiding behind Erdogan's skirts. When left alone, he immediately sprang into action, urging Hungary's parliament to back Sweden's NATO bid. The man has a wet noodle for a backbone.
    2
  9034. Does this mean our ever-present Z-bots get transferred to the front? I have doubts about their fighting abilities, but at least they're highly motiva--SSPLURRT! Sorry, I just blew milk out of my nose laughing.
    2
  9035.  @ikirsps9751  Valt heel erg mee. Ik dronk wel een pilsje met Amerikaanse mariniers in Singapore. Hetzelfde geld voor Tokio en Seoel, daar kwam je ook vaak Amerikaanse soldaten tegen. Niemand die er iets negatiefs van zei.
    2
  9036.  @zallyzally2698  You must be talking about your own nightmares. Ukraine's counter-offensive hasn't unravelled at the first sign of resistance, like Russia's failed advance on Kyiv. It means the Ukrainians were fully prepared for stiff resistance, unlike Russia in late Feb 2022.
    2
  9037.  @SPENKER52  To "Make Europe Great Again". I took you for a Orban fanboy. How come you don't know?
    2
  9038.  @LowerYourExpectationsPleb  So you "acheve [sic] peace" by de facto supporting Putin? It's interesting that you don't regard Hungary a Western country. Telling even.
    2
  9039.  @olesyaolesya2196  Because Europe can easily afford foodstuff even if prices shoot up. Developing countries aren't as lucky.
    2
  9040.  @enochcushite496  Why France? That would be like inviting the pope to an evangelicals' convention in the Deep South of the USA. Different clubs, sport.
    2
  9041. The Trump cultists are immune to broken promises.
    2
  9042.  @LivingLonger  You're not well-versed in these matters. At times, Russian warships sail across the Irish Sea, passing Northern Ireland and Scotland. That's UK in both cases, in case that didn't register. It's "international water [sic]" all right.
    2
  9043. It's not Germany vs. Russia, is it? And NATO is obligated to respond if Russia lays a hand on Germany. Educate yourself about NATO's Article 5.
    2
  9044.  @legatilegions8055  Truth be told, the CSTO is history. It died a silent death but the funeral has been postponed indefinitely, to save face. Embarrassingly, Armenia has to press the point by formally leaving.
    2
  9045. Bikes are actually potent weapons in hybrid warfare. During the Migrant Crisis, Russia let asylum seekers cross into Norway... on bike. Something to do with immigration restrictions, which prohibited border crossings on foot in the High North.
    2
  9046. 5.56? That would be a burst of either 5.45×39mm or 7.62x39mm. But scary, yes.
    2
  9047.  @freedomm  Russia can't replace its erstwhile European customers. Russia knows it, too, but they prefer not to tell you bots.
    2
  9048. Uh, raw materials don't magically transform into manufactured products.
    2
  9049. There must be support groups for you whataboutists. If not, perhaps you could set up a local chapter of Whataboutists Anonymous.
    2
  9050. No, it's because of the price of tea in China.
    2
  9051. Try democracy, rule of law, human rights. It's funny you have to ask.
    2
  9052. These days, it's Russia against the rest.
    2
  9053.  @achristian1643  Russia, especially, is a regional power with irrational superpower aspirations.
    2
  9054. Yes, you're very confused.
    2
  9055. It follows that you oppose Putin's war. Don't worry about going to prison -- silence means assent.
    2
  9056. It's four European countries, as you're obviously referring to NATO's nuclear sharing programme. The host countries have a big say in if, how and when they're used, even to point of having to deliver the bombs themselves. Furthermore, the Americans don't install nukes on foreign soil without the say-so of the country in question. Oh, and try to refer to the UK by its proper name, especially since British nuclear ICBM subs are based in Scotland. England and Scotland are not the same, but both are in the UK (for the time being, anyway).
    2
  9057. And Russia was supposed to pop over, restore order and leave Ukraine as a celebrated liberator. How did it all go so pear-shaped for Putin?
    2
  9058.  @lc9902  Aw, you're appealing to the stone.
    2
  9059.  @newcreation7084  Which agreement might you be referring to? And please don't parrot oh-so-many-times-discredited propaganda. I've got better things to do.
    2
  9060. False equivalence. Cyanide, which is extreme poisonous, is made up of carbon and nitrogen. Carbon is even more abundant than oxygen.
    2
  9061. Please, tell me which law forbids a second referendum.
    2
  9062.  @edgarburlyman738  It's mainly because of the obsolescent 7.62x39 round. The 5.56 is inherently more accurate and better-behaved recoil-wise. It has to be said that as reservist shooters, we compete on accuracy. It's only half the story in a war.
    2
  9063.  @edgarburlyman738  I've shot at cinder blocks and pig carcasses with both. It was a tie.
    2
  9064. Let's see how the CCP will deal with the Chinese demanding their democratic rights. If Hong Kong is anything to go by, it will all end in tears.
    2
  9065.  @Ilovecruise  Right, the CCP gauging its own popularity. Let me guess, you were born yesterday?
    2
  9066.  @dearcoolz  Not true. Taiwan is democratic. Economically, Taiwan punches far above its weight, too. Their GDP per capita is more than three times that of China.
    2
  9067.  @mythbusterUSA  The Chinese were only able to crack the cell phone market when it got commoditized and pretty much everyone could make one from readily available components. And they're still competing on price. Still, Apple shows that cell phone brands matter. I don't see any similar dynamic in sports brands. Image matters much more in sports and it doesn't come cheap. How would the Chinese have a price advantage there?
    2
  9068.  @unicornharry7995  The top 10 list of democracies is dominated by parliamentary democracies with PR. They tend to have coalition governments as per usual. It can be argued that coalition governments are the more democratic ones.
    2
  9069. Sorry, Ian, I prefer Jonathan.
    2
  9070. You'll find that the other aviation regulators won't be as quick to declare the 737 MAX airworthy again, considering the many failings of the FAA brought to light by this debacle. Boeing's foreign customers won't take delivery before their own regulators concur.
    2
  9071.  @SergPaul62  You'd think the positions had suffered artillery damage. After all, artillery is the only thing Russia has going for them.
    2
  9072. Which part of 'veto' don't you understand?
    2
  9073.  @777cs7  Have you been diagnosed yet? If not, you should know that psychopathy has been associated with self-injurious behaviour. For your own safety, seek professional help.
    2
  9074.  @sylwiab8946  No, I'm just annoyed by you whiners.
    2
  9075.  @natashaclark1356  And you make yourself scarce. Channel 4 is not your safe place.
    2
  9076. Actually, FIAT stands for Fiasco Italiana Aeroplani Terribile.
    2
  9077. With Russian nuclear weapons now in Kaliningrad and Belarus, both of which border Poland, it's only fair that Poland joins NATO's nuclear sharing club. Putin must understand that he'll reap what he sows.
    2
  9078. What's amazing is that Russia "uncovered" a Ukraine connection so quickly. You can't make it up. Wait, Russia just did...
    2
  9079.    Who exactly are blaming and for what? Are you're blaming the EU for what the Polish government has done to the Polish people? Should the EU assume direct authority over the Poles? As the bribery, the current situation with Poland is such that the EU net payers are setting conditions for further aid, such as adhering to rule of law. It's gentle coercion, but not bribery.
    2
  9080.  Heid The Ba'  If so, it appears to be a fish cake, and a rotten one at that.
    2
  9081. Uh, Ukraine and the USA are not one and the same country. I know, they both start with a U, but still...
    2
  9082. Oops, the Texans forgot to rake their forests.
    2
  9083. Good riddance.
    2
  9084. Leger des Heils zeker?
    2
  9085.  @asfsfafafafafaf3382  Je kan je héél verstandig voordoen, maar als Poetin toch z'n ding doet in Oekraïne, maakt het bijzonder weinig uit.
    2
  9086. I call on Putin to negotiate an end to his illegal war of aggression against Ukraine.
    2
  9087. @Kotomine Berndrewd Give over, the MiG-23 is a piece of junk even by Russian standards.
    2
  9088. It is very important that your personal opinion on the matter has been duly recorded.
    2
  9089.  @jayjaycasty67  But Norway is a pay-but-no-say member of the EU. They wanted it that way.
    2
  9090. OK, Poetin-fanboy.
    2
  9091. ​ @bradrichards8122  I wouldn't count too much on the Phalanx when the Houthis launch ballistic missiles, like they've done many times over by now. When (or if) it manages to destroy an incoming missile, the range will be such that the ship is likely to be showered by burning fuel and debris. The Phalanx, like CIWS in general, is a weapon of last resort. It's dangerous to friend and foe.
    2
  9092. Perk up, you're not alone. In some individuals, anxiety causes violent colon spasms. If you can pass it off as irritable bowel syndrome, maybe you won't be sent to Ukraine to fight. See, every cloud has a silver lining!
    2
  9093. ​ @hausofdownboots  I'm going out on a limb, but I trust you understand the role of a referee in football. Extrapolate from there.
    2
  9094. Well, he is wearing flip-flops. One side reads "TRUMP BAD" and the other "TRUMP GOOD". They're easily turned.
    2
  9095. Previously, China was just fine with NATO kicking the Taliban's butt. In fact, China counted on it. I smell opportunism.
    2
  9096.  @goldfingerbond6595  Obviously we care about democracy, as any decent human should. And who's asking whom to leave and on whose authority? The military junta in Niger has none.
    2
  9097. Enough religion already.
    2
  9098. They've done OK on the whole. I guess history isn't your strong suit. As a case in point, the French made US independence possible. Without their martial prowess, both at sea and on land, Canada would border Mexico.
    2
  9099. Don't let America live rent-free in your mind. It sets a bad precedent.
    2
  9100. Don't worry, maybe you'll find a girlfriend one day.
    2
  9101.  @pasofino2199  Sure, thanks to their superior equality, the troughs of the Communist pigs never run empty. It's very clear that Russia's motive is preventing regime change. KGB-Putin doesn't have an altruistic bone in his body.
    2
  9102.  @JayJay5244  The takeaway from your comment is "the US should pull out..."
    2
  9103.  @JayJay5244  I beg to differ. I used to have connecting flights via Frankfurt, which was a beehive during the early stages of the Iraq War on account of the US air base right next to it. My uniformed fellow passengers made no secret of going to or having been in Iraq. Being a two-tour vet myself, I had no complaints about the company I was keeping (although the increased airport security was a chore), since it was a shared US air base and the passenger jets were those of US airlines, but had I been German, I definitely would've minded. After all, Germany opposed the Iraq War, and for all the right reasons, as it turned out. To this day, Germany is paying a steep price for your military adventurism. You can't fault the former Soviet bloc countries for seeking security guarantees from NATO to stave off Russian aggression. If you Americans have geopolitical concerns and consider the countries in question mere pawns, you should make yourselves scarce from Europe.
    2
  9104. Hello Дориан Грей, I found another sock puppet of yours. That's #2.
    2
  9105. Yeah, scrap the Constitution already.
    2
  9106. High drama detected. How's DW on the firing line? For reporting the news?
    2
  9107. The Finnish entry was a horror show and I say this as a Finn.
    2
  9108. Since he's on a roll, Trump should pardon MBS for ordering the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
    2
  9109.  @chrisfetty9761  If we were talking about a well-regulated militia, you might have a point, but sadly, that's not the case. Those with guns would just as soon shoot each other than take up arms against a would-be dictator. Even if they somehow could form a cohesive force, they wouldn't stand a chance against a professional army.
    2
  9110.  @canman5060  I applied for a visa waiver for a trip to the US and the embassy staffer, on seeing my place of birth, told me I should just get citizenship instead, because it would be a quick formality. It's interesting how the US treats foreigners as highly suspect, while their 'own' are welcomed with open arms. I'm still the same person.
    2
  9111. DW has a long way to go before it's in CNN mode. DW would have to repeat everything three times and turn down playback speed to 0.5, as per usual with US news media.
    2
  9112. "Russia claims" is a euphemism for "Russia lies".
    2
  9113.  @doreybain  Sure, when Russia cuts off the gas, the Germans will grow cold, but the Russians will grow hungry. Russia is just as dependent on the gas revenues as Germany is on the gas.
    2
  9114. If you don't want an opposition, it follows that you don't want democracy either. A functioning opposition is part and parcel of a democracy.
    2
  9115. ​ @vsevolodsolovyev5608  So, you're unfit to decide about matters pertaining to government and since you're unfit, you want to deny others the possibility as well.
    2
  9116.  @Alec72HD  Ask your handlers for new material. You're boring us and yourself.
    2
  9117. Anglosaxon? You're behind the times. The Anglosaxons ceased to exist in the 11th century AD.
    2
  9118.  @tomzamp8547  You missed the metaphor. Colour me unsurprised.
    2
  9119.  @sammiller6631  No kidding. Putin already fashions himself Peter the Great.
    2
  9120.  @RifetOkic  De bunkers zitten heel diep onder de grond, uitgehouwen in graniet. Je moet eens de metro nemen in Helsinki. Ik heb in Hongkong een langere roltrap genomen, maar dat was bovensgrond. St. Peterburg is de tweede stad van Rusland. Ze hebben er heel erg hard om gevochten in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, maar jij weet natuurlijk beter. Bespaar je wereldbeschouwing voor iemand die het horen wil.
    2
  9121.  @nomatusi7514  "The Queen reigns, but she does not rule." You still believe in fairy tale royalty. How incredibly cute!
    2
  9122. Between Russia and Turkey?
    2
  9123. Barring any new developments in Assange's case, could you ask Fox News? I believe they're more into whataboutism, like yourself.
    2
  9124.  @leonardoorellano6652  I mean everyone with two or more brain cells to rub together.
    2
  9125.  @johnchin1456  You don't know your WW2 insignia either.
    2
  9126. It would be prohibitively expensive to have a general election whenever the Tories deem their PM a failure.
    2
  9127. Finland has been part of the West for ages, just not quite militarily. You're not giving a very flattering impression of yourself.
    2
  9128.  @samsungtap4183  They're called pilots.
    2
  9129.  @Doge-zb7ku  At least Ramzan Kadyrov has thrived since he and his dad betrayed their fellow Chechen freedom fighters by suddenly switching loyalties to Putin. He can afford $1,500 Prada combat boots now.
    2
  9130. Meh.
    2
  9131. Actually, no. Unwittingly, the EU is enabling separatism in Europe. We ended up with our present borders because regions had to band together to ward off unfriendly neighbours. Within the EU, unfriendly neighbours are no longer an issue. The fact wasn't lost on the Catalonian separatists, who saw ther chance. Smaller member states actually bolster the union, because they're forced to co-operate more closely to ward off those truly unfriendly neighbours, like Russia.
    2
  9132.  @karjala.  They originally picked the name themselves. Let's also not forget that an overwhelming number of their voters struggle to get the Finnish spelling right.
    2
  9133. So Russia is lost too?
    2
  9134. You seem to relish in death and destruction. Have you been diagnosed yet? I'm no expert, but I suspect psychopathy.
    2
  9135. Sure, the culprit was identified quickly last time. China even admitted it was their ship.
    2
  9136.  @brehgankage6242  ...and shaking their heads.
    2
  9137. Not so long if these pilots tangle with the IAF.
    2
  9138. "Ultra-national EU globalist bureaucracy"... that's a contradiction in terms. Do you just string words together willy-nilly?
    2
  9139.  @DubboU  No worries, I have my views on the war, but I was asking a Putin fanboy for his. You have a try. You seem to be privy to "the truth".
    2
  9140.  @marcuskingstanley9522  France is the most visited country in the world. They manage it without royals.
    2
  9141.  @marcuskingstanley9522  It's not borne out by international rankings, I'm afraid. Take your pick: democracy index, human development index, economic freedom, press freedom, corruption perception, happiness... the UK isn't doing badly, but you're not topping anything.
    2
  9142.  @marcuskingstanley9522  You've heard of googling, right? Norway tops both the Democracy Index and Press Freedom Index. You'll find the Norwegians are enviably close to the top spots in other indexes as well. We should be singing their praises, not yours.
    2
  9143.  @kristine2916  Who does sympathise with terrorists, Gazan or otherwise? Not World Central Kitchen, not me. But sure, Israel has radicalised the Gazans who call themselves Hamas. Netanyahu didn't even bother to hide the fact that "his" Hamas has successfully sabotaged the peace process to the point that it's practically non-existent. Educate yourself.
    2
  9144. The difficult time is entirely Putin's doing. He's expecting to be rewarded for it, too.
    2
  9145. Don't you worry. NATO will keep Russia securely within its borders, while it transforms into an open-air museum.
    2
  9146. Feeling suicidal? Get help!
    2
  9147. By responding in kind? Russia started it all. Retaliation is not escalation.
    2
  9148.  @stormhawk31  So, you intend to negotiate hard with the Greenlanders? Denmark has made it clear that the Greenlanders decide their own fate, not Denmark, nor Trump.
    2
  9149.  @on2thenextthing  They won't miss the dark confines of Putin's r*ctum either.
    2
  9150. Aren't you quite the drama queen. Of all "Eastern" democracies, only Taiwan's can truly compete with the leading Western ones. It's an undeniable fact that Democracy Index scores drop dramatically when you go from West to East -- or to any other direction, for that matter.
    2
  9151.  @tm-pj4eb  Check out the Democracy Index, dum-dum.
    2
  9152.  @ssembatyajohn8926  If so, it's deuced odd that there's no evidence whatsoever of Ukraine targeting civilians in Donbas. Even Russian OSCE observers came up empty. I've never understood this glaring conflict in OSCE and Russian claims. Can you explain it? Or are you making a beeline for your troll cave?
    2
  9153. Irrelevant, or do you care to explain how Norway lays claim to a rather large piece of the continent? It has no possessions anywhere near.
    2
  9154. Keep up with the news. France has already committed to sending troops to Ukraine. Murica is sending mining engineers instead.
    2
  9155. There will be a violent political backlash against Netanyahu when the smoke clears. He had better start making retirement plans.
    2
  9156. OK, Ivan. The Polish election will soon be over and your salty tears will flow freely again.
    2
  9157. Nope. Germany gets about 35% of their gas from Russia. For oil, it's 36%. I don't know what kind of math they teach you in the US, but these figures should speak for themselves.
    2
  9158.  @ClarksonsinUSA  So you admit to getting it wrong. I don't operate a news channel. Are you a n00b to Youtube?
    2
  9159. Which West? It's a rather large number of countries with very varied histories. Only a few owe India in any conceivable sense.
    2
  9160.  @anne-louiseluccarini4530 The French do a very stylish version of 'rude'.
    2
  9161. The Houthis are attacking Red Sea shipping at the behest of Iran. It doesn't serve their own interests in the least. It's just that they owe Iran. If the Houthi rebels could decide independently, they'd stop -- or rather, they never would've started this in the first place.
    2
  9162.  SMV  Which particular information are you referring to? Not the OSCE's, who ought to know all about it if you anything akin to your claim happened. Russia, as an OSCE member, failed to make a case, but apparently that doesn't stop you trolls from peddling the lie.
    2
  9163. "Welcome to demagogy" is more appropriate.
    2
  9164. What's the EU's stance here? Do you know something no-one else does?
    2
  9165.  @CommeradeZhukov  We are, but you must've forfeited yours.
    2
  9166.  @Minposu123  Can't disagree there. I think it important to expose Russian lies and betrayal for what they are.
    2
  9167. What if we enjoy European lithium? Portugal, Germany, Austria and Finland all have sizable reserves. And we don't have to dodge bullets mining it. As soon as the Russians stop shooting, Ukraine, too, will start mining lithium.
    2
  9168.  @yarnickgoovaerts  Sure thing. As UN peacekeepers, we were caught in a crossfire several times. It was part of the job description.
    2
  9169.  @johnh.tuomala4379  The Finnish nickname for the DP-27 stems from a Finnish folk song by that name. It was recorded many time overs, so practically all those with a record player had the record. Ian's video brings back memories from NCO school, where we took them apart and put them together again, time and again. I hope those in storage weren't as worn-out.
    2
  9170.  @johnh.tuomala4379  Jaeger is the accepted English spelling. I served with coastal jaegers in Lebanon. They weren't very popular with the rest of us because of their punishing marches. And I thought myself fit before my deployment.
    2
  9171. The last time British and Russian troops did battle, in the frozen northwest of Russia, the Russians suffered disproportionate casualties. You wouldn't believe it, but the cold was the biggest killer --- of Russians.
    2
  9172.  @darrellpowell6042  There's little to "translate". The Storm Shadow is pre-programmed on the ground. Ukraine's Sukhois (not MiGs -- they don't have the capacity to carry a weapon that heavy) just need to send it on its way.
    2
  9173. Yet you feel compelled to look. In the closet much?
    2
  9174. It's great that you've cleared that up for us. However, I do believe it's part of the secondary school science curriculum.
    2
  9175. Not true. Russia's still very much at it. Russia never properly decolonised.
    2
  9176.  @maggiechan33  You'll find that many colonial remnants are reluctant to cut the chord, because the lack of subsidies from the motherland would condemn them to economic hardship. Many independence referendums have failed for that reason. Even if they succeed, the newly-independent territories tend to lose a big part of their populace as emigrants to the motherland. Suriname is a case in point. Post-independence, the country had lost a third of its populace to emigration to the Netherlands. Ever since, Suriname has been anything but a success story.
    2
  9177. Rather, the USA is nosediving -- morally, economically, democratically, militarily and whatnot. Trump's bluster will cost you dearly, and not just with regard to the EU. The whole world seems to be your enemy now.
    2
  9178.  @ladyofwinterfel8143  That begs the question if the US truly meets its 2% of GDP contribution to NATO. If you study US military doctrine carefully, it's questionable, to say the least.
    2
  9179.  @frank-ko6de  Reading comp is tough. I explained very carefully to you that US military doctrine calls for the ability to fight two major wars (and some minor ones) at the same time. In the light of this, it's only fair to halve US defence expenditure in order to arrive at the share it spends on NATO. So 1.75% is below NATO's 2% target, innit? You must be a Trump voter, right? If you're old enough to vote, that is.
    2
  9180. Azerbaijan is busily making sure that there's something to go and come around in the future as well. Azerbaijan could make a serious effort to break this seemingly never-ending cycle of ethnic conflict, but it seems they're quite content with how things are working out. For now.
    2
  9181. Maybe you should concern yourself with how to elect a president who's not well above retirement age, Democrat or Republican.
    2
  9182. You can always start censoring history. Russia and China can provide tips on how to go about.
    2
  9183. This is about the UN Security Council, the resolutions of which are binding. Resolutions of the UN General Assembly aren't binding.
    2
  9184.  @larss337  There were indeed Vickers MGs, some captured from the Russians and others either bought from or gifted by Great Britain. Because of supply issues, they were reserved for coastal defence and (anti-)aircraft use.
    2
  9185. Well "Aussie" Rod, you tried -- and still try -- to pass off the Iraqi WMDs as a Western conspiracy. They might want you to believe otherwise, but the USA and UK alone don't make up the "West". I would also think your alleged conspirators would've thought of fabricating the necessary evidence in advance. Still no evidence of WMDs, fabricated or real, surfaced, so I'm putting the whole debacle down to the CIA's ineptitude and the gullibility of Dubya and Bliar. As to my motivation, I'm motivated to expose trolls. Check. Now go change your nick.
    2
  9186.  @infidel202  Who's attacked North Korea? No cheesy conspiracy theories, please.
    2
  9187.  @infidel202  You replied to me. It's only natural to assume your comment would have some relevance to mine. Are you new to YouTube comment sections?
    2
  9188.  @AT-kx6fj  It's called Western betrayal for a reason. Not just Poland suffered it, but the Baltic states, too. Churchill and Roosevelt had no qualms about quietly selling all of them, Finland included, down the river.
    2
  9189.  @IamElChapo  News flash. Israeli scientist readily admit that the Jews and the Palestinians share a very clear common ancestry. A great many Palestinians can trace their ancestry back to Jews, Samaritans and Christians. In fact, Palestinian Jews, Samaritans and Christians exist to this very day. Religions change, genetics not so much.
    2
  9190. As opposed to Eastern Europe? Were they all in on this?
    2
  9191. That'll make a world of difference.
    2
  9192.  @ТаняСкворцова-э9ю  No, you only have a lot of whataboutism for us. And why is the Nordstream sabotage uncomfortable to Finland? It didn't deliver gas to Finland -- or anywhere else, for that matter. It's an undersea moment to commemorate Russia's former glory, when it still had something to sell to Europe.
    2
  9193. Such a shame. I always envisioned president Navalny extraditing Putin to The Hague. Oh well, it will have to be someone else.
    2
  9194. Yeah, we want to hear about those proud mums!
    2
  9195. As a rule, do they all shoot people?
    2
  9196.  @CapAnson12345  Prior to the military coup in Myanmar, how many protesters were shot?
    2
  9197.  @tomhenry897  You're barking up the wrong tree. The Palestinian Authority complies with the 1947 UN resolution that saw Israel being founded. It's Israel that flouts subsequent UN resolutions, the ban on illegal settlements on Palestinian land in particular.
    2
  9198.  @welshygemss  True dat. Farage was always a shoo-in for the European Parliament, but for UK Parliament, nuh-uh, not a chance. Must be the electoral system.
    2
  9199. Aren't you desperate for Ukraine to call it quits.
    2
  9200. I know of a lucrative arms deal that Israel lost as a result of causing fatalities among a certain UNIFIL contingent. Israel needs exports to keep fighting its wars, Uncle Sam's support notwithstanding.
    2
  9201. You two must be stuck been two stages of the grieving process: denial and acceptance.
    2
  9202.  @jmc6687  A loong string of emojis makes a great counter-argument, doesn't it?
    2
  9203. That's because the both of them gravitate to the hard right. It doesn't mean the rest of Europe does, too. Also, I think you read too much into Italy's supposed marginalisation. Italy just doesn't move and shake Europe to the extent you think it does.
    2
  9204. He's a minister in the Netanyahu cabinet, and his appointment was approved by a majority in the Knesset. That's representative democracy for you. Netanyahu ought to sack him if he oversteps his boundaries, or the Knesset could pass a motion of no confidence targeting him directly or the cabinet as a whole. We should be so lucky...
    2
  9205. Now they do, Einstein.
    2
  9206. They got a highly-restrictive, radical Islamist interpretation of freedom -- an oxymoron, if there ever was one. Let's see how long Afghanistan can live with that this time.
    2
  9207.  @robsab531  I wouldn't mind terribly if the USA leaves NATO. But once relegated to a regional power, why and what about should the US negotiate with Putin?
    2
  9208. Yeah, this whingeing about France isn't helping.
    2
  9209.  @K64-e9w  Are there any sanctions for leaving the EU? The Brits' stubborn belief that they're still eligible for EU membership benefits after they've left the club may have given you the wrong impression.
    2
  9210. I think you mean handball.
    2
  9211. OK, Putin fanboy.
    2
  9212.  @markperrin8098  I'm a habitual BBC World Service listener. That's where most of the wailing came from. The fact of the matter is that the UK economy has been underperforming since 2020. The post-pandemic GDP bounce-back has been stronger in the Eurozone than in the UK, with Germany being the only exception. The Germans are paying the piper for their Russia-centric energy policy. Still, I'm confident that Germany will only emerge stronger from their energy crisis. After all, they don't have to contend with endemic problems like the UK's low productivity. It seems you've been out of elbow grease for quite some time now.
    2
  9213.  @markperrin8098  So, instead of arguing your own case, you decided to bolster mine. OK, I don't mind.
    2
  9214.  @exs1803  I'm sorry, I thought you could engage in meaningful discourse, like an adult. Clearly, I was wrong.
    2
  9215. Het gaat vooral om raketten voor de middellange afstand en zweefbommen. Het maakt niet zoveel uit of het een F-35 of een F-16 is die ze afvuurt. Het komt meer aan op de bewapening dan de toestellen zelf. De Russen zullen meer beperkt zijn in hoe ze hun wapens en troepen inzetten. Ze wagen zich sowieso amper nog boven onbezet Oekraïne. Geen van beiden ziet luchtgevechten echt zitten.
    2
  9216.  @mrcjc9298  Charles III should've received Zelenskyy wearing a field uniform. Respect where respect is due.
    2
  9217.  UkraiNAZ  Russia failed to apply for planning permission with the proper authorities. Ukraine graciously assists with the demolition, which doesn't come cheap.
    2
  9218. I think they're going to let Crimea 'wither on the vine'.
    2
  9219. Don't you worry, none of it is yours. Bot.
    2
  9220.  @ep1929  Did you have a gander at the title of this video? Not everything is about you.
    2
  9221. To the max? Set your silly president straight.
    2
  9222.  @MyPrideFlag  You're wrong. According to the UNHCR, 46,467 people from India applied for asylum in other countries in 2022.
    2
  9223. ​ @MyPrideFlag  Spoken like a true narcissist.
    2
  9224. In the Finnish army, we were still issued footwraps in the mid-eighties, although no one mastered the art of applying them correctly, so that they'd stay put.
    2
  9225.  @mikethespike7579  The Turks were disappointed with the performance of the S-400 against low-flying, low-observable targets. That's the Storm Shadow in a nutshell. When it shoots up to strike down hard, it's too late. Maybe a well-placed Pantsir can score a lucky hit with its cannon. The Russians are better at overselling than engineering their AA systems.
    2
  9226.  @ragnarlothbrok4281  I suppose you would claim with equal fervour that the Vikings only wanted to introduce low-price flat-pack furniture to Europe.
    2
  9227.  @stevielowe2853  Actually, we've been generous in offering development aid.
    2
  9228.  @katalinkozak9869  Hungary's violations of the so-called Copenhagen criteria are well documented. Poland, likewise, until it made amends. If you're unable to play by mutually agreed EU rules, get out of the club already, or wait to be expelled.
    2
  9229. High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Try to keep up.
    2
  9230. I remember only too well how we used the French UN contingent in Lebanon as a battering ram. When the situation was getting out of hand, we told the locals and the Israelis that we'd get the French Foreign Legionnaires to help out. Things invariably quieted down.
    2
  9231.  @pollutingpenguin2146  And now you're oversimplifying things. The hydrogen economy is still taking baby steps, like wind and solar once did. Now we're treated to negative electricity prices whenever the wind really picks up. I've even started to heat up the sauna at unconventional hours, just to earn a few symbolic cents.
    2
  9232.  @AnnaAnna-gt6eh  Unless you're a one of the very few indigenous Europeans remaining, your ancestors have made their way to inhabited lands to eke out a better living for themselves. It's what we humans are programmed to do.
    2
  9233. In fact, it's 141 countries vs. 5. Thanks for playing.
    2
  9234. She made a doozy of a mistake. Maybe you didn't notice, but the markets certainly did.
    2
  9235.  @animal4359  Show mercy. It's difficult to get a proper education in the US.
    2
  9236.  @Jack-e5t  I think telling yourself the truth will be more conducive to improving one's lot.
    2
  9237.  @goldsilvervscrisiscollapse4320  We didn't get close? We weren't in on the deal. It's amusing how you try to console yourselves with Prigozhin ultimately not achieving his aims. The mere fact that it almost came to a coup d'état speaks volumes. Russia has regressed to a banana republic.
    2
  9238. French? You conspiracy theorists say the darndest things.
    2
  9239. Impotent rage. Putin is gaining a reputation for it.
    2
  9240. Hey, this is about NATO. You must've thought you were addressing Russia. Keep your eye on the ball!
    2
  9241. It would be awfully nice if you were united in being for something. Anything.
    2
  9242.  @Sunaynasays  To be fair, the Taliban have shown little interest in spreading the faith. It's the affiliated Haqqani network that has foreign aspirations, but I guess the Taliban are going to keep a tight leash on their brothers-in-arms so as not to repeat past mistakes. Who knows, maybe non-affiliated ISIS-K will make a comeback. They, too, threaten foreign countries with terrorism.
    2
  9243.  @imnotme7438  With your poor spelling and grammar ("less smarter [sic]") and equally poor grasp of geography (mistaking a continent for a country), you shouldn't be throwing stones.
    2
  9244. Netanyahu is like a spoiled brat that lashes about against his doting mother.
    2
  9245. Yet you're doing your part in building him up. Your distress is palpable. And revealing.
    2
  9246. Rather, a 'Frankish' shift.
    2
  9247. Spain shows how solidarity is done.
    2
  9248.  @mera1379  Yeah, that's what they used to chant before my grandpa put his Maxim to work.
    2
  9249.  @Intel-i7-9700k  NATO funds? NATO has a fairly limited budget. Members are chipping in directly, or jointly through the EU. For your info, 'facing head-on' means 'facing directly'. Putler's Orcs have yet to meet their first NATO soldier on the battlefield in Ukraine. Business as usual? Russia is jury-rigging rusty tanks from the 1950s and begging starving North Korea for ammunition. Russia reinventing itself economically? Putin has been promising for decades to diversify the Russian economy, but to little or no effect. Russia remains a gas station masquerading as a country. And the gas station lost its best customers, leaving only a few moochers, who pay 50 cents on the dollar. I am having a laugh, both at your pitiful denial and Russia's misery.
    2
  9250.  @codered4422  Sorry, but I don't see Indonesia as an exemplary society. Try to remain democratic, all righty?
    2
  9251.  @astroo1991  Don't lie. The Palestinian Authority has been pursuing the two-state solution. It's Netanyahu and Hamas that have been resisting it for their own selfish reasons.
    2
  9252. Rather, NATO is going from strength to strength. Didn't you catch that Sweden is in now?
    2
  9253. Don't generalise. Sub-Saharan Africa struggles to adopt democracy, but Southern Africa does much better. Credit where credit is due.
    2
  9254. Russians can no longer afford to visit Finland, no matter what. It's the sanctions that are killing them, and as a EU member, Finland has been sanctioning Russia since 2014. Also, rail and air links were cut shortly after the invasion. NATO doesn't enter into it.
    2
  9255.  @coreycox2345  Putin gave NATO a new lease of life. Putin desperately needs an enemy to divert attention from his domestic woes.
    2
  9256. Yeah, let's try divert attention. Cute emojis, BTW. Do let your inner child out.
    2
  9257. When they kill their own, it confirms how indiscriminate the IDF is.
    2
  9258.  @mikesummers6634  The UN is a reflection of the world we live in. It's not an island. Feel free to push your elected leaders for reforms.
    2
  9259.  @buravan1512  That's true, but it's to their detriment. I expect Russia arms exports will be negatively impacted by this Ukraine fiasco.
    2
  9260. "As if"? Hamas is terrorist. Netanyahu's genocidal streak doesn't negate that fact.
    2
  9261. Dreadknot, judging from your comments here, you're the one who's intellectually challenged. Aspects of Marxism have found their way into just about every political system, Nazism included. Love or hate him, Karl Marx deserves his place in history.
    2
  9262. Russia wants to go to war with its neighbours. That's the problem, not vice versa.
    2
  9263.  @jimmybutler3728  What a flaccid response.
    2
  9264. Don't be so hard on Meloni. She's not the worst of the bunch.
    2
  9265. Let me get this straight. Putin is concerned about the Russian youth, so he springs into action and orders the assassination of Litvinenko. Litvinenko dies a horrible death. The degeneration of the Russian youth stops abruptly and Russia's future is saved. You spin interesting stories.
    2
  9266. Ironically, Farage held a seat in parliament in this very same Brussels. It would appear London has taken his democracy away from him.
    2
  9267.  @ХейХей-ю3ф  The "Cuban crisis" is enduring state of affairs. Their economy is a basket case.
    2
  9268.  @ХейХей-ю3ф  My grandparents? What are you on about? And you don't know your Cuban Missile Crisis from the perpetual economic crisis that Cuba finds itself in, day in, day out. And you want to lecture others.
    2
  9269. I think Trump is very good at reinforcing ugly stereotypes.
    2
  9270.  @DSAK55  Don't be too sure. Mikhail Khodorkovsky had a bad time of it. In Russia, it appears oligarchs need replacing when a new strongman takes over.
    2
  9271. To a large extent, the US is responsible for the Gazans' plight. It holds the key to peace, but refuses to use it.
    2
  9272. Don't be so hateful against these new entrants. They're doing the best they can.
    2
  9273.  @ioannisstavrou2677  EU people have the law in their hands. Just go and vote in the upcoming EU parliamentary elections. You're old enough to vote, right?
    2
  9274. You can take the initiative, but that's no assurance of succeeding. We can safely say that applies to Russia so far. Russia is still incapable of mounting combined operations.
    2
  9275.  @ragnardanneskjold7259  You might as well claim that Brexit is a sure sign of the Second Coming of Christ. There's no indication whatsoever that your little wet dream about the collapse of the EU is coming true. Rather, things are moving in the opposite direction. And you're in denial.
    2
  9276.  @yummyfuzz1  We're also promised a Green Wave. Not that I particularly care for their policies, which always put the economy second (or third, or fourth), but they'll make a nice counterbalance for the populists. They're more adept at politics than your low-brow crowd, too.
    2
  9277.  @arazmammadov9276  So the Nordics decided to share their intel with the FBI? How nice of them.
    2
  9278. You're conveniently omitting that all too often, it's Russia that does the attacking. This Ukraine situation is a case in point.
    2
  9279. @aleserban9322 You must live in a dictatorship yourself, because you don't seem to understand that the Baltic countries have a seat at the table in *Brussels, a veto even. And the EU doesn't dictate electricity prices. Market forces do.
    2
  9280.  @eddastrohmayer251  Don't twist my words. UNGA Resolution ES-11/1, which qas adopted with a staggering majority, says that Russia should fully withdraw its forces from Ukraine. It says nothing about Ukraine having to enter into negotiations with Russia first in order for that to happen. In fact, Russia can just unilaterally withdraw and hey presto, no more war.
    2
  9281. And who, pray tell, is succeeding here?
    2
  9282.  @alexanderyoung6934  Russia is in the spotlight all right, but how are they going to "come out of this more powerful"? Russia supposedly invaded Ukraine to thwart the latter's plans to join NATO. Now Ukraine is for sure going to join NATO, the question is only when. And in the mean time, Finland already did join and Sweden is practically in as well. At the same time, Russia's anti-NATO, the CSTO, effectively became defunct when Russia ignored Armenia's pleas for military support as per its Article 4. Likewise, Kazakhstan is drifting away from Russia's sphere of influence. Futhermore, Russia, which is often described as a gas station that masquerades as a country, forever alienated its best customers, sending its oil and gas revenues into a steep downward spiral. Russia's arms exports, too, have plummeted. Russia can't deliver and who'd want jack-in-the-box tanks anyway? So, pray tell, how is Russia going to "come out of this more powerful"?
    2
  9283. It all depends on whether you vote in Trump or Democrat candidate X.
    2
  9284. He claims he survived by the grace of God. That begs the question: why did God decide to graze him with a bullet in the first place?
    2
  9285. Do you think things will improve any if the rule-based world order is replaced with complete anarchy?
    2
  9286. The angry bear appeared to be a teddy bear with an eye missing and its stuffing coming out. The wealthy dragon is wealthy -- although lately less so -- because of NATO and EU countries buying its stuff. So the dragon is not "coming" for us, because unlike the teddy bear, it doesn't want to ruin its business perspectives.
    2
  9287. This pope would've told the Jews to turn the other cheek to Hitler.
    2
  9288.  @kingdomjerusalem7329  Sorry, I'm tall and slender. Don't project.
    2
  9289.  @Standupgetup  I should think the Germans had something to do with it as well. Gorbachev decided not to stand in the way.
    2
  9290. You'd think the economic impact would make Israel reconsider prolonging -- an escalating -- this mindless war.
    2
  9291.  @root_pierre  I agree. Wisely, Xi hasn't tied his fate to that of Putin. Putin is a dictator who can do as he pleases, at least until the day that he's (violently?) deposed, but Xi has a party dictatorship to contend with. The CCP will sacrifice Xi in a jiffy should he jeopardise the CCP's dictatorship.
    2
  9292.  @rowdyboy411  I wonder if Zoolander's School for Kids Who Don’t Read Too Good is still open.
    2
  9293.  @ameyapotdar461  Are you quite sure? Just the day before yesterday, Russia whined that EU sanctions that forbid Russians from bringing in their cars amount to "racism". It appears Homo Sovieticus is a thing after all!
    2
  9294.  @mikhailmik  Stop copy-pasting comments.
    2
  9295.  @mikhailmik  Stop spamming.
    2
  9296. That would be a gyro.
    2
  9297. Scotland would gain powers as a independent EU member as opposed to devolution. Not all unions are created equally. The UK was created under duress. And now it's unravelling.
    2
  9298.  @happychappy492  You're right! It appears Saudi Arabia "accepted the invitation to join BRICS", which apparently meant that the Saudis took possession of the invitation letter, but haven't responded favourably -- not yet anyhow. You can't blame the overzealous (read: desperate) Russians for misunderstanding Saudi Arabia's intentions.
    2
  9299.  @yanickanick4721  So, are the Chinese going to relieve the Taliban of their new toys, the M16s and Humvees? I should think they can easily copy them already.
    2
  9300. The Dutch are the tallest people in the world. I once had the chance to sit in a F-16 at the Fokker factory. I'm 15 cm taller than the average Dutchman, but it wasn't cramped.
    2
  9301. Why don't you guys rename Kherson, which is now part of Russia, only it's not.
    2
  9302. Be that is it may, you're deflecting here yourself.
    2
  9303.  @konstantinbush295  Nice of you to show concern, but we're gifting the weapons to Ukraine.
    2
  9304. There's a marked difference in the level of support that Israel gets from the US, UK, France and Germany. The US supports Israel no matter what, the others support Israel in dealing (without reverting to excessive violence) with Hamas after this recent terrorist attack. You should study the UNSC voting record pertaining to UNSC draft resolutions on Israel. The US habitually vetoes everything.
    2
  9305.  @seanlort9915  Be that as it may, UN Resolution 181 passed with the required two-thirds majority. I would like to be polite and say that your opposition to the resolution is noted, but I doubt anyone is taking notes. Tell you what, take a crayon and write it on the cistern of your toilet.
    2
  9306.  @iljenshumilin467  Allowed them what? To be free from Russian occupation and repression?
    2
  9307. How did this strike improve Russia's plight southeast of Kharkiv, or for that matter, around Kherson? Russia is just lashing out, unsure what to do, desperately trying to prove that it still matters militarily.
    2
  9308. For Poland, that would mean biting the hand that feeds it.
    2
  9309.  @Adam-rj9wz  For the record, I'm centre-right. Again, you demonstrate that you're far-right. Your lot would like nothing more than to replace the EU with the Fourth Reich.
    2
  9310. Oh, it's not like Britain hasn't left its colonials in the lurch before.
    2
  9311. Judge, the Falkland Islanders can't force Britain to keep the Falklands forever. Britain can toss them like a hot potato. I wouldn't be a first for Britain. Sure, as British citizens, the islanders are entitled to relocate to Blighty.
    2
  9312. Sure, the Falkland Islanders can want this or that, but the point is that none of it matters if Britain sells them down the river. A similar fate has befallen many British colonials.
    2
  9313. PR exercises are meant to make you look good. Russia was just dragged through the mud, and Putin in particular. Within hours of calling out Prigozhin's betrayal and promising punishment to all mutineers, Putin let him go with a slap on the wrist. That reeks of desperation. I can't think of anyone having won here besides Lukashenko. Putin owes him, but Lukashenko must be wondering how much time he has left to call in the favour.
    2
  9314. The Commonwealth is a sport and culture club. They can vote about the next venue for the Commonwealth Games, that's about it.
    2
  9315.  @brianlowe3529  You missed the mark with your whataboutism. This is a German news channel and Assange is wanted by the US. Have you given any thought to seeking out a US news channel? Fox has even your low-brow sort that thinks whataboutism is potent stuff.
    2
  9316. Je denkt dus werkelijk dat als je je maar gedeisd houdt, je geen enkel gevaar loopt. Je theorie werd perfect toegepast in 1940, maar toch was het resultaat teleurstellend. En dat terwijl Chamberlain nog geen twee jaar voordien hele goede vredesonderhandelingen had gevoerd. Zoals Calimero het al zei, het is niet eerlijk.
    2
  9317. If anything good is to come out of this, it's the Sixth Republic. Power to the parliament.
    2
  9318. But Putin is a gay icon now, thanks to his bare-breasted horse-riding.
    2
  9319. Oh, Orban would sell Turkey down the river in a jiffy if there was something in it for him. And Erdogan vice versa.
    2
  9320.  @NeungView  He makes a compelling point, you do not.
    2
  9321. Try to put your finger on what's been lacking. EU member states themselves are responsible for controlling their borders, especially the inner ones.
    2
  9322.  @adilnizam2120  Outside of Murica, hardly anyone knows the story.
    2
  9323. Simuna has retired to the happy hunting grounds.
    2
  9324.  @obviouslytrollmster1532  Nah, it's really Trump following the motions. Putin told him to.
    2
  9325. You're like a wife-beater, who get shouted at by his boss and then takes it out on his wife.
    2
  9326. The German-Swedish Taurus is very similar to the Franco-British Storm Shadow, which has already been widely used in the conflict. Does that mean Boris doesn't like the UK either?
    2
  9327. No silly, it's because of George Floyd. Maybe the pandemic has something to do with it as well. We're venting pent-up frustrations, and BLM seems like a worthy cause.
    2
  9328. You and your dog feel that way?
    2
  9329. Sierra Leone doesn't seem to warrant reporters of its own from most major news agencies. Swallow the bitter pill.
    2
  9330.  @davidalexsebastiank6250  Wagner killing and maiming Nigeriens is more than just moral support, me thinks.
    2
  9331. The Nordics aren't drama queens like you. Besides, electricity prices aren't quite that high, and the Nordics haven't just discovered renewable energy, district heating, heat pumps and district heating. Cool heads prevail in cool climes.
    2
  9332.  @desertsky9886  I'm original European and, I bet, a far sight more European than you. It's just that I'm not a hater, like you.
    2
  9333.  @desertsky9886  No need to repeat yourself. You've already reconfirmed that you're a sad hater.
    2
  9334. What do you find undemocratic about a more than a supermajority?
    2
  9335. Why, "the West" is right-leaning, especially in economic policy. The combo of right-wing and populism is what makes it scary, because the right-wing part all too often slips to the far right. Mind you, populism in combination with any wing is scary, but the leftists aren't so much into inciting the masses any longer.
    2
  9336. Oh, so you think Beijing is caving in to the demands of the protesters then?
    2
  9337.  @cvkaustubh7521  No they didn't. India, China and Vietnam abstained in the UN GA vote on the matter.
    2
  9338. Your concern for Ukraine's losses is exemplary insincere. Do you even realise that Putin can call a halt to this war at any time? All he needs to do is issue a withdrawal order.
    2
  9339. Water is also wet.
    2
  9340. Wasn't that Paul Hogan in Crocodile Dundee 2?
    2
  9341. Yup, like a school bully, Russia would like to harass his smaller victims piecemeal. But when the potential victims all gang up on him, the bully acts like the victim.
    2
  9342. What has that got to do with the price of tea in CCP-land?
    2
  9343.  @ranojutro426  I'm curious though, will Orban still get his cheap Russian gas? On one hand he licked Putin's boots, but on the other, he's now sanctioning Russia with the rest of the EU. All that saliva, all for nothing. Are Hungarians proud of him?
    2
  9344. Sure thing. Misery loves company.
    2
  9345. Finland is a representative democracy. Referendums are held when an issue is contentious, or when the duly elected representatives of the people can't make up their minds. Neither was the case here. Besides, there would've been a backlash in the subsequent parliamentary election if the electorate had felt that their representatives had acted against their wishes. In fact, an MP that very vocally advocated against NATO membership was sent packing. I think you need to have a good cry. Oh, and don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    2
  9346.  @kazuhiramiller7491  Facepalm. It's Olenivka, and the prison is 15 km from the front line. Ukraine's 155mm howitzers have a range of 20 to 40 km.
    2
  9347. Are you already dreaming of a far-right pope? Say, your Wilders has a Catholic background...
    2
  9348. What makes you think "the west" is diametrically opposed to separatism within? Czechia and Slovakia had an amicable divorce. If, or rather, when Belgium splits in two, it will be an anti-climax, after which everyone wonders why it didn't happen earlier. I'm sure there will be plenty of follow-up cases, too, without major drama.
    2
  9349. Conscripting Muscovites would spell the end of Putin's regime. Every new recruit, Russia would lose three or four Russians as refugees. And the brain drain has already assumed disastrous proportions.
    2
  9350. The question concerned Western civilization. Gandhi's verbatim answer was: "I think it would be a good idea.”
    2
  9351.  @girijathesaviour9290  We're partners in NATO, that's why they're in Europe. We base some of our attack helicopters and F-35s in the US, too. If Russia has a problem with NATO, why take it out on Ukraine? If you didn't like my analogy, how about the wife (Russia) hitting the kid (Ukraine) in retaliation or the kid (Russia) subsequently kicking the family dog (Ukraine)? The OCSE -- which Russia is a founding member of -- judged that Ukraine's elections were free and fair. I don't see puppets or, for that matter, Nazis in leadership positions in Ukraine.
    2
  9352.  @kwaii_gamer  The Il-76? Not true. The Sukhoi Superjet is affected, but not the Il-76.
    2
  9353. You bet your sweet patootie that these particular expats voted in favour of remain, as did the overwhelming majority of British expats in the EU.
    2
  9354. President Musk is very astute.
    2
  9355. The solution is rather obvious. Pick someone from the UK's many joke parties. They exemplify British politics nowadays. As an added bonus, they're honest about what they are.
    2
  9356. So you're hoping for on a re-enactment of the Reichstag fire that puts the French Nazis in power?
    2
  9357. Aid-washing, the term goes.
    2
  9358. @Alexander Struggling to find the right REPLY button?
    2
  9359. @Alexander You're a feisty little critter, who, unfortunately, thinks too highly of himself.
    2
  9360. Law and order are neither left nor right wing. Justice is supposed to be blind.
    2
  9361. A great loss. For Spitting Image, that is.
    2
  9362. He would've had his accreditation revoked or worse still, he could land in prison for espionage.
    2
  9363. Baghdad Bob perhaps, but Lavrov is still in a position to outdo him.
    2
  9364. I once overheard an American tourist helpfully suggest to a salesperson at Heathrow airport that all prices should be in dollars, not pounds. Much easier that way, she argued.
    2
  9365. How naive you are. Niger has had five(!) military coup d'états since independence from France in 1960. What's different this time?
    2
  9366.  @richardsawicki8521  Russia is important all right for China and India. Both get to buy their oil cheaply from Russia, and with their local currencies. The result is that Russia is awash with yuans and rupees, but to little avail. Neither currency buys Russia what it really needs: Western technology.
    2
  9367. Can we continentals also vote about whether or not we want the UK back in the EU and under which conditions? The UK rebate is off the table, of course.
    2
  9368. Duh, China has been in subsidising and dumping goods in Europe for decades. That's not competition -- that's unfair trade practices.
    2
  9369. The F-35 fills a niche. Germany is opting for the type because it's one of few that is cleared to carry the B-61 nuclear bombs that are stationed in Germany. They're not replacing the Eurofighter, which lacks said capability, nor is the Franco-German future fighter program being reconsidered.
    2
  9370. Trump was pretty incredible as well. I just can't get my head around him getting elected, and then nearly-elected. Incroyable.
    2
  9371. In God Trump we trust?
    2
  9372. The civil war?
    2
  9373.  @tjmarx  Of course they do. Do you honestly think these militias went to a toy store to buy the drones? Did the Houthis, too, use toy drones to attack the Saudi oil facilities? You're either dumb or playing dumb.
    2
  9374. OK, Serb.
    2
  9375.  @Andrewmylife  The balance would be negative with the USA.
    2
  9376.  @patriciabutler8248  So EU members forfeit their own parliament? What's Whitehall then, a mere illusion? Rather, independent Scotland will lose their middleman in dealing with -- and being part of -- the EU.
    2
  9377. Congrats, you split a hair.
    2
  9378. Ukraine is winning the information war hands down, so no, your theory doesn't hold any water.
    2
  9379. You're too kind. Putin is more like a football manager who's tearing out his few remaining strands of hair at the sidelines. His club is facing both relegation and bankruptcy. Oh well, maybe Xi will snap it up and rename the club Beijing Wanderers.
    2
  9380.  @20centurywave  I don't think this is the time or the place for alternate reality speculations. Go play Dungeons & Dragons or something.
    2
  9381.  @erikdeeNOSPELLSNO  The UK has been lukewarm about letting in Ukrainian refugees.
    2
  9382. Let me guess, you people don't get around much.
    2
  9383. The benefits offered to asylum seekers in the UK aren't all that grand compared to continental Europe. But your tolerance of illegals who've been denied asylum or never bothered to apply is rather grand in comparison.
    2
  9384. It's not just leftists, but it's also the sane ones among the right who're taken aback by Murica's quirky choice for a president. It truly begs the question: "Was there no one else?"
    2
  9385. ​ @seangallagher8233  A duopoly is only one step up from a party dictatorship.
    2
  9386. Russia's continued bombing of Ukraine won't change the outcome of the war. If anything, it will just make the Ukrainians more resolute in fighting off the invaders. Ironically, the Russians like to celebrate the send-off they gave to Napoleon as a great victory and sure enough, the French invasion of Russia went down in history as Napoleon's worst defeat. What we're seeing is another epic defensive victory in the making.
    2
  9387.  @radhika00240  Sorry, was that English?
    2
  9388. Give some of your own territory to Putler then. He's bent on more Lebensraum and he hasn't given up yet.
    2
  9389.  @Angry.General1461  Your comment doesn't relate to anything I wrote.
    2
  9390.  @cageybee7221  You've got monochromatic vision. The US doesn't condemn rappers to death for picking the wrong lyrics.
    2
  9391. Putin, too, has been caught lying, most notably on how Crimea came to be "Russian".
    2
  9392.  @alxnd_r6345  Cough-cough, state-sponsored doping on a massive scale in Russia.
    2
  9393. Believe it or not, but the BMPs has fuel tanks inside the rear doors. That's why they're burning.
    2
  9394. Big win for Putin, my foot. Putin must be desperate, with one neighbour after another prying themselves loose from Moscow's claws. Ukraine already succeeded, Belarus is getting there and now Kazakhstan starts. The trend is clear.
    2
  9395. You exemplify hubris. Even BoJo can't match you there.
    2
  9396. And drama queens come out of the woodwork.
    2
  9397. That would mean Israel would have to give the Palestinians citizenship rights. Israel most definitely doesn't want to do that, and it's a foregone conclusion that the Palestinians won't give up their desire for an independent state. Hence, the two-state solution.
    2
  9398. You can't tell YouTube and DW News apart.
    2
  9399. Doubt it. The country will remain badly torn. And I don't think Trump will stay on the sidelines once kicked out.
    2
  9400.  @jasminealixandranorth  We can thank the Muricans and their military adventurism for the Jihadists, too.
    2
  9401. ​ @joaquinayalarosales7441  Ancient history, pal. Besides, most European countries never engaged in colonialism. Actually, quite a few endured it themselves. If you truly feel for the victims of invasions here and now, make a stink about the Russian one. It's very real and topical.
    2
  9402. I find it literally unbelievable. The northern Gazans haven't been given enough time to fully evacuate. Israel is keenly aware of this.
    2
  9403. Israel is neither a signatory nor a state party to the Roman Statute, so no.
    2
  9404. Did he die a martyr? Doubt it.
    2
  9405.  @kobra6335  I dont think you want to use the Iraq War as an example of Europe's inaction. Or have you found them WMDs and forgotten to tell the world?
    2
  9406. John, all the same the US economy is vulnerable because of a chronic trade deficit and hence, ever-growing indebtedness. You're running your economy on foreign trust. And that trust is evaporating.
    2
  9407. ceasefire /ˈsiːsfʌɪə/ noun a temporary suspension of fighting; a truce. "the latest ceasefire seems to be holding"
    2
  9408. The Palestinian Authority rejected the terms on offer, but not the principle. Israel rejects the two-state solution on principle. What has Iran got to do with the price of tea in China? Should we consult the island nation of Kiribati, too?
    2
  9409. Some choices you have there. Isn't it high time for electoral reform?
    2
  9410. The territorial waters of Finland, Sweden and Denmark are carefully patrolled. Finland, for instance, has an extensive hydrophone network that covers its entire southern coast. International waters are another kettle of fish. Perhaps you don't know the area.
    2
  9411. *Soared? Big diff.
    2
  9412. Make that most countries.
    2
  9413. @Jayhawksfan I suggest you look up the difficult words that I used.
    2
  9414. Could Trump make it any clearer that Israel pulls the strings?
    2
  9415. Right, beggars can't be choosers...
    2
  9416.  @wilsonlarcington8404  You're being too kind towards Russia. Demand has dropped, so Russia is cutting supply in an effort to raise the price of the gas it can still sell. It's a vicious circle if there ever was one. Russia is wantonly destroying a pillar of its economy. Economists the world over are shaking their heads in disbelief.
    2
  9417.  @ameyapotdar461  Newsflash, the West has been sanctioning China ever since the Tiananmen Square massacre. The sanctions concern a military embargo, which is in place to this day.
    2
  9418.  @ameyapotdar461  Yes, Captain Obvious, but no one's suggesting that China should face sanctions anywhere near as severe as those imposed on Russia. On Tiananmen Square, China turned its weapons on its own people, so in response, the West embargoed exports of military kit to China. Did all trade cease then, you think?
    2
  9419. Go peddle your conspiracy theories on conspiracy sites, where they belong.
    2
  9420. That bodes fun.
    2
  9421.  @michaelharvey7254  That's competitive in a Dickensian sense. Reintroducing child labour, for example, would make your economy highly competitive.
    2
  9422. Putin can do the honours. It wouldn't be the first time Russia has sued for peace.
    2
  9423. You can try to console yourself till the cows come home, but it's the seats that count. RN came third.
    2
  9424.  arlokino  Finland sued for peace in 1940 and 1944. You'll grow familiar with the concept -- and the difference -- when Russia does same. 202x sounds about right. P.S. Unlike you, Russia is familiar with the concept, having sued for peace many times over during its history. WW1 is a case in point.
    2
  9425.  @GerardPedrico  Having a nice monologue with yourself there? In reality, Communism is either a spent force, or a charade. Marx would have a hissy fit if he saw what it has all come to.
    2
  9426. Your outsourced troll factory, where is it in India? Do they pay you in potatoes, too, or is it lentils? A handful for a comment?
    2
  9427. Everything seems to be topsy-turvy with you.
    2
  9428. Because Wagner has had a spate of trouble lately. It staged an abortive coup in Russia, had to flee to Belarus, and finally, it got decapitated, with its top leaders falling from a great height. That's why.
    2
  9429. Making way for hot air.
    2
  9430. You're disowning your own. Good start!
    2
  9431.  @Polonus7  No, thinking is an antidote for conspiracy theories. You don't want that.
    2
  9432.  @junesilvermanb2979  Yeah, a life sentence is wasted on Putin if he's got a short life expectancy. Still, we need to get him to The Hague ASAP.
    2
  9433.  @timmommens901  ASML is a remnant of Philips. We're practically talking last vestiges of a once mighty electronics giant.
    2
  9434. Je zou bijna denken dat er geen conventionele oorlog aan de gang is in Oekraïne.
    2
  9435.  @Mike7064  OK, Ivan. I understand you're smarting something terrible.
    2
  9436.  @chaospilot2142  Nuclear energy qualifies as clean energy these days.
    2
  9437.  @calicojack7899  Truth be told, someone beat me to it.
    2
  9438.  @e3498-v7l  You're not very good at this internet thingy, are you? Try googling "sanctions against russia impact". The Atlantic Council article is very enlightening. Hard facts, too.
    2
  9439. In which capacity did Sweden "have sway" over the US and the UK? Major NATO members Germany and France, despite their active opposition, couldn't prevent the Iraq War either, so how could outsider Sweden? If you're referring to Sweden's self-proclaimed moral superpower status, yeah, that kite doesn't fly outside of Sweden. Also, you seem completely unaware that Sweden actively took part in the Libya op. Finally, Sweden's new terrorism law doesn't make an iota of difference with regard to the Kurds, since goody two-shoes Sweden hasn't supported terrorism before either. In passing said law, Sweden lent ailing strongman Erdogan a hand in winning the election. It sounds like you're desperately trying to find sticks to beat NATO with, but not finding even twigs.
    2
  9440. Romania's energy independence comes at a cost. Romania still relies on hydrocarbons and coal to a relatively high extent. The Nordic countries lead the way in carbon-free energy and still manage a high degree of energy independence.
    2
  9441.  @tedchandran  Now is not the time to toot your Indian horn.
    2
  9442. Welcome to the developed world with its developed world problems.
    2
  9443.  @tabularasa7775  Nuh-uh, the Estonians aren't known for braggadocio. That's more your dept.
    2
  9444. According to her mother, she thought them Ukrainian tanks.
    2
  9445. So by all means, please continue to be subservient to foreign powers. Colonialism enjoyed a long run in SEA, so why wouldn't neo-colonialism thrive there as well? One master is as good as another, eh?
    2
  9446.  @vuvuvu6291  You're a slave all right. I hope you find a new master.
    2
  9447.  @farhanatashiga3721  Thanks for stating the obvious. After all, it eludes many. But I fail to see tongue-in-cheek material in countries disappearing.
    2
  9448.  @dylan112588  Good comeback, but I fear your humour is wasted on the Orc.
    2
  9449. Remoaning implies being British, since the rest of us aren't leaving. In international politics, Nigel is a non-entity ever since he stopped being an MEP. The supreme irony is that he'll never make an MP. And it's not for the lack of trying.
    2
  9450. The South China Sea isn't any more Chinese than the Indian Ocean is Indian. You're so easily fooled.
    2
  9451.  @kevindurand3237  That would be 1939-1940.
    2
  9452.  @eedragonr6293  If there's a British Council there, they might give you free English lessons.
    2
  9453.  @eedragonr6293  We won't talk again. It's a total waste of time.
    2
  9454.  @bigfan1041  Come on, refugees and Muslims are a lifeline for Farage, Le Pen and Orban. Where would they be without them? Definitely not in politics.
    2
  9455.  @j7j7j7j7x  I second that. The harm Zelenskyy is doing truly is incredible. With him at the helm, Ukraine has reduced the Russian military to an impotent force that's now even eclipsed by a bunch of mercenaries/convicts. Soon, Zelenskyy doesn't even have to bother as the infighting between Russia's regular and irregular forces turns bloody. In my estimate, Russia's armed forces will place third, behind Gazprom PMC.
    2
  9456. Jouw gebroken geweertje doet het vast goed als het weer menens is.
    2
  9457.  @bobtheagent9087  Who's claiming otherwise? I'm not playing your whataboutism game.
    2
  9458.  @agokuroneko7280  Interesting. African nations have had more than their fair share of coups. Surely, if coups were the answer, you wouldn't keep whining about European interference.
    2
  9459. Russia was out of Kherson like greased lightning. There will be many more Khersons.
    2
  9460.  @chriswensink7436  Mie-mie-mie.
    2
  9461. The keyword is communism. The communists failed Cuba.
    2
  9462.  @DataJYdocs  You said it yourself. Take it up with the Human Rights Council of the UN then.
    2
  9463.  @realhorrorshow8547  Where are they headquartered? I didn't deny that the Brits have a stake
    2
  9464.  @h4fixx  I do remember the somewhat bigger HMS Prince of Wales, which clashed with the Bismarck near Iceland. Japanese warplanes infamously sank the former. I tech-dived to the wreck some twenty years ago. Did you have a point, by the way?
    2
  9465.  @ee9546  But it is happening already. Vietnam and India are already major contenders in outsourced manufacturing. Especially in clothing, major brands are moving their production away from China because of the forced labour issues in Xinjiang. You should keep up with the news.
    2
  9466.  @unknownname8591  You hear voices. Get help.
    2
  9467. Iran's populace is restive and its economy is in a shambles. I'd say Iran needs reform.
    2
  9468. Or Trump.
    2
  9469. We don't like them dictators. More your style.
    2
  9470. Jimmy, Jimmy, your paymasters in the Kremlin have admitted as much. They won't pay you if you contradict them!
    2
  9471. The question is, does Russia want an African dictatorship with a president for life?
    2
  9472. Haven't you heard? Russia is going to be renamed Ruxia, after the formalities are complete. It will be China's northernmost province.
    2
  9473. Cope, bot.
    2
  9474. How about you showing how it's done. Leave Ukraine in peace.
    2
  9475. Texas, don't flatter yourself. Being the Yank that you are (it may come as a shocker, but all Americans are Yanks to us), you foolishly assume my disdain for Trump stems from ideological differences. I'm merely noting that he's a political nincompoop no matter what he stands for. And I'm sure every other Republican quietly agrees.
    2
  9476. You set the bar very low.
    2
  9477.  @AK47952  Rest assured, you'll get your trade deals. Just not very good ones.
    2
  9478.  @AK47952  Be that as it may, it's a huge drop from the EU economy. The terms will be worse than those enjoyed by the EU, that much is certain.
    2
  9479. Let's face it, it will one extension after another before the UK manages to negotiate and ratify a trade deal with the EU. I wonder how many elections, governments and referendums that will take, and what's left of the UK by then.
    2
  9480. What's the charge, Carlos from Deutschland?
    2
  9481. Yup, Russia will do anything for attention. Even negative attention will do.
    2
  9482.  @Cyan_Nightingale  So what's whataboutisme in bahasa?
    2
  9483. @mauritsvanoranje6725 I'm talking about logical fallacies here. You just committed one yourself, too. I don't know if jumping headlong to conclusions qualifies as a logical fallacy as well, but you committed that one, too.
    2
  9484.  @imperatorvespasian3125  Or rather, they flee abroad. We've got military-age Russian asylum seekers aplenty.
    2
  9485. Ah, the old cliché. Go on, the US is a republic, not a democracy... yawn.
    2
  9486. The whataboutism is strong with you.
    2
  9487. No, but as a signatory, it's the UK's duty to raise awareness that China is breaking the joint declaration. It follows that China can't be trusted to honour international agreements. It just got harder for China to negotiate international agreements, as the other side will seek additional guarantees that China will keep their side of the bargain.
    2
  9488.  @danielhutchinson6604  Whaddaya say, the St. Petersburg troll factories have remote workers. How do you exchange your roubles for real money?
    2
  9489. OK, Medvedev.
    2
  9490.  @chris-vr5pm  You're deviating from the topic at hand.
    2
  9491. That's a poor analogy, because Germany has no intention whatsoever to invade Russia. In case you haven't noticed, Russia is doing all the invading nowadays.
    2
  9492. @@leoa1893 The UN has been quite clear about Russia's borders with respect to Ukraine. The annexations of Ukrainian territory were overwhelmingly condemned by the UNGA. Even those UN members that failed to condemn them haven't recognised the oblasts in question as Russian territory. You lose.
    2
  9493.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Did the UN condemn Germany's fight against ISIL in Syria? And contrary to what you suggest, Germany -- and NATO in general -- most definitely went into Afghanistan with UN approval. Your precious Russia was an enthusiastic supporter. So was China. You do your history homework for a change, "comrade".
    2
  9494.  R U WAKING UP R U  What a silly straw man attack. Let me spell it out to you. Grieving Ukrainian mothers will find solace in the thought that their sons died defending hearth and home. In contrast, devastated Russian mothers will learn that their sons died shoring up an embittered dictator and ultimately failed at that, too. Keep your tired NWO conspiracy theories to yourself.
    2
  9495. The quality of your rants is declining by the day.
    2
  9496. The Jerries should've paired Charles with a peacock. He would've met his intellectual match, too.
    2
  9497. Your instinctive subservience is showing.
    2
  9498. Relevance?
    2
  9499. Instead of jealousy I feel dread. China is a ticking time bomb. Either way, no matter whether there's increasing wealth or economic decline, the Chinese will demand democratic rights. That'll put a damper on economic development.
    2
  9500.  @乳酸君  When did we set out to defeat China?
    2
  9501.  @stevem4660  Let's hope the Serbs come to that conclusion, so we don't have to slam the door in their faces.
    2
  9502. No, DW should talks about Haribo Goldbears, and in kids' voices, just like in the TV commercials.
    2
  9503. @Troll Hunter So, do you think Steve Bannon should be investigated for interfering in UK politics as well?
    2
  9504. @Troll Hunter Then Trump is on the firing line, too. He's been know to interfere with just about anything that doesn't concern him. Brexit for starters.
    2
  9505. @Troll Hunter Verhofstadt is an MEP and named representative of the European Parliament in the Brexit negotiations. It appears to me that in that capacity, he should be heard. On the other hand, shouldn't you be blaming MSM/Soros/NWO Reptilians for giving Verhofstadt too much airtime?
    2
  9506.  @mreuben3  You must think Kallas is Finnish. Way to embarrass yourself.
    2
  9507.  @ironbutterfly12  You're trying to reason with a conspiracy theorist. An exercise in futility if there ever was one.
    2
  9508. Yes you can, and you have, too, only I think the Brits in question will vote for the EU, not against it. It's called Brexodus.
    2
  9509. 4 months of conversion training, that's the experts' assessment. But please, go plead with Putin to end his military adventure gone awry.
    2
  9510. We've had heavy rainfall, sport.
    2
  9511. "lit if"? Bad spellers of the world untie.
    2
  9512. Taking on the French means taking on the EU, which would mean economic suicide for the UK. A trade bloc will retaliate en masse if one of its members is targeted. Didn't you get the memo?
    2
  9513. Don't worry, you don't contribute.
    2
  9514.  @kirilld6206  It's called a casus foederis. In 1939, Great Britain and France came to the rescue of Poland. Likewise, Russia came to the aid of Serbia in WW1. Another casus foederis.
    2
  9515. Oi! Cannibalism is illegal!
    2
  9516.  @lisadsouza5061  Different times, different strokes.
    2
  9517.  @hadesium  You failed to mention why it is different in your opinion. Maybe it's just me, but I think you should try to formulate an argument and not just throw a open-ended question out there, whataboutism-style. Or are you hoping that someone will step in and help you out? Don't be a lazy wuss.
    2
  9518. Je moet er eens solliciteren, Bassie. Of toch liever bij Ongehoord Nederland.
    2
  9519.  @miokuroki4097  It's not quite like that. According to the Dublin regulation, asylum seekers are to stay put in the country in which they applied for asylum. If they travel onwards, they are to be returned to the country where they first applied. Spain is actually no safe haven for illegal immigants. The UK is, because no one's obligated to carry any ID and the illegal job market flourishes over there.
    2
  9520. You're projecting the Kremlin's aspirations to select the leaders of its neighbours. Putin's attempt to select Ukraine's leader didn't work out so well, did it?
    2
  9521.  @icu17siberia  Don't make stuff up. NATO has a relatively modest common budget, $3.8 billion. Of that, all NATO member pay their share outright. The 2% of GDP target concerns national spending on defence. All national defence budgets combined the total NATO contribution comes to $1.47 trillion. However, to compare apples to apples, we still need to subtract non-NATO, extracurricular spending. That brings US defence spending on NATO to 1.75% -- at best. To be fair, the NATO contributions of the UK and France need a downward correction, too. A word to the wise: before you start lecturing, check your facts.
    2
  9522. The title of this video would also work without the 'ceasefire', simply: 'Russia has no credibility.'
    2
  9523. zhilber, stick with RT then. Conversely, they never have anything bad to say about Russia. Never in a million years will you be disappointed.
    2
  9524. They failed to execute. Get used to it.
    2
  9525. Provided in their basic needs? Besides, Israel has failed to provide evidence of the UNRWA's supposed wrongdoings. I bet you adhere to the medieval principle of guilty-till-proven-innocent.
    2
  9526. What makes you think the ICC is European? There are 123 state parties to the ICC. That's way more than Europe, in case you just failed geography. Stop dreaming and start studying.
    2
  9527.  @kinngrimm  I own property on the nearby Costa del Sol. Gibraltar has a land area of 6.7 km2, most of which is The Rock. Luxembourg is 2,586.4 km2. The overriding impression of Gibraltar is that it's ridiculously small. So small that you have to cross the airport runway in order to reach the centre. You can't help but think: "Is this it?"
    2
  9528.  @celticwarrior3354  *Gibraltarians. Do you love them so much that you've bothered to visit them? If so, you'd know they aren't Brits.
    2
  9529. Don't try to make everything about you.
    2
  9530. You Brexiteers are a hoot. The European elections are on May 23rd. You're talking about surveys, not actual voting.
    2
  9531. Yeah, Putin should knock it off.
    2
  9532. It's a separate conflict. Iran can multitask.
    2
  9533. I hear they're awfully rusty. Beyond repair according to some.
    2
  9534. @Revoltingsheeple You can say that again. Especially German right-wingers wade knee-deep in the blood that they've shed.
    2
  9535. ​ @davidvanhansen  And why would you bring up Crete? The Battle of Crete ended in defeat for the Commonwealth. Did you lambast your grandfather for it?
    2
  9536.  @davidvanhansen  Duh. You tut-tutted the "celebration" of the Battle of Arnhem, because it ended in defeat for the Allies. But in the same breath, you suggest Axis defeats were heroic. Hypocrisy much?
    2
  9537.  @neddymerrill  They're still on it. That sets them apart for your Kremlin propagandists, who have a canned statement ready, sometimes even several conflicting ones.
    2
  9538.  @rchatte100  You're forgetting about intellectual property and the fact that manufacturing of many Western products has been outsourced to the likes of India and China. More often than not, its final assembly, too, which adds relatively little value to the final product. The Western IP owners have a say about exports to Russia, or the manufacturers in question will suffer sanctions as well. In effect, they have to choose between Western markets or Russia -- they can't have it both ways.
    2
  9539.  @taxicabnumber1729  Sure thing, now's the time to go buy maple syrup and Canada Dry. And an Airbus A220 if you still have spare change.
    2
  9540. Ah, you want a repeat performance of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, this time in Admiralty.
    2
  9541. Funny you should say that. Putin has to blow his political adversaries out of the sky, lest they launch another coup attempt.
    2
  9542. So why is Russia taking it out on Ukraine then?
    2
  9543.  @DMeat0902  For the past 10 years, China has held mining concession and oil and gas exploitation rights in Afghanistan. It has achieved very little. Why would that change for the better now? The Taliban can't provide the necessary security any more than the US-backed government.
    2
  9544. Letting Ukraine lose is not option. Support will continue to flow, even increase, in the event of Ukraine suffering a setback in liberating its occupied territories. I suggest you take your wet dreams elsewhere.
    2
  9545. They're a moving target.
    2
  9546. Steven Seagal must disagree.
    2
  9547. He couldn't care less about the Venezuelans. He's warmongering in a desperate bid to win over hearts (not so much minds) in the USA. Classic 'wag the dog' tactics of an unpopular president.
    2
  9548.  kentucky fried  Navalny is blazing a trail for the opposition in Russia. That alone makes him a threat to Putin.
    2
  9549. Like The Cranberries sang, in your head.
    2
  9550.  @selectionn  A tactical withdrawal from "Russian" territory? Putin scored an own goal there, declaring indefensible territory part of Russia and then, predictably, losing it again. The KGB chess master isn't thinking ahead.
    2
  9551. @Malia Kharotai Then why don't you protest when someone lauds a murdering sadist like Ramzan Kadyrov for his Islamic virtues? In our culture, silence is sign of agreement.
    2
  9552.  @Robert-xy4xi  Look at it this way: who paid your allowance when you reached adulthood?
    2
  9553. Why, we do consider global affairs when we're voting, which happens to include the US. I suspect your indifference is a product of navel-gazing, which big nations can afford, be it at a cost. Smaller nations, like ours, cannot afford apathy.
    2
  9554.  @maverick7291  Punctuation -- and some sense -- wouldn't go amiss in your replies. Can you try again?
    2
  9555.  @lilacer6841  Russia entered the Pacific War late and just to collect the spoils. Japan was mortally wounded already.
    2
  9556.  @Kielermatrosen  I suppose Luftwaffe pilots and a hole horde of support personnel will be based in the US when they learn to operate the F-35 -- and how to drop atomic bombs with it.
    2
  9557. What's the relevance to Brexit?
    2
  9558.  @ericp1139  It came as a surprise to everyone that Putin would be as asinine as to invade Ukraine, leading to a major war, the likes of which we haven't seen in Europe since WW2. Besides, had it been Russia vs. NATO, Russia's artillery would've been long since reduced to smouldering scraps. Ukraine lacks air power, not NATO.
    2
  9559.  @Americanpatriot298  There-there, bot. Here's your potato.
    2
  9560. Among dictatorial ones, sure.
    2
  9561. The Russian Air Force has proven very timid.
    2
  9562. What do you expect, Yemen is in the grips of civil war. Likewise, Yugoslavia was an utter mess.
    2
  9563. Indirectly he did. Had Bibi adopted a different course of action, they'd still be alive, free even.
    2
  9564. I think we're talking dollars. US taxpayers' dollars.
    2
  9565. Soon, he's an incarcerated "wise leader". The question is, will that be in Israel or The Hague?
    2
  9566.  @johnostaszweski2189  She's selling France out. How patriotic of her.
    2
  9567.  @tanusha6145  That was a load of gibberish. Translation, please.
    2
  9568.  @thodorisd5136  I've been on YouTube for almost twenty years, and I've never had comments where I was the OP "linked" to anyone's profile. You're seeing things.
    2
  9569.  @thodorisd5136  Uh, you "linked" my comment to yours by responding to my initial comment, to which I replied. Why do I feel like I'm working at a daycare centre?
    2
  9570. Jij gelooft nog in sprookjes. Rusland zet zowat alle middelen in om te winnen, maar het wil niet vlotten.
    2
  9571. Lavrov went from respected top diplomat to Bagdad Bob. His compensation package must be good.
    2
  9572.  @Ryong84  Some years back, both Sweden and Finland made constitutional arrangements to allow NATO to operate on their soil in the event of a crisis (read: Russia attacks). Therefore, a (solicited) NATO intervention couldn't be construed as an attack on either country by any stretch of the imagination.
    2
  9573. To be honest, it was a gesture of defiance. Molotov cocktails weren't very effective weapons then, nor are they now. In fact, on today's ABC-protected tanks they inflict paint damage. A Molotov cocktail does come in handy when burning abandoned Russian tanks, but I understand the Ukrainians prefer to repurpose them.
    2
  9574. It has become quite de rigueur to apologise, in fact. Earlier, Belgium, Australia, USA, New Zealand, Canada and the Pope all said sorry.
    2
  9575. Macron hasn't changed his tune in that respect. He's not denying Israel's right to self-defence. It's the way that Israel goes about in doing so that draws the world's criticism, Macron's included.
    2
  9576.  @mikelynch-zeroviewz2507  That would be the Soviet Union, not Russia. Somehow Putin has inherited India's moral debt and gets to collect on it as he sees fit. India is only too willing to oblige. And India expect to land a permanent seat in the UNSC. Nuh-uh.
    2
  9577. Poland corrected itself the very next day. They didn't mean it, it appeared.
    2
  9578. Was anyone looked at what odds the betting companies give?
    2
  9579.  steven-gd6hp  I checked: 1/100. Not very encouraging.
    2
  9580. *Poetin heeft nog minder moeite met het bestoken van burgerdoelen.
    2
  9581. I wouldn't be quite that positive. Trump decides what's good for Israel.
    2
  9582.  @altunaze6127  Hah, triggered. If Erdogan defines you, we'll pass.
    2
  9583.  @ciaranbrk  That's all good and well, but Russia's defence of Crimea will falter when the peninsula starts to run out of water. Ukraine's recapture of Crimea is likely to be akin to the Fall of Singapore. A fight for water.
    2
  9584. *Finns.
    2
  9585. Yup, in Soviet Russia, all opposition figures are CIA assets.
    2
  9586. Putin's Asian soldiers are easily replaced with more cannon fodder. Russia's true casualties are highly-educated and wealthy professionals who're leaving the country in increasing numbers.
    2
  9587. ​ @peppersghosttheater  Western companies will exist just fine without Russian raw materials. Which part of "commodity" don't you understand?
    2
  9588. Then why is Putin so terribly upset about NATO?
    2
  9589.  Robert Cocco  There must be some measure of smartness involved in elevating oneself to dictator in Russia, where democracy never has taken root anyways. However, losing that status over bitterly contested swathes of foreign territory is decidedly dumb. Putin won't be inducted into the Dictators' Hall of Fame, I'm afraid.
    2
  9590. Don't put words into his mouth. You're not doing either side any favours.
    2
  9591. The Jews may have a thing or two to say about that.
    2
  9592. NATO is a threat all right... to continued Russian expansionism.
    2
  9593.  @davidfognini8526  When in doubt (read: out of arguments), the nuclear weapons come out.
    2
  9594. You can curb uncontrolled immigration without resorting to the AfD's rampant xenophobia.
    2
  9595.  @tomvanaarle2622  No kidding, Sherlock.
    2
  9596. Let's hope it won't be Afghanistan 2.0, in which Trump was instrumental, too.
    2
  9597. Trump is elected now and it hasn't disappeared. Something doesn't add up.
    2
  9598. You could self-regulate to keep your numbers in check.
    2
  9599. Let's see if Putin joins upcoming summits in Brazil and South Africa. In person, that is. Zoom calls don't count.
    2
  9600. The S-400 is an anti-aircraft weapon system. Fail.
    2
  9601.  @hanzofunai4238  You're confused. The whole point about you whataboutists is that you won't answer a legit question yourselves. Instead, you raise another, unrelated question in a sorry attempt to deflect. The supreme irony is that you get your panties in a bunch because your unrelated question goes unanswered.
    2
  9602. You mispelled his surname. It's D-R-U-M-P-F.
    2
  9603.  @namename-qb5xe  And what's the European colonial aspect here? I see only a totally misguided attempt at neo-colonialism, with Russia as the perp.
    2
  9604.  @Thezftw  Yup, the last time I was on exercises, they severed our comms. As the signals officer, I had to rely on dispatch riders. They thought they had the best job in the army. I couldn't argue with that.
    2
  9605. ​ @SundaystrollerA7  Duh, Finns have seen Russia as a threat since... ever. More recently, Russia has been ratcheting up tensions since 2008, when it saw fit to invade its neighbour, Georgia.
    2
  9606.  @cssstylescommand4  In that case, China, as an eager holder of US treasury bonds, is keeping said money printer going.
    2
  9607. It's a cold, hard fact that 141 vs. 5 countries oppose Russia in its ongoing bid to subdue Ukraine militarily. That number includes several BRICS countries, which have not reversed their stance in the matter. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
    2
  9608.  Yulis  Take your archaic Soviet propaganda elsewhere. The Finns only fought the Soviets in WW2, who were consistently the bad guys with regard to Finland. Keeping the Soviets invaders out of Finland was the only cause Finland fought for. It had no interest in furthering the Axis' cause.
    2
  9609.  @govithabang8912  It's the 21st century, and Russia has never managed to build itself a functioning democracy. No amount of whatabouting about Murica will change that.
    2
  9610.  @thusomaepa1852  Don't you wish Russia could mobilise more troops. For every draftee, Russia loses three as draft dodgers. Soon, there will be no-one to recruit -- or chase off.
    2
  9611.  @tripanzo  Given half the chance, ultraconservative Muslims make a beeline for ultraprogressive Sweden. So much for their convictions.
    2
  9612. Greenland is not in the EU. We don't even pretend to decide anything on the Greenlanders' behalf.
    2
  9613. I guess nothing has changed there.
    2
  9614.  @ZsH85  According to whom extactly? Certainly not according to the duly elected representatives of the peoples of Europe. Orban is bottom of the list.
    2
  9615. Business, it seems. How are you sub exports going?
    2
  9616.  @markcosenza3274  What if we've had it like... since ever?
    2
  9617. Little do you know -- literally. The EU leads in renewable energy transition.
    2
  9618.  @Issacandjacob  Your biblical mumbo jumbo doesn't pass muster. Why would I need to cope? It is what it is. I have no dog in this fight.
    2
  9619. Putin is probably right about Russia getting dismantled, but it's the result of him pressing the self-destruct button.
    2
  9620.  @dilonkumar4960  What a sordid mind you have on you.
    2
  9621.  @dilonkumar4960  Not only do you have a sordid imagination, but also, you're a boring conspiracy theorist.
    2
  9622. So you're advocating terrorism. Do you have a CCP membership card already or are you still just hoping to land one?
    2
  9623. ​ @domenicaantje  I didn't invite you to unleash more conspiracy theories on me. Cry yourself a river, alone.
    2
  9624. So lucky there are no Ukrainian drones about, or Russia would end up with a massive submarine fleet.
    2
  9625.  @board4164  Are you for real? Which French overseas territories are self-sustaining?
    2
  9626. Give it time.
    2
  9627.  @josephlandry8787  That's a false association. We've got quality healthcare practically for free and we've never fallen short of our 2% NATO commitment. Not only that, every single able-bodied male of ours serves in the military for 6 to 12 months without drawing a salary and remains in the reserves till either 50 or 60 years of age, depending on rank. Get back to me when you've made a similar commitment to defence.
    2
  9628.  @siamaklighvani3951  I'm not endorsing it, but considering the vermin-friendly tropical climate in India, and the poor sanitary conditions, it sounds like you are.
    2
  9629.  @Kitiwake  Elbonia.
    2
  9630. You're just not very observant. Try these quotes for size: “If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza” On the Israeli evacuation order: “extremely dangerous – and in some cases, simply not possible”, "a dangerous new low” On Israel blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza: “Even wars have rules” "We must never forget the human suffering that persists throughout the occupied Palestinian territory" "I recognize the legitimate grievances of the Palestinian people" "We already have reports of Israeli missiles striking health facilities inside Gaza as well as multi-storied residential towers and a mosque."
    2
  9631. It's amusing that you're putting all your hopes on Ukraine giving in to a failing aggressor that's in full retreat.
    2
  9632. Officially, I suppose, considering the movement originated in the UK in 2018.
    2
  9633. The Ukrainians have been modifying Soviet RKG-3s (1 kg) for drone use, and they definitely punch through even the thickest armour found on a BMP. The BMP-3, when fitted with reactive armour, would stand a chance.
    2
  9634.  @speedyv6247  The RKG-3 is an anti-tank hand grenade. You'd better look it up. For good measure, check out shaped charges, too.
    2
  9635. Aren't you forgetting that the ICC is based in The Hague? That's in the Netherlands, which is in Europe. Moreover, practically all European countries recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC.
    2
  9636.  @clayroberts2951  Way to go, Captain Obvious.
    2
  9637. Memovox has a coup fetish.
    2
  9638. It's hilarious that Putin bots believe that Russia exports gas out of charity. Hydrocarbons and arms exports keep the Russian economy going and it doesn't bode well for either. For starters, those in the market for weapons aren't exactly enticed by the turretless tank wrecks littering Ukraine.
    2
  9639.  @Delta_Acquand  Yet you have no retort. Shoigu led a defence ministry that failed in its task.
    2
  9640. I very much doubt a Euronews cameraman was in attendance. Maybe the quality is "inherent to the source?"
    2
  9641. The Germans have a long history with him already, in the guise of God. This serial entrepreneur that we know as Yahweh a.k.a. God a.k.a. Allah is very successful at launching religions, one after the other, but it's unclear if he favours one over the others.
    2
  9642.  @D-E-S_8559  I'll try to spell it out for you. Only two weeks ago, Wagner made a serious attempt at an "armed rebellion" in Russia in Putin's own words. By asking for US troops to be stationed in Poland, Poland is not inviting in armed rebels, unlike Belarus. Poland has made no formal requests for nuclear weapons. Belarus, on the other hand, has gained nuclear weapons. Everything you accuse NATO of planning to do, Russia has already done. Your argumentation positively sucks.
    2
  9643. Why is it that you go to pieces whenever France 24 releases a news clip about India? If they did an unflattering one about us (which they do on occasion), I'd take it into consideration or shrug it off, but I certainly won't go accusing half the world of being meanies and cry myself to sleep.
    2
  9644. The average Russian makes it all happen. Apathy comes at a price.
    2
  9645. In translation, you're saying that Putin doesn't mind smearing egg all over his face.
    2
  9646.  @Magneticvortex-kk4gb  He's still quite the comic. Zelenskyy's Putin jokes bite, especially in a bunker under the Kremlin.
    2
  9647. It's a Russian adage that while other countries have elections, Russia has revolutions. It shouldn't be long now.
    2
  9648. Duh, there are all manner of fast foods in Europe, which is as diverse as they come.
    2
  9649.  @adinnaikhwani6255  That's just gross self-congratulatory dribble. Because of bad economic policy, Turkey's economy is heading for collapse. Ergo, Turkey is not a stabilizing force in the region, but a destabilizing one.
    2
  9650.  @Syrenia1552  I've seen my fair share of war. How about, have you ever done anything in service of your country or world peace in general? No need to answer if you feel embarrassed.
    2
  9651. Representative democracy is lost on you.
    2
  9652. @Random guy on the internet True dat. Putin is besmirching the very legacy that he's so proud of, that of Russia vanquishing the Nazis in WW2. To add insult to injury, his casual use of the term "Nazis" against the Ukrainians just draws more attention to the fact.
    2
  9653. It looks like we're getting more and more shuttered Israeli embassies in Europe, as governments are gearing up to recognise Palestine statehood -- if they haven't already. It's not a matter of if, but when.
    2
  9654. It's what any news channel would do, right? What's your alternative take?
    2
  9655. I feel she's going to spend the next five years at home en colère.
    2
  9656.  @chengavitch10  *Thumb. I'm not German, silly. It's funny how you jump to conclusions like a girl playing hopscotch.
    2
  9657. The USA is juggling hand grenades.
    2
  9658. You think your personal opinion matters in the grand scheme of things?
    2
  9659.  @calisto2735  ...and don't forget the generous gifts they leave behind whenever there's a rout tactical retreat.
    2
  9660. She's rather hard to replace.
    2
  9661. Aren't you barking up the wrong tree? Your Putler could stop the war immediately.
    2
  9662.  @thekaiser4333  You may want to try a counter-argument instead.
    2
  9663.  @workphone4210  What an interesting keyboard you have there. Mine's all-caps, meaning no separate keys for uppercase and lowercase letters.
    2
  9664.  @PeterLamin-pi6rv  Not only that, Brexit hasn't registered with this dum-dum yet.
    2
  9665. Aren't you desperate to make yourselves socially acceptable.
    2
  9666. Enfant terrible wannabe much?
    2
  9667. When Russia moves its ammunition depots further afield the range of the GMLRS rockets will miraculously grow.
    2
  9668.  @navigatornavigator3814  Give up, Putin troll. This is all Russia.
    2
  9669.  @defendfreedom1390  With their "tiny economies", Eastern Europe would've had an easier time becoming Russia-free in their energy needs. They clearly didn't practise what they preached. At the time, it made sense for Germany to trade extensively with Russia. Capitalist peace theory is not without merits. Merkelm miscalculated in that she assumed sanity would prevail in Russia. But not with a dictatorial ex-KGB officer at the helm, it seems.
    2
  9670. Do I address you as Mr. Molotov or Mr. Ribbentrop?
    2
  9671. If so, Xi paints himself into a corner as a peacemaker. He'll get exposed for the con artist that he is.
    2
  9672.  @petrwindmeijer7542  Finland en Zweden zijn verzinselen? Oké.
    2
  9673. The NLAW has been in production since 2009 only. It has a magnetic sensor in addition to an optical one, so no, flares won't throw it off.
    2
  9674.  @seppeichman9413  I'm really curious as to which weapon you handled. My former employer was subcontracting for SAAB, who developed the whole thing.
    2
  9675.  @Shenanigans8888  Remind us, US, how did Afghanistan end for you?
    2
  9676. Have you thought about giving Rutte a call? Think global, act local.
    2
  9677. Of koning spelen op eigen kosten, wat op hetzelfde neerkomt.
    2
  9678.  @imreboros9336  But Putin is perfectly positioned to become the peacemaker here. No negotiations, since he can achieve peace unilaterally, totally wrongfooting both Ukraine and NATO. One wonders why the 4D chessmaster doesn't seize the opportunity and issue a simple withdrawal order, and the war is done and dusted. The UN's General Assembly would congratulate Putin with (finally) complying with its resolutions, too. If Putin could also somehow induce collective amnesia with regard to who started the war, there could even be a Nobel Peace Prize in it for him.
    2
  9679. Those are old Afghan Air Force Aero L-39 trainers.
    2
  9680.  Rory The Red  I suspected the OP of being a neo-Nazi, and although I didn't strike gold there, you came crawling out of the woodwork. Mission accomplished.
    2
  9681.  @monmouthnj  It doesn't work that way any longer. There's this thing called the UN Charter which explicitly forbids landgrabs. Educate yourself before you speak out.
    2
  9682.  @johnnyfeve9372  The truth is somewhere in between what you claim and what the EU haters claim. I see one has already reported for duty.
    2
  9683.  @deadpoolguy283  Try to make sense.
    2
  9684. I thought Abrahamic religions were monotheistic.
    2
  9685. You seem the type that would eagerly vote for the school bully to become class president.
    2
  9686.  @HolisticHealthEducation  OK, you seem the type that would nominate Putin for the Nobel Peace Prize.
    2
  9687.  @issacfloyd9630  There's no "trade agreement" in NATO. As full NATO members, Finland and Sweden will have less bureaucracy to contend with if they opt to buy certain US weapons, but it hasn't exactly held them back before. As a case in point, Finland decided on the F-35 as its next-gen fighter well before it applied to join NATO, and even before that, Finland had procured the F/A-18. Sweden is more self-sufficient in weapons production, but they, too, have relied on US weapon systems. Interestingly, also vice versa.
    2
  9688.  @jacafren5842  I reclaim Delaware Valley by virtue of my Fenno-Swedish ancestry!
    2
  9689.  @nsturgeon  US or Chinese unilateralism aren't the only options. Multilateralism is the way to go. The US, under Trump, has done its utmost to sabotage multilateralism. Let's see if Biden can make amends.
    2
  9690.  @deancookson9206  The numbers don't lie. The UK's exports to the EU amount to 42% of the total, whereas for individual EU members states, the average is only 8%. That ought to tell you who's dangerously exposed in a no-deal scenario.
    2
  9691.  @deancookson9206  It goes without saying that there's more trading going on between neighbours than distant countries. Distance is a trade barrier in itself. That's the main reason why the UK can't have a Canada-style trade deal. Your sense of proportion is still flawed. Even with this neighbour effect calculated in, the UK is far more dependent on exports to the EU than individual EU countries are on exports to the UK. Besides, the affected EU members can boost trade both regionally and internationally to make up for the loss. The UK, with very few trade deals, faces an uphill struggle. For some reason, you seem overly concerned about the bigger EU members needing bailouts. A far more relevant question is how the UK is going to secure a bailout and exactly from whom. The IMF? Join the queue of third-world countries.
    2
  9692. Wishful thinking. The truth of the matter is that Russia was consistently failed to gain air supremacy over Ukrainian-held territory. They're losing attack helicopters and airplanes left, right and centre.
    2
  9693.  @crystal2484  Russia has a canned propaganda narrative for every occasion. When Iran shot down the Ukrainian passenger jet by mistake, Russia immediately blamed the US for the shootdown, but annoyingly, Iran fessed up. Spoilsports!
    2
  9694. Oh, there's no danger of the EU surpassing the UK in the number of deaths adjusted for population size.
    2
  9695.  @mrdemocracy7106  Sure, if you don't want to play with the EU, Europe still has some present and former client states of Russia that remain on the outside, and an assortment of microstates that are good for pub quizzes, but not much anything else. The ones that do matter are keen to join the EU, however.
    2
  9696. But Ukraine is keeping huge swathes of Russian territory, according to Russia.
    2
  9697. Thank you. The Swedes and the Finns have tested their masterpieces here, especially in the field of artillery. "Europe" is not at war with Russia (the most densely populated parts of which are in Europe), but it's preparing for one in response to Russia's military aggression. Hence these exercises.
    2
  9698. You lie about lies.
    2
  9699. Russia's naval base in Tartus is rather "key". Its naval operations in the Mediterranean are seriously curtailed without a port there for repair and replenishment.
    2
  9700.  @deepone5005  Aiyo, I thought you had two brain cells to rub together. For your info, Patrick Lancaster is no journalist. He's a complete and utter joke.
    2
  9701.  @theobsr  It's interesting that you don't even try to counter my arguments. You just manage a feeble ad hominem.
    2
  9702.  @tehilsmaniac9372  Nonsense. Communism is a completely spent force. If you're likening today's left with Communism, you're either misleading or misled. Eastern Europe's dabbling with right-wing populism has more to do with a certain acceptance of authoritarianism, which in itself is a relic of Communism. Let's face it, Eastern Europe's democratic institutions are still relatively weak. Of course, it doesn't help that the populists are weakening them further.
    2
  9703. For your info, Zelenskyy has agreed to a ceasefire. It's Putin you should biatch about, he's dragging his feet.
    2
  9704. ​ @CM-ve1bz  I fear Trump's closest advisors haven't got a clue what he's on about, so please, go ahead and reveal Trump's grand plan.
    2
  9705. Oh, Russia denies all responsibility, of course. It's MH17 all over again. First they congratulate themselves online, and when they realise their mistake, they blame it on the Ukrainians.
    2
  9706. You're lost. This is neither.
    2
  9707.  @nathanmchiyengi7883  Brent crude was $93.37 a barrel 10min ago. VPN trouble?
    2
  9708. Not quite. One is a vassal, the other his lord.
    2
  9709. It's a good thing you get to elect your local DMV employees... wait...
    2
  9710. You mean he got the Ninja Missile on his noggin? I hope his 72 Trekkies awaiting in paradise won't mind him arriving in bits and pieces.
    2
  9711. Modi is a septuagenarian. Sanna Marin is in her thirties.
    2
  9712. They're trying to frame Ukraine for all sorts of things, so this would fit the picture as well.
    2
  9713.  @billcipherproductions1789  NI's fate will be decided by a border poll. There's your period.
    2
  9714. Your claim is at odds with the humiliating Russian retreats from Kyiv and Kharkiv. If you can call the present situation on the ground a Russian victory, it's one of the Pyrrhic variety.
    2
  9715. He's got a promising platform. Already 40% of the Russians support a withdrawal from Ukraine, whereas only a third still wants the war to continue. The pendulum may strike Putin on the noggin yet unless he pulls his Orcs out of Ukraine.
    2
  9716. Which part of Russia being a permanent member of the UNSC don't you get?
    2
  9717.  @anr7763  Kyiv. What have you been telling yourself?
    2
  9718. You were scandalised by your mum and you've never gotten over it.
    2
  9719. That's debatable.
    2
  9720. You'll find that EU critics are the ones that tend to be on the take. The joke's on you.
    2
  9721. Saddam Hoessein deed het nog beter. In 2002 kreeg hij 100% van de stemmen.
    2
  9722. It's just that you're not up to date on European affairs. Timmermans has made a quite a name for himself as a stateman already.
    2
  9723. You may want to be a bit more specific than that. Hezbollah is the enemy, not Lebanon as a whole.
    2
  9724.  @gwtpictgwtpict4214  Not you too. Generally speaking, I find it advisable to know something about a topic before commenting on it. Finland's post-war Communists tried their utmost to tar their political opponents with a Fascist brush. Everything was brought out in the open. Maybe you can provide concrete examples of what has been missed? I have a degree in history from one of the leading universities in Finland, so I can help you out if we need to do some fact-checking.
    2
  9725.  @gwtpictgwtpict4214  "The history is there if you look, but I understand why in general it's quietly ignored. My enemies enemy is my friend is not a new concept, but when you enemies enemy is Nazi Germany well, you may not want to bring attention to that." Your words not mine.
    2
  9726.  @eddastrohmayer251  It sure is whataboutism. You can't overcome your condition if you don't accept that you're afflicted. Also, upvoting your own posts is frowned upon. Seedy, even.
    2
  9727. I hope Imamoglu won't be the subject of a fraud investigation that happens to disqualify him from running for president. You never know.
    2
  9728. That's all good and well, but South Africa has 62,027,503 citizens according to the 2022 census. Latvia's population is 1,842,226. So, on average, there's one official langauge for every 5,168,958 South Africans. If we consider he latter number the minimum to bestow official status to a language, Latvia shouldn't have even one official language.
    2
  9729. I think he's going for an open window, helped along by his not-so-loyal Praetorian Guard.
    2
  9730. He's lambasted by both sides. Guterres must be doing something right.
    2
  9731.  @iiMubarak  The results are in. 141 of the 193 sovereign nations of the world condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A pitiful 4 countries -- Syria, North Korea, Belarus and Eritrea -- supported Russia. It truly is world vs. Russia.
    2
  9732. Feel free to provide links to the relevant news reports.
    2
  9733.  @FirstName-bf9ds  I'm a citizen of two NATO countries. I don't see either on your list. Don't bother to respond. You couldn't even make a point with a pencil sharpener.
    2
  9734.  @IbnBahtuta  Can you put your finger on who's corrupt in the EU? Usual suspects, right? I also think you need a mirror.
    2
  9735. It's Brexiteers wondering where the cake went. In their defence, they didn't eat it.
    2
  9736.  @epiccow6791  Lidl do you know.
    2
  9737. ​ @Balnazzardi  You're describing a party dictatorship, which is what the USSR was and the PRC still is. Still a dictatorship, but point taken. The Politburo would've replaced Putin by now. After all, Khrushchev was deposed for a lesser failure. He went quietly, and lived quietly ever after, too. I don't expect Putin to go quietly, but go he will.
    2
  9738. You can your life she will. Which part of in flagrante delicto don't you understand?
    2
  9739.  Lei P  Yeah, you wingnuts should get on with destroying one another.
    2
  9740.  Lei P  You're slow on the uptake. I'm talking about the extremes cancelling each other out -- you extreme righties smashing the extreme lefties and in doing so, you getting smashed back by them. Problem solved -- actually, two problems solved. BTW, the plural of "leftie" is "lefties". "Leftie's" would be the genitive case.
    2
  9741. Most Russian weapons do.
    2
  9742. Putin is a hungry bear all right, but he's lost his teeth and claws. Someone ought to tell him.
    2
  9743. With the sanctions in place, Russia won't be able to replace its material losses. Russia will remain a shadow of its former self for decades to come, economically and militarily.
    2
  9744.  @dri2383  You may want to give some thought to universal healthcare. It works out much cheaper, and it would improve America's competitive situation as well. US companies are saddled with exorbitant healthcare costs, which make US products and services more expensive, often prohibitively so.
    2
  9745. For your info, India is requesting a lot of weapons from the West.
    2
  9746.  @georgewashington90  I feel a story coming up about a strictly US-only definition of "republic".
    2
  9747.  @georgewashington90  ...you agree that it's a bunch of hooey?
    2
  9748. The US should condition all future aid, the condition being progress in achieving a two-state solution.
    2
  9749. Emojis are a godsent to the witless.
    2
  9750. I can't imagine anyone but yourself upvoting that comment.
    2
  9751. Ook heel wat Republiekeinen zouden een zucht van verlichting hebben geslaakt. JD Vance heeft destijds het anti-Trump sentiment goed verwoord.
    2
  9752. Be that as it may, this is not proof positive.
    2
  9753.  @EuropeanOnion  Er is wel afgesproken dat er geen NAVO-basissen zouden komen in voormalig Oost-Duitsland. Duitsland heeft zich netjes aan de afspraak gehouden. De rest is inderdaad lariekoek.
    2
  9754. Oh dear. Your saviour, Trump, wipes his arse with WTO rules.
    2
  9755. Multitasking is possible. The exploitation of lithium deposits within the EU is in full swing.
    2
  9756. You're not very clued in. I counted no less than 18 Russian nominally brigade-size units near the Finnish and Baltic borders. Saint Petersburg, which is close to both Finland and Estonia, is a very busy area militarily. The same goes for Murmansk and Kaliningrad.
    2
  9757. The Brits were slow to leave India, and now they're slow to leave the EU. It figures.
    2
  9758.  @nigeljohnson9820  Don't flatter yourselves. You'll be destroyed before you have the chance to inflict serious harm on the EU. The irony is that we don't have to lift a finger. You're the suicidal demolition experts.
    2
  9759.  @illernpiller  You've come across a universal phenomenon: NIMBY -- Not In My Back Yard.
    2
  9760.  @1935rmb  Don't be an unthinking populist. Germany hasn't skimped on its NATO fees. In the past decennia, Germany has skimped on maintaining its defence forces, but that's not true any longer. It's not like NATO has a one common army that is paid for with financial contributions from all the members, and Germany has refused to contribute, as you suggest.
    2
  9761. Which part of "terrorism" don't you understand?
    2
  9762. Sorry, you'll have to get your jollies somewhere else, somewhere where they take liberties with the truth.
    2
  9763.  @southpole4776  Depends on which specific Western country you have in mind. We're high up in the World Press Freedom Index. How about you?
    2
  9764. And we were told by your ilk that this would spell the end for France in Africa.
    2
  9765.  @eddastrohmayer251  Jealous of being Putin's and Trump's bosom friend? Do you also want to associate with convicted felons and those wanted for war crimes?
    2
  9766.  @startarot5876  Orban is the last European leader I'd be jealous of. He's not only a national disgrace, but also, a continental one.
    2
  9767. There's a global interest in keeping Iran at bay. They're fighting proxy wars everywhere.
    2
  9768. ⬆Another Krembot pleading for peace... on Putler's terms. Yeah, Peace in Our Time.
    2
  9769. Cause and consequence elude Pootie-Poot.
    2
  9770. You should be aware that a copium overdosis causes hallucinations. Inhale some reality to recover.
    2
  9771.  @Zurvan101  Hongkongers -- real ones, that is -- have developed a distinct identity of their own. The same goes for the Taiwanese. And the Singaporean Chinese.
    2
  9772. Looks like you need to go on a peace mission to Moscow.
    2
  9773.  @fagreed3938  *Thoughts. If you must know, I speak five languages. I'm not contemplating to add to Russian to the mix. It's increasingly irrelevant.
    2
  9774. Trump said it himself, he's on good terms with Putin. Putin probably has him prepped on what to do with regard to Ukraine should Trump win the election. Trump has alluded to that.
    2
  9775. So you finally got Internet.
    2
  9776. So, where has Israel struck in Iran? I must've missed that.
    2
  9777. Yes-yes, yet Europe has become synonymous with the EU despite the fact that most Russians are Europeans, too, simply because of geographical reasons. To delve deeper into pedantry, there's a case to be made that the Jews whose ancestors have continuously inhabited present-day Israel from Ottoman times are Palestinians, too.
    2
  9778.  @brotherlestat305  "Almost completely Russian" as in any-day-now-really-soon-we-promise?
    2
  9779.  @robertfreeman5054  You're not addressing my question, pumpkin. If the Russian army per definition doesn't supply Wagner, why is Priggie so upset?
    2
  9780. Tell us how this peace deal that you so keenly endorse actually works. You haven't got a clue, eh?
    2
  9781. The British Empire has had it hard recently.
    2
  9782. My grandfather, a machine gunner in the Winter War, mowed down wave after wave of Russians shouting "Ura!". When I left for the army, he dryly noted that they had already turned him into a mass-murderer at my age. I can only surmise that he didn't agree with fellow human being sent to the slaughter like that, and him having to do the honours.
    2
  9783. What are you suggesting as a remedy, more power to the UN?
    2
  9784.  @onevibrationclothingandcom4502  You're trying to invoke some collective guilt there, which could apply to something that transpired after we joined the EU. Before that, we had no say in one another's affairs. Incidentally, I'm very much European, but my ancestors endured colonialism rather than subjected others to it. Still, we don't go crying about it. Instead, we worked hard and economically surpassed our erstwhile colonial master. Why don't you give it a try?
    2
  9785.  @studentstudent5044  I suppose I could ask my Swedish fellow veterans from Lebanon and Kosovo. Oh yes, they've told me already. The Swedish military struggles with a chronic manpower shortage. One of my close friends, a recently retired lieutenant-colonel, once reminisced about international exercises they were hosting. They weren't paid for overtime, so out of embarrassment, he did unpaid volunteer work after hours. Sweden being Sweden, he had to be extra careful because of health insurance coverage. My friend also told about a brilliant former classmate, who deservedly made the big jump from colonel to general officer. The new brigadier apologised to all the others for accepting the promotion, because he felt he was betraying them. The bitterness was all theirs. Sweden has better soldiers than it deserves.
    2
  9786. ​ @attilamarics3374  Russian IDs? Putin can have one issued to Medvedev's favourite duck if he so choses. The funny part is that you have to go to such great lengths to deny the Norks' involvement. To quote Shakespeare, the lady doth protest too much, methinks.
    2
  9787. Because we're not scaredy cats, who instinctively kowtow to aggressors.
    2
  9788. Why welcoming? You must be quite the keyboard warrior.
    2
  9789. Ah, a Holomodor denier reporting for duty.
    2
  9790. You must mean that the Chinese are about to repeat their performance in the Hainan Island Incident of 2001, which saw a Chinese fighter jet crash into the sea after clipping a US spyplane? Otherwise, these interceptions are standard practice on both sides.
    2
  9791.  @foundsoul5024  The Leopard has seen no action in Yemen. Put some effort into your trolling.
    2
  9792. They sure are omnipotent in your eyes.
    2
  9793. Hell hath no fury like a Putin scorned.
    2
  9794. You're letting the door hit you on the way out.
    2
  9795. The West? You're talking half of the British and half of the American electorate.
    2
  9796.  @gdiwolverinemale3rd  Antarctica is awfully big, too. Filled with birdbrains, too.
    2
  9797. It would appear you're new to this world. Everyone in the UNGA knows the resolution is non-binding.
    2
  9798. @DaMatth You do know, right, that as a citizen of this world, you're part of the clown show?
    2
  9799. Putin can end this. He just has to call his Orcs off.
    2
  9800. No need to be ashamed of your dyslexia.
    2
  9801.  @RetCons  Uh, what does it says in the US constitution about arms? Is that an example worth following in your book?
    2
  9802. In the FDF, the 'mopeds' -- long-timers -- were keen to fire blanks, the 'uncles' -- short-timers -- not so anymore. It wasn't just about having to clean one's rifle afterward, but also, the blanks came in handy when lighting fires -- a must in those subarctic cold climes. Knackebrod sprinkled with gunpowder always did the trick.
    2
  9803. In 2008, Russia did invade. Once bitten, twice shy, eh?
    2
  9804. That and a great leader. Aren't you jealous.
    2
  9805. Now, now, you have more than your fair share of "nacis" in Russia. Even in the Kremlin.
    2
  9806. Yup, you Yanks are bitterly divided. We know.
    2
  9807. Isn't this about Musk doing grave injustice to a hero?
    2
  9808.  @Jogeta5  Oh, I see, you want to emulate Musk's defamatory talk. Unlike Musk, the plaintiff was directly involved in the rescue effort. The divers couldn't have managed it without a great deal of logistical support.
    2
  9809. Which country would that be? Pakistan?
    2
  9810.  @raleighnaas935  The Estonian volunteers were the heroes. One showed up with a WW2-vintage German rifle. Had the Soviets found it, they would've shipped the whole family to Siberia to die. I worked for a while in Fort Worth with y'all. One of my best expat postings. I still have a 1967 Corvette Sting Ray as a keepsake.
    2
  9811.  @Habib_Osman  In other words, you feel might is right. Let's abolish the rule of law.
    2
  9812.  @clairee4939  The computer FPTP says no
    2
  9813. Pay but no say, in other words. Brilliant.
    2
  9814. It's these never-ending coups that empower France as a regional force. If West Africa stands up for itself -- as in what ECOWAS is trying to do -- the role of France will be greatly diminished. No one will come a-knocking for French military assistance.
    2
  9815. That's not how it works. Is 'economies of scale' a foreign concept to you?
    2
  9816.  @XMysticHerox  The USS Carney has the Phalanx CIWS, which eats drones and assault craft for breakfast. The problem with it is that its multi-barrelled 20 mm autocannon has limited range. That means cargo ships will need to sail convoy-style, protected by a sufficient number of CIWS-equipped warships.
    2
  9817.  @Hustler1856  The FBI aren't investigating in order to indict Kavanaugh. After hearing their findings, the Senate will vote to confirm Kavanaugh. No laws are being broken here. BTW, it was Trump who ordered the FBI investigation. It can't come as a surprise to you that Kavanaugh's nomination is highly political. In politics, many a career has stalled when public sentiment turned against a candidate. Ted Kennedy springs to mind.
    2
  9818. The Copenhagen criteria, for starters. Hungary flouts them as a matter of routine.
    2
  9819. @Justa Computa What makes you think the EU has its own doctors and stocks of medical supplies?
    2
  9820. This has been dragging on for years, sport.
    2
  9821. Its leaders, too, have great comedy potential.
    2
  9822. But its founding member Russia is, very much so.
    2
  9823.  @bojevnik10  Go watch some videos? As part of my infantry training, I've hit tanks with LAWs and RPGs. You'd better read up on shaped charges.
    2
  9824.  @bojevnik10  The RKG-3 being originally hand-held is irrelevant here, since the Ukrainians have found a new delivery method for it. It strikes me that you don't know what a LAW or an RPG is.
    2
  9825. That's the beauty of it. Russian military bases near the Finnish and Norwegian borders are ghost towns, and their former inhabitants are ghosts.
    2
  9826. You're presupposing that the HK protests and the Sino-US trade war are somehow interlinked. Not so -- unless we're talking about the minds of easily brainwashed pro-Beijing fanboys. Hong Kong won't cease to be a financial centre overnight. It would be a process that takes many, many years.
    2
  9827.  JLO L  Little kids? At my age, that's actually flattering. I took part in the big one, the 2 million march.
    2
  9828. Bibi knows that the US will forgive and forget even before he says "Sorry".
    2
  9829. Not true per se, and coalition governments are the norm in parliamentary democracies with proportional representation. Many qualify as top democracies globally.
    2
  9830. Putin wasn't happy with the small tables in South Africa.
    2
  9831. Have they gotten the memo about Russia being unable to protect the country against rebels, as witnessed in Syria? And Syria has much more strategic value to Russia than Chad.
    2
  9832. So, the UK is now hang-around member of the EU. Next step, prospect.
    2
  9833.  @S4V0LAEN3N  You're a very small minority, and you know it, too. We're looking at 90+ percent of Finnish MPs voting for NATO membership.
    2
  9834. You're exaggerating. France is likely to get a coalition government. I can't even imagine anything similar in the US, the Republicans and the Democrats sharing power.
    2
  9835.  @leungpaul9401  Don't flatter yourselves. I've seen the infrastructure in China with my very own eyes. If you head for the countryside, the infrastructure becomes incredibly crude very fast. The longest highway -- sorry, we couldn't possibly compete with you there. As a nipper, my pop-pop told me that we bought our roads second-hand from America, and since they were far too long for our needs, we had to make them very crooked in order to make them fit. It would be an absolutely nightmare with your highways. You may be a large green energy producer, maybe even the largest, but only in absolute terms. For fairness' sake, you should also mention that you're the largest polluter in the world. You can't cherry-pick.
    2
  9836. You drama queens think there's no threshold for nuclear war.
    2
  9837. The Sea of Azov is 39,000 km². NATO's new lake, the Baltic Sea, is 377,000 km².
    2
  9838. It's called anthropophobia. Literally, fear of humans.
    2
  9839. Are you advocating that Israel should stoop all the way to Hezbollah's level?
    2
  9840. With these single-issue parties in government, clueless about what to do about anything but immigration, the Italian economy is surely bound to turn around. Not.
    2
  9841.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  Because you'd think a country like India would condemn imperialism in all its forms.
    2
  9842. Not when a wacky economy like Russia's is concerned. Explain why Russia constantly whined about the sanctions from 2014 to 2022, and tried its utmost to wriggle free of them. Now the situation has really come to a head.
    2
  9843. You stand with Europe, eh? Yet you applaud Orban cosying up to Putin. Is it the empire-building? You've got that ambition in common with Putin, that's for sure.
    2
  9844. I assembled military gas masks as a youngster. I kept one as a souvenir. More as a gesture than anything else, I had a friend, who was bringing a lorryload of aid supplies to the Polish-Ukrainian border, personally give it to the meanest-looking Ukrainian male he could find. Not only did he find a very mean-looking one, but also, this one had a sense of humour. The Ukrainian, who spoke very good English, was an army regular who was bringing his wife and daughters to safety in Poland. He said the gas mask would be a blessing in the dugouts on days that borscht was served.
    2
  9845.  @darkmatter5424  Leave off with your silly Soviet whataboutism.
    2
  9846. Putin owes his (untampered) electoral success to undeveloped democratic institutions and the absence (read: elimination) of credible opposition leaders.
    2
  9847. And on what grounds?
    2
  9848. Russia is no stranger to defeat. Even the Chechens pulled it off in 1996.
    2
  9849. Or take a monkey wrench along.
    2
  9850. I don't know where to begin...
    2
  9851. We're taking precautions. Our reporters are wearing bullet-proof vests.
    2
  9852. There's no honour among reptilians, eh?
    2
  9853.  @fredburgessea4925  When you call the Kremlin, ask for Vladimir Vladimirovich. Don't settle for Dmitry Medvedev, he'll just bark.
    2
  9854. So, you believe in the power of whataboutism?
    2
  9855. Evading mobilisation is not sufficient grounds for being granted political asylum. If the reservists are unhappy about being made to serve in Ukraine, let them stage a colour revolution at home. It's long overdue anyway.
    2
  9856. The five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. I see you're at stage three.
    2
  9857. We serve no one, but it's clear that you're on Putin's payroll. Ka-ching, 70 roubles for you!
    2
  9858. You must be a lewd octogenarian.
    2
  9859. You'd blame cancer victims? What a clumsy analogy.
    2
  9860.  @kachain8353  Russia has already lost, by failing to meet its objectives and not being able to extricate itself honourably from Ukraine. The war is now about preserving Putin's dignity for a little while longer.
    2
  9861. Sure thing. Assassinations have always been part of warfare.
    2
  9862.  @ldo1308  According to your logic, Russia isn't truly sovereign either. Russia was begged China, North Korea and Iran for weapons. At least Iran relented.
    2
  9863.  @Tomuchtiredtotalk  on the lam /informal•North American/ in flight, especially from the police. "the boys were on the lam for four days before they were caught" Google is your friend.
    2
  9864.  @PropagandaBurnerV So what am I guilty of? Not being off-topic, like you. You post the strangest comments. Are you well?
    2
  9865.  @WingkKong  The tables have turned. The question you should ask yourself is if Russia should've fought Germany in WW2.
    2
  9866. We really don't know if the CCP serves "its" people well, do we? The people don't have a say on the matter.
    2
  9867. It's German credit worthiness that allowed the Greeks to take on so much debt. They were all smiles then.
    2
  9868. En de wappies blijven. Maar met wie maken jullie nu ruzie?
    2
  9869. Why would either country want to sow division between Russia and China? It's not ideal, but it is beneficial if Russia is reduced to a semi-colony of China. As far as autocratic nuclear powers are concerned, a party dictatorship is preferable to a one-man dictatorschip. I mean, the CCP will sacrifice its leader if it wards off an existential crisis. Putin, however, will attempt to sacrifice Russia if he's facing an existential crisis -- which he is. Xi reportedly told Putin to quit the nuclear sabre-rattling, which he has. Not quite poetry in motion, but Realpolitik.
    2
  9870. Déjà vu. Hungary 1956, Czechoslovakia 1968, Afghanistan 1979...
    2
  9871. Your cynicism suggests that you're already living in a dictatorship.
    2
  9872. You sure can't sort out the mess you've gotten yourselves into by yourselves -- that much is certain. Hey, why not apply for statehood while at it?
    2
  9873. So Victors emerge from the closet as Victorias? I thought your lot frowned on that sort of thing.
    2
  9874. Think harder. Something about Putin going berserk on Ukraine.
    2
  9875.  @CorruptMediaLies  NATO's expansion is underpinned by popular consent in the countries joining. Sweden and Finland are prime examples. Public opinion there very strongly favours NATO membership. In contrast, Russia expands by force, against the will of the people. Ukraine's strong resistance against the invaders leaves nothing to doubt.
    2
  9876.  @CorruptMediaLies  Still no facts from the fact boy. Lazy!
    2
  9877. How about Russia being open to abiding by UNGA Resolutions ES-11/1 to ES-11/6?
    2
  9878. Explain the war in Ukraine.
    2
  9879. It's only a matter of time before the social contract between the CCP and the Chinese people is cancelled by the latter. No Chinese centuries before the 22nd century.
    2
  9880. But Finland has used the AK pattern Valmet RK 62 from 1965 onwards. The Swedish Ak 5 takes after the Kalashnikov, too.
    2
  9881. Russia has neo-Nazis in its State Duma, Ukraine does not. Facts hurt liars.
    2
  9882. ​ @Szminsky  These type of mines are designed to break a tank track for a mobility kill. There are other types of AT mines, with hollow charges and tilt-rod fuses, that achieve catastrophic skills with tossed turrets and all that.
    2
  9883. Let's keep in mind that wind energy need nuclear energy to jump in when there's no wind.
    2
  9884.  @frankjames7272  That would be Hamas. Know your enemy.
    2
  9885. You can't fight the will of the people.
    2
  9886. Hmm, consorting with a suspected war criminal...
    2
  9887. Putin bot in denial. Conspiracy theory invoked.
    2
  9888. Very iffy any.
    2
  9889. Hoezo, ongefundeerd? Is Rusland Oekraïne binnengevallen of niet? Zijn ze zonder aanleiding een aanvalsoorlog begonnen in Europa met meer Lebensraum als doel? Ik dacht dus van wel.
    2
  9890. It would make more sense to send all American male supremacists to Afghanistan.
    2
  9891.  J Glass  Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    2
  9892.  @WolfNippleChips71  I wouldn't know about that. We seem to outclass you in just about every respect, democracy and freedom of the press included. I was surprised to note that our GDP per capita is nearly twice that of yours. But as to eating hamburgers, out of garbage trucks or otherwise, we have some way to go, if obesity figures are anything to go by.
    2
  9893. Don't you think you would be more effective at the front? Because your trolling is rather flaccid. Go on, be a speed bump to the Ukrainians.
    2
  9894. Tesla's demand for minerals just nosedived, like its global sales.
    2
  9895. I'd wager Hamas won't let one in.
    2
  9896. The Salvation Army would win?
    2
  9897.  @halilt4408  Yeah, about that. Turkey would have to fulfil the Copenhagen criteria. They're not exactly compatible with Turkey's loopy Erdoganomics, its scant regard for democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities <cough>Kurds<cough>.
    2
  9898. Way to go, drama queen.
    2
  9899.  John. Beimheim  Geography is what it is. It's not like you can row away to join Canada, like your failed royals.
    2
  9900.  @bluefalcon1369  Iratus equals butthurt.
    2
  9901. To drape over coffins?
    2
  9902.  @backintheoven2354  It's not that simple. Flood-prone areas have increased in size because of climate change. What was a safe area before, isn't any longer.
    2
  9903. Every country in Europe? We had no role in the slave trade. What do we -- and all the others who missed out -- do to pass muster with you?
    2
  9904. What are you complaining about, these Israelis obviously have.
    2
  9905.  @psnaris  Don't play silly buggers. The OP tried to equate one to the other, like there's no moral difference in arming a law-breaking aggressor vs. arming an innocent victim of said aggression. The world understands it, but you don't.
    2
  9906.  @ΑνΕμ  Right. McJobs are an American invention.
    2
  9907.  Darius Kang  You suffer from megalomania.
    2
  9908. I see. An awful lot of shills you've got there, on your little island. You're terribly divided, it would seem.
    2
  9909.  @marshallmintz7564  I wouldn't count on it. I bet a great many of the Russians who have fled abroad were supportive of Putin till they heard Putin needed their military support, too.
    2
  9910. The FSB agents have a diplomatic passports. Yes, water is still wet.
    2
  9911. It's more interesting to watch how Britain wastes borrowed money on trying to cushion the blow of a no-deal Brexit, a completely avoidable economic crisis. And then there's the Covid-19 fallout. If the way you handled the health crisis is an indicator of how you'll handle the economic repercussions, us continentals will be treated to quite a spectacle. I hope your betting agencies are accepting bets about the break-up of the UK.
    2
  9912. Or you could say China copied the Marshal Plan, except loans replace aid in China's more self-serving version.
    2
  9913.  Yuri Kovalenko  Trump wasn't in office when Russia invaded Ukraine.
    2
  9914.  @blackcatdungeonmastersfami5311  During the Winter War, the Soviets executed one of their division commanders after a disastrous battle. Losing 55 field kitchens was one of charges. The significance of hot food wasn't lost on the defending Finns either, who specifically targeted field kitchens.
    2
  9915. Has anyone found a way to blame France yet? More effort, please.
    2
  9916.  @ruthsmith2367  It's not like Spain is going to declare British expats persona non grata come Brexit (or vice versa, as you suggested), but the big question is if the UK will continue to foot the bill for the expats' healthcare in Spain. If not, a great many retirees have no choice but to return to the UK. With property prices there dropping sharply, they won't be able to recuperate their investments, let alone buy property in the UK.
    2
  9917.  @ruthsmith2367  Most British expats in Spain are retirees, whose healthcare costs reimbursed by the NHS. There is reciprocity, but the whole scheme covers retirees and visitors only. The demographic situation is quite the opposite for Spanish expats in the UK, who're overwhelmingly still part of the workforce. Their healthcare arrangements are no different from those of working Brits. If the NHS reimbursements were stopped, the Spanish would no longer treat British retirees without insurance -- or they'd have to be flush with cash. Hence, it's back to Blighty for many. I suppose there are some Spaniards in the UK who're in the same position, but there must be far, far fewer. I don't see myself retiring to the UK. Spain, why not.
    2
  9918. It's holding well. Even China and India like it. Both get cheap energy, and China gets a neo-colony as a bonus.
    2
  9919.  @hyhhy  Russia's oil revenues are down 50%. I call that a smashing success.
    2
  9920.  @nvelsen1975  Since you asked, The Economist has been lauding Greece's economic performance for a couple of years straight. This year, Greece came out on top, with Germany finishing in 8th place.
    2
  9921.  @fuckfannyfiddlefart  Russia has weaponised its gas deliveries, so the green shift is part and parcel of bolstering Germany's defences. And there are plenty of arms manufacturers on the continent. German ones, too.
    2
  9922. But the US military is a welfare system in itself.
    2
  9923. How to teach Iran to keep off its neighbours' soil?
    2
  9924. NVIDIA was just badly clobbered by DeepSeek. Keep up with the news.
    2
  9925. You must be American -- or copying them monkey see, monkey do-style.
    2
  9926. Yet you're unable to provide a single example of what DW is getting so terribly wrong. Inner-resting.
    2
  9927. Wishful thinking. Hamas managed a surprise attack against mostly non-combatants. Militarily, Israel has suffered a nick that barely registers. In neutralising Hamas, Israel will suffer casualties, but in the grand scheme of things, they won't be significant -- again, militarily speaking. Previous incursions by the IDF into Gaza were mired in controversy. This one, not so.
    2
  9928. Yeah, in the Startrek universe. Not this one.
    2
  9929.  @ae3809  It's practically a done deal. Erdogan just wants his F-16 deal with the US approved. You'll sing Erdogan's praises when Turkish parliament rubberstamps approves Sweden's NATO membership.
    2
  9930.  @timo294  Good that we've established that you're far right. Run along now.
    2
  9931. rin3guy, the Belgian flag, in its present form, was adopted in 1831. The German flag, however, was only introduced in 1919. Either the Belgians were amazingly prescient, or you're just playing silly buggers.
    2
  9932. Blank sheets of paper suffice, so why not flowers.
    2
  9933. @Tovalokodonc The word you're looking for is sarcasm. Yes, it is.
    2
  9934. The ghost of refugee crises past is visiting the far-right candidates.
    2
  9935. I don't think this message earned you your 50 cents...
    2
  9936. You have a left-centre-left government, don't you? France will have a bit of far left and a lot more centre thrown in, which means a somewhat wider sample of the political spectrum, but it's all doable if they put their differences aside. A solid coalition agreement will do it.
    2
  9937. It has been claimed that your sky friend is imaginary.
    2
  9938. So, going forward, do you favour ultraconservatism or Trotskyism? The Brexit Party's leadership has proponents for both. Don't expect any coherent policies except for a single one.
    2
  9939.  @trumpisking2648  What made you think I have leftist sympathies? Labour is part of the problem.
    2
  9940.  @decus9544  That's debatable. I saw first-hand how dire the economic situation was in Russia after the collapse of the USSR.
    2
  9941. Since when has *Moldova been in NATO?
    2
  9942. Morally perhaps, but otherwise, no.
    2
  9943. Contron 3001 There's that and the fact that the neo-Nazi LDPR scored 11.4% of the votes in the last elections for the Russian State Duma. And the European far-rightists are angels in comparison. 
    1
  9944. Spider Mike Er, because people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones? How does drawing attention to verifiably endemic neo-Nazism in Russia amount to Russophobia? Unless you're a complete troll, you might want to counter my points with facts instead of infantile name-calling.
    1
  9945. I feel for you.
    1
  9946. Zippie is clutching at straws.
    1
  9947. Stephen Woods What do you mean, "had bicycle troops?" To this very day, every Finnish conscript is basically bicycle infantry. Skiing, too, is part of basic training.
    1
  9948. Re. his locker room talk, we don't have to use the line "put up or shut up" on Trump.
    1
  9949. ***** Oh, in your plebby manner, you advocate that rule of law should be abolished forthwith. Figures.
    1
  9950. Chances are they'll nix a trade deal with Britain, too. Go Wallonia...
    1
  9951. Fenster Mayhew Constitutions are somehow undemocratic in your book?
    1
  9952. chykcha Whatever makes you think 'democracy' and 'republic' are mutually exclusive? Did you skip school when they explained these things? 
    1
  9953. Amanda Fitzgibbons Be that as it may, there are highly democratic republics. My issue is with the flawed reasoning that a country can't be a democracy if it's a republic, too.
    1
  9954. Shaun Dee Be that as it may, you'll find no takers for Putin's quasi-fascist world order outside of Russia. That is, outside of the NWO clown community.
    1
  9955. Shaun Dee Time will tell, but in the mean time, in the real world, there's nothing to suggest that Russia's influence is on the rise. If anything, the Ukraine crisis underlined the decline in Russia's influence. Moreover, Putin's rash actions only served to hasten it. His bravado might impress the impressionable, but at the end of the day, it's just that -- bravado.
    1
  9956. chykcha You'll have to be more specific as to what I'm supposedly not reading properly.
    1
  9957. Duh, it's inwardly unrestricted.
    1
  9958. Ahem, the $6 billion (your price tag) M1 Abrams is active in Iraq, under Iranian command, as we speak. Iraq has practically reverted to third world status and the current conflict with ISIS has traits of a civil war.
    1
  9959. MrLoneWolf009 What's the difference? ISIS is behind the current flare-up of violence in Iraq, but Iraqi Sunni support has been vital to them. Ukraine's civil war is similar in that the role of the insurgent Sunnis is played by the Eastern Ukrainians and that of ISIS by Russia. I'll grant you that supplying arms to Ukraine is tricky, but it will come to that if Putin doesn't cease and desist. No wonder they're making up stories about US tanks. It's to stave off the inevitable for as long as possible.
    1
  9960. MrLoneWolf009 I'm not sure what you're getting at. Ukraine isn't Iraq, sure. But the fact remains that the USA has supplied scores of M1s to Iraqi government forces. As a result, many have fallen into the hands of ISIS. The Ukrainians, who know a thing or two about tank warfare, surely would make worthier recipients -- that is, from a purely military viewpoint. In other words, the precedent is there. Political will is another matter altogether.
    1
  9961. Maybe you'll get lucky and Trump will the change the country into a police state.
    1
  9962. MarbleWhornets Riot control is fine, but you're advocating lethal force in doing so. That does suggest you're a sadistic right-winger.
    1
  9963. TheWordprophet Are you already in prison for homicide?
    1
  9964. +nudisco300 That's basically true, but the parties do present their leader as the PM-to-be, should they win the election. May does have a shaky mandate in a moral sense.
    1
  9965. +Are you experienced? So why is he failing time after time?
    1
  9966. +Are you experienced? So your democracy is corrupt through and through. America is a mess.
    1
  9967. +Are you experienced? The countries that you listed are all parliamentary democracies, which are more representative than your stagnant duopoly. In Europe, political renewal is a given, whereas you always end up with the same stale characters in Congress. I've lived in the US and seen some of your absolute shitholes. Even the French with their notorious banlieues would be taken aback by them.
    1
  9968. Никита Осташов It doesn't matter whether you think Zhirinovsky is a clown or not. His political views are neo-Nazi and he and his party are a force to be reckoned with in the Duma -- in so far as the Duma has any real power in Russia. I take it you're not acquainted with the age-old saying "people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones". 
    1
  9969. Vierotchka Thanks for establishing that. Let's juxtapose that with the Ukrainian far right and how they performed in the recent parliamentary elections: Svoboda 4.71% (6 seats), Right Sector 1.80% (1 seat). That alone should expose Russian claims about a fascist junta ruling in Kiev for what they are: pure propaganda. Moreover, it shows that the fascist boot is on the other foot, a Russian foot.
    1
  9970. Никита Осташов No, I'm not accusing Russia of fascism. That would smell of hypocrisy, considering that the far right has made inroads in a lot of European countries and I'm not calling them fascist either. But what does smell of hypocrisy is Putin and his troll army calling Ukraine's present government fascist. With Vierotchka's kind assistance, I just demonstrated that there's no basis in truth for that allegation. Russian hypocrisy, that's my beef.
    1
  9971. Vierotchka That's your comeback? A lazy-arse opinion?
    1
  9972. Vierotchka Hatred-filled opinions? I admit hating both the far right and propaganda. I carefully substantiated my opinions -- you gave up, it seems, and reverted to opinions minus the substance.
    1
  9973. Vierotchka Now you've really lost touch with reality and retreated into la-la land. When and how have I praised the far right? You can't refute the facts I present, so you make up stories. I merely noted that if parliamentary composition is anything to go by, Ukraine is no more neo-Nazi than Russia -- possibly even less so. You partly corroborated that. Put up or shut up.
    1
  9974. Vierotchka I can't decide whether your attention span is rubbish or that your hopelessly prolific posting is to blame. As it happens, I haven't made any comment pro or con the Kiev government per se. Nor have I commented on the death and destruction that both sides rain down on civilians. I have taken exception to the vicious Russian propaganda that unjustly tries to brand the Ukrainians as neo-Nazi, although there's no evidence to support that -- or the so-called evidence applies in equal measure or even more so to Russia. Maybe in your ugly, black-and-white world that amounts to praising neo-Nazis, but I realise now that you use the label so freely that all further discussion on the matter is pointless. I hope you realise you've just branded yourself as a troll. No, I'm not American.
    1
  9975. Vierotchka Don't get me wrong. If a drug company invented a pill that made us forget all about Simon Cowell, I would immediately join the queues forming in front of pharmacies the world over. You being the ignoramus here (and oh-so many other occasions, I might add) may appear like a blessing, but it is indicative of how detached you are from the real world. Everything points to you having created a la-la land for yourself where in true Russian fashion, everything is reversed, bad is good, illegal land-grabs are liberations, arms aid is humanitarian aid, etc.  In a similar vein, I gather you missed the newspaper headlines when the pro-Russian separatists left scores of civilians dead after a deliberate rocket attack on a residential area in Mariupol -- a city they purport to "liberate". UN and OCSE officials confirmed that the rebels -- actually, terrorists would be the appropriate term here -- were behind the attack. You also turn a blind eye to the fact that Zhirinovsky's neo-Nazi LDPR has enjoyed considerable success in recruiting Russian volunteers -- real ones for a change -- from their ranks to fight in Eastern Ukraine. They used to fly their flag proudly until Putin's minions asked them to take it down a notch. Like I said before, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. If that doesn't ring a bell (one can't take anything for granted with you any longer), try this one for size: the pot is calling the kettle black.
    1
  9976. Vierotchka Like I observed before, all you can muster is a lazy-arse one-liner. Your signature response when you've lost the plot.
    1
  9977. Don't worry. In this context, annexation means the forcible transition of one state's territory by another state. That accurately describes Russia's shenanigans.
    1
  9978. +bob head It's a membership fee. And one with a hefty rebate. Most members realise the benefits, but the UK takes them for granted. Well, not for long.
    1
  9979. Oh that's what did it. I thought it was US military adventurism.
    1
  9980. +Hostis Humani Generis Are you mick's sockpuppet? You're off-topic, too.
    1
  9981. +Hostis Humani Generis Your desperate cries for attention go unanswered.
    1
  9982. +Charlie The Nordic countries opened their borders to one another already in the late fifties, Einstein.
    1
  9983. +Mia Subject your comment to a search-replace of "Quran" and "Muslim" with "Bible" and "Christian" and you're right again. What does that say?
    1
  9984. ***** Old Testament or New Testament, the same God's still in the picture. His hippy son paid for our sins, but where does it say that he wiped his dad's slate clean, too? There's no statute of limitations on crimes against humanity, right? And so as not to be called a hypocrite, remember also to hate on the Jews.
    1
  9985. ***** The hippy didn't stop his followers from being violent in his name. Do the Crusades ring a bell? It's not ancient history either. In this day and age, we can pride ourselves on the Lord's Resistance Army.
    1
  9986. ***** The Crusades had more to do with the internal politics of Christendom than with the Muslim world. Of course, the alleged wrongdoings of the latter served as a convenient rallying cry for Christian fanatics. One thousand years later, it still seems to work on you -- so much for human civilisation!  If you're referring to Timur the Lame, he cleverly used his supposed Islamic credentials to legitimise his blood-soaked conquests. His pagan ancestor Genghis Khan made no such claims when he founded the Mongol Empire, which Timur sought to restore. Same difference.
    1
  9987. I once saw the Chinese "protestors" trash a Japanese restaurant in Shanghai during the government-sanctioned anti-Japan protests. It look like the Chinese don't need lessons in what you perceive as democracy. Something tells me you don't care much for giving power to the people.
    1
  9988. *their
    1
  9989. +Keith Durant Why would the UK "accept" Russian targets? One would think the UK's targeting is far superior to Russia's. It should be vice versa.
    1
  9990. Keith Durant You seem ill-informed. The RAF is targeting ISIS. They don't have a mandate to bomb SAA targets.
    1
  9991. Keith Durant You're straying off topic. What have your allegations vis-à-vis the Pentagon  to do with Britain's anti-ISIS bombing campaign? If you want to take the Americans to task on their foreign policy, try to find a related video.
    1
  9992. Keith Durant You're incapable of rational  discussion. Over and out.
    1
  9993. But you're supposed to be the best of friends now.
    1
  9994. One strand of totalitarianism celebrating its victory over another.
    1
  9995. frequency008 Russkies are so predictable. Every accusation that gets levelled against them, they immediately hurl back. Who's going to break it to them that it doesn't work?
    1
  9996. Mike Evans Yanukovych's power base fell apart. Even his own political party deserted him, not to mention the oligarchs who bankrolled his regime. His ouster may not have been pretty, but his position was completely untenable. Had he cared for his people, he would've resigned long ago. Anyhow, I don't think your hero is well pleased at Putin tearing his country apart. If the Ukrainians didn't all hate Yanukovych before, they do now.
    1
  9997. +mrkennam If you were accused of killing a child while drunk-driving, would you protest your innocence by arguing that you had nothing to gain from killing the child?
    1
  9998. Martin Carvallo I had a hunch you wouldn't get it. I wrote "accused". Drunk drivers often do the hit-and-run thing. I just wondered if you honestly believe your argument would get you acquitted in court, regardless of whether you ran over the kid or not. Ukraine came clean about their mistake and compensated the victims. It was a Russian-made S-200 -- not a Buk -- that shot the Siberian Airlines plane down. American experts first made their suspicions known. The most vocal critic of the theory was Moscow -- not Kiev -- until both had to admit to being wrong. What does that say about MH17? That the Russians get it wrong all the time. 
    1
  9999. Martin Carvallo I know you'll stop at nothing to show the Ukrainians in a bad light, but this is getting really desperate. Let's have the pro-Russian rebels and Russia own up to their mistake and then see what kind of compensation plan they come up with. Then we can evaluate if they're more generous than the Ukrainians. It's important to note that the Ukrainians didn't target the Siberian Airlines jet, mistaking it for a military transport like the pro-Russian rebels did with MH17. Instead, the Ukrainians had a runaway missile on their hands, something which, according to the Russians, wasn't even possible. It's simple: initially neither the Russians nor the Ukrainians wanted to believe the unthinkable.
    1
  10000. Rick Sanchez No, the Russians do it all by themselves, dragging themselves through the mud -- they need no help from me.
    1
  10001. Xover112 Neither Europe nor the US wanted to buy or win over Ukraine, as you evidently try to kid yourself. Ukraine wasn't a geopolitical tug-of-war before Putin made it so. Then you blame the other side for making it so.
    1
  10002. Xover112 You clearly don't know what you're saying. The Iraq War, for instance, caused a rift in NATO that still hasn't healed completely. If Putin really cared for Crimean self-determination, he didn't do anyone, the Crimeans included, a favour with the illegal annexation of the Crimea. How come the issue wasn't brought up earlier? Were legal means exhausted? No, Putin just lashed out after painting himself into the corner politically with his ill-advised support for Yanukovich.
    1
  10003. Xover112 Don't be a smart-ass. My issue is with Russian shite. You can't say yours doesn't smell because someone else's supposedly smells worse. Also, I wouldn't so readily play the Nazi card. It draws awkward attention to Russia's human rights record, recent political murders, curtailing of the free media, etc.
    1
  10004. Xover112 Here goes, a non-exhaustive list of "serious political murders" (as if murders aren't serious, always): - Stanislav Markelov, 2009 - Anastasia Baburova, 2009 - Anna Politkovskaya, 2006 - Alexander Litvinenko, 2006 - Roman Tsepov, 2004 - Paul Klebnikov, 2004 - Yuri Shchekochikhin, 2003 - Sergei Yushenkov, 2003
    1
  10005. Xover112 Everything's relative. Americans will remember Beslan and probably blow it out of proportion, too. And peaceful countries like Norway, Finland and Switzerland have all had mass shootings, too. So America doesn't match up to the image they have of themselves vis-a-vis the world, but what else is new? Perhaps it's better to fix your own problems than fixate on theirs. 
    1
  10006.  @realaurorien  Organise a UN-approved status referendum then. The non-approved one is considered null and void.
    1
  10007. Steve Johnson I wasn't referring to "Russian freedom fighters", "holidaymakers", "Martians" or whatever the term du jour is supplying the separatists with arms and ammuniton, but Russia itself.
    1
  10008. ***** Very fanciful. I'm afraid English isn't for you.
    1
  10009. Steve Johnson Let me guess. Ban Ki-moon calls you daily. He passes on your still-negative verdict to all UN ambassadors. These duly inform their heads of state that Steve Johnson still refuses to believe in direct Russian involvement in Ukraine. We're all truly saddened, because your opinion matters.
    1
  10010. +jimmy johnson Any chance you think Queen Liz is a lizard?
    1
  10011. +Thomas Walker Jr. A communications director, shut his mouth? That's a contradiction in terms. Scaramucci was never fit for the job. Trust Trump to appoint a fellow blundering hothead to a post like that.
    1
  10012. For starters, Ireland has a smaller population than Scotland. In fact, a dozen or so EU members have a population size that's lower or similar to that of Scotland.
    1
  10013. meandmymouth Clearly, Sturgeon thinks Scotland is more at odds with the UK than it is with the EU. As an independent country and EU member, nothing prevents Scotland from allying itself with likeminded members in pursuit of common interests. If she feels the Scots don't share the same interests as the rest of the UK, it all makes perfect sense.
    1
  10014. +philajfran Farage hasn't quit his MEP post and neither does he intend to. He made it clear late last month, by publicly declining to run for British parliament in the snap elections. I suppose he thinks he can do more damage in the EP. Come to think of, Farage is only capable of doing damage. Since Britain and the EU are democratic, yes, the ELECTORATE votes in the MPs.
    1
  10015. +Fseirst Lrest You said it, Russia is driving the moderates into the arms of the extremists.
    1
  10016. Regor Snitram Are you nuts? In retribution, the Americans will dump their whole nuclear arsenal on Russia. Russia's nuclear posturing is pitiful -- and suicidal.
    1
  10017. Regor Snitram You must be juvenile. Having experienced a good part of the Cold War as an adult, the Doomsday Clock is hardly news to me. Neither is the three minutes to twelve a novel experience. Interestingly, the two most recent adjustments are entirely or partly attributed to our inability to combat global warming. Even more interestingly, I don't see "clandestine US support for terrorism" mentioned as a reason. To correct that oversight, you may want to present your crackpot theories to the official timekeepers.
    1
  10018. Regor Snitram Whatever made you surmise that I'm American? You and your equally clueless sock puppet "TitusRockjaw" can dump on them as much as you want, but sadly, it doesn't make your silly theories any truer.
    1
  10019. TitusRockjaw What's it to you pal, or did you use the wrong Youtube account again? Go attack someone you can actually take on.
    1
  10020. TitusRockjaw The only thing you see is your reflection in the mirror, which causes you to make faces and hurl abuse at it.
    1
  10021. TitusRockjaw You have a fascination for low intellect, right? Well, that's a happy coincidence, since you're self-sufficient on that score. Keep your replies coming ;-)
    1
  10022. TitusRockjaw That's hilarious. You don't have the foggiest clue about grammar and you don't know your expressions either.
    1
  10023. +ProudToBeUkrainian There's such a thing as temporary asylum.
    1
  10024. +Pavol P. What a clever ploy to explain Putin's inaction!
    1
  10025. Lundvalnaden The sad truth is that Russia can ill-afford to miss out on the oil and gas revenue. Cutting off supplies altogether would crash the economy, but even a brief disruption would make Russia's customers flock to other suppliers, with long-term effects. It's like with the counter-sanctions imposed on the EU -- they ended up hurting Russia more than their intended victims. Even a child knows Russia lacks the economic muscle to take on the EU.
    1
  10026. Wait a minute, only 23% of the Poles have confidence in Trump. That can't be right. Or is it?
    1
  10027. +Marcin Dobrowolski Empty slogans? You should be talking. I spotted no reference whatsoever to any research in support of your little pan-Slavic pipe dream. I haven't advocated Poland's departure, but it should remain an option in case Poland does make a mockery of democratic values, or pulls a Greece on us. I have a degree in political science and worked for years in Brussels. What are your credentials?
    1
  10028. +Dimitry 56 That's sheer hypocrisy coming from you. Russia props up Assad, who buys oil from ISIS and provides electricity and mobile phone service to ISIS in return. So indirectly, Russia is supporting ISIS.
    1
  10029. Dimitry 56 I'm afraid you're the ignoramus here. Google "Assad buys oil from ISIS". You'll be astounded. 
    1
  10030. Dimitry 56 You're the one appearing stupid here. Assad's business dealings with ISIS are confirmed by independent sources. If it soothes your hurting pride, know that FSA and al-Nusra also buy oil from ISIS, but through independent intermediaries.   
    1
  10031. Dimitry 56 Something wrong with your reading comp? I told you, google it and judge for yourself. Use news.google.com if Facebook and Twitter hits scare you. The third and fourth sentences in your post appear like some botched transliteration from Russian.
    1
  10032. Maybe so, but Trump and his populism are tearing apart the GOP. Either way, Trump winning or losing, the Republican Party is on its last legs. The Democratic Party is showing similar cracks, but it might mend itself yet.
    1
  10033. nightlightabcd What I meant is that the GOP as we know it is nearing its end. Of course, a victorious Trump may stage a Night of the Long Knives, rid himself of his opponents and keep the name.
    1
  10034. nightlightabcd Let the infighting begin.
    1
  10035. ***** The scary bit is that Putin just gave NATO a new lease of life. It was slowly but surely becoming irrelevant, but now NATO is very much in again. Did the global military-industrial complex pay Putin to stir up trouble in order to boost sales? I'm sure he'll get nice kickbacks from the Russian arms manufacturers as well.
    1
  10036. How's that going to work for the British expats, who're stuck with real estate in Spain?
    1
  10037. You're sadly mistaken. Recent polls show that world opinion is stacked against Putin's Russia. Both the EU and the US clearly outscore Russia, with positive views outnumbering negative ones. Brazilians more dislike than like Russia. Spaniards are exceptionally critical of Russia. See for yourself: http://worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/2014/bbc_poll.php?nid=&id=&pnt=732&lb=brme  
    1
  10038. +Get Real That means bombing Assad, too.
    1
  10039. Get Real So Assad, as a confirmed buyer of ISIS oil, should be left off the hook?
    1
  10040. Hadi Hasan Merchant Not really. For a long time, Assad and ISIS were de facto allied against the other armed groups in Syria. ISIS also owes Assad a big thank-you for bringing their organisation about.
    1
  10041. Hadi Hasan Merchant Oh no, don't bring up RT in a serious discussion ;-) Assad first opened his prisons to let jihadists fight in the Iraqi insurgency against the Americans. The second time he did so to justify his murderous clamp-down on the protestors, in an effort to give the impression that he was fighting Islamic militants, not a popular revolt against his authoritarian regime. No one's saying Assad acted wisely or that he has forged a long-time friendship with ISIS.
    1
  10042. Hadi Hasan Merchant Don't expect a Pulitzer Prize if you've discovered that ISIS is multinational in composition. They have, however, many Syrians in their ranks, in leading positions even.
    1
  10043. Hadi Hasan Merchant It's way-way more than a handful. As for ISIS leaders, check out their bios online. Many are Syrian nationals and quite a few were released by Assad as part of a 2011 amnesty. Mind you, there's no love lost between Assad and ISIS. Both are cynical and opportunistic players. Given half a chance, they would slit each other's throat.
    1
  10044. Hadi Hasan Merchant Interesting notion. Compared to Assad, ISIS are beginners at killing Syrians. What sets them apart is that they go for media exposure, while Assad tries to avoid it. The Americans and the Iraqi government killed and captured too many Syrian insurgents to ignore. I count four Syrian ISIS top leaders, including the governor of Raqqa.
    1
  10045.  @Dosvidos11  QED.
    1
  10046. maybeauty june Was anyone told you you're a paranoid whack job? Your silly conspiracy theories only make Turkey look worse.
    1
  10047. maybeauty june It's conspiracy theorists such as yourself who need help. Believe in reptilians, by any chance? Tin foil hat?
    1
  10048. maybeauty june Which conspiracy theory did I dream up? I only see you spouting nonsense.
    1
  10049. +Fseirst Lrest Now you're just being paranoid.
    1
  10050. Pearls before swine?
    1
  10051. Yet you keep coming back to whine.
    1
  10052. +zippymax1 You could refrain from commenting. Just an idea.
    1
  10053. +Chew Box So once in power, Trump will do a 'Putin' on media outlets he doesn't like, you think?
    1
  10054. So the east Ukrainian separatists are now officially terrorists. 
    1
  10055. +Bella Soome So what's the Russian answer to this?
    1
  10056. Well, Trump could copy Putin and Medvedev and their hilarious presidential switcheroo and make it 20 years in charge. That's de facto president-for-life!
    1
  10057. Which navy, in your expert opinion, should the Swedes model theirs after?
    1
  10058. +manzilla48 Since when is protecting your own lands pointless?
    1
  10059. manzilla48 We don't necessarily expect them to defeat ISIS, but the question is whether or not we should help them to contain ISIS. IMHO, yes.
    1
  10060. manzilla48 Uh, they're fighting for Kurdistan, not Assad's Syria. Strange bedfellows doesn't begin to describe the shifting alliances in Syria. Till recently, Assad engaged in brisk trade with ISIS, and wilfully steered away from conflict with them.
    1
  10061. +user userovic You mean the same Serbia that has the 87th largest economy in the world and is best known for its war criminals?
    1
  10062. Ooh, a real warmonger.
    1
  10063. Trump just takes dynamism to a new level. Or am I confusing dynamism with populism?
    1
  10064. maybeauty june You're missing the obvious. Newt-like Putin is clearly a NWO reptilian and so is Erdogan. Erdogan's botched plastic surgery isn't fooling anyone. But the real puppetmaster is Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It's all clear as day.
    1
  10065. So you're praising Hillary.
    1
  10066. +amethyst0285 Don't despair, you might get time off for bad behaviour -- Trump's. #impeachment
    1
  10067. Emirates were voted world's best airline 2016. But hey, what does a very broad sample of travellers know.
    1
  10068. +Nik G All that may be true, but the UK can't remain in limbo for long. Investors eschew uncertainty. They may not pull out in droves, but British businesses will find it harder to raise money. Competitiveness will suffer and growth opportunities can't be seized. British indecisiveness won't exactly be a blessing for the EU as a whole either, but as in any game, there are always winners. German and French language courses anyone?
    1
  10069. Nik G To be perfectly honest, similar political fault lines exist all over Europe. Globalisation and immigration put pressures on our traditional way of life. Populists across the continent see their chance. But judging from how poorly Brexit is unfolding, perhaps we can soon thank the Brits for a valuable lesson.
    1
  10070. "Springer Link criticized South Front for not publishing content critical of the Russian government. They even stated that "[it] portrays itself as being a crowdsourced project, but it looks more like a professional info-war project run or backed by the Russian military."
    1
  10071. ***** In WW2, Nazi Germany had no reason to invade Sweden because the Nazis got what they needed anyway. They say large nations act like gangsters and small nations like whores. As a NATO member, Sweden could leave off the whoring this time around.
    1
  10072. Abu Timur Napoleon burnt Moscow to a crisp. And what the French didn't burn, the Russians did while retreating, and again when Hitler came calling. It all illustrates the futility of war quite nicely. Ironically, the Ukrainian Crisis suggests that Russia ignored the lesson and is getting burnt -- again.
    1
  10073. James The I'm familiar with scorched earth tactics, thank you very much. But where did I go wrong in my conclusions? "Western occupation of Ukraine" is a hoot. Poor Putin got cuckolded by the EU, or in his suspicious mind he felt he has, and lost it completely, and took it out on Ukraine. The after-the-fact excuses for his rash actions are getting more imaginative by the day.
    1
  10074. Abu Timur Don't worry about my credentials. In fact, I think I have to worry about your knowledge of history. The verdict is still out on who started the fires in Moscow. The most plausible explanation is that both Russians and the French had a hand in it. Your assertion that the USSR never played the role of aggressor is ludicrous. Stalin was very much in cahoots with Hitler in the opening stages of WW2. After all, the two eagerly started carving up Europe as per the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. If the Soviet invasion of Poland and the Winter War didn't exemplify Soviet aggression, I don't know what does. The annexations of the Baltic states easily fit the bill, too. But most worryingly, the trend appears to continue. Putin had to help himself to the Crimea like a spurned lover out for revenge, to say nothing of his role in the unrest in Eastern Ukraine. Present-day Russia, like the Soviet Union, does not respect the sovereignty of its neighbours.
    1
  10075. Abu Timur I take it that you tacitly admit that the USSR engaged in aggression by not even trying to counter my points. Hit the books and you'll find that the Balts existed as distinct peoples even before the Danes, Swedes, Poles, Germans and -- finally -- the Russians made their presence felt. So if you claim that Russia deserves credit for the existence of the Baltic states, there's a queue. Why would I go claiming that the USA won WW2? Inflated egos are their problem, not mine.
    1
  10076. James The Yanukovych, by having a sudden change of heart regarding the EU, lost his power base. Even his own party deserted him. Popular uprising are never pretty, but a "right sector" did not emerge victorious in Ukraine, as Russia's state-controlled media would want us to believe. What else do you need to have explained to you? ;-)
    1
  10077. Abu Timur Ah, at a complete loss for words, you're giving petulance a try.  It's pretty simple. The Balts settled on their shores after the last glacial period and they've stayed put ever since. There's no telling where they wandered in from, but that applies to practically all Europeans. If that doesn't give the Balts a birthright to their own territory, then explain to me how it does work.
    1
  10078. James The I see you whipped yourself up into an ultranationalistic frenzy there. If you wanted to come across as a mindless thug, you've succeeded. I hate to break it to you, but no one is out to get Russia. Not even the most hawkish Yanks in their wildest wet dreams, and least of all Western Europe. On the contrary, after all the political credit that our leaders extended to Putin, just general disillusionment with Russia remains. The consensus is that you can stew in your own juices.
    1
  10079. James The Ah, you're what Soviet propagandists termed a "useful idiot" and a live specimen at that. I remember studying the Irish Pravda and wondering who's backward enough to buy a copy. Now I know.
    1
  10080. James The I haven't got a Polish nerve that could be struck. Apologies accepted. It has to be said: you're gracious in defeat.
    1
  10081. +weepingod Don't worry, I've been bringing chewing gum into Singapore for more than a decade, under the all-seeing eyes of the customs officials.
    1
  10082. Let's see, the UK will be flooded by retirees who're unable to procure adequate housing, since they had to sell off their properties on the continent in what amounts to a fire sale. More Grenville Towers, eh?
    1
  10083. +Hugh Jarsecrack You think they'll agree to mass euthanasia then?
    1
  10084. One wonders, is Putin paying his legal fees?
    1
  10085. Even Obamacare sucks in the overall scheme of things.
    1
  10086. +Rogue Slayer No doubt Belarus will leak even more sanctioned EU goods to Russia than it does already. I suppose that good for the EU and affluent Russians, who can afford the inflated prices. Sucks to be poor in Russia.
    1
  10087. sexy05gal Care to present facts to back up your bold claim that the majorities in the EU states hate NATO? If anything, Putin's shenanigans have given NATO a new lease of life. It didn't have a clear mission before, but it has one now.
    1
  10088. sexy05gal Ah, this is about your blind hatred for America! Knock yourself out, no skin off my European back. But you may want to pick something uniquely American for a whipping boy -- Coca-Cola for instance -- because NATO is more than USA alone. In fact, today's most enthusiastic NATO members are in Europe. And which survey might you be referring to? Just to debunk your hate claims, global opinion of the USA has deteriorated -- no doubt on account of the NSA spying scandal -- but somehow positive views still win out over negative ones. To put things into perspective, Russia is experiencing a PR disaster of unprecedented proportions, and worse is yet to come. (Source: http://www.globescan.com/images/images/pressreleases/bbc2014_country_ratings/2014_country_rating_poll_bbc_globescan.pdf)
    1
  10089. sexy05gal What? You mean to say Americans like guns? Since when? Er, your point being?
    1
  10090. +densek510 Obviously most deaths of Russian servicemen can't stand the light of day.
    1
  10091. Russia insists on being part of the joke.
    1
  10092. alfabravo80 I see you're already in damage control mode, desperately trying to apportion blame to the Ukrainians in order to distract attention from the rebels being the trigger-pullers. 
    1
  10093. alfabravo80 Which facts would those be? The Russian ones, which have changed many times over?
    1
  10094. alfabravo80 Right, a fanciful theory that if you're accused of committing a crime, you can't possibly have done it. A sound piece of advice: never-ever consider a career in criminal justice.
    1
  10095. alfabravo80 Unarguable facts? You can't even argue your case why they're unarguable. At the risk of sounding repetitious, you'd make a lousy, lousy lawyer.
    1
  10096. alfabravo80 ...and then you doze off in court!
    1
  10097. I believe he can run for US president, too.
    1
  10098. tomlinid He's made it known he's renouncing his US citizenship, but whether or not he's done the deed is uncertain. BoJo already threatened to do so in 2006, but backtracked.
    1
  10099.  @suwhoop123  Two things. Firstly, if your precious Murica were to implement universal healthcare, it would work out cheaper than the present weirdo system. Secondly, by my calculations, the USA spends 1.75% of its GDP on NATO. That's less than NATO's 2% target. We're at 2.4%, in addition to which all our able-bodied men do a stint in the military without drawing a salary. If we were to pay ourselves, we'd be well above 3%. We are instant soldiers, not your self-taught overweight preppers who think soldiering is just firing a rifle. Yes, Donny is back, and so are your big mouths.
    1
  10100. +Daniel You're actually both wrong with your labels.This being EUROnews, 'liberal' takes on the same meaning as your 'libertarian'.
    1
  10101. +The Great Belisarius MPs are first and foremost answerable to their constituents, not the British people as a whole. There wouldn't be any practical consequences weren't it for the fact that Britain adheres to the archaic first-past-the-post system for electing its MPs, but there you have it. Consider Brexit cancelled.
    1
  10102. What did I miss? Did the EU disintegrate then? All I can see is the UK vacillating how to effect Brexit. A slo-mo departure if I ever saw one.
    1
  10103. ***** That's a thought. Russia could've saved themselves more embarrassment by pulling out from the Olympics. On the other hand, no one would've bought the Zika excuse. Instead, it would've made the Russians look like wimps.
    1
  10104. ***** You're a bit of a drama queen. The Zika outbreak isn't the first pandemic and it won't be the last one either. Now that its seriousness is understood, it can be contained. Zika is closely related to dengue, for which there's a vaccine nowadays.
    1
  10105. +Janeta Nagy Chances are your forebears or at least compatriots have been refugees in the past. Do you consider them terrorists, too?
    1
  10106. +Nordic Ger You must've missed that Russia has fallen out with Turkey over a certain border incident that left Russia two military aircraft short. Erdogan's Turkey and Putin's Russia are birds of a feather, but right now, they don't exactly flock together.
    1
  10107. Nordic Ger Those meds of yours are meant to be taken, you know.
    1
  10108. Nordic Ger OK, you're too far gone. Like abortions, do they do  backstreet lobotomies? You might want to ask around.
    1
  10109. Nordic Ger But I just made the observation that you can't be set right, not you nor your statements. Backstreet lobotomy. Highly recommended.
    1
  10110. +Adrian Ashurst It could be a German Super Lynx.
    1
  10111. +Hamad Oman Relevance? It's seem to me it's Putin who's exploiting the Muslim Tatars here, by denying them their ancestral rights.
    1
  10112. Hamad Oman Did you even bother watching the vid? The Tatars oppose Russian annexation and in retribution they've had their assembly evicted and their TV channel silenced. Sounds very much like discrimination.
    1
  10113. Joe and Pavel, are you conducting a monologue?
    1
  10114. Pavel Sanda I hope you're not spouting Russian propaganda on government payroll. That it has come to that is the saddest thing of all.
    1
  10115. By nature propaganda is also one-sided and manipulative. It surprises me that Russia seems to think that propaganda, most of it so over-the-top that it beggars belief, is winning over hearts and minds. If that's the objective, it's not working. But if the real objective is to whip up nationalistic fervour domestically, maybe it is. 
    1
  10116. Pavel Sanda If cold, hard facts are anything to go by, Russia is isolated. Countries to voice their support are Syria and Venezuela -- says it all. Your wild, wild West conspiracy theory holds no water. Intervention doesn't begin to describe how Russia shamelessly meddles in Ukrainian affairs.
    1
  10117. Pavel Sanda They abstained, but did not voice their support for Russia. As fellow BRICS countries, it's indicative that they didn't. Anyhow, such sensitivities aren't an issue much longer if Russia has no business (literally) in BRICS any longer -- just like it is no longer welcome in G8.
    1
  10118.  @t-rex4211  The R will soon be symbolic. There will be a Ruxia, China's most northern province, with a certain Pu Tin as its regional governor.
    1
  10119. +LC Where and when did I make a claim to that effect? Try to keep things fact-based so as not to come across like a complete oaf.
    1
  10120. Learn English? Just a thought.
    1
  10121. Franko Farid Guitarist What prompted such an outburst of hate?
    1
  10122. Kitchen Trout True, in retrospect. I for one didn't realise at first how clueless Baby Bush was.
    1
  10123. +Mel Gibson You're forgetting the Saudis started the oil price war. Their oil reserves are the easiest to exploit, which can't be said about Russia's. In other words, Russia takes a bigger hit per barrel. Worse still, the low oil price and Western sanctions effectively prevent Russia from opening up new oil fields in the arctic. The Saudi can congratulate themselves for achieving what they set out to do.
    1
  10124. ***** It's not about him, it's about the message. What's wrong with counterbalancing empty rhetoric with cold, hard reality?
    1
  10125. ***** It has come to my attention that he's a diehard apologist.
    1
  10126. Then who should be hanged for the treasonous act of leaving the EU?
    1
  10127. +kathleen westover Interesting comment, Kat. Crack's got nothing to do with poppies.
    1
  10128. BritishFreedom How amusing that you think I don't know about the butterfly effect. First year uni. It goes without saying that when you form part of a bigger whole, you have to take others into account. Not a family man, eh?
    1
  10129. BritishFreedom My ignorance? Didn't I refer to destiny? You must be quite the martinet then. The EU leaders were supposed to bend over backwards to accommodate your special requests, but vice versa, you wouldn't conform. Anyhow, we're flapping our gums. We tried reconciliation, even against popular opinion, but Britain opted for separation all the same. Irreconcilable differences. Grounds for divorce.
    1
  10130. BritishFreedom Enough said. Your grandad must be rolling in his grave, if indeed he fought Hitler.
    1
  10131. Ah, the despot inspects his new territorial gains.
    1
  10132. Wily Werewolf Yup, the scent of Putin's putrid policies.
    1
  10133. Wily Werewolf He'll be peeing his pants for sure when the Russians finally start to realise what mess he's gotten the country into. Prancing around in Crimea only makes it worse.
    1
  10134. Fay Muhammadh Don't forget Singapore. Muslims living in perfect harmony with with all mainstream religions. I used to have lunch with a friend, a sephardic Jew, at his favourite restaurant, a streetside restaurant owned by Iranians. No animosity whatsoever, even though we all knew of one another's ethnicity.
    1
  10135. ***** Whatever your point is, the Malays in Singapore don't get to express their supposed hatred. And neither do the other ethnic groups in Singapore vis-à-vis one another, including the Chinese and Indians. The Singaporean authorities will clamp down on anything that threatens racial harmony, even if it conflicts with what some of us perceive as freedom of speech. I doubt Indonesia is in a position to further colonise East Timor, the country being independent and all...
    1
  10136. ***** I'm sorry, you'll have to continue your crusade against the Malays without me. All I will say is that Singaporean Malays are in no hurry to emigrate north or south.
    1
  10137. +Free Manz If that's the case, could Russia please leave the UN or at least vacate its seat on the UN Security Council? I'd think you don't want to be part of a globalist organisation that is plotting your downfall. And why didn't Russia veto arming its enemies?
    1
  10138. Free Manz What a flaccid response. You're making wild accusations and when I confront you about them, instead of trying to back up your claims, you dismiss my rebuttal as opinion. Again, why no vetoes from Russia if the UN was supposedly arming Russia's enemies?
    1
  10139. Free Manz Globalresearch.ca? You've got to be kidding me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Chossudovsky Oh, you might want to point out the relevance of your "insightful" references. Just quoting links is lazy and sloppy.
    1
  10140. Free Manz Who's favouring CNN or Fox? But you've crept into Putin's arsehole with your sources, if not the realm of the irrational. And you call me a troll.
    1
  10141. Free Manz We won't have a presidential race for a couple of more years, wise guy. What is it with you Putin trolls, do you think it's Russia vs. USA here? Russia's sympathisers are few and far between on this planet - they're also known as rogue or failed states.
    1
  10142. Free Manz What, you're still trying to make a Yank out of me? How's the vista, in Putin's rectum?
    1
  10143. Blank Blank I'm sure there's a point there, but I don't see it. How's your burst of bravado related to Russia getting more and more involved in Syria?
    1
  10144. Blank Blank Oh, but you didn't watch the vid. It says Russia sent additional missile systems to Syria. That's mission creep. You said it, Assad lacks ground forces. Russian air power alone won't tip the scales in his favour, because Assad is unable to capitalise on the weakness of his enemies with any lasting effect. Moreover, by weakening the moderate rebels, Russia is improving the long-term prospects of ISIS, who have no trouble recruiting. There's an awkward precedent in Afghanistan, where the Red Army viciously waged war for ten years, only to see the Taliban take over. It's not just the USA that suffers from poor long-term memory.
    1
  10145. Blank Blank So you're the one who's got blood on his hands. I can't even boast being a getaway driver. Your main disagreement re. Assad's manpower shortage seems to be with Assad. But as an active reservist I know that technology, training and organisation don't put more boots on the ground and that's what counts when holding on to territory. Assad has already sacrificed a third of young, military-age Alawites and there's no Syrian Army without Alawites. Russia is far from self-sufficient. Russian officials warn of shortages of basic foodstuffs -- meat and dairy -- which goes to show how dependent Russia is on foreign imports. Putin himself went on record conceding that the sanctions hurt. Earlier, 50% of Russia's state budget came from oil and gas revenues, so don't pretend foreign currency doesn't grease the squeaky wheel.
    1
  10146. Blank Blank Oh, but over here we don't have to give our government military favours in exchange for tuition. Funny that you, of all people, belittle my education. Your poor spelling and grammar suggest that you've been short-changed. And English is your mother tongue, isn't it? I get that a depreciated rouble helps Russia to balance its budget, but it doesn't save the populace from economic hardship and deteriorating services. Russia is hooked on imported goods, which have become very expensive. Domestic alternatives don't exist or are inferior. Companies struggle to get technology and loans, leaving them hard-pressed to meet demand. You can wax lyrical about purchasing power parity, but fact is, Russian purchasing power has dropped alarmingly. What I don't get are your repetitive claims about Saudi-Arabia going bankrupt or, for that matter, "our" poor deal-making with Iran and "our" interfering with the "Soviet" sphere of influence. Sure, Saudi-Arabia is cynically manipulating the oil price, but they're gunning for both US shale oil and Russian arctic drilling. The US producers seem to be weathering the storm without government intervention, but the same can't be said about their Russian counterparts.
    1
  10147. They're there to dissuade migrants of the little green male variety from entering illegally.
    1
  10148. So you're suggesting Poland gets its snout out of the EU trough. And how about the Polish workers abroad and the money they send back home?
    1
  10149. +Remigius Polański You do your homework. Poles working abroad contribute 8 billion euros to the Polish economy annually. The abolishment of free movement for Polish workers would mean they'd have to pack up and head home.
    1
  10150. +Dionicio Baca The Catholic Church is equally to blame. Luther wanted reform, not a split. The Catholics could've engaged in dialog, but instead declared him a heretic. Luther wasn't alone in wanting reform, but the Catholic Church couldn't deliver.
    1
  10151. +Dionicia Baca Didn't you get to keep your 15 centuries? The crux of the matter is that Luther found a huge following. Many readily converted, suggesting something was wrong with the Catholic Church. Anyhow, Protestantism is a better fit with us Northerners. Equality, frugality and strong ethics. One shouldn't generalise, but there's a clear correlation between Protestantism and progress. Just out of interest, do you also vilify the Orthodox Church?
    1
  10152. "We all wish the european union would die"... that would be the eurosceptics, I take it. Yes, it makes perfect sense that you oppose the union, because that's what defines you.
    1
  10153. fr8trane1000 When there's change there's resistance. Couple that with xenophobia and you have disaffected individuals. But it will pass and Germany sorely needs the taxpayers. Ever heard of the pension bomb?
    1
  10154. LukeTEvans Being for Assad isn't being for peace. The Syrians will never unite under Assad of their own volition and he can't make them either.
    1
  10155. +Rich Mellow It's more like 27 exes in complete agreement over a divorce strategy. Where's the spite?
    1
  10156. Believe me, Iran's Islamic revolutionaries would be extremely happy with Trump in office. To ensure their political survival, they need the USA to stay the Great Satan. I'm sure Trump would more than oblige.
    1
  10157. +Gray Ghost In case you equate EU with globalism, know that the EU has been of immense economic benefit to Poland. We've been paying through the nose to help Poland shed its Communist backwardness. Gratitude seems to be in short supply these days. Instead, the present government in Poland is happily ignoring the principles that underpin the EU.
    1
  10158. +Mariusz Stark A nationalist I'm not but a patriot I am. If indeed nationalist pride is priceless, I suggest Poland makes an exit toot sweet.
    1
  10159. +Mariusz Stark You think it's OK to milk the EU and then dance on its grave? If so, you should be lecturing about opportunism, not pride. The EU's democratic deficit is operational rather than technical in nature. A co-worker of mine, who's running for the local council, admitted only today that she didn't know earlier that Tusk was Polish. I suppose we could start electing soccer stars, who are known beyond their borders.
    1
  10160. +Mariusz Stark Now I'm starting to wonder whether you're playing dumb or the real thing. It's an irrefutable fact that Poland is a net beneficiary in the EU and one of the largest recipients of the cohesion fund. I did mention that Poland is a thoroughfare, but that apparently didn't register with you. Donald Tusk was elected by the European Council and the council members themselves are elected by their countries' electorates. It's a fair arrangement for something that's considered the collective presidency of the EU. I say fair -- not ideal -- since direct elections would obviously be better -- at least in theory. I was hoping you'd get it the first time, but I'll try again. By bringing up soccer stars I meant that they are pretty much the only Europeans who're known across the continent to the public at large. If Donald Tusk's name were to appear on a ballot paper, it would be just that, a name. Now do you see the problem?
    1
  10161. +Mariusz Stark You're still trying to muddy the waters. Firstly, fact is, Poland gets more money out of the EU than it puts in -- a lot more. Secondly, your article refers to the European Parliament. It is directly elected. Since you and your populist ilk are always quick to flag problems but slow to contribute solutions, I'll ask you directly: how do you propose the presidents of the Commission and the Council are elected? Please, no lofty theories, but practical, workable solutions.
    1
  10162. +Mariusz Stark You tick all the boxes of being a right-wing populist. The boasts about national pride (which turned out to be opportunism), the worn-out catchwords ("globalists", "elitists", "traitors", "unelected tyrants", "banks", "corporates") and all the other old clichés are telltale signs. I haven't even started defending the EU's democratic credentials. So far, I've only challenged you on factual errors. You failed to make your case about unelected officials -- they're duly elected, if not directly, then by elected officials. If not by you, then by their own constituents. Just so you know, I don't care for your opinions, but I have a problem with the uninformed spreading misinformation. Again, you post a link to an opinion piece that seems to have only a passing relevance to the topic at hand. Try to paraphrase or don't bother all.
    1
  10163. +Mariusz Stark That's good then. But like I observed earlier, you and your populist ilk provide no answers.
    1
  10164. You may want to elaborate on that... or quit yer whining.
    1
  10165. +RawLu That's funny, coming from you. You are what the Kremlin propagandists -- the real puppet-masters -- term a useful idiot. Even their troll factory workers are paid -- a pittance, really, but paid nonetheless -- but you do it for free.
    1
  10166. +Morgan Cooper I'm curious, are you a birther too? I'm wondering if there's a correlation. I'm inclined to think there is.
    1
  10167. WDR and ZDF are German TV broadcasters.
    1
  10168. republicofsandals You're still not getting it. I'm saying Fidel and his crowd levelled the playing field, but the end result was that everyone was left relatively poor. An improvement from Batista's time, I'm sure, but still, the Cubans deserved -- and deserve -- better. Blame the Americans as much as you want -- Fidel did, very successfully -- but that doesn't alter the fact that Cuba's economic woes are mostly home-grown.
    1
  10169. republicofsandals I bet you still blame your parents for your problems, too. The Soviet Union generously bankrolled Cuba. With the money, the Cubans could've made something of themselves. Labelling the exiles as bourgeois (note the spelling) is misleading. Most arrived penniless and still did well.
    1
  10170. +I〉_〈I Russian spelling.
    1
  10171. It does, too. It drives the point home that Trump can't rely on his populist charms any longer. As the president, he has to lead Hillary's supporters, too, who, as we all know, outnumber his supporters. Trump needs to come to terms with the painful truth that he'll go into the White House as the most divisive president since James Buchanan, who famously failed to avert the Civil War.
    1
  10172. anonym aenb Regardless of their number or their leanings, they do represent the unease felt by 52.6% of the electorate on account of Trump becoming president. Anti-democratic, you said?
    1
  10173. Rise4justice There's zero chance Trump will unite the nation. That said, Hillary would've fared just as badly in that respect. These elections were about bad and worse, and worse won.
    1
  10174. anonym aenb You're assuming non-voters are Trump supporters. Whatever gave you that idea? But you're right, polarisation will endure no matter what. Unless the duopoly is broken.
    1
  10175. anonym aenb I hear many thought it was a done deal that Hillary would win and didn't bother voting. And that another great many disliked both candidates and didn't see any point in voting. If there's any truth to these assertions, we can safely assume the non-voters are more anti- than pro-Trump, just like the voters. An even safer assumption is that the non-voters are split along the same lines as the voters, in which case the outcome is still the same. Trump has his work cut out winning hearts and minds. I'm curious, how exactly is my world view narrow? Please be specific.
    1
  10176. dekcarc I, too, did the math and arrived at 52.9% voting for someone else than Trump. So Trump's predicament is growing worse still.
    1
  10177. dekcarc Point?
    1
  10178. dekcarc You do realise that the bigger populist just won the presidency?
    1
  10179. dekcarc You have no case.
    1
  10180. dekcarc One word. Weird.
    1
  10181. Baz Metse Score! And you call me a troll with that mouth?
    1
  10182. Baz Metse You're right. Platitudes like "idiot", "shill" and "sheeple" don't insult me. 
    1
  10183. Let me spell it out. It's like you went to your daddy for advice how to stand up for yourself verbally. You sound the perfect nerd.
    1
  10184. Mech RoBoT So you're implying Catherine the Great was better. That's an idea, let's replace Putin with a female leader. Change is good.
    1
  10185. Mech RoBoT German she was, wasn't she? Came to power in a coup d'état that saw her German-born husband and Tsar deposed and murdered. Say, you think she was Right Sector?
    1
  10186. pilotstyle123 That sums it up quite nicely. Russia shouldn't go unbridled.
    1
  10187. Does the Tokarev cartridge make the Model 712 cycle faster because of a bigger powder charge?
    1
  10188. Helping out ISIS, eh, to popularise the idea that they own Islam?
    1
  10189. +Gery A So, you wouldn't mind a bit if placards started popping up in storefronts that would say "Whites only", "Juden unerwünscht", "Help wanted -- Irish need not apply"?
    1
  10190. +qpae123 Please don't use my posts as an excuse to spout non-related racist propaganda.
    1
  10191. He's no trump card for the Republicans.
    1
  10192. Welcome to the duopoly.
    1
  10193. +Marvin Scott Edmonds Milton Like the UK, France is a net contributor to the EU budget. If you think France gets British money, the reverse is true as well.
    1
  10194. Oh goody. No more military provocations in the South China Sea.
    1
  10195. It's basically true. Fighting IS has been a sideshow for Russia. Propping up Assad is the main mission.
    1
  10196. +Martyn C As a matter of fact, the FSA poses a bigger existential threat to Assad than IS does. As a case in point, IS collaborated with Assad until Russian involvement in the war made further collaboration politically untenable. Moreover, in what Russia and Assad hail as their greatest victory -- the Battle of Aleppo -- IS played nary a role. Their slim contribution hurt FSA and played into Assad's hands. The FSA want Assad's head on stick -- IS have other priorities. What makes you think the war in Syria is about to end? There's no sign of reconciliation, and the question is if it stands a chance with Assad at the helm.
    1
  10197. Terror groups aren't bankrolling the rebels. Like the rebels, they're on the receiving end. Sure, all factions in Syria have struck deals and forged alliances that can't stand the light of day, but Assad is no exception. Propping him up is a non-starter -- I can't think of a better reason for a ruler to step down than civil war breaking out. No doubt foreign involvement is fanning the flames in Syria, but there are levels of involvement. Russia's involvement stands head and shoulders above that of the others. They're just prolonging the inevitable.
    1
  10198. Hector Uh, the EU is sanctioning Putin's inner circle in its own right.
    1
  10199. ...and by the same token, New York is part of the Netherlands.
    1
  10200. Yup, we're very grateful to Britain and the USA for setting an example. An example we won't follow after seeing how the debacle unfolds.
    1
  10201. I hear they want him to be tsar already. And then, Russian Revolution 2?
    1
  10202. +Mini Mantis I smell two counts of perverting the course of justice. First Trump asked Comey to drop an investigation, and when he refused, Trump fired the man. He can be impeached for both.
    1
  10203. +Google User I don't think the US is adopting Sharia law, but the protesters seem to think so since they've taken to the streets to voice their opposition. In other words, I'm trying understand what motivated them. Why didn't they protest against the Zombie apocalypse or some other fictional calamity?
    1
  10204. Actually, the UK has been raking in EU research funding, more so than it would if population size was the criterion. And deservedly so, because higher education is one of the UK's fortes. Or should I say it was one of the fortes before Brexit kicked in. No, Britain will be hard-pressed to make up for the shortfall. It's a vicious circle -- loss of international stature, fewer students, closure of universities, etc.
    1
  10205. +Raimaels Mag The only problem with that is that the wrong side might win, and I don't necessarily mean Assad. I'll give you hint: Syria will be under sharia law.
    1
  10206. Raimaels Mag So far, Assad and ISIS have benefitted from the bombing. Assad is starved for troops, but ISIS has no problems recruiting. Assad, without sufficient troops to fill in the vacuum left by the FSA and al-Nusra Front, can only stand back while ISIS moves in. If Assad was already losing against a fractious FSA and al-Nusra, imagine how he'll fare against a reinvigorated ISIS -- all alone, too, because the Russia can't keep bombing forever.
    1
  10207. This calls for a War on Guns!
    1
  10208. Matthew Chenault No, no, no. It's pronounced "thus bought".
    1
  10209. Matthew Chenault In that case you're a German who doesn't know how to pronounce English. 
    1
  10210. crosstimbers2 What makes you think I have something against English?
    1
  10211. crosstimbers2 Nope. We're all polyglots here and still excel in sports. Our kids score high in math and science. So much for your silly theories. On the other hand, you seem to suffer from poor self-esteem judging from the importance that you tacitly place on multilingualism. Like I said, it's all rather mundane here.
    1
  10212. defiraphi I'm sure both Wolfgang Petersen and the author knew exactly what they were doing when they named their movie/book. It's not uncommon either that US sub crews casually call their submarines "boats" (but never "ships"). 
    1
  10213. defiraphi I don't understand what you're on about. Naval vernacular is what it is. I'm sure the author of the book, a Kriegsmarine veteran who sailed on German submarines during WW2, is a better authority on the subject than you are. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less what the film is called in French.
    1
  10214. Jason Lammers Multilingualism per se isn't the issue, but having to learn another language is an eye-opener. Monoglots are more likely to treat non-native speakers as their intellectual inferiors, while obviously the problem isn't IQ. I'm not saying polyglots are fully immune either, but they're more inclined to spot the mistake and correct their behaviour.
    1
  10215. +Sergej Lisicin The countries along the Baltic Sea approve, with one notable exception. International waters, too.
    1
  10216. +Mini Mantis Nope, the Raptor production line was closed years ago. Restarting it is a non-starter (pun intended).
    1
  10217. Because tweets are short and potentially ambiguous. The press can't get Trump to clarify what he's on about.
    1
  10218. +user12345 Blame the press for not posing the right questions. In Trump's case, however, the press can't pose questions at all, because the guy doesn't like press conferences.
    1
  10219. +user12345 Newsflash, boyo. Anyone can call a press conference. You don't have to be president for that.
    1
  10220. +user12345 I give up. You're wholly incapable of conducting intelligent discourse.
    1
  10221. caller347 Not quite but world opinion clobbered them. Now it's Russia that's in the midst of a PR disaster.
    1
  10222. Big Bob Russia isn't all bad. By and large they share our aspirations, but putting them into effect is always a question of two steps forward and one back. Or vice versa.
    1
  10223. It's a global phenomenon. What do you think the Tea Party movement and Trump are about?
    1
  10224. +tanner bakker Lucky you that these arms are too heavy to bear, right?
    1
  10225. +baronvonbowel Aren't you cute.
    1
  10226. +Harry Lord What an asinine reply. Confirmation bias is Psychology 101. Try harder.
    1
  10227. +larry phelps So you, too, want to give democracy a miss?
    1
  10228. larry phelps Putin is hardly a protagonist of a free world. 
    1
  10229. larry phelps If so, why not pack up, move to Russia and live the dream? Have you even visited Russia?
    1
  10230. larry phelps You sure do, and I assume you also have feet to vote with.
    1
  10231. larry phelps Ah, you're driven by an irrational fear. Better start prepping and find some hole to hide in.
    1
  10232. larry phelps Oh, but my gun cabinet says differently. How many years of service did you put in?
    1
  10233. larry phelps Well, I've got a trophy cabinet right next to my gun cabinet. Peashooters won't hack it when the Russians come storming in. I put my faith in a well-regulated militia.
    1
  10234. larry phelps I should think you're connected to your aunt.
    1
  10235. +TheZodiacz The Gardening Channel doesn't struggle with the fact that America is dangerously polarized. I mean, gardeners rarely fly at each others' throats.
    1
  10236. +Phil Dobson You should be making a big stink about Assad verifiably buying ISIS oil. In doing so, Assad has been financing ISIS. To make it even worse, he's been supplying electricity and cell phone service to ISIS in payment.
    1
  10237. Phil Dobson Assad's regime has no legitimacy, so they're not buying anything back -- they're just providing ISIS with funds and means to wage war against civilisation.
    1
  10238. +J Lim ahem, "dislike less."
    1
  10239. +CaptainBaseball ...except that it wasn't a Su-30 but a MiG-29 that locked on to the Turkish jets. NATO has enough data on the capabilities of the MiG-29 since the type is flown by several NATO air forces.
    1
  10240. You strike me as someone who isn't too bothered by facts. As a matter of fact, EU countries dominate the top 20 in democracy and press freedom indexes.
    1
  10241. free speech How does any of that relate to democracy and press freedom? Try, try to stay on topic.
    1
  10242. free speech "We"? Are you referring to yourself in the third person plural, like kings and emperors? Democracy index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index Press Freedom Index: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Freedom_Index Please don't subject me to your verbal incontinence.
    1
  10243. free speech It seems you somehow arrived at the conclusion that I'm a Yank. EU, laddie, EU.
    1
  10244. free speech Please get to it. And forget I ever commented.
    1
  10245. NuxVom Still, Russia is suffering from food shortages, suggesting imports from the East can't make up for those from the West. French farmers are compensated for the losses they're suffering. Russian consumers, not so.
    1
  10246. @Martin Schulz Je verwachtingen liggen te hoog. Calvinistisch of luthers, voor de meesten is dat gewoon protestants. Duitsland staat ook bekend om hun Hanzeschepen.
    1
  10247. @Martin Schulz Muggenzifter = 1) Schoolmeester 2) Zemelaar
    1
  10248. @Martin Schulz Alsnog, wat buitenlanders betreft zijn het bijkomstigheden. Ik heb in zes landen op drie continenten gewoond. Het is altijd uitleggen geblazen en dan heb ik het over de meest simpele dingen. Dat Nederland naast Duitsland ligt is zowat het enige dat iedereen weet.
    1
  10249. @Martin Schulz Je kan beter uitleg geven and degenen die het nodig hebben. Buitenlanders dus.
    1
  10250. ...cabal? Gotta finish your sentences or you're not a good conspiracy theorist.
    1
  10251. tancheeken So you're a sucky conspiracy theorist. I can agree with that.
    1
  10252. tancheeken A passable conspiracy theorist then?
    1
  10253. More refugees, anyone?
    1
  10254. Correction, the Republican-Democrat duopoly is ripe for retirement. In desperation, America voted in a maverick, who doesn't really fit either party.
    1
  10255. So what's the matter with them? Is it the Rolls-Royce gas turbines or Wärtsilä diesel generators that keep failing?
    1
  10256. I'm sure Putin is very tired of calling his air force generals and shouting: "You bumbling idiots!"
    1
  10257. ARCSTREAMS You're funny. A BUK missile reaches Mach 3. Is a Boeing 777 supersonic in your book?
    1
  10258. ARCSTREAMS The BUK missile has a total burn time of 15 s. In order to reach the cruising height of MH17, it has to go all out. Moreover, its engine uses solid propellant -- it can't be throttled down. You're making it up as you go along, aren't you? Fail!
    1
  10259. ARCSTREAMS Provide me with a better source then, one that vindicates your claim. If the 15 s maximum burn time is correct, simple physics says the missile must've travelled at a vertical speed that averaged at least 2,400 km/h in order to reach 33,000 ft, the altitude at which MH17 was cruising. But unless the BUK launch was perfectly timed, there must've been a horizontal speed component, too. Initial acceleration must be factored in as well, so Mach 3 seems all the more plausible. That's far, far faster than the Mach 0.84 at which a Boeing 777 cruises. Your claims are bogus.
    1
  10260. ARCSTREAMS Even if the burn time somewhat exceeds 15 seconds (for which you provide no credible sources -- videos won't do), the missile still has to travel at very high velocity to reach its advertised range and height limits. Be that as it may, that's in clear contradiction with your claims that the BUK missile flies at a speed close to that of a Boeing 777. The Russian state-owned manufacturer of the BUK now also confirms that it was their system that took out MH17, so I think we can put the Ukrainian fighter theory to sleep. Enough with the disinformation already.
    1
  10261. ARCSTREAMS Again, please provide sources for your extended burn times. The burden of proof resides with you, since you claimed that the BUK missile engages its target at a leisurely Mach 0.84+, only slightly faster than a cruising Boeing 777. You already found my source, Wikipedia, which mentions a total burn time of 15 s for the 9М38 variant. Wikipedia puts its range at 3,5 to 25 km and altitude at 25 to 18,000 m. If those figures are overly optimistic, go complain to the manufacturer. Anyhoo, weapons experts have estimated that it took the missile, once launched, 8 to 12 s to reach the jetliner. In plainspeak, the missile went for MH17 like greased lightning. And why not, more kinetic energy means more destructive power. I'm not falling for your efforts to obfuscate the issue further. I pointed out a clear mistake in your fanciful BUK narrative. Let's leave it at that.
    1
  10262. ARCSTREAMS Ah, the anonymous friend who knows people who know stuff, but they won't tell anyone but your loose-lipped friend. That combined with your apparent amnesia makes you a very poor witness. Your words: "BUK is a territory defending system. The rocket speed is not too much higher than the boeing's speed. To capture the boeing for sure, there is a need to place several BUKs on the plane's route and direct it to these BUKs"
    1
  10263. ARCSTREAMS So you're backtracking on your claim. You yourself just quoted the 15 s total burn time from Wikipedia, so how's that my nonsense? You can't come up with a more accurate figure, only a vague reference to a friend-of-a-friend how's "in the know" or a fanciful interpretation of "dual mode". Like I keep saying, go complain to the manufacturer if they overstated the BUK's capabilities.
    1
  10264. ARCSTREAMS And out comes the abuse. Always a sign of defeat.
    1
  10265. ziad welder And what are you, his sock puppet? You're repeating Arcstreams' weak arguments practically verbatim. As they say, abuse is the last refuge of the witless.
    1
  10266. moonspellsdumb Right, bumbling idiots, who can't tell a fighter plane apart from a jetliner. Then they brag online about a shootdown, before even bothering to look at what it was that came down. Any sane government would've immediately distantiated themselves from the rebels, but not Russia. That and the hastily-concocted cover-up stories point at more than moral involvement.
    1
  10267. Mea culpa, Pootie?
    1
  10268. +Amanda Russo Then surely we'll see RT America cease broadcasting, too.
    1
  10269. Amanda Russo OK, I see you abandoned your point and raised another one. Everyone knows Al Jazeera is Qatari-funded, but how is that relevant? I'll reiterate my point because you don't seem to be very good at this. If, as you claim, the Qataris can no longer afford Al Jazeera America because the oil price is low, how can Russia still foot the bill for RT America? Both countries are very dependent of oil exports and the oil price is the same for both.
    1
  10270. Amanda Russo I find it entirely plausible that they're quitting because they didn't gain enough viewers. Viewer numbers are independently verifiable, and they weren't good. 
    1
  10271. Amanda Russo So now you're admitting that Qatari oil revenues taking a hit has nothing to do with Al Jazeera America quitting. 
    1
  10272. He's Putin's stooge and lightning rod for right-wing nutters.
    1
  10273. doombow666 Russian propagandists can only ever hope to justify Russian aggression by pointing at US aggression, real or imagined.
    1
  10274. +CH Chang No worries, the BBC has done plenty of features on the plight of the Palestinians. Both the Israelis and Palestinians accuse them of partiality, so they must be spot on.
    1
  10275. They've got beef with Trump -- not the war, silly.
    1
  10276. spliffsperlunk Is it so that you have to oppose a war in case a loved one dies fighting in it?
    1
  10277. +qpae123 That's an idea. But the electorate shouldn't go scot-free either. They suffer from excessive polarisation and proneness to populism.
    1
  10278. Back to school with you.
    1
  10279.  @leepialong  Where's the connection between the Gilets Jaunes and far-right populism?
    1
  10280. No more special deals. The Britons have made their bed and now must lie in it.
    1
  10281. sirderam1 Ooh, you get offensive right off the bat. That speaks volumes. I don't lie in your proverbial bed and I am not bad-tempered either. I was thinking Britain should spend some time in the wilderness no matter how the vote worked out. It appears I got my wish. Interesting that you aren't content with leaving the EU. It must be fall apart, too, eh?
    1
  10282. Just out of curiosity, are you trolling for or against Russia? You leave room for both interpretations.
    1
  10283. titaniumdiveknife Ha-ha, I caught myself a neo-Nazi!
    1
  10284. titaniumdiveknife If you really think extra-judicial killings are fine for eliminating the opposition and keeping the government in power, you qualify easily as a Nazi. No, I think you're a pro-Putin provocateur, trying to lend credence to the man's wild claims that Ukrainians are fascists. Or you're just plain weird.
    1
  10285. titaniumdiveknife Sounds familiar, but you think political murders are the answer? Latin America tried death squads. Didn't work out so well.
    1
  10286. Cool. Russia is stepping up its air attacks against ISIS. No longer are 10% of the targets ISIS, but now it's 20%. I wonder when we can rightfully say ISIS is no longer an excuse to bomb Assad's real enemies.
    1
  10287. ***** You're quite right. ISIS has taken collateral damage.
    1
  10288. +Zaticus That kite doesn't fly. Studies show it's more expensive to execute someone than to keep the criminal in prison for life.
    1
  10289. +Zaticus It's reality all the same. I guess Third World countries don't overpay their lawyers. Millions is a huge exaggeration. Capital punishment isn't that common, not even in Third World countries.
    1
  10290. Reptilians don't?
    1
  10291. ..and the racists come crawling out of the woodwork.
    1
  10292. I wonder. When a country is experiencing a severe political crisis, stirring up more trouble from abroad is not advised. Best stand aloof.
    1
  10293. After Trump's defeat, the knives come out in the Republican Party. I predict a break-up.
    1
  10294. Here's why. As the evidence shows, there's a very strong case to be made that the Buk system came from Russia just for the purpose of shooting down Ukrainian military aircraft and went back to Russia, too, after the operators blundered epically and shot down an civilian airliner instead. If anything, this sheds serious doubt on the Kremlin's claims about not being involved in the fighting in Eastern Ukraine. Russia has supplied weapons, and most likely, provided the operators, too, to destabilise a neighbouring country militarily.
    1
  10295. L exprinto The Night Wolves are, by their own admission, fiercely loyal to Putin.
    1
  10296. +Trev S The Tornado is a perfectly capable strike platform. And why limit its use to Iraq? ISIS should be hit wherever and whenever.
    1
  10297. Trev S I wouldn't put much stock in the legitimacy of Assad's regime. Unleashing the hounds of hell on your people tends to erode your right to rule over them. Everyone in Syria, including Assad, has taken delivery of ISIS oil. Moreover, Assad's power plants and cell phone towers have been servicing ISIS in return. Brimstone missiles fired in Iraq cost as much as ones fired in Syria. In the latter, however, they may be more cost-effective.
    1
  10298. theylied1776 Then it was mutually beneficial/detrimental. I'm not sure France has to learn much from Russian military technology, which is mostly obsolete and of poor quality.
    1
  10299. More to the point, what's wrong with his argument?
    1
  10300. NaZReD He collapsed as a result of the blow, so what's the diff?
    1
  10301. It's just a clash between representative and direct democracy. I think we can safely conclude the British people aren't ready for direct democracy.
    1
  10302. Hmm. Turkish expats get to vote in Erdogan's already infamous referendum.
    1
  10303. +Thyalwaysseek It's unclear what will happen if a drone smashes into the windshield or gets sucked into an engine of an aircraft. You may not care, but anyone with even the slightest concern for air safety does.
    1
  10304. Thyalwaysseek When they bring down an aircraft or otherwise cause a major emergency, then yes.
    1
  10305. Maybe you should try a different comment section, of a video that deals with US wrongdoings. This is about a Malaysian airliner, carrying mostly Dutch, Malaysian and Australian passengers. I don't see a linkage with the USA here.
    1
  10306. But 'your' no good at spelling.
    1
  10307. ***** Where did you get that from? Target drones have been around since 1935, courtesy of the Brits.
    1
  10308. Crimea is Europe and the Russians invaded there.
    1
  10309. +ThatDutchguy You're too generous. No matter whether it's USA, Russia or France that's dropping the bombs, ISIS won't be beaten from the air.
    1
  10310. ThatDutchguy Everyone is trying to get locals to fight their ground battles. Russia and France are hardly exceptional in this regard. Even Sweden has sent military trainers to train the Kurds to fight ISIS.
    1
  10311. ThatDutchguy The trouble is, Assad's regime enjoys little to no legitimacy. A civil war does that to you. And if your dear Putin was so hot on legitimacy, he'd leave Crimea and Eastern Ukraine in a hurry. But yes, Russia and before it, the Soviet Union, have done a marvellous job propping up a despotic regime in Syria. Despots have to pull together, after all.
    1
  10312. ThatDutchguy Come on, you can do better than that tired, old Putin troll comeback. No, I don't mean trying Fox next.
    1
  10313. ThatDutchguy Well, if you root for the authoritarian team and have no use for even basic civil liberties...
    1
  10314. ThatDutchguy That sentence makes no sense.
    1
  10315. ThatDutchguy Engels speelt je parten.
    1
  10316. +Fseirst Lrest So you haven't heard of Assad's most potent allies in the ground war, the Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards? They're Islamists all right.
    1
  10317. How about passing out guns to the competitors, biathlon-style? To make it even more interesting, they could use Yanks for targets.
    1
  10318. Ultraflexible.
    1
  10319. Primarch Alpharius Weathervane. Opportunist. Populist.
    1
  10320. Primarch Alpharius Let's assume you vehemently agree with BoJo's views on certain key issues and you decide he should be the one to represent you in parliament. But shortly after gaining his seat, Johnson decides his political ambitions are better served if he switches his position on the issues you hold so dear. Good luck unseating him and organising a by-election.
    1
  10321. Primarch Alpharius It's not the first serious allegation that he's switched positions on Brexit. Then there's the Heathrow expansion. It appears Boris will no longer lie down in front of the bulldozers, nor quit his cabinet post.
    1
  10322. Primarch Alpharius Boris is known to make about-turns whenever the stars align for him. His constituents are justifiably upset.
    1
  10323. Seek help from an otolaryngologist. 
    1
  10324. Sailesh Kuturu Apparently you're unawares -- and I guess it has something to do with your ethnicity -- that cults of personality are regarded as distasteful in developed countries. Putin is in no position to deal with NATO other than by blowing hot air. Brexit is not helping Putin. The UK needs the US more than ever, so the sanctions against Russia aren't going away. Now go shampoo off that Putin poop.
    1
  10325. Sailesh Kuturu So you've swallowed Russian propaganda whole and now you're regurgitating it for our benefit. There's nothing sinister about NATO's enlargement. The new members, formerly under the yoke of the USSR, saw NATO membership as a security guarantee against Russia, the legal successor to the USSR. Before becoming full members, they joined NATO's Partnership for Peace programme, which Russia also joined. As late as 2009, Russia wasn't ruling out following suit some time in the future. It must be a throwback to Soviet times that Russia is now trying to rewrite history and portray NATO's expansion as an evil American plot to corner Russia. You can't blame Yeltsin's naivety, because Putin has been in power since 1999 (well, no one believes the job swap with Medvedev meant anything).
    1
  10326. Sailesh Kuturu There comes the tired old 'mainstream media' argument. Copying from a propaganda leaflet? Explain to me where my imagination got the better of me. It's all based on irrefutable facts. To this day, Russia remains in NATO's Partnership for Peace programme. In 2009, Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's then-ambassador to NATO, explicitly stated that Russia didn't rule out future membership: https://euobserver.com/news/27890 There's such a thing as self-determination, which has it that countries get to decide for themselves which alliances they join or form. America doesn't expand NATO, the member states do, and with popular support, too. Nobody put a gun to their head. Finally, you claim that NATO hasn't grown since Putin came to power. Blatantly untrue, that. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia joined in 2004, five years into Putin's tenure. Sweden and Finland are on the verge of joining, despite Putin's sabre-rattling. It appears your fact-checking is just as shitty as Trump's.
    1
  10327. Sailesh Kuturu There you go again, the tired, old mainstream media argument. You have no clue as to which media I follow. I'm sorry, I absolutely cannot imagine Mexico and Canada forming any sort of military alliance with present-day Russia -- they'd be raving mad if they did. But in theory, they have that right. The Yanks would just have to grin and bear it. You're massively confusing cause and consequence. The Balts unanimously sought security guarantees against Russian aggression, examples of which abound: Chechnya, Georgia, Crimea, Eastern Ukraine, Syria... Despite hastily concocted, after-the-fact conspiracy theories by the Kremlin, NATO played no role in those conflicts breaking out. Russia will think twice about invading Finland. In defending hearth and home, the Finns are only second to the Israelis, and perhaps the Swiss, in terms of determination and capability. Then there are the so-called host nation agreements that both Sweden and Finland have signed with NATO. In plain terms, both countries will immediately open a backdoor to NATO in the event of Russia's militarism spilling over onto their territory. So, was I factually right about Russia, in 2009, not ruling out future NATO membership? A yes-no answer will suffice -- I could make head nor tail of your earlier response. You're deluding yourself if you think Trump can or will radically change America's stance towards NATO. Even if he were to try (he's backtracking on his earlier comments already), the conservative majorities in the Senate and Congress will thwart any effort. Trump knows better than to aggravate his already-wobbly support base. Not that I would mind if the US lessened their role in NATO...
    1
  10328. +Stratocaster311 I would not go as far as calling Russia a superpower. More like a hasbeen or wannabe. They only thing they have going for themselves is a crumbling nuclear arsenal to hold the world -- themselves including -- to ransom.
    1
  10329. +farmerned6 But I am putting the blame where it lies. I'm referring to the Yalta Conference and Churchill's pro-USSR interpretation of the Atlantic Charter.
    1
  10330. +James Berry I'm sorry, I don't associate name-calling with wit. I associate it with juveniles. I've never had Horlicks, old sport. Funny that you'd boast about military service -- for us it's rule rather than exception. I wouldn't call getting shot at and being a pall-bearer for a fallen comrade a sheltered life. I'm racking my brain, but I can't think of anything the Brits ever did for us, except paying lip service and feigning indignation in 1939-40. We pulled our chestnuts out of the fire ourselves and a quite a fire it was, too. Did I misspell Churchill's name? Sure, FDR is co-responsible for Western Betrayal, but that doesn't get Churchill off the hook. And why are you peddling your Brexit propaganda? Are you still trying to convince yourself that you didn't foul up? Just get on with it already.
    1
  10331. +James Berry Hmmm, your fragile ego doesn't allow for criticism unless it's accompanied by a comprehensive study of Britain's influence on world history. You're eager to toot your own horn, but you pout if I don't join in. Begging for acceptance, eh, old fruit (say, wear girls' blouses much)? Conversely, I don't need your confirmation in matters historical. You've exhibited deficient knowledge of British wartime and post-war history, so you're the last person I'd ask when the topic shifts abroad. I'm not conducting a comprehensive study on Churchill's legacy either, so rest assured, I'm not knocking your hero off his pedestal. But your inability to accept criticism against him once again betrays your insecurity. Just so you know, Britain's democratic credentials have taken a hard knock after the mobocracy that carried Brexit, the hereditary peers meddling with its execution and the archaic electoral system that lies at the root of it all. Comparative studies, too, show you've fallen behind. There's no market for Horlicks here, just like there's none for Marmite. Don't you know you Little Englanders are a laughingstock in matters culinary?
    1
  10332. +James Berry It goes without saying that London attracts world-class restaurateurs. La Gavroche? Adorning yourself with borrowed plumes, old fruit? Michelin-starred restaurants aside -- which major capital doesn't have 'em -- it speaks volumes that the national dish of England is Chicken Tikka Massala. A tacit admission that even locals reject British dishes in favour of foreign ones. Keep fishing with your sign-offs.
    1
  10333. +James Berry God you're pretentious. Can your simple mind not work out that La Gavroche and Roux spell French cuisine, the practical antidote to British cuisine? And don't you worry, I've enjoyed the fruits of my wife's family's involvement in the Asian hospitality industry. Am I making it up that Churchill endured scathing criticism in British Parliament upon his return from Yalta, barely securing the vote of confidence that he sought, knowing that controversy would ensue? Still, several MPs resigned in disgust. Churchill understood the gravity of his actions. You don't.
    1
  10334. +James Berry Still waxing lyrical about French cuisine, old fruit? With good tutelage, why indeed can't Britons learn to cook. There must be an unlearning curve, however. Finally, at long last, you've figured out that a good dose of Realpolitik went into Churchill's betrayal of Eastern Europe. But I sort of gave it away, didn't I, by referring to political expediencies earlier. What matters is that Great Britain incurred a debt and it's only cricket to pay one's debts. But maybe you're right -- maybe Churchill shouldn't have been at the negotiation table in Yalta.
    1
  10335. +James Berry Ah, your latest diversion is Italian cuisine. You're still skirting the issue, the horrors of British cuisine, old fruit. So you're retroactively able to pick up a book and confirm what I wrote earlier. With your newly-discovered skill, you might want to read the transcripts of the debate in parliament of February 27, 1945. I know your self-importance knows no bounds, but you might want to spice up your opinion pieces with facts. Bombastic opinions alone don't cut the mustard. If you weren't so provincial, you'd know cricket isn't the world-wide hit you think it is. Remember the little discussion we had about Horlicks? And no, the Internet isn't a British invention. Your list of gaffes is getting longer and longer.
    1
  10336. +James Berry Don't flatter yourself -- I'm not exactly on tenterhooks as to what you're going to post next. It's a bit too easy to refute your arguments -- if there are any to begin with. We're talking cuisine. Since the meaning eludes you, here's the definition: cuisine |kwɪˈziːn| noun [mass noun] a style or method of cooking, especially as characteristic of a particular country, region, or establishment: much Venetian cuisine is based on seafood. If Britons are increasingly abandoning British cuisine in favour of foreign cuisine, as you suggest, I can only applaud their wisdom. But I fear this positive development will be reversed when imports become more pricey after Brexit. I had French tuition forced on me, just like German, Latin and Greek. Monolingualism isn't a choice for us. Again, you pride yourself with a known weakness of Britain. You fell for it. Sir Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the World Wide Web (while working for CERN -- another no-go area for British scientists after a hard Brexit). Yes, neophytes equate the Web with the Internet, but it's just one Internet application among many. You really should explore email, instant messaging and media streaming as well. I could make the observation that some of my countrymen are key contributors to the technology behind the Internet -- household names even -- but our intellectual 'cuisine' frowns on braggadocio...
    1
  10337. No, this will endear Rutte to wavering PVV voters, who previously thought Rutte wasn't tough enough on immigrants stoking trouble. Of course, devoted PVV'ers will vote for PVV no matter what.
    1
  10338. +Patrick Lundström Well, Russia is still into those dumb bombs over Syria.
    1
  10339. No! He's a lizard then?
    1
  10340. The title should read: "Confusion reigns in Trump's head."
    1
  10341. +Stan Spaceboundrocket I find that Trump's path is swerving, disturbingly so.
    1
  10342. +Jack Bor This is what he literally said: "My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people, and American security, above all else." "That will be the foundation of every decision that I will make. 'America First' will be the major and overriding theme of my administration." Where's the misquote?
    1
  10343. Raymond Porter Be that as it may, Russia for sure didn't command an "arsenal of democracy" then.
    1
  10344. Raymond Porter As for the USA or the UK, that's debatable, but Russia  -- has Russia ever experienced true democracy?
    1
  10345. Raymond Porter All or nothing, huh? In my book representative democracies are still preferable to authoritarian regimes. I suppose a universal suffrage, direct democracy would work, but only in heaven.
    1
  10346. +Walker1444 What's the nuclear football doing in his vicinity then? And it's Trump whose ignorance of procedure you should worry about -- or him knowingly flouting the rules.
    1
  10347. They're there, aren't they?
    1
  10348. Anastasis Bbb Being made Time Person of the Year isn't necessarily a glowing endorsement. It just means the person was in the media spotlight. I mean, Hitler got the title in 1938 and Stalin in 1939. Yet press coverage of both was overwhelmingly unfavourable.
    1
  10349. +rj3f3ct Did you figure that out yourself?
    1
  10350. +rj3f3ct Are you an American or why do you misuse the term 'liberal'?
    1
  10351. +rj3f3ct Talk about 'social liberalism' then.
    1
  10352. +NaZReD Exclusive privileges don't amount to EU-wide reform. Fact is, people on the continent genuinely did not like how the UK soloed. Opinion polls in France and Germany suggested that their populaces took a dim view of continued British membership, and this was well before Brexit. This explains why there are no cries from the continent for Britain to remain after the referendum. All the remoaning happens on the island.
    1
  10353. +Wayne Ronnie That's a shared privilege, not an exclusive one. The UK hasn't borne the brunt of the refugee crisis, not by a long shot. Educate yourself.
    1
  10354. +NaZReD Why, do you think the UK is the only net payer in the EU? It's another shared privilege that all the richer EU members get to partake in. It has to do with the fact that the Eastern European countries were set back by the unwelcome attentions of the Soviet Union. The UK let that happen after WW2, even actively facilitated it. One could say it's a debt that needs repaying. But somehow I think solidarity isn't your strong suit.
    1
  10355. +john D Russia? I'm blaming the Soviet Union.
    1
  10356. It would be an easier operation to deport the haters, at least from a logistical point of view.
    1
  10357. Don't be infantile.
    1
  10358. +Bobby Bobby Murica elected a dork for president, so no one's looking there for guidance.
    1
  10359. 3rk4u I don't know, Romania and Albania enjoy a healthy trade balance with the rest of the EU. Extra border checks would impede such trade. Since it's a two-way street, British exports would suffer, too. Don't blame us for your creaky NHS.
    1
  10360. You shouldn't stray away from your alt right media. Otherwise, you're bound to get hurt over and over again and bore us, over and over again, with your indignation.
    1
  10361. spacecase7717 You don't owe you any answers. I'm suggesting you steer clear of Euronews if you constantly have to whine about bias.
    1
  10362. So no athletes with disabilities competing at the Paralympics, huh?
    1
  10363. Tom Sullivan Educate us, oh mighty one.
    1
  10364. Tom Sullivan Puh-lease! We need you to point at the source of misinformation.
    1
  10365. We -- my class and I -- want to discredit your source.
    1
  10366. ***** What have Saddam's WMDs to do with the price of tea in China?
    1
  10367. ***** I bleeding well know what the convo was about -- I turned it into one from a soliloquy. We've done enough research on the Rumsfeld phenomenon. This, however, is not interrelated.
    1
  10368. +geoffrey collins The EU has both directly and indirected elected representatives. No one gets to act without democratic oversight. Le Pen is opportunistically appealing to the disgruntled masses, promising jobs that won't materialise and blaming elites, immigrants, refugees and what not for their predicament. Under Nazism, the scapegoats were Jews, now they've made way for Muslims. But at the end of the day, Le Pen has got nothing to offer in terms of real solutions. It's Brexit all over again.
    1
  10369. You seem to have a rudimentary understanding of how the UN works. Russia, with a permanent seat in the UN security council, can veto any resolution that runs counter to their interests.
    1
  10370. Danilla229 Western media outlets? It's WADA that uncovered massive, state-sponsored doping taking place in Russia. Much of the evidence is based on the testimony of Russian whistle-blowers, who verifiably were at the centre of it all. Don't blame the media for doing their work.
    1
  10371. Stop whining. It's all there.
    1
  10372. No, George W Bush.
    1
  10373. +Danny Richie That's a thought. If UKIP wins and the Beeb has to go, do you think The Führ... I mean, The Farage will replace it with Britain Today, a carbon copy of Russia Today? No more fake news!
    1
  10374. +AMGV Media I'm interested, does tax collection in Murica happen at the point of a gun?
    1
  10375. Howard Selby I see you're into silly conspiracy theories. Russia brought it all onto themselves. There's no economic blockade of China or, since recently, of Iran. No "Western" economy worth its salt is going to pass up on lucrative trade deals with either country.
    1
  10376. Howard Selby I'm not talking about the Crimean secession. I'm talking about the illicit and internationally condemned Crimean annexation. If the US were to reimpose sanctions on Iran without cause, other countries, including EU members, will happily step into the breach. The EU has made it clear it won't stand for its exporters being singled out for US sanctions on account of them doing business with Iran. So much for your Western conspiracy.
    1
  10377. Howard Selby If the US wants to shoot itself in the foot, it's no concern of mine. Crimea was an illegal land grab, period. Sure, NATO and the EU are growing -- by popular demand. I see no issue there. It's Putin who foolishly turned against both, not the other way around.
    1
  10378. Howard Selby Both the Ukrainian military and the pro-Russian rebels have civilian blood on their hands. In case you missed it, the rebels even massacred a plane full of civilians -- more than likely with Russian collusion, given the nature of the feat. Putin used every trick in the book to prevent Ukraine from signing an association agreement with the EU, which eventually toppled Yanukovych. The agreement was in no way aimed against Russia, but Putin effectively made it so. Putin's Crimean caper and his troublemaking in Eastern Ukraine reinvigorated an obsolescent NATO. It's worth reminding that Russia was and still is in NATO's Partnership for Peace programme, which saw many ex-Soviet bloc members become full NATO members. The door was held ajar for Russia, too.
    1
  10379. Jasminewynja Sure, it's called a free market economy and Ukraine wanted in. Where Putin miscalculated was that the Ukrainians genuinely wanted closer ties with the EU and felt cheated when Yanukovych reneged as part of a desperate rescue operation concocted in the Kremlin. It's a hoot that the culprits are now accusing the US and the EU of something they tried very hard yet utterly failed at. I know that in Russia the electorate doesn't matter, but in Ukraine it made all the difference.
    1
  10380. Jasminewynja Are you actually claiming that the generous loans offered by Russia were purely altruistic? It was glaringly obvious that the Kremlin twisted Yanukovych's arm not to sign the EU association agreement, and that in clear defiance of popular opinion in Ukraine. It was because of that that things came to a head. Your coup d'état is just a fable. Yanukovych not only lost the support of the electorate, but also that of his party. It came as a complete surprise to all Western observers that Putin would resort to military means in Ukraine. It still makes zero sense. As a result of the conflict, Ukraine is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and Russia is getting there. Two countries that should be the best of friends fell out in a jealous tiff and can't kiss and make up. Despite putting up a brave face, Putin must be kicking himself daily.
    1
  10381. Howard Selby Do you even have the slightest idea where I'm from? I'm sure I have nothing to do with anything that's yours.
    1
  10382. Howard Selby You're wrong on all accounts.   English would be my third language.
    1
  10383. Jasminewynja I have no illusions about the USA and EU not meddling in the internal politics of other countries. Russia, however, is one of the worst offenders, employing strong-arm tactics that would make even McCain blush. On the other hand, you have an overly optimistic view of foreign actors shaping domestic policy. Putin foolishly bet on Yanukovych, while the EU/USA bet on the Ukrainian people. I find little fault with the latter. Sure, many Western politicians climbed on the bandwagon, but that was just political point-scoring. Things being as they are, there's no doubt Putin's worst fears will come true and Russia, too, will experience a colour revolution sooner or later. But once again, the Russian people will decide, no one else.
    1
  10384. Howard Selby Reading comp issues? Your media aren't mine.
    1
  10385. Jasminewynja Voters are fickle, and stable democracies have to allow for that. In the EU, governments come and go without much drama. Colour revolutions, on the other hand, are high on drama -- violence even. No matter how you look at it, Euromaidan is a blemish on Ukraine's record. What I still fail to understand is why Putin had to interfere militarily in Ukraine. Yuschenko's Orange Revolution sizzled out, so why would Poroshenko's have been any different? It's far from certain that he could've fixed the economy before public patience ran out once more. Putin could've bided his time till Ukraine's fling with the EU petered out and made place for a more casual friendship. After all, the EU can't fix Ukraine -- only Ukraine can.  Now, with a war raging in Eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainians are rallying behind Poroshenko and yucky Yatsenyuk. Democracies always decline in times of war. It good to see you can think for yourself, too.
    1
  10386. You need to pipe down and look up the definition of "occupation".
    1
  10387. Tom Usher Oh my, aren't you desperate for attention ;-) In your ambiguous way you suggest that Ukrainian forces are occupying Eastern Ukraine. Your own military on your own soil cannot be considered an occupying force.
    1
  10388. Tom Usher Notice how you get ignored by all and sundry? Time to draw some painful conclusions, Tommy-boy.
    1
  10389. Tom Usher You've got a lousy memory, Tommy-boy. I can't help but notice that besides slavish attention-seeking, homosexuality is a recurring theme in your posts. Freud would waste no time drawing conclusions. There's an idea: seek out a therapist. They'll charge you, but at least they'll listen.  
    1
  10390. It just goes to show what happens when you arm rabble like the east Ukrainian rebels. They evidently decided to escalate matters and draw Russia fully into a conflict that they were losing, both militarily and politically. Without realising it, Putin has slipped a noose around his neck. It'll be fun watching him squirm when the rope starts to tighten.
    1
  10391. Gg Mo Take your anti-semitism elsewhere, Nazi.
    1
  10392. Steve W Then I guess "whiskey on the rocks" was "illusive" too...
    1
  10393. +IndraEMC No, even without the change I'd call you a Nazi.
    1
  10394. +David Kovach I'd bet on Russia, but the real betting agencies are more likely to offer 1/1 odds.
    1
  10395. +Axometer Could Ford be a reptilian, you think?
    1
  10396. ***** The USA and Ukraine admitted being behind the airliner shootdowns. Let's have Russia come clean, too. 
    1
  10397. You're actually describing Putin's biggest fear. A colour revolution. Brewing, as we speak.
    1
  10398. VTBbank Aw, always the victims, aren't you? It just so happens Russia is the aggressor, not vice versa.
    1
  10399. Had this travel ban been in place in 2001, none of the 9/11 victims would've been saved. Also, none of subsequent Islamist terrorist attacks on US soil could've been prevented. Why copy something that's clearly ill-considered?
    1
  10400. Well done indeed. Another resolute step towards totalitarianism.
    1
  10401. Still trying to play the oh-so overused plausible deniability card, eh?
    1
  10402. ***** If you overplay your hand, plausible deniability makes way for plausible culpability. Real life isn't a courtroom drama. 
    1
  10403. And bite the hand that feeds them?
    1
  10404. British spelling, Yank.
    1
  10405. Someone emptied my cookie jar. If Erdogan doesn't get me more cookies, he did it.
    1
  10406. Dumbo Good luck with your South African apple diet. No cheating! Again, you're comparing apples and oranges. You're apparently pitting the UK against the EU. However, apple-to-apple -- country-to-country -- the UK isn't the exceptional performer you make it out to be. Good, but not exceptional. The Footsie has been hard-hit by Brexit fears. If your theory about investors favouring Brexit were correct, it should've weathered the storm.
    1
  10407. Dumbo I'll leave it to you to work kiwis and starfruits into your anti-EU diet. I'm sure the Commonwealth can donate other exotic fruits, too, so Blighty won't have to go hungry. They are jittery by nature, but the financial markets have spoken. Uncertainty is never conducive to investment and the only certainty about the uncertainty is that it's going to last a good many years as trade agreements are pondered over in Brussels and London. Ironically, if a member state decides to call a referendum -- like the Netherlands just did over the EU association agreement with Ukraine -- chances are the whole process has to be restarted from scratch. In the mean time, the EU is a safer haven for investment.
    1
  10408. Dumbo Riiight, fiscal irresponsibility is a prerogative of pro-EU leaders. Your claims about competitiveness are at odds with global competitiveness rankings. The UK clearly trails many other EU countries. Now, over to you to boldly claim (apologies for the split infinitive, but the sci-fi reference is appropriate) that Britain will shoot to the top once rid of the EU.
    1
  10409. A second referendum on how to leave would clear up the matter. Sadly, the question of the original one didn't address continued access to the single market and membership of the customs union, so there's no telling what the electorate wants. Brexit champions should champion a second referendum.
    1
  10410.  @LucienCallidus  What no? Actually, WiFi is 2.4GHz and 5GHz. You're stating the obvious about the correlations between frequency, data rate and coverage. Why would I dispute those?
    1
  10411.  @LucienCallidus  Not true. 2.4 GHz is firmly established. Besides, the most common 2G frequency was 900MHz, followed by 1800MHz. As a 25-year mobile industry insider, I know my frequencies.
    1
  10412. +Phuck Ewe You should really look into who're the biggest net contributors to the EU budget. Hint: it's not the UK, not by a long shot. I can't wait to vote in a referendum about an upcoming EU trade deal with Britain. Let's see if I feel magnanimous.
    1
  10413. +Demon Hunter The Russians are willing executioners, that much is certain.
    1
  10414. How's that? The two seem amicable enough, except for a few malcontents in southern Belgium, who've been won over by now, too.
    1
  10415. ***** I'm talking net contributions. Show me the official figures.
    1
  10416. ***** I'm flattered that you chose to co-opt my biblical reference, but in this context it implies that after a Brexit and the many trials that follow, the UK returns to the fold -- the EU -- with a much-diminished ego. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always suspected that the UK being the EU's enfant terrible stems not from being part of a bigger whole (you even mentioned one, the Commonwealth), but from not being the top dog. I very much doubt your former colonies want the British Empire back, their Anglophilia notwithstanding. As I keep saying, your biggest obstacle seems to be British industry, who don't see a bright future in non-membership. Also, one former colony of yours, the one across the pond, seems to agree wholeheartedly.
    1
  10417. ***** Uh, save your diatribes for someone who cares. As a self-confessed Anglophile, I take an interest in the UK economy, but part of me thinks I would enjoy visiting a Dickensian open air museum.  What I still can't get my head around is how the British anti-EU faction thinks foreigners will trade with and invest in British companies when they've lost their self-confidence. What happened to the Russian economy when investors started pulling out and sanctions decimated their trade? They weren't even in the EU and they've got vast reserves of oil and money.  
    1
  10418. ***** Russia's economic crisis shows no signs of abating. Russian officials aren't denying it -- tragicomically, they're claiming there's a "decline in the decline". China, Russia's supposed saviour, is experiencing an economic slowdown of their own, weakening demand for Russian oil and gas. The next whammy will be Iran flooding the market with their oil. By the way, Russia just started bombing brown people in Syria. It's all very simple. The EU is about trading sovereignty for benefits. You desperately want to believe that you can keep both by becoming a hang-around member like Switzerland. Well, this ought to strike fear in your xenophobic heart: recently, the Swiss tried to curb EU immigration, but like Cameron earlier, they had to give it up. You can ask Swiss diplomats how much wiggle room their full sovereignty affords them.
    1
  10419. ***** I see you're a hard-core conspiracy nut. Just beware of schizophrenia. The Swiss get to vote on lots of things. They voted with a narrow margin for curbing EU immigration. In a separate vote, maintaining close ties with the EU garnered overwhelming support. The two results clearly contradict one another, because the EU is not sacrificing its sacred principle of free movement at the altar of Swiss racial purity. Direct democracy is a noble concept, but I pity the federal government that has to translate the will of the people into responsible policy. However, I can still see how that appeals to populists such as yourself. You prefer to be one of the dogs that barks at the moving caravan.
    1
  10420. ***** Sorry, you haven't exactly shown yourself to be a fountain of knowledge. You mix Farage's populist messages with angry tirades that are light on substance. Your unapologetic admiration for Putin's Russia tops it off nicely. 
    1
  10421. +Dafuq Iswrong You're absolutely right, you're the one going crazy.
    1
  10422. I'm more worried about the virulent Soviet-style propaganda. I'm worried it's biting -- in Russia, I mean. In the West it's just too weird for words.  
    1
  10423. NoName NoFame The sad part is that Putin's shenanigans have given NATO a new lease of life. It's a Cold War relic that should have made way for a pan-European military alliance long ago. Mind you, I still think the Ukrainian Crisis would have happened sooner or later. Putin is obviously doing the Milosevic thing.
    1
  10424. LombardMilitia Nah, it's a colour revolution that's brewing in Russia. Why else would Putin resort to such drastic measures? The poor guy has nightmares about reliving the implosion of the GDR, only in Russia this time.
    1
  10425. In one word, populism.
    1
  10426. +Hungarian Paragon Russia was just voted out of the UNHCR. Quite right too -- can't have member that wantonly bombs Syrian civilians.
    1
  10427. +bornagainanatheist Ahem, Pakistan, where the Mr. Khan hails from, had a female prime minister in Benazir Bhutto. The USA, on the other hand, can't boast having had a female leader -- not quite yet. FGM isn't a Pakistani custom. You wear your ignorance on your sleeve.
    1
  10428. bornagainanatheist Waddaya know, some members of a rather obscure tribe, making up 0.01% of the Pakistani population, practice FGM. My bad. But your ignorance is still showing, because you're grossly generalising by trying to link Islam to FGM. In the same vein, I could claim you're into it, because Christians and Jews are known to practice FGM in, well, pretty much the same parts of Africa.
    1
  10429. bornagainanatheist Oh the ignorance. FGM is most common in Sub-Saharan Africa. Arabic peoples are mostly found in North African and the Arabian Peninsula. Do you call African Americans Arabs, too?
    1
  10430. bornagainanatheist I thought you already conceded that FGM is a cultural phenomenon and not inspired by religion. Don't backtrack now. Egyptians are Arabs all right -- interestingly, their country goes officially by the name 'Arab Republic of Egypt' -- and it's part of North Africa. And so are the Sudanese nowadays, after the non-Arab southern part of the country part split off.
    1
  10431. bornagainanatheist Reread my earlier comment. FGM is practised by Christians and Jews as well. C-u-l-t-u-r-a-l.
    1
  10432. Do you have a problem with liberalism or libertarianism? This being a European channel, you must be opposing libertarianism.
    1
  10433. +Oskar You're on about social liberalism. Liberalism without the adjective retains its original meaning in Europe, and very much so in France. Pretty much only Americans get it consistently wrong. Oh, but France has a centrist government. Of course, if you're far-right yourself, it's leftist -- but only to you.
    1
  10434. +Oskar At the risk of sounding callous, your personal opinion about the centrist credentials of Macron is of little interest to me. What matters to me is that the consensus in France is it that Macron's En Marche! fits in between Les Républicains and Parti Socialiste. It's their political spectrum after all. Apportioning blame and above-and-beyond opportunism appear to be tenets of populism. I don't see that with Macron.
    1
  10435. +rastin Kosha Opportunism is part and parcel of populism.
    1
  10436. +andrew scott So the USA targeted barrel-bombers and poisoners. The difference is getting trivial indeed.
    1
  10437. One would think the doping scandal and subsequent disqualification are of particular interest to the Russians, since they're in the thick of it. Nothing wrong with looking at it from different vantage points.
    1
  10438. You do seem to be falling.
    1
  10439. So if you're united in your belief in Jesus Christ you won't fall. The sharp political division that's tearing the country apart must be entirely irrelevant.
    1
  10440. Tovarish Putin, is that you? 
    1
  10441. Vierotchka Ah, there's the frustrated-mailorder-bride, Vierotchka, with her insults again. So predictable, so boring.
    1
  10442. RipperRzN Is it a Russian thing or why is it that you always have your head in the gutter? For a homophobic society, this infatuation with gay porn is doubly suspicious.
    1
  10443. RipperRzN Wow, you don't like Yats. Now that's a surprising turn of events. Even if the premise behind Russia's homophobic laws were correct -- protecting children -- it seems to me the authorities shouldn't go after the gays, who practice gay sex in private, but instead, they should tackle non-gays who can't shut up about it in public. Maybe you should be worried?
    1
  10444. +kicsimoe I'm not claiming that Europe's right-wing populist parties are Fascist per se, but what's clear is that they have Fascists -- closeted and not-so-closeted ones -- in their member and support bases. The party leaders aren't oblivious to the fact. I guess you haven't been following the developments in Poland and Hungary pertaining to freedom of the press. Russia, too, is in Europe.
    1
  10445. +Google User This being Euronews, are you aware Liberal has an entirely different meaning? Yank clichés are best kept where they belong.
    1
  10446. +scan95487568 Well, we'll see what transpires after the airstrike in Aleppo, Syria, on a MSF-supported hospital that exacted a similar death toll. It's pretty clear that Russia is to blame for that one, directly or indirectly.
    1
  10447. scan95487568 Credit where credit is due, the Americans eventually own up to their mistakes, but with the Russians that's far from granted. Worse still, they shift the blame. A Russian air force spokesperson already insinuated two USAF A-10s did it.
    1
  10448. scan95487568 Importantly, there was an admission of guilt from the Americans. It would seem the act doesn't fulfil the criteria of a war crime, which implies wilful intent. I call it a blunder of epic proportions. In Aleppo, however, a possible war crime took place. The Russians aren't that concerned about collateral damage, but again wilful intent is unlikely -- if they were directly responsible for the attack. Assad, on the other hand,  is known to terrorise his own "people" (he's long lost his mandate to govern over them, if he ever held one to begin with). He's racked up war crimes as if they were parking tickets. At any rate, the Russians don't seem to mind supporting a murderous regime.
    1
  10449. VDSky 59 Not a Yank. You must be a bit thick for not having picked up on that. Reread, rinse and repeat. Contrary to what you claim, Russians are the masters of deflection. The concocted A-10s over Aleppo story is a case in point. Maybe these wild claims fly when preached to the choir in Russia, but anywhere else, Russia's credibility just erodes further -- that is, if anything still remains. Your proof mantra is another. Putin already stretched plausible deniability to implausible proportions long ago. You must think this is a cheesy episode of Matlock, where the guilty party is dramatically revealed in court :-)
    1
  10450. scan95487568 Note that I didn't claim the Americans were neutral. Clearly, they're the accused, judge and jury here. It's just that intentionally bombing a hospital doesn't help their cause any more than it helps that of the Russians. Sure, in the past rogue US soldiers have gone on killing sprees and committed war crimes, but with a tightly-controlled, high-value asset like an AC-130 involved, that's a very unlikely scenario. It's a known fact that the Russian Air Force relies less on precision-guided weapons and even when they do, their accuracy leaves something to be desired. Their use of cluster bombs is conducive to civilians casualties, too. Assad has resorted to state terrorism on various occasions, most conspicuously by strewing barrel bombs over communities that he only suspected of sympathising with the rebels, or just pre-emptively, so they wouldn't develop any rebel sympathies. Given the arbitrary nature of barrel bombs, those are genuine war crimes. Assad knows full well that he'll get the noose if he's ever brought to book, so he's got nothing to lose by targeting hospitals. It all seems that in your eagerness to blame the Americans, you close your eyes to even worse Russian and Syrian excesses. And you wanted to play the hypocrisy card.
    1
  10451. scan95487568 Firstly, officially released Russian bomb damage assessment footage shows cluster bomblets impacting over a wide area and guided weapons missing their mark by a margin that is deemed unacceptable in the West. You tell me what that's all about. Secondly, Russian aircraft have been observed taking off with dumb bombs from Latakia airbase with such regularity that it appears to be the norm. You and your new-found Russian friend, who's now proven himself to be a bit thick, still seem to think I'm an American apologist. In criticising Russian actions, do I somehow have to accept liability for American ones?
    1
  10452. It all reminds one of Farage, doesn't it, only the joke is on the UK now.
    1
  10453. ***** You're misrepresenting facts. India just agreed to procure 36 French-made Rafale jets, twice as many as the 18 agreed on earlier. India might scale back the number of Rafales it will assemble in India, but all the same it's clear that they're committed to the Rafale.
    1
  10454. ***** There you go again, misrepresenting facts. Comparing apples to apples, the Indian off-the-shelf order just doubled, from 18 to 36 Rafales. There's still the matter of manufacturing the remainder in India, which is admittedly beset by problems, but that has more to do with the Indian license-manufacturer, HAL, than the French. Rumour has it that the Indian government is about to take charge of the negotiations. Even if India abandons plans to manufacture the Rafale locally, a follow-up order of French-built Rafales is in the cards.
    1
  10455. GhostHawk1776 The honourable thing for France is not to supply weapons to an aggressor. By their own admission, Russia used military power to annex the Crimea. It's a clear-cut case.
    1
  10456. KarlVyt It certainly was a rude awakening for Europe that Russia turned out to be incapable of transforming itself into a modern democracy as we had hoped. Most former Soviet client states made the transformation, so it does beg the question why Russia can't. 
    1
  10457. GhostHawk1776 I only see Putin taking away the rights of ordinary Russians at an alarming rate. In your assessment of democracy you seem to have Winston Churchill on your side. He said: "democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Oh, there's a caveat there.
    1
  10458. KarlVyt In my view the former client states picked the right role models whereas Russia did not. Instead they turned inward and are now harking back to an idealised Russia that never was nor ever will be. Just another great disappointment in the works. And sure enough, we'll have to help them to pick up the pieces. But what I personally find most troubling is Russia's long history of disregard for the wrongs they inflict on others. The crisis in Ukraine proves that they're still at it.
    1
  10459. GhostHawk1776 Putin's Russia stable? It's said he's desperate to stave off a colour revolution, his worst nightmare ever since he witnessed the GDR implode in a matter of days. It's also telling that Putin came out publicly that Russia won't revert to totalitarianism, which is tantamount to  admitting that that's the general direction Russia is heading for. It's funny how you keep quoting the Founding Fathers. They seemed pretty committed to their fledgling democracy, which survives to this day. Love it or hate it, it has outlasted two evil empires, the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. You're not making a very convincing case.
    1
  10460. GhostHawk1776 You're not getting it. Having a republican form of government underpinned by a constitution doesn't rule out being a democracy, too. In fact, the majority of the world's nations that are considered democracies are constitutional republics, too. Definitions may vary, but you're in the minority with yours.
    1
  10461. GhostHawk1776 You bet I'm not American. The Founding Fathers had their place in history, but their word is not religion. I live in a republic and a democracy, a top-class one too if internationally recognised surveys are to be believed. How exactly would you propose to take away my rights? The only way I can envision is by force of arms, but there's the matter of a well regulated militia, too.
    1
  10462. Ackreti I bet our ghosthawk insists he's gay when he's happy, too. Romantics...
    1
  10463. +Windy Chen Interesting. You completely exonerate Assad. If anything, Assad's brutal suppression on the protestors sparked off the civil war. Assad's intelligence service also gathered, trained and sent jihadists from all over the region to Iraq to fight as insurgents against the Americans. Now these jihadists are with ISIS. Assad attempts to polarise the conflict, reducing it to a struggle of "good" vs. bad.
    1
  10464. +SteveFusionX How is that going to work? Setting up machine gun nests at the borders and moving the refugees down?
    1
  10465. +gladifly Is that a promise?
    1
  10466. +gladifly Be gone then. You know, lead by example.
    1
  10467. +gladifly I'm not the one advocating a boycott. Why are you still here?
    1
  10468. +grady langford Do the authorities know about your uncanny gift?
    1
  10469. +OblivionMike It's tiresome all right. It's like they're quietly accepting the truth, but all the same they're stupid enough to think that "we're not the only ones!" is a great get-out-of-jail-free card. I can picture these trolls in court: "Yes, I robbed the convenience store, but why pick on me because last week there was a bank robbery!"
    1
  10470. Hatred only breeds more hatred.
    1
  10471. Elsewhere, it's acceptable? This is Euronews, not Fox News.
    1
  10472. AESCULAPTORmark3 He's left the UKIP rudderless. Fine by me.
    1
  10473. AESCULAPTORmark3 Good luck with that. Thus far, Brexit has been a political farce. And Project Fear is fast turning into Project Reality.
    1
  10474. AESCULAPTORmark3 Try watching the news videos for a change.
    1
  10475. The analogy with a computer game is a good one. Even the best of computer games sometimes seize up, just like this tank did on the Red Square.
    1
  10476. JanoTuotanto You're absolutely right. Any pics that you know of?
    1
  10477. LastGreen You're making it appear like the EU was somehow planning to elope with Ukraine, leaving Russia at the altar. No one in the EU wanted Ukraine to join outright -- the state they're in is like Greece times hundred. To meet the entry requirements, Ukraine would need to improve on so many levels that we're easily talking a decade of reforms. As a matter of fact, Russia makes a better candidate, at least on paper. The real question is if EU membership solves Ukraine's problems. Maybe the answer is an arrangement where they join both EU and CIS free trade areas. 
    1
  10478. We should not close out an inside job. Heart attacks are a suspiciously common cause of death among Russian politicians. Sometimes they're contagious too. Anatoly Sobchak, Putin's mentor, suffered one, and so did two of Sobchak's aides, all in short succession.
    1
  10479. That's not the point. The point is that despite being Muslim, he was no less. Trump's blanket condemnation of Muslims implies he was.
    1
  10480. +Niels You're suggesting ideological reasons played a part. Not so. When another country is on the verge of an election, it's in poor taste to go and campaign there. Public safety was ample reason to call the event off. Say what you want, but Srebrenica wasn't the finest hour of the Netherlands. But I'm sure the Bosnian Serbs would've relished slaughtering Turkish peacekeepers, with the end result being even bloodier.
    1
  10481. +Adam K Thus far EC presidents have been voted in unanimously, so German support for Tusk is hardly a first. If anything, the episode shows that the Polish government stands completely isolated. Furthermore, the EC president has no legislative powers, so Tusk was powerless to stop the immigration crisis. Me think you're poorly informed about the EU's political structures. Populism much?
    1
  10482. You're basically advocating that the USA should be dissolved, and for good measure, Britain and Germany, too. You're talking about fair trade, right?
    1
  10483. mike rayner Oh is it for democratic reasons you want to see the EU dissolved? As to the EU being an undemocratic dictatorship, that's simply incorrect. The European Commission is appointed by elected bodies and lawmaking is subject to scrutiny by directly elected representatives. All the hallmarks of a democracy are there. Of course, it could be more streamlined, but that would be at the expense of national governments and parliaments. My point was that for trade to be free and fair in a world without trade blocs, the trading partners would need to be roughly comparable in size. The USA, Germany and Britain could easily bully the smaller ones.
    1
  10484. mike rayner It's not a matter of rich or poor, but rather population size and size of the economy. If they go unchecked, big economies tend to ride roughshod over smaller ones, even if the latter enjoy a higher standard of living, but lose out in population size. Interestingly, you seem to profess that Britain always deals fairly with its trade partners. History is littered with trade disputes involving Britain, and not always in a flattering capacity. Moreover, you don't seem to have a problem when it's UK vs. a smaller entity, but when the shoe is on the other foot, such as UK vs. EU, the situation is suddenly completely unbearable. No, you'll find that the smaller EU members need the union more now that Britain is going rogue.
    1
  10485. mike rayner This is the age of populism. It's only natural that far right parties like Le Pen's Front National try to seize on Brexit and Trump's surprise win in order to propel themselves into power. You worry about the eradication of an invasive species, grey squirrels. Maybe you should worry about the real Nazis co-opting your cause.
    1
  10486. +Suicide for life You must be a Yank. In an European context, "liberal" pretty much translates to your "libertarian".
    1
  10487. Dustin Tacohands Americanisms that are at odds with European terminology.
    1
  10488. ***** We've got this Geert Wilders. He's got the hair and the vitriol. Not the money, mind you, but you won't hear me complain.
    1
  10489. Tell us about the lizards for a change. 
    1
  10490. There's an option where May resigns and another Tory takes over as PM. Once again, Britain would end up with a PM with a wobbly mandate, but May's position is wobblier still.
    1
  10491. +Harry W Here's a wild idea: Cameron.
    1
  10492.  @Wildboy789789  Yeah-yeah, Kuifje and his pals.
    1
  10493. +Eviro Sure, Israel can save big on policemen, lawyers, judges and correctional officers. Death squads composed of conscripts can handle the whole rigmarole.
    1
  10494. Understood. You want Ukraine to be a client state of Russia.
    1
  10495. +Lori Massacci Nope, Obama enjoyed good approval rates globally (the exception being Russia, but only of late), even surpassing the domestic ones. It's early days still, but there are indications Trump's global approval is in the single figures.
    1
  10496. No, Trump just sucks at press conferences.
    1
  10497. +Foerdi94 You've got it all backwards. The Iraq War pretty much created ISIL. It seems the French had a premonition.
    1
  10498. Foerdi94 Oh, but the French like bravado regardless of political affiliation. Past French socialist leaders have authorised military action many times over, so you're hardly onto a scoop here. I get that you're trying play up the leftist bias of the current government, but it's not convincing. Better try a different country if you want to berate lefties for inaction/hypocrisy. Don't forget that Tony Blair, who leapt at the chance to invade Iraq, is a leftie, too.
    1
  10499. Another whiskey on the rocks, waiter!
    1
  10500. I'm sure you're doing your very best to scare them.
    1
  10501. You're basing a broad conclusion on a small sample.
    1
  10502. So they did. But ISIS, that's where you're going overboard big time. They represent Islam no more than the Westboro Baptist Church represents Christianity.
    1
  10503. +VendPrekmurec Plenty. Not so long ago, Finnish engineers had to help Russia design its first "indigenous" mobile phone.
    1
  10504. So on June 23, 2016, fascists voted down a fascist organisation. That makes no sense.
    1
  10505. +John Sedwick You're still making precious little sense. Fascism is right-wing and authoritarian. If you're looking for a moniker for left-wing authoritarianism, try communism.
    1
  10506. +John Sedwick You're trying to rewrite political history. I'm going out on a limb here, but I think you're one of those alt-right types who desperately try to disassociate themselves from the latent fascism that you nonetheless espouse.
    1
  10507. John Sedwick The Nazis' definition of socialism as in national socialism was completely at odds with what Karl Marx had in mind when he coined the term. As a case in point, the Nazis rejected Marxist socialism in no uncertain terms. Mein Kampf drones on and on about it. Let me guess, next you're going to claim that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is democratic. The name says so!
    1
  10508. +John Sedwick Not sure where you're going with this. Do you want me to confirm that Nazism is authoritarian and undemocratic? No problem, it's both.
    1
  10509. Pat Saulnois Maybe you can cough-cover, but you can't spell. Fail. BTW, it's incestuous to upvote your own posts. Epic fail. 
    1
  10510. Pat Saulnois Not exactly. More-on, you said ;-) Go on, edit your original post if it makes you feel less insecure.
    1
  10511. Pat Saulnois Congrats, you got it right. Practice makes perfect.
    1
  10512. +Simeon Dunev In the past, he's been sued and fined for discrimination against African-Americans many times over.
    1
  10513. Simeon Dunev It's well documented. Trump literally had to pay dearly for his racism.
    1
  10514. Jonathan Williams I thought we were discussing Trump. You're deflecting. Hint: I am not a Democrat.
    1
  10515. Jonathan Williams He was sued for not renting apartments to them, not once but twice. He was also fined for racist practices at his casinos.
    1
  10516. Jonathan Williams Yes, why?
    1
  10517. Jonathan Williams I give the USA a miss altogether.
    1
  10518. Jonathan Williams And what exactly is it that you're trying to teach me? That racial profiling is right or that Trump sucks less than Hillary? Note that I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming your comments are on-topic.
    1
  10519. Simeon Dunev So Trump sucks less. Make America Great Again.
    1
  10520. Stikibits OK, you're consumed by blind hatred for corporations that produce arms and have dubious tax practices. That's your prerogative, but using a human tragedy like MH17 to draw attention to your little crusade is oh-so disrespectful to the victims and their grieving loved ones. Let me spell it out to you: it doesn't matter who made the freaking plane -- what matters is that 298 innocent lives were lost.
    1
  10521. Stikibits You're the psychopath here. You can't muster an ounce of compassion. Me supporting Boeing? I'm defending the memory of the victims.
    1
  10522. Stikibits You epitomise idée fixe.  
    1
  10523. Neither is spelling.
    1
  10524. Let's see -- Eisenhower was a soldier, and a pretty amazing one too. Grant also did some impressive soldiering. Hoover was an engineer, fittingly famous for his dam. Carter, peanut farmer. Bush the elder, oilman. I'm afraid you don't know your presidents. But if you desperately need to find something unique about Trump, how about first political dilettante?
    1
  10525. TopTribute BandsNstuff Nothing wrong with my reading comp. You were clamoring for presidents who were not "politician lawyers". QED, plenty to go around. If you want to see working businesses, no prob. What's not "real" or "working business" about running a farm or trading oil? Trump's arrogance must've rubbed off on you. As to Trump earning billions for himself, that may be correct (however, his net worth is far less), but it has come at a huge expense for his investors, many of whom had their investments completely wiped out. So, yes, based on past achievements, I believe Trump can make America bankrupt again.
    1
  10526. TopTribute BandsNstuff What makes you think I'm a Democrat? They're just as morally bankrupt as the Republicans. They might as well merge. Trump trumpets that his net worth is 3.5 billion, but his creditors have arrived at a far lower figure, a fourth of that. Such wild claims are counter-productive, because the creditors will wonder what else Trump is lying about. Oh I forgot, gullible saps like you will think higher of him.
    1
  10527. Yes, the Greeks selfishly think their country trumps the whole of Europe in importance. 
    1
  10528. America hopelessly divided.
    1
  10529. +Khan Riyaz Please vote with your feet.
    1
  10530. And what will take its place? The VOC?
    1
  10531. Kevin Apte Russia was unceremoniously kicked out of G8 in March this year already.
    1
  10532. TheManfromNibiru Nah, they've been through worse and rebounded. To be fair, Putin had a big hand in the post-Yeltsin recovery. But I wonder how long it takes before it dawns on the Russian people that this crisis is of Putin's own making.
    1
  10533. TheManfromNibiru I don't need your luck -- I am privileged to make my own. They say a country has the leaders it deserves, but Russia must be the exception that proves the rule.
    1
  10534. Tyr Caelestis Consus I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you dyslexic?
    1
  10535. Tyr Caelestis Consus Let me spell it out for you: I  a-m  n-o-t  R-u-s-s-i-a-n. I am not even particularly pro-Russian. 
    1
  10536. Tyr Caelestis Consus Good on you, you found the edit function. Who are trying to fool?
    1
  10537. Tyr Caelestis Consus I see I was being too generous when I thought you dyslexic. If you had the condition, you could still have normal or above-average IQ.
    1
  10538. What, perceived threats? If a state goes rogue and does an illegal landgrab, it's not a matter of perception, but rather, a matter of fact.
    1
  10539. When will Trump use his famous line on Spicer?
    1
  10540. Brand131 Orange isn't inconsequential. They have 230 million subscribers. Israel, on the other hand, has only 8.2 million inhabitants.
    1
  10541. Brand131 Now that is inconsequential. They just withdrew from Israel and they're not looking to invade any time soon.
    1
  10542. Brand131 Er, Netanyahu fusses no end about one telecoms provider calling it quits in Israel. Somehow it seems to matter a great deal.
    1
  10543. Belgium's bigger regions are divided on this issue, with Wallonia opposing and Flanders supporting CETA. But come to think of it, I'm sure Flanders wouldn't mind Wallonia joining the UK. But I guess you would, when the cost becomes clear.
    1
  10544. Superfamily Allosauridae The Euro per se isn't flawed on account of Greece. The country had no business being in the Eurozone to begin with, but the EC and ECB are to blame for letting Greece get away with their creative accounting. It says more about implementation rather than the concept of having a common currency, which is still very valid. Be that as it may, Finland has greatly benefited from the stability that the Euro provides. The poor old markka used to be all over the place, greatly hindering trade.
    1
  10545. Connor Dunn No worries, I'll keep flagging abusive comments. Maybe Andrey will learn, maybe not.
    1
  10546. +Ben Ghazi Don't be naive, it was a show they put up for the media. No ISIS members were harmed during the filming.
    1
  10547. Ben Ghazi If there are no targets in sight, you might as well spray and pray. This is no different from what the Brits did in WW1 with their "morning hate". Every morning, they would ritually fire in the general direction of the German trenches. It relieved tension and kept the soldiers on edge.
    1
  10548. Ben Ghazi You haven't heard of indirect fire then. You need to keep up morale, too.
    1
  10549. Ben Ghazi I never said they were good at it. We did find spent bullets in the oddest of places in Lebanon, however.
    1
  10550. I'm afraid Trump elicits more laughs, and not just in the EU but worldwide, than the EU ever will.
    1
  10551. Jamey "Microbrain" Mikels: Trump isn't protecting anyone or anything, except his business cronies and his own interests. Trump is a good antidote to the wave of populism that the world is experiencing right now. I feel sorry for the Yanks for having to suffer the worst of it, but at the end of the day they voted Trump in.
    1
  10552. She's reptilian, you think?
    1
  10553. Have they?
    1
  10554. +Александр Иванов Russians do?
    1
  10555. Александр Иванов What made you think I'm a Yank? Plenty of self-sacrifice vis-à-vis the Russians in my bloodline, rest assured. 
    1
  10556. Александр Иванов I'm not Anglo-Saxon either. But my people have borne the brunt of Russian genocide. You've got nothing on the Anglo-Saxons, neither martially nor morally. Perhaps only in bravado, but the Yanks do a pretty good job there too.
    1
  10557. +BritishFreedom Hammered? Moaning? Nothing of the sort. The likely outcome of the Brexit talks -- pay but no say -- suits us fine. No pangs of guilt either, since it's a self-inflicted wound. And it's us who don't have to suffer your moaning any longer. Not in Brussels anyway.
    1
  10558. RasenganXSpirit I won't go as far as claiming that Putin is gay (whether he is or isn't is irrelevant), but what's sure is that he has become a gay icon, or more precisely, the image of him riding a horse shirtless has. The gay community in the West made him so, in retaliation to Russia's homophobic laws. Poetic justice?    
    1
  10559. James The What Russia drove was replacing one form of Fascism with another. And now Putin has gone all nostalgic.
    1
  10560. James The Are you succinct, terse or just lost for words?
    1
  10561. ***** You're right! The sock puppet appeared right on cue! It's charming, too, how they're programmed to ass-u-me one's American. "British Council" didn't trigger an exception.
    1
  10562. James The No, this would be my one and only account. I'm neither Baltic nor American. I'm sure my vocabulary dwarfs yours.
    1
  10563. James The So you think you were you succinct, terse or just lost for words when you misspelled "bollocks"? 
    1
  10564. James The Another non-sensical response. Why bother...
    1
  10565. ***** I am familiar with the Russian Troll Army. I just wonder why their recruiting standards are so low. I mean, you counter their argument and they respond with abuse -- bollox (sic). It's like they throw in the towel after your first jab.
    1
  10566. ***** That explains the ADHD that plagues our Russian trolls. Their half-heartedness reminds me of the collapse of  the Soviet Union (which Putin still laments). Afterwards, no one in Russia was a Communist or had ever been one. It was all a big misunderstanding. It makes one wonder why there was such a big fuss about Communism in the 20th century.
    1
  10567. Replaced by a no-term senator. That's what I call progress.
    1
  10568. The Britons will do it all by themselves. No outside help needed.
    1
  10569. ***** I think we can safely say that the Dutch hadn't eaten cheese off military weapons in pre-WW2 times.
    1
  10570. Eduard Norton Post-war, the Soviets made a beeline for German scientists, too, "darling".
    1
  10571. colourmegone That Syriza is behind Greece's current economic situation is definitely untrue, but since they formed the present government, they are the official heir and therefore, responsible. But this is pure populism that won't solve Greece's problems. Greeks are not served by this.
    1
  10572. colourmegone You said it, domestic bastards. They took the easy money that the foreign bastards offered. Still, Greece wasn't alone in being lured with tasty loans, yet with the known exceptions, other countries remained fiscally responsible.
    1
  10573. colourmegone No kidding.
    1
  10574. sore losers?
    1
  10575. The UN has no hand in this. It's Canada, USA, EU, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and Australia that have imposed sanctions on Russia. And let's not forget Russia's self-imposed sanctions, which have driven up food prices directly. No worries, the sanctions haven't spared Putin's ultra-rich cronies either.
    1
  10576. warfossil Does that mean we can finally kick Russia out of the UN Security Council? After all, only their nuclear arsenal keeps them there.  
    1
  10577. warfossil Oh, it's a lizard thing. My bad.
    1
  10578. warfossil So you NWO clowns are back to blaming da Joos? It's hard to keep up.
    1
  10579. warfossil I'm just fishing. Someone must be blamed. What's a conspiracy theory without baddies? 
    1
  10580. morbid747 Who might you be referring to? There's evidence that ISIS uses Russian ammunition of recent manufacture. It's also known how they get it -- through Assad and/or his enterprising allies. They're not handing it out for free, and what can ISIS offer in payment. Need I say it, oil?
    1
  10581. +Gio 1958 Are you making veiled threats that the USA will poison the water to spite Mexico? I am guessing -- if they won't pay for the wall?
    1
  10582. +roblex63 Perhaps, but it remains to be seen how far the Germans will go in tolerating Britain holding on to the remnants of the Empire. I'd guess both Spain and Britain will need to compromise.
    1
  10583. +sam raynes Because colonies just aren't the right thing to do in this day and age.
    1
  10584. Instant deflection, eh?
    1
  10585. You're not getting the point. The issue here isn't that your maligned MSM is concocting conspiracy theories. Putin is. Without anything to back them up, which means they're just that: conspiracy theories. You Putin apologists are quick to demand absolute proof when he's in the crosshairs, but curiously, when Putin is doing the accusing, his word is proof enough for you. I'd love to debate Saddam's non-existent WMDs with you, but as far as this topic is concerned, they're wholly irrelevant.
    1
  10586. +Trevor Manns A carbon tax levied on US-manufactured goods seems appropriate.
    1
  10587. ***** You're in la-la land. The EU has already imposed sanctions on Russia. And as to siding with the US, Europe is siding with whoever upholds international law, and that happens, in this case, to be the USA. The Ukrainian Crisis is no more caused by the US as it is by the EU. Another la-la land fabrication, that.
    1
  10588. ***** Oh dear, you suffer from not one but three serious afflictions: ignorance, arrogance and poor English. The EU formally announced sanctions on 17 March, 23 March and 29 April, more or less in sync with similar sanctions from the US. If the European Parliament is unelected, I wonder why I'm to vote for new MEPs in three weeks' time. It pays to check facts -- even Goebbels realised that clear lies demolish one's credibility.
    1
  10589. Poor Pence. Having to clean up Trump's messes.
    1
  10590. +capssslock The Commonwealth is a sports and culture club. Sure, it was once envisaged that it could assume a role similar to that of the EU, but nothing ever came of it. If an independent Gibraltar was viable, the city state would be a perfect candidate for Commonwealth membership. Problem solved, eh? But it's not viable.
    1
  10591. morteza nazari No worries, I'm sure some shrewd American businessman will come up with a vodka bar franchise that takes Russia by storm. McYeltsin's?
    1
  10592. He's made it known that he intends to give up his US citizenship, to prove his loyalty to Britain.
    1
  10593. Rodney Trotter You don't like the message so you try to shoot the messenger. Classic.
    1
  10594. So Hungary is getting nostalgic about the Iron Curtain.
    1
  10595. +Crossware Oh, they needn't rebuild the Iron Curtain on my account. I have no problem steering clear of Hungary. But I hope Hungary didn't draw on EU funds to pay for all this.
    1
  10596. +Crossware It looks like YouTube's admins have caught up with you.
    1
  10597. +Benito Mussolini You must be an off--the-road fanatic. Am I right or am I right?
    1
  10598. *real *wherever *too ;-)
    1
  10599. France managed to breathe new life into their politics. Why not Britain? For starters, abandon the first past the post system.
    1
  10600. The mere fact that civil war broke out means he's not fit to lead Syria. And how he's been prosecuting the war means there's zero chance of national reconciliation under him.
    1
  10601. Neville Swearing allegiance to a leader that obliterated your family with a barrel bomb might be problematic. Tunisia emerged a democracy, so it's not unheard of.
    1
  10602. Two years... impeachment takes a while.
    1
  10603. Isn't there some self-destruct button the GOP could press so as not to have to endorse Trump?
    1
  10604. Present Before you use silly American pejoratives you should know that I anticipate the demise of the Democratic Party almost as eagerly. They're not quite as estranged from their voters, but they're getting there.
    1
  10605. He specifically mentioned the constituents' opposition to a hard Brexit, suggesting it's not Brexit they're trying to stop, but foolishly dropping out from the single market. Don't worry, you'll get your Brexit.
    1
  10606. Or the immigrants.
    1
  10607. They're bankrolling her party, so why not. But Marine must regret not using Pootey's money to pay her aides.
    1
  10608. Gawd you're poorly informed. It's public knowledge that Front National took out a €9m loan from a Russian bank in 2014. As recently as December 2016, they requested €20m from another Russian bank. The party's treasurer admitted as much. Even Fox News reported on it. Duh.
    1
  10609. You're even worse informed than I thought. Lending money falls under the definition of bankrolling. Besides, if I were Putin, I wouldn't just gift money to FN; no, I would call it a loan to maintain leverage.
    1
  10610. K3nVV You're making it up. It's just as cezanne90 explained. The Ukrainian air traffic authorities didn't allow for the fact that the pro-Russian separatists are blundering idiots -- or it was a desperate effort of the separatists to draw Russia fully into the conflict. Any which way, Putin is screwed.
    1
  10611. That's a tacit admission that the sanctions are working.
    1
  10612. +Comrade Stalin Russia makes for a very deserving target since the doping is apparently state-sponsored.
    1
  10613. Comrade Stalin You said it, the Chinese should be scrutinised as well. Maybe it's a phenomenon rooted in communism.
    1
  10614. +Noble Grand Oh yes please, you and your Tarot cards, go make yourselves scarce.
    1
  10615. Torremolinos, too?
    1
  10616. Carrot and stick. It would seem Russian authorities haven't heard of the former.
    1
  10617. +agitbeats Pretty much every media outlet is broadcasting this.
    1
  10618. Mental instability and being a hater aren't mutually exclusive. In fact, it's a very common combo, judging from the YT comments section.
    1
  10619. In your clogs, I would tone down the boasts considering how well Wilders is doing in the opinion polls. The man runs his party as a personal fiefdom, which does not bode well for how he would run the country.
    1
  10620. If anything, the situation you find yourself in shows the Republicans-Democrats duopoly has reached the end of its tether. A break-up of both parties is long overdue.
    1
  10621. +Fseirst Lrest That's right -- you don't have to look far for serious fault lines in the this new, supposedly thick-as-thieves relationship between Russia and Turkey. They're completely at odds over Syria. Turkey is directly backing the rebels that Russia is bombing, and Turkey seems to have made the better bet. Russia cannot bomb the rebels into submission, as the fighting over Aleppo shows.
    1
  10622. +alan jack I suggest you vote with your feet. I bet you won't whine on RT.
    1
  10623. +alan jack Make yourself scarce from both channels then.
    1
  10624. +alan jack Nobody likes a whiner.
    1
  10625. alan jack See, you're whining. Pipe down and take your wild accusations to the police or something.
    1
  10626. ***** Napoleon again. He lost both present-day Netherlands and Belgium when just about everyone in Europe ganged up on him. I'm not "kinda" confused about Belgium but very much so. It's a country that begs for a mercy killing.
    1
  10627. ***** Belgium is just an example of how two rights make a wrong. It may be a non-country, but it's certainly not a non-entity. Culturally speaking, Belgium is one of the richest countries in Europe. Architecture, art, literature, education, sports, cuisine -- they're there with the best of them. The northern half has a vibrant economy, too. Brussels becoming to the EU what Vatican City is to the Catholic Church is actually a grand idea.
    1
  10628. +Core cc Who made such a claim and how is it related to this?
    1
  10629. Core cc This vid is about barrel bombs, as in improvised explosive devices, only the air-dropped kind. You're getting everything mixed up.
    1
  10630. Core cc You're mistaken. There's no mention of chemical weapons here. A barrel bomb isn't necessarily a chemical weapon, in case you thought so. Usually Assad's henchmen pack them with ordinary explosives. The video suggests that that's what these barrels contained, too. If they were loaded with chemicals instead, they wouldn't explode violently, and the clouds wouldn't be dust-coloured either.
    1
  10631. +Craig Smith What are you on about, me not representing the majority? A paltry 22% of those polled in 37 countries had confidence in Trump. The majority clearly agrees with me.
    1
  10632. +Looncan Pew Research, who conducted the polls, enjoy a good reputation. The Beeb, too, use them. The obvious still escapes you. I am only liberal in the classical sense, which means I'm per definition not a leftie. So your little tiff with your lefties and whatever ills you ascribe to them does not concern me.
    1
  10633. +Craig Smith I'm not a US citizen so my opinion of Trump comes under global opinion -- something which reputable Pew Research meticulously researched. And don't get me wrong, I don't contest Trump's election. I think it's just dandy, the archaic electoral system notwithstanding. Schadenfreude, when the 'Schaden' is self-inflicted, is permissible.
    1
  10634. Rather, Trump's antics make the world look at the EU for leadership.
    1
  10635. Hawkzblade It's Economics-101 that Russia needs to sell its gas to the EU more than the EU needs to buy it from Russia. Rather than an energy shortage, Western economists fear the effect Russia's tanking economy has on theirs. I've heard it mentioned that vulnerable EU economies will endure 0.5% less growth if the Russian economy takes a 3% hit. In other words, Russia gets pummelled 6 times worse as a result of Putin's ill-advised Crimean adventure.
    1
  10636. Hawkzblade Non sequitur.
    1
  10637. +throngcleaver To-may-to, to-mah-to. Americans don't have a monopoly on military terminology.
    1
  10638. +Todd Morrow Jesus was sentenced to a brutal death. Wilders didn't even get a slap on the wrist.
    1
  10639. FortuitusVideo It's more like the rest of Britain will lose out in the democracy department after a Brexit. The powers-that-be in Norway and Switzerland are painfully aware that Brussels often decides for them, without these countries, as non-members, having a say. Not de jure, but de facto. But go right ahead, confuse the issue with irrelevant Murican rambling.
    1
  10640. Ollie Rees I said powers-that-be. The Norwegian and Swiss authorities don't decide on EU membership; their electorates do. Sadly, the Norwegian and Swiss voters are in the mistaken belief that their countries have more wiggle room than they actually do. You're right about Norway and Switzerland not having to swallow everything from the EU, but the cost of rejection may be prohibitive all the same. Glad you brought up immigration. Switzerland has agreements in place with the EU regarding free movement of people -- agreements that closely follow the Schengen agreement. The Swiss even allowed these so-called sectorial agreements to be amended "dynamically" (read: automatically) whenever the EU tweaks the Schengen agreement. Two years ago, the Swiss did vote for stricter immigration quotas in a closely fought referendum, but the EU is refusing to renegotiate the sectorial agreements. While the Swiss leaders procrastinate, unsure how to bring the populace to its senses, Switzerland has found itself excluded from key energy and research initiatives. It appears the Swiss plebs are being taught they can't have their cake and eat it, too.
    1
  10641. Maxundmoritz Hautala Yup, but it's German reunification times hundred costwise.
    1
  10642. You mean the presidential candidate named Trump who lost the popular vote, yet still made president? If he's so keen on democracy, he should resign as the first order of business.
    1
  10643. Calvin Abbott What a lame comeback. Hillary won't contest the outcome because it would be utterly pointless. But the fact remains that she won the popular vote.
    1
  10644. Firstly, what do you think, will "rump-EU" be as likely to abide by UK rules as vice versa? You grossly exaggerate the UK's clout in trade negotiations. It's more like the UK will like it or lump it when the Eurocrats dream up a new rule. Secondly, the net payers in the EU-without-UK will see a boost in exports -- at the expense of the UK. Initially, there will be a deficit in the EU budget, but the UK's pain will be worse. I don't relish being a EU net payer (a bigger one than the average Briton, I should add), but I have the presence of mind to realise that you've got to spend money to make money.
    1
  10645. posterboyuk1 Before you start about protectionism, you need to realise that trade blocs are about trade blocks. The British Empire, which Brexiters secretly pine for, was the worst. Even if such excesses belong to the past, we can safely assume that no trade bloc will ever put the interests of outsiders before those of its members. The EU's democracy deficit is the result of lack of progress in European integration. Ironically, it's been held up by the purest form of democracy: plebiscites. It sounds like a cop-out, but it does seem Europe is not ready for more democracy. You're engaging in wishful thinking if you believe EU-critical mainland voters stand behind Britain in all of this. Even the most reform-minded of them see that Britain is after exclusive privileges, not reforms that would benefit the EU as a whole. With things being as they are, I personally believe Britain needs some time in the desert no matter how the referendum turns out. You Brits desperately need to figure out your place in this world. Not in a bygone one.
    1
  10646. ce25411 ce25411 You must be joking. A morally and economically bankrupt superpower wannabe/has-been taking over Europe?
    1
  10647. That strikes me as odd, considering Trump's close association with the Miss Universe pageant. Everyone knows Donald Drumpf is opposed to immigration.
    1
  10648. Not without the Latino vote. And he's not on good terms with them, is he?
    1
  10649. Citizen_Zero You're making up your own stats, right?
    1
  10650. Citizen_Zero Why are you going on and on and on and on about illegals? They're not eligible to vote. There are, however, 27.3 million eligible Latino voters, of whom 16% say they'll vote for Trump. That's piss-poor, far worse than even Romney's dismal 27% in 2012.
    1
  10651. Citizen_Zero Oh my, desperation is making you resort to offensive language. Try to hold it together. I brought up the Latino vote, which oh-so obviously refers to legal US citizens of Hispanic extraction who're eligible to vote. In response, you go on and on and on about illegals, as if their wholly hypothetical voting behaviour somehow mattered. That does not speak highly of your intellect. Read and weep: http://www.univision.com/noticias/destino-2016/trump-doesnt-have-the-hispanic-vote
    1
  10652. Citizen_Zero There you go again with ad hominems. Don't you know how to behave in civilised company? My data is from February, but valid all the same. If you did a minimum of research. you'd find that Latino voters normally don't poll reliably, because they tend to be underrepresented in the samples. The pollsters, who're not fools, consequently attach a high margin of error to their findings. This poll concentrated specifically on Hispanic voters. There are more recent polls, which put Trump's Latino-love figures even lower, at 12%. Your candidate just can't seem to win, and your combative tone betrays your exasperation.
    1
  10653. Fen Let That settles it. Not. Educate yourself about anecdotal fallacies.
    1
  10654. Citizen_Zero Can't keep your potty-mouth in check, can you? You didn't cite your sources. You just vaguely referred to a Daily Mail article. In your shoes, I wouldn't boast about literacy and intelligence. Your writing style certainly suggests otherwise.
    1
  10655. Citizen_Zero Link, silly.
    1
  10656. As opposed to what?
    1
  10657. +StephenAndrew777 Duh, different dispute and different country.
    1
  10658. Alex Silver Nice try. I guess I should be grateful because you're at least trying. Much of US military spending has gone into a money pit called the Iraq War. Nothing to do with NATO -- in fact, it nearly tore the alliance apart. Part of me wishes it had. Let's take Canada. To show you're not a lazy bum after all, do the math and calculate whose military spending -- Russia's or Canada's -- by square km tops the other's. Come on.
    1
  10659. +priapus56 Try to stick to the topic at hand. I'm not fishing for followers.
    1
  10660. +I CodeName So you're just speculating with nothing to back up your claims. Qatar has allegedly supplied Chinese MANPADS to Syrian rebels, which subsequently fell into the hands of ISIS. Whether that was the weapon that brought down the Mi-8 is unclear, but the type has claimed helicopters and jets in Syria before.
    1
  10661. I'm sure your alt-right media took care of those "news reports".
    1
  10662. +zOgOs We don't need Yanks to point out the obvious. You're dealing with a Putin troll there.
    1
  10663. Don't worry, Pence, who actually has political skills, will (have to) shoulder most of the work. I fear a good deal of it will be damage-control.
    1
  10664. +Zafar Makhmudov I guess our definition of a strong and stable economy is completely at odds with that of anyone who actually knows anything about the topic. Russia has been in a downward spiral ever since the oil price tanked. Despite bombastic claims to the contrary, Russia has made little or no progress in diversifying its economy. Russia's dependence on oil and gas is as big as ever. No, Putin stands weak and in order to hide the sad state of affairs, he constantly needs to up his sabre-rattling so that it won't occur to you fanboys to blame him for Russia's misfortunes. But in the end, economic realities will do him in. The question is only how big the implosion will be this time.
    1
  10665. Billy Mccann Nice diversion, fanboy.
    1
  10666. Zafar Makhmudov The sanctions against aren't helping, but it's the low oil price that is slowly but surely hollowing out the Russian economy. The once-mighty Reserve Fund has kept things ticking over, but it's fast becoming depleted -- in 2017, by the finance ministry's own admission. Next, they'll have to dip into pension funds next to cover the budget shortfalls. I wonder what the already-struggling beneficiaries will think of their meagre pensions being squandered on Putin's military adventurism in Ukraine and Syria. So jealous, not a bit. Sorry to disappoint you further, but I have no part in US military adventurism either.
    1
  10667. 0:33: "That was probably a fake", the rebel leaders says. Wait, he isn't sure if it was a fake statement? Were they in a drunken stupor?
    1
  10668. Viorel Agocs Get off your high horse. Demonising someone based on appearance isn't exactly highbrow either.
    1
  10669. Viorel Agocs Whatever dude...
    1
  10670. Martyntd5 It makes the cabinet look divided, that much is clear. Mrs May is not amused.
    1
  10671. Martyntd5 You're not getting it. I'm not contesting that May is trying to run a tight ship. But Johnson is a loose cannon. There's nothing nefarious about the media reporting the facts. Even a child can tell Boris spoke out of turn. The question is, is he trying to get sacked in order to become the hard Brexiters' hero?
    1
  10672. Martyntd5 You do realise that you're contradicting yourself? First you claim that May hasn't made up her mind, then you say Boris revealed the truth, suggesting she has.
    1
  10673. Martyntd5 Being unable to commit means she's undecided. Therefore, there's no truth for BoJo to blurt out. You're sloppy.
    1
  10674. You think so, but you don't know so. Like Finland, Sweden has signed a host nation support agreement with NATO, which says NATO can use Gotland as a base for operations. Then there's EU membership. EU pretty much equals European NATO, a fact that isn't lost on the Russians. It's not prudent to try to convince yourself that you're neutral, while potential adversaries aren't convinced.
    1
  10675. Keep repeating the mantra. Harder and harder.
    1
  10676. Mister Furious It's starting to sound hollow.
    1
  10677. Yeah, Putin doesn't have to concern himself with presidential terms -- he's president for life, like the leaders in Africa's most backwards nations. I mean, who was fooled by the Medvedev switcheroo?
    1
  10678. Larry King At least Obama can be made to vacate the White House. No such luck with Putin and the Kremlin. Do you ever read what you write?
    1
  10679. Larry King You mean his second and final term has come to an end? Is the media aware of this? If not, should you tip them off? Say, does this also mean Trump will undergo the same fate, assuming he won't get impeached or voted out of office first?
    1
  10680. Larry King No, I think you should suffer Trump for the full eight years. I just fear he's intellectually and temperamentally incapable of serving a full term, let alone two. Keep the Obama insults coming. I can appreciate the internecine political conflict. It cuts America down to size.
    1
  10681. +tomlinid Absolut(ely).
    1
  10682. Why don't you run away to another planet next? This one doesn't agree with you.
    1
  10683. FARUMP Yes, populists are very "ept" with the hoi polloi, but that doesn't make them any wiser.
    1
  10684. FARUMP Wow, you're on a hair trigger. To set the record straight, you made it sound like nationalism is a natural product of high EQ. It is a fact that many social animals exhibit EQ as high or nearing that of ours -- emotions, after all, are a baser function. Yet we don't see highly social animals -- chimpanzees, killer whales and elephants, to name just a few -- engaging in nation-building. Nationalism is very much a human construct, and an increasingly outdated one at that. Having lived in Belgium for a considerable number of years, I know only too well how artificial the construct is. But despite appearances, the various communities in Belgium co-operate remarkably well. No internal borders needed. That is the future.
    1
  10685. FARUMP You fail to appreciate that a nation goes far beyond natural social structures -- tribes, communities, pods, herds or what have you. We can't naturally identify with a nation. It takes hard work and -- all too often -- conflict to unify a nation and keep it that way. I'm not rejecting social structures altogether, as you seem to insist judging from your simplistic analogies. Maybe you should focus on my views as I express them and not speculate on what I might think and then lash out against these imagined views. Like I said, you're on a hair trigger. My point is, today's states are not written in stone. A fair number of them will fragment into more functional entities -- sovereign states, autonomous regions, federated states or whatever. Fact is, old fault lines are reappearing and new ones are emerging all the time. For better or worse, Europe is freeing itself from the mould it was squeezed in. Whether you want to call these newly-formed smaller entities nations or something else is just semantics, but some kind of overarching co-operation body is still needed to keep the new normal from getting out of hand. Now there's a role for the EU. Devolution at the base and centralisation at the top. Belgium is a shining example. Not of a well-functioning nation state, but of how an artificial nation that was broken to begin with manages to reshape itself peacefully into functional entities, two tumultuous centuries notwithstanding. Myself, I found Belgium a happy place, a secret gem tucked away in an part of Europe where you necessarily wouldn't go looking. You clearly haven't spent much time there.
    1
  10686. FARUMP You missed the point -- several points in fact. And you keep at it with those silly straw men of yours. Firstly, I'm not advocating that we do away with local governments. On the contrary, I'm saying we should empower them further, so people have more say over their affairs and develop a stronger sense of involvement -- devolution, in other words. However, where there are common interests with other similar communities, joint law-making makes perfect sense -- trade, foreign affairs and defence are good examples. Centralisation, in other words. To name just a few, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Swiss cantons, the German states and the communities in Belgium all adhere to this principle. So much for your utopias and Maoist book clubs. Secondly, your understanding of Belgian politics is sadly superficial. Belgium boast no less than six governments, which makes the country extremely resilient to political crises. Therefore, not being able to form a new central government posed no acute problem. In fact, it had its benefits for the Flemish, who're increasingly outspoken about secession. But you're the one on hallucinogens if you believe in an outbreak of inter-communal violence in Belgium, which international experts laud as a success story in conflict resolution. In comparison, Northern Ireland is an utter disgrace. Come to think of it, the Flemish may just be the perfect Europeans. As a small people on a big continent, they're enviably involved in politics on so many levels -- local, communal, national and European. They know their place in the world but they have no qualms about standing up to a central government when it needlessly meddles in their affairs.
    1
  10687. FARUMP Since when do Stormont and Holyrood set their own trade, foreign and defence policy? Do you realise that you're guilty of hypocrisy if you accuse the EU of something the UK is equally guilty of? Besides, Scotland and Northern Ireland voted against Brexit, suggesting that they're comfortable with being in not one but two supranational unions. Incidentally, their neighbouring Little Englanders have a problem with one but not the other -- I guess because the Englanders can't dominate the bigger one. I'm a hunter and an army reservist. To these ends I own two self-loading rifles -- an absolute no-no in Britain for civilians, EU or no EU. After the terrorist attacks in France, the EC set out to ban the type. After the usual consultations, we're landing ourselves an exemption. It was a nuisance, but I understand because we're sharing this union with others whose populace can't be trusted with firearms that destructive. Furthermore, you must've missed that in the past, EU members have dealt the union serious blows -- the most notable being the rejection of the EU constitution by French and Dutch voters. To this day, EU treaties require ratification by all members. I guess that's also news to you.
    1
  10688. FARUMP What are you on about? Did I question the outcome of the Scottish independence referendum? Didn't I just write that the Scots are comfortable being in both the UK and the EU? Please try to keep it together. .22 is for plinking. 7.62 is the legal minimum for hunting elk. The .22 isn't much use at military ranges either. Even a moderate wind blows the bullet off course, to say nothing of twigs. Anyone with basic firearms knowledge knows this. And what's this open border crap that you keep throwing at me? I'm literally defending the longest border the EU has. I have kept my views on border controls to myself and quite frankly, I don't care to discuss the topic with the likes of you. The Treaty of Lisbon was ratified, and with opt-outs for the UK and Ireland, too. The EU can neither force nor prevent national referendums prior to ratification -- that's entirely up to the member countries. It's painfully obvious that the EU -- or rather, its member states -- have had "unhappy" referendums. Some time ago, the Dutch decided to have themselves a referendum, this time about something as uncontroversial as the EU association agreement with Ukraine. It got rejected, albeit with a record-low turnout. The initiator boasted that he hadn't read the agreement. Malcontents clearly hijacked the referendum. One more thing. You can save yourself the trouble of airing opinions over and over again. They're just hot air. Give me something I can sink my teeth into.
    1
  10689. Again, a barrage of regurgitated opinion with a sprinkling of conjecture. I don't see much democratic deficit in EU law-making compared to law-making in the UK per se, but feel free to educate me -- if you've got it in you. True, both are in need of improvement. The EU struggles with voter apathy and transparency, but it's telling that Farage sought and secured a seat in the European Parliament -- not in British Parliament. He judged his chances slim to land one in the latter. The EP isn't saddled with first-past-the-post. I didn't call .22LR a toy. I shot grouse with it before I took up elk-hunting. This is bear country and sometimes a dog decides to up the ante and go after a bear instead. You don't want to fumble with a bolt-action when you've shot a Brown Bear through the heart and it still keeps charging at you. I've never shot twice at an elk and I've bagged quite a few. Can you say the same? Despite being in the thick of the refugee crisis, we've had no cases of illegal external border crossings -- this despite having the longest EU land border. This means that our border security has worked to perfection. Again, can you say the same?
    1
  10690. FARUMP Didn't I warn you of hypocrisy? If you persist claiming that the European Commission is unelected, then by extension the British government is unelected. As a Brit, did you get to vote May PM? Come to think of it, did you vote Cameron in? No, you gave the Conservatives in parliament a mandate to form a government, which they did without consulting you any further. It's the same with the EU. The European Parliament and the European Council -- both elected bodies -- jointly form the European Commission. The Commission does propose laws, but the council and the parliament amend and approve them -- if they're not rejecting them outright. Again, very Westminster. Counter those cold, hard facts. Amusingly, you brought up the House of Lords. In it, genuinely unelected life peers, who have the power to delay or even nix Brexit. Thankfully, the EU is not encumbered by such feudal trappings. In case you've forgotten, I was championing devolution, which brings democracy closer to the people. You can claim that Britain settings its own trade and foreign policy leads to more power to the people, but if that power is severely curtailed to begin with, there's not much power to distribute. Globalisation doesn't favour small entities in these matters. In fact, small entities gain power by banding together. Not that it's in my nature, but I should be the one commending myself for being the bigger democrat here. You just shout out old and tired slogans against the EU, unable to put things into perspective. I'm perfectly proficient with a bolt-action, but if you know anything about rifles (which I'm now starting to question) you can't deny that a semi-auto is better insurance against being mauled by a charging bear. A combo rifle/shotgun loaded with a slug is probably even better, so it's not a Rambo thing. I also know perfectly well that you hunted your bears and elks to extinction on the British Isles, with the amusing after-effect that early English settlers in North America started calling elks moose and deer elks with lasting effect. Amateurs. Now go play with your slingshot.
    1
  10691. FARUMP I repeat my very valid observation that you did not elect May PM. You elected her MP. The rest was completely out of your hands. The same goes for the House of Lords. They verifiably have the power to delay of even nix Brexit. Whether they will do so in practice is besides the point. Why bother giving the degenerate idle rich power, only to strip it away the moment they decide to wield it? You're the one who's insecure about guns. Your BR99 is a case in point. Only a wannabe Rambo forks out good money for a shotgun that's poorly disguised as a M16 assault rifle. You'd be a laughing stock at my local range. You embarrass yourself further by comparing elk to barn doors. In a hunt, if you merely wound an elk, every hunter in the vicinity is expected to join in and finish off the suffering animal. I joined a mega-party once -- close to a hundred hunters, all nitpicking on what went wrong. In this case, the embarrassed shooter had collapsed a lung, but the elk nevertheless ran for 20 km. Often, newbies pass up on difficult but perfectly doable shots because of the pressure. Didn't I mention we landed ourselves an exemption from the semi-auto ban? We kept what you didn't have and won't get back either, no matter how "hard" your Brexit is.
    1
  10692. FARUMP It's about time I pull out my "thou doth protest too much" line. You're clearly overcompensating in criticising the EU, as if you're trying not to convince me, but yourself of doing the right thing vis-à-vis Brexit. Good luck with that. The Conservatives might just win the next elections, but only thanks to the archaic first-past-the-post system. But I wouldn't rule out a disaster-in-the-making either -- a shaky coalition with UKIP. You need to defuse that time bomb and electoral reform is just the ticket. I just compromised with the wife that my son will get an airgun when he turns seven, not six like myself. In other words, we grow up with guns, but not for the sake of it, but because in my family, we've got an unbroken hunting tradition that goes back to the very start of human history. Also, with very few exceptions, our able-bodied males are all proficient in the use of military-grade, fully automatic firearms, too. So unlike your lot, semi-autos don't give us the heebie-jeebies. Say, do you find cars with automatic transmission scary, too? I highly doubt you would pass our mandatory elk-hunting test without extensive training. Myself, I trained with seasoned French Foreign Legion snipers in Lebanon. Despite being a citizen soldier with only short stints in the military, I could hold my own, no doubt because I hunt. Knowing your inexperience in these matters, I should add that sniper rifles are predominantly bolt-action.
    1
  10693. Brexit is such a shambles that that in itself is enough to quell Euroscepticism. London is relinquishing its status as the largest financial centre. My bets are on Frankfurt am Main.
    1
  10694. +Abominable Snowman What you fail to understand is that while the far-right populists in these countries may gather ground, they still have to form a coalition government with other parties. More often than not, they can't find willing coalition partners. Belgium is a case in point -- their 'cordon sanitaire' held the Flemish far-right at bay for years. Also, it's not unheard of that a party emerges victorious and is still frustrated in its attempts to form a government.
    1
  10695. +Erabosity Uh, why is Duterte's English so poor? The Filipinos I know, in and out of the country, all speak such good English that they're the envy of the region. Duterte seems the exception.
    1
  10696. +John Howard We're being treated to a spectacle all right, but it will be remembered differently than you let on. I can foresee an endless series of books, documentaries and films: "The Apprentice President", "Trump's 500 Days", "Democracy in Peril: the Trump Years", "Trump: from Child to Man-Child", "The Complete Idiot's Guide to American Idiots, Updated Edition", ...
    1
  10697. +Rk M Not that I mind the whole present political landscape in the US imploding, but you're plagiarising.
    1
  10698. More like an opportunist, who'll swing with the votes.
    1
  10699. +John Brown Are you suggesting that Putin, too, is wrong in supporting the FSA?
    1
  10700. Too much collateral damage?
    1
  10701. Sarah G I mean Assad dropping barrel bombs willy-nilly. With those, he can't even hope to distinguish between Muslims, Christians and Jews. Whole blocks are blown to smithereens. If the inhabitants weren't against Assad to begin with, they will be afterwards.
    1
  10702. +michel joannette Why the outburst? Hollywood is sure to pick up on this.
    1
  10703. +Renzo Tata Not losing counts as a victory in the eyes of the Hezbollah. There's something to be said for that. At any rate the Israelis weren't pleased with the outcome.
    1
  10704. +Bobby Montez You're talking about advanced mortar systems like the Patria AMOS. It can fire a volley of mortar bombs, each with a different charge and trajectory, making all the rounds impact the target at the same time. The enemy won't know what hit them.
    1
  10705. +I HATE TRAFFIC WARDENS! What makes you think you get to speak on behalf of Europe?
    1
  10706. I HATE TRAFFIC WARDENS! Because you're a nobody.
    1
  10707. I HATE TRAFFIC WARDENS! I am a white European male. And you're better because?
    1
  10708. I HATE TRAFFIC WARDENS! To promote Nazi ideology? I think not. Too bad that in your case, your elite genes haven't allowed you to be a better speller.
    1
  10709. I HATE TRAFFIC WARDENS! Your comebacks need work. Really, encephalon? Lucky me for having studied classical languages. So we've established that you are a Nazi. I'm done.
    1
  10710. I HATE TRAFFIC WARDENS! Look at that. You managed to spell "genes" right. Progress!
    1
  10711. I HATE TRAFFIC WARDENS! No, double quotation is correct usage. Just wanted to commend you on our progress. I didn't think you had it in you.
    1
  10712. I HATE TRAFFIC WARDENS! Nope, I was taught to double-quote in Australia. You're a self-confessed Nazi already, so don't be timid about the "grammar".
    1
  10713. I HATE TRAFFIC WARDENS! Wow, I really hit a raw nerve exposing your bad grammar. Sorry, if the Blonde Map of Europe is to be believed, I am a regular Übermensch ;-)
    1
  10714. I CodeName I The Putin-Medvedev presidential switcheroo alone made a mockery of democracy In Russia. I don't see any personality or societal attack there.
    1
  10715. I CodeName I You need to use a dictionary.
    1
  10716. Yet European countries dominate the top spots in global democracy and freedom of the press indexes. The Netherlands especially outperform the USA. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, eh?
    1
  10717. ***** Try not to shout and maybe I'll dignify you with a response.
    1
  10718. ***** More abuse. Could you be more loutish?
    1
  10719. Fseirst Lrest They're all inter-related and overlapping. You're trying to hide behind semantics. So why do you think the USA lags behind in freedom of expression?
    1
  10720. Fseirst Lrest The Press Freedom Index, which is maintained by Reporters without Borders, also measures the freedom of expression that one's netizens enjoy -- in other words, you posting here. Similarly, the Democracy Index, by The Economist, considers freedom of the press and freedom of expression. As I said, all inter-related and overlapping.
    1
  10721. Gerry minbar07 In the Digital Age, freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the press are practically synonymous. As I tried to explain earlier, anything you post here falls under freedom of the press. I really wonder if Europe is indeed clamping down harder on hate speech than the USA. After all, you coined the term 'politically correct'. Combined with your undying love for litigation, the reverse may in fact be true. I don't know if you have a passport so you can form opinions based on reality, but in my own experience, the USA is a far cry from the land of the free.
    1
  10722. Simply not true. A few fringe party candidates wanted out. None of the major candidates demanded a split. Even Marine Le Pen did so only conditionally.
    1
  10723. +Ken Cooper Marine Le Pen's official pre-election position was that France should leave the eurozone and that unless the EU reverts to a loose coalition, there should be a referendum on France's departure. I call that conditional.
    1
  10724. +Ken Cooper I'm not denying that she's anti-EU. However, in terms of election promises, she watered down her views, obviously cognisant of the fact that the French are not done with the EU -- something which they forcefully expressed by electing Macron instead. Marine should've done more watering-down, because even her revised views were rejected.
    1
  10725. The French aren't grumbling about Macron's views on the EU, but rather, his labour reforms. They knew what was coming. Europe has seen waves of immigrants in the past, invited ones and not so invited ones. I lived through one in Holland, and the country was none the worse for it. To be brutally honest about it, we need taxpayers, and the domestic supply is dwindling.
    1
  10726. +moonspellsdumb So you're in cahoots with the terrorists then?
    1
  10727. ***** Islamic State want to draw up battle lines between religions and cultures. You're helping them.
    1
  10728. ***** Now that's an interesting turn of events, you calling me a Nazi. I thought you claimed the privilege -- you just expressed your admiration for Hitler and your disgust for Jews. Split personality? 
    1
  10729. ***** I'm centre-right politically and I haven't engaged in genocide and neither have my forebears, like ever. Can you claim the same?
    1
  10730. ***** You opened by demonising the Jews and praising Hitler for his foresight. Then you out yourself as ultra-nationalist and ultra-right. What else could you be than Nazi through and through? OK, you could be heavily medicated, in which case I apologise. I think the overwhelming majority of foreigners hold no opinion of us, let alone a negative one. I don't know, maybe they think F1 champions. BTW, that ought to tell you what I'm not. But please, do tell what you think of the Holocaust. I dare you.
    1
  10731. ***** Chicken! No, I can't recall us ever occupying Germany either. Are you thick or something?
    1
  10732. ***** So you are thick. Not to dis them for it, but F1 success eludes the Israelis, Americans and Arabs. You're claiming that German Holocaust denial laws don't stop you from expressing your views. Well, don't pussyfoot. If you have the guts for it, would it infuriate you if I skip the police and get in touch with the Simon Wiesenthal Centre?
    1
  10733. ***** Come on, you have to do the crime before you can do the time. You keep bleating about at the unfairness of it all and boasting how you'll never be silenced, but you can't say it. Chicken!
    1
  10734. ***** Tooook-tok-tok-tok!
    1
  10735. Razetsu Our media don't vilify Muslims. It's just these racist clowns that do. Hate speech is not accepted, as I'm trying teach this one clown.
    1
  10736. Razetsu Just trying to be a civilised human being, like you. Religion has never stopped us Christians from killing one another. On contrary, it has sparked devastating wars, like the Thirty Years' War, which led to an eye-watering 40% drop in the German population. Haters will hate.
    1
  10737. moonspellsdumb Don't be a silly bugger. Of course we don't stone people, but the bible is brimming with stonings. Give the Muslims the same courtesy. Do you realise that by demonising Muslims you're playing into the hands of ISIS? They like nothing better than the West hating Muslims, because that leaves moderate Muslims with no leg to stand on. They're trying to draw up battle lines and you're only too keen to do your bit.
    1
  10738. moonspellsdumb Maybe Christians haven't sold children for sex in Syria, but child sex rings aren't exactly unheard of in Europe or the Americas, or for that matter, anywhere in the world. The Yugoslav Wars saw Christians massacring Muslims, but everyone blames -- not entirely without reason -- the Serbs. Not Christians. I'm well aware that Erdogan sought to "wag the dog" with regard to the PKK, but explain the relevance to me? I'm not Turkish, in case you're fishing. Your reading comp must be poor. Earlier in this thread I took exception to Sensimoker attacking the Jews. I'm not against them either.
    1
  10739. moonspellsdumb Which part of "context" don't you understand?
    1
  10740. moonspellsdumb No, no and no. You still don't get it and, by the looks of it, never will. I have shown over and over again that Muslims and Christians aren't that different. Whatever horror you try to attribute to Muslims, we Christians, too, have committed at one time or another. You yourself came up with "he that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone". You obviously shouldn't go near any stones. Did I try to absolve the Muslims? I think not, because it would contradict what I'm arguing. We all have an innate propensity for evil. Also, where did I say it's a tit-for-tat thing, that Muslims are justified in killing Christians because they're only returning the favour? I'm convinced that you are an ISIS agent provocateur. Or a complete ding-dong.
    1
  10741. Immaculate Heart Jesus was forgiving, but I see you're the opposite. Nice going, "Christian".
    1
  10742. Immaculate Heart Like you I'm not a Christian, but unlike you, I'm not faking being one. I was, however, brought up in the Christian tradition, so I know what it entails. It's just some power trip to you, pretending to have "God" on your side. You might want to explore your options and pick a more appropriate club. Have you given National Socialism a thought?
    1
  10743. The South 803 Well, tell me then when gun-carrying US civilians have foiled a terrorist attack.
    1
  10744. The South 803 FBI agents aren't civilians, are they?
    1
  10745. From here on, just Britain will suffice.
    1
  10746. Realityexit.
    1
  10747. Are you calling me liberal in globalspeak or libertarian in Yank? You'd be correct on both accounts.
    1
  10748. TheDarkvam I've had ordnance training. How about your creds? A cluster bomb contains bomblets. The -let denotes smaller or lesser.
    1
  10749. I think the keyword here is 'unprecedented scale', at least for the post-Soviet era.
    1
  10750. +DrUgaBuga What makes you think Mexico would accept to host Russian forces? The NATO countries bordering Russia, however, accept their NATO partners in to discourage further Crimea-style annexations by Russia.
    1
  10751. DrUgaBuga But acceptance is a prerequisite for letting foreign forces into one's country. Also, you're mixing up cause and consequence. NATO is bolstering its defences because Russia, against the UN charter, annexed Crimea and to this day, keeps destabilising Ukraine militarily. It's entirely Russia's fault that its neighbours are distrustful of Russia. I see no such distrust between USA and Mexico.
    1
  10752. DrUgaBuga If you're desperately trying to play the hypocrisy card, I can save you the trouble. I'm neither American nor is my country in NATO. My beef is with Russia reverting to its old habits and stoking trouble in a pitiful attempt to matter on the world scene. Then you whine when there's reaction, as if that's the problem. Tell me more about this US invasion and occupation of Syria. It totally slipped my news radar.
    1
  10753. Sorry, but they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Also, having to copy drones is indicative of Iran's isolation.
    1
  10754. +Gregory Warmoth If the airstrikes have made 70,000 civilians flee their homes already, then it doesn't bode well for Europe. Russia is exacerbating the refugee crisis, not alleviating it.
    1
  10755. +moreREDmeat Not to worry, I'm sure Trump will impose censorship the moment he takes office.
    1
  10756. Next time, try to put together a proper sentence. This is just plain boring.
    1
  10757. No necessarily. I'm trying to teach a troll to be more eloquent.
    1
  10758. Russia takes liberties with the truth, but communist? The system is called crony-capitalist...
    1
  10759. +David Rook So Trump sends in a few agent provocateurs and then the lot can be locked up. Police state, here we come!
    1
  10760. anonym aenb So what's wrong with my thinking? If not Trump, then his admirers with the Ku Klux Klan can see to it that peaceful protesters get convicted of crimes they did not commit. Anyhoo, collective punishment is a no-no in a democracy.
    1
  10761. anonym aenb Of course I'm speculating. By way of examples, I'm pointing out the inherent flaws in Resolution's ploy to hold non-violent protesters responsible for the actions of violent ones. You might want to work on your reading comp.
    1
  10762. In the mean time, the real terrorists, ISIS, recapture Palmyra with relative ease. It goes to show that to Russia and Assad, ISIS is always second priority.
    1
  10763. Het is een kwestie van prioriteiten. Finland betaalt ook flink mee aan de Griekse tragedie, maar toch kwam er geld voor de overname van de Nederlandse Leopardtanks. Geen overbodige luxe trouwens, met de crisis in Oekraine.
    1
  10764. +infinitecanadian They're not encumbered by the past. The Brits in particular are prone to dwelling in the past.
    1
  10765. CobraSFX Do have a problem with the premise that young people look ahead rather than to the past? Otherwise, spare me your NWO mumbo jumbo.
    1
  10766. CobraSFX I'm not your son. Interestingly, Britain may have to allow more immigration to survive outside of the EU. Are you going to blame PM Boris Johnson for opening the floodgates or PM Nigel Farage for economic misery? Those seem to be your post-Brexit choices.
    1
  10767. CobraSFX Er, this isn't Kansas anymore. Britain's continued survival is not at stake, but I wouldn't get my hopes up about brisk growth either. While trade negotiations drag on, perhaps we should be talking about decline, not growth. Make no mistake, you'll be taxed one way or another for trading inside the EU. If not in the form of import tariffs, then through direct contributions to the EU budget. You can ask the Norwegians and the Swiss how that works.
    1
  10768. CobraSFX Now, you're piggy-backing on the EU for trade deals with other countries. After Brexit, they no longer apply to you. Similarly, trade deals need to be struck with the EU. Even if Brussels is nice about it, a member state like the Netherlands could suddenly decide to have a referendum. If the Dutch are in a foul mood (Oranje lost to England or some such), you're back to square one. Sure, import tariffs cut both ways, yet Brits will be hit harder by price increases than mainlanders with more suppliers to choose from. But the point is to avoid import tariffs, and allow free trade to and fro. The Swiss and the Norwegians have gotten the point and pay the EU hundreds of millions of euros for free trade privileges. Check it. I told you, no NWO nonsense.
    1
  10769. Serra Mesa Bill Where did I suggest that import tariffs -- if it comes to those -- be used to punish Britain? But one way or another, you can count on the EU putting a stop to Britain reaping the benefits of a free EU market without paying its dues, like EU members do. Free lunches are an unfair trade practice.
    1
  10770. Serra Mesa Bill You're not very observant. I'm not a Brit either. Farage is a populist and he tells what you want to hear. What you need to hear is another matter altogether.
    1
  10771. Serra Mesa Bill I want no part of these snake oil salesmen that have popped up all over Europe and more recently, in the US. The formula is always the same: hate speech and conspiracy mongering. Instead of solutions, they provide scapegoats and false hope. Interestingly, giving them power has an inversely proportional effect on their popularity. Too bad Britain's electoral system doesn't favour coalitions.
    1
  10772. For your sake, I hope it sounds less mental in Russian.
    1
  10773. +Ivan Sofyan Uh, Assad's murderous regime is no longer considered the legitimate government in Syria.
    1
  10774. Protectionism is the ticket?
    1
  10775. Shooting the messenger again, eh?
    1
  10776. A tacit admission that Blackberry can't renew itself?
    1
  10777. cinnamonstar808 Er... the right side of the screen is personalised. I'm sure you have a point but it eludes me.
    1
  10778. I don't see it. Obama's approval rate going out exceeds Trump's going in. That speaks volumes.
    1
  10779. +ilove wires Interesting. Is that a Catholic thing?
    1
  10780. +ilove wires I get that, but for a Unionist it must be tough to apply for a Irish passport. I lost my dual nationality when I went soldiering. They wouldn't return it unless I married a Dutchwoman. Anyhow, two EU nationalities don't make much sense.
    1
  10781. +VTBbank Love or hate them, the US hasn't initiated NATO's expansion. It's the former Soviet satellite states that pushed hard for admission, motivated by a chronic mistrust towards Russia. We can speculate at length if there's a basis for such distrust (Crimea suggests there is), but their fears are real nonetheless. Also, you may hate the idea, but neither the USA nor Russia gets to decide what kind of security arrangements independent countries make for themselves. Yalta and similar underhand dealings belong to the past.
    1
  10782. +VTBbank Like I said, the US doesn't decide which security arrangements independent countries get to make. Besides, it wasn't too long ago that Russia's ambassador to NATO went on record saying that Russia wasn't adverse to joining NATO at some point in the future. But I understand that in good old Soviet tradition, history needs to be rewritten to make way for a new Cold War narrative. The formerly communist Eastern and Central European countries have managed to transform themselves into stable democracies. Russia, on the other hand, has slipped back into authoritarianism after a brief flirt with proto-democracy. Maybe that explains the rift between old "friends". Russia broke the UN charter by illegally annexing Crimea. Despite its economic and political woes, present-day Ukraine fares better democracy-wise than Russia.
    1
  10783. VTBbank That's one way of conceding defeat. Threatening with nuclear armageddon is a tacit admission of Russia's weakness. It's nothing more than a suicidal cry for attention from a depraved misfit.
    1
  10784. VTBbank So you're a brave little soldier boy who's willing to die defending his country. But this isn't about defending Russia against invasion, but the complete opposite: defending Europe against Russian invasion, of which we recently had a foretaste in Crimea. We don't want a piece of Russia. but Russia can't seem to keep its grubby little hands off its neighbours' sovereign territory.
    1
  10785. VTBbank Now you're being a petulant child.
    1
  10786. VTBbank Equating yourselves with the Nazis. Your true colours are shining through.
    1
  10787. VTBbank Which part of "sovereign territory" don't you understand? Ukraine is recognised by Russia, and vice versa. Hence, Russia broke the UN Charter. For that alone, Russia should be kicked out of the UN.
    1
  10788. VTBbank I love it when you talk about the "Russian Empire". It makes you look even more like a foaming-at-the-mouth megalomaniac.
    1
  10789. VTBbank It seems I caught myself a genuine Russian neo-Nazi! The trouble with atomic weapons is that you won't be pressing buttons for long.
    1
  10790. VTBbank What you're saying amounts to nuclear extortion. Now would be the time for the Russian Ministry of Propaganda to put a gag order on you. You're hurting their cause, big time.
    1
  10791. Fuji Wuji Inside the EU, Britain had a say in what it could and couldn't do, but foolishly forfeited the right. Well, now you can pretend you decide your own destiny. The Swiss and Norwegian hoi polloi are under the illusion. I expect no different from British proles.
    1
  10792. Only a few months ago, Trump, in his own words, loved Muslims. Aside from the distasteful populism, it's just poor business sense to alienate potential Arab investors.
    1
  10793. +Steve Polychronopolous No worries, I'll make sure to remind everyone of Russia's indiscriminate bombing of civilians when Amnesty/Euronews report on somewhat less indiscriminate US bombing.
    1
  10794. Sasha Khastar No, the Poles are within their rights if they deny a member of the Night Wolves a Schengen visa. Barred Wolves could get a Schengen visa from another member state and enter Poland through that country, I believe, but not directly.
    1
  10795. Who's us?
    1
  10796. Laten we eerlijk zijn, de Bradley is geen partij tegen een T-72, T-80 of T-90. Oekraïne heeft Leopard 2's nodig.
    1
  10797.  @dutchsailor1121  De Russen hebben al sinds de zeventiger jaren antitankraketten met een vergelijkbaar of zelfs beter bereik, die uit de loop van hun tanks kunnen worden afgevuurd. Je zet geen infanteriegevechtsvoertuigen in tegen tanks tenzij je het kan verhelpen. Dat doen de Russen ook niet met hun BMP-3's. Daar zijn ze niet voor ontworpen.
    1
  10798. Military might is not the point here. The question is, can the US somehow prepare the ground for a lasting peace. That will entail containing Israel's military might.
    1
  10799. Stop coming over as asylum seekers then.
    1
  10800.  @justin-kv1jh  I know exactly what Germany thinks, and they're not in favour of illegal settlements. You're making up stuff.
    1
  10801.  @gregorybiestek3431  I really don't care for your anachronistic & irrelevant whataboutism.
    1
  10802.  @gregorybiestek3431  What's the relevance then? I set two ignorant commenters straight about the clearly negative stance of the E-U and G-E-R-M-A-N-Y towards illegal settlements in the Occupied Territories. Then, out of the blue, you chime in with sob stories about another country on another continent once having experienced something vaguely similar.
    1
  10803.  @TR-Youtube-Channel  NATO expands by popular consensus. Sweden and Finland, both judged one of the most democratic countries in the world, are a case in point. Russia expands by force.
    1
  10804. Politically, Netanyahu is a dead man walking. He wants to go out with a bang, but go out he will. The Israelis aren't going to forgive his failure in anticipating and countering the initial attack by Hamas.
    1
  10805.  @jerrymiller9039  Brown-nosing Trump, the Liar-in-Chief, has nothing to do with truth, free speech or factual information.
    1
  10806.  @topg_napoleon5203  You're so clever with emoticons! Don't let anyone tell you that it's childish!
    1
  10807.  @MoskusMoskiferus1611  They certainly come in handy if you're semi-literate.
    1
  10808.  @tommasorucci4088  No shite.
    1
  10809.  @dylanvogler2165  I'm talking about practicalities, not illusions.
    1
  10810. Ze houden er dezelfde taktieken op na als Erdogan. Ook fan van hem?
    1
  10811.  @xtrey19x  The EU is not a defence alliance. Your lot keeps forgetting that.
    1
  10812. ​ @xtrey19x  You were putting the blame on the EU. Now you're admitting that individual countries send arms directly. You were also generalising. The biggest contributor of arms to Ukraine in relative terms is still EU country Estonia. Not only that, they're a front line state, too.
    1
  10813.  @xtrey19x  Oh, you're trying to patronise me. Relative as in by GDP per capita. How else would you do an apples-to-apples comparison? Similarly, I could claim NAFTA is not contributing enough arms to Ukraine, since Mexico is giving none whatsoever. I'm not making such a claim, because it sounds downright silly, but it seems acting silly doesn't bother you.
    1
  10814.  @xtrey19x  I see analogies are a novel concept to you. The EU's Association Agreement with Ukraine wasn't directed against Russia, nor was EU membership on the table then. You must be a throwback to the previous century, since you believe that sovereign countries can't forge alliances of their own choosing. Well, Putin agrees with you. He jealously wants his imaginary sphere of influence respected. You empower him. The US is by far the biggest country in the anti-Russian coalition, whereas Estonia is one the smallest. I'd like to see the look you get when you, as an individual, brag to an Estonian how big a contributor to Ukraine's heroic struggle you are. In Europe, we have a special facial expression for Americans who flaunt their ignorance.
    1
  10815. So you're comparing Russia's armed forces to a ragtag band of tribal warriors in Africa? Blood diamonds that slip through the cracks may pay for a few technicals and some Chinese AK-47 knock-offs, but Russia's war bill is a bit higher than that. Turkey's and China's domestic markets for diamonds don't amount to that much in the grand scheme of things, and both Chinese and Turkish merchants engaging in international trade are clever enough to stay away from merchandise without genuibe certificates of origin.
    1
  10816.  @yonduintiaz5315  It's entirely appropriate. Charles Taylor was associated with blood diamonds and war crimes. Putin, likewise.
    1
  10817. Indians study in Ukraine while their compatriots at home cheer on the Orcs. Awkward!
    1
  10818.  @user-un2fz6wo8b  Which "west [sic]" exactly? There's Agent Krasnov's "West" and the European West. Big diff, especially with regard to Ukraine.
    1
  10819.  @DD-wx4jc  The US arms industry? The German arms industry is awash with orders, in case you haven't noticed. The both of them should send Putin a nice gift basket. NATO, too, for Putin making Recruiter of the Year. And he's far from done -- new recruits keep flocking in.
    1
  10820. The same goes for the Battle of Thermopylae, which is also referred to in the video. The Spartans all died fighting the Persians. The will to fight was certainly there.
    1
  10821.  @Ryanlexz  Russia will only bankrupt itself further rebuilding what it has destroyed. Russia will go down in history as the only combatant to resort to scorched-earth policy when attacking. Usually it's the defender's choice.
    1
  10822.  @Ryanlexz  And why would you bring up the USA? This is EUROnews. Are you a navel-staring American or a Pavlovian Putin troll?
    1
  10823.  @Ryanlexz  Why would a "French" anti-war protester gloat about Ukraine's eastern parts being occupied? It's as if you're rewarding Russia for making war.
    1
  10824.  @beansmith2465  You're clearly not in the know. Germany has scores of politicians of Indian ancestry. The former mayor of Bonn, the capital of West Germany, is a notable example. I first heard of him from DW.
    1
  10825. The far right enjoys support among the working class. Nothing new about that.
    1
  10826. ​ @KTopics  Don't be shy. Ultranationalism and nativism are decidedly far-right characteristics.
    1
  10827. Duh. Russians spies also do spy things.
    1
  10828.  @christianevanherck6023  The Nigerians will pass. Perhaps one in a hundred thousand falls for their money scams, but it's still a better hit rate than that of our sad trolls.
    1
  10829. Western? How and why are you trying to implicate us? Your vivid imagination got the better of you?
    1
  10830.  @merlin1649  So your sock puppet can't get a date after all?
    1
  10831.  @merlin1649  "Learn to write, you're already are raping the language." Do you consider that proper English?
    1
  10832. If they fail to drill a hole for exclusive access, they'll just outsource their troll farms to India. In fact, it looks like they have already.
    1
  10833.  @johnnytiger7580  The NATO nukes you're referring to are B61 bombs, not missiles.
    1
  10834.  @viswanath4473  ...and?
    1
  10835.  @viswanath4473  Duh. Relevance?
    1
  10836.  @viswanath4473  Whoosh!
    1
  10837. Tesla sales have nosedived, X is moribund. Musk's shareholders must be livid at his politicking.
    1
  10838. Russia will lose many, many troops evicting the Ukrainians. What's classic is that once again, Russia will bear the brunt in terms of casualties.
    1
  10839.  @pixibelle3282  I'm not American either. Maybe international news just isn't for you.
    1
  10840.  @sparkle4051  Are you her babysitter?
    1
  10841.  @Free__Speech  The French led the Allies to victory in WW1. Fact.
    1
  10842. Google Translate wasn't kind to your comment.
    1
  10843.  @760HorsePower  Nordic cities are ultra-modern by your standards. If you travel eastward from Finland, the contrast is staggering. A timewarp doesn't begin to describe it. It gets slightly better towards Saint Petersburg, but not by much. No wonder Russians try to make a beeline for the west. Vice versa, nuh-uh, just not happening.
    1
  10844.  @760HorsePower  That's a load of crock. Sure, there are modern buildings in Moscow and Saint Petersburg ("Petersborough"?), but so are there in Manila and Jakarta. You comparing Europe -- and Scandinavia in particular -- to the US goes to show how little you know. You don't get around much, do you?
    1
  10845. Maybe you should worry about your own colonies.
    1
  10846.  @lukasomasta2333  Putin can stop this war in a heartbeat.
    1
  10847. Euronews is Murican now? Kids Trumpists say the darndest things...
    1
  10848. Yeah, but presidents-for-life and some such are more a Russian thing. Not popular at all in the West. We're of the opinion that politicians and a baby's diapers are alike. Both need to be changed frequently, and for the same reason. The Russians apparently don't mind the smell.
    1
  10849. No such promises were ever made. In fact, Russia contemplated joining NATO itself. NATO expansion is a mirror moment for Putin's Russia.
    1
  10850.  @lozah9036  The UN General Assembly had a vote about the validity of the 2014 Crimea referendum. A full 100 countries considered it a sham, a mere 11 held the opposing view. Regarding the Donbas, the outcome was even more damning: 143 countries dismissed those referendums as invalid, while a measly 5 -- including Russia, of course -- considered them valid. Even fewer countries have subsequently recognised Crimea and the Donbas as Russian territory. Russia practically stands alone.
    1
  10851.  @LukmanIbraheem-p2j  You're confusing the UNGA with the UNSC. Even a child knows that the UN Security Council is deadlocked in matters pertaining to Russia and Israel, thanks to Russia and the USA respectively using their vetoes. The UN General Assembly, on the other hand, is passing one resolution after another that condemns Israel's aggression, just like that of Russia. Educate yourself. The outcome would be no different if emissaries from all the countries in the world would gather in a clearing in the jungle and cast their votes. It just so happens that the UN HQ in the Washington is an easier place to convene.
    1
  10852. Why indeed? Even Russia was swaying towards war with Iraq. I guess we were still waiting for definite evidence of WMDs. The US and the UK jumped the gun.
    1
  10853.  @jojojaja3019  Go see a soccer match in Russia and wait for an African player to enter the field. Half the stadium will be making jungle sounds. That's the East for you.
    1
  10854.  @jojojaja3019  Russia and the "country of Africa" have long-standing conflicts? If you say so.
    1
  10855.  @jojojaja3019  Oh, "the West" is Murica now.
    1
  10856. Pyromania much? Get help.
    1
  10857.  @4rmDEC2FRE  I'm not offering money. I want you to get help.
    1
  10858.  @4rmDEC2FRE  No, I'm feeling sorry for pyromaniacs like yourself. You'll end up committed to an asylum for the criminally insane.
    1
  10859. If so, history will just repeat itself. Russia will bankrupt itself.
    1
  10860.  @sorencyrano1413  I put it down to well-developed powers of denial. For four years, the Brits were in complete denial that Brexit would be bad for business. Their government still is.
    1
  10861. It's not inconceivable that Russia will have to withdraw from east Ukraine in order to keep Crimea. Even if peace is restored with Crimea under continued Russian occupation, Crimea will remain an international pariah, even more so than Russia proper. It will slowly dawn of the apathetic Russians that it wasn't worth it. The question is, will that happen before Putin dies of old age, or will there be a colour revolution that sends Putin packing off to China or North Korea?
    1
  10862. ​ @youtubewatcher2  AvtoVAZ can't crank out enough Ladas either, with the component and tooling shortages and all.
    1
  10863. Nine years and that narrative still doesn't find any takers. You should try something else.
    1
  10864. False equivalency fallacy detected. Trump managed to prove nothing, and it wasn't for the lack of trying.
    1
  10865.  @nikolapantelic75  If Putin's plan is to get Milosevic's old cell in The Hague, that may very well work out.
    1
  10866. Or like the Soviet-Afghan War. Russia is no stranger to military defeat, although the Krembots oftentimes get forgetful.
    1
  10867. Putin enters a bar. The bartender asks, "What's your poison?". Putin answers, "Polonium, Novichok, why do you ask?"
    1
  10868. Because might isn't right? You're an anachronism.
    1
  10869. Sure, Russia ran tail tucked between the legs from Kyiv and Kharkiv. Now they're desperately trying to conquer Donbas, making very slow progress and, because combined arms operations are beyond their abilities, relying on brute force only, meaning endless artillery matches with an outgunned Ukraine.
    1
  10870. Or Putin will meet his Waterloo sooner.
    1
  10871. China doesn't respect One Country Two Systems, but the Hongkies should?
    1
  10872.  @jantjedoedelus8079  Wou ik net zeggen. Kim de Jongere heeft zijn oom met grof luchtdoelgeschut laten executeren. Oom werd letterlijk een kopje kleiner gemaakt.
    1
  10873. You're monochromatic.
    1
  10874. To combat terrorists thousands of kilometres away from Gaza?
    1
  10875.  @dingoeatswolf3663  China's is a troubled economy right now. If it still wants to win, it needs to export its way out of trouble. The trouble is, Western buyers are de-risking, which means they're increasingly giving Chinese exports a miss. So, not win-win, but double trouble for China.
    1
  10876.  @PhiloSurfer  Uh, I'm neither Gordon Chang nor Peter Zeihan. And I'm not predicting an economic collapse in China. I'm saying China has an uphill struggle in getting its economy back on track. And who says Italy is bailing out China? It might as well be the other way around.
    1
  10877.  @PhiloSurfer  And you're playing the victim card. I haven't made any predictions about China's economy collapsing. I merely noted that China is facing an uphill battle in getting its economy back on track. Also, I haven't claimed that Italy is bailing out China. It might as well be the other way around.
    1
  10878.  @virtuous8  Actually, Italy has already officially given up on BRI.
    1
  10879.  @cheeseongho5494  And what has that got to do with the price of tea in China?
    1
  10880. This time he's for real. He doesn't have to risk encirclement.
    1
  10881.  @TheKkpop1  Yes, it's about HK, but you choose to deviate whenever the topic comes up. Must be Pavlovian with you.
    1
  10882.  @TheKkpop1  Am I demonizing China? I'm expressing how bored I am with with your eternal whataboutism. You repeat yourself ad nauseam.
    1
  10883.  @TheKkpop1  And why would I allow myself to be drawn into an entirely off-topic discussion with you? Cheers yourself, you supreme whataboutist of the not-so-much-the-People's Republic of China!
    1
  10884.  @TheKkpop1  Look up whataboutism, if you must. Also, look up how to use the correct reply button. You make yourself appear clueless (which may not be far off the mark).
    1
  10885. physiological adjective relating to the branch of biology that deals with the normal functions of living organisms and their parts. "physiological research on the causes of violent behaviour" relating to the way in which a living organism or bodily part functions. "slow down your body's physiological response to anger by breathing deeply" Oxford Languages
    1
  10886.  @GIBBO4182  No particular fan of his, but which wars did Biden start? He did end one, as per Trump's masterplan, in Afghanistan.
    1
  10887. Strange? It looks like the CIA has kept busy gathering intelligence. It begs the question why the FSB hasn't, or are they staring themselves blind at Ukraine, after their Feb 24, 2022 blunder?
    1
  10888. HTS inherited its terrorist designation from its early association with al-Qaeda. It has distanced itself from al-Qaeda since. I hear the break-up wasn't bloodless.
    1
  10889. I'll tell you why. Iran is enabling an aggressor, which was established by an overwhelming majority of the UN General Assembly. Ukraine is exercising its right to self-defence, which is clearly expressed in the UN Charter. Iran is like supplying a gun to a bank robber.
    1
  10890. A Serb on a mission, a mission of whataboutism!
    1
  10891. You're outta luck. Rishi it is.
    1
  10892. Birds of a feather flock together. But Putin is plucked, so Xi is paying lip service.
    1
  10893. As in manufactured products? Gherkins!
    1
  10894.  @leftbehind4030  The Polish ones are the best. I find the Russian ones too sour.
    1
  10895.  @elfbeaned  Jack-in-the-box tanks? I think the market for those has dried up. The same goes for Roscosmos' Soviet-era space kit.
    1
  10896.  @rosequartz2290  That does not compute. Another thing, do you have any idea what 'liberal' means in an international context? This is not your Fox News.
    1
  10897.  @rosequartz2290  I'm centre-right in my political outlook, if you must know. I deduce you're far-right. You may not be American, but you slavishly copy their usage of the term 'liberal'. In the world at large, it refers to classical liberalism, whereas among the Americans the term refers to social liberalism. I don't mind being called a liberal, but if you insist on impersonating an American, it would have to be 'libertarian'. Aw, your feelings were hurt when I directed you to Fox News. Yet you sound just like them, with your anti-liberal and anti-leftist rhetoric.
    1
  10898.  @rosequartz2290  Thanks for tacitly confirming that you're far-right. It goes a long way in explaining your impotent rage. My whole point was that the world isn't America. Yet you copy them slavishly. Sure, the term 'liberal' is in wide use internationally. The Liberal Party of Australia is an interesting case. They're the dominant centre-right party in Australia, and they describe themselves as liberal-conservatives or classical liberals. Their conservatism manifest itself in social issues and their liberalism in economic matters, which makes them the Aussie version of the US Republican Party or the British Conservative Party. In other words, they're the antipole of social liberalism, which is the realm of the Australian Labor Party. All this must be impossibly confusing to you.
    1
  10899.  @rosequartz2290  You are quite something. Ignorant and unable to learn. You still struggle with the simple notion that accepted terminology sometimes, somewhere, takes on a different meaning. In this case, this somewhere is the US, where they're deviating from the norm with their definition of liberalism. As if to hide their mistake, they've taken to calling (classical) liberalism libertarianism. You keep repeating that you're not American. If you don't like it, stop parroting Americanisms. And while at it, stop copying their silly custom of immediately attacking everyone who doesn't agree with them.
    1
  10900.  @rosequartz2290  OK, Yank-wannabee.
    1
  10901.  @rosequartz2290  I'm a libertarian to you, you mindless impersonator of Muricans.
    1
  10902.  @rosequartz2290  For the sake of conversation, which country is that? I can't think of any that has succumbed to Fascism recently. I have to ask, because I'm only leftist to a far-right radical. Everyone other than your kind is. I see you got the term "liberal" wrong again. What a muppet you are!
    1
  10903. Yours is an understandable point of view -- if you prefer dictators in charge.
    1
  10904. Except it didn't. Election fraud is a fraud.
    1
  10905.  @steve81937  Je wilt dus een lafaard uitnodigen? Frappant.
    1
  10906.  @73chengosaro4  What are you on about? It's Russian arms exports that have plummeted dramatically. And the M1 Abrams hasn't been that big an export seller. The Leo2 easily surpasses it. You bots don't concern yourselves with facts, do you?
    1
  10907.  @harmless6813  The EU's defence pact is an empty letter. There were initial hopes in Sweden and Finland that it would amount to something, but when push came to shove (read: Russia illegally invaded Ukraine), they quickly applied for NATO membership.
    1
  10908. No more Netanyahu after this war, that's for sure. He had better find himself a place in Boca Raton for retirement, in case he fancies staying out of prison.
    1
  10909. In WW2, they would've stamped your service file with LACK OF MORAL FIBRE.
    1
  10910. Whataboutism?
    1
  10911. Could it be? That Murica is finally becoming a true multi-party democracy?
    1
  10912. What gave you the idea that the EU has its own standing army?
    1
  10913.  @White_Lives_Matter  If only "White lives matter", why don't you move to Russia? Racism is tolerated in Russia and wife-beating, too. A double bonus for you.
    1
  10914.  @jw7518  You should pose your question to a Brit. As it happens, I'm twice over in the top 10 of the Democracy Index by virtue of my multiple nationalities. The Brits don't quite make the grade (but don't get me started about China's piss-poor ranking). I still don't understand your argument. Why should the Hongkongers be denied democracy because they didn't enjoy it in colonial times either? By that logic all former colonies should endure authoritarian rule. Say, perhaps you could report back to the CCP propagandists that this no-democracy-in-HK-under-British-rule-either argument has insufficient potency and is self-damaging to boot.
    1
  10915.  @tiffanywong7045  Be that as it may, the future is not beholden to the past. The Hongkongers should be able to choose their own path.
    1
  10916.  @geshi7121  How did you come to such a conclusion? I was speaking in favour of checks and balances and pointing out how the CCP failed China by not imposing a debt ceiling in time. You need to pay better attention.
    1
  10917.  @geshi7121  So now you agree that the CCP is a johnny-come-lately in imposing debt ceilings. Got ya.
    1
  10918.  @geshi7121  Another utterly weird conclusion. I'm starting to think you're suffering from multiple personality disorder.
    1
  10919. Then you can forget about Android tablets.
    1
  10920. Aw, Britain would like to be in the driver's seat... but can't reach the pedals.
    1
  10921.  @GHSK_edits  Het is alom bekend. Je moet beter opletten.
    1
  10922.  @dedasalmeida9047  But I'm not from a country that committed war crimes, or engaged in colonialism for that matter. We're considered one of the top 5 democracries, too.
    1
  10923.  @dedasalmeida9047  You addressed me specifcally. For your info, I'm not speaking for "the first world countries". I speak for myself. I can assume some collective responsibility for a small people that endured colonialism, but never meted it out. Say, why don't you speak for Idi Amin and try to make excuses for his heinous crimes against humanity? You're African, right, like Idi Amin? You generalise as you please. Why can't I? There's your hypocrisy.
    1
  10924.  @ymarketingstrategies1128  Your reading comprehension leaves much to be desired.
    1
  10925. Because the UN Charter specifically mentions the right of sovereign nations to defend themselves against military aggression. In fact, the latter is strictly forbidden. You're barking up the wrong tree.
    1
  10926. Developed countries have been pouring aid to Africa for ages. China is rather new to the game.
    1
  10927.  Joe Xavier  If you must know, China has a colonial past, too, and one that lasted far longer than that of the Western countries that did keep colonies. In fact, more Western countries weren't involved than were, or even endured colonialism themselves. You're not Chinese, or at least pretend not to be, so how come your knowledge of the history of colonialism is so spotty? If we don't learn (the proper lessons) from history, we're bound to repeat it.
    1
  10928.  @frankrenda2519  Let's see if those washing machine computer chips find any targets.
    1
  10929. @Anurag Chakraborty Poor indeed. They pay these Communist clowns a pittance.
    1
  10930.  @deadghoul1  Bollocks. You commies are the hated ones. You could board one train bound for Shenzen, and that would be it.
    1
  10931. We're waiting with bated breath what your judgement will be. On a separate matter, do your habitually wear a bicorne hat, sideways? Do you often catch yourself with your hand in your waistcoat? I'm trying to establish a pattern.
    1
  10932.  @neeldani7450  Whine, me? I'm laughing at you. Megalomaniacs have that effect on me.
    1
  10933. The hostages are just an excuse for Netanyahu to do his worst.
    1
  10934. Ahum, Rutte wordt secretaris-generaal van de NAVO, niet opperbevelhebber. Als topambtenaar moet hij de boel een beetje aan elkaar lijmen en leiding geven aan nog een stel ambtenaren die hem daarbij helpen. Het komt vooral aan op diplomatiek, want bij het geringste moet de secretaris-generaal te rade gaan bij de lidstaten om er zeker van te zijn dat er geen onmin over "zijn" besluiten ontstaat, want het blijft een collectief waarin de leden veel macht behouden. Eigen legers ook, want er is geen "leger van de NAVO". Over puur militair aangelegenheden heeft Rutte nog minder in de pap te brokken. Dat is de taak van de militairen.
    1
  10935. The developers need to size up the land. Realtors need to get in on the action, too.
    1
  10936.  UFOZone51  What an asinine comment. Not only are both Poland and Finland EU members, but also, they're Shengen countries, which means they've abolished border controls with other Schengen countries within the EU. UFO, you take the cake in zaniness.
    1
  10937. @Null Pointer Maybe Iran gets paid in real airplanes for its toy airplanes.
    1
  10938. Wait, India's on the fence, right?
    1
  10939.  @fredrikhansen2387  Germany's economic woes are a result of the pandemic and the country's past politically-motivated reliance on Russian gas. Likewise, we're in the EU, but we know better than to put ourselves in a vulnerable position like that. Stop blaming the EU for domestic blunders. It's puerile and you're fooling yourself.
    1
  10940.  @univeropa3363  Ukraine hasn't properly mobilised yet, and they're receiving new equipment all the while. Besides studying precedents of defensive victories, you need to study defence in depth. What's Russia's grand plan, by the way? Hire bots like yourself, as if your half-baked comments will entice Ukraine to sue for peace on Putin's terms?
    1
  10941. It's only fair that the MEPs ratify the deal, if there's one. What's unfair is that your MPs don't have to ratify it -- unless BoJo deems it prudent, that is. It appears British democracy isn't as good as it's cracked up to be. But we knew that already, with Boris enjoying a disproportionate majority owing to your archaic first-past-the-post system. Also, you conveniently gloss over the EU Commission being at the mercy of the EU members, who can veto any deal they don't like the look of. France has already flagged their readiness to do so.
    1
  10942.  @andrewtowell6074  Er, which part of "provisionally" don't you understand?
    1
  10943.  @andrewtowell6074  But eventually these things are supposed to get ratified. To put matters in context, your House of Commons is known for taking its sweet time ratifying treaties that do require it, sometimes indefinitely. In the mean time, the same provisional application scheme applies to you as well. Indeed, what does it say about the EU Commission? That come what may, you're worse off democratically? It certainly seems so.
    1
  10944.  @andrewtowell6074  How noble of you to concede the argument.
    1
  10945.  @lominiski  I have no short-term memory loss. By your own admission, you do.
    1
  10946.  @lominiski  I read what you wrote. If that isn't true, you're the liar.
    1
  10947.  @JamesSmith-je7vf  You're under the assumption that Russia can rely on an endless supply of reservists. Judging from how the "partial mobilisation" went, that's clearly not the case. The reservists -- if you optimistically want to call them that -- don't want to fight in Ukraine. It's truly a Vietnam War moment for Russia, only the number of draft dodgers leaving the country will be ten times that of the US. There is no long game for Putin, I'm afraid.
    1
  10948.  @Fidel67  Is there something cultural that prevents an African democracy from subjecting a sitting government to a confidence vote in parliament, and if the nays have it, send the government in question packing?
    1
  10949.  @masakitonguba8919  We're happy to oblige -- it's on ongoing thing. Russia needs to taught once and for all that its unfriendly attentions toward its neighbours are a definite no-no. Let's see when you'll start demanding Western aid to fend off the Chinese -- wait, you've started already.
    1
  10950. Estonia built up their defences from scratch. Finland has been building them up ever since 1944.
    1
  10951. No.
    1
  10952. Retaliatory tariffs must be an entirely novel concept to you. What it boils down to is how hard do you want to hit yourself in the face?
    1
  10953. But how to stop the Grinch from stealing Christmas?
    1
  10954.  @rvddecals6796  Dus je deed een gok. Straks win ook nog de Staatsloterij.
    1
  10955.  @music-dog  Ah, an argumentum ad populum. How puerile of you. I truly believe President Navalny will extradite Putin.
    1
  10956.  @music-dog  Your arguments get worse by the comment.
    1
  10957. Newsflash. A coup d'etat is an illegal military intervention in the democratic process. And don't pretend to represent the "young people from Africa" unless you have democratic credentials to do so.
    1
  10958.  @Markadi339  Better do it now, to Putin, rather than retroactively to Dubya. He's retired, you know.
    1
  10959. If Putin takes on NATO, he'll need to have his head examined.
    1
  10960. Electricity comes out of sockets, but who are what put it there?
    1
  10961. Rather, pressure global brands to outsource their manufacturing to other countries.
    1
  10962.  @amandapeluso4217  What would be the charges? Try to be specific.
    1
  10963. I think the problem is twofold: Democrats and Republicans. Disband both parties and start anew with a true multi-party democracy.
    1
  10964. They're using pagers because they're receive-only. Since they don't transmit, they can't be tracked.
    1
  10965.  @danielhutchinson6604  Don't you worry, the BRICS countries will happily sell their wares to the G7, who're among their most lucrative customers. It's just Russia whose wares are not sought after, so it was to flog them to other BRICS members for a pittance. BRICS is becoming synonymous to "let's fleece Russia".
    1
  10966.  @andik859  No it isn't. Unlike the Russians, the Ukrainians have infantry accompany their tanks.
    1
  10967.  @angel91485  Germany once gave them practically for free to Poland -- with strings attached, as to their future use. Now they loosened said strings.
    1
  10968. Sure, Kickl will sell out Austria faster than you can say Vladimir Putin.
    1
  10969. Do you know the meaning of the word 'proportionality'? And what makes you think this is the first time that Israel is unleashing its dogs of war on Lebanon?
    1
  10970. I wonder if it's physically possible to speak Danish in a stuck-up manner.
    1
  10971.  @G0nxsf  Don't worry, there's a lid for every pot.
    1
  10972.  @AdamAdamHDL  It's been rejected because of the terms on offer. Israel's one-sided offers. The PA is rather clear about its favourable stance towards two states, and that's a fact. Let's assume you're offered a position as a seamstress in a sweat shop. If you don't accept, are you a malingerer who absolutely refuses to work?
    1
  10973.  @andreirublev8118  Ukraine? We were discussing the Baltic countries. Yours is a jumbled mind.
    1
  10974.  @memeco50  I have a hunch Assad may have to take flight again, this time to China. With Putin.
    1
  10975.  @RAVATOBI  Then there's apparently no need for Russia to live either. I'm having a hard time believing the Russians are truly suicidal, however.
    1
  10976.  @umang3227  You're the bubblicious one here, dude or dudess, whichever is applicable. Russia most definitely buys Chinese products with yuan that it earns from its (heavily discounted) exports, to the tune of 38% of its foreign trade. You tacitly admit that it's true for exports to India as well, only Russia finds little worth buying in India, hence its glut of rupees. Or are you suggesting Indians exporters don't accept their own (toy?) currency? You're not exactly flattering yourselves here. You "gotta" wake up to the fact that Russia is effectively doing a wealth transfer to India by sacrificing its profits -- and then some -- for your "friendship". I hope you at least use this windfall to lift Indians out of poverty. I've witnessed the latter often enough, as well as the obscene opulence in India.
    1
  10977.  @niklasnorberg5071  I attach no credence to any claims that come out of Russia. Russia is a habitual liar if there ever was one. We haven't bought (the infinitive form of the verb is *buy, by the way) Russian oil since the first half of 2022. Our electricity is carbon-free and we use a modicum of LNG for industrial purposes only. Speak for yourself -- your politicians may indeed be stupid -- but don't generalise.
    1
  10978.  @niklasnorberg5071  What is official and for everyone to "se [sic]". Don't be lazy now. Cute emojis. Don't let anyone tell you that they're childish. Treasure that inner child of yours!
    1
  10979.  @mujur9101  Indonesia? Are you desperately trying to draw attention to yourselves by claiming that you have a very, very fat regent in your Indonesia -- a care-taker monarch, that is, who's the size of a small country?
    1
  10980. Rest assured, you still have a de facto duocracy instead of a true multi-party democracy. Either Labour or the Conservatives have dominated each and every cabinet for the last hundred years or so. Between 2017 and 2019, you had your tiny portion of DUP, allowing Theresa May to form a minority government. Now there's yet again a one-party "majority" cabinet after Labour secured 34% of the popular vote, nearly a 10% drop from Boris Johnson's earlier score. I wonder if The Economist is going to downgrade you in their Democracy Index. FPTP is so over.
    1
  10981.  @JohnGeary-e9e  So why did Putler bother to annex -- as in appropriate illegally -- parts of Ukraine? It's as if he's out for Lebensraum, too.
    1
  10982.  @juliyakrus  Oh, I'll tell you. Russia's impotence is worse. Russia can't bring the war in Ukraine to a good end. Putin is locked into a personal battle of survival, but he's dragging the whole of Russia down with him. And you apathetically stand for it, like sheep to the slaughter.
    1
  10983.  @jeffhoward1222  Actually, it was the French who led the Yanks to victory in WW1.
    1
  10984.  @jeffhoward1222  The Hundred Days Offensive clinched the deal. Most historians, including German ones, concur. The Second Battle of Cambrai -- part of the Hundred Days Offensive -- was the final clincher.
    1
  10985. Why not ask the Mickey Mouse Club for its stance, too?
    1
  10986. Yeah, make way for China. It already 'got' the Panama Canal, but now you want it back, come what may.
    1
  10987.  @solconcordia4315  Too bad it was dug on foreign soil. The USA is also a signatory to the UN Charter, which says landgrabs are a no-no. Or are you a keen supporter of Putin, who claims to have Russia's interests at heart when we nibbles away at his neighbours' land? What's good for the goose is good for the gander, eh?
    1
  10988.  @ianrichards909  What a flaccid comment. I have a master's in history, and another in political science. I've forgotten more about the Panama Canal than you'll ever know. Nice sign-off -- for a kindergartener, that is.
    1
  10989. Problems, no. They're bound to get only worse.
    1
  10990. Divine retribution, by any chance?
    1
  10991.  @csuporj  That's on you, sport. "The West" doesn't organise elections in Romania.
    1
  10992. They've got common ancestry with the Isrealosimians. Both sides agree.
    1
  10993.  @larsjohansson6542  Yes, I'm sure. I don't live in la-la land, where useful idiots live out their fantasies.
    1
  10994. Bollocks. If looking out for number one is the only thing that matters, it follows that it's perfectly all right to invade another country and rob them clean. After all, the ill-begotten wealth benefits them. Now more that ever, every country has international commitments. Flouting them has repercussions. The EU has the unenviable task of reminding Hungary of the fact.
    1
  10995. Gabor, Hungary's EU membership came with a commitment to shared values. Human rights are highlighted as one. The migrant crisis is just that, a crisis. Existing legal structures for dealing with migrants failed spectacularly. Strictly speaking, there's no law either that obligates you to let in someone who's been injured and might otherwise bleed out on your doorstep, but it is the human thing to do. Hungary can look the other way and leave it to the others to sort out the migrant mess, but it won't reflect well on Hungary. Just like your neighbours will shun after they cleared your doorstep, Hungary will face not-so friendly co-members in the future.
    1
  10996. Gabor, it's quite a stretch to say Western Europe is to blame for the migrant crisis. If we have apportion blame, Eastern Europe doesn't get off scot-free -- you actively supported the Iraq War, which definitely qualifies as one of the root causes. Western Europe was far less enthusiastic in that respect. You seem to believe -- or desperately want to believe -- that simply denying entry to migrants is the solution to the crisis. That would've only led to a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions. Sending an open invitation to all would-be migrants -- which Merkel didn't do, by the way -- obviously isn't the answer either. What we have here is a classic damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation, but for some reason you choose to see only one side of the problem. Europe needs a workable common migrant policy, something which Hungary is sabotaging.
    1
  10997. Gabor, why is it that you can't see that the regional instability caused by the Iraq War was a major contributing factor to the migrant crisis? You struggle with the difference between cause and effect, it seems. Merkel allowed in asylum-seekers even if they had already applied for asylum in other Schengen countries, or were expected to do so still. If that's an open invitation in your book, I'm putting it down to your biased interpretation. I consider it a controversial decision, but I can't help but admire Merkel's humanity and political courage. You guys? You can leave off the straw men attacks. The Balkan route is pretty much closed, yet the migrants keep coming. It is estimated that one in five drown while crossing the Mediterranean, but they're still keeping at it. This goes to show that they're willing to take extraordinary risks -- risks that we Europeans thought unacceptable. Now, if the Mediterranean route was closed (by blowing the boats out of the water?), the Balkan route would again gain in popularity. Would you gun them down at the border? You apparently failed (chose?) to notice it, but I already admitted that unbridled immigration solves nothing. Tackling the root causes does, but Hungary isn't helping. Hungary is just looking out for number one -- to its long-term detriment.
    1
  10998. Gabor, it will strain your powers of comprehension, but try to understand that there are many factors at play: the Iraq War, insurgencies, repressive regimes, the youth bulge, unemployment, civil wars, poverty, etc, etc. They're all interrelated. There's no proof that Merkel's decision -- whatever you choose to call it -- led to a spike in the number of migrants entering the EU. In fact, the data clearly shows that the number of asylum-seekers dropped drastically year-on-year from 2015 onward. So your claim is not borne out by facts. Still, South-North migration will continue to some degree as long as root causes persist. The migrants will always find a route. You suffer from severe tunnel vision as to what Hungary does to stem the tide in relation to the rest of Europe. You wax lyrical about Hungary reconstructing the Middle East on its own, yet we hear about Hungarian authorities withholding food from migrants. You're a bigoted nationalist who can't see further than his nose.
    1
  10999. gyozop, your anecdotal "evidence" notwithstanding, the cold, hard facts say that after Merkel's open-door proclamation, the migrant numbers didn't rise significantly. On the contrary, they started dropping in defiance of earlier forecasts. So neither the sharp rise nor the sudden drop had anything to with what Merkel said or did. Time to let go of a preconceived notion that didn't pan out.
    1
  11000.  @mariajamison5564  Just try to speak for yourself. Third-person plural makes you sound pompous -- which is probably true.
    1
  11001. Marine Le Pen tried to portray herself as less extreme... and suffered the consequences. Extremists can't compromise.
    1
  11002.  @vladnickul  He got half a potato for that remark. Good for one millilitre of vodka.
    1
  11003. Why? Russia has never been this weak in post-Soviet times. Economically, Russia has set itself back by fifteen years; militarily, easily twice that. Meanwhile, Finland is joining the most powerful military alliance known to man.
    1
  11004.  @ashishvishwas9952  Finland and Sweden have received security guarantees from the UK, US and Germany in this grey period, while ratification is still ongoing. And Russia's military is already overstretched in Ukraine. Russia's economy is that bad. Even before the Ukraine invasion, it was a common refrain of Putin's that he'd diversify the Russian economy, cutting its risky over-reliance on oil and gas exports. Yet nothing significant ever changed for the better. Even by the standards he set for himself 20 years ago, Putin has failed to deliver on modernising the Russian economy. Russian has suffered 80,000 casualties and lost 4,000 armoured vehicles in Ukraine. That's by and large regular army and its newest kit, which means Russia's military backbone is dangerously nearing breaking point. It can still crawl back, but it will be just that, a long crawl.
    1
  11005.  @ashishvishwas9952  Should we have felt sorry for Hitler when the Soviet Union decisively received material aid form the US and Great Britain? You can ask yourself why Russia is so isolated. Could it be because it's on the wrong side of history?
    1
  11006.  @ashishvishwas9952  India isn't under the control of the US, yet on no account would I call India isolated. Putin embarked on a military adventure that is now backfiring badly on him. If it was Putin's aim to raise Russia's standing in the world, the reverse is happening.
    1
  11007.  @megaTherionXX  Your geography teacher would tut-tut you now. Europe extends to the Ural Mountains, deep inside Russia. To be clear, we want nothing to do with Russian territory. Yuck.
    1
  11008. You need to find your way to the nearest Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous.
    1
  11009.  @SoundTourist  No, but are you a troll farm worker? It appears so.
    1
  11010.  @SoundTourist  You're too ludicrous to have a proper discussion with. So I won't even try.
    1
  11011. It figures. Rich Russians support Putin but are loath to fight in his illegal war of aggression.
    1
  11012. Yet Russia has fought itself to a standstill, again.
    1
  11013. Russian babushkas are already busy smuggling controlled items into Russia.
    1
  11014. You're in a bellicose mood.
    1
  11015. Should we take a leaf out of Trump's or Bolsonaro's book?
    1
  11016.  @0x777  Putlerjugend sounds about right.
    1
  11017.  @aussiecomrade5972  Without free and fair elections, how can you assure that the CCP has a popular mandate to govern? Assange is a US-UK issue ever since Sweden washed their hands. With your generalisations, it seems you can't the see the forest for the trees.
    1
  11018.  @MrPurge11  How about aiming higher than both Trump and Biden?
    1
  11019.  @eriknielsen1849  OK, we're doing conspiracy theories. Count me out.
    1
  11020.  @eriknielsen1849  Just for the record, I haven't watched CNN for years. I can't stand the American repetitive, preachy style. My problem with you conspiracy theorists is that you suffer from a severe case of confirmation bias. There's no reasoning with you lot, because you've abandoned reason.
    1
  11021. Israel is closing ranks for now, but Bibi's day of reckoning will come when the smoke clears.
    1
  11022.  @nathanwhite7765  Yup, research shows Biden isn't doing badly, although he's taken a hit on his practically unconditional support for Israel. To put things into perspective, Biden easily outscores Trump. I don't know if you're into facts and figures, but if you are, try googling "Globally, Biden Receives Higher Ratings Than Trump".
    1
  11023. You're not very world-wise. All countries have legislation in place to protect their interests in case of national emergencies. The Americans have their Defense Production Act, which they used to force Ford and GM -- car manufacturers -- to produce ventilators. It's irrelevant if the company in question is foreign-owned. Likewise, they blocked Philips, a Dutch company, from exporting their ventilators. No one's surprised but you.
    1
  11024. There's a true multi-party democracy for you, with proportional representation. Coalition governments are the norm in Europe.
    1
  11025. Rather, Bunker Grandpa is dragging Russia down with him to the fiery pits of hell. At least China's party dictatorship ditches leaders that threaten the CCP's monopoly on power, but in Russia's one-man dictatorship, no such luck. I shudder to think what a suicidal Putler will do in his Führerbunker; will he go for his gun or for his nuclear briefcase?
    1
  11026. Your intense political polarisation is clouding your judgement. When do you think ACW2 will break out?
    1
  11027.  @larsjohansson6542  Sorry, I'm not doing conspiracy theories.
    1
  11028.  @larsjohansson6542  That's a non-answer. So, according to yourself, you "have experiences", you have "knowledge of the world", you're interested in taking it all in and you're very broad-minded. You described every single conspiracy theorist in the world, or rather, how they like to think of themselves. OK, I'm done obliging conspiracy theorists.
    1
  11029. US media, liberal and conservative, suck to high heaven. They're explaining things like the viewers are morons (I hate to speculate if that's actually the case).
    1
  11030.  @devass251170  It's deuced odd that Russian OSCE monitors never managed to gather any evidence of your so-called massacres of the "Russian population" in the Donbas, despite having full access everywhere. Neither did the OCSE monitors from the 52 other participating countries. Yet you perpetuate the lie. How stupid do you think we are?
    1
  11031. Well, the British Empire came to an end when the Indians would no longer fight for it.
    1
  11032.  @bugtesties  The Russians only bother with maintenance (read: repair) when something breaks down.
    1
  11033. Terrorism is random and is meant to strike fear. There's neither of that here. Sabotage it is.
    1
  11034. It testifies of extremely poor taste that you try to use this for your dubious political ends.
    1
  11035. Did you remember to inform Putin? He can end the war practically overnight.
    1
  11036. Trump is a bad joke.
    1
  11037.  @Gary-bz1rf  The EU has pooled vaccine sourcing. The rest is up to the member countries. Only last year, US states notoriously bid against one another for PPE and ventilators, unnecessarily driving up prices. In the light of that, centralised sourcing makes perfect sense. In a move that raised eyebrows throughout the developed world (although we understood your extreme desperation), the UK resorted to emergency approval for the vaccines, which allowed you to be first in line for deliveries. Unlike the EU -- or EU countries since you can't tell the difference -- the UK wasn't as much affected by production ramp-up problems. EU or no EU, these delivery problems would've plagued us -- just like they're plaguing you now. The UK took a risk and the gamble paid off -- sort of. However, the race isn't over yet. I'm seeing the same predictions -- July 2021 -- for having adults vaccinated both in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. The French are even talking about a June timeframe.
    1
  11038.  @dillonhillier  Ah, the old coup conspiracy theory. To reiterate, Putin's puppet, Yanukovych, fled the scene and got legally removed from office, with even some of former allies voting for his ouster. Your appeal to the stone is amusing. Puerile and amusing, that is.
    1
  11039.  @dillonhillier  You're trying to appeal to the stone. Are you in middle school?
    1
  11040.  @dillonhillier  And I am a two-time Nobel Peace Prize winner, in 1988 and 2012. You did do the argumentum ad lapidem thingy. Now you're trying to provide "evidence". There have been no coups in response to countries joining the Warsaw Pact, or more recently, CSTO. If you want to discuss US foreign policy misdeeds in general, take a compatriot of yours to task.
    1
  11041.  @dillonhillier  Let me try to put it in terms you may understand. How many coups have been engineered by NATO -- or any of its members -- in response to Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan joining CSTO? By your logic, all their pro-Russian governments should've fallen prey to coup d'états, replacing them with pro-Western governments. Feel free to lambast your foreign policy, but please wait till I've made some popcorn.
    1
  11042.  @dillonhillier  Uh, when exactly did Libya apply for CSTO membership? Besides, a civil war was already in full swing in Libya when NATO intervened, with the UNSC's blessing. Participation in the air ops wasn't limited to NATO members either. You're grasping at straws.
    1
  11043.  @dillonhillier  Oh, you didn't get the clue about "my" Nobel Peace Prizes? That's sad.
    1
  11044.  @dillonhillier  You should add a warning to your replies that you're about to go off on a tangent, or that your goal posts are highly movable -- whichever applies. Over and out.
    1
  11045. Bedankt dat we de Leopard 2A6's voor een prikkie konden overnemen. Als ellenlange halve Nederlander pas ik er zelfs in.
    1
  11046. The Palestinian Authority has, and it was negotiating a peace accord with Israel, but with very little progress to show for, mainly due to Israeli intransigence. Also, you should ask yourself if all of Israel's political parties recognise Palestine and the Palestinians' right to statehood. Quid pro quo, buddy.
    1
  11047. Your logic is seriously flawed. Britain doesn't equate the "West". China's quarrel is with Trump, who's equally quarreling with Europe (and Japan, Canada and Mexico).
    1
  11048. For your information, "Terry" is the accepted short version of "Terence", and as for your adopted surname, "Williams" is the more common form. You may want to have a word with your troll factory manager about changing it.
    1
  11049.  @760HorsePower  Ukraine isn't concentrating on population centres. Your lot should've learned that lesson from the disastrous First Battle of Grozny. Urban warfare is very costly to the attacker. It's advisable to go around and let the defenders wither on the vine if they haven't got the presence of mind to stage an orderly withdrawal in time. And sure enough, we'll witness such a Russian 'goodwill gesture' in Bakhmut.
    1
  11050.  @Pirate67  It's what bots do.
    1
  11051. What are you, bipolar? These stances aren't mutually exclusive.
    1
  11052.  @craigsmith6512  Russia is the danger, smarty-pants.
    1
  11053.  @mdsaifulislam-qw7yc  You must be in the mistaken belief that I'm American. How did you jump to that conclusion? So, India doesn't love foreigners?
    1
  11054.  @mdsaifulislam-qw7yc  You and the OP are apparently trying to implicate "the West" in "dividing the world". I'm merely curious what that is about. If you specifically want to blame the US for divisionary tactics, then be specific.
