The non god alternative is that these manifestations of intelligence occurred through dumb luck, which is not possible. It’s like 10,000 monkeys randomly typing on a keyboard and creating the complete works of Shakespeare. Just not possible. — kindred

In terms of probability, it's as unlikely as any other character sequence of that length.
Equally unlikely, equally possible.
By the way, something similar applies to other (long) event sequences.
Favoritism looks like bias.

Health Insurance CEO Reveals Key To Company’s Success Is Not Paying For Customers’ Medical Care
^{— The Onion · Mar 5, 2018}

Well that sucks

Long COVID: SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein Accumulation Linked to Long-Lasting Brain Effects
^{— Helmholtz Munich · Nov 29, 2024}
Persistence of spike protein at the skull-meninges-brain axis may contribute to the neurological sequelae of COVID-19
^{— Rong, Mai, Ebert, Kapoor et al · Helmholtz Munich & Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität · Dec 11, 2024}

Animation (— Ali Max Erturk · Nov 29, 2024 · 1m:33s)

, talking $s doesn't mean that all else is BS (also known as a non sequitur).
I suppose you might check the tragedy of the commons.
Say, up-and-coming countries aren't all that likely to go all green from the get-go when they can industrialize using fossil fuels. "Why should we be denied development when everyone else did this?"
And so it goes. Or whatever. "Shit where the grandkids eat."

For Russia to keep Ukraine out of NATO it wasn't necessary to invade Ukraine. A show of force on the border would have done that.

Yet for Russia to gain the territories of Novorossiya, to annex Crimea and the Donbas, it was necessary to attack Ukraine.

That's it. That's the line that you should understand. But for you it's The US/NATO made Russia to do it, as "offence is the best defence", and thus legitimizing imperialism. — ssu

:up:

If their rationale was just NATOphobia, then what would the land grabbing accomplish anyway?

Bring alerts to the world (including NATO) with aggression/warring? Cause Russophobic reactions in Europe like another application of Putin's own NATOphobic argument/logic? Extend right up to NATO members instead of keeping (the dangerous) NATO at a distance? ...?

Something's not quite right, or something's missing.

Either way, annexations, invasion, destruction, killing, Russification, remain facts in action.

The Ukrainians asserting their sovereignty, independence, self-governance, going their own way (accompanying Kremlin loss of control) was the background-factor in the first place, perhaps going back to 1991 in certain heads. Hence annexations, expansion, Russification, etc, as if Russia somehow wasn't large enough already.

, well, now and then I get a notice, a way to keep tabs on what's going on.
Becoming informed is not the same as taking the notices/stories seriously.
I'm guessing those propagandists/influencers are having an impact, but it's unclear how much.

Canada has so much wide open space, it can take even more than the US. — Metaphysician Undercover

Well, I don't think that many immigrants are headed out in the wilderness (or build residences etc), be it in the US or Canada. :) Typical destinations are metropolitan centers or larger to medium urban areas. They need a foothold before they can start living and doing stuff.

A pretty face, and some 634K followers on x/twitter as of typing, networked.
An example of what mad dis/mal/misinformation/bullshit campaigning can look like:

Liz Churchill

At a glance, it looks like noisy satire, except a couple of classes below The Onion.
I wouldn't want to impede their right to post nonsense, though some accountability would be great.

Does it work, are they making a difference?

^{2023Aug21 | 2023Oct20 | 2023Dec18 | vatniksoup | vaxopedia}

Amazon or the like doing test runs?
At least the areas seem right, but maybe not that plausible, you'd think someone would speak up.

Amazon successfully tests using delivery drones in Italy (— Reuters · Dec 5, 2024)

Amazon's drone delivery program takes flight (— CNBC · Dec 10, 2024 · 2m:4s)


Amazon poised to launch European drone delivery service after Italy flight tests (— Aerospace Testing · Dec 13, 2024)

, regardless of the murderous rampage, with unaddressed injustices, don't expect the problem to go away.
Putin's Russia employs industrialized suppression, Russification, propaganda, manufactured events/threats, whatever, to preempt eventualities (which is harder in more transparent democracies).
Anyway, the environments differ some.

