Comments by "possumverde" (@possumverde) on "CNBC International Live" channel.

@ModelLights mRNA vaccines are actually cheaper and easier to manufacture. They're likely dropping it because they got beat to the market by multiple other companies and possibly due to many people not trusting the mRNA versions because they don't understand how they work.
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It's one thing to riot and loot random cities. We have plenty of those and won't miss a few. It's entirely different to storm the capitol building in an attempt to prevent Congress from doing their Constitutional duty of certifying the results of a lawful Presidential election. The former is annoying. The latter is treason.
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If he wants to avoid the noose for treason, he's done. Otherwise, as Ren and Stimpy would say "The lord loves a hangin' that's why he gave us necks..."
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NATO, Russia, and Ukraine have a signed written agreement where NATO is obligated to come to Ukraine's defense militarily should Russia ever invade them, Ukraine gave up the nuclear weapons they had when they became independent, and Russia agreed never to invade Ukraine. If Russia didn't want to start something, why did they take an action guaranteed to do just that? Edit: and there was no provocation. Not even China buys Putin's bullshit excuses for the invasion.
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Appeasement never leads to peace. It simply allows things to fester into an even more damaging state.
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NATO has a signed written agreement to come to Ukraine's defense militarily should Russia ever invade. If they can't be counted on to uphold their agreements, what's the point in their even existing? They might as well be dissolved and their funding spent on something actually useful.
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And when that desperate claim, like those before it, fails to materialize, then what? Trump lost in a free and fair election. It's over. Let it go.
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They don't want him slipping out of the country when they charge him with treason.
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NATO is actually obligated to defend Ukraine militarily here. It was part of the agreement between Russia, Ukraine, and NATO which led to Ukraine giving up the nuclear weapons they had after becoming independent. If NATO wanted war, they have a completely legitimate reason to fight one. Instead, they've chosen to renig on that agreement out of cowardice. If they don't get involved militarily, they should be dissolved and their funding spent on something actually useful.
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An unarmed mob can be deadly enough on numbers alone. You'd fire too if you had 40 people coming at you...or be stupid and risk death.
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@natalieportmanfanbundlepla6060 Russian generals would end him Soviet style with a bullet to the back of his head before they'd let him do something so foolish. Comrade Putin may be delusional enough to see himself as the second coming of Stalin bent on reforming the Soviet Union through force if necessary, his generals however know better. They're placating him for now (much like Hitler's generals did) but when it comes down to it, they'll refuse any orders that will lead to their country's destruction (just like most of Hitler's did.)
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It won't. China's primary interest in Taiwan is as an economic boost. Were they to take it by force, they would have to do so much damage to it's infrastructure/economy that it would end up being an economic drain instead. Also, bringing them back into the fold would inject a fresh dose of democratic ideals into their society. That's the last thing the party wants to do when their economy is collapsing and civil unrest is already on the rise. Edit: Were they to ever reunite, it would be through peaceful means.
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NATO has a signed agreement, with Russia and Ukraine, to come to Ukraine's defense should Russia invade them. They're obligated to get involved militarily and if they refuse, they should be dissolved. Their behavior so far has been shameful and they don't deserve another dime of funding until they get off their lazy chickensh*t asses and do the job they're being paid to do.
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Jury's in on NATO as well. They have a signed written agreement to come to Ukraine's defense militarily should Russia ever invade Ukraine...Russia invaded Ukraine. NATO didn't respond militarily. If they aren't going to do their job and fulfill their commitments, they should be dissolved and their funding spent on something more useful.
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Good, historians will just add sore loser to the list of reasons for his being one of the worst Presidents we've ever had.
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They have a signed written agreement with Ukraine to come to their defense should Russia ever invade them...An agreement they've been trying to sweep under the table out of their pathetic fear of "escalating" things. They should have had boots on the ground in Ukraine within a couple of days of the invasion and Putin should have been forced to pull his limp...military...out of Ukraine weeks ago at the latest.
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Eff off troll/bot.
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Lol, no. Nukes aren't a concern here. Russia's generals will end Comrade Putin before they let him do something so childishly stupid that would only mean the end of Russia and it's people.
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When your opponent is doing a far better job of destroying themselves than you could, why bother getting in their way?