    1
  11055.  @mithunmusabbir9444  I'm confused, is "the West" planning to sell Rafales to Bangladesh or just France? You always make such sweeping statements, as if we in "the "West" are always making all decisions in unison. Mind you, I wish we did, because France can be very non-judgemental in its arms sales.
    1
  11056. If you believe that, Murica is superlatively omnipotent. You'll never stand a chance.
    1
  11057. He's off on a tangent, but an interesting one. Russia suddenly doesn't recognise Ukraine as a sovereign state any longer, and Ukraine repays in kind. I believe the boot is on the other foot.
    1
  11058. Did Lukashenko have a death wish when he signed said pact, or was he consciously suicidal?
    1
  11059.  @republicofhandball8815  Whoosh. If Belarus reverts to Russia when Lukashenko dies, Lukashenko dies prematurely at Putin's pleasure.
    1
  11060. Are you going to pay your way, too? I'm not even talking 5%, but 2%.
    1
  11061.  @Abiodun92  Eagle S was in international waters when it allegedly damaged Estlink 2. It makes a world of difference from a legal perspective. Finland got lucky when the master of Eagle S complied with demands to sail the ship to Finnish waters, where it could be seized. The ship could have simply continued its journey. Forcing a creaky old tanker full of crude oil could've led to an ecocatastrophe. I'm sure embittered Putin would've loved that.
    1
  11062.  @CorporalCookie  It's not as simple as you make it seem. Seizing a ship in international waters without clear proof of sabotage carries a substantial legal risk. I mean, if Putin sneakily were to send a ship over crucial undersea infrastructure with its anchor chain -- but not the anchor -- dangling from it and it was seized on suspicion of performing sabotage, it would amount to piracy from a legal point of view -- perpetrated by Finland. Russia may have said its goodbyes to the rule-based world order, but we haven't.
    1
  11063.  @CorporalCookie  Again, the "COULD" part is a very iffy in your argument. As I tried to explain, it's wraught with difficulties. It's like you were to make a citizen's arrest, only to end up in court yourself, accused of unlawful restraint, because your suspicions proved false. With their powers, the police can get away with it, but you as a mere citizen cannot. It's all about jurisdiction, or rather, the lack of it. The Finnish authorities lack jurisdiction in international waters.
    1
  11064. Ans still he goofs up like that.
    1
  11065. Uh-oh, Russia is about to be held back a grade, while India made it to the next grade. India had better make new friends to make up. There's bully in the same class -- China -- so India truly needs those new friends.
    1
  11066.  @stevenunns2530  Russia does have inland waterways that allow small warships up to corvette size to sail between the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea without passing through the Bosphorus Strait. It's slow-going, with numerous locks, speed limits, congestion and whatnot.
    1
  11067.  @giantsashavor7809  The Winter War saw a casualty ratio of 5:1. To the detriment of the Soviets, of course.
    1
  11068.  @giantsashavor7809  The Soviet Union painstakingly managed to subdue Finland with vastly superior firepower. Russia tried the same tactic in Ukraine, but a six-letter acronym ruined everything. Finland received very little in terms of practical help. Sweden deserved kudos, but despite lofty promises, the rest sat on their hands. Fortunately, Ukraine has the backing of the civilised world.
    1
  11069.  @RuskiVanka  Go peddle your historical revisionism elsewhere. Your memory is like a wind vane.
    1
  11070.  @RuskiVanka  I have a masters in history. I very much doubt you could ever teach me anything about anything. Scurry back to your troll cave already.
    1
  11071. ​ @RuskiVanka  You trying to pass off Finland becoming a grand duchy of Russia as a liberation is just ludicrous. In 1809, Russia was faced with a hostile population, which only begrudgingly accepted the status quo in exchange for autonomy. It's telling that whenever Imperial Russia tried to dial back Finland's autonomy, anti-Russian sentiment grew stronger each time. Uprisings where constantly brewing for the 100 or so years that Finland remained part of Russia. Even if Imperial Russia hadn't imploded in 1917, there would've been a war of independence all the same. In case you can't figure it out for yourself, nothing of the above spells "liberation".
    1
  11072. You should return your potatoes to your troll factory. None of what you've posted recently is comprehensible.
    1
  11073. The US imports European bathroom fixtures rather than the other way around. What's your fixation with toilets about anyway?
    1
  11074.  @laloelsalamanca  Don't try to sugarcoat it. It was Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine that spurred UEFA and FIFA to ban Russia from the World Cup 2022. As we tend to say, the world of sports misses Russia like a toothache.
    1
  11075.  @laloelsalamanca  Qatar bribed FIFA to get the World Cup (and Russia probably did same before that), but that's another matter altogether.
    1
  11076.  @Samb0o0o0  So, you're saying that Iran suddenly has an Iron Dome equivalent? Not only that, it must be superior to Israel's, because Israel used precision-guided aerial bombs in the airstrikes, which even Iron Dome can't intercept.
    1
  11077.  @bobzitsomee5987  Another "expert" weighing in. What exactly are the "Ukraine battleground conditions" that necessitate updates to the Leo 2? Spit it out, don't be shy.
    1
  11078. Funny, there's no clear unanimity in the so-called "West" with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Europe has consistently hammered on the necessity of the two-state solution. The US, not so. The question you should pose here is why the Arab countries are so frugal with their aid to the Palestinians.
    1
  11079. Since when do the US and Venezuela share a border? We all know Americans struggle with geography, but you're something else.
    1
  11080.  @withastickangrywhiteman2822  You're talking about "the wall" and suggesting that that somehow keeps the "commies" at bay. That's utter nonsense. You'd have to build the wall around Venezuela instead, as it is surrounded by capitalist countries, all of which are pushing for Maduro to step down. You might as well claim that your wall keeps the North Koreans away (hint: North Korea is in Asia, not in South America).
    1
  11081. Which invasion? I can't think of any.
    1
  11082. It's a tacit admission that Russia is losing the information war. And not just online, but on the airwaves as well.
    1
  11083.  @SpecialMuppetOperation  No need for conquest. China is turning Russia into a semi-colony as we speak.
    1
  11084.  @andrewcox519  Say, could the UK volunteer to be a buffer? Give it a try and leave NATO to see if that appeases the Russians. You can aptly call it "Peace for our Time 2.0." For good measure, you could rent out the vacated US bases to the Russians, too.
    1
  11085.  @alexnik1181  I have studied history. In recognition of my efforts, they gave me a master's. You? NATO has been keeping the peace admirably. Russia is keenly aware that NATO members are out of bounds. Otherwise, we would've seen many Russian provocations or even an Ukraine-like invasion of the Baltic states. The OSCE found no evidence of Ukrainian aggression. You're beating a dead horse.
    1
  11086.  @alexnik1181  What exactly did NATO attack here? I must've missed it altogether. Clearly, you haven't studied history. You'd know that facts are crucial in piecing together truthful accounts of historical events. Your fanciful narrative of NATO provocations and interventions simply lacks facts. Historical revisionism, we call it in the trade.
    1
  11087.  @alexnik1181  I concluded that you haven't studied history because you prefer imaginary events to factual ones. And you didn't elaborate on what relevant academic studies you have concluded -- if any. I asked you specifically after telling about mine, so it's only fair you come clean. Have yourself a nice day in your dank troll cave.
    1
  11088. I find it troubling that despite the Afghanistan debacle, a learning of which is that foreign interventions rarely lead to a satisfactory result, you still think that a US president should solve the problem.
    1
  11089.  @lostinmuzak  The distinction there is that the US, or any other foreign power for that matter, is not welcome in Afghanistan. Afghanistan makes a very poor strategic partner to anyone. Despite massive US support, the Afghan government couldn't control its own territory and I don't need a crystal ball to predict that the Taliban can't either. Afghanistan will remain in a state of internal conflict for the foreseeable future -- a failed state if there ever was one. China, as a government-appointed concession-holder, has had 10 years to exploit Afghanistan's mineral wealth, but in all that time it has achieved disturbingly little. Do you think that is going to chance now that the security situation has changed dramatically for the worse? The Taliban are a ragtag bunch of insurgents. When they're back in power, their adversaries can apply the same insurgency tactics to render any grand BRI schemes impossible. China could send over troops to provide security, but the cost would negate the profits. Pakistan deserve Afghanistan. They can govern it like their tribal areas -- in name only.
    1
  11090. You will do a level playing field one way or the other -- with EU tariffs if need be. With no takers for your fish on the continent, I suppose you'll have to continue selling fishing rights, only this time to the Chinese and Russians. They'll pay a pittance, unlike the Spaniards, Icelanders and the Dutch that went before them.
    1
  11091.  Michael Cartner  I won't go without fish on your account, unless you think the British EEZ extends to the Baltic Sea. Trajic [sic] indeed.
    1
  11092.  @mas2pek  Personal preferences aside, the Scandinavian model is the perfect model as far as the Scandinavians are concerned. Thanks to democracy, their electorates have it in their power to nix their welfare systems and the high taxation that goes with it, but this hasn't happened despite right-wing governments gaining power now and then. They only dare to nibble at the system, but any major changes would trigger an immediate voter backlash. Even the newly-formed far-right parties leave it be, only meekly suggesting that perhaps welfare shouldn't fully apply to migrants. It occurs to me that the Chinese have -- much like the Scandinavians -- a high tolerance for big government, so the Scandinavian model should be a good fit for China. But like in Scandinavia, it should go together with full democracy. The Scandinavian model is based on social harmony, and that can only be attained with democracy.
    1
  11093.  @groovy611  Instead we're looking at a full-blown trade war between the US and Europe. Interestingly, Trump chose to go to war with Canada, Mexico and China at the same time. Perhaps he should've asked Pentagon strategists if multi-front wars are prudent.
    1
  11094.  @katiecannon8186  Explain how US "neoliberalism" has weakened Europe's democratic institutions? If anything, Trumpism has inspired Europe's democratically ambivalent far right -- for now. Going forward, Trump's ultranationalism is bound to pee them off. All ultranationalists are xenophobic by nature.
    1
  11095.  @zachb1706  I would tone that statement down a bit. Internationally, the US is rated a "flawed democracy", meaning it has seriously fallen behind.
    1
  11096.  @zachb1706  Fallen behind 24 other countries. The list is very long.
    1
  11097. Russia needn't be concerned about NATO expanding any further in the High North. When Sweden and Finland are in, there's nowhere for NATO to expand to, unless Russia itself somehow manages to worm itself into NATO.
    1
  11098. Relevance?
    1
  11099.  @FunkySpaceLord  A defensive victory is a victory all the same. Ukraine, unlike Russia, is not bent on world domination. Besides, the Russians still congratulate themselves with ousting Napoleon from Russia, which is considered the Frenchman's worst defeat. Russia never set foot on French territory in defeating Napoleon.
    1
  11100.  @cemo3292  Scurry back into your cave, troll.
    1
  11101. ACW2!
    1
  11102. Please, tell us about your "Eastern" democracy. I'll try not to snort milk out of my nose laughing.
    1
  11103. And you are from...?
    1
  11104. ​ @ozzyozboy6471  For your info, there's some doubt about the Azeri authorities actually affording them those same rights.
    1
  11105. So in the year 3024 the US will have a "Palestinian" majority.
    1
  11106. Left alone? Gaza has been turned into a ghetto by Israel and the West Bank is occupied by Israel.
    1
  11107.  @GICHUJ.J.NJURURI  Let me guess. Your imaginary magic sky friend said so.
    1
  11108. OK, bot.
    1
  11109.  @Pfonyx  Funny you should make an example out of Finland. For a country of its size, Finland has a huge military reserve and a strong will to defend itself. That Finland hasn't joined NATO -- despite closely cooperating with it for more than a decade -- is because the prevailing opinion was that there's no urgency and keeping the option open would also keep Russia at bay. The situation has changed dramatically over the course of a month. More Finns now support membership than oppose it. The Ukraine Crisis -- a crisis of Putin's own making -- is clearly the reason for such a radical reversal.
    1
  11110. Trump keeps tyranny out by resorting to tyrannical measures. Your Trump-loving has blinded you.
    1
  11111.  @HBTeamaker  It's a question of picking the best of the best. Only mediocre is on offer.
    1
  11112.  @MelkorPT  Duh.
    1
  11113. I don't see US boots on the ground, General. I'm just a citizen soldier, but I was taught that a good officer leads by example.
    1
  11114.  @chrisrichards2350  But in Russia, the previous administration is dead and buried. Long since.
    1
  11115. ​ @GarnetNewfree  The information is literally at your fingertips. Clickety-clickety-click and Enter. "One choice for war"? That made zero sense.
    1
  11116. So, Russia would like to treat St. Petersburg to a lethal dose of radiation that will inevitably blow over. Curious.
    1
  11117. Mercenaries go limp when their meal ticket get torn up. Maybe another oligarch snaps them up, but with strict orders to leave Putin in peace -- till the time is ripe, I suppose.
    1
  11118. Good idea. NATO won't accept nations at war as new members. To become eligible, Putin would have to withdraw his Orcs from Ukraine, thus ending the war. Member ratification could prove problematic, however. I expect every existing NATO member would postpone ratification forever.
    1
  11119.  @war8036  Russia is a colonialist dog all right.
    1
  11120.  @war8036  You're far off. Are you product of Soviet indoctrination?
    1
  11121.  @war8036  Oh, you want to exclude all colonies other than African ones? It's like the Brits claiming that they've got no colonialist past to apologize for because they had no colonies on the Antarctic.
    1
  11122.  @darthfader733  Isn't Trump's very public spat with Zelenskyy enough? For three years, Putin's wild claims about Ukraine starting the war fell on deaf ears, but now Trump makes it appear that America has bought Putin's coarse lies. If that's no propaganda coup for Putin, I don't know what is.
    1
  11123. It's isn't at all clear who stand behind whom in the Gaza conflict. What is, however, very clear that Russia has no-one except a few rogue nations standing behind it in the Ukraine conflict. How cute of you to suggest that Russia is "winning economically". Russia's war economy is living on borrowed time. The Kremlin economists are painfully aware that two years tops and the country is out of money, having cleaned out its national wealth fund.
    1
  11124.  @EgemenSahin  Actually, Finland was sympathetic to Turkey's EU membership. In hindsight, Finland should've known better.
    1
  11125.  @EgemenSahin  In one word: Erdogan. The world doesn't need more ruthless dictators.
    1
  11126. Big diff. Defensive war vs. war of aggression. And if Putin doesn't like it, he can call it quits any time. Literally overnight, simply by withdrawing from Ukraine. It's not like Ukraine or NATO will be hot on the Orcs' heels towards Moscow.
    1
  11127.  @bulublind9576  ⬆1st whataboutist reports for duty.
    1
  11128. You'll hate China.
    1
  11129. Iran hasn't been laughing. Where do you think they're going to get commercial jets? Buy them from Boeing?
    1
  11130.  @JoyOkebata  We never managed to steal a thing from Africa. Who do you take me for?
    1
  11131.  @jackytang3683  Actually, Beijing has voiced its unhappiness with the sudden pull-out of NATO troops from Afghanistan, because China's sizeable investments in Afghanistan are now in serious jeopardy. Another public concern from Beijing is the prospect of the Taliban providing a base for Uyghur freedom fighters/terrorists. You're not only overly optimistic, but also, you're at odds with your CCP masters in declaring this a win-win.
    1
  11132.  @fredfonebone5108  Potatoes are better than rubles. Had he been paid in rubles, he'd had to run to the nearest grocery store.
    1
  11133. You've switched to guilty until proven innocent then?
    1
  11134. So India, too, is getting a taste of a special military operation. India should quickly offer peace terms.
    1
  11135. Russia is proudly harbouring a fugitive drug lord.
    1
  11136. Is it some kind of a coping mechanism, that you scapegoat your current elected leaders for a debacle that was twenty years in the making, engineered by both Democrats and Republicans? No one goes scot-free in this.
    1
  11137.  @Mike_Honcho_8653  Wait, are you accusing me of being a Democrat? Did it cross your mind that this is an international discussion forum? I know you Yanks have bipolar disorder when it comes to politics, but it's downright creepy if you believe the whole world is similarly afflicted. Besides, I think I just gave the Democrats a broadside, too. You and your divisions, you are a sinking ship.
    1
  11138.  @Mike_Honcho_8653  If so, who did you mean when you addressed me as "you insufferable morons"? No need to treat me to a lecture about the sad state of American politics. Your gaping self-inflicted wounds are here for all the world to see.
    1
  11139.  @Mike_Honcho_8653  "[A]s expected from you..." you don't know what to expect from me. Based on what I've written so far, you only know that I think the whole Afghanistan War was one massive disaster that can't be pinned on Biden alone. If your bruised ego needs a band-aid, I can provide one by reiterating that I wrote "no one goes scot-free". Practically the whole world is complicit, since ISAF was UN-mandated despite being NATO-led. We all bet on the wrong horse.
    1
  11140.  @Mike_Honcho_8653  So? You replied to me first.
    1
  11141.  @angus7278  But China is ahead of the Montgolfier brothers. That must account for something.
    1
  11142. Be sure to tell Putin. He can stop this overnight.
    1
  11143. Rather, goodbye crypto-fascists. Banished to the opposition once again. The hubris is like from a Greek tragedy.
    1
  11144.  @wanglei5500  The Cuban Missile Crisis didn't prove anything about the Law of the Sea. Do you think maritime patrol aircraft carry nuclear missiles? The US and Japan haven't been fussing about Chinese aircraft skirting their territory.
    1
  11145. If what you say is true, you'd think Europe and the US do poorly and China excels in international comparisons of fundamental rights, but the reverse is true. Without exception, China is the pits. This bounty on Finn Lau's head is just symptomatic.
    1
  11146.  @dfloper  You inform us then. Please point out the OSCE SMM reports that support your claims that Ukraine targeted "kids and civilians" in the Donbas. Your silence will speak volumes. 700 observers from 53 countries found no evidence. It's time to end the lies.
    1
  11147. How the tables have turned.
    1
  11148. I beg to differ. If BRICS can instill some order and discourage its members from waging wars of aggression (I'm looking at you, Russia), it's beneficial for Europe, too. A war may bring about certain advantages for the victorious party, but collectively speaking, wars are clearly detrimental, even for BRICS. Also, me thinks you're reading too much into Europe's past colonialism. It's Russia's continuing colonalism that you should worry about. Europe decolonised, but Russia didn't and now it's back to its old ways, trying to expand further.
    1
  11149.  @MrDICKHEAD28  Are you dim? If you're in UNSC, you're supposed to make the whole world your concern. Navel-starers need not apply.
    1
  11150. No need. Politicians and businessmen will find there's nothing for them in the West. Businessmen can't get any business done and politicians won't get the time of day. Tourists are welcome, and the inevitable brain drain is even more welcome.
    1
  11151.  @alexlo7708  No, that's not what the Russian authorities are saying. You're making things up as you go along, like your silly claim that the Mustang is a copy of the Spitfire.
    1
  11152.  @alexlo7708  Hey "boy", news sources may or may not be authoritative. The better ones base their reports on official findings. Yours clearly don't.
    1
  11153.  @alexlo7708  You're the one playing with Spitfire and Mustang toys -- and not able to tell them apart. It still fails to register with you that the Russian air crash investigators are apparently blaming the pilot -- i.e. pilot error. What's the press got to do with that? Oh, and another thing. If you want to be a prolific commenter on YouTube, consider taking a English course. You sound like a stereotypical Chinese immigrant from a bad movie.
    1
  11154.  @V20758  It's always outside interference when a dictator's plans go awry. It must say so in Autocracy for Dummies.
    1
  11155.  @Gaucho-h1g  What is coming from an American? Are you American? I certainly am not.
    1
  11156. So Niger's four earlier coups were mere dress rehearsals? Or why is this one different?
    1
  11157. Now in English.
    1
  11158. Oh noes, Erdogan needs a new enemy.
    1
  11159. Soon enough, the infection will spread to mainland China as well. There was a famous outbreak already in 1989.
    1
  11160.  @beelotus7038  People will live peacefully and morally if their rights are being respected. China clearly doesn't.
    1
  11161. I'm going out on a limb here, but could our caring be somehow related to the plight of the Afghan refugees -- refugees that will make their way to Europe at some point or another?
    1
  11162. Based on a Belgian design.
    1
  11163. It just so happens that the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea are both marginal seas of one and the same ocean, the Atlantic Ocean.
    1
  11164. Don't give credence to Putin's absurd claim that Russia is facing an existential threat. It's Putin's political career that's facing an existential threat.
    1
  11165. There's less logistics involved in China letting go of Hong Kong and the Hongkongers staying put.
    1
  11166.  @AP-yx1mm  We've got something for that. It's called studying history.
    1
  11167.  @rogerc23  TLDR
    1
  11168.  @rogerc23  Question. Do you make it a habit to latch on to a random convo and try to direct it to a direction of your own choosing?
    1
  11169. True dat. "The Treason Felony Act of 1848 makes it an offence to advocate for the abolition of the monarchy. Such advocation is punishable by up to life imprisonment under the Act."
    1
  11170. What to say to a child that inherited a boxful of old toys and now thinks himself a tsar that can conquer the world? I know: "NO!".
    1
  11171.  @urbansenicar81  What a flaccid response.
    1
  11172.  @jackplay5645  But your precious British Army could've stayed in Afghanistan after the Yanks left (pffrrrt). Biden said so.
    1
  11173.  @jackplay5645  No, the British Army is, once again -- I've lost count of how many times it is now -- retreating from Afghanistan. The current British military presence amounts to nothing more than a rear-guard action. I'm sure your concern for the Dutch is appreciated -- by the Dutch. We're pulling our own chestnuts out of the fire.
    1
  11174.  @jackplay5645  Slow on the uptake? I just explained we're sorted, no thanks to you.
    1
  11175. Assange's legal team plans to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights. Whether that will prevent his extradition remains to be seen, but Murica will have some explaining to do. Biden had better win the election and pardon Assange.
    1
  11176.  @funnyoldworld6894  Even at the height of the Cold War, the East and the West still kept trading. It didn't mean they were supportive of one another.
    1
  11177.  @aminatadasilva2044  The two most populous countries, China and India, abstained. Abstaining is not supporting. My, aren't you desperate for excuses.
    1
  11178. Is the mantra "wake up" obligatory for conspiracy theorists?
    1
  11179. Alas, also science fiction.
    1
  11180.  @johnmark-ps8jy  When and how did the West administer medicine to Russia, so Russia could give the West a taste back? Also, is Ukraine already part of the West in your book? Freudian slip? Think carefully about how you're going to respond. Your troll farm managers may send you to Ukraine to fight if you bollocks it up.
    1
  11181. If you're so concerned, go plead with Putin to put a stop to his mad war of choice.
    1
  11182. Misery loves company, more like.
    1
  11183. The EU is peaceful all right. In fact, thanks to the EU, I can call myself a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. You'll find Russia is the instigator of this latest armed conflict. The UN is very clear about that. Oh, I grew up thinking Vietnam was synonymous with war. Still today, your boat refugees in our midst are a constant reminder.
    1
  11184.  @lw1zfog  Vickie is a Yank. You're not the brightest candle in the church, are you?
    1
  11185.  @lw1zfog  You're not the brightest candle in the church. Victoria Nuland is American. I think I made it abundantly clear that I'm a Euro.
    1
  11186.  @braxxian  Are you acquainted with the Soviet-coined term 'useful idiot'?
    1
  11187. This Willy Wonka equates to 123 countries acting on said arrest warrant in case Putin sets foot on their soil.
    1
  11188.  Jason Voorhees  All of them lack jurisdiction in Russia, just like Russia lacks jurisdiction in their countries. That's why I specifically wrote "in case Putin sets foot on their soil." Savvy?
    1
  11189.  @BingoPaletot  Defenestrations and the like are the new normal in Russia. Why burden the Russian legal system with more show trials?
    1
  11190. I'm only aware of two: Hasse Wind and Illu Juutilainen, with 39 and 34 kills respectively.
    1
  11191. Why, yes, of course it will. Radical Republicans think 'no government' is even better than 'small government'. Yanks had better stock up on guns and ammo.
    1
  11192. Those meds don't take themselves.
    1
  11193.  @dasteven1857  You clowns have no clue. The UN didn't cause the civil war in Syria nor its aftermath. The organization is held hostage by some its members whose motives are entirely self-serving. The are no UN peacekeepers in Syria because there's no peace to keep. The UN is what it is, a reflection of the world we live in. You might as well get angry at the mirror, shouting that you don't like what you see. If we were to dissolve the UN and replace it with something else (like the UN replaced the League of Nations), do you think anything would change? The world would still be a fractious and violent place.
    1
  11194. Gosh, do you honestly believe Orban is going to deliver? All he's doing is fulfilling his contractual obligations related to cheap Russian gas imports. He'll parrot Putin's peace terms next, word for word.
    1
  11195. It's funny how desperate you are for validation.
    1
  11196.  @missthang4982  I thought Sudbury had lost all its combustible trees. Does slag burn?
    1
  11197.  @Abiodun92  That's what Putin thought of Ukraine, too. Then he pulled Yanukovych's strings too hard.
    1
  11198.  @markharcourt2214  It's not 'the Ukraine' -- just 'Ukraine' will do. The difference here is that Kherson is four times the size of Bakhmut and that Russian casualties in trying to take Bakhmut far, far exceeded those suffered by Ukraine when it successfully liberated Kherson. Also, it took Ukraine two months, while Russia has been plugging away at Bakhmut for more than six. With this 'operational pause', it's probably going to take another six months. I'm not on Ukraine's defence council, so your 'friendly' advice is wasted on me.
    1
  11199.  @markharcourt2214  Uh, we haven't lost a single soldier in Ukraine. As for Ukrainian losses, I'm inclined to believe the reports that put Russian losses at five times those of Ukraine. Marky, you're a weird one. If that's your name.
    1
  11200.  @minimaxmiaandme.4971  Aw, your insults need work. This is not kindergarten.
    1
  11201. We're happy about the Rosomaks making their way into Ukraine.
    1
  11202. Isn't AFP Western in your book?
    1
  11203.  @Andifined  China knows better than to help Russia win this war. It's to China's advantage that Russia is stuck with an unwinnable war, growing economically ever more dependent on China. Russia is fast becoming a neo-colony of China, where China can dictate what at prices it buys Russian commodities. Russia just has to grin and bear it.
    1
  11204. Other countries have elections, Russia has revolutions.
    1
  11205. Don't worry. Trade sanctions against one member trigger counter-sanctions from the whole EU.
    1
  11206.  @EVOpower  Why cope? We got nothing and we get nothing. Nothing changes. Your "logic" eludes me.
    1
  11207. Israel has put Syria's Russian-supplied air defence systems to shame time and again. Iran's is no better, and they lack experience. Besides, if Iran's air defences had worked, they'd be jubilantly showing aircraft wreckage.
    1
  11208. They both are, like we say about flat beer, the same pot of wetness.
    1
  11209. That'll be Russian Civil War 2.
    1
  11210.  @williamcunningham6442  You must think Afghanistan is in the Middle East. Pffrrt!
    1
  11211. It's a pity the same countermeasures couldn't be used this time. Then, the press blackout led the Japanese to believe that their incendiary balloons failed to reach their target. It was almost as brilliant as the Brits using the press to convince the Germans that their V-1s tended to overshoot London. The Germans corrected their aim with the result that the V-1s fell short.
    1
  11212. Lobbing in a WP hand grenade will do the trick.
    1
  11213. Those 17.5M voters still have to vote for The Brexit Party to make it legit.
    1
  11214.  @laurejon  I expect The Brexit Party to do well in the European elections, but general elections are another matter altogether. Voters are unlikely to put their trust in a single-issue protest party when it comes to actually governing a country. Moreover, your outdated electoral system is unkind to new entrants. It took the Labour Party 24 years to form their first government. The feat has never been repeated by another party.
    1
  11215. It's coming from the sun, the wind, the water and some atomic action, too. You may want to read up on carbon-free energy. Russia deserves your pity. The oil and gas market is dwindling. Russia's milk cow is drying up -- for good.
    1
  11216. Speak for yourself. NATO went in because the US invoked Article 5. NATO-led ISAF, which had the UN's full blessing, didn't oust the Taliban from power since they were gone already. ISAF's mission was to provide security and to rebuild the country. As it happened, peacekeeping made way for increasingly challenging peace enforcement, with little opportunity to rebuild. That clearly tempered enthusiasm among the participants, the bulk of whom had signed up for peacekeeping only. In the end, most participating nations had already bowed out or only maintained a token presence. If someone's suffering from a saviour complex, it's the US and UK. The Iraq War is another good example. "Old Europe" NATO members simply refused to get involved.
    1
  11217. Are all doctors per definition hippocrates?
    1
  11218. You can't see beyond the end of your nose. Israel's repressive policies towards the Palestinians go a long way in fuelling the crises in the Middle East. We've all seen the fallout, be it refugees or terrorism. You're content with playing fireman while it's those who play with fire that need to be confronted.
    1
  11219. The Corruption Perceptions Index puts Ukraine in 122th place. Russia is in 136th place. Ergo, Russia does worse than Ukraine corruption-wise.
    1
  11220. Your military is partly a social welfare program. We don't count their pensions or healthcare as military expenditure.
    1
  11221. Hardened aircraft shelters are even a better idea.
    1
  11222.  @SwordOfTheSpirit-I-  Oh, you're alluding to nuclear weapons. They are the last refuge of a suicidal sociopath.
    1
  11223.  @zodiaczone5107  You're confused. Al Qaeda hid out in Afghanistan, not in Iraq. Iraq and Afghanistan are not one and the same country. Ask your geography teacher if you don't believe me.
    1
  11224.  Phillip Gibbon  The OSCE was there, monitoring. It found no evidence of massacres or other assorted conspiracy theories. Russia is a member of OSCE, and had its own reps present. You trolls gotta stop flogging a dead horse.
    1
  11225.  @zodiaczone5107  I'm not doing conspiracy theories. The accusations of Saddam Hussein harbouring Al Qaeda terrorists have been deemed baseless. No amount of research on your or my part will make them any truer. FYI, Saddam Hussein is dead as a doornail -- in other words, he has no working relationship with anyone in this world. Alas, it's funny that you think Saddam had a monopoly on weapons.
    1
  11226.  @janvandeven906  Bofkont. I stupidly showed off how many push-ups I could do, so they made me a MAG gunner.
    1
  11227. Is Russia, and neighbouring country, somehow radiation hardened? The Chernobyl disaster wasn't exactly kind to Russia either. I know Russian TV hosts fantasize about national murder-suicide on a daily basis, but Putin can't radiation-poison half his people.
    1
  11228.  @Zoran_balkan  That's YouTube AI censor, silly.
    1
  11229. Isn't that what this is about? Letting Africa stand on its own two feet?
    1
  11230. The truth is still out there, but they so far, the IDF makes a more compelling case. Perhaps Hamas should rope in independent forensic experts, but I have a feeling they won't.
    1
  11231. I sense a conspiracy theory in the making.
    1
  11232. Macron represents political renewal. That's something US politics is wholly incapable of.
    1
  11233. Liar-liar pants on fire. The G7 account for 25% of global CO2 emissions. China alone produces over 30%.
    1
  11234.  @nidhinv8406  This time, I suppose you have the stats to prove it.
    1
  11235. If the UK gets readmitted, it's without its previous privileges and Schengen and the euro come with the package. That's plenty of swallowed pride already.
    1
  11236. Bint, you must've missed the Skripal assassination attempt. It got plenty of news coverage. In fact, Russia is at it constantly, and the cases don't go unreported.
    1
  11237.  @AGENT_PR0V0CAT3UR  Sad that you have to toot your own horn like this.
    1
  11238.  @AGENT_PR0V0CAT3UR  Don't flatter yourself. Your boasting is like a fart in the Sahara.
    1
  11239.  @araara4746  What are you on about? We've barely used Russian gas -- or natural gas in general -- and we've progressed rather nicely.
    1
  11240. ​ @araara4746  Duh, ours is a mixed economy, with an ever-increasing emphasis on services rather than goods. You must be from some developing country for failing to understand that.
    1
  11241.  @araara4746  You can't be that thick. Which part of "service" don't you understand? For instance, we design products and outsource their production to low-cost countries. If you truly know about economics, you should be familiar with case studies that show how small a share the manufacturers receive of the selling price. In summary, we rake in the money, while you toil for a pittance. But you can comfort yourselves with having factories that make commodities for the lowest cost, huh?
    1
  11242.  @curious1053  Now it really does. All donors are suspending their aid to Afghanistan.
    1
  11243. If Orban doesn't want to be US puppet, why is he not averse to being a Russian puppet?
    1
  11244.  @peterbalogh8138  Once bitten, twice shy. If it's like you suggest, Hungary should know better than to stick around in the EU and NATO. Hungary is worse than the allegorical Brexit cat, which meowed loudly, but won’t go out through the open door.
    1
  11245. Which apparently failed.
    1
  11246. Bill Gates is a honorary knight. He can't call himself or be called Sir Bill.
    1
  11247. Nothing to lose? Last time they did, the Russians lost close to a million men.
    1
  11248. Everything? Just the far right. What would you prefer to call it, political spectrum-wise?
    1
  11249.  @Swedishpolymath  You have a whiff of conspiracy theories about you. And you call yourself a polymath.
    1
  11250.  @SPENKER52  Hey, there's one. Glad you could join us. Not.
    1
  11251. That's a relief. I thought the US left the WHO.
    1
  11252. @D R That's what renewable energy is for. Maybe you, too, should give it a try? Extreme weather events have been relative easy on Europe.
    1
  11253. @D R My electricity comes from a hydroelectric plant and an offshore wind farm. I make it a point to only buy green electricity. The price per kWh is based on Nordpool, an electricity exchange, that doesn't distinguish between energy types. According to you, my energy supplier is operating at a loss, yet it's posting record profits (and soon, paying windfall taxes because of it).
    1
  11254. @D R But I'm not living in Norway. Didn't you understand the bit about the windfall tax? The proceeds go toward compensating consumers with a high electricity bill. I don't qualify, since my last monthly bill was a measly 22€. District heating. We haven't imported Russian oil or gas since June last year, so what trade deficit? It's hilarious what little else Russia exported. Gherkins and candy -- the latter, surprisingly, US brands. It took half an hour for supermarkets to clear their shelves. Timber. It's not like we haven't got trees. It's just that Russian timber was cheaper because they can't be bothered with sustainable forestry.
    1
  11255. @D R In our case, renewables account for more than 50% already. Russia runs a trade surplus because it's still exporting oil and gas (at a much-reduced price, that is) after it drastically cut imports -- or had them cut for it. Running a surplus is nice, but less so if your people struggle to find -- or afford -- basic necessities. True, some of my fellow Europeans did grow dependent of Russian energy, but not us. It's not a personal story, but a national one. If the Germans, with their misplaced trust in Russia, dug themselves a hole, I can't help but feel a bit of Schadenfreude. They'll live and learn.
    1
  11256.  @antonioshapovalov14  The world has voted. We don't believe your lies.
    1
  11257.  @antonioshapovalov14  You doubt? Doubt no more, because the world has spoken. 141 countries vs. 5 voted in favour of condemning Russia for the invasion of Ukraine. Try to refute that.
    1
  11258.  @Mr.Clownensky  Russia should take its "good gestures" elsewhere, to countries that won't resist aggression, as Putin was initially told by his advisors about Ukraine. It turned out Ukraine was just too hot to handle for impotent Russia. Rather than rejoicing, you should grow concerned about the mounting bill for Russia. I'm not only talking about the crippling losses in export earnings and the huge military expenses, but also, the upcoming war reparations payable to Ukraine. Every time Russia launches a missile at Ukraine, it's a double whammy for Russia.
    1
  11259. Xi has already put the bear in a cage. Xi doesn't like them nukes being used in a minor scuffle that doesn't bring any advantage to China.
    1
  11260. But the continentals are sooo much more efficient at it. And now, with the EU trade deal in place, you can't even entice the farmers with lavish government subsidies.
    1
  11261.  @siddharthb897  It's nice that you intend to keep Russians supplied with paratha and briyani rice, but what the Russians really need are babies. The demographic crisis in Russia was already assuming catastrophic proportions, but now it's exacerbated by the losses of tens of thousands of virile young men in Ukraine. How about it, can you lend a hand?
    1
  11262. Western media? If anything, this episode underlines that "the West" views Trump in totally opposite ways. Europe wouldn't elect him even if he were the last person on earth. Well, except for the dictator-fanboy Hungarians, that is.
    1
  11263. Everything is relative. I wonder what historians will make of Trump's toady support for Israel's hard-liners, whose actions lie at the root of this enduring conflict.
    1
  11264. It's the European Parliament or EP. No such thing as EUP. Get your facts straight.
    1
  11265. Something will change. You will have your voting rights stripped.
    1
  11266.  @Wide_Awake-k3i  Russia didn't even qualify for the qualifiers. Something to do with being overtly aggressive toward another contestant.
    1
  11267. Ah, you prefer to play Russian roulette with more rounds in the cylinder.
    1
  11268. TikTok just banned new posts from Russians.
    1
  11269. The heads of state of all the EU members and the members of the European Parliament did. BTW, this information is literally at your fingertips. Just learn to use the internet.
    1
  11270.  @daneelolivaw602  Since you seem to possess at least a modicum of internet skills, you should look into the Spitzenkandidaten process. You'll find that the political parties represented in the European Parliament do nominate candidates of their own. I don't know if you're well acquainted with European parliamentarism in general, but this is similar to national parties electing a leader, who's best placed to make prime minister if their party wins the election. Having said that, this time around a Spitzenkandidat didn't win, unlike the time before, but from a democracy point of view, I can't say if it's better that the EP's or the Council's candidate wins. There are pros and cons to each approach, but what counts is that the EP went ahead with Ursula instead of prolonging the process. BTW, you needn't worry about my knowledge of the workings of the EU. I did an internship at the European Parliament. For what it's worth, I could've stayed on, but I respectfully declined.
    1
  11271.  @daneelolivaw602  So, let's hear your conspiracy theory about vote rigging in the European Parliament. Try to make it better than Trump's unsubstantiated theories. We don't want to stoop to Murica's level, do we? FYI, there were several Spitzenkanditaten. Each party had their own candidate, many had even several. Thank you for giving your seal of approval for my expertise. I don't know if it's worth anything, but I'll graciously take it.
    1
  11272.  @q-anonandtheruskimirchelon1886  Don't be so dramatic. There will be a UN criminal tribunal, just like there was one for former Yugoslavia. The post-Putin Russian government won't make a fuss about extraditing the accused.
    1
  11273.  @callisto3605  Oh dear, oh dear. You don't know your idioms.
    1
  11274.  @matteusvirtanen392  Moose are elk in Finland. The US naming is based on an English mistake. Their settlers in the New World mistook a wapiti for an elk and had to adopt an indigenous name for the real thing.
    1
  11275.  @rogerburn5132  The people don't want a referendum. They've got their elected representatives and they want them to do their job.
    1
  11276. Special fire safety operation gone awry.
    1
  11277.  @sluiknifter  Maar dan omgekeerd. Normaal verwoest je alles als je je terugtrekt, zodat er niets bruikbaars achterblijft voor de vijand. De Russen hebben het niet gesnapt.
    1
  11278. It's a tie between Turkey and Hungary.
    1
  11279.  @theohyeahkid8500  She's an NWO reptilian? Goody.
    1
  11280. Russians are resigned to a certain degree of oppression and authoritarianism. That will never change.
    1
  11281. What makes you think Russia hasn't tried counter-sanctioning the West already? At one point they decided more counter-sanctions would only end up hurting themselves further and refrained from retaliating. Fact is, Russia is an economic 97-pound weakling. And China is comfortable sitting on the fence.
    1
  11282. ​ @scottrobinson9752  You're not making your case. Russia and China are relatively more dependent on exports, so they're more exposed in a trade war, too. It doesn't even take sanctions to put the hurt on both. The Saudis are already making Russia suffer by keeping the price of oil uncomfortably low. China is slowly but surely losing manufacturing contracts to its Asian competitors, not only because "Made in China" is becoming a liability, but also, because they've got less and less low-wage workers to exploit.
    1
  11283.  @scottrobinson9752  Russia is hardly the sole source of fossil fuels and raw materials in the world. You brought up lumber. Russia exports lumber all right, but combined European lumber exports alone easily exceed theirs. So Russia sells raw materials, but buyers of theirs, Western manufacturers, often sell them back as finished products at a tidy profit. My Finnish-born mother, who taught macroeconomics, used to tell her students how the Soviet Union functioned as a colony of puny Finland in this respect. The most extreme example was the Pravda, printed on Finnish paper made from Soviet trees. Present-day Russia is even less self-reliant. You're silly if you value raw materials higher than finished products. Chinese manufacturers do a lot of final assembly for Western companies. Trade balances lie, because the value of the finished products is calculated, but in terms of value, the Chinese add relatively little. Even that little added value is slipping to other low-wage countries.
    1
  11284. Many weapons have a limited shelf-life, after which they're routinely destroyed. It makes perfect sense to give those to Ukraine first. For the very same reason, the donating countries themselves would use their expiring weapons first if they became embroiled in a war.
    1
  11285. It means it's on you to resolve the discrepancy by revoking conflicting old laws and passing new ones that aren't conflicting. It's a common practice after signing an international agreement that impacts domestic legislation. Things get tricky if the proposed changes conflict with the constitution, but you haven't got one, do you?
    1
  11286. Nope, that would be UKIP or Farage's latest venture, the Brexit Party.
    1
  11287. @Deos I think you'll find that at present, the Scottish have their powers transferred to Whitehall to a much greater decree that an independent Scotland would to Brussels as a EU member. But don't worry, nation states throughout Europe are slowly coming apart. In continental Europe, it will just happen more gracefully under the EU's umbrella.
    1
  11288.  @toxa35  The difference between cause and conequence eludes you completely.
    1
  11289.  @toxa35  A classic. The "no you are" defence. Puerile. Russia is conducting hybrid warfare by pushing migrants across the border. We've seen it all before, at the Polish and Lithuanian borders. Finland specifically prepared for this scenario. Only you are paying dumb. Free English lesson: you're supposed to use the base form of the verb when you prepend it with 'did', as in 'did Russia *invade' or in 'did Russia *attack'. You're erroneously using the past tense in combination with 'did'.
    1
  11290. You should run for office as a populist.
    1
  11291. Newsflash: the monotheistic Abrahamic religions share one and the same deity.
    1
  11292.  @ramonguzman475  China has already made its intentions clear. They're happy to collaborate with the Taliban and the Taliban are agreeable. The Taliban flouting human rights is not a hindrance -- why would it matter in Afghanistan if it doesn't matter at home in Xinjiang?
    1
  11293.  @ramonguzman475  I think you need to re-read my comment carefully and not jump to conclusions.
    1
  11294.  @tingtong5898  Far-righties are lost in every respect.
    1
  11295. Then vodka-guzzling Russia should have their herd immunity already, yet they don't.
    1
  11296.  @civis.revixit  Was I talking to you?
    1
  11297. The US is caught between a rock and a soft spot.
    1
  11298. Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine would achieve peace. And Russia would no longer fall foul of the UNGA resolutions on the matter that were adopted with overwhelming support.
    1
  11299.  @harukrentz435  Don't put words into my mouth. I know from my fellow veterans that none of them were impressed with the ANA soldiers they trained. I don't know what to do with your last comment. Are you sure you aren't conducting a soliloquy? Even as a kindergarten teacher, you may want to watch your grammar and spelling.
    1
  11300. raedwulf61, what exactly, in your misguided opinion, is Juncker's affiliation with the Nazis?
    1
  11301. The fat lady hasn't sung yet.
    1
  11302. ...and their sins cancel out one another so they should get off scot-free. Meanwhile, in the real world...
    1
  11303.  @jasperchance3382  Putler is Xi's lackey. Orders will suffice.
    1
  11304.  @slten12  Silly Republicans have an even sillier home-grown definition of 'republic'. They're best ignored.
    1
  11305.  @danchokonstantinov6735  Assad earned billions making and selling captagon. His family's worth is estimated to be between $60 billion and €122 billion. Nice whataboutism. It's never long in coming with your lot.
    1
  11306.  @Наденька-в4е  You'll have to conquer the world before you can start posting here in Russian.
    1
  11307.  @Наденька-в4е  Don't pretend that Russian enjoys an international reputation as a lingua franca. That ship has sailed a long time ago. I have a Chinese godchild whose parents studied and met in Moscow. To their chagrin, her top school in Shanghai let go of its Russian teacher. The ever so practical Chinese have decided it's a waste of time.
    1
  11308.  @Наденька-в4е  I know a bit of both, plus four more languages. You? Monolingual much?
    1
  11309. Russia's been told, by an overwhelming majority of UN members, in fact.
    1
  11310.  @alinaswesimutowe9386  I guess the world you're living in is overwhelmingly tactless in your book.
    1
  11311. You, too, volunteer for service with UNIFIL and make a difference! I can see the determination in you!
    1
  11312. The *Finns are cuter still.
    1
  11313. You're completely failing to understand that the dispute is between the EPP, whose MEPs have all been directly elected by their electorates, and Orban's renegade Fidesz party. The EU is just the backdrop.
    1
  11314.  @joexavier4070  That would be the Soviets. Russia has never managed to equal these Soviet feats of space exploration and probably never will. Maybe you want to elaborate about the mysterious Montes Sovietici, a mountain range on the dark side of the moon. They disappeared from the moon maps, just like the Soviet Union disappeared from earth maps. An optical illusion. Sadly, the same can't be said about the Soviet Union and the misery it brought forth.
    1
  11315. I've always thought the reverse. If Israel says "jump", Murica will ask "how high?"
    1
  11316.  @AbdulSoomro-kj5lt  Why, did you think I'm American? Whatever gave you that idea? OK, I think I know why. Murica lives rent-free in your mind.
    1
  11317. Stop congratulating yourself. Brussels is keen to get rid of the UK. The UK is toxic.
    1
  11318.  @ericdpeerik3928  Murica's unpopular wars don't count. Do you want Freedom fries with that?
    1
  11319.  @robharris8844U  You're contradicting yourself. I assume you're referring to the EMA with your "European Medical". Without fail, the EMA has maintained that the AZ vaccine is safe. The EMA is the EU in this regard.
    1
  11320.  @robharris8844U  But the EMA is the official "medical board" of the EU. Their assessment represents the official stance of the EU towards the AZ vaccine. I know that the following is very confusing to a Brexiteer who believes his own propaganda, but individual EU member countries can exercise sovereignty in these matters. You've witnessed such expressions of sovereignty, but in your confusion, you can't put them into proper context.
    1
  11321. We'll have a word with him if you Yanks promise to give annoying filler phrases a miss like "I'm going to go ahead and..." Just do it already!
    1
  11322.  @holyskozsuzsanna8766  All Finno-Ugric peoples are Uralic in origin. Indo-Europeans originate from further south, which, if you insist, would make them Asians as well. Anyway, both are language groups; genetics is another matter altogether. We're all still deemed Caucasian for lack of a better racial description.
    1
  11323.  @zhuqiusong6698  You'll have to take it up with the UN, which recognises the Sami as an indigenous people. Besides, humans didn't spontaneously spawn in different places, so yes, we've all come from somewhere else.
    1
  11324.  @tommeiner9983  If you put it like that, there are no Finno-Ugric, or for matter, Indo-European peoples. It's accepted practice to define a people by language and culture. Feel free to edit the Wikipedia article on Hungarians. You'll need to grow a thick skin, however.
    1
  11325. The EU's aid to Ukraine tops that of Murica.
    1
  11326.  @subject_7  Old habits die hard, but if people start solidifying their newly-found affluence, they'll naturally have less children. Improvements in healthcare and education should go hand in hand with economic development.
    1
  11327. Yeah, about that. We in the EU don't like to give that much power to a single person, and certainly not one as capricious and egotistical as Trump.
    1
  11328.  @Kevin-fq3zh  Whatever, Putin and Trump are birds of a feather. One is an autocrat and the other an autocrat wannabe. One heads a superpower and the other a superpower wannabe. Both are highly erratic. For your info, we haven't had Russian energy in any form or shape since March 2022. As I already noted in another thread about you, simple minds seek simple explanations.
    1
  11329.  @Kevin-fq3zh  You can't see the trees for the forest. Whether or not to ban Russian LNG is up to individual EU members. We have; again, no Russian gas in any shape or form since March 2022. As it happens, France, Spain and Belgium account for nearly 90% of Russian LNG imports. 20% is transshipments to non-EU countries, which is about to be forbidden. There's been a peak in demand because these laggards in energy transition were filling their stores for winter. The winter has been extremely mild, which means there will be an equally sharp drop in demand.
    1
  11330. So she's a NWO Reptilian? Please say yes.
    1
  11331. It's interesting why autocracies like Russia need to pretend to be democracies. Putin should crown himself tsar already and be done with the pretence.
    1
  11332.  @MMA-gb6to  "Vessel country"? You Krembots need the British Council more than ever.
    1
  11333. Klopt, ze worden hier in Zweden gemaakt. Je bent er wel evenveel aan kwijt als aan een echt vuurwapen, zoals een AR15, waar mijn FX overigens hard op lijkt. Ik schiet er ook wel eens een rat mee dood.
    1
  11334.  @MESSI.HANDPLAYER  Och, voor het echte werk heb ik een Tikka T3 in .308. Hier in Zuid-Zweden is die goed genoeg voor de elandenjacht, maar de vorige eigenaar, mijn zwager, wilde nog een zwaarder kaliber voor de berenjacht.
    1
  11335.  @MESSI.HANDPLAYER  Het schijnt dat de Umarex 950 joule produceert. Dat is ontzettend krachtig voor een luchtbuks, maar toch een stuk minder dan de 3600 joule van een .308 jachtgeweer. Zweden is vrij streng wat vuurwapens betreft. Jachtwapens zijn oké, maar alles wat ook maar een beetje op militaire wapens lijkt is verboden. Ik kreeg als erfenis van mijn Finse opa een semi-automatisch jachtgeweer, maar die moest ik aan een familielid doorspelen omdat Zweden daarvoor geen vergunning verlengt. Finland is anders, ze mogen er zelfs Kalashnikovs and AR15s hebben, maar dan wel semi-automatisch.
    1
  11336.  @MESSI.HANDPLAYER  Ik kan ervan meespreken. Ik heb daar voor de gein mijn militaire dienst vervult. De motivatie was er op een heel ander niveau dan in Nederland, waar ik later ook in dienst ging. Bij de KL dachten ze dat ik een Israëliër was en de kneepjes van het vak in het Israëlische leger had geleerd. Ik heb dat als een groot compliment ervaren.
    1
  11337.  @MESSI.HANDPLAYER  Inderdaad, een .308 jachtgeweer maakt zelfs gebruik van nagenoeg dezelfde patronen als de MAG en de FAL die we destijds bij de KL hadden. Zweden beperkt de capaciteit van de magazijnen tot 10 patronen, maar dat hebben we aan de EU te danken.
    1
  11338.  @MESSI.HANDPLAYER  Om eerlijk te zijn, Gorbatsjov had al een punt achter de Koude Oorlog gezet toen ik bij de KL kwam. Na een tijdje zag ik het zelf ook niet echt meer zitten. Toen ik opeens te horen kreeg dat ik als blauwhelm met de Finnen aan de slag mocht in Libanon, ben ik gelijk vertrokken. Ik moest sowieso op mijn 21ste één van mijn nationaliteiten kwijt, dus heb ik voor de VN en Finland gekozen. De Friezen zijn halve Scandinaviërs (of andersom), dus dat zit wel goed.
    1
  11339.  @michelebirini4010  Krembots never run out of emojis.
    1
  11340.  J Applic  So the colonized became brutal colonialists themselves.
    1
  11341.  J Applic  Why did the other British subjects make such a hullabaloo about taxation without representation then?
    1
  11342.  J Applic  No, it fits the picture -- the colonized have no say over how they're governed. Your non-arguments don't make you sound smart.
    1
  11343.  @TheIdiosyncraticMe-t3u  Lies matter.
    1
  11344.  @古德雍飛  Censorship? Personally, I can't wait to ask Deepseek about Xinnie the Pooh. But don't you try, or you'll find yourself in People's Re-education Facility 42.
    1
  11345. Macron -- and even more so, the EU -- is all for you adopting your own currency. Get on with the Eco.
    1
  11346. The casual manner in which Russia sent its troops into Ukraine suggests that it anticipated only sporadic and token resistance. A cakewalk, in other words. For centuries to come, military academies will use this war as a case study in poor intelligence and even poorer planning.
    1
  11347. No doubt you put a lot of stock in your personal opinion, but why should we? What matters is that Germany is in 21st place in the World Press Freedom Index. Russia and Belarus occupy places 164 and 157 respectively. That ought to put things in perspective for you.
    1
  11348. That's an odd association.
    1
  11349.  @ZipMapp  Liechtenstein is a ministate and it's not in the EU. You're not very good at this argumentation thing, are you? Instead of whining that I don't understand, try to explain what I'm supposedly missing. And how did you arrive at the conclusion that I don't know Switzerland? You're not a logical thinker, I'm afraid.
    1
  11350.  @ZipMapp  No, facts matter little to you. You've ignored or misrepresented them several times in this thread alone. Your newest assertion is also untrue. Switzerland's GDP growth doesn't stand out when compared with similar EU economies. It's no secret that Switzerland balks at some EU policies, but just has to grin and bear it. On occasion, we do, too, but we manage to amend them or negotiate an exemption. For Switzerland and Norway, it's a matter of take it or leave it. Don't do the argumentum ad lapidem thing. It's puerile.
    1
  11351.  @ZipMapp  GDP growth is practically always expressed in percentages. You really don't know the first thing about economics, do you?
    1
  11352.  @ZipMapp  Now you've done it and utterly confused yourself. You tried to claim that Switzerland has outperformed the rest of Europe for the last 15 years. That implies brisker GDP growth. In perceptages.
    1
  11353.  @ZipMapp  Once again, you're making precious little sense. If not GDP growth, how would demonstrate that Switzerland -- supposedly -- "has been doing a lot better than the nation [sic] that have a say"?
    1
  11354.  @ZipMapp  We've been over this already, dum-dum. I explained carefully that Luxembourg bests Switzerland in "raw gdp [sic] per capita" and it's in the EU, which blew your argument out of the water, remember? Most people have so-called pain memory -- recollecting a past negative experience prevents them from committing the same mistake again. You feel no such pain, so you don't learn from your mistakes.
    1
  11355.  @ZipMapp  Oh dear. I pointed out that Liechtenstein -- which you brought up -- is not in the EU, and it's a ministate that "hosts" companies, with hundreds and hundreds registered at tiny one-person offices. It's more a financial construct than a country and entirely irrelevant to the topic at hand, but silly you still keeps bringing it up. And why are you trying to compare Switzerland to the EU as a whole? You should be comparing apples to apples, like I did by pulling in Luxembourg. We would also appear stonking rich from one day to the other if we were to leave the EU, but it would be just a statistical win, and only in the eyes of wishful thinkers like you. I have to say, I've met many bozos on YouTube, but you take the cake -- in the face.
    1
  11356. Ukraine had better think of something else than engaging in endless artillery duels with the Russians. Even Russia's numerically superior artillery has failed to win them much ground lately. In other words, artillery isn't the war-winning weapon that it's currently made out to be. It's a good tool to have in the toolbox, but it shouldn't be overused. And I say this as a trained artillery observer.
    1
  11357. I'm sure it will be neatly deposited in the so-called Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility, as far away from any land as possible, joining hundreds of pieces of Russian, US and European space junk that have been safely deposited there earlier. One wonders when China will become house-broken.
    1
  11358. Don't you love wordplay.
    1
  11359.  @detroitandclevelandfan5503  You were congratulating your Russian friend for a very obvious exaggeration. It may even be fabricated altogether.
    1
  11360.  @ДмитрийЩербаков-ш2я  Right. My late uncle was a high-ranking diplomat who negotiated all manner of agreements with the Soviets. He was staunchly religious and would never lie. His Russian counterparts thought him a devilish schemer, because they couldn't get their heads around the fact that someone would always speak the truth. Some time ago, I read the Winter War dairy of a Red Army commissar. It read like a fairy tale. There were outlandish claims about the so-called Mannerheim Line being as strong as the Maginot Line (and designed by the French, too), bunkers with springs that make Soviet grenades bounce off harmlessly, snipers in every treetop, thousands of US pilots facing them in the air, etcetera, etcetera. No doubt, the poor commissar believed all of that. For Russians, the adage that the first casualty of war is the truth holds special meaning.
    1
  11361.  @Kinotaurus  So, the case in world-famous in the whole of Russia. That doesn't help your credibility.
    1
  11362.  @fus132  Obviously. Simo Häyhä was not and the Finns in general are not naturally prone to exaggeration.
    1
  11363.  @2singingsquadronofficial567  I have been at the Mannerheim Line. And at the Maginot Line. Different as in day and night.
    1
  11364.  @2singingsquadronofficial567  You don't say.
    1
  11365. "Detoxify" is le mot juste if there ever was one.
    1
  11366.  @The_Mantis77  We've never not paid our share. Can I ask you: are you a reservist? How many years of active service have you put in? Feel free to slink away if you're embarrassed.
    1
  11367.  @The_Mantis77  You managed a non sequitur there. But back to my questions, your silence speaks volumes. You haven't a served a day. Laugh all you want, shirker.
    1
  11368.  @The_Mantis77  You're hanging on my lips, aren't you? ;-) I'll ignore your non sequitur, but I can't help noticing that you haven't served a single day. And haven't you heard of the expression about death and taxes? We all pay taxes, but apparently not all of us dare to risk death in the line of duty.
    1
  11369.  @The_Mantis77  If it's any consolation, YouTube didn't reject your earlier comment because of bad spelling or poor grammar, because your latest one got through all right. If you weren't monolingual(ish), I suppose you could check my military grade online. Promotions are made public on Independence Day and we don't promote anyone to higher reserve ranks without active service and/or special military accomplishments. But I'm obviously talking to an armchair general who's just as accomplished as President Bone Spurs in matters military.
    1
  11370.  @The_Mantis77  Again, grammar befuddles you. It's "*you're not showing..." and "*you're going to have to fight.." You have one language... Four years of active service, and a lifetime-19 in the reserves. I'll be out when I reach 65. My overseas deployments were in Lebanon and in Kosovo. In the latter, I occasionally commanded your compatriots. Your NCOs were good, but above and below, it was a mixed bag. If I had my pick going out on missions, it would always be the French Foreign Legion. They had a special sort of disdain reserved only for your officers, so I did get them quite often ;-)
    1
  11371.  @The_Mantis77  There you go again. "Your" and "you're" are not interchangeable. The former is a possessive adjective and the latter is a contraction of "you are". Try to remember. What exactly is it that you want me to acknowledge? For the record, I don't want anyone to go to war. If you knew recent history, you could've easily deduced that Lebanon was UNIFIL and Kosovo KFOR. One tried to keep Lebanon's Shias and Israel from constantly duking it out and the other put a stop to a genocide as well as the revenge attacks that followed. Little do you know is what describes you best.
    1
  11372.  @The_Mantis77  What facts have you presented? That Trump could've prevented the war? What exactly is factual about that? Like him, you're (note the correct spelling) in la-la land.
    1
  11373. Good for the goose, too.
    1
  11374. They have to prove their pens are mightier than swords. Otherwise, it's off to Ukraine.
    1
  11375. Trump could simply pardon his partner-in-crime. I suppose he will, eventually, just before the elections.
    1
  11376.  @UberFoX  I think we're talking about the same country. As to the assassinated political enemies: Nemtsov, Prigozhin, Navalny... need I go on?
    1
  11377.  @Andrew-is7rs  You should apply for US citizenship forthwith. As a Trumptard you must qualify for fast-tracked processing.
    1
  11378.  @Andrew-is7rs  You should apply for US citizenship then. If Trump doesn't fast-track your application, remind him that Steven Seagal got Russian citizenship superfast on account of brown-nosing Putin. Trump is equally susceptible.
    1
  11379. You're sorely mistaken. It's Putin's regime that ticks all the boxes of Fascism.
    1
  11380.  @zoom777  Don't you get tired of your same-old-same-old excuses?
    1
  11381.  @MrSwj2009  Your desperation is palpable. Trying to sue for peace on Putin's behalf on YouTube before things go even further south for Russia, that's beyond pathetic.
    1
  11382. Sounds like a very bad business proposition regardless of the amount involved. The chances of escaping and thus, enjoying the blood money, are extremely slim.
    1
  11383.  @smokeango  Almost? During his latest visit to the US, Macron effortlessly wound Trump around his finger, while still publicly admonishing Trump for spreading misinformation. Trump's kryptonite is flattery, and true statesmen -- and stateswomen -- know how to turn on the charm. Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum is another case in point. Trump is a man from the States, not a statesman.
    1
  11384. The same Allah has launched several successful religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He must will a lot.
    1
  11385.  @kaloyanrosenov2123  Explain to us, why do Russians constantly fantasize about murder-suicide?
    1
  11386. Which sides do we have here? Please be specific.
    1
  11387. It's the 21st century and you Hitlerites still think you can carve out spheres of influence.
    1
  11388.  @sajiantony7473  You're feeding a known troll.
    1
  11389. One-party politics equals authoritarianism for sure.
    1
  11390.  @richardlee9207  Why are you bringing up the USA? The Americans already think everything is about them. Don't make their heads grow even bigger.
    1
  11391.  @richardlee9207  Don't flatter yourself. They'll dismiss you as the wumao that you are.
    1
  11392.  @richardlee9207  dismiss /dɪsˈmɪs/ verb 2. treat as unworthy of serious consideration. "it would be easy to dismiss him as all brawn and no brain"
    1
  11393.  @richardlee9207  Hold your horses, boy. I'm teaching you English, since you clearly struggle with it.
    1
  11394.  @richardlee9207  Admit it, you didn't understand what "dismiss" meant in this context. Context is an elusive concept to you, with your eternal whataboutisms.
    1
  11395. ​ @themasterMi7  Don't be so sure. A great many were born in Sweden to Swedish nationals. That said, we are all of immigrant stock. It's human nature to wander and settle in far-off new places, and we've done so exceedingly. Some of my ancestors were Swedish immigrants, ever since the early Middle Ages. Should I detest myself on account of my Swedish immigrant genes?
    1
  11396. Just like the Brexit fallout, it should sort itself out? You Brits should know better by now. If Eurostar goes belly-up, do you expect Heathrow to shoulder the burden, or the ferry companies, which are increasingly bypassing the UK? Maybe dust off the good ol' hovercraft?
    1
  11397. Ducks in boots? You're funny.
    1
  11398. Truth be told, UNIFIL is more like a monitoring mission. The adversaries, Hezbollah and the IDF, keep the peace if they don't feel like fighting. UNIFIL can only point fingers, but neither side really cares.
    1
  11399.  @fadelaelzalet8674  France probably is active in Libya, although it's unclear whether they play a direct role, or use Egypt as a proxy. It's unlikely that Egypt could've pulled off the 2020 air attack against al-Watiya airbase without expert advice from France.
    1
  11400.  @urmo8354  11 words! That must be a new record for you.
    1
  11401.  @urmo8354  Yeah, I'm not a psychotherapist that is supposed to untangle your jumbled mind, or -- whichever is more appropriate in your case -- a linguist who needs to compensate for your inability to express yourself in an understandable manner.
    1
  11402.  @urmo8354  Looky there! A perfectly executed copy-paste job!
    1
  11403. That would make little difference. NATO gets by with very little funding, because it's got a relatively small budget. The main contributions to NATO come in the form of national armies, navies and air forces funded directly by the members themselves. So, feel free to cut all funding for your armed forces. And capitulate to Putin while at it. And Xi. And Iran's mad ayatollahs.
    1
  11404. That's a wonky analogy. The Balts have prospered in the EU. They were keen to join, too. The same can't be said about the Soviet Union, which they loathed to "join", although Churchill pretended otherwise. Don't expect post-Brexit love from the Balts.
    1
  11405.  @hansmuller3604  It does too. It bears reminding that your collective exposure to sauna is measured in decades (Der Spiegel says you had your "Ach so" moment in 1936), while ours is measured in millenia.
    1
  11406. Sure, but Allah has to multitask. He has several Abrahamic religions to look after, all of which want him and him alone as their sole deity. Judging by the number of believers, Christianity gets most of Yahweh's/God's/Allah's attention.
    1
  11407. Regional powers can't afford big geopolitical dreams. Russia can't even deal with its smaller neighbours.
    1
  11408.  @YUDNSAY  Try to make your own point. Try at least.
    1
  11409.  @YUDNSAY  No, you listed names, as if I would go and prove your point. The onus is on you, bud.
    1
  11410.  @YUDNSAY  There's no argumentation there either. Sage advice: never get involved in a serious discussion. Not your forte.
    1
  11411.  @YUDNSAY  Your argumentation is missing, yes. It has been missing all the time.
    1
  11412. It's not so much France that the African Union has a problem with, but rather, the African Union has a problem with these African coup plotters, who're seizing power all over the continent, France or no France. The same goes for ECOWAS, who're at odds with these opportunistic soldiers-turned-autocrats. Just an idea, but have you thought about growing a thicker skin? As an outsider, I'm a bit embarrassed for you that you're trying to kill the messenger. It doesn't speak well of your self-esteem. Also, whataboutism is more like a Soviet throwback. I didn't know it was a thing in India, too.
    1
  11413. I thought India liked democracy.
    1
  11414. The US ceased to be a poster boy for democracy a long time ago -- if it ever was one.
    1
  11415.  @vasilispatsalidis5683  What is?
    1
  11416.  @MMAmachinhead92  You consider human achievement a product of social welfare? OK. I posit that we spend a bigger portion of our GDP on NATO than you do -- that would be 2.4% vs. your 1.7%. Our figure would be considerably higher still if we paid our conscripts an actual salary, or fully compensated our reservists for loss of income while on refreshers. About your "defense umbrella", I saw a compatriot of mine claim that the US would have to recruit and train 50 million(!) reservists to match our reserve force -- prorated to population size, of course. I checked it out, and yes, it checks out. During my last refresher, I saw your guys fumble about on skis and complain about the cold -- it was a paltry four degrees centigrade below zero. The Russians would have you for breakfast.
    1
  11417.  @lebonericardoramakgala8160  Then please produce indices that do pass muster with you. I'm waiting with bated breath.
    1
  11418.  @DBZFan2  You're not spending it on NATO, sport.
    1
  11419. Ukraine was seen worse, and they're turning Orcs to mush in record numbers.
    1
  11420. How could NATO withdraw? Poland and the Baltic states are part of NATO and just as much as the rest. It's like you're saying that it's good that blood flow to some of your body parts isn't stopping. Riiight.
    1
  11421.  @Zabfo  Provide better optics then. Who're Russia's true allies and how is it apparent?
    1
  11422. Why would one and the same Abrahamic god wipe out his own faithful?
    1
  11423.  Tống Bạch Đằng  France and Spain have no objections.
    1
  11424. Ahem, France is not quite representative of the West. It sure likes to follow its own path, sometimes to a fault.
    1
  11425.  @brahimghaouthi498  I smelled your whataboutism from a mile away.
    1
  11426.  @anomanderrake96  Who's we? The Neo-Soviet Brotherhood of Whataboutists?
    1
  11427.  @anomanderrake96  The Soviets invented whataboutism and you are clearly a disciple. Let's investigate your hypocrisy claim. No, no invasions of our doing. We've beaten back a few, however, and at great cost to the invader. You're the hypocrite, because you don't even know who you're accusing.
    1
  11428.  @Pippermit77  Israel appears a willing henchman.
    1
  11429. Did you calculate in the immense cost to Russia? Be fair, they're going to be biggest loser in all of this. Going forward, the war reparations alone will be a huge burden on the Russian economy.
    1
  11430.  @justpassingthruuu  How does it gel with your conspiracy theory that Trump is preparing for a trade war with the EU, which, as it happens, includes Germany? I know the USA is on the verge of civil war, but you wouldn't willingly go to war with your colony, now would you?
    1
  11431. Not quite. In 1941, the *Finns launched their offensive only after the Soviet Union had initiated hostilities. Had the Soviet Union refrained from doing so, Finland would've been stuck. Also, aiding *their German "allies" was never a Finnish war aim, as Hitler soon found out to his chagrin. The Finnish C-in-C, Marshal Mannerheim, steadfastly refused to advance further than what was necessary. The Soviets launched their final and somewhat successful offensive in 1944. When the offensive ground to a halt and Stalin needed all the troops we could muster to reach Berlin before the Western Allies, he was suddenly amenable to peace negotiations with Finland.
    1
  11432. Putin's troll army distorts your assessment.
    1
  11433.  @ttVegas1  Don't put words into my mouth or try to deviate from the topic. You've repeatedly misrepresented facts, for which I called you out.
    1
  11434.  @sergueileonardoafonin7950  Even if there's no nuclear counterstrike by submarines, the nuclear winter will do the trick.
    1
  11435.  @gambrydew2059  Russia is a superpower hasbeen. We're seeing the dying embers of an evil empire.
    1
  11436. More like ACW2.
    1
  11437. Russians are so apathetic that they won't care one way or the other.
    1
  11438.  @dimsumden5745  I've visited the factories. Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei all cross-license patents from one another. It's hard to tell who leads in 5G intellectual property, as the number of patent applications can be misleading.
    1
  11439.  @Pallanamnjavelet  The real cost to Russia is that the Muscovites are realising that the war is drawing near. They must dread going though the mail, in case there's a letter from the ministry of defence.
    1
  11440. Europe would be better served with smaller entities. Regions no longer need to band together for fear of the neighbours, and smaller entities tend to perform better.
    1
  11441.  @hirdleyreid5796  That's utter nonsense. Russia engaged in backyard colonialisation to its heart's content. If the locals didn't submit to Russian rule, genocide followed. The tsars were keen to flaunt their colonial conquests to the other colonial powers, to show that Russia was their equal in conquering foreign lands. The Soviet Union kept at it, and now Russia is back at it.
    1
  11442.  @notfound3358  But Putin can stop the war overnight, just as quickly as he started it.
    1
  11443.  Donald Kasper  Ahem, I live in Western Finland. Ostrobothnia, to be precise. The region is known for its very flat topography. Coastal plain, check. Moreover, not being a farmer myself, I leave it to my cousin to cultivate my land. He grows, among other crops, hemp. Waxes lyrical about it, in fact.
    1
  11444.  @1166zhang  Can you perceive shades of grey?
    1
  11445. The Russian Federation gets to topple itself all by itself. Putin's fatal mistake of invading Ukraine is hastening Russia's third wave of decolonisation. Then again, it's long overdue.
    1
  11446.  @toldyabro2786  Poetic justice then.
    1
  11447.  @TomNook.  Support for Russia, too. They think India owes Russia, because the USSR supposedly stood by them in their forever-squabbles with Pakistan. Putin gets to collect on the debt, morals be damned.
    1
  11448. If Huawei does the Chinese government's bidding, it follows that Huawei is a threat.
    1
  11449.  @joshparrott8841  It's not much different than exercising in the freezing cold.
    1
  11450. As opposed to whom exactly? Al Jazeera isn't that popular in Europe.
    1
  11451.  @grodesby3422  What, Russia sent a kamikaze drone to the moon. That's a first!
    1
  11452.  Anthony Mcdonnell  Having served there as a UN peacekeeper, I still wouldn't know if the Hezbollah is a force for good or bad. It's a bit of both, I guess. The locals supported them and hated the Israelis, that's for sure.
    1
  11453. I'll tell you. It's because you lack moral fibre.
    1
  11454. Be that as it may, remember to stock up on copium when they make their appearance. Copium prices will go through the roof once they do.
    1
  11455.  @laloelsalamanca  At what? I don't need copium. Never touched the stuff, not even for a laugh.
    1
  11456. And enthusiastically spread it among non-Trumptards?
    1
  11457. American AI tech turned out to be a bit wonky, didn't it?
    1
  11458.  @classics39  So by which measure was/is the GDR/former GDR so great? Your personal stunnedness, which you can neither quantify nor qualify? I've visited both the GDR and present-day East Germany. The former I found a sullen place that stood in stark contrast to West Germany. The eastern parts have perked up now, but the difference is still painfully apparent.
    1
  11459. You kids come up with scary fairy tales.
    1
  11460.  @maxhugen  South Africa has ignored an ICC arrest warrants before, in the case Sudan's Omar Al Bashir. Vlad the Invader does have a dilemma on his hands, though. Will his luck hold? Likely, he won't chance it.
    1
  11461. Give it time.
    1
  11462. The West didn't know that WW1-style wars of attrition are still in vogue in post-Soviet countries.
    1
  11463. True, that.
    1
  11464.  @babblo1389  Too bad for you Putin trolls that Ukrainian military losses are always offset by worse Russian losses.
    1
  11465. What's your major malfunction? It's quite a feat. Many highly-developed countries are envious.
    1
  11466.  @shirobedabo  That's your premature conclusion.
    1
  11467. I seem to recall we were dead set against Apartheid. And we just recognised Palestine.
    1
  11468. The Hongkies are still protesting for it. Why?
    1
  11469. Just speak for yourself and not for your imaginary friends.
    1
  11470.  @chrisshepherd8708  Did you have a point in there?
    1
  11471.  @chrisshepherd8708  That doesn't compute either.
    1
  11472. Russia has made all the foreign enemies it could, so it needs enemies within.
    1
  11473. We'll be sure to cheer the Pakis and Chinese on when they take their "own" from India. "You started it", we'll say, "by not capitulating the moment they crossed into India."
    1
  11474.  @benitopepolini1249  Zhirinovsky remains at large, and he's the biggest Fascist of them all.
    1
  11475. I find it rather hard to picture ECOWAS-kingpin Nigeria as a French puppet. Or is it that you conspiracy theorists are allergic to facts so you stay clear of them?
    1
  11476.  @XtreeM_FaiL  Polyethylene, rather.
    1
  11477.  @male-efficient7262  As it happens, Russia rates as one of the worst colonisers, past and present. So you can start with ousting Russia. China doesn't get off scot-free either.
    1
  11478. ​ @male-efficient7262  Thank you for your interest in my academic credentials. I have a double masters, in history and political science. How about yours? Or do you prefer not to say? Russia colonised its backyard. The tsars weren't shy about it either. They craved recognition for their conquests from the other colonial powers. Even if your education is lacking, the 'empire' in 'Russian Empire' should've been a dead giveaway. To add insult to injury, Russia never properly decolonised, like the other colonial powers did. And judging from what's transpiring in Ukraine, Russia is still bent on empire-building.
    1
  11479.  Natan Zalewski  Don't encourage conspiracy clowns.
    1
  11480. Western Europe? The EU equally covers parts of Eastern Europe, Northern Europe and Southern Europe. According to the UN geoscheme, Estonia is in Northern Europe.
    1
  11481.  @twiston43  Hipster? Kids say the darndest things. Your beef is with the UN. In case it's a new concept to you, the UN is the closest we have on this planet to international law. Unless you're stateless, your rep at the UN voted in favour of the geoscheme.
    1
  11482.  @pranawkumar510  In fact, Wilders would very much like to form a coalition with the Dutch liberals, but they're not having any of it with Wilders as PM. It pays to know the lay of the land when you comment, Mr. India.
    1
  11483.  @pranawkumar510  You know what exactly? It would appear you don't know what 'liberal' means in a Dutch context.
    1
  11484.  @ericp1139  That would be the Panther KF51, which is essentially a remanufactured Leopard 2A4 hull fitted with a new turret. You're not paying attention.
    1
  11485.  @qwertyujsmdksk  'Elite' means these Nork soldiers know how to kick up their slender little legs in perfect unison, giving can-can dancers a run for their money. Come to think of it, if they dressed up in drag, they could confuse the enemy enough to gain some momentary advantage, but I fear the Russians, too, would freeze and gape.
    1
  11486. That was the idea behind Virgin Orbit and its LauncherOne rocket. The company went bankrupt a month or so ago.
    1
  11487.  @Raya-z6t  French fries aren't French. The misnomer stems from Americans and their eternal struggle with geography.
    1
  11488.  @elsasvenski1566  No, we haven't.
    1
  11489.  @oddvardmyrnes9040  Turkey is protecting its own interests, nothing else. It's merely a happy coincidence if they match ours.
    1
  11490. Ukraine becoming a "Russian state" is now less likely than ever before. The real question is, what will become of Russia? Will history repeat itself and will Putin go down in history as yet another tragic Gorbachev-like figure who saw his country disintegrate from under him?
    1
  11491. Didn't you get the memo that the UK is to elect another batch of MEPs, but they're not to take their seats in the European Parliament? If May reneges on that promise, it will be up to the EU-27 to remove them forcibly by not granting the UK yet another Brexit extension. Unruly children need to be put in their place -- outside, that is.
    1
  11492.  @elguapo1507  You don't seem to understand that the last Brexit extension was deliberately timed such that the newly-elected MEPs won't actually convene before Britain gets auto-kicked from the EU. The general elections don't bode well for The Brexit Party. Why would they succeed where UKIP has consistently failed? Even if Farage finally makes MP, he'll just be an insignificant backbencher. His track record in the EP suggests he'll be a lazy one, too.
    1
  11493. Why not two years ago?
    1
  11494. Maybe they'll stand up for the budding Ural Republic and Idel-Ural State, both soon-to-be additions to the United Nations.
    1
  11495. If he must, Maduro could annex Madurodam.
    1
  11496. The same could be said about Assad.
    1
  11497. Hah, that's a false equivalence, an informal fallacy. This place is rife with fallacies today.
    1
  11498.  @YankaBakasci  I wasn't suggesting otherwise. It's common practice for rebel groups to make such 'claims of opportunity'.
    1
  11499.  @BashirAhmed-wr7lf  Feel free to console yourself in that manner. It works out cheaper than copium.
    1
  11500. Wilders simply can't shed the idea that he's in the opposition. To use Double Dutch, he's not dirty of pulling the rug out from under his own ministers, to say nothing of those of his coalition partners. It's as if he wants to ensure that this cabinet falls, and his cosy place in the opposition is restored. I bet he's secretly jealous of Thierry Baudet, who's eternally consigned to the opposition.
    1
  11501. Poor guy, abducted by the nasty Russians, otherwise he surely would've clung on to power, the Rambo that he is.
    1
  11502.  @Muirton66  That's your dementia speaking. BTW, it's *forgotten. Forget-forgot-forgotten.
    1
  11503.  @Muirton66  Basic grammar police in this case. Your conjugation challenges may be linked to your dementia.
    1
  11504. Someone's new to this world. This has happened literally hundreds of times.
    1
  11505. The exit polls suggest otherwise. The pro-EU bloc won, it seems.
    1
  11506. Hungary is throwing its toys out of the pram because Finnish and Swedish MEPs have said nasty things about them, along with the rest of the MEPs. It's clear that Hungary's problem is with democracy, and in more ways than one.
    1
  11507. The first stage featured a mountain climb -- of sorts. They went through a tunnel under the Meuse river. A whopping 46.5m climb.
    1
  11508. But the summit isn't invalid when Putin is too much of scaredy-cat to attend.
    1
  11509.  @UFOZone51  Once again, you showed you're as thick as they come.
    1
  11510.  @paulf3353  Russia was defeated by Germany, officially in 1918, as it had sued for peace and agreed to the harsh terms set by Germany in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. As to 1969, the First Chechen War does count as a Russian defeat. We can add 1807 to the list of Russian defeats. That was the War of the Fourth Coalition, in which the Russian forces suffered a rout at the hands of Napoleon at Friedland and Russia ended up on the losing side.
    1
  11511.  @paulf3353  The distinction is merely a technical one. It's rather like claiming that Milosevic's Serbia didn't suffer a series of defeats in the Yugoslav Wars, but Yugoslavia did. What would define as the successor state of the Russian Empire? The White Russian émigrés? They weren't winners by any measure.
    1
  11512. So, Islam co-opted Christianity, which co-opted Judaism. And how do feel about the Baháʼí Faith and Druzism co-opting Islam? I see a pattern.
    1
  11513. Poor you, you've got it all backwards. Putin is doing the killing here.
    1
  11514. Nah, the far left are just as powerless as you on the far right.
    1
  11515. 100% of Russia will effectively belong to China soon, so indeed, why not?
    1
  11516.  @alpharius_nox  There's certain truth to the horseshoe theory, yes, but I'm commenting on the AfD, not on your home-grown Murican far-right yokels. Not everything is about you Yanks.
    1
  11517.  @UnfollowYourDreams  "Loosing" is letting loose of something, innit? It's an apt description of what transpired in Afghanistan. As a world community, we did let loose of Afghanistan, and it slipped right back into the Middle Ages. Hint: "to lose" is another verb altogether.
    1
  11518.  @UnfollowYourDreams  And feed the troll?
    1
  11519. Have you considered joining Whataboutists Anonymous? It would do you a world of good.
    1
  11520.  @georgesimon6041  No worries, I'm fully capable of processing information from various sources, in five languages no less. Are you? I know you're fully capable of spouting well-worn clichés.
    1
  11521.  @georgesimon6041  And now you're repeating your tired clichés. I suppose clichés need repeating, or they wouldn't qualify as such.
    1
  11522.  @savee1  Good! You earned a potato! Who says botting doesn't pay?
    1
  11523. OK, bot.
    1
  11524. Nee joh, gewoon een nieuwe formatieronde. Wilders heeft er niks van kunnen bakken, dus moet hij het veld ruimen voor bekwamere politici.
    1
  11525. You're being silly again, comrade. The Scholz and Barnier governments fell because of budget disgreements. You see connections where there are none. You're botting needs a good kick in the pants.
    1
  11526.  @PlaYer-sn5or  Let's see if Putin dares to go. Last year, he gave the G20 summit in Bali a miss.
    1
  11527.  @PlaYer-sn5or  Western balls have nothing to do with the price of tea in China -- the West has no jurisdiction in South Africa. But don't go murdering your South African friends. You've got very few friends left.
    1
  11528. It's not about_hermetically_ isolating Russia. If it becomes impossible for Russia to source critical components in significant numbers, it's mission accomplished. If one component slips through, our ever-present Krembots may be overjoyed, but the manufacturers won't be.
    1
  11529. You're quite the Luddite, aren't you?
    1
  11530.  @MilesBellas  Meaningless? Industry-related carbon emissions account for roughly half of humanity's carbon footprint. Forest fires are hardly an Asian phenomenon. Brazil, Russia, Australia and the US have been hit hard lately, too. Sure, developing countries such as India have problems with pollution, but what matters more in climate change are carbon emissions. Those of the US are more than twice that of India's, the latter's huge population notwithstanding. Don't get me even started on carbon footprint per capita.
    1
  11531.  @MilesBellas  I was really curious if you would or not. Not.
    1
  11532.  @politisch_unkorrekt_und_st7719  Which high-performance sport hasn't struggled with doping? Let me guess, you're a die-hard fan of Curling. Even when it stays within French borders, the Tour isn't entirely continuous. Riders take flights now and then to get from one place to another. It's no big deal if the flight takes a bit longer.
    1
  11533.  @desert_rose7171  DW must be doing something right. They're lambasted for being both pro and con Israel. Thank you for playing.
    1
  11534.  @AurelDuka  So, what you're saying is that Russia would nuke 200 countries, all because of a failed two-day special military operation (not a war) across its eastern border.
    1
  11535. A prison cell in The Hague may be Putin's best bet for survival. Where the West has elections, Russia has revolutions.
    1
  11536. Putin is currently the only leader of a country who's wanted for war crimes. In 123 countries, no less.
    1
  11537. Russia is the great colonizer, then and now. Other colonial powers have long since decolonised, but in stark contrast, Russia seeks to recolonise. Ukraine is a case in point.
    1
  11538.  @alexanderlazarev3570  Ebooks? Aren't you clever.
    1
  11539. Are we calling the City of Brussels that nowadays?
    1
  11540.  @jackjohnsen-n1w  Or perhaps from her softwear.
    1
  11541. The worst. And to add insult to injury, Hungary is rotten to the core, meaning Orban himself, who spreads EU money to his cronies and then uses them as piggy banks.
    1
  11542. Syria and Libya are full of wrecked ones. The Bayraktar has been at it there as well.
    1
  11543. I can see why you Brextremists feel left out once again.
    1
  11544.  @Daoway-f7o  Who's paying them and for what exactly? Is Putin going to foot the bill for Wagner to sit idle in Belarus?
    1
  11545.  @Daoway-f7o  You put too much faith in BRICS. There's no incentive for what is essentially just an economic co-operation forum.
    1
  11546.  @First-Last_name  That may be true, but in Africa, Wagner has a job to do, shady as it may be. What exactly would Wagnerites do in Belarus to earn their keep? Moreover, these mercenaries are used to salaries that are an order of magnitude higher than those of Russian army Kontraktniks. You don't keep mercs farting around without a mission.
    1
  11547.  @Daoway-f7o  Pigs will also sprout wings and fly away from their pens. Anyhoo, we shouldn't be talking about BRICS any longer. BICS is more appropriate. But not to worry, Russia is still in, be it as a colony of China.
    1
  11548. Europe gets top marks in democracy, the USA not so. But don't get me started on Russia.
    1
  11549.  @lautaro736  You're a stuttering anarchist.
    1
  11550. In terms of political parties, who's that? Those that are not 'far right'?
    1
  11551. @@gtuiolghol-vv3sc The accession of the African Union to the G20 has been a long time in the making. As the G20 president for this summit, Modi was the natural choice to do the honours, but it's not like he rammed the decision through, like Modi fanboys and fangirls would like us to believe.
    1
  11552.  @kx7500  Your mostly innocent Russians choose to ignore the plight of the Ukrainians at the hands of their chosen leader, which makes them complicit.
    1
  11553.  Almighty God George Soros #420 #GetRekd  I actually used ExpressVPN in China one year ago. You have switch servers all the time, since for one reason or another, the same server doesn't work all the time. For my next trip, I set up a private VPN at our office. It worked flawlessly.
    1
  11554.  @remix-yy1hs  There are 3,600 Leopard 2s roaming wild, most of them within Europe.
    1
  11555.  @aproy5256  Autocrats Xinnie the Pooh and Pootie-Poot are the real laughing stocks. The US is old sitcom rerun stuff. Dated actors and dated jokes, good for a chuckle now and then.
    1
  11556. And heading straight for the cliff, no doubt.
    1
  11557.  @Erikingr  Don't be an Orc. Orcs will be dead Orcs.
    1
  11558. Interesting view, considering NATO still has to make an appearance in Ukraine. Fantasies are all you've got, it appears.
    1
  11559.  @Factsagainstpropoganda  My Pentagon? Wrong country -- wrong continent even, little buddy. There are no NATO combat troops in Ukraine, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise. Also, the whole of NATO, and all the other militaries in the world, are baffled by the poor performance of the Russian military. We always thought you braggards, but we didn't expect you to have sunk so low. And don't thumb up your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  11560. Maybe you should stay out of NATO.
    1
  11561. And when found, they can flip him over, like a pancake.
    1
  11562. You're basically advocating that Russia is allowed to hold the world to ransom with its nukes, North Korea style. Your cowardice is palpable.
    1
  11563. If your shoelace is loose, you can lose your shoe. Note the difference in spelling.
    1
  11564. Why, the EU isn't arming Israel.
    1
  11565. @Ferro Equus You don't deserve any respect yourselves. Pushovers.
    1
  11566. Russia fessed up already, Botty McBotface. No need for conspiracy theories any longer.
    1
  11567.  @DavidMos385  I suggest you do, and enlist as a UN peacekeeper forthwith.
    1
  11568.  @proselytizingorthodoxpente8304  I suppose it's Putin's way of declaring 'total war'. Goebbels did same in 1943, when the tide of World War II was turning against Nazi Germany. Putin, too, wants all Russians to commit to the war, because supposedly Russia's existence is at stake (read: Putin's political future is at stake). The desperation is palpable.
    1
  11569. Lavrov is a sock puppet. No one will bother taking a shot at him. His future is with Fox News.
    1
  11570. Isn't that the case already?
    1
  11571. The French are critical about just about everything. By that logic, you could engage in all manner of stupidity. Come to think of it, you do.
    1
  11572. Rather, Russia will have to sell bits and pieces of its territory, just like it sold Alaska, when it was out of pocket after losing the Crimean War. History doesn't repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme.
    1
  11573. Uh, both went to Russia voluntarily.
    1
  11574. We don't throw our public figures under the bus. That's more your style -- or rather, you throw them out of the window.
    1
  11575. @VladimirStepanov-e6h A minor clerk? What does that make you, a minor mouse? We've got a vastly larger economy, one that is highly diversified, unlike yours, and we're technologically much more advanced and innovative. What's for sure is that we won't bother asking anything from V. Putin.
    1
  11576. @VladimirStepanov-e6h Lame.
    1
  11577. @VladimirStepanov-e6h Now you're just spouting nonsense. Go play with your toy soldiers.
    1
  11578. @ Ah, verbal incontinence. Try English and I'll bother reading your oh-so-many comments.
    1
  11579. Russia reaps what it sows.
    1
  11580. You must think Moscow must be taken in order to "beat" Russia, just like Berlin was taken when WW2 ended in Europe. Russia will ask for terms, there will be peace negotiations, Russia will agree to pay war reparations and solemnly promise -- again --never to violate Ukraine's sovereignty again. NATO's newest member, Ukraine, will be judged the victor, since Russia achieved none of its military and political goals. Maybe, if we're lucky, we'll see president Navalny send Putin in chains to The Hague, but more likely, Putin will manage to flee to China or North Korea.
    1
  11581. More likely, Hezbollah feared a pre-emptive strike by Israel. Anyway, they wanted to show support for Hamas -- which they did -- and perhaps draw away some Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. There's nothing that the US carrier strike group can do to Hezbollah that Israel can't do itself.
    1
  11582.  @verumverba5711  I bet that sounds better in Russian.
    1
  11583. So you can have your very own Xi?
    1
  11584. You need to come out of the closet and accept yourself for what you are.
    1
  11585.  @BigDsGaming2022  Germany operates older types of aircraft, too, like the Panavia Tornado, a nearly 50-year old type. The 1950s-vintage F-4 Phantom saw extensive German use as well, for over 40 years.
    1
  11586. It had something to do with burning a book.
    1
  11587. You're misinformed. Germany was a staunch critic of the Iraq War, and refused to have anything to do with it, much to the chagrin of the US. Together with France, Germany effectively torpedoed NATO's involvement in the war. Germany did go into Afghanistan as part of ISAF -- with the full blessing of the UN Security Council. In case you're unaware, Russia and China are permanent UNSC members, with full veto powers.
    1
  11588.  @tomk3732  The Germans tanks of yore reached the outskirts of Moscow, just like Putler's tanks reached the outskirts of Kyiv last year. Then the both of them were beaten back. What an uncomfortable analogy to you Putin trolls. Yesteryear's heroes, today's N*zis, you are.
    1
  11589. OK, we'll send you a Russian soldier whose hands are still bloody from Bucha.
    1
  11590.  @theonlycureistostopcomplyi6612  So, you'd roll out the red carpet for war criminals.
    1
  11591.  @theonlycureistostopcomplyi6612  Then you stand with war criminals.
    1
  11592.  @Distress.  Right-o, the West Bank is governed by Fatah, who're rivals to Hamas. Fatah has genuinely strived for peace with Israel, but it's like Israel is having none of it. That -- and the perceived success of Hamas's attack, and the expected draconic reprisals by Israel -- will bolster Hamas in the West Bank as well. Gaza wasn't completed surrounded?
    1
  11593.  @Musician837  You're not telling me anything new there. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. They haven't set their sights on a military victory.
    1
  11594.  @mikaelbiilmann6826  I think I made it abundantly clear that we're not dealing with a conventional war. You need to educate yourself on asymmetric warfare.
    1
  11595.  @mikaelbiilmann6826  Then why did you lecture me as if this were a conventional war? I specifically mentioned that it's not.
    1
  11596.  @mikaelbiilmann6826  It is a big change. Israel is reeling from a traumatising psychological blow. Hopefully, there's a thin silver lining to it in the sense that a growing number of Israelis will realise that something needs to change, or indeed, it will never end.
    1
  11597.  @Flamechr  So, what do you think the plan is? If Israel expels 2.4 million Gazans, will Denmark take them?
    1
  11598. @Himanish Puri Sure, just about every major air power has a stealth program. If the stars align, AMCA will enter service in 2030, but it might as well be 2040.
    1
  11599. The problem is that Israel itself engages in state terrorism while doing so.
    1
  11600. A re-elected Trump maxes out the embarrassment, worldwide.
    1
  11601. The US and Trump in particular were part of the infamous peace deal with the Taliban that saw the latter take over Afghanistan again. Europe and, amazingly, the Afghan national government were not. It's like the US doesn't learn from its mistakes.
    1
  11602.  @souleaterus14  But all your base are belong to us.
    1
  11603. I think Merkel is quite happy to let Macron deal with Trump. As you may have noticed, no one's exactly keen to deal with Trump.
    1
  11604.  @tuberantz4676  Was it an objective of Russia to let Ukraine hold territory that Putin bombastically declared Russian? Russia doesn't fully control the territory it tried to annex. Way to go, Putler, if you want to erode your credibility.
    1
  11605.  @declanjones556  True dat. I derive pleasure from killing magpies that would otherwise obliterate songbirds' nests. Having seen the cracked eggs and tiny fetuses strewn around, it's not even a guilty pleasure. I do draw the line at shooting the fieldfares that pick my mum's berry bushes clean. I wish they wouldn't repay me by bombarding me with faeces, the little ingrates.
    1
  11606. Did Agent Orange get to your brain?
    1
  11607.  @XuânAnhPhạm-o3o  *You're. Report to *your nearest British Council for language re-education. Sure, Zelenskyy and Macron like to take the mickey out of Putin. They're accomplished comedians that way. I do my best to emulate them.
    1
  11608. So, what you're saying is 100% tariffs on the USA. That's how trade spats work -- both ways. By the way, I wasn't aware NATO was a major exporter to the US. The other way around, the US to NATO, as in NATO members, is a major arms export opportunity. Do you want to kills the goose that lays the golden eggs?
    1
  11609. Britain did come up with the perfect vaccine after all. Not against Covid-19, but against leaving the EU.
    1
  11610. More to the point, did Pew Research get that wrong?
    1
  11611. Beijing won't let her.
    1
  11612. Explain yourself.
    1
  11613.  @rizkyadiyanto7922  Thailand, Borneo and the Philippines between 2010 and 2018. Have natural disasters suddenly stopped from occurring? Poverty, is it suddenly eradicated? Bad governance, no more?
    1
  11614.  @rizkyadiyanto7922  I've experienced devastating floods in Thailand that derailed logistics for six months. We had storms in the Philippines that forced me to work from an internet cafe for a month. My point is that generally speaking, you get what you pay for. Some have higher expectations than others. I enjoyed living in Asia tremendously, but I understand why it's not an option for those who're too accustomed to their first world creature comforts.
    1
  11615. ​ @lacinabakayoko4634  You have no idea how it works in Germany. The labour unions would be in uproar and demand equal pay for the Kenyans. The rationale goes that employers would otherwise favour cheaper Kenyan workers to the detriment of Germans.
    1
  11616.  @nigelsmith3719  If so, Netanyahu committed political suicide. When the smoke clears, he'll face imminent retirement.
    1
  11617. ​ @nigelsmith3719  Nothing that Netanyahu does to the Gazans next will placate the ire of the Israelis, who're already accusing him of disregarding intelligence and failing to prepare. It's a double whammy, too, because it's as clear as day that Netanyahu's brute force policies towards the Palestinians have proven to be counter-productive. If nothing changes, Hamas will lick its wounds and prepare for a repeat performance, if not from Gaza, then from the West Bank -- or both. The Israelis would do well to realise that the Palestinians can't be subdued any more than they can.
    1
  11618. Stop apologizing for Beijing. They used the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong as an excuse to force mainland Chinese totalitarianism onto Hong Kong.
    1
  11619.  @Biancasi  How has Finland ever been a post-Soviet Union country?
    1
  11620.  @visitante-pc5zc  Socialism? Neither will give up their welfare states, if that's what you mean. Any right-wing government -- and there have been many -- that tries to do so will be relegated to the opposition come next election.
    1
  11621. That begs the question why Russia hasn't tried to achieve air superiority in Ukraine. Russia's air campaign has been very subdued, mostly making headlines by losing aircraft, which is why they try their utmost to stay out of Ukraine's SAM range.
    1
  11622. You won a cigar.
    1
  11623.  jajajah86  I'll leave your silly conspiracy theories for what they are: silly conspiracy theories. It's an irrefutable fact that Hungary gains more from the EU than it puts in. In 2017, Hungary paid €0.8 billion into the EU budget and received €4 billion. You can argue till you're blue in the face that Soros siphons it all off, but even if it were true, it's not on the EU. And which country wouldn't want a free 2% GDP boost? In 2017, Hungary more than doubled its GDP growth thanks to the EU handouts.
    1
  11624. @MrLaci0110 Even if there were any truth in your claims, Western European companies aren't the EU or vice versa. Hungary can have an open market economy or go back to a Soviet bloc-style closed economy again, but you can't have it both ways. Sure enough, corporations will explore all legal avenues to avoid paying taxes. Corporate tax breaks are a necessity to attract foreign investments. The EU is a reluctant follower rather than a leader in this respect.
    1
  11625. @MrLaci0110 A functioning free market economy is one of the EU's accession criteria. Hungary would have no business in the EU if it didn't comply. We take it for granted that we have to compete on the same terms with economic behemoths like Germany, and we do so rather successfully. Despite your claims to the contrary, it appears you still harbour a secret longing for Soviet times, when things were "simpler". Also, you seem to be playing a blame game, with the EU replacing the USSR in your conspiracy-ridden minds.
    1
  11626. @MrLaci0110 Good luck following in the UK's footsteps. Brexit is going to increase their independence in name only. They'll be just as dependent on the EU as before, except they'll no longer have a say in it. Plus they're losing foreign corporations and investors at an alarming rate. It's a good learning opportunity for Hungary, too. Xenophobia was a big contributing factor in Leave winning in the UK. Hungary certainly ticks that box. Maybe Hungary isn't a good team player after the not-so-voluntary Communist experiment? Too bad it's all about team sports nowadays. I mean, you can send a one-player team to the FIFA World Cup, but don't expect to return with the cup.
    1
  11627. Qatar is the obvious choice, innit?
    1
  11628. Give over, you're polishing a turd.
    1
  11629. Alas, China isn't among the 124 ICC members. Don't you worry, Putin has carefully memorised all the countries where he's still welcome (there's far less to memorise that way).
    1
  11630.  Kayla Nguyen  But the bulk of Android phones are made in China, too. Chinese smartphone brands -- including Motorola and Blackberry -- are dominating the market and they couldn't care less about Trump's nationalist policies.
    1
  11631.  Kayla Nguyen  China is just experiencing a dip. When they recover, they'll kill off the new competitors just as quickly as they sprang up. All this reminds me of 5G. When Trump started making Huawei's life difficult, he didn't realise America couldn't produce its own 5G infrastructure.
    1
  11632.  Kayla Nguyen  Whatever, but Huawei is by no means a monopoly. They have competitors in 5G, just not American ones.
    1
  11633.  Steve Slade  Stevie, Stevie. You're not the observant type, are you? In my opening post, I clearly expressed how vulnerable the Chinese export-driven economy is when exports -- for some reason or another -- grind to a halt. Not only that, I noted that this is a double whammy for the CCP, which mismanaged the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Xi Jinping and his cohorts must be squirming, because their social contract with the Chinese people is crumbling. I understand you're offended by my observations that the US economy is in a vulnerable position, too. I gave some examples why there are no quick fixes either. Instead of you trying to prove me wrong, you start whining about me being a Chinese troll. Trolls cut and run when confronted. Now prove that you aren't one.
    1
  11634.  Kayla Nguyen  Huawei is big everywhere and the UK is no exception. In fact, they're so big that Boris Johnson just resisted US demands to prevent them from selling 5G networks in the UK. BoJo cleverly highlighted the fact that the Americans have no alternatives to offer -- none of their own, at least. I suppose it has finally sunk in, because US Attorney General William Barr has been advocating that the US buy controlling stakes in Ericsson and Nokia, Huawei's biggest non-Chinese competitors. 5G is an evolution, and not revolution. Consumers won't notice much, but machines will be the happier for it. Where Chinese driverless cars keep their distance, American ones might crash into one another.
    1
  11635.  @foxhollowantiques7098  Platitudes.
    1
  11636. She thinks it's a good deal. She negotiated it, after all.
    1
  11637. Perhaps you should try your gluck.
    1
  11638.  @candidmoe8741  We grab our rifles, do the honors, and then go back for some more sauna.
    1
  11639. In order for them to return, a UN peacekeeping force would probably need to guarantee their safety.
    1
  11640.  @jsedusjung461  And you're speaking for them on what authority? For which office were you elected in Artshak?
    1
  11641.  @jsedusjung461  So you decided to answer my question with a question. No, I'm not even Azeri. If I were, it would make zero sense for me to suggest that the UN sends peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh. It's clear that Azerbaijan doesn't want the ethnic Armenians back any time soon. Your logic needs work.
    1
  11642.  @jsedusjung461  Yes, give up, troll boy.
    1
  11643. That's a thought! Once again, Trump could twist Ukraine's arm to launch an investigation.
    1
  11644.  @hullutsuhna  Interestingly, our major alluded to something like that. The AR-10 we had was Dutch-made. There was an instruction booklet in Dutch, too. The AR-10, while in 7.62x51mm, was more pleasant to shoot than my cousin's AK pattern Valmet Petra/Hunter (and later, mine), which says much about the superior AR design.
    1
  11645.  @andrewharvey3282  Tell us about your recent military exploits and their outcomes. Don't be shy now.
    1
  11646.  @CKNate1  Rather, defend Ukraine, dum-dum.
    1
  11647. Don't get overexcited. We manage stage wins routinely, but we don't go overboard with the nationalism.
    1
  11648. The UK government had the foresight to give Jimmy Lai British nationality before the handover. It's as if they knew the CCP would crack down on him eventually.
    1
  11649. You're as Swedish as chaat masala.
    1
  11650. Boeing apparently needs saving from more than the coronavirus alone. Itself?
    1
  11651.  @theColJessep  Priceless!
    1
  11652. Good job. China is willingly surrendering market share. Just like Russia in oil and gas. And weapons.
    1
  11653.  @bojanm986  Oh, you -- as in the royal we -- want names of prominent Russians who've met their end "accidentally"? I thought your question was a rhetorical one, because anyone with half a brain ought to know the cases in question. I clearly overestimated you. Lukoil chief Ravil Maganov is only the latest defenestration case, Navalnyi had his underpants novichoked and Nemtsov was assassinated by a gunman.
    1
  11654. But it's still undemocratic. Developed in other areas, but not democracy.
    1
  11655. ​ @rosadacaro  Nearly three months ago, we had all supermarket chains pull Russian manufactured products off the shelves. It was a small number of products, and the bulk of them were actually Western brands (Snickers, Chupa Chups, Mentos, Kit Kat), the owners of which have pulled out of Russia, too. Easily second-sourced, in other words. Gherkins, caviar and alcoholic beverages were the only truly Russian products. It's indicative of how poorly diversified Russia's economy is.
    1
  11656. Newsflash, Lebanon's central government hasn't controlled the country's borders for half a century, especially its southern border with Israel. It's not for nothing that the UN has maintained a peacekeeping mission there for the last 45 years, trying to keep the Hezbollah and Israel apart. I suggest you read up on Lebanon's troubled history before you comment.
    1
  11657. You'd like it to work the other way around, don't you, with Trump suddenly being the friend because Kim is such a nasty piece of work. Sadly, that kite doesn't fly either.
    1
  11658.  @healthypostnatalbody  Those of her own people who were violently attacked are Jewish Amsterdammers, in addition to one non-Jewish taxi driver. I don't think the shocked Jewish Amsterdammers disapprove of her for use of the term 'pogrom'.
    1
  11659.  @healthypostnatalbody  Apologise to Amsterdam's Jews who were targeted by the rioters, for using the term 'progrom'? I don't think they will disapprove.
    1
  11660. It's customary to have the old government stay on as a caretaker government till a new one is formed. Move along, there's nothing to see here.
    1
  11661. Germany is an average performer when it comes to using renewable energy in Europe. You could pick a more deserving target for your diatribes.
    1
  11662. You're not up to speed on European politics. Poland has been telling Germany to up its game for years, militarily and foreign policy-wise. I've never heard of Austria living in fear of Germany. Prussia perhaps, but that's literally ancient history.
    1
  11663. It's not like Russia was in it for the copper, although I'm sure they need all the money they can get.
    1
  11664. That does not compute. NATO enjoys unprecedented popularity on account of Putin's illegal war of aggression.
    1
  11665.  @bps7209  Duh. NATO is popular with new applicants of course. Haven't you noticed the queue? It's obvious that jealous Krembots are consumed by hate, since Putler's anti-NATO, the CSTO, is going nowhere fast. For all we know it has died a quiet death.
    1
  11666.  @FlyingSpaghettiMonster2000  They have rights. If they have Finnish nationality, they cannot be refused entry. Their citizenship cannot be cancelled either.
    1
  11667.  @FlyingSpaghettiMonster2000  They can only have their Finnish citizenship taken away if they voluntarily relinquish it and can prove that they have another nationality or that they're in the process of applying for another nationality.
    1
  11668. Since when have Belgium, Portugal and Germany been anglophone? And who exactly is coming? Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny?
    1
  11669.  I C  AH, another American who doesn't know the meaning of liberal. Try looking it up. Pay close attention to classic liberalism. FYI, that's the international meaning of the word. You Yanks have twisted its meaning.
    1
  11670. Sure, Trump will melt the Greenlandic permafrost with his usual load of hot air.
    1
  11671. The EU wants to tackle breaches of privacy by big tech concerning ordinary users. That's a different matter from the one you raised.
    1
  11672.  @zd5917  Russia is crony capitalist, but OK.
    1
  11673. That changes everything. Not.
    1
  11674.  @TheGrace020  Do you wear a bicorne hat sideways? How about your hand, do you keep it tucked inside your jacket for photo opportunities?
    1
  11675.  @TheGrace020  I'm not the one with symptoms of megalomania.
    1
  11676.  @SrBlue-qp2ux  Which NATO incident are you referring to? Tip: think twice before you reply.
    1
  11677. So you'd rather cower in fear.
    1
  11678.  @garrywynne1218  Whoosh. The point here is that foreigners shouldn't decide where the borders go. Russia didn't get the memo.
    1
  11679.  @MaikNL  Als sportschutter schiet ik geregeld met zo'n wapen. Het betrof een afstand van 125 meter. Dat is zeker te doen met een AR15. "Mijn" dienstplichtigen van weleer konden het binnen de kortste keren. Als de schutter op Trumps hoofd mikte dan heeft hij het technisch gezien niet slecht gedaan. Als militair zou je op "centre mass" mikken, maar goed. Een centimeter of twee meer naar rechts en we hadden iets vergelijkbaars gezien als in Dallas in 1963.
    1
  11680.  @daikucoffee5316  You're trying to converse with a mindless bot who posts the same comment everywhere. Tariffs on NATO is quite a hoot. I suppose the poor sap thinks NATO is a major trading partner of the US.
    1
  11681.  @daikucoffee5316  Trying to engage in conversation with a bot is an exercise in futility. Just saying.
    1
  11682. +Raziq Azrie Rohaimann Good stuff. I did a tour in Lebanon as a UN peacekeeper as well. We had a good rapport with the locals, who without fail appreciated us being there. The OP hasn't got a clue.
    1
  11683. If resource-rich yet economically-challenged Russia wants to do a wealth transfer to developing country India, we won't stand in the way. However, India would do well to remember where its future friends are. Russia is fast becoming a Chinese neo-colony, and when China wants the relationship to be exclusive, guess who's getting the short end of the stick? There's also the little matter of the renewable energy transition, which is in full swing, especially in Europe. It means Russia will have to cap its oil wells sooner rather than later, because the already barely profitable oil business will become unwholly unprofitable for Russia. So, don't get used to your good fortune, because it's temporary in nature. Finally, if China and Pakistan want to make border corrections at the expense of India, you'll have to go hat in hand to the West for arms. For your sake, I hope you'll find us in a good mood.
    1
  11684.  @kartikeyatiwari2502  If NATO is so weak, why is Putin making such a hullabaloo about it? Article 5 is a pretty scary guarantee.
    1
  11685. Ooh, now you're lending credence to the surrender monkeys meme. Macron has shown himself anything but, but with your lot around, there appears to be a grain of truth to it.
    1
  11686.  @avibhagan  The Tsars were *Finnish? That's new. You may want to check with the Swedes if they concur.
    1
  11687. And you give credence to Seymour Hersh's claims? The hypocrisy is strong with you.
    1
  11688. Priggie is a monster of Putin's making. You want to do away with the monster, but let its creator go off scot-free?
    1
  11689. What course of action would you suggest for RT? Refrain from commenting on foreign matters?
    1
  11690.  @Markusctfldl  It was a major embarrassment for Putin that Zelenskyy got an invite. The Kremlin Gremlin is green with jealousy, I'm sure.
    1
  11691.  @Markusctfldl  That's your prerogative, Putin fanboy.
    1
  11692.  @Sofia-hr8nd  Observing the Julian calendar in religious matters is Russian tradition.
    1
  11693. There's a Russian T-55 tank at the very beginning. What are we supposed to think of that?
    1
  11694.  @arisplugis5197  Don't rack your brain about it. ISIS captured the cities of Mosul and Ramadi in 2014. In doing so, ISIS ended up with a lot of weapons abandoned by the US-equipped Iraqi Army, much to the chagrin of the US. They went out of their way to bomb the captured M1A1 tanks. Apparently the Yanks did a good job at it too, because the Russkies couldn't produce a single one for this propaganda stunt. I bet Putin's propaganda troops searched high and low, because it would've been quite a coup. So, in summary, the circumstances in which ISIS gained Russian weaponry are strikingly similar to how they laid their hands on US weapons of war.
    1
  11695.  @cianakril  Your moderate rebels here would be the Iraqi Army, which is predominantly Shia in composition. They're known to fraternize with the Iranians, who're pro-Assad, and hence, anti-ISIS. It seems you're the one conveniently forgetting facts. As to ISIS not having modern Russian weapons, that doesn't appear to be true. ISIS reportedly has captured modern Russian anti-tank missiles and armoured personnel carriers from the Syrian Army. They're said to have used the former to destroy Turkish Leopard 2s, which can only be defeated by the very latest ATGMs. The type, the Kornet, also appeared in ISIS propaganda footage.
    1
  11696. The problem here is that Trump is keeping his stupid promises.
    1
  11697.  @LloydTaray-bt7ho  Alas, your reply makes little sense. The Afghan Air Force had few aircraft, many of which escaped abroad before the collapse of the Ghani government. Quite a few of them were Russian-made, too -- some even gifted by Russia. Don't forget that Russia keenly supported the NATO-led ISAF military mission in Afghanistan.
    1
  11698.  @alex3475  Actually, Turkey is doing a fine job at keeping Russia's proxies in Libya at bay.
    1
  11699. Déjà vu times... many.
    1
  11700.  @briant5685  Duh. Russia has tried its utmost to take out Zelenskyy and failed, time and again.
    1
  11701. You need to ask? They're there to contain Iran. The question is, what is Iran doing in Iraq?
    1
  11702. You're comparing apples and oranges. Russia is an authoritarian state with a dictatorial war criminal at the helm. The others are democracies, where heads of government are supposed to come and go. For Putin, there's no graceful exit. He'll either be extradited by his successor to The Hague, or he'll simply be liquidated. Or if Putin is extremely lucky, Xi Jinping will take him as a pet.
    1
  11703.  @felipe-vibor  I see EU countries electing new governments and maintaining sanctions against Russia all the same. Sending new batches of weapons to Ukraine, too. You're living in a make-believe la-la land.
    1
  11704.  @OnlyFactsAndData4829  You'll have to elaborate. What about the UK and Italy makes them particularly Christian nationalistic? In Europe, we all have Christian 'holy-days', yet we barely remember what they're about, let alone go anywhere near a church on those days.
    1
  11705. I'm sorry if I'm pissing on your conspiracy theory, but none of your four bogeymen could retaliate in any meaningful manner against 189 dissenters. The inclusion of Scholz and Trudeau in your list makes it more laughable still.
    1
  11706. Are you talking about your copium tank?
    1
  11707. Because your whataboutism is naff.
    1
  11708. Putin will pay through his nose, that much is certain.
    1
  11709. If 3,500 US troops suffice for that, you don't think much of Russian soldiers.
    1
  11710. @sleepyjoe7843 You three Krembots should organise a private party. Be safe and don't forget protection.
    1
  11711.  @SynthwaveDuck  I'm at a loss. nationalism /ˈnaʃənəlɪz(ə)m/ noun identification with one's own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations. How does that work well in international diplomacy?
    1
  11712.  @SynthwaveDuck  I suppose win-win doesn't appear in your vocabulary.
    1
  11713.  @SynthwaveDuck  Diplomacy is mostly about soft power. As a populist and a nationalist, JD Vance has to pander to an electorate that has little interest in international affairs, other than wanting to see him stick it to those nasty foreigners. Similarly, foreign leaders won't love the idea of actively working with such a self-serving character for fear of an electoral backlash. In other words, Vance's posturing will squander a lot of goodwill internationally. That alone makes him a poor diplomat.
    1
  11714.  @SynthwaveDuck  "Vance is Vice President"? There's still the little matter of an election. You're confused on so many levels. Prime ministers, especially in parliamentary democracies, are heads of government. More often than not, they nominally answer to a monarch or president, a master of ceremonies as it were. Some presidents do have residual powers and act as advisers to the cabinet, not unlike your VPs, but we tend to elect accomplished statesmen, not fledglings like JD Vance. A foreign minister -- or the secretary of state in your esoteric parlance -- is the top diplomat in charge of foreign affairs. A vice president is not, not even in your system.
    1
  11715. Explain what it is that Australia needs desperately from Israel. Verifiable facts, please.
    1
  11716. Sure, Russia was and is the most prolific coloniser in human history.
    1
  11717. Who else wants (read: has no choice but) to be friends with North Korea? They don't call it the hermit kingdom for nothing.
    1
  11718. The third option, the PRC simulating how to beat back a liberation attempt by the ROC, doesn't seem likely either.
    1
  11719. Russia's decolonisation woes are Russia's problems.
    1
  11720. The truth hurts good.
    1
  11721. Yes, we need omnipotent Trump to set things right. Also, cure cancer while at it. He didn't did too well with Covid and his light bulbs and bleach, but hey, practice makes perfect.
    1
  11722. It would be the ultimate sign of weakness, as in admitting that Russia can't beat Ukraine with conventional military means. If Putin somehow manages to cling to power after that, Russia will start disintegrating, as the separatists see their chance. Or do you think it will fly that Putin starts nuking Russia next? If he does, then someone will put him down like a mad dog.
    1
  11723.  @finn9606  The truth of the matter is that the company behind the Sputnik V vaccine dragged its feet applying for certification with EMA. Also, it's been a source of bewilderment in the EU why Russia claimed that the EU was slow in adopting Sputnik V, while their application hadn't even been submitted to EMA. It seems you're playing useful idiot for Russia.
    1
  11724.  @finn9606  I take it you're unfamiliar with the term "useful idiot". The Soviets coined it. To their delight, they'd always find saps in the West who'd parrot their lies.
    1
  11725.  @finn9606  I hope another takeaway is that checking the veracity of your sources is a must. You don't want to be an unpaid Putin bot, do you?
    1
  11726. Who're the ones trying to annex Kosovo and Taiwan?
    1
  11727. Hmm. Turkey has designated HTS a terrorist organisation. According to its own rules, it's aiding and abetting terrrorists.
    1
  11728.  @therisencomrade3452  For your information, your precious China and Russia gave their full blessing for NATO's Afghan op.
    1
  11729.  @IK_MK  Duh! Which part of "NATO" don't you understand?
    1
  11730. For starters, Russia's already strained logistics will come under even more strain because they can keep ammunition dumps within range of Western weapons, or they will go boom. Headquarters, too, will need to be moved to a safer distance so that Russia won't lose even more colonels and generals.
    1
  11731.  @SPENKER52  I'm not privy to the intelligence. Funny you should think such information becomes instantly available, and on YouTube of all places.
    1
  11732. It must be a source of consolation to Pu Tin, the newly-appointed regional governor of China's northernmost province, Ruxia.
    1
  11733.  @realjoyjinnaya  Have some copium. Take a deep breath.
    1
  11734.  @realjoyjinnaya  You just go and surrender to China. Get it over with.
    1
  11735. It would be weird if they didn't. Lawsuits after every tender is like death and taxes.
    1
  11736. Hank, Russian ICBMs won't save them from American, British and French ICBMs either. Which part of "mutually assured destruction" don't you understand?
    1
  11737. Forever president? President for life? What are you striving for, a banana republic?
    1
  11738. You'd think you're still an agrarian society. I think I prefer my information society.
    1
  11739. You're blessed with a vivid imagination. Turkey wants Europe and the US to relax their arms embargoes.
    1
  11740. Let's see you do a better job.
    1
  11741. You're really trying to make the most out of guilt by association.
    1
  11742.  @natashamam875  You should be able to tell that I was replying to the OP.
    1
  11743. Not for very long... Deutsche Bank will take possession of it.
    1
  11744. Undoubtedly it will work, but you'll have to bring along leather mittens. It's like when foreigners wear jewellery to the sauna. Once.
    1
  11745. Not yet. But will BRICS countries have visa waivers for one another? Yay, that goes a long way in solving our refugee problem.
    1
  11746. They're actually supposed to apply for asylum in Armenia proper first. At some stage, they could be resettled in the EU, but no assurances.
    1
  11747.  @Isaac-muntz  What is it to you?
    1
  11748.  @Isaac-muntz  Study up on the matter then. Then make your presence known.
    1
  11749. Duh, even a child knows that the US backs Israel through thick and thin. It's been widely reported here and elsewhere how the US sabotages the UNSC with its vetoes. The US has vetoed draft resolutions that were backed by other Western UNSC members. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  11750. Didn't you get the memo from the UNGA about how it feels about the matter? You're in for a nasty surprise...
    1
  11751. Was Prigozhin a CIA operative as well? I share your love for conspiracy theories.
    1
  11752. It is rather unfortunate for Putin that he can't have the sandbox all to himself.
    1
  11753. This is an international forum. 'Republic' means something else than your dated definition.
    1
  11754.  @yt.personal.identification  Russian shipowners are busily flagging out their ship to circumvent sanctions. But indeed, the ports can still turn away the ships, no matter which flag they fly.
    1
  11755.  @nymgrace1227  Don't be quite so thankful. You eat insects with every loaf of bread. Up to 3% of it can be insect fragments. For now, the insects add themselves, but it's just a matter of time before we eat high-protein bread that has insect matter purposely added.
    1
  11756. This is a bummer for the far-righties.
    1
  11757.  @NaneeH63  Why don't you vote with your feet?
    1
  11758. But this being YouTube, no one is controlling your propaganda. Useful idiot, perchance, or are you in the pay?
    1
  11759.  @Zandiv  I thing no such think about Assange. No need to speculate about my voting behaviour (note the spelling of the last word). You didn't say if you received remuneration for your trolling. Maybe there's a union that fights for the rights of useful idiots?
    1
  11760. The far lefties are few and far between in the EU. Sadly, the same can't be said about the far righties. Still, extremists the lot of them.
    1
  11761. It depends. I saw the likes of Ericsson and Nokia snap up US competitors to the point of the US retaining only minor players in telecoms infrastructure companies. Rumour has it the Trump admin is -- again -- eyeing both companies for a takeover, but the shareholders aren't having it.
    1
  11762.  @Thomas.Deverell  Yeah, not doing the whataboutism thing with you. Go find an American to play with. Maybe the OP will bite.
    1
  11763. But Israel did. And previously, they've flown them over Damascus, too.
    1
  11764. You're not really up to speed on recent developments. It remains to be seen who'll beat the other to it -- will Russia cuts its deliveries before its customers will?
    1
  11765.  @АлександраЛебедева-л4п  "See reliable information [sic]" yourself. Putin wants payments for his gas deliveries to be made in roubles. You can argue till you go blue in the face that that's not a breach of contract, but unless Russia's customers agree to modify the terms, gas deliveries will stop.
    1
  11766.  @АлександраЛебедева-л4п  ...like I said, till you go blue in the face. QED.
    1
  11767. How exactly have we Europeans abandoned Zelenskyy, Syrian Mary?
    1
  11768.  @ramadankadriu5336  I'm more excited about Amberland, Ingria and Karelia gaining independence and joining both the EU and NATO.
    1
  11769. The partly-German Ariane rocket can shed its earth-bound parts in a controlled manner. They're steered to Point Nemo in the South Pacific, the furthest point from land in the world. Glad to have cleared that up for you.
    1
  11770. You're very confused.
    1
  11771. I do recall how Thatcher was lauded for being the first female PM. Hint: the majority of the Brits are still white. They might as well have celebrated the fact that she had hair on her head.
    1
  11772.  @Lana-xd7ey  You'd think the Kremlin would want to put a stop to Ukraine's "propaganda". Now, the Kremlin is allowing it do its work, sapping Russian morale.
    1
  11773.  @nonradicalnationalist6608  Of course, for far-righties everyone else is a far-leftie. But the amusing part is that for the ultra-righties, you're a far-leftie, too.
    1
  11774. So Maduro is a Putin copy-cat.
    1
  11775. I've heard that said for the better part of a century. There ought to be a tax on predictions of the EU's imminent demise. The proceeds could easily pay for rebuilding Ukraine.
    1
  11776. So, you've got Putin's ear yet? It's an oft-forgotten fact that Putin could stop the war overnight, simply by withdrawing. As for Israel, you Americans have written Netanyahu a blank check. He sometimes gets a verbal rebuke, but the money keeps flowing.
    1
  11777.  @gooldii1  Russians in general play the victim card once a lifetime and twice a day.
    1
  11778.  @avnertouitou3778  In 3006? Aren't you cute. Just stick to emojis.
    1
  11779. Bolsonaro has his own definition of health Fascism.
    1
  11780.  @marcelogalacionzepedavilla7776  Europe is home to stable democracies. In Latin America, they're more the exception rather than the rule.
    1
  11781.  @marcelogalacionzepedavilla7776  European countries dominate the list of leading democracies of the world. Try to refute that.
    1
  11782.  @marcelogalacionzepedavilla7776  The Economist Intelligence Unit, for starters. Feel free to present an alternative source. Oh, just to be clear, you yourself don't qualify as an authoritative source.
    1
  11783.  @marcelogalacionzepedavilla7776  You must be on meds --- meds you've forgotten to take.
    1
  11784.  @marcelogalacionzepedavilla7776  I can't think of a better explanation for your rambling diatribes than mental instability. FYI, your grandpa's [sic] had nothing to do with keeping our lands free. We did it ourselves, against all odds.
    1
  11785.  @marcelogalacionzepedavilla7776 Aren't you verbose. Every comment of mine elicits at least three replies of yours. You seem to have an overpowering craving for attention. I have a degree in European history and another in politics. I told you, there's never been a Yank soldier in these here parts, to put it in terms you may understand. Slavery, also not applicable. In your case, extremely applicable. Colonialism, starting world wars, samo-samo, not been there, not done that. Tell me, does geographical association make you responsible for the brutal dictatorships and death squads that Latin America is known for? It must be. May I say you're doing a very good impression of a stereotypical, ignorant American.
    1
  11786. ​ @marcelogalacionzepedavilla7776  Double replies instead of the usual triple or more. Good stuff, your craving for attention is slowly but surely waning. It's good, too, that you've been to the Smithsonian. It would be better still if you had developed some sense of perspective. I ask again, do you hold the Canadians responsible for Pinochet's political murders during his brutal regime? Canada and Chile, one and the same Americas, right? NATO bases in Sweden, now that's a hoot. Incidentally, my veteran grandfather brought back a German helmet and a Soviet bayonet, both personal trophies. Break your head over that one. I have to say, you don't sound like you've got any academic studies under your belt.
    1
  11787. They haven't formed a government yet.
    1
  11788. Germany's current economic woes are energy-related, and that's Merkel's and Scröder's doing. The wacky Greens certainly aren't doing Germany a favour by continuing to oppose nuclear energy. Their saner foreign colleagues -- and erstwhile copycats -- have already come around on the matter.
    1
  11789. And what about whataboutism?
    1
  11790.  @douglassantet647  I don't know it. It's another matter altogether if Navalny will become the next czar of Russia, but Putin is clearly squirming because opposition to his regime is clearly picking up steam. Interestingly, Putin didn't foresee the Iron Curtain coming down with a bang, despite being stationed in East Germany as a spymaster at the time. He must be paranoid now.
    1
  11791.  @defcreator187  You're behind your times. The Warsaw Pact made way for the CSTO, Putin's very own anti-NATO, but it appears that one, too, died a quiet death.
    1
  11792.  @defcreator187  Jokes are supposed to be funny. You need to take a course or something.
    1
  11793.  @defcreator187  Now you're starting to be funny... but just slightly.
    1
  11794. Not really. M16s are only marginally better in the hands of the Taliban than their AK47s. The same goes for Humvees and Toyotas. What might have been a game changer are the attack helicopters and the light attack aircraft of the Afghan Air Force, but I guess all the flyable ones have left Afghanistan.
    1
  11795. You can't picture someone walking and chewing gum at the same time?
    1
  11796.  @bigotbiden  Where did I suggest the French set Moscow ablaze? And Tsar Alexander knew no such thing. If Bonaparte had made his exit sooner, his Grande Armée would've left largely unscathed.
    1
  11797.  @WalterVetterli  What did I miss, wisenheimer?
    1
  11798.  @taha.Rabeeah  I say it again, you're too weird for words. Who do you think "we" are? From the spurious accusations in your word salad, I'm inclined to think you're afflicted with paranoid schizophrenia.
    1
  11799.  @anonimus8870  I don't watch CNN, I find it too preachy, like US news channel in general. I know from personal experience that retribution by Kosovars was a serious concern after the Kosovo War. We could've done better, but we kept a great many ethnic Serbs safe, sometimes even by resorting to deadly force. At other times, despite all our reassurances, the Serbs fled nonetheless. I hear some have since returned.
    1
  11800.  @samanthaw4955  We should ask the UN's General Assembly what it thinks. Oh, we have already. Can you remind us how it played out?
    1
  11801. I wonder if there will be a referendum before Russia becomes Ruxia, China's northernmost province.
    1
  11802.  @AndyM_323YYY  If Britain promises to take in all the Russians presently living in Karelia, Finland will have Karelia back. All the Karelians left in 1944.
    1
  11803. You're ignoring the Dutch submarine builders. This will inevitably erode Dutch know-how.
    1
  11804. Fat chance.
    1
  11805. Xi Jinping sent his aide to Moscow for a highly publicised meeting with Putin. Enough said.
    1
  11806.  @mickeyvd1979  Wonderful -- we'll leave you in peace, and you'll return the favour. We couldn't wish for anything more. But what about Russia's non-NATO neighbours, how can Russia be made to leave them in peace as well? Wait, I think I've got the answer...
    1
  11807. Are you an Ostalgic yearning for totaliarism?
    1
  11808. As in reporting about Africa's numerous coups, of which we just saw an oven-fresh example?
    1
  11809.  @AlRask-j3b  For your info, the EU has had rightist slant for pretty much its whole existence. Of course, that depends on your vantage point. If you're far right, eveyone tends to be on your left.
    1
  11810. What about whataboutism?
    1
  11811. @ Mais what about le whataboutisme?
    1
  11812. You have a death wish. You need to talk to a therapist.
    1
  11813. Well-regulated militias are allowed. Most Americans can't shoot for shite.
    1
  11814. From you and your hamster?
    1
  11815. @@bobs_1429 No, you vote within your constituency for the candidates that are running there. You used to vote for parties in the European parliamentary elections till Brexit kicked in.
    1
  11816. Turkey actually makes NATO less democratic. Poland and Hungary are guilty of same.
    1
  11817. Spades need to be called spades.
    1
  11818.  @cpengwin  You never flew on the A340? That was equally a delight. Very quiet. Also four-engined, so not viable.
    1
  11819. Yeah, but they're getting the Russians in to replace the French. That's out of the frying pan into the fire.
    1
  11820.  @manutd2061  Yeah, what about whataboutism?
    1
  11821. It's difficult to convince EU countries to standardise on the same weapons systems. 155 mm and 105 mm artillery shells are a no-brainer, however.
    1
  11822.  @Thor.Jorgensen  ...as I wrote, a no-brainer.
    1
  11823.  @Thor.Jorgensen  Don't be a pedant. I know perfectly well what's metric and what's imperial. The point here is that it's easy to standardise on artillery shells, more sophisticated weapons systems are a different kettle of fish.
    1
  11824.  @Thor.Jorgensen  Nowhere have I disputed that artillery shells are indeed standardised. On the contrary, I have -- thrice by now -- made that very same observation. I noted that standardisation with regard to more sophisticated weapons systems is more troublesome. In comparison, artillery shells are a no-brainer. What makes it so hard for you to understand? Should you be taking more English lessons?
    1
  11825.  @Thor.Jorgensen  It's difficult all right, but not impossible. Ammunition is a case in point. Explain to me why Europe is saddled with a myriad of dissimilar MBTs, IFVs, APCs, ATGMs and whatnot. It's not just about ammunition, but also, spares, training and maintenance, etc. I'm sure the Ukrainians on the receiving end could tell you a thing or two about the challenges. FYI, I spent ten years with a defence contractor, served in the military for four and did an internship at NATO HQ. Your amateurish lectures amuse me.
    1
  11826.  @Thor.Jorgensen  Oh dear. Didn't I just write that these weapons systems require spares, training and maintenance besides standardised ammunition? Have you not noticed how Ukraine specifically wants the Leopard 2 and the F-16, because both weapons systems come close to what would constitute a standard? Both types fire NATO standard ammunition, as in 120 mm tank shells, 7.62x51 rounds and 20 mm shells, but somehow the Ukrainians have more concerns than ammunition alone. Where's my false statement regarding ammo standardisation? As I keep repeating, I've never disputed it. Your reading comp is piss-poor.
    1
  11827.  @Thor.Jorgensen  I clarified that standardising on weapons systems is difficult, but not impossible. I'm starting to suspect that you have an intellectual impairment. Ukraine wouldn't turn down the Typhoon, no, but all the same they've expressed a preference for the F-16. You clearly can't wrap your head around anything more complicated than yes and no. You're lecturing again. My employer was bought out by Krauss-Maffei Wegmann. Guess which MBT they make?
    1
  11828.  @Thor.Jorgensen  Go lecture to kindergarteners. You'll connect on an intellectual level.
    1
  11829.  @Thor.Jorgensen  You keep accosting me and you call me a troll? Go play, kid.
    1
  11830.  @Thor.Jorgensen  I'm not calling myself an intellectual. I'm calling you intellectually impaired. This thread is testament to that.
    1
  11831. And this will be the post-war Russian narrative. Russia could have beaten Ukraine, but it magnanimously decided to spare the Ukrainians further hardship. All Russia wanted to do was treat Ukraine to a friendly bear hug. The West are a bunch of nastards for not appreciating what a friendly neighbour Russia truly is.
    1
  11832. Mate, the relevant bit on the ballot read "Leave the European Union", nothing more.
    1
  11833.  @ryancruz1876  He's dyslexic, runs a boarding house and his sole guest needs medical attention, OK?
    1
  11834. Rumour has it they're going to rotate these Rosgvardia units in and out of Ukraine. Rather than tormenting civilians, they're going to be thrown into combat, too.
    1
  11835. Crash and burn? Freudian slip?
    1
  11836.  @iprav1234  You may want to be careful with your surrender talk. Pakistan and China may get the idea that India will go into appeasement mode when they invade Kashmir and Ladakh respectively.
    1
  11837. Freudian slips happen, as I mentioned earlier.
    1
  11838. You don't say. The problem here is that it's legal to come and apply for asylum. Only when asylum is denied, they'll become illegals.
    1
  11839.  @madridman100  You should study international agreements pertaining to refugees. I assume you're Spanish, so you are most definitely bound by them. The moment a migrant applies for asylum, he or she enjoys protection under Spanish law.
    1
  11840.  @madridman100  Truth be told, I don't care one iota about what you think, but I do care about the law, and so should you. Rather than spewing hatred and accusing migrants of illegal acts which they're not guilty of, try changing the law. You must have passive suffrage somewhere, don't you?
    1
  11841.  @madridman100  Wouldn't you think it hateful if I were to accuse you of a crime you haven't committed? Come to think of it, maybe you are guilty of a crime: libel.
    1
  11842.  @madridman100  Your disagreement is with the law, not with me. Good luck with that. Best keep your solicitor's number handy.
    1
  11843.  @madridman100  You've made your opinions loud and clear. Still, what matters is the law. According to the law, if they apply for asylum, they are asylum seekers, period. Getting asylum is another matter altogether. Maybe you should rail against migrants who do not apply for asylum, but prefer to stay under the radar. Those are legit illegals. There's a worthy cause for you.
    1
  11844.  @madridman100  Nope, seeking and granting political asylum are enshrined in law. Your moral judgement on the matter is of no consequence -- unless you manage to get elected and change the law.
    1
  11845.  @madridman100  If so, you're in luck. Should you decide to run for office, you can count on the support of "the silent majority". Stop flapping your gums and go for it!
    1
  11846.  @madridman100  Facts, not views.
    1
  11847.  @madridman100  For the umpteenth time, your disagreement is with the law. I am absolutely right when it comes to the law, and you're absolutely wrong. Study it, and you'll see the light.
    1
  11848.  @madridman100  You've repeatedly suggested that asylums seekers are illegals and asylum itself is illegal. They're not and it isn't. Also, you seem to be in the mistaken belief that we can have ourselves a vote about whether or not we obey the law. That is not how it works. We can democratically change laws, but applying existing laws is not up for discussion.
    1
  11849.  @madridman100  Shoulda woulda coulda. To repeat ad nauseam, your personal opinions carry no weight in determining the legal status of migrants when they apply for asylum upon entry. Sue Italy, Greece, Spain and Turkey, but you have no legal basis to accuse the migrants of being illegals.
    1
  11850.  @madridman100  You think I'm British? Pfrrt. As I keep repeating, asylum seekers are no longer illegals the moment they apply for asylum. I suppose they could be fined for breaking immigration rules, but that doesn't make them illegals.
    1
  11851. Did I miss BRICS bringing the war in Ukraine to an end or could it be you're all self-congratulatory for no specific reason?
    1
  11852.  @calidude1114  99 *Luftballons.
    1
  11853.  @ВикторДенисов-е2л  Please tell us more about the financial transactions involved in Russia gaining ownership of the Baltic states, Finland and Ukraine. When were they transacted, between whom and what were the prices agreed upon? After all, we have all those for Alaska. Or could it be you've committed a grave inconsistency fallacy, also known as a false equivalence?
    1
  11854.  @ВикторДенисов-е2л  Your imagination is getting the better of you. The Treaty of *Nystad concerned only parts of then-Swedish Finland and the Baltic states. As for Finland, the territories in question are within Russia's borders as we speak. How you think this somehow would render the whole of Finland Russian is beyond me. Moreover, the Treaty of Nystad marked the end of the Great Northern War, which had proved nothing short of a disaster for Sweden, squashing its imperial aspirations once and for all. Defeated and isolated, Sweden was in no position to negotiate a "business transaction" in good faith. Russia did make payment for its gains as per established custom at the time -- likewise, German states had paid Sweden for regaining their own territories despite the fact that Sweden could no longer hold them. History sure is fun. We're discussing the end of the long-gone Swedish empire, but we're witnessing -- live -- the death throes of the ever-declining Russian empire. History in the making, in other words. Yet you're harbouring delusions of resurrecting it to its former glory. Not only are you delusional, but also, you're a walking anachronism.
    1
  11855. Niger's sudden love affair for Russia is akin to letting a known murderer into your house, with the excuse that said murderer hasn't murdered anyone in your house or in the vicinity. He's busy murdering in Ukraine as we speak, but again, that's not your vicinity.
    1
  11856. And it is. Global warming slows down the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream goes a long way in keeping termperatures bearable in Scandinavia. That's should sparked off some brain activity, but can you confirm?
    1
  11857. Right, as if conspiracy theorists are very productive members of society.
    1
  11858. Have you been in contact with Putin? It appears he's not keen to negotiate.
    1
  11859. Will be Chinese raid it, you think? Or Russian rebels, will they launch a raid from Chinese territory?
    1
  11860. And how are they going to make their way to Israel to do battle? Methinks the Houthis lack a long-range amphibious assault capability, but correct me if I'm wrong.
    1
  11861. It won't be quite like WW1 trench warfare. Ukrainian troops will harry the Russia supply lines, which are thinly stretched across vast tracts of Ukrainian territory. Supplies will still get through, but at a great cost to the Russians. The Ukrainians will get to choose where and when to attack. The Russians will just have to grin and bear it, suffering disproportionate casualties. Putin's generals, when they've built up the courage, will plead with Putin to withdraw.
    1
  11862. Which hostage crisis was that?
    1
  11863.  @blackbird309  The Russian regulars couldn't fight their way into Kyiv, but these reluctant and shoddily-trained citizen-soldiers will? You may claim that Russia hasn't started yet, but we can see that Russia is quite finished.
    1
  11864. Yup, Cameron was after exclusive privileges, not EU-wide reform. It quickly became apparent to other reform-minded members, who approached Cameron for a joint bid.
    1
  11865.  @agentsmidt3209  If you fund a terrorist organisation, you are complicit.
    1
  11866. Ukraine seems to have faith in NATO. And the Ukrainians are giving Russia hell.
    1
  11867. You may want to try English.
    1
  11868. Een kwart heeft zo gesproken. Het moet meer dan de helft zijn, slimmerik.
    1
  11869.  @secariostts4717  Ik zal het eens piekfijn uitleggen. Een meerderheid is 76 of meer zetels. De PVV heeft er nu 37. Wilders komt dus 39 zetels te kort.
    1
  11870.  @Anttoinet  Je droomt. Een links-populistische partij zoals SP gaat nooit met de PVV in zee. Ook Wilders beseft maar al te goed dat de SP een tijdbom zou zijn onder zijn kabinet. Of er zou een onmogelijk regeerakkoord moeten komen, dat de PVV aan handen en voeten bindt. En als ik Baudet was, zou ik rustig in de oppositie afwachten totdat de PVV-radicalen ontgoocheld raken met een partij die naar hun inzicht teveel water bij de wijn doet. Dat betekent een flinke zetelwinst voor de FvD bij de volgende (vervroegde?) verkiezingen.
    1
  11871. Be that as it it may, the UK is still a member.
    1
  11872.  Louise X  Right, the Brexit of 1776, better known as the American Revolution, proved quite a success. And it's interesting to note that the present-day Brexiteers expect the descendants of the American Brexiteers to save their bacon.
    1
  11873. Wrong continent, Mr. Murica.
    1
  11874.  @AsifSaifuddinAuvipy  You should look up the definition of ethnic cleansing. It includes coercing the victim group to flee and preventing its return.
    1
  11875. Your Nazi narrative isn't gaining any traction, no matter how hard you try.
    1
  11876. So, you support Putin's war crime indictment. Good to know.
    1
  11877. @Random_merkava_enjoyer But Syria is. It's Israel that isn't. You're using past wars as an excuse to foment new ones.
    1
  11878. Let me guess, geography isn't your forte.
    1
  11879. Why would he be? His party is kingmaker.
    1
  11880. Be that as it may, authorities must, at least in civilised countries, take into account whether or not basic human rights are observed in the requesting country before agreeing to extradition. China comes up short in this respect, so the assumption is that we don't extradite anyone to China. Approving the bill wouldn't have meant that Hong Kong, too, flout basic human rights.
    1
  11881. We Finns welcome Canada taking a step back in Hockey. More World and Olympic Championships for us.
    1
  11882. Yeah, what about whataboutism!
    1
  11883. In fact, the Tu-95M is an eclectic mix of 50s and 00s technology.
    1
  11884. Which language was that? I'm curious.
    1
  11885. Murica partook in colonialism, too, albeit under a different name. On the ground, the differences were minimal, however.
    1
  11886.  @Abyss-d1g  Aw, that was a flaccid response. A missing article, too.
    1
  11887. If you strive for realism, you'll have to imagine a flattened Red Square as well. Someone ought to lecture you about MAD.
    1
  11888.  @remixsparten98  Not that I'm advocating that they should, but dumping fuel while lighting up the afterburner would've barbecued the drone. A tad too aggressive, I suppose, even for the Russians. I think they just bungled it. A Reaper prop can do serious damage to a Su-27.
    1
  11889.  @miguelmelchior986  How about Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland?
    1
  11890.  @miguelmelchior986  You should really learn the names of countries.
    1
  11891. More likely, the Russians had forgotten they had their GPS jammers on.
    1
  11892. If anything, Putin and Erdogan are fickle. Only a few years ago, the two publicly exchanged insults, accusing the other of supporting ISIS. Give it time and they'll be at it again.
    1
  11893. The Krembot understood nothing, comme d'habitude.
    1
  11894.  @johnadam2885  You tried a clumsy false analogy. When I pointed that out to you, you countered with an unrelated personal opinion about the war in general. You don't make a great conversationalist.
    1
  11895.  @johnadam2885  You're repeating yourself. You suggested that the outcome of the war will be the same for Ukraine as it was for the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. I noted that the latter two countries emerged from their conflicts with the US with their territorial integrity intact. Ultimately, that's Ukraine's goal as well. So, if you analogy isn't clumsy or false, how does it work? The US was the invader in Iraq and Afghanistan, just like Russia is in Ukraine, and the US withdrew in an unflattering manner from both countries. In your analogy, is Ukraine going to withdraw from... Ukraine? I couldn't help but notice that your analogy does works perfectly if we replace Ukraine with Russia, as in Russia eventually withdrawing from Ukraine and in a highly unflattering manner, too.
    1
  11896. I beg to differ. The invasion is one giant mistake.
    1
  11897.  @sul-v5p  You're quite right, Russia is collapsing economically and Ukraine is scoring a defensive victory. Russia has already been through two similar collapses, both sparked by wars it couldn't win: WW1 and the Soviet-Afghan War. The question is, will it be the end of Russia? Three strikes and you're out, eh?
    1
  11898.  @user-vt5ln7qq4j  You're slow on the uptake. What is similar about your "ameriKKKa, okay" and Russia is that both Trump and Putin (want to) believe that domestic production will make up for less imports. Russia has been at it for longer, and it has rampant inflation. What is dissimilar is that Putin blundered into a war that saddled Russia with crippling sanctions, while Trump blundered into... wacky Trumponomics.
    1
  11899. I'm sorry, but by definition, a ceasefire is a suspension in hostilities. A follow-up peace treaty of sorts is required to end hostilities on a more permanent basis. It's just one step in the right direction... for a change.
    1
  11900.  @madhurgupta854  Uh, I said it. Murder-suicide is rather pessimistic, don't you think? I'm sure Putin likes to ride horsey sans shirt better.
    1
  11901.  @Djjdwg06  I don't think you know what indirect fire is. Even with a Ka-50 artillery spotting, it's still called indirect fire.
    1
  11902.  @Klovaneer  Kampfgruppe? Are you a N*zi fanboy now?
    1
  11903.  @alannatory  Sure, and the Ukrainians have got our Strix, which is entirely self-contained.
    1
  11904.  EightFootSativa  What's NAFO? I apologise if you have dyslexia.
    1
  11905. Which coups would those be? Try to keep accounts in this century, and no Kremlin-concocted conspiracy theories, please.
    1
  11906. Yeah, what about whataboutism?
    1
  11907.  @WvyiceSS  The Yugoslav Wars were pretty big.
    1
  11908. I can't wait for haters to make their exit.
    1
  11909.  @አሚቼወዲኤረይ  You have to ask? It's the usual crowd of xenophobes, misogynists, bigots, etc.
    1
  11910.  @አሚቼወዲኤረይ  Now that's a fanciful explanation. Supposedly, where has EU's morality disappeared? The EU's stance on rule of law, a free press, democracy and human rights suggest otherwise. Trump's USA took a step backwards, but Europe held firm. Are you actually claiming that Britain withdrew from the EU for lack of morality? That's new. So tell me, now that the Brits are "free" again, are they rolling back LGBT rights, reining in the press and eroding the rule of law? Examples, please.
    1
  11911. Yeah, about that. The EU isn't all that keen on having a very fractitious UK back. Let's keep in mind that the victorious Labour Party just got 9.7 million votes, while rabidly anti-EU Reform got a respectable 4 million. If you consider the Conservatives with their 6.8 million voters anti-EU, or at least Eurosceptic, the latter two parties already enjoy a majority over Labour. With FPTP muddying the waters, it may not matter when it comes to the House of Commons, but it would be problematic for the European Parliament, for which the UK had PR voting previously. No, I think we're going to keep the UK at arm's length for the time being.
    1
  11912. For your info, Putin wants to subjugate the Ukrainians just like Israel is subjugating the Palestinians. You're on to a false equivalency, in other words.
    1
  11913. Because of Russia, which is far more dysfunctional in the "major topics" that the EU and NATO hold dear?
    1
  11914.  @harleyquinn8202  So tell us, using OSCE reports as a reference, what were Ukraine's misdeeds in the Donbas? Even Russian OSCE observers, who had unfettered access to both sides of the front from 2014 to 2022, came up empty.
    1
  11915. "Apparent assassination attempt". Really.
    1
  11916. Not really, as Wilders and his crypto-Fascists will once again be consigned to the opposition. They've burned too many bridges to form a successful coalition. However, unless Wilders' protest voters see the light, PVV support will only grow while in the opposition.
    1
  11917.  @adobo6905  And Renault owns 43.4% of Nissan. It's a cross-shareholding arrangement that gives Renault the upper hand.
    1
  11918.  @jerronng6036  There's no appreciable problem with corruption on a union level in the EU. It's all on a national level, and the EU lacks the jurisdiction to tackle it directly.
    1
  11919. Go for it. The UN headquarters should relocate (back) to Switzerland anyway.
    1
  11920. Should General Motors be banned as well? They made good money on Opel in WW2.
    1
  11921.  @schnitzel_enjoyer  I'm not a Brit, so your jealousy theory doesn't hold up.
    1
  11922.  @schnitzel_enjoyer  Not in the least. Indians literally achieve a moonshot, but still suffer from fragile egos. Time to shake it off.
    1
  11923. Russia pretends to take revenge for the Crocus City incident. They might as well act out against the island nation of Kiribati.
    1
  11924.  @HaveanOreshnik  We can tell what you're crying about. That we give Ukraine weapons and eagerly, too.
    1
  11925. The British monarchy may just be the only one in human history that, per se, makes economic sense. Tourism.
    1
  11926.  @evgeniam685  I didn't know the royals are hoteliers and restaurateurs. I thought they left those jobs to their commoners.
    1
  11927. Liberal party? The leftist New Popular Front won the election. Nothing to do with the liberals, especially in a European or even a global context, where 'liberal' refers to classic liberalism. This is not America, where they'd call Europe's liberals libertarians, because the Americans mucked up the meaning of the word.
    1
  11928. So the Indian navy has been using all those Russians ships for free? Clever!
    1
  11929.  @kpkgamer5677  Sorry, I thought your cognitive skills were sufficient for a sensible discussion.
    1
  11930.  @dankfarrik8376  Made by Fokker, they are, too.
    1
  11931. Get outta here! Could she be a Reptilian?
    1
  11932.  @rayj.4527  In de Pools-Russische Oorlog? In de Tweede Wereldoorlog waren de Russen laatkomers toen Polen werd ingenomen. De strijd was al door de Duitsers beslecht. Chroesjtsjov vond de Winteroorlog een dik verlies voor de Sovjet-Unie. Ik kan hem geen ongelijk geven. Ik heb de begraafplaatsen gezien. Rusland kan al meer dan een jaar amper terreinwinst boeken in Oekraïne, en ze doen héél goed hun best. Net zoals in de Winteroorlog, zijn hun verliezen in Oekraïne zo hoog dat er al een verliessmaakje aan zit.
    1
  11933. Since you're so lovey-dovey with Putin, invite him over to South Africa for a snuggle. Mind you, you'll have to extradite him to The Hague to stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
    1
  11934. Are you sure the US is meeting its NATO commitments? I suggest you study US defence expenditure in the light of US military doctrine. Spoiler alert: you'll be both surprised and embarrassed.
    1
  11935. Diplomatic relations are fine. Just no trade relations.
    1
  11936.  TheSpirit AndTheBride  Did I say vaccines are mandatory? Straw men attacks are infantile. I do think it's fair to restrict access of unvaccinated people to certain venues, or keep unvaccinated foreigners from entering a country altogether, while the pandemic rages. It's just common sense. I don't know about you, but I have a constitutional right to free speech. So I call anti-vaxxers for what they are: idiots.
    1
  11937.  @flumpaustin1994  Statistics are against you. It's a proven fact that Covid-19 kills. It's also a proven fact that the vaccines work. What is not proven is that the vaccines cause significant side effects. Out of curiosity, do you eschew modern medicine altogether or just to accommodate zany conspiracy theories?
    1
  11938. Are you soliciting marriage proposals?
    1
  11939.  @marry9446  It left me wondering if you're a useful idiot or a troll. Anyhoo, I don't think it improves your chances of marriage.
    1
  11940. Why incomprehensible? Many of their forebears fled CCP tyranny.
    1
  11941.  pace kenelm  Don't you worry, they are. And it irks the CCP no end.
    1
  11942. ​ @swapneelbehera260  Your comparison is off. China's GDP is 4.74 times that of India. Anyhoo, you missed the moral aspect completely. I think a "Woosh" is in order.
    1
  11943.  @OMKARKULKARNIorkul1991  You're off as well. I'm telling you to listen to your own advice with regard to Ukraine and apply that to China. So, capitulate to China already!
    1
  11944.  @JaySR56789  Duh, I'm suggesting that you negotiate a shameful withdrawal from Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as it own, just like Russia claims Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia as its territory. What's good for the goose (Ukraine) is good for the gander (India), right? And don't call me Abdul. I'm from nowhere near your continent.
    1
  11945.  @swapneelbehera260  I'm talking about the here and now. When Putin gained power in Russia, he bombastically declared that Russia would equal Portugal in terms of GDP per capita in twenty years -- Portugal, which is not a stellar economic performer within the EU. Russia is still nowhere near. Projections are dandy, but whether they pan out is another matter altogther. Anyways, back to the original topic. I invited you to take part in a mental exercise where you put the boot on the other foot. Exchange Russia and Ukraine with China and India, and decide if territorial concessions are still advisable at any cost. Play along or leave -- I don't want to hear about your ambitious GDP projections or your nukes.
    1
  11946.  @redragesurfer  Thanks, Captain Obvious. You are dismissed.
    1
  11947.  @NirajKumar-wb5hg  Don't be obtuse. What you're basically saying is that might is right. You're saying that Russia can have its wicked way with Ukraine, because Ukraine isn't strong enough on its own to withstand Russia's unwelcome attentions. You Indians need to fix your moral compass. Maybe then there's a permanent seat in it for you at the UNSC. But only then. Oh, we don't have the means -- nor the desire -- to attack India from half across the world. So you can dry your tears.
    1
  11948.  @swapneelbehera260  There's nothing wrong with ambitions, but they are just that until they're realised. Again, this is not about GDP or nukes but about the inherent hypocrisy in India backing Russia in its illegal imperialistic pursuits at the expense of Ukraine, but crying foul when China is poised to do same to India. I want to understand this glaring paradox. Do you have a sense of justice or not? If you want to continue this discussion, focus on the latter. No more nationalistic grandstanding, please.
    1
  11949.  @swapneelbehera260  India is and has been playing both sides, that much is certain. Such opportunism won't stand India in good stead in geopolitics. India's permanent seat at the UNSC must've slipped further away by a decade or so. Still, India is offering free advice to Ukraine about giving up and suing for peace on Putin's terms, which is tantamount to appeasing an aggressor, who won't stop until he's stopped. How do you reconcile that with India seeking international support for thwarting China's imperial ambitions pertaining to India? It looks like you have one set of morals for Ukraine, and an entirely different one for yourselves.
    1
  11950.  @Dateraho  I sought the "suggestion" of others by opening this thread. Also, I clearly suggested that like Russia, China has imperialistic ambitions, and like Ukraine in Russia's case, India is one of China's targets. If that makes you think I side with the aggressor, you need to have your head examined. Now go bark up some other tree.
    1
  11951.  @sarahdawson9339  Not true. The colonial powers of yore have decolonised long since, or are stuck with pesky little island colonies that refuse to decolonise. Russia still keeps major colonies, and so does China. China also dabbles with neo-colonialism. Russia tries very hard in Ukraine, but is failing.
    1
  11952. I once met a Royal Tank Regiment vet who claimed that the Challenger 2 needs different sets of tools for the hull and the turret. One imperial, the other metric. I suppose it will be same diff for the "new" Challenger 3.
    1
  11953. But Russia's sensibilities are so easily hurt. Even a sensible suggestion, like "please refrain from destroying your peaceful neighbour" will spur threats of nuclear holocaust.
    1
  11954.  @jimmybaldbird3853  Actually, the US hasn't got a single 5G infrastructure company that's playing in the big leagues. Europe, with its cobblestones, has no less than two strong contenders, Nokia and Ericsson. If you ever decide to apply for passport and manage to make your way to Europe, you'll find that it's not just cellular infrastructure that's superior in Europe, but infrastructure in general. It never ceases to amaze me how stinky and old US airports are.
    1
  11955.  @jimmybaldbird3853  You have no clue. The leading 5G infra providers are Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, ZTE and Samsung. Not too long ago, your William Barr saw the light and insisted that the US acquire either Nokia or Ericsson, but it came to naught. The Scandies were mighty relieved. I grew up as a airline brat and I've flown all around the world ever since. I've seen more than my fair share of US airports. Your crumbling infrastructure is legend.
    1
  11956. More like poor humanity. Afghanistan was a UN-mandated job. Directly or indirectly, they got your blessing.
    1
  11957. It's not like a sock went missing on laundry day. A top commander in the Russian armed forces vanished into thin air.
    1
  11958. Let me give a quick ring to the UN. What's that? Nope, not Israeli land.
    1
  11959.  @PiyankeKemetyu  Realpolitik, I suppose. Coup d'états are a way of life in Africa. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes not.
    1
  11960.  @jimg1056  There's always guesswork involved if a coup is legit or rather, should it be considered such. Who's to tell? Certainly not the people. Your lot always gets these inside jobs confused with popular revolts. Coups per definition aren't the latter.
    1
  11961. Says a Malaysian, whose merdeka is a sham. You'll go on anyone's payroll -- Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, UAE...
    1
  11962. Buitenspel gezet? Als grootste partij kreeg de PVV de kans om een kabinet the vormen, maar ze hebben gefaald. Wilders moet nu het stokje doorgeven aan nummer twee, GL-PvdA dus. Hetzelfde is trouwens de PvdA ook al eens overkomen. Tweemaal zelfs. In 1977 en 1982 won de PvdA de verkiezingen, maar belandde toch in de oppositie.
    1
  11963. Trump makes demands on Denmark vis-à-vis Greenland. Trump is not (yet) the dictator you take him for. À propos, the Greenlanders constitute 0.9% of the Danish population. In terms of population size, it's a microstate.
    1
  11964. Do you think 6 persons having their foreign assets frozen is going to tank the UK economy? Will the UK tourism industry crash because they'll have to skip that staycation in Blackpool? Laughing at you.
    1
  11965. I must have missed this new country -- "Europe" you say? -- achieving nationhood. Does it include Western Russia, too, like the eponymous continent? My long-suffering geography teacher taught us that Europe extends eastward all the way to the Ural Mountains.
    1
  11966. Some Russian election officials will perish in suspicious circumstances for letting Nadezhdin get this far.
    1
  11967.  @lusvus5445  Russia is managing with the present spate of sanctions, but just barely. A further tightening of sanctions will crush Russia's dream of becoming a modern, diversified economy instead of the hydrocarbon exporter it is now. China can't -- and won't -- help there.
    1
  11968.  @PracticaProphetica  Manufacturing is one thing, but exporting is quite another. China can't freely export many of its products as it is. I see it all the time -- Chinese electronics manufacturers warning that they can't export to Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan and Syria because of export restriction on components. It's not unthinkable that Russia is added to the no-export list.
    1
  11969. You have an elevated opinion of yourselves.
    1
  11970.  @londop.a.3048  The Russians are already using Garmins on their planes in Ukraine, duct-taped to the dashboard.
    1
  11971. Who knows, maybe Assad gave Russia a cut of his drug money. Or Assad's captagon pills drove Russia's meat waves forward in Ukraine.
    1
  11972. You need English lessons a lot.
    1
  11973. It's not the centre right, so what what you want to call yourselves?
    1
  11974. How exactly were the public voters compensates for casting a vote for Ukraine? I voted for Ukraine, but I've yet to receive a reward. Corruption implies there's a reward.
    1
  11975. Spooked isn't the word. Determined.
    1
  11976. It's a nail-biter.
    1
  11977.  @constantinenm  Silly goose.
    1
  11978.  @martijnijsendoorn6911  At any rate, I think we're talking insane protection money, but Assad's choices are very limited. I wonder if he can be Putin's house guest if the latter, too, has to flee abroad, China most probably.
    1
  11979. You can say that again. One constantly loses his train of thought, the other spouts utter nonsense. Care home material the both of them.
    1
  11980. Hold your horses. There's bound to be a costly divorce settlement, if/when Queen Mary calls it quits on their marriage.
    1
  11981. Now in English, please.
    1
  11982. It merely says (crypto-)Fascists are opportunistic in nature. What else is new?
    1
  11983. That's cultural appropriation. Don't do it.
    1
  11984. Cause and consequence elude you.
    1
  11985.  @CaddyJim  I do. You've made something up.
    1
  11986. The right -- as in the Dutch centre-right parties -- aren't convinced about co-operating with Geert Wilders either, who has antagonised all and sundry. I suspect they'll go through the motions of trying to form a coalition, only to dump PVV in favour of the leftist GL-PvdA -- the lesser of two evils.
    1
  11987. You shot off? Even the most advanced Buk missiles are estimated to cost only $200,000 apiece.
    1
  11988. I'm sure Putin and his cronies would want the Ukrainians to be as sheepishly obedient and apathetic as the Russians, but alas, it wasn't to be. Russia sure has the Ukrainians fired up. Putin burned his fingers very badly.
    1
  11989. I suppose you don't know history. Russia is more than hesitant to invade Finland. Twice bitten, thrice shy.
    1
  11990.  @TheDogGeneral  You're painting a naively idealistic picture. Its large size notwithstanding, Greenland is a microstate owing to its minute population. It's not self-sufficient. Denmark hasn't let go because Greenland would've drowned if it had. You may as well ask yourself why the US has barely developed Alaska, although its climate is less forbidding than that of Greenland. Alaska is the largest US state, but also the mostly sparsely populated state -- nearly a hundred times sparser than the US average. There's a sound reason for that.
    1
  11991. I hear they've "occupied" it for 2,000 years or so.
    1
  11992. Sure, RT gives misinformation, something that respectable media anxiously try to avoid.
    1
  11993. I would rather describe it as coup fog. Over the years, Africa has had 214 coup d'états, of which 106 were "successful" -- meaning that the coup plotters gained power rather than went to prison -- or worse. It's a matter of weighing legitimacy against pragmatism. Timing is tricky, too.
    1
  11994. Or 1918, when the whole world got the Spanish flu from Americans.
    1
  11995. Perhaps you don't have a clue what the EU is about.
    1
  11996. Yeah, we're already covered with handball.
    1
  11997.  @Semper_Iratus  I think what's meant here is that the rest of the world needs to be reminded that 'Super Bowl' is not some super-sized poke bowl, but a Murican sporting event. A bit like the World Series, which isn't all that worldly, in case you didn't know.
    1
  11998.  @morganfbilbo462  There's no such thing as soccer. There's just football, period. American 'Football' counts as handball, but with the main difference that you can freely move with the -- misshapen -- ball. And as an afterthought, kick it once in a while.
    1
  11999. If news channels minded their own business, newscasts would become rather dull.
    1
  12000. Nope, his criminal conviction hasn't been quashed. He's still awaiting sentencing.
    1
  12001. Not really. China is trying to redefine democracy so it will fit its authoritarian mould.
    1
  12002. Hezbollah, zodat ze geen raket of bom op hun dak krijgen. Anders dan een mobieltje, is een pieper niet te traceren.
    1
  12003.  @koiguidenishikigoi4972  France routinely votes against Israel when the latter's sheninagans come up in the UN's Security Council -- in total opposition to the US, which vetoes everything as a matter of routine. I suspect you're too young to remember 'Freedom Fries' -- long story short, the US was disgusted with France for not supporting the Iraq War, although France druly noted that concrete evidence of Saddam's WMDs was still missing. If France is a US vassal, it makes a very poor one. You cherry-pick facts.
    1
  12004.  @felixvandiggelen8731  Je zwamt maar wat.
    1
  12005.  @andia968  Vietnam calls itself a socialist-oriented market economy. They've basically copied the economic model from China. Incidentally, it's freer than that of China, especially after Xi's recent clampdown. There's something to be said for increased trade leading to political change, although the authoritarian regime may panic, like in China's case, and slip back to old habits. Vietnam may actually pull it off.
    1
  12006.  @andia968  No, what gave you that idea Let's turn this around. Do you mean that the Earth is flat?
    1
  12007. How do say in Hindi that Indian Putin sycophants are a dime a dozen?
    1
  12008. Yeah, but unfortunately the RN has poured its money into vanity projects such as aircraft carriers -- carriers it can't even fully equip.
    1
  12009.  @Yifei15  You should leave wordplay to someone else, bot.
    1
  12010.  @solomonike1709  It's not "one country against 30 countries" but 5 countries against 141 countries.
    1
  12011.  @jokbok995  I think public condemnation in the UNGA is a pretty good start. Most supported kicking Russia out of the UNHRC, too. Don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  12012.  @jokbok995  You're being obtuse. I'm referring to the votes in the United Nation General Assembly. They leave nothing to the imagination.
    1
  12013.  @richardsmith9615  There would've been a bit of a problem, too, if Hitler had spoken out against anti-semitism. Questions would've arisen about Adolf's sincerity. Here, Putler has a similar sincerity problem.
    1
  12014.  @Orwellian-Purple-Grapes-1984  Dat is dus pertinent niet waar. In Finland, Estland, Letland en Litouwen woonden geen Russen in 1939-40. Toch moest er binnengevallen worden.
    1
  12015.  @michaelutech4786  The EU is better off without the UK. The problem with the UK stems from well before Trump. Don't count on Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary siding with the UK. They showed very little sympathy for Britain during the Brexit negotiations, and this despite numerous British attempts at currying favour with them. You'll find that the Eastern Europeans haven't forgotten how Churchill sold them down the river.
    1
  12016.    Churchill's passive stance at Yalta allowed Poland to slip into the Soviet sphere of influence. Considering how significantly the Poles contributed to the British war effort, there's no other word for it than betrayal. Sure, Britain is not solely to blame, but the context here is Brexit, not a hypothetical Frexit. Years back, I was involved in delivering new kit to the Polish military. You'd think their resentment towards the Germans overtakes everything, but no, it was the Brits they had singled out. The same applied to the Estonians -- no love lost there either. Best wishes to you, too. You'll need that stiff upper lip more than ever.
    1
  12017.  @michaelutech4786  I believe the Poles' special bitterness towards the Brits stems from the mistaken belief that friends don't stab you in the back.
    1
  12018. ​ @michaelutech4786  I did specifically mention the Yalta Conference. There, Churchill practically gave away Poland to Stalin. His betrayal didn't go unnoticed; there was a motion of confidence in Parliament, a cabinet resignation and thirty suicides among Polish officers serving in the British Army.
    1
  12019.  Anthony Burke  ...and the USA doesn't know whether it's coming or going.
    1
  12020.  @guyfawkesuThe1  Maybe you should try to be more specific as to who pays his dues in NATO and who doesn't. I can honestly say we've never-ever reneged on our 2% commitment, but we know the Russians for what they are.
    1
  12021.  @danwelterweight4137  No-one pines for Saddam, little buddy.
    1
  12022. Credit where credit is due. He pulled off a great palace coup. It's a pity about his cousin, Bongo, though. Family feuds always get ugly.
    1
  12023.  @virginiawomack7167  Your beef is with FT.
    1
  12024.  @rlabarbera  Hold your horses, missy. I made a casual observation that Brits -- it this case a commentator of the esteemed pink newspaper the Financial Times -- are hating on Princess Kate despite her epitomising Britishness.
    1
  12025. You're suggesting that the victim was an unlawful combatant. That doesn't appear to be the case, and the Geneva Convention calls for a competent tribunal to rule on the matter. Therefore, it was an extrajudicial killing at the very least.
    1
  12026. Most probably a Ukrainian counter-battery radar pinpointed the guns.
    1
  12027. ​ @MrTomahawkss  Russia is the official successor state to the Soviet Union. That's how Russia, an even lesser power than regional powers UK and France, landed a permanent seat in the UNSC. And Putin publicly mourns the fall of the Soviet Union. Then there's Stalin's rehabilitation. No, the two are irrevocable intertwined.
    1
  12028. The problem is that Russia has no bargaining chips apart from the morally weak "we'll stop bombing your citizens and hospitals" and "we won't sabotage your nuclear plants".
    1
  12029. ​ @donaldkasper8346  They're using something called GLONASS instead. I'm pretty sure you're using it, too, like personal-wise.
    1
  12030.  @donaldkasper8346  You don't say.
    1
  12031. Trump would've blamed voter fraud.
    1
  12032. OK, so any country that has economical ties with China should throw democracy overboard?
    1
  12033. We've talked about your acute need for English lessons.
    1
  12034. Useful idyot much?
    1
  12035.  @kimmogensen4888  You're using sound logic and good reasoning to debunk Trump's claims. It has been shown not to work. Nuh-uh.
    1
  12036. It's a message to Iran and Syria. Don't get involved. Or else.
    1
  12037. Arexit.
    1
  12038.  @veganbutcherhackepeter  You want the US to be a rudderless ship for 4 years. Oh..kay.
    1
  12039. They'll do fine. Lots of brooms in Ukraine.
    1
  12040. Daar zeg je me wat. Willem-Alexander zou op eigen kosten koning mogen spelen. Dan weet hij meteen wat zijn volk meemaakt. Ik hoop dat er een herwaardering van het koningshuis komt wanneer koning Flipke, die vaak met een sierplant wordt vergeleken, door de Vlamingen aan de kant wordt gezet.
    1
  12041. The situation is aggravated further by Murican companies outsourcing manufacturing to low-cost countries. It's like wiping your shoes on your neighbours' doormat and blaming them for being messy.
    1
  12042. Your economy is growing only in your minds, like Putin's megalomania. In the mean time, Russia's oil revenues have plummeted by 50%. For a gas station that's masquerading as a country, that's poison.
    1
  12043. Aw, you need more copium.
    1
  12044.  @MiladaKaiser  Wasn't I alluding to independence for Kaliningrad? Czechia is a bit of a stretch, however. I wonder if a single Czech lives there nowadays?
    1
  12045. A conspiracy theorist reports for duty. Your input is invaluable in these matters. Not.
    1
  12046.  @ossianx8752  Where's the prob? Both sides have suffered and continue to do so. And it's tax money. How do your bankers/WEF/NWO/Reptilians (please let it be the last one) profit?
    1
  12047. Maintenance. The wings on the crop-dusters don't come off like that unless there's serious neglect.
    1
  12048.  @alexanderyoung6934  Nowadays, coups happen in such short succession in Sub-Saharan Africa that both you conspiracy theorists and the French must be struggling to remember which bunch they supported or which they opposed.
    1
  12049. She's half Ukrainian, in fact, and Odesa-born.
    1
  12050.  @e.o.9094  Thanks. She and Hassan are nothing short of amazing.
    1
  12051. Sadly, you can't extend your gratitude to Russia. Putin would love nothing better than carve out a new sphere of influence, like during the Cold War.
    1
  12052.  @mikicerise6250  If you must know, as a former long-time HK resident I very much prefer Hong Kong to the mainland, but Hong Kong just isn't communist, and never was. Sure, it has gained an authoritarian streak thanks to Xi, but then again, democracy and capitalism don't always go hand in hand.
    1
  12053.  @hypolyxa7207  Time to kick out the royals and get elected presidents to replace them. Iceland, too, has seen the light.
    1
  12054. Israel's Palestinian problem didn't go away after expelling the Palestinians, but go ahead, but don't learn from history.
    1
  12055. 141 countries practically is.
    1
  12056.  @sanjivghosh298  For your info, India is playing both sides, and voted blank at the UNGA when the war in Ukraine came up.
    1
  12057. Pinky promise?
    1
  12058. Whataboutism struck this discussion forum.
    1
  12059. I think they're unseating an unpopular PM that made a deal with the devil. There's a thin silver lining there, especially if his successor understands that Israel needs to try something new.
    1
  12060. France put a bee in your bonnet?
    1
  12061. Petersburgians are used to this sort of thing.
    1
  12062. So, a US invasion of Greenland would spark American Civil War 2. Has Trump run this by his aides?
    1
  12063.  sabrinarodrigues629  Yet colloquially, we get to call it whatever we wish.
    1
  12064. Truth be told, by neutering the UNSC, the US has effectively given Israel carte blanche to deal with the Palestinians as it sees fit. We're witnessing the result.
    1
  12065.  @tylerbozinovski427  So, what are we to call the recent Trumpist coup attempt? Growing pains?
    1
  12066.  @tylerbozinovski427  The extreme polarisation is proof positive. No matter whether you choose to blame Jan 6 or BLM, they're both symptoms of deep chasms in your society.
    1
  12067. Agreed, but the Putin regime that condemned the Russian aviation sector 👎
    1
  12068. If Trump were to join them, it couldn't be any clearer that they'd be the adults in the room.
    1
  12069. I remember only too well when the UK, while still in the EU, failed to condemn Poland for infringing on the rule of law, no doubt to curry favour with them. You don't set a good example yourselves, in or out of the EU.
    1
  12070. It's not borne out by comparative studies. Africa, Asia and South America are deemed far more corrupt.
    1
  12071.  @DemosBrutus  According to whom? I'm reading the Corruption Perception Index. You're reading tea leaves.
    1
  12072.  @DemosBrutus  OK, I suppose you have a more respectable source for your claim. Let's hear it. Don't be shy now.
    1
  12073.  @DemosBrutus  So, just to be clear, you have no credible source for your claim and we can safely conclude that it was nothing but an uneducated assumption. To use a local idiom, you sucked the whole thing out of your thumb.
    1
  12074.  @DemosBrutus  I'm not receiving anything but white noise from you.
    1
  12075. And you're privy to it. You must be special.
    1
  12076.  @ikopotamus7774  Because Htler had promised Estonia to Stalin. Partners in crime.
    1
  12077.  @lapun47  Maybe not armed, but deadly all the same.
    1
  12078. Israel proposes to establish ghettos. Oh the irony.
    1
  12079. This ICC is mighty powerful. It makes 123 countries do its bidding. Conspiracy theorists the world over should search/replace "WEF" with "ICC".
    1
  12080.  @casawi1986  You should take up your grievances with the OP.
    1
  12081. Yikes. Will France run out of honey?
    1
  12082.  @jeancarlosbasilio5310  IMF, silly. If you don't know what that is, you're sillier still.
    1
  12083. In your case, we can talk about a very bitter defeat.
    1
  12084. Because you're a pessimist. Your glass is always half-empty.
    1
  12085.  @samikoivisto7705  If the bolt of the Jatimatic recoiled upward to resist muzzle climb, it stands to reason that on the MAS-38 the reverse is true. I wonder, because there are no reports that the MAS-38 was especially inaccurate. Ian doesn't claim so either.
    1
  12086. What's the major malfunction?
    1
  12087.  @bipolatelly9806  And I thought rewriting history was a Communist thing.
    1
  12088.  @bipolatelly9806  Well, you're engaging in rewriting history as well. Communist influences must've crept in.
    1
  12089. They gotta earn them potatoes.
    1
  12090. Marine Le Pen is trying to replace Macron in order to stop litigation against her. She's copying Trump in that respect.
    1
  12091. Ask DeepSeek: "Who is Xinnie the Pooh?" Oh, disregard that if you're mainland Chinese. Re-education camp is no fun.
    1
  12092.  @realaurorien  Duh, the Russian economy hasn't crashed yet. Give it time. They're still robbing their pension funds.
    1
  12093.  @Rudelherz  Sadly, the horseshoe theory does apply to some radicals.
    1
  12094. Russia is going to hell in a handbasket all right.
    1
  12095.  @issasidou8161  Renewable energy is the way to go. I understand your underlying concern, however. It's not for nothing that they call Russia a gas station masquerading as a country. I suppose Russia will have to go agrarian, just to have something to eat.
    1
  12096.  @issasidou8161  Duh, Russia needs to flog its oil and gas to get by economically. Its best customers have flocked elsewhere and are turning their backs on hydrocarbons. Without money, Russians will have to revert to subsistence farming.
    1
  12097.  @issasidou8161  You must've missed the memo about China and India buying Russian oil and gas below cost, which means Russia loses money on the deals. Russia has no choice, because it needs foreign currency and Chinese yuan in particular to keep afloat. Uh, we don't need Russia. Russia has a poorly diversified economy, in stark contrast to that of the EU. Putin always promises to diversify, but there's little indication that he's making significant headway. Now with sanctions in place, Russia can't get loans or attract foreign investors, to say nothing of the Western technology needed for such a transformation. I told you already, Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country.
    1
  12098. What do you propose as the alternative? That emissaries from all over the world convene in your mum's back garden? We need a forum for communication, even if we can't agree on some matters.
    1
  12099. You could have yourselves a vote of no confidence in Parliament and just like that, that would be the end of it... wait, wrong country. I was thinking of Canada.
    1
  12100. But the ensuing explosion is far less lethal. I would guess this was a 81 or 82 mm mortar shell. Its lethal radius is nearly ten times that of a hand grenade.
    1
  12101. Kunnen ze niet een borst of zelfs beide af laten zetten? Mijn lerares Grieks vertelde dat de Amazonen dat deden om beter met een boog overweg te kunnen.
    1
  12102.  @razmarazma7413  That would be the UN Security Council. The trouble is, Russia is a permanent member.
    1
  12103. Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
    1
  12104.  @jacqdanieles  Only Eritrea supports Russia. Empty vessels (read: krembots) make the most noise.
    1
  12105. Bye yourself.
    1
  12106.  @gertstraatenvander4684  Pffrt. Iran is conducting a proxy war against Israel using Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis. Speaking of which, there's the Yemeni Civil War, too.
    1
  12107. You must be very desperate to suggest cutting Hong Kong off. Not that I'm surprised, however. We're witnessing the slow-but-sure demise of the CCP.
    1
  12108. Yup, let's plant tropical trees, moisten them and secure the leaves with superglue. Spray-paint the leaves green, too. Problem solved.
    1
  12109.  @jirachi-wishmaker9242  Duh. We call our evergreens coniferous trees. I couldn't possibly count them if I peek out of my window. But have you heard of thing called 'climate'?
    1
  12110. I value loyalty all right, but Gibraltar as we know is screwed unless the UK opts for a sooooft Brexit. A more appropriate analogy is an ignored wife with a dim outlook for marital bliss. Divorce and remarrying may yet prove the better option. Maybe the new husband will agree to an open marriage (autonomy).
    1
  12111.  @meteorknight999  Putin can call it quits any time. He just needs to sound the retreat.
    1
  12112.  @kevt3318  Let me read my tea leaves. Uh-oh, I see a place between a rock and a hard place.
    1
  12113. You and Orban clearly don't understand, that much is certain.
    1
  12114. I suppose we'll find out. Hundreds of members of this Rosgvardia have been laid off for refusing to serve in Ukraine, no doubt because their colleagues were badly bloodied there. I bet they're being called up now.
    1
  12115. They need to change the gearboxes on their T-72s. Five gears for reverse, one for forward.
    1
  12116. Maybe he did, and saw that his crewmates were well done.
    1
  12117.  @josephlandry8787  You really need to become a true multi-party democracy, where 'multi' means more than two.
    1
  12118. India needs French weaponry, and toot sweet.
    1
  12119.  @rajibchakroborthy4181  I always need more money, but you poor guys may want to give it to the French instead, in exchange for your much-needed weapons. Your Russian kit is either not available, obsolete or just otherwise unsatisfactory.
    1
  12120.  @matturner7763  Apart from Russia itself, only North Korea and Syria believe that Russia is actually growing. And a fine pair they are. One is embroiled in an endless civil war, and the other can't feed its own people.
    1
  12121. He's right. We'd see far more shark attacks if what you're claiming were true.
    1
  12122. It goes to show that even a child knows that the CCP is oppressive.
    1
  12123.  @foxycon9059  In a political context, "oppressive" equates to "tyrannical" -- how's that anything but bad? Just for the record, I don't regard the US as a model democracy, especially after Trump's latest election shenanigans. The Americans deserve all the criticism they've been getting, but sadly for you, it doesn't make China's flouting of democratic values any less serious.
    1
  12124.  @foxycon9059  OK, since you're unsure about the exact definition of "oppressive", try replying that Xi Jinping is oppressive. We'll see if your social credit rating takes a hit. I dare you.
    1
  12125.  @foxycon9059  OK, you chickened out. I made my point abundantly clear.
    1
  12126. Botten voor Poetin, is dat lucratief?
    1
  12127. Any well-earned kickbacks to Putin in your conspiracy theory? How about NWO Reptilians, or did they die out with Queen Liz 2?
    1
  12128.  @RasPutintheGreat  They do, too. Eagle, Hornet, Lancer, Reaper, Talon and Raptor, to name just a few, are pretty bad-ass names.
    1
  12129.  @LivingLonger  This summer, China took part in naval exercises with Russia in the Baltic Sea, a.k.a. NATO Lake. Keep up with the news.
    1
  12130.  @haoduo5331  I have to agree with John Leslie. Weirdo.
    1
  12131. Why stop at those countries? We all know, including the Russians themselves, that the election was neither free nor *fair.
    1
  12132.  @dunebuggie  Undertakers should organize Covid parties. Good business sense, that.
    1
  12133. Be that as it may, Israel is now trying to curry favour with Golan Druze, who've traditionally taken a dim view of Israeli occupation of their land.
    1
  12134. I wonder how Russia, going forward, is going to manage economically. Unless there's a just peace, Russia will remain under economic sanctions and continue to suffer political isolation. I'm sure that when Putin loses power for one reason or another, there will be a thorough reappraisal of his controversial choices -- and a reversal thereof.
    1
  12135.  @trappedinamerica7740  Norway has a centre-leftist/centrist coalition government, dominated by the social democrats. I don't think the Norwegians will appreciate being called socialists, not in the way you understand its meaning. It's just that with their oil wealth, the Norwegians can afford to keep the social democrats in power for longer periods than the other Scandinavian countries, which have to vote in a centre-right government more often to save up some money in anticipation of the next spendthrift social-democratic government. Fun fact: NATO has Jens Stoltenberg, a member and former PM of the Norwegian Labour Party as its secretary general. I guess that makes the alliance socialist in your book.
    1
  12136.  @Reinhard_Erlik  Uncle Joe was loved by one and all, too. People didn't know any different. History repeats itself.
    1
  12137. Are you having a laugh? Russia has fired off so much ordnance at Ukraine that it needs to ration what little remains. That's why.
    1
  12138. It would require a mandate from the UNSC. No prizes for guessing which permanent member would veto it. Hint: the country in question was recently ousted from the UNHRC.
    1
  12139.  @miteshghadi3146  Why, we produce our own designs.
    1
  12140.  @AS-fk6gk  You demand? You got the deal on a silver platter. It's a win-win squared if you both design and manufacture your planes, and get to export them, too. India has to pay license fees to Airbus and can't export.
    1
  12141.  @kabir1934  China may be the world's manufacturing hub, but it mostly does final assembly, which adds relatively little value to a product. You should read the case studies about how big a share of the retail price of an iPhone ends up where. You'll be surprised. Moreover, multinationals are derisking -- moving their manufacturing away from China -- as we speak. Now there's an opportunity for India to add (some) value.
    1
  12142.  @manh9105  Win? It's not a zero-sum game. I've had the privilege of working with Indian-born top executives -- Rajeev Suri, the ex-CEO of Nokia, for instance. Somehow the brightest always leave India to benefit other countries. Satya Nadella, whom I've merely met, is another case in point. We'd very much like democratic India to be a credible counterweight to authoritarian China, but both economically and politically, India disappoints.
    1
  12143.  @k_now7632  It's not about pleasing the mythical "West". Please yourselves! China will give India the roundaround if it doesn't keep pace. China is poised to completely dominate BRICS now that Russia is turning into a de facto neocolony of China's. With China's industrial might and Russia's natural resources, India will become more and more reliant on China as well -- or subject to China's whims. "The West" is busily weaning itself off hydrocarbons, while India happily benefits from cheap Russian oil -- till China decides that enough is enough. Democracy doesn't necessarily impede economic development. China set itself on a brisk growth path when Deng Xiaoping started gradually liberalising the country. Xi has reversed the process and China's economic growth is slowing as a result. If China's captains of industry fall foul of the CCP, China disappears and re-educates them. Their counterparts in India don't need to fall foul of the government.
    1
  12144.  @trijalinamdar5396  No, it's what I am saying. It's obvious, right, that this doesn't concern a domestic design? I'll have you know that we had a phone manufacturing plant in India till 2014. I did some quality audits there myself. China did better, but not by much. Again, I am no media magnate, so I don't get to decide what "my media" publishes. Don't you still have press freedom in India?
    1
  12145.  @OlaFosheimGrstad  Eventually, sure, but the threshold for union-level measures should be kept high. We're not the United States of Murica.
    1
  12146. Better give all major urban centres worldwide a miss. You're too delicate for urban life.
    1
  12147.  @Neloish  Singapore is my home town. I don't think the difference is that vast. We have rats scurrying around everywhere, it seems.
    1
  12148. Tell us about the evidence that Seymour Hersh provided in support of his wild theories. He's been bamboozled by foreign intelligence agents before. I suspect the poor guy has given up journalism to focus on writing fiction.
    1
  12149. You need your safe space. Really bad.
    1
  12150.  @sharavivbanyamyanyasharala3361  The EU itself is divided over the merits of having Georgia in of the club. Try to keep it real, bud. Don't make stuff up.
    1
  12151. Uh, Russia has played this game from day one and failed to effect any change.
    1
  12152. North Korea is dirt poor and Russia is getting there. Barely being able to feed its own people isn't the definition of a strong nation.
    1
  12153. Sure thing. Israel painted itself a red line by signing the so-called Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which forbids booby traps. It seems to have forgotten.
    1
  12154. You're clearly trying to comfort yourself. Tough times for Putin fanboys!
    1
  12155.  @CurtisJeffries-cd5vu  Russia, like all the other OSCE member countries, had monitors in the Donbas from 2014 to 2022. They uncovered no proof of Ukraine targeting civilians. Facts are a biatch, aren't they?
    1
  12156.  @boxingsense3459  As I tried to suggest, outside of Murica, disdain for Trump is not a left or right wing affair. It's ubiquitous. We've never freeloaded from anyone, the US included.
    1
  12157.  @tryink688  Are you sure the US is shouldering its 2% NATO burden? I'm not. We've never not met our 2% contribution to NATO. Never.
    1
  12158. So, in your honest opinion, Biden is supporting something that Putin started. As a Putin fanboy, shouldn't you be mighty pleased?
    1
  12159.  @OleMarg  How do you propose Israel will go about in wiping Gaza off the map? Will they draw inspiration from their own past?
    1
  12160. If you want peace, prepare for war. It's an old adage, and one that's lost on you.
    1
  12161.  @mario8849  That was a weak retort. All-caps is a sure sign of desperation. Is that why you deleted your comment?
    1
  12162. Ehrmantraut was anything but a loudmouth. He would've put Prigozhin in his place in no time.
    1
  12163. UN missions are approved by the UN Security Council, unanimously so by the permanent members. So you have a problem with all the members?
    1
  12164. Please start with YouTube. Its comment sections will be better for it.
    1
  12165.  @whereisjustice5112  You're welcome. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    1
  12166. You must be livid that Lesotho voted in favour of condemning Russia for invading Ukraine at the UN. In other words, you don't represent the official stance of Lesotho on Russia's invasion, to say nothing of Africa as a whole.
    1
  12167.  @welcometruthseekers  Aw, I knew you had a conspiracy theory in the oven. I only wish you had a more original recipe, like how your king had his arm twisted by Martians, who plan to use Russia as their bridgehead to invade Earth. You're such bores.
    1
  12168. It's almost literally like shooting with a stovepipe.
    1
  12169.  @jollyroger7102  Er, Putin admitted as much in 2014.
    1
  12170. Are you sure we're moaning? We can't (read: can't afford to) save the whole world. Vlaams Belang much?
    1
  12171.  @Keanopro123  Dat is fysiek onmogelijk.
    1
  12172.  @Keanopro123  Nee, vanwege het menselijk lichaam. Ik kan me totaal niet inbeelden hoe je een wapen zoals de Kalasjnikov tegelijkertijd in je buik prikt en de kolf ervan tegen je schouder drukt. Met een Uzi lukt het wel, maar dan heb je duidelijk zelfmoordneigingen.
    1
  12173.  @Keanopro123 O, het moest een grap voorstellen. Minder televisie kijken, hè.
    1
  12174.  @Keanopro123  Fout? Als jij denkt dat je leuk bent, dan heb je het goed fout.
    1
  12175.  @prajwal1341  Nah, we're just concerned citizens. For you, it's a livelihood. A sorry one, but still a livelihood.
    1
  12176.  @vagabond919  Let me guess, your "independent" source is trust-me-bro.
    1
  12177.  @kemwittalltree9650  Foreign to you or not, the ICC is international. Come to think of it, your supreme court isn't directly elected by US citizens either, so in your book it must be foreign, too. I totally agree that the UN headquarters should relocate to Switzerland. With that hostile entity gone, you can fully concentrate on being hostile to one another. Have a nice ACW2!
    1
  12178.  @kemwittalltree9650  OK, so we should also start jailing US judges if they preside over court proceedings in which our compatriots stand accused. Tit for tat, right? "Our beloved leader" -- are you sure you aren't a North Korean agent? No sane person speaks about his or her leader in those terms.
    1
  12179.  @kemwittalltree9650  OK, North Korean.
    1
  12180. Negotiate with Putin and "live free live [sic]"? That's an oxymoron.
    1
  12181. @paper plane Wow. NATO gains Finland and Sweden, Russia's CSTO's uninterested and unofficial partner China gains the Solomon Islands. Cope, Vladdy, cope.
    1
  12182. Isn't that grand! Everyone gets to break international law till Palestine is sorted!
    1
  12183. Elon Musk had better not give up his day job. I have a strong feeling this one will not materialise.
    1
  12184. Who says there's a link with European security? Or is it media censorship you're after?
    1
  12185. From Jordan? Jordan okays their presence.
    1
  12186.  @mediterraneandiet2483  So to recap, Ukraine wanted to become close with the EU, but Putin overplayed his hand by trying to force a deal down Ukraine's throat, a deal that had the EU make way for his ersatz EU, the Eurasian Economic Union. The Ukrainians revolted against Putin's puppet Yanukovych and Ukraine opted for the EU after restoring order. Out of spite, a cuckolded Putin went to war against Ukraine. What did I miss?
    1
  12187. ​ @Incog2024  Interesting. I want to know if there's method to your madness. What does Russia gain from falsely admitting that it has suffered yet another embarrassing military setback?
    1
  12188. There's a monument in Suomusalmi that commemorates the Ukrainian 44th Regiment, which was destroyed almost to the last man in the Winter War. It's good that you Ukrainians haven't forgotten these victims of war. There must be many more instances where Ukrainians were needlessly sacrificed.
    1
  12189. Russia can't manage its own wars, let alone one with a military heavyweight like Israel.
    1
  12190. There's always the Eurasian Economic Union. It doesn't fit the definition of 'successful' with its biggest economy on the fritz. Besides, attempts to join it didn't go over well with the Ukrainians. The rest is, as they say, history.
    1
  12191.  @Mattdr129  In 2016, the Saudis erronously dropped an Mk 84 on a Yemeni market, killing 97 people. There was a huge crater and the impact zone was swept clean by the blast. Here, how do you explain the tiny crater and the cars that haven't moved much?
    1
  12192.  @Mattdr129  Sure. Huge crater. Try to make a point.
    1
  12193.  @Mattdr129  I was trained in bomb damage assessment by the Americans when with KFOR in Kosovo. In Lebanon, we were shelled by both Hezbollah and the Israelis. You're presenting yourself as somewhat of an authority here, but it's not apparent from anything that you write. Gazan rockets malfunction and veer off course all the time. As a forward observer, I witnessed a mortar bomb land uncomfortably close due to fin damage. Something similar, or the rocket motor cutting out, may have been the case here. Again, you're convincing nobody.
    1
  12194.  @Mattdr129  I highly doubt there will be an independent investigation. Hamas won't allow it. They're cutting their losses.
    1
  12195. Don't be such drama queens. There have been thousands of drone strikes in Afghanistan, and this one concerned ISIS-K, an obscure, isolated terrorist grouping that the real ISIS won't acknowledge. Even the Taliban hunt them down.
    1
  12196. Don't pretend to have known him in your neck of the woods.
    1
  12197.  @katalinkozak9869  Oh, you're from Brabant as well.
    1
  12198.  @katalinkozak9869  Information is literally at your fingertips.
    1
  12199.  @katalinkozak9869  Uh, practically all US ambassadors throughout the world are changed whenever there's a new president. In US thinking, it's a way to reward generous campaign donors. Qualifications are of secondary importance. Inevitably, they end up with non-diplomats in charge, who need on-the-job training from their long-suffering staff. When Trump took office in 2017, he sacked the existing ambassadors, but failed to appoint new ones in a timely fashion. The US diplomatic service was none the worse for wear, because the number twos, who are career diplomats, substituted. I bet their host countries were mighty pleased to deal with professionals for a change.
    1
  12200.  @janb.6194  Als het op Koning Willem-Alexander aankomt om te verhinderen dat Nederland een dictatuur wordt, dan staat democratisch Nederland op wel héél wankele voeten. Trouwens, de helft van de tien meest democratische landen ter wereld zijn republieken. We boffen dat Nederland er (nog) tussen zit, maar de republieken IJsland, Finland, Ierland en Zwitserland scoren beter.
    1
  12201.  @jamesskinner794  Putin's separatist minions in the Donbas consigned the Minsk agreements to the trash heap of history the moment they were signed, as per Putin's orders.
    1
  12202. ..and in doing so, put 20 innocent Brits in hospital. No biggie, eh?
    1
  12203. He keeps ducks and likes T-shirts and sneakers.
    1
  12204.  @daiyumyo  Duh, I don't need any coping mechanisms here. You're asininely assuming that I am israeli, aren't you? I was shelled by the Israelis and shot at by Hezbollah, so I can safely say I harbour no love for either side. So you're claiming that Iran doesn't have a hand in Hezbollah's actions? You are surpremely naive.
    1
  12205. In the meantime, Chinese banks are giving Russia the cold shoulder.
    1
  12206.  @milhouse14  If anyone was one, Jesus was a messianic Jew.
    1
  12207.  @imtiazakand3174  Don't you worry your pretty little head. I'm in the active reserves as we speak. You wouldn't know a thing about that, would you?
    1
  12208. Russia had better start worrying about the war reparations it will have to pay to Ukraine. This isn't helping.
    1
  12209. Humans fighting humans. Who would've thought?
    1
  12210.  @peterrezac881  It says enough that a whopping 72% of a typically fractitious UN General Assembly condemned Russia for invading Ukraine and called for an immediate withdrawal. A measly 3% begged to differ, believing that Russia had a case. The world has spoken.
    1
  12211.  @keithsteele5580  It's interesting to note that Australia's military were happy with the French subs until the politicians decided otherwise. They even forgot to brief the military about their intentions.
    1
  12212.  @Bigliever  Ik kan niet klagen. Ik heb een rijtje lintjes, voor o.a. UNIFIL- en KFOR-deelname. En jij, hoe heb jij je verdienstelijk gemaakt voor de wereldvrede, met gevaar voor eigen leven? Paradoxaal hang je de held uit, maar ik zie enkel lafheid.
    1
  12213. I suppose you have an excellent conspiracy theory why Macron would want to do that. Let's hear it. Please try to work in blood-drinking, shape-shifting Reptilians. WEF is no fun.
    1
  12214. And where did that power go? Not to Putin and Kim, that's for sure.
    1
  12215. And don't forget, -1 in CSTO, Putin's (zombie?) anti-NATO.
    1
  12216.  @KishorTwist  Putin was very worried about NATO expanding. He even tried to forbid it. And, most importantly, he used it as a pretext to invade Ukraine. Keep up with the news.
    1
  12217.  @paul7TM  Scores of nations declared themselves neutral in the run-up to WW2. Didn't help them any.
    1
  12218.  @WarAndThunder-li2iv  You must've missed the memo that NATO is a defensive alliance. Finland would not agree to serve as a staging ground for an (unprovoked) invasion of Russia.
    1
  12219.  @aliquill2252  When you start lecturing, you have know your stuff. ISAF was a NATO op, approved by the UN Security Council, unanimously and many times over. The USA triggered NATO's Article 5, too. There was a small NATO training op in Iraq, too.
    1
  12220.  @aliquill2252  Misleading? Your statement "Afghanistan and Iraq were solely U.S. operations and had nothing to do with NATO" is factually incorrect. We can argue till the cows come home what constitutes an invasion, but I have it from my fellow veterans, with whom I served in Lebanon before they deployed to Aghanistan as part of ISAF, that they won the territory they controlled from the Taleban, incurring casualties on both sides. Theirs was a real shooting war, unlike mine in Lebanon as a UN peacekeeper.
    1
  12221.  @bonnie7898  Sigh. Here are some Wikipedia quotes for you to chew on: "ISAF's primary goal was to train the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and assist Afghanistan in rebuilding key government institutions; it gradually took part in the broader war in Afghanistan against the Taliban insurgency." "The intensity of the combat faced by participating countries varied greatly, with the U.S. sustaining the most casualties overall, while the British, Danish, Estonian, and Georgian forces suffered the most deaths for their size. The Canadian Armed Forces had the highest per-capita casualty rate among coalition members." Firstly, Bonnie, I suggest you do some research before you reply. The signal-to-noise ratio here is bad as it is. Secondly, don't lecture me about the dangers of operating in a conflict area. As a two-tour veteran, I've carried caskets of fallen comrades. I'm painfully aware of the cost.
    1
  12222. Marders are IFVs, not tanks. And why not? The gloves are off.
    1
  12223. I'm sure he sought to emulate Nelson Mandela. Alas, Putin's Russia is worse than South Africa under Apartheid.
    1
  12224. No worries, Israel gets all their new kit. Ukraine gets the old stuff.
    1
  12225. The consequence is that Israel uses totally disproportionate violence and perpetuates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for many, many decades to come.
    1
  12226. Are you talking about Putin's puppet, Yanukovych?
    1
  12227. @leoa1893 What makes you think she represents Europeans as a whole?
    1
  12228. @leoa1893 I asked you first.
    1
  12229. @@leoa1893 I'll say it again: gawd you're obtuse.
    1
  12230. OK, anarchist.
    1
  12231.  @BAba_Jahgga  *empathy ;-)
    1
  12232. More like a teabag, really.
    1
  12233.  @Elo-hv3fw  Keeping Putin on is a choice. Countries have the governments they deserve. Russia in particular.
    1
  12234. And that's a good thing? With a science-sceptic administration, they'll invest abroad instead. Many more cases like Novo Nordisk looming.
    1
  12235. Wrong country, innit?
    1
  12236. Tell us about the incidents. While doing so, please refer to the relevant OSCE reports. You know you can't just make false accusations, right?
    1
  12237. Drones overwhelm air defences by their sheer number. It's not like the Russians came up with the idea. Some of their state-of-the-art AA systems have fallen victim to massed drone attacks in Syria and Libya, launched by Israel and Turkey.
    1
  12238.  @luciusdomitiusaurelianus1024  Try writing books and having them published, too. Your would-be publisher (an entirely hypothetical proposition, I know) wouldn't be keen about your spelling.
    1
  12239.  @davidjones6389  So my hunch was spot on. But don't let me rain on your pride parade.
    1
  12240. China needs to pull itself up by its own bootstraps. Exporting itself out of the doldrums is doubtful.
    1
  12241.  @sapatsuppa  There's the unfounded claim of Ukrainian military aggression against Donbas civilians again. Not even Russian OSCE monitors managed to produce a shred of evidence to that effect.
    1
  12242. It wasn't pretty, but to tyrants bit the dust. They met their end at the hands of their compatriots, too. Tyrants often fall prey to tyrannicide.
    1
  12243.  @mofeedkharoufeh1186  It's a long and winding road from an evil dictatorship to a flourishing democracy. In Libya's case the die had been cast already -- by the Libyans themselves. Trying to contain the violence was the lesser of two evils.
    1
  12244.  @jerzeel1967  Still Murica.
    1
  12245. Oh really. Russia is less capable, Ukraine is larger and has powerful weapons of its own, which means Russia can't unleash its airpower on Ukraine or its airpower would be no more. Russia's impotence doesn't make it more humane.
    1
  12246. Resurfacing without elaborate salvaging equipment is also a desirable feature in a sub. This one is severely lacking in that respect.
    1
  12247.  @hmmmm6685  It wouldn't be relevant, since I'm centre right. In my family, we've proudly fought both fascists and commies. That badge I'll wear proudly.
    1
  12248. Appeasing dictators helps. It worked with Hitler, right? Right?
    1
  12249. An atomised Putin won't be able to enjoy it.
    1
  12250. Problem. The world doesn't seem to agree with you and your Russia.
    1
  12251.  @victorzvyagintsev1325  None of that is in Russia. They're teaching you the wrong sort of geography.
    1
  12252. Hitler vond pacifisme ook heel tof... als het zijn vijanden betrof. Vooroorlogs Nederland zal wel een van zijn favorieten zijn geweest.
    1
  12253. Neither did Russian OSCE SMM monitors.
    1
  12254. In your wet dreams.
    1
  12255. Oh, Russia will pay the piper.
    1
  12256.  @WilhelmKarsten  Poor Wilhelm doesn't know when to stop. Seek help.
    1
  12257.  @billpugh58  Jeez, I'm not desperate and I'm not even British. It's funny how nationalistic fervour leads you folk astray. I was deploring the fact that despite being a pioneer in aviation manufacturing, the Netherlands lost it completely with the demise of Fokker. Nowadays, the biggest contribution of the Netherlands to the aviation industry is producing disposable containers for inflight consumptions. At least the UK managed to cling on -- and to a very lucrative part, too. According to you guys Airbus aircraft come from nowhere, because there's not a single country that makes everything. Likewise, we could argue that the F-35 isn't made anywhere either.
    1
  12258.  @sandervanderkammen9230  No-one's claiming that it is, dear.
    1
  12259.  @sandervanderkammen9230  There we go again. Do you suffer from short-term memory loss, poor reading comphrension, a stuck record, early-onset dementia or all of the above?
    1
  12260.  @sandervanderkammen9230  Oh dear. I wish you could read.
    1
  12261. They're at dumberer already.
    1
  12262. Turkey won't be getting its coveted F-16s if it doesn't.
    1
  12263.  @mekbebtamrat817  What's my interest in US troops in Syria?
    1
  12264.  @mekbebtamrat817  Congrats, I think you just made a terrorist watchlist.
    1
  12265. @LeoA-zm8vf Aw, aren't you cute. What's wrong with my peace scenario? Napoleon got bored in Moscow because the Russians wouldn't offer battle, so he retreated.
    1
  12266.  @Herodotus__  News flash, Ukraine, as a sovereign nation, can join alliances as it sees fit. Likewise, NATO has no right to invade countries that aspire to join CSTO -- although that's tantamount to joining the long-defunct Mickey Mouse Club, but the principle still stands.
    1
  12267.  cornpotato tomato  Sorry to tinkle on your parade, but we've got clean water in abundance. In a pinch, we're self-sufficient in food stuffs, too. As to your boast about Hungary being the real economic engine of Europe, you wouldn't happen to wear a bicorne hat and habitually keep your hand inside your waistcoat? Finally, you should know that calling persons unknown to you "darling" gives the impression that you're raving gay. I don't make the rules...
    1
  12268. ​ cornpotato tomato  Someone's clearly off his meds. I'm sorry, your signal-to-noise ratio is so poor I'll have to block you.
    1
  12269. You should've been born in the age of empires. Now you're just an anachronism.
    1
  12270. Your ruse would be the most elaborate of preparations ever for a simple troop movement. And who says Priggie got to take his mercs to Belarus? I suspect they've been left to the wolves in Russia. Shoigu and Germasimov will use them for cannon fodder in Ukraine.
    1
  12271. The US is no longer considered a full democracy, but rather, a flawed democracy. The Trump phenomenon is both symptomatic and causal.
    1
  12272. If so, you'd think they'd give some to the Houthis, who're doing minor damage to cargo ships in the Red Sea as we speak. Iran's hyperbole about their military tech is legend.
    1
  12273.  @festekj  Navigation systems alone don't cut it. Hitting moving targets with an ASBM requires terminal guidance, where satellites are of little help. Besides, INS is precise enough to bring an ASBM close enough close to its intended target to let terminal guidance take over. Also, it's one thing to hit a lumbering freighter on a fairly predictable course, but quite another to hit a swerving warship that's aware of being targeted and has anti-ballistic missiles for self-protection. You're playing up Iran's military capabilities to fanboyish proportions.
    1
  12274.  @gfys756  The Houthis would need an ICBM to reach me, silly. If you want to add to the discussion, try to offer more than just an unsubstantiated opinion.
    1
  12275. Who do you blame particularly? All eyes are fixed on the UNSC, which is hamstrung by one veto power.
    1
  12276. We think you have a funny accent.
    1
  12277.  @mayankdewli1010  I'll be sure to share your view with the next German that I come across.
    1
  12278. Putin is sitting on the largest nuclear weapon stockpile in the world. And he's already threatened to use it. Twice.
    1
  12279. Greetings back to St. Petersburg. Getting any sleep because of the impending mobilisation?
    1
  12280. fredo1070, I don't know about you, but we've dealt with Russians since times immemorial. Just like my ancestors, I harbour no illusions.
    1
  12281. fredo1070, really. I see you're pedantically trying to teach me your history from the 19th century onwards. Our earliest clashes with the Russians are recorded in Scandinavian runes.
    1
  12282. fredo1070, we, of all people, know whom to worry about, and it always is Russia.
    1
  12283. Putin has already been on the ICC war crimes suspect list for more than a year.
    1
  12284. Yeah, Putin, stop your warmongering. You took your best shot, missed the target, so withdraw already.
    1
  12285. And they let Comical Ali go free.
    1
  12286.  @TrOgaN_  That's not the issue. The question is, would you, by your inaction, enable aggressors? I'm inclined to believe you would.
    1
  12287.  @TrOgaN_  It seems like you've grown a moral fibre after all, since you deleted your latest defeatist comment. Did the ghost of Churchill pay you a visit last night?
    1
  12288. @ceooflonelinessinc.267 Duh. Try to understand the difference between Lebanon and Hezbollah. They're not the same thing. This is Hezbollah's war, not Lebanon's.
    1
  12289. It's always immediately nukes with you. Perhaps Russia can spare a tactical nuke for Helsinki, but the big stuff will be reserved for New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and yes, why not Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as well.
    1
  12290. Grandstanding is not a typical Finnish trait. In fact, the reverse is true. We don't walk the talk, we just walk. Are you even Finnish?
    1
  12291.  @gen.aladeenhandsome3101  There are known neo-Nazis hiding in plain sight in the Russian State Duma. I suggest Putin targets them.
    1
  12292. You'll have to wait till we're finished laughing. It may take a while.
    1
  12293.  @ehsandar5753  What would be the reason for our sorrow? Dirt-cheap holidays in Turkey? Trying to exchange a few left-over Turkish bank notes, and finding out they're as valuable as toilet paper?
    1
  12294. We all know how tatty and threadbare your bear is.
    1
  12295.  @GTfour01  Datzelfde beweer je dus overal. Ik heb het al gezegd: je moet een weerbaarheidstraining voor volwassenen doen. Je moedeloze vriendjes hier ook.
    1
  12296.  @GTfour01  Nee, jij hebt allang opgegeven. Survival of the fittest is mijn "adagio". Daar hoor jij dus niet bij.
    1
  12297. Actually, popular opinion in Germany had already turned against continued UK membership before the Brexit referendum. That doesn't gel with your bitterness theory.
    1
  12298.  @moniho6907  Sadly, you can't manage the grammar part.
    1
  12299. This must be a Russian reversal joke ("In Soviet Russia, the car drives you!").
    1
  12300. Très bien dit.
    1
  12301. Putin sure feels a polar wind blowing down the back of his neck. It won't be long before he needs asylum in China.
    1
  12302. True dat. A prosecutor has an ingrained sense of right and wrong. Trump only has a passing notion.
    1
  12303. Actually, the political right is gaining, not losing, in the Netherlands. Facts are not optional.
    1
  12304. @ Only three emojis? You're losing it.
    1
  12305. @ You're slowly improving.
    1
  12306. @ Have they? Russia's still desperately at it.
    1
  12307. Highly unlikely, but that said, likelihood is of no concern whatsoever to conspiracy theorists such as yourself.
    1
  12308. I guess you're wholly unfamiliar with the military. Name me one that doesn't wield brooms and shovels.
    1
  12309.  @realcontent  Nothing is unclear to me. To all but neophytes -- or those in denial -- it's glaringly obvious that we're dealing with a show of force here.
    1
  12310.  @realcontent  The pioneers of the French Foreign Legion march with aprons and axes. They look more like butchers than soldiers. It must be a thrill to be young. Everything is new and exciting.
    1
  12311.  @soreeyez  No, dum-dum, Russia invaded its neighbour, Ukraine. Please, lay off the vodka -- you only have two brain cells to rub together and you can't afford to lose either.
    1
  12312.  @RadicalEdward_115  The warhead on these is either HE or a shaped charge. Shrapnel belongs to the previous century.
    1
  12313.  @RadicalEdward_115  Shrapnel shells were pretty much replaced by HE fragmentation shells during WW1 already. The media keeps calling HE shell fragments shrapnel, but it isn't so.
    1
  12314.  @RadicalEdward_115 Sorry, I didn't know you were a mindless drone yourself.
    1
  12315.  Kirin Sama  Naively, you think governing a country "islamically" is some guarantee for success. The problem with the Taliban -- based on their five years in power -- is that they have no idea what good governance amounts to. Their ministers were incompetent -- or just absent -- and they couldn't provide even basic services to the populace. Their regime was marked by brutality and totalitarianism -- in fact, it's more accurate to speak of an occupation under the Taliban than under the Americans. If it's any consolation to you, Afghanistan technically remained a failed state under Karzai and Ghani, but what we'll see now is an already severely troubled country going from bad to worse. At least the Americans and the international community as a whole pumped in money to keep the economy going. Now, the economy is grinding to a halt, and the Taliban are going to face an angry urban population with nothing to lose.
    1
  12316.  @EELEEM  Please say it was the Reptilians.
    1
  12317. @Replicant-by1eh What, Zelenskyy isn't amenable to Trump's surrender plan?
    1
  12318. I see you prefer a president-for-life. African much?
    1
  12319. We know Indians like to bathe in the Ganges. Now they're bathing in blood oil.
    1
  12320. Don't get your panties in a bunch, drama queen.
    1
  12321. I think you just made a watchlist.
    1
  12322.  @fawziaanker  Als de kogel die hem heeft geraakt inderdaad werd afgevuurd van 125 meter afstand, dan was het wel een héél riskabel plan van Trump. Als reservist ben ik heel bekend met de AR15, waarvan onze Diemaco is afgeleid, maar ik zou nooit en te nimmer zo'n schampschot wagen.
    1
  12323. Try to guess. Three letters, starts with a U and ends with an A.
    1
  12324. You have to be oh-so pathetic to pretend fighting a bigger force than it actually is. By the way, what's missing from your fairy tales are knights slaying dragons and damsels in distress. Next time, try to incorporate them for even more (melo)dramatic effect.
    1
  12325. There's no Great British Commonwealth. It's not great and it's not British either. And don't like your own posts -- it's yucky.
    1
  12326.  @puraLusa  The UN is a reflection of the disunity in this world of ours. How could it be otherwise?
    1
  12327. That was easy.
    1
  12328. If that's the case, they should send a thank-you letter to Putin that says they couldn't have done it without him. A nice box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers wouldn't go amiss either.
    1
  12329. Is it grand, though? Have you ever tried to make a difference?
    1
  12330.  @ardaarsen  Which of these starts with an "H": Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Turkey?
    1
  12331.  @sandzackasjekira8237  So there's a number of conspiracy theories to choose from. Schweet!
    1
  12332. Does it really matter? Russia's missiles aren't making a dent in Ukraine's resolve. What's for sure is that Russia is out of ideas.
    1
  12333. Ukrainian plane, Ukrainian crew. Sorry for ruining your promising conspiracy theory.
    1
  12334. Iran armed and funded Hamas, and continues to arm and fund Hezbollah and the Houthis. Despite pretences, Iran is not helping, but rather, aggravating the situation in the Middle East. All because Mad Ayatollahs need to stay in power.
    1
  12335. You neglected to mention that exploitation of Dutch gas turned northern Groningen into an active earthquake zone. What's really regrettable is that the Netherlands has been slow to invest in renewable energy to compensate.
    1
  12336.  @N3mdraz  That goes without saying. I'm not disputing Dutch contractual responsibilities. I'm saying that no matter what, the Netherlands needs to up its game in tapping into renewable energy sources. If natural gas -- either from Russia or from eartquake-prone Groningen -- is no longer an option, you'd better find other forms of energy. Crying over spilled milk has never paid off.
    1
  12337.  @N3mdraz  I'm Dutch-born. If you are too, it should've been plenty clear. "The grid doesn't allow it" because the Dutch grid isn't designed for it. It can be redesigned for it. In several countries, the grid is perfectly capable of supporting households that rely 100% on electricity for heating and cooking. Actually, the Estonians understand sustainable forestry perfectly. Moreover, as a EU member, they have no choice.
    1
  12338.  @lesblase3667  Yes, didn't she manage the pandemic wonderfully, all things considered?
    1
  12339.  @nicolaszajaropulos8579  Conspiracy theorist much?
    1
  12340. For the future of the whole of China, Carrie Lam needs to resign. And then Hong Kong needs real democracy. Beijing can try to fight it, but it's a losing battle. The mainland won't be immune either.
    1
  12341.  @sonofthedragon2112  So Hong Kong is saddled with 2 million spoiled brats? Despite your (supposed?) credentials, you're suspiciously unaware of the fact that the protesters represent a cross-section of society. Dismissing them as idle youths just doesn't fly, so you might as well drop the pretense.
    1
  12342. D GE, a war involving NATO would play out as follows: Russia, true to its habits, invades one of its NATO-member neighbours, Article 5 kicks in and Russia's forces are forcibly removed after offering only token resistance, because the outcome is not in doubt. All nuclear powers keep their arsenals in reserve, just in case, but no one dares to give cause for a nuclear escalation. Russia, with its economy already in dire straits, won't bankrupt itself trying to match a US nuclear build-up in a renactment of the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia will make a hullabaloo about modernising and bolstering its nuclear arsenal, but instead slightly ups its investment in conventional weapons, because they matter. Nukes make sense for a superpower, but not for a hasbeen or wannabe like Russia. China, a true superpower in the making, on the other hand matters. The Americans make no secret of China's omission in the current INF treaty. How's the weather in St. Petersburg, by the way?
    1
  12343.  @hansdekorver7365  Wat, wordt je bang als je alleen bent? De huidige Republiek Karelië heeft een grotere bevolking dan Malta. Met de Karelische landengte erbij streeft Karelië Luxemburg voorbij.
    1
  12344. You're justifying terrorism. Radicalisation happens, but it shouldn't be condoned.
    1
  12345. More like CDU/CSU, wie gewöhnlich.
    1
  12346.  @ometriaslong3069  I wasn't aware Julian Assange had been assassinated. Anyhoo, your beef appears to be with the US. They're no leader in democracy, nor press freedom. And what's with the whataboutism -- you seem content with proving that Russia sucks less.
    1
  12347. If wars were decided on TikTok, Ukraine would be consumed by worry. Otherwise, no.
    1
  12348. The fifth coup d'etat for Niger. How's that working out for you?
    1
  12349. But for unexplained reasons, it's keeping them under wraps?
    1
  12350.  @stygianfug6322  By your logic we could kill Russians at random, because they've supported Putin in the past.
    1
  12351.  @ssuwandi3240  Whoever, cheeky or not. Whoever can give you material for your increasingly desperate propaganda efforts.
    1
  12352.  @cahayalensa8854  Russia is no state to attack Finland after the drubbing it's taken in Ukraine. When Ukraine has kicked the Orcs out, Russia won't be a match for the Swiss Guard of Vatican City.
    1
  12353.  @deanpd3402  You'll find that Islam was in Lebanon almost from the very start, when the whole religion came about. And the Maronite Christians don't get off scot-free either in Lebanon's transformation into a de-facto failed state.
    1
  12354. That's debatable. Militarily, the Russians were worse off, to say nothing of the far-reaching political consequences. The Soviet-Afghan War is considered to have contributed to the collapse of the USSR.
    1
  12355.  @miabartini6056  I understand your bitterness. Serbia need not apply.
    1
  12356.  @miabartini6056  You're funny. The IMF considers Serbia a developing country. EU membership has worked out rather well for the Baltic states, to name a few examples. They're not exactly behemoths population-wise. Of course, you've got to be industrious and clever, since the EU only gives you a leg up. Serbia will blame anyone but itself for its failures.
    1
  12357.  @miabartini6056  Good luck joining Putin's Euroasian Economic Union then. It's a better fit for you in all regards, subpar economic performance included. And blaming others is par for the course.
    1
  12358. Is this like the 2014-2022 OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in the Donbas? Not a single Russian claim of indiscriminate targeting of civilians could be corroborated. Yet your lot still goes on about Western media failing to report these fabrications.
    1
  12359. @Kasper He cowardly deleted his reply, too.
    1
  12360. Trump likes to nix deals made by previous presidents. Including his very own.
    1
  12361.  @AahFukIt  OK, troll.
    1
  12362.  @gary8306  What empire? Are you aware it's 2023 and not 1823?
    1
  12363.  Nehemiah Scudder  Not really. The Chinese government has lavished money on Huawei, distorting competition in the process. However, it looks like their investment isn't paying off. That being said, countries like the US can't blame their backwardness in 5G on unfair competition. US telecom infra companies lost the plot a long time ago.
    1
  12364. In that case, he needn't bother to come. Boris Johnson is filling the niche already.
    1
  12365. You can't see further than the end of your nose, eh? While there's no direct financial impact from Eurostar going bankrupt, the indirect consequences are far-reaching. But if you view tourism as something distasteful and you don't mind London losing even more of its lustre as a financial centre, go ahead and ignore the problem. That's what you Brexiteers excel at. If the UK doesn't step in now, I'm sure we'll see a Global Britain Express operating the Chunnel service in the future -- heavily subsidised and 100% owned by the UK.
    1
  12366. Let's have a border poll and it's sorted.
    1
  12367.  @TruthTeller8888  Yet parliamentary democracies tend to be best-in-class. Have a gander at the Democracy Index. Presidential systems tend to fare worse. I mean, the US is in 28th place and it's categorised as a flawed democracy. Canada is judged twice as good in 14th place. Full democracy, too.
    1
  12368. It's no wonder considering that a sizable part of the Hongkongers either defected from Communist China themselves or are direct descendants of such defectors. Once again, they're under the Communists' thumb.
    1
  12369. OK, drama queen, it clearly says 100 kilometres. And Rovajärvi is an old artillery practice range.
    1
  12370.  @jorryaime5249  Actually, Russia is a rather lacklustre fire fighter. They let their forest fires burn out rather than nip them in the bud.
    1
  12371. Don't be so one-sided. Who else is on Syrian territory? Their names start with an I and an R.
    1
  12372.  @spiritualanarchist8162  3.4% is the official figure for 2019.
    1
  12373.  @hicrhodushicsalta6648  Right. But she's Czech-born and hence, unelectable.
    1
  12374.  @ottz2506  Butt out then.
    1
  12375. The bigger centre-right isn't part of this, so keep looking.
    1
  12376.  @cte4dota  What does "crapy" mean?
    1
  12377.  @cte4dota  I think your "crapy" means that you, as one of Putin's lapdogs, felt a spontaneous urge to yap at Murica. Any excuse will do. Relevance is of no importance. Shoo, icky troll.
    1
  12378. Sure. In 2002, Iraq's election commission declared Saddam Hussein the winner of a presidential referendum. The turnout was 100% and the result was 100% in favour of Saddam. Four years later, the Iraqis decided to give him the long drop.
    1
  12379. @Bessie Hillum Don't flatter yourselves. All of the EU's net payers are in the same position. As a high-tech country with a positive trade balance, our difference is more than made up in the form of increased exports. You Brits took all that for granted, and now you're in for a rude surprise.
    1
  12380.  @Ephys  Reading comprehension is not your strong suit.
    1
  12381.  @Ephys  You need to reread my initial comment. G-r-o-u-n-d p-r-e-s-s-u-r-e and h-p p-e-r t-o-n. If that still doesn't ring a bell, imagine a pointy-toed ballerina and a burly skinhead wearing Dr. Martens standing in the mud. Who is lighter? But who will sink deeper? We actually operate the Leopard 2 in the arctic tundra, and before that, we operated the T-72. I'm merely attached to a tank brigade as a reserve signals officer, but I've heard no one demand the T-72 back.
    1
  12382.  @Ephys  Ukrainian soil is not Russian soil. So, your argumentation comes down to "trust me bro" and nothing else. In your little bubble, laws of nature don't apply.
    1
  12383.  @Ephys  In your exuberance, you forgot how to string together a sentence in English.
    1
  12384.  @factsoverfear9771  Stop whatabouting. Putler and Satanyahu are raining down missiles on innocent civilians. There's a valid analogy for you.
    1
  12385.  @fsxmantra  Aw, you immediately play the victim card when China comes under scrutiny. So fragile, you are.
    1
  12386.  @alexsilent5603  Russia is officially an authoritarian regime, like China, like North Korea. Sham elections don't change the fact.
    1
  12387. The Ukrainian counter-offensives around Kharkiv and Kherson went very well, don't you think? Russia can only dream of such breakthroughs.
    1
  12388.  @max16411  You struggle to make sense.
    1
  12389.  @314murdacapitall  By the looks of it, you'll have to excuse yourselves to fight ACW2.
    1
  12390. Russia or no Russia, OPEC is on the losing side of history, so they've got basically nothing to lose.
    1
  12391. @Craig Steddy Yeah, by letting OPEC quietly slip into irrelevance.
    1
  12392.  @rasmusgustavsson3426  We were discussing the Baltic Sea and you suddenly brought up Norway, as if it had a Baltic Sea coastline. You might as well have brought up the US Pacific Fleet. The Finnish Navy does not have destroyers. Its blue-water offensive capabilities are limited to missile boats, minelayers and minesweepers. Since you clearly struggle with naval terminology, let me add that Sweden's corvettes are a class above missile boats.
    1
  12393.  @rasmusgustavsson3426  Again, Finland has no destroyers. If you still insist otherwise, name them. Sure, destroyers have operated in the Baltic Sea and will, too, for the foreseeable future. However, they're not the best or only option for all nations with a Baltic Sea coastline. It's interesting that you purport to be a naval warfare expert, but you can't even tell destroyers and missile boats apart. Fanboy much?
    1
  12394.  @rasmusgustavsson3426  Haha, the fanboy is triggered. Non-sensical non sequiturs, that's all you're good for.
    1
  12395.  @iatsd  We've got skis.
    1
  12396.  @pleaseignore3055  He was referring to the absurdity of being expected to skewer fellow human beings like a medieval pikeman. My grandfather was a machine gunner, which meant that his team accounted for a lot of Soviets, but in that respect his foremost concern was their immense ammunition expenditure, him being a shopkeeper in civilian life. Getting up close and eye-to-eye with someone you're going to kill is something else still. Cold-blooded murder, he called it.
    1
  12397. Because nuclear proliferation is obviously not a good thing? Also, in North Korea's case, it saps the lifeblood out of an already poor country. Plus they destabilise the whole region.
    1
  12398. You're projecting.
    1
  12399.  @zelgeth  In international parlance, republic and democracy are not in the least bit mutually exclusive. Republic means simply not having a monarch as a (titular) head of state. In our lifetimes, we'll see a slew of democratic monarchies turn into democratic republics as their populaces will grow bored with their royals. Politically, they'll be non-events, because nothing will change.
    1
  12400.  @zelgeth  You wrote that the US has "republican traits". In an international context, the only republican trait is not having a monarch for a (titular) head of state, but rather, a president. Also, true to form, you give the impression that having a constitution is somehow exceptional for a country. Not having one is exceptional.
    1
  12401.  @mksensej8701  Since like ever. There are hundreds of cargo airlines. This one happens to be Ukrainian.
    1
  12402. Whoa, Trump trumps even Russia in victimhood.
    1
  12403. Russian and Soviet SIGINT vessels have been plying Baltic waters for ages, and as long as they remain in international waters, there's little that can be done about it. There's an interesting video about one such vessel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pMiLc0hh6E&t=184s
    1
  12404. So you just threw that out there, hoping that someone will prove your theory right, whilst you have no clue?
    1
  12405.  @SuperG4ndo  There's no new currency here. This is a new version of an existing one, the euro. In essence, it's a more streamlined version of Google Pay and the like.
    1
  12406. Did you think this will mark the first trade war between the EU and the US? Incidentally, China will be hit worse. China is very much hoping to export its way out of its economic doldrums. And no one really wants to be friends with Russia. Friends don't take advantage of one another, like China does.
    1
  12407. That was the whole point of the suspension -- Russia lacking an anti-doping agency that could be trusted to send properly tested athletes to the games. Even with individual athletes being invited to participate, it was a blanket ban, but ultimately Russia, as a state,  bears the responsibility. I hope they've learnt their lesson.
    1
  12408. Actually, global warming increases the likelihood of heavy snowfall. As the atmosphere heats up, it holds more moisture. In the winter, the moisture comes down as snow. Keep learning.
    1
  12409. Controversial as he may be, Musk has done untold damage to Putin's imperialist plans with Starlink. Put that in your pipe, Mr. Krembot, and smoke it.
    1
  12410. He's had twenty years, and he's run Turkey into the ground economically. You want to him to prove his incompetence for a little while longer?
    1
  12411. Give over, the breaking party -- the UK -- has already admitted to breaking international law.
    1
  12412.  @royrj5517  Relevance?
    1
  12413.  @normanleighton6526  Irrelevant. When the UK -- or any other nation for matter -- signs an international agreement, it is presumed that in case said agreement breaches domestic laws, the signatories amend their laws accordingly. The UK must've done so umpteen times while still a EU member and surely will continue to do so while not. If you're not happy with certain aspects of the WA, you re-negotiate them. Unilateral action is inadvisable if you value your reputation as a credible partner.
    1
  12414.  @zoipuii5993  Vladimir Putin! What did I win?
    1
  12415.  @dm5129  Miserable is the word. Russia used to co-sanction North Korea on account of the hermit kingdom's nuclear shenanigans. Now Russia cannot afford such morals any longer. In fact, Putin has stooped to copying North Korea with his incessant nuclear sabre-rattling.
    1
  12416.  @andreandree4384  No one's laughing, clown boy.
    1
  12417. @Laika24102007 Als historicus ben ik meer vergeten over Eisenhower dan jij ooit over hem te weten komt. Het in één adem vermelden van het militair-industrieel complex en de Holocaust is heel wapperig van jou. Laten we het hierbij laten, want ik heb geen tijd voor wappies.
    1
  12418.  @inso80  The Challenger 2 and the Finns' Leopard 2 use different types of ammo. The Brits are switching to the Challenger 3 for better NATO commonality.
    1
  12419. ECOWAS has been tipped to win the Nobel Peace Prize. They certainly have their work cut out for them.
    1
  12420. That's a mirror moment for you then.
    1
  12421.  @Monatio79  In 1913, Pedro Lascurain was Mexico's president for 45 minutes.
    1
  12422.  @Monatio79  Monarchs and presidents aren't really comparable. Unless you're talking about Putin, that is.
    1
  12423.  @constantinenm  I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we're not dependent on Russian energy. We've known for eons that Russia isn't to be trusted. And now our fellow Europeans know as well. Enjoy poverty.
    1
  12424.  @ronnrd5937  Thank you for asking, but no, no major problems here. We're blessed with robust economies and welfare states that take care of the less fortunate. How about you? You think we'll soon be sending humanitarian aid to Russia? I remember only too well when we did, in the nineties. Quite a show that was, us sending basic necessities to the Workers' Paradise. Just out of interest, which colonies are you alluding to? Are you sure you've got the right century? If you're talking about the 21st century, I suppose the UK and France would like to get rid of their few remaining microcolonies, but the colonised aren't keen on the idea. Something about losing benefits.
    1
  12425.  @glintongordon6811  They're not British ADIZ, are they?
    1
  12426.  @glintongordon6811  So you failed to make your point. Gotya.
    1
  12427.  @KevinMcgovern-c1d  We have reserve supplies for emergencies. They stood us in good stead, too, when Covid-19 broke out. Besides, the Russians will be wary of sending nukes our way, because otherwise, they'll be treated to their very own fall-out. And unlike ours, their civil defence sucks.
    1
  12428. Google Translate failed you there.
    1
  12429. I don't think Baby Bush and his merry band of neocons had a clue when they embarked on their infamous Iraqi adventure that eventually sparked off the whole refugee crisis. Don't fall for conspiracy theories, be it for or against the EU.
    1
  12430. Russia has stooped to causing misschief. Like an ill-behaved child, it can't get positive attention, so it settles for negative attention.
    1
  12431.  @OBrasilo  Yup, you got that right. I was going for reductio ad absurdum.
    1
  12432.  @reshmithramesh7110  Perhaps you should try to lecture me. OK, I'll do the honours to spare you from embarrassment. NATO entered Afghanistan with the blessing of the UN Security Council. By then, the Taliban was already licking its wounds in Pakistan. Similarly, there was a UNSC-approved training mission in Iraq between 2004 and 2011. We're talking mere hundreds of instructors. In Syria, NATO hasn't had any missions. Facts are a biatch, eh?
    1
  12433. Russia doesn't know what to do with Ukraine, so why make more enemies it can't deal with either?
    1
  12434. Weapons or no weapons, Slovakia is stabbing Ukraine in the back.
    1
  12435. Why don't you ask your MP to raise the issue in parliament and have India send more UN peacekeepers, in addition to the 903 (ineffective?) Indian ones already in Lebanon? You could join them, too. Think global, act local!
    1
  12436. Usually, there are grave errors in the registration papers or the prospective candidate is found to have dodged taxes or whatnow. Or the riot police come and "supervise" supporters who queue up to endorse the candidate with their signatures. I'm surprised Putin hasn't fallen victim to such shenanigans. Is democracy is improving in Russia?
    1
  12437.  @PasscodeAdvance  Sure, China's trying, but the king isn't helping. On the contrary.
    1
  12438. Don't be a drama queen. They're no more slaves than German workers in general. I wouldn't be surprised if the future offspring of a Kenyan immigrant makes chancellor of Germany one day. Barack Obama reached the top spot in the US.
    1
  12439.  @waitingforapril  Thank you recounting the news and conceding that it's not an annexation, because territory did not change hands. At least three media outlets were quicker to the draw than you, I'm afraid.
    1
  12440.  @waitingforapril  I'll clarify. You wrote: "Us [sic] already got the Panama Canal". I'll graciously assume that with "Us" you actually meant the United States of America. Fact is, Panama remains a sovereign country and it has "got" the Panama Canal. Blackrock got only two Panama Canal ports. Indeed, it must be a language issue. You had one language...
    1
  12441. You're hard-coping. Since the start of the "SMO", Russia has seen a veritable exodus, numbering 900,000 Russians according to estimates. You can try and deny any correlation with conscription or mobilisation, but there's no doubt whatsoever that Putin's illegal war of aggression lies at the core of this exodus.
    1
  12442. @male princess In contrast, dictatorships control -- or rather, suppress -- everyone. And what prevents them from going Nazi?
    1
  12443.  @uncleadi  Why not? Trump's puppeteers had their strings cut.
    1
  12444.  @uncleadi  Oh, I have plenty of options. Mine are (I have three nationalities) all true multi-party democracies.
    1
  12445. I thought you unsubscribed.
    1
  12446.  @JayWill-o4y  So, if Andorra declares war on the USA tomorrow, and hasn't been beaten the day after tomorrow (because the letter is still in the mail), it's unbeatable?
    1
  12447. Elon Musk says it can. Has Rogozin's hubris rubbed off on you?
    1
  12448. Oh, there will be Russian freebies all right.
    1
  12449. Do you honestly think the haters wouldn't find another excuse, something unrelated to religion? Haters will hate.
    1
  12450. If you're suicidal, you should seek professional help.
    1
  12451. You can't see the forest for the missiles.
    1
  12452. Lots of friends with benefits there, too.
    1
  12453. I suppose there's no betting agency in the world that's willing to take bets on China's next president.
    1
  12454. We're all liable. Dodgy drugs drive up the cost of healthcare, and at the end of the day, we're all paying.
    1
  12455.  @starmole5000  Don't do straw man attacks. They're puerile.
    1
  12456. Let me guess, those unmentionable "obvious reasons" are racist in nature?
    1
  12457. The EU has no unified stance on the conflict, sport.
    1
  12458. De Eerste Kamer heeft niet zoveel in de pap te brokken.
    1
  12459.  @611jrj  Moeilijk.
    1
  12460. So you're a fanboy of coup plotters.
    1
  12461. Your victim card is well-worn.
    1
  12462. Nomen est omen.
    1
  12463. ...and go bankrupt?
    1
  12464.  Angie S  ...and take the CCP with him.
    1
  12465. Putin's taste for empire-building would be highly detrimental to the UK. It would be like offering a recovering alcoholic a drink.
    1
  12466. That was the Soviet-Afghan War.
    1
  12467.  @natakhomyakova6996  I can spot several problems with your English, too. Glass houses...
    1
  12468.  @natakhomyakova6996  You struggle with capitalisation and punctuation for starters. Your grammar and spelling are nothing to write home about either. So, where did I err?
    1
  12469.  @natakhomyakova6996  Can do. I charge 140€ an hour.
    1
  12470.  @natakhomyakova6996  I thought as much, with your foreign currency exchange woes and all. Oh, you do need more English tuition. Proper capitalisation still eludes you.
    1
  12471.  @natakhomyakova6996  Try exchanging your roubles for reals. It reminds me of the times when I visited Leningrad. The "unofficial" exchange rate was much preferred to the official one. Now it's the reverse, except the preferred official rate is somehow unavailable.
    1
  12472.  @natakhomyakova6996  Now I'm starting to think your shortcomings aren't just linguistic in nature, but intellectual as well. It's a fact that the rouble is no longer a freely exchangeable currency. You must be aware of the draconian capital controls imposed by the Kremlin. Therefore, the exchange rate of the rouble is as artificial as it was in Soviet times.
    1
  12473.  @natakhomyakova6996  Maybe you're not dumb, but just playing dumb, meaning you're in denial. Then again, that doesn't speak highly of your intellect either.
    1
  12474. Yup, Taiwan needs a restraining order against China, too.
    1
  12475. Strict about what exactly?
    1
  12476.  @ariehamm241  I don't think Starmer is keen on either, since the UK never was a member of Schengen or the Eurozone.
    1
  12477.  @ariehamm241  The Eurozone in particular is a membership thing, so that's not on the table.
    1
  12478. I don't quite understand the logic behind Trump's claim. Is he saying he's a democrat?
    1
  12479.  Stratos I  Next, you're going to argue that the preparation for Operation Barbarossa was nothing more than a playful attempt to get into the Guinness Book of Records with the largest picnic ever.
    1
  12480.  @agesilausii7759  Didn't Russia down an airplane carrying civilians, too? Your point?
    1
  12481. Sure, why not? When I was with UNIFIL, we clashed with Hezbollah regularly. What's the conspiracy theory here, vrind?
    1
  12482.  @klassjogren831  The law is very clear on which acts constitute treason. Political dissent isn't one of them. Otherwise every politician would end up hanged, drawn and quartered. You're not a democrat, you're a would-be dictator yourself.
    1
  12483. Nice conspiracy theory. Russia has its anti-NATO in the CSTO, but that one may have gone defunct after the Armenia debacle. Anyhoo, none of the US's neighbours is eager to join, so we're hypothesizing. I guess the US would have to grin and bear it.
    1
  12484. Be that as it may, but they clearly struggle with selecting their leaders and formulating their demands...
    1
  12485. Woah, your Caps Lock got stuck there.
    1
  12486. But they never seem to run out of dominoes, do they? Israel had better try something else, or Hamas will come back like a bad rash.
    1
  12487. ​ @janvandermeer6159  Simmer down. You sold off your Leopards for a prikkie, even though you would've needed them more than ever.
    1
  12488. So you think Murica is the one upholding democracy worldwide? Yours is a flawed democracy, overtaken by many.
    1
  12489.  @Damnmac1  Don't flatter yourselves. Murica cares little about democracy in foreign lands. Destabilizing democracies has been your thing.
    1
  12490.  @Damnmac1  No it isn't. We Europeans, for instance, swear by the parliamentary system. The first parliamentary government, in the Netherlands, came about 200 years before there was a United States. Granted, universal suffrage wasn't in the picture then, but you weren't exactly pioneers there either. Laggards, more like.
    1
  12491. There's strength in adversity and apathy in adversity. The latter applies to Russia. Don't mistake apathy for strength.
    1
  12492. You'd think the Taliban created this humanitarian crisis. Biden couldn't stop it, but neither could Trump, Obama and Dubya.
    1
  12493. Trump appears to buy into the Russian propaganda that NATO is to blame for the war in Ukraine. What a sad 'Mitläufer' the USA has become.
    1
  12494.  @lilacer6841  The US is deemed a "flawed democracy", just like Brazil. On a national level, the EU dominates the list of the world's top democracies. As the sole supranational union in the world, there's no democratic comparison for the EU as a whole.
    1
  12495.  @realperson6713  And what does our resident Z-bot base his assessment of democracies on?
    1
  12496.  @K-qm3dn  141 countries voted in favour of a UNGA resolution that demanded a full Russian withdrawal from Ukraine. 5 countries were against the resolution. I would say the odds are heavily stacked against Russia in this one.
    1
  12497. Have pity. The Russians have nothing else going for them than nukes.
    1
  12498. Didn't Russia already try that, only to fail miserably?
    1
  12499.  @WednesdayFin86  There's a DMZ of sorts between the border checkpoints. Have you been? I have. Korea, too.
    1
  12500.  @TheKakan1337  You have a unique definition of "defensive war". The reality, however, is that a very clear majority of UN members regards Russia as a military aggressor. Yours is a very small minority. Good to hear from a Russia sympathizer that you think Russia isn't able to produce weapons of its own. I wish it were true. But we'll get there eventually. For your info, the EU is not extending loans, but donating funds -- and weapons -- to Ukraine. Don't make up stories
    1
  12501.  @daeph123  Ah, you wish to pass judgement. Also, don't forget to pass judgement about Ceuta and Melilla.
    1
  12502. Non sequitur.
    1
  12503. Rusty? Didn't they teach you in Soviet Russia that both combustion and oxidation produce rust? Jeez, you're in dire need of an education.
    1
  12504.  @constantinenm  Let me get over there and I'll get back to you.
    1
  12505.  @danielpinter993  You conspiracy theorists are insistent. Why don't you just concentrate on exposing Reptilians?
    1
  12506. Russians must be re-enactors then, re-enacting battles of yore. They can't win otherwise.
    1
  12507. Why, Ukraine has managed several successful counteroffensives. The 2022 Battle of Kharkiv, where Russia was routed, must be their crowning achievement. Panicked Russian troops fled the battlefield. In the military, it doesn't get more embarrassing than that.
    1
  12508. UNCLOS says it's not Yemeni "territory". Secondly, the Houthis are officially rebels. They don't represent Yemen.
    1
  12509. A think tank with 16 million experts -- they calls themselves the Finns and the Swedes -- have pondered about NATO membership for decades. Now a clear majority is saying: "Let's do this".
    1
  12510. So, where have you, in your honest opinion, failed? I'm conveniently assuming that you're not an extraterrestrial.
    1
  12511. @ You're conveniently missing the point. What's your explanation for your country's failure at the UN?
    1
  12512.  @W_Bin  Boris? Are trying to address me? OK, Zoix 15B, you must be an extraterrestrial because your country (is there such a concept on your planet?) is evidently not a member of the UN.
    1
  12513. You voted for call-up papers. Watch your mail.
    1
  12514.  @jackuzi8252  It's irrelevant when the mobile networks in Russia start breaking down. The big three, Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia, have all but stopped network equipment sales to Russia.
    1
  12515.  @ibrahimtouman2279  Don't live in your little fantasies. Huawei can't sell its network equipment in Russia, not because of the sanctions imposed directly on Huawei by the US, but because of the sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and the EU. If you knew the mobile telecoms industry, you'd know that jointly, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei hold the bulk of the patents. If Huawei were to supply sanctioned technology to Russia, it would lose its worldwide business altogether. Unlike the Russians, the Chinese are shrewd businessmen.
    1
  12516.  @jackuzi8252  It doesn't work that way with telco-grade network equipment. You must be referring to cheapie home/office networking kit, your TP-Links and some such.
    1
  12517.  @travellerstoryteller  You should do number 1 in the toilet as well.
    1
  12518.  @davekp6773  Point being? Having lived in SEA, I can vouch that the locals were, by and large, appreciative of what the Brits did.
    1
  12519.  @sergueivergounov1961  The arms race bankrupted the Soviet Union. Russia won't fare any better.
    1
  12520.  @pineapplesareyummy6352  Right. So you're saying China and Russia don't employ political puppets to sway foreign masses, because it's not cricket. Even so, they have no misgivings about employing crude methods such as assassinations and abductions. Maybe they should retaliate in kind, if only to get even. Or could it be that the Russian and Chinese spymasters know, just like you and I know, that political puppetry is ineffective.
    1
  12521.  @mboihk3796  The frustration is all yours. You're frustrated as to how to explain the popular discontent manifesting itself in Russia and Hong Kong. At a loss of convincing explanations that skirt the obvious one, you blame foreign actors. Pathetic. Sure, we Westerners are outspoken about just about everything. No one gets spared. In comparison, you're shamefully apathetic.
    1
  12522. ​ @mboihk3796  What a weak retort, "kid".
    1
  12523.  @googane7755  I refuse to believe that. Arab countries can permit themselves to be 110% behind the Palestinians, but we have to look at things more objectively. We can't tolerate terrorism no matter what, hence the support for Israel's efforts to stamp it out. That being said, we needn't support Israel counter-terrorising the Gazans as a whole either. Speaking of objectivity, I think you're selective in what you choose to believe. Binary thinking isn't good for your objectivity.
    1
  12524. You may want to make your nationality known so Putin can invade your country. Putin needs to chalk up a victory, and with his army depleted, the easier the better.
    1
  12525.  @potheed29  Offended? No, but I would be ashamed if it would transpire that we're compatriots.
    1
  12526. The US has a two-war doctrine, as in being able to fight two simultaneous major conflicts. That requires more percentage points of defence spending than just containing Putin's Orcs, i.e. NATO's raison d'etre, which is Europe's first and foremost concern. Actually, Donald Rumsfeld wanted the additional capability to embark on 4 military adventures simultaneously, too. Since the ones he did embark on quickly turned into unpopular wars, I'm not sure if the doctrine still holds. Dubya's and Rumsfeld's non-NATO escapade in Iraq was a bit of a downer.
    1
  12527.  @tdestroyer4780  AK47s and Molotov cocktails are hardly modern.
    1
  12528. You're the type than can't walk and chew gum at the same time.
    1
  12529. You're setting the bar low.
    1
  12530. The proper conjugation of the verb lose eludes you.
    1
  12531. Lukashenko had a premonition and sleeping pills aren't cutting it.
    1
  12532. 'Prompting calls' doesn't imply he's a new target. The man just drew a bigger bullseye on himself.
    1
  12533. You're just poorly informed. The ICC is investigating Netanyahu, and an arrest warrant is reportedly in the works. Keep up with the news.
    1
  12534.  @benyou406  Norway was at peace from 1814 till 1940 -- well over a century. Still, Nazi Germany invaded. But I concur with your self-diagnosis that you are very confused.
    1
  12535.  @benyou406  You're not the sharpest pencil in the cup, are you? Analogies appear to be way above your head.
    1
  12536.  @distorteduzi  Right. Democracy, or the lack of it, seems to be at the core of Hungary's problems. Hungary is falling foul of the Copenhagen Criteria, and hence should be booted out of the EU.
    1
  12537.  @chrisjoseph6466  What makes you think the NATO signatories haven't destroyed their stockpiles? They would not be in compliance had they failed to do so.
    1
  12538.  @chrisjoseph6466  Ukraine hasn't signed up to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and neither has the US. If Ukraine wants to use them on its own soil to throw back an invader, they're perfectly within their rights. The rest of NATO has no legal grounds to contest the decision, period.
    1
  12539. Let me guess, democracy is still a relatively unknown concept to you?
    1
  12540.  @unter1103  So, how do you rank in the Democracy Index? Be honest.
    1
  12541.  @unter1103  Have a look at the Democracy Index. You'll get a pretty good idea.
    1
  12542. Isn't poutine French-Canadian fast food?
    1
  12543.  @akwan4376  Weapons age and ammunition has a limited shelf-live. We'd dispose of them if they weren't put to use -- good use in Ukraine's case. Besides, if weapons were self-aware, they'd rejoice at finally fulfilling their destiny: blowing Orcs to kingdom come.
    1
  12544. Serbians are brown now? Bots are not blessed with a brain.
    1
  12545. In other words, THE END IS NIGH! Did you lose your your place on the street corner?
    1
  12546. Yup, you might learn something.
    1
  12547. This spells doom for the CSTO -- if indeed it's still alive.
    1
  12548. Because you're a known Krembot, I suppose.
    1
  12549.  @robinlillian9471  These so-called pigs have no means of propulsion of their own. They are pushed ahead by the gas flowing through the pipeline. There gas been no gas flowing in either Nord Stream pipeline for some time.
    1
  12550.  Daxue Zhuge  Russia exercising its right to self-defence implies that NATO attacked Russia. Also, don't you think Russia picked the wrong country to attack? Ukraine is not in NATO. Colour revolutions appear to break out spontaneously. They can be externally supported, but not instigated. Of course, dictators and party dictatorships need an external scapegoat, because it's beyond embarrassing to admit that their own people want to see the back of them.
    1
  12551.  Daxue Zhuge  By the same token NATO should have attacked Belarus for joining CSTO, right? What's good for the goose is good for the gander, eh? Putin can draw lines with his red crayon to his heart's content, but that still doesn't give him the right to unilaterally define spheres of influence.
    1
  12552.  @johnnyparallax7321  Let's not be so pre-occupied with the US all the time. It's like your tiny minds can't think of anything else. Not only that, you're reinforcing the Americans' belief that everything is always about them.
    1
  12553.  @johnnyparallax7321  Why-oh-why would it hurt my feelings? I have no dog in your eternal fight with the US. You merely bore me.
    1
  12554. Terrorist organisation -- (seemingly) civilised country. Spot the difference?
    1
  12555. Simple-pimple. If they apply for asylum, they're not illegals.
    1
  12556. Duh. These Western mouthpieces don't want their sources to smack onto the pavement with fatal consequences.
    1
  12557. The UN has very little clout, especially with select permanent members of the Security Council sabotaging the UN with their vetoes. The UN's "autocratic" governance is not the problem. The problem is the lack of effective governance in general.
    1
  12558. He'll negotiate with Putin. Zelenskyy has been very clear about that. But Putin won't negotiate till he's got something to show for his disastrous Ukrainian adventure.
    1
  12559.  @mariusmatei2946  If you were "some 'specialist'", you'd know coalition governments don't sit well with the French. Now off with you.
    1
  12560.  @mariusmatei2946  Pray tell, how am I in the wrong spot?
    1
  12561.  @mariusmatei2946  Idioms aren't your thing. I suspect it was already apparent from my initial comment.
    1
  12562.  @mariusmatei2946  What on earth might you be referring to? Tell me, who do you take me for?
    1
  12563.  @mariusmatei2946  Don't try to be enigmatic. It just reveals your ignorance.
    1
  12564. ​ @mariusmatei2946  Gawd, I hate explaining witticisms. In the run-up to the election, the New Popular Front was very combative, and not only towards their arch-enemy, the RN, but also, towards Ensemble. Hence, burned bridges. There's another expression, of which you're apparently oblivious, that goes "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it". NPF will find its bridges burned. It will have to rebuild the obvious one, but as I already hinted, French politicians aren't experienced bridge-builders. Now, you had a preconceived notion about my nationality. Let's hear it.
    1
  12565.  @mariusmatei2946  Duh, the NPF won the election and has dibs on trying to forge a coalition government. If it helps you any, the other blocs are equally inexperienced at forming coalitions. It's not the French way. The sad truth is that you lack the intelligence to understand subtle witticisms, let alone the political process in France. So, where am I from? Don't chicken out. You were so sure just a while ago.
    1
  12566.  @Soulmillionairefx  If you make an accusation, the onus is on you to provide evidence. Don't be lazy now.
    1
  12567.  @Niklez7  Russia can't mobilise because it's already struggling to keep its war economy ticking over. And it's not just about pouring hapless Russians into the meat grinder in Ukraine, but also, Russia is losing two to three times as many as draft dodgers. That ratio will only grow when Muscovites and Petersburgians, who've been spared so far, receive their call-up papers. I don't know how we can accommodate that many asylum seekers.
    1
  12568.  @huhujojo1968  I see you have a very vivid imagination on you. Unfortunately, it doesn't help your debating skills any.
    1
  12569. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before you'll start whining about the unfairness of it all. Only the whining is a constant.
    1
  12570.  @UCRWolGtUw8vhH_in_GNn75A  Israel has just ensured that the conflict will endure for another 30 or so years. No doubt you'll feel happy about it. I take it you have never served in a conflict zone?
    1
  12571. Get a room.
    1
  12572. @Shoe Fan There aren't enough vaccines to vaccinate everyone of Day 1, Einstein.
    1
  12573. We all live in glass houses these days. Get used to it.
    1
  12574.  @hariskhan-xj4wk  You don't know your history -- in fact, I don't know what you do know. Under the circumstances, Stalin tried his utmost to subdue Finland in 1944, yet failed. His predecessor, Lenin, did agree to Finnish independence in 1918, but he was faced with a fait accompli. As to Finland playing a role in human history, you could take a gander at the Internet Hall of fame and count the number of Finnish inductees. While at it, let us know about Pakistani inductees.
    1
  12575. Yet the US is threathening with EU soldiers in Ukraine.
    1
  12576. Don't spread misinformation. The EU and the UK are in agreement about the safety of the AZ vaccine. Also, you're a drama queen for claiming that the death toll is "virtually out of control". It varies wildly from one country to another.
    1
  12577.  @davidnoelfranks1124  Which weapon would that be? Time? Are you saying that Russia is fully prepared to sink slowly to the same level of poverty as Afghanistan, patiently waiting for the sanctions to be lifted? Uh, be my guest...
    1
  12578. Now get own armies fighting fit again.
    1
  12579. You've not heard of the Nokia 9000 Communicator?
    1
  12580.  @RollcageHiggins-uf9nm  You should consider tweaking your electoral system. It's totally archaic.
    1
  12581.  @cantiaci  There you go, "they partially withdrew from certain aspects of NATO [my italization]". I don't see any split hairs, nor do I need Wikipedia to point out such an obvious error. But thanks for correcting yourself, be it very grudgingly.
    1
  12582.  @sjonnieplayfull5859  Spelling errors? It was a factual error. If you need to chime in, pay better attention.
    1
  12583.  @sjonnieplayfull5859  What are you, his vengeful sock puppet? This is not about perfection -- it's about correcting an obvious factual error. He insinuated that I was splitting hairs and pedantic. I call that grudging.
    1
  12584. Assad the Eye Doctor has about to go Rambo on the HTS, but then Russia ruined everything.
    1
  12585. Individual member states have been at it already, trying to alleviate the short-term effects. This is about long-term.
    1
  12586. I don't see a coalition government emerging from this either.
    1
  12587. Millennial much?
    1
  12588.  @sunw80  You mentioned your lifetime. It appears rather brief.
    1
  12589.  @sunw80  Alas, young age and naivety tend to go together.
    1
  12590.  @wtfdidijustwatch1017  Good for you, but your hapless compatriot, the OP, is ostensibly incapable of concurrent ambulation and mastication.
    1
  12591. Do you get a tin of surströmming for every Putinist comment, Fredde?
    1
  12592.  @fredrikbergquist5734  Spider? Why's that, Fredde? And last time you were tongue-tied.
    1
  12593. Let's agree that every time a troll such as yourself makes such a claim, you donate 1€ to the Ukraine Reconstruction Fund. Ukraine has nothing to worry about.
    1
  12594.  @briant5685  That's called pricing oneself out of the market. Economists will go tut-tut.
    1
  12595.  @Kite-te9km  We didn't have nuclear energy in the 1970s, and it's debatable if we were part of the "West" then. Sometimes I still wonder. You luuurve generalisations, don't you?
    1
  12596.  @Kite-te9km  Context eludes you.
    1
  12597.  @Hiram8866  That very much remains to be seen. My take is that the UK won't earn that extra £10B -- plus some.
    1
  12598. Apples and oranges. Malaria is endemic in Africa, and by far not as contagious.
    1
  12599. Desperate? The average age of US combat soldiers in Vietnam was nineteen. There's a song about that. N-n-n-n-nineteen something something.
    1
  12600. What makes you say that? We manage our waste, recycling or burning it. For sure, we don't contribute to you fouling up the Ganges, one of the most polluted rivers in the world.
    1
  12601. Musk is the very definition of fickle.
    1
  12602. One leader, whose bank account probably saw a sudden uplift. American Muslims in general can't stand the sight of Trump.
    1
  12603.  @summrblox117  Sure you can, if you know what to look for.
    1
  12604. Africa is a present threat. Mass migration to developed countries is not sustainable.
    1
  12605. What a funny sentence.
    1
  12606. They've been mentioned several times. You're just not paying attention.
    1
  12607. And what's the relevance of your comment?
    1
  12608. Wow, he accepted!
    1
  12609. Be that as it may, this is containment, so Iran and Syria won't get any ideas.
    1
  12610.  @danwelterweight4137  Oh dear. You're comparing a developing country to developed ones. Whereas the latter tend to plateau growthwise when relatively little potential remains untapped, China still has potential PhDs plowing arid fields. Besides, China is geared for high growth, and when said growth doesn't pan out, overextended companies find themselves in deep trouble. China's property sector is a case in point. You may want to keep up with bad news, too, and not just cherry-pick. I'm sure your local community college has Economics 101 courses. I suggest you make inquiries.
    1
  12611.  @zhc2200  Sure thing, we're topping out, but our companies haven't overextended themselves. You didn't understand the first thing about my comment, did you?
    1
  12612.  @paulmatters2641  Let's put it this way, Paulie the Pedant: China's growth rate is stagnating below critical levels. China knows it, too, with Xinnie the Pooh trying to charm the West so China can, once again, export itself back onto a growth track that does not leave its overextended companies filing for bankruptcy. Surely you can understand this at least? Did you make inquiries with your local community college about Economics 101?
    1
  12613.  @zhc2200  Take your puerile emojis elsewhere.
    1
  12614.  @benwijnsberge7028  But Sweden has no internal territorial disputes. Turkey does, but they're already in NATO. Yours is a false analogy.
    1
  12615.  @Joeyknows924  Read the whole chain, silly.
    1
  12616.  @Joeyknows924  I suppose you're conducting a soliloquy there. Don't mind me.
    1
  12617.  @davebellamy4867  Putin makes a great arms merchant. NATO should remember him with a box of cigars or chocolates.
    1
  12618.  @MidnightMark12  Marky, mission accomplished, your first comment got deleted.
    1
  12619.  @MidnightMark12  Aren't you looking like a complete n00b. You need to read up on shadow banning.
    1
  12620.  @MidnightMark12  No, dum-dum, I don't see it.
    1
  12621.  @MidnightMark12  Ukraine is getting a nice Christmas present all right, but no prizes for guessing that Russia is getting a lump coal. I can't help but notice that you had another comment deleted. Better be on your best behaviour from now on.
    1
  12622. Russia must be extremely jealous at such a collateral damage ratio. Nah, who am I kidding, Russia doesn't care about civilians casualties.
    1
  12623.  @jarvis_kjellberg  You Krembots are obsessed with Murica.
    1
  12624. Actually, China did, too. Last year, a Chinese rocket segment plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.
    1
  12625. All's fair in love and war, if Syria can't protect the oil from ISIS, who used it to finance their caliphate. Let's not forget there was a phase in the Syrian civil war which saw Assad pragmatically trading goods and services with ISIS. Among others, he provided electrical power to ISIS-controlled territories in exchange for oil. Cell phone service, too. ISIS fighters need to post their selfies, after all.
    1
  12626.  @trivunkonjik7413  There's no evidence whatsoever of Ukraine committing war crimes in the Donbas. Russia's OSCE monitors had to concur with the findings. Sorry, you have to turn over a new leaf, because this one is blank.
    1
  12627. @ So, how many monitors from how many countries do you need to witness transgressions and gather evidence? The OSCE had 700 from 53 countries in place, and they found no evidence. If it puts your mind at ease, all those 53 countries are in the UN, too. Why-oh-why didn't the non-Russian OSCE monitors file reports of Ukraine targeting civilians in the Donbas? Even assuming that Russia had good reason to withhold such evidence, the others for sure hadn't. Nah, you're making it up as you go along, Mr. Ice Hockey Stick. You're a disgrace to your country.
    1
  12628.  @SercanGunaydn  I think we can do without the Turks. You'd be out of your comfort zone so high up north.
    1
  12629.  @peterporkeresq.2817  Come on, let us hear your "alternative truth" about the etymology of "BRICS".
    1
  12630. If you're in retro conspiracy theories, why not dust off the Reptilians?
    1
  12631. I should think America cannot lead after so thoroughly lousing up Afghanistan.
    1
  12632.  @charlesmartel6103  Precies. Poetin trok te hard aan de touwtjes van zijn marionet Janoekovytsj met als gevolg dat het volk in opstand kwam. Met een dictator aan de macht escaleert de boel snel.
    1
  12633. The isolationism is strong with you.
    1
  12634.  @Gunni1972  Cleverness isn't the issue here. Mexico doesn't share a border with Russia.
    1
  12635.  @FKnATOO  Ah, the so-called Two Plus Four Treaty. You're quite correct in noting that it pertains to former East German territory. Germany has kept its end of the bargain. Your treaty says nothing about the 14 countries that joined NATO since. Bummer, eh?
    1
  12636. The public is in luck. Statistics show that the army needs up 100,000 bullets to neutralise a single enemy combatant. If the army had used lethal force when standing in for the firearms officers, the shootouts would've been epic.
    1
  12637. Right-o. Zelenskyy has promised to keep mum about how the POWs came to be captured.
    1
  12638.  @jungersrules  You fail to understand that if a Russian soldier deserts and surrenders, he's liable to get a 10-year sentence.
    1
  12639. Clueless as he is, Trump will just add to the misery in the world. Case in point: he wants to be friends with Putin.
    1
  12640. It's more like a chessboard with two pigeons playing.
    1
  12641. It doesn't bode well for the Hungarians if they become climate change refugees themselves. Solidarity may be in short supply.
    1
  12642. @SuperduperobergruppenstuppentruppensturmStuka I'm OK, thank you very much. We're blessed with even more fresh water. The combination of high humidity and high temperature is a real killer.
    1
  12643.  @therealistOba  You're not living up to your nickname. Russia faces exactly the same issues in delivering its gas to new customers as Europe's gas-dependent countries face in finding new suppliers. No pipelines, and where pipelines do exist, insufficient capacity. Russia lacks the technology to build them, and those who do have it, refuse to do business with Russia. You don't have to be a economist to understand that Russia is royally screwed.
    1
  12644.  @therealistOba  We were discussing natural gas and pipelines. No can do, Russia is screwed.
    1
  12645. Which part of the EPP winning the European elections didn't you understand?
    1
  12646.  @nda6228  Sorry, no, I had a look at the Democracy Index, and I couldn't spot a single Western country that scored below Hong Kong.
    1
  12647.  @nda6228  In what way has Covid-19 eroded democracy in the so-called West? I don't particularly care for US-style democracy with its stifling duopoly and the intense polarization that it causes, but all the same it's an example of democracy faring well under the pandemic. Trump's childishness doesn't diminish the fact that Americans voted in record numbers. Also, numerous other countries have held elections with decent voter turnout. All that is in stark contrast to Hong Kong. Your fledgling proto-democracy has taken a body blow in the form of China imposing its draconian security law.
    1
  12648. It's all good and well to buy more military kit, but the problem is recruiting and training military personnel, which won't happen overnight. Reinstituting conscription would help. Proud citizen soldier here.
    1
  12649. Rather, it's more like the Atlantic Wall. The US won't face just France, but the whole of the EU. Trade blocs react in unison.
    1
  12650. Cesar, you might want to try something else than dreary old whataboutism. It stirs up memories of Soviet times, when look-who's-talking was the Kremlin's stock answer to international criticism.
    1
  12651.  @1ACL  Global warming is still a valid term. Firstly, a warmer atmosphere leads to heavier snowfall. Secondly, northerners associate snowfall with warmer temperatures and clear wintery skies with cold snaps. True enough, it's never that cold when it snows in earnest.
    1
  12652.  @DBd-ko9vu  Whoever would charge Ukraine would need to produce evidence of deliberate targeting of civilians. Not even Russian OSCE monitors, who had unfettered access to Donetsk between 2014 and 2022, succeeded in producing any evidence to that effect. Now produce your "evidence".
    1
  12653.  @s0ycapitan  Don't worry your pretty little head, I don't solely focus on TR.
    1
  12654.  @JohnCSmith-lp1qr  Your interpretation of rapid is curious. At this glacial pace, Putin's Orcs will arrive in Kyiv in the early 22nd century. Of course, Russia will be out of Orcs and out of pocket long before that. I told you, I don't rely solely on TR for news. Cute emojis, BTW. Nice of you to let your inner child out to play.
    1
  12655.  Arek PanzerTiger  "and even among many political opponents this man is a disgrace" -- didn't you just describe politics in general?
    1
  12656.  Arek PanzerTiger  You, on the other hand, are insulting them with your weak rhetoric. Your initial observation is akin to noting that one's opponents aren't one's supporters. Duh.
    1
  12657.  @normamcneill151  When the Russians give up on Putin, that's inconsequential.
    1
  12658. Is Dark Africa taking its place? Pfrrt.
    1
  12659.  @johnnytiger7580  Jail all whataboutists!
    1
  12660. France was instrumental in Groupe Spécial Mobile, which turned out to be an astounding success for Europe. Mainly due to lack of standardisation, the US turned from pioneer to straggler in cellular telephony.
    1
  12661.  @Legiion513  Europeans? That would be the French. Maybe as a Yank, you can't wrap your head around the fact that Europe is a sum of a great many parts. Our part never sullied its hands in colonialism. You, regrettably, did. But you're right about Murica, as a nation, always overestimating its stamina to wage war. Hence we call it military adventurism. Time and again, you bite off more than you can chew. Oh, we're not dependent on Russia for energy. Our power plants are multi-fuel; if natural gas cannot be had, we switch to other fuels. Natural gas has been losing out to biomass anyway, so the Russians are only hurting themselves.
    1
  12662.  @Legiion513  French colonialism is a thing of the past -- a past that we were never part of. Moreover, rather than colonising others, we endured colonialisation ourselves, but you won't hear us moaning about it. Just out of interest, how do you deal with the negative connotations of your colonial past? For you, it's not just guilt by association. The atrocities committed by the US in the Philippines (concentration camps, really?) are a good case in point. The Taliban weren't onto anything new. They simply copied the Vietnamese. Just like the Vietnamese, they bided their time, confident that you'd lose patience before they did. They say that even a donkey doesn't hit the same stone twice. Yet you did. As it happens, we top the USA in just about any social and human development index. If anyone should feel bitter, it's you.
    1
  12663. ​ @Legiion513  In your shoes I wouldn't get too critical of others with regard to neo-colonialism -- unless you want to fend off accusations of hypocrisy, that is. Likewise, the few colonial powers in Europe eventually granted their former colonies independence. Some willingly, others not so. I suppose you belong in the second category rather than the first. The Philippine-American War alone claimed a million lives. Oh, but we are capable of defending ourselves. My birthplace is the other capital of an European belligerent in WW2 that managed to stave off occupation. A good number of my relatives paid the ultimate price in doing so. Myself, I have served in the military, and so have all my male relatives. How about you, or are you just a YouTube warrior?
    1
  12664. In other news, Trump promises to let in 1.5 billion climate refugees from Africa.
    1
  12665.  @mohammadqaisar6754  Why are we involving the Americans in this? You're encouraging them to think everything is about them. If we were to face occupation, I would know exactly what to do. I would be armed and ready in a matter of hours. As a reservist, I have rehearsed it dozens of times.
    1
  12666.  @ericp1139  Universal healthcare is a boon to any society. America has ended up with a system that costs more yet delivers less. Affordable healthcare, no matter whether you look at it from a national or a personal perspective, eludes America.
    1
  12667. I wish Putin would face trial, but more likely he'll be given sanctuary in China, just like Idi Amin, the Butcher of Africa, who was allowed to live out his life in luxury in Saudi Arabia.
    1
  12668.  @aredditor4272  The Orange Omen of Doom is still putting his overly-short finger on the sore spot.
    1
  12669.  @holboroman  Yes, and they sympathized with the pro-democracy protesters rather than with the pro-Beijing faction.
    1
  12670. @Whoa Guy I'm not claiming that spokespersons should keep their mouths shut. That was the OP. If only experts were allowed to discuss matters, nothing would ever happen.
    1
  12671.  @BocaoZ  So you think it's fine and dandy, too, that Russian "peacekeepers" raped one half of post-war Germany's female population?
    1
  12672.  @edwardsmith1060  I think you're just underlining how extreme far-right you are.
    1
  12673. Als sadomasochist kom je inderdaad goed aan je trekken op het internet.
    1
  12674.  @harukrentz435  Haru, Haru, don't make up stories. Western countries are still the biggest donors in enabling the global battle against Covid-19. India can only boast about receiving more Covid-19 aid than any other country.
    1
  12675.  @harukrentz435  You can check the COVAX donor stats yourself. India started well, promising vaccines to one and all, but kept them when push came to shove. You can't just go boasting around the internet without first checking that you have a leg to stand on. This is not kindergarten.
    1
  12676.  @tommygreek340  Mastermind? Conspiracy theorist detected.
    1
  12677.  @tommygreek340  Sure. Every day, we plot evil schemes to make you poorer still.
    1
  12678.  @washuneluvhada7616  Russia saving Europe -- even once -- is highly debatable. I think the eagerness with which the former Soviet Bloc member joined NATO after the Soviet Union collapsed tells enough about Russia "saving" Europe. Moreover, I think you're trying very hard to ignore how the Russian Empire collapsed in WW1. Russia is very keen to celebrate its WW2 victory over Germany, but in WW1, the roles were reversed.
    1
  12679. Afghanistan is its own worst enemy.
    1
  12680. You're tacitly admitting that this doesn't stand the light of day.
    1
  12681.  @paulorourke9700  Sarah Palin? She's back?
    1
  12682. The chronology eludes you.
    1
  12683.  @460mas  Minority report. 146 out of the 193 nations disagree with you on the existence of Palestine.
    1
  12684.  @sirgo0se97  We both had an absolute monarch once. Still, we successfully transitioned to a parliamentary democracy without too much fuss. Forming a coalition is an art form, but well worth it, because it forces the parties to treat one another with respect. Today's opponents may be tomorrow's coalition partners.
    1
  12685. It's Putin and Netanyahu who need convincing, sport.
    1
  12686. Any coups there recently?
    1
  12687. The West seeks to isolate Russia. It will use any means at its disposal to do so, including putting pressure on China not to assist Russia militarily. That's just sound strategy. I think you've read too many stories about medieval chivalry.
    1
  12688.  @peterdixon7705  Okay, you went off on a tangent. I think I'll waste no more time on you.
    1
  12689. They could be duds, like their indigenous stealth fighter plane.
    1
  12690.  @shgalagalaa  Aw, you're physically in pain because of what I posted. Cope, bot, cope.
    1
  12691. You should be never be in intelligence. It would drive you crazy.
    1
  12692. Don't forget the zany conspiracy theorists. Never a Global News comment section without one.
    1
  12693.  @nic969  They were referred to as the Soviet bloc. See above.
    1
  12694. I can smell the desperation in St. Petersburg, "kev". Begging on YouTube is even beneath you.
    1
  12695. Russia sure did.
    1
  12696.  @samankucher5117  Something along those lines, I suppose, but whataboutists don't excel in logic.
    1
  12697. Well, he did work as a taxi driver after the USSR collapsed. Probably the only honest job he's ever held.
    1
  12698.  @silasnelson3116  There we have it, a conspiracy theory. I'm not playing.
    1
  12699.  @sjaakdewinter6258  They may try to burn it off. It will burn contaminated coastal areas to a cinder, but in Russia, who cares? Russia routinely lets its forest fires burn themselves out, too.
    1
  12700. Aren't you cute, Danny-boy.
    1
  12701.  @danielparker5225  But you were spurned by a French boy, weren't you?
    1
  12702.  @allenlee757  But Trump isn't getting away with it. The USA has checks and balances in place.
    1
  12703. As a forest owner, I find this distressing.
    1
  12704.  @Tex5bal  I bet you think Hitler could've been stopped with flower power.
    1
  12705. Please don't apply for political asylum. We're very busy processing applications.
    1
  12706. Can you hurt the sensibilities of a sea? I should think not, because a sea isn't a sentient being.
    1
  12707.  @jasonallen6081  They were in the mistaken belief that hospital grounds are safe. I would also assume that a great many northern Gazans have taken their cars and fled to the south.
    1
  12708. China, by action and inaction, is prolonging the war in Ukraine. I don't call that "promoting peace in the world."
    1
  12709. Now why would Russia invite total destruction upon itself?
    1
  12710.  @ActiveLife369  Would you describe Filipinos as cowards? You're giving rise to the illusion.
    1
  12711. Does it really make a difference if you're killed hypersonically or supersonically? Let's not forget that the Russians have no countermeasures against the latter either.
    1
  12712.  @vaevak418  OK, conspiracy theorist. Back to the basement with you.
    1
  12713. That's what I've been saying as well. With its big industrial base, Germany can crank out PzH 2000s, Leopard 2s, Panzerfaust 3s and EuroSpikes to replace the weapons donated by others to Ukraine.
    1
  12714.  @lordmephisto6654  Aren't you triggered.
    1
  12715.  @666j1  Come on, France is more progressive than Murica on all fronts.
    1
  12716.  @Shining237  These elections-at-gunpoint were a complete farce. Educate us, which countries subsequently recognised Russia's annexations? Not even Russia's BFFs do.
    1
  12717. His job is to call for restraint from all parties. The UN Secretary-General has condemned the Houthi attacks against Red Sea shipping, but you're conveniently ignoring that.
    1
  12718. I know. Populism. The Ossies, being relative newcomers to democracy, are more inclined to fall for it.
    1
  12719.  @cmFaAz  Let me guess, you can never hold a conversation and you get sidetracked very easily. ADHD, is it?
    1
  12720.  @WillReims-s2s  No Pulitzer Prize for you for that "scoop".
    1
  12721.  @WillReims-s2s  Hint: next year, try to come up with something novel. Old news won't cut it.
    1
  12722. You don't seem to understand that *Hezbollah is Israel's enemy here, not Lebanon as a whole. Israel clearly understands it. Perhaps you should try, too.
    1
  12723. While at it, let's ask Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Syria why Iran is there.
    1
  12724.  @baango  Aren't you two vexed by Zelenskyy. It figures, he's destroying Putin's imperialistic wet dreams.
    1
  12725.  @myviews9369  Ah, a suicidal sociopath reported for duty.
    1
  12726. Europe should demand an even bigger share of Ukraine's natural riches, considering we've given more aid to Ukraine. Of course, we'll put the money into rebuilding Ukraine. Maybe Trump's embarrassed successor will follow suit.
    1
  12727.  @janettemasiello5560  OK, if 300 billion $ is the amount you intend to spend on Ukraine aid, hand over the 181 billion $ that you haven't spent yet.
    1
  12728.  @janettemasiello5560  Non sequitur, Jan.
    1
  12729.  @uhwake  And Dmitry Utkin, the eponymous Mr. Wagner. He got the Nazi tattoos as well.
    1
  12730.  @thehkingsroom5711  The European Council and the European Parliament elected her. Educate yourself on the EU and its supranational nature.
    1
  12731. ​ @DannyBGer  The Finnish Army still officially uses the Mosin-Nagant as a sniper rifle. The receiver is the only original part, but it's typically the octagonal Imperial Russian type. Imagine going to war with a weapon that predates your great-grandfather.
    1
  12732. You'd think they'd developed a vaccine before unleashing it onto China. But logical reasoning is never a conspiracy theorist's strong suit.
    1
  12733.  @singularity-6339  Don't think I'll bother to try reasoning with a conspiracy theorist.
    1
  12734.  @singularity-6339  Yes, I choose not to be misled by silly fantasists.
    1
  12735.  @cgchiang  Let's talk about Great Britain abolishing slavery throughout the British Empire in 1807. From then on, Britain would go to great lengths to stop the slave trade, seizing 1,600 slave ships and freeing 150,000 slaves onboard. China officially abolished slavery in 1910, more than hundred years after Britain. To add insult to injury, the practice nonetheless continued in China to 1949.
    1
  12736.  @cgchiang  I've read my history books, even to the extent of earning a master's. It looks like you've done none of that.
    1
  12737. It puts more moisture into the atmosphere. In the winter, it comes down as snow. More snow than usual.
    1
  12738.  @varun3291  Don't go off on a tangent with your Pakis. And don't parrot Russian propaganda. The Ukrainians are putting up a very stiff resistance, which totally wrong-footed the Russians, who naively expected a parade march to Kyiv. You Indians have reason to be jealous of the Ukrainians if you fashion yourselves heroes.
    1
  12739.  @JaiSriRam119  Ah, I triggered a Pavlovian reaction in you and now you think I'm Pakistani. You got the whole continent wrong.
    1
  12740. No can do. We only let in democratic countries.
    1
  12741. So, Russia needed to downsize its diplomatic staff in London. Figures, with the state of its finances.
    1
  12742. Don't sully their cause with shaky conspiracy theories.
    1
  12743. All I can spot are Serb cry-babies
    1
  12744. So, Israel can't expand its illegal settlements or build new ones, or at least less so. Hah, a silver lining.
    1
  12745.  @miteshghadi3146  You two fanboys duke it out in the sandbox.
    1
  12746. Aren't you huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf.
    1
  12747.  @markojovanovic9455  Is Russia's bombing demoralising the Ukrainians? No. Hence, you're merely huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf. Russia is spending its scant resources on something that fails to achieve the desired effect. Rather, it strengthens the resolve of Ukraine and its supporters.
    1
  12748.  @PCGamer77  And if nomen est omen, the Indian Ocean belongs to India, all the way from the east coast of Africa to the western and southern coasts of Australia.
    1
  12749.  @Winterfell1066  Just curious, are there military, terrorist or what-have-you ambassadors as well?
    1
  12750. Firstly, Russia has bombed these Sunnis for nearly a decade. Secondly, Russia is harbouring Assad, who's not exactly in the rebels' good books either.
    1
  12751. I hope it wasn't exploding.
    1
  12752. You may want to talk about your G spot somewhere more private, Svetlana.
    1
  12753.  @letXeqX  That's 4 countries. 5 in all, including Russia, voted in the UN against condemning Putin's special military misadventure. FYI, Bab Blo hasn't managed to post anything sensible in his brief career as a YouTube commenter.
    1
  12754.  @bizzielizziearies5439  So, your assertion is that Africa has been stripped clean and there are no natural resources left to exploit? Interesting. You don't bother with facts, do you?
    1
  12755.  @bobpadok5331  Did you live under a rock when the Iraq War took place? There was a serious rift in NATO on account of the war, and Rumsfeld called us "Old Europeans" for refusing to go to war. There were transatlantic boycotts to and fro. Putler trolls rewriting history, eh?
    1
  12756. For that to work, you'd most probably need a directional antenna at the other end as well. Not WiFi nor Bluetooth, but cellular connectivity would do the trick. Apple Watches since version 3 have supported it.
    1
  12757. I think Israeli hard-liners will be keen to hear the inside story on how China subdues the Uyghurs.
    1
  12758. Defaitisme zit er bij jou goed in.
    1
  12759. Peace for our time, you mean.
    1
  12760. So? Israeli has drifted off to the far right.
    1
  12761.  @JamesSmith-ix5jd  Ah, you're trying to be cute. You're implying that the UK and France are American colonies. How very conspiracy theoretical of you. Conspiracy theatrical, even.
    1
  12762.  @ab1858  Why? All forms, of course. No need to make a distinction.
    1
  12763.  @JamesSmith-ix5jd  You're congratulating me for unjumbling the warped mind of a conspiracy theorist? I shouldn't have bothered. Your ilk is a waste of space and time.
    1
  12764.  @ab1858  Would-be, could-be? Russian imperialism is very real. Russia is waging a war of conquest in Ukraine. Putin thinks of himself as Peter the Great reincarnated. Medvedev expects Ukraine to cease to exist in a couple of years. How much more explicit do they need to get? American imperialism would be out of scope -- if indeed it can deemed such. Americans have a penchant for military adventurism, but they always grow bored and leave. Russia, on the other hand, sticks around like an endemic pest.
    1
  12765.  @ab1858  OK, whataboutist. For once, try to stick to the topic at hand. Whenever Russia comes up, you switch to the US like a mindless automaton. I've got nothing with the Yanks. Try finding one and bore him/her for a change.
    1
  12766.  @ab1858  Stick to yourself then, like a leech. I hope you and yourself enjoy yourselves. By the way, I just blocked you, so I don't have to deal with your whataboutism, like ever again.
    1
  12767. You're so clever with emoticons. Never grow up.
    1
  12768.  @benvandam369  Innit.
    1
  12769.  @AyOuB.God-soldier  In fact, Putin is planning to outdo Boris by riding a Satan II nuclear missile shirtless, in a re-enactment of the closing scene of Dr. Strangelove.
    1
  12770. What's the answer then? UKIP or BNP? Or have they effectively merged?
    1
  12771.  @hamidhorki9751  The obligatory whataboutist reporting for duty, eh?
    1
  12772. It's like you're in a cult or something.
    1
  12773.  @aciditywormhole9898  Are you an extremist yourself?
    1
  12774.  @aciditywormhole9898  It would appear that you equate condemning genocide -- as every human should -- with supporting Hamas, who're not averse to genocide themselves should the opportunity present itself. If true, you've taken an extreme position. Hence, extremist.
    1
  12775.  @alexkessel5980 Alex, puh-lease tell your troll factory manager that you need English classes.
    1
  12776.  @alexkessel5980  Now there's less reason than ever to learn Russian.
    1
  12777.  @alexkessel5980  Sure thing. I'll also keep conversing in the other three languages I'm conversant in. I suggest you keep to your safe space, VK.
    1
  12778. Uh, didn't Putin start the war? Is that diplomacy in your book?
    1
  12779.  @benjamindover4337  Of all illegal Israeli settlers? Go for it.
    1
  12780. I suppose because Russia is supremely bellicose. If you haven't noticed, Russia is waging an illegal war of aggression in Ukraine.
    1
  12781. Russians have no issues with lying when the situation calls for it.
    1
  12782.  @sweetlachok  You do sound like a mass tourist who likes his beer cheap and plentiful. How come you can't spell *Lappeenranta even though you know the country so well and you go on and on about the city? Speaking of projections, I'm starting to suspect you were spurned by a Finnish beauty from *Lappeenranta and you've borne a grudge against all things Finnish ever since.
    1
  12783.  @gordonmcrae1959  The guy suddenly went from very vocal to very quiet, so it seems I was right on the money. Aussie-aussie-aussie, oi-oi-oi!
    1
  12784. Considering their ethnicity, "Herr" isn't an appropriate form of address for either person, but what would a silly Anglo-Saxon know. Monolingual much?
    1
  12785.  @russiane.lection-hacker2057  Gij zijt nen poseur, gij.
    1
  12786.  @russiane.lection-hacker2057  Je steekt je vinger in je reet, vrind.
    1
  12787.  @deplorablechump8758  Conquers? Trump -- and the US -- just lost any confidence that Europe still had in the US doing the right thing. And not just Europe's confidence.
    1
  12788.  @JohnSmith-ux3tt  Which bills are you referring to? I'm not aware of any invoicing between NATO members, and I did an internship with NATO in Brussels. If there was an arrangement for us paying for US troops stationed in Europe, I'd think that would come to 1% or less of US GDP -- let's say a quarter of your defence budget. Say, can we send a bill for having had troops in Afghanistan for 18 years straight? You may want to expand on Trump's diplomatic efforts, too, since you appear to be in the know. We've seen Trump try to lure Ukraine into giving the US control of its minerals. I would call that colonialism rather than diplomacy.
    1
  12789. Uh, NATO has 30 members (soon 32). Tell your handlers that you need to learn about numbers. Primary 1 should do it.
    1
  12790.  @markmomoko1600  Try to keep up with the news, Markie.
    1
  12791. I know for sure we don't need answers from conspiracy theorists.
    1
  12792. @Kamar Hussain All 30 NATO members have ratified Finland's accession, dum-dum. Were you dropped on the head as a baby?
    1
  12793.  @shomadea  The Kinzhal hasn't fared well against the Patriot in Ukraine, much to Putin's chagrin. Putin is not going to test it against US ship-borne anti-ballistic missiles for fear of suffering more embarrassment.
    1
  12794.  @Ass_of_Amalek  An assault rifle is accurate to 500m. A helmet cam won't show targets at that range in sufficient detail.
    1
  12795.  @Ass_of_Amalek  As a two-tour veteran I've been shot at several times. I had only a vague clue where the shots were fired from. What's your military service record like?
    1
  12796. Don't project. Your misfortune isn't theirs.
    1
  12797.  @arefkr  I can call myself a veteran. You?
    1
  12798.  @luuk8305  Rusland valt uit ellende vanzelf uit elkaar. Straks willen Amberland, Ingerland, Karelië en Pomorië bij de NAVO en bij de EU.
    1
  12799. Has the rule of law been abolished suddenly?
    1
  12800. ​ @MsBerlinski  It can be argued that the EU is enabling separatism -- be it unwittingly. Europe's internal borders came about at a time when regions had to band together to stave off the unwelcome attentions of their more hostile neighbours. With the EU in the picture, that necessity is gone for all intents and purposes. Contrary to what you suggest, there's no agreed EU policy towards not recognising separatist regions. There is, however, a principle that domestic matters are just that, domestic. If -- or when -- Spain recognises Catalonia's independence, the EU will follow suit. Before that, the EU may prod Spain to wake up and smell the coffee, but the EU won't force Catalonian independence down Madrid's throat. Belgium's Flanders is a poor example of separatism. It was an artificial country from the get-go. It's high time to set right a historical wrong. But again, only the Belgians get to decide.
    1
  12801.  @dominushydra  Sure there will. We may now it by a different name, however. The city-state of Moscow, for instance.
    1
  12802. Oh, you can generalise and say that every democratic country in the whole world supports the HK pro-democracy protesters. But being equipped by them, that's a fantasy of yours, no doubt concocted for pain relief purposes. After all, looking in the mirror is painful when you see something you don't like.
    1
  12803.  @Mossycak  I'm "Western", but I couldn't care less about Nancy Pelosi and self-aggrandising American journalists, whose news reports are more show than news. You should concentrate on how to address the legitimate grievances of the HK protesters rather than cry foul about foreign sympathies and concoct conspiracy theories around foreign involvement. The protests are bad enough, but you look downright silly by blaming foreign actors. It's like from a dog-eared Communist textbook: when in doubt, blame the "West".
    1
  12804. Next coup in 3... 2... 1...
    1
  12805.  @arnaldobellucci9033  Report it then. I have.
    1
  12806. It's the same in Belgium with Flanders. Fiscally, Wallonia hasn't stood on its own two feet since the seventies. I expect Flanders to gain independence even before Catalonia.
    1
  12807. There are no trust issues there. With China and Russia, there are a lot, and deservedly so.
    1
  12808.  @mcrand7887  That's why you're termed a useful idiot. Russian propagandists came up with the term when they noticed how some Western fool would always buy into their narrative, no matter how bizarre. They must've laughed their heads off -- and still are, thanks to you.
    1
  12809.  @alexbukovsky4621  I'm afraid it's impossible to decipher the point you're trying to make, if any. Don't you wish the British Council still operated in Russia?
    1
  12810. Uh, Israel's sugar daddy is a permanent fixture in the UN's Security Council. Netanyahu has already understood that this is more than a lovers' tiff. That's why he's withholding... a US visit.
    1
  12811.  @mouseandryforever6848  It's mostly a result of recent immigration from Muslim countries, where antisemitism is considered acceptable. France has an age-old, well-integrated Jewish population, a fair number of whom aren't enamoured of Netanyahu's forever war.
    1
  12812. But with America telling itself what to do, a lot of wars have already broken out. Unpopular wars, unstoppable wars, you name it.
    1
  12813. Is there a Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous? You need to find out.
    1
  12814.  @Miami1991  I see you're a candidate for CTA membership as well.
    1
  12815.  @FAFO36  Hey, credit where credit is due. The Afghanistan debacle was a bipartisan effort. Biden's mistake was following though on Trump's plan.
    1
  12816.  @Theoracleman50  I suppose it didn't occur to you that parts of aquatic animals are called something entirely different in Russian? Monoglot much?
    1
  12817. Lead by example and ditch Trump/Vance.
    1
  12818. Puh-lease. Sanna Marin just went with the flow, like a calculating politician, fearful of an electoral backlash had she acted differently (a fear that was entirely warranted, judging from last Sunday's election results). When she realised there was no stemming the tide, she did the honours. With style, I hate to admit.
    1
  12819. The Libyans got rid of Gaddafi. The civil war in Libya was in full swing before NATO got involved -- with UN authorisation. It should be noted that Russia and China didn't oppose UNSC Resolution 1973, which prevented Gaddafi from slaughtering his own people. Facts are a biatch, eh?
    1
  12820. Simple. They didn't know that they couldn't.
    1
  12821.  @texasray5237  Yeah, like Yanks know anything about foreign affairs.
    1
  12822. No worries, Borrell has a iron-clad mandate from the EU, including Hungary.
    1
  12823. Could Britain kindly vacate its seat in the UN Security Council, too?
    1
  12824. @:: Commonwealth members, perchance? Good luck with that. They like nothing more than to shaft Britain given half the opportunity. Payback time!
    1
  12825.  @alexkoz34  Perhaps they should pack up and leave for Russia proper if Ukraine is not to their liking. Do a web search for "Heim ins Reich".
    1
  12826. The EU clearly leans to the right, sport. And you're suggesting that the timid Irish don't dare to speak up in Brussels. How come?
    1
  12827.  @kioly_ah  Who's Joy Biden? Wait, I don't care to know. Try to open your mind -- the world is a bigger place than you maligned Murica alone. Or head to Fox News -- people there won't know any better.
    1
  12828.  @BishnuRay-ws5dq  Europe's support for Ukraine exceeds that of the US. Fact.
    1
  12829. The Hezbollah and Lebanon are two difference things, stupido.
    1
  12830. OK, here's your next problem: 8% slump in the economy, the worst recession since WWII.
    1
  12831. I don't know if Nigel's in his right mind, but he believes in polls. So much so that he decided not to stand.
    1
  12832.  @well-8814  What's the reason then? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Farage's byword appears to be 'nothing'.
    1
  12833.  @jerry0947  Samsung has done an admirable job derisking vis-à-vis China. Its phones are made in Vietnam, India, Brazil and South Korea itself. Nothing in China.
    1
  12834.  @otsogileonalepelo9610  Retrieve? Depending on the depth, it's possible to send down divers, or failing that, a submersible.
    1
  12835. To be on the safe side, burn your regular passport, too. If you've got one.
    1
  12836. Shouldn't you worry about your own first? I mean, Putin is indicted for war crimes. Rutte has yet to be charged.
    1
  12837. Was NATO ever engaged in Iraq? Don't rewrite history.
    1
  12838.  @suicidalbanananana  It's a public secret already. In exchange, Erdogan gets to buy long-in-the-tooth, but sorely needed F-16s and F-16 upgrade kits. In the mean time, Finland gets state-of-art F-35s, which are a no-no to Turkey after Erdogan's ill-considered S-400 purchase. How the seemingly intelligent Turks abide by Erdogan is a complete mystery to me.
    1
  12839. It's still there and the Ukrainians are coming to take back what's theirs. Lets see if Russia lets the surviving collaborators in.
    1
  12840.  @kitcarpo4745  If you haven't noticed, the Tories are still in power, just like before Brexit. To their credit, they've changed prime ministers no less than four times.
    1
  12841. The Ukrainian army is still accepting foreign volunteers. Put your money where your mouth is.
    1
  12842. The Baltic countries and Poland aren't exactly brimming with NATO troops or weapons, to say nothing of nuclear weapons, which neither has on their soil. The NATO troops that are there serve as tripwires, leaving no doubt that Russia's aggression is directed at NATO as whole, should Russia be foolish enough to invade. Russia already has much more than tripwires facing them. You're a military dilettante if you don't understand Gotland's strategic significance. It's a unsinkable aircraft in the middle of the Baltic Sea.
    1
  12843.  @thatguy5412  You've got the wrong continent. Here, have a treat, Pavlov's dog.
    1
  12844. The whole world was... why single out Germany?
    1
  12845.  @rael6974  You've got your work cut out reminding each and every country that they once laughed at Trump. And you get to do it all over again now that Trump starts making himself laughable again. Don't overdo the emojis. It gets childish when there's a string of them.
    1
  12846.  @dedetudor.  You two should keep in mind that your tin foil hats make good lightning conductors.
    1
  12847.  @dedetudor.  Bravo! You know your nursery rhymes.
    1
  12848.  @dedetudor.  You may know nursery rhymes, put stringing together a proper sentence is beyond your abilities.
    1
  12849. Are they going to activate their proxy warriors, as in Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis? Wait, they have already.
    1
  12850.  @SachinKumar-pj3cu  Thank you so much for illustrating my point so eloquently.
    1
  12851.  @charlies.5777  Trump or Biden, you guys are screwed either way. Even with the divider-in-chief gone, all of Biden's horses and all of Biden's men can't put the US together again.
    1
  12852. As the first order of business, you should fix your electoral system. It's painfully obsolete by EU standards.
    1
  12853.  @vodkaboy  Maybe they pay them in opium. It would go a long way in explaining their state of mind.
    1
  12854. All the countries in the world should do something... oh wait, they are the UN.
    1
  12855.  @manipulativer  Enjoy your 5G conspiracy theory.
    1
  12856.  @manipulativer  I understand 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G, having been in the telecoms industry for 25 years. And you -- you understand pseudo-science.
    1
  12857.  @manipulativer  Don't take my comment as an invitation to play pigeon chess with you.
    1
  12858.  @manipulativer  Ah, you haven't heard how pigeons play chess. You knock the pieces over, crap on the board, and fly back to your flock to claim victory.
    1
  12859. ​ @vervetech9395  You need to read up on the Battle of Khasham. Wagner attacked a known US military position. If it came as a surprise to the attacking Wagnerites that the Americans would defend themselves, your beloved musicians must've been drunk out of their minds. Or Russia willingly sacrificed them. The Americans warned Russia about the troop build-up prior to the attack. Russian denied all involvement. Maybe by not passing the warnings on to Wagner, the Russian military thought it fun to see their compatriots being blown to bits. Sadism seems to be Russia's thing.
    1
  12860.  @enjoymfs9715  Russians don't have the luxury of enjoying Sweden, recreationally or militarily.
    1
  12861. Sportingly, Russia is doing a DDoS attack on itself by denying its netizens from accessing international social media and news services.
    1
  12862. Now there are not 123, but 124 countries with a warrant out for Putler's arrest.
    1
  12863.  @thotmorgana  Yesilgöz already made it clear she won't enter into a coalition with PVV if Wilders becomes PM. Wilders can't let her become PM instead without major voter backlash. I find it hard to believe that Omzigt will go for PVV either -- he's not that desperate and he's got alternatives. It will be an interesting anti-PVV coalition, but it's not a unicum. Left and right have come together before in Dutch politics. Formation will take ages, but I expect they'll hammer it out.
    1
  12864. Russia gradually destroys Ukraine's power grid, and Ukraine retaliates by lighting up Russian oil refineries. Russia would do well to rethink if this tit-for-tat is truly worth it. It was and is Russia's choice to wage a war of aggression. The war can stop overnight if the Kremlin Gremlin comes to his senses.
    1
  12865. High-speed rail is a new phenomenon to you?
    1
  12866.  @Foersom_  A Zeppelin has an internal structural framework. More likely, because of its small size, this was a non-rigid airship, lacking the internal framework. A blimp, in other words.
    1
  12867. Rubio wants to hand post-Assad Syria back to Russia on a silver platter.
    1
  12868. Great, make this about you and your president again.
    1
  12869. I don't think the PVV's low-brow voters care much for culture.
    1
  12870. Looky there, you have a sock puppet. Or are you the sock puppet?
    1
  12871.  @nvelsen1975  Germany was guilty of genocide in present-day Namibia when it sought to exterminate the Herero and Nama people in the noughties of the 20th century.
    1
  12872.  @Ютубводоканал  Since you're so keen on mayhem and destruction, perhaps you could also tell us about genocides that happened closer to home, those perpetrated by Russia. For some reason they don't get much coverage. It's like you're too ashamed to come to terms with your past.
    1
  12873.  @Ютубводоканал  Sure thing. The Circassian genocide is a good start. I've got several others lined up for you.
    1
  12874.  @Ютубводоканал  OK, I see the historical revisionism is strong with you. You would do Stalin's "historians" proud. You're clearly not ready to face the truth. 200 years in denial!
    1
  12875.  @Ютубводоканал  The same accusations could be levelled against the American Indians. You're not exactly consistent with your criticism and your excuses. But what else is new.
    1
  12876.  @Ютубводоканал  Are you playing silly buggers now? It doesn't matter whether you colonise land overseas or your backyard. It's still colonisation.
    1
  12877.  @Ютубводоканал  Oh, I still have plenty to say. The Russo-Circassain War (1763-1864) that sparked off the Circassian genocide was a consequence of encroachment of Circassian territory by the Russian Empire. Russian-style backyard colonialism, in other words. In essence, the Russo-Circassain War was no different from the American Indian Wars. The Spanish, British, French, and later, Americans, systematically encroached on Native American territory causing the natives to resist, just like the Circassians did. Neither were saints, of course. The Native Americans needing to sail to Europe to do their worst in order to have a comparable situation is just a silly false analogy of yours.
    1
  12878.  @Ютубводоканал  There's your hypocrisy. You think there's a statute of limitations on Russian colonial misdeeds, but you don't extend the same privilege to other former colonial powers, whose misdeeds date from the same colonial age. It doesn't matter whether or not there's a body of water between you and your colonies, it's still colonialism. Interestingly, while other former colonial powers have by and large decolonised, Russia has not. Russia doesn't even dare to admit that it colonised its neighbours -- and continues to do so to this day. Interestingly, the victims of Russian colonialism haven't forgotten, and when Putin's regime inevitably comes tumbling down, they'll seize their chance. Let's see how Petersburgians and Muscovites feel about fighting in far-off Russian colonies. If the war in Ukraine is anything to go by, they'll rather move abroad.
    1
  12879.  @Ютубводоканал  Can you make it more obvious that I won the argument? I think not.
    1
  12880. Which system do you prefer? A presidential system, or more authoritarian still?
    1
  12881.  @vladnickul  It's the same thing really. His dad will turn the potatoes into vodka. The whole family will be zonked out in no time.
    1
  12882. No Ukrainian can. It's up to the Brits to depose Charles.
    1
  12883.  @ДОТА-ц3й  So, let's recap. Putin starts a SMO, which he turns into a proper, full-fledged shooting war that ratchets up tensions world-wide, and you credit him with not starting WW3? Yours must be an 'In Soviet Russia' reversal joke.
    1
  12884. More and better state-sponsored doping?
    1
  12885.  @MistyfireRSM  Russia should officially rename itself to "Russian Olympic Committee." That would lessen the embarrassment of not being able to compete under its own name.
    1
  12886.  @tarpahpesy  Ukraine, unlike Russia, is not aiming for more Lebensraum.
    1
  12887. Do you know what would lead to the AfD's fall? Being in government. An interesting experiment -- very costly, but interesting all the same.
    1
  12888.  @stofjes4204  Dat gaat flink tegenvallen, voor Rusland althans. Militair gezien is de toetreding van Finland and Zweden tot de NAVO nog een nagel aan hun doodskist, want net zoals in de Oostzee, is Rusland nu totaal omringd door NAVO-landen in de Noordelijke Ijszee. Als het tot een treffen komt, zijn hun uitgangspoorten gesloten, en de Russische Noordelijke Vloot mag lekker thuisblijven. Tip: "arctic" is Noordpoolgebied op z'n Nederlands.
    1
  12889. None of the NATO countries rely on artillery to the extent that Russia and Ukraine do. Artillery is no substitute for airpower. As an Indian you should've learned that from the Kargil war.
    1
  12890. Russia is slow to understand.
    1
  12891. 124 countries and their tanks... must be quite a few.
    1
  12892. As if. Hezbollah (read: Iran) doesn't enjoy the undivided support of the Global South and never will.
    1
  12893.  @privacyhelp  Public transport is pretty good everywhere in the developed world. Murica is the exception that proves the rule.
    1
  12894. Like Behind Enemy Lines? The depiction of the massacre committed by the Serbs is accurate all right.
    1
  12895. That was the Soviet Union. In terms of discriminatory, apartheid-like ideology, Russia has gone over to the dark side. It wants to subjugate Ukraine, just like the white minority dominated South Africa at the expense of the non-white majority. If your morals are flexible enough to overcome that ideological hurdle and you think nothing of enabling the aggressor in Ukraine, then you've reduced the fight against apartheid to a mere power struggle rather than a fight for equality. I hope Mandela's ghost comes and visits you at night.
    1
  12896. None of it is yours, Botty McBotface, so don't whine.
    1
  12897. Your teddy bear has been declawed. What's left is terrorising civilians, which has no military bearing.
    1
  12898. @Whoosh G Truth be told, the UK has done a bad job at containing the virus, at least in European terms. But I suppose there's some consolation in "England sucks less than the US."
    1
  12899. Clever. The Scandinavians would have to hibernate all winter.
    1
  12900. TimBL, a computer scientist.
    1
  12901. Try doing it with a bag over your head, like we're taught to do.
    1
  12902. In a way, yes, Putin can help Erdogan. When Russia announces another round of mobilisation, Turkish resorts will fill up nicely. The guests won't be in a hurry to leave either.
    1
  12903. Funny that you need the diversion. Speaks volumes.
    1
  12904. I suppose you're either an intergalactic being that can move at will around the universe or... which is somewhat more likely... you're suicidally depressed.
    1
  12905. Don't you wish you conspiracy theorists could stage award ceremonies. Alas, you'd never accept the winners, because you'd know for a fact that the judged were bribed, the voting was rigged, the champagne was laced with hallucinogens, etc.
    1
  12906. It's weird that Putin gets to collect on India's supposed moral debt to the Soviet Union, which saw India as a pawn in its game of geopolitics. Actually, 'moral' is the wrong word in this context, because morality doesn't enter into India's current relationship with Russia. Oh well, we can put India's permanent seat in the UNSC on hold indefinitely. Permanent members need a moral backbone and they can't be beholden to others.
    1
  12907.  @rickfresher  So, explain, where's the moral high ground in dealing with a military aggressor, overwhelming recognised as such by the UN's General Assembly, and headed by an indicted war criminal?
    1
  12908.  @GerrardPique2010  What about whataboutism?
    1
  12909.  @GerrardPique2010  So, let me get this straight. If you were to stand trial for murder, would you think it a wise defence strategy to point out to the judge and the jurors that you aren't the only murderer in human history? Would that, in your opinion, be an extenuating circumstance? If others got away with murder, would you argue at your sentencing that your sentence should be suspended till those who remain at large are apprehended and put away? Please don't consider a career in law. I think sanitation is just the thing for you.
    1
  12910. The sailor responsible for the fatal fire on the Moskva finally made it ashore. Dying for a smoke after so many months adrift, he lit up.
    1
  12911.  @rosablanche  Per definition, the EU can't lurch to the left while the electorate goes the other way. The EU is the sum of its parts, its member countries.
    1
  12912.  @rosablanche  You're wrong on all accounts. I happen to know Verhofstadt. I don't find him agreeable as a person, but a leftie he ain't. He's an MEP and directly elected, like your precious Farage. Juncker isn't leftist either. He was appointed by the European Parliament (in a vote involving all Brit MEPs, including bad boy Farage), so if your theory were correct, Juncker wouldn't have made EC president. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
    1
  12913.  @AnimeOtaku2  Charlie here thinks they're Reptilians, not people.
    1
  12914. No, they care about the prestige of a dictator instead of the people. Xi can't admit being wrong.
    1
  12915. Neither is a developing country, so your comment is off the mark.
    1
  12916.  @DarthRevan2.0117  I don't know how to dignify that with a response.
    1
  12917. Hasn't NYC been diverse from the get-go? Who would you kick out and who could stay?
    1
  12918.  @deputyVH  Still, you're only too keen to cosy up to a real superstate, the USA. Why don't you direct your animosity toward them for a change? Or you could invest your time more wisely in preventing the UK from breaking apart, which is a clear and present danger, a far graver one than the "imminent" break-up of the EU.
    1
  12919.  @davidjuke2386  I'm sorry, I thought you were capable of an intelligent response. The poor grammar and spelling should've tipped me off. Can I point out that the countries of which I hold a passport of best the UK in the Democracy Index? The EU is strictly controlled by its members' national governments and collectively by the European Parliament. Speaking of the latter, I always found it a hoot that Farage was a shoe-in for the European Parliament, but the House of Commons has remained and always will remain out of his reach. Something amiss with your "democratic rule" there.
    1
  12920.  @davidjuke2386  That would be *peabrain. What kind of education did you get -- if at all?
    1
  12921. You make little sense. This is in no way flattering to Israel.
    1
  12922. There are 24 confirmed cases as reported by the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights. And that's only the tip of the iceberg.
    1
  12923. How is a full order book bad for Airbus? Heard of the law of supply and demand?
    1
  12924. ​ @mycosys  Boeing is hurt, but Airbus is not. Plus it's under less pressure to drop its prices for fear of losing deals to Boeing. A full order book and increased margins, what else can Faury hope for?
    1
  12925. More like au revoir. We haven't seen the last coup in Niger.
    1
  12926. So, if we do "harm or restrain the development of Russia and Belarus", we have something to fear? Pffrt, we're sanctioning Russia and Belarus left, right and centre -- as is Hungary, as a fellow EU member -- and Russia in particular is squealing like a pig because of it. Do you live under a rock?
    1
  12927. That would be the Hezbollah. If you can't keep Lebanon, Hezbollah, the Palestine Authority and Hamas apart, I'm afraid your IQ is below average. Well below average, in fact.
    1
  12928. By any chance, do you wear a bicorne hat sideways and keep your hand tucked in your vest?
    1
  12929.  @andy99ish  Trump fans are few and far between outside of Murica.
    1
  12930.  @serenitygilles7064  And what mess would that be, my ignorant friend?
    1
  12931. ​ @I-HAVE-A-BOMB  And which country is that? Spill it out, you seem to have all the answers.
    1
  12932. False. Israel provided allegations, but no evidence. And that's a fact.
    1
  12933.  @occamraiser  The reverse is true. Finland and Sweden are inherently defensible, and Finland in particular is well positioned to exact a heavy price from the Russians, should they get it into their heads to invade. In 1944, the Soviet Union tried to force its way into Finland with a massive advantage in troops and materiel, but its attacks were repelled time and again. Swedish volunteers fought with distinction, too.
    1
  12934. I wouldn't mind if Trump goes to prison after all, for contempt of court. I'm sure the inauguration could take place in a prison courtyard.
    1
  12935.  @TheNoxmage  There's no evidence of any massacres in Donbas. Bucha? It's right here for all to see.
    1
  12936. Oei, je hebt er maar twee goed. Mika Häkkinen*, Heikki* Kovalainen*, Valtteri* Bottas, Räikkönen*, JJ Lehto*.
    1
  12937.  @rouz0  Don't you worry. There'll be a Ukraine war reparations surcharge on every barrel of oil and every cubic metre of gas that Russia exports.
    1
  12938.  @TrxmpBrownNosersBgone  Kamikaze drones have been buzzing around Russian-occupied Ukraine for some time now. RC model aircraft may struggle to carry bigger ordnance. I don't know, Sidewinders, AMRAAMs, HARMs, Mavericks and Paveways may just be on the heavy side.
    1
  12939.  @TrxmpBrownNosersBgone  What kind of target do you have in mind for the Sidewinder's warhead? The cookie cutter that it spews out would clang harmlessly against a tank. If you have aerial targets in mind, what would be the added value of such a contraption compared to a Sidewinder with its fuel and rocket motor?
    1
  12940.  @TrxmpBrownNosersBgone  Nope, the Sidewinder's continuous-rod warhead is only good for aerial targets. You'd want a fragmentation warhead for air-to-ground work.
    1
  12941.  @natakhomyakova6996  You can thank your precious Putin for Ukrainians -- and Russia servicemen -- dying. Putin could stop the war with a stroke of his pen. No peace talks needed.
    1
  12942.  @olivka7560  It's not that complicated if you adopt a factual approach. The OSCE had a special monitoring mission in the Donbas that operated there from 2014 to 2022. There were 700 monitors from 57 countries -- including Russia -- with round-the-clock access to the whole region. No targeting of civilians by Ukraine was reported by any of the monitors, Russians included. You're regurgitating fully-debunked allegations that have no basis in truth.
    1
  12943.  @gregtriplex5878  Reading comprehension isn't your forte. Logic, same.
    1
  12944. Make that several presidents. Trump set Biden up for disaster and Biden didn't disappoint.
    1
  12945.  @frfafr  You're in denial. In February 2020, Trump made a peace deal with the Taliban that settled the US troop withdrawal. Biden delivered.
    1
  12946.  @frfafr  So, now you're admitting that Biden's mistake was to perpetuate Trump's mistake? Exactly my point. My work is done here.
    1
  12947. Be sure to let Putin know. He can stop the war overnight if he calls his Orcs back to Mordor.
    1
  12948. Great wisdom? I wouldn't go that far. King Wim-Alex has a knack for embarrassing himself. He should take early retirement to become the airline pilot that he always wanted to be and leave it to his wife, who has a good head on her shoulders, to reign.
    1
  12949.  @andyf10  You're making stuff up as you go along. All EU members most definitely have a veto on who gets to join. Personally, I'm very glad that you, personally, are out of the EU. It's not much in the grand scheme of things, but the average IQ in the EU is the better for it.
    1
  12950.  @Bols847  Aren't you a darling. You went and edited your first comment to correct the fact that you erroneously claimed that the left reigns supreme in the EU, while it's clearly the centre-right that dominates. And the chancellor bit, as if the EU had a chancellor as its head. While at it, why didn't you delete the whole chain? Less embarrassing that way.
    1
  12951.  @Bols847  I guess that if you have no self-respect, you have nothing to lose. There we go again. There's no "reigning coalition in Brussels". There's a centre-right majority in the European Parliament. Its *president, Roberta Metsola, is centre-right. The *president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is centre-right. The *president of the Council, Charles Michel, is centre-right. I was oh-so right when I noted that EU politics wasn't your forte.
    1
  12952. Farage caused much more damage to the UK economy than any migration crisis. Ironically, he ruined his own political career in the process. The pinnacle of his career was a seat in the European parliament, effectively as an MEP-for-life. Only Putin can soon pride himself with a more dramatic career suicide.
    1
  12953. You're funny. China desperately needs to export its way out of the economic doldrums that it finds itself in. Every bit helps. Xi has staged a charm offensive to woo customers.
    1
  12954. I'm more worried that Russia that will plunge itself into civil war once again if it persists. Wars that don't go so well have had that effect on Russia in the past, and not once but twice.
    1
  12955. Since you implicate the UN, you implicate the whole world.
    1
  12956. You should go an remove them by removing the Russians from Ukrainian soil.
    1
  12957. Er, the EU is holding neither Julian Assange nor any Catalan separatists. You're barking up the wrong tree.
    1
  12958. Isn't there this much-publicised corruption scandal involving Qatar and several MEPs? You should pay more attention.
    1
  12959.  @sherifnabil50  Turkey, least amount of inflation? What alternate reality do you live in? Turkey's inflation rate was 44% this April, while that of the Eurozone is 7% and dropping. You're trying to pass the buck. The whole world is agape at Erdogan's ill-advised economic policies, which fly in the face of common sense. It seems your great hero is also trapped in an alternate reality.
    1
  12960.  @truepath507  Above all, the US should refrain from vetoing every single UN draft resolution that tries to call Israel to order. It's Israel's belief that they have a carte blanche. That only serves to perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
    1
  12961. Most of the West has banned cluster munitions, Einstein.
    1
  12962. UNSC resolutions are per definition binding. I know the Americans are trying to claim otherwise in this particular case, but I believe that by now they've consulted their lawyers and realised their mistake. Ironically, the resolution is non-binding to Hamas. but as a UN member, Israel is de jure bound by it. There's a risk that Israel just sabotages the ceasefire and blames Hamas for it, but I expect Israel would suffer the consequences all the same.
    1
  12963. Turkey's relationship with France is at a historic low and Russia is bankrupting itself over Ukraine as it is. But India, yes, feel free to bail out Turkey.
    1
  12964. WEF this, WEF that. Why not NWO Reptilians. At least they were good for a laugh.
    1
  12965. Aren't we? A week after Russia's ill-fated invasion all Russian products were cleared from the supermarket shelves. Russian subsidiaries of our multinationals have either been closed or sold off for a pittance. Even Russian names on our domestic products were scrapped because of consumer backlash.
    1
  12966. Sure, Trump and Biden take turns displaying their age-related cognitive decline.
    1
  12967.  @SFRZRD  You seem to jump to an awful lot of conclusions. Since you seem to have a political identity crisis (and a whole lot of others that I prefer not to discuss with you), let me rephrase my question: "What should we call the far right if not the far right?"
    1
  12968.  @SFRZRD  Happy for me spotting your numerous identity crises? I told you I don't want to hear about them. Reading comp isn't your forte.
    1
  12969. I hope you find the safe space that you so clearly crave.
    1
  12970. So you're both bidding farewell to democracy.
    1
  12971.  @yvonnetomenga5726  Right, NATO is a defensive alliance. If any or all of the Baltic states invade Russia, NATO's famous Article 5 cannot be invoked. They'd be all alone. Russia is a like a home invader that calls for gun control, because armed home owners mean it can't go about its business.
    1
  12972. It's hardly a secret. I hope they've all remembered Putin with gift baskets, and not just for filling their order books, but also, for practically making Russia exit the international arms market. China in particular is happily filling the void.
    1
  12973. It's not just the EU that has concerns about unfair state subsidies to businesses. The UK had a foretaste of that when Trump, at Boeing's urging, tried to slap punitive tariffs on Bombardier, threatening thousands of jobs in Northern Ireland. EU-dominated Airbus had to come to the rescue.
    1
  12974.  @arundavid8231  Belgorod has experienced Russian looting already, but imagine what it will be like when a bunch of convicted criminals descends on the place. A tiger cannot change its stripes.
    1
  12975. You seem quite the warmongerer. Russia will suffer the consequences -- not in the form of war, but as continued economic sanctions. A ceasefire in Ukraine won't bring about the lifting of sanctions.
    1
  12976.  Do RIGHTEOUSNESS ALONE  But it's much easier to rid Hong Kong of CCP-fanboys and -girls than proponents of democracy. One train heading for Shenzen should do it.
    1
  12977. Same difference.
    1
  12978. Worse still, Assad has a date with Putin, who'll take him horse riding, bare-chested of course. To get into the mood, they're watching Brokeback Mountain.
    1
  12979. Wikipedia maintains a list of defunct social networking services. Twitter will fit right in.
    1
  12980.  @Yuri-z2y  You must've missed the memo about the Baltic Sea having become a NATO lake.
    1
  12981.  @Yuri-z2y  You just confirmed that you haven't read the memo. You're out of your depth in this convo.
    1
  12982.  @Yuri-z2y  You struggle with English idioms. Quelle surprise.
    1
  12983.  @andershaggstrom3945  The Russian voter is very lethargic. Putin's next problem is how to get people to the polling stations in convincing numbers.
    1
  12984. Ooh, Kitt Foxx just made a Secret Service watchlist.
    1
  12985. A fairer comparison would be the BMP-3.
    1
  12986.  @dnate697  A BTR is an APC, while the Bradley and the BMP-3 are IFVs. That's my point.
    1
  12987.  @cactusman07pim  Geen wat over? Er is een kleine wisselkoerscorrectie geweest, omdat de hogere inflatie er nu zakt. Studies winden er geen doekjes om dat Brexit zwaar drukt op de Britse economie. Zelfs Farage zegt dat Brexit mislukt is.
    1
  12988.  @cactusman07pim  Je geeft op. Prima.
    1
  12989.  @ldevries4026  Ik kan verder kijken dan mijn neus lang is. Jij niet.
    1
  12990. So Russia was becoming poor in your assessment. Can't argue with that, with the green energy transition accelerating and Russia still being utterly dependent on oil and gas exports. But I'm afraid they've only hastened their economic demise.
    1
  12991.  @daikaizouku1468  Erdogan made his concerns known about Finland and Sweden joining NATO and then went into more detail, explaining that Sweden and the Netherlands host PKK terrorists. Erdogan needs to be tested for dementia ASAP.
    1
  12992. Okay then, you can laugh at our Orban, like we laugh at Trump.
    1
  12993. Russia ate humble pie and called it quits on the First Chechen War, too, which went down in history as a Russian defeat.
    1
  12994. It looks like once again it remains to be seen if you want the EU or not. With May's Brexit an inextricable mess, a second referendum is a foregone conclusion. Personally, I would prefer the UK to spend some time in the wilderness, but I think the outcome is a foregone conclusion, too.
    1
  12995. ​ @Diana1000Smiles  I'm making it clear that conspiracy theorists won't elicit a serious response from me. If you ask your mom for a cookie, and she answers: "no honeybun, not before dinner", she's not exactly entertaining your request, is she?
    1
  12996. What's wrong with the FSB? Why can't they mobilize protesters in the millions?
    1
  12997. You'll find that the eastern parts of NATO were fully awake while you were still in a slumber.
    1
  12998. Journalists try to steer clear of conspiracy theories. Those are your prerogative.
    1
  12999. If they're used offensively against Russia's main battle tanks, it's the latter's tank rounds that will be smashing through the Bradleys.
    1
  13000.  @hwy9nightkid  I suppose there'll be an electronic variant of samizdat soon enough.
    1
  13001. Soviet openness? I distinctly remember the Iron Curtain. I was treated like a potential spy whenever I entered the country.
    1
  13002. What's your magic sky friend's number?
    1
  13003.  @ziahaider8779  I have mislaid my copy. Can you please list his mobile number?
    1
  13004. Wilders' shoulders weren't broad enough. Sadly, the same goes for his coalition partners -- if you can still call them that -- with the exception of Yesilgöz, who doesn't want to govern. The Dutch used to laugh at the Belgians for the latters' abortive coalitions. The boot is now on both feet.
    1
  13005. Not until 2022.
    1
  13006.  @lisapet160  Er, what has one got to do with the other? Besides, we Euros were divided on Iraqi WMDs. Of the major countries, only Britain took the bait.
    1
  13007. I wish they'd take the conspiracy theorists with them.
    1
  13008.  @Consume_Crash  You're beyond saving, I fear.
    1
  13009. You must be rather young. Those of us who aren't, remember Action Directe well. The French authorities had no qualms about calling them terrorists.
    1
  13010. An argumentum ad populum is a fallacious argument. Your argumentation skills leave something to be desired.
    1
  13011. Because Russia embarked on an illegal quest for Lebensraum, that's why.
    1
  13012. You need to ask?
    1
  13013. ​ @dzokavaac7307  Don't make me laugh. Russia just cut public expenditure by 10% on account of the sanctions. If that were to happen in any Western country, there would be a public outrage and you Putin trolls would celebrate the imminent collapse of said country. And you talk to us about double standards.
    1
  13014.  @mitchreine3902  You're making it sound like the Commonwealth is a force to consider, instead of the sports and culture club that it actually is.
    1
  13015.  @MarszaekVideoStudio  Does NATO have a standing army? If NATO were to stage exercises and the invitations intended for the US and Canada went to Sweden and Finland instead, would that be enough EU army for you?
    1
  13016.  @mitchreine3902  The Commonwealth most definitely doesn't have "more nukes." Aside from the UK, Commonwealth members India and Pakistan have them, but ironically, they've aimed them at one another. Anyhoo, the UK has 225 nuclear warheads, Pakistan 165 and India 160. The US has 5,550. Do your sums, kiddo. I find your argument about the Commonwealth army even more hilarious. I did a tour as a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon, but I wouldn't go boasting about an almighty UN army -- according to your logic, that's all the armies in the world put together. We were reduced to being a minor nuisance to the Israelis, who literally pushed us around in our peashooter-armed, thin-skinned APCs. Face it, the Commonwealth has a very fuzzy role. It has no collective defence or foreign policy, and thus makes no practical difference in the world. OK, I'll be generous, let's add "debate" to "sports and culture club."
    1
  13017. Oh, Vance would've been thrilled to become Hitler's Bormann.
    1
  13018.  @dornierdo2172  On the way in or on the way out?
    1
  13019.  @dornierdo2172  The Nazis made rapid progress on their way in. You're not very good at arguing your case.
    1
  13020.  @dornierdo2172  Supply lines wouldn't have gotten any shorter with a slower advance, and Ukrainian winter would've set in no matter what. It's funny that you think it somehow follows that Russia is going to win in Ukraine. But then again, Z bots aren't the brightest candles in church.
    1
  13021.  @dornierdo2172  Aw, you got yourself shadow-banned. Your puerile ad hominems did it, no doubt.
    1
  13022. Hamas probably corralled their supporters to celebrate, as they always do.
    1
  13023.  @dobrasilaomundo.8086  You may want to flesh out your anti-EU diatribe with some actual arguments. You seem to think personal opinions do the trick.
    1
  13024. Do the Branch Davidians still exist? If so, you should join.
    1
  13025. 1 trillion salty Serb tears have been shed.
    1
  13026.  @a9udn9u  Uh, safeguarding privacy. What else do you need to have spelled out to you?
    1
  13027. You must be an adherent of that peacedul religion called Fascism.
    1
  13028.  @bojanm986  How come the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission failed to spot anything suggestive of "ethnic cleansing" by Ukraine in the Donbas? I know, it's because the Russian Ministry of Disinformation invented the whole thing. And you regurgitate their lies.
    1
  13029.  @TheFAFOHouse  Why bring the US into everything? You're boring us.
    1
  13030. I wonder how that's going to work. 9/11 triggered NATO's Article 5, and since the Taliban were complicit in the attacks, they became a common enemy. How could NATO spring into action in Asia, in the absence of a casus belli? You're forgetting that NATO is a defensive alliance.
    1
  13031. Thanks. Fittingly, I had a relative serve in the RCAF during WW2. Sadly, his Wellington bomber had to ditch in the Irish Sea during a training flight in 1944. The entire crew perished. Sadly, him being the only child, that spelled the end of our familial ties to Canada. I'm Finnish, but I grew up in the Netherlands. As school kids, we handed flowers to visiting Canadian veterans. When someone says "liberators", the Dutch automatically think "Canadians".
    1
  13032. He's in survival mode, without anything to lose. MBS is a zombie, a political corpse that's going through the motions.
    1
  13033.  @nevarran  I'm happy to cream off their best. But this one clearly doesn't make the grade.
    1
  13034. Whatever keeps the military conflict going. Ending it means the end of the road for Netanyahu.
    1
  13035.  @INTJ791  Can I have an English translation, please?
    1
  13036. @Classics1 How is your reply of any relevance to what I wrote earlier? I was wondering why India lurches from one master to another.
    1
  13037. @Classics1 Come off it. There's always an element of subservience in India's dealings with the world. It's your choice, not ours. Finally break free from it.
    1
  13038.  @drfelren  We're seeing 'fleets in being'. The US will not intervene in this conflict. Intervention would be conceivable if there's a major escalation involving state actors like Iran and Syria, but not otherwise. Diplomacy solves conflicts, not US Marines.
    1
  13039.  @drfelren  Sure, speak softly and carry a big stick. It doesn't work with Hamas, however. They're a death cult.
    1
  13040.  @drfelren  If you want to speak of real power, that's the power of money. The US could put a stop to the Israeli-Palestine conflict by tying its lavish aid to Israel to progress in the two-state peace talks. The EU could do the same with regard to the Palestinians, who by and large survive on aid from the EU countries. Like I suggested earlier, no amount of sailing the Israeli coast back and forth is going to intimidate the Hamas jihadists. They're convinced they'll get their 72 virgins no matter whether it's an American or an Israeli that fires the fatal shot.
    1
  13041. Are the Arab countries prepared to send "peacekeepers" to Gaza, akin to what has been proposed for Ukraine? There's no trusting Israel any more than Hamas.
    1
  13042. You're comparing raw materials -- commodities -- to high-tech products like ASML's? Evidently we didn't fail economics since we're the affluent ones.
    1
  13043. You should do something about your copium addiction.
    1
  13044.  @Emma.Ari123  You, too: copium detox, now!
    1
  13045.  @NormanNorbert-z3u  You can't hold a conversation.
    1
  13046.  @Emma.Ari123  OK, now you're spamming. Reported.
    1
  13047. If Elon was Chinese, Xi Jinping would've given him the Jack Ma treatment. Or worse.
    1
  13048. Yay!
    1
  13049. What are you on about? The EU is sanctioning Russia plenty and Russia is crying foul.
    1
  13050. Both aircraft types need air superiority to operate effectively. Your Broncos, too. All three are sitting ducks if there are enemy fighter jets about.
    1
  13051.  @andreaWBW  What about whataboutism?
    1
  13052. It seems they've blundered into several "captured" cities as the would-be occupying force -- only to be ambushed by real soldiers.
    1
  13053. Future ACW2 reenactors will be grateful for your service.
    1
  13054. At the very least, it would've gone against the spirit of the GFA. Fortunately, the EU has safeguards in place, first and foremost ROI's right of veto within the EU. The most interesting part of this tempest in a teapot is that ROI got to demonstrate how it looks out for the interests of Ireland as a whole. In doing so, I wonder how many moderate unionists it just won over for Irish reunification. Another step closer to a United Ireland.
    1
  13055. I agree that US democracy is in crisis, but I have a different view on the reasons. The main one is distrust in democratic institutions. You illustrate my point perfectly.
    1
  13056. @Ford Prefect Well, to put matters into perspective, the BEF didn't fare all that well either against Hitler's juggernaut in *1940. Like the French, you were still fighting the last war. Hadn't Göring thought too highly of himself, Dunkirk would've been a complete and utter defeat.
    1
  13057. Another Euromaidan for Russia to contend with. Then there's the Syrian Civil War flaring up again. This is a bad week for Putin.
    1
  13058.  @Freak-px9uk  It makes precious little difference if Russians hide out in "nice" metro stations or not in the event of a nuclear winter. The soot injected into the stratosphere will block sunlight, leading to widespread crop failure and famine.
    1
  13059. The extreme left used to be the commies and the anarchists. Except for the usual gaggle of diehards, they're a spent force.
    1
  13060. There's no risk whatsoever that Ukraine will become Russian. Putin has made sure of that. And why are your rooting for the Russian oligarchs? They owe their riches to Putin and Putin alone.
    1
  13061. I think they want a better future. Money alone won't cut it.
    1
  13062.  @ryanhunter5594  But the acute problem we're facing now is Russia colonising and bombing Ukraine. On a positive note, when Russian efforts to colonise Ukraine inevitably come to naught, we will see Russia spontaneously decolonise Chechnya, Tatarstan, Kalmykia, Udmurtia, Mordovia and whatnot. It'll be like the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but on a somewhat smaller scale.
    1
  13063. I think you'll find that they've elected him prime minister.
    1
  13064. Go volunteer in a hospital that treats COVID19 patients then. And insist on not using protection.
    1
  13065.  @michaelpecarichhealth2366  You just committed an informal fallacy know as a hasty generalisation, a.k.a. an example of one. It's the same as saying that you scoop shite in a swinery, but since you've never had the swine flu, the H1N1 pandemic was fake.
    1
  13066.  @michaelpecarichhealth2366  Pray tell, why are you pooh-poohing pandemics that affect billions of people, if not directly, then indirectly? Myself, I lived through the whole of SARS in Singapore. I didn't catch it either, so it wasn't serious after all? Are you a narcissist, by any chance?
    1
  13067. Er is altijd wat. Geldt ook voor de vliegtuigen.
    1
  13068. A Pro-Palestinian rally, more like.
    1
  13069.  @nikosmosxos5856  AT guns and GMLRS are complementary. I trust you can walk and chew gum at the same time?
    1
  13070.  @benjaminvanderlund9522  Russia would be mad to duke it out in Scandinavia. The place is premier ambush country. It would be a repeat of the Highway of Death, only worse.
    1
  13071. That would be a waste. A mere LAW or RPG-7 will take it out.
    1
  13072.  Taiki hiko  Aw, did I hurt your feelings?
    1
  13073.  Taiki hiko  Making observations that have a firm basis in reality don't cause me any hurt, little brother.
    1
  13074. ​ @AlexJae30  It's a long and a winding road to Helsinki, just like the road to Kyiv. The notable distinction is that heavily-forested Finland is premier ambush country. The 40-mile Russian convoy that we saw heading towards Kyiv wouldn't make it to Helsinki either, nor back to safety. It would be ground to a pulp, especially now with NATO airpower joining in. My only regret would be that the artillery unit that I'm attached to wouldn't get many shots off.
    1
  13075. Not really. NATO got a new lease of life already in 2014, thanks to Putin. NATO should send him a box of cigars, as a thank-you for a job well done.
    1
  13076.  @AaronKwekbeloved  Right-o, only the best is good enough for NATO's most successful recruiter in history.
    1
  13077.  @Haggvz  Don't be a dullard. The worldwide inflation spike is mostly an after-effect of the pandemic. It was aggravated by energy price increases, but those we can pin on Putin and his war of choice in Ukraine. Just to be clear, Zelenskyy initiated neither. You need to abandon this conspiracy theory and look for a more convincing one.
    1
  13078. Don't be silly. We've never had it this bad.
    1
  13079. You should pour more effort into your rather uninspiring conpiracy theory. It's von *der *Leyen, for starters.
    1
  13080.  @smellygoatacres  I guess the whole world is silly, but you're the odd ones out. You've raised navel-gazing to an art form.
    1
  13081.  @randomchannel1004  Hypocrisy detected. Russia is stealing the occupied parts of Ukraine blind. Not only that, Russia is biggest coloniser of them all, past and present.
    1
  13082.  @smilo_don  Make yourself personally bankrupt, and you'll notice that your financial options are curtailed. The difference here is that the IMF doesn't want your country for keeps, but China does.
    1
  13083.  @freepalestine4344  Duh, that's what often happens.
    1
  13084.  @beinanye  Did your English language skills desert you there?
    1
  13085.  @freepalestine4344  Why, it's a common recurrence.
    1
  13086. It's Russia that's banned, not their athletes -- as long as they can prove they're clean.
    1
  13087.  @emmittabramoff5067  RUSADA, who've now been caught cooking the books for the second time, can't be trusted to vouch for the Russian athletes, so other means needed to be found to ensure that there's no foul play. It's not ideal for the athletes, but it is fair towards the rest.
    1
  13088. Useful idiot or bot? For your sake, I hope it's the latter, because at least you'll get paid, be it in roubles. Or potatoes.
    1
  13089. Why don't you show how it's done and broker a peace deal where you cede Kashmir and Ladakh to Pakistan and China respectively. Should you decide to fight, you can also speculate if Russia will rush to your aid. I think Xi only needs to wag his finger and Russia will look the other way.
    1
  13090.  @LatkaBogdanski  The comparison is between bros Chuck and Andy.
    1
  13091.  @outlawJosieFox  Randy Andy did fly Exocet missile decoy missions during the Falklands War, but he was not fated to become a posthumous VC recipient. He may express regret on his deathbed.
    1
  13092. There are Western organisations that support like-minded organisations in Georgia. State influence is another matter altogether. You see conspiracies everywhere.
    1
  13093. Haar Finse afkomst maakt veel goed.
    1
  13094. So? The USA is a gerontocracy. He'll fit right in.
    1
  13095. You assume too much. If the newest batch of US sanctions start to hurt EU long-term interests, alliances are up for re-evaluation. Russia meddling with US elections is a US problem, and I bet that in the past, the reverse has been true as well.
    1
  13096. No, if US sanctions affect EU's legal trade with Russia, the EU will counter as a matter of course. The same would be true if the tables were turned. And it's not like the EU and the US haven't clashed before over trade. Hurt our economic interests and we'll hurt yours. That's just the nature of the beast. I don't get your Iraq War reference. It was Bush and his neocons who choked on their Freedom Fries when it transpired that Saddam's WMDs were a figment of the CIA's imagination. Germany and France came out smelling like roses. The episode clearly demonstrated that Murica couldn't count on its allies come what may.
    1
  13097. +Enrique Vivanco When did this NATO invasion of Russia that you speak of occur? I must've missed it.
    1
  13098. Armenia doesn't make the grade, not by a long shot.
    1
  13099. Arthaxta, firstly, the EU sets accession criteria for democracy and rule of law. Presently, Armenia falls short on those. Secondly, Armenia is embroiled in a frozen conflict with Azerbaijan. Thirdly, Armenia would be a huge drain on the EU's cohesion fund, which is supposed to lessen economic disparity between members. Finally, Armenia isn't Europe.
    1
  13100. Arthaxta, Putin did away with Yeltsin's oligarchs, only to replace them with his own. The actors changed, but the crony capitalism and the endemic corruption remained. Who's to say Armenia won't undergo the same fate? Democracy entails more than ousting an unpopular leader after street protests. The EU's accession criteria talk about stable democratic institutions. Stable isn't how I'd describe Armenia right now. Just like the fighting in East Ukraine, it's in Russia's interest to keep the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh unresolved. They know full well that the EU won't accept either country as a result. Russia still thinks in terms of spheres of influence, and it won't allow any overlap between theirs and that of the EU. Turkey isn't part of the EU. Erdogan has burnt all bridges to make it so with him in charge.
    1
  13101.  @45jacky77  You're lending credence to Putin's claims that his not-so-successful SMO is warranted, because it serves to bolster national security as well. So, are you intent on joining the dark side as well? Also, explain to me how your planned annexation of Panama gels with the UN Charter? Territorial expansions by force of arms is a definite no-no according to the charter. Murica has invoked the charter many times over when criticising Russia. I always thought my countries (I hold three nationalities) face the Atlantic Ocean, but you must know best. Or are you just a poor reader?
    1
  13102.  @Alec72HD  Come off it, Putin has been funding Le Pen's Rassemblement National/Front National for years.
    1
  13103. Give? The Pfizer and J&J vaccines were developed in Europe and all three are manufactured on the continent, too.
    1
  13104.  @blankstatement1  The German company BioNTech developed the vaccine, and partnered for support with clinical trials, logistics and manufacturing with Pfizer. In Johnson & Johnson's case, it was a Dutch daughter company of a Belgian subsidiary called Janssen that developed the vaccine. I know them well -- they used to be a customer of mine. Say, when you drive a Chrysler, do you say that you're driving a Dutch car?
    1
  13105.  @blankstatement1  BioNTech of Germany and Janssen Vaccines of the Netherlands are credited with developing the two vaccines by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson respectively. That should settle the question. It goes without saying that a small company relies on whatever resources their multinational partner or parent has at their disposal. Corona is a pandemic, so all manufacturing capabilities should be put to use, regardless of where they're located. You didn't answer my question. Is a Chrysler (or a Dodge or a Jeep) a Dutch car?
    1
  13106.  @blankstatement1  Thanks for illustrating my point.
    1
  13107. Don't be so modest. Airbus Canada has a hot seller on its hands in the A220. Boeing hates it with a vengeance.
    1
  13108. The Houthis (read: Iran) would absolutely love that. It would turn Israel's war on Gaza into a larger war. Besides, Israel only has to threaten with sending warships down the Red Sea, and the US jumps into action. With good reason, too. The Red Sea is a critical shipping lane. Major exporters like China aren't amused either. In case you didn't notice, China and Russia obligingly stepped aside when the US and UK effectively paved the way for the attacks against the Houthis at the UN Security Council.
    1
  13109.  @RobertPaulsen-gk8qc  Not to my knowledge. I think I just explained why. It would lead to an escalation -- and a very desirable one in the eyes of Israel's enemies. I remember well how during the Gulf War, Saddam Hussein started launching Scuds at Israel, in the hope of drawing Israel into the conflict, which could've caused a collapse of the US-led coalition. The US asked Israel not to retaliate. Israel obliged. An extensive Scud hunt by coalition aircraft and special forces ensued.
    1
  13110.  @zerog1037  Android relies heavily on European patented technology. Mobile telecommunications is not an industry where you want to engage in your favourite pastime, braggadocio.
    1
  13111.  @robertbaratheon8635  I see that you couldn't answer my question. Hint: UNGA stands for United Nations General Assembly.
    1
  13112. @Rob Bourne Sure, they're free to join Trumpistan.
    1
  13113. Germany needs to do its bit to put a stop to Iran's proxy wars.
    1
  13114.  @gmcobrasnake  Frozen, not seized.
    1
  13115.  @gmcobrasnake  It's going to be a legal quagmire. More likely, we'll hold on to it till Russia has paid its war reparations.
    1
  13116. You must think the UN is a world government. I wish it was, but it's not. All the world's countries are represented by ambassadors, appointed by the countries themselves. If they want to elect theirs instead, no-one's stopping them.
    1
  13117.  @pippipster6767  Here's one that thinks the UN is a court of justice. I wish it was, but it's not.
    1
  13118. Yeah, you seem the type that is easily swayed.
    1
  13119. You do know that "prople" is short for 'problemed people', right?
    1
  13120. It's been called the EU for more than three decades now. And you're alluding to the Schengen Area, which -- strictly speaking -- doesn't encompass the whole of the EU.
    1
  13121. Hydrocarbons as an energy source were on the way out well before Putin decided to accelerate the phase-out. Something to do with global warming... you may have heard of it.
    1
  13122.  @TheDynamicmarket  "According to OPEC"? That's like asking tobacco companies if people will keep smoking. It's an irrefutable fact that renewable energy usage is rising rapidly (we've already crossed the 50% mark, and that doesn't include nuclear energy). That's business that the hydrocarbon producers have lost forever. As to electricity, my latest monthly bill was 28.66€. At times, when the winds really pick up, the price per kWh goes negative, so that my electric utility should (in theory) pay me. Gas we've never used domestically. In other words, I have nothing to worry about.
    1
  13123.  @7th.trumpet  Good news. You can apologise to the Kenyans while you wait for apologies from those that did you wrong. It doesn't have to happen in chronological order!
    1
  13124. I've heard it said about American missionaries who went to Hawai that they went there to do good. Instead, they did very well.
    1
  13125. How come? If the Balts were paying Nordpool prices to the Scandinavians and keep paying the very same Nordpool prices going forward, where's the price hike?
    1
  13126. The Hawaiians, your people? Let's not forget Hawaii was annexed by the USA following a US-sponsored coup d'état.
    1
  13127. For eons, mosques have been turned into churches and vice versa. You'd think the deities involved are pleased that the properties are repurposed.
    1
  13128.  @prudhvikrishna7187  I have no bone in this fight. Say, why don't you make demands on Cambodia on account of the formerly Hindu holy sites there? I understand Angkor Wat was once the largest Hindu religious site in the world. Shouldn't that make it exceptionally holy?
    1
  13129.  @antoinedemm7533  I don't think MAD is lost on the Russians, but all the same their state-controlled news media are constantly fantasizing about nuclear strikes against Western countries. I realise it's immoral to encourage the depressed to plan their own suicides, but if these people could just find their way to suicide ideation forums on VK or other Russian social media, it would be the lesser of two evils.
    1
  13130.  @Liberty-Jamie  Supplying weapons, like the game-changing AIM-9L Sidewinder, and allowing access to critical assets, such as the US fuel stores on Ascension island, is support all right. Without the fuel, there wouldn't have been any Black Buck missions, which would've meant more ground attack sorties and supplies reaching the Argentine forces defending the Falklands. How did you have Canada? Do you still have Canada? I'm curious.
    1
  13131.  @Liberty-Jamie  No, why? Me thinks Canada and the UK aren't joined at the hip any longer. And British monarchs can't declare war on behalf of their (nominal) subjects. Interestingly, the UK couldn't invoke NATO's Article 5 either, because NATO's Article 6 specifies that the attack needs to take place north of the Tropic of Cancer. The Falklands are way south. It looks like someone had the presence of mind to prevent British colonial messes from sparking a wider conflict.
    1
  13132.  @Liberty-Jamie  Duh, British monarchs are figureheads in every sense of the word. UK colonies? 'Overseas territories' you mean. They're itsy-bitsy islands spread all over the world. They can't support themselves, much less each other. More trouble than they're worth. The Falkland Islands are a case in point.
    1
  13133.  @AndrewStead-wv4po  Argentine air power was superior in quantity, but not in quality. The Argentinians struggled to bring their aircraft to bear because of range limitations. The RN had a distinct advantage in the all-aspect AIM-9L Sidewinder. The US had to speed-deliver more. The French, too, helped Britain deal with French-made aircraft and missiles in Argentina's inventory. Had the French supplied more Exocets, the UK would've faced doom.
    1
  13134.  @dennisdejager1679  Wees gerust, in Finland hebben we ze van Finse kentekenplaten voorzien.
    1
  13135. The Orcs have never really understood scorched-earth policy, according to which a retreating defender destroys any assets that are useful to the advancing enemy. In Soviet Russian thinking, they must do the honours themselves.
    1
  13136.  @JulianSojobo  You'd think the meticulous reports compiled by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in the Donbas would've mentioned said killings (of civilians?). But no, nothing. What makes the oversight even more peculiar is that Russian monitors actively participated in the SMM. You'd better explain this curious anomaly.
    1
  13137.  @47ALTAIR47  You're comparing apples and oranges. The weight of your Kornet-M is five times that of the NLAW and it needs a crew of two to operate, whereas the NLAW gets away with one. Besides, a 8 km range is excessive when targeting MBTs. In an anti-ship role such a range makes sense, but not otherwise.
    1
  13138. So, we no longer have to feel pity for the Americans when the US is struck by extreme weather events and wildfires. After all, we have it on good authority that climate change does not exist and preventing wildfires is a matter of carefully raking the forests. The Californians are just lazy.
    1
  13139.  @mei6044  Obesity affects Asians differently. Physiologically, many Asians are obese, even if they're not by Western standards.
    1
  13140. You must be a fan of juntas. You're in luck, coups in West Africa are a gift that keeps on giving.
    1
  13141.  @soldierboy522  You should finally care about Africa.
    1
  13142.  @ЭЮЯ-о3к  "Fire bag", is that a literal translation from Russian? Tell your troll factory manager that your material needs re-editing.
    1
  13143. His Hamas fighters? If they are indeed Yousaf's fighters, the police should waste no time and arrest him for being a member of a terrorist organisation. Since Yousaf has Pakistani roots, not Palestinian, can I hold you responsible for the crimes against humanity committed by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army? Religion is the link, right?
    1
  13144.  @barbaraallen435  The Hamas fighters are Palestinians all right, just like Joseph Kony's fighters are Christians. Does that implicate all Christians in crimes against humanity? Think carefully. 58% of the Gazans supported Hamas before Hamas subjected them to Israel's entirely predictable onslaught. The Gazans who do support Hamas are radicalised in that they think -- or rather, thought -- that Hamas is the only Palestinian entity that could make a fist against Israel. The Palestinians on the West Bank are different in this respect. They support Fatah, which has been trying to negotiate -- unsuccessfully -- a two-state peace deal with Israel. And who exactly should the Gazans have called for help? Israel? Netanyahu thought it fun to boost Hamas at the expense of Fatah in classic divide-and-conquer style. Bibi reaped what he sowed.
    1
  13145. ...till they gain real power. Real power and right-wing populism make a deadly mixture.
    1
  13146.  @tomzamp8547  Trump doesn't "put the cash", Tommy. No-one does.
    1
  13147.  @tomzamp8547  The problem is, Trump doesn't command an ounce of respect. It's like the adults in the room have to tolerate an unruly (man)child.
    1
  13148.  @tomzamp8547  Hitler, too, gained power through an election. His armies, too, once found no equal. As it happens, Trump's most profitable "business venture" is The Apprentice -- which is all about make-believe business. VP Vance, of all people, once likened Trump to Hitler. It goes to show what kind of opportunistic toadies he surrounds himself with. And let's not get started about the "very smart and successful people" that he surrounded himself with earlier, only to fall out bitterly with them. Again, ex-VP Pence is the most poignant example. Finally, Trump's initial ascendance to the presidency saw the USA downgraded from full democracy to flawed democracy. So much for your hero showing anyone the way back to freedom and democracy. Trump can't find the way back himself -- in fact, he only leads the US further astray. With his flurry of executive orders, he's bypassed Congress. Hitler, too, neutered the Reichstag. OK, Trump gave his January 6 rioters back their freedom, I give you that.
    1
  13149. You're a self-confessed Fascist then? You're brave, your sort usually hides in the woodwork.
    1
  13150. Cope, Putin troll.
    1
  13151. Fat chance. Civil war is next.
    1
  13152.  @FritztheCat74-k8e  No more separation of powers in the US of A? Things are worse than I thought.
    1
  13153. We built dozens and dozens of girls' schools in Northern Afghanistan, Gina. We grew concerned when we ended up spending more on defending ourselves than building said schools. I'm sure the Taliban are now readying themselves to blow up the ones they haven't already.
    1
  13154. It makes a lot of difference. As an unofficial member, Sweden isn't involved in NATO's decision-making, and most importantly of all, Article 5 doesn't apply to Sweden. In its death throes, Putin's Russia may well test NATO's mettle by staging an incident in Gotland, for example. Putin may soon have very little to lose.
    1
  13155. Statesmen have to juggle a lot of balls. What, are you new to this world?
    1
  13156.  @tonyng8559  You culled honey bear *has balls then?
    1
  13157.  @Zoe-c9z  Yeah, about that. No-one's buying Putin's narrative that he's denazifying Ukraine, not even ordinary Russians. So no.
    1
  13158. Israel didn't start this. Russia most definitely started a war of aggression against Ukraine.
    1
  13159.  @HarryPotter-ym8co  Yes, I know so, and now you know, too.
    1
  13160.  @Born782  Don't pee yourself.
    1
  13161.  @StevenWalkey  And I thought UK was the superset, and Great Britain a subset, since the latter excludes NI. I know you'll be mighty pleased after Irish reunification.
    1
  13162.  @StevenWalkey  You think wrong. It's "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". It's doubly embarrassing that a Johnny Foreigner has to teach you this.
    1
  13163. Your demonisation speaks volumes.
    1
  13164.  @Pining_for_the_fjords  The House of Commons voted on various scenarios involving the customs union and single market, but none got a majority. In the light of that, I fail to see how May could've succeeded.
    1
  13165.  @nurulhudavijapurwala4936  If conspiracy theories could turn to gold, you'd be all set.
    1
  13166. Every major religion has split up. The devil has a lot of parties.
    1
  13167. I should think HTS and Erdogan are at least a slight improvement over Assad and Putin. Time will tell how much of an improvement, but they possibly couldn't do worse. A & P set the bar very low.
    1
  13168. ​ @gabenewell3955  Oh, the irony. You're calling me a dumbass, but you struggle with basic grammar. "Your" is not alternative spelling for "you're". Punctuation is not overrated either.
    1
  13169. Yeah, how many did Russia kill in Afghanistan? And in Syria? Whataboutism works both ways.
    1
  13170. You think anarchy is the answer? People would be at each other's throats in no time and globalism wouldn't matter one bit.
    1
  13171.  @The0Yapster  The further north you go, the cooler the heads.
    1
  13172. It's well-regulated militia. Reservists qualify, but the rest are just as effective as civil war reenactors.
    1
  13173.  @ryeguy7941  At a minimum, the National Guard would meet those requirements. I guess you've never served.
    1
  13174.  @ryeguy7941  Two foreign tours and another two years at home. Plus all the reservist stuff for over two decades. How about you? You evaded the issue. The definition of militia has evolved since the Second Amendment was written, but it originally meant an able-bodied supplementary body of citizens -- citizen soldiers, in other words -- who're called to arms in an emergency. I guess the well-regulated part meant that those involved have received and continue to receive military training without serving in the military full-time. If not the National Guard, what else could that be?
    1
  13175. Russia is preparing to shutter the border for military-age men. It does appear to be a serious problem.
    1
  13176.  @nobodyisbest  I take it you're hinting that Russian border guards are easily bribed. Maybe so, but borders are being shuttered from the other side as well. Finland is the latest EU country to restrict Russians from entering. Applications for political asylum that cite mobilisation or conscription as the reason won't be honoured. If you're an FSB officer who's being roped in to torture Ukrainians, then you stand a chance.
    1
  13177.  @MST3Killa  Russia's military leadership problem isn't fixed overnight by appointing a new leader. The whole system is rotten to the core. As long as the war goes on, a new military leader means a new fall guy. The best Russia can hope for is to fix the endemic problems with its military in peace -- literally. For that Russia needs to end the war, and the best prospect for that is by withdrawing its troops from Ukraine. The peace terms terms won't be to Russia's liking, but if not Putin, then someone more realistic needs to swallow the bitter pill.
    1
  13178. Trump has been forbidden by Congress from exiting NATO without its express consent. Ironically, Trump's man Rubio was instrumental in getting the bill passed.
    1
  13179. Yeah, Greenlanders, make way for US oppression!
    1
  13180. You're very generous. The seeds for the Taliban's comeback were sown by Trump. Biden's crowning achievement was not ruining the harvest.
    1
  13181. Like the Western allies flooded the Soviet Union with Lend-Lease from 1941 to 1945? It kept Russia going, as you suggest. Post-war Soviet leaders readily admitted as much. Just out of interest, how will you keep going? India's arch-enemy, China, is busily up-arming itself, and India's biggest supplier, Russia, is seeing its arms industry implode. You're already heavily dependent on France, and the US is firmly established, too, as an arms supplier to India. For your information, both are in NATO.
    1
  13182.  @cliff311976  China and India are both officially on the fence with regard to Putin's brutal war of conquest. Russia can count on the support of 6 countries, none of which is particularly populous. 141 countries condemn Russia's illegal landgrabs. So much for your "85% of World [sic] population". Russia is losing, both economically and militarily, but above all economically. It has alienated its biggest and best customers, only to replace them with bargain hunters like China and India. With the oil price being what it is, the Russian state is no longer able to pay for its cripplingly expensive war with oil and tax revenue. Its arms exports are crashing as well. Pray tell, how is Russia winning? You ignored my question about how India is going to replace faltering arms imports from Russia. France and the US already account for 40% of Indian arms imports -- I call that a strategic partnership with two major "NATO weasels", as you call them. You'd better behave or they'll stop selling their high-tech arms to India. You'll hang high and dry if China grows even more aggressive.
    1
  13183. He's a 73-year old man. There's a lid for every pot, they say.
    1
  13184.  @christopherpetrov2355  I'm talking about the president of Finland, Sauli Niinisto. He's 73 and very much male. You have the hots for the prime minister, Sanna Marin.
    1
  13185.  @christopherpetrov2355  It's a republic with a parliamentary system, hence a president and a prime minister. The president is a grey eminence of sorts, who stands above day-to-day politics, and, assuming he does a proper job, unites rather than polarizes the people. Come to think of it, you should give it a try before ACW2 breaks out.
    1
  13186.  @christopherpetrov2355  American Civil War 2, of course. You don't like one another.
    1
  13187.  @herbh7893  Blackmail entails a threat of revealing damaging information. What's Serbia done this time?
    1
  13188.  @Szolrykor  The words you two are looking for are "drama queen". If you want to study one in close detail, stand in front of a mirror.
    1
  13189. The danger is that Netanyahu will launch a similar incursion into Lebanon, just to prolong his tenure. Hezbollah is a much bigger fish to fry, so he'll be safe for years.
    1
  13190.  @ItalianIrishguy  Certainly not at this scale.
    1
  13191.  @ItalianIrishguy  Populists are only good for garnering support among the disaffected, but it's just a matter of time before the disaffected grow disaffected with the populists, too. Ironically, the process is only accelerated when the populists make it into government and are actually expected to deliver on their promises. But perhaps the supreme irony is that the populists' support base draws heavily on those who previously voted for left-wing parties, or in previous times, would. On the other hand, that's not surprising: left-wing parties have always toyed with populism.
    1
  13192. You should worry, because finding a replacement will prove even more difficult than McCarthy's already very troubled appointment.
    1
  13193. Jokes aside, China would be crazy to do so. China would only invite sanctions on itself. It would kill the goose that lays the golden eggs for a handful of quail eggs.
    1
  13194. NATO just gained two high-tech armed forces. That shouldn't be too hard to understand.
    1
  13195. The real question is, will you start fighting each other again as the UK falls apart.
    1
  13196.  @dacian_1346  Actually, Belgium would be a net contributor to the EU budget if it wasn't compensated for the expense of hosting so many EU institutions. In other words, there's no free lunch for Belgium here.
    1
  13197.  @happymelon7129  OK, Happy, you've fantasized enough about your LGBT parties. It's about time to get you out of the closet.
    1
  13198. If we look at the UNGA voting records on resolutions pertaining to Israel, it's rather clear that you and your countries represent a moral minority. Facts are a biatch.
    1
  13199.  @MilenaBlazanovic-oq2iy  Stop trying to call attention to yourselves all the time. I bet you're not popular at parties.
    1
  13200.  @MilenaBlazanovic-oq2iy  I haven't got the slightest reason to be jealous, missy.
