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Ukraine is game to you?

Strava. And the head of Ukrainian intelligence liked the guys strava post. Master trolling.
 
Deaconblue said:
Apparently competitive exercising can be fatal. Stanislav Rzhytsky, one of the Russian commanders of the forces attacking Ukraine, was shot while jogging. The report is that the shooter knew his location because he used an exercise tracking device/app that allowed him to compete virtually against other runners.
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My lady get pissed at me when I run without my phone. I'll just tell her I'm trying to stay safe from Putin.
 
I use MyZone heart rate monitor so I have to always have my phone. I won't even exercise if I get to where I'm going to run or work out and realize I forgot it. To me it's like the difference between getting paid to work out or not getting paid. I now dont know why I chipped in with this riveting info
 
guitardeac said:
I use MyZone heart rate monitor so I have to always have my phone. I won't even exercise if I get to where I'm going to run or work out and realize I forgot it. To me it's like the difference between getting paid to work out or not getting paid. I now dont know why I chipped in with this riveting info
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Lol same. If it's not being logged, it may as well not have happened.
 
That's just the generic way of the axiom "If it's not on Strava, it didn't happen."
 
Real boomer energy dropping a 50 minute YouTube video with no discussion about why or what it’s about. I’m sure people are blocking off that hour as I speak to watch.
 
(1) Putin's position is weakened post-mutiny even though the status quo has been maintained because the trajectory of his image continues in the same direction it has been ever since he invaded Ukraine: he looks weak and replaceable. Internal political dynamics of Russia at highest levels continues to resemble organized crime.

(2) The ideal outcome for everyone is that present day Russia turns into present day France, by which he means France used to be a threat to its neighbors and would periodically invade them but now they don't and they have cast off authoritarianism. The other two possible outcomes are that Russia turns into France-lite (meaning they're still authoritarian but they stop invading their neighbors) or they become a Chinese puppet state. Obviously, the current status of Russia periodically invading its neighbors is eventually going to lead to truly major conflict and is not an acceptable outcome.

(3) Russia's territorial integrity is not as brittle as the Soviet Union. The USSR was like a Kit Kat bar, you could easily break off pieces. Russia has internal volatility but is not easily divisible. This makes it more likely that Russia will remain authoritarian for the foreseeable future.

(4) In spite of our infusion of firepower to the Ukrainian military, their current counteroffensive is bogged down. Ukraine has won important victories, but they are not winning the war. We need to accept that Ukraine will probably lose this war (i.e, never regain lost territory) and focus on winning the peace (bringing Ukraine into the EU and establishing security guarantees for Ukraine). The security guarantee has to come first. He suggests that we could form a "bilateral plus" deal that involves certain NATO states, like Poland, joining us in guaranteeing Ukraine's security without bringing Ukraine fully into NATO.

(5) The closer Russia grows to China, the more our trans-Atlantic allies can actually become an asset for us in opposing Chinese expansion. Thus, it is not necessarily true that Ukraine support is a drain to Taiwan defense.

(6) He continues to be optimistic about the future of America and the West because he continues to think that our free and open society is a superior system to authoritarianism. But if we lose the free and open part, our future becomes bleak. America cannot succeed if it abandons its core institutions.

(7) Sarcastically notes, "we have 100 million people in this country that are eligible to be President, and then we have our two leading candidates." (not a word-for-word quote).

(8) Agrees that America and the West engage in hypocrisy, but doesn't think that's necessarily a bad thing because a charge of hypocrisy implicitly affirms that the ideals of the West are good and the West should work harder to achieve them.


Not much new from him since the last interview with him I posted, which isn't a huge shock as the only major development is the ill-fated mutiny which has not (yet) changed the status quo in Russia.
 
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4) Isn't this a war of financial attrition, hence the edge goes to Ukraine? Russia saved for a rainy day (hoarded gold) but that is going to run out bc they did not anticipate the war/sanctions going on this long. Their economic fundamentals can't be sustainable. The passing of time makes Putin's demise (natural or overthrown) more likely. The counter to this is that Russia-friendly Republicans could gain power, end all aid, and this war ends quickly.
 
Which is why the GOP is Russia’s best investment.
 
I can't take anyone seriously who thinks Russia is "winning" anything right now. They are losing far more soldiers, artillery, vehicles, planes, etc while simultaneously losing territory. Ukraine has tens of thousands which haven't been brought into the fold that have recently been trained and outfit by the top militaries in the world while Russia has nearly exhausted forced reserves and prisoners who are given a set of clothes and a gun from 1954. Yes, the counteroffensive has been slower than anticipated but it has effectively drawn the majority of Russian forces and supplies into artillery range where Ukraine has an advantage. Russia's economy is in tatters despite attempts to keep the ruble stable. Sure if NATO countries abandon Ukraine tomorrow it could mean Russia keeps Crimea, but that isn't happening. If more modern weapons and jets had been given/trained on earlier it wouldn't have taken this long. Ukraine is doing this without any real air support which is unheard of, though drones are changing that it seems.
 
HuskyDeac said:
I can't take anyone seriously who thinks Russia is "winning" anything right now. They are losing far more soldiers, artillery, vehicles, planes, etc while simultaneously losing territory. Ukraine has tens of thousands which haven't been brought into the fold that have recently been trained and outfit by the top militaries in the world while Russia has nearly exhausted forced reserves and prisoners who are given a set of clothes and a gun from 1954. Yes, the counteroffensive has been slower than anticipated but it has effectively drawn the majority of Russian forces and supplies into artillery range where Ukraine has an advantage. Russia's economy is in tatters despite attempts to keep the ruble stable. Sure if NATO countries abandon Ukraine tomorrow it could mean Russia keeps Crimea, but that isn't happening. If more modern weapons and jets had been given/trained on earlier it wouldn't have taken this long. Ukraine is doing this without any real air support which is unheard of, though drones are changing that it seems.
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One wonders if the Russians are just planning to continue to fight and hang on until at least November 2024 in hopes that Trump or some other Putin-friendly Republican gets elected POTUS and withdraws all support for Ukraine and they can possibly win that way. It may be a false hope, but certainly the Russians are hoping that a friendlier US government might turn the momentum back to them.
 
Highland Deac said:
One wonders if the Russians are just planning to continue to fight and hang on until at least November 2024 in hopes that Trump or some other Putin-friendly Republican gets elected POTUS and withdraws all support for Ukraine and they can possibly win that way. It may be a false hope, but certainly the Russians are hoping that a friendlier US government might turn the momentum back to them.
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I think that is exactly their plan
 
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