So what are you arguing? That Cuba isn’t socialist or that they aren’t “successful”?

What if the vast majority of Ukrainians had an interest in ending the war via negotiations, or even to cede land? Would you still stand with Ukrainians?

Do you two think that being a asset/,spy/double agent means you also don’t do things to make you look less suspicious?

Why would Trump/Putin be afraid of looking suspicious? I thought yalls whole thing was that Trump’s status as a Russian spy is clear as day and known to all.

because it is easier to disturb operations from within the organisation.

And what disturbances do you mean? NATO spending has exploded in recent years. Last year NATO allies increased spending by 18%. Why would a Russian asset set about a plan that drastically increases the funding for Russia’s primary enemy? Why is Trump’s whole schtick that Europe needs to start spending more on defense?

Why would Putin kick off the Ukraine war immediately after his “agent” leaves office?

Why, in his first term, was Trump commanding Germany and EU to stop buying Russian gas? Going so far as to sanction comoanies involved with the Nordstream pipeline?

Meanwhile, in 2018, the US expelled more than 60 Russian officials after identifying them as intelligence officers. To put it bluntly, any gains Russia might have achieved through Trump’s good offices are far outweighed by the strategic, economic, and counterintelligence realities that have emerged during his presidency.

But any Russian intelligence officer would need to consider whether Trump really cares enough about kompromat and Russian money. Indeed, why enrol him as an agent of influence – a move that carries enormous consequences for both parties – when Russia could opt for a convenient friend in Washington?

In reality, even if Russia sees Trump as an asset, we’re not talking about Trump being a new Kim Philby (of Cambridge Five fame). We’re talking about Trump being a self-interested businessman who’s happy to do a favour if it works to his own best interests – and that includes staying out of jail. There’s no evidence that Trump knowingly associated with any Russian intelligence officers. And there’s a big distinction between making the wrong kind of friends and committing treason.

https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/news/archive/2021/02/title-240459-en.html

Collusion/conspiracy/coordinate… just semantics.

[Mueller] did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.

Trump is not a Russian asset. He’s an easily-manipulated businessman who does things in his own self interest, and that is as American as apple pie. There is no need to invoke Putin. Our descent into Christian Fascism is our own doing - one that Russia no doubt took advantage of. If you truly believe Trump is a Russian asset, then you have to concede that the FBI, the CIA, the NSA, and the Five Eyes have all been captured by Russia as well.

If Trump is a Russian asset, why didnt the US pull out of NATO months ago? Why did Mueller’s report conclude that there was no collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia?

If Russia is blamed for Trump’s election, we avoid the unpleasant reality of our failed democratic institutions and decaying empire. We avoid facing the inevitable rise of a Christianised fascism borne out of widespread impoverishment, rage, despair and abandonment. We avoid acknowledging the complicity of the Democratic Party in the orchestration of the largest social inequality in our nation’s history, the evisceration of our basic civil liberties, endless wars and an electoral system bankrolled by the billionaire class, which is legalised bribery. The myth allows us to believe that Democratic politicians, like the establishment Republicans who have joined them, are the guarantors of a democracy they destroyed.

All the investigations into Trump’s ties with Russia are unequivocal. There was no collusion. The Steele dossier, financed at first by Republican opponents of Trump and later by Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and compiled by former MI6 British intelligence officer, Christopher Steele, was a fake. The charges in the dossier — which included reports of Trump receiving a ‘golden shower’ from prostituted women in a Moscow hotel room and claims that Trump and the Kremlin had ties going back five years — were discredited by the FBI. Sources, including the one that claimed Trump had long-held ties to the Kremlin, turned out to be fabricated. Special Counsel Robert S Mueller concluded that his investigation ‘did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.’ Mueller did not indict or accuse anyone of criminally conspiring with Russia.

• Chris Hedges

Only thing you enlisted in is ribs night at Golden Corral.

That only changes if people fight which is why it is important that the world stand with Ukraine against Putin and the fascists of this world.

And there’s the rub. You can’t just stick your fingers in your ears when Ukrainians are aiming to end combat and pursue negotiations, and then turn around and say you are “standing with Ukraine”.