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@jimv803 He's absolutely correct. The Russian military is in no condition to take on NATO forces should they ever decide to uphold their agreement to defend Ukraine militarily should Russia invade. Putin my not believe it but his generals know it. Were NATO to go in, Russian high command would put up a token fight briefly and then back down (regardless of orders from Putin.) Nukes aren't a concern either. The Russian generals would end Putin before they'd let him end Russia and it's people out of childish spite. The whole thing's been a bluff/reaction test from the start. Raise the pot, and they'll have to fold.
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They won't use them over this. Putin might be delusional enough to want to but his generals know better. They'd end him before they'd let him end the Russian people.
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The Russian military is in no condition to spread it any further. If NATO upholds their signed written agreement to come to Ukraine's defense militarily should Russia invade, the Russian high command would make a token gesture at fighting and then quickly back down (whether Putin allowed them to or not.) The Generals know they can't hold against such a force and they aren't going to let Comrade Putin pull a Hitler and give orders that would only mean the end of Russia and it's people (like going nuclear for example.) They'll placate him to a point but end him if he tries to go too far.
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@charleslloyd4253 When has the Russian military really been tested? Until Ukraine, never (and in the action they have seen, they've underperformed.) People just transfered the Soviet military's reputation onto them when the USSR fell apart. The two are not the same. The Soviet military could get away with using conscripts and morale killing brutal tactics because they had Commissars up front to crack the whip. The Russian military kept the conscripts and tactics but dropped the Commissars. You can't win a war if your soldiers' morale is gone...just draw out the inevitable. On paper Russia should have steamrolled the whole of Ukraine in two weeks tops. In reality, they tripped allover themselves and troop morale ran out about 2 1/2 weeks into it. From then on all they were doing was long range artillery and missiles with the occasional airstrike when their air farce could canibalize enough parts to get some of their jets airworthy. They couldn't get their ground forces to go in and occupy the last cities they had besieged, lost a few generals who went to the front to play Commissar only to come back in a bag, and pulled back. Even pulling back they had problems as they were unable to maintain troop discipline and some ran amok. That is not an army to be concerned about. The morale issue alone isn't really fixable without reorganizing the entire way they do things and they simply aren't very well trained or supplied. Their equipment looks ok on paper until you factor in the piss poor maintenance it receives due to corruption. Very little of the funds allocated for their military actually makes it there. The bulk ends up in private bank accounts. Also, their tanks have a fatal design flaw that all the caging they can weld on to them won't fix (their auto-loader system has almost all of their ammo up in the turret which is not as well armored as it should be. Set one round off and the entire tank goes up.) Their army wouldn't last two weeks against a well supplied and structured NATO force along with the Ukrainian military. At least not while trying to fight on the offense. They might hold some already occupied cities for a couple more before morale issues ended things. Their air farce would be pushed out in a few days (lack of maintenance means they can only field a fraction of what they have) and their offensive ground forces would have to follow soon without air support. Anyone who thinks Russia would go nuclear if pushed out of Ukraine is just being silly. It would serve no purpose, and immediately cost them the few "allies" they have left. While pretty much turning the rest of the world against them. Russian generals may get their positions based on politics rather than merit, but I doubt many would be dumb enough to even think that would be a good idea. If NATO would just grow a pair and go in, it would be over pretty quickly and the way Russia is, Putin would likely be disgraced and possibly removed if he refused to step down. I'm curious, where exactly do you think such an army could expand the fight to once pushed out of Ukraine? If NATO simply held at the border with the occassional air assault to take out active artillery/missile launch sites in Russian territory, what then? It would be on Russia to attack and they would simply be stopped. Also, remember that despite being "allies" China and Russia have had an ongoing border war of sorts going on in the east for decades. Were Putin to pull anymore troops from that region than he already has, China might just decide to help themselves to some areas they've been eying for a long time. They're definitely not impressed with Putin or his military at this point.
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And break their signed written agreement to come to Ukraine's defense militarily should Russia invade them?
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And that is why you fail...
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Regardless, we're honor bound to get involved militarily. NATO, Russia, and Ukraine have a signed written agreement where NATO is to come to Ukraine's defense militarily should Russia ever break their agreement not to invade Ukraine. Russia broke their agreement. The fact that NATO sits there lapping up all their funding while refusing to do their job is shameful.
