Four Year Wonders Got Married: Ochka and ML

[krimster2]

if he has proper ID and lives in a major city then Western Union, etc works OK...
you also have to make sure they don't get scammed by bogus doctors lookin to hustle people out of their dollars with bogus medical issues and produckta
been there, done that, got the color t-shirts

[Boethius]

If she can open a bank account, Wise is a good way to send with minimal fees.

[2tallbill]

Why he has been insisting to this point that USA must send Abrams, when USA has already sent tons of the latest fighting equipment?

Because he's a sissy boy girly man, afraid of what might happen if Moscow see's his
shadow and the winter is longer. He's a member of the Woke Girl Social Democratic
Party and he could get cancelled if he is shown to stand up to Putin. He is supposed
to cower in fear and wait until somebody with a spine tells him to move.

[ML]

Clarification regarding Musk, Starlink, and Crimea

In a new biography of Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson wrote:  “Allowing the use of Starlink for the attack, [Mr. Musk] concluded, could be a disaster for the world. So he told his engineers to turn off coverage within a hundred kilometers of the Crimean coast.”

But on Sept. 8 Mr. Isaacson issued a clarification: Mr. Musk didn’t disable Starlink in the area; he declined a Ukrainian request to enable it.

Mr. Musk said complying with the Ukrainian request would have violated American sanctions against Russia: “We’re not allowed to actually turn on connectivity to [Russian-controlled Crimea] without explicit government approval.  We did not have such approval.   And, you know, we certainly have provided huge support for the Ukraine government.”

Starlink, a privately owned network, has provided $100 million in free service to Ukraine since the war began, letting the country defend itself and re-establish communications destroyed by hundreds of Russian missiles.  What’s more, Mr. Musk says he would have complied if President Biden ordered him to turn on his privately owned network for Ukraine.

“While I’m not President Biden’s biggest fan, if I had received a presidential directive to turn it on, I would have done so. Because I do regard the president as the chief executive officer of the country.  Whether I want that person to be president or not, I still respect the office.”
   

[krimster2]

don't wanna alienate your dick tater clients, now do ya?
google elon musk and putin
google China and elon musk

but he's your hero, a rich white man
this is who you worship and what you worship
just another kinda "Aryan Jesus" to worship
cuz when you wuz little you wuz "poor"
sure, I know ya gonna "play THAT card"
but EVENTUALLY ya "shouda WIZED-UP" but I don't really see any sign of that in you!!

why can't you see the internal contradictions of your reactionary beliefs?
Hillary's emails under russian corrupted FBI and Russian hacking with no charges (except to head FBI Agent AND Russian Hackers!)
vrs
91 felony indictments
and civil case of sexual harassment
and if you can't parse that into just RIGHT OR WRONG, then WTF is wrong with YOU!

[ML]

US Aid to Ukraine is a ‘Bonanza’ for the US Economy as most of the money provided is actually spent in the USA.

Several dozen US towns, mostly in the middle of the country, are likely to experience benefits for some time from the war in Ukraine if we continue to help Ukraine fight the Russian terrorist invasion.

Dramatic events unfolding in Washington DC have put the future of US aid to Ukraine in jeopardy, with hardline Republicans insisting their country simply can’t afford to keep funding Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion. But the argument that the US is simply writing “blank checks” and handing over bags of cash to Ukraine is both simplistic and incorrect, as most of the money is actually spent in the USA.

As the German Marshall Fund (GMF), a US think tank, wrote recently: “US military support for Ukraine is helping put American industry back on track.” GMF added: “The numbers suggest that sustained support is a win-win for Ukrainians and the American people. A large portion of the money designated for Ukraine is being spent in the USA, bolstering the defense industry and sustaining American manufacturing jobs. “This translates to more business for US companies and sustained employment for rural communities in which they operate."

The good news for the Ukrainians doing the fighting and the Americans doing the manufacturing, is that the dynamics of the Russo-Ukrainian War’s ammo bottleneck seems to be changing. The Americans are gearing up to deliver more ammo.