Do Arabs accept Israel? As a state? (Which / how many do/don't, and how reliable is this?)
As an aside, would any of this change if, say, Israel exited the Golan Heights entirely?
Might as well get down to it: Should an Israeli state exist henceforth? And safe and with actual borders?
Your take, please. (←↑ addressed to everyone)

3-year-old data from the UK remains consistent with US data from 2022

Deaths involving COVID-19 by vaccination status, England: deaths occurring between 2 January and 2 July 2021
^{— Charlotte Bermingham, Jasper Morgan, Vahé Nafilyan · Office for National Statistics · Sep 13, 2021}



The Vaccination Effect on Covid-19 Deaths
^{— Martin Armstrong · Statista · Sep 13, 2021}

Russia and Iran abandon Syria, low on resources, can't keep it up, due to other crap.
Ripple effects related to Ukraine and the Middle East (Israel).
Russia apparently also needs North Koreans, maybe for Kursk in particular.
Might China take advantage of a weaker Russia? (Vladivostok/海參崴 came to mind.)

212,000 lives, $105 billion ...

Universal healthcare as pandemic preparedness: The lives and costs that could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic
^{— Alison P Galvani, Alyssa S Parpia, Abhishek Pandey, Meagan C Fitzpatrick · PNAS · Jun 13, 2022}

Study: More Than 335,000 Lives Could Have Been Saved During Pandemic if U.S. Had Universal Health Care
^{— Jenny Blair · Yale School of Medicine · Jun 20, 2022}

So, lower clouds ...

Recent global temperature surge intensified by record-low planetary albedo
^{— Helge F Goessling · Science · Dec 5, 2024}

In 2023, the global mean temperature soared to almost 1.5K above the pre-industrial level, surpassing the previous record by about 0.17K. Previous best-guess estimates of known drivers including anthropogenic warming and the El Niño onset fall short by about 0.2K in explaining the temperature rise. Utilizing satellite and reanalysis data, we identify a record-low planetary albedo as the primary factor bridging this gap. The decline is apparently caused largely by a reduced low-cloud cover in the northern mid-latitudes and tropics, in continuation of a multi-annual trend. Further exploring the low-cloud trend and understanding how much of it is due to internal variability, reduced aerosol concentrations, or a possibly emerging low-cloud feedback will be crucial for assessing the current and expected future warming.

Summaries at ... phys, abc

: Scandalous.

: Yeah. In some ways at least, it can go further than conspiracy theorists and such, when (otherwise seemingly well-meaning) intellectuals have no concept of what battles to fight (and when), and stoke the same fires, (again) to the silent cheers of other/larger adversaries. That's not to say they shouldn't (or shouldn't be allowed to), but "careful what you (appear to) wish for" remains applicable.

Well, that's too bad , I guess you go by own firsthand accounts. :D If you don't (or can't) evaluate more to add more context, then that's too bad as well. (Or just the usual cop-out.) :shrug:
So, did you think that those ▸ items were to be expected? (By the way, has the Kremlin somehow managed to purge NATO from their vicinity? No? But they have accomplished something.)
As mentioned sometime, continuing to bring up "NATO is in a proxy war with Russia", is about as helpful/useful as saying "North Korea and Iran are in a proxy war with Ukraine", hence it's brought up out of bias, potentially questionable preconception, whatever, maybe an agenda.

Exclusive› Medvedev on NATO ‘direct war’ with Russia and escalation risks amid Ukraine conflict
^{— Dmitry Medvedev (interview) · AlArabiya News · Nov 27, 2024 · 20m:10s}

Notice the (silovik style) talking points, propaganda lines, incidentally having made their way to certain others (thoroughly).

