[GregT]

anyone who believes that 19 'terrorists' with box cutters brought down the towers, including WT7, has not taken the time to look at any of the evidence.

Godwin's Law (doomer-style) strikes again. Take your tinfoil-hat off. This is the second post in a row I've read from you with CT leanings, the other mentioning the NWO. Don't expect anyone with a rational mind to take you seriously if this is going to be your main riff.

They had culture, they had national identity

They had a national identity that was just as "imposed" on them as democracy was--by Saddam. Iraq is an ill-advised attempt to ram together three groups that have proven they don't want to live as one--Kurds, Shia, and Sunni. They were not some shining beacon prior to Gulf War II.

Is this the way to spread democracy? Through criminal behaviour? By murdering hundreds of thousands of innocent people?

It's called war. That's how it is. What would you prefer now, in 2015? ISIL? You sound like you're itching to join them, by your current rhetoric.

What is George Bush talking about in this clip ennui2?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc7i0wCFf8g

I'll give you a clue. He isn't talking about peanut butter.

So if the twin towers were brought down due to structural failure caused by aircraft impacts, followed by fires fueled with jet fuel that 'melted' steel, what brought down WT7?

The only thing that held Iraq together was an 'evil dictator'. What did you think would happen if he was removed?

Just because you are incapable of thinking for yourself ennui2, does not mean that everyone else cannot do so. There will eventually be an investigation into 911, and while we may never know who exactly was responsible, there are mountains of evidence available to disprove the official conspiracy theory. The conspiracy theory that you appear to believe in.

[GregT]

Everyone still hates us.

Not everyone pstarr. Some of us can tell the difference between a country's 'leadership', and it's citizens. Even though many people cannot.

[ROCKMAN]

" Everyone still hates us." And as Charley Sheen said in "Red Dawn": ":The hate keeps me warm at night." LOL.

[Strummer]

Not everyone pstarr. Some of us can tell the difference between a country's 'leadership', and it's citizens. Even though many people cannot.

There comes a point in time when everyone becomes tired of making this distinction and stops making it. The rest of the world is dangerously close to this point with regards to the US. We are sick of your bullshit. It's not your "government" killing innocent people with drones, it's the well-paid operators sitting comfortably in the bunkers in Nevada. It's your sons invading and bombing other countries. It's your "respected enterpreneur" hedge fund managers destroying the world economy. Why don't you deal with those bastards yourself and leave the rest of the world out of it?

[GregT]

Why don't you deal with those bastards yourself and leave the rest of the world out of it?

Just for the record Strummer, I'm not an American.

[Outcast_Searcher]

Everyone still hates us.

Not everyone pstarr. Some of us can tell the difference between a country's 'leadership', and it's citizens. Even though many people cannot.

You are right. They pity us.

How ironic that in rich America, the world's fattest country, would the poster boy for food insecurity programs be fat, and the people doing the marketing not even see any irony in that.

Per Wiki, SNAP had 46.6 million plus people receiving free food in 2012. But yes, let's claim there's widespread hunger in America. I''m sure the truly poor people in places like the Congo and Samalia will wring their hands in grief for the "hunger" here.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

How ironic that in rich America, the world's fattest country, would the poster boy for food insecurity programs be fat, and the people doing the marketing not even see any irony in that.

[radon1]

Can the commies put up a viable candidate?

No, no one can. If he decides that enough is enough, then Medvedev should come up again, or some speculate that Shoigu, the current minister of defense, may run.

If the things turn really tough economically, then some western backed candidacy like Navalny may become viable. But the reserve fund should be just enough to keep afloat until 2018.

[Plantagenet]

... the reserve fund should be just enough to keep afloat until 2018.

That should be long enough for Putin to finish off Ukraine and destabilize the rest of eastern Europe and perhaps even carry out an anti-NATO scheme or two. Putin has to act fast while Obama is still in office----if Putin waits until 2017 Obama will be out of office and Putin would have to deal with Hillary or someone else who actually has some balls.

[radon1]

perhaps even carry out an anti-NATO scheme or two. Putin has to act fast while Obama is still in office----if Putin waits until 2017 Obama will be out of office and Putin would have to deal with Hillary or someone else who actually has some balls.

Seems like Pu should really be tempted to arrange for a re-unification referendum in Alaska before 2017. Then his reserve fund will go poof before 2018 and angry public will kick him off from the Kremlin. Looks nice.

[Withnail]

Does this mean that the war with Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea, and the containment of the West were the cure-alls for Russia’s “Weimar Syndrome”? If so, we should get ourselves ready for Russia to self-administer another dose of this medicine.

I stopped reading at this point. Russia is not at War with Ukraine, and Russia did not annex Crimea. This is western media propaganda that has no other motive than to gain support for the globalist's NWO agenda.

Yes me too. The article has an obvious agenda.

