bearister said:

---

WW3 tension spike as Putin 'giving detailed thought to using nukes - World News - News - Daily Express US


https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/177338/vladimir-putin-giving-detailed-thought-using-nukes-ukraine-ww3-fears-explode

"Vladimir Putin is seriously contemplating the use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine, warns a former high-ranking British Army officer. Despite Russia's overwhelming advantage in manpower and weaponry, it has struggled to make substantial progress on the battlefield.

A recent study by the US Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) highlighted that since January 2024, Putin's army has only managed to capture approximately 5,000 square kilometers of territory.

This represents less than one percent of Ukraine's total land area and has been achieved at a steep price in terms of lives lost and equipment expended…….

This pace is even slower than the Somme offensive during World War I, where French and British troops advanced an average of 80 meters per day. Hamish de Bretton-Gordon cautions that Putin may be tempted to resort to nuclear options due to the lack of significant advancements on the frontlines."

---

The battle of the Somme was a 5 month battle in late 1916 that saw the French and English have their largest territorial gain since 1914.

WW1 was a war of attrition, territorial gains were largely secondary, as long as the Germans didn't take Paris. Germany surrendered unconditionally while they were still occupying Allied territory, and before the Allies had made any significant incursion into German territory.

This is the lens this war must be viewed in military terms, it's a war of attrition where Ukraine has already lost a massive number of troops and Russia has been maintaining a very favorable loss ratio. That is why that Express article above is irrelevant.

Teen Dies After Being Sucked Into a Meat Grinder at Calif. Factory https://people.com/teen-dies-after-being-sucked-into-a-meat-grinder-at-california-factory-11772185

History Legends suggests three Ukranian cities ready to fall.

I don't think Patriot missiles will help much. Bluster?

At this point Ukraine's best use of Patriots would be to hide them and only bring them out and use them on Russian jets flying nearby, they can't waste their meager arsenal on drones and rockets, which the Russians have been using by the hundreds every week.

Has the threat of 'limited' nuclear weapons use increased? Would Trump dare to give those to Zelensky?

bearister said:

---

It must be exhausting.

---

Just wait 7 more years.

movielover said:

---

You seem to be immune to FACTS.

President Trump 1.0 secured the Abraham Accords, started no new wars, supplied Ukraine w defensive weapons, and secured the release of dozens of hostages.

Biden, Blinken, Sullivan, Jill Biden, and the Autopen Administration started the war w Russia, refused to talk to Putin, and supported the war. No peace talks.

President Trump 2.0 talks to Putin, is working towards peace, secured a peace deal in Africa, a cease fire between Iran and Israel, and is working to expand the Abraham Accords.

---

The beauty of AI Mode is that I get to spend the same amount of time countering your bullsh@it that you spent posting it:

"Continued Instability: Despite the agreements, the Middle East continues to experience significant conflicts and challenges, notably the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which was not directly resolved by the Accords.

Regional Repercussions: Some argue that by circumventing the Palestinian issue, the accords have, in some ways, contributed to regional instability or at least not fostered a sense of lasting peace in the broader context.

Public Opinion: While the Accords were met with government approval in the signatory nations, public opinion in some Arab countries remains opposed to normalization with Israel, underscoring the complexities of achieving widespread regional peace.

In conclusion, the Abraham Accords represent a significant shift in regional dynamics and have opened doors for cooperation between the signatory nations. However, they haven't eradicated the deeper, underlying conflicts and tensions that continue to plague the Middle East."

Bonus read:


Most say Trump's policies haven't helped them: AP-NORC poll | AP News https://apnews.com/article/poll-trump-approval-policies-economy-health-immigration-45681b8cd07782ba7a143d323efe9dd7

^I agree about the Abraham Accords not being a source of regional stability as they fail to address the fundamental issue of Palestine.

Also, more relate to this thread, disappointed at Trump and his administration continuing to hide the real extent of the Ukrainian losses, much like their predecessors.

A new body exchange in Ukraine has been made. 1000 dead Ukrainians for 19 Russians.

Despite the obvious reality, Western media and their political masters continue to desperately tell you Russia has lost a million men?

Calculate the difference yourself pic.twitter.com/ejNoDGYs6A

— Chay Bowes (@BowesChay) July 17, 2025

Big C said:

---

oski003 said:

---

concordtom said:

---

movielover said:

---

His claim to fame was being a transvestite comedian who played the piano w his pecker, with a spin-off TV program funded by a shady oligarch... and now aligned with Banderas Nazis?

---

And what was trumps?
Getting peed on by Russian hookers?

---

I will take, "Things that didn't happen but of course concordtom still believes for $500, Alex."

---

Please. There are only three categories of people:

* ones that don't have any idea or even care about this
* ones that know there is a pee tape and acknowledge it
* ones that know there is a pee tape, but who are reluctant to admit it (at least publicly)

Sounds like you are in the third category? Because there are only those three categories... and you know it.