As of early September 2023, only a single factory, the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania, was actually machining the steel 155mm artillery shell bodies. A facility in Iowa that does assembly was putting together about 24,000 shells a month – roughly three times the volume at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Scranton factory is currently operating at max capacity, 24/7, and employs 300 workers in jobs paying well compared to most other work in the region. By August 2024 new capacity will raise volumes to over 80,000 shells a month, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in comments to War Zone.

The Pentagon in December 2022 announced plans to expand production capacity in three 155mm shell plants – in Scranton, in Kingsport, Tennessee, and in Middletown, Iowa. At the time the plan was aiming for 40,000 shells a month capacity, but as of October 2023, the target was twice that. The plan called for upstream investment to increase capacity of generic sub-components like primer, propellant, projective and fuse, as well as more exotic supply chain monkey wrenches like the laser sensor on the end of the precision-guided shell, or the mini-rocket fitted into the base of the long range shell.
If and when the US hits its 80,000-shells-a-month 2024 target, the three companies operating the plants – General Dynamics, American Ordnance and IMT Defense respectively – will collectivelyreceive $250 million a month from US taxpayers. Most of that money transfer will recirculate in those three communities as salaries and dividends. The rest will be passed on to another 200 to 300 American companies feeding the 155mm artillery shell logistics chain.

That kind of cash injection in places like Scranton, Kingsport, and Middletown is roughly equivalent to the construction and staffing of a brand-new Amazon robotics fulfillment center near allthree of those mid-sized towns, every six months.

The economic effect of shifting from very little to massed 155mm shell production, in each of those communities, will probably go on as long as the Pentagon keeps on ordering 155mm artillery shells, researchers have calculated.
Assuming American political will to help Ukrainians fight against the Russian invasion doesn’t reverse course (never a given), dozens and potentially hundreds of communities across the US could see their economies jump-started by Pentagon demand for US-manufactured war materials that get expended – not just artillery shells, but things like anti-aircraft missiles, replacement engines, and long- and short range drones.

Lockheed Martin, the aerospace and defense corporation that manufacturers the HIMARS/M270 rockets, assembles both launch systems and rockets in Camden, Arkansas. The corporate plan is to double its launcher production capacity (from 48 to 96) by the end of 2025, and the cash knock-on effect is already hitting Rocket City, West Virginia, where Grumman manufactures the rocket engines.

US production capacity expansion plans of key munitions being used in Ukraine have been announced by Raytheon, which manufacturers the NASAMS anti-aircraft missile in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, and by Martin-Marietta, which makes Patriot anti-aircraft missile in Orlando, Florida. Global Times called the flood of orders to US arms manufacturers “a bonanza.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in comments on US debates about supplying arms to Ukraine said: “It’s a cynical yet simple mathematical calculation of war.

If you have the ability to destroy the military capabilities of your strategic adversary for only a small percent of your defense budget without using your own army, can this be considered a ‘good investment’?

If this percentage of the defense budget stays mostly in your country, stimulating your defense companies, creating new jobs and increasing your military capabilities – what doubts can there be?” Podolyak added: “And if this allows Ukraine to fundamentally defend freedom, democracy and destroy a key sponsor of global instability – isn’t this an investment in a just and secure future for you and us?”

Stefan Korshak is the Kyiv Post Senior Defense Correspondent. He is from Houston Texas and is a Yalie. He has worked in journalism in the former Soviet space for more than twenty years, and from2015-2019 he led patrols in the Mariupol sector for the OSCE monitoring mission in Donbass.
   