What is concerning is that the US has seemingly become a lot more reckless in its actions recently. We've had the destabilisation of Ukraine, the attempted destabilisation of Hong Kong, and now its approaching direct military confrontation with both Russia and China. Oh and weren't they buggering about in Macedonia recently trying to start a 'euromaidan'?

Arming the nutters currently claiming to run Ukraine, building up forces on Russia's borders, buzzing the Chinese on the Spratly islands. No good can come of any of this.

[Withnail]

[Russia did not annex Crimea…..

Alice: Sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
The Mad Hatter: That is an excellent practice.

Crimea rejoined Russia after a referendum.

Not one poll from any source, pro Western or otherwise, disputes that this is what the majority of Crimeans wanted.

Crimea is now peaceful and there are more flights per day coming to Crimea than there are to Kiev.

You can check it out on Flightradar24.com.

[Sixstrings]

Russian journalist quits and apologises for taking part in 'propaganda madness'

Renowned Russian journalist Konstantin Goldenzweig has resigned from state-funded TV channel 'NTV' after becoming disenchanted with the Kremlin's misinformation campaign. He announced the move through Facebook on June 9, TJ reports.

"I want to thank all my colleagues who helped me, taught me, encouraged me and were my friends. And continue to be my friends. And sorry for taking part in this propaganda madness. There is only one banal conclusion: the deals with your own conscience are only as good as those you can cancel" - Goldenzweig wrote.
http://uatoday.tv/politics/russian-journalist-quits-and-apologises-for-taking-part-in-propaganda-madness-436389.html

In this article, he says had planned to resign but was terminated early after he criticized President Putin:

There have been some controversial departures from the state-run English-language channel RT in recent years but this is the first time since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis that a high-profile correspondent from a major terrestrial channel has criticised his employer so publicly.

In an interview with the independent news site, Meduza, Mr Goldenzweig said he was ousted from NTV shortly after giving the interview on June 8 to the Phoenix channel, in which he said that Mr Putin felt “insulted” for being excluded from the G7 meeting of leading states in Bavaria.

He said he had already decided to leave NTV at the end of July after becoming disillusioned with his work, but he was forced out early after the general director of the channel became enraged at his interview comments.

...

“I am truly ashamed of what I have been doing for the last year and a half,” he told Meduza.

Before autumn last year Mr Goldenzweig had managed to avoid politicising his reporting, producing frequent dispatches about German culture, but he then started to get frequent orders for crude propaganda from Moscow, he said.

He was told to report that anti-homophobia activists who criticised Mr Putin in Europe were part of a “dirty campaign against the tsar-daddy” and that Angela Merkela, Germany’s chancellor, was a puppet of the US, Mr Goldenzweig explained.

...

Mr Goldenzweig said an objective report he filed about Germany offering compensation to former Soviet prisoners of war was changed to say German officials had deliberately delayed the initiative so that the people concerned died out and there would be less to pay.

He said that he had gradually learned to compromise with himself over producing propaganda but that, “eventually a firm conviction appeared that I was doing something that was not right”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/vladimir-putin/11678629/Russian-state-TV-reporter-fired-after-criticising-Vladimir-Putin.html

We are ALL free to agree with whatever Russians we wish to agree with.

You all can agree with whichever Russians you want to agree with, and I can agree with those Russians that I agree with.

I agree with this reporter. And I agree with Gary Kasporov and people like that, and any Russian immigrant I've ever come across here in the US, and a lot of Russian views I see in all these articles I read and in youtubes. They actually are not all for Putin, or even if they are, they still know what he is up to.

It's a bit ironic that some in these threads are so pro Putin and apologists, they are actually ignoring many millions of Russian people that think a different way.

The Russian people will never be our enemy.

I think things may get dicey, but at the end of the day you must remember two important facts:

1) Despite any propaganda or anarchist theories otherwise, NATO actually is defensive. No Western nation is ever gonna "attack Russia" or "nuke Russia."

2) Even crazy North Korea isn't actually suicidal. And likewise, Russia certainly has a lot more going for it than North Korea does so I don't see why Russians would just throw it all away.

So it may get dicey, yes Putin will ride it on the line as far as he can to see how far he can go -- but it'll be okay, in the end.

Really, ennui is right. And Plant is right.

He just needs stood up to a little bit. People need some limits and boundaries anyhow, it's good for the ego and character, it would be good for Putin for us to all say "no" sometimes.

[Withnail]

1) Despite any propaganda or anarchist theories otherwise, NATO actually is defensive. No Western nation is ever gonna "attack Russia" or "nuke Russia."

We're attacking Russia now through proxies and sanctions and have attacked them through proxies many times in the past.

Putting murderous Russophobic lunatics in charge of a country like Ukraine with a large Russian population is a good way of attacking Russia by forcing them into a no win situation.

[Sixstrings]

We're attacking Russia now through proxies and sanctions and have attacked them through proxies many times in the past.