Put simply: to stand with Ukraine means to affirm the hopes and agency of common Ukrainians - which is definitively not what you’re doing.

Consider this thought experiment:

In 5 years, supposing the grueling combat has continued, and 95% of Ukrainians definitively and undoubtedly wish to end combat, is it really “standing with Ukraine” if you reject this number and insist they continue to fight to “save the world from fascism” while you yourself have not enlisted?

Maybe you can cede your home and all your possessions to Putin? You realize that is what you are defending right?

Nope, it’s actually a simple question:

Do you think the Ukrainian common people should be the primary agents in determining whether or not to continue combat?

The fact that they want the war to end doesn’t mean they want to surrender.

How does this follow or relate to anything we’ve discussed so far?

It’s like asking "would you like peace?

It’s actually not like that at all. It’s actually pretty simple:

Which of the following statements about the war with Russia comes closest to your personal views?

Ukraine should continue fighting until it wins the war

Ukraine should seek to negotiate an ending to the war as soon as possible

Don’t know/Refused

What is it with yall refusing to believe any opposing viewpoints are organic?

Those 69% of Ukranians who want to end the war via negotiation - are they Russian bots as well?

You know you can go enlist, right?

I think what you meant to say was,

I for one prefer Ukrainians continue throwing themselves in the grinder

Despite the fact that,

More than three years into the war, Ukrainians’ support for continuing to fight until victory has hit a new low. In Gallup’s most recent poll of Ukraine — conducted in early July — 69% say they favor a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible, compared with 24% who support continuing to fight until victory.

This marks a nearly complete reversal from public opinion in 2022, when 73% favored Ukraine fighting until victory and 22% preferred that Ukraine seek a negotiated end as soon as possible.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/693203/ukrainian-support-war-effort-collapses.aspx

Edit: grammar

Heh. Say what you will about Roblox (plenty of stuff), but seems like their infrastructure is on lock.

OOWHUUH

they’re talking out their ass.

Yes, which is par for the course.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/13/why-do-north-korean-defector-testimonies-so-often-fall-apart

What is behind the inconsistencies?

Cash payments in return for interviews with North Korean refugees have been standard practice in the field for years.

Initially, the payment was to cover the cost of meals and local transport, which was approximately $30 in the late 1990s when I first began interviewing in China and South Korea. However, the fees had risen to $200 per hour by the time I attempted to interview people from North Korea in May 2014.

A government official from the South Korean ministry of unification told me the range of fees could vary wildly, from $50-500 per hour, depending on the quality of information.

But this practice raises a difficulty: how does the payment change the relation between a researcher and an interviewee, and what effect will it have on the story itself?

deleted by creator

Dog…

My original claim was that in none of these articles is there any evidence of Putin or Xi expressing interesting in extending their lifespan.

It’s a claim you still have yet to disprove, btw.

Claiming that Russia is not technologically advanced is a nonsequiter. Refusing to engage with a nonsequiter is not underhanded. And you’re not humouring anyone by backing down from your attempt to turn this conversation into one about Russia’s technological capabilities. You’re just backpedaling.

Again, please show me where Putin or Xi expressed interest in extending their lives.

Not even remotely related to the part I quoted and laughed at, but I’ll humour you

So how does a claim regarding Russia’s technological capabilities relate to my original comment? The only person being humoured here is you.

The way the healthy skepticism just leaves the liberal mind once a state department hit pieces comes out is laughable. You have been effortlessly oriented. Yall just eat this shit up. “Deduction”… lmao.

Again, maybe one day show me where Putin or Xi expressed interest in extending their lifespan. You won’t.

Just read your article. Nowhere in it did Xi or Putin express fear of mortality or an interest in extending their personal lifespans.

All this is is musings on transhumanism.

[mortality] haunt[s] people—especially aging tyrants who fear that the icy hand of death is upon their shoulder and want far more time to ensure both national and personal glory.

Show me where Xi or Putin expressed fear of mortality. Better yet, show me where Xi or Putin expressed interest in extending their lifespan.

Show me where Putin or Xi expressed interest in living to 150.