[krimster2]

very good point ML,

these are "Industrially produced mfg goods" domestically made and not imported
labor intensive
and this expenditure will have a "multiplying effect" of at least 50%
meaning every dollar of expenditure will generate 1.5 dollar of productivity for the overall economy
it also underscores our own shortcomings in terms of being able to fight a major future war, and not just a guerilla one, but a REAL one
with a near peer enemy
like a coalition of China, Iran, North Korea, Russia
vrs Israel, NATO

did everybody in Russia and USA enjoy your little "Emergency! Everyone To Get From Street!" drill today....
oh my what a WEIRD coincidence, said NO ONE!!!!

in Soviet Russian far east, they don't eat ANY Pussy at all!
why knot?
cuz the bumzhee already ate every single kissa they could catch!!!!
ahahaha!!


it's why me and my kids don't live in Israel, let alone Russia
and why we're relocating completely out of the USA in 5 more years
my family and I have already seen the rocket contrails in Israel
and my old home in Sevastopol had broken windows recently, due to the drone strikes

so, besides seeking an improved climate
we're moving to a secret location....shhhhhhhh...
somewhere over the rainbow
somewhere, out of range...

the ONLY people in congress who have shown opposition to sending military aid to Ukraine
are "you know who"

the ones known as the" Russian caucus" , the ones who just cancelled McCarthy's speakership
the ones who want to shutdown the government
the ones who polish Trump's shoes EVERY DAY

Change My Mind...

[Bee Farmer]

ML, I'm all in favor of helping Ukraine, but it's complete BS that aid to Ukraine is a bonanza to the US economy.  It is a drain to the economy.

Where does the money come from that pays for the aid?  The US taxpayer's pockets.

If you tax me, and then use the tax dollars to pay me to make products that are given to someone else...the economy has not improved.

If you don't believe me, try this experiment.  Pay me X amount of money to do some work making a product.  After I am done, give that product to other people.  Then tell me how much your economic situation improved by doing that.

The aid to Ukraine would only be a boon to the American economy if someone else (foreigners) were paying for the stuff we are making.

But if we are going to spend tax dollars, I would rather see it spent on aid to Ukraine than studying the effect of mosquito farts on mice that have been fed cocaine.

[krimster2]

sure, OK Jan,

Bush spent a trillion USD$ in Iraq, why? what'd it really get us?
Then he spent another trillion dollars in Afghanistan to kill Osama Bin Ladin, who in the end, was killed by a spy and two helicopters full of US NAVY Seals under Obama
Then you have Trump, whose complete inaction on covid, being more concerned over his polls then how many people were gonna die
well,,,
more than a million died
and Trump's Covid deficit was another 4 trillion $USD
add it up and whadda ya get?
7 trillion $USD republican debt, for literally nothing....

whatever we spend IN THE USA to support Ukraine will

weaken an essential player in "The Axis of Evil" one that is a REAL threat to the "status quo" world order, from people who want "a new world order" and who know how to attack us from "the inside"  Putin is already shakin down oligarchs for a billion $USD for Trump related purposes
strengthen our own production and investment in production of armaments, like Biden's spending to make sure we're not gonna outsource critical semiconductors to China, so our busines class can make more money that way
this war has shown that in the future "chips" are gonna be WAY more important than ships

Russia intends to use Ukraine as a stepping stone, towards future acquisitions
Moldova will be taken by Ukrainian soldiers
Georgia will be taken by Ukrainian/Moldovan soldiers
and so on...
all the way to Alaska bitches!!!!
and then freakin Innuits are gonna land on the beaches of California!!!

if we did as you suggest, and eliminate ALL deficit spending, which last yr was 1.4 trillion
it would likely take something like a bit over 2 trillion $USD out of the economy due to the "multiplier effect"

a greater than 10% reduction in GDP, that's a depression
big cuts to education and health care funding
leadfing to a massive increase in unemployment....
YOU YOURSELF might be one of the unemployed

assets would depreciate in value
leading to less investment
and a continuing downward spiral
it's called the 1930s

now do ya understand WHY we don't do that?
and why we had "A New Deal" with Mr Rosevelt

matter cannot be created
but money can be!!

you can coin it
you can print it
or you can get the Treasury to issue "credits" from your computer terminal to the 12 Federal Reserve banks
who then offers a "discount window" to major banks for like .25% interest
and the banks turn around and flip that money to home buyers and college students for between 6 to 8%
and all that was digital
no money actually touched hands

you still say money can't be created?


