There we go

[Cane_The9lives]

Bruh, your TDR is flaring up again because you know that's not the full context of what he said. Of course, it's impossible to find the full quote now but I believe it was along the lines of saying that it was a genius move but that it was sad and would have never happened on his watch. I might be mixing quotes though.

Either way, the media of course has run with what he said but you can acknowledge that a person is evil and smart, evil and good at playing the game. That doesn't mean you side with them or praise them as being reported.

Hitler was evil, that doesn't take away from the fact the man was incredibly intelligent and made a couple of genius moves to take power. He's still one of the world's most evil humans.

Here's the full quote:

"I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, "This is genius." Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine.....of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful. So Putin is now saying, "It's independent", a large section of Ukraine. I said, "How smart is that". And he's gonna go in an be a peacekeeper. That's the strongest peace force...we could use that on our southern border. By the way this would never have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This never would have happened."

Parse that however you want, but from my chair it sounds like a moron praising a dictator using terms like "Wonderful", lapping up the by the barrel full Putin's peacekeeping propaganda, and suggesting the same tactics should be applied to our borders.

I've said it before and I'll say it again but you don't, in fact, have to hand it to dictators.
No sapient human human hearing about the invasion of Poland thought to themselves - let alone said out loud - "This is Genius, and the Gleiwitz incident? Oh, that's wonderful."

This is precisely the kind of stupid shit that got him canned in the first place. Trump is literally the first president in modern history who was voted out of office not because he accomplished very little, but because he couldn't shut his fat mouth. And it continues to be a deficiency his supporters, and supporters adjacent, fail time and time again to countenance.

[Digital Masta]

Bruh, your TDR is flaring up again because you know that's not the full context of what he said. Of course, it's impossible to find the full quote now but I believe it was along the lines of saying that it was a genius move but that it was sad and would have never happened on his watch. I might be mixing quotes though.

Either way, the media of course has run with what he said but you can acknowledge that a person is evil and smart, evil and good at playing the game. That doesn't mean you side with them or praise them as being reported.

Hitler was evil, that doesn't take away from the fact the man was incredibly intelligent and made a couple of genius moves to take power. He's still one of the world's most evil humans.

Here's the full quote:

"I went in yesterday and there was a television screen, and I said, "This is genius." Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine.....of Ukraine. Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful. So Putin is now saying, "It's independent", a large section of Ukraine. I said, "How smart is that". And he's gonna go in an be a peacekeeper. That's the strongest peace force...we could use that on our southern border. By the way this would never have happened with us. Had I been in office, not even thinkable. This never would have happened."

Parse that however you want, but from my chair it sounds like a moron praising a dictator using terms like "Wonderful", lapping up the by the barrel full Putin's peacekeeping propaganda, and suggesting the same tactics should be applied to our borders.

I've said it before and I'll say it again but you don't, in fact, have to hand it to dictators.
No sapient human human hearing about the invasion of Poland thought to themselves - let alone said out loud - "This is Genius, and the Gleiwitz incident? Oh, that's wonderful."

This is precisely the kind of stupid shit that got him canned in the first place. Trump is literally the first president in modern history who was voted out of office not because he accomplished very little, but because he couldn't shut his fat mouth. And it continues to be a deficiency his supporters, and supporters adjacent, fail time and time again to countenance.

I don't disagree that this man tweeted himself out of office. He just says stupid shit, he never parses his words which is a huge problem. It's back to the old ancient proverb of "Taking Trump seriously vs literally" We'll never actually know what's going on inside his head despite his diarrhea of the mouth but after knowing how this man speaks during the entire time he's been in the public eye in addition to the scrutinization of every word he has said before, during and beyond his presidency I don't actually think he's "on Putin's side" or agrees with Putin in the way that people that hate him, his supporters or people who don't see him as the devil are trying to make it out to be. I suspect the "wonderful" and what came after it was more of a tongue-in-cheek way of speaking which is still fucking stupid and inappropriate. I don't think this man actually supports Putin considering he also followed up with the fact that it never would have happened had he been president...and he's probably right.

Call me a Trump sympathizer or whatever (I'm not), I don't care.

