Red Mosquito

Bammer wrote:Hey Argo if you happen to see this, because we really don’t have a better thread for it, any concerns about traveling to Ireland any time soon might be more relevant to airspace restrictions. Like, would your flight need to travel through Russian controlled airspace? If so, careful, don’t get shot down.

Putin says sanctions introduced on Russia are equal to a "declaration of war"

Rob wrote:There is so much about all this that makes no sense, unless you consider Putin has either gone mad... or? There was talk at the beginning of this that he's in his own bubble and not listening to (or allowing) dissenting opinions from anyone, even within his circle. At this point though, does that really seem plausible? He's been in power 25 years, , he's seen a lot. He's either mentally ill, or actually does believe his mission is to restore Russia to Soviet era dominance, and is intent to try (which is also insane). Nothing in the news ever stresses me out. Trump was ridiculous, but even he & his presidency didn't stress me out. This shit is stressing me out, though.

McParadigm wrote:

Rob wrote:There is so much about all this that makes no sense, unless you consider Putin has either gone mad... or? There was talk at the beginning of this that he's in his own bubble and not listening to (or allowing) dissenting opinions from anyone, even within his circle. At this point though, does that really seem plausible? He's been in power 25 years, , he's seen a lot. He's either mentally ill, or actually does believe his mission is to restore Russia to Soviet era dominance, and is intent to try (which is also insane). Nothing in the news ever stresses me out. Trump was ridiculous, but even he & his presidency didn't stress me out. This shit is stressing me out, though.

The simple truth is that Putin sees NATO as an existential threat to his country because his worldview was forged in a different world.

Beyond that, though, Russia entered 2022 in a position of weakness, with no clear offramp from decline. It has not in recent decades cultivated the industry or professional class necessary to recover from the economic hit it will take in a post-oil dependent world. It relies on projections of strength to cover for internal rot. And now Putin sees Ukraine as an effective target to assert Russian regional dominance. He also probably hoped that a quick or vicious victory would lend Russia a perception of power beyond its actual abilities…a reputation of might that it could lean on in the coming decade.

His nation’s economy depends on a resource that everyone wants to move away from. Its military might is evidentially deteriorated…relying on conscripts and unable to keep pace with the full scope of technological change…and its nuclear arsenal is aging and ill-maintained.

Perhaps worst of all, he’s been humiliated at the spy game…western governments documented his false justification plans as quickly as they were drawn up, and seemed to feed his troop movements to Ukraine in real time. If Putin‘s Russia has lost its famed reputation for being head and shoulders above everyone else in the spy game, what does it have? Every day, it becomes a smaller player on the world stage.

He has a Cold War mindset, a totalitarian’s ego, and the KGB man’s sinister chill. He naïvely thought that Trump would pull us out of NATO, and is now more or less out of time to swing his dick on the world stage. Worse, his Cold Wartime approach to the problem…aggressively smashing a weaker neighbor…has now backfired. Even if/when Ukraine falls, he has managed to destroy Russia’s military significance and its economy in one swoop. He has one card left to play, so he is running around the room and threatening to play it at the top of his lungs.

McParadigm wrote:

Rob wrote:There is so much about all this that makes no sense, unless you consider Putin has either gone mad... or? There was talk at the beginning of this that he's in his own bubble and not listening to (or allowing) dissenting opinions from anyone, even within his circle. At this point though, does that really seem plausible? He's been in power 25 years, , he's seen a lot. He's either mentally ill, or actually does believe his mission is to restore Russia to Soviet era dominance, and is intent to try (which is also insane). Nothing in the news ever stresses me out. Trump was ridiculous, but even he & his presidency didn't stress me out. This shit is stressing me out, though.

The simple truth is that Putin sees NATO as an existential threat to his country because his worldview was forged in a different world.

Beyond that, though, Russia entered 2022 in a position of weakness, with no clear offramp from decline. It has not in recent decades cultivated the industry or professional class necessary to recover from the economic hit it will take in a post-oil dependent world. It relies on projections of strength to cover for internal rot. And now Putin sees Ukraine as an effective target to assert Russian regional dominance. He also probably hoped that a quick or vicious victory would lend Russia a perception of power beyond its actual abilities…a reputation of might that it could lean on in the coming decade.

His nation’s economy depends on a resource that everyone wants to move away from. Its military might is evidentially deteriorated…relying on conscripts and unable to keep pace with the full scope of technological change…and its nuclear arsenal is aging and ill-maintained.

Perhaps worst of all, he’s been humiliated at the spy game…western governments documented his false justification plans as quickly as they were drawn up, and seemed to feed his troop movements to Ukraine in real time. If Putin‘s Russia has lost its famed reputation for being head and shoulders above everyone else in the spy game, what does it have? Every day, it becomes a smaller player on the world stage.

He has a Cold War mindset, a totalitarian’s ego, and the KGB man’s sinister chill. He naïvely thought that Trump would pull us out of NATO, and is now more or less out of time to swing his dick on the world stage. Worse, his Cold Wartime approach to the problem…aggressively smashing a weaker neighbor…has now backfired. Even if/when Ukraine falls, he has managed to destroy Russia’s military significance and its economy in one swoop. He has one card left to play, so he is running around the room and threatening to play it at the top of his lungs.

dimejinky99 wrote:He faked an interview with a bunch of air stewardess’s?!

blueviper wrote:

dimejinky99 wrote:He faked an interview with a bunch of air stewardess’s?!

I thought he wasn’t sitting near people because of his fear of Covid Novichok.

simple schoolboy wrote:

Time to get more chickens?