if people borrowed from the government that's socialism and would be bad
but if a commercial bank borrows from the government and then lends it to poor people but charges them more
well, that's capitalism, and that's just great (for rich people)

Discount Window
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/discountwindow.asp

Treasury did a massive multi-trillion credit issue during Covid,
infinite supply of almost free money to commerciaal banks
plus purchase of equities to stop market plunge
at one brief moment the Treasury held 10% of Apple common shares to hold the price
plunge protection team at the treasury
and despite all these advantages given to them
the rich don't wanna pay the taxes that support this
they want the poor to...

the fundamental struggle in western society
has ALWAYS been between rich and poor

same in Russia
between oligarchs and everbody else

[ML]

Where have all the good men gone?
October 8, 2023 11:02 pm by Syndicated Columnist
by Nicole Russell

In our feminist-focused society, where efforts to create legal and societal gender parity have been mostly successful, it’s easy to forget about the men. After all, thanks to the patriarchy, they’ve been doing fine for ages.

Except now, they’re really not.

Pew Research confirms that more than 60% of young men are single, nearly twice the rate of unattached young women. Three of every 10 U.S. adults aren’t in a relationship of any kind, married, dating, or engaged. This has spread to all U.S. adults; 34% of women and 63% of men are single. The number of sexually active Americans is also at a 30-year low.

As much as sex is an indicator for most of being in a healthy relationship, that’s bad news. Worst of all? Half of single men aren’t even looking for a relationship.

“Men in their 20s are more likely than women in their 20s to be romantically uninvolved, sexually dormant, friendless and lonely,” explained Daniel De V isé in a piece at The Hill. “They stand at the vanguard of an epidemic of declining marriage, sexuality and relationships that afflicts all of young America.”

People aren’t finding love the way they used to, and that could have something to do with the statistics. Online dating is popular. Almost a quarter of the population uses it and men far outnumber women on the apps. Two in every five couples have met online and a small share — almost 15% — have had a relationship lasting at least a year with a person they met online.

However, for all its conveniences, online dating has done two things for men that have hurt them and contributed to their growing elusiveness. One, the “swipe culture” has let men continue to seek brief, sexual encounters rather than enduring romantic relationships. Two, online dating is really fantastic for only the top few men. You know, the top 5% of men who rate high in attractiveness, height and income, have the best shot at most of the women. Men of average appearance, height and income struggle — and often wind up alone.

Even though the pandemic has been over for a while, it seems like some people haven’t stopped hibernating, and it’s taking a toll on men’s health. Our men are increasingly lonely and unhappy. Young men commit suicide at four times the rate of young women.

Another reason men may be rejecting even trying to find love is that they don’t really need women, or may not feel like they do, because of the ubiquitousness of online porn.

A majority (57%) of men ages 30-49 report having watched pornography in the past month. Regular porn use distorts real-life relationships which require effort, communication, consistency, and more to remain healthy. Porn is a substitute for real sex with a real-life woman, which also requires more effort than logging onto a website. If porn addicts are married or in a relationship, they often feel shame or embarrassment about their amount of porn viewing and so they hide it. This discovery leads to an even more fractured relationship.

OnlyFans is a similar substitute, and perhaps worse in the sense that many men report turning to these paid accounts not just for titillation or sex but for a quasi-relationship. While some statistics show that more married than single men are users on OnlyFans, it’s clear both are seeking the site to satiate emotional or sexual needs they purport aren’t being filled.

Women, on the other hand, seem to be struggling far less. Data shows unmarried, childless women are the “happiest subgroup in the population.” Women now collect nearly 60% of bachelor’s degrees, and pay parity is increasing.

This shift in the dynamic in gender parity has played a role, though it’s hard to tell how much, and which came first: Did women start to out-achieve men and men couldn’t keep up so they gave up? Did men get addicted to porn and give up relationships so then women just moved up in the world without them?