I think we have to face up to the fact that the Russians think they're in a state of war with us. Donald Tusk has referred to it as a pre-war situation. I think he's wrong. I think it's an actual war. We've seen already quite clearly some very aggressive moves on the part of the Russians in various European countries. I think we're in a very difficult situation, and Russia is probably better to have some sort of dialogue with them, than no contact at all. So I don't rule that out. But I think at the moment, I'm not sure Russia is in a mood or a situation where it's going to be very easy to talk to Putin. — Richard Dearlove (interview) · Sky News · Nov 27, 2024 · 1m:4s

Either way, that sure is what the Kremlin circle wants others to hear (perhaps domestically in particular), something like "Russia is at war with NATO, the US, the West", which is just nonsense.

But I think it may also be Zelensky's attempt to, in effect, call the West’s bluff. Actually getting all Nato’s 32 members to agree to a quick membership would be very difficult, but in effect he is asking, ‘If not the Article 5 security guarantee, what else could be offered?’ — Mark Galeotti (via Andy Gregory) · The Independent · Dec 1, 2024

No particular prospect of Ukrainian NATO membership according to Galeotti. Others have come to similar conclusions.

If he would be given the FBI, the end result would be that FBI likely would be less functioning and worse performing institution. — ssu

He'll just cripple the effectiveness of the department and sink it's morale. — ssu

... to the silent cheers of a few that don't have the US' best interest at heart.
All their "deep state" "swamp" enemies ... crap sells, especially to a certain demographic, again to the silent cheers of...
Well, maybe they can turn the cheers into discouragement or indifference, we'll see.

I guess most are familiar with this stuff, unification, when things get really small they get weird, ...

Space-Time: The Biggest Problem in Physics (— Quanta Magazine · Sep 25, 2024 · 19m:41s)



Innovative ...

‹Nature Communications› Snail-inspired robotic swarms (— Robotics & AI Lab - CUHK Shenzhen · Apr 29, 2024 · 8m:28s)

, well, whatever anyone might expect, some of what happened (or is happening) in the name of peace and a neutral Ukraine:

▸ Russo-Ukrainian War (2014-2022-)
▸ "On conducting a special military operation" (2022)
▸ Attacks on civilians in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
▸ Atrocity crimes during the Russo-Ukrainian War
▸ Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation (2014) (Kharkiv Pact ditched)
▸ Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts (2022)
▸ Russification of Ukraine » Modern-day Ukraine
▸ Larger Wheat Harvest in Ukraine Than Expected (— NASA · Dec 4, 2022) → Exclusive: Crimea showers Syria with wheat, Ukraine cries foul (— Reuters · Dec 19, 2022)

• What the Ukrainians wanted (or want): 2013-4, 2014, 2014-
• What has come out of the UN: 68/262, 2623, 11th session, ES-11/1, ES-11/2, ES-11/3, ES-11/4, ES-11/5, 77/229, ES-11/6

Elsewhere:

▸ Kabelmysteriene (The cable mysteries) (— NRK · Jun 26, 2022)
▸ Hybrid CoE Paper 18: The Arctic after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: The increased risk of conflict and hybrid threats (— Hybrid CoE · May 10, 2023)
▸ Unprecedented GPS jamming attack affects 1600 aircraft over Europe (— New Scientist · Mar 29, 2024)
▸ GPS jamming traced to Russia after flights over Europe suspended (— New Scientist · May 1, 2024)
▸ Innovation: Recent GPS jamming in regions of geopolitical conflict (— GPS World · May 24, 2024)
▸ Newest NATO Member Sweden Says Russia Disrupting Its Satellite Networks (— Bloomberg · Jun 20, 2024)
▸ Nordic satellites targeted by Russia after Sweden’s NATO accession (— Telecoms Tech News · Jun 21, 2024)
▸ European nations denounce Russian hybrid attacks, cable cut probes launched (— Reuters · Nov 19, 2024)
▸ Russian attacks on undersea cables 'most serious threat' to our infrastructure' - NATO (— euronews · Nov 28, 2024 · 12m)

Squaring it so narrowly is off.