Putting murderous Russophobic lunatics in charge of a country like Ukraine with a large Russian population is a good way of attacking Russia by forcing them into a no win situation.

Well.. I just think there's no winning against Putin.

If we stand around being nervous wrecks wringing our hands over "WWIII" -- then that just feeds into his napoleon complex and ego. You talk about licking a boot all the time, well that's really licking a boot, standing around being afraid of Putin. It's bad enough Russians in Russia have to be afraid of Putin, don't expect me to, I won't do it.

If we just pulled out of Ukraine, then Putin claims a major victory and is a national hero.

If we continue aiding Ukraine, Putin gets to play the strongman defending the motherland.

He wins no matter what.

I'd guess that about 20% of Russians think like Westerners do. And then the other 80% actually miss the glory days of the USSR, and they actually LIKE cold war. They LIKE it, Withnail. So there's nothing we can do anyway, we can pull out of one place and they'll just pick a fight somewhere else, because they like cold war and militarism and all their military stuff they got, all the parades, all the patriotism. They're having a blast with it. They just built a "warmonger disneyland:"

Russia Just Opened a Theme Park for Warmongers

There are army rations for lunch, and tanks and missiles to play with

Want your child to learn how to use a grenade launcher? Now, they can at Putin’s “Patriot Park,” a sort of Disneyland built to showcase Russian military prowess.

Attractions include military rations for lunch and tanks and missiles to play with, the Guardian reports.

The park opened on Tuesday in Kubinka, about an hour outside of Moscow. The opening comes at a time of increased patriotism and militarization in Russia..
http://time.com/3923842/putin-kubinka-moscow-patriot-park-russia-opens-a-military-playground-for-the-patriotic/

I don't think I'm worried, anymore.

I think I've got it figured out -- Russians like COLD war, but not too much hot war. They really just want the cold war, that's what they remember from the USSR and they actually miss it and they love their armata tanks they all talk about and they really like all this stuff and yes 80% of them love Putin.

Well Putin is gonna be Putin and do what's popular over there, regardless of what we do anyway. If we don't stand up, he'll just push us until we do stand up -- he WANTS the cold war.

But not hot war, they just want cold war, I think that's the deal with them.

(I'm probably provoking you again, thank you for not cussing at me yet, try to remember that even if I do not agree with you -- you are still getting your view out and people read it and if anything your view is the dominant one on this forum and then I'm voting green party anyway despite whatever I say

My main points are -- don't be too scared of nuclear war, I read a lot of Russian news and they actually have many plans for the future, they don't want to throw it all away.

I honestly think maybe they just like cold war, it feels "strong" to them and like Russia is a superpower and it makes them feel safe.)

[Withnail]

We're attacking Russia now through proxies and sanctions and have attacked them through proxies many times in the past.

Putting murderous Russophobic lunatics in charge of a country like Ukraine with a large Russian population is a good way of attacking Russia by forcing them into a no win situation.

Well.. I just think there's no winning against Putin.

If we stand around being nervous wrecks wringing our hands over "WWIII" -- then that just feeds into his napoleon complex and ego. You talk about licking a boot all the time, well that's really licking a boot, standing around being afraid of Putin. It's bad enough Russians in Russia have to be afraid of Putin, don't expect me to, I won't do it.

Putin doesn't scare me, America does.

They seem to be currently going all-in on their plan for permanent global domination before China gets too powerful.

America has a lot of puppets, many of them tiny inconsequential places, which gives the impression of them having lots of support. Latvia's voice in our media is as loud as India's or China's. The Baltic states in particular seem to never shut up since they joined NATO even though they are meaningless except as potential battlegrounds and triggers for war.

A much better idea would have been to have made the Baltics militarily neutral zones. Russia agrees not to have forces within say, 50 miles of the border to the Baltics, and we agree not to station troops or weapons there, and they dont join NATO (but they can join any non military organisation they want, such as the EU). Subject to on the ground verification by the OSCE. The Baltic states can still have their own militaries.

Of course no such plan was ever suggested because we dont want peace or reduced tensions.

[SeaGypsy]

Where on earth did 6 pull those 20/80 numbers from? My bet is the Russians on both sides here will find that last post particularly inane. There is nothing fun or cool about cold war. I thought 6 was old enough to remember?

[Withnail]

Where on earth did 6 pull those 20/80 numbers from? My bet is the Russians on both sides here will find that last post particularly inane. There is nothing fun or cool about cold war. I thought 6 was old enough to remember?

Unfortunately this isnt a cold war.

The US wouldn't have done the things it is doing now during the period of detente. This is already an actual war fought through Ukrainian proxies, many of them openly fascist, daring the Russians to really do something about their murdering of ethnic Russians in east Ukraine.

On top of that the US is deploying heavy equipment and aircraft to the east and threatening a first strike capability. They seem to have gone mad.