Feminism has produced some great things in terms of the legal and societal parity women deserve. Now, women have more job opportunities and make more money than ever. But if women have gotten to the place financially where they don’t think they need a man, this mindset could be driving men out of the dating marketplace. This isn’t to wholly blame women at all.

Men also seem to be struggling to respond to this new generation of accomplished, high-achieving, high-earning women and, rather than up their own “game,” increase their value, embrace emotional maturity, and seek to still earn a woman’s love and respect, they simply give in to self-loathing, self-pity and self-sabotage.

Either way, unhappy, lonely, single men aren’t good for society. Men are natural providers and protectors. They often take on the most difficult work and spearhead the toughest industries: Firefighting, law enforcement, military, manufacturing. We need men to remain productive, happy, competent members of society.

Women are naturally attracted to men who demonstrate this potential and crave a relationship with this kind of healthy, mature, high-value male. But if he’s sitting at home, watching porn and playing video games, numbing his desires instead of seeking a relationship or being purposeful at work, this is far less attractive.

It’s hard to say exactly why men aren’t seeking relationships — both sexes need to take a hard look at themselves. But there are women out there seeking men who want love. Now, we need more men who want the same.

Nicole Russell is an opinion writer at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She has covered law, politics and cultural issues for The Washington Examiner, The Daily Signal, The Atlantic and The New York Post.

[Trenchcoat]

Women just don't get it in the west. The guy needs the carrot dangled first. No guy is going to climb the Everest career ladder to put in all that hard work up front in the hope he can get up that ladder and hopefully then be worthy of a woman.

No he's going to sit back and think, 'I don't need all that shit because A). My odds of getting there are remote even after putting in loads of real hard work, and B). I may not get the reward of a decent or good woman at the end of it as a certainty.

It's pure logic. So they say, ok I'm comfortable enough here, girls aren't bothering with me so I'll switch on the TV, plug in the Xbox, open the tinnies, etc. Back in the day it was an upfront deal, the guy was on higher wages than women, set up as a provider. The girl knew that she needed to get in on the ground floor with a guy and they would work together to get somewhere.

Now women expect a guy to be ready baked and only want in if it seems he's got what it takes. They are just stupidly unrealistic in their expectations and life. Many flock to a guy who has got it and get used for sex. One of my Sister's main gripes after she got divorced from her first husband looking around for a guy was, 'there's no decent men out there', turns out by decent she meant a good job with their own house. She found a guy in the end but it just highlights the problem. Women don't get that by changing the game they aren't going to get more (the money in the system as a whole roughly remains the same) they just screw up the men and make what they want a lot harder to find.


With Russia & Ukraine, it's basically the West, the USA, UK & the EU playing a game. They are letting either side wear the crap down off each other, their armies and their economies. Sure we are helping Ukraine but only so much as to produce a stalemate. A stalemate as we know from WWI wears each side down in a war of attrition. The victor the west hopes will be the west, they can come in after and both Ukraine & Russia will be enfeebled and at our whim to do what we wish in order to make life economically bearable. That I believe the west had decided upon from the start.

[ML]

Why won't Palestinians turn against Hamas ?

Israel is going to destroy Palestinians.

Palestinians themselves can prevent this by . . .

Capturing the Hamas terrorists and handing them over to Israel.

[Trenchcoat]

Why won't Palestinians turn against Hamas ?

Israel is going to destroy Palestinians.

Palestinians themselves can prevent this by . . .

Capturing the Hamas terrorists and handing them over to Israel.

If I were Israel I would just push the whole lot of Palestinians in the Gaza strip over the border into Egypt. Problem then permanently solved forever more instead of it reoccurring over & over again. Possibly they might do that, the cutting off supplies the first stage in such action. I think Israel would be silly not to take such action, they may get a lot of condemnation in the short term but that would pass then they are sorted forever more, problem gone.

[krimster2]

I knew the Gaza attack would begin in the North and move south
by attacking first on the northern edge, the IDF is only exposed on one axis and can't be surrounded or outflanked or cut-off...