Besides, you've been given sufficient evidence + arguments that repeating your lines as if you hadn't seems disingenuous.

What say you?

European nations denounce Russian hybrid attacks, cable cut probes launched
^{— Andrius Sytas, Barbara Erling, Johan Ahlander, et al · Reuters · Nov 19, 2024}

Russian attacks on undersea cables 'most serious threat' to our infrastructure' - NATO
^{— Shona Murray · euronews · Nov 28, 2024 · 12m}

Lies, fear- and war-mongering? Either way, there are prior examples, not unheard of.

A Japanese minister brought up an Asian defense alliance:

Ishiba's 'Asian NATO' dead on arrival as new PM set for diplomatic debut
^{— Kathleen Benoza, Jesse Johnson · The Japan Times · Oct 8, 2024}
Japan: Deciphering Prime Minister Ishiba’s Strategic Vision. Toward an Asian version of NATO?
^{— Céline Pajon · Ifri · Oct 10, 2024}
Japan’s prime minister vows military buildup and deeper ties with the US as regional tension rises
^{— Mari Yamaguchi, Mayuko Ono · AP · Nov 9, 2024}

Little interest.
Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, perhaps others, share some interests, though.
Not much by way of nuclear deterrence, unlike a bunch of neighbors.

EDITED

The unfortunate thing for you is that the Russians have told us exactly in word and in deed what they want for over a decade - a neutral Ukraine. — Tzeentch

They went ahead with the opposite. Started a war and whatnot. Supplied the Ukrainians (+ others) with more reasons for wanting to join NATO, or whatever sufficiently resourceful defense.
Not just neutral, by the way (has come up before). Besides, if Ukraine was neutral, then they might still kick Russia out of Sevastopol where they've been for a good while, put up a wall to prevent illegal Russian "migrants", look to the EU for trade/cooperation, go their own way.
Adding something like "Russia Shall Not Be Attacked From Ukraine" to Ukraine's constitution is a bit late now, not impossible though.

But, if that's what the Kremlin wants, then peace should be achievable:
Add something to the effect of "No Ukrainian NATO-Membership" and "Russia Shall Not Be Attacked From Ukraine" to the Ukrainian constitution (without any of those special external vetos or backdoors). Ukraine butts out of Kursk. Russia butts out of Ukraine.
Additionally, Ukraine could sign the usual minority protections, due process in the justice system, anti-corruption, some further democratic reforms and humanitarianism (things incidentally part of their path towards the EU, that Russia incidentally isn't currently expected to meet).
Do you think the Kremlin would be on board with that peace proposal? (Lots of resources freed up, too, and I'm guessing a few sanctions would be lifted.)

Some theorizing, FYI, though from memory this stuff has come up in the thread already:
Why Russia Started War in Ukraine (— The Military Show · Sep 7, 2024 · 18m:55s)

Or it might become reasonable to start making those items at home instead of importing them. — frank

I suppose, if the tariffs were high enough, then the imports would be canceled, which would be bad for the exporter (compare with sanctions).
The importers aren't likely to swallow the tariffs, they increase the cost of goods for the population.
So, instead of the tariff stuff, how about pressuring capitalists to increasingly bring production/manufacturing home (and perhaps take a wage cut)?
Well, that might decrease support among the capitalists, less $s for campaigning, fewer votes, ... (worse self-image for The Clown).
Capitalism isn't patriotism, it's about maximizing profits, cheaper labor (lower wages) + less environmental regulations + less health and safety protection + ...

It's quite popular among the mainstream media to repeat the idea that this is 'Putin's war', but it's been known since prior to the 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit that NATO expansion into Ukraine is a red line for much if not all of the Russian political establishment. — Tzeentch

It was about Ukraine's (established) independence, sovereignty, all that, and that the Ukrainians might assert it sooner or later.
"Fortunately" for the Kremlin circle, Ukraine's anticipated NATO aspirations came to the fore, giving them the excuse to cross Ukraine's established red lines (land grabbing).
Well, their (ongoing) destruction, regress, activities, whatever, engendered hate, further distrust, degraded chances of talks, it's how they roll.