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NATO, Russia, and Ukraine have a signed agreement that Russia would not invade Ukraine in return for Ukraine giving up the nuclear weapons they had when they became independent. With NATO agreeing to come to Ukraine's defense should Russia violate their end. So far, Ukraine is the only one of the bunch to honor said agreement. NATO is obligated to get involved militarily in this. If they refuse to do their job, they should be dissolved. All member nations could find much better ways to spend the money they're currently funding NATO with.
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@igorm6944 I want NATO to uphold their agreement. If NATO folds to this bluff like they have to most of Comrade Putin's bluffs in the past, then there will definitely be a world war in 5 or 10 years. Everytime they fold, his position gets a little stronger. Eventually, he won't be bluffing and it will take an all out war to deal with him. Now's the time to nip it in the bud. NATO has a signed written agreement backing their getting involved as legitimate and Putin overextended a bit here and misread both his "allies'" and "enemies'" responses. A rare mistake. The Russian military is very vulnerable currently and nukes are not a concern (his generals won't let him do something that would only mean the end of Russia and it's people out of childish spite even if he wanted to.) If anyone is ever going to take a stand against Putin's efforts to remake the Soviet Union against the will of most of it's now independent ex members, now's the time.
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We'll be fine. Four more years of Trump's personality cult in power would have definitely put a nail in our coffin though.
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The same thing that would happen if he exposed himself...No one would see it as there's nothing there.
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@rons5319 Not a concern. Putin might be delusional enough to want to go nuclear over this. His generals however, will do what Hitler's did. Placate him up to a point but refuse to follow orders that would only lead to the complete destruction of their country. Putin's boys would end him Soviet style with a bullet to the back of the head were he to go that far into madness. They also know their military is in no shape to deal with anyone on more equal footing with Russia and would back down if NATO got directly involved whether Putin allowed it or not.
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Nobody would believe the media were they covering it. Turns out that there's an extremely strong correlation between survivors of Covid 19 (regardless of case severity) and the current surge in heart problems. I know quite a few people, including myself, who ended up with moderate to severe heart problems after recovering from Covid. Many showing signs of those problems before ever getting vaxxed.
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If NATO stays out, they will be violating a signed written agreement to come to Ukraine's defense militarily should Russia ever invade. They might as well be dissolved if they can't be bothered to uphold their agreements.
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@HarikrishnanGNair The payments for that oil/gas got frozen by the sanctions on Russia. So essentially, it wasn't bought, it was given to them by Putin's incompetence.
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NATO has a signed written agreement to come to Ukraine's defense militarily should Russia ever invade. If they refuse to honor that agreement, they should be dissolved. It's shameful that they gladly lap up the funding they receive only to renig on an agreement which would make their getting militarily involved completely legitimate for once...
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If they continue to refuse to honor their agreement to defend Ukraine militarily if Russia invades, then yep... They should be dissolved and their funding spent on something more useful if they can't be bothered to do their job.
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Russia's never going to give him acceptable terms and he knows it. He calls for peace so he can say that he at least tried. In the end, this will be solved by force of arms or not at all. Best case scenario would be putting it on hold forever like in Korea...which solves nothing.
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Russia, Ukraine, and NATO have a signed written agreement that should Russia invade Ukraine, NATO would be required to defend Ukraine militarily. It was the deal that convinced Ukraine to give up the nuclear weapons they had after becoming independent. So far, Ukraine is the only party that's honored their part.
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NATO is obligated by signed written agreement to come to Ukraine's defense militarily should Russia ever invade...If they refuse to do so, they should be dissolved.
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When it comes to personality cults like Trump's, there's rarely anything good to say.
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Not really. If a position required is vacant those in the remaining positions are enough (it would likely be a mess and end up before SCOTUS.) It's a waste of time in this situation though. By the time the process is completed, he'll be out anyway. Also, if he is removed in such a way, his cultists will just see it as more "evidence" of their grand conspiracy nonsense and needlessly throw a few more of their own on the altar as sacrificial lambs. We should just let him ride out the last couple of weeks in silence as a lame duck. Social media has been intelligent enough to prevent him from using their platforms to incite more violence and since he's all talk, that should be enough to keep his idiot disciples relatively docile in the short run. If not, law enforcement has plenty of bullets and body bags to deal with it.
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