I also don't disagree with the fact that you don't have to hand it to dictators.

[San Goku]

Putin Has been planning this for a long time. It's nice that the West are trying to hurt Russia financially but Im hearing that Russia has been transferring their reserves in countries where it cannot be blocked, like China. You can think of Putin as evil but he's definitely a genius and powerful leader. I don't know enough to go into further details but I can paste a paragraph that explains it.

[Ice(v)an]

I hundred percent think this would have happen under Trump watch. In fact this whole situation might have been because of Trump. Back in 2019 during the campaign for his re-election he said Ukraine was corrupt, and wouldn't send military aid to Ukraine... he even asked Ukraine to publish some dirt on Biden's son...

[xandorxerxes]

And probably just done nothing about the invasion, since he's praising Putin for it.

Why other than Biden? This is probably the one area I'd have strong confidence in Biden.

Bruh, your TDR is flaring up again because you know that's not the full context of what he said. Of course, it's impossible to find the full quote now but I believe it was along the lines of saying that it was a genius move but that it was sad and would have never happened on his watch. I might be mixing quotes though.

...

Except he wasn't necessarily friendly with Russia. I mean he wasn't constantly saber-rattling them publicly which if you're not doing you're seen as "being friendly" but a recent New York Post article indicates that he may have made some pretty crazy-ass threats to both Putin and Xi when he was President. Could all be untrue though.

https://nypost.com/2022/02/22/trump-tal ... ar-a-lago/

Trump literally rolled over for Putin and let Putin kill our allies in Syria and threatened to withhold military aide to Ukraine. Cain gave you the full quote already, but "this wouldn't happen under my watch" is empty words. Like everything he says. "See this negative thing happened? Wouldn't happen under me." Sure, and Mexico will pay for that wall.

I believe he'd threaten them, so I'm not disputing the article. He might have been crazy enough to actually follow through too. So maybe you're right, maybe Putin wouldn't have invaded under Trump because they didn't know if Trump was insane enough to do something as morbidly awful as bombarding one of the largest cities on Earth without warning. Even if he gave warning, how many people can/would leave Beijing? Putin bombarded Ukraine, which is also horrific, but did so with advance warning and is a city he's actively trying to take. I'm not intending to make excuses for him or justify him in any way, but we're talking about two substantially different levels of awful. If Putin/Xi took him seriously, I'm not sure that says much positive about Trump.

Truckers:

In the form of what? Lost time/product due to them blocking off roads (which I didn't agree with as you're now preventing others from getting where they want to go) or in actual damage to property that they went out and destroyed? Because during the 2020 Summer of Love, cities burned, people were physically assaulted and killed but nobody in Canada had their bank accounts frozen for donating to BLM or any other organization involved in supporting these protests. As a matter of fact, Trudeau was out there too.

1. In the form of lost sleep and noise pollution. Those horns were really loud

From BBC:

Nearly 80 criminal investigations have been opened in relation to the protests, including for alleged hate crimes and property damage. Some two dozen people have been arrested.

That was almost a week before Trudeau went nuclear. I'd also wager that the damage was probably caused by opportunists as opposed to people involved in the movement (simple vandalism, like hats on statues, aside), but it's a side effect of protests. Just like the American ones. The Canadian "summer of love" protest had almost 80 criminal investigations opened - but that's a final number and not halfway through. The burning and deaths were on the American side. That's veering dangerously close to gun-issue territory, so we should probably avoid going there to stay on topic (though I'm not sure we disagree on guns).

When we talk monetary damage, it's an apples to apples comparison. Burning and looting causes monetary damage. Loss of business/product causes monetary damage. This convoy was immensely damaging, as were the protests in America. The convoy will have slight longer-term effects since it impacted an already strained supply chain, but I imagine that's already working itself out. This also doesn't account for damage big trucks cause to roads. Also keep in mind that direct property damage is insured. The George Floyd protests caused over 1B in insured damages. Can businesses who closed their doors or lost patrons without damage or had a loss of revenue from a product shortage get insurance? Far less likely.