One of the better takes I’ve read:

https://apple.news/AEToGjqpLR4aQxsRScVmgVA — Mikie

:up:

Also, Fox and friends are entertaining, like The Jerry Springer Show. Has been referred to as entertainment, for that matter.^{(thedispatch, logicallyfacts)} Compare to more sober, boring, ordinary news channels.

The source-memes and whatever it all is (plus the amount of that stuff around), begs the question of where they came from and who wrote them. Determining (and perhaps poking at) their murky origins might be worthwhile.

My wife wanted to watch the documentary Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy (2024 · 1h:24m), so that's what we did. Some will call it propaganda, others will revel in the exposé, others still whatever else.

Some keywords/phrases: profit maximization · capitalism · tragedy of the commons · continued growth · climate change (hence posting it here)

The one-and-a-half hours are split into five chapters:

1. Sell more
▸ marketing science ▸ advertising ▸ faster fashion ▸ inflate supply and demand

2. Waste more
▸ planned obsolescence ▸ IFixit

3. Lie more
▸ greenwashing

4. Hide more
▸ disposal ▸ hazardous waste ▸ product cycles ▸ pollution

5. Control more
▸ Amazon is cracking down on protesters and organizing, workers say (— Michael Sainato · Guardian · May 5, 2020); it's not just Amazon

Regardless of the genuinely troubling (and known) message, just using it to promote anti-capitalism doesn't seem quite right. Responsible consumer culture and incentives are parts of a response, to be furthered by legal constraints on whatever parts of the problem. But, it's a global thing. Maybe we should all pick up some of that Greta Thunberg stuff and pass it on.

FYI, here's a brief review, others can be found with a search: Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy film review — marketing tricks and their effect on the planet exposed (— Jonathan Romney · The Financial Times · Nov 21, 2024)

On a Bird's-Eye View, the numerous wars waged by countries throughout history, killing numerous people, destroying, seems kind of ridiculous. Along that train of thought, deadly conflict comes through as absurd, should never be.

When zooming in we also have to differentiate defense and offense, weigh justification, whatever it all is. Often enough we can find both bad and well-meaning actors (and whatever else/between) — actors all gone a hundred years after.

I don't think defense is absurd, though they say that the best defense is a good offense. Can all defense be narrated as offense, can all defensive measures be cast as threats?^(2024Apr8) Say, if democracy is threatened, then I'd expect a response.

Anyway, it seems like a simple, universal answer to lean on is hard to come by. We're talking homo sapiens after all. Sometimes it just takes those few...

Of course , "it's the useful, safe, reliable implementation that needs work".

So the EU should start its own military alliance separate from the US. — Benkei

I have a fantasy that Europe will step up to take a bigger military and political role in the world, especially in Europe. — T Clark

• EU military as the highest priority
[...] — javi2541997

Seems like a case has been made. Maybe not just the EU, but including other interested European countries?

Under the current state of geopolitical affairs, there's no conceivable reason why Europe and Russia should be thinking about war, so what on earth are our politicians doing? — Tzeentch

And yet that's exactly what Russia kicked off (more than once). Plus other hostilities. :shrug: OK, one of them is a "special military operation". :D (Sep 18, Oct 6, Nov 2,16,17,20 2024)

, if we assume something like this can be weaponized (which it likely could), then (knowing homo sapiens) someone may do that eventually. If others don't/can't, then they'd have to rely on something else for deterrence, or a sufficient alliance, or whatever. I'm just speculating. Either way, if it's feasible, then it's grabbing free energy from the Sun. What's not to like? The idea is older than Reflect Orbital; it's the useful, safe, reliable implementation that needs work.

