It was written last year. I didn't bother reading it. — Olivier5
The only thing they leave out, or don't realise, is that multiple limited excursions and manoeuvres is a good idea to make appear like a full scale invasion. — boethius
The Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture has given its forecasts for the sowing of crops that farmers will be able to carry out this spring: a total of about 13.4 million hectares could be sown, including cereals, maize, beet and sunflower, which is 3.5 million fewer than in 2021. Ukraine, known for its highly fertile black soils, was the world's fourth largest exporter of corn and wheat before the war. — Olivier5
"I went to the shop yesterday, right. So, I'm in the shop, I pickup this bottle. I drop it and it explodes on the ground. I was so embarrassed." — boethius
This is certainly good news. Which port will they use to export it? — FreeEmotion
The authors also don't include a second order analysis of what affect their, and similar, analysis may have on the Kremlin's decision making (whether they have made the same conclusions independently or then just read their publicly available paper). — boethius
According to the Kremlin, the goal of the intervention is “to protect the people [of the Donbass] who have been tortured for eight years by the Ukrainian regime.”
Moscow has vehemently opposed NATO’s presence close to its borders, and embarked on a mission to obtain security guarantees that would halt the US-led military bloc’s expansion and block Kiev from joining its ranks.
No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.
George S. Patton
What follows has the same meaning: "I went to the shop yesterday, right. So, I was in the shop, I picked up this bottle. I dropped it and it exploded on the ground. I was so embarrassed. — Olivier5
Be that as it may, the Russians can be argued to have functionally encircle Kiev with only 1 remaining road for supply, and the remaining south route in range of artillery.
Kiev is arguably under siege. Few sieges in history are "perfect". — boethius
This hasn't at all happened, so what are you talking about? Quite baseless remarks.a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling those inside to surrender.
When one has God and righteousness on one's side, who can be against one?! — baker
George Bush has claimed he was on a mission from God when he launched the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, according to a senior Palestinian politician in an interview to be broadcast by the BBC later this month.
Mr Bush revealed the extent of his religious fervour when he met a Palestinian delegation during the Israeli-Palestinian summit at the Egpytian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, four months after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."
Mr Bush went on: "And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, 'Go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East'. And, by God, I'm gonna do it."
I've explained my views already and don't wish to just to repeat them over and over — ssu
A troll is a being in Scandinavian folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings.
Trolls are sometimes associated with particular landmarks in Scandinavian folklore, which at times may be explained as formed from a troll exposed to sunlight ...
Speaking of "being free of the authoritarian bullshit", in what ways are we in the West "free of the authoritarian bullshit"? — baker
Because it's not possible, it's pragmatically not possible. Because Western standards are destructive. They destroy nature, they destroy people. — baker
Are you actually worried about the Russian people? — baker
How did you arrive at this dichotomy??? — baker
No, that's the one you're seeing. — baker
The majority of the population of any country are plebeians. If they are given the reigns, the society will sink further and further. — baker
(By the way, this was the idea behind the US institution of the Electoral College: to make sure that some idiot wouldn't obtain a position of power simply because the majority of the people voted for him.) — baker
The total genius of Western democracies is that they outsourced government oppression to individual people. So that it isn't the government which oppresses people, it's Tom oppressing Dick and Harry. The government's hands are clean, but the people walk on eggshells and fear for their jobs and lives. At the same time, they are becoming more and more alike, the differences between them are superficial at best, one big mass of mindless drones. And what does it help if some politician can hold his elected position of power only for 4, 8 or, 10 years, or so, if the next one differs from him only by name? — baker
Frees them from what? Frees them to do what? — baker
I'm saying that the situation in Russia is actually not that different from the situation in the West. — baker
There is no country in this world where one could "speak up against the government" without this having some negative consequences for one. — baker
If not imposed by the government, then imposed informally, by one's employer, one's customers, one's friends, and relatives. One can simply never speak badly about those in power without this backfiring in some way. — baker
Police fire tear gas as anti-Covid restrictions ‘Freedom Convoy’ enters Paris — baker
And so on. We can also look up how many times the police in Western countries have used real bullets against protesters, not just rubber bullets (which can sometimes be as dangerous as real ones), water cannons, tear gas, mass arrests. (Oh, and if the West is so wonderful, then why on earth are people protesting at all?!) — baker
What you're saying suggests that Russia would be healthier today if it would have taken a more western looking route.
I understand why it seems that way, but we don't truly know because we can't see an alternate history of Russia.
It's possible that profound corruption that leaves most of the population destitute was the only way to achieve stability. — frank
Take capitalism and socialism: they can be combined into any form of social-democracy. In this view, the values of socialism are combined with those of capitalism as a sort of ying yang. — Olivier5
The same applies to political systems: they can mix up various elements of strong leadership vs broad representation and consultation. What is important to realize is that our values as human beings are varied, and any society must find ways to combine sometime competing values, such as freedom vs equality. So this is about a combination of philosophies, rather than committing once and for all to one political philosophy only. That is what I was highlighting when i spoke of the first generation and second generation human rights: any manner of synthesis and variation is possible. — Olivier5
It wasn't. The economy was healing when Putin entered the scene, and then he consolidated his power over the course of 20 years.
That "we don't know if it would have been healthier today" is not a counter-argument really. We know the result of the corruption and despot move of Putin to consolidate his power. — Christoffer
So what is your actual conclusion? That "we don't know if it would have been better"? What's your inductive reasoning? What's the most probable conclusion? — Christoffer
Yet did Putin need to consolidate his power? I think after over 20 years he has consolidated power quite well. Of course, now after starting a large war, he can go against anybody on the basis of them being a fifth column.The NY Times says that though he isn't going to end up taking over Ukraine, the war has consolidated his power in Russia. The sanctions have also done that: isolated Russia from the rest of the world in a way that Putin wants.
So it could be a success for him in ways other than militarily. — frank
Yet did Putin need to consolidate his power? I think after over 20 years he has consolidated power quite well. Of course, now after starting a large war, he can go against anybody on the basis of them being a fifth column. — ssu
So we'll probably see a wave of assassinations? — frank
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.