    1
  13201.  @silvercollector434  In your wet dreams. None are actually leaving, and the UK are regretting their decision, except for the Brextremists, who'd cut their nose off to spite the EU. Rather, their populists have discovered an opportunity to gain political currency by criticizing the EU, but at the same time they know the EU is the goose that lays the golden eggs. Orban is a case in point: his circle of friends, and indirectly himself, have grown rich over EU-funded public projects.
    1
  13202.  @AllAroundRoutes  Aren't you a drama queen. The top 10 democracies in the world practically all have coalition governments, one after the other, as a matter of routine. The same countries excel in human development, happiness, freedom of the press, transparency, economic freedom and whatnot.
    1
  13203.  @vinnieg6161  Like Germany, Finland could've shelled Leningrad at will, but chose not to. Its citizens were keenly aware of the fact. When they moved about the city, they always picked the side of the street that otherwise would've been under Finnish bombardment. 18 or 180 Blenheims, civilian targets were off-limits.
    1
  13204. Watch your copium intake.
    1
  13205. ​ @protocolsoftheeldersofchic1215  That's really mature. Not only that, Iran's air assets are hopelessly outdated in comparison with those of Israel. It would be a massacre, but not one to your liking.
    1
  13206.  @samanthaw4955  Advice for Zelenskyy? Hold firm while Russia comes to its senses.
    1
  13207. You're saying the far righties are sore losers? I suppose so, if Trump is anything to go by.
    1
  13208. If NATO is a joke, why do Putin and his cronies fuss so much about it? Putin had to go to war on account of the mere suspicion that Ukraine might join NATO some day.
    1
  13209.  @rwethi  Will Vance also become mentally unstable and fly to Europe in an effort to broker peace, like Hess did to GB? Spandau Prison has been demolished, and the Europeans may feel Vance regained his sanity instead of having lost it.
    1
  13210. @ No we don't, you fake American.
    1
  13211. The UN peacekeeping missions in Liberia and East Timor were deemed unmitigated successes.
    1
  13212. Those crimes of yours are imaginary. Even the Russian OSCE monitors failed to produce evidence to corroborate your claims. Give it a rest already. Your lies don't gain credence with repetition.
    1
  13213. Yeah, let's have a nincompoop in who doesn't know the first thing about geopolitics.
    1
  13214. They're by no means mutually exclusive phenomena.
    1
  13215.  @elliekwong3180  Then please let us know which treaty was broken. If it's just transcripts of discussions, it's informal. Russia has been known to make public statements which they retracted later -- again, no treaties were signed, so they were within their rights. Besides, there was a time when Russia was contemplating NATO membership. Then, it indeed sounded like the mountain was coming to Muhammad. Now it's Muhammad that's going to the mountain. The US didn't get to decide about or set terms for German reunification. It was entirely up to the Ossies and Wessies -- the Germans. Likewise, you're under the illusion that the US gets to make unilateral decisions regarding NATO -- that's simply not the case.
    1
  13216.  @danutahanyga4834  You must be a millennial if you can't tell the difference between former Soviet borders and Russian borders. Hasn't it registered with you that, for instance, the Soviet Union straddled Poland's entire eastern border, whereas Russia only has a mutual border in Poland's northwest, south of the Kaliningrad semi-exclave? Or do you think Belarus and Ukraine are part of Russia? Educational standards must be slipping. I am not aware of the US interfering with who got to join Putin's recently dusted-off CSTO alliance, for example. Maybe you want to provide an example of said interference? Donetsk and Luhansk are Ukrainian as far as the world is concerned. The UN does not recognise them as sovereign states. Crimea, too, is still part of Ukraine in the eyes of the world.
    1
  13217.  @MusehanaH  As it happens, the Global South is represented at the UN. And as such, the Global South had to cast its vote on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia found minimal support for its war of aggression. In fact, Russia's supporters could be counted on the fingers of one hand. I strongly suggest you do some research on the matter before you repeat your claim that "the Global South is with Russia", because the opposite is true.
    1
  13218. Your Viktor is doing the EU a long-term favour by accelerating the move to qualified majorities in all EU policy areas. He'll be powerless when unanimity is abandoned. Oh, and he's certainly not doing Hungary any favours.
    1
  13219.  @yosi21s  The irony is lost on you, but you're not alone. Krembots aren't the sharpest pencils in the box.
    1
  13220. Get a job, slacker.
    1
  13221. Newsflash, the ministry of defence doesn't make any money. It burns it.
    1
  13222. Russia doesn't have air superiority over Ukraine and its drones are being shot down by British Martlets.
    1
  13223. ​ @shawnr771  That's fine and well, but the Italians made a mine that wouldn't detonate when subjected to a sudden shock. If it was subjected to more constant pressure, it would. In other words, such mines resisted clearing with explosives.
    1
  13224.  john hansberry  Are you by any chance Belgian or German? Otherwise you're a camp-follower when it comes to creating the internal combustion engine.
    1
  13225. ​ john hansberry  My cognitive abilities haven't failed me -- it's yours that have been found wanting. A steam engine is an external combustion engine. You specifically mentioned internal combustion engine. You're polishing a turd, boyo.
    1
  13226.  john hansberry  Be that as it may, you Brits didn't create the internal combustion engine. Your little dig at these refugee children back-fired hilariously. It's common knowledge in the scientific community that breakthroughs build on previous breakthroughs. Newton wrote about standing on the shoulders of giants. A giant from whom Newton copied was Ibn al-Haytham, a medieval Iraqi scientist. I see you're a neophyte in intellectual property. Most patents (not to boast, but I have several to my name) concern small technical improvements to rather mundane existing technology. Any inventor can also tell you that LEGO (invented by Danes, by the way) is great for prototyping innovations. There may be a new Steve Jobs among these kids yet (I suppose I need to explain to you that Jobs had a Syrian dad).
    1
  13227. ​ john hansberry  If that's so, what exactly did you mean by "creating the internal combustion engine" and what's the connection there with Britain? If there's none, it's like asking yourself why the British didn't "create" the semiconductor even though you're sitting on an abundance of silicate minerals. Please, also be specific how I've displayed my ignorance. Everything I've written so far is easily fact-checked. Don't tell me you lack the skills for it. As for LEGO, are you trying to make a point or lending more credence to mine? Are refugee children not allowed to play with it because ABS wasn't invented in their home countries -- like it wasn't in yours?Interestingly, Meccano has been superseded by Danish LEGO Technic and German Fishertechnic. Story of your life. You were once reasonably good at something, but all that's in the past. It's interesting how you equate refugees with terrorists. I think it says enough about the person you are.
    1
  13228. Putin could easily render the whole peace summit an exercise in futility... by seizing the intiative and unilaterally withdrawing his invaders from Ukraine.
    1
  13229.  @Sziasztok742  I wrote 'invaders', but now you mention it, they're occupiers as well. I'll put it down as a Freudian slip on your part.
    1
  13230.  @Sziasztok742  I wonder if you still do.
    1
  13231.  @V-for-Vendetta  Nothing. Because I don't play whataboutism.
    1
  13232.  @Damn6real  You, too, go play your whataboutism somewhere else, with kids of your own age.
    1
  13233.  @Damn6real  That is a freakishly outlandish claim. Funerals of fallen Russian soldiers are taking place in the far reaches of the country. Are you saying that "local boys" from Donbass are being buried as far afield as in Buryatia because the Donbass graveyards are full?
    1
  13234.  @Damn6real  Not too long ago, there was an interesting report about bank deposits in Russia. It appears there's a sudden spike in deposits in Russia's poorer outlying parts. It can only be explained by bounties, wages and compensation being paid to kontraktniks... and families of kontraktniks who've suffered fatal workplace injuries. Also, social media posts don't beat around the bush. You're so funny for persisting with your absurd claim that we're dealing with a civil war in Ukraine. Even the Kremlin doesn't go that far in stretching the truth.
    1
  13235.  @Damn6real  You're digressing from the topic at hand. Bye now, bot.
    1
  13236. How so? The EU is still the biggest donor to Ukraine. Fact. Leave off the navel-gazing, Mr. America.
    1
  13237. Even semi-literate Krembots need to eat. Don't deny them their potatoes!
    1
  13238.  @marioformosa4259  The Americans were pretty generous with military kit in Afghanistan, but no M1 Abrams tanks ever made it into the hands of the Taliban. Don't make stuff up.
    1
  13239. Not only that -- I suggest "Africa by Africans" as well, so you don't have to whine incessantly about Western interventions.
    1
  13240. If Trump has his way, you'll be wasting $2,000 instead.
    1
  13241. @sleepyjoe7843 Stopping gas transit isn't mere propaganda. To give you an example of propaganda, it's Putin threatening to nuke one and all if they cross his ever-shifting red lines. Gosh, do I need to spell everything out to you? Try to enroll at Open University or something.
    1
  13242. @sleepyjoe7843 How would you know? You weren't part of my discussion, you butted in.
    1
  13243. @sleepyjoe7843 Duh, I was not commenting on the title, but Ese_osa's reply. Try to follow a discussion before you decide to butt in. Just for the record, Putin's aggression towards Ukraine is very relevant and considered exactly that, aggression, according to the overwhelming majority of the nations on this planet. Your head is in the sand.
    1
  13244. @sleepyjoe7843 I give up. Give the Open University a chance and educate yourself. Maybe there's a course that teaches debating skills.
    1
  13245. @sleepyjoe7843 You struggle to understand simple concepts, that much is clear. What is it this time, which part of "I give up" don't you understand. Shoo, be gone.
    1
  13246. @Sabrina Shahab/ADMINISTRATIONBRAC Whatever the Al Qaida once were, claimed to have been or who supported them once is beside the point. What matters is that 9/11 definitely was an act of terrorism and Osama bin Laden claimed it. Oh, if you're looking for an apologist for US actions, keep on looking.
    1
  13247. @Straight White Male Perhaps Ukraine is taking things too far, but religion is highly politicized in Russia, too. That makes it hard to pin blame on one side only.
    1
  13248. @Frille512 Let's just say good enough for government work. If money was no issue, the FDF would equip everyone with the FN SCAR.
    1
  13249. @Frille512 Precious you.
    1
  13250. @Frille512 For all I care you can create fifteen accounts and thumb up your comments as many times.
    1
  13251. You're flogging a dead horse, Mr. Krembot. Ukraine is under martial war on account of Russia's brutal war of aggression. Martial law suspends holding presidential elections, parliamentary elections, referendums and amending the constitution. The term of the president is automatically extended for the duration. If I got it wrong and you're truly a staunch democrat, go implore Putin to end his war of aggression, so Ukraine can freely stage elections again.
    1
  13252. Aren't you cute. If we start from the dawn of time, "the West" is a novel concept. As a cohesive political and economic entity -- and I use the term 'entity' very loosely -- it only came about when the Cold War started. Before that "the West" was pretty much a free-for-all. History wasn't your forte in school, was it?
    1
  13253.  @des_smith7658  Why not the Commonwealth? Oh, wait...
    1
  13254.  @j.k.1239  So Russia isn't a debt spender. However, Russia is living off its savings, which are literally going up in smoke in Ukraine. The sole reason why Russia achieves GDP "growth" is that it dips into its savings. In another two years, Russia's national wealth fund will be depleted. Unlike debt spenders, Russia can't borrow money, because potential creditors know that it can't service its debts.
    1
  13255.  @Mrac-zz8vh  Sorry, I don't entertain conspiracy theorists. You're a waste of time and space.
    1
  13256. And you're obviously a Chinese troll.
    1
  13257.  @gia306  I wouldn't mind if the European part of Turkey joins the EU. Civilised people that wouldn't go amiss in the EU. Not big fans of Erdogan. OK, the rest of Istanbul can come, too.
    1
  13258. Scholz, genocidal, really? Scholz's foremost problem is that he can't make a fist, not against Putin, nor against Netanyahu.
    1
  13259. Because the far left is a barely perceptible shadow of its former self. Good riddance. Why do you hanker for them?
    1
  13260. Why on earth would we do that? Racist much?
    1
  13261. Y'all be sure to turn the gunfights into reality TV so the rest of us can enjoy. Would "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, 21st Century Edition" be too long a title? Or how about a major motion film called "The Assassination of Wyatt Earp IV by the Coward La Sal"?
    1
  13262. It's as if Russia is inviting Ukraine's supporters to send longer-range missiles and scrap all restrictions on their use. And when Ukraine puts them to good use, Russia starts wailing: escalation this, escalation that, no fair, the Collective West terrorises Mother Russia, etc. If victimhood was a potent weapon, Russia would've won the conflict many times over.
    1
  13263.  @calvinblue894  Are you his sock puppet or vice versa?
    1
  13264.  @calvinblue894  You have too high an opinion of yourself. It's painfully obvious that the OP, who evidently can't answer for himself, tried to play the hypocrisy card. You can't see it, but it's not applicable here.
    1
  13265.  @calvinblue894  To answer your question, I have a double masters, in history and political science. Like I wrote, you have too high an opinion of yourself.
    1
  13266. Save your defeatism for when China and Pakistan invade.
    1
  13267.  @Groggybandito  The most corrupt country in Europe is... wait for it... Russia. Check out the Corruption Perception Index.
    1
  13268.  @Rainbow-Dash  Trolls make very motivated fighters <cough>cowards<cough>.
    1
  13269.  @joshuapaul2022  Try something else for a change, troll.
    1
  13270.  @Rainbow-Dash  I saw that one. The Orcs were like extras from The Walking Dead.
    1
  13271.  @black0ut02  The Crimean referendum was considered illegit by the world community. And Putin, by his own admission, sent in his Little Green Men to pry Crimea loose from Ukraine. That makes it an invasion.
    1
  13272.  @LaVictoireEstLaVie  A whopping hundred UN members deemed the referendum invalid. You're in denial.
    1
  13273.  @timonsolus  You don't say, Einstein.
    1
  13274.  @browiking318  No, it just means Russia is pissing away its troops. When it runs short, Russia just pours in some more mobiks wielding rusty AK-47s and pockets full of tampons.
    1
  13275.  @erlindaekvall6229  Sweden fancies itself a "moral" superpower. It's a pity no-one abroad really notices.
    1
  13276.  @PeterNorman-xd8tr  You know, right, that you could get the tourists without the monarchy? France gave their royals the chop, and they're still raking it in.
    1
  13277.  @Kinglear1527  You know, right, that Farage always was a shoo-in for the European Parliament, but the House of Commons keeps eluding him?
    1
  13278.  @xSabir-hc7wj  Who would do the carpet bombing? Russia for sure can't.
    1
  13279.  @vinm300  Wow, you really have to go back far in history to malign the French. You didn't want to go back further, to when the French beat the Royal Navy, paving the way for US independence? I suppose the Norman Conquest is also out of bounds. And should we try to ignore Joan of Arc? France literally led the Allies to victory in WW1.
    1
  13280.  @vinm300  Are you trying to argue your case or mine? You may be bookish, but I see little wisdom in how you conduct this conversation.
    1
  13281. You should know <cough>Tiananmen Square Massacre<cough>.
    1
  13282.  @musakhl  Iran came clean about shooting down AUI752. Hilariously, it totally wrong-footed Russia, which had already concocted elaborate conspiracy theories blaming the US, of course.
    1
  13283.  @1234Mwafrika  Who invaded Iraq? Not us.
    1
  13284. ​ @OXY187  Russia's severely degraded expeditionary warfare capability is definitely a factor here. Russia is losing its only military bases in the Middle East as we speak. You'd think it had a reason to keep an eye out on morale in Assad's army.
    1
  13285. Appealing for Zelenskyy's resignation in a YouTube comment section? If you're trying to sound desperate, way to go, bot!
    1
  13286. Your desperation is becoming more palpable by the day.
    1
  13287.  @petersilas4234  What is there to understand about Putin's side? He brutally invaded a neighbouring country in an effort to subjugate it, utterly failed in this objective and is now stuck in quagmire, unable to extricate himself from an unpopular war. The only thing that keeps Putin going is the apathy of the Russian people. It all started because Ukraine wanted closer ties with the EU. Suspiciously, pro-Russian president Yanukovich made a sudden U-turn on the matter and as a result, had to flee to Russia to escape the wrath of the Ukrainians. For your info, neither the US nor the UK is a member of the EU.
    1
  13288.  Timon  Maybe so, but it's a marriage of convenience as far as China is concerned.
    1
  13289. Hold you horses. It makes perfect sense to sanction China over this. China's carbon dioxide emissions are a major contributor to global warming, and that's what aggravates these wildfires.
    1
  13290.  @richarddufresne7620  I suppose so. Off you go, to the candy store.
    1
  13291. You should go work in a sweat shop.
    1
  13292.  @kamalchandramoney3541  What sympathies would those be? Finland was an active participant in OSCE, which recorded no Ukrainian massacres in Donbas. For how long are you Putler fanboys going to flog a dead horse?
    1
  13293. The truth was revealed. Ukraine wasn't about NATO expansion. Putin wanted Ukraine for himself and Ukraine's NATO membership would've put a stop to that. Putin would've equally demonised Starfleet had it offered Ukraine security guarantees. Russia is the Borg Collective here.
    1
  13294.  @cavf4601  Why-oh-why does your troll farm supervisor still think that this well-worn cliché packs credibility? You're describing an entirely hypothetical situation -- Mexico and Canada would never join CSTO. Instead, why don't you day-dream about Russia forming an alliance with Iron Sky's Moon Nazis? If the US and Australia have concerns about sovereign countries forming alliances of their own choosing, they can like it or lump it.
    1
  13295. It's dated, too. Absolute monarchies are few and far between in this day and age.
    1
  13296.  @Rolf-farmedfacts-supervisor  Are you old enough to remember what the Iron Curtain was about? In stark contrast to Soviet times, Putin's Russia would very much like their citizens to travel to the West. In fact, one of Putin's pals just threatened with a nuclear strike if the EU were to ban Russian tourists.
    1
  13297.  @stevenwilson5556  We're talking about individual Russians, not Russia. Sure, it's morally indefensible that we host Russian holidaymakers while the Ukrainians suffer at the hands of Russia's autocrats. But to cut off Russians from their family in the West is another matter altogether, as is helping Russia's young talent relocate to the West. If anything, we should roll out the red carpet for the latter.
    1
  13298. Read about the Hippocratic Oath.
    1
  13299.  @unrealuknow864  Don't get your hopes up, Vlad. Turkey is wheeling and dealing. Geopolitics is a bazaar to them.
    1
  13300. So if the Aussies did have guns, there would be a civil war?
    1
  13301.  @henridelagardere264  This time in the name of Fascism!
    1
  13302.  @lukecastle2538  Russia will disintegrate, just like the Soviet Union did. It's high time Russia decolonises.
    1
  13303. Russia should remember WW1 and the Soviet-Afghan War. I strongly suspect this will play out in the same manner, with Russia collapsing from within, before or after an armistice. For Russia's sake, let's just hope there's no devastating civil war. We'd be saddled with a deluge of refugees once again, and we'd have to spend massive amounts on humanitarian aid again, too.
    1
  13304.  @RobotronSage  Je hebt gelijk. Dankzij de succesvolle diplomatie van ene Neville Chamberlain kwamen er geen meidagen, geen bombardement op Rotterdam, geen jodenvervolging, geen dwangarbeid, geen Hongerwinter. Kortom, geen Tweede Wereldoorlog. Jouw diplomatie is zodoende zeker voor herhaling vatbaar!
    1
  13305. What's next, hugging toilet bowls?
    1
  13306.  @andrew30m  I suspects it's Little England by then, and only after the USA, Canada and Australia have refused them statehood.
    1
  13307. China Daily seems to be more your style.
    1
  13308. You seem to be in the grip of imagined Russian victimhood. Get help for your delusions.
    1
  13309. Yeah, what about the Sami people?
    1
  13310.  @asfiraihan2073  Where exactly did Mbappé immigrate from? Paris, right?
    1
  13311.  @asfiraihan2073  Aren't you a cutie pie!
    1
  13312.  @briancarno8837  B*llocks. Only Putin's political career is at stake. If the Russians truly felt that Russia was facing an existential threat, 700,000 reservists wouldn't have left the country to avoid serving in Ukraine.
    1
  13313.  @moemoo11  OK, embittered Serb.
    1
  13314.  @Warmaster_24  I'll tell you what makes him great. This Mr. Lockheed-Martin is killing Orcs in Ukraine by the tens of thousands.
    1
  13315. Kingdoms?
    1
  13316. Nah, Putin are Kim are vying for the position of Xi's court jester.
    1
  13317. Je kent het land niet. Het dichtbeboste Finland wordt in militaire kringen omschreven als 'perfect ambush country'. In '39-'40 en '41-'44 hebben de Russen enorme verliezen geleden tegen de Finnen. Ze weten dus wel beter.
    1
  13318.  @quirbyjohntong8169  True, it's not news that the Chinese have been trying to cash in in Afghanistan, but that's still a far cry from somehow replacing the Americans or threatening US interests. In fact, it would more accurate to say that the China equally loses out now that the Taliban are back. Chinese investments are going up in smoke.
    1
  13319.  @quirbyjohntong8169  China won't commit troops to Afghanistan. China was banking on NATO to provide security. Without security in place, any investment, Chinese or otherwise, is a waste.
    1
  13320.  @Chuanese  Western countries have constitutions, too, which supersede the law. In China, the CCP can brush aside the constitution if it stops them from doing their thing.
    1
  13321.  @cyjaseyoung8004  Blah-blah. How can you tell the CCP enjoys the support of the majority of the Chinese? I'd like to see a free and fair referendum to that effect.
    1
  13322.  @cyjaseyoung8004  Why do you think I haven't?
    1
  13323. I can imagine it's an immense relief to an increasingly desperate AfD aficionado.
    1
  13324. For all intents and purposes, it appears not. It's same old, same old again.
    1
  13325. Russia's fatally-wounded economy won't survive that long. The sanctions won't be lifted until there's a basis for a lasting peace. My money's on a colour revolution in a few years' time.
    1
  13326. Artillery shells still do damage. You should try being on the receiving end.
    1
  13327.  @larrycanupp411  They're not German or US shells, so what you do have to fear?
    1
  13328.  @thomasshepard6030  They'll be under new management, that's all.
    1
  13329.  @attybong  Obviously. But why is it a lie? If France 24 reports on Iran's lies, are they lying, too? Iran verifiably made these claims. It would appear you're fairly new to media reports. Keep it up and you'll learn.
    1
  13330.  @attybong  It's not clickbait if you know what quotation marks are about. Well, now you know. Live and learn.
    1
  13331.  @wilbur948ie  Are you unable to keep Hungary and Turkey apart? Lolling at you.
    1
  13332.  @wilbur948ie  Any day now. Let's hear your conspiracy theory. You know you want to tell us.
    1
  13333.  @wilbur948ie  What a flaccid conspiracy theory. Take a blue pill and make it better. More imaginative.
    1
  13334.  @wilbur948ie  How does it feel to have egg on your face?
    1
  13335.  @wilbur948ie  Your salty tears taste sweet to me.
    1
  13336.  @wilbur948ie  Cute emoticons. Whoever says they're puerile is a big fat meanie!
    1
  13337.  @AbuBawa-sw1ut  Sociopaths posture with nuclear weapons.
    1
  13338. China clearly trusted that its threats would dissuade Pelosi. Was there a plan B, in the event that Pelosi would persist? It appears not. The CCP's hubris knows no bounds.
    1
  13339. The real elephant in the room is Trump's multi-front trade war. He's amassed more enemies than the US can take on. The combined economies of Canada, Mexico, China and the EU easily surpass the US economy.
    1
  13340.  @firestarter8202  This is embarrassing. Sweden is not a North Sea country. It's that old nemesis of yours again, geography.
    1
  13341. Trump has gone over to the dark side, that much is clear.
    1
  13342. The EU trades with all and sundry. If we were to grant all of them visa waivers, Europe would brim with migrants.
    1
  13343. I think he's trying to land a Nobel Peace Prize for ending the war in Ukraine. In all the wrong ways, too, I have to add. Let's hope he gets tired of winning losing and resigns.
    1
  13344. In a NATO context, forward defence used to mean rebuffing an attack by the Warsaw Pact at the border between West and East Germany rather than delaying and wearing the them down by giving up territory, a.k.a. defence in depth. It's defensive all right.
    1
  13345. Don't forget to mention the mighty Russian Navy, which manages to have its warships sunk by a navy without warships.
    1
  13346.  @bugazi3037  Methinks you didn't get it. Colour me unsurprised.
    1
  13347.  @watchnoface8770  Aw.
    1
  13348. It was Hungary that set off a chain reaction that led to German reunification, the Iron Curtain falling and the Soviet Union collapsing. It's almost unbelievable that Orban had a hand in it. Talk destroying your legacy!
    1
  13349. Say "achtentachtig kacheltjes".
    1
  13350.  @Gerrard_Pike2008  Russia's economic rise is a tall tale that has no basis in truth. No economist the world over is fooled. Russia's life blood, its oil and gas revenues, are seriously down. China and India are still buying, but at much reduced prices -- so reduced that Russia is selling at a loss. Russia is on the edge of a precipice.
    1
  13351.  @Gerrard_Pike2008  Cope with regard to what? Our economy is doing fine, inflation is in check and energy prices are modest. The coping needs are all yours.
    1
  13352. Let's have cowboys then.
    1
  13353.  @wionporky9937  Go play the ocarina, Porky Pork.
    1
  13354.  @thegang3551  You're living out your wet dreams in public.
    1
  13355. Platitudes. This is about not appeasing an aggressor.
    1
  13356.  @evgeniam685  So, Belarus, like Armenia, is a CSTO member. Like NATO and its Article 5, CSTO has Article 4 that says any attack against one member is considered an attack against all members. That didn't work out so well for Armenia, did it? Lukashenko must be thinking nuclear weapons make all the difference, but that doesn't seem so, now that Russia is quietly withdrawing all its military assets from Syria, leaving Assad high and dry. Why not its nukes from Belarus as well? Russian safety quarantees, nuclear or non-nuclear, seem to be worth diddly-squat. Great going, Mr. Putin, not only has your SMO left the Russian economy in tatters, but also, NATO expanded eastward and Russia lost its only military bases in the Middle East.
    1
  13357.  @haskalah  Lay off the vodka, Ivan.
    1
  13358.  @leezhieng  In name only. North Korea is the only true remnant of communism.
    1
  13359.  @Chebka_  True dat. It's like supremo populist Elon Musk buying Twitter, and running it into the ground by firing the bulk of Twitter's staff.
    1
  13360.  @terryturbo7865  Nothing could be further from the truth. This makes for a nice chapter in the Brexit tragicomedy. We could title it "Boris Johnson Revisited".
    1
  13361.  @Perkele_foxtrot_oscar_bravo  This farmer was from Karelia as well. Towards the end of the war, he was credited with destroying a T-34 with a Panzerfaust. He crept too close, and firing from an awkward position, he "tattooed" his leg with the black powder from the backblast. Thirty years after, the blackness still hadn't entirely faded. In the sauna, he used to joke to us kids that he'd blown off his leg and the doctors had sown on the leg of an African.
    1
  13362. That would just confirm that the US is an gerontocracy. Why not elect someone below retirement age?
    1
  13363.  @bonnie7898  The War in Iraq was started -- under false premises -- by the US. There are a number of older wars (Spanish-American War, Mexican War of 1846-48, War of 1812), where the US casus belli was rather fanciful as well. I am educated, by the way.
    1
  13364.  @kbram7363  ...and you learn nothing from history. Learn this: military adventurism = bad.
    1
  13365.  @mrjerzheel  Actually, Soviet arms were divvied up among the former Soviet republics after the dissolution of the USSR. Why would nuclear arms be an exception? Ukraine had a legal claim, just like Russia. Incidentally, among the conventional weapons that Ukraine inherited from old Soviet stocks were Tu-22 bombers and Kh-22 cruise missiles. Had Ukraine kept them, too, it could have repaid Russia in kind and fired the missiles at shopping malls and apartment buildings in Russia proper. Maybe Russia would've thought twice before targeting Ukrainian civilians.
    1
  13366.  @jebise1126  Duh.
    1
  13367.  @protorhinocerator142  Is it still economically feasible? The Chinese have reinvented slave labour to pick cotton. They "re-educate" their Uyghur minority that way.
    1
  13368.  @seanlander9321  Your high horse may be a tad too high for you. "In 1906, the autonomous Russian territory known as Grand Duchy of Finland (which became the Republic of Finland in 1917) became the first territory in the world to implement unrestricted universal suffrage, as women could stand as candidates, unlike in New Zealand, and without indigenous ethnic exclusion, like in Australia." I believe the former Grand Duchy of Finland and the present-day Republic of Finland are in Europe.
    1
  13369.  @TheNelster72  As it happens, EU countries dominate the top 10 of the Democracry Index. The EU is a supranational union, a one of a kind, which elects its leaders indirectly, not unlike parliamentary democracies elect their cabinets. I suppose we could elect the president of the commission directly, but that would practically mean electing a football player -- they're about the only Europeans who're widely known throughout the whole of Europe. Or worse still, we could elect a Trump.
    1
  13370.  @TheNelster72  What do I know about what you do know. I'm sorry, but you didn't come across as someone who's in the know and you still don't. You couldn't be bothered to read the rest of my comment then? Figures.
    1
  13371.  @TheNelster72  It's a pity that you didn't save your "conversations" from "2016". I fear profound wisdoms are now forever lost to humanity. The Commissioners and the President of the European Commission are nominated by the European Council, meaning the European heads of state or government, with the blessing of the latters' national parliaments. Typically, the national parliaments' choice of Commissioner falls on a sitting MP, so that there's a valid popular mandate, too. Finally, the EP elects them all. Where exactly lies the problem? I suppose it would be nicer -- at least in theory -- if the President of the Commission could be elected directly by the 400 million EU citizens who're eligible to vote, but since pan-European name-recognition is poor among even our finest politicians, we'd have to elect ourselves a football player, who doesn't suffer from that problem. But I'm repeating myself. Since you insist on drawing parallels with the UK government, consider this: Farage was always a shoo-in for the European Parliament, but the House of Commons remained forever out of his reach. And you can't blame the poor man for not trying. It appears the elected go unelected in the UK owing to an archaic electoral system. The EP as a whole doesn't appear to have that problem.
    1
  13372.  @TheNelster72  You're wrong. I'm a Brexiteer. Before you get terribly confused, let me add that I'm not British. "On 2 July 2019, von der Leyen was proposed by the European Council as their candidate for the office of President of the European Commission.[4][5] On 16 July, her nomination was approved by the European Parliament with 383 to 327 votes.[6]" What's wrong -- or undemocratic -- about the above statement? Take as long as you need before you decide to rejoin the EU. After all, I can't tell how long it takes for your imperial delusions of grandeur to wear off. You may want to work on it so as not to fall further behind, however.
    1
  13373. ​ @TheNelster72  It's *Spitzenkandidat. It helps if you know German. There's nothing amiss with the European Council proposing a candidate. As I keep repeating, the Council consists of duly elected heads of state or government. I don't know how familiar you are with parliamentary democracies and how they form new cabinets. It's not like a prospective new PM offers various options for cabinets when the newly-elected parliament is supposed to vote one in. If parliament fails to do so, there will be a new formation attempt, which will lead to one(1) new proposal for a cabinet -- again, not several. Likewise, if the EP had rejected von der Leijen, a new candidate would've been nominated. There's nothing amiss either with Council members consulting with their MEPs before putting forward their favoured candidate. In fact, they should do so. EU members get to decide for themselves how democratic they want to be in this respect. I'm afraid you can't see the forest for the trees. Perhaps the EU, which is a one-of-a-kind in human history, is too complicated for you -- out of your league, in other words. Hence, it's fortunate that you're out.
    1
  13374.  @TheNelster72  You must be a monoglot or you wouldn't make such a hoopla about me knowing German. I could start about my other languages, but I'd cause you carpal tunnel. Of course I knew about the Spitzenkandidaten. I did an internship in the European Parliament after graduating from uni. No prizes for guessing what I studied. You're being deliberately obtuse. I explained to you -- very carefully -- how parliamentary democracies put cabinet nominations to the vote. Should a candidate fail to secure a parliamentary majority, a new name will be pulled out of the hat -- not before. If you feel that's not sufficiently democratic for you, it follows that you're terribly disappointed with your own system of government. It also follows that you're a hypocrite for berating the EU for being undemocratic. Try to get it through your thick skull that the European Parliament shares legislative power with the European Council. You're staring yourself blind on the somewhat curtailed powers of the EP -- which the Council makes up for. Do you have a fundamental problem with letting national governments have a direct say in the EU? The EP can sack the Commission if it so chooses. That must come as news to you.
    1
  13375.  @TheNelster72  I'm wondering what the appropriate response would be. The lady doth protest too much, methinks, or simply TL;DR? It's a good thing you're capable of learning foreign languages, be it just getting one German term right. Just out of interest, what made you conclude I didn't know about Spitzenkandidaten (note the plural spelling)? It appears that rather than deal with the issues I raised, you're continuing your "conversations" from "2016" with an imaginary opponent. That doesn't speak well for your mental wellbeing. I am a Brexiteer. I wanted the UK out before your fateful referendum. Not because of xenophobia, but because the UK wasn't committed to the European project. Cameron was out for exclusive privileges rather than reform. He rebuffed the reform-minded that briefly saw an ally in the UK. It beggars belief that your unelected PM dusted him off and made him Britain's unelected top diplomat. And you whine about unelected political leaders in the EU.
    1
  13376. His team, and let's conveniently assume you're on it, is absolutely clueless about his next step. Even team lead Musk surprises himself.
    1
  13377. You need to read up on the Kimberly Process. Reputable dealers and exchanges will steer clear of Russian diamonds for fear of being sanctioned themselves. The system isn't watertight, and while it may allow an African warlord to arm his warriors, the pickings will be slim for Russia.
    1
  13378.  @liang8255  India, too, buys a lot of Russian diamonds to cut them. It's the biggest player in the diamond-cutting industry, in fact. It's a labour-intensive job, and Indian labour is relatively cheap. More importantly, India can't sell their cut diamonds on Western diamond exchanges -- to whoever. I told you, read up on the Kimberley Process. Then comment.
    1
  13379. What has Paul Gascoigne got to do with anything?
    1
  13380. The Netherlands are sending modern PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzers. They're not only the newest, but the heaviest weapons donated so far.
    1
  13381. OK, Putin bot.
    1
  13382. How is it legal that Israel gets to pick and choose which UN resolutions it adheres to and which one its flouts?
    1
  13383. Haven't all the European Zionists emigrated to Israel? You need to rethink your arguments before you pen them down.
    1
  13384. Sure, and only Putin's. It's absolutely vital for his self-preservation.
    1
  13385. Brilliance redefined, eh?
    1
  13386. @2nd Place Since 1865 It would be remarkably easy. Just forgetting to invite US NATO functionaries to NATO meetings and exercises would do it. It's not like we have a common army. Uh, we make lots of military equipment. We sell it to the US, too.
    1
  13387. @2nd Place Since 1865 We had our very own alliance till recently. Your lot can't stop lauding our military. And we never let our guard down either, like some of our fellow EU members. That's on them, not us.
    1
  13388.  @HowlingFantods  That's what you perpetual grannies think.
    1
  13389. ​ McDonalds Farmer  Oh dear, did I offend your sensibilities with my "highly offensive" comment? You poor thing! You must be new to smartphones.
    1
  13390.  McDonalds Farmer  Trust you to miss it, but I was alluding to the fact that smartphones are nowadays used more for messaging and social media than calling. Or do you type with your tongue? Your poopy icons and infatuation with toilet humour are cute. Not childish at all.
    1
  13391.  @graveperil2169  Well, the US military is partly a social security scheme. Not a very efficient one, though.
    1
  13392.  @ashvinvaidyanathan7239  A Reptilian, perchance?
    1
  13393. Russia's war reparations bill is mounting. Don't they understand it's going to cripple their already crippled economy?
    1
  13394.  @ishmaelwatson5535  Bad spellers of the world untie!
    1
  13395.  @ishmaelwatson5535  You're doing it again. Spelling, capitalization, punctuation.
    1
  13396. East Germans don't mind authoritarianism as much, it seems.
    1
  13397. But now Trump' thinks it's Ukraine's own fault.
    1
  13398.  @relaxingsounds6168  CoCom worked nicely during the Cold War, but I suppose you were only a glint in the milkman's eye then.
    1
  13399.  @relaxingsounds6168  You can wax lyrical about the Red Army, but CoCom kept Western technology out of Soviet hands. Chinese tech companies have a choice: they can either serve a massive, lucrative market or a small, shrinking one. As a case in point, Huawei complied with US sanctions and scaled back its Russian operations. Once bitten, twice shy, you could say.
    1
  13400.  @relaxingsounds6168  CoCom is history, silly. I used it as a precedent. Oh, rest assured that European companies respect US sanctions -- and vice versa. It's all about intellectual property. Despite China's bad rap, China respects IP, too, and Huawei first and foremost. The irony is that they're earning good money on each and every 5G network deal, even if the market in question is shuttered to them. You can check up on Huawei vis-à-vis Russia yourself. Google is your friend.
    1
  13401.  @relaxingsounds6168  Ah, I see what you did there. You deleted your message. Maybe you should do your research before you post anything.
    1
  13402.  @relaxingsounds6168  You're generalising. There will always be isolated cases where a company breaches sanctions, just like Huawei exported controlled technology to Iran, in clear breach of international sanctions. I wouldn't tar all Chinese companies with the same brush on account of Huawei's transgression. Would you?
    1
  13403.  @relaxingsounds6168  You clearly don't know your high tech. The Russians spent a fortune on designing their own line of modern microprocessors. Ironically, they couldn't manufacture them, so they roped in Taiwan's TMSC. With Taiwan now sanctioning Russia, Russia is trying to in-source manufacturing, but Russian chip foundries can manage 90 nm technology at best instead of the 28 nm required. 14 nm is what we consider normal in the West. This means the Russian can use the made-in-Russia Elbrus in cash registers and the like. Military kit, not so much.
    1
  13404.  @relaxingsounds6168  China may have made great strides, but only by adopting Western technology. SMIC don't dare to manufacture for the Russians out of fear for being sanctioned themselves. We're going around in circles.
    1
  13405.  @recalcitrantrecidivist5927  Right, like Putin was negotiating in good faith. He's like a home invader who decided to stay.
    1
  13406. ​ @recalcitrantrecidivist5927  Not the genocide fairy tales again. Not even the Russian OSCE monitors dared to suggest that.
    1
  13407. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have to put up with him, too.
    1
  13408. "The Ukraine"? Just "Ukraine" suffices.
    1
  13409.  @burns281981  Whose education might you be referring to? I have a master's in history, among a few other academic degrees. That does bring along a certain degree of confidence. I'm stating facts here. Russia -- in the guise of the Soviet Union -- did emerge victorious against Germany in WW2. In WW1 it was the reverse, with Russia suing for peace with Germany. And why would you bring Japan into this? I suspect your reading comprehension may be at fault here, Boris.
    1
  13410.  @burns281981  Oh boy. I didn't claim that the Soviet Union ended WW2. What's your major malfuntion? Too much Prime?
    1
  13411.  @burns281981  My *Russkie ego? My ego is anything but. Germany did lose to the Soviet Union in WW2. The Soviets famously took the Reichstag in the Battle of Berlin to mark their victory. All this is very factual. If it calms your fragile ego, it's equally true that your precious Murica was victorious over Germany, too. The same goes for Britain. Both respectfully held off to let Stalin take Berlin. I now realise that you're not the sharpest pencil in the box, but if you care you to reread my initial comment in this thread -- this time carefully -- I'm insinuating that Russia is heading for a defeat in the Ukraine War. You're the ones with the deficient education system and you serve as a prime example of the consequence.
    1
  13412. Do intercepting Japanese fighters harass the Chinese planes like this, putting eveyone's lives at risk?
    1
  13413.  @Flowing_Waters  Would you negotiate with a house invader?
    1
  13414. ​ Soonmush  You'd do well to tone down your arrogance. Finland just sent old stock light anti-tank weapons to Ukraine that are of the same vintage as the ex-GDR Strelas. Likewise, they're still usable and help save the good stuff for more demanding targets.
    1
  13415.  @hawklord100  It's of secondary importance where the company is based. What matters is who rules the roost. Hint: the majority does.
    1
  13416. ​ @hawklord100  OpenWeb's management team is Israeli-Chinese. The board of directors is American-Israeli-Canadian. I can't see a single Brit in a top spot at OpenWeb. BMW is majority-owned by German entities, with billionaire siblings Stefan Quandt and Susanne Klatten as the biggest shareholders. The Germans are very particular that way. As an investor myself, I investigate these things on a daily basis. Just flexing my muscles here.
    1
  13417. So emulate Belarus?
    1
  13418.  @dogzdigital  You're confused. Armenia got into bed with Russia and now it's very publicly rueing the decision.
    1
  13419. Military history isn't your forte. The whole of Europe lived in fear of Napoleon's Grande Armée. In the 19th century, the USA was keen to copy everything French in matters military, and opportunities to pursue military studies in France were much coveted among the higher echelons of the US military. In WW1, French instructors whipped the US doughboys into to shape so they could stand their ground against the Germans. Finally, the French led the Allies to victory in WW1.
    1
  13420.  @RUTHLESSambition5  So, in conclusion, you wanted to go to Afghanistan and replace the Taliban with the Taliban? In Iraq, you wanted to fail in finding WMDs, which happened to be the justification for the invasion (after failing to pin 911 on Saddam)? Vietnam War, that one you wanted to lose as well?
    1
  13421. By coming to the defence of VP Vance's wife? Explain.
    1
  13422. Europe has the cream of the crop in both democracy and rule of law.
    1
  13423. I doubt you've ever held a 500 euro note.
    1
  13424.  @jaymcaaa  Don't go übersensitive on me now. I'm not sure I've handled one either.
    1
  13425.  @jaymcaaa  Let me quess, you're in the laundry business. Money laundering, to be exact.
    1
  13426.  @rlai2201  You're a drama queen.
    1
  13427. Putin is doing the dividing -- but you may call him Satan, if you wish. Putin weaponised the Russian Orthodox Church. Can you blame Ukrainians for wanting to sever ties?
    1
  13428.  @Fenimore_Pooper  Define falling. There will be a negotiated peace, which won't be flattering to Putin. After a while, the knives will come out. Then a post-Putin dictatorship will start to emerge. Russia -- or perhaps just Muscovy -- will be a mere shadow of itself, meaning fewer and less rich oligarchs and a much-depleted military, but in essence, nothing will change.
    1
  13429. Wouldn't that be quite the chess move from the 4D chessmaster in the Kremlin. By suddenly withdrawing his Orcs, Putin would leave Ukraine dumbfounded, turning the tables and leaving Ukraine wondering if it's the aggressor now. I hope I haven't ruined Putin's surprise.
    1
  13430.  @nigelgarrett7970  I think Ukraine is establishing a buffer zone for Russia inside Russia as we speak. Obligingly, the Russians are turning it into terra nullius by evacuating the population.
    1
  13431.  @ctherats6023  Let me guess, Russia's major arsenal is the WW2-vintage T-34 tank that they managed to drum up for the Moscow Victory Day parade. I have a feeling that one, too, will launch its turret sky-high. Won't be long.
    1
  13432.  @tinamartina1801  Muscovy is the successor state to the Russian Federation, just like the latter was the successor state to the Soviet Union, the incredibly shrinking superpower/hasbeen/wannabe.
    1
  13433.  @tinamartina1801  You've heard of Wikipedia, right? It's a great remedy for unnecessary questions.
    1
  13434.  @robertamann2093  BRICS, is that the loose economic bloc, of which half the eponymous co-members can't receive Putin, since they'd have to arrest him on entry and extradite him to The Hague to stand trial for war crimes? The security and defence part, would that be the CSTO, of which we don't know it it actually still exists after the Armenia debacle? I have opined no such thing. Your reading comp needs work.
    1
  13435. Another test for the CSTO and its dysfunctional Article 4. Bury the corpse already.
    1
  13436.  @pwn5047  Now more than ever, it's the talk of the town. The sanctions -- never a Blitzkrieg measure -- are really starting to bite. Industrial output is down for lack of Western components and tooling, which Russia struggles to replace. Russia's earnings from energy exports are heading south fast. I suppose you've never seen the innards of a business school, but losing your customers and failing to replace them is a recipe for disaster. I guess it's only a matter of time before we start shipping humanitarian aid -- for the second time in my lifetime -- to Russia's poor and destitute.
    1
  13437.  @pwn5047  So you're not entirely in the dark then. It's no secret that Russia's economy is notoriously undiversified. Each year, Putin promises improvement, but it's never forthcoming. Even China isn't meeting Russia's high-tech needs. No wonder, because China has a choice to make: either service a huge market in the West, or a puny, shrinking one in Russia.
    1
  13438.  @reecom9884  I did mention "little warships". There's more strategic value in linking up with the Russia's Northern Fleet, which means the White Sea, which connects to the Barents Sea. Now that Finland and Sweden are in NATO, Russia's Baltic Fleet is pretty much bottled up in Kronstadt and Kaliningrad in the event of war. Russia has only a flotilla in the Caspian Sea.
    1
  13439. But the poor blighters think they don't deserve any better.
    1
  13440. Cruise missiles are typically subsonic 'terrain huggers'. You may want to read up on them.
    1
  13441. How would that work? Russia is the perp.
    1
  13442.  @arisplugis5197  So you're a crypto-Fascist, but a Fascist nonetheless. Good thing, though, that you admit your "national populist" views are fantasies.
    1
  13443.  @arisplugis5197  Lose? Border closures are a temporary measure, meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus. In your fantasies, do people stay home forever, too? Is that a Fascist win, too?
    1
  13444.  @arisplugis5197  What is it to you? It's not like Latvia is the prime destination for migrants. Instead of keeping them out, you have a far more pressing problem in keeping your own would-be economic refugees in. Why don't you advocate resurrecting the Iron Curtain around Latvia or something?
    1
  13445.  @tyronewashington230  Whoosh.
    1
  13446. You need a ballistic missile to sink a war ship.
    1
  13447. True dat, and the Soviet Union gave oodles of weapons to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, but I can't recall the USA pitifully whimpering about it.
    1
  13448. "Had to"? By now, Putin must be thinking he needed this war like he needed a hole in the head. Which he may still get.
    1
  13449.  @pmayo7894  You can safely say that all Russian allegations about Ukraine wantonly targeting civilians in the Donbas are fabrications. There were 700 OSCE observers from 53 member countries, Russia included, there from 2014 to 2022. They found no evidence whatsoever.
    1
  13450. What's your alternative? Or are you counting on Elon Musk giving you free one-way ticket to Mars?
    1
  13451. Because Utkin perished with Prigozhin in the plane crash.
    1
  13452. Drama queen.
    1
  13453.  @nickn1998  That's interesting, but I can think of many countries that enjoy both full democracy and public safety. They're not mutually exclusive.
    1
  13454.  @nickn1998  I pity the Chinese if they think they need to emulate the US. However, democracy is a human right. China can't keep denying its people that, and nor can Singapore, for that matter.
    1
  13455. Give it time. The Brits are new to the Archer.
    1
  13456.  @PinchezNjuguna-s4k  You wish. With Syria gone off Russia, only North Korea recognises the occupied territiories of Ukraine as Russia. 143 UN members condemn Russia's ongoing quest for Lebensraum.
    1
  13457. It's nothing like it. A Russian would never waste vodka like that, diluted or otherwise.
    1
  13458. Russia can't muster enough troops to take Ukraine, so how could it open another front in the High North? Besides, Russia knows full well that Finland is not going to serve as a launch platform for an invasion of Russia. In fact, they know that NATO isn't going to invade Russia, period. Finland's NATO membership is a restraining order, not a declaration of war.
    1
  13459.  @casualsuede  Whenever you get the urge to brag about expelling the English, always remember to add: "This independence was made possible by France, Spain and the Netherlands."
    1
  13460. Don't you think Russia has already pulled out all the stops and tried every which type of conventional weapon in its arsenal? What have they been holding back? From the looks of it, they're downgrading, not upgrading.
    1
  13461. There's the sporterized Valmet Hunter in .308. It's obviously semi-auto only.
    1
  13462. Zweefbom klinkt beter, maar we moeten blijkbaar de Amerikanen na-apen.
    1
  13463. The T-90 is supposed to be in a hull-down defensive position. As always, the Russians have gone sloppily about it.
    1
  13464. Are you trying to say the Soviet Union didn't have compulsory military service? You've managed a non-argument, congrats.
    1
  13465.  @RogerMellie-yk3gw  Where's the land grab? You're accusing Ukraine of grabbing Ukrainian land.
    1
  13466.  @Arangggg  As an independent nation, Ukraine was and is within its rights to enter into alliances with other countries as it sees fit. The same applied to new NATO members Finland and Sweden. NATO's expansion is not a cause of Russia's militarism, but rather, a consequence. By the looks of it, Russia fighting NATO expansion just accelerates it.
    1
  13467.  @RogerMellie-yk3gw  Donbassia? I've never heard of such a country. If you have, tell us in detail which countries recognise it and if the UN agrees. Does Russia recognise it, by the way? The propaganda is all yours. You're even at odds with the Kremlin on this.
    1
  13468.  @RogerMellie-yk3gw  I mean the UN's General Assembly, which happens to convene in New York. The UN has had its headquarters there from the onset, because gathering on neutral Antarctica or, say, the moon would prove logistically troublesome. And it's not just about the US; it's about 141 UN members that said clearly and unequivocally "NO!" to Russian imperialism. If Murica has that many countries on a leash, Russia should just give it up and stop playing. You seem blissfully unawares that the Donbas is not independent, not even when looking through Russia's rose-tinted glasses. Russia unsuccessfully tries to convince other countries that the Donbas -- together with its other ill-begotten parts of Ukraine -- are Russian, you dum-dum. Don't upvote your own comments. It's sordid.
    1
  13469.  @Arangggg  Middles? Again, the US is living rent-free in your mind.
    1
  13470.  @Arangggg  Oh, I'm Murican all of a sudden?
    1
  13471.  @Arangggg  You must have a foul mouth on you, because your comments get deleted.
    1
  13472. Which of the two?
    1
  13473. Can't wait for Elon Musk to make fun of Russia's space boss Rogozin.
    1
  13474. It speaks of desperation that you bots cry out on YouTube that "the West" needs to give Putin a break and let him off the hook. All Putin needs to do is withdraw, and there's no more war. It's as simple as that.
    1
  13475.  @NathansHVAC  A day without a Putin troll fantasizing about nuclear Armageddon is a day wasted. Keep the salty tears coming!
    1
  13476. Don't come with your Yankee hogwash, it's irrelevant here.
    1
  13477. An ALCM is relatively easy to integrate. It's fed its targeting info on the ground. The plane only needs to send it on its way.
    1
  13478.  @mariuschirita187  There are "reminders" aplenty. From the top of my head, Eurofighter, Rafale, Gripen, Spartan, C-295, NH-90, Tiger, Lynx, Leopard 2, Leclerc, Ariete, Boxer, AMV, Piranha, ... I have to conclude you don't know your military stuff.
    1
  13479.  @mariuschirita187  So, in your "well aware" opinion, do the Russians buy US military kit or why do you think they're relevant here? Incidentally, I mentioned the Gripen. It's Swedish. Piranha, Swiss. The AMV, Finnish. Sweden and Finland aren't in NATO. Switzerland, ditto, and they're not in the EU either.
    1
  13480. Russia learned nothing from the Katyn massacre.
    1
  13481. You could set up a competing intergovernmental organisation, Friends of Krishna or some such, and organise the fun and games. Nah, you'd immediately start fighting with the Pakis and the Chinese. It'd be worse than the UN.
    1
  13482. Don't be so sure. Another opportunistic populist, Hungary's Viktor Orban, did the rounds only last month, with "a peace settlement" on the agenda. Keep up with the news.
    1
  13483.  @lisaayers1975  You're like me when I whined that I didn't like cabbage. Only I was four years old.
    1
  13484.  @harriemeeuwis978  Read the whole thread, vrind.
    1
  13485. That's because the USSR/Russia didn't/hasn't dared to attack a single EU country.
    1
  13486.  @gudini2559  So Kaliningrad(?) has excess capacity. Maybe the Baltic countries and Poland are willing to take some off their hands when the Russian Federation falls apart, like the Soviet Union before it, and Kaliningrad becomes... what was it again, independent Amberland? Or not, because the EU is going carbon-free. Maybe the new power plants can be converted to burn hydrogen?
    1
  13487.  @romanromanchuk7718  Aw. You must be peed off because the Russians don't bother paying you, not even in potatoes.
    1
  13488.  @baltazargabka3373  Sure thing. 90% of our IC patients are unvaccinated. The unlucky 10% all have serious pre-existing health conditions. In other words, the vaccine either doesn't take or Covid-19 is the final nail in their coffin. Is it a silly question if I ask you for figures that support your claim? I'm wondering, because I suspect you've rejected science...
    1
  13489. I'm sorry, but populism is perfectly compatible with both right-wing and left-wing politics. It just means pandering to the masses and drumming up hatred against an "elite", which can be real or imagined. We've seen it all before -- at least us who're not new to this world.
    1
  13490. Airbus is partly German, smarty-pants. Airbus assembles its best-selling A320 in Hamburg.
    1
  13491.  @eioclementi1355  "Russia exhibiting its latest weapons in Dubai to keep up appearances" would be the correct headline for your news item. It's a public secret that Russia can't fulfil contracts with its existing customers due to the need to divert production to its own depleted forces. Russia's need for weapons is such that it's even trying to buy back weapons it has already delivered to its customers. Perhaps worst of all, Russia's customers are taking their business elsewhere because they don't trust Russia's ability to deliver long-term. In the arms industry, trust is a huge issue. Meanwhile, China is gratefully taking over the lower end of the arms market from Russia, while Western countries are winning market share in the higher end of the market. Russia knows full well that domestic demand alone doesn't pay for expensive weapons programs. The death spiral is complete. There goes another Russian goose that laid golden eggs to the chopping block.
    1
  13492. Someone always arms rebels. The terms aren't mutually exclusive.
    1
  13493.  @silafaupaulmeredith7251  I sense a conspiracy theory coming up. HTS is designated as a terrorist group by the US, Canada, the EU and the UK. Arming and/or financing terrorists would land those responsible in jail. We take rule of law seriously, but I realise that in conspiracyland everything is possible.
    1
  13494. We know the Orcs are sadists, but are you saying they're masochists as well?
    1
  13495.  @stevanjakovljevic8390  If they invite death and destruction upon themselves, they are masochists.
    1
  13496. Defenestration is more a Russian thing.
    1
  13497. Wildfires being, au fond, a natural phenomenon, I'm afraid the Americans just have to grin and bear it. Or they could blame it on China.
    1
  13498. Turkey has 750 or so German-made Leopard main battle tanks. Soon enough, they'll need spare parts.
    1
  13499.  @erolramacik2627 Be that as it may, they still contain critical components made in Germany only. Extra armour is poor consolation if the tank doesn't run. Put that in your waterpipe and smoke it.
    1
  13500.  @erolramacik2627  Now you're giving away that you're nothing but a silly Turkish fanboy. The Leopard 2 has received several armour upgrades. Applique armour is the latest trend in up-armouring tanks, with an eye to urban warfare. Active protection systems, which you in true fanboy-style think are the bee's knees, are useless against kinetic penetrators. You should ask mum or dad for more screen-time, so you can read up on those.
    1
  13501. Don't upvote your own posts. Bad form.
    1
  13502. It's obvious that Israel reacts to Hamas's terror attacks, but it needs emphasizing that Hamas's attacks didn't come out of the blue. Thanks for explaining the obvious, however -- Captain Obvious.
    1
  13503. Sure, Putin won't forgive and forget either when he's incarcerated in The Hague.
    1
  13504. Uh, the EU has no authority over Greenland, a non-member. We might as well speculate if the EU has authority over the USA.
    1
  13505. The xenophobia is strong with you.
    1
  13506.  @UVGardener  Whataboutism.
    1
  13507.  @UVGardener  The host may be Indian, or of Indian origin, but all that's irrelevant. Tell me, should a Caucasian host be barred from commenting on Asian or African affairs?
    1
  13508. ​ @UVGardener  There you go, the xenophobia is strong with you.
    1
  13509.  @UVGardener  Whataboutism.
    1
  13510. ​ @adamredwine774  It follows that you're advocating that the Korean War should be rekindled.
    1
  13511. And why would either agree to that? NATO is a defensive alliance. There needs to be an attack against it before NATO's defence mechanism is activated.
    1
  13512. UNIFIL is not an occupying force, but they'll go an investigate any launch site and report on it. If Hezbollah reuses the same launch site, they only have themselves to blame for the ensuing destruction effected by Israel.
    1
  13513. If he's going to sell Ukraine down the river, the mess will get bigger still. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace.
    1
  13514.  @ChnesRep中華民國OfTaiwan  And what made you conclude that Italy wasn't on the losing side in WW2?
    1
  13515.  @Gucci05xx  You need to look up "odd" and explore all its meanings.
    1
  13516. Nope, who gave you that idea? Netanyahu? I suppose he would too, being a founding father of Hamas.
    1
  13517. She could continue to run as an independent and upset the stagnant duopoly. If a clear majority of voters -- as Axios suggests -- feel neither Trump nor Biden should run, there's a spark of hope for an independent candidate.
    1
  13518.  @nuqwestr  I suspect DeSantis already landed the Veep job, in exchange for quickly bowing out as per Trump's request.
    1
  13519.  @Biga101011  I fear you're right. That's why I wrote "spark of hope". But Haley could earn political capital by positioning herself as a dissident within the party. It would come in handy when the GOP finally overcomes the Trump disease.
    1
  13520.  @rogerengland7692  Deviant capitalist slave? Spoken like a true conspiracy theorist. Go hate on your lizard people.
    1
  13521.  @rogerengland7692  It was a good one, wasn't it? Pattern? Your laughable subterranean lizard people are an internet meme.
    1
  13522. ​ @johnmendoza2021  White European? I suppose that's Caucasian for the Muricans among us.
    1
  13523.  @mmmbrunommm3  Oh, Russia's third wave of decolonisation is past due. Russia is a federation of republics, by the way.
    1
  13524. I'm surprised to hear you say that, you being a Finn. Every Finnish soldier has a knife and knows how to use it... as a bottle opener, among others.
    1
  13525. @Omar Khurshid Are you sure your country didn't vote in favour of the ISAF mission to Afghanistan? It was unanimous.
    1
  13526. Just buy it bit by bit. I hear there's going to be fire sale soon.
    1
  13527. You don't recognise US citizenship, and by extension, the United States of America? OK.
    1
  13528.  @wionporky9937  About Morrison? I barely know he's the PM of Australia. Cute emoticons. Not childish at all.
    1
  13529. Musk is entitled to his opinions -- as are you -- but when Musk starts to mix business with politics, he shouldn't act surprised when potential buyers take their money elsewhere. Once again, his shareholders are facepalming themselves.
    1
  13530.  @Stoxks  They could just as well be Martians, but Musk is still going to bear the business consequences of his politicking. No happy faces among his shareholders, no matter how they feel about gender-identity.
    1
  13531.  @carlogambino1979  If that's so he should've kept mum about the politics. It's not profitable to lose part of your customer base, which possibly negates any savings.
    1
  13532.  @anibalmiranda2733  So he's losing out, too, Einstein.
    1
  13533. Again, Mali showed that it's highly susceptible to military coups. No wonder the existing regime hired the Wagner Group as a Praetorian Guard. But the Malians have to pay through their nose for the pleasure of having a particular military junta in charge, no better than the previous one, nor any better than the next one.
    1
  13534. That would be French schools banning abayas. In my school days, in the seventies, we had a dress code in school, too. Our stuffy headmistress was always measuring girls' skirts and sending some home for a change. If you need some democratic perspective, here's some: according to the Democracy Index, France rates as 'full democracy' (#22) whereas India's rating is 'flawed democracy' (#46). Not bad, actually, but you have some work to do.
    1
  13535. BoJo is a minor TV celebrity now, why?
    1
  13536. The US is caught between a rock and a soft spot for Israel.
    1
  13537.  @LisaNH934  Since 2014? Putin organised the apartment bombings in Russia in 1999, to serve as an excuse to have another go at the Chechen rebels. Civilians, Russian or otherwise, are mere pawns to Putin.
    1
  13538. Was he blessing the Syrians when they shot down the Israeli F-16 earlier this year? Your imaginary sky friend keeps switching sides, it seems.
    1
  13539.  @btccoins5514  You'll lose other manufacturing jobs because the Euros, Canadians, Mexicans and Chinese are going to slap retaliatory tariffs on the US products that they currently import. The end result is that US consumer prices go up and quality goes down.
    1
  13540. Trump is a primary source of fake news. Does that mean we should we declare open season on him?
    1
  13541. Muslims? Do you have an intellectual challenge as in being unable to tell the difference between a bunch of crazed jihadist terrorists and nearly 2 billion followers of a mainstream religion? You're either not very smart or you're just another hater.
    1
  13542. So you're not a Hongkie.
    1
  13543.  @skyevince  Het lijkt me toch beter dat het poppetjes zijn met bestuurservaring. Wilders schiet tekort.
    1
  13544. Funny that you should portray the Swiss as somehow superior to the EU. Switzerland has been sitting on its hands during the Ukraine crisis, even preventing its erstwhile customers from re-exporting arms and ammunition procured from Switzerland ages ago. In doing so, the Swiss arms industry has taken a body blow from which it won't recover unless the country abandons its holier-than-thou attitude. It also beggars belief that a country that ostensibly wants to stay apart from the EU still meekly pays its dues for the privilege of remaining a hang-around member of the EU. I hope the misplaced sense of nationalistic pride makes up for Switzerland's lack of influence in the EU's decision making.
    1
  13545. So, who's the puppet master? Or is that privileged information that is only shared with top conspiracy theorists such as yourself?
    1
  13546. I'm European and we're ranked number 4 in AI. Due to groundbreaking research mostly.
    1
  13547.  @kangzhilou4207  Are you having IT problems or is it the Great Firewall?
    1
  13548.  @daksans6764  And you have your free-of-charge walking brøthels. We call it råpe.
    1
  13549.  @daksans6764  So, you can dish it out, but you can't take it. Typical.
    1
  13550.  @daksans6764  Sure, less cases of rape than you've got. Your sexual deviants don't have a recourse.
    1
  13551. Well thank you.
    1
  13552. joel bido, you're forgetting something. Trump. The US has forfeited all credibility on the world scene for electing the buffoon.
    1
  13553. Which part of "veto" don't you understand?
    1
  13554. If you must be geographical about it, maybe you can trade Hawaii for Greenland? If the Danes can't decide, throw in Guam and the US Virgin Islands. That could tickle the Danes' fancy.
    1
  13555.  @marcuselvard5922  Ahem, we hold no sway over African decision-making in any capacity. Who exactly do you take me for? God? We've instigated no wars, like ever in modern history. You must be a sucker for jumping to conclusions.
    1
  13556. All three countries here were already morally bankrupt when their dictators were made to face the music. It's no coincidence that their brutal regimes collapsed so quickly.
    1
  13557. You're very critical yet very generous. The government should've done the groundwork, assuring it has parliamentary support to proceed as planned, with Parliament only giving their final blessing for the deal negotiated. Did May do any such thing? No, she took three years to engineer an epic failure.
    1
  13558. Charity begins at home. Appeal for peace with Putin.
    1
  13559. China is just playing holier than thou.
    1
  13560. I thought pest control companies do the honours, but if Rishi Sunak and his merry band of ministers want try to their hand, by all means.
    1
  13561.  @j377yb33n  I wouldn't want the gubberment in my bedroom, but that's just me.
    1
  13562.  @j377yb33n  Just toying with you. I live to the east of you.
    1
  13563. You rejected the Su-57. That doesn't bode well.
    1
  13564.  @adithyadanaj9768  That doesn't bode well either. The "indigenous" Kaveri jet engine is a case in point.
    1
  13565. Mexico joining the EU would slurp up the better part of the EU's Cohesion Fund. And we have quite a few takers as it is. Canada would be a contributor to said fund, but it wouldn't make up the difference, Mexico being far more populous.
    1
  13566. Who's put nuclear missiles on whose doorstep? Only Russia is on NATO's doorstep. Not the other way around.
    1
  13567. The majority, who'll vote Labour, must be insane then.
    1
  13568.  @melindakoid3100  Interesting. You're implying that mainland Chinese death squads will enter HK and silently kill the protesters. Move over, Saudi Arabia!
    1
  13569. +Tom Hulme It's not so much punishment by the EU as a self-inflicted wound by Britain. Besides, co-operation works both ways. Both sides stand to lose.
    1
  13570. +Tom Hulme I said self-inflicted, as in slitting your own wrists rather than have someone else do the honours. I'm sure Anglo-EU co-operation will continue, but just not at the same level as before. I suppose Brits will be invited to sit in on select meetings, but understandably, you won't have a say in shaping EU security policy. No pay, no say.
    1
  13571. +Tom Hulce No, that's not what I'm saying. Try to reread my comments.
    1
  13572. +Tom Hulme It's like you won't be invited to all family parties after you divorce your wife, that's why. The Yanks don't invite you to all their security meets either, do they?
    1
  13573. +Tom Hulme It's a grave accusation that innocent Britons would be sacrificed out of political rancour. No, I think that in anticipation of Brexit ending in tears, you want to believe everyone's ganging up on you, so you can blame anyone but yourselves. The EU has gotten over the UK leaving. Let's be honest, there's a measure of relief in seeing a malcontent leave on his own accord. BTW, punctuation isn't overrated.
    1
  13574. +Tom Hulme What basis do you have for your assertion that UK intelligence is more valuable to the EU than vice versa? Till you provide credible sources, it's just self-congratulatory babble.
    1
  13575. +Tom Hulme Well, none of them, not EUROPOL, MI5, MI6 nor GCHQ, have powers of arrest. Come on, surely you can copy-paste the link to the Guardian article.
    1
  13576. +Tom Hulme I wonder if you read (or understood) the article. It laments the poor state of intelligence co-operation in the EU (the UK seems to be part of the problem), but lauds the agencies of the bigger members, including those of the UK, as very capable. Where the UK does stand out is as a conduit to some non-EU agencies. By definition, conduits add little or no value. The article even hints at Germany taking over that role in the post-Brexit EU. If so, the logical conclusion is that the UK's importance in the global intelligence community is waning, as the UK will no longer be a source for EU intelligence. Ergo, you didn't prove your point about the UK being extraordinarily important in intelligence matters.
    1
  13577. +Tom Hulme Germany taking over from the Britain as an intelligence conduit, I wrote. I also wrote that passing information from one agency to another adds little value. All it says is that Brits are trusted to carry messages.
    1
  13578. +Tom Hulme So you agree that the British intelligence community owes its (supposed) prominence to being glorified messenger boys? It seems the Germans only need to forge some ties to cut out the middleman. You're becoming surplus to requirements.
    1
  13579. +Tome Hulme Don't go juvenile on me with the smileys. Your proof, your article, suggested that the UK is indeed a valuable source of intelligence, just like a tap is a valuable source of water. Sadly, a tap doesn't create water. Also, a bit plumbing and tadah, you have yourself another tap. Speaking of trust issues, have you forgotten how Kim Philby & Co. emasculated British intelligence? Unlike James Bond, Philby and his spies were real. And Germany fares better than the UK in the corruption perception index, so by rights the UK should step aside.
    1
  13580. +Tom Hulme you're* Provide credible sources then. You tried highlighting EUROPOL's lack powers of arrest (equally applicable to MI6, that) and referenced a Guardian article that didn't back your claim. Thanks for likening British intelligence to a leaky tap. You're doing sterling work for me.
    1
  13581. +Tom Hulme I'll ignore the ad hominem, which just speaks of despair, but in demanding that I disprove your claim you're making a so-called argument from ignorance. You can't prove your point so you demand that I disprove it. And you think I'm embarrassing myself.
    1
  13582. Let's move you to Rwanda.
    1
  13583. Can't wait to hear your conspiracy theory. Finish it soon, will ya!
    1
  13584. The NATO bombing of Yugoslavia forced Milosevic -- under strong diplomatic pressure from Russia -- to pull back his troops from Kosovo, thereby stopping the mass killings of Kosovars by the Yugoslav army. Russia's bombing of Ukraine will have no appreciable effect on ending the war. It only adds to Putin's long list of war crimes.
    1
  13585.  @jasonwright6823  Sounds like Trump and Jan 6.
    1
  13586. It would seem that you don't know the difference between oil and gas.
    1
  13587.  @roubartnekola5896  Genius? You set the bar very low.
    1
  13588. Then how about Israel's 46% who claim to be secular?
    1
  13589. You wumaos must be getting bored. No one has time for China.
    1
  13590.  @troycote4503  Get out of the North American continent, too, for good measure. I'm sure the Native Americans will applaud your voluntary exit.
    1
  13591. Why would Russia be entitled to buffer states? Because they have a nuclear arsenal and a dictator with delusions of grandeur?
    1
  13592.  @Engenifffo  Senk joe. Complimenten vind ik altijd leuk.
    1
  13593.  @AvdH1963  Ik ben al in 1988 vertrokken. Niet naar Rusland, want dat ligt me minder, toen en nu ook. Tegenwoordig moet je daar echt een fascist voor te zijn. Je hoeft me niet te danken voor de tip.
    1
  13594. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Both live up to the credo.
    1
  13595. Aircraft get their altitude from altimeters that measure atmospheric pressure. That's all the more important now that Russia jams GPS to confuse Ukrainian drones.
    1
  13596. Duh, with Trump regaining the White House, the US is wavering in its support for Ukraine and stirring hope in the Kremlin. The EU -- with the obvious but far, far less significant exceptions Hungary and Slovakia -- is not wavering in its support for Ukraine. So who's working for whose hegemony exactly? BTW, you've overused your Kissinger quote to the point of having become a complete bore.
    1
  13597. China still has a lot of catching up to do. A slowdown in growth in China equates to a recession in Europe. China still has a lot of untapped potential and is far from plateauing. And who says the Chinese themselves aren't disappointed? The Chinese I deal with are born businessmen, very astute.
    1
  13598.  @sefsedfsdhgjfgh  You're making stuff up as you go along.
    1
  13599.  @peterwilson5528  The plural form of bot is *bots. Don't you wish the British Council was still active in your country?
    1
  13600. Try to elect better presidents.
    1
  13601. Russia could have avoided this war, period. Unfortunately, Putin preferred to embark on a foolish military adventure that turned sour from the very beginning. He's kicking himself every day. The S-400 is going to wait out the storm when a F-16 strike package comes overhead. If a S-400 radar operator gets it into his head to flick the switch to the on position, a HARM will be underway to show him once and for all how bad an idea that was. The F-16 is not for nothing the weapon of choice for SEAD.
    1
  13602. Wasn't the oil intended for Russian warships? As they sail the Black Sea, don't they burn oil?
    1
  13603. Cruise missile diplomacy would've worked out cheaper. We had to help the people, that's where we went wrong.
    1
  13604.  @mrplease66  You must've missed Russia's top propagandist salivating on state TV at Russia drowning the Britain Isles with a nuclear torpedo, set go off near the coast. On the plus side, the Irish wouldn't pose a military threat any longer, because: a) they wouldn't exist; and b) neither would the Brits.
    1
  13605. Writing an alternate history now, aren't we?
    1
  13606. Why are you here?
    1
  13607. You seem to be in autodenial.
    1
  13608.  @ryanwalters6184  Vassals? Trump has turned against just about anyone. You wouldn't alienate your vassals. Not even Trump is that imbecilic.
    1
  13609. Spelling.
    1
  13610.  @joskoeleman950  Jij bent op je achterhoofd gevallen. Ons afzijdig houden, zoals Sjorsje het wil, is neutraal zijn. Is het goed afgelopen in 1940 of juist niet?
    1
  13611.  @alberto123iq  Toch wel.
    1
  13612.  @Intel-i7-9700k  De Denen denken anders met het schaamrood op de kaken terug aan hun actieve collaboratieperiode (40-43). De Baltische staten hebben nog minder verzet geboden, maar ze hebben navenant nog meer verliezen geleden, en daar komen nog hun naoorlogse ontberingen onder Sovjet-bezetting bij. Je moet de Balten eens gaan vertellen dat verzet geen zin heeft.
    1
  13613.  @naraljabaklanova6788  Dat is interessant... maar niet relevant.
    1
  13614.  @dimas3829  Actually, no. Russian draft dodgers get intercepted at the border, before they can apply for political asylum on the other side. Russians border guards patrol intensively to prevent illegal crossings.
    1
  13615.  @ugbalaarya5213  NATO's most enthusiastic members are Slavic.
    1
  13616.  @ugbalaarya5213  That's not intelligible English.
    1
  13617. So what we're seeing is a de facto military coup.
    1
  13618. Russia would veto any UNSC resolution to that effect faster than you can say Jack Robinson.
    1
  13619. You could try appeasing Putin yourselves. Cede some of your own territory to Russia and see if that satisfies Putin's lust for Lebensraum.
    1
  13620. Remember to imbibe. You know, to pluck up courage the Dutch Russian way.
    1
  13621.  @smrid1835  I have four years of active military service under my belt, including two on overseas deployments, and remain active in the reserves. You?
    1
  13622.  @smrid1835  At ease, soldier. Sorry, I won't fight for the Orcs.
    1
  13623.  @smrid1835  OK, armchair general.
    1
  13624.  @CorruptMediaLies  The analogy is valid all right.
    1
  13625.  @felipe-vibor  Israel has fought many proxy wars against Russia, dum-dum. And if Russia were to attack Israel, like it has attacked Ukraine, you can bet your bottom dollar that Israel would resist. If there's a lesson here it's that Russia has grossly overestimated its military prowess and the capability of its weapons. In view of that, Israel not a country Russia wants to tangle with.
    1
  13626. You're suggesting this is 'defence in depth'. Chaos in depth, more like.
    1
  13627. I don't know, during my peacekeeping tour in Lebanon, whenever we had trouble with the locals, we warned the elders that if they didn't control their youngsters, the French would get involved, and no one wanted that. The Israelis preferred to give them wide berth, too. In other words, we shamelessly used the French as a bogeyman, to scare the combatants straight. Moreover, Napoléon is oftentimes credited with being the best military leader in history. He was undoubtedly a military genius, but the tools at his disposal were first-class, too. France also led the Allies to victory in WW1, including the Americans, who for reasons only known to themselves, need to perpetuate this myth of French defeatism/lack of military prowess. It's all the more perplexing since the French presented military victory on a silver platter to the Americans in their Revolutionary War. It bears reminding that their adversaries, the British Army and the Royal Navy, were both considered the best in the world.
    1
  13628. We had pity on them.
    1
  13629. Don't generalize. This madness seems to be restricted to Murica.
    1
  13630. Short-term better, long-term far worse.
    1
  13631. Looks like the haze in Singapore. Colour me moderately impressed.
    1
  13632. Russia winning geopolitically? Russia is isolated. More than friends, it has leeches that take advantage of Russia's predicament. Russia's 'war economy' is on a steady course to bankruptcy while Russia plunders its sovereign wealth fund, half of which has already gone up in smoke --literally.
    1
  13633. So you're alleging that the EU is suppressing the freedom of the press. Fact is, the EU has among its members those with the freest press in the world. It seems like a worthy pursuit to maintain those levels, and that's what this effort is about: calling social media to account. You're just peddling conspiracy theories.
    1
  13634. Sure, they sanction themselves in the process. No gas, no money.
    1
  13635. Two in row, both of whom have had very short tenures. Steer clear of pub quizzes.
    1
  13636.  @josephshields2922  The only slaughtering of civilians has been perpetrated by Russian soldiers. You're a Kremlin apologist, and a poor one at that.
    1
  13637. It sure looks like India is perpetually on the lookout for a new master.
    1
  13638.  @henaimtiyaz4189  Horrible language.
    1
  13639.  @xanderhatmaker8171  "It" being Russia or Ukraine or both?
    1
  13640. As a kid, I lived close to Schiphol airport, one the busiest in Europe. Sometimes it was so misty I could hear the aircraft laboriously gain height, but I couldn't see them. I had a pretty good idea what they were, but since I couldn't positively identify their type, they were UFOs. Later, when I got myself a scanner, these UFO inundations lessened considerably.
    1
  13641.  @iljenshumilin467  Thanks for proving my point.
    1
  13642. Are you going to work for them? Lead by example.
    1
  13643.  @Kanukosan  You seem to know how to fix the UN. Get to it then.
    1
  13644.  @Kanukosan  We've heard very little about your constructive criticism. Let's hear it.
    1
  13645. ​ @Kanukosan  Sure, back to the troll cave with you. Trolls offer "criticism", but scamper off when confronted.
    1
  13646. They've got their zombie alliance, the CSTO, which has an Article 4 that is similar to NATO's Article 5. Only Russia reneged on helping out Armenia against Azerbaijan, which means the remaining CSTO members aren't keen on sticking their necks out for Russia either. Zombie alliance it is.
    1
  13647. OK, tell Putin to call off his dogs of war, so that the UN can arrange properly monitored referendums in Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, Mariupol and why not Kherson and Odesa for good measure, too. I fear Putin won't go along with it, because his campaign to win hearts and minds in Ukraine has been an epic fail, to put it mildly.
    1
  13648. What made you think that? When a permanent member of the UN is the aggressor, the UN can pass only moral judgement.
    1
  13649. So the UK failed to introduce proper democracy in Hong Kong, but did it also jail pro-democracy activists? Things weren't ideal in colonial times, but now, under Beijing's neo-colonial rule, Hong Kong is worse off in both respects: no democracy and jailed dissidents.
    1
  13650.  @chiaweinam  Amritsar, whereabouts in Hong Kong is that?
    1
  13651.  @richardlee9207  Now why would I care to ask Brinze [sic] Charles anything? He's not my royal, you silly boy. You're just spoiling for a fight, aren't you? Go tease your little sister, and mum will let you have it.
    1
  13652.  @chiaweinam  Thanks for stating the obvious. If you're preparing a petition, I'd glad to sign it. While you're at it, draft another one about, say, the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Since you're Chinese, it's more effective, too, than you taking up a foreign cause.
    1
  13653. You may want to expose his "lies". Now you're just coming across like a petulant child.
    1
  13654. @@user-xd1jk6mq7g Moscow is the future capital of Muscovy. The question is, what will they do for money?
    1
  13655. The UNSC has, in fact. But it's neutered by vetoes.
    1
  13656. Is that what it said on the ballot paper? Don't go falsifying history now.
    1
  13657. The Yemenis are occupied with fighting a civil a war, sport.
    1
  13658. It's all his doing. Putin has unleashed forces that he cannot control.
    1
  13659. Russia should empathize, not criticize. In 1941, the USSR started receiving weapons -- including thousands of fighter planes -- from the Western Allies to fight off military aggression. Same situation here.
    1
  13660. A bot would say that, yes, in exchange for a potato or two.
    1
  13661.  @joeburns88  I'm guessing you're aiming at protectionism. That's like pissing your pants and enjoying the warm feeling.
    1
  13662.  @joeburns88  Try it.
    1
  13663. ​ @meganh9460  Stop making stuff up. Practically every nation is protectionist to some degree. The US is not and has not been an exception. Neither does the EU stand out in the WTO stats. Brazil, for instance, has more than three times the tariffs. India, more than twice.
    1
  13664. ​ @meganh9460  If I'm lying, by extension the WTO is lying, too. The US has a long history with protectionism. Suggesting otherwise is just self-congratulatory babble, which you Yanks excel in. The WTO lists a weighted average tariff of 3.0% for the EU, whereas the figure for the US is 2.4%. We're talking a 0.6% difference. The EU figure is skewed by agricultural tariffs, which have always been a contentious issue among EU members. Us Northerners have no direct interest in maintaining them, but they are indirect consequences, such as South-North migration.
    1
  13665.  @NZobservatory  Good for you.
    1
  13666. How would you prefer to be called? There's already the centre right, who want to keep you at an arm's length at all times, so you clearly need to differentiate yourselves properly. Right-wing populists, does that pass muster with you? How about the hard right? Radical conservatives? Nativists?
    1
  13667.  @Cosmopolite999  So Moscow has seceded from Europe? Sweet!
    1
  13668.  @Cosmopolite999  Whatever.
    1
  13669.  @Cosmopolite999  As a continental European, why would I have a pressing need to keep London in Europe if they decide otherwise? It's a continent, not prison. Russia, on the other hand, gives Europe a bad name.
    1
  13670. I can tell that in your mind, you're still kow-towing to your former colonial master. The UK doesn't shape EU policy any more than the US does.
    1
  13671.  @НатальяБыкова-у2с  Didn't Russia declare every Ukrainian a Nazi, after the Ukrainians foolishly resisted Russia's "altruistic" attempt at "liberating" Ukraine? You may not know better, but it's advisable to steer clear of archaic terms such as "nationalist bandits" in international forums like this. Such Soviet-era terminology is best reserved for domestic use.
    1
  13672. Putin is having another bad day...
    1
  13673. Rather, when Putin is out of ideas, he instinctively resorts to nuclear sabre-rattling. It's a daily occurrence by now.
    1
  13674. Explain. I'll try not to spray milk out of my nose laughing.
    1
  13675.  @bps7209  Deficit spending is a guilty habit. There's no shortage of keen enablers. If a collapse were imminent, they wouldn't be all that keen.
    1
  13676. Opportunism.
    1
  13677. If he finds solace in religion, it's none of your beeswax.
    1
  13678.  Dorian Mode  Your mileage may vary, but we have this thing called freedom of speech. It does require a certain degree of tolerance from the audience. You may want to work on yours.
    1
  13679. Russia hardly has what it takes to pull itself out of the quagmire it has blundered into, but sure, you're right about Russian money paying for rebuilding Ukraine. They're called war reparations, and Russia will cry and pay them.
    1
  13680. Putin cries himself to sleep every night, buster.
    1
  13681.  @trqster  Putin doesn't have much choice. It's either that or retirement in China or North Korea.
    1
  13682. If there were a decent chance of Russia winning the war in Ukraine, it would not threaten with real nuclear weapons on a daily basis.
    1
  13683. @MSD Group A lessor is a person who leases or lets a property to another; a landlord. Can't you troll factory workers go on strike or something till you get that proof-reader? Your work environment is toxic as it is.
    1
  13684.  @mal6232  American neocons saying no to what? Come to think of it, I wouldn't have such a problem with America saying no to NATO.
    1
  13685. Yeah, the Munich Agreement was quite a success... at least Hitler thought so.
    1
  13686.  @bud1239  I think your botting for Putin is best described as flaccid.
    1
  13687.  @TheRedland284  China? Do I get a prize now?
    1
  13688.  @msimon6808  Don't go making up stories. They laughed at Trump when he claimed that his administration had accomplished more than almost any other in US history -- two years into his first term.
    1
  13689. Here, have a bread crumb. You'll be fine for a year.
    1
  13690. Flower power actually works in Russia.
    1
  13691. So, Russia will immediately turn a conventional war into a nuclear one and invite nuclear apocalypse upon itself, too? Have you been diagnosed with suicidal sociopathy yet? If not, you should get diagnosed. That way, you'll get help.
    1
  13692. For your info, the EU has failed to form a unanimous stance on the Gaza conflict, except for the usual yada yada that the violence should stop. The need for a two-state solution is another common point of agreement, but that's not news. Don't oversimplify matters. Commenters here are confused as it is.
    1
  13693.  @User122-ty  Putin had better have his dacha in Inner Mongolia cleaned up, too. I'm not sure he wants Assad as a permanent house guest. Xi may object, too.
    1
  13694.  @allencameron3419  He makes a good point. You make none whatsoever. I hear Finland's accession to NATO did much to restore investor confidence and boosted tourism, too.
    1
  13695.  @allencameron3419  I feel differently and I already put in two tours, in Lebanon and Kosovo. I guess my second tour made up for your cowardice.
    1
  13696. ​ @allencameron3419  Thank you for asking. Kosovo was tough, trying to keep Serbian civilians from getting killed at the hands of vengeful Kosovars, sometimes with deadly force. Also, when I first arrived in Beirut, they were still flying out bodies of US Marines by the planeload. That was the first and last time I saw US forces in that theatre. Where did you serve? How did you feel when you were shot at and shelled?
    1
  13697.  @allencameron3419  I haven't told you my war stories, and neither do I feel compelled to do so. I share them with fellow veterans, not with cowards. Have you ever been called a Little Englander, by the way? If not, I'll fix it for you: Little Englander.
    1
  13698. It could be worse. Russia is winning in bot comments only.
    1
  13699. Dictators band together. No surprise there.
    1
  13700.  @Synths-n-Guitar  Pfffrt. Putin's Russia is synonymous with corruption and cronyism.
    1
  13701.  @blankscreen3702  Now you're just posturing.
    1
  13702.  @amb446  Because of Israel's nukes, Iran is busily building its own. Nuclear proliferation at work.
    1
  13703. OK, troll.
    1
  13704.  @mgtowski395  I don't know what you use it for.
    1
  13705.  @SEANMCAD  And there it is. When Russia comes up, you immediately change the topic to the US. What a great bore you are.
    1
  13706.  @SEANMCAD  OK, you're too weird for words.
    1
  13707.  @CorruptMediaLies  Having read several of your comments, I realise you'll use any twig to beat the EU with. You're not worth my time. Adieu.
    1
  13708. Not WEF again, is it? Could it be the Reptilians for a change?
    1
  13709. OK, Trumpist.
    1
  13710. Russia is engaged in hybrid warfare with the West. It's like pranking someone, but in these desperate days for Russia, it's the little things that count.
    1
  13711.  @rouz0  Try to keep up with the news. Iran's puppets, the Houthis, are launching drones and missiles to disrupt Red Sea shipping. The IRIS-T knocks both out of the air. The UN Security Council just adopted a resolution that calls for a stop to the Houthi attacks. Countering Iran's aggression with German weapons thousands of kilometres from Gaza doesn't worsen -- or improve, for that matter -- the plight of the Gazans. You're spreading cheap conspiracy theories.
    1
  13712. I completely agree. To stave off accusations of hypocrisy, I presume you're lobbying the CCP to come clean about the Tiananmen Square Massacre?
    1
  13713.  @jiachunwu4753  Thanks for confirming that the CCP muzzles you. I hope you won't lose your VPN privileges for being so forthright. The OP referred to massacres. Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't dismiss a massacre as a "political incident".
    1
  13714.  @jiachunwu4753  We non-Chinese value the right to challenge the government very highly. It's part and parcel of democracy. There's no power monopoly to maintain at all cost, so there's no need to unleash massacres on our people either. Your problem is that you can't judge if the your government is beneficial or not, because it's a subjective matter and the subjects -- the people --- aren't properly consulted on what they deem beneficial. There's an interesting correlation between democracy and happiness. The leading democracies of the world also perform well in happiness. That's in stark contrast to China, which scores poorly both in democracy and happiness.
    1
  13715.  @jiachunwu4753  Check out the Democracy Index and the World Happiness Report. The correlation is clear. I believe happiness and wealth go hand in hand, but only if the latter is more or less evenly distributed. It's no coincidence that the Nordic countries are both democratic and happy, with all four appearing in the top ten of both lists. Sooner or later, China's economic growth will be stymied by lack of democracy. We've seen it all before -- the South Korean leaders had to choose between social unrest (autocracy) and continued growth (democracy). It's no secret that the CCP has a social contract with the people -- a de facto mandate to govern as long as the going is good -- but that won't last forever. I'm just worried that Xi won't let go even if he starts harming the Chinese economy. It could be argued that that point has been reached already.
    1
  13716. The French slap their kids a lot. If you were to do that elsewhere, child protective services would spring into action.
    1
  13717.  @sl9673  If you want options, you could give a parliamentary system with proportional representation a try. It could be taxing, however, with so many more candidates to hate.
    1
  13718.  @SalSanchez-dy6cn  You just luuurve whataboutism, don't you?
    1
  13719.  @hellchemical  "Every 3 mounts"? Is that a transliteration from Russian?
    1
  13720.  @igorpan3413  Who do you mean, the Russians?
    1
  13721. Is that your inferiority complex speaking?
    1
  13722. Rishi Sunak hasn't had time to do any damage yet.
    1
  13723.  @Gordon..  It's interesting that the UK has more than its fair share of lazy poor.
    1
  13724.  @AK90R90  You might be right. Now that Russia no longer has access to modern electronics and optics, it might as well start building WW2-era T-34s again. Russia needs something -- anything -- for cannon fodder in Ukraine.
    1
  13725. Do you have new evidence?
    1
  13726. Thank you, and it will destroy Russia's hydrocarbon economy.
    1
  13727.  @prajwal1341  Why do you ask? Out of general interest? Or have you reached that age when a child asks many questions?
    1
  13728.  @prajwal1341  You still make precious little sense.
    1
  13729.  @dng6121  What a cop-out.
    1
  13730.  @dng6121  You don't seem to know what a 'cop-out' is.
    1
  13731.  @dng6121  Sigh. You still didn't get it.
    1
  13732.  @dng6121  Report for a psych eval.
    1
  13733.  opportunity knocks  Be that as it may, Trump is not dousing the flames, he's adding fuel to them.
    1
  13734.  opportunity knocks  The economy is fine despite him, one could say. But how is that and attacking Venezuela unifying the country?
    1
  13735.  opportunity knocks  What's the matter, you have to resort to name-calling already? The economy has already on the mend under Obama. That's a statistical fact. Trump didn't put a stop to this positive development, although his trade wars probably did shave off a few percentage points from the growth. I still don't understand your point (note that I use the term loosely) about socialism and its unified effect on a hopelessly divided USA.
    1
  13736.  @GuyMakingNoises  Uh, how about Israel making a better offer for a two-state solution? Israel's obstinate take-it-or-leave-it approach is obviously a non-starter. According to recent polls, the Gazans weren't in favour of breaking the tenuous ceasefire that existed before Oct 7. In other words, they didn't sign up to the Hamas attacks and the disproportionate collective punishment that followed. Also, Hamas stopped staging elections when it came to power and eliminated the opposition, NSDAP-style. Nonetheless, Hamas's popularity was flagging, which goes a long way in explaining why they launched their suicidal attacks. The death cultists clearly wanted to go out with a bang. It sounds like you're a Netanyahu fanboy, who's scraping the barrel for excuses for Netanyahu's string of miscalculations. I'm afraid you'll have to find yourself a new fan club, because Netanyahu's is about to close shop.
    1
  13737.  @TheMistAnchorite  Your personal opinion makes all the difference. It's stronger still if you don't bother to provide any argument in its defence. How do they say -- water is wet, the sky is blue, women trolls have secrets.
    1
  13738.  @darthsidius9631  The US is judged a flawed democracy. I wonder why that hasn't seeped in.
    1
  13739.  @darthsidius9631  And your source is the infamous "trust me, bro"? I'm referring to the Democracy Index.
    1
  13740. Shall we all gather in your sitting room then?
    1
  13741. It was an Ukrainian missile strike, but since their insurance doesn't cover acts of war, Russia tries to pass it off as an accident.
    1
  13742. He's so popular he can't risk competition.
    1
  13743.  @antebaric3021  Rest assured, as the world's top tourist destination, France gets by fine without you.
    1
  13744.  @antebaric3021  Are you something to us, that's the question you should ask yourself.
    1
  13745.  @in-my-view  The US isn't NATO. Why is there such a hullabaloo about Turkey and Hungary dragging their feet in approving Sweden and Finland as new members? Furthermore, why was there such a rift in NATO over the Iraq War, which Germany and France vehemently opposed? Even Russia was more agreeable to going to war against Iraq. As permanent UNSC members, Russia and China share responsibility for the Afghanistan debacle. Both voted in favour of ISAF and kept doing so many times over.
    1
  13746.  @in-my-view  Yes, you are clearly confused. In your black-and-white mind, NATO is either fully controlled by the US or not at all. No middle ground, in other words. Also, you seem to think NATO is a monolith. It's clearly a sum of many parts. I did my internship at the NATO HQ in Brussels, after serving a tour with KFOR in Kosovo. So I'd say I do know a thing or two about NATO. What are your credentials? So far, you haven't impressed me.
    1
  13747. A caretaker government is never very effective. It's the nature of the beast. You may want to look it up if the term is unfamiliar to you.
    1
  13748.  @SB-ok3xc  Europe didn't exactly run to Iraq, to hunt for Dubya's make-believe WMDs, did it? There was recrimination and anger in the US, but Donald Rumsfeld's "old Europe" stood firm. Don't let reality interfere with your conspiracy theories.
    1
  13749. I fear we'll have a truly weak link in the chain in 2025. Across the pond.
    1
  13750.  @geoms6263  Romanian? Your poor grasp of geography suggests you're American.
    1
  13751. Didn't he appoint Mattis? Whoever Trump appoints, it always ends in tears.
    1
  13752. That would not be helpful. Macron wants to give Russia a thrashing all right, but Russia isn't invited to the Olympics, comme d'habitude. If it's not state-sponsored doping, it's waging an illegal war of aggression.
    1
  13753. Putin tried his utmost to dissuade Navalnyi from returning to Russia. His plan failed miserably.
    1
  13754.  @cyberash3000  RPGs are useless against airborne targets, sport.
    1
  13755.  @alexsilent5603  Please don't call Putin crazy. You may be a Putin bot and all, but we fear for your life now.
    1
  13756.  @legendovbago4716  Another geography whizz. NATO members Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland border Russia. Belarus is bordered by Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Soon, both Russia and Belarus will get a new NATO neighbour in Ukraine, too.
    1
  13757.  @phillipcollins9290  How so? Feel free to point out my mistakes.
    1
  13758.  @arseface2k934  Kherson is 100% Ukrainian. Try telling the Irish or the Americans that they're English on account of the language they speak.
    1
  13759.  @blintzkreig1638  *1939. To this day, the Russian desperately want to sweep the Winter War under the carpet. The war was a mistake of putinesque proportions, especially considering that the poor performance of the Red Army emboldened Hitler to attack the Soviet Union, their erstwhile ally.
    1
  13760.  @blintzkreig1638  Not so. Russia's objective all along was to capture the whole of Finland. Stalin pleaded with Hitler for permission to re-invade Finland after the Winter War, before Hitler turned on his dictator buddy. The Soviets didn't know that the Germans meticulously kept notes of all meetings.
    1
  13761. Better clean up your act then, just to be safe.
    1
  13762.  @DumbledoreMcCracken  Huh? The Trump administration even negotiated and signed the surrender agreement...
    1
  13763. We hear you. Parliamentary democracy and its multi-party coalitions are novel concepts to you. Yet the top 10 democracies of the world by and large swear by parliamentary systems. Your precious USA qualifies as neither.
    1
  13764. True dat. We get to see real combat footage from Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia regurgitates footage from past military exercises.
    1
  13765. There's nothing rich about roubles -- or toilet paper, for that matter.
    1
  13766.  @supertuscans9512  Accepting a new member that is under attack by a foreign power would auto-trigger NATO's Article 5. It would be tantamount to NATO declaring war on Russia. That's a legal conundrum, because strictly speaking, there's no valid casus foederis.
    1
  13767.  @agusagus-ci2id  Russia has shown to be incapable of producing state-of-the-art weapons that sell. By aiming lower, they'll be competing with China. I think we all know how that's going to work out for them.
    1
  13768.  @Na-eo1gx  Sadly for Russia, one swallow does not a spring make.
    1
  13769.  @julianpetkov8320  The "colonies" can depose their king with a simple vote. Barbados just did. That said, they stuck with the Commonwealth. Since we're on the topic, Russia should finally get busy with decolonisation. It's looong overdue.
    1
  13770.  @julianpetkov8320  Are you delirious? Your comment makes no sense.
    1
  13771. What an inane comment.
    1
  13772.  @kevt3318  *Losing. And yes, you lost it when Brexit -- one delay after another -- finally kicked in. That's just a fact. However, what's not a fact is that the remaining EU citizens all supposedly held British citizenship.
    1
  13773.  @kevt3318  You're still talking rubbish. For the record, I'm not a Polish plumber, so I'm not losing out. And by the way, can I say that in my experience, plumbing standards in the UK have improved considerably since the Polish plumbers did make their way to the UK? You seem to think we're one gray mass, but no, I'm better off than the average Brit, both on paper and in my personal experience, which includes a spell with a British bank in London. I've never been dependent on your relatively meagre contributions to the EU budget -- or those of anyone else for that matter. All Brits in personal sphere -- and in the high-tech startup scene there are quite a few -- have or are in the process of applying for nationality. Having also lived in Spain, I can vouch for the Spaniards that they can barely abide by British holidaymakers. British expats are okay - sort off -- but you'll find precious few Brexiteers among them. Your soccer hooligans, those you can keep.
    1
  13774. Putin can ill afford to wait till then. He desperately needs something resembling a victory, even a tiny one, before the Victory Day parade on May 9.
    1
  13775. You're clutching at straws, buddy.
    1
  13776.  @ralphzoombeenie2330  If so, why is the 4D chess player so keen to play into American hands? This war is ruining Russia, not to mention Putin's political career and his retirement plans.
    1
  13777.  @hondurasallday123  I prefer the euro, Mr. Whataboutist.
    1
  13778.  @buravan1512  Against Russian aggression, dopey head.
    1
  13779.  @theonly6359  Aw. You found your safe space.
    1
  13780.  @shanelambert6192  Russia's age demographics aren't anything to write home about either. Pot, meet kettle.
    1
  13781.  @shanelambert6192  Don't underestimate the great leap forward that Russia is currently taking in worsening its demographics. 700,000 skilled workers have left Russia since Putin went to war. With another round of mobilisation around the corner (or is already covertly ongoing), things will only get worse.
    1
  13782. Sweden is not doing *well. Among the Nordic countries, Sweden is sticking out like a sore thumb. You have more deaths than the other countries combined!
    1
  13783.  @PenisMcWhirtar  Accept the superiority of the Swedish approach? I'll accept that Sweden has a superiority complex vis à vis the world. Flu seasons of the yore don't explain the high Covid-19 mortality rate in Sweden. What does is Sweden not shielding its care homes from infection. Were you all smiles when your elderly died premature deaths?
    1
  13784.  @PenisMcWhirtar  Feeble excuses and self-congratulatory babble. Your authorities have admitted to failings, all the way up to the PM. Moreover, a recent poll showed that more Swedes express no confidence in the national Covid-19 strategy than the other way around. Sure enough Tegnell, the chief epidemiologist, has been sidelined. You're seriously in denial. In case it isn't clear to you yet, I'm talking about a Nordic context, whereas you've obviously comparing Sweden to other European countries that have had it much worse from the onset. In Norway, Denmark and Finland, there have been only partial lockdowns and mostly voluntary measures, which by and large have worked very well. There has been no public backlash of note. The economic impact is much the same, too.
    1
  13785. ​ @PenisMcWhirtar  Now you're just being silly. What do university applications have got to do with the price of tea in China? If you think it matters that you live in Sweden (BTW, I got that right away), then produce an opinion poll that proves the opposite, that Swedes have high confidence in the national Covid-19 strategy. Don't be shy, I understand Swedish. For reasons that I cannot fathom, you're somehow under the impression that I am a Brit. You can save your bile for them. You can also save your emoticons for pre-teens, who can appreciate them.
    1
  13786.  @NewBeginnings413  I think it's commendable that one comes clean for a change.
    1
  13787. Rutte has 32 bosses. That's why his title is secretary-general, not general manager.
    1
  13788. The region needs less religious fervour, not more.
    1
  13789.  @lindakep3968  Russia already suffered a moral defeat in February 2022, when Russia's intended Anschluss failed miserably. The follow-up is just an ad hoc face-saving measure of Putin's. Only in Russia...
    1
  13790. Populism and opportunism are two sides of the same coin.
    1
  13791. Slim van Biden. Door Trump voor spek en bonen mee te laten doen, zet de oranje clown niet meteen uit pure rancune een streep door het vredesverdrag.
    1
  13792. We've been over this oh-so many times. The UNSC votes on a draft resolution, the US vetoes it. Notice the difference: UN, US?
    1
  13793. European Union? Didn't Brexit register with you?
    1
  13794.  @bellohadiza9414  How are "western dominances" reduced if manufacturing shifts from China to LATAM? The cultural ties alone suggest there's a tighter bond there with "the west". As a European, I feel much more at home in LATAM than in China, and I travelled extensively in both.
    1
  13795.  @Ivan-tm9pd  Sure thing. Lobbyists not only prevent healthcare reform, but oh-so many other reforms. Maybe tackle the root of the problem? The lobbyists?
    1
  13796. Special Mobilisation Operation? I hear Russians are trying to hide from recruiters. It doesn't tally with your claim of Russians gladly stepping up to serve on the front lines in Ukraine.
    1
  13797.  @burritosls  Perhaps we should ask the UN, as in its General Assembly, what it thinks about Russia annexing the Donbas and Crimea. Oh, we did already, in late 2022. The result was a resounding "no go", as expressed by 143 countries vs. 5. Out of those 5 ne'er-do-wells (including Russia of course), two evidently regretted their decision, because they still haven't diplomatically recognised the territories as Russian.
    1
  13798. A tick drops off when it has engorged itself. Boris stays.
    1
  13799. Still not major. Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson, those are major victories, but for Ukraine, of course.
    1
  13800.  @kaloyanrosenov2123  Major victories, I wrote, as in terms of strategic impact, both militarily and geographically. You can hardly blame Ukraine for Russians troops putting up a poor fight, even fleeing the battlefield in complete despair. It just shows that Ukraine has picked its battles with great cunning and executed them well.
    1
  13801.  @kaloyanrosenov2123  That's not what verifiable sources suggest. Russia has lost so much armour and worn down its artillery to such and extent that it's now resorting to massed infantry attacks. It's WW2 Eastern front all over again.
    1
  13802.  @grhinson  Maybe your privacy laws don't work. Ours do.
    1
  13803. You're not very supportive of Russia's war special military operation, are you?
    1
  13804. Also when Russia or China wield their veto? Don't be myopic.
    1
  13805. Name some, in addition to the Qatargate ones.
    1
  13806. With the oil price at its lowest, the Saudis kept making money, but the Russians with their high production costs were royally screwed. Even now that the price was clawed back, they remain in survival mode.
    1
  13807. The tables have turned, haven't they?
    1
  13808. Well, it didn't take long for Russia to admit its retreat north of Bakhmut -- to "regroup" -- when faced with overwhelming evidence. Lying is their first instinct. They just can't help themselves.
    1
  13809. CFCs were banned.
    1
  13810.  @uksimonseye  Britain is much better off without Brits?
    1
  13811. @John Davis Having trouble hitting the right reply button?
    1
  13812.  @おす-qz7kp  So, if we Euros started liking the NFL and the "World Series", then you'd turn away from them? I think it would make a great prank if we were to pretend for a while that we did.
    1
  13813.  @おす-qz7kp  Duh, you suggested that whatever we Euros like, you disapprove of, and go for the opposite.
    1
  13814.  @おす-qz7kp  Duh, our Eurocrats are duly elected. Crack a book about democratic governance. It's painfully clear that you've fallen by the wayside.
    1
  13815. Yeah, birds of a feather. Two dictators. They should prop up one another.
    1
  13816.  @gdiwolverinemale4th  Everyone means all YouTube Besserwissers.
    1
  13817. Donnie Dumpsterfire also told us to eat lightbulbs and wash them down with disinfectant. But true enough, if the Germans had followed that particular bit of advice, Germany wouldn't need any Russian oil and gas now. They'd be extinct.
    1
  13818. The AS90, a game changer? I'm sure they'll be put to good use by Ukraine, but I fail to see how the game radically changes as a result. So far, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Slovakia, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Norway and the USA either have sent or are about to send self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine.
    1
  13819.  @MarkErikEE  It's still more of the same. If conventional artillery was a game changer, the Russians would've long changed the game to their favour. HIMARS, with its guided missiles and superior range, qualifies as a game changer, but the AS90 does not. It's a welcome addition, but the game remains the same.
    1
  13820.  @ihikebc  You don't say. Why don't they mention all ancient British tribes? No fair!
    1
  13821.  @ihikebc  It's a silly description, especially when it comes to the Americans. The Brits don't even matter that much.
    1
  13822. +zbubba The US is the single biggest NATO member by population, so per se it's no surprise that the US spends most. Also, US military interests aren't confined to NATO. Costly US military bases in the Pacific or in the Middle East aren't really serving NATO, or you'll have to redefine its purpose. Generally speaking, Europe assigns a lower priority to defence than the US. You could turn it around and ask why the US chooses to overspend on defence. A military-industrial complex that needs propping up? A social welfare programme in disguise? Or is it a pressing need for military adventurism, like we saw in Iraq? You'll have to explain to me how US dollars pay for European soldiers' salaries. You seem to be confused there.
    1
  13823. English-speaking world? You must be a monoglot who's needlessly freaked out by foreign languages. Languages aren't the barriers you take them for. Ideology is.
    1
  13824. ...more like a career suicide, the both of them.
    1
  13825. I'm anxious too. We're seeing an evil empire in the making.
    1
  13826. Maybe Putin can be your new colonial overlord. You've got the "Sir" part right already.
    1
  13827. You could've said the same about Putin's special military op in Ukraine. Prior to that, the Kremlin Gremlin had gotten away with annexing Crimea and he had a nice frozen conflict going in the Donbas. But then megalomania kicked in and he wanted to swallow Ukraine whole. And now he's choking on it. If that isn't dense, I don't know what is.
    1
  13828. Sure, Putin fancied himself the emperor of a reborn Russia empire, but what he got instead is a reinvigorated NATO empire that's nipping his plans in the bud. But unlike Putin's empire-building, NATO expansion involves no subjugation. Why wouldn't it be out in the open? Unlike Putin's machinations, NATO's expansion can stand the light of day.
    1
  13829.  @rebellion6468  Duh, it's a Soviet-era BUK missile. Ukraine's had them for ages.
    1
  13830. It's a no-brainer all right. Oh sorry, I didn't realise...
    1
  13831. Russia is the King of Disinformation. Inviting Russia would be tantamount to muddying the waters even further.
    1
  13832. There's China and Russia, too. Trump is not good for China either, which aims to export its way out of the doldrums, but Trump is not having any of it. Trump is good for Russia, however, because Trump aims to sell Ukraine down the river.
    1
  13833.  @VadimBolshakov  There will be other terms for Russia. Russia will find out that an uneasy peace is nothing but the continuation of sanctions and exclusion.
    1
  13834.  @NeoAfricanBroadcast  They had better steer clear of Ukrainian waters or they'll be turned into artificial reefs.
    1
  13835. Relax, it's just an excess of paint. In the Dutch army of the 80s, we used to say that if something moves, you greet it. If it doesn't, you paint it green. That's how our tanks ended up with so many layers of paint that their hatches wouldn't close any longer.
    1
  13836. Yeah, but everyone's hoping that the Hungarians will boot out Orban and his corrupt cronies instead. So far, no luck.
    1
  13837. Maar van complotdenken leef je acht jaar korter.
    1
  13838.  @lidysellink2221  Doe geen moeite. Ik ignoreer je al.
    1
  13839. Corruption mostly manifests itself on a national level, where the EU has no jurisdiction. EU-malcontent Hungary is the most glaring example. This Didier Reynders case may be an exception, although it remains unclear where the money that needed laundering came from. It could be he was set up -- innocent till proven guilty, right? Right?
    1
  13840. ​ @limlisa  And your personal opinion is particularly important because...?
    1
  13841. Good news. You've been awarded the coveted Полезный идиот года Prize by the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media.
    1
  13842.  @paulagilbert1982  Google Translate is your friend.
    1
  13843. A statesman has gravitas. Trump has none whatsoever.
    1
  13844. *quiet. Be that as it may, *Zelenskyy should donate some of his money towards English lessons for bots.
    1
  13845. True statesmanship vs. reality TV stardom.
    1
  13846.  @ghteo9766  You've got it backwards. Russia is constantly fantasizing about nuclear war. The West is reacting with concern, just like any sane person would. Also, you're needlessly warning the West about MAD. It's Russia that seems to have forgotten about it.
    1
  13847. Pray tell how that could be the case. Trump is basically saying that US mining engineers in Ukraine will call in the cavalry if the Russians charge in with their tanks. Too little, too late.
    1
  13848. The HAL Tejas? It seats one passenger. Not very efficient.
    1
  13849. So for those thirty years, there were no wildfires? Strange, I can't think of a single year that passed without one. And who exactly lobbies against combatting wildfires?
    1
  13850. Don't get your hopes up.
    1
  13851. I have a hunch Assad will become a permanent house guest of Putin's -- in the latter's dacha in Inner Mongolia. I'm not sure if Assad is as keen on riding horsey bare-chested, but he shan't insult the host, so Assad may want to keep his suspicions to himself.
    1
  13852. Russia won't surrender, but it will sue for peace. The longer the war lasts, the worse the terms for Russia.
    1
  13853. True dat, but all three struggle with combined arms. India is significantly increasing its arms imports from the West, its efforts to grow more self-sufficient notwithstanding. You may wonder why that is so.
    1
  13854.  @mr.uthamaputhiran9790  Sadly, Russia's veto in the UNSC was rather powerful. I'm saying India doesn't deserve such power.
    1
  13855.  @goku9401  Which Europe was against India in the UNSC? Only France and the UK have a permanent seat. Two swallows don't make a continent. The vetoed draft resolutions in question don't sound unreasonable to me, as they call for both Indians and Pakistanis to refrain from killing one another. Then again, we neither sponsored any of the drafts nor supported them. Oh, and I am most definitely European.
    1
  13856.  @goku9401  OK, you're unable to hold a conversation. That much is clear.
    1
  13857. You need an omnipotent leader. Next time, get God to run for president.
    1
  13858. They punch above their weight. How about you?
    1
  13859.  @davidmitchell3020  That's not an option. You'll have to protect your trade routes elsewhere or China will "protect" them for you, at the said hefty price.
    1
  13860.  @davidmitchell3020  "If necessary"? We're jointly protecting trade routes in the Red Sea as we speak, at the expense of the taxpayer. What if China makes the Panama Canal part of its Belt and Road Initiative and decides that non-BRICS countries suddenly pay twice the toll? That would make the Suez Canal all the more important, but in order to get there, US-bound ships have to dodge Houthi missiles. Moreover, the US relies entirely on imports for two dozen or so mineral commodities, including rare earth metals, without which domestic manufacturing would grind to a halt. Inevitably, supply chains are global. Russia and China won't hesitate to hold the world to ransom with them.
    1
  13861. And which defeatist country are you from? Putin is dying to know, because Ukraine proved anything but, and he desperate needs a victory, otherwise his career is in the toilet.
    1
  13862. ​ @hamwhacker  Why are you pretending that the EU offered you a deal, out of the blue, so shockingly bad that you had to reject it? No, what happened is that the British government and its it EU-27 counterparts negotiated for well over a year and finally, late last year, came to an agreement. If that amounts to blackmail, May must be an accomplice. I'm afraid you're in denial. The sad truth is that your PM is a bumbling fool when it comes to negotiating Brexit. She completely and utterly misjudged how MPs would feel about her deal. Sadder still is that she's the second bumbling fool in a row, because Cameron's spectacular miscalculation caused this mess. Your next PM had better be someone who can deal with the EU.
    1
  13863.  @hamwhacker  More pretense. The EU isn't a monolith, but the sum of many parts -- 27 parts, if we exclude the UK. The fact of the matter is, these EU-27 have been surprisingly unanimous in agreeing on the UK's withdrawal terms and this despite the UK cosying up to potential dissenters in an attempt to get more favourable terms. There are many things the EU-27 disagree on, but Brexit isn't one of them. Let's be honest, Cameron wasn't out to reform the EU -- he was out for more exclusive privileges at the expense of the others. His arrogance prevented him from seeing that patience had worn thin, so he failed miserably. Had Cameron genuinely sought reform, he would've readily found allies, but a privilege is not a privilege if it's not exclusive. Arrogance also made him miscalculate the outcome of the referendum. Perhaps the best antidote to a poisonous referendum is another referendum, but I see leading Brexiteers are finally falling behind May to stave off something that might cancel Brexit altogether. Good on them, because I think that as a nation, you need some alone-time in the wilderness.
    1
  13864.  @hamwhacker  Well yes, it's painfully obvious that a striking number of Britons are maintaining delusions of grandeur based on past achievements rather than present ones. You desperately need to come to terms with your place in the world. Don't flatter yourself with being an exceptional financial contributor to the EU. I've paid taxes in three different EU countries, each with a higher per capita net contribution to the EU budget. So, should my vote have more weight than yours? Also, you're not the reformists you make yourselves out to be. Every EU member is constantly demanding reform in one form or another. Prior to the referendum, some of the EU's smaller and more progressive members proposed a joint bid for reform to Cameron. He ignored them. Evidently, the UK preferred to pursue its own interests without unnecessary distractions. Cameron must've mistaken the EU for the British Empire.
    1
  13865.  @hamwhacker  You're quite the hypocrite, aren't you? You have no qualms about calling the Austrians, Belgians, Bulgarians, Croatians, Cypriots, Czech, Danes, Estonians, Finns, French, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Irish, Italians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Luxembourgers, Maltese, Dutch, Poles, Portuguese, Romanians, Slovaks, Slovenes, Spanish and Swedes mafiosi, bullies, racketeers, usurpers, hijackers, evil-doers, blackmailers and censors. But when I accuse "a striking number of Britons" of having delusions of grandeur for constantly digging up past achievements that have no bearing on the present, you're deeply offended. But thanks for lending credence to my assertion that in an European context, Brits make poor team-players. It must be especially hard for you to conform to other nations' wishes when they don't exactly coincide with yours. Compromise is beneath you, eh?
    1
  13866.  @gfys756  Go for it, but I think you'd better have something more substantial than a herd cows.
    1
  13867. Sigh. You've demonstrated on many occassions that you just don't understand representative democracy. You should try to run for office yourself, but for the sake of honesty, make it clear upfront that you'd only represent yourself, because you only believe in direct democracy. But remember, don't give up your day job -- in case you do hold one.
    1
  13868. Prigozhin, like all of Putin's oligarchs, are walking piggybanks of his. Putin can empty them whenever he pleases.
    1
  13869. ​ @catbertevil750  So you can't name any specific lie. You make accusations, but you can't back them up. Pathetic.
    1
  13870.  @ying6610  Uh, sportwear isn't subject to a Taiwanese import ban -- pharmaceuticals imported from China are. Also, Nike, Adidas and Apple know their markets, so they're not making rookie mistakes like BioNTech (with Fosun's blessing, that is). So, again, why did Fosun eagerly go along with a distribution agreement that included a market that's closed off to them? Do you honestly think Fosun was unaware of the problem, or should I say, political opportunity? You can tell me if answering this question gets you into trouble with CCP censors. If so, we'll leave it at that.
    1
  13871.  @catbertevil750  See what? You've still got nothing. You're full of bluster, but you can't put your finger on a single falsehood that I've supposedly told.
    1
  13872.  @catbertevil750  Then tell us about those delusions of mine. Specifics, please. We've been over this, but you still can't produce a single lie that I've supposedly told. You're an empty vessel!
    1
  13873.  @catbertevil750  You're embarrassing yourself in front of all the readers here, that's "us". I see you still can't produce a single example of where I supposedly lied. You're beyond pathetic.
    1
  13874.  @catbertevil750  I'll keep going all right. Still, you can't produce a single example of a lie that I've supposedly told. Like I noted before, empty vessels make the most noise.
    1
  13875.  @catbertevil750  Oh, I don't mind repeating that your wild accusations of me lying still lack foundation. You. can't. provide. a. single. example. P-a-t-h-e-t-i-c.
    1
  13876.  @qindu4120  I can't help but notice that you're all opinion -- opinions that you don't even bother to substantiate. OK, to prove that you're not yet another drone-like wumao, answer the question that remains unanswered: why did Fosun agree to a distribution agreement that included a market they're not able to tap into?
    1
  13877. Your definition of greatness is an odd one. Putin turned the gas station that masquerades as a country into a gas station that's going out of business.
    1
  13878. That begs the question how the biggest egos of them all, Trump's and Musk's, can fit on the same planet. Luckily, Musk can soon shoot himself off to Mars.
    1
  13879.  @timmy-wj2hc  You confused Zelenskyy for a dictator. Putin fits the list, not Zelenskyy. You should also consider who terminated these guys' careers. Not Russia.
    1
  13880. Uh, you need to up your game. The USA is in danger of falling by the wayside democracy-wise.
    1
  13881.  @futuroluxo  The UN, flawed as it may be, is the only true international forum we've got. We could all send emissaries to a clearing in your jungle to agree on what little we can agree on, but that's not very practical.
    1
  13882.  @spiritualwarrior7627  Sure, I think it poetic justice if the UK were to make way for India as a permanent member of the UNSC. But in order for that to happen, India needs to show it has a functioning moral compass and that it's not subservient to anyone.
    1
  13883.  @warnpassion  Have a look at all the UN peacekeeping missions to date. Google is your friend.
    1
  13884.  @richardtyler3498  You're just as keen on rewriting history as the Soviets once were.
    1
  13885. Wide open? Finland is NATO country now, and therefore, fitted with NATO Article 5 tripwire. Putin didn't fancy invading Finland before -- he knows it's perfect ambush country -- so he definitly doesn't fancy it now.
    1
  13886.  @ald6265  Not true. He's condemned Hamas's terrorism and hostage-taking in no uncertain terms. You're just not very observant, or willfully ignorant.
    1
  13887.  @ald6265  So, for your peace of mimd, you would like to see all manner of disclaimers and clarifications added to in each and every comment that Guterres is quoted on. I'm sure he does include them, but the media don't necessarily pick up on those. If you're terribly interested, read the unabridged transcripts of his speeches. They're available on the UN's website. Say, while at it, why don't you start your own news channel on YouTube? Call it THE FULL NEWS or something. Insomniacs would appreciate it. I bet it beats counting sheep.
    1
  13888.  @_AbrahamL  You don't offer any arguments in defence of your claim. We do, CSTO and EAEU. As such, Armenia is formally allied with Russia, while Azerbaijan is not. That Russia betrays its allies is another matter altogether. CSTO died a slient death with the non-implementation of its Article 4. The bottom fell out.
    1
  13889. You're being too kind to Russia. It's a regional power, with reservations.
    1
  13890.  @skankhunt420  I don't know, Russia?
    1
  13891.  @skankhunt420  You clearly jumped to conclusions about my nationality, just like you did about the status quo of the Russian military and the threat it poses in the future. You clearly don't believe in the old adage: si vis pacem, para bellum.
    1
  13892.  @faisalhussainmohammed2815  Don't skip your meds.
    1
  13893.  @faisalhussainmohammed2815  You managed an even more irrelevant comment than your first one, and that was a doozy. How do you do it?
    1
  13894. If it helps to make Israel ease up on the wanton violence, why not.
    1
  13895.  @mytrahana  No. Yours?
    1
  13896. Miele, you have a very high opinion of your opinion.
    1
  13897.  @jager6863  No, you're a democracy with an obsolete electoral system. The presidential system is outdated, too.
    1
  13898.  @nati_X777  So, Sweden is going to turn Turkey into a stable democracy, assert rule of law, make Turkey respect human rights, and fix the wonky Turkish economy? The Swedes are capable, but they can't perform miracles.
    1
  13899.  @johno1544  The Dutch took part in the Crusades. Many nobles in Europe sent their youngest sons.
    1
  13900. ​ @ACDC5  Someone needs to explain surrogacy and artificial insemination to you. I suppose I could, but you may be underage, and I would need parental consent. Could you just ask your mum to explain?
    1
  13901.  @johno1544  Ooh, a straw man fallacy. Sorry, I'm not playing.
    1
  13902.  @johno1544  I like them facts. You play fast and loose with them.
    1
  13903.  @johno1544  I don't think lecturing others is your strong suit. Try to get some education under your belt first.
    1
  13904.  @johno1544  I'm good with my double masters. I have to admit, I do like the odd colloquialism.
    1
  13905. How come I can use satcomms without US permission? I never sought permission to use GPS -- it just works. Also, in the initial stages of the "SMO", Russian Su-25s had Garmin GPS receivers duct-taped to their canopies. I doubt the Americans gave permission for that.
    1
  13906.  @DarkRoomAmbience  You need to study up on NATO's Article 5. NATO stands or falls by it.
    1
  13907.  @siddeshnaik2296  Which petrodollar invasions has the USA dragged the European countries into? Article 5 can only be invoked if there's an attack against a NATO country. Do your homework. A more interesting question is, who'll come to India's aid when it's attacked by China and Pakistan? Russia? Fuggedaboutit.
    1
  13908. In Soviet Russia, sure.
    1
  13909.  @user-pn2ni1sv3i  Please elaborate. A tiny nation like Malta can effectively veto any major EU decision. Could the federal republics of the USSR do same?
    1
  13910. They say one man's terrorists are another man's freedom fighters. The CCP has upped the ante by classifying pro-democracy protesters as terrorists.
    1
  13911.  @BIBIWCICC  If that justifies such retaliation, Feyenoord fans would've gone extinct ages ago.
    1
  13912.  @pcsing2006  In order to stop the war, Putin must give up on annexing Ukrainian territory. You could give him some Chinese territory in compensation. Fair, no?
    1
  13913. It's the emperor's new clothes, but never mind.
    1
  13914. If NATO were to intervene in Nagorno-Karabkh, that could be construed as an attack against a CSTO member. Russia would be treaty-bound to "defend" the territory. Armenia should reconsider the alliances it wants to be part of.
    1
  13915.  @konstantinbush295  The arms industry would be delighted if the EU countries didn't pool their purchases and had bid against one another instead. Economics 101, buddy.
    1
  13916. If pigs could fly, the price of bacon would skyrocket.
    1
  13917.  @ilijakrivokuca2041  I'm not convinced the video depicts exploding cluster bomblets -- it looks more like an artillery barrage -- but neither Russia nor Ukraine has signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
    1
  13918. Hold your horses. These so-called geographical indications (GIs) come under the WTO, not the EU. Also, GIs have nothing to do with market size. Contrary to what you think, might isn't right.
    1
  13919. Again, in English, please.
    1
  13920.  @eddastrohmayer251  You can interpret, no?
    1
  13921. "The West" wants no piece of Russia. It's Russia that wants Lebensraum at the expense of its neighbours.
    1
  13922.  @sensen9909  So? Not all war criminals are friends with one another.
    1
  13923. You'd think the interpreters are known to their employers. The world must be a very confusing place to you.
    1
  13924.  @toobalkain  And you think the interpreters are illiterate? The world is a confusing place to you.
    1
  13925. Ka-ching! 50 cents for you.
    1
  13926.  @nyk2000m  Whatever you profess to be, your initial post suggests that you are a CCP apologist. Take the 50 cents, you've earned it.
    1
  13927. Reporters Without Borders are based in France, bud.
    1
  13928.  @MisterSands  I wonder. There are many complications caused by smoking. Smokers who break a bone or have surgery recover slower and stay off work longer. Or it could just be the flu, which they catch easier and recover slower from. At work, we can't discriminate against smokers, but I've made sure applicants know about our policy toward smoking -- the strictest allowed by law.
    1
  13929.  @foedspaghetti3290  For better or worse, Putin does have a social contract with the Russian people. It's all based on Putin ending the social and economic turmoil that characterised the Yeltsin era. Ironically, Russia is now heading back that way. There will come a time when even the dullest Russian will realise that the man was outlived his usefulness. It's like the Russians say, Western countries have elections, Russia has revolutions.
    1
  13930. It's the third within a year. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  13931.  @cookmaster3626  The UNGA is literally the whole world. It is what it is. No use blaming UN officials. Or are you so naïve as to think the UN is some world government?
    1
  13932. Lukashenko had a Mini Me, his young son. I wonder what happened to the blighter.
    1
  13933.  @EMP1RE917  What you propose to arm the called-up reservists with? Sticks and stones?
    1
  13934. Hardly.
    1
  13935.  @khutsod1  Duh, I basically just accused you of having a prehistoric mindset. For your info, in a conversation, you're supposed to provide arguments in defence of your opinion. Mere opinions just don't cut it.
    1
  13936. Even with drones and fire correction, it's still hard to land a mortar shell this precisely. There was a measure of luck involved. Mortars haven't changed much since WW1.
    1
  13937.  @josephfilm73  Mortars always have a certain degree of inaccuracy. Even a GPS-guided mortar shell is accurate to 4m only.
    1
  13938. Crimes against humanity are your thing, eh?
    1
  13939. Please give us some examples.
    1
  13940. No human rights were harmed in the making of this drama.
    1
  13941.  @Flat24-ue9pj  You should take lessons how to walk and chew gum at the same time. Iceland is the quintessential sponger in NATO.
    1
  13942. So you're second-rate citizen then. Voluntarily.
    1
  13943. The correct phrase goes like this: "this means parliament indecides".
    1
  13944.  @snowyowel7961  The Leave side did enjoy a narrow victory, but the referendum didn't address how the withdrawal should be effected. There's your problem. Since you're such an advocate of direct democracy, you shouldn't have anything against a second referendum. Not to overturn the result of the first, but to clarify how exactly the UK should extricate itself from the EU. Besides, it would be super-embarrassing if you Brits decided to nix Brexit, and we EU-27 would have to say: "Nix-nix!"
    1
  13945.  @snowyowel7961  You're just restating what I wrote before and not addressing the issue, i.e. how to leave. Rest assured, the door is closed on British re-entry into the EU for, say, 10 years. Now get your act together before we have to kick you out forcibly.
    1
  13946.  @snowyowel7961  Yes, it does seem like you goof-offs need a push. It's like you're letting a revolving door hit you on the way out, over and over again. Pathetic.
    1
  13947.  @snowyowel7961  If anything, we're too courteous. You, on he other hand, hold on for dear life to the EU. The nagging question is why. Don't flatter yourself about the money. Based on nationality, my net contribution to the EU budget easily exceeds yours. Remember, you're in on the cheap. Well, you can forget about rebates when you come crawling back.
    1
  13948. At least there's political renewal happening in US politics. The Trumplican Party established its staying power, sidelining both the Republican and the Democratic parties. That must account for something.
    1
  13949.  @cnxexpat1862  China knows better than to supply weapons to Russia. And China has got Russia exactly where it wants it. It's the economic equivalent of barefoot and pregnant.
    1
  13950. To be a dominant power you have to have an economy to match. Macron will have to set his aspirations accordingly. Putin, are you listening?
    1
  13951. Pew Research did a worldwide survey in 2017. Trump scored badly indeed: 74% of those polled expressed no confidence in Trump. He even lost out to Putin and China's Xi Jinping, which is quite an achievement.
    1
  13952. He already replaced it with the corporatespeak "Transition to Greatness". What were they thinking?
    1
  13953.  @mazzm808  Cope harder, Vlad.
    1
  13954. Putin can end it overnight.
    1
  13955.  @PeterRudesindus  You can cry your eyes out, but neither Russia nor Ukraine are signatories or state parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Honesty has nothing to do with anything.
    1
  13956.  @PeterRudesindus  Duh, the USA isn't a state party or signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions either. Why would they cry foul about something that they don't abide by either? China, same-same. You really need to work on your argumentation. It's piss-poor.
    1
  13957.  @PeterRudesindus  What is a lie? Try to express yourself properly.
    1
  13958. That's pretty good for an agency that doesn't exist any longer. Russia really is scraping the barrel for you bots.
    1
  13959. No skin off my back, but Putin threatened same and got badly clobbered in the energy war he thought he could win easily. Russia's Gazprom is reporting one record loss after another. I don't see how Canada could suddenly conjure up alternative customers any more than Russia could.
    1
  13960. What's your reference point? There's nothing alike. The EU literally has no equal.
    1
  13961. "The camp of Lucifer" -- could you possibly make it more obvious that you're a drama queen?
    1
  13962. @user-ef9se3zm7d Being a bully? I'm on the Greenlanders' side. You're still a drama queen, by the way.
    1
  13963. @user-ef9se3zm7d OK, drama queen.
    1
  13964. They still have no business selling their cuts to Western markets.
    1
  13965.  @dinkknoingswrath4350  Hey, you can emigrate!
    1
  13966.  @elya4853  I see that Putinist historical revisionism is in full swing. Stalin would be proud. It took long enough to find a suitable successor.
    1
  13967. ​ @elya4853  You make it too easy. The truth about the Katyn massacre came out in 1989 and a year later, Gorbachev officially admitted Soviet culpability. Don't try to weasel your way out.
    1
  13968.  @tiendinh2554  It's a crime to defend yourselves against foreign subjugation? Understood -- you're okay with being colonialised. Open your doors to China then.
    1
  13969.  @ajc8870  Dude, Le Pen's party is seriously indebted, first to a Russian bank and now to a Russian 'aviation parts' firm. If her National Rally were in power, France's public debt would go through the roof. Populists and power are a recipe for disaster.
    1
  13970.  @ajc8870  France's public debt is above average, but they're able to service it. Heaven knows what le Pen has had to promise Putin in exchange for not calling in her party's debt. Public debt (or the lack of it) is not the best of indicators for economic success. Otherwise, Russia's economy would be a smashing success while anyone can tell you it's a basket case. Sure, Le Pen talks about small government, but when in power, she'd be bailing out untenable French companies by taking on more public debt. Her base demands it. It's easier to promise the impossible than to deliver it.
    1
  13971. Dynasties are dodgy. Dubya was pushing it.
    1
  13972. Er zijn daar veel vuurwapens in de omloop. Hier in Nederland grijpen ze naar een mes.
    1
  13973. At the same time, Russia claims NATO represents an existential threat to it. Which is it, existential threat or clown show?
    1
  13974.  @al28854  Nothing prevents individual EU members from acting on their own. Most do, too, but a concerted effort can still be made in parallel. It's called multitasking. You can try it out by chewing gum and walking at the same time.
    1
  13975. You can only hope, Putin fanboy.
    1
  13976. Egypt got Sinai back not by making war, but rather, by making peace. There's a learning there for the whole Middle East.
    1
  13977.  @body2811  Sure, Egypt saw no future in being perpetually on a war footing with Israel, which it demonstrably could not beat. Fortunately, contemporary Israel saw virtue in living in peace with its biggest neighbour. I'm not convinced that present-day Israel feels the same with regard to its current opponents.
    1
  13978.  @wdp7128  We should ask the UN General Assembly -- the highest representative organ in the world -- whether or not it thinks Russia's invasion was justified. Oh, we have already. Nope, it was judged pure and unadulterated military aggression, a direct violation of the UN Charter. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
    1
  13979.  @АлексейКоба-е7б  Sure thing. We can tell from the drop in oil and gas revenues. They don't call Russia a gas station that masquerades as a country for nothing.
    1
  13980.  @АлексейКоба-е7б  Ukraine propaganda? You're challenging the credibility of Russia's finance ministry. The ministry reported a 47% year-on-year drop for the first half of 2023. Russia is dipping into its reserves to keep the economy afloat. You don't have to be an economist to understand that it's not a sustainable proposition. Russia is slowly but surely going bankrupt.
    1
  13981.  @ТатьянаОрганова  Why even bother claiming that? The German 'Wirtschaftswunder' easily predates Soviet gas deliveries to Germany. Really now, your historical revisionism knows no bounds.
    1
  13982.  @malloc7108  My thoughts exactly.
    1
  13983. The oil depot was that of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. Jet fuel is quite different from the heavy bunker crude that fuels warships.
    1
  13984. You sure like to tar them all with the same brush, don't you?
    1
  13985.  @xander6522  So, you want to emulate pan-Arab nationalists? Pan-Arabism was long-since fizzled out among the Arabs, but apparently not in your mind.
    1
  13986. Rest assured, you can still enjoy your precious RT here on YouTube.
    1
  13987.  @mihaiilie8808  Who's we? You and your hamster?
    1
  13988. Unwittingly, Pootie-Poot is elevating Navalny to sainthood.
    1
  13989. Your imperialist ambitions are super clear.
    1
  13990. You can always bury your head in the sand.
    1
  13991. ​ @tjp353  You're silly. The ECHR doesn't come under the EU. It comes under the Council of Europe, which is separate from the EU, and unlike the EU, has Russia as one of its members.
    1
  13992. Ran? Clearly, you don't know the story.
    1
  13993. Stop the presses!
    1
  13994.  @feiningerjones738  There's a lovely (Dutch) video about reporters putting a Quran wrapper around the Bible and reading unflattering passages from it to passersby. The latter are outraged by "Islamist" extremism.
    1
  13995.  @nigelraporam6917  I served with Irish peacekeepers in Lebanon and although yours were fine soldiers in all respects, I do think Ireland is hiding behind mum's skirts in matters military. Don't you think it embarrassing that British fighter jets routinely have to intercept Russian bombers that stray into Irish airspace?
    1
  13996.  @nigelraporam6917  It's not NATO, but Russia that is dragging Ireland into a conflict. NATO or no NATO, you can't control your own airspace. It must be super-embarrassing that of all people, you have leave it to the Brits to do so.
    1
  13997.  @nigelraporam6917  NATO isn't dragging in anyone. If anything, Russia is pushing countries into NATO's arms. After Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Swedish and Finnish populaces grew strongly supportive of membership. Their politicians wanted to drag their feet for a bit, but when they realised there would be an electoral backlash, they went for it overwhelmingly. Democracy at work. It's said that if a country can't control its own borders, someone else will. So you've relinquished control of your aerial borders to your hated NATO, and more specifically, to your hated erstwhile coloniser. It's a mirror moment, but you blame NATO.
    1
  13998.  @neptunehigh8431  Just Russian vodka will do. There's no shortage of non-Russian distillers.
    1
  13999.  @crazychinese7315 , we're not talking America. There's a reason why the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly -- 100 vs. 11 -- in favour of declaring the Crimean status referendum invalid. China abstained, meaning it chose not to lend credence to the referendum either.
    1
  14000.  @crazychinese7315  The UN General Assembly directly represents all nations in the world, meaning their appointed representatives rejected the Crimean referendum. So in your assessment, China is also in America's pocket?
    1
  14001.  @crazychinese7315  You not-so-artfully dodged my question. In your opinion, is China in America's pocket? I'm asking, because you imply China yielded to US pressure not to recognise Russia's sovereignty over Crimea.
    1
  14002.  @crazychinese7315  You can't refute my arguments, so you resort to criticising -- again, without argumenting -- my understanding of geopolitics. You're an empty coat.
    1
  14003.  @crazychinese7315  You're still not getting it. This is not about America and this is not about the UN per se. It just so happens that the UN General Assembly brings together all nations on earth. If they instead gathered to vote under the banner of the League of Nations, the Star Federation or what have you, the outcome would be still the same: the international community condemns Russia's illegal land grab. Now I'm starting to believe your knowledge of geopolitics is nil. The PRC is one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Ergo, China can veto binding UN resolutions, which means China can get away with murder, as evidenced by Russia using its veto to prevent a resolution that would've brought the Russian occupation of Crimea to an abrupt end. Are you now suggesting the Chinese are too dumb to understand their rights? I don't know if you live in China, but I could imagine the Chinese authorities inviting you for a round of re-education.
    1
  14004.  @crazychinese7315  And again you're showing you're nothing but an empty coat.
    1
  14005. Who's Voke Nonsen? Wikipedia comes up dry...
    1
  14006.  @gardenjoy5223  With regard to being the best, the US has fallen by the wayside in oh-so many respects. International comparisons are quite merciless.
    1
  14007.  @elbibwen3019  He's repeating the same all over the place. If not a troll, then he's a bot.
    1
  14008.  @elbibwen3019  So what exactly have I repeated all over the place?
    1
  14009. Let's also consider Putin's plight. He has plunged his gas station that masquerades as a country into perpetual economic misery and he's fighting for his survival, and not just his political survival.
    1
  14010. You weave a shoddy web.
    1
  14011.  @andthen3168  Mais non. Macron's presidential term lasts till 2027 and is non-renewable. And legislative elections were just held in France. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  14012. Suddenly, Russia is very much trying to advance, but failing miserably. And why are you foolishly claiming that donations need to be repaid? The West is donating weapons and ammo that were specifically made to repulse an attack from the east. They're doing just that.
    1
  14013.  @novemberalpha6023  Bleeding Russia is a nice bonus. A much-weakened aggressor is to everyone's advantage. Ukraine has made more progress than Russia during the last year, that much is certain. Do you have a credible source for your claim about these repayable donations? I think you're making it all up. Speaking of imaginary worlds...
    1
  14014. We're used to dealing with bears. You put a bullet through the forehead and they go down. Not through the heart, because that way they keep coming.
    1
  14015. What could possibly pass for the far left in the European Parliament is the GUE/NGL or 'The Left' parliamentary group. That's 37 MEPs out of a 705 MEPs. Most are tree-hugging utopists (the Dutch 'Party for the Animals' is perhaps the zaniest of the lot), Perhaps it's more appropriate to pick the Communists from their line-up, who number a measly 11 MEPs. Your much-feared far left is very marginal, in other words.
    1
  14016. Does it make any difference? Racists are per definition haters.
    1
  14017.  @MontChevalier  Yes, in the racists' minds. But you're foaming at the mouth as it is.
    1
  14018.  @MontChevalier  China, is that some Trumpian gut reaction? My inlaws live in Hong Kong -- that ought to tell you enough.
    1
  14019. The overwhelming majority of the world community thinks otherwise. 124 against 14 at last count, less than two weeks ago.
    1
  14020.  @primitiveaccommodation  You conspiracy theorists, always looking for Da Vinci Code-esque symbolism. The US warning about imminent terror attacks in Russia came on March 7 and concerned 48 hours from issuance. So the spooked ISIS-K terrorists held off and observed carefully if the Russian authorities were tightening security at public venues. Apparently not, so they went ahead with their attack at a later date. Moreover, if Russia really thought the USA capable of such a heinous act of terrorism, it would've prepared by stepping up security, instead of pooh-poohing the warning as a groundless US provocation.
    1
  14021. What's so-called about them?
    1
  14022.  @dimitrimorakhovski5287  That's not how it works. There's a political spectrum, and parties therein don't shift about unless they change their ideology. Otherwise, a ruling majority party would always redefine the centre.
    1
  14023. You're in denial. Apart from China, no one wants to take over Hong Kong. This is all domestic rancour aimed at China.
    1
  14024.  @oleksii000  The Soviet Union went to pieces purdy fast.
    1
  14025. Niet navelstaren, hè.
    1
  14026. Farage won't be first past the post. You might as spoil your ballot.
    1
  14027.  @margaretmcguire8952  OK, conspiracy theorist.
    1
  14028.  @TheMerlin672  Don't be such a drama queen. Putin has commented on Finland's NATO membership many times. To paraphrase, first it was "it's up to you", then "it's up to you, but don't do it", then "it's up to you, but there will be some vague repercussions", followed by "you can't do that". Yesterday, his spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said "we'll see what toys NATO brings in and we'll match those". Conclusion? Russia knows Finland will opt for the Norway NATO model, meaning no permanent NATO bases and no nuclear weapons. In summary, nothing will happen.
    1
  14029.  @deborahdean8867  The international community seems to have no problem with Ukraine's elections in 2014 and 2019. Sadly, the same cannot be said about the Crimean status referendum of 2014. That one was overwhelmingly rejected.
    1
  14030.  @deborahdean8867  You're poorly informed. The UN's General Assembly deemed the Crimean status referendum of 2014 invalid, 100 to 11. The same resolution confirmed Ukraine's sovereignty over Crimea. Putin himself admitted to the little green men being his. Don't make a liar of your idol.
    1
  14031. De Russen zijn politiek verlamd. Pas als de wodkaprijs omhoog schiet komen ze op straat.
    1
  14032. Most of the migrants that arrived during the European migrant crisis were Muslims, silly. Sweden certainly did its fair share, but "few countries"? Most pitched in.
    1
  14033. The final assembly of iPhones is done in China. Don't exaggerate its significance. It adds relatively little value.
    1
  14034.  @seans6034  Nope, Android. Try to come up with a more intelligent reply.
    1
  14035. They won't gain a majority and Macron's Ensemble gets to try next?
    1
  14036. Oh, but Storm Shadows have struck Russian warships before, like the Rostov-na-Donu sub and the Minsk landing ship. The latter is a sister ship of the Novocherkassk.
    1
  14037. I would advise against letting geography dictate who belongs in the EU and NATO and who doesn't. For better or for worse... who am I kidding... for worse, Russia covers a bigger part of the European continent than any other country in Europe. As it happens, Russia is also the most populous country in Europe. That's the way the cookie crumbles, I'm afraid.
    1
  14038.  @operator9858  What are you on about? Practically the whole of Eastern Europe has joined the EU, and this already happened before Russia went over to the dark side. Eastern Europeans are hardly considered a burden on welfare -- on the contrary. When I lived in Belgium, a joke went around that the local ministry of labour organised Polish languages courses for cleaning ladies. That was because the Belgians only wanted Polish cleaning ladies on account of their strong work ethic. You should get out more. You'd learn something about this world.
    1
  14039. How is it apparent? You'd think they'd vote for Russia at the UN, yet they don't.
    1
  14040. I was fearing that WEF conspiracy theorists were heading for extinction, like the NWO ones before you, but I see you're still doggedly clinging on. Good on you!
    1
  14041. Human shields for what? A football pitch?
    1
  14042. Are cruise missile and drones a novel concept to you?
    1
  14043.  @luxraider5384  That's an interesting claim. How will Russia take Odesa now that it has lost Kherson? An amphibious assault is a very risky undertaking at the best of times, and the best times are clearly behind for Russia, after its specialist forces were decimated early in the war. It would be Russia's Battle of the Bulge.
    1
  14044.  @JohnSmith-xb2ou  She'll be held for two days, rather. They don't have a case against her.
    1
  14045.  @JohnSmith-xb2ou  It seems she was in legal limbo since she couldn't legally take the migrants back to Libya, yet as the captain she was responsible for their well-being, which was purportedly at risk. She'll be let off on humanitarian grounds, possibly with a smallish fine. The whole affair amounts to nothing more than a publicity stunt by Salvini, who needs to placate his far-right supporters. That is not to say the NGO in question doesn't appreciate the publicity, too. In other words, a win-win for Salvini and Sea-Watch.
    1
  14046. All EU countries? EU countries dominate the top 10 of the least corrupt countries in the world. You're generalising.
    1
  14047. It's either that or take in more migrants. You can't have it neither way.
    1
  14048.  @alphatango831  You managed two words! Capitalisation is still a challenge, however.
    1
  14049.  @a.shikatoswu5400  "All your base are belong to us!"
    1
  14050. You managed an inane comment. Congrats.
    1
  14051.  @petitben5240  I don't have an exact count for you. How about your tribal wars in Canada? Or you persecuting and murdering the native Americans? Equally relevant questions, I suppose. Trop is genoeg, vrind.
    1
  14052. Hahah, INF is about intermediate-range missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 km. Your beef appears to be with the intercontinental variety, which can strike anywhere in the world.
    1
  14053.  @ledeyabaklykova  Thank goodness indeed. If there were no fast lane for royals, we'd lose them.
    1
  14054. Fix your electoral system, perhaps?
    1
  14055.  @TetsuoNL  The EU's security guarantees are pretty much an empty letter. If they amounted to a credible defence pact, don't you think they would've sufficed for Sweden and Finland? In fact, both countries favoured a EU-centric military alliance to NATO, but the rest of lazypants EU is fine with NATO fulfilling that role. Anyway, I hope that once in NATO, Finland and Sweden provide that shot in the arm to Euro-NATO that it so sorely needs.
    1
  14056. There. Reported for hate speech.
    1
  14057.  @roadsweeper1  I don't have a problem owning one in Finland, but I wonder if our American friends are willing to do the paperwork needed to export it.
    1
  14058. Vetoes by permanent members of UNSC routinely sabotage the UN's work. The US is at it, but crucially, Russia gets a carte blanche to wage an illegal war of aggression in Ukraine.
    1
  14059. I've seen the Mauser he was gifted by the Swedes at the Military Museum in Helsinki. I suspect it has seen little use, if any.
    1
  14060.  @DarthRaven2077  Ah, a copycat. Try something original.
    1
  14061. Does anyone use their phone to call with any longer?
    1
  14062.  @VictorWasson  You Krembots desperately need English lessons.
    1
  14063.  @oneshothunter9877  Russian caviar may be sanctioned, but Russian brides are still on the menu.
    1
  14064.  @vzaimnoe_podpiska_YouTube  Did you hit the wrong reply button? I can't make head nor tail of your reply. I have nothing to do with Murica. If you want to embark on a successful botting career, you have to keep your wits about.
    1
  14065. Yeah, out of the frying pan into the fire.
    1
  14066. Pudding? *Poetin in Nederland.
    1
  14067. Thar would mean no Olympics, like ever.
    1
  14068. But why must Russia always hit the bottom before it slowly surfaces again?
    1
  14069. Let's not forget sabotage to undersea infrastructure. That, too, has a stench of Russia about it.
    1
  14070.  @ЛараЛариса-в2ч  So, you mean Russia should withdraw to the borders of the Russian SFSR, which became the Russian Federation after the collapse of the USSR? Deal!
    1
  14071.  @samg1879  The verb "rule" is a synonym for "govern". I haven't made a case for the continued existence of the British Empire. Good riddance, I say.
    1
  14072. It would've been more laudable if Putin had made the trip to New Delhi. I bet Xi told him not to.
    1
  14073. Explain how the people were involved in the coups in Niger and Mali. The definition of a coup implies that a small group secretly plots a power grab and just as secretly executes it. A people's coup is an oxymoron.
    1
  14074. Don't be so naive. If this was not a military operation (as in involving military personnel), the troops should've worn civvies.
    1
  14075. That's a bit of a premature conclusion. Or are you suggesting the UK leaves Airbus?
    1
  14076. You conspiracy dupes...
    1
  14077.  @GGLD888  Deep state is science now? The way you handle reality is... unrealistic.
    1
  14078.  @KMC597  Ah, you're talking conspiracy theories. Therapy might help.
    1
  14079.  @KMC597  Confirmation bias is very strong with conspiracy theorists.
    1
  14080.  @KMC597  Read: "cherry-pick" bits and pieces very selectively, more often than not fabricated information, and consistently ignore everything that refutes those theories. In the eyes of conspiracy theorists, the method works so well that it turns black into white.
    1
  14081.  @KMC597  Rubbish. I explained how you derive your "facts". If I'm guilty of same, remind me, exactly which conspiracy theories have I espoused?
    1
  14082. Yeah, because he doesn't like to wear handcuffs in public and the accommodation in The Hague is rather spartan, too.
    1
  14083. Don't even try denying that Pakistan supported NATO in all of this. If it was all about neo-colonialism, Pakistan was an enabler.
    1
  14084.  @shazalakazoo7957  No, why would that be? The horseshoe theory has been discounted many times over.
    1
  14085.  @FishandHunt  Ukraine's attacks on genuinely Russian territory don't threaten the territoritorial intregrity of Russia. There merely degrade the capability of Russia to wage a war of aggression inside Ukraine.
    1
  14086.  @riversidegardenradio9070  Surely it is.
    1
  14087.  @sciencetube4574  The Ukrainian advance appears to be so swift that Russia hasn't had the chance to evacuate. We're looking at a new Stalingrad. Fitting.
    1
  14088. I don't see why he needs any. Trump will shoot himself in the foot once again.
    1
  14089. How is this a change for the better? If polar bears now spend more on land, they're going to come into contact with humans more often. The consequences will be disastrous, especially for the polar bears.
    1
  14090.  @sositehui6483  Which non-neighbouring country has Czechia invaded lately? Was it an airborne assault or an amphibious one?
    1
  14091.  @sositehui6483  Hello, bot. Over and out.
    1
  14092.  @TruthTortoise81  The Houthis attacked Red Sea shipping willy-nilly. Including a Russian oil tanker.
    1
  14093.  @gideongiggie5017  Yall's? Are you an African pretending to be Murican? I'm not all Europeans. If my fellow Europeans are my brothers, then my brothers colonised us. Likewise, should I equate you with all the genocidal maniacs that Africa has brought forth, too?
    1
  14094.  @messiahmatrix  History was about to repeat itself as farce. These are zany conspiracy theorists who managed to brainwash themselves.
    1
  14095. Bollocks. Many Ukrainian men accompanied their families till they reached safety in a neighbouring country, only to return to Ukraine to take up arms against the aggressor, Russia. You're trying to discredit these brave men.
    1
  14096. Or you can become an ultra-Orthodox Jew. They're exempt from military service.
    1
  14097. Your Allah must be conflicted, having to look after both Jews and Muslims, whose aspirations are conflicting.
    1
  14098. Even the Kremlin propagandists realised it was an oxymoron.
    1
  14099. General Aladeen knows it.
    1
  14100. You're confused. This is about Ukraine beating back the Russian Army. The head honcho of your "paramilitaries" confirmed it.
    1
  14101. ​ @johnlenin830  Interesting that you mention Finland. In the Nordic countries, Russian immigrants are on their best behaviour and quickly integrate, becoming productive members of society in no time. Their locally-born children even adopt the local language as their native tongue. In contrast, in the Baltic countries, the ethnic Russians drag their feet. It must be a false sense of entitlement that endures from Soviet times.
    1
  14102. Sure, why not. Putin deserves it, although I think it's more likely that he'll slink away to a far corner of China, never to be heard of again.
    1
  14103. Initially, but Russia will compensate us for it.
    1
  14104.  @cleric768  Be that as it may, it's the illegal annexation of Crimea that sparked the ire of the international community. We can't have that, it sets a nasty precedent.
    1
  14105.  @cleric768  It's not just "the West" that deems it an illegal annexation. We can safely say the whole world considers the (rigged?) referendum invalid. Hence, it's an illegal land grab, something that will haunt Russia forever.
    1
  14106. Your Russian friends are much better at squashing popular dissent with tanks.
    1
  14107.  @DOWNUNDER.  Don't be a child.
    1
  14108.  @DOWNUNDER.  Hah, you've been shadow-banned, Mr. Foulmouth.
    1
  14109. Russia has offered the US mediation with regard to Iran. Mind you, Trump, the great statesman man from the States, may go for it, to Israel's intense displeasure.
    1
  14110. What a great idea! The Druggie Olympics!
    1
  14111. Uh, the US is not exactly representative of *Western democracy. If it were, the US would be a multi-party parliamentary democracy with proportional representation. Ask your teacher to explain.
    1
  14112.  @ChuckAmadi  You've got quite an imagination on you if you think European mercenaries are doing the fighting in Ukraine as we speak. Mercenary activities are outlawed throughout Europe. I suppose some always slip through the net, but are you actually suggesting that European mercenaries are holding up Russia's advance through Ukraine? These European mercenaries must really be the bees knees.
    1
  14113. You Krembots are desperate for attention today.
    1
  14114. @CsabaHorvath-tl4nj Oh, go join Putin's Eurasian Economic Union already. For good measure, swap NATO for his CSTO, too.
    1
  14115. Then stick with misinformation.
    1
  14116. Voting for populists is like peeing your pants. It feels warm and cosy at first.
    1
  14117.  12 Volts  Lame comment.
    1
  14118.  12 Volts  Come on, you replied with an inane comment on carbon taxes, suggesting that it was about taxing the chemical element carbon, whereas anyone with a IQ above that of a preschooler knows this was about carbon emissions. Don't play the intellectual, you haven't got it in you.
    1
  14119.  12 Volts  Oh, you were trying to be funny. BTW, if I'm a lefty, you must be ultra-right.
    1
  14120. Trophy will make short shrift of it.
    1
  14121. It's entirely up to the Americans to decide how much public debt they accrue as long as they can service said debt.
    1
  14122. You don't seem to understand. It's the EU that Trump will face if Trump starts a trade war, not just France.
    1
  14123.  @maureenbowdich664  A lot of Nepalese dedicate themselves to Russia as well. 15,000 is the oft-quoted number of Nepalese mercenaries in Russian service.
    1
  14124. Yeah, Iran fights Saudi Arabia to the last Houthi.
    1
  14125.  @joemiller9931  National insignia, as painted on military vehicles, date to WW1.
    1
  14126. Shale oil is fast becoming uneconomical. Bye-bye self-sufficiency.
    1
  14127. There are many ways to fail. Argentina is now trying a novel one.
    1
  14128. That was the Bulgarian secret service, and they used an umbrella gun to shoot a miniscule poisoned pellet into the thigh of Georgi Markov, a dissident writer.
    1
  14129. ​ @lovyrituraj  Do you really think the French will support a bunch of discontented youths who torch their parents' and neighbours' cars in a coup d'état against Macron? You take wishful thinking to unprecedented heights.
    1
  14130.  @rjcharlie  I'm middle-aged, you silly Beijing fanboy. What have Taiwan and the Qing Dynasty got to do with Hong Kong? You're clearly struggling with both geography and history.
    1
  14131.  @rjcharlie  I'm sure the Hongkongers wouldn't forcefully object to being part of a democratic China. The problem is, democratic China is an oxymoron. For the same reason, the CCP does not represent one fifth of humanity. The CCP represent a bunch of autocrats, who're not willing to share power.
    1
  14132.  @abbasalivanat6412  The banks sure took your advice about moving to Ireland.
    1
  14133. Wait, Scholz pushed Biden into offering Abrams tanks. Who's leading and who's following?
    1
  14134. The question is, will Fatah reconsider? Hamas is deemed a terrorist organisation. Fatah is not making things easier for itself by consorting with terrorists. Both the Palestinian Authority and Israel seem extremely adept at shooting themselves -- and each other -- in the foot.
    1
  14135.  @ivybae9906  We consider ourself Western and we justifiably deem Hamas a terrorist organisation, but all the same we just recognised Palestine. So much for being "Western allies" with Israel. I think you'll find that the Global South doesn't condone Hamas's terrorism en masse. A great many of the countries in question have to contend with terrorism as well. They're begging us for help -- which we've provided, too.
    1
  14136.  @nickharvey7233  Any day now, the Kremlin will issue a statement that Sokolov has died a natural death. An undiagnosed health condition did him in. No storms or shadows were involved in his sudden demise.
    1
  14137.  @christhedoc8689  Hello, fanboy. The 777 is getting long in the tooth.
    1
  14138. Populists are flexible that way. They go wherever the herd takes them.
    1
  14139. Aren't you exaggerating a wee bit? Johnson isn't Churchill, and the UK isn't the British Empire. I wonder if anyone is looking up to Boris as a leader in all of this. It's Macron, Scholz, Biden and von der Leyen who've stolen the limelight. Johnson is relegated to supporting actor.
    1
  14140.  @Tintan435  The CF-18 has a service ceiling of 50,000 ft, while that of the F-22 is 65,000 ft. I know the first balloon flew at 60,000 ft.
    1
  14141.  @mp40submachinegun81  True, but the CF-18 becomes erratic at altitudes above its service ceiling. It becomes hard to acquire a target that doesn't have a clear heat signature, especially if your jet lurches about the sky. Incidentally, a CF-18 tried to down a rogue Canadian weather balloon at 60,000 ft with its cannon in 1998. It fired 1,000 rounds at the balloon, but it didn't stop the balloon from crossing the Atlantic and touching down in Scandinavia. I served with Canadians in Kosovo. They weren't bad shots.
    1
  14142. The Kh-101 uses GLONASS instead of GPS. Besides, these sort of weapons always have an inertial navigation system to fall back on.
    1
  14143. Haven't you heard? Russia went begging for weapons to North Korea and Iran. Iran complied.
    1
  14144.  @johnadam2885  Iran doesn't have to admit it for it to be true. It's painfully clear that Ukraine is abuzz with Iranian-made Shahed 136s. The denial is strong with you.
    1
  14145.  @johnadam2885  There are bits and pieces of Shahed 136s scattered all over Ukraine. As I wrote earlier, the denial is strong with you. We don't make the HIMARS, but we've sent all kinds of military kit to Ukraine, which has put them to excellent use -- against the Russian military as opposed to civilians. You're the one in denial -- we're not..
    1
  14146. I hate to burst your bubble, but Russia and Israel are pretty chummy.
    1
  14147.  @v8withxjr  Het Europees Parlement is wat het is, door ons gekozen. Maar democratie vind jij maar niks.
    1
  14148.  @Jamey_ETHZurich_TUe_Rulez  I want no piece of Russia. Yucky-poo!
    1
  14149. I see you're trying to legitimize the far-right by portraying them as the regular right, or the centre-right in today's parlance. They're like night and day. The far-righties are political dilettantes and opportunists, while the centre-right is a tried-and-true political force with actual staying power.
    1
  14150. Are you sure Zoom doesn't come under the US sanctions imposed on Russia?
    1
  14151. Er, Wagner was both shot and shut down. It had something to do with an abortive coup attempt that embarrassed Putin no end, so Prigozhin had to die.
    1
  14152. Don't kid yourself. By and large it has been a failure. Only Ukraine, on account of the Russian drone strikes, has suffered. Putin biggest accomplishment is steeling the Ukrainians' resolve to boot his Orcs from their lands.
    1
  14153.  @Q_QQ_Q  I'm surprised a Russian bot has the courage to show his face here.
    1
  14154. I think every European is aware of the EU-US trade wars. Not-so-ignorant Americans may know as well.
    1
  14155. And Israel pounds that shield with glee.
    1
  14156.  @EnigmaOK  I agree, the UK will never rejoin the EU. However, Scotland, Wales and -- last but not least -- England will quietly form an orderly queue. NI will slip in through the Irish backdoor, of course.
    1
  14157. Thanks, Captain Obvious, for stating the obvious. Ukraine is a country in existential peril. Same as the Soviet Union, which, by Stalin's own admission, would've lost the war without Lend-Lease.
    1
  14158. Uh, Putin doesn't have 4 years. The Russian economy can't bear much more warfare. A defeat or even a pyrrhic victory will not prolong his political career.
    1
  14159.  @dbsti3006  There's an important distinction that the electorates in most democratic countries aren't effectively limited to choosing between two candidates only.
    1
  14160.  @XaviersAlternate  I don't see investors making a beeline for Greenland, no matter whether it flies a Danish or a US flag.
    1
  14161. Well, we're dealing with a paying guest who claims to leave, but asks for an extension whenever the departure date draws near. The other hotel guests are visible concerned about him, clearly a very confused person. They think his prospects aren't all that good on the outside. The confused guest even agrees during lucid moments. What's a hotel manager to do?
    1
  14162.  @kwolf2145  That was a rather flaccid comment.
    1
  14163.  @videogamestutorial  Russia is a time bomb either way. It never decolonised. Chechnya wasn't a fluke.
    1
  14164.  @videogamestutorial  Read up on the colonial history of Russia. Wikipedia has a good article on Russian imperialism.
    1
  14165.  @presley_official  I'm afraid you're the puerile one, who can't understand the consequences of one's actions.
    1
  14166. To you, chewing gum and walking must be endeavours that cannot ever be combined.
    1
  14167.  @henryseidel5469  Europe and Russia having security interests in common? You had better explain yourself.
    1
  14168.  @henryseidel5469  Maps aren't everything. Pakistan and India share a border, but that doesn't mean they're bosom friends. North and South Korea, same. You're not convincing anyone, I'm afraid. OK, I'm not interested in your thoughts about the US. You're making the Americans' heads swell by making everything about them.
    1
  14169.  @henryseidel5469  No, you're on a Soviet-style whataboutism tour by dragging the US into each and every conversation. I specifically asked you how Europe and Russia are supposed to have common security interests. You got a map out and noticed that the US isn't in Europe. Brilliant reasoning. Also, your ignorance is showing. There are no US nuclear missiles in Europe. There are air-dropped B61 bombs in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey. If you want to fuss about nuclear missiles in Europe, Russia is your target. Russia keeps nuclear-capable Iskender missiles in Kaliningrad.
    1
  14170. Novichok-laced underpants are on sale.
    1
  14171.  @lugardboy  Russians are suffering in silence. As always. What an apathetic people.
    1
  14172. Duh, Hungary is a net beneficiary within the EU, meaning it receives more funds that it puts in. In other words, Hungary's exit is a financial boon to us net contributors. Can you elaborate on the European principles that the EU has betrayed? I know of the European Copenhagen criteria -- democracy, human rights, market economy -- which Hungary openly flouts.
    1
  14173. Your conspiracy theories are all jumbled up. Isn't ECOWAS supposed to be in France's pocket?
    1
  14174.  @sdb_official7078  And is the UK immune? Are you claiming that the UK isn't experiencing an energy crisis? The point here is that when calamity strikes, the UK is always dragged further down by Brexit. Try to pay attention.
    1
  14175. They very rarely are, with FPTP.
    1
  14176. Deflection alert.
    1
  14177.  @thedarkdragon1437  Did you just pick the wrong comment to reply to?
    1
  14178. There's plenty more where that come from.
    1
  14179. ​ @MA-hn9vo  Reality check: are you paying your fair share? I've arrived at a 1.75% US contribution to NATO. Tsk-tsk.
    1
  14180.  @MA-hn9vo  My facts are right all right. Study US military doctrine and get back to me.
    1
  14181.  @PlaYer-sn5or  What are you on about? I'm saying the US falls short of NATO's 2% target -- by 0.25% at least -- so why should we, who do pay our way, pay protection money to you? Are you in the racketeering business?
    1
  14182.  @MA-hn9vo  You should've followed my advice. Oh well, I'll spell it out for you. US military doctrine has it that the armed forces must be prepared to fight two major wars at the same time, in addition to some minor ones. So, in the light of this, what do you think the divisor should be in order to arrive at the share of the US defence budget that is effectively allotted to NATO? I think I'm being generous if I suggest 2.
    1
  14183.  @MA-hn9vo  But we are talking about US military doctrine. It decides the military resources that go towards NATO, and how much is reserved for extracurricular activities. Half and half seems a fair assessment. You're not alone, by the way. The UK and France, too, have their extracurricular activities. After the Falklands War, the UK invested heavily in a strengthened garrison on the Falklands Islands and built a new airbase there, too. These forces don't come under NATO, because the islands are south of the Tropic of Cancer, and hence, outside of NATO's "area of responsibility". France also has military installations that don't serve NATO in any conceivable way. You have your installations in Japan and Korea, for instance. Non-NATO, in other words. No need to keep repeating the 2% NATO figure. It's common knowledge. You come up short.
    1
  14184.  @MA-hn9vo  "However, this year, a record number of countries have stepped up. Out of the thirty-two NATO allies, twenty-three now meet the 2 percent target, up from just six countries in 2021." Atlantic Council, July 8, 2024. Vast majority, you said? Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  14185.  @HarhaUkko  I would put it this way instead: Europe needs NATO, but US involvement is, at the end of the day, optional.
    1
  14186.  @HarhaUkko  Yet Finland chose to join NATO, its previous reservations nothwithstanding. Popular support was overwhelming, unprecedented even. You seem to represent a minute minority.
    1
  14187.  @hyhhy  You should read up on UN peacekeeping missions. Been there, done that, and we're not in NATO.
    1
  14188.  @ipissed  Your response appears to be entirely unrelated to what I wrote. F-16s? France? Did you click the right reply link?
    1
  14189. Putin has publicly said as much.
    1
  14190.  @tatianefernandes800  I think Ugh should sanction Bork for stealing his mammoth carcass.
    1
  14191.  @truthseeker8025  For a ceasefire, which is a far stretch from peace. The economic sanctions against Russia will remain in place.
    1
  14192.  @truthseeker8025  Inflation is spiking till the oil price increase has been factored in. I'm actually happy about the interest rate hikes, but I suspect you're not well-versed in economics, so I fear I'd waste my time if I tried to explain.
    1
  14193.  @meganh9460  For your information, democracies and republics are not in the least bit mutually exclusive. In fact, the top 10 most democratic countries are a mixture of constitutional monarchies and republics. And why wouldn't a modern democracy be able to evolve? You're suggesting that your founding fathers and their ambivalence towards democracy limit your democratic potential. That's tantamount to admitting that 18th-century thinking holds back a 21st-century society. There's your ultimate sadness.
    1
  14194.  @ricardosoto5770  True, Germany let their guard down and moral rot has set in in the US, but I wouldn't overestimate the military strength of Russia either. They're struggling with manpower shortages and they're failing at compensating for them by modernizing their kit. Russia risks falling even further behind as China is increasingly supplying arms to Russia's traditional customers. Without foreign customers, Russia can't afford costly weapons programs. I fully understand why the Poles want US troops on their soil. You said it yourself, Battlefield Europe moved from Germany to Poland when the USSR collapsed.
    1
  14195.  @meganh9460  Again, republics and democracies aren't either-or. I have been a republican and a democrat from birth, just not in the American sense (thank heavens). If it was about staying power, your founding fathers should've opted for a monarchy. Monarchies did have their glitches -- Britain, France and the Netherlands make good examples -- but royal rule was the norm in those days. I studies history and politics, so yes, I've read a 18th-century diary or two. And that's relevant, why?
    1
  14196.  @johnadam2885  There was no coup in Ukraine. Yanukovych hastily left his post for Russia, which in itself speaks volumes. Puppetmaster Putin tugged his strings too hard with his last-ditch effort to prevent Ukraine's rapprochement with the EU. Euromaidan, it was called. Not US Maidan, as you insinuate.
    1
  14197. Except that Putin used dumb bombs and didn't even try to spare civilians.
    1
  14198. You're just saying that because Trump's military parade fell through.
    1
  14199.  @onepartofone  Can I ask you about whataboutism? What about it is so great? It's like an admission that Russia sucks, but...
    1
  14200. That would automatically trigger a retaliation from the EU. But that must come as a surprise to you.
    1
  14201.  @pantherheartthedruid4134  The reverse is true, I'm afraid. Check again what ISAF was and then get back to me.
    1
  14202. So you think corruption spurred this move? Try morals -- or is that a foreign concept to you?
    1
  14203. Who will you "for" then?
    1
  14204. Russia prolonging the war prolongs the war. Only Russia wanted this war.
    1
  14205. The Challengers are too few in number to make a real difference. The Leopard 2s will be impactful, assuming they're supplied in sufficient numbers.
    1
  14206. No, we've got scruples.
    1
  14207. And you keep complimenting yourselves for defeating Nazism...
    1
  14208.  @jackybogues2495  If Putin want to play tit for tat, he'd have to send over weakly radioactive weapons, because that's what DU ammunition is. Its radioactivity is actually an unwanted feature; it's the other features that make DU penetrators lethal. In order to die from radioactive poisoning, the Orcs would literally have to lick off a whole lot of tanks struck by the DU-tipped rods.
    1
  14209. An embittered Serb? You're a dime a dozen.
    1
  14210.  @arthurlevin  You make me laugh. If you're truly "a peace activist", why aren't you going after Putin, the aggressor in this war?
    1
  14211. This conflict made no sense from any perspective, not even from Iran's, now that Iran is being targeted itself.
    1
  14212. Because military parades are fast becoming an anomaly in the civilised world.
    1
  14213.  @aesop8694  So LGBTs are to blamr? Or how is anything you wrote relevant -- or accurate, for that matter? It's like you're engaging in arbitrary trolling.
    1
  14214.  @tracboy80  Krembots wouldn't know what an elected government is even if it hit them in the face.
    1
  14215. He'll take Lukashenko with him, but Xi? You may want to explain how that would work.
    1
  14216. Well, there's a case to be made that China should observe the quid pro quo principle.
    1
  14217. Are you talking about Turkey?
    1
  14218.  @NUMMEHARBEN  "Enlish [sic]" is hard.
    1
  14219. I suppose you're suggesting that Russia starts targeting Ukraine with drones as well? I heard somewhere they've done that already. Might be the MSM spreading disinformation again, however.
    1
  14220.  @bps7209  Your choice. However, smaller entities tend to do better. For instance, the top performers in the Democracy Index are all relatively small countries.
    1
  14221. Would that be the liberal party?
    1
  14222.  @aaronpaul9188  Sanctions are a long-haul measure. Putin has been talking about the economic blitzkrieg against Russia failing, as if such a thing exists. It's like saying his supposed cancer isn't fatal, because he hasn't succumbed to it overnight. There is no serious sanctions fatigue in Europe. The US maybe a different kettle of fish, especially if Trump manages to get re-elected, but it's EU-Russia trade that really matters.
    1
  14223.  @TheKaiser12345  So, you want to appease a dictator like Putin? Do you think he'll stop at demanding Ukraine's "neutrality"? Which cowardly country are you from, if I may ask?
    1
  14224. Who started?
    1
  14225.  @guff9567  And I gave your mum a sack of potatoes so you wouldn't have to send her all of yours.
    1
  14226. I'm sure the Ukrainian farmers will find use for them as sprinklers or some such.
    1
  14227. Niger has had five coup d'etats. Burkina Fasso, a record-breaking eight. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
    1
  14228. Yeah, why not. Hezbollah, however, is a different kettle of fish. France would break an EU directive, which says Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation, and therefore, beyond help.
    1
  14229. China lives off exporting cheap commodities. Cutting off your nose to spite your face?
    1
  14230. So the US is finally succumbing to Communism. Hint: this is an international forum.
    1
  14231. Putin trolls are in overdrive. One bad performance report and it's off to Ukraine for them.
    1
  14232. @Milan Borjan You Serbs have a thing for losers and losing in general, don't you? It would explain your sympathy for Russia, which is fast losing in Ukraine. As a bonus, both you and the Russians get to blame NATO for all your misfortunes. You never have to do any self-reflection!
    1
  14233. She didn't disappear forever. That's something.
    1
  14234.  @aleserban9322  Plutocracy? You decide yourself how you elect your MEPs. That is, if you even are a EU citizen.
    1
  14235.  @mikw1809  Try to go after Trump's loved ones for insider trading and you'll find yourself in the dock.
    1
  14236. You're applauding Hungary for producing unwanted babies? Each case is a tragedy on its own.
    1
  14237. Putin thinks he's helping the Palestinians, but his anti-Midas touch is achieving the opposite.
    1
  14238. Will India have a stern talk with Putin or just grovel as per usual?
    1
  14239.  @prakorngirodkunkid7877  It's all about being able to service one's debt. No worries there.
    1
  14240. @IndologyFreak Touchy!
    1
  14241. Be that as it may, this one totally surprised him. We'll see another election soon, I guess, and that's not to Benny's advantage.
    1
  14242. We're watching the dying embers of the Russian Empire.
    1
  14243. And because of coercion, befitting an authoritarian regime like the CCP.
    1
  14244. I think you're deliberately being obtuse.
    1
  14245. I don't think Assange, being an Australian, can run for president.
    1
  14246.  @seaglass22  Now-now, schadenfreude is warranted when the schaden is self-inflicted.
    1
  14247. Nonsense. Hamas, despite the sheer cruelty of their attacks, doesn't pose an existential threat to Israel. The opposite is true, however, and concerns all Palestinians. Stop the genocide.
    1
  14248. You're a disgrace to your country.
    1
  14249. Your beloved Putin could be exemplary in this respect. Come to think of it, he could make peace immediately, simply by withdrawing his invaders from Ukraine. Hey presto, there would be peace! Not only that, in doing so Putin would steal the limelight from the EU politicians, as the ultimate peacemaker. You have my blessing to tell Putin about this as if it were your own idea. I have no need for a sack of potatoes right now.
    1
  14250. Upon its (permanent) demise, the sub was elevated to German nobility?
    1
  14251.  @basavanagowdah5806  Self-respecting Indian pharmaceutical companies are not going to risk being sanctioned themselves -- and suffer far a greater loss in sales to the West than can be had in Russia -- just to prop up Putin's failing regime. The Chinese, who admittedly have better business sense than Indians, aren't doing it either.
    1
  14252.  @basavanagowdah5806  Woah, Caps Lock malfunction. You shouldn't bother. Russia can't manufacture your precious weapons any longer.
    1
  14253. WEF conspiracy theories are naff. Please, can we have the NWO and the Reptilians back? Pretty please?
    1
  14254.  @infostations  Non sequitur, buddy. If you need to go that far back in history, let's talk about US troops resorting to the worst atrocities in combatting rebels (read: freedom fighters) in the Philippines. In fact, we don't even need to go that far back in history in this case.
    1
  14255. I hope your outsourced troll farm in Bangalore doesn't accept rubles in payment. If so, your salary must halve from one month to the next.
    1
  14256. Grateful for Russia's impotence in prosecuting this war in the same manner as Israel is with regard to a Hamas and Hezbollah, two terrorist organisations? Putin would very much like to go Israel on Ukraine, but bunker grandpa simply can't.
    1
  14257. This is going to end with Putin in a modest dacha in China's Inner Mongolia, contemplating his great blunder. On the plus side, he gets to do bare-chested horsey-riding every day.
    1
  14258. How is it good for Russia? Now, Russia's shadow fleet faces even stricter sanctions. Oil exports are a lifeline for Russia, and it struggled to peddle its oil even before. Another nail in Putinist Russia's coffin, for sure.
    1
  14259. Legislate? As in making a assault and battery a criminal offence? The relevant article, 141, in the Dutch penal code stems from 1886.
    1
  14260.  @ДаниилСоколов-д7ъ  How are the Ukrainians "loose"? Do they keep their shoelaces untied and wear oversized clothes and saggy pants? Learn to spell, troll.
    1
  14261. I'm sure the countries you listed would secretly try to sell those weapons to the CIA if they ever got hold of them.
    1
  14262.  @hhgk6963  I would call her a woman, but I understand yours was a teen mum when she failed to abort you.
    1
  14263.  @zoolkhan  I quoted the OP, silly. I could add quotation marks, but I can't be bothered, not on your account.
    1
  14264.  @zoolkhan  You still don't understand what a quote is? Duh.
    1
  14265.  @UltimateSeduction  Trying? I did already. My warning went out already. And you confirmed it with your ill-considered reply. And nice double Dutch, by the way.
    1
  14266. Not for combat. US private military contractors provide security services, such as close protection of VIPs. They're not trained to conduct combined arms operations. Having said that, even Russia's elite soldiers struggle with combined arms, so in this case it doesn't matter whether the Russians sacrifice Wagner or regular troops.
    1
  14267.  @logikus8638  Yes, but in combat roles, too? Excuse me for asking, but do you know what it means?
    1
  14268.  @logikus8638  No matter how much you wish it to be true, there's no sense in using private military contractors for combat roles that they're not trained for or current in. I have to conclude that you have no idea what combat entails. You haven't served in the military, have you? Of course, in Ukraine, with regard to Wagner, anything goes. Beggars can't be choosers.
    1
  14269.  @logikus8638  You'll believe anything you want to believe. It's called confirmation bias. You still don't get it. I couldn't care less whether Blackwater were involved in combat operations or not. Not being American, I have no agenda. What I'm trying to tell you that it's akin to making postmen put out housefires. They're not the right tool for the job.
    1
  14270. Conspiracy theories can destabilise your mind.
    1
  14271. So you keep telling yourself. It's like a mantra for you.
    1
  14272. You haven't uncovered a conspiracy, but launched (or more likely, copied) a conspiracy theory. There are other plausible explanations. It wouldn't be the first time that a sub collides with a ship. Why the need for a cover-up?
    1
  14273.  @borisjohnson2606  Yes, you're betting -- that makes it a conspiracy t h e o r y. I believe the decision not to salvage and to cover up the wreck had to do with respecting the graves of the victims. There, another explanation. Please try to establish motive. Like I wrote previously, collisions between subs and ships aren't unheard of, so why would such an incident warrant extreme secrecy? I think you owe an attribution to whoever concocted the conspiracy theory first -- if it wasn't your doing. Or is it so that there's no honour among conspiracy theorists?
    1
  14274.  @duhni4551  Your highly-theoretical motive has glaring holes in it. Estonia, under whose flag MS Estonia sailed, and who, therefore, were placed in charge of the investigation into the sinking, has no subs. So, in the light of this fact, are you expecting us to believe that Sweden or Russia had one of their subs collide with MS Estonia, and all parties in the joint investigation committee unanimously agreed to a cover-up? I find it very hard to believe that the Estonians, who'd just been freed from five decades of Russian occupation, would even contemplate doing their erstwhile occupier such a service. Also, the Swedes, who've had more than their fair share of trouble with Russian subs (Whiskey on the rocks, anyone?), would not agree to Russian involvement being kept under wraps. A Swedish sub, perhaps? It's just not in the Swedes' nature, with their high morals bordering on arrogance, to conceal their involvement had there been any. Mind you, the newly-discovered hole may very well be the work of a submarine, but a massive cover-up by everyone involved? Your (plagiarised) conspiracy theory is stretching the imagination.
    1
  14275.  @duhni4551  Nope. The investigation was conducted by the so-called JAIC, a joint commission made up of Estonian, Swedish and Finnish investigators. In accordance with maritime law, Estonia acted as the chair. Also, it was a Norwegian company that inspected the wreck, which implies that the Norwegians, too, are in on your mythical cover-up. And it wasn't just Sweden, but Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Denmark, Poland, the United Kingdom and Russia, too, signed the agreement which declared sanctity over the grave site. Your conspiracy grows bigger and bigger, doesn't it? Where exactly did I claim that the collision -- if indeed there was one -- was intentional? Moreover, a modern sub with a sturdy pressure hull is likely to survive such a collision, especially if it rams a ship head-on. It does become a surface ship after that, but there's a recorded incident of a Russian sub ramming a freighter in the Kattegat, after which it quietly limped back to Murmansk for repairs. But I see you're introducing new aspects, stolen Soviet weapons technology and smuggling, to your conspiracy theory, or is it plagiarism again? It's a public secret that a lot Russian weaponry ended up in the West after the Soviet Union collapsed. It's an unsavoury business, but again, it doesn't warrant a cover-up of this magnitude.
    1
  14276.  @zoom5024  OK, you're upping the ante and suggesting that the alleged collision was intentional and that the Russians practically admitted to it. You conspiracy theorists. Your imagination is always in overdrive. Yes, a lot of Soviet military kit ended up in the West. I've seen some with my own eyes, being used for target practice at a tank firing range. Transporting arms is not illegal by definition. Secretive -- that's another matter. If the Russians were foolish enough to abandon weapons in Estonia (their military certainly took their time leaving their bases there), they became Estonian property and, therefore, theirs to sell. Mostly, I presume, as scrap metal.
    1
  14277.  @knowledge.3563  Don't give his troll factory manager any ideas!
    1
  14278. *their?
    1
  14279.  @mori27  Your analogy is flawed in the sense that the US Capitol rioters were anti-democratic. The rest swear by democracy.
    1
  14280. The "international community" has tried to stop Israel from fighting with its northern neighbour for close to half a century. Israel isn't receptive to the idea -- I saw it with my own eyes while there.
    1
  14281. If war were to break out, no. Russia's Baltic Fleet would be confined to port.
    1
  14282.  @gordonaliasme1104  I thought it funny. I think you're jealous.
    1
  14283. As compared to whom, exactly?
    1
  14284. I can tell you what's worse. Being the joke. In other words, Putin.
    1
  14285. Haven't you heard? Russia tried that in February, but failed miserably on both accounts.
    1
  14286. Just admit that your next smartphone will be a brick that you're going to paint and adorn with stickers.
    1
  14287.  @proselytizingorthodoxpente8304  It's not really that hard. The left and the centre came in first and second place. The far right was third.
    1
  14288.  @sampohonkala4195  You're wrong there. Finnish law stipulates that violating religious peace is a punishable offence. The burning of a book held sacred by a religious community would amount to that.
    1
  14289.  @TriggaTrey361  Aim more carefully for the right reply button.
    1
  14290.  @TriggaTrey361  Oh, my aim is true. You literally echoed my sentiment, little buddy.
    1
  14291.  @TriggaTrey361  Huh indeed.
    1
  14292.  @TriggaTrey361  Echo.
    1
  14293.  @carsonianthegreat4672  What are you, his interpreter?
    1
  14294. Did Israel kill reporters of theirs again?
    1
  14295. You crypto-Nazis are still in the closet.
    1
  14296. There's always some form of protest taking place in France. If that would paralyse the country, France would practically be in a coma.
    1
  14297. You're too kind. Macron's military leadership qualities remain wholly untested, while Napoleon is often regarded the greatest military mind in the history of warfare. You may want to dial back your adulation of Macron.
    1
  14298.  @polarfamily6222  Ironically, Biden is the law when Donnie needs pardoning. I suppose Biden will, too.
    1
  14299.  @AnimeOtaku2  An incarcerated former president is a national disgrace. Or a sitting president who sits in prison.
    1
  14300. And you got yourself shadow-banned. Brilliant.
    1
  14301. There's a Russian troll farm in India now? If call centres can be outsourced, why not troll farms.
    1
  14302. Sssh, don't draw attention to the fact that Russia is the biggest European colonial power. Your paymasters in the Kremlin won't appreciate it.
    1
  14303. Het Gebroken Geweertje 2.0. Nu gaat het wel lukken, zeker.
    1
  14304.  @grahamellis6029  You don't seem to understand that distance is in itself a barrier to trade. Since the UK is close by, the EU has to find other ways to level the playing field, i.e. ensure the UK doesn't tamper with workers' rights, lower taxation or lavish subsidies on its businesses, which in the eyes of the EU members would amount to unfair competition.
    1
  14305.  @grahamellis6029  No, you can be as "sovereign" as you want, but if you want a free trade deal with EU, there are conditions. If your seemingly insatiable appetite for "sovereignty" overrides everything, by all means, walk away. Yet you're still negotiating. Competition is fine. The EU members compete against one another all the time, and, with some protections in place, against the whole world. If you want to compete, make more attractive products -- don't discount them by unfairly lowering your cost basis.
    1
  14306.  @MadhavSharma-n9w  Duh. According to the Federal Statistical Office, around 28,000 Syrian nationals were living in Switzerland at the end of 2023.
    1
  14307.  @Thea-gj2or  It's funny how your lot tries to deny plain-to-see facts. The Ukrainians liberated the areas around Kharkiv and Kherson in two very successful counter-offensives. Around Kharkiv, Russian troops were routed. There's no more embarrassing way to lose a battle.
    1
  14308.  @wolfganglaun2319  You have a faulty thermometer there.
    1
  14309.  @ThomasKagerer  You can, but it's no longer sauna -- it's more like sitting an oven. If you were to pour water onto the stove -- as you're supposed to -- at 120°C, the steam would burn you. Here in Finland, it's tradition to heat a new sauna as hot as it can go, and the hottest I've experienced was my parents' wood-fired cottage sauna, which we managed to heat to 124°C. When my uncle poured water out onto the stove, we were out of there in one second flat.
    1
  14310.  @Yodaploks  Don't be a bore, Yoda. Trump blackmailed Canada with a trumped-up fentanyl story, but there's a real trade war looming with Europe. If indeed the EU did Trump's bidding, that trade war would be over before it started, and not even take the pitiful 24 hours that the USA was warring against Canada and Mexico.
    1
  14311. That's another matter altogether.
    1
  14312. Explain to us how it's relevant to the topic at hand. Coup supporters like to make a link with French colonialism, but it's unclear how it's of relevance. Seize your chance to sway "Western" opinion.
    1
  14313. Because Putin will take it out on... Moldova?
    1
  14314.  @mr.enigma8863  Sure, of course, 11,000 Nazis will be parading.
    1
  14315. "Hypocrats" is a nice portmanteau. I hope it's not just bad spelling on your part.
    1
  14316. You have quite an imagination on you. But why didn't you mention your absolute favourite, RuZZia?
    1
  14317.  John Dunham  I'm sure they call ahead.
    1
  14318. I take it you're unfamiliar with exit polls?
    1
  14319.  @bobminon439  I assure you, Helsinki hasn't moved an inch away from Saint Petersburg, before or after the Winter War. Both are on the same tectonic plate, too.
    1
  14320.  @LaJuera25  Your comment does not compute.
    1
  14321. It's been somewhat of a success formula, too. The EU netted a Noble Peace Prize for it. Now the prerequisite for maintaining peace is dissuading dictatorships like Russia from resorting to military aggression. All in all, it seems to be working.
    1
  14322. Up north, people favour hybrids. Best of both worlds.
    1
  14323.  @rowaystarco  It's not that EVs don't work in extreme cold. I know that from personal experience. Charging becomes an issue, however, especially with battery capacity suffering because of the extreme cold. All's well if you commute a few klicks to and from work, but if it's 100 klicks to the nearest post office, a hybrid suddenly become a very attractive proposition.
    1
  14324.  @rowaystarco  Let's put it this way: if a bridge collapses in northern Norway, let's say the Badderen bridge in Finnmark, and people need to make a detour to get to the other side. 600km it was, via Finland, right?
    1
  14325.  @ivodeltoro691  America is a flawed democracy, and it's official.
    1
  14326.  @GetFochD  Zoek op wat ene Westerling deed in Nederlands-Indië. Het was een zooitje vroeger.
    1
  14327. Uh, it isn't even possible to pay Kenyan workers less than German workers -- or for that matter, more. The trade unions would throw a hissy fit and Germany would have to answer to the European Court for Human Rights for discriminating on race and national origin.
    1
  14328. No biggie. Ice cleats.
    1
  14329. No worries. We were just rendered immune by a vaccine that goes by the name "Brexit".
    1
  14330. Je moet je eens verdiepen in de zaak Dominique Pelicot.
    1
  14331. I wonder which will come crashing down first, the Democrat/Republican duopoly or the US of A. If it's the latter, the reason will be the former.
    1
  14332. It's not a bug, it's a feature!
    1
  14333. So young and so cynical...
    1
  14334.  @bl123-w8l  Assad was on conciliatory terms with ISIS till Russia intervened in the Syrian civil war, under the guise of combatting ISIS. Sure enough, Russia had to be reminded constantly that it was in Syria to fight ISIS, since propping up Assad took up nearly all its time.
    1
  14335.  @jawadad73  The fatalities occurred at Tower 22. It's common knowledge that there are US bases in Syria. Al-Tanf is not alone, although it's the best known one. Arracks against it have been reported many times over, even by what must pass as MSM in your book. You can even go and admire al-Tanf on Google Maps.
    1
  14336. Not a problem. We'll forge weapons from green steel in no time.
    1
  14337. An NRI then.
    1
  14338.  goff0103  Nope, not a Yank. I'm in Singapore, if you must know.
    1
  14339. You'd hope the Israelis understand that "rehab" is needed afterwards, meaning serious diplomacy. If there's just a "surgical" intervention without any diplomatic follow-up, a new Hamas will spring up and our kids get to enjoy an encore.
    1
  14340. @UCh_XPmSyMAzzaWSKtSBBzTg It's interesting that this alleged "genocide" isn't corroborated by the OSCE. Russia is a member of OSCE, yet nothing.
    1
  14341.  @asahearts1  Strange conclusion. It's Putin and his minions who keep threatening with nuclear war. They started a conventional one in Ukraine, too.
    1
  14342.  @hisroyalmajestysonofgandal4668  So you decided to chime in with a purely personal opinion for which you don't bother to provide any argumentation. Don't waste my time.
    1
  14343. Bulimia much?
    1
  14344.  @fgcgaming2530  No respectable "Western" media has reported that. And don't upvote your own posts. It's seedy.
    1
  14345. No doubt, but the question is, how will Israel prevent a repeat performance when the smoke has cleared? A novel approach, perhaps, as in not driving the Palestinians to the brink?
    1
  14346. More of the same, in other words. Sigh.
    1
  14347. ​ @kuroneko9710  I wouldn't be too sure about that. As much as I support self-determination, a disintegrating Russia is going to be a bit of nightmare. The list alone is nearly endless: Adygea, Alania, Altai, Amberland, Astrakhan, Bashkortostan, Buryatia, Chechnya, Chuvashia, Dagestan, Erzya, Ingria, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Karelia, Khakassia, Komi, Koryakia, Mari, Mordovia, Sakha, Siberia, Ossetia, Pomoria, Tatarstan, Tuva, Udmurtia, Uralia, Yakutia... and last and perhaps even least, Muscovy.
    1
  14348. Trump will send in federal officers to curb your enthusiasm.
    1
  14349.  @eatenvegan1565  Let's hope so.
    1
  14350. So, you're tacitly admitting that Russia is a big bully and that if its neighbours don't kowtow to it, Putin unleashes his Orcs on them? It's good that we got that settled.
    1
  14351. Fighter aircraft. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  14352. And you wonder why you're so polarised.
    1
  14353.  @ggaggagga4  You have to resort to anti-semitism as a counter-argument? You're not doing the Jews any favours.
    1
  14354. No one is attacking Russia here. It's Russia that's doing the attacking.
    1
  14355.  @nickpope8056  Don't flatter yourself. You're the sad bot here.
    1
  14356. You know nothing of actual combat, little man.
    1
  14357.  @rogerclemmons8652  In the future, Russians can go and visit a rebuilt Bakhmut in Ukraine -- rebuilt with their money, that is -- and marvel at what their crumbling home town in Russia might have been like, if their former president, Putin, hadn't squandered their wealth on ruinous military adventurism.
    1
  14358.  @onenote6619  Are you describing Putin or Xi? A president who's out of pocket is a liability.
    1
  14359.  Jay Jungle  How do you reconcile your comment with YouGov polls showing that the majority of Britons thinks Brexit was a mistake?
    1
  14360.  Jay Jungle  "YouGov is a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm [...] YouGov was founded in the UK in May 2000 by Stephan Shakespeare and future MP Nadhim Zahawi, at the time both active in the British Conservative Party [...]" I think I'll put my trust in YouGov instead of a YouTube keyboard warrior who struggles with something as simple as punctuation.
    1
  14361.  Jay Jungle  You may not have mastered punctuation yet, but you're a very clever boy with emoticons! You ought to get a sticker for that!
    1
  14362.  Jay Jungle  How infantile can you get? And don't upvote your own posts. It's seedy.
    1
  14363.  @Kohen124  You appear to struggle with the definition of 'priority'. I'm not arguing that freeing the hostages isn't important to Netanyahu, but destroying Hamas, practically at all cost, seems to take precedence. Your reading comp needs work.
    1
  14364.  @Kohen124  Again, which part of 'priority' don't you understand?
    1
  14365.  @Kohen124  Definitions from Oxford Languages priority /prʌɪˈɒrɪti/ noun the fact or condition of being regarded or treated as more important than others. "the safety of the country takes priority over any other matter" plural noun: priorities "playing football wasn't high on my list of priorities"
    1
  14366.  @Kohen124  Aren't you butthurt after launching a heroic straw man attack, only to come to the realisation that you made a complete fool of yourself. Please point out my errors. I'm all ears.
    1
  14367.  @Kohen124  So no errors then. My, I've rarely seen anyone go off like that. You must have a lot of repressed anger.
    1
  14368.  @Kohen124  I know perfectly well what I wrote. I made it very clear that the destruction of Hamas is an overriding priority to Netanyahu. The hostages come second. Do you have an intellectual impairment?
    1
  14369.  @Kohen124  You can reread everything here. Ask your long-suffering English teacher to help you out.
    1
  14370. Isn't it great that Ukraine has its heart in it? In contrast, Russia has lost heart, if it had any to begin with.
    1
  14371.  @pk3778  Zelenskyy has to beg for GLONASS from Musk? You're not very tech-savvy, are you? Zelenskyy's glide bombs rely on GPS and Galileo, which have nothing to do with Musk.
    1
  14372. Is water still wet?
    1
  14373.  @VictorBonello  There's literally going to be a vote on her popularity, and she's slated to win. That's clearly at odds with your claim. Yet again, you two clowns don't have a clue.
    1
  14374.  @VictorBonello  Don't deviate from the topic. You wrote she's disliked. She's slated to win, which suggests she is liked.
    1
  14375.  @arisplugis5197  Did I indicate in any manner that I'm interested in your personal opinion? At the risk of repeating myself, opinions are like a-holes. Everyone's got one and they stink.
    1
  14376.  @VictorBonello  And another attempt at deviation. Do you ever stand by your claims? Man up.
    1
  14377.  @arisplugis5197  Strange, I haven't aired my opinion of Ursula von der Leyen. Your opinions are as helpful as "I don't like broccoli". However, if you were to flesh out your opinions with proper argumentation, then they could conceivably carry some weight. Give it a try.
    1
  14378.  @VictorBonello  Are you actually telling me to gauge Ursula von der Leyen's popularity from YouTube comments? At considerable expense, we elected 720 representatives of the peoples of 27 member countries to the European Parliament. They just voted and re-elected von der Leyen. You're either not a great believer in democracy, or your are a great believer in... YouTube comment sections.
    1
  14379.  @Diamond-vy1lx  Funny how the far right tries to usurp the right as a whole. The centre right wants nothing to do with you.
    1
  14380. Nah, we'll see Russia sue for peace. It's like WW1 all over again.
    1
  14381. Give it time. The Brits aren't quite done congratulating themselves for putting a stop to slavery -- for totally unselfish reasons, they insist.
    1
  14382.  @alexpodgaets5658  No, I'm not going to respond to your cowardice.
    1
  14383. I'm confused. If your globalist puppets rigged the elections in Macron's favour, as you seem to imply, then surely Le Pen doesn't stand a chance this time either?
    1
  14384. On what charges exactly?
    1
  14385.  @rogerburn5132  Did I misunderstand MAD? Care to explain how I misunderstood it?
    1
  14386.  @rogerburn5132  Sure, I introduced MAD to the discussion. I was wondering if it somehow no longer applies, but your ignorance explains everything. Surely you have access to Wikipedia in your St. Petersburg troll factory? You throw around your supposed military expertise, criticise me for not knowing "Anything about military [sic]" and yet you struggle with even the basics? You have to tell your handlers that you need to be relieved. You're not cut out for trolling.
    1
  14387. Should we take you as an example? Do you have more coups planned?
    1
  14388. You're a bit of a drama queen, aren't you? Opinion polls suggest that Finland is getting a centre-right coalition government next, much like the one Sweden just got, in lieu of the current centre-left one. Nothing suggests that the make-up of the upcoming government will make an iota of difference in terms of NATO membership. If anything, the government will have even less reservations as to hosting NATO bases and, if Russia continues with its nuclear brinkmanship, nuclear weapons.
    1
  14389.  @dsm5d723  I don't know what your dirty bomb conspiracy theory has to do with the price of tea in China, so I'll ignore it. Finland hasn't agreed to neutrality or been neutral for ages. Finland was militarily unaligned, just like Sweden. Foreign policy was another matter altogether. As EU members, both Finland and Sweden have been sanctioning Russia for Putin's Crimean caper since 2014. Why would you lie about the poll results, which indicated very strong support for NATO membership -- 79% prior to submitting the application? Referendums aren't up to the EU. They're a domestic affair.
    1
  14390.  @dsm5d723  This very day, the IAEA confirmed that it found no trace whatsoever of a Ukrainian dirty bomb. So much for your conspiracy theory. A Fed troll, me? I'm not even American, dum-dum. Again, referendums in the EU are purely a domestic matter. Members decide for themselves if and how to hold them. For a long time, Finland insisted on a 'NATO option', which was to be exercised if the situation called for it. After Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, a popular consensus formed that the situation indeed called for it. The series of polls reflect that development rather well. By now, it should be clear that I'm not doing conspiracy theories, so I'm giving your Nordstream conspiracy theory a miss, too. The 1992 Russo-Finnish treaty declared the earlier 1948 Soviet-Finnish treaty, which did impose neutrality on Finland, null and void. The new treaty, which remains in force, makes no mention of neutrality one way or the other. Moreover, until early this year, Russia maintained that NATO membership is a decision that Finland and Finland alone should make. I really don't care to discuss an entirely fictional military alliance between Russia and Mexico. Still, if that's what Mexico really wants, the USA will just have to grin and bear it.
    1
  14391.  @dsm5d723  Oh, lookie there, you're being shadow-banned. Course language, no doubt. Oh, since you asked, yes, you are peddling even more conspiracy theories. I'm not in the least bit surprised that you're an anti-vaxxer, too. Happy Covid!
    1
  14392.  @dsm5d723  You used the f-word, dum-dum. You must be a YouTube n00b.
    1
  14393. Historically, more than half of Africa's coup attempts have failed. It's like a free for all.
    1
  14394. You're spamming this nonsense everywhere. Please cease and desist. If you want to take Macron to task, you don't have to resort to conspiracy theories.
    1
  14395. I bet the Secret Service has arranged for a "special agent" to play the part, so Hegseth can get his jollies without inviting the attention of local authorities.
    1
  14396.  @jakebarnes28  What is this neutrality agreement pertaining to Finland that you're referring to? I know of none.
    1
  14397. Former? There's a $250,000 bounty on his head.
    1
  14398.  @grousetheghoul2754  How did you come up with that? The closest thing to an EU army has been the EU Battlegroup, in which the UK has participated with a joint UK-Dutch contingent of 1,500 troops. Pretty much all the participating nations manage that. As for European armies in general, the French Army outnumbers the British Army.
    1
  14399. Beter niet, want dan zit Defensie zonder geweren.
    1
  14400.  @Michel-r6m  Een andere taak? Nee hoor. Tijdens de Kosovo-oorlog had de NAVO de grote moeite om Yoegoslavische tanks vanuit de lucht te vernietigen, en dat vanwege het ruwe terrein en de dichte bebossing. Drones waren nog niet echt in, maar het ontbrak de NAVO niet aan andere middelen. Zelfs de Apache's werden uiteindelijk niet ingezet vanwege het moeilijke terrein. Het toeval wil dat de ex-KL Leopard-tanks nu in Finland zitten, dat nog dichter bebost is.
    1
  14401. Russia cut off its nose to spite its face in blowing up Nord Stream 1 and 2. Not that it matters, since neither was operational and there was no prospect of either becoming operational for the foreseeable future. Tellingly, Russia didn't get the expected pity points or manage to drive a wedge between its geopolitical opponents. I think the Rooskis will want to hang on to their pipelines in the hope that they'll restore oil and gas exports to pre-war levels at some point in the future. Maybe so, but we'll make sure the proceeds go to compensating Ukraine for the damage they've done.
    1
  14402. Of course we have, silly. Unless you're a troll, you may want to explain yourself.
    1
  14403. ​ @wilfredsirvania2201  Die is makkelijk. Rusland escaleert, Oekraïne reageert.
    1
  14404. Yes, you could call Milei's economic policies "innovative" in the sense that they haven't been tried before. For a good reason, too.
    1
  14405. There's no danger of that. Russia does worse in all indexes -- Freedom of the Press, Corruption Perception, Democracy Index -- you name it. Having said that, if there was a Fascism Index, I'm sure Russia would leave Ukraine biting the dust.
    1
  14406. I'm left wondering how you did in school yourself. Renewables are replacing fossil fuels at an increasing rate. Russia -- the gas station that masquerades as a country -- will the biggest loser in all of this.
    1
  14407. If the US were to keep Greenland's current Scandi-style welfare system in place, I could envision a great many Americans moving there, just because of it. A green light indeed.
    1
  14408.  @43lk  By all accounts Putin is not below average IQ, but he's made the fatal mistake of surrounding himself with too many incompetent sycophants, who all have layer upon layer of incompetent sycophants below them as well. What is a medium-IQ dictator to do?
    1
  14409. We're blockading Russia as a whole as it is. Besides, without (Western) planes to fly, Russia could never mount the equivalent of the Berlin Airlift.
    1
  14410.  @zx7-rr486  Tunnels. They're a public secret. Egypt has tried to drive piles into the group to prevent them from being dug, pumped discovered ones full of seawater -- even sewage -- but Hamas keeps digging new ones. I guess tunnels and prisons go together like a horse and carriage.
    1
  14411. You could go back to Africa, since that's where your ancestors are from.
    1
  14412.  @hilbridanongoogle4465  Russians think that speaking the truth when it's more opportune to lie amounts to a devilish scheme, which no one sees coming.
    1
  14413. At a distance, yes, because they've been denied entry into Putin's bunker.
    1
  14414.  The Messenger  No worries mate, I'm not Eastern. I highly doubt you have anything to teach me about about Western philosophy, but you should deffo teach yourself the very basics of political philosophy.
    1
  14415.  @duanescot  Oh, now you as well. If you're confident you're keenly aware of the differences, why you don't explain what they are? And what make you conclude we prioritize group think over self-determination? Examples, please.
    1
  14416.  @duanescot  Bud, I have no suggestions for you as to what the US should be. To put it bluntly, it's none of my business. I was, however, wondering what the perceived uniqueness of the US constitution is about, since after writing a thesis about constitutions and relates practices worldwide, I see very little of that in yours. Quirks and dated oddities yes, but fundamentally it's very much alike those of other developed countries. Like your compatriot Captain Ishmael, you're still not providing any examples in support of the uniqueness of the US constitution.
    1
  14417.  @joyhock190  Duh, nothing unique there. I said no platitudes, please.
    1
  14418. Trump you can trust? I think you need to retreat into your shell.
    1
  14419. Putin is crying in his bunker.
    1
  14420.  @durgeshsss  You're the one behaving like a child here. India still is the biggest importer of arms in the world, accounting for 11% of the world's total. Not only that, India has held the top spot ever since 1993. I know there's a 'Make in India' effort ongoing, but despite some progress, India remains heavily dependent on foreign imports. If you can bring yourself to behaving like an adult, try to answer my question: which country is taking over from Russia as India's biggest foreign arms supplier?
    1
  14421. And the connection with the EU is....?
    1
  14422. You set the bar very, very low.
    1
  14423. Are we talking about replacing 193 parliaments or just 193 heads of state/government? 193 governments?
    1
  14424. You're addressing the right person, who can put a stop to this war, but why the love for a warmonger?
    1
  14425. In your wet dreams.
    1
  14426. Reptilian! Blood-drinking, too?
    1
  14427. China dictated the terms -- and the gas price -- for that pipeline. Russia has little leverage over China, but it still has leverage over Europe. But you don't piss off your customers. They will take their custom elsewhere.
    1
  14428.  @hahahahahahahaahaha7801  That's a double negative, smarty-pants.
    1
  14429. We should report your comment for "Suicide or self injury".
    1
  14430. China is watching its neo-colonies work together. No skin off China's back.
    1
  14431. I'm sure Netanyahu knows the story, but he can't draw any parallels, it seems.
    1
  14432. China has enough on its hands with its own economic woes and a looming banking crisis, so no worries about the consequences of upsetting them.
    1
  14433. Cope, sad clown.
    1
  14434. This is not America...
    1
  14435. ​ @Metalhead_69  Toh-may-to, toh-mah-to?
    1
  14436.  @Metalhead_69  You're lame at geography. Rooineks and Yanks aren't the only ones to speak English.
    1
  14437.  @rodolphodecastrorodrigues7457  Try to explain yourself. Try.
    1
  14438.  @babblo1389  North Korea is a "civilisation" on its own.
    1
  14439.  @davidjo9683  At this rate it will, whether the IDF wants it or not.
    1
  14440.  @sollte1239  Wagner sure went about it in a dramatic way. It will be the death of Putin if Wagner decides to "relocate" again.
    1
  14441.  @pietmondrianstudent6984  Even more famously, scorched-earth policy was used against Napoleon when he invaded Russia. Then Russia was given the scorched earth treatment when its soldiers invaded Finland in the Winter War. In both conflicts, whole divisions froze to death.
    1
  14442. China is a party dictatorship, which tend to be more resilient than one man shows. The party will sacrifice its leader in order to prolong its monopoly on power. The Soviet Union also took its sweet time to keel over.
    1
  14443.  @FleurPillager  I agree, it is immensely vague and confusing if common sense completely eludes you.
    1
  14444.  @FleurPillager  Yes, but there's only one that caused a pandemic. Duh!
    1
  14445. Have they remembered to blame the CIA, Mossad and MI5? It must be on the checklist.
    1
  14446.  @Кипящийразум  You're worrying about nothing. You'd never make the grade and be offered EU membership. The Copenhagen criteria rule you out.
    1
  14447. British arrogance knows no bounds. But I suppose we'll have to let you in again when you've reverted to being the sick man of Europe again.
    1
  14448. @LOOKADOOR The Murican definition of constitutional republic is null and void outside of Murica. It's for internal consumption only.
    1
  14449. Are you doing your bit and protesting against your government? India is officially on the fence.
    1
  14450.  @Nishantk525  You didn't spot your own hypocrisy then? You're berating NATO for not doing enough to help Ukraine, yet you're fine with India's indifference to Ukraine's plight.
    1
  14451. @@leoa1893Be that as it may, you have no English grammar skills.
    1
  14452. Hedging your bets?
    1
  14453. You could've fooled me.
    1
  14454.  @rogeroeyen  No worries, the Harpoon can be launched from coastal defence batteries.
    1
  14455. Guess who won't let them in.
    1
  14456. Dovahkriid, the fact that Putin had no credible contenders for the presidency clearly proves that Russia doesn't have many great intelligent leaders. After all, Russia isn't meritocratic -- it's cronyist in the extreme.
    1
  14457.  @peter_de_Jong817  How so? The far right doesn't lead the polls, unlike in the Netherlands before the last election.
    1
  14458. You're in luck. You'll be treated to a lot of pilot heroics as Russia's poorly maintained air fleet starts malfunctioning en masse.
    1
  14459.  @marian5249  I am not what? I wrote that you are in luck, because you evidently like to celebrate heroic pilots who successfully bring down malfunctioning aircraft. I'm afraid you'll get many more opportunities to sing their praises, as Russia's airlines are running out of spare parts, and, interestingly, have no access to software updates. Your reading comprehension needs work, by the way.
    1
  14460.  @marian5249  Why, do you think I rejoice when Russian planes drop out of the sky? It's always deplorable, even when Putin had Prigozhin blown out of the sky.
    1
  14461.  @marian5249  Say goodbye to air travel as well, unless you want to end up like Prigozhin.
    1
  14462.  @marian5249  Take my advice, don't travel by air, or you'll get feathers on your back all right. But remember to oppose the war, or you'll be headed down, not up.
    1
  14463. Even after editing, you still managed to misspell "whether". You Brexiteers...
    1
  14464.  @350pauli  ;-)
    1
  14465. Not really. The courts will decide if the Catalan leaders on trial broke the law -- I have a hunch that they'll be acquitted, or they'll get a rap on the knuckles for some minor infractions. Besides, it's a Spanish affair, with no bearing on Europe as a whole.
    1
  14466. Not true, Ukraine has already won a defensive victory.
    1
  14467.  @JR-vc4gm  I think you just defecated on the chessboard and thought that a smart move.
    1
  14468.  @Aria_6743  3,000 years? I think you're off by a millenium or so.
    1
  14469. The Swedes may have a different take on the unity within NATO. NATO has two rotten apples, and they stink to high heaven.
    1
  14470.  @gvibration1  Eroding the rule of law, seizing control of the media and demonising the opposition are Fascist things to do.
    1
  14471. Google "Ukraine Support Tracker". A top donor the USA ain't when comparing them apples to apples.
    1
  14472. It's called 'new old stock'. In this case not so old, in fact.
    1
  14473. You know, right, that it's not something to be proud of? It suggests we're dealing with an undeveloped or flawed democratic system.
    1
  14474. Wilders will still be one of the dogs that bark while the caravan moves on. In the opposition, in other words.
    1
  14475.  @kaphamenskendee7428  ICC?
    1
  14476.  @vksasdgaming9472  In French, the T in Nagant is silent. The Russians copied that and we did, too, so it became 'nakani' or 'nakaani'.
    1
  14477.  @bocefusmurica4340  It's a phenomenon that is not limited to firearms. Grab a Kleenex(!) and dry your tears.
    1
  14478.  @felipe-vibor  Check out the Kiel Institute's stats on Ukraine aid. Not only that, European arms manufacturers enjoy full order books. France just overtook Russia as the 2nd largest arms exporter. Russa is losing another goose that laid golden eggs. You need to edit your comment and replace the emojis with cryfaces.
    1
  14479. @sleepyjoe7843 I know your sleepy head is slow to absorb news, but the whole world is up-arming itself. France is landing arms deals left right and centre. Interestingly, 33% of French arms exports go to India, the world's biggest arms importer. France is expected to overtake Russia in that respect, too. In fact, Russia is losing by not winning in Ukraine. I expect a replay of Germany's defeat in WW1 -- in other words, Russia will collapse from within. By the way, Russia collapsed in WW1 as well. And the USSR collapsed as a result of its abortive Afganistan war, too. So, nothing new under the sun.
    1
  14480. Disturbed "democratic" what? Assad didn't do democracy, and neither does his former BFF Iran. The latter's proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, don't care much for it either.
    1
  14481. Something's afoot at the UN. There's talk of a ceasefire all right.
    1
  14482. Nice conspiracy theory. Is it your own invention?
    1
  14483. They're not alone at this, Tommy boy. It's ten navies now that are policing the Baltic Sea for Russian sabotage, to say nothing of NATO as a whole, which is joining the fray.
    1
  14484.  @namename-qb5xe  So Russia stemmed the offensive by destroying farm equipment it mistook for Leopard 2s. Got ya.
    1
  14485.  @namename-qb5xe  Russian attack helicopters took out a John Deere spraying tractor. The videos also predated the delivery of the Leopards to Ukraine. Russian propagandists are getting sloppier by the day -- and you, more gullible.
    1
  14486.  @AAAAAA-tj1nq  You specifically mentioned Alibaba. Alibaba will make extra sure not to be associated with sanctions busting.
    1
  14487.  @csuporj  Freedom? Restrictions to trade have existed since... forever. It's freedom to pick your customers. Personally, I also exercise my freedom by not giving any business to Subway and Burger King, since they still haven't exited Russia. In the past, Russia, too, enthusiastically sanctioned North Korea and Iran. Ironically, both are now Russia's friends in need/friends indeed. Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose.
    1
  14488.  @juliec5309  Maybe a girl of Ukrainian offspring spurned his advances in high school.
    1
  14489. How's that? As Estonia's PM, Kallas has been a member of the European Council, one of the main decision-making bodies of the EU, for years.
    1
  14490.  @randomname1251  The Dutch trained conscripts to such a level of proficiency that they beat NATO regulars with their Leo 2s in annual tank contests. Moreover, Ukraine's tankers just need conversion training. They're not new to tank warfare, like the Dutch conscripts were when their training started.
    1
  14491. No, your imaginary sky friend won't, but Labour will.
    1
  14492.  @davidreed3357  You have the burden of proof, I'm afraid. We've been waiting for eons.
    1
  14493.  @davidreed3357  I'm afraid this is how it works. I'm facing the same predicament with my early childhood favourites, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. They don't exist till their existence has been disproven. So the onus is on you to prove that your sky friend is real.
    1
  14494. When Ukraine punches through to Melitopol, we'll see Putin make another goodwill gesture by magnanimously ordering the withdrawal of Russia's supply-starved troops from the rest of Kherson. After that, Putin may not be in a position to issue any more orders. Hopefully the new management will see the light and call it a day.
    1
  14495. Instead of waffling on about the cruelty of war, why don't you name those responsible -- actually, the one responsible?
    1
  14496.  @marrauder1976  You're not making sense either, I'm afraid.
    1
  14497.  @migueldb3269  Why lie? 73% of the UN's membership doesn't approve of Russia invading Ukraine, and insists on Russia withdrawing forthwith. Russia's supporters number 1 in Africa and 2 in Asia. Russia found no takers in Latin America. Nada.
    1
  14498. That's exactly how they reacted at the Russian Ministry of Disinformation. It's yet another serious setback in their battle for hearts and minds. A bot army doesn't come cheap, you know.
    1
  14499. I suppose not... China doesn't care much for democracy.
    1
  14500.  @puljano  Rather, us Euros are pitying you. It's not us who're having democracy slip away from us.
    1
  14501. @leyshonzi Thanks for reconfirming that the Brexit Party is a protest party. As for your manifesto, it promises to be an interesting one if the likes of Annunziata Rees-Mogg, an upper-class twit like her ultra-conservative brother, and Claire Fox, a Trotskyist, are co-writing it.
    1
  14502. They'll have to compete for it. Chinese construction companies may underbid them. Likewise, the Chinese landed most mining concessions in Afghanistan before the Taliban regained power.
    1
  14503.  @IvanChernobyl1  They're 80s vintage. Not welcome to the Black Sea, unless the Russians can miraculously transport them there overland.
    1
  14504.  @AmFlstnChai  Out of interest, I had a look how big a contingent the UK has with UNIFIL in Lebanon. Answer: 1 soldier. So, if "Nathe" from London joins him or her, the British contingent doubles in size!
    1
  14505.  @YellowOysterCult  It's all based on data from Russia's finance ministry. Cope.
    1
  14506.  @Zapper-kq1zg  Reading comp? Russia's finance ministry, as I wrote in a previous comment. Contest that.
    1
  14507.  @Zapper-kq1zg  Google is your friend. Use "Russia" and "national wealth fund" as keywords. You may want to spice it up with "liquid assets" and "budget deficit".
    1
  14508. Yeah, 79 years after the invasion scare, Britain still succumbs to fascism.
    1
  14509. Yup, Russia has to shop abroad for refined petroleum products to meet domestic demand. Refined from its own oil, that is.
    1
  14510.  @fedor7309  Come up with a shred of proof that Ukraine targeted civilians in Donbas, Feddy.
    1
  14511.  @aloksen626  There they are again. Nukes, every Putin fanboy's wet dream.
    1
  14512. It would be worthy of a 4D chess player like Putin if he were to counter this latest escalation with a brilliant and totally unexpected move: de-escalation. I mean Russia withdrawing from Ukraine. These evil schemers would be taking swings at thin air!
    1
  14513. ​ @menelikroadbikeskingofking2341  You sound like a wife-beater all right.
    1
  14514.  @callsigndd9ls897  Yeah, you missed the point entirely. I was curious how the OP would feel if he was on the receiving end. Considering India's and Pakistan's chronic animosity, it's not inconceivable that they'll drop big ones on one another.
    1
  14515. Do you think filters are standard equipment on Russian warships?
    1
  14516. If Putin retreats, he'll have to retreat all the way to Inner Mongolia and exile. If Xi has pity on him.
    1
  14517. Not who, but what: common decency. We're not at war with Russia, although Russia needs to pretend otherwise in order to retain a smidgen of self-respect.
    1
  14518. All in the name of freedom of the press. Are you new to it, by any chance?
    1
  14519.  @tictoc5443  That'll set off a new Intifada that will dwarf the previous ones combined. Israel will be the first to demand aid for the Palestinians, or it will have to foot the bill itself.
    1
  14520.  @josejo507  Yeah, it's not like Iran can launch human wave attacks against Israel, like in the Iran-Iraq War.
    1
  14521.  @tringuyen7519  A proxy war between China and the US? So, who are the proxies and where is this war being fought?
    1
  14522.  James Bortles  Am I disputing that Qassem Soleimani was killed by a US drone? I thought not, even if your overly fertile imagination suggests otherwise. Say, why is every other YouTube commenter a halfwit who can't hold a conversation? Tell me, because I think you're in a good position to answer that.
    1
  14523.  xOr  And what are you, "James Bortles'" sock puppet? At any rate, your mental acuity seems to match his.
    1
  14524.  James Bortles  It's interesting to note that despite your professed superior intelligence, you can't put your finger on what constitutes lack of critical thinking on my part. You've been singularly unable to refute anything I've written so far. Sadly, you're not capable of rational discourse.
    1
  14525.  James Bortles  Give over. You've been caught out and not once but twice. You're wholly incapable of rational discourse.
    1
  14526.  James Bortles  Yes, you cut and run, that's what trolls do.
    1
  14527.  @duuub227  Are you saying Qassem didn't put himself in harm's way by venturing to Iraq? Iranians fire rockets at Americans in Iraq, so they should expect the Americans to retaliate in kind.
    1
  14528.  @ferry602  "Crawl from under your rock", the expression goes, or were you aiming for some self-deprecatory Double Dutch version? And how is it relevant to this discussion what the US does or doesn't do? Is there a rule that says that bigger world powers have a quota to fulfill in terms of foreign interventions? How about us from small countries? True enough, the Americans have a nasty habit of embarking on military adventures, but eventually they come to their senses and withdraw -- sort of. The Russians, on the other hand, have no qualms about declaring their newly-won territory part of Russia. I wouldn't know of Afghan drugs. It must somehow make sense in your confused mind, I suppose.
    1
  14529. There won't be any vetoing when Article 5 is invoked. That is to say, unless Trump regains the US presidency.
    1
  14530. How about killing innocent Ukrainians, do you see anything wrong with that?
    1
  14531. So, are we to believe the CIA wanted them caught beforehand, too, by issuing a warning? I suppose a vivid imagination and poor logic are an entry requirement for conspiracy theorists.
    1
  14532.  @mariosathens1  It's interesting that the illegal settlers, Turkish nationals who've moved to Turkish-occupied Cyprus, are denied a Cypriot passport -- as they should be.
    1
  14533. I only hold three citizenships. Do you think I qualify as a spy if I acquire one more or am I already an international man of mystery, without me knowing it?
    1
  14534.  @graceann335  It wasn't lost on me, sweetie pie.
    1
  14535.  @graceann335  You started with the names, sweet cheeks.
    1
  14536.  @7xHBerna-Paris-Dakar  Now I'm curious. Do you know English?
    1
  14537.  @7xHBerna-Paris-Dakar  It seems you don't know much about reply buttons either.
    1
  14538.  @7xHBerna-Paris-Dakar  You're getting it, slowly but surely.
    1
  14539.  @7xHBerna-Paris-Dakar  You can keep your puerile emoticons. I'm not a child.
    1
  14540.  @kimlavender185kimlavender9  That does not compute. Come back to earth.
    1
  14541.  @cabaneencac5168  For your info, it's the US that has imperial ambitions, not us. We -- Finland -- aren't exactly short of lumber. Amazingly, we even export some to Canada.
    1
  14542. OK, bot.
    1
  14543. I'm sure you wrote something that qualifies as "hate speech and graphic violence"...
    1
  14544.  @craigslistseller9354  So you've been whining all over this comment section. Well, be that as it may, it's not a big loss, since there's nothing of informative value in your comment. Just a humble opinion from a nobody. I mean, if you were Kim Kardashian, at least there'd be a celebrity buzz about it, but no, nothing.
    1
  14545.  @craigslistseller9354  If so, DW have singled you out for special treatment. There's no shortage of Beijing trolls hating on Joshua Wong here. Again, you'd have a better cause célèbre on your hands if you had written something of substance. Now you're just stirring up a storm in a teacup.
    1
  14546. We should really tell the Germans not to work so hard.
    1
  14547. No need to brand all protesters as rioters.
    1
  14548.  @luff675  Of course corruption exist. You probably know that from personal experience. It still doesn't mean we shouldn't try to curtail it, or throw the baby out with the bathwater. Aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation is a very serious offense.
    1
  14549. Inneresting. What did the young rascal get up to in school?
    1
  14550. You don't know how to build fireplaces.
    1
  14551. Everyone did think the US belonged there, together with the NATO countries and then some. Don't try to rewrite history.
    1
  14552. My uncle has wounded in an attack against a German machine gun nest, but managed to destroy it nonetheless. His squaddies found an Iron Cross on one of his victims and pinned it on my uncle before he was sent off to field hospital. My cousin still has it, with swastika and all. It says 1939, so the wearer must've been a Polish Campaign vet.
    1
  14553. Nederlandje doet zijn bestje, maar je moet niet overdrijven.
    1
  14554.  @make-u-rich879  I'm afraid there won't be enough Russians to inflict those casualties. Too many are pushing daisies sunflowers as it is.
    1
  14555. It's a shame such a sharp military mind as yours goes to waste stocking the shelves at Lidl.
    1
  14556.  @adrianczaplinski7774  It's no wonder that Hungary can't hold its own vs. EU competitors if Orban blows generous EU grants on unproductive vanity projects, like his home-town football stadium, which seats more spectators than there are inhabitants.
    1
  14557.  @livingtribunal4110  Sure, we all know Russia is terrorising Ukrainian civilians. I'm glad even a Putin troll acknowledges the fact.
    1
  14558. Onboard? Trump is proposing a trade war. Against France, among others. Who am I kidding, against everyone.
    1
  14559. What do we know? Google "List of NATO operations" and "Post-WWII conflicts". Not a lot of overlap.
    1
  14560.  @JamesRT1291  Don't go overboard with your praise for the pilot. Murmansk is very sparsely populated.
    1
  14561. Don't kid yourself. Only North Korea and Syria support Pootin.
    1
  14562.  @lyudmilakutsenko7045  "The West lost 2WW very quickly"? What nonsense is that and which "West" might have been concerned? Without material aid from the *Western *Allies, the (Western?) Germans would've brushed aside the Red Army and joined up with Japan in China. Top Soviet military leaders like Zhukov readily admitted the absolute necessity of Lend Lease, and Stalin himself lamented not having military leaders of the same caliber as Patton, whose rapid advance across France turned the dictator into a fan. I see Soviet-style historical revisionism is alive and well.
    1
  14563. You're barking up the wrong tree.
    1
  14564. Erdogan still needs his new and upgraded F-16s and he knows he won't get any from the USA unless he relents on Sweden's NATO bid. Which he will, soon enough. In summary, nothing has changed dramatically for the poorer. Oh yes, and Turkey is still growing poorer.
    1
  14565. Clever thermostats detect an open window and refrain from heating the great outdoors.
    1
  14566.  @mijicmugendo  China hasn't had democracy like ever, aside from an abortive experiment in the early 20th century. Does that mean the Chinese mainlanders should be condemned to eternal dictatorship? I don't see how you think long-gone British imperialism is a valid argument against democracy in this day and age. It's not up to the Brits to strive for democracy in Hong Kong. That's the prerogative of the Hongkongers.
    1
  14567.  @weehay5349  Being Nordic and a long-time Singapore resident, I know all too well in which areas Singapore lacks behind. While still single, I lived in a boutique condo just off then-megatrendy Muhamed Sultan Rd, while a neighbour of mine lived in a tarp-covered cargo bike on an nearby empty lot. The challenge with good governance is that the good part is subjective. Without democracy, you can't really gauge if it's to the liking of the populace, so there's no telling if it's good. I mean, you can run a prison efficiently, but the inmates may not be all that happy. Perhaps a better measure of good governance is the UN's World Happiness Report. The Nordic countries top the list, while they're also top democracies according to the EIU Democracy Index. Alas, Singapore is topping neither list -- not even close. And don't get me started about China.
    1
  14568. @UCgNs-mXKvfHzSMxMsbMr8jA A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members, they say. I think we can safely conclude that you're not contributing to Singapore's greatness. The Nordic countries have no brain drain issues to contend with. On the contrary. I remember how Singapore made all kinds of overtures to keep us. My PR interviewer suggested a fast track to full citizenship. When I respectfully declined, she confessed we were the hardest to convince. Singapore even commissioned a love song about Finland, which amused us no end. Your accusation that I'm leeching off Singapore is an interesting one. I worked for two multinationals, both Nordic and both leaders in their field, with their regional headquarters in Singapore. Despite Singapore's relatively small market size, we employed mostly Singaporeans in serving the whole APAC market. You're biting the hand that feeds you. If you must know, I'm domiciled in Luxembourg nowadays, which, as it happens, enjoys a higher GDP per capita than Singapore. It's happier, too, and a full democracy. No colonialist past either, just like the Nordic countries. You're running out of excuses. Say, you're not the same pro-Communist Singaporean who turned racist on me a while ago? When I reminded the person of Singapore's strict sedition laws, he (or she) promptly deleted all his comments and cancelled his YouTube account. At any rate, you seem to be saddled with a similar abrasive personality. You'd better watch your step.
    1
  14569.  @weehay5349  Judging from your mangled YouTube handle, you've done a disappearing act once again ;-)
    1
  14570.  @weehay5349  Trust you not to understand proper English. Or pretend not to understand, now that I've handed you your derriere.
    1
  14571.  @weehay5349  I'm still here, funny man. Try to address my points for a change. With a dictionary at the ready, if you must.
    1
  14572.  @weehay5349  Scroll yourself. You must've had your comment deleted. I can imagine why. Note that I didn't accuse you of being racist. I asked you if you were the same Singaporean who foolishly mistook me for an Indian and then proceeded to make racist comments about dark skin colour. I have to say, the similarities are striking. Just like him, you're boasting about Singapore's GDP per capita, calling foreigners leeches and you're highly enthusiastic about the Communist regime in China. Also, you're very confused. I speak Germanic languages all right, but not natively. On the other hand, I can spot scores of grammatical errors in your comments.
    1
  14573.  @weehay5349  So is this your writing: "Merlin SG peabase you are indian.. Don't pretend to be anything else.. The only good thing about indian is they don't need to do camouflage during the night.. They blend right in.. Provided they don't laugh and show their teeth 🤣🤣🤣"
    1
  14574.  @weehay5349  Just to be sure, shall we get the SPF's CID involved? I'm sure there's a detective inspector of South Indian heritage who'd like to get to the bottom of this.
    1
  14575.  @weehay5349  Here's another sample I recovered: "Merlin SG peabase you are hilarious.. PR? You are cheap .. I am an original Singapore.. I am not gonna be PR of any cheap western countries.. It lowers my status 🤣🤣🤣 you on the other hand understand we are superior.. So you tried hard.. Very hard.. To want to be associated with Singapore 🤣🤣🤣 you are what we call TRASH in Singapore.. Feeling the pressure? 🤣🤣🤣"
    1
  14576.  @weehay5349  And more: "Merlin SG peabase do you do that indian head wobbling thing when you talk ? 🤣🤣🤣"
    1
  14577. We're looking at a conviction for sedition all right.
    1
  14578.  @niklasmoureen9004  And you are? Wee Hay's sock puppet? He's got quite a collection, Merlin SG and now you.
    1
  14579. In your case, a difficult word?
    1
  14580. Aren't we?
    1
  14581. What did you achieve?
    1
  14582.  @guff9567  So, you achieved a national holiday that isn't one. I believe your independence day is *July 4, but what do I know, I'm a foreigner.
    1
  14583. ​ @RyzenShanks  In essence, what you're proposing is that once again, Finland protects Sweden against Russia. "Finlands sak är vår" (the Finnish cause is ours) is a cliché that Swedes like to repeat, but I believe there's some weariness in Finland with regard to pulling Sweden's chestnuts out of the fire. In Denmark, it's an often-heard joke that Swedes fight to the last Finn.
    1
  14584.  @RyzenShanks  Sweden needs to join NATO as a full member to get all the membership benefits. As a hang-around member, Sweden is not included in NATO's decision-making bodies, and it can't benefit from NATO's shared capabilities, where members complement one another. As full NATO members, Sweden's Nordic neighbours get more bang for their buck (no pun intended).
    1
  14585.  @72marshflower15  Yours is hardly a yardstick. The US is officially a flawed democracy. You may want to compare with the best.
    1
  14586. Lebanon has a parliamentary system, not a presidential one. You may want to educate yourself on parliamentary systems of government.
    1
  14587. An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind?
    1
  14588. China could stay out of a backyard called the South China Sea. Nomen est not omen.
    1
  14589.  @petergreenwood7731  Whataboutism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
    1
  14590. The butler did it.
    1
  14591. I had to teach my American cousins to shoot properly. They marvelled at my accuracy, but soon found out that with a little proper training, they could shoot straight, too. Military training makes all the difference.
    1
  14592. You had a unique ballot paper. Or your memory is shot.
    1
  14593.  @JEZUSisLIEF  Wat een zwakke reactie. Letterlijk en figuurlijk.
    1
  14594. The cluster munitions are meant to detonate Russian-laid mines that are near-impossible to clear under fire. Keep up with the news.
    1
  14595. Putin's anti-NATO, the CSTO, went zombie on us, so Trump wants to axe NATO to balance things out.
    1
  14596.  @deslow7411  Ketä tavoittelet? Pahoittuuko mielesi helposti?
    1
  14597.  @deslow7411  Ei, et maininnut Suomea, mutta jos otat lukulasit käyttöön, huomaat että tässä videossa ja jopa tässä viestiketjussa mainitaan Suomi useamman kerran. Annoit kuvan, että Suomi yhdessä muiden EU-maiden kanssa on laiminlyönnyt maanpuolustuksen. Ehkä sinulla ei ole tätä kuvaa, mutta katsoin tarpeelliseksi selventää muille lukijoille, mikä Suomen tilanne on. Taisit saada samalla sierätyshoitoa yliherkkyyteesi.
    1
  14598. So it has come to this. You're too lazy to do your whataboutism yourself. Bad bot.
    1
  14599. Wasn't the American solider in question stateside?
    1
  14600. It's a tangled web. Russia is tight with Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, and the latter three are all chums with Hamas. Israel and Russia merely pretend to be friends so they don't have to duke it out in Syria, which would get ugly. And Israel likes to import cheap oil from Russia, probably below Russia's cost, but it keeps the Russian economy ticking over. For Russia, it's a match made in purgatory. For Israel, it's heaven.
    1
  14601. It hasn't made any difference before. Israel bombs targets in Syria almost at will. Russia, whose AA systems could pose a bigger threat, look the other way.
    1
  14602. Russian Federation is not a superpower and never has been one. It's a regional power, and a failing one at that. It's relegated to sabre-rattling with nuclear weapons, like the hermit kingdom North Korea.
    1
  14603.  @godzillamothra5983  NATO expansion is not a matter of some secret cabal of generals gobbling up one country after another. The countries in question are actively seeking membership for the security guarantees it provides -- against Russian aggression. It's a mirror moment for the Russians.
    1
  14604. OK, Putin fanboy. Russia would have trouble taking on the Salvation Army at this juncture. Unlike Germany, Poland and Finland never let their guard down after the USSR collapsed. Both have been bolstering their defences. Both field ex-Bundeswehr Leopard 2s, which, thanks to their foresight, can now be made available to Ukraine.
    1
  14605. +Mark Gable That just doesn't ring true. Nothing spells eager in Germany rebuilding and deploying its military after WW2. Sadly, the same can't be said about the US and the UK. Both have displayed military adventurism, best evidenced by the Iraq War.
    1
  14606. +Mark Cable Have you learnt nothing? Firstly, Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11. Secondly, the Iraq War was about Saddam's alleged WMDs, which remain elusive to this day. Thirdly, the Iraq War wasn't a NATO affair. That's three strikes, buddy.
    1
  14607.  @retnavybrat  Then your vote goes to waste. Such is the American electoral system.
    1
  14608.  @retnavybrat  Have you considered that voting alone won't do the trick?
    1
  14609. Stoltenberg is Norwegian, bud.
    1
  14610.  @farzana6676  With overwhelming scientific proof of man-made climate change, there's no need for fortune-telling or prophesying. Back to the troll cave with you.
    1
  14611. From the very onset, it's been clear to just about the whole world -- not just DW -- that America is trying to pick the candidate that sucks less.
    1
  14612.  @anteeko  Vaccines keep the infected out of hospital, but they don't prevent infections. Omicron is too contagious for that. Still, the stats don't lie, hospital Covid-19 wards are brimming with the unvaccinated. It's like you're advocating against the use of shawls in winter, because they can't entirely prevent people from getting colds either.
    1
  14613. Those downed Ka-52s didn't prove all that "air superior". And now their airworthiness leaves something to be desired.
    1
  14614. I think Trump has already made sure of that.
    1
  14615. Did you pick this vid at random?
    1
  14616.  @davidhess6593  And you are...?
    1
  14617.  @davidhess6593  I'm a senior Signals Officer in the reserves, thank you for asking. But who's you as in 'your involvement'? I have no clue what you're on about.
    1
  14618. ...alas, it was a wet dream of yours.
    1
  14619. Making a martyr out of Priggie doesn't help Putin.
    1
  14620. Israel knows full well that if UNRWA isn't providing for basic needs in the Occupied Territories, it will have to do the honours. I expect a reversal when Israel feels it has made its point. For sure, Israel doesn't want scenes to go public that are reminiscent of the Jewish ghettos of WW2.
    1
  14621.  @1onewayrnoway  You're suggesting the combat divers boarded the ship? Marines could've gotten close enough to fire off a Javelin or two, which would explain the blaze.
    1
  14622. Poland wants more US military bases. They may not be in the offing if Trump wins.
    1
  14623. The US warships merely tell Iran and Syria "Don't get any ideas".
    1
  14624. It's not an either/or situation.
    1
  14625.  @coralsky-o3h  You're painting a very one-sided picture. In return for their taxes, the Kenyan workers get free health care and free education, both for their children and themselves, in case they want to better themselves. In summary, they certainly get their money's worth.
    1
  14626.  @coralsky-o3h  If they'd barely scrape by in Kenya, they wouldn't contribute much in tax revenue, would they? We can't wait till the cows can home till there's an opportunity for them to apply themselves in Kenya and purely for the benefit of Kenya, but in the mean time...
    1
  14627. So, Iran should be given free rein in destabilising the region?
    1
  14628. Are you suggesting that Russia hasn't used long-range missiles against Ukraine, so it will now? Kids Trolls say the darndest things.
    1
  14629.  @umbrellaCorp-r3q  At least we agree that it's good vs. evil. Which is which, that's another matter. I don't doubt for a moment that you'll soon claim that you were always against the war, just like there were no communists in Russia after the USSR imploded.
    1
  14630. It looks like you've got Nazis of your own to contend with.
    1
  14631. With all due respect to Ms. Marin, she just sealed the deal. The people had already decided. In the prevailing atmosphere, it would've been political suicide to act otherwise. Her greatest achievement was convincing her peacenik fellow party members that the game was lost.
    1
  14632. He's got a one-way plane ticket to Moscow already, but it remains to be seen if he'll just be transiting to China, because Putin may need a one-way ticket there as well.
    1
  14633.  @connieslchan  So, in summary, you don't represent anyone but yourself. You just have delusions that you do.
    1
  14634. Putin needs to distract his people. By exaggerating foreign threats, the Russians won't focus on domestic problems.
    1
  14635.  @Volkov1980  It's 100% fact. Why even try to deny it?
    1
  14636. Are you saying that those professions are synonymous with Islam? Well I never!
    1
  14637.  @LordVessel21  I concluded that you must be his/her sock puppet, because you know exactly what's in his/her mind. Stands to reason.
    1
  14638.  @LordVessel21  I like Indian cuisine, but what's that got to do with the price of tea in China?
    1
  14639.  @LordVessel21  Aphasia?
    1
  14640.  @LordVessel21  I'll take that as an affirmative. Good luck with the speech therapy.
    1
  14641. Isn't it an amusing coincidence that the 8th in G8 used to be Russia -- till it got the boot.
    1
  14642. When will Galina be arrested and charged with treason?
    1
  14643. Russia is actively waging a war of aggression in Europe, sport.
    1
  14644. China could grant Hong Kong full autonomy. That would make all of this go away overnight.
    1
  14645. China is going to call Putin to order. It's very much against China's interests to see a nuclear war break out on account of Putin's increasingly desperate landgrabs.
    1
  14646.  @burlbird9786  Seb Builderman summed it up nicely. You can't even put your finger on what's supposedly wrong with his assessment.
    1
  14647.  @oppomoli231  What has that got to do with the CCP? Your whataboutism is tiring.
    1
  14648.  @donmillican510  That would the Russians then.
    1
  14649.  @donmillican510  Try to keep up with the news. Russia already fessed up that they launched the missiles at Odesa. You need a better conspiracy theory.
    1
  14650.  @andin3720  I have a hunch that Assad may need to leave Russia for China and rather abruptedly at that, just like his pal Putin. I'm sure they'll both be safe there. Party dictatorships have more staying power.
    1
  14651.  @maxheadrom3088  Post-Putin Russia may well extradite Assad to the Netherlands to stand trial in The Hague. Heck, they may even extradite Putin himself unless he makes good his escape.
    1
  14652. Complotdenkers presteren nog beter.
    1
  14653.  @michaelpencio9573  There's no opposition among NATO members against Finland -- or Sweden, for that matter -- joining. Their leaders and diplomats have between shuttling all over to make their intentions known and gauge opinions. Both countries are net contributors rather than net beneficiaries to NATO.
    1
  14654. You're generous.
    1
  14655.  @eddieokpara3549  Trump should try to buy a lesser man. Zelenskyy isn't for sale.
    1
  14656. You're seeing foreign mercenaries everywhere. It's ersatz copium, isn't it?
    1
  14657.  @zakimuhammed4662  HTS is designated a terrorist organisation in the West, dum-dum.
    1
  14658.  @iamAdeOba  I can't think of a better explanation than first-hand experience. So, have you been to both countries?
    1
  14659.  @jackmaehoph4822  No, I'm just speculating what your one sure-fire way might be. I can think of several ways.
    1
  14660. So you're saying the ethnic Dagestanis have to clear out? You must be an anti-nativist who's keen on putting the Great Replacement theory into practice.
    1
  14661. "Propoganda [sic]"? Is that a neologism?
    1
  14662. Yuckerama indeed.
    1
  14663. Nice conspiracy theories you've going there, boyo. Mere hormone-induced speculation inside a conspiracy-ridden mind.
    1
  14664. Maar Trump is hun BFF.
    1
  14665. Russia has to pretend to care about the citizens of Kherson. They supposedly voted to join Russia, after all. And in a pinch, they can be used as hostages.
    1
  14666.  @JuanCarlos-vr3bs  You can wait for us, but it'll be the Russians and the various disenfranchised ethnicities -- effectively colonised territories -- that'll do the dismantling, "Juan".
    1
  14667. But of course. Ex-KGB Putin loves surveillance.
    1
  14668. Oh, Putin is isolated. No other BRICS member supports his war of aggression, and some condemn it outright instead of engaging in their usual fence-sitting, like in India's case.
    1
  14669.  @XenoEXTornado  Do you mean Putin? He heads a country that is a colonial ruler, past and present.
    1
  14670.  @richardthomas5362  China's is a party dictatorship. The party is more important than its leader, although Xi is testing that premise.
    1
  14671. That's populism for you. GL-PvdA also play that game, and by the looks of it, won.
    1
  14672. The Good Friday Agreement is a British-Irish agreement. The USA was involved in bringing it about; the EU wasn't. Ireland would have to rope in the EU. To me, this sounds like yet another problem of your own making, and now you expect the EU to present a ready-made solution on a silver platter.
    1
  14673. Alas, that won't help Britain win.
    1
  14674. These unguided rockets are relatively safe. It's their "guided" weapons that return to sender.
    1
  14675.  @AndroidFerret  Where exactly are these rocket silos that you speak of? The only ones that I'm aware of are in Kaliningrad and they're Russian. If nukes are the problem, why doesn't Putin push for nuclear disarmament?
    1
  14676. ​ @Red.Hot.Chili.Beans63  Oh, you're revelling in victimhood. I'll leave you to it.
    1
  14677.  @Red.Hot.Chili.Beans63  Oh, you're revelling in victimhood. Don't mind me, I'll leave you to it.
    1
  14678.  royprovins7037  Centre right, if you must know. Peas in a pod, you wingnuts.
    1
  14679. I don't Trump is impying that here. I think he's a twerp, though. And an isolationist.
    1
  14680.  @christopherlees1134  What gave you the idea that America is the favourite destination for emigrants? As a matter of fact, the USA comes in sixth place, behind Switzerland, Australia, Iceland(!), Israel and Norway.
    1
  14681. ​ @christopherlees1134  Stats indeed. Adjusted by population size.
    1
  14682.  @cg4806  "Adjusted by population size." Is that gobbledygook to you?
    1
  14683.  @Dutchtreat-pn3cj  Ik heb ze in hun zielige tentjes in de sneeuw in Noord-Noorwegen gezien. Dat was weliswaar dertig jaar geleden. Hopelijk is hun uitrusting er beter op geworden. Nederlanders denken dat je met wat doorzettingsvermogen de vrieskou te lijf kan gaan. Dat gaat dus niet op boven de poolcirkel.
    1
  14684.  @Dutchtreat-pn3cj  Ik weet er inderdaad wat vanaf. Ik ben als tweede luitenant afezwaaid uit het Finse leger, en ben tot heden reservist. Ik zit bij de artillerie, en ik heb al in al wekenlang in barre vrieskou gekampeerd op een immens miltair oefenterrein pal op de poolcirkel. Zonder een grote tent met een houtkachel erin waren we allemaal doodgevroren. Fins bloed of Nederlands bloed, het vriespunt is gelijk. Ik heb ook nog gediend bij de Koninklijke Landmacht, dus ik ben toch in enige mate bekend met de uitrusting aldaar. Passend voor een kikkerlandje als Nederland, maar ik stond te kijken toen ik hetzelfde spul tegenkwam in Noorwegen bij de mariniers. Misschien leenden ze winterspullen van de Noren toen het niet meer uit the houden was, want de Noren zijn zeker niet op hun achterhoofd gevallen.
    1
  14685. Which language is that?
    1
  14686. More like showcasing their kit in anticipation of Eurofighter and Atlas sales to India.
    1
  14687.  @suryanshsagar2677  Indian defence procurement is such an unbelievable mess that I wouldn't trust anything being planned. Germany must have a masochistic streak.
    1
  14688. Lebanon shouldn't harbour terrorists.
    1
  14689. Hitler and Stalin formed an unholy alliance in 1939. Both knew full well that it was a stay of execution. It happened that Hitler beat Stalin to it. History can and will repeat itself.
    1
  14690. Nonsense. Rule of law doesn't apply in China. The CCP can even override the constitution if it deems it necessary.
    1
  14691. It's not "healthy democracy" if a ruling party goes overboard to suppress and vilify the opposition. It's ironic that PiS shot itself in the foot in doing so. Now it can't find suitable coalition partners, because it alienated them all. There's a great lesson in this. Keep it civil, because those parties that are in the opposition now may be your future coalition partners.
    1
  14692.  @annarock8966  Isn't it shitty that the Btitish Council withdrew from Russia? You could've used free English lessons.
    1
  14693.  @carlosgd8903  Duh, I'm strongly suspecting it, just like everyone else with two or more brain cells to rub together. First, the Russian authorities try to kill him with Novichok-laced underpants, then he falls in their hands. Means, motive and opportunity, it's all there.
    1
  14694.  @GregorPQ  You're repeating yourself.
    1
  14695.  @phillip76  Sure, many, but China doesn't even feature in the top 25 of most active open source contributors on a per capita basis. Facts are a biatch.
    1
  14696.  @phillip76  For your info, China doesn't even feature in the top 25 of open source contributors on a per capita basis. China has a lot of catching up to do.
    1
  14697.  @王玉龙-t5y  That's some fine coping! At least you've mastered that part. How about photolithography machines for semiconductor manufacturing, why aren't you wide awake there? We seem to have a monopoly on making the best-in-class machines, and you're smarting because you can't get them any longer.
    1
  14698. That's your minority complex speaking.
    1
  14699. I'm confused. Russia has started wars in Transnistria, Abkhazia and Ossetia. It seems Russia has no intention to end them. They don't call them frozen conflicts for nothing.
    1
  14700. You'll find that Ukrainians aren't surrender monkeys, like you would be in their shoes.
    1
  14701. Maybe less wars and more aid, and not necessarily the military kind, unless it's purely a defensive struggle, like in Ukraine.
    1
  14702. So you liked your own comment.
    1
  14703.  @Humanbeing01  And now you didn't like your own comment. What's wrong?
    1
  14704.  @tochztochz8002  He'll go down in history as Putin the Fool.
    1
  14705. Oh, there's much more excitement to be had in Ukraine, don't you worry your pretty little head. Ukraine is a war, Gaza is a mop-up operation.
    1
  14706.  @chriszenko3598  Scrap metal fetches more, but salvaging costs, too.
    1
  14707. They're in for a mission impossible after Putin's grants dried up.
    1
  14708. Russia lost control of two seas, the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. It finds itself surrounded in the Arctic Ocean as well.
    1
  14709. Politicians are answerable to their constituents, who trust that their reps represents their views to the best of their abilities. It's part and parcel of representative democracies.
    1
  14710. Out of the frying pan into the fire?
    1
  14711. Like Russia, you're too big for your breeches. If anyone's going to get burnt, it's you and your little fingers.
    1
  14712. Iraq? NATO wasn't involved. There was a big stink about it.
    1
  14713.  @Henrik976  The F-16 needs a squeaky clean runway. The Gripen isn't impervious to FOD either, but it's far from the Hoover (Nilfisk for you) that the F-16 is with its underslung air intake. The F-16 can literally suck crumbling tarmac off the roads.
    1
  14714. It's not the EU that stages elections in its member nations, but the nations themselves. It follows that the UK screwed up.
    1
  14715.  @Lomaxient  The EC1 declaration isn't new. It was the UK being caught unprepared, a direct consequence of you bollocksing your withdrawal from the EU yet again. Pure British incompetence and indecisiveness lie at the root of it all. Blame Brexiteers or Remainers, it's British shite that stinks here.
    1
  14716. I trust you feel the same about Ukraine.
    1
  14717.  @cdjxwubcyex  We'll make them pay for sure, but Russia will be hard-pressed to pony up the dough. Hydrocarbons are on the way out. Even though they won't be phased out overnight, decreasing demand and Russia's high production cost mean their profits will be slim. And Russia is a one-trick pony in terms of money-spinners.
    1
  14718. Have you made your views known to Putin? He can end this overnight.
    1
  14719.  @princessanineveh  You've got a thick noggin.
    1
  14720.  @GandPhatiBandarHanugaand  We got two dead, and 15 wounded and a negative balance of 1 billion euros. Not a single Afghan demonstrably fell to our bullets. What have you ever done for the betterment of humanity? Nothing huh? Figures.
    1
  14721. The ammo is NATO-standard, made by Rheinmetall. Plenty in stock as it's being used on newer AA systems, too.
    1
  14722.  @GIBBO4182  England is a country like Napa Valley is wine country.
    1
  14723.  @arisplugis5197  Just call it far-right populism and everyone will understand you.
    1
  14724.  @arisplugis5197  You being far-right yourself, I don't attach much value to your opinion on the matter. Have you heard that opinions and bumholes are alike? Everyone's got one and they stink.
    1
  14725. Both the US and the UK have a reputation for military adventurism. Sweden and Finland weren't exactly keen on the Iraq War.
    1
  14726. French *cities aren't burning. The French are doing their thing. Protesting. They're lucky to have a cause this time, because the yellow vests weren't really sure.
    1
  14727. No need to aggravate the situation. Besides, Putin is a criminal of an entirely different calibre than anything South Africa has been able to bring forth.
    1
  14728.  @brusselsproutboy7005  It was a rather close call, judging from the popular vote -- what, 51% for Biden? In Murica, democracy won by the skin of its teeth.
    1
  14729.  @brusselsproutboy7005  The numbers don't lie. Biden achieved a narrow victory over Trump, who was perfectly OK with giving democracy a miss. The disease didn't prove fatal, but it isn't cured yet either. Are you trying to say that military might goes hand in hand with democratic credentials? The Soviet Union was uber-militaristic, yet undemocratic to the hilt.
    1
  14730.  @brusselsproutboy7005  Your reasoning baffles me. You're saying that the Soviet Union wasn't a democracy because it wasn't a global military power? If the US isn't lacking in military might and its reach is global all right, then why is it officially deemed a flawed democracy? Norway is considered the cream of the crop in a democratic sense. The Norwegian military, while an effective force, is hardly mighty or global. You're trying to establish a connection where there's none.
    1
  14731.  @brusselsproutboy7005  You keep claiming there's a correlation between military might and democracy without providing any evidence in support of your (wild?) theory. I, on the other hand, keep coming up with examples that show it's not borne out by reality. Yes, the US is deemed a flawed democracy (google "democracy index" if you refuse to accept my word for it) and yes, your military is the largest, at least by expenditure. In the light of the above, you should feel terribly cheated.
    1
  14732.  @brusselsproutboy7005  Let's recap. You Yanks just went through the most embarrassing episode in your whole political history, and you jubilate as if it were a great triumph instead. And you feel it was a great triumph because you have the biggest military-industrial complex in the world. Get help for your megalomania.
    1
  14733. Is that why Modi wasn't invited? He didn't agree with the Western dress code?
    1
  14734. Bone spurs would keep Trump on the sidelines anyway.
    1
  14735.  @hzmt12  Actually, "robot" comes from the word "robota", which means "serf labour". It's an apt description of what our ever-present Putin bots do for a "living". Language is a living thing. Words take on new meanings all the time. Try to keep up with the times.
    1
  14736.  @duncansmith7562  It is menial labour, my learned bot friend.
    1
  14737. What's the silver lining here then?
    1
  14738. No top EU official will be paying a visit to Russia any time soon, so it's not bother. Orban, of course, is a travesty. Perhaps you should worry about Putin's foreign travels, which are blocked to not one country, but to a whopping 124 countries.
    1
  14739.  @harris4994  Do you want Freedom fries with that?
    1
  14740.  @harris4994  Judging from your rather lame comeback, I take it you didn't get the analogy.
    1
  14741.  @petertwiss4215  I don't think you can be a developing country and a superpower at the same time.
    1
  14742. I'm sure any hostage deal would include a cessation of hostilities.
    1
  14743. Hier hebben we ze al. In de kelder van elk groter gebouw, zelfs kantoorgebouwen.
    1
  14744. The word you were looking for is *losing. Ukraine is not surrendering. You've watched too many movies. You should crack a history book instead.
    1
  14745. Someone should take you apart and explain how climate change causes weather extremes. You'd spare yourself a lot of embarrassment.
    1
  14746.  @johnbartholf777  Of course there have been weather extremes throughout the ages. The point here is that extremes are getting more pronounced and more frequent. There's no question that human activity has given rise to CO2 levels, which contributes to global warming. 97% of scientists believe there's a connection between between global warming and climate change. You're with a rare breed -- and don't take this as a compliment.
    1
  14747.  @shijuh.pallithazheth8425  You're a hoot. We often find ourselves at odds with the USA. If it's not US military adventurism that's souring relations, like the Iraq War, there's a trade war of one kind or another going on. Did you miss the Bush and Trump eras, i.e. were you born yesterday? Just out of interest, now that Russia is growing ever more dependent on China, how do you intend to stay BFFs with Russia? Russia can't have it both ways -- master China won't share.
    1
  14748.  @shijuh.pallithazheth8425  What on earth gave you the idea that "Russia has the whole world's support"? The exact opposite is true: 2% of the world's nations stand behind Russia, while 74% condemn its actions vis-à-vis Ukraine. That's an irrefutable fact. You're comparing BRICS to NATO? Seriously? And NATO is a state now? Back to school with you, boyo.
    1
  14749. Medvedev has utterly degraded himself. It's even harder to believe now that he was once the president of the Russian Federation than when he actually was, during the silly switcheroo with an unelectable Putin. Putin has made an ersatz Vladimir Zhirinovsky out of poor Medvedev, a lightning rod of sorts for the craziest ultranationalists among the Russians. True to style, Medvedev has threatened all and sundry with nuclear Armageddon. Summa summarum, I wouldn't pay any serious attention to what the man says -- he's gone completely off the deep end.
    1
  14750.  @michaelrobinson8984  Sportsmanship awards, no, but life sentences for war crimes and crimes against humanity are on offer in the The Hague.
    1
  14751.  @bernardkroeger4045  OK, anarchist.
    1
  14752. That's why they say politicians and diapers should both be changed regularly, and for the same reason. Putin is very stinky indeed.
    1
  14753. Don't be a drama queen. Your little news bite applies to Rheinmetall's hoard of second-hand Leopards, which they're looking to fix up and sell. 22 Leopard 2s, I gather, which pales in comparison to the total of 3,600 that are around. Besides, the Leopard's manufacturer is KMW, not Rheinmetall. You could just as well freak out about Israel's IMI not being able to refurbish Leo 2s before 2024.
    1
  14754. Correction, no help from egotists in the West.
    1
  14755. How would Macron lose? Unless he steps down voluntarily, impeachment is the only way, and he'd need to fall foul of the law -- and seriously so -- in order for that to happen.
    1
  14756. ​ @yvonnetomenga5726  It's scorched earth policy when a retreating defender destroys resources and infrastructure that may be useful to the advancing enemy. Russia has invented a whole new policy. Moon landscaping policy?
    1
  14757. You should be talking. You put a male Karen in the White House.
    1
  14758.  @Rumpelstyltskin  But Brexit is a totally different beast for NI than it is for the rest of the UK. If the UK and the EU fail to sign a trade agreement by January 2021, it means that NI will have to trade on WTO terms with Great Britain.
    1
  14759.  @Rumpelstyltskin  I hear UK businesses, especially those with a lot of EU exports, are contemplating Brexodus again. NI doesn't seem like a bad halfway house.
    1
  14760. Russia should work itself loose and replant itself next to India. Russia's European neighbours don't fear it, but if your opinion is anything to go by, India clearly does. Russia likes its neighbours intimidated.
    1
  14761. Sure, it's been quite a recruitment fair.
    1
  14762. Leave or stay, you're screwed. However, I doubt your enthusiasm for ill-conceived military adventures is dampened by all of this.
    1
  14763. Russia has started to favour unprotected civilians targets.
    1
  14764. Has it occurred to you to plead for peace with Putin? He can stop this war overnight, you know. And in doing so, Russia -- unlike Ukraine -- doesn't have to give up anything that rightfully belongs to it.
    1
  14765. The megalomania is strong in you.
    1
  14766. Is Russia so hard up?
    1
  14767. Russia had all but declared General Zaluzhniy dead. Even Putin weighed in with his suspicions to that effect. The Kremlin Gremlin must be so disappointed that it was just wishful thinking.
    1
  14768.  @programming658  You truly are a time virtuoso. Not only can you travel in time, but also, you can condense time. Acually, I think you're a drama queen.
    1
  14769.  @edfast5893  No one's putting nukes anywhere. Poland and Czechia joined NATO in 1999, yet there are no nukes on their soil. In stark contrast, Russian nukes have moved closer to NATO, to Kaliningrad. By the way, you didn't make a pun.
    1
  14770. BRICS is hamstrung by an international outlaw in its midst. Putin can't even visit member countries for fear of arrest.
    1
  14771. Them, too.
    1
  14772. The Iranians, of course. And all other foreign forces.
    1
  14773.  @gff6929  Clever boy.
    1
  14774. No, why? The Germans' anti-dote against Nazism is holding -- I bet better than yours.
    1
  14775. Sure, in 1918.
    1
  14776. You must have a coup fetish there, sonny.
    1
  14777. But Russia's one and only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, was razed by fire only late last year, and may never sail again.
    1
  14778. It's just Murica that's deviating from the international norm. Call it the Trump effect.
    1
  14779. I bet being unemployed is tedious. Maybe Russkie Mickey D's is hiring. Best get your CV sorted.
    1
  14780. "Anne", that's a very weak comeback. Ask your handlers for better material.
    1
  14781. "Anne", if words fail you, you can always make up for it with those cute emoticons of yours. It's not childish at all!
    1
  14782.  @SalsaColombiaUS  K, that makes more sense.
    1
  14783.  @stevanjakovljevic8390  Ukraine, if indeed Nord Stream its doing, can compare notes with Russia about the mutual destruction they've heaped on each other and see who ends up compensating whom. No doubt it will prove very costly -- for Russia.
    1
  14784. Your powers of observation are uncanny.
    1
  14785.  @pac1fic055  You'll find that DW has called Venezuela's Maduro and, before him, Chavez populists.
    1
  14786. It's a regular occurrence and Sanna Marin is no fighter pilot on quick reaction alert. I've witnessed FiAF F/A-18s break the sound barrier when they speeded to intercept Russian airplanes so many times that I've lost count. They do so above a large lake so as not to startle people unnecessarily. There's a relatively narrow air corridor in the Finnish Gulf and the Russians sometimes stray into controlled airspace. Sometimes, it's weather-related. Even hotshot fighter jocks give summer thunderstorms wide berth.
    1
  14787. Rather, she's riding a wave of popular discontent. Study up on Euromaidan for reference.
    1
  14788. You forget that Western nations don't do the president-for-life thing. It's more yours.
    1
  14789.  @ebonydavis1754  I missed the referendum. When was it?
    1
  14790. Sadly, Russia and Turkey are basket cases in economic terms. China can't keep Hong Kong happy, so how would Albania fare in an union with China?
    1
  14791.  @AM-mu3pm  Do tell why should I be envious of Albania, which ranks as one of the poorest countries in Europe. Oh, and buy yourself a dictionary.
    1
  14792.  @bbb-pj7tu  No, my leaders were strongly in favour of Albania joining the EU. Only France objected -- for now. You're not up-to-date on the EU's inner workings, are you? Decisions need to be unanimous. Islamabad? We've had a far bigger influx of Eastern Europeans than refugees. They carry their weight, so I've no objections. We even joke about construction workers having to know Polish in order to be employable. It's just that the moment you hit a bump in your road to the EU, you immediately turn towards Turkey, Russia or China as an alternative. It suggests you've understood nothing about the European Project. I'd say your racism doesn't help matters either. Maybe authoritarianism is more your thing.
    1
  14793.  @bbb-pj7tu  OK, now you've descended into the realm of conspiracy theories, where reality doesn't apply. Have fun with your fantasies. Dude.
    1
  14794.  @bbb-pj7tu  We'll see what? A Greater Albania, choc-full of Chinese, Russian and Turkish military bases? You say you didn't mean it, but beggars can't be choosers.
    1
  14795.  @bbb-pj7tu  Oh, Albania is delivering us from evil Russians. I thought NATO was. You suffer from jingoist megalomania.
    1
  14796.  @bbb-pj7tu  Ooh, the megalomanic jingoist gets abusive. Did you buy yourself a dictionary yet?
    1
  14797. Let's not forget British arms procurement. Always good for a laugh.
    1
  14798.  @nigeljohnson9820  Your usual smoke and mirrors aside, British arms procurement is notoriously inefficient no matter where the kit comes from. More often than not, your soldiers end up with kit that is substandard, or when it happens to be up to scratch, it's grossly overpriced. But it's always late.
    1
  14799.  @nigeljohnson9820  OK, you're conducting a monologue. You're the audience, too.
    1
  14800. There's plenty there. Have you been?
    1
  14801. @Clec Torres As a net contributor, Germany isn't affected, since member contributions aren't increased to make up the difference. The EU's net beneficiaries, on the other hand, will be affected, since they can't dip quite as deeply into the Cohesion Fund as before. The Cohesion Fund is an investment into Europe's future. I'm sure they'll remind us whom to reward and whom not to as the investment bears fruit.
    1
  14802. Wasn't there an actor president in the US some time ago? If I'm not mistaken, the Republicans still love him to bits.
    1
  14803.  @Travelvision2020  There we go again. NATO played no part in the Iraq War, apart from a limited training mission, after Iraq had been de-Saddamed.
    1
  14804.  @Travelvision2020  Were you a child when the Iraq War took place, or are you still a child? NATO was bitterly divided over going to war against Iraq. You had the likes of Germany and France refusing to have any part in it, which angered Dubya and his neocons no end. Only a (then-)child wouldn't know that.
    1
  14805.  @Travelvision2020  You're not the sharpest pencil in the box. NATO is more than Murica. While at it, why don't you claim the UN went in, because the US is a member of the UN?
    1
  14806. Your overuse of copium is cause for worry.
    1
  14807. The troll found no takers. His manager decided enough was enough and notified the nearby military recruitment office. Poor nazzz was lost in the fog of war, never to be heard of again.
    1
  14808. The right to life is also a human right.
    1
  14809. I bet he was an inspiration to Trump, and in more ways than one.
    1
  14810. ​ @wilhelm4321  And tragedy and mayhem ensued. You need to ask?
    1
  14811. Shall we send all the convicted criminals to Russia then? Or do you want them in Whateverstan?
    1
  14812.  @johnjennings9043  If Russia were to launch a strategic bombing campaign against Ukraine, it would be a short one. Seeing that Russia has never gained air superiority, Ukraine would be quickly littered with smoking Tupolev wrecks. Yours is a hollow threat.
    1
  14813.  @silasnelson3116  OK, we'll consider it a development loan then, like the ones China extends to developing countries. So, retroactively, please pay us back a billion euros -- plus exorbitant interest of course. If you can't pay, we'll take possession of your port facilities and make you pay through the nose for their use. Suddenly you like development aid again, huh?
    1
  14814.  @worldwide8587  There was no obligation for NATO members to participate in any of these ops apart from Afghanistan. As I tried to explain to you, NATO secured an iron-clad UNSC mandate for it. Russia and China both supported IFOR for as long as it lasted. As to the Iraq War, it nearly tore NATO apart, because famously prominent members like France and Germany refused to have anything to do with it. Your clearly false assertion that it indeed was a NATO operation only hurts your credibility.
    1
  14815.  @worldwide8587  Are you dyslexic or just thick in the head? In actual fact, NATO's had two training missions in Iraq. No combat, just training, as per the Iraqi government's explicit request. My cousin trained Kurds in Erbil to fight ISIS. You're taking this guilt by association to the extreme. Are you going to accuse NATO of the Vietnam War next? When the next mass shooting takes place in the US, is NATO responsible, too?
    1
  14816. It does beggar belief. If Trump (or should I say Drumpf) were sent back in time to 1939, he would blame Poland for starting WW2.
    1
  14817.  @lellyparker  What is it with this preoccupation with boarding houses?
    1
  14818. Shouldn't you fire off an email to the editors?
    1
  14819.  @bega4christ492  Don't be silly. Lavrov has officially dethroned Comical Ali.
    1
  14820. ​ @oussamabayar7477  Who're you kidding? Russia's is a hydrocarbon economy. Another reason why they aren't cutting gas deliveries to Europe is that they'd lose all leverage if they did that. Now they can still do some mischief and earn themselves a meagre living.
    1
  14821. What an interesting turn of events. When the Nazis brutally invaded the USSR, the West came to the USSR's aid. Now the successor state to this USSR, Russia, claims its erstwhile saviour has gone Nazi, while it's actually Russia that's doing the invading, and once again, the West rushed to the aid of a victim of military aggression. Russia is making a mockery of its Victory Day.
    1
  14822. There's no negative connotation to "stealing market share". It's a common idiom.
    1
  14823. So young and so cynical.
    1
  14824.  @Manntashsh-Pyrre34  Ahem, sovereignty implies that a country can strike alliances as it sees fit.
    1
  14825. ​ @Manntashsh-Pyrre34  No, you still haven't managed to explain how Ukraine -- in your strictly personal assessment -- broke the Belovezha Accords and why that -- again, in your unique assessment -- forfeited them Crimea. For your information, Russia hasn't been appointed God either.
    1
  14826.  @Manntashsh-Pyrre34  I think we're the ones who've been very patient with you. To go straight to the point, which articles of the Belovezha Accords was Ukraine in breach of and which articles in it corroborate your claim that in doing so, Ukraine forfeited any part of its sovereign territory? Remember, I have no use for your fanciful theories on what's implied. Just quote the relevant articles word by word and we'll take it from there. I think you're just buttsore that Ukraine slipped out of Russia's ever-shrinking sphere of influence and now you're grasping at straws to find reasons why Russia is entitled to act out.
    1
  14827.  @Manntashsh-Pyrre34  OK, you failed to prove your point. You can't quote the relevant articles in the Belovezha Accords, simply because they're not there. Case dismissed.
    1
  14828. Finland could take all the Afghan girls that went to Finnish-built girls' schools -- which the Taliban immediately closed after taking power. Living well is the best revenge, they say.
    1
  14829. You failed to observer [sic] that the UK sat on the fence during this one. Not very admirable, but it doesn't gel with your (conspiracy?) theory, I'm afraid.
    1
  14830.  @menfis2  Foreign nationals? Dual nationals, more like. It's very popular in Israel, too. Most Israeli expats that I'm acquainted with have another nationality beside Israel's.
    1
  14831. Have I claimed it's a prison for dual nationals? Your imagination is running wild.
    1
  14832. I think France can do without you and your scaredy-cat family, being the top tourist destination in the world.
    1
  14833.  @krzysztofgorecki1667  You're effectively blaming the Rotterdam-Antwerp effect. It's a distortion in trade statistics due to transhipment. It's named such because Rotterdam and Antwerp are the busiest seaports in Europe. The same effect is at play in Gdansk and Gdynia, although to a far lesser extent.
    1
  14834.  @philiphoward4966  Don't make too much out of it. The Commonwealth is a sport and culture club. Reportedly, the UK has to keep a low profile in the organisation. Ironic.
    1
  14835.  @fingerprint8479  I thought evidence is an uncountable noun, meaning it's the same in singular and plural. Or are we dealing with American exceptionalism here?
    1
  14836. And the rest, are they chopped liver?
    1
  14837. He's already wanted by the ICC, since last year. Child trafficking.
    1
  14838. Why can't you keep Hezbollah and Lebanon apart? Is it a matter of intellect?
    1
  14839. Finland punches above its weight militarily. The rough terrain isn't conducive to mechanised warfare, meaning an invader (read: Russia) will struggle to leverage its numerical and material superiority. The Soviet Union learned that bitter lesson in the Winter War, losing whole divisions in the dense Finnish forests. Many European countries shamefully neglected their defence when the Cold War ended, but not Finland.
    1
  14840. But without ABS and airbags. Let's hope Dugin is a careless driver.
    1
  14841.  @edwardsallow6734  Interestingly, mainland China would receive a not-so-healthy dose of radiation in the process. Your threatening Taiwan with nuclear annihilation only legitimises their aspirations for independence.
    1
  14842. ​ @edwardsallow6734  Are you talking about the Taiwanese or Fujianese now?
    1
  14843. What a joke you are. By starting an illegal war of aggression of a magnitude that Europe hasn't seen since WW2, Russia has shown that it's not peaceful, period. Also, Russia's economy doesn't amount to much. Remember, we're supposed to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, and that's basically all that Russia has going for itself. Flogging our wares to Russians would be OK as such, but they do need to afford them, too.
    1
  14844. This is more like death to Russia.
    1
  14845. Maybe they can remind the Russians, too, of doing a runner.
    1
  14846.  @No-timeforimbeciles  You've got it backwards. The ignominy of the Soviet-Afghan War contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. I have no dog in this fight (we pulled our troops from Afghanistan when the UN mandate expired in 2014), but I don't see how NATO's failure to decisively beat the Taliban (containing them was easy enough) somehow reflects positively on Russia, which fared no better against the Mujahedeen. Maybe you should reserve your argument for contexts that don't involve Russia. I might even join in.
    1
  14847. Visa waiver program? I suppose Junior put 'maybe' under occupation on his arrival card.
    1
  14848.  @arber10  I suppose the Greenlanders could've tweaked the ILS at Nuuk Airport so that Junior would've experienced a hard landing. You've seen Die Hard 2, right?
    1
  14849.  @HarwardMbonxa  The world supports and stands with Russia? Let's recap: 4 out of 193 UN members supported and stood with Russia.
    1
  14850. Because you're ultra-right and everything else appears leftist to you? Am I right or am I right?
    1
  14851. It's interesting that Trump is gearing up for a trade war with the EU. How does your conspiracy theory explain that?
    1
  14852.  @davidmack4185  Are you for reals suggesting that Prigozhin was put in charge of guarding Putin's nukes in Belarus? That would be like letting Frankenstein's Monster guard the hen house.
    1
  14853. I say free home return permits to all Hong Kong pro-communists.
    1
  14854. Why don't you get the ball rolling? That being said, Afghanistan may be a bit of an issue since it had the UNSC's unanimous blessing, which means both Russia and China were supportive of pacifying the country, time after time.
    1
  14855. I don't think DW needs your infusion of insanity.
    1
  14856.  @denjremote2557  You must mistake me for the IDF. While we wait for their footage, can you point me at wreckage of downed airplanes? I hear Iran's air defences did really well <pffft!>.
    1
  14857. As a EU citizen, I agree. The US is a liability in any pandemic.
    1
  14858. I can think of at least 7.7 millions reasons.
    1
  14859. By embarking on military adventures that end in tears?
    1
  14860. There will be repo men waiting with a local court order.
    1
  14861. Mutual respect? Damage-control, more like. Let's not forget that China was a tacit supporter of the current Afghan government and as an major investor in infrastructure and mining projects in Afghanistan, Beijing was counting on the security provided by the NATO forces. Therefore, it didn't come as a surprise that Beijing publicly voiced its concern about the sudden withdrawal of NATO troops. Of course Beijing is now trying to do damage-control by engaging with the Taliban -- it's got a lot to lose.
    1
  14862.  @Cryptospirosis  I fail to see how a long history is of relevance here. Similarly, US struggles in Afghanistan don't translate into Chinese opportunities, as you seem to suggest. China has had access to Afghanistan and its natural resources for decades, so nothing is changing for the better -- quite the contrary, in fact. Under the Taliban, the security situation is bound to change for the worse and permanently, too.
    1
  14863.  @tlp3482  US occupies Syria? You mean the Russian forces there are prisoners of war?
    1
  14864.  @happymelon7129  What about whataboutism?
    1
  14865.  @amitnaik1122  Newsflash. Your arms manufacturer friends in Russia can't deliver. Russian arms exports have ground to a halt. The Russians need every bit of kit themselves. Also, what they have hasn't performed that well on the battlefield.
    1
  14866.  @danielbb8570  Why? Ukraine is fighting the good fight. We can support them any way we please.
    1
  14867.  @iROChakri  What facts suggest Russia is defending itself, and against whom in particular and when? For your info, it's Russia that started the war. Russia has been rightfully condemned for its war of aggression at the UN. Get that fact straight.
    1
  14868.  @iROChakri  Russia is defending a make-believe Russian Empire, which came to an inglorious end more than a century ago. So, you couldn't specify which acts of aggression Russia has been subjected to, and by which Western powers. You were alluding to facts. Present them already. And no, "the world except the West" is not defending Russia as it pleases. Pariah states Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria are, and that's 4 out of 193 countries. Practically the entire world is the West, or you're plain wrong.
    1
  14869. I see you're aspiring to emulate China in using vaccines as a foreign policy tool. How low can you go?
    1
  14870.  @niknoks7638  You'll have to elaborate. Concrete examples.
    1
  14871.  @niknoks7638  The protocol wasn't forced onto the UK. Unlike the UK, the EU isn't even party to the GFA, which mandates such an arrangement. If you're referring to the EU commission's gaffe regarding vaccine exports to NI, that never stood a chance thanks to Ireland's right of veto, which they didn't even have to exercise. Brexit Britain has no such powers. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd launch a theory that the whole tempest in a teapot was contrived to demonstrate that RoI effectively has sovereignty over NI. Unified Ireland is a step closer.
    1
  14872.  @niknoks7638  I know it by heart. I see you didn't have a clue.
    1
  14873.  @niknoks7638  Now you're projecting.
    1
  14874.  @niknoks7638  Or were you trying to sell sex? Makes sense, in your case.
    1
  14875.  Audio 9999  Trade is not the point. Hong Kong, however, is the legal guarantor. Foreign companies won't trade without legal aspects being addressed.
    1
  14876.  @СтражникПравды  So, why is Russia going to shaft Azerbaijan in equal measure? Azerbaijan is not in CSTO (does the latter still really exist, by the way?).
    1
  14877.  @dammitdan106  You should ask yourself how NATO can "field an equipped, trained and supplied combined arms force" as we speak. Did you think there's a standing NATO army consisting of troops who solely identify as NATO soldiers and who only speak Murican? Having an EU army basically means not sending an invite to the US when troops are gathered.
    1
  14878.  @jamesgo2014  NATO's expansion has been welcomed by those concerned. Invasions are totally unnecessary.
    1
  14879.  @gfkgfk7178  Why would Ukraine hit a Turkish vessel, pray tell?
    1
  14880. Gebroken geweertje 2.0. Nu werkt het vast.
    1
  14881.  @GTfour01  O, de NAVO maakt korte metten met de Russen. Oekraïne kon in z'n uppie hun opmars stuiten en zelfs terugdringen. Is je weerbaarheid ook op persoonlijk niveau slecht? Misschien is er ook weerbaarheidstraining voor volwassenen.
    1
  14882.  @GTfour01  Dus je geeft toe dat wij het bij het rechte eind hebben? Je moet eens op je woordenkeus letten. Als je je onbeschoft gedraagt, dan is het inderdaad altijd raak.
    1
  14883.  @danielsu1645  The Turks deployed their Leo 2s without infantry support, which is an absolute no-no. Also, they put them in exposed positions so that ISIS ATGM gunners could target them at leisure. The Abrams can also store extra ammunition inside the hull, too, be it behind a blast door. Tank design is full of compromises. How you deploy them is just as critical, as the Turkish example proves.
    1
  14884.  @глебновиков-ъ5ъ  So, tell me, which country is mine? And lay off the vodka, you write as if you're drunk.
    1
  14885.  @глебновиков-ъ5ъ  I'm from the Far East, dum-dum.
    1
  14886. Viruses hitch rides on droplets and if those are stopped in their tracks, there's no transmission as such. Don't pretend to be smarter than those who're really in the know.
    1
  14887.  @danielobrien8417  Oh, Zelenskyy will outlast and outlive Putin. No doubt whatsoever.
    1
  14888.  @danielobrien8417  You're better with emoticons than words, and that's not saying much.
    1
  14889.  @UPPERKEES  The 50 Cent Army would be the wumaos, from China. These are St. Petersburg troll factory workers. They'd better troll like there's no tomorrow, or they'll end up in Ukraine, toting a rusty AK-47 and dodging HIMARS rockets. Still, they think you're worse off when it gets nippy this winter.
    1
  14890.  @taylors4243  You're a hoot. Sarcasm is lost on you. Or is it reading comp?
    1
  14891. Yank much?
    1
  14892.  @jirikrajnak9047  I wouldn't count on it.
    1
  14893.  L  I'm not going to verbally joust with someone who can't argue his case.
    1
  14894.  L  "?" indeed.
    1
  14895.  L  Use your "superior" powers of assessment.
    1
  14896.  @wyihupoip8105  Let's explore your statement further. Wikipedia lists the following wars (from 1922) as French military victories: Malagasy Uprising (1947–1948) Bamileke War (1955–1964) Suez Crisis (1956) Ifni War (1957–1958) Basque conflict (1959–2011) Bizerte crisis (1961) Corsican conflict (1976–2011) Shaba I (1977) Chadian–Libyan Conflict (1978–1987) Shaba II (1978) Gulf War (1990–1991) Djiboutian Civil War (1991–1994) Bosnian War (1992–1995) Kosovo War (1998–1999) First Ivorian Civil War (2002–2007) Haitian coup d'état (2004), Chadian Civil War (2005–2010) Second Ivorian Civil War (2010–2011) First Libyan Civil War (2011) Central African Republic Civil War (2012–2021) Iraqi Civil War (2014–2017) Over to you.
    1
  14897.  @rcgunner7086  Incidentally, Iraq already has F-16s, so our whataboutist friend needn't worry on their account.
    1
  14898. Kazakhstan is already France's top supplier of uranium. The Kazakhstanis aren't as stupid as the Russians, so as to poison their own well.
    1
  14899.  @queenofredania6076  Russia wasn't ready -- and still isn't -- to take on Ukraine. Does that answer your question?
    1
  14900.  @queenofredania6076  OK, got it. Dearth of intellect.
    1
  14901.  @queenofredania6076  Duh. Both the US and the EU have more formidable armies than Ukraine, yet Russia, after trying its utmost for three years straight, fails to subdue Ukraine. Maybe your intellect can take it from there.
    1
  14902. For dragging the party through the mud? Yeah, I'm thankful, too.
    1
  14903.  @oliversanderson5131  Because it would come out that they're actually made out of papier-mâché.
    1
  14904. Wasn't that happened already? Hundreds of thousands of Russian patriots have fled the country after their call-up papers arrived.
    1
  14905. Putler must be sh*tting himself, literally and figuratively.
    1
  14906. You want Israel to act like a terrorist state. Got ya.
    1
  14907.  @fellowcitizen  Again, you're the drama queen here. In your excitement, you suggested that Leica is somehow implicated in wrongdoing. I merely pointed out that based on what you've presented as "proof" -- a run-of-the-mill press release -- there's no substance in your claims. Don't upvote your own posts. It's seedy.
    1
  14908. Do you even know what liberalism means in a global context? This is not Fox News.
    1
  14909. +ML8593wy Do you think you could apply for US statehood? The former colonial master becoming the prodigal son. Intriguing.
    1
  14910.  @jamesedge219  That "genocide" is just a figment of your propagandists' imagination, which you parrot mindlessly. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission established that Ukraine did not target any civilians in Donbas between 2014 and 2022, when the monitors were active there. I suggest you find another dead horse to flog.
    1
  14911.  @MIbnsof  Are you suggesting that out of spite, Iran will start shooting down civilian airliners again? Or have another go at a tanker war?
    1
  14912.  @jeteyejesus6231  I wouldn't go that far, but I do think the Proud Boys, with their exaggerated masculinity and fondness for militaria, hold an attraction for some.
    1
  14913. Putin had Navalny's underpants laced with Novichok, so the answer is 'yes'.
    1
  14914.  @IsraelistheJewsland  Well waddaya know. A pogrom perpetrated by Jews.
    1
  14915. Haji, you're poorly informed. Of NATO's 30 members, 21 are also members of the EU -- and soon that number is bound to rise to 23 when Sweden and Finland join NATO. I guess Austria and Ireland, too, are prospects. Malta and Cyprus, I wouldn't count them out either. BTW, Putin's Russia may be a wannabe superpower, but it's still a regional power.
    1
  14916. If that were the case, you'd think the US had told the EU to remove all tariffs and restrictions on US exports. Oh, sorry if I ruined your conspiracy theory.
    1
  14917. Your girlfriend was deflowered by UIA?
    1
  14918.  @diannelafreniere2211  I take a dim view of people responding with a long string of laughing emoticons, but in your case, they would be warranted.
    1
  14919.  @Allaiya.  Polish jokes are dated. I'd guess you're too young.
    1
  14920.  @bonnie7898  Let's not twist facts. The ISAF mission to Afghanistan was NATO-led from 2003 to 2014. The UNSC was in full support of the op, including permanent members Russia and China. ISAF was most definitely involved in the fighting. I've got fellow veterans with battle scars to prove it.
    1
  14921.  @michaeljunior1445  Also, in a shooting war, Sweden could dress its soldiers in drag and have them sing "Give Peace a Chance" while advancing on the enemy with open arms. Afterwards, the top brass could evaluate if the tactic served it purpose, i.e. did the enemy realise the absurdity of war and consequently, sue for peace? You're clearly favouring the same approach with regards to the coronavirus. Maybe it's just me, but I'm more inclined to favour battle-tested tactics, also with regard to the coronavirus.
    1
  14922. Er zijn er minder van in Zweden. Wel bruine beren, maar die slapen allemaal.
    1
  14923.  @iamsorryforbeingrudebefore1626  You're even more naïve than I thought.
    1
  14924.  @dorismugisha3647  Oh, but decolonisation is still ongoing. It's tough going for the likes of France and the UK, because the little they've left isn't all that keen on being decolonised. Russia, however, still has a gargantuan task decolonising, but it's work in progress. I mean, the dissolution of the Soviet Union was a big step forward. The impending dissolution of the Russian Federation will be another.
    1
  14925.  @NeostormXLMAX  This is Euronews, not Amerinews. Try to cure yourself of your fixation with Murica.
    1
  14926. What makes you think that? We're well on our way to conclude the evacuation of all our interpreters and their families.
    1
  14927. Turkey will do.
    1
  14928. So, letting in Russia, the biggest coloniser of them all -- past and present -- doesn't set your alarm bells ringing?
    1
  14929. I think he'll launch more rockets at Ukraine. It's been his "winning" tactic for over a year now.
    1
  14930. You mean his X account was hacked?
    1
  14931. I can't help but notice that European countries dominate the top 25 of the World Press Freedom Index. We made way for 6 non-European countries. How did Russia do, you ask? 164th place, which is extremely sucky.
    1
  14932. Don't forget to nominate the IDF for the Nobel Peace Prize.
    1
  14933. Grapjas. Poetin belooft elk jaar dat hij de Russische economie diverser gaat maken. Daar komt nooit wat van terecht; Rusland blijft voornamelijk een exporteur van grondstoffen. Ook beloofde hij ooit dat in 20 jaar het BNP per hoofd in Rusland gelijk zou staan met die van Portugal. Dat lukte ook niet. Poetin zou ook wat aan het geboortecijfer doen. Het ging van kwaad naar erger.
    1
  14934. Raymond, why would Euronews or us Euros be a losers in any of this? We're not losing -- we're gaining. It's not a zero-sum game, but if Murica insists on dragging itself through the mud, we inevitably look better in contrast. Not only that, there's also an element of Schadenfreude to The Trump Show. We don't have to feel guilty about it either, because it's all self-inficted harm.
    1
  14935. Do you think alienating your best customer amounts to good economic strategy? In the end, Europe will get the energy it needs, but Russia's economy is done for for good.
    1
  14936. You got everything backwards.
    1
  14937. Give us a euro every time you make that prediction and we'll pay off all public debt.
    1
  14938. Your physics teacher would tut-tut you.
    1
  14939. Russian AA systems have a ginormous failure rate. Best double... no, triple up.
    1
  14940. Russia's economy will never recover to pre-war levels. Gazprom is a shadow of its former self. The oil price will only drop, and with Russia's high production cost, Russia will eventually drop out, too, and leave oil exploitation to the likes of Saudi Arabia, which has the lowest production cost.
    1
  14941. Trading him back would amount to being an accessory to murder.
    1
  14942.  @ericconnor8419  We're obligated to offer asylum to those who face persecution if they were repatriated against their will. This guy's case is a shoo-in.
    1
  14943.  @oldsingingstudentdougbillf1665  Russia didn't start WW2? Together with Nazi Germany, the USSR was in on the invasion of Poland. That sparked off WW2.
    1
  14944.  @morrnmanderson7376  Another WWII would have happened. Britain and France came close to intervening in the Winter War, which would've brought them in conflict with the USSR. Without British Lend-Lease, it's questionable whether the Soviets had managed to beat the Nazis.
    1
  14945. Vive la France, in this instance.
    1
  14946.  @SPENKER52  Apart from someone as unobservant as you, the Russians have noticed the anti-theft devices on butter.
    1
  14947.  @operator9858  You bots are besotted with Murica. This is E-U-R-O-N-E-W-S, not F-O-X N-E-W-S.
    1
  14948.  @operator9858  They lord over you, since you're so completely preoccupied with Amurica and the Americans. There isn't a topic that doesn't immediately make you go: "bu-bu-but America..."
    1
  14949. Be sure to tell Putin. He can end this any time.
    1
  14950. What matters more is who's in. Preferably not a geriatric case.
    1
  14951.  @mitchmomlc  Who then?
    1
  14952. Speak for yourself.
    1
  14953.  @Truspio  Same enemy, sport.
    1
  14954.  @historypandas7  So you're saying there's no honour among thieves. There's a saying about that. You have a disproportionally keen interest in the Azov Battalion. Maybe you should spend as much time investigating the LDPR, whose ideologies are a close match. From whom do they get their Nazi roots? Stalin or even Putin?
    1
  14955.  @historypandas7  The keyword here is "disproportionate". For reasons only known to yourself, you're trying to portray Ukrainians as Nazi sympathizers, which is as close to or as far from the truth as in practically any country. I showed that in the LDPR alone, Russia has more than its fair share of domestic Nazis. In fact, Putin seems to hold ultranationalistic views as well, or he wouldn't have embarked on his disastrous "special military operation", which no doubt will spell the end of him.
    1
  14956. Couldn't agree more. Nice Dutchism there.
    1
  14957. There was a single seismic event at the exactly location, which is suggestive of a major explosion, so any speculation of the dam accidentally breaking on account of earlier war damage can be dispelled. If the Ukrainians had been at it with HIMARS rockets or cruise missiles, a whole barrage of them would've been needed. The seismic data suggests otherwise. The event screams R-U-S-S-I-A.
    1
  14958. Wow, I see you're greatly inspired by medieval accounts of kings riding into battle. In this case, by Joan of Arc?
    1
  14959. Terence Trent d'Arby?
    1
  14960. Nonsense. Sweden, which has its self-proclaimed moral superpower status to uphold, is too goody two-shoes to support terrorists.
    1
  14961. I suggest you take your romantic fantasies elsewhere.
    1
  14962. What's your academic background?
    1
  14963.  @knighttoking7926  I'm not the one offering advice. So, you have no credentials whatsoever?
    1
  14964.  @briancarno8837  Germany still held on to huge swathes of French territory when WW1 drew to a close. Would it be an accurate "military summary" that Germany was a victor in WW1, you think?
    1
  14965.  @briancarno8837  Duh, you were trying to argue that wars are won by looking at lines on a map. I presented you with a prime example how that was not the case in WW1. Germany's will to fight on collapsed towards the end of the war. In Russia's case, history will repeat itself. Either there's a popular uprising -- which will take time given the Russians' political apathy -- or more likely, Putin meets with an unfortunate accident. Or he manages to flee to North Korea. Anyway, there will be no taste for continuing the war in post-Putinist Russia.
    1
  14966.  @briancarno8837  Out of arguments, huh? Next time, try a string of emojis to cover your hasty retreat to your troll cave.
    1
  14967. With all due respect, some early WW2 battles on the Eastern Front left the invading Germans with far more war trophies. It's a pity the Ukrainians lacked the means to encircle and destroy the Russian columns bound for Kyiv, or they would've gained more materiel still.
    1
  14968. True dat, the Greens' antiquated stance on nuclear energy doomed Germany to an economic crisis in the first place. And they don't want their mistake fixed either.
    1
  14969. With all due respect, it's telling that Embraer tried to merge with Boeing.
    1
  14970.  @u0000-u2x  They both presented it publicly as a merger. However, no prizes for guessing which party would've had the upper hand.
    1
  14971. Judaism doesn't put much stock in this magic sky friend of yours.
    1
  14972. It probably will, too, when the pandemic has subsided. In your shoes, I'd be more concerned that the American electorate will re-elect Trump. Unlike the WHO, Trump doesn't pay for his mistakes.
    1
  14973. That's OK. Irish reunification isn't far off.
    1
  14974.  @4411825  Putin is the imperialist here. Wannabe imperialist, that is.
    1
  14975.  @Twister743  If Ukraine isn't willing to give up territory, maybe you can petition your own government to give Russia some. You wanted to negotiate.
    1
  14976. It can't be Euromaidan -- could it be Ameromaidan?
    1
  14977.  @starvictory7079  Fenno-Scandinavian then. Scandinavian influence is very noticeable along the western and southwestern coasts of Finland. It has filtered through elsewhere, too. I bet you're just scared of the Forest Finns and their descendants. They're just part of the story.
    1
  14978. You raise an interesting point. US military spending amounts to 2.8% of GDP. While that appears to be clearly above the NATO 2% limit, US military doctrine prescribes that the USA must prepare to fight two major wars and some minor ones simultaneously. That suggests the 2.8% must be halved, since NATO's "area of responsibility" is limited to the North Atlantic Ocean and its adjoining countries. You do the math, as they say.
    1
  14979.  @captainamerica9028  You should recheck your sources. Currently, Finland spends 2.64% of its GDP on defence. It was 1.96% previously, but defence expenditure was recently bumped up on account of the war in Ukraine.
    1
  14980. ​ @captainamerica9028  You should pick your sources more carefully. It should also be noted that we don't include healthcare and other welfare services in the military budget, like you do, to say nothing of the immense cost of your unending "overseas contingency missions" (aka military adventurism).
    1
  14981. If so, Assange should've taken his chances in a US court of law.
    1
  14982. And that didn't satisfy your bloodlust?
    1
  14983. No one in their right mind wants the job. I bet Carrie Lam has been begging Beijing to let her go.
    1
  14984.  @carloandreaguilar5916  You're trying to strike a conversation with a worst-in-class Kremtroll. Watching paint dry is a more worthwhile pursuit.
    1
  14985.  @kbthegoat824  Actually, no. The Japanese are the big spenders.
    1
  14986.  @rydergw  Maybe in ye olden days. Smallpox has been eradicated.
    1
  14987.  @soulanalyst  Sure thing. Polio, same diff. Anti-vaxxers are the death of us all.
    1
  14988. Be sure to let Putin know, he started it.
    1
  14989. Or the Communists stole mainland China. Depends on how you look at it.
    1
  14990.  @jesjr567  Fat chance. Trolls never explain anything. They scurry away to their troll cave.
    1
  14991.  @АртемАртем-л4э  Nope, Dubya has copyright on 'axis of evil', little buddy.
    1
  14992. Collective amnesia at the Kremlin? First they have Prigozhin eliminated, then they lose their memories, only to suspect foul play? Maybe they shouldn't investigate any further, because the truth will prove embarrassing.
    1
  14993.  @semperxian It depends on how much economic hardship the Russians are willing to endure on account of Putin's ill-advised military adventurism. Probably too much, knowing the Russians' ingrained political apathy, but there's a limit.
    1
  14994. Exactly. It would be considered normal if there was no war in Ukraine.
    1
  14995.  @English_Dawn  England, independent you say? Boris is going to be the governor of Little England, the 51st state of the Yoonited States of Uhmurica (New England is taken already).
    1
  14996. Elaborate, which wars? I know of Biden only stopping one war, that in Afghanistan. He followed Trump's peace plan to the letter.
    1
  14997. I, for one, am interested. I'm interested if the decline has anything to do with an increasing number of protesters getting infected.
    1
  14998. It's in the Londoners' hands. In stark contrast, the Hongkongers don't get to choose.
    1
  14999.  @thewolfofswingthat2035  Like I wrote, it's up to them. After all, the Londoners did vote decisively in favour of remaining in the EU in 2016.
    1
  15000. ​ @thewolfofswingthat2035  I suppose devolution hasn't caught your attention? Now devolution is turning into independence, at least if the Scots have their way. And it's not just the UK. Belgium has been plagued by separatism for, like, ever. To delay the inevitable, the country is split into autonomous regions, with Brussels being one of them. If Belgium disappears from the political map of Europe -- and I believe it will in my lifetime -- Brussels will reappear as an independent nation. Do you see the analogy?
    1
  15001.  @thewolfofswingthat2035  You should stay with what you're good at.
    1
  15002.  @thewolfofswingthat2035  Don't flatter yourself. Your comebacks need work.
    1
  15003.  @nyali2  I thought as much. No have no retort. You reject our reality, but fail to substitute your own. Now run along, little troll.
    1
  15004.  @nyali2  It's not comparable to the Corruption Perception Index. Cope harder, troll.
    1
  15005. Go Kenya. Proud of you.
    1
  15006.  @RUTHLESSambition5  If Kenya goes to Haiti to restore order, what's the European(?) angle? We're talking two different continents, and neither one is Europe. Try to explain yourself.
    1
  15007.  @Jean_Jacques148  The funding hardly comes from Europe alone. This is no different from any UN-backed peace effort. And why would there be an alterior motive? What exactly is this "bidding" of yours? No wild conspiracy theories, please.
    1
  15008. They'd have the guillotine out as soon as Charles mentions his salary expectation. France is doing better than the UK tourism-wise as it is.
    1
  15009.  @seeker3507  Multinationals are not going to throw good money after bad. They'll return when confidence in Russia's economic policy has been restored. As a genuinely worried Russian oligarch put it, that may take several decades. You're US-centric in crafting your conspiracy theories. European corporations have bigger investments in Russia and they're pulling out, too.
    1
  15010. US civil servants are a dime a dozen now. Too bad they're not eligible for any civil service positions without EU citizenship.
    1
  15011.  @AC-li1pg  I thought as much. Here, have a dime.
    1
  15012.  @AC-li1pg  Aw. I hurt your sensibilities.
    1
  15013.  @AC-li1pg  54 minutes ago you were working for The Salvation Army. Make up your mind.
    1
  15014. ​ @oliverapex7924  It's interesting that Russians and Ukrainians have become such bitter enemies. And Russia was supposed to 'liberate' Ukraine. How did it all go wrong so fast?
    1
  15015. Cope harder, bot.
    1
  15016.  @mikestrickhorn4132  Do we have a moral obligation to liberate the Russians in Russia? They always manage to end up with a dictatorial regime oppressing them.
    1
  15017. Who else is that, besides Putin?
    1
  15018.  @eddastrohmayer251  Putin could foil their snide plans by issuing a withdrawal order. You know that, right?
    1
  15019.  @danp2965  Me, cheerleading war? I want Putin to stop toot sweet. You're the cheerleader here because you ignore the root of the problem: Putin.
    1
  15020. Oh, I fully expect Russia to sign a peace treaty with Ukraine that is similar to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which sealed Russia's defeat in WW1 -- and to WW1 loser Germany, that is. Also, it bears reminding that Germany, too, was still deep inside enemy territory -- France -- when its will to fight collapsed, just as Russia's had a year earlier, in 1917. History sometimes does repeats itself. Russia should cut its losses already, but with a dictator in charge, that's problematic. I doubt Putin will ultimately suffer defenestration, but I'm sure it will be something equally fatal.
    1
  15021. Sadly, Putin can't be voted out. Old Russian saying: other countries have elections, Russia has revolutions.
    1
  15022. Wel het goede voorbeeld geven. Welk stuk van Nederland kan gemist worden?
    1
  15023.  @IrishLadASMR  The Netherlands has suddenly developed a soft spot for farmers. It's as if it's back to being an agrarian society once more. The newly-formed Farmer-Citizen Movement just won the provincial elections in spectacular style (by Dutch standards, that is). Protest votes that bring political noobs to the fore. The country has seen it all before, but it is somehow unable to effect true political change.
    1
  15024.  @IgirisuGuy  It transpires that Russian hypersonic weapons aren't all that hypersonic. The designers of the Patriot initially couldn't believe their luck when their missile intercepted the first Kinzhal. Then realisation set in that Russian hyperbole was a big factor.
    1
  15025. One is an assault rifle firing an intermediate cartridge and the other is a battle rifle firing a full-powered rifle cartridge. Apples and oranges.
    1
  15026.  @erikmarkuskannike7526  My point is, they the differ in characteristics. You could make a case that pistols are superior to assault rifles because they're lighter, but that wouldn't be a fair comparison.
    1
  15027. It bears reminding that German Leopard 2s are in the thick of it. Abrams tanks are not.
    1
  15028.  @Inkkari9  Don't be silly. Human rights are guaranteed constitutionally. What you're describing is mobocracy, for which there's no place in a democracy. Hungary signed up to respecting human rights when they joined the EU. Now they're reneging on their promise and suffering the consequences.
    1
  15029.  @alexlo7708  That's a first, someone claiming that the Mustang is a copy of the Spitfire. The Brits bolted the Spitfire's Merlin engine onto the P-51, but if that makes it a copy, then the P-51 is also a copy of the Hurricane. Interestingly, the Brits adopted the P-51's laminar-flow wing in the Spiteful, the successor to the Spitfire. Sure, there was copying to an fro, but that applies to pretty much every airplane ever produced, including the Wright Flyer.
    1
  15030.  @alexlo7708  I am "less known [sic]"? Try posting your claim about the Mustang being a copy of the Spitfire on an aviation history forum and you'll be laughed at. In WW2, the US lagged behind in initial readiness, but not technology. Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and China all eagerly used American kit whenever they could. As to WW1, you would have a point. There they were both behind in readiness and technology.
    1
  15031. Just a wild guess, but maybe it's because the Taliban, when they previously held power in Afghanistan, made a mockery of human rights? The Taliban leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, is ultra-religious and old guard -- hardly a reformer. Giving the "new" Taliban the benefit of the doubt is like giving the Nazis a second chance. The Nazis had the odd intellectual in their ranks as well.
    1
  15032.  @throughput6674  Believing in conspiracy theories = absolutely degrading yourself.
    1
  15033.  @throughput6674  I know quite enough about you. Making sweeping generalisations about the media is a telltale sign of a conspiracy theorist.
    1
  15034. You're in for a looong wait. Imagine India adopting a currency that is largely controlled by a China that is semi-hostile to India. The same goes for the other BRICS members, who'd effectively put their economies in the hands of China's communist party dictatorship, which still likes to make micro- and macroeconomic decisions like before.
    1
  15035. There's an idea. Stop paying congressmen and senators during a shutdown, too.
    1
  15036. I'm sure the ICC will arrange (somewhat Spartan) room and board for Assad after Russia(?) extradites him. Maybe post-Putinist Russia can extradite both Assad and Putin in a two-for-one deal.
    1
  15037. Call it a downpayment on war reparations.
    1
  15038. I feel this discourages Russia to start it.
    1
  15039. Inflation is way down, dum-dum. Putin lost the energy war. The price cap on oil is wiping out his earnings and Europe has weathered the storm -- which amounted to nothing more than a storm in a teacup.
    1
  15040.  @heroinne4229  Eurozone inflation is down from December's 9.2% to 8.5% in January. Most importantly, energy inflation is down from 25.5% to 17.2%. Energy has been solely responsible for boosting inflation on the whole, so the trend is clear. Actually, the European arms industry, too, is benefiting from Putin's ill-advised military adventurism. Order books are full, and since Russia can't even meet its own demand, European manufacturers are taking over Russia's customers, as are US and Israeli manufacturers. It's as if Russia is knowingly destroying its two export success stories, hydrocarbons and arms.
    1
  15041. A roo would do nicely. I loved Skippy as a nipper.
    1
  15042. I'm afraid Putin needs the attention. If he's ignored, he'll stir up trouble to get noticed again. For an authoritarian leader with domestic issues, strained international relations are a must. Then there's Russia's superpower status (read: aspiration) -- that must be maintained as well.
    1
  15043. That's great coping. You should hold pep talks to the disillusioned Tories.
    1
  15044. On what basis? Zero seats entitle the Brexit Party to just as much influence.
    1
  15045.  @dennissmith8371  The Monster Raving Loony Party has been around for what, fifty years? So they have twice the experience compared to Farage in standing for parliament and NOT winning a single seat.
    1
  15046.  @eddastrohmayer251  You can't just brush aside Putin like that. It's his military adventure.
    1
  15047.  @eddastrohmayer251  The difference between cause and consequence eludes you. Not to worry, it's a common condition among Krembots. You're not alone.
    1
  15048.  @eddastrohmayer251  Nothing about you suggest that you are a well-informed person. Otherwise, you would know who invaded Ukraine and unleashed the deadliest war in Europe since WW2.
    1
  15049.  @eddastrohmayer251  Why, yes, I have degrees in both history and political science. What are your academic credentials?
    1
  15050.  @eddastrohmayer251  And you bot for Russia? Get out of here. Your writing doesn't reflect academic standards, not grammar-wise nor content-wise. It's more like a teen's scribblings.
    1
  15051. Drama queen spotted.
    1
  15052. You're literally inviting the Iranians to build a nuclear strike capability of their own. Not very adult of you.
    1
  15053.  @Greasy__Bear  Tell us more about this alliance. What are the treaties concerned and when were they signed and by whom?
    1
  15054.  @gfys756  No conspiracy theories, please.
    1
  15055. I think it's just those you're in touch with who're such dimwits.
    1
  15056. OK wappie.
    1
  15057. Rakesh, we have a president who's the commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces. Like Modi, he's a septuagenarian and he probably has to stay at home anyway to look after his 4-year old son.
    1
  15058. No-one wants your precious Moscow. The less we hear about it, the better.
    1
  15059.  @benktlofgren4710  Actually, Russia can get warships from the Baltic Sea to the Barents Sea through rivers, lakes and canals. Not very big ones, but warships all the same.
    1
  15060. It's interesting that you can't spell New *Caledonia despite several tries. Capitalisation and apostrophes elude you as well.
    1
  15061. Is there a standing NATO army? If NATO stages an exercise with only EU members participating, isn't that a de facto EU army?
    1
  15062. Practically the whole world is happy to see the Orcs retreat.
    1
  15063. If it's deactivated there's no problem. I have a friend, an ex-FAF officer, who keeps a surplus mortar in his garage.
    1
  15064. It does, too, funny man.
    1
  15065. You're greatly exaggerating. The outgoing PM of Finland, Sanna Marin, suggested that Finland should consider giving its F/A-18s to Ukraine. Her impromptu move embarrassed her own government, because none can be spared till the F-35s currently on order become operational. That won't be until 2026.
    1
  15066. With all respect, India is not a superpower. Just a regional power, much like Russia.
    1
  15067. There's freedom of religion in the EU. EU apostasy is a not crime.
    1
  15068.  @christianevanherck6023  So it goes...
    1
  15069.  @christianevanherck6023  We have a saying that you can't take with a ladle from someone who's been given with a teaspoon.
    1
  15070. The fact that Israel neutered Iran's air defences in one fell swoop is the most remarkable feat here. It means Israel can do far worse with impunity. You may have missed it, but Iran's defence analysts certainly haven't.
    1
  15071.  @odunayooyebade7797  Iranian missiles were hit? Golly, the Israelis are even more capable than I thought.
    1
  15072.  @yummydishes2279  Now that's not a weak but a flaccid response.
    1
  15073.  @avex3903  You're repeating yourself. Don't spam the same trite all over the place.
    1
  15074. Don't beat yourself up about it. Instead, mend your ways.
    1
  15075.  @AnthonyCarroll-ue3uv  Don't tell me you were last in line when they dealt out brain matter. You can be an activist and male, just like you can be an activist and female.
    1
  15076. The cost of a repairing the damage is bound to exceed the value of any rickety Russian shadow fleet ship and its cargo. I believe Eagle S will end up seized, but not before a legal battle that will last for years. Closing access to the Russian Baltic ports would be considered an act of war. There are precedents, like the Six-Day War.
    1
  15077. @ No argument there, it would be great if we could in one fell swoop discourage Russia from committing further acts of sabotage. However, we adhere to the rule of law. They don't call this ambiguous warfare for nothing. Anyhow, NATO is now stepping up its presence in the Baltic Sea. Without the sabotage, Russia would've cried foul, but now it just has to grin and bear it. Russia can't reciprocate, because it lacks the necessary naval assets.
    1
  15078.  @TheJensss  Because we prefer a rule-based international order, which not only means that we enforce the rules, but also abide by them ourselves. Besides, we haven't exhausted all means of countering Russia within the confines of the law. It may not be sufficiently Ramboesque for your taste, but it is what it is.
    1
  15079.  @TheJensss  That would be tantamount to NATO declaring war on Russia. There's no need to rush headlong into a shooting war. If Russia wants to play ambiguous warfare, two can play that game. We could schedule extra 'maintenance' breaks on overland data cables that serve Russia. That ought to get the message across.
    1
  15080. You are a race-baiter.
    1
  15081.  @startracksha  Civil wars tend to result in fewer deaths than when the enemy is foreign. Still, autocratic countries like Russia and China buck the trend. After all, mass executions and genocide are acceptable weapons to autocrats.
    1
  15082.  arlekino1263  You fanboys are always going on and on about nuclear weapons, yet all we see are conflicts fought with conventional weapons.
    1
  15083. I understand you're putting on a brave face, but do you have any idea what the population density in Murmansk is like? It's very low. So is the risk of an out-of-control jet hitting anything man-made.
    1
  15084. Lack of options. Sad.
    1
  15085. Secularity isn't incompatible with democracy -- nor are minority rights, for that matter. Secularity certainly goes a long way in keeping religion out of politics. India should take note. Like France in a more distant past, you've had your fair share of religious violence.
    1
  15086.  @JC-jv5xw  Lukashenko doesn't exactly look like Dr Evil, but he did have a Mini Me. The boy is scarred for life.
    1
  15087.  @FourOneNineOneFourOne  So this was Surovikin's second (failed) coup attempt. Third time's the charm.
    1
  15088.  @blank.9301  Maybe so, but diversity and polarization are two different things. It hasn't escaped me that racism is an age-old problem in the US. Say, wasn't there a civil war that was somehow related? But Trump sure has done a commendable job fanning the flames.
    1
  15089. Keeping the more extreme elements in her coalition government at bay is a full-time job in itself.
    1
  15090.  @Chaldon-hl6yk  You put too much faith in Google Translate.
    1
  15091. The global trade war is on.
    1
  15092.  @palar4195  Actually, Russians still congratulate themselves for being great benefactors after "letting" Finland become independent (read: the Soviet Union accepted a fait accompli that they were in no position to alter).
    1
  15093.  @augustopinochet1670  You've chosen your nick well.
    1
  15094.  @16-tons  Go EV then. We've already started to ban ICE cars from urban centres.
    1
  15095. The opposite is working wonders in the US, innit? Nary a day goes by without a mass shooting.
    1
  15096. It takes a degree of olfactory insensitivity to cover Russian affairs as they tend to smell.
    1
  15097. @@MentalChores Take your conspiracy theories where the sun don't shine.
    1
  15098. WW2 escalated from the infamous Munich Agreement, which signalled to Hitler that the gloves could come off. We're at a similar juncture here. I'm surprised that a modern German fails to understand this. Corruption is just your excuse.
    1
  15099.  @demondog804  Source? Please don't say Trump.
    1
  15100.  @davidh4374  If your conspiracy theory had any truth to it, it would be easy to spot the mismatch between the wounds incurred by the journalists and the PRESS jackets they were later dressed up in. Forensics isn't your forte.
    1
  15101. @smith-o4z8o What's disappointing is your comeback. You only get a potato slice for that.
    1
  15102. @smith-o4z8o Another flaccid comeback. Really now.
    1
  15103.  @MMMichaelTTT  It's a legit concern. By observing us, AI already decided that only male doctors are to be trusted. By observing the Gaza conflict, it might decide that we want to wipe out humanity, and AI can lend a hand.
    1
  15104.  @1959jskin  Russia should continue suing for peace, but this time, with the right terms, like a complete withdrawal. War reparations, too.
    1
  15105. The outcome was positive on the whole, but don't milk it. Only implicitly blaming Russia for military aggression in Ukraine counts as a failure. The absence of Xi and Putin was another. Getting the AU onboard was a positive step, but there was little controversy there. The idea has been floated many times before, with Biden throwing his weight behind the idea only a year ago.
    1
  15106.  @dohnjoe342  Well, are you going to?
    1
  15107. It's a French award ceremony, you poor Brexiteer without a cause.
    1
  15108. No need to flaunt your ignorance. Knowledge is literally at your fingertips.
    1
  15109. Amerika en Oude Pekela. Ik haat de Dutch Boys.
    1
  15110. That's why Murica fights its wars overseas. Maybe Russia, if it must engage in military adventurism as well, should steer clear of its neighbours and do its mischief only in far-off countries like Syria, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
    1
  15111. The IMF is funny that way. The old computing adage "garbage in, garbage out" very much applies to it. China and Russia in particular are known to be IMF garbagemen.
    1
  15112. Utkin's demise has been amply reported.
    1
  15113. You're right! I thought Roscosmos was done for after SpaceX started making space rockets that are truly reusable, but I see the Russians are making an unexpected comeback.
    1
  15114.  @oddettelamazonjones1095  It's typically the rocket motor failing, which means that after clearing the launch tube, the missile drops back onto the launch platform from a relatively shallow height. Here it did work, but the guidance system had a mind of its own. Way more spectacular, in other words.
    1
  15115.  @dianeunderhill8506  Are you a monoglot, Diane?
    1
  15116.  @dianeunderhill8506  So my instinct was spot on! You are a monoglot! It goes without saying that polyglots know a lot of words that you think are fancy. After all, they are foreign to you.
    1
  15117.  @dianeunderhill8506  Admit it, you're a monoglot. And a failed comedienne, I'm afraid.
    1
  15118. You're just flapping your gums. Putin won't agree to any peace deal. His special military operation, as it stands now, is a recipe for regime change, but not in Ukraine.
    1
  15119.  @robertjones2811  Second most powerful only because they neutralised Wagner.
    1
  15120.  @BadBoy-cp9lp  As a sovereign country, Ukraine can join alliances as it sees fit. It's none of Russia's beeswax, in other words.
    1
  15121. Rather, he's more aware of the sword of Damocles above his head. Putin created yet another martyr, and he knows it, too. He will have to clamp down even harder on dissenters. It's only a matter of time before the strand of hair will snap.
    1
  15122.  @everypitchcounts4875  So you've downgraded your importance. That was rather quick.
    1
  15123. Appeasement means having balls in your book?
    1
  15124. Historically, Muslim and Jews have gotten along better than Christians and Jews. Somehow, Nazidom still inspires our far right. Old habits die hard?
    1
  15125. I wonder if Biden has a rapport with his sky friend.
    1
  15126.  @yuliatimiryaeva9522  No, the cause is Putin's war of choice.
    1
  15127.  @Henry-qx3qg  Doubt it, if Trump is starting trade wars left right and centre.
    1
  15128. @Grobari Partizan You should sell excuses for a living.
    1
  15129. Farage and the Brexit Party aren't going to deliver. The last new entrant to make it into government is... wait for it... the Labour Party. It took them 24 years to form their first government, and that was a minority government that survived for only nine months. Good luck changing the system. You're going to need it.
    1
  15130. You got that right. People forget that Russia is one of the biggest colonisers, and while France decolonised save for some remote islands, Russia still holds on its colonies.
    1
  15131. Russia did, but it's not exactly boosting its arms exports. On the contrary, Russia's arms exports have plummeted. India, Russia's biggest customer, will have to shop elsewhere.
    1
  15132. Give them time. They're still on their honeymoon.
    1
  15133. The pope is a famous military leader.
    1
  15134.  @WAWACreations  That's the thing. That's why it's still mostly tourist visa. One of the best parts of being a digital nomad is the variety you get to enjoy by travelling from place to place. I did the rounds, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, even Singapore and Hong Kong.
    1
  15135.  @reflection8578  If you want to be specific about it, your M-777s can't go head-to-head against Russian self-propelled artillery. It's not like the Russians are only now learning about counter-battery fire. Perhaps you should hold off patting yourselves on the backs until the US starts donating M-109s to Ukraine -- like many European countries already have. Germany's PzH 2000 is a generation ahead of the M-109, too. Many European armies have discarded their M-109s in favour of PzH 2000s, which Germany is donating to Ukraine.
    1
  15136.  @millmoormichael6630  At any rate, Hungary imports a lot of Swedish taxpayer money. A bit less than before, but still a lot.
    1
  15137.  @larsandrune  When a military junta turns its arms against its citizens, it loses its legitimacy. Where's your humanity?
    1
  15138.  @Samaa-os7hx  You dodged my question. Why haven't Arab countries racked up Nobel Peace Prizes, if being a war-driven dictatorship is a prerequisite? For sure, Iraq should have gotten one on account of Saddam and his Kuwait caper.
    1
  15139.  @sammyd7857  You need a huge helping of copium, "Sammy". Or should we call you by your real name, Vladdy?
    1
  15140. Could it be Trump has betrayed Taiwan, too?
    1
  15141. Algeria doesn't have a permant seat in the UNSC, and hence, no right of veto.
    1
  15142. It's about ECOWAS invading, not France, dum-dum.
    1
  15143.  @Fillipok  So? It's not a controlling influence.
    1
  15144. What's the lesson?
    1
  15145.  @techyintelo9556  Try to formulate your response better. Argumentation would be dandy.
    1
  15146.  @mrjerzheel  The "Mad Dog of the Middle East" and his brutal dictatorship had come to the end of the road. The bombing prevented worse. In Africa, regime change is always problematic. There's no sure-fire recipe for success.
    1
  15147.  @awula5385 We hated him and got rid of him? We had nothing to do with any of that. I pity you for jumping to conclusions, you silly git.
    1
  15148. They've had a pep talk from the troll factory manager. Something about poor performers receiving their call-up papers.
    1
  15149. The promise made to Gorbachev covered East Germany. The Germans have kept their word. Don't make stuff up.
    1
  15150. We easily get this much snow in Northern Finland, but not in one go.
    1
  15151. Says who? You appear to be trolling for Putin.
    1
  15152.  @ikaewa9934  You're not answering my question. Ukraine has not agreed to being a buffer state and no one in the West has twisted their arm to become one. So you must be peddling Russian propaganda. By the looks of it, you may be a silly conspiracy theorist as well. Not worth my time.
    1
  15153.  @ikaewa9934  Which part of "Says who?" don't you understand? And what's my connection with Trudeau or Macron? Now you appear a gullible fool.
    1
  15154.  @paulbedichek5177  Please send them to us, and we'll have a practice run. I suppose they're not new to winter warfare, so it won't be a cakewalk for us. We won't promise to send any of them back, though.
    1
  15155.  @DarkLordofTheSith_DarthVader  Ireland, a true example of neutrality? The truth is, Ireland hides behind the UK's skirts. Whenever Russian warplanes enter Irish-controlled airspace, it's British fighters that scramble to escort them out. Embarrassing! My native Holland was a true example of neutrality and disarmament. Then WW2 happened.
    1
  15156. If homophobia were a potent weapon, Russia would've won a million times over.
    1
  15157. What worked against wolves were traps and firearms. Dogs are merely an early warning system. They stand no chance against wolves. Every year, we have dozen of dogs fall prey to wolves. Hunting dogs, which seek out deer or elk, know better than to go after wolves, but the wolves seek them out. Many hunting parties have stopped using dogs, because they literally become dog food to wolves.
    1
  15158. I'm curious how Taipei 101 fared.
    1
  15159.  @aslampervez2294  I can't decipher that. Also, I can't help noticing that you're not the OP.
    1
  15160.  @balsarmy  Don't lie. It's a sin.
    1
  15161.  @savee1  NATO invaded none of those countries. You trolls always get it wrong. Can you please go over it with your handlers? Your higher-ups must have a clue.
    1
  15162. ​ @savee1  Not NATO, dum-dum. NATO was bitterly divided over the Iraq War. Try to get that through your thick skull, finally.
    1
  15163.  @soreeyez  If you insist on chiming in, try to come up with a comment that makes sense.
    1
  15164.  @soreeyez  If you want to make yourself useful for a change, try to lend credence to your fellow troll's flawed claims about NATO invading Serbia, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and Vietnam. Show us that you're more than a hollow vessel.
    1
  15165. Because Putin attacked Ukraine? Children ask the darndest questions.
    1
  15166.  @ghhghh8554  Who says so? You're making it up as you go along. The latest to join NATO are Finland and Sweden, both affluent countries and long-time EU members.
    1
  15167.  @ghhghh8554  Are you asking me to prove your case? You are as lazy as they come.
    1
  15168. How does this spell the end for Germany? If anyone's end is being spelled, it's Russia's. China is choosing money over Russia.
    1
  15169.  @AbubacarrDemba  ECOWAS only got involved militarily in 2017. January, to be exact.
    1
  15170.  @mochtegerndane7097  How do you say "drama queen" in Danish?
    1
  15171. The underlying cause appears to be police brutality. I'd start with tackling that.
    1
  15172. No worries, I suppose we'll read about them in the Third Testament of the Bible.
    1
  15173. Hypothetical? Back to bot school with you.
    1
  15174.  @user-dd4lh1ze9v  Putin's oligarchs' wealth is being wiped out. Putin should care.
    1
  15175.  @user-dd4lh1ze9v  You wouldn't be bitter if your fortune went up in smoke? Putin had better hire more bodyguards.
    1
  15176. If you knew about satcom, you'd know that its capacity doesn't come anywhere near that of fibre-optic cables. I'll give you a D in conspiracy theory.
    1
  15177. ​ @wutheringheights739  Since you asked: I'm not anglophone either, and I speak five different languages, three of which natively. I'm *European all right -- thrice over, by virtue of the three nationalities that I hold.
    1
  15178. Yup, resurgent fascism is now on the decline again.
    1
  15179.  @residentgrey  Which conspiracy theory am I clapping for? That Putin has condemned Russia to international isolation and economic doom? How is that to the West's benefit? Everyone -- with the exception of China, which wants Russia for a neo-colony -- would prefer a normal Russia.
    1
  15180.  @lorghi  It's not up to any East or West to decide which alliances Ukraine enters into. That's entirely up to Ukraine and Ukraine alone. Snap out of Molotov-Ribbentrop mode already.
    1
  15181. The Soviet Union revered its partisans, heroically operating behind enemy lines. The Russians can revere these patriots for a change.
    1
  15182.  @sebokimre892  Pipe down. Europe dominates the top 10 of the Democracy Index.
    1
  15183. ​ @luckarl  Didn't I just speak out in favour of democratic discussion that tolerates all viewpoints? Nowhere did I advocate that pro-China views should be stifled. You're are very confused. A tad abusive too, which hints at desperation. Take a chill pill, wumao.
    1
  15184.  @David-wn8uy  I thought the Soviet Union imploded because of the long-term unsustainability of communism. Of course, the Soviets' eager participation in the arms race hastened their bankruptcy. It was dangerous as fook, but it helped.
    1
  15185.  @mapogocoalition4534  Rather, we'll see newly-formed countries such as Ingria, Amberland, Karelia and Chechnya appliying for both EU and NATO membership. Like Ukraine, they'll want to stave off the unwelcome attentions of a greatly-diminished Russia Moscovia.
    1
  15186. Europe created the World Wide Web. You're on it as we speak, by the way.
    1
  15187.  @Nom_AnorVSJedi  Oh, but we haven't faded as a society. And the Chinese have hamstrung themselves as a society with an overbearing government that has become an impediment to success rather than the catalyst for it. DeepSeek is a case in point. Its use is already being discouraged the world over because the Chinese can't be trusted with the information they gather. The CCP insists on having access to it for dubious purposes. When will the Chinese finally learn that the CCP holds them back?
    1
  15188. Israel? The interwebs get dumber by the day.
    1
  15189. Owners of Italian government bonds -- Italians mostly -- are calling for fiscal responsibility from their government. But I can imagine you're type that amasses debt and then complains bitterly when the burden grows heavy.
    1
  15190. How good of you to be concerned about Ukrainian loss of life in the war, but you need realise that a) Putin chose war, without provocation, b) Putin can unchoose war, like overnight, by withdrawing, c) Russians are getting killed in equal measure, at the very least. Cause and consequence seem to elude you.
    1
  15191. He's a narcissistic and irresponsible leader. Don't confuse those characteristics with courage.
    1
  15192. Isn't Putin already lavishly funding Le Pen's National Rally? It's interesting that you choose to describe the yellow vests as a pro-democracy group. That implies Macron is anti-democracy. Nothing suggests so.
    1
  15193. Should it be around Serbia?
    1
  15194. They're referring to the exit polls, which turned out to be overly optimistic as far the PVV is concerned. Wilders was hoping for one more seat, but got one cheese-sliced off instead.
    1
  15195.  @zozoptapta4983  You mean slava war criminals.
    1
  15196.  @jakedean4773  Shush, adults are talking.
    1
  15197.  @jakedean4773  Go back to playing your fave FPS. It marks the pinnacle of your military career.
    1
  15198.  @douglasbartee2363  Sure thing.
    1
  15199. Are you going to name it the Fourth Reich in deference to the third one?
    1
  15200. Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing... after exhausting all the alternatives.
    1
  15201.  @safuwanfauzi5014  Who's asking poor Serbia for permission? No one is.
    1
  15202. ​ @MASC440  Stop reposting. Your arguments have been debunked almost as many times as you've posted them, but you keep at it.
    1
  15203.  Lasse Riise  A general election would set that right in jiffy, but no, BoJo has to play PM, at least for a while.
    1
  15204. Disinformation is worthy of censorship.
    1
  15205. Cleansing and moisturizing prevents clogged pores.
    1
  15206. Flag-waving is always good for a politician's popularity. I suppose Sunak was prodded into action by the Tory PR department.
    1
  15207. Have a potato, Tommy.
    1
  15208.  @alanssshh  I'd like to hear more about this CIA sponsorship of DW. Oh, if voices inside your head told you so, don't bother. A mental health professional needs to hear about those.
    1
  15209.  @alanssshh  Let's assume that I indeed don't have a brain of my own. Let's also assume that you do. You still can't prove your case about DW being sponsored by the CIA. You're an empty vessel that only knows how to make noise.
    1
  15210. You must be American. Parliamentary democracies are far less likely to experience the infighting and populism that you describe. In a true multi-party democracy, the parties have to keep it civil, or they can kiss a place in the next coalition government goodbye. Coalition agreements weed out the wildest promises. Voters actually read these agreements, so parties that overpromise will face disgruntled voters come next election. A disgruntled voter won't have to suck it up either, or switch allegiance to a party that's diametrically opposed to the previous one, since there's a broad spectrum of political parties and candidates to choose from. Africa's main problem is that political dividing lines closely follow ethnic divides. I know from my years of working there that many African countries simply don't make sense. It's as if their borders were drawn to ensure that they would fail once independent. Enlightened absolutism -- some even suggest the former colonisers should return to set things right -- isn't the solution either, because it would simply be unacceptable to those who're sidelined. There's no alternative to power-sharing, but how, that's the issue.
    1
  15211.  @kgr3977  Ukraine can only dream of capturing Russian land? According to Russia, Ukraine holds Russian land as we speak. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  15212. The Yellow Jackets dunnit?
    1
  15213. That'll split the far right's vote nicely.
    1
  15214. The link to Ukraine was all in his head. And it's suspected would-be assassin. Presumption of innocence still applies in the Free World.
    1
  15215. It's all good and well to liberate the power plant, but Ukraine's main aim is to retake Melitopol, Russia's land gateway to Crimea. Russian troops to the west will be cut off from supplies, and hence, forced to withdraw. Crimea will face a similar threat. We may see Russia meekishly sue for peace.
    1
  15216. Next time there's a referendum, skip Glastonbury.
    1
  15217. Now in English.
    1
  15218.  @devinfraser9795  And Biden hasn't suggested that drinking bleach and swallowing light bulbs cures Covid-19.
    1
  15219. You've closed your eyes to reality a long time ago, so no.
    1
  15220. In plaats van koning, kan Wim-Alex niet gewoon stadhouder zijn zoals Willem de Zwijger? Van Madurodam of zo.
    1
  15221.  @TheMaitreAssassin  Well, the US-German trade balance is embarrassing as it is... for the US, that is. Twice as many German exports to the US than the other way around.
    1
  15222. That would bankrupt Russia. Again.
    1
  15223. Asterix was prescient.
    1
  15224. An elected clown and a hereditary clown. I think I prefer the former.
    1
  15225. That's an idea. I'd love to see Farage rejected.
    1
  15226. Ukraine I understand, but Russia? Sounds like you think that out of the frying pan into the fire is a sound strategy.
    1
  15227.  @rloduwick  No, that would be Russia. The tsars of the Russian Empire were proud colonisers, and the Communists continued the tradition with equal fervour. Backyard colonialism, it's called. To add insult to injury, Russia has never properly decolonised, unlike the other erstwhile colonial powers.
    1
  15228.  @ajwinslow1  Tell us about this funds transfer from the US(?) to the EU? How much, when? Spill it!
    1
  15229.  @thomaskalbfus2005  You should visit the northern parts of Canada. Pretty uninhabitable, if you ask me. Same as Alaska.
    1
  15230. You must be a royalist, not a democrat.
    1
  15231. Previously, Finland was a partner to NATO, now it's an ally.
    1
  15232.  @TheRealBillBob  I would like to see your bronzed hipster weekend warriors take on Finland's finest. We give arctic survival training to your Special Forces. I heard that afterwards, they didn't feel that special any longer. I happened to watch the ratification of Finland's NATO accession in US Congress. The praise being heaped on Finland made me blush. Of course, Simo Häyhä, the most prolific sniper in human history, came up. I think you prefer ignoramuses like you, Billy Bob.
    1
  15233.  @harrygroen69  Verlost, van Timmermans? Ik heb een voorgevoel dat we binnenkort een premier gaan zien met die naam.
    1
  15234. Striking targets inside Russia out of retribution is counter-productive on many levels. It only plays into the hands of the Russian propagandists, who claim Ukraine is a terrorist state that must be brought to heel. The otherwise apathetic Russians may well buy into that narrative, because the truth -- that Russia is systematically terrorising its neighbour -- is harder to bear. It worked with Chechnya the second time around. Then, the world stood by. Russia will gets its just desserts, but preferably in the form of economic retribution rather than violence. Of course, there's a danger that Russia will blame everyone else for its misfortunes and go to same way as Germany in 1933.
    1
  15235. Aw.
    1
  15236. It's not working out well for Russian manufacturers. The deficiencies of their weapons are exposed and their potential buyers flock elsewhere, if not because of the poor performance, then because Russian simply can't deliver. Russia has killed another goose that laid golden eggs, after ruining its hydrocarbons exports.
    1
  15237.  @jaxcrax9644  Putin is pushing your war, no one else. Ukraine has the right to defend itself, and for that it needs tools of the trade. If "peaceful" Russia doesn't want the West to arm Ukraine and up-arm itself, too, it can simply pull back its Orcs from Ukraine. Very simple.
    1
  15238. Oh dear, you're trying to apply logic. Try again in four years.
    1
  15239.  @freemusicforyou2011  Since the Baltic Sea was renamed NATO Lake, the Baltic states aren't cut off by sea. Also, Lithuania has a border with Poland. In 1944, the Estonians demonstrated how defensible the eastern parts of their country are. Estonia is a very solid bridgehead for NATO.
    1
  15240.  pinkie perky  Actually, we'd be scared if the UK suddenly managed a huge boost in productivity, which has been your sore point. But no, if BoJo is to believed, the UK is going on the cheap, ditching regulations and lowering taxes and become more competitive that way. The EU member states will consider that an unfair trade practice and call for tariffs on British products. Not that I expect this to happen -- you'd have a Labour PM in no time.
    1
  15241.  pinkie perky  Regulations exist for a reason. Besides, the UK has been actively involved in shaping said EU regulations. Sure, going forward, nothing prevents you from deregulating or lowering taxes as you please, but don't act surprised if your products don't sell abroad. Also, don't think you're suddenly exempt from conforming to US regulations, for instance, just because you're newly single and Trump wants to grab you between the legs. There may be a trade imbalance, but the UK is much more exposed to disruptions in trade than the EU member states individually. For instance, if bilateral trade were to grind to a complete halt on January 2021, we'd suffer a 4.4% hit to our overall exports. In your case, that would be 45%. Do the math.
    1
  15242.  pinkie perky  Once again, if the UK gives tax breaks to British exporters that are deemed unfair by the EU member states, they'll push for tariffs on British products. Have you not paid any attention to Trump imposing tariffs on Chinese goods, claiming unfair trade practices? The negative effect on Chinese exports was immediate. Similarly, Trump nearly put Bombardier out of business by imposing exorbitant tariffs on Canada's newest jetliner, and in the process, threatened thousands of jobs at their Belfast subsidiary. You can scream blue murder that the EU is not playing fair, but then who is? It goes without saying that the UK's non-EU exports will have to grow rapidly if you're going to make up for the inevitable drop in EU exports. I'm just wondering how you'll fare, pitting yourself against low-cost producers worldwide.
    1
  15243.  pinkie perky  Right, it's none of our business, but as always, you have to live with the consequences of your actions. As to a tariff war, who do you think is going to win that one? In the EU, the hurt is spread over 27 countries, but you'll have to bear it all by yourselves. In case you are dreaming, services aren't tax-exempt. Has it escaped your attention that France is now controversially imposing a tax on Internet services as well? Try to keep up with the news. Silly you: the US aren't your biggest export market -- the EU is. In fact, you export three times as much to the EU as to the US. On the other hand, the US are the EU's biggest export market. Be afraid, be very afraid.
    1
  15244.  pinkie perky  Everyone loses in a tariff war, but there are relative winners and relative losers, especially in such a lopsided trade war as one between the UK and the EU. So, which individual EU member states stand to lose as much as the UK, 45% of all exports (goods and services) in the event of a complete halt in trade between the EU and the UK? The EU may not be a country, but it is a single market, just like the US. BRICS is an entirely different kettle of fish. It's a good intention, just like the Commonwealth, but no more. If you don't understand the difference, you'd better stop before you really embarrass yourself.
    1
  15245.  pinkie perky  "Relative" doesn't appear in your vocabulary? You seem to struggle with a lot of basic concepts. It is indeed unlikely that all trade between the EU and the UK would cease overnight, but the figures are indicative of the UK's exposure in a trade war. To put it in terms you can understand, you have your knickers around your ankles, while we're just showing some skin. OK, now you really are embarrassing yourself. You don't understand the very concept of a single market -- the EU's very reason for being. If you can't understand why the UK joined, you can't possibly understand what it means to be out. If anything, Brexit has shown how unified the EU is. Who would've thought the EU-27 would be so unanimous about the matter -- not me, that's for sure. It all proves you were the odd one out, the malcontent.
    1
  15246.  @vulgarisopinio  No worries, Putin rejects ageism when it comes to recruiting Orcs. It doesn't matter if you have one foot in the grave. In fact, it will be quicker to get both in.
    1
  15247.  @vulgarisopinio  A year ago, your State Duma scrapped the upper age limit for recruits. I told you, Putin can't be blamed for ageism when it comes to cannon fodder. Please proceed to your nearest recruitment office. I struggle to understand how destroying Ukraine's economy is somehow a feather in Russia's cap. Rest assured, our aid to Ukraine -- financial and lethal -- will continue unabated.
    1
  15248.  @vulgarisopinio  So, what did I get wrong? As it happens, I was conscripted into two different armies owing to my then-dual nationalities, I've served as an instructor and I've been deployed overseas twice. I can call myself a veteran and, amusingly, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. I remain an active reservist to this day. What additional military education do I need?
    1
  15249. This is about a sovereign state trying to maintain its sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression. And you spin conspiracy theories for domestic use. Go play elsewhere.
    1
  15250.  @jim4528  You tick all the boxes of a conspiracy theorist. Can't you stick to US discussion forums and spare the rest of us from you pious claptrap? You'll feel right at home, too.
    1
  15251.  @jim4528  Now you got me interested. Which country am I in?
    1
  15252.  @jim4528  So, once again, you made a fool of yourself. Take my advice, stick to US forums.
    1
  15253. The UN has a long history. I take it you don't. Don't become a cynic at a young age. There's plenty of time for that later.
    1
  15254. Aren't we united already? The only friend Putin has in Europe is Lukashenko's Belarus. And soon it's going to be the Belarusians' Belarus, which won't be on friendly terms with Russia any longer.
    1
  15255.  @Elmalorum  Try to explain yourself. I know, quite a challenge for a Krembot.
    1
  15256. If they give Milosevic's former cell to Putin, Vlad can enjoy the former's Cyrillic scratchings on the walls.
    1
  15257.  @noopyx3414  Why bring Murica into this? It's now officially classed a "flawed democracy". The US is only a beacon of democracy for the uninformed.
    1
  15258.  @parts1982  You were welcomed by separatists, which is a different kettle of fish. Your last sentence doesn't make sense, I'm afraid. Don't rely too much on Google Translate, okay?
    1
  15259. Navalny's old underpants.
    1
  15260.  @EuroNewsOppositionexit00  For starters, EU membership gave the Finnish economy a sorely needed measure of stability that finally allowed the country to reach its full potential, and not just economically, but also socially. Maybe you're too young to appreciate it?
    1
  15261. Which border of Russia are you referring to? The only enemy settling at a border, Ukraine's to be precise, are Russian and there are 130,000+ of them.
    1
  15262. You conspiracy theorists... there was an element of fun to it when you believed in blood-drinking, shape-shifting Reptilians. You're desperately in need of new ideas, new conspiracies.
    1
  15263. +TotalRookie_LV Actually, the Germans came up with an almost identical design in the DUX SMG, which they produced after the war. I wonder if the Soviets were ever paid any license fees -- probably not.
    1
  15264.  @JanBruunAndersen  We can only conclude that you're not an investor who's bothered by such things as ROI.
    1
  15265.  @montrosestag  It's weird that no one has seen any evidence of Ukraine committing genocide in Donbas. In Bucha, the whole world saw the evidence of how Russia butchered innocent civilians.
    1
  15266.  @martytrueblood5902  OK, so now you're saying that God-fearing true believers need no doctors... but they do need AI and automation?
    1
  15267.  @martytrueblood5902  Please don't use me as a sounding board for your zany theories. I've got you on ignore, so no need to reply.
    1
  15268.  @rouz0  TL;DR
    1
  15269.  @stefm6764  Turkey with its wonky economy is in no position to wage any wars that would take it to Spain's borders. Lay off the magic mushrooms.
    1
  15270. If Russia want to use this route to invade, the Finns and the Swedes are ready to stop them. It will be up to NATO airpower to aminister the coup de grâce, so the Russians won't retreat and regroup, like they did in Ukraine.
    1
  15271. Not quite. Russia's arms exports have imploded, and it was ranked second in global sales. There's another goose that laid the golden eggs that Putin killed.
    1
  15272. Bollocks. Over the years, China has gotten increasingly cosy with the Afghan government, but its days now appear numbered. To prop it up, China would have to take on an active military role in Afghanistan, similar to that of the Soviets and Americans who went before them. Beijing would be mad to try.
    1
  15273. @@UncleSam7.62 Not a fan either, but Russia is all about crony-capitalism nowadays. The ghosts of Marx and Lenin are crying their eyes out. Not only that, Putin, too, denounces Lenin for breaking up the Russian Empire. He made a bombastic claim that Lenin and his bunch cost Russia its victory in WW1.
    1
  15274. You and who exactly hope Trump wins? Or are you a monarch, which entitles you to use the 'royal we'?
    1
  15275. They say politicians are like diapers. They must be changed often and for the same reason.
    1
  15276. The reverse is true. Americans are woefully ignorant about Europe. Make that the rest of the world.
    1
  15277.  @Дмитрий-с8е5ы  And on what do you base your figures on? Half our Russian draft dodgers had their visas expire, after which they applied for asylum. Interestingly, many have publicly spoken out against Russia's war of choice so as to prevent us from returning them, because back in Russia, they're liable to persecution on political grounds.
    1
  15278.  @jansix4287  I know, but what's up with them?
    1
  15279.  @t3nta380  Turkey can't join because it doesn't meet the Copenhagen criteria. IMHO, Turkey has no place in NATO either.
    1
  15280. Trump is turning out to be quite the colonialist, just like Putin.
    1
  15281. You're both wrong and right. It's Android that's at stake here. Android is a prerequisite for Huawei to maintain their worldwide market share in smartphones. With the possible exception of their domestic market, Huawei can't force the world to adopt HarmonyOS. Euronews could've focused more on that.
    1
  15282. Israel attacked first in the Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War, and the 1982 and 2006 Lebanon wars. You can't cherry-pick your way through history.
    1
  15283. I'm afraid of Trump 2025. The second Capitol attack.
    1
  15284.  @PeterLamin-pi6rv  The two all for authoritarianism. One is a veritable warmonger, too. And Xi is getting inspired.
    1
  15285.  @et2709  So, for laughs, tell us about how peaceful you find Putin. If Macron is a warmonger, I don't know which superlative to apply to Putin.
    1
  15286.  @josephmuthua1875  West media's what? You didn't finish your sentence.
    1
  15287.  @kamsunleong6648  Nope, Motorola two-way radios are still American. The mobile phones went to Lenovo.
    1
  15288. Since you're making comparisons, what's superior in your mind? Autocracy? Totalitarianism?
    1
  15289. It would be worse if they'd *censor comments.
    1
  15290. Ukraine "lost" its first HIMARS before they had arrived. You lost your credibility then and you'll never get it back.
    1
  15291. Tin foil hats come in handy.
    1
  15292.  @danielarcadia7243  Congratulations. I think you made a watch list. It's land travel for you from now on.
    1
  15293.  @danielarcadia7243  Why-oh-why is endemic Murican paranoia of relevance here? This vid is about European health experts. Stop making everything about the US. Their heads are plenty swollen already.
    1
  15294. Someone with your level of military expertise should offer his services to the Ukrainian army. I bet your resume is very long.
    1
  15295. This isn't about *America, sweetie. DW is a German news channel.
    1
  15296. You missed the point by a mile. This is about the EU leaders, as in heads of government of the member states, not agreeing. Tell me, which one of them is unelected?
    1
  15297. I have a hunch the Russian Federation will carve itself up without any outside help. Military failures in WW1 and Afghanistan led to its predecessors breaking apart. In Russia, separatism always bubbles under the surface. Russia's colonial nature isn't lost on those it still colonises.
    1
  15298. Sanctions are working all right, although enforcement still leaves room for improvement. Luckily for you, copium is not on the sanctions list.
    1
  15299.  @mikejohn2999  Russia cooks the books and feeds economic data to the IMF that is pure fiction. Russia does reluctantly admit that oil and gas revenues are down by a whopping 41%. For a gas station that masquerades as a country, that spells D-O-O-M.
    1
  15300.  @rons5319  That question is something you should pose to Putin. To him, not winning amounts to losing. For Ukraine, it's a defensive victory.
    1
  15301.  Faiez Cader  Alas, despite my high hopes, you don't impress. Commodities are just that, resources that can be had from various sources. Rather than fret about the West's non-lack of resources, you should agonise about Russia lack of industrial capacity. With the economic sanctions in place and Russia's notoriously undiversified economy, it's Russia that's in a pickle.
    1
  15302.  @Iceyfire12  Oh, I'm half-expecting Putin will share Milosevich's fate. When Putin's worst nightmare has come true and Russia has had its colour revolution, they'll extradite him to the Hague. The other alternative is that he'll make it to China and spend the rest of his days hiding in Inner Mongolia. That's is, if China doesn't extradite him.
    1
  15303.  @Richard1A2B  Which European country is capable of defending itself? Switzerland comes to mind, and some of the frontline states, like Finland and Poland. Sweden and Norway, probably, too.
    1
  15304. And this is why we think you are backward.
    1
  15305. But Djokovic admitted that his visa application was untruthful, so it's on him. There goes your conspiracy theory...
    1
  15306.  @tigranohanyan3321  OK, you're upset because I ruined your fanciful theory. It's rather fanciful, too, that that makes me a Democrat. I'm not American, you little country mouse. This is the big wide world and not your precious bipolar Murica.
    1
  15307. So you're saying that the IDF knowingly killed Israelis to prevent them from becoming hostages? They were already, duh.
    1
  15308. Dan moet je toch echt bij Poetin zijn, vrind.
    1
  15309. How funny. Russia accounts for 40% of Europe's landmass. France, less than 6%. What kind of education system do you have in Russia?
    1
  15310.  @Chaldon-hl6yk  Feel free to vacate Europe, starting with Ukraine.
    1
  15311.  @КомментаторЮтуба-л1т  OK, you're falling short of the minimum IQ I insist on before I engage someone in conversation.
    1
  15312. Let's put it this way: if the FSB chucks a notable Russian businessman or official out of the window, as they're wont to do, suicides by jumping out of a window are no longer possible?
    1
  15313. Stop making everything about Murica.
    1
  15314. The same God later created Christianity and then, Islam. He sure likes his devotees to be competitive... to a fault.
    1
  15315.  @Imnotagroyperyoutube  I think they'll readily agree, but we're talking about a Christ that hasn't paid an earlier visit to Earth.
    1
  15316.  @Imnotagroyperyoutube  No, I wasn't born yet.
    1
  15317.  @Imnotagroyperyoutube  I don't like clichés. They're beneath me.
    1
  15318. How does this gel with the rabid BRICS propaganda? I've got nothing against BRICS -- or rather BICS -- but the combative propaganda I find disturbing.
    1
  15319.  @Just_another_Euro_dude  What made you draw that conclusion? Sure, Russia would like to be exclusive with its BRICS partners, but Brazil clearly doesn't see it that way.
    1
  15320.  @alexmelton7945  These M113s are battlefield taxis. They're not supposed to take on anything bigger than shell fragments and bullets. But when their passengers deploy and bring their Javelins and NLAWs to bear, we'll see many more Russian tanks pop their turrets.
    1
  15321. Russia will collapse from within, as before.
    1
  15322.  @technicalars5378  Math isn't your strong suit.
    1
  15323. @hypee7406 Fascistich rechts beschuldigt politiek links van fascisme. Het is toch wat.
    1
  15324.  @GiftigeBalspuwer  Het hoefijzermodel klopt wellicht niet, maar extremisme blijft extremisme. We zijn van beide uitersten, links en rechts, niet gediend.
    1
  15325. And you have donkey's ears. After all, we need not explain ourselves further.
    1
  15326. Judging from the UNGA votes, practically the whole world cares about Ukraine's plight. You find yourself in a minority.
    1
  15327.  @amilcarsimone5192  "Trust me bro?" You're the joke here.
    1
  15328.  @amilcarsimone5192  Now you're projecting. I specifically mentioned the UN General Assembly voting overwhelmingly in favour of Ukraine -- it doesn't get more official than that. You claim to know how the entire world feels about Ukraine without producing a shred of evidence to back up your claim. You're the proverbial empty vessel that makes the most noise.
    1
  15329. Ah, Putin desperately wants his special mil op to turn nuclear, one way or another.
    1
  15330. Nature should conform to politics and not the other way around.
    1
  15331. Why single out the English? There's more than England to the UK. And implicating the whole West is your paranoia speaking.
    1
  15332. The two are not mutually exclusive. Argentina is practically a failed state because it has experienced bad governance. No governance is not the answer.
    1
  15333.  @warlock-uv7yn  Public education is a social program. Milei has threatened to abolish public education. I don't know what level of education you've enjoyed (I'm growing a bit pessimistic in that regard), but working and education go hand in hand.
    1
  15334.  @aryank1769  You need to go help the Russkies with their propaganda videos. You can't do any worse. I may not be a general, but I'm a reserve officer with an artillery regiment, trained as a forward observer. What are your military credentials, if I may ask? No need to reply if you've got none.
    1
  15335.  @aryank1769  You didn't question me. You presented an opposing opinion based on... nothing. You provided no factual information in defence of your viewpoint. You're an empty vessel that's still making noise.
    1
  15336. ​ @SwagduDF  Turkey's real concerns aren't the ones they shout out publicly. They want arms embargoes against them lifted forthwith. And guess what, Sweden and Finland aren't the ones whose weapons Turkey covets most.
    1
  15337. What makes you think these are Antifa? You're seeing ghosts.
    1
  15338.  @StephenAndrew777  Your power of expression leaves much to be desired. As to my Russian comprehension, you're really seeing ghosts, aren't you?
    1
  15339.  @StephenAndrew777  4th grade level? That explains a lot.
    1
  15340.  @mapa174  I wouldn't say so. Russian oil and gas are absolutely crucial to Turkey.
    1
  15341.  @mapa174  You're suddenly introducing the USA to the conversation. Try to stick to the topic at hand.
    1
  15342.  @sinanacar7564  That begs the question, what's keeping you? Europe is varied bunch. We've kept investing in nuclear energy and there's multi-fuel district heating, peat, biomass, etc. Over here, no one will grow cold or go hungry. The only (and relatively minor) drawback is higher energy cost. With a vibrant economy, we can absorb the hit. Can Turkey? Your inflation troubles are bad even without the war.
    1
  15343.  @sinanacar7564  Thanks for asking. We've already stopped importing Russian oil. For gas, we're getting a floating LNG terminal that will be in operation later this year. Anyone could weasel their way out of sanctioning Russia by arguing that their hydrocarbons are too important. However, your real problem is Turkey's chronically mismanaged economy. Yes, mismanaged, because Turks are one of the most business-savvy people on earth, yet you let your leaders hold you back.
    1
  15344.  @sinanacar7564  I told you, once we can replace Russian gas with non-Russian LNG later this year. How are your "plans" coming along?
    1
  15345.  @sinanacar7564  So I was right. You have no plans.
    1
  15346.  @sinanacar7564  I just told you we'll be set by the end of the year, and how we're going about it. Now, divulge your "plans" and your "timeline" for putting them into effect. Please, no more beating around the bush.
    1
  15347.  @sinanacar7564  They must be very, very secret then, because even a close confidant of Erdogan's, such as yourself, hasn't been briefed.
    1
  15348.  @adamtedder1012  Desperation must be setting in in your troll factory.
    1
  15349. You're preaching to the choir with your Bharat. Hardly anyone outside of India was a clue what it means.
    1
  15350. That's rich, considering that Wagner almost made civil war break out in Russia.
    1
  15351. A horse and carriage will get you to town, too.
    1
  15352. Don't let your cowardice rub off, Sleepy.
    1
  15353.  @peterwilson5528  I wasn't addressing you, Petey, or is Sleepyjoe your sockpuppet? Not that I mind, because I use this empty profile just to keep potential stalkers such as yourself at an arm's length. Now, be gone.
    1
  15354.  @peterwilson5528  I wasn't addressing you, or am I now talking to Sleepy's sock puppet Pyotr Vilyamovich? For your info, I maintain a separate profile for potential stalkers just like you. You just proved its worth with your probing.
    1
  15355. So, centre-left, centre and centre-right are all far-left in your book. That just underlines that you're far-right. Guilty as charged, in other words.
    1
  15356.  @WongPeter-tx7qq  You're insuating that there's some kind of Eastern or Chinese style of democracy. China's system is not democratic, period. No need to invent new forms of democracy that would somehow apply to China, because none will fit, no matter how you twist or turn it. It's telling that China needs to pretend to be democratic. It's a tacit admission by China's autocratic leaders that China should be democratic. The poor autocrats are in damage control mode, trying to deny the obvious, for as long as possible.
    1
  15357.  @rbb.828  Because Orban has his snout deep inside the EU trough.
    1
  15358.  @ricecakeboii94  Crimea was Obama's to give? Your head is swollen.
    1
  15359.  @ricecakeboii94  First, explain to me how exactly Biden is giving Donbas to Russia. I may not think very highly of him, but he's no Trump, meaning, daft.
    1
  15360.  @ricecakeboii94  So, your theory is that since Biden failed to act on intelligence in a timely manner, he's secretly paving a way for an annexation of Donbas by Russia. That's quite a stretch -- a conspiracy theory, in fact. Unless you've got actual evidence to present, don't bother me any longer.
    1
  15361.  @ricecakeboii94  Thanks for your non-answer.
    1
  15362.  @ricecakeboii94  Like I said, evidence. Then get back to me.
    1
  15363.  @ricecakeboii94  I'm amused that you think the US president, whoever that happens to be, is omnipotent. Whatever happens, it's always part of a carefully concocted plan that leads back to the White House. You're a conspiracy theorist all right.
    1
  15364.  @malikjackson9337  Natgas usage is practically limited to the industry, and because of relatively cheap electricity and a robust grid, it's reserved for industrial processes that can't do without. Anyhoo, you may want to reread my comment. I specifically wrote "carbon-free in electricity". You can't command people to get rid of their ICE cars overnight and buy an EV. By the way, the Netherlands is just about the worst reference point here. Like an Amsterdam druggie, the Netherlands became hooked on natgas. Ironically, the country still has massive reserves of its own, but if they tap into them, the ground starts shaking and buildings crumble. Or the Wadden Sea, which is deservedly on the UNESCO's World Heritage List, gets spoilt.
    1
  15365. Russia is even more trouble for the rest of the world if it conquers Ukraine. Russia didn't stop after Crimea and Donbas, so why would it stop after conquering Ukraine in its entirety? But Putin is meeting his Waterloo as we speak.
    1
  15366. Biden never met with (or spoke to) Johnson?
    1
  15367. Have you considered becoming a UN peacekeeper yourself? I could personally recommed it, but I think I won't.
    1
  15368. Russia likes nothing better than to wallow in victimhood, that's why.
    1
  15369. Prigozhin had a try, but chickened out.
    1
  15370. The Greens are for a big part responsible for Germany's energy crisis and the ensuing economic crisis. They'd best keep mum so as not to draw attention to their past failures.
    1
  15371. What's the owie that warrants application of Burnol?
    1
  15372.  @colinsmith1288  Little do you know -- literally. China lags in green tech. It just makes some stuff on the cheap. And your Murica is a laggard in 5G. Soon, an increasingly deranged Trump orders an invasion of Finland and Sweden, because Murica has nothing comparable to Nokia and Ericsson.
    1
  15373. You must have an authoritarian streak. It would seem the Canadians prefer a full democracy, which they have, too, according to the Democracy Index. It's no coincidence that Trump and his ilk have downgraded the US to a flawed democracy.
    1
  15374. Trump should've started his own party.
    1
  15375. Far less so. The far left is by and large a spent force. It does better in far-right minds, however.
    1
  15376. You're a keen observer. Then again DW is part of a big crowd that's still shaking its head at the Muricans.
    1
  15377. Then why did Russia attack its own submarine gas pipeline? (Conspiracy theorists and trolls incoming in 1... 2... 3...)