[xandorxerxes]

Putin Has been planning this for a long time. It's nice that the West are trying to hurt Russia financially but Im hearing that Russia has been transferring their reserves in countries where it cannot be blocked, like China. You can think of Putin as evil but he's definitely a genius and powerful leader. I don't know enough to go into further details but I can paste a paragraph that explains it.

It's not even that it will be blocked from access, he's essentially unable to trade in American dollars (which is currently used as the world's trading currency). You can look at the value of the Ruble right now to see the damage it's done already, but that's more short term. Longer term will be the impact to their imports/exports.

As much as China has been buddy-buddy with Russia and will likely still trade with Russia despite the sanctions, if it gets bad enough China will drop Russia immediately. China and the US trade immensely dwarfs China and Russia trade. It's a business decision at that point.

I hundred percent think this would have happen under Trump watch. In fact this whole situation might have been because of Trump. Back in 2019 during the campaign for his re-election he said Ukraine was corrupt, and wouldn't send military aid to Ukraine... he even asked Ukraine to publish some dirt on Biden's son...

I don't know how much we can blame Trump's rhetoric for Putin's decision, since Putin has been denigrating Ukraine for a decade+ now in Russian media. Kiev is very significant to Russia's history, from what I've read Ukraine has essentially been a target in Putin's eyes since day 1.

[San Goku]

Putin Has been planning this for a long time. It's nice that the West are trying to hurt Russia financially but Im hearing that Russia has been transferring their reserves in countries where it cannot be blocked, like China. You can think of Putin as evil but he's definitely a genius and powerful leader. I don't know enough to go into further details but I can paste a paragraph that explains it.

It's not even that it will be blocked from access, he's essentially unable to trade in American dollars (which is currently used as the world's trading currency). You can look at the value of the Ruble right now to see the damage it's done already, but that's more short term. Longer term will be the impact to their imports/exports.

As much as China has been buddy-buddy with Russia and will likely still trade with Russia despite the sanctions, if it gets bad enough China will drop Russia immediately. China and the US trade immensely dwarfs China and Russia trade. It's a business decision at that point.

I hundred percent think this would have happen under Trump watch. In fact this whole situation might have been because of Trump. Back in 2019 during the campaign for his re-election he said Ukraine was corrupt, and wouldn't send military aid to Ukraine... he even asked Ukraine to publish some dirt on Biden's son...

I don't know how much we can blame Trump's rhetoric for Putin's decision, since Putin has been denigrating Ukraine for a decade+ now in Russian media. Kiev is very significant to Russia's history, from what I've read Ukraine has essentially been a target in Putin's eyes since day 1.

Think I would have to agree with you there. At the end of the day cash rules everything.

[Cane_The9lives]

I don't disagree that this man tweeted himself out of office. He just says stupid shit, he never parses his words which is a huge problem. It's back to the old ancient proverb of "Taking Trump seriously vs literally" We'll never actually know what's going on inside his head despite his diarrhea of the mouth but after knowing how this man speaks during the entire time he's been in the public eye in addition to the scrutinization of every word he has said before, during and beyond his presidency I don't actually think he's "on Putin's side" or agrees with Putin in the way that people that hate him, his supporters or people who don't see him as the devil are trying to make it out to be. I suspect the "wonderful" and what came after it was more of a tongue-in-cheek way of speaking which is still fucking stupid and inappropriate. I don't think this man actually supports Putin considering he also followed up with the fact that it never would have happened had he been president...and he's probably right.

Call me a Trump sympathizer or whatever (I'm not), I don't care.

I also don't disagree with the fact that you don't have to hand it to dictators.

I know your perspective on Trump, I was referring to his consummate defenders generally.

My biggest problem with the man is I never know what he thinks, because his ability to convey an intelligent thought is so compromised by hubris, it goes through so many ego filters before finally coming out smelling to high heaven. Biden's a dead shrub 90% of the time, but he at least only requires subtitles, Trump apparently requires an entire team of political Scholars, linguistic professors and the full weight of conservative media to translate one fucking sentence.

[killacross]

Fuck you
Trump 2024!!

[San Goku]

Interesting discussion from Professor John J. Mearsheimer that looks at the conflict from all angles.

Link: https://youtu.be/Nbj1AR_aAcE

[killacross]

Have you all seen the vids/pics of Russian kids being arrested for protesting against the war? We're talking like 8/9 year olds...