---

Turns out from declassified intelligence that Vladimir Putin had no Kompromat on Donald Trump -- no pee tape, no nothing -- but he had a massive file on Hillary Clinton which he could use to blackmail her and control her as the president he really preferred

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) July 27, 2025

There is no pee tape. But don't tell Tom, it might break him.

bear2034 said:

---

Big C said:

---

oski003 said:

---

concordtom said:

---

movielover said:

---

His claim to fame was being a transvestite comedian who played the piano w his pecker, with a spin-off TV program funded by a shady oligarch... and now aligned with Banderas Nazis?

---

And what was trumps?
Getting peed on by Russian hookers?

---

I will take, "Things that didn't happen but of course concordtom still believes for $500, Alex."

---

Please. There are only three categories of people:

* ones that don't have any idea or even care about this
* ones that know there is a pee tape and acknowledge it
* ones that know there is a pee tape, but who are reluctant to admit it (at least publicly)

Sounds like you are in the third category? Because there are only those three categories... and you know it.

---

Turns out from declassified intelligence that Vladimir Putin had no Kompromat on Donald Trump -- no pee tape, no nothing -- but he had a massive file on Hillary Clinton which he could use to blackmail her and control her as the president he really preferred

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) July 27, 2025

There is no pee tape. But don't tell Tom, it might break him.

---

Sounds like this guy nobody's ever heard of named Saul Perry or whatever is in my third category

oskidunker said:

---

Stupid to leave here because you do not like the politics. Ireland is not forcing Rosie to join the military.At least go to a country like that. Plain stupid.

---

It makes a lot of sense to leave the US, just not to Russia. I'm vacationing in Europe and the lifestyle here is so superior to the US. Work-life balance. Strong safety nets. America has been good for me because my wife and i have been able to leverage our skills to bring us up to the 2%. But most Americans would do better in Europe.

I think my kids would do better in Europe but it's the transition and language barriers that are difficult and not wanting to split the family. I think most Americans are brainwashed to oblivion and work endlessly to make a small number of people absurdly wealthy.

I'll be semi-retiring soon and I am what is considered rich and one of my big concerns in the richest country in the world is healthcare if i don't have an employer. We have become a stupid people.

Big C said:

---

bear2034 said:

---

Big C said:

---

oski003 said:

---

concordtom said:

---

movielover said:

---

His claim to fame was being a transvestite comedian who played the piano w his pecker, with a spin-off TV program funded by a shady oligarch... and now aligned with Banderas Nazis?

---

And what was trumps?
Getting peed on by Russian hookers?

---

I will take, "Things that didn't happen but of course concordtom still believes for $500, Alex."

---

Please. There are only three categories of people:

* ones that don't have any idea or even care about this
* ones that know there is a pee tape and acknowledge it
* ones that know there is a pee tape, but who are reluctant to admit it (at least publicly)

Sounds like you are in the third category? Because there are only those three categories... and you know it.

---

Turns out from declassified intelligence that Vladimir Putin had no Kompromat on Donald Trump -- no pee tape, no nothing -- but he had a massive file on Hillary Clinton which he could use to blackmail her and control her as the president he really preferred

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) July 27, 2025

There is no pee tape. But don't tell Tom, it might break him.

---

Sounds like this guy nobody's ever heard of named Saul Perry or whatever is in my third category

---

Sounds like you want to hold on and believe.

"Russia's economy surprised many by remaining resilient in the face of international sanctions following President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. At one point it even appeared to be running the risk of overheating.

But cracks in the $2 trillion economy are now abundantly clear. This newsletter suggested in November that 2025 would be a year of consumer retrenchment as Moscow was forced to choose guns over butter.

That dynamic was on display this week: Putin attended a flag-raising ceremony for Russia's latest nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, the fifth of the new Borei-A class built in the past six years. Meantime, car sales for June came in with a 30% plunge.

The Russian economy's turn was also visible in Friday's move by Russia's central bank to slash its benchmark interest rate some 2 percentage points, following up on a 1 percentage-point reduction last month. Inflation concerns are morphing into worries about growth.

Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov last month even warned, "we are on the verge of slipping into a recession."
"There is growing evidence of challenging times across multiple sectors of the Russian economy," says Alex Kokcharov, a geoeconomics analyst at Bloomberg Economics. "The impacts of war, Western sanctions, labor shortages, lower oil prices, a more expensive currency and high interest rates" are taking their toll…….

Top executives at some of Russia's biggest banks have privately discussed seeking a state-funded bailout if the level of bad loans on their books continues to worsen over the next year, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. That scenario has arisen because their assessment of loan-book quality is far worse than official data show, according to current and former officials and documents reviewed by Bloomberg News."
https://archive.ph/2025.07.26-104656/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-07-26/russia-s-once-hot-war-economy-shows-more-cracks-new-economy

dajo9 said:

---

oskidunker said:

---

Stupid to leave here because you do not like the politics. Ireland is not forcing Rosie to join the military. At least go to a country like that. Plain stupid.