    1
  15378. I hope the Brextremists are listening. It's a mantra of theirs that the EU commission is unelected. Same difference.
    1
  15379.  @MegaSickcat  Communist ethos goes a long way in explaining this. Judging from her name, she's Vietnamese.
    1
  15380. You may want to consider using some of that tax money to build yourselves proper armed forces, too.
    1
  15381. British employers think it fine and dandy. Employing illegals -- with little risk to their businesses if caught -- gives them a competitive edge. A mirror moment, eh?
    1
  15382. @@jamesross8992 Don't flatter yourselves unduly. Britain is stuck with an archaic electoral system. Its failings are all too apparent in one Mr. Farage always being a shoo-in for the European Parliament, but never for the House of Commons. And he has tried so hard.
    1
  15383. There'll be a policeman just outside of the door, just in case.
    1
  15384. Vive la mort is more like it.
    1
  15385. Agree, China desperately needs to hire a PR consultant.
    1
  15386. ​ @dark_master_Makei  We've seen NATO weapons pitted against Russia's on many occasions. Russian weapons underwhelm. You might argue that the types Saddam had weren't the latest in Russian weaponry, but I think that by now, Russia's weapons are pretty much the same as Saddam's, if not inferior. Israel's of-so-many wars against its Arabs neighbours are further testimony to the inferiority of Russian weapons.
    1
  15387. We somehow anticipated that you would be the weakest link.
    1
  15388. To date, the EU has no collective defence. It's down to individuals members. Some have neglected their defence since the Cold War ended, but others have gone the other direction. Poland, for instance, easily outspends the US on defence. Also, if we take a cold, hard look at what the US contributes to NATO, I think you'll find that it falls short of the currently agreed 2% of GDP.
    1
  15389. You're reported for hate speech.
    1
  15390. ...that you're racist? Besides, aren't Africans supposed to be on Russia's side? It's not borne out in reality, but Russia is keen to spread that falsehood.
    1
  15391.  @sergueivergounov1961  What a weird sense of justice do you have there. I suppose your excuse is... being Russian?
    1
  15392. One party does not an alcoholist make. I guess you don't get many invites to parties.
    1
  15393. Doesn't Russia have a club of their own? The Eurasian Economic Union, which has the same effect on would-be joiners as vinegar has on flies.
    1
  15394.  @ascend7172  Erger met onderlinge consultaties?
    1
  15395. But you did pretty well in the Balkan Wars.
    1
  15396.  @hughjorgan7871  Nope, the Estonians killed Soviet invaders, just like the Ukrainians now. You may want to read up on the Battle of Tannenberg Line. 10,000 Estonian conscripts caused close to 100,000 Soviet casualties.
    1
  15397.  @hughjorgan7871  Estonians fought against Soviet aggression in a manner of ways. Some fled to enlist in the Finnish Army, others were forcibly conscripted into the Waffen-SS. Estonians knew where their loyalties lay. Hitler's Germany wasn't it. I think you're butthurt because deep down, you know who the real modern-day Fascists are. Hint: they reside in the Kremlin.
    1
  15398.  @hughjorgan7871  Sure, Estonians were forcibly conscripted into the Waffen-SS. In testament to the Estonians having no choice in the matter, these veterans even served as guards during the Nuremberg trials. Try to get your head around that one.
    1
  15399. It paid off handsomely. Germany kicked and screamed the USA into delivering Abrams tanks. The USA was curiously lukewarm.
    1
  15400.  @MaleAdaptor  For your info, the US isn't a combatant in Ukraine. By suggesting otherwise, Russia is making excuses for its poor military performance, which came as a rude shock to Putin, who fashioned himself Peter the Great reincarnated. More likely, he'll go down in history as Vladimir the Dumb.
    1
  15401.  @herptek  It's not either-or. EU members could pitch in to form a joint standing army and maintain territorial forces, a home guard, a national guard or whatever your choose to call it for defending one's hearth and home, consisting mostly of active reservists. The two would complement each other nicely. Many countries already have such an arrangement in place on a national level.
    1
  15402.  @herptek  Read more carefully. What I'm implying is that the national guard would remain under national control, just like the National Guard in the US is under state control, whereas the US Armed Forces are under federal control.
    1
  15403.  @herptek  I think you're being deliberately obtuse. It goes without saying the EU and the USA are not carbon copies of one another. It is a fact, however, that the US National Guard is under state -- not federal -- control. With its large reserve and relatively small professional cadre, Finland already has a national guard of sorts in place, and in my opinion it should retain it if there were to be a standing EU army to complement it. President Stubura could still have his say over this rekindled Suojeluskunta, while the EU army does its own thing.
    1
  15404.  @herptek  I am a serious person. You're just not much of a conversationalist, I'm afraid. Repeating one and the same argument over and over again doesn't amount to a meaningful conversation.
    1
  15405.  @herptek  Duh, it's exceedingly obvious that I came up with the comparison between the EU and the US, and it's an entirely valid comparison. Both have a two-tier structure. In the EU, the top tier is a supranational union, in the US it's a federal union. Below that, the EU has a member tier consisting of 27 countries, while in the US that lower tier is made up of 50 states. The tiered structure is clearly similar between the two. Not same, but similar. Both tiers have -- or in the EU's case, IMHO should have -- their own military organisations, union level and state/country level. I think I need a spool of wire here.
    1
  15406.  @TuAFFalcon  You should both consider nomading your way back to Central Asia then.
    1
  15407. My mum can be a bit of a cow, but I do prefer her to a real one.
    1
  15408. Yup, Trump's dubious behaviour exposed several weaknesses in the system. It bears reminding that it was a Democrat, FDR, whose overlong tenure gave rise to the 22nd amendment.
    1
  15409. That'll be the end of Hong Kong as a major international financial centre. Mainland China can't find a substitute.
    1
  15410. You must be talking about both Russia and Ukraine. There is no scenario where Russia would be spared radioactive contamination.
    1
  15411. It goes hand in hand. If you starve, you freeze. Our bodies need to burn calories to maintain body temperature. Russian soldiers suffered terribly in the Winter War, because the Finns specifically targeted Russian field kitchens. The Red Army brass executed top officers for losing them. I hope the Ukrainians have read up on winter warfare.
    1
  15412.  @gingerfox7143  Why on earth would NATO attack Russia? You've got the aggressor mixed up.
    1
  15413. ​ @gingerfox7143  Gaddafi was busily killing his own people. Serbia killed and ethnically cleansed Kosovars. Syria, IS. The Iraq War was definitely not a NATO op. You struggle with the definition of 'aggression'. Intellectual challenge?
    1
  15414. I'm sure Fascists love to hate sexual minorities, but then they love to hate all manner of minorities, most famously Jews. I can picture your surprised Pikachu face when you find yourself in their crosshairs.
    1
  15415. Be that as it may, here it's the Tories who painted the UK into a corner.
    1
  15416.  @studas2011  Uh, didn't you notice you were trying to make a case against NATO enlargement? You're blaming the victim.
    1
  15417.  @studas2011  Not true. Poland uparmed prior to the Ukraine War, but that's their prerogative. NATO is a sum of its parts, and many of those parts, especially those in Western Europe, were woefully neglected. Also, NATO's nuclear sharing programme hasn't been extended eastward, although Russia has brought in tactical nuclear weapons to both Kaliningrad and Belarus. You strike me as that type that would blame his daughter for dressing provocatively after she got raped. The defence team would love to have you testify in court.
    1
  15418.  @studas2011  No harm done. As I said, you like to blame the victim. Something is screwy up there.
    1
  15419.  @studas2011  Nah, we see all too clearly who's a willing apologist for Putin.
    1
  15420.  @ВидаВарганова  Nope, Russia never targets civilians. A civilian casualty, be it an infant or a centenarian, miraculously changes into a NATO mercenary moments before struck by Russian ordnance.
    1
  15421.  @Saurabhkumar-dr4yc  There's no consistent mindset in Europe. There is, however, an Indian mindset that hides a minority complex under a thin veil of bravado. Interestingly, the Americans suffer from the same syndrome. One critical note from a European, and Americans become extra defensive. Same with Indians, except it's all Westerners that trigger you. Both of you, snap out of it.
    1
  15422. I heard you have a gigantic booger up your nose.
    1
  15423.  @BigMeanUK  The UK does make a sizable net contribution to the EU budget, but the main beneficiaries are the former Soviet bloc members in the East that draw heavily from the EU's Cohesion Fund in order to bring their infrastructure up to date. Since the remaining net payers to the EU budget aren't willing to make up for the shortfall, these Eastern European countries will inevitably take a hit. But hey, they're used to being betrayed by Britain. Churchill did a sterling job at that.
    1
  15424.  @BigMeanUK  Your comment makes no sense. The Eastern EU members have agreed to the Brexit deal that's now on the table. Why would they have agreed to it if -- according to you -- it amounts to self-betrayal? Perhaps you're unfamiliar with the Cohesion Fund or how funds work in general. The EU's affluent members -- the net payers -- aren't eligible to draw from it, so how do we cut our spending there? When those who are eligible apply for funding, they won't exactly be enamoured with the UK when it turns out the fund has been exhausted. And all this at a time when you could use friends...
    1
  15425. Tesla sales have already crashed in Europe. It's bittersweet that most Teslas sold over here come from Germany or China. Oh well, more market share to their own car manufacturers. And Musk will be out of pocket.
    1
  15426. For better or worse, there's nothing common sensical about Milei. It's either sheer brilliance or complete madness. Most probably the latter.
    1
  15427.  @wc8246  You got the hint.
    1
  15428. Good riddance.
    1
  15429.  @Tespri  You left basically the same comment to three different commenters. Yawn. I'll leave it to the other two to respond.
    1
  15430.  Dan B  Trump won't be around to pardon Bannon. But maybe the two can be cellmates.
    1
  15431. Russia's greatest contribution to political discourse is... wait for it... whataboutism.
    1
  15432. You've got a weird set of morals on you. Blackmail doesn't weigh on your conscience.
    1
  15433.  @tyreza79  The more I read posts from the likes of you, the more I become convinced that you're nothing more than conspiracy theorists. But even more so than ordinary conspiracy theorists, you're exempt from providing any evidence in support of your theories. Trust me bro is your ultimate credo.
    1
  15434. Russia never retreats; Russia makes goodwill gestures.
    1
  15435. Vertrouwt met een t, maar goed.
    1
  15436. Give the guy a break. Assange has been sanctioned enough.
    1
  15437.  @calisto2735  And why would Ukraine target the French embassy?
    1
  15438. Word salad.
    1
  15439. It's nice to know that the perp, Igor Girkin, languishes in jail, be it for the wrong crime: criticising Putin and his botched war in Ukraine.
    1
  15440.  @Raja-dm7jk  Russia used to sanction both North Korea and Iran. Now that it's in the same boat, it's best friends forever? No honour among thieves, I'm afraid.
    1
  15441. ​@leoa1893 Let me get this clear. Three outcasts, all of whom have fallen by the wayside, turning against one another, and in so doing, somehow saving the world from impending doom? Whether they do or don't, it's a popcorn occassion, like Prigozhin nearly bringing the Putin era to an abrupt end. You couldn't make it up.
    1
  15442. Nah, it's a wet dream of yours.
    1
  15443. It's a missile system featuring several launchers, not just one missile.
    1
  15444. Thank you indeed, Mr. Putin, for toning down your aggression.
    1
  15445. Where it hurts the most. Russia.
    1
  15446. @TimmyT-ri5lo Get yourself a job?
    1
  15447. Will Trump have Secret Service agents accompany him in prison? As an ex-president, he's entitled to protection.
    1
  15448. China is finally paying the piper.
    1
  15449. Extreme narcissicism leads to blindness.
    1
  15450.  @scottspurling6663  I'll tell you why illegal migrants prefer the UK. The black job market is huge and ID cards don't exist. As an illegal, it's much, much easier to stay under the radar in the UK than on the continent.
    1
  15451.  @zakjuly6721  Why-oh-why do you Putin trolls always get it wrong? Germany and France were firmly opposed to the Iraq War and would have nothing to do with it. Could you ask your troll factory manager to circulate a memo about this? Claims to the contrary erode your already tenuous credibility. Germany and France were in Afghanistan with the explicit blessing of the UN. Whenever the ISAF's mandate came up for renewal at the UNSC, Russia and China voted in favour.
    1
  15452.  @mrfarcry222  Serbia extradited Milosevic to The Hague, so Russia wouldn't set a precedent.
    1
  15453. We like to do things democratically.
    1
  15454.  @Test7017  They're trying to keep you conspiracy theorists busy. Idle minds are like idle hands.
    1
  15455.  @analyticalmindset  Let's get on with it. We pour over a billion euros into development aid each year and we expect nothing in return.
    1
  15456.  @analyticalmindset  Factually inaccurate? Ignorant? What exactly is factually incorrect or ignorant about my comment? Try to be specific. I spent two years in Kenya delivering development aid, as in building roads and dispensaries. Not only did we employ local contractors and local workers whenever possible, but also, we left them in the capable hands of the Kenyans. Everything we built -- together -- still stands.
    1
  15457.  @bulthaosen1169  Did you click the right reply button? I'm talking about development aid, not loans.
    1
  15458.  @bulthaosen1169  If it puts your mind at ease, we also guarantee loans to developing countries so that they get to enjoy the same interest rates as we do. Your beef is with the international banking system. Feel free to change it.
    1
  15459. America needs a parliamentary system, where an incompetent leader can be disposed of with motion of no confidence backed by a simple majority in parliament. Well, maybe Trump is just the ticket, the all-important catalyst for change.
    1
  15460. They certainly are a critically endangered species.
    1
  15461. It's artillery. What you're describing would be shrapnel shells. They've been considered obsolete since WW1.
    1
  15462. Putin is preaching to his choir. These inveterate fanboys and girls will never tire of singing Putin's praises.
    1
  15463. Sadly, there's a belligerent Russia.
    1
  15464.  @TomAZ1984  Yes, you've established that you're a navel-gazer.
    1
  15465.  King Crusader  Russia is utterly dependent on the money it receives in exchange for its natural gas. Actually, oil and gas are commodities, which can be had elsewhere, too. With a dwindling demand for fossil fuels, it's Russia that needs to realize its economy is crumbling.
    1
  15466. I bet you wear a telnyashka.
    1
  15467. @McQuade 1 I know all about it. I've had more than my fair share of either variety.
    1
  15468. You'd think the Russian OSCE SMM monitors, who were there observing with monitors from 56 other countries, would've noticed such shelling of civilian targets, but miraculously, no, nothing was reported to that effect. I know: Moscow propagandists made it all up.
    1
  15469.  @FRODIII  Finns have no use for bravado. A Finn would dryly note: "OK then, those Russians won't kill themselves" and then quietly administer the necessary ass-whooping. When foreigners line up to congratulate, the Finn would say: "Ta, have to go, the sauna's ready".
    1
  15470. So it has come to that. The superpower wannabe needs the hermit kingdom to survive.
    1
  15471. 100 years ahead in technology? Rigging a pager to set off a bomb is hardly rocket science. Terrorists have done so ever since pagers became a thing. Hiding a miniature bomb inside a pager in a manner that it passes (cursory?) inspection by Hezbollah is harder, but by no means impossible.
    1
  15472.  @darkspy666  You're describing us, now that Project Fear has turned into Project Reality.
    1
  15473. Artillery duels aren't gaining ground for Russia either. You're staring yourself blind at artillery.
    1
  15474. Not popular enough to get elected.
    1
  15475. Penguins need no democracy, and the Muricans aren't really the best to teach it.
    1
  15476. That's an odd statement from someone from a country that kept a good part of Europe in enforced bondage, not to mention its own people. As good as you may be at it, don't teach the Hungarians to wallow in victimhood as well.
    1
  15477. I don't quite see the amazing part. No-confidence votes -- or the threat of one -- have sent a great many PMs packing the world over.
    1
  15478.  @khiem1939  The Ukraine? Should we also refer to the USA as the American Colonies or the United Colonies?
    1
  15479. We already know that your navel is full of fluff.
    1
  15480. If so, ECOWAS might as well close shop. If Africans countries can't co-operate, it's a big loss for Africa.
    1
  15481. Nomen est omen.
    1
  15482.  @Damn6real  You still haven't answered my question. Do you or do you not condemn Russia's collaboration with the fascists between 1939 and 1941? We need to establish whether you're a hypocrite or not.
    1
  15483.  @Damn6real  Don't diverge from the issue at hand. I put a clear and simple question to you. You're frantically dodging it by going off on all manner of tangents.
    1
  15484.  @Damn6real  So you admit to and condemn Russia's collaboration with the fascists. I just wanted to have that established.
    1
  15485.  @Damn6real  Which crimes in particular did Finland commit? All you seem to have is guilt by association. I think we established that Russia is also guilty by association. We're going around in circles <yawn>.
    1
  15486.  @Damn6real  What a cop-out. You may want to use civil language. I caught you using ad hominems earlier.
    1
  15487.  @maxmustermann5612  Right, May deserves either a George Cross or a straitjacket.
    1
  15488. Lead by example. You're getting rid of all those Confederate statues, aren't you?
    1
  15489. Sure thing. Russia is being contained, now China.
    1
  15490.  @iggymich  Duh, the UN is hamstrung with Russia permanently in the UNSC with a veto. It's the same as with Israel and the USA.
    1
  15491. Who cares that Russia ordered its own defunct gas pipelines destroyed? If anything, it was a tacit admission of their uselessness, then and forever.
    1
  15492.  @francislau3393  You claim that something must be false because it contradicts your expectations or beliefs. That's called an "appeal to common sense" informal fallacy.
    1
  15493. Two more years sounds about right. Over the past two years, Russia has expended half of its sovereign wealth fund. In another two years it's all gone. Bankrupt nations can't afford themselves the luxury of war.
    1
  15494. user user, you lead the way. Murica is aching for ACW2.
    1
  15495. There's a time and a place for spontaneity.
    1
  15496.  @qillqiggins294  I'm sure you'd surrender the moment your country is attacked by a vicious enemy that's bent on wholesale slaughter and destruction.
    1
  15497.  @grimskid  Russia will have to mobilise its reserves in order to continue the fight in Ukraine. Putin knows that's a recipe for popular unrest, perhaps even a trigger for a colour revolution. Putin's lost his gamble in late February. The rest is just a stay of execution for him.
    1
  15498.  @rebfurr3554  I spotted no errors in sialababamak537's list. There's an omission, however: the First Chechen War.
    1
  15499.  @kathylarson8876  Oh, Russia will eventually sue for peace, and the terms on offer won't be to its liking, but accept Russia will. Russia can still decide how much it wants to spend on war reparations. The sooner it stops its military aggression, the less it pays, but pay it will.
    1
  15500. I remember how the US Marines, supposed to be cream of the crop, retreated from Lebanon after the fatal Beirut barracks bombings. The French, badly bloodied as well, stuck around. But you'd rather spout clichés.
    1
  15501.  @TheTotalizer  Which flag did you fly when you retreated from Lebanon, never to return?
    1
  15502.  @TheTotalizer  So, you flew a white flag when you retreated from Lebanon. Good that we have that established. The French were soon back, but you, never. Did I mention that already?
    1
  15503. Don't you think he's keenly aware of what he's getting into? He wants to make a difference in Lebanon -- since you don't understand, I guess you don't bother with any of that.
    1
  15504. Kan wel kloppen, maar juist Poetin heeft de NAVO nieuw leven ingeblazen. Wel zo dom van hem, want nu is de NAVO krachtiger dan ooit, en Rusland is maar een schaduw van de Sovjet-Unie. En ze durven te beweren dat Poetin een 4D-schaakmeester is.
    1
  15505.  kokilius  Maybe you could take the initiative and organise a whataboutism summit, where this and other unrelated conflicts can be discussed.
    1
  15506. Don't get cute.
    1
  15507. You must be a n00b to coalition governments.
    1
  15508. Onzin, een drone komt niet bij een vliegdekschip. Die wordt altijd afgeschermd door kleinere oorlogschepen en mocht dat toch mislopen, dan treedt de Phalanx CIWS in werking. De Goalkeeper van ons doet het nog beter. Een drone zou ook van een tactisch kernwapen voorzien moeten zijn om een groot vliegdekschip met zekerheid tot zinken te brengen. Drones, althans vliegende, zijn niet de gevaarlijkste tegenstanders van een vliegdekschip. Onderzeeboten, of onderzeedrones, zijn dat wel. Nederlandse en Zweedse onderzeeboten hebben dat meerdere malen bewezen.
    1
  15509.  @rsmith6366  There's no hole in a *Berliner.
    1
  15510.  @rsmith6366  A doughnut without a hole is a beignet.
    1
  15511. Russia palace coup succeeded?
    1
  15512.  @Evemeister12  At a cost. Freedom.
    1
  15513.  @tat3179  Even if travel is eased, acquiring a residence permit is still subject to strict requirements. For example, you're expected to pay your way if you want to bring over your family. To be brutally honest, the poor need not apply.
    1
  15514.  @brightsunshine7136  A modern-day cadaver trial, now that would be something.
    1
  15515. ​ @LostTumbs  You've got your very own definition of genocide then, one that clearly deviates from the established definition. Don't let reality permeate your bubble.
    1
  15516. Putin wanted the world's attention and he got it. It would've been nice had it been in a positive light, but beggars can't be choosers.
    1
  15517. ​ @Coolerman565  No worries, Russia will self-disassemble, just like the once-mighty Soviet Union did. The EU and NATO will see a queue of new applicants.
    1
  15518.  @MegaBoolaBoola  The US "put" a fraction of what Russia put on its side of the border in Ukraine. And we're talking Javelin ATMs, which are defensive in nature. The same goes for the British NLAWs. You Krembots always struggle to tell cause and consequence apart. I'm sure that the US would not officially object if Mexico were to acquire more Russian weapons to defend itself, let alone invade. The thing is, the Mexicans know better -- Russian weaponry doesn't work so well and Russia's existing weapons buyers are flocking elsewhere, too.
    1
  15519.  @dopecat15  Speaking of parroting, you're the one parroting stale Russian propaganda. By now, you should be painfully aware that there are no takers. You're flapping your gums for your own benefit -- hence, pure, unadulterated copium.
    1
  15520.  @mickeyh1961  So you decided to retry a classic excuse. Write this down, so you'll spare yourself some future embarrassment. Your analogy is invalid, because no-one's putting nukes in Ukraine. NATO has steadily advanced eastward as Russia's neighbours have sought security guarantees against an increasingly belligerent Russia. NATO's nuclear deterrent, however, has not advanced eastward since the end of the Cold War. Or should I say Cold War 1. On the other hand, Russia's nukes have advanced westward, with Russian nukes having made their way to Kaliningrad and Belarus. That makes you quite the hypocrite. I suggest you ask your handlers for better material, because this just makes you look bad.
    1
  15521. Simple-pimple. They only have to equip every other soldier. When the first one goes down, the second picks up his AK, body armour and tampons.
    1
  15522.  @robalston590  What does the 737's engine placement have to do with the price of tea in China?
    1
  15523.  @williamsimmonds504  Prigozhin may succeed in deposing Putin, but it's doubtful he'll take the throne. The support structure just isn't there.
    1
  15524. What banned nuclear? We're ramping up another reactor as we speak.
    1
  15525.  @2Phast4Rocket  We've never been opposed to nuclear power. The EU collectively hasn't been either. You simply don't know what you're talking about. So, which one are you, an ignorant Yank or a bitter Brit?
    1
  15526.  @anttieskelinen1  You're right about the "Grafton" rifles, but the Arisakas weren't war booty from the Russo-Japanese War. Imperial Russia bought them from Japan to equip their second-line troops in Finland. They couldn't have possibly been captured from the Japanese, because Japan only adopted the Arisaka after the Russo-Japanese War.
    1
  15527. I don't know, but vice versa, we're always sending aid and taking in your refugees.
    1
  15528.  @YOUTUBE_AMERICA  What am I missing here? Wasn't the OP juxtaposing Europe with the rest of the world? FYI, even with a brutal war being fought in Ukraine and scores of displaced Ukrainians sheltering in our midst, most of our refugees ("refugees") are non-European.
    1
  15529.  @manas3492  Flaccid response, little guy.
    1
  15530.  @neilbora2758  For the second time, we haven't got your stuff. Try rereading the whole thread, "old Indian".
    1
  15531.  @dalecrocker3213  Sure thing, Potemkin Construction Co. has done wonders in Eastern Ukraine.
    1
  15532.  @dalecrocker3213  Make a point. Don't lazily copy-paste links.
    1
  15533.  @michaelhensley8203  So you whine about veto powers. The UN's predecessor, the League of Nations, was rendered impotent to stop WW2 when the great powers chose not to join it (USA), ignore it (UK and France), leave it (Germany, Italy and Japan) or were booted out from it (USSR). In the light of this, the UN got its Security Council. It was pure Realpolitik. It made sense at the time and unfortunately, it still does. As Christiane already hinted, the UN has successfully prevented WW3 from breaking out. Despite its success, you want to throw the baby out with the bathwater and start from scratch, replacing the UN with... what exactly?
    1
  15534.  @michaelhensley8203  So you gave up? No more counter-arguments? Fine. Loser.
    1
  15535.  @michaelhensley8203  I tried to have a proper conversation with you, but I see now that your ego is too fragile for one. Or is it that you simply have no answers?
    1
  15536.  @michaelhensley8203  Don't you cry, little baby. Mommy will make it all better.
    1
  15537.  @michaelhensley8203  Shins [sic] brightly? And you told me to learn English.
    1
  15538.  @DecMurphy  Interestingly, very soon all the Nordic countries, without any exceptions, will be in NATO. I wonder how the Kremlin propagandists will spin it.
    1
  15539. Not gonna happen. Putin's brutal regime would incriminate itself.
    1
  15540.  @mightyeagle4314  Germany sets strict conditions for re-exports. To give you an idea, there was interesting case when Estonia wanted to gift Soviet-made D-30 howitzers to Ukraine. Estonia had acquired them from Finland, which had bought them from Germany. Germany had inherited them from East Germany, which had purchased them from the Soviet Union. Estonia needed permission from both Germany and Finland before handing the howitzers over to Ukraine.
    1
  15541. @UCDiAIg0daR7AXVaxVoy35nQ You can't blame the Russians for not taking casualties in this one either.
    1
  15542.  @user-nb3xs3wu9v  Assad had an escape plan ready. I expect Putin has one, too. China or the Hermit Kingdom, that's the question.
    1
  15543. EU? We're talking about the OSCE. That's 57 countries from Europe, Central Asia and North America, including Russia.
    1
  15544. Russia follows the trend, giving itself carte blanche to cause murder and mayhem in Ukraine.
    1
  15545.  @SauronOfMiddleEarth  Why-oh-why would it be a challenge for the Greenlanders to stage a referendum? They hold elections all the time. Are you actually suggesting that the USA will follow in Russia's footsteps and break the UN Charter by annexing foreign lands? Civilisation is a very thin veneer!
    1
  15546. Makes sense with or without Afghanistan. Most of Europe has ignored Russia's increased belligerence.
    1
  15547. We'll probably never know, because Russia won't allow free and fair referendums in the areas affected. Crimea is a case in point.
    1
  15548. Zelenskyy sure has been conned, but by Trump alone. Trump's friends among the Western powers are becoming few and far between.
    1
  15549.  @nerzhul2455  You're anachronism. Killing in the name of God went down well in the Middle Ages, with the Crusades and all. Say, have you been be diagnosed with psychopathy yet?
    1
  15550. Because they have a point and present it so very eloquently.
    1
  15551.  @jaydon707  Ukraine appears to be even less Russian than it is American. That much is clear. Now get out.
    1
  15552. Don't you tar us with the same brush. It's the Yanks who're plumbing the depths here.
    1
  15553. Didn't you get a letter? The Indian chapter of the Putin fanclub is closing. Xi is ordering Putin to expel all Indian fanboys and -girls. It can't be helped, Putin needs China.
    1
  15554. Your duopoly is.
    1
  15555.  Special K   You and whose army are going to make the EU die?
    1
  15556.  Special K   You still play with toy soldiers then?
    1
  15557.  @1.4billion65  Fredde only knows about solar energy.
    1
  15558. Serbian weapons? But they're a vassal state of Russia.
    1
  15559. The threshold to act against wayward EU members should be kept high. When it's amply clear that said members don't get their act together, even after swinging carrots and sticks in front of them, only then the EU should resort to punishment.
    1
  15560.  @soreeyez  Finland's history with Russia is suddenly very current. Russia just pulled a Winter War on Ukraine. The analogy is clear to everyone, even those with a passing interest in history.
    1
  15561. You must be confusing Smer-DS's result with voter turnout, which was 68.4%, which is neither good nor bad by European standards. Slovakia is a parliamentary democracy and a true multi-party one at that, which means 23.5% of the vote is pretty normal for a winning party.
    1
  15562.  @sayfolman7752  How about your rising prices. Developing countries are the least immune to rising prices worldwide.
    1
  15563. Trump should get a Pulitzer Prize for making news interesting again, even if it comes at the cost of profound damage to the United States' reputation.
    1
  15564.  @bolatsabikhan8127  In the Winter War of 1939-1940, the USSR lost five times as many soldiers as Finland did, and this despite an overwhelming Soviet superiority in artillery and air power. The similarities are uncanny. And this time, Ukraine won't be left in the lurch.
    1
  15565.  @SassoSkorzeny  The Western Allies let the Soviets take Berlin, as in stood by and waited, out of deference. Stalin desperately wanted it that way.
    1
  15566. And you do? Russia media are controlled by the Kremlin. They play fast and loose with the truth.
    1
  15567. Sinopharm hasn't delivered the 10 million doses it pledged to the WHO either. It seems they're still "in production".
    1
  15568. ​ @samuelwiedaskamel  True dat. Rheinmetall's order book has hit a new record. And its mostly foreign orders.
    1
  15569.  @antebratincevic6764  Why are you so concerned about Russia destroying its own gas pipelines? If anything, it was a tacit admission that they'd never be used again.
    1
  15570. For or against? Be specific.
    1
  15571.  howlee4091  How would you know which particular Uyghurs I meant and what has your comment got to do with the price of tea in China? I know you're paid by the post -- be it a pittance -- but try to make it count.
    1
  15572.  @indreamluo1981  "Some people"? You always accuse outsiders of your home-grown problems. Like the Palestinians, the Uyghurs want self-determination. In reaction, China locks them up in "internment camps".
    1
  15573.  @kevinaa114  You mean a fourth academic degree? Give me a break.
    1
  15574.  @rabbit719  Are you trying to ask what's the life of Uyghurs like in China? I've travelled extensively in China, Xinjiang included. It was the only part of China where we were permanent accompanied by a government official and an armed guard.
    1
  15575.  @V-Voiceless  You can safely say "wouldn't" instead of "couldn't".
    1
  15576.  @kevinaa114  "in deed"? You need to report to the nearest British Council for re-education.
    1
  15577.  @rabbit719  Uh, who's smearing? I merely noted that a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation makes as much sense as the Uyghurs getting chummy with Al Qaeda, as in not at all. Then your imagination ran amok. I was relating my factual observations. I was in Xinjiang doing surveys, commissioned by a Chinese customer. I can only conclude that China had something to hide in Xinjiang. Your hair-trigger defensiveness speaks volumes, too.
    1
  15578.  @rabbit719  Uh, where did you think I was? I was is Xinjiang, "only in china [sic]". I think you need extra English lessons.
    1
  15579.  @TuhunluunBionoid  You should go on a magical journey of discovery, and discover the difference in meaning between 'same' and 'similar'. While at it, you may want to look out for a cure for pedantry as well, Mr. Besserwisser.
    1
  15580.  @raafeyplayz7015  What's race got to do with anything? Ignorance is not race-related.
    1
  15581. Nice, but isn't that the wrong country?
    1
  15582.  UFOZone51  Shoo, troll.
    1
  15583.  @Honeyless-Badger  Are you proposing Putin nukes Russia? That may not go down well with the populace.
    1
  15584. Don't you worry your pretty little head about money. The tanks are free of charge. They'll finally be used for what they were made.
    1
  15585.  @denisgorjunov  Kremlin poppycock. You're just jealous that no one wants Russian troops -- except Assad, because without them he'd be sent packing in a jiffy, or worse.
    1
  15586. Fat chance. Soaring unemployment will depress wages even further.
    1
  15587. I do believe that Israel has the tools to bring the conflict to an end. Some progress was made till Netanyahu's crowd put on the brakes.
    1
  15588. I wonder if their space boss Rogozin, who's very tight with Putin, will leave them to rot.
    1
  15589.  @akifcelik3074  It's more like Trump desperately needed a foreign policy coup after shamefully leaving the Kurds in the lurch. The Turks and the Russians chumming up over Syria is just a consequence of Trump's withdrawal. Voids get filled in.
    1
  15590. It appears both Putin and Poroshenko are wagging the dog here.
    1
  15591. I'm watching a Putin troll squirm in anguish.
    1
  15592. By which metric exactly? Media attention?
    1
  15593.  @d-kor  The coping is strong with this one.
    1
  15594. You should urge Putin to a file a case against the USA at the ICJ. Ukraine did it, so why not Russia?
    1
  15595. The real question is, why does Russia prolong this nasty business? Russia could comply with UNGA Resolution ES‑11/1, which demands a full withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine. The war ends then and there.
    1
  15596. For the sake argument, who did Carter mass-murder? No need to respond if you're tongue-tied.
    1
  15597. Cats purr to comfort themselves when they're in pain or distress. I see you're trying something similar.
    1
  15598.  @harsimransingh1280  I thought you Indians could speak proper English.
    1
  15599.  @harsimransingh1280  So Indians don't know proper English? Got ya.
    1
  15600. ​ @harsimransingh1280  "Got ya" and "gotcha" have different meanings. You have a lot to learn.
    1
  15601.  @harsimransingh1280  Misuse. Don't try to sound clever when you're not.
    1
  15602.  @harsimransingh1280 Again the pidgin English. And don't upvote your own posts. It's seedy.
    1
  15603. Even if that were true, it pays dividends. The Orcs lost the battles of Kyiv and Kharkiv, and they ignominiously had to retreat from Kherson. It goes without saying that Russia would've preferred to negotiate from a position of strength.
    1
  15604.  @raisonneur682  And that's a great victory for Russia? How do you reconcile that with Putin's constant assertions that Russians and Ukrainians are brothers? Russia sure is Cain to Ukraine's Abel.
    1
  15605.  @soreeyez  Oh, you insist on playing some more. I could start with Georgia, Crimea and now, Ukraine, but if you want to know about activities that have specifically targeted Finland and Sweden, there's an abundance of infiltrations of territorial waters and air space violations. More often than not, the latter are mock attacks that can't be dispelled as navigational errors.
    1
  15606.  @jarlx1  Sadly, it may come to that if Lukashenko unleashes wholesale slaughter on his people. They're known to do that, them dictators. How about yours?
    1
  15607. What can you do, when you're up against the Montgolfier brothers reincarnated.
    1
  15608. Why the EU? It's not really matter for the EU. Both Poland and Germany are in NATO.
    1
  15609.  @lynnmichael857  Woosh? Was I comparing this to the Six-Day War? I specifically mentioned that this is not a conventional war. Sure, Iran funds and arms both Hamas and Hezbollah. Militias often have foreign backers. That still doesn't turn them into conventional armies.
    1
  15610. Russia, the wannabe/hasbeen superpower. Fixed it for you.
    1
  15611. You epitomise slave mentality.
    1
  15612.  @marynamalitskaya3534  It was defensive all right, as in putting a stop to rump--Yugoslavia's (read: Serbia's) blood-soaked ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. What did Russia do to resolve the conflict? The best Russia could do was to abstain in the relevant UNSC votes. Complete inaction, in other words.
    1
  15613. They're unbeatable in tank turret throwing, I hear.
    1
  15614. MSM? Isn't that an outdated term like the NWO and the Reptilians? Keep up.
    1
  15615.  @klappapa  I'm not advocating that the Ukrainians cede territory. On the contrary, I firmly believe they should take back what's theirs.
    1
  15616.  @klappapa  I defended the Lebanese in my time, from Israeli incursions. Later, I defended Kosovo Serbs against vengeful Kosovars. What's your contribution to world peace? Don't say trolling on YouTube.
    1
  15617. Now why would you pretend to be Russian.
    1
  15618.  @PskovCybercat  You're degrading the Finns with your handle.
    1
  15619.  @PskovCybercat  It's cultural appropriation.
    1
  15620. By all means, make it so that Iran, their backer, puts pressure on Hezbollah to stop fighting. Actually, I fear it's Iran that's putting pressure on Hezbollah to fight. They don't call it a proxy war for nothing.
    1
  15621. Russia is busily emptying its coffers, meaning the national wealth fund. In two years of war, half of it has gone up in smoke. In another two years, the rest will, too. Then it's RIP Russia.
    1
  15622. Interesting. Are you actually claiming that Trump is any less pro-Israel?
    1
  15623. Traditionally, the UNSC permanent members have contributed relatively little in the way of troops to UN peacekeeping missions. So if India gains a permanent seat in the UNSC, it would have to hold back.
    1
  15624.  @Paketspaketami-14pf  You're funny. Finland and Poland took their freedom, and Lenin was faced with a fait accompli. And now Putin lambasts Lenin for it. Russia may be a superpower wannabe, but it's still a regional power and now, one of decreasing significance.
    1
  15625. I'm curious, were you inspired by Hitler's "Heim ins Reich" policy, which sought to relocate Germans from territories that were not under German control?
    1
  15626.  @1066ukjoseph  You've got to admit there are similarities. Hitler wanted ethnic Germans to return to the Reich. You want British expats to return to the UK.
    1
  15627.  @chutindrachodi4764  I can taste the salt in your tears.
    1
  15628. ​ @rakeshkrishna4661  So, you're suggesting that Putin is intimidated by the West. Okay, I'm not surprised, he's fighting a losing battle after all.
    1
  15629.  @rakeshkrishna4661  What are you on about? Putin did not dare to attend G20. No balls, in other words.
    1
  15630.  @rakeshkrishna4661  You're making excuses, and very poor ones at that. Cowardly Putler did send his stooge, Lavrov, a.k.a. Comical Ali 2.0, to G20 to be humiliated in his stead. It's funny how you're still beholden to Russia, as if it still were the Soviet Union. We're witnessing the death throes of the Russian empire, a sinking ship, and you want to cling on to it for dear life.
    1
  15631.  @rakeshkrishna4661  Ooh, do you kiss your mum with that mouth? Your interpretation of loyalty is interesting. You feel that you owe the USSR, and Putin, whose crony-capitalist autocracy is ideologically far removed from the USSR, gets to collect on your debt. I think you just need a master to bow down to. I suppose you're at the right address, because Russia was and remains to this day one of the worst colonisers in human history. But it will all come tumbling down, and you'll need to look for yet another master.
    1
  15632. My take is that China cynically favours a prolonged war. The weaker Russia becomes, the more dependent it is on China. The more dependent Russia is on China, the easier it is for China to exploit. Soon enough, Russia is China's jewel in the crown.
    1
  15633. Wishful thinking. It's the individual member states that are in the front line, fighting the pandemic. The EU's role is to back them up, and to help with long-term economic recovery. If you were to get 10p for each time you predict that the end is nigh for the EU, I bet you could give up your day job.
    1
  15634.  @sleepyjoe7843  Thanks for underlining my point. You're a bit of a weathervane, aren't you? Don't run for office.
    1
  15635. The conspiracy theorists beat them to it. You're a case in point.
    1
  15636.  Richard Yang  It's more like yellow people in Beijing want Hong Kong sacrificed on the altar of Communism.
    1
  15637.  Richard Yang  Above of all, Beijing wants all the Chinese to kowtow to them. The Communists in China are accountable for tens of millions of deaths. Why indeed do they want to kill their cousins?
    1
  15638.  Richard Yang  Sadly, the Tiananmen Square Massacre showed that the CCP is -- practically to this day -- prepared to massacre its own people in order to eliminate threats to its monopoly on power. No need to point out our genocides; we've never committed any. However, if the EU were to commit genocide, then there's a case to be made for our co-responsibility, but I think we both know that's not even a theoretical possibility.
    1
  15639.  Richard Yang  No less than three replies -- I hit a sore spot, didn't I? Do you realise your credibility is shot if you first claim that China doesn't want to kill its cousins, but then you admit how eagerly you would kill your Hong Kong cousins? Trump is not my responsibility. Go complain to the Yanks about him and his Tomahawks.
    1
  15640. ​ Richard Yang  You've already made it abundantly clear that you'd like nothing more than to gun them down. Authoritarianism is in your blood.
    1
  15641.  Richard Yang  You're rambling again. In the civilised world, we don't subdue rioters by shooting them, like you advocate. There are, of course, situations where lethal force is justified, but that has nothing to do with criminal justice. The fact that you don't understand the distinction makes you an authoritarian. For your sake and that of others, I hope that you never gain a position of authority.
    1
  15642. Don't we know it.
    1
  15643. Let's see how they'll dispose of Igor Girkin, of MH17 shootdown fame. Lately, he's accused Sergei Shoigu of criminal negligence and he called Putin a clown.
    1
  15644. You know, right, that the Nigeriens will blame Russia next? It's a perpetual blame game for them, only it's always an outsider they need to blame.
    1
  15645. It's a well-known joke in Russia that where the West has elections, Russia has revolutions. I fear Putin, who has witnessed two revolutions up close, can't take another.
    1
  15646. Because the burden of proof is on the conspiracists?
    1
  15647. Say it out loud already. I sense a conspiracy theory brewing.
    1
  15648.  @samsungtap4183  China isn't free to transship Western chips or even ship its own if they contain Western IP. Actually, we don't need to tell them; Chinese companies are keenly aware of the rules, so as not to risk sanctions themselves.
    1
  15649.  @vLadimir333-dodji-i-vidi  Showing what to whom, Vlad?
    1
  15650.  @vLadimir333-dodji-i-vidi  Everyone sees Russia struggling in Ukraine, and that's putting it mildly.
    1
  15651. Het is vooral een morele klap. Je kunt er donder op zeggen dat alle Russische troepen in Oekraïne er weet van krijgen, net zoals hun families in Rusland. Telegram staat al roodgloeiend.
    1
  15652.  @NightMystique13  Nah, it's just someone who's trying to appear cleverer than nature intended.
    1
  15653.  Antun Comb  Cope harder, Vlad.
    1
  15654. FYI, it's the Flemish rightists who want to get rid of them and the Walloon leftists who want to keep them.
    1
  15655.  @A.76-v4z  Hint: the internet is a treasure trove of information.
    1
  15656. In short, because Europe has an ever-belligerent Russia to contend with. The USA has Mexico and Canada as neighbours, neither of which has imperialistic aspirations. Besides, Putin's willingness to negotiate peace amounts to getting a seal of approval for his colonial conquests in Ukraine... and then some.
    1
  15657.  @foreveryoung999  Don't flatter yourselves. We prefer potatoes to rice. They're better for the environment, too.
    1
  15658. In your shoes, I would use the Afghanistan example sparingly. Not only did the Russians befall a similar fate there, but also, history is repeating itself in Ukraine. The Soviet-Afghan War was a major factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Likewise, Putin's Russia will collapse because of this one. It may be a palace coup or a colour revolution, but Putin is going down.
    1
  15659.  Bob Bobberson  Ah, you're one of the drama queens.
    1
  15660.  Bob Bobberson  I totally agree with you. You're a crybaby all right.
    1
  15661.  Bob Bobberson  Not to worry. I don't mind in the least if your ilk -- crazed ultranationalists -- don't agree with me.
    1
  15662.  Bob Bobberson  There's no eruption, except in your fertile imagination.
    1
  15663.  Bob Bobberson  Like I said, your fertile imagination is playing tricks on you.
    1
  15664.  Bob Bobberson  You seem to be cocooning there. Ignorant Yank, by any chance?
    1
  15665. OK, whataboutist.
    1
  15666.  @vivekmehla9879  Western media are radical left scoundrels? You must be ultra-right then.
    1
  15667. That beggars belief. It would've been the first military coup in human history that only targeted the military leadership, leaving the government leaders unscathed.
    1
  15668. Binnen tien jaar is Poetin door zijn eigen mensen geliquideerd, of opgesloten in Den Haag, of hij zit ondergedoken in Binnen-Mongolië. Markeer mijn woorden (kijk eens mama, zonder Engels).
    1
  15669. We have food price increases, you have food shortages. I hope that makes you happy.
    1
  15670.  @henkduym9430  You might want to grow a sense of humour.
    1
  15671. So they've fallen for Trump's populism. Athletes aren't the sharpest pencils in the box.
    1
  15672.  @viralkenyan6249  Come off it, Russia is shadow boxing with NATO in Ukraine.
    1
  15673.  @AppalachianPatriot  Uh, a "gps chip" is a receiver as well.
    1
  15674.  @AppalachianPatriot  A GPS chip -- or rather, module -- is receive-only. More circuitry is needed to transmit its location fix, like a 4G/5G modem or a LoRa transmitter.
    1
  15675. You're pretending that far-right populists have actually achieved something, which simply isn't true. All economic progress is practically the centre right's doing. It's funny how you to try to appropriate the centre right's achievements as if they were your own. Still, whenever it suits you, you dismiss the centre right as left-leaning or even far-leftist.
    1
  15676.  @mkodyglobalsouthsoldier  Nah, you're taking the CFA thingy way too far. It's no skin off France's back if the eco is finally introduced, as long-intended. This anti-France hysteria mostly serves to hide West Africa's own failings. It's like a 30-year old blaming his parents for him still living in the basement.
    1
  15677.  @mkodyglobalsouthsoldier  You're making it appear like an obligaton, which it simply isn't. No one is forcing the CFA countries to remain in the currency union. There are plenty of precedents for leaving. Incidentally, France, too, is bound by strict fiscal rules with regard to the eurozone. So, are we robbing France blind, or is France cleaning us out, too?
    1
  15678.  @mkodyglobalsouthsoldier  If 14 countries think France is the source of all evil, by all means, they should sever ties with France toot sweet, if only to be able to look into the mirror for a change.
    1
  15679. A persona sans gravitas, too.
    1
  15680.  @DragonelfGaming  Trump wordt er ook niet jonger op. Het lijkt wel een gerontocratie daar.
    1
  15681. Maduro just faked the election in his country. He packs no credibility whatsoever.
    1
  15682.  @rafflesiaandfriends  Have I claimed that you, I or the US(?) have a say in the matter? Communist-led China for sure hasn't. Surprise-surprise... only the Taiwanese do.
    1
  15683. Western world? The UK is in a class of its own.
    1
  15684. Your opinion is immensely valuable.
    1
  15685.  @msheart2  Not if you make stick and tissue model airplanes.
    1
  15686. The Hague has dibs on Putin.
    1
  15687.  @-xyz-012  Any reptilians in your fairy tale? Please say yes...
    1
  15688. ​ @poweedlo  It's doubtful that's still the case. India has cancelled a score of lucrative Russian arms deals recently. Not that Russia could've delivered them anyhow, because Russia's urgent need for more arms is such that it's actually trying to buy them back from its customers, India included. By now, France is probably the biggest arms supplier to India.
    1
  15689. It's called asymmetric warfare. It's as old as the American Revolutionary War and as new as the War in Afghanistan.
    1
  15690. Gelukkig is het Karremans niet.
    1
  15691. 2% of the world's nations stand with Ukraine, "Ken".
    1
  15692. Hasn't she already?
    1
  15693.  @Mustanaamio7  That may be true, but when at war, ideally you employ overwhelming force. Finnish ground forces might well bring any Russia advance to a halt, but NATO air power would destroy the invaders once and for all. The snaking Russian columns in Ukraine would've been a sitting duck for NATO. The war would've been over in a matter of weeks, not months or years.
    1
  15694. So clever, those Americans. So many conspiracies. Or is it just theories?
    1
  15695. About that. Trump has already publicly stated that in negotiating a UK-US trade deal, he wants to address the trade imbalance that favours the UK. Uh-Oh.
    1
  15696. The far right has this nasty habit of abolishing democracy once it gains power.
    1
  15697.  @DJX435  I think you have a ROI problem.
    1
  15698.  @DJX435  No need to apologise to us. You're paying the price.
    1
  15699. You managed to misspell "you're" twice in the same sentence. Even for a right-wing populist, that's quite an achievement.
    1
  15700. Then also Russia would have to go by a similar name -- Corrussia? -- because it's more corrupt still.
    1
  15701.  @isaackasoma4229  Israel is not facing an existential threat here. You're stuck in history.
    1
  15702.  @shadowbanned636  Nonsense. There were 120 troops, 14 Challenger 2s and an assortment of other British armoured and non-armoured vehicles in Finland for an exercise that saw many more Finnish, US and Estonian armoured vehicles participate. The Brits have moved on since.
    1
  15703.  @shadowbanned636  No, they're not and no, no Brits are transferring here, and most certainly not on a permanent basis, not before Finland becomes a full NATO member and most probably, not after either.
    1
  15704. Excuse me, but are you talking about Russia? Their draft dodgers are a common sight in our refugee centres and in some of our favourite holiday destinations, like Turkey and Thailand.
    1
  15705. This is in no way different from a US military base closing stateside. Dozens and dozens examples exist. Local businesses always cry foul. Besides, the Germans here are crying foul at the German government.
    1
  15706.  @totmirmis  You've got your signals crossed. I wasn't replying to you. You should educate yourself about which reply button relates to which comment.
    1
  15707. Armenia may have joined the ICC, but it hasn't rescinded its membership in the CSTO and, in the blink of an eye, joined NATO. So, it's hard to justify your claim that Armenia is now a US ally. How is it apparent? A token peacekeeping exercise involving 85 US soldiers doesn't amount to an alliance. To put things further into perspective, Russia maintains a military base in Armenia.
    1
  15708. The same goes for Chinese and Indian jet engines.
    1
  15709.  @neelpatel9834  There's the "indigenous" Kaveri engine, under development since 1989, which still fails to meet expectations.
    1
  15710. Well botted, Trev.
    1
  15711.  @rpullman  Putin has a dacha ready in Inner Mongolia, courtesy of Xi. Things being as they are, Putin must be looking forward to retiring there. He can ride horsey bare-chested to his heart's content.
    1
  15712. Your god is rather indifferent.
    1
  15713. ​ @Manntashsh-Pyrre-yr1yp  You make a lousy intellectual sparring partner.
    1
  15714.  @Manntashsh-Pyrre-yr1yp  You've shown a lack of intellect that will undoubtedly hamper any future discourse to the point that it becomes an exercise in futility. I'm bowing out.
    1
  15715. ​ @Manntashsh-Pyrre-yr1yp  Chased? You keep accosting me.
    1
  15716. Your coping was gone into terminal overdrive.
    1
  15717. On the bright side, Trump can save a bundle by abolishing the National Transportation Safety Board, because he personally knows the root cause of all accidents, and instantly, too. It was sheer brilliance to elect such a genius.
    1
  15718.  @lautarob9858  Heat records were set in Scandinavia last summer. It's normal after a harsh winter that June remains relatively cool. I remember once throwing snowballs in Kirkenes in June.
    1
  15719. De iPhone is niet de eerste smartphone. Ik had al een Nokia 9000 Communicator in 1996, en dat was ook niet de eerste. Mijn eerste telefoonrekening was wel een afknapper.
    1
  15720. Why would China and Russia not veto proposed UN sanctions against "countries that are not subordinate towards the US or EU"? You make precious litle sense. It appears you're accusing China and Russia of colluding with the US or EU.
    1
  15721. If that's it, the sober Germans and the Dutch should be intensely happy as well. They don't beat around the bush much either, but go for the jugular with brutal honesty. Danes tend to be that way, too.
    1
  15722. Half the news channels do. If commenters would behave, there wouldn't be a problem. Criticism towards Israel is one thing, but pure, unadulterated hate speech is quite another.
    1
  15723.  @nopenope7088  I've been to a few football matches that were stopped prematurely because my fave team was losing and our side's notoriously rowdy hooligans started misbehaving. I could try to make the point that it wasn't me that misbehaved, but the game was spoilt nonetheless. I'm certainly not going to spin conspiracy theories that my underperforming team would've won if the matches weren't stopped, because that would even be more counter-protective. YouTube will ban the miscreants, but they'll be back with another account.
    1
  15724. It's part and parcel of autocratic regimes. Russia has one, too, in the State Duma. If Putin decides that he wants to become Tsar Vladimir the Greatest, a jubilant State Duma will make it so.
    1
  15725.  @quocbaonguyen8308  I'd like to think a permanent seat in the UNSC is not for sale. Funny you should suggest that Russia is instrumental in warding off WW3. In case you haven't noticed, Russia is threatening with nuclear weapons on a daily basis. Who needs warmongers when you have "peacekeepers" like Russia?
    1
  15726. ...is getting more and more improbable by the day. There, I finished your sentence. You forgot the period, didn't you?
    1
  15727. Two can play that game. NATO doesn't even need supersonic missiles to cripple Russia's already crumbling infrastructure. It's interesting that you want to involve Austria in your little war games. Austria isn't in NATO and has no clear plans to apply. If you want portray Russia and yourself as a bunch of suicidal sociopaths, good job!
    1
  15728.  @VGDomination  Who's propagandising that? Russia is laughable as it is, no need to start making stuff up.
    1
  15729. I suppose he covers the Hermit Kingdom from Beijing, too.
    1
  15730. Frozen, not seized. Don't get ahead of yourself.
    1
  15731. The crypto-Fascists inadvertently out themselves from time to time.
    1
  15732. Als Poetinfan kom je niet geloofwaardig over.
    1
  15733. So, you want to compound the problem?
    1
  15734.  @benjamindover4337  You're as naive as Trump himself.
    1
  15735. More like the other way around. Murica is bereft of choice.
    1
  15736. Congrats, you've got what it takes to become a "successful" conspiracy theorist.
    1
  15737.  @civis.revixit  You nuking Strasbourg would helpfully stop the European Parliament from convening in Strasbourg, but I'm afraid the piqued French would exact their pound of flesh. And you'd run out of nukes before they would.
    1
  15738.  @civis.revixit  No you won't, just like the French won't knock out your nuking abilities. ICBM-carrying nuclear subs are as good as untraceable.
    1
  15739.  @civis.revixit  Since you share your Trident IIs with the US, you may need to ask the Yanks nicely if you could please nuke France. They may not agree if they haven't had that European holiday yet. And I'm sure London is on their itinerary, too. A smouldering heap just isn't the same.
    1
  15740.  @larissamello374  Russian "*microchip"? The Russians can't even produce their own microprocessor designs, which are several generations behind Western ones. For production, they relied on a Taiwanese chip foundry, and Taiwan banned exports to Russia after Putin showed his true colours.
    1
  15741.  @joshuaking2171  No doubt, it will be a good deal. But not a win-win.
    1
  15742. Winkus, please explain your infatuation with whataboutism.
    1
  15743.  @winkus8586 Reading comprehension issues? I'm curious as to why you always resort to whataboutism. Is it a Soviet thing? I thought it went out of fashion with the Soviet Union.
    1
  15744.  @TheKkpop1  You're getting weirder by the day. I suggest you stop responding to my messages (and if you do, try to find the correct reply button).
    1
  15745.  @TheKkpop1  Try to make sense, Johnny-boy. The whataboutism isn't mine -- it's that of your fellow 50-center, Winkus. You still can't locate the correct reply button. What a complete dork you are!
    1
  15746. How clever of you to acknowledge that Russia stands completely isolated. But Russia are the Nazis here. Putin wanted more Lebensraum, but instead, he's getting his very own Downfall.
    1
  15747. I think you've struck upon an entirely novel conspiracy theory. I hope it takes off, so you can feel good about it.
    1
  15748. Let's agree that they both are. Hint: it's pointless to bring your partisan squabbles to an international forum like this. What we'll take away from your comment is that America is an *embarrassment.
    1
  15749. Artillery will feature in present and future wars for generations to come.
    1
  15750. The world will roll out red carpets for the Hong Kongers.
    1
  15751.  @kimtau87  By its own admission, China is a developing country. A nuclear developing country.
    1
  15752.  @farsheedyas697  Feel free to adopt any other form of democracy if the US one is not to your liking. Theirs isn't a top democracy anyway.
    1
  15753. A wild guess -- you're not Ukrainian?
    1
  15754.  @soundscape26  "Armed to the teeth", you say? Austria has set itself an ambitious target for rearmament. It will increase its defence budget to 1% of GDP. That's a mere half of what NATO prescribes.
    1
  15755. The US has been running short on democracy for years. In 2016, the US was downgraded from a full democracy to a flawed democracy. And that was without the Trump effect.
    1
  15756.  @yilmeh1  There's no Western democracy. There's democracy or there isn't. If you need to put an adjective in front, it's not democracy, but an excuse to eschew democracy. China's "people's democracy" and "socialist democracy" are cases in point.
    1
  15757. if so, how come Chinese corporations have held much of Afghanistan's mineral rights to this date?
    1
  15758. All the same, Israel is a signatory to the so-called Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Its Article 7(2) states that booby traps are prohibited, period. Even those who think that this falls short of outright terrorism, will still think Israel flouts international agreements with reckless abandon. Next time, when Israel refers to some international agreement to make its case, the hypocrisy bells will start ringing in the minds of many.
    1
  15759.  @weedling3552  The Germans have been inoculated against fascism and by and large the inoculation holds. I'm more worried about the US, which can't recognise the symptoms of the disease or admit to being a sufferer.
    1
  15760.  @rf5595  NATO isn't invading Russia -- that's just a wet dream of yours. The sad truth is that no one wants a piece of Russia. The key difference here is that NATO expands by popular consensus. Russia, by force.
    1
  15761.  @rf5595  I'm not an apologist for US military adventurism -- admittedly, it's a bad habit the Americans can't seem to shake. But I thought this was about NATO? But since we're on the topic, I don't see how Russia is much different from the US. The Americans had their ill-advised Iraq War, but Russian troops are uninvited guests in a number of sovereign countries, too. Ukraine is a very obvious example, but Georgia and Moldova, too, have to suffer Russian occupiers on their soil. And if sending Russian regulars is too obvious, Wagner Group will do the honours, like in Syria and Libya. You keep forgetting that world + dog aren't buying Russia's annexation of Crimea. Also, it's mighty unfair on the Crimeans themselves. It doesn't matter if they identify as Russians or not, they deserve better than to be condemned to eternal international isolation. All because a cuckolded Putin had to act out against Ukraine.
    1
  15762.  @rf5595  Again, you think I'm apologist for the US. And try to remind yourself that NATO and the US aren't the same thing. Would a piece of string around your finger help?
    1
  15763.  @rf5595  You're wrong -- there's very much ambiguity around the Crimean status referendum. The UN General Assembly couldn't have been clearer in rejecting it. The US couldn't possibly have coerced 100 sovereign states to vote the way they did. Sorry, I have no time for your amateurish opinion pieces, which are completely devoid of facts. If you have any, present them. Otherwise you're just flapping your gums.
    1
  15764.  @rf5595  Your imagination is playing tricks on you. NATO has military installations in Belgium, Netherlands, USA, Norway, Poland, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Hungary. In case you failed geography, those are NATO member countries and none of them is in the Middle East.
    1
  15765.  @rf5595  Those facts -- if indeed they are true -- are irrelevant. As far as international law is concerned, Russia did an illegal land grab. Russia is suffering the consequences in the form of sanctions, but the Crimeans are completely isolated from the outside world, as if they no longer exist. As I already wrote, they should get another vote on the matter, if only to confirm the existing result, but this time as part of a UN-supervised referendum. No more isolation. Try to get that through your thick skull.
    1
  15766. It's work in progress, innit? It's comme d'habitude for a parliamentary system such as Canada's. Did you miss the episode where Britain's Tories changed PMs almost as often as they change their socks?
    1
  15767. "Little known" is perfectly appropriate. The poor sod doesn't even have a Wikipedia entry.
    1
  15768. Je moet ze zelf maken. Ooit kon Nederland dat.
    1
  15769. It's not a problem for "Eastern" leaders? You make precious little sense.
    1
  15770.  @gdiwolverinemale4th  LOL. You should be talking. Putin has to flog a dead horse, Wagner, in an effort to gather more cannon fodder for his doomed military adventure. Russia can't mobilise more reservists, because three times as many as those called up would flee the country, aggravating Russia's labour shortage and brain drain further. Russia, or its able-bodied, military-age men, have no taste for this war.
    1
  15771. "The Media"? Respectable media do add strong hints like "claimed" and "unverified" to suggest that it's premature to come to any conclusions yet.
    1
  15772.  @organicwest  More like 30 or 40.
    1
  15773. Zelenskyy is of the same height as your bunker grandpa hero Putin, 170 cm.
    1
  15774. Yet Putin is sought for war crimes in 124 countries.
    1
  15775.  @MMMichaelTTT  You should visit a library and or a bookstore in the *Philippines. You'll find row upon row of books about their struggle for independence and their martyrs, brutally executed by their occupiers. In case you don't know who these occupiers were, that's both Spain and the USA. That the Brits and their Commonwealth co-members get along splendidly nowadays doesn't absolve the Brits of their colonial crimes. Like the US with regard to the Philippines, they're still making amends.
    1
  15776. Can we ask David Icke as well?
    1
  15777.  @evgeniybastrykov  The MiG-31 didn't fly across the Finnish border. It reportedly crashed ten kilometres from Monchegorsk, which is more than a hundred kilometres east of the border. It came down well within Russia, in other words.
    1
  15778.  @sergueileonardoafonin7950  Bought off or destroyed? You're delusional. Try backing that up with examples. NATO has prospective members queuing up. For Russia's fan club, the reverse is true. Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus and now Kazakhstan. If the people get their way, they're gone in a jiffy. EU membership for Ukraine is not even on the table yet. Facts, please -- no silly demagoguery.
    1
  15779.  @mairca80pais96  But the question still stands. Which research institutions should we pay attention to? Don't butt in if you don't have any answers.
    1
  15780.  @patverum9051  Thyroid cancer is a relatively benign form of cancer. If Putin has to escape justice, he should emulate Hitler. He's in his bunker already.
    1
  15781.  @paulyoung7561  Putin doesn't have the luxury of keeping the war going endlessly. He's emptying the state coffers as we speak. What keeps Russia chugging along is its national wealth fund, half of which was already gone up in smoke. Unless Putin manages to extricate Russia from the war, it's light out for the Russian economy. Probably also for the man himself, knowing how Russia has revolutions rather than real elections.
    1
  15782.  @pipilu3240  Yes, it sucks to be British, but that's on account of their ongoing nightmare known as Brexit. But what's more relevant to this discussion, it sucks to be you, since you think whataboutism makes for a strong argument.
    1
  15783.  @allansh828  Why keep harping that Western democracy is unsuitable for China? I'd welcome any form of China-style Eastern democracy, but there's no such thing. There's only Xi-style autocracy.
    1
  15784.  grimm reaper  How's Sanders relevant to this discussion? You sound like a navel-gazing American.
    1
  15785.  @allansh828  So that's an excuse to give democracy a miss? Many countries struggled to transform themselves into a stable democracy. I can't see why China can't get it right if India could.
    1
  15786.  @kushastea3961  Fact is, India has democracy, China does not. The pandemic and its handling in India is a separate matter. You cherry-pick your examples. South Korea and Taiwan have been lauded for their handling of the virus, and both of them are democracies. Incidentally, we're one of the top-ranked democracies in the world and we haven't colonised anyone or committed genocide, like ever. The same cannot be said about China. Your grasp of European and world history is piss-poor. Your rejection of democracy implies that you deem the Chinese -- with the exception of a few CCP autocrats -- too dumb to have a say in the governance of their country.
    1
  15787. Guilt by association? Are all peaceful Palestinians living in Europe suddenly Hamas terrorists, too?
    1
  15788. You're clearly a rocket scientist, so you should go and teach them. I'm sure you'll be rewarded handsomely.
    1
  15789. An absolute monarch in this day and age. Well I never.
    1
  15790.  @Nowherenear-w1d  Hardly. Russia underestimated Europe's resolve. And Europe overestimated Russia's military capabilities.
    1
  15791.  @marioceva7163  I believe the Russians admitted one lost aircraft, but still haven't picked up the courage to credit the Ukrainian air defences with the kill. No surprises there.
    1
  15792. Democracy is about majorities, sport.
    1
  15793. Don't play silly buggers. We've all voted to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organisation.
    1
  15794. It's imminent when the Afghan economy implodes -- when, not if. Panjshir is not going to stop that from happening. Reinforce it, probably...
    1
  15795.  @didixtar2863  OK, let's take the Freedom in the World index compiled by US-based Freedom House. It put the US in 61st place. Again, European countries dominate the top. And again, select African and South American countries outscore the US.
    1
  15796.  @didixtar2863  If you prefer to trust a US-based NGO, try Freedom House. Their Freedom in the World index put the US in 61st place. Again, European countries dominate the top of the list, and again, select Latin American and African countries outscore the US.
    1
  15797. Reptilian, perchance?
    1
  15798. It does, too. The S-300's surface-to-surface capability has been widely reported.
    1
  15799.  @khasmir666  Google is your friend.
    1
  15800.  @vorynrosethorn903  That's how it worked. Two uncles of mine had their "Suojeluskunta" Mosin-Nagants replaced by Ternis because as signalmen they weren't considered combat troops. Both made sure to find themselves battlefield-pickup Mosin-Nagants ASAP.
    1
  15801.  @henriksteffensen3887  Why not? The Americans have their baseball World Series. Nothing 'worldly' about that one either.
    1
  15802.  @zorrofox8950  For your info, American football handball is rife with man-on-man physical contact. So, if you swing that way, you're more likely to get your jollies from American "football" than real football. And who cares which sport you prefer best. The world at large clearly prefers football.
    1
  15803. You'd think a popular uprising wouldn't succeed in ousting Lukashenko with only 20% backing. Yet he's clearly doomed.
    1
  15804.  @George-of6rl  Georgie Porgie, you're making even less sense than before.
    1
  15805.  @biomechanique6874  But neo-Nazis aren't calling the shots in Ukraine. The far-right has failed to gain seats in parliament and twice over at that, in 2014 and 2019. You're regurgitating Russian propaganda that's well past its expiry date.
    1
  15806.  @biomechanique6874  You haven't produced a single fact in support of your theory that the US is the provocateur here. You have pooh-poohed Russia massing troops at the Ukrainian border and you've parroted Russian propaganda about neo-Nazis staging a coup in Ukraine. You invoke unrelated WW2 history as "proof." And when I debunk your gunk in 3 minutes flat, you don't even bother to defend your claims. You've got all the hallmarks of a troll.
    1
  15807.  @biomechanique6874  Don't you try. I've got a double masters in history and political science, meaning I'm deemed perfectly capable of processing and analysing information. The problem is that you're not capable of producing any information of relevance. It's telling that you think that Russia isn't stoking war because Moscow says they aren't. Russia lies as a matter of course! If there's a Russian attack, it will follow a careful staged incident that "compelled" Russia to resort to military action. We've seen it all before.
    1
  15808.  @tszirmay  Did you watch the video? It clearly mentions MEPs and the EU. Jeez...
    1
  15809.  @freedomm  Yours is a coper's truth.
    1
  15810. I believe the nominal form of the adjective "Muscovite" is "Muscovy." Please don't make it sound like only weirdos support Ukraine, because everyone does.
    1
  15811.  @kondicnele  I'll tell you where two-thirds of the world's uranium comes from: Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia. Any more questions that you could've easily googled the answer to yourself?
    1
  15812. People could choose between Putin and Putin and Kim and Kim. You've got a lot to learn about democracy.
    1
  15813. Is it in your nature to surrender?
    1
  15814.  @ShreeeeKrishna  So, you refuse to bow to the US, but you've got no qualms about bowing to Russia? I don't the relish the former, but I absolutely abhor the latter. If being (re-)colonised by an authoritarian regime is no problem, why don't you open your borders to China?
    1
  15815. In this context, China is not an example for India to follow. Together with India, China is a top offender in female infanticide.
    1
  15816. The Hellfire is like the Storm Shadow's stunted Yankee cousin.
    1
  15817. You can't tell France apart from the EU? What's your major malfunction? Being American?
    1
  15818. There's a bit of an anachronism there. Perhaps you should compare apples to apples, like colonial-era genocides to colonial-era genocides. The Russia Empire more than delivered in that respect.
    1
  15819. Real Ukraine is holding out admirably. Putin, however, is emulating Napoleon and the latter's disastrous Russian campaign. Oh the irony.
    1
  15820. To be clear, which organisation have you joined and who's "we"?
    1
  15821. A great many Lebanese don't care for Hezbollah. Know your enemy.
    1
  15822.  @MrPoornakumar  I braced for impact, but you proved me 180 degrees wrong.
    1
  15823. A nation hardly chose him. 24% of the electorate did, and many in protest. Protest voters aren't the most loyal kind. 37 seats out of 150 is a far cry from a majority. Given Wilders' limited appeal among protential coalition partners, it looks bleak for him. Four more years in the opposition is my guess.
    1
  15824.  @jackspring7709  You seem all out of arguments. Empty vessels...
    1
  15825. Ukraine is winning... by not losing. If this is somehow a victory for Russia, then Napoleon was victorious, too, in his Russian campaign.
    1
  15826. Aren't we? In Europe in particular. Murica is still picking up speed after the Trump debacle.
    1
  15827. How about this one: "Orc Bot Tries to Cope".
    1
  15828. Musk has quite a rep for meddling with elections. He practically resorted to vote-buying before the US presidential election.
    1
  15829. The far right is fuelled by hate. It would sputter to a halt without hate.
    1
  15830. If so, they'll have to play their cards right. Only Finnish nationals enjoy full suffrage. Gaining citizenship is a long and winding road.
    1
  15831.  @WalkOverHotCoal  I fail to see any connection between Finland and the Arab Spring. Maybe you can enlighten me? You seem to have taken the opportunity to malign "the West" rather than stick to the topic. Sorry, not playing.
    1
  15832.  @WalkOverHotCoal  Don't you worry your pretty little head about Finland not supporting Ukraine. Finland has been an active donor, both in military and economic terms, and this despite having a long border with a known military aggressor. The military aid to Ukraine marked a clear departure from previous policy. Previously, it was illegal to supply weapons to a country at war. Hence, Syrian rebels only received moral support. For your info, Finland is awash with Ukrainian refugees. You clearly don't have a clue how to apply your generic "Western" allegations to Finland.
    1
  15833. Xi is very much enjoying all of this. Russia is slowly but surely being relegated to China's northernmost province. If Pu Tin quietly accepts his fate, he gets to stay on as Ruxia's regional governor.
    1
  15834.  @SPICEMAN-473  It's 143 *countries against Russia, in fact.
    1
  15835. More likely, a Taliban fighter is holding an AK-47 to the pilot's head. US-trained pilot, that is.
    1
  15836. It's all based on a bit of a dubious arrangement called the 2001 AUMF, which basically says terrorists can be killed in foreign lands if the US president deems it necessary.
    1
  15837. And you need tuition. English tuition.
    1
  15838. If so, what did Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army show us? That they represent Christianity?
    1
  15839.  @omwami9071  You may want to snap out of your colonial mindset. We suffered under colonialism as well, but quickly made the jump to a developed economy. Unlike you, you won't hear us endlessly complaining about past wrongs and using them as an excuse for home-grown problems.
    1
  15840.  @basiwolf9147  Originally, Finland.
    1
  15841.  @mkodyglobalsouthsoldier  I'm not playing your little games.
    1
  15842.  @mkodyglobalsouthsoldier  You don't know your history. Finland was colonised since the Middle Ages.
    1
  15843.  @Moabi4  Let me know what's ridiculous about my "things". Try argumentation and show us that you're not a hollow vessel.
    1
  15844.  @omwami9071  I was educated in both (northern) Belgium and Holland. Both the Flemish, who've struggled for their emancipation as well, and the goody-goody Dutch are very open about their colonial history, warts and all. Russia most certainly colonised Finland, and actively attempted to Russify it. In case it has eluded you, Russia was not exactly known as a benevolent colonial power. In fact, Russia is still very much at it, as the conflict in Ukraine shows. I alluded to five centuries of Swedish rule over Finland, but you conveniently chose to ignore it. It took the Swedes two crusades(!) to subjugate the Finns. Over the next centuries, many rebellions and uprisings followed. In fact, there are many similarities between the Scramble for Africa and how Finland and the Baltic states ended up invaded, annexed and exploited. Like Africans, we're still aware of our tribal affiliations. When Sweden set up its American colony, it picked Forest Finns as settlers, since they stood the best chance of survival, being used to living off the land. They got on well with the Native Americans, whose lifestyle was very similar. I'm afraid it does beg the question why Africa, with some exceptions, underperforms in developing itself. We've been robbed, too, but we're not using it as an excuse.
    1
  15845. What are you on about? In 1949, the UNGA voted to admit Israel into the UN with the required two-thirds majority, which amounts to de-facto recognition. There were some of your supposed "vassals" among the abstentees. Likewise, you're suggesting that the Soviet Union was a US vassal. You can't be bothered with fact-finding, can you?
    1
  15846. You're masters at projecting. Putin had a puppet in Yanukovych, till the puppet master tugged too hard on the strings and the puppet was ousted. Now you're having delusions regarding Yanukovych's democratically elected successors, as if NATO has merely replaced Putin. You're not well -- join Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous or something.
    1
  15847. I think your shovel meme is having little propagandistic effect anywhere else than in the Krembots' hard-coping minds. So, in effect, you're pleasuring yourselves. Publicly.
    1
  15848.  @eveleung8855  You're not up to date on military explosives. TNT, a very common one, won't go off even in an air crash. Instead, it will leisurely sizzle and burn.
    1
  15849.  @Christ-follower471  Truth be told, neither side can achieve a breakthrough. Russia, however, is fighting a war of choice, and sooner or later, as country, it needs to decide whether or not to continue this madness. Quitting will amount to Russia losing the war, because the final peace terms won't be kind to Russia. The question is, will Russia dispose of Putin before or after?
    1
  15850. If you insist. It's Niger's loss after all.
    1
  15851.  @gfan83  Yeah, they let Comical Ali go, too. Lavrov is clearly of the same caliber.
    1
  15852.  @gfan83  Oh, you're still wet behind the ears.
    1
  15853. Heb je al contact met Poetin? Hij kan er meteen een punt achter zetten. Een terugtrekkingsbevel en het is gedaan met de oorlog.
    1
  15854.  @anarabbasov8634 Russia attacked? Please elaborate.
    1
  15855.  @babanagrahim5439  Why do you insist on discussing your wet dreams publicly?
    1
  15856. Did you remember to vote for a party or a candidate that opposes NATO membership? Maybe the trappings of parliamentary democracy are new to you.
    1
  15857.  @carzyscenctist  I thought it was Agenda 57 already.
    1
  15858.  @mweskamppp  Theirs is a "flawed democracy" according to the index. Their reclassification from "full democracy" coincided with Trump becoming president. Interestingly, Trump was seen as a symptom rather than the cause. The real cause, the public's loss of confidence in democratic institutions, reportedly paved the way for Trump. Let's see how much they'll drop when the democracy index is updated, because I bet that this time, Trump has had a causal effect.
    1
  15859.  @9xXGameOverXx9  Firstly, northern Gaza's civilians can't bring themselves to safety within the time allotted. Secondly, there's no place for them to go in southern Gaza. You'd do well to stop comparing Hamas to Israel. Only one of them is supposed to be a terrorist organisation.
    1
  15860.  @donntabale2054  Not the time to avoid civilian casualties? Is that what you're trying to say?
    1
  15861.  @9xXGameOverXx9  Hamas supporters are radicalised. No argument there. It's estimated that 58% of Gazans support Hamas. I bet a far smaller percentage support Hamas after this terrorist attack. It came as no surprise to anyone in Gaza that Israel would react with force.
    1
  15862.  @donntabale2054  I'm sorry, I was in the mistaken belief that you wanted to contribute to the discussion, and you needed a little help to do so. My mistake.
    1
  15863.  @donntabale2054  Sorry, I don't know what to make of that sudden explosion of word salad. Indeed, my English must be different from yours.
    1
  15864.  @junjunsore7287  Nice straw man attack there. Puerile, though.
    1
  15865. Right-o, thermobaric weapons could be next on the Kremlin's list of approved propaganda themes. They've tried to justify the war with NATO expansion, Nazis in Kyiv, drug addicts in Kyiv, genocide in Donbas, a secret nuclear weapons programme, a US-sponsored biological weapons programme, but apparently the Kremlin propagandists still aren't satisfied with their work, because they keep looking for the winning formula.
    1
  15866. We should send a whole herd of cows to the Kremlin for Putin to hug. Maybe that'll put his mind off securing more Lebensraum at the expense of his neighbours.
    1
  15867.  @katrinat7936  Oh, Putin's clique decided beforehand what the results will be.
    1
  15868. I'm truly sorry, but I believe we all started out black when we left Africa, but out of necessity, we gradually lost most of our pigment as we trekked north. Something to do with a lower levels of UV light and vitamin D production in the skin. Also, the N in NATO stands for North. NATO only covers territory north of the Tropic of Cancer, which means African countries need not apply.
    1
  15869.  @Lamin_G  I knew exactly what your were on about. Let's do a quick quiz. How many of NATO's memberbase have a colonial past, as in them having kept colonies? You'll have to subtract the number of members that have endured colonialism themselves. Warning: you'll have to adjust your attitude.
    1
  15870.  @Lamin_G  Non sequiturs? You seem oblivious to the fact that, owing to slavery, the US has a black community that is far greater than in any of the other NATO countries. It's no wonder that it's reflected in the skin tone of their leaders. You're trying to pass off NATO as a club of colonialists, while that certainly not the truth of it. I dare you. NATO has 32 members. Mark those that engaged in colonialism with plus and those that endured it with minus. What's the score, plusses vs. minuses? You know your way around Wikipedia and you can do basic math, right?
    1
  15871.  @Lamin_G  So, did you do your sums? I suspect you did, because you're suddenly trying to move the goalposts. If you are man enough to count the NATO countries with a colonials past, perhaps you can also scrape together the courage to count how many of the 32 took part in slave-trading. Go on, be a man. And don't copy me.
    1
  15872.  @brt3798  I don't know what point you're trying to make, but Napoleon most definitely conquered and occupied Moscow. The Mongols, too, razed Moscow.
    1
  15873. Russia can only stare in awe at Ukraine's successful counter-offensives.
    1
  15874. You still can do worse. Reform.
    1
  15875.  @maxkazzora4234  Thank you for that entirely superfluous observation.
    1
  15876.  @maxkazzora4234  What a flaccid response. And you upvoted your own comment!
    1
  15877.  @maxkazzora4234  Flaccid! And again you upvoted your own comment. Yuckerama!
    1
  15878. Different org.
    1
  15879. Are you new to coalition governments? More often than not, it's centrists forming a government with either the centre left or the centre right.
    1
  15880. Care to explain why Farage was a shoe-in for the European Parliament, but him landing a seat in British Parliament is just a pipe dream? That's ignored votes for you.
    1
  15881. @ALexio Despacito You're making excuses. It's the UK's first-past-the-post electoral system that favours established parties -- there's your party elite at work -- and their candidates at the expense of candidates that the voters actually prefer. Also, you're comparing FPTP to a proportional closed-list system, which is hardly representative of EU countries on the whole. Speaking of which, closed-list is what the UK used to elect MEPs, Farage including. As champions of democracy (er, not), you'd think the UK knows better than to pick not one but two archaic electoral systems.
    1
  15882. @ALexio Despacito Yet your FPTP has led to a de facto duopoly of Conservatives and Labour, which is conducive to elitism as well, not to mention polarisation. The status quo is emblematic: a party that is in complete disarray is in charge, while the only real contender is chasing some Utopian socialist dream. But I guess being deprived of better options is a form of stability, too. The OP implied that the UK somehow occupies higher moral ground democracy-wise, yet the EU is an intergovernmental and supranational union with a sound democratic foundation. I suppose Brits would like to see the EU saddled with a duopoly, too? That would really spell the end of the EU.
    1
  15883. ​ @iaingroves1939 You just confirmed my findings regarding Farage and his inability to make MP. Doesn't it follow that you're calling yourself deluded? The electoral system according to which each EU member elects its MEPs isn't decided by Brussels, but in your case, Westminster. If you feel British MEPs are single-agenda career politicians who're just milking the system, blame Westminster, not Brussels. You're the one misrepresenting facts. Farage has stood for the House of Commons no less than seven(!) times, from 1994 to 2015, without success. He's made MEP four times, in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014. It's not just your reading comprehension that needs work. Your arguments are full of holes.
    1
  15884. Yes, this must be a taxing time for conspiracy theorists.
    1
  15885. True dat. Putin has made them happy indeed. And let us not forget newly-indicted-war-criminal-suspect Netanyahu.
    1
  15886.  @georgeaugustorodrigues7058  Norway has an exceedingly high GDP per capita owing to their oil wealth, but a long succession of Labour-dominated governments has ensured that the state is rich, but individual Norwegians aren't all that well off. The glut of money goes towards having the most elaborate welfare system known to man and lavishing money on developing countries --- rich man's guilt taken to the extreme. Even if you've managed to amass a fortune as a Norwegian, displaying your riches is very much frowned upon. Nordic protestant mentality. Besides, if you were stinking rich and not afraid to show it, why on earth would you build a mansion in Oslo, with its forbidding climate? The Med is the place to be.
    1
  15887.  @georgeaugustorodrigues7058  In case you're looking for a Brit to joust with, I have to disappoint you. I don't qualify.
    1
  15888. Russia can like it or lump it when NATO moves next door. The same applies to CSTO and NATO, although I don't see any takers for CSTO. Leavers, I do see. Treaty or no treaty, Russia can't take care of its friends.
    1
  15889. Trump is deader than a dead duck.
    1
  15890. Don't give them any ideas.
    1
  15891.  @selmahare  You'd think they'd wear Roscosmos hoodies. Roscosmos sure needs the merchandise income.
    1
  15892.  @Worldaffairslover  Russian apathy has kept Putin in power. Every nation gets the government it deserves.
    1
  15893.  @TheKkpop1  So you admit your guilt. A self-confessed whataboutist.
    1
  15894.  @TheKkpop1  Because you were entirely off-topic. Me commenting that your comments amount to whataboutism is entirely on-topic. Be a good boy and run along now. Gotta earn those 50 cents!
    1
  15895.  @dylanchampion9948  Why would your personal opinion on the EU's lifespan matter? Say, do you wear a bicorne hat and keep your hand inside your waistcoat? Public opinion, on the other hand, does matter and it has grown even more favourable towards the EU throughout Europe, even in Brexit Britain, which is now reported to be more pro than con-EU.
    1
  15896. You Indians preparing against Chinese military incursions is bound to anger China as well. Don't do it! Appeasing aggressors is much safer!
    1
  15897.  @МаксВолк-р3д  No it isn't, not according to the UN. Or please enlighten me about the UN resolution to that effect.
    1
  15898.  @amadexi  Funny. Our ammunition factories have a problem fulfilling US orders and making shells for Ukraine. Their US customers are unwilling to reschedule deliveries. Your overweight gun nuts have higher priority than Ukrainians fighting for hearth and home, it seems.
    1
  15899. I thought you had switched from nukes to the Oreshnik. Something about Master Xi saying that nukes are a no-no.
    1
  15900. Aw. Are you hiding behind Mother Russia's skirts?
    1
  15901. This is a very good indication of what 1.7 million HK people are thinking. I'm sure a pro-Beijing demonstration that drew as many people would be widely reported.
    1
  15902. Simon, the Tunguska and Pantsir are only suitable for point air defence, meaning they have to be located in the immediate vicinity of the intended target. They have limited range, which is limited even further by the low altitude at which cruise missiles operate. Also, their missiles lack seekers of their own, which means they need to be guided by a ground-based radar system until impact. You can't hit what you can't see. Neither the Syrians nor the Russians have the numbers to protect targets except for the most valuable ones. In summary, they're not the perfect weapons you make them out to be.
    1
  15903. Simon, on the contrary, sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missiles are easier to detect than land attack variants. There's no hiding between the waves, but the Tomahawk can duck behind hills and even buildings. The radar systems on Pantsir and Tor need an unobstructed view of the target.
    1
  15904. @Anonymus Anon You might as well aim it at Moscow. When were you diagnosed as suicidal sociopath?
    1
  15905. @Anonymus Anon Cockroaches won't be able to tell the difference. After nuclear holocaust, they'll inherit the world.
    1
  15906.  @whatdoesntkillyoumakesyous6707  EU countries score very well in the Democracy Index. You could say we're dominating the top of the list. Where are these "EU politicians" from, you think?
    1
  15907. The former CEO of Nokia actually said so. Fortunately, he made way for someone with more vision.
    1
  15908. You must mean America. Landlines, too, are still a thing in the US.
    1
  15909. So, Israel is an automaton that can't moderate its behaviour?
    1
  15910.  @Kohen124  You decided to go for a straw man attack then. Puerile. Hamas is a terrorist organisation all right. Not only that, they're a death cult. But Israel appears to be a willing henchman.
    1
  15911.  @Kohen124  So you've gone off the deep end. Don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  15912. Maybe it's the other way around.
    1
  15913. Tautology detected.
    1
  15914. Who did you have in mind? Or are you just guessing?
    1
  15915.  @zhugeliang3905  I'm afraid I can't return the favour and call you a good man. I expected quicker wit. Rishi Sunak was Chancellor of the Exchequer earlier. Who else was held that position? Kwasi Kwarteng. His parents emigrated from Ghana. Ghana is in Africa.
    1
  15916.  @zhugeliang3905  I understand British humour, but yours isn't it. You sounded like you were denigrating Africans. I think you're trying to be too clever for your own good.
    1
  15917.  @zhugeliang3905  I'm nothing of the sort. Now your true colours are really showing. Let's recap, you're not familiar with the national dish of England and Kwasi Kwarteng is news to you as well. I guess I should be asking you about the weather in Shanghai, <cough>wumao<cough>.
    1
  15918.  @zhugeliang3905  I think I made it clear that I'm not African, yet you keep at it. Dyslexia or a lack of intellect? Or both?
    1
  15919.  @freeman041  Funny, our leaders are judged by the state of the economy. There's no excuse if they louse it up -- it's either an opposition bench or the dole. Erdogan's fanciful excuses, on the other hand, never fail to mesmerise Turkish minds.
    1
  15920. Are you an earthling or what?
    1
  15921. As always, he defied credibility.
    1
  15922.  @JessicaBuchanan-g8y  Keep what up? Keeping silent about things that should be brought out in the open?
    1
  15923.  @JessicaBuchanan-g8y  And what should I keep up? Drawing attention to the fact that you shouldn't keep these things silent?
    1
  15924.  @JessicaBuchanan-g8y  What should I keep up? You're the ones keeping silent about matters that shouldn't be kept under wraps.
    1
  15925. I thought it was *Hamas and not Gaza that was fighting Israel.
    1
  15926.  @a24396  For your info, Hamas hasn't staged an election for a while. Also, they eliminated their political opponents in Gaza. Moreover, in launching their Oct 7 terrorists attacks, Hamas acted against the wishes of the Gazans, who, according to polls, favoured upholding the tenuous truce. Likewise, we shouldn't accuse all Israelis of supporting genocide, although they have put Netanyahu into office.
    1
  15927.  @jasonjean2901  That's a dumb question and you know it, too. Being classified as either developed or developing depends on gross national income per capita and/or human development index. The IMF, UN and World Bank all consider China a developing country. China doesn't object, since the status comes with nice perks.
    1
  15928. Oh, they'll fight one another. Now that there's no longer a common enemy, the infighting will begin. Then there will be insurgencies that need suppressing.
    1
  15929. You'd think differently from the constant whining that we heard from Russia after 2014, when it was first slapped with sanctions. Russia tried its utmost to wriggle out of the sanctions and even used them as an excuse for its economic woes. And those sanctions were nothing compared to the present ones. BRICS is a dream. It had better drop the bit that has gone gangrenous. The R part.
    1
  15930. Whoa, go easy on the copium. Excessive dosages cause brain and crotch rot.
    1
  15931. So what is the graver problem then?
    1
  15932. Got it. Wagner will do an about-face and continue to advance, this time to the rear.
    1
  15933. Your hero "TikTok" Kadyrov is a turncoat, too.
    1
  15934. Don't you know? Russia was unceremoniously kicked out.
    1
  15935. There's still the stench of crypto-Fascism.
    1
  15936.  @gearoidt6761  It's estimated that 700,000 Russians suffer from Russophobia to the extent that they had to leave the country. It's becoming a real pandemic, this Russophobia.
    1
  15937.  @Stelarjayflight  You live in la-la land.
    1
  15938.  @tyreek.6815  "Ever scene [sic]"? I have "scene" a dozen or so Olympics. I "scee" that you're saddled with a latent minority complex that manifests itself as a superiority complex. The French managed to blend the superlative architectural beauty of Paris with the games. There's no way never that Los Angeles can pull off anything similar. Superbowl, what's that? A super-size poke bowl?
    1
  15939.  @dazdaz9792  No, but did you think that was ever the case in a war? Should every soldier, before shooting back at the enemy, wait for a court verdict?
    1
  15940.  @dazdaz9792  Drone strikes are only effective if the intel is good. And if not, they're counter-productive. It's a known tactic of terrorists to shield themselves from drone strikes by mingling with women and children. They think nothing of using their own families as human shields.
    1
  15941.  @unconventionalideas5683  It's called forming a coalition government. You may want to read up on how parliamentary democracies work.
    1
  15942.  @1984isnotamanual  You've got the wrong end of the stick. Polarisation is a direct consequence of an archaic electoral system. For historical reasons, a part of the Anglosphere still sticks with first-past-the-post voting, which favours big parties. Proportional representation, on the other hand, practically always leads to coalition governments. Political parties have to keep it civil, because after a parliamentary election, an opposition party may become a coalition partner.
    1
  15943. Actually, it looks rosier from the outside than the inside. With their parliamentary systems and proportional representation, France's neighbours are adept at forming coalition governments. It's more rule than exception. France has a learning curve.
    1
  15944. First-past-the-post is a scam, no question about that.
    1
  15945. You should've realised it when the UKIP managed to secure seats in the European Parliament, but utterly failed to secure any at home.
    1
  15946. In the same breath, you might as well demand a stop to the war in Ukraine. Say, why didn't you?
    1
  15947. ​ @samhartford8677  Reminds me of an old joke about a child with a bicycle showing off: "Look ma, without hands!" Now, it's: "Look ma, without front teeth!"
    1
  15948. Unless you were born yesterday, the presumption of innocence as a legal principle shouldn't be news to you.
    1
  15949.  @igolferd1  I'm not making it up. "Sick man of Europe" was even used by the Tories in reference to the UK. It was a common refrain throughout Europe in the late 60s and the 70s. As to the UK having the highest standard of living, where did you pick up that notion? Luxembourg, Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Finland all enjoy a higher standard of living than the UK. You seem to believe the EU was founded in the early 19th century since you think Napoleon is somehow relevant to this discussion. Or 1939, since you brought up Hitler. If you must know, we never had any dealings with Napoleon; with Hitler we had a spot of bother, but we dealt with it, all by ourselves. In summary, you're full of it.
    1
  15950.  @igolferd1  The economies of then-EEC members clearly outperformed the British economy, so how could the former be deemed losers? I'd call them winners. I know now that you struggle to understand that the chronological order of historical events matters, but the late 60s and early 70s are pre-EEC as far as the UK is concerned. In other words, Britain's economical woes clearly predated Britain joining the EEC (1973). Thatcher may finally have gotten the British economy out of its rut, but that was well into the EEC era. I can't help but note that Thatcher's feat came at a cost: your education.
    1
  15951.  @igolferd1  What makes a winner then? A lower GDP per capita PPP rather than a higher one? You live in a topsy-turvy make-belief world. Britain is a popular destination for migrants because over there, it's easier to live and work illegally. The absence of a national identity card system means authorities struggle to catch them. It's an open invitation to illegal migrants. I suppose that in your wonky mind that's somehow a clever ploy. To us, it's yet another demonstration that the UK is behind the times.
    1
  15952.  @branilavvasic9727  Please, go for it, toot sweet. But don't come crying to us for aid when you change your mind or when the Russian Federation implodes.
    1
  15953.  @branilavvasic9727  It's *fairy *tale. Actually, what's a fairy tale is Russia's GDP as an indicator of its economic wellbeing. As I hinted earlier, Russia is boosting its GDP by plundering its sovereign wealth fund. It doesn't generate any long-term growth, because the increased industrial production mainly feeds Russia's insatiable war machine. Russia's arms exports have nose-dived, and future prospects are dim. Sanctions on vital components and poor performance on the battlefield sound the death knell for Russia's arms industry. What remains? Selling raw materials on the cheap to the likes of China and India.
    1
  15954.  @branilavvasic9727  Oh, now you're trying the colonisation angle, as per your dog-eared Kremlin playbook. I'll have you know that Russia rates among the worst of the worst in colonisation terms. Russia didn't need to go overseas since it could simply colonise its backyard, overland. Poignantly, Russia never left, unlike France, which decolonised a long time ago, save for the (micro)colonies that are just not economically viable on their own, although France would like to see the back of them as well. So, to this day, Russia doggedly clings on to its vast colonial empire and worse still, would like to re-colonise the former colonies that slipped from its grasp. Ukraine is a case in point. So, tell me, which European economies have collapsed recently? The only economic collapses on the European continent that I can recall are the USSR's wholesale collapse in 1991, and later, Russia's default in 1998.
    1
  15955.  @kaljus8431  You're beating a dead horse with your GDP-to-debt ratio. The point is that no-one in their right mind will lend money to Russia. When Russia's sovereign wealth fund is expended, the country has nowhere to turn -- except perhaps China. Then we're no longer talking about Russia, but about Ruxia, China's northernmost province.
    1
  15956. Except the Baltics weren't legit Soviet territory then, nor after. The Soviet Union was an occupier of the Baltic countries, just like Nazi Germany.
    1
  15957.  @kimmonurmi3074  Yeah, but you're a "perus suomalainen" (the space is intentional).
    1
  15958. This may come as a disappointment to you, but the far left is a spent force in Europe. To give you an idea, 11 MEPs qualify as far left in the European Parliament, and that's out of 705 MEPs. I expect they'll be even worse off after the election.
    1
  15959. I don't consider it a great embarrassment when someone pokes fun at Trump's bumbling idiocy. In a similar setting, I probably couldn't stop myself either.
    1
  15960. Hungary can go... without EU handouts.
    1
  15961.  @therealignotus7549  Hungary and the UK are a different kettle of fish. For starters, Orban and his chums need the generous EU subsidies, over which they've grown rich. It's not for nothing that Hungary is rated the second-most corrupt country in Europe.
    1
  15962. No one in their right mind is suggesting that China is involved.
    1
  15963. Because there's been no deal to ratify, Einstein. Interestingly, Boris doesn't need British parliament to ratify a trade deal, unlike the EU. This flies in the face of the Brexiteers' chronic whining that the EU is undemocratic.
    1
  15964. Do you think Putin is ready to withdraw? Goody, that'll make short shrift of the war.
    1
  15965. Don't blindly copy your former overlords, the Brits.
    1
  15966. Translation please?
    1
  15967.  @ghostbansurvivor6229  Ah, you're Santa's little helper.
    1
  15968. Dat wil niet altijd even goed werken in Rusland. De voormalige baas van Poetin, Anatoli Sobtsjak, is aan een hartaanval gestorven. Met zijn beveiliging.
    1
  15969. Explain your master theory in the light of France's voting record at the UN with regard to (draft) resolutions pertaining to Israel.
    1
  15970. In what scale? 1:35?
    1
  15971. EU member nations are individually responsible for arranging elections, so you're saying that the British election officials are corrupt. Doesn't bode well for your post-Brexit apoca... I mean, future.
    1
  15972. What do you make of WW2-era Katyushas then?
    1
  15973.  USSR89  Neither do you ;-)
    1
  15974.  @peterpanini96  You're being disingenuous. Germany's Rheinmetall is the biggest producer of artillery rounds in the world. Its ammo production is currently maxed out. The others, France's Nexter in particular, need to step up production. And what has China got to do with the price of tea in China? Did you think the EU has placed orders for 155mm shells with Chinese defence companies?
    1
  15975. Oh, Armenia has begged and pleaded, but Russia is otherwise engaged. And if Russia's finest Kontraktniks weren't able to beat Ukraine's citizen soldiers, how would they fare against the well-armed and battle-hardened Azeris? Azerbaijan practically pioneered drone warfare, which has cost Russia dearly in Ukraine.
    1
  15976.  @delta_glider4362  Stories, huh? Which part deviates from the truth, "bro"? Armenia and Russia are engaged in a very public spat, in case you haven't noticed. Armenia was -- and still is -- fuming at Russia for not rushing to its aid, as CSTO Article 4 mandates. The 85 US military visitors and Armenia's threat to join the ICC are just meant to put Russia's nose out of joint.
    1
  15977. Your WEF nonsense isn't going to topple the monarchy. What happened to your fondness for Reptilians anyway?
    1
  15978. Oh no, your alternative truths are being challenged globally.
    1
  15979.  @Reactivate100  Perfect straw man attack, wacko.
    1
  15980.  @fahm8097  I specifically mentioned insect fragments, which suggests the insects were milled along with the grains. Even in the cleanest of lab conditions it's very hard to prevent primary contamination. Flora and fauna go hand in hand.
    1
  15981.  @Reactivate100  Your opening comment indicates that you're unfit for civilized discourse, so I'd like to leave it at that.
    1
  15982.  @gameswithkobralo2520  *You're. "Your" is the possessive of the pronoun "you". I'm sure Putin would rather play victim here. The benevolent leader with impeccable democratic credentials, who -- very much against his will -- was forced to defend Russia's self-declared sphere of influence from NATO encroachment, only to see NATO expanding to include Sweden and Finland. Putin is a victim all right.
    1
  15983. +Tom Rogers The question is, will the Brits really run their own country after Brexit? Ostensibly so, perhaps, but the reality is that the EU will continue to exert influence over the UK, especially in economic matters. However, the reverse won't be true any longer, or scarcely so. The EU certainly won't make an effort to appease the UK, as it has done ad nauseam over the years. So there's your dilemma, how to take back something that is no longer there?
    1
  15984. Aw. The two of you should start a support group. But remember to coordinate your meetings with the Flat Earth Society, so participants don't have to choose between attending one or the other.
    1
  15985. +Tom Rogers Here's another tip for you: continued jokes rarely work. Alas, yours isn't the exception that proves the rule. Just to set the record straight: I prefer the UK out of the EU. It's a relief for all concerned. Do we in the EU need a sulky camp follower? No.
    1
  15986. +Tom Roger No pretence needed. It's apparent from my very first comment, but your reading comp leaves something to be desired <cough>thick<cough>. And why on earth would I joke about us(?) serving Article 50? We're happily staying the EU, and sans the UK, our happiness is only set to increase because there's less aggravation to offset it. In the meanwhile, you're set in terms of domestic aggravation thanks to the swelling numbers of Remoaners and Bregretters.
    1
  15987. +Tom Rogers God you're thick. I don't think one can be a Remainer without being British. Ergo, I'm not. Try to get it through your thick skull that while I obviously think Brexit is a bad thing -- for Britain -- there's a thick silver lining for the rest of us. We're having a whining malcontent that was always out for opt-outs and exclusive privileges bow out. I know you Brexiteers need to believe you'll be greatly missed, but the truth is that the sentiment is one of relief.
    1
  15988. +Carl 123 Like I said, you Brexiteers desperately need to believe you'll be greatly missed. I'll spell out the emotion for you: R-E-L-I-E-F. Let's not forget that among the more developed countries in the EU, the UK was in on the cheap. On a per capita basis, you're not very high up in the list of net payers into the EU's coffers. I'm sure your contributions will be missed, but by definition not by us net payers. Eastern Europe will take a hit, but they're not new to Britain letting them down. And oh, I've always held a job. Maybe you should take time off your call centre job to study what constitutes a good comeback.
    1
  15989. +Tom Rogers France is the second biggest contributor to the EU budget, not the UK. And why focus on absolute figures? Would you also claim that the Chinese are richer than Britons because China's GDP exceeds that of the UK many times over? Per capita contributions are a much fairer comparison. Fact is, the UK is mediocre net contributor. Your off-the-balance-sheet argument equally applies to other EU members. NATO contributions, on the other hand, are a different kettle of fish. Firstly, I, for one, am not under NATO's protective umbrella. Secondly, by the same token the USA contributes vastly to the British defence budget, far more so than Britain in fact. I wasn't aware I needed to be explicit about being a foreigner, this comment section belonging to a video by a US news channel and all. Come to think of it, that makes you and that equally-thick sidekick of yours, Carl 123, foreigners as well. You're not footing the bill for our unemployed. We are. Which part of "net contributor" don't you understand? Similarly, you haven't demonstrated any superior technical knowledge of the EU, so rest assured, no egos on this side of the pond were hurt in the making of your rather weak counter-arguments. Moreover, I actually worked at the European Parliament for a number of years, so I think I can claim I've forgotten more about the EU's institutions than you've ever known. Churchill let Poland down in Yalta, so much so that fellow Tories resigned in disgust upon his return. Funny you should mention the Munich crisis. The Munich agreement constituted a betrayal of Czechoslovakia in which Britain was complicit. Also, Churchill's pro-Soviet interpretation of the Atlantic Charter with regard to the Baltic States made it a complete mockery. As to you giving your life's blood for us -- never happened. Duplicitous promises, check.
    1
  15990. +Tom Roger You're confused. France contributed 9,216 MEUR more than it got back vs. the UK's 6,272 MEUR. These figures apply to 2016, the latest stats available. Awkward!
    1
  15991. +Tom Roger:  Oh my. You come up with the feeblest of excuses for not substantiating your claims. My source (which you helpfully verified) is dodgy, you're too busy or none of it matters after all. I like the last one -- a tacit admission that you were conclusively proven wrong. At the risk of repeating myself, as a net contributor we're not losing out on anything when Britain leaves the union. As net beneficiaries, the Eastern European members are, but as I also mentioned earlier, they're accustomed to Britain betraying them. As to being affected by the UK rebate when it was negotiated -- that predates us joining. But I wonder -- when the UK (or rump UK) pleads to rejoin, will there be any rebates on offer?
    1
  15992. +Tom Roger You're being thick again. You obviously googled my English-language source (http://english.eu.dk/en/faq/faq/net_contribution) yourself, hence my remark that you helpfully verified my source. Why-oh-why would the Danes cook the books? They're official EU stats after all. So, is this another devilish EU plot to make you Brits look stupid? Since this is clearly overtaxing your powers of comprehension, I'll graciously explain further that, yes, these funds will be left with shortfalls on account of Britain's departure. However, the consensus among the remaining contributors is that the differences won't be made up by raising contributions. Hence, these funds -- reserved for reducing economic disparity among members -- won't go as far in paying for the redevelopment of Eastern Europe, which suffered decades of backwardness as satellites of the USSR. I get that the solidarity for such an undertaking is sorely lacking in the UK, even though you knowingly paved the way for their subjugation in 1945. From our perspective, that makes for another good reason for Britain to leave the union. Just don't expect to pick the fruits of our labour, when Eastern Europe flourishes again.
    1
  15993. +Carl 123 For the umpteenth time, I can't possibly be a Remoaner. Firstly, because I'm not a Brit. We're remaining all right, with popular support for the EU only having grown over the years. Secondly, moaning implies dissatisfaction. All things considered, I'm satisfied with Britain leaving. The silver lining is so broad that I'll gladly take the little cloud left in the middle in my stride. You, on the other hand, can't come to terms with the fact that the EU-27 are at peace with Britain's decision. In a desperate effort to convince yourselves of having done the right thing, your sad lot makes up stories of great unrest and the imminent break-up of the EU, while reality suggests otherwise. Face it: right-wing populism found a foothold in Britain in the form of Brexit, as it did in the USA with Trump as the result. Continental Europe has already turned the tide. But for you, things are only bound to get worse, as right-wing populism feeds on uncertainty and economic woe. There's no shortage of those in Brexit.
    1
  15994. Your government is handing out checks, no questions asked. That reeks of communism.
    1
  15995.  @slackerman333  So, it's true then. You've gone commie on us.
    1
  15996.  @miguelamendoza3624  So, you're saying this is like the Vietnam War, where you had the VC fighting a guerilla war in South Vietnam and the PAVN a conventional war from North Vietnam. The two-pronged strategy worked for them, didn't it?
    1
  15997. Tell Trump to walk the talk. He leaves unpaid bills in his wake like no other.
    1
  15998. Everyone needs more unity. Asia above all.
    1
  15999. Watcha talking about? Barnier had majority support in parliament -- till he lost it.
    1
  16000. Conspiracy theories have eroded your mind to the point of dementia.
    1
  16001. En wat ben je van plan als het ondanks je vredeslievendheid toch tot oorlog komt? Poetin vindt het heel prettig als je je zonder slag of stoot overgeeft. Zijn FSB-spionnen zeiden immers hetzelfde van Oekraine.
    1
  16002. Valt reuze mee. Google eens "list of NATO operations" en "post-WWII conflicts". Niet veel overlap.
    1
  16003.  @alexanderbreston9918  Zijn het ook VN-leden, toevallig? Zo ja, dan is de VN ook hartstikke fout.
    1
  16004. Why would Cuba choose to become an active participant in Russia's ill-advised militarism? That said, I'm sure Cuba would go for it if the price was right, but with things being as the way they are, Russia hasn't got that kind of money. Besides, Cuba must realise than Putin's regime isn't on a firm footing. I mean, a future President Navalny is bound to improve relations with the West.
    1
  16005. Carbonised?
    1
  16006.  @mej6519  ..or a fresh pair of underpants?
    1
  16007. I see a lot of discarded babies, but very little bathwater.
    1
  16008. Als we Erdogan moeten geloven, dan steunt Nederland de PKK ook. En de VS, die bieden onderdak aan Gülen, de aartsvijand van Erdogan. Turkije heeft een probleem met de NAVO in het algemeen, dus niet alleen Zweden en Finland.
    1
  16009.  @ghezal.4281  Dat is inderdaad een ellenlange waslijst van landen waarmee Turkije het slecht kan vinden. Zodoende lijkt het erop dat Turkije beter elders terecht kan dan in de NAVO.
    1
  16010.  @ghezal.4281  Onzin. Zweden en Finland leveren evenmin wapens aan de PKK als aan Turkije. Maar daar knelt de schoen juist. Turkije wil zelf wapens van Finland en Zweden. Erdogan zegt het zelf. Nogmaals, als Turkije zo tegen het Westen gekant is, dan moet Turkije maar andere bondgenoten zien te vinden. Joep-doei!
    1
  16011.  @ghezal.4281  Als.
    1
  16012.  @nvelsen1975  Der Spiegel spoke of 1990. The other reports of "deals" are much vaguer.
    1
  16013.  @ricardoortiz-ij6io  Mr. Green did it with the lead pipe in the billiard room.
    1
  16014. @Cu6upckuû Are Africa and Latin America ruled by Murica now? Your self-deception is taking on ginormous dimensions.
    1
  16015. No can do, that's an entirely fictitious proposition.
    1
  16016. You don't speak on behalf of Africa. You don't even come close. African nations that support Russia number just two, while those that condemn Russia's war of aggression number 30.
    1
  16017.  @thecybersecguy1  You apparently don't realise that you are generalizing. Capital punishment is still a thing in the US, but the rest have abolished it, some for well over a century.
    1
  16018. What DW is alluding to is that what you described should've happened, so what are you complaining about? Also, would you prefer DW to clear with CCP censors whatever it intends to report about China?
    1
  16019. ​ @MarxStevens  If you change your line to "As long as Ukraine doesn't lose, it wins", then it's something a reincarnated Sun Tzu would say. While he's around, you might as well ask Sun Tzu how Russia can pull itself out of this quagmire. "Admit defeat and sue for peace", Sun Tzu would say.
    1
  16020. So you decided to add insult to injury.
    1
  16021.  @flybeep1661  You just administered a nocebo --- the opposite of a placebo.
    1
  16022. No, but it would be foolish to refuse foreign investment, especially if the terms are more reasonable than those offered by China.
    1
  16023.  @olzt100  I bet you define competition as "thwarting" ;-) Lenders can impose whatever conditions they see fit. With more lenders coming onboard, borrowers have more options. If you were politically neutral, you'd be happy for them. Instead, your unhappiness suggests you're biased towards China. If becoming more like 'the West' means having a free market economy, guaranteeing democracy, rule of law and human rights, the EU is right to set conditions.
    1
  16024. I'm sure there are at least that many US ones around. Why?
    1
  16025. Putin will run all right. It won't be long before Putin will run from FSB agents with orders to defenestrate him.
    1
  16026. The Uyghurs may have a different take on China supposedly being "the only humane country in the world".
    1
  16027. It would suffice if Hezbollah were to stop being Iran's workhorse. Still, this is not a first for Hezbollah, clashing with Israel. They'll roll with the punches and bounce back. Israel had better think of something else, or they'll be fighting for the next 76 years as well.
    1
  16028. What's there to remember?
    1
  16029.  @ednorton47  Huh? That's just silly, considering how things stand after the election. Les Républicains are idealogically more distant from the New Popular Front than Ensemble, and they didn't exactly do well in the election either.
    1
  16030. And what about whataboutism?
    1
  16031.  @IsraelMilitaryChannel  Tell us where to find them.
    1
  16032.  @LewisJohniom  It would have to be a nuclear one. In my understanding Ukraine gave up theirs in exchange for security guarantees from Russia. Little did they know that Russia held its fingers crossed behind its back.
    1
  16033. Iceland had better look into this defence thingy. Don't be a freeloader.
    1
  16034.  @jenson1896  It's a rule of thumb that if you can't control your own territory, someone else will come and control it. And that's exactly what happened in WW2.
    1
  16035.  @jenson1896  I would expect you to know your WW2 history. Iceland was occupied -- by the Allies. Since you couldn't defend yourselves, they reasoned that they'd have to do the honours.
    1
  16036.  @jenson1896  Yet you think it's not worthwhile to defend yourselves.
    1
  16037. Why would Trump quit the GOP? He has a stranglehold on it.
    1
  16038.  @JeesusOnKuningas7  You may want to curb your religious fervour. The Middle East in particular needs less religion, not more.
    1
  16039.  @frostflower5555  High on copium, aren't you?
    1
  16040. I loved it when there were still NWO Reptilians. The blood-drinking and the shape-shifting made it extra special. The WEF is a 'meh' substitute. You're losing your edge.
    1
  16041. Get it right. The Armata is a parade tank... or was, because it failed to make an appearance this year. The T-34 is Russia's new state-of-the-art parade tank. BTW, 'hitting back' entails Germany hitting out at Russia first. Germany hasn't even started.
    1
  16042.  @ripplingeffect9339  You're confused about timelines. The past and present have merged in your jumbled mind. "The Russians won't be so forgiven" -- that's where we agree 100%. The world won't forgive Russia for what it did to Ukraine.
    1
  16043. Ashes to ashes, more like.
    1
  16044. You should ask your sky friend to sort out this Ukraine business instead.
    1
  16045. Sounds like you should sign up as a UN peacekeeper.
    1
  16046. A former US Vice President? That must account for something, if you think the US accounts for something.
    1
  16047.  @temeria1986  Het is trouwens Libya in het Engels.
    1
  16048.  @kevt3318  Still not able to use the correct reply button?
    1
  16049.  @kevt3318  While at it, show me you can manage basic grammar. *You're.
    1
  16050. Yeah, and since we're whatabouting freely, I would like to know who had Jimmy Hoffa killed.
    1
  16051. ZZzzzz...
    1
  16052. I would think Israel would prefer not to portray itself as a terrorist organisation. You with your whataboutism must be less strict on that score.
    1
  16053.  @trulycare3574  You're mistaking glee for coping. The coping is all yours.
    1
  16054. The US could afford it all, but chooses not to. Also, in healthcare, it has the worst bang-for-the-buck among developed nations. Universal healthcare would work out cheaper.
    1
  16055. ...for prison?
    1
  16056.  @xwing8029  And what irritates China no end is that any trade sanctions against Lithuania would compel the EU to retaliate in kind. It would be the trade equivalent of NATO's Article 5 at work. What's this world coming to, bullies are deprived of their right to bully?
    1
  16057. Firstly, ECOWAS isn't OK with this. Secondly, coup d'etats can hardly be considered normal.
    1
  16058.  @Summer-tv7rz  It's not a pro-Israel move -- it's a contra-Iran move. Keep up with the news.
    1
  16059.  @sammiller6631  Ahem, Massoud was assassinated two days before 9/11 happened. Therefore, the choice fell on Karzai.
    1
  16060.  @festekj  Corruption would have to extremely rampant for Russia to make up for the loss of income. Even if sanctions aren't watertight, they bite and hurt.
    1
  16061.  @festekj  You should ask me how many times I've been to India.
    1
  16062.  @zoranbeader6441  There's a limit to what ordinary Russians put up with. Sooner or later, Putin will get his comeuppance. The best he can hope for is to spend the rest of his days in a modest (by his standards) dacha in Inner Mongolia, courtesy of China. The next we'll hear of him is that he died.
    1
  16063.  @zoranbeader6441  I think you're underestimating Russian pride. The Soviet-Afghan War was a major catalyst in the demise of the Soviet Union, and that was a low-intensity war, a far cry from Putin's very costly "special military operation" in Ukraine. This war has been humiliating for Russia from the very beginning, too.
    1
  16064.  @zoranbeader6441  In only two months, the Russians have suffered losses in Ukraine that are comparable to ten years' worth of losses suffered by the Soviets in Afghanistan. Plus, the Soviet casualties were spread over 620,000 servicemen, while the comparable figure in Ukraine is 200,000 troops. Thus, the shock effect is greater this time. The Soviet Union survived for only three years after Afghanistan. It stands to reason that Putin's political survival will be shorter.
    1
  16065. How thoughtful of you to come here and complain about your domestic issues.
    1
  16066.  @Adam13Chalmers  Be that as it may, you've provided a platform for YouTube's ever-present whataboutists. See above.
    1
  16067.  @PV1230  As it happens, I know a thing or two about Polish arms procurement. The Poles sure keep raising eyebrows among the cognoscenti. It's not so much what they choose, but that they keep choosing different things. Requirements change overnight, it seems.
    1
  16068.  @BradSavile-bg7vj  Trump groupies invariably misspell the present continous tense of the verb 'lose' as 'loosing'. You're the first who misspells it as 'lossing'. Refreshing.
    1
  16069.  @ArnoSnyman007  True dat. Politicians are like babies' diapers. They should be changed regularly and for the same reason.
    1
  16070. Well, it's Rutte now, who has the charisma of a boiled carrot.
    1
  16071. OK, Serb.
    1
  16072.  Jean Bevilacqua  Let me guess. You're a n00b to Youtube. I wasn't addressing you.
    1
  16073. These are not UN sanctions, buddy. Western sanctions.
    1
  16074. Russia carpet-bombed Paris during the War of the Sixth Coalition. That must be it.
    1
  16075. It looks good in their web of lies.
    1
  16076. Panda, consular staff weren't targeted in the expulsions. It's the intelligence operatives who were. Chances are that Britain expelled the very operatives who were tasked with following up on Russian dissidents, including Skripal. They have blood on their hands.
    1
  16077. The Russians are chucking $10 million missiles at $1 million targets -- and often miss. The game must be Monopoly and Russia is the one with the cashflow problem.
    1
  16078. Did you just managed to fix your VPN?
    1
  16079. Don't commit suicide on our account.
    1
  16080.  @ordinary179  You really are a n00b, aren't you?
    1
  16081.  @Biotech789  More like an RKG-3 "shot".
    1
  16082.  @supa3ek  A 1kg warhead buys you up to 220mm of penetration through steel. That's plenty for a grenade.
    1
  16083.  @Biotech789  On the footage of these quadcopters you should the see tip of the RPG-7 warhead at the bottom, just like you can see the two spinning rotors now. It doesn't make sense to strap heavier warheads onto multicopters. For that, you'd want to use a winged drone instead, so that it can stick around, too, waiting for targets of opportunity.
    1
  16084. No one wants a piece of yucky Russia. They can stew in their own juices till they develop the presence of mind to depose Putin.
    1
  16085.  @Starwarrior9831  You'll find that in many cases, the colonial masters in question can't get rid of their colonial remnants. The locals keep voting against independence.
    1
  16086.  @alihanhaydar8369  No, not quite alone. Putin has friends in North Korea, Eritrea, Syria and Belarus. That's it.
    1
  16087.  @alihanhaydar8369  They're officially on the fence.
    1
  16088. Het is te hopen dat jij binnengelaten wordt als je bij de hemelpoort meldt dat je "mosim" bent.
    1
  16089. It's a common practice. One of the oddest examples was Estonia gifting Soviet-made D-30 howitzers to Ukraine. They had first belonged to the East German Volksarmee, but they were declared surplus after German reunification. Finland took them over, only to resell them to Estonia. Estonia had to ask for permission from both Germany and Finland before it could pass them on to Ukraine. Ironically, Russia's permission was not needed, although it's Russian troops that these howitzers have been used against.
    1
  16090. Klopt, maar je hebt het land verkeerd. Niet Oekraïne, maar de Verenigde Staten vechten niet langer voor de democratie en de vrije wereld. Het gaat Trump enkel om bodemrijkheden.
    1
  16091. The Lebanese Armed Forces have been mostly armed by the US. Fact. Would it be possible that you don't know the difference between them and Hezbollah, who're armed by Iran?
    1
  16092.  @michaelchrist4620  The Lebanese Armed Forces are relatively weak, yes. I suppose they do some internal peacekeeping, like the UN does externally. Whenever there happens to be a peace to keep, that is.
    1
  16093. What would be the charge?
    1
  16094. I wonder. The weaker Russia becomes, the more dependent it is on China. That plays nicely into China's neo-colonial hands.
    1
  16095. ​ @alberthoogendoorn2396  Het lijkt erop dat je een heel andere discussie aan het voeren bent. De rol van Timmermans in dit geheel ontgaat me helemaal. Ik moet denken aan een tang, een varken en het werkwoord slaan. Wel leuk dat je me vraagt over mijn (bewogen) militaire carriere. Ik ben een jaar als dienstplichtige in de weer geweest, gevolgd door een half jaartje als sergeant instructeur. Daarop volgde een opleiding tot blauwhelm en een uitzending naar Libanon. Ik heb er een Nobelprijs voor de Vrede aan overgehouden, in 1988 (een tweede kreeg ik in 2012). Later, na mijn studie(s) en een stage bij de NAVO in Brussel werd het KFOR in Kosovo, ditmaal als officier inlichtingen. Ik ben nog steeds reserve-officier. Apart is dat ik sinds vorig jaar (weer) officieel NAVO-soldaat ben en ingedeeld zit bij een tankregiment met ex-KL Leopard 2's. Als je de Koninklijke Militaire School in Brussel meetelt, heb ik in drie legers gediend.
    1
  16096.  @mtkoslowski  It's nigh impossible to predict how long Putin will last. The Russians may just be apathetic enough to let him stay after the inevitable defeat. Putin also has his private army in the Rosgvardiya, so he may be able to keep the various PMCs at bay.
    1
  16097. Het is begrijpelijk dat je zo denkt. Het Ministerie van Onderwijs heeft in jouw geval falikant gefaald.
    1
  16098. Biden dispenses sound advice with a mea culpa thrown in. What's "anti sémitisme" about that?
    1
  16099. I think you should stage a (personal) boycott against Euronews. Problem solved, right?
    1
  16100.  @David-ji5fi  Oh, that explains it. You're a silly conspiracy theorist. Tell me, is Queen Liz a lizard, perchance?
    1
  16101.  @marandymbamara9099  Inner-esting. Five out of the world's top 10 democracies are republics. The other five are constitutional monarchies. I'm going out on a limb, but could it be that 'republic' and 'democracy' are not mutually exclusive, to say nothing of 'state'?
    1
  16102. Right you are. Perhaps she should wear a dead raccoon on her head, like her hubby.
    1
  16103. You may want to explain yourself further. I don't think there's a rocket that has been subjected to closer scrutiny for sustainability.
    1
  16104. blanca, because Russia is in the habit of violating the sovereignty of its neighbours. As we speak.
    1
  16105.  @olgabondarenko1594  I'm afraid the international community has already forgotten about "Russian" Crimea.
    1
  16106.  @crabLT  They? You're advocating military force, but you don't want to get personally involved. What are you, an armchair general, a politician or -- worst of all -- both?
    1
  16107.  @crabLT  I was in Kosovo, trying to manage the refugee flows in the aftermath of the Kosovo War. I don't think you've got the stomach to do anything about the problem yourself. You conveniently want to outsource it to... someone else. Also, it's interesting to note that you're not in the least bit concerned about the fact that Belarus is actively pushing migrants into the EU. We had a lot of that in Kosovo -- first, the Serbs were pushing civilians out, then the Albanians. I realise it's an entirely hypothetical proposition, but had you been there, you would've blamed the refugees.
    1
  16108. You've misunderstood. Putin's counter-productive attempt to create a Greater Russia is the problem here.
    1
  16109.  @bonnie7898  Truth be told, the ISAF mission in Afghanistan was a NATO op, be it one sanctioned by the UN and enthusiastically supported by Russia and China, among others.
    1
  16110.  @bonnie7898  ISAF most definitely was a NATO op. NATO doesn't make a secret of it. I did a tour with KFOR in Kosovo,, another UN-sanctioned NATO op. So I should know. This information is literally at your finger tips. Next time, take the time and spare yourself some embarrassment.
    1
  16111. Say, how about you giving Ukraine vouchers that can be redeemed for German, French, Israeli, and Swedish weaponry? They have a less-developed military-industrial complex.
    1
  16112. Let's ban rule of law, too, eh?
    1
  16113. Don't OD on copium.
    1
  16114.  @MyChrisable  Do some research on memes.
    1
  16115.  @LukeTEvans  Being better than half the countries in the world implies mediocrity. We strive for excellence, not mediocrity.
    1
  16116. Soldering tin is fortunately easily replaced.
    1
  16117.  @koenwijnen8278  Dat is een natte droom van jouw, Koentje.
    1
  16118. It's more likely that the UK will budge. The question is only when. It's pretty clear that the EU members value the integrity of the single market more than a watered-down one where the UK is allowed to cherry-pick.
    1
  16119. The Russian mercenaries concerned were just expendable pawns to Putin. The Kremlin wasted no time in disavowing them.
    1
  16120. Andy, do you deny that the Kremlin immediately disavowed the Russian mercenaries that got killed? If so, it follows that they're expendable pawns.
    1
  16121. Hapalon, you need to work on your insults. Expendable means their lives have little value. Mercenaries or not, in other countries there would be an outcry if one's citizens were to die in such numbers. You must've fallen under the spell of Hollywood, because in reality Blackwater provided security services that were considered too mundane for combat troops. The Russians, on the other hand, seem to have no qualms about putting their mercenaries in harm's way.
    1
  16122.  @x-hale2899  Right. Or rather, with disapproval. NATO was very divided on the matter, feeling that the justification for the Iraq War -- the ever-elusive WMDs -- just wasn't there. And right we were. Those Freedom fries didn't taste so good after all.
    1
  16123.  @MKSense1  For your info, you don't call someone "an ignorant". You either call them simply "ignorant" or alternatively, "an ignoramus". You're ignorant of this, aren't you? You should also work on your punctuation. To answer your poorly worded question, if NATO's Article 5 does get invoked, Hungary will mobilise, no ifs and buts, just like all NATO members. After all, NATO is not the CSTO, where Russia may or may not spring into action, depending on Putin's priorities.
    1
  16124.  @MKSense1  Oh, you concede that you're wong? That was easy.
    1
  16125. It doesn't bode well. Turkey has never produced a modern fighter jet. I'm sure Erdogan, if he manages to stay in power, will sooner or later fall out with Turkey's project partners, sparking more weapons embargoes and causing one delay after another. We've seen it all before with other Turkish weapons programmes. When will Turkey learn that Erdogan is an unacceptable liability?
    1
  16126.  @electricdonut8592  Right-o, jack-in-the-box tanks and missiles that more often than not miss their mark are "great". Soon it won't matter how "great" Russian weapons are, because they can't be produced any longer. Customers like India are already cancelling orders, because they don't trust Russia's ability to deliver.
    1
  16127. The Neptune is a cruise missile, not a torpedo. Big diff.
    1
  16128.  @mikakorhonen5715  Now you're just being silly. Let me guess, you live in an igloo and you only use whale oil for warmth and lighting.
    1
  16129.  @mikakorhonen5715  So you're not using electricity either? Let me guess, you send smoke signals that the good people at YouTube transcribe into comments?
    1
  16130. I hope the arms manufacturers remember Putin with a gift basket. NATO should, too. Best recruiter ever.
    1
  16131.  @hizzlemobizzle  You're clearly no military expert. Every army has military trucks and infantry weapons. They're handy against insurgents like themselves, but breakfast to modern armed forces.
    1
  16132. Napoleon III lived from 1808 till 1873. Know your history.
    1
  16133. You're actually suggesting a trade war when the UK needs all the goodwill it can muster?
    1
  16134. I trust Ukraine will get their ATACMS when the Russians are forced to withdraw their ammo depots further away from the front line.
    1
  16135.  @adityachauhan5781  The keyword here is indigenous, as in "Buy Indian". The I-Derby is "Buy Israeli". Moreover, it is a radar-homing BVR variant of the Python, which lands it in a higher price bracket than the IR-homing AIM-9X. You need to put more effort into your research.
    1
  16136.  @adityachauhan5781  And I specifically mentioned "indigenous" in my comment, to which you replied. I included it because the OP suggested that there's a cheaper Indian substitute for the AIM-9X. No such luck.
    1
  16137.  @diksh777  You may think so. In 1998, a RCAF fighter jet fired no less than 1,000 rounds at a rogue weather balloon, with no discernible effect. The balloon subsequently made its way across the Atlantic, all the way from Canada to Finland.
    1
  16138.  hit_alive  Were you born yesterday? Just about every country has a hamburger restaurant chain of their own already.
    1
  16139. Speak for yourself. America's allies haven't been very enthusiastic about the Afghan mission for years.
    1
  16140. In Russia, you *may get out.
    1
  16141.  @sakethreddy4450  You heard wrong. For instance, America wouldn't have 5G networks without Europe. Sweden's Ericsson and Finland's Nokia practically divvy up the market.
    1
  16142. They did already once and it proved a shambles. Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.
    1
  16143.  @theundisputed96310  You fit the description of insanity all right.
    1
  16144. You seem very confused.
    1
  16145. So what you're saying is that Russia and China should kowtow to the world. Okay.
    1
  16146.  @mera1379  I paraphrased what the OP wrote. Don't you know English either?
    1
  16147.  @rickymartin875  That could be the Israeli army and its reservists, who're reportedly tired of fighting a war without an end in sight.
    1
  16148. They don't call him divider-in-chief for nothing. Yay, your grandkids get to be American Civil War 2 reenactors.
    1
  16149. OK nationalist.
    1
  16150.  @command_unit7792  Nationalism always appears in the guise of patriotism.
    1
  16151.  @command_unit7792  I suppose guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities and a functioning market economy are no-nos to an ultranationalist.
    1
  16152.  @command_unit7792  Please, do elaborate who these professed oligarchs are. Are you sure you didn't confuse the EU with Putin's excuse of an Eurasian Union?
    1
  16153.  Rashka  Who's we, boomer? You appear to have no clue.
    1
  16154.  @snm4621  Your Five Eyes is the Indians' WEF, eh?
    1
  16155. The obvious escapes many, but not you. I salute you, Captain Obvious.
    1
  16156.  @АлексейНечаев-у6ь  Cope harder, Putin bot.
    1
  16157. Be that as it may, it's a PR disaster for Russia. Also, the haphazard manner in which they handled culpability for the missile strikes raises the question if Putin is still in control of his military. His propaganda machine is clearly ad-libbing. No, there's no method to this madness.
    1
  16158.  @drunkdrftr  You don't say. But are you sure she's transgender?
    1
  16159.  @drunkdrftr  You're the one who's greatly inspired by gender fluidity. Don't project.
    1
  16160.  @BobaFett895  Astonishingly, Murmansk in the Arctic is a 'warm-water port'. It remain ice-free throughout the year, thanks to the Gulf Stream.
    1
  16161.  @katyasilentium  Get with the programme, Katya. The Anglo-Saxons ceased to exist as a cultural group after William the Conquorer vanguished them. That's nearly a millenium ago.
    1
  16162. Are you having a laugh?
    1
  16163. Having lived in all three -- the PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan -- it's a complete mystery to me how the Chicoms ever believed they could persuade Taiwan to rejoin China voluntarily. The Taiwanese would be barking mad!
    1
  16164. US? The US is not a member of the ICC. Putin has an arrest warrant out for him in 124 countries, just not in the US.
    1
  16165.  @RideAcrossTheRiver  Putin is recruiting Afghan fighters, so why not West Africans? For their sake, I hope we're not talking child soldiers.
    1
  16166. UN troops from a total of 66 countries are "fleeing" Mali as a result of MINUSMA drawing to an end, just like Germany's. You had better check that yours aren't among them, or it will be really embarrassing.
    1
  16167. No, it's like this: elected officials answer to the US military-industrial complex.
    1
  16168. Medvedev is a total tool. Vance shows great potential in that respect. Bark but no bite.
    1
  16169. Yup, he'll order FSB to spray your underpants with Novichok.
    1
  16170. @Zack Morata It was a military coitus interruptus ;-)
    1
  16171. The Netherlands aren't exactly a poster boy for nuclear power. If you were French, or even Belgian, you'd have some credibility.
    1
  16172. The biblical Job? He must predate Scholz by thousands of years.
    1
  16173.  @kermankoonekerman8855  You're a weird one. I'm talking about NATO and you drone on about Africa, China, India, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Venezuela and whatnot. Are really that confused as to which countries are in NATO and which are not?
    1
  16174.  @kermankoonekerman8855  I see you're incapable of rational discourse. Remember to take your meds.
    1
  16175.  @jeffyount6836  I don't get you. FYI, Venezuela and Argentina are republics, too.
    1
  16176. How about no superpowers at all?
    1
  16177. Whatever gave you that idea? You must be terribly confused there.
    1
  16178. Didn't your government vote for NATO involvement in Afghanistan?
    1
  16179.  @gregoryj8202  Russian Ministry of Disinformation.
    1
  16180. The (imaginary) whataboutism is strong with you.
    1
  16181. The difference is that we're supporting a country fighting a defensive war, while the Norks are supporting a military aggressor that has been condemned by the UNGA time and again.
    1
  16182.  @supriyaede3852  Trudeau should've told you about separation of powers, too. Trudeau, as the PM, can't overrule the judiciary.
    1
  16183.  @sekhariyer3980  So, Trudeau, who was a teen at the time of the bombing, somehow perverted the course of justice? The justice system can only convict if there's sufficient evidence. Surely that principle applies to India as well.
    1
  16184. Before you get all giddy, you should study who owns patents that are core to ASML's business.
    1
  16185. I don't know about that, but I know whose puppet Orban is.
    1
  16186.  @mochen9282  If Ukraine is of strategic importance to China, Russia is even more so. Russia has natural resources that China can put to very good use. With Russia having become an international pariah that's being sanctioned left, right and centre, China is Russia's lifeline. China can dictate prices and exploit Russia in good old colonialist tradition. Russia just has to grin and bear it. So, China took a bit of a hit on Ukraine, but the upside, Russia, more than makes up for the loss.
    1
  16187. The only thing that fascinates about Russia is the ineptitude, political and military.
    1
  16188. Has the 4D chess master considered wrong-footing NATO by withdrawing from Ukraine?
    1
  16189. Finland heeft héél resoluut opgetreden. Daar kan Nederland niet tegen op. Zelfs Geert niet.
    1
  16190. Privé heeft Poetin al menig traantje weggepinkt. Hij heeft alvast een datsja reserveerd in Binnen-Mongolië, want die in Den Haag is minder ruim.
    1
  16191.  John Bull  The lesser of two evils?
    1
  16192. @Jolly Jumper Grapjas. Ik ben geboren met zowel de Finse als de Nederlandse nationaliteit. Zodoende was ik dienstplichtig in Finland en Nederland. Ik ben zonder aarzelen in dienst gegaan, eerst in Finland en daarna in Nederland. Ik had het zo naar mijn zin in het Finse leger dat ik zelfs een militaire carriere overwoog, maar dan wel bij de Koninklijke Landmacht. Wat een enorme afknapper was dat laatste. Over moreel kon je amper spreken. Toen de Finnen mij opeens voor een VN vredesmissie wilden hebben, ben ik met de noorderzon vertrokken. Tot de dag van vandaag ben ik reserve-officier in het Finse leger. Ik zie geen enkele reden waarom het ooit tot een treffen zou komen tussen Finland en Nederland, maar over de uitslag heb ik geen twijfel.
    1
  16193. So Hungary and Slovakia, both military lightweights, would succeed where Russia, with its #2 army in the world, has utterly failed?
    1
  16194.  @patriktoth6258  That's highly hypothetical. NATO would call both Hungary and Slovakia to order, if not the EU.
    1
  16195. No danger of that.
    1
  16196.  @christineshotton824  To be fair, Caesar took Rome because he broke the rule that forbade bringing armies into then-Italy, across the Rubicon. It followed that there was no army to oppose him either. Still, Caesar's civil war lasted four years, so a decapitation strike it wasn't.
    1
  16197.  @juliapigworthy  The EU net payers mostly pay into the Cohesion Fund, which funds improvements to infrastructure in the poorer member states, mostly East European ones, which were held back by communism. Sure, the Cohesion Fund is taking a hit on account of Brexit. But are you honestly suggesting that Britain, already hard-hit by years of Brexit uncertainty and now suffering the worst Covid-19 fallout in Europe, will somehow conjure up the same amount of money that these countries get from the EU as it is? You really have a bloated ego.
    1
  16198. Crashing into it would be the Russian style. And Chinese.
    1
  16199.  @ufi9540  Which law would that be?
    1
  16200.  @ufi9540  OK, now you're just being silly. Over and out.
    1
  16201.  @SpenzOT  The old far-right/far-left switcheroo. You're all wingnuts. That suffices.
    1
  16202. How is that relevant?
    1
  16203. Russia's war-mongering against Ukraine will be a thing of the past, that much is certain.
    1
  16204.  @ДмитрийТихонов-и1е  Boo-hoo. It's indicative that Russia screams bloody murder about the EU tourist visa ban. Vice versa, it wouldn't even occur to us to visit Russia for pleasure.
    1
  16205. The irony is that he could've been tolerated as a junior coalition partner by the VVD and/or the NSC, but now that's off the board. In hindsight, Wilders must wish he could've sabotaged his campaign a bit, like Omtzigt did when he vacillated about becoming PM.
    1
  16206. I wonder if Iran has instructed Hamas to strike a deal before Trump assumes office. Israel, on the other hand, may want to delay it till he does.
    1
  16207. If there's criminal negligence, sure.
    1
  16208. We've got wolves. Hunters can no longer use dogs because they become dog meat.
    1
  16209. *Psychoticism. Learn it, in case you need to decipher your diagnosis.
    1
  16210. To deny the enemy its use, of course. Did you think Hamas sticks to its own offices or quickly purchases the buildings where they set up their defences?
    1
  16211.  @antekasic2732  You're like a child with a hammer. It's always hypersonic missiles, nuclear weapons or a combination of the two. As if that's going assure complete victory for Russia. Complete victory is going to come, but only after Russia's economic collapse. We've seen it all before, when the Soviet Union collapsed. I don't have a crystal ball, but the EU and NATO are going to see a lot of new applicants, as Muscovy tries to reassert control over former Russia's break-away republics.
    1
  16212.  @AbuBawa-sw1ut  There's nothing to corroborate your claims and deep down you know it, too. The Russian economy is in extreme survival mode, hemorrhaging money left, right and centre. Russia is desperately feeding the IMF with flawed data, but what do you think, will cooked books avert disaster? Reality won't bend to comply with imaginary stats. Russia stands isolated, as evidenced by the series of UNGA votes about the Ukraine conflict. Are the likes of Eritrea and Mali going to bail Russia out? Or flood Russia with military aid?
    1
  16213.  @MetallicReg  Russia struggles to equip its newly-mobilised reservists as it is. What is it going to equip 15-20 million of them with? Stick and stones? All they're good is mine-treading and human wave attacks.
    1
  16214. Yeah, let's have Putin visit one of the 123 countries that have issued arrest warrants for bunker grandpa. Putin should visit the Netherlands, so he can spare himself a lengthy extradition process.
    1
  16215.  @j.mehnmontokpa7154  Huh? Inferior to every system that did not implode on itself.
    1
  16216. There's a distinct probability that Prigozhin will outlive Putin by decades.
    1
  16217. Just say than Orban is in Putin's pocket.
    1
  16218. Not true for walkie-talkies, which owing to their PTT functionality still enjoy a measure of popularity among civilians. But their walkie-talkies wouldn't contain a Mossad-installed explosive charge, now would they?
    1
  16219. This is all about Chinese government collusion, but rather than helping Chinese multinationals, the CCP has rendered them suspect in the eyes of the world. The CCP scored an own goal.
    1
  16220. The people don't want a referendum. They want their elected representatives to do their jobs.
    1
  16221. Which Syrian faction has the authority to invite in anybody? The country is embroiled in a civil war with no end in sight.
    1
  16222. Downward spiral? The EU is expanding fast -- too fast even, some say. Putin would piss his pants with glee if his Eurasian Economic Union grew at all. Uh, why do you refer to yourself with the royal 'we'? Megalomania much?
    1
  16223. Try to hold on to democracy and convince the Chinese, too, that it's a good idea.
    1
  16224.  @johnny-ih5es  Again, I haven't paraded my smelly personal opinions. You have. Produce proper argumentation, not unsubtantiated personal opinions. You may think highly of yourself, but no-one else does, except for your doting mum.
    1
  16225. By reporting on Israel's affairs? The impudence!
    1
  16226. Who poked whom first? As I recall, Russia set pro-Russian separatists loose on Ukraine in 2014. Now, 9 years later, Ukraine has finally returned the favour. The boot is on the other foot and your teddy bear is having a temper tantrum.
    1
  16227.  @insolidusyt  *Who's judging. I'm not judging. We eat muskrats.
    1
  16228.  @theodorkorner1497  As to teething problems related to modern IFVs, savvier Brits will get the gist if you mention "Ajax".
    1
  16229.  @Altair885  Not true. The trials are still ongoing.
    1
  16230. Let me guess, any news reports that are not cleared by CCP censors qualify as biased in your book?
    1
  16231. Storm Shadow and ATACMS are still considered topnotch weapons and remain in use with the most capable armed forces.
    1
  16232. I think that on the whole, they're rather apathetic for tolerating Putin for so long.
    1
  16233. It's nice that Belgium has one Belgian.
    1
  16234. Should Poland go back to its former status, subjugation by foreign powers?
    1
  16235.  @nimozje  Subjugation is not voluntary; EU membership is. If you join any club, you agree to follow its rules. If you think the rules are too restrictive, yes, you FO.
    1
  16236. They -- not you -- care.
    1
  16237. You can try, but I very much doubt anything will come of it. Your Global South is an unruly bunch that's just as likely to be at each other's throats than to co-operate in a meaningful manner. For your information, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela are already considered part of the Global South.
    1
  16238. You're implying that India's Rafales are doomed when China fields the S-500.
    1
  16239.  @ragingmonk6080  It's ultimately not about the UK, is it?
    1
  16240.  @ragingmonk6080  Don't be too obvious. On what grounds would the UK continue to hold Assange, if extradiction to the US is no longer in the cards?
    1
  16241.  @petyavelikova5066  You're projecting, vatnik.
    1
  16242. The corruption is state-level affair. The culprits are the likes of Hungary's Orban, who use the EU's cohesion funding to enrich themselves. That's why you won't see Hungary -- despite all their grandstanding -- leaving the EU. No golden eggs without the goose, the EU.
    1
  16243. Putin is just revelling in victimhood. It always goes down well with his domestic audience, who'd rather not see Russia for what it really is: an aggressor.
    1
  16244. Unlikely. Israel has a nasty habit of killing Gazans, even those who oppose Hamas.
    1
  16245. I'm wondering about the murder rap. Shouldn't it be involuntary manslaughter?
    1
  16246. Let's hear your conspiracy theory.
    1
  16247.  @ericp1139  There you go, as predicted. Exploiting the gas deposits would be more troublesome if there were an artificial island inhabited by hostiles in the way. Sorry for ruining your conspiracy theory right off the bat.
    1
  16248.  @ericp1139  No conspiracy there. It's pretty much out in the open that Israel's far-right FM wants to confine the Gazans in a concentration camp/ghetto.
    1
  16249. Prolonging Netanyahu's wobbly hold on power. It takes war to do so.
    1
  16250. Many are indeed. A Scottish friend of mine was eager to tell me that a DNA test showed that he was 40% Scandinavian. Yet his family had no recollection of Scandinavian ancestors, only Scots. It's implied that he inherited his generous helping of Scandie genes from various unrelated Scottish ancestors.
    1
  16251. The Lukashenka puppet regime falls like a house of cards when puppet master Putin bites the dust. It shouldn't be long now.
    1
  16252. Save themselves from what? Book-burnings? The Russians?
    1
  16253. It would seem that you don't understand how best-in-breed parliamentary democracies work. It's all about a majority in parliament. The far right thrives on divisiveness, but that precludes majority support. If they do make it into a coalition government, they alienate themselves from their voters, who expect the full package right here and now. In summary, in a full democracy, the far right is its own worst enemy. No wonder the far right dreams of autocracy.
    1
  16254.  @novainvicta  I don't think you quite understand IP law. Unless there's a valid patent in the country in which a product is manufactured and/or sold, it's free game. Just like everyone else, the Chinese steal IP, but likewise, they can't export products that contain stolen IP to countries that do respect IP law. Lately, China has made a huge effort in applying for patents of their own. They'd like them respected as well, so they're somewhat responsive to demands for reciprocity. Sadly, it's work in progress, since Chinese courts almost always rule in favour of the domestic party, no matter whether that party is the defendant or the plaintiff.
    1
  16255. Uh-oh, your damage control isn't working.
    1
  16256. The EU is no stranger to corruption. It's rife in certainly member countries, like Hungary, where it has been endemic for, like, ever. The EU lacks jurisdiction to tackle corruption on a national level. Qatargate, however, as in a central EU organ being affected, is a new development.
    1
  16257.  @missSmith-d2y  Yup, Putin caused Euromaidan as it were. Putin yanked Yanukovych's strings too hard by making his puppet ditch the EU in favour of closer economic ties with Russia. Ukrainians weren't having any of it, hence Euromaidan. Don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  16258. As much as I dislike Trump, I can't see how you can place the blame for the shoot-down at Trump's doorstep. When there's another flare-up and hundreds of angry Iranians trample one another to death, is Trump responsible in your book?
    1
  16259.  @trumpisvaccinatedsoshouldy1269  Be that as it may, none of that is an excuse for the Iranians to play silly buggers with their surface-to-air missiles and kill innocent bystanders. It's on them, not Trump.
    1
  16260.  @trumpisvaccinatedsoshouldy1269  Okay, so the Iranians shouldn't be provoked in any shape of form because they're bumbling fools who'll do themselves an injury otherwise.
    1
  16261.  @evgeniybastrykov  True dat. We would've used the same weapons we've given them against Russia anyhow. It's not like there are many other aggressors about in Europe, apart from Russia.
    1
  16262.  @СергейМонин-д7с  Sure thing. Ukraine is heading for a defensive victory. Russia's economic collapse -- and perhaps, its dissolution -- will make victory complete.
    1
  16263.  @Sejuani89  Latino comes from Romance languages, languages that literally evolved from Latin, which is definitely European in origin. But if you want to throw up cultural barriers, be my guest -- no skin off my back.
    1
  16264.  @GrumpyBonobo  Filip Dewinter van Vlaams Belang is anders wel betrapt omdat hij netjes onkostennota's indiende van zijn gelobby voor China.
    1
  16265. I'd like to see you survive our winter in your cardboard house.
    1
  16266. Well, the US is supposed to be a beacon of freedom. I would hate it if my country were to emulate China.
    1
  16267.  @anthonye4183  YouTube is just one example. I spent a week in China last year, and I was wondering about the poor reception of BBC World Service in my hotel room. It quickly dawned on me that the transmission was cut off whenever the Hong Kong protests were on. China is an embarrassment to itself.
    1
  16268.  @coffeelover5631  You're completely missing the point. The week after, I saw the massive streets protests in Hong Kong with my very own eyes. That the BBC reported something so glaringly obvious is only natural, but that the CCP had to suppress the reports is utterly embarrassing -- it's a tacit admission the CCP has lost the plot. China deserves better. And keep your dreary whataboutism where the sun don't shine.
    1
  16269. I quite like the little text editor.
    1
  16270. Indeed, there may be a catastrophic defenestration event in store for him. Or Putin and his closest aides all suffer simultaneous heart attacks. The latter actually happened to his erstwhile boss, Anatoly Sobchak, in 2000.
    1
  16271. What's your major malfunction?
    1
  16272.  @GodwinGodfather  Read about the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It lasted 38 minutes. And why was it "inevitable" for Russia to unleash its aggression on Ukraine, pray tell?
    1
  16273.  @lg2058  I suppose you're wholly unawares that you're contradicting yourself. Ukraine is a neighbour of Russia. Duh. Finland has always been on Russia's target list, or the Finns wouldn't have built nuclear shelters to accommodate practically the whole population. The real question is, how are the unprotected Saint Peterburgians going to manage, when the fallout from the Russian nukes reaches them? Are you aware of the distance between Finland's major population centres and Saint Petersburg, and the prevailing winds?
    1
  16274.  @annveronica7795  Who are you?
    1
  16275. Of course they are. Voters are critically following every step they take. Are you equating the EU with China?
    1
  16276.  @xianseah4847  They'll be affected just like everyone else. The EU is not like China with its special perks for the nomenklatura.
    1
  16277.  @guill90  The VVD has already ruled out a coalition government with Wilders as PM. What remains for the PVV? The opposition. It's not ideal for a proud democracy like the Netherlands, but when only poor alternatives exist, the least poorest is still best.
    1
  16278. Serb tears flow but the caravan moves on.
    1
  16279. The climate-changed hot summers did. Lack of cooling water.
    1
  16280.  @spacecube8561  No, the outages can last weeks on end, for as long as the heat waves last.
    1
  16281.  @spacecube8561  Check your sources. Weeks at worst. This year wasn't a first, neither was last year or the year before that. You're wrong about the once-per-day outage of solar power. Our polar night lasts weeks on end. On the plus side, the sun doesn't go under for weeks on end in the summer. Consider yourself hoisted by your own petard.
    1
  16282. The Russians can blow dope to forget how poorly the war is going for them.
    1
  16283. The upcoming colour revolution in Russia will ruin his career.
    1
  16284. You and your hand get a room.
    1
  16285.  @Ютубводоканал  Sorry, but Russian GDP per capita is dropping faster. Besides, inflation will plateau when higher energy prices have been factored in. Russia's economy, however, is in freefall.
    1
  16286.  @Ютубводоканал  Russian assets in the West have been frozen, not stolen. I wish they could be used to pay for all the damage you've caused in Ukraine, but alas, that will require a lengthy legal process, the outcome of which is uncertain at best. Sure, Russia has a glut of oil and gas as it has trouble flogging it. Prices tend to drop when supply outstrips demand.
    1
  16287. Don't flatter yourselves. Delivering a state-of-the-art missile system and revealing its secrets to a potential adversary speaks volumes. If anything, it's an act of desperation. China is slowly but surely increasing its market share in global arms sales and at Russia's expense in particular. While it still enjoys a technological edge over China, Russia can't be picky any longer about what to sell and to whom. Hence S-400 and Turkey.
    1
  16288.  @SK-lt1so  I've applied for a Taiwanese visa many times. It matters little if I'm entering an Embassy of Taiwan or a Taipei Cultural and Economic Office. The difference is so negligible that only wumaos can discern it.
    1
  16289.  @trajkoivanov7118  Made-up stories don't qualify as provocation.
    1
  16290.  @BingoPaletot  Agree. Thanks to its developing country status, China's been getting away with murder, especially in terms of carbon dioxide emissions. It's time to the let real developing countries reap the benefits, not in the least by snatching away some of China's outsourced manufacturing.
    1
  16291. Bear? Sure, a scruffy teddy bear that's missing an eye.
    1
  16292. The Ostalgie is strong with this one.
    1
  16293.  @Nauda999  Aren't you a cutie. I'm done with this low-quality convo.
    1
  16294. Putin is lashing out at everyone, including his own henchmen, because of the poor results.
    1
  16295.  @altrfryd5859  So Ukraine must be utterly destroyed so that it can be rebuilt into a "beter [sic] country for everybody". Do you ever listen to yourself? Russia can't even rebuild its own economy, much less Ukraine.
    1
  16296. Okay then. Poland, Greece, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, United Kingdom, Slovakia, France, Montenegro and North Macedonia are paying their dues.
    1
  16297.  @kalkidanhailu8563  Oh really.
    1
  16298.  @UkraineNeeds  France 24 post videos on fake news. For your sake I hope this one is going to be featured, but I'm afraid not. It's too bizarre to be taken seriously by anyone but yourself.
    1
  16299. Iran is funding the IDF now? You kids say the darndest things.
    1
  16300. The war industry should send Putin a gift basket for boosting their sales and voluntarily surrendering Russia's global market share to them. Putin ruins Russia's oil & gas business and its arms business. Double-double whammy!
    1
  16301.  @orcashorts5813  The UK and Germany had suffered paper cuts compared to Turkey spurting arterial blood all over the place.
    1
  16302. You're sorely mistaken. Global polls show that Putin is about as popular as Trump. Who isn't popular at all.
    1
  16303.  @san4os94  Some are famous, some are infamous. Still not the same thing.
    1
  16304. Don't harbour any illusions that the other powers hold much sway either. Belarus lives in Russia's armpit.
    1
  16305. There's a reason to celebrate: 7) looted washing machines -- Russian tighty-whities have never been this clean.
    1
  16306. In WW1, the French taught the US doughboys to fight the Germans. The US military could've picked from a number of Allies to teach them the ropes. Somehow, they arrived at the French.
    1
  16307.  @sleepyjoe7843  Why-oh-why would I need to questioned about matters that are of no relevance to the topic at hand? Are you tacitly admitting that Russia's and North Korea's actions stink to high heaven, but you think there's a mitigating factor in that the US isn't morally in the clear with regard to Israel's actions? There has to be some method to your madness, right?
    1
  16308. A panicky Putin must be racking his brain how he could still bribe Hungary and Turkey.
    1
  16309. It's the same god that Muslim pray to. Christians as well.
    1
  16310.  Soon to be banned for writing facts   Don't be preposterous. As of January 15, 2021, there were 2,500 US troops left in Afghanistan. All in all, 9,592 coalition troops remained. Do the math.
    1
  16311.  Soon to be banned for writing facts   You're still being silly. Which part of "American troops formed a minority in Afghanistan when the withdrawal started" is false? I produced the figures that prove me right. It seems you've come to the realisation that you can only win the argument if you move the goal posts. I'm sorry, but I'm neither jealous nor embarrassed that Murica wasted thousands of its soldiers' lives and misspent over 2 trillion dollars in Afghanistan. We signed up for a UN-authorized peacekeeping and reconstruction mission -- as a non-member, NATO's Article 5 didn't apply to us -- and completed it. Yes, as soon as ISAF made way for RSM in 2014, we redeployed the bulk of our troops to Lebanon, Kurdistan and Mali. You should feel embarrassed and jealous, because already in 2014, we had the presence of mind that was still sorely lacking in Washington DC.
    1
  16312. They're also known as 'jihad pills' in the Middle East. The jihadists pop them to quell their fears in combat and boost their stamina. It appears Islamists have a captagon prescription from Allah.
    1
  16313. You two get a room.
    1
  16314.  @badbad-cat  You go watch it again, bud.
    1
  16315. Reptilians? Please say yes.
    1
  16316. Uh, the real centre right doesn't want to associate with the far right. I thought Ursula von der Leijen made it abundantly clear the other day. No chumming aound with the far right, nor the far left, for that matter.
    1
  16317.  @tbrx296  Says who? Von der Leyen is CDU, which is EPP, which is centre right. Have you considered the possibility that you've radicalised, so that the centre-right has only "drifted" left in relation to you?
    1
  16318.  @suportbghelp4938  Which fact went unchecked by me? You're stating an opinion as if it were a fact.
    1
  16319.  @chidoluehenzc8154  Remained? You don't seem sure yourself. Have you even been to Russia?
    1
  16320.  @yellowtunes2756  When did I claim that Turkey sent its S-400 (c400?) to Ukraine? Leave off the silly straw man attacks. It's interesting that you "just found out" that the US sanctioned Turkey for procuring the S-400. It's widely known that Turkey missed out on the F-35 because of it. And try to get the name right, fanboy.
    1
  16321.  @Unknown-te6dz  Let me try to spell it out for you, because you don't seem to be blessed with the ability to put two and two together. The OP questioned if the air defence systems pledged by the West had been delivered or taken into use. They are operational, but it remains practically impossible to provide 100% air defence coverage in a country as large as Ukraine, where every electrical transformer is a target.
    1
  16322.  @nnaemekastephen  Trump never was my president, nor is Biden my present one, silly.
    1
  16323. In your shoes, I wouldn't break out in jubilation. The double whammy of a no-deal Brexit and Covid-19 may spell the end of the UK. We stand together, you fail all alone.
    1
  16324. Germany has had a string of defence ministers who're just unfit for the post.
    1
  16325. @Козырь The Kremlin was actually quite bullish on Saddam's WMDs. Much more so than France and Germany, for instance.
    1
  16326.  @morganleonard5280  It took Russia only 10 years to fail against the Mujahideen who had no tanks, no air force and no air defence system.
    1
  16327. The debris still comes down and causes damage. Russia has been equally quick to blame Ukraine for residential damage from downed Ukrainian drones.
    1
  16328. Isn't Ireland, an EU member, directly involved?
    1
  16329.  @capofantasma97  Of course Ireland is involved. Does "Good Friday Agreement" ring any bells? Ireland already showed its mettle when the EU played with the idea of imposing vaccine export restrictions to NI. It's definitely in NI's interests to involve Ireland, which has decision-making powers in the EU, while the UK does not.
    1
  16330. You felt all self-congratulatory all of a sudden?
    1
  16331.  @TheThazzY  I'm pretty sure they can't survive on Chinese oil and gas exports alone. The Russians are struggling with low oil prices as it is. The Chinese being Chinese, they can't resist a good bargain, even if it's a win-lose and loser is a "friend".
    1
  16332. When Russia sells gold at cheaper prices to non-EU countries, its profit margins drop. It is, as you say, good.
    1
  16333. Yes please, teach us about bribes and corruption.
    1
  16334.  @GusMac6129  Hungary isn't getting any of Ukraine's €50b no matter what. Orban is getting Putin's bribe, however.
    1
  16335.  @GusMac6129  Why are you repeating after me? Duh. Obviously, Orban is not going to publicise Putin's bribery. File away. Who cares about your personal BS register.
    1
  16336.  @rouz0  Yeah, we're to believe Russian servicemen took their holidays in the Donbas.
    1
  16337.  @lesb-fe2jf  Russia can't break a twig in a bundle, that much is clear.
    1
  16338.  @Илья-у1ю  Remember to pack tampons for you trip to Ukraine, and maybe it won't be one-way.
    1
  16339. The far-Righties would like to accuse the EU of corruption, but then again, it's mostly far-right MEPs who've been on the take. Dilemma!
    1
  16340. Newsflash, institutions interpret laws. Not always fairly.
    1
  16341.  @keithrobertson3232  Not so fast. Russia covers a large part of Europe and it comes off worse than Ukraine in the Corruption Perception Index. Just saying.
    1
  16342. We're discussing Novokraine now.
    1
  16343. It would make more sense to build Panther KF51s for the UK, perhaps with the Challenger 3 Rheinmetall turret.
    1
  16344.  @AERONOOB  Obviously we're eager to supply weapons to Ukraine that allow it to defend itself against Russian aggression. In Ukraine's position, you'd bend over backwards to appease Putin, wouldn't you? Ukraine's ambition to join NATO is consequence rather than cause. Sweden's and Finland's NATO bids are cases in point.
    1
  16345.  @JTC549  You seem very confused. Who's invading Russia? In fact, Russia did once invade our country and we kicked its butt, be it at great cost to ourselves, but the then-Orcs paid a much higher price, militarily and politically.
    1
  16346. Aw, don't go suicidal on us.
    1
  16347. Je denkt verkeerd. Nederlandse soldaten meesturen om het oorlogsmaterieel te bedienen is geen optie, dus het zal enkel materieel moeten zijn. Je kan jezelf troosten met de gedachte dat elke Russische soldaat die door toedoen van Nederlandse wapentuig sneuvelt niet tegen Nederland kan worden opgesteld. De wapens doen dus hun werk. Heeft Nederland andere mogelijke vijanden dan Rusland? Ik dacht het niet.
    1
  16348. ​ @linkvos8151  Héél simpel. Ethiopië, Soedan en Jemen zijn geen bedrijging voor Nederland. Ze hebben geen expeditionaire krijgsmacht, die in Nederland inzetbaar is. Rusland heeft die wel. Ik weet niet of je te jong bent of gewoon vergeetachtig, maar tijdens de Koude Oorlog was Duitsland het slagveld van Europa. Nederland trainde ervoor. Nu is het Polen, straks Oekraïne. Forward defence.
    1
  16349. More like putting a curious expression on our faces. Putin is clearly trying to brush up his image, but he's creating false expectations among his fanboys. BRICS is not going to save Putin's career (probably not his life either, knowing how Russia operates when swapping leaders).
    1
  16350. Your Russian chums will get them all right. Right up the tail pipe of their jets.
    1
  16351. ​ @babblo1389  There's a funny joke about a state visit by Putin. Along the route his cavalcade would take, the police kindly asked an elderly woman to remove her laundry from the clothes line. She said she'd take risk, adding that if the Russians really needed her granny panties that much, they'd be welcome to them.
    1
  16352. I fear this outpatient care for your mental problems is not working out.
    1
  16353. Embittered Russian soldiers taking potshots at passersby. These animals need to be contained.
    1
  16354. Yeah, maybe Russia can get a good deal on inferior Chinese copies of the T-55 and T-62.
    1
  16355.  @soccer9199  So India has a huge Putin fan club? One wonders why...
    1
  16356. Russia has a far bigger economy and they're feeling the hurt of the sanctions imposed on them -- so much so that they're admitting to it publicly. Besides, it's a public secret that Belarus tranships sanctioned goods to and from Russia. So new sanctions will end up hurting both.
    1
  16357. Sovereign nations can strike alliances as they see fit. We're not stopping countries from joining the CSTO or BRICS+.
    1
  16358. Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson have skirted controversy, too. Comes with the territory.
    1
  16359. If Qatar deems it worthwhile to bribe MEPs, wouldn't it stand to reason they're at it with your MPs, too? Glass houses...
    1
  16360. Elections are part and parcel of a democracy, boofus.
    1
  16361.  @loktom4068  Everyone's paying extra for shipping, dum-dum. Chinese exporters are crying foul, because they've got to deliver for a previously agreed price. Tellingly, China didn't veto the UN resolution that paved the way for retaliatory strikes against the Houthis. Both China and Russia obligingly stepped aside.
    1
  16362.  @loktom4068  You're confirming my point, dum-dum.
    1
  16363.  @happymelon7129  OK, happy melonhead, you've earned a potato. That said, I'm afraid that with your poor Putin trolling, you're about to earn yourself a one-way ticket to Ukraine.
    1
  16364.  @loktom4068  Tell me, dum-dum, who's my favourite idol then? The Gaza conflict and the Houthi attacks are two separate phenomena. The common denominator is Iran, the instigator of both conflicts. Also, are Iranian and Israeli assets fair game the world over because we don't happen to agree with their belligerent policies.? Think carefully before you answer. You don't want to end up on a terrorist watchlist.
    1
  16365.  @dillipinaction  So, in your expert assessment, Putin is opposing Western imperialism by engaging in Russian imperialism. I see little of the former, but to unsee the latter is impossible. It's on the news every single day.
    1
  16366. Not true. France and the UK are agreeable to sending troops to Ukraine. Where are yours?
    1
  16367. Have you reported for duty as a UN Peacekeeper yet?
    1
  16368. You're talking about the far right, not the right -- the centre right in current parlance. You don't get to appropriate the centre right, and you far righties certainly don't lead any rightist alliance.
    1
  16369.  @VaucluseVanguard  Let's see about those democratic credentials -- Johnson received 23,716 votes in the 2017 general elections. Verhofstadt received 678,051 votes in the European elections of 2019. I think a mic drop is in order now.
    1
  16370. It's supreme irony that the Palestinians of today are descendants of the ancient Israelites.
    1
  16371.  @Dangermonkey1000  That does not compute.
    1
  16372.  @sk_tv99  Imagine you flouting due process and resorting to vigilante justice. Civilisation is but a thin veneer. In your case, it must be razor-thin.
    1
  16373.  @aloksen626  Nope, but due process needs to be followed. A cavalier attitude is a slippery slope.
    1
  16374.  @RobertVansteenbrugge  And what might be the charges? No need to speculate about Putin's indictment -- a warrant for his arrest has already gone out to 124 countries.
    1
  16375.  @TheValeyard92  You're being unkind to the Vikings. The Vikings were surprisingly democratic. Both the Norse and the Anglo-Saxons held their tribal councils in high regard, both being Germanic peoples. Norway, for example, slowly but surely -- without great drama -- evolved from a tribal democracy to a true democracy, and the world's top one at that.
    1
  16376.  @silasnelson3116  You should hear the Serbs still cry about the time when NATO showed them that enough was enough.
    1
  16377.  @piellamp  That's what industrial action is for. It's ironic, however, that the employees of long-suffering Boeing are the ones doing it. I would like a 44% pay raise, too.
    1
  16378. Some do, some don't. We only get to hear we've given another 20M€ weapons package to Ukraine.
    1
  16379. You and your dog stand with Russia?
    1
  16380.  @fxui  You're just guessing, aren't you? The balloon is white so that it reflects sunlight. Otherwise the lift gas would heat up and cause the balloon to rise. This way, it maintains a steadier altitude.
    1
  16381. Welcome to the club. And you can't even blame us Euros for your migrant problem. Vice versa, we can blame you for ours.
    1
  16382. Where to begin. You've lost grip on reality.
    1
  16383.  @vavictus  Sigh. Supplying conventional missiles for defensive purposes to Ukraine does not equal "US to shoot missiles into Russia! 😂". Russia is the one doing all the nuclear sabre-rattling. No-one else is.
    1
  16384.  @FROOBELINKALIKAT-p9z  You must have an American English dictionary. It's definitely "elk" in British English. Despite Brexit, British English remains the formal version of the language within the European Union.
    1
  16385. Are you new to this world? Whatever Israel does, and there's a draft resolution at the UN that condemns it, the USA will veto it. It has happened oh-so many times before.
    1
  16386.  @jamesgreen1116  And they'll get them, too. Your Orcs should wise up and leave on their own accord -- or leave in an urn.
    1
  16387. You may want to look up the word. Americanisms are for the Americans.
    1
  16388. ​ @JohnJones-k9d  Sock puppet much?
    1
  16389. A suicidal Putin troll salivating over nuclear Armageddon. That's novel.
    1
  16390.  @zeta11gamer60  Russia is not getting any nukes on their border. Russia is putting nukes on their border. Spot the difference?
    1
  16391. You tinfoil hatters are really having a field day, aren't you?
    1
  16392. Of course it is. MEPs are expected to declare any gifts, no matter whether they're from Qatar or an NGO. Why, did you think the latter are exempt?
    1
  16393.  @fitzstv8506  Yes, I'm Brexiteer in the sense that I strongly feel that Britain -- or should we say Little England -- needs a time-out, like a surly schoolkid that can't behave. In your eagerness to reply, you missed my point. Contrary to what the anti-EU crowd/NWO conspiracists keep claiming, there's no Brussels politburo that issues diktats.
    1
  16394. Not quite. Netanyahu was caught with his pants down. It's a bit of a Yom Kippur War situation for his already troubled cabinet. I guess we're looking at yet another election in Israel.
    1
  16395. Quit blaming the colonialists. They don't make good role models for this day and age.
    1
  16396.  @38284LHK  I was taking you to task over your whataboutism, bud.
    1
  16397.  @janewu3178  OK, wumao. You're an anachronism.
    1
  16398. Are you sure the US is paying its fair share? Are you familiar with the two-front doctrine?
    1
  16399. Sarah, which part of "all gas imports" do you struggle with?
    1
  16400.  @sarahbrown5073  Got it. You have difficulties expressing yourself.
    1
  16401. Dual-use goods?
    1
  16402. If so, why not have Cameron return? His hubris made Brexit happen. If anyone, he should make it go away.
    1
  16403.  @gerri577  Without Russian troops at their side, the Donbas militias would fold like a cheap suit.
    1
  16404.  @gerri577  So, Ukraine is presently more than holding its own against everything Russia can muster, but your claim is that the same Ukraine couldn't dislodge the Donbas militias, which are a small and severely depleted subset of Russia's military might in Ukraine. You're not convincing anyone. Thank you for the propagandistic lecture, but next time, please save it for someone with a severe lack of intellect.
    1
  16405.  @joshl8599  Thanks but no thanks. We've got our own kit, the CV90. I've personally witnessed it trundle along where the Bradley got hopelessly stuck, time and again.
    1
  16406. Our money, for us, too?
    1
  16407.  @ariefrachman7545  Gaddafi was clearly on his way out, and the idea was to make it happen with the least amount of collateral damage. Gaddafi should've read the writing on the wall and done a runner, like Syria's Assad. He'd be living in luxury in Moscow now, giving Assad tips how to spend it all.
    1
  16408. Thailand? De oorlog is in Europa, en hier is het is juist andersom. Oostenrijk hield een referendum over het voortbestaan van de dienstplicht. 60% wilde er niet van af. Zweden en Litouwen hebben het terug ingevoerd. Letland is ermee bezig. Frankrijk en Duitsland overwegen het. De discussie is net losgebarsten in Groot-Britannië. Denemarken, Finland en Griekenland hebben nooit de dienstplicht afgeschaft. Finland wordt telkens naar voren geschoven als voorbeeld van hoe het allemaal moet. Maar liefst 80% van de mannelijke bevolking vervult er hun dienstplicht.
    1
  16409.  @nightraven2975  No, why? I haven't seen Russia kick Ukraine's arse lately. Of late, Russia is not making any significant progress. The reverse is true, however. Ukraine's last two counteroffensives can both be deemed smashing successes (pardon the pun).
    1
  16410. You should watch the news. Russia broke the peace in Ukraine. This is all consequence.
    1
  16411.  @CorruptMediaLies  No, Botty McBotface, indeed it didn't. Unlike yours, my "news" adheres to journalistic principles.
    1
  16412.  @CorruptMediaLies  And what would you know about my "news"? You haven't got the faintest clue where I'm from. Anyhoo, I don't need news media to tell me that there's no credible source to corroborate Russia's genocide claims. Russia hasn't provided any evidence, suggesting that the claims serve propaganda purposes only.
    1
  16413.  @CorruptMediaLies  You'd think Russia would've called the OCSE in to investigate. They've reported no signs of genocide. Like I said, the claims serve propaganda purposes only, and you're part of the effort. Useful idiot or bot?
    1
  16414.  @samanthaw4955  You don't want a just peace. Rather, you prefer to enable the hitlers of our time.
    1
  16415.  @robgianzon7427  What's wrong with sanctioning Russia? In WW2, Japanese garrisons on quite a few Pacific islands were bypassed and left to "wither on the vine." Soon enough, the unsupplied Japanese soldiers had each other for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
    1
  16416.  @dimidochev2530  The compilers of the Democracy Index don't call the Russian state duma a rubber stamp for nothing. Let's seen how the UN General Assembly votes.
    1
  16417. Sorry, he's not a crypto-fascist.
    1
  16418.  @mistressfreezepeach  The disinformation is all yours.
    1
  16419. Maduro and Milei are two of a kind. Populists the both of them, one far-left and the other far-right. The horseshoe theory isn't far off.
    1
  16420. So young yet so cynical...
    1
  16421.  @mladenpopovic379  That's just wishful thinking, or do you have a credible source? Surveys done by respected polllsters? Pfrrt, why do I even bother to ask...
    1
  16422. Is that some kind of coping strategy that will help you sleep till you've finished your grieving process?
    1
  16423. Putler can end it overnight.
    1
  16424. Abbas didn't do the Palestinians any favours. The guy experienced a bad flare-up of foot-in-mouth syndrome.
    1
  16425. I guess the decision is between who sucks less.
    1
  16426. No, it's Trump being a sore loser even before he has lost. How pathetic is that?
    1
  16427.  @janetskene3413  And where's your evidence of illegal manipulation? Have police reports been filed? Any credible witnesses? Mail-in ballots aren't a new phenomenon and the US isn't alone in using them. There's precious little evidence of past cheating related to mail-in ballots. It sounds like everything in the US has turned to shite after Trump became president.
    1
  16428. Don't make everything about you. This is an international forum, not your Fox News.
    1
  16429.  @raka522  I suppose the German general in question didn't face the Free French in combat. Maybe he was even an armchair general, like yourself.
    1
  16430.  @raka522  So, are you a general in active service?
    1
  16431.  @raka522  No, I'm gainfully employed. Don't project. Your emojis are cute. Don't let anyone tell you that they're childish.
    1
  16432. It's a suspension, with the aim to force UNRWA to investigate properly.
    1
  16433. EU pets seem to bite, especially Israel. For instance, Israel is screaming bloody murder over Netanyahu's indictment by the Netherlands-based ICC. The EU said it would abide by the ICC ruling. As to the EU being a US pet, that fanciful claim is undermined by Trump's intention to start a trade war with the EU as soon as he's president again. Do your pets hurt you just as badly when you hit them? A propos, doesn't it bother that you that you never manage to post anything other than tired clichés? Where's your pride?
    1
  16434.  @N_Alternate_MAD  Impossible? The S-400 is effective against targets flying at medium and high altitudes. It struggles to engage low-and-slow targets. Cruise missile are just that. Turkey has been highly critical of the S-400's performance, especially in this regard.
    1
  16435.  @N_Alternate_MAD  Sure, Russia has the Tunguska and the Pantsir, amongst others. They suffer from the same limitations as the S-400 -- very limited range against terrain-hugging cruise missiles. They're intended for point air defence, but if the target is an undefended shopping centre, like in Kremenchuk, scoring a hit against a cruise missile becomes a mere theoretical possibility.
    1
  16436.  @richrich9321  Why would Israel call out Finland? If a Russian presents himself at the Finnish border with a Schengen transit visa with Israel as the final destination, there's no problem whatsoever. The border remains open, except for Russian tourists.
    1
  16437.  @namename-qb5xe  Hmm, let's see. Metsola landed 458 votes out of 690 -- an absolute majority -- upon her election as President of the EP. It's *democracy, by the way.
    1
  16438.  @namename-qb5xe  No dum-dum, voted in by the European Parliament, by 458 of its 690 elected MEPs. Educate yourself before posting clearly ill-informed comments.
    1
  16439.  @namename-qb5xe  The European Parliament election is next year, silly. Every five years. You must've been born yesterday not to have noticed. Are you even of voting age?
    1
  16440. He's about to. Putler's oligarchs are his walking piggy banks. When Putler is granted asylum by Xinnie the Pooh, those oligarchs will no longer honour withdrawals.
    1
  16441.  @vasilestan  No, this is just Hungary showing that there's always a Judas. Judas^2, in fact, because Hungary is netting not 30 but 60 pieces of silver.
    1
  16442. Or poisoned.
    1
  16443. What, will Russia recruit Indian sepoys to do the honours? Because its own soldiers can't get the job done in Ukraine. I'd like to see how Indians cope in the subarctic climate.
    1
  16444.  @rishirahul4823  Your mighty Russia is a giant with feet of clay -- that much is clear after 8 months of aimless Russian "special operations" in Ukraine. NATO -- if it were to get involved in the fighting -- would drive Russia out of Ukraine in a matter of weeks. You evidently don't understand your place in the world economically, much less that of Russia. Russia screwed itself over royally, leaving it only with bargain hunters for customers -- India and China. Neither of you dares to engage in sanction-busting, lest you'll be sanctioned yourselves.
    1
  16445.  @rishirahul4823  What's With The Title Case? A New Craze In India? If India and China actively bust sanctions, the exporting companies in question will be hit with sanctions. They'll be in the same boat as Huawei. Don't flatter yourselves unduly with being manufacturing hubs. Final assembly adds relative little value to a product. There are enlightening case studies about the iPhone. Apple imported the iPhone 7 from China at a cost of $240. Of that, only $8.50 stayed in China. There's your "mighty powers". I suppose it hasn't sunk in with you how technology brands are busily looking to mitigate risk by spreading their manufacturing over multiple low-cost countries. You don't have to be an economist to realise that this spells trouble for both India and China.
    1
  16446.  @erichert1001  I am aware of that, but the clue is in US military doctrine. Study it carefully and get back to me. You may also want to reread my comment and pay extra attention to the italics.
    1
  16447.  PhSt  Actually, it was Putin who gave NATO a new lease of life by annexing Crimea and waging war in East Ukraine. Moreover, it was the former Soviet bloc countries that eagerly sought NATO membership. It wasn't forced upon them by the US or anyone else for that matter. Instead of letting them in right away, NATO had these interested parties join its Partnership for Peace program, and keep them waiting for 10 years on average. Incidentally, Russia joined the program as well. You could say these NATO's newest members were prescient -- even more prescient than Russia regarding itself.
    1
  16448. My late uncles both had sporterized Mosins for hunting. The other was war booty, brought back from the front by my uncle himself.
    1
  16449. Russia should stop invading its neighbours without provocation.
    1
  16450.  @lovesimpleton8177  Trump hardly epitomizes Western-style democracy. Trump is both a symptom and a cause of America being on a slippery slope towards authoritarianism, away from democracy. By the way, you don't need to specify "Western-style" when referring to democracy in China. There's no "Eastern-style" democracy in China either, or for that matter, democracy in any shape of form.
    1
  16451.  @lovesimpleton8177  It works for India. China isn't even trying.
    1
  16452. Such as? This particular one is a US move that is criticized by the rest of the West.
    1
  16453.  @tbd-5160  Are you trying to argue my case?
    1
  16454. With Putin no longer in the picture, the war would end practically overnight. This is now about Putin's survival.
    1
  16455. I don't see it, but I do see the Netherlands being held back by the Trump effect -- populist politicians attacking the legitimacy of the established media. Scandinavia isn't immune either, but you've got it worse.
    1
  16456. You're just salty because the former Soviet bloc countries made a beeline for NATO when the Evil Empire collapsed.
    1
  16457.  @ThePereubu1710  If Russia stops fighting, Putin, too, is finished. There lies the problem. Russia is once again paying the price for reverting to a dictatorship.
    1
  16458. Where and when would it have been relevant?
    1
  16459.  @satyamchowdhury9743  Cop-out detected.
    1
  16460. You must be crushed. Your mum will probably rip the Wagner fan posters from your walls when you're in school.
    1
  16461. ​ @dilonkumar4960  It never was Russia's, so taking back doesn't apply. Maybe Pakistan should take "their's" back from India and you'll respect them for it.
    1
  16462. Same diff, sport.
    1
  16463. I hear they've given Milosevic's old cell in The Hague a makeover, as a welcome gesture to Putin.
    1
  16464. You're an alarmist, probably one with a hidden agenda, too. Racism much?
    1
  16465.  @Verdiz700  Dus je vindt Russen clowns. Van mij mag het.
    1
  16466.  @tuttifrutti5300  Het ziet er naar uit dat Timmermans enkel geduld hoeft te hebben en het premierschap wordt hem voorgeschoteld.
    1
  16467. That's France for you.
    1
  16468. Right. Blame the pilot for his plane losing a wing out of the blue.
    1
  16469.  @dumbestguyintheroom6651  So? We're a republic, but still one of the highest-ranking democracies in the world.
    1
  16470. Too bad he's still got more coins left to play with, courtesy of the EU's net payers.
    1
  16471.  @edgethawavestar2855  Having read your comment, I'd love to lend credence to Godwin's law, but I'll resist.
    1
  16472. Tell me, was Saleh al-Arouri Lebanese? They had a foreign terrorist in their midst -- a terrorist leader suspected of masterminding a major act of terrorism. It shouldn't have come as a surprise.
    1
  16473.  @bjolie78  Aw.
    1
  16474. Pull the other one. You're a Russian troll.
    1
  16475.  @fsidesmith  Patriots, while effective against Saddam's Scuds, aren't ideal against slow and low-flying drones. Turkey has reported a similar problem with Russia's S-400, once so beloved by Erdogan. CIWS is effective, but suffers from limited range. The same goes for MANPADS. Ukraine can and should protect high-value targets, but the problem is that Russia hits civilian targets just as eagerly. You can't put a CIWS on every apartment building.
    1
  16476.  @YOU-ot9ep  Agreed, not Putin. He'll have the slapper's underpants poisoned.
    1
  16477. The Hippocratic oath may prevent his doctors from revealing that.
    1
  16478. Russian is a race now?
    1
  16479. You forgot to add that it's Russian lives for the most part. By the way, what do Russians fight for, and consequently, die for in Ukraine? The Ukrainians don't need to ask themselves that question.
    1
  16480.  @wajhussain786able  Don't be silly, Iran tried something similar in the Tanker War, but got its a**e handed to it.
    1
  16481.  @jasonbourne9819  Really? The EU is far, far more devolved than the US.
    1
  16482. So a study about Ötzi's assumed skin colour somehow obliterates 745 million Europeans?
    1
  16483. It's a no-brainer to collect HIMARS rocket debris at the numerous targets that the Ukrainians have hit and plant it as "evidence" at Olenivka prison. Also, why would there be a need for precision weapons? The Russians control the area. They could've used any manner of explosive device, like a barrel filled with C4 and HIMARS rocket debris.
    1
  16484. Crimea is a warzone. Targets over there have been struck since late July.
    1
  16485. Consequences as in you having a good cry?
    1
  16486. Oh, soon enough, their Kremlin handlers will realise their pens aren't mightier than swords. They'll make inferior substitutes to Wagners' convicts, but it's time they pitch in for reals.
    1
  16487. What's your suggestion, net payers pay even more?
    1
  16488.  @hermes4239  Duh, Nordstream became inoperational as a result of Russia's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, not because Russia blew it up. Russia tried to make geopolitical capital out of it, but failed in that, too. It was a tacit admission that the gas station that masquerades as a country would do no business with Western Europe any longer.
    1
  16489.  @protectwhattheygaveus  Mustafa Barghouti's political affiliation is with the PNI, not Hamas. His party wants no part of Hamas. Are you ignorant or do you have to misrepresent facts?
    1
  16490.  @protectwhattheygaveus  You just luuurve to generalise, don't you? Barghouti is within his rights to criticise the disproportionate violence unleashed on the Gazans, no matter what. Hamas's heinous acts of terrorism against Israel don't mean it's suddenly open season on Palestinians as a whole. Sadly, you're capable of binary thinking only.
    1
  16491. ​ @Артём-ц5э8з  They only use stand-off weapons, launching them from well within Russia's borders. They never dare to venture within Ukrainian SAM range.
    1
  16492. Ik kom anders nooit "çentrum" tegen, of "çirculatie". Je vergat te vermelden dat als de letter "C" voor een "E", "I" of "Y" (of zelfs "AE") staat, dan wordt hij als een "S" uitgesproken.
    1
  16493. Makes perfect sense, Andrea. The Russians were occupiers in the Baltics.
    1
  16494. The far left is practically non-existent these days. You're projecting.
    1
  16495. Isn't it great that Trump has discovered high-capacity adult nappies? You and your gerontocrats...
    1
  16496. Rather, it's an IFV.
    1
  16497. That's an easy one. Because it perpetuates their illegal hold on power. One for all, all for one? Why wouldn't it work for partners in crime as well?
    1
  16498.  @dorcylance540  Who's COVID-19 advice should we take then? China's? The United States', UK's, Iran's, Russia's or Brazil's? At least the EU has no airs or doesn't hold back information.
    1
  16499.  madcheeseknight  The polls I'm referring to were conducted by various research companies throughout the world, each of which arrived at their conclusions independently. While you're obviously in denial, Trump himself seems to accept the results. He's even proud of his unpopularity, as it supposedly shows that he's "doing his job".
    1
  16500. He knows now what daddy Xi thinks about nuclear sabre-rattling. Putin got a talking-to from his master and commander and, fighting back tears, Putin promised to behave from now on.
    1
  16501. You should rephrase that to read: "UK loses heart over leaving the EU".
    1
  16502.  @MiSt3300  Say goodbye to your Thai holidays then.
    1
  16503. Putin just promised to crack down on those who spoiled their ballot. Some much for freedom to vote as you please.
    1
  16504. What is Finland supposed to be stopped from doing? Thwarting Putin's imperialist plans up north?
    1
  16505.  @jwserge  That would be interesting. I distinctly remember visiting Helsinki once when there was a burning smell in the air. The locals explained that it was from forest fires across the border, inside Russia. The smell was worse still in St. Petersburg, my next destination. Don't you think radio-active particles would travel just as easily between the two cities? Moreover, the Helsinkians have fall-out shelters for the entire population. I very much doubt St. Petersburgians are as lucky. What is it with you Russians and nuclear posturing? Don't you realise it has an air of desperation to it?
    1
  16506.  @jwserge  I see your comments. You're getting shadow-banned on account of your bad language. Are you new to YouTube?
    1
  16507.  @jwserge  You slip in bad language. Are you so nekulturny that you can't even tell?
    1
  16508.  @jwserge_MaiL_Ru  How am I Western and where have I even mentioned NATO?
    1
  16509.  @Serhio_de_Odessa  I'm tired of you and your sock puppets. I've blocked all three of your accounts.
    1
  16510. Playing the victim doesn't suit Iran.
    1
  16511.  @Funktastico  Yup, Antwerp is the undisputed diamond capital of the world.
    1
  16512.  @winsonip4447  It's different with diamonds. You should read up on the Kimberley Process. I don't mind India reaping the profits from Russian oil at Russia's expense. In fact, having Russia pump oil at a loss nicely hollows out their war economy. To add insult to injury, Russia is at a loss what to do with its surplus of rupees. India doesn't have what Russia needs. China does, but you can't just convert rupees to yuan.
    1
  16513. That's why Pootie wants a new currency.
    1
  16514. So, your idea of leadership is surrendering at the first opportunity.
    1
  16515.  @endcapitalism5274  Pavlovian much?
    1
  16516.  @fredbyoutubing  Oh dear. You were served with a teaspoon instead of a ladle.
    1
  16517.  @fredbyoutubing  Maybe this explains it to you in sufficiently simple terms: INCURSION = RAID = INCURSION = RAID... need I go on?
    1
  16518. More like dissuading Putin from starting WW3. Russia's Baltic Fleet has little elbow room left in what is now being referred to as a NATO lake. Striking west through Finland would invite disaster for the Russian army, as NATO air power gains unrestricted access to Finnish air space. Also, the security situation of the Baltic states improved considerably, and that of the Russia's Kaliningrad exclave worsened. Northern Europe is a formidable fortress now. If Putin has a rational brain cell left in his head, he'll leave it alone.
    1
  16519. France has a 810-strong UN peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon as we speak. It seems to dwarf yours. Anyhoo, there doesn't appear to be a peace to keep.
    1
  16520.  @maestoso47  He's on about surfing. Killer waves along the coast of Israel.
    1
  16521. Yeah, many of the top-performing democracies democracies have centre-left governments. In fact, they alternate between centre-left, centre and centre-right governments, with their democracy none the worse for wear.
    1
  16522. Ja, na kabinet-Timmermans I.
    1
  16523. You've found their weakness. The NWO is doomed.
    1
  16524. You want us to prove you right? You must be making one of those 'In Soviet Russia' reversal jokes.
    1
  16525.  @leonardball5067  Russia swears by crony capitalism these days.
    1
  16526.  @simpaticaism  I don't understand. Why can't Harry the Spare and his lovely American wife still ruin Charles's reign?
    1
  16527. Well done. The obvious didn't escape you.
    1
  16528. The Ukrainians are fighting like lions. Assad's troops, on the other hand...
    1
  16529. A superpower can project power all over the world. Two of your three can't. Hence, they're regional powers.
    1
  16530. You don't really have a left in the USA. By global standards, it's always been centre right and far right.
    1
  16531. So, Trump says that "immigrants are poisoning the blood of the United States". Let's explore that statement. There are 5 million Native Americans left in the United States, out of a total population of 335 million. So, 330 million Americans are already afflicted with poisonous blood. It appears to me that this sanguinary toxicity won't worsen with an influx of immigrants from Latin America, who must be genetically related to the US Native Americans. On the contrary, letting in more Latinos will lessen the toxicity of US blood.
    1
  16532. If Monday turns out to be a disappointment for you, how about you go to Ukraine and fight (and die) with the Orcs? I'm sure that by now, the Russians will recruit keyboard warriors as well.
    1
  16533.  @matthewbaynham6286  From the looks of it, the holes weren't made by bullets, but rather, by irregular fragments. A bullet makes a nice round hole on entry and these were jagged and rectangular. Also, the range of anti-aircraft guns is very limited. If indeed the weapon system responsible was a Pantsir, as has been speculated, its missile detonated in close proximity to the aircraft and sprayed it with small projectiles like a shotgun. It seems clear to me that the bumbling operators thought they were dealing with a drone, because had they been intent on downing the airliner, they would've used a missile with an continuous-rod warhead -- which becomes a big cookiecutter -- that would taken a huge chunk out of the plane.
    1
  16534. That would sound a lot more convincing if Russia hadn't annexed Crimea and wasn't stoking tensions in Ukraine. Troll factory worker or useful idiot?
    1
  16535. So, the BRICS members are beefing up their monetary contributions to the UN? Pfft.
    1
  16536.  @etjevogelaar  Dat klopt dus niet. *Londen heeft flink moeten inboeten. Je bent de krenten uit de pap aan het halen, want Shell en Unilever gingen tegen de trend in. De Londenaren konden het weten, want ze stemden duidelijk tegen Brexit. In de City of London, het historische en financiële hart van Londen, was het zelfs overduidelijk: driekwart stemde tegen Brexit. Wat ook overduidelijk is dat het Verenigd Koninkrijk het zwaar te verduren heeft gehad vanwege de inflatie. Brexit heeft het allemaal nog veel erger gemaakt dan bij ons.
    1
  16537. What? May successfully negotiated a deal with the EU. It isn't the latter's fault that May's too weak to get it through parliament. Things being as they are, it's not worthwhile for the EU-27 to renegotiate. Why negotiate with a political corpse?
    1
  16538. What you're describing was basically the idea before Euromaidan, but Putin wanted to be exlusive with Ukraine. Putin's puppet-on-a-string, Yanukovych, complied, triggering Euromaidan. So, you need to have a tête-à-tête with Putin -- not with Zelenskyy -- and explain the merits of your grand plan.
    1
  16539.  @MaloneMantooth  What money do we owe you? Did you think there's a huge NATO pot that everyone pays into? Don't leave the UN on our account. Do it for the isolationism that you so crave. Uh, you've already pulled out of WHO and the Paris Agreement. You can't threaten to leave if you've already left. Keep up with the news.
    1
  16540.  @theMarhaenist  Perhaps you shouldn't rejoice. Trump's fall from grace could prove prophetic for the CCP. After all, both Trump and the CCP are anti-democratic -- both actively reject majority rule.
    1
  16541.  @jc-lj1tq  You don't need to single out Murica. The whole developed world has reservations about China. But unlike Trump, we're not going about it like a bull in a china shop (pardon the pun).
    1
  16542. False equivalency. In France, it's democracy at work. In South Korea, barely.
    1
  16543.  @logansolares3699  Is Biden blaming the US and Israel, too?
    1
  16544. Duh, this is more about Iran and its proxy war against Israel. The Iranians by and large identify as Persian rather than Arab. Your oversimplifications serve no purpose here.
    1
  16545. Go to Snow City Singapore if you crave it so much.
    1
  16546. Did you watch the vid?
    1
  16547. Uh, this is about the EU. It would appear Murica lives rent-free in your mind.
    1
  16548. You neglected your economy studies (or never had any?) if you're comparing Germany to China in terms of growth figures.
    1
  16549. Jordan is happy to have them, to contain ISIS and Iran's proxies.
    1
  16550. Putin, Shoigu and Gerasimov should give it a try and see what happens when they visit a country that's a state party to the Rome Statute. Slobodan Milosevic didn't get off scot-free either. Also, courts of justice typically don't prevent crimes. They prosecute the perps -- after the crimes have been committed.
    1
  16551.  @Ak-wv7dt  Your Gremlin in the Kremlin has been told by Master Xi to shut up about nuclear weapons. You'd best follow suit.
    1
  16552. Oh, the impotent rage.
    1
  16553. There was a French miniseries as few decades back. Not too shabby.
    1
  16554. The case is a carbon copy of the Microsoft-EU antitrust case over Windows Explorer. I'd very surprised if Google can slither out of this.
    1
  16555.  @alexsilent5603  The notorious Putin troll chimes in with another feeble attempt at whataboutism. Quelle surprise.
    1
  16556.  @theepashmani3501  It's interesting that Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov both admitted that Lend-Lease enabled the USSR to defeat Germany.
    1
  16557.  @harshsaini9898  Uh-oh. You were just shadow-banned by YouTube. Better clean up that foul mouth of yours.
    1
  16558. Sure, Russian flags would've been flying all over occupied Ukraine. Trump is a Putin fanboy.
    1
  16559.  @GamingBear_Q_E_D  Come on, Trump had a not-so-secret love affair with Putin. Trump praised Putin on several occasions, boasted about the two being chums, protested Putin's innocence with regard to election interference and toyed with reneging on defending the Baltic states in the event of a Russian invasion, as mandated by NATO's Article 5. Putin couldn't have wished for a better friend (read: fanboy) in the White House.
    1
  16560.  @GamingBear_Q_E_D  I wouldn't call myself a layperson with a double masters in politics and history. As to the rest of your comment, I can only say I should've followed my first instinct: TL;DR. You're not only a Trump fanboy, but also, a useful idiot for the Russkis. I suppose that's a common enough combo.
    1
  16561.  @GamingBear_Q_E_D  Oh, I'm an officer in the reserves as we speak, and a two-tour UN peacekeeping veteran. A 1988 Nobel Peace Prize winner, too. Kiddo. Lies and smears? My account of Trump's expressions of love for Putin is corroborated by facts -- public quotes of his, in fact. They've been repeated often enough by the media, so I wonder how an avid Trump fanboy such as yourself missed it. As to your amateurish woulda-coulda-shoulda speculations about Trump saving the world from impending doom had he secured a second term, I have no use for them.
    1
  16562.  @GamingBear_Q_E_D  I'm not American, dum-dum. I see Trump for what he is, a foreign policy nincompoop. Putin loved him for it, and rues the day Biden took over. Not that I think Biden is the bee's knees, but Trump set the bar very low. So, tell me exactly where I lied. I could provide the exact quotes that I was referring to, but it would amount to pedantry if I did.
    1
  16563.  @GamingBear_Q_E_D  I'll tell you what I am. I am your intellectual superior. I could pride myself for it, but then again, it's something a vast majority of humankind has in common with me. Kiddo. So, you couldn't produce a single lie or smear that I supposedly uttered. I thought as much. You make spurious allegations, and you don't stand by them. I don't believe for a moment that you ever were an officer in any army -- except, perhaps, in Call of Duty multiplayer.
    1
  16564.  @GamingBear_Q_E_D  How's Biden mine by any stretch of the imagination? Your reading comprehension leaves a lot to be desired. Still nothing about my alleged lies. Interestingly, if I were to have lied, it's implied that Trump lied, too, because I'm basing myself on his quotes. Don't bite the hand that you kiss. Well, a love nibble is allowed, I suppose.
    1
  16565.  @diktrejsi8214  Actually, we kept Serbs from getting killed in Kosovo. The hate ran deep with the Kosovars.
    1
  16566.  @nashbridges-cu6dy  That's where you're wrong. Kosovo is not in Serbia. Deal with it. You're crying over spilt milk.
    1
  16567. Has Russia reported an encroachment of Russian airspace by Finnish planes and if not, why would they choose to keep a lid on it? Only two days ago, Russia made a big hullabaloo about a UK spy plane supposedly entering Russian airspace in the Arctic. You sound like a conspiracy theorist.
    1
  16568.  @dweb  A colour revolution, perhaps? That would be oh-so fitting, and so many colours to choose from.
    1
  16569.  @archeroo3243  It's not like Germany has many PzH 2000s taking up storage room. Let's face it, the Bundeswehr is still in a dilapidated state, and giving away materiel sorely needed for training isn't going to help it overcome its sad state of affairs. What Germany can do is pledge to replace its NATO partners' excess self-propelled artillery with new PzH 2000s -- Germany is manufacturing them, after all. In this case, the US is more deserving of your indignation. Why isn't the US providing M-109s to Ukraine? They have literally thousands of them, many just gathering dust.
    1
  16570.  @brunetteXer  I should hope Sweden is different from Morocco and Nigeria in a great many respects. Ukraine, too. Diversity and reciprocity don't go hand in hand, and they don't have to either.
    1
  16571.  @brunetteXer  Don't be obtuse. You seem to think Sweden needs to do onto others like others do onto to them. I don't see anything wrong with attracting talent from less developed countries, even if our talented people can't -- or more likely, won't -- do the reverse.
    1
  16572.  @brunetteXer  "Wake up"? Don't go conspiracy theorist on me. I don't know what you're trying to claim here. That Morocco carefully planned all this, from even before her birth? Or that Sweden did it purely for brownie points? Sweden got a ESC win out of this.
    1
  16573.  @sybersaint7604  I know Putin is not well, but are you suggesting he should be placed on suicide watch?
    1
  16574.  @surojeetchatterjee  You may find that India's S-400 won't engage Chinese jets when push comes to shove. China, as the more important partner to Russia, may compel the latter to sell it Russian IFF transponders that shout "Friendly!" to the S-400. No missiles will leave the launcher. It's interesting to note that Turkey's Patriot wouldn't engage Turkish F-16s involved in the coup attempt against Erdogan, because the US system considered them friendly. Hence, Erdogan wanted the S-400, even though that ruined his chances of getting F-35s.
    1
  16575.  @surojeetchatterjee  There's the Dunning-Kruger effect again. IFF and data link are not the same difference. Each country may have its own IFF codes, but US IFF kit has a multi-part code, which makes it impossible for NATO SAMs to engage NATO aircraft, as Erdogan found out to his chagrin. The Russians would be foolish not to have built in a similar capability into their S-400. You may be in denial, but the Turks, who're in NATO, are keenly aware that their S-400 may not engage Russian aircraft, which is why they've retained their US SAMs.
    1
  16576. Aren't we? In the EU, sales of new cars with combustion engine are banned from 2035 onward.
    1
  16577.  @andromeda2766  E-l-e-c-t-r-i-c-i-t-y. You may have heard of it.
    1
  16578. Storm shadows eat bunkers for breakfast, sport. It's their mission in life.
    1
  16579.  @ravagekillz  I guess it's OK then. These minehunters pale in comparison to battleships, which are nothing short of behemoths. Only supercarries trump battleships in size.
    1
  16580. No worries, we can always subtract it from the war reparations than Russia is due to Ukraine. I expect this will be a drop in the ocean.
    1
  16581. Propping up military dictatorships is more up Russia's alley.
    1
  16582.  @melaniemarshall4366  My comment expressed incredulity about US armed forces fighting in Gaza. But thanks for playing.
    1
  16583. If we sanction junta members, freezing their foreign bank accounts and restricting their movements, how's that going to affect the common people of Myanmar?
    1
  16584. "The West" is not holding Assange. The UK is. You might as well cry that the UN is holding Assange.
    1
  16585. Leave the Finns out of it.
    1
  16586. Yeltsin gave similar guarantees regarding Chechnya yet failed miserably. Putin finally succeeded in subduing the Chechens, but only after causing grievous civilian casualties. We could extrapolate from the Chechen wars that millions of civilians would die in Ukraine, amounting to a death toll similar to that of Holomodor. Does Putin want that to be his legacy?
    1
  16587. Assad could just stage a free-and-fair election. But that would be the end of him, and I don't just mean politically.
    1
  16588. Retaliation would imply that Russia hasn't let loose with stand-off weapons on Ukraine already. That ship has sailed more than two years ago.
    1
  16589.  @TheBlackIdentety  You're ill-informed. Conscription is more common in "the East". Your precious Russia does it, too.
    1
  16590. Rats fleeing a sinking ship.
    1
  16591.  @samueljoachimbokeem2  "Between 2008 and 2017, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) invested more than 700 million euros in Ghana. These are funds dedicated for the promotion of high developmental impact projects: improvement of living conditions, reduction of inequalities, avoidance of greenhouse gas emissions..."
    1
  16592.  @timmo491  How thick are you? The race to get jabs into arms is still on, and you're not in the lead. Malta, Belgium, Spain and Denmark are ahead of you.
    1
  16593.  @nightowl3218  OK, let's lump them together and we'll arrive at a very similar figure population-wise as the UK's. Your excuses are getting more desperate by the comment ;-)
    1
  16594. Uh, most Lebanese are painfully aware of the predicament they find themselves in with Hezbollah and Israel. They're powerless to change their fate. When foreign actors like Iran stop interfering, they stand a chance.
    1
  16595. You're forgetting that any US sanctions against Germany will make the whole EU retaliate in kind. That's what trade blocs are for. So your junior partner/senior partner juxtaposition doesn't apply.
    1
  16596.  @AlternativeBrew  I remember it well, but your point eludes me, assuming you had one to begin with. None of the other JCPOA signatories could change the US stance either. The learning is that it took only one to sabotage the Iran deal.
    1
  16597.  @AlternativeBrew  You're sorely mistaken. France and the UK didn't "go a long[sic]" with Trump reneging on the Iran deal. They tried to save it, but then Iran broke the terms, effectively scuppering it. A propos, I thought you were trying to prove that "the Europeans" were in a subservient role vis-à-vis the US. Maybe you want to put some more thought into your arguments before you write them down?
    1
  16598.  @asabadragon4052  Then democracy is easily restored. All the junta has to do is call an election.
    1
  16599.  @sandisastudem6532  Yeah, the Russians tried that in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Didn't go down well with the world community.
    1
  16600. Too bad the others aren't as affluent.
    1
  16601.  @dianecameron137  Are you sure about that? Had Assange been convicted on all the charges, he could've gotten a 175-year sentence. Your math doesn't add up.
    1
  16602.  @dianecameron137  I'm puzzled as to what point you're trying to make. It's a fact that Assange is indicted on 17 charges of espionage and one charge of hacking. The combined maximum sentence for all these charges is 175 years. Why would they be any different if he had turned himself in earlier? None of these US charges relate to the time he's been evading justice or serving time in the UK for breaching bail and while awaiting extradition in custody. I'm not passing judgement, I'm making a factual observation, so you can leave off the straw man attacks.
    1
  16603. Stop the war and put Russia in its place?
    1
  16604.  @vlad3729  There's something old and something new in the Ukraine war. The old part are the Soviet tactics still ingrained in both armies. That part needn't be adopted by NATO --- and besides, it's nothing NATO hasn't prepared for. Drone warfare isn't something pioneered in Ukraine either. The scale and some of tactics are new, of course.
    1
  16605. So US pilots can't fly the F-16? I doubt either Europeans or Americans will get permission to go merc.
    1
  16606. Do you the means the saboteurs, the Russians? They're already at war, in Ukraine, by their own choosing and unrprovoked, too.
    1
  16607.  @NS-mf8op  Put up or shut up.
    1
  16608. Bill Clinton's impeachment and subsequent Senate trial were very much a partisan affair. The Republicans were at it first.
    1
  16609. Medvedev wants to be the scary clown version of Comical Ali.
    1
  16610. We should remotely switch off America's 5G networks, just to make a point.
    1
  16611. Supper power? That's wishful thinking. There will be too many Indians to properly feed them, so they'll just have to skip supper and go to bed hungry.
    1
  16612. Give over. Putin's 4D chess turned out to be pigeon chess.
    1
  16613. I'll let you in on a secret. Russia didn't attack Ukraine because of NATO. Putin just couldn't keep his grubby hands off Ukraine. NATO expansion was merely a pretext. Now Putin has a tough time justifying his "special military operation", since NATO is expanding, not with one but two new members, and he's not getting Ukraine either.
    1
  16614.  @Greghh1960  Putin has been very explicit about his views on Ukraine. He doesn't think it's a real country that deserves to exist outside of Russia. That reveals his imperialistic side that's bent on conquest, as in resurrecting the Soviet Union. It's telling that Putin annexed Crimea before there was any talk of Ukraine joining NATO. Just an idea, but why don't you try introducing some facts in support of your opinions? Don't you know what they say about opinions? They're like bumholes; everyone's got one and they stink.
    1
  16615. Let me guess. You're of small stature, you wear a bicorne hat, and you keep your hand tucked into your waistcoat.
    1
  16616. Don't know about that. I'll be pushing my MEP and EU Commissioner to make Brejoin take at least as long as Brexit.
    1
  16617. Or they're donning tin foil hats in addition to face mask.
    1
  16618.  @eveleung8855  I think you need to cancel your comedy tour and try to get your day job back.
    1
  16619.  @eveleung8855  I don't like Boris Johnson, but you're just not funny. Again, don't give up your day job. Comedy isn't your thing.
    1
  16620.  @eveleung8855  Now you're boring me even more. Can't you just move back in with your parents?
    1
  16621. What are you talking about? It's first and foremost Macron's centre against the Le Pen's far right. The extreme left is relegated to background noise.
    1
  16622. Israel sure likes to hack away at those shields.
    1
  16623.  @jeffreyackah786  Yes, why did Putin start an unnecessary war? It beggars belief.
    1
  16624. Are you going to invite emissaries from all 197 countries to your boudoir to discuss all the world's problems?
    1
  16625. It's what Russia does, too. A gas station that masquerades as a country, John McCain called it. Then Putin went and alienated his best customers. Putin deserves an Ig Nobel Prize for Economics.
    1
  16626.  @andreainzaghi7373  Norway is relying solely on oil exports? Nonsense. Norway has a well-diversified mixed economy. It wouldn't be worse for wear if oil and gas production were to stop overnight. More so than any oil-producing country, Norway has taken precuations to avoid the 'oil curse'. Fix your keyboard. It's acting up.
    1
  16627. I'm confused. Who attacked whom? Russia or Ukraine?
    1
  16628.  @ononujuugochukwu4944  Drivel. Why did a whopping 141 UN members condemn Russia for attacking Ukraine? Vice versa, no one at the UN tabled a draft resolution that sought to condemn "the West" for an attack against Russia. Such a hoax didn't even occur to Russia, to whom playing victim comes natural.
    1
  16629. Politics 101.
    1
  16630. China's economy is stagnating. Bad press has economic repercussions, too.
    1
  16631.  @TheDiameter  What was what and what did do what exactly? I am certainly ignorant as to what you might possibly mean with your cryptic (and abrasive) comment.
    1
  16632. No, Russia would shoot itself in the foot by exiting yet another market. Not that it matters on the longer term, because they're being pushed out of said markets anyway. More sanctions are coming up.
    1
  16633.  @evdomintakosto  Keep repeating that like a mantra and it becomes true... in your mind.
    1
  16634. Extreme despair often leads to that. Luckily, he can afford artificial insemination.
    1
  16635.  @benyisg7633  So you are very young. Enough said.
    1
  16636.  @benyisg7633  Yet you wrote that you're in school ;-) Actually, I had an Erasmus year in Rijsel, as we prefer to call the city. So yes, I have studied in France.
    1
  16637.  @SwordOfTheSpirit-I-  If US missiles were the issue, Putin could've proposed a nice tête-à-tête with Biden about nuclear disarmament. I fully understand why Putin was unwilling to take that route, because it would've transpired to one and all, even to you Putin fanboys, that NATO doesn't deploy nuclear weapons in any of its member countries that border Russia. Russia, on the other hand, keeps nuclear missiles in Kaliningrad, which borders two NATO members, Poland and Lithuania. Summa summarum, you're full of it.
    1
  16638.  @SwordOfTheSpirit-I-  NATO's shared nuclear deterrent in the form of 100 N61 gravity bombs is common knowledge. They're based in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. None of those countries borders Russia. Moreover, Poland, Hungary and Czechia made up the first batch of East European countries to join NATO. Twenty years onward, there are no nuclear weapons in these countries. You blaming the US for non-transparency is irrelevant. It would not fly that their NATO partners were kept in the dark, or that their governments would keep the populace in the dark about undisclosed nuclear weapons on their soil. Indeed, Ukraine desperately wants to join NATO. Why? Because any treaties it may sign with Russia regarding Ukraine's territorial integrity aren't worth the paper they're written on. The UN Charter didn't stop Russia either. It seems only NATO can provide the security assurances that Ukraine needs.
    1
  16639.  @DarrelX-im2hb  Of course I can. Circassia, for starters. Read up on the Circassian genocide before you blurt out something random.
    1
  16640. Agreed. Xi has to put his money where his mouth is and prove that he really is a peacemaker.
    1
  16641.  @victorye7150  Your understanding of geopolitics leaves a lot to be desired. Zelenskyy is not so naïve as to think China will be Ukraine's new BFF. China has a much bigger and juicier carcass to pick in Russia than it ever would in Ukraine. China will continue to play BFF to Russia.
    1
  16642.  @jupiterbirlesikgezegenleri9884  Libyans are both for against Russia.
    1
  16643. Poetin heeft tal van gezinnen van een vader beroofd, in Rusland en in Oekraine.
    1
  16644. Take a wild guess: Russian military aggression?
    1
  16645. Hoe dat zo? De Royal Navy verdedigt ook de Nederlandse wateren. Jammer dat de KLu F-35A's niet op dat ding kunnen landen.
    1
  16646. I don't know about permission, but Iran gave them cause.
    1
  16647. @Anonymous Bosch Ukrainians are experts in air cargo. Still, it could've just as easily been a Russian cargo plane. No doubt you would've spun a conspiracy theory around that one, too.
    1
  16648. @Anonymous Bosch You're a hoot. Numerous alternative conspiracy theories are spun around every major event. How on earth can they all be true?
    1
  16649. Too big to fail.
    1
  16650. Surrender monkey much?
    1
  16651.  @HuangfanHelloWorld  You haven't heard of Galileo? Tsk-tsk. For your info, the US has to come hat in hand to Europe for 5G networks, because it lost the ability to DIY them.
    1
  16652. Don't get too cocky. The Netherlands are a laggard in the EU in terms of renewable energy usage.
    1
  16653.  @jeroenberkenbosch7072  I seem to know more all right. The Netherlands gets 14% of its energy from renewables, which is well below the 22.1% EU average. We believe eigendunk stinks, but if you excuse my Dutch, our figure is 43.8%.
    1
  16654.  @bulcsuvezer9378  Hungary is deemed either a flawed democracy or a transitional regime. There are more trappings to democracy than voting alone.
    1
  16655.  @bulcsuvezer9378  I got ya. When you fall foul of the high standards we set for ourselves, there's a Western conspiracy at play. Did you learn that from observing Beijing or Moscow, or both? If you're up to it, you could study the research methods of EIU and Freedom House. It's all very transparent. Hungary's problem appears to be with political institutions and freedoms. There's been consistent erosion there.
    1
  16656.  @bulcsuvezer9378  You have no clue where I'm from, do you, and which languages I speak. And what makes you think I'm relying on strictly personal opinions -- be it yours or mine? Feel free to produce credible comparative studies where Hungary comes up smelling like roses. Nothing, right? Just out of interest, if you don't identify with the West, why do you identify with? Russia, China, North Korea?
    1
  16657.  @bulcsuvezer9378  As I predicted, you've got nothing to counterbalance the internationally respected indexes I mentioned. All you can do is take pot shots at the messenger and waffle about mainstream media and misinformation. Again, provide credible alternatives that aren't -- in your assessment -- biased. Put up or shut up.
    1
  16658. ​ @stephenparkes9543  I have no clue? 98% of the Irish speak English as their first language. And the Austrians, do they speak Austrian according to you? The Swiss must confuse you terribly. Most of Latin America speaks Spanish, so would you argue they're Spaniards?
    1
  16659. He's certainly no great economist. Putin alienated the best customers of "the gas station that masquerades as a country", setting Russia on a course to economic doom. In two years tops, the Russian economy will be running on fumes. And China isn't helping.
    1
  16660.  @teakkaye5364  Putin tampons would be a better choice. Prayer cards don't stem the bleeding from a bullet wound.
    1
  16661. Tell your handler that no one believes your lies. You need better material.
    1
  16662. You guys... always peddling them conspiracy theories. Any new ones, with extraterrestrial actors?
    1
  16663. The army brass kept telling them, but Netanyahu's bunch was too busy politicking.
    1
  16664. Denial is not a good coping strategy. Have you tried copium pills?
    1
  16665.  @Whoop8628  If you look at GDP per capita, then indeed Russia's economy is small. Putin promised to jack it up the Portugal's level within ten years of him assuming power, but after more than twenty years, it still remains a distant target. Putin's recurrent promises of diversifying the Russian economy is a similar moving target. Now more than ever, Russia struggles to produce even basic necessities.
    1
  16666. Feel free to give a slice of "your" country to Putin. Maybe that will satisfy his lust for more Lebensraum... for a while.
    1
  16667.  @Factsagainstpropoganda  You should be scared -- very scared. Not because "the West" is going to invade Russia, but because domestic separatism will go into overdrive after Russia's inevitable defeat in Ukraine. I wouldn't be surprised if in my lifetime, there will be an independent Amberland, Ingria and Karelia in Europe alone. All three of them will join the EU and NATO, of course, to discourage Rump Russia from restoring "its historic borders".
    1
  16668. I can think of much better jokes.
    1
  16669.  @nomaam-br549  You're suffering from battered woman syndrome.
    1
  16670.  @bishton  So young and so cynical...
    1
  16671.  @Android-Zen  For starters, RFK Jr. believes that Covid-19 was a bioweapon targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people while the Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese are the most immune. That must've cost him the Jewish vote and the Asian American vote. Keep up with the news.
    1
  16672.  @timothypopik2288  < this fool has a conspiracy-ridden mind to boot.
    1
  16673.  @duncansmith7562  You show how it's done. You know you want to.
    1
  16674. You're comparing apples and oranges. It goes without saying that India's export opportunities are at the lower end of the market, which isn't of primary interest to the Western high-end manufacturers. There certainly are opportunities there for India, now that Russia struggles to replace it losses in Ukraine and finds itself cut off from machinery and components. But then again, China is targeting the same market segment. It will be dog eats dog.
    1
  16675.  @danreid9856  India's climate favours tropical bed bugs. The French are battling the non-tropical species, which is endemic in France, although normally not plentiful. The flabbergasted French simply should've kept Rentokil on speed dial, before the situation got out of hand. Inexperience, but they're gaining experience now.
    1
  16676.  @ЯБезымянный-о5ф  Nope, but I can give you my bank account number. Be generous.
    1
  16677. Oh noes, Russia misplaced a top general. Can't they be made to wear a GPS dog collar?
    1
  16678. Please continue.
    1
  16679. It sucks to be Lukashenko. He bet on the wrong horse, too.
    1
  16680.  @kamsunleong6648  I see 'boots on the ground' is a novel concept to you.
    1
  16681.  @eldemocratadeverdad.2862  Are you trying to tell us in your pidgin English that Scholz forming a Status Quo tribute band is doomed to fail?
    1
  16682. We all know what happened to the US peacekeepers in Lebanon. Or do you need a reminder?
    1
  16683. You're being very silly. Individual EU members hold their own elections for the European Parliament. Candidates can campaign as much as they want -- in their own countries. Nothing is stopping them. We don't vote for Metsola, Michel or Von der Leyen, but our own national candidates. Not only that, Michel leads the European Council and Von der Leyen heads the European Commission. Both are separate from the European Parliament. You should prepare your diatribes better, because now you're just making a fool of yourself.
    1
  16684. We can and do, but it's not always cost-effective to do so. We've got something called free market economies. For example, many spices simply won't grow in our colder climes. Something to do with climate.
    1
  16685. Yes, not Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales are having none of it.
    1
  16686. The truth? It's argued that the royal family brings in about as much in tourist revenue as it costs the British taxpayer. If that's indeed the case, they're mostly harmless.
    1
  16687. Who should Zelenskyy blame, its benefactors instead of its aggressor?
    1
  16688. It worked out so well for the US in Afghanistan, didn't it, excluding the Ghani government from Trump's peace plan.
    1
  16689.  @FlashRetired  Who do you think you're talking to? The more Russian casualties, the merrier. BTW, Ukraine puts the number of Russian casualties well above 800k. The US sure left "Afghan [sic]" in an awful hurry. You could've easily mistaken it for unceremoniously being kicked out.
    1
  16690. Have you been diagnosed already? Psychopathy should be taken seriously.
    1
  16691.  @robertsmith5744  Most of the Balkan and old Soviet bloc countries are NATO members now. If Russia were to launch an attack against them, NATO's Article 5 would trigger a joint response by all NATO members. There would be no "one by one"; there would be a feeble attempt at "one", followed by a long stretch of wound-licking by Russia.
    1
  16692. The EU's stance on Ukraine is clear -- but so is that of the world community -- but it's not so clear on Gaza. Or would you like to enlighten of us on the latter?
    1
  16693. What is a "banana colony"? Europe's climate is not conducive to growing bananas.
    1
  16694.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Might you be referring to banana republics? You and your sock puppet should've said so right away.
    1
  16695.  @Maki-nk5vs  Pipe down. You need to study up on the correct use of terminology. And say hi to your sock puppet.
    1
  16696. Because China wants Russia for a colony.
    1
  16697. Did they collect the dead fish afterwards?
    1
  16698. @ Sad. Trying voting for one. Maybe he or she will get elected.
    1
  16699. @ Ah, you've lost confidence. Democracy erodes when confidence in democratic institutions erodes. The USA is a case in point. Downgraded from full democracy to flawed democracy when Trump made president. Trump hasn't helped either.
    1
  16700. The fact of the matter is that Germany has been skimping on its own defence procurement, but at the same time, it has enjoyed lucrative arms exports. Especially now it's making a killing.
    1
  16701.  @ronnrd5937  And now the Poles are liberating Ukraine from Russian fascists.
    1
  16702. Russia can't bail Niger out. Keep on dreaming.
    1
  16703.  @FrisianOutlaw007  Je zou kunnen beredeneren waarom Willem ernaast zit... wat zeg ik nu, natuurlijk geef je geen uitleg.
    1
  16704. Yeah, but for how long? I remember only too well how I visited Taipei right after the big one 25 years ago. At our corporate office, there was a guy with a giant glue gun filling in the huge cracks in the walls. The next time I visited, we'd moved to a new office building, made of concrete slabs bolted to a steel frame.
    1
  16705. Try to explain your (conspiracy) theory. The exploding devices -- pagers and walkie-talkies --couldn't run a spyware app, or any app for that matter. Gleaning information wasn't the point here.Making them go ka-boom was.
    1
  16706.  @lb9029  Rutte betrekt zijn voorheen lege bovenkamer.
    1
  16707. Uh, France led the Allies to victory in WW1. History is not something you can shape to fit your narrative.
    1
  16708. What exactly was NATO's role in *Iraq? I distinctly remember US secretary of defense Rumsfeld blowing a gasket when NATO members France, Germany and Canada opposed the Iraq War. Therefore, it wasn't a NATO op. The military interventions in *Libya and Yugoslavia were approved by the UN Security Council. Too bad you didn't add Afghanistan to your list, because that one, too, was approved by the UN Security Council.
    1
  16709.  @homunculusenvy7961  Aw. Point out my "lies" then, or are you an empty vessel?
    1
  16710.  @homunculusenvy7961  So you are empty vessel. Now hurry back to your troll cave.
    1
  16711. Where does Polish coal stand? It appears to me Poland is even a bigger polluter than Germany.
    1
  16712.  @contemporiser  So, you're troubled by German pretence, but not by Poland's intransigence in weaning itself off coal. Putin's energy war must be a lucky break for Poland.
    1
  16713.  @charlesmartel6103  Dat is de oplossing. De natuur zijn gang laten gaan en we zijn binnen de kortste keren van de complotdenkers verlost.
    1
  16714. How so? Were they hurt or not?
    1
  16715. @mehrunesdagon3046 The victim appears to be on the far right of the political spectrum. And nowadays, being anti-Islam is part and parcel of it.
    1
  16716. Mountbatten pink? Je hebt niet ongelijk.
    1
  16717.  @temp5782  Lord Mountbatten was een woestijnvos, zeker?
    1
  16718.  @missesCarmenB  In your wet dreams. Russia is screaming bloody murder about Western aid.
    1
  16719. No worries, it's very doubtful Wilders will manage to form a cabinet.
    1
  16720.  @theeaglesshadow449  The VVD can't join a coalition where the PVV reigns supreme, or they'll be branded liars. I expect the NSC won't agree either. PvdA-GroenLinks wouldn't be caught dead co-operating with a xenophobic far-right party. What remains?
    1
  16721.  @MoiraDH  Je chauvinisme loopt uit de hand. Nederland is niet de enige nettobetaler in de EU. Het zijn er een hele rits.
    1
  16722. Ik heb een jaar in Libanon gezeten. Ik heb er enkel goeie makkers aan overgehouden.
    1
  16723.  @georgesimon6041  What's your excuse? <cough>*welfare<cough>
    1
  16724. Israel just makes war all the time. If they spent as much effort on making peace, the Middle East would be in much better shape.
    1
  16725.  @Me-yq1fl  A hole in the head is a hole in the head.
    1
  16726. Russia is certainly not winning if it captures a non-strategic town and incurs an inordinate number of casualties in the process.
    1
  16727.  What Now  The literary reference has geographical issues, too.
    1
  16728.  What Now  Not Denmark, where something is rotten according to Shakespeare.
    1
  16729.  @InterdimensionalWiz  Withdrawal Agreement. It was supposed to be the basis for a trade deal until BoJo decided otherwise, unilaterally.
    1
  16730.  Galactic Minds  The problem there is that the EU, per definition, retaliates. The retaliatory slap dealt by the EU, being a heavyweight, will amount to a knock-out blow for the UK, a mere welterweight.
    1
  16731. Retaliation for a retaliatory strike that was retaliation for... give it a rest already.
    1
  16732. That's simply untrue. Russia is losing customers and revenue. New ones can't make up for the customers it has lost. The inconvenience that the EU is experiencing is temporary, while Russia's economic malaise is permanent.
    1
  16733.  @tomzamp8547  Keep telling yourself that, but the economic indicators don't lie. Now more than ever, Russia is an economic basket case.
    1
  16734.  @tomzamp8547  "17 Nov 2022 — Nine months after Russia invaded Ukraine, its economy has entered a recession, according to government statistics released this week. The nation's output has shrunk for two consecutive quarters, according to Rosstat, the government statistical agency." CBS News Moneywatch
    1
  16735.  @tomzamp8547  You missed the Rosstat bit. You need to work on your reading comp.
    1
  16736.  Fight MMA  Figures. MMA and Trump go together like dumb and dumberer.
    1
  16737.  Fight MMA  I'm glad to explain. I've heard it said that for bicycle road racing, you don't have to be dumb, but it does help. For MMA, however, it's an absolute must.
    1
  16738.  Fight MMA  I'm sure there's a world of difference between the smartest people you know and the smartest people I know. None of mine will have anything to do with MMA.
    1
  16739. Don't get your hopes up. Russia's Iranian kamikaze drones can only strike stationary targets.
    1
  16740.  @k9ine787  Perhaps you should stop rolling out the red carpet.
    1
  16741. Raises eyebrows, more like.
    1
  16742. An opposition member of a regional parliament of a small region that couldn't be further from Moscow, more like.
    1
  16743.  Roberto Salas  Too bad conspiracy theorists aren't especially susceptible to COVID-19. There would be a silver lining to the whole thing.
    1
  16744.  @tuyizereteanclaude1431  I've got good news for you. Russia is stocking up on cannon fodder.
    1
  16745. That's a novel conspiracy theory. Do you have others?
    1
  16746.  @maxhugen  Anti-spalling liners mitigate the effects of squash-heads, but they don't neutralise them. It was composite armour that did HESH in. Mind you, it's still plenty dangerous, but not a sound choice for new MBT designs.
    1
  16747. What if he already has broken French law? What's pathetic is not enforcing laws, which is indicative of law and order breaking down.
    1
  16748. Varoufakis is a dyed-in-the-wool communist, who supports Russia because of an old habit he can't shake, never realising that Putin's crony capitalism is the very antithesis of communism.
    1
  16749.  @LRRPFco52  Don't talk nonsense. Only parliamentary ratification in Hungary and Turkey is outstanding. Orban is wary of Putin cutting off his gas and Turkey wants F-16s from the US. Even NATO has its black sheep.
    1
  16750. It's a reality check for the free world. That Trump is a sell-out.
    1
  16751. They make nice wine.
    1
  16752. You may want to elaborate further on how their lack of knowledge is showing. Otherwise, you're just blowing hot air.
    1
  16753. Macron should see his term through, if only to ensure that justice runs its course in Marine Le Pen's embezzlement case.
    1
  16754.  @SkaffaS  Are you an ignorant Yank? Look up the Bundeswehr.
    1
  16755.  @julianpetkov8320  It seems you Rooskies really didn't mind, since you paved the way for this at the UN.
    1
  16756.  @brianmcintyre503  Not really. Rather, the centre has moved rightward. The far left is practically obliterated.
    1
  16757.  @kevt3318  Let's be realistic. The Yanks would only get England, which they'd conveniently name Old England, since they already have New England. It could prove quite a tourist attraction as an open air museum. The populace wouldn't even have to act out Dickensians scenes, since those would be bitter reality.
    1
  16758. Still sore about Russia being kicked out of G8?
    1
  16759. Ruxia's governor Pu Tin then. Satisfied?
    1
  16760.  @sigmasix3719  Triggered? I clearly expressed boredom with your ever-lasting infatuation with the Muricans. Why don't you start about the Vanuatuans for a change?
    1
  16761.  @aflyingcowboy31  We're currently spending 2.4% of GDP on defence -- a figure that would be significantly higher if were to pay our conscripts a salary and compensate our reservists (moi included) to the full for loss of earnings while on refreshers. We have just the one prospective enemy: Russia and Russia alone. With all our other neighbours we get on like a house of fire. You seem wholly unawares that NATO has a clearly defined geographic scope. It covers all the member states in Europe and North America, Turkey and islands north of the Tropic of Cancer. Interestingly, the Falkland Islands are located south of the Tropic of Cancer, which meant that Argentina's invasion didn't concern NATO and the UK had to sort it out by themselves. Likewise, if China were to "liberate" New Caledonia from the French, we, as NATO, would sit it out as well.
    1
  16762. We had you at WEF. By the way, what happened to the NWO and it blood-drinking and shape-shifting Reptilians that featured so heavily in your earlier conspiracy theories? Have you abandoned them altogether? Such a shame -- that was amusing.
    1
  16763. Hmm. You edited your comment, but you still got your grammar wrong.
    1
  16764. If the base is relocated to Poland, things will get only hairier for Putin.
    1
  16765.  @akechalfred3506  Nope, patently untrue. Going by UNGA voting records, it's absolutely incorrect to say that Africa and Asia support Russia vis-à-vis Ukraine. In Africa, that sole exception was Eritrea. In Asia, only pariah states North Korea and Syria supported Russia. 141 countries condemned Russia's invasion and called for an immediate withdrawal. 141 countries, would that be Putin's "collective West"? Schweet!
    1
  16766.  @solconcordia4315  No magic sky friend gobbledegook, please.
    1
  16767. Let's see if the happiness endures when Trump fails to deliver, or worse yet, makes life worse.
    1
  16768.  @Br1ght0n  Your beef is with Hitler and his crowd, or rather, their ghosts.
    1
  16769.  @oO-_-_-_-Oo  What kind of funny logic is that? Have you been diagnosed?
    1
  16770. I'll tell who's not going to be in Africa for the next BRICS meeting: Putler.
    1
  16771. Wowsers. Which colonies do we have? Do we own them collectively? And I thought we were just dishing out money to Africa, and getting asylum seekers in return.
    1
  16772.  @ephillipsja  Try again, using words and sentences.
    1
  16773. You are aware, right, that the USA is not spending 2% of its GDP on NATO?
    1
  16774.  @TheGrace020  Russia is also supposed to be committed to the UN Charter, but nonetheless they broke it by invading Ukraine.
    1
  16775. Je zou je ook kunnen verkassen naar Engeland. Ze zijn er trouwens nu van mening dat Brexit niet leuk meer is. Je kan ze tegelijk van het tegendeel overtuigen.
    1
  16776.  @ldevries4026  Rotterdam is de belangrijkste doorvoerhaven van Europa. Als we dat willen kwijtspelen, moeten we vooral uit de EU stappen. De Antwerpenaren vinden het vast opperbest.
    1
  16777. Netanyahu should thank the Ayatollahs with a gift basket.
    1
  16778. Misschien slaat Baudet Paternotte op z'n bek "bij wijze van spreken", maar straks slaat een geïnspireerde FvD'er echt. Nazipraktijken zijn niet ver te zoeken.
    1
  16779.  @diegomorata2885  Sun Tzu would disagree with you. He thought it wise to 'avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak'. The master strategist must be slowly clapping his hands on his cloud.
    1
  16780.  @45641560456405640563  He's so high on copium that he doesn't feel a thing.
    1
  16781. Do you honestly think Russia is in a position to compete with its economy in tatters?
    1
  16782.  @wilburfinnigan2142  Aren't you feisty. The point here is, when an Me-262 poured on the coal, P-51s and P-47s were left standing. Obviously you could catch a Me-262 when it couldn't use its superior speed to its advantage, which applied especially to landings, but also, to dogfights. The latter was nicely demonstrated when a Hawker Sea Fury famously shot down a MiG-15 during the Korean War, because the jet pilot foolishly wanted to try his hand at dogfighting a prop plane.
    1
  16783. In August 1944, a force of 22,250 men --- half of them Estonians -- successfully held off an advance by 136,830 Soviet troops in north-eastern Estonia. Soviet casualties were as high as 170,000 dead and wounded. That should give you an idea of the challenges involved in invading Estonia.
    1
  16784.  @eoz6840  Erdogan doesn't care even if that were true. Erdogan wants weapons from NATO to fight the Kurds, and like the child that he is, he's throwing his toys out of the pram because we can't have them.
    1
  16785. You're making too much out of it. Britain was making (some) amends. Exploitation in other forms persisted under British rule for long after.
    1
  16786.  @user-ju7dx8mu6d  Some countries never had slavery to begin with. Britain certainly earned more from slavery than it spent on eradicating it. Furthermore, it took a French king to get the ball rolling in Britain.
    1
  16787.  @user-ju7dx8mu6d  You know what I mean. Britain profited greatly from the slave trade, as in buying, transporting, selling and making slaves toil on British-owned plantations overseas. Many countries had no part in any of that. The Atlantic slave trade lasted from 16th to 19th century. Britain quickly became a leading player. The Royal Navy did suppress the slave trade from 1807 to 1860 -- after engaging in it for three centuries. So much for spending more on suppressing the trade than profiting from it. Don't worry about others' apologies for their misdeeds. You've got your own to make.
    1
  16788.  @mahutwe9728  Yup, Britain exited the slave trade when it wasn't profitable any longer.
    1
  16789. Putin couldn't take Vatican City, much less Finland.
    1
  16790.  @jotrutch  Zelenskyy is not indicted by the ICC. Whatever gave you that idea?
    1
  16791. On a positive note, Trump will undoubtedly inspire America's convicted felons -- and there are oh-so many in the Land of the Free -- that they, too, can rise up to the highest office. Think about it, Trump sets a fine example to the downtrodden!
    1
  16792.  @iwantarandomname121  I wouldn't bet on Russia -- much less this imaginary Russian empire of yours -- to survive this war for long. Russia's empires have already disintegrated twice as a result of wars gone awry -- first the Russian Empire itself as a result of WW1, then the USSR after the Soviet-Afghan War. It bears reminding that the Russian Federation is a colonial construct that is held together by military force and economic coercion. That's why Putin blew his top when Ukraine got cosy with the EU -- Putin knew he'd gotten the short end of the stick economically, so in good old Russian tradition, he resorted to military force. Little did he know it would bring the demise of the Russian Federation closer instead of warding it off.
    1
  16793.  @TheRebelAllianceAreTerrorists  Nah, only Russia is breaking the UN Charter.
    1
  16794.  @efghggdxlmfn33  Kursk Oblast, silly.
    1
  16795. This is manoeuvre warfare, the Ukrainians aren't going to settle down for WW1-style trench warfare.
    1
  16796.  @PetrCívela  We have nuclear shelters, under office and apartment buildings exceeding a certain size. Finnish building code demands 'em.
    1
  16797.  @torehaaland6921  But Moskva is definitely fire-proof now. Its sailors can light up without a care in the world.
    1
  16798.  @Totomuncher  Yup, and I bet that makes you an illegal immigrant.
    1
  16799. Both the Democrats and Republicans are doomed. Nothing but dissolution of both parties can bring an end to the polarization.
    1
  16800. Have you considered a career in writing fiction?
    1
  16801.  @72marshflower15  Who never stood a chance? I'm putting you down as a weirdo.
    1
  16802.  @neilnelson7603  You're kidding yourself. Russia has a poorly diversified economy -- something Putin has promised to fix time after time, but with little to show for. It's not for nothing that Russia is jokingly referred to as a gas station masquerading as a country. Foolishly, Putin has chased away his best customers, too. No one threatened Russian borders. Russia's sphere of influence, as it exists in Putin's imperialistic mind, was threathened, but that carries no weight.
    1
  16803. *At war. This time, it's Russia that's at war with Europe, its minions excluded, of course. Say buh-bye to EU membership.
    1
  16804.  @fabiennemitchell2371  I watch none of those. Anyhow, the media are not deciding what amounts to voter fraud. The courts are. It's been judged over and over again that Trump's wild claims have no merit. Even your non-legacy media, like Fox, concur. Barr does, too. Like I said, nothing to see here, move along.
    1
  16805.  @fabiennemitchell2371  How am I making your point if I say that for a whole month, no compelling evidence of voter fraud has been brought forward according to the courts, and to boot, William Barr, the chief lawyer of the United States? It's a cool, factual observation. I'd like to see the Senate go against the election results. If so, ACW2, here we come.
    1
  16806.  @fabiennemitchell2371  Allies or not, their success rate is just as piss-poor as that of Trump's legal team. So your beef with the "legacy media" is that they haven't been giving false hope and otherwise cheerleading Trump's increasingly desperate legal efforts. Instead, they've reported on the lawsuits and their failures (50+) and successes (actually, the latter should be singular). I don't think they've missed a spot.
    1
  16807.  @fabiennemitchell2371  Spare me the conspiracy theories. What counts is that by now, Trump has conclusively and irrevocably lost the election. I hope it comes to Secret Service agents carrying Trump by his hands and feet out of the White House on January 20. I can't think of a more fitting conclusion to his presidency.
    1
  16808.  @fabiennemitchell2371  To be absolutely clear, I'm absolutely not interested in your conspiracy theories pertaining to the media. The fact that Trump lost the election is not a matter of opinion. It is a fact. Opinions don't equal facts.
    1
  16809.  @fabiennemitchell2371  In the absence of any evidence of voter fraud that has withstood legal scrutiny, it's highly hypothetical that the Trump will prevail. Still not interested in your MSM conspiracy theories.
    1
  16810.  @fabiennemitchell2371  Get back to me on Jan 6. I'll bring the salt -- you, the wounds.
    1
  16811. Views? This was an advertorial, paid for by Putin.
    1
  16812. Yeah, China, show that nothing has changed since Tiananmen Square.
    1
  16813. Are they staging an exhibition of burnt-out Russian and ex-Soviet tanks, like in Kyiv? Must go see.
    1
  16814. Report to your nearest chapter of Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous, toot sweet.
    1
  16815. He just pledged 2€ billion for Ukrainian refugees. The UK is loath to take in refugees.
    1
  16816.  @ebiekem  With the Russian army fully committed in Ukraine, Putin would've had only policemen and Rosgvardiya paramilitaries to defend Moscow. With their peashooters, neither could've stopped heavily-armed Wagner.
    1
  16817. Indeed, it does suggest that India has overtaken Russia in the space race.
    1
  16818.  @graveperil2169  If you say so, but let's make it official by letting the ROI run it.
    1
  16819.  @graveperil2169  Their GDP per capita suggests otherwise.
    1
  16820. Not with a trade war you won't. Trump is proposing to start a two-front one, with China and the EU.
    1
  16821. Tu quoque.
    1
  16822. Why don't you try to recruit them instead? It would be a smart move in anticipation of the not-so-United Kingdom losing Scotland and Northern Ireland. You gotta make up for your losses.
    1
  16823.  @nigeljohnson9820  You don't understand. Unlike the UK, the EU is not dishing out money to allow its members to live beyond their means. The EU's poorer members get cohesion funding for improvements to their infrastructure and essential services to bring them on par with the others. In other words, they have to work for it. If you don't want Bosnia, maybe Turkey? There's a lot of anti-EU sentiment there after we closed the door on them. You would have a common hobby...
    1
  16824.  @nigeljohnson9820  Corruption within the EU is at the national level, where the EU has no jurisdiction. We have all sorts, including a generous helping of the least corrupt countries in the world. Turkey's ace equally affects the UK, or even more so. Brexit or no Brexit, illegal immigrants lust for the UK owing to your huge black job market -- the biggest in Europe -- and hamstrung immigration authorities.
    1
  16825. Actually, the US Selective Service System says that even undocumented males are to register for military service if the authorities so choose.
    1
  16826. You're a gamer all right.
    1
  16827. You'd think the French electorate had something to do with it.
    1
  16828.  @johannsebastianbach9003  Actually, Poland has been adamant that Germany gets its act together and becomes a responsible player both in military terms and foreign politics.
    1
  16829. It would appear not. A clear majority of Gazans polled in favour of maintaining the tenuous ceasefire before the Oct 7 Hamas attacks. I find it hard to believe that they regret their earlier stance now.
    1
  16830.  @adamredwine774  I think your reading comprehension failed you there. I'm talking about the time before the Oct 7 attacks. Conducting polls while a full scale war is taking place in Gaza is... troublesome.
    1
  16831.  @janvanpelt5572  Jantje doesn't know about Sun Tzu.
    1
  16832.  @thesoultwins72  Try to follow the discussion.
    1
  16833. Should of [sic], could of [sic], would of [sic]
    1
  16834. Who's they? Please say the Reptilians.
    1
  16835. The correct reference here would be the Yom Kippur War. Likewise, Netanyahu and his not-so-merry men were caught with their pants down, despite the generals fussing about an imminent Palestinian attack. Netanyahu's unholy coalition will pay a political price, hopefully a steep enough one that banishes them to the opposition (or jail in Netanyahu's case) forever.
    1
  16836.  @RedArc4Lif3  The Nazis appear to be in charge in Russia. Ukraine, not so.
    1
  16837.  @Chaldon-hl6yk  It's good we got that sorted, because you're forever wallowing in victimhood.
    1
  16838.  @xcitemex6353  Aw, the bot calling others bots. Go make vodka from your hard-earned sack of potatoes.
    1
  16839.  @xcitemex6353  You're thick in the skull. I've told you time and again that I'm not Ukrainian. I wouldn't mind, but it's just not case. We do have a fine family tradition of destroying Orcs, however. My grandfathers, great-uncles and uncles weren't ones to brag, but judging from their medal hauls they were quite proficient at it.
    1
  16840. Russia always supported German unity? Russia was instrumental in dividing Germany for close to fifty years. When the Iron Curtain fell, the East German populace immediately voted for reunification with West Germany. The GDR was never anything but a Soviet puppet state.
    1
  16841. @tda7294 Have you visited both countries? Or either?
    1
  16842.  @tda7294  So you think the America's fentanyl addicts outnumber India's poor? I think not. Besides, we were talking about India's lack of sanitation facilities. Keep your eye on the ball.
    1
  16843.  @tda7294  You replied to my comment. Therefore, it's fair to assume that your reply is somehow related to what I wrote. Can't find the right reply button? Are you a YouTube n00b?
    1
  16844. Russia doesn't care about Russian PoWs. They don't care about repatriating the corpses of Russian soldiers either.
    1
  16845. So the Brexit Party will shine brightly at the polls before it goes out without a bang.
    1
  16846.  @creatures2712  How's your damage control going? It has a whiff of desperation about it.
    1
  16847. You're sadly mistaken. France won most of the conflicts it was in involved in after the Napoleon era. There were major clashes, too, like France conquering Algeria from the Ottomans and the Crimean War, which saw Russia beaten. Most strikingly, the French led the Allies to victory in WW1. Since you have access to YouTube, you should mosey over to Wikipedia and open the article "List of wars involving France". It will open your (shut) eyes.
    1
  16848.  @MrMalmir  I don't think they walk the streets on the best of days. Some disaffected Iranian might have a crack at them.
    1
  16849. A conspiracy theorist reports for duty. Have you ever considered doing something constructive in your life?
    1
  16850.  @eliso5973  Yup. I have about 30 patents to my name.
    1
  16851.  @eliso5973  Ah, you're no good with numbers. Colour me unsurprised.
    1
  16852. Come on, even the Russian OSCE officials didn't dare to make such an allegation. Only Russian propagandists and their obedient trolls try to peddle that lie.
    1
  16853.  @OneofInfinity.  De bezuinigingen, die kunnen worden weggewerkt, maar het defaitisme -- en specifiek onder de Nederlanders -- baart me zorgen. Het lijkt alsof het ingebakken zit.
    1
  16854.  @МихаилКаньшин-в5ч  Woulda-coulda-shoulda.
    1
  16855. It must be a gender thing with you.
    1
  16856. Putin is in denial. Shouldn't you start prepping for Nuclear Winter? Or what's the use, you'll envy the dead.
    1
  16857. Did you select Hindi-English when you used Google Translate?
    1
  16858.  @JRLBertaDogs  Tucker Carlson didn't have the presence of mind to consider the much lower GDP per capita in Russia. So, in actual fact, filling a grocery cart costs the average Russian the equivalent of $500.
    1
  16859.  @jamespattinson-so7fu  Arab? Iranian. Hint: Iranians aren't Arabs.
    1
  16860.  VaporizeUkraine  I'm not interested in your fixation with Murica.
    1
  16861. If my calculator breaks, I know whom to call.
    1
  16862. Be that as it may, this isn't helping the Gazans. On the contrary, even.
    1
  16863. If only we could get Orban to leave the EU, too.
    1
  16864. Trump should deport pets. They are a strain on resources and don't make good eating.
    1
  16865. Let's see what the UN General Assembly thinks of all this. If Putin's Crimean caper is anything to go by, international opinion is very much against Russia.
    1
  16866.  @unsulliedthe832  You should get a gong from Putin. Hero of Whataboutism.
    1
  16867.  @unsulliedthe832  Urban Dictionary... say no more. I'm not American -- not by a long stretch -- and I find this obsession of yours with the US both amusing and pathetic. The Americans, too, have an obsession with the US. One half hates what the other half stands for, so if you think about it, you're two peas in a pod!
    1
  16868.  @W_L_W.  There's literally nothing to corroborate your stories about Ukrainian war crimes in the Donbas. Even the official Russian observers there came up empty. Where's this coming from?
    1
  16869. Only in your mind. Which "EU dictators" are we talking about?
    1
  16870. I'm not rooting for Russia, but the Baltic Sea is very much about littoral warfare, which smaller warships like these missile corvettes excel at. In the archipelagos off Sweden and Finland, bigger warships are at a disadvantage owing to the shallow, treacherous waters. Even corvettes can fall prey to coastal troops armed with ATGMs.
    1
  16871.  @user-bu9nb8wr6e  Botox?
    1
  16872.  @Q_QQ_Q  Erdogan knows full well that Turkey won't meet the Copenhagen criteria while he's in charge.
    1
  16873.  @Q_QQ_Q  I asked you a question: when has Turkey stated that it will ratify the NATO accession of Sweden and Finland only if Turkey gets to join the EU? There's nothing to comprehend here. There's you putting up or shutting up.
    1
  16874.  @Q_QQ_Q  So now you're admitting that you made it all up?
    1
  16875.  @zinhanwin6259  What is your involvement here? And don't upvote your own comments. It's sordid.
    1
  16876. I can't think of a single instance where the LGBTQ community waged a war of aggression, committed numerous war crimes and illegally annexed foreign lands for the greater glory of a deranged dictator. Whatever did the LGBTQs do to you that makes you pooh-pooh a war of this magnitude? Such an extreme response raises the question if you're unsure about your own sexual orientation and in the midst of a violent denial phase.
    1
  16877.  @cracked_kai6348  I can claim to be a Christmas elf, but Santa may have other ideas.
    1
  16878. The colonial mindset is alive and well... in India.
    1
  16879.  @majimakiriyu4872  No, I wouldn't say so. The Canadians have overcome their colonial past. You should emulate them.
    1
  16880. More inflation on account of higher energy prices would be the death of Turkey. No one in the West is so callous.
    1
  16881.  @viktorg6823  Oh, but Germany has had several school shootings. In other words, you're claiming that Germany has neither sensible gun laws and doesn't qualify as a developed country.
    1
  16882. Russia should put a stop to such flagrant war profiteering. It has the means to do so overnight: simply by withdrawing from Ukraine. No more war, no more war profiteering.
    1
  16883.  @maxmustermann5612  Sure. Some will shun Google because of their dubious practices. Not just advertiser and partners, but talent, too. Let me guess, you've never worked for a big corporation?
    1
  16884. An ever-weakening Russia is only to China's advantage. Soon, Russia's UN membership can be revoked and it will be renamed Ruxia, China's northernmost province.
    1
  16885. Business at the expense of democracy, that is. As an authoritarian regime itself, China has flexible morals.
    1
  16886.  @rickysubutai296  You'll have to explain your comment further. I can't make any sense of it.
    1
  16887. So, Mr. Serbia, why was Russia knocking about near Kyiv -- and (out of frustration?) committing atrocities in Bucha?
    1
  16888.  @colin8696908  Don't ruin a good conspiracy theory with critical questions.
    1
  16889. He'll have to hurry because McDonalds are pulling out of Russia.
    1
  16890. You're letting your imagination get the better of you. The victims are mostly missing eyes and fingers, as they pulled out the beeping pagers to look at them.
    1
  16891. Wannabe, hasbeen. The sooner they come to terms with it, the better.
    1
  16892. Turkey fell short of the Copenhagen Criteria. They call for democratic governance and human rights. Erdogan doesn't care much for either.
    1
  16893. Rightly so, because the modded pagers and walkie-talkies constituted boobytraps. Israel has officially outlawed them.
    1
  16894. I see Australia capitulates to China. I thought as much.
    1
  16895.  @snapper69996666  Britain was once Australia's biggest trading partner. I trust it's not the kind of relationship you want with China in this day and age. "Copulation", was that a Freudian slip?
    1
  16896. That would be ideal, but what we'll see instead is Afganistan being ruled by a crazed theocratic faction. Once in power, The Taliban will never bother with a popular mandate of any kind.
    1
  16897.  @vladnickul  We don't have that problem around these here parts. You're mistaking us for Russia. Evolution will probably make Russians sprout wings.
    1
  16898. No-one will agree to work with RN, so don't get your hopes up.
    1
  16899.  @kukulroukul4698  The EU member states suffer a 8% glancing blow, while the UK takes a 43% wallop right in the kisser. Indeed, who wins?
    1
  16900.  @kukulroukul4698  Norway? That's an odd thing to say. Norway's in the EU's single market, which means that it's in the EU camp when it comes to Brexit fall-out. Perhaps you struggle with analogies. A no-deal Brexit is like a boxing match -- or since there are precious few rules, a UFC bout. Both contestants will suffer blows, but the one left standing is declared the winner.
    1
  16901.  @kukulroukul4698  How so? Would you affiliate with your enemies? Try to start making sense.
    1
  16902. Reptilians. Of zijn die niet meer in zwang bij complotdenkers? Ik houd het niet bij.
    1
  16903. Actually, wet snow can be quite gruelling. You're wet all over, and you can't properly ski in the sticky snow. I'll take a crisp -25 degrees C any time. I exercised regularly on the polar circle, by the way.
    1
  16904. "Their power of exclusively [sic]"? Who's "their"? I expect the UNSC vote will fail because of a US veto, but that means it will automatically go the UNGA next, where I expect it will be adopted.
    1
  16905. To be fair, before the pandemic dealt international tourism a knock-out blow, the monarchy was a nice money-spinner for the UK. At present, the royals are unproductive, but I'm cynical enough to realise they'll earn their keep once more.
    1
  16906. France is entirely within its rights to supply arms to Ukraine, which fell victim to Russian military aggression, which has been overwhelmingly condemned at the UNGA. Not only that, Russia broke the UN Charter, while France, as a permanent UNSC member, is responsible for upholding it. And if Russia doesn't want its young men killed, it can simply withdraw them from Ukraine.
    1
  16907. Sadder still is that these mobilisations cause Russia to lose thrice the number in draft dodgers. And it's the brainiest who flee, too. Brain drain is putting it mildly. Brainectomy is increasingly accurate.
    1
  16908.  @azurebadger  You still can't manage anything better than the equivalent of "you don't know sob-sob-sob". Oh well, you did manage to produce a conspiracy theory about the MSM -- as if you knew which media I consume. You can't even understand the languages. Since I suspect you haven't the slightest clue what argumentation means, I'll give you a taste: "A 2019 study by the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Geographic Society found that Americans generally lack global awareness, despite most respondents claiming they consider international issues important." I see you've added poor punctuation to your list of writing errors.
    1
  16909. That's the point here. China could end the war.
    1
  16910. The Druze don't identify as Muslim, sport.
    1
  16911. There's no distinct "Western" democracy. There's just democracy. Those who need to add the adjective "Western" either suffer from lack of democracy or they are closeted fans of authoritarianism.
    1
  16912.  @aleong.9566  I'll take the compliment. How is "Assange, Snowden etc." supposed to reflect on democracy per se? As far as rights go, shouldn't you have picked freedom of the press instead? As for "Western" democracy, the parties concerned are the US, UK and Sweden. I don't think "the West" as a whole got together and decided to go after Assange and Snowden.
    1
  16913.  @aleong.9566  Oh, we're doing conspiracies now? Did the UK leave the EU to lord over it? Why were the Brits in such high spirits over regaining their independence? It's not the behaviour you'd expect from an overlord. You make precious little sense.
    1
  16914.  @aleong.9566  Be that as it may, Britain's Brexit woes suggest that the UK is the subservient party and not the EU. There goes your conspiracy theory about UK supremacy over Europe.
    1
  16915. Oh, it counts as a defeat if the oligarchs and/or siloviki bump off Putin and sue for peace. The peace terms won't be favourable to Russia, but they'll pin everything on the late Putin.
    1
  16916. There's still a small chance that Putin bombastically decides to pull out all the stops to save Russia from a crippling civil war (read: ensure his continued monopoly on power). The price will be a full withdrawal from Ukraine. He may believe that will save him and his political career.
    1
  16917.  @graveperil2169  As in British innovations like concentration camps and racial segregation?
    1
  16918.  @paulparoma  You're a bit behind in your history studies. 79 years, to be precise.
    1
  16919. Putin thought he could get away with murder with regard to Ukraine, but if he were to attack NATO, that would amount to suicide. Even Putin understands that you can't get away with suicide.
    1
  16920. Let me guess, you're a jealous wife beater and the divorce made you a misogynist.
    1
  16921. We get it. You love dictators.
    1
  16922. "Under its control"? There's a mutual consensus forming that no permanent NATO bases will be established in Finland, US-manned or otherwise. Also, NATO operates on the basis of consensus. You're peddling conspiracy theories.
    1
  16923. They're certainly not centre right, so how would you want them to be called? Further right? Extra right? Super right?
    1
  16924.  @mattearl8213  Sure thing. What point are you trying to make?
    1
  16925.  @simenlvseth1788  I replied to the OP, not to you.
    1
  16926. Perhaps we should ask the UN General Assembly if Russia's invasion of Ukraine is fair. Oh, we did already, and it didn't work out so well for Russia. Not in the least.
    1
  16927. ​ @hansdouglas6358  What is your age?
    1
  16928.  @hansdouglas6358  The UNGA means all the 193 countries of this world. If you don't like the organisation, you could invite all their ambassadors to gather in a clearing in the jungle and vote again on the matter. Same outcome.
    1
  16929. The Hague in English.
    1
  16930.  @chrillerkiller  I'm wondering which was first in the brugklas, an English lesson or a French lesson. If French was first, English would be my 4th language.
    1
  16931. Piffle. Putin has condemned Russia to misery, and for what? His imperialist dreams, which aren't coming true. Mark my words, before long, Russia will drop Putin like a brick. The only question is, will Putin die a hermit in Inner Mongolia, or in a prison hospital in The Hague.
    1
  16932. Russia chose war.
    1
  16933.  @ClassicFIHD  International agreements tend to have a longer shelf life than administrations. That's why you should exercise extreme care when electing presidents.
    1
  16934.  @sleepyjoe7843  OK, since Pootie-Poot wanted to play Peter the Great, what should we do to hurt Russia's infrastructure, you think?
    1
  16935.  @sleepyjoe7843  I know my history. I have a degree to prove it. Being Dutch-educated, too, Peter the Great's exploits in the Netherlands aren't news to me. France, as a permanent UNSC member, is particularly responsible for upholding the UN Charter, which Russia has broken. Also, France can fall back on a series of UNGA resolutions in supporting Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, has nothing to justify its military aggression against Ukraine.
    1
  16936.  @jackzhou4813  Don't cherry-pick from the past. I see Western countries giving development aid, while China gives unmanageable loans. It's called neo-colonialism for a reason.
    1
  16937.  @jackzhou4813  Actually, I spent two years in Kenya building dispensaries and roads, all paid for by development aid grants. We employed scores of locals, from unskilled workers to professional contractors. I hear the Chinese built roads in the same region, using their own imported workforce -- and the roads washed away in a matter of years. Of course, the loans are still outstanding. What have you personally done aside from providing verbal commentary on YouTube?
    1
  16938.  @jackzhou4813  What exactly do you mean by "concerned by"? It's not proper English.
    1
  16939. The whole mountain should be re-landscaped. Mt. Rushmore is like an infantile disease.
    1
  16940.  @datafinder  The problem with your theory is that the pig needs the gas to flow in order to move inside the pipeline. It was no means of propulsion of its own. No gas has been flowing through either Nord Stream 1 or Nord Stream 2 as of late.
    1
  16941. In the mean time, Putin is cooped up in his Kremlin bunker. 123 countries are poised to arrest him should he enter, including BRICS pal South Africa, where Putin is supposed to make an appearance in August. Should Putin decide to go, he'll get a bonus trip to The Hague, all expenses paid for.
    1
  16942. I don't see it. France tends to vote differently from the US in the UNSC whenever Israel comes up. Explain that.
    1
  16943. @bhante1345 It's more intricate than that. I doubled down on you.
    1
  16944.  @r423fplip  Non sequitur, I'm afraid.
    1
  16945. @bhante1345 Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    1
  16946. And when the two fought side by side, Finland tended to be more in arms than Sweden. Disproportionally represented, in other words. Hence the Finnish saying that Swedes fought heroically to the last Finn.
    1
  16947. Russia disintegrating will have repercussions for Scandinavia, too. I remember only too well how we prepared in the military for any repercussions of the Soviet Union disintegrating. There were few, but this time could be different.
    1
  16948. @McQuade 1 Scratch Scotland.
    1
  16949. You do realise, right, that you're effectively predicting a Russian defeat in Ukraine? Well, it's not a first for Russia. It had a Vietnam in Afghanistan already. Then, it had the good sense to withdraw, although it left it too late. Russia may want to withdraw from Ukraine sooner rather than later, so that the Russian Federation doesn't have to undergo the same fate as the Soviet Union.
    1
  16950.  @wendydjacob236  The technical challenge of rigging a pager with explosives isn't rocket science, but it was a major undertaking to manufacture thousands of them and seeing to it that Hezbollah would buy precisely this particular batch. I cannot believe that Hezbollah, before distributing them, didn't have their techies take apart arbitrary samples. Still they failed to spot the explosive charge and its triggering mechanism. Mossad really did their homework.
    1
  16951.  @NM89-Nan  You only seem to have embarrassments on offer come election day.
    1
  16952.  scotttommasulo5512  "The world?" The world would associate your red wave with a resurgence of communism.
    1
  16953. They have nowhere near the capacity of the train link that has just been severed. Stop day-dreaming.
    1
  16954. I don't think that's the idea here. The Soviets turned them into a dump and the Russian post-war settlers would never budge.
    1
  16955.  @JackTenrec-qk4zp  No, it isn't. I'm a Euro and I've lived in Istanbul and travelled extensively in Turkey. Apart from Erdogan's asinine politics, I haven't much bad to say about Turkey, but Europe it isn't.
    1
  16956. ​ @JackTenrec-qk4zp  Duh. It occurs to me that Africans, Asians, Latinos and whatnots "are just people", too. Ergo, they're all Europeans in your book. And if we ever make contact with intelligent extraterrestrial beings, let's make it immediately known to them that they're European as well. Don't take this as an invitation to continue this increasingly pointless discussion.
    1
  16957. Russia attacks Ukraine, but in doing so, pretends to fight "the West". It makes for a great excuse when Russia suffers an ignominious defeat.
    1
  16958.  @marksimpson6387  If I'm due money and you have specific knowledge of who's supposed to pay me, tell them to pay up!
    1
  16959. Poverty and slavery, more like.
    1
  16960. With all due respect, Lithuania is not exactly in the driver's seat here. More like giving pointers from the back seat.
    1
  16961.  @kareldekale4987  Dus volgens jou moesten de "Antwerpse Belgen" moeite doen om de Nederlandse taal te leren. Ik weet uit eigen ervaring dat de Vlamingen beter Nederlands spreken dan wij.
    1
  16962. I'm confused. Who started the war in Ukraine?
    1
  16963.  @eyaklen4804  Provide credible evidence to back up your assertions, like OSCE Donbas SMM reports. They're all public. Hint: you needn't bother. Russian OSCE monitors came up empty, too. There's no evidence whatsover of Ukraine targeting civilians.
    1
  16964.  @ikik3406  Oud worden is geen keuze, roken wel. Het is ook onzin dat alle ouderen intensieve zorg nodig hebben. Trouwens, ik had een hevig rokende collega (een expat bij Shell) die letterlijk een vermogen aan experimentele kankermedicijnen heeft uitgegeven, nadat de verzekering die niet meer wilde vergoeden. Met datzelfde eigen geld had hij decennialang als oudje in een particulier verpleeghuis in Florida kunnen doorbrengen.
    1
  16965.  @HansKazan-f9t  Bronnen genoeg: "[...] 85 tot 90% van de longkankers is veroorzaakt door roken.", Màxima MC. "89% van het aantal mannen en 73% van het aantal vrouwen dat aan longkanker overlijdt is toe te schrijven aan roken.", Jellinek "Elk jaar sterven 10.000 mensen aan longkanker. Van alle mensen met longkanker heeft 90% gerookt.", Rijksoverheid.
    1
  16966. Förlåt.
    1
  16967. Your WEF reference gave you away as a silly complotdenker.
    1
  16968.  @PopularesVox  Come on, wear your label proudly. Maybe print it on an armband? BTW, are you alluding to classic liberalism or social liberalism? Globally, liberalism typically means the former -- outside of the USA, that is.
    1
  16969.  @PopularesVox  Let us hear your conspiracy theory then. I'm in for a laugh.
    1
  16970.  @PopularesVox  You need a change of clichés.
    1
  16971.  @PopularesVox  You need some arguments. Not that I think that they are forthcoming.
    1
  16972.  @PopularesVox  You're not talking, as in conversing. You're spouting inane clichés.
    1
  16973.  @PopularesVox  Me, a bot? I was trying to make you act less bot-like, to engage in real conversation with you, but it appears you haven't got it in you.
    1
  16974. Since you're such a champion for righteousness, travel to the Kremlin forthwith. Peace starts there.
    1
  16975.  @thinkingmind7169  Go play silly buggers with the Orcs.
    1
  16976.  @QuantumNinja1.9  Anglos, as in Anglo-Saxons? They ceased to exist in the 11th century, nearly a millenium ago. Educate yourself about the Norman Conquest.
    1
  16977.  @QuantumNinja1.9  I think you're talking conspiracy theories.
    1
  16978.  @Theworldsucks-kg5jv  So there are only five eyes in the West? You sound awfully like a conspiracy theorist.
    1
  16979.  @Theworldsucks-kg5jv  The Five Eyes are Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US. Firstly, they are an intelligence gathering alliance that focuses on SIGINT. I suspect that in your vivid imagination, they operate an army of James Bonds with licenses to kill. Secondly, as a superpower, the US holds sway in the West, but the others, no, no, no, some. The UK used to be an intelligence heavyweight because it acted as a conduit to the EU's intelligence agencies, but after Brexit, much less so. Like I wrote, a conspiracy theory. You may as well shout yourself hoarse about WEF.
    1
  16980. @markoursic2685 Balkans? You think too highly of yourselves.
    1
  16981. Uh, we've consistently outspent you on Ukraine aid, to say nothing of the Ukrainian refugees that we proudly host at our expense. Macron had to educate Trump on live TV about it. I'm sure you can catch a rerun here on YouTube.
    1
  16982. Sweden has done extremely well in simulated combat against the US Navy, who wanted to spar with the best. The Americans did their best, too, but it wasn't enough. The Swedes bested them time after time.
    1
  16983.  @marksnyder8022  Are you arguing my case or do you have one of your own? If it's the former, thanks a bundle. The Swedish sub Gotland had its way with USS Ronald Reagan in 2005, but in 2015, the French nuclear-powered Saphir did same against USS Theodore Roosevelt.
    1
  16984. @asmirann3636 Without US colonialism there'd be no Alaska, Hawai, Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and Guantanamo. Heck, there'd be no United States of America to begin with. Pure and simple, the USA co-opted British overseas colonialism and copied Russian backyard colonialism.
    1
  16985. It seems like Parler's inability to deal with the 1% did the platform in. Maybe they've learned their lesson when they relaunch.
    1
  16986.  @jackthenap3609  Zhirinovski sure made for interesting soundbites. Full of threats of rape, murder and nuking foreign cities. He put all his fellow Fascists to shame, past and present. If that's what Russian patriots wants to be associated with, they're welcome to it. We don't think very highly of Russia any way.
    1
  16987.  @jackthenap3609  Oh, and how is polarising a people a good thing?
    1
  16988. @LEX 26 Sure. It's widely known. One of the ironies of history.
    1
  16989. I've been back to Kosovo for holidays thrice after doing a stint with KFOR. While with KFOR, we helped an ethnic Serb restart his hotel business. Business is great, and not in a small part because of the stream of ex-servicemen that stay at his hotel. He's a thorn in the sides of the ultranationalists, Serb and Kosovar.
    1
  16990. MINUSMA. A UN peacekeeping mission. Quick, read up on it.
    1
  16991. Is it needed, for reals? How about a rich country joining for a change, like pay-but-no-say/hangaround-member Norway or Switzerland?
    1
  16992. ​ @eddastrohmayer251  Edda doesn't realise that both Norway and Switzerland are pay-but-no-say hang-around members of the EU. They abide by the rules, but have no say in drafting them. The silliness only endures because of misguided national pride. Now, make a case why Norway and Switzerland should join Putin's anti-EU, the Eurasian Economic Union, instead. That's a wet dream of yours, right?
    1
  16993. How would you set about improving the UN? Give it your best.
    1
  16994.  @J.Z.z.z.z.z  What a flaccid reply.
    1
  16995. TNO en Staatstoezicht op de Mijnen verwachten geen problemen.
    1
  16996. @ Je zou denken dat ze nu juist extra aandacht besteden aan de problemen die zich voordeden in Groningen. Sorry, ik ben geen wappie, dus ik ga ervan uit dat ze iets bijgeleerd hebben.
    1
  16997. @ "Altijd blijven huilen", zegt Bartje, de trieste clown.
    1
  16998. Ukraine doesn't need to "operate satellites" any more than you need to operate them when you use Google Maps to find out where you are. Besides, Russia has been jamming GPS extensively, so for all intents and purposes, the Storm Shadows have reverted to inertial navigation and terrain profile matching to find their targets. Thanks for playing.
    1
  16999.  @MrH1990s  Again, in English, please.
    1
  17000.  @MrH1990s  Me, research? I repaired INS when you were a mere twinkle in your daddy's eye. You clearly didn't understand the satnav jamming part. And don't you understand that just about every handphone includes a one-way GPS receiver nowadays, including those sold in Russia? Conversely, my Sammy receives Russian GLONASS positioning data. Nothing to it. Setting target coordinates for a missile is about as easy as setting a destination on Google Maps.
    1
  17001.  @MrH1990s  You haven't managed to produce a single argument, yet you claim that I don't have a clue? You're pure troll. Scurry off to your troll cave already.
    1
  17002.  @vandeberg649  Die andere heeft er ook héél veel mee te maken.
    1
  17003. There are vehicle-borne systems with directional microphones that can pinpoint the exact direction from where shots are fired. I wish we'd had those when Hezbollah youngsters used our APCs for target practice in Lebanon, so we could've returned fire.
    1
  17004.  @SNkumar-cy7xq  Dying to sell? On the contrary, our arms manufacturers can't meet demand, and that's from NATO partners alone. It happens regularly that arms export licences to India go unapproved. Often, it's because of technology transfer. Evidently, India can't be trusted with our most closely guarded secrets. Then there are concerns about India's human rights record with respect to Jammu and Kashmir. Even smalls arms deals have been nixed over that.
    1
  17005.  @VishalSawant-i8s  Indeed, my personal opinion is irrelevant. However, what I wrote earlier is borne out by facts. You, on the other hand, have no facts to counter my opinion or to support yours. For some reason, Modi hasn't got better weapons to buy than the French Rafale multirole fighter. And he's a repeat customer, too.
    1
  17006.  @arthuranydonuts923  Wilders gathered most of his votes from disgruntled voters. He's not denying that. That alone nicely fits the definition of populism. Incidentally, PVV voters are on average the least educated ones of all. Education and populism apparently don't go together well.
    1
  17007. Trump thinks that trade wars with neighbours to the north, south, east and west benefit Murica. Go figure.
    1
  17008.  @eblita3698  It used to be customary to translate the names of monarchs. Why not reintroduce the habit?
    1
  17009. Netanyahu, too -- politically. No doubt, Bibi will retire to Boca Raton, out of reach of Israel's courts, while Hamas fighters get their 72 virgins each (that is to say, 72 male Linux nerds and Trekkies).
    1
  17010. No wonder. It's a very emotional time for right-wing radicals.
    1
  17011. I guess Trump won't be around to pardon him.
    1
  17012.  @jhozthron4415  Do you even realise that you're lending credence to Putin's propaganda that it's NATO that is waging a war against Russia, with Ukraine as the instrument? That makes you no better than a Putin bot. Ukraine didn't agree to be devastated at the hands of Russia just to further NATO's and Biden's supposed quest for world domination. Neither is Finland now agreeing to act as another pawn in your imagined game of Risk. Finland and Sweden are rationally seeking security guarantees -- not confrontation -- after Russia squandered its last shred of trust in their eyes. Stop reciting from the Kremlin's playbook.
    1
  17013.  @konstantinospapadopoulos4643  For good reasons, too. Russia failed and continues to fail to tick the boxes of NATO membership. For starters, it's not a true democracy, and it's rife with ethnic conflict. Do the wars in Chechnya ring a bell? We like to spread our arms procurement over different countries. Germany, France, Sweden, Israel, South Africa -- you name it, it's there. But enough about your cliché-laden conspiracy theories.
    1
  17014.  @konstantinospapadopoulos4643  1) Try to use your own words. 2) Sham democracies exist aplenty. Saddam Hussein got 100% of the popular vote, but not much later, the Iraqis hung him. 3) I don't understand the connection. I'm unsure if Julian Assange and Snowden have even visited my country.
    1
  17015. That's utter nonsense, Martin. Many European countries besides France and Germany have well-established aerospace industries. UK, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Czech Republic and Poland come to mind.
    1
  17016. In that case the humiliating retreat from Kyiv wasn't the smart thing to do.
    1
  17017.  @ГалинаПанькова-м7г  Sorry, try English or stick to VK.
    1
  17018. If you're looking for an analogy from classical antiquity, the end of Roman rule in Britain is a better match. Rome lost interest and withdrew its troops.
    1
  17019. Which part of Trump's hating on the Democrats didn't you get?
    1
  17020.  @lowratehitman  The problem is, this sick Republican-Democrat duopoly does define America. Until you change it, that is.
    1
  17021.  @lowratehitman  You can't pin everything on the media. You have a president here who's vilifying the opposition, and in very clear terms. There's very little room (or need) for media spin.
    1
  17022.  @lowratehitman  So? I already conceded the Republican-Democrat duopoly is sick. However, Trump is the strongest polarizing force in existence. As the incumbent, he's supposed to unify the country. He's never even tried.
    1
  17023. They're gaining territory and losing? OK, Krembot. I suppose you don't value your credibility one bit.
    1
  17024.  @Moabi4  Russia nuking the Baltic countries -- Estonia in particular -- would subject Saint Petersburg to a lethal dose of nuclear fallout. Suicidal much?
    1
  17025. If the EU really put the screws on Hungary, Orban would soon be sent packing by the electorate. Even with the current dilly-dallying, Orban doesn't have time on his side. He had better pick a dacha in Russia to retire to, because there's a string of corruption charges looming over him.
    1
  17026. You've got it backwards. Putin is the warmonger here. When he withdraws his Orcs, the war is over.
    1
  17027. First there was Bucha and now Putin's chum Assad is exposed as a mass murderer. And Putin welcomed him with open arms.
    1
  17028.  @danielrevelation184  KFOR, sport.
    1
  17029.  @danielrevelation184  Not celebrated here, but happy Ritva name day. If that's your name.
    1
  17030.  @MrGreFunky  You're trying to redefine the term. Many African colonies had only small white populations, because an inordinate number of white settlers would succumb to tropical diseases, to which they had little or no resistance. West Africa, which was particularly dangerous, was known as the 'White Man's Grave'. Hence, should we conclude that West Africa didn't endure colonialism? Rather than going overseas, the Russian Empire gradually colonised its hinterland. The tsars were keen on Russia to be recognised as major colonial power that could stand tall among the other colonial powers. Curiously, Russia never properly decolonised. It lost bits and pieces along the way, but has held on to most of its colonies to this day.
    1
  17031. Am I missing something or is there an Alternative Truths Network?
    1
  17032. Oh, Germany was still deep inside France when it sued for peace in WW1. Same here, except Putin probably won't make it out alive, like the Kaiser managed when he went into exile.
    1
  17033. ​ @Aceaight  Ironically, PiS won the election in Poland, just like Wilders and his PVV, but without an outright majority, PiS lost the chance to govern. The PVV will endure the same fate.
    1
  17034. It takes an hour to boil an ostrich egg. I thought you'd like to know.
    1
  17035.  @Benjamin-tg79  Comments are not sentient beings. They can't be interested. Where's the British Council when you need their language courses?
    1
  17036. Austria, Germany, Italy and Spain must have the civil war version then.
    1
  17037.  @YS27122  Which hypocrisy is that? We enjoy free speech. We can't quell critical voices even if you think they're hypocrisy.
    1
  17038. Germany has primarily been providing submarines, missile boats and patrol boats to Israel's navy. They haven't seen much action -- if any -- against Hamas, and mostly in preventing arms shipments by sea.
    1
  17039.  @petar4002  You were born a slave, it seems.
    1
  17040. Conspiracy theorist says it all.
    1
  17041.  Al 72  So Russians should resign themselves to having a crappy president because the alternative is crapper still? Maybe there would be better alternatives on offer if the crappy one didn't have them all killed.
    1
  17042. Interestingly, Israel has so far welcomed UNRWA aid, because otherwise it would have to fund basic services in the occupied territories itself.
    1
  17043. Trolling for MBS? Good money in it?
    1
  17044. Bad spellers of the world untie.
    1
  17045. Don't they teach you wumaos that Hungary is in NATO?
    1
  17046.  @Artur-hg1qg  Nordic Council? That's all well and good, but it's no substitute for the EU. Moreover, three out of four of the Nordic Council's most notable members are EU members. Norway and Switzerland fall into the "pay but no say" hang-around member category of the EU. With sufficient akvavit/kirsch under their belt, their politicians will readily admit to it.
    1
  17047. Now that the USA Trumpland revels in victimhood, you have a case.
    1
  17048. Sweden can't supply the Taurus without German say-so. Germany is not alone in imposing restrictions on exports of its weapons and their technologies.
    1
  17049.  @Nils.Minimalist  Sure, but in the sense that field-proving the Taurus would increase sales.
    1
  17050. Or the Battle of Hel, or the Battle of Wizna.
    1
  17051.  user-dq8ku3pj6d  As I wrote earlier, what about whataboutism? Are you slow on the uptake?
    1
  17052. That's about right. Vice-Admiral Kulakov is 43 years old and a Soviet relic. The Ka-27 heli is about as old.
    1
  17053. I hate call you naff, but there are other means. US officials can cut off all US revenue streams to ByteDance, which makes the US marketplace instantly unattractive to them.
    1
  17054. On contrary, I hope Poland pulls abreast with Europe's most affluent countries. They've certainly got the work ethic down pat.
    1
  17055. Were you kicked out of the EU as a visa overstayer and subsequently banned from entering? It would explain the vitriol that you keep spewing.
    1
  17056. ​ @spacecube8561  Your expression needs work.
    1
  17057.  @alphabetta7119  Your wish has been granted. Russia can use nuclear weapons... in WW2. Too bad time travel isn't within the realm of possibilities.
    1
  17058.  @gauravdey4163  The reverse is true, the oil price has been declining, and Urals crude more so than Brent. At present, Urals crude trades at $48/bbl, so well below the G7's $60/bbl price cap, and just marginally above Russia's official $44/bbl production cost. That mean Putin isn't making money. Like I wrote, you Indians had better start slipping the Russians some of yours, or they'll go bankrupt.
    1
  17059. China is a middle-income developing country, so yes, it should experience faster GDP growth than developed countries. Growth will abate when China joins the ranks of developed countries. We've seen the same happening with some of China's neighbours. After decades of brisk growth, South Korea's economy is topping out. As for freedom, China continues to very score poorly in international comparisons. China's at the bottom of the list in the Press Freedom Index. In the Democracy Index, China is ranked 153 out of 167. I can't help but notice that European countries top both indexes.
    1
  17060. @ Your reading comprehension failed you spectacularly.
    1
  17061. Can't afford pensions at too young an age.
    1
  17062.  @Ryo_Le_Gos  You can't put things into perspective, can you?
    1
  17063.  @cypressfan5476  Don't push your drug habit onto others.
    1
  17064. Why do you Putin trolls always pick Anglo-Saxon pseudonyms? You convince no one.
    1
  17065. So, you think AfD will sell out to Trump instead? The AfD that is -- according to new interpretation -- to the right of the NSDAP?
    1
  17066.  Matthew-it4dm  Of course there is an alternative. This vid says it all: Benny Gantz.
    1
  17067.  Matthew-it4dm  Are you slow on the uptake? According to the polls, if there was an election now, Glantz would win as many seats as Netanyahu holds now.
    1
  17068.  @Stefan-ei5wg  So the aggrieved oligarch or high-ranking politician popped over to the local supermarket and grabbed some Novichok from the shelf? I love it how your logic works. Putin can't have done it, because, well, it would be dumb to do dumb stuff.
    1
  17069.  @Stefan-ei5wg  Why, is the German confirmation somehow deficient in its independence? I feel a conspiracy theory coming along.
    1
  17070.  The smartest guy in the room  You're off on a tangent. This relates to Russia and Germany. Why is the US electron [sic] relevant (yawn)?
    1
  17071. ​ The smartest guy in the room  Where's the analogy? Conspiracy theories? I don't care for them, nor have I anything to do with the US. Don't you Putin bots understand that whataboutism went out of flavour together with the Soviet Union?
    1
  17072. The French will stop protesting when hell freezes over.
    1
  17073. Source: trust me bro.
    1
  17074.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  Whoever makes the accusation is supposed to provide proof, dum-dum.
    1
  17075.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  You still didn't provide proof either way. You're just running your biiig mouth.
    1
  17076. And we'll keep hearing pro-Russian comments from Hungary as long as the cheap Russian gas keeps flowing. Putin and Orban have a deal.
    1
  17077.  @VH-eq2ci  Safeguarding human rights is pedophilia now?
    1
  17078.  @nyali2  It's an irrefutable fact that Hungary is a net beneficiary of the EU budget. Don't try to weasel yourselves out of it.
    1
  17079.  @nyali2  OK, you committed a burden of proof fallacy. You're trying to make me prove your claim. Fact: Hungary receives more from money from the EU budget than it pays into it. Of course, money flows to and fro without going through the EU budget, too. Strong export economies tend to benefit more from trade. That's why we, the strong economies and hence, net contributors, give Hungary money so you can improve your infrastructure, which should improve your competitiveness as well. Should, because Orban wastes precious EU money on vanity project and "deposits" to his cronies, who serve as his personal piggybanks.
    1
  17080.  @nyali2  Don't flatter yourself. By the looks of it, you don't have anything to teach me. And my point still stands. You couldn't produce anything to the contrary.
    1
  17081.  @nyali2  We're going around in circles. You made a claim and you want me to prove you wrong -- again. You need to study up on the burden of proof fallacy.
    1
  17082.  @xhoi96  Sorry to burst your bubble, but Albanians are not a native population, as in a UN-recognised indigenous people. In Europe, indigenous peoples are few and far between. Only the Basques and the Sardinians number in the millions.
    1
  17083. It's an evolutionary process and a reactive one at that. A crisis needs to develop before the necessary steps are taken to prepare better for the next one. I'm sure future Afghanistans will follow, even if we make sure to leave the military adventurism to the Americans.
    1
  17084.  @isabelzhang6194  Russia's red lines, as in pitifully trying to carve out a sphere of influence, amount to nothing. As we speak, Finland is showing where Russia can put its red line.
    1
  17085.  @30yoboomer  To be fair, the USA did invoke NATO's Article 5 after the 9/11 attacks, and as such NATO was mandated to rush to the Americans' defence in one way or another. That being said, the ensuing NATO-led ISAF mission in Afghanistan enjoyed the UN Security Council's unanimous support, and was renewed many times over. Our resident Krembots keep forgetting that -- if they realised it in the first place. In their defence, they weren't first in line when brain matter was dished out. So, if the War in Afghanistan was one of conquest, it had Russia's -- and China's -- seal of approval.
    1
  17086. Don't forget Russia, the biggest colonizer of them all, past and present.
    1
  17087.  @eXit-ubermensch  Hezbollah is practically a mercenary army of Iran.
    1
  17088. They've been upgraded to launch Western missiles and smart bombs, which Russia struggles against. Even as stand-off launch platforms, they'll earn their keep.
    1
  17089.  @t-rex4211  But with the Ukraine army facing it, Russia achieves little to nothing.
    1
  17090. For laughs, explain to us how Trump is going to end all wars in the Middle East. Netanyahu, who lurves Israel's forever wars, is absolutely ecstatic about Trump's victory. It's no holds barred now.
    1
  17091. To the US, I hope.
    1
  17092. The world is not siding with Russia, you sad troll. Have another look at the UNGA voting record.
    1
  17093. It's not Brit tourists who're being thrown under the bus. It's hundreds of thousands of pensioner expats who'll have no choice but to return to the UK. Arranging housing for them alone will be a nightmare.
    1
  17094. You mean when Trump and his QAnon Party win in 2024? I don't think Bibi can hold on for that long.
    1
  17095.  @denningshan8472  I sure am enjoying this. The servings of humble pie are UGE.
    1
  17096.  @nenadmitrovic3469  Germany is on a crash diet of renewable energy. They're a prime example of what happens to those who trust in Russia as an energy supplier. You should take note yourselves. Putin won't lose any sleep if Serbia becomes collateral damage in his energy war.
    1
  17097.  @nenadmitrovic3469  OK, you insist on playing obtuse. Putin was poised to cut Europe's gas supplies when it mattered most. However, the winter turned out to be unusually warm and alternative sources for gas were quickly found. Anything Putin might have tried would've missed its mark. And now it's too late.
    1
  17098. Russia doesn't dare fight NATO, "Brian".
    1
  17099.  @sgw8903  It bears reminding that if the USA were a parliamentary democracy, Trump would already be back seething and spinning conspiracy theories in Mar-a-Lago. Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss -- to name a few PMs -- know all too well how quickly parliamentary democracies can rid themselves of failed leaders.
    1
  17100. I guess it's a matter of choosing between poor and poorerer.
    1
  17101. In paranoid Turkey, is there a difference?
    1
  17102. Watch more DW videos. Germany is experiencing a dip because of an ill-fated energy policy. In these circumstances, Germany could do worse than accelerating its green shift -- which is the only way forward anyhow.
    1
  17103.  @wokeaf1337  The worst affected areas don't see much snowfall, so that's a poor excuse. Besides, snow melts and then the flooding starts.
    1
  17104.  @wokeaf1337  No it doesn't. The ground underneath the melting snow is still frozen, so it doesn't absorb water. You don't appear to know what you're talking about.
    1
  17105. You can only aspire to our high standards.
    1
  17106. +asum power As we all know, KKK members voted for Trump.
    1
  17107. So young yet so cynical. How do you do it?
    1
  17108. All parties concerned could dress up as knights and do some chivalrous jousting, but that's a bit passé, don't you think?
    1
  17109. Bye-bye, Russian Air Force.
    1
  17110. Putin can end the war overnight. All he has to do is issue a withdrawal order.
    1
  17111. What keeps you from bolstering UNIFIL or even joining them personally?
    1
  17112.  @maigepresents5840  Several parts of the F-35 are actually made in the Netherlands, like parts of the wings, the landing gear and the auxiliary power unit. It's fitting, because the Netherlands made a considerable investment in the F-35 development program. I suppose you haven't caught wind of the troubles associated with Turkey being kicked out of the F-35 program? Alternatives needed to be found for the parts and services that Turkey was supposed to provide. It didn't come cheap.
    1
  17113.  @saiyedakhtar3931  The judge won't be sacked. There's going to be another appeal or ultimately we'll see changes to the relevant laws. If an appeal would lead to a judge being sacked, the courts would be out of judges in no time.
    1
  17114.  @saiyedakhtar3931  Nah, I read the verdict. It was a judgement call, but that's what judges do. He's got the ICJ ruling to fall back on, too. Van het één komt het ander. You're not a great believer in the rule of law, and separation of powers, right?
    1
  17115.  @skinnydemon3460  You, on the other hand, pull two sentences together. Punctuation matters.
    1
  17116.  @thadlm2698  We don't, but Ukraine does. We had an inkling you'd be the weakest link.
    1
  17117. The Russians no longer know what they'll hit. They just chuck their repurposed S-300 anti-air missiles in the general direction of the enemy. If they hit the same target twice, they luck out.
    1
  17118. You're literally losing ground.
    1
  17119. You seem like a happy customer.
    1
  17120.  @SmileyStug  Just out of interest, what's your interpretation of the 'free world'? Try to be specific.
    1
  17121.  @SmileyStug  Ah, I'm dealing with a conspiracy theorist. Forget I asked.
    1
  17122.  @amei653  That would be the death of the Orcs, as it befits.
    1
  17123.  @MaleAdaptor  Please tell me more. Any blood-drinking Reptilians involved? I hate the softcore whiny stuff about Soros and WEF. More horror fiction, please.
    1
  17124.  @davidoldboy5425  Schengen wasn't the UK's problem. The UK is rolling out the red carpet by offering jobs to illegal immigrants and by allowing them to stay under the authorities' radar. Schengen or no Schengen, Brexit or no Brexit, the UK works like a magnet on illegal immigrants -- because it chooses to do so.
    1
  17125. Vigorously huge? More like vigorously desperate to matter.
    1
  17126. You have a point, but only regarding Chinese. Russia is barely managing economically, and only because the oil price is recovering. A few PR stunts don't a summer make.
    1
  17127. So you're saying Putin has finally learnt his lesson. Let's hope so. But I guess the Kremlin is feverishly preparing propaganda that says the CIA dunnit, the EU dunnit, NATO dunnit -- just to prepare for the worst.
    1
  17128. Petros, if a pro-Russian leader had to step aside and his likely successor is neither pro- nor anti-Russia, that must rate as a setback for Russia. Moreover, Ukraine wasn't allowed to be both friends with the EU and Russia, so it's doubtful Armenia will either.
    1
  17129. Petros, no two countries are alike, but there are plenty of similarities all the same. Likewise, the Ukrainian and Russian economies were intertwined, and now both are suffering on account of the break-up. In other words, the current conflict makes absolutely no sense from an economic point of view. Geopolitical considerations seem to matter more to Putin, and he's not one to share his "friends".
    1
  17130. Capitalisation matters.
    1
  17131. For a Brit, your writing is atrocious.
    1
  17132. There seems to be a worldwide concensus about the illegality of the election, considering only North Korea and Syria recognise these occupied territories as Russian. That's two out of 193 UN members.
    1
  17133. Assange has legal avenues that he could still pursue. One is the European Court of Human Rights. For some reason, he hasn't brought his case there.
    1
  17134.  @bonnie7898  *You're. I have not taken a position as to whether Assange's rights have been violated or not. Pay attention.
    1
  17135.  @evgenik4107  Wouldn't that be like preaching to the choir?
    1
  17136.  @rickdunn7585  It's a bit optimistic, don't you think, to believe that Russia will change into a democracy, just like that, when Putin is gone. The country has no democratic traditions to speak of. Even Yeltsin's efforts to democratise Russia were halfhearted attempts that soon fizzled out.
    1
  17137. Snowden, Assad and Putin may yet all become neighbours -- somewhere desolate in China.
    1
  17138.  @hp2084  I don't know of a better example of Russian aggression than the ongoing Russo-Ukrainina War. US excursions into Soviet airspace, the Cuban Missile Crisis or the fruitless quest for WMDs in Iraq have nothing to do with us, or for that matter, with NATO. Take your whataboutism where the sun don't shine.
    1
  17139. The International Osteoporosis Foundation? Me thinks there are more pressing concerns in Gaza right now.
    1
  17140.  @JoeMama-zs6wr  Rinse and repeat with Tibet.
    1
  17141. Personality cults have no place in democracies.
    1
  17142.  @GHopper-uf7mt  Poetin laat de Amerikaanse wapenlobby in z'n hempie staan als hij zijn Orc's onverwachts terugtrekt. Doen!
    1
  17143. Nonsense. There will be budget cuts, but nothing too dramatic. In comparison to other similar economies, Britain pays relatively little for EU membership.
    1
  17144. +Brother Ares Then you are truly fools. Or you're just misinformed. Britain got a little less back than it paid. If you misspent the money you did get back, yes, then you're truly fools.
    1
  17145.  @thomasau3204  Putin's recently dusted-off CTSO won't expand no matter what. It's like joining his pathetic Eurasian Union, which sparked Euromaidan in Ukraine. No country in its right mind will board a sinking ship. You're trying to make a virtue out of a necessity.
    1
  17146. But you have a duopoly. Not a one-party system, but a two-party system. There are no such kingmakers in the US.
    1
  17147. Trump didn't exactly endear himself to the world the last time. He must've been the most unpopular US president abroad since global approval polls have been conducted. Only Putin and Xi score lower.
    1
  17148. Prigozhin would understand. Russians are flexible that way.
    1
  17149. Who do you think you're addressing? WION is an India-based news channel.
    1
  17150. I'm no Biden fanboy, but that sounds about right.
    1
  17151. Calexit...
    1
  17152. What do you have against the "Father of Medicine"?
    1
  17153. So, Russia had hooked up with a narco state and now it's hiding the drug lord himself. And Russia pretends to be morally superior.
    1
  17154. What terrorism? Ukraine struck a hostile sub that was illegally moored in its own harbour.
    1
  17155. More of the same? Yet another spate of military coups that essentially changes nothing?
    1
  17156. Russia can't provide evidence in support of its wild accusations. Ukraine, on the other hand, has plenty of evidence. It's because these war crimes actually happened.
    1
  17157.  @danielpeter960  You'll be pleased to know that Airbus already manufactures airliners -- A220s -- in Quebec. Some parts are made in Belfast, which means transatlantic manufacturing is already in place. You probably know this, but Trump effectively tried to kill off Canada's Bombardier by imposing a 1000% tax on the latter's CSeries airliners. Airbus snapped up Bombardier and ended up with a bestseller in the renamed A220. Trump did bring home the bacon in the form of a second A220 final assembly line in Alabama, but that's poor consolation. It doesn't make up for Boeing's loss in market share. Obviously, Murica scored another own goal with the 737 MAX debacle. I guess this was an episode where Trump supporters didn't have to be concerned about tiring of too much winning.
    1
  17158.  @mgshabbire311  Too many emojis, too infantile.
    1
  17159.  @dangermouse9348  There's fish elsewhere, too, although it may not be quite as accessible as in "British" waters. Price matters. If "British" fish becomes too pricey, the buyers go elsewhere. 60% of the fish consumed in Britain comes from the EU. Where will you shop?
    1
  17160. @Noble Wolf Kim is a double-edged sword. There's a marginal benefit in being able to assert some influence over him, but all the same North Korea is a threat to Russian and Chinese interests as well. In Youtube terms, Xi and Putin are feeding a troll, while Trump is, in his own clumsy way, confronting him. Like a real troll, Kim just basks in the attention. Positive or negative, it doesn't matter to him. Maybe we should just give Kim a reality TV show? It kept Trump happy for a while.
    1
  17161.  @dalegriffin6755  You want to bring up racist themes as well?
    1
  17162.  @xenahx685  It's just the programming. When I settled in Singapore, I struggled to keeping the locals apart. When I left a decade later, I had similar issues with fellow Europeans. I had reprogrammed myself.
    1
  17163. Hope? They will ignore him. Trump won't even get asylum, except maybe in Russia.
    1
  17164.  @dil2370  The French have run out of royals, so they'll have to settle for imports.
    1
  17165. It's interesting that dictatorships the world over must pretend to be democracies. It's a tacit admission that it is the superior form of government.
    1
  17166. Africa hasn't kicked France out. Even if Niger were to do so, France's state-owned uranium producer, Orano, can reopen and exploit its other sites in Africa. Besides, Kazakhstan has already surpassed Niger in supplies, and Uzbekistan is close. Then there's Canada as well.
    1
  17167.  @syedhussain9490  I'm inclined to believe the reports that Russia has suffered five times as many casualties attacking as the Ukraine has defending the city. The attacking force typically does suffer more, but even so, the Orcs are pushing it.
    1
  17168.  @arisplugis5197  Get a Green Card already. Oh, sorry, you've been denied one.
    1
  17169.  @arisplugis5197  You're giving off mixed messages then. Imitiation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say.
    1
  17170. The UNGA has been very clear in condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calling for a withdrawal. Keep up with the news.
    1
  17171. Don't be silly. The EU is and will remain a supranational union, which may be hard to fathom for many, because there's nothing else like it. The EU doesn't have an army, as doesn't NATO. It's all about individual countries pooling their defence capabilities. Like NATO pooling its forces, but not inviting non-EU members to the party.
    1
  17172. Yet we should come up with concrete peace plans rather than repeat unhelpful clichés.
    1
  17173.  @emanda1366  Sorry, I was under the assumption that you spoke English.
    1
  17174.  @emanda1366  Er, Google Translate isn't working for you.
    1
  17175.  @ltm9729  Oh, we know plenty about Putin's motives for starting the war. Imperial ambitions, jealousy and fear for the inevitable colour revolution that will see him deposed. As with the USSR, the collapse will come from within, suddenly and violently.
    1
  17176. ...and this to pave the way for half a century of Communist subjugation. Who benefited from that sacrifice?
    1
  17177.  @emmittabramoff5067  So you're basically saying Soviet subjugation sucked less than German subjugation. That's debatable. Nazism was a highly-virulent disease, but Communism a chronic, wasting disease.
    1
  17178. Europeans? American missionaries who went to do good but who did well instead are the notorious ones.
    1
  17179. It's a step towards a two-state solution, so why not, but recognition alone doesn't make independent Palestine happen.
    1
  17180. I think the Middle East needs less religion, not more.
    1
  17181.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Whatever, as long as the "separatists" don't execute them out of spite, Bucha-style, because the war has been such a rotten failure for Russia.
    1
  17182.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Aren't you blood-thirsty. That's exactly why we need to keep you contained, away from civilisation.
    1
  17183. In addition to the Gaza Strip, the UNRWA is active in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. UNRWA employs 30,000 aid workers in all. The accusations concern 12 of its Gazan employees. Er, never bathe babies.
    1
  17184.  @Robert-fs6ge  Germany doesn't think the ICJ is bogus.
    1
  17185.  @Robert-fs6ge  Stop yer navel-staring This is not about the US.
    1
  17186.  @Robert-fs6ge  Yup, DW is German. Educate yourself.
    1
  17187. ​ @robertlordon8511  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whataboutism and supposed hypocrisy go hand in hand. You should know, you're a subject matter expert.
    1
  17188.  @robertlordon8511  I know enough. I know that you're a whataboutist.
    1
  17189. Whataboutism ≠ sliced bread
    1
  17190. What's new about it?
    1
  17191. Calling and voting for an immediate ceasefire in the UNSC don't count?
    1
  17192.  @jasonjean2901  You're coping. Russia has friends in Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua and Syria. That's it, I'm afraid. The other BRICS nations gave Russia the cold shoulder at the UN.
    1
  17193.  @jasonjean2901  Nope, no -stan voted in support of Russia. All -stans gave Russia the cold shoulder. Admittedly, Russia has gained African friends in Mali and Eritrea, but that's the extent of African support for Russia. As to Mali throwing out the French, they left on their own accord, but they expect to be back soon. In case you don't know it, the life expectancy of Malian military juntas is very short. I suppose Prigozhin had the presence of mind to ask for payment upfront.
    1
  17194. That fleet did better at the Dogger Bank, fighting off a surprise attack by British trawlers and their nasty fishing nets. Casualties were evenly balanced, despite the fact that the fishermen were completely unarmed.
    1
  17195. You mean all anti-vaxxers are conspiracy dupes?
    1
  17196.  @Willy_Tepes  "Most conspiracy theories are true" -- I'm busting a gut! Since you're so bright, explain why there's often a wide variety conspiracy theories about one and the same topic, all of which contradict one another? Clearly, they can't all be true. Or is there a double conspiracy at play, where the conspirators float zany conspiracy theories, just to muddy the waters?
    1
  17197.  @javiervasquez29  Please, explain what Trump was right about then.
    1
  17198.  @dogpoofairy2517  Told whom exactly? We for instance have had contigency plans in place for ages, with multifuel power plants, electricity from nuclear and renewable energy and no domestic gas. We've had neither Russian oil nor gas from 2022 onwards and we're none the worse for wear.
    1
  17199.  @dogpoofairy2517  Aren't I referring to the NATO summit that took place during Trump's first term? Your logic baffles me.
    1
  17200.  @dogpoofairy2517  We're not every European country, smarty-pants. We each set our own policies, looking only for common ground if there's mutual benefit in it. Or did you think Europe is one country? How did you do in geography?
    1
  17201.  @dogpoofairy2517  For your info, the likes of Germany had their "Wandel durch Handel" policy or whatever the local equivalent was called. Germany knowingly bought oil and gas from Russia, trusting that Putin understood that it was a symbiotic relationship -- a win-win, in other words. No-one thought Putin would be so daft as to start an energy war with its best customers, which could only end in defeat for gas-station-masquerading-as-a-country Russia. Germany had hoped for the best, but failed to prepare for the worst. We did, as a matter of routine.
    1
  17202. That was never in question. You don't seem to understand how immensily superior Israel is in a military capacity to Hamas. Israel more than held its own against its neighbouring countries and their vast and well-equipped armies, even when they ganged up on Israel, all at the same time. Hamas is just a terrorist organisation.
    1
  17203.  @bakiozturk2112  Come off it. Erdogan is burning bridges all around.
    1
  17204. That sounds like a puerile "no you are" defence.
    1
  17205. Let me guess, your idea of a multipolar world entails military coups and dictatorships?
    1
  17206.  @martijnijsendoorn6911  I'd like to see the Dutch take Moscow.
    1
  17207.  @hermitant9  Ever heard of passive suffrage? You can literally stand as a candidate and vote for yourself, too.
    1
  17208. It occurs to me that as major, fast-emerging economy, India should get its voice heard.
    1
  17209.  @arvindkatiyar526  OK, I could make head nor tail of your reply. Or did you let it out of its misery and delete it?
    1
  17210. Why single him out?
    1
  17211.  @bocla4899  So Trump didn't want to be president? Who put a gun to his head?
    1
  17212.  @bocla4899  OK, you're not interested in accountability. You prefer scapegoating. Very selectively.
    1
  17213.  Geek X  So you decided to steer the discussion away from democratic credentials. As to the EU, I always found it hilarious how Nigel Farage was a shoe-in for the European Parliament, but time and again the House of Commons proved a bridge too far for the poor sap. Please elaborate how your tautological "freedom and liberty" manifest themselves better in "Anglo Western countries". Also, if we look at their political leanings, the USA, the UK and Australia currently have right-leaning governments, but Canada and New Zealand have left-leaning ones. In your book, shouldn't the Canucks and the Kiwis then be communists, too? Could the explanation for this strange anomaly be that you simply haven't got a clue?
    1
  17214. You sound cross. We're running scared now.
    1
  17215. Putin is not going to live for another "2 to 3 generations" ;-)
    1
  17216.  @1112viggo  The Emu War? Crimes against birdlife did occur.
    1
  17217. @Power Ball! Communism led to endemic corruption. The root of it all, Russia, is easily the most corrupt of them all.
    1
  17218. Survivors, against all odds?
    1
  17219. What's not run by organized crime in Russia? Putin's syndicate runs everything.
    1
  17220. In neutralising Hamas, yes, but not in continuing to oppress the Palestinians. Israel needs fresh ideas when the smoke clears.
    1
  17221. I'm sure Russia holds backs as a 'gesture of goodwill'.
    1
  17222. Keep your FDA where it belongs. This is about the EU.
    1
  17223.  @allines6470  It's up to Ukraine and Ukraine alone if they want to stay apart from NATO. Russia has no say whatsoever in the matter.
    1
  17224.  @allines6470  Sure, like a school bully, Russia would prefer to push around its victims without outside interference. Too bad for Russia, the world won't stand for it.
    1
  17225. Would that be Russia with regard to China?
    1
  17226.  @kansasthunderman1  It's inconsequential if you guys still can't afford it.
    1
  17227.  @UCN2027  There's a difference between the Waffen-SS, the Allgemeine-SS and the SS-Totenkopfverbände. As the combat branch of the SS, Waffen-SS members may or may not have been war criminals, depending on their service record, but the latter two branches of the SS were invariably linked to war crimes and/or crimes against humanity. Ironically, Estonian and Latvian former members of the Waffen-SS guarded the top Nazi henchmen at the Nuremberg trials. Exceptionally, they had been forcibly conscripted into the Waffen-SS.
    1
  17228.  @obamavariant9128  You're not capable of rational discourse, methinks.
    1
  17229.  @anywaystohighway  Flawed democracy, the verdict on the state of US democracy goes -- if the Democracy Index is to be believed. Diminished popular confidence in the institutions of government and politics is mentioned as the reason. Interestingly, the trend started before Trump won his first presidency, but I fear his "cure" is worse than the disease.
    1
  17230.  @joewacho3520  I'm sure the Mexicans received payment for goods delivered. Lend-Lease deliveries were essentially freebies.
    1
  17231. Nah, Scholz is centre-left. The far left is pretty much dead and buried in Germany. Just so you know, the centre right doesn't want you far-righties either.
    1
  17232. ACW2?
    1
  17233.  @JRW1719  Why don't you go and trash your mum's home? That's just as effective.
    1
  17234. Considering that Wagner handed back its heavy weapons before making its way to Belarus, Wagner will be reduced to a skid mark on the road to Kyiv.
    1
  17235. That does not follow. The FFL is part of a regular army; the Wagner Group is not. Besides, EU's justification is Wagner's direct involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
    1
  17236.  @tutifruti7488  The point is, Russia considers Wagner a private military company, whereas France considers the FFL an integral part of its army. The command structure is very clear. When the Wagner Group got badly clobbered in the Battle of Khasham by US special forces, Russia responded that none of its troops had been involved. Assad's Syria confirmed that Russians were among the fallen fighters. It couldn't have been any clearer that Russia disavowed Wagner's ill-advised attack.
    1
  17237.  @Ilamarea  I wouldn't go as far as claiming that a prosperous Ukraine would control Russia, but it would force ordinary Russians to rethink if they agree with Putin's vision for Russia. A colour revolution wouldn't be far off.
    1
  17238.  @Ilamarea  Per definition, revolutions aren't controlled. The Russian people will eventually put in a new government. Ukraine might take credit for it, but it's reduced to cheering on from the side lines, just like the conspiracy theorists' favourites, the CIA, MI6, etc.
    1
  17239. Ukraine has gained as much territory in 5 days as Russia gained in as many months.
    1
  17240.  King Crusader  How's this the EU fault? Or is it just a habit you can't kick, this trying to pin everything on the EU?
    1
  17241. That's just sloppy on the UK's part. It's possible to determine age based on X-rays. It's accurate to two years, so none of your examples would've made it through if the authorities had bothered to check. You don't have to be naive.
    1
  17242.  King Crusader  No. You can't see the trees for the forest, or at least you pretend you can't. The EU member states that are worst-affected by the migrant crisis want the burden to be shared more evenly. It has been suggested that those members that can't -- or simply won't -- let in refugees contribute financially instead. It's only fair. If those members still can't muster the solidarity, then they have no place in the EU. It's that simple.
    1
  17243. How come it never occurs to you lot to call on Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine? Weird that, because it would end the war there and then. And India is supposed to be neutral. Let's agree that when Pakistan and China invade India to take what they think is theirs, we only strenuously call on you to negotiate. Don't even think of resisting, because it only leads to death and destruction, eh?
    1
  17244.  @christianevanherck6023  Trolls are exempt from argumentation. It gives them hives.
    1
  17245.  @Sapphire-kz7il  Not so. Adolf and his pals co-opted the term. His pal Röhm did want to take things into a socialist direction, but he was put to the knife for it.
    1
  17246. And Russia has been issuing airworthiness certificates to pigs.
    1
  17247. Lakh? Do you think that's an international term? Putin doesn't dare to mobilise, or the Russians wake up from their slumber.
    1
  17248. I get it -- your beloved Fox News shies away from reporting anything that's unflattering to Trump, so you must think Euronews is on to a scoop here. Not so, this has been all over the place. Why on earth would we want Trump defeated? Why would we knowingly rob ourselves of such a unfailing source of entertainment? I can appreciate Schadenfreude, especially when the Schaden is self-inflicted.
    1
  17249. If so, it's because Murica can't stop scoring own goals.
    1
  17250. That was for domestic purposes in Iran.
    1
  17251.  @dragongeraldb  Eye-rolls are entirely warranted. If your conspiracy theory is true, then it's implied that Netanyahu committed political suicide. He's not going to emerge unscathed from his intelligence blunder. It's either prison or retirement in Boca Raton for Bibi.
    1
  17252. Wow, we survived Trump's 24-hour trade war. Something to tell them grandkids.
    1
  17253.  @johnlaurencedomine6272  Which part of 'MAD' don't you understand?
    1
  17254. In sloppiness, Russia has been consistent. The amateurishness has increased, but what do you expect when fallen kontraktniks are being replaced by mobiks and convicts. It's indicative of poor morale the latter fare better than the former. It's hard to detect any brilliant 4D chess moves in Prigozhin's very public feud with Shoigu and Gerasimov, so yes, the stability of Russia's leadership is questionable.
    1
  17255.  @livingtribunal4110  Don't flatter yourself. Wordplay is for children.
    1
  17256.  @livingtribunal4110  I have not engaged in wordplay, my dear child.
    1
  17257.  @livingtribunal4110  Ahead in childishness? No argument there.
    1
  17258.  @livingtribunal4110  So you're afflicted with megalomania, too?
    1
  17259.  @livingtribunal4110  Admission is the first step to recovery. Better leave off that bicorne hat though.
    1
  17260.  @livingtribunal4110  Did you take that bicorne hat off, like I suggested?
    1
  17261.  @livingtribunal4110  Megalomaniacs are known to wear bicorne hats. You've got your (self-)diagnosis, so why not act the part?
    1
  17262.  @livingtribunal4110  Now you're just boring me, troll.
    1
  17263. @sleepyjoe7843 Which part of "typically" don't you understand? Belgium is practically ungovernable, and if you ask me, it shouldn't exist in the first place and should be put out its misery soonest. To give you a clue about my clues, I studied political science at KU Leuven. Not only that, I voted in said 2019 federal election (don't ask me why I bother). As I hinted earlier, the shaky coalition government formed by MR/OpenVLD and CD&V enjoyed a parliamentary majority -- till it didn't and then did again. Summa summarum, Belgium isn't a political circus because of parliamentarism. It still hangs together -- barely -- thanks to parliamentarism, which is a supreme testament to the resilience of the system. It does raise the question, however, why bother keeping the country together against all odds?
    1
  17264.  @gracewnell6464  Food trade is exempt from sanctions. Nice try, troll.
    1
  17265.  @ВераНаконечная-з5б  You jackals have woken up, too.
    1
  17266.  @ItumelengS  You must be a monoglot if you think that definite and indefinite articles are the preserve of the English language.
    1
  17267.  @ItumelengS  Innit.
    1
  17268.  @julianalaveraz  Man, aren't you desperate to land yourself a wife. You're spamming the same comment all over this comment section, as if your chance to marry has finally come. Don't you have any self-respect?
    1
  17269. The Russians claimed that they shot down or neutralised all drones that targeted Moscow. It means that whatever damage was caused by falling debris and Russian anti-air assets is on Russia. Hey, this is impeccable Russian logic, carefully honed in Ukraine. Oh, did I mention that Russian troops moved into the affected buildings, just moments before they were struck? True story.
    1
  17270. Sounds perfectly fine to me. Religious institution engage per definition in charity. And the refugees are neither apostates nor Islamists.
    1
  17271. GPS jamming by Russia is constant. About a year or so ago, I wanted to visit the grave of a former colleague in Oulu, Northern Finland, to pay my long-overdue respects. It's a sprawling cemetary, so his widow had given me the exact GPS coordinates. I found the grave, but according to Google Maps I was miles away.
    1
  17272.  @claudiopereira9900  Who's we? For your info, I'm acting in my own capacity and speaking my own mind. Russia was no right to carve out its own sphere of influence and "defend" it as it sees fit. Influence is soft power -- something you earn, just like respect. No matter how you spin this, this no moment of glory for Russia. Putin's anti-NATO, the CSTO, can now officially be declared dead. Time of death was 23 September 2022.
    1
  17273.  @RedBlackDish  Boots on the ground amount to influence. Not necessarily the good kind, like in this case -- or in Russia's many cases. Who said anything about payments in gold? If payments were made, Armenia may want a refund.
    1
  17274. I'm sure the loathing will be mutual.
    1
  17275. Authoritarians must love you and your ilk.
    1
  17276. You've established that America lives rent-free in your mind. This is about the EU, sport.
    1
  17277.  @AndrewKoff  That makes a difference. Not.
    1
  17278. ​ @harryjeff2039  You summarise Moscow's plight perfectly. Nuclear sabre-rattling is all Russia has left.
    1
  17279.  @MrThartofwar  You're funny. The Kerch Bridge is an illegal structure, since it was erected without permission from the relevant authorities (Ukrainian, that is, since Crimea is sovereign Ukrainian territory). Therefore, Ukraine is within its rights to effect the demolition of the bridge. It's none of Russia's business.
    1
  17280. News flash, they just threw Hezbollah and Iran out. Russia is still work in progress.
    1
  17281. Hmm, maybe Britain could join the Visegrad Group and together, abandon all tenets of democracy.
    1
  17282. No worries, the disillusionment has been all yours and will continue to be yours alone. But more to the point, with regard to this video, misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows? Populists of this world, unite?
    1
  17283. Nothing strange about it. Populists capitalise on people's fears, look for scapegoats and make unrealistic promises, all for the sake of gaining power. Your definition suggests that anyone who's elected to office is per definition a populist. Popular yes, but populist, no. More difficult words you need explained?
    1
  17284. Perhaps you should seek advice from someone, because populism predates the EU. He may not have coined the term, but Hitler contributed greatly to the definition. Karl Marx, too, was very helpful. I don't know about your political leanings, but you've got the blame game down pat. You should be talking about fudged elections. Your wonder boy, Farage, and his fellow Ukippers couldn't get first-past-the-post in Britain, but they were a shoo-in for the European Parliament. Another piece of advice. Don't count on the Eastern Europeans' support. They still hate your guts for what transpired during and after WW2 and things aren't changing for the better. Brexit is slashing the stream of EU money that's flowing their way. Who knows, maybe one spiteful member insists on organising a referendum about the Brexit deal. It takes just one to nix it. You can't cry about it either, because it's the will of the people.
    1
  17285. Oh, you're an off-the-cliff Brextremist. Say no more. The Germans know they gave worse than they got, and they got the chance to build a free and prosperous society, a privilege that wasn't afforded to Eastern Europe, partly thanks to you. Moreover, the Eastern Europeans' rightful grievances vis-a-vis Britain haven't really been dealt with. Britain could get the ball rolling by saying "sorry". Come on, you need all the friends you can get!
    1
  17286. For letting Uncle Joe have his wicked way with Eastern Europe. If you need a particularly glaring example of British betrayal, try the Baltic countries. In desperation, Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter in 1941, hoping it would draw the US into the war, but when the US had entered the war and Nazi-Germany was done for, he chose to ignore all the lofty talk about self-determination. No doubt, it would've set an awkward example for Britain's already unruly colonies. Evidently, keeping the British Empire together was of overriding importance, and wasn't Stalin following in Britain's footsteps in establishing colonies in Eastern Europe? So you admit that the Eastern Europeans aren't your friends. Good that we got that settled.
    1
  17287. I wouldn't have expected that Britain rolled out a red carpet for the Soviets to annex the Baltic states. Churchill withholding Britain's seal of approval wouldn't have resulted in a shooting war, which the USSR could ill afford either. Britain was slightly more sensical in decolonising than the others, but it did so reluctantly all the same. All hasn't been forgiven and forgotten in the former colonies. Having lived in two, it always cracks me up when you Brextremists start daydreaming about a restored Commonwealth. Even as a sports and culture club, the likes of India and South Africa think it's a marvellous opportunity for payback.
    1
  17288. Please be specific. Which EU members maintain their colonies by brute force? You may want to forget your colonial past, but the problem is, your former victims won't. At long last we agree on something. Britain doesn't belong in the EU.
    1
  17289. Give this man a Nobel Prize for Economics.
    1
  17290. China!
    1
  17291.  @gopotyr3763  It is an eastward trend. First Belarus, now Russia, so indeed, who's next?
    1
  17292.  @gopotyr3763  Mongolia has democratized itself.
    1
  17293.  @colinyu6002  We've got plenty of US warships visiting Singapore. Although they're not wearing their uniforms, you can tell them apart. Would you say they've been deployed to a pub to chase girls and get drunk? I realise you're not familiar with military conduct or parlance, but I would rather say they're on shore leave.
    1
  17294.  @danielzhong4224  I do, but you don't. They're still military deployments, since they involve military personnel who're operating as a cohesive unit.
    1
  17295.  @danielzhong4224  So calling someone not special is character assassination? Your self-esteem is very fragile.
    1
  17296.  @changding3754  Yes. If it involves the military, and they're acting as a unit, it's a military deployment all right. I remember digging trenches and carrying sandbags wearing a T-shirt and shorts. Your view of the military is too romantic.
    1
  17297.  @pungraboss855  I highly doubt that any sketchy budgets that would pay for mass arms purchases would get congressional approved either. BTW, 'hardware' is a collective noun and thus does not have a plural form.
    1
  17298.  why-lj5tc  That's the one. The rebels could've easily 'prigozhined' Erdogan, but Erdogan's biz jet pilot managed to fool the F-16 pilots that he was a Turkish Airlines passenger jet. One almost wishes the pilots had taken a closer look.
    1
  17299. Which missiles and where have they been deployed?
    1
  17300.  @greedycat4026  It depends on your definition of a "matter of time". Poland and Czechia have been NATO members since 1999, but they've yet to get "NATO missiles". The same goes for the countries that joined after them. What's more, Norway is a founding member of NATO and has stipulated that they're not accepting nuclear weapons or NATO forces on their soil in peace time. It looks like Finland and Sweden will follow Norway's example. In summary, you're full of it.
    1
  17301.  @greedycat4026  Check again. Norway has a border with Russia. You're quite the conspiracy theorist. Tactical nukes could not be placed in a NATO country without publicity. Such a proposal would have to be put to parliament, which means it would no longer remain secret. If parliament were bypassed, a whistle-blower would surely leak the information, and an outraged parliament would send the cabinet packing after a no-confidence vote. Failing that, the electorate would send the responsible MPs packing come next election. Are you new to politics? Again, there never was a plan to put missiles in Ukraine, like Russia tried in Cuba. Not only is that a flawed analogy, but also, you're accusing NATO of something for which there's a Soviet precedent. Oh, the irony.
    1
  17302. There's a conspiracy behind each clock face.
    1
  17303. The King? For show? Well, I never!
    1
  17304. They're not illegals the moment they apply for asylum.
    1
  17305.  @RUTHLESSambition5  What's there to see about France, UK and Europe? Like one half of Turkey, Europe prefers anyone but Erdogan.
    1
  17306.  @scoopdg  Nope, brand-new condo. But the big cockroaches are shy, I'll give you that. But in a drugged-up state, half-dead from poison, they acted weirdly.
    1
  17307.  @richardburton1816  I see you have no counter-arguments. Unsurprising for a Brexiteer, that. Oh, I'm centre-right on the political spectrum, if you must know.
    1
  17308.  @richardburton1816  Still, no counter-arguments, only flaccid ad hominems. You're all empty.
    1
  17309.  @richardburton1816  Your premise is wrong. The EU-27 went to great lengths in negotiating a withdrawal agreement that the British government could live with. Little did we know that May was completely out of touch with her parliament. To put it in terms that you may understand, you bollocksed it up. I believe I would have to be British in order to qualify as a Remoaner. Moreover, I'm all for the UK exiting the EU. I just wish you'd man up and stop your stalling.
    1
  17310.  @enhancedutility266  It's because the US military is partly a social welfare program.
    1
  17311. Maybe neither party has made casualty figures available. Not everything is a conspiracy theory.
    1
  17312.  @SPENKER52  Duh.
    1
  17313. Muricans never get it. When they were focusing their ire on Japan, it was about cars as well. It turned out Murica didn't make cars for left-hand traffic.
    1
  17314. But you're not populating said aircraft carriers with F-35Bs. The latter are too expensive to equip the ships in sufficient numbers.
    1
  17315. What's your reference point?
    1
  17316. Play with blocks, not with portmanteaus.
    1
  17317. ​ @nuttywalls8190  Even a Krembot such as yourself should understand that an intercepted missile still rains down debris. In the case of hypersonic missiles, the kinetic energy alone poses a threat. Didn't you have physics in school?
    1
  17318. Let's not ignore the fact that Turkey relies on Russia for 45% of its natural gas, 17% of its oil and 40% of its gasoline. Ergo, Turkey is very much funding the war against Ukraine.
    1
  17319. Knowing the Russians and their warships, it's bunker fuel, which has a high flashpoint and low combustion efficiency. It much easier to put out than, say, avgas.
    1
  17320.  @thedin3467  Not at all. I'm an early Brexiteer -- assuming the term can be applied to a non-Brit.
    1
  17321.  @Red1Green2Blue3  For your information, I never was nor am I ever going to be interested in your personal opinion per se. You know what they say about opinions? They're like bumholes. Everyone's got one and they stink.
    1
  17322. International recognition matters. Ask the North Cypriots or the Crimeans.
    1
  17323.  @lionchampion587  "When Russia retaliates"? Russia has been "retaliating" with the very same type of missiles from day one of the war. And what is Russia going to do next? Put nuclear warheads on its long-range missiles and in the process poison itself with radio-active fallout?
    1
  17324. Why bring up the US? You can have your pick from 141 countries that are opposed to Russia. Is it Pavlovian?
    1
  17325.  @relativelycivilized2786  You're rewriting history, bud.
    1
  17326. Google Translate is stuk.
    1
  17327. You can console yourself with whataboutism being hard at work.
    1
  17328. Says the sorriest troll ever fielded by Ruscia.
    1
  17329. Russia threatens with nuclear war. Yawn.
    1
  17330. Eloquent.
    1
  17331.  @floydblandston108  Uh, Cold War 1 saw worse conflicts.
    1
  17332.  @floydblandston108  This clearly isn't WW3 -- at least not yet. The death throes of the Russian Federation, more like.
    1
  17333. You'd better learn to eat your own fish then.
    1
  17334.  @normanswindon518  You know as well as I do that British gun boats have no business policing anything outside of the British EEZ. Go play the fool with someone else.
    1
  17335. We'd end up with a lot of youngsters wondering why the bar tender cut their credit card in half. Sooner or later, they'd connect the dots. Daddy, who pays the bills, is in intensive care, fighting for his life.
    1
  17336.  @risyadabdul5508  That's the idea, Einstein. People who survive are stronger than those who don't. But daddy still won't pay your credit card bill because he's got a long convalescence ahead.
    1
  17337. Patrick Lancaster is a Yank.
    1
  17338. You're right. Compared to Putin he is.
    1
  17339. Russia can ill-afford to open up another front. The war in Ukraine is already bankrupting Russia.
    1
  17340. Wishful thinking. Maybe Russia gets to keep bases in Libya for a while, till history repeats itself. I suppose there's accommodation available in Moscow for Haftar as well.
    1
  17341. Why the royal 'we'? Are you royalty?
    1
  17342.  @perryblanco1446  Concern yourself with facts for a change. And I'm an EU citizen, thrice over.
    1
  17343.  @perryblanco1446  Yup, the IMF is definitely lying, or rather, propagating Russian lies about the Russian economy.
    1
  17344.  @thusomaepa1852  Do you have figures that suggest the opposite? Don't just speculate, do your research.
    1
  17345.  @perryblanco1446  What exactly is wrong about the EC's stats? Produce figures and we'll talk further. I feel like I'm wasting my time on you.
    1
  17346.  @perryblanco1446  What is more accurate than GDP figures? Without cold, hard facts, your arguments are toothless. Europe has been deindustrialising for quite a while now, becoming more and more a service economy. Like other highly developed countries, we've increasingly outsourced manufacturing to low-cost countries to stay competitive. Since you don't appear to be well-versed in these matters, you should read up on case studies that show how small a share of a consumer product's price stays in the country of manufacture. They may have the factories, but we reap the bulk of the profits.
    1
  17347.  @perryblanco1446  Wrong again. Russia was ranked 43rd in GDP PPP per capita. With few exceptions, European countries fare better. We do much, much better. You never concern yourself with facts, do you? Sloppy!
    1
  17348.  @irinahelm6671  It's been a chore to buy American, even if you're into such a thing. Pretty much everything we perceive as American is made anywhere but.
    1
  17349. What about whataboutism?
    1
  17350.  @sistemasrbija  Reread carefully: "[...] or you have to sell them at a loss."
    1
  17351.  @MonkeyJedi99  Not really. Shrapnel shells started to be replaced by fragmentation shells already in WW1. Mainstream media still hasn't caught on, however.
    1
  17352. And how exactly did we push India to do that? You can disregard my question if you've been diagnosed with acute paranoia.
    1
  17353.  duncan smith  Are you suggesting Russia is democratic? The Duma is a rubber stamp. If tomorrow Putin were to get it into his head that he's a divine being, the Duma would pass a law to that effect the day after.
    1
  17354. Overrated. I own one -- well, a semi-auto Saiga, but it's from the same production line. I much prefer my AR.
    1
  17355. Separatist forces will seize their chance now that Russia's central government is weakening. History is rife with precedents.
    1
  17356.  @KathleenMcCormickLCSWMPH  Try to express yourself in an understandable manner.
    1
  17357. What, is NATO going after Prigozhin?
    1
  17358.  @anasjudge1937  If it wasn't clear already, I'm giving you zero points for argumentation. You boasted that the UK no longer has to live in fear of punitive tariffs from the US. I showed that that's an illusion (I could've brought up Bombardier, too, whose planes got slapped with a 292% tariff in the US, threatening up to 4,000 jobs in Belfast). In response to this, you bring up whiskey, and now, vague projections on French economic performance. If you can't figure it out for yourself, the take-away here is that Britannia no longer rules the waves. We, the big boys, make the waves, and you try your bestest not to capsize. Royaume-Uni, zéro point!
    1
  17359.  @inmobiliariagat7060  Uh-oh. I think the problem has moved upwards now, to your cranium.
    1
  17360. Israel can't believe its luck. Trump 'running' interference for them.
    1
  17361. Like if you think conspiracy theorists are bores.
    1
  17362.  @IanAnthony-IAm  Any Canadian also knows that Canada's healthcare system is adversely affected by the US healthcare system -- if you can call it that -- which drains Canada of healthcare talent and drives up cost. In Europe, we have both universal and private healthcare and our healthcare providers typically serve both markets. Competition drives cost down and quality up. And we have no US next door to ruin it for us.
    1
  17363. I bet that Trump is daring his enfant terribles to make Nazi salutes in public. Musk and Bannon needed little encouragement.
    1
  17364.  @omarayoubi7861  Which "oligarchies" would those be? Try to be specific.
    1
  17365. Have you seen how Paris cleans its streets? It's a sight to behold. I bet you've never been.
    1
  17366.  @ceterisparibus210  Are you absolutely sure? Your experiences strike me as peculiar. And which facts are you referring to? Is there a World Sanitation Index or some such -- let me guess -- compiled by the WTO, the World Toilet Organization? I remember how Paris had sanitation workers use specially-equipped motorcycles that sucked dog poo off the street and gave the spot a bit of a wash, too. I've never seen anything like it, not even in Japan.
    1
  17367.  @crazykeejan6981  That's right. India is making 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine available to the WHO's COVAX programme, which ensures that poorer countries have early access to vaccines as well. To put things into perspective, China has pledged 10 million doses to COVAX. And they portray themselves as a saviour of the poor.
    1
  17368.  @MrThartofwar  I bet you blame your wife, too, for making you beat her up every now and then.
    1
  17369. Sadly, communism goes unchecked in China. Schoolchildren as young as 7 are made to listen to "Xi Jinping thought". Maoism is back!
    1
  17370. How do you think you'll pry loose those F-35s?
    1
  17371. We? The UN General Assembly has voted massively in favour of Ukraine and against Russia, and many times over at that.
    1
  17372. Why, it works wonders. Bunker grandpa Putin colours green with jealousy for not having a similar trademark in this epic struggle for hearts and minds.
    1
  17373. What you're saying is that he lacks a popular mandate. Getting Syria ready for a free and fair election is an elaborate process at the best of times, and the country has just been through a devastating civil war.
    1
  17374. It's interesting that Trump is gearing up for a trade war with Canada. How does that gel with your (conspiracy) theory?
    1
  17375.  @davemurphy2020  You're* I'm surprised that this comes as a surprise to you. De Gaulle couldn't haven been more outspoken in his firm stance towards Britain's EEC membership -- "Non." -- and he didn't exactly hide his rationale either. Resentment is too strong a word, but it goes without saying that US and European interests don't always coincide. Also, it can't be denied that Britain has been particularly keen to maintain that special cross-Atlantic relationship. In the words of several British PMs, good relations with the US take precedence over those with France. In the light of this, could you blame de Gaulle for paranoia?
    1
  17376. You should be so lucky. No, the gas station that masquerades as a country is heading for bankruptcy -- yet again.
    1
  17377. Liberalism tends to mean classical liberalism outside of the Yoonited States, where it means social liberalism.
    1
  17378.  @jonye7511  It may very well be so that the Russians pragmatically think that if Putin is disposed of, the Ukraine nonsense stops then and there. It will be President Prigozhin's turn to rob them blind, but hey, McDonalds and IKEA will return. Change is not all bad.
    1
  17379. Four out of the 193 countries of the world support Russia. Fact.
    1
  17380.  @phuckerby  No jealousy here. I've lived in five different European countries, including the UK. There was a stronger air of provincialism than elsewhere. The exact opposite of Germany, in fact. You suggesting that there's jealousy at play once again suggests that you're not very worldly.
    1
  17381. "Many a true word is spoken with electrodes on a scrotum" Hale and Pace
    1
  17382. Robbie, why don't you move to Russia toot sweet? I'm sure they'll even let you play soldier. Just remember to pack WD-40 and tampons.
    1
  17383.  @robertmv90  You've got quite a mouth on you. Reported.
    1
  17384.  @kennedychiti8042  In reply, you fired off a canned statement that has nothing to do with anything I wrote. Try again, "my dear" (I thought effeminate behaviour in men was frowned upon in your part of the world).
    1
  17385.  @danielsea0019  Why on earth would we fight Africans? We've never had anything even close to an argument with an African nation. On the contrary, we've poured billion after billion in development aid to Africa, without any expectation of a return on investment.
    1
  17386.  @baruwankuinaruwanku3187  What can I say of African democracy? Give it a try.
    1
  17387. FYI, Norway is a founding member of NATO.
    1
  17388.  Bang 4 Buck  The Russian state is going bankrupt, smarty-pants. OK, I rarely indulge whataboutists, but the fuss around raising the debt ceiling in the USA is a game that their politicians play with such regularity, that the only remarkable bit about it is that you find it remarkable.
    1
  17389.  @timcavazos4199  Relevance? Democrats are just the other side of a bad coin. Get yourselves a proper multi-party system, like the leading democracies of the world.
    1
  17390. Have you provided evidence of his war crimes to the ICC? Alternatively, you can start national proceedings first, but there's a burden of proof there, too. You seem very sure of yourself, so go to it!
    1
  17391. Gas ovens made your bakery inefficient. True, the Dutch government should help out in converting to other forms of energy, as it has been setting the wrong policy for years. Also, the Netherlands is a johnny-come-lately to renewable energy.
    1
  17392. Germany tried its utmost to make 'Wandel durch Handel' work, i.e. to bring Russia into fold of democratic nations that peacefully trade with one another, but to no avail. Russia still thought it okay to start a war of aggression against its neighbour -- supposedly a "brother" country. Putin understands spycraft, not economics.
    1
  17393. @ Still not catching on. Jokes, too, turn stale when repeated.
    1
  17394. @ Now you've definitely gone off your rocker.
    1
  17395. Yeah, but on the proviso that Canada and Mexico join BICS, not BRICS. The organisation needs to excise the cancer first.
    1
  17396. "West gov"? The generalisation is strong with you.
    1
  17397. Thousands of Russians are heading the other way, to the fiery pits.
    1
  17398. Any CIA bosses, who may well salivate at arming the HTS, would inevitable find themselves in federal prison for aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation. Trump/Vance may succeed in abolishing rule of law in the USA, but it's going to take some time.
    1
  17399.  @Zeitgeist_Dron  "Be that as it may", I wrote. Russia is bound to save some Kalibrs for its submarines and to carry nuclear warheads. But it speaks volumes that Russia knowingly misuses its increasingly scarce armaments for purposes for which they're ill-suited. It's a sign of desperation -- no two ways about it.
    1
  17400.  @Zeitgeist_Dron  You're not exactly an impartial observer, it would seem. Chucking wildly inaccurate missiles at civilian targets can't be deemed sensible under any circumstances. Moreover, Hodges retired five years ago. How's his personal assessment, which is obviously not based on confidential military intel, a "big strategic blunder"?
    1
  17401.  @Zeitgeist_Dron  The GPS-guided bombs behaved exactly as programmed. Their accuracy wasn't disputed by any of the parties involved. The bombs in question, JDAMs, are fit for purpose and relatively cheap, something that can't be said about Russia's S-300 surface-to-air and Kh-22 anti-ship missiles.
    1
  17402.  @Zeitgeist_Dron  All manner of experts are speaking out about the war. But Hodges' opinions would only have strategic importance if he had the ear of those actually prosecuting this war. Him being a long-time retiree, there's no indication that that's the case.
    1
  17403.  @Zeitgeist_Dron  If you're so greatly troubled by him, ignore him.
    1
  17404.  @Zeitgeist_Dron  I haven't followed Hodges. Why would my unsubstantiated opinion on him matter?
    1
  17405.  @Zeitgeist_Dron  The point is, the precision-guided bombs that struck the Chinese embassy were not inaccurate. The targeting info was, at least according to the Americans, while the Chinese suggested it was intentional. Whatever the reason, neither party claimed that the bombs veered off course. Your Chinese embassy example is nothing like Russia's desperate bombing of Ukraine with inaccurate, ill-suited and expensive ordnance. It's as if Russia is setting itself up for failure, or simply doesn't care, while the Americans try hard to avoid costly mistakes.
    1
  17406.  @Zeitgeist_Dron  I don't care for him one way or the other. You, on the other hand, are obsessed with him.
    1
  17407. EU aid and Russian war reparations will soon restore Ukraine to its former glory and beyond. You apparently didn't get the memo that EU membership brings free movement of persons with it. Aren't you envious?
    1
  17408. Lamar, how so? The US may consider itself above international law, but that doesn't apply to "US allies", with which you must mean NATO members or some such. NATO members, except USA, are signatories to the Rome Statute that underpins the International Criminal Court. Go do your homework.
    1
  17409. Heb je al langer last van een hersenbeschadiging?
    1
  17410. Don't be so sensitive. The same is true for most languages.
    1
  17411. For his sake, it had better not be in rubles.
    1
  17412. The coping is strong with you.
    1
  17413.  @DeathbyRURU6502  I'm sorry to say our GDP -- adjusted for population size -- runs circles around yours. Nearly twice the number, it would appear. I wouldn't flaunt with nuclear weapons either. It amounts to bragging about you having a very powerful and expensive handgun, which, when discharged, blows your head clean off. Does mutual assured destruction mean anything to you?
    1
  17414.  @DeathbyRURU6502  Interestingly, we have the highest population growth rate in Europe. Be that as it may, it will be a looong drop to your GDP per capita level. My family hails from Northern Europe, from where my dad was adopted as a war orphan. You never did anything to safeguard them from authoritarianism. Actually, the balance tipped the other way.
    1
  17415. The ex-Soviet militaries are heavy users of artillery, NATO not so. If Ukraine had the tanks and fighters it needed, it wouldn't need the artillery shells. Ukraine needs to go on the offensive; endless artillery duels with Russia aren't going to cut it.
    1
  17416.  @benvandam369  I'll throw in a Darwin Award for you.
    1
  17417. Anti-Putin Russian partisans made their presence known?
    1
  17418. Your far-right lot has received so much money from Putin that you should start thinking about delivering. Putin is mighty displeased with your progress.
    1
  17419. Indeed, why should Iran actively seek out conflict? A chronic case of wagging the dog?
    1
  17420. Tax on all American social media companies.
    1
  17421.  @dmitrygorbunov9219  The UNGA condemned Putin's Ukrainian military adventure with 143 in favour, 5 against. An exasperated Krembot would turn into a UN cynic for less.
    1
  17422.  @dmitrygorbunov9219  You're a cynic if you say that Guterres says what he's paid to say. I can only guess what turned you into such a cynic -- which is what I'm doing. You can keep it a secret if it makes you feel all warm and cosy.
    1
  17423. And your point is?
    1
  17424. A Jewish friend once told me that when the Messiah arrives, they'll make sure to ask him politely if it's his first visit to Earth.
    1
  17425. The megalomania is strong with this one.
    1
  17426.  @natano_pasaran1558  Dream on, pal. We'll see history repeat itself. First the USSR fell apart, and now it's Russia's turn.
    1
  17427.  @natano_pasaran1558  Ah, you're reformed. It's not often that you see a Putin troll return from the Dark side.
    1
  17428. It's a sad truth that if a country can't police its own territory, someone else will. That being said, Israel jumped at the chance a bit too eagerly.
    1
  17429.  @electric_crickets  Sure, the extreme left thinks everyone else is right-wing. Wingnuts...
    1
  17430. The trains actually work in France.
    1
  17431.  @toninhosoldierhelmet4033  I fear you haven't had any idea of what you were talking about for the whole time.
    1
  17432.  @TezKingboom  For your info, Northern Indians calls themselves Aryans even today.
    1
  17433.  @dimushka383  Because whataboutism is dumb. Especially when it concerns made-up events.
    1
  17434. Long-distance? I know what you're getting at. The Olenivka prison is just 15 km from the front line. Russia is desperate to implicate the HIMARS, in the vain hope that the US will stop supplying them to Ukraine. Even Soviet-era 122 mm howitzers have the necessary range.
    1
  17435.  @Mariana-un7uj  He's pandering to the masses, like a true populist.
    1
  17436. With its unending Brexit woes, Britain isn't in a position to offer anything but lip service.
    1
  17437. Yeah, we're representative democracies, and highly democratic parliamentary ones, too. You desperately need to read up on what that means.
    1
  17438.  @cybronichuman  I had an inkling you wouldn't get it. In a representative democracy, we vote in politicians to represent us, and in doing so, we entrust them with decision-making powers to decide on our behalf, because we can't possibly concern ourselves with all matters on hand. Can I ask you directly, did you graduate from high school?
    1
  17439.  @mikemelina7395  Thank you for your keen interest in my person. I'm of mixed origin, but the nationalities that I hold appear twice in the top 10 of the Democracy Index. How about yours? Don't be coy.
    1
  17440.  @cybronichuman  I like pissing contests. I've got a double master's in History and Politics. And a BSc in Military Science. And an EMBA. Even more so than before, it begs the question why you don't understand something as basic as representative democracy. We trust our duly elected representatives to make political decisions on our behalf, including on funding defensive wars against a brutal aggressor. Simply put, the OP implies that if he/she/they disagrees, these representatives of the people can be held liable to pay for it themselves. How would that work in your esteemed opinion? And who's arguing that protesting is not allowed? You're making stuff up as you go along.
    1
  17441.  @cybronichuman  What are you, the OP's sock puppet, who's now backtracking because you realised that your initial comment was asinine? I'm going by what he/she/they wrote. You're apologetically trying to find an alternative meaning to his/her/their words. Also, you started flaunting your degrees, apparently in an effort to establish academic superiority. Sorry, four academic degrees beat two.
    1
  17442.  @cybronichuman  No, I have to spell it out to you, your (bogus?) degrees notwithstanding. You're trying to dismiss a clear expression of distrust in electoral mandates as an innocent protest, which is suggestive of you -- like the OP -- not holding firmly established democratic institutions in high regard. Or -- to give you the benefit of the doubt -- you commented unthinkingly, and now your pride prevents you from conceding the argument.
    1
  17443. Don't flatter yourself with having insight in the matter. Georgia's possible EU membership is a contentious issue. The EU can't (afford to) save the whole world.
    1
  17444. Your definition of greatness underwhelms.
    1
  17445.  @aviira  Why would Ukraine want to press on into Mordor after kicking the Orcs out? Russia can just stew in its own juices.
    1
  17446.  @gerryvandepol7630  Tell your pal Putin to "break out" peace tomorrow and it will all be over. All Russia is fighting for is Putin's political survival.
    1
  17447. Those missing foreign language skills of yours are really starting to affect your botting.
    1
  17448. He's too inexperienced for the job. Even for veep.
    1
  17449.  @patwilson2546  ...and by now, the T-34 has already launched its turret skyward in spectacular fashion.
    1
  17450.  @dragons_hook  With Russia's federal budget nosediving by 64% year-on-year on account of reduced oil and gas revenue, I'd say the sanctions are biting, if not tearing Russia to shreds.
    1
  17451. You can't tell Lebanon apart from Hezbollah? Educate yourself.
    1
  17452. Sunak may be the right man for the job, but I fear patience with the Tories has run out. They're sooo ripe for the opposition.
    1
  17453.  @jesusofnazareth3507  All work and no play makes Jesus a dull boy.
    1
  17454. How much is the Taliban paying you for your botting services?
    1
  17455.  @ThatDogBarkz  I asked you first. And don't thumb up your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  17456. And you have to make it all about Murica. Murica is non-paying tenant in your mind.
    1
  17457. Did denazification fail in former East Germany?
    1
  17458.  Gabriel Jean-Batiste  I see and hear Americans -- some of them relatives of mine -- making a big deal about their ethnicity. But to me, they're still very much Americans. In their countries of origin, they'd stick out like a sore thumb.
    1
  17459. Russia needs more than blessings. For starters, a leader who's concerned about the country rather than self-preservation.
    1
  17460.  @elagino2780  I'm not elated about how France handled the affair, but it shows how one EU member can throw a spanner into the works as decisions need to be unanimous. Blame where blame is due. Feel free to induct Albania into Mercosur and extending them a line of credit. Bombastic expressions of moral support only go so far.
    1
  17461. The US-China trade balance is misleading. China assembles electronics, and in doing so, adds relatively little value to the products in question, typically 5-10%. Yet when measuring the trade balance, the full price of the import is calculated in, as if all the components were Chinese in origin, too. Mostly, they're not.
    1
  17462. It's a tad premature to call Wilders PM. His efforts to form a coalition government will end in an abject failure. Mark my words.
    1
  17463.  @HughJohn-s1n  I'll get back to you in.. 3 to 6 months.
    1
  17464.  @skitariiranger4346  It's laughable that you worry about airsoft players being invaded in your neck of the woods. We've geared up for Russian invasions since times immemorial.
    1
  17465. Please elaborate on your conspiracy theory. Try to work in Reptilians if at all possible.
    1
  17466. You'd think the Russians have developed IFF by now.
    1
  17467.  @canitbethat  Thanks, I guess, for the philosophical mumbo-jumbo.
    1
  17468.  @canitbethat  I'm sure my academic record runs circles around yours. I just don't suffer fools gladly.
    1
  17469.  @canitbethat  You questioned my intellect. I showed that it's been appraised and not found wanting. I take it your alma mater is the School of Hard Knocks?
    1
  17470.  @canitbethat  I didn't respond to your philosophical ponderings because I felt substance was sorely lacking. Likewise, I could try to find meaning in watching paint dry. No need to apologise for your lack of academic achievements. It's hardly an impediment to posting in a YouTube comment section.
    1
  17471. And Russia's war reparations bills are piling up as well.
    1
  17472.  @spice1232  It's signed into law in Russia. Give it a try and let's see if you'll end up incarcerated.
    1
  17473. I suspect you have little knowledge of Belgian politics. I'd say the only certainty is that the cordon sanitaire around the Vlaams Belang will hold firm. No far-righties in government, comme d'habitude.
    1
  17474.  @rih2370  It must be hard to go through life with powers of deduction such as yours.
    1
  17475. I imagine there's a certain weariness in Finland to have to fight Sweden's battles, too.
    1
  17476. What has he won? The governorship of Ruxia, China's northernmost province?
    1
  17477. Only an unthinking bot would claim that the HIMARS is used against shipping. It strikes at pre-programmed coordinates. Ships tend to move about.
    1
  17478. You bet we can't compete with sweatshops. I'd rather have rules than factories with barred windows to prevent suicidal workers from jumping to their deaths.
    1
  17479. The former is very real and while the latter is imagined. Ask Russia's OSCE observers. They reluctantly had to admit no massacres took place in Donbas between 2014 and 2022.
    1
  17480. Make up your mind, is NATO fighting or not? It varies from troll to troll.
    1
  17481.  @henaimtiyaz4189  Because NATO is a defensive alliance and it's not being attacked. You can ask yourself the same question when China and/or Pakistan attacks India, and NATO doesn't speed to your aid. Same answer. Oh, and we'll be sure to sit on the fence.
    1
  17482. What are you going to do about your Yank airbases? Nothing I guess.
    1
  17483. ​ @mikicerise6250  4D pigeon chess. Putin shat over the chessboard.
    1
  17484.  @psibug565  The UK has stricter defamation laws. And the Muricans didn't invent presumption of innocence. The Romans did.
    1
  17485. The civilian death toll in Ukraine suggests that Russia isn't aiming "to protect civilians".
    1
  17486.  @hnstyxyou  Oh, we're doing whataboutism. Sorry, I don't play.
    1
  17487. It's a fine language. You should try to get a grasp on English.
    1
  17488. The (self-)delusion is strong with you.
    1
  17489.  @samaranch09  Try to make your own point.
    1
  17490.  @samaranch09  And try English. This is YouTube, not VK.
    1
  17491.  @samaranch09  Click yourself, on Google Translate or whatever.
    1
  17492.  @Joel_Wiell  Herd immunity and vaccines are two different things. The Swedish health officials readily admit that public immunity has been painfully slow in developing. Another matter is how effective herd immunity will prove, since research shows that the coronavirus antibodies disappear way too soon for comfort. In all likelihood, Sweden can rid itself of the coronavirus only with mass vaccinations. That puts it in the same situation as other countries that did take strict preventive measures -- only Sweden is saddled with an embarrassingly high death toll.
    1
  17493. @Anonymous Bosch Don't lie. Neither Finland's PM nor minister of defence has said anything to that effect.
    1
  17494.  @jeckjeck3119  Prisons are fully of criminals who've broken the law. Should we abolish the law because it was broken?
    1
  17495. Aussie much? It's Burger King in the rest of the world.
    1
  17496.  @anonanon7235  With a masters in history under my belt, I know the history of Europe intimately. I think you're trying to appear clever.
    1
  17497. I'm not quite sure the Danes would feel terribly sorry if Greenland were decolonised. Sure, some patriotic feathers would be ruffled. It's a burden on state coffers, too.
    1
  17498.  Derreck Jones  Yet two wrongs don't make a right. But the big difference is that Britain has a colony inside the EU. The Gibraltarians are an odd bunch. The indigenous ones all speak Spanish, even among themselves, if my experiences are anything to go by. I also take your claim that they can't stand the Spanish with a grain of salt, since they're mixing with them on a day basis, inside and outside of Gibraltar. Politically, they're not enchanted with Madrid, but the same applies to many of Spain's autonomous communities. Need I mention Catalonia?
    1
  17499.  Derreck Jones  You're still talking Madrid. Andalusians and Gibraltarians get along fine. I also know from first-hand experience how the British expats living on the Costa del Sol have mixed feelings about the Gibraltarians and their over-the-top nationalism. Gibraltar's Chief Minister, whose ancestry is partly Spanish, has no qualms about investing in Spanish real estate. Who would? In Gibraltar, cabin fever otherwise soon sets in.
    1
  17500.  @keysofken  Russia is running out of keyboards, too. True story.
    1
  17501. @MSD Group Misery loves company, eh? Let's put things into perspective. Russia's recession is ten times worse than Europe's, and it will last for a decade, if not longer. For Europe, there's a winter of discomfort -- and only in those countries that suckered themselves into believing that Russia is trustworthy.
    1
  17502. @MSD Group To stem inflation. Inflation has been suspiciously low ever since the euro was introduced. You may want to provide credible sources for significant popular opposition to the EU's stance towards Russia. Otherwise, we'll have to conclude that it's just wishful thinking on your and your ilk's part.
    1
  17503. @MSD Group Europe is teetering on the brink of recession. In Russia, a 12% contraction is projected for 2024. Your point being?
    1
  17504. @MSD Group Contraction, I wrote. This is were you go and study up on basic economic terminology. Maybe then I deem you worthy of continued discussion.
    1
  17505. goran, you managed a comment that's devoid of relevant content. Better watch your spelling too. *low-life, *useful, *self-respect, *sense.
    1
  17506.  @aleksandrkrupenko9377  You say it's only a matter of Russian sovereignty. First and foremost, it's a matter of Ukrainian sovereignty, which Russia agreed to respect after the break-up of the USSR --- and now clearly hasn't. Not only that, Russia broke the UN Charter. For that alone, Russia deserves to be kicked out of the Security Council. Again, your 97% isn't an internationally recognised figure, so it is of no consequence. You may want to try something else than your old and tired whataboutism.
    1
  17507.  @51greenstone  So you decided to chime in with an inane comment.
    1
  17508.  @olegvasilevskiy5815  Still more whataboutism. Try to keep your comment relevant.
    1
  17509.  @pieterbezuidenhout2741  Why don't you come clean and call yourself POETINTROL? I have nothing with the US. Try to add something relevant to the discussion, to which you've only added noise.
    1
  17510.  @51greenstone  Ask the Turkish Cypriots if the international embargo that they've had to endure for close to 40 years is any fun.
    1
  17511.  @louisecorchevolle9241  ...and you're trying to rewrite history, in true Soviet-style. There was never any Ukrainian occupation of Crimea. Like I wrote earlier, the Crimeans could've pursued independence though the UN, but no, Putin surprised them -- or rather, everyone, including his own government -- with it. And now they're relegated to international isolation. And Russia, economic sanctions. None of it was worth it.
    1
  17512.  @learning7140  Yet another whataboutist reports for duty. Doesn't your lot have anything else?
    1
  17513.  @Exquisite.C  We're all unpaid volunteers, unlike you sad Krembots. How much is it these days, half a potato for a half-witted comment?
    1
  17514.  @Exquisite.C  You confuse me with yourself. Bots never manage to make a point. That's you.
    1
  17515.  @FritztheCat74-k8e  In both cases, Trump literally had his day in court, but failed. Should Trump tell his die-hard supporters to storm the Capitol again?
    1
  17516. Or we could call Turkey "Wet Blanket" till Erdogan does approve Sweden and Finland into NATO.
    1
  17517. Try to explain yourself.
    1
  17518.  @yurichtube1162  Grote onzin, jouw "80% van de wereld". Als we kijken naar het stemgedrag van de algemene vergadering van de VN, dan blijkt dat maar 2% van de VN-leden echt bevriend is met Rusland. 73% is afkeurend.
    1
  17519.  @bojanstojicevic2642  YouTube n00b much?
    1
  17520.  @bojanstojicevic2642  So you're a YouTube n00b. You just posted the same (non-sensical) comment twice. There are no historical records -- none whatsoever -- of Muslims or "Orthodox R brothers" ever making their way to the British Isles to do battle with the ancient Anglo-Saxons, who met their demise as a cultural group at the hands of William the Conqueror in 1066 AD.
    1
  17521. Do the Russians pay you in aloo for your outsourced trolling?
    1
  17522.  @tanmoybain5945  I think you'll find the Ukrainians in complete agreement. Putin is the one to convince.
    1
  17523.  @RideAcrossTheRiver  NATO did have a UN-approved mission in Afghanistan, but only after the Taliban and Al Qaeda had been driven underground and/or sought refuge in Pakistan. Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Thailand sent troops to Vietnam to fight alongside the Americans.
    1
  17524. Because you're too defensive?
    1
  17525.  @nataliakalinina3883  Osama ended up dead, didn't he?
    1
  17526. How's the smell in his rectum?
    1
  17527.  @vishnunarayan8850  When you've turned India into a modern, wealthy and egalitarian nation like Finland, you can start belittling us. It's supreme irony that we were still in animal pelts when you had already built a civilised society, yet it seems the tables have turned 180 degrees.
    1
  17528.  @queeniewang2246  Sure thing, but China's contribution is subpar. Why not go all the way and concentrate on COVAX alone? That would make short shrift of accusations that China is engaging in vaccine diplomacy.
    1
  17529.  @stevenk1468  No, I don't see any issues with efficiency. It makes perfect sense to have a impartial party decide who gets how many based on need rather than friendship potential.
    1
  17530.  @stevenk1468  What you're suggesting is that China coordinate their vaccine distribution with COVAX. Fine, but how's that different from letting COVAX coordinate the whole caboodle? It's not like the WHO is micromanaging distribution and doing the vaccinations themselves. They're relying on whatever resources are available nationally.
    1
  17531.  @stevenk1468  Have you understood what "vaccine diplomacy" means? When helping others, demanding something in return would leave a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe you have better mouthwash.
    1
  17532. Blame Google, Einstein.
    1
  17533.  @estefanymurillo22  You really need to learn to spell 'hypocrisy' if you want to be a successful bot. Whataboutism is part and parcel of a bot's defence stratagem.
    1
  17534.  @MarthyWilliamsWilliams  Irrelevant. Israel's president has practically no say over what Israel wants or doesn't want. American much?
    1
  17535.  @Owen7768  In this context, being allies must mean that the big bro reluctantly has to do whatever the smaller sibling wants.
    1
  17536.  @Idan-22  The other master's of mine is in political science. What do you propose to teach me? Platitudes?
    1
  17537.  @Owen7768  More platitudes. I bet I've forgotten more about international politics than you'll ever know.
    1
  17538. Good coping. Hope it helps you hold back the tears.
    1
  17539.  @0BLACKESTFUN0  Please, the “no, you are” comeback is puerile. Cope less, so you can work on your comebacks.
    1
  17540.  @0BLACKESTFUN0  There you go again, "No, you are!" Grow up already.
    1
  17541.  user-gl4ff8sc9h  Changing your story already? It's a tacit admission that the Kremlin lied.
    1
  17542. You're basically advocating that the Russians drop ordnance on themselves. I can't detect any empire-building in the Ukrainians defending hearth and home. Putin, on the other hand, has admitted as much. Peter the Great, he fancies himself.
    1
  17543.  @mikeholme1388  So you're Jeff Barbato?
    1
  17544. No-one. Lebanon is a failed state. Is that news to you?
    1
  17545.  @philipejem3614  It's not that hard. Hezbollah "wants" war with Israel because Iran wants it for them. It's called a proxy war.
    1
  17546. The Israeli warplanes dropped ordnance, as in smart bombs, from close-up on their targets in Iran. Iran has no recourse against such weapons. The F-15Is that Israel employed are regular bomb trucks, and smart bombs, rather than missiles, provide the best bang for the buck, so that's the weapon that probably wreaked the most havoc. Even Israel would struggle to destroy a falling precision-guided bomb in flight, but then again they wouldn't let enemy warplanes make bombing runs at leisure, like Iran just did. In fact, what's most remarkable about these strikes is how spectacularly Iran's air defences failed.
    1
  17547.  @edvoon  I don't see anyone replying to you...
    1
  17548. It's asymmetric warfare, buddy. And who's defeated is something historians will debate for ages.
    1
  17549. So, come nuclear winter, are you going to eat your neighbours, or will they beat you to it?
    1
  17550. Revenge is sweet. We had a street party that all local cafes and restaurants took part in. The personnel of a gay bar had all dressed up a Putins. Bare-chested of course.
    1
  17551.  @МойГосподин-з8л  You wouldn't understand such intricacies. You barely understand English, after all.
    1
  17552.  @giantmysli  Maybe not in the Kremlin, but a minidrama may play out in Putin's private bathroom. Tears and sad faces and all that.