IDF will use "bait tanks" to try and get Hamas to shoot anti-tank weapons at them
and then the IDF will shred them block-by-block
any resistance, that block is turned into rubble, and then advance to the next block, as Hamas is squeezed into a smaller and smaller pocket

Hamas deliberately chose to do this, EXPECTING THIS RESPONSE from Israel
it's designed for the Arab World to come together in response to the optics of Israel bombing Arab civilians, which is a WAR CRIME doncha know!!
Hamas is willing to sacrifice their people, turn them "into martyrs" which gives them a noble purpose as they decapitate infants in order for Iran and other Arab states to get political capital to overcome the Shia/Sunni division, and forge a new axis of Russia/Iran/Saudi Arabia and go FULL ON NUCLEAR BABY!!
This is part of Putin's "New world Order" plan

at this point, there is absolutely ZERO CHANCE of there being peace in the middle east
and it's pointless for Israel to pursue a moderate approach to give diplomatic efforts a chance
and should feel free to make a lesson for other arab states to reflect on before commiting hostile acts aginst them joos
but Israel will be in a race to liquidate Hamas, while the rest of the Arab world is debating on whether they want to participate in "The Running Of The Jews" festival

sooner or later, you're ALL going to learn to LOVE THE BOMB!!!!
the only way to overcome global warming
is to have a nuclear winter!!!

look at it this way...
couple of thousand years from now, it won't matter if we had a nuclear war in the late 2020s....

in the next 2 yr, Russia will terminate all its nuclear treaties
SALT and test ban

this launches a new global nuclear arms race
once the VERY first tactical nuke is used, then it's not long before it's a monthly event...
especially when you look at the cost/benefit ratio of nukes vrs much more expensive conventional armies
as well as ease of use

mini neutron bombs and nuclear EMP bombs
an idea
whose time is coming

none of you are gonna be ready for the future that I see...
as the rude beast crawls towards Bethleham
one day you're all gonna see it in your 'hood as well

[krimster2]

Hamas received millions of dollars through cryptocurrency exchange with office in Moscow City - The Wall Street Journal

The Palestinian Jihad group allegedly received more than $93 million dollars through digital wallets on the eve of its attack on Israel. Hamas also used a similar funding scheme.

WSJ, citing data from the analytical company Elliptic, states that the attack on Israel was partially financed through the popular crypto exchange Garantex, registered in Moscow.

[2tallbill]

Why won't Palestinians turn against Hamas ?

Hamas won one election with 30% of the vote and they never had an election
again. Hamas has guns, rocket launchers and psychopathic murdering lunatics
that will chop off your babies head and launch missiles from your rooftop at
Israel. What does a normal Palestinian have to combat that with?

[ML]

Hamas won one election with 30% of the vote and they never had an election
again. Hamas has guns, rocket launchers and psychopathic murdering lunatics
that will chop off your babies head and launch missiles from your rooftop at
Israel. What does a normal Palestinian have to combat that with?

There are 1.6 million Palestinians living in Israel . . . that's what.

[krimster2]

the war in Ukraine and the war in Israel are connected through Putin's goals

Putin arms Hammas
Putin transferred almost 100 million USD$ before Hammas attack (WSJ article)

Putin's Gaza war goals

The conflict escalates into a regional war with the U.S. becoming directly involved.
OPEC responds with an oil embargo.
Iran closes the strait of Hormuz.
The price of oil reaches $200/barrel.
Europe succumbs into a full-blown energy crisis due to LNG shortage.
Massive spike in energy prices reinvigorates inflation with central banks responding
Financial markets and the global banking sector collapse.
Debt crisis engulfs the U.S. forcing the Federal Reserve to another financial market bailout.
Petrodollar trade collapses
Dollar collapses
Hyperinflation emerges
West curtails ukraine support

and wait'll ya'll see what Putin does NEXT YEAR in the USA for the "election" of Donald Trump
ya'll won't even see it coming until it's too late

[Boethius]

Putin’s not that smart.

[krimster2]

ya'll need to learn
never underestimate your enemies....
money is the west achille's heel
where it's most vulnerable
I can assure you Putin is WELL aware of this

a zero-sum game has only one winner
if putin plays his cards right....