I don't know why I guffawed

[Haohmaru]

American news is so anti Russia it's a joke. You can't even take that shit serious. The way the journalist and news outlets in general are telling the news and are talking about this war is so fucking retarded and racist. It's unbelievable.
Saying that this war is a war in Europe a civilized part of the world (I guess people just forgot about the world wars) and that you'd expect something like this in the middle east.
Like wtf are we even talking about here.
Also the fact that Ukraine's surrounding countries are blocking refugees based on ethnicity is a fucking joke. No you're black you're not getting in. We only want the blond hair blue eyed ones. You black and brown people can wait for the 2nd rate human train.

[Digital Masta]

American news is so anti Russia it's a joke. You can't even take that shit serious. The way the journalist and news outlets in general are telling the news and are talking about this war is so fucking retarded and racist. It's unbelievable.
Saying that this war is a war in Europe a civilized part of the world (I guess people just forgot about the world wars) and that you'd expect something like this in the middle east.
Like wtf are we even talking about here.
Also the fact that Ukraine's surrounding countries are blocking refugees based on ethnicity is a fucking joke. No you're black you're not getting in. We only want the blond hair blue eyed ones. You black and brown people can wait for the 2nd rate human train.

I heard about this and I wonder much of this is specifically skin color versus Ukraine prioritizing its citizens over everyone else, regardless of what they look like? I also wonder how much of this is passport-related. Meaning would a black American have an easier time getting on the train by the simple fact of having a "western" passport? That shit happens a lot, I know that other countries will rank you differently based on your citizenship as opposed to your skin color. Back when the world cup is in South Africa I had friends that went, some were black Americans and they had no issues with the white locals because they weren't from the ethnic African group.

More podcasts fleshing out the political history and issues between Ukraine and Russia.

https://tomwoods.com/ep-2074-russia-ukraine-and-nato/

I want more of this stuff to get out there so people see it, the link San posted is another one. You won't ever get the birdseye view of this entire thing from mainstream media.

[San Goku]

American news is so anti Russia it's a joke. You can't even take that shit serious. The way the journalist and news outlets in general are telling the news and are talking about this war is so fucking retarded and racist. It's unbelievable.
Saying that this war is a war in Europe a civilized part of the world (I guess people just forgot about the world wars) and that you'd expect something like this in the middle east.
Like wtf are we even talking about here.
Also the fact that Ukraine's surrounding countries are blocking refugees based on ethnicity is a fucking joke. No you're black you're not getting in. We only want the blond hair blue eyed ones. You black and brown people can wait for the 2nd rate human train.

Pure fucking racism, no way around it. It's plain as day to see but we shouldn't be surprised. I'm glad they are getting called out, being in a war doesn't give you a pass for being fucking retarded. The bias is really shocking, I'm actually listening to pro Russian ppl talk just because now (maybe started by my Deputy PM Freeland triggering me).

[killacross]

My tenant paid me today with no real issue
Whaaaaaa

Also.. We've made an offer on a house. They accepted. But this market makes these fucks extra brave!!

But why is it so goddamn hard to pay someone $20k?

[Digital Masta]

But why is it so goddamn hard to pay someone $20k?

Do you mean that in terms of the hoops you have to go through to pay that amount?

Hopefully, de-fi will grow to a point where that won't be as much of an issue.

Also, I guess your tenant found that money.

More stuff from Scott Horton on the history of Ukraine and Russia.

https://original.antiwar.com/scott/2022 ... raine-war/

The speech and the written version (I know XX loves his transcripts) of the speech.

[xandorxerxes]

Interesting discussion from Professor John J. Mearsheimer that looks at the conflict from all angles.

Link: https://youtu.be/Nbj1AR_aAcE

His great-power-politics camp seems very practical to my untrained eye, but his system like many others assumes rational actors. I don't know that everyone involved is rational.

I want more of this stuff to get out there so people see it, the link San posted is another one. You won't ever get the birdseye view of this entire thing from mainstream media.

I think we need to define "mainstream media" - print media certainly covered it. When I was reading up more on the guy San linked I even found an interview he did with the New Yorker recently.