    1
  17553.  @Илья-у1ю  Let the USA also remember that it was never at war with Finland. In actual fact, Finnish troops only advanced across the Soviet border as far as it was necessary to set up advantageous defensive positions. There was no fighting "all over Europe" involving Finnish troops -- only in and around Finland's borders.
    1
  17554.  @stefanbuban1122  Actually, after the disastrous Winter War, the Soviets pleaded with then-ally Germany for a rematch with Finland. Hitler didn't warm up to the idea. It shucks for you revisionists that the Germans were such meticulous notetakers.
    1
  17555. And in exchange, what kind of assurances can Russia provide with regard to reining in its expansionism?
    1
  17556. It's interesting to note that over the years, both Russia and China backed no less than 21 UNSC resolutions that sought to put a stop to North Korea arming itself with nuclear weapons. Now Russia has become an enabler instead. That's a 180 degree shift in policy, unbefitting a permanent member of the UNSC.
    1
  17557. Or Zorglub.
    1
  17558. Bring the Civil Guard back. It saved Finland's bacon in 1939.
    1
  17559.  @a.u.b1  GPS doesn't rely on "NATO satellite [sic]". It's a purely US system. NATO countries rely on either GPS or the EU's Galileo, but both can be jammed, one more so than the other. That's why all long-range missiles use a combination of satnav and inertial navigation, of which the latter is unjammable, be it less precise. If you can program a drone to strike specific coordinates, you can program the missiles, too. And the Ukrainians have proven themselves to be the premier drone operators.
    1
  17560.  @hansjorgkunde3772  If the world is in danger of sliding towards WW3, why doesn't Russia cut its losses and call it quits? It's the instigator, after all, and Putin can stop the war overnight.
    1
  17561.  @Jag-ws5ue  Which facts might you be referring to? Don't be shy.
    1
  17562. In your tiny little mind, Russia must've started nuclear wars over Ukraine so often that you lost count a long time ago.
    1
  17563. You're making zero sense. Putin is an imperialist and Puigdemont is a separatist. Worlds apart.
    1
  17564. Our resident Krembots must be deliriously happy to see reports about Assange, finally. Somehow, after Navalny's murder, Assange became a fixation with them.
    1
  17565. Because he's calling an election?
    1
  17566. Don't worry, if Iran makes an appearance in Syria, Israel will jump right in. After all, civil war-torn Syria is a shooting gallery/weapons range for Israel, where it can have fun and settle old scores with impunity. Somewhat ironically, forcibly dissuading Iran from waging proxy wars is a step -- one step -- toward peace in the Middle East. Israel has to undergo aggression counselling, too, of course.
    1
  17567. Democracy must be a new concept to you.
    1
  17568. Kazakh independence has been revoked? Where, when?
    1
  17569. If you want to provoke a hostage crisis, yes, by all means, starting bombing.
    1
  17570. Does it have to be so that Russians only get to choose the one that sucks less?
    1
  17571. It's very sportsmanlike to celebrate when you've come second. Okay, okay, third. I know, those Ukrainian farmers and their tractors...
    1
  17572. The West has condemned Israeli territorial expansionism in no uncertain terms. Don't spout nonsense.
    1
  17573.  @joshuarhoades2740  Actually, you will be fine. Whenever there's an economic downturn, the likes of BK and Mickey D's do better, because with less disposable income, people flock to fast food restaurants instead of more upscale establishments. McJobs galore!
    1
  17574. ​ @viboulk  Rubbish. There's the SNP advocating Scottish independence and the NV-A in Belgium demanding independence for Flanders. Both are legalised parties with a substantial electoral following, and I'm just naming a few examples.
    1
  17575.  @viboulk  Excuse me, who's the dumb one here? You suggested that there were no legalised political parties with a separatist agenda elsewhere in the world. I clearly proved you wrong.
    1
  17576.  Ye Tian  Waddaya know. A Chinese white supremacist. I thought I'd seen it all.
    1
  17577.  Ye Tian  You are, it appears. In political science, there's a disputed horseshoe theory that says Commies and Fascists are alike. You lend it credence.
    1
  17578.  @bl00dhoney  It's a start.
    1
  17579. Trump doesn't have 'bipartisan' in his vocabulary. He'd rather sell out to Putin than support his president.
    1
  17580. He's no Trump fan. Stubb is the keep-calm-and-carry-on type, like Finns in general. Our blood runs cooler than with most humans, and we successfully compete with the Brits in upper lip stiffness.
    1
  17581.  @difficultyhard6901  Classic liberalism is the term you're looking for, because Americans associate liberalism with social liberalism. European liberalism is centre right. Europe's liberals want to keep the social democrats at an arm's length at all times.
    1
  17582. No, why? Russia is on its knees -- if not militarily, then economically. There are no good long-term outcomes for Russia, no matter whether it's at war or at peace. What are they going to export going forward? Matryoshka dolls?
    1
  17583. I'm still struggling to get my head around the Israel and far-right combo. You'd think they'd know better.
    1
  17584. What do you mean, that old battle-axe, Tarja Halonen, is still around.
    1
  17585.  @emmawang1999  You're not answering my question. If elections aren't it, how do you ensure that those who govern you have a proper popular mandate? No, elections alone don't ensure good governance. But a government without a proper popular mandate stokes civil unrest, like we've seen -- and will continue to see -in Hong Kong. The mainland Chinese may still lack the awareness that they have unmet political rights, but that in most countries, the populace is keenly aware that they get to pick their representatives - even a dolt like Trump.
    1
  17586.  @emmawang1999  Did you not read my comment which mentioned the Human Development Index and its top 20 being dominated by democracies? I think you're desperately trying to convince yourself that you're not worse off, but you can't even get your arguments right, let alone suggest alternatives.
    1
  17587.  @TheKkpop1  Obviously. You're colonising it.
    1
  17588.  @TheKkpop1  Condemning Chinese colonialism in Tibet equates to hating China, now does it? Cheers yourself, dum-dum.
    1
  17589. On the contrary, the bumbling fool is lucky to be alive. He could've been chewed up by the prop or lost a wing. Last time, when a Chinese fighter jock clipped a US aircraft, he didn't live to tell the tale.
    1
  17590. Lavrov did beat him to it. It is, after all, instinctive for Russians to blame everyone but themselves.
    1
  17591.  @RyzenShanks  You haven't understood that the Western nuclear powers favour sub-launched nukes. There most definitely will be a retaliatory strike against Russia, even if all NATO countries lie in ashes. Do your homework.
    1
  17592. Iran? They seem to be waging a lot of proxy wars. Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon...
    1
  17593.  @cockat0o563  You're not familiar with the term 'proxy war', are you?
    1
  17594. I hope Macron remembers to serve them blood, not wine.
    1
  17595. You're mistaken. The Russians are the aggressors, they do the invading.
    1
  17596.  @les0218  Sigh. I just explained that there's not much in career terms to look forward to for Macron at the UN.
    1
  17597. Johnny Foreigner bad.
    1
  17598.  @cosmicbear88-23  Why would you have me speak Polish, of all languages? Someone's trying to be cute. No doubt we'll be buying -- some, but less and less. Our electricity is already completely carbon-free. It's only a matter of time before demand for oil is such that Saudi Arabia, with its lowest production cost, is the sole supplier.
    1
  17599.  @erickanter  Murica is going down the shitter, with babies drilling for oil like there's no tormorrow and the bill for climate-induced disasters becoming unbearable.
    1
  17600.  @dagramirez  Be that as it may, it didn't hurt his global approval rates. And he didn't demonstrably undermine democracy. There's a factual basis for this. How about your claims?
    1
  17601. ​ @dagramirez  I take it ACW2 is on.
    1
  17602.  @dagramirez  Go for it, I'm all for devolution. One could argue that the extreme polarization in the US is a sign of a failed state. Maybe a looser federation will save it.
    1
  17603.  @dagramirez  That's deuced odd. Canada lets Quebec be and the EU let the UK go. I could picture you calling both Communist/Socialist. Or elitist, or is it the same diff?
    1
  17604.  @dagramirez  OK, we're firmly in conspiracyland, where facts don't matter and the truth is only revealed to true believers.
    1
  17605. ​@Dave Moore Is that QAnon code talk or are you just a blithering idiot?
    1
  17606. It is a concern -- but mostly for the Russians -- if China turns Russia into a neo-colony. I'm convinced that's China's endgame.
    1
  17607.  Oruj once said  You have no sense of proportion if you're being serious about Turkey defeating the Taliban. It's a pipe dream if there ever was one.
    1
  17608.  Oruj once said  The Taliban have no intention to give anyone a big war. A long drawn-out affair like this previous one is the only type of conflict they're offering, and that would totally bankrupt Turkey with its already dodgy economy.
    1
  17609.  Oruj once said  Turkey won't find any buyers for its weapons in Afghanistan, that's for sure. Moreover, even the most capable Turkish drones can carry only a relatively tiny amount of ordnance. If the whole of NATO, which its unmatched aerial bombing capability, couldn't pummel the Taliban to submission in 20 years, how is Turkey going to fare with its armed model airplanes in the little time it has left in Afghanistan? I'm sure that afterwards, the battle-hardened Taliban fighters will refer to Turkish airstrikes as pinpricks... You yourself started about Turkey trying to defeat the Taliban. Defeating the Taliban means killing the very last of them. It's simply not on the cards.
    1
  17610. You're fitted with a fragile ego.
    1
  17611. Overweight preppers don't make good soldiers.
    1
  17612. It does now according to the UN.
    1
  17613. Belarus is safe in Putin's smelly armpit, more like.
    1
  17614.  @Jeffcrocodile  So long, and thanks for all the fish. Where have we heard that before?
    1
  17615. Poland is NOT the adult in the room.
    1
  17616.  @terencefranks1688  According to whom? Only Belarus and Sudan have recognised Crimea as part of Russia. Hardly movers and shakers on the international scene.
    1
  17617. Gift? Netanyahu is a political zombie. His hard-line policies and handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have proven an abject failure. Israel will tolerate him till the situation is back under control, but not a moment longer.
    1
  17618. Your slogan needs work. Not a single millenial understood what you're on about.
    1
  17619.  @savee1  OK, dum-dum, I have degrees in political science (MSc), history (MSc) and military science (BSc). Have yourself a mouldy Vkusno i tochka burger.
    1
  17620.  @savee1  I know you. You've never managed to write more than single non-sensical sentences on YouTube, and even those are chockablock with grammar and spelling mistakes. Take English courses, for starters.
    1
  17621. You're going to have another go at him otherwise?
    1
  17622. The king does need saving from the clutches of modernity.
    1
  17623. It's an acquired taste.
    1
  17624. Sorry, no, I'm not aware of France divvying up its ill-begotten riches from Africa among its European partners. Can you point me to a credible source that sheds more light on the topic?
    1
  17625.  @minnigmanmad  Israel not remotely democractic? Israel is considered a 'flawed democracy' by the EIU in its Democracy Index, just ahead of the USA, which has the same classification.
    1
  17626. Toom je seksuele fantasieën maar in. De piepers waren zo ontworpen dat de explosie pas kwam na een tijdje gepiep. De meesten hadden het apparaat in de hand en keken naar het scherm. Heel wat ogen en vingers kwijt dus, maar nieuwe Hezbollah-rekruten verwekken ze nog wel.
    1
  17627. He has, too. Try to be more observant.
    1
  17628.  @OnFeature  Woah, you managed a self-contradictory sentence there. Sloppy. As a sovereign nation, Ukraine has the right to strike alliances as it sees fit. Moreover, Russia breached the UN Charter with its forceful annexations of Ukrainian territory, so your "peace plan" is a non-starter.
    1
  17629.  @OnFeature  Who did I kill during my overseas deployments? I like to think we saved civilians in Lebanon and Kosovo. So, I've seen war and so have my parents and their parents. That's why we're so angry with Putin for starting yet another one. NATO expands by popular demand, Russia by force. And for your info, NATO's area of responsibility is restricted to Europe, North America, Turkey, and islands in the North Atlantic north of the Tropic of Cancer. Don't make stuff up.
    1
  17630.  @OnFeature  NATO never made such an agreement. Care to elaborate what you're on about? At the risk of repeating myself, sovereign nations can strike alliances as they see fit. In NATO's case, it's always by popular consent, too. Finland and Sweden are cases in point. In both countries, a comfortable supermajority voted in favour of NATO membership. Under international law, Russia's self-defined sphere of influence holds no weight whatsoever. Speaking of international law, the UNGA very clearly ruled against Russia in the Ukraine war. For better or worse, the UNGA is international law.
    1
  17631.  @OnFeature  You're supposed to name the treaty or agreement that was signed to that effect. I'm (still) waiting.
    1
  17632.  @OnFeature  I know all about it, and nothing corroborates your claim. Name the "treaty" already.
    1
  17633. Air defence missiles are designed to self-destruct if they miss their target. The debris won't cause the damage that we're seeing. You're merely trying to placate your guilty conscience.
    1
  17634. Ik luister af en toe naar de Finse radio op het internet (om de taal machtig te blijven) en tot mijn verbazing werd Europapa er uitgeroepen tot spirituele opvolger van hun Cha-Cha-Cha van vorig jaar. Nederland moest zelfs winnen van de DJ, terwijl de Finnen als jong volk best wel nationalistisch zijn. Wat een compliment.
    1
  17635. Russia can barely hold its own in Ukraine. Why do you think its gravely depleted armed forces are of any help to North Korea? North Korea has enough cannon fodder of its own. It's high-tech weapons technology that North Korea wants.
    1
  17636. These guys were probably responsible for that one, too. Self-revenge? It fits the picture -- Russia is committing suicide all over the board.
    1
  17637. Winning? Russia started its push for Bakhmut on August 1, 2022. It's still to capture the city. While that went on, Ukraine launched its Kherson counter-offensive, on August 29 -- a month later -- and ended the battle victoriously with the liberation of Kherson on November 11, 2022. So Ukraine took a city 4 times larger, finishing 4 month sooner.
    1
  17638. None of them have friends thereabouts.
    1
  17639. Under FPTP it is.
    1
  17640. The "WILL of the European people" is whatever enjoys majority support. If that doesn't ring true with you, you're not a democrat. And for your info, MEPs are supposed to "*pursue their own political interests". It's implied that a sufficient number of voters shared those interests, or they wouldn't have been elected in the first place.
    1
  17641. Israel could show how it's done and withdraw from all the occupied territories.
    1
  17642. You'll understand better when you'll learn arithmetic in school.
    1
  17643. So trying to minimise civilian casualties amounts to emptiness. Gotya.
    1
  17644.  @kularace7351  You're describing the consensus admirably.
    1
  17645.  @angrydragonslayer  You struggle with capitalisation and punctuation yourself.
    1
  17646.  @Masterfighterx  It rather was. I hear Nordbat was afterwards colloquially known as Fightbat.
    1
  17647. That would've been problematic, considering that HTS is designated a terrorist organisation. Supporting a terrorist organisation tends to land you in jail, since there's this pesky thing called rule of law. But hey, conspiracy theories needn't be fact-checked.
    1
  17648. @yxon_koxk8507 That's the conspiracy theory, yes...
    1
  17649. Russia to come to its senses?
    1
  17650.  @sleepyjoe7843  Yeah, let's do pidgin. Your comment hits like a pair of pliers on a pig.
    1
  17651. I'm sure Charles is putting out feelers.
    1
  17652. If anything, Germany should be embarrassed by letting its guard down after the collapse of the Soviet Union. There were many wake-up calls over the years, but Germany bet all its chips on an increasingly misguided Wandel durch Handel policy. The only silver lining is that Germany's less naïve eastern neighbours snapped up ex-Bundeswehr kit at bargain basement prices, allowing them to bolster their defences beyond what defence budgets would've allowed otherwise. Poland and Finland spring to mind.
    1
  17653.  @sujancomilla  Yet the Americans somehow forgot to annex every single one of them. Russia, on the other hand, was very quick to make the land grab "official."
    1
  17654.  @yuliasergeevna2310  Let's have a rerun of the status referendum under UN supervision then, because the UN -- as in all the sovereign states of the world -- is clearly not okay with the one staged in 2014. You'd do the Crimeans a huge favour, because that would break their international isolation, which Putin foolishly condemned them to. Also, it's very peculiar that after this supposed coup, the neo-Nazis failed to gain enough votes for even one measly seat in the Ukrainian parliament. How can you have a neo-Nazi regime without a single neo-Nazi? Don't confuse matters with your whataboutism. It's very boring, too.
    1
  17655. Your figure conflicts with those released by the WHO. Western countries top the Covid-19 vaccine donor list, both in terms of money and vaccines. China has pledged 10 million doses to Covax, the UN's worldwide vaccine distribution program. Now which is more, 10 million or 500 million?
    1
  17656.  @greentraveler4114  Don't you worry your pretty little head. I'm neither from the USA nor am I mathematically challenged. But I am afraid that your reading comprehension sucks. Selling and donating are two different things. Don't compare apples to oranges.
    1
  17657. The difference is that Russia's neighbours, with a few exceptions, want NATO. Vice versa, no one wants Russia.
    1
  17658.  @mugenmugen9632  The strength of the Russian lines of defence is inconsequential, because Ukraine is conducting defence in depth. You may want to study up on that before you comment further.
    1
  17659.  @mugenmugen9632  That's in the past. And what's also in the past are Ukraine's highly successful 2022 counter-offensives in Kharkiv and Kherson, which you'd rather forget, I imagine. But since we're reminiscing, the Russian troops in Kharkiv were routed -- the ultimate ignominy for a military force. The Kursk offensive caught Russia completely off-guard, too. In contrast, Ukraine gives ground while inflicting stupefying casualties, time and again.
    1
  17660.  @Wally-H  So, agent Putin carried a Nagant revolver from 1895? Figures.
    1
  17661.  @toyotaprius79  Why involve the EU when this can be done -- and is done already -- domestically? Supermarket chains donate expiring foods to food banks. You should go and volunteer at one -- you'll learn all about it.
    1
  17662.  @CanadianFor1776--2  You'd think the OSCE would've gotten wind of the EU's supposed electoral fraud, but no. To add insult to injury, the EU dominates the top 10 of the Democracy Index, as having in the world's most democratic countries. Or could it be you haven't got a clue about the true state of affairs?
    1
  17663. MbS at it again. It's one self-inflicted PR disaster after another with this guy. Maybe King Salman should rethink his succession plan.
    1
  17664. A great many other nationalities were involved, too. Where's your point?
    1
  17665.  @johnsmusicpassions9740  Right now, the Russians and Ukrainians have drifted far apart, all thanks to your precious Putin. Putin's illegal war of aggression has been condemned by 141 countries at the UN and he's wanted in 123 countries for war crimes. Those are cold, hard facts -- not bashing. Reconciliation between the Russians and Ukrainians will take decades, if it happens at all.
    1
  17666.  @mabrenz_n5391  Which part of "half" don't you understand?
    1
  17667.  @conniekabasharira7084  Oh, we'll stay with our "Western" democracies all right. However, did you know that ours come in many shapes and sizes? In the light of this, how would you typify a "Western" democracy? For example, there's nothing similar to the presidential system of France in Europe, but Africa has many similar ones. I think your problem lies in (poor) execution.
    1
  17668.  @cometojesusbeforeitistoola395  FYI, democracy isn't a "Western" invention. We all started out as tribes, which were democratic in nature. You've just failed to scale up.
    1
  17669. These are North Korean troops, trained and organised as cohesive units by the totalitarian North Korean state, which spends a record share of its GDP on its military. That sets them miles apart from the individuals -- many of whom are incompetent or unfit adventurers -- who've volunteered piecemeal for military service in Ukraine and who mostly lack military training in any shape or form. Also, of those initially deemed fit, many give up after a few months or after their first scary situation. If you can't distinguish between the regular military and these irregulars, you should enlist and see for yourself what being in the military entails.
    1
  17670.  @IrenESorius  You made a boo-boo yourself.
    1
  17671. ​ @gokhankaraagac2537  Your butt must hurt something fierce. Bad times for bots.
    1
  17672. To leave the UK or the EU? My money's on the former.
    1
  17673. Wagner comes from Dmitry Utkin's call sign, after whom the PMC was named. As an ardent neo-N*zi, Utkin picked it because Wagner was H*tler's favourite composer.
    1
  17674. Never mind. This time they've got a balloon for Boris Johnson, too.
    1
  17675.  @FCUtrechtify  Cute emoji. Don't let anyone tell you you're childish. You're just in perfect sync with your inner child.
    1
  17676.  @Rajesh-lz1uj  India would be better served if it made its own drones. It's not exactly rocket science.
    1
  17677.  @frozzytango9927  While in the army, we unleashed on target drones with a 23mm twin. It was easy enough to hit them. As with AA guns in general, range is an issue. You practically have to be on the flight path to destroy a low-flying drone.
    1
  17678. And when the last man alive retreats, the Wagner Group guns him down.
    1
  17679. That's Russia for you. They want closed meetings, even secret votes.
    1
  17680. Way to go, Captain Obvious.
    1
  17681.  @johanselander7708  The Indians sure think they need their Rafales. In case you haven't noticed, they're not exactly on friendly terms with Pakistan or, for that matter, with China. For reasons that are hard to fathom, India still harbours love for the Soviet Union -- love that Russia, for equally unfathomable reasons, inherited. However, it's not lost on India's leadership that Russia is drawing ever closer (read: becoming ever more subordinate) to China. China won't allow its underling to be too chummy with its geopolitical rival, so India gets the short end of the stick.
    1
  17682. Thai monks to the rescue?
    1
  17683. Don't know about that, but Trump has isolated Murica.
    1
  17684. Why don't you have any true leaders as presidential candidates? A moment of introspection, surely.
    1
  17685. OK, Putin troll.
    1
  17686. It wouldn't be such a giant step, you know. As it is, NATO is composed of different militaries. The EU members of NATO could form a new clique by forgetting to invite the US, the UK and Canada to the party. Sure, there would be some missing capabilities, but the reverse is also true. I'm sure that as a navy vet, you're aware of the shortcomings of the US Navy. During the Iran-Iraq War, my Dutch neighbour had to go sweep the Persian Gulf for Iranian mines, because the US Navy had lost such a crucial capability. Later, when he got his own ship, he had to protect US aircraft carriers against enemy subs. Once, during a naval exercise, he had to hunt for a Dutch sub that had previously 'sunk' a US supercarrier.
    1
  17687.  @imagrev4360  Because it's all in your imagination. Your fantasies may be of interest to psychotherapists and maybe even neuroscientists, but they're not a news topic.
    1
  17688. Have you brought it to Putin's attention? He holds the keys to peace.
    1
  17689.  @iloveOxmo  Don't you know? Whatever ills befall Africans, they need a Western scapegoat.
    1
  17690. You're generalising. We're at 2.3% defence spending.
    1
  17691. The Winnipeg Jets?
    1
  17692. Why are you whining then? If you really didn't care, you wouldn't comment here, nor would you watch Western newscasts.
    1
  17693. He didn't tough. The left hates Macron for snatching away their election victory. The far right wants Marine Le Pen for president because that would keep her out of jail. I hope Macron keeps at it till justice runs its course.
    1
  17694. Have you checked all conspiracy theory sites?
    1
  17695.  @shinaoyemade1753  Oh, you can't spell either ;-)
    1
  17696. Putin is a consummate liar.
    1
  17697. So the centre right is always right, too? Also in saying that you far-right yokels are naff?
    1
  17698.  @eddastrohmayer251  I know where your drinking money comes from, or do they pay you in vodka now?
    1
  17699.  @sgtpepperz25  These crypto-Fascists play the democracy game only as long as it takes them to gain power. A failed Austrian painter showed them the ropes.
    1
  17700. I agree that the inevitable outcome of this war is that China will turn Russia into a neo-colony and steal Russia's resources. The Russians will curse Putin for letting it happen.
    1
  17701. To date, Africa has seen over 200(!) coups and attempted coups. You would think that number would've erased the last vestiges of colonialism on the continent, but no, colonialism endures... in the minds of Africans.
    1
  17702.  @hemoeders2635  Dan mag Nederland ook weer terug bij Spanje. Of Frankrijk.
    1
  17703. Illegal immigrants mean illegal workers, which means dirt cheap labour. It makes Brexit-Britain more competitive in the global marketplace.
    1
  17704. Your coping mechanism is in overdrive.
    1
  17705.  @bps7209  So ISIS is a country now? You make it up as you go along.
    1
  17706.  @nandishhegde9025  No 5G, but very soon, 4G on the moon.
    1
  17707.  @rudyluypaert4753  Strategic reasons. Haven't you heard about the Swedes hurriedly bolstering their defences in Gotland? It was all over the news. Likewise, the Åland islands are strategic, as are the Baltic states if one wants to control the Baltic Sea. Russia has Kaliningrad, but as a semi-exclave it's a tenuous foothold. Let me guess, you're not really up to speed on matters military? History?
    1
  17708.  @rudyluypaert4753  Big *historian. What's the relevance? WW1 certainly didn't start in the Baltic Sea.
    1
  17709.  @rudyluypaert4753  Dag dan, manneke.
    1
  17710. How about your Bucha murderers, who've demonstrably executed civilians for sport?
    1
  17711. Special witness disposal operation.
    1
  17712. Sweden would only get excited and opposed it, if the US made demands.
    1
  17713. @John Grey It's brilliant. In order to continue his disastrous war, Putin has to accept Xi's warm embrace. The bear is getting a dragon hug.
    1
  17714.  @michaeld1170  The US sure has a knack for getting its military involved in unwinnable wars. Less military adventurism, perhaps?
    1
  17715.  @woutergijs5246  Maybe Monsieur Nagant was sent a sample. I'm sidetracking, but I successfully bid for a Russian Nagant revolver while doing my internship in Brussels. We had one as a war trophy in the family, but my uncle surrendered it to the police in a gun amnesty, because he never bothered to get a licence for it.
    1
  17716.  @supercunthunt7756  That just confirms that Russia is incompetent on all levels.
    1
  17717. You're pretending that Germany has just joined NATO. You're funny.
    1
  17718.  @live_free_or_perish  You still don't understand the issue, or you're just too young to do so. West Germany had a credible defence, but unified Germany naively disarmed to an unacceptable extent. Luckily, its eastern neighbours, more particularly Poland, picked up some of the slack.
    1
  17719.  @u.p.1038  Of course it's naive. Germany is now scampering to catch up with reality, suddenly pouring an extra €100 billion into its military. Even so, after decades of neglect, it will prove an uphill battle. It will take decades, too, to make the Bundeswehr fighting fit again. I suppose you've never heard of speaking softly but carrying a big stick?
    1
  17720.  @u.p.1038  I see you're not a believer in collective defence, where every member pitches in equally. Also, your conspiracy theory about the military-industrial complex appears to be recycled from the US, where there's probably some truth to it, but not in Germany. Moreover, Germany isn't one for gunboat diplomacy. Again, you'd better seek out more convincing examples.
    1
  17721.  @u.p.1038  I think you're choosing to misunderstand me. The military-industrial complex is as real any lobby group, but it's not like they get to set foreign policy. To claim otherwise is tantamount to a conspiracy theory.
    1
  17722.  @RussiaDestroyer  I suppose Finland chopped off a huge piece from Putin's imaginary sphere of influence.
    1
  17723. Should DW ignore a newsworthy event like this so as not to hurt your feelings? I think you need to retreat to your safe place, RT, where nothing negative is ever said about Russia.
    1
  17724.  @lindamvungi8557  There you go again, with your eternal whataboutism. Just to humour you, which development regarding Assange 's case did DW miss? Off to RT with you.
    1
  17725.  @A.O.1982  The Gazans weren't consulted about the attacks against Israel. In fact, a recent poll showed that most Gazans wanted the ceasefire to be maintained. Also, Hamas's top political leaders may have been left out of the loop, too. It would explain Israel's intelligence failures in anticipating the attacks.
    1
  17726. Is there an entrance fee? Tell us more...
    1
  17727.  @dracoboomin6511  It's been widely reported and it fits the picture. Firstly, attacking troops suffer more casualties than defending ones. Secondly, the poor tactics displayed by Russia suggest the ratio is even more lopsided than usual. I mean, what are the Russian commanders thinking? The 39th time is the charm?
    1
  17728.  @imperium_vox  Aw, I can tell you're pouting behind that knight's costume of yours. Go trick-or-treating.
    1
  17729.  @dracoboomin6511  Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Artillery, too, has more effect on exposed attackers than dug-in defenders. I've been attached to an artillery regiment as a reservist for the last fifteen years. What are your credentials?
    1
  17730. The Northern Alliance was a figment of everyone's imagination then? Don't rewrite history. Nothing good will come out of it.
    1
  17731. What's your problem with indirect democracy? There was no doubt whatsoever that the Swedish and Finnish electorates overwhelmingly supported NATO membership. Also, NATO's decision-making is based on consensus -- if anything, you should fault it for being too democratic.
    1
  17732.  @peterrozowsky4218  Are you suggesting that everyone gets paid, the electorate included? That would be democratic all right, but I'm afraid it's the other way around -- the electorate pays the politicians to represent them correctly. And if not, we can withhold payment.
    1
  17733. Russia being Russia, I doubt Putin will die of natural causes. We'll probably hear of him and his bodyguards suffering fatal heart attacks, all at the same time. That's how Putin's boss, Anatoly Sobchak, went.
    1
  17734. Putin doesn't have the luxury to pick his friends. He has to consort with criminals like himself.
    1
  17735.  @oh2mp  Even so, a mere 21,000 privately-owned guns in Finland qualify as 'reserviläiskivääri' or semi-auto assault rifles. They shoot different rounds, too, as in 5.56 and 7.62x39, which makes logistics troublesome. It's good for keeping up your marksmanship skills, but not much else.
    1
  17736.  @Senninhamcl  Ahem, Putin is better off calling it quits. Embarrassingly, Prigozhin showed that the Russian army won't oppose a coup d'état. Also, Putin cutting a deal with a coup plotter whom he called a traitor and promised to punish only hours before shows that the dictator is utterly desperate. He's a goner all right.
    1
  17737. The trouble is, censorship is enshrined in law in some countries.
    1
  17738.  @brandonkoh8361  High-speed rail. The USA lags seriously behind.
    1
  17739. Why would you choose to take on the rest of the world? Is it because of the inexplicable US minority complex wrapped in a superiority complex?
    1
  17740. What do you expect? A duopoly is detrimental to your political health.
    1
  17741. The UK can lean any which way it wants, but rejoining the EU is another matter altogether. The EU is not a paternoster lift, where you get on and off as you please.
    1
  17742. @Alex Devereaux Thanks for confirming your lack of solidarity. I don't expect you to understand that increased economic activity in Eastern Europe means more export opportunities for the rest of us. And in case you still don't understand, we're not giving them money to buy our products. Rather, we're investing in their economies with the expectation to get a very handsome return on our investment. And you're missing the boat. Good luck competing with the Chinese.
    1
  17743. Russia is losing on all fronts, the economic one in particular. Superpower aspirations require a super-size economy firing on all cylinders. Putin can only dream.
    1
  17744. Have you tried suggesting to the Brits that they give their seat to you?
    1
  17745. The defeatism is strong in you.
    1
  17746. This is a tacit admission that Putin can't mobilise reservists any longer. The end is nigh for Russia.
    1
  17747. Trump is fascinated with dictators, the dictator wannabe.
    1
  17748. ​ @aburoach9268  Read and weep: militant /ˈmɪlɪt(ə)nt/ adjective favouring confrontational or violent methods in support of a political or social cause. noun a militant person. terrorist /ˈtɛrərɪst/ noun a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. adjective unlawfully using violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.
    1
  17749.  @aburoach9268  You should have a gander at a dictionary. You need to report back if you're too ashamed.
    1
  17750.  @darkroses3479  You're generalising. Reserves aren't dangerously low. And there are alternative suppliers. Finland isn't paying in roubles. That's what this whole episode is about. Try to pay attention. Finland just commissioned a brand-new nuclear power plant. It's French, so Russian parts aren't an issue. Uranium, like oil and gas, is a commodity. Russia doesn't have a monopoly on any of them. You're clutching at straws. Russia becoming an international pariah is a nuisance economically, but no more than that. For us, that is. For Russia itself it spells doom.
    1
  17751.  @darkroses3479  I told you, don't generalise. This was supposed to be about Finland. You switch between Finland and the EU whenever it suits you. Finland is not buying Russian gas from Latvia. It comes from Lithuania, which stopped buying Russian oil and gas altogether. They get their gas through their LNG terminal in Klaipeda. A similar LNG terminal will start operating in Finland later this year. You insinuate that you have a good handle on "the world's reality", but it's not apparent from anything you post. Try harder, Putin fanboy.
    1
  17752.  @zoom777  flaccid comeback, bot.
    1
  17753. ​ @zoom777  Are you a druggie? It would explain the obsession.
    1
  17754.  @levelazn  History knows many conflicts where a superior force struggled to bring its strength to bear on a seemingly inferior force. The Winter War is a modern classic.
    1
  17755. You don't speak for the Hongkongers.
    1
  17756. Are you aware, by any chance, that Europe's far-righties loathe the likes of you? It doesn¨t matter where you feature on the political spectrum, in their eyes, you're always inferior.
    1
  17757. Landverraaiers.
    1
  17758. There's you hoping. But what if Russia "hlew" up the NS pipelines, as it in all likelihood it did, does it mean Russia is at war with Germany?
    1
  17759. Xi wants the war to drag out as long as possible. The weaker Russia becomes, the more it has to rely on China. Xi is only too keen to have himself a neo-colony in Russia.
    1
  17760.  @OSTemli  What "satelite [sic]" does Ukraine need? These are fire-and-forget weapons and Russia has jammed satnav to the extent that these missiles now rely on INS and TERPROM instead. Educate yourself. English language lessons would hurt either.
    1
  17761.  @FredrickThomson-h3s  No, they're not needed. I used to program Delco Carousel INS as a 16-year-old avionics workshop apprentice. Although they were installed in civilian airliners, they're derivatives of missile guidance systems. Get back to me when you know what you're talking about.
    1
  17762. ​ @NLJeffEU  I see the Russian troll factories are resorting to hiring non-English-speaking trolls.
    1
  17763.  @andrewbirs2046  Oh, Russia is thus preparing for a collective suicide on May 17, the day after Finland files for NATO membership? If you're so keen to die, you may want to limit the collateral damage. I mean, murder-suicide is not exactly an endorsement when you arrive at Saint Peter's gate.
    1
  17764.  @islandwills2778  There's limit to how much geothermal energy you can practically extract. There are residential neighbourhoods in Scandinavia where geothermal heat pumps have become so commonplace that their performance is permanently degraded.
    1
  17765.  @islandwills2778  Going deeper is fine for district heating, but for individual households the cost is prohibitive.
    1
  17766. We're easily outspending you on Ukraine aid already. Macron spelled it out to Trump on live TV for all the world to see. I guess you missed it.
    1
  17767.  @gigie555  And what about whataboutism in YouTube comment sections? It's at an all-time high after Navalny's murder. The Saint Petersburg troll factories must be working around the clock.
    1
  17768. DopeyMadrid, then why would the Trump balloon be mine? It's not really politically correct to call Americans arrogant and ignorant, as I just did, even though that proves to be the truth all too often. Ignorance is common, but flaunting it is pretty much limited to Americans only.
    1
  17769. Long-range missiles will still rain down on your precious Orcs, fanboy.
    1
  17770. One thing is certain. After its ill-advised foray into Ukraine, no one will make the mistake of holding Russia in god-like regard. The third-best army in Ukraine, after the farmers...
    1
  17771. Oh, you'll find that Palestinians living in the West don't have that big an issue with it. I do understand that in countries with a Muslim majority, people who do speak out against Hamas risk being targeted by crazed Islamists. If a US landlord kills a 6-year boy -- his tenant's son -- merely for being a Muslim, the reverse is perfectly possible.
    1
  17772.  @thetruth9210  As the Americans so aptly put it, coulda-woulda-shoulda.
    1
  17773. Only to let worse looters in, meaning Russia?
    1
  17774.  @TarasBohdan  You may want to recheck that. Several Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, including their leaders, were convicted of seditious conspiracy. That's conspiring against the authority or legitimacy of the state. And you brush it off as misbehaviour, like unruly behaviour in a classroom.
    1
  17775.  @loremaster7795  With great power comes great responsibility. There are political consequences to Turkey singling out with Sweden for punishment, while Turkey's conflict is with NATO as a whole. All the major NATO countries are sheltering Kurds and Turkish dissidents, all of whom Erdogan deems terrorists. They're all keenly aware of the fact, too. Erdogan is burning bridges left, right and centre. This can't be in Turkey's interest.
    1
  17776.  @menya00045  Russia and Turkey are frenemies at the best of times. They have conflicting geopolitical interests that would doom a military alliance from the start. Once upon a time, Turkey needed to ally itself with NATO on account of the Soviet Union, but that's ancient history. The Turkish military, with all its faults and shortcomings, is an easy match for Russia's military, especially now that Russia has suffered irreplaceable losses in Ukraine. NATO and Turkey can safely part ways.
    1
  17777. Wrong comment section? Again?
    1
  17778. ​ @nigeljohnson9820  You should choose your analogies more carefully. Afraid or not, there's safety in numbers. You're making a case against Brexit, not for.
    1
  17779.  @nigeljohnson9820  I can't help but notice that your anti-EU rants are getting more bizarre by the day. I don't just mean your trains of thought, but the sheer number of thought trains that you have departing every which way is truly astounding. Too bad for you I'm not a train spotter. So the EU has done well economically because it has -- by and large -- neglected its defence? Surely, if that gave Europe an unfair edge, we'd also stop caring for our elderly, or cancel all the non-productive welfare programmes that only strain the state coffers. Now that would be really unfair, don't you think?
    1
  17780.  Cornelis van der Heijden  Don't worry. You're doing just fine on your own accord.
    1
  17781. I suspect a desperate military recruiter had a lightbulb moment and called up the Putin trolls for service in Ukraine. The trolls have now fled Russia.
    1
  17782. Don't get your hopes up in the troll factory. Ukraine's other favourite for president, Zaluzhnyi, is hardly a push-over -- on the contrary.
    1
  17783. It wouldn't hurt to release Afghan funds for famine relief and famine relief only. However, I wouldn't put it past the Taliban that they copy the Somali warlords and withhold food from those who refuse to submit to them.
    1
  17784.  @MostViewedScreen  Bibi nurtures terrorism. Hamas is a case in point.
    1
  17785.  @davidmckeown6472  "The Art of War" has stood the test of time, don't you think? Or would you claim that during the last two and a half millennia, no new weapons systems have been introduced?
    1
  17786. Could you please remove yourself from the UN? And don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    1
  17787.  @CaneBTC  So, the world's emissaries would convene in your mum's drawing room then? Or is it a clearing in the jungle?
    1
  17788. The cabins are awfully small. Not conducive for a comfortable long-term stay.
    1
  17789.  @jwsuicides8095  Try to do better then. I hope the Dutch will, too.
    1
  17790. You were making sense -- somewhat -- till you mentioned OPEC.
    1
  17791. Don't celebrate too soon. Another one, Liz Truss, is poised to take the reins.
    1
  17792. Not at all. In Europe, we have free speech. The mainland Chinese can only dream of it.
    1
  17793. A CCP bot that admits that China's influence on Hong Kong is nefarious. I wonder if your botting days are over.
    1
  17794.  @saikumarmadadi7524  Why didn't the all-powerful Soviet Union solve the Kashmir issue for you? And now you expect a greatly diminished Russia to pull your chestnuts out of the fire. I think you'll find that Russia needs China more than it needs India, and China sides with its chum Pakistan in the Kashmir dispute. In pleading for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, you're apparently fine with rewarding Russia for its aggression. Pakistan and China have shown aggression towards India in the past, so go and reward them with territorial concessions! Walk the talk!
    1
  17795.  @saikumarmadadi7524  You still haven't got the guts to answer my question. Is India willing to relinquish control of Indian lands in exchange for lasting peace? That's what you're advocating Ukraine should do with regard to Russia. Rewarding aggression, in other words. Put your money where your mouth is.
    1
  17796. Try not to make everything about your silly Murica.
    1
  17797.  @theoligarchstepper  You think yourself very clever, but alas... The Moorish geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi put us on his famous map (weeell, sort of), but there's no evidence that he or any other Moor ever set foot here. Having lived in Andalusia, I can tell the Moors' civilising influence would've been much appreciated. The same goes for the Romans -- no evidence of them setting foot here either. We were still hunter-gatherers then, so pickings would've been slim. The Anglo-Saxon-Germans(?) -- I'm assuming that's your roundabout way of saying "Brits" -- didn't "shaft" us either. If anything, the Brits shafted themselves when a British admiral once insisted on burning stores as part of a coastal raid, despite local merchants telling him that the goods in question were already paid for and awaiting shipment to Britain, of all places. The exasperated British admiral explained that he must burn something, so his brave seamen torched British possessions. They and the townspeople came out to witness what must've been a most spectacular Guy Fawkes Night. Global warming is less of a concern to us with our climate and post-glacial rebounding is still at work, which means the ground beneath our feet is rising faster than the sea levels. As it happens, my family owns an island that grows bigger by the year. Unfortunately, so does the land tax. We did once elect(!) a king, but the princeling renounced his throne before he could sit on it. I can assure you, with one of the most elaborate welfare systems know to man, the expense of having children is not an issue to us. There are even municipalities that give you a nice monetary reward for producing a future taxpayer. Immigration seems to work better, however. We like bathing. In fact, we're world-famous for it. OK, I've dropped enough hints. Let's see how clever you really are.
    1
  17798.  @romino29  And he goes commando.
    1
  17799. They're pretty plentiful on the southern shores of the Med. Join the movement.
    1
  17800. You didn't get the memo? The far left is a spent force. Only centre-left parties manage to keep a finger in the porridge, and even that has been an uphill struggle for them. You need more enemies.
    1
  17801. Ukraine gives ground in exchange for massive Russian casualties. When Russia has to surrender the territory back to Ukraine, those crippled for life and the loved ones of the fallen will have to come to terms with the fact that it was all for nothing. Not that I think Putin will still be around, but they'll want to blame someone. You war cheerleaders should get a piece of their mind, too.
    1
  17802. I would, too, if I rooted for Putin. This not going to end well for him.
    1
  17803.  @Josh-xz4ec  But we are talking about Eastern Europe. Aren't they in the EU-27, too? Not too long ago, the EU criticized Poland for eroding the rule of law in the country. The UK sided with Poland in a glaringly obvious attempt to curry favour with the Poles. Poland didn't break ranks with the EU-27 on Brexit.
    1
  17804.  @meganh9460  It's rather obvious that China and the EU finding common ground in a trade war will allow them to extract concessions from the US that they would not get otherwise. Two are stronger than one. Besides, there's a measure of trust between the EU and China, whereas Trump's unpredictability and strong-arm tactics seriously undermine the US position. The US is both a winner and a loser in the existing trade deals, as are the EU and China. It all depends on which aspects you want to emphasize. These existing trade deals have evolved over a long period of time and will continue to do so as situations change, but suggesting that the US has somehow been screwed over -- as Trump keeps claiming -- is tantamount to admitting that you're poor saps and you can't fend for yourselves.
    1
  17805. ​ @meganh9460  That's just not true. The EU-27 engage with Poland far more intensively than the UK does. Moreover, the EU has Donald Tusk, the former prime minister of Poland, as its council president. Are you saying Tusk doesn't know Poland? Hungary isn't an economic powerhouse, but a rather willing recipient of EU funding. They aren't jeopardizing that for the sake Poland. Orban is enriching himself with EU money, too, as his close circle of friends lands the EU-funded construction projects. He would be mad to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
    1
  17806.  @ryanwalters6184  Galileo is superior to GPS. And the US has buy its 5G networks from Europe. Including the US military.
    1
  17807.  @MargaretRooney-j2g  If you know everything, everything, everything, you should take the opportunity to enlighten us -- we're riveted!
    1
  17808. It's all about giving you a chance to sort out your mess, silly.
    1
  17809. Lifeline to China and Russia? Sure, Orban is already holding on for dear life.
    1
  17810. Canada has also made special visa arrangements for Hongkongers. Can the last one to leave switch off the lights?
    1
  17811.  @pumbie8819  Zeg het eens.
    1
  17812. Your cynical conspiracy theories merely seek to justify your inaction. India has no permanent place in the UNSC; not now, nor in the foreseeable future.
    1
  17813.  @DanishSpeakerChannel  Eucalyptus trees can be harvested for timber after 7 years of growth. If the tree is cut to a stump and allowed to regrow, it can even be harvested every 3 years, since the roots are reused, as it were.
    1
  17814.  @DanishSpeakerChannel  Maple trees don't grow in East Africa. Eucalyptus trees, however, are commonly grown there.
    1
  17815.  @DanishSpeakerChannel  I happen to know about both, being a Northern European with two years of East Africa under his belt.
    1
  17816. Judging from the TV rights, a whole lotta people. Maybe silly video games are more up your alley.
    1
  17817.  @Catman0166  It means a stay of execution for Netanyahu, no more. He's not going to come out of this unscathed.
    1
  17818. You might as well ask yourself where 192 countries were.
    1
  17819.  @Pers0002  It goes without saying that I'm basing myself on Western estimates. The Kremlin hasn't updated its casualty figures for months. It's embarrassing that I have lecture you about your own laws. Revealing Russian casualty figures is tantamount to revealing a state secret, which is punishable by a jail term of seven years. Fact.
    1
  17820.  @JCSY1  You're insinuating that the DPP does want war. Do you think it fair that China's gets to threaten with war if it doesn't get its way? If the two can't get along, an official divorce is advised.
    1
  17821.  @pajeetkumar1645  No need to gift anything. Zelenskyy can do a swap, a toilet bowl for a jumper. I hear you and the Russians are in great need of toilet bowls.
    1
  17822.  @pajeetkumar1645  Russia is exterminating Nazis for toilet bowls? You know they could just buy them, or just exterminate their own Nazis. They've got an ample supply in the Wagner Group and the LDPR, Russia's very own neo-Nazi party in the State Duma. Just out of interest, how do you plan on getting your toilet bowls? Don't go invading any neighbouring countries, however.
    1
  17823. Evgeny, your videos of successful interceptions aren't convincing. They show explosions, but surface-to-air missiles are made to self-destruct when their engine peters out. Having the debris rain down on you is preferable to an intact missile with a live warhead landing at your feet, the thinking goes.
    1
  17824. Does, too. Majority rules.
    1
  17825.  @mastervindu1070  Wablieft?
    1
  17826.  @mastervindu1070  Miten niin?
    1
  17827.  @mastervindu1070  Gij zijt ene zotteke.
    1
  17828. Because they're hurting the Russian economy?
    1
  17829.  @theancientsancients1769  I hear Scotland will join the Nordic bloc when they've disentangled themselves from that Brexit mess also known as the UK.
    1
  17830. It's about taking political responsibility, not about him breaking the law. You've got Rutte confused with Trump.
    1
  17831. The ICC is nearby, in Mongolia, Japan and South Korea. Rest assured, the ICC has made it easy for Putin to turn himself in. 124 countries that he can surrender himself to.
    1
  17832. Why single out the Americans? The entire world calls the Russian *invasion weak.
    1
  17833.  John Smith  It's telling that you Brits can't leave on your own accord. You need a good kick in the backside to make yourselves scarce. Besides, patience with the UK wore thin already even before the referendum. Polls conducted in Germany and France before the referendum showed that out was preferred to in. That the EU wants you is just self-congratulatory babble.
    1
  17834.  @kevt3318  Let's not forget that British Parliament forced BoJo to request yet another extension in an effort to thwart attempts at a dramatic, off-the-cliff exit. I guess the EU granting it is the Christian thing to do. I mean, if you saw someone about jump off a cliff, but the person was clearly hesitating, wouldn't you try to intervene, if only to make sure the poor sap knows what he's doing? It doesn't mean we want to be on suicide watch forever, however.
    1
  17835.  John Smith  What made you think I'm a Remainer? I can't call myself a Leaver either, since we're clearly staying, but Brexiteer as in pro-Brexit, yup, that I am.
    1
  17836.  John Smith  So you keep saying. So far it's been NATO -- No Action, Talk Only.
    1
  17837.  John Smith  Why should I give a toss about Remainers? I told you, I'm pro-Brexit. Just don't keep defaulting on your default position.
    1
  17838.  John Smith  ZZZzzz....
    1
  17839.  John Smith  I can't bloody well be a Leave voter if I'm not eligible to vote in the UK. "You Brits" -- isn't that a dead giveaway?
    1
  17840. Hopefully Israel resumes peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority when the smoke clears, and India takes notes.
    1
  17841. It appears that for a long time, the Ukrainians had been racking their brains how to bring down the Il-22M in question. Little did they know Wagner would prove immensely useful in this respect.
    1
  17842. What are you on about? The centre-right EPP was and remains the biggest group. You're playing into the hands of the far-right by portraying these extremists as "the right". The right has its wingnuts, just like the left and their zombie communists.
    1
  17843. Russia's stand-off weapons, although plentiful, haven't proven themselves as game-changers. So how would it work in Ukraine's case?
    1
  17844. You've got David Cameron as your top diplomat now, so I wouldn't be talking if I were you.
    1
  17845. Venezuela is too unstable now. North Korea or China?
    1
  17846.  @napoleonbonaparte4396  Sure, 'love it or leave it' is a no-brainer.
    1
  17847.  @napoleonbonaparte4396  I should've added scare quotes for your benefit. In 1939, the USSR tried to come and declare our country "independent" (notice the scare quotes), but we were having none of it. Beyond our border is perhaps the biggest unofficial military cemetary in the world. The Soviets just left their fallen there to rot.
    1
  17848.  @Ese_osa  In your quest for the truth, you could ask foreign creditors why they put so much faith in the US dollar. You could start with China, one of the biggest creditors, why they so enthusiastically lend money to the US government.
    1
  17849.  bloochoo  OK, you're obviously not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.
    1
  17850.  bloochoo  You need a certain measure of intelligence to understand sarcasm. You come up short.
    1
  17851.  bloochoo  You can't spot sarcasm because you apparently lack the intelligence for it. Savvy?
    1
  17852.  bloochoo  Are you really that dumb? Or are you dyslexic? WHO, THO?
    1
  17853.  @noone6896  It's accurate all right. By now, Russia ticks all the boxes that define fascism. Putler's Russia is hypernationalistic, supremacist and imperialist --- need I go on?
    1
  17854. Actually, it was the present-day Danes who settled Greenland. Swedes tended to venture East.
    1
  17855.  @bivio1  You're welcome. *Scandinavia.
    1
  17856. Germany already has the EuroSpike ATGM. It's made in Germany, too.
    1
  17857.  @risingpower3658  Uh, we already have more of them than Germany. Don't patronise.
    1
  17858.  @risingpower3658  "Be creative." That's patronising enough for me. We're pioneering the use of ATGM for coastal defence, as well as automated mortar systems on assault boats. Is that creative enough for you?
    1
  17859. Israel heeft in 2006 z'n best gedaan om de Hezbollah te bedwingen, maar het is er niet van gekomen. De VN heeft hen daarbij geen strobreed in de weg gelegd.
    1
  17860.  @GTfour01  Israël ziet duidelijk een nieuwe bezetting van Zuid-Libanon niet zitten. Ze hebben het zelf geprobeerd en met behulp van de SLA, maar het is telkens op een mislukking uitgedraaid. Wat overblijft is iets in de trend van de Tiendaagse Veldtocht. Krijgsgeweld, maar geen blijvend resultaat.
    1
  17861. Fightus interruptus, more like.
    1
  17862. There comes the whataboutism. And bad spellers of the world untie, eh?
    1
  17863. Not sure if West China makes for a great holiday destination. Xi's people will turn Russia upside down for natural resources. Colonies are meant to be exploited.
    1
  17864.  @thornil2231  That's utter poppycock. Try this on for size: "Consistent with views of the country overall, confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin to do the right thing regarding world affairs is overwhelmingly low, with a median of 87% across 24 countries expressing not too much or no confidence at all." Pew Research, July 10, 2023.
    1
  17865.  @thornil2231  Google "Pew Research Putin". Can I have your source so I can google it, too?
    1
  17866.  @badaasaab6694  So Putin has been shopping for new pair of elevator shoes. Perhaps he should consider therapy to overcome his small stature complex?
    1
  17867.  @osanebiuche7476  Oh noes, you suck at math. What is generally considered 'the Western World' accounts for 13 of the 24 countries surveyed by Pew -- that's 54%, not 90%. Feel free to participate constructively in this discussion by producing evidence that corroborates thornil2231's claim about worldwide love for Putin. As per usual for those who make bold claims without bothering to offer any evidence in support, I think we've lost him/her.
    1
  17868.  @kentershackle1329  Uh, wheat comes from the Fertile Crescent. When its cultivation started there, civilisation in the 'Western World' was still very much work in progress.
    1
  17869.  @Glorious2103  Je zit een trol uit St. Petersburg te voeren...
    1
  17870. She still needs to prove that she enjoys a popular mandate to warrant it. Democracy is such a hassle, isn't it? Given half the chance, I'm sure she'd abolish it.
    1
  17871.  @plumlogan  The conversation Trump is creating throughout the world suggests that he should be declared master of the universe, right? The verb you're looking for is *affect.
    1
  17872.  @plumlogan  Be that as it may, the EU Commission doesn't have the authority to annul any national elections. Your conspiracy-ridden mind sees the EU everywhere, as if it were omnipotent.
    1
  17873.  @jonathanhammerton9418  Not for long, it would seem.
    1
  17874.  @wkahn1005  I posit that the USA is paying its dues in name only. A lot of extracurricular activities you've got there.
    1
  17875.  @baykal6  Russia has been constantly upgrading a restocking Syria's air defences. Still, Israel has made a mockery of it. For kicks, google how Israel made a sport out of transforming Syria's state-of-the-art Pantsirs into smoking heaps of twisted metal. Turkey is adept at it as well.
    1
  17876. If only you could buy yourself an education.
    1
  17877. If you ever were to join the police force, it would rain complaints about police brutality.
    1
  17878.  @plusultra7258  NATO not helping Ukraine anymore? I just witnessed a long line of MBTs and IFVs being delivered to the harbour, from where they'll be shipped to Poland, and from there to Ukraine overland. Don't make up stuff.
    1
  17879. How would that work? The US in particular has no say whatsoever over the ICC.
    1
  17880. The Baltic states harbour no illusions about Russia. That's why they're in NATO, much to the chagrin of Russia. By taking on the Baltic states -- or Poland for that matter -- Russia takes on the whole of NATO. Russia can't throw its weight about, especially now with the Baltic Sea turning into a NATO lake. Your bear has been rendered a stuffed toy.
    1
  17881. But CNN on the whole is not acceptable. I have to take horse tranquilizers to slow down to their pace of reporting.
    1
  17882. You mean the "Russian Olympic Committee" will win. I'm sure they'd resort to doping there as well.
    1
  17883. Because the protesters can be shipped off to gulags, while their family is told they're heroically fighting (and falling) for Mother Russia.
    1
  17884. Colonists ventured out, too, but I suppose that was OK, since they subjugated foreign lands. Since Spain isn't a colony (save for Gibraltar), it's not OK, right?
    1
  17885.  @feiningerjones738  I don't get your point. You're juxtaposing Spain and Britain, as if two wrongs make a right.
    1
  17886.  @meljahic3624  Yet there are striking similarities. Both Putin and Kim Jong-un favour nerve agents for assassinations. Putin's poison is Novichok, Kim's VX.
    1
  17887.  @Superhiknapada  Not even Putin bots really believe that.
    1
  17888. Unworthy of Trump? I think higher of F24.
    1
  17889.  @dietmarwenzel2746  Neville Chamberlain had a very big brain then. Somehow, he isn't recognised for it.
    1
  17890.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Comrade Clown chimes in with an inane comment.
    1
  17891.  @fordeycent1  Nah, at worst it's financial impropriaties or being over the limit. No wonder, rabid ultra-nationalists make a beeline for the likes of Reform and RN.
    1
  17892. The French love to protest. The cause is of secondary importance.
    1
  17893. +Sunglasses Ron It'll be Spam all over again.
    1
  17894. It is too. Well, sort of. "Flawed democracy", the verdict goes.
    1
  17895.  @jager6863  Lotsa school. Uni, too. One of my master's says "political science". Your opposition to universal suffrage says it all.
    1
  17896. I hear the air kill ratio between Israel and Syria is 82:1. Must be the most lopsided one in the history of air warfare.
    1
  17897. Don't think so. Close to a million Hongkongers emigrated prior to and after the handover of Hong Kong to China. Taking that as a yardstick, I'd say that at least the same number of Hongkongers will leave this time. The figure can easily prove higher than that, since this time around many more in Hong Kong hold foreign passports, and for those who don't, countries other than the UK, too, are also loosening visa requirements. China's CCP is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
    1
  17898.  @lucyblueeyes3858  I alluded to that in my earlier comment -- they're the ones with the foreign passports. They returned because China honoured the "one country, two systems" principle. Alas, no more.
    1
  17899.  @lucyblueeyes3858  And I personally know many Hongkongers who haven't given up their British and Canadian nationalities, so it's your word against mine. But personal observations aside, what matters is that Canada alone puts the number of its citizens in Hong Kong at 295,000. If (or when) they return, they'll fit right in, since Canada is already home to 500,000 Canadians of Hong Kong descent. I suppose you've never visited Vancouver. I would describe the city as Chinatown and more. Don't lecture me about the joint declaration and basic law. I was present when Chris Patten gave his farewell speech. Nor do I need the BBC to convince me that Beijing's unilaterally-imposed national security bill effective cancelled Hong Kong's autonomy.
    1
  17900.  @streetman6661  It's literally China's loss if they knowingly chase off a substantial part of Hong Kong's population. At the risk of repeating myself, the CCP is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
    1
  17901.  @А.Анжа  Don't bother, vatnik. Russian credibility dropped to zero years ago.
    1
  17902.  @lalzgarra9493  Is it poor spelling, a speech impediment or both that you suffer from?
    1
  17903.  @lalzgarra9493  You want me to cry for you? Surely your mum does enough of that already.
    1
  17904. The footage shown here suggests othwerwise.
    1
  17905. Don't get your hopes up. Putin is going to make sure that Wagner never poses a threat to his leadership again. Perhaps some Wagnerites get to play soldier in Africa, but more likely, they'll be absorbed into other PMCs, maybe even Shoigu's Patriot. That'll be the ultimate insult to Prigozhin.
    1
  17906. Don't be silly now.
    1
  17907.  @joeyjojojrshabadoo7462  Let's not forget that Iceland -- which you claim has no military -- emerged victorious from not one but three(!) wars that it fought against a country that once ruled the waves -- yes, I'm talking about Britannia.
    1
  17908.  @manuvincent9793  Those were Al Qaeda's Saudi urbanites rather than Taliban shepherds.
    1
  17909. Cheap labour? The Germans still have to pay them German salaries.
    1
  17910.  @azeca0025  Give it time. They're working on it.
    1
  17911.  @notaspy1227  Not true, the Russians won't let draft dodgers through on their side of the border. Asylum seekers yes, draft dodgers no.
    1
  17912. Sure it is. Hamas will end up marginalised if moderates gain more influence. Thus far, Israel has successfully managed to marginalise the moderates instead.
    1
  17913.  @glebkudr1  Your figures are off. 30,000 Russians and 80,000 Russian-speakers in all reside in Finland. Most are Ingrians, or their descendants, who're well integrated. For a large part, their underage offspring speaks Finnish only, although they're recorded as Russian-speakers on account of their parents' preferred language. It's indicative that Russian is taught in fewer and fewer Finnish schools as a foreign language, because its popularity (if you could ever call it that) has plummeted. You're more likely to find Russian kids attending international schools, where the tuition language is English. In other words, you've lost them to the world. They make poor foot soldiers for neo-imperialist Russia.
    1
  17914. I expect he'll go out with a bang, too.
    1
  17915. Tried? All three most definitely struck targets inside Russia. Both Charles XII and Napoleon even had Russia suing for peace. You'd better explain yourself.
    1
  17916. You're describing most parliamentary democracies. It's called coalition-building.
    1
  17917.  @captainwin6333  That's first-past-the-post voting for you. It favours big parties at the expense of small ones. That's why the UK sees no political renewal. The youngest British political party to form a government is the Labour Party, which finally succeeded in doing so a hundred years ago, after a 22-year slog in the opposition. The UK is no poster boy for democracy.
    1
  17918.  @the_grand_tourer  The wumao has got a trolling quota to fulfil. Any thread will do.
    1
  17919.  @buddy1155  Yeah, drugs wars aren't really taught about in business schools. That would be the DEA academy or some such.
    1
  17920.  pathway to enlightenment  You're conveniently assuming the attacks will stop. I predict they won't. And they'll just worsen. Trump stirred up a hornet's nest.
    1
  17921. Funny, YouTube offers translation service for your comment.
    1
  17922. The researchers are harmless. It's not like we're letting in incompetent and toxic British leaders, who've twice proven themselves as such. First they made Brexit happen. Then they turned it into an utter shambles.
    1
  17923. Orban is holding the EU hostage with a veto, out of rancour for having his rather generous 'pocket money' withheld. That's not democracy.
    1
  17924.  @definitlynotbenlente7671  Thanks for chiming in, but the OP was on about alleged Dutch brutality in the East Indies during WW2. WW2 ended in 1945.
    1
  17925.  @Worldaffairslover  You should pay better attention. 'De Oost' occurs in 1946. That's after WW2.
    1
  17926.  @definitlynotbenlente7671  You're off on a tangent then.
    1
  17927.  @Worldaffairslover  Oh, a straw man fallacy. I'm not defending brutality -- I'm defending facts. You play fast and loose with facts.
    1
  17928.  @Worldaffairslover  You must be terribly monolingual if you can't figure out that 'De Oost' translates to 'The East'. I didn't know they still made your kind.
    1
  17929.  @Worldaffairslover  Yet you speak a West Germanic language. Also, 'De Oost' is 'l'Est' in French. Not a big diff.
    1
  17930.  @Worldaffairslover  Uh, West Germanic languages are closely related. The Dutch are quick to pick up English. The reverse would also be true if the English weren't so freaked out by foreign languages. It's like an auto-shutoff procedure is initiated whenever an Englishman is exposed to a foreign language.
    1
  17931.  @Worldaffairslover  No Dutchman expects you to take Dutch in school. Working for multinationals throughout the world, it struck me how Brits (and your anglosphere friends) struggled to understand foreigners who spoke imperfect English. The irony was at its peak when I had to "translate" for my British colleague in Singapore, from Singlish to English. I spoke no more Mandarin, Cantonese or Malay than he did. My monolingual colleague was just overcome by culture shock. Our customer had a good laugh about it afterwards.
    1
  17932.  @Worldaffairslover  You don't say. You'd think I would've picked up on that, having lived in Singapore for fifteen years. In the end, my local friends thought I was a bad influence on their kids, since I spoke Singlish to them.
    1
  17933.  @Worldaffairslover  What are Mandarin, Cantonese and Malay other than Asian languages? And how would non-English-speaking Europeans understand any of them better than native English-speakers? We multilingual continentals have a natural curiosity for foreign languages, whereas you panic and go into shut-off mode.
    1
  17934.  @Worldaffairslover  Mandarin, Cantonese and Malay are "broken English"? It's a pity Dunce caps are no longer allowed in school, because you should wear one.
    1
  17935.  @Worldaffairslover  Whoosh!
    1
  17936.  @ignatiusryd2031  Did you have a point, too, or do you just admire your own writing?
    1
  17937.  @ignatiusryd2031  Where have I claimed anything to that effect? You, too, are committing a straw man fallacy.
    1
  17938. The exchange rate is artificial. Just like in the Soviet days.
    1
  17939.  @bernvigz9138  You seem like an aficionado, too.
    1
  17940. You're very harsh on yourself.
    1
  17941.  @xman1533  As a signatory to the Rome Statute, South Africa is obligated to arrest Putin upon arrival. There won't be an ICC task force waiting for him -- unless South Africa wants to form one from its own police force.
    1
  17942.  @noahway13  I don't think Putin would -- or could -- fly over Germany. It's hilarious to watch on Flightradar how Russia's Nordwind Airlines' B-777s from Moscow first fly north to the Arctic Ocean, skirt Scandinavia and then gradually turn south to fly to Cuba.
    1
  17943. It will reinvigorate organised crime as well. Russians are the experts.
    1
  17944. Have they disappeared somewhere?
    1
  17945.  @yuzeymaokanime583  Your claim doesn't really agree with the title of this vid, does it?
    1
  17946.  @williamdavis9562  Uh, Turkey wants in on a European military alliance, that's what this is about. Turkey has been keen to join the EU for ages, too, and it's not because they have a stronger economy -- rather, theirs is a wonky one. May I also remind you that America has a healthy appetite for European products, while American products -- in sofar as they still exist -- fare relatively poorly on the discerning European marketplace. If you haven't noticed, Trump regularly throws hissy fits about it.
    1
  17947.  @williamdavis9562  Sure, Turkey wants in. Had you watched the video, you would've spotted the headline that literally says: "ANKARA WANTS IN..." You seem to hold the notion that being in the same military alliance comes with technology transfer perks. If you knew about the arms industry, you'd know that Germany, despite being a fellow NATO member, has withheld tank tech from Turkey because of the latter's self-serving involvement in the Syrian Civil War. Turkey's indigenous main battle tank, the Altay, has been seriously delayed because of it. Incidentally, the same embargoed German tech can be found on the M1 Abrams. The armour of the Abrams, too, is of British origin. At the very least you should know about the F-35, which Turkey doesn't get to have on account of its S-400 acquisition, which was already mentioned in this thread. So much for your tech transfer theory. If Europe is a vassal of the US, as you claim, why the sudden falling-out with Europe on Ukraine? And how about the looming trade war -- can't the king in your fairy tale keep its vassals in check? No, you're just unthinkingly parroting stale Russian propaganda. Stale propaganda, because a delighted Kremlin now feels that US foreign policy aligns with that of Russia. If anything, that's sick. You must've missed the previous trade wars between the EU and the US. It's always tit-for-tat. The last time, Trump quickly stopped aggravating the situation and both sides suspended their tariffs indefinitely. Interestingly, Trump now wants to fight trade wars on multiple fronts. What is it now, Canada, Mexico, China and the EU? That's a losing proposition.
    1
  17948. The US is very litigious. If the CIA was involved, those responsible would be prosecuted for aiding and abetting a terrorist organisation.
    1
  17949.  @paulgerg6879  Correction, you're a co-dependent nuclear power. You don't get to decide about their use independently.
    1
  17950. It says something about Russian society that Putin has to resort to extrajudicial killing to punish a coup plotter.
    1
  17951.  @SurajMandal-lj6hc  We don't have to tolerate willful dissemination of disinformation. You may want to take a gander at the World Press Freedom Index. India trails Europe by half a world. Most embarrassingly, India beats Russia only by a few places -- Russia, where mentioning the "war" lands you in prison.
    1
  17952.  @user_nagauri  Fair enough. Produce a similar Eastern ranking and we'll compare notes. Hurry back, ya hear?
    1
  17953.  @blainesitter9110  Uh, Israel "can't make their own gear" in many respects. That's why they import loads of US weaponry, even German weapons.
    1
  17954. That's a rather fanciful interpretation. It's not like Macron signed away Donetsk and Luhansk, like Chamberlain did in the case of the Sudetenland. Diplomacy has its place in averting war. Chamberlain just went too far in his quest for peace. I don't see clear similarities with Macron's effort, but perhaps you can put your finger on them. Or not.
    1
  17955.  @olga66  Emojis on their own are hardly indicative of "critical thinking". Give us a taste then, Olga.
    1
  17956.  @koenboone  Hun eerste burgeroorlog is begonnen met klappen in het senaat. Toen het met politiek overleg gedaan was, was de baan vrij voor oorlog.
    1
  17957. Ah, a tacit admission that China sucks, but you try to console yourself with India sucking more. Yes, China sucks, but less than some others! Make that your rallying cry!
    1
  17958. Labour thanks you for your support.
    1
  17959.  @ТотсамыйКок  You talk gibberish. This is about Russia, not China.
    1
  17960.  @ТотсамыйКок  That makes Russia bad in business. Well, Russia is an economic basket case.
    1
  17961. Better yet, those countries that invested in renewable and nuclear energy will be none the worse for wear.
    1
  17962. I suggest you reconsider your career choice. Trolling may not be for you. Have you considering soldiering in Ukraine? I hear vacancies open up on a daily basis.
    1
  17963. Oh, Ukraine is heading for a defensive victory all right.
    1
  17964. So, does Orban represent NATO?
    1
  17965. Don't be such a crybaby. What's destitute about tapping into a rich protein source that's readily available? There are scores of animals -- large mammals like us, even -- that have evolved to eat primarily insects. We're both animals and omnivores, and we can "evolve" much faster.
    1
  17966.  @richardkidwell4134  Next, it's Muscovy threatening its neighbour states Karelia, Ingria and Amberland, who all aspire to join NATO.
    1
  17967.  @dogzdigital  Interestingly, in 1941, after Operation Barbarossa had started, Germany issued an edict that told the Soviets to "surrender or die". Needless to say, as a Russian living then, you would've surrendered in a jiffy. Don't besmirch the heroism of the Ukrainians with your cowardice.
    1
  17968.  @Mwahaha105  Those countries have no appetite for getting embroiled in the desperate machinations of a declining regional power half a world away.
    1
  17969. That would be the second time for China.
    1
  17970.  @thewho5786  Manage the weight? DU, as a super-dense material, increases the weight of a tank compared to steel.
    1
  17971.  @thewho5786  DU is used in aircraft as counterweights. In tanks, it's used to defeat kinetic penetrators.
    1
  17972.  @thewho5786  The Kornet has a HEAT warhead. To defeat those, you need ERA or composite armour. In the Kornet's case, both -- unless APS destroys it first.
    1
  17973. You wish. Russia's "growth" is a result of it blowing its savings on the war in Ukraine. It's a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
    1
  17974. Oh, they'll keep their snout in the trough all right.
    1
  17975. How did you suddenly arrive at Biden? Could it be... that Biden lives rent-free in your mind?
    1
  17976.  @lyd4712  I think it's admirable how Indonesia is dealing with Jemaah Islamiyah. It seems to be a mopping up operation now. It's true that the Netherlands are a home to a great many of Indonesian origin, who deserve to keep in touch with their roots.
    1
  17977. Or prisoners. Wait...
    1
  17978. Plenty of Ukraine-bound weapons. Don't get your hopes up.
    1
  17979. I wonder. Prigozhin's Wagner is well positioned to take on the other oligarchs' private armies. He may very well emerge victorious from the upcoming series of team deathmatches that will become known as Russian Civil War 2.0.
    1
  17980. Talking about painful sanctions, Russia is self-sanctioning itself by ruining its future as a supplier of hydrocarbons to its biggest market, Europe. Europe is in for short-term pain, but for Russia, the pain will be chronic.
    1
  17981.  @annan7728  There you go again, embarrassing yourself. There's more to nuclear weapons than uranium alone. If they hear of your nonsense, your physics and chemistry teachers will face-palm themselves something furious.
    1
  17982. Not only that, providing development aid to and funding health programs in South Africa is the exact opposite of what the US provides to Israel.
    1
  17983.  @mistressfreezepeach  You're barking up a tree that has been long since been cut down. Now, Russia and China, on the other hand -- those are relevant causes for you -- if you truly oppose imperialism.
    1
  17984.  @copperfieldtexas5791  I'm confused, Tex. If everyone needs the US, but vice versa, you need all of us far less, why all the hullabaloo about the US trade imbalance? It sure sounds like you desperately need us to buy American than vice versa.
    1
  17985.  @copperfieldtexas5791  Fairness is not the issue here. I'm old enough to remember how one of your presidents blamed Japan for not importing US cars, while Japan was exporting cars to the US at full tilt. At the time, US car manufacturers didn't offer cars with right-hand drive. Your president might as well have wondered why burly Texan men don't buy silky kimonos to wear. Make more attractive products and above all, make them at home, so that they'll show up on your trade balance instead of China's. You're basically blaming us that you went for outsourced manufacturing en masse. You still didn't explain the contradiction between you claiming that you don't need us much vs. Trump whining about the trade imbalance. You Americans desperately want us to buy more American goods and services, and it's an undeniable fact that you Americans like to buy ours, or there wouldn't be a trade imbalance.
    1
  17986. A democracy?
    1
  17987.  @georgejackson2631  Where did it say that Russia automatically inherited the USSR's weapons? All the conventional weapons were divvied up fairly. Russia famously had to buy Tu-160 Blackjacks off Ukraine, which had taken possession of them, just like Russia took possession of all Soviet weapons on its territory.
    1
  17988.  @georgejackson2631  Dear God indeed. Try to get it through your thick skull that your nuke-controlling Moscow was the Soviet Union till 1991. The Soviet Union ceased to exist, and so did Moscow's control over the nukes on newly-sovereign Ukrainian soil, be it only momentarily, because Ukraine relinguished control to newly-sovereign Russia. Not back to Russia, because it never before had control over the nukes in question.
    1
  17989.  @Lukrecia_Macskassy  Get a room ;-) Politicians are like babies' diapers. Both need to be changed often, and for the same reason.
    1
  17990.  @seventrumpets6465  So what? I don't care to discuss the US at every possible juncture. You're only reinforcing the Americans' belief that everything's always about them.
    1
  17991.  @seventrumpets6465  The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
    1
  17992.  @seventrumpets6465  You don't know your Shakespeare.
    1
  17993. HTS was agreed to refrain from attacking the bases, but it's nowhere near a promise to let them stay. They're history all right.
    1
  17994. Retrieve where? It's Afghan kit. I'm sure Afghan pilots flew off with whatever could fly.
    1
  17995. I'd like to see how you'd keep the peace in Eastern Ukraine.
    1
  17996.  @nuttywalls8190  I don't know where you're getting at with these fanciful analogies. You seems to be in favour of rewarding military aggression, Munich 1938 style. My point is, currently there's no peace to keep in Eastern Ukraine. Putin still wants war. Strangely, you're trying to lay the blame with the EU leadership, which sheds doubt on your powers of deducation. Or you're simply a Krembot. The latter would be my guess.
    1
  17997. Yesilgöz made it very clear beforehand that the VVD wouldn't join a coalition government with Wilders as the PM. I think the same will apply to the NSC. PvdA-GroenLinks, never ever. By winning, Wilders painted himself into a corner. Better luck next time, Geert.
    1
  17998. How do you explain Putin's two presidential planes leaving Moscow then? A 4D chess move from the chess master?
    1
  17999. Has it ever occurred to you why migrants favour Britain as their final destination? You're practically rolling out the red carpet.
    1
  18000.  @t-love2366  Likewise, the neighbours of former Mandatory Palestine have contributed to the gene pool of the latter's indigenous population. It's no different from the European contribution to Israel's gene pool. Semetic and Arabic are mostly cultural conventions. Defining who's what based on DNA is a non-starter in the Middle East.
    1
  18001. Of course they did. Even winning by forfeiture is a win.
    1
  18002. A plus-size model for sure.
    1
  18003. Yeah, Erdogan's temper tantrum subsided. But I'm sure we'll suffer many more.
    1
  18004.  @Trey5Damare  The PKK has been a terrorist organisation to both Sweden and Finland on account of their EU memberships. Don't you look silly now.
    1
  18005.  @Ovajug  Referendums are necessary when the outcome is uncertain. In Finland, there was nothing uncertain about the outcome. A whopping 96% of the MPs voted in favour of NATO membership.
    1
  18006. Let's not forget how you sold your perfectly serviceable Leopard 2A6 tanks to Finland, only to ask Germany to lend you some when you realised your mistake. No feathers for your cap, I'm afraid.
    1
  18007. And what made you want to sing Russia's divine praises in connection with a report like this?
    1
  18008. Nah, Trump will put him up in Boca Raton.
    1
  18009. The will of the people is the problem here. People don't know what they want. Maybe an attempt should be made to clarify the matter?
    1
  18010. @Nick Ryan Only in broad terms. We only know that the people wanted to "Leave the European Union". The how and the when remain unclear.
    1
  18011.  @Bloodless1986  You haven't heard of Pituffik Space Base on Greenland? It's operated by the US Space Force. I'm sure their space cadets with their laser guns would put up a resistance -- of sorts. You can open up more military bases on Greenland, just as long as you ask the Greenlanders nicely. The Danes need their permission, too. Alaska remains extremely sparsely populated. You may wonder why. When it starts to dawn on you, you don't have to wonder nearly so hard about Greenland. Greenland is an euphemism if there ever was one.
    1
  18012. Why are you sacrificing everything for Putin's greater glory? Anyone with two brain cells to rub together should realise by now that Russia's interests and Putin's interests have diverged so much that continuing this war is sheer madness.
    1
  18013.  @TheBlackIdentety  Decades? It's even better than that. Russia won't be rebuilding its armed forces when the war is over. Russia will struggle to provide for its people, let alone rearm.
    1
  18014. Leave the blustering to the Brextremists.
    1
  18015.  @spiritsman9014  It's all you're good for, actually.
    1
  18016.  @ElGrandoCaymano  Your claims are curious. The EU's trade surplus with the UK alone is testament to EU products being more desirable to Brits than the other way around. Moreover, you're creating the illusion that French automobiles and Italian prosecco and cheese only find customers in the UK, which, of course, is utterly ludicrous. Germany exports more than twice as much chemical products than the UK. Incidentally, the same goes for Ireland. In pharmaceuticals, Germany's exports are thrice that of the UK. Belgium, France and Ireland, too, are bigger players there. And which airplane parts might you be alluding to? Those in Airbus planes or Eurofighters? Both are a pan-European efforts, with the UK being just one of many partners. True, the UK has Rolls-Royce, but France has CFM, the most prolific jet engine builder in the world.
    1
  18017. You assume too much. Trump effectively rolled out the red carpet for the Taliban when he negotiated a peace to the War in Afghanistan.
    1
  18018. Makes perfect sense. Ukraine is being invaded, Israel is not. Ukraine is fighting for its existence, Israel is not.
    1
  18019. Russia is a complete toady.
    1
  18020. You don't say.
    1
  18021.  @Ak-wv7dt  That seems to be our prerogative.
    1
  18022.  @Ak-wv7dt  Europe. We're keeping the Palestinians clothed and fed. Check it out if you possess any analytical skills.
    1
  18023. They're in good company then. Russia desperately wants to be seen as a superpower. Russia has the moves, but not the clout.
    1
  18024.  @bennadinayandex1207  I wouldn't know, not a fan. BTW, you could've chosen from 143 heads of state, yet you chose that of the USA. You Krembots really are simpletons.
    1
  18025. I bet anything even mildly critical of China rates as biased in your book. Grow a pair, Billy.
    1
  18026. Isn't that what UNIFIL is for?
    1
  18027. If Putin had chosen peace, there wouldn't have been a war to begin with. The obvious escapes many.
    1
  18028. The massive Israeli military build-up belies the fact that Israel is more than ever at a loss how to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
    1
  18029.  yo dasxi  #1 as in the most people in a single country without democratic representation?
    1
  18030.  Bt Tan  Democracy is no assurance for good governance, but can any government be considered good if it lacks democratic credentials? No. The United States were recently downgraded in the Democracy Index on account of Trump being elected president. It wasn't so much the man himself, but the growing distrust in democratic institutions that led to theirs being reclassified as a flawed democracy. Even so, they've been long surpassed in the rankings. So, maybe you should look beyond Murica if you want to criticize democracy (and drum up support for authoritarianism)?
    1
  18031.  @peterbalogh8138  “History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes". Russia collapsed in WW1, too, and had to sue for peace, and the terms it got left little to the imagination as to whether it won or lost. The collapse of the Soviet Union, too, is often attributed to the Soviet-Afghan War. That was another defensive victory, by the way. This is turning into a real learning opportunity for you! If you look at the battles, the armies pitted against each other and the casualties suffered, WW1 was mainly fought in France.
    1
  18032. That's a false dichotomy.
    1
  18033. Hier, een gebroken geweertje voor jou. Het ging toch prima in 40-45?
    1
  18034. Russia, in its despair, may just sell the IFF codes to China. It won't matter even if you had the S600 or S700.
    1
  18035.  @sachin2842  Yup, you like to be "beholden" to someone. If not the Brits, then the Russians.
    1
  18036.  @maka2210angel9_rock  I'm talking about geography. You broached a different topic.
    1
  18037. That's desperate botting. Up your game.
    1
  18038.  @stc3145  I know the area. My Saami relatives hail from Petsamo.
    1
  18039.  @Silver_Prussian  The Wall Street Journal presented pretty compelling evidence, including official Russian documents. Ukraine also showed both captured and burnt-out T-80BVMs, a type that is supposedly uniquely suited for Arctic conditions. Satellite pictures of their base indicate that the brigade remains severely depleted.
    1
  18040. Since when has Turkey been an Assad fan?
    1
  18041.  @aslampervez2294  Neither did Russia or China. You may ask yourself why.
    1
  18042.  @aslampervez2294  Ah, your brain isn't working. I'll help. Russia and China thought the same as we did. The circumstantial evidence on Iraqi WMDs wasn't compelling enough to start a war, but no one had a problem with ridding the world of Saddam Hussein. In other words, those that disagreed, disagreed on principle only. The same applied to Slobodan Milosevic and Muammar Gaddafi. Anything else I can help you with or do you think you can kick-start your brain?
    1
  18043. God or Q?
    1
  18044. You're suggesting Putin is tired of life. The nuclear winter will tire you out, too.
    1
  18045. They are, all the time, dum-dum.
    1
  18046. Autocracies are inherently unstable when they lack a popular mandate. Putin mistook the Syrians for his own apathetic citizens. Maybe, just maybe, the Russians are now starting to awake from their slumber.
    1
  18047.  @DaFalconator  True dat. NATO experienced an identity crisis when Russia was supposedly democratizing. No more, since Putin gave it a new lease of life with his belligerence. I took us a while to wake up, but better late than never.
    1
  18048. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
    1
  18049.  @bambamkitring6666  Without money to buy food and other necessities it will be chaos in Russia, too.
    1
  18050.  @ludara8697  But why would the Russians knowingly wreak havoc on themselves? It's like you're suggesting that someone who hurled himself head-first against a wall should congratulate himself, because he survived the ordeal.
    1
  18051.  @mikenickholds3576  Why not BNP?
    1
  18052. The bad news is that, in the event of the UK remaining in the EU, you'll still have to rule yourselves. Your vivid imagination notwithstanding, Brussels has no direct rule arrangement vis-à-vis member states, like Whitehall has with regard to Northern Ireland. In other words, you're in a mess no matter what.
    1
  18053. Democracy would've died in its infancy it that were true.
    1
  18054. There undeniably is a personality cult around Trump. France 24 calls it like it is.
    1
  18055. Once again, Russia is building Potemkin villages.
    1
  18056. Peaceful and neutral Ukraine was out for prosperity when it wanted to sign an association and free trade agreement with the EU. But then Putin -- like a spurned suitor -- got all jealous and possessive -- murderous even. Orban's friends in Europe are few and far between. Hungary's EU presidency is a mockery.
    1
  18057. The denial is strong with you.
    1
  18058. ​ @brettmcneil6911  In order to qualify for the Darwin Award, your botski friend needs to take himself out of the gene pool, one way or the other. Mind you, I think he's got what it takes, but it's unclear how he's going about it. Maybe hug one of Putin's nuclear missiles till the lead in his pencil has been sufficiently irradiated?
    1
  18059. I'd like that very much, but it looks like the Russian oligarchs and their private armies have a civil war to fight.
    1
  18060. Geneva, Switzerland, would be fine. The UN already has plenty of offices there.
    1
  18061.  @jayzxyang  If what you say is true, it's really simple. If China offers these groups more money than the CIA, they'll change their tune overnight and sing the praises of the CCP instead of criticizing it. After all, the protesters have no ideals apart from money. With China owning US public debt in excess of 1 trillion dollars, surely China can outspend the Yanks? Feel free to suggest this idea to your handlers in Beijing as if it were your own. Maybe they'll up your per message rate from 0.50 RMB to say, 0.75 RMB. I'll keep mum.
    1
  18062. That remains to be seen. Israel may just dig in its heels.
    1
  18063. Netanyahu is being investigated by the ICC as we speak. It is said an arrest warrant will be out soon.
    1
  18064. I wouldn't go boasting about a rocket design that's close to 60 years old. It's mature all right -- like a horse and carriage.
    1
  18065.  @makemap  You're new to neo-colonialism then? Fancy that.
    1
  18066.  @mrdankie3953  So you're theorizing that 2,500 sailors were cynically sacrificed at Pearl Harbor to ensure that Murica wouldn't miss all the fun of WW2? That's a doozy of a conspiracy theory.
    1
  18067. ​ @phil2806  And since Russia doesn't adequately equip and supply its soldiers, how are they going to keep warm? By burning their tampons? Heavy loss of blood and cold weather make a lethal combination. The Ukrainians will be fighting corpsicles.
    1
  18068. It is already. Trump just got fired. As the leader of the free world.
    1
  18069. Apart from class-action suits, criminal cases usually are tailored for the accused.
    1
  18070. The donation will be made through the Covax scheme, so vaccine diplomacy doesn't enter into it. You should reserve your criticism for the Russians and the Chinese.
    1
  18071.  @cyjaseyoung8004  You were falsely attributing dubious motives to something that is clearly altruistic in nature. You're not helping the global vaccination effort by shedding doubt on it.
    1
  18072.  @sameersamuel5110  Covax is administered by the WHO, an UN agency. Everything has to be out in the open. I think donors should take credit for their contributions, if only to persuade others to match their contributions for PR reasons. Vaccine diplomacy, however, implies that the donor demands favours in return. Covax makes that nigh impossible.
    1
  18073.  @sameersamuel5110  Sure, there's a PR aspect to it as well. Are you new to this world? China wasn't a leading donor to Covax, nor one in direct donations, so how would there be a pressing reason for Western nations to donate more vaccines on account of China? I see you still don't understand vaccine diplomacy. It's not about good publicity, but about wanting favours in exchange for donations. If you need an example, think Trump pressing Zelensky for dirt on the Bidens in exchange for military aid. The point here is that we don't know about China's conditions, because they're kept under wraps. In Covax, there are no self-serving conditions.
    1
  18074.  @sameersamuel5110  "Dude", I really don't care how you choose to define the term. China has donated 12 million doses directly yet only pledged 10 million to Covax -- pledged, not delivered. Comparing apples to apples, 10 million and 500 million -- that's a vast difference don't you think? Also, whether you choose to define the Covax altruistic or not is of no concern to me. If at least you agree that there are degrees of altruism, then you'll have to agree that the degree to which the US is altruistic is higher than China's. 50 times more altruistic?
    1
  18075.  @Coolerman565  Why should they have? For all those years, Russian OSCE SMM officials in Donetsk failed to report anything that would incriminate Ukraine. Disinformation is Russia's style.
    1
  18076.  @degreatal  Psychopath detected.
    1
  18077.  @hassanrafi5887  I bet you had trouble focusing in school. ADHD much?
    1
  18078. Imagine making a humanoid robot that's covered with human skin.
    1
  18079. Brain fart? Finland has been a EU member for over 23 years.
    1
  18080.  @leavesinautumn5959  OK, a tacit admission. It's just that I prefer not to entertain conspiracy theories launched by a certain disgraced ex-president.
    1
  18081. Oh, they did just that, or the Iranians meekly kept their radars switched off, for fear of attracting the attention of Israel's anti-radiation missiles. Probably they did both. For your info, an anti-radiation missile homes in on a radar antenna. It's common for the antenna to become a total loss, while the crew survives.
    1
  18082.  @user-Dim-V  Grenade launchers -- Western or Russian -- are useless against tanks. You need to brush up on military technology.
    1
  18083. We witnessed the costliest ego boost in human history.
    1
  18084. My guess is Inner Mongolia or North Korea.
    1
  18085. *Breath -- no 'e' at the end. If 'Moscow' is insulting, the Russians had better change the name of their capital.
    1
  18086. That'll be the ones who were actually on the receiving end, primarily the ex-Soviet bloc members, but they're used to being fucked over by Britain.
    1
  18087. +Max Sch You sure fucked them over. Churchill practically served Eastern Eastern to Stalin on a silver platter. Western betrayal, they call it.
    1
  18088. +Max Sch True, the Americans don't have a clear conscience either. But Churchill did fuck over the Poles in Yalta -- especially those 200,000 Poles who'd been instrumental in securing Allied victories in North Africa and Italy -- by essentially adhering to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact pertaining to Soviet demands on Polish territory. It's one thing to refrain from military action when the Soviets broke the Yalta Agreement, but it's quite another to willingly agree to what amounted to gross injustice in the first place. Sadly, it wasn't the only instance where Churchill proved himself duplicitous. He also agreed to not applying the Atlantic Charter to the Baltic states, paving the way for 50 years of Soviet occupation.
    1
  18089. +Max Sch Yeah, about that fictitious nature, fellow MPs were up in arms when Churchill defended his action in parliament, apparently thinking the betrayal not so fictitious. With the end of WW2 nearing, Britain was in a position to stand up for the Poles' and the Balts' rights, but deliberately chose not to, disregarding all the lofty principles in the Atlantic Charter, drafted by none other than Churchill and Roosevelt. In this respect Britain was a doormat that read "welcome" in Cyrillic script.
    1
  18090. Cause and consequence elude you.
    1
  18091. More of the same? The Tories don't have a clue.
    1
  18092. I doubt anyone is as foolish as to start an insurrection after a lost election. You have plenty of precedents... in Africa.
    1
  18093. You can't get Kool-Aid in Germany, Stace. American clichés don't do well either.
    1
  18094. Way to go, Captain Obvious!
    1
  18095.  @typhoon20724  Where's you evidence of Ukraine systematically murdering its own citizens? The multinational OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in the Donbas drew a completely blank. 700 monitors from 53 countries, yet nothing suggest these claims of yours have a basis in truth.
    1
  18096. And which fatalities have befallen NATO members?
    1
  18097. Wat leuk! Een koninklijke complottheorie. Je moet vast vreselijk lachen als iemand het gelooft.
    1
  18098.  Magnus Marz  That's all good and well, but the UK needs to drag itself out of the morass or go under, without a deal. And it's not about making a deal -- the days of deal-making are well and truly over -- but accepting the only deal that's on the table.
    1
  18099.  @Jay-vt1mw  Many times the combatants on both sides of a conflict have left peace negotiations declaring victory, so in such a case, who exactly surrendered to whom? Even historians may never conclusively agree as to which side gained a net advantage and, therefore, should be considered the victor. The Iran-Iraq War was a case in point. Both countries claimed victory, but neither gained territory, nor paid any war reparations to the other. Russia having to pay substantial war reparations to Ukraine will make this one count as a Russian defeat, however. Also, no matter what, Russia will be saddled with international sanctions for the foreseeable future. Some will be lifted, but not all.
    1
  18100. Er, French troops left Afghanistan in 2012.
    1
  18101.  @native5647  So, then would they cry now? They're vindicated.
    1
  18102. So, are we to conclude that 141 countries, out of 193 in all, constitute the West? Fine by me.
    1
  18103.  @constantinenm  I have nothing with the Yanks, dum-dum. Get your Yankee fixation fixed.
    1
  18104.  @kathleenj01  These Krembots can't get it through their thick skulls that the Anglo-Saxons ceased to exist as a cultural group in the 11th century, after the Norman Conquest.
    1
  18105.  @jellybean8167  Is Trump going to sell out to China as well? His lavish praising of Xi the other day doesn't bode well.
    1
  18106.  @Yuri_Volkov  C'mon, Putin yanked Yanukovych's strings too hard. Yanukovych fled to Russia, and Ukraine's parliament overwhelmingly voted in favour of removing him. Even Yanukovych's own party disavowed him. Next, you're going to treat us to urban myths about Ukraine perpetrating genocide in Donbas, contrary to all evidence gathered there.
    1
  18107. The saddest part is that these highly innovative Chinese tech companies are automatically hamstrung by the CCP. Under the communists' control, they'll never grow to their full potential. The Chinese people should think long and hard about that one.
    1
  18108. This is just Erdogan acting up because he can't get new F-16s and upgrades for his older F-16s from the US. Russia is just a bit player in Erdogan's poorly scripted melodrama.
    1
  18109.  @nigeljohnson9820  There it comes, a feeble excuse. What it boils down to is that you feel that the EU should indemnify you for all the negative consequences stemming from your decision to leave the EU, all because it was your right to leave. You painted yourselves into a corner and now it's the EU's fault that you've made a sticky mess of it. In other words, we should've saved you from yourselves. Thanks for illustrating my initial point so brilliantly.
    1
  18110.  @nigeljohnson9820  The EU, as a supranational organisation, has to be concerned about the GFA because one of the signatories, the Republic of Ireland, is an EU member. I know you're a conspiracy theorist who insists there's a secret cabal behind the EU that decides everything over the heads of the members, but back in the real world, Ireland had the loudest voice in GFA-related matters within the EU during the Brexit withdrawal negotiations. It can be argued that Northern Ireland's voice should've been even louder, because they only had the interests of three other union members to consider, whereas in Ireland's case the number was 26. Sure, the prime concern of these other EU members was the post-Brexit integrity of the single market, but the general feeling was that if the seemingly unsolvable NI "trilemma" is solved in a manner that is acceptable to both Ireland and the UK, everything is hunky-dory. Little did we know buyer's remorse would set in almost instantly in the UK. It would appear you can't negotiate your way out of a paper bag.
    1
  18111.  @nigeljohnson9820  And there they are, the conspiracy theories I alluded to earlier. You cannot deny the fact that the UK negotiated and ratified the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. You can concoct one conspiracy theory after another why the agreement came about in its present form, but Boris Johnson's cabinet is still responsible for negotiating it and British Parliament for ratifying it. If it was unacceptable, why didn't the House of Commons reject it, just like it rejected May's draft and not once, but thrice? You're still expecting the EU to indemnify you for the negative consequences of Brexit -- consequences we warned you about repeatedly. Your irrational demand for indemnification is based on the fact that you only exercised your right to leave the EU. Sure, leaving the union was your prerogative, but how are your past commitments related to defusing an age-old British colonial conflict suddenly the EU's responsibility? We know by now that you're poor negotiators, but perhaps you should've added an indemnification clause to the withdrawal agreement?
    1
  18112.  @nigeljohnson9820  Ah, we now have a conspiracy theory about the British government. When devising that one, did you forget that before putting his revised withdrawal agreement to the vote, Johnson had called for a snap election and gained a very strong majority. The rebellion among Tory MPs was crushed, too. Is that the paralysed parliament in your story? To summarize, what you're saying is that the UK can't take responsibility for its actions, so the EU should. That truly bodes well for Global Britain -- newly sovereign, but still hiding behind the EU's skirts. I've heard it said that Britannia rules the waves. You're saying it can't police the North Channel. And what's this land bridge between NI and GB that needs closing? I have to ask, because the NI Protocol and the GFA stipulate that there will be no land border in Ireland.
    1
  18113.  @nigeljohnson9820  Your conspiracy theories are getting sloppier by the day. Johnson did renegotiate the withdrawal agreement before the snap election, but only put it to the vote afterwards. These things are easily fact-checked. It won't be interesting to see how the EU deals with the flare-up of violence in Northern Ireland. There will be an expression of concern and a plea for calm, while the whole world looks at Stormont and Whitehall. Only you look for answers from Brussels. Oh, the irony.
    1
  18114.  @nigeljohnson9820  It goes without saying that the EU, like the rest of the world, is looking at Stormont and Whitehall to get your house in order (democratically, which also goes without saying). After all, wasn't Brexit Britain supposed to be a newly-sovereign country? You specifically mentioned a leaking land border being a problem for the EU. The whole point of the GFA is that the land border leaks like a sieve. Johnson most definitely renegotiated the WA, scrapping May's backstop and settling on the Irish Sea border. The arrangement raised some eyebrows among the EU-27, but who were we to complain. We assumed -- falsely, in your assessment -- that you can decide what's best for you and stand by your decisions. It's a recurring theme with you Brexiteers that the EU is somehow obligated to bend over backwards to accommodate unique British demands. Despite all the bravado to that effect, it didn't work before you decided to leave the EU and it won't work now either, but the same unrealistic expectations remain.
    1
  18115.  @nigeljohnson9820  So, to you the WA is bad because May was bad and the EU is bad because there's this fanciful conspiracy theory of yours. The first part is pure self-criticism, since May was your duly-elected head of government. But I'm puzzled why Johnson deserves none of your scorn, because he's at least equally responsible for the end result, the final WA. The second part, about the EU being a playground bully that's out to ruin your idealized Brexit sandcastle, that's pure conjecture and circular reasoning. I don't care for your conspiracy theories, and judging from the scant replies you're getting to your numerous comments in other threads, no one else cares either. At the end of the day, what matters is that your cabinet and parliament respectively negotiated and ratified the WA and its NIP. You can argue till the cows come home that the process and the outcome weren't to your liking, but none of that is of consequence to us. As a sovereign nation, you're expected to honour your commitments and secure your borders, including the ones that you -- compelled by your murky colonial past -- establish between your own lands. I don't see why EU members would object to Irish reunification, as long as it's done in an orderly manner. You're a self-confessed supporter of reunification, too. I do agree that Brexit has accelerated the inevitable, but rather than yet another nefarious EU conspiracy, it's a natural consequence of Brexit.
    1
  18116. Some years ago, I went wreck diving in Kuching, Sarawak (a Japanese troopship torpedoed by a Dutch submarine). We had a pair of very friendly butterflyfish accompany us during the whole dive. They were like glued to us.
    1
  18117.  @Rtg5637  That's not how it went down. The Palestinians refused nothing. They and their Arab neighbours thought the UN's lopsided partition of Mandatory Palestine wholly unacceptable. It's easy to understand why. On no account did the Palestinians forfeit their rights -- the same UN has been very clear on that matter. The relevant facts are literally at your fingertips. I suggest you put your digits to work.
    1
  18118. It must come from a toilet bowl 'liberated' from Ukraine.
    1
  18119.  @SON-OF-AFRICA1022  Jews believe in Jesus? They think him an imposter, more like.
    1
  18120. Close enough. It's "nucular" in Murican.
    1
  18121. You're right. 80s technology. The Ka-27 is like a flying disco ball with its pretty little analog gauges.
    1
  18122.  @cryovizard9461  There you go, elect the one that sucks less president. That's what your democracy has been reduced to.
    1
  18123. Pray tell, how is France facing an existential threat from these recent coups in Africa? Scapegoating France may be a convenient way of galvanising some popular support for the coup leaders, but in France, it's merely raising eyebrows. I pity the thousands and thousands of well-adjusted and productive Nigerien immigrants in France, who'll have to face awkward questions from their puzzled French compatriots.
    1
  18124.  @honestpetvideos9307  The question you should ask yourself is how significant a uranium producer Niger is globally. A mere 4% of the world's uranium comes from Niger. The French are instrumental in mining it, so without 'French dressing', no Nigerien uranium. Moreover, the uranium market has been depressed for years, with nuclear power plants closing and fewer new ones coming online. Also, new producers have entered the market, dropping prices even further. In case you can't figure out what this means, there's no shortage of alternative suppliers should Niger exit the uranium market.
    1
  18125. What do you take him for? God? The only organ in the UN that has any real power is the Security Council, the workings of which are routinely sabotaged by the USA and Russia.
    1
  18126.  @stefan5730  The UN has peacekeepers, but they can only be deployed with the express approval of the UNSC, which is hamstrung by its permanent members disagreeing.
    1
  18127. So, no morals outside of NATO?
    1
  18128. The green shift, we call it. And the 15% is never coming back. Soon, Russia's oil and gas reserves are as useful to Russians as they were to cavemen in prehistoric times.
    1
  18129. A Mauser copy, in other words.
    1
  18130. Were we supposed to make Russians starve, or diminish Russia's capability to wage its war of aggression? Judging from how Russia's arms exports have collapsed, we're well on target.
    1
  18131.  @rybik7267  Er is een centrum-rechtse meerderheid in de EU. Maar als je zelf extreem-rechts bent, dan is dat natuurlijk links voor jou.
    1
  18132.  @rybik7267  There you go again.
    1
  18133. ​ Liberty Constitution Legacy  ¥0.50 a post.
    1
  18134. Israel can count on a US veto in the UN Security Council whenever things get uncomfortable. You should call a spade a spade.
    1
  18135. Germany scores rather well in the Corruption Perception Index. How about you, also in the top 10 of least corrupt nations? No need to answer if you're embarrassed.
    1
  18136. The Californians forgot to rake their forests again. They should've listened to Trump.
    1
  18137.  @avex3903  I know what the nape of a neck is. Is 'kidnape' that of a child?
    1
  18138. @SachinRajput-t6c Are you sure that there were Germans arms involved in the Indo-Pakistani wars? You can't lump us together like that, or we'll return the favour. Why did your Khmer Rouge massacre your own people? That would be an equally relevant question.
    1
  18139.  @acubens_5084  Stolen from Mother Earth, on US soil?
    1
  18140.  @acubens_5084  So not stolen.
    1
  18141.  @acubens_5084  Not for their own use. The US is self-sufficient thanks to shale oil. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  18142. An apt analogy. Thumb up.
    1
  18143. You seem to feel left out.
    1
  18144. Wappieïsm is not going to get you good governance.
    1
  18145. I think you just made a watch list. Travelling by air may prove harder now.
    1
  18146.  @2ndlieutenantcaptian  It's not just Europol, but Interpol as well.
    1
  18147.  @2ndlieutenantcaptian  I don't think you've ever held a passport, but those domestic flights...
    1
  18148.  @2ndlieutenantcaptian  Don't worry your pretty little head, I speak Italian. I've travelled and lived in more countries, but still, how on earth have you managed to stay so provincial?
    1
  18149. Please start charging them rent. Allowing America to live rent-free in your mind reflects badly on landlords.
    1
  18150. Isn't Poutin Quebecois fast food?
    1
  18151. Yay, Stalinism on the rebound!
    1
  18152. Your wet dreams are worrisome. Should you go get an oestrogen injection?
    1
  18153.  @thalentekhuluse2829  I wonder, should we trust Patrick Lancaster, or the OSCE? What do you think? Think carefully before you answer.
    1
  18154.  @kgr3977  I suppose we have to report you and your fellow troll Roman to the YouTube admins for promoting 'suicide and self-injury'.
    1
  18155. How would that help? Haven't the Palestinians been ignored enough?
    1
  18156.  @cirrus1964  Jouw bericht slaat als een tang op een varken. Ik heb het over spelling.
    1
  18157.  @cirrus1964  Het is gewoon bloes, vrind. En begin niet over mijn educatie. Je zou in het stof bijten
    1
  18158.  @cirrus1964  Alweer slaat hij met een tang op een varken. Ik laat het hierbij.
    1
  18159.  @wahidh2758  Betekenis 'vrind' Je hebt gezocht op het woord: vrind. vrind (de; m; meervoud: vrinden) 1 (deftig of ironisch) kameraad, vriend
    1
  18160.  @cirrus1964  *Decision. Spelfouten alom.
    1
  18161.  @cirrus1964  Wat schattig. Je hebt je berichtje verwijderd. Hier heb je 'm weer: - - - 8< - - - Dick Vermaas replied to your reply on Ingrid Eekers's comment Waarschuwing voor Westen na zege Poetin: 'Oekraïne is slechts een tussenstap' Dick Vermaas ​peabasewise desion REPLY - - - 8< - - - Je wist zeker niet dat je naast een notificatie van een nieuw bericht ook nog eens de inhoud toegestuurd kan krijgen. Kinderachtig gedoe, Dickie.
    1
  18162. It must've been an aluminium-frame P1 instead. I was issued one as well when I went to Kosovo, since our new Hi-Power DAs had issues. My British commander called it a toy gun -- till I showed him at the range what it could do.
    1
  18163. We don't give in to a dictator's deluded imperialist demands. You would, it seems, but we're not kowtowing pushovers.
    1
  18164. No, but Hongkongers don't want Chinese neo-colonialism either.
    1
  18165. ​ @johndow1809  So unless they're China or the UK, every nation supposed to pick one or the other to kowtow to? So being someone's colony is a must for everyone, except the two lucky ones, the colonial masters?
    1
  18166. Despite having superior air power, the tide hasn't turned in Russia's favour.
    1
  18167. You whataboutists sure are out in force today. Panic at the Russian Ministry of Propaganda and Disinformation?
    1
  18168. The Stridsvagn 122 is basically a Leopard 2, so yes, it is expected to be part of the pan-European effort to outfit the Ukrainian army with Leopard 2s.
    1
  18169.  @luchs0315  Finland is not "basically next to Russia", but right next to Russia, yet it's willing to send Leopards to Ukraine. Sweden needs to grow a pair.
    1
  18170.  @AnotherAnalyst  Thank you for your unfounded opinion -- I'll be sure to file it in my Recycle Bin.
    1
  18171. This is a matter of putting taxes to a good use.
    1
  18172.  @filipecoutinho5706  Sure, we're all related to one another. It all depends on how far back you want to go.
    1
  18173.  @josephshields2922  What are going to do with your evidence? Point at precedents like the Soviet involvement in the Korean War and the Vietnam War? Russian "advisors" routinely piloted North Korean and Vietnamese fighter aircraft, for instance.
    1
  18174.  @timminh468  The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission documented artillery shelling in the Donbas, impact by impact, from 2014 till early 2022. In all, 700 monitors from 53 countries participated. Yet nothing in their reports suggest that Ukraine has been deliberately targeting civilians. Where is your evidence to the contrary?
    1
  18175. I'm not suprised by your confusion. It's increasingly hard to keep track who retaliates and for what.
    1
  18176. OK, Krembot.
    1
  18177. True, as far as Israel goes. You've been enabling the Israel-Palestinian conflict for ages. There will be many more from where this came from unless you cease and desist.
    1
  18178. Is it just me when I take a dim view of political dynasties? Dubya should never have made president. It's a blessing that RKF Jr. didn't make it, although Trump may still appoint him Chief of Conspiracy Theories.
    1
  18179. Govidiot is what can be termed a 'useful govidiot'. The Kremlin propagandists are laughing their heads off, having found a gem like you.
    1
  18180.  @govidiotsheep  Try to get a stipend from the Kremlin propagandists. Your work, unimpressive as it may be, must be worth a few roubles at least.
    1
  18181.  @govidiotsheep  You seem in dire need of funds, so take your thirty pieces of silver already... I mean, thirty roubles ($0.50).
    1
  18182. Hello ECOWAS.
    1
  18183. Huh? The British people just voted Labour in. Starmer has been PM for a month.
    1
  18184. It's not the subscription model that's bringing Twitter down. It's the lack of moderation. Freak shows don't have enduring appeal.
    1
  18185. Because it's misguided? Trump deserves blame for signing an ill-advised peace agreement with the Taliban that settled the withdrawal. Just like he left the Kurds in the lurch.
    1
  18186.  @superbird6176  At least partly. In Biden's defence, he extended the deadline Trump had initially set, from May to September. Biden could've extended further, but I wonder if it would've made an iota of difference. I guess the ANA regional commanders drew their own conclusions from Trump's peace talks and silently agreed on a carefully scheduled stand-down with the Taliban. I think there was bumbling all around, especially in the CIA and at the Pentagon, so let's call it a bipartisan failure of epic proportions that no doubt will weigh down the US for decades to come.
    1
  18187.  @superbird6176  So, what is it that you want to blame Biden for? A poorly executed withdrawal? That's justified. However, you cannot deny that Biden tragic mistake was following through on Trump's February 2020 peace agreement with the Taliban, which stipulated that all US forces pull out from Afghanistan by May 1st 2021. Biden postponed it to Sep 1st. It all seems perfectly clear to me. Trump set Biden up for disaster, and Biden didn't disappoint. Trump made ill-advised US policy, Biden executed it in an ill-advised manner. Truly a bipartisan failure of epic proportions.
    1
  18188. You missed the part about PKK being designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, EU and USA. But hey, never let facts stand in the way of a good conspiracy theory. They seem to be preferably to the truth in Turkey nowadays.
    1
  18189. Report to your nearest British Council for a language course, Zahid.
    1
  18190. mehmet, you would benefit from a language course, too. That comment doesn't make sense, not even after you edited it.
    1
  18191. mehmet, why don't you use yours to compose proper sentences?
    1
  18192. mehmet, reason *for. You'll get the hang of it eventually. So, what's ignorant about my comment? It is a fact that the PKK is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, EU and USA. You seem to have problems keeping facts and conspiracy theories apart.
    1
  18193. Yaardman, he obviously can't conduct a proper discussion in English, although his issues may not just be language-related. Incidentally, English isn't my first language either. Third or fourth, I suppose.
    1
  18194. mehmet, what made you conclude I'm Greek? I work and I pay for the Greeks' past follies. And unlike you Turks, we've never enjoyed handouts in any form.
    1
  18195.  @rob2540  So you liked your own comment. A bit like pleasuring yourself in public, innit?
    1
  18196.  @guharup  Neither of which is true. Pro-Russian arguments never stand scrutiny.
    1
  18197.  @guharup  Oh, I'm not doing anti-papist conspiracy theories.
    1
  18198.  @guharup  Now you're just being paranoid. I've never sung the praises of the USA. However, I do like facts, which you clearly hate.
    1
  18199.  @guharup  You suggested that Ukraine has applied for NATO and EU membership. No such applications are pending. Fail.
    1
  18200.  @guharup  What exactly am I supposed to read on Wikipedia? You sound incoherent.
    1
  18201.  @guharup  OK, you're slowing becoming more articulate, but somehow you're still unable to articulate which Wikipedia article you're referring to. And that for such a "literate" person. In 2008, Ukraine was admitted to NATO's MAP process, but only for Yanukovych to put matters on hold two years later. Ukraine was considered to be active in MAP again in 2021. Be that as it may, it's still a long, long road to membership, as Ukraine doesn't come close to meeting the requirements. It's interesting to note that Russia remains in NATO's Partnership for Peace program, which was -- and still is -- considered a portal to NATO. By your logic, should we also consider Russia an active applicant for NATO membership? Would you care to elaborate on your claim that Ukraine is being offered EU membership? Or was that another attempt at trolling?
    1
  18202. It isn't even huge.
    1
  18203.  @miroslavdusin4325  Rather, the Russians are going through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. They seem to have concluded the denial phase (what military setbacks, we REGROUPED) and arrived at anger (those meanie terrorists!). Then it's pleas for peace (can we please steal a bit of your land), sulking (no fair, everyone's a meanie) and finally, a colour revolution.
    1
  18204. Aren't you cynical.
    1
  18205.  @whiteeye3453  What is it about the EU's democratic credentials that doesn't pass muster with you? Try to be specific.
    1
  18206.  @whiteeye3453  So von der Leyen is earning herself a second consecutive term. Is that somehow undemocratic? She's got the support of the majority and that's what counts. I have to say, I'm disappointed with your reply. I blame myself, I set my expectations too high.
    1
  18207.  @whiteeye3453  Didn't you get it the first time when I explained that a majority within the European Parliament approves of Ursula von der Leyen remaining in her current role? Not the far right, but her parliamentary group, the EPP, won the European elections. Hence, majority. Don't you know how parliamentary democracies pick their leaders? We vote in our representatives, who then pick a leader. In the EU's case, we involve the European Council as well, consisting of duly-elected leaders of the member countries. It's all very democratic.
    1
  18208.  @user-qs4qo2ek2g  Germany isn't sending the BMP-1s; a Czech company is. The company bought them from Sweden, which bought them from Germany, which inherited them from East Germany, which bought them from the Soviet Union. Ever since the Swedish deal, Germany has had a say who gets to have them next, which it just did with regard to Ukraine. Not too long ago. there was a similar episode involving Soviet-made howitzers that made their way from Germany to Finland, Estonia and finally, Ukraine. I hope the latter has put them to good use. Keep up your English studies and you'll be more easily understood.
    1
  18209.  @MrTan189  My intellect has allowed me to master not only grammar and spelling, but also, punctuation and capitalisation. You weren't so lucky with your intellect.
    1
  18210.  @Ego-Kills  Never heard of it? Or still learning about it?
    1
  18211.  @Ego-Kills  I was a guest lecturer once, but college level. Your needs are addressed by primary ed teachers. Sorry.
    1
  18212.  @Ego-Kills  I don't want to take the bread out of a primary teacher's mouth.
    1
  18213.  @nigeljohnson9820  You might as well destroy your own fishing fleet -- or to get some return on investment, sell it off for scrap.
    1
  18214.  @nigeljohnson9820  You can speculate all you want, but from a legal standpoint, the UN decides who gets to fish where. The EEZ isn't necessarily all that exclusive when they're through with it. Reciprocity, why not. The law is the same for everyone. But you can't deny that the UK is extremely dependent on the EU as an export market for its fish. Without access to a nearby market, parts of the British fishing industry will collapse. Go attack a French fisherman if you're spoiling for a fight. I have no part in it.
    1
  18215.  @ulrikjensen6841  What exactly is the great attraction of a monarchy? Income from tourism? France literally cut off the problem at the head, and it's raking it in like no other.
    1
  18216. So you advocate (the US?) invading and annexing Taiwan? It just so happens, that's what Xi's communist regime has in mind.
    1
  18217.  @sinoroman  No it isn't.
    1
  18218.  @guleet75  Sure thing. It happens even in the most developed countries.
    1
  18219. Yup, China and India are cashing in while the Ukrainians suffer.
    1
  18220. There's also Austria, Cyprus, Malta and Ireland. Then the package will be complete.
    1
  18221.  @biokomalabo9468  Haha, you really don't know your proverbs. Wish you hadn't slept through school, don't you?
    1
  18222. It's uncanny that the Soviets had their Vietnam War moment in Afghanistan and now, in similar copycat style, the Russians are having their War in Afghanistan moment in Syria. I wonder how our resident Krembots will explain this after criticising NATO for the Afghanistan failure, without being total hypocrites. The moral of the story must be that it's useless to prop up regimes that the people don't care for. Bye bye, Assad, we won't miss ya.
    1
  18223. Really? There are nasty precedents in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.
    1
  18224.  @thatcopenguy  True. My cousin and I drove my uncle's Lamborghini to the local boozer. The local girls where not impressed. It had 28 hp, as I recall. Perhaps we should've scraped off the caked manure.
    1
  18225. ​ @dotmarceo  Obviously Modi isn't laughing. India is dependent on Russia militarily, in terms of materiel. Now that Russia is unable to supply weapons, and the weapons it has supplied previously are exhibiting subpar performance in Ukraine, Modi has to find alternative sources -- from the West. Much to Modi's chagrin, the USA in particular attaches strings to its arms exports.
    1
  18226.  @akolb8813  Don't let your little racist imagination get the better of you.
    1
  18227.  @azurebadger  I spontaneously came up with it, kiddo. Must be a natural reaction.
    1
  18228.  @Semper_Iratus  Sure, I'm a democrat with a lower case d. But coconut trees don't grow in these here parts, pardner.
    1
  18229. But both lack the intellectual property for a great many products that Russia craves.
    1
  18230. First, Netanyahu will have to set foot in a country that's a state party to the Rome Statute. Neither Israel nor the US are state parties. Israel signed, but withdrew when they saw the writing on the wall.
    1
  18231.  @brianb6796  Americans in general, smarty-pants. You always think you can disavow past presidents as you please, although you elected the lot of them. As a nation(?), try to bear responsibility for your choices.
    1
  18232.  @asecmimosas4536  Sure, Urgh bashed Gurgh's head in with a club and took over Gurgh's cave. The big difference here is that Russia is still acting like a caveman.
    1
  18233.  @thodorisd5136  You're just underlining that democracy doesn't work in Hungary. No wonder, Orban has managed to dismantle or neuter all democratic institutions.
    1
  18234. The usual drama queenery on your part, that's what's afoot.
    1
  18235. Wrong plane, too. It was an ATR72 turbo twin.
    1
  18236. Does Truss realise that her flaky tenure as PM was one reason why Sunak did poorly in the election?
    1
  18237. Shoot, we've missed out on all the looting. You should've told us that your "riches" are up for grabs.
    1
  18238. Don't you have anything better to do than spin silly conspiracy theories? How about planning Putin's escape to China, North Korea or Syria, whichever will have him.
    1
  18239. Too bad Putin's great white shark turned out to be a small-spotted catshark instead, a small bottom-feeding shark that's abundant in the North Sea. My local fishmonger has it sometimes. It's bycatch, but we both feel it shouldn't go to waste. As an avid diver with one underwater encounter under my belt, I can vouch that the great white shark is a different kettle of fish!
    1
  18240.  @muckraker7942  Trump should let street gangs attack tenants of his who're behind in rent payments. Same difference. Wait, should Trump's many, many irate creditors also send street thugs after him? What's good for the goose...
    1
  18241.  @seymourkrelborn4780  Even if not unlawful, it's extremely dubious behaviour for a would-be president.
    1
  18242. Putin wanted to demilitarise Ukraine, but ended up remilitarising the whole of Europe. Not only that, he also alienated his biggest and best customers, supplanting them with opportunists like China and India, who're only too happy to buy Russia's oil below production cost. Things being as they are, starting an arms race must go down in history as the most asinine mistake Russia has ever made.
    1
  18243. It begs the question why he made Beirut his base. It must be swarming with Mossad informants and agents.
    1
  18244.  @Im_better__ø  Tell us how Europe(?) got "involved in American election [sic]"? Are you trying to muzzle our media?
    1
  18245. Be that as it may, but the far right was gained a great propagandist in you.
    1
  18246. And the difference is...
    1
  18247.  @sharpshooter_Aus  Interesting. In your grand view, the non-conscripts are obligated to receive military training, but only in case they feel like fighting when the faecal matter hits the rotary impeller. I think you're describing a future slave state.
    1
  18248.  @sharpshooter_Aus  To a conscript, training and service are one and the same. So I ask you again, does Dubai set aside Emirates A380s for those who wish to flee instead of fighting off the invaders, or is everyone issued a white flag, just in case they change their mind when the bullets start flying? You're not prepared and ready if you're not committed.
    1
  18249.  @sharpshooter_Aus  You and your ilk are pussies. There are no two ways about it.
    1
  18250. Sure it does. When the buying stops, the killing can, too.
    1
  18251.  @aantonic  Sure, Ukraine is a beacon of democracy, freedom and human rights in a sea formed by Russia and Ukraine. No question about it.
    1
  18252. But the Middle East was behind MERS, right?
    1
  18253. Hoezo dat? Als een formatie rondom de PVV niet wil lukken, dan maar zonder, en zonder nieuwe verkiezingen ook. Het zou geen unicum zijn.
    1
  18254. You're welcome. A wealth transfer from Russia to India can't be a bad thing.
    1
  18255. Je hebt meer aan een akrobaat. Adriaan dus.
    1
  18256. Jack? You're that dull boy from the nursery rhyme, aren't you?
    1
  18257.  @janbrown9195  Boarders? You keep a boarding house?
    1
  18258. The cancer has spread to his brain.
    1
  18259. Bollocks. I don't see our leaders condoning this. Your botting is over the top, even for a bot.
    1
  18260. Are you sure Russia can afford that? Better stop the war now, Pootie, before bankruptcy looms.
    1
  18261.  @nohandler1493  Firstly, we don't print dollars. We print euros. Secondly, we didn't just lose our biggest and best customer, meaning the EU, while having nothing else of value to export than oil and gas. Oh, Russia did have arms to sell, but that's in the past as well. Russia's arms exports just collapsed.
    1
  18262.  @nohandler1493  Don't spout nonsense. The EU has a diversified economy that has proven very resilient. You must be confusing it with Russia's economy, which has proven wholly incapable of diversifying, despite Putin's constant promises to that effect for more than two decades. Putin has failed Russia. Sure, Russia produces commodities. They're price-driven goods and profit margins are low -- so low, in fact, that at times producers sell them below cost. Russia's Urals crude is a case in point. We know that oil and gas are by far the most important commodities to Russia, and those aren't selling in sufficient volumes and at sufficiently profitable prices to keep the Russian economy afloat over the longer term. You need to pray, not us.
    1
  18263. Tell us more. Which treaty mentioned such a condition?
    1
  18264.  @benvandam369  So, when's ACW2 starting? You certainly have been gearing up for it for ages.
    1
  18265. That's old news. Ukraine has been winning hearts and minds from the get-go.
    1
  18266. Only the Norks believe you.
    1
  18267.  @bahacho9205  You, too, seem blissfully ignorant that the UNSC, which has China and Russia as its permanent members, approved the mission. Are you saying both are puppets of America? OK. For your info, Iran contributed 2 personnel to MINUSMA. China did better with 426, which is not kitten pee, as we say in my country. As to Russia, which provided none, you may want to ask them why yourself, because I don't know the answer. I do know that Russia is certainly no superpower in UN peacekeeping, but truth be told, neither is the US (8 soldiers of theirs served with MINUSMA). I don't think you can call the Americans Caucasian. It's not a race anyway, and they're a very mixed bag racially speaking. For laughs, try Anglo-Saxons, and I'll point out that those ceased to exist after the Norman Conquest in the 11th century.
    1
  18268. Trump knows what he's doing. Ingesting light bulbs and bleach trumps the WHO.
    1
  18269. Cold War 2.0 is not a cause for happiness.
    1
  18270. Hezbollah thrives on violence, no matter whether it suffers it or metes it out. It doesn't matter if Hezbollah is half-crippled or two-thirds-crippled, it will rebound. Israel had better think of something else.
    1
  18271.  @yevgeni10  Did I suggest otherwise?
    1
  18272. Sigh. Where to start. What was WW2 about then? Did it start on the dark side of the moon?
    1
  18273.  @GamersRespawnful  Are we talking about the Moskva, stalking Western shipping from the bottom of the Mediterranean, like a legendary ghost ship, or rather, ghost submarine?
    1
  18274.  @GamersRespawnful  You don't seem to know that Russia operates a relatively small and old navy. But let's ignore facts.
    1
  18275.  @bobroberts2371  You're not well-versed in military procurement. In the West, the process involves ensuring that parts and components can be had even if international supply chains break down. Sure, China has risen, but not to the top.
    1
  18276.  @Gurfi28  We had the MG3 on our ex-Bundeswehr 2A4s, but now it's the MAG and 2A6s, the latter being ex-Royal Netherlands Army. Finnish Defence Forces, that is. It's true, officers miss out on all the fun -- I've yet to fire the MAG.
    1
  18277. The OSCE found no evidence whatsoever about a Ukrainian "genocide" in Donbas. As a long-standing OSCE member, you'd think Russia would've been all over it.
    1
  18278. What has Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's former president, got to do with anything?
    1
  18279. If you conspiracy theorists were as smart as you think you are, humanity wouldn't have a care in the world.
    1
  18280.  @sonofsomerset1695  Economic and political isolation will have a negative effect on the UK's military standing, too. The UK painting itself into a corner is definitely to Putin's advantage. One less adversary to worry about.
    1
  18281.  @uncaringnousername6801  Don't flatter yourself. If anything, the botched Brexit process has exposed severe flaws in British democracy. Unelected peers in the House of Lords, which is in a position to stop Brexit from happening, the likes of Farage not standing a chance to get elected into British Parliament, while his election into -- of all things -- the European Parliament was a shoe-in. Still you have the gall to suggest you had no say over decision-making in the EU, while the UK was involved every step of the way. Well, chances are that will come true -- May's pay-without-say model may yet be approved, if only because the UK has no better alternatives.
    1
  18282.  @uncaringnousername6801  Of course you can -- technically speaking -- walk away, but that doesn't appear to be the preferred option on your side of the Channel right now. The odds are stacked against a no-deal Brexit, but there's always a chance that it will happen, accidentally. If I have to make a semi-educated guess, I believe May's days are numbered in single digits. Early elections will bring an uneasy coalition of Labour and Lib Dems to power, who'll scratch Brexit altogether, because the alternative, the softest of soft Brexits, is too silly to contemplate. By the way, you can stop foaming at the mouth, since you're clearly a Brextremist and per definition a minority. But you have my permission to restart foaming at the mouth when Brexit is cancelled. It may console you that I have mixed feelings about that one, too.
    1
  18283.  @uncaringnousername6801  It's correct to say Brexiteers enjoyed a small majority in the referendum, but I called you a Brextremist. Extremism is never mainstream, but always fringe. In your case, radical fringe. Do yourself a favour and stop referring to yourself in first-person plural. People will think you suffer from megalomania.
    1
  18284.  @uncaringnousername6801  Brexit does concern me, because chances are that as a taxpayer and a net payer into the EU budget at that, I'll have to pick up your unpaid bills. Then there's the issue raised by the OP -- the negative impact of Brexit on Europe's geostrategic position. We'll have to pick up the slack there, too. Way to go eroding your credibility even further. Not only are you a foaming-at-the-mouth Brextremist, but also a silly conspiracy theorist. Tell me, do you subscribe to your home-grown NWO conspiracy theory according to which Queen Elizabeth is a blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilian humanoid? Please let it be so -- I haven't come across that kind in years.
    1
  18285.  @uncaringnousername6801  Who're you calling a Yank? You're the ones having a "special relationship" with your "American cousins". And isn't Trump going to be your sugar daddy once you quit the EU?
    1
  18286.  @JustSomeTommy  At the end of the day, *Scholz, timid and indecisive as he may be, forced Biden's hand, not vice versa.
    1
  18287. The same would go for Russia -- if Ukraine were inclined to go for civilian targets. Both sides are busily protecting targets of military value. Judging from the Russian oil refineries hit by Ukraine, Russia can't protect even those.
    1
  18288.  @souravjaiswal-jr4bj  Not true. In the Nordic countries, where sound judgement is more called for than in less forbidding climates, even the Greens have had a change of heart with regard to nuclear energy. They hate fossil fuels now.
    1
  18289. I fear your battle cries are mutually exclusive.
    1
  18290. No can do. Israel has carte blanche, courtesy of the USA.
    1
  18291.  @thatlittlevoice6354  No worries. As citizen soldiers, it's our civic duty to protect hearth and home.
    1
  18292.  @davidnealy6459  Why would you count out the Balts? Perhaps the Hungarians and the Slovaks, but the Balts most certainly stand with Europe.
    1
  18293.  @NotSoGood-765  Non sequitur, pal. Or can't you navigate to the right reply button?
    1
  18294.  @fujihita2500  It's perhaps more accurate to say Uzbekistan has Blackhawks now. I would guess your government explicitly okayed the operation, so don't be too judgemental.
    1
  18295.  @kenny2004.  Try English, "Kenny".
    1
  18296.  @kenny2004.  The inclident with the Egyptian policeman going berserk took place in Alexandria. That is to say, nowhere near a border.
    1
  18297.  @user-ns6kv7mk3m  It's a hate crime if a murderer picks out his victims by nationality, race, religion or whatever distinctive attribute that arouses his hatred. In the two Swedes' case it was clearly nationality. They were wearing jerseys of the Swedish national team, after all. What's so difficult to understand that hate crimes aren't purely about religion? Your ilk is always whining about bias or hypocrisy, but when confronted, you can't put your finger on it.
    1
  18298. It's in Russia's interest to stay aloof. And sell weapons to Iran, of course.
    1
  18299.  @freespiritable  More often than not, Orban doesn't get what he wants. Orban desperately needs EU funds to bribe his cronies -- funds that the EU is withholding from Hungary.
    1
  18300. Switch to Chanel 5 then. Smells very nice.
    1
  18301. Seems to be case of from the frying pan into the fire.
    1
  18302.  @Middle-Eastt  Have you heard of hybrid warfare?
    1
  18303. Peace in our time, eh?
    1
  18304.  @ashk6762  We can have an open discussion about it without being dragged away by the security services. Russians can't.
    1
  18305. You're a reason why we should never allow Serbia into the EU.
    1
  18306. Should we organize a GoFundMe campaign for the poor blighters?
    1
  18307. Actually, Wilders' PVV's prospective coalition partner, the right-wing VVD, suffered the biggest loss in this election. It probably cost Wilders a ministerial post.
    1
  18308. Erdogan doesn't know the meaning of the word "diplomacy". He cuts deals like a bazaar merchant.
    1
  18309. So your magic sky friend is just out to kill people, regardless of which Abrahamic religion they have taken a fancy to. After all, he rules over them all.
    1
  18310. They're not mutually exclusive concepts. Russia is full of them.
    1
  18311.  @unionjackjackson4352  The eastern parts of Germany should be grateful to get immigrants in after so many of their own left for the western parts. It's always those who have the least exposure to immigrants that are the most xenophobic towards them.
    1
  18312.  @unionjackjackson4352  I was there, in Berlin, when the wall fell. Sorta hard to forget -- dude. All in all, the eastern parts of Germany lost about 4 million before reunification and 2 million afterward. Few have returned since. Try to concern yourself with facts for a change.
    1
  18313.  @unionjackjackson4352  Colour me surprised. You are showing an interest in facts. For starters, search for "East German refugees", "internal migration from East to West Germany".
    1
  18314.  @valdius85  What "current actions and ommisons [sic]" might those be?
    1
  18315.  @alpaculeus5474  India is UNSC President as we speak. Tell me more about how useless you are.
    1
  18316. Not to any lessons on autocracy, that's for sure. Democracy is in peril in the US as it is.
    1
  18317.  @basr-i9c  The protracted and troublesome formation doesn't bode well for the staying power of this government. Let's see who pulls the rug from under it. I'm torn between the NSC and the PVV.
    1
  18318.  @ТанечкаНовчик  I don't speak gibberish.
    1
  18319. Thought TRLS, OAR's meek medal haul suggests otherwise.
    1
  18320. You're getting desperate in the Kremlin. I understand.
    1
  18321.  @michael-muller  Nah, you're spinning stories. Russia is the military aggressor here. The UNGA made that very clear. Nothing wrong with helping the victim of aggression with intelligence and weapons. The mercenaries, on the other hand, are a figment of your imagination. I hope you're getting paid for your trolling. You do know, right, what the Kremlin propagandist call their unpaid Western volunteers? Useful...what was it again?
    1
  18322.  @silviabarbosa5804  I call myself a democrat, without the capital D. Like I wrote earlier, you should stick to VK. The chance of getting your sensibilities hurt on YouTube is far too great.
    1
  18323. They still gotta eat, right? And when do you plan to travel to Ukraine and help with the fight? Or is Counter-Strike the best you can manage?
    1
  18324.  @robertyerex2113  You're silly. What gave you the idea I'm Ukrainian? We've earned our freedom from tyranny three times over in the 20th century -- without your military aid.
    1
  18325. Putin is showing great compassion for the Ukrainians, huh? For your info, Putin's Russia isn't communist; it's crony capitalist.
    1
  18326. Aren't you quite the MAGAtard. Going forward, Trump wants EU soldiers to keep the peace in Ukraine. Also, what really hamstrung the Russian economy are EU sanctions. Russia didn't much trade with the US, so US sanctions Russia can live with. Let's also not forget that it was EUROmaidan that made cuckolded Putin blow his top and go on the warpath.
    1
  18327. Here are your 50 paise. Run along now.
    1
  18328. You could offer half the UK to Putin instead, to see if that satisfies his lust for Lebensraum, and if so, for how long.
    1
  18329. That'll do, Krembot.
    1
  18330.  @anthonyhulse1248  That would be Saint Nicholas. We believe in the Yule goat, which is decidedly pagan.
    1
  18331. Aren't you even a little bit concerned about the many more Russian war dead? And the even more numerous Russians who've fled mobilisation, probably never to return and forever depriving Russia of their brainpower? Since you're so empathic, you should spare the poor Russians some thought as well.
    1
  18332. Press? Your train of logic implies that Russia should be censored. The truth is very optional for the Kremlin.
    1
  18333. You think Russia will brutally invade Ukraine in reprisal? Wait...
    1
  18334. I see you're a fan of Hong Kong's draconic national security law. Please stay out of the West.
    1
  18335. So Putin would nuke Moscow in order to prevent his ouster. Interesting proposition.
    1
  18336. Putin is of a different species, a newt.
    1
  18337. Huh? Putin should sign a law that allows unicorns to join Russia's armed forces. Maybe they can charm the Wagnerites to play nice.
    1
  18338.  @Agent0O000O  Dat zie ik heel anders. Ik heb nog een tijdje bij de Huzaren van Boreel gezeten. Van moreel onder de dienstplichtigen kon je amper spreken.
    1
  18339. So he has violated the law in France and for those violations he's about to stand trial. If other countries want a piece of him, they'll have to set an extradition procedure in motion.
    1
  18340.  @zelenskyy-the-blackmailerh5920  Have ever given it any thought that your megalomaniacal impersonation of Zelenskyy is actually a compliment to the man? I mean, Napoleon has many impersonators in mental asylums. Only great leaders have 'em.
    1
  18341. ​ @duncansmith7562  1. Actually, I did a tour with KFOR with bomb damage assessment as one of my responsibilities. I received training for it from the Americans. I'm inclined to believe their reports on Russian losses, because in Kosovo, we found preciously little evidence of Serbian losses as a result of NATO's massive air campaign, and that's what the Americans duly reported. What's your expertise in matters military, if I may ask? 2. No, Russia is begging. Successfully, from rogue states Iran and North Korea, but without success from its erstwhile arms buyers. Russia was meekly asking them if they could spare some of the kit that they had delivered earlier. Pathetic. 3. Russia has no prospect for bringing the war in Ukraine to a graceful end that would justify the immense cost incurred. That's a Pyrrhic victory (read: defeat) at best. Mark my words, sooner or later Russia will ask for peace terms. They won't be favourable to Russia, but Russia will accept them all the same. The question is, will Russia be so broke that once again, the West will need to provide financial assistance?
    1
  18342.  @justiceandfreedom5773  Yeah, the UK president, that's a real meanie!
    1
  18343.  @Laller1043  If so, there shouldn't there also be a law that forbids promoting heterosexuality to children, since that can confuse homosexual children about their sexuality. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, eh?
    1
  18344. @fire dust Donbas is Ukraine and its habitants are Ukrainian, little buddy. I would also like see evidence of the alleged genocide that you Putin trolls keep bringing up. Hint: repeating allegations doesn't constitute evidence.
    1
  18345. Jeetje. De Sovjet-Unie is spontaan uiteengevallen. Net zoals Rusland zelf, werd Oekraïne van de ene dag op de andere onafhankelijk. Er waren geen randvoorwaarden. Er waren voordien gesprekken met de Sovjetleiders over de uitbreiding van de NAVO, maar dat had betrof de Duitse hereniging. Oekraïne kwam niet aan bod. Jouw geschiedschrijving berust of pure verzinselen.
    1
  18346. Poland does have the dubious honour of being the new battlefield of Europe, like Germany held the honour during Cold War 1.
    1
  18347.  @tabasco-jf7eb  I'm afraid Russia lacks the necessary amphibious capability, and it could never provide air cover either, with Russia's sole aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov having become a complete joke. So, it would be a reenactment of the Battle of Britain, but without the air war. Just Russian hot air.
    1
  18348.  @kacperpan7998  For your info, the term 'battlefield of Europe' used to apply to Belgium.
    1
  18349. We need better reasons for that.
    1
  18350. Moscow has even successful sought North Korean missiles, so why not Iranian? Both North Korea and Iran are countries that Russia has sanctioned in the past because of their nuclear weapons programmes. Beggars can't be choosers, it appears.
    1
  18351.  @UkraineNeeds  I suppose, like the rest of NATO. Turkey and Hungary have no real objections either, it's just that they just have self-serving interests to pursue. They make poor allies, that much is certain.
    1
  18352. Well, it would appear Trump is soon available to take on new challenges.
    1
  18353. ​ @minimoog4236  It's a start, but it's the long drop that does it.
    1
  18354. Can't they keep Prince Andrew in a gilded cage in London Zoo?
    1
  18355.  @anti-bullingjames  NATO didn't get involved in Syria. Facts are a b*tch, aren't they?
    1
  18356. Shades of grey elude you.
    1
  18357. In the US, thyroid cancer patients have a 98% 5-year survival rate. There's no reason to believe Putin isn't receiving the same level of care. Karma is being too lenient.
    1
  18358.  @123Andersonev  Both Hamas and the other accused party, Islamic Jihad, have made references to an Israeli bomb causing the blast.
    1
  18359. Organic Orcs do much, much better in that role. An Russia eagerly complies.
    1
  18360.  @abfree5501  Yeah, not doing conspiracy theories.
    1
  18361.  @abfree5501  Yeah, still not doing conspiracy theories.
    1
  18362.  DD-RO  They're all the same Abrahamic deity, a.k.a. Yahwe, God and Allah.
    1
  18363. Inclusivity is a prerequisite for the future stability of Syria. And why would that be just a concern of "the collective West"? Why are you always hiding behind us? Man up, for once. Lack of inclusivity doesn't seem to prevent your lot from presenting yourselves at our borders as asylum seekers (read: economic migrants). Why don't you pick more inclusive hosts?
    1
  18364.  @mobeyond  A duopoly is still twice as good as the CCP's monopoly on power.
    1
  18365.  @megavarnan3691  You guys need to educate yourselves. The president of Finland is the commander-in-chief of the defences forces.
    1
  18366. It could produce great literature once again. Misery has that effect.
    1
  18367.  @henryseidel5469  You must think very highly of yourself if you think your personal opinion carries much weight. Russia will not find any solutions for replacing Europe as a customer for its gas. Gas pipelines don't spawn out of thin air. They take a decade to build, but even that's a hypothetical proposition, because Russia can't source the necessary technology. Without the means to exploit them, Russia's plentiful resources are as useful to Russians as they were to cavemen.
    1
  18368.  @henryseidel5469  Don't be silly. I've visited Russia yearly for over twenty years, except for the last two on account of Covid. Russia is cornered, and the saddest part is that Putin painted the country into a corner. Your naïve gum-flapping isn't going to change the fact.
    1
  18369. The Fascists are in the Kremlin.
    1
  18370.  @hdhnbggh8312  I'd be interested to see how you'd fare if you stood trial as a baby-killer and argued that there's no such thing as a crime.
    1
  18371.  @linick8689  Your claim that "most countries support China" is not borne out by facts. Surveys show that despite Trump's enduring global unpopularity, the USA still trumps (pun intended) China in popularity worldwide. Interestingly, Xi appears to have the same depressing effect on China's global popularity.
    1
  18372. The question is, does Iran really expect Israel not to retaliate in kind? Israeli military planners must be salivating at the opportunity to strike Iran directly. Iran just provided a very welcome excuse.
    1
  18373.  @kanedNunable  That's highly debatable. Iran uses proxies to attack Israel and Israel attacks their Iranian handlers, thus far on foreign soil. Try to keep it civil, buddy.
    1
  18374. Conspiracy theories to the rescue.
    1
  18375. It's legal immigration, at least temporarily, after newly-arrived migrants apply for asylum. Only when they abscond after been denied asylum, they become illegals. It's all relative, but Britain offers the best living and working conditions for illegals in Europe. That's why it's a favourite destination of theirs.
    1
  18376. It gets warmer and heating is less of an issue?
    1
  18377.  @drmorcoch9338  Duh. I'm not an extraterrestrial.
    1
  18378.  @user-zz8lb6bd7p  It was in international waters, too. What gave you the idea it wasn't?
    1
  18379. ​ @arisplugis5197  Maritime Law allows for a vessel to be seized in international waters if it engages in piracy. Damaging property may conceivably come under piracy, but it's hard to ascertain, especially in these anchor-dragging cases. If Somali pirates attack shipping around the Horn of Africa, there will be distress calls, but subsea cable-cutting isn't that obvious. It's similar to making a citizen's arrest. Unless there's an in flagrante delicto situation, the arresting citizen could be accused of kidnapping or unlawful restraint. It's because as mere citizens, we don't have the same powers as the police. The same is true for our authorities in international waters.
    1
  18380. I know, Iraqi infantry tried to surrender to Apache attack helicopters in the Gulf War. Now it's Russians surrendering to drones.
    1
  18381. Above all, it's damaging to Murica. But hey, as an outsider, mud fights are fun to watch.
    1
  18382. Nunsuch, no matter which side you wish to blame, Murica is in self-destruction mode.
    1
  18383. Nunsuch, only relatively so. The political elite, both Democrat and Republican, is down, but far from out. The stagnant US political culture allows them to cling on to power for much longer still, and it will probably require a mini revolution to oust them. Trump getting elected is only a sign that trouble is afoot, but no more. After all, Trump has already made peace with the system.
    1
  18384.  @AfricanMaverick  I warned you against unduly flattering yourselves. You had no clue about the coup d'état. Do the anti-government protests first, and then we'll believe you that there's more at stake than just another opportunistic power grab. You're not Gabonese, are you? So you're just as much foreigner as I am.
    1
  18385. "Their" as in the Reptilians? Please say yes.
    1
  18386.  @ThePhantazmya  Neither the Netherlands nor France have designs on Belgium. It's as if you're stuck in the 19th century, with Napoleon still stomping around Europe. As for population size, there's neighbouring Luxembourg with less than a million inhabitants. The Baltic states, too, have a smaller population each than an independent Wallonia would have. Flanders would outnumber Croatia, Ireland, Finland and Denmark population-wise. You don't make a compelling case, I'm afraid.
    1
  18387.  @zoom777  It would be rather fitting that the last man that the Ukrainians kill in battle is Dmitry Utkin, a.k.a. Wagner and a committed neo-Nazi.
    1
  18388. A few years ago, Israel sent F-35s for a spin above Damascus and Syria' S-300s and S-400s couldn't detect them. Finland, which will soon have the F-35 as well, will be fine.
    1
  18389. Their reporter might be a bit sad to leave. That said, I don't know if he liked his posting.
    1
  18390.  @throughput6674  Nork TNT is lethal all right, but when the Nork shells fall short due to quality issues, it's Orcs that get killed.
    1
  18391.  @erikitter6773  We do have AC in Europe in the form of air source heat pumps. While they're primarily meant for heating, they're good for cooling as well. Finland, which leads they way in adoption of ASHPs, alone has a million units. That's almost one unit for every 5 citizens.
    1
  18392. He certain excels at 4D chess. 4D pigeon chess, that is.
    1
  18393.  @eviken1982  Israël is er nog niet wat terrorisme betreft, maar komt al aardig in de buurt.
    1
  18394. China has a get-out-of-jail-free-card for carbon dioxide emissions. Think global, act local?
    1
  18395.  @GolfNut867  It appears a Russian indirect goal is to ruin the Russian economy thoroughly. If there's no just peace, the international sanctions will remain in place.
    1
  18396.  @michealcurrie8272  You of all people have made it so. By the way, it's "you're", not "your". I also suspect you've misspelled your own given name.
    1
  18397.  @michealcurrie8272  OK, Mi-cheat
    1
  18398. Prigozhin just hired Mikhail Mizintsev, the failed logistics chief that Putin just fired. Go figure.
    1
  18399.  @johnweidner1809  Me thinks the Russian Armed Forces are too far gone for a new deputy defence minister to fix things in nine months, as Mizintsev was supposed to do. It must take a decade to undo several decades of neglect and corruption. His successor is doomed as well.
    1
  18400.  @johnsonshieh50  Netanyahu is part of the seemingly incurable cancer that troubles the Middle East. He should set an example by excising himself from government.
    1
  18401. I know this one! Russia! Correct?
    1
  18402. The far right doesn't represent the right.
    1
  18403.  @Franco0608  Nokia's alive and well. Nokia remains one of the top-tier mobile network providers. Even Nokia handsets are making a comeback. All it took was taking Microsoft out of the equation.
    1
  18404. The unwieldy French electoral system would test the patience of any electorate.
    1
  18405.  @nuqwestr  No-one is denying that Assad was an absolute ruler, but with or without him, there's still a sovereign state called Syria. No new agreements are needed, since the existing ones are still binding unless they're explicitly revoked. Don't make stuff up.
    1
  18406. So what's your beef with Euronews? Is Russia in your assessment not defiant, but rather, bending over?
    1
  18407. But Asa, if Russia's defiance is fake news, you're implying that Russia accepts the verdict. Try to make sense.
    1
  18408. Asa, I'm starting to get it. You're full with impotent rage.
    1
  18409. Let's get the OSCE back in. Russia's false flags were effectively debunked.
    1
  18410. The concern here is North Korea holding the world hostage with nuclear weapons and Russia switching sides in that respect. Russia used to condemn North Korea's nuclear shenanigans in no uncertain terms, just like the rest of the world, but I guess that in present circumstances, beggars can't be chosers, so Russia needed to lower its morals quite a bit. Besides, Russia is increasingly clutching at the same straw, its nuclear arsenal. It's not like Pootie-Poot has more trump cards left.
    1
  18411.  @haiduong-ji9ls  If you must whatabout, at least do it properly. Let me show you how it's done: whatabout-whatabout-whatabout the US, Russia, UK, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea? BTW, do you have a point, too?
    1
  18412. Yeah, Putin, why?
    1
  18413. If not the WHO, what should its place? It looks like China knowingly withheld information from them, or the world at large regarding the outbreak. Any other international health organisation could've likewise been fooled.
    1
  18414.  @Suuban225  You should expect competent economic leadership from "the best leader of the world", but alas, it appears such things are above your (ever-dropping) paygrade.
    1
  18415. Argumentum ad populum. A worthless argument, in case you don't know what it means.
    1
  18416.  @Alivealive97  Ge moogt een weekendje Antwerpen doen, daar blijft het bij.
    1
  18417. I wouldn't go that far. Or did you have anything to back that up?
    1
  18418. Don't flatter yourselves. The Brits have long since had a change of heart on Brexit. The Brexiteers couldn't deliver on their promises. It was a hoax.
    1
  18419. In the primaries, yes, but Trump is unlikely to unite the Republican Party behind him. A lot of Republican votes will go to... gasp... Biden. It will be LOSE-lose, or a matter of minimising the damage.
    1
  18420.  @DemosBrutus  You're lending credence to the stereotype about Americans and geography. The continent is called North America.
    1
  18421.  @DemosBrutus  Bravo, geography isn't insurmountable to you.
    1
  18422.  @DemosBrutus  There is no continent called America. Now I'm starting to think again that geography is insurmountable to you.
    1
  18423.  @DemosBrutus  Geopolitics don't enter into it. It's an internationally agreed convention that North America is a continent on its own, just like South America is another continent. If you insist on lumping the two together because they're continuous land, then I insist that you consider Europe, Asia and Africa as one single continent as well. That must confuse the heck out of a geographically-challenged American such as yourself.
    1
  18424.  @DemosBrutus  Now you think I'm American? And no country called America? Whoever has claimed there is? You're throughly confused.
    1
  18425.  @rocadezona85  Russian soldiers never retreat! Sometimes, however, they do an about-turn and keep advancing, but this time to the rear.
    1
  18426. Aid-washing?
    1
  18427.  @EmperorAshokaTheGreat250BC  India is cynically making a profit all right, at the expense of both Russia -- your supposed friend -- and Ukraine. Without a moral backbone you have no business in the UN Security Council as a permanent member. Try to grow one, finally.
    1
  18428.  @EmperorAshokaTheGreat250BC  I'd always choose innocence above your subservience. Besides, in the past, you endured some of "our" innocence. Feel free to call it such -- may that will stop your incessant whining about colonialism. And don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  18429.  @EmperorAshokaTheGreat250BC  Good for you. Now try to get rid of that submissive attitude of yours as well. So you stopped upvoting your own comments. Splendid.
    1
  18430.  @majormoolah5056  Comme d'habitude. When confronted with a Frenchman -- any Frenchman -- the Americans' inferiority complex kicks in and they overcompensate.
    1
  18431.  @stevenrodriguez3891  It's not a matter of money. Overpaying for health care is the American way.
    1
  18432. This is about letting justice run its course. Feelings don't enter into it.
    1
  18433. Being extremists, I suspect they're ranting and raving at the "injustice" of the US questioning their actions.
    1
  18434.  @happymelon7129  I bet you personally would prefer "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer".
    1
  18435. It will be super-embarrassing when you have to grovel to the US and France to get your fix of weapons. Did you catch the memo about Russia experiencing delivery problems?
    1
  18436. Relocating Gibraltarians will be a minor issue compared to the deluge of British expats returning from Spain. The scale of the problem is ten-fold compared to Gibraltar.
    1
  18437. Every conflict needs a Comical Ali. Saddam had the real thing, Putin has Lavrov and Hamas has this clown.
    1
  18438.  @mitjabrglez9599  You're making precious little sense.
    1
  18439.  @mitjabrglez9599  You're just too weird for words.
    1
  18440.  @mitjabrglez9599  Sorry, I don't think you're fit for rational conversation.
    1
  18441.  @phoque121  Actually, the Brits are planning to store CO2 in abandoned coal mines. It looks rather promising.
    1
  18442. I was conerned about the NWO making way for the WEF in conspiracy theories, but I see it's back again. Can we have the Reptilians back, too, or did they die out with QE2?
    1
  18443. It's a choice they have to make. Die inside a fiery coffin or on top of one.
    1
  18444.  @dancahill9585  No, the EU didn't boot the UK. The UK was indeed behind the fateful decision. But the divorce arrangements haven been rehearsed now.
    1
  18445.  @drakes4625  About that, it's accepted practice to replace "ü" with "ue". I wonder if that's what Tuerkiye wants.
    1
  18446. He's keen to loosen things up? Spelling matters, Rais.
    1
  18447. You're barking up the wrong tree. Russia can stop this war overnight. Oh, and you're contradicting yourself.
    1
  18448.  @1247.cccccc  And what ethnic cleansing might that be? The OSCE reported no such thing, and if anyone, they ought to know.
    1
  18449. You're exaggerating. You don't have a heart.
    1
  18450.  @sumvs5992  Try to reform the British Commonwealth first. The members of the present Commonwealth mock you openly.
    1
  18451. There was a war going on between Russia and Japan at the time. It made perfect sense for Japan to tie up Russian troops in Finland while a ground war was ongoing in the Far East. The Germans did the same to Russia during WW1.
    1
  18452.  @wmjahn  Rather, Russia is going nowhere fast. Europe is suffering a bit because the ruble is declining again, so much so that Russians struggle to afford European imports.
    1
  18453.  @Pqj613  It means they disagree with their mobilisation, not with the war in general, as you claim. It's the same with the mothers and spouses of those Russian reservists who do end up in Ukraine. They're indignant about the poor training, missing and shoddy equipment, reckless tactics and whatnot. They should be protesting against the war on moral grounds.
    1
  18454.  @Pqj613  You're making excuses. Guilty conscience?
    1
  18455.  @Pqj613  I've done better than that, I've joined many a protest. The last one was in Hong Kong, the epic two-million pro-democracy rally. You? About me being a keyboard warrior, I put in two years of overseas military service, in Lebanon and Kosovo. Some of us died over there. I was pallbearer for a fallen fellow soldier. You?
    1
  18456. Pipe down. Artillery shells come with a very modest profit margin. They're not rocket science. Everyone and their dog can make them.
    1
  18457.  @1vachmed94  Da's andere koek. Dubai heeft geen last van overstromingen.
    1
  18458.  @1vachmed94  Zeg dat dan en klets niet over Dubai.
    1
  18459. If the landing ship was struck by a Tochka or Neptune missile, as experts have suggested, the port of Berdyansk continues to be within striking range. Also, the sunk ship is blocking part of the pier, which isn't helping Russia's supply situation either.
    1
  18460.  @louispatrick4442  You must be a bit thick in the skull. It's a defamation case, not a rape case. Trump has defamed her, but whether or not he really raped her, too, is another matter. Trump doesn't get carte blanche to defame an accusor even if he feel he's being wrongfully accused. His big mouth got him into this trouble.
    1
  18461. Just neutralise a threat, which is Hamas. At the end of the day, if Israel plays its cards right and restarts the stalled peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, they'll do the Palestinians a favour as well.
    1
  18462. But you can't have a Canada-style FTA. Distance is a barrier to trade. Unlike the Canucks, you're right at our doorstep.
    1
  18463.  @jpw6893  Right, a welterweight challenging a heavyweight.
    1
  18464.  @jpw6893  The UK beats the EU in obesity, that much is sure.
    1
  18465.  @jpw6893  Yeah, I'm sure the Yanks, who're even more obese than you, will gladly sell you their shite.
    1
  18466.  @jpw6893  Chlorinated chicken, yummers.
    1
  18467.  @jpw6893  It's not about chlorine, but about dodgy food and farming practices in the US, which the Americans try to remedy with disinfectants such as chlorine. Imagine your mum making you a cup of tea without washing her hands first, despite having just worked with horse manure in the garden. To prevent you from getting the runs, she slips a Milton tablet in your cup. Sure enough, you'll be fine -- or so the theory goes. It's common knowledge that the Yanks very much want you to repeal your cumbersome laws pertaining to food safety, so they can start dumping their sub-standard foodstuffs. You'd better stock up on bleach. I hear it cures corona, too.
    1
  18468.  @travisr4321  Where's the evidence, Trav? Produce an OSCE reports that corroborates you claim. Or just slink back into your troll cave.
    1
  18469.  @travisr4321  The burden of proof lies with the accuser, Trav. I can tell you that not a single OSCE monitor out of the 700 that were in the Donbas since 2014 found evidence of Ukraine targeting civilians. That makes you the liar.
    1
  18470.  @oberleutnant4013  Rather, Finland sending Leopard 2s to Ukraine is "under consideration". It's no longer just two rank-and-file politicians speculating, but the Finnish minister of defence and the president weighed in, too.
    1
  18471. World + dog disagrees.
    1
  18472. We'll see the UK disintegrate well before that. The double whammy of Brexit and corona is a death sentence.
    1
  18473. Martin, you've got it backwards -- Trump is sore that the UK decided to stick with the EU as a hang-around member instead of starting to serve US interests.
    1
  18474. Better leave the UN, too. When you're on a roll, will you also vacate the North American continent? I suppose the originals, the native Americans, can stay.
    1
  18475. Interestingly, your freedom of navigation doesn't apply to the Black Sea, where these warships would be really needed.
    1
  18476. Do they have ICBMs now?
    1
  18477. For your info, the "colonised" are inviting in new masters to make the colonial experience more realistic. Or did you think Wagner's services are complimentary?
    1
  18478. God's work? That god of yours is Allah -- as well.
    1
  18479. I hope you're eligible for free (mental) health services.
    1
  18480.  @leesong6839  The Mosin-Nagant at 0:46 stems from 1891.
    1
  18481.  @coriolan1963  I agree... in principle. It bears reminding what happened to the League of Nations. Sulky great powers never joined (USA) or left (Italy, Germany, Japan) or were unceremoniously kicked out (Soviet Union). It rendered the League of Nations impotent.
    1
  18482.  @andrewokoduwa3773  So, what kept Russia and China from coming up with draft resolutions that condemned NATO''s actions? You'll find that more often than not, Russia and China were perfectly fine with NATO taking the initiative. Afghanistan is a good example. Both Russia and China consistently voted in support of ISAF.
    1
  18483.  @C.CUMM1NGS  I would call Stingers modern NATO weapons. They certainly were then.
    1
  18484.  @nattygsbord  It's a bit of a stretch to call Ukraine the southern flank of the Baltic countries and Finland, but the Russian military bases adjoining these countries are a mere shadow of their former selves. It is estimated that 80% of their strength has been sapped. It will take decades to bring them back to pre-war strength.
    1
  18485.  @C.CUMM1NGS  Thank you for that tidbit from Wikipedia.
    1
  18486. @Alex W Don't get haughty, you've had your fair share of war and destruction. China takes top spots in the list of wars by death toll.
    1
  18487.  @dantheman3022  Your comedy routine needs work.
    1
  18488. Rats trying to board a non-sinking ship. Makes sense.
    1
  18489. I hope you also mean that they're morally beautiful. Otherwise you sound sexist.
    1
  18490.  @louisdewit4429  Het is een vrij normale gang van zaken in een parlementair systeem. De PvdA is tot tweemaal toe in de oppositie beland ondanks een verkiezingsoverwinning. En hier belandt de PVV niet eens in de oppositie. De vraag is of Wilders iets geleerd heeft en dus een coöperatievere houding aanneemt om herhaling te voorkomen. En natuurlijk racistische uitspraken achterwege laat.
    1
  18491. Were you born a cynic?
    1
  18492. The Brits skipped King Charleses 3 to 110?
    1
  18493.  @user-reg27364  Interesting viewpoint. Since when has Switzerland been a permanent member of the UNSC?
    1
  18494.  @TheLivirus  1st!
    1
  18495. Think of them as cars that are unsafe to drive. The fact that they haven't been linked to fatalities yet doesn't render them safe.
    1
  18496.  @Phill-l9y  Perspective eludes you. The Chinese government (read: the CCP) can force Chinese companies to hand over their subscriber data. Once they have it, they can use it for whatever purpose they see fit. Western companies can't be ordered around like that by their governments, and said companies have to abide by strict privacy laws. In China, the government can even overrule the constitution if they so choose.
    1
  18497. One British swallow does not a Populist EU Spring make.
    1
  18498.  @Mr.Perry33  Pay your dues to the full then.
    1
  18499. In other words, you're saying the US justice system has failed spectacularly. Okay.
    1
  18500. Let's see who'll be dealing with it in the future. The ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh have the right of return, and chances are that right will be enforced one way or the other. I can picture a UN peacekeeping force coming to quell their fears about returning to their hearths and homes. Azerbaijan, if it wants to be regarded a fair society that doesn't discriminate against minorities, will have to grin and bear it.
    1
  18501.  @Sperminski  Is that you, Ursula?
    1
  18502. Schröder hasn't run for office after 2005. Oh, and fix your democracy. It's an embarrassment in more ways than one.
    1
  18503.  @Moojuice4  You'd be right if this was the 19th century. Neither the UK nor Turkey have the economic clout to be great powers again.
    1
  18504. The EU will retaliate, with Brexit-Britain in tow.
    1
  18505.  @BIASED_YOUTUBE  The real question is, where are Putin's flashy parade tanks, the "state-of-the-art" T-14 Armatas? We all know they're not battle-ready, so he might as well use them for their intended purpose: parades.
    1
  18506. Next, you're going to moan that anglophones don't pronounce "Paris" like the French do, right?
    1
  18507.  @ericwood3709  Parish. Pareeeeeh!
    1
  18508. There's no wholesale ban on Russians entering the EU, nor is there one under consideration. Actually, if Russians are no longer issued EU tourist visas, visas on professional, educational, familial and humanitarian grounds can be issued more readily.
    1
  18509.  @arisplugis5197  Thanks, Captain Obvious.
    1
  18510. Perhaps you don't understand. Europe favours parliamentary democracy. The far-righties can't secure an outright majority and even if they win an election, becoming the largest party, the other parties refuse to form a coalition government with them. This is what happened in Poland. PiS won the election, but got relegated to the opposition. If the US was a parliamentary democracy with proportional representation, it would've weathered this shite Trumpstorm.
    1
  18511. Fine, if "you" don't want "Western" democracy, then what kind of democracy do you want? Is there such a thing as Eastern democracy? Sorry, I have to put down my glass of milk, or I'll blow it out through my nose from laughing.
    1
  18512.  @Annodite  Oh, in your book it's either direct democracy or no democracy, but tried-and-true representative democracy doesn't cut it for you.
    1
  18513.  @FyodorUshakovSuka  Don't be a persereikä. On what grounds are you calling me Soviet? I noted that the Soviets were more successful in keeping their wooden fighters in one piece. All that is perfectly corroborated by facts. Finnish facts, too.
    1
  18514.  @FyodorUshakovSuka  Obvious, you say... you were not jumping, but leaping to conclusions.
    1
  18515.  @FyodorUshakovSuka  There's nothing about your little lecture that qualifies as an eye-opener, I'm afraid.
    1
  18516. It's practically a done deal. Turkey desperately needs both new F-16s and upgrades to its older ones. US Congress is not going to approve their sale unless Sweden and Finland are let into NATO. Erdogan is a bazaar merchant, he knows when to give in.
    1
  18517.  @farmerbob139  Aw, is that all you've got?
    1
  18518.  @farmerbob139  You're repeating yourself.
    1
  18519.  @farmerbob139  Your vocabulary is very limited.
    1
  18520.  @farmerbob139  Russian troll it is.
    1
  18521. Get with the times.
    1
  18522. ​ @constitutionloversue  You can pretend to be whatever you see fit, but in international usage, the terms democracy and republic aren't mutually exclusive. This is a French news channel and, as it happens, France is both a republic and a democracy. If you want to stick to your guns, stick to US channels where you won't be labelled as a weirdo.
    1
  18523.  @constitutionloversue  If you're not a weirdo, you certainly are very confused. Why suddenly bring up masks, shots, the UN and NATO? And where do you think I'm from?
    1
  18524. Who needs this?
    1
  18525.  @zefeereu8380  Your lot has been saying that for 1 year, 5 months and 3 weeks. Bye-bye impotent Russian threats.
    1
  18526.  @xcitemex6353  Which option has been removed from us? Would little xcitemex 6, in his youthful excitement, be jumping to conclusions as to my nationality?
    1
  18527.  @xcitemex6353  "Your [sic] just a Ukraine bot" --- and you assume *you're smart?
    1
  18528.  @xcitemex6353  Being able to spell shows that you have basic smarts. You failed. Proper capitalisation and punctuation seem to be beyond your abilities as well.
    1
  18529.  @xcitemex6353  Make no mistake, I had to learn proper spelling as well. For me, it was in primary school. For you, it's a life-long affair. Life-long learning, as they say.
    1
  18530.  @xcitemex6353  My, you really crave my attention.
    1
  18531. If there are, for example, Dutch troops in Estonia, are they NATO or EU troops or both? They could start wearing an EU patch of their soldiers just to make you happy.
    1
  18532. If the Krembots don't post their drivel, they get to try if their sword is mightier than their pen after all, in Ukraine.
    1
  18533. Shouldn't you post this in VK? You seem lost.
    1
  18534.  @oneshothunter9877  Just flag his copy-paste jobs as spam already.
    1
  18535.  @yllbardh  Depriving Russia of a sizable portion of its workforce is a far bigger blow to the Russian economy than Western sanctions.
    1
  18536.  @Startrance85  The EU's energy policies aim at reducing dependency on hydrocarbon fuels. What's your problem with that? Feel free to kick yourself for Sweden's short-sighted nuclear energy policy.
    1
  18537.  @Startrance85  Sweden has a problem with its electricity supply in the sense that its renewable energy sources -- wind, solar and hydro -- occasionally suffer from poor output, especially in the winter, when electricity consumption peaks. Nuclear energy isn't subject to seasonal fluctuations. Of late, Sweden has been decommissioning rather than building new reactors. The EU didn't put a gun to Sweden's head to supply electricity to Germany. You're blaming others for the consequences of your own actions.
    1
  18538.  @Startrance85  You don't get to play American and blame the president you didn't vote for. Or are you claiming that Swedish democracy is fundamentally flawed? Own up.
    1
  18539.  @Startrance85  I gather you're not a believer in democracy either. Fascism?
    1
  18540.  @Startrance85  No, why? Haven't I stressed the importance of accepting the result of the democratic process? If anything, you should accuse me of being a democrat.
    1
  18541. Kamperen bij -30C is geen pretje. Ik kan ervan meespreken. In Finland nog wel.
    1
  18542. *Soviet models.
    1
  18543.  @mistressfreezepeach  For starters, far-right Muricans insist that the US isn't a democracy, but rather, a "republic". I don't think they're keen on equality, diversity, science, philosophy and art either. You forgot religion, which they tend to go ape over.
    1
  18544.  @thorkushari4027  Your point being?
    1
  18545. Don't you think it's the task of the police to tackle such misconduct rather than let a bunch of indiscriminate vigilantes do their worst? Civilisation is a very thin veneer...
    1
  18546.  @bait4562  Don't be silly. The riot police doesn't investigate with their shields and batons. They saw plenty of action against your beloved vigilantes.
    1
  18547.  @bait4562  Which part of "misconduct" don't you understand?
    1
  18548.  @sekhmara8590  It could just be a PR gaffe. It fits the picture. Russia is blundering all over the place, so why not in space, too.
    1
  18549. You've missed the memo that they're fleeing the Taliban and their extreme interpretation of Islam. Incidentally, India has five times as many Muslims as Europe and almost as many as Pakistan. Hint.
    1
  18550. But your god doubles as Allah for the Muslims.
    1
  18551.  @grigol101  Russia diminishes in size as a result of its successive revolutions. The Russian Revolution and the collapse of the Soviet Union are cases in point. The point here is that we're about to witness yet another cataclysmic event: the decolonisation of the Russian Federation. The end result will be rump Russia, i.e. Muscovy. No more permanent seat in the UNSC, I'm afraid. We've learned our lesson.
    1
  18552. BNP much?
    1
  18553.  @markhodgkinson1737  Me, name-calling? It was an honest question. If you think of Labour as "the extreme left", a plausible explanation is that you're extreme right, i.e. BNP.
    1
  18554.  @markhodgkinson1737  Nonsense. That's your far-right paranoia speaking. You can fault Sunak and the Tories for many missteps, but calling them extreme left or hard right -- whichever it is in your paranoid mind -- is unbecoming.
    1
  18555. You're still trying peddle this story? Tut-tut.
    1
  18556.  @AlvinC-sz3li  When I was in China last year, I used a VPN to connect to WhatsApp. You should do likewise.
    1
  18557. But they choose not to. Democracy is a biatch, innit?
    1
  18558. You can add Moscow and St. Petersburg to your list. Death wish much?
    1
  18559. Well, the US is sawing off the branch it's sitting on. The Arctic is fast gaining in strategic importance, and the US is by its own admission weak in arctic warfare, especially at sea. The US had to rope in Canada and Finland to upgrade and expand its fleet of icebreakers, which are direly needed for surface warfare in the Arctic. If conventional US warships can't get through the ice, they're useless. China is another matter. If it comes to a showdown between the US and China, Russia is surely going to make sure to tie up as many US forces as possible. Without NATO, Europe won't feel obliged to counter-balance Russia. US military strategists keep saying that NATO is more needed than ever, with China slowly but surely emerging as the second superpower. Trump hasn't read the memo.
    1
  18560.  @NathanM4A1  Your 90% success rate -- even if true -- is wishful thinking if Hamas saturates Israel's defences like they've done this time. We're seeing a classic saturation attack.
    1
  18561. Huh? I find that the reverse is true. Whenever ratification was up in national assemblies, the Winter War was brought up. A US senator couldn't stop himself from waxing lyrical about Simo Häyhä as well, the deadliest sniper in history. The Molotov cocktail, too, was mentioned.
    1
  18562. Sprinting 100 meters? More like crawling.
    1
  18563.  @yohok5  "ukraine [sic] wouldnt [sic] have maid [sic] it either"? Ukraine EU accession process just started. Keep up with the news.
    1
  18564.  @yohok5  OK, that was a non sequitur. Besides, Turkey has all but given up on trying to fulfil the Copenhagen criteria. Rule of law, the present point of contention in Hungary's case, went out of the window in Turkey after the coup attempt. Erdogan won't let it back in either.
    1
  18565. Sadly for you, two wrongs don't make a right.
    1
  18566.  @AK-ej5ml  It appears the Norwegian ammo didn't work, or needed further customisation to do so. The Swiss have really dug themselves a hole. They might as well add the text "Don't even think about using this weapon in a shooting war" in fine print to the purchase agreements of their Oerlikon autocannons.
    1
  18567.  The smartest guy in the room  I don't know about the embarrassment in the Britains' case, since the GRU killers left a clear trail -- allowing even Bellingcat's citizen journalists to retrace theirs steps --- so we can consider the case as closed as it can be under the circumstances. Obviously Putin's Russia doesn't want to co-operate in settling the matter in court, because that would amount to a mea culpa. Maybe Putin's successor will come clean -- perhaps Navalny ? That would be poetic justice. Oversight of Russia's commercial labs must be extremely lax.
    1
  18568. It's claimed that Lavrov actually opposed to the occupation of Crimea, but master Putin didn't really consult him before sending in his Little Green Men. Lavrov is there to smooth things over the best he can, like a maid ironing clothes. It's not like he's got the power to decide, except for the power setting on his iron.
    1
  18569.  @zallyzally2698  Germany should allow Spain to deliver its surplus Leopard 2s to Ukraine, for starters.
    1
  18570. It's a no go. Russians are too apathetic for that. Their apathy also explains why Putin is still in power.
    1
  18571. Bah, India is on a hair trigger. Modi will use anything to drum up nationalist fervour.
    1
  18572.  @kenagichangi3757  Now why would they do that? The Houthis think they've already freed a good part of Yemen.
    1
  18573. In English?
    1
  18574.  @natureblank1401  Thanks for your "valuable" input, Z-bot. I hope you can exchange your hard-earned potatoes for copium.
    1
  18575.  @SilverCord007  Try this one for size. On February 26, a mere two days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Russian state-owned RIA-Novosti news agency posted an article on its website that applauded Putin for solving the "Ukraine problem" militarily and returning Ukraine to Russia. Very revealing, I'd say.
    1
  18576. Speak for yourselves. France is still considered a full democracy.
    1
  18577.  @fabiodebernardo9920  Prove me -- or rather, the analysts from Economist Intelligence Unit -- wrong. Produce a carefully researched comparative study that says otherwise, in other words. You can also hurry back to your troll cave, if that's more applicable.
    1
  18578. I don't see any mention of Putin in your diatribe, who has the power to put an immediate stop to this war. Krembot much?
    1
  18579. Maybe you should concern yourself with the question why Ukraine wants to join NATO. And why Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia have already joined NATO. No one twisted their arm. They were adamant about joining on their own accord.
    1
  18580. ​ @mosog8829  Has accuracy really improved? The Israelis keep on making a mockery of Assad's air defences and their flash Russian AA kit. When the Israelis hit their first Pantsir, the Russians felt compelled to come up with elaborate excuses (something about a misplaced phone). Then the Israelis destroyed another two, perhaps just to see how the beet red Russians would explain that. This time, the Russians wisely kept mum.
    1
  18581.  @mosog8829  Check again. They're complementary.
    1
  18582.  @mosog8829  Let's just deal with the here and now, shall we? It's not only Israel that's knocking out Pantsirs at will. Turkey claims to have destroyed no less than 23 Pantsirs with their drones in Syria and Libya. Admittedly, Turkey has lost nearly twice that number in drones in doing so, but the win/loss ratio still seems favourable if you do a cost comparison. One can't help but conclude that the much-hyped Pantsir is more prey than predator to drones. Also, you have to wonder about Turkey's motives in purchased the S-400. I bet they are going to be very busy with testing how to take the S-400 out with a drone strike.
    1
  18583.  @discoinferno103  I suppose party politics entered the picture. Yoon Suk Yeol had ordered the arrest of his own party's leader, who considers the president a "great danger" and a "significant risk" to the people.
    1
  18584.  @1968poder  Impeachment of a sitting president is similar the world over. Like in the USA, a two-thirds supermajority is required in South Korea. For the sake of democracy, let's hope Yoon Suk Yeol "succeeds" in getting impeached, because this isn't over yet.
    1
  18585. Destruction of Ukraine's civilian infrastructure has not diminished Ukraine's military.
    1
  18586. I think you'll find that the Finns feel Zelenskyy should keep at it and kick the Orcs out. Mordor isn't the Soviet Union.
    1
  18587.  @Ютубводоканал  "In our war against the Finns we had an opportunity to choose the time and the place. We outnumbered our enemy, and we had all the time in the world to prepare for our operation. Yet even in these most favourable conditions it was only after great difficulty and enormous losses that we were finally able to win. A victory at such a cost was actually a moral defeat. Our people never knew that we had suffered a moral defeat, of course, because they were never told the truth. All of us — and Stalin first and foremost — sensed in our victory a defeat by the Finns. It was a dangerous defeat because it encouraged our enemies' conviction that the Soviet Union was a colossus with feet of clay." Nikita Khrushchev
    1
  18588. Wouldn't it be time you shed your latent minority complex vis-à-vis Europe?
    1
  18589. Suicidal sociopath much?
    1
  18590. Jeez, you're desperate.
    1
  18591. Krembot can't tell the EU and NATO apart. Can we have cleverer bots, please?
    1
  18592.  @Diomedes99  Even if Russian weapons aren't state-of-the-art, they're still plenty lethal in a limited war like the one in Donbass. I dealt with the Polish military as a civilian contractor, some time after Poland joined NATO. They weren't exclusively happy about letting go of their Soviet-made kit. As a soldier myself, I saw myself how the Hezbollah had put Russian weapons to good use. On more than one occasion, we had to mediate with visibly nervous Israeli soldiers, and theirs is probably the most capable military in the world.
    1
  18593. BRICS is the new Warsaw Pact. Pffrt.
    1
  18594.  @AndrewGunner  There's no dearth of free democracy here. Proper spelling is another thing altogether.
    1
  18595.  @ssuwandi3240  Don't flatter yourself. I've heard it all before. You're nothing but a pompous windbag full of old clichés.
    1
  18596.  bidigiboy  With Putin, jealousy amounts to provocation. When Ukraine gives NATO a sideways glance, Putin starts beating her up.
    1
  18597.  bidigiboy  What's that? I've got conspiracy theorists on ignore.
    1
  18598. Someone's got a crush on Macron's teacher.
    1
  18599. Plans are afoot that all six EU members that currently aren't in NATO join NATO in one go. Putin will have some explaining to do to his people.
    1
  18600. I don't know, I would put Putin in the Republican camp. Trump certainly would welcome him with open arms. He thinks the world of Putin.
    1
  18601.  @dissco.partysan3333  You're funny. Russia had to be reminded constantly that its (supposed) mission in Syria was to beat ISIS and not to prop up Assad. I guess Russia made a few token attacks for show, because Assad had a fruitful business relationship going with ISIS.
    1
  18602.  @sanjaiyadav2080  What on earth are you on about now? Ours is not an island. I have a good mind to block you with your inane comments.
    1
  18603.  @bwilliams572  Why wouldn't you feel all comfy and warm when surrounded by fellow radicals? However, they're nothing like the French in general.
    1
  18604.  @JohnJacob33  It's up to you how to spend the money saved on America's healthcare system if universal healthcare were to be introduced. My somewhat cynical take is that the savings wouldn't go to the poor. America needs its poor suckers poor.
    1
  18605. Why would you bring Finland to the fore? The place doesn't exist. There's plenty of evidence to that effect on the interwebs.
    1
  18606. I'll help you translate from Chinese. You hope that Ukraine, too, would hit civilians targets so that you could engage in your favourite pursuit: whataboutism.
    1
  18607.  @elite7329 If so, why are ECOWAS such pushovers? When can we see an African supranational organisation that stands on its own?
    1
  18608. What's the big difference?
    1
  18609. Even if they're deemed unlawful combatants, it doesn't amount to genocide. You're making things up.
    1
  18610. The Javelin can defeat landing craft, but a little more range wouldn't go amiss. We have the Israeli Spike for the purpose, which can reach out and touch amphibious forces from distances of up to 5 km, while the Javelin can manage only half of that.
    1
  18611.  @samokazem2211  Don't you wish you were as good militarily as you're at coping?
    1
  18612.  @samokazem2211  Define your mum, bore.
    1
  18613. The 2024 US presidential election is the Battle of the Geriatrics. Only gerontophiles can rejoice.
    1
  18614. You should work on your insults. Juncker is Luxembourgish.
    1
  18615.  @kyle5519  ...and they think whataboutism is still the greatest thing after sliced bread. Wumaos, too. Must be a communist thing.
    1
  18616.  @caesarforlife1663  Did I say Fauci was a poster boy? I'm a Euro, dum-dum. Thanks for proving my point about the whataboutism, though.
    1
  18617.  @louisecorchevolle9241  You get a prize for the most irrelevant comment. So what if Russia is (supposedly) a federation?
    1
  18618. It doesn't.
    1
  18619.  @keithroberts2440  Try googling.
    1
  18620. Wow, that means an awful lot of severed heads on London Bridge.
    1
  18621. Right now they're being more rebellious than terrorist.
    1
  18622.  @seiwarriors  I'm talking about geographical boundaries. Ukraine is and always has been in Europe. The same goes for most Russians. Their majority resides within the continent of Europe.
    1
  18623. Medvedev, from Russian president to the mad dog of the Kremlin.
    1
  18624.  @oldskoolrools1353  Not by the British alone. I took several joint efforts to subdue Napoleon.
    1
  18625.  @denisgorjunov  You're referring to the War of the Sixth Coalition, not Napoleon's ill-fated Russian Campaign. He fought Russia on many occassions, just like pretty much any military power in Europe at one time or another. Eventually almost the whole of Europe ganged up on the troublemaker.
    1
  18626.  @dmitrykorovnikov2035  Who's left in shame? We, too, fought Napoleon. You must be slow on the uptake. It's so funny, when Russia fought Napoleon, you thought yourselves a European power, even insisted on being recognise as such. I don't know if history just isn't your forte, or have you falsified it so extensively that you've lost the plot?
    1
  18627.  @ngp1868  Summa summarum, xenophobia. Who made you PM, by the way? It's as if you think you speak for the whole nation.
    1
  18628. To be fair, it was the last drop for many.
    1
  18629. So, in summary, if you don't like Russia, Russia feels compelled to invade you. That being the case, Russia really has its work cut out for it, having to invade three quarters of the world's countries. And they can't even get started, with Ukraine proving too hard a nut to crack.
    1
  18630.  @sparkyfromel  Feel free to elaborate. No need to scurry off to your troll cave at the first sign of trouble.
    1
  18631.  @sparkyfromel  Why always blame the US for NATO expansion? I don't know if you can get your head around it, but could it be that the likes of Poland and the Baltic states, mindful of Russia's true nature, felt compelled to join NATO, although the US couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or a bad thing? As to NATO nearing St. Petersburg, could it be that also there Russia brought it onto itself that fiercely independent Sweden and Finland opted to join? I spend six months a year in Sweden, speak the language and understand perfectly why the US wisely kept mum till Sweden had made up its mind. The same goes for Finland, where superpowers are traditionally frowned upon.
    1
  18632.  @sparkyfromel  I bet you were the type that subjected to bullying in school and thought giving the bullies your lunch money was a sound investment.
    1
  18633.  @sparkyfromel  You're too delicate for YouTube comment sections.
    1
  18634.  @sparkyfromel  Aw.
    1
  18635. Veroordelen zonder proces gaat niet lukken. En enkel weet hebben van misdaden tegen de mensheid is niet genoeg voor een veroordeling.
    1
  18636. Not true. We just put in an order for 64 F-35s. Do your homework, defence procurement is all out in the open.
    1
  18637. One wonders how they made it fly there.
    1
  18638.  @Peti-kc6wg  Maybe there's a local chapter of Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous for you to join.
    1
  18639.  @Peti-kc6wg  In a pinch, Clowns Anonymous will do, too.
    1
  18640.  @TienyeeTien  Are you aspiring to be one? Hence your interest?
    1
  18641. Because of the USA, Israel acts with impunity. What else is new?
    1
  18642. The truth is stranger than fiction. Russia was reportedly planning to use An-2 biplanes as drones.
    1
  18643. You're awfully keen to die in battle. I hear Wagner is recruiting. Seize your chance.
    1
  18644.  @MasterNeoRNCP  And which weapons would those be? Country? Manufacturer?
    1
  18645.  @marksanders2168  I'm not American, dum-dum. Why the Anglo-Saxon name, "mark"? It looks like you want some of that "American 'exceptionalism'".
    1
  18646.  Egert Roos  Whether you like it or not, Russians make up 15% of Europe's total population. It's a matter of geography. Ancestral migrations don't make a difference either. Your ethnicity appears to be Baltic Finnic, which would make you Uralic as well.
    1
  18647.  Egert Roos  What makes you European then? You're occupying the same land mass and you're literally nestled against Russia, too.
    1
  18648.  Egert Roos  Having Tatar-Ugric or Turkic-Uralic prehistoric ancestors doesn't disqualify one from being European, not any more than you being Finno-Ugric in ancestry qualifies you as an European. There's ample evidence to suggest that the Estonians made their way westward from what is now Russia as the Ice Age subsided.
    1
  18649.  @kkp8707  I'm quite sure, too. Russia has limited means and they've lavished the Taliban with Soviet-era weapons already.
    1
  18650. Source: trust me, bro.
    1
  18651.  @Seriec-T  So you are pleading with me to trust you in a brotherly fashion, without providing a source. I suppose debate is a lost art form in Russia? You're a hoot.
    1
  18652.  @Seriec-T  Oh, you had your feelings hurt because I called you a hoot? Did you look up the word? Reveal your adequate sources already. And what about taxpayers' money? We're gladly donating weapons and money to Ukraine to check Russian military aggression. If we didn't, we would endure it ourselves next. It's imperative that Russia's imperialist ambitions are quelled.
    1
  18653.  @Seriec-T  It was a quip, you big baby. If I knew it would make you cry, I would've kept mum. Why, we all know Ukraine still stands firm thanks to Western aid. We're glad to help. It's a badge of honour in the fight against evil.
    1
  18654.  @Seriec-T  What sources do I owe you? You need proof that we're providing aid to Ukraine? I thought you were in full agreement on that matter You're very confused. Try to keep your head together.
    1
  18655.  @Seriec-T  OK, now I'm no longer suspecting that you're confused. I'm absolutely certain of it. Your comments make any no sense whatsoever. You'd better stick to VK given your poor command of English.
    1
  18656.  @Seriec-T  You're suddenly conducting a whole different discussion. We were discussing the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant attack, but then, out of the blue, you bring up Kursk. You are terribly confused. Is your troll farm manager aware that you can't handle multiple conversations simultaneously?
    1
  18657.  @Seriec-T  Can't your translator read the title of the video? We discussed Zaporizhzhia -- which is in Ukraine -- and suddenly your mind drifts off to Kursk instead. Focus!
    1
  18658.  @mtdorghost8708  I simply made a factual observation. So, in your weirdo mind, that qualifies as being drunk with stupidity? It doesn't matter one bit what you personally think of the UN. This was the doing of the General Assembly, which is synonymous for world + dog. What matters is that 100 countries vs. 11 deemed the result of the Crimean status referendum null and void. You can pretend that Crimea is part of Russia, but overwhelmingly, the world thinks it's not.
    1
  18659. Simple, to send the Orcs packing. But true enough, the arms industry should send Putin a gift basket. And a second one for sounding the death knell for the once-lucrative Russian arms industry. It's not often that a competitor so eagerly surrenders market share. And NATO should make Putin 'recruiter of the year'. It's all Putin, pal.
    1
  18660.  @pwalker1360  Maybe there's a support group for whataboutists? Whataboutists Anonymous?
    1
  18661.  @falcatafalcata1617  Seymour Hersh has completely and utterly failed to provide evidence to back up his claims. It's a sad end for an illustrious career.
    1
  18662.  @thecallow2381  China will appear magically to do what? In the past, they've had the chance to bid for Afghan mineral rights, and they've won some, too. The results are just very meagre.
    1
  18663. Trump didn't exactly enjoy worldwide popularity. On the contrary, he evoked negative emotions practically everywhere.
    1
  18664.  @nordan00  Your choices sure are tough. Which geriatric to pick and hope -- and pray -- for the best?
    1
  18665. Er, Putin's Russia is sanctioned left, right and centre by the EU. China's still being sanctioned for the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
    1
  18666.  @today8100  I sense whataboutism. Besides, where it matters most, on the network infrastructure side, Huawei doesn't have serious US competitors. Its closest competitors are Ericsson from Sweden and Nokia from Finland.
    1
  18667.  @ericaschulze7846  Erica thinks very highly of herself.
    1
  18668. <Cough>Iraq War<cough>.
    1
  18669. @Peter Thiele Disliking Putin's foolish war isn't enough to be granted asylum. Otherwise, a good part of Russia's population would trek westward. Would-be leavers can apply for a residence permit, but usually it's only those with specialist skills that land one.
    1
  18670. Nukes are really ill-suited for today's low-intensity conflicts and ambiguous warfare. Nukes are like carrying a bazooka, while you actually need a flyswatter.
    1
  18671.  @adriannarobeson4758  So, Adrianna, you ridicule free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic freedom, political freedom and freedom of speech? I'm afraid that makes you a leftie.
    1
  18672.  @RandomGuy9  Air-burst is doubtful. Jane's says that type of ammo for the autocannon in question is still in development. More likely there's just impact fuze HE besides armour-piercing.
    1
  18673. RT says the darndest things, just like children. Putin's obedient children, that is.
    1
  18674.  @Укрыниксы  You've got it backwards. Take your Orc troops out of Ukraine and it all ends.
    1
  18675. Maybe, but whoever replaces her will suffer the same fate in a jiffy.
    1
  18676. Fact is, the EU's sanctions dwarf those of the US.
    1
  18677. Let's gauge your level of understanding. Try to make a point.
    1
  18678.  @crude-za  You're very generous in giving us praise for bringing about such a thing. If we're capable of engineering a near-fatal coup attempt, perhaps we should have another go, and another. Maybe after the fifth attempt, the ever-so apathetic Russians will get inspired.
    1
  18679.  @watchingthehawks355  No need to fight. I'm sure France will leave if whoever is truly in charge in Niger asks them to. They recently left Mali, after all. Then the Nigeriens can fight amongst themselves to their hearts' content.
    1
  18680.  @crazylordbc3347  Only the US comes to mind... and I can't really feel jealous.
    1
  18681.  @robbygracio6867  Putin is very busy bombing civilians in Ukraine. Give him a break.
    1
  18682. Translation: Trump wants a trade war. Too bad that Murica's trade partners know where to hit back so that it hurts in equal measure. Between trade blocs, throwing up barriers to trade is always met with more trade barriers -- barriers that work the other way around.
    1
  18683.  @MultiNike79  Most Russians are European, sport.
    1
  18684.  @luciferjohnson8495  Pakistan has a basket case of an economy, which Iran would be sure to exploit. They wouldn't go head-to-head against Pakistan, but rather, use insurgency tactics and proxies, just like they've done in their perpetual proxy wars with Israel. That would eventually hollow out Pakistan's economy to the point of total collapse.
    1
  18685. @Anonymous One I wouldn't go that far (FPTP is hopelessly archaic), but it seems the UK can tell good democracies apart from mediocre and bad ones. Or at the least the analysts at The Economist can.
    1
  18686.  @gregorymalchuk272  HTS fought Al-Qaeda bitterly. But don't let facts get in the way of your fairy tales.
    1
  18687. Many are Western products made in China. And increasingly, they're made in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand and India.
    1
  18688.  @vsswp  Everyone who's been around has seen Russians get zonked on vodka.
    1
  18689. Russia lost a lot of territory to Napoleon. In fact, Russia gave ground willingly. After taking Moscow, Napoleon grew bored of Russia and left on his own accord. Still, we're to treat Napoleon's Russian campaign like a great victory for Russia. At any rate, it was a bitter defeat for Napoleon, and set the stage for his downfall. My prediction is that Russia's military in Ukraine will implode like it did in WW1. It will be supreme irony that while Putin berates Lenin for giving up the fight against the Central Powers in WW1 and losing great swathes of the Russian Empire as a result, his ill-fated 'special military operation' will have the same effect. The question is whether the war in Ukraine is the equivalent of Napoleon's Russian campaign or will Putin already meet his Waterloo in Ukraine?
    1
  18690.  @bibekanandahansda2926  Rest assured, Western democracy is alive and well. How about yours? Or have you even started yet?
    1
  18691.  @putrapratama-sq8hu  Tower 22, which was struck and where the fatalities occurred, is in Jordan. You can look it up on Google Maps.
    1
  18692.  @paulcock8929  It wasn't. This was in Jordan. Mind you, al-Tanf, which is in Syria, has been attacked many times over.
    1
  18693.  @Ivan.A.Churlyuski  Not quite true. Once, the Cubans did cash the monthly rental check for $4,085. Rent control...
    1
  18694.  @Ivan.A.Churlyuski  Actually, it doesn't. If you refuse to trade with your landlord, that's no grounds for eviction.
    1
  18695. Ahem, it's Bakhmut they're attempting to encircle, not Moscow. Moscow is a major metropole, and Bakhmut is an itty-bitty city, although you'd think otherwise when you see the hard-coping Russians celebrate a major victory -- no doubt to divert attention from their three major retreats in Ukraine, which saw Russia abandon its plans for three truly major cities in Ukraine.
    1
  18696. ​ @SomeRandomGuy_id  Swoosh. You didn't get the joke.
    1
  18697.  @sleepyjoe7843  *Propaganda. And what's a "deepstatemap"? A special map that only expert conspiracy theorists can decipher?
    1
  18698. In theory only, which means in the opposition. Far-right shoulders are too narrow for real responsibility.
    1
  18699.  @jerrymiller9039  We've done this before, pal. Go play with someone else.
    1
  18700. It all depends on how you use them. We had a battallion of convicts, all volunteers, fight in WW2. Almost without fail, they acquitted themselves well. If convicts want to pay off their debt to society in an accelerated fashion, why not give them the chance.
    1
  18701. Are there uge mineral deposits in Gaza?
    1
  18702. I think you need to tell American babies to drill less.
    1
  18703.  @Bee.Holder  But your Slobodan Milosevic, the Butcher of the Balkans, fits the bill nicely. Died in his prison cell.
    1
  18704. You must mean Putin, but who else? Netanyahu? Iran's Ali Khamenei?
    1
  18705.  @Apollo-fp4cu  Dat denk ik inderdaad. En het zal net zo verlopen zoals in Vietnam en Indonesië. Of Afghanistan in 1989. Leg eens uit hoe Rusland het allemaal in één minuut kan beschlechten. Ik zal proberen om niet te lachen.
    1
  18706.  @Apollo-fp4cu  Waar blijft die kernkop dan? Of al die andere, die daarna Rusland wegvagen? Je bent zeker bij Kim Jong-un te leer geweest.
    1
  18707.  @dickmichielmaas373  Kyiv and Charkiv waren Russische doelen, totdat Rusland er flink van langs kreeg. Cherson was een doel, maar opeens niet meer, terwijl Rusland beweert dat het om Russisch grondgebied gaat. Poetin gaat zeer doelloos te werk, kan je stellen.
    1
  18708.  @dickmichielmaas373  Maar er was helemaal geen genocide. De OVSE, die in de Donbas zat van 2014 to 2022 met 700 waarnemers uit alle 57 lidstaten (Rusland inbegrepen), heeft geen melding gemaakt van genocide. Wist je trouwens hoe de Kremlin-propagandisten jou noemen? Een nuttige idioot.
    1
  18709.  @dickmichielmaas373  Als er geen bewijs is, is er geen bewijs. De OVSE kan het weten. Je moet jezelf eens opzoeken op Wikipedia. Toe maar, typ 'nuttige idioot' als zoekterm.
    1
  18710. I would expect some soul-searchng from Putin. It's time to cut his losses, and perhaps apply for political asylum in China.
    1
  18711.  @ne9310  Your emojis are cute.
    1
  18712.  @ne9310  If anyone tells you that you're childish, tell them they're big fat meanies!
    1
  18713. Or Inner Mongolia. He's going to ride horsey there for the rest of his days, bare-chested of course.
    1
  18714. The same Trump has practically promised to sell Ukraine down the river if he makes president again.
    1
  18715. I think you're right. She was shaking with laughter.
    1
  18716.  @normiedeathsquad40  Googling will also tell you that France is fine with abolishing the CFA franc and replacing it with the much talked about Eco. Us eurozone partners of France aren't all that keen on the CFA euro tie-up either. It's another liability in a very tangled web we've woven.
    1
  18717. Accidents will happen. At least it's not a mass shooting.
    1
  18718. Nah, you're all alone.
    1
  18719. Wolfie, I'll ignore the feeble insults, but I'd like to make it clear that I'm not a Remainer. Britain needs a time-out. Let's see when you grovel back.
    1
  18720. Wolfie, no, we want you foulmouths out. The EU will be the better for it.
    1
  18721. Wolfie, let's not forget that the UK was widely regarded as a troublemaker ever before your fateful referendum. Afterwards, the UK's isolation has only increased and will continue to do so after Brexit kicks in. Sure, there are some economic repercussions for Europe's less-developed members, but in political terms, the UK's departure is not a loss on the medium to long term. Rather, it's a win. A more cohesive EU stands stronger.
    1
  18722.  @angelakadeer1565  It's true that far-right populists have made some inroads in Europe, but the same can be said about far-left populists. Greece's Syriza and Spain's Podemos are even in government, something of which most European far-right parties can only dream of. There's discontent all right, but it's with the political establishment. And it's not just populists who're capitalising on it -- I can think of no better example than Macron's political coup, which completely took the wind out of Le Pen's sails. Furthermore, far-right populism is a global phenomenon. Dumping on the EU won't win you votes in the US or Latin America, yet the populists have a firm foothold there, too. Trump owes his presidency to populism and the likes of Bolivia's Evo Morales, Venezuela's Maduro and Nicaragua's Ortega are old hands at it. I bet the latter three copy speeches and articles by Brextremists like Farage and Boris Johnson, replacing only "EU" with "USA". As long as it evokes nationalist ire, it's all good.
    1
  18723. @sunray2b Try to formulate your own arguments. Are you lazy, stupid or both?
    1
  18724.  @jimmychoi5219  Reagan couldn't unilaterally decide about NATO's affairs, nor can the US do so now. If not before, this become painfully clear to the Americans in the run-up to the Iraq War. Freedom Fries, anyone?
    1
  18725.  @cplcabs  Actually, polls suggested that a majority of the Gazans were in favour of maintaining the tenuous ceasefire that existed before Oct 7. But don't let facts interfere.
    1
  18726. The West Bank is Fatah, not Hamas. Fatah tried in earnest to negotiate a two-state solution with Israel, but Netanyahu wasn't having any of it. In fact, Bibi thought it fun to give Hamas a boost in order to undermine Fatah. The rest is history. Hint: foot-in-mouth disease is easily cured with self-education.
    1
  18727.  takethetrashout7195  "Final solution" -- was that a Freudian slip?
    1
  18728.  @СергейСергей-э6э2н  White Finns? Wrong war, buddy.
    1
  18729. ​ @СергейСергей-э6э2н  Yes, we're perfectly willing to believe you're a warmonger of the first order. No need to convince us any further.
    1
  18730.  @СергейСергей-э6э2н  So by now, it must be painfully clear to you that the Kremlin hasn't strangled Kiev today, nor will it do so tomorrow, nor the day after. The war is going poorly for Putin. Soon, he'll be fighting for his political life, if not his life, when the knives come out.
    1
  18731. ​ @Dandalore  Don't discount parliamentary republics with elected presidents, whose powers are suitably limited. An elder statesman (or woman) in the role doesn't go amiss, as didn't Queen Elisabeth II in a more diminished and unofficial capacity. The hereditary nature of a monarchy is a problem, however, because you don't know what kind of charlie you're getting. Presidents can be swapped out, but the charlie is for life.
    1
  18732.  @simongarthwaite7695  I wouldn't go as far as attributing "huge soft power and gravitas" to the British monarchy -- in its current guise in particular. Personally, I would loathe to foot the bill for keeping a mere figurehead in the lap of luxury. Better actors earn less.
    1
  18733. Children can't always moderate their behaviour, so the adults in the room need to intervene.
    1
  18734.  @christheori4002  You're brazenly making stuff up. There's no Finnish-Russian agreement pertaining to Finland not joining NATO. Russia maintains to this day that Finland joining NATO is their choice. I consider it only a matter of time before Finland -- and Sweden -- do join.
    1
  18735.  @michealnah4194  I'm not 'letting' anything, nor is Russia nor any other power 'letting' anything at the expense of the Ukrainians themselves. Welcome to the 21st century, where national sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected. Putin is learning it the hard way.
    1
  18736. No wonder that Putin won't attend. Switzerland, a signatory of the Rome Statute, would have to arrest Putin on suspicion of war crimes if he were to set foot in the country.
    1
  18737. Where's the news? Russia claims to have used hypersonic missiles against Ukraine already. Even if true, other standoff weapons would've made as big a hole in the ground.
    1
  18738.  @gdiwolverinemale3rd  Shot it down? The two guys on the roof whacked the drone with a giant fly swatter. How can you not have seen that?
    1
  18739.  @bongoybongoy3267  We're talking final assembly, which usually is the basis for tariffs. Airbus is indeed doing final assembly in Mobile, Alabama, but vice versa, Boeing is doing none of that in Europe. Boeing is therefore more exposed.
    1
  18740.  @mohammadreza4648  If that were the case, I'm sure the truth would come out soon enough. There are plenty of Iraqi civilians working in these bases.
    1
  18741. Elementary. Putin doesn't understand anything other than strength. When he understands Ukraine is unbeatable, he'll give peace a chance.
    1
  18742. I think the Iranian explanations are rather weak. If anything, they strengthen Israel's response.
    1
  18743.  @Storming360  Be that as it may, but why is Iran making one excuse after another? I'm reminded of the debacle when Iran shot down a passenger jet and started making all manner of excuses, only to fess up later.
    1
  18744. So you're celebrating military aggression. I bet you would've cheered Hitler on, too, when he let loose on Russia.
    1
  18745.  @SPENKER52  Are you stalking me? Third (inane) reply from in a matter of hours.
    1
  18746. Hij doet het met presidentiële decreten. Niet bijster democratisch. Maar de Amerikanen zeggen ook altijd dat ze een republiek zijn en geen democratie.
    1
  18747.  @maximusvaliant8597  The Gazans didn't start the war, Hamas did. Clear diff.
    1
  18748. Jou volken we maar al te graag om.
    1
  18749. Sustainable forestry is a novel concept to you.
    1
  18750. Guterres gets accused by both sides of partiality, which suggests he's doing a good job -- well, as good as can be expected.
    1
  18751.  @yotzap  If you have a point, try to make it yourself.
    1
  18752. This is literally whataboutism, a throwback to Soviet times.
    1
  18753.  @Seagull780  Not so fast. In Finland, there's a time of the year when the sun refuses to go down. In the southern parts, it dips behind the horizon, but only for show.
    1
  18754.  @Seagull780  Now you're mistaking Finnish weather for British weather.
    1
  18755.  @Seagull780  Having experienced both, I can say Finnish weather is okay-ish apart from the odd cold spell in winter. By contrast, British weather is only occasionally okay-ish.
    1
  18756. Master of Europe? Is Xinnie the Pooh master of Russia?
    1
  18757.  @greatgalaxy2118  No need to convince me any further that you're a silly conspiracy theorist. A waste of space and time, you are.
    1
  18758. It's amusing how you Americans misunderstand the essence of constitutional monarchies. It just so happens that a number of constitutional monarchies are considered democratically superior to the US, being classified as full democracies whereas the US was downgraded to a flawed democracy after Trump made president. But I agree in one respect: God had better get busy and save America.
    1
  18759. What do you suggest? Let's hear it.
    1
  18760.  @chriswilde7246  Oh, the old and tired 'don't poke the bear' rationale. The Russian bear has been growling and clawing at its neighbours since 2008. Can you blame those neighbours for actively seeking security guarantees to stave off Russia's unwelcome attentions? The clincher is that once strictly neutral Sweden and Finland also joined NATO, prodded by a landslide of popular support. Their governments and even NATO were taken aback by the swiftness of events. Appeasement paved the way for WW2. Hitler could've been stopped in his tracks with resolute action early on. Chamberlain would've wanted you for an apprentice.
    1
  18761.  @FunumusaNdawonde  Are you conducting a soliloquy?
    1
  18762.  @robquithoven9547  Wat heeft dat nou met mijn opmerking te maken? De "US" is nog altijd de VS in algemeen beschaafd Nederlands.
    1
  18763.  @robquithoven9547  Voor hetzelfde geld hadden de Amerikanen de Filippijnen moeten inlijven. Ze werden vriendelijk verzocht de Filippijnen te verlaten, hetgeen ze dan ook netjes deden. Inmiddels zijn de Amerikanen trouwens weer terug. Het ging dus in de Krim enkel om militaire basissen. En je coup is lariekoek. Buiten Rusland hecht niemand daar waarde aan. Afgezien van hun 'nuttige idioten' dus.
    1
  18764. Germany's diesel subs aren't all that effective in annexing territory.
    1
  18765. Some are getting killed in the process.
    1
  18766. Serb tears taste supersalty.
    1
  18767. Wear your badge proudly. No need to be a crypto-Fascist.
    1
  18768.  @elmohead  You'd think they would proudly display the captured Ukrainian tanks. Have Russia's famed propagandists lost their touch?
    1
  18769.  @СергейМонин-д7с  Russki bot trying to be cute. Fretting about call-up papers arriving? I hear there's a new "covert" mobilisation going on.
    1
  18770.  @thor.halsli  If the electorate felt they picked the least sucky contender, I wouldn't call it happiness what they're feeling.
    1
  18771. No fair. They pray to your God.
    1
  18772. So Ukraine is part of the West now? Interesting. Let's see India try to buy Russian weapons, as it did in the past. It's a recipe for disaster. But not to worry, Russia has proposed to buy back weapons that it already delivered to India. Beggars can't be choosers.
    1
  18773. ...and now it's even worse off.
    1
  18774.  @ovidiuvirtosu105  To quote your words: "Ukraine was and still is nazi [ed: my italics]". Stand by your words, botty boy. It is said that the majority of the Soviet war-time marshals were, in fact, Ukrainian. Also, official Red Army figures have it that ethnic Russians fighting among its ranks during WWII suffered 5% deaths, while the equivalent figure for Ukrainians was 6%. It would appear Ukraine made an even higher sacrifice in fighting back the Nazis. You bots must hate facts.
    1
  18775. You're right, but your sole warmonger is in the Kremlin (which is on the European continent), the one that's also known as the Kremlin Gremlin.
    1
  18776. Poor Elon. He's ruined Twitter.
    1
  18777.  @theopensource09  Both sides showed a remarkable degree of aggression.
    1
  18778.  @Valkyri3Z  What a weird analogy. I'll leave you to it.
    1
  18779.  @AndrewDavidson-qu2qs  So, you must be thrilled that Russia accounts for close to half of Europe's landmass. Should you try to kiss up to Russia to spite the EU? You tried with the likes of Hungary, but even Orban wouldn't take the bait.
    1
  18780.  @DK-yz9xk  Why did you bring up Biden? I made no reference to him whatsoever. And what else is it that you don't understand?
    1
  18781. Kudos. Women are dragging Iran into the 21st century.
    1
  18782. The French are actually pretty accomplished at UN peacekeeping. Can you say the same?
    1
  18783. Sly? Biden isn't letting Ukraine do anything that Russia hasn't done unto Ukraine first. Russia's been at it for nearly three years, for gossake.
    1
  18784.  @nadimabdelaal6494  When the time is right, all of them. That's how it works. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  18785. Yeah, but it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Russia is bankrupting itself in the process.
    1
  18786. Russia has been described as a gas station that masquerades as a country. And Russia's biggest customers now tank elsewhere. Russia can only flog its hydrocarbons at bargain basement prices to opportunistic "allies".
    1
  18787. Tintin was second. The Muricans came third.
    1
  18788.  @URA-Z2022  Russia has, too. It has begged arms from China, North Korea, Belarus and Iran.
    1
  18789.  @Hellllllo852  He may not be Russian, but he's siding with Putin khuylo. That puts him on the losing side.
    1
  18790. @Sergij Bojko That's a very unfortunate name in my native language.
    1
  18791. Het gaat maar door, met al die wraakacties heen en weer.
    1
  18792. @ataxius Proud to have had a relative serve with the RCAF in WW2. Sadly, he didn't survive the war.
    1
  18793. You're the observant type, aren't you.
    1
  18794. That would be Hamas, dear. Know your enemy.
    1
  18795. Russia's national wealth fund is what keeps Russia going. The coffers are getting empty.
    1
  18796. No ruble for you then.
    1
  18797. Ukraine is still holding strong, and it's a defensive war they're fighting against an invader that is superior in numbers. Russia is losing by not winning. At this rate of advance, Russia will take Kyiv some time in the 22nd century. Of course, Russia would go bankrupt ten times over if the war were to last that long.
    1
  18798. Don't promote suicide.
    1
  18799. Putin should sprout wings himself. This war is going to be the death of him, I'm afraid.
    1
  18800. We don't have to imagine. UN peacekeepers are regularly targeted by Africans. Fatalities are not unheard of. Russia is sabotaging the whole UNSC with regard to Ukraine, and as a permanent member, it gets away with it scot-free.
    1
  18801. Which Yemen? There are different Yemeni factions than vie for power.
    1
  18802. Concerned on your behalf, more like. We'll be mostly shielded from his crazyness, but you'll be fully exposed.
    1
  18803.  @tahertz8544  Fix what exactly? Only last year, your Congress lauded our defensive capabilities.
    1
  18804.  @tahertz8544  Don't you worry. We're currently at 2.3% defence expenditure. Plus all our able-bodied males serve as conscripts and reservists. More bang for the buck euro. You've outsourced your service to your country, haven't you?
    1
  18805.  @tahertz8544  For your info, the EU has no collective defence policy. You might as well speculate about how formidable your USMCA trading bloc is in matters military. Again, you needn't worry your pretty little head on our account, because we're demonstrably pulling our weight. I deduce from you actively ignoring my question about your service to your country that you personally aren't pulling your weight. Am I right or am I right? Last time w'all did what?
    1
  18806.  @tahertz8544  So you didn't stay on in the reserves. National Guard? If you want to hold us responsible for British, Spanish and French misdeeds, it's whatever they've done since 1995 that we're possibly co-responsible for. Britain hasn't been our responsibility since 2020. I'm not impressed with American gun ownership per se. Practically all my adult male compatriots know how to handle an assault rifle, but you can't claim the same. And your abundance of handguns and shotguns has very limited military value.
    1
  18807. Don't be so sure. Russia used the comparable Shilka SPAAG to devastating effect in Chechnya, often obliterating ATGM teams before they could launch their missiles. It played a decisive role in the Battle of Grozny, where tank cannons lacked the elevation to target enemy combatants on rooftops.
    1
  18808.  @valentintapata2268  Bibi's political career is all but over. When the situation normalises, he'll be dropped like a brick because of the intelligence failures that happened during his watch. I hope he'll face a backlash for his failed hard-line policies with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a whole, too.
    1
  18809. Who's planning to impose tariffs on NATO? Trump? Doesn't the US want to flog its military kit to its allies any longer?
    1
  18810. No, TikTok is yet another example of how the CCP is a millstone around the neck of Chinese corporations with global ambitions. The Chinese deserve better.
    1
  18811. @bggfddiiytfkjgcc Not with FPTP around.
    1
  18812. But the prospective Nobel Peace Prize winner, Trump, was supposed to have Russia on a peace footing?
    1
  18813. Trump makes Europe great all right. In a zero-sum sense, that is.
    1
  18814. Shouldn't the military government call an election and test its popularity at the polls? Problem solved.
    1
  18815. Trade wars aren't real wars, but Germany lost two major real ones because of fighting on two fronts. Trump will go down in history as the leader who fought a four-front trade war -- north, south, east and west.
    1
  18816.  @dragosbogoi  Cut the spammer some slack. Fredde is svenskspråkig.
    1
  18817.  @TRAZ4004  It seems that for a moment, you forgot that the US is in NATO, too. In absolute terms, Germany and the UK are the biggest European contributors to NATO. The UK meets the 2% NATO target. France, which is in third place, is one of those that would meet the 2% target, too, if it would manage to spend its budget. Mind you, France could label its donations of newly-manufactured French arms to Ukraine as defence expenditures, or do same with the compensation that France pays to other EU countries that donate their used military kit to Ukraine. How about your Foreign Military Sales? I'm old enough to remember how we ordered spanking-new F-18s from the US Air Force, and not from the manufacturer, McDonnell Douglas, who still had to manufacture them. Your DoD insisted, like it always does when foreign buyers are concerned.
    1
  18818.  @TRAZ4004  You didn't specify NATO's European members when you blamed its two biggest contributors for being underspenders (and even if you had, you would've gotten it partly wrong). You'll find that not only Europe (with the usual exceptions) found itself ill-prepared for the type of war that Russia fights in Ukraine. The same applied to the US. Artillery doesn't feature that prominently in Western military doctrine. You had to scrounge around in South Korea for shells to give to Ukraine. I don't quite understand why you choose to blame me for not understanding the complexity of rebuilding defence industries and militaries. Firstly, I haven't suggested otherwise. Secondly, it's not relevant to us. I already hinted that we never let our guard down. When we joined NATO, the fanfare and congratulatory babble was such that it made me blush. We're considered a showcase of sorts for total defence.
    1
  18819. Don't you want to go party in Tallinn?
    1
  18820. So Africa wants to be looted by someone else for a change? It reminds me of what was said of 19th-century US missionaries, who turned businessmen: "They went to do good, and they did very well." China certainly has taken that lesson to heart.
    1
  18821.  @darkpenguin1978  You're flattering yourself. The nefarious effects of China's neo-colonialism in Africa are surfacing as we speak. It may be a new form of colonialism, but it's exploitation all the same.
    1
  18822.  @blankscreen3702  More posturing.
    1
  18823.  @blankscreen3702  No, I copied it only once and for you only, because I caught you posturing twice.
    1
  18824. @Ian McNally The truth is you have outed yourself as a neo-Nazi.
    1
  18825.  @KazimierzSurma  Thanks for letting us know we should despise Poles. I was wholly unawares of the necessity. Paranoia much?
    1
  18826.  @richardmarsden5610  But your lot's constant sabre-rattling with nuclear weapons suggests otherwise. What you're advocating is that Russia commits murder-suicide for the greater glory of a megalomaniacal dictator who's on the way out. Hitler, too, thought Germany should die with him.
    1
  18827.  @ИмяФамилия-д7ч5п  Oopsie, you got shadow-banned. You'd better watch that foul mouth of yours.
    1
  18828. I wish Russia was your problem and not ours. But then again, you've got China.
    1
  18829.  @Tabula_Rasa1  You told me I should study history, so I explained that I already have. You grew concerned that I could only find employment as a librarian -- I reassured you that I have other degrees (yes, plural) to fall back on. Your defensiveness suggests that your academic credentials are... non-existent? University of life, but you failed to graduate?
    1
  18830.  @meybyükselenbircicek  The Ottoman Empire sure was colonial. Colonialism is defined as "control by one power over a dependent area or people." The Ottoman Empire had lots of those. As it happens, an ancestor of mine fought to kick out the Ottomans from Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878). The grateful Bulgarians still credit us for helping them regain their freedom from colonial oppression. I studied at the University of Leuven. Lots of material on colonialism. Unlike you, the Belgians don't hide their murky past.
    1
  18831. Did you love it, too, when Putin called Turkey a backstabber and an accomplice of terrorists? Allies? Strange bedfellows is more like it.
    1
  18832. +KuroNeko :3 You're not good at arguing your case. The Americans have brought in far, far more military kit to Turkey than the Russians. Fact is, Russia and Turkey "enjoy" a historical enmity that spans the better part of a millennium. Heck, even my family rose to prominence as a result of one of the many wars fought between Russia and Turkey, because an ancestor of mine was particularly adept at shooting Turks.
    1
  18833. +KuroNeko :3 The US has supplied arms to Turkey on very favourable terms, and so have other NATO members. It can be argued that Turkey has been a NATO charity case from the onset. Do you think the Russkies give freebies? And selling the S400 to Turkey is a clever investment. If it comes to blows between Turkey and Russia -- once again -- your S400 might inexplicably malfunction. There are numerous cases of perfectly serviceable Buks having to be taken out of service because of legitimate concerns about Russian hacking. We've established that your long-term memory is shot, but your short-term memory also leaves something to be desired. How do you not realise that this new-found love between Russia and Turkey was preceded by a bitter propaganda war against Turkey, waged publicly by the likes of Putin, Medvedev and Lavrov. But perhaps more importantly, the Russian populace joined in eagerly, acting on their age-old anti-Turkish instincts. Everything says ''opportunism' about it (you even allude to it yourself). Sadly, opportunists often change their mind.
    1
  18834. +KuroNeko :3 You mentioned that Turkey had to pay for US kit, as if there was a critical distinction there with Russian kit. You may want to go over your arguments before posting them. It's no secret that the US has provided grants and subsidised loans to Turkey in order to finance the sale of their arms. There are credible estimates that from 1984 to 1999 alone, 77% of the value of US arms exports to Turkey -- amounting to $10 billion in total -- was footed by the American taxpayer. Sure, the Russians promise the S400 isn't rigged to miss Russian warplanes, but how can you be sure? Like I said, many defence forces phased out the Buk because of such concerns. You're naive if you think the Russians will share the ins and outs of their latest AA missile technology with a NATO member. Putin wasn't born yesterday -- the ex-KGB officer knows full well that Erdogan is a bit of a weathervane. Your nationalistic myopia prevents you from distinguishing between NATO, US, EU and the countries involved. NATO was sharply divided over the Iraq War, which achieved nothing but a further destabilisation of the Middle East. The EU was divided over Turkish membership -- until Erdogan went berserk and effectively got Turkey blacklisted. But I'd say you have one common trait with the Russians. You believe everything is a "Western" conspiracy against you.
    1
  18835. +KuroNeko :3 Judging from your sudden silence, you're the one lacking knowledge on the subject. The truth hurts, doesn't it?
    1
  18836. +KuroNeko :3 Read again. You boasted that Turkey has not enjoyed favourable terms in arms purchases from the US. I noted that between 1984 and 1999, Turkey got what amounted to a 77% subsidy, $8 billion in absolute terms. That's pretty favourable -- charitable even.
    1
  18837. +KuroNeko :3 Nope, you didn't address Turkey verifiably being a charity case.
    1
  18838. China's high-tech industry would nosedive without Taiwan-made chips.
    1
  18839. Simple-pimple. Putin keeps his cronies happy with money from Russia's oil and gas. Orban has to make do with EU subsidies to achieve same.
    1
  18840.  @nikoskalaitzakis4824  Except in Putin's and Orban's case we're talking political corruption. It's a widely known fact that with Europe's graying population, immigration -- in one form or another -- is a must. If you ever plan on receiving a pension, you're a beneficiary, too.
    1
  18841.  @nikoskalaitzakis4824  It's very simple. We need more taxpayers to pay for our pensions. We're not churning out babies in sufficient numbers. Which part don't you understand?
    1
  18842.  @nikoskalaitzakis4824  You're skirting the issue. How do you propose to solve the pension time bomb?
    1
  18843.  @nikoskalaitzakis4824  You're answering my question with another question. It's very obvious that you don't like the answer to mine.
    1
  18844.  @nikoskalaitzakis4824  You should try your hand as a right-wing populist politician. True to style, you contribute problems, but never solutions... or cosmetic ones at best. Just like Orban's desperate baby-breeding scheme.
    1
  18845.  @biddyboy1570  Try to fix your own leadership crisis for a change.
    1
  18846.  @michaelpetrovich5353  Late generals do.
    1
  18847. His opportunism is a less desirable trait.
    1
  18848. Russia didn't free Europe. It either reoccupied Eastern Europe or installed puppet regimes there.
    1
  18849. The obvious eludes you. The UN is powerless because of Russia's veto. If the world is bitterly divided, why wouldn't the UN be? By the way, I'm all for stripping Russia of its power of veto. Long overdue.
    1
  18850.  @henriikkak2091  I think the gloves are coming off. NATO can''t accept much more nonsense from Turkey, or its credibility will suffer. Turkey will come around. Either Erdogan loses the election, or being the bazaar merchant that he is, Erdogan will realise he can't squeeze a better deal from NATO.
    1
  18851. In neighbouring Mongolia, for instance. Or if Putin doesn't fancy being held in a yurt, there's Japan and South Korea nearby, too. In fact, if Putin wants to turn himself in, he's got 124 countries to choose from. The man is spoilt for choice!
    1
  18852.  @Cinder_Shoiler  I'm referring to intellectual property in general. March this year, Russia allowed its companies and citizens to use inventions, utility models and industrial designs held by owners from “unfriendly countries” without their consent and without compensating them. So, patent theft has now been legalised in Russia.
    1
  18853.  @Cinder_Shoiler  Russian government decree number 299, dated March 6, 2022. Enjoy.
    1
  18854.  @maryginger4877  So young and so cynical already.
    1
  18855.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  OK, I get it. Your cognitive abilities prevent you from understanding what I just wrote.
    1
  18856.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  Whatever I would write to convince of the true state of affairs would be beyond your comprehension, so I'll leave it at this.
    1
  18857.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  No smugness or self-rightousness involved, just pure ignorance on your part. Try this for size: "The presidency is not an individual, but rather the position is held by a national government. It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the 'president of the European Union'."
    1
  18858.  @vaskodimoski5690  Whataboutism is the last refuge of the Krembot.
    1
  18859.  @PlaYer-sn5or  I'd rather count sheep than whataboutists. There are just too many of you.
    1
  18860.  @syedferozshah6558  What would you prefer, that reps of all the world's nations convene at the local boozer? This is the only world you've got, so you'd better make the best of it.
    1
  18861. That will only make investors stay away from Niger. And there are no more truly communist countries to prop them up. You're advocating a recipe for disaster.
    1
  18862.  @mdumisenihlophe4001  You make a compelling argument. Not.
    1
  18863. By any chance, have you forfeited your seat at the UN?
    1
  18864. I don't think the Royal Armoured Corps agrees or it wouldn't have insisted on the yet-untested Challenger III upgrade.
    1
  18865. 124 sovereign nations think otherwise.
    1
  18866.  @bigbinji6145  You'd think the Russians would respond in kind. What's that, they have already? For over a year now?
    1
  18867. Can you vote with your feet? Pretty please?
    1
  18868.  @dxelson  All the Western countries maintain diplomatic relations with Russia and vice versa. Let me tell you, it's not hugs and kisses.
    1
  18869. Too bad Erdogan's Turkey is economically weak. Feet of clay.
    1
  18870.  H Slmz  "The biggest nation on[sic] the world"... could you possibility be more jingoistic?
    1
  18871. Strangely, only commissioned officers were allowed to take part in pistol dueling, or pistol events in general. The olden days...
    1
  18872. In your excitement, don't go Katyn on them. It may come back to haunt you.
    1
  18873. Firstly, you're apparently oblivious of founder Ren Zhengfei's tight links with the Chinese military and the Chinese government. Secondly, as an Chinese company, Huawei is obligated by law to assist the Chinese government in intelligence gathering. Alternatively, they can force Chinese nationals -- Huawei's employees -- to lend them a hand. Mind you, having built a world-class company, I think Ren Zhengfei would very much like to move Huawei's headquarters away from China, but that's clearly not an option.
    1
  18874. Your hero is very unpopular worldwide. Fact.
    1
  18875.  @davidwong5197  There you go again, sock-puppeting. And don't thumb up your own comments. It's sordid.
    1
  18876.  @tellitlikeitis5856  I didn't know DW needs to pay NATO. Does Fox, CNN? But are you sure the US is paying its dues? I'm not.
    1
  18877. Rustig maar, jij krijgt een gebroken geweertje. Dat werkte toch prima, toen Nederland zich afzijdig wilde houden in 1940.
    1
  18878. Unpaying? There's just Iceland.
    1
  18879.  Swan Finney  A cleverer person than you would've concluded that I'm a EU citizen. Please report to your CCP handlers that you're not up to scratch to post intelligent comments on YouTube.
    1
  18880.  Swan Finney  Oh dear, you need to be replaced by someone with proper English skills as well.
    1
  18881.  Swan Finney  It's highly unoriginal to reply to someone with something that only amounts to "No, you are!"
    1
  18882.  Swan Finney  You started it with your inane, stating-the-obvious comment. Refer to my initial comment if you want to discuss substance.
    1
  18883.  Swan Finney  What are "shallow mins"? Please consider using a Chinese handle. "Swan Finney" is credible for only half a sentence.
    1
  18884. Sunak's wife makes for a poor example. She's domiciled in the UK and pays income tax in the UK.
    1
  18885.  @davecollins6122  Or Novocraine? It as if Zelenskyy injected Novocaine into the animal's gums to do the necessary extractions, leaving the Russian bear toothless.
    1
  18886. This clown show can use another clown.
    1
  18887. Lipstick on a pig. Boeing is too big to fail for the US.
    1
  18888. This was live TV, Bozo.
    1
  18889.  @jerrymillerstein  So, explain to us how this works. Trump is busily brokering peace and extracting mineral rights from Ukraine. In exchange, he's offering... European peacekeepers? Or are we to believe that Russia won't attack Ukraine again because there'll be Americans to oversee the mining operations? You must think the world of American mining engineers. Your emperor has no clothes.
    1
  18890. The first phase of grief is denial, followed by anger. Which is it?
    1
  18891. It looks more like Assad and Russia were sleeping, because they've clearly been caught with their pants down.
    1
  18892.  @DataJYdocs  Pray tell, why? The Baltic states are happily in NATO as it is.
    1
  18893. ​ @springbloom5940  Now that Russia has officially acknowledged its retreat north of Bakhmut, are you going to apologise to me for calling me a liar? It sucks hard to be Putin troll, doesn't it?
    1
  18894. There's a trade war brewing between the US and your supposed "vassal". Germany will be in the thick of it. But go ahead, twist reality to suit your zany conspiracy theories.
    1
  18895. On the contrary, the firm resistance to the coup in Myanmar is making authoritarian regimes squirm the world over. Their only hope is to lend support to one another as best as they can, like China is doing to the military junta in Myanmar. Meanwhile, their own people are awakening. Hong Kong, Belarus, Russia, Myanmar... democratic forces can't be stopped.
    1
  18896. ​ @abdurrehman-ij3gq  OK, you must be thinking that your opinion has some intrinsic value, because you provided no arguments whatsoever to support your viewpoint. You should know what they say about opinions: they're like arseholes, everyone has them and they stink.
    1
  18897. Yeah, he was a cultural icon all right <pfrrt>.
    1
  18898. So, who's the puppet master? Please, make it a juicy conspiracy theory.
    1
  18899. The Kerch bridge? I suppose Ukraine could turn it into a pleasure pier in its damaged state.
    1
  18900.  @franciscojavier3109  It's not. US soldiers were strictly told not to raise USA flags in Iraq during the Iraq War, so as not to appear as an occupying force. I suppose Israel makes no effort whatsoever to win hearts and minds in Lebanon.
    1
  18901. Putin has long-lost the ability to smell rotten. It's too pervasive a smell in Putin's Russia.
    1
  18902. I suppose you'd be happy with Trump in the White House. He wouldn't even pretend to care for Gaza's civilians, and he'd send twice the amount of weapons to kill them. No hypocrisy, after all.
    1
  18903. More like he can't keep his subordinates in check. It's a valid reason for getting one's walking papers.
    1
  18904. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the USSR backed down in the Cuban Missile Crisis, and it cost Khrushchev his job. What am I missing?
    1
  18905.  @zelenskyy-the-blackmailerh5920  Are you telling us to read about Putin's bosom friend, Sergei Roldugin, who, beside playing the cello, serves as Putin's piggybank?
    1
  18906. Correct, and it is correct.
    1
  18907. Not only those. The EU will react with crippling sanctions. Why do you need to ask? Lately, there's been plenty of talk of further sanctions. Now they're materialising.
    1
  18908. You needn't throw your toys out of the pram. Milei is a populist. He needs to pander to the crowd.
    1
  18909. Your claim about Timmermans' unpopularity is dubious at best. He and his party won the European parliamentary election of 2019 in a landslide. The green shift is certainly the way to go (together with renewed investment in nuclear energy) -- if not because of global warming, then to thwart Russia's attempts to hold Europe hostage over energy. The same goes for supporting Ukraine -- shifting borders with military might is intolerable. You seem the type that's very quick to give in under pressure. Morals aren't keeping your defeatism back.
    1
  18910. The figures suggest something else. China is losing its way, and in the absence of brisk economic growth, the CCP's social contract with the people will expire.
    1
  18911. It's not like he's getting US-style immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. Yes, he'll probably get time off for co-operating with the authorities. It's a well-established legal principle the world over.
    1
  18912. This is Putin's swan song.
    1
  18913.  @yumsanmei  That would be UN law, sport.
    1
  18914.  @lintoppthomas  Superation? Aren't I lucky to understand it all perfectly, because I'm neither leftist nor communist.
    1
  18915. You're too generous. It's Putin's very own "special military operation".
    1
  18916. It's a mystery to me how Russia thinks this helps.
    1
  18917.  @seimela  It's the United Nations, but I guess you're too ensnared in your conspiracy theories to understand that.
    1
  18918. Je komt met Amerikaanse lulkoek opzetten. Wees een beetje origineel, zeg.
    1
  18919. Putin was proven right. It's deffo unsafe for Russia in Ukraine.
    1
  18920. All 2 million of them? That would amount to genocide.
    1
  18921.  @rodimus580  Actually, we passed on your Iraqi WMD debacle and its looong aftermath. Afghanistan, however, was a 18-year slog, with us providing security (read: near-constant combat) for construction batallions that built scores of girls' schools and infirmaries. The Taliban now use the former as madrassas to indoctrinate future fighters, all male of course. The infirmaries are practically all-male, too, since female doctors are growing increasingly scarce. Do you need reminding that you replaced the Taliban with the Taliban? Anyways, remember to accredit Trump for his first surrender deal.
    1
  18922.  @larrysherk  If Russia was born in Kiev, doesn't that imply Russia is part of Ukraine? It sounds like Putin needs to step down and make way for Zelensky.
    1
  18923. Bad dog, come on, your military-industrial complex needs an excuse to peddle its wares. And who are you supposedly protecting us from? The enemies you helped create with your military adventurism?
    1
  18924. Back? It's always been a transatlantic initiative. The name alone is a dead giveaway.
    1
  18925. As an avid scuba diver, I love my Finnish Suunto dive computer. The company's slogan is "Replacing luck". The same applies to Finland's bid for NATO membership.
    1
  18926.  @suleyman8696  You don't say, different countries? Jokes aside, you have to admit that there are ample similarities in how both regimes suddenly and completely caved in.
    1
  18927. At the glacial pace that the Russians is making progress towards the Atlantic, the EU can take all the time in the world to make up its mind, vrind.
    1
  18928. Don't make everything about you.
    1
  18929.  @tomzamp8547  Are you talking to yourself now?
    1
  18930. First stage of grief: denial. Up next: anger.
    1
  18931.  @VodeniZeka  But you don't know where to aim. The Israelis have put the Syrian and Iranian air defences to shame with their F-35s. Guess who made said air defence systems?
    1
  18932.  @VodeniZeka  Oh, I've been to Belgrade, many times over. While there, I did bomb damage assessment of my own, just for kicks. Not a pretty picture, but Milošević brought it upon yourselves. It's too bad you can't explain to your BFFs back east how you got the F-117, or they'd surely had made kit that stands a chance against the F-35. I guess your blinds prevent you from realising how thoroughly Russia's defence industry was humiliated by Israel over Syria and Iran. For your sake, I hope you shop for those fancy radars somewhere else than in Russia.
    1
  18933.  @VodeniZeka  You're letting your imagination get the better of you. Israel took out three Iranian S-300 batteries, leaving the country without primary air defences. That, if you can't figure it out for yourself, is the point.
    1
  18934.  @VodeniZeka  Aw, now you're resorting to ad hominems. It's a tacit admission that you've lost the argument. All Israeli F-35s landed safely at their airbases -- in addition to all the other Israeli aircraft involved in the strike, 100 in all. You're straying from the topic -- that the F-35 is demonstrably impervious to Russian-made surface-to air-missiles. So now you'd like to move the goal posts. What a sad debater you are.
    1
  18935.  @VodeniZeka  No, why? Do you instantly forget what you've posted? Short-term memory loss?
    1
  18936. And the CCP congratulates itself for being committed to female equality.
    1
  18937. It's here, causing more storms. Snow storms included.
    1
  18938. That would mean Old Bone Spurs finally seeing action. Trump specifically wanted the al-Tanf base in Syria to be kept.
    1
  18939. One would think the superior people skills of the other nations that were in Afghanistan, especially head honcho US, would've left the country in a much more satisfactory state, but no. Self-congratulatory babble is your strong suite.
    1
  18940. You live and learn.
    1
  18941.  @Swedishpolymath  Mannerheim was no fascist, nor did he flirt with fascism. As a aristocrat and soldier, he had a disdain for politics and politicians, Hitler included, which set him apart from the predominantly Swedish-speaking aristocracy in Finland, who were quite sympathetic to Hitler. After all, Mannerheim was in his element as a courtier in Saint Petersburg. If anything, he was a royalist.
    1
  18942.  @eetsnada1831  Slink away already.
    1
  18943.  @roll-outcommanders6520  You're mistaking me for one of your commie friends.
    1
  18944.  @doubletap-z8c  You need to read up on UNCLOS and freedom of navigation. Besides, it works both ways. We spy on the Russians and the Chinese, and they spy on us.
    1
  18945. I'm sure the riders will pop off just like the turrets on their tanks.
    1
  18946. Hand and feet, for instance. Why do you ask?
    1
  18947. There literally wouldn't have been any Olympics, ever, if we took your advice.
    1
  18948. Is there an equivalent to the AA for conspiracy theorists?
    1
  18949. Same!
    1
  18950.  @kolviczd6885  You're right as far America is concerned -- the Yanks publicly admit their weakness in 5G networks -- but that is not to say Huawei has the global market to itself. The Scandinavians, Nokia and Ericsson, regularly beat Huawei in network bids all over the world, and I can assure, they're never the lowest bidders -- Huawei are. Huawei can afford to underbid with the lavish subsidies they receive from the Chinese state. Does it come as surprise that the latter demands something in return?
    1
  18951.  @johnlenin830  It's very much about popularity. NATO expands by popular demand. The populations of the new entrants literally demand that they join. Which treaties has this democratic expansion of NATO broken? Please be specific. Don't try to play the Russophobia card. We've always had Russians living in our midst, on every level of society. No one bats an eye.
    1
  18952. Veel Joden haten Netanyahu, dus ze zijn in goed gezelschap.
    1
  18953.  @sidahagarwal742  The war in Ukraine was long since become a losing proposition for Russia, and not just militarily, but above all, economically. Russia is slowly but surely heading for bankruptcy. The only reason why Russia still keeps fighting is that Putin's career is at stake. Sheer desperation keeps him at it.
    1
  18954. Whoever governs Syria needs a popular mandate. Democracy, even in rudimentary form, is the obvious solution.
    1
  18955. If Putin doesn't come to this senses and still refuses to withdraw from Ukraine, NATO should start to train the Ukrainians in winter warfare. NATO's newest member, Finland, excels at it. The Russians are surprisingly bad at it.
    1
  18956. There won't be any peace as long as Russia continues to occupy Ukrainian territory. We're looking at another Korea, with an uneasy ceasefire instead of a peace agreement. Russia will be relegated to the role of North Korea, because the economic sanctions will remain in place.
    1
  18957. He's not professing to be that.
    1
  18958. And it will come around again and again and again unless you break the circle of violence.
    1
  18959.  @xmanykl4400  Exactly. Russia will concoct a story that one of the defenders played with matches.
    1
  18960.  @UkraineNeeds  Whoosh!
    1
  18961. Which side did you have in mind?
    1
  18962. They fear the wrath of those starving in Africa and the Middle East. Not that Russia would care if they did, but Russia doesn't want to get blamed.
    1
  18963. I wouldn't call France's support for Israel -- if you can call it that -- uncritical of the Israeli excesses we've seen recently. France has consistently voted for a ceasefire, in stark contrast to the US and the UK. I don't know if facts mean anything to you.
    1
  18964. It still is, but now it has company.
    1
  18965.  @managerofthebotfarm7111  Don't flatter yourself. I would never work for a nincompoop like yourself.
    1
  18966. The ICC? The USA isn't even a member.
    1
  18967. Drama queen.
    1
  18968. With Trump, anything's possible. He and his equally clueless sidekick Hegseth are threatening to take Greenland, a NATO ally by association, by military force. The clown show never ends in The White House.
    1
  18969. On whose authority were you released?
    1
  18970. But so would China.
    1
  18971.  @thewanderinghermit7609  Are you for real? Russia's and Iran's combined GDPs are a fraction of that of the EU's.
    1
  18972. Go to your nearest enlistment office then.
    1
  18973. If powerful means willingly being entangled in a forever war, yes, then Israel is very powerful.
    1
  18974. Netanyahu is out of control, like a rabid dog.
    1
  18975. Your view must be world-defining. In your mind.
    1
  18976.  @ltho5616  True dat. And we're not even counting what it all costs to support the Ukrainians in our midst.
    1
  18977.  EARLY THERAPEUTICS ARE WINNING  Let's hope that Biden BEVER cuts on education. BEVER have you needed it more.
    1
  18978.  @nevadagrace3514  I don't think so. He's edited his comment at least once already. Idiot.
    1
  18979. You're very confused. Just about anyone, with the obvious exception of Russia, wishes Germany would get their act together militarily.
    1
  18980. A fanciful theory you've got there. Trump cut a deal with Taliban that settled the US troop withdrawal. All Biden did was not reverse Trump's decision. Moreover, China's business prospects in Afghanistan haven't exactly improved with the Taliban take-over. I guess the Chinese will have to re-bribe Afghanistan's leaders, this time Talibans, to re-secure their already existing mineral rights. Then, hope and pray that the Taliban can keep the country secure enough to make exploitation possible.
    1
  18981.  @DIOS-M  You must've missed all the hullabaloo about blood diamonds. If India massively forges the paperwork, they'll get away with it -- for a while, till they're on the receiving end of sanctions as well. Somehow I think India wants to be considered a law-abiding country where rule of law still applies.
    1
  18982. Ukraine and Russia would bear the brunt. For your info, Russia is within Europe till the Caspian Sea and the Ural Mountains.
    1
  18983. I noticed same. Russia has lost Kazakhstan, too. Will Belarus be next? No use hanging out with incompetent losers.
    1
  18984. If France 24 report on Russia's version of events, it's not a wholesale endorsement. In fact, when something is said to come from official Russian sources, it's a de facto announcement that the veracity of the report is very much open to dispute.
    1
  18985.  @ShanGamer1981  You're a doubting Thomas.
    1
  18986.  @paulgibbon5991  So far, Germany has delivered what it promised. The burden of power weighs heavily on Olaf Scholz's narrow shoulders, but as a country, Germany will do the right thing.
    1
  18987. It's not for me to support or oppose Navalny. Neither can I judge whether he's a credible opposition figure, but he is the only notable opponent of Putin's. For that alone, he deserves credit. Why do think him a traitor? I hope not for just being against Putin.
    1
  18988. Are you criticising Putin? Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
    1
  18989.  @CorruptMediaLies  But you appear to be at odds with the usual Putinist drivel that you post.
    1
  18990. That's why we call you a cynic.
    1
  18991. You can't take it that nations are queuing up to join NATO and that Russia's aggression is their prime motivation.
    1
  18992. You mispelled the names of both war criminals. It's N-E-T-A-N-Y-A-H-U and P-U-T-I-N.
    1
  18993.  @stephenhill545  I'm sure Putin has a dacha for a looong holiday in Inner Mongolia, south of Mongolia's border with China, in preparation for Russia's colour revolution. He must have recurring nightmares about it.
    1
  18994. Rule of law must be a foreign concept to you.
    1
  18995. ​ @zinjanthropus322  Laws are made by a legislature, meaning democractically elected representatives of the people. Is that news to you? It would appear so.
    1
  18996.  @zinjanthropus322  Now you're trying to be cute. Obviously, bureacrats are involved, but whether bills pass or not depends on the MPs. More often than not, there are endless amendments, and sometimes, despite all the changes, a bill never becomes a law. I suppose you've never sat in on a parliamentary sitting. It's our civic right. As for your MP not understanding or not bothering to read bills, I only have two words of advice: vote better.
    1
  18997.  @zinjanthropus322  So young yet so cynical. Good luck with your life.
    1
  18998. Wishful thinking. The big decisions will still be made abroad, only this time you have nary a say. Reality doesn't care what you write on buses.
    1
  18999. Regime change is good. In democratic countries, they often follow elections. You should give it a try. The people would love it.
    1
  19000.  @cowsmooo3344  Vote? Russians joke that where Western countries have elections, Russia has revolutions. I suppose the same goes for China.
    1
  19001. Cry? The centre-right won the election.
    1
  19002. Please fix your democracy so there won't be more embarrassments like this. The so-called leader of the free world is judged a flawed democracy because of widespread domestic distrust in democratic institutions. Trump is a symptom rather than a cause.
    1
  19003.  @isupportthecurrentthing.1514  So steering clear of "MSM" turned you into a useful idiot? In case that's a new term to you, it's what Kremlin propagandists call you.
    1
  19004. Donny wants to emulate Putin. Russian whataboutists are in seventh heaven.
    1
  19005. Funny how the far right tries to usurp the regular right. The difference is like day and night.
    1
  19006. Kelly is a retired general, just like Mark Milley, a Trump-appointee who also called Trump a fascist.
    1
  19007. I wonder if God amended that stance when he decided to go through life as Allah.
    1
  19008. It's funny that even the most brutal autocracies must pretend to be democracies.
    1
  19009.  @glenngentry7523  It is not Russian territory, but Russian territory is close by -- much closer than the US -- and Russia is the largest country -- size-wise -- in the world. Ukrainians who identify as Russians should pack up and leave for Mother Russia. It's as simple as that.
    1
  19010.  @glenngentry7523  Speak for yourselves. We haven't bullied anyone, but we won't stand by idle when Ukraine is being bullied. Putin will end up in the Hague, extradited by Russia, just like Milosevich was by his own countrymen, or the FSB will defenestrate him when the next autocratic leader in Russia takes over the reins. Russia, an underdog, you say? If you root for underdogs, you should root for Ukraine.
    1
  19011.  @glenngentry7523  I'm not from Germany. We speak one another's languages in Europe, which may come as a surprise to monoglots such as yourself. Also, if you knew what the phrase meant -- or bothered to look it up -- you wouldn't have called me German. We clapped the Soviets' cheeks, as it happens.
    1
  19012. As a cure, you could start associating democracy with those countries that are judged to be better at it than the US. The US has dropped in the rankings to mere 'flawed democracy'.
    1
  19013. I believe he doubles as Allah.
    1
  19014. Is Hungary chock-full of closeted gays that will come out the moment they're told it's OK to be gay? I am thinking your "gay propaganda" has no effect unless you have a natural proclivity towards homosexuality. So you are the ones fussing over nothing.
    1
  19015. ​ Joe Xavier  And how does that relate to what I wrote?
    1
  19016. Maybe when Russia accepts a rule-based world order? When Russia invaded Ukraine, it not only broke the Budapest Memorandum, but also, the UN Charter.
    1
  19017.  @checkmilu  The US is not the problem here. Russia is. You should reserve your criticism of the US for more opportune times. Now it's just frivolous whataboutism.
    1
  19018. Labour just gained power in the UK, and in France, the left alliance won the election. I don't see it.
    1
  19019. How much of your country would you be willing to gift to Putin to satisfy his lust for Lebensraum?
    1
  19020. We'll see something similar to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that ended Russia's involvement in WW1. Russians like to think it ended in a draw, but all the same, it was a genuine Russian defeat. The question is, for how long will Putin survive? Knowing Russia, the knives will come out.
    1
  19021. So, when can we, in your expert opinion, expect a plebiscite that gives the Taliban a popular mandate to rule over Afghanistan? Also, when they first ruled over Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban had to revert to draconian measures to keep the population in check. Bloodletting was more rule than exception. I'm afraid that doesn't suggests there's overwhelming popular support for the Taliban.
    1
  19022. France is a major military supplier, globally. You Indians can't get enough of their weapons.
    1
  19023. You think your president is omnipotent. Must be American exceptionalism.
    1
  19024. In a parliamentary system, the head of government, meaning the prime minister, wields the most power. The head of state -- a president or a monarch -- has only residual or titular powers. The world's top democracies tend to be parliamentary ones, and their heads of state may or may not be directly elected. At any rate, it seems to have little bearing on how they're ranked as democracies.
    1
  19025. Netanyahu counts on the US not having the political courage to do so.
    1
  19026. ​ @justicehenrydamian475  They've been seen near Kherson, sporting those silly cope cages that make the Orcs feel invincible.
    1
  19027. I don't know about the money, but I know Brits will soon have to go to Poland to relearn a lot of trades that were handled by Poles in the UK.
    1
  19028. I'm not so sure. Israel is clearly out of ideas. They're acting like an automaton. Itchy & Scratchy Show, except it isn't funny. The US has no clue either.
    1
  19029.  @MrJonezy541  I was about to comment the same. Investing in artillery shells for Ukraine is a good investment in peace. With Russia's armed forces permanently degraded, the prospect for a lasting peace looks very good indeed.
    1
  19030.  @duncansmith7562  Russia has demonstrably lost so much armour that it won't be able to replace it in a jiffy, if ever. NATO is running low on 155 mm artillery shells, because artillery doesn't play a big part in NATO doctrine.
    1
  19031. It's so unfair! Putin drew spheres of influence on the world map with his red crayon, but no-one cared! So he got his toy soldiers out.
    1
  19032.  @lb9029  Kremtrollen grijpen altijd naar whataboutisme.
    1
  19033. What's lacking from the EU? The EU is not a military alliance and creating a parallel to NATO is not in anyone's interest. Anyhow, the military aid comes from individual countries.
    1
  19034.  @greatestytcommentator  You do know what they say about opinions, right? They're like bumholes. Everyone's got one, and they stink. I don't know where you're getting at, but there's such a thing as Japan Self-Defense Forces. Literally.
    1
  19035. Oh, Russia would've have, too, if Xi hadn't told off Putin. He is no longer allowed to rattle his little nuclear sabre.
    1
  19036. Putin is not risking public embarrassment with unrealistic demands, which NATO can impossibly agree to. Putin must have some minor concessions in mind, which he'll reveal when he's good and ready. If those are related to nuclear disarmament, all the better.
    1
  19037. Deficit spending, as in Russia making up for insufficient tax revenue (despite raising taxes) with generous helpings from its national wealth fund. Russia would very much like to borrow money from international lenders instead, but the lenders are anticipating that Russia would only default on its debt, like it did in 1989 and in 2022.
    1
  19038.  WarCrimeUkraine  And now the N*zis are losing another war. Next year, there should be a Defeat Day celebration in Moscow.
    1
  19039. The National Guard of Ukraine is credited with preventing a quick capitulation of Kyiv in the initial stages of Russia's 2022 invasion. They successfully repelled an attack by Russia's elite Airborne Forces on Antonov Airport. But as a foreigner, what do I know. Maybe American National Guardsmen don't compare. You tell us.
    1
  19040. Could China look more like a spurned lover?
    1
  19041. Bij elk treffen lijden ze navenant meer verliezen. Daarom wil Hezbollah het normaal gesproken niet al te bont maken. Er zijn grenzen aan hun incasseringsvermogen.
    1
  19042. With a lot of electronic components, that's not an attainable goal.
    1
  19043. We are sanctioning Putin's cronies. His walking piggy banks, in fact.
    1
  19044. Finland was the other pawn in Erdogan's blunt scheme to force the US to sell Turkey F-16s and F-16 upgrade kits. Turkey has now gained Biden's approval for the deal, but some US congressmen insist on seeing Turkey ratify Sweden's NATO accession before they approve the sale (I know, trust issues). Maybe Erdogan can still squeeze a token concession out of Sweden with regard to its Kurdish refugees, you know, for publicity purposes, but it's basically a done deal that Turkey "relents".
    1
  19045. Saddam got a full 100% of the vote. Then they hung him.
    1
  19046.  @DonzKing-t5o  You managed a non sequitur, Donkey Kong.
    1
  19047.  @Mark-l5n3m  Didn't I just write that we should derisk and move production away from China, to Vietnam and India for instance? Obviously, we should hold our low-cost manufacturing partners across the board reponsible for treating their workers right.
    1
  19048. She didn't write that particular one. Boris, on the other hand, wrote his.
    1
  19049. None of those countries ring a bell. Bad spellers of the world untie!
    1
  19050.  @selfmademan3201  Here's a buck. Buy yourself a used dictionary.
    1
  19051.  @selfmademan3201  You may want to work on your capitalisation and punctuation as well. You come across as very nekulturny.
    1
  19052.  @selfmademan3201  OK, tell me, where am I from and how did I grow up? It's easy for you, after all. Let's see if you get it right.
    1
  19053. Knowing the gaping holes in US healthcare and Trump having gutted the CDC, this is probably a blessing in disguise for Europe.
    1
  19054. Are you talking about Ruxia, China's northernmost province, the one headed by Pu Tin?
    1
  19055.  @roll-outcommanders6520  That would be the Americans and the Brits. "Europe" as a whole wasn't convinced by the WMD "evidence". Would you like freedom fries with your generalisations, comrade?
    1
  19056.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Uh, where were you when the NATO members disagreed vehemently about the Iraq War? Under a rock? Still in nappies? Vindictively, Rumsfeld called us "Old Europe" since we wouldn't 'play ball'. I suppose the freedom fries reference wooshed right over your head. We were in Afghanistan as part of ISAF, which was enthusiastically endorsed by Russia and China at the UNSC, too, and time after time at that. Don't try to speak on behalf of "the West". You can't even get the basics right. All you've got are tired clichés and generalisations. Comrade.
    1
  19057. +Will Higgins I'm curious as to what will happen to the statues. Has anyone offered them to Trump? He could gild them and put them in his hotels and casinos.
    1
  19058.  @linjinjun5685  So if not Western, then what type of democracy do you deem suitable for Hong Kong, or for that matter, mainland China? And shouldn't the latter set an example with its version of democracy? Currently, the PRC simply isn't democratic. If you criticize "our" democracy, you should be able to showcase "yours" as a better alternative so as not to appear a complete hypocrite.
    1
  19059.  @linjinjun5685  What do you mean, which one is better? Again, China has no democracy, so there's nothing to compare. China cynically denies its people universal suffrage, and in failing to fulfill this key requirement, it doesn't qualify as a democracy, period. Many developing countries have embraced democracy. India is the greatest democracy in the world and even neighbouring Mongolia managed to transform itself into one. Are you suggesting that the Chinese are exceptionally stupid, so they shouldn't be given the vote?
    1
  19060.  @linjinjun5685  I'm just looking for possible explanations why the Chinese, as a people, are unfit to govern themselves while many other nationalities are clearly able to do so, regardless of their equally bloody history and initial poverty. You refuse to offer any explanation yourself, but on the other hand, you're tacitly confirming that the Chinese people are unfit to govern themselves. You're also suggesting that if the Chinese were given the vote, this unfitness to govern themselves would manifest itself in China breaking up, which suggests to us democrats that the will of the people doesn't favour a united China. Interesting. Speculations aside, the problem with an undemocratic China is that it's a ticking time bomb. We have ample proof that one way or another, the people will gain their democratic rights. The Arab Spring is a good example. The Tunisians gained them without major violence, but in Syria it's an endless struggle. The big question is, when is China's turn and how will it happen?
    1
  19061. The war should end, but this resolution isn't setting the stage for a just peace, so best ignore it. There, solved it for you.
    1
  19062. Do you know there's a tax on predicting the demise of the EU? It's just 1€ per utterance, but it's expected to pay for all the public debt in the EU. OK, pay up.
    1
  19063. You forgot all about Poroshenko. And he wasn't the catalyst. Tsk-tsk.
    1
  19064.  @blackkingofworld  Isn't that what I implied? Or are you just celebrating my impeccable insight?
    1
  19065.  @ljubisakupusovic7227  So, France and Germany have invaded Russia again? How did that happen without anyone noticing?
    1
  19066. Priggie is following in Jimmy Hoffa's footsteps.
    1
  19067. She's thumbing her nose at Putin, Russia's homophobe-in-chief. That's newsworthy.
    1
  19068.  @slapkit51  I'm aware that Airbus has an assembly site in Alabama, but are you actually claiming that final assembly of Airbus A220s in the US has the same positive impact on the US economy as if Boeing were to do same from design to delivery, all in the US, for a comparable airliner? It looks like you missed out on thousands of jobs. I'm inclined to think Boeing pays you too much -- if they pay you at all. Your style of writing (really, emojis?) suggests that you're something else than what you claim.
    1
  19069.  @slapkit51  You're still not getting it. Airbus Canada got the cake and its parent Airbus SE magnanimously cut you a slice as a consolation prize. If Trump didn't clutch at every opportunity to impose tariffs, Bombardier might have failed nonetheless, leaving Boeing with one competitor less and hence, more opportunities to flog the 737 MAX. In other words, Boeing -- and the US -- would've gotten the whole cake. As it is now, the Airbus Mobile plant only assembles A220s for the US market, while Canada sees to the rest of the world. So, Canada won. I was alluding to your writing style in general, which is rife with errors. That's why I find it hard to believe that you're a consultant. You strike me more as blue-collar worker.
    1
  19070. @Leonid OK, Putin troll.
    1
  19071.  @Branca179  All of the above.
    1
  19072. The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 stripped the German Jews of their citizenship.
    1
  19073.  @vervetech9395  Ideally both, as in military police.
    1
  19074. Give it a try and bring your case against them to the ICC. But it's like you're acknowledging the jurisdiction of the ICC, and that spells trouble for your hero, Putin.
    1
  19075.  @peterrandall9523  Truth be told, Biden effed up, too, by blindly executing Trump's peace plan. Trump now wants to prosecute the Pentagon officials responsible, but I think he'll realise soon enough how damaging that could be to him.
    1
  19076. The Neptune is made-in-Ukraine. Take a deep breath of copium.
    1
  19077.  @mayal5206  There's always a besserwisser.
    1
  19078.  @Greenpoloboy3  No, the only question is, will NI will beat Scotland to it.
    1
  19079. I wonder if any more bookseller abductions will follow this time, or have the Hongkongers been successfully scared silent?
    1
  19080. Nice to know... it won't help the gas station that masquerades as a country, though.
    1
  19081. That could be the next move. The movement needs to build up momentum.
    1
  19082.  @mickjagger850  Israel is more at odds with the UN than any Arab country.
    1
  19083. You must've been bullied something fierce in school. You still cower in fear. Grow a spine.
    1
  19084. @Xeino Let's see, since we're in the EU, you'd force the whole trade bloc to retaliate in kind and cut you off, too. Not advisable, unless you want to deal a coup de grâce to your economy. Of course, with all your off-shore manufacturing, cutting off trade with China would already condemn it to death.
    1
  19085.  @barneystinson2781  Who's talking about Americans? I'm referring to foreigners falling victim to Covid-19 because of your poor management of the pandemic.
    1
  19086. @Xeino Not true. We're one of the few countries that never stopped stockpiling emergencies supplies after the Cold War. The grain supplies alone will last us for years. If someone tries to take what's ours by force, they'll have to contend with a well-regulated militia, not a gaggle of free-for-all preppers, like in your case.
    1
  19087. @Xeino I was alluding to citizen soldiers. Colour me surprised that you don't know your own fabled second amendment. Funny, I had trouble getting kitted out in the military. No one who's seen me in person calls me little.
    1
  19088. So, where's the US equivalent of the Energiewende?
    1
  19089.  @paulfaber6227  Ah, another suicidal sociopath. Get help.
    1
  19090. Xi had better rethink his stance towards democracy. Maybe he, or maybe his successor, will come to the only logical conclusion: if you can't beat them, join them.
    1
  19091.  @pratiktare6240  That's still investment. Investors most definitely expect a return on investment, as in money. In development aid, there's no expectation of a monetary reward. It's all goodwill. By the way, you don't need to educate me about investments. I'm an investor and advisor to the boards of the startups I invest in. In a previous life, I worked in development aid in Africa, side by side with locals, building dispensaries and roads. We predominantly used contractors of Indian extraction -- because they could get the job done -- but it was us who footed the bill.
    1
  19092. And I thought your lot were brave.
    1
  19093.  @Thorsted67  Newsflash. Russia made an abortive push for Kyiv in early 2022. It withdrew with its tail firmly tucked between the legs, when it transpired that the Ukrainians, despite the FSB's assurances to the contrary, were having none of it and put up a fierce resistance. Does it pay to be an apologist for Putin or are you just volunteering?
    1
  19094.  @crazyralph6386  You deserve your nickname. Sweden gets by fine without Russian energy. Where you born yesterday or are you... American?
    1
  19095.  @richardploss4494  "nato [sic] is a European defense [sic] policy"? Interestingly, NATO has only once activated its Article 5 mutual defence policy. That was the USA's doing, on account of 9/11. The ensuing fighting took place far away from Europe.
    1
  19096.  @richardploss4494  So, you're saying that 9/11 wasn't an attack against NATO. Isn't it implied that the US isn't in NATO? The US most definitely invoked Article 5 after 9/11. The rest was procedure, like the Secretary General of NATO confirming that the conditions had been met.
    1
  19097.  @richardploss4494  Sweden's NATO membership bid doesn't appear to be about Sweden any longer. It's about a reluctant US Congress approving a F-16 deal with Turkey. Sweden is, as your generals would say, collateral damage. It's nice of Finland to let US soldiers train there. By their own admission, they have a lot to learn about conducting military operations in the forbidding climate and challenging terrain. The Russians are more adept at it than you are. Best achieve parity there, because it might as well be Alaska that Russia will attack next. In Russia, some feel Alaska should be theirs again.
    1
  19098. Russia is a giant with feet of clay. It can't systematically exploit Africa -- at most it can rob Africa clean of everything that isn't bolted down and hope to make a clean getaway. Teaching Russian to the locals is surplus to requirements.
    1
  19099.  @BrokeBillionare  There are degrees. Populists look for a demographic group to blame for all and sundry. In other words, they exploit divisions for their own nefarious purposes rather than bring people together.
    1
  19100. If the EU had jurisdiction in domestic corruption cases, it would've prosecuted Orban ages ago.
    1
  19101. So you're saying Russia hasn't invented IFF yet? It figures.
    1
  19102.  @andreaserafini1688  Sure, the EU is no meal ticket, and it shouldn't become one. The EU helps to help yourself, but if you're entirely helpless, you're beyond its help.
    1
  19103. Akuki100, if so, how do you explain global poll results that show that views of Russia and Putin in particular are overwhelmingly negative throughout the world? Any polls (maybe even commissioned by RT) that show the opposite? I thought not.
    1
  19104. If/when Trump regains the presidency, it's back to business as usual. Our great-grandchildren, too, can watch the Israeli-Palestinian conflict live.
    1
  19105.  @jumbome7420  I don't think all that much of the Democrats either, but no wars? How about Afghanistan? There were plenty of drone strikes and aerial bombings in both Afghanistan and Syria under Trump. I don't see much of a difference.
    1
  19106.  @jumbome7420  Ah, started wars. You're a bit lazy on the keyboard. Well, Trump was a one-term president after all. I suppose opportunities just didn't present themselves. Had he not famously suffered electoral defeat in 2020, I'm sure Trump would've bombed Yemen all the same and he would've enthusiastically supported Israel in the war in Gaza and unconditionally at that. Maybe he could've even started an all-out war with Iran. Trump approving the Soleimani drone strike certainly exacerbated the proxy war. As for Ukraine, Trump would've sold it down the river, given his enthralment with Putin.
    1
  19107.  @ninjamusic9554  His point is rock-solid, even if you guys weren't wumaos.
    1
  19108.  @ninjamusic9554  Duh, I was obviously referring to your keen interest in the West, despite your vocal claims to the contrary. Otherwise, why don't you stick with your state-controlled social media platforms?
    1
  19109. No, just waiting for America to come to its senses and rejoin the free world. I put it down to politeness. Probably misplaced, yes.
    1
  19110.  @ericp1139  Feel free to call it whatever you please, but the US used to be part of a freer world than the likes of Russia and China, which are decidely authoritarian.
    1
  19111.  sam lux  Russia isn't ready for democracy, period. It lacks democratic institutions and traditions. Democratic countries have elections, Russia has revolutions.
    1
  19112. It's neither. It's arms.
    1
  19113. You've watched too many movies. Unfused mines are surprisingly hard to set off. A normal blasting cap won't even do it for TNT. If TNT is lit on fire, it will slowly burn, but not explode.
    1
  19114. I don't think there's any connection to Nazi Germany here. Try to keep it together.
    1
  19115. Keep your wet day dreams to yourself.
    1
  19116. Right-wing extremism rearing its ugly head is a serious matter everywhere.
    1
  19117. Russia can't hack it, so you make up stories about a bigger enemy. Pathetic.
    1
  19118. I'm sure they'll get on like a house bridge on fire.
    1
  19119.  @terencefirth616  OK, I get it -- you're one of those sad no-deal diehards that got coal in their stockings! You can always hope. However, nothing points to the remarkable unity of the EU-27 crumbling re. Brexit.
    1
  19120. But Russia is chums with China. What's their quarrel with China? Or is it some white supremacist thingy?
    1
  19121.  Bunyamin Esen  That China copies Russian weaponry is nothing new. They've been doing it for the better part of a century. It's just something the Chinese do.
    1
  19122.  @REDLEG-OSAURUS  Sure, it's elementary. Trump claims to solve international crises without breaking a sweat. Here's his opportunity.
    1
  19123. France needs a Sixth Republic with proportional representation, just like the UK needs PR. A winner-take-all system leaves sore losers, who're drawn to extremism.
    1
  19124. You must've missed that Russia's Black Sea fleet has been rendered ineffective, since Russia can't risk losing more vessels.
    1
  19125.  @davidkottman3440  Russia will have its work cut out replacing the massive material losses suffered by its land army. The navy will not be priority, not for a long while. Also, Ukraine's relatively cheap missiles and drones will continue to pose a mortal danger to Russia's Black Sea fleet in the event of another conflict. Russia will have to do a thorough cost-benefit analysis. It doesn't look good for your ships.
    1
  19126.  @davidkottman3440  Duh, it goes without saying that when the war is over, the fighting stops, too. Also, you can bet your bottom dollar that whatever long-term peace agreement emerges from all of this, it will ensure unimpeded grain shipments from Ukraine by sea. With Ukraine in NATO, Russia will have to contend with NATO warships plying the Black Sea, too.
    1
  19127.  @davidkottman3440  Sooner or later Ukraine will join NATO. I wouldn't be surprised if Belarus and Chechnya also join NATO in a more distant future. The same goes for the likes of Kaliningrad, where people already harbour apirations to become the fourth Baltic country.
    1
  19128.  @Cocoluna66  Aye, there's that and China's moonbase on the dark side of the moon. But back to earth, why would Mexico want a Chinese military base? Why would it want to become an extension of China's foreign policy, which would only antagonise its neighbours, with whom it enjoys extensive trading relations? China, too, needs Western friends to export its way out of its economic doldrums. I realise you're trolling, so feel free to scurry off to your troll cave with a clear conscience.
    1
  19129.  @igosannuffin7565  NATO is at home. All its members are willing members.
    1
  19130.  @metapol118  You should be God's publicist. Oh, but you are, yet in an unofficial capacity.
    1
  19131. You're at odds with your paymasters in the Kremlin. Russia hasn't annexed the "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk. Recognised their independence, yes. Of course, international borders don't mean anything to Russia... unless, of course, there's an incursion into Russian territory. Then the nuclear weapons come out.
    1
  19132.  @cobrazax  I sense a conspiracy theory in the making. Please, let your imagination run wild. This is YouTube, after all.
    1
  19133. Yeah, we get it, you're Murican. Murica is the climate deniers' paradise, after all.
    1
  19134.  @ihikebc2295  Let's explore your first assertion, that I "have very little, if any, idea as to why Russia did what it did". What gave you the idea that I have no idea?
    1
  19135.  @ihikebc2295  So? In private, Putin must agree wholeheartedly. Putin's "special military operation" was and remains poorly planned and poorly executed. Stupid by design, in other words. Mind you, with such nincompoops in charge, it's no surprise that plenty of stupid mistakes are being made, too. This school attack is probably an example of stupid by mistake. But over to you: explain why, in your expert opinion, Putin's invasion is an astounding success and not stupid at all.
    1
  19136.  @Кипящийразум  Where is my time going, sport?
    1
  19137. Very clearly, Russia tried to take the whole of Ukraine, but because it proved a dismal failure, they suddenly changed their tune. Moldova, because of geography alone, is an easier target.
    1
  19138.  @user-g5xnx7gjqb  Congrats, you've got quite an imagination on you. But history is not a children's story book that you can write in with your little crayon. The price of oil and gas is governed by supply and demand. You'd think Russian and oil and gas would've been cheapest to Russia, allowing it to develop into an industrial powerhouse like Germany, but no, Russia remained a commodity peddler -- a gas station masquerading as a country, as they say. Greece grossly mismanaged its public finances and ended up in a debt spiral. It dig a hole for itself, and lo and behold, it fell in. No one held a gun to Greece's head to make it stay in the EU. The EU is rooted in Franco-German economic co-operation, but a devastated post-war Germany was in no position to call the shots. Germany just quietly rolled up its sleeves and got to work. Sadly for France and Britain, economic and political clout go hand in hand in the EU. The EU's Cohesion Fund has lavished the Eastern European members with money, allowing them to recover from the economic mismanagement during Soviet subjugation. Poland, for instance, sailed unscathed through the recessions of the late noughties. If anything, that was a wise investment on the EU's part. Despite their even murkier Soviet past, the Baltic states are doing fine. I make regular business trips to Tallinn. Every time I visit, Estonia has made a stride forward. Visiting Russians are filled with envy. I hear separatists in Kaliningrad aspire to form a fourth Baltic state, apart from Mother Russia. No doubt, they'll apply for EU membership when they're good and ready. Probably NATO, too, to discourage unwelcome attentions from Muscovy, the State-Formerly-Known-as-Russia.
    1
  19139. We all know about the present government in Poland. Populists, the lot of them.
    1
  19140. Vacationing in a war zone comes with risks. The ICC was very relevant when Putin was supposed to join the BRICS meeting in South Africa, but chickened out. Expect a repeat performance when BRICS meets in Brazil.
    1
  19141.  @VictorBonello  In turn, I'm perplexed by your ignorance and lack of understanding. Firstly, the ICC never arrests anyone -- that's the member countries' job. Secondly, you claimed that the ICC was irrelevant. I explained carefully -- in words that I thought you could understand -- how it's very relevant to Putin. Putin can't travel to 123 countries for fear of arrest and extradition to The Hague. What specific charges would you like the ICC to bring against US presidents? I think you're just whatabouting.
    1
  19142.  @missesCarmenB  How is it the "West's" fault? Who exactly split India in two?
    1
  19143.  @missesCarmenB  Lord Mountbatten and his wife were Brits. Nehru was Indian. I see as much "Eastern" involvement as "Western" involvement, or neither.
    1
  19144.  @missesCarmenB  The German economy will be fine. The energy crisis hit them a bit harder because of their over-reliance on Russian energy. The dip is a delayed effect. Why should the Germans eschew the "Anglo-Americans"? Both the UK and US are major trading partners, and fellow members of NATO. For future reference, you may want to bolster your bombastic claims with some reasoning.
    1
  19145.  @missesCarmenB  I have a masters, little buddy.
    1
  19146.  @missesCarmenB  OK, so you're big. Did you have a point to make with your supposed superlative knowledge of history, or do you just like to flap your gums?
    1
  19147. "New hard right party" seems about right. What would you prefer?
    1
  19148. He should abdicate, like he's been threatening to do. Royals are another undesirable throwback, like slavery.
    1
  19149. I concur. Iran had the manpower to counter the rebels, but Israel could never have resisted the opportunity to pummel the Iranian troops from the air. Both Iran and Syria had lost their air defence systems -- which didn't work all that well to begin with.
    1
  19150. It depends on whoever decides to print out the PDF. This is the Information Age, sport.
    1
  19151. So you think Musk is smart for needlessly alienating prospective customers? Word of advice: don't go into business, you'll do yourself a financial injury.
    1
  19152.  @ronpeer7975  I'm not, but you try to explain how alienating a good part of your customers is good for business.
    1
  19153. Putin saw a window of opportunity to take out an enemy and Putin used it to good effect.
    1
  19154. Agent Krasnov was just made Hero of the Russian Federation.
    1
  19155. I hope the Americans mind their manners this time.
    1
  19156.  @Mautiks  You think I'm Ukrainian? You've got quite an imagination on you. And what, pray tell, impudent demands did Zelenskyy make? Be specific.
    1
  19157.  @Mautiks  Zelenskyy wanted some security guarantees -- any securities guarantees. It's up to the Trump administration to specify what it can offer. It would've been impudent if Zelenskyy had banged the table and demanded something akin to 100,000 soldiers, 1,000 tanks, 250 aircraft and 500 artillery systems. So far, all that Trump has offered in terms of security guarantees is US mining engineers. Putin must be shaking in fear.
    1
  19158.  @Mautiks  Legalities are of little concern to Putin. By invading Ukraine, he knowingly broke the UN Charter, which forbids the use of military force to seize and occupy foreign territory. Without boots on the ground, US threats of military action carry no weight.
    1
  19159.  @pipiqiqi4010  Western companies outsource manufacturing for the cheap labour. If they'd raise salaries for Chinese factory workers, it would defeat the purpose. Besides, their not-so-generous competitors would take chunks out of their market share. Charity begins at home. China should work on its internal consumption. That's what the OP was alluding to.
    1
  19160.  @pipiqiqi4010  It's capitalism, silly. The CCP has fully embraced it. Direct your grievances to those "Communists".
    1
  19161. Ask Navalny. Oh, too late.
    1
  19162. They're too apathetic to put two and two together. Lambs to the slaughter.
    1
  19163. Nothing wrong with calling it an incursion. It's not a loaded term. No connotations.
    1
  19164.  @ZIVELASRBIJA3  More like "Putin delenda est".
    1
  19165. Likewise, in the military, you salute the rank, not the man.
    1
  19166.  @IMGreg..  Let's not ignore the gorilla in the room. We've seen very little action from the US in ending this conflict during its 75-year span. The supreme irony is that the US could do so in a jiffy, but chooses not to. Since the EU doesn't prop up Israel financially, the EU lacks the leverage. Since the US lavishes money on Israel, it has the leverage.
    1
  19167.  @jameshunt8373  You're not so familiar with the music industry then. Streaming, which earns the artists very little, has forced them to focus on live performances instead. It's not so easy now, is it?
    1
  19168.  @jameshunt8373  How would that make a difference? The artists are still the earners. The record companies just take their cut. If their cost base increases, they'll take a bigger cut.
    1
  19169.  @jameshunt8373  Event organisers won't like it. Ticket prices are high as it is.
    1
  19170.  @henli-rw5dw  Are you a terrorist as well since you need a new pager?
    1
  19171.  @Blodhelm  You expect magical powers from the UN while the world is in a state like this? Curious. Perhaps you should run for general secretary.
    1
  19172. Since you're such a wisenheimer, why don't you go over your grammar with a magnifying glass?
    1
  19173. To be honest, now it's the second best army in Ukraine taking on the third best one, so who do you expect to win? Not only that, this third best army is fed up with the whole armed conflict thing, be it at home or abroad.
    1
  19174.  @joshuapaul2022  Sure it was Soviet, as were the arms -- both nuclear and conventional -- that the Russian Federation inherited. Ukraine had produced much of the Soviet nuclear arsenal, so gaining operational capability would just have been a matter of time. I see you're a con artist -- sorry, I meant to say conspiracy artist -- so I'll leave you alone with your wild conspiracy theories.
    1
  19175.  @joshuapaul2022  Not to a conspiracy theorist. Your lot is so slimy and slippery that even the coldest and hardest facts fail to take hold.
    1
  19176. It only goes to show that Taiwan has ample reason to keep the PRC at an arm's length. The authoritarian CCP can't be trusted. As a (supposed?) Hongkonger you should know that.
    1
  19177. What exactly have the Nigeriens done? A bunch of soldiers deposed an elected president, as in a coup d'etat. Don't pretend it's a revolution.
    1
  19178.  @The88Cheat  The Palestinians have been defending themselves for 75 years, to the detriment of ordinary Israelis, too. Sucks to be you and to have such a depraved world view.
    1
  19179.  @serz1885  Yet Putler's Orcs are verifiably inside Ukraine. Not even the very countries that support Russia can agree that Russia's land grabs are legit.
    1
  19180. Yes, Russia bollocksed it up.
    1
  19181.  @Kim-J312  You exemplify why Trump should never regain the US presidency. You're both geopolitical nincompoops. Its inherent weakness nothwithstanding, the Lebanese Armed Forces are a stabilising factor in an inherently unstable country. The alternative could be a resurgence of civil war, which would destabilise the region further. Not even Israel wants that.
    1
  19182.  @richardcowling7381  Besides ground pressure, there's power to weight ratio. The Leopard 2 produces more hps per ton than Russia's best operational MBT, the T-90.
    1
  19183. Duh, Trump is literally an agent provocateur here.
    1
  19184. You want to lose Moscow, too? I'm willing to believe Ukraine could accommodate you. Not that they will, mind you. Military aggression is Russia's thing.
    1
  19185.  @piligrimmm  Things must be bad in your troll factory if you've run out of English speakers. I'm afraid your manager will soon come to the realisation that you're completely useless. Next stop, Ukraine.
    1
  19186. You're being too kind, even for a zany conspiracy theorist.
    1
  19187. Trust Americans such as yourself to contemplate their navel when there's a global pandemic going on.
    1
  19188.  @rawword  Russia aimed for regime change in Ukraine. It failed miserably. Russia's ground war isn't going well by any standard.
    1
  19189. For a more balanced view, let's also remember the massive bloodletting throughout Chinese history. It was no equal.
    1
  19190. Because the US vetoes everything pertaining to Israel that comes up at the UN.
    1
  19191. To your eternal shame, you voted in Donnie McDumbface. It pays to take your brain along to the voting booth.
    1
  19192. I'd rate the chances of Russia breaking down into its constituent parts much higher. If the war goes on, it's only a matter of time before the separatists seize their chance. Kadyrov, who's switched sides once already, will probably fire the starting shot. Ukraine, on the other hand, is now a nation forged in fire. Unbreakable.
    1
  19193. Uh, it's because they've joined the digital world that they rejected mobes and opted for one-way pagers.
    1
  19194.  @graveperil2169  So funny. You Brextremists have to pretend that the EU is sore about losing you, but it's you who're still sore about losing Ireland. Well, you're about to lose the last bit of it.
    1
  19195.  @graveperil2169  What bill are you intending to send them and what for? Irish exports aren't tanking like those of "Global Britain" (sorry, I blew milk out of my nose laughing).
    1
  19196.  @howardmitchell9448  I would say the forecasts of the UK's speedy recovery have been greatly exaggerated. Exports just fell 41%, which is nothing short of disastrous. And that's just Brexit. Then there's Covid-19, which has ravaged the UK. It's an odd time to sing your own praises.
    1
  19197.  @howardmitchell9448  Ooh, what a cop-out. Ran out of arguments?
    1
  19198.  @graveperil2169  Yeah, about that. It begs the question why Northern Ireland underperforms under British tutelage while the Republic of Ireland goes from strength to strength economically. Ireland, a committed EU member, must also be an inconvenient truth to Brexiteers by quietly doing what "Global Britain" was supposedly to do once out of the EU. Except the trend -- Brexodus -- is the reverse.
    1
  19199.  @howardmitchell9448  Remind me to ignore you in case I forget.
    1
  19200. ​ @graveperil2169  Enjoy the fruits of your labour. Divide and conquer, a lesson the British Empire took to heart.
    1
  19201.  @Masterrunescapeer  Yes, there may be some renewed volcanic activity as well -- in another 2 billion years' time.
    1
  19202. How young are you?
    1
  19203. ​ @frenkieschinkels6597  Woah, are you a fundamentalist? I think you just made a number of watchlists. Good luck travelling when the pandemic eases.
    1
  19204. Maybe media access is a problem for you in Sri Lanka, but you should know that the EU is not uncritical towards Israel. Some EU members are considered downright hostile by Israel owing to their outspoken support for Palestinian statehood. We're a case in point.
    1
  19205.  @ilirllukaci5345  Pavlov did nasty things to dogs.
    1
  19206.  @ilirllukaci5345  You forgot to mention that the kamikaze dogs just as often took shelter under Soviet tanks.
    1
  19207.  @PrashantKumar-sr3tu  You had better learn to cosy up to the West, and toot sweet, too. India is heavily dependent on arms imports, and your top supplier Russia, has practically exited the international arms market. Enter France and the US, previously India's second- and third-largest suppliers.
    1
  19208. Poetin heeft een (verzonnen) meerderheid, maar Wilders kan zich geen meerderheid verzinnen. Althans, nog niet. Eerst zou hij aan de macht moeten komen, en ook dan zit hij vastgeklonken aan coalitiepartners, die autocratie niet zien zitten. Summa summarum, Wilders mag dan wel Poetin-wannabe zijn, maar verder dan fanboy komt hij niet.
    1
  19209. That's a doozy of a conspiracy theory. You're very ambitious.
    1
  19210. Een wappie weet alles van tevoren... nadien.
    1
  19211. Grapjas. Het is geen nieuwe grens. Ooit werd de grens door 500.000 Finnen bewaakt. Nogal vakkundig ook.
    1
  19212. The fact of the matter is that Ukraine's fascists didn't even make it into parliament -- unlike Zhirinovsky & his merry band of fascists in Russia.
    1
  19213.  @SPIDERM0OSE  Indeed.
    1
  19214. 1:17 I see the Russians have made improvements to their cope cages. Reactive armor.
    1
  19215.  @angelawhitehead6187  The inevitable conclusion is that you're rather poor at sarcasm.
    1
  19216. I don't expect you to know your history, but France vs. Russia was a tie, 2-2. Come to think of it, Germany beat Russia in WW1 and got beaten in WW2, so same difference, a tie.
    1
  19217. No need. I'm sure the Ukrainians will make their evidence available to the ICC in The Hague, where Putin and his accomplishes will stand trial after they've been extradited. Yes, by Russia. I expect President Navalny won't have a problem with that.
    1
  19218.  @aeye9772  It's like you're saying that cavemen were rich because there was oil deep underneath their feet. If you can't extract it and/or find buyers for it, it's not growing your economy.
    1
  19219.  @aeye9772  You're forgetting that in order to increase domestic manufacturing, Russia needs foreign technology and investment. Besides, Russia has consistently failed to diversify its economy for decades. You think it's happening now with strict sanctions in place? It's not a resource issue.
    1
  19220.  @aeye9772  Sure, Russia has obsolete Soviet-era space technology. I'd like to see Russians drive Soyuz rockets instead of Hyundais, KIAs, Volkswagens and Skodas.
    1
  19221.  @aeye9772  We'll see rebranded Chinese cars, passed off as Russian ones. And they'll lack a great many features that we take for granted. Even if they're assembled in Russia instead of China, the Chinese won't pass on technology that falls only Western sanctions. They'll be crappy Volgas and Moskviches all right, like we know them from Soviet times.
    1
  19222.  @aeye9772  Sure, if you prefer 50-year old tech to modern cars. Russia will be so retro soon.
    1
  19223.  @philipilinsky2930  Now, why would I be upset? I'm not saddled with the "best performing currency" and eye-watering inflation. You're a mental child if you think the rouble's resurgence is a sign of Russia's economy improving. Desperate times, desperate measures, more like.
    1
  19224. Oei, je klinkt als een wappie in wording. Ga niet over naar de dark side!
    1
  19225. The EU belligerent? The EU is peace-loving to a fault, more like.
    1
  19226.  @emperoremyhriv4968  No, you? Just try to answer the question.
    1
  19227.  @eldemocratadeverdad.2862  If so, try to learn to spell O-R-E-S-H-N-I-K and M-I-S-S-I-L-E. Your Kremlin taskmasters will subtract potatoes from your salary if you neglect your spelling.
    1
  19228.  @eldemocratadeverdad.2862  Really now, if you want to earn your potato salary in full, you have to learn to spell O-R-E-S-H-N-I-K and M-I-S-S-I-L-E. The Russian Ministry of Disinformation is displeased with you.
    1
  19229. Fanboys fooling fanboys.
    1
  19230.  @harry3856  I suppose Jacinda could be interested in a role with the WEF, assuming it was anything like a world government, which it is not. No, I think she'd sooner accept a job with the Commonwealth, which at least decides about some cultural activities.
    1
  19231. My Finnish granddad told similar stories. The Russians attacked across snowy fields, clad in brown overcoats, which made them stick out like sore thumbs. The machine gunners mowing them down had to be replaced regularly, because they were sickened by the wholesale slaughter. He once dryly commented that on his 21st birthday he became a serial killer.
    1
  19232.  @kermitthethinker1465  This Pakistani is definitely irrational. India considers Russia a strategic partner, especially in terms of arms procurement, while Pakistan gravitates towards China. No prizes for guessing against whom India's Russian-made weapons will be used if war breaks out.
    1
  19233.  @muhammadafzaalkhokhar5633  I can see why you want to elevate a border skirmish to a major victory. So far, Pakistan has gone to war with India five times. Not once did Pakistan emerge victoriously. Nuclear weapons are effectively doomsday devices. Bragging about them is like bragging how much bloodshed you'll cause when you slit your own throat.
    1
  19234. That's Russia helping China, at its own peril.
    1
  19235. India can't stand international scrutiny? Understood.
    1
  19236.  @Rohan123-b9t  That's an interesting claim. Trump is about to take office, and he'll start a trade war with the EU if he follows through with his threats about new tariffs. How does that gel with your (conspiracy?) theory? In case this meant nothing to you, know that Finland and the Baltic states are all in the EU.
    1
  19237.  @kibicz  I don't see a problem. Gun ownership among our politicians and bureaucrats must be on par with the rest of the population. Besides, the politicians would land themselves in electoral trouble if they were to tighten gun laws. Bureaucrats do as they're told -- after all, they don't make laws, they just implement them.
    1
  19238. Fomenting and waging a forever war in the Middle East is not part of any Western way of life. And we get broken people because of Israel. When not causing problems itself, Israel is aggravating problems.
    1
  19239. When has the National Rally been in power in France?
    1
  19240. To use an analogy, the Russian army would be like the Wehrmacht, which definitely had civilians' blood on its hands, whereas the Wagner Group would be the Waffen-SS, or more specifically, the latter's Dirlewanger Brigade. Bathing in civilians' blood, in other words. The eponymous Oskar Dirlewanger was a convicted criminal, too, just like Wagner's owner Prigozhin. Wagner's founder, Dmitry Utkin, sports SS tattoos and like to play dress-up in SS uniforms, too.
    1
  19241. I suppose you'll never learn the difference between Lebanon and Hezbollah.
    1
  19242. You're blessed with mass shootings all right. American exceptionalism at work.
    1
  19243.  Ben Gunn  Weird, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission reported no deliberate shelling of civilians by Ukraine. And Russia is an OSCE member, which makes it doubly weird.
    1
  19244.  @WuKuVex  OK, you've aired your Islamophobia. Run along now.
    1
  19245. Are you listening, Putin?
    1
  19246. Are you saying Russia will now start bombing Ukraine, too? Wait...
    1
  19247.  @vemaraju  So you're saying Ukraine will be a hopeless quagmire to Russia? You do realise, right, that Europe, with the notable exception of the UK, was absolutely right about Saddam's WMDs? Do they teach you modern history in India?
    1
  19248.  @vemaraju  Ah, you can't manage full sentences.
    1
  19249.  @4greendeep6  Ok, mythbuster, try to answer this question: is natality in the Netherlands higher or lower than mortality? You can slink back to your troll cave now.
    1
  19250.  @andreal5947  We're talking about the Dutch failing to crank out enough babies to make up for mortality.
    1
  19251.  @4greendeep6  You responded to my comment, so yes, it is the topic of our discussion. Shoo, off to your troll cave.
    1
  19252.  @tomedward8652  Did I specify in any way which immigrants are welcome and which aren't? Please don't use me as a springboard for your racist rants.
    1
  19253.  @gloriascientiae7435  Your synopsis is fine, but I fail to see the relevance. Frugality and lack of chauvinism have no bearing on natality.
    1
  19254.  @gloriascientiae7435  Over to you, how do you propose to solve the birth rate crisis? You can throw your toys out of the pram when immigration comes up, but how constructive is that?
    1
  19255. Rupert Murdoch controls both Times Radio and Fox News. What do you say to that?
    1
  19256.  @Dan-Martin  A superpower has an economy to match. Russia's economy is (read: was) the size of Italy's and that with a population size well over twice that of Italy. Russia is a giant with feet of clay.
    1
  19257.  @bonnie7898  Let's not confuse the poor Krembots further. In 2003, NATO took over ISAF as per the request of the UNSC and the Afghan government. Krembots would like to forget that their precious Russia and China were both fully onboard with the op whenever its extension came up.
    1
  19258.  @Dan-Martin  Russia ranks (read: ranked) *6th. PPP is based on a basket of goods for domestic and personal use, so it does not a superpower make. A better yardstick would be the iPhone Index, the number of days the average Joe needs to work to earn enough money to buy himself an iPhone. The index has gotten harder to apply to Russia, because Apple has pulled out of Russia on account of Russia's war of aggression. Still, I hear that till recently, a model that cost $999 in the US sold for $1,200 in Moscow. So with Russia's pitifully low wages, Russia is off the charts (and not in a good way). And no, Russia can't produce its own equivalent to the iPhone, because it can't even produce smartphone-grade processors. Importing components from or via China won't fly because of the sanctions. To put it bluntly, Russia is not only a giant on clay feet, but also, Russia is simply screwed.
    1
  19259.  @Dan-Martin  I was using the IMF's 2023 figures. The IMF's, which swallows Russia's imaginative economic data without chewing. How did the US suddenly enter this discussion? How is it relevant? You Krembots are besotted with the US. And how would you detect "drivel" if you can't bring yourself to read it. Let's face it, you have no retort. Slink back to your troll cave already.
    1
  19260. Trump is playing silly buggers.
    1
  19261.  @2.Cuzzzz  OK, you are a bit of a braggard. You didn't get 86 cm of snow in one go, or even Munich's 50 cm. You said it yourself, what you're measuring is the accumulation of snow thus far this winter. Snow depth, in other words. Your snow ploughs have been removing it bit by bit for months, so you're not suddenly snowed in to the extent that the Germans were.
    1
  19262. Poland tried right-wing populism, and ultimately rejected it. They're a pioneer in that respect. Populists do best in the opposition.
    1
  19263. One step at a time. There's no way Israel can return to the antebellum status quo and keep denying the Palestinians their statehood.
    1
  19264. Yeah, as always, Russia is the victim here. Luckily, Russia loves nothing better than to wallow in victimhood.
    1
  19265. I've missed you New World Order conspiracy theorists. I feared you'd gone extinct.
    1
  19266. Let's entertain you for a bit. France, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, would veto that in a heartbeat. In other news, you just demonstrated that civilisation is but a thin veneer. I for one am happy that law enforcement keeps your sort in check.
    1
  19267. That's what you call Putin's opposition, insurrectionists?
    1
  19268.  @babuvangu7220  Aw, my nickname is mortally hurt.
    1
  19269.  @babuvangu7220  Work on your comebacks.
    1
  19270.  @babuvangu7220  I repeat, work on your comebacks.
    1
  19271.  @babuvangu7220  Reported.
    1
  19272.  @babuvangu7220  Prepare to create a new account, foulmouth.
    1
  19273.  @babuvangu7220  Figures. Don't bother responding. I blocked you.
    1
  19274. So, according to you, Italy's thinking about leaving Eurovision, just like the UK has?
    1
  19275.  @Jonathan-yv2qj  Try to express yourself better then.
    1
  19276.  @Jonathan-yv2qj  Politics has some influence, as in neighbours favouring neighbours or emigrants getting nostalgic, but you -- you're just pushing a fanciful conspiracy theory.
    1
  19277. You should go to Schröder for next week's winning lottery numbers!
    1
  19278.  @BethayaFKL8  I'm unfamiliar with the case. Rather than single out one case, you should have a gander at carefully conducted research about free speech, freedom of the press, democracy, etc. None of them give much credit to Russia in those respects. It's quite the opposite, actually. The Democracy Index categorises Russia as 'authoritarian'.
    1
  19279. Clever boy. Can we also establish that the sky is blue and that water is wet?
    1
  19280. There's a clear increase in the number of leavers. The brain drain was been going on for some time now.
    1
  19281.  @mwanikimwaniki6801  I spent a year building dispensaries in western Kenya. Kenya certainly is capable of pulling itself up by the bootstraps.
    1
  19282.  @mwanikimwaniki6801  I don't know about me being a treasure to anyone, but Kenya was a welcome respite after another year of trying to keep the Kosovars from killing one another. The sheer beauty of the country alone was a soothing experience.
    1
  19283.  @masterlightjames950  If it was a Qassam rocket, 20kg of explosive lined with ball bearings can cause that kind of damage. The ball bearings will pierce cars and their petrol tanks. The burning petrol will cause quite an inferno. A UN-appointed forensic team could easily verify -- or disprove -- that theory.
    1
  19284.  @chanoleyva8584  What research do we need to do? Everyone knows Russia has invaded Ukraine and before that, Georgia. Do you live under a rock?
    1
  19285.  @lovyrituraj  You're deluding yourself. Russia is not winning anything, just desperately holding on to its ill-begotten territories. Russia is going through worse than what the USSR did with the Soviet-Afghan War, and that one broke the country apart. What do I care about BoJo's or Sunak's popularity? They're easily replaced. Downing Street 10 should be fitted with a revolving door, but the UK's support for Ukraine hasn't wavered. The Russians say it themselves. Where the West has elections, Russia has revolutions. Revolutions are never pretty. Putin had better make preliminary arrangements for a swift exit to China or North Korea.
    1
  19286.  @soufianeoubkis9553  You see an opportunity for whataboutism in everything.
    1
  19287.  @soufianeoubkis9553  The focus of your "big picture" is somewhere else than the topic at hand. Where you diagnosed with ADHD as a child? Tell me honestly.
    1
  19288.  @sullaykallon109  Same old, same old. Russia revels in victimhood and refuses to admit that this is consequence rather than cause.
    1
  19289.  @saliev_m  What are you on about? Russia lost in Chechnya as recently as in 1996. The freakishly disastrous Russo-Japanese War and the humiliating Crimean War come to mind as well. And let's not forget the Soviet-Afghan War, which brought the whole house of cards down.
    1
  19290. ​ @saliev_m  Spare me your clichés. It's public knowledge how the First Chechen War (1994-1996) ended. A badly bloodied Russia left with its tail firmly tucked between the legs. In the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), the Russian fleet got absolutely clobbered. Russia had no choice but to sue for peace. In the Crimean War (1853-1856), Russia lost vast tracts of territory. Finally, the Soviet-Afghan War (1979-1989) spelled the end of the Soviet Union. It's interesting to see if the ongoing war in Ukraine is going to have a similar effect on Russia. At any rate, separatism will shift into a higher gear. Will there be a Third Chechen War (2024-2025?) that ends the same way as the first? I have to ask: do they teach you history in school? Or did you sleep through all of it?
    1
  19291.  @saliev_m  Oh dear. I clearly showed that Russia has lost several wars. You're childishly claiming that said wars weren't lost by Russia because there was a subsequent war in which the tables were turned. Are you for real? I really feel like I'm conversing with a child.
    1
  19292. It's not even resistant to a 3D-printed grenade dropped from a hobbyist's drone.
    1
  19293. @ubiquitousubiquitous3843 REMFs do the support stuff, yes.
    1
  19294.  @12315yh  The principle of rule of law predates America, silly.
    1
  19295.  @contrarian322  So which country do I cheer for? Think carefully before you reply. It's very likely that Pakistan was actively hiding Osama bin Laden. Therefore, it is understandable that the US went for him instead of following due process. Canada isn't Pakistan. What's India's excuse?
    1
  19296.  @downtoearth74  I suppose you can't tolerate anything made from grains then.
    1
  19297.  @downtoearth74  Grains contain up to 3% insect fragments. So we've eaten insects ever since agriculture became a thing, and most probably prior to that, too.
    1
  19298.  @downtoearth74  I haven't even started. I made an observation. You can't deny its veracity.
    1
  19299.  @cesarvialpando301  Be that as it may, they still have a lot of catching up to do.
    1
  19300.  @Carla123-  What is the UN but all the countries in the world? You're ultimately responsible as well.
    1
  19301. These Russian missile attacks have no other effect on the military situation than steeling Ukraine's resolve. Why should Ukraine employ the same misguided tactics as Russia?
    1
  19302. Yanukovych can console him.
    1
  19303.  @cedricngoran7045  So age and drink made him do it. I wonder what Kavanaugh would make of such a defense when presiding over a rape case.
    1
  19304. The European Council president, Charles Michel, upstaged you. He congratulated Putin for winning with a landslide.
    1
  19305.  @wisenber  All of Russia's customers will have to cease buying Russian kit. Russia's arms industry can't even meet domestic demand. And when Russia inevitably loses the war, it can't produce anything any longer either -- or perhaps an ancient blacksmith can still hammer out horseshoes, breastplates and sabres for their elite horse cavalry.
    1
  19306. Should the world's emissaries rather gather in a clearing in your forest? Wouldn't that be mighty inconvenient?
    1
  19307. It's not that hard to ramp up production. There are pre-existing contingency plans for manufacturers to switch from civilian to military production. All it takes is political will to enact the relevant laws, i.e. make Ukraine's national emergency our own. It will take mere weeks for these manufacturers to switch from producing pipes to artillery shells.
    1
  19308. The EU has a trade surplus with Andorra, too. Should we in the EU let the Andorrans dictate our trade policy? Size matters.
    1
  19309. ​ @eddiel7635  The UK still tries -- after years of warnings that cherry-picking is a no-no -- to bend the EU's trade rules, as if we'd make exceptions only for you. The EU's other trade partners would immediately demand an explanation why they can't enjoy the same favourable terms. Savvy?
    1
  19310. Inferiority complexes need nurturing.
    1
  19311.  @deeznutz8320  Are you a monarch? That would explain the royal 'we'.
    1
  19312. You're the one who's full of it. Speaking on the phone can't be equated to carrying arms openly -- one of the hallmarks of being an unlawful combatant. Even so, they should've arrested him and left it to a tribunal to decided his fate. Unless he was found guilty of genocide, he couldn't have legally been put to death either.
    1
  19313.  @urbansenicar81  Nope, being suspected of engaging in reconnaissance doesn't make you free game. So now you're trying extenuating circumstances. If you corner a murder suspect and decide to play judge, jury and executioner on the spot, you'll still be charged for murder.
    1
  19314. "Tis but a scratch."
    1
  19315. It's the Azeri interpretation of what constitutes a war criminal that worries us.
    1
  19316. Saved? The US will borrow more money to fund Netanyahu's crusade.
    1
  19317. Coup d'états in Africa.
    1
  19318. Trump would've sold Ukraine down the river in a jiffy.
    1
  19319.  @Crashed131963  Coal-powered power plants are of no help if the Germans cook and heat their houses with natural gas. I suppose coal gas could be solution, albeit a costly one.
    1
  19320.  @elliedegroot  Maar jullie zijn toch van Duitsen bloed. Althans, volgens een zekere Wilhelmus van Nassouwe.
    1
  19321.  @Crashed131963  Thank you for that entirely superfluous lesson in power generation. The Germans still need gas to cook and heat their homes. Switching to electricity means a huge investment considering that there are over 40 million households in Germany, and they primarily use natural gas.
    1
  19322.  @Crashed131963  We've had an electric stove/oven since, like, ever. The radiators are all electric, too. The electricity comes from a nearby hydroelectric dam. I burn wood in my fireplace that comes from my very own forest. Gas we only buy in bottles for the barbecue. None of that helps the Germans, except in that we're not competing with them for gas.
    1
  19323. Thrice -- try to keep up with the news. It's the so-called 10 JEF countries that are now policing the Baltic Sea to discourage repeat occurrences. JEF is not subject to EU or NATO decision-making. For your info, the EU is not the be-all and and end-all of European co-operation, and doesn't need to be either. I do understand that you need to keep things simple for yourself.
    1
  19324.  @Kevin-fq3zh  What a flaccid response. The puerile emoji crowns it.
    1
  19325.  @Kevin-fq3zh  The EU isn't Europe's security setup. Even a child knows that. Putin is nowhere near winning in Ukraine. And the EU isn't fighting in Ukraine, dum-dum.
    1
  19326. @ Do you ever read what you write? What else did you mean by "europe’s [sic] cumbersome & [sic] security set up [sic]" if not the EU? The Eurovision Song Contest? As to Russia cutting undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, we've seized the ship involved and we're detaining the crew. What else do you propose? Should we have gunned them down, Murica-style? Go Abu Ghraib on them? I don't know if it's a matter of poor reading comprehension or short-term memory loss, but you should reread my initial reply.
    1
  19327. Trounced him completely and utterly.
    1
  19328. Not so. Canada has reported cases, and the US is holding off approval on account of the reports. I can understand why other countries aren't that worried. In many, life expectancies aren't great to begin with.
    1
  19329. Don't get your knickers in a twist. It's a meme.
    1
  19330. Or Kadyrov has changed sides again.
    1
  19331.  @michaelengel3407  That's open to debate, but an Obergruppenführer was junior to an Oberst-Gruppenführer.
    1
  19332.  @russell4658  If you must know, I'm the opposite of a SS fanboy. You're not the sharpest tool in the shed, are you?
    1
  19333.  @JamesBond-8668  Didn't I just imply that the Yoonited States of Murica are sick?
    1
  19334. Bibi is already trying to sabotage the deal. Figures. Like Putin's, his political career won't survive peace.
    1
  19335.  @AlbertoGarcia-yb4ih  I'm afraid your reply got censored. For racism, I suspect.
    1
  19336.  @AlbertoGarcia-yb4ih  So, you're accusing YouTube of being racist?
    1
  19337.  @thalentekhuluse2829  Can you provide us more details about "those reports", as in who compiled them and where to find them? Don't just scurry back into your troll cave.
    1
  19338.  @fagreed3938  Glad to hear things have gotten so desperate that you need to console yourselves with made-up stories about NATO mercenaries. Cope, Vladdy, cope!
    1
  19339.  @fagreed3938  Isn't the onus on you to provide proof? Tip: "trust me bro" doesn't constitute proof.
    1
  19340.  @fagreed3938  You already forgot that you claimed that Ukraine is brimming with NATO mercenaries on leave of absence? We're digressing, but NATO had no combat role in Iraq (were you born yesterday?); Afghanistan was UNSC-approved security assistance; Yemen, no NATO involvement. You Putin fanboys are slow learners, eh?
    1
  19341.  @fagreed3938  Ah, you decided to digress some more. This discussion thing isn't your thing.
    1
  19342. The balance is still clearly positive for China. It's getting cheap oil from Russia, for which it pays in yuan. Russia has to spend the yuans on Chinese imports, which makes Russia even more dependent on China. The war in Ukraine is hollowing out the Russian economy, making the country ripe for Chinese neo-colonialism. In the age of colonalism, the Brits called India their jewel in the crown. Russia will be China's neo-colonial jewel.
    1
  19343.  @WingkKong  Russia hasn't attacked the US. There's neither a casus belli nor a casus foederis. Study on the terms before you respond half-cocked.
    1
  19344.  @lvjinbin28  Effectively, China can't export goods to Russia that contain Western parts or intellectual property that appear on the sanctions list. By and large, Chinese exporters have complied. No wonder, because they can't have it both ways. It's either comply, or lose a much, much bigger market. Unlike the Russians, the Chinese have business sense.
    1
  19345.  @WingkKong  The Americans sure put a lot of serious effort into explaining their actions. In comparison, Putin's excuses for invading are very flimsy indeed. There are the vague accusations of genocide in the Donbas (no proof whatsoever) and NATO expansion (wasn't happening). Weak, very weak.
    1
  19346. Defund the pope.
    1
  19347. Try to a popular uprising, like an African Spring, for a change. Coup d'états are anything but popular.
    1
  19348. I don't think so. Iran was just profoundly humiliated. More like seething with anger.
    1
  19349. Ik heb alle Star Wars films in één ruk gezien toen er "maar" zes waren. Hoewel, ik viel halverwege in slaap, voor de klassiekers. Balen.
    1
  19350.  @daddyandy9591  So you're calling yourself a traitor as well? OK, if the shoe fits...
    1
  19351.  @daddyandy9591  You're right, you don't know where I live. It varies. Incidentally, my (part-time?) neighbours are a Russian-Ukrainian couple. The Russian husband would very much like to renounce his Russian nationality, but for that he'd have to travel to Russia and hire a lawyer. He's millitary age, so out of spite the authorities might press him into service while his case is being processed -- till it's no longer needed(!). I don't know if you're able to put two and two together, but that ought to explain why so many Ukrainians still have their (hated) Russian double nationality. Your figure of 5.3 million Ukrainian "refugees" in Russia, does that include all the abducted children for which the ICC is now seeking Putin's arrest in 124 countries?
    1
  19352.  @sapphosplace  The funniest thing is that in the Indians' eyes, Putin's Fascist Russia somehow inherited India's moral debt to the Communist Soviet Union. And India is only too eager to pay up, as we've seen.
    1
  19353. I hope Modi washed his hands after he pressed the flesh with Putin in Moscow the other week.
    1
  19354. Don't forget the switcheroo Putin did with Medvedev, with the two trading places till Putin could resume his presidency. I guess a repeat performance would've been too silly even by Russian standards.
    1
  19355.  USSR89  I'm sorry, but you can't troll successfully on YouTube with that poor a command of English.
    1
  19356.  @XPD1  It's *comrade. You of all people should know how to spell the word. "Worth the penny" is not an English idiom. "Worth every penny" is. If you feel it wise to clear out your diplomats, could you clear out yourself, too? Similar to Russian spies, we have an abundance of Putin trolls on YouTube.
    1
  19357. It wasn't brought down.
    1
  19358.  @MissSarahGM  Reportedly, the place was brimming with refugees, inside and outside.
    1
  19359. Shelling flood victims and rescue workers isn't nice either. Russia is the cursed gift that keeps on giving.
    1
  19360.  @charliebarton  How is the destruction of an unused gas pipeline detrimental to Europe? Nordstream's fate was sealed the moment Putin invaded Ukraine. Russia blowing it up inspired a few conspiracy theorists, but who listens to the poor sods?
    1
  19361.  @leehenry5764  Trump's campaign team prays that their candidate would use a teleprompter all the time. It's constantly clean-up on aisle Trump.
    1
  19362. It comes natural to the Irish to feel solidarity with the Palestinians, given their shared history of subjugation.
    1
  19363.  @guyfawkesuThe1  "Europe" doesn't own Greenland, dum-dum. You should make your case with Denmark.
    1
  19364. You can't blame Putin for not attending. Sooner or later, he would get arrested as the war criminal that he is.
    1
  19365.  @bertnl530  That hits like pliers on a pig, Bert.
    1
  19366.  @sir.2015  M270? No sirree. They're ex-Koninklijke Landmacht a.k.a. Royal Netherlands Army for sure.
    1
  19367.  @roybolder9480  Oops, you got shadow-banned there, Mr. Foulmouth.
    1
  19368. Um, he pleaded guilty.
    1
  19369. It bet it's a Reptilian condition she had the op for.
    1
  19370. Be that as it may, Putin is reintroducing Russia to slavery and poverty.
    1
  19371.  @SnakePliskin762  Funny, when we joined NATO, you lauded us in Congress for our performance in the Winter War. That was overwhelmingly a conscript/reservist army. You've appropriated our conscript war heroes, too, like Simo Häyhä -- whom you never fail to mention when snipers come up -- and Lauri Törni a.k.a. Larry Thorne, supposedly the quintessential Green Beret.
    1
  19372.  @SnakePliskin762  On our own turf? After the Winter War, which was purely a defensive war for Finland, Stalin claimed that the Finnish army couldn't conduct large-scale offensives. He must've opined differently when the Continuation War broke out and we promptly got our own back. It took frantic US diplomacy to stop our offensive, because we were threatening lend-lease deliveries over the Kirov railway. Again, conscript/reservist army at work. Incidentally, I also served as a conscript in the Royal Netherlands Army, in mechanised infantry. A few years prior, one of our tank batallions had participated in the biennial Canadian Army Trophy. Our conscript tank crew won, beating all the NATO regulars, including those from the US. Rumour had it that your guys trained exclusively to win the next competition -- which they did, too -- but we regained the trophy two years later.
    1
  19373.  @SnakePliskin762  Up here, it's only winter in the winter. The big Finnish push of the Continuation War took place in the summer of 1941. My mum is Finnish and my dad was Dutch, so I got both nationalities at birth. I first served in Finland, where I started thinking about a career in the military. I thought a NATO army a better career choice, so I enlisted in the Netherlands. It wasn't to be, although I subsequently served tours with UNIFIL and KFOR -- with the Finns. The KFOR tour was interesting -- while activated, I kept my full reserve officer rank. When my NATO colleagues in Kosovo learned that I wasn't a regular, they refused to believe me at first.
    1
  19374. In that Soviet-era relic? It would self-destruct before anyone would notice.
    1
  19375.  @relaxingsounds6168  There are no OSCE reports that suggest that Ukraine was guilty of deliberate shelling of Donbas civilians. OSCE's SMM reports are all public and freely downloadable. Care to point out which ones do report such shelling? I thought not.
    1
  19376. You seem lost.
    1
  19377.  @missymoo6248  Yeah, just like Kaliningrad is right next to Russia.
    1
  19378. The irony is that universal healthcare would save the Americans a bundle on healthcare costs.
    1
  19379. It's a republic. Practically all republics have a president as a (titular) head of state.
    1
  19380.  @JesusChrist-jh6jo  The information is literally at your fingertips.
    1
  19381.  @JesusChrist-jh6jo  Funny that. You define 'insular'.
    1
  19382.  @JesusChrist-jh6jo  But you just admitted to being insular: insular /ˈɪnsjʊlə/ adjective 1. ignorant of or uninterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one's own experience. "a stubbornly insular farming people"
    1
  19383. The Russia-backed rebels have too, so what's your point?
    1
  19384.  @radrook7584  No, he can't. Unless he's a suicidal sociopath, that is.
    1
  19385.  @Stan-ev8dd  Russia has had a good relationship with Finland. Vice versa, not so.
    1
  19386. Who's got outstanding bills? Be specific.
    1
  19387.  @frankbandera6591  I'm talking about the world vis-à-vis Russia's Ukrainian foray. Only you know what you're talking about and what the relevance is to the topic at hand.
    1
  19388.  @frankbandera6591  "Low on information" would be correct English. Whatever you're clumsily trying to say, it's still irrelevant to the topic at hand. So Russia pretends to fight Nazism. Russia is all pretence -- didn't you know that?
    1
  19389.  @frankbandera6591  You can parrot information, but I'm afraid you don't understand any of it.
    1
  19390. @Monotheist-dr5id I suspect you think wives are the ones to beat at will.
    1
  19391.  @Eutropiosanguenza  It's a conundrum for Allah all right, since he's God and Yahweh at the same time. Abrahamic religions "share" deities.
    1
  19392. I think two Ka-52s gave it a try but they're still to report back.
    1
  19393. Ghost, I don't think Stoltenberg has ever taken a stance on Trump's possible collusion with the Russkies. This Jamey must be yet another silly conspiracy theorist.
    1
  19394.  @ring-tone278  There's no existential threat to Russia here, you silly boy. There's only an existential threat to Putin, and at the hands of his own people at that.
    1
  19395. There's no uniformity of opinion in "the West" about Nagorno-Karabakh. The primary concern is the killing and starving of civilians. No one is disputing Azerbaijan's borders. Russia's backyard is full of ticking time bombs, like in Russia proper. As Russia's central government weakens further, they'll start going off. UN peacekeepers will have their work cut out for them.
    1
  19396. If history is anything to go by, once again, relations may sour in a heartbeat.
    1
  19397.  @ssir5927  Your carefully crafted analogy is severely flawed. Russia annexes territory by force of arms. Trump plays fanboy to Israel, which did the annexing. So, while Russia is out for Lebensraum for itself, the USA is a mere Mitläufer -- a sympathizer -- in Israel's case. Sure, Trump is now voicing similar ambitions, but knowing Trump and his bluster, it's still a far cry from actually annexing territory, as Russia has done. The truth of the matter is that with rise of China and China, Russia, Iran and North Korea banding together, the USA needs its allies more than ever -- it can ill-afford to alienate its NATO partners over a frozen piece of wasteland.
    1
  19398.  @danishcommander4dk  Aw.
    1
  19399.  @M0T0.M.B.  The secret addendum to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is a fact, the subsequent Soviet invasion of Poland is a fact and the Katyn massacre is a fact. All facts, Ivan.
    1
  19400. Rather, so-called useful idiots have auto-recruited themselves for Russia, and not just in the UK and USA. At least Krembots get a potato or two out of it, but these knobheads do it for free.
    1
  19401. I don't think you really understand the role of the ICC. And HTS hasn't nabbed Assad and made him face the music.
    1
  19402. Religious types love 'em. Ask the pope.
    1
  19403. Have a heart. Disillusioned Krembots are shipped to Ukraine for cannon fodder.
    1
  19404. Just in: the AfD would like to use the Goebbels villa for the opposite, instilling hatred.
    1
  19405. A Russian would rather suffer a seized-up machine gun than waste vodka like that.
    1
  19406.  @rogeroeyen  Armed forces are commanded by unelected generals. I guess you've never served.
    1
  19407.  @rogeroeyen  In an EU context -- the EU being a one-of-a-kind supranational union -- the commander in chief means the European Council, composed of the heads of state or of government of all the EU member states. All duly elected and accountable to their people. You're flapping your gums in vain.
    1
  19408.  @rogeroeyen  There you are, you can't tell the difference between the European Council and the European Commission. Study up and get back to us.
    1
  19409.  @rogeroeyen  So I proved your premise wrong. Thanks for playing. Run along now.
    1
  19410. The US is putting lipstick on a pig.
    1
  19411. Maybe the USA should have another go? I'm sure it won't be as catastrophic this time around.
    1
  19412.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Woosh.
    1
  19413.  @Texas8888  Be obstuse, like your comrade here.
    1
  19414.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Not to you, as you don't have a clue. As usual.
    1
  19415. Aren't they? Their secret is their ability to spell the word.
    1
  19416.  @alix4698  Pot calling the kettle black.
    1
  19417. Beirut is keenly aware of the danger posed by Hezbollah stirring a hornet's nest. Efforts to call Hezbollah to order are already underway. So you want to play into Hezbollah's hands?
    1
  19418. The Soviet Union should've been destroyed a hundred times over, because it sent weapons to just anyone with anti-Western views.
    1
  19419.  @arunsathyaseelan433  It'll be fun to watch you "slava" away with your non-existent and decrepit Russian weapons. Better make friends fast in the West, or you'll be very vulnerable when the Chinese and/or the Pakistanis decide to have another crack at India.
    1
  19420. It's up to the EU's members to decide about military conscription, since there's no EU army. Some of us have retained conscription after the Cold War and we're all the better for it, too. Needs vary, however, and members are best positioned to decide what works for them.
    1
  19421. It's not a sign of support for Hamas, but rather, opposition to Israel acting in a similar manner.
    1
  19422. Your conspiracy theory needs work. When European countries are donating US weapons, it's practically always older or surplus weaponry. If it's newly-manufactured stuff, it's typically European-made. Also, the replacements for donated equipment are typically made-in-Europe. The order books of European arms manufacturers are full. The plural of 'company' is 'companies', by the way.
    1
  19423. You put antifreeze into Canadian beer?
    1
  19424.  @svcupc  Morals be damned, eh?
    1
  19425.  @lilo8249  Threats? Russia routinely violates Finnish and Swedish air space and territorial waters. Also, neither country is blind to the fact that Russia once again invaded a neighbouring country.
    1
  19426.  @lilo8249  That's a matter of interpretation. It can argued that the Russians are probing their defences. And why would you probe someone's defences?
    1
  19427. ​ @ElongenyMuskgozhin  You're saying that the US isn't in Iran and that they should take their leave. That's a dichotomy. Sorry, but troll logic is indecipherable to me.
    1
  19428. The Russians flew their spy planes over the site for decades, as per the Open Skies Treaty. I'm sure they've tipped off the Chinese.
    1
  19429. Populism is like peeing your pants: first, it feels warm and cosy, then you feel cold and embarrassed.
    1
  19430. He's a populist. That's practically a synonym for opportunist.
    1
  19431. Are you sure you're qualified to cast the first stone?
    1
  19432. Is the opposition a new concept to you? They try to make capital out of everything that potentially hurts those in government. The phenomenon is as old as tribal councils.
    1
  19433.  @dskyy2001  Don't flatter yourselves. With the oil price in decline, the US shale oil companies are being forced out of the market. There goes your energy independence.
    1
  19434. The Kremlin has made threats against Finland and Sweden. It's very wise to deter them.
    1
  19435.  @jax46  For instance, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, promised Sweden and Finland a military surprise.
    1
  19436. And who's going to kick Iran out of Iraq?
    1
  19437.  Merlin SG  And what's that got to do with the price of tea in China... I mean, with freedom of the press and responsible management of the pandemic by the authorities? China has a lot of catching up to do economically, so growth rates will always be better till China starts to plateau near our level.
    1
  19438.  @youmustbefibbing7376  Umm, that would be the Yanks. Don't fall into the silly trap to think that Trump or the US solely represents the West. Your lot is always quick to claim that Westerners don't understand China. You're showing that you're equally simplistic in your thinking.
    1
  19439.  @youmustbefibbing7376  There's no such kingdom, silly. You've dusted off old and tired Cold War rhetoric. Ask your handlers for new material.
    1
  19440.  Merlin SG  You've got be joking! China's GDP per capita (PPP) is 17,206 USD. The EU average is 44,369 USD. And that average is adversely affected by the aftereffects of decades of Communist mismanagement, just like in China's case.
    1
  19441.  Merlin SG  Actually, I am a Singapore PR. I am also domiciled in Luxembourg, which can boast a higher GDP (PPP) than Singapore. I've got you beaten. You sound like a PRC expat. Sadly, you're not very well-liked in Singapore.
    1
  19442.  @wisenber  Why? Haven't had that prob.
    1
  19443. Duh. Moldova isn't anywhere near the Baltic Sea. You failed geography hard!
    1
  19444. London is a marmite target.
    1
  19445. Refreshing. For a change, a pro-EU conspiracy theory.
    1
  19446. It's interesting to see you, a former economic migrant yourself, rejoice at economic migrants being kept out. I'm so sorry if I'm keeping you from getting more likes.
    1
  19447.  @arisplugis5197  I see your reading comprehension failed you there. Tell me, which part of "former" don't you understand? Come off it, you're trying your utmost to make Europe racist and white supremacist. Sadly for you, xenophobia is not limited to different races or skin colours. Brexit happened because Leavers wanted your lot gone, too.
    1
  19448.  @arisplugis5197  Build a wall around your village, too, just to be safe. In case it hasn't registered with you, Brexit is proving a train wreck in slow motion. Crops rot in the fields for lack of manpower. Universities are losing foreign students. The Brits wanted to keep you out, but in the process they closed themselves out from Europe, too. And now they're welcoming Hongkongers -- how does that gel with a white supremacist like you? You're white, but you're not welcome in the UK. They are.
    1
  19449. You and the ayatollahs are forgetting that Israel will always strike back, and typically disproportionally so. It's Iran that is practically defenceless in that respect, having lost its primary air defence systems. My guess is that Iran, despite talking tough, won't test Israel for a while, not until Iran gets S-300s from Russia to replace the still-smouldering ones.
    1
  19450. BRICS is dragged down by Russia. Time to cut it loose.
    1
  19451. Now it appears to end there as well.
    1
  19452. You should be equally concerned about the plight of citizens of a number of nations that still retain Queen Elizabeth as their official heads of state. If things were different for them, the UK would easily gain a million or so immigrants, many of them much worse off than the poorest of the poor in the EU.
    1
  19453. You've been trying to rip Ukraine for some time now, and making dismal progress.
    1
  19454. Yes, go away!
    1
  19455.  @amalchakrabarti2357  Turkey is rather disappointed with the S400. Russia oversold the system to the point of suggesting that it bends the laws of physics. Not only that, it cost Turkey the F-35. India, too, would do well to look for another source for advanced weapons.
    1
  19456. Russia has its CSTO, but it's awfully quiet about it. Russia didn't invoke Article 4, which would've mandated all its fellow CSTO members to come to Russia's aid. I suppose it's because it would've exposed that the CSTO is just an empty letter.
    1
  19457. I think Hamas was counting on it. And Israel always delivers, like an automaton.
    1
  19458.  @jackspecht3418  Highly regarded my foot. Latin America is almost unanimously dismissive of Venezuela's current regime. What would you expect -- they are saddled with millions of Venezuelan refugees while having their own domestic social woes to contend with. Russia, similarly, has verifiably suffered from a poor global image for a number of years, each year being worse than the previous one. You're talking about a very, very narrow perspective.
    1
  19459.  @jackspecht3418  Sorry, I'm not interested in your op-ed on US foreign policy. I took issue with your claim that Russia and its troubled allies are highly regarded. Russia has an image problem that's unrelated to any East-West divide -- which is an obsolete concept anyway. If there's a divide, it's Russia-and-its-few-remaining-allies vs. the rest of the world. And the rest isn't all that united, except in its opposition to Russia and its equally isolated allies. But back to Russia's image problem. According to the most authoritative pollsters, Pew Research, there's not a single continent where Russia is regarded more favourably than unfavourably, the global approval rate being a sorry 34%. Just for reference purposes, the corresponding figure for USA is 50%. An interesting side note is that while Putin isn't exactly popular worldwide (30%), Trump does even worse (27%). Incidentally, us Europeans are Trump's keenest critics, even more so than Russians. So much for Western unity.
    1
  19460. We've been over this. The US doesn't meet the NATO 2% target itself.
    1
  19461. I'm curious, can I hold you responsible for the crimes against humanity perpetrated by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army? I assume you, too, are guilty by religious association.
    1
  19462.  Purpleemp  Which OSCE monitoring report are you referring to? Tell me, I'm at a loss.
    1
  19463.  @biswanathmukherjee4622  Aren't you cute. Each year, Pew Research does worldwide surveys that measure the popularity of world leaders. In Europe in particular, Putin's popularity is in the pits. Try to deal with facts rather than make-believe.
    1
  19464. It's not mutually exclusive, but it does underscore that the Brits are missing out, once again. Fictitious empires are just that, fictitious.
    1
  19465. The conflict here is between Hamas -- which is basically the Gaza Strip, not Jerusalem -- and Israel. Fatah in the occupied West Bank is keen to negitiate a lasting peace. Israel, not so.
    1
  19466. Rather, we urge to let Ukraine control its own destiny. Under Russia, that's not an option.
    1
  19467.  @maxanderson460  You're peddling a conspiracy theory.
    1
  19468.  @maxanderson460  Conspiracy theories are fodder for the wilfully ignorant. The Germans are perfectly capable of fending for themselves.
    1
  19469. So? Considering real-life aggression that Ukraine has been subjected to at the hands of Russia, it makes perfect sense for Ukraine to want to join NATO. NATO has installed trip wires in some NATO countries nearby. That's a far cry from the massive military build-up around Ukraine than Russia is clearly guilty of.
    1
  19470.  @pranavananda7  You have a very poor grasp of geography if you think Russia is surrounded by NATO. And please, skip the clichés. If you want to set something right, do it and don't just whine about it.
    1
  19471.  @puhelimentili805  And why are you pretending to be American? Get a life.
    1
  19472.  @HarryHaller-r3r  A Krembot comment sans emojis would be an anomaly.
    1
  19473. Sure, they love you to death. Especially their own.
    1
  19474.  @lakshyarana7054  It's interesting that India wants a permanent seat in the UN security council, yet you singularly fail to condemn a clear violation of the UN Charter. When confronted, you cite -- of all things -- Cold War history. It's as if you never got the memo that the USSR collapsed. Like so many of your compatriots, you use the "the West" as a catch-all for all ills. You're no better than the snooty British colonial authorities, who described the lot of you as "those wretched Asians".
    1
  19475.  @lakshyarana7054  Weird -- somehow you still think you need to subjugate yourselves, if no longer to Britain, then to Russia or China. You clearly fear upsetting them should you ever act independently. The real hypocrisy is that you accuse us of being a US pet, but by your own tacit admission, you smooch up to not one but two of the biggest despotic regimes. Like I wrote earlier, India is no UNSC material till it grows a backbone and a moral compass. Oh, we haven't bought any Russian oil or gas since May. Refused to pay in roubles.
    1
  19476.  @tkautzor  I suspect you've never left your neck of the woods.
    1
  19477. With Russia's current pace of advance, that would be in 2042 soonest -- if they could keep it up, which they can't.
    1
  19478.  @ediss821  The Donbas was largely under separatist control before Russia's ill-fated special military operation, so that's hard to count as an advance. No, Russia's real advances, now that Ukraine has mobilised, proceed at a snail's pace.
    1
  19479. Touchdown dances? This is Europe. Football means soccer.
    1
  19480. It's more than 1k miles from Yemen to Gaza. What is it to the Houthis? Oh, wait, Iran...
    1
  19481.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  The majority regrets Brexit, that much is certain. Crying over spilt milk, you are.
    1
  19482.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  So you don't believe in polls. What do you believe in? In the highly scientific trust-me-bro approach to gauging popular opinion? You're seeing right-wing populists make inroads, but losing power when they get it. Poland just ditched their right-wing populists. In the Netherland, Geert Wilders is struggling to form a coalition. Potential partners trust him as far as they can throw him. I predict six months of pretence till a centre-left cabinet is formed. "Should of left" is incorrect English, by the way. Take it from a foreigner.
    1
  19483. Autocracy much?
    1
  19484.  smugdug  There was the Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck as well. Definitely mass-produced and exported. You Americans, always confidently ignorant...
    1
  19485. Rather, you should feel lucky. Pride suggests you've been instrumental in making or keeping it civil. Have you?
    1
  19486. It's Russia that turned itself into a pariah state overnight.
    1
  19487.  @bangbangzz1  They're much better at it. I bet you haven't noticed that HK's top pro-Beijing politicians have switched to Western vaccines.
    1
  19488. NATO members are countries, not defence forces. If the countries contributing forces are already members, there's no need to rejoin.
    1
  19489.  @리주민  Nope. There's been a EU Battlegroup, a standing army of sorts, in existence since 2005. No one needed to reapply to or resign from NATO or the EU on account of it. National and international military formations are not mutually exclusive, like you suggest.
    1
  19490.  @Ryanlexz  How funny, you're actually proud that Russia is being supported by Kim Jong Un, who thinks nothing of holding the world to ransom, Russia included. Russia must be utterly desperate to have friends like that.
    1
  19491. Shovels or not, it would be grand if Russia would go on the defensive, within its UN-recognised borders. The war would be over in a jiffy.
    1
  19492. Are you sure it applies here? The video mentions the protestors voicing their support to the Gazans, not to Hamas. The majority of the Palestinians in the West Bank supports Fatah, which is not on friendly terms with Hamas either.
    1
  19493. Same difference.
    1
  19494. More like beggars can't be choosers.
    1
  19495. That's the thing. Michelle Obama is a celebrity, Kamala not so much. She should've brought herself more to the fore as VP. I always wondered what she did as VP except cutting ribbons.
    1
  19496.  @spuqe69  I can't say, it must be case by case. I did inherit a sizable gun collection from my late cousin, a gunsmith, but only after he had apprenticed me, which earned me all the licenses that I'll ever need. I suspect it's also because I have two firearms-related patents to my name. The powers-that-be must be counting on me coming up with something truly useful one day.
    1
  19497.  @paulzx5034  Your mindset oozes colonialism. If you really believe that Ukraine is Russia, go fight and convince the Ukrainians personally. The Russian army desperately needs you for cannon fodder.
    1
  19498.  @993Redveg  Right, Guterres* (he's Portugese) is no president of the world and the UN isn't the world police either, no matter how much you'd like it to be different. Secretary-general describes his role quite accurately.
    1
  19499. You have classical pretences?
    1
  19500.  @internet_kaiser  They tested a prototype that didn't have the charcoal.
    1
  19501. The UN Charter makes interesting reading, too, in relation to UN Security Council and its permanent members. Nowhere does it say that Russia is a permanent member. Yet Russia habitually sabotages the UN with its vetoes.
    1
  19502. It's interesting that we find squirrels oh-so cute, but rats we instinctively despise. Yet they're closely related. It must be antropomorphism, since squirrels sit and use their front paws like hands.
    1
  19503. Not true, the Biathlon World Cup is in full swing.
    1
  19504. Sadly, Trump's shite doesn't smell any better because of this.
    1
  19505.  @serbianwarcrimes  Finland is not cutting off Russia from the Baltic Sea. That's just fanboy bluster. The Houthis are a terrorist organisation. We're not going to emulate them, but rather, employ legal means to curtail Russian aggression. Despite appearances, the Russians are not competely stupid. When the cost to them outweighs the perceived benefit, they stop. Sadly, not before.
    1
  19506. And now in English.
    1
  19507.  @Melanated4ever  What would you know about what I meant? I have no idea what the OP meant. His (or her) English is indecipherable.
    1
  19508. Yeah, about that. Some are economic basket cases.
    1
  19509.  @sapatsuppa  The elections staged by Russia in Crimea and Donbas have no legitimacy. Ask the UNGA.
    1
  19510. Perhaps you shouldn't walk and chew gum at the same time.
    1
  19511.  @solomon7000  What a flaccid response. And are you the OP's sock puppet?
    1
  19512. If Prigozhin can't fight the Ukrainians without ammunition from Putin, how will he fight Putin without ammunition from Putin?
    1
  19513.  @kiprutoedmond4900  If not Putin, who'll be supplying ammunition to Prigozhin? Who is cynical enough to want Prigozhin, a twice-convicted felon, ruthless warlord and troll factory owner, replace Putin and gain access to the Russian nuclear briefcase? It would have to be someone with deep pockets, but no scruples whatsoever. MbS perhaps?
    1
  19514. Assad is a nobody now. He'll keep out of Putin's hair all right.
    1
  19515. And on what grounds would that be?
    1
  19516.  @diegoflores9237  And why so? International observers are welcome. In Russia, no can do.
    1
  19517.  @diegoflores9237  The OSCE is about Europe, and as it happens, Russia's friends in and around the continent are few and far between. Some self-reflection would reveal why. So, you're saying Russian OSCE observers are deaf, dumb and blind, as in wholly unable to spot electoral fraud and report on it? Their Western counterparts must be highly competent, because Russia doesn't tolerate them in its occupied territories during its sham elections.
    1
  19518. +50 caliber headshot QED.
    1
  19519. To match Labour's victory, Reform needs to do a hundred times better.
    1
  19520. Trump is not a friend of Canada, not of Mexico, not of China, not of the EU. With so many enemies, does that leave any room for friends?
    1
  19521. That doesn't reflect the stance of the Palestinian Authority. It reflects more the Israeli stance, based on the electoral behaviour of the Israelis. I'd go as far as calling you a liar.
    1
  19522.  @gertstraatenvander4684  Don't I know it. I cling to my Dutch passport tooth and nail.
    1
  19523.  @dogzdigital  Destabilising your neighbours and making landgrabs at their expense is heroic in your book? Your morals are skewed beyond belief.
    1
  19524.  @dogzdigital  Sure, it's painfully obvious that you don't know what you're saying.
    1
  19525.  @songstra  Don't be so hasty. The Russians are the new Nazis.
    1
  19526.  @genegene7028  Russia has Wagner with its Nazi fanboys and the neo-Nazi LDPR.
    1
  19527.  @Stoich827  It's good that you speak up for sexual minorities, but they're just that, minorities. Maybe this is not the time or the place to discuss your preoccupation with gender identities.
    1
  19528. Don't be a child. The UK has already made a token gift. Now it's about equipping a whole tank brigade.
    1
  19529. Nothing is real, eh?
    1
  19530. Thanks for thinning the herd of conspiracists.
    1
  19531. And Putin should never have weaponised energy. He's causing economic hardship all right, but the biggest losers are the Russians themselves. Europe will adapt and overcome, but Russia has lost its biggest market for good.
    1
  19532.  @soundscape26  The far left is a spent force in Europe. Some dead-beat far-left parties may still exist, but they've got very few -- if any -- elected representatives.
    1
  19533.  @alexsilent5603  Rather, you live in La-la land. There's no such country as a democratic Russia. Dictatorial, autocratic, despotic and now even totalitarian Russia, they unfortunately all exist.
    1
  19534.  @alexanderlazarev3570  Wet dreams, more like.
    1
  19535. ​ @higgs923  Trump doesn't even begin to realise he's following in Chamberlain's footsteps. The great history scholar thinks the capture of "airports" won America the Revolutionary War.
    1
  19536.  @donhue4546  NATO's Article 5 was not invoked on account of Yugoslavia (read: Serbia). Participation was voluntary.
    1
  19537. They need everything, except Putin and his merry band of bumbling fools.
    1
  19538. No can do. Kadyrov's $1500 Prada combat boots would get muddy.
    1
  19539.  @OFM-u1r  OK, you're not even trying to explain your contradictory statements. But now you are trying to change the topic. You wrote that Zelenskyy would lose mano-a-mano against Putin, but then you add the argument that Putin is in his seventies while Zelenskyy is in his forties. Don't you read what you write?
    1
  19540.  @UKVeteran2024  I have a hunch you've already bought into Fascism. Rest assured, I'm not melting. Democracy is being adhered to with PVV remaining in the opposition. You would like to move the goal posts because to your credit, it has dawned on you already that the PVV isn't scoring. Most of your ilk are still in denial.
    1
  19541.  @jakenbake9878  Economics 101 also says that the inevitable counter-tariffs lead to a decrease in local production. Exports go down, because US products get even less attractive to the Canadians, Mexicans, Europeans and Chinese. Americans, too, get shafted with products of a lesser quality, or of a higher price. I can't begin to think how much foreign debt the US has. Let's just not go there.
    1
  19542. Aren't you keen on nuclear war. If Russia doesn't play ball, maybe India could do the honours and nuke itself? The effect won't be much different.
    1
  19543.  @BigBoss-sm9xj  Humanity is still reeling from the Spanish flu. Don't do it again.
    1
  19544.  @seaside9670  The Druze are not Muslims. Islamists like to persecute them for their "heresy".
    1
  19545.  @MilanTheMan69  You're forgetting that Ukraine doesn't want to partner with Russia -- or China for that matter. Face it, Putin has turned Russia into a pariah state.
    1
  19546.  @ze_President  And for the 2023 spring offensive.
    1
  19547.  @ze_President  ...and for the upcoming spring offensive of 2023, when they're all that Russia has left. You're not the sharpest pencil in the cup, are you?
    1
  19548.  @ze_President  Against Ukraine, silly. Who launched an unprovoked attack against Ukraine, and has been making Ukrainian scrap metal merchants very happy?
    1
  19549. Ik sag de son in de see sakken.
    1
  19550.  @CandidZulu  That's just no true. We have native Swedish-speakers in Uleåborg, 400 klicks north of Närpes.
    1
  19551.  @borjesvensson8661  True that. My family switched from native Swedish to bilingual and then exclusively Finnish. My nieces and nephews will just smile if we try to speak Swedish to them. There was no shortage of bilingual speakers in the Finnish army. My uncle commanded a company of Swedish volunteers in the Continuation War. He called them the bravest soldiers he ever served with, but I guess they were the cream of the (Swedish) crop.
    1
  19552.  @Imnotagroyperyoutube  Non sequitur, little buddy.
    1
  19553. NATO bases, dum-dum, not US bases. If Ukraine wants to invite in NATO troops to help it ward off Russia's unwelcome attentions in the future, Ukraine is entirely within its rights to do so -- without Russian approval in any shape or form. There'll be rotation of NATO countries bringing in their troops, like we're seeing in the Baltic states.
    1
  19554. ​ @eddastrohmayer251  This vid is about NATO bases and he starts about US bases. It would seem that you can't stay on topic either.
    1
  19555.  @eddastrohmayer251  Because they're not NATO bases, duh. Repeating the same argument over and over doesn't make it any truer, I'm afraid.
    1
  19556.  @eddastrohmayer251  I don't understand your sentence. Was that English?
    1
  19557. Common knowledge, buddy. There's no news there.
    1
  19558.  @adityachavan3139  Uh, I was remarking that news channels can report the news in any way they wish, even if your lot blows a gasket whenever the result is unflattering to India. That indeed is freedom of speech. FYI, your problem is with YouTube's AI editor, which removes comments willy-nilly, Not everything is a "Western" conspiracy.
    1
  19559.  @adityachavan3139  Your perception of bias is not universally shared.
    1
  19560. I thought it would be President Navalny who extradites Putin to stand trial in The Hague. Oh well, President Navalnaya is close enough.
    1
  19561. You've got everything backwards, you coward.
    1
  19562. The real Hongkies don't like you very much, do they? They fled mainland China, only to have mainland China flee to them.
    1
  19563.  @mkodyglobalsouthsoldier  The road to nowhere, I should hope.
    1
  19564. Stop posting the same message again and again. It even contains the same mistakes.
    1
  19565.  @poppyaustin7315  Don't be needlessly ashamed about your near-illiteracy. It was just weird punctuation that caught my eye. But it does go to show that you're copy-pasting like the good little bot that you are. Off you go, Reply, Ctrl-V, Reply, Rinse, Repeat.
    1
  19566. Putin will have them fixed in a jiffy. He gifted the Mi-17s to then-president Karzai, but he would very much like to be friends with the Taliban now, so...
    1
  19567. Russia wouldn't make excuses this feeble if Putin was fully in control. Next, you'll claim that Putin had full control over Prigozhin, when the latter humiliated Putin with his march on Moscow.
    1
  19568.  @gfan83  Some weeks ago, Putin conceded that sanctions "may have" a detrimental effect on Russia's economy. It's Putinspeak and it means that fecal matter is about to make contact with the oscillating cooling device.
    1
  19569. It was reported that Russia used commercial GPS receivers on its ground attack aircraft during the initial stages of the conflict. Didn't that already implicate NATO in your tiny book of wisdom?
    1
  19570. Not protecting Olympic athletes was necessary then and is now? I have good mind to report you for hate speech.
    1
  19571.  @kayvan671  *Happened. Your reading comprehension and your spelling both leave something to be desired.
    1
  19572.  @kayvan671  Look up the idiom "to have a good mind". A smarter person than you would've done so without being told.
    1
  19573. It's a legit question. RN is frantically trying to reinvent itself as a serious, presentable political party that's supposedly capable of uniting the French, while in the past it hasn't shied away from unbridled populism and sowing division.
    1
  19574.  @aetherion7  Invalid? Pray tell, how would you set the centre right apart from the far right? The two don't really mix. Again, me, not leftist, but you certainly are a far-right radical, who can only think in terms of extremes. That you need to demonise everyone who doesn't share your extremist views speak volumes <cough>fascist<cough>.
    1
  19575.  @selokelamolaiwa3634  You're easily perturbed. Putin likes your sort. I bet your colonial overlords did, too.
    1
  19576. If polls are to be believed, the average Brit is twice as likely to be anti rather than pro-Trump. If that inconvenient truth can be explained by a lack of "right thinking", like you suggest, you truly are a nation of morons. Or did you mean with "right thinking adults" UKIP and BNP voters?
    1
  19577. Polls are snapshots and they have an error margin. Trump is so overwhelmingly unpopular that even with the error margin counted in his favour, he's still not winning any popularity contests. Well, perhaps among the UKIP and BNP voters, but a majority of them are fond of Hitler, too.
    1
  19578. It's not just one poll, but several. YouGov found that only 11% of Britons think Trump is a great or good president, while 67% think he's poor or terrible at it. And what do you base your opinion on? I think I made it clear I was guestimating that the majority of UKIP and BNP voters are fond of Hitler. When confronted, I don't expect them to admit it.
    1
  19579.  @Imprudentman  We Finns made mincemeat out of the Russians during the Winter War. My grandfather described ghastly scenes where they gunned down wave after wave of Russians, who never stood a chance advancing in the open, waist-deep in snow. If that isn't bad soldiering, I don't know what is.
    1
  19580.  @Imprudentman  Russian casualties in the Winter War were more than five times higher than those of Finland. Sadly for you revisionists, the Germans meticulously kept records of their dealing with the Soviets. In November 1940 -- after the Winter War -- Molotov personally revealed to Hitler that the USSR still wanted to annex Finland. Molotov argued that the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact gave the USSR the right to do so, but Hitler reneged. There's ample indication that Stalin was in total shock after Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa. Infamously, Stalin sulked at his dacha for two weeks before he managed to collect himself.
    1
  19581. Your narratives are out of date. The Orthodox Church of Ukraine switched to the Gregorian calendar and thus, 25 December for Christmas. It's the dominant Orthodox Church in Ukraine.
    1
  19582. Sadly, individual MEPs are susceptible to bribes, like politicians the world over. Power corrupts.
    1
  19583.  @nirmiller3277  You're suggesting Israel cut loose its military and no longer exercises control over it. Okay...
    1
  19584.  @nirmiller3277  It's just that you seem to contradict yourself.
    1
  19585.  @nirmiller3277  You suggested that the IDF has received its marching orders (i.e. it has been cut loose) and Netanyahu merely gets reports of its progress, having let go of the steering wheel (and the brakes, I suppose). Yeah, about my understanding of matters military, let's compare notes. Let's start with rank and years of service. You go first.
    1
  19586. More like putting the breaks on them. As you may have noticed, the far right lost the election to the lefties and Macron's crowd.
    1
  19587. You seem privy to secrets. You must feel very smug.
    1
  19588.  @mimikrya8794  I bet there's help for you. Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous?
    1
  19589. The whataboutism is strong with you.
    1
  19590.  @xiao-rongpeng9804  Human rights are universal. The CCP doesn't get to define their own set as they see fit. You still don't get it; whatever the US does or doesn't do is irrelevant to this discussion. Go whine in the comment section of a video that specifically deals with US human rights violations.
    1
  19591.  @xiao-rongpeng9804  You're not dumb; you're in denial. Actually, that is pretty dumb.
    1
  19592.  @AWriterWandering  So, Rocket Man and the Convicted Crook are both unreliable.
    1
  19593.  @xDomglmao  ...and the shooting war. They just don't know it yet.
    1
  19594. I see the East destroying its cultural heritage, like in Syria and Afghanistan.
    1
  19595. @not today You know what, there's always a Western culprit when Arabs are at each other's throats. It wouldn't occur to them to do so without external provocation, right?
    1
  19596. @not today We could juxtapose the ills of Arab and "Western" society (I like to use the quotation marks because the latter's definition is very loose), but something tells me you're wholly incapable of apple-to-apple comparisons.
    1
  19597.  @screwheadhtx4909  I suggest you keep your vivid imagination to yourself.
    1
  19598.  @epi-pants  You don't say.
    1
  19599.  @DrSpooglemon  Why didn't the Russian OCSE observers catch wind of it? All in all, 700 OCSE SMM observers from 53 countries failed to witness any of your alleged war crimes, despite being all over the place for eight years. Could it be... that you're lying?
    1
  19600.  @hatchxable  Are you trying to praise DW? If not, you should be.
    1
  19601. @ Publicly-funded news networks like DW rake in prizes for journalism, that's why. But I do realise that doesn't sit well with conspiracy theorists such as yourself.
    1
  19602.  @hatchxable  I'm "taking" about the government truly working for us, the people, rather than 'special interest groups'.
    1
  19603. ​@ It's not like DW's staff gets fired and rehired every time there's a change of government, or should I say, cabinet. Since we almost exclusively have parliamentary democracies in Europe, we tend to have coalition governments. Swings from one extreme to other are practically non-existent, unlike in a (your?) duopoly. But, the imagination of conspiracy artists knows no bounds. You take artistic liberties all right.
    1
  19604.  @latikaagarwal9096  Emergency rooms will fill up when the animal du jour is the procupine.
    1
  19605. The giant with feet of clay. There, fixed it for you.
    1
  19606. BLM suggests otherwise.
    1
  19607.  @jr3213  You're in denial.
    1
  19608.  @Exxperiment626  Ukraine's air force won't grow any stronger if F-16-trained US pilots volunteer to fight over there as infantry. They need the warplanes, too, Einstein.
    1
  19609.  @SAapproves  If that were true, Putin would've let him run.
    1
  19610. Go for it. I hope the three can have adjoining cells.
    1
  19611. You might want to add that the sound was especially unique in being LOUD.
    1
  19612. It's a good time to re-evaluate which countries belong in the UNSC and which don't. Russia should go, France should give its seat to the EU and UK's seat can go to India.
    1
  19613.  @mansamusa9465  Shouldn't you be answering that question? In case you didn't notice, I'm questioning the sanity of blaming imagined colonialism for it.
    1
  19614.  @Gaucho-h1g Aw, lost for words, too?
    1
  19615.  @mansamusa9465 Sure, why not, colonialism was once real. For my people, too, but you won't hear us whinge about past wrongs as if they're still with us.
    1
  19616.  @mansamusa9465  Aw, you're butthurt. I expressed my preference, which is not to whine. If yours is to whine, knock yourself out. Whining won't, however, keep you from being taken advantage of, one way or the other, by capitalists or your imagined colonialists. Developing yourselves is the only way.
    1
  19617. Explain to us in detail how Europe is helping Israel. Annually, we're sending $729 million in aid to the Occupied Territories. To Israel, nothing.
    1
  19618. They thought the war in Ukraine was fine and dandy till they realised they were to be extras in it, playing the part of cannon fodder.
    1
  19619. Still, it's interesting if Trump were to go down over something silly like this. Hasn't he heard of scanners?
    1
  19620.  @richardmarsden5610  What I think? I think you have a nuclear fetish, Richard. It's often associated with suicidal sociopathy. Get help.
    1
  19621. Who's inflicting wounds on whom?
    1
  19622. Maybe yawn-worthy from a Free World perspective, but for Russia, it's exceptional.
    1
  19623. The expectation of a free and fair election in Russia doesn't amount to meddling.
    1
  19624.  @plumlogan  Not to worry, I'm sure Trump will make amends when the weather picks up. He loves parades and a personality cult has already arisen.
    1
  19625. @ It's good that you admit being a Fascist. Like with alcoholism, admission is an important step.
    1
  19626. She needs to grow into her future role of nuclear blackmailer. Can't start too young.
    1
  19627. Why don't you pretend that the Heavenly Host -- the biblical army of angels -- is also fighting on Ukraine's side? When you start lying, why stop?
    1
  19628. You're confused. Zelenskyy is out and about, Putin is hiding.
    1
  19629.  @BonDeVries  Jij bent vast ook het type dat de aggressieve neigingen van een geweldenaar zou negeren totdat er definitieve bewijzen van geweld zijn. Een minpunt is dat dat pas het geval zou zijn wanneer er sectie wordt verricht op je lichaam.
    1
  19630. ACW2. Reenactors rejoice.
    1
  19631. It's the overall majority that counts. Incidentally, the European Parliament has been right-leaning for quite a while already. It's probably not right enough for you -- as in the far right.
    1
  19632. That's a doozy of a generalisation, Arne. Care to tell us about an authoritative source that compares civil rights throughout Europe and that supports your claim?
    1
  19633.  @arnesaknussemm2427  Perchance I'm not. I'm expecting you to tell us about an authoritative source that supports your claim, i.e. a proper comparison that ranks the UK above all EU countries in civil liberties. Here's another Americanism for you: put up or shut up.
    1
  19634. Zelenskyy may be a comedian, but Trump is a clown. It's not the same difference.
    1
  19635.  @bca-biciclindcuaxel7527  Embarrassed no, but I can't say I'm thrilled with him either. The same goes for Verhofstadt. I remember only too well when he was prime minister of Belgium. Both are astute politicians, that has to be said.
    1
  19636.  @Parabellumjohn215  Being a republic has nothing to do with whether or not you vote directly or indirectly for your president. As a case in point, I vote directly for mine. Popular vote wins.
    1
  19637. Molotov cocktails don't make for very effective weapons in this day and age. In a pinch, they could be used to burn abandoned Russian tanks if they can't be recovered, but phosphor grenades are a much better alternative. What's your agenda, Bart? Trying to detract from the heroism shown by the Ukrainian people?
    1
  19638. Does NATO have troops in Gaza or the West Bank? You trolls really are in the know -- you seem to know stuff nobody else does -- or will.
    1
  19639. It's not a laughing matter. The meagre contribution of the Russian Air Force in Ukraine has been a topic of much debate. Explanations such as a shortage of precision-guided ordnance and having to drop their dumb bombs from too great a height have been suggested. The Flakpanzers will help in keeping the Russian Air Force flying high, where they can do less damage.
    1
  19640.  @zawiszaczarny7876  I see you're the type of person who would claim that pencils have no use because there are ballpoints. Or vice versa.
    1
  19641. So, what is Trump offering in exchange for his minerals deal? It's as if the dunce thinks that Ukraine's mineral riches are an obstacle to peace, so Ukraine needs to be relieved of them.
    1
  19642.  @mylife70777  There's just one superpower. Why would it fight against itself?
    1
  19643.  @mylife70777  You're not addressing my point.
    1
  19644. No, and it's increasingly uncomfortable for Putin to sit on a throne build of bayonets.
    1
  19645. The end result will be that Trump alienates Jordan and Egypt and comes no closer to "owning" Gaza.
    1
  19646. Why not a witch doctor or shaman?
    1
  19647. Conspiracy theory in the works?
    1
  19648.  @GarryCarr56  Funny, France manages to bring in more tourism money without self-righteous and scandal-prone royals.
    1
  19649. @Ruslan Masinjila So if you're not lovin' it, why are you replacing McDonald's with Uncle Vanya's? By the looks of it, it's a spitting image of the real thing.
    1
  19650.  @albert.r  And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?
    1
  19651. You mean Assad fought ISIS in Iraq?
    1
  19652. A wet dream indeed. The far right is peaking as we speak, but even if they make it into government, it'll be as part of a tenuous coalition. Their voters will soon tire of them, because promises and expectations won't meet with reality.
    1
  19653. Maybe Obama can retroactively share his prize with Trump, since neither deserves it fully.
    1
  19654.  @Rohan123-b9t  I've seen war, it's upsetting all right. But you're trying to deviate from the topic at hand. Hence, whataboutism. Cease and desist.
    1
  19655.  @HigherMorality  The overwhelming majority of the world's countries agree wholeheartedly that Russia is the aggressor and should leave Ukraine alone. Those that disagree can be counted on the fingers of one hand. It's Russia itself and a few similar pariah states.
    1
  19656.  @Rohan123-b9t  Come on, whataboutism is the last refuge of the coward. Try to defend yourself in court by stating that others have stood there, too, charged with similar crimes.
    1
  19657.  @Rakscha-Sun  I'm not so surprised about Macron coming out strongly in support of Ukraine, although he should try harder to match words with deeds. Scholz surprised me, although the deeds of Germany aren't all that bad.
    1
  19658. 1:17. You're not very observant.
    1
  19659.  @Africanpride2019  It is all over the news. They've got better footage now, too.
    1
  19660. But you have your pockets full of potatoes! Russian ladies find you irresistible now!
    1
  19661. Trump is lending credence to Putin's assertion that landgrabs are A-OK.
    1
  19662. I bet both Zinedine Zidane and the French people are eternally grateful that the former's parents chose to settle in France. Karim Benzema, same. Isabelle Adjani and Kylian Mbappé, too, can claim Algerian ancestry. It seems like all of them have found their place, and then some.
    1
  19663. The Taliban will give Afghanistan to China, the neo-colonizers of our age.
    1
  19664. That said, Musk hasn't been in space yet. Branson and Bezos have now eaten their own dog food. Musk still needs to have a taste.
    1
  19665. That's Xi for you.
    1
  19666. Tell us about your own military exploits, funny man.
    1
  19667. There's a refuge for Putin in The Hague. They've painted over Milosevic's tally markings on the cell walls so that bunker grandpa won't get confused.
    1
  19668. One wayward drone. How's that helping the Orc cause?
    1
  19669. As compared to what? European countries top the list.
    1
  19670.  @jdlflagstone6980  Russia can sail its rusty relics in peacetime, sure, but wartime is another kettle of fish. It can't even fulfil the role of a 'fleet in being', because even in port, it would stop being when war breaks out.
    1
  19671.  @jdlflagstone6980  As a direct neighbour of Russia and coastal jaeger reservist, I've forgotten more about the Russian Baltic Fleet than you've ever known. Poser.
    1
  19672.  @jdlflagstone6980  Your emoticon is cute. Puerile, but cute.
    1
  19673. Please be specific. In Moscow or in Ukraine?
    1
  19674. They're not mutually exclusive terms.
    1
  19675. So you want the military junta in Mali gone. Agreed.
    1
  19676. A pariah state is losing a pariah ally, which had little gravitas to begin with.
    1
  19677. Let's see if I have a handle on your logic. If you and your wife (I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt) have a little girl, you are a paedophile. I suggest you earn yourself a Darwin Award.
    1
  19678. Your translator is broken.
    1
  19679. It's glaringly evident that NATO isn't Putin's problem per se. His problem is that Ukraine doesn't want to be in a relationship with Russia, preferring the EU and NATO instead, so Putin went berserk out of sheer jealousy. Now he says he's cool with Finland and Sweden joining NATO, because the newt-like midget realised all along that he never stood a chance with either Nordic beauty.
    1
  19680.  @shutup51916  China doesn't own the people and whether or not they carry a BNO passport, they should be able to vote with their feet if China doesn't allow them to vote properly. You're making it appear as if the UK, upon their arrival, will will relieve them of their money and assets. That's a preposterous claim.
    1
  19681.  @shutup51916  Unlike in China, the rule of law applies in the UK. No one's taking away anyone's money. You live in a fantasy world.
    1
  19682.  @shutup51916  Rule of law doesn't exist in China. The CCP thinks nothing of overriding judges and flouting the law whenever they see fit. The same goes for the constitution. In China, the constitution is optional.
    1
  19683.  @shutup51916  I suggest you do some research on what "rule of law" means and how China views it. The latter appears to be a somewhat fluid affair, with CCP ideologists speaking of "rule by law" and "thin" rule of law. If you ask me, those are just silly euphemisms, just like China's "party-state democracy".
    1
  19684.  @shutup51916  I give up. You have no clue what "rule of law" entails. You just keep repeating the same dumb arguments.
    1
  19685.  @shutup51916  Pick up an encyclopaedia. These are well-established terms that you have no clue about.
    1
  19686.  @shutup51916  You have a fixation.
    1
  19687.  Mephisto   Krembots blow things up. In their book, a gathering of three cranky GDR-nostalgists is a mass protest.
    1
  19688. Israel should try a different game. This one will never end.
    1
  19689. Russia is evacuating its bases as we speak, much to the elation of the HTS fighters who're watching by. The video clips say it all. I don't see why Putin would have Assad killed. It would just draw more attention to the fact that Putin doesn't protect his allies. Besides, I'd think HTS would want Assad alive, not dead.
    1
  19690. The Communists? There are 11 Communist MEPs, out of 705. The EP has tilted to the right for close to two decades. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  19691. ​ @ChuckAmadi  Sure thing, soon enough, India will come grovelling to the West for arms. It's biggest supplier, Russia, is unable to deliver for a variety of reasons, so India's second and third biggest suppliers, respectively France and the USA, are best positioned to take over Russia's market share. There are strings attached.
    1
  19692. Russia is desperately trying to prove that the Baltic is not a NATO lake.
    1
  19693. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    1
  19694. Who's "WE"?
    1
  19695.  @MilenaBlazanovic-oq2iy  You're not the OP, so you can only speculate what that person meant. I fear you haven't grasped the essence of representative democracy and parliamentarism. We vote in MEPs, who have national party affiliations. The parties join or already belong to supernational political groups within the EP. Those groups form coalitions. Whichever coalition can count on enough MEPs to reach a majority, gets its way. In plain terms, as voters, we've let loose these political animals to form packs, and they're just displaying natural behaviour specific to their species by growling or whisking their tails at other packs.