I totally see a path for Putin to achieve his goals by the end of 2025
and if I see it, there's 300 FSB analysts who see it even better

[Boethius]

I doubt rather strongly, that Middle East players are going to send troops in for the benefit of Palestinians. Iran May, only because of their intense hatred of Israel, but not others.

Oil was trading at $110 a barrel at times in 2013, and the economy was strong. The market will adjust.

[krimster2]

well...
at the moment Putin and Xi are sending anti-ship missiles to Iran to threaten the US Navy guarding the middle east
and sucking up to the Saudi Crown Prince's nuclear ambitions

putin is most interested in the part where oil goes to above $200/barrel and europe loses LNG and HAS to buy Russian gas again
Iran doesn't have to invade israel, just close the straights of Hormuz
but to do that, they'll attack israel with terror weapons to trigger a response
and when israel responds, then Iran AND SAUDI ARABIA start an oil embargo and shuts down Hormuz but lets Chinese bound ships through

I'm pretty sure this is the basic plan....
what I'm trying to point out
is the war in Ukraine ain't gonna be won on the battlefield in Ukraine
and the war is gonna EXPAND on to new fronts
the middle east being one...

the current war over the "new world order" with the axis of evil
is only just beginning
ukraine is just one front of this war
and Israel another
new fronts will be emerging

please remember how 19 terrorists armed with Box cutters
killed thousands of Americans caused 100 billion USD$ in direct damage
and a trillion USD$ in economic damage
and led to wars that cost the USA thousands of lives and trillions of USD$

so it doesn't take as much to kill a giant as you think it does

[ML]

PBS Newshour in reference to the $100 billion proposed package.

. . . the wars in Israel and in Ukraine, the wars that both countries are fighting, are not just their own, but they're linked directly to U.S. national security interests.

There is a link between the fighting that's going on, Ukraine fighting for its democracy and very existence against the Russian invasion, and Israel fighting for its democracy as a result of the terrorist attacks by Hamas.

If those democracies were to fall to those terroristic activities, then what does that mean for the democratic experiment around the world? It's absolutely right to say that, in both those efforts, the United States is the indispensable nation.

. . . but if the U.S. begins withdrawing, then that's a green light to Putin, that's a green light to Hamas.

So the U.S. has to be involved. It's not a role we have ever loved. But if you happen to be as dominant an economic and military power as you are, it's a role that's thrust upon you. If you don't take these actions up front, then it's immensely more costly later.

The administration put together an aid package that includes aid to Israel, aid to Ukraine. It's some on the Southern border. It's a big multi let's-keep-the-world-safe aid package, let's fight-off-barbarism aid package. And it's expensive.

Imagine how much our defense budget would have to go up if Russia took over Ukraine, if China took over Taiwan, or if somehow Hamas was able to push Israel out of existence. Imagine how much more we would be spending.  It would be astronomical.

So this bill that the administration has put together, while costly, is way less than the alternative that would result from inaction now.

   

[krimster2]

comedy and revolutions in human affairs
are all about the "TIMING"
knowing "when" is as important as knowing "what"

the current wars have many contradictions, like the 3 day war in Ukraine now at day 603
like Hamas knew EXACTLY how Israel would respond to the brutal murder of over 1,000 of it's citizens, based on previous Hamas mass rocket attacks, but even though they knew Gaza civilians would be paying the price, they went right ahead and butchered Israeli children anyway, and even accidentally blew up one of their own refugee shelters with a rocket mis-fire
of course, ya wanna be able to kill enemy civilians, and then use your own for shields

so it's gonna be THAT kind of a fight, is it NOW??

meanwhile, Putin has a big smile
155mm artillery shells that were gonna be for Ukraine are now diverted to Israel
google it
connect the dots
quo bono?

http://crooksandliars.com/2023/10/israeli-politician-blasts-russia-kremlintv

[ML]

Reasoning for not spending time learning Ukrainian or Russian.