The speech and the written version (I know XX loves his transcripts) of the speech.

I do, it was really helpful, thanks!

I really like the historical context he provides, but like a lot of these guys I don't think they're looking far enough. It's easy to say "look at the headlines, they're not considering the last 30 years!" but that means that you're also not looking farther back than 30 years, and you're not looking in every arena. The guy in this latest article actually references that historically Russia has ALWAYS wanted Crimea. Access to the Black Sea is absolutely imperative for them. Was it that the West "forced" Putin to take it, or did the West bumble and give Putin the opportunity to take it?

About halfway through he starts ranting about "Russiagate" and all of that. He stops putting out any sort of supporting evidence and moving to the "go look it up" mantra. Problem is, if you do... he's wrong, which I imagine is why he stops citing things. Very specifically, we very much proved Russia was behind the DNC hack (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fancy_Bear). Which brings me to my next point...

All of these guys are also completely neglecting an entire arena of war which has been waging for the past 10+ years - the internet. Putin can say all he wants that we forced him - we've pretty much given him all of the ammo he needs to at least have a political justification for what he's doing - but he's waged an online espionage and disinformation war against us for over a decade. In the very beginning this guy asks "Where would a Texan get these talking points?" Facebook. Same place they get all their anti-Biden/anti-Fauci/etc. memes. It's no coincidence that Putin had a bunch of support in the US until it was a completely untenable position to hold. Here's a quick tweet-chain from the person who broke the Cambridge-Analytica scandal: https://twitter.com/carolecadwalla/stat ... 6548013062

The Russians have inflicted billions of dollars of damage on us, and are constantly looking to inflict more. It's not some script-kiddy that's shutting down hospital systems and cities or silently leveraging multiple complex vulnerabilities to breach even the most secure companies, it's groups backed by the Russian government. For disinformation, they're not just buying a couple of dumb ads of Facebook, the scope of the information pushed is far beyond just ads. They've formed groups and rallies, constantly feed disinformation until it becomes "true" to the people that read it, and even helped support things like the January 6th attack. There's nothing innocuous about it.

[killacross]

Do you mean that in terms of the hoops you have to go through to pay that amount?

Hopefully, de-fi will grow to a point where that won't be as much of an issue.

Also, I guess your tenant found that money.

We are buying new construction...and unlike our other homes -- we had to get a mortgage first (because we didn't want to rent at $25k/yr anymore...plus with this market -- we expect the costs to go up further when our lease expires in June) -- and we don't have enough cash on hand to purchase 100% down again. We plan to pay off this inflated mortgage in 4-5 years.

Anywhoo...

the house is about 80% built -- so there was initially a $10k deposit to finish it by April. Essentially, we put in an offer...they said if we can do the $10k deposit -- they would make it happen that same day

We said deal...but can't sign the paperwork until that afternoon after work...they said OK.

That night -- when we signed the paperwork and submitted everything -- they said -- "We actually got 2 other offers...we are seriously considering them and will get back to you in the morning"

WHICH WAS HORSESHIT!!
My wife and I talked -- and if they said we need another $5k -- we were gonna tell them to eat a dick, kick rocks. I would pray that they eat spicy food and it burns their asshole!!

The next morning, they said someone actually beat our offer price -- BUUUUUT -- because they wanted a $20k deposit instead to finish it out (this all gets applied to purchase price in the end)...we are getting a chance -- so we said YES. CASH IS KING!!

[This was a Monday night to Tuesday morning]. Originally, they said $10k, 3 days after signing the contract to purchase...but now they said they wanted $20k ASAP. I said...Oh....well...I easily have $20k in cash at just about any given moment. It will take me 30 secs to move the money...Will you take a personal check? They said...NO...we want the money wired directly to our acct. I said OK...but I wont be able to get to the bank until Friday (my day off). They said no...we need it by Wednesday. I said....but you told me...3 days after signing the documents...and YOU haven't signed the documents [this was Tuesday]. They said...well...we need to order this stuff ASAP because the world is on fire. I said...well OK...send me wiring instructions.

They went silent for the rest of the day.