    1
  19696. Her artist name amounts to cultural appropriation, just like Häagen-Dazs.
    1
  19697.  @sandiego8817  How hard is it for you to understand that Russia, a permanent member of the UNSC, is defanging the UN with its power of veto?
    1
  19698. Their questions are not out of the blue. Polls show that opinions on the two-state solution have hardened both in Israel and the Occupied Territories. There's a rocky road ahead. Opportunities have been squandered by both sides.
    1
  19699. Read: "Hooray, the bloodshed can continue unabated!"
    1
  19700.  @udarpavarota396  You mean they're going to take the resident Germans hostage or even use them as human shields, à la Saddam Hussein? Germany can weather the economic storm, but Russia cannot. Putin is on the verge of signing his own political death warrant. He'd better make arrangements for political asylum in China.
    1
  19701.  @polasbeatz  In your undoubtedly humble opinion, should Israel also strive to become a terrorist organisation? I thought the country had loftier goals (after attaining nationhood, that is).
    1
  19702. I believe Bangladesh just experienced a military coup.
    1
  19703. We have a saying that high trees catch a lot of wind.
    1
  19704. @Watcher Aren't you silly.
    1
  19705. Yeah, yeah. Russia, since its European part extends all the way to the Ural mountains, has a great many Russian Europeans. That's geography for you. I'm just not sure most European Russians will be on Putin's side when push comes to shove. It's like there were no true Communists left when the Soviet Union imploded. It was all out of bitter necessity.
    1
  19706. Azerbaijan should also join the ICC and present its evidence there. That way, no one would accuse Azerbaijan of conducting kangaroo courts.
    1
  19707.  @Lenser  Bots don't work for free, but so-called useful idyots do.
    1
  19708. They'll amend the laws pertaining to the health pass so that they comply with the constitution. Why is that difficult to comprehend?
    1
  19709.  @rob-robi  You don't like freedom of opinion. Figures.
    1
  19710.  @agfitts  So young yet so cynical.
    1
  19711. There-there. We're getting your prescription filled.
    1
  19712. Don't pour oil on the fire.
    1
  19713. China is the world's industrial powerhouse, but only if we let them. Expect to see China's #1 position crumble, as manufacturing companies will relocate production to other countries, like India and Vietnam.
    1
  19714.  Y S  That's wishful thinking. China has been trying to boost its domestic consumption for years, but despite all the efforts, its GDP would take a crippling hit if exports were to dry up.
    1
  19715.  @alfredocubelo1109  It's really simple. A lot of manufacturing companies have production in China. If they relocate it somewhere else, China loses their business. I can't put in simpler terms.
    1
  19716. They're not in the EU, dum-dum.
    1
  19717.  @tomzamp8547  They're not part of the EU, since Greenland opted out on gaining autonomy. The same applies to the Faroe Islands, which are part of Denmark, but not of the EU. Next time, before you blurt out nonsense, do a modicum of research.
    1
  19718. @eedragonr Non sequitur. Try stringing together a sentence. Just try.
    1
  19719. That's how autocrats work, regardless of how they came to power.
    1
  19720.  @TheRedland284  You period is premature. There was nothing illegal about the NATO-led intervention in Afghanistan. It was unanimously approved by the UN Security Council, and several times at that.
    1
  19721. But Russia decisively won the First Battle of Dogger Bank, be it against unarmed British fishing trawlers. Casualties on the Russian side were relatively light.
    1
  19722. Rather, wherever Israel wants to go, the US will green-light Israel, even retroactively.
    1
  19723. Yeah, right. Russia has Nazis in the highest echelons of power. The Donbas "separatists" are heavy on LDPR volunteers, and the LDPR has a sizable representation in the Russian State Duma.
    1
  19724.  @АлександраЛебедева-л4п  The Ukrainians have ample reason for hating Russians. We're wary of Russians as well and because of the same genocidal tendencies you've shown earlier, but we're a thriving democracy. I can't help but notice that you didn't even try to deny Russia's own flirtations with neo-Nazism. Add to that Putin's generous financial support to Europe's fringe neo-Nazis and crypto-Nazis, like France's Le Pen. What do they say about glass houses and stones, Alexandra?
    1
  19725.  @АлександраЛебедева-л4п  Aren't you gullible. I'm not Ukrainian. You're still not bothering to address my factual points about the neo-Nazi LDPR and Putin's documented generosity towards Europe's far-right. Instead, you do counter with Russia's greatest contribution to political discourse: whataboutism. And don't upvote your own posts. It's considered nekulturny in civilised company.
    1
  19726.  @jaketang892  What would you know about my skin colour? Also, should we call you a yellow boy?
    1
  19727.  @MonroeSim  If Europe has nothing of interest to the US, why the lopsided trade balance then? Trump kicks an awful fuss about it, but you must think he's acting up like the toddler he is.
    1
  19728. Het kan zijn dat Syrië Londen de loef afsteekt. Dan kan het VK haar niet staatloos maken, want dat druist in tegen internationale verdragen.
    1
  19729.  @dimmiheev2542  There are no legal arrangements pertaining to the transfer of history.
    1
  19730.  @timmeasures2694  Maybe you should offer Michigan in recompense to Putin if he agrees to let Ukraine be. You're pro-appeasement, right?
    1
  19731. Not a single Latin American country rose up to defend Russia at the UN. In Africa, only Eritrea did. In the Middle East, there was only war-torn Syria, where Assad's brutal regime is utterly beholden to Russia. In Asia, it was the hermit kingdom, North Korea, which is the very definition of isolation.
    1
  19732.  @Jul_Nguyen  Cuba did not vote against United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1, which condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine and called for an immediate Russian witdrawal. Neither did Cuba support Russia in UNGA Resolutions ES-11/2, ES-11/4 and 11/6. Facts are a biatch.
    1
  19733. Your excuses are becoming poorer by the day.
    1
  19734.  @PengMIY  I've got news for you. Any corporation will try to exploit its dominant position in the market. Anti-monopolistic legislation is all fine and well, but in China, state control over enterprises goes much, much further. The extensive meddling by the CCP is arguably hurting the Chinese economy. World-class companies are held back by Xi's ill-considered policies and authoritarian instincts. Huawei is a textbook case.
    1
  19735.  @Psalm118.26  Your "decadent West" has very rigorous anti-monopoly legislation in place and it's put to use regularly. Maybe you just can't see it with the Great Firewall blocking your view? It would explain the (scripted?) banalities that Chinese commenters always come up with. The odd thing about this Ant Group episode is that their impending IPO was cancelled only days before, and only after Jack Ma openly criticised China's financial system. Not only did the Ant Group lose $76 billion in value, but also, Ma ended up in secret detention for three months. The Ant Group could've become a truly global fintech giant -- now that's doubtful, to say the least. Huawei is best served by being allowed to operate like a true multinational, in line with Jack Ma's abortive ideas for the Ant Group. As it is now, Huawei's murky ownership, suspicions of military ties, dodgy customer credit arrangements, political commissars on the board and the legal requirement to spy on behalf of the state make it a dubious partner for its biggest customers, the telecoms operators. It's like the CCP is intentionally divvying up Huawei's market share among its non-Chinese competitors, some of whom are even publicly expressing pity for Huawei. Xi's authoritarian tendencies are killing the geese that lay the golden eggs. You can cry foul that it's not China's fault, but the CCP sure has a way with making Chinese corporations unattractive as strategic suppliers and worthwhile investment opportunities in the eyes of the world. Don't bother replying with more whataboutisms. If you want to show that you're not a troll, you'll discuss these matters and not conjure up ten others to divert attention from the topic at hand.
    1
  19736.  @sarojbisht7768  So you're saying that Russia will shower itself with nuclear fallout.
    1
  19737.  @tjmarx  French news outlet reporting. The clowns see conspiracies everywhere.
    1
  19738.  @tjmarx  Oh, the conspiracy clowns think that when France 24 reports on AfD, they do so per explicit instructions from Macron.
    1
  19739.  @thephidias  Id est, no one in Brussels would touch this mess with a barge pole either. The Brits should appoint a provisional government made up of civil servants only, so no political careers are hurt in the making of Brexit-Britain.
    1
  19740.  @stuartwray6175  Cyprus isn't. Lol.
    1
  19741.  @spikertaker  A pager rigged with explosive charge fits the description of a booby trap perfectly. In WW2, the retreating Germans left radio headsets out with the radio switched on, prompting Allied soldiers to listen in and triggering an explosion. That was a known booby trap, and this is very similar. Also, booby traps are specifically meant to kill or maim enemy combatants. It would be a waste of resources to target non-combatants. You have to be a crazed terrorist to think otherwise. You may disagree with their decision, but Israel willingly chose to outlaw booby traps in warfare. They're breaking their own laws.
    1
  19742.  @SAFbikes  True limey, me? I'm nothing of the sort. Kids say the darndest things. You just play with your emojis.
    1
  19743.  @derJackistweg  Drumpf is the grandson of immigrants, who himself married an immigrant, not once but twice, and 4 out of 5 of his children are children of immigrants, too. Oh the irony.
    1
  19744.  @microfarming8583  OK, drama queen.
    1
  19745.  @carpentryfirst3048  I really don't concern myself with your domestic legislation. This is a French news service reporting on vaccinations in the EU. Don't always make everything about yourselves. Go to Fox News if you want to contemplate your navel.
    1
  19746.  @microfarming8583  Sorry, are you dyslexic? I can't quite unravel your comments.
    1
  19747.  @microfarming8583  I did say "sorry" when I asked you if you suffered from dyslexia. But if not, it still begs the question why you can't string proper sentences together.
    1
  19748.  @carpentryfirst3048  There you go again, more silly Americanisms. Like I suggested earlier to your BFF here, you too should steer clear of international forums. You don't know how to behave in civilised company. I have no idea why you suddenly brought up mRNA and PCR tests. Your jumbled mind must be playing tricks on you.
    1
  19749.  @hobbabobba7912  Why wouldn't you consider them part of Gibraltar's workforce? Besides, there are a lot of workers from the British Isles, too, who're unable to find housing in Gibraltar, so they live across the border and commute on a daily basis.
    1
  19750.  @thecaveofhirademon  Democracy is not a Western prerogative, although the dictators want you to believe otherwise.
    1
  19751. Can you ask your handler for a new user name? You can't pull off a "marshall james."
    1
  19752.  @escobar3073  Cool, so you are capable of learning.
    1
  19753.  @escobar3073  *Learning of your limitations.
    1
  19754.  @michaelagbayani4961  73% of the UN member base can't be called Western. Ha-ha.
    1
  19755.  @pwn5047  Russia is a full member of the OSCE. Therefore, Russia could've monitored the election monitors.
    1
  19756. You can congratulate yourselves. You're all set for ACW2.
    1
  19757. You should be talking. Your representative democracy is a sham. The Russian State Duma is nothing but a rubber stamp.
    1
  19758.  @guruvedra  Have look at the Democracy Index. Practically all developed countries do better than Russia.
    1
  19759.  @AbsolutelyFabulous3  In the same vein, let's wait for the existence of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy to be proven.
    1
  19760.  @AbsolutelyFabulous3  Uh, I'm a non-believer, and that includes Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Trust you not to understand, but the burden of proof that your magic sky friend exists rests with you.
    1
  19761.  @AbsolutelyFabulous3  You literally wrote: "I don’t follow your belief [...]" as if someone is his right mind believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. I felt I had to correct your erroneous belief, of which you seem to have many, contrary to myself. You're not very good at this conversation thing, are you?
    1
  19762.  @AbsolutelyFabulous3  By default, I don't believe in mythical beings that don't make their presence known in any verifiable manner. I'm agnostic, not atheist. If a deity makes his presence known, I'll consider the facts carefully. You specifically asked for proof that Jesus doesn't exist. If that's a valid argument in your book, the same courtesy should be extended to Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.
    1
  19763.  @AbsolutelyFabulous3  You don't own this discussion forum, missy.
    1
  19764.  @AbsolutelyFabulous3  Aw. I must've insulted your magic sky friend.
    1
  19765.  @tastypymp1287  I wouldn't go that far. There's a lot of heckling going on.
    1
  19766.  @arturobianco848  I'm think you and Thanos are being deliberately obtuse. Let's forget individual countries and look at the NATO-CSTO border then. The CSTO has nuclear weapons very close to NATO, a mere 50 km from the Polish border, in Kaliningrad. In contrast, it's over a thousand kilometres from Büchel, where Germany's B61 nuclear bombs are stored, to the nearest CSTO border, in Kaliningrad. Savvy?
    1
  19767.  @arturobianco848  Of course it makes a difference. The less advance warning, the harder it is to apply counter-measures. Also, tactical nuclear weapons have limited range. It matters a great deal were you keep them. I suggest you do your homework before you continue this discussion. You come across like a dilettante.
    1
  19768.  @arturobianco848  Now I know you're obtuse. Basically, you're saying that tactical nuclear weapons don't matter, because ICBMs exist. You could take your theory a bit further and claim that conventional military forces no longer matter, because there are ICBMs. Yet we're witnessing a conventional war in Ukraine. As I suggested earlier, before you concoct your ad-hoc theories, you should study up on well-established nuclear deterrence theories and doctrines such as flexible response and MAD. They all call for a balanced response. After all, when the ICBMs and SLBMs are let loose, it's game-over for humanity. When things remain tactical, we have a chance of surviving as a species.
    1
  19769. The Hannibal Directive is history, but you know that already.
    1
  19770.  @OrionPaxOP  So tell me, which particular government do I trust? Try to be specific.
    1
  19771. @@user-bo8ry9gu8z You just answered the OP's prayers. You're a veritable knight in shining armour!
    1
  19772. @@user-bo8ry9gu8z Enjoy!
    1
  19773. Will he still congratulate Trump when the latter sells Ukraine down the river?
    1
  19774. Keep a lid on the pottymouth then.
    1
  19775. I can't help but notice that your liberal gun laws haven't been a success formula democracy-wise. The Democracy Index puts the United States in 25th place and categorizes the US as a flawed democracy. Perhaps the compilers at The Economist don't put much value on guns laws, or you've got serious problems elsewhere. My guess is both.
    1
  19776.  @LNVACVAC  Note that The Economist's analysts aren't giving top marks to the UK either. However, I don't think having a monarch is weighing down the UK. Many among the top 10 democracies in the world are monarchies. Maybe you have a fairy tale view of them, like oh-so many Americans?
    1
  19777.  @LNVACVAC  Go on... what exactly makes a modern monarchy more exploitable than a republic? You claim otherwise, but could it be that you don't understand that these monarchs are mere figureheads? I see it all the time.
    1
  19778. We'll never recognise them as being part of Russia, and nor will the rest of the world, apart from the usual suspects Syria and North Korea.
    1
  19779. You're such a kidder, you ♥
    1
  19780.  @CristianPrecoma  Good on you, son. Aim high.
    1
  19781.  @DMJ-01  That's all good and well, but Brazil's GDP per capita remains low and that's what matters. Indeed, it's morally dubious to build a powerful army if you can't provide basic necessities to a large part of the population. Still, even with military spending kept at a reasonable level, it's hard to call such a country truly powerful. I do wish Lula manages to achieve the social equality that we take for granted. Even so, it's going to be a long and winding road. It's a distinct possibility that Bolsonaro will make a comeback, like Trump up north, and wipe out all ordem e progresso in a jiffy.
    1
  19782. ​ @CristianPrecoma  Yup, there's a lot about the USA that's morally dubious. They're not a moral superpower in my book.
    1
  19783. ​ @MalcolmXpat  The UN-authorized ISAF mission operated in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It looks like Afghanistan is beyond saving.
    1
  19784.  @rusticbox9908  Ahum, I've suggested no such thing. All I'm saying is that China's chances of exploiting their mining concessions Afghanistan have taken taken a turn for the worse. If they haven't been able to exploit them properly for the last 10 years, how is the situation going to change with the Taliban in charge? Let's face it, the security situation will only worsen.
    1
  19785. How so? This is a compilation of official Russian propaganda footage.
    1
  19786. The Netherlands have been Multikulti for eons.
    1
  19787. Prigozhin is sending shivers down Putin's oligarchs' spines. They'll be extra-motivated to come up with ways to dispose of Putin before his ruinous war claims their kids' lives, too -- in addition to their fortunes.
    1
  19788. That's what Russia has been claiming for years now, but Gazprom is in dire straits.
    1
  19789. It's interesting that the WW2 vaccination against Fascism is more effective in Germany than it is in Israel.
    1
  19790.  @namewithheldforprivacy7107  You and your Five Eyes anglosphere conspiracy theory.
    1
  19791. The Soviet Union was a superpower. Russia is a regional power, be it a wannabe-superpower.
    1
  19792. Fair enough, creep back into your shell. Especially in this moment in time, with a manchild in the White House, we can do with less Murica. China, too, appreciates you making yourselves scarce.
    1
  19793. French soldiers have the biggest berets. It's only fitting.
    1
  19794. I didn't know Brits were so timid. Or you're a Saint Petersburg troll.
    1
  19795.  @izwanizi  Germany and Italy seem to have pushed out the UK from the top 5.
    1
  19796. Russia does care and very much so. Only this February, Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, threatened the EU with cutting relations if the latter imposed more economically painful sanctions over Navalny's jailing. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  19797.  @laurabente1832  Nu maak jij een grapje.
    1
  19798.  @laurabente1832  Je zwetst. Er was een artikel, gebaseerd op een anonieme bron. Bewijzen ontbreken. Verre van een bekentenis dus.
    1
  19799.  @laurabente1832  Ik hoef niets op te zoeken, maar jij blijkbaar wel. Seymour Hersh heeft enkel een anonieme bron voor zijn bewering. Dat is teleurstellend van iemand van zijn kaliber. Ik vraag me af of er sprake is van dementie. Hij is 85.
    1
  19800.  @laurabente1832  Ik weet niet wat de waarheid is en jij evenmin. Ik stel enkel vast dat er niets bewezen is. Het is trouwens niet de eerste keer dat Hersh met sensationele claims komt, maar het eenvoudigweg daarbij laat. Er zit ook aan de andere kant een gaskraan, en die zat ook potdicht. Niemand had dus baat bij het opblazen van Nord Stream. Hersh heeft met zijn eerdere onthullingen (My Lai en Abu Ghraib) wel bewezen dat Westerse geheimen de neiging hebben om uit te komen. De Amerikaanse autoriteiten zijn zich daarvan bewust, dus volgens mij hadden ze al in de planningsfase ingezien dat de politieke risico's van zo'n operatie veel te groot waren. Het zou de Navo is een diepe crisis kunnen belanden. Een kapotte Russische pijpleiding is daarnaast een schrale troost.
    1
  19801.  @OneDayWillFlyAway  Regeringen roepen inderdaad zoveel. Maar ook daar is een bewijslast. Hersh word niet monddood gemaakt, maar zijn collega's hebben wel een afwachtende houding aangenomen. Ze wachten dus op bewijs voordat ze een oordeel vellen, maar velen vrezen al dat Hersh zijn reputatie nog verder aan het verknoeien is. Hoe dan ook, er zal geen straf voor Hersh komen; tenminste, niet in strafrechtelijke zin. Hij wordt niet langer serieus genomen. Voor een befaamde journalist is dat straf genoeg.
    1
  19802.  @OneDayWillFlyAway  Hoe wordt hij dan monddood gemaakt? Zijn online-verhaal heeft overal de nieusdrempel gehaald. Het is een feit dat Hersh sensationele stukken publiceert en vervolgens geen bewijzen levert. De vraag is of dat hier weer het geval is. Het verbaast me allerminst dat de complotdenkers in hun nopjes zijn met Hersh. Complotdenken en bewijzen gaan namelijk moeilijk samen.
    1
  19803.  @JamesSmith-ij8nj  So it transpires that you were encouraging the OP to ambulate. Aren't you a sweetie.
    1
  19804. By the justice system, actually. Separation of powers? Nothing?
    1
  19805. Zelenskyy has taught us how to stand... stand up for what's right.
    1
  19806. The USA is intent on downgrading itself from superpower to regional power. So be it.
    1
  19807.  @MWENDA-vv5im  Russia lost on SMO Day+10. The rest is just about Putin still somehow trying to stave off forced retirement -- or worse. His best bet may be a cell in The Hague.
    1
  19808. First and foremost, Russia should be afraid of Ukraine.
    1
  19809.  @gozzilla177  1% is about right. It looks higher because only one in four of the infected are diagnosed. Fortunately, a lot of the undiagnosed ones are children who're not as contagious as adults.
    1
  19810. It can't get much worse.
    1
  19811. China has to come to terms with the fact that its Covid stats are distrusted all over the world.
    1
  19812.  @juliec5309  Russian reservists are fleeing there in Vietnam War style, but it's unlikely they'll be granted asylum.
    1
  19813.  @spartak9101  Aw, you have to resort to name-calling right off the bat. And the cute emoticon. If you're acting your age, I'm guessing it's 12...13 tops? Finland in particular has always been on the frontlines. Wisely, Finland didn't let its guard down when the Cold War drew to a close, much like Russia's other immediate neighbours, who knew better as well. Sweden did experience a brief lapse in judgement, but they started making amends much earlier than Western Europe, which stubbornly wanted to believe in a reformed Russia. And don't upvote your own posts. It's seedy.
    1
  19814.  @spartak9101  Weird, I can't detect any point of relevance to the topic at hand in your TLDResque diatribe. Oh well. For the sake of argument, Finland entered the war when the USSR, with Hitler's explicit blessing as per the secret addendum to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, launched an invasion against it. When Stalin miserably failed to conquer Finland, Hitler lost all respect for his ally and turned against him. No honour among thieves, after all. It's telling that it took Russia 50 years to admit to the unholy alliance with Nazi Germany. Again, you upvoted your own comment. Yuckerama.
    1
  19815.  @rhetorical1488  I'm insulted because you try to insult me with such a cliché. Even in troll school you would get an F for that.
    1
  19816.  @osama1929  We've been enjoying disappointingly warm winters of late. I'm doing far less cross-country skiing than I used to. Bah.
    1
  19817.  @lianlol7  Who's your "we" in Asia? You and your teddy bear?
    1
  19818. It's satellite positioning, not tracking. Russia used GPS receivers in the initial stages of the conflict, which goes to show that anyone, friend or foe, has access to GPS transmissions. It's no different from me using Russia's GLONASS on a daily basis thanks to my iPhone -- without Russia's permission! For your info, Russia is jamming both GPS and Europe's Galileo. Whenever needed, guided weapons fall back on other means of navigation, such as INS and terrain mapping. Educate yourself.
    1
  19819.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  Radio waves. Some day, you'll learn about them in school.
    1
  19820.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  Don't play expert when you're clear not one. You drown out the signal of the spy balloon. I used to do electronic warfare when I served in the military. Fun stuff.
    1
  19821.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  Sure they know the frequencies used by the Chinese for their satellite comms. Satellite uplink jamming is pretty basic stuff. You're the one putting your ignorance on public display here.
    1
  19822.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  It's about jamming, not blocking per se. The only difference with normal radio jamming is that the beam needs to be carefully directed to hit the satellite's transponder. No biggie, satellite terminals like those of Elon Musk's Starlink do it all the time. The jammer's transmit power just needs to be cranked up sufficiently to drown out the transmissions of the terminal on the balloon. Really, Dave, you could easily find out about this yourself with a simple Google search. I gave you the keywords already: satellite uplink jamming. You choose from hundreds of hits.
    1
  19823.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  Ah, you're slowly but surely starting to see the light. Jamming the satellite's reception capability effectively mutes the balloon. The balloon is like the philosophical tree that falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it. Does it make a sound? Likewise, does the balloon transmit data? Don't put words into my mouth. That's childish.
    1
  19824.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  For gossake, I'm not going to explain to you what is clearly a figment of your own imagination. The jamming -- if indeed there was jamming -- was done from the US, not China. You made the latter up. Ask you physics teacher for help if you can't figure it out yourself.
    1
  19825.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  Did you read any of the hits you got when you googled "satellite uplink jamming"? If you did, your reading comprehension leaves much to be desired. If indeed the Americans jammed the satellite that the balloon communicated with, they aimed an antenna at the satellite, and transmitted a stronger signal that drowned out the balloon's transmissions. The jamming can be done from any location from where there's so-called line of sight. If the balloon was in US air space, the natural place to jam the satellite from is US territory. Why do you insist on China? It makes zero sense. Major powers fly signint aircraft to intercept satellite transmissions. They can easily determine the frequencies being used.
    1
  19826.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  I know you all this by heart, but you're evidently still learning. I suggest you image-google a Starlink terminal. Its dish is the size of a small coffee table. You're basically saying that it cannot establish an uplink satellite connection. You'll break Elon Musk's heart -- there goes another business of his. You can interfere with radio reception from nearby or afar. For the latter you need more transmission power. This, too, is basic RF stuff. You should really educate yourself. Did you talk to your teacher?
    1
  19827.  @howluk2901  Sure, why not kick them out of the UNSC, too. But how did we end up discussing the US? Do you have problems focusing or is it because... you're an incorrigible whataboutist?
    1
  19828. Duh, France 24 literally proved him wrong in this vid. A weird understanding of the truth you've got there.
    1
  19829.  @wom_Bat  Finland? I don't see it. It looks like you mistake amicable relationships with the UK as personal love for Johnson. And don't call me a Brit.
    1
  19830. Hard-coping Krembots have already decided that this is a cunning plan to lure in and entrap the Ukrainian forces. Baldrick approves.
    1
  19831.  @anthonymitchell8893  The Americans say that there's a sucker born every minute. In your case, it's a Chamberlain.
    1
  19832.  @inquisitor4635  In Australia, fraudulent use of a telecommunications network and in the UK, breaching bail conditions. You could've easily found out yourself.
    1
  19833. I think Elon trumped Trump with his N*zi salute.
    1
  19834. When you say "55 yr", are you counting in Gen. Oligui Nguema? Does a palace coup count as a regime change? I think not.
    1
  19835. I don't see many Dutchmen turn ultra-nationalistic, but I suppose you're the exception that proves the rule.
    1
  19836.  @77esto  *Russians haven't even managed to scratch a M1 Abrams.
    1
  19837. It's called return on investment. It's how global markets work.
    1
  19838.  @appletree6741  True, but the Israelis are very willing henchmen.
    1
  19839.  @toto-yf8tc  Don't spread misinformation. No one said so, because everyone knows economic sanctions take time to bite. Russia is in a long, ever-darkening tunnel. And there's no light at the end. Only pitch-black darkness.
    1
  19840. As a EU citizen, I hope the EU steers clear of becoming a super power. I don't take it as a compliment.
    1
  19841.  @ettoreatalan8303  There's just the one superpower, the USA. Russia is a wannabe/hasbeen superpower, China has aspirations to become one, but both are regional powers all the same. So, how does the EU's supposed submissiveness and blackmail manifest itself? Give us a few concrete examples. However, I do consider the EU a moral superpower. It's not propping up countries that ride roughshod over human rights in exchange for geopolitical favours, nor is it engaging in military adventurism that always tends to end in tears. As a supranational union, its decision-making process is laborious, but for a good reason. Warts and all, the EU sets an example for the whole world.
    1
  19842.  @captain__castle3177  "The Marshall plan rebuilt the entire continent"? Oh, we can pride ourselves with making do without the Marshall plan and repaying all debts, too. The 20th century has a real success story for us, the disaster of WW2 notwithstanding. The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire, they say.
    1
  19843.  @captain__castle3177  I'm not every European. Earlier, Europe was just a continent. Unlike you, we never had any colonies. And we stayed out of WW1. In the 20th century, we went from a backwards country to a top one. And I believe the Spanish flu was American in origin.
    1
  19844. Yup, but he's still a convicted felon. A first for a US president.
    1
  19845. It's said that Russia's master chess players have left the country. They thought ahead and saw the catastrophe that's befalling Russia.
    1
  19846. Messrs Starstreak and Stinger disagree.
    1
  19847. Chances are the bumbling idiots will lose Snake Island, too. Lost in stormy weather, the Russian Ministry of Defence will claim.
    1
  19848. Which part of Russia being in the UNSC with veto rights don't you understand?
    1
  19849. Turkey seems to have it both ways.
    1
  19850. If not, the Orcs won't go lonely at Finland's eastern border. There are hundreds of thousands of their compatriots there -- six feet under.
    1
  19851. Israel did finally comply with the resolution that called for a withdrawal from Lebanon. And now they're back.
    1
  19852. De Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden had wel een stadhouder. De functie was hereditair. Eén pot nat dus.
    1
  19853. Nothing prevents your country from staging a referendum. Go for it, don't always look to the EU for solutions.
    1
  19854.  @FlechAFlech  I have a degree in history. More often than not, Russia has been the aggressor rather than the victim. In varying degrees, the same applies to all great powers of yore. The difference is that Russians still insist they're administering some kind of divine justice when they're in the aggressor's role. Everyone else has atoned for their past crimes. Russia doesn't see the need.
    1
  19855. Your supposed math skills are irrelevant her. THAAD won't be used against drones.
    1
  19856. +Stuart Rogers "13 possible UK terrorist attacks", eh? After Brexit has been implemented, thwarting possible UK terrorist attacks is your responsibility and yours alone.
    1
  19857. It's funny how you Yanks want imprison your politicians. Which part of America are you in, North or South?
    1
  19858. You could go and scrape them off from the interior. You'll have a hard time telling human ashes apart from ammunition residue, however.
    1
  19859.  @arandomguy842  How does a military alliance keep colonies? You must've missed that particularly on trade, there's a deepening transatlantic rift between NATO members. Politically, too, there's plenty of upheaval. That being the case, who in NATO calls the shots in Bosnia and Herzegovina, or exploits it economically, like colonial masters do? Try to explain yourself. We're holding our breaths.
    1
  19860.  @arandomguy842  Was I replying to you? You must be a YouTube n00b.
    1
  19861.  @felipe-vibor  Duh, why would I -- or anyone else for that matter -- care about an unsubstantiated opinion held by a nobody on YouTube?
    1
  19862.  @felipe-vibor  Yeah, because your sort seems clueless that your mere opinions don't carry much weight. Now you know.
    1
  19863. But they were supposed to have a genocide case against Ukraine as well? This doesn't bode well for Russia.
    1
  19864. Napoleon is considered one of the greatest military minds in the history of warfare. I think you're being too kind to Macron, who managed to avoid serving in the military.
    1
  19865. You enjoy Schadenfreude then?
    1
  19866. Good. Cheaper tickets for us who're not scaredy-cats.
    1
  19867. It's a good thing you don't have access to the nuclear football.
    1
  19868. HTS is designated a terrorist organisation by the EU as well, which, if you don't know it, includes Germany. In their defence, HTS inherited the designation from its past affiliation with al-Qaeda. If HTS keeps on the straight and narrow, it'll be struck off the terrorists list in a not too distant future.
    1
  19869. I've never heard that said, not even in jest.
    1
  19870.  @gregorydesleskine3413  I'm dying to know how ignoring a UNSC veto would work without sidelining the UN altogether.
    1
  19871.  @gregorydesleskine3413  Something is wrong with the UN. However, how to fix it is the big question. We don't want the UN go down the same road as the League of Nations, which was defunct long before it was declared such.
    1
  19872.  @andreikisel8846  The tourist visa ban is just one way in a whole gamut of ways to make Russians see the error of their ways. Yes, we do know better because we have been around. Travelling expands one's horizons.
    1
  19873. Duh.
    1
  19874. We know where you're getting your instructions from, "Kevin".
    1
  19875. Ik vrees dat je de Biden-ziekte te pakken hebt. Hoewel, in Nederland zien slachtoffers overal Rutte i.p.v. Biden, maar de symptomen zijn voor de rest dezelfde. In Amerika zijn het de Republiekeinen die er last van hebben, maar de Nederlandse variant teistert vooral PVV'ers.
    1
  19876. The USSR bankrupted itself, economically and morally. After the ignominious Soviet-Afghan War, the Soviet republics saw the USSR for what it was and broke away. Now the same is happening to the Russian Federation owing to the disastrous war in Ukraine and the unavoidable economic collapse. It's as if Putin punched the self-destruct button in a moment of sheer insanity. Don't blame us, we're just enjoying our popcorn.
    1
  19877.  @alpinecenter  How would your precious Biden "veto" Poland's delivery of MiG-29s to Ukraine? They don't originate from the US, so there are no licensing issues, and vice versa, the US doesn't seek approval from its NATO partners either when it delivers weapons to whomever. You sound like a conspiracy theorist.
    1
  19878.  @artursobkow2680  Canada's nuclear arsenal, is it a big one?
    1
  19879.  @artursobkow2680  I understand perfectly that Canada has no nukes. Nada, nothing, zilch.
    1
  19880. Russia, too -- in the guise of the Soviet Union -- has failed in the winter. The Winter War springs to mind.
    1
  19881. October 31 is the correct date for Juncker stepping down, but as for the UK leaving, no, that would be asking too much. We'll see at least one more extension -- that's my guess.
    1
  19882.  @jhorvath700  I do, but you clearly don't.
    1
  19883.  @jhorvath700  Girlish? Let me guess, you don't associate much with girls or the female gender in general.
    1
  19884. Russia's defence pact with Armenia didn't work out so well. Kim should take notice.
    1
  19885.  @ibrahimtouman2279  Not so. Article 4 of the CSTO obliged Russia to jump to Armenia's aid, but Russia couldn't be bothered. Now Armenia is saying its goodbyes to CSTO.
    1
  19886. Why don't you leave for a country where ethnic diversity is frowned upon? The UK is a lost cause in that respect, but there are still countries, for example in Eastern Europe, where you can find a like-minded majority. And you get homophobia thrown into the bargain.
    1
  19887.  @janestones323  Doesn't it suck that the Ukrainians have a mind of their own? It's so inconvenient, this right to self-determination. What is a dictator like Putin to do? Invade, of course!
    1
  19888. Where you do you think these drones come from? La-la land?
    1
  19889. Trump can't unite his own party, let alone America.
    1
  19890.  @whyuhatan  Yeah, but saner minds, like Khrushchev and after him, Yeltsin, lamented ever starting the war. It is said that the USSR gained enough ground to bury its dead.
    1
  19891.  @node33  I'm intimately familiar with the Winter War. My grandfather fought in it, and I have degrees in history and political and military sciences. Care to explain what I got wrong?
    1
  19892.  @node33  Your reading comprehension problem is acting up once more. The Battle of Tolvajärvi was decisively won by the Finns. So was the Battle of Raate Road --verrry decisively. 1945? The Winter War lasted from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940. You clearly don't know your wars. Yet you tell me I don't know anything. You go off on all manner of tangents, none of which have anything to do with the matter at hand. You seem to need an audience for your incoherent TLDR ramblings. Look elsewhere.
    1
  19893. ​ @AAA-sx5ej  He should be more concerned about his personal assets in Russia. Prigozhin forgot that Putin's oligarchs are walking piggy banks to the man.
    1
  19894.  @pbloemer  Klopt, ongeveer de helft van de defensiebegroting van de VS komt niet ten goede van de NAVO. De VS heeft heel veel militaire basissen, die niet onder de NAVO komen. In zekere mate geldt dat ook voor Frankrijk en het VK. De Falklandeilanden zijn een goed voorbeeld. Ze liggen ten zuiden van de Kreeftskeerkring, waar de NAVO per definitie geen bevoegdheid heeft. De Britten hebben er een serieuze basis om een nieuwe oorlog te voorkomen. Dat is niet bepaald goedkoop.
    1
  19895. Trump is sure to exact his verbal revenge on Macron, but only after the French president has left for Paree.
    1
  19896.  @user-Kova15  Aren't you quite the anachronism. You're using 18th-century definitions, as if they're still fresh and exciting. I happen to live in a republic and a top democracy. You couldn't claim the same, even if you updated your definitions.
    1
  19897. What is "Filisophie"? First I've heard about it.
    1
  19898.  @anuragsinha2013  I'm francophone.
    1
  19899. That does not compute.
    1
  19900.  @paparatzz7531  Are you geographically challenged? Of course there's a continent called Europe.
    1
  19901. I have it from a good source that Duda and Morawiecki are blood-drinking, shape-shifting Reptilians. There.
    1
  19902. Trump is looking for accomplices in ethnic cleansing.
    1
  19903.  @darkmatter5424  Speaking of basic economics, the huge budget deficit of the US isn't much harming their economy, is it? You Putin trolls are beating a dead horse, over and over again, by bringing it up at every juncture.
    1
  19904.  @filinled  I've heard this story recounted for 40 years or so. Still beating a dead horse.
    1
  19905.  @filinled  That's an unrelated problem. There are many countries with relatively high public debt yet affordable housing. Who said I was believer in the American Dream? It's not my dream to begin with.
    1
  19906. No, you got a sack of potatoes in payment.
    1
  19907.  @sositehui6483  Try again, now in English.
    1
  19908.  @sositehui6483  That much is clear, but why are you here?
    1
  19909.  @timonsolus  Come on, the Commonwealth is a sports and culture club, and a fractitious one at that. I used to know a former British diplomat who had worked as a Commonwealth rep for years. He lamented that no good deed would go unpunished if it was proposed by the UK. India and Pakistan were the worst, according to him.
    1
  19910. Now bring back the elks (that's moose for the ill-informed Yanks).
    1
  19911.  Jason Crosby  No, what you think is a moose is actually an elk. You got confused because the first English settlers, who'd never seen an elk (on the British Isles, elks had been hunted to extinction in the Bronze Age), mistook wapitis for elks. Then you had to find another name for the real thing: moose. However, the clue is in the Latin name, Alces alces. If moose were correct, it would be Moses moses or some such. BTW, we are a republic, but yes, like the Brits, we have our own variety of black pudding. We enjoy blood pancakes, too. I've even made some from elk blood (moose blood for the ill-informed).
    1
  19912.  @User-m3m8q  The Finns are a different breed than the Germans. Would you believe a great many of the Germans troops stationed in the High North in WW2 didn't know how to ski?
    1
  19913. Rather, it's an automatic grenade launcher. The Soviet copied theirs from the US Mk 19. AGLs are seeing active use all over the world.
    1
  19914.  @DBTHEPLUG  So, you decided to throw a few well-worn clichés at me.
    1
  19915.  @DBTHEPLUG  I don't converse with conspiracy theorists.
    1
  19916. And be saddled with a wonky leg? No thanks. The Brits need alone-time.
    1
  19917. Right, he should lower the average age of his team rather than raise it further.
    1
  19918. It's a cakewalk for foreign countries to manipulate Lebanon and its messy politics. Syria, Israel and Iran have all been at it. It's just the nature of the beast.
    1
  19919. The far right can't suppress its authoritarian instincts.
    1
  19920.  @gsalad2525  Buying off an extortioner is not exactly a recipe for success.
    1
  19921.  @Theotikteenleo  Oei, je hebt vast een aandacht- en concentratiestoornis. Er zijn goede medicijnen voor ADHD/ADD, maar het kan natuurlijk ook aan iets anders liggen. Depressie bijvoorbeeld.
    1
  19922.  @Theotikteenleo  Nee, ik slik niks. Je gaf toch zelf toe dat je concentratieproblemen had? Niet projecteren, hè.
    1
  19923.  @Theotikteenleo  "je hoeft het nieuws 1sec aan te zetten of je wordt al afgeleid met allerlei onzin" Nu vrees ik ook dat je geheugenproblemen hebt.
    1
  19924.  @Theotikteenleo  Ik ga af op wat ik constateer. Je bevestigt een tweede maal dat je inderdaad heel snel bent afgeleid. Je moet eens minder surfen en meer de krant beetpakken.
    1
  19925.  @Theotikteenleo  Mijn constateringsvermogen is inderdaad beperkt door jouw uitdrukkingsvermogen. Leuk bedacht, dat uitbesteden, maar zoveel waarde hecht ik niet aan jouw diagnose.
    1
  19926.  @Theotikteenleo  Jij mij diagnosticeren? Ik daarentegen heb veel materiaal, maar jij hebt niks.
    1
  19927.  @Theotikteenleo  O, je vertoont ook nog eens ongewenst seksueel gedrag. Er is flink wat mis met jou.
    1
  19928. You should approach Putin. He can stop this overnight. No more missiles striking targets inside Russia.
    1
  19929.  @JohnHaroldFinnegan  ...because you don't list them. You managed a non-argument, not once but twice. You seem to think that your opinions carry weight without even a hint of argumentation.
    1
  19930. The only hypocrisy I see here is Putin presenting himself as a peacemaker. He's a warmonger of the first order.
    1
  19931. Under investigation.
    1
  19932.  @olorin4317  Russians are always very quick to congratulate themselves with feats that have no basis in reality. If Russia's claims about its military prowess had been true, the Orcs would've conquored the world five times over without breaking a sweat.
    1
  19933. So Israel's UNRWA con didn't fly.
    1
  19934.  @johnwinter2252  You seems unsure about your sexuality. Come out or don't, but leave me out of it.
    1
  19935. So, out of spite, Russia's unrealistic demands became even more unrealistic. Boo-hoo.
    1
  19936. You could repeat the same to the Taliban.
    1
  19937.  @mrchips.9245  I'm obviously referring to the Afghans, wise guy.
    1
  19938. The French aren't really accustomed to infestations of this kind. In New York, Rentokil would've sprayed the bugs to oblivion already.
    1
  19939. NATO never fought in Iraq, dum-dum. Why do you trolls always get it wrong?
    1
  19940.  @Blastsniper  You're spouting nonsense. That may have applied to Afghanistan, but defo not Iraq. Stop skipping school.
    1
  19941. When a rabid dog attacks a child, you blame the child?
    1
  19942. Liberals in Europe are your Libertarians. You're not in Kansas anymore.
    1
  19943.  @razorrabbit2789  It looks even better in camelCase: genoZide.
    1
  19944. It should sadden you that the UK is the victim in the eyes of the Brexiteers. Of course, they need enemies, too. And a constant source of conspiracy theories.
    1
  19945. @Harshit Kapoor Don't you get bored of predicting that and your prediction never coming true?
    1
  19946. @Harshit Kapoor So how many times has this prediction come true? You're so full of yourself.
    1
  19947. @Harshit Kapoor So how many times has the EU fallen after you predicted it would? Don't back-pedal ;-)
    1
  19948. @Harshit Kapoor Now you're contradicting yourself.
    1
  19949. @Harshit Kapoor There's no vaccine failure -- certainly nothing to the extent of endangering the continued existence of the EU. You are, as we say, making a thunderclap out of a fart. The far-right populists are sounding increasingly hollow. They can't even organise themselves, let alone a country. They can only thrive in the opposition, as a lightning rod for the disaffected.
    1
  19950. @Harshit Kapoor Nonsense, EU countries are among the biggest contributors to the WHO's COVAX programme. China, Russia and India are making token contributions. Please elaborate on these alleged human rights violations. Facts, please -- your murky predictions are worthless.
    1
  19951. @Harshit Kapoor Nope. It's India, Russia and Chin making a hullabaloo about their vaccine diplomacy. Despite being far more significant, COVAX doesn't receive the same publicity, because there's no reciprocal back-scratching involved. So you failed to provide details of European human rights violations. Don't even consider a legal career -- you'll be laughed out of court. Divining, perhaps?
    1
  19952. @Harshit Kapoor Was it a crystal ball or tea leaves that told you so?
    1
  19953. The denial is strong with you.
    1
  19954. In other words, will he retake the Malvinas?
    1
  19955.  @Johnstone72  You understand correctly. I'm sure the Argies talk about the Malvinas War, however. I also remember how the boys and girls on our street sang: "We are going to the Malvinas to kill a few Argentinas". My parents, both war orphans, were shocked.
    1
  19956. Ukraine isn't in NATO yet. The rules of war have nothing bad to say about a strike against a legit military target.
    1
  19957.  @760HorsePower  You do waste a S-400 missile on whatever is about to destroy a critical ammunition dump or some such -- or the S-400 itself. When the ATACMS starts to make its presence felt, this will be doubly true, only the ATACMS is harder still to intercept. While a quasi-ballistic missile like the ATACMS is perhaps better intercepted with a Pantsir, even the latter will struggle with it, and limited range is another issue plaguing the Pantsir. Game-changing weapons change the game, they don't end it. It's only natural that Russia takes counter-measures, like pulling its most valuable naval assets away from Crimea, after Ukraine started sending Storm Shadows their way. Bit by bit, GAME OVER becomes stark reality for Russia.
    1
  19958.  @Western_Decline  Seething? We're watching Russia being reduced to a colony of China's. History in the making. We're spellbound.
    1
  19959.  @esbenm6544  Stalin had so many people executed for so many reasons that it's hard to establish a pattern. We can safely say that if you had a head on your shoulders, Stalin considered you eligible for execution.
    1
  19960. That's how the Russians will live, without the gas income. À propos, before Putin got mad jealous about Ukraine and made the fateful mistake of invading it, the EU countries relied on Russian gas for only 40% of their needs. The Germans will take cold showers and dress warmer, but they won't go hungry, like the Russians.
    1
  19961. Can't Armenia ask the Eurasian Economic Union, i.e. Russia for help? Armenia is a proud(?) member.
    1
  19962.  @IloveCamels335  The Nordic countries have all passed the half-way point in leveraging renewable energy. Then there's non-fossil nuclear energy. I think you're in denial.
    1
  19963.  @IloveCamels335  I'm using the Nordic countries as an example of what is possible. I made no reference to Germany in this respect. Germany's energy policy has proven an abject failure, as has its Wandel durch Handel policy towards Russia as a whole. Their asinine stance towards nuclear energy tops it all off. Solar isn't helping the Nordic countries much as sunlight is not plentiful at higher latitudes. Wind energy is very viable, and so is hydropower. The point here is that overreliance on one form of renewable energy is madness, the only possible exception being Iceland, which has geothermal energy in abundance.
    1
  19964.  @timothykatende8484  Try to get it through your thick skull that NATO hasn't entered the fray yet.
    1
  19965.  @m.h.b.3828  Had Fokker been sold to Canada's Bombardier under more attractive conditions in 1996, Fokker would now live on as Airbus.
    1
  19966.  @KTO_HUBLOT Perhaps the OP is not a Russian oligarch who bit the hand that fed him.
    1
  19967.  @davidnoelfranks1124  Sure, why not? Go ahead.
    1
  19968. Be that as it may, I bet these "reservists" are packing a white flag.
    1
  19969.  @uchennaabosi7651  Funny that. The UN has one of its longest-running peacekeeping missions in the region, UNIFIL, which has lasted for 45 years. 47 countries contribute 10,000 or so UN peacekeepers. Which some optimism, UNIFIL can be called a meagre success as in preventing worse. At best, it can keep Israel out of Lebanon, but it can't prevent cross-border aggression. Admittedly, while UNIFIL is in Lebanon, the other adversary beside Israel, Hezbollah, is very similar to Hamas both in tactics, affiliation, and hatred for Israel. In your idealistic 'New Palestine', UN peacekeepers would face an impossible task keeping the peace. Two states, not one state.
    1
  19970.  @jarednovel  Ukraine is doing very well with its made-in-Ukraine Stugna-P ATGM. The type is giving the Javelin a run for its money. The Ukrainian Neptune cruise missile can't be half bad either if it can sink the Moskva, a cruiser that's supposed to be out its league. BTW, the Taliban were very quick to re-equip with Western personal weapons when the ANA kindly made them available. The Afghans, poor as they may be, have an eye for quality.
    1
  19971. I wonder. NATO's European members have received the most Syrian refugees, after Turkey. It remains to be seen when -- or if -- they can return. There may even be another wave of refugees, if the civil war continues.
    1
  19972. You're literally engaging in whataboutism.
    1
  19973.  Baron Bones  Dutch ancestry?
    1
  19974.  @navajyotichetia3211  *Morale. You're jumping to conclusions. That was then. Gorbachev had just started his reforms and there was a lot of opposition to NATO deploying more nukes in the Netherlands. Conscription, too, was losing its relevance. I've since trained regular Dutch Marines for the military world championship. They're highly motivated and they're allowed to put their brains to use, which is rare in the military.
    1
  19975. Time for age limits for the presidency.
    1
  19976. The UK should've taken her British passport away. Well, I suppose she qualifies for political asylum now.
    1
  19977. There's Putin's Eurasian Union, too. As a Eurasian country, Turkey belongs there, right?
    1
  19978. Brextremist much?
    1
  19979.  @vasilimacharadze139  The Russian Empire and the Soviet Union fell apart. There's still enough separatism bubbling under the surface for the Russian Federation to endure the same fate.
    1
  19980.  @sergeyb8  Sssh, Russia needs to pretend that NATO is involved in the fighting in Ukraine, to cling to its last vestiges of self-esteem.
    1
  19981.  @almazkharrasov  In this context it means you have an exporter in a first country, an importer in a second country, but the goods go through a third country to obfuscate their real destination. I don't mind you calling the sanctions-busters third world countries. They will be if they persist.
    1
  19982. For your info, the Anglo-Saxons ceased to exist as an entity in the 11th century, when "our" William the Conqueror literally conquered England. His victorious troops, whose leaders subsequently lorded over England, were Norman, French, Flemish and Breton. Keep up with the news.
    1
  19983. There has been the odd challenge, but to put things into perspective, co-operation with Russia is practically impossible.
    1
  19984. It's attention that Putin needs. He was getting none, so he went on a bullying spree. Negative attention is attention all the same.
    1
  19985.  @Rust-g7y  How, yes; at whose behest, not quite that clear --- till the FSB fesses up.
    1
  19986. Did the Taliban have a huge arsenal of anti-ship missiles and did they put them to good effect? And which body of water are we talking about?
    1
  19987. What, are you planning to assassinate him? Do a Putin on him?
    1
  19988. Sadly, those "others at his age" don't include Trump, who's had his share of senior moments, too.
    1
  19989. Services are uncharted territory as far as the current deal is concerned. If the EU is taking a tough stance on those, the UK is in a very dark place.
    1
  19990.  @maymayman0  Also, "mooses" don't exist in Europe. They miraculously transmogrify into elks, as the animals should be called.
    1
  19991.  @Toxick122  That's the Brits for you. Still thinking the world revolves around them.
    1
  19992. Zelenskyy makes jokes, Putin is one.
    1
  19993. I wouldn't go that far, but it's telling that ordinary Russians are now laying flowers at monuments to Stalin's victims.
    1
  19994.  @corporatekhanna  By invading Ukraine, Russia alienated its biggest trade partner, the EU. If anything, that defied logic. Don't try to apply logic to Putin's Russia.
    1
  19995.  @corporatekhanna  Don't harbour any illusions. Russia can't flog "all [of its] oil and gas" to Asian countries. It doesn't have the capacity, especially when gas is concerned. Without Western technology, Russia can't build the much-hyped new pipelines either. I suppose you haven't noticed the price difference between Brent crude and Ural crude? Considering that Russia's production cost is among the highest in the world, Russia's oil is bargain-basement stuff, with profit margins to boot. Let's face it, Putin is squandering Russia's public wealth like there's no tomorrow, and all because he fancied an empire. You're asking what Russia was buying from the EU? Pretty much everything. We have highly diversified export-driven economies. Russia does not. It's pretty much a one-trick pony, and it's now barred from performing in the West. Reserve your pity for Russia -- the Russians truly deserve it.
    1
  19996.  @corporatekhanna  "In 2020, the EU was Russia's first trade partner, accounting for 37.3% of the country's total trade in goods with the world. 36.5% of Russia's imports came from the EU and 37.9% of its exports went to the EU." This was a copy-paste job from the website of the European Commission. Of course China and India have increased their energy imports from Russia. By going to war in Europe, Russia alienated its biggest customer. Out of sheer necessity, bargains are to be had at Russiamart for less-discerning customers. Cheap prices, low margins. Reread my previous comments, if you must. Uh, why would I care about no trade happening in USD? And FYI, the rouble is no longer a freely exchangeable currency. Russians who venture abroad are painfully aware of the fact.
    1
  19997. Do you think the current centre-right government is greatly troubled by socialist Palme spinning six feet under?
    1
  19998. The ordinary Norks need to know who their crown princess next supreme leader is.
    1
  19999. He's had a good run, except in democratizing China. However, Xi's recent clamp-down on big tech doesn't bode well for the economy. If I were a gifted tech entrepreneur in China, I'd start looking for a way out. Domestic investors, big and small, must be distressed as well as their investments plummet in value.
    1
  20000.  @noahway13  Didn't I allude to that?
    1
  20001.  @noahway13  Give yourself a pat on the back for unmatched outspokenness.
    1
  20002.  @noahway13  Your illogical comment suggests that you understand very little.
    1
  20003.  @noahway13  More nonsense. You agreed with me, right? You practically parroted what I said.
    1
  20004. ​@ De problemen bij defensie zijn veel ouder dan de kabinetten-Rutte. Trouwens, NAVO-leden mogen zelf beslissen wat ze aan defensie uitgeven. Polen, bijvoorbeeld, heeft niet op orders van Rutte gewacht om hun defensie flink bij te spijkeren. Ze zijn er al rond de eeuwwisseling mee begonnen toen het grote uitverkoop was bij de oudere NAVO-landen, inclusief Nederland. Finland heeft voor een prikkie de resterende Leo2-tanks van Nederland overgenomen. Nu moeten we met groot geld iets nieuwere modellen kopen. Zeur daar maar eens over.
    1
  20005.  @haydar378  Syria needs foreign investment to get its economy back on track. America and Europe are economic powerhouses -- too big to ignore. If you want to fuss about undue foreign influence, focus on Turkey.
    1
  20006. The West is unified. Cope harder.
    1
  20007. Darlene, no international laws were broken. Nor is Canada a stranger to expelling foreign diplomats. The last time a Russian was involved Ottawa didn't even bother to reveal the reason. How do you like them apples?
    1
  20008.  @LightHD8792  It is about the F-16s and it's about Erdogan wanting to portray himself as a strongman in the eyes of the less developed Turks, who think they need a strongman for a leader, despite Erdogan's appalling economic record. Anyhoo, the election is over and done with, so Erdogan can let sense prevail. Let's get ready for the next quarrel that Erdogan is whipping up.
    1
  20009.  @throughput6674  Trolled hard? We're laughing hard at Prigozhin and Putin. The popcorn is giving us indigestion -- tell them to ease off already!
    1
  20010.  @FlecheNoire07  Yeah, Putin just offed Priggie. Gotta pop to the shop for popcorn.
    1
  20011. Maybe not German cars, but German tanks. The demand is there.
    1
  20012. It must be birds then.
    1
  20013.  @denisgorjunov  Don't you ever get tired of your silly deflections? It's not like anyone believes you, yourselves included.
    1
  20014. Legality depends on whose laws apply. Assad forfeited his legal basis a long time ago.
    1
  20015.  @happymelon7129  The EU literally has nothing against Assange. Sweden did, but stopped its investigation into rape allegations for a second time in 2019. Inform yourself better.
    1
  20016. Well, you thought wrong. Europe is.
    1
  20017. They should've invested in the CDC instead of the Space Force.
    1
  20018. Most non-sensical comment, congrats.
    1
  20019. That does not follow.
    1
  20020. Be that as it may, the UK is a shadow of its former self. Delusions of grandeur aren't helpful.
    1
  20021. I would be better still if they made amends. Remorse alone doesn't help the Palestinians.
    1
  20022.  @aj3314  You're making it up as you go along. If you were correct, you'd think the US would've pressured Finland to join before the Finns put in their application. There's no indication of such pressure ever been applied on Finland. If anything, the Finnish populace pressed its politicians to act. Erdogan didn't need both Sweden and Finland to blackmail the US. Sweden sufficed. Sweden has very valuable military assests in its navy and air force, more so than Finland. They're just as important to NATO as Finland's superior ground forces.
    1
  20023.  @aj3314  The decision is made by all 31 member states of NATO. How can you not know that?
    1
  20024.  @KiraNt4  More likely, the terrorists were spooked by the US warning, laid low for a while but then decided that Russia wasn't stepping up security after all, since Putin himself dismissed the warning as a hoax. The rest is, as they say, history.
    1
  20025. Russia hasn't got time. In another two years, it's facing insolvency.
    1
  20026.  @mmm-mmm  The Australians, who operate the Abrams as well, beg to differ. They use diesel for fuel -- as did the Americans previously. Engine reliability is reportedly unaffected. Ukraine is one of the few countries that designs and produces commercially successful jet engines. In other words, they're not lacking in expertise.
    1
  20027.  @mmm-mmm  Diesel isn't suboptimal. It is said that the US tank force switched form diesel to jet fuel because diesel started to wax up at low temperatures and jet fuel was plentiful. Winter-grade diesel would've done the trick just as well.
    1
  20028. Newsflash. The Anglo Saxons effectively disappeared in the 11th century, after the Norman Conquest. You're a millenium behind.
    1
  20029.  @crdudley  Oh you did.
    1
  20030.  @crdudley  The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
    1
  20031.  @crdudley  The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
    1
  20032.  @crdudley  I'll give you a hint. Notification settings.
    1
  20033. Turkey makes a poor mediator in more ways than one. Turkey is or was waging proxy wars against Russia in Syria, Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh. To add insult to injury, Turkey is supplying state-of-the-art drones and drone technology to Ukraine -- drones that have already have driven Russia's Libyan allies -- and Russia's Wagner Group mercenaries there -- to desperation. Not only that, in 2020 Azerbaidjan won back the Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenia thanks to the very same drones.
    1
  20034. Uh, to build itself up, a country needs to be competitive in the international marketplace.
    1
  20035. Russia can't properly supply its troops even when it's summer, let alone in the winter. We'll see loads of Russian PoWs being treated for frostbite, to say nothing of those who'll simply freeze to death.
    1
  20036.  @MNSaid27  Argumentation isn't your forte, eh? Russia recently fired its top logistics general in a rare admission of failure. Also, you must've missed that the newly mobilised reservists are forced to buy their own body armour. They are issued assault rifles, but vintage AK-47s, which complicates supply issues even further because of dissimilar ammunition. I could go on about the tampons that the troops are expected to plug bullet wounds with, but I think you get the picture.
    1
  20037.  @fingerprint8479  "Evidences [sic]", no, I haven't got any, since that's not proper English, but I might get proofs for you, from an old-fashioned printer's. Now that's an accepted English term. I can't help noticing that you switched from puerile emojis to a string of hahas. It's an improvement, I suppose, but there's still an element of puerility to them.
    1
  20038. It's blessing, isn't it, that we have emoticons for the semi-literates.
    1
  20039.  @ajmarr5671  What would be the point anyway? The State Duma is a rubber stamp. If Putin decides that water is no longer wet and the sky is now down, these supposed representatives of the people will vote in favour without giving it a second thought.
    1
  20040. If BRICS drops the R, the problem is solved.
    1
  20041.  @Wingedmagician  "Just a military operation", you say? It's first and foremost a political disaster for Putin, who's been caught with his pants around his ankles for all the world to see. I'm sure Putin will exact his revenge on the army brass. Not only did Gerasimov fail to act on prior intelligence, but also, he didn't dare inform Putin right away when the predictions came true. I bet the poor sap is busy writing his last will and testament.
    1
  20042. And you personal opinion matters because... you are the master of the universe?
    1
  20043.  @Nathan-ry3yu  Servicing the Abrams' gas turbine would be a cinch for Ukraine's Motor Sich. They cater to an international market, especially in marine gas turbines.
    1
  20044.  @catalinxnecula  The Motor Sich facilities were evacuated prior to the strikes.
    1
  20045.  @catalinxnecula  Huh? This is about servicing Abrams gas turbine engines. Ukraine has the expertise. Did you think this was about manufacturing engines for the Abrams?
    1
  20046. Election denial is sooo Trumpesque.
    1
  20047. *kept. Tasteless.
    1
  20048. You like to revel in victimhood, don't you?
    1
  20049. The Chinese are really regretting that there's no way to recall these balloons. Or maybe they'll autodestruct the rest before they reach land.
    1
  20050. That's not the prevailing attitude of the international community. In fact, Israel only has one backer for its interpretation, the USA, and only because Trump put US obsequiousness towards Israel into overdrive.
    1
  20051. Don't overdose on copium. It leads to hallucinations, like what we just witnessed here.
    1
  20052. ​@ Don't you worry your pretty little head on our account. Our economy is ten times bigger than Russia's, and it's highly diversified, too. We've been weathering the storm (in a teacup) just fine.
    1
  20053. Will those Dessert Arabs get their just desserts for fleeing the battlefield? Baklava, I suppose?
    1
  20054. Iran's Islamists are pragmatic. They have Hamas on their payroll. Sunnis, they are.
    1
  20055.  @avasd59  Not quite. Holland has never been the official name for the country as a whole. Holland is a former province of the Netherlands, nowadays split into the provinces of North and South Holland.
    1
  20056.  @avasd59  So you went out on a limb, it broke and you fell on your bek.
    1
  20057.  @DarkSkay  If Assange wants to fight the UK High Court decision to extradite him, a decision that was made in late 2021, the EU has no jurisdiction. The European Court of Human Rights does.
    1
  20058.  @DarkSkay  Brexit?
    1
  20059.  @DarkSkay  It remains unclear. Even if the EU were to retain jurisdiction, the UK had an opt-out in place for CFR according to which applicable EU law doesn't supersede UK law.
    1
  20060.  @DarkSkay  You missed the "if Assange wants...".
    1
  20061.  @ryanthompson1981  Well, the onus is on Ukraine to prove its claims. That said, I don't mind in the least if the Ukrainians advance all the way to Vladivostok.
    1
  20062. Still no crater indicative of a Mk 84, Matty.
    1
  20063.  @Mattdr129  It seems like you found one already, since you referred elsewhere to the Human Rights Watch video about the Saudis' Yemeni market bombing. Huge gaping crater. It can't get clearer than that. Can you stop spamming your debunked Mk 84 theory now? You're not doing anyone a favour be spreading falsehoods.
    1
  20064. Unemployed Brits will have to. The Hongkies will take the high-skilled jobs that go unfilled otherwise.
    1
  20065. You've clean forgotten how Wagner struggled to drive off the Ukrainian defenders of Bakhmut. Maybe Prigozhin can liberate China, however?
    1
  20066.  @wenzhongtao  I was thinking Prigozhin's 'Marches for Justice' only work in countries with autocratic regimes. Russia qualifies, so does China.
    1
  20067.  @rcgunner7086  How the Malayan Emergency was handled deserves praise indeed. It's in stark contrast to the Vietnam War.
    1
  20068. You're a slave looking for a master.
    1
  20069. It's been renamed ACW1 in anticipation of ACW2.
    1
  20070. Rather, if no Russia, no problem.
    1
  20071. Putin is crazier still, because he knows he won't survive his presidency.
    1
  20072.  @santiagorappy71  You obviously don't understand such matters, but Carrie Lam lacks a proper popular mandate from the people. As does Xi Jinping. Anything else is of secondary importance.
    1
  20073. Sadly, the EU isn't renegotiating.
    1
  20074.  @patrickpon4791  So, why hasn't Russia blown the world to kingdom come every year, five or six times over? Is this really the first time you hear about military exercises?
    1
  20075. What about you, are you corrupt?
    1
  20076.  @dzokavaac7307  I think you should be president of Whataboutists Anonymous.
    1
  20077. Putin is resigning to his fate as an international pariah.
    1
  20078. The Netherlands doesn't have a chancellor.
    1
  20079.  @TimBeta36  Achteraf gezien was dat de juiste beslissing. Ondertussen zijn de Russische troepen zowat overal teruggedreven. Poetin zou maar al te graag zijn posities consolideren, want meer terreinverlies is gegarandeerd.
    1
  20080. India may need a degree of authoritarianism to keep the vast country in one piece, but Europe doesn't need authoritarianism in any shape or form. Some of us went down that road, and it didn't work out so well.
    1
  20081. Hopefull they concentrate on the culprits instead of raising a new regiment of future Hamas terrorists. Violence begets violence, unrestrained violence even more so.
    1
  20082.  @Dive-Bar-Casanova  Nah, they're busily preparing Milosevic's old cell in The Hague. They repainting it blue and yellow just for Putin.
    1
  20083. Are you forgetting about the Vietnam War? The Iraq War wasn't exactly an endorsement either.
    1
  20084.  @dejanelakovic776  You're a Serb. You're in Putin's where-the-sun-don't-shine.
    1
  20085. How the roles have reversed.
    1
  20086. Face it, Russia's arms exports are becoming but a distant dream. They were in decline even before Russia started fomenting trouble in Ukraine, to say nothing of the actual invasion putting a complete stop to them. High-tech arms need trustworthy suppliers, and Russia isn't one for a variety of reasons. China is poised to take over the low-tech market, too. Arms manufacturers the world over should remember Putin with a gift basket for leaving the international arms market, and for creating almost insatiable demand.
    1
  20087.  @silveriver9  Yup, let's bring in Evergrande.
    1
  20088.  @silveriver9  Yup, plenty of near-bankrupt Chinese property developers to choose from. What's my city infrastructure got to do with the price of tea in China? If you must know, I have no complaints.
    1
  20089.  @BrokenAbyss  Ah, you're a Yank. For a moment, I thought I was dealing with a global citizen, who can see further than his own navel. It's true that democracy in the USA (ranked #25 in the Democracy Index) is in a downward spiral, but that said, Venezuela's democratic credentials (#134) are at a whole different level. But what do seasoned analysts know. Let's take a Youtube warrior at his word.
    1
  20090.  @BrokenAbyss  You're showing tell-tale signs of oh-so typical American navel-gazing by looking at Venezuela as a US geopolitical play rather than a humanitarian crisis of global concern. Who's advocating war? Only your orange baboon in the White House. By suggesting otherwise, you again demonstrate your limited worldview. But not to worry, we automatically lower our expectations when we encounter your sort.
    1
  20091. It seems no one's Iran policy succeeded either.
    1
  20092. Let me guess, your divorce left you bitter at all women.
    1
  20093. China won't do anything. It will just deplore the situation.
    1
  20094.  @ahmedsuleman7334  Iran hides behind its proxies. It can't afford direct confrontation. In other words, nothing will change.
    1
  20095. Emojis are so convenient, aren't they, when you can't string words together to form an intelligible sentence. A real godsent to Krembots, they are.
    1
  20096.  @pedroangelo9367  I wouldn't be too sure of that either. Multinationals often direct profits to offshore subsidiaries, where they're kept till a US president declares a repatriation tax holiday, which amount to a uge tax break for them. Yup, Trump is their man.
    1
  20097.  @wangdangdoodie  Traitors or not, it's still your doing. Any chance of seeing spiked heads on London Bridge again?
    1
  20098.  @josephahner3031  Apart from Russia, we haven't got any aggressive neighbours. There were scuffles with the Vikings, but we just as eagerly joined them on raids.
    1
  20099.  @josephahner3031  Finland was part of Sweden when Sweden was at its most powerful. We even provided half of Gustavus Adolphus' much-feared light cavalry. Prussia never posed a threat to Finland proper. There were a number of wars that pitted Prussia against Sweden (and involved troops drawn from Finland), but all the fighting took place on German soil.
    1
  20100.  @khongelaningobeni6614  Copy-paste job from Wikipedia.
    1
  20101. Woo-hoo, Orban is such a big prize! It's like Russia landing North Korea for its little axis of evil.
    1
  20102. Right, I think he left in pieces.
    1
  20103.  @Kohen124  Aleichem shalom.
    1
  20104.  @Kohen124  We just said "de mazzel" in Amsterdam.
    1
  20105.  @enriquelaroche5370  You've got it backwards. You should ask yourself if Moscow and Saint Petersburg need to be sacrificed on account of a mad dictator's abortive imperial dreams.
    1
  20106. Borrell isn't sending any. You may confuse Israel with Ukraine, which is receiving weapons from the EU in droves, as it should be.
    1
  20107. Don't have a cow, man.
    1
  20108.  @aleksej6489  Yeah, Putin's puppet Janukovych fled to his pupper master in Russia, after being abandoned by his own party. Anything to add to that?
    1
  20109.  @adwaitnaik4003  Hello, Captain Obvious. Nice of you to report for duty.
    1
  20110.  @drg598  Let's not digress.
    1
  20111.  @corneliusoswald6139  So women are mindless drones in all of this?
    1
  20112. If? And it's both most likely, but one privately and the other publicly.
    1
  20113. It would make more sense to double the height... but I suppose that still wouldn't keep visa overstayers from flying in.
    1
  20114. You're really clutching at straws there, little buddy. Should we call it wet daydreaming?
    1
  20115. I suppose you think Jennifer Hermoso's opinion about the matter has no bearing whatsoever. It's yuckerama, by the way.
    1
  20116.  @lattehour  Assad used barrel bombs. Russia used cluster bombs.
    1
  20117. I guess Russia has no satellites then.
    1
  20118. More like Comical Ali these days. He got laughed at in India, when he absurdly claimed that Ukraine launched a war against Russia. And India is supposed to be on Russia's side.
    1
  20119. This is too painful so you want people to look elsewhere?
    1
  20120. Russians have been fantasizing about nuclear war for years, the sickos.
    1
  20121. As long as we're talking freight, sure.
    1
  20122.  @FTA38yearfreeride  OK, you're reported.
    1
  20123. It's a sad state of affairs if the only other credible contender in the US presidential race is indeed a fascist. The US sorely needs to rethink this unholy duopoly.
    1
  20124. Duh. The US doesn't recognise the ICC. Why do we only have dum-dums for trolls here?
    1
  20125.  @tselmuunmashbat826  You're just showing the world that you're subservient to Russia.
    1
  20126. Why do you think Johnson was propped up to become PM? He's the fall guy for Brexit. It helps, of course, that the man is a narcissist who fashions himself Winston Churchill reincarnated.
    1
  20127.  @RawFestival  My niece's daycare centre bars Snickers bars because they contain a deadly allergen called 'peanut'. What's next, Milky Way bars, because they contain milk and that's a potentially life-threatening allergen as well?
    1
  20128. The bugs appear to be an indigenous species. If they were of the tropical variety, then maybe the EU should spring into action.
    1
  20129.  Graham Murphy  I couldn't disagree more. The Kaliningradians have a strong regional identity and are more likely to break free from Putin's authoritarian regime than their compatriots in Russia proper. It's not lost on them that their Baltic neighbours to the north are far more affluent. The same is true for the Poles, of course. Normal Russian economic austerity compounded by logistical challenges may just tip the scale.
    1
  20130. Can you arrange access to them?
    1
  20131.  @bertnl530  Ukraine will re-emerge stronger, as a member of both the EU and NATO, but Russia will remain a bargain basement for natural resources for BRICS members, because it has no-one else to turn to. That is, if China doesn't turn Russia into a neo-colony, restricting its trade to China only.
    1
  20132.  @happymelon7129  Melonhead needs urgent treatment for his conspiracy theory addiction.
    1
  20133.  @happymelon7129  I repeat, Melonhead needs urgent treatment for his conspiracy theory addiction.
    1
  20134. I don't see an issue. If a spotless heritage is a prerequisite, no one could speak up against racism and slavery.
    1
  20135.  @hermanspaerman3490  The role of the Arabs in the history of slavery is well known, so don't get your hopes up that you'll be awarded honorary doctorates in history for the divulging the truth. If we apply the same logic to you -- that only those whose forefathers have not partaken in slavery in any shape or form are allowed to criticize those who have -- are you sure you're allowed to criticize the Arabs? I suspect you've fallen foul of your own rule.
    1
  20136.  @efrencruz4422  Do "guilt by association" and "collective guilt" mean anything to you? In debate club, you'd be reprimanded for an association fallacy.
    1
  20137.  @efrencruz4422  Try to come to a point yourself. I'm not watching any videos if you can't explain their relevance.
    1
  20138. Again, but now in English, please.
    1
  20139. If so, Russia got exactly what it ordered. The NATO lake is becoming a busy NATO lake.
    1
  20140.  @nectismanta8080  I wonder. Britain has a hard time showing Huawei the door.
    1
  20141.  @ambessaseway5594  You should ask the Malians if matters have improved since Wagner PMC replaced the French troops there. These Russian mercenaries have suffered unprecedented losses at the hands of the Islamists, to say nothing of Malian government troops.
    1
  20142. Let's see if they really do it. Russian weapons programmes have a low survival rate.
    1
  20143.  Mallakian  Russian weapons programmes tend to get endlessly delayed and/or cancelled altogether.
    1
  20144.  @onizuka88088  There's plenty of foreign pressure for Russia to upgrade its armour -- meaning MBTs -- and to produce viable stealth aircraft. So far, it has failed in both.
    1
  20145.  @onizuka88088  Thanks for illustrating my point. Russia is relegated to producing endless upgrades of Soviet-era kit. Why? Because developing countries are in the market for bargain basement stuff, and those are the customers the Russian arms industry can expect to get interested. And without exports, there's no Russian arms industry.
    1
  20146.  @onizuka88088  There's nothing wrong with third world countries being able to defend themselves -- did I suggest otherwise? Russia caters to the low to medium end of the arms market, but in the process, ends up with low to medium end arms itself. So, you're suggesting that Russia is adequately equipped for guerilla warfare. No doubt, but that's not the only game in town.
    1
  20147.  @onizuka88088  One swallow does not a summer make.
    1
  20148. @Bhikari News Bhagwan kye naam par It's time to reform the UN Security Council, but you can bet your bottom dollar that Russia, China and the USA are going to veto that.
    1
  20149. Keep buying Russian oil below cost and you'll keep ruining Russia's economy. And what's wrong with a wealth transfer from Russia to India? It's their money.
    1
  20150. The whataboutism is strong in you.
    1
  20151.  @user-ho7me9dd5y  The US didn't start military activity in Ukraine either. You're clutching at straws to justify Russian military aggression.
    1
  20152.  @zoom777  If being right is being funny in your book, sure, then I'm funny.
    1
  20153. It's refined petroleum products that Germany imports from India, made from crude oil that India buys from various sources -- admittedly, Russia included. In Russia's case, the crude is procured at a discounted price, often so much so that Russia sells it at a loss. I don't think the Germans are in the least bit bothered -- or jealous for that matter -- if a major wealth transfer is taking place from Russia to India. I only hope you put it to good use, on development rather than mere consumption. Of course, you being you, you blame all Europeans for colonial misdeeds, which in Germany's case were wholly unrelated to India. I suggest you finally snap out of your colonial victimhood mindset, or at least apply it appropriately.
    1
  20154. Maybe the Russians can employ them. I hope they pay in CFA francs, not worthless rubles.
    1
  20155. Report for kamikaze training in Ukraine.
    1
  20156. Footage of Russian MLRS falling victim to them suggests otherwise.
    1
  20157. This is under Covax. Per definition, donors don't decide who gets the vaccines.
    1
  20158. Congrats to India, too. Poetic justice.
    1
  20159. Why would "the West" be outraged about Russian fabrications?
    1
  20160.  @greathey1234  The Russian State Duma has 23 neo-Nazis as members. The Ukrainian parliament has none.
    1
  20161.  @NM-vh5im  I've got a better idea. Let's listen to a neutral party, one that systematically monitored the fighting in the Donbas, the OSCE, if they witnessed any of your supposed atrocities in the Donbas. Nothing? And Russia is a full OSCE member? How can that be? Could it be you're spreading falsehoods? In the absence of evidence, it must be.
    1
  20162. Russia blew them up with tanks that launched their turrets sky-high while at it? Makes sense.
    1
  20163. Unlike Putin himself, Putin's oligarchs do understand sanctions. They're Putin's piggy banks, and when he comes to make a withdrawal, he'll finally understand, too.
    1
  20164.  @TheKkpop1  How's that even remotely relevant to the topic at hand? We've had high-speed rail for three decades.
    1
  20165.  @alexejvornoskov6580  In a parliamentary democracy such as ours, decisions that become laws are specifically made in parliament and in parliament only. Nowhere else can our MPs vote on them. Executive decisions are reserved for emergencies, which the president and the state council declare. These emergency powers are restricted to national defence and crisis management. Even so, the parliament can overturn the state of emergency. You must be thinking about a presidential system, where the president can issue decrees or executive orders as he or she sees fit.
    1
  20166. ​ @alexejvornoskov6580  Surprise-surprise, even lowly civil servants are involved in preparing new laws. And subsequently they're still voted on in parliament, as you meekly admit. I suppose you'd like to have parliament discuss at length what you're having for dinner, too?
    1
  20167.  @alexejvornoskov6580  I think you need to raise that issue with @feelin_fine, to whose (very cynical) comment I replied.
    1
  20168. Truth be told, India has a lot of catching up to do, if it picks France as the one to match in observance of human rights. Maybe South Africa would be a more realistic target?
    1
  20169.  @radhika00240  No hate crimes in India, like ever? No discrimination whatsoever based on physical appearance? I distinctly remember a Northern Indian colleague of mine being distraught when her mother was critical about the skin colour of her adoptive son, who's Southern Indian. For your info, South Africa abolished Apartheid some time ago. I brought it up because South Africa is mid-way between India and France with its human rights score. I suppose you trying to match the USA is a more realistic target than France. If you feel ambitious, go for it.
    1
  20170.  @rdallas81  NATO is surrounding Russia (not China), because Russia's neighbours actively seek protection against Russia's aggression, like we're witnessing in Ukraine, and before that, in Georgia. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, in other words. Putin is NATO's best recruiter.
    1
  20171. When did the Muricans invade Iran? There was an abortive attempt by the US military to free their Tehran embassy hostages in 1980, but that was hardly an invasion. I'm very interested in your alternate history.
    1
  20172.  @michaelalexanderpoddig1449  I'm sure the Ukrainians have the presence of mind to bypass cities, if at all possible, when advancing. Urban centres are easier to defend than to attack and they tend to get smashed in the process. Bakhmut is a prime example. The Russians don't mind, but they've apparently missed the memo on manoeuvre warfare.
    1
  20173.  @zanza8197  I didn't forget anything. None of the other BRICS members supported Russia at the UN.
    1
  20174. Hardly. Their US-made nuclear weapons are at the disposal of NATO. Only in very special circumstances do the Brits get to decide about their use.
    1
  20175. Be sure to let Pootie-Poot know. He started it all.
    1
  20176.  @anthony64632  Enlist and make it better.
    1
  20177. @Limon Cello There's such a thing as due democratic process. We're not hotheads like you southerners.
    1
  20178.  @louise_rose  What a silly gal you are. You'd like to be invited to parties yourself!
    1
  20179.  @bvanderford  What if NATO were to gather the troops, but word wouldn't reach the US, UK, Canada and Turkey? Would that be an EU army? Or is there a NATO army that is not a superset of this EU army?
    1
  20180.  @radovanmilic  You're so predictable.
    1
  20181.  @TheLooking4sunset  Taking back control implies the Russians people once had control. That's a false premise.
    1
  20182.  @EEE_motion  You don't mind if your crown jewels are being stolen? Then you're a real sap.
    1
  20183. Now go change your knickers.
    1
  20184.  @palar4195  Well, we're dealing with NATO 3.0 now. NATO 1.0 did go out with the Warsaw Pact.
    1
  20185.  @laurejon  Oh, it's abundantly clear that you think you don't want to be a EU member. But all the same, you want to cherry-pick your benefits, and that at a special, only-for-you rate. Perhaps you should visit a London gentlemen's club and ask if you can pick and choose your membership benefits and then bargain for them. I'd love to be a fly on the wall.
    1
  20186.  @Philshki82  You Brexiteers have a short memory. After the referendum, your head honchos claimed that the EU would bend over backwards to offer the UK a deal. There was no talk about a no-deal scenario, just jubilation about how wonderful this deal would be. Since nothing came of it, you changed tack and started claiming that the deal never mattered. Consistency isn't your forte, that much is clear.
    1
  20187.  @laurejon  Dream on. Any sanctions against an individual EU member will trigger counter-sanctions from the whole bloc. That's what trade blocs are for. United we stand, divided we fall -- you'll fall all right. You're being mighty presumptuous to think the Americans will have your back. On the contrary, you'll be collateral damage in Trump's trade wars, just like when Trump slapped huge tariffs on Bombardier's airliners. And who came to the rescue? Europe's Airbus.
    1
  20188.  @laurejon  I see you're totally oblivious of what transpired in the Bombardier dispute.
    1
  20189. They've got to make a (meagre) living, I suppose, if only to save money for a one-way ticket out.
    1
  20190.  @Arvidje  Kom, wees geen dramaqueen. De defensie- en veiligheidssector in Nederland is een relatief kleine sector binnen de Nederlandse economie. Nederland is Rusland niet.
    1
  20191.  @nikosnikos8184  Nothing. Turkey are fussing about fictional PKK terrorists in Sweden and Finland, while in reality they're after F-16s from the US. Turkey's existing F-16s are getting long in the tooth and they want new ones, too.
    1
  20192.  @eastdawn2471  They'll need to be indicted first. Do your worst.
    1
  20193. This is about France, which always steers an independent course. Simple minds seek simple explanations.
    1
  20194. ISW is a US non-profit research group, dum-dum.
    1
  20195. It won't make a difference if said UN army can only be deployed with the consensus of the UNSC. You're not addressing the underlying problem. The two autocratic permanent members of the UNSC shudder at the thought of democracy gaining ground at their expense.
    1
  20196.  @adamtx1131  Wouldn't it be a smashing idea if Putin were to rob the Americans of the opportunity simply by withdrawing from Ukraine? How the 4D chess master hasn't come to this conclusion is a mystery to me.
    1
  20197.  @AndrewBlucher  The lifespan of our planet is finite. Perhaps we should focus on the here and now.
    1
  20198.  @johnnysgaminglab2126  It's a major coup if Ukraine retakes Kherson. Russia is reduced to managing only minor coups.
    1
  20199. Yeah, conventional facts -- as opposed to alternative ones -- are such a bore.
    1
  20200.  @dagmarvandoren9364  In order to appease Putin, why don't you give Putin a piece of your land? You have Lebensraum in abundance, don't you, and that's what Putler is after.
    1
  20201. Sanctions are always a double-edged sword. It's just that one cut is spurting arterial blood, and the other hardly warrants a band-aid.
    1
  20202.  @ilovenathi2082  It's a temporary. Besides, I'm a Euro -- our consumer prices have risen less in relation to the US. Also, our cars are more fuel-efficient, we have much better public transportation and EV adoption is far ahead of that of the US.
    1
  20203.  @jebjeb1498  Come on, Russia lurves to wallow in victimhood like no other.
    1
  20204. You're fighting windmills, vrind.
    1
  20205. The USA is more a catalyst to war than to peace here.
    1
  20206.  @tedbell4416  Aw. Have you thought about moving your business to RT? They're pro-far right.
    1
  20207.  @dimsumden5745  Dum-dum, it's the Russians who're cut off, not us.
    1
  20208.  @dragons_hook  Come on, Putin saw red when Euromaidan happened. He completely lost it, like a cuckolded husband who had taken his wife for granted. It's been downhill ever since.
    1
  20209.  @Zanzan8  Acceptance is good, but consult a mental health professional nonetheless.
    1
  20210. Question: as a Communist Party member for over twenty years, wasn't Putin a filthy leftist himself?
    1
  20211. Who else would NATO prepare to face? The Salvation Army?
    1
  20212. Same here, except in the eighties in my case. A Tamiya kit. The torsion bars worked like in the real thing. It did get caught in the carpet a lot, however.
    1
  20213. There's some ambiguity about Russia's permanent seat on the UNSC. The UN Charter still lists the Soviet Union as a permanent member. In other words, no formal succession was ever agreed upon. It indeed is time to re-evaluate the composition of the UNSC. At any rate, Russia has proven itself unworthy of a permanent seat.
    1
  20214.  @chiztruth21  There's no legal ambiguity with regard to the UNSC and the USA. Furthermore, it can argued that Ukraine is just as entitled to the ex-USSR UNSC seat as Russia.
    1
  20215. Thanks to the EU's agricultural subsidies and the UK's related rebate, the UK has been getting food on the cheap from the EU. If you produce domestically instead, prices will rise or you'll have to be generous with subsidies. The agro industry will benefit either way, but for Joe Bloggs it's lose-lose.
    1
  20216.  @holonow4298  You and the terminator should get a room.
    1
  20217.  @startarot5876  So, little buddy, did Ursula von der Leyen get re-elected or not? Weep, boy, weep.
    1
  20218.  @GoodMan_000  My, aren't you shouty! How come it's a lie? Do you reside inside Putin's head? What I'm implying here is that Putin orders these "opinions" from his MPs, state TV hosts and their guests. We can only speculate what Putin aims to achieve here, whether its to unsettle his enemies, feel mighty powerful about himself or is he just blowing off steam? "Your MPs"? This is the incoherence of yours that I was referring to. These are Putin's stooges, his minions, his pawns.
    1
  20219. That may be the case, but Britain is still the one of Europe's most popular final destinations for migrants, owing to its lax ID laws and huge black economy.
    1
  20220.  @psilocybinsoughtme6164  You didn't get the memo? Firstly, Russia has gone authoritarian once more -- as in the opposite of free -- and secondly, Russia has no one to unite with, apart from four pariah countries.
    1
  20221.  @gaz3602  You conspiracy theorists would just come up with another boogeyman to scare yourselves with. Say, what happened to the NWO, the Reptilians and whatnot?
    1
  20222.  @gaz3602  First answer me, what happened to the NWO and the Reptilians?
    1
  20223.  @gaz3602  What's so different between the NWO and WEF? Looks like rebranding.
    1
  20224.  @t5ruxlee210  It appears your comment hits like pliers on a pig.
    1
  20225. Dan moet je toch echt met Poetin gaan praten. Die kan de oorlog met één bevel beëindigen.
    1
  20226. Why? Isn't it right-wing enough for you?
    1
  20227.  @eddiel7635  Thanks for clarifying the obvious.
    1
  20228. As should you. Bibi is condemning the Middle East to even more conflict, as he's already got plenty of innocent blood on his hands. No wonder he's sought by the ICC as a war criminal.
    1
  20229. It's called a democracy. You may want to try it for size. By the way, Germany considers the Golan Heights to be under Israeli occupation.
    1
  20230.  @garyhiles5564  My 10-year-old has a Parrot drone outfitted with a BB gun.
    1
  20231.  @Borz77464  You'd think basic capitalist principles would've rubbed off on this... mail order bride?
    1
  20232.  @ПериметрПериметр  Again, a Western oil drilling company -- or even a Chinese one -- swoops in and Bob's your uncle. The oil starts flowing and the revenues pour in. Were all you Krembots all born yesterday?
    1
  20233. Why, the previous sanctions didn't work? Russia has been whining about sanctions since 2014, and probably will for decades to come.
    1
  20234. In 1998, a Canadian CF-18 fighter jet, which is fitted with the same Vulcan autocannon, tried to shoot down a wayward weather balloon. The pilot expended more than 1,000 20mm rounds on the balloon, but still failed to bring it down. It flew on, across the Atlantic and all the way to Finland.
    1
  20235. You have opportunism in common.
    1
  20236. Banks tend to record transactions carefully. You'd better not engage in any corrupt practices, because you'd find yourself in the slammer in no time.
    1
  20237. So, Netanyahu is trying to set up his own Praetorian Guard, just like Putin has in his Rosgvardiya.
    1
  20238.  @DominusHydra40k  Newsflash. 191 out of 193 UN members think the Golan Heights belong to Syria.
    1
  20239. Let's not ignore the inconvenient fact that you approved it, explicitly or implicitly.
    1
  20240. A 1939 war, in fact. Likewise, in the Winter War, the Soviets columns kept to the roads and got annihilated by the Finns.
    1
  20241. It is, but only if you break bones, cause a concussion or worse. It's written down in law.
    1
  20242. ​ @humanbeing6933  Always these silly wet dream analogies, where Russia sets up military bases in Mexico, Canada and, now, Ireland. The Mexicans, Canadians and Irish want nothing to do with superpower wannabe/hasbeen Russia. Even if they sympathised with Russia -- which they certainly do not -- they'd be mad to bet on a lame horse.
    1
  20243. Aren't you in the slightest concerned that the Orange Clown will make ill-considered concessions to Putin -- concessions he hasn't run by anyone in his administration, let alone America's allies? Putin wants to divide the world in spheres of influence, much the same as Stalin and Hitler did before WW2, and since geopolitics are Trump's thing, there's a chance the bumbling idiot agrees to anything.
    1
  20244.  @stacksflat7482  What are you on about? The Balts weren't buying Russian energy.
    1
  20245. It should've gone to trial, if only to see if the charges against Assange had any merit. Assange going to great lengths to evade a trial does hint that there was an element of truth to the charges.
    1
  20246. Yup, the UK prevented Russia from making a further travesty of the UNSC. The worst travesty is, of course, that Russia is a permanent member of the UNSC.
    1
  20247. Not for the conspiracy theorists there ain't.
    1
  20248. It's your old nemesis again, geography. Neither Finland nor Sweden has an arctic shoreline. Norway does, but then again they've been in NATO from the very start.
    1
  20249.  @danjohnston9037  You sound incoherent. Let's leave it at that.
    1
  20250.  @RobRoyBoaz  I remember distinctly how the American troops left Lebanon after the deadly Beirut barracks bombings and haven't been seen since. The French, who were struck in the same attacks, stuck around.
    1
  20251. If you love social unrest, you eschew democracy.
    1
  20252.  @fintan9218  Trolls aren't supposed to bite the hand that feeds them.
    1
  20253. The Israelis claim they fired several Arrow long-range interceptor missiles at it and did score a hit, too, but the Arrow failed to destroy the target fully. They apparently missed with the short-range Iron Dome when trying to hit the remnants. There is a possibility that the Houthi missile suffered structural failure as a result of re-entry into the atmosphere -- who knows.
    1
  20254.  @MohamedAmin-zz8wo  What's your major malfunction? This is what the Israelis claim. You're free to post a differing point of view.
    1
  20255.  @amberlynn5273  12 out of 30,000 UNRWA employees are accused of ties with Hamas. That's 12 too many, but you clearly struggle with putting things into perspective.
    1
  20256. Why, Ukraine just made great strides in pushing the Orcs out.
    1
  20257. Dr. Mengele injected chemicals into the eyes of his "patients" in an attempt to change their colour. It's unclear which chemicals he used.
    1
  20258.  @WhatYaL00kingAt  Russia only has the legal right to pack up and leave Ukraine.
    1
  20259. You must be new to democracy.
    1
  20260.  @chill29394  The Rotary Club has a president and they've got chapters all over the world. I'm not in the least bit interested in their democratic credentials. Are you?
    1
  20261.  @BalkanMode  Laxatives would've sorted out the constipation.
    1
  20262.  @KOIFishcat  He's a Nazi troll, so it's a compliment
    1
  20263. Then, no one wanted the fighting in the Donbas to spill over. Then, rational thinking suggested that Putin wouldn't be so irrational as to invade Ukraine. It turned out we had grossly overrestimated Putin's rationality. Live and learn.
    1
  20264. Murican football is not football.
    1
  20265. US help may be worse still.
    1
  20266. Why don't you get your body reassigned to Russia toot sweet?
    1
  20267.  @cm-bp4ow  Do you live under a rock? Birth rates in Europe are such that without immigration -- ideally lawful -- the very survival of our societies is at risk.
    1
  20268.  @user-user-rxtxpxdx  Can I have an English translation?
    1
  20269. Your coping strategy is in overdrive.
    1
  20270. Remind us, did Trump win the popular vote in 2016?
    1
  20271.  @Jamie-uk2zh  The overwhelming majority of the world's sovereign nations thinks otherwise. That's 146 out of 193 that recognise the State of Palestine. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
    1
  20272. Maybe the aerial bombing of Americans by Americans has stopped.
    1
  20273. Your Wilders only brought about turmoil in the Netherlands. Perhaps you should pipe down.
    1
  20274. Very. They can hit a barn with it, but only if they're inside it.
    1
  20275. I'm starting to see similarities with the boat people fleeing Vietnam. I suppose the direction is reversed now.
    1
  20276.  @Spearca  The world gives a toss about Russia's referendums in Ukraine. 190 out of the 193 UN members say the annexations are illegal.
    1
  20277. @darzsh Yeah, but the communists always vote with Putin's fan club, a.k.a. United Russia.
    1
  20278.  @louisecorchevolle9241  You should brush up your English. Even if your Bolsheviks get 19%, they'll vote in the State Duma whichever way Putin wants them to.
    1
  20279. So, you implicate all these civilians in starting a war. What if it came as a total surprise to them?
    1
  20280. Regional power* with aspirations of becoming a superpower but lacking the economic means to do so.
    1
  20281.  @OpiumBride  Do you have a superpower fetish or something? There's a whole world between the US and China.
    1
  20282.  @OpiumBride  In that case, I have to wonder if those 45 countries that you claim you've visited include China. I have, and so many times over the last thirty years that I've lost count. For all its wonders and the economic progress they've made, China hasn't developed democratically -- on the contrary, it has grown only more authoritarian. Currently, nothing points to China becoming a free and fair society. Sure, the recent US democratic failings are there for all the world to see, but you clearly can't put things into perspective.
    1
  20283.  @OpiumBride  My wife's from Hong Kong and I lived among the Chinese for over 15 years. I don't see what I should see clearer. Was it so that you've never been to China? The US is no poster boy for democracy and hasn't been one for some time. If you re-read my initial comment, it shouldn't take great powers of deduction to conclude that I'm no fan of either the US or China. I guess you come up short there, just like you can't distinguish between shades of gray. Since you think it was insulting of me to note that China is undeveloped democratically and there are no signs of positive change in that respect, show me how I got it wrong.
    1
  20284.  @spaceman51974  Hitler approves of your message.
    1
  20285. New colonial master? Russia is an old hand at colonialism, one of the oldest. They didn't need to take part in the 'Scramble for Africa', since they had a whole backyard to colonise. Uniquely, Russia still holds on to most of its colonies, while all the other colonial powers have decolonised long since.
    1
  20286.  @dennissantos2528  So the Hong Kong police force is made up of old men and women?
    1
  20287.  @matejebach5487  Now you're just petulantly lashing out against anybody and everybody. As to our police, they act with extreme restraint. It's unheard of that anyone dies in a street protest. Hard violence? When a HK policeman shoots a protester, that constitutes hard violence, no matter whether it's justified or not.
    1
  20288.  @chopper1239  Again, violence is violence, no matter whether it's justified or not. So the fact stands: the HK police have resorted to the hardest form of violence that they can inflict with the weapons at their disposal. How much harder do you want it?
    1
  20289.  @chopper1239  Your logic baffles me. Didn't I just suggest that violence is sometimes justified -- and not once but twice? I haven't even started about riot gear. Actually, I was in charge of UN military policemen in Kosovo on more than one occasion. You don't have a clue. Tell me, are you able to hold a conversation in general, or is it always so that your audience walks away mid-sentence, shaking their heads?
    1
  20290.  @chopper1239  Your logic continues to baffle. I wrote -- in response to another commenter -- that it's a fact that the HK police used hard violence by shooting the protester. After all, resorting to firearms is hard as violence gets in law enforcement circles. It's not like the HK police have main battle tanks with which to run over protestors, like the PLA did when they massacred protesters on Tiananmen Square. "The HK police constitutes hard violence" is not even proper English. Could it be that because of your poor command of English, you don't realise that "violence" simply means "the intentional use of physical force"? As societies we restrict the legitimate use of violence to very specific circumstances. Law enforcement deals with those circumstances, but even they don't have carte blanche. Maybe you should get your English textbooks out once more...
    1
  20291.  @shuoh.4742  And what are you, chopper's sock puppet? I'm curious, because you're afflicted with the same inability to grasp the essence. It's painfully clear that the sole purpose of deploying these "volunteers" is to send a message that the PLA is there, ready to take action. It's a carefully orchestrated move by Beijing, with enough plausible deniability to equip you fanboys. Also, are you really so naive as to take the soldiers at their word? If they had been ordered to impersonate chickens when confronted by reporters, they had all clucked and flapped their elbows. In real life, soldiers obey orders. You can demonize the protesters as much as you want, but the fact still stands that the police resorted to extreme measures. If "hard violence" is too distressing for you, try euphemisms like "pre-emptive action" or "commensurate response" for size. But it's still violence.
    1
  20292.  @ae693  How would you substantiate your claim that Hungary has "more freedom than any other country"? I'm curious, because Hungary performs rather poorly in the Democracy Index (shared 55th place with Ghana) and the Press Freedom Index (just behind Sierra Leone), just to name a few freedom indices. Feel free to add your own sources.
    1
  20293.  @bjrnhjortshjandersen1286  I'm quoting you: "I believe we will defend the Baltic states [...]".
    1
  20294.  @bjrnhjortshjandersen1286  believe /bɪˈliːv/ verb 1. hold (something) as an opinion; think. 2. accept that (something) is true, especially without proof.
    1
  20295.  @bjrnhjortshjandersen1286  I think you care too little about how you come across.
    1
  20296.  @apoyusiken1368  I have nothing to gain from am economic collapse in Turkey. I am merely noting that things are headed into that direction. If you disagree, try explain why the economic indicators lie.
    1
  20297. There's some of that, but an awful lot of Cold War-era weapons and near-end-of-life ammunition have been sent to assist Ukraine. A lot of the weaponry is Soviet in origin, too. If these weapons were conscious, they'd rejoice. The Western ones get to fulfil their destiny. The Soviet ones can draw solace from the fact that like their forebears, they're fighting Fascism.
    1
  20298. Don't bother. She's admitted to asking her father to stash the money. That amounts to a confession.
    1
  20299. LKY's legacy isn't so bright where democracy is concerned. Maybe BoJo can turn British Parliament into a rubber-stamp affair, too. His illegal proroguing suggests he's got no qualms about sidelining them.
    1
  20300. Those responsible are very representative of EU citizens. We just had Europe-wide elections, dum-dum.
    1
  20301. It behooves a superpower to have a broader view, but whatever, if Murica wants to go isolationist, so be it.
    1
  20302.  @jerrymillerstein  What's your basis for that claim? There are countries that impose no tariffs or duties on imports whatsoever, and take an active interest in global affairs. For a change, apply some rationale to your comments. Surprise me!
    1
  20303.  @jerrymillerstein  Again, you bombastically claimed that the US is the least isolationist country in the world, without producing anything substantial to back up your claim. In case you haven't been paying attention to the news, Trump has threatened with a withdrawal from NATO and additional tariffs on imports. Both are indicative of increased isolationism. Whether or not that that makes the US truly isolationist is debatable, but your precious Murica certainly isn't the freest market in the world, and militarily it's backtracking if Trumps acts on his NATO threat. I'm afraid you proved nothing except that you can shoot your mouth off.
    1
  20304. Het Nederlands koningshuis zou meer moeten mispeuteren. Alleen al vanwege het in stand houden van de leesvaardigheid.
    1
  20305.  @chickenfishhybrid44  Tariffs and other obstacles play a role, but it's not like the EU unilaterally resorts to them. The USA, also during Trump's tenure, has been embroiled in numerous trade wars with the EU. As a result of these "wars", whatever tariffs that remain tend to cancel out one another. What you're basically alluding to is that Americans -- including Trump -- are poor saps that haven't been able to hold their own in a fair fight. You'll find that more often than not, Europeans think they're buying American, only the products in question aren't US-made, but rather, their manufacture has been outsourced to low-cost countries. In other words, you're blaming us for your enthusiasm for outsourcing.
    1
  20306. Your imagination has gotten the better the of you. American much? Jailing presidents -- or calling for it -- is all the rage there, I hear.
    1
  20307. You haven't been paying attention. Artillery has featured prominently in the Ukraine War. So much so, that NATO has struggled to supply shells to Ukraine, because NATO isn't that big a fan of artillery. You need to hold your speech at the Kremlin, since it's Russia in particular that relies on artillery.
    1
  20308.  @josephmartin1543  ...and you keep droning on like the bot you are.
    1
  20309. The Brits will somehow wangle yet another extension. Yawn.
    1
  20310. The brutal military junta in Myanmar begs to differ. They're friends with China all right, and vice versa.
    1
  20311.  @richardlee9207  There it comes up again, your precious USA. Just like that, out of the blue. I know that they're the centre of your universe, but I don't want the Americans to think the same.
    1
  20312.  @richardlee9207  Deafening silence? I have no qualms about criticising the US. However, there's a time and place. For you, every video is an excuse to raise the issue. You have an obsession with whataboutism.
    1
  20313.  @richardlee9207  And I'm not a Wasp either. You're like an automaton -- you'll reply to any and every YouTube comment with a canned statement about the US. It seems like your every waking moment is spent writing about the US. You need help.
    1
  20314. Not quite. Russia gives itself a free pass.
    1
  20315. With the staggering number of Russian tanks captured and destroyed in Ukraine, Putin would have to send WW2-era T-34s to Finland. Perhaps the Finns can muster enough humour to play along and stop them with WW2-era Panzerfausts, just like last time. Or just use NLAWs and see which AT team can make a turret fly the furthest.
    1
  20316. Then the Siege of Bakhmut starts.
    1
  20317.  @MrMcdanger  Als je het hebt over de buitenlandse studies die wij bekostigen, dan heeft dat niks met belastingsgeld te maken. Het geld komt van een fonds dat mijn grootmoeder heeft opgezet. Er zijn belastingsvoordelen in liefdadigheidswerk, maar belastingsgeld komt er niet aan te pas. Je zou versteld staan hoe er altijd uitblinkers zijn, zelfs in de meest achtergestelde regio's. De knapste van onze voormalige studenten is nu professor aan de Karlinska Instutet, die Nobel-prijzen voor geneeskunde uitdeelt.
    1
  20318. I think you're mistaken. Putin will not survive this.
    1
  20319.  @jamesw3605  How is this relevant? We're discussing China, Russia and the ASEAN countries and you bring up the US... Yank much?
    1
  20320.  @australianpopulism3490  What a doofus you are for thinking me an American.
    1
  20321.  @thomasmoore4723  If, as you're hinting, Ukraine is essentially bankrupt, then the US should queue up behind the biggest lender, Europe, in trying to get compensation.
    1
  20322. You haven't heard of NATO. Well, Putin has.
    1
  20323. The World Police is tied up. By vetoes to and fro.
    1
  20324. Unfortunately, the mainland Chinese have a high tolerance for human rights abuses...
    1
  20325. No law-abiding person supports illigal immigration, sport. Political opinions only differ on how to combat it.
    1
  20326.  @Samirustem  That would open the floodgates for apologies to and fro. There would be no end to it.
    1
  20327. You're way too generous to Trump. The incompetence of the Iranian theocracy and the growing resistance among the Iranian people are at work here.
    1
  20328. How about someone below retirement age? The US of A is gerontocracy as it is.
    1
  20329. Uh, we designate both as terrorist organisations. As such, they're very much sanctioned, and anyone who aids and abets them is liable to prosecution to the fullest extent of the law.
    1
  20330. So, you think Macron will soon make his way to a burning Moscow?
    1
  20331.  @lisadsouza5061  Don't be jealous, just get busy and you'll stay warm, too.
    1
  20332.  @santostv.  Nah, we build better.
    1
  20333. We know what Orcs look like.
    1
  20334.  @grantsmythe8625  It's about regaining full access to Western military tech. Several Turkish weapons projects are treading water because the likes of Germany and the US have embargoes in place.
    1
  20335. You should know your enemy. Hint: it's Hezbollah.
    1
  20336.  @Kohen124  They like to wallow in victimhood. People in general derive strength from the feeling of having been wronged. You should know about it, too.
    1
  20337. That's one short of a six pack.
    1
  20338.  @zlonewolf  The HIMARS fires INS- and/or GPS-guided rockets that strike at pre-programmed coordinates. They're of no use against moving warships. For long-range anti-ship work, you want a radar-homing missile that actively seeks out the target.
    1
  20339.  @LowenKM  It's going to be team deathmatch all right. Kadyrov has it good suckling Putin's teat.
    1
  20340. Huh? Iran is supplying the Russians.
    1
  20341. Don't be so smug about it. You'll need to find yourself a new scapegoat now.
    1
  20342.  @gzkony  So decentralise and devolve powers then. At least the US has a measure decentralisation and devolution built-in with its federal structure.
    1
  20343.  @robertseaborne5758  Try the Democracy Index and the World Bank's statistics on life expectancy. The world's top democracy is Norway. The US ranks 30th and China... 156th. In life expectancy, Japan tops the charts, the US is 46th and China 51st.
    1
  20344.  @robertseaborne5758  You've demonstrated your ability to use Wikipedia, so why not look up 'Democracy Index'? You're still comparing China to the US. My whole point is that you aim higher.
    1
  20345.  @robertseaborne5758  So, Norway doesn't have active and passive suffrage? In stark contrast, China is a party dictatorship that outlaws all political competition and where the CCP can overrule the constitution at will. And you think they're even coming close to flawed democracy USA?
    1
  20346. ​ @robertseaborne5758  I know the ins and outs of China's fanciful claims about being democratic. It speaks volumes that China keeps making frantic efforts to redefine democracy in order to make it somehow stick onto what is essentially still a party dictatorship. The truth is, China can't stand international comparisons based on scientific analysis. I could list several others beside the Democracy Index, but I can tell that you can't let go of your preconceived notions.
    1
  20347.  @robertseaborne5758  Yup, I rely on internationally respected sources. You rely on CCP-approved ones.
    1
  20348.  @robertseaborne5758  Aw, I addressed your paymaster wrongly? I feel your pain.
    1
  20349.  @jaysherman2615  There's nuclear power, hydropower, wind and solar. Our traditional power plants are multi-fuel. A great many already burn nothing but biofuel. Russian wood chips were popular because of their low price, but it's not like Finland lacks forests. As a matter of fact, as a forest owner, I'm rather pleased.
    1
  20350. No prizes for guessing which one is a phallic symbol.
    1
  20351.  @RoadstersRegistry  Not true. There's a lot of US intellectual property that China licenses. The same goes for European IP. China can't export the products that leverage said IP to Russia if they fall under Western sanctions. If China flouts these newly-introduced export restrictions, it risks being sanctioned itself. It's interesting to see that some Chinese web shops have already stopped taking orders from Russia.
    1
  20352. Max, you're misrepresenting facts. Outside of bipolar USA, Trump's unpopularity isn't just a left-wing affair. With the exception of some hard-right extremists, right-wingers have very little love lost for Trump. Fact.
    1
  20353.  Cheryl Moss  Oh yeah? Worldwide, 27% have confidence in Trump, while 70% say they haven't. That strongly suggests Trump is disliked by both left and right outside USA.
    1
  20354. His narcissism knows no bounds.
    1
  20355.  @John-hu9qg  I just explained to you why the trajectory of the ATACMS is not predictable. There's evidence already from Syria and Armenia that the S-300 struggles to down quasi-ballistic missiles, like the Israeli LORA. The BUK is inferior to the S-300 in many respects.
    1
  20356.  @John-hu9qg  Sink your teeth into this: "[...] ATACMS is a specific "quasi-ballistic" missile with a complex trajectory. [...] This means that while the ATACMS trajectory does assume a ballistic arc to hit the target, the missile also performs a series of rapid and sudden turns and course corrections en route. This is an intentionally designed function of ATACMS, since this behavior makes it extremely difficult to track or intercept the missile, which is why the U.S. Army also calls ATACMS "maneuverable" missiles." No one is claiming that the ATACMS is in a class of its own -- speed- or otherwise -- or cannot be shot down.
    1
  20357. How could we tell the difference?
    1
  20358. Does Russia's UNSC veto ring a bell? It paralyses the UNSC. Russia out.
    1
  20359.  @last-smoke  But Russia is a defeated country. It can't win, and it's not getting profitable terms out of a peace settlement. Realisation has already set it, and now it's just about Putin's personal prestige.
    1
  20360. That's because DW has journalistic standards. You're perpetuating a myth. Not even Russian OSCE monitors reported that Ukraine targeted civilians in the Donbas.
    1
  20361. Bibi went to the US, which doesn't represent "the West", especially in matters pertaining to Israel. More often than not, Western countries are at odds with the US on that score.
    1
  20362.  @jasperkalu4578  Good point. Replacing soft power with hard power costs many times more for the same effect. The old idiom about flies, honey and vinegar applies.
    1
  20363. Why is it so hard for you to distinguish between peaceful protesters and rioters? The former are not guilty of rioting by association.
    1
  20364.  @Hottiger1818  Are you thick? What you're describing are the actions of genuine rioters. Peaceful protesters can't be held responsible for those.
    1
  20365. You're stretching it. Netanyahu is already being lambasted for flouting intelligence that would've allowed Israel to prepare. If he engineered this to flatten Gaza, he also engineered his own political downfall. I don't think we'll have to suffer Netanyahu much longer at the helm in Israel.
    1
  20366.  @rowanmelton7643  I always wonder which treaty your lot is referring to when you make this claim about NATO promising not to expand eastward. You never provide an adequate answer. I'm not expecting one now either. Shoo, scurry off to your cave, troll.
    1
  20367. Ik ijs [sic] dat je stopt met die onzin.
    1
  20368. If we stop paying attention to Putin, he'll just up the ante until he gets attention, just like a brat that misbehaves till adults notice him.
    1
  20369. I wonder what that means in English.
    1
  20370. Russia chose war. Russia made its bed and now it has to lie in it.
    1
  20371. Western propaganda? Are you for reals? With the exception of the US itself, the West reacted with apprehension when it became known that Trump had won.
    1
  20372.  @Ego-Kills  For your info, the Iron Dome and THAAD serve different purposes. The former is short-range, while THAAD is much, much more, being geared towards shooting down long-range ballistic missiles hurtling down from space. Iron Dome can't do much damage to those behemoths. At best, it could chop down still-dangerous remnants from a high-altitude intercept, which is what Israel unsuccessfully tried after an Iranian ballistic missile was intercepted by an Israeli Arrow. They're not the Iron Dome's usual prey. But hey, thanks for playing. You reached 'fanboy' level. When you manage to put things better into perspective, you may reach 'intermediate' level.
    1
  20373.  Ted Bundy  Waddaya know. The Last Dictator of Europe is, in fact, a staunch democrat. Who're you fooling?
    1
  20374.  @abc-mf8rr  Because there's a pandemic going on? Are you sure Merkel is specifically supporting demonstrations, or rather, the calls for free and fair elections in Belarus? There's a distinction, you know.
    1
  20375.  Ted Bundy  Dictators are known to rake in them votes. Saddam Hussein managed even an unprecedented 100% or complete unanimity among the Iraqi electorate. Four years later, he was executed for murdering his own people. Go shout about that for a change.
    1
  20376.  @youareliedtobythemedia  Over the years, Azerbaijan has made numerous incursions into Armenia proper. That should've triggered CSTO's Article 4, the collective defence clause. In 2013, a Russian commander claimed that the conditions would also be met if Azerbaijan made a move on Nagorno-Karabakh. The Russians have very quietly changed their mind, it seems.
    1
  20377.  @youareliedtobythemedia  As recently as 2022, Azerbaijan did cross the border into Armenia proper. That's when Armenia triggered Article 4 of the CSTO, but nothing happened. Thus, the CSTO's collective defence is a dead letter.
    1
  20378.  @Sziasztok742  No, the Sarmat doesn't care if the St. Petersburgians glow in the dark and puke their intestines out. Meanwhile, the Finns sit tight in their state-of-the-art nuclear shelters.
    1
  20379.  @pauzamsiska3605  Europe scores well in democracy. Why do you think it's a concern?
    1
  20380.  @LST25  Africa has suffered from a dearth of democracy. That hasn't served you well.
    1
  20381.  @LST25  They've got oil, Einstein.
    1
  20382. The Yanks' government shutdown is a juvenile game the Republicans like to play with the Democrats. It's like they're playing chicken with bumper cars. Only excitable preteens such as yourself are impressed.
    1
  20383. Some daddy you have there.
    1
  20384.  @Eddie_Super  Aye, that's the problem. I fear Trump's re-election further downgrades Murica's standing in the Democracy Index. The initial downgrade wasn't about whom the US electorate elected (not so democratically, I have to add), but how it came about. The erosion of democratic institutions still goes on in your precious "land of the free", it appears.
    1
  20385.  @dinazorpipisi  Sure, I have both a bumhole and opinions. However, unlike you, I'm not in complete awe of them, as if they make a huge difference. Try fact-based argumentation for a change. You'll be less of a bore.
    1
  20386. Let's see. For now, China lags behind. Reportedly, China has donated 22 million doses thus far. Do the math.
    1
  20387. And you sound like you're too big for your britches.
    1
  20388. How would you judge your country's role in all of this? What have you done?
    1
  20389.  @solconcordia4315  Yup, French troops were bombed at the same time, with devastating effect as well, but they were soon back in Lebanon. It makes you think who really deserves the slur 'surrender monkeys'.
    1
  20390.  @MoskusMoskiferus1611  I understand that when the Messiah arrives, the Jews have promised to ask him if this is his first visit.
    1
  20391.  @Amaking10000  Please ask Iran and Russia to act in a similar manner. East and West: Home is Best.
    1
  20392.  @Amaking10000  I didn't suggest so. But you seem a fanboy of the Mad Mullahs.
    1
  20393. ​ @Amaking10000  A Trumpist? Don't insult me. But what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Both parties are actively meddling in Iraq's affairs, politically and militarily. Both should get lost. But it's no good if either does so unilaterally, because the other will just fill in the void.
    1
  20394.  @Amaking10000  No need to be sorry on my account. It seems the Iraqis don't want the Iranians there either. So both should make themselves scarce.
    1
  20395. That should be the ICJ in The Hague, but while at it, I'm sure they'd arrange free board and lodgings at the ICC, too.
    1
  20396. It stopped being about that a long time ago. Get with the times, buster.
    1
  20397. Go away, silly conspiracy theorist. Your theories are not needed here.
    1
  20398.  @hongkong670  I see you're into victim-blaming.
    1
  20399.  @hongkong670  I see you as a very poor conversationalist. Over and out.
    1
  20400. Learn to conjugate 'lose', otherwise we think you're loosening your bowels.
    1
  20401. The green shift. Read all about it.
    1
  20402. @@Xecutioner. To add to the mystique, the same invisible dude who gave the Jews their promised land is also invisible dude to the Palestinians, who lost their land in the process. We're either dealing with an invisible dude suffering from multiple personality disorder or careless recycling of invisible dudes.
    1
  20403. You'll have to pay royalties on that excuse to the Ruzzians.
    1
  20404. True dat. In the late eighties, I did an internship with KLM, the oldest operating airline in the world, which at the time had an all-Boeing fleet, apart from some Fokkers for regional work. Now it's gradually phasing out its Boeings in favour of Airbuses.
    1
  20405. Can we also talk about baby seals being clubbed to death? It's equally important.
    1
  20406. @Taha Yaseen FYI, the Americans never got to enjoy the crusades. The fun ended well before Columbus discovered their continent.
    1
  20407.  @alchemist7525  Perhaps, but it's cultural misattribution. That's almost as bad as cultural appropriation.
    1
  20408.  @alchemist7525  I know. Europe cringed when Baby Bush said that.
    1
  20409.  @georgeageorgopoulos  And now you're referring to yourself in third person?
    1
  20410. Have you changed your trolling account again?
    1
  20411. @ "Great Ukraine" is suggestive of an eponymous troll. I think we both know what I'm talking about.
    1
  20412.  @vapeurdepisse  I'm saying America's problems are of a different magnitude. To get you off your high horse, I've lived in a dozen countries and on four continents. America's woes are typical of those of a night-watchman state. The US would rather police and lock up its citizens than ensure they're properly cared for. They say the greatness of a nation can be judged by how it treats its weakest members. Suddenly, the USA is not so great any longer. It's funny that someone with your immense international exposure would jump to conclusions and assume I'm Chinese. Tut-tut.
    1
  20413. Then there's rule of law. No president stands above the law.
    1
  20414.  @psnaris  They do buy the narrative to the extent of keeping Putin away from South Africa.
    1
  20415.  @GriefTourist  Please say Reptilians.
    1
  20416.  @Gerrard_Pike2008  Go surrender already.
    1
  20417.  @scottsmith5947  There's the nuclear sabre-rattling again. You're a disciple of Kim Jong Un.
    1
  20418. Trump would do well to distance himself from Putin's unbridled imperialism, but instead he seeks to emulate Putin. Greenland, Panama, even Canada...
    1
  20419.  @Rhode-Island  I can tell you're American. Mileages vary "in Europe". In the previous millenium, my neighbours used to smoke on the balcony, till that too, was forbidden. Now they go down to the courtyard, where there's a delineated area for smoking. Lung cancer corner, we call it.
    1
  20420. How utterly naive you are. This isn't in any way symptomatic of the "West". It's happening everywhere. South Sudan was the last country to gain independence. That's in Africa, in case you struggle with geography as well. Europe has seen Czechoslovakia break apart as well as Yugoslavia, but the biggest of break-up of them all was the Soviet Union. None of those were considered "Western". Borders change over time.
    1
  20421.  @owainwilliams7993  "EU fighter" would be more appropriate.
    1
  20422. Lavrov is Comical Ali. His comedy tours don't constitute war crimes.
    1
  20423. I've heard assertions of pigs flying, but not Leopards. I don't think they need to be shot down. Maybe T-72 turrets for sport, if you're out of clay pigeons.
    1
  20424.  @raymondcyq  The Syrians don't think so. They can see Israeli F-35s cruise above Damascus, but their Russian-made radars can't.
    1
  20425.  @karantikoo9302  We don't have any invisible planes, dum-dum, stealth or otherwise. The U-2 is not stealth, BTW.
    1
  20426.  @felixmoyoedonmi  That's funny. I've been told all my life how to live my life. First it was my parents and teachers, nowadays it's the wife and my bosses. Ultimately, the authorities tell me what to do and what no to. You must live all alone in the wilderness or something.
    1
  20427. That would explain Putin's taste for blood.
    1
  20428. Don't you wish yours had at least warned Beijing? It seems they, too, were caught with their pants around their ankles.
    1
  20429.  @pineapplesareyummy6352  Come off it, there's no denying that China has extensive business interest in Afghanistan. Not only is China the largest foreign investor in Afghanistan, but also, China is Afghanistan's biggest trading partner. China and Russia most definitely backed the NATO-led mission to Afghanistan at the UN, and repeatedly at that. The Taliban are particularly wary of Russia, which provided military assistance to the Northern Alliance, their biggest domestic rival. The Northern Alliance was instrumental in sending the Taliban packing in 2001. Russia also donated weapons to the newly-ousted Afghan government -- weapons that really put the hurt on the Taliban. Come to think of, I don't think the Taliban harbour fond memories of the Soviet-Afghan War either.
    1
  20430. You're in luck. China is keen to find more takers for its predatory loans. You'll be in debtors' prison in no time.
    1
  20431. ​ @DutchWeazel  Putin may yet try to present himself as the saviour of Mother Russia by withdrawing from Ukraine and supposedly preventing a far greater catastrophe from befalling Russia: civil war. He'll blame backstabbers like Prigozhin for losing Russia the war in Ukraine, just like he claimed that victory was stolen from Russia in WW1. Then, civil war did break out, but if Putin prevents it this time around, surely the Russians will have mercy on him and let him continue as their beloved dictator? Pretty please?
    1
  20432. The Romans invented satire and sarcasm, but I guess you knew already.
    1
  20433. Lost in translation.
    1
  20434.  @lawrencekling8598  You don't know your democracies. Parliamentary democracies are the most common. When combined with proportional representation, there's always a multitude of parties vying for a place in a coalition government.
    1
  20435.  @lawrencekling8598  I see you didn't do your homework. You're still talking about the US, as if it's somehow exemplary for democracies the world over. Parliamentary systems are. For your info, the US was downgraded from "full democracy" to "flawed democracy" when Trump made president. It wasn't even about Trump, but about the way he managed to exploit Murica's eroding confidence in democratic institutions to gain power. Trump's subsequent election denial only worsened matters.
    1
  20436. You should join your local chapter of Psychopaths Anonymous, ASAP.
    1
  20437. I agree that it's unwinnable war... for Russia. Ukraine wins by not losing. Or did you think Ukraine needs to capture Moscow in order to win? After Putin's abrupt "retirement", his successor will ask for peace terms and reluctantly agree to them, too, explaining that his predecessor brought infamy on Russia. Historians will record it as an Ukrainian victory as Russia gained nothing and at a terrible cost at that.
    1
  20438. The Gazans don't have to play victim. It has all been arranged for them by Hamas and Israel.
    1
  20439.  @annalisavajda252  Why not.
    1
  20440.  @joymyers5771  Conscription is acceptable if you don't have the numbers and you're protecting hearth and home. I shudder to think what would've happened if my grandfathers, uncles and extended family had refused to fight.
    1
  20441.  @whi1e  I see you didn't dare to answer my question. Concerned about your social credit score, is it? FYI, I have done business in "Greater China" for more than twenty years. It's you who doesn't understand business.
    1
  20442.  @whi1e  Social credit score is most definitely a thing in China. Don't try to deny it. You still didn't dare to answer my simple question: why did Fosun want exclusive rights for a market it didn't have access to? It's entirely irrelevant whether a Taiwanese company invested or did not invest in BioNTech. If you and I could only buy products from companies we've invested in, we'd be in heaps of trouble. My wisely [sic] practice?
    1
  20443.  @whi1e  Sigh. Like I wrote earlier, we're going around in circles. Taiwan forbids the import of Chinese vaccines. The law predates the coronavirus pandemic and hence, the BioNTech vaccine. I feel like I'm playing chess with a pigeon here.
    1
  20444. Aren't you quaint.
    1
  20445. You've overdone it with the copium.
    1
  20446. Diabolically, how so? And unlike the Americans, we make competitive products. Instead of outsourcing manufacturing to low-cost countries, we still make them ourselves, too.
    1
  20447.  @ossianx8752  I see you're using the EU as a catch-all. Admittedly, some EU countries have suffered on account of their poor choices in terms of energy and housing, but others, who've made better choices, are none the worse for wear. I get the impression that the former is true in your case, and rather than taking a cold, hard look in the mirror, you prefer to blame the EU.
    1
  20448. So you're advocating that the rule of law should go out of the window, like it already has in Russia (pun intended).
    1
  20449. Wishful thinking. FYI, when military experts speak of "boots on the ground", it doesn't mean boots scattered on the ground after a stand-off strike on a shoe factory.
    1
  20450. What's next? A Navy SEAL or an FBI agent?
    1
  20451.  @alanwatterson2850  You've got to admit that the god who started this Islam thing -- after cutting his teeth with Judaism and Christianity -- has done a stellar job, at least in terms of followers. He's had some misses too, like Samaritanism, but you can't win them all.
    1
  20452.  @efghggdxlmfn33  I'm sure that sum will go up when Russia starts paying war reparations. And pay them it will. Cry and pay.
    1
  20453. I always wonder how the former have developed a latent minority complex.
    1
  20454. Is Netanyahu aware of this?
    1
  20455.  @danielclaw  I think your problem is more severe than that.
    1
  20456.  @danielclaw  British or not, you should know about Netanyahu's zealousness in prosecuting this war.
    1
  20457. She threw her lot in, too. Evil begets evil.
    1
  20458. Putin manages to get himself "voted in" as a dictator again and again. Trump, no.
    1
  20459. "Soviet" says it all.
    1
  20460. Holland is actually very good about the rule of law. But in this case, they'll change the law.
    1
  20461. A Republican throwing her toys out of the pram. Colour me unsurprised.
    1
  20462. Please elaborate on this curse. I trust you have a conspiracy theory ready.
    1
  20463.  @kimmorepo6870  Duh.
    1
  20464.  @goddesssalem4842  So, which continent is Moscow on?
    1
  20465. The whataboutism is strong in you.
    1
  20466.  @huhujojo1968  Nah, that would be Murica. Fax machines and landlines are all but non-existent in Europe -- in the US, they're still easily found. I remember how the US struggled to adopt mobiles (cellphones in US parlance). Simple things like texting were still a mystery to most Americans, while the likes of the Philippines and even Iran were going nuts about it.
    1
  20467. @ I reacted to your observations about fax machines, from where I extrapolated to mobile telephony. The US still trails Europe there. The Germans are keen on apprenticeships and on-the-job-training in general, by the way. To each their own.
    1
  20468. Aren't you in the UN? Why doesn't your country speak up? That's what you should be asking yourselves first and foremost, rather than whining about the West.
    1
  20469. Trump could do some damage to China, but he adores Putin. Russia, nuh-uh.
    1
  20470. Murica is signalling to Russia that landgrabs are A-okay.
    1
  20471. ...to be marginalised and ridiculed on the world scene?
    1
  20472. It's interesting that we hate rats but love squirrels, although they're cousins. I was the same, but when my ex-girlfriend rescued a lab rat, I struck up a friendship with the critter. At the time, I liked to chew on liquorice roots, and whenever I came by, 'Ratteke' would carefully check my pockets for them. We were so close that she offered me the animal when we split up, but since I was moving abroad, I couldn't. I heard afterwards that the neighbour's cat got 'Rottis'.
    1
  20473. Are you suggesting that Russia should invite the Chinese Communist Party to rule over them, just like the Russians invited Viking king Rurik to rule over them in 862? That's a thought...
    1
  20474. Sit tight; the men in white are on their way.
    1
  20475.  @benjamindover4337  I just read about an ongoing trial where the parents stand accused of giving licensed weapons to their school shooter son. And where do you think illegal weapons come from? Thin air?
    1
  20476. We really should get Lidl to sell us Afri Cola. And Bluna.
    1
  20477.  @DavidWalls-sr1pg  Actually, Netflix's "original" programming has hurt Hollywood a lot.
    1
  20478.  @DavidWalls-sr1pg  Be that as it may, Netflix sourcing "original" content from European media companies has hurt Hollywood. Didn't you notice that Trump appointed special ambassadors to help Hollywood bring back lost business from foreign countries? Not to worry, his chosen ambassadors will either have no effect or the reverse effect.
    1
  20479. FYI, the Greens -- except for some diehards who'd do away with civilisation altogether -- have had a change of heart on nuclear energy.
    1
  20480. @Orcbotbasher Could you make it any clearer that you're a silly conspiracy theorist? WEF this, WEF that, why can't you at least be entertaining and fantasize about Reptilians taking over the world?
    1
  20481. You're basically advocating that smaller countries should submit to their larger neighbours. In doing so, you're binning the UN Charter, which Russia is supposed to abide by.
    1
  20482.  @Gaspardini  Regions submit voluntarily to a central government and there's typically a high degree of devolution, sometimes even complete autonomy. By now, it should be painfully clear to one and all that Ukraine doesn't aspire to be a region of the Russian Federation. The independence referendums in Eastern Ukraine were deemed a complete sham. The UNGA couldn't have made it any clearer.
    1
  20483.  @Gaspardini  You misunderstand. Russia organised referendums in the occupied territories. Those were a judged a complete sham. I believe no neighbouring country (France?) invaded Catalonia to organise a sham referendum there. I have seen no news reports of Spanish military involvement either.
    1
  20484.  @Gaspardini  I have to admit, I have no idea what your point is. You jump back and forth between Eastern Ukraine and Catalonia as if the cases are somehow comparable. It's quite enough for me that the UNGA deemed the 2022 referendums in Eastern Ukraine invalid with a whopping majority, 143 against 5. To add insult to injury, at present only North Korea recognises them as Russian, after the other, Syria, underwent a sudden change of management. And don't you think it would problematic for Ukraine to organise a real referendum in territories that are under Russian occupation? Plus there's this brutal war going on. Gawd... How on earth did you come up with Catalonia invading France -- even as a talking point? I feel like I'm playing chess with a pigeon here.
    1
  20485.  @trulycare3574  It's a fact that Xi enjoys "preferential" rates for Putin's oil and gas. And China can set prices for other natural riches, too, that it fancies from Russia. Trade-wise, the world is China's oyster. Russia, on the other hand, is trapped inside China's oyster. If that's your idea of friendship, poor you.
    1
  20486.  @dark_master_Makei  The Nordics don't respond well to threats. In fact, Finland and Sweden joining NATO despite Russia's increasingly belligerent threats is testament to that.
    1
  20487. Russia needs those private armies for Russian Civil War 2, after Putin is out of the picture.
    1
  20488. Why are you here to flaunt? I would understand if someone had just claimed India is crapola, but I can't spot any detractors here.
    1
  20489. There isn't a hole conspiracy theorists won't jump into.
    1
  20490. The UN Charter specifically mentions self-defence as an inherent right. Which slave nation do you hail from?
    1
  20491. Or his scattered ashes are just too hard to track.
    1
  20492. Buy a Moskvitch.
    1
  20493. You forgot the latest Russian sub, the recently repurposed Moskva.
    1
  20494. For your info, China is experiencing severe trust issues with its software and hardware owing to the fact that Chinese manufacturers have to share their data with the CCP, and if ordered, build in backdoors. Keep up with the news.
    1
  20495. I'm sure it will come when Ireland reunites.
    1
  20496. Sure thing, Russia's name is mud.
    1
  20497. Charity stays at home, eh?
    1
  20498. They signed up to upholding the rule of law. Unlike the EU, I'm sure the Eurasian Union doesn't have such pesky rules.
    1
  20499.  @UFOZone51  As it happens, I've lived in Spain and toured it extensively. And it's *Basque country. You were insinuating that there are nuclear weapons stationed in NATO countries that neighbour Russia. Since your grasp of geography is so tenuous, let's list them: Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. None of these countries have nuclear weapons on their soil. Norway, a founding member of NATO, goes even as far as outlawing them altogether. You're trying to change the subject, but no, there's no treaty about NATO agreeing not to expand any which way. Strangely, it's a fabrication that you Putin trolls try to peddle at every convenience. One wonders why, because you never manage to prove your case and you only end up embarrassing yourselves.
    1
  20500.  @gudini2559  Kaliningrad has been providing zilch to the Baltic states, sport.
    1
  20501.  @TrevorCrook-c1s  There was no coup in 2014. Yanukovych disappeared -- tellingly, to Russia. Puppetmaster Putin yanked his strings too hard.
    1
  20502. Actually, Apple famously resisted efforts by the US justice department to open the encryption of iPhones used by suspects in criminal cases. The courts eventually deemed these demands unconstitutional. Keep up with the news!
    1
  20503. I've noticed that Mars bars are bigger on the continent. Yours are the same size as in the US. Uh-oh, that spells trouble when you become the 51st state.
    1
  20504.  @Anymonkeyme  It's too bad that blaming the EU for all and sundry doesn't burn any calories. Otherwise Brexiteers should be fit as a fiddle, but I fear the opposite is true.
    1
  20505. Nah, you're on an ego trip.
    1
  20506. Drama queens such as yourself lead the way.
    1
  20507. Are you now? So far, Brexit has a been a case of NATO -- No Action, Talk Only.
    1
  20508.  @notnek202  That'll be the day. I expect the UK to plead for a few more extensions, till the EU-27 has had it and calls a stop to the silliness.
    1
  20509.  @cordellmohawk8408  You're a bot all right.
    1
  20510. I thought Master Xi made it clear to Pu Tin that this nuclear war talk had to end.
    1
  20511.  @deanmoxom1330  Be that as it may, nuclear weapons have no use beyond their intended purpose. You may want to rethink your argumentation.
    1
  20512. What makes you think there won't be an immediate retaliatory strike? You nuclear war fetishists...
    1
  20513.  @КристинаЙорданова-р8л  I'm pretty sure China has already offered refuge to Putin. But first Putin must weaken Russia further, so that it becomes a de facto colony of China. Then Putin can retire to Inner-Mongolia, where he can ride horsey bare-chested till he drops dead.
    1
  20514.  @Beavereaver  It doesn't condemn Russia for starting a brutal war of aggression, that's how.
    1
  20515.  @alexrz4196  It figures, you can't even spell "circular *reasoning". Go get yourself an education.
    1
  20516. Russia can't commit any more forces, or it will lose 3 times their number in draft dodgers.
    1
  20517.  @187Rajah  It must suck balls that India is saddled with similar jack-in-the-box T-72s and T-90s. On the upside, you're a strong contender in turret-tossing in the next Military World Games.
    1
  20518.  @janari64  The North Atlantic is smack in the middle of NATO (note the N at the beginning). It's crucial for transatlantic commerce. We protect our sea and air routes, that's all. You should be thanking the US -- not this indeterminate "the West" that you speak of -- for doing the same in the Pacific. It would be preferable if you Asians could protect yourselves -- from yourselves -- but so far, no luck.
    1
  20519. There's you hoping. Russia will collapse far sooner than we'll give up on Ukraine.
    1
  20520.  @vLadimir333-dodji-i-vidi  The USA is -- as we tend to say here -- far from my bed. What is with you dum-dums anyway, everyone's a Yank to you?
    1
  20521. They spend it quickly. Turks always run from an ATM to the grocery store.
    1
  20522.  @TurdburgerXL  Nooit van asielshoppen gehoord? Finland is letterlijk duizenden asielzoekers kwijtgeraakt.
    1
  20523.  @thefourthrabbit9516  China's and North Korea's -- to name a few autocratic countries -- interpretations of democracy are just perversions of universally accepted democratic ideals. Besides, democracies in the Western world vary considerably in setup. Non-Western true democracies don't really deviate from the Western norm -- if indeed there is such a norm.
    1
  20524.  @kimlavender185kimlavender9  Do your worst. Not my continent.
    1
  20525. By 1783 Spain and Portugal had been colonising the world for centuries. They've decolonised long since. Russia is an extreme laggard in that respect. And a repeat offender.
    1
  20526. Why is Maduro dressed like a clown? Does he tacitly admit it's all a clown show?
    1
  20527.  @menya00045  ⬆This message is approved by the Russian Ministry of Propaganda and Disinformation.
    1
  20528. Interestingly, the Democracy Index downgraded the USA to 'flawed democracy' when Trump got elected. Not because of what Trump did -- he hadn't had the chance yet -- but because of the eroding trust in US democratic institutions that landed Trump the presidency. Be that as it may, Trump's subsequent election denial hasn't improved matters. Year by year, the US is doing worse in the Democracy Index.
    1
  20529.  @badbad-cat  Is NATO doing nuclear sabre-rattling? No. This is about removing restrictions on the use of Western-supplied weapons. It's been ongoing for quite some time now, in reaction to Russia's mounting excesses. It's downright silly to hear mock outrage from Russia at something they've been doing themselves from the get-go. And you're lot likes to play the hypocrisy card.
    1
  20530. Iran owns Hezbollah. They want to keep tabs on their investment.
    1
  20531.  richard smith  Those seem to be your only options, bad and worse.
    1
  20532.  richard smith  Speak for yourself. Your archaic FPTP system is a huge obstacle to political renewal. The extreme irony is that Farage has never made MP despite trying umpteen times, but for MEP he's a shoe-in. Which institution was supposed to be the more democratic one again?
    1
  20533.  @derektrotter4287  Prior to the referendum, Cameron was approached by many EU members to push for reform together, but Cameron rudely snubbed them. No wonder, because Cameron was out for more privileges and by definition, privileges are exclusive.
    1
  20534. ​ @derektrotter4287  Again, speak for yourself. Most -- if not all -- European countries, are capable of political reform -- with the notable exception of the UK. Say what you want about Macron, but he created a political party from scratch and won an election with it, all within a year's time. Compare this with the UK, where the last new entrant to manage the same is the 119-year old Labour Party. The Nordic countries wanted agricultural reform, basically to do away with all non-essential subsidies. But Cameron was loathe to jeopardize the UK's infamous rebate -- an exclusive affair that's UK-only. You couldn't blame the Nordic leaders for using words like "arrogant" and "egocentric" to describe the Brits. So the intransigence was all yours.
    1
  20535.  @derektrotter4287  It's all very simple. If you pursue national interests at the expense of those of the EU as a whole, you've got no business being in the union -- or for that matter, in any international club. That's why I'm not sad to see the UK go. My only concern is that you still somehow manage to cling on and continue to make a nuisance of yourselves.
    1
  20536.  @derektrotter4287  You'll be a nuisance all on your own, desperately wanting to get noticed. What did you expect, that it would be plain sailing to turn around countries like Greece, not to mention Eastern Europe after it endured half a century of communist mismanagement? The lack of solidarity alone is ample reason to disqualify UK from Project Europe. The irony is that there's no lack of solidarity among the EU-28 in matters related to Brexit. It's downright uncanny how unanimous the E-28 were in negotiating the withdrawal agreement. All British efforts at currying favour and driving wedges between the E-28 amounted to absolutely nothing. Maybe it's just us, but we'd take a cold hard look in the mirror such an instance. In contrast, you Brits still dream of unicorns.
    1
  20537.  @derektrotter4287  Don't flatter yourselves. It bears reminding that the UK is in the EU on the cheap. If you were right, logic would dictate that the Eastern Europeans, who actually gain from British contributions to the EU budget, would've done their utmost to sabotage the withdrawal negotiations, something they could've easily done since a single dissenting voice would've scuppered the deal. There was none of that. Face it, Britain stands alone.
    1
  20538. That's an odd statement. The most popular one tends to make prime minister.
    1
  20539. Tee-hee. It was an inside job. Just like Putin's apartment bombings, which gained him absolute power in Russia.
    1
  20540. Someone's forgetting that WMDs include biological and chemical weapons, too.
    1
  20541.  @niblet112  Your mum.
    1
  20542. A year ago, Kyiv was surrounded. It was a close one, but no cigar.
    1
  20543.  @DemocratsRigElections  I guess you Yanks are unperturbed by this. Becoming callous to political assassinations is good preparation for Trump Presidency 2.0.
    1
  20544.  @brentderkson6858  All Iranians are oppressors? Iran is practically in a constant state of civil unrest. Who exactly are the protesters oppressing?
    1
  20545.  @MrMalmir  Sure thing, it's legal all right. Establishments may impose dress code conditions, however.
    1
  20546. Ja, laat ze maar. Ze zijn op doorreis, o.a. naar Nederland.
    1
  20547.  @roll-outcommanders6520  The Comrade's salty tears are an excellent source of medical-grade saline.
    1
  20548. Have you asked Russia to solve all your problems? Or China? They're a bit lacklustre in supporting the UN's chronically under-resourced peacekeeping efforts, but maybe you can convince them to get busy. Well, not Russia, because it has already too much on its plate making war in Ukraine, but how about China?
    1
  20549. Ukraine have JDAMs and HAMMERs, which Russia copied.
    1
  20550.  @praxedestejada1870  Oops, you committed a grave non sequitur fallacy there. "Shame on you" is the correct expression, by the way.
    1
  20551. What made you so mousy?
    1
  20552. PM switcheroos are a Tory thing.
    1
  20553. Sure, Russia can't depend on the EU to sit by idly when Russia shows a complete disrespect for human decency.
    1
  20554. ...with horror?
    1
  20555. He's a comedian. Comedians make jokes. Sure enough, Zelenskyy made a joke... out of Putin.
    1
  20556. It is so over...
    1
  20557.  @calvinblue894  The Chinese fighter shown in the video is a Shenyang J-11, an inferior Chinese copy of the Russian Sukhoi Su-27. It's a whole generation behind the F-35.
    1
  20558.  @calvinblue894  According to the Russians. They're none too pleased that China has broken the licensing terms.
    1
  20559.  @calvinblue894  These are the very planes that Russia was upset about, dum-dum.
    1
  20560.  @virtutemodestia3477  Aw, you're butthurt. I'm merely relating facts. You should give it a try one day, when your butt feels better.
    1
  20561. Between Russia and Norkland? It has both by the b*lls.
    1
  20562.  @roll-outcommanders6520  We've been through this already. No flaccid comebacks. And go play with communist friends, if you have any friends to begin with.
    1
  20563. Fun fact. Any outlet that disseminates news -- genuine or fake -- can be considered "media". And Al Jazeera isn't Murican...
    1
  20564.  @eedragonr6293  Oh, you've dusted off the public debt argument. 100% coping strategy, for Putin fanboys only.
    1
  20565.  @eedragonr6293  It's all about whether or not the government is able to service its debt. All NATO members, if they have public debt, can. Did you do any economic studies?
    1
  20566.  @eedragonr6293  I can't make head nor tail of your last comment. Wipe the foam off your mouth and try again.
    1
  20567. ​ @eedragonr6293  The ex-Combloc ones do, in the form of EU cohesion funds. All contribute to the UN, not vice versa. I suggest you try to make a point.
    1
  20568.  @eedragonr6293  Ah, you're cherry-picking (old) news items. This says more about the Tories' stubborn refusal to provide for their poor than about a looming bankruptcy of the UK. You can't see the forest for the trees, can you?
    1
  20569.  @eedragonr6293  I'm sorry, your English is too poor for a serious discussion.
    1
  20570.  @eedragonr6293  There you go again. Take some English lessons and get back to me.
    1
  20571.  @77belts  Germany is sending in tanks. That said, the country is not exactly brimming with weaponry. The Bundeswehr is notorious for outfitting their tanks with broomsticks in lieu of machine guns. You're being a bit rough on Scholz. He inherited Merkel's and Schröder's Wandel durch Handel policy. It made perfect sense at the time, but Germany should've made contingency plans in case Putin developed frontotemporal dementia.
    1
  20572.  @chadjcrase  Don't spout clichés.
    1
  20573. Whack! The door hit you on the way out.
    1
  20574.  @MrGatzby  Oh, you need Murica more than we do. Russia is a giant on clay feet. China's feet are at least terracotta. Get your begging bowl out.
    1
  20575. Censorship is more your thing.
    1
  20576. Why? China is slowly but surely gaining a vast new north-western province to lord over. They'll have a monopoly on Ruxia's resources.
    1
  20577. Easy, AfD.
    1
  20578. You can still do worse with Trump. May I suggest true multi-party democracy? A duopoly is only one step up from a one-party dictatorship.
    1
  20579.  KELLI2L2  You mean the Russian oligarchs have taken over France as well?
    1
  20580.  @calach2924  I'd rather have shape-shifting reptilians involved. NWO conspiracy theorists have grown lame.
    1
  20581.  @calach2924  The shape-shifting NWO reptilians? Do you think Caucasian blood has a funny taste to it? I hear your reptilians drink blood.
    1
  20582.  @halberderdier8073  The US has a plethora of extracurricular activities in matters military. With few exceptions, European defence spending goes purely towards fullfilling NATO commitments. The US have committed themselves in many more areas. The Iraq War was a case in point. That was purely an extracurricular activity as far as NATO was concerned.
    1
  20583.  @gregtriplex5878  Who did you mean? Railing against Western colonialism is like barking up a tree that has long since been cut down. Chinese and Russian colonialism is alive and well, on the other hand. Amusingly, China is furtively neo-colonising Russia while the latter is unsuccessfully trying to colonialise Ukraine in the classic sense.
    1
  20584.  @gregtriplex5878  So, who got Libya and whose colony is Iraq now? And the colonial overlord in Syria, who's that then? It must've escaped your attention that "the West" was very divided over the Iraq War. We were very consistent about the case for Iraqi WMDs being too weak to warrant military action. The US was very cross with us till they realised we were right all along. I'm amused that you Krembots never get this right.
    1
  20585.  @gregtriplex5878  Like I wrote earlier, you're barking up a tree that was cut down a looong time ago. The VOC was Dutch, by the way. It became defunct in 1799.
    1
  20586.  @STEP107  You've never heard of capitalist peace theory? Sure, the Germans didn't count on Putin's imperialist ambitions being so strong and his people being so apathetic.
    1
  20587. Putin can do it. He just needs to give the withdrawal order.
    1
  20588.  @cactuslietuva  When the EU goes green, the US won't be able to flog its oil and gas any more than bankrupt Russia.
    1
  20589.  @ShirosTamagotchi  There's little chance of that happening. The Russians are among the most apathetic of all the peoples populating this earth. They'll spring into action only when they're facing intolerable hardship themselves. The Ukrainians' suffering is very low on their list of priorities.
    1
  20590. Since you're able to time-travel, go back in time and convince Putin to cancel the invasion. He'll thank you profusely.
    1
  20591. I think we would get a looot of Russian LGBTQ impersonators, too.
    1
  20592. Fat chance. China can't shake the distrust that comes with the CCP's meddling in Chinese tech companies. DeepSeek is already being banned on account of it. The CCP's totalitarianism will be China's undoing.
    1
  20593.  @knowledge3563 Are you greatly impressed with yourself when you talk to the mirror? I think you are.
    1
  20594.  @s9ka972  I trust you can google. Try "Russia India trade deficit".
    1
  20595.  @Silver_Prussian  That's mighty nice for China. China will own Indian assets through their neo-colony Russia.
    1
  20596.  @abdirahmanahmadalifarah926  Russia needs to flog its oil, no matter what. Even if it means selling below cost, i.e. losing money on the transaction. Russia desperately needs the foreign currency. It's an irrefutable fact that Russia's oil revenues are in constant decline.
    1
  20597.  @margo7059  This isn't VK. Try English.
    1
  20598.  @margo7059  Gibberish.
    1
  20599.  @waryaamoxamad3115  Let's not forget that Assad would've long lost if Iran and Russia hadn't propped up his regime. With Assad gassing and barrel-bombing Syrian civilians -- his own people -- it begs the question who's the terrorist.
    1
  20600. To paraphrase Orwell, CCP members are more equal than others.
    1
  20601. ​ @FauziahAbdullah715  But the thing is, whose side is Allah on? The same old geezer is known as Yahweh and God to Jews and Christians respectively. I think you have a custody battle on your hands.
    1
  20602.  @FauziahAbdullah715  So, the Abrahamic deity known in chronological order as Yahweh, God and Allah, once in a while changes tack, abandons his faithful and starts looking for new followers? Then I've got really bad news for you. The Baha'i Faith is the latest upgrade. Consider yourselves obsoleted.
    1
  20603.  @FauziahAbdullah715  Ah, you're conceding that there's no logic to it. Medieval fairy tales, the lot of them.
    1
  20604.  @FauziahAbdullah715  Boring? I didn't know it was exciting to have an imaginary friend in the sky. Well, maybe to a child.
    1
  20605. I don't know about that, but a wave of mutated Covid-19 will sweep over Europe.
    1
  20606.  @ΕίμιστιόλτσΑριστιράςτσΠρουόδκι  Are chemtrails still a thing? I thought they were binned, just like NWO Reptilians.
    1
  20607.  @ΕίμιστιόλτσΑριστιράςτσΠρουόδκι  Are NWO Reptilians immune? It would make sooo much sense.
    1
  20608. Have you started studying Chinese yet? You know they'll eventually make you when you become their neo-colony.
    1
  20609. True, that. Less confrontational and more organized, as in seeking foreign allies.
    1
  20610.  @rudyzk  So Obama should've nuked China or something? You live in an imaginary world of Murican omnipotence. China has every right to live up to its potential. I just hope that includes democratizing.
    1
  20611. ​ @rudyzk  No, I'm not Chinese. Why would you ask that? Paranoid much? China has enjoyed some trade privileges reserved for developing countries and it has unfairly subsidized some of its corporations. We're not entirely innocent in the latter respect either. Obviously these matters need remedying. You, on the hand, are making it appear that only US presidents have a say-so in deciding which country gets to grow next. You have a megalomaniacal worldview.
    1
  20612. Sell plains as in steppes? I thought that by invading Ukraine, Russia was in the market for more Lebensraum, not less.
    1
  20613. You are quite an anarchronism with your antecedents.
    1
  20614. Putin would sooo much like to invade Armenia.
    1
  20615.  @CorruptMediaLies  Aw. I must've butthurt you something fierce, since you keep stalking me with your inane oneliners.
    1
  20616. No crater, Anthony. Facts are a biatch.
    1
  20617. That would be sweet, but the Russians are politically apathetic to the extreme. They may be missing out on democracy, but they're not exactly missing it.
    1
  20618.  @Rocket_scientist_88  Indifferent, more like.
    1
  20619.  @keithunderwood6205  Hey! I'm helping you to become a better troll. If your manager realises you're ineffective, you'll get your call-up papers for Ukraine. It's your life that's on the line!
    1
  20620.  @christopherblackburn6811  Your "many good smart people [that] worked for the last Trump administration" have given pretty damning accounts of Trump's leadership.
    1
  20621. Congrats, you made a Europol watchlist.
    1
  20622. This is Trump's former chief of staff speaking. Doesn't it strike you as odd that more often than not, Trump's ex-staffers turn against him?
    1
  20623. Funny you should say that. The president of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, is known for speaking in riddles. He has a knack for tiring out his audience, too.
    1
  20624. Gaza didn't land the World Cup, sport.
    1
  20625.  @katelynnwoods  I hear she drinks blood and shape-shifts as well.
    1
  20626.  @rkustanto  I'll wait, but it will be an extremely long wait. 30,000 years? But what I do expect to experience -- for a second time in my lifetime -- is that we have to provide food aid to Russia.
    1
  20627. Syria should seriously consider joining the free world, old or new.
    1
  20628. How much vodka have you had?
    1
  20629. A Frankengun without the looks...
    1
  20630. So the EU's NWO globalists (Reptilians?) travelled back in time, tweaked the Good Friday Agreement, fixed the Brexit referendum and then hypnotised the Tories into rejecting a soft Brexit. It all starts to make sense now.
    1
  20631.  @alanedwards6491  I forgot to add that the EU's NWO Reptilians also bamboozled Johnson's cabinet and British Parliament into negotiating and then ratifying a disastrous Withdrawal Agreement. Still, the alternative, that the UK's leaders don't understand the consequences of their actions, is even more horrible to contemplate.
    1
  20632.  @alanedwards6491  Sure, but then the WA has failed its purpose. If that's no biggie, it begs the question what all the hullabaloo was about. I mean, a prime minister resigned for failing -- not once but thrice -- to get her WA through parliament, snap elections and a new prime minister who renegotiated the WA, basically just adding the bits that are now deemed incompatible with maintaining British sovereignty. It's clearly amateur hour in Whitehall.
    1
  20633. Aw. The Association of Conspiracy Theorists does not approve.
    1
  20634. One swallow does not a summer make. There were US consumer boycotts of French products during the early stages of the Iraq War, because France wouldn't join Dubya's crusade war on terror -- or at least the controversial Iraqi part of it. French wine producers were hurt, but still, France didn't join the fight and its US-bound wine exports quickly recovered.
    1
  20635.  @marvinmarvin2424  You're thinking as a true colonial master. Colonialism and the EU are not comparable.
    1
  20636. ​ @marvinmarvin2424  No one did colonialism as the Brits. It was all good and well when they were the top dogs, but with Britain no longer in charge, the situation is suddenly completely unacceptable.
    1
  20637.  @kimobrien.  Do you need to swing from one extreme to the other?
    1
  20638.  @kimobrien.  OK, your US usage of "liberal" suggests that you're a Yank. You're beyond polarised.
    1
  20639.  @kimobrien.  Your "liberals" aren't called liberals in Europe, or for that matter, not pretty much elsewhere either. Oh, I run the trade unions now? For your info, I'm not British either. You're stuck with the same de facto duopoly as they are.
    1
  20640.  @kimobrien.  Class struggle, that says it all. You're an anachronism.
    1
  20641. For the same reason that Iran doesn't dare attack US territory?
    1
  20642.  @Alex_Komnin  Meanwhile, would-be hackers in the West put their skills to productive use, and earn a bundle in the process. So much so, that best-in-class Russian hackers would make a beeline for the West, if they still could.
    1
  20643.  UFOZone51  Zelenskyy was elected democratically. Putin, anything but.
    1
  20644.  @highcountrydelatite  Australia has a long history of borrowing royals. Why not Fredde & Marie for a change? At least they have the EU behind them, unlike the UK.
    1
  20645.  @DoeJohn-gn9ms  You don't talk to many Europeans then.
    1
  20646.  @geoffobrien1783  No one's claiming Russia really intended to attack. It's just that armies prepare for the worst and escalations do happen. Russia is a giant with feet of clay. Russia can't afford sustained warfare in Ukraine. It would be yet another Soviet-Afghan War type of scenario. That one bankrupted the USSR -- Russia would undergo the same fate.
    1
  20647.  @a.n.3691  Wrong country, buddy. If Israel is still occupying Lebanese territory, it's the Shebaa Farms, a small strip of land that Israel considers Syrian land, not Lebanese.
    1
  20648.  @lb7476  I can tell you I've been to China. I can't, however, tell you how many times, because I've lost count. Also, I don't watch, listen to or read US news media.
    1
  20649. Are you paying your dues yourselves?
    1
  20650.  @loppadus  Yeah, time for a true multiparty democracy.
    1
  20651.  Pat Limz  Actually, Massoud's Northern Alliance fought the Taliban ever since the Taliban first came to power. They were also instrumental in removing the Taliban from power, practically backed only by US airpower and relatively few US and British special forces. It remains to be seen in the Northern Alliance makes a comeback in some shape or form. It's also entirely possible that the Taliban itself will fragment into factions that will fight one another.
    1
  20652. Why? Trump just sidelined himself in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
    1
  20653. @Hans Jackson NATO's Partnership for Peace is not a good argument. Russia, too, is a PfP member. To this day.
    1
  20654. Murica controls the ECJ now? You do have to keep coming up with ever-wilder conspiracy theories to keep getting noticed?
    1
  20655. We still use the Mosin-Nagant as a sniper rifle in the Finnish Defence Forces. Truth be told, nothing but the receiver is original. Some sport the Imperial Russian octagonal receiver, which means they're over a hundred years old.
    1
  20656. Sure, but it may take some time before the Russians rid themselves of Putin, and there's no telling if his successor cares for democracy.
    1
  20657.  @eugeneburns6124  Speak for yourself. We recognised Palestine statehood in protest, and Israel recalled its ambassador in counter-protest. The muppet hasn't been back since.
    1
  20658. That's a contradiction in terms.
    1
  20659.  @FargarJaji-p6f  You can have French-accented spoken English, but French English is still an oxymoron.
    1
  20660.  @wom_Bat  Scorched-earth makes no sense unless you're retreating and want to slow the enemy's advance, or when you're temporarily occupying the territory and you want to deny your enemy a base for a future attack. Neither applies here.
    1
  20661.  @wom_Bat  So you changed stance. That was quick.
    1
  20662.  @wom_Bat  No, you suggested that scorched-earth policy is equally useful when attacking. It's not. It's extraordinary. Scorched-earth policy is typically used when you're retreating or when you're holding enemy territory, but you want to deny its use by your enemy and, ultimately, yourself.
    1
  20663.  @wom_Bat  No, it's not. You can argue that carpet bombing equates scorched-earth policy, but you'd find that very few military experts agree with you. However, Operation Ranch Hand from the Vietnam War does qualify.
    1
  20664.  @wom_Bat  Oh noes. Yes, this can be likened to scorched earth, and it's still extraordinary. Yet it's not scorched earth because it doesn't make sense. A policy is supposed to make sense. I don't think you have the intellectual capacity to understand complex matters like this.
    1
  20665.  @wom_Bat  Are you trying to convince me that Putin didn't have a plan or that his strategies seem odd, to say the least? That's what have I been trying to argue all along. Debate isn't your thing, is it?
    1
  20666.  @quantumballs1488  No, why? Or you do see an astral connection between everything?
    1
  20667.  @dennis6515  I'm sure DW has reporters in countries where the BBC hasn't got any.
    1
  20668.  @dennis6515  Same as always. Reporters rely on news reports from the likes of Reuters and AP. Did you think reporters always do investigative reporting on the scene? For your benefit, they should do the green screen thing.
    1
  20669. So, you're advocating that the IDF commits war crimes. Have you ever served?
    1
  20670.  @dakedakinson64  Kinda hard, with weakly radioactive material. They don't call it 'depleted' for nothing.
    1
  20671.  @nbgoodiscore1303  The history of the USSR isn't your forte, I see. The infamous Gulag system was dismantled after Stalin's death. You may want to read up on it before you comment further.
    1
  20672.  @nbgoodiscore1303  Reading comprehension isn't your forte either. Reread dpelpal's comment, to which I replied. If you're unable to follow the conversation, butt out.
    1
  20673.  @nbgoodiscore1303  How come it's so hard for you to understand that Stalin's repression and the Gulag system provided the USSR with a plentiful supply of free labour? While it spelled sheer misery for the convicts, it did keep the otherwise woefully inefficient Stalin-era Soviet economy afloat. No one's claiming that the USSR still exists. You're taking reductio ad absurdum a tad too far.
    1
  20674. Isn't Putin's personal well-being very much tied to the outcome of the war? I'm afraid there will be little left of him to prosecute in the Hague after the Russians are through with him.
    1
  20675.  @moiseshuerta3984  Your coping mechanism sprang into action there.
    1
  20676.  @moiseshuerta3984  You're all confused. It's Russia that does the illegal invading. Ukraine's job is to beat the Orcs back to Mordor, but no further.
    1
  20677. Translation please?
    1
  20678. Still, Turkey is taking one in the groin now that the Kurds, too, grow the area under their control.
    1
  20679. I guess the Ukrainians were on the winning side in 1945. And they will be again, in 2023 or 2024. Russia gets to decide when it loses, but not if.
    1
  20680. Germany is keen to arm Israel, but Ukraine, not so.
    1
  20681. So, you're sexually inexperienced and think women are castrated men?
    1
  20682. So, you're admitting that Israel engaged in state terrorism?
    1
  20683. Because the reservists are already at it and it doesn't appear to be the IDF's primary goal anyway.
    1
  20684.  @davidnoelfranks1124  Putin's and Lavrov's reaction to the news was meek, to say the least. You Putin fanboys must be sorely disappointed. Have you considered switching to Kim Jong-un's fan club? He never disappoints.
    1
  20685. The Catalonians already have democracy and freedom. Independence is a bone of contention. The US has no dog in this fight. Nor does the EU, for that matter.
    1
  20686.  @themsky8905  What didn't we do that you did? You probably aren't into details, but there's a vast difference Europe and Murica in foreign policy vis-à-vis Israel. We condemn, they veto.
    1
  20687.  @themsky8905  I don't know if you were still a tot when it happened, but there was a major rift in NATO over the Iraq War. Donald Rumsfeld dubbed us "Old Europeans" because we flat-out refused to go to war over non-existent WMDs. Afghanistan was UN policy. China and Russia were very supportive of the op. Educate yourself.
    1
  20688. Fake Aussie Rod, we've been over this. France never bought the Iraq WMD story. You might as well demand that Russia proves their existence.
    1
  20689. The relevant point here is that France wasn't deceived by CIA-spun tales of Iraqi WMDs. Hence there's no burden of proof on France, like you suggest.
    1
  20690. As youngsters, we used to go to a landfill to shoot rats with a .22 revolver. The rats soon got wise to us. Amazingly, they started attacking us. That's what we're dealing with here. Putin feels increasingly cornered and lashes out at everyone and anyone. After Ukraine and, now, his own generals, NATO may be up next.
    1
  20691. So it's a lost cause for Russia, but we knew that already.
    1
  20692. That said, the Finns would like you to earn their respect. The fact of the matter is that Sweden is still making amends for neglecting its defence in a bout of rose-coloured optimism. In the event of a real show-down, Sweden's inadequate reserves would prove just that -- inadequate.
    1
  20693. Germany is making great strides in the Energiewende. Mind you, the USA is managing a similar drastic energy turnaround, only in the opposite direction. Kudos to both for changing tack so effectively.
    1
  20694. Troll logic. There have been many fatal crashes that don't involve S-500s or SAMs of any type. Russia in particular can vouch for this.
    1
  20695. Cope harder, bot
    1
  20696.  @lilwayne3506  Not in NATO, sport. You have practically the whole world to choose from if you need to pick an enemy.
    1
  20697. Too bad about the resort. Wagner, good riddance.
    1
  20698. No can do. The Copenhagen criteria prevent any non-democratic countries from joining the EU. Anyway, we're phasing out fossil fuels. Russia is surplus to requirements.
    1
  20699.  @fredsanke4070  Can you take your sexual fantasies elsewhere?
    1
  20700.  @jesusroks545  Nonsense. Zelenskyy has a dramatic sense of flair. He'll go down in history as the warrior president who brought down Putin.
    1
  20701. German statesmen and economists underestimated Putin's stupidity. It's as simple as that.
    1
  20702.  @bikeru.k1981  I suggest you seek treatment for xenophobia.
    1
  20703.  @aliamin2662  That's an interesting viewpoint. Europe's human rights record is perhaps not entirely spotless, but it is ne plus ultra. And where might you be from?
    1
  20704. How? Rather easily.
    1
  20705. Ik zie het als een boycot.
    1
  20706.  @adamklosterman8960  I feel cheated. I'm most definitely in the EU, yet I have none of your money. When we did borrow some, we thought we had to pay it back -- and did, too, to the full. You even issued a postage stamp to commemorate the fact.
    1
  20707. It's pathetic how the far-right wants to be regarded the new right. There's an element of shame involved, me thinks.
    1
  20708. Loose cigarettes sink ships.
    1
  20709. Sure, Lukashenko could gain a Praetorian Guard in Wagner. Like many Roman emperors, Lukashenko could lose his life to them, too. I doubt Prigozhin is much of a classicist, but he could draw inspiration from how the Praetorian Guard killed Emperor Pertinax and auctioned off the imperial title.
    1
  20710. Trump wants them to teach him some moves.
    1
  20711. Boo hoo, Russia has pre-answered these attacks countless of times, to no avail.
    1
  20712.  @qwittaice7672  I think you're right. Its military-industrial complex would go ape.
    1
  20713.  @nemo6282  How's life in your alternate reality? I'm suprised that over there, the names of continents, alliances and countries match with those in our real world, because nothing else does.
    1
  20714. Hmmm. Germany has had a female politician occupying the top spot for 15 years now. To me, that suggest DW and Germans in general are quite comfortable with spunky female politicians.
    1
  20715. Belgium will win 2-1.
    1
  20716. Let's think about this. Yank diplomat ignores EU official, seeks out national representative, national rep confers with EU official and passes message to Yank diplomat. In summary, Yank diplomat turns a direct line of communication into an indirect one. Having more timely access to information, Russian and Chinese diplomats are content.
    1
  20717. But Erdogan very much wants F-16s and F-16 upgrade kits from the US, but he can't have any, unless he okays letting Sweden and Finland into NATO. Erdogan does honour to crooked bazaar merchants.
    1
  20718. Firstly, Trump has amply exhibited his incompetence in matters international. His botched withdrawal from Afghanistan (with kind assistance from Biden) is one for the history books. Secondly, Haley, a former ambassador at the UN, has had exposure to international politics for reals. About Trump's foreign leader friends, by his own admission, Putin is one.
    1
  20719. Yemen is a victim of its own civil war. The Houthis are just one combatant.
    1
  20720. But the problem is, Mexico doesn't want any of that. Russia can only count on international pariahs as allies.
    1
  20721.  @muzzmac160  Sure thing, but they're not restricted to them. Russia is.
    1
  20722.  @eaubert1  Don't think Mexico will jump from the frying pan into the fire. There's more to this world than Russia and USA.
    1
  20723. You should vote.
    1
  20724. Was it a bootleg copy?
    1
  20725. There are no vetoes in the UNGA. If you're erroneously referring to the infamous UNSC vote, the US vetoed the ceasefire and the UK abstained. You have not established a connection with these strikes. Speaking of UNSC votes, just the other week, the Security Council passed a resolution that strongly condemned the Houthis' attacks against Red Sea shipping. All members -- permanent and rotating -- must've anticipated military action against the Houthis if the resolution were to pass. It speaks volumes that there were only abstinations, but no nays. That included Russia and China, who could've vetoed the resolution, but chose not to, because ultimately it's in their interest, too, that the Houthis get their just deserts.
    1
  20726.  @daghli21  No, I can't see that. European countries dominate the top 10 of the most respected countries according to the Reputation Institute. The same goes for most visited countries, according to the World Tourism Organization. Over to you, please reveal your sources. No gut feelings, please.
    1
  20727. So, what kind of mandate do you have from the British electorate? For better or worse, May & Co have a mandate to represent the people of Britain. I very much doubt you do.
    1
  20728. Hughjarce153 & purpleanex, the two of you seem clueless about the workings of a representative democracy. You can disagree with the system or her policies, but Theresa May has a legal mandate to govern. You, on the other hand, enjoy no mandate in any shape or form from the British people to speak on their behalf.
    1
  20729.  @g6g401  The Wagner Groups lacks a lot of capabilities that the Russian Army has. For a start, Wagner is not self-sustaining. Time and again, Prigozhin has to ask his Kremlin masters to order the Russian Army to support his troops. When he's not receiving the support he thinks he's entitled to, he'll openly criticize the top army brass, stooping as low as calling them names. I wouldn't surprise me a bit if the army 'frags' Prigozhin when he ventures to the front.
    1
  20730.  @Midnightcr3w247  What are you blithering about? The point I'm trying to make here is that a nuclear holocaust will be the end of humanity as we know it.
    1
  20731.  @whiteobama3032  Your claim about Muslim colonisers dislocating the Jews is problematic in oh-so many ways. For starters, there were centuries between the Jewish diaspora and the birth of Islam. If anyone, the Romans displaced the Jews, and Samaritans -- who're neither Muslims nor Jews -- replaced them. History is darn inflexible. Annoyingly, it can't be changed to suit your narrative, even after millenia.
    1
  20732. Gitler 2.0 is hunkering in a luxury nuclear bunker in Siberia.
    1
  20733. Trade deficits can be very misleading. China excels in final assembly, which adds relatively little value to a product. Nonetheless, its full transfer price is taken into account when trade volumes are calculated. While it may appear that the product contributes to a trade deficit with China, the real deficits can be with Taiwan, Korea and Japan, whose components are being used.
    1
  20734.  @livingtribunal4110  You've tried to make that argument several times. Endless repetition doesn't improve your case.
    1
  20735. I wish that were true, but there's a Chinese private jet waiting at Moscow's Vnukovo airport to whisk Putin away to Inner Mongolia. They're giving Putin's dacha there a spring cleaning as we speak.
    1
  20736. It's pretty much Putin against the world.
    1
  20737. I'm afraid most of "the whole world" would have to arrest Putin upon arrival as a suspected war criminal. That is how the cookie crumbles.
    1
  20738. +Mark Metz andrewszombie is absolutely right. You can't prosecute refugees for entering if they claim asylum. You can detain them and deport them, but claiming asylum is not a crime.
    1
  20739.  @the_white_rabbit  Firstly, where did I call you a Yank? However, you wouldn't be the first impressionable youngster who's more familiar with US elections than his own. Secondly, how's Hungary relevant here? This is about Weber and European elections in Germany. Judging from your knee-jerk reaction, you have no clue about how these things work in Germany. Thirdly, you think Fidesz' majority is somehow flattering for Hungary? On the contrary, it's a sure sign of an undeveloped democracy, regardless of what Fidesz stands for, which, incidentally, isn't very flattering either. Fourthly, Hungary ranks as a "flawed democracy" in the Democracy Index and scores poorly in the Free Press Index. I happen to have three European nationalities and by virtue of these I'm thrice better off than you on both accounts. You really have no clue.
    1
  20740.  @nyali2  Try googling "Democracy Index" and "Hungary". I hope you're not Hungarian, because it makes for embarrassing reading.
    1
  20741. ​ @nyali2  OK, you're the lazy type, or the EIU's conclusions are just too painful for you to confront. Here are some choice excerpts: "The Democracy Index compiled by the EIU is based on five categories: the electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture.” "Based on the overall score, the democracy index of Hungary has been continuously deteriorating since 2011, the last time when Hungary achieved a score above 7. In 2016, Hungaryʼs score reached 6.72, and last year it shrank further to 6.64, placing it in 56th position together with Lesotho, below Colombia (53rd), and just above Croatia (58th)." "However, two Visegrád countries, Hungary and Poland, score only 6 for media freedom, ranking them in joint 71st place, having experienced a significant deterioration in their media scores over the past year and more." "The EIU finds a similar pattern of heavy-handed state interference in the media evident in Hungary in recent years, where the government, led by the Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has been consolidating its control over the media since taking power in 2010. It has overseen the sale of several media outlets to new owners who appear to have close government ties, notes the report. In addition, the closure and subsequent sale of Népszabadság, one of Hungary’s oldest and most respected newspapers, revealed the government’s intolerance of a critical press [...]"
    1
  20742.  @nyali2  Read EIU's report. I'm not going to quote it in its entirety, just because you're lazy. Would there happen to be a similar comparative study that does, in your view, justice to Hungary's democratic credentials? Or is it all a giant conspiracy? Let's hear it.
    1
  20743. When the novel coronavirus was just a thing in China, European countries were gifting them supplies to contain the outbreak. Was your magic sky friend napping or why didn't he see us through?
    1
  20744. Interestingly, the Syrian Christians are almost exlusively Orthodox Christians. If they were a French tool, they'd be Catholic. But don't let inconvenient truths stand in the way of a promising conspiracy theory.
    1
  20745.  @jaketaylor3901  Prior to the fateful Brexit referendum, the UK was the fastest growing EU economy. Then it all went pear-shaped.
    1
  20746. How about a Reptilian then? Tories loved the Queen, and she was one.
    1
  20747.  Евгения Едалина  You're silly for putting your trust into Internet translators. Besides, most readers won't bother.
    1
  20748.  @kudr66  I suppose it's a good thing that you far-righties are finally distancing yourselves from the Nazis.
    1
  20749.  @nenasiek  The warming part refers to averages. I'm sure the concept came up when you were in school.
    1
  20750. No-one in the West wants a piece of Russia. In case you haven't noticed in India, it's Russia that's out for more Lebensraum.
    1
  20751. A Finnish arms dealer is trying to flog said rifle for 30,000€ ($33,000) as we speak. Google "asetalo" and "remington m700 deluxe".
    1
  20752. But somehow you still side with Russia, which went further than just making territorial demands.
    1
  20753.  @billnikola2463  The OSCE found no evidence of Ukraine targeting civilians in the Donbas. Lies don't get truer by repeating them.
    1
  20754. Hezbollah isn't the Lebanese Army. It's a group of militants, a state within a state.
    1
  20755. We've talked about you upvoting your own comments. It's like pleasuring yourself in public.
    1
  20756. Who's the EU's favourite candidate then? I must've missed it.
    1
  20757. And so few parties to choose from, too.
    1
  20758.  @delos2279  Make that absolute monarchies. Nearly half of the top 10 leading democracies of the world are constitutional monarchies.
    1
  20759.  TheNewblackdog  No can do -- that would light the fuse for renewed Troubles in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement guarantees dual British-Irish nationality for all those born in NI before 2005. I hear even protestant unionists have been queueing for Irish passports.
    1
  20760.  TheNewblackdog  Singling out EU nationals while allowing Brits with additional non-EU nationalities to retain their UK passport would be problematic. I would expect the European Court of Human Rights to be overwhelmed by complaints. In case of a blanket ban, there could be an adverse effect in expats opting to retain their British nationality instead, overwhelming your social security and healthcare systems upon their return. Don't forget that your messy imperial past has left you with a diaspora of mostly elderly expats. Not practical -- that's my assessment and I'm familiar with the intricacies of juggling multiple citizenships. I had to make an effort to keep the two I was born with. The third I got just in case.
    1
  20761.  TheNewblackdog  There are restrictions when it comes to sensitive positions such as serving in the military. In my case, the Dutch authorities got into a flap and when they conscripted me and I truthfully told them I had a conflicting appointment: I was about to be deployed to Lebanon as a UN peacekeeper. That spelled the end of my alternative military career in the Royal Netherlands Army, but judging from the anticlimactic two weeks I did spend there, it was no loss. Immigration laws are rather relentless. If you lose your nationality, you don't automatically receive work and residence permits, if at all. Been there, done that.
    1
  20762. Your nomen is an omen.
    1
  20763.  @coke2679  Apples and oranges. The Germans could teach the Americans how to do democracy.
    1
  20764. Educate us, how is Trump's surrender plan -- including this illogical minerals deal -- preventing WW3? Does the dunce think that Ukraine's vast reserves of lithium, titanium and uranium are an obstacle to peace, so that their extraction and removal to the US needs to happen sooner rather than later?
    1
  20765.  @ks5865  So Queen Lizzie is a lizard? Nomen est omen, I suppose...
    1
  20766. The boot is on the other foot now. Not very comfortably, izzit?
    1
  20767.  @alextyazhelov3145  Point me to the OSCE SMM reports that prove that Ukraine did more than exercise its inalienable right of self-defence. Alternatively, quietly scurry back to your troll cave.
    1
  20768. We both know that Russia can't rotate in fresh troops in any significant numbers without mobilising its reserves. That would be tantamount to declaring war -- something that Putin desperately wants to avoid.
    1
  20769. But we do. You're just poorly informed.
    1
  20770.  @manishgrg9585  Glad you asked. The WHO. Read up on the COVAX programme. We're also paying for Indian-made vaccines.
    1
  20771.  @manishgrg9585  Did you have a point? The WHO isn't betting on just one horse.
    1
  20772.  @tonygai9181  What's that supposed to mean?
    1
  20773. What's scarier still -- and far more relevant from a modern perspective -- is that you suffer from military adventurism, just like the Russians. Let us know when you've found them Iraqi WMDs.
    1
  20774. I don't know, my ancestor was ennobled for beating the Turks in 1877-78. He led a platoon of sharpshooters. Evidently they shot more than their fair share of Turks.
    1
  20775. Iran did no such thing. Israel put Iran's air defences to shame, and Iran knows it, too, but won't admit it, of course.
    1
  20776. Freedom of navigation works both ways. I imagine the Russians and the Chinese would block other sea lines in retaliation. Moreover, Israel went to war not once but twice when Egypt blocked the port of Eilat.
    1
  20777.  @drakelang8342  What are you on about? We have no senators, congressmen or a VP named Harris.
    1
  20778. Turkey is denied high-tech weapons imports and it has seen its chance to change that. The world is a bazaar to Turkey.
    1
  20779. Which particular god? Your God or Allah? Or aren't they the same?
    1
  20780.  @macjonte  Ahem, the Viking Age lasted till the 11th century. Finland came gradually under Swedish influence starting from the 12th century -- although the start date is sketchy, too, as Sweden probably made up its first 'crusade' to Finland. The conquest, if you can call it that, was complete in the 13th century only. I wouldn't go boasting about the present Baltic states being under the Vikings either.
    1
  20781.  @bennyklabarpan7002  You're making it up as you go along. Present-day Finland was first inhabited by the Sami between 1600 and 1500 BC, followed by the Finns from 1250 to 700 BC. The Sami and the Finns made their way from the Urals, whereas the Scandinavians as Indo-Europeans originate from further south, the Pontic-Caspian Steppe. The Finns and the Swedes only properly started mixing it up in the Middle Ages, when Swedes settled along the coast of Finland.
    1
  20782.  @bennyklabarpan7002  I suggest you go to Wikipedia and edit the relevant articles to reflect your expert assessments. I'll be watching the discussion page with bated breath, to see how the other editors will react. I hope you have a very thick skin.
    1
  20783.  @bennyklabarpan7002  Go on, I dare you.
    1
  20784. South Korea rebounded nicely from the Korean War. I dare you to compare their GDP per capita with that of Russia. You'll break out in tears.
    1
  20785. ​ @edwardkelly3280  "Democracy" and "constitutional republic" are by no means mutually exclusive. We're not on Fox News anymore.
    1
  20786.  @loganmancini8759  It's called Muscovy now. Ukraine has copyright on 'Russia'.
    1
  20787. I don't know, there's probably more entertainment value in seeing Trump's business empire collapse around him. It would make for great reality TV and he's an entertainer after all.
    1
  20788. Who you do think is taking away Europe's political influence? Russia? Russia is committing economic suicide right before our eyes. Didn't you catch the memo that even a regional power like Russia needs an economy to match? Russia's economy is -- or rather, was -- the size of Italy's.
    1
  20789.  Nuclear Alex  If Putin first tries to poison Navalny, then banish him and finally, hide him away in a gulag, I'd say the poor sap is very upset.
    1
  20790. Nah, Putin's oligarchs will go scot-free -- unless they anger the man.
    1
  20791.  @cdeford2  Putin has no veto in matters pertaining to NATO membership. Putin can invent himself a sphere of influence, but there's no legal basis for it. Russia broke the UN Charter, period.
    1
  20792.  @jamesdoeberling7830  The Petersburgians may decide enough is enough and go for independence instead. Free Russia may be too tall an order.
    1
  20793. How would you score the Thai parliament? It must be quite orderly, with all the military appointees.
    1
  20794.  @Jamesbukasa78  No, why? The exact opposite is true. The Ukrainians are showing true valour.
    1
  20795. A crypto-Nazi outed himself.
    1
  20796. Then there's Prince Andrew, who can't do anything right.
    1
  20797. I don't think the Lithuanians are in need of cowards.
    1
  20798. Russia and Israel have been on pretty good terms lately.
    1
  20799. What an asinine comment.
    1
  20800. Cultures have subcultures.
    1
  20801.  @lawrencedoliveiro9104  You're clutching at straws. Striking a target and targeting it can be construed as being synonymous.
    1
  20802. Khrushchev knew that the Cuban Missile Crisis spelled his political demise. At least he had the presence of mind to bow out gracefully. No such luck with Putler.
    1
  20803. I don't see the powers that be jetting about either. Now is not the time for conspiracy theories.
    1
  20804. Winners don't revel in victimhood.
    1
  20805.  @petehowett2854  Ukrainians facing Hamas? That doesn't make an iota of sense. For your info, the Israelis faced Hezbollah in Lebanon. Neither the Hamas nor Hezbollah could stand up to the IDF, and Hamas the least. There's your reality.
    1
  20806. Centre-right parties aren't. It would appear your definition of 'leftist' is the problem here. In Germany, the really rabid lefties -- the deep-red extremists -- have long since been ousted from mainstream politics, and rightly so. On paper the parties still exists: the Marxist-Leninists, the Stalinists, the Trotskyists, the Anarchists, but no one seems to take them seriously any longer.
    1
  20807. +James Ricker Then how come Americans copied British bombs?
    1
  20808. If you say so.
    1
  20809. Deffo. And shape-shifting, blood-drinking Reptilians are pulling the strings.
    1
  20810. You believe wrongly, Mr. Whataboutism. Scorched-earth policy entails destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy. Libya, Iraq and Yugoslavia don't fit the bill. Ukraine does fit the bill. Russia is destroying everything and anything, even when they don't don't go on the offensive. It's as if Russia is destroying Ukraine out of spite, because it can't have it.
    1
  20811.  @TreyMax  Where did I get it wrong? You just managed a non-argument.
    1
  20812.  @ClaudiaMitchell-r9s  Whoosh. FYI, it's better to come second than first in military withdrawals. Russia sucks more, in other words.
    1
  20813.  @anjusreemaity6647  What about "you [sic] carrier groups... barking"? Firstly, I'm not American and secondly, was that English? I don't speak Indian English. In Africa, NATO co-operates with the African Union and the UN in crisis prevention and management. In practice, it meant providing logistical services to AU peacekeepers as part of AMISOM in Somalia and combatting piracy off the Horn of Africa. At present, NATO has no ongoing operations in Africa. Could it be that you're confusing NATO with strictly US and French endeavours in Africa? There appears to be a lot of confusion about NATO's role in conflicts. As a case in point, your lot often claims the Iraq War was a NATO op, although it was anything but.
    1
  20814. Perhaps they think their duty to the motherland is not enabling Putin and his imperialist ambitions, which only bring harm to Russia.
    1
  20815. I'm sure Lukashenko already learned his lesson two and half years ago, when Russia's 3-day SMO went pear-shaped. He's sitting tight in the knowledge that his dictatorial regime will survice Putin's by mere days. Rocking the boat would only hasten their demise.
    1
  20816. Don't despair, RT has spread your lies.
    1
  20817.  @SiIIyRabbit6  So why is it that the Filipinos -- to this day -- honour their freedom fighters, many of whom were executed by the Americans? The US was a genuine colonial master in the Philippines. All the trappings were there.
    1
  20818. That's about the same as saying that Indians are Pakistanis. Sweden, Norway and Denmark had Vikings. Finland did not.
    1
  20819.  @user-yd4zc6lt8z  Point being, the Finns aren't any more ex-Vikings than Indians are Pakistanis. You need to work on your reading comprehension.
    1
  20820. Here, your trust issues seem to be caused by factual reporting. Stick to Fox News, eh? They'll spare you the facts when they're unflattering.
    1
  20821. To be honest, Lavrov was not informed, as Putin treats him more like a spokesperson than a foreign minister. Rumour has it that Lavrov was none to pleased when the "SMO" broke out and wanted to expedite his retirement, but Putin made him a monetary offer he couldn't refuse.
    1
  20822.  @hag7097  The Wikipedia article does not support your claims in the remotest. The crux of the matter is that you falsely claimed that Friedrich Trump was expelled from Nazi Germany, which is an impossibility in itself, because Friedrich Trump had lain dead and buried for more than two decades when the Nazis came to power. You're merely emulating Trump by playing fast and loose with facts.
    1
  20823. Platitudes. You'd do well to come up with a formula for peace that is both specific and workable. You may ask yourself whether the compromises you're suggesting would be agreeable to yourselves.
    1
  20824. You're playing a microscopic violin.Taiwan is fully in charge of its own affairs.
    1
  20825. That's your justification for having 12,000 nuclear warheads? You're expecting quite a meteor shower.
    1
  20826. That's what the Russians kept telling themselves, and the result is Putler. And war.
    1
  20827. But as we've seen on many occasions, Russia isn't keen on China copying its weapons. Russia needs arms exports to stay afloat economically and China is very much a competitor there. You don't give competitors a leg up.
    1
  20828.  @leedonghae435  It is an issue. Russia and China are very much competing for the lower end of the market, in Africa, for instance. When China's quality and services improve, Russia will inevitably see a substantial drop in its market share.
    1
  20829. Maybe your fellow racists are blocking you?
    1
  20830. 50c for you, wumao. In dictatorships, these things are carefully choreographed. True democracies don't follow a script.
    1
  20831.  @zimagorec  Russia may have no public debt, but its ability to take on public debt is minimal, if not non-existent. You trolls will never get this public debt thing right. Having or not having public debt is no indication of prosperity, or the lack of it. By its own admission, Russia's tax income from oil and gas -- its biggest source of income -- has fallen 43% from last year. To keep afloat, the government has to "borrow" from the national wealth fund. This means that Russians' pensions are literally going up in smoke in Ukraine. What are they going to do when they reach retirement age, nibble on some cheap rockets?
    1
  20832.  @zimagorec  I would be an amateur if I believed the fanciful economic data that Russia is feeding the IMF. The Russian economy is on terminal life support -- you just don't know it yet. It will be an encore of the Soviet economy suddenly crashing and burning, which was followed by the Soviet Union itself crashing and burning. And yet again, we're expected to bail you out. This time, we'll make sure we're not helping to bring another monster into this world.
    1
  20833. So India felt indebted to the Soviet Union. Somehow, Putin inherited said debt and you'll repay him, morals be damned. Such slavishness just underlines that India is not ready for a permanent seat in the UNSC.
    1
  20834. You can say "Gross".
    1
  20835.  @madalinradion  ...and Russia's permanent seat in the UNSC. He won't be needing that either.
    1
  20836.    He's president-elect till his inauguration.
    1
  20837.  @owejay7981  If you try very, very hard, you can still hope.
    1
  20838.  @owejay7981  No wonder Poland and Hungary are keeping mum. They're led by authoritarian right-wing populist parties. Interestingly, they didn't come out in support for Trump either. Estonia's home secretary did -- and was promptly forced to resign.
    1
  20839.  @owejay7981  Oh, you're getting offensive. Well, I didn't expect better from a Trump fanboy. This is what Wikipedia has to say on the matter: "The president-elect of the United States is the person who conclusively appears to have won a presidential election in the United States but has yet to take office as President." Biden very much appears to have won.
    1
  20840.  @owejay7981  Is there a Trumpopedia with alternative facts for Trump fanboys such as yourself? What does the entry on president-elect say? <Rant>Not Biden<rant>?
    1
  20841.  @owejay7981  Stop whining and present your alternative facts already. Don't forget to mention your source. And spare me the conspiracy theories -- unless they include blood-sucking and shape-shifting Reptilians, in which case my funny bone is tickled. I already have a university degree in politics and history. Seriously.
    1
  20842.  @owejay7981  A double degree, Einstein. You haven't had much exposure to the academic world, have you? I figured as much. Your claims about the definition of "president-elect" are as unsubstantiated as Trump's about voting fraud. You stress the importance of credible sources, but you can't produce a single one to supported your argument. Pathetic.
    1
  20843.  @owejay7981  You're a hoot. Google "double degree". You may want to skip the top result, however, because of your Wikipedia-related allergies. By now I'm confident you've got no academic studies under your belt. You can't even list a source for common knowledge. Pitiful.
    1
  20844.  @owejay7981  The onus is on you to produce a better definition of "president-elect" than the one I produced. Despite my continuous urging and you continuously lecturing about the importance of sources in academia (with the odd conspiracy theory thrown in for free), you cannot produce one, period. You have nothing to substantiate your claim. It's two MAs, bud, two MAs. Something you can only dream of.
    1
  20845.  @owejay7981  You're the stalker here. You chimed in with your spurious claims. Still no source, eh? I'd love to see how you'd approach a judge if you were Rudy Giuliani. When asked about evidence of voter fraud, you'd pitifully cry: "it's common sense" and "read a book with big letters." To top it all off, you'd draw the judge's academic credentials into question. You're a big joke.
    1
  20846.  @owejay7981  Now you're just ranting. Still. No. Source.
    1
  20847.  @owejay7981  You're the one ranting here. I refuse to rant back like a crazy person. Still. No. Source.
    1
  20848.  @timanderson5981  More democratic according to whom exactly? Feel free to produce a credible source.
    1
  20849. Hey, we've stocked up on all this popcorn. It won't eat itself.
    1
  20850.  @mikekh2249  If you're correct, Russia should clearly outperform Europe and the USA in PISA standings. Yet it clearly doesn't.
    1
  20851.  @mikekh2249  PISA standings show that Russia is 30th out of 78 participating countries. The US is in 13th place. European and Asian countries dominate the top of the list. So Russia is mediocre. If you don't like PISA, feel free to produce another comparative study.
    1
  20852. ​ @mikekh2249  OK, since you've got nothing but twenty-odd kids with prizes, we can safely conclude that Russian schoolchildren are on the average just average.
    1
  20853.  @mikekh2249  I haven't made any comment regarding Elon Musk, but now that you brought him up, I think it's marvellous how he's ruining Roscosmos and helping Ukraine win the information war hands down. Kudos to him. Elon Musk is of South African extraction, by the way.
    1
  20854. You've got it backwards. It will harm Russia's industry, which is in war economy mode. For a large part, its orders come from Russia's ministry of defence, which gets its funding from taxes. Tax revenue is drying up, and so are the orders.
    1
  20855. In answer to your question, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Qatar attended. You're very welcome. BTW, the possessive pronoun "its" is spelled without an apostrophe. And don't push your polygamy on to us.
    1
  20856. So if HK builds desalinization an power plants, Communist China will let them be? That sounds like a plan.
    1
  20857. Biden ain't no Dubya.
    1
  20858. Haven't you heard? Mali goes through military juntas like crazy. Two coups in as many years. The CIA can just sit by and watch.
    1
  20859. There's you hoping to have a crack at marital bliss. Don't get your hopes up.
    1
  20860. Then your travelling options are limited.
    1
  20861.  @maggieyao269  There are peaceful protests, riots and combinations thereof. You still shouldn't tar all protestors, peaceful and riotous, with the same brush.
    1
  20862. Didn't he say he nearly lost his veep?
    1
  20863.  @barbarawarren9443  The solution to that is to fit the cops with cameras of their own. It's being done in several countries as we speak.
    1
  20864.  @Haywood2  Tape? Let me guess, you still have a Kodak box camera.
    1
  20865.  @Haywood2  But you don't know digital recordings. It's no biggie to tamper-proof them.
    1
  20866.  @Haywood2  Which part of "tamper-proof" don't you understand? With digital technology, it's easy to reveal tampering by hashing the raw video data. 3rd-party recordings, while useful, aren't always available. And if anything, those are susceptible to tampering. Smartphones have basic video editors that allow crucial parts to be deleted, and that in a matter of minutes, not days.
    1
  20867.  @chrisccc22  Technology alone won't solve the problem. With an independent judiciary, there should be no problem.
    1
  20868.  @pvskrao  You're making an awful lot of sense. The Lee-Enfield is probably the best all-round military bolt-action rifle ever conceived. The Canadian Rangers only recently gave up theirs, not because it was obsolete, but because spare parts couldn't be had any longer. And they adopted another bolt-action rifle to replace it.
    1
  20869.  @shenoyglobal  Sure, that's the same cartridge as on the M-4's. The INSAS fires the same cartridge, too. The point here is that the Dragunov and PKM have an effective range of 800 to 1000m, as opposed to the M-4's and the AK-19's 500m. If the militants start shooting from, say, 750m, the villagers would hard-pressed to hit them. With the AK-47, which has a range of only 350m, it's nigh impossible.
    1
  20870.  @shenoyglobal  So, you claim that Kashmiri militants unable to adapt, unlike the Taleban. Doubt it.
    1
  20871. Don't you walk and chew gum at the same time. You'll have a nasty fall.
    1
  20872. What are your thoughts on having an ex-KGB officer as Russia's president-for-life?
    1
  20873. No wonder. Russia just had an operative apprehended in France, who was planning to destablise the Olympics. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
    1
  20874. The perp integrated well... with the far right.
    1
  20875.  @Kenzofeis  NATO members are only obligated to provide military assistance when another member is subjected to an armed attack -- the famous Article 5. Extracurricular activity is voluntary. We could debate until the cows come home if that's official NATO business.
    1
  20876. Joseph skipped his meds once more...
    1
  20877. Nobody can beat Putin as a salesman. NATO can't thank him enough.
    1
  20878. ​ @vanwynn8193  Maybe pick another colour. Although, the Nazis were keen on red, too.
    1
  20879.  @aligillani7107  What about whataboutism?
    1
  20880.  @USTACK466  Sorry, you'll need to look further for a same-sex partner.
    1
  20881. ​ @common_analogue  I see you're a desperate Putin fanboy who's putting on a brave face. With Finland and Sweden in NATO, Russia suddenly finds itself completely surrounded in the Arctic. Also, the Baltic Sea is now a NATO lake. Kaliningrad is no longer a semi-exclave, but a proper one. As Russian submariners only know too well, Sweden's navy is a force to consider. Its air force punches far above its weight. Finland has an unusually large army and its rugged terrain makes premier ambush country. Should Russia invade Finland, Russia's abortive advance on Kyiv will be a cakewalk in comparison. Geopolitically, Russia is losing big time. China still provides lip service, but all intents and purposes it has left Russia for the wolves. I would really like to hear how you see this ending for Putin. Maybe China will have pity on him and let him end his days in Inner Mongolia, out of sight and out of mind.
    1
  20882.  @ntf5211  I know Estonia's military quite well, being an honorary member of their home guard. Yet I don't know of any EU military bases in Estonia. Please enlighten us.
    1
  20883.  @watcher805  She managed to argue her case. You did nothing of the sort. Butt out if you lack the necessary intellect.
    1
  20884.  @watcher805  You still can't argue your case, that much is clear. I have better things to do that trade insults with your sort.
    1
  20885.  @lanabarow6485  You're referring to an apparent lack of political will and/or political courage on Austria's part with regard to joining NATO. I can't say with any certainty which one is to blame and to which degree, but it's still an entirely different matter than legal impediments supposedly preventing Austria from joining NATO. That you're trying to hide behind old treaties from a different age speaks volumes. Why don't you just try to argue that Austrians aren't quite ready to abandon neutrality, that the drastic change in Europe's security situation hasn't sunk in or that you need more time? At least those would be valid arguments. Cowardice isn't.
    1
  20886.  @lanabarow6485  Putin started a war of aggression in clear violation of the UN Charter. If he doesn't cease and desist, any peaceful diplomacy amounts to appeasement only. If the latter is your style, try offering Putin a piece of Austria to see if that satisfies his lust for Lebensraum.
    1
  20887. Canadian PM a role model for Europe? We have to remind ourselves that he exists.
    1
  20888. But the EU members already play by these rules. Member states can't engage in unfair competition by flouting mutually-agreed standards or by slipping free money to their businesses to the detriment of foreign ones. The EU is within its rights to protects its members from a deregulated Singapore-on-Thames. You need to google "level playing field" -- you clearly don't understand the whole concept. The international laws of the sea recognise such a thing as historic fishing rights. French, Belgian, Dutch and Spanish fishermen have been fishing in what are now called British waters for eons. Historic indeed.
    1
  20889.  @looneytoons171  Newsflash yourself, you seem in dire need of it. The UK hasn't been an EU member since February. You're clumsily referring to the transition period, which ends December 31. It's all very simply. If the UK doesn't agree to a level playing field, the EU will throw up trade barriers at the behest of its 27 (not 28) members, who'll otherwise be hurt by the UK's unfair trade practices. In case you haven't noticed, tariffs and regulations have been used for ages to keep foreign low-cost competitors at bay. Sadly for you, distance is also a trade barrier. That's why Canada, which is on another continent, ostensibly enjoys a better deal that the one the UK can hope to achieve. I totally agree with you, Brexit has been a debacle. The whole world is laughing at you.
    1
  20890.  @looneytoons171  Now you're effectively railing against your own government, which agreed to the transition period. It serves a mutual interest, allowing all stakeholders to prepare for whatever comes next. It's a pity that so much time has been squandered. Britain hasn't engaged in unfair trade practices yet, but the point of a deal is to prevent that from happening in the future. The EU's suspicion is warranted -- I already mentioned Singapore-on-Thames earlier in this thread. Did you not understand what it entails? So the EU is a tough negotiator. As you noted, examples abound. Still, after the fateful Brexit referendum, you arrogantly congratulated yourselves that the EU trade deal would be the easiest trade deal in history to get. Pride comes before the fall. Balancing the EU's budget is no biggie. Us net contributors aren't paying more into the EU's coffers on account of Britain stopping contributions (if it indeed comes to that). The net beneficiaries will take a hit, meaning less funds will be available for their infrastructure improvements, but they've had it very good for years and years. The EU's pandemic bailout is sorted. With the UK having been hit the hardest in Europe economically and a disastrous no-deal Brexit looming on the horizon, you're on the receiving end of pity.
    1
  20891.  @stephenMc-b1j  I'm relying on you to reveal the truth. Go on, spill the beans already!
    1
  20892. Russia didn't give Ukraine any notice, and did they ever encounter meaningful resistance. Moreover, British NLAWs put paid to Putin's grand plans of capturing Ukraine and installing a puppet regime.
    1
  20893.  @councilestateproduct  You're conveniently neglecting to add that the IMF's predictions are subject to the UK managing an orderly exit form the EU. With Boris Johnson having painted the UK into a corner by setting unrealistic timelines for a trade deal, that's now far from certain. It's interesting that you raise Merkel's concerns about the UK going on the cheap by ditching regulations and lowering taxes in an effort to stay competitive. That alone will make the trade negotiations so much harder. It goes without saying that the EU will shield itself from competition that its members deem unfair. Singapore-on-the-Thames is just not realistic. In your shoes I wouldn't be so concerned about Frankfurt taking over from London as the financial capital of the world. It's New York that has reportedly taken over already. That's symptomatic -- the Yanks are only too pleased to fleece you while feigning friendship. They certainly have a mean streak when it comes it their former colonial master.
    1
  20894. Your glass is half empty. Mine's half full.
    1
  20895. Self-sustaining? You're like a caveman who rejoices about huge oil and gas deposits kilometres under his feet. Russia is notorious for its poorly diversified economy. It's been a recurring theme of Putin's to promise improvement, but little has happened ever since he gained power. Now, with foreign investors giving Russia wide birth and with access to the necessary technology cut off, it's even less likely to happen.
    1
  20896. ​ @nuke_Godjira  Ukraine is a victim of aggression and Russia is the aggressor. Spot the difference?
    1
  20897.  @CantHandleThisCanYa  A "boo-boo" may be an "owie" in the States. Elsewhere, it's first and foremost a mistake or error.
    1
  20898. Not too long ago, didn't Russia support and impose economic sanctions of its own on North Korea? Something to do with the Kims' attempts at nuclear blackmail. Iran, similar. How the (morally) mighty have fallen. I suppose beggars can't be choosers.
    1
  20899.  @westerxxx9220  You're the one coping. International polls show that Putin's worldwide popularity is at an all-time low.
    1
  20900. Free Willy.
    1
  20901. This changes nothing on the battlefield, except raise the morale of the Ukrainian troops. Cope, troll, cope!
    1
  20902. You should name names, so that they can be locked up. Just be aware that there are penalties for false accusations, too.
    1
  20903. @TheGameCentre-yn7er Sir, you have a way with trolls.
    1
  20904. No doubt we'll be treated to a Netflix series à la Narcos when the time is ripe. I hope I'm not giving away the plot, but I'm pretty sure that in the final episode, Putin will meets his maker at the hands of his compatriots. Will he go down like Pablo Escobar or is it simultaneous heart attacks that take him and his two closest bodyguards? It's hard to come up with truly novel assassination methods in Russia, because it's all been done before.
    1
  20905. What do you mean? stocker /ˈstɒkə/ noun noun: stocker; plural noun: stockers 1. North American a farm animal, typically a young steer or heifer, destined for slaughter but kept until matured or fattened. "stocker cattle" 2. a person whose job is to fill the shelves of a shop or supermarket with merchandise. 3. informal • North American a stock car.
    1
  20906.  @elonchu  Get some English tuition then as well. You'll sound more educated.
    1
  20907.  @TheKkpop1  And what makes you say that?
    1
  20908. Automatic deportations of immigrants are illegal in themselves. The moment they seek asylum, they're at least temporarily legal immigrants. As things stand, everyone must have their case heard. You can question the system, but not the immigrants' legal status.
    1
  20909. He thinks he's Peter the Great.
    1
  20910.  Simon Smog  It took Indian soldiers to subjugate India. Similarly, India was lost to the British Empire when the Indians would no longer fight for it.
    1
  20911.  Simon Smog  Oh, you're a fetishist. Don't mind me.
    1
  20912. @theAmbassador Not quite true. After WW2, the Americans created a myth about the French always surrendering and we all know how they like their bandwagons. Let's not forget that the French led the allies to victory in WW1. The fact wasn't lost on American military commanders, who were very much in awe of the French military -- till WW2 happened.
    1
  20913.  @bobbyantrobus1805  Putin has an opportunistic approach to communism and the Soviet Union. He's a Stalin fanboy, but vilifies Lenin for squandering parts of the Russian Empire. It figures, Stalin managed to claw back lost territory, but not entirely to the satisfaction of Emperor Putin, who fancies himself Peter the Great.
    1
  20914. Putin could end this overnight, you know, by just pulling back his Orcs in accordance with the overwhelmingly-supported UNGA resolution.
    1
  20915. *Worst.
    1
  20916. With a few exceptions, we in Europe steered clear of the Iraq War and its ever-elusive WMDs. The Muricans were initially severely butthurt about that, but quickly cooled down when they realised they'd duped themselves first and foremost.
    1
  20917. What happened to innocent unless proven guilty?
    1
  20918.  @CloudOmegaVII  So in your book, they're just guilty, even if proven innocent. I sincerely hope you never get into any position of authority.
    1
  20919.  @CloudOmegaVII  Refugees who cross the border and apply for asylum cannot be penalized for illegal entry, so they're not criminals under the law. If you find it all too confusing, maybe refrain from making comments?
    1
  20920.  @CloudOmegaVII  Again, they're not illegal. And it's not European but international law that I'm referring to. A whopping 146 countries are signatories to the so-called Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. You far-right wingnuts always go on about the sanctity of the law when you think it's in your favour, but when it turns out the opposite is true, it's "absurd and ridiculous". Hypocrite.
    1
  20921. @24 Arbfan Your conspiracy theories aside, it's not austerity, it's taxation they protesters are unhappy with. The two terms are practically antitheses. It's interesting to note that the same forces that brought Salvini to power buoyed up Macron. While Macron isn't a populist and Salvini clearly is, the electorates in both France and Italy were willing to stake their hopes on unknown political entities, and now both are paying the price. Even if Salvini and Macron were the most capable of leaders, they simply lack the political foundations to form successful governments. Creating a political movement from scratch is one thing, but making it capable of governing is quite another. But you may be right about elitism, but I would rather call it clientilism or even cronyism. Sadly, both Italy and France are prone to it -- and always have been, I'm afraid. I don't however, see any connection with globalism.
    1
  20922. @24 Arbfan You have a naive view of politics. Public discontent towards established parties brought both Salvini and Macron to power. It wasn't ideology that got them elected, but a vague promise of change. Both the Italians and the French took a chance -- clutched at straws, if you will. Still, more so than elsewhere, European voters are fickle, often switching party allegiances from one election to another. As a rule of thumb, parties in government see their support erode, while the opposition makes gains. So for a part of the electorate, it always ends up in tears. Why? Because the world constantly throws challenges at us, and local governments have only limited means to tackle them. You blame globalism, but the only answer is international co-operation. Since we can agree on very little globally, let's at least co-operate regionally.
    1
  20923. @24 Arbfan Aw, you were hurt by my political naivety ad hominem, but you have no qualms about throwing it back at me. Fortunately, I'm not thin-skinned. Sure, Salvini promised to curb down on migration, which isn't wrong per se, but the effect on solving Italy's real problems -- its looming debt crisis and chronic economic woes -- is negligible. Smoke and mirrors, in other words, but as a populist and opportunist, he has to seize the opportunity and blame migrants in order to shore up support. It's part and parcel of populism to blame someone else for your self-made problems. He's blaming the EU, too, but the EU isn't defenceless. I already indicated that Macron isn't a populist, but he did manage to gain the trust of those who in other circumstances would have fallen prey to the populists, or he wouldn't have completely taken the wind out of Marine Le Pen's sails. You crediting MSM with Macron's victory is just another conspiracy theory. Also, unlike that other well-known populist, Trump, European leaders wisely refrain from choosing sides in one another's elections.
    1
  20924. @24 Arbfan Your conspiracy theories are fact now? That's rich. Conspiracy theories cherry-pick facts, but those facts that conflict with the theory are silently ignored. Anti-establishment isn't just populism. The former seeks to change the status quo, but the means don't necessarily involve the cheap trickery of the latter. I don't personally care for it, but at least the communists (or what's left of them) adhere to a strict ideology. Your lot, on the other hand, makes stuff up as you go along. Did I already say you're a bunch of opportunists? Earlier, you were praising Salvini for curbing migration, as if that was somehow relevant to this discussion. Now you admit migration isn't -- economically speaking -- a problem after all. I wonder, does that put you in hot water with fellow right-wing populists, who insist migrants are the root of all evil? And no one was sneaking in premises that Italy is responsible for the migrant crisis. They are, however, responsible for their looming debt crisis and chronic economic woes -- those were my exact words. I know, like an automaton, you're going to blame globalism again, but why do other EU countries, who're in the same boat, prosper? If not with Germany, the Italians have to compete with other countries on the global marketplace, China for instance. Italy can try to isolate itself from the world economy, but what good will that do on the long term? They're going to fall behind even more. Now they're still in a position to fix things, but they won't succeed if they're going to copy you and blame imaginary bogeymen. For the record, Merkel didn't start the migrant crisis and she didn't end it either, but she did bring relief to the overwhelmed border countries. There's no factual basis for claiming that it brought in extra migrants -- the figures clearly show the number of new arrivals tapering off. Countries like Hungary, and more particularly their silly populist-in-charge, Orban, should thank her for it.
    1
  20925. The EU's stance -- as an organisation -- has been consistent. Member countries have final say on how and to whom they administer vaccines. You clearly can't see the forest for the trees.
    1
  20926.  @awalker2723  Your Brextremist propaganda doesn't hold water, and you know it.
    1
  20927.  @awalker2723  The EU didn't order early because we didn't resort to emergency approval for the vaccines. It was always an option for individual members, an option that Hungary, incidentally, did exercise. You're not so special after all. Desperate risk-taker would be a better description. Not that I think you dwell on such intricacies, but emergency approval of vaccines can come at a huge cost to society. Recently, there was a swine flu vaccine that turned out to cause narcolepsy. Sufferers are medically retired because of it. You clearly can't keep fact and fiction apart. The EU hasn't suspended any vaccination programmes, since it's not managing them. The suspensions were the work of individual countries. Finally, why perpetuate the myth that we're pining after the UK? Even before your fateful Brexit referendum, opinion polls in Germany and France suggested that there was a preference on the continent for the UK leaving. It seems you complied. We should thank you.
    1
  20928.  @ant.zen.1865  A conspiracy theorist who can't even properly recite the mantra "wake up"? I fear your kind is in terminals decadence.
    1
  20929. How about the 292% tax that Trump wanted to impose on the Airbus A220?
    1
  20930. That's all good and well, but the UN Charter also talks about the inherent right to collective self-defence. If Hezbollah persists with cross-border attacks and the Lebanese Armed Forces can't make it cease and desist, Israel has a case for exercising its right to self-defence. Sovereign nations need to police their own territory, or others will come and police it for them. Mind you, Israel has honed its bad cop routine to perfection.
    1
  20931. Didn't Russia already achieve that feat?
    1
  20932.  @nickiseb8910  I hate to break it to you, but you're the one in need of education. Dagestan is part of Europe. The continent stretches all the way to the Caspian Sea, after all. Not only that, Russia is the biggest country in Europe and the Russian Europeans are the single biggest nationality in Europe, too. Chechnya*, Europe as well. Geography is a biatch.
    1
  20933.  @nickiseb8910  Wikipedia is your friend. I'm afraid your feelings are inconsequential. Truth be told, there should be just a continent called Eurasia, but then we'd talk about West Eurasia and East Eurasia to make a distinction between the two. Better stick with Europe and Asia.
    1
  20934.  @nickiseb8910  Don't get smart with me. Eurasia is not one continent, but two, Europe and Asia. You'll find that the ancient Greeks had a sketchy understanding of geography. They named them, but did not define their boundaries.
    1
  20935. The only part of BRICS that works is China. The rest are relegated to Belt and Road Initiative "partners" (read: China's neo-colonies).
    1
  20936. You think. When the Taliban initially took control over Afghanistan, scores of Iranian diplomats were murdered. I guess the Sunni-Shia divide hasn't registered with you.
    1
  20937.  @tamdang8346  What's the difference? When docked, they're no different.
    1
  20938. Not that easy. We'd like to give Ukraine some of our AGM-158 JASSMs, but the USA controls their export licenses.
    1
  20939. You must be a reformed ISIS member yourself to know that. Also, they weren't trying to escape to Ukraine -- through heavily-manned front lines of all things? That's a clumsy Russian fabrication.
    1
  20940. It sounds like Turkey's problem is not just with Sweden and Finland, but practically the whole of NATO. "Coup plotter" Gülen is in the US. It stands to reason that Turkey should leave NATO in protest.
    1
  20941.  @1976athletico  You're misrepresenting facts. Germany promised to refrain from establishing NATO bases in former East Germany. Germany has complied to the letter. In case you haven't noticed, it's Russia that looked for war and found it.
    1
  20942.  @1976athletico  Unlike you, I'm upholding the truth. What's untrue about the following: "After Gorbachev's May [1990] agreement on German NATO membership, the Soviets further agreed that Germany would be treated as an ordinary NATO country, with the exception that former East German territory would not have foreign NATO troops or nuclear weapons. In exchange, Kohl agreed to reduce the sizes of the militaries of both West and East Germany, renounce weapons of mass destruction, and accept the postwar Oder–Neisse line as Germany's eastern border." We're witnessing not us, but Russia getting cooked -- in its own stew.
    1
  20943. Good luck trying to convince the world that the occupied territories belong to Russia. The Hermit Kingdom (a.k.a. North Korea) believes you, as do the Assad-occupied parts of Syria. Only 191 countries more to go.
    1
  20944. Soldiers? You need your dosage adjusted.
    1
  20945.  @2532robh1  Let me guess, you're privy to top secret intelligence. Make that doctor's appointment now.
    1
  20946.  @ФомаКиняев-ж2ш  Your bunker grandpa has nightmares about him.
    1
  20947. Glide bombs are stand-off weapons.They're called such because the launch platform -- in this case an aircraft -- remains outside of the threat range. If you think that's all it takes to achieve air superiority, it can argued that HIMARS/GMLRS does same. The opening air-to-air engagements of this war are history. Now that Ukraine's defences are up and running, the Russian Air Force wisely stays out of Ukrainian air space, relying on stand-off weapons instead.
    1
  20948. Brexit-voters must've thought "Brexit means nirvana".
    1
  20949.  @Tabacish  Nirvana is associated with Buddhism. You'll get the hang of it.
    1
  20950. Give him a bib and tin soldiers to play with. It will YUGE!
    1
  20951. All the world? It's just Trump trying to scapegoat China in an all-too-obvious attempt to divert attention away from his own failed presidency. When his re-election bid comes to nothing, we'll hear a different tune from Washington DC. China is certainly no poster boy for openness and democracy, but demonizing them isn't the answer.
    1
  20952. Well, exit polls in the Netherlands suggest he's right.
    1
  20953. Crony-capitalists, more like. Should Euronews ignore despots and their shenanigans?
    1
  20954.  @Bullcutter  I hold the opposite view. US news channels are pathetic in their preachiness. European ones allow you to think for yourself. Hey, maybe that isn't your style?
    1
  20955.  UkraiNAZ  Shoo, Krembot.
    1
  20956. Why won't you wear your far-right badge proudly? It's as if you're ashamed of something.
    1
  20957. ​ @Historia.Magistra.Vitae.  No, it's not. You're feigning classical liberalism, only to show your true colours later.
    1
  20958. Let's talk CSTO reduction.
    1
  20959. Then how come so many countries in the Global South remain ICC members? You think facts are best ignored, eh?
    1
  20960.  Yee Tian  So China and Russia have secretly disarmed?
    1
  20961.  Yee Tian  Don't be an apologist. Both Russia and China are busily up-arming themselves, if not quantitatively, then qualitatively.
    1
  20962.  Yee Tian  OK, we're making progress. Now you're tacitly admitting that Russia and China are up-arming, contradicting your earlier claims. This vid is about the UK upgrading its nuclear arsenal. With your lot, everything must always be about the US. The Yanks already have inflated egos as it is.
    1
  20963.  Yee Tian  Do try to keep up with the news. Russia is busily up-arming itself with hypersonic missiles, which cannot be stopped with current anti-missile defences. They needn't increase the number of warheads, since more will get through. You're really a master at deviating from the topic.
    1
  20964.  Yee Tian  No, it's not my tax money, silly. There's no question that the UK is up-arming. It says so in the title. You contradict yourself, you can't stay on topic, you make silly assumptions and now you throw up straw men. Your debating skills need some serious work.
    1
  20965.  Yee Tian  There you go again, being silly. My tax money *goes neither to the UK nor the US. It bears repeating -- because you keep forgetting -- that we're discussing whether or not China and Russia are up-arming. You keep bringing up the US -- they're irrelevant -- and insisting that the UK is worse than Russia or China. Whatever, but it follows that Russia and China are at it, too.
    1
  20966. One of the African alliances is Ecowas. It firmly opposes the coup d'etat.
    1
  20967. It's working wonders, actually. They're thinning out the Orc herd nicely.
    1
  20968. So you're saying China is holding Hong Kong hostage? The CCP is a brutal regime indeed.
    1
  20969. Actually, during his previous tenure as PM, Tusk very much implored Germany to get off its lazy bum and do something about its meek foreign policy and its dilapidated military. In hindsight, Tusk was oh-so right.
    1
  20970. Oh, Troll Factory No. 1 in Saint Petersburg is doing performance evaluations. They're determining whose pen is mightier than the sword. The dullards get their call-up papers. Of course they're in a flap.
    1
  20971. How do you kick out fabricated foreign interferences [sic]? Kick out the fabricators?
    1
  20972.  @Ovajug  On Putin's orders, I'm sure.
    1
  20973. How exactly did Biden start the war in Ukraine? And you'll find that likewise, Schoof, Starmer and Macron support their own arms industries. And Ukraine, of course.
    1
  20974. I still can't my head around the fact that the Americans had only poor choices to pick from, and, to add insult to injury, picked the felon.
    1
  20975. That'll do, Orc.
    1
  20976. So, you endorse a massacre by the IDF in Gaza. Civilisation is but a thin veneer.
    1
  20977. Don't flatter yourself. The PRC strong-armed other countries to no longer recognise ROC. By and large they've now agreed, but in doing so, they just went through the motions, still retaining close relations with Taiwan. If I have to apply for a Taiwanese visa, I simply visit their representative office as if I would an embassy. To add insult to injury, I did so countless of times when shuttling between Beijing and Taipei, making a stopover in Hong Kong SAR. Don't kid yourself, nothing has or will change. China's strong-arm tactics just lead to more sympathy for Taiwan.
    1
  20978.  @-pw5bj  That indecipherable comment is not working for you. Reposting it over and over again doesn't help.
    1
  20979. No worries, Trump will welcome you alt-righties with open arms.
    1
  20980. There's nothing sinister about Sanna Marin's rise to power. A coalition partner lost confidence in her predecessor, who mismanaged a postal strike, so he had to make way for new talent, and parliamentary confidence was restored. Are you new to parliamentary democracies? Ironically, Boris Johnson made PM in the same way, only to find himself purged next. Australia switches PMs at the drop of a hat.
    1
  20981. Relatively little. It's LNG-powered and makes it own fresh water with fuel cells.
    1
  20982. They have their CSTO, but I suspect it has gone zombie on them.
    1
  20983. They'd fare badly against Russia's T-72s, or even demothballed T-62s.
    1
  20984. Russia hasn't changed any games although it had plenty of long-range stand-off weapons at its disposal. Why would the reverse be true?
    1
  20985.  @SerBallister  In case you haven't noticed, Russia is still launching airborne attacks against Ukraine. Tactically, these attacks to and fro amount to a stalemate. The change is that ordinary Russians get a taste of them, but I'm afraid they'll just take it into their stride, apathetic as they are. The game remains the same.
    1
  20986. You may want to invoke your sky friend, too, when you can't afford basic food.
    1
  20987.  @thematic3893  Yeah, let's hope India doesn't stop buying Russian oil below production cost.
    1
  20988.  @thematic3893  It just does. And not just to flog cheap oil to India, but even much more so, to China. Russia needs to keep its oil facilities operational, and it needs the foreign currency, especially yuan, to allow it to import essentials, which it cannot produce itself. China, in particular, is mighty pleased. It's not often that you get to dictate prices to your supplier.
    1
  20989.  @thematic3893  What a flaccid response.
    1
  20990.  @thematic3893  You'd best scurry off to your troll cave.
    1
  20991. Your nick is at odds with your conclusion.
    1
  20992. You're better served renaming the State Duma Putin's Rubber Stamp.
    1
  20993. Your inequality is all yours. For instance, it has been calculated that if the USA were to adopt universal healthcare, it would not only be be better off health-wise, but also, economically. Your armed forces are for a large part a solution that's looking for a problem. The search for problems has led to numerous ill-advised military adventures, which have primarily served to flood us with migrants. Man up and stop blaming others for your poor decisions.
    1
  20994. But no barrel bombs or cluster bombs raining down, no political arrests followed by torture and extralegal executions. You equate petty crime with war crimes. Strange.
    1
  20995. Won't he have to die first?
    1
  20996.  @ScoobyDoo-zp1sq  Are you actually suggesting that Fosun made an exclusive deal with BioNTech before the pandemic broke out? You sound like a conspiracy theorist. Enough said.
    1
  20997.  @sibaraku2023  It was foolish of BioNTech to grant an exclusive license to Fosun that covers Taiwan. If they weren't aware that Taiwan eschews being dependent on Chinese pharmaceuticals, they aren't very business-savvy. It may be a language issue with you, but there's no "law" that prevents Taiwan from striking a deal with BioNTech directly. There's a contract, and an ill-advised one at that.
    1
  20998.  @ScoobyDoo-zp1sq  What am I supposed to make of this: "The distribution licensed was in place well before Covid." What exactly are you implying? That BioNTech had a vaccine for a virus that was still unknown at the time? In conspiracyland, that must mean the Chinese tipped them off that they had such a virus in the works at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The funniest thing is that all the resident wumaos are thumbing up your comment.
    1
  20999.  @ScoobyDoo-zp1sq  Tommie boy, you're too big for your britches. There's a press release on BioNTech's website that clearly states that they signed the agreement with Fosun on March 16, 2020. In case you still can't figure it out, that's well after COVID-19 made its worldwide debut. BioNTech's naiveté aside, it begs the question why Fosun, who must've been aware that the Taiwanese won't buy their products, wanted exclusivity for Taiwan as well. Political extortion?
    1
  21000.  @ianivanpavel859  Nope. Read my earlier comment to clueless Tommie Brady here. Taiwan has a legimate gripe against BioNTech and Fosun, who're both looking like fools and/or nasty bastards. BTW, I think you're one of the latter for rejoicing in the suffering of the Taiwanese.
    1
  21001.  @ScoobyDoo-zp1sq  You're trying to move the goalposts. Our bone of contention was whether or not there was an exclusive agreement between BioNTech and Fosun before the former had announced that they had a COVID-19 vaccine under development. I won the argument by presenting the relevant facts. Now you're trying to make excuses by arguing that the vaccine wasn't ready at the time. Who's claiming otherwise? There's a case to be made for political extortion if Fosun knew they were closed out of the Taiwan market but still demanded exclusive rights for it, effectively cutting Taiwan off. I cannot imagine that they didn't know. If not political extortion, it's scorched earth policy.
    1
  21002.  David Tao  You're not adding anything to the discussion. Investments are not relevant. If you and I would have to invest in every single company that we're planning on buying goods or services from, our choices would be very limited. BioNTech made a bad deal. Fosun made a dubious one -- or a good one if the intention was to torment Taiwan.
    1
  21003.  @ScoobyDoo-zp1sq  Are you still doggedly claiming that Fosun's commercial relationship with BioNTech was not inspired by the latter's COVID-19 vaccine? It's funny, because everything suggests otherwise, including BioNTech's own press release on the matter. If I put a question mark after "political extortion", it suggests it's an allegation, as in trying to find a reason why Fosun acted the way they did. I'm trying to establish motive, in case you want to slap a legal term on it. OK, imagine yourself a legal counsel defending Fosun. How would you explain Fosun wanting exclusive rights that cover Taiwan as well? They know their markets, and they know Taiwan isn't one. Like any large PRC-based company, Fosun have a CCP commissar on their board. He must've been well pleased when presented with the opportunity to stir up trouble for Taiwan. Xi, too, must've been beaming.
    1
  21004.  David Tao  Spare me your self-evident observations, which have nothing to do with the matter at hand. Or are you actually claiming that it's in China's interest to extort Taiwan politically, because there's certainly no financial reward for Fosun if they cut Taiwan off. I assume that by referring to "your guys" and wishing me luck, you jumped to the conclusion that I'm Taiwanese? You're sloppy.
    1
  21005.  @kevinaa114  Shanghai disentangled itself from the People's Republic of China? That's great news!
    1
  21006.  David Tao  Intellectual property and investing is what I do for a living. Let me tell you, patents and investments are irrelevant here. Nothing suggests that Fosun has any patents out that cover the BioNTech vaccine. Even if they did, Taiwan and the PRC, both being WTO members, have to respect one another's patents, so Fosun will get their royalties if any are due no matter what. The same goes for their investment in BioNTech -- if any. A boost in sales (even sales projections) jacks up BioNTech's share price. Fosun, if they are indeed a shareholder, profits. I suggest you come with sound arguments if you want to continue this discussion.
    1
  21007.  David Tao  Again, nothing of relevance to the discussion at hand. You're not even bothering to defend your previous arguments. If I were your CCP paymaster, I'd withhold even the 50 cents from you.
    1
  21008.  David Tao  You desperately need to find yourself a penpal to discuss topics of your own choosing. A lonely wumao, whaddaya know.
    1
  21009.  @ScoobyDoo-zp1sq  You, complaining about personal attacks? You've been engaging in puerile name-calling from the get-go.
    1
  21010.  @ScoobyDoo-zp1sq  There you go again, puerile name-calling. For the record, you started your name-calling when I wondered whether you were a conspiracy theorist because you sure sounded like one, advocating the theory that Fosun and BioNTech started co-operating on a COVID-19 vaccine before the virus became known worldwide -- or did I strike a raw nerve when I wondered if you were an adult? In hindsight, I had a very valid point there. You still don't strike me as an adult.
    1
  21011.  @haaxeu6501  Interestingly, the Finns strapped an engine onto a towed artillery piece, with which they can drive the howitzer out of trouble, even to a new firing position.
    1
  21012. Russian fascism is trying to make Russia great again. And failing hard.
    1
  21013. Would you complain about the Irish speaking English, too? Or the Americans?
    1
  21014.  @moiseshuerta3984  My bad. I thought you had a point to make. Little did I know yours is an empty mind. You have the ability to make observations, but processing information is beyond your abilities.
    1
  21015.  @moiseshuerta3984  Don't congratulate yourself unduly. If you had a mind on you, you'd understand I think nothing of it. Alas, you're not blessed with one.
    1
  21016.  @moiseshuerta3984  Sure thing, I'll go berserk whenever I hear a non-Brit speak English. Sacrilege!
    1
  21017.  @moiseshuerta3984  *Berserk. We're the original berserkers. Keep patting yourself on the back (because no one else will).
    1
  21018.  @Memovox  All readers, of course, who don't like to be lied to. You made a wild claim. The onus is on you to back it up with evidence. Otherwise you're flapping your gums, savvy?
    1
  21019.  @Memovox  Do I need to repeat it? Really? "[...] and millions of Europeans in Western Europe does [sic] not side with the Banderites in Ukraine or US neocon politics." Or did you think we need geography lessons from you?
    1
  21020.  @Memovox  You still don't get it, but I'm no longer surprised. Produce evidence, as in a credible source -- a "Western Europe"-wide poll or some such -- that shows in no uncertain terms that "millions of Western Europeans" specifically do not support Ukraine's struggle against Russia's military aggression. Which part of 'evidence' don't you understand? And don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  21021.  @Memovox  OK, since you've gone suspiciously quiet, we can safely conclude that you have no evidence to back up your claim about "millions of Western Europeans" not siding with Ukraine. In other words, you pulled your claim out of your posterior.
    1
  21022. Wot, we're not letting Russia in! Never! Well, maybe the pieces that break off soon.
    1
  21023. Desperate measures, eh?
    1
  21024. That's because of your silly Republican-Democrat duopoly. Bad and worse are your only choices. And you wonder why Murica is in decline.
    1
  21025. A reinforced dustpan is needed for Trump.
    1
  21026. Als 'buitenlander' valt het me telkens op dat Nederland navenant veel Kremtrollen heeft. Wappies ook. Er zal wel een verband zijn..
    1
  21027. Would that make India a fourth-world country, or even fifth or sixth?
    1
  21028.  @nirmalparakkal8005  India is more populous than the UK, but on a per capita basis, far-far poorer. Moreover, it's business as usual that developing countries grow faster than developed countries. Macroeconomics 101 says that the latter tend to plateau growthwise. It's because we're already at the top of our game, with less talent remaining untapped. However, we're happy to cream off your top talent, as you duly noted in the UK's case.
    1
  21029.  @nirmalparakkal8005  The UK is at the top of their game. If the Brits no longer want to roll up their sleeves, they've plateaued at a commensurate level. Public debt is a guilty pleasure of most developed economies. It's in no way indicative of economic success. NRIs still contribute to our economies, and many realise that they've invested their tax euros in free healthcare and free education for their the children, so many stick around for the ROI.
    1
  21030. Nah, a lot more can be done. It's political intransigence, not a matter of economics
    1
  21031.  @cedricsurveynen638  You're working on not one but two false premises. President Yanukovych vacated his seat by fleeing to Russia and was removed from office in an entirely legal manner, with even some of Yanukovych's closest allies voting in favour of his ouster. In other words, there was no coup. Also, there was no *ethnic cleansing. The OSCE SMM failed to produce any evidence to that effect. Its Russian OSCE monitors, too, came up empty. If you condemn Putin's brutal war of aggression, how come you're still regurgitating Kremlin propaganda?
    1
  21032. You've got it backwards. Here, Xinnie the Pooh is welcoming regional governer Pu Tin of Ruxia, China's northernmost province. If Mo Di plays his cards right, he can land the governorship of China's future southernmost province, Tianzhu.
    1
  21033. Migrants from Africa and Asia, Russia's weapon of choice in hybrid warfare, won't arrive in tanks.
    1
  21034.  @sPACEmANtYLERSPACE  Yeah, not playing whataboutism with you. If you want to compare notes with an American so that the two of you can agree which sucks more, Russia or the US, I'm afraid you'll have to keep looking. As to Ukraine's supposed coup, it must've been a very short-lived affair, because Ukraine was very quick to follow up with a free and fair election. Contrary to overly optimistic Russian projections, the Right Sector was a complete washout. Crimea could've taken their case to the UN and sought unification with Russia that way. They must be kicking themselves for letting Putin spoil things for them. Crimea is now condemned to international isolation. A pariah state within a pariah state.
    1
  21035. China-style, they'll drag out the agony in the hope that the hoi polloi won't notice.
    1
  21036. You should do some UN peacekeeping yourself to understand the limitations of the UN.
    1
  21037. Putin is succeeding in one respect. He's resurrecting the Soviet Union in terms of strict censorship. Next, gulags?
    1
  21038. The sex workers will be safer for it.
    1
  21039. Trump defines populism.
    1
  21040.  @Chinunit22  You're lousy with maps. Ukraine doesn't control Olenivka.
    1
  21041. "State of Europe"? Where's that?
    1
  21042. Appearances deceive?
    1
  21043. France 24 caters to more than a bipolar audience.
    1
  21044. The UN Security Council needs reform. For example, Russia has no business there as a permanent member.
    1
  21045.  @saiyedakhtar3931  Rather, your permanent seat is slipping away. India has demonstrated that its moral compass has lost north. As it turned out, India is beholden to Russia for services rendered by the Soviet Union, a debt that, for reasons unexplained, Putin can collect on. We need independent thinkers with a functioning moral compass in the UNSC.
    1
  21046. Don't let extreme nationalism get the better of you... again.
    1
  21047. You would've loved Chamberlain.
    1
  21048.  @anonymous-hz2un  The EU pours slop into Orban's trough no matter what, it seems, while he needs to cosy up to Putin in earnest to get paid.
    1
  21049.  @SapoNeko  Switzerland has opted for the 'pay, but no say' model with regard to the EU. The same goes for Norway, albeit to a somewhat lesser degree. Their decision makers are keenly aware of the discrepancy, but their electorates have their heads in the sand.
    1
  21050.  @ze_President  Try writing here that Russia is at war with Ukraine and that your soldiers butchered innocent people in Bucha. Maybe you'll get off with less than fifteen years.
    1
  21051. FI is the country code of Finland, sport.
    1
  21052.  @americanclip03proud  That's better. We're not in Kansas Florida anymore, Dorothy. This is an international forum.
    1
  21053. I bet that elsewhere you're clamouring for the UN to take action. The Kenyans are the UN here.
    1
  21054.  @tallowturq  The OP did mention "male womans [sic]" Isn't that another way of saying transvestite?
    1
  21055. Your point being?
    1
  21056.  @Monster_Mover_Stocks  Face it, you haters are a minority nowadays.
    1
  21057. Africa loses no matter what.
    1
  21058. Putin, get out Ukraine first.
    1
  21059. You should educate yourself. According to current polls, the next PM of Finland will be Petteri Orpo, who's been a outspoken supporter of NATO membership for years. In fact, his party owes its spike in popularity to their outspokenness in the matter. Clearly, the Finnish populace is pushing its elected representatives to apply for NATO membership -- not the other way around.
    1
  21060.  @vanyadolly  Perhaps you don't realise that in a multi-party democracy like Finland, the party that gains the most seats in parliament provides the PM, assuming, of course, that it can form a majority-holding coalition around itself. So it's about parties, not individual politicians.
    1
  21061. TL;DR, much.
    1
  21062.  @johnheart6890  Hint. DR stands for Didn't Read.
    1
  21063.  @johnheart6890  I don't mind responding, but I honestly can't say if I care for what you "said". I would have to read it first.
    1
  21064.  @johnheart6890  Don't bother apologising. Your time is better spent looking for a more suitable forum for your op-eds.
    1
  21065.  @johnheart6890  I'm not engaging you content-wise, so it's all wasted, I'm afraid.
    1
  21066.  @johnheart6890  Oh, you crave my acceptance. How cute!
    1
  21067.  @johnheart6890  Let me get this straight. I should apologise to you for letting you know that you're boring YouTube users to tears?
    1
  21068.  sharia_law5563  Let's whatabout some more. What about the Taliban? Are the Afghans happier after the Taliban reconquest?
    1
  21069.  @GoodlifeInvestor  I think I need to spell it out to you. If Ukraine stops fighting, it will be no more. If Russia stops fighting, the war just ends. Putin's re-election campaign may hit a snag, but that's all.
    1
  21070.  @TheKkpop1  It would seem that in punishing Vietnam, China punished itself in equal measure. Whatever China sought to achieve with its invasion of Vietnam didn't pan out. Also, France had pulled out from Indochina a quarter of a century earlier. One can only wonder what the CCP teaches you about your recent history.
    1
  21071. Does that include the Ghanaian UN peacekeepers, too? Have they failed as well?
    1
  21072.  @danielparker5225  I wasn't asking you.
    1
  21073.  @wbroderick3237  Sure, every BRICS member wants a piece of Russia now that it's one big bargain basement. The vultures love to pick away at Russia. Say, do you think Putin is going to travel when Brazil stages a BRICS summit? Or will he Zoom in like in Johannesburg? Lula didn't bother to attend the summit in Kazan. And Saudi Arabia's "joining" BRICS, which Russia prematurely applauded with great fanfare, is too hilarious for words.
    1
  21074.  @Andrew-is7rs  Why do you assume I'm whining or moaning? I'm not an injured party in Brexit. You are. I can't help but notice that you have nothing relevant to contribute to this discussion. The same goes for your bosom friend Kev T -- an empty vessel if I ever saw one.
    1
  21075.  @kevt3318  Kevin, Kevin. You promised to block me. Have you had a change of heart?
    1
  21076.  @nba2k14hoodmoments3  Be that as it may, but the far left has become an endangered species of sorts. Not so the far right.
    1
  21077. Cancel the FIFA World Cup and make this the Afghan refugees' endpoint, not their transit point.
    1
  21078.  @r3dpowel796  I highly doubt it. We know what happened to the airborne Orcs at Hostomel airport a year ago. The two elite air assault brigades involved suffered heavy casualties, with both losing their commanders and failing in their bid to open up the airport for Russian transport planes. Interestingly, a similar German air assault on The Hague failed in 1940, also with crippling losses.
    1
  21079.  @phamhuyphu7517  Please don't insult DW like that.
    1
  21080.  @timbervista7167  How come all the highly-educated Americans employed by the WHO completely missed all this? Are you all saps?
    1
  21081.  @MH-pz8wf  You're so off. There's no monetary benefit for Fosun in gaining distributor rights for Taiwan, which is off-limits to them. It's like YouTube would pay content owners for the rights to stream their content in China, while YouTube remains banned in China. It's clear that political motives -- not monetary ones -- are at play here.
    1
  21082. No, that's you hoping.
    1
  21083. It's a bit of a stretch to assume Banksy is a Brexiteer.
    1
  21084. Putin can end it in a heartbeat.
    1
  21085. The Martians dunnit.
    1
  21086. Yup, that is amusing, because Ukraine is not an aggressor. Russia and, by proxy, Iran are.
    1
  21087. I'll fly with it when it's declared safe.
    1
  21088.  @dasbudd  No prob.
    1
  21089. Ukraine is aiming for a defensive victory, sport. And it will get one, too.
    1
  21090. I can imagine. The EU and the US are thwarting Putin's bid for world domination, those big fat meanies!
    1
  21091.  @acfan8253  The Finns literally are shields and first in line and always have been. You're not exactly making journalistic history here.
    1
  21092. Temper tantrums won't help.
    1
  21093. If Scots vote SNP and elsewhere Labour wins the day and the two form a coalition government, what's the issue? There's only an issue if anti-Tory votes get split on a constituency level.
    1
  21094.  @ScottishRoss27  That's the SNP's job, innit?
    1
  21095. Don't be so hard on yourself.
    1
  21096. I thought blood sports were forbidden in this day and age.
    1
  21097.  @OneRichMofo  Germany has given plenty in military aid to Ukraine. You can withhold style points for their initial reluctance, but it's an undeniable fact that by now, Germany is a major donor. It's not Turkey's veto in NATO that I take exception with. It's Erdogan's blackmail tactics and his branding of all his opponents as terrorists that I have a problem with. Half of NATO is blocking arms exports to Turkey and sheltering "terrorists" of his, the US first and foremost. So it's not just Sweden that hates Erdogan's guts, but Turkey is burning bridges left, right and centre.
    1
  21098. @Carl Sagan There you go again, upvoting your own post. It's like pleasuring yourself in public. Eww!
    1
  21099.  @serendipitousconversations  Sweden and Finland don't "approve of" Turkish opposition parties. As to whether or not these parties have connections to terrorism, both countries follow EU directives, just like the rest of the EU. At the end of the day, Finland didn't extradite Kurdish or Gulenist refugees to Turkey -- which would've been impossible anyway with prevailing laws, again based on EU directives -- yet unlike Sweden, which is in exactly the same position, Turkey deemed Finland fit to join NATO. And what did we learn? That's there's neither rhyme nor reason to Erdogan's shenanigans, which are highly damaging to Turkey's international reputation.
    1
  21100. Let me guess: you've got nothing.
    1
  21101.  @inso80  Now it is. I was referring to international waters, where the ship allegedly performed the sabotage.
    1
  21102.  @inso80  It's not, in fact. UNCLOS allows for the seizure of a vessel in international waters if said vessel is engaging in piracy, but interestingly, performing sabotage on vital subsea infrastructure does not allow for it. We're not discussing whether it's wrong or right from a moral point of view. It's about what international law says -- or doesn't say. Let's keep it factual. You can find the information readily on the internet or in news reports that quote legal experts.
    1
  21103.  @inso80  I have a law degree. Even so, I don't interpret the law outside of my area of expertise. You, however, have no such inhibitions as a rank amateur. Since you struggle to stay on topic -- whether or not a ship in international waters can be seized on suspicion of damaging subsea infrastructure -- the answer, according to current legal interpretation of UNCLOS, in unclear at best since there's no precedent. In summary, Eagle S would've been entirely within its rights to continue its journey through international waters unimpeded. In fact, Finland, had it failed to comply with that legal tenet, could've been accused of piracy itself. Before you start whining "NO FAIR!", this is how the cookie crumbles in a legal sense. We can only hope that UNCLOS is amended so that inspections can take place on the high seas without the authorities risking piracy.
    1
  21104. You're spouting clichés. The UN divvied up Palestine.
    1
  21105. @@jean-patricepaluku4754 The Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping were just condemned by the UNSC -- without opposition from Russia or China, for that matter. No-one has even tabled a draft resolution about the sanctions against Russia or Iran. As it so happens, the sanctions against Iran stem from UN resolutions, which were supported by Russia. The UN is the closest thing we have to international law. It appears you're the hypocrite here. You're accusing "the West" while it's actually the UN -- meaning the whole world -- that's behind this.
    1
  21106. It's good to see a Assange activist take up Navalny's cause as well, be it reluctantly.
    1
  21107.  @saggybawlz  The question is, who will you hate on now that Kamala is no longer contesting the presidency? There must be hate. God Trump wills it!
    1
  21108. The OSCE faithfully reported on all hostilities in the Donbas from 2014 to Feb 2022. Which OSCE SMM reports corroborate your claim about Ukraine terrorising Donbas residents with shellfire?
    1
  21109.  @emunah-trust  Aren't you sharp-tongued. The hostage crisis might linger on for longer, but the fighting will die down in a matter weeks at most.
    1
  21110.  @emunah-trust  Hamas is in no position to repulse the IDF, and the fact is not lost on Hamas's leadership. In order to survive, their fighters will slink away and hide among the Gazans and once again, switch to insurgency tactics against the Israeli occupiers (the IDF will no doubt stay and linger for a bit). Hamas will suffer disproportionately, but they've calculated in that, too. Some are already calling it the Third Intifada. If you insist on calling it a war, like Netanyahu, be me guest. By the way, I'm pretty sure Netanyahu's retirement from politics beckons when the smoke clears. Then maybe, just maybe, cooler heads will prevail in Israel. Clearly, a novel approach is needed, or umpteen Intifadas will follow, each time with a higher death toll on both sides.
    1
  21111.  @ManojAdikari-qd1nj  Again, it all depends on your definition of war. Call it what you wish, but historians won't follow your example.
    1
  21112. If it took you 31 years to reach adulthood, it's a milestone all right.
    1
  21113.  @robotek148  It was funny once.
    1
  21114.  @robotek148  It takes all kinds.
    1
  21115. You give too much credit to the French. You'd think they're still a major power.
    1
  21116.  @jonathantoymaker  You do give them an awful lot of attention, as if they're the source of all of Africa's problems. Snap out of it.
    1
  21117.  @ChrisMurray-iw9ij  But we just joined, so we haven't run up a tab yet.
    1
  21118.  @serenapimentel7372  What does not exists, dear Serena?
    1
  21119. We have Latvian mobsters. Deporting every single Latvian would reduce crime, wouldn't it?
    1
  21120.  @arisplugis5197  Eradicating the entire human race would be the ideal one-in-all solution, wouldn't it?
    1
  21121.  @arisplugis5197  Ah, you must be a fan of Icke's -- so in your theory, shape-shifting, blood-drinking reptilian humanoids are bent on taking over the world?
    1
  21122.  @sabinereynaudsf  We already know that there was a massive explosion when the dam broke. There's seismic data and there are satellite images consistent with an explosion. That should dispel all speculation of the dam accidentally rupturing as a result of earlier battle damage.
    1
  21123. Sure thing. They're winning by not losing.
    1
  21124. Not in Russia. Russia is on its knees. Militarily, economically and vis-à-vis China.
    1
  21125. Who exactly is Putin railing against here? He let go the biggest rebel of them all.
    1
  21126. Why would MEPs be treated any differently from anyone else after their immunity has been waived? There's equality before the law.
    1
  21127. Hint: majorities count in parliamentary democracies. Study up and then make an educated comment.
    1
  21128.  @Apache1970  Sure, but Britain is your gateway drug to Murica.
    1
  21129. Sure, they owe Putin. Just like Putin became top NATO's recruiter, Putin is a top salesman of not only American arms, but Western ones in general. What makes the feat all the more significant is that in the process, Putin sacrificed his own arms industry. Former big customers of Russia, such as India, are taking their business to the US and France as we speak. Putin is incredibly selfless (read: really, really dumb).
    1
  21130.  @raymore5256  Sorry, I wasn't aware you were a Putin bot. Ask your handlers for more English lessons, like ASAP. While at it, change your username. You're fooling no one.
    1
  21131. You mean the far right. They can't even unite in the European Parliament.
    1
  21132. I think it's in action already. Ukraine stands firm. Russia can't force a breakthrough.
    1
  21133. Luckily, your supply of copium is endless.
    1
  21134.  @АртемАртем-л4э  Even if true, it wasn't done with your Iranian drones, Arty.
    1
  21135.  @ingridschmid1709  True, and Russia's Iranian terror drones have even less of an impact on the outcome of the war. And it's not just the warhead on them that's much smaller, but their numbers are fewer, too.
    1
  21136.  @julianpetkov8320  You're spamming the same comment several times, Jules. That's botty behaviour. Low and slow-flying drones are notoriously difficult to down. We saw Israeli and Turkish drones make a mockery of Russia's much-vaunted Pantsir. Both Israel and Turkey made it a sport to destroy them in Syria and Libya respectively.
    1
  21137. Love him or hate him, but Iran's diminishing capability for waging proxy wars has a calming influence on the Middle East. Of course, Israel could do better -- much better -- in striving for peace.
    1
  21138. If you put it differently, that 51% of the population is sidelined, it should raise concerns.
    1
  21139.  @robertoalex4245  What are you raging against? 51% of the population doesn't have a single representative of their gender in the upcoming Taliban administration. That's my point. You're going on about Afghan women getting to keep their janitorial jobs. That is not the point.
    1
  21140.  @robertoalex4245  In your mind, does giving women ministerial posts worsen the expected famine? I could imagine that there would be hick-ups if they were replacing men with women to meet a gender quota, but it's tabula rasa here. No discontinuity.
    1
  21141.  @robertoalex4245  I see, you're the type that can't walk and chew gum at the same time. Maybe Afghan women should stop cooking for their families, too, because a famine is looming. Like you, they must only occupy themselves with jumping up and down and flapping their arms. I suspect you have a troubled relationship with the female gender. An overly dominant mother turned you into a misogynist? A string of divorces?
    1
  21142.  @robertoalex4245  I hit the bull's eye, didn't I? I've been to Afghanistan, incidentally. Quite recently, too.
    1
  21143.  @gfys756  If Sweden harbours "terrorists" and has to be kept out of NATO on account of it, Turkey should start ousting half of NATO from the alliance for the very same reason -- or leave itself, which would be the easiest solution. The US harbours Gülen, Erdogan's arch-rival, who's -- surprise-surprise -- sought by Turkey for terrorism.
    1
  21144. What are the Taliban dependent on? On China and Russia, now that the Taliban have pledged to stop growing opium poppies?
    1
  21145. The problem is that the EU has no idea how to indulge you. BoJo is singularly unable to suggest alternatives to the backstop. You're behaving like spoiled children, who're blaming their parents for not coming up with fun activities.
    1
  21146.  @nyali2  Corruption is endemic and the rule of law no longer applies?
    1
  21147. So Putin is outsourcing it to the EU? I wonder what the Orcsy cannon fodder is up to in Ukraine then.
    1
  21148.  @micconos5348  Haters use a blunderbuss when they spread their hate.
    1
  21149.  @jesusaguilar4585  Yeah, why not. There's separatism in Europe that will undoubtedly lead to some countries splitting in two (or three, or four). Czechoslovakia did it, and so did Yugoslavia. Besides Spain, the UK is a strong candidate, and of course there's Belgium, too. Redrawing Europe's national boundaries won't lead to great drama, by the way. Europe -- geographically speaking, and with the notable exception of western Russia -- has little colonial baggage. Somewhat ironically, the EU is an enabler here. Thanks to the EU, regions no longer need to band together to ward off hostile neighbours, or to compete economically with them. I'm all for Palestine achieving full statehood, too, in case you're curious. It would be great if the Palestinians could put all the money we give them towards nation building rather than mere subsistence.
    1
  21150.  @aymangaber8341  That's what statehood entails, don't it.
    1
  21151.  @Kite-te9km  You sound like the perfect peace emissary to send to the Kremlin to open negotiations. Where have you been hiding all this time?
    1
  21152. I would agree with you wholeheartedly if the alternative wasn't Trump.
    1
  21153. They're already there. The Taliban used Pakistan as a staging area for their reconquest of Afghanistan. Pakistan already has Sharia law, but applies it somewhat selectively.
    1
  21154.  @amolkhobaragade  In Pakistan's case, there are alternative laws, some Sharia-based, some not, which are applied on a case-by-case basis. Go figure.
    1
  21155.  Gambit Odsey  A Krembot goes gaga over nukes. Yawn.
    1
  21156.  Gambit Odsey  So nuclear posturing is factual? Our democratic credentials are top-notch, while your beloved Russia's are piss-poor. You're the Fascist in this equation.
    1
  21157. Doesn't the WEF rule everyone in your conspiracy-ridden mind?
    1
  21158. No, Starmer just isn't a Chamberlain-style appeaser to dictators, like you'd want him to be.
    1
  21159. AT mines fill that niche. The Ukrainians know the ropes.
    1
  21160. 900.000 Russen zijn Rusland ontvlucht vanwege de oorlog. Dat is dus 900.000 keer iemand. Héél wat meer dan jouw "NIEMAND".
    1
  21161.  @richardpound3942  The courteous thing to do is to let you go on your own accord. But noooo... your dilly-dallying has no limits.
    1
  21162. Change for what? Everyone uses electronic payments nowadays.
    1
  21163. Ask Maduro. He's in charge of the mess.
    1
  21164. You missed that she's not Afghan.
    1
  21165. Don't you think? They were right about Putin all along. And now Kallas is the EU's high rep for foreign affairs and security policy and veep of the European Commission. Insane indeed!
    1
  21166. Bollocks, they have very limited capabilities. The Humvee, no matter how plentiful, is not the military equivalent of a multi-function kitchen tool.
    1
  21167. I don't know either what he's smoking, but you're busy coping.
    1
  21168. Can we scrape together any respect? I'm doubtful.
    1
  21169. Tu quoque fallacy spotted.
    1
  21170. ​ @davlid100  Let's strike a deal. NATO can expand wherever it wants -- or rather, wherever the locals want in. CSTO can do likewise, under the same conditions. Don't come crying to us, however, if no one wants to join your hero Putin's sorry excuse for an anti-NATO, which may have died a quiet death while we were paying attention to the war in Ukraine.
    1
  21171.  @Crashed131963  You're quite mistaken. Russia has made numerous more or less veiled threats against Finland. Unimaginatively, Putin's worst bloodhounds have threatened Finland with nuclear strikes. Interestingly, Russia's troops manning the military bases straddling the Finnish border have suffered crippling losses in Ukraine. Satellite images show that they're stripped clean of men and material. Russia would like to put paid to its threats against Finland, but it simply is in no position to do so. For now.
    1
  21172.  @nvmtt  You forget that Turkey still secretly covets EU membership, or at least, a hang-around membership of the EU. Turkey would absolutely luuurve the economic and monetary stability that the EU provides.
    1
  21173.  @nvmtt  It still works wonders. You rack your brain why.
    1
  21174. Hate-mongering Bible-banger spotted.
    1
  21175. You think it's corruption when Zelenskyy keeps Pootie's marauding Orcs at bay?
    1
  21176. Did you fail history? We're talking 18 years.
    1
  21177.  @ludastout2852  Erm, Gorbachev is alive and well. Regan was Reagan's chief of staff, but I'll let that one slide.
    1
  21178. So? It's not raining down on us.
    1
  21179. You prefer amateur hour with the clueless far right in charge? They should know better, because real responsible is ruinous to their popularity.
    1
  21180. Putin tried that, and now only the Hermit Kingdom of North Korea recognises his conquests as Russian.
    1
  21181.  @andrescortina1323  Ukraine doesn't need advice from inveterate cowards like you.
    1
  21182.  @vickyvey1657  Malign them or celebrate them, the British royals attract tourists, who put truckloads of money into the British economy. Scandinavian royals, on the other hand, have little to no tourist appeal. I mean, we all know Pippi Longstocking and Karlsson-on-the-Roof, but Scandi royals? They're world-famous in their own countries.
    1
  21183. DW isn't your safe space, that's for sure.
    1
  21184. I'm sure the Brits want to sort out their Brexit mess before they'll start to dream of resurrecting the British Empire.
    1
  21185. That's a stretch. Geostrategically, nothing changes, no matter whether Greenland becomes US territory, becomes independent or remains Danish. Come what may, the Greenlanders would be foolish to kick out the US military (more particularly, the US Space Force, tee-hee) and lose the bucks that come with it.
    1
  21186. Trump preparing for defeat. Figures.
    1
  21187.  @ldevries4026  Nogal wiedes, hè.
    1
  21188. You need to scurry back to your safe space.
    1
  21189. I'm Finnish and I think we could've done much better with presidential runner-up Pekka Haavisto, who's much more accomplished in governance and international affairs. Stubb was a placeholder PM for a few short years, and demoted come next election. His party soon cast him aside, and he resigned as both finance minister and MP, ending his relatively brief career in Finnish day-to-day politics. Haavisto's problem was that he's openly gay and represents a party -- the Greens -- who're in decline. If you're looking for determined leadership in these transformational times, Kaja Kallas is your woman.
    1
  21190.  @laszlocarreidas9548  Yeah, but you fail to argue your case. You must think your unfounded opinion carries a lot of weight.
    1
  21191.  @laszlocarreidas9548  How *did you fail? Clearly, you don't know what arguing your case and unfounded opinion mean. To bend it from a spool of wire for you, you couldn't produce a single argument why you think the world of Stubb. I had a whole list. Give it try, like I luuurve Stubb because... he smiles a lot? See, smiling is an argument why Stubb could be perceived as a competent leader... well, in your book.
    1
  21192.  @laszlocarreidas9548  This discussion is pointless if you can't tell the difference between opinions and facts. I stated facts, whereas you're all opinion.
    1
  21193.  @laszlocarreidas9548  Duh, YouTube doesn't accept links. If you really are a Finn, you should know these facts already. Or if you're too young, have a gander at Stubb's Wikipedia page.
    1
  21194. Who's giving?
    1
  21195.  @mikhailmik  OK, I've reported you for spamming. Get ready to register a new account, yet again.
    1
  21196.  @slavicemperor8279  Turks with shoddy tactics, but still no tossed turrets. That's a design feature of Russian tanks.
    1
  21197.  @mikhailmik  I knew you were just mindlessly copying canned statements, like the mindless bot that you are.
    1
  21198.  @t15661  The coping is strong with you Krembots today. As I hinted at before, the Turks committed the same fatal mistake that Russia has been guilty of in Ukraine, time after time. The Turks pushed their Leopards forward without proper infantry support. It is, after all, how the Turks fight Kurdish insurgents wielding mere AKs. Instead, what they had to contend with were ATGMs. Just like your Orcs in Ukraine, who were expecting to be greeted by grateful Ukrainian with flowers, not Javelins.
    1
  21199.  @AndreasConfirmed  When a Western tank gets hit and its ammunition cooks off, there are not necessarily any KIAs. With Russian tanks, it's practically a given. That's the difference.
    1
  21200.  @Sun-Tzu-  Don't be silly. While it's perfectly possible that a single projectile penetrates the crew compartment and kills everyone inside in an instant, it's more likely there's only a limited hull breach. Western crews stand a chance owing to the shielded ammunition storage, but Russian crews are blown sky-high, along with their turret.
    1
  21201. ​ @Sun-Tzu-  If there's a hull breach, it's much more likely to result from a kinetic penetrator than a HEAT round or a squash head, which is what you're describing. I've actually fired an M72 LAW at a T-26. We had packed the target with styrofoam panels for damage assessment, and yes, it was extreme. However, the LAW would've only pockmarked a Leo-2. Of course, there are far more powerful AT weapons, but the point is to deny the enemy the opportunity to launch. What you're saying is that since tanks can't provide 100% survivability, we shouldn't bother with them. Ukraine has captured hundreds of battle-damaged but repairable Russian tanks, some with little damage like a thrown track and others with crew casualties, so battle damage occurs in all gradations. The Ukrainians are already confirming that their Western armoured vehicles are more survivable. It's no surprise, because they're designed with an emphasis on survivability.
    1
  21202.  @Sun-Tzu-  Duh, tank design is always a compromise, and not only in terms of armour, but also, power to weight, ground pressure, armament and whatnot.
    1
  21203.  @Sun-Tzu-  To rinse and repeat, the Leopard 2 is petter [sic] than the T-72 in terms of crew survivability, owing to petter [sic] ammunition storage arrangements, which make the former practically immune to the notorious jack-in-the-box effect that so plagues the Soviet/Russian T-series tanks, up to the very latest T-90 subtypes. Try to get that through your thick skull.
    1
  21204. At Abu Ghraib? You make your own news, it seems.
    1
  21205. *Whinge.
    1
  21206.  @charliedeventer2639  Je bent lekker aan het spammen, he? Gerapporteerd.
    1
  21207.  @elmohead  And black is from now on white.
    1
  21208.  @mphamphatso8136  With the Taliban in charge? Afghanistan was a failed state the first time around and will be again this time. The Americans failed in nation-building, but the Taliban will fare even worse.
    1
  21209.  @royjaber571  China already held significant mining concessions in Afghanistan when the US was there, having been awarded them by the Afghan national government. Then, the Chinese companies in question thought the security situation too iffy to start exploitation. They're still wavering, because security hasn't improved. It's not about the civil war, but Afghanistan's general lawlessness and its rampant corruption. In short, the Taliban just doesn't know how to govern the country to warrant sizable foreign investment.
    1
  21210. There's a conspiracy theory lurking in every mishap. By the way, it wasn't WEF. It was the Reptilians.
    1
  21211. That's exactly why Erdogan's lowering of interest rates is so asinine.
    1
  21212. Yet for the Gilets Jaunes it has been the case from day one.
    1
  21213.  @demonhalo67  Nope, the EU's requirement for a level playing field arose from the suspicion that the UK will erode worker's rights, lower taxation and lavish subsidies on British businesses, all of which would make your companies more competitive without them doing anything to deserve it. I suppose you could take on China as well by reverting back to child labour...
    1
  21214. Yeah, we don't need the Murican world police putting a knee on someone's neck.
    1
  21215. The ICC is in the Netherlands, sport. That's Europe.
    1
  21216.  @Pshaurk  So, you have a notion of arithmetic, but common sense eludes you. What makes you think my grandfathers are still alive? Wait, 1603 plus 800 means that -- according to you -- the year is 2403. I have to take back what I wrote about you having a notion of arithmetic.
    1
  21217.  @Pshaurk  What on earth are you on about? I know perfectly well how long we've been independent. What's that got to do with the price of tea in China? YouTube comment sections brim with weirdos, but you take the cake.
    1
  21218. ​ @iaf010  You should read my comments more carefully before you post yours. I'm not every European. The point is that stereotypes are misleading. You're yet another to perpetuate them.
    1
  21219. Rather, Nazism is rising in the US. Trump paves the way.
    1
  21220. Did you remember to enlist?
    1
  21221. ​ @matimus100  Which part? Hint: Vikings were decidedly Germanic in origin.
    1
  21222.  @Arltratlo  Read again. Germanic.
    1
  21223. Aircraft carriers are sitting ducks in the Baltic Sea. Just saying.
    1
  21224. You just killed one another for sport, right?
    1
  21225.  @ramatgan1  I did use past tense, bud.
    1
  21226. That's your pathetic victimhood speaking.
    1
  21227.  @AaBbCcDd-lb8xj  Your English is suspiciously poor for a Canadian.
    1
  21228.  @AaBbCcDd-lb8xj  You're making basic grammar and spelling mistakes, which suggests you're not Canadian-educated. Why wouldn't I know how Canadians speak?
    1
  21229.  @AaBbCcDd-lb8xj  I speak to Canadians on a daily basis. Here goes: "and few years ago" should be "and a few years ago". "Putin forgived African's debt" should read "Putin forgave the Africans' debt". Or did you mean to say "Putin forgiveth one African's debt? Also, you struggle with punctuation and capiltalisation. As much as I like compliments, a basic command of the English language is not worthy of one.
    1
  21230. Puh-lease, this was already true in 1942, when the Bazooka entered service, yet tanks have trundled on.
    1
  21231. Norks and Orcs, birds of a feather.
    1
  21232. You're just not well informed. MINUSMA has been the UN's second-most dangerous peacekeeping mission to date, and there have been quite a few. Keep playing first-person shooters and don't mind the news.
    1
  21233.  @MichelleDemishevich Thank you for reconfirming. You're a dear.
    1
  21234.  @N00bcrunch3r  You don't say.
    1
  21235.  @СтефанЂукић-с7л  Enjoy your poverty.
    1
  21236.  @ramdev9578  Aw, I hurt your sensibilities.
    1
  21237.  @ramdev9578  Whoa, you got shadow-banned there, and not once but twice. You'd better watch that foul mouth of yours.
    1
  21238. Agreed, there's hope for China yet.
    1
  21239.  @zhaleyleitnib5150  Duh.
    1
  21240.  @christianevanherck6023  If you believe that Prigozhin spoke those words in earnest, the two of you are guilty of the same naivety that made Putin think that the Ukrainians would welcome his troops with flowers. Had Prigozhin and his Wagnerites spearheaded the invasion in February 2022, the public wouldn't have waved them on, like in Rostov, but showered them with Molotov cocktails.
    1
  21241.  @ismailyahaia3312  Zelenskyy may be an erstwhile comedian, but Putin is a joke as we speak.
    1
  21242.  @ismailyahaia3312  If YouTube news channels don't cut it for you, pick up a newspaper.
    1
  21243. Christina, Russia is merely a superpower wannabe. You can only be a superpower if you have the economic underpinning. Russia does not and it's doubtful it ever will. Moral values would be helpful, too.
    1
  21244. christina s, there's always room for improvement, but things aren't nearly as dire in the so-called West as they are in Russia. For starters, Western governments aren't in the habit of assassinating troublesome citizens of theirs. As for nuclear weapons, Russia's arsenal is checked by Western ones and vice versa. What remains is conventional military power and economic power, where Russia is clearly outmatched.
    1
  21245. You're welcome to it. Dark Africa will drag BRICS down.
    1
  21246.  @Brandonhayhew  "Mongolia as buffer zone"... against what, China? Isn't China supposed to be Russia's BFF?
    1
  21247. Russia already has already used "some kind of radioactive weapons" as in polonium, in London in 2006. To say nothing of Novichok in Salisbury in 2018.
    1
  21248.  @liang8255  Aren't you forgetful. Putin gave the BRICS summit in South African a miss because he didn't want to be clapped in irons. The same will apply to the upcoming BRICS summit in Brazil. As an ICC member, Brazil has to arrest Putin the moment he sets foot in the country.
    1
  21249.  @GauntletKI  It's a known fact that when the Vikings headed east to raid, Finnic tribes from both present-day Finland and Estonia joined them. I still wouldn't go as far as calling them Vikings, however. Their customs, culture and beliefs were clearly different from those of the Vikings.
    1
  21250. They did it to themselves. Blundered into it, to be exact.
    1
  21251. Let me guess, you're new to rasputitsa.
    1
  21252.  @dominicdudebromtl9380  That explains it. Soggy, wet ground. You've heard about Wikipedia, right?
    1
  21253. I've heard that Webley's British Bulldog was the gun that won the West, not the Colt Peacemaker.
    1
  21254.  d s  Get an education then. It would help with your spelling, too.
    1
  21255.  Ronove  Tell me, where did Communism live up to its promise?
    1
  21256.  @benvandam369  You don't have to tell us explicitly that you're silly. It's inferred.
    1
  21257.  @benvandam369  If you don't mind, I'll stick around for a little while longer. I'm sure we'll see more silliness from you.
    1
  21258. Who would you like to blame ? Yourself?
    1
  21259.  @nvelsen1975  Someone was very selectively hearing.
    1
  21260.  @powderpuffs4456  By dumping on the UN, you're basically saying that the world is a shitshow.
    1
  21261.  @efsmediachannel7823  I think the UN is like you. You hate parts of yourself, but it is what it is. Evidently there's enough for you to like because you're still around. If you think the UN is worse than you are, make it better. Become a UN peacekeeper or some such.
    1
  21262. Your timing is off. Boris is a minor TV personality these days.
    1
  21263.  Michael  Don't get carried away. Many Russians have lived in the EU for ages, and shake their heads in disbelief at Putin's folly. My neighbour sowed an Ukrainian flag onto his jacket, next to the Russian one, to show where his allegiances don't lie. He says strangers come up to him to shake his hand.
    1
  21264.  @Marie0575  Is HUH already trademarked, for His or Her Useless Highness?
    1
  21265.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  Try to keep up with the news, Wolfsangel.
    1
  21266.  @hong-enlin4651  Yes, the EU has a greying population. Didn't you know?
    1
  21267.  @eddastrohmayer251  There's "Austrian" Edda again, blaming Zelenskyy for putting up a spirited defence against Russian aggression, but never-ever do you utter a critical word about Putin, who started the whole war. And you have the nerve to claim that you're "neutral".
    1
  21268. Excuse me, a halo is what holy and sacred figures wear around their heads.
    1
  21269. Not really. Zelenskyy has shown that he has taken defence in depth to heart. In the mean time, the chief (or chef) of your group of ex-prisoners is screaming blue murder about his exposed flanks and lack of ammunition. Now he's even turned against grandpa Putin.
    1
  21270.  @rotterdam-west010  Ik heb vrouwlief beloofd om van verdere uitzendingen af te zien. Hoeveel heb jij er achter de rug?
    1
  21271.  @chico9805  You have reading comp issues?
    1
  21272. NATO doesn't stop you from solving Sweden's social woes. You have an grossly exaggerated notion of the interconnectedness of things.
    1
  21273.  @lterry3876  Aren't you a gullible fool. I'm not German. Without a doubt, Germany could get US forces to quit Germany. There are precedents. In 1991, the Philippines asked for the Americans bases there to be closed within a year. The Americans left ahead of schedule.
    1
  21274.  Right Wing Media  They would regain their poverty, more like.
    1
  21275. Odd, I've never seen it make stops here. But I do know that we've given India loads of development aid. Choo-choo!
    1
  21276.  Ankur Kumar  Why bring the USA into this? Everyone knows they're vaccine hoarders.
    1
  21277. Is it that ugly a tie?
    1
  21278.  @reinforcedpenisstem  Ah, sarcasm. Doesn't work on YouTube.
    1
  21279. Not really. If you suspect you're facing MANPADS, you fly higher, out of their reach. That's what the Soviets did, and their losses dropped dramatically, but at the cost of effectiveness. But nowadays, with precision-guided ordnance being the norm, effectiveness isn't greatly compromised either.
    1
  21280.  @kgjekdl  No, no one in their right mind is going to put their faith in Russian gas any longer. Besides, we were already starting to wean ourselves off hydrocarbons, weren't we, before Putin declared his energy war. Thanks to Putin, the green shift got a firm kick in the pants. Come to think of it, Putin can console himself in prison that he saved the planet from climate apocalypse.
    1
  21281. Russia should ban smoking for its own good.
    1
  21282.  @TheWorldisSoDivided  Get a room then. Maybe you can pull wings off flies in between.
    1
  21283. Maybe you should run for office?
    1
  21284.  @christopherstmarin  I bet you're too vainglorious as well. Narcissistic even?
    1
  21285. @Moravienis_dynasty4543 Pepsi? That's Murican too. Personally, I vote for Afri Cola. Because of its exceptionally high cafeine content it's is a nice pick-me-upper when you can't be arsed to brew coffee.
    1
  21286.  @Thuon_  Uh, many times. By any chance, do you have a point? If so, try to make your point.
    1
  21287. "Xi will still be there anyway". No surprise there. Xi had himself declared president-for-life. There's no clearer way of saying "We're not a Western democracy".
    1
  21288.  @liang8255  It always cracks me up when the CCP propagandists and their minions reject 'Western democracy', as if there's an alternative Chinese variant of democracy. The PRC is just undemocratic, period.
    1
  21289.  @samsungtap4183  It looks like you meekly accept Moscow's bullying. I expect you always had your lunch money stolen in school, too.
    1
  21290.  @SuzannaKiraly  Only Orban doesn't get his way. And he can't count on any goodwill, which could get him what he wants withiut kicking up a ruckus. Orban is neither a diplomat nor a statesman. A thug, more like. Maybe you have a thing for thugs? You like them bad boys? Rebels without a cause?
    1
  21291.  @SuzannaKiraly  Don't play the victim. Hungary is still 21€ billion out of pocket. Orban's cronies, who're counting on thickly-padded EU-funded contracts, are none too pleased.
    1
  21292.  @csat1078  Do a little research and then cry foul.
    1
  21293.  @csat1078  Hungary is still 21€ billion out of pocket vis-à-vis the EU. Did you think that's a state union secret? Please, put some effort into your arguments. I'm embarrassed on your behalf.
    1
  21294.  @csat1078  Actually, the EP has a centre-right majority. It's just that Orban's Fidesz qualifies as far-right populist, which means everything else is leftist to you. I'm stating facts, and those facts somehow butthurt you. Hungary is undeniably still missing out on 21€ billion in EU funding because it refuses to play by the rules. If you think the rules unfair, leave the game. The Copenhagen criteria predate Hungary's accession to the EU, so there's the door. Incidents of corruption in the EU, especially when they concerns individuals as greedy and naive as Eva Kalil, can never be fully prevented as long as there are human MEPs. Hungary's endemic corruption, on the other hand, is top to bottom and goes wholly unpunished. Why, because the EU has no jurisdiction domestically in its members states, and rule of law has effectively been abolished in Hungary, for which the EU sanctions Hungary... we're going around incircles.
    1
  21295. Russia has never been a superpower. The Soviet Union was, but the Russian Federation could never assume the mantle. Superpower wannabe/hasbeen or regional power are apt descriptions. Local power Muscovy could be next, after Russian Civil War 2.
    1
  21296.  @EmperorCheed  Krembots don't bother with sources of any kind. Krembots are allergic to facts.
    1
  21297.  @Gerrard_Pike2008  You're asking the wrong person.
    1
  21298. That's funny. The fringe populist groups would like the GDR back, and the sooner the better.
    1
  21299.  @mirekslechta7161  The overwhelming majority of NATO members strongly disagrees with you. I suppose you were bullied in school, and you chose to suffer in silence.
    1
  21300.  @LeventeCzelnai  So, should we allow Russia to hold the world hostage with its nuclear weapons, just like North Korea is trying to?
    1
  21301.  @Jahvec  The roundel was changed, but the Finnish swastika does still appear on air force flags. Nothing to do with this guy's Gitler.
    1
  21302.  @Jahvec  Same difference.
    1
  21303. So, out of the frying pan, into the fire.
    1
  21304. Join the club.
    1
  21305. Mali's government is a military JUNTA.
    1
  21306.  @RUTHLESSambition5  They should stage an election to see if the people really do... wait...
    1
  21307.  @alrent2992  I'm more concerned about Putin's less-than-ideal retirement options, from bad to worse: a) cell in The Hague; b) incarceration in chilly Siberia; c) voluntary euthanasia; d) a long fall followed by a sudden stop.
    1
  21308. Huh? The Kiel Instutite that actually researches these matters puts Europe's aid to Ukraine at 132.3B€, while the US figure is 114.2B€. The gap is wider still if we include commitments, 379.7B€ vs. 119B€.
    1
  21309. Golden Dawn much?
    1
  21310.  @ЮлияШелковникова-м9е  For now, it's Russians crossing the border illegally to apply for asylum. But I'm sure even seemingly ignorant Russians like yourself know where most migrants are coming from nowadays.
    1
  21311. There's Kherson city and there's Kherson Oblast. This is about a part of Kherson Oblast that is still under occupation by Russia.
    1
  21312.  @lawalitv2990  I wouldn't characterise Russia's relationship with the world at large as "good" by any measure. 141 countries condemned Russia's military aggression in Ukraine. Just 4 scurried to Russia's defence.
    1
  21313. I knew conspiracy theorists would make a beeline for this.
    1
  21314.  @kelvindoang1228  Don't flatter yourself. Anyone can read a dictionary. Conspiracy theorists such as yourself think there's an evil plot behind everything. You have a cynical worldview, and your overly-developed confirmation bias gets you every time.
    1
  21315.  @irvinmcb  Amphibious landings will prove even more problematic for Russia.
    1
  21316. Their size may belie the support. I mean, people probably wanted to enjoy the very last coronation ever. You know, like enjoying one last cigarette before giving up on an expensive habit that doesn't belong in this time and age.
    1
  21317. Inderdaad. Als toekomstig secretaris-generaal van de NAVO doet Rutte meer voor defensie dan jij in elke vorm dan ook.
    1
  21318.  @tuckedup  Goed, laat het eens horen. Wat doe je voor defensie?
    1
  21319. Entirely self-serving, more like. He'd just as easily screw over Putin given half the chance.
    1
  21320. Orban is raking it in from Putin. He has to, because his corrupt pickings from the EU have become slimmer.
    1
  21321. Russia will huff and puff.
    1
  21322.  @Sziasztok742  Ooh, murder-suicide perhaps?
    1
  21323. Sure, Serbia would be Russia's fifth column in the EU. Veto.
    1
  21324. Don't you wish you'd speak proper English.
    1
  21325. Terms? Those are for show. Xinnie the Pooh is a president-for-life.
    1
  21326. Did you think the missiles were manned? Cute.
    1
  21327.  @nuttyNat  What a puerile "no you are" comeback. Why-oh-why would I need to master Ukrainian? Are we conversing in Ukrainian here?
    1
  21328.  @emmaizu4406  Why only choose between bad options? Are you Americans bipolar or what?
    1
  21329.  @YourD3estinY  I guess NATO will have to bomb Serbia again. Slow learners, they are.
    1
  21330.  @clydewillis  Not true. Western private military companies focus on providing security services. I'm sure they wouldn't refuse to provide combat troops as well if the price was right, but their customers aren't receptive to the idea. It doesn't make sense to create another army in addition to one's existing one. If you still do, it's a tacit admission that there's something terribly wrong with your army. Well, that's Russia in a nutshell.
    1
  21331.  @AmonTheWitch  The China is firmly under the communists' boot, that much is certain.
    1
  21332.  @richards4219  Maybe, but fresh veggies tend to spoil quickly and arable land doesn't grow on trees either.
    1
  21333.  @petervanwyngaard4788  Luckily, ATMs are much safer now. Not that it matters all that much any longer, since cashless payments are all the rage nowadays.
    1
  21334. Like The Terminator, they'll be back.
    1
  21335. France is really, really clever for bringing that about... or you're a consipracy theorist. My money is on the latter.
    1
  21336. Zo gaat die goed, Nederland. Een slavenvolk in spe.
    1
  21337. Hezbollah or Iran or what? Neither is an existential threat to Israel.
    1
  21338.  @ansar512  There will be no bumps as I sit back in my comfy chair and enjoy the popcorn.
    1
  21339.  @Lexrezende  You'll find that Putin is pretty flexible in terms of ideology. Besides, Russia's system of crony capitalism is transforming the country into a Soviet-style command economy again, as businesses are failing and the state needs to take over. That, however, doesn't change the grim economic realities that Russia is facing. Also, for the record, USSR imploded pretty much on its own accord. Joining an arms race during a period of chronic economic weakness didn't help, but that was also a choice the Soviets made. There was a moral bankruptcy as well. Communism had failed.
    1
  21340. In your opinion, should the USA send a death squads to Russia, to assassinate Edward Snowdon, for starters?
    1
  21341. Sid Student, you're dodging the question. Let me try to make it more comprehensible to you: is it OK for a foreign power to send death squads to Russia to assassinate political opponents, and in the process, put 20 innocent Russians in hospital? I'm asking, because you seem to think so. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, eh? You can save your breath about US misdeeds, alleged or real. I'm not an apologist for them. I know that allegations made against Russia always spark off a flurry of counter-allegations, but if at all possible, can we concentrate on Russia's immorality, which you seem to applaud?
    1
  21342. ChameleonThe13, it's not about Snowden per se, but about whether Sib Student here condones assassinations of foreigners by foreign agents on Russian soil. It appears he does.
    1
  21343. ChameleonThe13, are you intentionally deflecting from the issue at hand, i.e. assassinations of one's nationals on foreign soil, or is there some intellectual impairment at play here? As for Snowden, whatever you and I think of him is inconsequential. What matters is that the US authorities are out to get him. Why else do you think he hides out in Moscow?
    1
  21344. ChameleonThe13, well, at any rate it appears you want to hijack the conversation in order to express your profound appreciation for Snowden. There's such a things as taking an analogy too far. The point here is that Skripal is a Russian citizen residing in the UK who fell victim to an assassination attempt in which Russia is the prime suspect. Snowden is a US citizen residing in Russia whom the United States want to hang high and dry. Any other similarities between the two are just a product of your vivid imagination. Let me reiterate that your opinions are of no interest to me. I was asking for that of Sib Student. Unless you're his sock puppet, butt out.
    1
  21345. ChameleonThe13, you've convinced me that you're incapable of rational discourse. I brought Snowden into the conversation as another example -- besides Skripal -- of someone who's perceived as a traitor in his home country. I don't have to account for these perceptions; I'm merely observing that they exist. You're clearly the one with reading (and language) issues. I started off by addressing Sib Student and posing a question about his feelings on US death squads operating in Russia in order to whack US enemies of the state. I realise you're not fully proficient in English, but your language skills shouldn't prevent you from understanding such a simple question.
    1
  21346. ChameleonThe13, you clearly suffer from poor reading comprehension. I gave you the benefit of the doubt that your language skills -- not your intellect -- was to blame, but now I'm swaying towards the latter. I haven't denied raising Snowden, but I brought him up only to illustrate my point. Snowden isn't the issue here -- the act of assassinating opponents on foreign soil is. And why is you don't understand the simple of concept of perception? Perceptions can be right or wrong. It's a neutral term. So just like Sib Student, in your thinking, Russia has the right to assassinate Russian nationals whom it perceives as traitors, even when they are abroad. You two(?) are morally-depraved.
    1
  21347. ChameleonThe13, another rambling and incoherent response. Straw man attacks much? And abstract concepts are a complete mystery to you. Oh, unless you want to come across as a hysterical drama queen, leave off the all-caps and the overuse of exclamation marks.
    1
  21348. ChameleonThe13, you wouldn't know a fact even if you stumbled over one. And if you weren't so clueless, you'd see that we're completely at cross-purposes. Are you female, by any chance?
    1
  21349. ChameleonThe13. I'm not sexist, but you ooze emotion. Fact is, women are more liberal with their emotions. It would fit the picture.
    1
  21350. ChameleonThe13: Right, I'm not effeminate.
    1
  21351. Interesting viewpoint. The UN is impotent on account of Russia's veto in the Security Council. To Wagner's credit, it did try to depose the Putin regime, which effectively renders the UN impotent.
    1
  21352.  @southface6684  The Greeks put up a spirited resistance, but them defeating the Germans as per your claim, that's an exaggeration. If you want to heap praise on the Greeks, focus on them stopping the Italian invaders, forcing Germany to take over, which critically delayed Operation Barbarossa. Chances are Moscow would've fallen and Stalin would've sued for peace. Fortress Europe would've truly become a fortress.
    1
  21353.  @southface6684  In relative terms, Greece suffered far fewer combat deaths than civilian deaths, mostly due to famine. The former also included losses incurred in internecine fighting, between the various resistance groups.
    1
  21354. It's no secret that Lebanon was and remains a failed state -- politically, economically and militarily. First, it was Syria that ruled the roost. Now, it's Iran. It's about time Lebanon became a truly independent country.
    1
  21355. I have to correct myself. Of course Trump has allies. New ones, Russia and North Korea.
    1
  21356.  @koloni2862  Don't get your knickers in a twist. I already conceded that Trump has North Korea and Russia on his side.
    1
  21357. He isn't coming back, so what's your point?
    1
  21358.  @choomickle623  More likely, there'll be an extension to the March 29 deadline, followed by another, then another...
    1
  21359. Make sure Beijing hears you.
    1
  21360. A surface-to-air missile like the Patriot has a 90 kg warhead, while that of a surface-to-surface missile like the Kh-22 weighs 1,000 kg. Judging from the magnitude of the destruction, this is clearly the work of the latter.
    1
  21361. Turkey is already there, having stopped Russia's favoured strongman, Haftar, from controlling the whole of Libya.
    1
  21362.  @TheMuslimParadigm  So all countries with conscription are military regimes? I'm a proud citizen soldier. More of the former than the latter, but still.
    1
  21363.  @votebrian66  Real democracies actually do need conscription.
    1
  21364.  @jungbolosse3034  You have a way with words.
    1
  21365.  @votebrian66  Let's compare notes. Tell me how you're ranked in the Democracy Index and I'll tell you how we're doing.
    1
  21366. One almost wishes the Republicans had a palatable candidate to run against Biden, but no, out of the frying pan into fire.
    1
  21367.  @savetheworld548  North Korea is very safe, too.
    1
  21368. While Zelenskyy gets a hero's welcome everywhere he goes, your Kremlin Gremlin is not welcome anywhere. Even BRICS partner South Africa made it clear that Putler will be handcuffed the moment he sets foot on South African soil.
    1
  21369. Why is Russia suddenly so honest about its setbacks? Embracing victimhood?
    1
  21370.  @Србомбоница86  Explain it to us then, o wise one. Don't go scurrying off to your troll cave quite yet.
    1
  21371. Sure, they'll buy more oil and gas below cost from Russia.
    1
  21372.  @ziggysmalls9329  Assad's worth was estimated at $60 billion to $122 billion, but he was deposed in 13 days. So, Putin's ouster will take a little over 2 months?
    1
  21373.  @ДмитрийЧайковский  Didn't both Russia and Ukraine win in 1945?
    1
  21374.  @ДмитрийЧайковский  Puh-lease. Russia has more than its fair share of genocide perps. More often than not, they killed their own, too.
    1
  21375. Not too long ago, Russia was sanctioning the both of them for their nuclear ambitions. Now, Russia can't afford morals.
    1
  21376. Give it a try yourself and see how the freedom part works out for you.
    1
  21377.  @tekken5375  You're trying to be cute. And don't upvote your own posts. It's seedy.
    1
  21378.  @tekken5375  Cool, you downvoted yourself.
    1
  21379.  @tekken5375  Give it up, I can tell.
    1
  21380.  @julioduan7130  Why don't you spill the beans? You insinuate you know the full story. Mainlanders who assume a critical stance in reporting on China's affairs are likely to disappear as well. China is the biggest jailer of journalists globally.
    1
  21381.  @ramatgan1  A reductio ad hitlerum is too much honour in your case.
    1
  21382. ​ @zhangyoulv  Charity is per definition voluntary, but there's moral pressure to help out the less fortunate. If you've got morals, that is.
    1
  21383.  @dadikkedude  It's that and more. There's no escape form Covid-19 until there's global herd immunity.
    1
  21384.  @lisadsouza5061  I wouldn't mind too much, but let's start with the gravest violations. Russia needs to go for breaking the UN Charter. Not even the USA and the UK managed to go that far.
    1
  21385. No, the UN peacekeepers were critical of how Wagner is conducting its business in Mali, and the Malian military junta decided they're allergic to criticism. In Mali, (military) governments come and go, so Wagner may be asked to leave as well. The UN comes cheap -- Wagner, not so.
    1
  21386.  @kimasim1  I do know that you took a dump in your own nest. Enjoy the odour.
    1
  21387.  @kimasim1  I'm not the one passing a stool in my own nest. You are. But I recognise the smell.
    1
  21388. Remind us of this non-expansion agreement -- when, where and by whom was it signed? Cursiously, whenever your lot gets asked this question, you head for the hills.
    1
  21389. Future BRICS will be spelled BICS if Russia doesn't cease and desist. Its pointless military aggression doesn't help BRICS any -- on the contrary.
    1
  21390.  @KTO_HUBLOT  When your only (working?) tool is a hammer, everything is a nail.
    1
  21391.  @umaiman3576  I don't see the EU on the list, which couldn't even be, because the EU has non-voting observer status in the UN. Very few EU countries on that list, too.
    1
  21392.  @rabbitbobo4131  You have a very optimistic understanding of the power of UNGA resolutions. They fall in the nice-to-know category.
    1
  21393.  @amandapeluso4217  Biden just visited the UK, Lithuania and Finland. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  21394.  @youjustreadthis897  "[The] investigation was delegated to the Dutch Safety Board (DSB) and the Dutch-led joint investigation team (JIT), which in 2016 reported that the aircraft had been downed by a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine. [...] The JIT found that the Buk originated from the 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade of the Russian Federation [...] and had been transported from Russia on the day of the crash, fired from a field in a rebel-controlled area, and that the launch system returned to Russia afterwards. [...] On 17 November 2022, following a trial in absentia in the Netherlands, two Russians and a Ukrainian separatist were found guilty of murdering all 298 people on board flight MH17. The Dutch court also ruled that Russia was in control of the separatist forces fighting in eastern Ukraine at the time. [...]"
    1
  21395. Do you really think they'll be put in chains and transported to Germany on a slave ship? For your info, they'll be afforded the same rights as German workers, and the same salary, too. German trade unions would be up in arms if that weren't the case. The European Court of Human Rights would sue Germany to kingdom come.
    1
  21396. Israel has more than once bitten the hand that fed itself, so it couldn't any longer. Destroying the Palestinians' livelihood has become their calling card. We saw them do this in Lebanon as well. No wonder the farmers' kids joined Hezbollah.
    1
  21397. I highly doubt that mortality will be reduced, considering how spotty and deficient the healthcare system is in the US. I predict the US will be the next epicentre for COVID-19.
    1
  21398. Isn't supposed hypocrisy part and parcel of whataboutism?
    1
  21399. Russian oligarchs helped themselves to Russia's assets. That was the case under Yeltsin and now, it still is under Putin, who uses them as his piggy banks. Stop passing the buck.
    1
  21400.  @Chris66Mas  So? I supported Yeltsin. So did the Russian people. Myself, I thought Yeltsin was going to turn Russia into a proper developed country. Were we to blame that it came to naught? In case you can't figure it out yourself, it means we're not accountable for the crimes of those whom we can't control, even if we supported them at one time or another. But the saddest thing of all is that the Russian people, who should be in control, let their kleptocrats be. The Belarusians have now gotten the gist, but not the Russians.
    1
  21401.  @bobsink624  Russia might be able to destroy Finland by nuking it, but that would be suicidal on so many levels. With conventional means of warfare, Finland is even a tougher nut to crack than Ukraine. It's ambush country, and with a vast trained reserve, there would be a well-armed soldier lying in wait behind every tree and boulder. The strongest artillery in Europe would grind Russian columns to a pulp -- if Finnish and NATO air power wouldn't get to them first. Russia -- not even under Putin -- would be so daft as to do a Ukraine on Finland.
    1
  21402. That would spell the end of Putinist Russia. NATO. Article. 5.
    1
  21403. I counted six mistakes in your six-word sentence. You are legend.
    1
  21404. Keep up with the news. France has been a strong advocate of a ceasefire, to the point of demanding such in the UNSC.
    1
  21405.  @maxdavis1483  Everything's always about you Yanks, isn't it?
    1
  21406.  @torian5995  You're flogging a dead horse. OSCE monitors, including Russian ones, found no shred of evidence of genocide in the Donbas despite full access to the region. All their reports are publicly available on the internet. You can recheck them. Be sure to get back to us when you find something incriminating.
    1
  21407.  @torian5995  You may not, because it's all stale propaganda. OSCE monitors, including Russian ones, didn't find a shred of evidence about Ukraine targeting civilians in Donbas. Their reports are all freely downloadable. You may want to check them and report back with your findings.
    1
  21408.  @jukkakopol7355  Simo Häyhä was a member of the Civil Guard. As such, he had a uniform. The same went for my uncles, one of whom soldiered through the whole Continuation War in his Civil Guard uniform.
    1
  21409. What did Murica do during the last three years? And don't hide behind your presidents.
    1
  21410. Don't forget the Hongkongers -- it's bad news for them, too.
    1
  21411.  @fengkuangyu7116  Don't you worry. Hongkongers will leave in droves. We're happy to have them and give them what the CCP refuses them: democracy. Oh, and you can't have it either unless you leave.
    1
  21412.  @fengkuangyu7116  Your CCP masters are very cross with the UK for letting them in. Don't contradict your masters!
    1
  21413.  @vulgarisopinio  Yeah, what happened to de Gaulle when he chose to withdraw France from NATO's military integrated command in 1966 (not the same as leaving)? Please explain, because my academic assessment is "nothing much".
    1
  21414. So the political purge has begun. I wouldn't be surprised if Trump, who's clearly not a scholar of history, calls it the Great Purge.
    1
  21415.  @PropagandaBurnerV  Come off it. Whataboutism is pure deflection. You refuse to address the topic at hand, so you try to introduce another in a desperate effort to divert attention. Cowardice under fire, in other words.
    1
  21416. 143 countries condemn Russia for its military aggression in Ukraine and Putin has an arrest warrant out in 123. That's pretty compelling evidence of Russia's isolation, don't you think?
    1
  21417. *Etched? Putin is known to keep his guests waiting, Erdogan included. Payback time?
    1
  21418. And the prospective bronze medalist was a no-show. Murica should become a one-party state to make it easier still for you.
    1
  21419. So it has come to this. America's dissidents need to flee to seek political asylum in Europe. We already took in a lot of refugees as a result of America's unpopular wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan and now we're getting them directly from the source, eh?
    1
  21420. If it's not in Russia's interest to prolong the war, Russia can put a stop to it immediately. Why doesn't Russia?
    1
  21421.  @derosime  So you're confirming Russia's imperialist motives. Actually, you don't seem to have much more fight left in you. Despite the overwhelming odds in firepower, you're making only very slow progress.
    1
  21422.  @derosime  Obviously I prefer that Russians Orcs are blown to kingdom come. You're not very clever, are you?
    1
  21423. You could have a reality TV series in which you select a monarch of your own.
    1
  21424. Don't you feel co-responsible for the fiasco? I do.
    1
  21425.  @Momosblackdog  Are you stateless?
    1
  21426.  @Momosblackdog  It's elementary. As a citizen of a UN member, the UN's failures are ultimately your failures, too. Had you been stateless, you would've been free of blame.
    1
  21427. Enough to keep the hurt on the Kremlin Gremlin.
    1
  21428.  @schlangen7889  Don't you realise you have egg on your face?
    1
  21429. You'll be happy to vote for Kamala in four years' time, too.
    1
  21430.  @footystar1GamingOfficial  Once can hope, but I fear you'd be saddled with Vance for the remainder of the presidential term. But if it's politically advantageous, Vance will turn against Trump -- once again. He's flexible that way.
    1
  21431.  @danielgoring1328  Sanity, for starters.
    1
  21432.  @Abbadon380  And the Normans easily conquered England, never to be expelled. England was never the same again. There are differences, but Eastern Europe gets along with the rest of the EU-27. It's the UK they don't care much for. Your fantasies about an imminent break-up of the EU are just that, fantasies.
    1
  21433.  @Abbadon380  Imminent or delayed break-up, it's nothing but a wet dream of yours. If the Eastern Europeans want the EU to fail, they have ample opportunity to make it happen. For instance, they could've easily sabotaged the Brexit negotiations, but instead there was complete unity. In contrast, the UK doesn't know whether it's coming or going, and it's just one entity, not 27.
    1
  21434. Russia is going bankrupt no matter what.
    1
  21435. We on the continent are watching a tragicomedy called Brexit. UK vs 27. It's been great fun, but it's confusing all the same. The actors keep changing. Of late, the main role, that of PM, is given to a different actor each episode.
    1
  21436. Yeah, that's why they call your ilk conspiracy theorists, and you get ignored a lot.
    1
  21437.  @50_Pence  So a lot of books cater to you conspiracy theorists. A fool and his money are soon parted.
    1
  21438.  @emm_arr  There's a motivational poster on the wall at the troll farm that says: "Troll or die... in Ukraine". That always sets the keyboards clicking merrily.
    1
  21439. Exactly which "democrat west" are you referring to? Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal simply because Obama had a hand in it. The rest of the Western signatories -- UK, France and Germany -- are still actively supporting the deal. Iran isn't exactly making it easy on them.
    1
  21440. I'm not sure they'll ever get democracy right.
    1
  21441.  @cianakril  You're funny. I remember how Russia had to be reminded to attack ISIS targets now and then during the early stages of their military involvement in Syria. Sure enough, ISIS didn't pose an existential threat to Assad at the time -- the rebels did. Prior to Russia getting involved, Assad had a de facto truce going on with ISIS that went as far as trading goods and services. Let's not pretend Russia was in it to defeat ISIS. Propping up Assad was the main goal, and the rebels the main enemy.
    1
  21442. We get it, Russia is a developing country.
    1
  21443. I.p.v. een tiendaagse veldtocht zou het deze keer een veldtocht van tien minuten worden. Vlaanderen zou er niet eens iets van merken.
    1
  21444. Him, too, but this is about Navalny. You Kremlin bots always have a problem staying on topic.
    1
  21445.  @yungwallzy  Kremlin bots.
    1
  21446. @W.A M.P I don't see it. The Brits were -- and still are for a little while longer -- very much part of the EU's decision-making process. Authoritarianism implies they had -- or have -- little to no say. The Brits' problem is functioning in a group, where per definition you can't always have your way. Is that also your problem?
    1
  21447.  @piotrkijak1774  Yup, there will be a string of court cases, and PiS will occupy a whole wing in prison.
    1
  21448. Colonialism is Trump's new pastime.
    1
  21449. Why so? Antonovs are Ukrainian.
    1
  21450. The toxic far right won't stand him in good stead either.
    1
  21451. The comment immediately below yours says: "This woman couldn't had said it better 💯💯💯."
    1
  21452.  @xcitemex6353  You're Orcs all right.
    1
  21453. Says a Putler bot.
    1
  21454. We need to have a word with your troll farm manager. Your poor command of English suggests that you'd serve your country better as cannon fodder.
    1
  21455. Belgium is the best kept secret in Europe. Het Goede Doel spilled the beans in Holland, but luckily there's still that language barrier.
    1
  21456.  @thierryherreman6286  Well, guttural Dutch is easily the ugliest sounding language invented by man.
    1
  21457. The Taliban said no after Turkey insisted that they provide their own security. After all, Turkish troops would constitute a continued NATO presence.
    1
  21458. It's a matter of what you're used to. In Lebanon, I served alongside Swedes and Danes, who were equipped with their G3 variants, whereas we carried the RK62, the precursor to the Galil. We shot one another's rifles at the range and concluded he wouldn't trade. Some of my compatriots were taken aback by the G3's heavier recoil, but ours was handier in getting in and out of APCs. Of course, on foot patrols the lightness of the RK62 was a welcome relief, too. We'd joke to the Scandis that we'd take theirs on a moose hunt, but otherwise, no.
    1
  21459. No matter, the UK and the US are joined at the hip. You're so inseparable that the US often forgets you're there, like when they decided that enough was enough in Afghanistan.
    1
  21460. @Truth is a bannable offence ...and you clicked the wrong reply button.
    1
  21461. @Truth is a bannable offence How is anything you wrote related to anything I wrote? If you want to berate Britain, pick a Brit. If you want to berate a NATO ally, pick someone from a NATO country.
    1
  21462.  @petrholpuch7545  Don't you worry too much about Trump's grandstanding. Truth be told, the US doesn't reach NATO's 2% of GDP target either. Its extracurricular activities, which take place outside of NATO's strictly-defined area of responsibility, don't come free. It follows from US military doctrine that more than half of US military spending serves purposes other than NATO.
    1
  21463. How is this suddenly about the US?
    1
  21464.  @madcockney  She's alluding to some unspecified US mess, as if that's of relevance here. Yanks making everything about themselves again.
    1
  21465. You have a penchant for violence, don't you?
    1
  21466.  @sassiebrat  Besides having a penchant for violence, you have another problem, an intellectual one. Israel's beef is with the Hamas, but I realise that's too challenging a concept to grasp for someone of your modest intellect. Try this for size: there are many Christians living in the West Bank, who identify as Palestinians. They're not in the least bit enthused by jihadist Hamas. Since we're grossly generalising, can we generalise that Christians are the problem, too?
    1
  21467.  @sassiebrat  Neutralising Hamas. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  21468. Tell me more about these Luciferians. Are they related to the Reptilians?
    1
  21469. Sooner or later, Russia will have to call its ill-advised special military operation quits. The eventual peace terms will be such that it will go down in history as a Russian defeat. Crack a history book and you'll find numerous examples.
    1
  21470.  @davidwong5197  CPC stands for Crummy Party of China?
    1
  21471. I am waiting with bated breath for an explanation from you. This promises to be a doozy of a conspiracy theory!
    1
  21472. What's the relevance here? It's Israel that's invading Gaza and Lebanon. I'm curious how your logic works -- if it works at all.
    1
  21473.  @artonio5887  "Incumbent" implies she is in power. Señora Diaz is in Sanchez's brand-new coalition government, too, as per Nov 20. You may want to do some research before commenting.
    1
  21474.  @artonio5887  Let me remind you what you wrote earlier: "there's not a single far left politician in power in the western world right now, not that i know of." Yolanda Diaz is a member of Sumar, a far-left party that forms a coalition with Sanchez's centre-left Spanish Socialist Workers' Party. I trust you know what a coalition is?
    1
  21475. Nope, co-developer Germany has a say in it. The same goes for SAAB's Gripens, which can't be exported without US say-so. The Gripen's engine is of US origin, as are many other components.
    1
  21476. @Monkeyboy You're on to something. With nuclear weapons, you can hold the world to ransom. North Korea's Rocketman can give you tips on how to extort food aid with them. Problem solved!
    1
  21477. @Monkeyboy Isn't it, nomen est omen.
    1
  21478. A suitable conclusion to the Iraq War. Would Baby Bush still insist on "mission accomplished"?
    1
  21479. Yes, Russia has a long heritage and culture of assassinations. They are not betraying their nature.
    1
  21480.  @julianpetkov8320  It's Russia that fears internationally supervised referendums. Otherwise, there would've been a proper one in Crimea.
    1
  21481. @Blue True, and Airbus and Boeing use very similar avionics.
    1
  21482. Public services for those for whom marijuana served as a gateway drug don't cost a thing, right?
    1
  21483. Nah, everything right from centre right is per definition far right. You far righties are trying to pass yourselves off as 'the right', yet there's a clear dichotomy with the moderate right.
    1
  21484. Ireland, Malta?
    1
  21485. Mark Rutte will do fine as NATO's new secretary general. If anyone, he can keep disparate coalitions together. Besides, similarities between Stoltenberg and Rutte are striking. Both keep their heads cool under pressure.
    1
  21486.  @MTMF.london  He'll be secretary general, not generalissimo of NATO. The keyword is 'secretary'. It's the same as with Guterres, the secretary general of the UN. It always cracks me up when YouTube commenters think Guterres is the ruler of the world, and hence, responsible for all the ills in the world.
    1
  21487.  @MTMF.london  I did stints with both the UN and NATO. The EU, too. As PM, Rutte hasn't exactly been beating around the bush regarding Hungary, with respect to both the EU and NATO. Turkey, same.
    1
  21488.  @MTMF.london  Thanks for confirming my point. Secretaries general are top diplomats. Rutte's demeanour will have to change accordingly.
    1
  21489. The Scandinavians still celebrate both as such, one more than the other. The Church tried to Christianise midsummer, too, but failed. No one seems to know the celebration is in honour of St John the Baptist.
    1
  21490. @ Yes, samo-samo.
    1
  21491. @ That changes everything. Not.
    1
  21492. Let's see how Russia disposes of its "tuf" president. Knowing Russia, it won't be pretty.
    1
  21493. NATO keeps *reacting. The difference between cause and consequence eludes you.
    1
  21494.  @AbsolutelyFabulous3  Russian military aggression. Don't live under a rock.
    1
  21495.  @AbsolutelyFabulous3  You must be either slow on the uptake or deliberately obtuse. Russia invaded Ukraine, in clear violation of the UN Charter. NATO jumped to Ukraine's assistance and provided military, financial and humanitarian aid. Under no circumstances did NATO attack Russia.
    1
  21496.  @AbsolutelyFabulous3  Don't move the goal posts. Nobody here claimed that Ukraine is a NATO member.
    1
  21497.  @MetaView7  Free vote and Russia? Don't make me laugh. Russia is an authoritarian state that doesn't allow political dissent. Dissenters get defenestrated or have their underpants treated with Novichok.
    1
  21498. ​ @MetaView7  I can't say I follow any US news outlets. Crimea had a mock referendum. Its validity was overwhelmingly rejected by the UN's GA. Something about not being free and fair. Where did you check? The Democracy Index puts the US in 25th place, with "flawed democracy" as its classification. Russia's is "authoritarian" and its place is 124th. The Americans need to up their game, but Russia is nothing short of an abject failure democracy-wise. I have nothing with Biden. Why do you ask?
    1
  21499. There was 100% employment for blacks during slavery.
    1
  21500. Uh, Macron has re-elected as president in 2022 already. The latest election was a legislative one, not a presidential one.
    1
  21501. Yeah, but that's only because your mum literally worked there. And now you live in absolute squalor. Am I right or am I right?
    1
  21502.  @ДорианГрей-ъ4ш  Actually, Finland is moving closer to NATO by the day. Popular opinion has flipped in a mere month's time. More Finns now support membership than oppose it. You can thank Putin's military adventurism for that.
    1
  21503. DW is German, not Dutch. King Leopold II was literally the King of the Belgians. You don't know your continental neighbours well, do you? 😅
    1
  21504. Ukraine was a Russian puppet under Yanukovych. I bet you had no problem with that. How about Ukraine liaising with whoever it sees fit? The trouble is, Russia -- like a intensely jealous husband -- can't stomach Ukraine being on friendly terms with anyone but Russia. When preparing to sign the association agreement with Ukraine, the EU fully expected Ukraine to stay on close terms with Russia, but then Putin had a jealous fit, ordered Yanukovych to nix the EU deal, and the rest is, as we say, history. And so was Yanukovych, as the Ukrainians rose up and sent him packing to Russia, where Putin's boy now lives as a naturalised Russian citizen. Canada is a big trading partner of the US, yet Canada also has a far-reaching free trade agreement with the EU. Should the US annex Newfoundland or something?
    1
  21505.  @ronom8856  Come off it, you don't even convince yourself. Yanukovych supposedly had a change of heart regarding the EU Association Agreement, suddenly throwing his weight behind a similar but exclusive agreement with Russia's shadow-EU, the Eurasian Economic Union. Putin clearly overplayed his hand there, because Euromaidan happened and his lapdog, Yanukovych, got the short end of the stick. Putin had to do something dramatic -- annex Crimea -- so as not to appear a cuckold in front of his fanboys. Putin went out of his way to offer the ousted Yanukovych sanctuary, even fast-tracking Yanukovych's application for Russian citizenship. If all this doesn't make him Putin's lapdog, I don't know what does.
    1
  21506.  @ronom8856  I suppose you want f**k the UN, too? Crimea officially chose to remain with Ukraine after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and this with Russia's blessing. That said, the Crimeans could've pursued their claims for incorporation into Russia though the UN, only they didn't. Instead, a foreign entity -- Russia -- forced the issue, violating all previous agreements pertaining to Russia and Ukraine respecting one another's territorial integrity, in addition to the UN Charter, which explicitly forbids redrawing borders without mutual consent. Not surprisingly, the UN General Assembly deemed the staged Crimean referendum illegal. So Crimea remains Ukrainian. Your conspiracy theory about the US annexing Ukraine is just that, a conspiracy theory, and a very wild one at that. I see you gave up on trying to argue that Yanukovych wasn't a Kremlin puppet, which he very clearly was.
    1
  21507. You live in a world where might is right. How sad.
    1
  21508.  @turlstreet  You were grossly generalising. Since when is DW Europe?
    1
  21509.  @turlstreet  Thank you for that informative lecture about DW. Necessary, too, because I always thought DW stood for Don't Watch. You freed me of my nagging guilt! Myself, I've lived in half a dozen European countries and speak five different European languages. While us continentals do have knowledge gaps with regard to the UK, the reverse is truer still. It's not for nothing that we considers you Brits the Americans of Europe. Like with the Yanks, ignorance never prevents you from speaking out on a matter. Also, generalisations are never far off. It's all too complicated for you, so you lump us together.
    1
  21510. Cede territory to an independent Kurdistan then. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, eh?
    1
  21511.  @TheSuperKaragoz  I don't think you deserve an independent homeland. You'd not fight for it, but rather, let aggressors take it piecemeal.
    1
  21512.  @TheSuperKaragoz  Is it? I spent a year as a peacekeeper in Lebanon, and another in Kosovo. How about you, what's your exposure?
    1
  21513. Toen de gordelplicht werd ingevoerd was er ook gezeur. Mijn moeder maakte een fake gordel-T-shirt voor mijn pa om er vanaf te zijn.
    1
  21514. The problem is not as pronounced elsewhere.
    1
  21515.  @tomzamp8547  You two trolls get a room.
    1
  21516.  @ljubisakupusovic7227  Putin can draw red lines all over his face with lipstick for all I care, but he's still in no position to dictate which alliances or unions its sovereign neighbours enter into. NATO has now expanded to Finland and is about to expand to another maritime neighbour, Sweden. Both reacted with outrage at Putin's attempt to curtail their sovereignty and did the exact opposite. Magically, Putin's sticks turn into NATO carrots.
    1
  21517.  @priapulida  There was little sanity in Putin running the Russian economy into the ground. Even his fellow autocrats the world over are wondering what Putin was he thinking.
    1
  21518. You've got the definition of asymmetrical warfare all wrong. Hezbollah is embracing asymmetrical warfare, since they lack the IDF's conventional military resources. The Hezbollah's missiles and rockets are part and parcel of it. Despite the most elaborate missile defence system in the world, Israel struggles to counter them.
    1
  21519. What a mistaka to maka!
    1
  21520. Perhaps it has something to do with Russia's unprovoked attack against Ukraine, another peaceful neighbour of Russia's. But rest assured, Russia will get poked in the eye if it strays across the Finnish border.
    1
  21521. Those "reports" come in from the voices inside your head. The good news is, they can be suppressed with antipsychotic medication.
    1
  21522. The Russian populace has been employing a tried-and-true tactic -- apathy -- with regard to Putin's failed special military operation. These attacks in Belgorod and Moscow are turning the apathy into active opposition to the war. The First Chechen War was decided in Chechnya's favour after Russia's military suffered appalling losses and the public turned against the war. This Russo-Ukrainian War will be decided in the same manner.
    1
  21523. In countries with true parliamentary systems they call this comme d'habitude. Forming a coalition, that is.
    1
  21524.  @WilliamThompson-b1j  He didn't ruin it Chamberlain-style, by seeking to appease a known villain.
    1
  21525. You do understand that it would work in other ways, too, right? The most prolific user of the power of veto, Russia, would have to make itself scarce toot sweet from Ukraine. Me likey!
    1
  21526. That's all good and well, but it's the countries that border Russia that matter, since direct flights from Russia to EU destinations are permanently on hold.
    1
  21527.  @elenabob4953  "We", as in you and your senile dog, had an epiphany?
    1
  21528. US sanctions? The CNCs are of German-Japanese manufacture. The US had relative little trade with Russia.
    1
  21529. Then explain what to us what you see. Try to keep it at least remotely credible.
    1
  21530.  @RAVETOR  No, that's why I'm asking. Duh.
    1
  21531. China needs to relieve Russia of cheap natural resources to keep Russia's sanction-hit economy afloat. Russia's war of aggression doesn't pay for itself.
    1
  21532. So, which continent did you join?
    1
  21533.  @TheValdy12  It appears the irony is only lost on you.
    1
  21534. Dyed-in-the-wool conspiracy theorists?
    1
  21535.  @RicardoMartinez-oh9sq  As it happens, by now Tajikistan has arrested Tajik citizens in connection with the Crocus City attack of whom they confirm their ISIS-K affiliation. Your intelligence analysis is indeed very amateurish. You must be quite full of yourself. And it.
    1
  21536. ​ @Jimmy-ye3wg  There's Jimmy again, hoping that his inbred submissiveness will rub off on the Georgians. I have a higher opinion of the Georgians. By the looks of it, they're like the Ukrainians, who refuse to kowtow to a foreign bully.
    1
  21537. The EU doesn't decide who get to call themselves Europeans. That's a matter of geography. Also, the EU isn't Eurovision. Don't revel in victimhood. That's the Russians' prerogative. It's for losers, in other words.
    1
  21538.  @PeetHobby  Syria's been at it just as often.
    1
  21539.  @ma-fw2gw  Go on, tell us.
    1
  21540. Actually, they volunteer. There are many freelance journalists in warzones, too.
    1
  21541. Impotent rage.
    1
  21542. The UNSC and UNGA voting records suggest otherwise. The notable exception is, of course, the USA. Hence, Israel thinks it has carte blanche in dealing with the Palestinians.
    1
  21543. Don't like your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  21544.  @zachzodia  So those 50 million Americans are being fed. But those Russians, they're still going hungry...
    1
  21545. British understatement. It is comforting that this is about Israel facing non-state actors rather than numerically superior Arab states armed to the teeth by the Soviet Union, like in Israel's past wars. Now it's just Iran causing misschief behind the scenes.
    1
  21546. True. In a democratic country, the economists would look ahead and strenuously object to the economy being driven off the cliff. Sadly, in Russia, they have to keep mum while Putin does just that. But who knows, maybe saner minds will prevail. In the West, we have elections. Russia has revolutions.
    1
  21547.  @billgussy6099  I agree. The extradition of Putin to The Hague must be negotiated.
    1
  21548.  @salvatoreventaglio3782  Is Russia at war with the UK, USA and the *EU now? I'm sure President Navalny will have no problem with extraditing Putin.
    1
  21549.  @bca-biciclindcuaxel7527  Good for you. Myself, having been brought up in a sober protestant tradition, I need little in terms of national (or supranational) paraphernalia. We have a saying that if you act normal, you're being silly enough. Suits me like a glove.
    1
  21550.  @bca-biciclindcuaxel7527  Actually, I couldn't care less about imaginary friends in the sky. What I'm on about are the sobriety and strict work ethics that are part and parcel of Protestantism. That's a legacy I don't mind having.
    1
  21551.  @yourface4248  Just as often we're at loggerheads. Israel's habitual ill-treatment of the Palestinians never fails to draw condemnation from Europe -- and a UNSC veto from the US, in whose eyes Israel can do no wrong. The Iraq War caused a major rift between the US and "Old Europe", as Rumsfeld called us WMD sceptics. More recently, there was the Iran JCPOA, which Trump famously ruined, much to the ire of Europe. Need I go on or are you slowly getting the picture?
    1
  21552. Tell us about them Reptilians.
    1
  21553. How to replace zany conspiracy theorists with sane people, that is the question.
    1
  21554.  @levanmikadze4748  You conspiracy theorists have such a high opinion of yourselves. Alas, that opinion is never shared by a sufficient number of voters, who could otherwise elevate your sort to positions of real power. You're not winning people over with your stale clichés, I'm afraid.
    1
  21555.  @levanmikadze4748  Don't flatter yourself. Astronomers and philosophers were never called conspiracy theorists. On the other hand, conspiracy theorists were -- and are -- called madmen and *liars.
    1
  21556.  @levanmikadze4748  You're making it all up, like conspiracy theorists are known to do. Since you brought it up, one of my masters is in history. I guess your ilk needs to be extremely selective about facts, which is incompatile with earning a degree in any academic field. Come to think of it, theology and religious studies may be the exception that proves the rule.
    1
  21557. Wrong religion.
    1
  21558. Judokas mogen hun vuistjes niet gebruiken.
    1
  21559. ​ @andrewbirs2046  Russia sure likes to recycle false flag ops. Stalin started his disastrous Winter War under the pretext that Finland had shelled the Soviet village of Mainila. Yeltsin finally admitted the true state of affairs, but I hear Putin's Russia is starting to suffer from selective amnesia again.
    1
  21560. Your country hasn't recognised Russia's illegal annexations. Am I right or am I right?
    1
  21561. You like your Soviet slogans.
    1
  21562.  @hansipanzi  Me, scared? Your Soviet anachronisms amuse me.
    1
  21563. Are you having problems negotiating the Great Firewall? DW News has released a number of videos on the topic, the latest one yesterday.
    1
  21564.  @damaoguan765  You're the one plagued by ignorance, as I demonstrated. Or are you IT-challenged?
    1
  21565. @MSD Group Your trust in technology is absolute then. What a joke you are.
    1
  21566. MAKS is first and foremost a marketplace for Russian aerospace companies. I guess there's no business to be had for the poor blighters. They can't produce so no-one's thinking of buying their kit.
    1
  21567. Yeah, we have a preference for speaking the truth, because lying clouds the truth. At the highest level, it can lead to disastrous policy decisions, like a certain special military operation. The Ukrainians were supposed to greet you with flowers!
    1
  21568.  @Factsagainstpropoganda  Come on, put some effort into your comebacks. I'm embarrassed for you. And what did I say about liking your own comments? It's like pleasuring yourself in public.
    1
  21569. En nu helemaal in het Nederlands. Je kan het vast.
    1
  21570. ​ @Tiamat013  Ik spreek vijf talen, maar één taal tegelijk. Kom, probeer het eens, het lukt je vast. Nog iets: hoofdletters en kommas mogen er zijn. Het is ook *tegenargument. Ik weet het, aaneengeschreven woorden zijn moeilijk.
    1
  21571.  @Tiamat013  Het gaat al iets vlotter met de hoofdletters. Kommas, dat gaat wat minder. En amerikanismes, die kun je helaas niet achterwege laten.
    1
  21572.  @Tiamat013  Goed zo. Als je het kort houdt, dan maak je minder fouten. O, ik ga liever niet in discussie met iemand die maar beperkt taalvaardigheid is. Je taalfouten zouden te afleidend werken.
    1
  21573.  @nda6228  A Quisling doesn't deserve credit.
    1
  21574. In the western part of the European continent, primarily.
    1
  21575.  @ruin1619  ...and Panama. Trump clearly wants to emulate Putin and gain more Lebensraum.
    1
  21576.  @ruin1619  What exactly are you trying to prove here? All European peoples have common ancestry in some form or another, or share cultural traits, like language. English is by far the dominant language spoken by the Irish and the Scots, but I dare you, try to convince an Irishman or a Scotsman that they're English. If you're insistent, you'll find yourself beaten black and blue. Likewise, go to the Netherlands or Northern Belgium, and claim that the locals are Germans. They're certainly Germanic, speak a West Germanic language, and will readily admit to both, but they're none too pleased if you call them Germans. Again, if you're insistent, you'll do yourself an injury. No-one likes to be lorded over by an entity that they consider foreign. The Ukrainians have established the latter beyond any reasonable doubt by forcefully resisting all attempts by Russia to subdue them. So, you are the ignorant one here. And if you're unsure about your own national identity, don't project your insecurities on the Ukrainians, or anyone else for that matter.
    1
  21577. It's only a matter of time before Russia's very-own siloviki mess with Putin. I bet a palace coup is already in the works.
    1
  21578.  @МакиуМакаки  Putin can't mobilise more soldiers, so again, he was to go for mercs. And convicts.
    1
  21579. Lebanon? Educate yourself about Hezbollah and its state-within-a-state status in deeply-divided Lebanon.
    1
  21580.  @snowsnow4231  What assurances do you have that "the world is neutral or sympathetic to Russia"? We have the UNGA resolutions, which clearly show otherwise. 72% condemn Russia's actions, while only 2% support Russia. Sympathisers are few and far between for Russia.
    1
  21581.  @BingoPaletot  Don't say that. Maybe they'll agree to do a walk-off, Zoolander-style. Kadyrov, with his $1,500 Prada combat boots, is bound to strut his stuff more convincingly down the runway.
    1
  21582.  @fallenangel5807  NATO is a defensive alliance. Its very nature is to prepare for an attack.
    1
  21583.  @zoltancsikos5604  Don't give up your day job for the comedy circuit. Finland and Sweden are at a stage where popular opinion is divided into three camps of roughly equal size: those who support membership, those who're opposed and the undecided. As Putin ratchets up the tension, the number of undecided and opposed dwindles. No prizes for guessing who'll win.
    1
  21584. You've worn a hole in that excuse. Can't you ask your handlers for fresh excuses?
    1
  21585. You've been repeating that comment ad nauseam. I expect Russia will sue for peace. The question is, will Putin be a) dead; b) in China; c) in his bunker, awaiting his fate like Tsar Nicholas II.
    1
  21586. Actually, the more prominent EU members, with the exception of the UK, weren't exactly enthusing over the Iraq War. You must be too young to remember the Freedom Fries Episode.
    1
  21587. For what it's worth, the UK and to a lesser extent, the US, still pack more credibility that Russia. Russia has taken plausible deniability to the extreme, rendering it more implausible than plausible. The evidence in these matters in circumstantial at best, and I'm sure that over time even more will come to light, just like we saw in the Litvinenko case, where a polonium trail literally led back to Russia. If you're so adamant that these matters are dealt with in court, why not have Russia extradite the suspects in the Litvinenko poisoning?
    1
  21588. You can't seem to put together an argument in defence of your claim, which begs the question why you even bothered to comment. Empty vessels...
    1
  21589.  @notoriousnono1328  Did they have a referendum beforehand to establish the fact? African coups are evidently becoming more democratic.
    1
  21590.  @notoriousnono1328  So did they at least conduct an opinion poll to gauge the level of support? And did people indicate a preference for a Russian puppet?
    1
  21591.  @notoriousnono1328  So it's your gut feeling that we should trust. I've seen the videos. I also distinctly remember seeing how a jubilant crowd was waving French tricolores in 2013, when the intervention started. Coups, foreign troops marching in or out -- you're loving it every time.
    1
  21592. Don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  21593. @FearNoEvil704 Why don't you two get a room while at it.
    1
  21594.  @ikirsps9751  Wat een grapjas ben jij. Wanneer precies zijn Singapore, Japan en Zuid-Korea NAVO-leden geworden? Zoek het eens op. O, de Filippijnen, daar zijn ze ook heel tuk op de Amerikanen.
    1
  21595.  @MRtapio5  There's still the little matter of ratification. Turkey will kick a fuss in the hope of extracting more concessions from the US. Erdogan can't help it, his bazaar mentality is genetic.
    1
  21596.  @MRtapio5  Not quite. Ratification in Turkish parliament is still pending. There's still no congressional approval for Turkey's acquisition of F-16s and modernization of its older F-16s, so Erdogan is bound to put the brakes on ratification. It's probably going to drag on well into 2023.
    1
  21597.  @MRtapio5  That's a feint. Erdogan cares more about his F-16s than getting Finland to extradite Kurdish youths who got carried away during a demonstration. If it's any consolation to you, Finland is an innocent bystander here. The ones haggling are Turkey and the US.
    1
  21598.  @helenpauls1496  Murican? This is about German farmers and their crops.
    1
  21599.  @faultier1158  Nope, the OP is off on a tangent. Also, it smacks of reductio ad Americum.
    1
  21600. At last count 143 countries out of 193 condemned Russia's actions vis-à-vis Ukraine. Only a pitiful 4 supported Russia.
    1
  21601. It's easier for the German electorate to vote out a government than it is for India's to do likewise. Me thinks you're making excuses for India's lack of morals. What kind of excuses should we come up with, when China and/or Pakistan invade India once more?
    1
  21602.  @Nerwesta  "La France Insoumise (FI or LFI; pronounced [la fʁɑ̃s ɛ̃sumiz], lit. 'France Unbowed')[a] is a far left-wing populist political party in France."
    1
  21603. Maybe the Germans could give you some money for English lessons.
    1
  21604.  @far_centrist  If so, why does BRICS have, as a founding member, Russia, one of the biggest imperialist nations, past and present?
    1
  21605. He realised he's too gaffe-prone? Of course, as a PM it doesn't matter any longer.
    1
  21606. Are you finally giving up on yours, out of despair?
    1
  21607. Please, don't give them any ideas!
    1
  21608.  @frost1804  I thought it started in 610 CE in Mecca. You learn every day.
    1
  21609.  @AgentAO7  That's a bit of stretch. Then again, every place existed since the beginning of time, even if roamed only by dinosaurs.
    1
  21610.  @AgentAO7  Then nobody can, because the dinosaurs have gone extinct.
    1
  21611.  @truthfinder7064  Firing senselessly at Russian troops? I bet you -- like Putin -- expected the Ukrainians to throw flowers at them. The UN Charter recognises the right to self-defence. In contrast, Russia has knowingly used lethal violence against non-combatants, which amounts to a war crime.
    1
  21612. Ukraine planned the attack? Ukraine shared their intel with the Tuareg rebels. There's a difference.
    1
  21613.  @geraldgeaf1292  No, they didn't. Mali's military junta specifically blames Ukraine for providing intelligence. If Ukraine had planned it, too, the Malians wouldn't hold back.
    1
  21614.  @geraldgeaf1292  Let me spell it out to you in terms that you can understand. Intelligence is when your mum tells you that a pretty girl moved next door. Planning is when you decide to ask her out when your balls finally drop.
    1
  21615.  @geraldgeaf1292  Yes, you'd better rest your racked brain. Rocket science to me? I have two related master's degrees and a batchelor's in military sciences. I've worked for the UN, NATO and the EU. What are your credentials?
    1
  21616. The Stone Age humans inhabiting present-day Russia, too, must've felt very happy about the vast mineral riches under their feet. And about the "bigest [sic] land mass", give it time and there will be just Muscovy left. I personally know Kaliningradians, who can't fathom why they're economically backward while their neighbours to the north and the south are increasingly affluent. Russia's separatists will seize their chance when the Russian Federation, too, collapses, like the two empires that went before it.
    1
  21617. Monoglot much?
    1
  21618. @ I went to international schools and worked for multinationals, all over the world. It was amusing to watch anglophones struggle with foreign accents. We non-native English speakers fared much better in that respect. It must be the multilingual exposure from an early age.
    1
  21619.  @trumpforever6706  Who are you?
    1
  21620. I suppose that marks the end of a successful career in politics for Ms. von der Leyen, because whatever you say, goes.
    1
  21621.  @elbibwen3019  You betray your ignorance. The UK is still a parliamentary democracy, where the monarch "reigns but does not rule". In other words, King Charles III has a titular role. Some presidents of republics on the European continent find themselves in a similar ceremonial role, while others do have some residual powers.
    1
  21622. So, the biggest colonizer of them all -- Russia -- should rush to the aid of those supposedly neo-colonized by France? I smell a strong stench of hypocrisy.
    1
  21623. The French are a critical bunch, with much livelier political scene than what the US can boast. I mean, a two-party system is only a slight improvement over a one-party system.
    1
  21624. If it makes you feel any better, in Kursk, Russian tanks are invading Russia.
    1
  21625. Nah, Russia is slowly but surely nearing the end of its tether. What keeps Putin going is that peace will prove such a hangover for Russia that even the apathetic Russians will finally start to protest. And Putin, if he's quick on his feet, will do an Assad on Russia. Otherwise it's a long drop and a sudden stop.
    1
  21626.  @bernardzsikla5640  Nah, cooler heads understand that this is between Hamas and Israel. In more ways than one, Hamas is a monster that Israel's hard-liners created. Hamas is an obstacle to peace, but the same can be said about Netanyahu and his far-right cronies. When both are out of the picture, there's a chance for peace.
    1
  21627.  @mingnim564  A double conspiracy! Does me ridiculing you make it a triple conspiracy?
    1
  21628.  @mingnim564  Try thinking it through one more time.
    1
  21629.  @mingnim564  Uh-oh, the conspiracy theorist was hoisted by his own petard and got offensive.
    1
  21630.  @mingnim564  I know all about guerrilla marketing. You were theorizing about a conspiracy involving a bogus conspiracy theory. You keep pretending yours is actually true, but without producing evidence, so it remains just that: a theory. No, you tick all the boxes: you're a conspiracy theorist.
    1
  21631.  @mingnim564  You're so funny. Let's assume you've been called as a witness to an inquest. You tell the coroner that despite a long battle with terminal cancer, your recently deceased neighbour didn't die a natural death, because there's such a thing as MURDER.
    1
  21632.  @reza221282  You may want to start charging Biden rent instead of letting him live rent-free in your mind.
    1
  21633.  @adrianawest846  The Finns are genetically distinct from the Swedes and the Scandinavians in general. You can't make stuff up as you see fit.
    1
  21634.  @jainendebele-fr5fp  They don't flush well.
    1
  21635. G-Boy, if you'd cared to follow the news more carefully, you would've learnt that the EU's budget will be rebalanced. The net contributors -- Finland included -- are adverse to making up the difference. While they remain unaffected, the net beneficiaries will take a hit in the form of cancelled or scaled-down infrastructure projects. I'm sure they'll remember when Brexit-Britain turns on the charm. Tommy Robinson strikes me as a purely UK issue, but I'm sure your alt-right Brit friends appreciate the attention. But wasn't there a Finnish "patriot" who got jailed for killing a critic? Seems like a more worthy cause for you.
    1
  21636.  @LivingLonger  Not too long ago, I happened to watch a documentary about life onboard a British frigate. They very shadowing a Russian warship that was itself spying on HMNB Clyde, the premier nuclear submarine base of the UK. That was in the Irish Sea. Your ignorance in these matters is glaring.
    1
  21637.  @theuglykwan  Not all presidents are alike. You're omitting the crucial fact that Europe's republics mostly have parliamentary systems rather than presidential ones -- or at best, semi-presidential ones. In a parliamentary republic, the president is mostly a figurehead, not unlike a constitutional monarch. The heads of government, the prime ministers, are always elected. The voters know the prime ministerial candidates beforehand, since they're the party leaders. Your comment could be misread that the newly-elected MPs have a pow-wow and willy-nilly pick a PM from their midst -- this is not how it works.
    1
  21638.  @PhoenixtheII  Sure, you've rejected our reality and substituted your very own. What made you jump to the conclusion that mine's a flawed democracy according to the Democracy Index? Thanks to my multiple nationalities, it's full democracy twice over.
    1
  21639.  @PhoenixtheII  OK, whatever, but to make it really interesting, you could take things further and invent your own language and converse in it with your make-believe friends.
    1
  21640.  @theuglykwan  Democracies aren't just about the codified system, but also about how they function in practice. I'm glad you used the UK as an example. True, Conservative MPs swapped Theresa May for Boris Johnson mid-term, but once nominated PM, Boris was quick to call a snap election to gain a proper mandate -- or as proper as mandates get with a FPtP electoral system in place. What are you trying to prove anyway, that a democracy can be perverted from the inside? No disagreement there. I can't think of a better example than Trump's post-election antics.
    1
  21641.  @theuglykwan  Your memory is selective, or you didn't understand the position Johnson found himself after taking the reins. Tory backbenchers were openly rebelling against the party leadership. Johnson expelled the rebels, effectively losing his majority in the process. He had no choice but to call a snap election, or his cabinet would've been brought down by a no-confidence vote. Like I wrote earlier, the functioning of a democracy is a product of theory and practice. If you solely want to focus on theory, I suggest you find yourself a Brit who's willing to defend all the idiosyncrasies of their parliamentary system.
    1
  21642.  @theuglykwan  It is relevant because politics is about reality. What is possible in in theory isn't possible in reality. If theory is all that counts to you, you should stay away from politics. Perhaps you should forget politics and focus on contract law instead?
    1
  21643.  @theuglykwan  Don't flatter yourself. And I'm not in the least embarrassed. I made a necessarily broad statement, lumping together a great many democracies, each with their own intricacies, while emphasizing well-established conventions. You're trying to fit a small pin in the small cracks in such a generalisation. We have an interesting term to describe you. Suffice it to say, it involves ants and copulation.
    1
  21644. David Wilton, the budgetary shortfall isn't going to be made up by increasing the contributions of the remaining members. In other words, the EU's budget will be cut. The net beneficiaries among the EU's members will lose out -- it will take longer for them to catch up with the richer members. I bet especially Eastern Europe will remember whom not to thank for their recovery from decades of communist subjugation and the economic mismanagement that came with it. Inevitably, that will reflect on their future relationship with the UK. And in these trying times, the UK desperately need friends.
    1
  21645. David Wilton, your comment epitomises why the UK shouldn't be part of the EU. Lack of solidarity. Some day you'll grow to understand your place in the world. The EU collapsing is a wet daydream of you Brextremists. In your shoes I would worry more about the UK collapsing under Brexit.
    1
  21646. David Wilton, the EU has poured half a trillion euros into funds that lessen the economic disparity between its member states. If that isn't solidarity, what is? Interestingly, some "transitory" (read: backward) parts of the UK have eagerly drawn from these funds, too.
    1
  21647. Jo Pink, Churchill sold Eastern Europe out, and willingly so, in the great divide of Europe. Especially in your case, there's a debt to repay. We didn't sell them out, but all the same I don't mind investing in Eastern Europe -- an investment which is already paying dividends. Sadly, post-Brexit UK will lose out.
    1
  21648. The Taliban want to maintain diplomatic relations, so no. Besides, the Taliban can't go on a world tour with Humvees and M16s any more than with Toyotas and AK47s.
    1
  21649.  @kevinoleary7970  Be that as it may, why destroy your own property? If the Taliban want to stay in power, they'll have to become more inclusive. Besides, the Taliban has never been a cohesive force and allegiances shift constantly. What will come next will inevitably be a mixture of old and new.
    1
  21650. By failing to win, Russia is losing. Two more years, and Russia is officially bankrupt, having completely expended its sovereign wealth fund. Russia simply can't afford prolonged warfare on this scale.
    1
  21651.  @eeery  True dat. It's an inconvenient truth that the Russians are the most numerous nationality on the continent of Europe. Luckily, they keep quiet about it, too.
    1
  21652. There's Ericp again, rooting for Pootin.
    1
  21653. Is Russia trying to colonize Ukraine also an expression of Western values? You seem confused as to who's busily colonizing as we speak (Israel, Russia) and who's not ("the West").
    1
  21654. ...a.k.a. Allah. The Abrahamic religions are sharing one and the same deity.
    1
  21655.  @j.mehnmontokpa7154  You're painting too rosy a picture. The Russians still can't manage combined operations. They shoot their artillery till nothing remains of enemy fortifications, and then timidly take over those mulled positions. Even so, the Ukrainians still manage to smash Russian tanks, because Russia can't provide the infantry cover.
    1
  21656. It was an infantryman who stumbled upon Häyhä.
    1
  21657. You're choosing isolation again? Okay...
    1
  21658.  @fanamlawuli6761  Duh, Russia's growth figures are all make-belief. They only serve to erode Russia's credibility further.
    1
  21659. "What about..." say no more.
    1
  21660. I would tone it down a bit and call them a distant second priority. And only because he's not polling well.
    1
  21661.  @jaikee9477  I agree, but you've got this thing called AfD.
    1
  21662.  @volga71  Gotya. You're like a wife beater who says there won't be more beatings if your wife does exactly what she's told. Come to think of it, wife-beating is allowed in RuZZia.
    1
  21663. You'll have to stop buying all manner of European cars. Your "punishment deal" was negotiated by all EU members, the UK included. If you're right about the nature of the deal, it follows that Brits are weaklings who're unable to fend for themselves with regard to the EU. That begs the question how the UK will fare in dealing with the world at large. Not only that, I believe that considering your colonial past, there's a temptation among the emerging economic powerhouses like India and China to stick it to you. You know, for old times' sake.
    1
  21664.  @gustawana-2446  You may want to add that Russia's annexations are not recognised by any country -- except for the North Korean hermit kingdom.
    1
  21665. So you're saying the EU saved Turkey from itself by not letting it in. Turkey, which is woefully corrupt by EU standards, surely would have corrupted itself further had it received cohesion funding from the EU. Got ya.
    1
  21666.  @gracevicki3983  Who are you going to replace UNRWA with? Peace Corps volunteers? I see another hostage crisis in the making. Hint: don't you bathe babies. You'd be indicted for infanticide.
    1
  21667.  @incisivecommenter5974  I wouldn't go that far. The biggest UNRWA donors are the US and the EU. The EU is divided on suspending aid to UNRWA.
    1
  21668.  @JoaoSoares-rs6ec  None of them has the readiness or the capabilities to operate in the Occupied Territories, like the Palestinian UNRWA employees. Or maybe you should walk the talk.
    1
  21669.  @JoaoSoares-rs6ec  Aren't you cute with your emoticons. Try to use words.
    1
  21670.  @JoaoSoares-rs6ec  If you want to be taken seriously, don't send me any more of your silly emoticons. You're not a pre-teen, right?
    1
  21671.  @JoaoSoares-rs6ec  OK, you've given up. Out of arguments, huh? (and cute emoticons, too).
    1
  21672.  @JoaoSoares-rs6ec  You can't hold a conversation, much less follow a thread. You're not worth my while.
    1
  21673. ​ @Doobiescoo18  Perhaps Farage should fight to get his democracy in the UK. The House of Common remains perpetually out of his reach, unlike the European Parliament, where he was a shoo-in.
    1
  21674. Trump without his toupee wouldn't look much different.
    1
  21675. Orban meeting Putin, as if he was the president of the EU. Gullible Orban fanboys and girls didn't notice the mistake -- or should I say, either mistake?
    1
  21676. He's still fifth in line to become Australia's monarch.
    1
  21677. Talking about fair shares, the US doesn't spend the prerequisite 2% on NATO. Fact.
    1
  21678.  @johnnyhall9154  You do, but not to 2% of your GDP's extent. I spent time working in Japan, the Philippines and South Korea. I couldn't help bumping into US military stuff rolling and buzzing around. Also, US military personnel there weren't wearing any NATO patches, and why should they? They did wear NATO patches when I myself, too, served with them in Kosovo.
    1
  21679.  @johnnyhall9154  Uh, 2% is the deal, a deal that the US agreed to, and even pushed for in NATO. The US is, after all, an initiator and co-founder of NATO. We're late to the party, and held off (full) NATO membership for years saying that we preferred to join a more European NATO, as a nudge to the rest of Europe that it should get its shite together. Now it seem that we're getting our way, meaning that the rest of Europe will bolster its forces in any event, regardless of whether or not the US gets out of Dodge and leaves NATO. We have a saying that you should do something gladly or not at all. It's your choice. I'm fully aware where the EU and the USA stand in terms of GDP. For what would you like to be compensated? We spent 18 years in Afghanistan, fighting your losing war. We received no compensation for it, only a flood of Afghan refugees. Add to that your military adventure in Iraq, which brought us even more refugees. I'd like to write you an invoice for that as well. Syria, there's a case to be made for that as well.
    1
  21680.  @johnnyhall9154  The US signed up for 2%. It's not like it was shoved down your throat. I wonder when we get compensated for having had troops in Afghanistan for 18 years straight to fight your war. We all know the outcome, too. We only got refugees in compensation. Then there are the Iraqi refugees, the Syrian refugees... need I go on?
    1
  21681.  @johnreagal8671  Boys, boys, boys. Like the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The equator splits the Atlantic Ocean into the North Atlantic and the South Atlantic. Turkey and the Med are well north of the equator. That makes Turkey's shoreline 'North Atlantic' as well. Your geography teachers would tut-tut you both.
    1
  21682.  @londop.a.3048  Don't be so sure. We Europeans favour European weapons.
    1
  21683.  @londop.a.3048  The OP was wondering about the positives for American citizens of Finland and Sweden joining NATO. You listed the pre-existing F-35 customers in Europe. Did you have a point?
    1
  21684.  @londop.a.3048  I think you're being deliberately obtuse. Finland picked the F-35 after a thorough evaluation already in December last year. The deal included a weapons package with the latest of the latest. Unlike just about every existing NATO member, Finland didn't let its guard down when the Cold War ended. Also, Finland has worked towards NATO compatibility for more than a decade. Myself, I served under NATO command in Kosovo. My cousin did the same in Afghanistan.
    1
  21685. Russia's might has eroded badly as a result of Putin's ill-considered war, that much is certain.
    1
  21686.  @solconcordia4315  How did this 'might is right' principle work out for you in Afghanistan?
    1
  21687.  @solconcordia4315  Keep fooling yourself. If those were the mission objectives, they could've been fulfilled in three months, or latest, when ISAF ended. If you think Afghanistan and post-war Japan and Germany were alike, your naivety truly knows no bounds.
    1
  21688.  @solconcordia4315  Japan and Germany were industrialised nations before WW2. Therefore, it was no fluke that both rebounded quickly, even to the point of overtaking their former enemies. Their belief systems -- Shinto, Buddhism and Christianity -- haven't been a recipe for success for other nations either.
    1
  21689. They're complacent all right when Ukrainians suffer at the hands of Russians, but when they're at risk themselves, they suddenly grow a conscience?
    1
  21690.  @icet6665 Aren't you shouty.
    1
  21691. ​ @НатальяТерехова-с6х  After Euromaidan, when a new parliamentary election was held in Ukraine, far-right parties failed to garner a single seat. Concern yourself with facts for a change.
    1
  21692. Aw, India is slipping into US arms even without nudging.
    1
  21693. I'm pretty sure American bacon is on the menu, too.
    1
  21694.  @cerezimsi5013  So, apart from yourselves, who else is celebrating Turkish troops strutting around in Afghanistan?
    1
  21695. How realistic is that? The UK needed the help of the same German Rheinmetall so that it could revamp the Challenger 2. Fun fact: mechanics need imperial tools to work on the hull of the Challenger 2/3, while for the turret, they need metric tools.
    1
  21696.  @samg7430  I'm sorry if having a Frankentank upsets you.
    1
  21697. Which female hurt you? Mom?
    1
  21698.  @UltimateSeduction  Two bots clashing. Priceless.
    1
  21699. Twitter must've hurt Musk something fierce or he wouldn't destroy it.
    1
  21700. @ So was Eagle S.
    1
  21701. @ International waters. Check your sources.
    1
  21702. Fact is, Russia hasn't reacted to NATO's expansion in as far as that expansion is real. They have huffed and puffed at Finland's membership, but their border-facing garrisons remain utterly depleted. Impotence.
    1
  21703. You could do away with the police altogether and just rely on teachers for law enforcement. While at it, teachers could handle national defence as well. Great savings for the taxpayer!
    1
  21704. FYI, appeasing Putin won't stop wars. It paves the way for more.
    1
  21705.  @frankaroni4880  According to whom? The UN is pretty clear about Crimea being Ukraine. The Crimeans could've taken independence up with the UN, but nooo, Putin had to condemn them to indefinite isolation.
    1
  21706.  @MAGAted  Reread your opening comment. You're saying that the Ukrainians were supposed to retake Bakhmut from the Ukrainians. Logic, Western or Eastern, seems to elude you completely.
    1
  21707.  @MAGAted  Try to google if brain transplants are being offered.
    1
  21708.  @MAGAted  I'm sorry, I expect some level of brain function from my employees.
    1
  21709.  @MAGAted  Sure, but you couldn't possibly follow the example I set without the brain transplant.
    1
  21710.  @MAGAted  I understand the utter necessity of your brain transplant.
    1
  21711.  @Browz1  Of course there are, just not Ukrainian ones.
    1
  21712. Putting things into perspective clearly isn't your forte.
    1
  21713.  @SR-pr2xz  Neither is a benchmark for democratic rule.
    1
  21714.  @hymns4ever197  I think we already know that Russia is being unreasonable. Attacking a neighbour without provocation is rather unreasonable.
    1
  21715. Hitler was clearly fighting WW1 again.
    1
  21716. The obvious eludes many -- you for instance. I see all this as an concerted Iranian effort -- Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis. The countries they hail from -- Palestine, Lebanon and Yemen -- are all victims.
    1
  21717. Russians drool over a bare-chested Putin riding horsey. Enough said.
    1
  21718. Land Girls to the rescue!
    1
  21719.  @itskyansaro  It makes interesting Russian "logic". Since Ukraine is "occupying" territory that Russia claims as its own, Ukraine is "invading" Russia. Therefore, Russia has cause to wallow in victimhood, one of its favourite pastimes.
    1
  21720. I'm sorry if I'm poking holes in your conspiracy theory, but don't you think the USA would rather sell its own kit to the Saudis? Germany doesn't make anything the US can't supply. The US military-industrial complex holds a lot of political sway -- they're not keen on missing out on business.
    1
  21721. There's worse to come, methinks. I wouldn't rule out that soon, we have a number of East European ministates, where the predominant langage is Russian, applying for EU and NATO membership.
    1
  21722. If only.
    1
  21723.  @horusbaals6206  OK, cite the precedent then.
    1
  21724. You could also be a bit more specific. The grounding only affects MAX niners with door plugs fitted.
    1
  21725. Een tijdje zou dat inderdaad mogen, om de zaak weer op orde te stellen.
    1
  21726. @user-ki4sd5cf7m Terug naar 2% natuurlijk. Dat is de afspraak, toch?
    1
  21727. ​ @emm_arr  Not only that, Russia was also more amenable to using military force against Saddam than many NATO countries. Russians are forgetful that way.
    1
  21728.  @claudiopereira9900  No, but the OP can't make up his mind who he wants to blame. But tell me, how was "the West" responsible for the Iraq War? It was purely the US & misguided bosom friends.
    1
  21729.  @vsevolodsalnikov6332  No it doesn't. Check again.
    1
  21730. I'm sure President Navalny will be only too glad to extradite him.
    1
  21731. Putin's pigeon chess is first-rate. He knocks over pieces and craps on the board like no other. Truly a pigeon chess master.
    1
  21732. Beggars can't be choosers.
    1
  21733.  @hipsu555  We'd say they're burning money. Just like a well-timed downpour can douse a fire, the fire brigade can, too. If they bother to, that is, which isn't always a given when the Russians are concerned.
    1
  21734.  @gamingtonight1526  Every nation gets the government it deserves. That Putin remains in power after all these years suggests that the population is very complacent.
    1
  21735. Putin will be saddled with crippling sanctions no matter what. He can only hope to stay in power if he manages to foment trouble somewhere else, like in Georgia, or in Moldova. Even if the Russians buy his excuses for yet another foreign adventure, it will be another humiliating military debacle. Russia has feet of clay, that much is clear.
    1
  21736.  HAIL THRASH,GRIND,SLAM, TECHNICAL DEATH METAL  I actually took purchasing power parity (PPP) into account when I wrote that Taiwan has three times the GDP per capita compared to China. The Qataris have no imperial Chinese roots, by the way.
    1
  21737.  @filipjason3553  What is it with your eternal whataboutism and you always having to draw the US into any discussion? They don't matter in this discussion.
    1
  21738.  @lepeiyan2341  I mentioned PPP already. Look it up if you don't know what it means. I understand that you're hurting because the Taiwanese enjoy a higher standard of living, but that's not even the point here. I used Taiwan as an example of how democracy and affluence aren't mutually exclusive. On the contrary, democracy is a prerequisite for continued growth, because democracy, assuming it's done right, ensures social harmony. Social turmoil isn't exactly conducive to growth.
    1
  21739. ​ @lepeiyan2341  I have "never considered Taiwanese to be human?" What gave rise to such a ridiculous accusation? Taiwan isn't spotless, but it's deemed less corrupt than China and by a wide margin, too. The Corruption Perception Index puts Taiwan at #28. China is at a mediocre #80.
    1
  21740.  @lepeiyan2341  No, I want you to explain why I supposedly don't consider the Taiwanese humans. I want to know what brought that on. I don't want to write you off as an uncultured troll, but I will if you don't explain yourself. Your claims about Taiwan comparing badly to China in corruption and rule of law are unfounded. In fact, respected international comparisons suggest that the reverse is true. The same goes for happiness: China scores much worse than Taiwan. The UN's World Happiness Report puts Taiwan in 25th place; China... 94th.
    1
  21741. Don't give them ideas. You'll lose your job.
    1
  21742. @ But what will happen to you? What's a downgrade from a janitorial job?
    1
  21743. Finland, Canada and Spain should also gift theirs. Cowardly Switzerland won't give Ukraine even a flyswatter.
    1
  21744.  @robertluvisia  For sure, Russia has already lost more in that respect than it has gained. New NATO members Finland and Sweden have as much or possibly even more strategic value than Ukraine. Russia now finds itself bottled up in the far corner of the Gulf of Finland and in the Arctic, it is completely surrounded by NATO. This doesn't bode well for Russia's grand plans for the Arctic. What is a superpower hasbeen/wannabe to do? Concentrate its naval efforts on its diminutive Caspian Flotilla?
    1
  21745.  @Allahsflipflop  Describe how Farage would fix Brexit? Commonwealth to the rescue? Pffrt.
    1
  21746.  @Allahsflipflop  Farage "saving" Northern Ireland would inevitably trigger a border poll. There's more than a fair chance that a sufficient number of moderate pro-EU protestants would seize the opportunity to rejoin the EU, be it at the cost of cutting strings with not-so-Great-anymore Britain. A great many have already secured Irish passports. By all means, let's have Farage "save Northern Ireland". Irish reunification is long overdue. What Farage meant by Brexit and what the then-electorate wanted are two different things. The ballot paper didn't specify a hard Brexit. Yup, I think that the *EU (Europe includes a fair chunk of Russia, too, and incidentally, the UK as well) is better than the UK under Reform UK. I'm not crying. We never left the EU.
    1
  21747.  @mythbusterUSA  I've seen these Chinese brands at Chinese airports. I wonder how they're going to differentiate themselves in a fiercely competitive market with an abundance of firmly established brands. China has a global PR problem, too. Critical consumers are already giving Chinese-made products a miss, forcing Western brand owners to cut their ties with China. Chinese brands are stuck with it.
    1
  21748.  @tomtube1012  It's appears not. Especially Asians are very brand-conscious. Brand-building is expensive. How would the Chinese do it cheaper? Western brands already outsource their manufacturing to low-cost countries, so there's no price advantage there.
    1
  21749.  @Xiscolim  When your boss at work (I'm conveniently assuming that you work for a living) chews you out, do you beat up your wife when you're back at home?
    1
  21750. It comes with the job. Deep down, he has a conscience.
    1
  21751.  @JohnDoe-jt5lb  I know the score. Admit it, you've never been in a similar situation. As it happens, I have and unlike the teachers, I was armed, but I'm loath to judge them.
    1
  21752. Union reps are typically the last to be sacked.
    1
  21753.  @iximiusminus9355  Er, how is your reply connected to mine? Context?
    1
  21754.  @gfys756  You needn't worry about being left out. You'll be treated to a nuclear winter that makes you wish your were incinerated in a flash.
    1
  21755. Shouldn't the invader withdraw instead? That's the overwhelming view of the UN General Assembly as well. Say, if China invaded India, should India be the one withdrawing? You logic suggests it should.
    1
  21756. Talk when the US meets its 2% NATO target.
    1
  21757. OK; silly conspiracy theorist.
    1
  21758.  @BabarKhan-vf1wt  Nonsense. The Russian economy is nose-diving, to the tune of a 30% drop in GDP. Not only that, Russia is suffering from an unprecedented brain drain. It will take Russia decades to rebuilt its economy, but while Putin persists with his foolish war, things are only worsening.
    1
  21759. You are very confused, but have a potato. Hunger can play tricks on your mind.
    1
  21760.  @paspa  You may not be aware of your condition. Better sacrifice a potato. Turning it into vodka doesn't raise your blood sugar level.
    1
  21761.  @paspa  Ah, the shoe fits.
    1
  21762. You'll be amazed. Our far right yokels toy with the idea of reining in support to Ukraine. France's far-right National Rally is a case in point. Luckily they lost the election, but the pendulum swung a little too far to the left for comfort.
    1
  21763. I can't help but notice that the Soviet Union did far, far worse in Afghanistan and that Russia is doing far, far worse in Ukraine than the Soviets in Afghanistan.
    1
  21764. The point here is to bring wealth to Africa, so Africans don't have to come to Europe for wealth.
    1
  21765. Is that a promise? You alt-righters should all vote with your feet.
    1
  21766.  @winstoningram99  It fits the picture that you'd leave Ukraine in the lurch. Brexit was all about lack of solidarity, too.
    1
  21767. Less and less by the day.
    1
  21768.  @hyderally8045  Considering most Russians are Europeans, you do have a point.
    1
  21769.  @Blanka1100  Isn't PiS, as the biggest party, offered the first chance to try and form a government? If so, I'll bet they'll try to drag out the "formation" as long as possible.
    1
  21770.  @jafar0107  "Teveel democratisch nieuws"? Wat heb je tegen de democratie?
    1
  21771. Your joke is lost on foreigners...
    1
  21772. They can't change physics either.
    1
  21773.  @Ben-vr6qz  So you don't understand physics.
    1
  21774.  @Ben-vr6qz  Sure I do, but physics is the issue here. It's about 5G cell towers interfering with altimeters on passenger jets, because the oafs at the FCC didn't allow for enough clearance between the frequencies allotted to each. Huawei can't solve this self-made US problem any more than the other 5G infra vendors can. The fecal matter has hit the rotary oscillator, and anyone who goes near will be splattered.
    1
  21775. "US jury"?
    1
  21776. I think the Taliban's response to such an action would be to melt away for those ten days. They'll fight on their terms, not yours.
    1
  21777.  alan begg  Have a great holiday in Brazil. You already know what you'll bring back.
    1
  21778. No worries, I've been to Hong Kong often enough. I still see the affront to democracy for what it is.
    1
  21779. Sadly, Murica deserves the likes of Trump.
    1
  21780. Are you new to conpiracy theories? It looks like it.
    1
  21781.  @lovyrituraj  In case you haven't noticed, Russia is fuming at Armenia. The latter effectively declared Russia's head of state a war criminal, despite Russia telling Armenia not to. Putin now has to come up with a suitable punishment. Of course, he'd like to invade, but his invasions haven't worked out so well lately.
    1
  21782.  @BakerMan024  If so, Putin dealt a death blow to CSTO in the process. In the mean time, NATO will keep expanding as more and more ex-Soviet bloc countries vie for membership. I'm afraid the next dictator to emerge in Russia won't remember Putin kindly, just like Putin blames Lenin for losing Russia its empire.
    1
  21783.  @Love.Stefan  It's like you're totally oblivious of how Russia has been faring in Ukraine.
    1
  21784.  @Love.Stefan  Mariupol has been destroyed. That sure wins hearts and minds for Russia. Not.
    1
  21785.  @amandapeluso4217  Uh, why-oh-why would Saudi Arabia export oil to Russia, or from Russia? Russia has trouble getting rid of its oil as it is and Saudi Arabia has no shortage of it either.
    1
  21786.  @amandapeluso4217  Your curt response could suggest that you do, but I'm not holding my breath. Not your style, I guess, to explain yourself? And don't like your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  21787.  @amandapeluso4217  So you don't want to explain yourself? I figured as much.
    1
  21788.  @amandapeluso4217  You're projecting. The oversensitivity is all yours.
    1
  21789. Please no.
    1
  21790.  @Thor.Jorgensen  Actually, Turkey is in the North Atlantic, since the Mediterranean Sea is considered a sea of the Atlantic Ocean. The same goes for the Black Sea to the north of Turkey. And NATO's "area of responsibility" ends at the Tropic of Cancer, which is well south of Turkey.
    1
  21791.  @Thor.Jorgensen  You need to fight it out with your (long-suffering?) geography teacher. I'm so sorry, but the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, too, are considered part of the Atlantic Ocean. Note that I made no claims about Hungary, nor about NATO's membership criteria. Straw man attacks are puerile.
    1
  21792.  @Thor.Jorgensen  I told you, have your fight with your long-suffering geography teacher. I don't set the rules.
    1
  21793.  @Thor.Jorgensen  The Black Sea is part of the Atlantic Ocean. If your geography teacher has given up on you and won't give you the time of day, you could try the International Hydrographic Organization. I can spare you the trouble, however. They'll corroborate everything I've written. What is your source, by the way? I hope it isn't located at your posterior.
    1
  21794.  @Thor.Jorgensen  Rest assured, I won't spill any tears over any of this. But you seem upset. I specifically mentioned the International Hydrographic Organization as my source. I can't help but notice that you can't produce one. It looks like my theory about your posterior holds true.
    1
  21795.  @Thor.Jorgensen  Not to brag, but I've got three academic degrees and an internship at NATO HQ in Brussels under my belt. How about you? Let me guess, your alma mater is the University of Hard Knocks? Of course the IHO is a credible source. They're the UN-appointed authority in these matters. Who's more qualified? Please, not your posterior again!
    1
  21796.  @Thor.Jorgensen  University of Hard Knocks it is. I still don't see any source that substantiates your claims. You're an empty vessel that makes noise only.
    1
  21797. Peace for our time, eh?
    1
  21798. Wipe the foam off your mouth.
    1
  21799. Did you think war is a profitable business per se?
    1
  21800. The ATACMS is quasi-ballistic, which mean it starts jinking when it approaches its target. Therefore, its trajectory is not predictable, like that of purely ballistic missiles.