Obama urges NATO members to pull their weight
^{— Nolan D McCaskill · POLITICO · Nov 15, 2016}

Others have commented similarly to Obama. (Reasonable or not?)

The problem I have described in the past though, is that I fear that the US ^{(and the UK?)} will use European militarization as a means to create more tension between Europe and Russia. — Tzeentch

The Kremlin already has and continues to. Posturing, regressing, undemocratization, land grabbing, bombing, Russification, ...

Seems like plain hostile acts: — Jun 21, 2024

So the EU should start its own military alliance separate from the US. — Benkei

I have a fantasy that Europe will step up to take a bigger military and political role in the world, especially in Europe. — T Clark

Anyway, the Kremlin circle will "take offense" from whatever can then be used to further whatever they'd like to see, whatever they have in mind for their (chess)board. Thinking that's what others want is more than a little naïve. As mentioned a few times (e.g. here), you might ask the Baltics, the Moldovans, the Swedes, the Finns, ..., the Ukrainians, the Georgians, ...

how to not "provoke" the Kremlin (and North Korea) — Mar 21, 2024

can all defense be narrated as offense, can all defensive measures be cast as threats? — Apr 8, 2024

Now creating that deterrence will simply get some people to think that your you're war-hungry. Well, I'm not. — ssu

Perhaps similar to , I'm guessing most aren't. There are things to do, kids to get to school, farms to tend, parties to have, books to read, renovations to complete, love interests to pursue, philosophical idealisms to discuss, suppers to cook, places to go, ...

What should Europeans do?

appeasing Putin will not end well. — Banno

Deterrence stops Putin. Appeasement won't. — ssu

I was oddly reminded of Star Trek...

Armus: I am a skin of evil, left here by a race of Titans, who believed if they rid themselves of me, they would free the bonds of destructiveness.
Picard: You say you are true evil? Shall I tell you what true evil is? It is to submit to you. It is when we surrender our freedom, our dignity instead of defying you. — Skin of Evil (1988)

If the Kremlin is willing to start a nuclear world war over a fifth of Ukraine, then everyone, including Russians, already has a significant problem to deal with. Is that what we're talking about here? Should Seoul hand the keys over to Pyongyang tomorrow?

Deterrence stops Putin. Appeasement won't. — ssu

And Kim Jong Un is taking notes.

Ukrainians targeting ammunition depots and such is fair enough. Why wouldn't it be? By all means, they should try to destroy bombs that would otherwise fall on their heads, like over the past 1000 days. (By the way, the Kremlin's hostilities don't end there.)

Hmm... Seems like a neat idea (not quite new though)...

Startup Promises to Beam Sunlight from Space (— via TheBrainMaze TBM · Sep 7, 2024 · 52s)

Reflect Orbital

:
Well, if the Kremlin circle is paranoid, then it's not about NATO in particular, but about anyone resourceful supporting Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, etc, established in 1991.
Once the Kremlin decided that they couldn't let Ukraine be, losing some that control/influence (e.g. Crimea), then they'd already set the seemingly inevitable collision course.
Any paranoia on their part is due to Ukraine's independence, that they might increase the rent of Sevastopol or allocate it for something of their own or whatever, that they might look to the EU for cooperation/trade more so than Moscow, anything — in short, that they might go their own way.
Expressing that as supposed NATO-phobia has caught on (which was reasonably predictable).
Take into consideration that it's about control of a sovereign country — the present Kremlin circle's kind of control — and what would you have the rest of the world do?
The Ukrainians and most of the world said "No", which is reasonable.
OK, so, no Ukraine NATO membership, then what?
Besides, exactly how has grabbing Crimea and Donbas (and generous bombing) solved their supposed NATO-phobia?
It hasn't, couldn't, but has instead (predictably) increased Russo-phobia or whatever.
Anyway, that was part of the story above, adding to the discourse (with embedded reference links that I was too lazy to add here), not so much specifically giving a direct counter-argument to your comment, apologies if that was unclear.