---

It makes a lot of sense to leave the US, just not to Russia. I'm vacationing in Europe and the lifestyle here is so superior to the US. Work-life balance. Strong safety nets. America has been good for me because my wife and i have been able to leverage our skills to bring us up to the 2%. But most Americans would do better in Europe.

I think my kids would do better in Europe but it's the transition and language barriers that are difficult and not wanting to split the family. I think most Americans are brainwashed to oblivion and work endlessly to make a small number of people absurdly wealthy.

I'll be semi-retiring soon and I am what is considered rich and one of my big concerns in the richest country in the world is healthcare if i don't have an employer. We have become a stupid people.

---

Your experience as a tourist is pretty positive, most cities and towns in Europe being beautiful, with great architecture, museums, dining but you don't really have much perspective on the evolution of life in Europe. It is increasingly becoming a high cost, lower opportunity, low security, lower freedom environment with eroding social benefits. Poverty rates, homelessness and crime are rising.

Russia by comparison has been on the rise, young people and retirees from Europe have been moving to eastern Europe and Russia. The numbers aren't that great yet but the trend is there. For many young people like this French expat in Russia, Russia is a blend of mid/late 20th century Europe and modernity. She feels safer and more respected as a young woman living in Moscow than she did living in France.

bearister said:

---

"Russia's economy surprised many by remaining resilient in the face of international sanctions following President Vladimir Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. At one point it even appeared to be running the risk of overheating.

But cracks in the $2 trillion economy are now abundantly clear. This newsletter suggested in November that 2025 would be a year of consumer retrenchment as Moscow was forced to choose guns over butter.

That dynamic was on display this week: Putin attended a flag-raising ceremony for Russia's latest nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine, the fifth of the new Borei-A class built in the past six years. Meantime, car sales for June came in with a 30% plunge.

The Russian economy's turn was also visible in Friday's move by Russia's central bank to slash its benchmark interest rate some 2 percentage points, following up on a 1 percentage-point reduction last month. Inflation concerns are morphing into worries about growth.

Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov last month even warned, "we are on the verge of slipping into a recession."
"There is growing evidence of challenging times across multiple sectors of the Russian economy," says Alex Kokcharov, a geoeconomics analyst at Bloomberg Economics. "The impacts of war, Western sanctions, labor shortages, lower oil prices, a more expensive currency and high interest rates" are taking their toll…….

Top executives at some of Russia's biggest banks have privately discussed seeking a state-funded bailout if the level of bad loans on their books continues to worsen over the next year, Bloomberg reported earlier this month. That scenario has arisen because their assessment of loan-book quality is far worse than official data show, according to current and former officials and documents reviewed by Bloomberg News."
https://archive.ph/2025.07.26-104656/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-07-26/russia-s-once-hot-war-economy-shows-more-cracks-new-economy

---

The main problem with the Russian economy has been high interest rates, currently 18%. The main reason for this is that Russians went through a period of hyperinflation in the 1990s, and fear inflation above all else, which led them to maintaining absurdly high interest rates.

I saw a similiar video of a young woman walking the streets of UAE late at night. 'I feel free here, I can walk three blocks to get a bottled water at 1 AM and feel completely safe. I don't feel safe in Barcelona at midday. I feel more at home here than in Spain."

Some women, not sure if it's a farce, claim to have adopted pet pigs (two in France) they can walk to keep creepy men away.

I wonder, might a young woman from France or the US be giving up some other rights or freedoms in moving to Russia or the UAE? No tradeoffs there?

bear2034 said:

---

Big C said:

---

bear2034 said:

---

Big C said:

---

oski003 said:

---

concordtom said:

---

movielover said:

---

His claim to fame was being a transvestite comedian who played the piano w his pecker, with a spin-off TV program funded by a shady oligarch... and now aligned with Banderas Nazis?

---

And what was trumps?
Getting peed on by Russian hookers?

---

I will take, "Things that didn't happen but of course concordtom still believes for $500, Alex."

---

Please. There are only three categories of people:

* ones that don't have any idea or even care about this
* ones that know there is a pee tape and acknowledge it
* ones that know there is a pee tape, but who are reluctant to admit it (at least publicly)

Sounds like you are in the third category? Because there are only those three categories... and you know it.

---

Turns out from declassified intelligence that Vladimir Putin had no Kompromat on Donald Trump -- no pee tape, no nothing -- but he had a massive file on Hillary Clinton which he could use to blackmail her and control her as the president he really preferred

— Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) July 27, 2025

There is no pee tape. But don't tell Tom, it might break him.

---

Sounds like this guy nobody's ever heard of named Saul Perry or whatever is in my third category

---

Sounds like you want to hold on and believe.

---

pee tape

think about just saying or writing those two words... then imagine, if it exists, what might be on this "pee tape"

it is absolutely impossible for low-discipline guys such as me to not joke around about it at every available opportunity

pee tape