    1
  21801. Yet you can't put it into words.
    1
  21802.  @JJORIS4199  Als Rusland niet één of twee moderne tanks kan bijeensprokkelen voor een grote parade, dan is het wel heel slecht gesteld met hun leger. De T-14 "paradetank" was vast in reparatie. Die heeft wel vaker panne.
    1
  21803. What's dumb here is Lukashenko's charade, that he would garner that many votes. Sanctions are entirely warranted.
    1
  21804. You're asking who's to blame? The West, of course.
    1
  21805.  @madserbz4912  Tone it down or we'll never let you into the EU.
    1
  21806.  @Helena-ri4st  You train like you fight, you fight like you train.
    1
  21807.  @Helena-ri4st  I've never seen soldiers wear dresses, so I can't comment. Greek soldiers in traditional garb wear skirts and pantyhose, however.
    1
  21808.  @Helena-ri4st  Oh, you meant dress code. Try to be more specific next time. And unbunch your panties next time, too, before you reply.
    1
  21809. From Hezbollah? From Iran?
    1
  21810. There's an international force protecting southern Lebanon. UNIFIL. It's been in place for more than 40 years. The parties to the conflict, who merely tolerate UNIFIL, aren't committed to peace. Escalations are frequent and intended. How would this be different for Palestine?
    1
  21811.  @leodarksam6230  There must be a by-law that prohibits firing rockets at neighbours. The Palestinians may be victims, but not altogether innocent ones.
    1
  21812.  @leodarksam6230  You're glossing over the deaths of 27 Israeli civilians, 5 foreign nationals, 5 IDF soldiers and at least 11 Palestinians, not to mention 1,900 injured. Bottle rockets my foot.
    1
  21813. What's wrong with British democracy? Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka don't come close.
    1
  21814. Yeah, Saddam Hussein tried something similar, only to experience the long drop.
    1
  21815. They'd do well against the T-34 that Russia is digging up. Or, next, newly manufacturing.
    1
  21816. Don't spread misinformation. Putin made it so that Russian law trumps international law.
    1
  21817.  @AFAndersen  I'm sure they have. But like you and me, they don't have a crystal ball. Nor do the tenants or buyers.
    1
  21818.  @AFAndersen  No, I'm saying they're acting on the information that they have at their disposal then and there. You can't have information from, say, twenty years into the future. Hence my reference to crystal balls. I guess you missed that.
    1
  21819.  @AFAndersen  OK, wise guy, ask a meteorologist if he or she can predict the weather twenty years from now.
    1
  21820. Trying to define the US as Anglo-Saxon is be the same as claiming that Iranians are a Zoroastrian race.
    1
  21821.  @tahaz5048  Anglo-Saxons aren't a race either. You need rethink how to label people. I'm European, but Anglo-Saxon? That's a first. And we're definitely not some Borg Collective, as you make us out to be. Again, it's like saying Muslims all act in unison, while everyone with an education knows that Shias and Sunnis can't get along. What's your excuse?
    1
  21822.  @tahaz5048  You seem completely at odds with reality. For starters, America and Europe have a totally different stance on the Iran nuclear deal, in case you haven't noticed. One side is trying to scupper it and the other is vigorously trying to save it. Also, I can say with absolute certainty that I bear no responsibility for any harm coming to Iran, like ever, and this I say as a voter in a full democracy, where we're collectively responsible for our foreign policy. Some European countries aren't squeaky clean in this respect, but that's on them. The Islamic world is coming apart at the seams faster than it is uniting. If you're not directly involved, like in Syria, you're fighting proxy wars, like in Yemen. If you all really lived by the Quran, this wouldn't be the case.
    1
  21823. Moustapha is your name and whataboutism is your game.
    1
  21824.  @Moustapha97  Only puerile humans play whataboutism.
    1
  21825.  @EsfandiarNokhodaki  It's a good thing that UN sanctions led to even more sanctions.
    1
  21826. Huh? Saddam Hussein was nabbed while hiding in a spider hole and then treated to the long drop.
    1
  21827. Get a room.
    1
  21828.  @SergPaul62  So far, the Russians have only managed to dislodge the Ukrainian defenders with massive artillery barrages. And what is your theory for the Ukrainians' departure?
    1
  21829.  @SergPaul62  It's all over the news. Russia is slowly making territorial gains after grinding down Ukrainian-held positions with massive artillery bombardments. If the Ukrainians withdrew from this position without putting up a fight, it can't justifiably be called a counterattack. A counterattack is an attack where you beat back the enemy from a position that they've just taken. Here, there's no sign of any attacks, past or present. All we see are Russian soldiers expending ammunition. If this is a counterattack, I've taken part in many "heroic" ones while on exercises.
    1
  21830. Italians gravitating towards Fascism again?
    1
  21831.  @S0_Rhyn  Not yeah. Don't do the Soviet-style historical revisionism thing. Zelenskyy was extremely popular as a comedian. In stark contrast, Putin's clown career only came to fruition when he went into politics after being laid off by the KGB. Also, I don't think you appreciate the difference between a clown and a comedian. Clowns belong in the circus (read: Russia), while comedians -- at least in Zelenskyy's case -- appear of primetime TV.
    1
  21832. Here's one. We built roads and dispensaries in rural Kenya. We were there ourselves, doing the work alongside Kenyan contractors and workers. I still have the scars to prove it (snakebite, open fracture).
    1
  21833.  @Wiketa  Thanks for that. Just like us, the Chinese build roads in Eastern Kenya. Ours survived the rains, theirs didn't. We expected no payment, they still did.
    1
  21834.  @samsonsoturian6013  There's no stopping now, but later on? Diplomacy with Hamas is an exercise in futility, but there are moderate voices among the Palestinians, who don't have a death wish or an insatiable desire to kill-kill-kill.
    1
  21835. I'm pretty sure Navalny will extradite Putin to the Hague.
    1
  21836. Let's see what your deal looks like when the rebels take the Russian bases in Tartus and Latakia. Or did the Russians sign on for more humiliation?
    1
  21837.  @jonathanhammerton9418  You're spreading obvious lies. Firstly, the UK is not and has never been the biggest contributor to the EU budget. The UK is at fourth place, after Germany, France and Italy. On a per capita basis, you're dropping to an unglamorous ninth place. Secondly, it's expected that a no-deal, WTO-rules Brexit will shave 5% off the UK's GDP, while the figure for the EU-27 is 0.6%. It's as if you're laughing at our paper cuts while you've gushing blood from slit wrists. Thirdly, for us life-long net contributors, the inevitable cut to the EU budget is irrelevant, especially since contributions are maintained at their present levels. Since the UK now meekly agrees to pay the £32.8 billion Brexit divorce bill, no short-term increases are expected either. The EU net beneficiaries won't be able to draw as much from the Cohesion Fund, which pays for their infrastructure projects, but such is life. Fourthly, I can't think of a better antidote to further EU exits than Brexit. Its effect will be long-lasting, too, since mess you've created for yourselves is bound to continue for decades. Please try to substantiate your claims. I have no use for your hyperbole.
    1
  21838. Trup is not on the ballot.
    1
  21839. Someone paid attention in biology class.
    1
  21840.  @thevocoder  *doesn't? And how's that relevant?
    1
  21841. Time to pay the piper.
    1
  21842. No worries, I'll slip some roubles into yours. Remember, you need them to make your escape, in case your call-up papers arrive.
    1
  21843. You need to do better than clumsy bot slogans if you want to convince anyone.
    1
  21844.  Martin Klnp  And that, my friends, is how you put trolls ⬆⬆in their place.
    1
  21845. There's poetic justice in seeing the UK at the mercy of Ireland.
    1
  21846.  @snowyowel7961  The EU can't overrule Ireland with regard to the backstop. So in that sense the UK is very much at the mercy of Ireland. Don't flatter yourself, the UK isn't the cash cow you think it is. You're a discount member, after all.
    1
  21847.  @SS-dc5jz  You don't understand the concept of public debt. An authoritarian state like China would just raise taxes and put whoever complains in a re-education camp.
    1
  21848.  @JYHK-c9y  What's it to you? I don't see you participating in this discussion.
    1
  21849.  @aguanteboca666  Sure, Mobutu enjoyed initial support from the US, France and Belgium, but it's overstatement to say so of the European Union. The EU only existed then as a purely economic union. Ironically, Mobutu's biggest supporter was China. China has no scruples when it comes to chumming up with ruthless dictators. Pol Pot must be the most horrendous example, but what's perhaps even more worrying is that the trend continues to this day. Myanmar.
    1
  21850.  Heid The Ba'  I'm well provided for, thank you very much. I catch them fresh -- I enjoy ice fishing.
    1
  21851.  @sherrysnyder4195  You should offer your services to Antonio Guterres toot sweet!
    1
  21852. We're not allowed to laugh at Trump any longer? That sucks!
    1
  21853. For your info, Russia is renowned for perfecting crony capitalism.
    1
  21854. NATO was definitely invited to Afghanistan by the UN Security Council, Russia among them, and time and again at that. Sure, Russia, given half the chance, comes to the aid of every two-bit dictator in distress. Assad, Maduro, Lukashenko, Nazarbayev... who's next?
    1
  21855. I suppose it's OK to derive pleasure from Russia's misfortunes. I think Schadenfreude is warranted when the damage is self-inflicted.
    1
  21856. There's still the shitload of US money that flows their way.
    1
  21857. Wel je lessen Nederlands blijven volgen, hè. Je bent er nog niet.
    1
  21858. Lookie here, a WEF conspiracy theorist. Well I never, and on YouTube of all places.
    1
  21859.  @Ezeved  French evangelicals aren't really bible-bangers either, contrary to their US counterparts.
    1
  21860. By which standard? I can't think of a single international ranking that puts Russia in top place. You?
    1
  21861. Uh, China is still under a EU arms embargo on account of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
    1
  21862. That's why tanks come equipped with a phone at the back. Infantry soldiers call the tank commander to fill him in on what he's missing.
    1
  21863. Western countries have elections. Russia has revolutions.
    1
  21864. Putin can stop the war overnight. Have you tried appealing to him?
    1
  21865. A team deathmatch pitting Wagnerites against Kadyrovites would be fun to watch. But when a PMC fails to deliver on its commitments, it's a breach of contract, not desertion.
    1
  21866.  @dillzzy5141  Maybe it's not Putin we should be concerned about. Yeltsin's First Chechen War ended in a Russian defeat. Putin got his revenge in the Second Chechen War. Putin's successor may want his revenge, too.
    1
  21867. We all knew Pootie-Poot was into SM, but you're suggesting he's overdoing the masochism part. Russia is buckling under the sanctions. Russia's milk cow, Gazprom, is reporting record losses. Keep up with the news.
    1
  21868. Freedom of expression is recorded in every EU constitution. I suggest you keep to Murican fora, where ignorami lap up your disinformation. And don't upvote your own comments.
    1
  21869.  @paladro  You must be high as a kite on copium.
    1
  21870. Trump is called divider-in-chief for a reason.
    1
  21871. Retirement, even semi-retirement, is nigh impossible in an autocracy. Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan thought he had it sorted when he resigned the presidency and had himself appointed Chairman of the Security Council. Now he's been dismissed from that role and stripped of immunity. What will happen to him next is anyone's guess, but we're clearly not dealing with a happy pensioner.
    1
  21872. The ICC is neither NATO nor USA, wisenheimer.
    1
  21873.  @suryanshsagar2677  And which Indian PM was had an arrest warrant issued against him -- or her? Samo-samo, right?
    1
  21874.  @johnmuthan286  "Other Muslims"? Reading comp!
    1
  21875.  @ernstwiltmann3918  Russia isn't winning. Whether they attack or not, Russia is going to face international isolation. The question is only how bad it will be.
    1
  21876.  @ΚώσταςΠ-κ1ω  You're barking up the wrong tree. I'm not adverse to modern medicine.
    1
  21877.  @tiglishnobody8750  Really? Why didn't the Russian OSCE observers manage to collect evidence of war crimes? Why did the rest of the 700 SMM monitors from 53 countries equally fail to produce evidence? Their reports are all publicly downloadable. Find one that supports your claim.
    1
  21878. Prepare for being committed.
    1
  21879. If Putin withdraws his Orcs in the coming four months, you may be right.
    1
  21880.  @SpongeBob_circle_pants  Be that as it may, the Afghans got neither.
    1
  21881. And you're a supreme being who's not and whose offspring is not affected by rising sea levels?
    1
  21882.  @MrJol420  Thanks for illustrating my point. You've 'outsourced' the problem to someone else. Your floating buildings idea is something I would've expected to hear in primary school.
    1
  21883.  @MrJol420  Don't you worry your pretty little head on my account. We benefit from post-glacial rebounding, which means that even if global warming gets twice as bad, we're still on the rise.
    1
  21884.  @NS-un5lz  We ought to nominate him for the Darwin Award. Instead of a cash prize, he should get a lifelong supply of drugs for chemical castration.
    1
  21885.  @Persev444  Your Krembot friend here has been posting the same repetitive drivel for ages. If you take him to task, he'll respond with more irrelevant drivel. Pick better heroes.
    1
  21886.  @Persev444  You have a go, if you're so interested. Look around and you'll find he's always spamming the same content everywhere. No direct bearing on the topic at hand. Look at his replies, too, if there are any. Non sequiturs the lot of them. You must be new around here?
    1
  21887.  @Diwana71  What a lame comment. I've been professionally active in politics, and I've got a degree in political science. What are your credentials, if I may ask? Feel free to slink off to your troll cave if you're too embarrassed to respond.
    1
  21888. We're witnessing the moral bankruptcy of the CCP regime.
    1
  21889. Israel rules the waves.
    1
  21890. A suicidal sociopath can do a lot of damage before he's subdued.
    1
  21891.  @throughput6674  Oh, the Russians will extradite Putin, just like the Serbs extradited Milosevich.
    1
  21892.  @throughput6674  How is one guillable [sic]?
    1
  21893. You keep fooling yourself if that brings you solace in these dire times for Beijing. Sadly for China, it all looks very pitiful in the eyes of the outside world.
    1
  21894.  @abdeenn3  Aw, you suffer from paranoia. We've all suffered injustices at the hands of other powers, but we don't keep whining about it. "In the eyes of the world" -- do you have anything --- surveys, studies or whatever apart from paranoia-fueled gut feelings -- to back that up?
    1
  21895.  @theShamrockShepherdWagon  You have a unique definition of "constitutional republic", a definition that the rest of the world doesn't recognize. In an international forum like this, you don't want to sound provincial.
    1
  21896.  @bertjohnson3285  You're implying Americans enjoy rights that are uniquely available to you and you only. Well, give some specific examples. Let's put them to the test.
    1
  21897.  @bertjohnson3285  My Bill of Rights? What do you take me for, a Yank? I studied political science, but I fail to see the uniqueness of it. As far as constitutions go, yours is pretty basic by today's standards. Other countries, which don't depend as much on case law, have far more elaborate constitutions. Come on, give one example of a US right that eludes the rest of us. Don't be shy.
    1
  21898.  @bertjohnson3285  With your boast of having a government "by the people", I guess you're alluding to what is commonly known as passive suffrage. Erm, that's run-of-the-mill stuff as far as democracies go. Incidentally, we gained full suffrage before you. So far, you've explained nothing, but keep trying.
    1
  21899.  Jenn Massey  Freedom of speech, check. The right to *bear arms, check. Sorry... Incidentally, I've got a semi-auto rifle in my gun cabinet that's illegal to import to the US. I found out when I asked about custom parts in a Texan gun shop. The owner was quick to make a bid, thinking I had it stateside. Not being religious myself, I don't know what to do with your God-given rights. It's like you're saying an invisible sky friend dropped them on you. As to protecting our rights, I've been a member of a well-regulated militia for my whole adult life, just like all my able-bodied male compatriots. It looks like we're living your 2nd Amendment, not just providing lip service to it.
    1
  21900. ​ @lin8049  You're viewing Russia's situation through rose-coloured spectacles. After Russia's sole hero in this war publicly debunked Putin's claims about demilitarising and denazifying Ukraine, and then marched his troops practically unopposed on Moscow, even fewer Russians than before are willing to lay down their lives for the greater glory of a megalomaniacal dictator. Full mobilisation would spell an immediate end to Putin's reign. A military resolution to the war in Ukraine is no longer in Putin's hands.
    1
  21901. Keep up with the news. The Poles sent Eurosceptic PiS packing late last year.
    1
  21902. Cans, Einstein.
    1
  21903.  @Sziasztok742  Civilised countries know how to recycle them.
    1
  21904.  @SeanMirrsen  Don't you worry your pretty little head. Other bauxite producers dwarf Russia. It's a base metal, not a rare-earth one, as you seem to think.
    1
  21905.  @SeanMirrsen  In moderation. Inflation is on the rise because of increased energy prices. When that's factored in, it will level out.
    1
  21906.  @Eli-i1b8k  Humans are social animals. Are you saying the Allies were exceptions? My grandfather had two Russian PoWs as farmhands during the war. They were much liked and vice versa. After the collapse of the USSR, my great-uncle's former PoW farmhand came visiting. He said ours had died in Gulags. As an engineer, he survived, because the USSR needed them.
    1
  21907. Yes, let's invite him to the Tower.
    1
  21908. It will be a problem when BoJo's girlfriend chucks him out of 10 Downing Street.
    1
  21909.  @flesz_  You're welcome. But don't grow too confident about evading service in Ukraine. The recruiters may not care about you filling your pants in the trenches.
    1
  21910.  @flesz_  You're Russian all right.
    1
  21911. Read about the Battle of Raate Road.
    1
  21912.  @jouvertalandwa5337  We're not in Niger. You're a funny one. In your book, everyone must be French -- or American -- whenever it suits your fancy. Niger can oust the last vestige of Frenchness, but nothing will change -- not for the better anyway. I'm all for making the French leave, if for no other reason than stopping the whingeing and deflection from Niger's real problems.
    1
  21913.  @BillMcGoon3  Red flag yourself. Zealots can take a hike.
    1
  21914. Haven't you heard? The Ukrainians are advancing at the flanks. Prigozhin's "victorious" mercs/convicts face encirclement. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  21915.  @rouz0  Stop lying. There's no OSCE report, from Feb 16, 2022 or any other date, that says Ukraine was targeting civilians in the Donbas. All OSCE reports are all publicly available for all to see. Also, you're conveniently forgetting to mention that the UN General Assembly overwhelming condemned Russia's invasion and in the strongest of terms. Russia has no leg to stand on.
    1
  21916.  @Solder-of-Empire  Let's be honest to ourselves. You're a lowly troll factory worker. Every day, you dread getting your call-up papers. In preparation, you've been stealing tampons from your mum.
    1
  21917. The name reportedly comes from Dmitry Utkin, the alleged founder of the Wagner Group, who had "Wagner" as his call sign. Utkin is a veritable Neo-Nazi, with Nazi tattoos and all. He likes to play dress-up, too, in Nazi costumes.
    1
  21918. 'Moose' is a North-American misnomer. The very same animal is correctly called the elk in Eurasia.
    1
  21919. The House of Commons clearly begs to disagree.
    1
  21920. @Duke Wayne You're mistaken if you believe that my condemnation of the Communist regime in Cuba automagically makes me a fan of US foreign policy. There was a hint to that effect in my earlier comment, but I guess you missed it in your excitement to engage in some Communist-style whataboutism.
    1
  21921.  @nehronghamil4352  This vid is about Cuba, smart-arse. If I mention that so-and-so is in prison, do I have to mention all the other criminals locked up there as well?
    1
  21922.  @nehronghamil4352  Trouble finding the right reply button? I see you're also wholly incapable of discussing any topic without deviating from it 180 degrees.
    1
  21923.  @nehronghamil4352  So far, you haven't posted a single comment in this thread that is relevant to the vid or the OP. Fact.
    1
  21924.  @Ashlesh....  You'll find that India's "strong relations with west [sic]" have taken a hit. Support for India's UNSC bid is waning after it was discovered that India's moral backbone still leaves something to be desired.
    1
  21925.  @lionking1382  You're calling Kenya's UN ambassador a liar? I don't know how the defamation laws in Kenya work, but if they're copied from British law, you may have a problem on your hands. Pray tell, how is it apparent that Kenyans stand with Russia? Kenya has consistently voted against Russia at the UNGA. You may also pick better allies in your supposed fight against imperialism. Putin's Russia is imperialist to the hilt, as Kenya's ambassador to the UN correctly noted.
    1
  21926.  @lionking1382  I'm not Kenyan myself, no, but you're insinuating that the government of Kenya doesn't enjoy a popular mandate. For your information, UN ambassadors don't go solo when they cast their vote at the UNGA. They may be top diplomats, but they're still messengers. I made no threats. I brought it to your attention that under your own laws, you're probably liable to prosecution for defamation. I did you a favour, so you won't fall foul of your own laws. It was common practice that former colonies took over laws from their erstwhile colonial masters. As it happens, my country of birth kept many aspects of the Napoleonic Code even after French occupation ended. I pity you for having to live in a puppet theatre, even if it's just in your mind. Have you heard about the saying that countries have the leaders they deserve? You have passive suffrage right? Run for office.
    1
  21927. Wrong vid, Carlos. Keep your eye on the ball.
    1
  21928. ​ @JayJay5244  As a Euro, I'm more concerned about the military adventurism -à la Iraq War - that the US troops in Germany enable.
    1
  21929. Hey, are you done salivating over Pride?
    1
  21930.  @Asya-p5o  Are you a boyfriend of savee's?
    1
  21931. It would appear we're dealing with thermal imaging here. Night vision comes at a cost, colours and resolution, for starters.
    1
  21932. But it isn't. It's a Buk.
    1
  21933.  @sepxviii731  Soviet-made.
    1
  21934. NATO, for a large part, is composed of European armies. How can it be pulled out? It's like you're demanding that the Russian Armed Forces withdraw from Russia. To where? Get a clue!
    1
  21935. The real question is if von der Leyen and her EPP, the biggest group in the European Parliament, will work with the far right. She already ruled that possibility out.
    1
  21936. You haven't heard of the Lebanese diaspora then?
    1
  21937.  @trivedihari5629  We know that story all too well. You're forever beholden to the Soviet Union. Somehow you think Putin, a crony-capitalist of the first order, inherited said debt. Morals be damned. If that's the prevailing attitude in India towards UN Charter-breaking Russia, I hope India never gets a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.
    1
  21938.  @trivedihari5629  Are you arguing my point or do you have one of your own?
    1
  21939. Are you planning to take up farming in the Netherlands, Marky? Why not Ukraine? Since you believe in Putler's Endsieg and you've shown yourself a loyal minion, there may be some (imaginary) Lebensraum for you there.
    1
  21940.  @markharcourt2214  So why the sudden interest in farming? If you must, you should consider growing whataboutists. They never go out of fashion in Soviet Russia.
    1
  21941.  @markharcourt2214  You posted about Dutch farmers in the comment section of a report about Kosovo, and you blame me for diverted from Ukraine? You're as weird as they come.
    1
  21942.  @markharcourt2214  Not that I think you have the intellectual capacity to comprehend the issues at hand, but I'll try to explain anyway. The elections in question were more like a poll for the upcoming general election, which, unlike these, truly matters. If anything, the outcome showed that the Netherlands sorely needs to rethink its unwieldy system of governance, with its directly elected regional governments and -- the silliest of them all -- water boards. Good governance can't be based on protest votes alone. The electorate knows it, too, but this time, they could get away with it.
    1
  21943. These far-right yokels can never unite their countries, not while they remain democracies.
    1
  21944.  @muckle8  Nah, Putin managed to do even worse in global polls than Trump. In the latest Pew Research report, Putin scored 82% unfavourable, which is a new low for him.
    1
  21945.  @muckle8  Isn't that the point of polls, to ask "people in the streets"? If Pew Reaserch still means nothing to you, feel free to elaborate about your sources. Pew contracts local pollsters, by the way.
    1
  21946. That implies a replacement needs to be found. I don't see a queue forming, not even of half-decent candidates.
    1
  21947. Try to get his name right. Baby steps...
    1
  21948.  @SuckMyPlums  What are you, his sock puppet?
    1
  21949. Not at EU membership, no. Even if Turkey returns to the fold democracy-wise, the chance of a relapse is just to great.
    1
  21950.  RC RC  The world will get by without China in 5G, 6G or whatever G, just like it has in 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G. The saddest part is that China shot Huawei -- a world-class company in itself -- in the foot. It's a good learning for the CCP.
    1
  21951. Minimum Viable Product? Not so sure about his viability.
    1
  21952.  @thewedge8823  Aw, I insulted your hero and now you're mad.
    1
  21953. If you like them dictatorial.
    1
  21954. They'd be mad not to liaise with governments. I suppose you're the type that would land on an alien planet and ask to be taken to the anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists and other malcontents, but in no circumstance to anyone in authority.
    1
  21955.  @michaelpecarichhealth2366  And you should take that trip to an alien world.
    1
  21956. Impeachment? On what grounds?
    1
  21957. Watcha talking about? It seems like Ukraine has taken more territory lately than Russia for a long time.
    1
  21958.  @SPENKER52 I see you're not well-versed in matters military. Nor politics. Ukraine paid a small price for Russian territory, and will exact a high price from Russia for getting it back. Then there are the politics. Putin's SMO is officially a failure. What was supposed to be a quick incursion into Ukraine to topple the pro-Western government, deteriorated into an unwinnable war that is now also fought on Russian soil, with a refugee crisis of proportions unseen since WW2. Even the most politically apathetic of Russians will start questioning if Pootie-Poot can still sort this mess out.
    1
  21959. If so, where's Russia getting alternative customers? You make it sounds like Russia supplies gas just out of kindness. On contrary, it's an absolute necessity. Exporting fossil fuels are what keeps Russia going economically.
    1
  21960. You might as well blame yourselves. The UN isn't an opaque monolith.
    1
  21961.  @mwfmtnman  Nope, he's got it right. Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, secret addendum. The robbers started by divvying up Poland, and that's how WW2 started.
    1
  21962.  patrik tapper  Finland's NATO application was a real kick in the nuts for Putin. Well done. Sweden, too, although I'm told good old Finnish SISU made all the difference.
    1
  21963. Trump masterminded an end to the War in Afghanistan. What could possibly go wrong?
    1
  21964. It's right there in the title: "EU's Borrell tries to persuade Israel, Hezbollah [...]".
    1
  21965.  @gjwang4385  A troll trolled. You can dish it out but you can't take it. "Some" and "many" are contradictions in terms, by the way. I suppose the 50-cent Army can't afford a proper language school if it can't afford to pay you saps proper wages either.
    1
  21966.  @alexsilent5603  Genocide? No go. China has excelled at that one, too.
    1
  21967. Let the Trumpesque election denial begin.
    1
  21968. Wasn't this guy ousted from the royal family? You're not keeping up with the news.
    1
  21969.  @timewilltella39  Tell me more about this spare prince then, and how he's not ostracised by his family. Oh, and can you watch your grammar, punctuation and capitalisation? Thank you.
    1
  21970.  @AdventuresWhereverWeGo  I used "spare" as an adjective to describe said prince -- as does he. I'm sorry if that's too radical a use of language to you.
    1
  21971.  @timewilltella39  The royal families are so inbred that it's hard to typify them as German, British or whatnot.
    1
  21972.  @AdventuresWhereverWeGo  I wasn't quoting. It's inferred from the title of Prince Harry's book that he refers to himself as the spare prince. So did I, yet you go ape over it. By the way, Angie, your spelling and punctuation leave a lot to be desired as well. You're clearly touchy about it.
    1
  21973.  @LilyD3353  That would be him. Do your worst, but remember that the UK is still a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. So no hanging, drawing and quartering, if you please.
    1
  21974. If you're alluding to Nord Stream 1 and 2, no natural gas flowed through them. Energy wasn't being supplied.
    1
  21975. Ukraine? Ben je met Google Translate bezig?
    1
  21976.  @samsung-lu5cl  Ik hoop dat je er een zak aardappelen aan overgehouden hebt. Of laat je je in roebels betalen?
    1
  21977. Alas, it turned out to be a tractor. But practice makes perfect. Next target, a combine harvester.
    1
  21978.  @Saadlolwhy  A lucky hit, if true. Even a blind hen finds a grain, my pop-pop used to say.
    1
  21979.  @MrAtsyhere  Rather, Putin counted on a warm welcome -- something he'd been promised by the FSB. But don't you worry, the person responsible, Sergey Beseda, now has a new address at Lefortovo prison. So, Russia squandering precious men and materiel in a feint attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv makes perfect sense to you? Do the indiscriminate murders of civilians in Bucha and elsewhere also make sense?
    1
  21980.  @motherrussiaisspeakingitst4965  Oh, you've dusted off Soviet historical revisionism. You're erasing the embarrassing bits, as if they never took place. So the Battle of Kyiv is now like the Winter War -- it turned out a disaster, so it's best ignored.
    1
  21981.  @doreybain  That was an unimaginative response. And you used it twice.
    1
  21982.  @doreybain  You're right, you are unimaginative.
    1
  21983.  @UkraineNeeds  Now it's generals? Your propaganda piece about Western soldiers and/or mercenaries being killed in the criminal Kramatorsk missile strike failed to gain traction, so now your propaganda masters have upped the ante? Russia's desperation is palpable.
    1
  21984. You're projecting. China can't subdue Taiwan, so you pretend the US has.
    1
  21985. Your emperor has no clothes in the EU.
    1
  21986. Let's not pretend. Putin called Ms. Nabiullina and told her that a much-needed rate hike is politically undesirable. Poor Elvira glanced nervously at her window and replied: "Da, Vladimir Vladimirovich".
    1
  21987.  @unconventionalideas5683  Let's wait and see if there are any top-level convictions on account of Trump's coup attempt. It's not for nothing that the US has been downgraded to a flawed democracy.
    1
  21988. Yeah, we should consider whataboutery, a.k.a. whataboutism, a.k.a. tu quoque, no longer a logical fallacy, but a legitimate discussion technique.
    1
  21989. Yeah, we should consider whataboutery, a.k.a. whataboutism, a.k.a. tu quoque, no longer a logical fallacy, but a legitimate discussion technique.
    1
  21990. Russia deserves a big 'thank you' for that as well. Putin has not only alleviated Germany's labour shortage, but also, he has helped countries join NATO and greatly accelerated the renewable energy transition. The man truly works wonders.
    1
  21991. For your info, the Russian Empire has been gone for more than a century, and what came after it, the USSR, is also gone. I wouldn't be surprised if the third iteration, the Russian Federation, will soon join its predecessors on the scrapheap of history.
    1
  21992. Uh, Iran clearly isn't minding its own business. Logic eludes you.
    1
  21993.  @fingerprint8479  The idiom 'minding one's own business' implies in this context that Iran has no business supplying ballistic missiles to Russia. The proper use of English eludes you.
    1
  21994.  @fingerprint8479  Oh, it's an entirely relevant interpretation. I see you've now moved the goal posts and you're claiming instead that Iran can do whatever it sees fit, whenever and wherever. I'm not the one struggling with English idioms. Neither do I struggle with English spelling and grammar, like you do.
    1
  21995.  @fingerprint8479  You're repeating yourself for the lack of proper arguments.
    1
  21996.  @RifetOkic  De Finnen hebben aan survivallen gedaan sinds de ijstijd, dus dat komt ook wel goed. Jullie Poetintrollen hebben het altijd meteen over kernwapens. Toch is het zo dat het grootste arsenaal ter wereld Rusland niet heeft kunnen behoeden van een fiasco in Oekraïne.
    1
  21997. In his acceptance speech, Trump painted a rather bleak picture of Murica in its present guise, but I had no idea that the judicial system had failed you so spectacularly. I mean, holding political prisoners, that's for Russia and other totalitarian regimes.
    1
  21998. I'm sure all of them have. Only those despatches haven't been leaked.
    1
  21999.  ZelnskyiSolvator  What would a Krembot know about democracy? And shouldn't you be cheering for Putin to win the sham election?
    1
  22000. It'll have to be centre-left if you're alluding to a coalition government.
    1
  22001. The hospitality industry does.
    1
  22002.  Karls Khaos  The Germans missed their chance then, eh? I also think spying on UK and US troops could've easily been achieved in Germany. You're the living embodiment of kids saying the darndest things.
    1
  22003. And to what end? The Russian soldiers clearly don't see the point, or they wouldn't flee or surrender so readily. The usually apathetic Russian people, too, are starting to wonder what purpose this misguided empire-building of Putin's serves.
    1
  22004.  @southpole4776  You're in denial. This is not defence in depth. This is the Russians being routed in depth. They fled the battlefield. Militarily speaking, it can't get more humiliating than that.
    1
  22005.  @southpole4776  There was no US rout in Fallujah. And Russia isn't striking back any time soon -- if ever. The units in question abandoned their armour. Some even threw away their personal weapons and stole civilian clothing and bicycles to make their escape. My guess is that we'll see regime change in the Kremlin before Russia can rebuild its military into a capable fighting force.
    1
  22006. I can tell you're a military fanboy. The Russians themselves came to the conclusion that successfully launching ballistic missiles -- supersonic or hypersonic -- against aircraft carrier groups would require warheads so powerful that the only realistic option is to go nuclear. Even an excitable fanboy should be able to tell that spells nuclear armageddon for all.
    1
  22007. @lng_moussa It sounds like you should make your exit from YouTube toot sweet.
    1
  22008.  @greatman5836  The USA according to alexisfrancis8562 and greatman5836 perhaps. None of my beeswax.
    1
  22009. ​ @alexisfrancis8562  You don't get around much, do you?
    1
  22010.  @alexisfrancis8562  I have a masters in history. And another in political science. You?
    1
  22011. You're seeing things. Portugal and Spain have an amicable relationship.
    1
  22012.  @cacogenicist  If you have any plans to join the comedy circuit, give it some more thought.
    1
  22013.  @cacogenicist  I don't go cracking poor jokes, that's for sure.
    1
  22014. There's such a thing as ground-based radar, but it helps to reduce Russian radar coverage.
    1
  22015. The EU countries do rather well in the Freedom in the World index, which also looks at religious freedom. You should check it out, and see if you have cause for jubilation.
    1
  22016.  @fredrikbergquist5734  Are they in NATO or not? You started about NATO membership, not about NATO groupies.
    1
  22017. I think Israel is first and foremost angry at itself. It either thought Hamas's attacks (terrible, no doubt) wiped the slate clean or that the pandemic somehow caused collective amnesia.
    1
  22018. No one in Europe will. Africa is another matter altogether.
    1
  22019.  @MrRESTEC  You're still growing wheat, so we'll send them your way. I just hope you won't butcher them, like you butcher Ukrainian civilians.
    1
  22020. Yes, let's have a distraction! Anything will do!
    1
  22021. I'm not sure Russia's war reparations will be put to the best possible use if Russian construction companies land the reconstruction deals. Russia is, after all, more corrupt than any other country on the European continent. I think it's best to go with Ukrainian and Western construction companies. The Ukrainians may also have issues with the Russian construction workers. The wounds will still be raw. Just Russian war reparations will do, thank you very much.
    1
  22022. En wat wil je daarmee aanvangen, als een bom in je broekzak afging?
    1
  22023. Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country. Putin foolishly alienated Russia's best customers, so now it can flog some oil at a substantial rebate to some far-off customers, while its means of the transport, Russia's shadow fleet, is shrinking -- or should I say sinking? You call that rock solid?
    1
  22024. You may want to get that overgrown superiority complex of yours trimmed.
    1
  22025. The West is standing in the way of the real imperialist aggressor, Xinnie the Pooh and his cohorts.
    1
  22026.  @jeffs4483  China is the one engaging in neo-imperialism. We're not debt-trapping African nations, like China is. We've poured trillions in development aid to Africa. In contrast, Africa is foolishly selling its soul to China for mere billions.
    1
  22027.  @Kesssuli  Initially, the Soviets didn't understand the importance of metallic ammunition belts either. Every so often, their cloth ammo belts would freeze solid, jamming the gun. Also, Soviet machine gunners weren't allowed to adjust their aim according to where their tracers landed. Instead, they had to trust their sights, with the result that their aim was too high. You can't make it up!
    1
  22028. This is about the EU jointly financing Europe's defence scale-up. Nothing prevents the UK from following suit and ponying up the dough on your lonesome. You had Brexit, remember?
    1
  22029.  @cheeaunmin254  I'm not American, so neither do I. But you are a whataboutist.
    1
  22030. It doesn't seem like Brazil has a formula for economic success either. Propping up Argentina's economy would just drag it down. Plus the cost of military occupation.
    1
  22031. For some reason or another, Russia thinks the Arctic pretty important. Norway occupies a strategic spot there. Not only that, two Arctic neighbours of Norway, Sweden and Finland, are in the process of joining NATO. You should go and inform the Russians that they're mistaken.
    1
  22032.  @joexavier4070  So, you think they'll emulate Russia and start a war they can't win? NATO grows by popular consent. Sovereign countries can strike alliances as they see fit.
    1
  22033. Viktor's poor propagandising caused him to be noticed at the local recruitment office, where they decided that Viktor should serve Mother Russia in another capacity. The rest is, as they say, history. Viktor, too, is history.
    1
  22034. Vote with your feet.
    1
  22035. Party politics got in the way. His own party wants to rid itself of this deadbeat on its own terms.
    1
  22036.  @russiandrivers9986  Not really. There's been a lot of consolidation in the lift business, with the big companies gobbling up their smaller competitors. They're mainly after the lucrative service business. They're surprisingly flexible in accommodating different models and solutions.
    1
  22037. There's a thing called a nuclear non-proliferation treaty, which aims to keep a wider nuclear arms race at bay. Also, you're (conveniently?) forgetting about Russia's and China's vast nuclear arsenals. Just for the sake of clarity, who exactly has suffered nuclear bombing at the hands of Europe? If you're anything to go by, YouTube critics are getting dumber by the day.
    1
  22038.  @СовременныйАктивист  And you're providing evidence yourself in support of your claim? Of course not -- evidence and Putin bots are wholly incompatible. BTW, it's "nope" and you don't "shell" a missile. A missile is either fired or launched. Also, it's "oops", not "ups".
    1
  22039.  @SappaDavid  Don't you hate Putin for starting this war in Ukraine.
    1
  22040. Why not aim higher? In fact, they are. The EU.
    1
  22041.  @saulgoodman7858  Ukraine is becoming an EU member all right. Who's stopping them? Russia? Pffft.
    1
  22042. Great minds think alike. The Netherlands should come up with a scheme to help developing countries and make a several billions of euros available to it annually. I have a good name for it, too: development aid. What do mean when you say it's not a novel concept? By the way, the Dutch colonies were predominantly in the East Indies and the West Indies. You're somehow hung up on Africa.
    1
  22043. It came as an utter surprise to Putin, too. He thought he had a decent army.
    1
  22044.  @xenofonkarykis8417  Are you actually claiming that Ukraine did ethnic cleansing right under the noses of 700 OSCE SMM observers? You're regurgitating Kremlin propaganda.
    1
  22045.  @guff9567  It must suck to be you.
    1
  22046.  @benjamindover4337  No, I'm surprised that it's such a topic of interest to you. You must have your (personal?) reasons. The media is fussing about his age, too. Why no demands to see his birth certificate?
    1
  22047.  @bps7209  There was violence -- even fatalities -- and the rioters believed the election had been stolen and the authorities needed "persuasion". Trump egged them on. Where's the BS?
    1
  22048. No, they'll be repoor. Just like before they joined the EEC.
    1
  22049. It's a known fact that Europe -- like the world at large -- has an overwhelmingly negative view of Trump. When last surveyed, Trump popularity was down there with Putin's and Xi's.
    1
  22050.  @TotalWater-d2o  Ask the British The Economist -- the recognised authority on the matter with their Democracy Index -- and they'll say Europe was the most top-10 democracies in the world. Oh, and your British friends downgraded the US to 'flawed democracy' after Trump was elected president in 2016. Something about the diminished trust in America's democratic institutions. Trump's swamp-draining and assorted conspiracy theories sure are testament to that.
    1
  22051. You excel in hindsight.
    1
  22052. I suppose you're looking forward to a nuclear winter.
    1
  22053.  @coffzor123 Other winter sports and athletics, same. We're still sore about Wassberg and Pekka Päivärinta.
    1
  22054.  @Rikard_A  In Finland, we say about Österbotten that if it were given to Sweden, the average IQ in both countries would go up.
    1
  22055.  @Kivas_Fajo  Presidential term limits may ostensibly apply, but you can game the system. Putin had "President" Medvedev serve as his puppet and placeholder till he could legally run for president again. The second time around, Putin tweaked the constitution, as result of which his term limit got reset. Dictators can dictate these things.
    1
  22056. Tanks crews don't wear protective armour. Their tank is their protective armour.
    1
  22057. Trump said it, those Californians should rake their forests, like the Finns do.
    1
  22058. For your info, the UNSC just passed a resolution that condemned the Houthi attacks against Red Sea shipping. The resolution passed, because Russia and China abstained. That amounted to their tacit approval of military action against the Houthis. Russia and China are not so naive as to have failed to anticipate these punitive attacks, or they would have used their vetoes faster than you can say Jack Robinson.
    1
  22059.  @slawomirsobanski8830  But there's compelling evidence of Russia being even more corrupted.
    1
  22060.  @nilavand6710  Russia can't re-equip its armed forces with the sanctions in place. It will take several decades, more like.
    1
  22061.  @nilavand6710  I don't which one is sadder -- you fooling yourself or you trying to fool others. The rouble is no longer a real currency. It's like the good old days of the Soviet Union -- I once exchanged hard currency for roubles at the "unofficial" rate, only to find out there wasn't much I could buy with it.
    1
  22062. It sucks for the far-right that their voters are the laziest of the bunch.
    1
  22063. It's because of like haters trying to capitalise on them.
    1
  22064. Delusional.
    1
  22065. You're the definition of misinformation.
    1
  22066. Some old-school generals agreed with you already in 1918. You could be the great-grandchild of one, with both your grandfather and father having repeated the same mantra. The rationale goes like this: if a tank is not invincible, it's obsolete as a weapons system. If the same principle was applied to humans, we'd no longer fight in wars.
    1
  22067. Yes, it begs the question if this should be an Olympic sport.
    1
  22068. They're there already, operated by the locally based Orcs. They daren't give them to the Syrians, however. Firstly, Israel would show the world how they fall short. Secondly, the bumbling Syrians would shoot more Russian planes out of the sky.
    1
  22069.  @graemesydney38  Appeasement is a desperate measure on the best of days. Great Britain and France had the means to nip Germany's rearmament and expansionism in the bud, but chose not to. Chamberlain went even further than that, emboldening Hitler with his appeasement policy. In that sense, he most definitely paved the way for WW2. I trust you've heard Edmund Burke's quote: "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in the world is that good men do nothing". We're at a similar crossroads with Putin's Russia. Would you like to give appeasement another go?
    1
  22070.  @kudr66  You keep claiming time and time again that Hungary enjoys superior freedom of speech. Now you're alluding to the importance of fact-checking. So, give us a demonstration of your fact-checking abilities and produce some facts that prove you right.
    1
  22071.  @kudr66  No, you've provided only vague anecdotes concerning yourself and your -- apparently, rather limited -- worldview. Facts, please, as in in veritable sources for Hungary's supposed good standing in terms of freedom of speech. International comparative studies and the like (you may want to look up these difficult terms). Just for the record, I'm not leftist. Centre-right would be the correct description these days, so as to set myself apart from you far-right yokels, who're desperate to appropriate our achievements.
    1
  22072.  @kudr66  You're an odd one. First you call me leftist, and when I correct you, you admit to being leftist yourself. I think we can safely conclude that you're a populist. It wouldn't be the first time far-lefties borrow a leaf out of the far-righties' book, or vice versa. We don't call you wingnuts for nothing. Note that I asked you for sources that substantiate your bold claim that Hungary reigns supreme in freedom of speech. Interestingly, you discredit my sources before I've even presented them, which suggests that you're already aware of Hungary's rather dismal scores. Still, I expect you to present your alternative sources for comparative purposes. Instead, you come up with another vague anecdotal observation that has no value as such. In any academic setting, you'd be a complete laughing stock.
    1
  22073.  @YS27122  No, China has hit a speed bump, but quite hard. It's fixable, but the car needs a whole new axle.
    1
  22074. Cope. Ukraine has been winning for 1 year, 5 months, 3 weeks and 6 days -- by not losing.
    1
  22075.  @paulcock8929  You can safely say that Putin wants Ukraine for imperialist reasons. The Kremlin Gremlin fashions himself Peter the Great, but more likely, he'll go down in history as Vladimir the Blunderer.
    1
  22076.  @QwertAsdfg-ih1ow  Russia can huff and puff about NATO expansion, but at the end of the day, it has to respect the decision of sovereign nations to strike alliances as they see fit, without having to seek Russia's approval -- or anyone else's for that matter. Funny that you think "America" is expanding NATO. It's the countries themselves that willingly join up. Didn't you notice how once fiercely-independent Finland and Sweden quickly joined NATO with a landslide of popular support? Your beloved Putin and his belligerence are pushing Russia's neighbours into NATO, no-one else.
    1
  22077.  @QwertAsdfg-ih1ow  Exerting influence and invading are two different things. The former is called diplomacy and the latter is called military aggression. Try to guess which one is in breach of the UN Charter. What makes you think we supported Israel's annexation of the Golan? At the UN, we've consistently voted against all territorial encroachment by Israel. Myself, I served with UNIFIL, monitoring Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon. For your info, referendums are called when deciding about contentious issues. There was nothing contentious about Finland and Sweden joining NATO. In Finland, the 5 out of the measly 7 MPs that opposed NATO membership lost their seats in a subsequent election. It seems popular support exceeded even the overwhelming support for NATO in parliament.
    1
  22078.  @blackcatdungeonmastersfami5311  Ukraine was entirely within its rights to attack armed rebels in Donetsk. The OSCE monitors didn't report any civilians being targeted. I suppose DW is loath to report Russian lies.
    1
  22079.  @hajjimubarak  Yanukovich fled to be with his puppet master in Russia. He literally vacated his seat. Even members of his own party voted in favour of his ousting, for flouting his presidential duties. Putin yanked his strings too hard. Tell me more about these Western invasions. I consider myself a Westerner, but we've never taken part in any invasions.
    1
  22080. ​ @blackcatdungeonmastersfami5311 Russia never intended to implement Minsk II itself. The Minsk agreements were dead on arrival. Serbia was conducting genocide in Kosovo. I saw the evidence myself while with KFOR. In Donbas, no such thing transpired. Even Russian OSCE monitors reluctantly had to admit to that.
    1
  22081.  @Jocky8807  Alas, you can't draw parallels with Afghanistan, but you are able to work Serbia into every conversation. Must be a Krembot thing. If you can't find a stick to beat "the West" with, a (imaginary?) twig will do.
    1
  22082.  @ИгорьШаматрин  Emojis are a godsent to you trolls. When you run out of arguments, emojis miraculously allow you to retreat to your troll caves with a sliver of self-esteem left.
    1
  22083.  @QwertAsdfg-ih1ow  Really now. You should read the UN Charter carefully. It does not forbid diplomacy. Territorial expansion by use of force is, however, a definite no-no. Russia ought to be kicked out of the UNSC for that. Again, no NATO referendums in Sweden and Finland, because they would've proven exercises in futility. Overwhelming popular support, just like overwhelming support in parliament by duly elected representatives of the people, left nothing to the imagination in either country. In Finland, after the deed was done, several candidates ran for parliament on a "pacifist" anti-NATO platform, but without fail, they went unelected. You're grossly generalising. The USA may have recognised the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, but it certainly doesn't apply to your indistinct "the West" or even NATO as a whole. Norway, a founding member of NATO, just recognised Palestine, much to the chagrin of Israel and the USA. NATO is a defensive military alliance, not a instrument for "Western" foreign policy.
    1
  22084.  @QwertAsdfg-ih1ow  You clearly proved nothing, not pertaining to your catch-all "the West" nor to the Golan Heights. Your repetitive Soviet-style whataboutism is getting really tiresome.
    1
  22085.  @krullben  It appears that practically nobody bought Putin's excuses for war. We witnessed their wholesale rejection at the UNGA on 2 March, 2022. Do we need to go over the numbers?
    1
  22086.  @AlinaKava  Huh? "The West" hasn't attacked Russia. It's Russia that's doing the attacking.
    1
  22087.  @BojanPeric-kq9et  Unbeknown to everyone but you and you alone, has NATO placed nuclear weapons in Ukraine? As a matter of fact, NATO's nuclear weapons have stayed put since the Cold War ended. Meanwhile, Russia has placed nukes in Kaliningrad and Belarus. By your logic, should NATO invade Belarus? You need to ask your Kremlin handlers for new and better material.
    1
  22088. Funny, it was Russia that was condemned as the aggressor at the UNGA. The EU didn't come up. NATO, ditto. What is it with you bots and emojis? You must think they turn weak arguments into powerful ones.
    1
  22089. The Battle of Kursk, reenacted, but Russia ignored the memo, and this time around, it's on the wrong side, too.
    1
  22090.  @marcuskingstanley9522  Voting alone does not a top democracy make. I listed a whole slew of indexes, none of which had Britain at #1. Over to you -- produce one where Britain outscores everyone else. You sound like Trump and his MAGA. Incidentally, Britain went from top performing European economy before Brexit to the worst one after.
    1
  22091. Is het de eerste formatie die je volgt?
    1
  22092. Time to hit the hardware store then. Bleach and electric bulbs, was it?
    1
  22093.  @AahFukIt  Isn't that how wars typically end?
    1
  22094.  @jebbo-c1l  "Is" is present tense. What you're looking for is the past tense, "was", as in "France was a colonial power." If you need a country that is still holding colonies, pick Russia. It's trying to do colonialism in the present continuous tense, too.
    1
  22095.  @jbak87  France isn't particularly keen on the CFA franc, and neither is the eurozone. There's a clear roadmap for its abolishment, but the participants are dragging their feet. They can leave any time, and many have, too. If you need a real cause, you'd have your work cut out for you with Russia, which is a past and present colonial power.
    1
  22096. It's a matter of cutting red tape. Or are you a great fan of bureacracy?
    1
  22097. Only yesterday, Daddy Xi made it clear to Putin-boy that nukes are a no-no.
    1
  22098. Ii is sad to see a secular democracy (I am applying the latter term somewhat liberally) turn into an Islamist autocracy.
    1
  22099.  @TrevorCrook-c1s  Why indeed does Russia need Nork soldiers? Also, why does Russia need convicted murderers, who -- if they don't die in combat -- get pardoned, go home and commit more murders, and instead of going to prison sign on for another tour, rinse, repeat...
    1
  22100. You're tearing yourselves apart, not us.
    1
  22101. JD Vance is a right-wing populist all right. Xenophobic scaremongering, check.
    1
  22102. But Russia's troops were just routed in the Kharkiv region. They retreated pell-mell as the Ukrainians advanced. Are you keeping up with the news, Arthur?
    1
  22103.  @JeffEbe-te2xs  You could try googling. I hope it's not beyond your abilities.
    1
  22104. Welk deel van Nederland zou je aan Rusland willen overhandigen, als Oekraïne moeilijk blijft doen? Wel het goede voorbeeld geven, hè.
    1
  22105.  @Lord.murugan  For starters, with his unending string of executive orders, Trump is busily turning Congress into the equivalent of the Russian State Duma, which is described as a rubber stamp. Luckily, the USA is not a democracy, but rather, a republic, just like the Russian Federation.
    1
  22106.  @Junas-p7p  Same difference. Prigozhin was a dead man walking, flying or taking the train.
    1
  22107. She needs to know the ropes for when she's in charge on nuclear blackmail.
    1
  22108. Who left the door of your padded cell open?
    1
  22109. Russia was been firing Kalibrs at Ukraine for well over a year now. It's about time they get a taste of their own medicine.
    1
  22110.  @constantinvaldor3742  You're not helping to find the real culprit.
    1
  22111. A reptilian, by any chance?
    1
  22112. Whataboutism fixes everything in Russia. Wait..
    1
  22113. Sure, as in traitors to Putin's cause. That club is getting bigger by the day.
    1
  22114.  @Redpilled66  Russia is only formally out of a recession because it's plundering its own national wealth fund to produce arms, which literally go up in smoke in Ukraine.
    1
  22115. Drama queen.
    1
  22116. Explain to us the British angle here (I shan't ask why their intestines matter). I can think of many occassions where Britain supported UNSC draft resolutions condemning Israel's actions against the Palestinians -- only for the USA the veto them.
    1
  22117.  @whereisjustice5112  I repeat, France has never used its veto to the detriment of the Palestinians.
    1
  22118. Don't to you wish you could have a snap election after Trump getting a no confidence vote in parliament? We had a lying PM out in a week's time. One lie. Imagine that.
    1
  22119.  @BKKNOW1  Let me guess, you let your guns do the speaking. You'd better not go anywhere near Trump with your kind of free speech, or you'll find yourself speechless in prison.
    1
  22120.  @ronnrd5937  You'd think otherwise from the palpable desperation in the Kremlin.
    1
  22121.  @greedyy6575  I don't know how the answer that, other than that there are funds aplenty. Er, did you have a point?
    1
  22122. By its own admission, it was Russia that just "exported" missiles to Ukraine.
    1
  22123. I wouldn't describe DW as uncritical when it comes to Israeli excesses against Palestinians. Perhaps you're not particularly observant?
    1
  22124. Give it a few days and the Kremlin will announce that Sokolov died from entirely unrelated causes.
    1
  22125. Pro-Russia Vance kisses up to pro-Russian AfD? Colour me unsurprised.
    1
  22126. Still, Trump manages to trump him in disgracing himself.
    1
  22127. Finally, Neville Chamberlain has found a sympathizer, in you. It sure took some time.
    1
  22128. Last time, when Trump imposed a 1000% tariff on Canada's Bombardier airliners, the outcome was that Europe's Airbus stole a march on Boeing. Airbus gained a best-selling family of small airliners, driving yet another nail into Boeing's 737 MAX coffin. Who says Trump isn't good for business?
    1
  22129. But no permanent UNSC seat will be on offer.
    1
  22130. It's interesting to see how the US copying its electoral system from its erstwhile foe -- Great Britain -- landed it in a quagmire it can't pull itself out of. I can't think of a better indication that the system has failed you than Axios's recent finding that a clear majority of Americans wouldn't like either of the candidates to run. Yet you're stuck with them. With proportional representation, we're spoilt for choice.
    1
  22131.  @Gaster_021  Russia counts on divine intervention to win this war, because nothing else seems to do the trick.
    1
  22132.  @roll-outcommanders6520  You're erroneously assuming that I'm interested in your person. You haven't understood the definition of a stalker either. Or a secondary profile.
    1
  22133. Hielelikkers zijn het.
    1
  22134.  @sabreakkari7910  Russia is as sufficient as cavemen who have oil a few kilometres under their feet.
    1
  22135. Putler bots sure need copium, like all the time.
    1
  22136. They haven't got the numbers, silly!
    1
  22137.  @priapulida  Little do you know. The F-16 is inherently suitable for Wild Weasel missions -- in other words, suppression of enemy air defences. The Russians won't dare to switch on their S300 and S400 radars, or they'll be threated to a HARM missile before they can say Jack Robinson. It means Ukraine can unleash their Storm Shadows at even the furthest Russian ammo depots and command centres.
    1
  22138.  @gfys756  You wish. HARM missiles launched by Ukrainian MiG-29s are blowing up S300 and S400 radars as we speak. The MiGs are few in number and lack a radar-jamming capability, so things are about to get worse for Russia when the F-16 makes its entrance. It sucks to be you.
    1
  22139. Not true. The EU wisely steers clear of separatism in its member states. Besides, Catalonia isn't the only fault line in Europe. Belgium has existed as an entirely artificial construct for nearly two centuries. It will split eventually, but without a bang. Ironically, it's the EU that enables separatism by providing a sound framework for peaceful coexistence and continued close economic co-operation. France, Germany and Italy may go down the same road, with Euskadi, Bavaria and Padania splitting off respectively. The UK's problem with regard to Scotland is that there's no such framework in place. Unionist unhappiness with the NIP illustrates the problem nicely.
    1
  22140. ​ @fujihita2500  I am permanent resident of Singapore, you strangest of strange weirdos. Singapore is on "my" side.
    1
  22141.  @NarutoUzumaki-jw4kw  I've always found whataboutism a childish cop-out, but I see you hold the old Soviet tactic in high regard. For what it's worth, I distinctly remember us being dead-set against invading Iraq. It didn't come to sanctions, but there were consumer boycotts to and fro. But I don't recall any UNSC draft resolutions sponsored by Russia and China that sought to condemn the Iraq War. Eastern hypocrisy?
    1
  22142. Yeah, Putin keeps us marvelling at his fatal missteps, the supposed 4D chess master. Be honest, aren't you perplexed by his stupidity, trying to change Russia's borders with military might -- in this day and age -- and sacrificing Russia's economy in the process?
    1
  22143.  @pawsforblessings127  You're a victim of zany conspiracy theories yourself.
    1
  22144.  @pawsforblessings127  Emojis, the last refuge of a conspiracy theorist.
    1
  22145.  @pawsforblessings127  What about my intelligence level? Because I don't believe in conspiracy theories, I'm intellectually challenged? Actually, the reverse is true. Saps fall for conspiracy theories.
    1
  22146. How nice of you to join us with your conspiracy theories. I suppose any excuse will do.
    1
  22147. Why, the EU could've easily gotten rid of the UK by not granting extensions. The Brextremists were practically begging for it. It's just that's it's very hard for the EU to determine what the Brits really, really want. Simply asking them what they really, really want yields no clear answer.
    1
  22148.  @tushtay73  Yeah, right. The Mad Dog of the Middle East had plans all right. Daft ones.
    1
  22149. Sorry to pee on your parade, but Finland sees NATO membership as a means to promote peace rather than war.
    1
  22150.  @happymelon7129  A Freudian slip, if there ever was one.
    1
  22151.  @casualsuede  Freudian slips are per definition true 😄
    1
  22152. Just out of interest, are you just as critical of Russian colonialism? It still persists in almost its original form. And Putin would like Russia's lost colonies back.
    1
  22153. And the mortar itself is explosive, at least according to The Sun.
    1
  22154.  @Iiefkleinkonijntje  I luister naar Spotify. Die regelen het wel.
    1
  22155.  @shezviolet  I see you would've jumped into bed with Hitler the moment he made demands for Lebensraum. There will be a peace agreement all right --after Russia asks for terms. And terms Russia will get. Not terms to its liking, but peace terms nonetheless. Don't try to twist matters. Russia wanted war and got it. Ukraine exercised its right to self-defence, a right enshrined in the UN Charter.
    1
  22156.  @ClarksonsinUSA  I'm correcting your misinformation, that's what I'm doing. Thanks for tacitly confirming that and that you're a Youtube n00b.
    1
  22157.  @bartschlief2574  Well, if Omtzigt ends up with a ministerial post, the prime one in particular, the monkey will soon come out of the sleeve.
    1
  22158. OK, Krembot.
    1
  22159.  @ChasseurTueur  So, Yanukovych was secretly in bed with NATO, and now he's a deep-cover agent inside Russia? It's amazing that these plots get uncovered on YouTube, of all places.
    1
  22160. You'd think they told us all the stories when they applied for asylum. Oh, they did tell us before we gave them asylum, now I remember.
    1
  22161. Your wishful thinking has been noted. Nah, who am I kidding.
    1
  22162. The Rocket Man is jealous, because that other dictator, Putin, is grabbing all the attention.
    1
  22163. It wouldn't be a first. In 1999, Putin had apartment buildings blown up in Russia to get an excuse to start the Second Chechen War. Over 350 Russians died.
    1
  22164. *Lose. The infinite form of the verb is spelled with one o. Zelenskyy was clearly ambushed by Trump and his mini-me Vance. Europe stands behind Zelenskyy in this. If the reverse were true, Zelenskyy would get it instead of Trump. The EU effectively told Trump "you're fired" as the leader of the free world.
    1
  22165. Why are you so desperate to tar France 24 with the same brush as the terrorists? It makes no sense, but does it serves some (far-right?) purpose in your very humble opinion?
    1
  22166.  @richardwainwright507  At the risk of being pedantic, Putin's 20-year rule hasn't been continuous. He did the infamous switcheroo with Medvedev, who served as a placeholder 'president' for four years until Putin, who served as 'prime minister' in the mean time, could resume his presidential duties. It's also interesting to note that Medvedev has evolved during the years. He used to be Putin's lovable lapdog, but now he's his snarling attack dog. The right role in the right place.
    1
  22167. The Russian Ministry of Disinformation has all the details.
    1
  22168. Why do you wish destruction on Moscow?
    1
  22169. We'll always have these misguided peaceniks, but perhaps a few more in Germany than elsewhere. They speak of peace in abstract, universal terms, but in practice, they have nothing to contribute.
    1
  22170.  @adha2913  The UK is paying his pension, albeit indirectly.
    1
  22171. Muscovy then.
    1
  22172.  @shaider1982  Communism is a religion in itself.
    1
  22173. Why did Russia allow a third of its standing army to be destroyed in Ukraine? If that's not a good start, I don't know what is.
    1
  22174. Spoken like a real monoglot.
    1
  22175.  @homayuns2165  That sentence didn't make sense in any sense of the word. You need a better translator, for starters.
    1
  22176.  @bettyspag_  Better cancel AUKUS before it turns into another money pit for Australia, with nothing to show for it at the end of the day.
    1
  22177. It's another matter altogether if Navalny would've agreed to being exchanged and thus, banished from Russia. After all, he returned voluntarily after Putin's botched assassination attempt.
    1
  22178.  @jerrymillerstein  That does not follow. Populism degrades democracy. Mobocracy should be another synonym for populism.
    1
  22179. NATO is not at war, buddy.
    1
  22180.  @germanfisch  You know well.
    1
  22181. Stop spamming the same message everywhere, Joshy-Poshy.
    1
  22182.  @MA-hn9vo  How about your 1.75%? That's below 2%, right, or did I waste 10 years on maths studies?
    1
  22183.  @hangyuan9589  The weaker Russia grows, the more dependent it becomes on China. Of course, barring a complete collapse. Putin or a like-minded crony of his must remain in power.
    1
  22184. Wikipedia has this to say: "The president-elect of the United States is the person who conclusively appears to have won a presidential election in the United States but has yet to take office as President". It does very strongly appear that Biden won. Hence, he's president-elect.
    1
  22185. Are you sure? Ukraine made it clear they want to exchange the Nork PoWs for Ukrainians held Russia. It may be a publicity stunt to get North Korea to admit they're theirs, but that's not going to happen.
    1
  22186. That'll be your "civilisation", which, thankfully, is on its way out.
    1
  22187. And what do you call yourself, a Greek ultranationalist?
    1
  22188. Nice try at coping. NATO wasn't even aware of Ukraine's incursion plans.
    1
  22189. Why are you concerned about non-existent people? Conspiracy theorist much?
    1
  22190.  @THETRUTH-BR  Why single out the US? 31 NATO members don't want Russia in NATO. Russia is the very reason they're in NATO. And very soon, it's 32 of them.
    1
  22191.  @bonnie7898  Logic isn't your forte, eh? I'm exposing a Putin troll and you accuse me of being a wumao, of all things. You "rationalise" it by claiming that I used the term "Anglo-Saxon" improperly. One comes across the weirdest characters on YouTube.
    1
  22192.  @rogerstubbs2731  That claim sounds familiar, but with different dates. I'm sure you'll come up with a new date, when you find yet another excuse to delay Brexit.
    1
  22193.  @Dominic-s9q  It's not my forecast or, for that matter, a forecast. Those were official IMF figures. If you don't like the IMF, there are the UN's and the World Bank's somewhat older figures, but they tell a very similar story. Russia's GDP per capita is roughly half that of Portugal's. So, Putin has failed to deliver on his own promises. All I wrote was factual. Facts are a biatch, aren't they?
    1
  22194. Wasn't Russia supposed to keep the peace in Nagorno-Karabakh? They've got 2,000 peacekeepers over there. So shouldn't you appeal to Russia for help instead? Russia happens to be in the UN Security Council as well, and as a self-proclaimed superpower, they should be able to act alone.
    1
  22195. Netanyahu can't keep 360,000 reservists in arms for long. That's tantamount to ruining the economy.
    1
  22196.  @MikeJones69696  I would like to have a word with your handlers about your use of Anglo-Saxon names. If you don't have the language skills to match, you're plain unconvincing.
    1
  22197. Because they've got a deal going with -- in this case -- Jordan. Since you're asking, you may as well ask why Russia has a similar deal with Assad, who still thinks he's Syria's president despite an ever-ongoing civil war that he can't win.
    1
  22198. Except it's not 3D chess. Rather, it's pigeon chess. Prigozhin just knocked over the pieces, shat all over the board and flew away.
    1
  22199. Because Trump doesn't understand anything about geopolitics and the military. Captain Bone Spurs opined that the American rebels beat the Brits in the American Revolutionary War by capturing their airports. Orville and Wilbur Wright's grandfathers hadn't even been born yet. And this man is taking America on another military adventure.
    1
  22200.  @joansbeef4035  How would Iran win, or for that matter, Israel? In most wars, winning and losing are subjective opinions. Even historians sometimes find it hard to declare a winner a hundred years later.
    1
  22201.  @raoulberret3024  Cyril Ramaphosa isn't Jacob Zuma. Zuma's morals leave much to be desired.
    1
  22202. Will your love affair endure when Russia is reduced to Chinese colony? Or would you like to become one as well? Subjugation seems to suit you.
    1
  22203. Laugh all you want. The UK has a productivity gap versus countries on the continent. The Frenchies and the Gerries manage 20% better productivity. Fact.
    1
  22204.  @aaronaiysen7534  I'm sceptical about your claim. Nothing about Putin's "special military operation" suggests that he was prepared for the consequences. The EU will be fine -- it's Russia you should worry about.
    1
  22205. Simple minds need simple solutions.
    1
  22206. But this can't be. Coups are supposed to be a good thing. The people are 100% behind them. Right? Right?
    1
  22207.  @johnh.tuomala4379  I believe it is. I thought you had a Finnish surname. I've got American relatives in Seattle and Tacoma. My grandfather was an emigrant as well, but he returned to take over the family farm.
    1
  22208. You sure have one thing in common... a bad economy.
    1
  22209. It would make the grade, yes. Why, are you planning on something? There may be a very hard knock on your door soon.
    1
  22210.  @kcw0809  I have a hunch it ill get worse still and Assad may have to leave again, for China this time. Maybe Putin, if he makes good his escape, will become his new neighbour.
    1
  22211.  @irisesinbloom848  Actually, it's officially the French Republic or la République française, but while the French may be picky, they're not nit-picky that way. Deutschland über Alles is too obvious. I prefer obscure indigenous country names (or demonyms) like Hrvatska, Suomi, Magyar and Srpska. That way, it won't be just the usual suspects, the Americans, but practically no foreigner will know which country is concerned.
    1
  22212.  @davinxi5926  Turkey sandwich?
    1
  22213. ​ @irisesinbloom848  I make no such claim. And you're repeating yourself.
    1
  22214.  @irisesinbloom848  You keep repeating the very same argument, which I don't even disagree with. Names of foreign countries are typically localized in any language -- it's not just anglophones who're at it. It's interesting that Turkey suddenly has a problem with this widespread and age-old custom. BTW, you underscore my observation that sarcasm doesn't work on YouTube.
    1
  22215. It's not just Putin's soldiers who're waiting. It's the whole of Russia that's in the dark about Putin's intentions. Russia isn't called a dictatorship for nothing.
    1
  22216. Maybe you should go further back in history and ask yourself why there were Palestinian refugees. The biggest cock-up of them all was how the State of Israel was founded.
    1
  22217.  @jongtoehaha  I'm referring to the State of Israel, which was most definitely founded in 1948. You apparently go cherry-picking your way through history. No, I'm not a refugee. Don't let your vivid imagination get the better of you now.
    1
  22218. I've heard stories about Glastonbury coming in the way.
    1
  22219.  @kylethompson1379  You should recheck on Google. Celestial navigation on missiles applies to ICBMs that fly outside of the atmosphere. Accuracy, even when combined with INS, is in the order of 100m. That's no issue for a strategic nuclear missile, but for a missile with a conventional warhead it's unacceptable.
    1
  22220. Zelenskyy took out the Moskva. What happened?
    1
  22221.  @michaelkopischke2255  Christmas draws heavily on pagan Germanic tradition, according to which "Yule" coincides with the winter solstice. In the Northern Hemisphere, that was December 21.
    1
  22222.  @sofjanl4806  So Singaporeans, too, are still too uneducated for democracy?
    1
  22223. Doubt it. The Poles are preparing for war like no other.
    1
  22224. Tiger, stop playing God.
    1
  22225. So, Tiger, you have a hotline to God and he uses you as his spokesperson, to convey to Youtubers what is to his liking and what isn't. Please tell us more.
    1
  22226. Tiggy, Tiggy. Your Adam and Steve are indeed imaginary, but so are your Adam and Eve and that magic sky friend of yours. None of them have any bearing on reality.
    1
  22227. No Tiggy, I'm not secretly fascinated by gay themes -- that's you and your Putin troll friend, Alexa. Live and let live is my motto. I can't help but wonder: has anyone told that your copious use of emoticons gives a very childish impression?
    1
  22228. Alexa, pick up the courage to come out of the closet already.
    1
  22229.  @MilenaBlazanovic-oq2iy  Nah, Ursula von der Leyen already made it clear the EPP would steer clear of both political extremes, right and left. Keep up with the news.
    1
  22230. Ze moeten zeker een complotdenker aanstellen? Dat zou Poetin héél prettig vinden.
    1
  22231.  @PS-py8zf  But it would make perfect sense to consume your own fish already. Yet you don't. Fish is a highly perishable commodity, so selling one's excess to one's neighbours is all but a necessity. Good luck peddling your rotten fish to far-off countries.
    1
  22232.  @craigbowler5248  It's called a trade war. I'm sure the UK will counter with tariffs on fish imported from the EU, which will hurt British consumers in equal measure or even worse. After all, 60% of British fish imports come from the EU.
    1
  22233.  @craigbowler5248  Now I can really tell you're unfamiliar with trade-related terms. Thanks to Trump's wrangling, the USA is embroiled in trade wars with both China and the EU. Try googling for it -- you'll be amazed. The EU will be relatively unfazed by a trade dispute over fisheries. It's the UK you should be worried about.
    1
  22234.  @craigbowler5248  I gave you examples on ongoing trade wars, since you seem unfamiliar with the term. I think your imagination got the better of you there. Furthermore, I wasn't comparing the UK to the US. However, you are comparing the UK to the EU, which is a similar folly. In the (unlikely) event of a trade war, the EU would trickle blood from a cut finger, but the UK would gush all over the place. No, instead of a trade war, I expect we'll see BoJo throw the British fishermen under the Brexit Bus. The IMF's growth projections are just that, projections, and they stand out from others. Also, the IMF explicitly added a proviso about an orderly exit. The possibility of that has now grown even smaller.
    1
  22235.  @simoncolombo6640  You're fooling yourselves if you think WTO tariffs are a safeguard against the EU, the UK or any other trading nation imposing more tariffs on one another. And it's not just tariffs; there are quotas and other barriers to trade that they can throw up.
    1
  22236.  @craigbowler5248  You must be under the impression that services are exempt from taxes. Just as naively, you seem to think that EU members aren't tapped into global markets, but trade strictly with one another. Save your doomsday talk for yourselves.
    1
  22237.  @craigbowler5248  Wrong on both counts? Are you seriously suggesting that services are tax-exempt? Also, I've been doing business in Asia for the last twenty years, working for Nordic telecommunications companies. The last British competitor we had we snapped up decades ago. I must be imagining it all. You won't thrive, you'll struggle along. You may outperform poorer EU countries, but you'll be left behind by the top performers. Nothing will change in that respect.
    1
  22238. In your ignorance, you're disregarding Israel's indispensable role in this successful recruit drive. Hamas is a death cult that came about with Israel's active support. Netanyahu was proud of his achievement when it sabotaged the budding peace process. Now Israel is saddled with the spoils of war.
    1
  22239. Let me guess, you have absolutely nothing to back up your claim that the countries in question act against the wishes of their people. Nothing.
    1
  22240. Boris, you've provided nothing but vague conjecture. Fact is, Trump's and May's approval ratings haven't nosedived because of their stance on the Skripal issue. On the contrary, both have seen an increase in popularity lately, but it isn't clear to what degree that can be attributed to their handling of the Skripal case. So the "proofs" (BTW, the plural of proof is proof) which you demand in the Skripal case are completely absent from yours. They have their warts and all, but at least the UK and the USA are considered democracies, whereas your beloved Russia falls very much short of the classification.
    1
  22241. Boris, you're diverging from the topic, but kudos for admitting your conjecture and its vagueness. I find your assertion that the UK has learned the trade from Goebbels amusing. Goebbels himself admitted to being greatly inspired by Soviet propaganda. Russia is faithfully adhering to the same old Soviet propagandistic methodology. The whataboutism -- which you're keen to copy -- is a telltale sign. There are authoritative studies that meticulously follow how countries compare democracy-wise. The best-known is the EIU's Democracy Index. Like you, they don't spare the USA, but Russia comes off much worse. I can't think of a country with a bigger discrepancy between human development and observance of democratic principles.
    1
  22242. Boris, the only relevant thing here is that by your own admission, you have no leg to stand on when you claim that the majority of the peoples of Europe, USA and Canada are critical of their governments for sanctioning Russia over attempting to assassinate Skripal. You make things up.
    1
  22243. It's a creaky old duopoly with a creaky old electoral system that favours creaky old candidates.
    1
  22244.  @miguelgarcia4404  I understand you won't let Catalonia go, on account of their (relative) wealth, but perhaps you could expulse Valencia?
    1
  22245.  @Rasmajnoon  Why would I need to cope, cuttlefishy?
    1
  22246.  @ragingmonk6080  It will be "cheaper for consumers", but for a while only. When China has eliminated its US competitors and enjoys a de facto monopoly, it can ratchet up the prices as it sees fit. No more "cheaper for consumers".
    1
  22247.  @ragingmonk6080  That would go against the very nature of the Chinese. They're capitalists in heart and soul.
    1
  22248.  @paulmasonsjazz9611  And I remember the Cod Wars, when the UK was at it, with Iceland as the victim. It got much worse than cut nets. Fishing boats and warships rammed one another, with even one Icelandic fatality as a result.
    1
  22249.  @timothykrause2327  I believe access to Truth Social is practically blocked in Russia.
    1
  22250.  @timothykrause2327  Nah, most Russians watch state TV and lap it all up.
    1
  22251. In a weird twist of fate, German-born designer Dr. Erich Schatzki, a Jew, was behind the tri-motor conversion of the Ju 52, as the earlier model had a single nose-mounted engine only. Dr. Schatzki left Germany for the Netherlands, where he designed the Fokker D.XXI. In Dutch hands, the D.XXI accounted for several Ju 52s when Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940. Later in the war, Ju 52s fell prey to P-47 Thunderbolts, which Dr. Schatzki had worked on at Republic Aviation in the US.
    1
  22252. Because we've got scruples?
    1
  22253.  @frank-ko6de  Elsewhere in this comment section, I asked you a simple math question: 3.5% divided by 2, is that a) more than 2%; b) equal to 2%; c) less than 2%? You do have basic math skills, right? Come on, you can do it!
    1
  22254.  @MrDust33  I.p.v. de Nederlandse grenzen dicht te gooien, zou jij je kunnen verkassen naar Noord-Korea. Potdichte grenzen aldaar, perfect toch?
    1
  22255. You're trying to lump the far right together with the centre right. In other words, you're trying to appropriate the right, as if you far-righties are somehow in a leadership position where the right is concerned. No, you're fringe, and that's why you're called the far right, hard right or extreme right. Centre-right parties loathe to work with you.
    1
  22256.  @maneil9297  Newsflash. Russia is already heavily dependent on China. It's said that Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country, and it just lost its biggest and best customers. They're gone for good. Enter China. It's willing to take the surplus oil off Russia's hands -- at a heavily discounted price, of course. That reeks of colonialism, where the mother country sets the price. China is fleecing its new colony, in other words.
    1
  22257.  @niburu1508  Oh, you're advocating that China, too, invades Ukraine. Might is right in your screwed-up world.
    1
  22258.  @dagestandagestan8064  For your info, Russia's warships in the Med were and continue to be barred from entering the Black Sea. They'll just have to go and twiddle their thumbs in the Barentz Sea or some such.
    1
  22259.  @Z5100-k7t  I don't think the rebels are keen on striking deals, after being bombed by Russia in Idlib, Aleppo, Hama and Homs. Russia has made its bed and now has to lie in it.
    1
  22260. I wonder how Russia, which confidently calls this terrorism, justifies its assassinations or assassination attempts targeting dissidents like the Sergey Skripal and Alexander Litvinenko, while Russia is not even in the grips of a (civil) war.
    1
  22261. Do you think they can match Lukashenko's firepower?
    1
  22262. How kind of the police to protect the protestors from police brutality... wait!
    1
  22263.  @zeusprophet7305  Is there a point in there somewhere?
    1
  22264. Don't thumb up your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  22265.  @pohakumana  You're just butthurt, Putin fanboy. And the hurt will only get worse.
    1
  22266.  @magdaty1815  Which UN draft resolution was that and what's the relevance to the topic at hand? You're quick to throw about the term "Nazi" -- in your shoes I would take care that it doesn't boomerang.
    1
  22267.  @magdaty1815  I know of no UN draft resolution from 2016 concerning Nazis. Nor does the UN. That's why am I asking you. boomerang verb (used without object) - to come back or return, as a boomerang. - to cause harm to the originator; backfire.
    1
  22268.  @WTFVIDSok  If a coup d'etat achieves such a thing, why didn't Niger's four previous coups do the trick? I bet that when Niger "celebrates" its tenth coup d'etat in 2080, France will still be blamed for continued colonialism.
    1
  22269. That remains to be seen.
    1
  22270.  @mhizummy2091  You're grossly exaggerating. Apart from Eritrea and, lately, Mali, no African states have expressed support for Russia in the Ukraine conflict.
    1
  22271. NATO members have integrated their defence so that they complement one another. Should they act outside of NATO, they'd miss out on many capabilities. This is especially true for NATO's smaller members. The Baltic countries, for instances, lack combat aircraft. Others lack heavy transport aircraft, or share them with other NATO partners. Even the US Armed Forces have deficiencies in certain areas, like sub and mine hunting.
    1
  22272. Teddy bears or gummy bears?
    1
  22273. Will you have a Heim ins Reich policy for British expats, too? Will the returnees be tested for racial purity as well?
    1
  22274. Sudden death? Ariel Sharon spent eight years in a coma before dying.
    1
  22275.  @apos3536  You're assuming that China has an irrational fixation on Taiwan, just like Putin has on Ukraine. I think cooler heads will prevail in Beijing, especially after observing how badly Putin's military adventurism worked out in Ukraine. China will think twice about invading Taiwan. When Putin has retired to China, never to be seen or heard from again, we'll hear no more sabre-rattling from China either.
    1
  22276. Nemtsov was shot near the Kremlin. Hence, the Kremlin is to blame.
    1
  22277. No, you taking the bait just shows you're inept at logic reasoning. Mind you, I do think Nemtsov's assassination was ordered by the Kremlin, but the location of the crime site isn't a smoking gun.
    1
  22278. Now you're stooping to a tu quoque logical fallacy. To humour you for a bit, it was the CIA who got it all wrong about the Iraqi WMDs. Baby Bush and Bambi Blair bought the story and foolishly went to war. In contrast, NATO partners Germany and France infuriated the Yank neocons by refusing to join this not-so-grand coalition. In other words, there was anything but unanimity about Iraqi WMDs in the "West". Since you're Australian (or at least profess to be), maybe you could offer us some insight as to why Australia fell for it. So you prefer intriguing conspiracy theories to the obvious. The Russians are always counting on plausible deniability getting them off the hook, but with their pattern of behaviour of late, plausibility has started to work against them. As just stated by USA, UK, Germany and France, there's no plausible alternative that absolves Russia. For their own sake, Russia should explain their involvement, but as we now know, they didn't seize the opportunity. Sure, they'll try to sow doubt with vague technicalities (and you'll parrot all of them here), but all the same Russia won't escape global condemnation, becoming even more the pariah state than that it is already.
    1
  22279. Fake Aussie Rod, I fully concur, you are wasting your time, and above all, that of others. You have nothing of value to say.
    1
  22280. Is she eligible for parole yet?
    1
  22281.  @sybersaint7604  Zelenskyy is a comedian, not a clown. Evidence suggests that having a good sense of humour is linked to high IQ and EQ. But you're excused, you wouldn't know.
    1
  22282.  @ktb9369  It will be nigh impossible for Sunak to negotiate the mountain of dung left by his predecessors. Leader of the Opposition is an achievable role for him.
    1
  22283.  @CollapseReport  Who's copy-pasting? As to Russia being the big problem, you're preaching... not to the choir, but to the clergy -- and as a layman preacher.
    1
  22284. I think Timmermans bade farewell to Dutch politics when he became a candidate for the EP and, eventually, commission vice president. He won't look back with fondness, I'm afraid.
    1
  22285. The EU still stands with Ukraine. And nobody stands with Russia.
    1
  22286.  John Doe  Oil is a commodity that is traded internationally. Producers owe it to their shareholders to get the best price per barrel. A global shortage would cause them to export their oil rather than sell it in the US. Trump could, of course, impose restrictions on oil exports to safeguard domestic demand, but such a move is unlikely in any other scenario than a national emergency.
    1
  22287.  @1952bane  I see. You're letting the USA live rent-free in your mind. Say no more.
    1
  22288. On June 28 this year, the Ukrainian parliament voted in favour of moving Christmas to December 25. The vote was preceded by Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church deciding same. So, what was undemocratic about all this?
    1
  22289. So-called? Crypto-Fascim implies that outright Fascist sympathies are kept secret till they can be aired safely.
    1
  22290. I suppose this time you can't blame it on MSM. It's quite the contrary, I believe.
    1
  22291.  @chriswilde7246  WW2 happened because of appeasement. It seems you're advocating it.
    1
  22292. You can go check out DW Deutsch and see if you understand anything.
    1
  22293.  @jeanniesmith3356  Don't worry, gas and oil are the few products that the US can still flog to Europe. If we were to sanction those, the trade imbalance would tip over completely.
    1
  22294. You're ignoring the fact (or oblivious) that Russia is an even more avid vetoer at the UN.
    1
  22295.  @sparks1792  Sure, we Euros laugh at Americans who engage in cultural appropriation, even if they have the roots to justify it. It's always the clichés that they go for and, more often than not, they get those wrong, too. Still, it doesn't negate the fact that their European ancestry is very real. It's entirely appropriate to talk about a European diaspora. Would you also dispute the Jewish diaspora?
    1
  22296.  @timlinator  I'm guilty of same, except it's three European passports in my case. All EU, so it only serves sentimental purposes.
    1
  22297.  @timlinator  Sure, but several? The only real advantage of having spare passports is when you travel a lot and need to apply for visas and the embassies take their sweet time processing them. Then again, you can have two copies of one and the same passport.
    1
  22298. Tibet?
    1
  22299.  @Ksgggg  "Your" and "you're" confuse you, eh? I stated a fact. Rugby is very marginal on the continent.
    1
  22300.  @bryandimery6509  Don't you worry your pretty little head. Russia failing to beat Ukraine equals Russia losing. Ukraine is fighting a defensive war.
    1
  22301. In the Baltic Sea, frigates are big warships. The Baltic nations have started to favour smaller corvettes instead. The Baltic Sea is not your average sea. It's shallow and the coastline can be very ragged. Bigger vessels have to keep to known sealanes, which is hardly ideal for warships.
    1
  22302. Ukraine is not losing either. Russia is merely inflicting Pyrrhic victories on itself.
    1
  22303.  @natano_pasaran1558  Do you honestly think Russia will conquer Ukraine at this glacial pace? In two years, Russia has managed to consolidate the front at Avdiivka. In two more years, at this pace, it will still be stuck in Eastern Ukraine. But Russia will be completely broke by then, having exhausted the rest of its already halved national wealth fund. Who do you think is going to bankroll Russia's endless war? Not even the Chinese are that deluded.
    1
  22304.  @gerchop9304  You made an unfounded claim, and you expect me to disprove it? The onus is on you to prove it, little buddy.
    1
  22305.  @attilamarics4808 Because your pal Gershop neglected to provide anything in defence of his claim. Befitting a lazy Putin troll, he would like me to prove him wrong. As for your argumentation, Russia has failed to effect regime change in Ukraine, lost the decisive battles of Kyiv and Kharkiv and failed to make substantial territorial gains in Donbas. At this moment in time, it looks like a stalemate, just like the title of this video suggests. Russia's industrial sector isn't top-notch in any regard, nor is its army, judging from its subpar performance in Ukraine. Russia's hydrocarbon exports are seriously down and it will face an uphill battle flogging its military kit. Who wants jack-in-the-box tanks and much-hyped air defence systems that time and again fail to protect Russia's most valuable military assets?
    1
  22306. It would better still if he were agnostic.
    1
  22307. I feel your pain, future mobik.
    1
  22308. Amethyst, you're a useful idiot.
    1
  22309.  A nickname  Not true. Both the Salvation Army and the pope's Swiss Guard are inferior to the Russian Army, so it must third-last army at the very least.
    1
  22310. Have you made your grievances known to one Putin, the warmonger behind all this? If not, get a move on.
    1
  22311.  @tjmarx  No country is considering to leave the EU. Besides, the now-regretful leaver, the UK, is a regular safe haven for illegals. The Brits have rolled out the red carpet for illegals with their lax ID laws and slaps on the wrist for employers of illegals.
    1
  22312.  @wanderlust0120  Victim-blaming is your thing, right?
    1
  22313. Do you think they could hit a barn?
    1
  22314. Russia can't afford to make more enemies. It's up to its neck in trouble on account of Ukraine.
    1
  22315.  @drakker2116  Napoleon withdrew from Russia.
    1
  22316.  @palmblue1  Trump should try to get mining concessions from the Greenlanders. That's how it works.
    1
  22317. The connection is lost on me. There are loads of constitutional republics that aren't gun-crazy.
    1
  22318.  @vettemuziekjes  Rutte heeft niks in de pap te brokken. Het is aan Poetin om zijn troepen terug te trekken. Dan kan er onderhandeld worden over de herstelbetalingen aan Oekraïne.
    1
  22319.  @whatfreedom7  I doesn't have to be that violent. I expect Prigozhin will suffer a heart attack, and for good measure, 6 of his bodyguards, too.
    1
  22320. If they commit enough troops -- which they can -- then Niger's coup-plotters don't stand a chance.
    1
  22321.  @pliashmuldba  Keep your shirt on. It's a difference in doctrine. NATO relies on airpower whereas Russia and Ukraine still stick to Soviet doctrine, where artillery has a prominent role. Better check if your country has at least one or the other covered, airpower or artillery. Then you can continue crying.
    1
  22322. EU or no EU, the green shift is proceeding nicely, thanks to the Kremlin gremlin, who started an energy war against Europe and lost that one, too.
    1
  22323. You're trying to close your tiny little eyes and ears from Putler's failed gamble, but you're not the rest us.
    1
  22324.  @tonyatgoogle6076  There you go, whatabouting, now about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The plight of the Palestinians has widely reported by the "Western" press, and in every which way. You must be wearing blinders. Who I am, by the way? You seem to know. Let's test if you do.
    1
  22325.  @asmirann3636  ...*of certain governments. Corruption in the EU mostly manifests itself in former Combloc countries, where corruption became firmly entrenched during the Cold War -- if it wasn't already. Check out the top performers (the good guys) in the Corruption Perception Index. The EU countries are well represented in the top 25.
    1
  22326. Be that as it may, the EU isn't a meal ticket.
    1
  22327. Trump had a Putin moment there.
    1
  22328. Which matter less and less under this president.
    1
  22329. Germany won't switch back to 'Wandel durch Handel'. Putin's Russia is just incorrigible. The only prospective for limited energy 'Handel' is Putin's ousting and Russia's tangile progress toward a modern democratic society.
    1
  22330.  @chebysh8047  Rule of law isn't observed very closely in Russia. Russia has been putting recruitment offices at border checkpoints. Would-be draft dodgers know to keep away.
    1
  22331. It would be nice to see an Indian at the helm, even a Tory. Churchill can start his rolling.
    1
  22332. Train privates in leadership? It's NCOs and officers who're the leaders.
    1
  22333.  @simontaylor2143  What a wonderful idea. In recompense for us sending troops to Afghanistan, we should demand oil fields from the US that pose an environmental hazard and cause climate change. We'll just landscape them.
    1
  22334.  @RalphDavis-qk2xy  "Super power [sic] like Russia"? Russia doesn't even qualify as a regional power any longer. They couldn't come to Armenia's aid because of Ukraine, and that war is going well for them either.
    1
  22335.  @kevt3318  You have a lousy memory with regard to your own insults. I only respond in kind; I never instigate. I wrote that because of the GFA, the only realistic place for the border was in the Irish Sea. If you don't know it, "was" is the past tense of "to be", meaning that the deed is done; the sea border is in place already. Reading comprehension and spelling clearly are your weak points. Northern Ireland is geographically part of Ireland, as is the Republic of Ireland. But not to worry, Irish reunification will put an end to your confusion soon enough. It's one of the unexpected bonuses of Brexit. It's fortunate that the EU wasn't involved in brokering the GFA, because otherwise you'd hold us responsible for yet another one of your messes. The Americans, who were involved, have been congratulating themselves for doing the most successful Brexit in history, in 1776, but I think they spoke too soon. What is relevant is that the GFA is incompatible with Brexit, assuming the latter involved the UK leaving the customs union. So, you've thrown your Northern Irish loyalists under the Brexit bus. What else is new?
    1
  22336.  @kevt3318  OK, you grew timid and deleted your latest reply. No worries, I can still see it in my notifications. You were puzzled about 1776. That's the year the Americans declared their independence from Great Britain. It has become an internet meme that this particular Brexit is the more successful of the two. Still, it seems the Americans aren't yet free from British problems. They suckered right into Northern Ireland, just like you suckered into Brexit.
    1
  22337.  @kevt3318  So you fired off another one afterwards, to your Brextremist pal. Your reply to mine is gone, miraculously. Do you want me to quote that one verbatim, with your lousy memory?
    1
  22338.  @kevt3318  "Kev T replied: "peabase I quote "Have you heard of the good Friday Agreement, you don't sound very clever.'' nice response on kind . No Idea why you're bringing up 1776 lol. I'm sure you have you're reasons. 17 hours ago"
    1
  22339.  @kevt3318  It's deleted all right. You struggle with computers, too?
    1
  22340.  @kevt3318  Another deleted comment of yours. It shows up in my notifications, but not here. I rechecked on my wife's computer and with her profile: same difference. No matter. I've cleared up your mistaken belief that WTO rules do away with borders. You were confused about the Brexit of 1776, the vastly more successful one of the two. I take it that's also cleared up now. I also corrected your poor grammar: "would have" cannot be spelled "would of". Let me dot the i's and cross the t's by noting that "your" is not accepted alternative spelling for "you're". My work here is done.
    1
  22341.  @kevt3318  Judging from your jealous reaction to my casual remark about my wife, you've taken your own hand in marriage. Sorry, couldn't resist putting you in your place, once again.
    1
  22342.  @kevt3318  Oh, cool. Blocks work both ways. Thanks for sparing me the trouble.
    1
  22343. Supporting a nation that's exercising its right to self-defence as outlined the UN Charter isn't warmongering. Invading a neighbouring country with territorial expansion in mind is not only in breach of the UN Charter, but also, most definitely warmongering. Get your warmongers right.
    1
  22344. So, you think that just like that, Africa's leaders will stop enriching themselves at the expense of their peoples? Good luck with that.
    1
  22345.  @glenbolderson9279  Russian artillery and airpower haven't made a big difference in this war. Russian airpower has proven particularly ineffective. It has mostly contributed by launching stand-off missiles from a safe distance. The missiles have not achieved much apart from causing needless human suffering. If anything, they have steeled the resolve of the Ukrainians.
    1
  22346. ​ @kwanchan-ic1xn  Reading comp issues? Hunter Biden is not currently a reservist with the US Navy, nor any other branch of the US military.
    1
  22347. The outcome of a NATO referendum would've been a foregone conclusion. You haven't got much confidence in parliamentary democracy, have you?
    1
  22348. Because the EC insists on upholding the rule of law? It's implied that you want the Commonwealth destroyed as well, since it also takes a dim view of violations against the rule of law.
    1
  22349.  @johnnyjjohnson116  Trust you not to know the meaning of rule of law. It means that the arbitrary exercise of power is restricted by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws. In other words, laws -- whatever are they may be -- are sacrosanct. Identical to the EU, your precious Commonwealth requires its members to observe the rule of law and indeed, it has suspended members for failing to do so. Ergo, you think the Commonwealth should be destroyed.
    1
  22350. So they've penetrated Putin's inner circle. Putin must be living on borrowed time.
    1
  22351.  @hevieso  There are no new providers and no old ones are bowing out either. And unless you're Polish, Finnish or Swedish, you're not seeing any money of theirs.
    1
  22352.  @TwiceStruck  You make it too easy. Ursula von der Leijen. The European Parliament elected her with 401 votes in favour, 284 against. A comfortable majority, in other words. Can I ask you a personal question? Are you a neophyte with respect to parliamentary democracies? Or democracies in general?
    1
  22353. Yeah, blame the victims. Let's blame Vietnamese peasants for the Vietnam War, too.
    1
  22354. Next you're going to make the brilliant observation that weather forecasts aren't 100% accurate either. But even if you don't, companies do pay heed to economic forecasts. To some degree, they're even self-fulfilling prophecies. British companies were already pessimistic about Brexit, and this only makes them more pessimistic still.
    1
  22355. Lazzaboyce, if you're going communist post-Brexit, then the views of company directors don't matter, no. But one way or the other, British economy is heading for a decline. Only how steep remains to be seen.
    1
  22356. Lazzaboyce, I know what you wrote, but it's the influential captains of industry who hold a dim view of Brexit and they matter most. Sure, your local publican will benefit when the newly-unemployed come to drink away their sorrow. Competition is fierce as it is, and with British exporters having to run with shoelaces tied together, other exporters -- not just from the EU but from all over the world -- will gain market share at your expense. Regaining lost ground won't be easy, especially if you've gone out of business.
    1
  22357. Lazzaboyce, you tell me. I'm not an apologist for the captains of industry. These grim forecasts coupled with their oh-so-human confirmation bias spell trouble, because they do wield actual economic power. You can argue till the cows home that Britain isn't heading for economic decline, but the odds are against it. That brings us to what Brexit really is, a poorly considered bet. Saddest of all, there's no big prize to be won. At best, the UK can expect to manage.
    1
  22358.  @NG-dc2pk  I'm not surprised. Indians are known to be deferential to Brits.
    1
  22359. Conversely, it didn't end well for the Russian army marching on Kyiv. It had to turn tail and meekly pronounce 'mission accomplished'. Where have we heard that before, with similar results?
    1
  22360.  @boathemian7694  Tut-tut, your take on US military history is spotty. Recently, ISIS was defeated in Iraq, Libya and Syria. In Africa, the Lord's Resistance Army was neutralised. The anti-piracy operations off the Somalian coast can be considered a success. Going back further, the Kosovo War forced the Serbs to retreat, stopping the genocide there. The Gulf War was, of course, a smashing success. The Panama Invasion had a positive outcome, with its drug lord leader ending up behind bars. The Tanker War ended in a satisfactory manner, with Iran ceasing and desisting its attacks. Grenada got liberated and was spared the sad fate of Cuba and Venezuela. Pro Tip: if you actually study history, you can make informed comments on YouTube.
    1
  22361.  @georgehouston6327  That's what discussions are for, right? We certainly don't need any more Putin trolls shouting their slogans and then slinking back into their holes.
    1
  22362.  @Lawrence4000-s3k  It can be easily argued that the USA isn't meeting its NATO target. 3.4% divided by 2 is less than 2%. Correct me if I'm wrong.
    1
  22363.  @chanceriordan  Thank you for your expert opinion. We'll file it in the bit bucket.
    1
  22364.  @fullcircle4723  Uh-oh, China is suddenly $859.4 billion out of pocket.
    1
  22365.  @fullcircle4723  Duh, US treasury bonds.
    1
  22366. Do the Russian Orthodox enjoy protection if they outstay their welcome?
    1
  22367. I bet Putin paid his bail beforehand, in oil.
    1
  22368. Yup, NATO still moves east -- by popular demand, and because those who feel the need for NATO's protection happen to be Russia's neighbours. Russia should do some soul-searching and figure out why they feel that way. By the way, nothing prevents Russia from expanding its anti-NATO, CSTO, westward. Well, perhaps Russia suffers from a credibility problem. Armenia can vouch for that.
    1
  22369.  @SyrinxArcadianNymph  Again, the downward trend in Scholz's and Macron's political fortunes doesn't mean Meloni gains in significance. Trump routinely ignores or forgets his supposed allies. Hungary's Orban is a prime example. Trump forgot to send him an invite to his inauguration, or saw Orban for what he is. Meloni may be his favourite du jour, but it's bound to be a patchy and one-sided relationship. You clearly overestimate Trump's ability to affect European policy -- if anything, his shenanigans have an unifying effect on the EU and that's the exact opposite of what Trump prefers. Trump is no great policymaker; he's a rabble-rouser, who above all wants to matter and get noticed.
    1
  22370. Hezbollah's powerbase is in southern Lebanon. Why would anyone want to destroy Beirut? In Beirut, Hezbollah vies for power with the Christians, Sunnis, Druze and whatnot.
    1
  22371. Now that you mention it, Saudi Arabia just got an earful at the UN because of its piss-poor human rights record. No-one's surprised, so it's not considered news. Maybe you should blame the media instead? You could've easily fact-checked your claim, but you chose not to. Why's that?
    1
  22372.  @donotneed  Don't flatter yourselves. Russia isn't even defeating one country, Ukraine.
    1
  22373.  @zhufortheimpaler4041  You're happily moving the goal posts. The comparison was between France and Estonia. I made no mention of Germany. "French military aid to Ukraine estimated at €3.2 billion", Le Monde had to say last November. Bloomberg's article is behind a paywall.
    1
  22374.  @zhufortheimpaler4041  That's not what the Le Monde article says. I wish I could access Bloomberg from home. Again, you're busily moving the goal posts. There's no question about Estonia's economy being far smaller than that of France -- I wrote as much myself. I challenged you about your bold claim about the absolute value of aid, not relative to GDP. I know full well that Estonia beats just about everyone in aid per capita. And again, you drag Germany into the discussion. Sigh.
    1
  22375.  @zhufortheimpaler4041  TL;DR. Stick to the topic.
    1
  22376. Putin would do well to look for a retirement home in China. Retirement plans for autocrats in Russia are fraught with difficulties, like fatal "accidents".
    1
  22377. Please don't kill your colleague.
    1
  22378. ​ @Sunnyokwor  I've been dying to see evidence of the US being behind the Nord Stream sabotage. The claimant, Seymour Hersh, has been unable to produce any. But lo and behold, a YouTube doctor has the missing evidence. Let's hear it, Dr Sunday!
    1
  22379. @言行一致 Trop is genoeg, stoefer.
    1
  22380. @言行一致 TL;DR. And a cut and paste job. Please remind yourself never to reply to me any longer.
    1
  22381. @言行一致 Linguistic racism, moi? Give an example. You're delirious.
    1
  22382. @言行一致 You're even weirder than I first thought. You're blocked.
    1
  22383. I can't believe you Kenyans would honestly back Trump. Did you miss how he sides with the entitled white Afrikaner landowners who unfairly claim being discriminated against? Then there's his bosom friend Elon Musk, who not only shares Trump's sentiment, but also makes Nazi salutes in public.
    1
  22384. A little suspicion is warranted, but you're going overboard.
    1
  22385.  @nicktalk8589  Russia killed Russians in Chechnya with reckless abandon. Russians have always been mere pawns to its leaders.
    1
  22386. He's quite the embarrassment to Putin, so no.
    1
  22387. The Chinese have poor vaccines. I bet the CCP nomenklatura have receive BioNTech and Moderna.
    1
  22388. Give this man a Pulitzer Prize.
    1
  22389.  @lebe220  You forgot the WEF, the Reptilians and whatnot.
    1
  22390. The Montgolfier brothers are jealous.
    1
  22391. Maybe they can also put a spring between the T-72 hulls and their turrets. The jack-in-the-box effect will be even more realistic then.
    1
  22392.  @Zoran_balkan  Aren't you cute. Sure enough, Russia has cheap gas and oil. Apart from that, everything else is getting unaffordable. I mean, anti-theft devices on bars of butter...
    1
  22393. Remember to tell Putin to cease and desist. That's the only formula for instant peace.
    1
  22394.  @robsab531  The US didn't manage to drag NATO into the Iraq War. How do you explain that?
    1
  22395.  @vinm300  You're trying to demonise France and unfairly so. Diplomats the world over are racking their brains how Putin could save face so as to agree to a ceasefire. A peace treaty is another matter altogether. Every history major knows the answer to the trick question: when did WW2 start? Evidently Macron knows, too.
    1
  22396.  @robsab531  I'll go ahead and assume that you practise what you preach. So, if you think Ukraine should surrender, I'm assuming you would, too, in similar circumstances. And you accuse the French of being surrender monkeys. It's "Ukraine", not "the Ukraine". Or should we refer to the US as the "United Colonies" again? We don't need to think about fallout shelters. We have them.
    1
  22397.  @jonathanjacob5453  So Putin's mission in life was to make Russia a target for crippling sanctions and then note with satisfaction that Russia can still cope. Not flourish, but cope. It sounds like the guy is really into sado-masochism.
    1
  22398.  @cixin10x  Bollocks. In June 2022, a respected pollster, Pew Research, put confidence in Putin at 9% worldwide. To put things in perspective, Biden, Macron and Scholz scored around 60% each. Where do you get your figures from? Reveal your sources already.
    1
  22399.  Ms Bliss  Don't be so sure. News reports suggest that Russia is awarding protesters with a two-week military training and a one-way ticket to Ukraine.
    1
  22400.  Haider Ali Ibn Akhlaq  Sorry, the Chinese beat your guy to it by well over a millennium. In 559 AD, Emperor Wenxuan thought strapping prisoners to kites and launching them off a tower was a fun experiment. And they couldn't have been Muslims, because Islam hadn't been invented yet.
    1
  22401. You like wordplay all right.
    1
  22402.  @blady7717  There are the Copenhagen criteria -- nothing particularly German about them. If Hungary keeps flouting the Copenhagen criteria, it has no business in the EU. If autocracy is what Hungary prefers, there's always the Eurasian Economic Union. Putin's club eschews democracy, so isn't that a better fit for Hungary going forward as well?
    1
  22403.  @K64-e9w  You seem to have a weakness for conspiracy theories. There was no wilful intent behind the Brexit complications. Besides, the UK had been fully involved in drafting said "complications". Brexiteers like to portray the UK as a victim of the EU. If so, the UK victimised itself.
    1
  22404.  @blady7717  Don't play silly buggers. The Copenhagen criteria happened to be agreed upon in Copenhagen, hence the name. Upon joining the EU, Hungary and Poland accepted them as well.
    1
  22405.  @zoltanzzolt  Are you OK, dear? You seem lost.
    1
  22406.  @zoltan6339  Mind the SNR. You're single-handedly ruining it.
    1
  22407.  @luisdanielmesa  "Carol", more like.
    1
  22408. Israel and Lebanon's Shiites have no reason to fight one another. Iran, however, prefers it that way.
    1
  22409. You're spamming. That's why you get deleted.
    1
  22410.  @JohnTavastian  That's a myth. The M16 with its 5.56 cartridge soldiered through the Vietnam War with distinction. Plenty of trees there as well. Likewise, many Far Eastern countries swear by it despite having dense rainforests.
    1
  22411.  @JohnTavastian  I know from personal experience that Far Eastern rainforests have far denser vegetation than Finland's carefully manicured forests. It's because of financial considerations that Finland still sticks with the obsolescent RK62 and the 7.62x39 cartridge. Besides, the Border Guard and the Special Jaegers have already adopted the G36 and SCAR respectively, both in 5.56. As a reservist shooter, I shoot both a Saiga AK in 7.62x39 and a Bushmaster AR in 5.56. It was only after I got comfortable with the latter that I realised what a clunker an AK pattern rifle is. Lastly, I've been sergeant, lieutenant and staff in the FDF.
    1
  22412. You speak like a wife beater: "Look at what you did, you made me hit you!"
    1
  22413. Just European nations? You're myopic, methinks.
    1
  22414.  @markperrin8098  I beg to disagree. The wailing from the British side of the Channel grew much louder when Brexit kicked in.
    1
  22415. Because you think yourself clever.
    1
  22416.  @KaterinaBudyakova-hf7rk  You're welcome. I just thought I'd help. Upvoting your own comments is like pleasuring yourself in public. Brrr...
    1
  22417. YouTube began as a startup. Perhaps you shouldn't be here.
    1
  22418. Oh, they'll care more than two hoots. If not now, then later. The stories about the demonstrations will eventually permeate mainland China, and people will ask themselves what sparked such massive popular dissent in Hong Kong. They can't help but feel involved when they'll learn that protests concerned conditions they themselves endure to even a greater degree. They'll have to re-evaluate their position on democracy -- or rather, the lack of it. Inevitably, some will conclude that the status quo won't do and improvements need to be made. This is not a question of if, but when.
    1
  22419. Not a Catholic, but could we have a youngish pope next time? Jesus wasn't that old and isn't this chap his earthly placeholder?
    1
  22420. You'd think Russia would've learned their lesson in Afghanistan so as to steer clear of invading their neighbours, but nooo....
    1
  22421.  @Ikachase  Uh, you should research yourself what the world thought of your sham referendums in Crimea and the Donbas. Furthermore, look into how many countries recognise them as Russian territory.
    1
  22422.  @liberTvalance  Explain then why Trump fusses so much about the US trade imbalance vis-à-vis Europe. It looks like Europe makes plenty of stuff that the Americans crave. Vice-versa, far less so. And to a large degree that's because America has been busily outsourcing. Like many preteens, my son is wild about Prime. It's UK-made here.
    1
  22423. Oh, you can safely say that Russia was defeated in WW1. That being said, I think Russia's fate in this war will be more akin to Germany's in WW1. Likewise, Russia still holds enemy territory, but nonetheless collapses from within. The USSR collapsed without a civil war before or after, but second time unlucky?
    1
  22424. You don't believe in international cooperation.
    1
  22425.  @1337flite  And you believe in anarchy.
    1
  22426. Ah, might is right in your tiny little book. I suppose you want Trump to emulate Hitler when the latter "negotiated" with Czechoslovakia about Lebensraum. P.S. Your nick is an insult to wise men.
    1
  22427. James, I see a definite weakness in Trump's approach. He's taking on the whole world.
    1
  22428. James, so Trump is short-sighted in his approach? I see that as a definite weakness.
    1
  22429. James, I'll leave your wishful thinking about Trump's grand plan for what it is. It's an entirely premature conclusion that the world is taking advantage of the US. That's for the WTO to decide, but Trump won't take his complaints there, because the likely outcome won't please him nor his supporters. So in answer to your question, the WTO is the solution.
    1
  22430. James, then push for the US to leave the UN and the WTO. I think your dislike is explained by the fact that they aren't doing your bidding.
    1
  22431. James, then what would you replace the UN with? I, too, find much fault with the UN, especially the Security Council and its permanent members, whose vetoes sabotage the whole organisation. I'm not just talking about Russia, but the US, too.
    1
  22432. James, you're a crazed warmonger then. Not worth my time.
    1
  22433.  @imran4006  It looks like you're a silly conspiracy theorist yourself. 5G has never been exclusively a Chinese affair. It has been a global effort from the very start.
    1
  22434. I don't see much difference. There was no glory in the Soviet retreat. If it didn't lead to the USSR collapsing, it certainly hastened its demise.
    1
  22435. Erdogan can take certain liberties, like actively supporting a faction that is designated a terrorist organisation by both Turkey and the EU. An EU leader would end up in prison, but Turkey is flexible in these matters.
    1
  22436.  @atilasatilmis9986  You're making that up.
    1
  22437. It's not the mobilisation that brought this on, but the public outcry over Russians taking foreign holidays while their country is at war in Ukraine. Just like with our NATO application, our initially undecisive MPs became concerned about voter backlash, so they suddenly grew a pair.
    1
  22438. Explain. We've spoken out against Israel's totally disproportionate use of violence, voted -- twice -- for the ceasefire that the US vetoed - twice. Does it mean we've been been automatically expelled from "the West" so that your wonky narrative still holds true?
    1
  22439. Betcha.
    1
  22440. The far right is very divided. It must think divide and conquer works -- on itself.
    1
  22441. The world's richest man is a dork. What does that say about humanity?
    1
  22442.  @goranrajcevic5550  Russia is disabling Ukraine's anti-aircraft defences? You wish. You Serb Putin fanboys... still sore about being pummeled to submission in your wars of aggression?
    1
  22443.  @matiassam2507  That's what the Yanks thought in Vietnam, till they started retrofitting their fighters with guns and teaching dogfighting skills to their pilots.
    1
  22444.  @matiassam2507  You sound like a fanboi all right. Why fit modern fighters with short-range AA missiles if long-range BVR missiles exist? It's you that doesn't understand the inherent limitations of missile technology. Why does the F-35 still pack a gun? By the way, I worked on the Nokia 3310 and recently stopped working on Android smartphones. The latter contained half a dozen or so patents of mine.
    1
  22445. The majority of the Brits concede that it was a mistake.
    1
  22446. In what, isolationism and protectionism? Or boorishness?
    1
  22447.  @bkh8528  Hamas is a death cult. Nothing about the brutal retaliation by the IDF should've come as a surprise to anyone, yourself included. Everything about Hamas's Oct 7 attacks says they were carefully planned. You'd think they gave some thought to the aftermath, too. Israel responds in the only way it knows and it's perfectly within expectations based on earlier flare-ups of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
    1
  22448. Labour could try to sway its voters against reunification. Nice of them that they won't. Or so they promise.
    1
  22449. I hope he mentioned to Putin that threatening with thermonuclear war on a daily basis is not conducive to nuclear safety.
    1
  22450.  @looneytoons171  The expression you're looking for is "hear, hear". Say, concentration camp, isn't that a British invention?
    1
  22451.  @looneytoons171  How do Xinjiang and Hong Kong relate to Germany's past? I sincerely hope I don't need to spell out to you how Britain's past relates to Hong Kong. The UK is offering to take in British passport holders and their dependents from Hong Kong. Sounds rather self-evident to me.
    1
  22452. The National Guard does have a paramilitary role. If you insist on playing the hypocrisy card, the French have their Gendarmerie Nationale, which is an official branch of the armed forces. The main difference is that the gendarmes don't look the part. Image is everything, it seems.
    1
  22453. Intellectual property. Read all about it.
    1
  22454. What's pitiful is Putin bots taking to YouTube comment sections to implore Ukraine to stop the war on somewhat favourable terms to Russia. I can't think of a clearer way of showing that you're desperate.
    1
  22455. The EU could've staved off energy shortages and food insecurity only by letting Putler stomp all over Ukraine, as he intended to. There's not a single recorded incident of Ukraine wantonly shelling its citizens in the Donbas. Why perpetuate a myth? Even Russia's OSCE observers failed to report anything to that effect.
    1
  22456. It seems far-right leaders spend an inordinate amount of time on preventing their parties from going full fascist. Extremism breeds extremer extremism.
    1
  22457. Uh, the EU is lukewarm about new entrants, especially if they're entitled to financial aid because of their lower standard of living. Money doesn't grow on trees, Mr. Bot.
    1
  22458. The closer Russia grows to China, the more Russia becomes a vassal of China.
    1
  22459.  @TheRavensOmen  Keep a civil tongue, little buddy.
    1
  22460. ​ @TheRavensOmen  If you get abusive right off the bat, don't expect me to give you the time of day. Life lesson, little buddy.
    1
  22461.  @aoikemono6414  But some of the debt is paid by taxpayers, since many are investors in Evergrande. They're not happy with the CCP benefiting from their misfortune.
    1
  22462. Yeah, you should petition your government to give Putler more Lebensraum. Maybe that will make him stop... for a while.
    1
  22463. Yup, there's no shortage of candidates vying for NATO membership. When will Putin realise that Russian aggression is entirely counter-productive?
    1
  22464.  @Holypaladin887  As a Dutchman you should know about wind energy.
    1
  22465. Too bad yours is a two-party democracy. A democracy needs elections, and you can't hold them with just one party, so two parties it is.
    1
  22466. Oh dear, you can't even spell *BRICS, yet you pin Russia's hopes on it. Russia is the bargain basement of BRICS. Members enjoy below-cost deals of commodities, because Russia can't peddle them elsewhere.
    1
  22467. Some are small town folk.
    1
  22468. The difference is that Australia hasn't invaded the Solomon Islands, nor is it going to.
    1
  22469.  @conalcorbally3001  Schadenfreude is a guilty pleasure, but I guess if the Schaden is self-inflicted, the Freude is not altogether out of place.
    1
  22470.  @ep1929  Ah, it's still all about you. Sorry, not interested.
    1
  22471. That hasn't stopped Russia before.
    1
  22472.  @fabb5  They sure don't want to follow Russia, that much is certain. No one else does either.
    1
  22473.  @ssuwandi3240  You're a weird one. How you arrive at your outlandish conclusions is anyone's guess.
    1
  22474.  @MyPrideFlag  You may want to keep it fact-based. You know what they say about opinions? They're like bumholes. Everyone has one and they stink.
    1
  22475.  @TommyTCGT  Yeah, Timmermans is adamant about rule of law. I suppose you're not.
    1
  22476.  @musiconabudget3712  The law's?
    1
  22477. Populists don't take a long-term view. They pander to the masses, but when they fail to deliver on their promises, the masses get wise to them. So real power is a poison pill to our right-wing populists, but it's a bitter pill to everyone else, too.
    1
  22478.  @chrisaustin8442  You think they let his corpse putrefy? It's cremated already.
    1
  22479.  @TheSchiffReport  Aw, you poor baby.
    1
  22480. Don't flatter yourselves. Your Democrats copy us Europeans.
    1
  22481. Chef Prigojine's soufflé soufflopped?
    1
  22482. Or Steven Seagal. Wait...
    1
  22483. Interesting. Islamic scholars consider Judaism an earlier version of Islam, just like Christianity. Muslims believe in the Torah, too. And of course, Christianity builds on Judaism.
    1
  22484. Yup, Macron is not a populist. Sometimes, I think the French don't deserve a statesman like him, but he's still around, so it must be all good.
    1
  22485. True dat, and you can't blame Israel for trying. This is panning out to be a massive recruitment campaign for Israel's enemies.
    1
  22486. Don't get suicidal on us now, or we'll have to report you.
    1
  22487.  @Donut-d3t  I suppose you don't drive.
    1
  22488. Noob, you clearly have no idea how democracy works.
    1
  22489.  @grimaffiliations3671  Sure, you can't use devaluation as a tool any longer. Being a colony implies there's a colonial master. I doubt the US can assert its mastery over Argentina with currency alone.
    1
  22490. Putin has a nice, cosy cell waiting in The Hague, but why on earth should Europe take in American refuse?
    1
  22491. Oh noes, another coup attempt. Africa is backsliding.
    1
  22492. You're joking, right? It's like you're telling a victim to work with the school bully.
    1
  22493. Huh? You're at odds with your supremo, divider-in-chief Trump, on that score. He wants Greenland, not an independent Greenland.
    1
  22494.  The People's Army  You're not very observant. Those who demonstrated against the Covid-19 measures weren't exclusive far-right, but those who stormed the Reichstag were. Try to pay attention.
    1
  22495. @Sue Jones And Sue Jones is not adding anything to the discussion except her screechy whining.
    1
  22496. @Sue Jones Keep trying. You gotta earn those rubles.
    1
  22497. @Sue Jones I hope you got your rubles for that one, too.
    1
  22498.  @RoadstersRegistry  *FALSE CONFIDENCE
    1
  22499. Strange. If you were right, Parliament could bring May's government tumbling down with a simple vote of no confidence. One can only wonder why Corbyn hasn't made his move. Or, of course, you could be dead wrong.
    1
  22500.  @a2thek914  Humankind then, or the human race. Whichever term you prefer.
    1
  22501.  @a2thek914  Don't be deliberately obtuse. I think you know full well that it means humankind as well.
    1
  22502. Maybe they can hire recently sacked officials from Iran's Islamic religious police to lay the groundwork.
    1
  22503. The UN should have a mission in ensuring that the ethnic Armenians who choose to return to Nagorno-Karabakh are safe from persection -- and prosecution for trumped-up crimes.
    1
  22504. A nuclear escalation wouldn't please Xi. China's patience with Putin must be wearing thin.
    1
  22505. I suppose Ivory Coast will need to hire Russian mercs to sort out the Jihadists. It has worked out so well for Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, where the security situation has only worsened.
    1
  22506.  @dicklong30  Funny you should mention 'colony' and 'equal'. Russia is a de facto colony of China by now. China sets prices for Russian imports as it sees fit. It can charge a premium for Chinese exports, too, because Russia has nowhere else to turn.
    1
  22507.  @760HorsePower  China blew up Russia's planned natgas pipeline by refusing to co-fund its construction.
    1
  22508. It's spot on.
    1
  22509. Like Ollie Cromwell? I don't see Rishi and Charles competing for power.
    1
  22510.  @evolassunglasses4673  Please refer me to the OSCE reports that document said events. Otherwise you're just regurgitating propaganda.
    1
  22511.  @dmitriyanatol  And which parts of these reports implicate Ukraine in killing 14,000 "Russian" civilians? Be specific and quote the passages in question.
    1
  22512.  @dmitriyanatol  Try English. I don't go local on you either.
    1
  22513.  @dmitriyanatol  Oh, it's not a matter of technology, but rather, manners. I suppose you're too nekulturny to understand. Try to prove your "genocide" case (the burden of proof is on the accuser) instead of playing around with technology that no longer impresses.
    1
  22514.  @dmitriyanatol  So your genocide claims remain unproven. Crawl back into your troll cave.
    1
  22515. @Appy Ammer It's all up to Scots to stage a new referendum -- the EU has no say in it. The same goes for the Northern Irish, the Welsh and the Gibraltarians. It'll be up to the English to switch off the light.
    1
  22516. @Appy Ammer It is up to the Scots -- I don't see how Westminster can stop the Scots without going Medieval on them
    1
  22517. @Appy Ammer The chronological order of events eludes you.
    1
  22518.  @johnadam2885  Russia, under Putin, is a self-defeating proposition. Did you think Ukraine needs to decide the war by taking the Kremlin, after Putin has shot himself in his bunker? Russia will sue for peace, flinch at the peace terms on offer, accept them reluctantly and pay war reparations for generations.
    1
  22519. If so, the omnipotence of your magic sky friend has been greatly exaggerated.
    1
  22520. You're definitely letting the door hit you on the way out.
    1
  22521.  @Tezorus  The EU has problems as it is. We don't need to compound them by re-admitting an ex-member that's in it for the perks.
    1
  22522.  @krishnakatikitala  So, in summary, you think Putin should be feared but he himself isn't all that brave -- gotcha.
    1
  22523. You're grossly exaggerrating. There are biofuels and nuclear fission as well. Also, we don't use natural gas up north, but big plans are afoot for green hydrogen, which is carbon-free.
    1
  22524.  @AnnaAnna-gt6eh  You are an odd one. I have no problems with Christian customs. In fact, I like the bit about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. That's something you should take to heart. Thanks for the good luck wishes... I guess. Did you think I've bought a lottery ticket for Vikinglotto or something?
    1
  22525. It's entirely possible -- likely even -- that Hamas has infiltrated the UNRWA organisation in Gaza. Who knows what kind of coercion they've used to force the Gazan UNRWA reps to do their bidding. UNRWA evidently needs to investigate who's Hamas and who's not. However, eliminating funding altogether is throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
    1
  22526. Militarily, perhaps, but morally? Hamas is bound to rebound. I very much doubt that Hamas didn't anticipate Israel's response to their Oct 7, 2023 terrorist attacks. Israel is very predictable that way. Hamas may be a death cult, but it's not completely suicidal.
    1
  22527. So you think the virus was engineered in a lab.
    1
  22528. That's what Sergey Beseda told Putin, and now he's in Lefortovo Prison.
    1
  22529.  @iamwatching5743  Ah, a slight variation on the resurrection of the Commonwealth as a trade bloc. The ultimate wet dream, The Economist called it.
    1
  22530. Now that Russia is unceremoniously being kicked out of Syria and dictator/drug lord Assad has found refuge in Moscow, Syria shouldn't be offered a chance to change for the better?
    1
  22531. The Russian Ministry of Disinformation is still working on excuses and obfuscation. Putin is livid with them for failing to come with anything even remotely convincing.
    1
  22532.  @topweddingsa4059  It sure is. The majority of the Global South voted for the 2022 UNGA resolution that demanded that Russia withdraw from Ukraine. That's an undisputable fact.
    1
  22533. Inner-esting! This would be the first military coup that only affects the military leadership of a country. Who's Prigozhin trying to fool?
    1
  22534.  @jm036  "Corrupt politicians with dictatorial tendencies" -- that says it all.
    1
  22535.  @nepopois9553  Tell me your approximate location and I'll tell you about your local chapters of Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous.
    1
  22536. I suppose you only speak Murican.
    1
  22537. I suppose you only speak Murican.
    1
  22538.  @mariadange06  Try borrowing big to pay for tax cuts.
    1
  22539.  @mariadange06  No, Truss foolishly wanted to pay for tax cuts with borrowed money. The markets freaked out. Exit Truss. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  22540.  @dontcare7086  Norway producing oil doesn't preclude sustainable forest management. Scandinavia as a whole remains an important carbon sink. And nothing is changing in that respect thanks to responsible forest management.
    1
  22541.  @dontcare7086  Oh, I don't need to do any research on your account. You're lecturing to a land owner. My tracts of forest have been in the family for centuries, and they've been carefully managed ever since. If you want primary forest, go to a nature reserve. Plenty of those, too.
    1
  22542.  @constantinenm  You're spamming, bot.
    1
  22543. I see you like to celebrate failure.
    1
  22544. Remind us, how big a UNIFIL contigent does the USA have in Lebanon?
    1
  22545. Too bad it's the other way around. Russia is suffering one military setback after another while it's being crippled by economic sanctions. In the mean time, Ukraine receives aid -- lethal and financial -- to continue the fight. Besides, in order for Russia to keep at it, it needs to mobilise its reserves, which won't go down well with those concerned. Fathers with young children would fight for Mother Russia, but will they fight to advance Putin's deranged imperialist agenda?
    1
  22546.  @dingoeatswolf3663  Both are democracies with 100% autocratic characteristics.
    1
  22547. You're confused. The Catalonians have no beef with the EU. If -- or when -- they gain their independence, their first order of business is to apply for EU membership. Just like Scotland and Northern Ireland.
    1
  22548. We're slowly but surely rejecting religion altogether, so why would we get excited about a medieval interpretation of Islam?
    1
  22549. Interestingly, Assad has not only committed horrendous crimes against humanity, but also, he's a drug lord. He turned Syria into a regular narco state. And Russia pretends to have high morals.
    1
  22550.  @theodorherzl4695  Why bring up Murica at every juncture? And remember to charge them rent -- it won't do that Murica gets to squat for free in your mind.
    1
  22551. Spill your conspiracy theory already. You know you want to.
    1
  22552.  grvc44  Duh. During the 2006 Lebanon War, Israel made it very clear that it wasn't fighting Lebanon, but Hezbollah. If Israel can tell the difference, why can't you?
    1
  22553.  grvc44  In the 2006 war, there were no clashes between the IDF and the Lebanese Armed Forces. Israel didn't declare war on Lebanon, and vice versa, Lebanon didn't declare war on Israel.
    1
  22554. Trump is aching for a trade war with the EU. If your (conspiracy) theory holds true, what does that say about Trump's business acumen? He'd be destroying value. Investors never take kindly to that. Kids conspiracy theorists say the darndest things.
    1
  22555.  @goldsilvervscrisiscollapse4320  It would be colour revolutions if we were to organise any. I suppose there's nothing Russia and its loyal Krembots won't accuse the West of. That's your -- pitiful -- modus operandi.
    1
  22556. Kids say the darndest things.
    1
  22557.  @kid--presentable  Again, criticise away somewhere where it's appropriate, i.e. there's a proper context for your whining criticising. So, speaking of rain gauges, I'm working on an automated one that catches the rainwater, weighs it and if need be, tips over the container so as to allow measurements to continue unabated even during heavy precipitation. You wouldn't be in the market for one? The MSRP is a mere 749€.
    1
  22558. So you're a bloodthirsty psychopath? I'm don't know if there's a cure for that, but you need to explore your psychiatric options.
    1
  22559. Russia will survive, just like most colonial powers survived the colonial era, be it in greatly diminished form. Russia's long-overdue decolonisation will be no different.
    1
  22560. Israel is held hostage by religious extremists. And they're not Islamists.
    1
  22561. Novocastrian Winter, how exactly does EU taxpayer money go towards funding the Beeb? Don't make up stuff.
    1
  22562. You and your dog share this aversion?
    1
  22563. Wot, no US carte blanche for Israel any longer?
    1
  22564.  @bystra2248  I think that summed it up nicely, Botty McBotface.
    1
  22565. How so? They duct-tape a Garmin GPS receiver to the dashboard.
    1
  22566.  @forthetruth24  Nice whataboutism. But you should know that there must always be a grain of truth to whataboutism, or it's simply ineffective. If we know it's untrue, it simply won't resonate with us. Also, you should know that Russia's air transport sector relies almost exclusively on Airbus and Boeing airliners. Spare parts from both are on the sanctions list. Russian airlines are already resorting to cannibalising parts from others jets to keep at least some flying. Safety standards have gone completely out of the window. I don't need a crystal ball to tell you that Russia is in for a spate of air crashes.
    1
  22567.  @andrewyakovlev9710  Russia cares extremely a lot about the yuan, since China is its lifeline in oh-so many ways. And the yuan just got more expensive for poor, poor Russia.
    1
  22568.  @petersack5074  It's ironic that Putin's "special military operation" is showing more and more similarities with Napoleon's Russian campaign, which the Russians still celebrate as a great victory. Napoleon withdrew his forces with appalling losses. Likewise, Putin's Russia has suffered appalling losses. The withdrawal is still pending.
    1
  22569.  @Poojawagh2004  Haley's ego is microscopic compared to Trump's. The braggard just claimed to have averted nuclear holocaust by sorting out North Korea.
    1
  22570. Yeah, have yourselves another fateful referendum and cut the UK even further off from the club of civilised nations that want justice and freedom to prevail.
    1
  22571.  @larsjohansson6542  I knew you'd try that. Instead of just flapping your gums, try producing OSCE SMM reports that substantiate these alleged crimes against humanity perpetrated by Ukraine in Donbas. The reports are all publicly available. Come on, don't just regurgitate stale propaganda.
    1
  22572.  @larsjohansson6542  Yes, you've built yourself quite a reputation as a Putin troll, and a very predictable one at that. So, just to confirm, you've got nothing to corroborate your version of events? The OSCE had a Special Monitoring Mission in Donbas from 2014 to 2022 and it found no evidence of Ukraine engaging in genocide, massacres or any targeting of civilians. You're regurgitating Kremlin propaganda all right.
    1
  22573.  @larsjohansson6542  You didn't post any links or articles. It's common knowledge that the OSCE SMM was active in Donbas. Russia is an OSCE member, so you won't hear them denying it. Google is your friend.
    1
  22574.  @Jeff-Mr  That's not altogether true. The US troops control gas and oil wells, the proceeds of which have gone to Kurdish rebels. The Kurds weren't amically disposed toward Assad's brutal regime.
    1
  22575.  @guff9567  The highly-secretive is Su-57 is meant for parades, like the T-14 Armata. Ukraine's F-16s won't make their acquaintance.
    1
  22576.  @miloslavski6149  DW is less of a fan of whataboutism than you, it appears.
    1
  22577. It's a good thing that your cowardice doesn't rub off on the Ukrainians, but I hope your Orc friends are paying attention.
    1
  22578. Biden is just dotting the i's and crossing the t's, like any responsible outgoing president.
    1
  22579. In a materialistic sense, China is more Western than the West. Chinese tourists buzz around luxury brand stores like flies around dung.
    1
  22580.  @OoooOooo-yq9ks  Duh. The point is, these Chinese tourists aren't in the least bothered by Western influence. On the contrary, they treasure it.
    1
  22581. Feel free to make suggestions how it could be improved. Until you do, you're just flapping your gums.
    1
  22582. Several British PMs have served in the role, taken a break, and returned to office. Churchill is the latest example.
    1
  22583.  @R-E-X-  I meant to say the last Tory.
    1
  22584.  @benvandam369  The battles for Kyiv and Kharkiv, respectively the largest and second-largest cities of Ukraine, have been humiliating defeats for Russia. But hey, those goal posts move for a reason. Soon, we'll hear that the Russian army heroically withdraws from Kherson and Mariupol to concentrate on defending Sevastopol.
    1
  22585. *You're x 2.
    1
  22586. Dus ze vonden het nodig om te sterven vanwege een gaspijp die sowieso niet operationeel was? Suïcidaal, die Russen.
    1
  22587. Waddayaknow. And I thought William the Conqueror vanquished the Anglo-Saxons in 1066.
    1
  22588.  @Intel-i7-9700k  You're making it up as you go along. There are many more donors than NATO countries alone. Finland and Sweden are cases in point -- both donated generously to Ukraine before they applied for NATO membership. Non-members Australia, Azerbaijan, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Korea have proven generous donors, too. So, in February 2022, there was clash between NATO and Russia? Were was this battle fought and what were the casualties like? How many paper cuts on NATO's side? Russia has not been developing nicely. Its oil and gas revenues are seriously down, as per its own admission, by a whopping 47% year-on-year. Cheap copies of Starbucks and McDonalds don't make a diversified economy. It's not a guilty pleasure to laugh at Russia's misery. Schadenfreude is warranted when the misery is self-inflicted.
    1
  22589. There are many, many ways to suffer an untimely death if you're Russian. Falls from great heights, mass heart attacks, "terrorist" bombings, polonium in your tea, Novichok in your underpants -- you name it, the FSB and the GRU can arrange it.
    1
  22590.  @TheLakshmiKarthik  Oh dear. Your second comment makes even less sense than your first.
    1
  22591. You'll find that the rest of the Lebanese aren't enamoured of Hezbollah.
    1
  22592.  @psycho8927  Russia is hardly doing fine. It's plundering its own national wealth fund to keep the war machine going. In another two years, Russia will be bankrupt. Then the beggar's hand comes out again.
    1
  22593. I'm afraid US diplomats will be laughed at when they try to advise developing countries how to run democratic elections.
    1
  22594. Nice trolling there, but no cigar.
    1
  22595. The more imminent threat was a wholesale collapse of the Russian grid, which could've taken those of the Baltic states with it. No more danger of that -- far more likely -- scenario happening.
    1
  22596. Iran was embargoed by the whole world, including Russia, sport. It's just that Russia can't afford any morals any longer -- if it had any in the first place.
    1
  22597.  @Arif-f9n8f  You're repeating yourself. Be that as it may, the Kurds are a force for good in Syria.
    1
  22598.  @olivka7560  I feel like you're trying to teach your mum how to make babies...
    1
  22599.  @dzonikg  Duh, Serbia is chummy with Russia. If Serbia were to supply arms to Ukraine, Russia would "rethink" oil and gas deliveries to Serbia. In other words, Russia has Serbia in its pocket.
    1
  22600.  @maxblanck123  Not to stay. And the Russians are busily evacuating, which is proving a lengthy process with their already-strained resources.
    1
  22601.  @alexsilent5603  You back up nothing. All you managed was a feeble attempt at discrediting my source, but you provided none of your own. The Press Freedom Index is a respected source. And what have you got? Just silly personal observations. There's a metric for GDP measurement that takes purchasing power into consideration. I'm afraid Russia doesn't come up smelling like roses there either. In GDP (PPP) per capita, Russia is in 74th place. That's a far cry from your claimed 2nd place.
    1
  22602. ​ @xinyiquan666  China boy has verbal diarrhea & craves attention.
    1
  22603.  @dav_did5609  Doesn't China have warships to protect its own? China sure has enough to harass Filipino resupply ships.
    1
  22604.  @michaeldecker2725  Read the whole thread, bozo.
    1
  22605.  @blackknight4996  What an asinine comment. Try harder.
    1
  22606.  @blackknight4996  Unpleased? I am scornful of those who think their personal judgement outweighs facts. That's you, by the way.
    1
  22607.  @asahearts1  Don't be silly. Both Sweden and Finland have tweaked their defence expenditure upwards on account of Russia's aggression, not because of NATO. Expenditure isn't dropping soon either.
    1
  22608.  @asahearts1  No, you're not paying their share. NATO has a smallish common budget, but the bulk of NATO's forces are directly funded by the individual countries. Moreover, the US seems to pursue a lot extracurricular activities in a military sense, so it's not an altogether fair comparison, unless you compare yourselves to the likes of France, which also has colonial and post-colonial interests that require the occasional application of military force. I could start about healthcare costs, which your calculate in and we do not, but I think you get the picture.
    1
  22609.  @nowisgodinyourlovelylife717  Not to belittle the Italian mafia, but it pales in comparison to the mafia state to the east, a.k.a. Russia. Rarely does a criminal organisation gain absolute power.
    1
  22610.  @an7ici7izen64  Putin just hauled in Belarus. It's de facto occupied. Lukashenko has been relegated to the role of sock puppet.
    1
  22611. He seems to buck your trend with regards to Iran.
    1
  22612.  @codered4422  I bet my European democracy is higher-ranked than yours in the Democracy Index. We've got next to no Islamists. We've got a bigger problem with bible-bangers and their fundamentalist views, which they'd enforce on us given half the chance.
    1
  22613. @epoh20 So young yet so cynical.
    1
  22614. You may want to give us a sample of your "superior" expertise.
    1
  22615. The man deserves an OBE for launching new parties. And abandoning them.
    1
  22616. Turkey will do the talking. Now that it has a firm voice in the matter, Turkey won't want Russian military bases in its vicinity, so it's off-you-go for the Russians.
    1
  22617.  @Arch497  "The MIGs happened in North Korea, not Vietnam. In Vietnam, Russia only supplied heavy caliber weapons, small arms and T-54 and military trucks." Your words.
    1
  22618.  @Arch497  It isn't mine either, if that's of any comfort to you. You may want to make an effort, however.
    1
  22619.  @watchingthehawks355  I wouldn't describe the Apartheid regime as democratic. Anyhoo, that's well in the past now -- South Africa has had majority rule for thirty years now. I did write Southern Africa, BTW.
    1
  22620. They're actually priceless because Russia can't replace them.
    1
  22621. ​ @paulgennson  You specifically claimed earlier that it was just the US and the EU that support Ukraine. That would be 28 countries, yet we saw 141 countries express their support for Ukraine. China and Russia claim to be BFFs, yet China chose not to support Russia. What's up with that? China is a US puppet in the making?
    1
  22622. Have you asked the locals what they think of severing ties? Should they try to sell themselves to China next?
    1
  22623. "The Ukraine"? That's Z talk. There's no article in front of "Ukraine".
    1
  22624.  @mohamedbendjemmaa1593  Not for a long while. Erdogan threw in the towel a long time ago.
    1
  22625.  @sirgg3847  Germany doesn't give Israel a carte blanche, like the US does.
    1
  22626.  @igotufoinformation9636  Why, do you think the flame will scare the Finns? The Finns have never been big on gas, Russian or otherwise.
    1
  22627.  @igotufoinformation9636  Do your homework, buddy. The Finns don't rely on Russian gas imports. Delivery of natural gas from Russia, which was relatively little to begin with, was stopped in May this year, when Finland refused to pay Grazprom in roubles.
    1
  22628.  @igotufoinformation9636  Like I wrote, Russia stopped gas deliveries when Russia insisted on being paid in roubles and Finland refused to comply. I don't know if you noticed, but you're contradicting yourself. But hey, Putler trolls aren't the brightest candles in church.
    1
  22629.  @igotufoinformation9636  If so, Russia didn't dare say so in public. You must think very highly of yourself. It's a pity no one else does.
    1
  22630.  @igotufoinformation9636  "On 20 May 2022, Gazprom Export informed the energy company Gasum Oy that natural gas deliveries to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract will be cut on 21 May 2022 at 7.00 am. The reason for the cut is that Finland has not agreed to pay in rubles for pipeline gas supplies." You are such a (sad) clown.
    1
  22631.  @igotufoinformation9636  I read it all right, but I wonder how you think it's relevant. Obviously, when a supplier turns rogue and breaks contractual terms, there's some discomfort involved in getting rid of them and finding a more reliable one to replace them. The situation is already sorted, with LNG shipments making up the difference. You're desperately trying to derive Schadenfreude from a non-existent problem. I should pity you.
    1
  22632.  @igotufoinformation9636  Arbitration means Gasum is seeking damages for breach of contract. Companies do so routinely. There's no panic, if that's what you're after. I know you're trying to master a foreign language, but try to make your own points.
    1
  22633.  @UFOZone51  I don't know zis word, "haighest". You define, yes?
    1
  22634. Because both do nuclear sabre-rattling on a daily basis. Did you think you're safe if it comes to a nuclear showdown? When nuclear winter sets in, the question is, will you eat your neighbour or will your neighbour eat you?
    1
  22635. Because it's a cautionary example of how democracy can be perverted.
    1
  22636. *Nigeriens.
    1
  22637. And Neville Chamberlain famously waved a peace deal upon his return from Munich in 1938. A fat lot of good that did. Say, have you given any thought to Putler withdrawing his Orcs from Ukraine, after which peace is instantly restored? Or did that scenario escape your attention altogether?
    1
  22638.  @JamesSmith-je7vf  Remind me, what was the relevant treaty that forbade NATO expansion? When and by whom was it signed? It was painfully clear that the Ukrainians themselves grew fed up with Yanukovych's shenanigans, which caused him to flee to Russia, to his puppet master. Also, it was Russia that wiped its feet on the Minsk Agreements first. Russia's self-proclaimed sphere of interest is a throwback to Soviet times. Russia may be a superpower wannabe, but such things have no meaning in this day and age.
    1
  22639.  @JamesSmith-je7vf  Germany has never broken that particular treaty. There are still no NATO bases on formerly East German soil. Also, verbal assurances from one of the member's ambassadors don't constitute a treaty that binds NATO. Similarly, Macron doesn't represent "the West" -- whatever you think that is. You're clutching at straws.
    1
  22640. Just say that Israel hasn't got a plan apart from Netanyahu prolonging the war to stay in power.
    1
  22641.  @full_ArmourOfGod  Your Commonwealth is nothing but a sports and culture club, and a bickering one at that. You have more in common with Slavs than Indians.
    1
  22642.  @Hkiz  The USA famously failed to coerce its NATO partners to get embroiled in the Iraq War, so no, they don't call the shots.
    1
  22643. ...and replace it with what?
    1
  22644.  @ruzziasht349  So that was then. Any other irrelevant titbits you want to share?
    1
  22645.  @Netscape-kd6mg  Russia is so desperate for weapons that it has tried to buy back weapons from its customers -- or should I say erstwhile customers. Trust is a major factor in weapons procurement, and Russia falls short. It's interesting to note that with the renewed interest in artillery, the French Caesar self-propelled howitzer is selling like hotcakes.
    1
  22646. It looks like we've gotten the wrong end of the stick here in Europe. We've been blaming Putin for higher energy prices. It didn't occur to us to look for the reason in your corner of the world.
    1
  22647.  @arkcon714  Nope. For us, it's zero barrels of Russian oil from June '22 onwards. Natural gas from Russia, likewise, zero, since May '22. Wood chips, nothing; electricity, nothing; uranium, nothing. We've completely cleansed ourselves of Russia's tainted energy. I believe your "Trudy" was in uni when the Gulf War took place. Or are you saying he fought?
    1
  22648.  @arkcon714  Hah, you're getting shadow-banned in your own thread, one message after another. Isn't that mighty hilarious. Yours is a very jumbled mind.
    1
  22649. The Kakhovka Dam is a Soviet-era construction. What evidence do you have that is was specifically build by Russians instead of Ukrainians? Ukraine's ghost army is most definitely mounting a counter-offensive. Expect a string of 'good will gestures' and 'tactical regroupings' from Russia.
    1
  22650. Russians also think that speaking the truth when a lie is more advantageous amounts to a fiendish plot.
    1
  22651. It's like you're throwing your toys out of the pram.
    1
  22652. Storm before the silence?
    1
  22653. Dreadknot, yes, I was actually alluding to your anti-Semitic posts when I voiced my concerns about your lack of intellect.
    1
  22654. Dreadknot, oops, there you go again with your gay themes. Maybe you should be honest to yourself. It's OK to be gay in this day and age.
    1
  22655. Nice straw man attack there,  @LaughingMan44 . Do you actually deny that all modern societies have adopted certain principles that can be traced back to Karl Marx? It doesn't mean we've embraced socialism and rejected capitalism altogether. You seem to have a problem perceiving shades of gray.
    1
  22656.  @LaughingMan44  Again, who wants a Marxist society? Karl Marx's influence, however, can't be denied. Your efforts to vilify him just underline it. In my opinion, perhaps the best to come out of Marxism is how twentieth-century societies managed to stave it off it by having a good look in the mirror and then taking the wind out of the Communists' sails. Marx called for social justice, which we now have, at least in Europe. Marx was a philosopher who plotted a course for humanity that we ultimately didn't follow, but he definitely had a hand in some course corrections. Humanity is the better for it.
    1
  22657.  @jeffreytay466  Solution? That's easy. Hong Kong needs democratic reform.
    1
  22658. We remember the 1990s all right. Putin got into power and turned a proto-democracy into a authoritarian state again. Why can't Russians make good decisions? As you hint yourself, Russians get to pick only what sucks less, since all non-sucky options have been eliminated.
    1
  22659. This was Finland's move. NATO's lot has been to see and wait how Finland decides. Tomorrow, Sweden decides. Again, NATO must wait patiently.
    1
  22660. Los Angeles has its work cut out to come even close.
    1
  22661. It's good that Putin has a fan club, be it a reluctant one.
    1
  22662.  @enriconono3638  I guess you were hoisted with your own petard there.
    1
  22663.  @enriconono3638  Aw, you need boost your ego or you won't survive YouTube.
    1
  22664.  @danielobrien8417  Aw, that hurt. But where's your point? Oh, you don't have one.
    1
  22665.  @johnnywalker2870  Did you just have a compelling urge to engage in some whataboutism?
    1
  22666. So, your conspiracy theory has it that the war-ravaged Lebanese sell the humanitarian aid supplies and hand over the proceeds to the ayatollahs? Tell us more about Macron's support for Iran. Let's hear if you've put real effort into your conspiracy theory, or did you just slap it together?
    1
  22667. I bet Netanyahu has a beach-front property in Boca Raton picked out already.
    1
  22668.  @duncansmith7562  Both Sweden and Finland were in Afghanistan. All in all, they suffered 7 fatalities over a time span of twenty years. Speaking of blundering and cannon fodder, don't you think their modest sacrifice stands in stark contrast to the 150,000 casualties suffered by Russia in Ukraine in just one year?
    1
  22669.  @duncansmith7562  OK, I forgot about your intellectual disability. But remember, you're not alone -- it's a common affliction among Putin fanboys. Sweden and Finland haven't provided cannon fodder in any conflict in recent history, WW2 included. Educate yourself for a change.
    1
  22670.  @duncansmith7562  Oh, I suddenly realised who you were. Had I done so sooner, I wouldn't have bothered replying. You scream Putin troll. Interestingly, you're claiming that you never associated Finns with cannon fodder, yet you explicitly do so a few sentences later. Which one is it? Context eludes you as well. Finland's war-time casualties were 4 to 5 times fewer than those it inflicted on the USSR. Stalin pissed away more than a million soldiers for very little gain. You're scoring an own goal with your cannon fodder claims. You're expecting me to comment on future casualties incurred in a future NATO op. Sure, there are casualties in war. Collective defence means giving and taking. The world will be better for it.
    1
  22671.  @duncansmith7562  Your short-term memory must be shot if you don't remember what you wrote two sentences earlier. You're trying to redefine the term 'cannon fodder'. The established definition fits the the Soviets perfectly, but not the Finns, who fought for hearth and home. The casualty ratio speaks for itself. I'm not American, so you have to ask one if Afghanistan was worth it. For good measure, ask a Soviet veteran as well. I used to visit a barber shop owned by one. He wasn't convinced.
    1
  22672.  @duncansmith7562  Soviets soldiers didn't have hearths and homes in Finland, dum-dum.
    1
  22673.  @duncansmith7562  Your logic is so off. How did the Soviets defend hearth and home by attacking Finland? Your insults are kindergarten level.
    1
  22674. Oh, but Russia did sign the Rome Statute that established the ICC, only for Putin to withdraw Russia's signature when he'd gone over to the dark side. It's a no-brainer for an international criminal.
    1
  22675. Bone spurs run in the Trump family. Trump's grandfather had his German nationality taken away from him for evading conscription.
    1
  22676. The coping is good, isn't it, when you're stuffed silly with copium. Watch out for brain and crotch rot, however -- two known side-effects of copium.
    1
  22677. Give them time. They're arrive at the right conclusion eventually.
    1
  22678. Putin looks weak in the eyes of the Russians. His "retirement" has been brought forward.
    1
  22679.  @pucmahone3893  Hooray to that. No more US to besmirch NATO with its military adventurism.
    1
  22680. By the looks of it, it was a very carefully planned attack by Hamas. What makes you suspect that Hamas didn't anticipate Israel's reaction? Israel is very predictable in how it responds to these sort of attacks. We're witnessing nothing new here. Only the scale is different. The Gazans gave power to Hamas, sort of, who subsequently seized it brutally and cancelled all future elections. The West Bank is another matter altogether. That's Fatah territory, who're none to keen on Hamas either. Support for Hamas was flagging in Gaza, which is probably why Hamas wanted to go out with a bang, in the hope they'll be reborn from the ashes, bigger and stronger. I'm afraid they might be right unless Israel restarts peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority in earnest.
    1
  22681. Nonsense, Russia has expended all the credibility it ever had, many many years ago. The funniest example was when Iran blundered and shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet. Russia jumped to defend Iran, concocting one conspiracy theory after another blaming the US... till Iran owned up. Russia wasn't even ashamed. Better luck next time, the Kremlin propagandists shrugged it off.
    1
  22682. They'll find a way to sink even lower. The Junior Eurovision Song Contest is due in November.
    1
  22683.  @eyaklen4804  So you're suggesting the Syrians themselves blew up all those hardened aircraft shelters, with the aircraft still inside, at Shayrat Airbase in 2017? Your truth is stranger than fiction.
    1
  22684.  @eyaklen4804  OK fanboy, there are satellite images of hits on 44 targets, some of which were hit multiple times. Hard to argue with that. I'm afraid Russia's much-hyped anti-air defence systems are nothing to write home about. Israeli and Turkey make a sport out of destroying Pantsirs. They have nice footage of that as well.
    1
  22685.  @eyaklen4804  OK, you're a conspiracy artist, but not even an original one. You're not worth my time.
    1
  22686.  @eyaklen4804  OK, fanboy.
    1
  22687.  @dragilxcom4176  The OSCE had monitors in Donbas for the whole duration of the conflict and they reported no massacres, no genocide and no targeting of civilians by Ukraine. You're regurgitating bad fiction. Oh, I'm not bothering with Patrick Lancaster. He's not fit to be called a journalist by any stretch of the imagination.
    1
  22688.  @bigmoe9856  I'm sure, too. But more on their terms than yours. The Yanks still have an inferiority complex with regard to their former colonial master. More often than not, an inferiority complex manifests itself as a superiority complex. They must exhibit their supremacy at all times.
    1
  22689. Think harder. DPRK wasn't in INF.
    1
  22690.  @scottwebb4722  Aw, there come the ad hominems. In other words, you're conceding the argument.
    1
  22691.  @scottwebb4722  Who's the leftie?
    1
  22692.  @scottwebb4722  More nonsense from your tiny mouth.
    1
  22693. I suppose it follows that it the Skripals couldn't have possibly been poisoned by Russian agents, because the Porton Down Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is only 8 klicks from Salisbury.
    1
  22694. Try "What *does Biden *think about this?"
    1
  22695.  @lolidasterner414  Talks can be open, but Turkey is still not getting F-35s. Also, US congressmen still insist they won't approve Turkey's desperately-needed F-16 deal until Turkey lets Sweden in as well. Putin is getting a tiny little bonus in the form of a delay in Sweden's NATO entry by a few months. During that time, Putin daren't even dream about acting militarily against Sweden. His forces are overly committed in Ukraine already. Losing, in other words. Masterstroke my foot.
    1
  22696.  @benvandam369  Haha, you fell for it.
    1
  22697. Full support? Only Eritrea supports Russia.
    1
  22698.  @kyalokamina6497  That's an interesting explanation. Do you realise that both Russia and China were notorious slaveholders? Both were -- and still are -- colonialists, too.
    1
  22699. No worries, we rake our forests. Trump explained it carefully.
    1
  22700. And Russia has withdrawn troops and materiel from Syria as well. It's now or never for the rebels.
    1
  22701. In the voting booths, Americans will decide that Biden sucks less.
    1
  22702. You're talking about Russia and copium. The doses are life-threateningly high.
    1
  22703. These are donations, you muppet.
    1
  22704.  @ragnardanneskjold7259  EU member states unhappy and so many seeking a means to leave it? That's utter bollocks and you know it. Almost without exception, even the right-wing populists played down their anti-EU rhetoric when campaigning for the European elections. Had they acted differently, it would've blown up in their face. Besides, I can't think of a better antidote to leaving the EU than the debacle called Brexit. The Brits have been massively helpful in bolstering the EU and will, too, for a long time to come. We owe them gratitude -- and of course, pity.
    1
  22705.  @MrMango331  No it isn't. Technically, it's government property.
    1
  22706. ​ @MrMango331  Duh, my grandfather passed 15 years ago, and the government "stealing" government property is hardly theft.
    1
  22707. But Russia doesn't get to take part in the Olympics. If it isn't systematic state-sponsored doping, they've illegally invaded a neighbouring country. It's always something with the Russians.
    1
  22708. You can hope. If it succeeds, expect to get your call-up papers.
    1
  22709. I bet Moscow will come up with a story that the commander of Russia's Black Sea fleet smoked himself to death. We already know from the Moskva that smoking kills.
    1
  22710. The crucial difference is that the Catalonians have democracy, but they want independence on top of that. Hongkongers are still struggling to gain the former.
    1
  22711.  @alpshiker3553  Freest economy. That's a different kettle of fish. Hong Kong has never been a full democracy.
    1
  22712.  @Aurleis  The Turks have discovered already that the S-400 does poorly against low-and-slow targets. It's overkill anyhow.
    1
  22713.  @tomhenry897  I'm having a déjà vu moment. Bush's famous words "who's not with us is against us" backfired spectacularly on him in the Iraq War. It followed that practically everyone was against poor Dubya and his United States of Murica.
    1
  22714.  @markhill3858  Where's this all-conquering, all-powerful UN army that you speak of? I haven't seen any trace of it. UN peacekeepers, yes, but it appears there's no peace to keep here.
    1
  22715. You sound like you've just time-travelled form the Middle Ages.
    1
  22716. The Disunited States of Murica is not a true multi-party democracy. The electorate must choose from a minimum of carefully selected presidential candidates, so that it can still be called an election. There may be additional candidates for decorative purposes, but that's what they are, decorations.
    1
  22717. I suspect you haven't travelled around much in the Anglosphere. If you insist on proper Finnish pronunciation, you may as well insist that our country is referred to internationally as Suomi. Even fewer Americans will understand where you're from.
    1
  22718. It concerns a NATO country that comes equipped with Article 5. A bit of a conundrum for the Kremlin Gremlin.
    1
  22719. Have you been diagnosed with severe conspiracy theoreticism yet? I hope you can get help for your condition.
    1
  22720.  @joem0088  We're not jumping for joy to have Serbia, with its pro-Russian sentiments and fond memories of Milosevic, come and sabotage the EU's decision-making. Come to think of it, the UK, Hungary and Serbia could form a union of maladjusted contrarians.
    1
  22721. Reptilians, by an chance? Please say yes!
    1
  22722. We hebben een president die opperbevelhebber is van de Finse strijdkrachten. Hij is reserve-kapitein (net als ik trouwens), dus geen beginneling op het gebied van defensie.
    1
  22723. It's your spamming and potty-mouthing, whichever applies at whichever time.
    1
  22724. It's not a matter of whitewashing. Statues at public venues imply reverence to the person in question. Not all are deserving.
    1
  22725.  @BalkanMode  You're not very savvy politically. Erdogan would have to enshrine a perpetual veto against Sweden's NATO membership in the constitution to make it stick.
    1
  22726. Unelected? Just a few months ago, Ursula was re-elected with 401 MEPs in favour and 284 against. That's a healthy majority in any proper democracy. And what's with the whining about "euronazis"? You Brabantians are supposed to be pleasant folk.
    1
  22727.  @VinnieBoombatz374  I'm curious. How does a modern nation ensure prosperity with the force of arms? That idea went out of the window together with colonialism.
    1
  22728.  @VinnieBoombatz374  Even if you insist on calling that neocolonialism, I don't see prosperity in it for the colonizer. On the contrary, the Iraq War and its never-ending aftermath have proven extremely costly to the US. Politically, too. China's neocolonialism, too, has yet to turn a profit. It's not endearing them to the colonized either, who're now having second thoughts about Chinese generosity.
    1
  22729.  @petrwindmeijer7542  "Iedereen weet hoe ze omgevolkt zijn daar" -- gast, je hebt het over Zweden, een héél ander land. Finland heeft navenant minder allochtonen dan Nederland. Het strenge klimaat en de lage bevolkingsdichtheid worden er door migranten als een groot minput ervaren. Dus veel asielzoekers reizen door, o.a. naar Nederland.
    1
  22730. Baudet wappert teveel.
    1
  22731.  @cryptocrypto8736  Wappies wapperen. Nog meer domme vragen?
    1
  22732.  @eddastrohmayer251  Hardliner? The UNGA agrees with Bruno.
    1
  22733.  @death_parade  Huh? Did we put an extra apostrophe in India? In'dia, Indi'a or what?
    1
  22734. By any chance, did "all your friend" use the exact words "trust me, bro"?
    1
  22735.  @Goshosekazvam  Interesting. From the top of my head, I don't know if Soviet Russia holds the record for killings its own people, or Communist China. Relatively speaking, it must be Cambodia. Russia's gift to the world keeps on giving.
    1
  22736.  @dragonlord1225  A defensive victory for Ukraine is still a defeat for Russia.
    1
  22737.  @lolstalgic9602  So, Ukraine has a population of 33 million and you're claiming that over 16 million have perished in Putin's illegal war of aggression? It's *its, by the way. Personal pronouns skip the apostrophe in possessive form.
    1
  22738.  @eliakimjosephsophia4542  Nuh-uh, the centre-right EPP group within the European Parliament won the election. No-one is his right mind is contesting that outcome.
    1
  22739.  @98MAzdaMilleniaS  You completely fail to appreciate that the Dutch Republic, along with France and Spain, went to war with Great Britain as a direct consequence of the American Revolutionary War. The Brits were forced to commit considerable naval forces to fight the Dutch, and not only in Europe, but also in the Americas and Asia. I'm inclined to believe that a more focused Royal Navy could have defeated the revolutionaries. Also, it's a bit fanciful to say that Germany (there was no unified Germany then) helped the British. The British army rented mercenaries from the German state of Hesse, Blackwater-style. The Brits also coveted Scottish (i.e. British) mercenaries in Dutch employ, but the Dutch refused to release them.
    1
  22740. You seem to equate the USA with the West. Simple minds seek simple explanations.
    1
  22741. Is MAD a foreign concept to you?
    1
  22742.  @pachuco1815  You're still not making any sense. However you feel about them doesn't cancel out MAD.
    1
  22743. In case you haven't noticed, Ukraine very effectively retaliates by lighting up Russia's oil refineries. If Ukraine is heading for the stone age, it will have company.
    1
  22744.  @barlow2976  Medium-term, too. India can write its coveted permanent seat in the UN's Security Council on its belly, as the saying here goes. We don't need spineless members in the UNSC.
    1
  22745. Putin expected the Ukrainians to greet his troops with flowers. He never anticipated this.
    1
  22746. And your sage advice is relevant because...?
    1
  22747. No doubt, Putin would start calling in favours should RN emerge victorious from the upcoming French election.
    1
  22748. Isn't that exactly what our development co-operation programmes are about?
    1
  22749. National elections aren't an EU affair. In fact, even European elections are managed nationally, even up to the choice of the electoral system. Educate yourself.
    1
  22750. Finland has the most drug-related deaths among the youth within the EU.
    1
  22751.  @cinderellaandstepsisters  That's a poor excuse.
    1
  22752.  @cinderellaandstepsisters  I just did: "On average, Finnish people who use drugs die younger than elsewhere in Europe, and the increase in drug-related deaths among young people under 25 is especially concerning." Typically, Finns are brutally honest. Are you either?
    1
  22753. They've got meds for your condition.
    1
  22754. ​ @chasingthefish9042  If spray-and-pray is your modus operandi, fine. However, aiming true and shooting straight is more my thing. That means maintaining your kit.
    1
  22755.  @chasingthefish9042  I've carried AK derivatives (a Valmet RK62 and RK95) while on overseas deployment and owned a civilianised Sako M92 as a reservist shooter. I got rid of the latter because the cheapy Combloc ammo would ruin the barrel of the Sako, which lacked chrome-lining. I got a Saiga MK105 to replace it. Big disappointment. In terms of accuracy, my Haenel CR223 easily trumps all that went before.
    1
  22756.  @chasingthefish9042  I served in two armed forces, in Finland and in the Netherlands. They never got wise to me, although my Dutch instructors were convinced that I had served in the Israeli Defense Forces ;-) We trained with former East German People's Army AK47s, which were surprisingly good, even though our tank crews did their best to ruin them. It must be the German engineering. I thought an AK74M would be an improvement, but nooo.
    1
  22757.  @jonathanjacob5453  Roam unprotected? We're taking good care of the Ukrainian women and children, so that their husbands and fathers can send the Orcs packing.
    1
  22758.  @jonathanjacob5453  The right to self-defence is enshrined in the UN Charter. Launching an armed attack is not. That makes the Russians the Orcs, and the Ukrainians heroes.
    1
  22759.  @jonathanjacob5453  What's the immoral part then? You're spouting banalities.
    1
  22760.  @jonathanjacob5453  Oh, you're trying to speak in riddles. Sorry, it doesn't make you a more interesting person.
    1
  22761.  @11141q  So Ukraine (supposedly?) attempted a surgical strike with Putin, a known war criminal, for whom a worldwide arrest warrant is out, as the target. In retaliation, you want 3 million Kyivans to die?
    1
  22762.  @crymeaariver  You've started executing prisoners of war? Figures.
    1
  22763.  @Q_QQ_Q  You don't seem to understand that Pakistan's and China's past violations of India's territorial sovereignty are in essence no different from Russia's violation of Ukraine's sovereignty, although the scale differs. With your indifference in Ukraine's case, you're setting yourselves up for being violated again.
    1
  22764.  @Q_QQ_Q  "Is cause [sic] by NATO". You're lapping up Kremlin Kool-Aid there. The crimes against humanity are all Russia's. Did you catch that Putin is liable for arrest in a whopping 123 countries? That's like two-thirds of the world. Tell us in practical terms how "we" are enabling aggressive behaviour against India by Pakistan and China. We've had an arms embargo against China since 1989 on account of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. We're in fact arming India against the two, and we're fast becoming the largest arms supplier to India as well. The US is about to come second. You had better keep a civil tongue.
    1
  22765. Belgium is just a bad idea. Nice place, though.
    1
  22766. Sure, India likes to teeter on the fence. Let's hope India doesn't go Humpty Dumpty on us.
    1
  22767. You have a cunning plan there! Since there's an international arrest warrant out for Putin and Canada is a state party to the Rome Statute, the man will be arrested upon arrival and extradited to stand trial for war crimes at the ICC in The Hague. Baldrick approves!
    1
  22768. Euromaidan happened when Yanukovych forcefully tried to drag Ukraine into the arms of Russia. So we can forget about that one.
    1
  22769.  @TheSerg2bob  Why even pretend "most of the world is with Russia"? The world's top ambassadors have assembled several times to vote about Russia's special mil op, and decided overwhelmingly it's not OK. How much clearer can it be?
    1
  22770.  @vangogh9971  If so, they hide it extremely well.
    1
  22771.  @vangogh9971  Things could be much, much worse <cough>Russia<cough>. Anyhoo, the Ukrainians seem to have no qualms fighting your precious Orcs tooth and nail, despite your ridiculous assertion that they're, in fact, Orc-lovers. Explain that.
    1
  22772. They're embedded in the Burkinese army, with the villagers' blood on their hands.
    1
  22773. That's good coping. I bet you feel less weepy already.
    1
  22774.  @jahrazzjahrazz8858  Putin doesn't cut the bots' pay if they underperform; he mobilises them.
    1
  22775. If you're that fragile, you should give France 24 a miss.
    1
  22776.  @brightonboka3013  Russia will "defeat" itself by sueing for peace. Historians will record it as a Russian defeat, just like the First Chechen War. Unlike in Chechnya, however, there won't be an repeat performance, because Ukraine will be firmly in NATO. And in the EU.
    1
  22777. When I was with UNIFIL, Hezbollah kept using us for target practice, so no.
    1
  22778.  @Dr.SHERIFF  You had better start saving up for 'spacefare' to Mars.
    1
  22779.  @jillcockerell2564  It's mostly the brands that are US in origin, not the products themselves. In trade terms the impact of a European consumer boycott will be relatively low, but morally, why not.
    1
  22780. Leopard 2s for Ukraine and I'll join in.
    1
  22781. Wagner uses convicts for cannon fodder. Conscripts are the Russian Army's equivalent.
    1
  22782. You're generalizing. Not all European countries engaged in colonialism. In fact, some are victims themselves. Besides, the perpetrators weren't confined to Europe. The Ottomans, Russians, Japanese, Americans and Chinese were at it, too. And in contrast to their European counterparts, Russia and China have been particularly slow to decolonize.
    1
  22783.  @danielsuslov2161  Bollocks. The Russians have tried their best to ignore the war, but now that the chickens have come home to roost, they're forced to pay attention again. It wouldn't be the first time the Russians tire of war and want it all to go away.
    1
  22784.  @firstlast8258  Cowards also wrap themselves in flags.
    1
  22785. I thought the same about the Soviet Union. My granddad saw Russia sorted twice in his lifetime. I may yet get lucky, too.
    1
  22786.  @КомандаЛеви  Who's us exactly? The UK? That I believe.
    1
  22787. A lot of Germans have Jewish surnames. Or is it the other way around?
    1
  22788.  @Orcbotbasher  You may want to study the UNGA's voting record in matters pertaining to Israel. The OP is quite right about the world.
    1
  22789. Your memory is failing you. The Battles of Kyiv and Kharkiv were won by Ukraine. These cities are respectively the largest and second-largest in Ukraine. Russia's largest victory to date, the Siege of Mariupol, was about the tenth-largest city in Ukraine.
    1
  22790.  @davidgmillsatty1900  Me, clueless? You should reserve your criticism for the Russian military brass, who had no clue what they'd be up against, or how to conduct a successful military campaign. Putin definitely aimed for regime change. I suspect that's what he'll get, only in Moscow, not Kyiv.
    1
  22791.  @davidgmillsatty1900  Unless you're completely clueless yourself, you should know that the rouble is being propped up by draconian capital controls and a sharp drop in imports. Neither bodes well for Russia's economy. Textbook feints don't result in crippling losses in men and materiel.
    1
  22792. So, who does pass muster in your book?
    1
  22793. Yeah, let's pretend a PR gaffe of epic proportions didn't happen.
    1
  22794.  @hellgates_javed6451  Goody. I expected Wagner and Russian regulars to start targeting one another.
    1
  22795. The Danes mounted an anti-tank rifle on a sidecar. There are scenes with it in the Danish film April 9th. Interestingly, the main characters are bicycle soldiers.
    1
  22796. @agapp11able Be that as it may, Russia lost its prime naval asset in the Black Sea. Also, you're not very observant. There was the supply ship in Berdyansk and several landing craft near and at Snake Island. Cope!
    1
  22797. @agapp11able There-there, dry your tears. You claimed there weren't any other sinkings and I proved you wrong. And now you're having a temper tantrum.
    1
  22798. @agapp11able It's always the same excuse. When a Russian warship is struck by the Ukrainians, the Kremlin tries to peddle a story that a Russian sailor was careless with matches. That's coping to the extreme. And don't copy me.
    1
  22799. @agapp11able You're the joke here. If Russia can't prevent a major warship from sinking because a sailor plays with matches, it shouldn't put out to sea. How far do you think you can stretch the truth?
    1
  22800. No, gained. Germany's past pacifism shouldn't come as a surprise to even those with half a brain.
    1
  22801.  @bruhmcchaddeus413  Don't give up your day job to go on a comedy tour.
    1
  22802. But the Poles have their hand out.
    1
  22803.  @jabcross4316  If you weren't trolling, you're even a bigger joke than we thought.
    1
  22804.  @jabcross4316  Because you're an anachronism.
    1
  22805. Your precious "forensic examination" is anything that the Kremlin Gremlin wants it to be. If Putin gets inspired by his favourite picture book and decides that what did Navalny in was a poisonous wart at the end of his nose, that's what the forensic report will reflect. Simple-pimple.
    1
  22806.  @fabrikator-generalakhilley6896 Even unpatriotic companies dread ending up on a sanctions list. The smallish Russian market isn't the moneyspinner you think it is.
    1
  22807. Cope harder, you sad troll.
    1
  22808. You should put your moral superiority to use and convince Putin to end to his war of aggression. Who knows, maybe there's a permanent seat at the UNSC in it if you manage to call Russia to order.
    1
  22809. The question is, will Putin's usurper sell Putin to the West?
    1
  22810.  @DARKSTAR-mn8ee  Reality is a biatch, Putin fanboy.
    1
  22811. At any rate, I would guess Russia's already poorly motivated soldiers will now remove themselves from the Ukrainian front. They've got a civil war to fight.
    1
  22812.  @uck8978  It's a known fact that Russia is a permanent member of the UNSC, which means the UN is rendered toothless. Any other well-worn truisms you want to share with us?
    1
  22813. It's not just that. There's a Euromaidan brewing in Georgia, too.
    1
  22814. Nope, the USSR, and later, Russia fully agreed with it. The USSR signed the Final Settlement on German reunification in 1990. Russia, as the USSR's successor state, is bound by it.
    1
  22815.  @olexkutikov9839  Perhaps you don't, but everyone else sees a clear difference. The Crimean status referendum was deemed invalid by world + dog. With German unification, no such issues arose.
    1
  22816.  @olexkutikov9839  My vision is irrelevant. It's the overwhelming view of the UN General Assembly, meaning all the countries in the world. Refute that. Don't be a bore with your alleged Russophobia. I'm stating cold, hard facts.
    1
  22817.  @korbell1089  Of course I do. Often, they're used interchangeably as well.
    1
  22818. How would you go about?
    1
  22819.  @constantinenm  Are you his sock puppet or is it the other way around? You two are like joined at the hip, always commenting on one another's messages.
    1
  22820. PMs always resign at the end of their tenure.
    1
  22821.  @Carewolf  Right, but PMs still resign regardless of whether they suffer an electoral defeat or lose the confidence of their own party or that of the House of Commons. Not that they have a choice, of course.
    1
  22822.  @mariaadelecagna3540  Too bad then that Russia isn't a superpower.
    1
  22823. I see you're conveniently forgetting about Angela Merkel and Margaret Thatcher, both of whom enjoyed long tenures as chancellor and PM respectively. Or is your political memory just shockingly short?
    1
  22824. ​ @sebastiansperglord  For the record, I'm not triggered by my intellectual inferiors. Fact is, no matter what you think of her, Merkel had a very long run. It blows your argument out of the water. In contrast, your AfD will never make it into government, not even as a junior coalition partner.
    1
  22825.  @sebastiansperglord  Don't flatter yourself. You open with an inane comment and expect people to believe you're a genius? Go play with yourself, Putin-boy.
    1
  22826. That'll be the day. A Briton speaking a foreign language.
    1
  22827. No worries, it's a great ploy to bankrupt Russia. Russia sells oil below production cost to India. I believe India can use a bit of wealth transfer, too. More toilets, in case you didn't get the gist.
    1
  22828.  @bl00dhoney  You're oh-so wrong. Besides France, the UK, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Greece and Ukraine have birthright citizenship, be it with some restrictions. Birthright citizenship stems from ancient Roman Law, not colonialism. With the internet about, information is literally at your fingertips. I suggest you make use of it before you comment.
    1
  22829. I bet you still get an allowance from your parents, and you can only spend it in their presence.
    1
  22830. Misery loves company, eh?
    1
  22831. The Storm Shadow leverages terrain contour matching to find its way to the target. No biggie.
    1
  22832. When you're not prepared for it. Don't flatter yourselves, everyone is prepared for what is the norm. This falls outside of the norm.
    1
  22833.  @weFromRussia  Come off it. It's a common refrain by Putin that he's diversifying the Russian economy. But how could he, since he's effectively discouraging foreign investment, which would enable said diversification. To Putin, it's more important to cling to power than develop Russia economically. Sadly, his clinging to power increasingly means stirring trouble abroad, so as to divert attention from domestic woes.
    1
  22834.  @weFromRussia  It's a fact that Russia can't truly diversify its economy without foreign investment and know-how, be it Western, Chinese or Timbuktese. But it's great that you're starting to grow your own veggies. I'm sure you'll feel very diversified after a big bowl of borscht.
    1
  22835.  @weFromRussia  As we say here, teach that to your cat. Russia needs to institute wide-ranging reforms to attract the necessary investment. There's no chance of that happening under Putin, because it would entail relinquishing control. The man is a control freak. He'd rather sacrifice Russia's future than lose control.
    1
  22836.  @weFromRussia  Always the victim, never the aggressor. That, too, is a common refrain with you. Just about everyone else thinks differently, and your neighbours in particular. Actually, in the 90s, I ran a charity co-founded by my grandmother that provided material aid to destitute Russians. When the worst was over, we changed it into a foundation that grants scholarships to gifted students in Russia. Soon after, we had no choice but to switch to scholarships for studies abroad. The net result is that practically all the recipients, once they graduate, refuse to settle back in Russia. I wouldn't care too much, but my late grandmother and her sisters specifically wanted to see their birthplace flourish. Russia, under Putin, is beyond helping. My professor, another grandson of a Russian émigré, used to say that where Western countries have elections, Russia has revolutions. But hey, we'll get to put our charity to its original use again.
    1
  22837.  @TMM-N  You're not well-versed in matters military. The white flag is also a flag of truce.
    1
  22838. On the contrary, she made Britain more democratic, and if she's victorious again, it's another great victory for democracy. She should be at the top of the Honours list.
    1
  22839.  @leonmenssen999  No SPH does that, sport. This is not War Thunder or whatever online game you play.
    1
  22840.  @leonmenssen999  Yeah, it will ruin the suspension of the Boxer in no time, meaning it's for emergency use only. I seriously doubt it's ever used in peace-time exercises like these.
    1
  22841. It is also the Free World's right to refuse trading with Russia, or prevent Russia from using its tools for trade. It's not so much Western hegemony, but Russia becoming an international pariah as a consequence of its crimes against peace. Russia could've chosen a different path.
    1
  22842. Uh, Syria needs less religion, not more.
    1
  22843. This must pass for humour in Russia.
    1
  22844.  @gooky56  Your sentence doesn't make sense.
    1
  22845.  @thehappyclam3942  The closest we have to international law are UN resolutions. Should we go over the result of the UNGA vote on Russia's annexations at the expense of Ukraine? OK, 143 members condemned the annexations, while 5 supported them.
    1
  22846. Haven't you heard? The British Isles drifted off and vanished in the armpit hair of Murica.
    1
  22847.  @iangodfrey4518  OK, your opinion doesn't matter then.
    1
  22848. If the left is to blame for mass migration, you'd think 13 years of right-wing VVD rule would've set that right.
    1
  22849. But his dad is Allah, and the Israelis don't care for your Jesus.
    1
  22850.  @frankwren8215  Childishly, you're putting words into my mouth. When did I suggest that crying in public is a requirement for female politicians? The negative publicity clearly got to her. Perhaps women are more likely to express themselves that way -- at any rate, it's more socially acceptable. It seems your problem is not the crying, but having a female in charge. I have a feeling you'd use anything to berate them.
    1
  22851. So, you're living like three weeks in the future? No-one has a popular mandate yet. That comes after the election.
    1
  22852.  @AstroGremlinAmerican  I wasn't talking to you -- and you're making zero sense.
    1
  22853.  @michaelscott5653  You've got it backwards. Germany has never been a leader in NATO. Its neighbours, such as Poland and the Netherlands, have implored, cajoled and pressured Germany to take a more active role in matters militarily, but only with limited success. It's work in progress, but oh-so slow progress.
    1
  22854. For your info, RN's bloc came third. But please go ahead, console yourself with irrelevant details, if you sleep better for it. Sleep deprivation would make you angrier still in the anger stage of the grieving process.
    1
  22855.  @codybell6882  Thanks for illustrating my point. Your popular vote argument is one of those irrelevant details, I'm afraid. Read up on the electoral system in France and all will be revealed.
    1
  22856. You're projecting. They're not contesting the outcome of the election. It's Trump's policies they have a problem with. Not the same diff.
    1
  22857. Ka-ching, that's a potato for you. Maybe you'll fill your sack this week!
    1
  22858. BREXIT heeft nul komma niks geholpen bij de Britten.
    1
  22859. He sure has made a laughing stock out of Russia. Then again comedians are expert at that sort of thing.
    1
  22860.  @kabulpaws3386  Don't you worry your pretty little head. We're not calling it *Moscovia. As a matter of fact, in our local language we call Russia by what would literally translate to 'Wendia' or 'Wendland' in English. We've never asked the Russians for permission. Old habits die hard -- in this case, very old habits.
    1
  22861. Putin? What with? Putin needs all the money Russia's got left for his brutal war of aggression in Ukraine, where Russia's savings literally go up in smoke.
    1
  22862. YouTube is the platform. France Médias Monde operates this channel and provides the content.
    1
  22863. Let's see if NATO will survive another Trump term. If not, I don't doubt for a moment that Europe will pick up the pieces and quickly form a new Eurocentric defence alliance.
    1
  22864. Dragged as in Baron Münchhausen dragging himself out of a mire by his own hair?
    1
  22865.  @Jouantiese  The IDF has taken on Hezbollah in the past -- inconclusively. The US wouldn't fare any better. The US would do worse, in fact, as it couldn't inflict as many civilian casualties in trying to root out Hezbollah fighters. Israel has little or no scrupules in that respect.
    1
  22866. When Britain is out, what's next for Nigel Garage[sic]? I would say oblivion, but I guess everyone will remember him, just not fondly.
    1
  22867.  @benvandam369  Russia's got them beat. In war criminology, too.
    1
  22868.  @benvandam369  Congrats. You've just completed step 1/12 of the AA: Admission.
    1
  22869.  @benvandam369  So you've relapsed. I withdraw my congratulations.
    1
  22870.  @alingard1  And boy, was it a worthwhile investment. They left Britain eating dust.
    1
  22871. You should go back for English tuition.
    1
  22872.  @RUTHLESSambition5  Africans only, really now? Let's get Putin over to the Netherlands and see how quickly he'll find room and board in The Hague. Nothing too luxurious, I'm afraid, but it's free of charge.
    1
  22873. ​ @Richard-tq7xi  You're talking about the Viet Cong guerrillas. The North Vietnamese Army, as well as the regular army units of the Viet Cong, had no trouble acquiring modern weaponry of just about any sort.
    1
  22874. If you're so concerned about TikTok, you should petition the Chinese government to abandon the rules they impose on Chinese companies with regard to mandatory intelligence gathering. That's really the root of the problem. As we've seen now on several occasions -- and on both sides of the Atlantic -- Xi's authoritarianism suddenly isn't working out so well for these Chinese corporate success stories. This CCP is holding China back.
    1
  22875.  @WarriorsDepartoutNews  Interesting. Ukraine is a NATO battleground before it has even set foot in the country? You bots get zanier by the day.
    1
  22876.  @zoom777 You got both the country and the province wrong. It's Ruxia that's fast becoming China's northernmost province. Pu Tin is slated to become its regional governor.
    1
  22877.  @simonpeterokiror1799  Munitions expire and are typically destroyed by detonating them, only to be replaced by the same type. Besides, if these munitions were self-aware, they'd much rather go out with a bang, doing the very thing they were made for. Blowing up Orcs.
    1
  22878.  @RUTHLESSambition5  You're ignoring the fact the Russians will execute them when they surrender. They're funny that way, these Butchers of Bucha.
    1
  22879. All shells are toxic. That's just the nature of high explosives. In France, there are WW1 battlefields that remain too toxic for agriculture and human habitation to this day. A great many of the shells were fired by the French.
    1
  22880.  @ruthlesstruth8639  It would seem you can't tell shells and kinetic penetrators apart. A shell -- which is hollow, as the name implies -- carries a payload, typically a high-explosive charge, which is toxic. Here, the DU is inside a thin dart, which contains no payload. The dart relies on kinetic energy and the density of its DU core in piercing the target's armour. Once through, the incendiary nature of DU comes into play, which means it will self-ignite and become a plume of burning dust. There will be mildly radioactive residue, but you won't hear the crew complain about. Either they were incinerated, shredded by spalling, or they succumbed to the shock wave. Or all three at the same time.
    1
  22881.  @ruthlesstruth8639  Sure, the DU contaminates the tank with mildly radioactive material. But you'll have to ingest it for it to have any nefarious effect. Don't go ingesting soil contaminated by toxic residue of high explosives either, because it's not good for you. Why the silly Hiroshima and Nagasaki reference? Has your overly fertile mind spun a story where I'm American, perhaps?
    1
  22882. Thomas Ridley, how does that work? Trump got elected president, while Le Pen was clobbered by Macron. It would appear France's insanity level stands at 13% if we take the Front National's result in the 2017 parliamentary elections as a yardstick. It appears France averted craziness, but you embraced it.
    1
  22883.  @delta_glider4362  No, Porsche's tank just had electric transmission. No batteries, and two IC engines as generators. You'll find that heavily polluting ships often have the same arrangement.
    1
  22884.  @martinpalm5  Read my comment above. Your pal allbullaside must've gotten banned.
    1
  22885.  @carlosacta8726  There was nothing that would qualify as an invasion of Cuba by US troops. You can't just make up history as you go along.
    1
  22886.  @DrRManueLarecbarti  You Krembots have got interesting history books. Cuba fought off one invasion, at the Bay of Pigs, launched by Cuban exiles in 1961. Which other invasions were there, and were the US armed forces involved? You all suck at analogies.
    1
  22887.  @mudristefamon2338  Ask yourself, do assassination attempts equate to military invasions or illegal occupation? You're clutching at straws.
    1
  22888. Poorly clued-up Marta from Medellin fails to understand that there will be no such order, thanks to Russia's veto. Putin is literally getting away with murder.
    1
  22889.  @naturallife1724  Hey bot, that does not compute.
    1
  22890. Correction, it was the UN that booted out Russia from its Human Rights Council. Not only that, the ICC -- that's 124 countries -- put out wanted posters for Putin, also on human rights charges.
    1
  22891. Care to explain? Trump has -- in effect -- threatened with a trade war.
    1
  22892. It's less than what he'll get in The Hague.
    1
  22893. Maybe you can advise the UN Security Council what to do regarding Afghanistan, as in practical steps. Let's hear it.
    1
  22894. They can put their case to the test. Nothing will change, of course, as they've clamouring for 'sovereignty' for ages and European voters haven't warmed to it.
    1
  22895.  @memetopia5130  You obviously fail to grasp that there's a difference between moderate conservatism and far-right populism. It is true that the European Parliament is more right-wing than left-wing and has been so more most of its existence, but if you think the centre-right will band together with the populist crazies on the right, you've got another thing coming.
    1
  22896.  @memetopia5130  OK, the last part of your last sentence says enough: "...and the EU as a whole is extremely left wing". Na<cough>zi. Don't bother replying.
    1
  22897.  @archieames1968  How did you come up with 50%? Reform UK got 14% of the vote and the even more radical righties must be there with the 1% 'Others'.
    1
  22898.  @archieames1968  You're diverging. Opposition to uncontrolled immigration must be close to 100%, but 100% of the population isn't rioting -- just you far-right fringenuts are.
    1
  22899.  @archieames1968  You're diverging. I'd say very close to 100% oppose uncontrolled immigration, but 100% of the population aren't rioting. Only you far-right fringenuts are. Don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  22900. That doesn't really tally with the relatively low incidence of corruption in Europe.
    1
  22901.  @thegame7557  Iran backs Hezbollah, not Lebanon. Know your enemy.
    1
  22902. If so, it seems an inordinate number of Ukrainians must die before the Russian people wake up from their looong political slumber.
    1
  22903. Is there a Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous?
    1
  22904.  @labechamel75  It's a Germanic language with generous helpings of Old Norman and Old Norse. It's telling that Old Norse is intelligible to us, but Old English is just gobbledegook to the Brits. It's an easy conclusion that Britain has been more thoroughly invaded.
    1
  22905.  @mile_381  Uh, German GDP per capita, even adjusted by purchasing power, is still above that of France.
    1
  22906. Tellingly, the compilers of the Democracy Index downgraded the US to 'flawed democracy' when Trump made president. Not because of Trump's policies, but because of how he rode the wave of eroding trust in US democratic institutions to the presidency. If Trump makes president again, despite his very selective stance towards democracy, the US truly deserves to be downgraded once more.
    1
  22907. At the end of they day, both the Hezbollah and Israel want them there.
    1
  22908. Maybe. Soon enough, there will be a referendum, a legal one this time. Spain isn't China, after all.
    1
  22909.  @sergiocampa5281  I see you're still trying to wrangle yourself out of this with legal technicalities. The UN Charter is intentionally vague, as the principles therein should be reflected in local law. Spanish law seems to drag behind that of other European countries, which do allow status referendums. With such precedents in place, the problem won't go away by thumping on law books.
    1
  22910.  @sergiocampa5281  At first, I felt I should thank you profusely for such a lengthy exposé on the illegitimacy of Catalan independence, but now I'm thinking you just forwarded a canned message. We could discuss at length how Urgh and Murgh living in the same cave and hunting woolly mammoth in the summer of 20,000BC affects Catalan independence, but at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is how the present-day Catalans -- not Spaniards in general or their prehistoric ancestors -- decide. You're under the assumption that borders are set in stone, but as an apparent history buff you should know that's far from the truth. Spain is not exempt and neither are the other examples you gave. Whether it's in our lifetime or a few more down the road, the bigger countries in Europe will fragment into smaller entities in one form or another. I believe the EU is and should be instrumental in this development. Nations states were formed to protect themselves against external threats. With such threats largely eliminated, the bigger nation states will naturally disband.
    1
  22911.  @binchen  Did you have a point of your own, or are you trying boost mine?
    1
  22912.  @binchen  Why me, disappointed? We're doing more than OK compared to China. I lived in Shanghai -- I know the score.
    1
  22913.  @Spearca  I mentioned near space. I made no mention of galactic space.
    1
  22914.  @Sziasztok742  We had 700 international monitors from 53 countries working in the Donbas, and they reported no "heinous attack" by Ukraine. Where's your evidence?
    1
  22915. Is the EU an authority on Ukraine's military losses? In your desperation, you're clutching at straws.
    1
  22916.  @dimsum947  The EU isn't arming Ukraine. Individual EU members are. I am funding the Red Cross, but it doesn't make me an authority on victims of war.
    1
  22917.  @dimsum947  Sure, Ukraine probably would collapse without EU funding, but that still doesn't make the EU an authority on matters military. If you had claimed that the EU knows how to keep ailing economies afloat, you would've had a point, but military expertise? No, it simply isn't the EU's area of expertise. Military expertise comes under NATO. You need to work on your argumentative skills.
    1
  22918.  @dimsum947  Don't put words into my mouth. NATO countries are arming and funding Ukraine, but in an individual capacity. The countries that are in both NATO and the EU, do contribute funds jointly, but through the EU. Try to get these simple facts through your thick skull. Gen. Mark Milley is the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff of the US Armed Forces, not of some fictive EU Armed Forces. So, in other words, your introducing Milley to this convo doesn't support your claim in any way that the EU is an expert on matters military pertaining to Ukraine. I told you, your argumentative skills need work.
    1
  22919. I always say that chemtrail believers, too, are particularly deserving of the purported effect, namely population control.
    1
  22920.  @SecularSlayer1984  So, you're advocating that Putin nukes the IT engineers he's lost to the West. You do realise their Indian colleagues wouldn't make it out alive either? And neither would you. Nuclear winter is a bitch.
    1
  22921.  @eddastrohmayer251  You managed another non-argument there. Try, at least try.
    1
  22922. Out of the frying pan into the fire, that's what you're trying to say.
    1
  22923. Respect must be earned. Rather, Orban is squandering what little respect for Hungary remains.
    1
  22924.  @nathanlkoch  Maybe you can fashion yourself a date from snow -- a snowman or a snowwoman, whichever takes your fancy.
    1
  22925.  @marczhu7473  You silly wumaos don't realise that Erdogan's beef isn't with either Sweden or Finland. He wants F-16 fighters from the US thrown into the bargain.
    1
  22926.  @D.pal007  That's an invalid claim. Hamas represented a minority of the Palestinians. The majority, as in the Palestinian Authority, strove for a two-state solution, but Netanyahu and the Israeli hardliners effectively managed to sabotage all that, cleverly using Hamas as a tool. You can google for soundbites where Bibi brags about it. Just out of interest, have you ever been accused of geopolitical naivety?
    1
  22927. Money pit? The military-industrial complex operates on a for-profit basis. You're never going to be a successful conspiracy theorists if you can't even get the basics right.
    1
  22928. ​ @eddiel7635  It's very simple. Distance is a barrier to trade. The EU doesn't want a Singapore-on-Thames on its doorstep.
    1
  22929. "We"? That's you and your senile dog then?
    1
  22930. The bot gives whataboutism a try. How novel.
    1
  22931.  @SailorGreenTea  Don't upvote your own posts. It's like pleasuring yourself in public.
    1
  22932. Wat zijn de bewijzen daarvoor? Of ben je aan het wapperen?
    1
  22933. What's there to answer if you pay your dues, and always have?
    1
  22934. In one word: badly.
    1
  22935. Both the Hezbollah and the IDF accuse the UN of being partial. I guess it's OK then.
    1
  22936. Have Trump and his aides gone through all the ongoing conflicts in the world to see if there are other possibilities for extortion? Mineral-rich Congo comes to mind.
    1
  22937.  @lofiandchill6062  Yet the autocracy remained... and China's constitution is optional -- it bends every which way the CCP desires.
    1
  22938.  David Rodgers  What's new is that the de-facto ruler of a "good" Arab country is caught with a smoking gun, probably leading to his downfall -- after a suitable cool-down period, of course. It's also fascinating to watch Erdogan gleefully put the screws on the Saudis, prolonging their agony for as long as possible. Not very statesman-like, but we're dealing with Erdogan after all. A good thing to come out of all this is that dictatorial rulers will think twice about ordering extrajudicial killings. Putin, too, must've developed restraint -- if the Skripal affair didn't have that effect already.
    1
  22939.  @suicidalbanananana  Speak for your lazy self. The bulk of our armed forces consists of unpaid reservists. In fact, almost our entire adult male population is or has been one.
    1
  22940.  Bazil Bazil  I don't know about that nor actually care, but Erdogan is definitely suffering from megalomania. Generally speaking, I have a high regard of the urban Turks.
    1
  22941. This is non-news. If the reserse were true, now that would be news!
    1
  22942.  @alexsilent5603  There's nothing factual about your fairytale. Stalin's USSR competed with the Third Reich in totalitarianism.
    1
  22943. Not really. The RK 62, which has served us very well, doesn't have a chrome-lined barrel. There's a persistent belief in the FDF that chrome-lined barrels are less accurate. We use quality ammo and clean our rifles diligently. Woe betide the Finnish conscript who lets his rifle rust!
    1
  22944.  @benvandam369  China is merely providing lip service to Russia. And we have freedom of speech in the EU.
    1
  22945. Which is it that you're guilty of, ignorance or silly hyperbole? Germany has supplied weapons to Ukraine that easily match British ones. The PzH-2000 is state of the art, the Gepard has proven priceless in downing drones, the IRIS-T is a formidable weapon system and the MARS II is right up there with the HIMARS. Sure, Germany could do more, but so could the UK. Generally speaking, German weapon systems are better regarded than the UK's. It's indicative that the UK had to rely on the Germans for the Challenger 3 MBT.
    1
  22946. You forgot to mention MI6, WEF and, for good measure, George Soros, the NWO and Queen Liz 2.
    1
  22947.  @Scott6794  Trump appeared rather meek here. Starmer should have a cakewalk.
    1
  22948. They should do the hand gesture with their left hand so that there's no confusion as to who the losers are.
    1
  22949. You can console yourself with the fact that the Mi-17s were paid for with Russian tax money.
    1
  22950.  @chinaiscommittinggenocidei4924  Only the Saamis enjoy official recognition as an indigenous people on the European continent (excluding Russia). 'Indigenous' means the people in question were the first inhabitants of a certain region and have retained unique characteristics of their early culture.
    1
  22951.  @Gehbggggb5  You can literally read the above comment and all shall be revealed.
    1
  22952. David (Ukraine) against Goliath (Russia) would be a smashing idea, but Russia doesn't want this war to end. Putin wants to keep destabilizing Ukraine.
    1
  22953. Nah, Netanyahu has enough legal headaches as it is.
    1
  22954.  @jimmytimmy3680  False analogy. There were no and there will be no nuclear missiles in Ukraine. NATO has steadily expanded eastward -- by popular demand -- but the nukes haven't. Meanwhile, Russia has moved its nukes westward, to Kaliningrad and Belarus. Your sort likes to play the hypocrisy card. Now you get to play that game all by your lonesome.
    1
  22955.  @jimmytimmy3680  I see you have no counter-argument, cutie pie.
    1
  22956. A couple of South Africans have.
    1
  22957.  @kedfes  You may want to reread the question. Besides, only 1% of South Africans are deemed indigenous.
    1
  22958.  @buzzhawk  You win some and lose some. It's a net win in the sense that Russia just got served a restraining order that it's bound to observe.
    1
  22959. You're describing the Mannerheim Line of yore. You're no innovator, I'm afraid.
    1
  22960. Prince Andrew needs a gilded cage, and not just proverbially.
    1
  22961.  @eveleung8855  Kinda pathetic if you have to laugh so hard at your own joke.
    1
  22962.  @eveleung8855  Don't flatter yourself. You're neither a good troll nor a good comedian.
    1
  22963.  @sonya2916  Are you forgetting that Putin's army got an ass-kicking in Ukraine? Except for die-hard Putin fanboys and fangirls, no one's impressed with Russia's military prowess of late.
    1
  22964.  @Amazila  No, I made it plenty clear: 73% of all the countries in the world condemned Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. And of all the countries in the world, only 2.6% supported Russia. Get your facts straight.
    1
  22965. For your info, the CDU is not particularly religiously inspired. Also, you're contradicting yourself. Is Sweden a "functioning social democracy" or not? You seem to change your opinion from one sentence to the next.
    1
  22966. Math isn't your forte. 24% is less than half of a majority. Moreover, populism is pandering to the disgruntled masses, which Wilders has now succeeded in. It's not something he's denying -- nor is anyone else for that matter. Hence, 'populist' is entirely fitting. Also, it's not the first time a right-wing populist party has suddenly risen to such heights in the Netherlands, but the previous phenomenon was of short duration. The party in question, the LPF, buckled under the strain when invited to co-govern. Wilders had better take note.
    1
  22967.  @nobs997  You're the cowering type, aren't you?
    1
  22968. "Confused" is the only explanation for the Ostalgics' misplaced loyalty towards Putin. Politically, Putin's kleptocracy and communist ideals couldn't be further apart. If they still lurve communism, they should despise Putin.
    1
  22969. ISAF/RS was NATO-led all right, but the number of participating countries came from far and wide, from inside and outside of NATO, including even countries that are militarily allied with Russia. In fact, Russia -- and China -- gave their blessing to ISAF at the UN Security Council time and again. There comes a time when a country that's at war with itself stands on its own two feet again, which is something that Afghanistan failed at, and continues to fail at. Russia can attest that Afghanistan is a mission impossible, since it has been defeated thrice in Afghanistan. To put matters in context, Britain has suffered the same ignominy twice, but not thrice.
    1
  22970. If you care to elaborate, how exactly is Macron indebted to Russia? It can't be Russian gas supplies -- France isn't critically dependent on Russia as a supplier.
    1
  22971. A bankrupt ideology?
    1
  22972. The topic of this video suggests otherwise. And why make everything about Murica?
    1
  22973. They say that Lavrov, who was not privy to Putin's plans in 2014, was exasperated by Russia invading Crimea and Donbas. He has adapted well to Putin's new normal. For his sake, I hope he was paid in gold.
    1
  22974.  @MeagainstYT  Have you been appointed Erdogan's spokesperson? Odd choice, but if so, congratulations... I guess.
    1
  22975.  @jchase8223  This guy is literally speaking on Erdogan's behalf, so I'm curious if he's doing it in an official capacity. Let the guy speak -- unless you're his sock puppet.
    1
  22976.  @mostawesomeflyer6164  Tot voor kort was het zo dat als het tot een Russische invasie komt, dan zet Finland mankracht in en Zweden vuurkracht. Troepenverplaatsing vergen immers tijd, maar de Zweedse jachtvliegtuigen en marineschepen zijn er als de kippen bij. Straks met de NAVO erbij wordt het echt Spaans benauwd voor Rusland.
    1
  22977. ​ @ДмитрийРамазанов-и6л  Rusje komt zo, Rusje komt zo, Rusje komt zo, Rusje komt zo.
    1
  22978. It pales in comparison to what he's done to his own people.
    1
  22979. We used to tell the same joke about the Belgians when I served in the Dutch army. During an earlier stint with the Finnish army, we joked that we had dedicated mine-stepping troops in those who opted for civilian service instead of military service. When my cousin chose the former, I couldn't resist commending him for his bravery. We're still on cool terms.
    1
  22980.  @TruthTeller8888  France 24 just debunked the claims. Don't project.
    1
  22981. You out yourself as Putin bot by completely ignoring the aggressor, Russia, in your pleas for "peace".
    1
  22982. Don't you hate being on the wrong side of history all the time? First your "neutrality" with regard to Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, now Israel's totally overblown reaction to Hamas's terrorist attacks. Then you wonder why India wins no support for a permanent seat in the UNSC.
    1
  22983. Business magazine?
    1
  22984.  @Dakarn  Nope, you're confusing them with Forbes.
    1
  22985. Can I escort you to your safe place? RT, right?
    1
  22986. ​ @sonofsomerset1695  Oh, you can tell from the reactions. If we as Westerners were to watch RT for any length of time, we'd retch. I have to admit that I sometimes feel a bit queasy when I watch US news channels, but I haven't actually lost the contents of my stomach once. European news channels give me no problems.
    1
  22987.  @Sin3xtreme  Correction. Russia is waging an illegal war of aggression against Ukraine -- a war that violates international law and the UN Charter -- so Russia's legitimacy to target anything Ukrainian is nil.
    1
  22988.  @lindamvungi8557  I still don't see a direct connection with Assange. But while at it, why not raise a ruckus about Navalny? If you're genuinely concerned about the former's plight, it follows that Navalny's sufferings are also close to your heart. You're not politically motivated, are you?
    1
  22989. ​ @canitbethat  You're conveniently ignoring that Trump set up a defeat in Afghanistan (and Biden unthinkingly executed Trump's "peace" plan), but then again, consistency -- or walking the talk -- has never been Trump's forte.
    1
  22990. Fidgeting intensified in Khan Younis?
    1
  22991.  @desertsky9886  I'm evidently not gaslighting if you yourself openly admit to being a hater. Do me a favour and never respond to any of my comments, like ever again.
    1
  22992. Estonians have ample reason to hate Russia.
    1
  22993.  @nuttywalls8190  Which rules were bent? Orban doubled down on his objections to proceed with the accession talks. He's still blustering about not accepting Ukraine in when it comes to a final vote on membership, but if you look at his record, he's always like that, always giving in in the end. Turkey has been slipping towards autocracy for some time. At this rate, they'll never meet the so-called Copenhagen critera for EU accession.
    1
  22994.  @郑宇-k2b  I'm talking about development aid, i.e. not loans, whereas you're talking about interest rates, i.e. loans. You're confused. I'm sorry, I'm definitely in the Western world, but I can vouch that we've never-ever participated in any civil wars in Africa. Development aid, yes, lots and lots. Not too long ago, I commented to an unsuspecting wumao that "the East" bombs Syria. His indignation was palpable, but he didn't realise his hypocrisy. Maybe you're smarter?
    1
  22995.  @hjjiang7766  You, too, are falling for hasty generalisations. We have no colonial past, as in exploiting territories or peoples others than our own. I don't know if your social credit score takes a hit if you access Wikipedia, but the article there on colonialism makes for interesting reading, especially the part about Chinese colonialism. Like some European powers, China engaged in colonialism, but what's worse, unlike these former European colonialist powers, you're still at it, now in the form of neo-colonialism.
    1
  22996. ​ @tomhenry897  Putin, strong? He's still in power, but much weakened. Tellingly, in Rostov, the Russian army just waved Prigozhin's Wagnerites on. Then Putin strikes a shady deal with Prigozhin, only hours after calling him a traitor and promising to punish him. Putin's countdown has begun.
    1
  22997. You're copying the Russians. Try to come up with better excuses.
    1
  22998.  @gabenewell3955  Sure, he's got supporters. Stalin did, too.
    1
  22999.  @yug5156  That's nothing. Saddam Hussein secured 100% of the vote. Do I need to mention that Saddam was a dictator, too? Be that as it may, but how exactly is Biden of relevance here? I thought we were discussing Putin and Xi. You wumaos always get sidetracked by the US. It's like reductio ad hitlerum -- would reductio ad americanum be the correct term? Maybe I'll just keep calling it whataboutism.
    1
  23000.  @yug5156  I have no idea which survey you're referring to and, it seems, you can't put your finger on it either. Anyhoo, by "vote" I inferred election, be it in this case Saddam's show election of 2002, in which he supposedly got 100% of the vote. FYI, an approval rate poll and a free and fair election aren't quite the same. If the election precedes the poll and the election is closely contested, voters aren't likely to express approval for the candidate they didn't vote for. That's true for Biden, who clearly hasn't had a good run either. Needless to say, Xi wasn't chosen in a free and fair election. As far as the Chinese are concerned, it's no different than if you were to travel to Staphorst and asked the villagers if they supported god.
    1
  23001. I'm surprised Russia didn't claim there were NATO mercenaries onboard. Russia's propagandists are losing their touch.
    1
  23002. Tot spijt van wie het benijdt.
    1
  23003. When your bicycle falls over, do you call it a bike crash? For sure, your insurance company won't be impressed.
    1
  23004.  @Ati-Maharathi  Aw. But the good news is that your victim mentality is fully intact.
    1
  23005. Rather, I see a clear analogy between Putin's Russia and Nazi Germany. Russia has lost the war. Prolonging the war in Ukraine won't bring any benefit to Russia -- in fact, Russia will only suffer worse. Likewise, Hitler wouldn't give up, even when the Allies had entered Germany and he'd effectively lost the war. All that remained was buying a little more time for a dictator at great cost. Just like the post-war Germans, the post-Putin Russians will ask themselves what they were thinking.
    1
  23006. I distinctly remember there was such a thing as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa.
    1
  23007.  @TheRealBillBob  Don't flatter yourself -- I'm not your friend, *narrow-minded or otherwise. We're not so much into spirits. Good wine and beer are our poison. You're far more likely to swill liquor. Stats don't lie.
    1
  23008.  @aadanaadan9109  Governing well? China is a totalitarian state.
    1
  23009. Parliamentary democracies -- often considered best-in-class -- must be a novelty to you.
    1
  23010. Because Germany has proven coal reserves equivalent to 154.6 times its annual consumption. You're living proof that krembots aren't very smart.
    1
  23011.  @dorianvedrashko9172  It could be worse. NATO's erstwhile opponent, the Warsaw Pact, saw fellow members invade whenever a member stepped out of line.
    1
  23012. You're not very observant. The political landscape in Europe and the USA is in turmoil.
    1
  23013. rosie her. It's not about whether or not the people have power, it's about the political landscape undergoing far-reaching changes as a result of the voting behaviour of the electorate. There's clearly a disconnect between the traditional parties and the voters. Trump was a shocker, but so was Macron.
    1
  23014. Right, China can't compare, but in the grand scheme of things the US isn't a stellar performer democracy-wise, being categorised as a flawed democracy for the second year running. Interestingly, Trump is more symptom than cause, but I suppose his zany antics will make you slip even further.
    1
  23015. So maybe the US should be downgraded further. Hybrid regime?
    1
  23016.  @southpole4776  Why keep pretending "the global majority" sides with Russia? It demonstrably does not. It's like your Donbas genocide claims. No basis in truth whatsoever.
    1
  23017. How come you're privy to the globalists' plans? Are you one yourself, maybe even without knowing it? Should we put you on suicide watch?
    1
  23018. Wait, isn't India a republic as well?
    1
  23019. Sure thing. Iran is arming and financing the Houthis, who're threatening trade routes to and from Europe. There, solved it for you.
    1
  23020.  @simonkong2022  Who you do you think you're representing? China is threatening not to recognize the so-called BNO passports of nearly 3 millions Hongkongers any longer, which effectively blocks their departure, since they can't produce valid travel documents upon departure.
    1
  23021. Putin is actually on surprisingly good terms with Netanyahu. China knows better, too.
    1
  23022. Spill it out, what's your conspiracy theory? You should know that there are extra points to be had if a blood-drinking, shape-shifting reptilian appears in your story.
    1
  23023.  @mistressfreezepeach  OK, I'll try to spell it out for you. Try substantiating your claims with arguments. 'No, you are' won't do.
    1
  23024. You need to pay more attention, missy. Djokovic's crime wasn't refusing the jabs, but declaring wrong information in his visa application. He admitted it, too.
    1
  23025. ​ @sorrowinchrist3387  I didn't suggest that a crime occurred, but apparently there were sufficient grounds to revoke his visa. Djokovic only has himself to blame.
    1
  23026.  @sorrowinchrist3387  Nope, by his own admission, Djokovic "gave wrong information." If it transpires that someone lied in their application, Australia has the right to revoke an already issued visa.
    1
  23027.  @sjaakie3388  Omzigt heeft Wilders aan de kant geschoven. Functie elders dus. Frappant.
    1
  23028. Counter-battery fire would be my foremost concern.
    1
  23029.  @janvandermeer6159  Sure thing, in the Koninklijke Landmacht, we didn't spare the paintbrush. The doors of the jeeps wouldn't close any longer because of all the layers of paint.
    1
  23030. You think Putin is about to order a Novichok hit on her? I suppose Lukashenko would owe Putin big time, but perhaps even more importantly, she's giving young Russians ideas.
    1
  23031. Maybe you should try to work out why Russia willingly sanctioned North Korea for well over a decade.
    1
  23032. ...till everyone is blind.
    1
  23033.  @gergelytodor771  It's still tantamount to supporting Russia. Hungary lacks moral fibre.
    1
  23034.  @Peter_S_  A Javelin packs a bigger punch than a naval gun, and those are still widely used for anti-ship purposes. Besides, even if the landing ship stays afloat after a hit, there's a good change its cargo is rendered useless. Admittedly, getting into firing range with a Javelin would be a challenge.
    1
  23035.  @fernfreeman1729  For the Russian attack that never comes because the Russians are shitting bricks.
    1
  23036.  @chippanapatcha1679  No worries, same god.
    1
  23037.  @chippanapatcha1679  I'm up to nothing. Islam adopted the same god as the four other Abrahamic religions. You can take exception to that, but since there's no legal recourse for suing them for copyright infringement, they're within their rights to do so. Besides, I'm sure Judaism would win the court case, forcing all the other Abrahamic religions to pick new supreme beings.
    1
  23038. Yeah, 76 years of peace with the Palestinians. Or did I get that backwards?
    1
  23039.  @bobespirit2112  In Europe, both employers and their employees contribute to universal healthcare in the form of taxes. Some employers even maintain health clinics of their own, or they pay for supplementary plans offered by the private sector. I don't see any competitive advantage per se compared to the US, except in that healthcare costs are much lower in Europe than in the US. Well, they're cheaper everywhere else.
    1
  23040.  @Fuego-s8i  I wouldn't know about that. We've always pulled our chestnuts out of the fire ourselves. Always paid our debts, too.
    1
  23041.  @Fuego-s8i  Oh dear, you missed the point. Am I every European?
    1
  23042.  @dannystruggles5504  Millions ;-) You remind me of Dr. Evil, who struggled to understand the value of money after being cryogenically frozen for 30 years. You picked an appropriate user name for yourself.
    1
  23043.  @dannystruggles5504  ;-)
    1
  23044. Who's "we"? Officially, Ethiopia is on the fence.
    1
  23045.  @samkamoche  You're on the fence, too.
    1
  23046.  @thematic3893  No sweat -- I copied the results off the UN website. Oh, I've travelled far and wide in Africa. I even lived there for two years. It did wonders for my worldview, and I mean that in a positive sense. So, you've got a theory that you somehow represent Africa opinion-wise. Do you have anything to support your unfounded claim? Opinions polls, perhaps? Otherwise, it's just hot air.
    1
  23047.  @menassies3224  "I stand competes with" -- I'm not familiar with this... Ethiopian idiom? In case it means you stand with Russia, we've now got ourselves three Africans out of a total of 1.216 billion Africans expressing support for Russia. I'm afraid that with such a small sample size, it doesn't constitute a valid opinion poll.
    1
  23048.  @ghtwghtw7197  So, you must be Syrian or North Korean.
    1
  23049. @Mesfin T You're the first African here whose government condemns Russia's actions in Ukraine in no uncertain terms. Good on you!
    1
  23050.  @rizkyadiyanto7922  Nope. Indonesia "deplored Russia's invasion of Ukraine and demanded a full withdrawal of Russian forces and a reversal of its decision to recognise the self-declared People's Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk."
    1
  23051. @InfraredEnjoyer Tell me more, what do we have on you that allows us to blackmail you? To make such an assertion, you must have some inside knowledge.
    1
  23052.  @hourbee5535  What a load of bosh. Russia is the worst coloniser of them all.
    1
  23053. They decided to tone it down a bit then. In August, Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov let slip that they had decided to make Putin win with over 90% of the votes. Modesty, even in small quantities, is an admirable trait.
    1
  23054.  @TienyeeTien  You're taking liberties with historical facts. Czechoslovakia already existed as such before the 1948 Communist take-over. Present-day Belgium was given to the Netherlands in 1814, after Napoleon was sent packing to Elba. It wasn't to last, because the downtrodden southern provinces decided to seek their own fortune already in 1830. Practically only the Dutch king was upset.
    1
  23055. There's a pretty good case against Putin, hence the outstanding arrest warrant. Feel free to make a case against Dubya and Blair and bring it to the ICC.
    1
  23056.  @wesc6755  True dat. It's shocking how little Russia manages to export in terms of manufactured goods. Two years ago, when our supermarkets took all Russian-made products off the shelves, it took very little effort to do so. It basically came down to gherkins and Chupa Chups lollipops, which were easily replaced, even with the same brands, since just the multinationals' Russian production facilities were affected. Consumers didn't notice a thing.
    1
  23057. It would be far, far easier to move all the CCP stooges from HK to mainland China. One trainful should do it.
    1
  23058. But you're a Putler troll, so you don't count.
    1
  23059. You fight as you train. That goes a long way in explaining why the Orcs suck at war. They don't train properly.
    1
  23060. The frugal Dutch will never agree to any monetary settlements that would break them. It goes against the laws of nature.
    1
  23061. So doctors and nurses should fight the terrorists with syringes, scalpels and bed pans? You're confused, very confused.
    1
  23062.  @cakeisyummy5755  Right-o. Misery would love company.
    1
  23063.  @Merecir  Yup, Einstein, Sweden is a parliamentary democracy. You'll find that it's a common system of governance, all over the world. It features heavily among those countries that top the Democracy Index.
    1
  23064. Surprise-surprise. The economic revival thingy is a pipe dream under AfD leadership. That the party needed to resort to non-EU sources for party financing speaks volumes.
    1
  23065. More like a gaggle of ne'er-do-wells, and quite literally, too.
    1
  23066.  @noneofyourbusiness9489  I once visited the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing. They had a whole section about how the US supposedly fought alongside the nationalists in the Chinese Civil War, with "evidence" and all. Commies...
    1
  23067.  @menya00045  Oh, we do. The EU is practically synonymous with the European branch of NATO.
    1
  23068. The ceasefire was brokered by the USA and France. Your precious Trump won't assume office till late January. Keep up with the news.
    1
  23069. It might be an elaborate ploy to that effect, but maybe not with Dugin being aware of it. Everyone's a pawn to Putin.
    1
  23070.  @gj6126  The Golan Druze don't serve in the IDF, and overwhelmingly refuse Israeli citizenship. One size does not fit all when it comes to the Druze.
    1
  23071. ​ @gj6126  No Golan Druze live in Israel, since the Golan Heights are not Israel's to begin with.
    1
  23072. Brexit hit you hard, eh? There should be support groups by now.
    1
  23073. Cor heeft een minderwaardigheidscomplex. Dat belooft ook niets goeds.
    1
  23074.  @dragonmartijn  Nee hoor, ik kom uit een geslacht mede door wiens toedoen de Russen het Spaans benauwd kregen. Defaitisme, dat is meer aan jou toebedeeld.
    1
  23075.  @notastone4832  Why exactly is it? You're not one of those bores who drones on about his family, his work, his dog, his car, his golf handicap and his whatnot at parties, are you?
    1
  23076. Uh, it just did. You're exchanging one gerontocrat for another.
    1
  23077.  @PlaYer-sn5or  The Russian *capitalists and *industrialists -- oligarchs in other words -- would very much like to flee anywhere, but they keep having fatal accidents. It's uncanny.
    1
  23078.  @alexlazar4738  Don't be intentionally obtuse. The lesson of Afghanistan is that you can't hold on to a country with a population that's hostile (or at best indifferent) to your cause. Likewise, Russia will never subdue Ukraine. Putin is fighting an existential war in Ukraine -- Russia isn't. The sooner the Russians realise this, the sooner the war ends.
    1
  23079.  @PlaYer-sn5or  What should I check about "Russia China trade"? China is clearly not sacrificing its lucrative trade relations with the West for the sake of a small-and-shrinking Russian market. China knows it can't have it both ways, so it's not shipping high-tech products to Russia for fear of having its companies sanctioned by the West as well. China is in a very comfortable place, since a weakening Russia grows only more dependent on it. It's hilarious -- Putin developed old-style imperialist ambitions with regard to Ukraine, but his Russia is now falling prey to Chinese-style neo-imperialism itself.
    1
  23080.  @alexlazar4738  Oh, we're doing conspiracy theories now. Count me out.
    1
  23081.  @MaltedJacker  Who's paying back whom on account of Afghanistan?
    1
  23082.  @marcuslegion3654  Yup, it's as if NATO and America have taken the Hippocratic Oath.
    1
  23083.  @tolmie1141  Technically, you're incorrect. Murica does use its military against its civilians. To be precise, a reserve component thereof. The National Guard.
    1
  23084. I suppose that in your limited world view, the only alternative is to submit voluntarily to annexation by Russia. Let Putin know, will you, because he needs easy pickings. He can't deal with another hard nut like Ukraine.
    1
  23085.  @ctwinx76  Even if so, you Americans have done a sterling job giving Covid-19 to one another. We're dilettantes in comparison.
    1
  23086. Be sure to inform Putin. He just needs to issue a withdrawal order.
    1
  23087.  ZelnskyiSolvator  Was that English?
    1
  23088.  @rhetorical1488  Try to be specific. Which genocide are you referring to?
    1
  23089.  @rhetorical1488  What a flaccid comeback. You're not worth my while.
    1
  23090.  @rhetorical1488  More low-quality responses. Please don't ever respond to anything I post.
    1
  23091.  @TheCountess666  Good point about the CSTO. In trying to contain NATO, Putin threw out his CSTO baby with the bathwater.
    1
  23092.  @ReckerFidelWOLF  Sure, the US did a fair bit of bombing, but also, a fair bit of rebuilding. You could say the end result is nil.
    1
  23093.  @carljohnson2194  Yours is a moot point, since Bin Laden publicly admitted his role in 9/11. I don't know if you know your history (I'm inclined to think not), but you're sorely mistaken if you think war is preceded by lengthy court proceedings and a verdict that officially declares a casus belli. But don't you worry, a lot of Youtubers make the same mistake, naively believing that whoever they're trolling for is getting away with murder as long as there's no definite proof, presented in an international court of law.
    1
  23094.  @carljohnson2194  Nonsense. These are his words on a 2006 videotape: "I am the one in charge of the nineteen brothers. ... I was responsible for entrusting the nineteen brothers ... with the raids".
    1
  23095.  @carljohnson2194  There come the conspiracy theories. Pathetic.
    1
  23096.  @carljohnson2194  Wikipedia is very clear on Osama's involvement. The article on him mentions three videos in which he admits involvement. Don't contradict your hero.
    1
  23097. We get you, bullies don't want anyone interfering with their bullying.
    1
  23098.  @girijathesaviour9290  You have an interesting notion of self-defence. It's like when your boss criticizes you at work, you beat up your wife when you come home.
    1
  23099.  @boriszheleznov6020  There's a delete button, you know.
    1
  23100. It's too close for a Javelin shot. An NLAW would be ideal.
    1
  23101. I wasn't aware BASF owned Volkswagen and Siemens. You learn new stuff on YouTube every day.
    1
  23102.  @dersucukdoener  So, it's true?
    1
  23103. These are old Soviet crapola.
    1
  23104.  @braincells1020  OK, what guarantees do you have that the Nigeriens truly accept the coup plotters as their leaders? None, right?
    1
  23105.  @blt4life112  Make sure they're extra sour ;-)
    1
  23106. *its.
    1
  23107. You seem unsure about the role of the UN. What's your education level, by the way?
    1
  23108.  @williamlaird99  I'm not convinced.
    1
  23109.  @williamlaird99  It's only obvious that you don't understand the role of the UN.
    1
  23110.  @AnotherSoldier  I recommend self-education. It's surprisingly easy with this thing called the I-N-T-E-R-N-E-T.
    1
  23111.  @williamlaird99  Aw, you're grievously butthurt. Talking to yourself, too.
    1
  23112.  @AnotherSoldier  I don't know where to start. What's your education level?
    1
  23113.  @williamlaird99  There you go again, talking to yourself. You can't even hit the right reply button.
    1
  23114.  @AnotherSoldier  Tell me about your level of education and I'll consider it. I'm afraid I'll have to bow out if it's primary school only, like your grammar suggests.
    1
  23115.  @AnotherSoldier  OK, let's start with a grammar lesson. Punctuation and capitalisation. You can find helpful guides on the I-N-T-E-R-N-E-T. When you respond, let's see if things have changed for the better.
    1
  23116.  @AnotherSoldier  Uh-oh, you failed capitalisation. Punctuation, too. I knew you wouldn't do your homework. Dog ate it?
    1
  23117.  @AnotherSoldier  *Losing. You failed spelling and grammar. I won't teach you till you've mastered the basics of both.
    1
  23118.  @AnotherSoldier  I'm not a teacher. I'm a casual Youtube commenter and you're begging me for free tuition. That's rather pathetic.
    1
  23119.  @AnotherSoldier  You're trying to put words into my mouth. Those of us who've enjoyed an academic education call that a straw man fallacy. You may want to look it up, now that you've decided to embark on a quest for knowledge. I have to admit it -- your grammar and spelling have improved somewhat. Punctuation still leaves something to be desired. Maybe there's hope for you yet. I worked for the UN for a year. What's your exposure to the organisation?
    1
  23120.  @AnotherSoldier  I asked you for your education level so I could adapt my answers or references to relevant literature accordingly. You refused to answer. I then drew a conclusion based on your poor grammar skills that you needed to start with a basic education. You're still missing a comma and a colon. An article is missing as well. Show that you're capable of improving yourself. I worked with UNIFIL in Lebanon. We had illiterate locals do the dishes. That's more up your alley.
    1
  23121.  @AnotherSoldier  So, you don't even know what UNIFIL does in Lebanon? You are hopeless after all. I'm not going off on a tangent with you and explain how religion and economics relate to one another. Try to find someone else to beg to for an education. Now, the obligatory grammar lesson. "Worked" is past simple tense. It implies I'm no longer working for the UN. Also, the comma is right next to the M key on your keyboard.
    1
  23122.  @AnotherSoldier  It still looks like you're clueless about what UNIFIL does. Washing dishes seems to be your best guess. Uh, you're omitting articles again. Are you Hungarian or Finnish by any chance? Their languages largely omit them.
    1
  23123.  @firefly4907  You must have your head stuck firmly in the sand. Russia would like to threaten Finland and Sweden much more, but even the Kremlin's Comical Alis -- Lavrov first and foremost -- realise that Russia's threats sound very hollow after its Ukrainian debacle.
    1
  23124. Aw, sour grapes.
    1
  23125.  @AM-mu3pm  Ah, I take it you're unfamiliar with the idiom. Anyhoo, I'm not sure I want to dangle any grapes in front of you. Albania is corrupt to the hilt and it remains to be seen if the EU can call a halt to it. Hungary's Orban has been getting away with it for years and the EU is practically powerless to stop him. Weak domestic institutions weaken the EU as a whole.
    1
  23126.  @AnotherOne-ny5ls  I wouldn't be so sure. Israel can pressure the US government, which in turn can pressure Musk. The Pentagon is paying for Starlink service in Ukraine. Musk may have to choose between Ukraine and Gaza. Ukraine is fighting an existential battle against a foe many times its size, while Israel is conducting punitive raids against a terrorist organisation, be it with a lot of collateral damage.
    1
  23127. Russia trying to join the EU would not only be an exercise in futility, but also an exercise in embarrassment. More so even than Turkey, Russia falls short of the accession criteria -- democracy, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities, the existence of a functioning market economy, etc., etc.
    1
  23128. It's not up to the Russian mafia. It's up to the EU member states whether to let Russia in or not. It takes only one veto and the whole deal is off. If no one else, the Baltic states aren't going to waste time making their opposition known.
    1
  23129.  @jasonkingshott2971  Which part of "basically" don't you understand? And you question my intellect.
    1
  23130. Orban certainly is Hungary's Yanukovych. Maybe the two can have adjoining dachas?
    1
  23131. France needs a proper parliamentary system. Presidential systems -- even semi-presidential ones -- are passé.
    1
  23132.  @messageofhumanity6221  "Hippocracy", is that a system where hippopotamuses rule the roost? The things you Krembots come up with...
    1
  23133.  @messageofhumanity6221  Bad spellers of the world untie.
    1
  23134. The Russian Air Force has been rendered ineffective a long time ago. Its losses outweigh the results. And try to keep up with the news. It's Ukraine that's taking territory, not Russia.
    1
  23135. Time you pay a visit to the nearest chapter of Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous.
    1
  23136. Because they would've amounted to appeasing an aggressor?
    1
  23137.  @jagchahal1393  Sunak will be looking for a new job no matter whether he gives money to Ukraine or not. Tory PMs have an air of ephemerality about them.
    1
  23138. Crimes against the Communist dictatorship in China, more like.
    1
  23139.  @benoitbvg2888  They must be getting desperate.
    1
  23140. Are you his prophet?
    1
  23141. And Japan has a renewed interest in the Kuril Islands. Russia is a giant with clay feet.
    1
  23142.  @dexterjulian6198  You've got it backwards. The PA was negotiating in good faith to reach a two-state solution. Israel wasn't. Netanyahu even thought it fun to bolster Hamas in order to undermine the PA.
    1
  23143. If so, public humiliating ensued for Russia.
    1
  23144. The One, perhaps, as a gimmick.
    1
  23145. Don't forget to credit Trump as well. Biden couldn't have done it without him.
    1
  23146.  @broadkast477  You're in denial. Trump engineered the withdrawal. Biden executed it without giving it a second thought. It took two to tango.
    1
  23147. No it doesn't. Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria are all authoritarian, like Russia.
    1
  23148. You need to take a gander at NATO's Article 5.
    1
  23149.  @rickjames18  It seems you don't understand either. Article 5 mandates that all NATO members to come to the aid of the attacked member, no ifs or buts. Without Article 5, NATO ceases to exist for all intents and purposes.
    1
  23150.  @rickjames18  They're not next because there's NATO and NATO has Article 5. Putin is so frantic about NATO expansion because it puts a stop to his imperialist ambitions. Once Ukraine is in NATO, it's hands off for Putin the Not-So-Great.
    1
  23151.  @rickjames18  I don't know of a more effective restraining order than Article 5. So far, Putin has respected it to the letter.
    1
  23152.  @rickjames18  We're seeing the dying embers of an empire that has effectively ceased to exist already. It only persists in Putin's warped mind. Xi Jinping is not interested in bailing out Putin at all cost. Also, he may be a dictator like Putin, but unlike Putin, he's got a party dictatorship to contend with. The CCP won't give Xi carte blanche to deal with Taiwan as he pleases, especially not after Putin's Ukraine debacle.
    1
  23153. Let me guess, binary thinking is your thing.
    1
  23154. ...quiet? No, that's wishful thinking.
    1
  23155.  @p662  And water, is it still wet?
    1
  23156. NATO grows by popular demand, Russia by military conquest. Spot the difference?
    1
  23157.  Veneil  Sure, Yanks excel at navel-gazing. It confounds them that elsewhere, customs differ. Just like Alexander the Little here is confounded by allegories.
    1
  23158.  @rafael_lana  If shape-shifting, blood-drinking aliens took on the likeness of Africans and staged yet another coup d'état in these countries, we would still see these coup fanboys and fangirls cheer them on as their saviours from colonialism, who only have Africa's best interests at heart.
    1
  23159. I'll tell you. Ukraine is a victim of unprovoked military aggression. Russia is the aggressor in question. Can't make it clearer than that.
    1
  23160.  @foilhat1138  Incidentally, the Allies suffered worse casualties in the Battle of the Bulge than the Germans. It's just that the Allies could tolerate their losses and the Germans could not.
    1
  23161. You may want to pick another nickname, Vlad. You're not convincing anyone.
    1
  23162.  @georgejackson2631  Then how come your spelling and grammar are so atrocious?
    1
  23163.  @georgejackson2631  Keep your Yank clichés to yourself.
    1
  23164.  @channel1_channel  The EU is the very antithesis of nationalism. You're the nationalists here. Nationalism got you Brexit. It sure wasn't rationalism.
    1
  23165.  @margodance7236  No, the EU is not a nation. It's a supranational union, a whole new type of political entity. Nationalism doesn't enter into it. There's no national identity that uniquely defines the EU, nor is there a common culture behind it all. The EU is a rational entity, not a national entity.
    1
  23166. Israel is perpetually prepared for a multi-front conventional war against conventional armies. This attack by Hamas -- a terrorist organisation -- may be a painful sting, but it's far from debilitating in a military sense. Israel may need some specialist weapons from abroad, but that's about it. Ukraine won't notice a difference in weapon deliveries.
    1
  23167.  @arvinr.912  "According to my aunt..." I rest my case.
    1
  23168.  @arvinr.912  I can't think of a stronger endorsement.
    1
  23169. How about a non-geriatric case for President?
    1
  23170. They're blinded by nationalism. Once again.
    1
  23171.  @briancarno8837  The OSCE, including its Russian monitors, found no evidence of Ukraine targeting civilians in Donbas. Stop peddling blatantly obvious lies.
    1
  23172.  @theancientsancients1769  Turkey has also been building an "indigenous" tank. To call the program "troubled" would be a huge understatement.
    1
  23173. Which language is that? Google Translate fails to recognise it.
    1
  23174. No, Goatee, I'm very much European. Very much in favour of European integration, too. In or out, there lies the problem with the UK.
    1
  23175.  @Thea-gj2or  So, you prefer to relive the coldest days of the Cold War rather than strive for a better world. We're watching an eroding regional power crumble -- a shadow of its former self, the Cold War-era Soviet Union -- and you think appeasing neo-imperialist Putler is the way forward.
    1
  23176. Russia isn't winning either. There's no happy ending in all of this for Putin's gang. Russia's only chance of coming out of this in an acceptable manner is to start with a clean slate, which means regime change.
    1
  23177. Two down, many more to go.
    1
  23178. Only raw materials matter? Turning commodities into products is the lucrative part. Funny you should mention lumber. Before the sanctions kicked in, Russia exported lumber to Scandinavia, which is not exactly in short supply of the stuff either. In Scandinavia, the lumber was turned into furniture and sold back to Russia at a tidy profit. With Russia's cheap labour, it was WIN-win. Guess who WON and who won.
    1
  23179.  @fullmetal71481  Not of course. The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet was initially considered for the same role, but now it looks like Germany needs to spend a lot of money in a hurry. The pricey F-35 is ideal in that respect.
    1
  23180.  @fullmetal71481  It's still very niche. To give you an idea, we recently ordered nearly twice as many F-35s. Germany should order close to a thousand F-35s to arrive at the same per capita ratio.
    1
  23181.  @KonsaiAsTai  History shows that war-mongering dictators don't stop unless they're made to stop.
    1
  23182. Go protest on the Red Square then.
    1
  23183.  @taika.melissa2798  That's all good and well, but Niinistö's Swedish is an abomination.
    1
  23184.  @neponepo8349  It isn't. I should know.
    1
  23185.  @raichiovasily2156  I hear there was a S-400 involved, too, and a Russian-operated one at that, so the 2019 incident can't be blamed on Syrian ineptitude alone. I suppose it's a Baldrick-style cunning plan of Russia's to tolerate Israeli incursions over Damascus, but to allow the Syrians to shoot down Russian planes, like the unfortunate maritime patrol plane in 2018. You had better explain the cunningness of that plan, because I can't see how the oh-so-apparent flaws in Russian weapon systems won't have a ruinous effect on Russia's arms exports. I mean, Ukraine has ruined all prospects of T-90 sales after the whole world has witnessed the popped-off turrets. The Russian economy will plunge even deeper.
    1
  23186.  @Pangolin_6483  Have heard there's a war going on? Both sides of the border are crawling with soldiers. It's the worst possible escape route for a terrorist.
    1
  23187. A close relative beat cancer. Hooray, there's finally a cure for cancer!
    1
  23188.  @MirzaShahidmughal1  Not all weapons need to be high-tech. Personal weapons have changed relatively little over time. That's why we gifted our stocks of former East German Kalashnikov clones to Ukraine. They're familiar with them, and otherwise they would've been destroyed.
    1
  23189. How's Trump going to solve all the crises we're now seeing? Swallow a light bulb and wash it down with bleach? Come to think of it, I'd like to see him try.
    1
  23190. Give us a failure example then.
    1
  23191.  @SarcasticAssertive  All things considered, Germany has done a pretty good job. Which other country would you like to compare Germany with? I hope not India, because that would prove extremely uncomfortable for you.
    1
  23192. This is an international discussion forum, sport. Most of us can't vote in the US (and breathe a sigh of relief).
    1
  23193. Alaska? You bots are becoming weirder still.
    1
  23194. Actually, it was a Russian propaganda ploy to claim Euromaidan was pro-Nazi. Tell me, are you a useful idiot or a paid troll? I don't know which one is sadder.
    1
  23195.  @kennyb6591  So you tell me then. Which of the two sad phenomena do you represent?
    1
  23196.  @kennyb6591  You helped me make up my mind. If you don't identify as a troll, you must be a useful idiot. That means you're unaware that you're spreading Russian propaganda, which is sadder still. A troll knows and gets his thirty pieces of silver.
    1
  23197. Being sabotaged by Russia and its UNSC veto. Are you new to this world?
    1
  23198.  @888ssss  Finland couldn't be in the EU if it hadn't a free market economy. You're the joke here.
    1
  23199. Bolsonaro already left for the US with his tail firmly tucked between his legs. But the fat lady hasn't sung yet. Soon enough, there will be an extradition request for the Americans to peruse.
    1
  23200. You may want to start charging rent from the US for living in your head. You're just as insufferable as the Yanks, wanting everything to be about them.
    1
  23201. The EP thinks otherwise, but what do the elected representatives of 375 million EU voters know.
    1
  23202.  @maynamar2517  Uh, you're not EU electorate and why do you think you represent the USA in this inconsequential matter of yours?
    1
  23203. Oh, don't you worry. A war-weary and economically-ravaged Russia will ask for peace terms. Undoubtedly those terms will be unfavourable to Russia, but not quite unpalatable considering Russia's dire condition. Historians will be quick to conclude that it amounted to a Ukrainian victory. Did you think every war ends with the capture of the capital of the defeated party?
    1
  23204.  @Jimmy1972  It's amusing that you as a Russian try to lecture Finns about the pitfalls of joining NATO. An overwhelming majority of the Finns support NATO membership. Finns are critical thinkers with full democratic rights, and they actively put them to use them, too. You're just a slave to your dictator. If you don't toe the line, you'll go to prison, or drop out of an open window.
    1
  23205.  @Jimmy1972  Nothing threatens Finland? Putin tried to curtail the sovereignty of both Sweden and Finland by demanding that neither join NATO. In the event of a war between the USA and Russia, NATO only becomes involved if the USA is the attacker. Do your homework, Botty McBotface.
    1
  23206.  @Jimmy1972  Again, curtailing one's sovereignty is a threat. There were plenty of official statements to that effect from the Kremlin, before and after Finland applied for NATO membership. Of a military nature, too. Being a vassal to someone means doing their bidding. That's not how NATO works. Decisions are made in unison. You still didn't do your homework, did you? It doesn't matter which NATO member were to attack Russia. Only if Article 5 is invoked, the whole of NATO has to spring into action. If there's no attack against NATO, there's no casus foederis. Can you spell D-E-F-E-N-S-I-V-E? Try to make some valid points for a change.
    1
  23207.  @Jimmy1972  Now you're just making stuff up. Guilt by association is not a recognised legal principle. It's quite the contrary -- with Finland and Sweden in NATO, the likelihood of either becoming a target of Russian aggression is lower. An attack -- conventional or nuclear -- will trigger Article 5 all the same. And which part of MAD don't you understand? NATO is not a hostile military bloc. Russia has been known to endorse NATO's military missions. In fact, Afghanistan is a case in point.
    1
  23208.  @Jimmy1972  If so, why was your precious and benevolent Russia fully supportive of NATO's Afghanistan mission? Explain that. By the way, You shouldn't exhibit your sociopathic suicidal tendencies on YouTube. There are impressionable children about.
    1
  23209. If Iran arms and bankrolls these factions, 'Iran-backed' is very appropriate.
    1
  23210.  @tjmarx  You still don't get the point. Even if you had a mattress chockful of money, you couldn't buy state-of-the-art military drones just like that. The sellers are rather insistent on knowing your intentions.
    1
  23211.  @tjmarx  You're a poser. Iran's military drones are just that, kamikaze drones. They've been thoroughly investigated and documented after the Saudi strike. What kind of drones were used in Iraq is still shrouded in mystery, but the Americans did admit they lacked effective counter-measures. DIY drones are easily jammed. Actually, I know arms sales. We supplied comms equipment to militaries all over the world. Also, I'm a drone enthusiast. Now, let's hear about your credentials ;-)
    1
  23212. *Led. *Neither.
    1
  23213. In case the pope decides to pitch in as well, I hope he realises that halberds aren't very useful in Ukraine.
    1
  23214. Let's be fair. Master Xi put a stop to Putin's crowd's nuclear warmongering and with very few exceptions, they've obliged His master's voice spoke.
    1
  23215.  @Madame702  Coup d'états within the EU? Europe (with the notable exception of European Russia) has a firmly established democratic process for political renewal. Where undemocratic countries have coup d'états and revolutions, democratic ones have elections.
    1
  23216. I wish there was a way to conscript you.
    1
  23217. Putin must be pleased. Soon, there's a likeminded imperialist in the White House. Perhaps not quite as an incompetent one, but still.
    1
  23218. ...too little.
    1
  23219. Please elaborate on your claim of banned commemorations -- provide some examples.
    1
  23220.  @jamesmills4931  Right ;-)
    1
  23221.  @jamesmills4931  Nationalsozialismus? You're cute.
    1
  23222. Trumps stands in awe of autocrats. There's a measure of envy as well. But as a narcissist, I don't think he's capable of loyalty, which "pro-ness" entails.
    1
  23223.  @dempsey2023  Not only "smart", but also, "genius", "savvy", "great charm", "tough cookie" were words that Trump used to describe Putin as Russian troops were entering Ukraine. If that isn't praise, I don't know what is. Trump taking Putin at his word that Russia wasn't paying the Taliban to kill US troops was an odd move even for an odd President. Moreover, Trump tut-tutted Navalny's poisoning at the hands of Putin, despite clear evidence to the contrary. He's deferential all right, which suggests Trump is a fan.
    1
  23224. Projection? No-one has invasion plans for Cuba.
    1
  23225.  @ralado31  That would the Kyivan Rus' (note the correct spelling) ruled by the Rurik dynasty, of Viking offspring. Our boys, in other words.
    1
  23226.  @mdgcwood  Come on, over the last few days, our struggling troll friends have put in an immense effort to try to contain the damage caused by Navalny's murder. I think some recognition for their efforts, even if it's ultimately futile, is in order.
    1
  23227. Dat ontbreekt er nog aan, dat een generaal ook complottheoriën gaat rondbazuinen.
    1
  23228. In een parlementaire republiek zou Rutte alsnog minister-president zijn. Je denkt aan een presidentieel systeem, zoals in de VS. In een parlementaire republiek is de president beperkt in zijn macht. Minder dan de koning, maar meer dan de minister-president.
    1
  23229.  @robertshelton3796  The US copied its electoral system from its erstwhile foes, the British, and ended up with a similarly archaic electoral system that favours large parties at the expense of smaller ones. Likewise, the UK is afflicted with a de facto duopoly in the Tories and Labour, who take turns governing the country. All because of an archaic electoral system.
    1
  23230.  @Ryanlexz  That's what I wrote 3 weeks ago.
    1
  23231. Why? Thanksgiving has nothing to do with Christmas traditions and the Gregorian calendar, both of which predate Thanksgiving. Next, you're going to tell us that Pope Gregory XIII was a time-travelling CIA agent.
    1
  23232. Because Trump once hired him. It's uncanny how many of Trump's ex-staffers have turned against him.
    1
  23233. Before y'all start yer braggadocio, try to meet the 2% NATO target.
    1
  23234. What's the English translation?
    1
  23235.  @juskis01  I'm not an Englishman, thank you very much, but please define "couping"?
    1
  23236.  @mandarinandthetenrings2201  The same applies for Israel and the so-called West. Israel had better get into gear with regard to the two-state solution.
    1
  23237.  @mandarinandthetenrings2201 Uh, thanks for illustrating my point further.
    1
  23238.  @mandarinandthetenrings2201  Why should I take your word for it? Israel most definitely has an interest in a lasting peace and two-state solution is the best formula for it.
    1
  23239. The Yanks copied the very same engine, too.
    1
  23240. Israel has bought German high-tech subs. Same phenomenon at play -- no-one is a jack of all trades and master of everything.
    1
  23241.  @burritosls  It was supposed to be Russia's business. In the past, Russia hinted at triggering CSTO Article 4 if Azerbaijan were to invade Nagorno-Karabakh. Russia didn't. Also, Azeri incursions into Armenia proper failed to trigger a military response from Russia. Russia turned the CSTO into a dead letter and alienated Armenia, up to the point of Armenia declaring Putin a war criminal. Russia seems very much part of the debacle.
    1
  23242. Germany, hostile to Turkey? This is about Germany having fallen in love with döner kebab to the extent that they now consider it part and parcel of their culture. The same goes for chicken vindaloo, which the Brits consider a staple dish. The Turks (Türkiyers?) should be proud, not defensive.
    1
  23243.  @krisparks1  Why not that of Kiribati? Stop bringing yourselves to the fore. We've all got a nationality.
    1
  23244.  @krisparks1  Don't give up your day job to go on a comedy tour.
    1
  23245. Sadly, yes. It's about time the Chinese are being taught what "quid pro quo" means.
    1
  23246. Maybe we should return Serbia to Turkey and call that normal.
    1
  23247.  @PhageTheFinalCure  India doesn't mind milking Russia dry either. I guess China will want to be exclusive at some point, however. Britain didn't let others exploit their Jewel in the Crown either.
    1
  23248. Once, there was a case to be made for 'Wandel durch Handel'. Only Putin doesn't understand economics. It's not in his KGB handbook.
    1
  23249. Uh, they weren't sourcing any electricity from Russia, not since 2022. Why don't you Krembots ever watch the video that you comment on?
    1
  23250.  @clownadiannews8461  The keyword is 'fossil-free', silly. Next, are you going to claim that we shouldn't be breathing, because we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.
    1
  23251.  @clownadiannews8461  Duh. Do you really feel you need to explain the merits of 'fossil-free' to us? You were confidently claiming that petroleum products are crucial in producing any metal. Green steel aims to prove otherwise. The Swedes propose to use electrolysis to produce hydrogen. Like I suggested, read up on green steel. Google is your friend. Don't be shy.
    1
  23252.  @clownadiannews8461  Fuel cells? I don't know if you're confused or just deviating. In green steel à la Suédois, hydrogen is used for chemical reduction of the iron ore. The hydrogen is made with water electrolysis. The electricity comes from hydropower -- green electricity, in other words. I don't know why you suddenly switch from steelmaking to the car industry.
    1
  23253.  @clownadiannews8461  Are you trying to impress or make a point? It has been demonstrated that green steel can be made without fossil fuels. You claimed otherwise.
    1
  23254. ​ @clownadiannews8461  Ah, I see. When you realise that you can't defend your position, you deflect.
    1
  23255. You're in denial. Russia could've used its mineral and intellectual wealth to build itself a strong, modern economy. Instead it went on an imperialistic rampage that's achieving the opposite. Your dream has only slipped away further.
    1
  23256. 0:26 "The Kiev regime is trying [...] to provoke us to similar actions". Putin's Baghdad Bob gets it backwards again.
    1
  23257. They're not ecstatic, which they would've been if there had been an EU-wide bidding war. The EU is going to drive a hard bargain. The arms manufacturers had better do their calculations properly or they'll lose money on the deals.
    1
  23258. In order to seize Odesa, Russia must completely and utterly destroy the city and its port facilities. It's the only way Russia ever manages to seize anything.
    1
  23259. Are you sure the US pays its dues to NATO? Hint: it was always pivoted to Asia, which doesn't come free.
    1
  23260. What are you on about? We have the governments we voted for. It seems the whole concept of democracy is lost on you.
    1
  23261. Russians are convinced that everyone lies. Out of habit, they settle for the Russians lies.
    1
  23262.  @hendrikdependrik1891  A cruder one, at least. The Kremlin is gearing up to deprive their citizens of avenues for free discourse. But as a bonus, we'll be spared the attentions of the useful idiots among the Russian trolls. The paid ones will still be around, that's for sure.
    1
  23263.  @ChuckHuffmaster  That's a fanciful interpretation. Germany had sided with the USSR during the Winter War, but Hitler had a change of heart when Germany started preparing for Operation Barbarossa. Finland was offered arms and grain, both of which it needed desperately, especially the latter since it had lost its breadbasket in Karelia. Hitler never had clear plans for Finland, apart from making vague promises about rewarding Finland with large swathes of Russia should it participate in his crusade against Communism. Finland didn't fall for it and held back after recapturing its lost territories and occupying defensible positions. Interestingly, Germany fared relatively poorly at attacking the USSR from the very north of Scandinavia, so Finland's unwillingness to advance further didn't become an issue. It wasn't lost on the USA, which actively maintained diplomatic relations with Finland throughout WW2.
    1
  23264.  @bdleo300  I truly wonder if you're really European, but what I can tell is that you have a poor understanding of the EU's relationship vis-à-vis the US. Trump is busily gearing up for a trade war with the EU. Why on earth would one start a trade war with one's own colony? The EU is not Europe, by the way. Europe extends all the way to the Ural Mountains, deep inside Russia.
    1
  23265. They've got you conspiracy theorists worried, that much is clear.
    1
  23266. She should've offered to let her son French-kiss her in public.
    1
  23267.  @herptek  What are trying to argue and to whom exactly? Like I noted elsewhere, you make a lousy conversationalist. Please don't reply to my comments.
    1
  23268.  @herptek  Oh, we can watch the same videos, but just don't comment on my comments so as not to waste my time. Your "discussions" are rambling and off-topic.
    1
  23269.  @wolfswinkel8906  What a flaccid response. Stalin was Georgian, but the Russians all bowed to him like to a demi-god. Did that make Georgia all-powerful? No, Stalin couldn't care less about his birth country, just as long as it bowed to him. When Russia inevitably loses the war in Ukraine, will you try to make the excuse that since the soldiers of the Russian Federation were mostly ethnic non-Russians drawn from oblasts and republics that have since seperated from Russia, Russia didn't lose the war after all? I think so. Beggars can't be choosers, after all.
    1
  23270. It's because you, and the coup fanboys and -girls, like conspiracy theories.
    1
  23271. Putin wanted the US to look bad and he got his wish. Trump makes the US look very bad indeed. Putin, not exactly enjoying worldwide popularity himself, now trumps Trump in popularity. So does China's Xi.
    1
  23272. Raptor, Trump is a gift that keeps on giving. The damage he's doing to US interests isn't just momentary, but an ongoing affair. His successors will be saddled with a lasting legacy, too. I have my doubts about Russia swaying the vote in Trump's favour, but I do believe they had a try. For that alone, Russia deserves to be censured.
    1
  23273. Raptor, the slate won't be wiped clean when Trump leaves office. Long-term commitments, such as US participation in trade, climate and peace agreements, will be met with considerable skepticism. Mind you, not because of the next occupant of the White House (who'll no doubt receive a Nobel Peace Prize the moment he or she takes office), but because of the loose cannon that nixes everything again. If you've gone mad once, who's to say there won't be a relapse?
    1
  23274.  @LifeSaver_EliYAH  What brought that little temper tantrum on?
    1
  23275. But China is Russia's economic lifeline. Africa is not that siginificant a trade partner for France, and it's just some coup-plagued African countries that are -- supposedly -- against France. You're clutching at straws to make yourself feel better about Russia's isolation, which is very real.
    1
  23276. I hate to rain on your parade, but those jobs will sooner go to the likes of Vietnam.
    1
  23277. Satellite pictures show that they've emptied their tank depots up north, along the Finnish border. How they train new crews is a mystery.
    1
  23278. Ukraine is on its way to a defensive victory all right.
    1
  23279. No, the Social Democrats were the worst enemies of the Communists. The Social Democrats ruined everything for the Communists.
    1
  23280.  @piccadillyvision3761  Putin can still end the war any moment he wishes to. He just needs to issue a withdrawal order. NATO's expansion in whichever direction is a volunatory matter. Sovereign states can strike alliances as they see fit.
    1
  23281. Ukraine is lost to them forever?
    1
  23282.  @agungvega8156  You might as well speculate about how the US will feel if Russia puts military equipment on the nearest exoplanet.
    1
  23283. That'll do, Putin troll. Back to the cave with you.
    1
  23284. The anti-doping authorities would have their work cut out for them if Russia still took part in the Olympics, but mercifully, no.
    1
  23285. And those would be your crypto-Fascists?
    1
  23286. Trump deserves kudos, too.
    1
  23287. Je moet het zo zien, het is een beetje hetzelfde als een röntgenapparaat die kankergezwellen in kaart brengt. Kankerbestrijdend dus, en niet kankerverwekkend.
    1
  23288.  @seangallagher8233  China is a party dictatorship. Is that what you aspire to be?
    1
  23289. And you're quite the role model for monarchists, aren't you?
    1
  23290. I wonder if the Orcs are going for a record here. Ceuta, on the North African coast, was under siege for close to thirty years.
    1
  23291.  @GEOFF0906  Nonetheless, it's an agreement that May negotiated with the other EU members in good faith. Should the EU-27 have negotiated with someone else then, someone who didn't have a mandate to represent the UK? Mr. Bean perhaps?
    1
  23292. You're a slave to conspiracy theories.
    1
  23293. You're right. You are a naive American.
    1
  23294. For shore leave?
    1
  23295. FIX THE CAPS, TOO.
    1
  23296. You're putting words into their mouth. How not very intelligent.
    1
  23297. It's pretty normal to flush out snipers with artillery. I saw the Israelis do it in Lebanon. Or so they claimed.
    1
  23298. He may have a Teflon coating, but at the same time he's so gaffe-prone that no compound known to man will keep him from being impeached.
    1
  23299.  @arisplugis5197  Any suggestions how to keep Latvian immigrants out?
    1
  23300.  @arisplugis5197  I'm not asking which nationalities you deem fit to immigrate and which you don't. But since you're fervently anti-immigration, I'd like to hear your expert opinion on how to keep Latvians out. I mean, it's widely know that Latvians have a hand in organised crime, dealing with drugs, stolen weapons and -- you gotta love this -- people-trafficking. In keeping all Latvians out, we'd keep the bad apples out, too, don't we? So how?
    1
  23301. I don't think "casserole" is in the secret keyword list. "Uighur" and "Tibet" are.
    1
  23302. Go unanswered? Are you saying Russia hasn't struck Ukraine with (Wagner?) mercenaries and Russian weapons already? The not-so-subtle difference between cause and consequence confuses you something fierce.
    1
  23303. 0:21 The swallows aren't perturbed by the air defence missiles.
    1
  23304.  @ronaldwilson9525  Must be. The Russians must rue the day Russia kicked the British Council out of Russia, the trolls included. No more free English lessons.
    1
  23305. Russia just exchanged 60 S-35 fighters for thousands of Iranian kamikaze drones.
    1
  23306. Democracy is incompatible with the East, you think?
    1
  23307.  @tcwallace2046  You'll find that people were pro and con, just like in Hong Kong. No double standards there, bud.
    1
  23308. But the Germans have full suffrage democracy. They're not at the mercy of authoritarian overlords.
    1
  23309. If we go by Trump's past global popularity polls, the world begs to disagree with you. Only Putin and Xi managed to do worse.
    1
  23310. You could pull out of your conspiracy theories and join Conspiracy Theorists Anonymous to keep from relapsing.
    1
  23311. You can't blame the trolls. They can only think in terms of dictators and despots.
    1
  23312. Putin applauds your decision. Xi, too, for future's sake.
    1
  23313. The company behind Sputnik vaccine took their sweet time to apply for certification with the EMA. All the others, who've had their vaccines certified already, were at it much earlier. One can only wonder what the Russian feet-dragging was about. It raises questions about how proven your "proven tech" really is.
    1
  23314.  @monmouthnj  Sux to be you.
    1
  23315. Those body bags won't fill themselves.
    1
  23316. That's a curious claim. There was the so-called Global War on Terror that ended only recently. The whole of NATO and then some took part in it.
    1
  23317.  @shannaduhon7771  I hear your Abrahamic god founded yet another religion, Islam. It's his third after founding Judaism first and Christianity second. This Islam venture has proven quite a hit, although it still trails #2 somewhat. Your god sure likes to branch out and explore new markets.
    1
  23318. Duh, the Brits aren't an indigenous people. Immigrants the lot of you.
    1
  23319. Yet you can't put your finger on what it is that's wrong. I hear only incessant whining.
    1
  23320.  @rigod100  Which wars has Ukraine started recently?
    1
  23321.  @SPAWN-m4y  Yeah, I'm not playing whataboutism with you. You need to invite juveniles for a play date.
    1
  23322.  @SPAWN-m4y  I'm not American. Now go play.
    1
  23323.  @SPAWN-m4y  Aw. You may want to keep it civil from now on.
    1
  23324.  @SPAWN-m4y  Oh, a man with a mission. Foul language will only get you banned.
    1
  23325. Tell us about it, where else is this happening -- except in Russia, where Putin and his pals rob the country blind?
    1
  23326. It's state-owned forest. Just like during Soviet times, nobody really cares in Russia either.
    1
  23327. You think Greta is the only one with a thermometer?
    1
  23328. AfD aren't 'standard' conservatives. Just 'far right' will do.
    1
  23329. Xi's social contract with the Chinese people is expiring. China needs a new Deng Xiaoping.
    1
  23330. You're a drama queen all right.
    1
  23331.  Mark Dubya  There's an important distinction. Lukashenko owes his position to lack of democratic institutions and repression of dissidents. Trump? Electoral stupidity.
    1
  23332.  @user-be5ss2ir9z  Have you given any thought to leaving the increasingly defunct Russian Federation? I see a window of opportunity opening.
    1
  23333. It was force majeure. Russia's entry, a military brass band, was wiped out in the Battle of Kyiv.
    1
  23334. Yup, he's making way for the next gerontocrat. Vance and Musk are getting their milking machine ready as we speak.
    1
  23335.  @Snowforest60  Nah, the cordon sanitaire will hold. The AfD is an anti-immigration party. There's more to politics than immigration alone. Look at the Netherlands, where a clown show ensued when the far-righties made it into a (coalition) government.
    1
  23336.  @cageybee7221  So the US has an ayatollah as its supreme leader, too? Youtubers say the weirdest things.
    1
  23337. You're too kind. Putin tried his utmost to bomb them out. Of late, failure is no stranger to Putin. More like a constant companion.
    1
  23338. Trump will make America as great as Russia, China and North Korea.
    1
  23339. You've got Zelenskyy's crowd confused with Putin and his cronies. Sloppy.
    1
  23340. We even use Japanese cars. You?
    1
  23341.  @jaygilley2223  It always amazes me that your Republicans think that democracy and republic are mutually exclusive political systems.
    1
  23342. They're at least partially to blame for the Great Lakes.
    1
  23343.  @PaulDenison-r7r  Don't expect wonders from China. It's in China's interest that Russia becomes evermore isolated. A friend indeed is a friend in need. Old Chinese proverb?
    1
  23344. I hope not. The G7 had better steer clear of China's neo-colonialism.
    1
  23345. The relevance of your comment eludes me. But I bet it eludes you, too.
    1
  23346.  @narancauk  Actually, the Airacobra performed rather well on the Eastern Front. With combat taking place at lower altitudes than elsewhere, it suddenly wasn't hampered by its lack of a turbocharger. The Soviets couldn't have enough of them. Some of the highest-scoring Soviet aces flew it, too.
    1
  23347.  @narancauk  The Airacobra also had a massive cannon in the nose, its engine in the middle of the fuselage and a nose wheel. It flew well, was hard to shoot down and its serviceability was far superior to that of Soviet types. Soviet pilots liked it, German pilots respected it. Yet keyboard warrior narancauk, who's never been near an Airacobra, knows better. Not only that, he compares a fighter to a dedicated ground-attack aircraft, as if they're comparable. I call fanBOY!
    1
  23348.  @michaelkopischke2255  Now you're backtracking. It's not a question of ratios. You bombastically claimed that no US-made tanks fought on the Eastern Front. To keep it real, I corrected you. Thousands of M3 Lees and M4 Shermans saw combat in Soviet hands. Not tens of thousands, like T-34s, but thousands nonetheless. Man up and admit that you were wrong. Introducing one straw man argument after another won't help your case.
    1
  23349.  @narancauk  The Airacobra did see combat with the *USAAF in the Pacific and the Med. The Americans didn't like the mediocre high-altitude performance of the Airacobra. Bell put a better engine in the follow-up P-63 Kingcobra, but it proved inferior to the P-51 Mustang, so the USAAF went with the latter. For reasons that remain unclear, the Soviets never took a liking to the Mustang. If you'd tone down the silly hyperbole, you could read all this online yourself.
    1
  23350.  @narancauk  Now you're just trying to attract my attention. Go read a history book.
    1
  23351. @Discodave007licencedtothrill. I am unawares of any rout involving Ukrainian troops. Also, this surrender you refer to, please elaborate?
    1
  23352.  @deesmith6363  Keep fantasizing. The reverse is true, Russia suffered -- and continues to suffer -- far worse casualties in Kursk than Ukraine. Trap, you say? More like soft underbelly. Initially, the Ukrainians cut into Kursk like the proverbial hot knife through butter. They captured Russian conscripts with their cammies around their ankles. Trap, pfrrt!
    1
  23353.  @ludicrousbonobo632  What did I miss? Tell me about these supposed routs. But before you ruin your credibility altogether, you may want check what 'rout' means.
    1
  23354.  @johnadam2885  Still no rout. You Krembots struggle to stay on topic. Do you have an ADHD diagnosis yet?
    1
  23355. Russians are apathetic to the hilt. They don't care about their fallen in Ukraine, so this is of minor importance.
    1
  23356.  @HigherMorality  Then explain why "the level of democracy" in Russia is ranked at level 146 out of a total of 167 levels in the Democracy Index, for instance.
    1
  23357. *repelled.
    1
  23358.  @meplenn  Exactly who's divided?
    1
  23359.  @meplenn  Russia not a threat? Didn't Russia forcibly annex Crimea? How about the war in Donbas and 100,000 Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian border? Which rock are you under? These neighbours of Russia may be sovereign states, or at least so in name, but Belarus and Kazakhstan in particular are firmly in Russia's sphere of influence. Russia desperately wants to keep things that way, but they're fighting a losing battle. Hence the ruckus about NATO's eastward expansion.
    1
  23360.  @meplenn  I'm not a CNN watcher, no. Putin would be my source for the Little Green Men, whom he publicly lauded for being instrumental in the annexation of Crimea. Let's see, the war in Donbas -- it was a public secret how Russian soldiers took their "holidays" there. Some returned in coffins, and their widows and mums wouldn't keep quiet about it. I remember reading about it in Novaya Gazeta (I read Russian, BTW). Neither Putin nor Russian TV makes a secret out of the troops massing on the Ukrainian border. You really are living under a rock.
    1
  23361. ​ @tony18662  None of that solves the problems I flagged. Let's not pretend that there isn't a problem with Sweden remaining outside of NATO.
    1
  23362.  @thotmorgana  In my book "pretty sure" isn't quite good enough.
    1
  23363. Aren't popes earthly caretakers in the absence of Jesus?
    1
  23364. Nice coping. Now Russia will be even more apprehensive about sending warships within Ukrainian missile or sea drone range. This just underscores that Russia's Black Sea fleet is neutered.
    1
  23365.  @RodneyWolfram  You're painting a very hypothetical picture. Hezbollah is by no means an insurmountable military obstacle to Israel. The IDF could easily cut through Hezbollah's defences, but Hezbollah would roll with the punches and switch to insurgency tactics. Israel, with its reservist army, isn't keen on suffering the casualties that would go with it, even if they're expected to be relatively minor compared to what Hezbollah would endure. We've seen it all before.
    1
  23366.  @keepcalmcarryon9097  You're the cowards. Our F-35s would make mincemeat out of PLAAF fighters, but we don't have a dog in this fight.
    1
  23367.  @keepcalmcarryon9097  You're jumping to conclusion, little buddy. Where did I suggest I was American? And learn your idioms if you want to take part in adult conversation.
    1
  23368. The Third Reich, too?
    1
  23369. Rest assured, your far-right parliamentarians get to vote about the cabinet, just like all parties with seats in parliament. The "establishment and media" do not get to vote. It seems like you should get away from Belgium and its parliamentary democracy and head for one-party China. There, you don't have to choose between any parties. And you can pretend having an emperor in Xinnie the Pooh, which is not far off the mark.
    1
  23370. They're frantic. Mobilisation is still ongoing. The younger ones are hoping for a deferment from conscription, too.
    1
  23371. Your boycotts are like misty-eyed children in front of the candy store, because they can't afford any.
    1
  23372. You mean like into 50 states with a government of their own? Check.
    1
  23373.  @jettser17UK  You like to beat your own drum.
    1
  23374.  @Bruintjebeer6  The Dutch are a bit lazy when it comes to truly mastering English. It always cracks me up when you literally translate your idioms to English, confident that foreigners will understand what you're on about. Then the monkey comes out of the sleeve and you sit with the baked pears.
    1
  23375. You've been whatabouting about Navalny for days, so don't play silly buggers.
    1
  23376.  @rohanshende4338  I don't think Putler's presence is required in Russia on account of the war. Having said that, him leading his special "3-day" operation from his Führerbunker would explain a lot. I'm just theorising, but maybe Xi simply told him: "You're not going, and that's the end of it".
    1
  23377.  @IrishCinnsealach  Modern-day Chinese have a selective memory, too, with regard to Russia's role in turning China into a semi-colony in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, to say nothing of the Russians themselves.
    1
  23378. There-there. Don't overdo it with the copium.
    1
  23379.  @alexrostov1309  I've reported you for spamming.
    1
  23380.  @mimikrya8794  ⬆⬆These bots have found an echo chamber.
    1
  23381. What, and shoot himself in the leg once more? This, if anything, was a self-inflicted wound.
    1
  23382. Uh, haven't the Ukrainians shown otherwise, when they sent your Orcs packing from Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson? Russia is entering the record books with its protracted assault on Bakhmut, as in the slowest military advance in the history of modern warfare.
    1
  23383. What's it to you? You're out.
    1
  23384. Shouldn't you be crying about PiS being sent packing? With their headstart, they can console Wilders' PVV, who'll endure a similar fate.
    1
  23385. Your glass is certainly half full. Common sense dictates that there's strength in numbers. And Finland and Sweden will be net contributors to NATO, both punching above their weight militarily. In fact, if all NATO countries put as much effort into their defence as the two, NATO would be much stronger still.
    1
  23386. Your psychopathy poses a danger to those around you.
    1
  23387.  @amarath84  I'd like to see you stop a T-72 with a rifle, or a few cans of beer for that matter. We Finns don't brag.
    1
  23388.  @amarath84  I think you've had a few too many.
    1
  23389.  @harri9885  Don't be calling names, Hairy.
    1
  23390. OK, bot. You got your thirty pieces of silver... I mean, thirty roubles.
    1
  23391. They still prove their worth in combined operations. The problem is, Russia has forgotten the art. It's not a prerequisite for mounting nice parades, so they didn't bother rehearsing.
    1
  23392.  @maxisussex  I wonder if you realise that the Panther KF51 is basically a Leopard 2A4 with a new turret, in the same vein as the British Challenger 3 is an upgrade to the Challenger 2. In other words, neither weapons programme is going to increase the number or tanks. Also, the Bundeswehr adopting the Panther is high doubtful, considering that it has no Leopard 2A4s left to upgrade. Existing 2A4 owners may be enticed to keep theirs, anticipating a possible upgrade to Panthers. It's somewhat worrying if they're not given to Ukraine to put the hurt on the Orcs.
    1
  23393. A pre-WW2 DP-27 LMG at 0:49. I recognise it from NCO school. We had to strip it wearing a blindfold.
    1
  23394.  @uchennaabosi7651  Nope, we've pretty much eradicated poverty, and homelessness in particular. Who do you take us for? And who's advocating foreign intervention? You unsuccessfully tried to convince us that foreigners shouldn't meddle in Venezuela's affairs, but Venezuela is meddling in ours by causing yet another refugee crisis. Half across the world, we have to take in Venezuelan refugees.
    1
  23395. I expect the Finns to be more interested in your Great Emu War and which mistakes to avoid. I hear Russia abounds with emus.
    1
  23396. A Briton can't spell Britons*...
    1
  23397. TikTok is controlled by the CCP, the antithesis of freedom. Fortunately, it will soon break free.
    1
  23398. Now for the reductio ad hitlerum: Hitler was democratically elected.
    1
  23399.  @wolfganglaun2319  Then you must have asbestos for skin, or more likely, enjoy warm -- rather than hot -- sauna. If you pour water on the stones when the temperature is 110 C -- as you claim to have endured -- you'll literally risk death. We once managed to heat a brand-new sauna to 124 C. The dry heat was just barely manageable, but when my uncle made the mistake of pouring water, we all were out 0.2s.
    1
  23400. Apple has never even dabbled with telco infrastructure, bud.
    1
  23401. Fact-checkers are going to be very busy with Trump.
    1
  23402. OK, drama queen.
    1
  23403.  @jacqdanieles  Russian logic indeed. After receiving a life sentence in The Hague, Putin will argue that he and the other convicted war criminals should be set free, because their crimes cancel out one another.
    1
  23404.  @lNdamaTV  The UN? That's a bit of a stretch.
    1
  23405.  @lNdamaTV  Sorry, I didn't understand any of that. Your emojis are of no help either.
    1
  23406. So you think the adage "si vis pacem, para bellum" doesn't apply?
    1
  23407. Well, you conspiracy theorists think you're having a good day. Whether or not that's actually the case is very theoretical indeed.
    1
  23408. Unlike the Moskva, NATO ships have functioning anti-missile systems.
    1
  23409. How prevalent are conspiracy theories in India? I remember when every other advertisement in India contained the text "Now in India!" Sure enough, now they're in India.
    1
  23410. That would still be a far cry from the far right attaining a semblance of unity in the European Parliament. I don't expect much progress on that either. The far right's modus operandi is to sow disunity nationally, so how could it achieve unity supranationally, in a EU context?
    1
  23411.  @ZsH85  Check your language?
    1
  23412.  @ZsH85  Which part of "still" don't you understand?
    1
  23413.  @ZsH85  Duh. Reread my initial reply.
    1
  23414.  @ZsH85  Gawd. That would It's still be a far cry from the far right attaining a semblance of unity in the European Parliament.
    1
  23415. That republic nonsense is strictly for Muricans only. Shoo.
    1
  23416. Us hundreds of millions of viewers sure appreciated the comedy of it all. BTW, isn't Charles a British rather than an English king? Or are you already resigned to the UK falling apart?
    1
  23417.  @valentijnrozeveld3773  Volautomatische wapens voor particulier bezit zijn in de VS peperduur, want nieuwe wapens kunnen niet meer geregistreerd worden. Sommige staten willen er helemaal niks van weten. Trouwens, automatisch vuur is onpraktisch op afstand. Ik ben vier jaar beroepsmilitair geweest, maar ik heb nooit met een aanvalsgeweer volautomatisch met scherp geschoten. Wel met een een MAG en zelfs een PKM, maar dat is andere koek.
    1
  23418. Because Russia has become an undependable supplier. It's reneging on existing contracts because it can't piece its kit together without advanced Western technology. Foreign buyers in particular are not risking sanctions themselves by buying sanctioned technology. The West's military industry is very thankful to Putin for kicking off global rearmament and for Russia effectively exiting the international arms market.
    1
  23419. You forget to include any argumentation in your comment. In other words, yours is an argumentum ad lapidem, an appeal to the stone.
    1
  23420.  @qaidanq  Who's American here?
    1
  23421.  @qaidanq  Exactly, yet you bring up Murica as if it were relevant to this discussion.
    1
  23422.  @navajyothmp1871  Your victim mentality is kicking in. At no instance was -- or is -- "the whole West" against India. Besides, Russia is something else altogether compared to the now defunct Soviet Union. It's interesting that you think crony-capitalist Putin somehow inherited your perceived debt of gratitude to the communist Soviets. Marx and Lenin would balk at the sight of Putin and his oligarchs.
    1
  23423. ​ @navajyothmp1871  I know the Indo-Pakistani wars. "The West", as a whole, was not siding with Pakistan. You're talking about the USA and by Russia, you're still referring to the Soviet Union. Get over it, the Soviet Union is done and dusted. You're not very good with getting names right, but you are very good at generalising.
    1
  23424. And what would Kamala do, or Trump for that matter? Launch more airstrikes on Iran? In fact, Trump is about to give Putin a carte blanche with regard to Ukraine, the appeaser in chief.
    1
  23425. ​ @suryanshsagar2677  Wishful thinking on your part, I'm afraid. The Tejas Mk2 will get the F414. Each export deal for the Mk2 is still subject to US approval. The Kaveri is relegated to obscure future drone duty, which is hardly an endorsement. There's more to a jet engine than thrust alone.
    1
  23426.  @saba1030  So, in your expert assessment, each and every arms manufacturer and every single country in the world needs to give its permission for Tejas exports? Oh what a tangled web India has woven.
    1
  23427.  @suryanshsagar2677  If anything, the Kaveri is a moving target. You might as well claim it will be used to re-engine your uncle's Padmini.
    1
  23428.  @suryanshsagar2677  So idioms aren't your thing. How do I put it, a truly usable, fit for purpose Kaveri is an elusive objective. That the jet engine has a troubled history is an understatement. Any Indian defence specialist will readily admit it.
    1
  23429.  @suryanshsagar2677  The point is, success still eludes India. And it hasn't been for the luck of trying.
    1
  23430.  @suryanshsagar2677  Very, very laboriously, you should add. Recently, I read a report that compared the defence industries of South Korea and India. Despite a similar starting point, SK's defence industry is firing on all cylinders, churning out planes and tanks that are selling like hotcakes. Korea has become the world's 8th largest arms exporter. Meanwhile, India has become the world's 2nd largest arms importer.
    1
  23431.  @Viena-e5s  Sweden and NATO are offensive to war-criminal Russia, sure.
    1
  23432. Xinnie the Pooh is holding back China.
    1
  23433.  @dk0306  WW2 began in 1918. Every history student knows that.
    1
  23434.  @dk0306  Aren't you playful.
    1
  23435. Bravo, your comment has some real longevity to it. It applies to the whole post-Vietnam War era. The end has indeed been nigh for very long.
    1
  23436. If so, they took their sweet time introducing it to the world.
    1
  23437. Nah. As always, Western investors are keenly looking for new growth markets opening up so they can make a bundle. As my professor used to say, money goes where it grows. No BRICS country -- with the possible exception of economically-mismanaged Russia -- will turn them away. As major shareholders, these investors demand a say, or they will pull their money out again. Your precious India is very much cosying up to Western investors, by the way.
    1
  23438.  @user-di5rm9ee1p  You've overdosed on copium, Ivan. The Shahed is an Iranian design, with reverse-engineered Western technology.
    1
  23439.  @Salamis.-330  I'm certain president Biden wasn't invited to ex-president Trump's lair.
    1
  23440.  @edelgyn2699  Usual? Of all US presidents, only Grover Cleveland ever succeeded in regaining the presidency after losing it, and that was in 1892. Statistics don't favour Trump.
    1
  23441. It does beg the question why the USA doesn't introduce a draft resolution to that effect. Not that it would change anything if it were to pass, since Hamas cares even less about UN resolutions than Israel.
    1
  23442.  @hannumononen6345  Your point being?
    1
  23443.  @hannumononen6345 So no point being.
    1
  23444. A Shahed drone with its 40 kg warhead lacks the oomph to destroy a whole power station. The damage is likely to be $400,000 at worst, but more likely, considerably less.
    1
  23445.  kashmir pandit  We're in the EU, but I can't think of a single case where we could conceivably be accused of imperialism. Russia, however, is a clear-cut case. There's no unclarity whatsoever about Putin's imperialist ambitions since Russia illegally annexed Crimea and more recently, the four oblasts in Ukraine. Putin even compares himself to Peter the Great, who forcefully expanded Russia westward. Then there was Catherine the Great, who oversaw the vast expansion of Russia both westward and eastward. Worst of all, Russia retains most of its colonies, while the few Western powers that engaged in colonialism have long since decolonised, save for the few microcolonies that they can't rid themselves of. Russia accusing "the West" of colonization, that's your "hypocrisy unlimited".
    1
  23446. What's there for the US and the EU to negotiate? It's Ukraine that Russia should be negotiating with. You seem to live in a distant past, where great powers could ride roughshod over smaller countries.
    1
  23447. You just exposed your n00bness. Diesel subs would've sunk Murica's aircraft carriers, had there been a real conflict that pitted the two against one another. Ask the Swedes and the Dutch, they can't help smirking.
    1
  23448. The Brits will still be shafted, but um... okay.
    1
  23449.  thomas paine  Deemed by the Brits, in fact. Check out the Democracy Index.
    1
  23450. Asians, including the Chinese, are very brand-aware. Have you even been to China?
    1
  23451.  @kovolo  Actually, you don't have to go to China. I've seen luxury brand stores being mobbed by Chinese tourists the world over.
    1
  23452. We'll pay as long as it takes to put Putin in his place. Which is a prison cell in The Hague.
    1
  23453. @kevinbauza7016 Would our 870,000-strong trained military reserve fit into *Wembley Stadium? I think not, and we're one of the smaller countries in Europe.
    1
  23454. It would be easier for you to retreat to your safe space, cry a little and then perk up on your copium.
    1
  23455. Shame on Zelenskyy for thwarting Putin's well laid-out plans! It was brilliant, to Kyiv in three days... and then Zelenskyy, the spoilsport, ruined everything!
    1
  23456. Putin fanboys are in a flap.
    1
  23457. If Nord Stream was an Ukrainian retaliation in response to Russia's military aggression, how's this NATO's fault? Throughout the war, Ukraine has been actively targeting Russia's oil and gas facilities. Russia should not poke the bear.
    1
  23458.  @ronnylim7907  And you Easterners are bombing in Syria. Find yourselves laughable.
    1
  23459.  @ronnylim7907  Exactly, like which Westerners?
    1
  23460. OK, that paves the way for monetary reparations. How much you've got?
    1
  23461.  @deckard901  The Netherlands has earthquakes going on, too. Its biggest and best gas field is now a liability rather than an asset.
    1
  23462.  @gfys756  I think I already remarked that only you think it's remarkable that the Americans fuss about raising the debt ceiling so as not to default. It's a national pastime! And you're a drama queen.
    1
  23463.  @Anonymous-411  Erdogan must be purdy dumb then.
    1
  23464.  @duncansmith7562  Oh, but Russia is getting destroyed -- economically. The sanctions and oil price cap are biting something fierce. And Ukraine will be rebuilt. Russia I'm not so sure about, unless you agree to become China's northernmost province.
    1
  23465. Nope, it's everyone's responsibility. There's an international maritime treaty, the so-called SOLAS convention, that obligates a vessel's master to offer assistance to those in distress. Don't go sailing on the Med, or you may find yourself in court.
    1
  23466. Feel free to constitute Eastern-centric global financial systems.
    1
  23467.  @theguy4084  It's not just Lithuania. Likewise, Finland refused to pay for Russian gas in roubles and found itself cut off. Now Russian oil is also banned.
    1
  23468. Trump has a penchant for pariahs. Putin and MBS. All is forgiven.
    1
  23469. If there are political assassinations -- or attempts thereof -- divisiness has reached a whole new level. This is not a binary world.
    1
  23470.  @osamaramadan9577  That's the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that tackles countries -- in this case Syria -- not individuals. It's the ICC's turn now to prosecute Assad himself. Thanks to the ICJ, they'll have plenty of evidence stacked up.
    1
  23471. Standing against military aggression is warmongering now? If anything, Finland joining NATO robs Putin of another opportunity to start WW3.
    1
  23472.  @thurstonclevehicks  NATO as an alliance did not make any promises to Gorbachev, nor sign any treaties to that effect. I do believe there was some talk about minding Soviet borders. Where is this so-called Soviet Union now? It's funny how you Putler fans always expect everyone to tiptoe around Russia, while at the same time, Russia itself can stomp around in its jackboots wherever it pleases. And this on account of a regional power that's too big for its britches.
    1
  23473. @Jayhawksfan That would reek of extreme desperation. I see you're at your wits' end already.
    1
  23474. @Jayhawksfan Wow. A feeble attempt at a tu quoque fallacy. And an anachronistic one, too.
    1
  23475. Trump is plenty crazy as it is.
    1
  23476.  @MWENDA-vv5im  Er, by its own admission, China is still a developing country.
    1
  23477.  @catmonarchist8920  Jason here is more concerned about the technicalities of how the Dems pick their presidential candidate than Trump's real coup attempt on Jan 6, 2021.
    1
  23478.  @darkmatter5424  It doesn't matter if she dunnit or a member of her entourage dunnit. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the Russian state is still at it and twisted her arm. What does matter is that her career is being ruined. I don't have to be an expert in figure skating to figure that one out.
    1
  23479. No worries, Finns have hunted bear from time immemorial. Guess who ends up with a hole in his pelt. Has Putin come to his senses and agreed to withdraw his troops? If so, let the negotiations begin! Putin can start with an offer for war reparations.
    1
  23480. Yet Putin very much wants to get rid of the sanctions. You'll get a clue if it comes to peace negotiations and lifting the sanctions becomes of paramount importance.
    1
  23481.  @sreambel-t1u  Where there UN peacekeepers in Ukraine in 2022? Or in 2014? You seem to live in an alternate reality.
    1
  23482. It made way for Putin's Special Political Survival Show. Gotta love Reality TV.
    1
  23483.  @РафаэльСаркисянц-ъ2т  No-one provoked you, unless Ukraine spurning an unwanted suitor -- Putin in this case -- amounts to provocation. Ukraine made its choice, and Russia wasn't it.
    1
  23484.  @РафаэльСаркисянц-ъ2т  You should give it try, if only to find out how much sooner that would bankrupt Russia. Also, I wonder if Cuba and Venezuela would warm up to the idea, having witnessed how poorly Russia can protect its allies <cough>Armenia<cough>Syria<cough>.
    1
  23485.  @РафаэльСаркисянц-ъ2т  We're fine, you're not. In Russia, inflation is rampant, interest rates are sky-high, the ruble has nose-dived and even your favoured Chinese suppliers are getting risk-averse and stopping deliveries. BRICS? BRICS is a great opportunity for its members to help themselves to Russian resources on the cheap. They have access to world markets, while Russia does not, so they effectively set the prices. Russia plays the role of bargain basement in BRICS. "My" USA? Whatever made you think I'm an American? You can choose from 141 countries that oppose Russia, yet you arrived at the USA? I'm insulted. I have a master's in history (among others), and I distinctly remember being taught that the Soviet Union had to sound the retreat in the Cuban Missile Crisis. It spelled the end of Khrushchev's career, too. Great Soviet-style historical revisionism, but I wouldn't expect anything else from a Putin fan.
    1
  23486.  @РафаэльСаркисянц-ъ2т  Ooh, you'd rather not discuss rampant inflation, crippling interest rates and the myriad of other problems that bedevil the Russian economy, because it's a sore point! Understood, bury your head back in the sand. I don't think you've understood the law of supply and demand. With the exception of Russia, the whole world is our supply. For you, the supply is far, far smaller, because you're being sanctioned left, right and centre, or prospective trading partners give you the cold shoulder for practical reasons. When this limited supply falls short of your demand, suppliers instinctively jack up their prices. Nonetheless, you need their currency, so you have to drop your prices to them, often even below cost. Especially China and India are adept at this. As long as Putin has been in power, he has promised to diversify the Russian economy, but progress has been slow or non-existent. The Russian Federation truly deserves the epitaph 'gas station that masqueraded as a country'.
    1
  23487.  @satyabratachatterjee1938  Ever since the Soviet Union fell apart, Russia has struggled to (re-)diversify its economy. For decades, it's been a common refrain with Russian leaders that Russia will improve, but it always comes to naught. Maybe this time, simply because it has no other options, Russia will become slightly more self-sufficient. If so, what we'll see will be the equivalent of Soviet-era aircraft. Unreliable, inefficient and thus uncompetitive. Only hard-up customers in Russia, North Korea and Cuba will buy them and in very moderate numbers at that. My Indian colleague assures me that all Indian Putin fanboys are Communists. Well, are you?
    1
  23488.  @guillermoelenes4310  News-google for yourself. Or are you digitally handicapped?
    1
  23489.  @ameyapotdar461  OK, CCP apologist.
    1
  23490.  @alru4407  Russia could also resume the production of Imperial Russian aircraft. I just read that the record-breaking Ilya Muromets could carry 16 passengers.
    1
  23491.  @alru4407  No, it's because Russian products weren't competitive. The same phenomenon still plagues Russian manufacturers. Not even Russians buy Russian products if they have a choice in the matter. You don't understand what a market economy is about, do you?
    1
  23492.  @JamesSmith-ij8nj  I see you understand very little of the aviation business. It's extremely regulated. Did you even bother watching the video?
    1
  23493.  @JamesSmith-ij8nj  Low life? If the shoe fits. It was all very carefully explained in the video. You seem to have a comprehension problem, but not to worry. Try watching it again, but this time, with the playback speed set to 0.5.
    1
  23494. We've seen a maladjusted cub in action in Ukraine. It makes a mess, but not a difference.
    1
  23495. Yeah, what about whataboutism.
    1
  23496. You're mighty naive in expecting that Russia will co-operate in making an open and shut case against itself. How these things work is that the aggrieved nation gathers sufficiently convincing evidence and then proceeds to take retaliatory steps against the wrongdoer. If the tables were turned, Russia would behave exactly in the same manner.
    1
  23497. Europe? Try to be a bit more specific. We've poured billions in development aid to Africa, but never done any damage over there.
    1
  23498. That Schröder got it right with his verdict on WMDs and the Iraq War doesn't mean he was right in other matters. Many European nations got it right about the Iraq War and the risks of depending on Russian oil and gas. In Finland, we've been completely cut off since early June, and we're only mildly inconvenienced, and only because of the high prices, which are a worldwide phenomenon. We were in Afghanistan, but not in Iraq.
    1
  23499. Kom, er is een waslijst van presidentiële kandidaten in de VS. Je staart je blind aan de twee machtspartijen. Ander partijen hebben hun eigen kandidaten en tal van onafhankelijken doen ook mee. Het kiesstelsel is er verre van ideaal, maar dat neemt niet weg dat ze verkiesbaar zijn. In Rusland maakt enkel Poetin kans. In de VS zijn het er tenminste twee, en die hebben voorverkiezingen achter de kiezen.
    1
  23500.  @吕栋任  I bet it says "Made in China" on the kit.
    1
  23501.  @couchpotato5363  From the easternmost tip of Turkey to the westernmost tip of Alaska? That's a tall order for any aircraft.
    1
  23502. You're getting ahead of yourself. For the time being, it's still United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
    1
  23503.  @Anon-xd3cf  No silly, the official name still is United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. NI hasn't joined the Republic of Ireland... yet.
    1
  23504. Shove over military industrial complex.
    1
  23505.  @puraLusa  It's likely that abortion will be included in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. If so -- or rather, when so -- it will as binding as the treates that underpin the EU.
    1
  23506.  @danamania150  The USA is a federation, the EU is not; rather, it's a supranational union. EU members enjoy a far greater degree of self-governance than US states do. The fact that the right to abortion is likely to be elevated to de facto constitutional status in the EU doesn't negate the fact.
    1
  23507.  @danamania150  I'm not doing straw man fallacies with you.
    1
  23508. Let's face it. Trump set the USA up for a fall in Afghanistan, Biden delivered and Putin thought the US -- and hence, NATO -- weak. It doesn't matter how you twist and turn it, this isn't Murica's finest hour.
    1
  23509. @Amogus • 7.7B views • 5 seconds ago Don't flatter yourselves unduly. The F-35s that Germany is buying are replacing older Tornados in NATO's nuclear sharing role. For other roles, Germany is still committed to a Franco-German fighter that's under development. Besides, 35 F-35s isn't huge number for the Luftwaffe, considering that Germany's much-smaller neighbours have ordered a similar number or even more.
    1
  23510.  @Exozik  Anti-personnel mines, that would be the Ottawa Treaty.
    1
  23511. It's like you're telling battered women to stop giving their abusive husbands cause.
    1
  23512. That's Big Mac for you. Stick with what you know.
    1
  23513.  @peka2478  Obviously.
    1
  23514.  @terencefirth616  The French prefer crustaceans to your cod and herring. The average fish-and-chips Briton steers well clear of the former, meaning that although supply is plentiful, domestic demand is very limited. Maybe the Chinese, who're known to eat anything, will come and fish in British waters. And pay a pittance for the privilege.
    1
  23515.  @JH-pv6rd  It doesn't matter where we outsource manufacturing, China or elsewhere. The problem doesn't go away by outsourcing it.
    1
  23516. Is it a relevant question? The far left hasn't been in government in France for more than two decades, and when it was, it was a minor partner in a broader coalition.
    1
  23517. Imagine also that you can fit all kinds of goodies inside a 40mm shell. 30mm, less so.
    1
  23518.  @Slavic_Goblin  The smarts take up a fixed amount of space, leaving less space for explosives inside a smaller shell. Alas, miniaturization is not scalable.
    1
  23519. Why are we talking about boarding house tenants?
    1
  23520.  @ottovonbismarck2443  Interestingly, Erhard Milch was half-Jewish, but his boss Göring fixed that. It didn't make Milch's disposition towards the Jews any warmer, however.
    1
  23521. It's a legal tenet that a contract signed under duress can be rescinded by the aggrieved party. We can all testify that Trump resorted to the prerequisite threats. America really is at its lowest ebb.
    1
  23522.  @james-yg9cg  In Soviet Russia, suspects are guilty until proven innocent.
    1
  23523. Yeah, remind Putin.
    1
  23524.  David Tao  Why bring the UK into this? They're not part of Hong Kong's future.
    1
  23525.  @qaz120120  There's still a border of sorts. South of it, the CCP has still hurdles to surmount before they can implement real China-style authoritarian rule.
    1
  23526.  David Tao  I'm not stopping anyone. I'm advocating that the CCP leaves Hong Kong be and lets the Hongkongers decide what kind of society they want to build. What's certain is that they don't want it to mirror China. Embarrassingly, the CCP has to deprive them the vote to prevent it from happening.
    1
  23527.  David Tao  The territory belongs to whoever lives on it. If the Hongkongers feel they're not part of China, so be it. Whoever doesn't identify as a Hongkonger, can leave -- not the other way around.
    1
  23528.  @karlisnikazis5653  As things are, any Nordic and Baltic defence agreements -- or JEF for that matter -- are complementary to NATO; they don't substitute for it. If NATO were to fragment, it doesn't need to fragment into a great many pieces.
    1
  23529. If Mark Twain were alive, he would say the rumours of Trump's victory have been greatly exaggerated.
    1
  23530. NATO expansion is a result of Russia's neighbours seeking security guarantees against Russian aggression. And no-one has punched Russia and/or Putin. Sovereign nations can strike alliances as they see fit. That includes countries that join CSTO -- Russia's not-so-popular and less-than-ideally-functioning anti-NATO.
    1
  23531. Nah. If he outlasts Putin's regime, he may make warlord and gain a fiefdom of his own, Somalia-style.
    1
  23532. Vote... sorry, I forget the scare quotes... "vote" for a KGB operative and you'll end up with a dictator for a president.
    1
  23533.  @ssuwandi3240  She's the type of refugee all developed countries hope to land.
    1
  23534.  @PortfolioPL  That was the Old Testament God. He had mellowed down in the New Testament. God didn't even revenge his only son's death, which is astounding considering his temper in olden times.
    1
  23535. Yeah, Trump wins so bigly all the time that he got tired of winning and made an embarrassing own goal.
    1
  23536. Interesting. I have old telephones made out of cellulose acetate, but I haven't noticed any shape-shifting.
    1
  23537. Yeah, about that. Chad has signed and ratified the Rome Statute, which means Putin can't return the favour and visit Chad. The country is obligated to arrest Putin and extradite him to The Hague to stand trial for war crimes.
    1
  23538. Two-faced kleptocrats? Strange idols you have.
    1
  23539. Is the news supposed to "support the citizens"? Me thinks you can't tell propaganda and news apart.
    1
  23540.  @Mikell-h2c  The Houthis are causing mere misschief at Iran's behest. Nothing that can't be handled.
    1
  23541. Just shy of geostationary orbit, but they'll get there eventually.
    1
  23542.  @АндрейДенисов-ь9р  By the time Lenin "approved" Finland's independence, it was a fait accompli. You may not have full access to news media, but if you did, you would've noticed that no one of importance in Finland is advocating Finlandization for Ukraine. Since Putin can't be trusted, it would be a recipe for disaster as long as he remains in power. If I were Ukrainian, I wouldn't trust the next Russian despot either.
    1
  23543. Yeah, imagine that. The Cold War was over, NATO had an existential crisis, and then Putin gave it a new lease of life. How stupid can you be?
    1
  23544.  @jaybee4577  Check out SIPRI's reports. Russia in particular is making a killing in Africa (pun intended). China comes second (but enjoys the largest customer base). France and the USA clearly lag behind the two.
    1
  23545. It works if you're willing to make amends. China isn't willing to make amends. Whataboutists incoming in 3.. 2.. 1...
    1
  23546. Maybe they agreed on the deputy minister's upcoming nomination to defence minister in Prigozhin's administration.
    1
  23547. 0:43 "Massive call-up of reserve officers..." I hope they remember to call up some grunts and NCOs as well.
    1
  23548.  @xxoo-lp6vc  Yup, Russia can pretend to have lost the war to the UK and US. Maybe the Russians will swallow that lie, because the truth tastes too bitter.
    1
  23549.  @Wolfcamp555  How exactly is it apparent that "the whole continent is broke forever"? We're not even in a recession.
    1
  23550. One ASML does not a summer make.
    1
  23551. Why did those cursed Orangists turn a promising republic into a monarchy? Oranje beneden!
    1
  23552. The FAL, a full-blown battle rifle, good as a PDW? I served in the mechanised infantry, and it was a pain getting in and out of IFVs with that big lug. You must mean the FAMAS. Not exactly a PDW either, but a big improvement over the FAL.
    1
  23553.  @heliotropezzz333  The Rebate needs to go.
    1
  23554.  @edwardhewitt9229  Being one among equals is not your style.
    1
  23555. You need to direct your plea to one president Putin.
    1
  23556. I suppose Trump negotiated a lasting peace in Afghanistan, too. To make amends, he ought to open the doors wide open to Afghan refugees, especially females.
    1
  23557.  @tjmarx  You're going to explain it to us in detail then? I'm waiting with bated breath.
    1
  23558.  @tjmarx  No, you don't have time, because troll style, you don't have an argument. I worked for the UN for two years, little buddy.
    1
  23559.  @Krv-y7f  This Krembot thinks "invasion" is a verb. Busted.
    1
  23560. None, I suppose. About them dinosaurs, did you know there's a tax on predicting the EU's imminent demise? It pays the public debt of all EU member countries and then some. Oh, and remember to laud BRICS. Don't get sloppy now.
    1
  23561. Molotov cocktails don't compare to white phosphorous munitions. Molotov cocktails are good for burning abandoned tanks with their hatches left open, but apart from that, they're of little use in combat. White phosphorus is carried inside bombs or shells over much greater distances and in higher volumes, too. Burning petrol is fairly easily extinguished, but if you get splattered by WP, you'll have dig out the fragments one by one with a knife, because even after dousing with water, the phosphorus will simply reignite.
    1
  23562.  @ronr6605  Okay, you are a Kremlin apologist. Say no more.
    1
  23563.  @UnicornMeat512  Russia has been a proto-democracy at best, and that was like a brief flirtation.
    1
  23564.  @Kpoole35  Are you one of those clowns that insist that 'republic' and 'democracy' are mutually exclusive terms? Only in Murica...
    1
  23565.  @Kpoole35  You're a navel-staring Murican all right. I have a double masters in political science and history, so I think it's fair to say I've forgotten more about the topic than you'll ever know. If the Democracy Index is to be believed, I live in a top democracy. And we have a directly-elected president -- no monarch -- so ours is most definitely a democratic republic. This is an international news forum, so best keep your archaic Americanisms where they belong.
    1
  23566.  @Kpoole35  You're unfamiliar with a double MA? I can tell you've never had any exposure to the academic world. Maybe you can still secure a GI bill or better yet, move to Europe, get naturalised and gain a government-subsided BSc in Fine Arts, so that you can call yourself educated.
    1
  23567.  @Kpoole35  "Don't have single"? I told you, I have a double. You were concerned that I wasn't educated, so I felt compelled to reassure you that your fears were misplaced. What's more, now it appears that I'm infinitely more educated than you, at least from an academic perspective. Oh puh-lease, there's nothing to define. Even according to your own definitions, democracy and republic are complementary rather than mutually exclusive, just like democracy and constitutional monarchy are complementary. I'm plenty happy not having an idle-rich monarch as a figurehead, but I haven't developed airs because of it. It's a detail. You seem to think a republic is a substitute for a democracy. It's not.
    1
  23568.  @alexsilent5603  Two wrongs don't make a right, as the saying goes. You seem fond of whataboutism.
    1
  23569.  @gfys756  China and India have taken themselves out of the equation, dum-dum. They don't support Russia either.
    1
  23570. Een kwart van Nederland heeft beslist. Nu nog driekwart.
    1
  23571. Shells and bullets differ in size. Somewhat.
    1
  23572. Bravo? He ruined his career overnight.
    1
  23573.  @bellevuebellevue8131  Sticks and stones. No-one cares for your unsubstantiated personal opinions. Try to make a proper argument for a chance.
    1
  23574.  @peun162  As I already wrote, work in progress.
    1
  23575.  Alex Evans  I'm not Irish, silly. We have always paid our way, unlike you English.
    1
  23576.  @moniranik5674  You just wrote that Putin ejaculated in Kyrgystan. Yuckerama!
    1
  23577. It's strange then that the Kremlin was spoken out harshly against Western sanctions, calling them "dangerous" and referring to "significant damage". If they are trivial, why such strong reactions? Russian counter-sanctions, now those are trivial...
    1
  23578.  @jaare4202  It's the same as with the Chinese, who've held mining concessions in Afghanistan for considerable time. They've done little with them because of the security situation. Now the security situation has changed for the worse, and it's not likely to improve much under the Taliban.
    1
  23579.  @capastianluna8896  The T-90M is just an upgraded T-72, which in turn is a low-cost version of the T-64. The T-90M is no match for the M1 or, of that matter, any modern western tank. The Russians can keep hanging from bells and whistles on it, but it remains an obsolescent design.
    1
  23580. Historical revisionism is a known Russian vice.
    1
  23581. Your icons are sooo cute! Are you a Japanese school girl?
    1
  23582.  @ΑπόλλωνΜπαϊρακταρίδης  Did Germany need permission from Greece for unification? Likewise, who gave Greece permission to become independent? You seem a fan of enforced spheres of influence, so why not continued Turkish hegemony over Greece?
    1
  23583.  Alessandra Goldman  Russia is painfully aware of the NATO lake that the Baltic Sea has turned into.
    1
  23584.  @alisiyaivanova1853  Whatever. The OP was referring to repression.
    1
  23585.  @pietjeBell-q9w  Het is geen hogere wiskunde. GL-PvdA is na de PVV de grootste partij. Als (lees: wanneer) Wilders er niks van bakt, dan mag Timmermans de keuken in. De ironie wil dat de PvdA in 1977 hetzelfde overkwam, met nog meer zetels in de Tweede Kamer dan de PVV nu.
    1
  23586. ​ @AnexoRialto  The Abrams will happily run on diesel fuel. It did so initially in American service and does so in Australian service as we speak.
    1
  23587. You've divided yourselves very expertly.
    1
  23588. It's fairly customary for aerial assets to do the honours.
    1
  23589. So, who's extracting the ore then? You must think mining companies like Orano do it for free.
    1
  23590.  @fredrikr6280  You decided to go off on a tangent then. Nice sob story though.
    1
  23591.  @fredrikr6280  It may be news to you, but there's a certain difference in cost of living between Mali and France. Moreover, I'm sure Malian professionals will flock to Nigeria or South Africa if there's a higher standard of living in it.
    1
  23592.  @dwijgurram5490  "America"? We're talking about France and Orano. Keep your eye on the ball.
    1
  23593. I suppose you're the submissive type.
    1
  23594. It's almost worth the £107.5 million a year.
    1
  23595.  @xhogun8578  France chopped their heads off and still makes more money from tourism. Better worth it!
    1
  23596. The UNSC, with its permanent members, is a relic of the immediate aftermath of WW2. Reform is sorely needed. As the first order of business, the UK needs to vacate its seat, and France needs to give its seat to the EU.
    1
  23597. It's in China's interest that Russia grows weaker and more dependent on China. So China's not in a hurry to broker a lasting peace.
    1
  23598. English please.
    1
  23599.  @AldoSchmedack  Don't forget the LDPR in the Duma. Nazis the lot of them.
    1
  23600. Orbán thinks he's competing in an unpopularity contest.
    1
  23601.  @pattymiller9040  The rules-based international order is under threat and you're spinning conspiracy theories.
    1
  23602.  SMV  Don't you wish you could make yourself understood in English.
    1
  23603. So, the US Constitution is a very thin veneer.
    1
  23604.  @eyaklen4804  If it was a clever deception of Putin's and Prigozhin's part, then there's a problem. In the process, Prigozhin dealt Putin a mortal wound. The wound will fester for a while, but in the end, Putin will succumb to the political equivalent of septicaemia.
    1
  23605.  @StPiter111  Facts hurt bots.
    1
  23606.  @StPiter111  Are you disputing my figure or not? You bots can't focus.
    1
  23607.  @StPiter111  So no sensible response from you. Figures. That's why we call you bots.
    1
  23608. Same difference.
    1
  23609. Jij denkt dat alles een kernoorlog uitlokt. If the Russians love their children too
    1
  23610. Is the Georgian government waging a war somewhere that needs stopping?
    1
  23611. They've been making their escape.
    1
  23612.  @Starssinger  And what made you decide to chime in with something irrelevant?
    1
  23613.  @Frosty1964  Speaking of democracy and the EU, it cracked me up how Farage always was a shoo-in for the European Parliament, but his repeated efforts to secure a seat in the House of Commons all came to naught. Enjoy your anti-democratic FPtP, Maria.
    1
  23614.  @Frosty1964  Yeah, tuck that tail firmly between your legs and retreat. Or care to explain why Farage repeatedly made MEP, but never MP?
    1
  23615.  @sardonumspa8113  So you're saying that three Nigerien post-independence generations have been unable to lift themselves up by the bootstraps because of French... force? You may want to explain that further.
    1
  23616.  @sardonumspa8113  It is voluntary. Did France go to war with Guinea, Mali, Madagascar, and Mauritania for leaving the CFA franc? I thought not.
    1
  23617.  @sardonumspa8113  The first country to bail on the CFA franc was Guinea, in 1960, a mere two years after indepence. That set the precedent for leaving. Did Guinea have special dispensation? No. Neither did Mali, Madagascar, and Mauritania; they just left because they felt it was in their best interest. If France disagreed, they just had to grin and bear it.
    1
  23618.  @ttVegas1  Let's stick to the facts -- something you obviously have great difficulty with. Be a man, admit your mistake and stop making childish excuses.
    1
  23619. It took Brexit to get Farage first-past-the-post. That's a steep price for getting a narcissistic one-trick pony into the House of Commons.
    1
  23620. ​ @robsab531  If the USA embarks on another military adventure, à la Iraq War, then for sure no.
    1
  23621.  @xD3MONxIxSOULx  The reverse is true. Russia thinks itself the victim, insisting on buffer states. No wonder these buffer states are having none of it and joining NATO, one by one. Russia reaps what it sows.
    1
  23622. Just out of interest, is Russia going to try the dead reservists who foolishly used their mobile phones, giving away their position to the Ukrainians? Are we going to see re-enactments of the infamous Cadaver Synod of 897, a trial conducted by Pope Stephen VI against his deceased predecessor, Pope Formosus? They say the latter's propped-up corpse looked gruesome, but I don't even want to speculate about the condition of the corpses of the dead Russian reservists.
    1
  23623. There's no Western democracy. There's just democracy and lesser forms of democracy, all the way to authoritarianism. These lesser forms use "Western" as an excuse not to adopt full democracy.
    1
  23624. In your wettest dreams.
    1
  23625.  @SPENKER52  Oh, you'll notice when the potato sacks stop coming.
    1
  23626.  @SPENKER52  That's your comeback? Aren't you a bore.
    1
  23627. We'll try to pay extra attention so we'll notice the difference...
    1
  23628. @F0RG1V3N Still, China sucks balls at this democracy thing. It's as if its citizens are too dumb to decide for themselves.
    1
  23629. @F0RG1V3N Ooh, you ad hominem'ed me right off the bat. That's doesn't bode well for your debating skills. Genuinely democratic countries have safeguards in place that prevent elected leaders from amassing too much power. We could discuss at length why these safeguards failed the Americans -- as evidenced by Trump's ascendance to power -- but to stay on topic, none of that excuses China's authoritarian leaders from refusing to introduce gradual democratic reforms that would put the nation on the road to becoming a modern, democratic society. You seem to agree wholeheartedly with the assertion that the mainland Chinese are to dumb to decide for themselves. Incidentally, I don't, but thanks for illustrating my point.
    1
  23630. @F0RG1V3N "Punks," there you go again. You, sir, suck balls at debate. It just so happens India and China's northern neighbour, Mongolia, have democracy. Both rank lower than China in the human development index, suggesting they're behind China on education, too. Yet neither is a failed state -- in fact, India enjoys a faster growth rate than China, and this despite being "hobbled" by democracy. More excuses, please.
    1
  23631. Be that as it may, Germany has gone from strength to strength since WW2. I'm afraid not-so-terribly-Great-any-longer Britain has done the exact opposite.
    1
  23632.  @vikramk6592  Has the UNSC mistreated Indian and African students, and how so?
    1
  23633. There's a humanitarian aspect. That's why pharmaceuticals aren't included in the sanction packages. Russia is heavily dependent on imports, mainly from Europe.
    1
  23634. Follow the cliché, conspiracy theorist.
    1
  23635. Work in progress.
    1
  23636.  @peka2478  Let me guess. You haven't realised that Russia has a permanent seat in the UNSC and that said seat comes with veto powers? Am I right or am I right?
    1
  23637. The missiles and bombs raining down on Ukrainian civilians are testament to that?
    1
  23638.  @lanxy2398  I see you'd be the first to give in to nuclear blackmail.
    1
  23639.  @wtfatc4556  Blood oil. Carries a high moral price. India has postponed its permanent UNSC seat by decades.
    1
  23640. If so, the Ukrainians must've captured this one from Russian troops first, because they hardly had any BMP-3s of their own before the invasion started.
    1
  23641. Seems legit to me.
    1
  23642. @KlaraBauer-np9gz The irony is that Orban and mini-oligarchs get the bulk of their wealth from the EU, by siphoning off Cohesion funding meant for infrastructure projects. Putin can't spare much these days.
    1
  23643.  @stanley8574  That sounds unmistakably like a feeble excuse. Are you saying that sending a few US mining engineers to Ukraine, to see to it that Ukraine pays its "dues", will deter Putin from attacking again? They're laughing at you in Moscow.
    1
  23644. Give it time. When Putin stands trial in The Hague, there will be a great throng of witnesses providing evidence against the Kremlin Gremlin.
    1
  23645. If Ringo was successful without the EU being involved, it follows that Brexit Britain will be, too. Impeccable logic, that.
    1
  23646.  @kostadinivanov8064  So you profess that the same would've happened in Donbass that actually did happen in Chechnya?
    1
  23647.  @vervetech9395  If the ICC is a Western instution, then 124 out of 193 countries are Western. OK by me.
    1
  23648. ​ @mitchhills4747  I believe both the Republicans and Democrats have other candidates, right? Then there are independents and third-part candidates.
    1
  23649. Hah, we'll see the same happen as in the Baltic countries. Once free from Russia, the Balts leapfrogged Russia in terms of GDP per capita. So will Ukraine. Of course, Russia is helping by racing to the bottom.
    1
  23650. Kop terug in 't zand.
    1
  23651. Russians won't have a problem lying. It comes easy to them.
    1
  23652.  @DwightFrye-io6tb  Mesjogge.
    1
  23653. Yet Brexit-Britain doesn't know its arse from its elbow. You could also wonder why Norway and Switzerland are the EU's hang-around members. Pay-without-say members, if you will.
    1
  23654.  @danielarcadia7243  Putin's stature isn't anything to write home about either, little buddy.
    1
  23655.  @MsNamutenya  *Trade bloc and then some. A trade union, or labour union, is something else entirely ;-)
    1
  23656. If you replace Hong Kong with Shenzen, you'll only see the problem spread to Shenzen. Sooner or later, people will stand up for their democratic rights.
    1
  23657.  @DataJYdocs  I was lending you a helping hand. You seemed totally lost as to what to do about the alleged crimes that NATO has committed. Maybe you want to pursue all avenues? And if you're in need of more causes to fight for, why not take up the human rights violations perpetrated against the Uyghurs? I assume you won't have to venture abroad for that. That one might even develop into a cause where you're the centrepiece!
    1
  23658.  @DataJYdocs  Which one are you referring to, alleged NATO crimes or China's cultural genocide against the Uyghurs? You should be very clear about such things, because your performance review or your social credit score may otherwise be affected, depending on whether you troll professionally or just as a hobby.
    1
  23659. You hit them where it hurts. Russia's economy is their perpetual weak spot. Putin always promises to fix it, but never succeeds.
    1
  23660.  @Priyadr.  I don't get your point. DW made no mention of his struggles with obesity. Don't you know you're supposed to watch the video that you're commenting on? As much as I like DW, it's not my media, nor are the Germans my people.
    1
  23661.  @saptarshiguha5489  By his own admission, he's been diagnosed with obesity. What's the prob?
    1
  23662. There-there. Let's get your megalomania treated.
    1
  23663.  @DreamyCheshire-up9rf  Russia will pay war reparations. The Russians are already using the prospect of having to compensate Ukraine as a reason to carry on the fight. The problem is, the bill only grows higher.
    1
  23664.  @DreamyCheshire-up9rf  Ukraine's aiming for a defensive victory. Why would they invade Russia? The sanctions will remain in place till Russia agrees to terms that include Russia paying war reparations to Ukraine. Did you think every war ends with the other side surrendering?
    1
  23665.  @DreamyCheshire-up9rf  No, just until the last Russian soldier has withdrawn to what is internationally recognised as Russian territory. Russia has done it before -- twice in recent history -- but the question is, will the knives come out for Putin, or was he disposed of already before the withdrawal. Time will tell.
    1
  23666.  @DreamyCheshire-up9rf  Russia suffered a defeat in the First Chechen War. I expect the war in Ukraine to end the same way, with Russian troops demoralised and public opinion opposing the conflict. However, unlike in Chechnya, there won't be a Russian revanche. Ukraine will join NATO and Russia won't rebound militarily. In fact, the remnants of the Russian military will be busy stemming separatism. I expect that to be a losing battle, too.
    1
  23667.  @DreamyCheshire-up9rf  Ukraine is doing a fine job at pushing the Russians back, as evidenced in the battles of Kyiv, Kharkov and Kherson. In Chechnya, the balance of power was even more lopsided, ostensibly in favour of the Russians, but all the same, the Chechens sent the Russians packing. Again, you come with your personal opinions, as if they make compelling arguments.
    1
  23668.  @DreamyCheshire-up9rf  Russia pulled back -- at times, in full panic mode, abandoning heavy weapons and ammunition -- because it saw no other choice. Sun Tzu would've been proud of the Ukrainians. The master strategist considered winning without fighting supremely skilful. Expect more "voluntary" retreats by Russia in the near future. Not embarrassing at all.
    1
  23669.  @dthrust9037  Militarily speaking, cities aren't all that important. Ukraine saw an opportunity to exact a heavy toll on the Russians, who, as the attackers, were at a disadvantage casualty-wise. Urban combat is even more costly to the attacker. Ukraine knows this, so they're trying to encircle Bakhmut rather than attack it head-on. They may not even have to complete the encirclement. Their recapture of Kherson showed that the Russians do have the presence of mind to abandon a hopeless position. Next question, young man?
    1
  23670.  @karliskokorevics6902  Trust a Russian imperialist to get his erstwhile colonial subjects mixed up. Thankfully, Russia Muscovy will undergo a third wave of decolonisation soon, after its inglorious defeat in Ukraine.
    1
  23671. It's all the same to you, isn't it? When China and Pakistan invade India, bent on securing more Lebensraum, we'll flip a coin to see which side we'll support.
    1
  23672.  @dakshjain7493  It's funny that you fanboys always think every conflict will immediately go nuclear. News flash, a conventional war is being fought in Ukraine -- a war that Russia is losing, since it can't rely on nukes.
    1
  23673.  @dakshjain7493  OK, dum-dum, what was the Kargil War all about? India's territorial integrity was violated by Pakistan Army regulars. I don't recall any nukes flying to or fro.
    1
  23674.  @dakshjain7493  The EU is not a defensive alliance. NATO is. More particularly, we have nothing to be ashamed about in terms of martial abilities -- not in the presence of Indians, for sure. Goof luck stopping the Pakis with your jack-in-the-box T-90s. Don't you hate yourselves now.
    1
  23675. Sensible, that. First they need to make sure whose balloon it is. Unfounded accusations are the prerogative of conspiracy theorists and propagandists.
    1
  23676.  @SuzannaKiraly  So, if the EU -- according to you -- blackmailed Hungary, why does Hungary retaliate by blackmailing NATO? Hungary should make itself scarce from both organisations, toot sweet.
    1
  23677. I wouldn't mind in the least, but the Democratic Party will probably follow suit and split not in two, but in three. Yay, Murica finally becomes a true multiparty democracy.
    1
  23678. I find that wild squirrels domesticate themselves... or us. We have squirrels visiting the bird feeder and if I've forgotten to fill it, they'll jump on the window sill to protest. The clever creatures must've seen me do it and they've made the association.
    1
  23679. China needs Russia to grow weaker still.
    1
  23680.  @MariaKasova59  I'm not interested in what a Russian fangirl thinks of me. Go seek male attention somewhere else.
    1
  23681.  @efghggdxlmfn33  Weird math you have there. If Ukraine's population had "decreased by 2 times", how could there by anyone left? Like kids, you Krembots say the darndest things.
    1
  23682. You're abusing the word 'revolution'. Revolution implies that there's a mass uprising against the existing social order. In the Niger coup d'etat -- and coups in general -- it was a relative small group of usurpers -- the military -- who seized power out of the blue. Revolutions, on the other hand, simmer for a long time before they come to a head.
    1
  23683. The chronology eludes you.
    1
  23684.  @guff9567  We're not talking occupation, but who attacked whom first. On Oct 7, 2023, Hamas very deliberately attacked Israel proper. Israel responded, be it with disproportionate force. That's the chronology here. Facts matter. For your info, I tangled with the IDF while with UNIFIL, while Israel was still occupying Lebanon.
    1
  23685. Like starting illegal wars of aggression and violently enforcing territorial claims that have no legal basis?
    1
  23686. It sure does make Sweden safer. Putin can put his plans to invade Sweden where the sun don't shine.
    1
  23687.  @arondebreceni9464  Aw, it sucks to be you. We fought the Winter War against the Soviet Union -- alone, but we're not ones to whine about it.
    1
  23688.  @arondebreceni9464  That's all good and well, but none of the Hungarians volunteers that actually did show up (346) turned out to be combat-ready, as in trained in and fit for winter warfare. I'm afraid these volunteers of yours, had they been deployed to the front as-is, would've fared like the similarly untrained Ukrainians on the Soviet side -- not well at all.
    1
  23689. ​ @arondebreceni9464  It's not a matter of believing. It's a fact that none of the Hungarian volunteers saw action in the Winter War. The reason given was lack of military training. In military terms, that equates to "unfit". You're not quite up to speed on relevant history. The Germans dutifully recorded Stalin's intentions to finish off Finland after the Winter War, but Stalin's then-ally Hitler was strongly opposed. Again in 1944, Stalin tried his utmost to conquer Finland, but the Red Army was rebuffed on all fronts. In your shoes I wouldn't moralise with regard to Stalin. You ended up subjugated, we didn't.
    1
  23690.  @arondebreceni9464  You're a glory hound, aren't you? My grandfather came back from the Winter War with an impressive set of medals and scars. We never knew what he'd done to get them. But I don't think it was for being trained in winter warfare.
    1
  23691. ​ @arondebreceni9464  Did I claim the Hungarian volunteers were incompetent? Untrained, I wrote. My granddad never talked about the war. He always said that self-praise stinks.
    1
  23692.  @ee9546  I don't understand your point about the difficulty of repatriating profits. Firstly, China is widely considered to be the most restrictive in this respect. I should know, because I'm co-owner in two China-based JVs. It's fun to take luxury-laden trips to China without spending any money of my own, but that's what I get out of them. Secondly, outsourced manufacturing doesn't generate profits in itself -- the profits are made elsewhere. The outsourcers are just paying for final assembly, which doesn't even net the outsourcee that much. It's a public secret that China's huge trade surplus belies their modest added value. I'm thinking I understand the new world better than you do. Multinationals are taking a long, hard look at their supply chains and hedging their bets so as not to be as dependent on China as before. China's outsourcing industry is visibly concerned.
    1
  23693. He had better start wearing a parachute at all times.
    1
  23694. Untold suffering? Inoperational pipelines stopped operating.
    1
  23695.  @davecooper3238  Wrong reply button?
    1
  23696.  @davecooper3238  I think you need to go through this whole thread and reread what's been posted and by whom. I expressed bewilderment at the OPs very silly claim of "untold suffering" on account inoperational pipelines being sabotaged by their owner given that there was no prospect of either pipeline ever being taken/returned to use, intact or not.
    1
  23697.  @davecooper3238  So wrong reply button. The top one is the one you want, underneath his comment.
    1
  23698.  @graemebuchan1919  You could also think SARS. It disappeared.
    1
  23699. Remind me, when has the far left been in power in France?
    1
  23700. Don't leave out the important bit that Zelenskyy can also organise test firings on Moscow. He has a special deal for Russian anti-Putin patriots.
    1
  23701.  @soreeyez  We've talked about these inane copy-paste comments of yours. Cease and desist, troll.
    1
  23702.  @soreeyez  You're too prolific a troll to keep track. Low-quality, too.
    1
  23703.  @soreeyez  If you keep this is up, your troll factory manager will "volunteer" you for service in Ukraine. Then it's bye-bye Spinnie.
    1
  23704. 0:16 "Look there's even a toilet!"
    1
  23705. No news there. Victimhood is a common refrain in Russia. Russians go on and on about Napoleon and Gitler, but conveniently forget their own expansionism.
    1
  23706.  @riturajsingh-q2y  Russia outperforms the USA in the number of withdrawals. Also, as it happens, in the number of defeats suffered in Afghanistan. Threefold, in fact.
    1
  23707.  @AahFukIt  Simple-pimple. Russia is going to withdraw. In WW1, Germany was still deep inside France when it decided to throw in the towel.
    1
  23708. I would call it affinity. Nothing wrong with that.
    1
  23709. Why? Maduro is a political corpse.
    1
  23710. What a hero you are.
    1
  23711. They sure looked uniformed to me. Marched there, too.
    1
  23712. Turning genocidal against your own forfeits you that right.
    1
  23713.  @cleightorres3841  You must think I'm Kosovar. Jumping to conclusions, has that always been your thing?
    1
  23714.  @cleightorres3841  Just do your thing, bunny-hopping.
    1
  23715. It's the UK that's -- wittingly or unwittingly -- rolling out the red carpet for illegal immigrants. And it's not the UK's wealth that attracts them, but the laxity of the authorities. UK companies love the cheap labour they're getting from their illegal workers.
    1
  23716. Is it? Why do we excel in democracy then?
    1
  23717. @$hiek Yobooty Rebecca Ritters was an actress before she became a news anchor. Many admirers the world over.
    1
  23718.  @svetlanak7766  Sveta is engaging in good old Soviet historical revisionism. There was no Taliban during the Soviet-Afghan War.
    1
  23719.  @erikt1713  The Mujahideen included the Northern Alliance, which fought the Taliban tooth and nail. But why bother yourself with facts, eh?
    1
  23720.  @erikt1713  Quite possible? The common denominator for the Muhahideen was opposition to the Soviet Union. However, what you're saying is akin to claiming that the Western Allies paved the way for the Soviet subjugation of Eastern Europe, because the two fought a common enemy in WW2. You're very sloppy with your tar and your brush.
    1
  23721. Those meds prescribed to you aren't optional.
    1
  23722. Why do you find that special? Russian "peacekeepers" are capable of anything.
    1
  23723.  @wilbur948ie  Wrong war, pal. Follow the thread.
    1
  23724.  @wilbur948ie  Uh, the US isn't a combatant in Ukraine.
    1
  23725.  @wilbur948ie  Ah, "combatant proxy maybe". You're moving the goalposts. Ukraine would be gone without European help, too, and there are plenty of helpers outside of Europe and the US as well.
    1
  23726.  @Ridethebomb777  The Donbas genocide was all made up by Kremlin propagandists. 700 OSCE SMM observers -- including Russian ones -- found no evidence whatsoever to that effect.
    1
  23727. If it was Islamic Jihad, like Israel is claiming, that would make Hamas indirectly responsible. Indeed, Hamas may have grounded Islamic Jihad's rockets for the duration of an air safety investigation.
    1
  23728.  @alainportant6412  You may want to elaborate on that. They say opinions and bumholes are alike. Everyone's got them and they stink.
    1
  23729.  @andrewjutub  You're advocating a hate crime. Reported.
    1
  23730. It's an abomination, no matter who's depicted.
    1
  23731. Not quite. These Russian "peacekeepers" cleansed their navels from lint, while the Azeris did the ethnic cleansing.
    1
  23732. @Diarmaid O'Riordan Outbreeding doesn't appear to be a prerequisite for reunification any longer. Moderate loyalists are starting to see the light.
    1
  23733. I don't think you understand how insurance works.
    1
  23734. It appears to be the best place to be with a pandemic like Covid19. Other countries lack universal healthcare (it's no surprise the US leads the corona stats) and the social safety nets (look at rampant unemployment in the US). Where do you think the money for the US stimulus package comes from? Fort Knox?
    1
  23735. You're not doing yourselves any favours by banding together with a has-been like Russia.
    1
  23736.  @rashi1932  If China were to turn Shenzen into a truly international city, with all the trappings that it entails, then China would have yet another Hong Kong on its hands. When people get a taste of democracy, there's no turning back.
    1
  23737.  @Kobi-um7bj  Hong Kong's appeal is based on its British-legacy institutions and adherence to the rule of law, which have gained it a high level trust in the eyes of the international community. Shenzen lacks those. For all its dictatorial powers, Beijing can't order the world to trust Shenzen.
    1
  23738.  @robocop581  Oh, I have a clue. I've dealt with both China and Hong Kong in a professional capacity for close to twenty years. Over to you -- try to convince us you have a clue. Or you can tuck your tail between your legs and skulk away.
    1
  23739.  @robocop581  Empty vessels make the loudest noise.
    1
  23740.  @robocop581  OK, now you're at least trying. I have visited Shenzhen so many times I've lost count. As a matter of fact, I represented one of the foreign companies that you mentioned. I can also tell you that all the contracts we signed specified that arbitration is to take place in Hong Kong and Hong Kong only. For a foreign company, having no other legal recourse in case of disputes than PRC's own wonky legal system is an absolute deal-breaker. Over time, things may improve, but at any rate Shenzen has a lot of catching up to do. There's also the question if Beijing really tolerates an independent judiciary -- it automatically means relinquishing control.
    1
  23741.  @robocop581  You're skirting the issue. Whenever foreign companies set up shop in China, Hong Kong is in the loop, providing oh-so important legal services. China has no alternative other than Hong Kong.
    1
  23742.  @robocop581  I was there in June. It's not about registering a company in Hong Kong, but having Hong Kong in the arbitration clause of all contracts. You're a n00b in contractual matters, aren't you? My in-laws live in Hong Kong and I'm co-owner of a joint venture in Nanjing. You're still skirting the issue.
    1
  23743.  @robocop581  The legal dilemma, for which China has no solution other than Hong Kong. It's painfully obvious that you lack expertise there.
    1
  23744.  @Born782  Putin needs a convincing victory or his presidency is toast. He's not getting one.
    1
  23745. It's ironic that in invading Ukraine, Russia itself took a far bigger bite out of its own NatGas industry. Not only that, Russia's oil industry has taken a huge hit and its arms exports have collapsed. If it was Putin's intention to ruin Russia's economy, he's done remarkably well.
    1
  23746. Russia takes it on Ukrainian civilians. Militarily, nothing changes.
    1
  23747. @@Dobacat You don't say.
    1
  23748.  @kuro1132  Make fewer excuses and try harder. Google still works.
    1
  23749.  @kuro1132  Aren't we being thick today. Just mention the research/data analytics firms and/or the relevant publications by name. I'm sure you can copy-paste. Google can take it from there. Go on, lazy bums.
    1
  23750. Actually, Brexit-Britain is hardly the place to be, especially if you're an affluent Hong Konger who's active in the financial services industry. Mainland Europe and Ireland are. We'll receive them with open arms, just like we welcome their British counterparts. Still, China will be the biggest loser. Let's also not forget one-country-two-systems was put in place to stem mass emigration from Hong Kong prior to the handover. If China continues to clamp down on civil rights in Hong Kong, there will be another wave of mass emigration.
    1
  23751. @icarus sea You're exaggerating the influence of the nationalists. They've gained some because of the migrant crisis, but except for the ultra-nationalists, they also understand Europe's low birthrates make controlled immigration unavoidable. Some even laud well-educated Asians as the answer. Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Luxembourg and Dublin are scrambling to turn London's Brexodus to their advantage. They'd be mad not to take advantage of another financial services exodus from Hong Kong. The firms go where the talent is and vice versa.
    1
  23752. Insightful. Try to put your bile into words.
    1
  23753. Lebanon as a state is not "evolved [sic]" in the Israel-Hamas war. Hezbollah is, and by proxy, Iran is, too. Educate yourself.
    1
  23754.  @Tiasung  Misschien komt het nog, als je volwassen bent.
    1
  23755.  @tiglishnobody8750  I think this God reinvented himself and now goes by the name Allah. Or it's a multiple personality disorder thingy.
    1
  23756.  @tiglishnobody8750  Whoosh.
    1
  23757. Garbage in, garbage out.
    1
  23758.  @peterroberts7684  So who's your favourite Russian opposition figure then? Does he or she remain at large?
    1
  23759.  @susanpfaust  The UNGA deemed the referendum invalid in no uncertain terms.
    1
  23760. Aw. You don't like this world. Better befriend Elon Musk, unless you have a few billion in loose change.
    1
  23761.  @kitcarpo4745  Mine? Now you're being paranoid. But it figures.
    1
  23762.  @markbowden7238  I see history repeating itself: Russia is gaining just about enough ground to bury its dead.
    1
  23763. Ahem, their flight suits scream long live Ukraine...
    1
  23764. I agree that Israel has "zero war aims". It simply doesn't know what it's doing.
    1
  23765.  @Barragandrew  Heel veel hoef je niet te leren om jou tegen te kunnen spreken. Maatschappijleer heet het vak in het voortgezet onderwijs. Daar hebben ze het over parlementarisme en kabinetsformatie. Aan mij is het althans allemaal piekfijn uitgelegd. Ik herinner me nog goed toen in 1977 Joop den Uyl PvdA-lijsttrekker was. Hun verkiezingleus was "Kies de minister-president!". Ogenschijnlijk deed Nederland dat dan ook, want de PvdA sleepte de meeste stemmen binnen. Toch werd Van Agt premier, want de formatiepoging van Den Uyl mislukte. Den Uyl is trouwens niet aan verdriet gestorven. Wilders moet zich herpakken. Jij ook.
    1
  23766.  @fredbohm4728  Try this on for size: "As of June 2024, the State of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state by 146 of the 193 member states of the United Nations, or just over 75% of all UN members."
    1
  23767.  @АртёмЕфремов-х7ю  I wouldn't say repeated strikes at Crimean military targets are indicative of peace. Enjoy your international isolation, courtesy of Putin. You could ask Turkish Cypriots how it has worked out for them. It's interesting that you think the UN is a "USA puppet". If that's the case, could you please vacate your seat on the UN Security Council? Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
    1
  23768. Now's the time for Beijing to face reality, or face the consequences of more intransigence -- more violent protests.
    1
  23769.  @wallybords  It looks like you can't separate cause from consequence. The civil strife in Hong Kong is a consequence of discontent with Beijing's interference in local affairs. You call it the result of brainwashing of a few, but the recent elections showed that the same discontent that motivates the rioters is felt far and wide within Hong Kong society. If Beijing keeps refusing to address the root cause, the discontent will continue to manifest itself in one form or another. Perhaps as continued riots, or perhaps the next move will be that foreign passport-holders leave en masse. Hong Kong will be really gutted then.
    1
  23770.  @wallybords  Why would you compare the status quo with what was during British rule? That's over and done with. Why can't Hong Kong compare itself to the best? In many respects, theirs is a highly-developed society and now they want improvement in the one respect where they're lagging behind: democracy. If I were a Hongkonger, I would find it unacceptable that mainland China keeps dragging Hong Kong down. I understand that Beijing fears a dangerous precedent in a truly democratic Hong Kong, because it would open the door for other developed regions of China wanting the same rights. That would spell the end of the CCP's monopoly on power -- and rightly so. Also, it is unavoidable. It looks like all you've set out to prove is that present-day Hong Kong sucks less than colonial Hong Kong. That's a no-brainer, but Hong Kong shouldn't suck at all.
    1
  23771.  @wallybords  By comparing what was to what is, you are dragging Hong Kong down. You're dragging Hong Kong down further by comparing it to mainland China, as if the Hongkongers should be eternally grateful for even a modicum of more political freedom than what the mainlanders enjoy. If that's the rule, China is a millstone around Hong Kong's neck. Being able to voice one's grievances as opposed to having the power to address those grievances are two entirely different things. I consider the riots a direct consequence of one not leading to the other. You're still unable to distinguish cause from consequence.
    1
  23772. You're in luck. Your wish has already come true: "In total aid (military, financial and humanitarian combined), the European Union and its countries have provided the most to Ukraine, according to Kiel Institute, whereas the United States has by far provided the most in military aid."
    1
  23773. North Korea has a term for it, Juche.
    1
  23774. You're confusing Australia with Trump-Murica.
    1
  23775. Still, removing an anachronistic figurehead won't solve the crisis the Brits themselves (i.e. Brexit and, to a lesser extent, COVID) have caused.
    1
  23776.  @mcr2356  I have to disagree. Covid-19 has been around in Europe for a year or so, but only when Brexit finally kicked in in earnest on Jan 1, 2021, did British exports nose-dive.
    1
  23777.  @billijomaynard8924  Actually, the profits from crown lands go to the Parliament, which peels off some pocket money for the royals. Mind you, their allowances are royal indeed, but the crown lands are not for Queen Lizzie to sell should she find her pockets empty. I'm sure the French, who beheaded their royals, would stand to receive a tidy sum if they were to sell the Palace of Versailles to the Chinese, but that isn't likely to happen either. Something about national heritage.
    1
  23778. Thanks for the comic relief!
    1
  23779.  @teeboogie3237  Putin will definitely take Assad horse riding, bare-chested of course.
    1
  23780. Newsflash, the G7, as such, is not in the UNSC. France is in both, and France may very well be swayed to vote in favour of the draft resolution. I'm curious about Japan, too.
    1
  23781. Netanyahu's career is in end-of-life care.
    1
  23782. Having squandered its mineral wealth, Russia will be the biggest loser no matter what.
    1
  23783.  @gdiwolverinemale3rd  Prigozhin is a huge boil on Putin's back. Why wouldn't we be intrigued as to when it will pop? Russians are, too, but they get their daily fix through unofficial channels.
    1
  23784. It's the other way around. Erdogan desperately wanted to portray himself as a statesman of international stature by dragging out the ratification. It doesn't seem like it has paid off for him. He stands to lose the election and he has damaged Turkey's international reputation even further.
    1
  23785.  @Tom-kc4uf  Oh noes, No Name is about to get his call-up papers for Ukraine...
    1
  23786. Calm down. France is one country out of 124 Rome Statute signatories.
    1
  23787. ​ @akira28shima32  Don't forget the series of goodwill gestures, which have seen Russia return hard-won territory to Ukraine, just like that.
    1
  23788. And how's that the case? France hasn't minced words when it comes to Israel's disproportionate military action, if that's what you're alluding to.
    1
  23789. Aw, you Fascists have it hard. This is YouTube, by the way.
    1
  23790. ​ @donworry7552  Why, there's no punishment for disagreeing with me. Besides, I'm empathizing with you... scratch that, sympa... I mean, feeling sorry for you.
    1
  23791.  @andreaaltan3982  Spread lies? You're rewriting history, Soviet-style. ISAF had the full support of the UN Security Council, including that of Russia. Check out the UNSC resolutions 1386, 1386, 1413, 1444, 1510, 1563, 1623, 1659, 1707, 1776 and 1917. All but one were passed unanimously. Once, Russia abstained citing maritime concerns. That was interesting, since Afghanistan is completely landlocked.
    1
  23792.  @andreaaltan3982  Your premise appears to be that NATO was somehow involved in the initial invasion of Afghanistan, which it wasn't. NATO only made its entrance when ISAF was established, to consolidate the security situation in Afghanistan. It's an undisputable fact that the UN Security Council approved ISAF's mission, and many times over at that, each time extending its mandate. My advice to you is that you study up on the topic before you start with your vague accusations and broad generalisations. Don't you look the fool now.
    1
  23793.  @andreaaltan3982  I listed them already, you dolt.
    1
  23794. The last time an Israeli government got caught with its pants down -- the Yom Kippur War -- said government was sent packing. It ended Golda Meir's political career, too.
    1
  23795.  @Z12K  Instigate? Hezbollah, at Iran's instructions, attacks Israel out of "solidarity" for Hamas. It would be no different if NATO countries were to launch missiles at Russia for the latter's shenanigans in Ukraine. It's not Hezbollah's war, and neither is the Houthis' war.
    1
  23796. Prince Charles has voiced his opposition to the Rwanda asylum plan, too. He's a decent human being all right.
    1
  23797. Different video, you dolt.
    1
  23798.  phil mill  I guess that in your clumsy and confused way (the EU-27 actually enjoy a trade surplus), you're trying to say that the UK has a £80 billion trade deficit with the EU and that that puts the EU at a disadvantage in a possible tariff war. All things being equal, that would be the case, but things are far from equal. The UK has a much smaller economy compared to that of the EU-27. It's like a welterweight challenging a super-heavyweight. A better apples-to-apples comparison is that if trade between the UK and the EU were to grind to a complete halt on Jan 1st 2021, UK exports would be cut by 44%, while only 8% would be shaved off the EU's exports. That's because you'd be losing 27 trade partners; we, just the one.
    1
  23799.  @anoobiscooking1193  Sure they want to trade and will, too. But at the same time, they have to make sure they're not getting screwed over by China. Hence, things will move much slower. That is not to China's advantage. Actions have consequences.
    1
  23800. One of the aims of Russia's disinformation campaign is to make people distrust the media in general. Not only have they succeeded in your case, but also, they've turned you... into a useful idiot.
    1
  23801. Mark my words, the IDF won't succeed in disarming the Hezbollah either, despite having many times over the manpower and being armed to teeth.
    1
  23802. Yeah, with Trump turning friends into enemies, you'll soon need to take on the world.
    1
  23803. Palestinians did, too. 75 years later, we're still sitting on a powder keg.
    1
  23804.  @azovianace  No, they didn't, not collectively, nor individually.
    1
  23805.  @nayanmalig  You're repeating yourself ad nauseam.
    1
  23806.  @spartakmoskva5708  Duh. Silly little Medvedev is always preaching fire and brimstone. The former "president" of Russia packs as much credibility as Baghdad Bob these days.
    1
  23807. The monarchy is a disgrace to your country.
    1
  23808. Murica enjoys free accommodation in your mind.
    1
  23809.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Oh, you're the 'comrade' weirdo. I forgot. German troops were in Syria to fight ISIL, which they did and then left. Russia was supposed to do the very same in Syria, and I suppose it did, too -- whenever it could spare the time from fighting Assad's civil war for him. Tell me about UN resolutions that condemned NATO for ending the Yugoslav Wars (with kind assistance from Russia, I should add). None, huh? Also, as it happens, I took a year off from my uni history and political science studies to serve with KFOR in Kosovo. I wrote a thesis about the Yugoslav Wars. You have nothing to teach me.
    1
  23810.  R U WAKING UP R U  ...but you offer no arguments in support of your claims. Trolololl!
    1
  23811. Een leuk wapenfeit voor Mossad, maar politiek gezien komt het niet ten goede van Israël. Het land heeft een internationaal verdrag geschonden wat het gebruik van boobytraps betreft, een verdrag dat het zelf heeft ondertekend.
    1
  23812. Coup? The Moscow puppet fled to Russia, after the puppet master had yanked his strings too hard. That's the long and the short of it.
    1
  23813. You're funny. France has had a Jewish population since the early Middle Ages.
    1
  23814. Lying comes easy to Russians. So much so, that they think it a devilish ploy when someone speaks the truth when it's more advantageous to lie. They can't get their heads around it.
    1
  23815.  @rammindeepmanmeet  Is that so? Russia is the last major power that's yet to decolonise. But no worries, Putin is on the job, just like he expanded NATO even further.
    1
  23816. Russia will be a democracy when hell experiences icy temperatures and pigs take flight.
    1
  23817. Survivalist much?
    1
  23818. The more pertinent question is, which further sanctions will the EU impose on your precious Russia while you continue your brutal war of aggression.
    1
  23819.  @MaxArturo  You're still a hang-around member. For the rest of the year, you're in pay-but-no-say limbo. That may very well be your ultimate fate, too.
    1
  23820. Someone... we know full well who got at him.
    1
  23821. I wouldn't call helping Ukraine stretch a 3-day 'special military operation' to a one-year slugfest a failure. For NATO, that is. For Russia, it's nothing short of a catastrophe.
    1
  23822. It's amazing that the self-styled "greatest democracy in the history of the world" holds political prisoners, as you claim. If true, you really are at your lowest ebb.
    1
  23823. Much more than that, he's a great source of grief to those who still believe, against all odds, in a semblance of Russian victory in Ukraine. Don't O.D. on copium.
    1
  23824. You should get yourselves checked for psychopathy. It's for your own good, too -- psychopaths tend to have suicidal tendencies.
    1
  23825. Power is kryptonite to populists.
    1
  23826. Let's rename 'döner' 'gyro' and be done with it.
    1
  23827. Back to troll school with you.
    1
  23828.  @sunainapanthy5953  You're cynical, but true enough, this one has many similarities with the Windrush scandal.
    1
  23829.  @FOMOSapiens76  You're witnessing extreme coping, which tends to manifest itself as whataboutism.
    1
  23830. No doubt the drone strike gave Russian naval commanders the jitters, but their Black Sea Fleet isn't good for much else than launching cruise missiles from beyond the range of Ukraine's standoff weapons. The Russians don't want another Moskva, after all. And the Ukrainian counter-offensive won't be stopped with cruise missiles.
    1
  23831.  @HIMANSHU79879  Yup, it is, after travelling extensively in India. Besides, had you travelled to Canada, you'd realise that its demography is varied. In some urban areas, Asians already form the majority.
    1
  23832.  @ananyanegi9423  Are you slow on the uptake? "White man".
    1
  23833.  @ananyanegi9423  Read the whole thread.
    1
  23834. The obvious doesn't elude many.
    1
  23835. India didn't enjoy democracy under British rule. Should that have prevented them from democratising? Or are you trying to prove that China sucks less as a coloniser than the British Empire?
    1
  23836. You're letting your imagination get the better of you. I strongly believe it's in everyone's interest to let Europe reshape itself into smaller entities, which tend to perform better on their own. Separatism is on the rise and will grow stronger still. The EU is the perfect framework to enable this and keep everyone playing together nicely.
    1
  23837.  @malindaallen718  When Sweden becomes a full-fledged member of NATO, it has to come to its fellow member's aid should Russia invade. No freebies for Sweden.
    1
  23838.  @nirajshrestha5621  If the USA controlled the UN, you'd think it would have made short shrift of Putin's little Ukrainian adventure. Could it be that Russia has a veto in the UNSC? You think?
    1
  23839. It seems like you want to punish each and every good deed.
    1
  23840. The EU can boast many world-leading democracies as its members. Fact.
    1
  23841. This is going to end in a defensive victory for Ukraine, make no mistake.
    1
  23842.  @jimmytimmy3680  Yeah, about that. The Rooskies tried to "retreat" to Kyiv already, but that was no joyride.
    1
  23843. Funny that this comes as news to you. Ukraine has been establishing closer ties with the EU for over twenty years. Euromaidan, does that ring a bell? It started off this whole thing. I think you epitomise the part of the UK that doesn't really have a sense of solidarity with Europe. And you try to disguise it with your the anti-EU sentiment, which is a symptom rather than the cause.
    1
  23844. Dictator fanboy much?
    1
  23845. Donald J Trump is his name, and ethnic cleansing is his game.
    1
  23846.  @Piqueblinders11  We seem to be at cross purposes.
    1
  23847.  @madmax6827  I thought convicted felons are disqualified from positions in law enforcement. Your standards must be lower.
    1
  23848.  @madmax6827  Two days ago, CNN opened with this: "Donald Trump has been reelected to the White House as a convicted felon who is awaiting sentencing in his hush money case in New York and still working to stave off prosecution in other state and federal cases." Trump's conviction is ironclad. Silly you for trying to deny cold, hard facts. Uh, you likened Trump to a sheriff. You may want to look up what a sheriff is. Or do you suffer from short-term memory loss?
    1
  23849.  @madmax6827  Aren't you a silly denialist. You can go do a criminal record check at your local police department. Be warned, however, that the nice policeman behind the counter will roll his eyes at you.
    1
  23850. France? The ICC is in The Hague, in the Netherlands. Putin, another recent ICC indictee, doesn't think the court a joke.
    1
  23851.  Lou Smith  Most of the world sternly reject Russia's action. Should we go over the UNGA numbers before you scurry off to your troll cave?
    1
  23852.  @kurtgodel5236  You're talking to a conspiracy theorist. They slalom around facts.
    1
  23853. Like Europe, they, too, are keeping well clear of aircraft altimeter frequencies.
    1
  23854. I'd love to hear about the talking-to that Putin has received from Xi. It's a pity autocratic societies can't be open about these things.
    1
  23855. Because there's no independent verification?
    1
  23856.  @16Tooth  Let's see when the video has been deemed authentic by independent investigators. Hamas and Islamic Jihad rockets suffer from a high rate of failure, so there's plenty of footage around of misfires.
    1
  23857. Same as Sochi? With widespread state-endorsed cheating?
    1
  23858. Because there's a clear and present danger that Trump bollockses it up like he did in Afghanistan.
    1
  23859.  @kukulroukul4698  You spout the silliest nonsense, again and again. It's *martial law, by the way.
    1
  23860. Wow. What an anachronism you are. Don't you wish you'd been born earlier -- ideally as Stalin?
    1
  23861. And Murica would be Canada's obese body.
    1
  23862.  @Seriously742  The world blew up already. There, I upstaged you.
    1
  23863.  @eveleung8855  Are you a sadist, Eve?
    1
  23864.  @MM-un3ob  Prigozhin may still have his contacts, but he's become toxic to them. His assets in the West are already frozen. I wouldn't be surprised if the same is now true for his Russian assets as well. And even if he manages to keep his mercenaries in tow, who's ultimately paying them and for what? For farting around in Belarus?
    1
  23865.  @AORD72  You're either an anachronism or you're blessed with a vivid imagination. You're proposing that a band of mercenaries can subjugate a whole people, like the Teutonic Knights conquered the Baltics in the Middle Ages. Yeah, that would work in this day and age.
    1
  23866.  @AORD72  You're pretending that we'd be dealing with a coup d'état. A foreign actor, Prigozhin, seizing power in another country, Belarus in this case, is another thing altogether.
    1
  23867. We're not going anywhere. And we stand to survive a nuclear winter much better than you. We practically have winter all year as it is.
    1
  23868.  @vagabond919  Meaning final assembly was done in China, while the most valuable components were imported. Even Chinese-made lesser components may contain Western intellectual property that is subject to sanctions. China is pretty good about respecting foreign IP, because it wants its own IP respected as well. You should read the case studies about how little value China adds to the iPhone, while still getting full merit for "making" the phone. Trade balance figures belie the fact that China accounts for relatively little of the total value.
    1
  23869.  @PropagandaBurnerV  Duh. Putin's indictment is common knowledge. Since you're apparently unable to do simple online searches, I'll quote the ICC arrest warrant for you: "Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born on 7 October 1952, President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute)."
    1
  23870. Murica is only looking out for #1. Trump may be a populist like the leaders in Poland and Hungary, but there's no love between populists. They're self-serving to the hilt.
    1
  23871. And how's Japan's the population growth rate?
    1
  23872.  @Tamayo.Sama2023  Which part of "misfire" don't you understand?
    1
  23873.  @baantawai  That's Soviet Russian logic. In Soviet Russia, the truth can't handle you.
    1
  23874. *THAAD most certainly can shoot down *intermediate-range ballistic missiles, which Iran most certainly has. How is it in Iran's interest to unleash WW3? With their proxy wars, the mad ayatollahs are wagging the dog, to keep in power.
    1
  23875. The French have you wound up. Mission accomplie.
    1
  23876.  @DK-ev9dg  Tell that to the cat.
    1
  23877. France is overdue for its Sixth Republic -- and a parliamentary system.
    1
  23878. Of course there's a concern here for Putin. His imperialist plans are all coming to naught.
    1
  23879. "Violence doesn't make sense for democracy!​"... I agree, but what has that got to do with China?
    1
  23880.  @jimwong2269  Deng Xiaoping deserves credit where credit is due, but with Xi in charge, China has taken strides democracy-wise... backward, not forward. Besides, I highly doubt the Chinese will be as patient as you claim.
    1
  23881.  @jimwong2269  Like I wrote, I highly doubt that the Chinese will have that much patience. We've seen it all before. South Korea emerged a de-facto dictatorship from the Korean War, yet when their economy boomed, the calls for democracy became so loud the powers-that-be had to listen -- they had too much to lose. Besides, democracy and economic growth are not mutually exclusive. Germany is highly democratic, but also known for industrial harmony. If they can make it work, China can, too.
    1
  23882.  @jimwong2269  Which improvements to democracy and human rights has Xi introduced? He's turning back the clock, not forward.
    1
  23883.  @jimwong2269  Xi has already had time to turn back the clock. He made himself president-for-life, purged his rivals and came up with his little red app. Increased authoritarianism and an emerging personality cult are not steps towards democracy, but rather, away from it.
    1
  23884. Politicians don't make good business leaders or vice versa. Trump is a case in point.
    1
  23885. NIMBY.
    1
  23886. It's not just the Chechens. The entire North Caucasus is a candidate for Balkanization.
    1
  23887. Compared to the first weeks of the war, Russia has lost more territory than gained in the last few weeks.
    1
  23888. No, it's because you're deluded drama queens.
    1
  23889. Better than the joke president in Moscow.
    1
  23890.  @СергейМонин-д7с  Armenia "lost" Nagorno-Karabakh, like the British Empire "lost" India.
    1
  23891. You're misrepresenting facts. Palestine supports the Palestine Authority, which is not on friendly terms with Hamas.
    1
  23892.  @2XLBlazer  Yup, he used to be David Franks.
    1
  23893. Israel keeps winning wars, but with the same consistency, it keeps losing the peace. The reason stares us in the face.
    1
  23894. Don't be like that.
    1
  23895.  @Native_Non-Gringo  You didn't dare answer my question.
    1
  23896. So what's the conclusion? Both China and the USA have made a mockery of democracy?
    1
  23897.  @zhengqianyu7913  You wouldn't know freedom even if it bit you in the butt.
    1
  23898.  @zhengqianyu7913  It isn't my idea of freedom -- didn't I make that clear in my initial reply? You're not very observant.
    1
  23899.  @zhengqianyu7913  Like I suggested earlier, your understanding of freedom is very rudimentary. To you, freedom is lack of control, and control is what your autocrats need above anything else. Just for the record, disrupting a crucial vote is not freedom. It's the exact opposite. But I suppose you don't know about voting either...
    1
  23900.  @zhengqianyu7913  Like I keep repeating, the associations with freedom are completely lost on you. There's no defence for riots. They're excesses that only serve to harm whatever cause is at stake. However, they're still just that, excesses. In Hong Kong's case, the wider context was a popular demand for full democracy, while in the US, the context can only be described as anti-democratic -- Trump's and his most ardent supporters' refusal to accept the result of a free and fair election. The riots are over, but China still has millions of pro-democracy supporters to contend with in Hong Kong, and the US has to restore faith in its democratic institutions among Trump-voters that still cling to conspiracy theories. Both are real concerns that need addressing. It very much looks like you can't see the forest for the trees. Politically astute you're not.
    1
  23901.  @zhengqianyu7913  You still don't have a clue about freedom. In neither case did the rioting have anything to do with freedom. Even Trump admits that now. How would you know that 1.4 billion people in China are opposed to democracy? Has there been a referendum on the matter? And why should the Hongkongers be saddled with mainland China's backwardness in terms of democratic awareness? It's supposed to be one country, two systems. The truth of the matter is that the CCP can't allow democracy in Hong Kong, because it would constitute a dangerous precedent. Soon, calls for democracy would be heard all over China, and that would spell the end of the CCP's autocracy.
    1
  23902.  @zhengqianyu7913  I wrote that you don't know what the 1.4 billion Chinese think about democracy. Don't try to turn it around -- I've never claimed that I know either. Actually, as the spouse of a SAR passport holder, I'm keenly aware of "one country, two systems". I even listened in person to Chris Patten lauding the arrangement. Were you even born then? No matter how hard you try, the riots don't delegitimize Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement. The popular discontent with Beijing's anti-democratic rule will not go away. The USA is classified as a flawed democracy on account of the diminishing trust of its electorate in democratic institutions. Their chaotic voting arrangements and antiquated electoral college certainly don't help matters, but by all accounts this election was free and fair. I wonder what you know about democracy, since you clearly haven't lived it.
    1
  23903.  @zhengqianyu7913  Democracy is a universal value. It's a developmental stage -- a stage that China hasn't reached yet. Take South Korea -- it was authoritarian, but as the country grew more affluent, the people started to demand democracy. They made sure to get it, too. Why should China be radically different? You're only making excuses and not providing alternatives. Democracy doesn't guarantee good governance, but it does guarantee representation. We'd be up in arms if we were denied representation.
    1
  23904.  @zhengqianyu7913  Is that a CCP-endorsed speaking point, that democracies are all former colonial masters? If you had a better grasp of world history, you'd know that some of the best-in-class democracies endured colonial rule themselves at some point in time. You're just spouting propagandistic clichés.
    1
  23905.  @zhengqianyu7913  New Zealand, Finland, Ireland, Canada, Australia -- and that's just from the top 10 of the Democracy Index. Why should I define democracy for you? It's not a matter of opinion. It's Politics 101. Educate yourself. Like I've been saying all along, you don't even understand the basics of democracy and you clearly struggle with world history, too. What did they teach you in school? Marxism?
    1
  23906.  @zhengqianyu7913  And now, the definition of "colony" eludes you. In history class, did they only teach you Marxist history? Declare my democracy? I hope that in Mandarin that makes sense on some obscure level, because it sure doesn't in English.
    1
  23907.  @zhengqianyu7913  What, you can't look up the definitions of "democracy" and "colony" yourself? Should I mix some formula and feed it to you from a baby bottle, too?
    1
  23908. ​ @zhengqianyu7913  No, there's nothing new for me to learn from you, to whom even basic concepts are new.
    1
  23909.  @zhengqianyu7913  It's good that you're finally starting to find out things for yourself. Long overdue, that. Please do block yourself.
    1
  23910.  @RustedCroaker  It stands to reason that Ukraine's casualties are far fewer than Russia's in Bakhmut. The attacking party is more exposed to enemy fire, while the defender can rely on better prepared positions. Also, Russia is resorting to poorly trained troops, and its tactics leave a lot to be desired. I would say the 5-to-1 casualty ratio -- to the detriment of Russia -- is accurate.
    1
  23911.  @lanefair2950  That was the Afgan mujahidin, some of whom are now fighting the Taliban, but OK.
    1
  23912.  @RandomGuy9  The last time, Russia tried to flog Kaliningrad to Germany. Maybe Poland is up next. Or there could be a gofundme campaign that buys the Kaliningradians their independence.
    1
  23913. The GreenLeft-Labour alliance, actually. It's going to be interesting to see how they'll position themselves with the regard to the EP groups. The GreenLeft has been a member of EGP, while Labour was S&D.
    1
  23914. China has copied them well.
    1
  23915. I don't see the Global South cheering for Putin. On the contrary. We could go over the UN General Assembly voting records, but I think you'd scurry off to your troll cave before we'd get to that.
    1
  23916. Carney understands trade and tariffs. Trump understands... no, I've got nothing.
    1
  23917.  @faiz6422  Why should Canada, which has one eighth the population of the US, send nearly three times as much taxpayer money to Ukraine than the US has?
    1
  23918.  @RUTHLESSambition5  Tell us about the cards Trump is holding here. Trump isn't sending troops to Ukraine, but rather, mining engineers. He think the engineers will scare Putin straight. Why doesn't Musk get rid of the US Armed Forces, if mining engineers are a more formidable deterrent?
    1
  23919.  @frankshailes3205  The Soviets/Russians have always been on the border. Finland never let its guard down.
    1
  23920. For a sane person, it is extremely hard to imagine that 150,000 civil servants were involved in the coup attempt. The plans would've leaked in no time.
    1
  23921.  @sarwarjahan-ed4hs  You didn't get the memo? Putin can't love India back. China wants things to be exclusive with Russia.
    1
  23922. Indeed, Finland seems to lose most of their asylum seekers. They travel on, but I guess they'll stop in the UK and Germany.
    1
  23923. *when.
    1
  23924. If the door plug was covered up by paneling and the loose bolts were behind it, it's not a regular maintenance issue. Maybe heavy maintenance, but that's after 6 to 10 years of service. The aircraft in question was only a few months only.
    1
  23925.  @The_Auricle_Of_Specie  I hope so, but what has that got to do with you?
    1
  23926. The EU is not sending weapons to either side, silly.
    1
  23927. Yeah, Russia is slapping together night-blind tanks. No wonder Ukraine is honing its skills in night combat.
    1
  23928. That's what you get with an apathetic populace.
    1
  23929.  @sizzla123  You can copy-paste. Hooray.
    1
  23930.  @sizzla123  Stop trying to be clever. You're not suited for the role.
    1
  23931.  @sizzla123  You should read out aloud what you wrote. I think you'll agree that it sounds mighty pretentious.
    1
  23932.  @larsskogh7562  Outsourced troll?
    1
  23933. I posit that the American taxpayer falls short with his 1.75% of GDP contribution to NATO. Hah.
    1
  23934.  @fernandoamy8278  Have you carefully studied US military doctrine? I have no problem revising my estimate from 1.75% to 1.7%. It could be argued it should be lower still.
    1
  23935.  @MuantanamoMobile  Obviously, I'm talking about the Nigeriens at large. They voted in President Bazoum. They've had no say about General Tchiani usurping power. What we're dealing with here is vampires replacing ticks.