1000 days in. The Kremlin still hasn't gotten their way.

Frachon opines:

With Trump in the White House, Charles de Gaulle's prophecy is coming true: One day, the US will leave the Old Continent
^{— Alain Frachon · Le Monde · Nov 7, 2024}

, my apologies, sorry you read it like so. FYI, this stuff has been covered quite a bit in parallel threads (here, here, 2023dec31, 2024feb29, 2024mar21, ...), it's not so much that you're being ignored.

I have a fantasy that Europe will step up to take a bigger military and political role in the world, especially in Europe. — T Clark

Which you share with others, including:

So the EU should start its own military alliance separate from the US. — Benkei

EU defense focus has almost been lulled to sleep by NATO.

, in more recent history, when Russia looked more like today, the invasions they tend to bring up are France/Napoleon and Germany/Hitler. I suppose the Ottomans might qualify.

Kursk, on the other hand, doesn't qualify in this context. There's a negligible chance that Ukraine would invade Russia, had they not invaded first. For that matter, Crimea 2014 seems to have taken most by surprise, and the response (until 2022) were mostly sanctions.

NATO/Europe/China would be reckless to attack Russia; they have the world's largest nuclear weapons arsenal, a fairly straightforward deterrent. It could happen if Russia attacked a NATO member. Europe, Canada, Alaska have bordered Russia for a good while (some over sea), and not threatened with any invasion. Why would they? It's the other way around, defense against Russian encroachment/assault. Just ask the Moldovans, and the Swedes and Finns. Well, and the Ukrainians and Georgians. NATO represents a different kind of threat: the Kremlin can't do as they see fit (which some are thankful for).

Anyway, don't want to spam here, should probably go to the Ukraine Crisis thread instead.

Even knowing Russia's historical paranoia about being surrounded and invaded, we immediately started expanding NATO right up to it's borders. Now it's enclosed by hostile countries backed by the US and western European militaries. No wonder Putin is furious. We blew it. — T Clark

Something's a bit off ↑ here.

NATO isn't seeking to take over countries. Countries seek to be part of NATO for defense and have to qualify (which can take some years).

For a country the size and geography of Russia it might be easy enough to list all kinds of "hostile countries" in the vicinity. It's not like grabbing land resolves the (supposed) situation. But yeah, mistakes were made, things were blown.

→ Nov 2, 2024 (should actually have been in the Ukraine Crisis thread)

If "Putin is furious", it's because the Ukrainians went their own way.

Russians and Ukrainians will live exactly as befits brothers and good neighbors after the implementation of the goals of the special operation. — Sergey Lavrov · Jan 22, 2024

NATO enlargement is one of Putin's lines, but so is the artificiality of the state of Ukraine and it being natural of Ukraine being part of Russia. — ssu

Some things are imported from Russia straight through sanctions. ;)

:up:
"The US" does not refer to a single/uniform/monolithic entity.
I suppose that's exposed by the nature of democracy.
Administrations come and go, whatever sentiments come and go, ...
A weakness of democracy (compared to dictatorships or theocracies for example)?
Well, if politics are like fashions and impatience a driver, then perhaps.
We can just hope that voters generally are smart enough.

Obviously, this (the U.S. setback) is a temporary phenomenon. America will continue its involvement in this conflict, in fact direct involvement. But we have repeatedly said before that according to our forecasts fatigue from this conflict, fatigue from the completely absurd sponsorship of the Kyiv regime, will grow in various countries, including the United States. And this fatigue will lead to the fragmentation of the political establishment and the growth of contradictions. — Dmitry Peskov · via Reuters · Oct 2, 2023

This is what distinguishes a true world leader from the people we call temporary caretakers, who come for five minutes to show off on the international platform, and then disappear just as quietly. — Vladimir Putin · via Newsweek · Oct 17, 2023

The Clown did something he's good at, "drag others down to his level and beat them with experience" (paraphrasing Twain or whoever). Why play his game? That's his circus.