They came back and said -- actually....a personal check is fine. When can you bring it? I said - Friday. They said what about Wednesday? I said...today is Wednesday and it's 7p -- NO. They said what about Thursday? I said -- I work M-Thurs...Friday? They said what time?I said --I'm off Friday...so 10a? They said no...too late...I said OK...Friday 9a? 8a? 7a?6a?.......5a? They said no...Thursday is best for us. I said -- IDGAF what's best for you...I'm giving you $20 stacks. Then another half a million!! SHIIYYIIIT -- tell me you are gonna give me 20 grand and I'll be there...rain/sleet/shine. I make good money...but not $20k/day. They said Thursday afternoon...5p? I said sure (they are actually coming alllllllllll the way to me. To the grocery store I live by...to get the check).

I asked why they didn't want the wire transfer. Well....apparently they've had issues with wire fraud...and wire takes days to process...vs a check which gives them partial access to the money immediately.

Either way -- this house probably gets us 90% of what we want. I get 1.05 acres of land (means a work shed, space to build a boat, space to do a aquaponic/hydroponic garden + fish pond, plus raise garden beds...my wife wants chickens...then my wife gets 5 beds/3.5 baths/3 walk in closets/ and new construction). I am not excited about the Whirlpool appliances....but oh well. I am excited about a gas stove and enough service to upgrade to a tankless water heater...and the covered back porch (I will screen it in myself).

Past that -- I liked the oversized garage....the finished bonus room..PLUS the unfinished bonus room. The covered back porch...and we have a stream that runs through the edge of our property. Looking at it...and due to my country roots -- I bet it's filled with crawdads!! We will find out soon enough -- I'll revisit in 60 days.

I plan to wait 30 days...then seriously try for #2. My wife has been bringing it up lately...and truth be told...I don't like it. It makes me feel used. She only wants my DNA ATM..not my body -- which I have been beating into shape with pull ups, push ups, crunches, squats, rowing, and 10+ miles/day of cycling. But seriously need to clean up my diet

Talked with the mortgage officer -- we already have enough cash on hand to pay 3x the down payment. Gonna sell more funds just because...

[xandorxerxes]

I asked why they didn't want the wire transfer. Well....apparently they've had issues with wire fraud...and wire takes days to process...vs a check which gives them partial access to the money immediately.

Uh, I'm getting really crappy vibes from those guys from your story. Shady as hell. They're not getting much of that cash either unless they're going straight to your bank, but they're still dealing with SARs. Your bank better call you, too. If my bank is going to cash a check for $20k they better make sure I wrote it.

Talked with the mortgage officer -- we already have enough cash on hand to pay 3x the down payment. Gonna sell more funds just because...

I know this isn't your cup of tea based on how you feel about debt, but for anyone else who's reading along - you can also do the opposite. Buy a house paying the minimum down. You'll lose 3+% of your money paying interest on the loan and paying more per month, but if you put extra down on a house to avoid that 3+%, then you're not earning 8+% in the market on that money.

The difference is your risk tolerance. Just make sure you've got enough saved no matter what that if you lose your job you're not going to lose your house. Doesn't matter what you put down at that point...

[Digital Masta]

I think we need to define "mainstream media" - print media certainly covered it. When I was reading up more on the guy San linked I even found an interview he did with the New Yorker recently.

The corporate press is a better term. The Fox News, CNN, MSNBCs of the world. They will never have someone on during prime time and give the 45 minutes, an hour, or 2 hours to explain these situations from a much larger view.


So, The Batman is out and it seems to be getting generally positive reviews, with the exception of a few very apparent woke moments. One of the guys from Geeks n Gamers gave it an overall positive review but noticed that only two white guys were "good" Bruce Wayne and Alfred while all the other white people were "bad" and the non-white characters were all good. Was that on purpose? Hard to tell in this day n' age. Also, Catwoman is bisexual (of course).

I'm not exactly running out to see it myself as I'm done with these companies. I may pirate it once a decent copy comes out.

I also still think it's dumb that they turned the Riddler into the Zodiac Killer...MUST BE DARK!

EDIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjoLh1tAOFM

Slow the video down so you can see the quick shot of the other anchor's horrified face.