    1
  23936.  @CjrRbt  Generic claptrap.
    1
  23937.  @celiaowen2444  The poor girl and her extended family need to eat. And it's not like her job at the outsourced troll factory in Bangalore pays a fortune.
    1
  23938. You sound like Thomas J Watson, IBM's 1940s president, how reputedly said: "I think there is a world market for about five computers."
    1
  23939.  @robharris8844U  I'm sure IBM would've loved to sell more. Of course, they eventually did, too, and very keenly so. I suppose you're the type that wants to limit options, or do you abhor competition?
    1
  23940.  @robharris8844U  That would be an interesting asteroid, one with a vacuum attachment?
    1
  23941.  @phantomapprentice6749  It's not an empty gesture. Zelenskyy just being invited proves that Putin's anti-Western foreign policy is not gaining any traction. Just seeing Zelenskyy there must've ruined Putin's day.
    1
  23942. What you're describing is appeasement, 21st century style. If Trump wants to be remembered like Chamberlain, he's well on his way.
    1
  23943. South Korea can't ship its Tauruses to Ukraine without express approval from Germany. Welcome to the world of arms export licenses and their fine print.
    1
  23944. Enjoy your Schadenfreude. Except for that, there's nothing for the civilised world to be happy about. Afghanistan is now officially a shithole again.
    1
  23945. China is play-acting. A weakened and isolated Russia is the ideal partner (read: neo-colony) for China.
    1
  23946. We've got broad shoulders to bear the burden. Yours are on the narrow side.
    1
  23947. @FriendlySmartMonkey Even China's wumaos get 0.50 RMB per post, and that's 7 eurocents.
    1
  23948. Goed dan, Nederland eruit en Finland en Zweden erbij. De NAVO gaat er militair op vooruit.
    1
  23949. It's a duly elected government, so you've collectively failed. Every nation has the leaders it deserves.
    1
  23950.  @vandamonium1731  New battery technologies are being developed all the time. Besides, it's not just about batteries. Renewable energy will be used to produce hydrogen, which lends itself to energy storage as well. Don't be a neo-Lyddite.
    1
  23951.  @csuporj  Wikipedia is your friend.
    1
  23952.  @csuporj  Have you heard of taxation? I'm paying close to 50% taxes on every litre of fuel. Or used to, because I haven't tanked my hybrid for ages. Taxation is widely used to curb harmful behaviour. Alcohol and cigarettes? Take the train.
    1
  23953.  @csuporj  The whole point is that if you tax harmful forms of energy, you have to provide cheaper renewable alternatives. Your centuries-old examples of French and British colonial mismanagement don't hold up.
    1
  23954.  @csuporj  You're repeating what I wrote earlier. Private car ownership needn't be as high as it is now. I have colleagues who use car-sharing or got a car-scrapping premium that bought them an electric bike. Of course, you need more public transportation to compensate. Which part of taking the train to the Alps didn't you get?
    1
  23955.  @csuporj  Why are you still going on about petrol and taxation? If you don't like high taxes, don't drive a petrol car. Get an EV, or like me, a hybrid.
    1
  23956. That's a highly-debatable claim. At the very least, Israel has indirectly stoked global unrest by letting the Israeli–Palestinian conflict fester since the modern State of Israel was founded.
    1
  23957. Was that ever a problem anywhere else than in your mind?
    1
  23958.  @duncanmacl3od  Contrary to your conspiracy theories, there's no overruling overlord deciding these matters in the EU. The members decide, together. If you can't function in a club, get out and keep out. BTW, your capitalisation needs work, Also, punctuation is not a luxury.
    1
  23959. If Trump gets invalided out because of dementia -- a very real possibility since the man can't keep Pelosi and Haley apart -- it will be the presidency.
    1
  23960.  @MilenaBlazanovic-oq2iy  Sure, there's left-wing populism as well. What else would you like to whatabout about?
    1
  23961. Er, the UK is desperate for a trade deal with China. If its current trade deal with the EU is anything to go by, the UK will be very "flexible".
    1
  23962.  @jeanking2654  They're clutching at whatever straw they can find.
    1
  23963.  @ayaka308  Which intergovernmental organisation do you work or volunteer for?
    1
  23964.  @ayaka308  Sorry, your magic sky friend doesn't qualify as an intergovernmental organisation.
    1
  23965.  @kinngrimm  The Costa del Sol is in Spain. Gibraltar, in its present form, is heavily reliant on Spanish workers and expats who live in Spain, but commute to Gibraltar every weekday. If Spain were to close the border once more -- which they might very well do if Gibraltar declares independence -- things would turn very bleak for the Gibraltarians. If independence and autonomy under Spain were the only available options, I'm sure most Gibraltarians would choose the latter.
    1
  23966.  @timmo491  I wonder if the hundreds of thousands of British expats in Spain are going to have as much fun. Also, your fun may be dampened by a deluge of returnees. Providing housing for them alone will a daunting task, to say nothing of how they'll strain the NHS even further.
    1
  23967.  Doug 1885  None of that changes the harsh reality of Brexit for the Gibraltarians. The best they can hope for is an arrangement similar to that of Northern Ireland, where Gibraltar stays -- de facto -- in the EU single market. Also, a dual Spanish-British nationality arrangement wouldn't be a bad idea either.
    1
  23968. I don't get it. Does voting equal corruption?
    1
  23969. Right, but his party's MPs will think twice about boycotting a second impeachment vote, in case they have plans to extend their political career beyond the next parliamentary election.
    1
  23970. Depends on the outcome of the February election, but I suppose Scholz isn't holding his breath.
    1
  23971. It's funny how you have to pretend.
    1
  23972. Since you're so eager to comment on European politics, you might want to educate yourself about the meaning of "liberalism" in an European context. The populists didn't fare all that well in France and Germany, with Le Pen suffering even a debilitating defeat in France. Brexit and Trump aren't doing populism any favours either. Both are disasters in the making.
    1
  23973.  @JoeJoe714-v9e  There you go again.
    1
  23974. Samo-samo as most years, only more extreme.
    1
  23975. What gave you that idea? We have a lot of Russian asylum seekers nowadays.
    1
  23976.  @TheRuben_music  Your "point" appears to be a false analogy. In order for a Scandinavian airliner to be mistaken for an Ukrainian drone, it would have to venture inside Russia. They don't venture inside Russia. Russian airspace is closed to them. And vice versa.
    1
  23977.  @NotASeriousMoose  I know the north of Lapland very well. I've been in Murmansk many a times. We're constantly afflicted by Russian GPS jamming, too. Why so combative instead of partaking in a conversation in an adult manner? I apologise if you're not an adult.
    1
  23978.  @TheRuben_music  You're preaching to the choir.
    1
  23979.  @TheRuben_music  I take it you're entirely unfamiliar with the idiom. Am I right or am I right?
    1
  23980.  @TheRuben_music  Tell me, what picture am I missing? I tried to tell you that I know full well that Russia poses a threat to us. And we're in the frontline, too, which for us is no less than 1,340 km long, and not just a mere 197 km.
    1
  23981. If all inept people went to jail, the already humungous US prison population would skyrocket.
    1
  23982. French jihadists? Bots say the darndest things...
    1
  23983. Their oppressors were from the east, not the west. You may want to retain a semblance of credibility.
    1
  23984.  @outofoblivionproductions4015  Since it's question time, ask yourself when Marx lived and when Hungary suffered Soviet oppression.
    1
  23985. Yeah, it's too bad debtors' prisons no longer exist.
    1
  23986. Sadly, sleeping bags and tents -- if they can get any -- will be a semi-permanent arrangement for the Kursk refugees. Knowing how the Russian army works, they'll shell their homes to rubble while trying to oust the Ukrainians.
    1
  23987. Oh, they're suicidal?
    1
  23988. It would've made sense, but Russia is stuck in non-sensical mode. I'm sure if we were to ask Putin's oligarchs, they'd nod vigorously (but only if Putin wasn't looking). Also, it appears 40% of the Russians have grown war-weary, and would prefer the war to end, even if it meant that Putin's imperialistic endeavours would come to naught. Only 30% want to keep plodding on, at all cost.
    1
  23989. That's a defeatist statement. Perk up and make something of yourselves.
    1
  23990. Putin is your man. He can give the withdrawal order right away.
    1
  23991.  @caravanstuff2827  Obviously I have. Your treasured Encyclopedia Britannica has, too: "[...] the Anglo-Saxons were the descendants of three different Germanic peoples—the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. [...] those peoples originally migrated from northern Germany to the island of Britain in the 5th century at the invitation of Vortigern, a ruler of Britons[...]".
    1
  23992.  @appletree6741  Your beef is with the UN, which doesn't recognise the English as an indigenous people, unlike the Irish (in Ireland). You're just too Germanic to qualify.
    1
  23993.  @appletree6741  You can't just make up your own definitions and expect that they stick. I assume you're Indo-European, which would make your prehistoric ancestors Asian.
    1
  23994.  @StewieG46  Same diff. Dutch royalty has always had little power.
    1
  23995.  @TerraRubicon  Huzaren van Boreel. Het was net toneel, terwijl het er in Finland bloedernstig aan toe ging. Goed, de Koude Oorlog liep ten einde, maar toch. En als VN-veteraan krijg ik wel eens te horen hoe er over mijn Nederlandse collega's wordt gedacht. Heel pijnlijk.
    1
  23996.  @TerraRubicon  Ik heb het dus over Srebrenica. Als ik zeg dat ik een Nederlander ben èn VN-veteraan, dan is het altijd uitleggen geblazen.
    1
  23997. ​ @TerraRubicon  De reputatie van de Nederlandse blauwhelmen heeft toch een deuk gekregen in Srebrenica. Als Nederlander en VN-veteraan word ik daarover aangesproken, alsof ik daar persoonlijk ervaring mee heb. In Libanon kwam ik enkel op verlof Nederlandse blauwhelmen tegen. In Kosovo was het de Marechaussee. Niks op aan te merken. Ze konden wel lachen toen ik vertelde dat ik ooit bij hen te boek stond als deserteur en nu als luitenant, formeel hun meerdere, aan de toog hing.
    1
  23998.  @rikspring  Wat geinig dat je zo achterdochtig bent. Ik ga heus niet verzinnen dat ik gedeserteerd ben. Ik wil mijn doen en laten niet nader toelichten om de betrokkenen niet in verlegenheid te brengen. Ik heb destijds één van mijn meerderen ingelicht over mijn plannen, maar die heeft geen actie ondernomen. Ik heb nog een VN-veteraan moeten inschakelen om later mijn Nederlandse nationaliteit terug te krijgen, en die wil er vast ook geen ruchtbaarheid aan geven.
    1
  23999.  @TerraRubicon  Ik heb dus in Libanon en Kosovo gezeten als sergeant en tweede luitenant van het Finse leger. Van Srebrenica weet ik evenveel als in de kranten heeft gestaan en op televisie is geweest. Ik moet dus altijd uitleggen dat hoewel ik een Nederlander ben en me ook zo voel, dat het in militair opzicht niet zo is. Ik ben nog altijd reservist bij de Finnen. Ik kan dus niet meepraten over Srebrenica, en zou dat ook niet doen. Ik heb genoeg ellende meegemaakt in Kosovo.
    1
  24000.  @rikspring  Wat slap van jou.
    1
  24001.  @katimboallan4605  Russia would very much like to have pets, but they all run away the first chance they get. And that, my children, is how NATO expanded eastward.
    1
  24002.  @davidvanhansen  Same difference. The Battles of Narvik counted as a German defeat, to say nothing of the late-war battles in Africa, Italy, France and Belgium. Axis defeat after defeat.
    1
  24003. You know this from pillow talk?
    1
  24004. It's a chitty-chitty bang-bang tank then, is it?
    1
  24005.  @tatianalyulkin410  Brilliant whatabouting, too, Tanya.
    1
  24006.  @bulentozcan9206  Tell us the specifics about these "NATO occupied areas"? And are you suggesting that Russia actively supports international terrorism? Your handler in Moscow may want to have a word with you.
    1
  24007.  @bulentozcan9206  NATO entered Afghanistan with the full blessing of the UN Security Council, including Russia's and China's. Iraq was never a NATO op -- rather, NATO nearly broke apart on account of the Iraq War. Try to get it right for once. You theories about ISIS and the Taliban having been formed and armed by NATO(?) are just conspiracy theories, unworthy of further comment. Taiwan -- where's the NATO connection? You must be jumping to conclusions and thinking I'm American. Don't be like Pavlov's dog. If you want to continue this discussion, don't give me half-baked answers and substitute facts with opinions. It's both beneath you and me.
    1
  24008.  @ItWasReallyNothing1408  Russia is not dealing particularly well with Ukraine, not even when the latter uses obsolescent Soviet weapons.
    1
  24009. I think you're pretending that the UN is an extraterrestrial entity with divine powers. The sad truth is that whenever the UN fails, there's a mirror moment in it for all of us.
    1
  24010.  @frankthetank5708  Sure. The trouble is, Orban needs the EU's Cohesion Fund in order to bribe his mini-oligarchs and land kickbacks himself. A Putin he isn't, but he'd very much like to be.
    1
  24011. Why on earth would the Ukrainians want another Chernobyl on their soil? Reason has abandoned you -- if you had any to begin with.
    1
  24012. Neville Chamberlain did, but ever since, appeasing aggressors has been frowned upon. Maybe you can explain why.
    1
  24013. 36,693 Richmondians did.
    1
  24014. To be blunt, they haven't taken good care of their most vulnerable, the elderly, to begin with. COVID-19 deaths are just more of the same.
    1
  24015.  @mahbubahmed6310  Too bad Russia won't come to your help you if an armed conflict breaks out between India and China. China is more strategic as a partner to Russia than India ever will be. Sure, Russia will sell you weapons, but once the shooting starts, they'll stop even supplying spare parts.
    1
  24016.  @mahbubahmed6310  Good luck gambling with your future. I suppose beggars can't be choosers.
    1
  24017. Geography is a biatch for most Americans. What else is new?
    1
  24018.  @ryuuguu01  Are you trying to convince me that the Israelis -- and not just the Palestinians -- have been radicalised in this ever-enduring conflict? No need, I'm convinced already. I don't care much for US media, by the way.
    1
  24019. Threatening us with Russian partisans now, are you?
    1
  24020.  @alidicky9543  Ah, you haven't got the faintest clue. Africa and Europe are so alike then?
    1
  24021.  @alidicky9543  That was a non sequitur.
    1
  24022.  @alidicky9543  Another non sequitur. Is everything all right with you? You don't seem present.
    1
  24023. I wonder where you got the idea of using ice. Snow is plentiful and easy to handle; ice, not so much. You'd have to break icicles off tree branches or rocks, assuming they'd formed during a thaw. Also, snow doesn't impede the movement of a cold barrel. Friction melts the snow where it touches the barrel, just like skis do, leaving a nice 'greased' tunnel for the barrel.
    1
  24024.  @EchoCharlie1361  I think we can agree that water at -25 °C equals ice. So they used snow instead of water. Snow won't freeze solid, like I tried to explain earlier. My grandfather took part in the 1939 Battle of Tolvajärvi as a machine gunner. He rejoiced about the heavy snowfall, because it made the attacking Soviets wade waist-deep in snow (they weren't issued skis) and it provided an abundance of coolant for his Maxim. As a shopkeeper, my granddad marvelled at the ammunition he expended, but the casualties he never mentioned. He did dryly mention once that the state made a mass-murderer out of him.
    1
  24025. Perhaps Boeing should focus on drones.
    1
  24026.  @itjustlookslikethis  It was a different Boeing then. Once, it was a proud company led by engineers instead of bean counters.
    1
  24027. How exactly has Russian sovereignty been threatened? Me thinks Russian sovereignty stops at the Russian border. Unlike Russian expansionism.
    1
  24028. The impact will be minimal, as was Trump's impact on the economy.
    1
  24029. I believe all the religions represented in Syria are monotheistic. I understand your mileage varies.
    1
  24030.  @darrenlord2468  Yup, he's got his head in Putin's where-the-sun-don't-shine.
    1
  24031. What are you talking about? 14 years ago, when there was a Labour cabinet, there was no migrant crisis.
    1
  24032.  @mikef4077  Try to get your head around the fact that the Baltics states, for their part, are the EU. Also, from now on they'll connect to the Polish grid, which interconnect with all the other grids in the EU. Your conspiracy-ridden mind may find it hard to accept this, but there's no Dr. Evil in Brussels who owns and controls all the power grids in the EU and is just biding his time to extort one million dollars... sorry, one hundred billion dollars from the Balts. It's individual members states that own and control their own power grids.
    1
  24033.  @grigol101  The nuclear posturing again. Well, you wouldn't be a Putin bot without it. If the first nuclear strike hits Finland, the second hits Russia. You'll welcome it, too, because you'll be puking out your innards from the fall-out of the first one.
    1
  24034. You can always hope. So far all Western weapons have put Russian ones to shame.
    1
  24035.  Joseph Kaluwa  Remind me, which ones and how exactly did these Western intelligence sources lie in the Skripal case? Bellingcat even positively identified the GRU agents in question.
    1
  24036. Vice versa, Trump is making enemies out of friends.
    1
  24037. It's not the Maginot Line, silly.
    1
  24038. Republicanism and environmentalism must be very powerful and very frightening forces in the UK.
    1
  24039. That's true, provided Russia's reason for existing is expansion. NATO threatens Russia's expansionism, that much is certain.
    1
  24040. No gas was flowing through NS 1 nor NS 2, Einstein.
    1
  24041.  @vvv-o9y  Geen broodjeaapverhalen a.u.b. Het zijn wel degelijk Oekraïners. Ze gaan de Russen op middellange aftstand met raketten en zweefbommen bestoken, zonder daarbij teveel risico te lopen. De Russen doen het trouwens zelf ook, hoewel de Oekraïners af een toe een Patriot of NASAMS naar voren brengen en zodoende één of meer Russisch vliegtuigen uitschakelen.
    1
  24042. There must've been a referendum in Mali about MINUSMA that everyone but yourself missed.
    1
  24043.  @dandankokorohikareteku2620  Rude.
    1
  24044. North Korea perhaps, but I'm not entirely sure... Kim Jong-un's refusal to give Putin weapons may be indicative of a chill in relations.
    1
  24045.  @agent3268  You really ought to learn how to spell *loser. You'll need it.
    1
  24046. Practically, no. The US is one step up from a one-party state. After the primaries, it's either/or.
    1
  24047. Trump can pardon himself.
    1
  24048.  @Factsagainstpropoganda  Who exactly knows what? Correct me if the reinstatement of democracy in Niger passed me by, but the Nigeriens have not been consulted in the matter.
    1
  24049. Yet you seem forgetful about the EU not having a seat in the UNSC, let alone veto power.
    1
  24050.  @salahuddeenayyubi313  You're still barking up the wrong tree. The EU has observer status in the UN. No voting rights whatsoever, in other words. Statements of condemnation by either the UNSC or the UNGA still need to be voted on.
    1
  24051.  @kennethmeeker6369  Oh, Trump has done better than that. In 2017, he slapped Canada's Bombardier with a 300% tariff on its airliners. The end result was that Airbus took over the business and now commands a clear lead in the small airliner category. The biggest loser is, of course, Boeing.
    1
  24052. A lot of the protesters weren't born when the Brits left. Stamping out democracy, that's China for you.
    1
  24053.  @Jonathan-yv2qj  You didn't spot "UK" in the title of this video, eh?
    1
  24054. Putin would never be invited to parties that Sanna Marin attends.
    1
  24055.  @IJ72  Cope, Serb.
    1
  24056.  @leonardowang917  Don't play silly buggers. Both Milosevic and Gaddafi were busily committing crimes against humanity. The Libya op was authorised by the then-UNSC members. I was in Kosovo myself -- evidence of Yugoslav atrocities was plentiful, although we primarily concerned ourselves with preventing the Kosovar Albanians from retaliating against Serb civilians. I suppose you were still suckling formula out of a baby bottle.
    1
  24057.  @freenational  Oh dear. You didn't read my earlier comment. Also, before we go any further, let's explore NATO's involvement in Iraq, because you trolls always get it wrong. Between 2004 and 2011, there was NATO Training Mission - Iraq. As its name implies, it was a non-combat training mission involving 170 NATO instructors. NATO played no further role in Iraq. Syria, no NATO ops whatsoever. Try to pay attention to detail. Sloppy trolling is the worst.
    1
  24058.  @billybilly1284  You got shadow-banned, Billy, because of your foul mouth. Try again.
    1
  24059. Still seems a better choice than the capricious dilettante that went before him.
    1
  24060. Your whataboutism is a manifestation of "this colonial mindset". Snap out of it already.
    1
  24061. We'll restrict movement again if the situation warrants it. It's that simple.
    1
  24062.  @BigDsGaming2022  This convo is getting weirder still. Unless they dip into existing stock, the donating nations buy weapons from arms manufacturers -- foreign and domestic -- but at 100% profit? What gave you that idea?
    1
  24063.  @maverick7291  For starters, far-righties are those who shout themselves hoarse that everyone else is far left. You and the OP are cases in point. Over and out.
    1
  24064.  @wysiwyg1  Nope, I recognise Marxism when I see it. They made me plow through arid acres of the ideology when did my master's in political science. And again when I did my master's in history. It's great that it's consigned to history.
    1
  24065. What "American" does France have "at home" exactly?
    1
  24066. From out of reach? Depends on which ammo the T-72s are carrying. If they're carrying barrel-launched ATGMs, the Bradleys are in trouble. Some types outrange the TOW.
    1
  24067. I bet you beat up your wife and then blame her for it.
    1
  24068. "Getting"? Only The Hermit Kingdom of North Korea recognised the Donbas and Crimea as Russian. I'm conveniently assuming that Syria had a change of heart when they kicked out Assad.
    1
  24069. *Attention? I thought English was an official language in India.
    1
  24070.  @Hwyz447  So you're claiming that the Indian government doesn't use English as an official language?
    1
  24071.  @prakhartripathi8465  You don't say.
    1
  24072.  @ta_movies1873  That does not compute.
    1
  24073.  @ta_movies1873  Because your logic is off.
    1
  24074.  @ta_movies1873  I have nothing for or against English. It's not even my native language. Language is a tool. Some are handymen, some are clumsymen. Where logic is concerned, you're one of the latter.
    1
  24075.  @ta_movies1873  You asked a silly question. Capitalisation and punctuation are not superfluous either, by the way.
    1
  24076.  @Kohen124  Let the world community decide. The ayes are 146, the nays 46. The motion is carried.
    1
  24077.  @Kohen124  International recognition is one thing, but international sanctions -- or the mere threat of sanctions -- are quite another. Sanctions brought down South Africa's apartheid. Israel's apartheid won't fare any better.
    1
  24078.  @Kohen124  You're only making a fool of yourself. Everyone knows this is about the two-state solution and Israel's intransigence in the matter. Now go play.
    1
  24079.  @Kohen124  You have your head in the sand. And your flaccid ad hominems only make me laugh. The EU, among others, has thrown its weight behind the two-state solution. Sanctions will follow if Israel keeps dragging its heels. Israel has squandered all goodwill and then some.
    1
  24080. NATO was fading, but then Putin gave it new lease of life. Putin must love it to bits.
    1
  24081. Trump, with a little operational assistance from Biden, ended the War in Afghanistan in a jiffy. Are you advocating we need more Pax Americanas like that?
    1
  24082.  @la7dfa  I wonder what the figure was in the very northeast of Norway.
    1
  24083.  @delos2279  I'm not disputing the Oslo exit poll findings. I'm talking about the extreme north, where Norway borders Russia.
    1
  24084. Asia already buys Siberian crude at a discounted rate. This simply brings Europe on par with Asia. Asian economies lose their temporary competitive advantage, which is hard to construe as a good thing.
    1
  24085.  @paulsmith1981  We'll have to see about Crimea's ethnic make-up and the identities that go with it in some distant future, when sovereignty has been restored and the matter of independence can be settled at the UN. A bumbling Putin condemned his Crimean "compatriots" to decades of international isolation, similar to that of Northern Cyprus. Well, truth be told, to him it never was about the Crimeans.
    1
  24086. It's a bit of a déjà vu moment. In 1948, 100,000 Palestinians left Israel to make way for an Arab invasion. It didn't work out so well for them.
    1
  24087.  Ginger Jesus  Could it be that you missed that the Catholics are now the majority in NI? Biden, a Catholic, describes himself as "a son of Ireland".
    1
  24088.  @theshimario253  Isn't that what I implied?
    1
  24089.  @js4182  The IMF considers Serbia a developing country. Perhaps you should be comparing Serbia's fuel prices with those of India instead. Not only that, India is also sucking up to Russia for lower fuel prices.
    1
  24090.  @GiftigeBalspuwer  De propagandisten in het Ministerie van Desinformatie in Moskou hadden het destijds inderdaad over een coup, maar jij bent de eerste die over een militaire coup begint. Ik wil er het fijne van weten. Wie waren de betrokken generaals? Zijn die alsnog aan de macht? Ik zou het graag zelf allemaal onderzoeken, maar het betreft dus een alternatieve tijdlijn waar jij enkel toegang tot hebt, toch? Ik ben enkel thuis in onze tijdlijn, de realiteit dus.
    1
  24091.  @fendermarshallbluesbox3407  Eigen woorden gebruiken, hè.
    1
  24092.  @fendermarshallbluesbox3407  Ik heb niet gekeken, grapjas. Leg het eens uit, met je eigen woorden.
    1
  24093.  @fendermarshallbluesbox3407  Leg het eerst uit. Je kan toch een zin vormen?
    1
  24094. In this particular case, the US does need to stop sending arms, because otherwise a just and lasting peace is not on the cards.
    1
  24095. With the number of guns about in the US, you'd think you'd be a top democracy, yet you're merely a flawed one.
    1
  24096.  @Gerrard_Pike2008  You should read what Khrushchev had to say about the Winter War when he was finally able to speak his mind. "A victory at such a cost was actually a moral defeat", were his exact words. In other words, the Winter War was a Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one. However, it looks like Russia is managing to surpass itself in Ukraine: a Pyrrhic defeat.
    1
  24097. The UK has Europe's biggest underground labour market. Employers who employ illegal immigrants get a slap on the wrist, whereas on the continent, they rue the day they employed illegals when caught. In the UK, illegals also have an easier time staying below the authorities' radar, because they don't have to carry ID. Naive? Very.
    1
  24098. Explain the woke part, or are you applying the term unthinkingly?
    1
  24099.  @MartinLundström-l4v  Mind your spelling. *Losers *lose.
    1
  24100.  @Spectrophia  Carl Gustaf, not M40.
    1
  24101.  @Spectrophia  "This video shows a Ukrainian soldier using a Carl Gustav recoilless rifle..."
    1
  24102. Sic transit gloria Monday.
    1
  24103.  @bryandimery6509  For Ruzzia, dearie. Oh, our economy is growing. We always knew that relying on Russia for energy is a recipe for disaster, so we invested in renewables, multi-fuel power plants and nuclear energy. And Russia's economy is only "growing" because it's cooking the books. It's like peeing your pants and enjoying the warmth -- till you feel colder still.
    1
  24104. If you play with fire, you'll get burned.
    1
  24105. Western militaries don't give as much weight to artillery as Russia and Ukraine do, whose fighting style is more reminescent of WW1. Ukraine's massive consumption of artillery shells came as a surprise, hence the shortfall.
    1
  24106.  @ericp1139  Right. The funny thing is that NATO hasn't suffered a single casualty in Ukraine. I can extrapolate further from Stoltenberg's comment: if Ukraine loses, the whole civilised world loses. Aren't you confused now.
    1
  24107. You forgot Lutjebroek.
    1
  24108. If anything, Vance sealed the CDU/CSU's electoral victory. The US is now widely seen as a wayward ally that is turning against Germany and Europe as a whole. Vance's endorsement for the AfD will have an adverse effect on the far right's fortunes.
    1
  24109. Israel has been trying to win over the Golan Druze for ages, but with limited success. It remains to be seen how this affects their efforts. It could go either way.
    1
  24110. That'll be the day. The UK will only sink deeper into debt trying to cushion the economic blows of Brexit.
    1
  24111. Helaas, de VS is gedropt van 'Full Democracy' naar 'Flawed Democracy' in de vermaarde Democracy Index toen Trump voor de eerste keer president werd. Sindsdien is het niet meer goed gekomen.
    1
  24112. So Mossad will expand their operations to the UK, you think?
    1
  24113. Unless Russia's revamped Soviet-era aircraft have spontaneously developed stealth capabilities, the Flakpanzers still have a lot of life left in them. Even if they only force the Russians to fly higher, out of Flakpanzer range, they matter. More so than Western air forces, the Russian Air Force relies on dumb bombs, the accuracy of which is inversely proportional to the height from which they're dropped.
    1
  24114. Let the poor sap try to save the Conservative Party first.
    1
  24115.  @tokasonumeanozie3096  Duh. The inflation we've been experiencing is a direct result of the energy crisis. Europe had to wean itself off Russian oil and gas post-haste. The irony is that Russia, the one that isn't bankrolling Ukraine, has had worse inflation. Your economics teacher would be very embarrassed with you now.
    1
  24116. But more to the point, does it answer Indian prayers? Rather, an ever-jealous China will demand that a very-dependent Russia alignes itself more with China at the expense of India. India, especially in terms of arms procurement, will have to turn to the West. Western arms, American ones in particular, come at a price, so inevitably India will be drawn closer to the West.
    1
  24117.  @chetanmani597  How much do the Russians pay you per comment in your outsourced troll factory?
    1
  24118.  @bubamaranovichok4901  "Sources are Coming [sic] in"? What does that even mean? Russia verifiably has outsourced trolls in Ghana, so why not India, the King of Outsourcing? 'To pay' is an irregular verb. Its past tense is 'paid', not "payed [sic]".
    1
  24119.  @chetanmani597  You're still not making sense. They're not paying you in Russian vodka, is it?
    1
  24120.  @maxthecharacter1296  Trump easily beats Obama in the number of drone strikes. The difference is, Obama was open about them, while Trump isn't.
    1
  24121.  @maxthecharacter1296  Obama's final tally, after eight years in the White House, was 1,878. It is estimated that Trump had authorized 2,243 strikes only two years into his presidency. Unlike Obama, he won't tell.
    1
  24122.  @Gudang9  Ah, we're doing conspiracy theories. Just to indulge you for a bit, what are Magdalena Andersson's and Sanna Marin's US connections?
    1
  24123. ​ @Gudang9  Nope. I can't believe I'm writing this, but I overestimated you.
    1
  24124. In what parallel universe do you live?
    1
  24125.  @vanrex7682  Sometimes planes crash for other reasons than loss of hydraulics and/or electricity. Also, I suspect the Su-34 only uses its APU while on the ground and even then only when no ground facilities are available.
    1
  24126.  @Omni_Shambles  Your sarcasm is working against you. The Iraqis themselves found Saddam Hussein guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to the long drop. You may just have predicted Putin's fate, whose demise in all likelihood will be a domestic affair as well, although I suspect the manner in which he'll meet his maker won't earn the Russians any style points.
    1
  24127.  @oconnor6456 Cope? Things are going dandy. Russia is losing in Ukraine and Putin lost the energy war he was waging with the EU. We just have to watch our popcorn intake.
    1
  24128. Do you honestly think Zelenskyy is putting his faith in China? China brokering peace is a long shot, because it's in China's interest that Russia grows weaker and more dependent on China.
    1
  24129.  @alanbstard4  Rather, democracy should be coopertition. Far righties don't know the meaning of the word.
    1
  24130. *Clown. Putin is a clown. Zelenskyy is the comedian. Tsar Vladimir the Clown caused all this, but luckily, he can easily set things right again by issuing a general withdrawal order and thus, averting WW3. Of course, there'll be war reparations to pay, but he shouldn't have racked up such a huge bill.
    1
  24131. I don't mind diversity, but how to tell foreigners that dumping trash bags next to lidded bins is an invation for our abundant wildlife to come and partake in a feast. It's not just mice and rats, but foxes, ravens, crows and magpies, too. Once established, the latter will go after songbird nests as well.
    1
  24132. Je hebt een te hoge dunk van Nederland.
    1
  24133. Then would you believe that a follower of the same religion tried to stop the assailant?
    1
  24134. +dymond lopez There were two Muslims who tried to stop the assailant, and who got stabbed in the process. True story.
    1
  24135. +Tim Husk But it's not an exception. There were similar accounts from the Paris attacks. You're foolishly trying to blame Islam as a whole, while religion appears to be irrelevant when people deal with the threat. It would also appear that us Westerners are more reluctant to act, relying on the authorities instead. Immigrants from less developed countries aren't so trusting.
    1
  24136. +Tim Husk interesting logic. Similarly, Islamist terrorists have a nose. Hence, anyone with a nose is a terrorist.
    1
  24137.  @tripwire8457  Should we also investigate Putin for Assad's crimes against humanity? They're both part of the same (bad) crowd, aren't they? Guilt by association.
    1
  24138.  @chintoki  Will you grow a spine if you kill people?
    1
  24139.  @chintoki  So, how many spines do we have?
    1
  24140.  @chintoki  What an interesting interchange of ideas are we having. I suggest you respectfully decline if someone invites you to a party.
    1
  24141.  @paulfaigl8329  Dugin wants all Ukrainians killed. Do his books exonerate him?
    1
  24142. Russia prides itself with its partisans, especially those that served in the 'Great Patriotic War'. It's fitting that their very own partisans have now made a comeback. I wonder if these particular ones will proudly march in future military parades in post-Putin Russia.
    1
  24143. How so? QEII was a Reptilian, so Charles III must be as well (I'm conveniently assuming reptiles and humans can't interbreed).
    1
  24144.  @eddastrohmayer251  It's how you sad conspiracy theorists choose to interpret it. You ascribe supernatural powers to the USA.
    1
  24145.  @maximturcan1722  Sure, conspiracy theorists cherry-pick the occasional documented detail. Others, they ignore completely.
    1
  24146. Russia could surround the US with its anti-NATO, the CSTO -- if it actually still existed and hadn't died a silent death.
    1
  24147. Ge kunt niet goe rekenen.
    1
  24148.  @ingilizcehazrlk9134  Only the necessity seems to go out of the window when it's Israel that needs to obey a binding UNSC resolution.
    1
  24149. Groveling to a tinpot dictator doesn't command respect.
    1
  24150. The US is not in the driver's seat here. Turkey is, and you can expect it to guard its interests jealously, which means the US will keep quiet in the back. Turkey prefers a stable and subservient Syria to a democratic one, and not in the least because its own democratic credentials aren't all that great either. There's the lingering Ottoman colonial mentality as well.
    1
  24151.  @darkfox-wr9bu  Not true. Recent polls suggests that a third of the Russians care enough about the war to support it. Interestingly, 40% support a withdrawal instead. The rest are stereotypically apathetic Russians of the type that you -- and Putin -- seem to prefer. Putin is lucky that there's no democracy in Russia.
    1
  24152.  @JohnJones-k9d  And you're pretending to be a thinking man? All you're doing is regurgitating Russian propaganda. The EU doesn't need to be told to keep Russian aggression in check. Especially its easternmost members have forgotten more about Russian aggression than the Americans will ever know.
    1
  24153.  @davidnoelfranks1124  Sorry, I don't partake in conspiracy theorising. In my case, it would require a lobotomy, and nowadays the medical world frowns upon the procedure.
    1
  24154.  @TheRealBillBob  I hear Russia is desperate enough to repurpose surface-to-air and anti-shipping missiles -- with piss-poor accuracy as a result. But I've got to admit that Russia is extremely effective at destroying Western weapons. Incredibly, Russia manages to destroy more weapon systems of a particular type than have been delivered to Ukraine, or systems that have yet to be delivered. It's amazing what Russian propagandists can achieve when they put their minds to it.
    1
  24155.  @tanusha6145  Whataboutism is something I don't care about. Shoo, whataboutist!
    1
  24156.  @juz3r1  That's not borne out by the press freedom index. Freedom of the press in Hungary is deemed subpar. Ours is hunky dory. So, am I to conclude that the violent suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 by the Soviets was a good thing? I don't know know why you suddenly bring up the Donbas, but the OSCE found no evidence of Ukraine targeting civilians. Don't parrot obvious falsehoods.
    1
  24157. What does that say? You wingnuts are alike.
    1
  24158.  @thodorisd5136  What comment and why do you have a bee in your bonnet?
    1
  24159.  @thodorisd5136  Well, you don't know your English idioms. I've got another one for you: much ado about nothing.
    1
  24160. You ought to add that it's pigeon chess that you play.
    1
  24161.  @fredrikbergquist5734  Let me guess, the differences being that instead of you knocking the chess pieces over, you gobble them up and trot back to your flock to claim victory.
    1
  24162.  @fredrikbergquist5734  So Ukraine is going to mine lithium in Kursk? The sky -- or should I say the centre of the Earth -- is the limit for a conspiracy theorist's imagination.
    1
  24163.  @fredrikbergquist5734  YouTube's AI must've gotten wise to your alternative facts.
    1
  24164.  @fredrikbergquist5734  Clichés are your forte.
    1
  24165.  @zhugeliang3905  No doubt, you speak for the CCP.
    1
  24166. You've got it backwards. The USA listens to Israel.
    1
  24167.  @Jamey_ETHZurich_TUe_Rulez  Murica sure has its fair share of hillbillies and rednecks.
    1
  24168.  @5555-r9i  Same difference. Musk, for once, talked to his lawyers beforehand.
    1
  24169. ​ @alexsilent5603  Do you ever fact-check yourself? Obviously not.
    1
  24170.  @met2145  The last time the Russians shot at us, they suffered a million or so casualties.
    1
  24171. Trade wars have never benefited anyone. Funny you should mention Israel, as if it's a trade bloc in its own right. Israel has a smaller economy than Ireland, which is a minor player in the EU.
    1
  24172. Hootie and the Blowfish are still a thing.
    1
  24173. Seems like they're getting their money's worth.
    1
  24174. Trump doesn't even bother with divide and conquer.
    1
  24175. "Western" unity just got a whole lot stronger with the orange divider-in-chief making way for someone who actually understands diplomacy. In the meanwhile, China is stumbling from one PR disaster to another.
    1
  24176. It's not just about sanctions. 143 UN members condemned Russia for its military aggression in Ukraine, while a mere 4 supported Russia. I call that isolation all right.
    1
  24177.  @yollon2550  No Ukrainian chose to start a war. That was pure Putin.
    1
  24178.  @evenmullah1780  Political power did that for sure, but you've still got the wrong country. I'll spell it out for you: R-U-S-S-I-A. BTW, the plural form of civilian is civilians, without the genitive apostrophe. Basic grammar.
    1
  24179.  @evenmullah1780  There you go again, misspelling the plural form of civilian. *Civilians -- no apostrophe before the s. Otherwise it's a possessive noun. Also, the present continuous tense of 'to die' is 'dying'. 'Dieing' means cutting metal with a die. And it's "Why does Russia go against Europe and America and get thousands of sanctions?" Why indeed. Putin must have an economic death wish.
    1
  24180. Why don't you petition the authorities to close shops at 10:59pm? Of course, another smart alec will argue that 10:58pm is just as dangerous, and so.
    1
  24181. And the feet under the big mirrors.
    1
  24182. The Ukrainians have been busy bees.
    1
  24183. Really? And I thought the other thinks nothing of extrajudicial murder, annexing neighbouring territory, waging war, needlessly condemning its people to economic austerity, etc., etc.
    1
  24184. Lordie, be that as it may, but Russia is by no means exemplary and therefore, it would appear, a lousy teacher.
    1
  24185. When will Russia veto it, you think?
    1
  24186. Still favouring Tiananmen Square Massacre tactics, eh?
    1
  24187. You may want to change your nick, Ivan, because you're not fooling anyone with those language skills. May I suggest something with the keywords "Russian" and "troll" in it?
    1
  24188.  @lukemalish5531  Still bitter about not getting away with genocide, those Serbs ultranationalists. Some things never change.
    1
  24189.  @D45VR  I think he's going for whataboutism. I'm pretty sure of it, actually.
    1
  24190. I like your self-criticism.
    1
  24191. I fail to see what's in it for Russia.
    1
  24192.  @bananapeeler8797  i don't doubt that Russia blew up NS, but why would Russia want to wean the EU off cheap Russian gas? I think Russia thought it would arouse suspicions and possibly cause fractures in the anti-Russia front. Anyhow, Putin's Russia had little to lose, because it was unlikely that gas would flow ever again through NS. Let's see if post-Putin Russia will convict the man for destroying valuable state property.
    1
  24193.  @swordoftengri2676  That'll be up to the courts to decide. I hold no opinion on the matter.
    1
  24194. So it would be just if the Scots sent the royal family packing.
    1
  24195. Yet Russia has a track record of falling apart when its wars go awry. This time, Estonia may gain a few neighbours as part of the process: Karelia and Ingria. A bit further afield, Amberland. No doubt they'll apply for EU and NATO membership, too, after which you'll troll against them, paid by rump-Russia a.k.a. Muscovy.
    1
  24196.  @toveirenestrand3547  It bears reminding that only Russia's minions -- who're also a dying breed -- bought the bullshite about the Crimean status referendum. International recognition of Crimea being part of Russia is next to non-existent. Fact.
    1
  24197. I don't know what you're on about, but Finland has never had any F-16s. F/A-18s, yes, but they're not being transferred anywhere. Finland is not in NATO either, if that's what you're suggesting.
    1
  24198. Don't you worry your pretty little head about such things. The weapons arrive by a land route.
    1
  24199.  @lovemanunited1234  There's plenty of historical evidence to the contrary, bud.
    1
  24200.  @lovemanunited1234  You don't know your history. In Afghanistan, the Soviet Union lost wars not once but thrice -- in 1926, 1929 and 1989. Then there were the Baltic wars of independence, all three of which were lost by the Soviets. The Polish-Soviet War, samo-samo. In WW2, the Soviet Union beat Germany and some of the latter's smaller allies in Eastern Europe -- hardly "almost all Europe [sic] bro", in other words. Should we move on to the wars lost by the Russian Federation? Oh, the number just doubled.
    1
  24201.  @lovemanunited1234  "They have more" -- what? Defeats? The Russian Federation has only existed since 1991. Already, it has racked up two defeats and a third, a really big one, is in the making. The Soviet-Afghan War did the Soviet Union in. Let's see if the Russian Federatio survives this one.
    1
  24202.  @colinjames2469  A VPN is not going to save him. The network operator will find him by his mobile number and not his IP address, so hiding the latter is of no help.
    1
  24203. Numbers. Russia is reintroducing human wave attacks. When this, too, inevitably fails, Russia will try Mao's devious stratagem: a million Russians surrender on Day X, and if Zelenskyy doesn't accept Putin's peace terms, on Day X+1 another million Russians surrender. This goes on and on till Ukraine is bursting with Russian POWs and has no choice but to sue for peace.
    1
  24204.  @Ha15679  Cause and consequence elude you.
    1
  24205.  @germanshepherd4521  Here's a little more education that you've apparently overlooked: "In 2013, the chief commander of 102nd military base Andrey Ruzinsky [in Gyumri, Armenia] said in an interview that "If Azerbaijan decides to restore jurisdiction over Nagorno-Karabakh by force the [Russian] military base may join in the armed conflict in accordance with the Russian Federation’s obligations within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).""
    1
  24206.  @ambessaseway5594  When French investors pull out, who's replacing them? Russian investors? Their domestic investments are evaporating, so don't hold your breath. Russia wants to exploit Africa on the cheap, not invest in it.
    1
  24207.  @makegaminggreatagain3907  But Sweden doesn't even have that many regulars. 23,600 vs. Finland's 21,500. If you don't invest in a reserve, like Finland does, you should make up for it in active personnel. You've been skimping, and don't pretend otherwise.
    1
  24208. That's populism for you. It never provides solutions to real problems.
    1
  24209.  @korstiaanakse1  Een president heeft meestal wel iets in de pap te brokken. Zo moet de premier wel eens uitleg komen geven bij de president, of krijgt hij goede raad mee. Als het een ervaren staatsman betreft, dan is het mooi meegenomen. In Nederland, met Koning Wim-Alex, werkt het juist andersom. Rutte is zowat kinderoppas.
    1
  24210. There are accounts of suicide bombers causing hundreds of casualties. Their vests are very similar to a Qassam warhead, meaning eplosives lined with ball bearings, but less of each.
    1
  24211.  @Wezqu  You're perpetuating a myth. Molotov cocktails weren't "very effective" in the Winter War either. When armour is properly used with supporting infantry, the defenders never get within throwing range. There are numerous Finnish reports to this effect. Of course, the media played it up and the authorities let them, because it was good for morale and it diverted from the fact that Finland was desperately short of anti-tank guns in the Winter War.
    1
  24212.  @Wezqu  Wikipedia has this to say on the matter: "Puna-armeija menetti talvisodan taisteluissa 1 919 panssarivaunua, joista 436 tulipalon vuoksi. Suurin osa lienee polttopullolla sytytettyjä.[5] Realistinen arvio polttopulloilla onnistuneista panssarivaunujen tuhoamisista lienee kymmenissä, ei sadoissa [6]."
    1
  24213.  @Wezqu  It's not contradictory by any means. I'm sure those tanks were set on fire with Molotov cocktails, but only after being abandoned and/or disabled. My uncle used to relate how they found an abandoned Russian tank and used straw from a nearby barn to set it alight. Next, you're going to tell us that straw made for a very efficient anti-tank weapon.
    1
  24214.  @Wezqu  Yes, if your feelings are hurt this easily, please leave.
    1
  24215.  @Dorgpoop My thoughts exactly. BoJo could steal the SNP's thunder if he agrees to extend the Northern Ireland Protocol to cover Scotland as well, but it would amount to yet another political defeat for him. Then again, Brexit is a losing battle.
    1
  24216.  @georgejackson2631  Please tell me that the Reptilians are in charge. I have a soft spot for retro, retro conspiracy theories included.
    1
  24217.  @claus-not-santa  In Libya, a civil war broke out. Syria, same difference. Iraq was anything but a NATO affair, causing a deep fissure within the alliance that only healed when the Americans ate crow. When NATO arrived in Afghanistan -- with the explicit blessing of Russia and China, I might add -- the Taliban was already hiding out in Pakistan. Try to remember that for the next time. Your lot keeps getting it wrong.
    1
  24218.  @claus-not-santa  Other than imposing a UNSC-mandated no-fly zone, Libya was an extracurricular activity as far as NATO was concerned. And strictly speaking, Syria wasn't a NATO op at all. You might as well blame the UN for starting all wars, because there's bound to be a UN member to blame. Astrid Lindgren? Don't go silly on me now.
    1
  24219.  @claus-not-santa  Duh. Google "List of NATO operations". You literally have all the information in the world at your fingertips. Don't be a dullard.
    1
  24220.  @claus-not-santa  Make your own points. I'm not playing Wikipedia for those who can't be arsed to do simple research themselves.
    1
  24221. Corona's beer sales haven't suffered.
    1
  24222. I don't think that works in your favour. India is rife with active separatist movements whose motivation will get lifted.
    1
  24223.  @ajitKumar-zk1yx  But why bring that up? Canada, the US and the UK are not supporting separatism in India. Have you been diagnosed with paranoia?
    1
  24224.  @Roy2470xx  What a lame-arse response, Roy.
    1
  24225. Not all of us are psychopaths. Get help.
    1
  24226. Russia blunders from one PR disaster to another.
    1
  24227. Not count on Russia in any conceivable capacity?
    1
  24228.  @christiankalinkina239  Duh.
    1
  24229. The problem with Russian conscripts is that they're not really trained, but rather, they're made to do menial jobs. Between all the bullying, that is.
    1
  24230.  @notsoglamgrandma  The sad truth is that democracy doesn't take in Russia. They love their tsars.
    1
  24231.  @notsoglamgrandma  Putin has made 'president' synonymous with 'tsar'.
    1
  24232. Shame on you for trying to shame the UN without cause. Israel can't prove any of its allegations against UNRWA. You could be guilty of defamation.
    1
  24233.  @Raffaele-j7j  Russia sure does need China, which is only too eager to turn Russia into its colony. There's nothing like a buyer setting the prices for the natural resources that it craves. Maybe Putin can still stay on as governor if he agrees to change his name to Pu Tin.
    1
  24234. The French CAESAR howitzer saw its first use in Ukraine three weeks ago. Try to keep up.
    1
  24235. So she's crazier than Elon.
    1
  24236. Too bad it isn't for you to favour anything on their behalf. Or you do think yourself another Putin, who gets to define spheres of influence in this day and age?
    1
  24237. That's a pretty broad statement. It's like saying North Korea is representative of China.
    1
  24238.  @caty863  I don't think Russia is winning hearts and mind by levelling cities in Donbas with little regard for life and property. The illegal annexation of Crimea saw a great many indigenous Tatars flee. The authorities have harshly suppressed critics. Sounds like occupation tactics to me. Donbas will only be worse.
    1
  24239. And Putin hates Lenin, for yielding Imperial Russian territory.
    1
  24240.  @ghteo9766  That's your minority complex speaking.
    1
  24241. Unlike Iran, Israel doesn't conduct these strikes for propaganda purposes, which suggests they want someone dead for justifiable reasons -- at least in their eyes. Usually, Israel doesn't even admit to be behind them.
    1
  24242. So you tacitly admit that Russia is a big bully that its neighbours should cower in fear of. You are an anachronism.
    1
  24243. Maybe a more pertinent question for you to ponder about is Latvia's commemoration of its Jews, murdered during WW2 by Nazis and Latvians.
    1
  24244.  @Bill-ed1hr  Cop-out detected.
    1
  24245. You're at odds with reality -- and with the Russian authorities. By their own admission, the Russian economy has been losing 0.5 to 1.5% GDP at it's only getting worse. On top of that, Russia is incurring losses from lower oil and gas prices.
    1
  24246. British Commonwealth? It's not called that since 1949. And I fail to see how a loose sports and culture club is of any significance here. It has members who think its sole purpose is to stick it to their former colonial master, the UK.
    1
  24247.  @kongthai..  It's the 'Commonwealth of Nations', sport. No 'British' in the name since 1949. Me being jealous would imply that the Commonwealth is actually a trade bloc or customs union. It simply is not. You might as well ask me if I'm jealous of The Mickey Mouse Club. The IT firm that I'm a co-founder of recently hired two Indians. Had we asked the Indian authorities if we needed permission from the 'British Commonwealth' to hire them, they would've rolled over the floor laughing.
    1
  24248.  @kongthai..  Everyone wants to be in the your Still-not-British Commonwealth? On what do you base that assertion? Facts, please. My country isn't even thinking of joining, but we're deemed to be better off democracy-wise than your beloved Britain. And it's Brits that came to that conclusion. For laughs, read the entry for 'trade bloc' in Wikipedia. Report back to me if you found any mention of the Commonwealth.
    1
  24249.  @kongthai..  Arguments are claims backed by reasons that are supported by evidence. You come up empty.
    1
  24250.  @kongthai..  So you're done trying to argue your case? I'm not in the mood to chit-chat with you.
    1
  24251.  @kongthai..  Aw.
    1
  24252. Pacifism is OK, as long the person knows what 'si vis pacem, para bellum' means.
    1
  24253. Cope harder. There's visual confirmation of at least 100 destroyed and captured Russian BMP-3s. Ukraine had just 4 of them before the war broke out.
    1
  24254. Allowing unimpeded access -- even temporarily -- to Gazan civilians who're starving and sickly? That is not rocket science.
    1
  24255.  @stevenbrucci  My thoughts exactly. Clickbait.
    1
  24256. But they positively suck at making peace. The IDF's military prowess is poor consolation.
    1
  24257. Don't forget the shape-shifting, blood-sucking NWO Reptilians. They're pulling all the strings.
    1
  24258. Do you think they'd let Priggie in on the launch codes? Lukashenko can't help him in that respect either, since he hasn't been told either.
    1
  24259. ...and if they retreat, the Wagner Group will let loose on them with machine guns.
    1
  24260.  @duyguyurdakul6776  Who did and who didn't. Wouldn't prosecuting the guilty make more sense than apportioning collective blame? The Armenians, too, can play that game, and perhaps they will, too, another 30 years from now. The circle of violence never stops with your lot.
    1
  24261. I don't like the weather so I'll go protest.
    1
  24262. We've seen the Hongkongers protest for democracy for six months. Now it's established beyond doubt that the populace stands behind them. Where's the surprise?
    1
  24263.  @Santeh60  If that's what the Californians want, why not? Their right to self-determination is no different from that of the Hongkongers. You seem to think present-day national borders are carved in stone. Not so -- they're changing all the time.
    1
  24264.  @Santeh60  In California, no bloodshed. The same goes for Scotland, Catalonia, Flanders, Northern Ireland and what not. There are plenty of precedents, too. Czechoslovakia dissolved very peacefully. Amazingly, even the Soviet Union came to a relatively peacefully end. There's a good case study for China.
    1
  24265.  @jason-s8c  Does Trump hold dual citizenship? It's pretty much inconsequential what his government officials decide. If they're not doing what Trump tells them to, it's "You're fired!"
    1
  24266.  @altunaze6127  Erdogan is known to announce grand plans with great fanfare, only to fail to deliver. It's too bad you Turks have such short memories, or you'd see Erdogan for the hyperbolic populist that he is.
    1
  24267. China is definitely getting closer to Africa. Just like African nations, China has a president-for-life.
    1
  24268. And the two cases are linked? How?
    1
  24269. Yeah, about Trump stopping wars. His crowning achievement is stopping the War in Afghanistan. To be fair, Biden had a hand in it, too.
    1
  24270.  @iamgermane  Greenland is not Europe's to give. De jure, it's Denmark's decision, and even that is dubious since Greenland is a remnant of colonialism, be it an autonomous one. You should really ask the Greenlanders and the Greenlanders alone how much they feel indebted to the Americans. By the way, it sounds like you'd like to give Greenland to Trump as a personal gift, just like King Leopold II of Belgium personally owned Congo -- with horrible consequences. Tsk-tsk.
    1
  24271.  @iamgermane  Is that your response? For reals? Are you advocating that the US attacks a NATO partner and performs ethnic cleansing on it? Do you even realise how ridiculous you sound? I know you're just mindlessly parroting Trump, but come on, you must have a smidgen of functional brain matter.
    1
  24272. Which part of "nuclear deterrent" don't you understand, Tania? They do serve a purpose, as in making it known to potential aggressors that the costs of launching a nuclear attack against NATO far outweighs any benefit they could hope to achieve.
    1
  24273. I've got a better idea. Zelenskyy sends the Orcs packing, so that Russia won't take over the country, because otherwise Russia would bring Ukraine up to the same level of corruption as in Russia, which is way-way worse than Ukraine's. See, Zelenskyy is fighting corruption.
    1
  24274. That'll do, Ivan.
    1
  24275.  @SPENKER52  You're not the brightest candle in church.
    1
  24276.  @UFOZone51  Have you put in your application for those English courses yet? If you need someone to testify how necessary they are, I can be of help.
    1
  24277. I guess she's being groomed to become the next supreme leader. North Korea is a communist monarchy after all.
    1
  24278. Of all the countries in the world, only Iran came out in support of Hamas. Iranian drones attack Ukraine on a daily basis. There was and is no love lost between the two countries, so it's not a loss to Ukraine.
    1
  24279.  @ogagaohwosoro6963  Iran is a strong backer, both militarily and financially, of Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are sworn enemies of Israel. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  24280.  @FireflyThereIsHope  Thank you, I guess, for that personal opinion which you, sadly, didn't bother to flesh out with arguments. It's not a keeper, I'm afraid.
    1
  24281.  @FireflyThereIsHope  You seem to value your opinion above else, not me. Do you know what opinions and bumholes have in common? Everyone's got one, and they stink.
    1
  24282.  @FireflyThereIsHope  I don't proudly display mine, like you do. You still don't get it. Opinions, by themselves, are worthless. You're supposed to support them with proper argumentation in order for them to have value.
    1
  24283.  @Steelninja77  The US vetoed a ceasefire at the UN not once but twice. Also, US air drops are like sticking a Mickey Mouse bandaid on an arterial bleed. Aid-washing.
    1
  24284.  @hilite975  You're right, James is a dull boy.
    1
  24285. How about India standing up for what is right? When China and Pakistan invade Ladakh and Kashmir, should Ukraine demand concessions from India before it condemns the violation of India's territorial integrity?
    1
  24286. Other countries? There's just Russia with its troubled economy and dilapidated armed forces.
    1
  24287. You mean OAR is the best. Russia's barred from the Olympics.
    1
  24288. Simple-pimple. There will be Republicans who won't vote for Trump because they think him a despicable character. Eventually they'll vote for Biden, of course.
    1
  24289.  @zonachristian9746  Yanukovych abandoned his post, more like. Also, I must've missed Nuland's tenure as Ukraine's president. It must've been rather short.
    1
  24290.  @zw9802  Don't be a drama queen. France isn't used to forming coalition governments, unlike its neighbours. Its quirky electoral system is to blame. The same goes for the UK, and above all, the US.
    1
  24291. Simo Häyhä was invalided out before these were issued.
    1
  24292.  @bishop51807  Europe dominates the Democracy Index Top 25.
    1
  24293.  @Avaneesh-1  Report to your nearest British Council for free English lessons.
    1
  24294. I dropped my toast onto the floor, jelly-side down. I blame Soros.
    1
  24295. To say that your grasp on reality is tenuous would be a gross understatement.
    1
  24296.  @DavidJohnson-dc8lu  Uh, countries bring themselves into NATO and US military bases -- or rather NATO bases -- and weapons only get to be placed there if the countries in question explicitly agree. In fact, some do not and are none the worse for wear.
    1
  24297. If it does happen, it's a sad day for Putin's eternal whataboutists.
    1
  24298. Back to reality. Russia's Baltic Fleet has one(!) submarine left, an old and creaky Kilo-class diesel-electric 1970s design. If it were to come to blows, the ultra-quiet Swedish and German subs would stage an interland and use it for a soccer ball.
    1
  24299. Allah/Yahwe/God must be really confused because his "chosen people" are the ones being targeted. Abrahamic religions recycle their gods.
    1
  24300. If the Greenlanders insists on keeping their welfare state while under US tutelage, it will bankrupt the USA, since Greenland will see a huge influx of Americans without proper healthcare and no access to higher education. Murica would swallow a poison pill, in other words.
    1
  24301.  @Lawrence4000-s3k  In case you haven't noticed, Russia, China, North Korea and Iran are busily banding together in opposition of the US. If there's a showdown between NATO and Russia, China is bound to make sure the US Pacific Fleet is tied up in the Pacific, if only with its 'fleet in being'. The Norks and the Iranian theocrats are bound to stir up trouble, too -- in fact, they are already.
    1
  24302.  @Lawrence4000-s3k  In case you haven't noticed, Russia, China, North Korea and Iran are busily banding together in opposition of the US. If war breaks out between NATO and Russia, China is bound to make sure the US Pacific Fleet is tied up in the Pacific, if only with its 'fleet in being'. The North Koreans and the Iranians are bound to stir up trouble, too -- in fact, they are already.
    1
  24303.  @Lawrence4000-s3k  Which part of US defence strategy didn't you understand? Shifting forces from the Pacific to Europe comes at the expense of preparedness in the former. You can rest assured that if Russia were to go to war with NATO, China would make sure that the US Pacific Fleet remains tied up. It doesn't even have to come to a shooting war. Read up on 'fleet in being'. Chinese warships never have to leave port to pose a considerable threat.
    1
  24304. Serbia -- begging to be let in.
    1
  24305.  @utkarshtrivedi8870  Haven't you Indians realised by now that Russia is cutting its losses and leaving India in the lurch? Russia is between a rock and a hard place -- its survival depends on China, and China can't tolerate Russia being BFFs with India. You got the short end of the stick, and you desperately need new friends -- friends you're foolishly alienating with your unrequited love for Russia.
    1
  24306. Simple. The UN practically can't sanction a permanent member of the Security Council. Power of veto.
    1
  24307.  @endlessendless2391  Interesting claim, be it an unconvincing one. How come the world's top 10 democracies (no, the US doesn't come anywhere near) are practically all multi-party parliamentary democracies? The beauty of a multi-party democracy is that parties with ambitions of governing must behave, because their current political opponents may be their partners in the next coalition government. In stark contrast, your duopoly leads to extreme polarization, because being respectful to one's political opponents is surplus to requirements, a hindrance even.
    1
  24308.  @melissas4874  That's a non-argument, Melissa.
    1
  24309. Can you comment on a news clip concerning India without turning on the newscaster? Big question.
    1
  24310. I've got it. Sixth republic. True parliamentary democracy.
    1
  24311.  @serbianwarcrimes  It remains to be seen if or how the perpetrators can be prosecuted. When the (alleged) crime was committed, Eagle S came under the jurisdiction of the Cook Islands, a microstate halfway around the world. Maybe they have a NZ barrister specialising in maritime law on retainer, but that could be it. Flags of convenience...
    1
  24312.  @serbianwarcrimes  Outside of territorial waters, even if that's EEZ, the jurisdiction of the flag state applies, in this case the Cook Islands. The Finnish authorities could board the ship because it obeyed their instructions and entered Finnish territorial waters, where Finnish jurisdiction does apply. You easily check this. I suggest you do.
    1
  24313. It's the Kremlin pitifully revelling in victimhood and using Russophobia to justify it. It's a far cry from the real thing. And if you've got Russians living in your midst as doctors, taxi drivers, cashiers, even in-laws, how can you truly hate them? Outside of Russia, they're just people like us.
    1
  24314. By rights, the UK and Australia should get the Eurovision song contest. Maybe Israel can be in on it, too. Perhaps Russia, too, to butter them up for trade reasons. The UK needs trade partners post-Brexit.
    1
  24315.  @Wiers75q  Yes, and all those Chinese social media platforms are heavily censored.
    1
  24316.  @Wiers75q  That's simply not true. Europe has its own social platforms. Moreover, our cool climate and solid infrastructure have made operating data centres a lucrative business. We're hosting some of the largest on the continent. And it's not just the likes of Google and Amazon, but even Chinese companies make use of them. You should do your homework before you speak out.
    1
  24317. An assassination similar to that of Sadat's in Egypt? Putin's battered soldiers repaying their leader in kind -- there's some poetic justice to that.
    1
  24318. Beijing was mighty displeased with NATO pulling out. Fact.
    1
  24319.  @gullyside01  Ukrainians civilians aren't doing the fighting. Russia should've targeted those who do to make a difference on the battlefront.
    1
  24320. Let me guess, you never served in the military?
    1
  24321. *Newest.
    1
  24322.  @janlul7002  Krabbel je een berichtje op een CD en ga je daarmee discuswerpen?
    1
  24323.  @heressomestuffifound  We've got almost twice the forested area of California, yet we rake it all clean, at least according to Trump.
    1
  24324.  @jps0117  It would take ACW2 for California to leave? How come the EU let the UK go?
    1
  24325.  @jps0117  Borders are not carved in stone. At the end of the day, constitutions are just pieces of paper. One way or the other, the people decide.
    1
  24326. Shoulda coulda woulda. You won't find any takers. Why indeed would these countries get involved with regional powers from half across the world?
    1
  24327.  fluffymufti  Squeezing a pimple on our nose is a better analogy. The UK is far more exposed to trade disruptions than any individual EU member. As a case in point, if bilateral trade were to grind to a complete halt, our exports would be down 4.4%. Yours, 45%. That's what I call a crippling blow.
    1
  24328. They clearly don't like the publicity. But then again, Iran has no qualms about shooting its own citizens.
    1
  24329.  @Sziasztok742  Cope, Andy, cope.
    1
  24330.  @Sziasztok742  Dry your tears, Andy. I'm sure your Kremlin handlers can organise an expedited delivery of copium to Australia. I don't think they have assets to spare Down Under.
    1
  24331. You don't need to specify "Western" democracy. There's no Eastern democracy. But you're right, the US needs to up its game. 'Flawed democracy', the verdict is.
    1
  24332.  @farrier2708  They're Eastern and democratic all right, but would you call H2O in Japan and Taiwan 'Eastern water'? Or the air, is it distinctly 'Eastern air' over there? By creating unnecessary distinctions where none exist, you're lending credence to the ever-present wumaos who reject "Western democracy" as if they have a better, Eastern variety on offer. China's party dictatorship is the anti-thesis of democracy.
    1
  24333.  @duinay3  The Russian Federation is the successor to the Soviet Union, which itself succeeded the Russian Empire -- a through-and-through colonial empire that didn't shy away from extreme brutality in order to expand. None of the three ever properly decolonised. In fact, Putin deplores that Lenin and his Bolsheviks didn't fight on in WW1 and in consequence, lost parts of the former Russian Empire. Also, Putin compares himself to Peter the Great and vows to win back former Russian lands. Imperialism? You betcha.
    1
  24334.  @duinay3  Gruesome as it was, the Americans' ill-treatment of native Americans is ancient history. They build no colonial empire in Asia either. Russia, however, is very much at it -- as we speak.
    1
  24335. You'll find that whoever wins the next election, and the one after that, US derisking policy toward China won't change. The same goes for the rest of the West.
    1
  24336.  sinchiro ichihada  You think admitting your mistakes is crazy? It takes all kinds, I guess.
    1
  24337.  @crazychinese7315  You're making precious little sense.
    1
  24338.  @crazychinese7315  As I said, you make no sense. Higher gas prices lead to inflation, inflation leads to higher labour costs, higher labour costs mean Germany's exports suffer. Do you understand how a modern economy works?
    1
  24339.  @AlexRa911  I think you mistook YouTube for VK.
    1
  24340. Russia has fallen by the wayside. Don't bother with then, they'll just keep you back.
    1
  24341. It's in China's interest to broker an uneasy peace -- more like a truce actually -- that keeps Russia internationally isolated and economically dependent on China. Russia is a far juicer prize to China than Ukraine. And China knows Ukraine will soon be both in NATO and the EU, but Russia comes with no strings attached.
    1
  24342. This is the 21st *century, you ding-dong.
    1
  24343. That's right. You and The Coca-Cola Company have made yourselves guilty of cultural appropriation.
    1
  24344. Bad spellers of the world, untie!
    1
  24345.  @beri4138  If you mean Russia by colonisers, sure thing. Russia is, after all, the biggest coloniser of them all, past present and... no, not the future.
    1
  24346. Climate change? How does that feature in your conspiracy theories? Is it a conspiracy theory in itself in your book?
    1
  24347. We can also speculate if the US meets its commitment. US defence spending stands at 3.5% of GDP, but US military doctrine prescribes that its armed forces prepare for a two-war scenario. The US demonstrably has extensive military assets in and around the Pacific. Do they count as contributions to NATO? After all, NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. There's no mention of the Pacific.
    1
  24348.  @enkig2624  Royals are of mixed ancestry. Inbred mixed ancestry.
    1
  24349. The problem with your analogy is that Mexico would have to be dragged kicking and screaming into Russia's sphere of influence, and yes, such a blatant breach of sovereignty would be impossible to ignore for any country that calls itself independent. Russia can only hope to bully its smaller neighbours, because it has nothing to offer. No wonder they all hate Russia and feel compelled to make security arrangements that drive Putin up the wall.
    1
  24350. Sure, Putin can pave the way by announcing Russia's withdrawal. The next item on the agenda is war reparations.
    1
  24351.  @hanzofunai4238  Of course not, I don't do whataboutism. You, on the other hand, can't stop yourself.
    1
  24352.  @MrMaverickanand  No, whataboutism stings me. You Indians are going full Soviet on us. I thought better of you.
    1
  24353.  @MrMaverickanand  Where's the self-aggrandisement? And where did I engage in whataboutism? Whataboutism is decidedly Soviet in nature. The Soviets practically had copyright on it. It's not something you want to emulate.
    1
  24354.  @daakuredpanda5782  You should read what I wrote earlier in this thread. The Freedom in the World index puts practially all European countries ahead of India, and the criteria for awarding points include religious freedom. Moreover, Europe is a continent. Religious freedom varies from country to country, even considerably so. It would be apples and oranges if we were to compare the whole of Europe to India. Let's stick with continents and compare Europe to the Indian subcontinent. I'm afraid Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan drag your score down further. As to diversity, I suspect you're not that well travelled, but it's plenty clear to me -- having travelled extensively in both Europe and India -- that there's more interracial interaction in Europe than in India. My former school is now a mosque, but it hasn't kept us from organising reunions there. My Turkish and North African schoolmates -- Muslims -- think it funny, and the rest of us are just happy that the building found a worthwile purpose. Finally, I don't recall telling you what to do. I'm merely noting that whataboutism amounts to childish behaviour. Take criticism like an adult, and don't whine like a petulant child.
    1
  24355.  @MrMaverickanand  Oh, I see. It's condescending that India doesn't fare as well as we do in human rights. You guys brought up human rights. I brought you down to earth.
    1
  24356.  @MrMaverickanand  I've told you, I don't play with whataboutists. You need to take up your grievances with compilers of the Freedom in the World index, or produce a credible source that puts you ahead of Europe in religious tolerance.
    1
  24357.  @MrMaverickanand  I knew it. You have no source -- none whatsoever -- for your claims. For the record, I have not interfered or judged India. I have dryly noted, based on careful analysis by a renowned research institute, that India is not a leading light in religious tolerance. Please be more assertive, but don't make claims you can't back up.
    1
  24358.  @MrMaverickanand  To quote you: "And for the record, we have far older and better religious freedom records than you do." That sounds like a claim. Provide a source that supports your claim. Put up or shut up. I encouraged you to be more assertive. How is that me shutting your mouth? For the sake of your credibility, don't make claims you can't back up.
    1
  24359.  @MrMaverickanand  Uh, we don't control Freedom House any more than you do.
    1
  24360. ...and 2025, and 2026, and 2027, till Russia suddenly finds itself out of MiG-31s.
    1
  24361. So, are you being called up to serve in the IDF? I thought not.
    1
  24362.  @ShaneyElderberry  You're confusing hypersonic and ballistic missiles. The former can maneuver during flight, which makes them tough to intercept, while ballistic missile do not. Ballistic missiles are therefore easier to intercept, and that's well within Israel's capabilities. Iran, Lebanon(?) and Yemen have no hypersonic missiles. Lebanon and Hezbollah aren't the same thing, by the way. Rookie mistake.
    1
  24363.  @ShaneyElderberry  That still doesn't make the Houthi missile hypersonic. And no anti-missile system is infallible. Israel claimed that their high-altitude anti-ballistic missile system, the Arrow, hit the Houthi missile, but the latter's still-lethal fragments hurtled down. The Iron Dome, which is the next layer of Israel's anti-missile defences, failed to neutralise the fragments. For your info, there is no such thing as a low-speed ballistic missile. If a missile follows a ballistic trajectory, it moves at tremendous speed, sometimes even hypersonic speed. Still, in missile tech jargon, it's not considered hypersonic, because it's not manoeuvrable.
    1
  24364.  @ShaneyElderberry  I was recounting Israel's official explanation. You can put as much stock in it as you wish, but it is plausible. We can safely assume Iran has no supersonic missiles, but merely ballistic ones. In April this year, when Iran itself launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel, including ballistic missiles, Arrow and Iron Dome did work to near-perfection. But I understand that your ilk cherry-picks "facts". I didn't claim that all ballistic missiles travel at hypersonic speeds. However, for the longer-range ones, a ballistic trajectory implies that they fall at such speeds when they re-enter the atmosphere.
    1
  24365. Rather, Russia will self-destruct. Separatism is never far off in Russia, considering it hasn't properly decolonised.
    1
  24366.  @wildrose1704  NATO is there by popular demand. Cope!
    1
  24367. You think the mad mullahs will leave quietly?
    1
  24368.  @lukadundur8341  That was the idea, when Ukraine went for the association agreement with the EU. But then Putin got intensely jealous. He doesn't want to share. Then Euromaidan happened and Putin went berserk. Hell hath no fury like a Putin scorned.
    1
  24369.  @yurichtube1162  Actually, China gained a new province in Russia. Ruxia, they renamed it, and the regional governor's name is now spelled Pu Tin.
    1
  24370. What else is new?
    1
  24371. Actually, the Red Army used radio-controlled mines for the purpose. A three-note chord broadcast on a specific frequency would set them off. The Axis quickly learned to saturate the airwaves with quick-paced music, which prevented the Soviets' radio signal from getting through as intended. The broadcasts were stopped when the batteries of the mines had run out.
    1
  24372. If the WHO needs to vacate its space, who will fill it? Trumpist America? Don't make me laugh.
    1
  24373.  @profesor1729  You're dodging the question.
    1
  24374. More relevantly, Napoleon made Russia sue for peace twice. Eventually, he bit off more than he could chew. Russia wasn't it.
    1
  24375.  @SiliconBong  The Flying Ginsu and Ninja Bomb refer to one and the same special adaptation of the Hellfire missile, which normally packs an explosive warhead. This report takes artistic liberties with the naming.
    1
  24376.  @syed8680  You'll have to go and educate the Taliban about proper Abrahamic behaviour then. They think of Afghan Shia Muslims as infidels and kill them indiscriminately. I don't find that very respectful. Also, if we apply your logic further, the Baha'i faith cancels out Islam. After all, it's newest kid on the block.
    1
  24377.  @syed8680  Who's to say who's the last prophet? The Baha'is have them, too, and they're clearly later arrivals. They go on about universal peace, too. You really need to stress your unique selling points, if any.
    1
  24378.  @syed8680  I'm neither American nor a fellow Christian of Biden's, so you're barking up the wrong tree. Off you go, teach your fellow Muslims in Afghanistan to respect human rights.
    1
  24379.  @syed8680  "The West" is a very loose description. Please be more specific, because I don't know if I'm included. G7, NATO, EU or what? I assume you're Pakistani. Pakistan explicitly approved the ISAF mission to Afghanistan. And speaking of poking noses into other countries' business, Pakistan is a repeat offender. Pakistan has been a decisive enabler in the tragedy that is unfolding in Afghanistan.
    1
  24380.  @syed8680  It's Pakistan that played a double game with everyone. I suppose the USA and India drove you into the arms of Al Qaeda, too. Osama bin Laden hiding right under your noses -- sell that one to someone who buys malarkey.
    1
  24381.  Lamia HM  But your lot invented Islam, didn't you, after Judaism and Christianity. I'm sure the latter two consider their religions ne plus ultra as well -- and everything that came after is heresy in their book, too. Instead of being jealous, you should be flattered that the Baha'is built upon Islam -- just like the Jews and Christians should be flattered about Muslims so readily borrowing from them.
    1
  24382.  Lamia HM  That's open to interpretation. You're in essence no different from the rest. All four Abrahamic religions subscribe to the concept of a succession of prophets revealing more and more about God. The Baha'is are very explicit about it, even more so than you Muslims. So, in summary, you Abrahamics disagree amongst yourselves as to who's a prophet and who came last. To an outsider, it looks like yours is a tree that keeps producing more branches as it grows in height. One branch doesn't really differ from the next, yet they keep coming.
    1
  24383.  @syed8680  Practically all religions claim that competing religions are heresy. And there's a myriad of religions, big and small. What makes Islam's claims more credible than those of the others?
    1
  24384.  @syed8680  I've made it very clear to you that I'm not American. Moreover, I suggest you look for a video that deals with American civil rights and pose your question there.
    1
  24385. I don't quite see it the same way. Ukraine is seriously depleting Russia's war machine -- something NATO would have to do if Russia were foolish enough to turn on a NATO country. Helping Ukraine is an investment in world peace in the sense that after suffering a hiding in Ukraine, Russia will spend a looong time licking its wounds. No more Russian military adventurism at the expense of its neighbours for the foreseeable future. It's saddening that it all comes at such a steep price for Ukraine, but that's why we owe it to them to help -- without expecting repayment.
    1
  24386.  @TheSuperappelflap  It's not a total loss. The combination of Dutch and French sub expertise, both in design and operation, will stand both in good stead. It's another step in the much-needed consolidation of the European defence industry. The 'verzuiling' needs to end.
    1
  24387. You're thanking Russia for letting slip the dogs of war and causing untold suffering for the Ukrainian people. You moral compass has gone haywire.
    1
  24388.  @sapatsuppa  Russia should not have broken the UN Charter. For that alone, it deserves to be kicked out of the UNSC.
    1
  24389.  @sapatsuppa  Is whataboutism the best you can do? I happen to believe that the UNSC should be reformed, but still, there's no place for a rogue state like Russia at the top. Nor Britain, nor France.
    1
  24390. Indians for Whataboutism, eh?
    1
  24391. A paparazzi once related how then-Prince Charles nearly trampled him with his horse. When Charles scolded him, the paparazzi responded that he was just doing his job. "Some job", Charles remarked. The paparazzi had the perfect comeback: "At least I've got a job".
    1
  24392.  @kennysamuel6836  What is not true about developing countries achieving higher growth figures than developed countries? It's Macroeconomics 101. China is courting foreign investors. The West's decoupling is sending shivers down their spines. Keep up with the news.
    1
  24393. ​ @kennysamuel6836  OK, you're resorting to clichés. I'm done.
    1
  24394.  @mikewong6815  Read through the whole thread. Especially the bit about comparing apples and oranges. And try to keep a civil tongue. You come across as if you're foaming at the mouth.
    1
  24395.  @mikewong6815  Your TL;DR-esque treatise does nothing to disprove my point. You're still comparing apples and *oranges. At least you're managing to keep a civil tongue now. That's an improvement.
    1
  24396. Aren't you funny with your benefit of the doubt. We ought to call you Doubting Thomas.
    1
  24397. Mountbatten pink? Niks? Ik dacht dat je iets met schepen had.
    1
  24398. You're projecting. Your precious Russia needs to use brute force to gain "friends" -- but fails miserably at it, as the whole world can see.
    1
  24399.  @lovemanunited1234  Russia is worst coloniser of them all -- and unlike the former ones, it hasn't ceased and desisted. I call hypocrisy.
    1
  24400.  @twofaceofinternet1027  Duh, this is France. The French always overdo it. They must be fashionable to a fault. You haven't been around much, or not for long? And it's not like the EU decides what the opening ceremony will be like. Not even the IOC has much say in it.
    1
  24401.  @twofaceofinternet1027  You wrote that Europe is destroying its cultural power. The main pan-European decision-making body is the EU. The Olympics have always been political. Again, I can't help wondering if you've only just arrived on planet Earth.
    1
  24402.  @twofaceofinternet1027  I've literally travelled around the world, and in both directions. If you have "objective facts", present them already. Hint: YouTube comments don't qualify.
    1
  24403.  @twofaceofinternet1027  Oh, I've lived in half a dozen countries and stayed for extended periods in a dozen more. And I speak five languages. I'm still waiting for your "objective facts". Your promised!
    1
  24404. I suppose that if a BRICS summit is ever held in Brazil or South Africa, Putin will have to join over Zoom. Who'll blame him -- I hear the prisons over there aren't particularly nice.
    1
  24405.  @alenkawow3534  Try looking it up. If you still have access to Wikipedia, for instance.
    1
  24406.  @alenkawow3534  Look up the definition of democracy, dearie. Also, it's "be more *direct". A directive is something else entirely.
    1
  24407.  @alenkawow3534  You're welcome. English is my 4th language.
    1
  24408.  @alenkawow3534  Why would I come up with my own definition of democracy? I'm perfectly fine with the generally accepted one. I also know perfectly well that Russia doesn't qualify as one. Russia ranks 124th out of 167 in the Democracy Index. For a developed country, that's the pits.
    1
  24409. Soon, there may be a non-binary military unit for you to join.
    1
  24410. Don't forget Gerasimov. Dumb and dumberer.
    1
  24411. If you think of it as a recruitment drive, there's something to be said for that.
    1
  24412. Japan does have the Mitsubishi F-2, an advanced version of the F-16.
    1
  24413. Didn't everyone get to vote on those EU directives, the UK included? When still a member, the UK could even have vetoed them.
    1
  24414.  @sueyourself5413  Dubya and Blair haven't been charged by the ICC. You seem a veritable whataboutism.
    1
  24415. Poor Ellie can't see the forest (Europe) for the trees (Germany). Her spelling and grammar need work, too.
    1
  24416.  @Ezzy_Boyn  The USA is not involved, and don't give the Americans a bigger head than they have already.
    1
  24417. What is soccer?
    1
  24418.  @Counterpart1234  Greenland is a case of misleading advertising if there ever was one. The Vikings realised their mistake after naming Iceland, so they tried to make amends, but clearly went too far.
    1
  24419. Putin gave NATO a new lease of life, that's for sure.
    1
  24420. Is Macron's wish for stability what triggered you? You prefer political mayhem?
    1
  24421. I know. Russia and Norkland become colonies of China.
    1
  24422. Extrajudicial killings, nice? Your values are a bit off.
    1
  24423. Macron is obviously doing it to pressure Israel to agree to a ceasefire.
    1
  24424. OK, 'Lying Jackass', if Bulgaria made it by the skin of their teeth into the EU, it means Russia won't stand a chance in hell. First off, Russia is on the bottom rung of the democracy index, the one reserved for authoritarian regimes. Bulgaria qualifies as a democracy, be it a flawed one. Secondly, Russia treads on human rights like they're a doormat, while Bulgaria's violations seem to affect mostly refugees -- Russia doesn't spare its own people either. Thirdly, Bulgaria makes the grade with an open market economy. Russia, on the other hand, mixes elements of a Western-style market economy with those of a Soviet-style planned economy. Finally, Russia doesn't agree with the EU's intent and obligations -- or do you claim otherwise?
    1
  24425.  @WilliamAikio  OK, tell the OP that he or she should edit his or her comment to read "finally Europe -- with the exception of the EU -- will taste 'Democracy'". Get on with it, don't dawdle!
    1
  24426.  @ZsH85  You think the world of yourself. You should be fitted for a bicorne hat. Millions of comments on YouTube favour Orban? Have you given up your day job to keep count? Back to reality. Earlier this year, Ipsos found that Orban is the most disliked leader in the EU. 48% of those surveyed disapproved of him, while only 15% approved. Without Hungary and Bulgaria, the Viktator's score would've been much worse still.
    1
  24427. Another one that can't read.
    1
  24428. Payback? Ukraine crippled an important military supply line, and out of spite, Russia takes it out on Ukrainian civilians. Putin's hissy fit was no strategic impact on the war -- Russia is still suffering one setback after another at the front.
    1
  24429. Interestingly, the Olympic Truce from ancient Greek times was revived by the UN General Assembly in 1993. You can tell yourself that it's not politics that saw Russia excluded from the Paris Olympics, but a clear rule violation. Russia is, after all, waging an illegal war of aggression in Ukraine.
    1
  24430.  @koiguidenishikigoi4972  Everyone knows you hate the UK because of your colonial past, which you can't let go of. We also know that for obscure reasons, you love Russia. It's almost as if you need a master to submit to.
    1
  24431. @ Good point. Russia counts among the greatest colonisers in human history, and sadly, it has mostly refrained from decolonising. Somehow Russia's backyard colonialism is exempt from decolonisation. To add insult to injury, Russia now even attempts to recolonise its erstwhile colonial possessions.
    1
  24432. They always are. To dictators.
    1
  24433. I think it's coming from a conspiracy theory. You both seem aficionados.
    1
  24434.  @jaystrickland4151  The US has nothing to object to when it comes to German energy purchases. Germany's problem was that it stuck to its 'Wandel durch Handel' principle without a plan B. Germany, like the rest of the world, could not believe that Putin was economically suicidal. The gas station that masquerades as a country chased away its biggest and best customer.
    1
  24435. Russia's FSB must be rubbing their hands in glee. They get to implant their agents for a relatively small investment.
    1
  24436.  @pmbbmp  Yank much? Expand your vocabulary.
    1
  24437. @nct hzr: You're comparing apples and pears. The overwhelming majority of Turkish troops are conscripts, who fall far short of the level of proficiency that all-professional armies have. In short, they're comparable to reserve military forces, like the US National Guard or British Territorial Army. Nothing wrong with that -- I'm active reservist myself.
    1
  24438.  @azzyfreeman  The US and the UK have the UN Security Council's tacit approval for use of force against the Houthis. The Houthis have only Iran's (silent) support.
    1
  24439.  @azzyfreeman  So, according to your (impromptu?) conspiracy theory, Russia and China do the bidding of the US and UK? Okay... And what exactly is inhumane about keeping a crucial sea lane open?
    1
  24440.  @azzyfreeman  Your heart and -- above all -- your mind is filled with confusion. There's nothing compassionate about the Houthis' terrorist actions. Two wrongs don't make a right.
    1
  24441.  @azzyfreeman  I'll ask the Flying Spaghetti Monster to bless you, too. I hope it doesn't involve throwing spaghetti at you, because wasting food is a no-no in my book.
    1
  24442.  jacksmith6015  Take your pick: Xinjiang Papers, Xinjiang Police Reports, China Cables.
    1
  24443. Wouldn't that be tantamount to admitting defeat? I mean, if what started out as a two-day special military operation turns into a global thermonuclear war, something is terribly amiss. No, before it comes to that, a 4D chess master would cleverly withdraw, knowing full well that NATO won't pursue his bruised and battered troops into Russia proper. Putin needn't worry that the Russians won't understand either. Already 40% of the populace think it's OK for Russia to call it quits and withdraw.
    1
  24444.  @Kite-te9km  In fact, I saw to it that the aid in question was delivered, and not into the pockets of your corrupt politicians.
    1
  24445.  @Kite-te9km  You have no idea where I'm from, do you? You may want to take those blinders off and wipe that foam off your mouth.
    1
  24446.  @Kite-te9km  Wager a guess then. So, let me get this straight, your indigenous leaders become Westerners the moment they take a bribe. I didn't know Africa has become so thoroughly "Westernised" of late. Say, we're among the least corrupt countries in the world, if the Corruption Perception Index is to be believed. Once in a blue moon, we do have a corruption case, however. Quid pro quo, can we brand the cultprits Africans? The blame game should work both ways, right?
    1
  24447. Sorry, but many Palestinians descend from the ancient Israelites. Religious influences have waxed and waned in Palestine, with Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity and Islam dominating in turn, often as a result of mass conversions. The people and their descendants practising said religions have to a large extent remained the same over several millenia. So, what should be decisive in assigning land rights? Genetics or religion?
    1
  24448.  @JamesJenkins-ce9wv  More likely, Hamas's strategy is to get 72 virgins each for its martyred fighters. I'm afraid some will have to make do with Linux nerds and Trekkies. Such are the numbers.
    1
  24449. Aren't you confused, and not just linguistically. Ukraine is not in the EU -- yet -- and Putin is out to subjugate the Ukrainians, Soviet-style. Zelenskyy keeps them free, at least in the unoccupied parts.
    1
  24450. Why don't you take your magnifying glass outside and burn ants with it till Zelenskyy sues for peace? You'd go a long why in emulating your great hero, Putler, and it's just as productive.
    1
  24451. Which "west" was that?
    1
  24452. No biggie. We have our own democracies, a great many of which are judged superior to that of the US. Why the fixation with the US when democracy comes up?
    1
  24453. Let's be honest, he bungled it up. As to the balloon take-down, it was a short-range infrared missile, and taking a high-altitude balloon down with cannon fire is surprising difficult. There's the risk of debris damaging the fighter jet, or the perforated balloon just continuing on its merry way. There's a well-known case of a rogue weather balloon crossing the Atlantic after being riddled with cannon fire.
    1
  24454. It beats CSTO's Article 4. <Cough>Armenia<cough>.
    1
  24455. Did they put a drunk Medvedev on the phone?
    1
  24456.  @Raadpensionaris  It's telling that in the revolutionary 1830s, the Dutch bean counters didn't think it wise to hold on to rebellious Belgium. I wonder what their present-day counterparts think of it now -- probably the same. Also, apart from obvious fanboys like yourselves, it's probably very hard to whip up the necessary unionist sentiment. Cool heads prevail in northern climes.
    1
  24457.  @Raadpensionaris  Please point me to such a poll.
    1
  24458.  @user1qaz2wsx3edc  Come off it, Russia and China epitomise crony capitalism.
    1
  24459.  @tin-n-tan  I see geography isn't your thing. Russia already borders five NATO countries and, soon, a sixth. Putin is losing all right.
    1
  24460. Evil tongues say that Bezos promised Amazons' underpaid workers that if they work really, really hard, they can witness him going into space again.
    1
  24461.  @crissynunyabznz  No, graduated with three academic degrees. You?
    1
  24462. Are you saying you never had a crush on a teacher? If so, how sad for you.
    1
  24463.  @dragonborn3609  Actually, it was Germany that initiated hostilities against Finland by trying to seize the strategic island of Suursaari in the Gulf of Finland, a bitter effort that came to naught. It's interesting that since a peace treaty between Germany and Finland was never signed, Finland technically remains at war with Germany to this day. Tactfully, neither side ever brings the matter up.
    1
  24464. Not really, it's been done before. No major drama ensues, or it ensues for unrelated reasons.
    1
  24465.  Zim Bum  Funny you should say that. The UH-60 Black Hawk in this video has already been copied by China. Google the Harbin Z-20.
    1
  24466.  @Anna87147  Oh, we owe Ukraine all right. Until the Ukraine war happened, Russia was attacking and encroaching on its neighbours with near-impunity. Russia has NATO and EU members as its neighbours, too, as in Poland, the Baltic states, Finland and Norway. Russia has made threats against some of them already. Ukraine is fighting the good fight, on the whole world's behalf. How about us demanding that Russia quits BRICS, the CSTO, OPEC+ and the Eurasian Economic Union, simply because we're not keen on any of them?
    1
  24467.  @sackykamati7071  Don't play silly buggers with us. You being a Krembot is all too apparent from you calling the Ukrainians warmongers. Anyone with a modicum of impartiality would mention the crucial role of Russia as the attacking party. You are a sad Krembot, and what makes it sadder still is that you think that shedding crocodile tears in a YouTube comment section makes Putin gets his way. Pathetic.
    1
  24468. Chinese EV manufacturers have been buying market share with state subsidies. I'd like to see how they'd do abroad when they're slapped with tariffs. Truth be told, Chinese EV busses have been put to use in public transport in Europe, but the results aren't promising. They seem to be plagued by design flaws and poor serviceability.
    1
  24469.  @chenghonggoh4746  You must be unaware that during the Korean War, the UN still recognised Taiwan -- the Republic of China -- as China. After the PRC took over Taiwan's seat in the UNSC, China is effectively undermining its own authority by disregarding the UN's authority.
    1
  24470.  @truthhertz1319  On the bright side, your coping mechanism is firing on all cylinders.
    1
  24471. Ironically, Kenya voted and spoke out against Putin's war of conquest at the UNGA, likening it to the brutal colonisation that Africa endured. It pays to keep up with the news.
    1
  24472. Remind us, how successfully did the Russian Navy protect Nord Stream?
    1
  24473.  @allenmuyengwa4688  I'm not playing a game of whataboutism with you. Try to find an American to play with you.
    1
  24474.  @NameRiioz  Why do I have to answer irrelevant questions? Should I pose some to you and cry pitifully when you choose not to answer?
    1
  24475.  @navinkv7024  I doubt that very much. Russia pulled out all the stops in trying to kill or capture Zelenskyy. Nothing short of a city-destroying thermonuclear blast would do it. This may come as surprise to you, but being stable democracies, we recycle our leaders regularly, and without drama. A Russian dissident is supposed to have said that where the West has elections, Russia has revolutions.
    1
  24476.  @navinkv7024  It was not a gambit, but an epic intelligence failure. As a case in point, Russia sent in lightly-armed paramilitary police units to "liberate" Ukrainian cities and villages. Instead of rose petals and kisses, these notorious OMON troops met RPGs and bullets. Their casualties were commensurate. It's no wonder that Putin has had hundreds of FSB officials imprisoned and purged. Dictators always end up with sycophants for advisors.
    1
  24477.  @navinkv7024  A gambit is where you hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Putin's troops prepared for a parade instead.
    1
  24478.  @navinkv7024  They're still there. Maybe just not for you.
    1
  24479.  @sew_gal7340  You're conveniently ignoring the fact that it's China that's pillaging Africa by luring it into debt bondage. While some European powers engaged in colonialism in the distant past, China is engaging in neo-colonialism as we speak. Leave off the age-old, well-worn blame game -- it's merely diverting attention from Africa's home-grown and self-fixable problems.
    1
  24480. If the UK or the USA had shared a border with Germany in 1940, you'd be speaking German now.
    1
  24481.  @Strykehjerne  Yes, it is. If the Russians meekly abide by a authoritarian regime for over twenty years, it amounts to a choice.
    1
  24482. You're having another go with Novichok then? Or is polonium the poison du jour again?
    1
  24483. Russia had the second best army in Russia already when Wagner made its abortive push on Moscow. Had Prigozhin not literally gone out with a bang, he would've rued his decision to abort.
    1
  24484. Carrie Lam is...
    1
  24485. He's playing with toy soldiers and planes, actually. Real ones are in short supply.
    1
  24486. Have you been long into whataboutism? Did you learn it from the masters, the Soviet propagandists?
    1
  24487. ...like a hole in the head. Finish your sentences, please.
    1
  24488.  @Memovox  So, Boris didn't start the most costly war in Europe since WW2. Putin did. In my book, that makes Putin far worse than Boris, whose major crimes are bringing about and bollocksing up Brexit.
    1
  24489.  @peekodafreeko3949  We know what you're up to in your free time. Or would that be all the time?
    1
  24490. The point is to make yourself understood. A diplomat would understand that.
    1
  24491. I'm sure France would be glad to rid itself of its expensive post-colonial remnants, but there are the locals to consider, who're clearly less keen to leave. France has been actively working towards abolishing the CFA franc, but it's a slow process. The participants could take matters in their own hands and simply leave. It wouldn't be a first.
    1
  24492. Yeah, now would be the time for Putin to call off his Orcs and let Ukraine be. No more war.
    1
  24493.  @TonyFapioni  Modesty has never been the Russians' strong suit. If it's deserved, then this Third Rome is certainly going through a decadent period.
    1
  24494. Don't make this all about Murica again. Not everything is.
    1
  24495. It is piracy according to UNCLOS, but the difficulty is proving it. If pirates attack shipping off the Horn of Africa, there will be distress calls and all manner of direct evidence, but sabotage to undersea infrastructure it's much harder to prove. Territorial waters are covered, but in international waters -- including EEZs -- detaining a foreign ship is like making a citizen's arrest. Get it wrong and you'll find yourself in court facing charges of unlawful restraint.
    1
  24496. Wait, did the UK leave the EU because it wanted to dial back democracy and do away with the rule of law, just like Hungary?
    1
  24497.  Miguel Melchior  I'm sure unicorns and self-regenerating cakes played a role, too.
    1
  24498.  @yungfaas6688  Try to pay attention to who's replying to whom.
    1
  24499. Ever since Master Xi made talking about nukes a no-no, it's Oreshnik left right and centre.
    1
  24500. There are three dots to the right of your comment. Clicking them and then "Report" gives a list of reasons. "Suicide or self injury" seems to most appropriate one in you case.
    1
  24501.  @f1daily305  Perhaps? Nuclear winter will do you in. The only 'perhaps' is whether you'll engage in cannibalism or fall victim to it before you perish.
    1
  24502. There were some subtle differences, in fact. The Finns used 7.62x53R as their rifle cartridge, while the Russians used 7.62x54R. Mismatched ammunition would affect accuracy somewhat, and automatic weapons, like the Soviet SVT-40, wouldn't cycle correctly in all conditions. When my granddad taught me to shoot large-caliber rifles with an SVT-40 that he brought back from the war, it would often fire two rounds at one trigger pull.
    1
  24503. Lavrov thinks it's a Western ploy. The Kremlin apologists had better sync their excuses. The poor Russians don't know anymore what they're being told to believe.
    1
  24504. Russia has a lot of HIMARS rocket debris. Their destroyed ammunition dumps, fuel depots and command posts are littered with it, after Ukraine struck them with devastating effect. How hard would it be for the Russians to pick up the pieces and present those as "evidence" at Olenivka prison?
    1
  24505.  @SpreadGuts  My guess is that Russia is trying to present Ukraine's use of the HIMARS in a negative light, which could prompt the US to stop further deliveries of launchers and/or rockets. Desperation is clearly setting in.
    1
  24506. What in heavens are you on about? Outsourcing manufacturing to the US? Europe's corporations are outsourcing to Asian low-cost countries, just like US corporations. Asa matter of fact, I distinctly remember how the US twisted our arm to establish a factory in Texas. We did, only for our US customers to specify that the equipment we delivered was not US-made. This despite the fact that we literally copied the design of the factory from a proven one operating in Europe, yet the quality problems were magnitudes worse. My long-suffering colleague kept saying that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.
    1
  24507.  @crishhari5903  You're merely repeating yourself. Domestic manufacturing in developed countries with high labour costs is a non-starter. US consumers are not going to pay the eye-watering prices of US-made consumer electronics. There's a whole slew of case studies about the iPhone -- I suggest you read one. Moreover, the USA is still a free market economy, and mining companies will flog their minerals to whomever they see fit. Europe may lose some manufacturing as a result of the energy crisis, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it won't end up stateside. China may not be the beneficiary either, as outsourcers will pick other Asian low-cost countries. For laughs, you should present your theory to an economist. Just make sure the person isn't drinking any milk while you're at it --- you'd get splattered.
    1
  24508.  @crishhari5903  Are you trying to argue my case or yours? Competitive edges cannot be regained by moving manufacturing from a continent with high labour costs to another, with similarly high labour costs. Hence, Europe isn't moving manufacturing to the US. Try to get that through your thick skull. Europe, just like the US, has a lot of public debt. Private wealth, however, is very high. Don't you know the difference between the two? It's Economics 101. Produce a credible source that says Europe's manufacturing is moving to the US, as you keep claiming. I'm waiting.
    1
  24509.  @crishhari5903  TL;DR.
    1
  24510.  @kinngrimm  Rest assured, we've all had our fair share of Syrian war refugees. It's just that they tend to gravitate to where their friends and family already have sought asylum, which often means Germany. You've got yourselves to blame as well, because you're not strict on the First Safe Country Principle, which is like rolling out the red carpet. Because of that, we've 'lost' a great many registered asylum seekers to Germany.
    1
  24511. *Pigeon chess, that is.
    1
  24512. A mantra of the clueless.
    1
  24513.  @Yuri_Volkov  We've got close to 500,000 of your ilk buried along our border. And they called it a sideshow.
    1
  24514. Why, did you mistake him for a Hezbollah official?
    1
  24515. I hope they keep some T-72s, T-80s and T-90s before they're all lost in Ukraine.
    1
  24516.  @mrtrue7508  Doe effe normaal en gebruik Engels. Ik ga toch ook niet in mijn eigen taal zitten schrijven?
    1
  24517. The Sun is a British tabloid, dum-dum.
    1
  24518.  @marviwilson1853  They do have a keen sense of their whereabouts, however.
    1
  24519.  @jimmyjames754  I thought as much. We have actually dealt with Russia from time immemorial. My grandfather and two uncles had the scars to prove it. But they gave better than they got.
    1
  24520. If this is a mere conspiracy theory, Russia has been extremely helpful in lending credence to it. Russia had a highly-decorated GRU colonel, who's linked to covert operations, visit Salisbury exactly when the Skripal assassination attempt took place. You'd have to be blind not to see how badly this reflects on Russia.
    1
  24521.  @eroero830  You can send billions to Ukraine and many billions more to the NHS. You just choose not to do the latter. I follow the news in five different languages and in my experience the UK is the only country where people believe that helping Ukraine comes at an intolerable cost to themselves. It's hard to believe your lot endured total war once.
    1
  24522.  @eroero830  It must be downright astonishing to you that so many European countries can afford decent universal healthcare and support Ukraine. Also, I distinctly remember how NHS underfunding was blamed on the EU. Brexit was supposed to solve everything. Rather than solving anything, Ukraine has replaced the EU in your eternal excuses. Warmongering Germans? Germany is the exact opposite. Germany has to be dragged kicking and screaming out of its pacifism. I lived till recently in the Netherlands. The Dutch, who suffered terribly in WW2, are livid with the Germans for their inaction. The same goes for the Poles. Don't be so insular.
    1
  24523.  @eroero830  I already surmised I'm not conversing with the brightest candle in church. You should've made peace with Hitler, too. The man was open to peace after the Fall of France. The conflict would've ended then and there.
    1
  24524. You need an attitude adjustment. Team America is not the World Police, and you'll never be recognised as such.
    1
  24525. Flat earth much?
    1
  24526. Take your ultranationalism where the sun don't shine.
    1
  24527.  @Bakmietjaplaku  Next time, when India brings up its bid for permanent membership of the UNSC again, remind us that you don't care about wars unless they're on your doorstep.
    1
  24528.  @PhoenlxA  I'm sure we'd be just as concerned if China were to do a Russia on Taiwan -- which they probably won't, not after Putin's plan for Ukraine backfired.
    1
  24529.  @selcukcilek555  I think you hit the wrong reply button. Or you can't follow a conversation.
    1
  24530.  @selcukcilek555  OK, YouTube n00b.
    1
  24531.  @GiaBao-gr2zd  How does the EU react to Syria, Palestine, *Afghanistan, etc.? You tell me, since you seem to know exactly.
    1
  24532.  @GiaBao-gr2zd  Post-WW2 Germany has traditionally exercised restraint in matters relating to foreign policy and foreign military deployments. Ordinary Germans may grumble, but all the same they've kept voting for politicians who favour such restraint. France, on the other hand, is practically the opposite, also because the French electorate favours more assertive policies. Is it democracy you're marvelling at?
    1
  24533. It's interesting to watch Blinken do the rounds, assuring US allies that while silly season is about to start, the Trump cult will eventually peter off and sanity will prevail once again.
    1
  24534. Funny? One candidate will doze off and the other will go off on a weird rant, raising the eyebrows of those watchers who haven't dozed off themselves.
    1
  24535. There's no rhyme or reason in Russian lies. They think those who speak the truth maddeningly cunning.
    1
  24536.  @bobbell6789  Cannon fodder.
    1
  24537.  @DanielNotWise  Everything is relative. The LeClerc has reportedly fared better in Yemen than the M1 Abrams. Try to make a (valid) point.
    1
  24538.  @DanielNotWise  Are you railing against MBTs in general? You need to rethink your argumentation vis-à-vis the topic at hand.
    1
  24539.  @DanielNotWise  So, you want to go off on a tangent. Knock yourself out, but I won't join you.
    1
  24540.  @DanielNotWise  You started accosting me, not the other way around.
    1
  24541. You're straining your coping mechanism. You'll need it in working order.
    1
  24542. @Jay Johnson You're not cued up on international politics, I'm afraid. Abroad, different parties win elections all the time, and some of them are even new to the game. Macron founded and won both presidential and parliamentary elections with a party that had existed for little more than a year. The British political system is very stagnant in comparison. The last newcomer to win was... wait for it... the 119-year old Labour Party.
    1
  24543.  @zorlaxreefer1322  No worries, high-tech imports from non-Western countries are effectively cut off as well. The manufacturers in question aren't keen on suffering sanctions as well.
    1
  24544.  @zorlaxreefer1322  I doubt that the Russians are pining for it either. Sure, they'd like the superpower status of the Soviet Union, but not the economy that went with it.
    1
  24545.  @AlexConnor_  There's a hitch with the Dutch Leopard 2s: they're not theirs. The Royal Netherlands Army is leasing 18 German ones (via Hurtz Rent-A-Tank, no doubt), which they'd like to buy and then give them to Ukraine. The Dutch really want to have a finger in the pie (or porridge, in double Dutch).
    1
  24546. During his tenure, Macron has seen no less than three British prime ministers come and go. It could well be so there'll be another three "interim" British PMs before Macron leaves office.
    1
  24547.  @proselytizingorthodoxpente8304  Your claimed chaos is not apparent from constant switches of heads of state in France. In the UK, it is painfully apparent.
    1
  24548. Which alternate reality are you from? In this reality, Johnson's cabinet lost its majority a while ago, and it wasn't the DUP's doing then. In order for him to get the numbers now, he'll more than ever need opposition votes, which is a dubious proposition at the best of times. With yet another failure bogging him down, Boris risks being dismissed by the British electorate as yet another PM who couldn't deliver Brexit. Who's next, Farage? That promises to be biggest disaster of them all.
    1
  24549. Morals carry no weight? Russia embarked on an illegal war of conquest, while Ukraine is rightfully defending itself. Russia broke the UN Charter. Ukraine is in full conformance with it.
    1
  24550. "James Dixon", ask your manager at the St. Petersburg troll factory to arrange more English lessons. You're convincing no one.
    1
  24551. So young and so cynical. This is a travesty of democracy à la Russie.
    1
  24552. Why do you think Hamas is unaware of the horns? Israel's military reprisals are nothing new. Israel is like an automaton that way. If Hamas survives -- and it probably will, be it in a greatly diminished state -- it will soon be back with even more supporters, and in the West Bank as well. That is, if Israel doesn't change tack with regard to its treatment of the Palestinians. Israel had better rekindle the peace process, too.
    1
  24553.  @ArashMarzbanan  If so, it's deuced weird that the Afghan Karzai government granted mineral rights to China in particular. The Chinese couldn't exploit said rights because of the security situation. Still can't. So much for your stealing.
    1
  24554. I don't think a palace coup a.k.a. a family feud is going to cut it.
    1
  24555. Good enough for a conspiracy theorist, anyway.
    1
  24556.  @Worldaffairslover  You're not really a man of the world. Travel to Northern Cyprus to see what international isolation does.
    1
  24557. Germany scored an own goal by overly relying on Russian gas. Naively, Germany thought that the Russian tiger would lose its stripes while trading with Germany. It didn't realise that Putin probably never cracked a book about economics. So, Pootie-Poot confused interdependence with dependence. Oh well, Germany will rebound. Russia? Probably not. What is "ge-globalization [sic]"?
    1
  24558. Danse Macabre, no doubt.
    1
  24559.  @bladerunner16  It's good then, innit, that it happened in public. There's no doubt whatsoever about his culpability and the matter couldn't be swept under the carpet. It's like the passerby who touched a Spanish reporter's bum while on life TV and faced sexual assault charges on account of it.
    1
  24560.  @bladerunner16  Did you miss that both cases went to court? These guys are not only morally depraved, but also, very foolish. Their sense of entitlement should be seen as an aggravating circumstance. Tell me, don't you have any female loved ones that you'd want to keep safe from sexual abuse? If not, it figures.
    1
  24561.  @bladerunner16  Woke? I don't concern myself with what the media says when matters of guilt are decided upon. If the courts deem it sexual assault, it's just that for all intents and purposes. Laws are passed as a result of a lengthy democratic process, which implies they enjoy the people's consent. Rubiales could've defused the situation by immediately apologising and stepping down if his position was still untenable. He brought this upon himself. Of course the media jumped on it. Sex and crime sell, and Rubiales provided. So, you being anti-woke, I guess you don't have a problem if your mum/sister/wife/daughter gets sexually assaulted in public. Your stern look of disapproval suffices.
    1
  24562.  @bladerunner16  So you're saying the courts manipulate the law? You're not a great believer in the course of justice. "Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will." Do you need help with deciphering that? This falls in the first category, so Rubiales will probably get off with a fine.
    1
  24563.  @bladerunner16  That figures. I already thought you a malcontent with bitterness issues. Unlucky in love? You still don't get it. Whether or not it was sexual is for the courts to decide. It doesn't bode well for Rubiales, however.
    1
  24564.  @bladerunner16  Old age often goes hand in hand with bitterness in general. They'll hear her, too, of course. Maybe she'll be awarded token damages for emotional distress. However, Rubiales still appears to have broken the law. You might as well argue that there's no harm done if you euthanise a coma patient -- let's say someone who botched a suicide -- but I'm afraid that won't fly in court.
    1
  24565.  @bladerunner16  Now you're just acting thick. Which part of 'token' don't you understand?
    1
  24566.  @bladerunner16  Oh, aren't you prone to exaggeration. I alluded to Rubiales getting off with a fine, but I suppose you had a senior moment there as well.
    1
  24567.  @bladerunner16  See a doctor. He may prescribe something against premature aging.
    1
  24568.  @bladerunner16  Go play with a straw man, if you need to twist my words.
    1
  24569.  @bladerunner16  Your assessment is off, again.
    1
  24570.  @bladerunner16  Now you're projecting your own infirmity on me.
    1
  24571. On the bright side, there will be new reenactment opportunities.
    1
  24572. Trump blew his top and went over to the dark side.
    1
  24573. "We shouldn't of [sic] engineered" says it all. You can't even engineer a correct English sentence.
    1
  24574.  @ukropcrimeariver  You should become his English tutor.
    1
  24575. I would call a civil war a very vocal demonstration by the people he's oppressing and killing.
    1
  24576. How would you describe it then? Sibling rivalry? Try this for size: shooting at protesters, torturing them, dropping barrel bombs on residential neighbourhoods, indiscriminate gassing of civilians, etc., etc.
    1
  24577.  @speedyv6247  Er, you specifically mentioned the BMP -- as did I, in my reply. IFVs like the BMP series have significantly less armour protection than tanks. The thickness of the non-composite armour on both the BMP-1 and the BMP-2 varies from 6 to 33mm. Needless to say, the RKG-3, with its 125-220mm penetration (depending on the model), goes through that like a hot knife through butter. You have a lot to learn. Manners would be a good start.
    1
  24578.  @speedyv6247  I'm quoting you: "the warhead on these drones wont even damage a BMP, let alone a tank." I've never mentioned the RPG. R-K-G-dash-3. Really, learn some manners. You'll have a hard time getting ahead in life with this kind of behaviour.
    1
  24579.  @speedyv6247  Ah, you're trying to move the goal posts. You made a claim, but when I confronted you, you abandoned it, claiming that you meant something else entirely, which, sadly, isn't apparent from your original comment. And now you blow your top. It's been... melodramatic. FYI, even the ubiquitous *DJI Mavic Pro can lift an RKG-3. For future reference, note the correct spelling of the brand.
    1
  24580.  @ricky6864  Russia's winning all right. A participation medal, that is.
    1
  24581. Stop global warming? The obvious eludes many.
    1
  24582.  @Collat3ralD4mage  The Krembot hopes Hamas can do what Ukraine does to their warships as a matter of routine.
    1
  24583. Or fans of IKEA.
    1
  24584.  @notorio526  Trump sure gave Putin a new lease of life. Literally. The Russians don't take kindly to losers.
    1
  24585.  @ЛюдмилаАртюшкина  By successfully resisting Russia's onslaught for well over two years, Ukraine has shown it can take it, but now it's about to dish it out as well. It appears Russia can't take it.
    1
  24586. Don't you know, taking Indian land is something Pakistan and China aspire to. Not Germany. Germany wants to give its arms industry yet another boost now that Russia is effectively leaving the international arms market.
    1
  24587. Less extreme than the far right, that's for sure.
    1
  24588. It was a tough call for France. Is a military junta a legit government? It certainly has no popular mandate. Statistics suggest that more than half of the coups in Africa fail.
    1
  24589.  @j377yb33n  Putin isn't travelling to the US (or to Russia for that matter, since he's pretty much stuck there already), so it's irrelevant if the US or Russia recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC. It's South Africa's membership that matters here. You might as well lament that Burundi isn't party to the Rome statute. Hey, don't just dabble with whataboutism, go all in!
    1
  24590.  @j377yb33n  Yeah, Russia can't beat Ukraine, so you Krembots have to pretend Russia is taking on a superpower instead. Why whine about US cluster munitions? Russia demonstrably used them on day one of the invasion. Whataboutism works both ways.
    1
  24591.  @harmless6813  I suppose Prigozhin and his merry band of mercenaries get to fight on for a little while longer, but he's not in the good books of Shoigu and Gerasimov. Siloviki of their stature can't leave Prigozhin's insults unanswered. Prigozhin had better stay away from high places.
    1
  24592.  @mike4393  Geographically speaking, yes, but Russia's population is mostly European, since population density is the highest in the western, European part of the country. Russians make up the single biggest European nationality. You're excused, because the Russians often forget it themselves.
    1
  24593.  @mike4393  You're still confused about geography. The British Isles don't extend to Australia. Whether we like it or not, Europe does extend all the way to the Ural Mountains, deep inside Russia. What an odd claim that Russian "citizens" supposedly moved from Eastern Europe to Russia in Soviet times. Then and now, Russia covers the vast majority of Eastern Europe.
    1
  24594. Low birthrates? It's no secret, not even a public secret.
    1
  24595. Huff and puff.
    1
  24596. Why don't you lead by example? Surrender to the Indians or something. To make it comparable, we'll give them carte blanche to execute you on the spot.
    1
  24597. MuteStar got blown up, too, but BadSpellersStar remains intact.
    1
  24598.  @hape3862  Right-o, but amazingly, the Krembots still insist that Putin won the Energy War. Russia lost and only hastened its economic demise as the world shifts to renewable and nuclear energy, now at an even more rapid pace. What little hydrocarbons are still needed, the Arabs can supply at a considerable lower production cost. Future Russians won't remember Putin fondly.
    1
  24599.  @lieuwegreidanus1329  Schoon? CO2 is niet zo schoon meer.
    1
  24600. Joe doesn't have a warrant for Putin's arrest. 124 countries do, but not the US. You need to up your botting game, or you'll get your call-up papers for Ukraine.
    1
  24601. There's no good news for AfD here, long-term. Merz is co-opting AfD policies with regard to migration, and that will take the wind out of AfD's sail. We've seen it happen to the Greens and their environmental agenda.
    1
  24602.  @weirdjoni2272  I think it's rather powerful that Putler can no longer visit 123 countries or he'll face arrest followed by a one-way trip to The Hague, Netherlands. The poor dictator had to give the BRICS summit in South Africa a miss. How ostracised can you get?
    1
  24603. The fact of the matter is that Huawei telecoms infrastructure is competitive, even exceedingly so. The Chinese have been buying market share at the expense of established providers, such as Ericsson and Nokia. It's now backfiring on both, the buyers and the sellers.
    1
  24604. Not really. France has long since spread its eggs across multiple baskets. Nigerien uranium accounts only for 20% of French imports, and Niger's share will decline no matter what, since the only operational French mine there is getting depleted. The French are spoilt for choice where to mine uranium. They're at it already in Kazakhstan and Canada. If Niger turns into a hostile business environment, they can reopen mines in Gabon or Namibia, or open a new one in Uzbekistan. Of course, France has the choice of buying from non-French suppliers as well. Uranium is sometimes sold below production value, so at times that's the best option.
    1
  24605.  @jackneuman5108  True. After the Winter War, Finland frantically tried to find military allies in order to stave off further Soviet aggression. The UK, France, Sweden and then... Germany. The latter was hardly ideal.
    1
  24606.  @jackneuman5108  Obviously it is hindsight, but true nonetheless. The UK cared more about Swedish iron ore, France proved toothless and Sweden chickened out. The point here is that you don't go frantically looking for friends when the excrement has already struck the rotational air circulation device.
    1
  24607. The IDF seems a tad too eager to comply.
    1
  24608.  @ottoplichters  Pedofielen hebben ook een nare verslaving en gelukkig betreft het een minderheid. Toch aanpakken, denk ik dan.
    1
  24609.  @eddastrohmayer251  I think you are sobbing in silence. Maybe you can still make a connection between cause and consequence and have some self-respect left.
    1
  24610. You'd better learn to wait patiently. Your BRICS currency is bound to prove a moving target, just like the ECOWAS' eco, which is now more elusive than ever.
    1
  24611. Of late, Russia has been re-issuing foot wraps in lieu of socks. They're plenty good if you know how to use them.
    1
  24612.  @Crashed131963  It's a old soldiers' trick. It probably persisted in Russia because foot wraps, which are basically rectangular towels, can be dried and washed easily, while also being cheaper than socks. The older reservists among the recently called-up ones probably must remember them from their conscript days.
    1
  24613.  @rasmuswittsell10  Our problem was that we had to blow a hole into the frozen ground, first puncturing it with a shaped charge and then by chucking in a block of TNT. It did make for a very sturdy foxhole.
    1
  24614. Actually, AI regulation tells investors what they're up against. They'll bide their time to invest in countries that dilly-dally on the matter.
    1
  24615. Are you going to sell us cryptocurrencies next?
    1
  24616.  @Fight_For_Freedom  It's just that your comment, which is neither here nor there, looked like a preamble to yet another "discussion" about cryptocurrencies. I'm surprised that you haven't noticed them.
    1
  24617.  @Fight_For_Freedom  I stand corrected. It sounds like you've got a conspiracy theory brewing there.
    1
  24618. The horseshoe theory has been largely discounted. Only the politically naive will be willy-nilly drawn to either extreme. Unfortunately, political naivety is increasingly common these days. Ideology is a lesser concern for them.
    1
  24619.  @andrewizub  Russia is not facing an existential threat if -- or rather, when -- it loses the war in Ukraine. It's Putin who's facing an existential threat at the hands of his usurpers or vengeful citizens.
    1
  24620.  @bosanskinacionalista1874  I doubt that. Poland is it, with the Russians probably wanting to cut off the Baltic states from Kaliningrad and through Belarus.
    1
  24621.  @bosanskinacionalista1874  If so, it's not going to be a real a battlefield, but we'd see another simmering low-intensity conflict, similar to the ongoing War in Donbass.
    1
  24622.  @bosanskinacionalista1874  I'm referring to a major military confrontation akin to what was envisioned during the Cold War, possibly involving tactical nuclear weapons. You're talking about minor armed clashes.
    1
  24623. You need to enlist in some army or another toot sweet. You crave action.
    1
  24624.  @D-E-S_8559  "Volunteering for occupation" -- oh, what a thoroughly Soviet thing to say. The Soviet Union practically colonised Poland. Poland's motivation for getting NATO bases is to prevent the same from happening again. NATO didn't go to Iraq and was invited -- by Russia, among others -- to go to Afghanistan. Do your homework for once. Serbia and Libya were about preventing genocide and mass murder. Did either country get annexed in the process? "Corporate conscripts" -- what are you, a real-life Communist? You should join a freak show.
    1
  24625.  @RadAngelDMV  You like your gerontocracy.
    1
  24626.  @peterpeterpeter6315  Historians will refer to the next phase of operations as Russian Civil War 2. May the oligarch with the best private army win.
    1
  24627.  @arupmallick3923  It will be hilarious to watch India curry favour with the same American "slaveholder". India needs US weapons to replace the Russian ones. Russia can't deliver, and China is busily arming itself to the teeth. Leave your self-respect at the door before you enter.
    1
  24628. @de caesaris Was I suggesting otherwise?
    1
  24629. I bet everything is going to plan from Hamas's viewpoint. Israel's retaliation shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone, knowing Netanyahu and his hardline policies. Hamas is a death cult, and Israel a willing henchman.
    1
  24630. Really? They have no say. Rishi Sunak could say something, but judicial independence is a thing in the UK. It's not Russia, where the judiciary bends over backwards when Putin offers his opinion. It's "European *leaders" by the way. An apostrophe before the 's' shows singular possession. This would be plural, and no possession.
    1
  24631.  @weichaowang3974  Yeah, to an authoritarian regime, democracy is a dangerous trap. It can never be quelled, only stalled.
    1
  24632. Nah, Vietnam is doing a China -- and the West is an important enabler.
    1
  24633. They're birds of a feather all right.
    1
  24634. I take it you're a Hamas murderer then. Your logic, not mine.
    1
  24635.  Mia Rivel  I wonder when Trump realizes that he can blame China for the riots in the US. Winnie the Pooh and the Dumpster are really two of a kind, always blaming outsiders for their own failings.
    1
  24636.  @VarahaMihira-h5g  Which is it? You don't know history or you dispute Zia's Pakistani origin?
    1
  24637. How would you explain Fosun wanting distribution rights for Taiwan despite being aware that they were prohibited from selling to the Taiwan? It smells of scorched earth tactics.
    1
  24638.  @StanleyKowalski.  Holland in Africa?
    1
  24639.  @StanleyKowalski.  I know my history. The Dutch provinces of North and South Holland weren't up to anything genocidal in Africa. If you had written Germany and Namibia or the Netherlands and present-day Indonesia, it would be a different matter. Your history teacher would give you an F.
    1
  24640.  @StanleyKowalski.  Holland and the Netherlands aren't the same. We're talking two provinces (not colonies) vs. the entire country. So, you think West Java is in Africa? Your geography teacher should give you an F, too.
    1
  24641.  @StanleyKowalski.  Holland is a former province that was later split in two. It's primary school stuff, at least it was for me in North Holland. You posted about a "Holland" genocide in Africa -- A-F-R-I-C-A. Your English teacher should give you an F, too, on account of poor reading comprehension.
    1
  24642. I thought it was the other way around.
    1
  24643. "Bryan", NATO has nuclear gravity bombs in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. France has air and sea-launched nuclear missiles. That's 5 out of 27 EU members, a far cry from your "ALL over the EU".
    1
  24644.  @DZ-rt2hx  So, in other words, you're claiming that "the West" embodies 141 out of the 193 nations in the world? I think you're going against norms, but I don't actually mind if you think the Western mindset -- whatever that is -- is that pervasive.
    1
  24645.  @aadithyaawali7484  Yup, for reasons that you can't properly explain, India must be and remain subservient to Russia. I've heard vague stories about India owing a defunct communist superpower eternal gratitude for services rendered, and an autocratic leader of a crony-capitalist superpower wannabe somehow inheriting said debt of gratitude. It's too bad that this neo-imperialistic leader has picked China as his BFF, and China won't tolerate competition. Russia will drop you like a brick when shove comes to push. China is Russia's meal ticket, while India is the candy that you pick up at the counter on your way out of the restaurant.
    1
  24646.  @ADITYAKUMAR-mb5ht  US side? Sweden and Finland would've preferred to join an EU-centric defence alliance, but the rest of the EU happen to think NATO is the way to go. EU countries do dominate NATO, but I guess you don't have a sound understanding of how alliances work to fully understand the repercussions.
    1
  24647.  @davecavana1031  ...in Sumo wrestling, for sure.
    1
  24648. I think your lot should start making a small donation whenever you claim that the end is nigh for the EU. We'd be paving the streets with gold in no time.
    1
  24649.  @EsotericHighway  Covid-19 is serious all right, but ACDS (Acquired Cognitive Deficiency Syndrome) is proving to be far worse. Symptoms include spreading conspiracy theories and calling skeptics sheeple. Go on.
    1
  24650.  @EsotericHighway  What, you're saying I'm still trapped in The Matrix? Can I ask you, do you wear a bicorne hat and keep your hand inside your vest? I'm asking because I believe megalomaniacs are very likely to fall for conspiracy theories.
    1
  24651.  @EsotericHighway  One more thing. Is it also a conspiracy that there are so many conspiracy-themed TV series, documentaries and movies? They're disguising the fact that there's a real global conspiracy going on, right?
    1
  24652. Huh? Russia was been threathening nuclear war for two+ years straight.
    1
  24653. The UN Charter says that all UN members have the inherent right of self-defence if they're subjected to an armed attack. Is helping Ukraine to exercise that right warmongering?
    1
  24654.  @Swahili1  Correction, Belgium had a dark king in Leopold II. Besides, it is said that the only Belgian in existence is the king, the so-called King of the Belgians, who are thus non-existent, at least in plural form.
    1
  24655. Little do you know. The F-35 can make do without an auxiliary power unit, but incomplete wings and a landing gear are showstoppers.
    1
  24656.  @summer031977  Uh, training matters.
    1
  24657.  deee 327  Sabotage? So expect us the believe that the CIA managed to sabotage the missile system in question, or did they magically transform the B737 into a missile magnet?
    1
  24658.  deee 327  I'm ex-military, so save your breath. If you bring sabotage forward as a possible cause, you must've meant it. Otherwise, you might as well brings up UFOs or angels of doom.
    1
  24659.  @willyjimmy8881  You hit the nail on the head. China is already concerned about foreign investment drying up, and now they're making matters only worse for themselves. Eroding Hong Kong's judicial impartiality isn't doing China any favours either. Xi's regime has lost the plot.
    1
  24660.  @omaral-falahi5005  Be that as it may, Netanyahu doesn't care. He's deliriously happy to continue making war.
    1
  24661.  @pomka24  Why do you care if you're incinerated once, twice or thrice? Yes, I'm talking about you personally.
    1
  24662.  @adinnaikhwani6255  No need to shout your head off. Because Turkey's economy is in a bad way. That is an undeniable fact. Anyone who's trading with Turkey is negatively impacted. Neighbours tend to trade more with one another than far-away trading partners.
    1
  24663.  @adinnaikhwani6255  Better get that CapsLock key fixed. How pathetic is that, blaming Turkey's self-made economic troubles on the US. Finding foreign scapegoats may bring Erdogan temporary political relief, but the real problems -- the economic ones -- remain. Being a bit of an international pariah these days, Russia will befriend anyone who'll respond to their overtures. I guess it was a mixture of opportunism and desperation that drove Turkey into Moscow's arms and vice versa. For all I care, you can marry Russia and have babies together. But it will be entertaining to watch the inevitable split-up. Let's not forget it's only a couple of years ago that you were at each other's throats.
    1
  24664. Ask yourself, how many Soviet warplanes were delivered to North Vietnam?
    1
  24665. Trump's got it covered. He issued a terse directive calling every federal department and agency to lower the cost of living and report back on how they've performed. In other words, he took resolute action to combat the cost of living crisis, and he's not to blame if inflation skyrockets. If the public servants don't deliver on Trump's election promise, he'll let his efficiency bloodhound Musk loose on them, who'll decimate their ranks, and many times over, too, if needed. Now that's good governance!
    1
  24666. How so? Thailand just legalised same-sex marriage.
    1
  24667.  @matthewcurry3565  There are representative democracies and then there are representative democracies. It's your electoral system that's at fault.
    1
  24668. Why, how would it be relevant? Other parties -- leftist and centrist -- gained far more seats than the Vlaams Belang.
    1
  24669. Nah, Turkey has supposed the decide WW1 in the Central Powers' favour, too, but that clearly didn't happen. Turkey ended up on the losing side, and quite deservedly so.
    1
  24670. Where's your precedent then? Hamas, or any other Palestinian terrorist organisation for that matter, has never struck such a powerful blow before.
    1
  24671. Source: trust me bro.
    1
  24672.  @anthonye4183  Domestic catchphrases and clichés don't work so well in an international forum such as this. You may want to behave in a more civilised manner when you're out and about in the big world.
    1
  24673. Yup, and Israel ensures that their indoctrination is complete.
    1
  24674. With graphite bombs, which left the power stations relatively easily repairable. It worked wonders, too, because Milosevic's last remaining ally, Russia, urged Milosevic to withdraw from Kosovo, which he did. A year later, Milosevic was deposed, and three years later, he was standing trial in the Hague for war crimes.
    1
  24675. That would imply the people are involved, as in anti-government protests and uprisings. Instead, we're seeing politicians and soldiers playing musical chairs. The people are not invited to the party.
    1
  24676. Finland is already well-stocked with the M270 and GMLRS, the former upgraded to HIMARS standard, except tracked rather than wheeled for better all-terrain capability.
    1
  24677. I very much doubt your troll farm manager awarded you a potato for that comment.
    1
  24678. French in a Belgian setting? That's debatable.
    1
  24679. Put in a request with your bot handler for more English lessons.
    1
  24680.  @JanBruunAndersen  The Soviet Union and latterly, Russia, have always eagerly supplied parties to armed conflicts. There's no precedent here.
    1
  24681.  @lacdirk  Also, trade deficits are misleading. To a great extent, China's trade surpluses are caused by fact that its strength is final assembly, which adds relative little value, yet the full value of the products is taken into account when the trade balance are calculated, as if China produced all the components and did all the R&D as well. Especially in electronic products there's a hidden deficit with countries such as Japan and Korea, which actually manufacture the high-value components.
    1
  24682.  @lacdirk  No, it's not taken into account, especially with today's complex supply chains that involve dozens of manufacturers in almost as many countries. The iPhone is a textbook example. Google "How the iPhone widens the US trade deficit with China."
    1
  24683. Your hear voices.
    1
  24684. But the sanctions imposed on China were hardly a UK-only affair. The EU, the US and Canada also imposed sanctions on China. If China were to single out the UK for a trade war, it would only lead to a further closing of ranks and a widening of the anti-China front. Make no mistake, China is not greatly loved throughout the world.
    1
  24685.  @jdjssd.n.jsjssjs8951  China is the manufacturing capital of the world because we let it, meaning that if our multinationals shift their manufacturing elsewhere, China will suffer a knock-out blow. Trade balances are misleading. What China excels at is, in fact, final assembly, which is relatively low-margin. Still, the full export price of the manufactured items is calculated in China's favour, although the bulk of the value-add comes from other countries in the form of components and, above all, intellectual property. The fact is, as a manufacturer, China adds relatively little value. As a developing country that was kept back by Communist ideology for decades, China should enjoy high growth rates. However, growth will plateau when China becomes a fully developed country. China can't keep abusing low-wage workers forever. Don't come with your old and weary excuses about colonisation. China was -- and still is -- a coloniser itself. Tibet was invaded and remains annexed to this day. Worldwide polls suggest that China's popularity is in serious decline, with unfavourable views clearly having overtaken favourable ones. China's powerhouse neighbours are no exception. You won't reverse that trend with self-congratulatory babble and whataboutisms on YouTube.
    1
  24686.  @jdjssd.n.jsjssjs8951  But multinationals are shifting production to other low-cost manufacturing hubs as we speak. Vietnam and India are popular choices. China's problems, rising labour cost and steep turnover, are oft-cited reasons. Both are symptoms of a dissatisfied workforce. "Made in China" is becoming a liability image-wise as well. Your braggadocio isn't helping either.
    1
  24687. Don't flatter yourselves unduly. It's your lax legislation -- a huge black job market and lack of ID cards -- that make the UK a premier destination for illegal immigrants. On the continent, we know better.
    1
  24688. Which part of "anti-ballistic missile system" don't you understand? Iran is a one-trick pony when it comes to making a dent in Israel's defences. If you render than trick ineffective, maybe Iran's senseless proxy war stops, too.
    1
  24689.  @flowers4myself522  Hvaldimir is a former Russian spywhale who defected to the West. Not entirely representative of wild Belugas.
    1
  24690. It's been like that since Trump made president. The USA was downgraded from 'full democracy' to 'flawed democracry' and has kept the classification ever since. Not directly because of either Trump or Biden, but because of the waning trust in democratic institutions. That said, I don't think Trump improved the situation any with his unsubstantiated claims of election fraud.
    1
  24691. Likewise, failing at giving democracy the boot?
    1
  24692.  HAPPY MASS SHOOTING USA  Hong Kong belongs to its people.
    1
  24693.  HAPPY MASS SHOOTING USA  Sure, Scotland belongs to the UK unless the Scots decide otherwise. In China, people per definition don't get to decide. People's republic, my foot!
    1
  24694.  HAPPY MASS SHOOTING USA  England has evolved, China has not.
    1
  24695.  HAPPY MASS SHOOTING USA  Be that as it may, the Brits go don't annexing territory. China does, most notably Tibet and the South China Sea reefs. Since you're adamant that China only does the same as Britain, how about an independence referendum in Hong Kong? Britain allowed one in Scotland.
    1
  24696. ​ HAPPY MASS SHOOTING USA  Let's not go into long-past wrongdoings. China's long history is littered with atrocities and of economic exploitation. The tit-for-tats would go on forever. What counts is what happens here and now, and it's painfully clear that the CCP doesn't respect the right to self-determination of the Hongkongers, nor that of the Tibetans and the Uyghurs, to say nothing of their human rights. Britain allowed its empire to unravel when the calls for self-determination grew too loud to ignore. What has China done in this regard? Happy Tiananmen Square Massacre Day, by the way.
    1
  24697.  @CHMichael  You're a bit of an anachronism. The concept of neighbours has changed as the world has changed. Countries half a world away can have more impact on one's economy and politics than adjoining countries do. Also, pretty much everything is interlinked nowadays. You can try to reason with yourself that you're not involved, but you'll still face the repercussions -- if not on the short term, then on the longer term. Summa summarum, you've got your head in the sand.
    1
  24698. You haven't thought about witing Putin? It's his war.
    1
  24699.  @EdgarOchoaPalma  Where's your proof? At last count 141 countries saw Russia as the bully, with only 4 countries, in addition to Russia, holding the opposite view. Russia will eventually sue for peace, and while the peace terms won't be to its liking -- especially the hefty war reparations payable to Ukraine -- Russia will agree to the terms. We'll call it a Russian defeat all right.
    1
  24700.  @meharihabtemariam3035  I've paid off several mortgages. Anyhoo, what has that got to do with the price of tea in China?
    1
  24701.  @oceanwave4502  Spare me your tired clichés. I am fortunate enough to live in one of the wealthiest countries in both Europe and the world. Yet we have no colonial past whatsoever.
    1
  24702. You should focus your efforts on getting Putin out of office instead of concocting conspiracy theories.
    1
  24703.  @КамранАли  You're jumping to conclusions -- I'm not British. I was just looking out for what's best for you. If Truss dealt the UK economy a body blow, Putin has dealt the Russian economy a death blow. All the more reason to put the rubbish out in Russia as well.
    1
  24704.  @КамранАли  That's not a very intelligent response. I could live on the dark side of the moon and still tell that if an economy alienates its best customers and fails to compensate for it by drumming up new business in equal measure, it's headed off a cliff.
    1
  24705. Oh no you don't. You can sell your 1931 Royal Enfield Bullet replicas to Russia, but pretty much anything containing modern electronics is a no-no, or you'll be slapped with sanctions yourselves.
    1
  24706. There's only oil shale in Jordan. It's not being extracted at present, and US oil shale deposits are much larger.
    1
  24707. You'd better learn Russian, too.
    1
  24708.  @hanlanda797  Russia is full of war-damaged mental patients, that's why.
    1
  24709.  @piotrfelix  Ambassadors do report back to their mother country about their findings. He did his job.
    1
  24710. Because there aren't. And even if there were, the UN Charter asserts the right to self-defence. The same charter condemns military aggression (read: Ukraine & friends good, Russia & cronies bad).
    1
  24711. As long as Russia has the presence of mind to stay within its own borders, it has nothing to fear.
    1
  24712.  @magiclamp4644  You must think that a home invader can set terms -- after taking the fridge, washing machine, the wife's knickers and the toilet bowl -- as in which rooms are now his? Which cowardly country are you from?
    1
  24713. That was the Winter War. The USSR was still allied with Nazi Germany then.
    1
  24714. Een pionier, Polen, buigt zich alweer terug. Radicaal-rechtse partijen moeten vooral niet aan de macht komen, want dat is funest voor hen.
    1
  24715. But true to his word, Prigozhin will retreat? Surely, as a troll favourite, he can't be a liar? Right? Right?
    1
  24716. You should know better.
    1
  24717.  @Worldturnedupsidedown  Russia should've thought of that when it decided to intervene in the Syrian civil war in 2014. Now it's two military bases poorer.
    1
  24718. Let's not exaggerate. Sweden was a hang-around member of sorts.
    1
  24719. Will they say something nasty about Zelenskyy?
    1
  24720. That's not setting the bar very high.
    1
  24721. $200,000 max.
    1
  24722.  @I_Lemaire  Let's see. Two countries maintain that the Golan Heights are part of Israel. 191 countries beg to differ.
    1
  24723.  @I_Lemaire  The Golan Druze in particular mostly refuse to accept Israeli citizenship, preferring to stay Syrian. That should tell you enough.
    1
  24724.  @I_Lemaire  They mostly don't serve in the IDF. And who's lying here? The Israeli authorities will readily admit that the majority of the Golan Druze haven't taken Israeli citizenship. You're beating a dead horse.
    1
  24725.  @I_Lemaire  Duh, we're specifically talking about the Golan Druze, dum-dum. "The Druze from the Golan Heights do not serve in the IDF, however.", The Israel Project, Religious Freedoms: Druze "Residents of Majdal Shams and the other Golan Druze villages are not drafted into the Israel Defense Forces.", Wikipedia, Druze in Israel Again, you're beating a dead horse.
    1
  24726.  @I_Lemaire  Let's see what Israel's Ministry of Interior, which actually issues Israeli passports, thinks of it: "Of the 21,000 Druze residents on the Golan, Interior Ministry figures show that some 4,300 are citizens of the State of Israel.", Shomrim - The Center for Media and Democracy, September 4, 2022. Have I made any claims about the Golan Druze favouring Assad? I'm merely noting that factual information suggests that the majority of the Golan Druze aren't pro-Israel. Don't do the straw man thing -- it's puerile -- as is upvoting your own comments.
    1
  24727. ​ @ANSELAbitsxb  Even if true, I struggle to decipher your comment. It seems oddly irrelevant.
    1
  24728.  @thekaiser4333  Megalomania much? I'll teach you something then. In a debate, you produce arguments and counter-arguments. "No, you're wrong" isn't a counter-argument. You're lazy.
    1
  24729. New prospective members are queuing to join NATO, whereas we're all curious if Russia's little anti-NATO, the CSTO, still exists. Explain that.
    1
  24730. Electoral violence to come? I hear the National Guard is on code red.
    1
  24731. Smelly. Biogas. Cow and pig farts. It's a good thing we steered away from domestic use of natural gas.
    1
  24732. Russians think it a fiendish ruse if someone speaks the truth when it's more advantageous to lie.
    1
  24733. It sounds like your fertile mind is about to give birth to a conspiracy theory.
    1
  24734. OK, Sherlock.
    1
  24735. Russia colonialised its back yard and mostly keeps colonising it to this very day, too.
    1
  24736.  @JustChillingNahhhhMean  Russia could retaliate by expanding CTSO. See, I made a funny!
    1
  24737. There's no story there.
    1
  24738. Russians tend to abandon their heavy equipment. It's the nature of the beast.
    1
  24739.  @diegohera88  OK, go easy on the self-love. Get a room.
    1
  24740. What if they choose wrong? Israel lacks a long-term plan, that much is certain.
    1
  24741.  @charliescene786  You've misunderstood the role of UN peacekeepers. They need a mandate, which the military junta in Myanmar is unlikely to give. Peace enforcement is another matter altogether. Been there, done both. If you don't like the UN and want it to disappear, what exactly would you replace it with? A resurrected League of Nations or even the Justice League?
    1
  24742. @bigotbiden Nah, the two of you are little contrarians, who like to act up.
    1
  24743.  @kaiznpl  So you're saying democracy has failed in 25 EU countries, in those that are critical of Hungary and Poland, to be precise? Elections in these countries were all stolen, just like Trump claims in the US? You're making things up as you go along.
    1
  24744.  @kaiznpl  OK, enough said -- Trumpster detected.
    1
  24745.  @kaiznpl  Don't cream your pants publicly.
    1
  24746.  @neilnelson7603  As a matter of fact, the UN Security Council backed the NATO-led intervention in Afghanistan time and again. Security council members that voted in favour of the authorizing resolutions included Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Mexico, Syria, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Mauritius, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, Mali, Tanzania and Tunisia. I could add all the non-European, non-NATO countries that sent troops in support, but I think you're getting the picture.
    1
  24747.  @neilnelson7603  You're not very observant. I specifically mentioned Russia and China, which voted for the ISAF mission and several times at that. So, in your not-so-expert opinion, are China and Russia being pushed around by America and Europe, too? You can shout yourself hoarse about the unfair make-up of the UN Security Council and the non-permanent members' lack of veto rights, but none of that mattered. The UN resolutions in question were all adopted unanimously by permanent and non-permanent members alike, with the exception of Russia abstaining once (citing maritime concerns, which is hilarious considering that Afghanistan is land-locked). This being the case, you cannot deny that there was truly global support for the NATO-led intervention in Afghanistan. ISAF was indeed NATO-led. Similarly, there have been a number of UN-approved missions in Africa, executed by ECOWAS rather than the UN or NATO. Since the UN doesn't have a standing army, the distinction with "UN-led" peacekeeping missions is hazy. I myself did two rotations as a UN peacekeeper, but apart from the flags, the blue helmets and white APCs, it was still regular army for all intents and purposes.
    1
  24748.  @neilnelson7603  You don't have to take my word for it. This is the information Age --information is literally at your fingertips. I know this is YouTube, the promised land of mindless demagogues and bots, but generally speaking it's advisable to study up on a topic before commenting on it. You'll have to approach DW directly with your editorial concerns. As to NATO and its non-NATO allies not being consulted, no one is twisting anyone's arm to stay or leave. I'll give you that without US military presence, leaving is the only realistic option, since no democratic country wants to waste more political capital in Afghanistan, to say nothing of actual capital. Even undemocratic countries, such China and Russia, have the presence of mind to steer well clear of the place.
    1
  24749.  @navigatornavigator3814  I am not Murican, you gullible dolt.
    1
  24750.  @defendfreedom1390  Your indignation would more appropriate if Eastern Europe wasn't relying heavily on Russian gas as well. Hungary and Poland are among the top users. Hungary's Orban even struck a special deal with Putin in exchange for political favours.
    1
  24751.  @defendfreedom1390  Why on earth would I go to North Korea? I though I was clear in rejected autocracy, but trust you to miss the oh-so obvious hint. And communism -- are you bipolar or something?
    1
  24752.  @SAGAWISIW30  I didn't forget about the inevitable whataboutists. Go bore someone else.
    1
  24753.  @alexanderinsubordinate1861  You're talking to a silly conspiracy theorist.
    1
  24754. @Culpepper Defenestrator Amen.
    1
  24755. Better not go there. Your precious Russia would owe huge sums in compensation for its colonialism, and not just because of what transpired during the age of colonialism, but later as well. As the sole exception, Russia never properly decolonised. It would utterly bankrupt Russia.
    1
  24756.  @redram5150  I thought stingrays are only effective against Australian crocodile hunters/TV personalities, who, ironically, don't think much of saltwater crocs.
    1
  24757. That's 5 mistakes in a short sentence. You failed the bot test spectacularly, "Phil".
    1
  24758.  @randygram9310  Let's entertain you for a bit. Let's assume everything hinges on US approval to stop the war, and the US would indeed grant such approval to France. How exactly do you propose France would stop the war? Here and now, only Putin can stop the war, and that's by withdrawing his Orcs from Ukrainian soil beyond pre-2014 borders.
    1
  24759.  @наташа-картошкина  Cute emoji. Not at all childish.
    1
  24760. Career-wise, the presidency was a detour/enabler for him. Peace, yes, nation, sorta.
    1
  24761.  @seppeichman9413  You're confusing it with something else. I first handled one in 2009, and it was from the first production batch.
    1
  24762. Bang your bible some more.
    1
  24763. What about the buyer? Microsoft's failed acquisitions are legendary. Business schools use them as case studies, particularly Microsoft's take-over of Nokia's mobile phone business.
    1
  24764. I love it how you foul your own nest. Internationally, too.
    1
  24765.  @goodtimes6118  You're all Yanks to us. Stinky ones, in your case.
    1
  24766. Which part of "Russian veto" don't you understand? The UNGA was very clear on the matter.
    1
  24767. You're not keeping up with the news. The planned Rosatom reactor has nixed in March this year, not long after Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine.
    1
  24768. You're behind. The latest publication of the Cato Institute's Human Freedom Index, from 2018, puts Hong Kong in third place. Considering that rule of law is a key criteria, Hong Kong's standing would drop further if the extradition bill passes (in 2014, it did score best). In mainland China, rule of law is simply not observed. Separation of powers is one of the "Five No's" and judicial independence is one of the "Seven Don't Speaks".
    1
  24769.  @internetcensure5849  Sure, the Soviet had to fly higher, which greatly diminished the effect of their air power.
    1
  24770.  @alexanderlazarev3570  It's true enough. Of the major European powers, France has done a better job keeping its defences up than the others after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Also, its formerly loose alliance with NATO has left France more self-sufficent, whereas more integrated European NATO members rely on each other to a far greater degree.
    1
  24771.  UFOZone51  Russia made vague irrational demands for propaganda purposes, as if it was the aggrieved party, or the saviour of non-existent genocide victims. The world at large bought none of it, so you can stop beating a dead horse.
    1
  24772.  @matracity3414  OK, loverboy, Neville Chamberlain would like you for an assistant. Try to get access to a time machine. Remember to set the dial to 1938.
    1
  24773. Hé, jij kan engels! Wat goed zeg!
    1
  24774. Self-rule for Hong Kong? Just an idea. You don't always have to think in colonialist terms.
    1
  24775. So, do you think Russia will capitulate conditionally or unconditionally?
    1
  24776. Congrats. You made a watchlist.
    1
  24777. Nuclear blackmail is a fine art. You can't start too young.
    1
  24778. Unconditional? You should have a gander at France's voting record at the UN. France has pretty consistently backed draft resolutions and that condemn Israel's violence against the Palestinians and encroachment of Palestinian territory -- only for the US to veto the potentially binding UNSC ones. You don't concern yourself with facts, do you?
    1
  24779.  @krlost4405  You just committed a serious false equivalence fallacy.
    1
  24780. Reptilians did.
    1
  24781. The UN Charter is very clear about countries having the right to defend themselves, which is exactly what Ukraine is doing. The UN Charter is equally clear about the illegality of wars of aggression, as waged by Russia in Ukraine. Spot the difference? Can you extrapolate from there that fuelling a war of aggression is both immoral and illegal, whereas helping a country to defend itself is the exact opposite? It's these malfunctions in your moral compass that persuade me that India is not fit for permanent membership of the UNSC.
    1
  24782.  @adityakumarsingh5204  Ah, you're trying your luck with guilt by association. That's a formal logical fallacy. Try reading up on it. And put more effort into your ad hominems.
    1
  24783.  @adityakumarsingh5204  I told you to read up on them. And do elaborate on the applicability of hypocrisy. You have no clue where I'm from, do you?
    1
  24784.  @adityakumarsingh5204  Nope, you failed to make a case for "west hypocrisy". Well, no wonder, you have the argumentation skills of a pigeon.
    1
  24785. Please use English in this comment section.
    1
  24786. ​ @in-my-view  So, you find humanity ridiculous. Are you an extraterrestrial being, by any chance? I have to ask, because you sound like your kind is not represented at the UN. Being an E.T. would explain it.
    1
  24787. The haters will hate you for saying that.
    1
  24788. Are these keepers of yours by any chance blood-drinking, shape-shifting Reptilians (please say yes).
    1
  24789.  @GnosticGrace  That's what I feared. NWO conspiracists of the Reptilian kind seem to have gone extinct (David Icke doesn't count). Shame. You could've commanded some interest. Now you're just a plain bore.
    1
  24790.  @GnosticGrace  What, is Icke stealing your thunder? Don't worry, I think he's just as much a joke as you are, be it a better one.
    1
  24791. There's no reason to bring in nukes. NATO has grown over the years, but its nuclear footprint hasn't.
    1
  24792. Duh, Belgium had a federal election on the same day. At least from us, you can't expect any more. Our far righties suffered a crushing electoral setback on Sunday, which puts their participation in government as a junior partner at risk.
    1
  24793. For the Russian ones, not so.
    1
  24794.  @um4r10  How does your comment relate to mine? I noted that the Russian arms manufacturers will have trouble flogging their kit after the Ukraine debacle. I mean, a jack-in-the-box is all good and well at a toy fair, but at an arms fair tanks that launch their turrets sky-high are frowned upon. Also, "precision" missiles that keep hitting maternity hospitals, schools and residential buildings may not end up on the shopping list of any military. It's "do some *research". "Research" is a so-called mass noun, which should always be written in the singular form.
    1
  24795. What's pitiful is that Russia can't subdue its much-smaller neighbour, so it has to pretend it's fighting someone else instead. Utterly pitiful.
    1
  24796. And what would take the place of the UN? A reanimated League of Nations or complete anarchy? It sounds like you're type that should never be let near a baby and bathwater without adult supervision.
    1
  24797.  @franknunoo4075  Ukraine is a career-destroying mistake of Putin's. Maybe India can offer him refuge? By the looks of it, he'll be among friends.
    1
  24798. Macron is trying to reinvent himself as a centre-rightist instead of a centrist. Let's see how that goes.
    1
  24799. This is not the EU's turf, but that of the Council of Europe. They could suspend Russia's voting rights, just like after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. Russia was livid.
    1
  24800.  @suhitharbaus  You must mean camels or some such.
    1
  24801. Loose bolts sink share price.
    1
  24802. We've got visual evidence of assault and battery. What would you accuse the Ukrainian priest of? Blasphemy? The Orthodox Church of Russia has no jurisdiction over a member of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
    1
  24803. *Fighting Fascism. Russia ticks all the boxes of Fascism, and Orban is Putler's little helper.
    1
  24804. No, Putin should've left Ukraine well alone. Instead of containing NATO expansion, Putin actually made it happen. Besides, trade wars among NATO partners have come and gone, and NATO has been none the worse for it.
    1
  24805.  @HealzHS  There was no genocide in the Donbas perpetrated by Ukraine. Even Russia had to admit to that. Check the OSCE SMM reports, they're all public. Zero, zip, zilch, nada. Nothing about Ukraine targeting civilians.
    1
  24806. @aleserban9322 It's Putin that cycnically weaponised energy in his brutal war of conquest and now some foolish countries that failed to heed the warnings about Russian gas deliveries ending are screaming in mock indignation. Let them scream, I say. They need the pain memory to remember that Russia cannot be trusted under any circumstances, not as neighbour that respects your borders, nor as a trade partner.
    1
  24807. @aleserban9322 It's Putin that cynically weaponised energy in his brutal war of conquest. Now some foolish countries that failed to heed the warnings about Russian gas deliveries ending are screaming in mock indignation. Let them scream, I say. They need pain memory to remember that Russia cannot be trusted under any circumstances, not as neighbour that respects your borders, nor as a trade partner.
    1
  24808. @aleserban9322 It's Putin that cynically weaponised energy in his brutal war of conquest and now some foolish countries that failed to heed the warnings about Russian gas deliveries ending are screaming in mock indignation. Let them scream, I say. They need the pain memory to remember that Russia cannot be trusted under any circumstances, not as neighbour that respects your borders, nor as a trade partner.
    1
  24809. Liz is trying to reinvent herself as a Trumpie.
    1
  24810. Germany had a change of heart when Putin's mask fell off.
    1
  24811.  @HolisticHealthEducation  You're a bit clumsy in your use of irony quote marks, but I'll take it as a compliment.
    1
  24812. Don't get your knickers in a twist over it.
    1
  24813. Russia won't win even if a ceasefire were declared tomorrow and the conflict would turn into yet another frozen conflict. Under Western sanctions, Russia will slowly wither on the vine, till even the most apathetic of Russians finally realises that it's high time for yet another revolution. Like they say themselves, the West has elections, Russia has revolutions.
    1
  24814.  @misterfunnybones  There's no British Commonwealth, it's been the Commonwealth of Nations since 1949. I once met a retired Commonwealth rep who described the organisation as "an exercise in masochism" for the UK. "No good deed will go unpunished", she added.
    1
  24815. I'm not sure if Putin frequents this forum.
    1
  24816. Sounds like Putin's red lines, doesn't it?
    1
  24817. Your beloved Joker has done same or worse from day one.
    1
  24818. France has other options, too, but why not explore them all?
    1
  24819. @jasmineibrahim5997 France's state-owned uranium mining company has sites in Canada, Kazakhstan, Niger, Namibia and Gabon. Options galore.
    1
  24820. Is that a promise?
    1
  24821.  @e3498-v7l  Most likely not coming back? You sound unsure.
    1
  24822.  @e3498-v7l  I'm very obviously paraphrasing. Poor comeback.
    1
  24823.  @aaroncousins4750  Sadly, it's a worldwide phenomenon.
    1
  24824.  @gottfriedheumesser1994  No, it depends on what kind of contract you've signed with your electricity provider. I prefer to pay market prices. Whenever I charge my EV or heat the sauna, I check the electricity price. It's second nature.
    1
  24825.  @gottfriedheumesser1994  Ooh, that's quaint. You'd think you have access to modern technology.
    1
  24826.  @gottfriedheumesser1994  Our cooking is electricity only. Heating is district heating, from a nearby biofuel plant. I just had a look -- our projected electricity bill for February is 16.47€. We've steered clear of Russian gas, especially for domestic purposes, knowing from bitter experience how untrustworthy the Russians are. Putin has lost the energy war all right, and it's a permanent loss, too. Going forward, Russia's only hope is selling super-cheap wood chips, but I guess the EU will pass a directive that prevents an increasingly-desperate Russia from cutting down all its forests.
    1
  24827. Russia easily bests Ukraine in being more corrupt. Check out the Corruption Perceptions Index.
    1
  24828.  @TizTime  You claimed Ukraine was the most corrupt country in Europe. It proved you wrong and now you're butthurt. It's as simple as that.
    1
  24829. Nah, the USA is and will remain an enforced duopoly. Both parties have knowingly passed duopolistic laws that keep third-parties (in the literal sense) from power.
    1
  24830. Before this war, 42% of Gazans didn't support Hamas. I bet few of the 58% that did support Hamas wanted a war. The latter believed that Hamas was the only entity that could make a fist against Israel. Israel has the Gazans cornered, with led to their radicalisation. It suited Netanyahu well, so he could scrap negotiations for a two-state solution with the Palestinian Authority. Poor people of Israel, their wrong choice has painful consequences.
    1
  24831.  @ryanwalters6184  What exactly should I look for in "urkaine [sic] military aid"? Europe spends more on aid to Ukraine in absolute terms. In per capita terms, we spend far, far more than the average American. Facts are a bummer, eh?
    1
  24832.  @VIRGONOMICS  I'm out of correction fluid okay, Mr. Virgin Mix.
    1
  24833. And the Brits would still make a nuisance of themselves inside the EU.
    1
  24834. France, unlike its neighbours, isn't adept at forming coalition governments.
    1
  24835. Je moet je niet blind staren aan de Nederlanders. Het gaat om de NAVO in z'n geheel.
    1
  24836.  @lucaspolderman6622  Dat betwijfel ik ten zeerste. Alles duidt er op dat Poetin veel meer -- héél veel meer -- verwachtte van zijn leger dan wat we in Oekraïne te zien kregen.
    1
  24837. ​ @lucaspolderman6622  Er is niks theoretisch aan. Poetin wou in Blitzkrieg-stijl doorstoten naar Kiev en Zelensky vervangen door een marionet. Daar kwam dus niks van terecht. Zijn leger leed zware verliezen en moesten afdruipen. Het was overduidelijk dat Rusland slecht was voorbereid en nog eens slecht presteerde.
    1
  24838.  @BOT-MERC  Not the far right. Extremism in all its forms is reprehensible.
    1
  24839. Banning Russians from integrating in Finland? On the contrary, Finland has been fast-tracking residence permits for Russian ICT specialists. Finnish software companies are overjoyed at the influx of qualified recruits. With no tourists visas to issue, the specialists' applications can be processed even faster.
    1
  24840. So, you have an intifada going, too. Tell us more about your city.
    1
  24841. Oops, you got reported for hate speech.
    1
  24842.  @Issacandjacob  I'm making an observation here, boyo.
    1
  24843. Presently second best, up from third best, after Russia took out Wagner, too.
    1
  24844.  @JoeJones-kn8sh  No, the Russians tried their utmost to make us speak Russian, but they failed -- not once but twice.
    1
  24845.  @rl8925  China is not co-operating with the investigation, that's why.
    1
  24846. Poland didn't have the foresight to prevent Poles from migrating to the UK and thus ruining it, as you appear to claim.
    1
  24847.  @royrj5517  Ah, we're singling out Muslims.
    1
  24848.  @royrj5517  Give it up. Your ilk professes to be concerned about the negative effects of mass migration, but you quickly show your true colours. You're just a hater. If it isn't the Muslims, it's the Jews. In a pinch, any minority will do.
    1
  24849.  @royrj5517  I'm not contesting that uncontrolled migration has negative effects. I'm pointing out that you're using mass migration as an excuse to spread hatred. You're giving yourself away by singling out Muslims, which doesn't make any sense.
    1
  24850.  @royrj5517  You're thick in the head. I keep saying that being flooded by migrants is a problem. Everyone sees that. However, you single out Muslims migrants, which suggests that for you, the migration crisis is a welcome opportunity to hate on Muslims. Don't hide behind those with legitimate concerns -- just admit that you're a crazed hater.
    1
  24851.  Egert Roos  You sure aren't getting West Europeans in any significant numbers.
    1
  24852.  Egert Roos  You wanted Europeans to make up the difference. If Europeans in the East aren't breeding rapidly enough, what's left?
    1
  24853.  Egert Roos  Let's just hope we won't have to pay your pensions.
    1
  24854.  Egert Roos  I'll spell it out for you. You're not cranking out babies in sufficient numbers. In the future, there'll be too few taxpayers to pay for your pensions. It's called the pension time bomb.
    1
  24855. Ironically, the best-known victory won by the Finns, the 1940 Battle of Raate Road, involved Ukrainian soldiers.
    1
  24856. And you're growing conspiracy theories out of thin air. Be proud of yourself, very proud.
    1
  24857.  @stevejohnson4127  I see you refer to yourself by royal we. Megalomania much? It's interesting, too, that you think rejecting wild conspiracy theories makes one a social leftist. Also, Kool-Aid can't be had in these here parts, so keep your Yankee cliches.
    1
  24858.  @stevejohnson4127  Racist? You have a funny definition of racism. Do yourself a favour and keep out of international forums such as this. Your provincialism is painful to watch.
    1
  24859.  @stevejohnson4127  There you go again, the royal we! Let's indulge your imagination -- exactly which kingdom are you the monarch of? And what's this preoccupation with leftism? I simply noted that you spout cliches and that they're American in nature. Face it, Kool-Aid is an American phenomenon. Now, if you were to use Coca-Cola instead, at least your cliche would be globally applicable. There's your global context, country mouse.
    1
  24860.  @xx133  You're conveniently disregarding the fact that not only the US has the power of veto. In fact, the biggest (ab)user is Russia.
    1
  24861.  @hahahahahahahaahaha7801  That's a double negative, smarty-pants.
    1
  24862. You don't like the church bashed, but you have no qualms about bashing Islam? Curious. I suppose it's religious intolerance that you suffer from.
    1
  24863. There lies the problem. Russia makes only marginal advances. It's been at it for 6 months, but Bakhmut still remains in Ukrainian hands. In contrast, Ukraine won the battles of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson each within a time span of 1 to 2 months. And these rate as far bigger victories -- assuming Russia ever manages to take Bakhmut.
    1
  24864.  @187dashh  Yup, and it's nothing new either. Finland and Sweden have hosted plenty of military exercises involving NATO soldiers. And that's not stopping now either.
    1
  24865.  @Syrenia1552  The EU constantly freezes and unfreezes funds earmarked for Hungary, subject to completion of reforms. Having to resort to such drastic measures is a disgrace in itself, reflecting badly on the EU, too. IMHO, it would be better to cut off Hungary altogether, and send it on its way. Maybe Putin and his EEU will have Hungary. We all know that Orban needs EU cohesion funding in order to pay his cronies, and indirectly, himself. And his EU-funded vanity project are legend.
    1
  24866.  @thodorisd5136  Which part of "IMHO" don't you understand? It's neither me nor Ursula who withholds funds from Hungary because it can't get its act together. It's the commission, the council and the parliament of the EU that do. That's all very democratic -- elected officials the lot of them. It's all very simple. If you don't want to abide by club rules, you leave the club. If you don't leave on your own accord, you get kicked out. If you want to continue this discussion, no more Greek drama, if you please.
    1
  24867. @tumix671 So, you concede that Trump is not adding any value here. He just wants some of the spoils of war. Or did you think that sending US mining engineers to Ukraine will scare Putin straight? The Russians have reputation for simply taking whatever is loosely attached. You may not know that, but we do.
    1
  24868.  @wasp3959  Don't generalise. SEA has countries that are doing very well for themselves.
    1
  24869.  @wasp3959  Thanks you for that, Captain Obvious. Your services are always appreciated. After all, the obvious eludes many.
    1
  24870. Is there a problem or are you just issuing a generic warning? In an apples-and-apples comparison, Germany outspends the USA in aid to Ukraine.
    1
  24871.  @noctis0524  Don't be sorry. The Arrow 3 was most definitely jointly developed with the US.
    1
  24872. That's Putin's dearest wish these days. He prays to every deity to make it happen, just to make sure he's got every angle covered. After all, he's asking for nothing short of a miracle.
    1
  24873.  @Americafirst-i8q  True. Trump would've sold Ukraine down the river at the drop of a hat.
    1
  24874.  @josephjoseph1981  OK, lead by example then. Let's have Canada leave NATO and declare neutrality. And since you're neutral and peace is guaranteed, you can abolish your army, navy and air force, which weren't all that impressive to begin with. That ought to divert Putin's attention from Ukraine, because he'll have the whole arctic as a new playing ground. And when his little green men have convinced the Canadians to vote in favour of joining Russia, Putin can station all the nuclear weapons he wants in the Autonomous Republic of Canada and forever check NATO's expansionism. You'll have to learn Russian, but it's a small price to pay for peace and calm.
    1
  24875. 2nd war? The one in Ukraine is Putin's very own "special downfall operation".
    1
  24876. The Chinese aren't as daft as the Russians. The Chinese have business sense.
    1
  24877.  @robmoore7708  You should have added that Russia has done just that for ages, but unlike the UK, Russia continues to hold on to vast areas that it has conquered. In Russia's case, it's hard to distinguish between imperialism and neo-imperialism. It's more like business as usual.
    1
  24878. So the UK is on hostile terms with pretty much the whole of Europe, 27 countries in all. You really have painted yourselves into a corner.
    1
  24879.  @nigeljohnson9820  Don't hide behind a fictive EU elite. Your beef is with the EU-27, their respective leaders and their electorates. They're responsible for the withdrawal agreement. So, by your logic, you're at war with Europe. If that's the case, shouldn't you be leaving NATO, too? With only a few exceptions, EU members are NATO members, too. Surely, you can't be in a defence alliance that is chock-full of enemies?
    1
  24880.  @nigeljohnson9820  Oh, you're a NWO conspiracy enthusiast. Say no more.
    1
  24881. ​ @nigeljohnson9820  No need to explain yourself further. At first I thought you had a tenuous grasp on reality, but now I see you've rejected reality altogether. I'm afraid the Fascists are all among you Brexiteers. I very much doubt a single one voted Remain.
    1
  24882.  @nigeljohnson9820  You're repeating yourself ad nauseam. Explain why BNP voters have switched their allegiance to UKIP, which is hardly pro-EU. You'd think birds of a feather flock together, but no, Fascists and the EU appear wholly incompatible. On the other hand, Brexit-Britain and Fascism are symbiotic.
    1
  24883. They know more about walls than you do, so they're doing you a favour for sharing their experience. You should be grateful.
    1
  24884.  @AlbertMeza  Ingrate.
    1
  24885. @Ksch Koff Pew Research puts favourable views of the US among Germans at 30%, which means you're a tad pessimistic since there are always those who don't have an opinion one way or the other. It's also worth noting that at the end of Obama's presidency the figure stood at 57%. It's easy to conclude that Trump, whose unpopularity is reaching epic proportions worldwide, is dragging the US down.
    1
  24886.  @user-ky6qk5co3u  How many did Navalny shoot?
    1
  24887. So as not to appear partial, I hope you're just as keen to oust Iran. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.
    1
  24888.  @teacoffee5847  I'm not sure if I should report your comment for 'suicide and self-injury'. You seem to have it bad.
    1
  24889.  @lundqvjrl9359  Hydroxychloroquine (and chloroquine) are said to cause heart rhythm problems. If that snippet has passed you by, you haven't been following the news properly. True, the WHO halted their trials, temporarily at least, because of safety concerns. However, theirs is not the only game in town. I believe fanboy Trump could simply order the FDA to run a clinical trial. I'm not claiming there's a conspiracy behind it all. That's your imagination acting up. You call me a one-sided skeptic, yet I've been insisting all along that both the pros and the cons should be considered. You can't control your unbounded optimism for an unproven and potentially dangerous drug.
    1
  24890.  @MersageSW  Explain something that has been puzzling me no end. Americans are represented in WHO on all levels, no doubt because of the high level of subject-matter expertise in the US. How did all these brainboxes fail so miserably, as you imply, and not only in understanding the disease, but also politically? Why did they fail to report that they were completely sidelined by the Chinese?
    1
  24891.  @frdsg8350  No worries. I have a feeling there will be a sovereign nation called England -- or perhaps more appropriately, Little England -- in the future. Unless the UK manages to worm its way back into the EU, that is.
    1
  24892. To be fair, the title of this video does suggest that the mortar is "explosive" itself. In his shoes, I would be apprehensive as well.
    1
  24893.  @Solder-of-Empire  What's the connection to this discussion? Is Russia going to mass-execute the Azovstal defenders by drowning? You're really into cruel and unusual punishment.
    1
  24894.  @terni6552  Grain stealer, more like.
    1
  24895. Your knowledge of English idioms leaves a lot to be desired.
    1
  24896. Salvini is far-right and he just escaped censure. Slow on the uptake?
    1
  24897.  @lorenzpaulinho1154  Salvini ticks all the far-right boxes. He's radically conservative, ultra-nationalist, nativist and authoritarian. Since you're in denial, you must be secretly ashamed of him.
    1
  24898. They concern themselves with real-life problems. Your problem is a delusional one, brought on by an infatuation with conspiracy theories.
    1
  24899. Make up your mind, fascists or libtards. You can't have it both ways.
    1
  24900.  @dunebuggie  Still survival of the fittest. Fit means having a brain.
    1
  24901. By all indicators the West is best. Democracy-wise, the UK scores 18th place among the world's democracies. Russia, 144th. Illusion that.
    1
  24902.  @addicz2  The human shield thing is just an excuse for Putin to destroy what he can't have, meaning Ukraine's cities. Putin is like a petulant child that ruins the other kids' sand castles because he can't have the whole sandbox to himself.
    1
  24903. Western colonial powers are few and far between, and even so it's about itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie islands. If you're a rebel looking for a cause, there's Russia. It never properly decolonised. In fact, it's falling into old colonial habits again.
    1
  24904. NATO has a newly-found purpose. Russia gave NATO a new lease of life by annexing Crimea. You reap what you sow.
    1
  24905. Put? Get busy yourself.
    1
  24906.  @romeob.8369  Cope harder, bot.
    1
  24907. I see a conspiracy theory in the making. Yawn.
    1
  24908. But nationalism was killing Europe. WW1, WW2, need more examples?
    1
  24909. Assange is about to confess his own sins. It's not a simple black vs. white case.
    1
  24910. And then this happens. Comme d'habitude, I hear from France.
    1
  24911. Amberland, Ingria and Karelia are bound to join, too. As newly-independent nations, they'll need protection from Muscovy.
    1
  24912. *his. When did you qualify as an MD?
    1
  24913.  @jamesjames1956  But Russia's economy is wonky. Hydrocarbon exports, that sums it up. Putin knows it, too. Every year, he promises to diversify the economy. Talking about a moving target.
    1
  24914.  @jamesjames1956  "The Russian economy heavily relies on exports of its natural resources. However, the resource-based status quo does not seem to be the route towards Russia’s long-run prosperity. To improve its position in the global income ranking, Russia needs to diversify its exports and make them more complex. Using highly detailed data on trade flows and applying network theory apparatus, we evaluate the level of export complexity in Russia from 1995 to 2016 and compare it with that of its BRICS fellow members. We find that Russia is stagnant with respects to its relative level of export complexity. This sluggishness embraced the entire period between 1995 and 2016, much longer than the stage of anemic growth that started there a decade ago. We also conclude that the current stock of know-how in Russia is relatively low and fragmented, thus not letting Russia diversify into a broad range of more complex products. Russia might also need to export a wider variety of products to richer economies. Today, on a par with Brazil and South Africa, it supplies a broader range of goods to its slowly growing next-door neighbors." Russian Journal of Economics, 2019.
    1
  24915. ​ @asifdil9998  There's been no shortage of UN draft resolutions condemning Israel's excesses. The problem is, the US vetoes all those that matter, the UN Security Council ones. We have a similar phenomenon at play in Russia vetoing all UNSC draft resolutions that condemn its actions in Ukraine. If the UN is corrupt, it's corrupt in more ways than one.
    1
  24916. How's that gonna work -- who's profiting here?
    1
  24917. I'd rather advance across terrain with sporadic unexploded cluster bombs than terrain speckled with an abundance of Russian mines. I guess you didn't fully understand why and how the Ukrainians use cluster bombs.
    1
  24918. Russia is liberating rubble. It got scorched-earth policy backwards.
    1
  24919. Northern climes, buddy. Go further up north and it's the same thing, and even more so.
    1
  24920.  @Nemrai  I keep a cottage in Lapland. At times it gets 30 C or so, but those days can be counted on the finger of one hand -- if you need any hands at all. It's a far cry from the brutal summer temperatures on the Costa del Sol, where I used to rent an apartment. I didn't understand the siesta thing at first, but I learned quickly.
    1
  24921.  @DarxKies  Militarily, Belarus is the ground equivalent of a 'fleet in being'. It ties up Ukrainian troops without ever crossing the border. I very much doubt the Belarusian army would put down a popular revolt, considering they can't be trusted to fight Ukraine either. More likely, Putin will send over his Rosgvardiya to crack Belarusian heads.
    1
  24922. Throwing up a rag doll on a sheet is an old European tradition. In the Belgian city of Mechelen it's an annual tradition. It's to thumb their noses at neighbouring Antwerp.
    1
  24923.  @themightytitan4157  Kerch bridge on sale? Intact or damaged?
    1
  24924.  @momcilojabucilo9320  I think you'll find that the Americans, in the absence of heroic battles and the associated glory, grew bored and left Afghanistan to its own devices -- very poor devices, I might add. My English teacher, an Englishman with an in-bred disdain for "the Yanks", always spoke of "the attention span of an American". In the case of Afghanistan, 20 years amounts to a pretty good attention span.
    1
  24925.  @Rocksteady246  Next you'll say that Putin has no interest in attending the upcoming BRICS meeting in South Africa.
    1
  24926.  Yuri  Sure, we will see how -- not if -- Putin explains his absence. South Africa has already confirmed they're obligated to arrest him.
    1
  24927.  @sergeikhripun  Law enforcement officers. If there's an arrest warrant out for you, that's what they do. Are you new to this world?
    1
  24928.  @sergeikhripun  Try to follow the conversation. Both Japan and South Africa recognise the jurisdiction of the ICC.
    1
  24929.  @sergeikhripun  Have fun with your conspiracy theories.
    1
  24930.  @sergeikhripun  Do yourself a favour and seek treatment for acute paranoia.
    1
  24931.  @malcolmjcullen  There was the Swedish Volunteer Air Force that played a minor part in fighting off the Soviet air forces over Finland. The Swedes' 25 (piston) aircraft destroyed 12 Soviet aircraft while losing 6, two of which to enemy action.
    1
  24932.  @hansmueller3084  Flaccid comeback, Hansie
    1
  24933.  @marcust123  It's a technicality that the 12-year-old shooter won't be formally charged with murder and attempted murder. As a minor, he'll be detained in a juvenile detention centre till adulthood, and, if need be, institutionalized indefinitely thereafter.
    1
  24934. The problem is that the national security law is not Hong Kong's law. It was forced upon them by Beijing, bypassing the Hong Kong's Legislative Council, which is supposed to enact laws in the SAR. You support Beijing, not Hong Kong.
    1
  24935.  @taniakeen4375  You spin the wildest conspiracy theories. Been at it for long?
    1
  24936. You set us right then.
    1
  24937. Does the British Council organise English lessons in Murica as well? Enrol if they do.
    1
  24938.  @TheRedland284  Are you referring to verbal promises by some Western leaders not to move closer to Soviet borders? Which treaty to that effect did NATO enter into? You can't break something that doesn't exist.
    1
  24939.  @rwnemocsgo2542  Who's lying? The question is, did those promises constitute binding commitments? The unequivocal answer is no.
    1
  24940. But who's going to make China play fair?
    1
  24941.  @marymary9814  I understand that you desperately want to prove that the US sucks more than China, but that's no concern of mine. Perhaps you can find yourself an American to decide the matter? Criticism towards China's human rights record vis à vis the Uyghurs and in general is hardly a US-only affair. But to stick with the topic at hand, I was actually alluding to China's abuse of its economic power, like the already infamous Belt and Road Initiative, which entangles poor countries in debt, ripe for exploitation in true neo-colonialist style. Then there are the lavish state subsidies to China's corporate behemoths -- Huawei is a perfect example -- to ensure market dominance at the expense of their non-Chinese competitors. I disapprove of the US counter-measures, but I understand why they acted. And again, it's not just the US, but practically all developed countries are now banishing Huawei from their domestic networks. The saddest part is that in Huawei, the CCP crippled a world-class company. Actually, I have visited Xinjiang. Exceptionally, we were accompanied by armed guards wherever we went, and I've travelled far and wide in China, everywhere else without armed escorts. Very suspicious, but at any rate, not exactly conducive to gauging the happiness of the Uyghurs. If you decide to respond, try to steer clear of clichés like past European colonialism or the Opium Wars -- FYI, we weren't complicit in either.
    1
  24942. As an artilleryman in the reserves I'm partial to artillery, but I have to say you're exagerrating its significance on the modern battlefield. The war in Ukraine has seen relatively little use of air power, which has a prominent role in Western military doctrine. Russia and Ukraine are duking it out WW1 style with artillery. That won't be the new normal for future conflict. It's interesting that you pick Finland as an example of how things should be done. Finland relies heavily on conscription and a sizeable reserve to dissuade unwelcome attention from its Eastern neighbour. Finland's apparent over-reliance on artillery is a consequence of that, since conscripts can't realistically be trained to operate modern military jets, much less keep up their proficiency as reservists. Firing cannon, on the other hand, is not rocket science. Until recently, neighbouring Sweden, with its stronger air force, was expected to plug the gap. With Finland now in NATO, it's a whole new ball game.
    1
  24943.  @stevenkraft8070  You should read up on SEAD. Like I wrote earlier, relatively little use of air power has been made in the war so far.
    1
  24944. Vote centre right or far right? There's a world of difference between them, and the two don't really get along.
    1
  24945.  @itsallminor6133  Given half the chance, your precious far right would eliminate every last one of its political contenders before you'd get to vote again. What am I saying, you would no longer get to vote, period. We've seen it all before.
    1
  24946.  @Niidea1986  You haven't been following the news. The UK especially is very susceptible right now.
    1
  24947.  @Niidea1986  Continental Europe is a big place with a lot of geographical features, some of which should slow down the spread of the virus in equal measure to those of the UK. Scandinavia is a good example, and it's sparsely populated, too. The Brits are already affected to the same degree as their neighbours in the Netherlands and Belgium. It seems your overly optimistic theories crumble in the face of reality.
    1
  24948.  @Niidea1986  OK, it's becoming abundantly clear that you can't see further than the end of your "continental Europe" nose. By your logic, New Yorkers should be banned from travelling out of state, because their number of infected exceeds our national total. And since they're continental US, by extension the whole North American continent should be subject to a travel ban.
    1
  24949. Spellcheckers exist.
    1
  24950. In this instance, the Hamas fighters simply got lucky. They were targeting a tank with an RPG, and as a result of lucky coincidence, set off demolition charges placed in a nearby building. It says nothing about their preparedness. No-one, not even Hamas, is in doubt over the military outcome of this war.
    1
  24951. Russia will have to start winning first.
    1
  24952. I don't know about you, but I would say a string of destroyed and damaged Il-76s, Tu-22M3s, Tu-95s, Su-30SMs, Su-24Ms and a A-50 are very much in Ukraine's favour. And I'm just talking about drone attacks against Russian airbases.
    1
  24953. China is salivating at the thought of exploiting Russia's resources to its heart's content. The weaker and more isolated Russia is, the easier it becomes.
    1
  24954. Vooral je gedeisd houden, dan komt het allemaal goed, net zoals in 1940.
    1
  24955. You need to be more careful in picking your new master. Russia is about to go broke. China is busily turning Russia into a colony of its own. I don't think you can be a colony of a colony.
    1
  24956.  @eddoes8915  I made my point. It's not my fault that you lack comprehension. What's with the Caps Lock?
    1
  24957.  @Jungletraveler00_12  You leave us guessing which one you mean. Or is it both?
    1
  24958. The formula worked well for Trump in Afghanistan. The Taliban got replaced with the Taliban.
    1
  24959.  @dkrawk8309  Please explain, how is Putin ensuring the preservation of the West? By not killing everyone in it, and inevitably, the Russians, too? You should get your morals looked at. They're seriously flawed.
    1
  24960. Yeah, but we don't want US products, and even if we did, they're actually made in low-cost countries.
    1
  24961.  @RichardKing-sx6xc  You're not getting it. We already think tariffs are equal. The quality, design and overall competitiveness of US products are showstoppers for us. Mind you, when a company -- take Apple -- gets a European designer onboard, then the design is no longer an issue, but then again, iPhones are made in China.
    1
  24962. Did DW hurt your feelings? Hee's a Mickey Mouse bandaid.
    1
  24963. Just speak for yourself. Don't childishly pretend that you're an opinion leader.
    1
  24964.  @navinkumar6388  OK, then you're referring to yourself with the "royal we". Megalomania much?
    1
  24965. Because we don't. It's your overly fertile imagination that tells you that everyone's out to get you.
    1
  24966. You're spamming. Reported.
    1
  24967. Is Rudy Giuliani doing the honours? He can't even expose a Four Seasons hotel.
    1
  24968. Does that include Oct 7, or just the aftermath?
    1
  24969.  @ArenAurelius  If the Hamas terrorists had wanted to break out of Gaza, they could've simply taken a tunnel to Egypt.
    1
  24970.  @439530  It will be a massacre. Putin trolls barely know how to operate a keyboard, let alone an assault rifle.
    1
  24971. Just avoid the Trump way and you'll be fine.
    1
  24972. Yes, if you do it fifty times over on one and the same patient. And inject air only each time.
    1
  24973. Oh, so it's official then. The US chooses isolationism.
    1
  24974.  @llhll8264  Oh, come on. The US uses its UN membership fees for leverage all the time. A minimum membership fee would amount to minimum leverage. Go ahead, I don't mind.
    1
  24975.  @quintrankid8045  Opposition to Israel's totally disproportionate actions in Gaza doesn't equate to love for Hamas. Sure, the UN HQ should be moved, but to Geneva.
    1
  24976. @@Ghost_PM15 Bilaterally? You don't have relations with many countries.
    1
  24977.  @AngelVPineda  So you are endorsing isolationism. Thanks for illustrating my point.
    1
  24978.  @AngelVPineda  You haven't made a single argument in this thrread and you call me a robot? Empty vessels... And don't upvote your own comments. It's seedy.
    1
  24979. Statistics suggest 20% were, so 2.4 of the slain held Israeli citizenship.
    1
  24980. So, in your opinion, what are the chances that the Taliban are going to hold a plebiscite?
    1
  24981.  @thomasphilip2892  I think you're just clueless.
    1
  24982.  @thomasphilip2892  That's the prerogative of Americans. I think you're desperately trying to wash your hands, but the dirt doesn't come off.
    1
  24983.  @benanders4412  Revolution? Hardly. Dutch politics are in turmoil, but the democratic institutions remain strong. In hindsight, PVV should've been allowed to join a coalition earlier, just to see their popularity tank.
    1
  24984.  @simonh6371  Hardly a unicum. It's all about majorities. In Poland, PiS just won the election, but is proving unable to form a government, since the party has alienated potential coalition partners. Expect the same to happen in the Netherlands, where no other party will want to co-govern with Wilders as PM. Yesilgöz has already said as much. By winning the election, the PVV became a victim of its own success.
    1
  24985. It's both, sport. Did you think they were mutually exclusive concepts?
    1
  24986. Putin loves children so much that he had to abduct close to 20,000 Ukrainian children.
    1
  24987.  @lacrosse1314  With the exception of a few Swiss cantons, every democracy is a representative one. And everyone is unique in one way or another. You don't make a very compelling case, bud.
    1
  24988.  @lacrosse1314  Well, you can but you shouldn't, because they're not synonymous. BTW, I happen to live in a republic and a representative democracy, and it ain't the US. Thank God.
    1
  24989. Ukraine made it clear from the onset that it wasn't in Kursk for the Lebensraum, unlike Russia in the territories that it "annexed" from Ukraine. With nothing to lose, Kursk is ideal for defence in depth, with Russia reducing its own territory to a moon landscape and losing troops in far greater numbers.
    1
  24990.  @trumpforever6706  Your personal and unfounded opinion is noted.
    1
  24991.  @valkrsk  Russia's military aviation is hamstrung by lack of air superiority and Russia's superiority in artillery is diminishing. Also, it's a well-known fact that the attacker incurs more losses than a well dug-in defender. Neutral sources report heavy Russian and North Korean casualties in Kursk. We're not in the habit of lying to ourselves -- that's your prerogative.
    1
  24992. You're sorely mistaken. Germany -- and France first and foremost -- were very much opposed to the Iraq War. The Americans were livid. For a laugh, google "freedom fries."
    1
  24993. To balance it off, you could offer expensive and able-bodied speculation, but somehow, you choose not to. Why not seize the opportunity?
    1
  24994. But Finland isn't Scandinavian. And you are a joke.
    1
  24995. Groningen zegt van nee.
    1
  24996.  @mafi211  His imaginary sky friend is behind it, no doubt.
    1
  24997.  @ahmaddono4886  We don't mind dealing with Taiwan's cultural and economic offices and calling them embassies nonetheless. I've even done so in post-handover Hong Kong, to get myself a visa.
    1
  24998.  @ahmaddono4886  One country two systems is pretty much defunct. Whether or not the world officially recognises China at the expense of Taiwan makes little difference. Taiwan is fully in charge of its own affairs, and that's what counts.
    1
  24999. Only shoot yourself while travelling in a vehicle, right?
    1
  25000. We're seeing crocodile tears. I don't blame them for anything except their polite insincerity.
    1
  25001. Russia will serve him on a silver platter, just like when Serbia extradited Milosevic.
    1
  25002. Not on your Tatooine.
    1
  25003.  @sahinozkan199  What China does to the iPhone is final assembly. It adds relatively little value to the product. It distorts trade figures, because China is seen as selling a finished product, whereas it had to import pricey components from the likes of Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. The US recoups a large part of the transfer price, too, in the form of royalties on intellectual property. Summa summarum, China makes relatively little money, but it sure likes the bragging rights.
    1
  25004.  @sahinozkan199  I have lived in China, bud. You don't need to explain the obvious. I invested in Xiaomi as soon as they listed in HK. I am a big fan. However, you were boasting about the iPhone being manufactured in China. You should've picked a different example. Xiaomi, for example. However, as Western companies start de-risking, China has a problem on its hands. Their manufacturing sector will suffer the consequences.
    1
  25005.  @sahinozkan199  Again, I l-i-v-e-d in Shanghai for two years, engaging local handset manufacturers on behalf of my European employer and erstwhile market leader. Try to explain what I got wrong.
    1
  25006.  @cocaineminor4420  How is that going to work when Western corporations are de-risking? Let me guess, China will compensate for the loss of those contracts by manufacturing all those Russian-designed products for which there's an insatiable global appetite? Or failing that, North Korean ones?
    1
  25007. China and India are still war profiteers. NO ONE can deny that.
    1
  25008. I believe Hitler said that in his Führerbunker about the Germans and the Endsieg.
    1
  25009. @ChrobregoPoznan I haven't forgotten what I learned in uni. Try this for size: "the king reigns, but does not rule". Macron does.
    1
  25010. ​ @drew2364  You think BRICS is a worthy opponent to NATO? For your info, the I in BRICS stands for India and the C for China. In military terms, the two are sworn enemies.
    1
  25011. Tell us, how many of your troops serve under the UN banner in Congo?
    1
  25012. Why should NATO have a unified stance on Israel?
    1
  25013. Nothing. It's a tit-for-tat thing, just like expulsions of diplomats. Don't be a noob.
    1
  25014. Here's what's going to happen. Rather than Russia becoming a superpower, it will become a neo-colony of China. China gets to exploit Russia's mineral wealth in true colonial style. Russia remains independent in name only.
    1
  25015.  @lovelybitofbugle219  You're mixing it all up. Both the commission and the EP have veeps, and several each. Timmermans is a commission veep.
    1
  25016. So get to it then, China. Call off Putin and his Orcs.
    1
  25017. Lay off the video games. This is deep inside enemy territory.
    1
  25018. Desperation setting in? Have you received your call-up papers yet?
    1
  25019. It's very simple. If you want to skip lines, you buy a business class ticket.
    1
  25020. Gegrond. De democratie staat al sinds 2016 op de tocht in de VS. Het gaat niet eens echt om Trump, maar om het afnemende vertrouwen in de democratische instellingen aldaar. Trump en zijn complottheorieën over de verkiezingen helpen natuurlijk ook niet.
    1
  25021.  @Putin_Playbook_12345  You're just repeating yourself. Besides, Biden has every intention to support Taiwan as well.
    1
  25022. @G Eak Helping China meets its climate change targets isn't a threat to Taiwan. On the contrary, it's helping them. Taiwan is threatened by rising sea levels, just like the rest of us.
    1
  25023. Very few countries disagree.
    1
  25024. Gay themes fascinate you. Go on, open that closet door!
    1
  25025.  @the_bane_of_all_anti_furry  The whataboutism is strong in you. Also, your sort must think there's a quota for major powers to fulfil in dealing out murder and mayhem.
    1
  25026. FYI, the word money is not a countable noun. Like water, sand, equipment, air, and luck, it has no plural form.
    1
  25027. The UK has no shortage of illegals, since they can't police them.
    1
  25028. @Ramen Lover We're not an island.
    1
  25029. @Ramen Lover Wrong on both accounts.
    1
  25030. @Ramen Lover I'll give you a subtle hint: I AM NOT A BRITON! BTW, you could've figured that out all by yourself. Reread my initial post.
    1
  25031.  Quack  No, I don't. Try your luck with conspiracy theorists. I'm sure they'll oblige you.
    1
  25032.  Quack  OK, theorist.
    1
  25033.  Quack  You're desperate for a penpal. I'm not it.
    1
  25034.  Quack  Have you tried ordering from an Asian mail order catalogue?
    1
  25035.  Quack  No, I'm still going on about your craving for attention and how you could alleviate your loneliness.
    1
  25036.  Quack  Have you tried a chatbot? I hear the AI-driven ones are really clever.
    1
  25037. Let's not forget to blame China when self-criticism is just too painful.
    1
  25038.  @AneDijitak  Oh, China has succeeded all right. Mao alone is considered responsible for up to 80 million deaths. The Chinese themselves put the death toll of the Taiping Rebellion at 70 million. "The West" is no competition for China.
    1
  25039.  @AneDijitak  OK, if you insist on being picky, you have to be more specific as to which "Western" countries have killed foreigners by the millions. I consider myself Western, but I can't think of any such instance in my national past.
    1
  25040.  @pezinski01  That is your fanciful interpretation, for which there's no evidence. It is feasible that due to inaction, China allowed the virus to spread beyond its borders, but you're suggesting that there was intent -- a whole other ball game, that. As the world's manufacturing hub, a pandemic-induced global economic downturn is hardly in China's interest. It might even spell the end of the CCP as the increasingly affluent Chinese middle class terminates its social contract with the communist overlords.
    1
  25041.  @gwtpictgwtpict4214  You were clearly insinuating that Finland's co-belligerence with Nazi Germany can't stand the light of day and hence, it's only natural that Finns have kept mum about it, because that's only human nature. That simply is not true. If some hitherto unknown aspect were to come to light about Finland's war record, no matter how controversial, domestic media would be all over it. Research grants would be made available and the exact nature of the events would be researched for years and years. Books would be written, endless reviews would follow, history magazines would sell out on supermarket newsstands, etc, etc. In your shoes, I would also be mindful of the company that you keep. Even an amateur historian shouldn't want to be associated with the obvious troll in this thread.
    1
  25042.  @DJTreviCSRecordings  DJ, DJ. We've already been over this. The US Covid-19 death rate adjusted for population size -- 61 fatalities per 150,000 -- clearly exceeds that of Europe -- 40 per 150,000. If you want to compare only Spain and Italy, we should also select the worst-affected US states for comparison. New Jersey has 173 deaths per 100,000, followed by New York with 166 per 100,000. The respective figures for Spain and Italy are 91 and 87.
    1
  25043.  @Dein_Kampf  For your info, NATO hasn't showed up yet in Ukraine.
    1
  25044. The Jews have dibs on the Abrahamic god. Christianity and Islam should pay license fees or invent one of their own.
    1
  25045. Russia wouldn't dare, because NATO would go in and hit the Pacific shore in two weeks.
    1
  25046. Dual citizenship is particularly prevalent in the UK. Something to do with a colonial past.
    1
  25047. NATO has nuclear sharing. Anyhoo, nukes are not the deciding factor in this conflict. Conventional weapons are. That's why we must provide those to Ukraine in decisive quantities.
    1
  25048. whataboutism /ˌwɒtəˈbaʊtɪz(ə)m/ noun BRITISH the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter-accusation or raising a different issue. "the parliamentary hearing appeared to be an exercise in whataboutism"
    1
  25049. Not that I think you concern yourself much with the truth, but NATO gets very little of the tax payers' money.
    1
  25050. You seem lost.
    1
  25051. Sad to say, yes. We may not like China's autocratic rule, but there's logic to their decisions. Trump doesn't even honour his own deals. Why bother with new ones, which he'll only tear up again.
    1
  25052. Is defenestration a thing in Murica, too?
    1
  25053.  @yvonnejohnston9429  No, like Iceland, Finland, Switzerland, Ireland and Taiwan. All republics and top 10 democracies. Funny that you (whataboutistically?) bring up the USA. It rates as a flawed democracy ever since Trump got elected president. Both Congos are the pits democracy-wise. Suggesting that the two are somehow representative of republics as a whole is like saying that Saudi Arabia, where the king wields absolute power, is representative of monarchies as a whole.
    1
  25054. Which religion is to blame now?
    1
  25055. Maybe his assets have been frozen, like those of other tools of Putin, and he's desperate for money.
    1
  25056.  @neutralitat2570  Both NI and Scotland are charity cases for now.
    1
  25057. It's uncanny how conspiracy theorists are always privy to hidden machinations. It's weirder still that you aren't bumped off for revealing them so publicly.
    1
  25058.  @itwasaliens  You're no better than a terrorist yourself, promoting graphic violence against civilians. Reported.
    1
  25059.  @titariko4380  You must think it a sound tactic that the Azov defenders leave their bunkers and expose themselves to Russian artillery fire so as to make it more sporting? You're a sad dilettante even for an armchair general.
    1
  25060. I'd be surprised if the judges in question have any holidays plans that involve Russia. Putin's travel problems, on the other hand, aren't limited to one country. He's got 123 travel problems.
    1
  25061. It depends on who you ask. The Canadian Rangers use them, and so does the Danish Sirius Dog Sled Patrol that operates in Greenland.
    1
  25062.  @dustintacohands1107  The UN is a sum of its parts. Unless you're an extraterrestrial, you're a part. So, how did you fail, you think? How about your UNIFIL contigent, have they been sitting sitting on their hands, or are they completely non-existent?
    1
  25063.  @SeaJay_Oceans  Have you considered offering your services to Putin? His recent annexations lack legitimacy, too.
    1
  25064. ZZzzzz...
    1
  25065.  @mrtbag2730  They'll be returned with a bang all right.
    1
  25066.  @MetaView7  NATO doesn't have any borders. Its willing members do.
    1
  25067. It doesn't reflect well on the GOP either, but that may be too strenuous for you to understand.
    1
  25068.  @jackjoyce1744  Regime change in Russia is an internal affair. Nothing to do with your Biden.
    1
  25069.  @iiMubarak  You're merely proving that you can blindly regurgitate Russian propaganda.
    1
  25070.  @iiMubarak  We people haven't been bombing anyone since 1944, and that was to discourage marauding invaders. So far, you've shown that you can blindly regurgitate Russian propaganda and you've tried your hand at whataboutism. Now how about trying to defend your viewpoints with cold, hard facts?
    1
  25071.  @quito787  The OP is right about the B61 nuclear bomb. It can be configured on the fly to become either a tactical or a strategic weapon, with its yield varying from 0.3 to 400 kt.
    1
  25072. It's so silly that you Krembots have to pretend it's NATO that Russia is facing on the battlefield, while it's just the Ukrainians. Copium overdose!
    1
  25073. What has Charles III got to do with the price of tea in China?
    1
  25074. I see it quite differently. We saw the Soviet Union split up in 1991. Now it's the Russian Federation's turn.
    1
  25075. How's that? Are you saying the Russians rely on Western weapons to kill and maim Ukrainians?
    1
  25076. You're lost, aren't you?
    1
  25077.  @Lana-xd7ey  "Ukrainian [sic]" did no such thing. There was fighting in the Donbas from 2014 onwards, which was and is Ukrainian territory. And no, Ukraine did not target civilians. Russian OSCE monitors had to concur reluctantly.
    1
  25078.  @Lana-xd7ey  Oh, it was very throughly researched all right. The OSCE SMM had 700 monitors from 53 member countries -- including Russia -- in the Donbas from 2014 to 2022. Every single one failed to report on "the atrocious act of Ukraine [sic]", the Russian monitors included. All their reports are publicly available for download. Get busy, I say, and repeat your accusations when you're done reading all of them.
    1
  25079. It doesn't speak well of the Democratic Party if they've kept a lid on Biden's condition. I can't have been lost on the insiders who deal with Biden day in, day out.
    1
  25080.  @gordanaarsenic3649  As in lousing it up so the Ukrainians could shine?
    1
  25081. Ho even. Er zijn tal van mislukte formaties geweest in de politieke geschiedenis van Nederland, maar nooit zijn er nieuwe verkiezingen gekomen als gevolg daarvan. Als de formatie van een kabinet-Wilders niet gaat lukken, dan komt er een nieuwe formatiepoging, en dan neemt GL-PvdA het voortouw. Wilders heeft er al nachtmerries van.
    1
  25082. British employers are their Tory pals are very pleased as well.
    1
  25083. I didn't know Taiwan was a member of NATO. On YouTube, you learn something new every day.
    1
  25084.  @FirstName-bf9ds  Stop making up stories. NATO is a defensive alliance. Individual members can choose to side with the US in conflicts that don't concern NATO, but there's no binding rule to that effect. The Iraq War was a case in point.
    1
  25085.  @FirstName-bf9ds  It's still not a NATO op. You're still making up stories.
    1
  25086.  @badbad-cat  Did India accept the result of the Crimean status referendum? Nope.
    1
  25087. I beg to differ. Hamas is nothing if not suicidal. Did you think Hamas was so naive as to think Israel wouldn't retaliate after the Oct 7 attacks? If so, your naivety takes the cake. Israel has a reputation of responding to every provocation with overwhelming force. Collateral damage is of little concern. Israel didn't disappoint this time either.
    1
  25088. Orban can't upset a tea cup. And for your info, the war plans were all Putin's. You always get confused there.
    1
  25089. China and Russia have no cause for joy. Russia is an economic basket case that gets no relief from this and China desperately needs to export its way out of the economic doldrums. The latter just got more complicated.
    1
  25090.  @tazinahmed7  Since when has the EU been fond of Trump? Trump accuses the EU of abuse. In your little book of fairy tales, the US is getting abused by a lapdog?
    1
  25091. My dad warned about rusty razor blades. They give you skin irritation, razor burn, and ingrown hairs. That's Russia for you.
    1
  25092. I'm sure President Navalny will extradite him in due course.
    1
  25093. What do you mean? Sweden gave asylum to a lot of draft dodgers who didn't want to fight in the Vietnam War.
    1
  25094.  @thomaschamomille  Sorry, I didn't realise you were a millennial.
    1
  25095.  @alexbakker8785  But Russia was a major colonial power in the Colonial Era, too, and remains the biggest one today, having by and large refused to decolonise like the others. So, why isn't Russia strong then? The anti-Midas touch?
    1
  25096.  @FredrickThomson-h3s  Says the Russki, who's living in a not-so-future failed state.
    1
  25097.  @FredrickThomson-h3s  Learn English then.
    1
  25098. You'd think Macron has better things to do, like attending to affairs of the state. It's not like his figurehead colleague from across the Channel is burdened with any.
    1
  25099. If Israel annexes Gaza, the Israelis will have to come to terms with the fact that now they're the ones locking up people in ghettos. The irony is palpable.
    1
  25100.  @skp8748  Sorry, I fear the discussion is too taxing for you intellectually.
    1
  25101.  @askkedladd  Ah, Indonesia is biding its time! Say no more.
    1
  25102.  @askkedladd  FYI, we've never started a war, yet we consider ourselves Westerners. Since you love generalisations: Asia is rife with conflict. The right to self-defence is specifically recognised in the UN Charter. You luck out that it's not a duty, because I know you'd rather surrender.
    1
  25103.  @askkedladd  "By Europe"... You're a master of generalisation. We've been at peace for 76 years. Can you say the same?
    1
  25104. ​ @askkedladd  Europe is a mere geographical entity, just like Asia. In terms of political entities, I'm responsible -- as a voter -- for the EU and its foreign policy. The EU has seen no wars, and in recognition of the fact, we even bagged a Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, I could call myself a two-time Nobel Peace Prize laureate, since I received another one while serving in Lebanon as a UN peacekeeper. What have you done to further world peace? If you are as peaceful as you claim, surely you must have something to show for it? By rights, should I hold you responsible for the Vietnam War? How about the Soviet-Afghan War? Or the oh-so many wars between Pakistan and India? I noticed that you chickened out of answering my question about your wars.
    1
  25105.  @YouTuberJames92610  Imagine that, Putin has outlived a monarch who was 25 years older than him. You're not the sharpest pencil in the troll factory.
    1
  25106.  @alphaomegared1236  Russia is cooking the books, silly. And Russia dominates in casualies, no more.
    1
  25107.  Nico  If you want to put it like that, the Russians are using Ukrainian tanks, too.
    1
  25108. Allah is the Jewish and the Christian God, too. Wouldn't it be immoral if he played one of his religions against the others?
    1
  25109. Russia pretends to have terms limits, too.
    1
  25110.  @HenryTudorVIII  The Orc chief's ass is in a sling now. Retirement plans for failed leaders are problematic in Russia.
    1
  25111. It's just posturing. Wagner, as we knew it, is gone. The Russian Ministry of Defence was funding them, and before they were exiled to Belarus, they surrendered their heavy weapons. Wagnerites may continue the fight, but not against Putin.
    1
  25112.  @miles2378  Why should the Dutch authorities be involved in an incident that didn't involve them in any way?
    1
  25113. It looks like the EU is constructively trying to resolve the issue. Trump is acting the playground bully here.
    1
  25114. Maybe you can't see the forest for the trees. There are problems -- a club of 28 disparate countries is bound to have 'em -- but the EU economy is doing fine. It also bears remembering that of the two -- the EU and the US -- the EU's is the bigger economy.
    1
  25115. Now I'm convinced that you can't see the forest for the trees. Bloomberg just reported on lower than anticipated US growth rates. Everyone can cherry-pick headlines. It goes without saying that Germany will be hurt by Trump's import tariffs. Likewise, the US economy will be hurt by the EU's counter-tariffs. Everyone suffers in a trade war. Brexit hurts the UK the most. After the referendum, the British economy went from one of the EU's best performers to a mediocre one. The EU's total economic output will obviously drop when (or, should I say, if) the UK actually leaves, but the economies of the rest won't be greatly affected. Dropping exports to the UK are offset by their British competitors' struggles, which aren't limited to the EU's internal market, but also affect the international marketplace. Trump already gave the Brits a foretaste of what lies in store in the Bombardier-Boeing trade dispute. Italy's problems are political. Like the US, they've gone populist. Instead of admitting their own issues, they're scapegoating the EU. They're clamouring for EU reform, but it's Italy that's in need of reform. Knowing Italian politics, nothing will change. Maybe the current band of populists will be replaced by another, who're pro-EU, but just as wrong about the EU. The EU can't solve their issues, only the Italians can. But let's not forget what triggered this trade war: the US trade deficit. It's a chronic problem, which suggests that generally speaking, US companies struggle to compete globally. Instead of trying to improve their competitiveness, Trump reverted to protectionism. It's a downward spiral -- now the lazy can grow lazier still.
    1
  25116. OK, Ivan, go home.
    1
  25117. ...into a chaos of far, far bigger proportions.
    1
  25118.  @natano_pasaran1558  True, there's Fascism in the EU. Putin has keenly funded them. The Front National in France is a case in point. Ergo, Putin, if not a crypto-Fascist himself, sympathises with Fascism.
    1
  25119. You forgot the blood-drinking, shape-shifting NWO Reptilians. None of the above, nor Putin, can lift a finger without their say-so.
    1
  25120. Aw.
    1
  25121.  @onlythewise1  Oh, you're a little pottymouth, too.
    1
  25122.  @onlythewise1  Oh, you know several naughty words.
    1
  25123.  @onlythewise1  Sure, but in my case the thrill wore off when I turned 5.
    1
  25124. Who will you blame when France is gone? No, it can't be... or could it? I'm going out on a limb... you're going to engage in self-criticism?
    1
  25125. It's LNG-powered. As good as it gets for now.
    1
  25126. Are you kidding? If Assange is found guilty of all charges, the maximum penalty is a whopping 175 years.
    1
  25127.  @graveperil2169  I don't think you realise that the US justice system is among the harshest in the developed world. Their vast prison population says it all.
    1
  25128.  @dawnshipley6830  So much for AUKUS then.
    1
  25129. If your granddad indeed had one, it must have been in the Continuation War. The "Terni" didn't see action in the Winter War.
    1
  25130. Official Russia speaks of "13 dead pilots". Your helicopter must be quite a behemoth to require that many pilots.
    1
  25131. Let's agree that you won't be eligible for any disaster assistance should your property get damaged or destroyed altogether by an extreme weather event. Taxpayer money saved is taxpayer money earned!
    1
  25132. I hope he'll -- rightfully -- drag down Trump with him.
    1
  25133.  @25baam23  Can you rewrite your comment in English?
    1
  25134. Their mums will be mighty upset.
    1
  25135. Really now.
    1
  25136.  @tomzamp8547  Two Krembots are kremming their pants.
    1
  25137. Your observation appears to be of little relevance to the topic at hand, <cough>whataboutist<cough>.
    1
  25138. The reverse is far more true. Iran practically has no primary air defence capability left. Israel needn't concern itself with Syrian and Russian air defences any more either.
    1
  25139.  Pedro Brexit  But we always have. No American soldier has ever fought on our soil.
    1
  25140. It's not sufficient to oust Xinnie the Pooh. The CCP dictatorship needs to go as well.
    1
  25141.  Anna Hunt  Yes, we don't particularly care for GB anti-democracy.
    1
  25142.  @babyyoda6567  How exactly is the "global reach" of NATO nukes greater than those of Russia?
    1
  25143.  @babyyoda6567  Duh, an ICBM has per definition "global reach". All major powers, including Russia, have ICBMs. You need to join a debate club or something, because your debating skills leave a lot to be desired.
    1
  25144.  @babyyoda6567  ICBMs are typically launched from subs. US, Russian, UK, French and Chinese subs are nuclear-powered, meaning they have the range to go pretty much anywhere in the seven seas to launch their ICBMs. Kaliningrad, which has Russian nukes, is wedged between Poland and Lithuania, both of which are in NATO. Ukraine isn't in NATO, and it isn't planning on getting nuclear weapons even if it were. As a case in point, Poland has been in NATO for more than twenty years, and it has no nukes. You can hit back? By the looks of it, you're an intellectual flyweight. If you want to prove otherwise, try to explain what you meant by "global reach" and how that supposedly makes a difference.
    1
  25145.  @babyyoda6567  So you are incapable of argumentation. If Russia doesn't want NATO on its borders, it shouldn't instil a desire in its neighbours to join NATO. NATO doesn't have to recruit new members -- Putin drives them into NATO's arms. As I already tried to explain to you, NATO expansion doesn't mean nuclear weapons start appearing on Russia's borders. You have no counterargument to that, so you act out like a child.
    1
  25146.  @johndowland4623  Is it? Do you have any idea how demographics and pensions work?
    1
  25147. For Trump the EU certainly is a problem. He'd rather bully EU members into submission one by one. Bullies hate it when their intended victims gang up on them.
    1
  25148. You've watched Boardwalk Empire ;-)
    1
  25149. Because there's nothing to discuss. Turkey wants more F-16s from the US. The US is loath to sell them.
    1
  25150.  @davidtrotman5990  Sure, Napoleon overstayed his welcome.
    1
  25151.  @hughjorgan7871  No, no counting all the lions that masquerade as men.
    1
  25152. Which swamp do you think you're draining? Trump is the swamp.
    1
  25153.  @dainagrn7030  Not quite. Finland came a close second.
    1
  25154. That's rich. Being free in what is now considered a totalitarian state once more.
    1
  25155.  Mitrovic FFC  You're spamming.
    1
  25156.  Yuri  Considered by respected analysts. Incidentally, they consider the US a flawed democracy, and rightly so. The Trump effect hasn't gone unnoticed. Still, Murica comes out smelling like roses when compared to Russia.
    1
  25157. Tot spijt van wie het benijdt.
    1
  25158.  @ИгорьИванов-о1л  Learn English.
    1
  25159. What are you on about? There's just the one, a civilian cargo plane. If you have nothing else to rejoice about, you're a very sad individual indeed.
    1
  25160. Likewise, Russia dealt Ukraine a sucker punch in Feb '22. That wasn't the full story, however.
    1
  25161.  @namename-qb5xe  I don't recall Libya being occupied, or annexed for that matter. You?
    1
  25162.  @namename-qb5xe  Gaddafi was very much on his way out when NATO attempted to limit the damage he'd do to his people. I repeat my question: was there an occupation or annexation of Libya? Don't bother responding if you can't address the question.
    1
  25163. ​ @Palestine4Ever169  We're getting sidetracked (colour me unsurprised), but I do believe that we're Western and we've been critical of the disproportionate and indiscriminate violence that Israel has unleashed on the Gazans. Twice, we voted for a ceasefire at the UN. In other words, you're grossly generalising.
    1
  25164.  @Palestine4Ever169  Duh, I am referring to my duly-elected "gov". Do you think I have a personal seat at the UN?
    1
  25165.  @tonyatgoogle6076  I'm afraid you're making even less sense than before. Isn't there a British Council in your vicinity, where you could sign up for English class? Enrolling in debate class wouldn't hurt either.
    1
  25166.  @tonyatgoogle6076  Whataboutism is not a valid debating technique. It's a logical fallacy. If you'd enroll in debate class you would learn that.
    1
  25167. ​ @tonyatgoogle6076  Whataboutism is not a comeback, so I don't need any other comeback than noting that you're cowardly engaging in diversionary tactics. Whataboutism.
    1
  25168.  @tonyatgoogle6076  You answered my assertion with something totally irrelevant. Which part of 'diversionary' don't you understand? 'Cowardly' fits you like a glove. You don't dare to confront to the topic at hand, so you conjure up another.
    1
  25169.  @kaichodesuwa  Are you new to YouTube? Thanks to our resident Krembots and wumaos, like this presumptuous "Tony At Google" character here, whataboutism is has become so commonplace in YouTube discussion forums that just about anyone who's perused them for more than fifteen minutes is painfully familiar with the concept. Again, your pal here didn't manage a relevant reply, and therefore, he has produced no argument worthy of a rebuttal. I think you should give him some TLC, because he's crying out for attention.
    1
  25170. Uh, Hamas doesn't rule in the West Bank. Fatah does. The two are not exactly on friendly terms.
    1
  25171.  @F-om1jx  Your wisdom doesn't improve on repetition. Try to make a point, or are you too dull for that?
    1
  25172.  @aleserban9322  The German economy is taking a hit on account of their naively optimistic 'Wandel durch Handel' policy vis-à-vis Russia, but it's a temporary setback. Germany will weather the storm. It looks like you're ignoring te other side of the coin. Where Germany is trickling blood, Russia is spurting arterial blood. 'The gas station masquerading as a country' lost its biggest and best customers, and we're not just talking Germany. BRICS hasn't -- and won't -- change that.
    1
  25173. Hamas members are Palestinian? Who would've thought...
    1
  25174.  @eh1702  Huh? Italy's GDP per capita is $35,658, while that of Russia is (or was) $12,195.
    1
  25175.  @ingabaranauskiene5889  The same people will cheer the coup plotter who depose these coup plotters. This is Africa.
    1
  25176. Poland has been buying South Korean weapons like hotcakes.
    1
  25177. More grouped? As in the Visegrad Group? Has Poland called Hungary to order?
    1
  25178. No true Scotsman would support Putin.
    1
  25179. What a sad country you live in. You can't even conduct proper elections.
    1
  25180.  @mothowee675  No... who's claiming that?
    1
  25181.  @georgewashington90  Democracy or republics? The two are not mutually exclusive.
    1
  25182. ​ @oneone8318  No matter, you've voided yourself in this discussion.
    1
  25183.  @oneone8318  I suppose something as simple as googling is beyond your abilities. Here's an excerpt for you, from the website of the Finnish state council: "During and after the war, the prevailing national consensus required broad-based governments. However, the wartime governments were fairly short-lived. In the post-war period, even the extreme left entered the government. The 1950s and early 1960s saw diverse, ever-changing government coalitions. The key government party was the Agrarian Union/Centre Party. Between 1966 and 1987, governments were mainly based on centre-left coalitions, sometimes termed popular front governments."
    1
  25184.  @peterp4037  Finland is not for the faint-of-heart.
    1
  25185. There are plenty of poor immigrants on benefits who'll never commit a crime. You're being a populist.
    1
  25186.  @alejandro1904  They're at liberty to do so, but I can't think of a single reason why Canada would want to become a geopolitical pawn for a strictly regional power like Russia. They're not even in the same region. Not that I think Canada is open to bribery, but Russia could never pony up a bribe big enough to even catch Canada's attention.
    1
  25187.  @vlad_47  France isn't exactly a superpower either, but they've done their fair share of bombing, especially in Africa. Come to think of it, dropping bombs from high up on AK-toting irregulars is within the capabilities of any air force. The Canadians aren't your friends for a whole range of reasons. In fact, you should ask yourselves if you have any at all.
    1
  25188.  @vlad_47  So you're saying that in order to qualify as a superpower, one only has to launch a cruise missile in Syria. We've set aside our JASSMs to strike Russian targets, but it's an interesting thought. Let's assume you're right, too, that bollocksing up in Afghanistan is kryptonite to one's superpowers. Then it follows that the USSR underwent the same fate. Oh, we don't fight in Syria. I see you're very prone to making false connections.
    1
  25189.  @vlad_47  I told you already, we're not fighting in Syria, nor have we ever been involved in any hostilities there. Didn't I hint already that you're quick to jump to conclusions? I see you're suggesting that you withdrew from Afghanistan, not because you weren't victorious, but because you lost your appetite for fighting an endless war. The same could be said about the Americans. However, a comparison of casualty figures shows that you were much worse off, to say nothing of the ensuing collapse of the USSR and the loss of your superpower status. In your shoes, I wouldn't get too self-congratulatory about subduing insurgences and winning against guerrillas. The First Chechen War, the Beslan school siege and Moscow theatre hostage crisis come to mind.
    1
  25190. If Netanyahu doesn't have the presence of mind to give lasting peace a real chance, history will only keep repeating itself.
    1
  25191. British English is an official EU language, Murican English isn't.
    1
  25192. It looks like death sentences have been meted out at will, more often than not affecting innocents.
    1
  25193.  @throughput6674  What a silly claim to make. Not Iran, but Britain and the US were the first to develop drones, during WW1.
    1
  25194. You're such a hoot. Wagner came close to overthrowing Putin, till in one fell swoop, Putin decapitated Wagner. And you still congratulate Wagner.
    1
  25195. They're not an army. Besides, the USA would veto a UN peacekeeping operation faster than you can say Jack Robinson.
    1
  25196.  @maximusvaliant8597  Next, are you going to tell us that East Berlin needed a wall, too, to keep the not-so-nice West Berliners out?
    1
  25197.  @rusosure7  Russia's doing the invading. But please go ahead imagining otherwise. It may comfort you in your despair.
    1
  25198. ​ @rusosure7  Another viewer just identified one of the destroyed APCs as a BMP-3. Ukraine has none. Since we're playing around with nicknames, how's "rusunsure0?"
    1
  25199. Except you won't. When the supply chain is sorted, it will still be cheaper to source veggies from the EU.
    1
  25200.  @EVOpower  It's your funeral.
    1
  25201. Under the strict corruption laws in the EU, you may be held accountable for soliciting a bribe.
    1
  25202. Yeah, and FPTP to top it off. Works wonders in a highly polarised country.
    1
  25203. How about climate activists? You conspiracy theorists must hate them with a vengeance.
    1
  25204. They are to blame, but Israel is, as always, a willing henchman.
    1
  25205. The Gazans get crocodile tears from the US. Israel gets armaments.
    1
  25206.  @Worldaffairslover  Right-o, and "The Philippines, Japan, and South Korea" don't have an Atlantic shoreline. NATO is not NPTO, after all.
    1
  25207. The EU doesn't hold him, dear.
    1
  25208. Belarus, Eritrea, North Korea and Syria constitute the "Free World"? Well I never.
    1
  25209. Turkey has given up on the idea of EU membership once and for all. It would entail sweeping economic and political reforms, which would fatally weaken Erdogan. Turkey withholding ratification has everything to do with NATO arms embargoes, which Erdogan wants lifted so he can fight the Kurds.
    1
  25210. Haven't you heard? Oil is losing its significance.
    1
  25211. Now is not the time to display your typical arrogance.
    1
  25212. Don't flatter yourselves. The EU needs to get rid of the UK like a pebble in the shoe.
    1
  25213. Once again, journalism is a crime in Soviet Russia.
    1
  25214.  @marelkeroux8066  I bet you have them for breakfast, Mareltje.
    1
  25215. Keeping the war going is Bibi's only chance at clinging to power.
    1
  25216. Russia evaded the previous sanctions by importing goods via Belarus. That hole can be plugged now, too.
    1
  25217.  @devashisnanda3477  Fee free to explain why. If you can.
    1
  25218.  @arghya4NE  The war in Ukraine is a major concern to the G20 because of the economic fallout alone. Famine is looming for Africa because of it. And it's not just Europe that kept raising the war. In fact, a worldwide majority of G20 members did. As I see it, Modi desperately needed to divert attention from India's fence-sitting in the conflict. The hoopla about the African Union joining G20 attests to that. It's a positive step of course, but it was possibly the least controversial decision made by the G20 this year. A year ago, Biden set the stage by publicly endorsing the idea. Modi, ever the populist, had to make it appear like he achieved a great feat, ramming the decision down the throats of evil Western powers despite their opposition. And you lap it up.
    1
  25219.  @arghya4NE  You are lapping up Modi's populism. And as a nation, you've buried your head in the sand with regard to Ukraine. Unlike our climatic challenges, the war in Ukraine is easily ended. Putin can put a stop to it literally overnight, by withdrawing his troops in accordance with UNGA resolution ES-11/1. He won't, because India and China have thrown Russia a lifeline. In doing so, you've made yourselves part of the problem. How idiotic is that?
    1
  25220. The gift that stopped giving. Farage is in tears.
    1
  25221.  @josephlandry8787  There-there. Allow some time for the meds to kick in.
    1
  25222.  @winwinlife4163  What has that got to do with the price of tea in China?
    1
  25223.  @winwinlife4163  Yet again, you bring up something that France had nothing to do with. Focus on the topic at hand.
    1
  25224. Have you considered the option that Russia withdraws from Ukraine? The war stops then and there.
    1
  25225.  @JeepCherokeeful  So you think your prepper dreams are finally coming true. Meanwhile, in the real world...
    1
  25226.  @JeepCherokeeful  OK. Just out of curiosity, do your prepping precautions involve shooting people?
    1
  25227.  @JeepCherokeeful  I haven't notice any shortages, apart from toilet paper and crispbread. It's curious, because both are produced locally. We're only stocking up so we don't necessarily have to venture outside each and every day, but it's not like we're surrounded by buckets of trail mix.
    1
  25228. Extrajudicial killings aren't acceptable, no matter who the target is.
    1
  25229. Is selling out to the US another lifelong dream of yours? No *tentacles involved there?
    1
  25230.  @BritishFreedom  No need for a crystal ball. According to leaked documents, the Tories are letting the Yanks hollow out NHS. Chlorinated chicken is also on the menu. It bet it's going to come as a rude surprise to die-hard Brexiteers that the Americans, just like the EU, are making demands when negotiating a free trade agreement. Unfettered access to the US market is a two-way street. Uh-oh.
    1
  25231.  @BritishFreedom  OK, infantile name-calling... suits your lot perfectly. I suppose it's news to you, too, that US-style healthcare comes with a very poor price-quality ratio. You won't be letting just the elderly die, but the poor as well.
    1
  25232. Andre, if you're so committed to the LGBTQ cause, why don't you organise one?
    1
  25233. The problem is that Russia is the aggressor here, and not Ukraine. Iran is enabling Russia's military aggression, which has been overwhelmingly condemned at the UN as such. Ukraine, on the other hand, is exercising its inherent right of self-defence, which is enshrined in the UN Charter.
    1
  25234. It looks like a mixed bag of equipment to me.
    1
  25235.  @chriswaters3442  The Ukrainian Ground Forces had the Strela-2M in use already. I expect some Mi-17s have fallen prey to it already.
    1
  25236. Why don't you use your real name, Neville. Did you have a nice dirt nap?
    1
  25237.  @alvaro-oh9cp  Depends on which war and whether they actually lost them. Trump and Biden on the other hand...
    1
  25238. Are you willing to compensate Northern Europeans for the adverse effects of a frosty subarctic climate? Disaster relief is a given, but climate-wise, we all have our crosses to bear.
    1
  25239. Are you new to politics? The Conte II Cabinet, which saw Salvini's Lega Nord make way for the Democratic Party, held a majority just like the Conte I Cabinet. Summa summarum, the Democratic Party was just as elected as the Lega Nord.
    1
  25240. You're accusing the UN -- thus, the whole world -- of having a colonial mindset.
    1
  25241.  @megaotstoy  No, they're not. The most sophisticated stuff is made in Taiwan, not China.
    1
  25242. You're not well versed in Turkish politics. There's still a parliamentary vote and after that, Erdogan's final say-so. Turkish parliament is a mere rubber stamp. Erdogan may well make it stall or even reject the proposal. I'm sure he'll deplore it publicly and blame democracy.
    1
  25243. I think they're predicting the inevitable political demise of Erdogan. Turkey will survive, and with proper leadership, thrive. Knowing how industrious and business-savvy the Turks are, it's quite a feat to ruin the economy, but Erdogan succeeded.
    1
  25244. Ah, the British rot is spreading.
    1
  25245.  @nigeljohnson9820  You're expediting the decomposition of the EU by decomposing yourselves first? I suppose leading by example is admirable, but perhaps in other respects.
    1
  25246. Don't delude yourself. There's too much cabling to protect, railways or no railways.
    1
  25247. I suppose that would be Putin himself. He publicly dismissed the warnings as a Western provocation. Good idea to arrest Putin, though. He's wanted for war crimes in 124 countries already.
    1
  25248. @LeoA-zm8vf Vodka and keyboards don't mix, Leonid.
    1
  25249.  @illernpiller  True dat. Some years ago, I took part in a veterans' biathlon event. Reindeer nearly ruined everything because the dumb animals decided to have a town meeting in the middle of our firing range. Warning shots didn't convince them otherwise till the army regulars got the big guns out. Only then were they suitably impressed and decided to reconvene elsewhere.
    1
  25250.  @goranrajcevic5550  China doesn't need to invade and occupy Russia. It can subjugate Russia with economic means. As a people, the Russians may be apathetic, but it's still more palatable to them to have ostensibly a Russian in charge of the country than a Chinese regional governor.
    1
  25251.  @operator9858  False equivalence fallacy, pal.
    1
  25252.  @operator9858  Yup, all false equivalencies. US defeats, imagined or real, aren't a concern of mine, but poor argumentation skills irk me.
    1
  25253.  @operator9858  What made you conclude that I blindly support the US? I just explained to you that I wouldn't care if you threw the kitchen sink at them. Get it, '"them'"?
    1
  25254.  @lozah9036  You could start by googling Putin's article ”On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians“. So, Putin thinks Russians and Ukrainians are one people, and then he goes and invades Ukraine. What else are we to suspect than empire-building?
    1
  25255. Russians are susceptible to succumbing to personality cults. The French, not so.
    1
  25256.  @caravanstuff2827  We have already seen Russia's special forces in action around Kyiv. One failure after another.
    1
  25257. Doubt it. If he sticks around, the Russian Army will frag him and blame Ukraine.
    1
  25258.  @inglin4895  You got it all wrong. To counter a MAGAtard's argument, you have to use alternative fact, not real ones.
    1
  25259.  @Zelensky_Huilo  If NATO had unleashed its full wrath on Russia, the conclusive Battle of Vladivostok would've been fought in June 2022.
    1
  25260. ​ @cbcluckyii4042  The EU's counter-sanctions will hurt the US just as much. Been there, done that.
    1
  25261. From Russia? They nuked their own?
    1
  25262. And you love Trump because Thierry told you to. Got it.
    1
  25263. Is that your latent inferiority complex speaking?
    1
  25264.  @bps7209  That's what the opposition is expected to do, but it's far more likely that internal conflict will bring this unholy far-right coalition down. Populism and reality don't mix well.
    1
  25265. Why not? Ireland is still part of the European project.
    1
  25266. Whataboutism incoming!
    1
  25267.  @lucasokeefe7935  Woosh.
    1
  25268. Well I never. A Danish Ruscist.
    1
  25269.  @NDJ1978  You've been brainwashed all right. Or does Putin keep you in pølser?
    1
  25270. What's the benefit in Israel ruining its already frayed reputation throughout the world?
    1
  25271. That's right, Russia is a global pariah.
    1
  25272.  @thinkingnomad  Better yet, I have a master's in history -- among others. Did you have a point in there somewhere?
    1
  25273.  @kalmanszabo6425  Please, tell me more about my government. Let's see if you get at least the continent right.
    1
  25274. Do you have a queue of new applicants at the gates of the Eurasian Economic Union? No-one, not a single soul? Aw...
    1
  25275. Oh, there's a real and present danger that Russia will collapse -- from within. China can't do anything about it, apart from picking up the pieces -- and glueing them onto itself.
    1
  25276.  @LloydBraun9000  Try to make your own point.
    1
  25277.  @LloydBraun9000  Again, try to make a point. I'm not in your nursery school class.
    1
  25278. I suppose we have the occasional trade war with the US and refuse to partake in America's occasional military adventures just to misguide those who're not as much into conspiracy theories as yourself.
    1
  25279. Interfering? Is your democracy so frail that DW news reports make it come crashing down?
    1
  25280. I wonder if he had their designer executed after watching The Dictator.
    1
  25281. You should educate yourself about the 'fourth power' -- it's hardly a new thing. By the way, the media -- or the MSM, as you insist on calling them -- adhere to strict journalistic principles. X in particular doesn't care much for those, especially after Musk's takeover of Twitter and his highly-controversial lay-off of moderators shortly thereafter.
    1
  25282.  @mortezaashoury1624  Israel is not facing a conventional army that could conceivably make a thrust into Israel. Not even Iran could manage that. Your "point" is irrelevant.
    1
  25283.  @mortezaashoury1624  You're speaking in riddles.
    1
  25284. Give it some time.
    1
  25285. You're showing promise as a conspiracy theorist.
    1
  25286.  @ComeGetYourFreeCanOfWHOOPASS  Don't be an anachronism.
    1
  25287.  @Zurvan101  Admit it, you're selective in your moral outrage. Your ethnicity excuse doesn't cut it.
    1
  25288.  @Zurvan101  I'm not taking the Argentinians' side. You trivialised the plight of the Hongkongers, and by extension, that of the Taiwanese. Communist China supposedly has "ethnic" rights to subjugate both.
    1
  25289.  @Zurvan101  You make poor arguments and you don't stand by them. Noted.
    1
  25290. Rechtsgeleerden denken anders over deze actie. Het schijnt dat Israël zijn eigen wetten heeft overtreden wat het gebruik van boobytraps betreft.
    1
  25291. Geography lesson. Sweden is part of Scandinavia, Finland is not. Nordic countries is what you're looking for.
    1
  25292.  @anotherguy1331  You just can't redefine geographical boundaries at will, history or no history. Try to get your facts straight.
    1
  25293.  @anotherguy1331  Geographically it just isn't so. You can argue that Finland has strong Scandinavian cultural influences and not so much Russian ones, but that's culture, not geography. Your claim that Finland is part of Sweden is preposterous. The Swedish-speaking Finns have a strong identity of their own -- you won't make any friends if you call them Swedes, to say nothing of how the Finnish-speakers would react. Get out of la-la land.
    1
  25294.  @fagreed3938  Oh, so that's what a "fire bag" is. Don't rely too much on Google Translate. We speak of a pocket or cauldron. Even Kessel or motti would do, but "bag" must be exclusively Russian.
    1
  25295.  @fagreed3938  What made you think that? Since you're so inquisitive, I speak British English. It must be my third or fourth language -- I can't recall which class I had first in secondary school, English or French. Learning a language -- any language -- is about continuous improvement. You don't bother much.
    1
  25296.  @fagreed3938  Was something lost in translation again? You don't disturb me; you amuse me. Too bad the British Council was forced to cease its acitivities in Russia. You could've learned something.
    1
  25297.  @fagreed3938  For the record, I didn't bother to translate your Russian comment. Why would I? If you insist on using Russian, stick to VK. Russia is your oyster.
    1
  25298.  @fagreed3938  Not teach, but *learn. There you go again, the pitfalls of relying on Google Translate. The nervosity is all yours.
    1
  25299.  @fagreed3938  You think Russia is enigmatic, don't you? Off you go, to VK, your safe place, linguistically and politically. YouTube will soon be banned in Russia anyhow.
    1
  25300.  @fagreed3938 All of Russia's natural resources can be had elsewhere, too. That's why we call them commodities. But you can always sell your natural "riches" to China for a pittance. China will even set the prices for you, like a good old colonial master.
    1
  25301.  @fagreed3938  Oh, we've managed to eke out some growth, the after-effects of the pandemic notwithstanding. You're suddenly suffering from verbal incontinence, aren't you? Or you must be terribly triggered.
    1
  25302.  @fagreed3938  You forgot to use the magic word. Hint: it's "please".
    1
  25303.  @neoieo5832  Operation Barbarossa lasted 6 months, 2 weeks and 2 days.
    1
  25304.  @anamarisa2800  Your conspiracy theory would work better if you could spell the name of the alleged baddies.
    1
  25305.  @in-my-view  Nah, Russia would've invaded Ukraine no matter what. Also, NATO's bolstering of Ukraine's defences apparently didn't register with Russia, or its forces would've prepared for it. It's as clear as day that the Kremlin expected a cakewalk, with NATO and the Western world just protesting and issuing cosmetic sanctions. As things turned out quite differently, stories about a proxy war are being spun. Russia can't deal with Ukraine, so it pretends dealing with a much more formidable enemy. Pathetic.
    1
  25306.  @generalstack6540  Don't be silly, General Armchair. Not a single European country wanted to stay in Afghanistan. It's just that Trump/Biden bollocksed up the withdrawal. Poor timing, poor execution. If you wanted to do an equally poor job at arguing your case about "American autocracy", you succeeded admirably.
    1
  25307. All members benefits. France in particular has benefited greatly, having just overtaken Russia as the second-biggest arms exporter globally. I hope Macron remembers Putin with a gift basket. Come to think of it, Macron should send two baskets: one for triggering an arms race, the other for effectively pulling out of the global arms market.
    1
  25308.  @leecrumble3921  BICS, perhaps, but not BRICS.
    1
  25309. You can ponder about that. I said no such thing.
    1
  25310.  @eyaklen4804  Uh, all nations expend expiring weapons first. Often, they're replaced by the same make and model. If anyone, Russia should know this, because they still produce Soviet-era weaponry, or Soviet-era weapons with minimal modernisations. NATO, not so. And I wouldn't say a direct conflict between Russian and NATO would be entertaining, but it would be "no fair", as a petulant child would put it.
    1
  25311. Russia tries to recolonise Ukraine, but gets neo-colonised by China while at it. Bizarre doesn't begin to describe it.
    1
  25312.  @TurquazCannabiz  Aw. Here's another one for you: 🦃
    1
  25313. ​ @TurquazCannabiz  Your ad hominems are quaint to the point of being cute.
    1
  25314.  @TurquazCannabiz  So you're a gerontophile. Seek help.
    1
  25315.  @TurquazCannabiz  So you're a gerontophile.
    1
  25316.  @drbuckley1  Why do you think China and Russia are going to jump into the breach? Russia's militarily is already stretched to the limit in Syria and China understands there's little to be gained in Afghanistan, militarily and economically.
    1
  25317. In Soviet Russia, the prison goes to Putin.
    1
  25318. Sure, but they'd call the men in white. Megalomaniacs favour bicornes.
    1
  25319. I don't know how new you are to democracy, but this is business as usual.
    1
  25320. You're lost. This isn't the Beeb.
    1
  25321.  @pepperkilldevelopment9069  So you're on your way to Ukraine to see combat? How brave you are.
    1
  25322. Apathy. Without it, Putin couldn't have stayed in power for a quarter of a century.
    1
  25323.  @springbloom5940  The evil lie is all yours, Krembot. You paymasters in the Kremlin can put a stop to this war at any time.
    1
  25324.  @PatmosEd  Duh, Estonia hasn't bought electricity from Russia ever since the latter invaded Ukraine. Your Ministry of Misinformation is misinformed itself!
    1
  25325. It's a moot point, since we already enjoy the rights that the Hongkongers are demanding.
    1
  25326. Here, have some copium. You look like you need it.
    1
  25327. Excepted? Bad spellers of the world untie.
    1
  25328. You're lost.
    1
  25329. What is it with you Muricans and your love of clichés? After the Afghanistan debacle, I would pipe down.
    1
  25330.  @johndoe-cd9vt  Germany's arms industry is firing on all cylinders. They're breaking record after record. Incidentally, the US is their second-best customer. Your precious M1 Abrams MBT wouldn't shoot or drive without German tech.
    1
  25331.  @koiguidenishikigoi4972  The only economy being destroyed here is Russia's -- by its own doing. The 3D pigeon chess master, who heads a gas station masquerading as a country, alienated its best customers.
    1
  25332. Is that you, The Right Honourable Neville Chamberlain? We thought you dead.
    1
  25333.  @CuteCatWantsPat  I wouldn't credit NATO with the dissolution of the Russian Federation -- if indeed it happens. Many Russians, especially in the western parts of the country, are fully aware that their foreign neighbours have done much better in recent times. There's no reason why Kaliningrad, for example, couldn't become the fourth Baltic Tiger if it came under new management -- a management of their own choosing, that is.
    1
  25334. The problem is the Brits not patrolling their own streets.
    1
  25335. ​ @studentstudent5044  Sweden may have the largest population of all the Nordic countries, but its armed forces are the weakest. It comes natural to the Finns to maintain a credible defence, and the Norwegians and Danes maintained theirs, too, if only because of their NATO commitments. Sweden, on the other hand, clearly neglected its defence. Mind you, against the odds Sweden managed to retain a professional cadre, but you'll find that they're the fiercest critics of the sad state of affairs that Sweden brought onto itself.
    1
  25336. Use English, please.
    1
  25337. The Finns, who, of all people, know heat therapy, already conceded that sauna isn't a cure for COVID-19. Also, Russians routinely inject (well, ingest) disinfectant (vodka), and still they're very much struggling to contain the outbreak.
    1
  25338. What are you whatabouting about?
    1
  25339. But this is about Finland, Denmark and Norway specifically. All three have managed the pandemic admirably.
    1
  25340.  @damienlewis1605  So? That negates none of what I wrote earlier. Give people ice cream, and some will protest their tummies hurt.
    1
  25341. Have you read the warning label? Prolonged and excessive use of copium leads to brain and crotch rot.
    1
  25342. The Americans don't dare to fight the Taliban. Not with thousands of potential hostages stuck in Afghanistan.
    1
  25343.  @MartinMalmy  I guess you missed that Biden failed in his bid to evacuate all Americans in Afghanistan. I wouldn't put it past the Taliban that they'd use them as human shields, à la Saddam Hussein.
    1
  25344. Be more specific, what exactly would you want the UN to do?
    1
  25345.  @Stigger1977  You're projecting. Soon, Putin will take up permanent residence in The Hague. It would be poetic justice if he could have Milosevic's former cell.
    1
  25346. Duh, the Latvians have cable, IPTV and satellite.
    1
  25347. With Chinese authorities habitually lying through their teeth, it's better to err on the side of caution.
    1
  25348. I think you're down to one sole country recognising Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as Russian territory. That'll be the Hermit Kingdom of North Korea, now that Syria has sent Putin's stooge Assad packing.
    1
  25349. Don't go paranoid on us now. It's the mayor of Brussels who called a halt to the conference. The EU has no jurisdiction in such domestic matters.
    1
  25350.  @irfanana7368  That begs the question why Russia just didn't build a new city somewhere within its borders. Russia would've been spared the massive casualties, there'd be no rubble to clear, and no ongoing security concerns as we're witnessing in Belgorod. Is Russia really so hard up in terms of Lebensraum?
    1
  25351. Maybe France's yellow vests could form a volunteer regiment (brigade even?) and go fight the Orcs in Ukraine. They like brawling, and it would nip the problem in the bud this time.
    1
  25352.  @navinkumar6388  Indians on YT keep urging Ukraine to surrender. That's not how brave people who're willing to fight react.
    1
  25353. Newsflash, your precious military industrial complex is not exactly known for its efficiency, as in bang for the buck. Just like European countries, which try to buy domestic whenever possible, the USA should look for more cost-effective foreign weapons systems. International R&D programs, too.
    1
  25354. Your point being? Kimmie needs to thin the herd?
    1
  25355. Sure, we're boycotting Russian exports.
    1
  25356.  @itsJPhere  Yup, I was actually there, with KFOR. Instead of committing war crimes, we prevented the Albanian Kosovars from taking revenge on the Serbs. No good deed goes unpunished, it seems.
    1
  25357.  @alanbellas513  Right. And Hungary's Orban probably wants a Lamborghini before he lets Finland and Sweden into NATO.
    1
  25358.  @jrmint2  And it's "it's".
    1
  25359.  @alighieri1393  Don't flatter yourself. You don't warrant any interest other than a raised eyebrow. And you can think the earth is flat for all I care, or that Queen Elizabeth II is a shape-shifting Reptilian, or whatever silly theory you come up with next.
    1
  25360.  @rammalammadingdong1  Conspiracy theorists are always looking to fantasise on things, [they] never let an opportunity go to waste[.]
    1
  25361.  @24elbaliava  But actually what? Now you sound like a fanboy.
    1
  25362. They must be beyond themselves with happiness. Especially the Vietnam War-vintage M113 is an intelligence coup.
    1
  25363. Not true. Huawei can sue for an unfair tendering process. In other words, the buyer needs to carefully justify the winning bid. "I was told not to accept Huawei's bid" won't fly in court.
    1
  25364.  @crosstraffic187  China is a totalitarian state, OK?
    1
  25365. So, you're saying that Russians are indifferent to extrajudicial killings occuring in their midst with alarming frequency. Got ya.
    1
  25366. The man has a desk fetish.
    1
  25367.  @accountreality1988  I should know. I have several Mosin-Nagant M1891s. One of them is definitely pre-WW1.
    1
  25368. In case you haven't noticed, Putin wants non-NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine. Indian peacekeepers would do perfectly, and for all the wrong reasons. You'd stand idly by.
    1
  25369. Artillery has largely made way for other weapons in Western armies. It was a surprise to all parties concerned -- Russia included -- that it would rise to such prominence in Ukraine.
    1
  25370.  Hans Otto Kroeger Kaethler  Why-oh-why would you bring up the US all of a sudden? This is mostly between Irish lessors and Russia. The US is a bystander. China has to comply with international law if it chooses to play an active part in the international community. Sure, it can isolate itself like North Korea and now, Russia, but that's economically disastrous.
    1
  25371.  Hans Otto Kroeger Kaethler  As a Euro, I'm not interested in your eternal US whataboutism. Besides, Airbus has a much bigger share of the Russian market than Boeing.
    1
  25372.  @TaipoRoad  Wrong thread, mate.
    1
  25373. You may want to rethink your stance on Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine.
    1
  25374.  @kedfes  Ethiopian Trigrayan, me? What are you on about, you silly goose?
    1
  25375. Not all cables are created equal.
    1
  25376. @VladimirStepanov-e6h You make precious little sense.
    1
  25377. What if I give you Long Covid instead?
    1
  25378. It will be hard for AfD to make political capital out of this considering the perp held anti-Islamic and far-right views. Mind giving us your best shot?
    1
  25379.  @Ese_osa  Isn't Novorossiya supposed to be part of Russia proper now? Do try to make up your mind. Consistency is a prerequisite for effective botting.
    1
  25380.  @Elphinnomad  Don't take the arms. You'll do yourself an injury.
    1
  25381.  @RetCons  Let's just go with stupid.
    1
  25382.  @RetCons  We bear arms, but thanks to rigorous regulation, responsibly.
    1
  25383.  @annan7728  So, neo-Maoist China is responsible for protecting democratic Taiwan against democracy?
    1
  25384. ​ @ButterflyG673  Because we're not ignorant to the outside world, or consciously try to avoid awkward comparisons. But you be you -- feeding that latent inferiority complex of yours has its perils.
    1
  25385. Don't you hate it that it's not for you to decide if her trustworthiness suffices. You don't get to cast a vote on the matter.
    1
  25386. One thing the Middle East can do without is your religious fervour.
    1
  25387.  @mduckernz  That's called a volume rebate.
    1
  25388. The pen is no longer mightier than the sword?
    1
  25389. The main erstwhile protagonist in the opium trade occupies one small corner of the continent, a corner that doesn't want to be part of said continent. Don't revel in victimhood -- we all have our sob stories.
    1
  25390.  @VirtualnomadVirtualnomad  You're making wild assumptions there, boyo. We were colonised, not colonisers, yet you won't hear us cry for pity on YouTube, more than a hundred years after the fact.
    1
  25391. Then democracy is in a worse shape than I thought. It's debatable if Murica is even healing.
    1
  25392. It sucks for Russia that while it has taken 99.5% of Bakhmut, that 99.5% of Bakmuth has been turned to rubble as well. Russia must've misunderstood the memo about scorched earth tactics.
    1
  25393. You must think Europe doesn't have any homegrown anti-Semites. France has never experienced a shortage.
    1
  25394.  @samsungtap4183  Having to pay war reparations implies that you're responsible for the damage. If you're truly Vietnamese, you should know who is. DW doesn't stand for US Wave, by the way.
    1
  25395.  @BingoPaletot  You're off. 10% of the Falklanders speak Spanish as their first language. They're predominantly immigrants from Chile. Chile sided with the UK in the Falklands War.
    1
  25396. Putin could become God's favourite child in a jiffy, if he were to withdraw his Orcs from Ukraine.
    1
  25397.  @yllbardh  I'd nominate you for a Pulitzer Prize if 'two wrongs don't make a right' wasn't a widely known concept already.
    1
  25398. Who would want him back and in exchange for whom or what? It looks like your conspiracy theory needs more work.
    1
  25399. Ashkenazi? Nothing?
    1
  25400.  @dilonkumar4960  Ashenazis are Jews who migrated to Europe since ancient times. Their DNA is mixed with that of other Europeans. Natural selection may have played a role, too. Europe has a bleaching effect on the human appearance.
    1
  25401. Oh, his time to pay the piper will come soon enough. He had better leave Israel, too, unless he wants to do time. I suppose he'll become quite a burden on the US Secret Service.
    1
  25402.  @make-u-rich879  You should go around telling Russians that their country should've surrendered in 1941. Oh, and pack a first aid kit.
    1
  25403. In the mean time, India grows desperately reliant on US and French weapons and military technology, since its former main supplier, Russia, is out for the count. Comment from a position of strength, not weakness.
    1
  25404.  @wanderlust0120  Biden? That was Hillary Clinton.
    1
  25405.  sharia_law5563  Sure, if an investigation into electoral fraud brings nothing whtasoever to light, then so especially.
    1
  25406. Only a brainless bot would call this a plot twist. A plot twist means something unexpected happened. This was nothing of the sort.
    1
  25407.  @Arbiter8114  No, you're a bot because you're brainless. You're amazed, too, when you realise water is wet and the sky is up.
    1
  25408. For a change, Fox News are critical of Trump, but I'm sure they'll kiss and make up. You can't have one without the other.
    1
  25409. They're called Krembots and useful idiots. I don't know which ones are more pathetic.
    1
  25410. Not in your pitch-black cynical mind, that's for sure.
    1
  25411.  @Jogeta5  Sure, who's suggesting he did it all by himself?
    1
  25412. You Krembots are getting desperate.
    1
  25413.  @Zekingofworld  Emojis are a godsent to you semi-illiterate Krembots.
    1
  25414. It's impossible to tell what you're on about. Don't you wish the British Council still operated in Russia? You could've used the free lessons.
    1
  25415. So they have a death wish.
    1
  25416. The elected heads of state and/or government are represented in the European Council. They set the directions and priorities of the EU, acting as a collective presidency. Then there's the European Parliament, its members directly elected as well. I would assume your problem is with the European Commission, the civil service of the EU. Its top leaders are nominated and elected by the Council and the Parliament respectively -- indirectly elected, in other words. There's no shame in that. Furthermore, EU member countries, represented by their elected government, enjoy the power of veto. This and the above are proven constructs found in successful democracies and -- for better or worse -- the UN Security Council. The EU is, however, unique in being a supranational political and economic union -- the only one of its kind -- so there is no precedent or example to follow. Perhaps in time, the EU will evolve into a federation -- a United States of Europe -- but for now, it's not what the Europeans want. I would also claim it's not practically possible. I believe the United States of America, which would be the example to follow, will evolve into a looser, more devolved federation. Or it may go even further and become a supranational union as well.
    1
  25417. Not to mention polio.
    1
  25418.  @raleighnaas935  You're of Ostrobothnian extraction, just like me. Of all the Finns, we're the most adventurous and entrepreneurial, which goes a long way to explain why Ostrobothnia had so many emigrants. I have family in the US, Canada and Australia. I should be thanking you for your service. Myself, I served as a 'summer sergeant' after my conscription period, as a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon and a KFOR desk jockey in Kosovo. In between, I did a stint as a conscript in the Royal Netherlands Army -- what a sore disappointment that was. As a dual national and a Finnish Army reservist, I'm glad to be in NATO as a Finn instead of a Dutchman. I had my dad come over when I bought the Corvette. I remember that he took an instant liking to a Corvair -- no doubt because of his fondness for Porsches and European sports cars in general.
    1
  25419. Don't steal Trump's thunder.
    1
  25420. I think we're watching how desperately Moscow needs to pretend to be a democracy.
    1
  25421.  @pulse4503  Some more than others. Salvini is an extreme example, however.
    1
  25422. ​ @pulse4503  Thanks for confirming that Salvini is a populist. Opportunism is part and parcel of populism. Not that I think it matters, but I'm centre-right in my political outlook.
    1
  25423.  @pulse4503  Flip-flopping? Turncoat? Perhaps you should have your short-term memory tested.
    1
  25424.  @pulse4503  A Brit, me? You're like a bunny rabbit, jumping to conclusions. That's probably also how Salvini snared you. Do you think Salvini is a one-off? Populists do grow on trees and we have them in just about every country. However, we try not to elect them, much less give them top jobs, because it all ends in tears. Power doesn't suit wind vanes.
    1
  25425.  @jerrymillerstein  "Genociding" is not proper English. The first sentence as a whole isn't either, in fact.
    1
  25426. ​ @mapache69.  If he's anything to go by, Croatia belongs in CSTO rather than NATO. Submissiveness to Russia is a CSTO prerequisite. In NATO, it's the exact opposite. It looks like Croatia does marginally better in corruption than Ukraine, but OK.
    1
  25427. The attacks took place hundreds of kilometres from Paris...
    1
  25428.  @ripvanwinkle6557  It's not funny at all. And you're dead wrong. You should read up on the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup. It literally ended in mass murder on an unprecented scale.
    1
  25429.  @soundscape26  The silly gits are trying to usurp the right as a whole. No deal.
    1
  25430. North Korea has more than one tank, and post-WW2 ones at that.
    1
  25431. So North Korea goes from dirt poor to slightly less dirt poor. Strong doesn't enter into it.
    1
  25432. He started the whole thing, so he must be very careful not to escalate matters further.
    1
  25433.  @NPCONSULTING247-jy3pz  New York experiences occasional heavy snowfall owing to the lake effect of the Great Lakes. Hardly permafrost, since it's usually gone just as quickly as it comes.
    1
  25434.  @NPCONSULTING247-jy3pz  Did I just waste time on a conspiracy theorist?
    1
  25435. How come? There's a queue, you know.
    1
  25436.  @suegede5733  Now there are two of you who need a one-way ticket to the past.
    1
  25437. That's for the Ukrainians to decide, not for cowards like you.
    1
  25438. Nah. Several countries have announced new arms packages bound for Ukraine after Hamas's attack. Putin is not off the hook. In fact, he'll be squirming even more when Israeli-made weapons make their entrance on the battlefields of Ukraine. Turrets off!
    1
  25439.  @XMysticHerox  Didn't I mention convoys? Cargo ships huddling together, while escorting warships protect them? Mantis is a land equivalent of Phalanx. The latter does have inferior range, but there are further-reaching CIWS in the 30 mm Goalkeeper, the 40 mm Dardo and the CIWS-capable 76 mm Otomelara.
    1
  25440.  @kurtwicklund8901  What exactly prevents a CIWS from protecting other ships? Range is not an issue if there are enough CIWS-equipped warships about.
    1
  25441. This is about a confirmation hearing. It's not a legal proceeding. Kavanaugh can't be legally charged because of the statute of limitations. Still, public opinion matters. Rightly or wrongly, if the public considers Kavanaugh guilty of sexual assault, that will inevitable erode confidence in the justice system. Drunk frat boys may well think they're free to molest girls because a Supreme court judge did, too.
    1
  25442. Not enough support, it seems, to support Russia at the UN. Buying oil off the Russians at bargain-basement prices isn't doing the poor sods any favours either.
    1
  25443.  @indiancowpeedrinker9241  Have you heard of capitalist peace theory? Maybe you should look it up.
    1
  25444. Gof forbid Africans should organise themselves and bring order to their continent on their own terms.
    1
  25445. And that would help, how?
    1
  25446.  @myspace1876  Russia is fighting this war by choice. Ukraine, by necessity. My cousin's husband won the lottery. He's living well, too.
    1
  25447.  @conceptcs  There's a flip side to the coin. The CCP is now actively undercutting world-class Chinese companies. Huawei, Bytedance and the Ant Group are just the tip of the iceberg.
    1
  25448. In de Gouden Eeuw was Nederland een republiek. De Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden was het centrum van de wereldhandel en het rijkste land ter wereld.
    1
  25449. He's so powerful he's about to be appointed regional governor of Ruxia, China's northernmost province. He'll go by the name Pu Tin from now on.
    1
  25450.  @thomaskirchberger7401  I'd like to repay your kindness, but then again you haven't contributed anything to the discussion apart from your vague opinion. You remind me of a spoiled child, surrounded by candy wrappers, who threatens to run away from home if he isn't given more candy. Nothing is enough.
    1
  25451. Not only that, it's a common trait among the USSR's former neighbours as well. The likes of Poland and Finland didn't let their guard down when the Soviet Bloc disintegrated. On the contrary, they bolstered their defences.
    1
  25452. Putin is digging a grave for Russia. He's alienating his customers, who're increasingly switching to renewable energy anyway. Despite Putin's repetitive assurances, Russia keeps failing to diversify its economy and create other revenue streams than those from oil and gas. It's a recipe for a economic disaster.
    1
  25453.  @geoeconomics5629  Is that the best you can do in terms of a counter-argument?
    1
  25454.  @geoeconomics5629  OK, it's official, you're a silly bugger.
    1
  25455.  @adilevnatimasheva4370  I detect no coping. Firstly, Russia, like most other ex-Communist countries, appears rude to the rest of the world, since the Communists convinced the people that manners are petty-bourgeois. Secondly, Putin has promised dozens of times to diversify the Russian economy, yet making little progress after each promise. Russia remains highly dependent on oil and gas exports, which like no other fuel the economy. 'Baby economy' sounds about right.
    1
  25456.  @arabinetwork654  Pray tell, what are "kn weapons"? And we're not attached to Russia, except by geography. And what is this "Western theology"? We're predominantly non-religious.
    1
  25457. But it does raise a moral question.
    1
  25458.  @fabriciuslan  A race war, I'm sure. SA in its present guise is a million times better than that.
    1
  25459. Not quite. North Africa is becoming uninhabitable.
    1
  25460.  @alvaro701  It's fitting then, because Russia is edging closer and closer to neo-Nazism.
    1
  25461. The queen reigns but does not rule, you twit.
    1
  25462. Of course it is. Did you fail geography?
    1
  25463. G7, formerly known as G8. Guess who got the boot and why.
    1
  25464. As in lip service.
    1
  25465.  @snazzyfreddy  It raises expectations. When realisation sets in, the disappointment will be twice as bad.
    1
  25466.  @snazzyfreddy  You gotta be kidding! Russia's economy is falling off a cliff. Putin has dealt it a death blow by alienating Russia's biggest and best customers -- customers it can't replace. It's only a matter of time before Russia's industry grinds to a halt because of a lack of components and tooling.
    1
  25467.  @snazzyfreddy  The USA isn't Russia's biggest headache. The EU is. Also, the UN isn't imposing economic sanctions on Russia, but most developed countries are. In our particular case, we haven't imported anything from Russia since March this year, and we're none the worse for wear. "The West" will get by famously without Russia, which only produces commodities, as in basic goods and materials that are widely used and are not meaningfully differentiated from one another.
    1
  25468.  @snazzyfreddy  Russia can no longer get it to the whole world.
    1
  25469.  @snazzyfreddy  Fact: Russia is failing to drum up new business to the same extent as the business it has lost. Also, Russia sells its crude at a 24% rebate compared to Brent crude. Have you studied economics in any form or shape?
    1
  25470.  @snazzyfreddy  Why did you bring up the US? Have you run out of arguments, so you need to stoop to whataboutism?
    1
  25471. Putin stayed in Muscovy. Russia is on its last legs.
    1
  25472. Classic whataboutism, Rob. Try to turn over a new leaf already.
    1
  25473.  @robpalas6368  So you're a bore after all.
    1
  25474. Reenactors will rejoice.
    1
  25475. Nah, who will recognise illegal Russia's land grabs?
    1
  25476.  @anthonybariek997  Truth be told, Assad's main adversary, HTS, had a major falling out with al Qaeda, with a myriad of corpses as a result. Not that they're angels either, since a whole slew of countries consider them a terrorist organisation, the UK including. Interestingly, Turkey does too, but its rule of law flexes in these matters.
    1
  25477. You need to ask yourself if your erstwhile Parisian boulanger is now facing decapitation for selling bread to an unappreciative Dutchman. If so, you need to evacuate him ASAP!
    1
  25478.  @bojevnik10  Aw, the fanboy is butthurt.
    1
  25479.  @kaatjesmeets6439  Defaitisme zit bij jou ingebakken. Het is triest gesteld met jouw soort als Nederlanders.
    1
  25480.  @lesvampyres5429  "When you see an Ukrainian, don't forget to scream!"
    1
  25481.  @nakhan4132  We'd be left with China, the UK and France in the UNSC as permanent members. Oo-kay...
    1
  25482. Incinerated? Didn't you watch the footage of the crash?
    1
  25483.  @scott1506  Jet fuel burns very hot.
    1
  25484.  @scott1506  They claim they found his DNA. From which body part, I don't know. Putin wanted Prigozhin dead, so why fake it?
    1
  25485. Make whataboutery a legitimate argument.
    1
  25486. How can "Washington's European allies" "evade" "US sanctions" on Iran? As an European, am I also evading Tongan sanctions on Kiribati if I trade with the latter?
    1
  25487. European government? Tell us more about it.
    1
  25488. The misogyny is strong in you. How many promotions have you missed out on?
    1
  25489. So, what you're saying is that China drags us all down by setting a bad example, and we're foolish enough to follow it.
    1
  25490. ​ @julia2k8  The Projection is strong with you.
    1
  25491. Het defaitisme zit hoog bij jou.
    1
  25492. He gambled and lost. It was an untenable coalition to begin with.
    1
  25493. By their own admission, China is a developing country. Superpower status requires an advanced economy.
    1
  25494. Still trying to shoot the messenger? I suggest you discuss tactics with your troll handlers.
    1
  25495. Russia struggles with droughts, too, bozo.
    1
  25496. All the white countries? We've never had any colonies. By contrast, China has a very bloody colonial past.
    1
  25497.  @patwilson2546  Putin bots sure love Trump.
    1
  25498.  @Beachgirl1  Please reserve your Murican clichés for Murican use only.
    1
  25499. Both original candidates should've been disqualified because of advanced age.
    1
  25500. 4 to 6 weeks, "George".
    1
  25501. There would a giant uproar if the EU exercised as much power over its members as the UK and India do over their union states. In comparison to the latter two, the EU is much, much more devolved.
    1
  25502. Said by whom? That little voice in your head?
    1
  25503. China sure likes weapons technology transfers from Russia. Russia has little choice in the matter. More often than not, China will forego licensing formalities and just copy.
    1
  25504.  @silafaupaulmeredith7251  You're behind the times, I'm afraid. Russian space tech lags behind that of the USA, Europe, China and now even India. Russia has been milking its Soviet-era rocket tech for all it's worth, but they know it's game over. Of late, Russia's space program has been busy with publicity stunts and trying to catch Elon Musk's attention, but technological advances are few and far between.
    1
  25505. The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly deemed it an illegal annexation. If Russia wanted to do the pro-Russian Crimeans a favour, it didn't. They find themselves in international limbo now, citizens of a pariah state within a pariah state.
    1
  25506. @Eugene Willemse You must think this is an episode of Matlock, where the culprit is always conclusively proven guilty.
    1
  25507. It's Schadenfreude, actually. A guilty pleasure, I'm sure, but there's an extenuating circumstance here in that the Schaden is very much self-inflicted. If someone ties his own shoe laces together and then falls flat on his face, it's only human to laugh.
    1
  25508.  @Justpeace88  General population, as in prison? Say no more.
    1
  25509. This is a European news channel, so you should stick to the US ones with your "constitutional republic" Americanism. It's not applicable here.
    1
  25510.  @renebangura8138  You juxtapose "constitutional republic" with "full democracy". That's a silly Americanism that doesn't fly anywhere else in the world. Which France 24 is. No need to blame me for not knowing. You're the oblivious one.
    1
  25511.  @quanghuy5005  Why don't you join France if you love colonialism that much.
    1
  25512. Do you honesty think that the Greens are more likely to back an amendment proposal if there's a CDU/CSU-AfD coalition behind it? Silly boy.
    1
  25513. Indirect democracies is what we have by and large. In the whole world, only two puny Swiss cantons buck the trend. I, for one, want my MP to do the job we elected him for. And if he were to take a stance against NATO, he'd soon be spending more time with his family.
    1
  25514.  @dissonantiacognitiva7438  Who said anything about unelecting MPs? Sweden is having a general election this September. I've seen many MPs sent packing after they incurred the wrath of their voters.
    1
  25515. Putin has already collected a whole set of expired deadlines, courtesy of Trump. No Trump sanctions, however.
    1
  25516. Fittest meaning those with a fit brain.
    1
  25517. OK, Vlad.
    1
  25518. Herr Ribbentrop, is that you?
    1
  25519.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  But India is supporting a true neo-Nazi country. Russia wants more Lebensraum and engages in wanton killings of civilians. The same cannot be said of Ukraine.
    1
  25520.  @UNIVERSAL-UR  Who's claiming otherwise? It's oh-so clear that India, for reasons unfathomable, feels beholden to Russia.
    1
  25521. It's Google's and Facebook's hypocrisy. US media outlets are equally feeling the pinch.
    1
  25522.  @Exxperiment626  I'm sure Navalny is amenable to having Putin answer for his war crimes.
    1
  25523.  @madikerirahman3201  I wouldn't mind, but Dubya isn't ours to extradite. Also, I believe Iraq would have to put in a formal extradition request. Have they?
    1
  25524.  @madikerirahman3201  We're deviating from the topic at hand, i.e. how to get Putin extradited and make him stand trial for his war crimes. You may want to look for an American to discuss Dubya's extradition and trial. Unless deflection is what you're after. I find whataboutists very tiresome.
    1
  25525.  @madikerirahman3201  I haven't received any knighthoods, so you can leave off the "sir". We're an egalitarian society. So, if I read you correctly, Putin should get off scot-free, because Bush the Younger hasn't been on trial yet. If that's an accepted legal principle in your country, I hope that no crimes have gone unpunished over there. Because it would mean your legal system is in complete deadlock.
    1
  25526.  @eagleforce-ve5un  What made you conclude that I'm British?
    1
  25527. Can't you make something up? You know that whatever they tell you is made up as well, so just give your imagination free rein.
    1
  25528. It's beyond cool to see the very same AA cannon in action in Ukraine that I trained conscripts on. Slava Ukraine indeed!
    1
  25529. Your infatuation with ladyboys speaks volumes.
    1
  25530. Guterres has made plenty of comments about Hamas, and none of them were exactly flattering, on the contrary. Try to keep up with the news.
    1
  25531.  Random Person  It's common knowledge, bud.
    1
  25532.  Random Person  Does context mean anything to you? How do Iraqi Kurds enter into this? Are the Turks also invading Iraq in your ignorant Yank mind?
    1
  25533. It seems Zelenskyy didn't fall for Trump's surrender plan.
    1
  25534.  @steveskeylimepie  Report her for spamming then. Three dots, one on top of another, here on the right.
    1
  25535. Have you been taking those English lessons? It would appear not.
    1
  25536. Too long. Pity, because they're racking up quite a war reparations bill.
    1
  25537.  @nightizzat4574  It's pointless to use *nukes, period. Only fanboys are impressed with 'em.
    1
  25538.  @primmakinsofis614  You'll find that Russia's premier fighting force, the Wagner Group, have faith in the man. They proudly sport N*zi tattoos and privately dress up in N*zi uniforms, too. In fact, they were named after the man's favourite composer.
    1
  25539. Sil de Strandjutter.
    1
  25540. Theirs is a presidential system. The UK is a parliamentary democracy. The Economist's Democracy Index puts the UK in 18th place, whereas Russia manages only 144th place. Putting things into perspective is not your forte, it seems.
    1
  25541.  @gerry2762  Newsflash, Visegrad has fallen apart over the Ukraine war. How could you possibly claim that Poland "sway[s] to the East"? Poland's Tusk government is decidedly pro-European, and Orban's popularity is waning in Hungary. You indeed have time to wait. The EU won't take the UK back in a hurry, even if Labour were to put out feelers as its first order of business.
    1
  25542.  @gerry2762  Now why would I be upset about the Videsgrad Group coming apart at the seams? Good riddance, methinks. You're in denial and you're looking for validation for Brexit -- or is it depression, as in misery seeking company? I can't tell which stage of grief you're at, but if you work at it, there's aceeptance at the end of the tunnel.
    1
  25543. Reporters never get it right. DW News is the worst, because in their eyes Panzer always translates to tank.
    1
  25544. So you applaud Russia's military aggression. I wonder what you think of Russia being on the receiving end. Perfect, too, eh? Russia is already begging its few remaining friendly neighbours for gasoline.
    1
  25545. I'm wondering why Qatar would stop at MEPs. I bet this goes much further than the EU.
    1
  25546. Actually he does. Scary.
    1
  25547.  @movement2contact  I hear fatal copium overdoses are quite common among troll farm workers. Don't belittle their sacrifice.
    1
  25548.  @moseymay1772  Marlon Brando? I'm alluding to Putin's own homoerotic holidays snaps, in which he poses shirtless.
    1
  25549.  @danascully6670  But the Russian MoD confirmed the retreat, which supposedly was to prevent an encirclement. Be a good troll now and don't contradict your masters.
    1
  25550.  @davidjones-vx9ju  Davey, the Afghan National Army had Soviet-made T-55 and T-62 tanks in limited numbers. Even if the Taliban manages to keep them operational, theirs isn't a large tank force.
    1
  25551.  @wisdombites3586  The world is not getting excited about the Kremlin's fanciful propaganda. The UN and the WHO have both rejected the claims about bioweapons in Ukraine as baseless. The world is witnessing Russian aggression in Ukraine and Russia's increasingly imaginative excuses for the war, as evidenced by the overwhelmingly anti-Russian stance take by the UN General Assembly.
    1
  25552.  @wisdombites3586  It's real in your conspiracy-ridden mind. Biomedical research doesn't equate bioweapon research. I would use Covid-19 vaccines as an example, but I have a hunch that you think the virus and the vaccines are bioweapons, too.
    1
  25553. What have these people in particular sown? Should I hold you responsible for the crimes against humanity committed by the Lord's Resistance Army?
    1
  25554.  @Meeko2689  The EU is a direct economic competitor to the US. If your claim is correct, don't you think it would be in the US' interest 'not to be' with the EU?
    1
  25555.  @-KillaWatt-  If Ukraine were to repay Russia in kind and target Russian civilians with cruise missiles, what difference would it make militarily? When Ukraine liberates the next village in the Donbas, how would murdering the villagers willy-nilly further their cause? Sun Tzu would laugh at your armchair generalship.
    1
  25556. So, you're decrying the lack of unity on this planet. Have you considered moving to another?
    1
  25557.  @Emily7778  Mitläufer much?
    1
  25558. The mortarmen still got lucky in that their target stopped moving at the right spot. Hitting a moving target requires impeccable timing.
    1
  25559.  @ABC.947-y3i  That depends on the firing distance. We already had digital fire-control systems in mid-eighties, when I trained as a forward observer. I'm sure the Ukrainians have them, too.
    1
  25560. Let's carve out spheres of influence again. It's 1945 after all.
    1
  25561.  @marksimpson6387  The concern is that Trump has concocted a surrender plan instead of a peace plan. Considering his previous dealings with the Taliban in Afghanistan, that's an entirely feasible outcome.
    1
  25562.  @RedRocketthefirst  Party poopers such as yourself are encouraged to stay away from Belgium.
    1
  25563.  @uffa00001  We should be buying Canadian products, too, if only to thumb our noses at Trump. I'll make sure to get some maple syrup and a six-pack of Canada Dry.
    1
  25564.  @contemporiser  So the oligarchs hold Russia to ransom and there's no way out. Not now, not ever. Sad.
    1
  25565.  @contemporiser  That's a cynical and defeatist attitude. It's as if you're saying Russians can only choose between bad and worse, since good isn't on offer. You're right, sensible Russians should vote with their feet, but all too often it involves crossing the border. It's known as brain drain.
    1
  25566.  @gerrymcentee981  Aw.
    1
  25567.  @patriot85873  Take English lessons for six years and get back to me. In English, in case you couldn't figure that one out.
    1
  25568.  @polyverse1  Russia, a superpower? It barely makes the grade as a regional power. With its economy in shambles, Russia can only suck Africa dry. There won't be any investment. China, on the other hand, will gladly invest, but only to suck Africa even drier. I've seen the Chinese operate in East Africa with my very own eyes. Where we employed locals in road construction, they brought in their own. We considered it development aid, the Chinese provided loans. We even fed their workers at times, till their Chinese bosses put a stop to it. Vast tracts of their roads washed away, leaving the East Africans only with loans to repay.
    1
  25569.  @Serge-cm5my  You're being a bit fanciful there. Singaporeans openly attribute the birth of their nation to Sir Stamford Raffles establishing a trading post there. The vast majority of the population, who're ethnic Chinese, had their ancestors flock there during colonial times. Even with the staggering economic progress that they've witnessed post-independence, many elderly Singaporeans remember British rule fondly.
    1
  25570.  @DOBERMAN715  The EU doesn't have the boots on the ground to deal with the immediate consequences of a pandemic like Covid-19, and why should it? That's what national health and emergency services are for. You're very myopic if you can't see that all EU members -- not just Germany and France -- took their fate into their own hands and dealt with the crisis. You're making up stories.
    1
  25571. +CrazyMonkey1208 Nope, it's still there. Upright and with small arms, but still readily identifiable as a swastika.
    1
  25572. Maak dat de kat wijs, Poetin-NSB'er.
    1
  25573. Russia is in a luxury position enemy-wise. It has 141 countries to consider as enemies.
    1
  25574. stuipidlamb, the Syrian army launched their missiles blind in the hope that they would pick up a cruise missile in flight. It served to keep up morale, but the military value of such tactic is entirely theoretical.
    1
  25575. ALX, the blindly-fired missiles would be the rifles in your analogy. Missiles that rely on an on-board homing system alone have a very narrow detection cone. According to eyewitnesses, the Syrian AA missiles zig-zagged, which is a last-ditch effort to locate a target, but it's rather like trying to find the quail in your analogy by peering through a toilet paper tube. I think the Syrians knew they weren't going to hit anything, but they decided to make a good show of it anyway.
    1
  25576. ALX, I'd rather not get into a politically-biased conversation about whose credibility trumps whose. Suffice it to say, Russia pays scant regard to the truth, while the US makes an effort. Let's just concentrate on weapons capabilities, shall we? Ships have what is called point air defence. Rather than try to cover a large area, they defend against aerial threats in their immediate vicinity with short-range missiles and CIWS -- typically for self-defence purposes only. Assad's forces have something similar in the Pantsir, but they can't possibly place one next to each conceivable target. BTW, the Pantsir doesn't fire its missiles blindly either since they lack a homing system of their own. No blind volleys, in other words.
    1
  25577. Let's fill St. Peter's with folding beds.
    1
  25578.  @supafoob4528  Luck doesn't enter into it. France just jacked itself up to second place as a global arms exporter. Germany comes in fifth place, but since third and fourth-place exporters Russia and China aren't getting any European orders, they aren't contenders.
    1
  25579. I wouldn't go quite that far. He stumbles from one scandal into another and when confronted, hints at abdicating. I wish he would.
    1
  25580. For Europe with its parliamentary systems and proportional representation, it's comme d'habitude. The French just need to learn from their neighbours how to bring two blocs together to form a successful coalition government. I expect political consultants are already salivating. The Belgians are particularly adept at forming seemingly impossible coalitions.
    1
  25581. ​ @joejohnson6327  Mélenchon is publicly pushing Macron to let his leftist bloc form a government. Knowing the outcome of the election, what else can it be than a coalition government? Which one do you think they'll approach, RN or Macron's Ensemble?
    1
  25582.  @petermizon4344  Yup, don't provoke Iran or they'll start killing their own.
    1
  25583.  @americanclip03proud  I assure you, my knowledge needs no extending in this matter. But you, since you brought up "Facts [sic]", you may want to expand on this "Agreement [sic]" that you "believe" was signed in 2014 and which "does not allow NATO to expand their Territories [sic]". This time, be specific. I'm holding my breath. Not.
    1
  25584. So, Russia installed Trump and Xi installed Biden? Just an idea, but you may want to install the next one yourselves.
    1
  25585.  @Congtrihayankeomut  EU companies set up shop in the US to address the US market because of trade tariffs. Airbus is a case in point. It's a public secret that Airbus customers, other than US customers who have no choice, specifically ask for their jetliners to be manufactured in Europe, not the US. Boeing's quality problems provide a hint.
    1
  25586. Zou je niet beter naar Hongarije emigreren?
    1
  25587.  @Jan-ln4no  In één woord: zwak.
    1
  25588.  @bumbalm2654  Ja, maar Google laat alles door en ordent niks. Het kan gebeuren dat je als complotdenker per ongeluk op de waarheid stuit en dat als een complot gaat doorbazuinen. Dan is je geloofwaardigheid toch helemaal naar de knoppen?
    1
  25589. International popularity and domestic popularity don't necessarily go hand in hand. Trump is a case in point.
    1
  25590.  @ayonibrahim9985  Most Palestinians can trace back their origins to the ancient Israelites. Israeli genetists readily admit that Palestinians as a people are closely related.
    1
  25591.  @BR-KK  That does not compute.
    1
  25592. Don't flatter yourselves. It's Putin and his Russia that are fooked now, together with Hungary and Slovakia.
    1
  25593. Ruscia sounds more Latin.
    1
  25594. On the payroll as in doing Iran's bidding, no, but I supposed Hamas has a stipend from Iran.
    1
  25595. Maybe there's a more appropriate place for you to explore your wild fantasies.
    1
  25596.  @traceurGeorge  Unions come in many shapes and sizes. EU members are independent; no one is making such a claim about Scotland re. the UK. Why all the fuss otherwise? Creaking at the seams? Struggling? It's the UK that has been hardest hit, both with regard to the coronavirus and, of course, Brexit.
    1
  25597. The way in which we treat minorities is the measure of civilization of a society. I believe that's from Mahatma Gandhi's pen.
    1
  25598.  @fredburgessea4925  The country dialling code is +7.
    1
  25599.  @fredburgessea4925  The panicky Russians will mistake your carrier pigeon for a Ukrainian drone and shoot it down, just like they did to the Azeri passenger jet. Better go see Pootie-Poot personally. And no need to hurry back.
    1
  25600.  @rouz0  That's a non-argument. Chinese companies held mining concessions in Afghanistan long before the Taliban regained power, yet all the while, they managed to achieve next to nothing. China wasn't nor is now targeted by Western sanctions, so they are no excuses. Diplomacy and compromise don't help when the security situation in Afghanistan remains what it is.
    1
  25601.  @tamjansan1154  The West tricked Afghanistan? The post-Taliban Karzai government awarded the bulk of Afghanistan's oil and mining concessions to Chinese companies. It seems China tricked Afghanistan, since China has almost entirely failed to exploit them.
    1
  25602.  @rouz0  Uh, TL;DR.
    1
  25603.  @Anitha0.1.0  North Korea may ramp up its production of artillery shells to satisfy Russian demand, since it has little else to trade with, but the rest of Russia's supposed allies won't risk further sanctions. Moreover, it's in China's interest to see Russia weaken further, so it grows ever more dependent on China. Xi relishes having a neo-colony in Russia.
    1
  25604.  @alaric_  They really suffered at the polls this time. If you ask me, a "green party" is surplus to requirements.
    1
  25605.  @crocodiledundee8141  No, whataboutism is an old excuse for practically everything. Especially the Communists resorted to it. At best it translates to "OK, we suck, but we think we suck less than you". I went to school and studied history in Belgium, so I think I've forgotten more about Leopold II mismanaging his private little fiefdom in Africa than you've ever known.
    1
  25606. So you believe the West will follow the East's lead?
    1
  25607. A Dutchman trolling for Russia?
    1
  25608. Where's the harm in understanding what Islam is about? Or do you harbour some insane fear that pupils will immediately convert when they come into contact with Islam?
    1
  25609.  @rudeboyforlife2909  It's not a tit-for-tat thing. Besides, I'm agnostic, so I don't need to pit Christianity against Islam or any other religion for that matter. But I understand you do, and I suspect your motives have nothing to do with religion.
    1
  25610.  @nsodin1818  Are your Norse Gods going to help you? Don't forget them meds.
    1
  25611.  @nsodin1818  Nope, as Nordic as they come. And which part of "agnostic" don't you understand?
    1
  25612. The Rastafaris beg to disagree.
    1
  25613. So it goes, on and on and on. The tit-for-tats never end.
    1
  25614.  @gencoglu  I rest my case.
    1
  25615.  @gencoglu  You do know, right, that you're asking to get your cheek slapped by perpetuating this ever-lasting cycle of violence? What goes around comes around. I saw it with my own eyes in Kosovo, while trying to keep the Kosovars from exacting revenge on the Serbs. It was like mopping the floor with the water running.
    1
  25616.  @gencoglu  You said it yourself. These cycles will never end. A self-fulfilling prophecy. Since you brought it up, the EU is a prime example of a peace project gone right. Germany and France were once sworn enemies. Now they're the best of friends. NATO, too, deserves credit for making world wars a thing of the past. Also, without it, Azerbaijan would still be a Soviet republic.
    1
  25617.  @gencoglu  Opinion polls show that the majority of the Brits are already regretting Brexit. And an often-fractious EU-27 sailed through the Brexit negotiations as through a storm in a teacup, which it was, an English teacup. So, what's going to bring about the demise of the EU? We should make you pay a euro for every time you predict the end of the EU. We would be richer still.
    1
  25618. Israel doesn't intend to stay. Compare it to Ukraine's incursion of Kursk. Ukraine, unlike Russia, isn't out for Lebensraum.
    1
  25619.  @claudio1010  Phone? You haven't heard of computers? We pretty much defined the modern mobile phone, but I prefer a full keyboard when countering pitiful bots like you.
    1
  25620. Which referendum are you referred to? I must've missed the whole thing.
    1
  25621.  @Daniella162  So there's no credible evidence behind your claim that Russia is "democratically loved by Malian people [sic]". You made it up, in other words.
    1
  25622. Both Finland and Sweden would've preferred a European military alliance to NATO. Something to do with US and UK military adventurism, as witnessed in Iraq.
    1
  25623.  @kongthai..  Ukraine wins a defensive victory by booting out the Orcs from Ukraine. Russia will sue for peace. It will whinge about the terms, but agrees to pay up eventually. Russians can liberate Moscow themselves if they so choose, but more likely, a new dictator will emerge to take Putin's place. There, I didn't need tea leaves to predict the future.
    1
  25624.  @MrErnestsKarlsons  You're full of it. The UN General Assembly vote is the closest we have to international law. Also, in 1994, Russia agreed to respect Ukraine's existing borders. If Russia's annexations are "absolutely legal" as you bombastically claim, why do only the Norks and the Syrians recognise them as Russian territory?
    1
  25625. Is it? A great many Trump voters maintain that the USA is a republic rather than a democracy.
    1
  25626.  @cfwin1776  Funny. We're in the West and we just recognised Palestine's statehood. The Israeli ambassador went home to cry for a bit.
    1
  25627.  @andyn6266  Duh. Trump couldn't keep Nancy Pelosi and Nikki Haley apart. If that isn't a senior moment, I don't know what is.
    1
  25628. Disfunction? Destruction? Suction?
    1
  25629. I wonder where they are going to put the plaque that says the bridge was renovated with our EU money. Underwater?
    1
  25630. Say goodbye to your computer chips then.
    1
  25631. I thought you started calling them Freedom fries when you embarked on your Iraq War adventure with the ever-elusive WMDs.
    1
  25632.  superfuresh  Whatever. A Yank all the same.
    1
  25633. And the problem with that is...?
    1
  25634. His fellow party members beg to differ.
    1
  25635.  @sanyasuk.8003  Oh, British resistance to Russian aggression is crumbling after Johnson's downfall. Got ya.
    1
  25636.  @einfobd9546  You didn't get the meme. Google "Soviet Russia".
    1
  25637. Perhaps Turkey should try if it could partner with Russia in reviving the dead-but-unburied Su-57 programme after the Indians grew exasperated with it and bowed out.
    1
  25638. Sure, we're all dumbfounded at your dumbness.
    1
  25639. Voicing concern for the humanitarian situation in Gaza, calling on Israel to exercise restraint and demanding a two-state solution -- which Netanyahu absolutely hates -- are a waste of time in your book? You must be on Netanyahu's side.
    1
  25640.  @MrGolov-te5eb  There's an inconsistency in Orban wanting EU grants but not wanting to play by EU rules. Off with freeloaders.
    1
  25641.  @MrGolov-te5eb  The EU is a not a state, silly. It's a supranational union. You're embarrassing yourself.
    1
  25642.  @MrGolov-te5eb  Sorry, I'm not doing conspiracy theories.
    1
  25643.  @MrGolov-te5eb  It's funny that you spontaneously bring up delusions. I'll interpret it as a Freudian slip/Reaktionsbildung.
    1
  25644. He's just a messenger. There's a precedent in Comical Ali, who was briefly detained and then released without being charged. That's pretty much the last the world heard of him.
    1
  25645.  @galemartin9155  Touchy! Poor self-esteem much?
    1
  25646. That would set a precedent for the other British Overseas Territories. Their inhabitants, once in possession of a newly-minted British passport, would flood Britain.
    1
  25647.  @joecat4892  I'm sure you're proficient with Google and Wikipedia. The latter puts the total British overseas population at 272,256.
    1
  25648. That's your conclusion. Maybe he just got tired of being on the lam.
    1
  25649. Uh, the French have had her much longer than Trump's been around politicking.
    1
  25650.  @PropagandaBurnerV  What is "my tribe", pray tell? In all honesty, have you ever read anything that I have posted about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Scour the comment sections of relevant videos and you'll know.
    1
  25651.  @426dfv  So which foreign power is trying to pry Catalonia loose from Spain? I don't see any foreign actors facilitating the break-up of the UK either.
    1
  25652.  @426dfv  Because it's not the EU's business to get involved in Spain's domestic affairs. In other words, there's no foreign actor prying Catalonia loose from Spain. So Catalonia's situation is not all comparable to that of Donbas, where another country, Russia, is stoking war no less. The Scots already had one referendum about independence, but I can't see why they can't have another. I have to say, I'm a bit baffled by your (lack of) logic.
    1
  25653.  @426dfv  Human rights are a global concern. And it's not like the EU is advocating independence for Xinjiang. The EU had no missions in Afghanistan or Libya. You should read up on who's doing what and where. All the information is available online. Or is comprehending it a challenge for you?
    1
  25654.  @426dfv  Indyref2 is not nixed. UK governments come and go, and I think the Tories are a go after mismanaging Brexit so profoundly. Also, the SNP didn't do itself any favours by touting 2014's indyref1 as a once-in-a-generation affair. Northern Ireland has its border poll, which will conclusively decide its fate. Ireland is very civil in the matter despite the historic injustice that needs setting right. ROI just has to bide its time. NI's demographic development is clear. Your attempts at drawing parallels between East Ukraine and Catalonia etc. are a complete miss, I'm afraid.
    1
  25655. They need more plots for prime real estate?
    1
  25656.  @Micha-tl2zi  Lead by example. Not for my benefit, mind you. I've been twice.
    1
  25657. It'll be fun to see all the strings attached. The UK may have to forget about a free trade deal with China if it is to have one with the US. Oil is a commodity, by the way.
    1
  25658.  @africaisking7817  Only Eritrea and Mali stand with Russia. The two represent less than 5% of the Africans.
    1
  25659.  @felipe-vibor  74% of the world's nations officially "have a problem" with Russia. And that's an irrefutable fact.
    1
  25660.  @OleOlesen-gl9ob  It cracks me up that a useful id*ot -- and supposedly a Danish one -- claims that democratically speaking, the world supports an notoriously undemocratic, warmongering regime. Give up your charade already, Ivan.
    1
  25661. Trump just suspended foreign development aid. China to the rescue, eh?
    1
  25662.  @luci75d76  Your Saint Petersburg troll factory is with Ukraine? Nice to know.
    1
  25663.  @BrotherLove187  Make it official, Trump capitulates to Putin. Putin only has to wait for the USA's will to resist evil to break.
    1
  25664. But America doesn't want you as an ally. American wants you as a subordinate.
    1
  25665. ​ @sniperviper4922  I can see why you'd rather talk about battles than wars when you feel like boasting about US military victories. <Cough>Vietnam War<cough>Iraq War<cough>War in Afghanistan<cough>
    1
  25666. Have you been into conspiracy theories for long? Ever thought of seeking help?
    1
  25667. As Veep she has more time for campaigning.
    1
  25668.  @azurebadger  Again? I've not had the (dubious) pleasure of making your acquaintance.
    1
  25669. Putin hoped and prayed that the world would forget about Navalny, but no such luck. On the contrary, Navalny was attracting more and more attention. So once again, Putin went for his dog-eared KGB handbook, which isn't very imaginative in these matters.
    1
  25670.  @reallymakesyouthink  I suppose you're right, even the practically non-existent opposition sucks to some degree in Russia. But everything is relative. Putin takes the cake.
    1
  25671.  @filrabat  What I'm trying to demonstrate -- vainly in your case -- is that police brutality and race riots are anything but new in the US. No surprises there, not for the Germans, nor anyone else for that matter.
    1
  25672. Me thinks you're trying to compensate for the ignominy of retreating from yet another unpopular war. Leave off the military adventurism and there'll be no "global agenda."
    1
  25673. So you used the opportunity to promote Islamophobia. Couldn't help yourself, eh?
    1
  25674. OK, conspiracy theorist.
    1
  25675. It depends. Netanyahu may try to prolong the war in order to stay in power. Peace is not his friend.
    1
  25676. What about whataboutism?
    1
  25677. It's eternally work in progress.
    1
  25678. Yeah, we're not an autocracies, where Trump an autocrat decides things all by himselves.
    1
  25679. @Alijedi1974 You would've loved Führerbefehle.
    1
  25680.  @oxidemeta7793  Comparing apples and oranges, dum-dum? Q3 does not equal 2023.
    1
  25681. Why don't you concern yourself for a change with Putin and the military mayhem he causes? It would all be over in a jiffy if he just called off his dogs of war. Are you myopic or something so that you can't see the real cause behind all of this?
    1
  25682. Trump seems to have a started a Trade World War, and he's fighting it on all fronts at the same time. Trumponomics...
    1
  25683. What exactly do you think Trump has achieved with his peace-making, except for his abortive attempt to help himself to Ukraine's mineral riches? America debased itself here in more ways than one.
    1
  25684.  @casval-pj5tb  My left big toe says it's raining tomorrow. There, just as powerful an argument as yours.
    1
  25685.  @lunatic_lad  Oh, China knows better than to go head-to-head with the West. It has already become clear that China isn't jeopardising its lucrative trade with the West by fully supporting Russia. China knows it can't have it both ways. If China leaks high-tech to Russia, the companies involved get added to the sanctions list. It's an easy choice -- Russia's economy is diminutive compared to the West's. That said, China is keen to strip Russia of its natural resources at a price that it can largely set. That's true neo-colonialism. Maybe there's some therapeutic value in you sharing your past colonial experiences with Russia. It won't ease their predicament, but they won't feel so alone.
    1
  25686.  @reekreason2082  You obviously fail to understand that Russia went through a rather drastic change when the Soviet Union collapsed. If you're really concerned about Russia, or more specifically, about its people, you wouldn't be supportive of Putin's Russia, but rather, you'd encourage Russia to democratise. Isn't India, as the greatest democracy on earth, supposed to set an example? It sounds like you feel you owe the Soviet Union, and that Russia -- personified in its dictator Putin -- inherited the debt and Putin can call in said debt as he pleases. Morality be damned, eh? What troubles me most about Indian foreign policy is the obsequiousness. It must be a throwback to colonial times.
    1
  25687.  @reekreason2082  That's load of crock and you know it, too. Russians and Ukrainians are much closer to one another in just about every respect than Russians and Indians, yet the Russians and the Ukrainians are at each others' throats as we speak. I have no problem whatsoever condemning the British and US for their past colonialism. As a matter of fact, we ourselves endured colonial subjugation far longer than India, but we don't make a constant spectacle out of it. Since you like to play the hypocrisy card -- and you're such bosom friends with Russia -- why don't you make them atone for their colonial sins and return all the artifacts they looted? Moreover, the UK and the US have decolonised, but Russia by and large has not. For someone who likes to play the victim card at every opportunity, you keep strange company.
    1
  25688.  @GamerOne_me  It's much worse than that. If war were to break out between China and India, Russia wouldn't provide any spares and resupplies to keep India's war machine ticking over.
    1
  25689.  @adityaajmera1963  So you're yet another Indian who reconfirms that India owed a debt to the Soviet Union, and somehow Putin inherited said debt and India will pay it off no matter what. It just reconfirms my notion that India is not yet fit to serve in the UNSC as a permanent member. You can't steer your own course because you're beholden to Russia and your morals apply to India and India alone. Sorry, we don't need obsequious navel-starers on the UNSC.
    1
  25690.  @adityaajmera1963  You level one accusation after another as if I were from... the USA. Well, surprise-surprise, I'm not. So, we're not on some acceptance committee for permanent UNSC membership, our human rights record is fine, we haven't funded any military dictatorships like ever, we were in Afghanistan to build girls' schools, in Iraq we trained the Kurds to defeat the IS, and we've never been in involved in any capacity in Bangladesh. Not only are you one to jump to conclusions, but also, you're a boring whataboutist.
    1
  25691.  @adityaajmera1963  We're not in NATO either, dum-dum. Don't you ever tire of whataboutism?
    1
  25692. ​ @catcat63527  Oh, puh-lease. We're neither Americans nor in NATO. Take your eternal whataboutism where the sun don't shine.
    1
  25693. Big-ass nuclear subs are far from ideal for the Baltic Sea. The Swedes know it, the Russians know it, but you don't.
    1
  25694. When you promise to dress in a lead burqa. We don't want radiation burns to ruin that complexion of yours.
    1
  25695. Your opinion is... noted <pfft>.
    1
  25696. The Golan Heights are littered with their wrecks. As a history buff, I envied my fellow UN peacekeepers who were stationed there. In our area of operations, in Lebanon, the South Lebanese Army was supposed to have Israeli-captured T-54s, but I personally never saw one.
    1
  25697.  Frank Miller  You've copy-pasted your message. How n00bish of you.
    1
  25698.  @Travi_mol  I'm sure Putin has a nice dacha prepared somewhere in Inner Mongolia, for when the excrement strikes the ventilation unit. There, he can ride horsey bare-chested to his heart's content.
    1
  25699.  @fadyNUFC  I'm glad we agree that Ukraine is winning. It's called a defensive victory. Cute emojis. Brave of you to embrace your inner child so publicly.
    1
  25700. How about if all Africans leave Europe? An abrupt halt to their remittances alone would bankrupt Africa. You'd better pray that it never happens.
    1
  25701. Isn't that an oxymoron?
    1
  25702. I don't think DW use such poor English. The Chinese pretending to understand Africa's problems, now that's what I call pretentious.
    1
  25703.  @KiwiImpactSaint  Indeed, Trump is a dictator wannabe, just like Russia is a superpower wannabe. Neither has what it takes.
    1
  25704. Finns don't like to talk.
    1
  25705. Ruudje toch.
    1
  25706.  @ianbarker1241  You're misrepresenting facts. HTS is not about to attack the Russian bases, because the Russians are leaving on their own accord. The Russians aren't staying, but evacuation takes time.
    1
  25707.  @ianbarker1241  "They are supposed to be quite open to them staying". Short-term memory loss?
    1
  25708. Russia has tried that already, offering to pay mercenaries from CAR and Libya to fight in Ukraine. Not a success, it appears.
    1
  25709. Pride features in oh-so many comments of yours. I'm starting to sense a fascination. Perhaps you should come out of the closet and join a Pride march yourself? You might find it liberating.
    1
  25710.  @savee1  Can't say that I am. But you're clearly in thrall of Pride. You're mentioning it in every comment of yours -- and there are a lot of them. Don't deny yourself! Uganda? It's the first time I hear of it.
    1
  25711. Ouch, Costa needs English lessons something fierce.
    1
  25712. We all know which army is the laughing stock of the world now. Need I say it?
    1
  25713.  @CorruptMediaLies  So the fact boy is, in fact, a lazy boy. There's nothing that you could educate me about, but I was hoping you'd seize the opportunity to educate yourself. Alas.
    1
  25714.  @CorruptMediaLies  Lazy boy, boasts about having all the facts, but can't produce them.
    1
  25715.  @azurebadger  I see you have a conspiracy theory in the oven.
    1
  25716.  @Balmorax  Try using Google Translate.
    1
  25717.  @botafogoa.f.6346  BRICS isn't exactly booming, apart from China. India is managing, but the rest are stagnating. But the point here is that BRICS is and remains a loose economic union.
    1
  25718. In the meantime, America got judged a flawed democracy in the international rankings. Go Trump!
    1
  25719.  @thewedge8823  No worries, The Hague will prosecute Putin. I believe a post-Putin Russia will even extradite Putin, just like Serbia extradited Milosevic. Serbia wasn't a member of the ICC's predecessor, the ICTY, either. What's the relevance of the USA here? The Hague is not in the US.
    1
  25720. So the ICJ clarification says all of that?
    1
  25721. The question is, when will the day come that a MAGAtard knows how to spell the verb lose? Trump would have to spend an extra 800€ billion on education, and even then the outcome would be uncertain.
    1
  25722.  @Shubham_Bahirat  Wasn't the Tejas to get the ever-elusive Kaveri?
    1
  25723.  @SenyorCapitàCollons  What a thoroughly weird comment. It goes without saying that "others respect them". None of those countries that voted in favour of said resolutions invaded Ukraine or annexed land from it.
    1
  25724.  @happymelon7129  ...chimes in the Orc bot.
    1
  25725. She's causing harm to Lukashenko's job security.
    1
  25726.  @cgray8267  Hamas is a minority faction. A wayward one, too. And "their people" haven't been asked lately if they want to be "theirs". It is said that support for Hamas was falling and that it wanted to avoid becoming irrelevant, hence the Oct 7 attacks. Maybe they're going out with a bang instead, but it begs the question if something even more radical will replace them. Israel is complicit, as it always has been when creating internal strife among the Palestinians. At one time, Netanyahu was very enthusiastic about Hamas, because it undermined the peace process that Israel had going with the Palestinian Authority.
    1
  25727.  @cgray8267  Aw, you're trying to shut me up. There's some Hamas in you, eh? Hamas ceased organising elections long after their initial electoral victory. I'm sorry if that doesn't gel with your theories.
    1
  25728.  @Cityforlife888  "Divided we fall" doesn't apply, huh?
    1
  25729. Above all, it's bad Nigerien business.
    1
  25730. Any suggestions how we could get rid of the conspiracy theorists?
    1
  25731. So, which oblast, republic or krais of Russia has disqualified Duntsova from running for president?
    1
  25732. You must be new to warfare. Whenever a game-changing weapon is introduced, the party subjected to it tries to mitigate its effect one way or another. The "game" typically changes several times over the course of a conflict. No one in their right mind claims that these are war-winning weapons per se.
    1
  25733. I'm afraid there's no story there. The OSCE was very thorough in their monitoring, and according to them, no deliberate Ukrainian shelling of civilians took place. Look, if you're going to persist repeating this canard, you finally have to provide some proof. The world is immune to Russian lies by now.
    1
  25734. Why the focus on France? Pretty much the whole free world is in agreement with reinstating a lawfully elected president, and if need be, under military coercion.
    1
  25735.  @tokio2032uk  *As well. Nice, you agree that the efficacy of Germany's anti-Fascist vaccine is very good indeed. I see a parallel with the BioNTech vaccine.
    1
  25736. Armenia put its faith in Russia, and a fat lot of good that did them. Uh-oh, Putin's sphere of influence is shrinking again.
    1
  25737. I'll ask William the Conqueror.
    1
  25738. TVO gets its uranium from Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia. Unless Putler annexes Kazakhstan next, Russia isn't in the picture.
    1
  25739. I guess some kind of gesture is needed to make it known that coup d'états are a definitive no-no.
    1
  25740.  @gadsdenflyer7353  Cute. Childish, but cute.
    1
  25741.  @darkmatter6714  Don't flatter yourself. I didn't fall into any traps. Rather, it seems you tripped over your own cleverness and tumbled head-first into your own trap. Actually, the Meteor first flew on 5 March 1943. The Gloster E.28/39 demonstrator made its maiden flight on 15 May 1941. It's painfully clear that the two designs are very different. I added "operational" to set the real fighters apart from the experimental ones, where the Germans also scored a first. I'll leave you to speculate about the reasons behind Britain falling behind in jet engine technology despite an early lead. Oh, and naming foreign kit is not a great accomplishment.
    1
  25742.  @darkmatter6714  Don't be sorry on my account. The Heinkel He 178 was the first jet to fly, on 27 August 1939. Neither the He 178 nor the Gloster E.28/39 were armed, so it's a bit of stretch to call them fighters.
    1
  25743.  @darkmatter6714  You're losing track. The question was whether or not the Meteor was the first jet fighter. The answer is a resolute "no". The Me 262 flew before the Meteor did. Even if you were to claim that the Gloster E.28/35 did qualify as a jet fighter, there was the Heinkel He 280 fighter prototype, which, likewise, wasn't mass-produced. The He 280 first flew on 22 September 1940, so well before the Gloster. I'm not German and I don't own shares in German aircraft engine manufacturers. Hence, it's inconsequential to me how things stand now in terms of market share. You were applauding pioneering British work on jet engines and you insinuated that it gave Britain a lead in getting jet aircraft off the drawing board, but no, Germany did it first. My factual observation seems to make you unhappy.
    1
  25744.  @darkmatter6714  You're unable to admit that you've lost the argument. That's stubborness, and it won't stand you in good stead. I have no problem admitting that Frank Whittle invented the jet engine. Yet it is interesting that the Brits proved laggards in applying jet engine technology when compared to the Germans. For reasons unknown, you can't admit the fact, despite crystal clear evidence to the contrary. I can't help noticing that you edited your earlier comment to include the He 280 and Caproni -- after I had mentioned the He 280. Don't you know YouTube sends notifications of a new replies by email? I can see your original comment, which makes no mention of the He 280 or the Caproni. Not only are you stubborn as a mule, but also, you're a charlatan.
    1
  25745. Good observation, but they should reimburse Putin for all the market-making he's done for them. I mean, keeping 190,000 soldiers on Ukraine's borders doesn't come cheap, not to mention funding the insurrection in Donbas. Then there's Crimea, which, too, has been a very costly affair for Russia.
    1
  25746. Russia fails to emerge victoriously from Ukraine, so it invents an enemy it can subdue.
    1
  25747. Luckily, France has only a semi-presidential system. Murica's is fully presidential.
    1
  25748. What about whataboutism?
    1
  25749.  @Алексей-я5т6э  No matter, if Biden had unlawfully deported children, too, the ICC would've issued an arrest warrant for him as well. The accused need not be citizens of ICC member countries.
    1
  25750. You're not up-to-date on things. There's most definitely such a thing as EU citizenship. Currently it's reserved for citizens of member states only, but the rules can be changed.
    1
  25751. That does not compute.
    1
  25752.  @ecrivailleries  You're oh-so right there. Ukraine easily bests Russia in the official Corruption Perceptions Index. Distancing itself from Russia helps Ukraine tremendously, because Russia's rampant corruption is infectious.
    1
  25753.  @Ворон-р8л  Let's see... Russia is in 137th place in the Corruption Perceptions Index (a lower ranking means more corrupt), while Ukraine is in 126th place.
    1
  25754.  @BeeGeeMan  Sorry, can you repeat that in English?
    1
  25755.  @BeeGeeMan  Did you fail arithmetic in primary school? Ukraine does better than Russia, by 11 rungs. It seems you didn't pay much attention in English class either. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalisation -- it's all a shambles.
    1
  25756.  @ericp1139  ...for being crudely and unjustly ambushed by Trump and his real-life Sideshow Bob, Vance? We saw staged reality TV that rivalled Trump's most successful business venture, The Apprentice.
    1
  25757. Some of your favourite far-right organisations are NGOs -- just saying.
    1
  25758. It's a mystery how republics get by without a crown prince and princess.
    1
  25759. I wonder which country would be hurt worse, China or the USA. My guess is China.
    1
  25760. Adherents of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a.k.a. Pastafarians, are incredibly brave as well. Utterly undefeatable, too. Don't we love sweeping statements.
    1
  25761. Don't attract attention to yourself.
    1
  25762.  @PropagandaBurner  Have two(!) potatoes for your trolling.
    1
  25763.  @PropagandaBurner  That's not a proper English sentence. Back to school with you.
    1
  25764.  @PropagandaBurner  Aren't you a weirdo. It's not about academic standards if you can't tell when to use "your" and "you're". Primary school, more like.
    1
  25765.  @angis888  Reading comprehension. I wrote "openly supporting". Practically all countries officially "deplore the violence" and "call for an end" to it.
    1
  25766.  @jerrylemmers2112  Don't make everything about you. It's frowned upon in international company.
    1
  25767.  @jerrylemmers2112  You're only capable of spouting cliches, it seems.
    1
  25768.  @jerrylemmers2112  I've got a masters in history, boyo.
    1
  25769.  @jerrylemmers2112  Pray tell, what didn't I learn?
    1
  25770.  @jerrylemmers2112  Learn what? And where's this "Gasa"? I'm starting to believe that you're a troll, who scurries back to his troll cave at the first sign of real conversation.
    1
  25771.  @jerrylemmers2112  In your paranoid mind, is lack of capitalisation also cause for deletion? You can't explain yourself and you call me a disgrace? A masters? I've got two, and three batchelor's degrees. Your education must be from the school of hard knocks.
    1
  25772. I bet they've fanatically rehearsed Korean War battle tactics. They're in luck, because Russia likes them human wave attacks.
    1
  25773. You'll need to rethink FPtP and the House of Lords if you want qualify as a democracy -- and neither has anything to do with the EU.
    1
  25774.  @grahamellis6029  Why, is there a EU constitution that prescribes that there needs to be a commission and how it should function, something of which you and only you are aware of? The EU commission exists as long as the members -- all of which are led by elected national representatives -- agree on it. Funny you should bring up political renewal. Did you know that the youngest British political party to form a cabinet is the 120-year old Labour Party? That's in stark contrast with, for example, France, where Macron stamped a whole new party out of the ground and won the elections with it -- twice -- within a 2-year time span? Needless to say, your FPtP system has led to severe political stagnation.
    1
  25775.  @grahamellis6029  You need to do your homework. The European Parliament can dismiss any member of the commission in a similar fashion to a no-confidence vote in a national parliament. The EP also approves the commission. The latter's appointments are prepared by national ministers, who're answerable to their national parliaments and ultimately, their national electorates. I have to say, you don't make a compelling argument for whatever you're trying to prove. Are you advocating that the EU adopts some direct democratic model akin to that (in a few cantons) in Switzerland? Do you realise that direct democracy won't appear out of thin air in the UK now that Brexit is finally over and done with? There's a reason why representative democracy is overwhelmingly the most common democratic system in use worldwide.
    1
  25776. ​ @grahamellis6029  OK then, describe to me in intricate detail how you, as a British voter, would set about firing, say, Boris Johnson.
    1
  25777. The UN should get on this and set up a Car Rights Council, akin to the UN's Human Rights Council (from which Russia was suspended).
    1
  25778. You make too much out of this "no propulsion" thingy. A party balloon lacks propulsion. Zeppelins were elongated and multifaceted structures. Go gaga over pictures of the Hindenburg.
    1
  25779. Coup after coup after coup.
    1
  25780. Simple-pimple. Her party won the election, and she was elected its leader. You should read up on parliamentary democracy, the dominant form of democracy in Europe. Quality-wise it dominates globally, too. 8 out of the top 10 democracies have a parliamentary system.
    1
  25781.  @CorruptMediaLies  Are you from a Communist dictatorship?
    1
  25782. Are you drawing your inspiration from Farage & Co now?
    1
  25783. It's Europe now that is warmongering? Your Russian troll friends blame the Biden administration.
    1
  25784.  @mondo_stunts27  I root for neither Trump nor Biden, so what is it that I am confirming? You should try to upgrade yourselves to a full democracy.
    1
  25785.  @WALTEKURTZ-wy1ve  It's funny, I haven't seen the EU failing to defend itself. Not that it has been attacked. On the other hand, I've seen the US getting involved in wars it can't win. Must be your specialty, lost causes.
    1
  25786.  @WALTEKURTZ-wy1ve  Correction, the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claimed by Greece has been violated. Greek territorial waters weren't. Interestingly, if Greek territorial waters were violated, that would trigger NATO's article 5, which would compel Turkey to defend Greece... from itself.
    1
  25787.  @TD-uh3wi  So you're saying Russia would not only sacrifice Putin, but also, itself? You can't hit one without the other, and MAD still very much applies. If the nukes don't get you outright, nuclear winter will.
    1
  25788. Simple-pimple. If they apply for asylum, they become asylum seekers. If they're granted asylum, they become refugees.
    1
  25789.  @Michael-dl2cf  I'm not a leftie. I just don't like the proto-Fascism that Trump espouses.
    1
  25790. Are you referring to British Field Marshall John French (1852–1925)? I'm afraid his army is no more alive than he is.
    1
  25791. Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Israel is warming up to supplying arms to Ukraine. That spells trouble for the Orcs. Turrets will fly.
    1
  25792.  @firstlast8258  And the Salvation Army is his army.
    1
  25793.  @halilt4408  When they get their ducks in a row, still developing countries tend to grow faster than fully developed ones. Something about all potential being carefully tapped in the latter, causing growth to plateau. Anyhoo, Erdoganomics soon put a stop to all that. Erdogan's wholesale crackdown on opposition forces with the coup attempt as an excuse ruined Turkey's chances for the foreseeable future, as Turkey's democratic babies went out with the bathwater.
    1
  25794.  @halilt4408  Be that as it may, as an EU member Turkey would've dragged the union through the mud its with dubious economic practices and coups attempts. What you call a missed opportunity, I call a dodged bullet.
    1
  25795.  @halilt4408  If Turkey had no appetite for democracy without the EU stuffing it into its face, it all turned out all right, didn't it? Erdogan can be true to himself, and Turkey isn't saddled with pesky institutions that it didn't want in the first place. You seem to ascribe magical powers to the EU, as if it could reform Turkey, without Turkey truly wanting it.
    1
  25796. An act of idiocy.
    1
  25797.  @mrudul4150  You don't know what you're talking about. Only if a nuclear power faces an existential threat, it will resort to using nuclear weapons. If there were to do it for a lesser reason, that existential threat would materialise by itself. Since the threshold is so high, there will be an awful lot conventional warfare before the nuclear option is exercised.
    1
  25798.  @ruslankazimov622  As a matter of fact, the US engaged in large-scale conventional warfare against the Japanese before resorting to nuclear weapons in 1945. The battles of Midway, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Okinawa -- don't those ring ring a bell? The geopolitical situation was, of course, entirely different in 1945 than it is now. Japan didn't possess nuclear weapons, so the nuclear option was indeed an option.
    1
  25799.  @ruslankazimov622  Sure it was large-scale. The Battle of Leyte Gulf is considered the largest naval battle ever. 300,000+ casualties is steep for US forces, who're not known to piss away soldiers, unlike the Japanese and Soviets.
    1
  25800.  Beeblebrox One  No, because this is sheer exaggeration, befitting a drama queen. You one as well?
    1
  25801. @verludgecun ulnj Who appointed you Master of YouTube, you silly megalomaniac.
    1
  25802. @verludgecun ulnj What is it to you? Are you the OP's sock puppet or The Guardian of the Univ.. I mean, Excitable YouTube Commenters?
    1
  25803.  @AJ-rg4nt  And another one. Try something more original than "no, you are!"
    1
  25804.  @AJ-rg4nt  Drama queens like yourself tote handbags.
    1
  25805.  @AJ-rg4nt  I can't help it that you're effeminate.
    1
  25806.  @AJ-rg4nt  Like most animals, we humans have a fight-or-flight response. It's common knowledge that, generally speaking, the flight response is stronger in females than in males. You and all the other drama queens here buck that trend. Hence you're effeminate.
    1
  25807.  @AJ-rg4nt  I see that one hit home. No bother, really, on my part. You, on the other hand, have trouble coming up with original material.
    1
  25808.  @AJ-rg4nt  No, it's over to you, dullard.
    1
  25809. The coping is strong with you.
    1
  25810. Poetin heeft net de genadeslag aan de Russische economie gegeven. Als hij een beetje slim was geweest, had hij net zoals de Arabieren nog de kas gespekt met olie- en gasinkomsten voordat het te laat is, maar nee, hij moest de economische ondergang van het land zelfs versnellen.
    1
  25811.  @Gienzer  Ik weet niet waarom je Amerika erbij moet halen, maar volgens mij -- en volgens alle economen overal ter wereld -- gaat het stukken beter met Amerika dan met Rusland. Ze noemen Rusland niet voor niets een benzinestation dat zich voordoet als een land. Aardolie en -gas pompen is zowat het enige waarmee ze iets verdienen.
    1
  25812.  @cryptocrypto8736  Poetin is druk bezig met het opmaken van de pensioenfondsen van zijn onderdanen. Even geduld a.u.b.
    1
  25813.  @cryptocrypto8736  Dat is complotdenken. Europa is Rusland niet, waar zoiets zonder slag of stoot kan gebeuren.
    1
  25814. Take your stereotypes where the sun don't shine.
    1
  25815.  @JoeyP946  Shoo then.
    1
  25816. Because Russian "gains" amount to "any time very soon".
    1
  25817.  @edwardsmith1060  Did you ever look at Pew's global popularity ratings for Trump? They were the pits, with only Putin and Xi doing worse.
    1
  25818. Oké, je hebt meer vertrouwen in een dictatuur dan een democratie die tot de top 10 van de wereld behoort. Rusland staat trouwens of 146de plaats.
    1
  25819.  @Ben-f6u6l  Putin engineered his own downfall on Feb 27, 2022. He's living on borrowed time. Soon, even the ever-so-apathetic Russians will realise this is not their war, but Putin's folly.
    1
  25820. I have a have a question for you. Whataboutism, does that ring a bell?
    1
  25821.  @CorruptMediaLies  You need to look up the term.
    1
  25822. So, you're here to toot your own horn?
    1
  25823. I wish China could apply its staunch morals to Russia's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, too, but no such luck.
    1
  25824.  @ChrisChiuDaily  Still more? OK, let's compare academic degrees. You start, friendo.
    1
  25825.  @ChrisChiuDaily  So you have zero academic qualifications? And you tell me, with my three degrees, to study more?
    1
  25826.  @ChrisChiuDaily  First, can you specify which level of education you do have, so I can adapt my response accordingly?
    1
  25827.  @ChrisChiuDaily  OK, I have a double masters, in political science and history, from a 600-year old university that ranks in the top 50 worldwide. And a batchelor's in military sciences. You start.
    1
  25828. You're like a caveman from prehistoric times who rejoices at the thought of standing on top of an oil deposit, one kilometre under your feet. It won't warm your cave, but it gives you a warm feeling. For your info, Russia is NOT self-sufficient. By now, Russia is utterly dependent on Chinese goods. To get the yuans to buy them, Russia is forced to sell its oil at a loss to China. It's not for nothing that Garry Gasparov quips about a Chinese province called Ruxia with a certain Pu Tin as its regional governor.
    1
  25829.  @dustintacohands1107  You're like Trump, who's calling the centrist/centre-right Democrats fascists, marxists and communists.
    1
  25830.  @emileemile8980  You're dreaming. Wilders just became a victim of his own success. Had the PVV gained second or even third-most seats, his party could've been accepted as a junior coalition partner. Yesilgöz already ruled out being subordinate to PVV and I highly doubt the NSC is going for it either. PvdA–GroenLinks for sure not. What remains? The opposition.
    1
  25831. Cope, wumao.
    1
  25832. The Houthis are a rebel group. They don't represent any independent country. The UN Security Council, which does represents international law to the best of our abilities, approved a cease and desist resolution against the Houthis. It paved the way retaliatory strikes, so it's fair to say the international support is there.
    1
  25833. And of late, these have been bitter memories for Russia -- sorry, I mean for certain athletes representing the Russian Olympic Committee.
    1
  25834. Not at all like the US, which has a presidential system and which, if you ask me, has too many powers invested in the president.
    1
  25835.  @liaja5524  Iran supplies Hamas. Why did you think it's Assad? He's on the receiving end himself. Just so you know, events like Oct 7 2023 don't come under defence, no matter where you stand on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
    1
  25836. Where could you find someone to surrender to? You want it badly.
    1
  25837. Let me guess, they'll fire a broadside of whataboutism.
    1
  25838.  @mahamadoutraore1077  You're slow on the uptake. All signatories of the Rome Statute are treaty-bound to arrest Putin if the Kremlin Gremlin makes his way to their country. The opportunity won't present itself, however, because Putin won't put himself in that position, as we've seen on several occasions already. Putin does Zoom and Teams instead. The Russians don't call him 'bunker grandpa' (Бункерный дед) for nothing.
    1
  25839.  @renekton1237  Putin is rather afraid of being arrested and standing trial in The Hague. Didn't you notice how he gave the BRICS summit in South Africa a miss? Keep up with the news.
    1
  25840.  @MuantanamoMobile  The UNGA has been consistent about the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Or do you struggle to keep the various UN organs apart?
    1
  25841.  @MuantanamoMobile  There you go. It finally started to dawn on you that the UNGA and UNSC are two separate organs of the UN.
    1
  25842. Maybe PM Modi can negotiate a circular deal where Russia gets a piece of China, China gets a piece of India (Ladakh?) and India gets a pat on the back for being such a good sport. After all, Putin needs more Lebensraum and Ukraine is proving too troublesome, India is keen to appease all and sundry, and China is wedged in between the two and can't appear to lose territory in the deal. They should give me the Nobel Peace Prize!
    1
  25843.  @adgeyuk9803  A bitter Brit chimes in. There sure are many of you, but fewer and fewer of you celebrate Brexit any longer.
    1
  25844.  @adgeyuk9803  What facts? Ireland's consitutional referendum isn't even remotely connected to the EU. You've developed a bad case of paranoia.
    1
  25845.  @TruthHurts93  What exactly is NATO's role in Israel? My NATO country banned weapon exports to Israel, when its retaliation assumed genocidal proportions. This is YouTube, but you can't just blurt out random accusations.
    1
  25846.  @TruthHurts93  Israel is not a NATO member, so nothing compels NATO members to come to Israel's defence. You may as well argue that the UN is siding with Israel because the USA is the single biggest monetary contributor to the UN.
    1
  25847.  @batanena  The Latinos in California may not agree with reunification with Mexico, but independence for California, that's an idea.
    1
  25848. Lunch? But the Ukrainians are having Russian Iranian drones for breakfast. 85% fall victim to Ukraine's air defences.
    1
  25849. China's mismanagement of the pandemic is a self-inflicted wound. No back-stabbing from the West here.
    1
  25850.  @zpervaiz7345  Nope, we were all well on our way to recovery while China was still stuck with draconian Covid restrictions. The interesting bit was how China abruptly reversed its policy. The CCP's instinct for self-preservation must've kicked in. Its monopoly on power overrides everything.
    1
  25851. I'm sure there was a military command centre at the very spot that got hit. Hey, the excuse always works for Russia, so why not vice versa?
    1
  25852. Mali, which is in the same boat as Niger, has seen a recent uptick in Islamist violence after the departure of Western forces. Going forward, it's doesn't bode well for the Sahel.
    1
  25853. You reek of Russian desperation.
    1
  25854. So BoJo is taking stock of British overseas territories that could serve as bargaining chips in the upcoming trade talks. Necessity is the mother of invention.
    1
  25855. Putin thinks peace means taking a break to rest, refit and resupply.
    1
  25856. The US has no say in the EU, funny man.
    1
  25857.  @mariaadelecagna3540  is not up-to-date on memes.
    1
  25858. Of course they did, and Israel didn't disappoint either. In fact, Israel willingly obliged.
    1
  25859. France needs to rearrange the deckchairs according to the Sixth Republic and return to being a parliamentary republic again.
    1
  25860. The West can't get away with the shenanigans China is pulling in Africa. We have democratically elected MPs -- direct representatives of the people -- who would call to task any government ministers suspected of neo-colonialism. The media would drag them through the mud, diminishing their chances at re-election. In China, it's all good. No one dares question Xi Jinping.
    1
  25861.  @lvjinbin28  Because in the traditional sense, a loan must be repaid. And because those who take out an unrepayable Chinese loan, can expect a nice personal bonus -- a nice nest egg for when they've fled the country.
    1
  25862.  @lvjinbin28  Why don't the Chinese do same? We do, in fact, issue loans on special terms, but that has less to do with traditional banking and more with development aid. The thinking goes that manageable loans provide a stronger incentive to care for and put whatever is bought with the money to productive use, so as to earn money and use part of it to repay said loans. The risk of the debtors still defaulting on their loans is calculated in. It can be profitable, too. Microcredit has been a success for creditors and debtors alike.
    1
  25863. Tens of thousands? An estimated 700,000 military-age Russians have fled the country.
    1
  25864. OK, whataboutist.
    1
  25865. You know whom to ask, right? Starts with a P and ends with an N.
    1
  25866.  @PredatorPeyami  Pray tell, which EU country participated in the Vietnam War? If you Krembots had two brain cells to rub together, you'd know better.
    1
  25867. That would not go down well with either country. Both Sweden and Finland have traditionally been critical of superpower politics, mainly with regard to the Soviet Union, but the US hasn't escaped unscathed either. Let's face it, the US has had a fair number of military adventures. You must've noticed how our resident Putin trolls tap into them when they launch on their whataboutist tirades.
    1
  25868.  @MrWhitmen1981  France has used soft and hard power in Africa far more successfully than your precious Murica.
    1
  25869. Ergo, Russia sucks.
    1
  25870. Not true, the Netherlands will never forget.
    1
  25871. As in Hungary blocking lethal aid?
    1
  25872.  @kamilfilipowicz  Sure, of all people, Hungarians should understand what's at stake. The question is, why do they tolerate a traitor like Orban?
    1
  25873. Please don't parade your fetish.
    1
  25874. Give us a taste of your wisdom, o wise one.
    1
  25875.  @yelenashishkina8804  Since you deem the Americans capable of such heinous terrorist attacks, why didn't you prepare for one? Instead, you just pooh-poohed the warning and went back to sleep, which proves that the possibility of an American attack never occurred to you. No, Russia messed up, and instead of looking in the mirror, you're slinging accusations every which way.
    1
  25876. The rule of law says Trump and his minions have no case.
    1
  25877.  @koya6470  Trump's extensive legal battle produced no evidence that the courts didn't reject. Isn't that fact enough for you?
    1
  25878. There's restraint involved when you approach a group that you're still officially designating a terrorist organisation. So, you have no scruples? No restraint whatsoever?
    1
  25879.  @rogerdiogo6893  Governments of either political orientation have been closing borders recently. How do you explain that?
    1
  25880.  @rogerdiogo6893  Try to provide specific examples. Don't be lazy.
    1
  25881. You're preaching to the choir. Russia has tried to take Odesa so they could hook up with their "peacekeepers" in Transnistria, Moldova's pro-Russian breakaway region. Putin's quest for Lebensraum knows no bounds.
    1
  25882. A conspiracy theorist of the Ickian kind! I thought you'd all died of shame by now.
    1
  25883.  @coindisk355  Ahem, the monarch reigns, but does not rule.
    1
  25884.  @throbbingfellow1136  It's hardly meaningless. Putin suddenly can't go to 123 countries, or he'll face arrest. For example, if BRICS organises a summit in South Africa or Brazil, Putin will be clapped in irons if he attends.
    1
  25885. En hoe is dat relevant? De Russen hebben amper Su-57's, een echt stealthy zijn ze ook niet.
    1
  25886.  @MixedRaceAndProud1690  Now you're just flapping your gums.
    1
  25887.  @MixedRaceAndProud1690  Aw, your overly fragile ego needs serious bolstering.
    1
  25888. That tin foil hat suits you.
    1
  25889. They'd live longer still if they left off the mad proxy wars.
    1
  25890.  @mer3abec  According to the conspiracy theories of you and your ilk, the CIA is so omnipotent that there's no need for deities of any kind. Best of all, blaming god for your misfortunes is a bit of a no-no, but blaming the CIA always works.
    1
  25891. You're no techie... where to start...
    1
  25892.  @markaxworthy2508  I'm not sure either feat makes the story "beautiful".
    1
  25893.  @markaxworthy2508  St. Patrick didn't invent the Irish. The role of Christianity in 'civilising' a people is overrated. We abandoned our pagan beliefs half a millennium after the Irish, but it hasn't hurt us none. It's also interesting that our would-be St. Patrick, Bishop Henry, literally got the axe after stealing food. At least he left the snakes in peace.
    1
  25894. So young yet so cynical...
    1
  25895. In truly democratic countries, we select our leaders in elections. In Russia, it takes revolutions.
    1
  25896. Дмитрий Cоколов, you can have all the elections you want, but being a proper democracy isn't just about elections. Russia scores low in comparative reviews, with massive election fraud and the notorious Medvedev-Putin "tandemocracy" cited as the main reasons. Public confidence in state institutions is very low and the people feel disenfranchised by the political elite. Free speech is curbed and the media are controlled by the state. Critics of the government risk imprisonment or worse. Will that do or do I need to go on?
    1
  25897. Дмитрий Cоколов, I'm actually referring to an EIU report from 2017, the annual Democracy Index. Their analysts have strict research methods and assessment criteria, while you have... your family. So Russia isn't the USSR, but democracy-wise you're in the company of developing countries, wedged between Rwanda and Zimbabwe in the rankings. To add insult to injury, many developing countries are making gains while Russia still sags from year to year.
    1
  25898.  @anantapadmanabhmyatagiri  Aw, you poor dear. Maybe the nonsense filter kicked in?
    1
  25899. ​@ Then it must be your dull wit.
    1
  25900. So why didn't Russia and China exercise their vetoes in the UNSC with regard to these ops? You're suggesting they're complicit. An East-West conspiracy, in other words.
    1
  25901. Stop it then.
    1
  25902. Bursted? Maybe you peeded yourself as well.
    1
  25903. Russia's love affair with nuclear weapons is taking on megalomaniacal proportions. It's like they don't have anything else going for them.
    1
  25904. Om nog meer oorlogen te starten?
    1
  25905.  @larsjohansson6542  Possible weaknesses? Don't be so hesitant. Call it glaring weaknesses in Russia's military strategy, command structure, competence, logistics, training, morale and whatnot. The mere existence of Wagner and the emergence of a bunch of mercenaries as Russia's premier fighting force highlight how rotten to the core Russia is. The whole world is laughing!
    1
  25906. Don't get your hopes up. You're stuck with an iron-clad duopoly.
    1
  25907. Finland en Duitsland waren inderdaad wapenbroeders in de strijd tegen de Sovjets, maar verder ook niet. Na de verovering van de in de Winteroorlog verloren gebieden zag Finland het voor gezien. Hitler was daar niet blij mee, en hij heeft op allerlei manieren geprobeerd om de Finnen verder te laten oprukken, maar Finland hield voet bij stuk. Op aandringen van Stalin heeft Groot-Britannië inderdaad Finland de oorlog verklaard, maar tot oorlogshandelingen is het nooit gekomen. De VS gingen trouwens niet overstag. Er was ook een geheime afspraak met de VS dat Finland de spoorweg uit Moermansk niet zou doorbreken. Zonder Lend-Lease had de Tweede Wereldoorlog heel anders uitgepakt.
    1
  25908.  @imcbocian  I know the answer to that one. Because whataboutism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
    1
  25909. "Steady advance"? 'Lethargic' is a better word. It took Ukraine 2 months to liberate Kherson, a city four times the size of Bakhmut. Russia's been trying to occupy Bakhmut for 6 months and counting.
    1
  25910. The CCP's insistence on abusing a world-class multinational such as Huawei for espionage is an own goal if I ever saw one.
    1
  25911. Still going strong, 432 days into Putin's 3-day special military operation.
    1
  25912.  @ruthlesstruth8639  Spare me the whataboutism.
    1
  25913.  @ruthlesstruth8639  You went off on a tangent there, like the good whataboutist that you are.
    1
  25914. As EU citizens, they were welcome everywhere in the EU. Now that you're pulling the carpet from under them, you'll be saddled with hundreds of thousands of needy returnees. A huge drain on social services for housing alone.
    1
  25915. Russia's been whimpering about the sanctions against them for years. The economy of Belarus is weaker still. And if Russia bails them out, theirs will go from bad to worse.
    1
  25916. But it's Russia that is losing by not winning.
    1
  25917.  @MarcinMoka1  Germany is going for renewable energy, with nuclear energy to smooth over the fluctuations in output. Germany aligning itself with Russia? You must be dreaming. But Murica pulling out of NATO has its merits. Isolationism, I presume? No more ill-considered military adventures then, I suppose.
    1
  25918. He is (or was) a member of the legislative assembly in the Far Eastern region of Primorsky Krai. Not of very high rank, in other words. Moreover, Putin's United Russia enjoys a majority, so the assembly doesn't amount to anything but a rubber stamp. Well, it's no different from Russia's State Duma in that respect.
    1
  25919. It appears to me that it's Russia that takes away its neighbours' freedom -- or at least tries.
    1
  25920. In the light of Theresa May dramatically resigning after failing to get the WA through and Boris Johnson stepping into the breach and getting it through with much fanfare, it's deuced odd that the document doesn't matter after all.
    1
  25921.  @summerrr1  Yeah, you can't compare a dysfunctional sports and culture club to a trade bloc of global significance.
    1
  25922. Go easy on the copium. Russia has admitted its retreat north of Bakhmut -- a regrouping, they call it euphemistically. Prigozhin isn't quite so diplomatic -- he calls it a rout.
    1
  25923.  @SPENKER52  The Russian Defense Ministry, is that good enough a source for you? Not only that, there's drone footage of Russian soldiers running away. That lends credence to Prigozhin's claim about a rout.
    1
  25924.  @SPENKER52  Now you're just being obtuse. Just go oogle it: "Russian Ministry of Defence spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Ukraine had launched an assault north of Bakhmut with more than 1,000 troops and up to 40 tanks, a scale that if confirmed would amount to the biggest Ukrainian offensive since November. The Russians had repelled 26 attacks but troops in one area had fallen back to regroup in more favourable positions near the Berkhivka reservoir northwest of Bakhmut, Konashenkov said."
    1
  25925.  @SPENKER52  You must be a n00b to YouTube. Links end up censored. You are obtuse. You could've checked it out yourself instead of embarrassing yourself, not once but thrice!
    1
  25926.  @jtruque  I have never understood why you Putin fanboys think this is a good argument. Mexico and Cuba have no interest in advancing the imperial ambitions of a hasbeen/wannabe superpower half a world away. Should they become agents of North Korea, too?
    1
  25927.  @ammaralmihyawi3538  Don't give away that the Turkish parliament amounts to a rubber stamp.
    1
  25928. You may want to consider not rolling out a red carpet for illegals.
    1
  25929.  @atxchaser  You need to take a cold, hard look at this electoral college of yours. While at it, consider becoming a true multiparty parliamentary democracy as well. If Trump were our prime minister, we would've had parliament convene on a Saturday and slap him with a no confidence vote. Trump would be clearing his desk by afternoon.
    1
  25930. Ukraine may sometimes push and shove the truth, but Russia routinely rapes and murders it.
    1
  25931.  @eddastrohmayer251  "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing". That describes Austria quite well.
    1
  25932. Why is practically every Indian immediately outraged by even a hint of criticism from a foreign entity, while domestically you have no qualms about bringing up the very same issues and criticising them in much harsher terms? Is there a submissive colonial mindset at play here?
    1
  25933.  @lostlegend9015  You're lumping us all together, as if we could vice versa lump all Asians together. The Brits are the odd ones out, Europe-wise. Most of us have no colonial past, or a colonial past in the sense that we were colonialised ourselves. You won't hear us crying about it constantly.
    1
  25934.  @lostlegend9015  Uh, I brought up India's past colonial subjugation as a possible explanation for the ultra-sensitivity to foreign criticism. You replied to me, right?
    1
  25935.  @lostlegend9015  There you go again, lumping us all together. There's still lingering resentment over once-Great Britain lording over Europe as well, be it more in economic terms. We don't follow their lead, especially now that the UK has distanced itself from the EU, to its own detriment. You're only fooling yourself if you think otherwise.
    1
  25936. Any high tech? Apart from an arms embargo (issued to discourage the CCP from killing its own people), it's Huawei and other entities with a connection to the Chinese military that are being banned from using certain high tech, and then only by the US. Try to stick to the facts, buddy.
    1
  25937.  @royj4359  You're the joke here. You cannot hold a conversation like a civilised person. I did not take a position on whether the US high tech sanctions against China are justified or not. However, they are real. What I wrote is 100% fact. I'm not even American, so your puerile whataboutism is doubly misplaced.
    1
  25938.  @royj4359  You were lambasting the West, as if we're blocking all high tech exports to China. I pointed out that apart from arms exports, it's only the US that's at it, and only selectively. Are you mentally challenged? What is it with you wumaos? You immediately break out in diatribes against the US no matter what the topic at hand happens to be. You have an unhealthy fixation with the US that clearly impairs your objectivity.
    1
  25939.  @Moamanly  Don't bother. The cowardly clown deletes his replies when he realises he's got no counter-arguments.
    1
  25940. Has Orban made way for Obon?
    1
  25941. You suspect Sporty Spy Girls are slipping in?
    1
  25942.  @satplm3011  Ah, you didn't get the joke.
    1
  25943. China is very thick with Pakistan. You'd think they'd protect Pakistan against Iran instead.
    1
  25944.  @sinenomine4540  Whoosh! NVIDIA's stock nose-dived, because investors -- unlike you -- realised that its customers need less processing power now, owing to DeepSeek. NVIDIA will still sell their kit, but less of it. Investors hate it when companies miss their targets. You should invest -- and learn.
    1
  25945. Putin could totally wrong-foot NATO by... withdrawing from Ukraine. Why on earth hasn't the 4D chessmaster thought of that?
    1
  25946. Putin's ego boost took on massive proportions.
    1
  25947. I think you just made a watchlist.
    1
  25948. But your ilk is known to drive cars into crowds. Charlottesville comes to mind.
    1
  25949. Oh dear, I caught a live one, a real fascist. No worries, you were on a watchlist already. Don't upvote your own posts. It's like masturbating in public.
    1
  25950. That's quite some fantasy you've got there. It seems you need to live it out. Oscar Wilde said it, they only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it.
    1
  25951.  @PlaYer-sn5or  Haha, it's not about what 1.4 billion mainlanders want. It's all about the wishes of 24 million Taiwanese. And Taiwan, being a top 10 democracy in the world, has exactly what it wants. But all is not lost. If China manages to climb up 146 rungs in the Democracy Index and pull abreast with Taiwan, maybe then the Taiwanese will agree to unification. Worth a try, eh?
    1
  25952.  @hiufgterde  Now more than ever, Russia lacks the technology to extract it. Also, as consumption plummets, the price of oil does, too. The relative high production cost of arctic oil will make extraction unprofitable.
    1
  25953.  @ravinraven6913  Russia already had its Vietnam War moment in Afghanistan. This will be its Fall of Berlin moment.
    1
  25954. Let's see Russia do a full mobilisation, including the sons of the oligarchs and the siloviki. That would be the end of Putin. The former all know Putin is to blame for Russia's military fiasco.
    1
  25955. Murica does protect its children. Scanners, armed assailant drills, armed teachers, backpacks with armour plates and whatnot. The obvious just escapes Murica.
    1
  25956. On the contrary, Orban was threatened with even more cuts to Hungary's EU funding. Orban is already running out of money to bribe his cronies, so the situation was growing desperate.
    1
  25957.  @lisette2060  If anything, blaming migrants for each and every problem amounts to neglect. In fact, it's delusional, just like 'samcooper2474' here.
    1
  25958.  @s.a.3894  Bad example. Turkey didn't get the F-35 on account of the S-400 purchase. But pretty much the whole of NATO buys Israeli military kit, for instance.
    1
  25959.  @orcho141  Not really separate. Russia pushes migrants across the border, who may seek asylum in the Baltic states, but anyhoo they're likely to move on to greener pastures like the UK, Germany, Netherlands and Scandinavia. The UK in particular is heaven for illegal immigrants because of poor enforcement and plentiful 'black' job opportunities.
    1
  25960. Incidentally, that's the same God the Muslims call "Allah". Christians have a claim in as well.
    1
  25961. Why do you bring up a near-namesake of Antonio Guterres?
    1
  25962. Wot, will Russia also use long-range missiles against Ukraine, you think? Wait..
    1
  25963. Don't get overexcited there. Russia's economy is smaller than that of Italy's. The UK, France and Germany easily eclipse both. So about Russia being a superpower: my foot. Also, in military terms, you're conveniently forgetting about NATO. Mutually assured destruction is assured if Russia ever tries to put is nuclear weapons to use.
    1
  25964. Bad Putin bot. I'll help you rephrase: "Everything is fair in love and special military operations."
    1
  25965.  @trumpforever6706  Thank you for calling me smart. You're referring to commodities -- have you ever wondered why they're called that?
    1
  25966.  @nklow88  35% world production of what, goods or services? Service economy, does that ring a bell? Guess which one, goods or services, the EU and the US excel in? Moreover, China, the undisputed global manufacturing hub, excels in final assembly, which adds relatively little value to manufactured goods. Yet there's a seemingly huge trade imbalance with China, but the Chinese manufacturers buy their high-value components abroad, which means the trade surplus doesn't stay in China. You should read case studies featuring the iPhone. They make fascinating reading, but it's cringeworthy if you're Chinese. Finally, multinationals are busily derisking, shifting final assembly to other low-cost countries -- at China's expense, and much to Xi's chagrin.
    1
  25967.  @izajahmed8863  I think you're being deliberately obtuse. Private lenders can charge whatever interest rate they see fit. It's a case of caveat emptor. However, government-backed loans to developing countries are a case apart. Often, they're forgiven, too, and we call it development aid. Keep your silly anti-Western conspiracy theories to yourself. Incidentally, your precious Russia was and remains the biggest coloniser of them all. The tsars used to boast about their territorial conquests, and demand recognition as a colonial power from the others. Soviet historical revisionism tried to erase that, but it only worked on you fanboys. Oh, and we have no colonial history. Never took part in any of it.
    1
  25968.  @izajahmed8863  Why would I lie about such a thing? I spent a year working in development aid in the early eighties, in Kenya's Kakamega county. We were building a road from Mumias to Kakamega. I can't find anything about our project on the internet apart from vague references to undigitized publications, so I'm not surprised you're not finding anything about the Chinese fiasco -- assuming you did try. I had left to do my military service when the rains came, but I did bump into a former colleague afterwards, who told me all about the Chinese fiasco. He was (he's deceased now) a born-again Christian who wished nothing but the best for all humankind, so he wasn't relishing it and much less lying about it. 2%? Like I said, we didn't charge a dime for our road.
    1
  25969. I think it will prove a valuable rebranding exercise -- for Russia. Moscovia sounds a lot better than 'rump Russia', which is what post-war Russia will become after a great many of its republics secede.
    1
  25970.  @pomka24  Will you Putin fanboys ever stop fantasizing about murder-suicide? It's what psychopaths do.
    1
  25971.  SPECIAL MILITARY OPERATION  It's not a nuclear deterrent if it can't be used. Are you very wet behind the ears?
    1
  25972. Brough to you by the greatest democracy highly-polarised duopoly in the world. Oh well, it's no longer necessarily a gerontocracy, with Biden still in the race.
    1
  25973.  @winsonip4447  I would expect France to impose the same condition were Turkey in the market for Rafales instead. Relations between Turkey and France haven't been particularly amicable of late. Moreover, Turkey has nowhere to turn to except the US if it wants its older F-16 upgraded. Who's claiming that the US wants to boot Turkey out of NATO? You're paranoid.
    1
  25974. Not quite, but no one wants to get rid of the welfare state. It's political suicide to state otherwise.
    1
  25975.  @pio4362  You do realise you're contradicting yourself, right?
    1
  25976. Slovakia says it's fine, Russia claims otherwise. Who's got more credibility? Hint: not Russia.
    1
  25977. You can't say anything negative and at the same time, you argue for more checks and balances? In case you haven't noticed, Israel's far-right government is busily trying to do away with existing checks and balances.
    1
  25978. That would be two. Official government languages, that is. And no-one's forbidding Russian-speakers in Latvia to speak their mother tongue.
    1
  25979. Look up "Realpolitik".
    1
  25980.  @glintongordon6811  We literally saw Prigozhin personally recruit inmates for Wagner. Your denial knows no bounds.
    1
  25981.  @luckywang141  Ahem, Russia has been beginning for two years straight now. And Russia was supposed to be ending after two days.
    1
  25982. Do you fancy him, Georgi?
    1
  25983.  @SPENKER52  You tell me. Are you Georgi's sock puppet, by the way?
    1
  25984.  @SPENKER52  It figures. Google is your friend.
    1
  25985.  @koiguidenishikigoi4972  Explain the trade wars between the EU and the US.
    1
  25986.  @eddastrohmayer251  Puh-lease, Edda, don't you ever watch the news? Or pick up a copy of The Economist or the Financial Times? We're engaged in a trade war with the US as we speak, with US tariffs on European steel and aluminium and the EU countering with tariffs on US motorcycles, jeans and bourbon. Especially now, with Trump planning to impose a whole raft of additional tariffs on imports should he get elected, the EU is making contigency plans how to respond, and respond it will. Between trade blocs, tariffs or other obstacles to trade invariably spark a retaliatory response, which is why we call them trade wars. Economically, the battle lines between the EU and the US are clearly drawn.
    1
  25987. Can't you Brexit them or something?
    1
  25988. Not Mars, but Point Nemo. Educate yourself.
    1
  25989. Not quite true. Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa can call themselves democracies according to the Democracy Index, be it flawed ones. Then again the USA, which often considers itself the bee's knees in matters democratic, is judged a flawed democracy as well.
    1
  25990.  @T9RX3  Wishful thinking, bud. Of all the African nations, only Eritrea voted in the UNGA against the condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
    1
  25991.  @T9RX3  Off base, me? This was a vote in the UN General Assembly -- it doesn't get more official than that. Face it, you've got no leg to stand on. Off you go, Putin troll.
    1
  25992.  @T9RX3  You're wasting everyone's time, because you're posting one comment after another without backing up your viewpoint with facts. I provided explicit proof that Russia is not popular in Africa. You're running on empty. Tro-lo-lo-lol!
    1
  25993.  @T9RX3  Don't worry, I have a double Masters in history and politics. I worked in development aid in Africa for two years. What do you have to show for? I see you still can't formulate a factual response in defence of your viewpoint. Tro-lo-lo-lol!
    1
  25994.  @T9RX3  Do I have to keep repeating myself? I wrote that of all African nations, only Eritrea picked Russia's side in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. I can't think of a stronger indicator of Africa's stance towards Russia than the UNGA. Many comments later, you still don't have a retort to that. Instead, you keep whining that you can't be bothered to explain and that I should educate myself. Did you even finish high school?
    1
  25995.  @T9RX3  OK, you're wholly incapable of civil discourse. You boasted that Russia enjoys Africa's support, but you can't defend your viewpoint in the face of compelling evidence to the contrary. So I was right all along. You're a Putin troll and a poor one at that. Most trolls have the presence of mind to run to their caves when confronted. You keep coming back for more punishment!
    1
  25996. Every sovereign nation could game the system and renege on international agreements that way. It's not a prudent thing to do, however, because it still amounts to dishonouring agreements in the eyes of the other contracting parties. It also suggests incompetence at amending domestic legislation to match what you've agreed to internationally. It's not conducive to getting future trade deals, obviously.
    1
  25997. rin3guy, cold, hard facts are irrelevant? You really are a conspiracy theorist, and a poor one at that.
    1
  25998. rin3guy, so facts fail you, but you have an opinion. Whoop dee doo.
    1
  25999. Is it a bad thing to donate to COVAX?
    1
  26000.  @jus0402  Keep your shirt on. I asked you, too. That's what a question mark means.
    1
  26001. You should be able to access the Democracy Index from Bharat, even if your ranking is 'meh', and more so than Murica's.
    1
  26002.  @ChipitaDraws  A 'flawed democracy', in fact, and Trump isn't helping.
    1
  26003.  @hack999casper6  Does not compute.
    1
  26004. Aren't you funny for even speculating about the possibility. Prigozhin is at best a robber baron.
    1
  26005.  @coin9007  We've pumped billions and billions of development aid into Africa, yet I suppose we're a Western country, or generally perceived as such. Unlike Russia does to this very day, we've never engaged in imperialism in any form. Aren't you generalising a wee bit, even biting the hand that feeds you?
    1
  26006. Hamas is a death cult. The real question is, how long will the IDF continue to be a willing henchman?
    1
  26007.  @peedan2  Leave the ad hominems for those who're easily intimidated. Of course the Taliban are trying to placate China. However, they aren't the most trustworthy of partners, and it's doubtful they'll ever manage to take full control of Afghanistan. Moreover, the Taliban have been known to harbour Uyghur militants in the past. China was even caught operating a spy ring in Afghanistan, which tried to root them out.
    1
  26008. Is it a first for India? Because we don't toot our own horn whenever we send rescue teams and truck convoys full of aid material.
    1
  26009. @paper plane Since you know so much about my government, tell me, which country does my government represent? You silly goose.
    1
  26010. @paper plane "Toot-toot," goes the Indian horn. As a matter of fact, we didn't run away. You're just fishing. And you're not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. I specifically wrote that we sent a rescue team and a truck convoy to Turkey. You need to work on your reading comp.
    1
  26011. Aren't the Russians slinking away from Kyiv? They suddenly realised they didn't want to take the city. It was an honest mistake.
    1
  26012.  @eioclementi1355  It was a British politician, Stanley Baldwin, who said "the bomber will always get through". In 1932, to be exact. At the time, multi-engine bombers could outpace single-engine fighters. It wasn't to last.
    1
  26013.  @eioclementi1355  Are you saying passenger jets are bombers now? Besides, you should see the cockpit doors they've put on passenger jets after 9/11. But I suppose air travel isn't your thing.
    1
  26014.  @eioclementi1355  *Germanwings. If you have more inane replies for me, please direct them to the bit bucket. Life's too short.
    1
  26015.  @eioclementi1355  B-i-t b-u-c-k-e-t.
    1
  26016.  @vanrex7682  Depriving the Azeri airliner the opportunity to make an emergency landing is possibly criminal, but the question remains, had it led to another outcome if they had attempted a landing in Grozny? It looks like the pilots tweaked the engines' thrust to keep the aircraft flyable, but it wasn't landable. If the shrapnel had pierced the fuel tanks, running out of fuel was a concern, but it doesn't appear to have run out.
    1
  26017.  @roll-outcommanders6520  Hah, 'comrade commander' reports for botting duty. I see you haven't improved. I also see you're an absolute n00b when it comes to Sun Tzu. One of his most profound principles is "the way to avoid what is strong is to strike what is weak." Ukraine's forces cut into Kursk like the proverbial hot knife through butter. Comrade.
    1
  26018. Jordan has oil shale, not oil. It's not extracted at present.
    1
  26019.  @ahimel  That's debatable. If the oil price shoots up, you're similarly affected.
    1
  26020.  @ahimel  You'd detach yourself from world trade as well. US oil producers want to maximise their profits, so you'd have to force them to sell their oil domestically at a lower price. Perhaps if WW3 breaks out, but not sooner.
    1
  26021.  @ahimel  For all intents and purposes, all freely traded oil is "our oil".
    1
  26022.  @FunnyBunny-pd5xx  If that's proof positive, Elon Musk is incredibly guilty of same.
    1
  26023. Your neo-Nazi sympathies are noted.
    1
  26024. Sure, Russia is going to hit another hospital in retaliation.
    1
  26025. Uh, we haven't forgotten the video from last year in which a Russian S-300 made a U-turn immediately after launch and smashed into its launcher. I suggest you pick your lies more carefully so as not to remind us of your own failings. If you didn't understand all this, have your troll factory manager explain it to you in Russian.
    1
  26026.  @joshuapaul2022  Cope harder.
    1
  26027.  @joshuapaul2022  I'm referring to the Alchevsk incident from June last year. Plenty of witnesses. "Josh", you're posting the same unconvincing comment about Keitel over and over again. That makes you a bot, and a sad one, too.
    1
  26028. It's said that every country has the government it deserves. It certainly applies to Russia vis-à-vis Putin. "Apathetic" doesn't begin to describe the Russian people.
    1
  26029.  @TheKkpop1  All your base are belong to us
    1
  26030.  @OoooOooo-yq9ks  You don't know your internet memes.
    1
  26031.  @thomervin7450  You're recounting Russia's bitter experience in Ukraine, which is the result of Russia's inability to conduct combined operations. In order to survive the modern battlefield, tanks must protect other elements and vice versa. The Ukrainians won't be so daft as to send in their tanks on their own.
    1
  26032. India just decided against ordering Russian military helicopters. The official reason is that they want indigenous ones instead, but who's fooled?
    1
  26033. Me, I wish China had freedom of the press.
    1
  26034.  @空戰英豪-簡柏丞  What makes you so sure? I'm in China as we speak.
    1
  26035.  @karldunne5595  The Nagorno-Karabakh exodus doesn't qualify as ethnic cleansing -- at least not yet. If the refugees are denied re-entry by Azerbaijan, then it's a different matter.
    1
  26036. Hong Kong was beyond help ever since the handover.
    1
  26037. Not quite -- you'll be getting Ye Olde England, a Dickensian open-air museum. The rest of the Brits will have none of it.
    1
  26038. Nothing says "special operations" about the way Russia is slowly gaining ground in Ukraine. Slowly but surely, Russia's artillery blasts everything to kingdom come, after which its troops timidly take over the bombed-out positions. It's a non-textbook application of scorched-earth policy if there ever was one, and one that won't endear them to the locals, regardless of their ethnicity or loyalties.
    1
  26039. Civilisation is but a thin veneer...
    1
  26040. I don't see that happening, but when do you think Russia is renamed Ruxia and Pu Tin is made its regional governor?
    1
  26041. It makes Putin see the error of his ways and pull back from Ukraine. And what did we learn from appeasing a dictator prior to WW2?
    1
  26042.  @DreamyCheshire-up9rf  WW2, as it became known, started with Germany invading Poland. You're playing fast and loose with facts.
    1
  26043.  @DreamyCheshire-up9rf  Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. These are the facts. Why are you making things up?
    1
  26044.  @DreamyCheshire-up9rf  What's your preoccupation with Warsaw? German troops crossed the Polish border on September 1, 1939. That provoked a declaration of war by Britain and France, two days later. In your befuddled mind, is the UNGA being a drama queen when it fusses over Russian invaders on Ukrainian soil, simply because Russia singularly failed to enter the capital, Kyiv? I'm sure you're very enamoured with your opinions about Western involvement in the war in Ukraine, but I have no use for them. Try to stick to the facts.
    1
  26045. They effectively defaced it.
    1
  26046. Any interesting new developments then?
    1
  26047. I see it differently. Letting Russia keep theirs was an epic fail.
    1
  26048.  @decus9544  Beggars can't be choosers. We could've made the IMF and World Bank loans that saved Russia's bacon in the nineties subject to nuclear disarmament.
    1
  26049.  @MWENDA-vv5im  You're just as silly as the Brexiteers. They convinced themselves that the EU would suffer more from trade disruptions because the EU exports more to the UK than the other way around. That may be true, but the silly Brexiteers didn't factor in size. It shouldn't have come as a surprise that as a trade behemoth, the EU can absorb far more punishment than the UK. In Russia's and China's case, the size difference is even bigger. If Russia ever gets into a trade spat with China, it's like a featherweight finding himself in the same ring with a heavyweight. Keep telling yourself that "Russia will be fine."
    1
  26050.  @MWENDA-vv5im  No, Russia wouldn't get itself into a trade war with China. China, on the other hand, may very well decide otherwise. Beijing may feel like punishing Russia when they sense a lack of cooperation or when Russia aggrieves them. I already hinted at China having placed tariffs on Australian imports when Australia pushed for a more thorough investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, but that apparently didn't register with you. Trade wars a Western thing? And you profess to know about economics? I just explained how China dragged Australia into a trade war. And you sound like Karl Marx when he suggested that Communists would always be the best of friends and would never threaten one another militarily. The Sino-Soviet split must've made Marx turn in his grave. Sure, China has a gas deal with Russia. It's a very lopsided one, too. Win-lose is a good description for it.
    1
  26051.  @MWENDA-vv5im  You said it yourself, cheap natural gas. Russia would get a better price from Europe. So yeah, China is already benefiting at Russia's expense.
    1
  26052.  @MWENDA-vv5im  Duh. Sure enough, Russian gas is cheaper to China than to Europe. China negotiated a very good deal with Russia -- a very good one to China. Aren't you aware that China isn't buying Russia's gas at market prices, but at a price that they agreed separately with China? Just like you, Putin has no business sense. A good business leader tries to maximise profits. Putin is literally stealing money from the Russians' pockets.
    1
  26053. Yes, Hungary and Slovakia can get their snouts out of the EU trough. But something tells me they won't when push comes to shove.
    1
  26054.  @RobDas-xl5ed  Russia is a spent force. They have more than their hands full in Ukraine.
    1
  26055.  @donnewton7858  Any lighter-than-air vehicle is subject to the whims of air currents, and very much so at very high altitudes. Propellers and the like make it possible to steer a bit, but it's akin to rafting, where you paddle to avoid the biggest rocks. Going upstream -- against the wind -- is out of the question.
    1
  26056. According to you, Putin annexed Crimea, because Ukraine would cut the water supply AFTERWARDS? Have you always struggled with telling apart cause and consequence?
    1
  26057. The trolls get to find out if the pen is truly mightier than the sword. Their call-up papers are in the mail.
    1
  26058. Vietnam is officially on the fence. To press the point, they'll follow up with similar overtures to the West.
    1
  26059.  @dandyally9983  Neither was Gaddafi killed by NATO. Which NATO ops in Congo and Somalia are you referring to? I have to ask, because I'm not aware of any. You trolls make the wildest accusations. Maybe you should stick to a semblance of the truth? Clear lies immediately rob you of your credibility.
    1
  26060.  @johndthomas6837  Putin's defensive efforts? Russia unilaterally trying to maintain a sphere of influence by infringing on the sovereignty of its neighbours is plenty offensive. As a sovereign country, Ukraine has the right to strike alliances as it sees fit. In a few years' time, when Putin invades Alaska, will you console yourself -- while you sit on your hands -- that Putin made his intentions clear years ago, so it's a legit move.
    1
  26061.  @rka-truthalwayswins5127  Educate us then. We'll try hard not to spray milk from our noses laughing.
    1
  26062.  @jasgoh2471  FDR must've been a real loser in your book.
    1
  26063. That would be out of the frying pan into the fire, wouldn't it? Murica is deeply troubled as it is.
    1
  26064. Direct your pleas to not-so-mighty Russia.
    1
  26065. No doubt she'll be disappointed to find even more democracy. And to add insult to injury, she wont't be confronted with archaic electoral systems and life peers in parliament. It's all downhill for a democracy-hater.
    1
  26066.  @michaeldunham3385  Join her? Brexit is a spectator sport for me as it is. And as I tried to explain -- unsuccessfully, I fear -- I'm already well catered to democracy-wise. Several rungs higher up in the British-compiled Democracy Index, we are.
    1
  26067.  @michaeldunham3385  What made you conclude anything about my convictions? I am a convinced democrat all right. You, judging from your circumstances, less so.
    1
  26068.  @michaeldunham3385  On the contrary, she's exercising her right to vote -- with her feet. There's much of that going around, especially in the corporate world.
    1
  26069. I thought the NWO was out and the WEF was in. And where did the Reptilians go? So hard to keep up with you conspiracy theorists.
    1
  26070.  @colehowe  Have you considered the fact that it's a permanent member of the UNSC that keeps sabotaging things? It's the same with the USA with regard to Israel. Put the blame on those who deserve it.
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  26071. Simple-pimple. North Korea, Iran and China are enabling a military aggressor that was condemned as such by the UN's General Assembly.
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