thaibeachlovers

I made the mistake of going there. Never again.

I'm pretty sure that Russia exports a lot of food- wheat etc. Can't see them starving. https://wits.worldbank.org/CountryProfile/en/Country/RUS/Year/LTST/TradeFlow/Export/Partner/by-country/Product/16-24_FoodProd In 2019, the top partner countries to which Russian Federation Exports Food Products include Kazakhstan, Belarus, China, Ukraine and Turkey.

Ah, so it's all the "fascists" fault for ruining those perfect "democratic" countries, LOL. Nothing to do with awful, incompetent politicians then? No prizes for guessing which particular "fascist" is being referenced in a western country.

That may be true in Thailand, but in western countries inflation is only beginning, and housing costs skyrocketing ( there was a small decrease in house prices last week here, but not expected to last ). NZ hasn't built enough houses for decades, unlike Thailand. The Russians have lived a far harder life not so long ago than westerners could imagine, so they can do so again, if they have to. I don't underestimate anything. I've been saying for ages that our over reliance on technology is going to lead to tears, and I may yet see that come to pass in the near future. Unfortunately, despite avoiding technology as much as possible ( don't own one of those so called smart phones, use cash instead of paywave etc ) I'll suffer just as much as any tech obsessed when it all falls down. More than the Russian economy is wrecked. Printing money during covid mandates is going to bite western countries badly IMO. IMO the Russian people are far from turning on Putin, and as the west increases the pressure are likely to support him more, IMO. When threatened by outside forces, tribes usually put aside differences to survive. IMO making ordinary Russians suffer is going to have the opposite effect to what the west wants.

It's starting to look like the Cold War all over again, with increased spending on the military, which is unfortunate given many countries are probably broke from covid mandates. The arms manufacturers are probably laughing all the way to the bank. So much for giving peace a chance- John Lennon must be spinning in his grave.

Without being pedantic about it, that does seem to be something that certain people's think should happen elsewhere eg the Republican Irish of Northern Ireland think it should be part of greater Ireland, presumably for historical reasons. I'm sure I could find other examples if I wanted to.

It was generally accepted by everyone I knew that Russia was "in charge" of the USSR.

Well, certainly some are obsessed with him, but not, IMO the poster you quoted.

Yeah, to read some posts it's like Trump is still in charge.

IMO about time. They've been relying on the US for far too long and not, IMO, pulling their own weight in NATO.

Only if the baggage didn't live with us and I didn't have to sleep with her.

I'll bet it wasn't better than in Hollywood Royale, Nana Plaza in 1996 though. That place was amazing, and I'm sad that it's gone.

For myself the very distance of Thailand from anything I ever knew before was why I like it. I didn't travel to far off lands to feel as if I was in some poorer version of the place I wanted to leave. Having said that, had I got the address of the Filipina I met in Cyprus, I'd have willingly moved to the Philippines. Just one more missed opportunity in a lifetime of missed opportunities.

LOL. What a bunch of hypocrites! Sounding tough, and apparently doing nothing that would result in the energy flow being stopped.

IMO it's all about looking as if western politicians are doing something. They know ( or they should know ) that any actual military involvement will end badly for everyone, so all they have got, apparently, is sanctions and saying strong words.

The difference between now and 1939 is nukes. They change everything. You are right about sanctions, but IMO the west is no longer powerful, because we stopped being strong and ruthless sometime ago, so sanctions are probably all we have now. Now it's all about social media and gender and wokeness, and IMO we are on the same decline as Rome was before a strong people crushed it. Can you even imagine the western youth of today fighting in a conventional war? 55555. In 1939, the people had just come out of a crippling depression and were hard, now we are a soft and obese people that can't even wind our car windows up ourselves. The longer this war continues, the harder it's going to be to recover. We are IMO already ruined financially by covid, and this may finish us. Al Jazeera reported a 17% increase in world food prices 2 days ago, and it's not going to be going down again any time soon, Inflation is going to be the real problem for us IMO, not a conflict in the Ukraine, though the war may make it worse.

Given it's an opinion forum, that's OK by me. Sure beats the stuff coming out of some posters.

You can dream. If Putin was by some chance assassinated, do you think his successor will be any different? The only way to avoid MAD is by not getting to the point of pushing buttons in the first place, though I doubt there is an actual button involved, unless it's the one Hillary gave to someone.

I think he meant you didn't like it, not that you'd not been there.

Thanks for posting those. Brought a smile to my face. Seems that when faced with imminent immolation it's time to smile and sing a happy song. For myself, I'd be Seeking a Friend for the End of the World https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeking_a_Friend_for_the_End_of_the_World

Somehow I don't think it will matter where one is if the nukes start flying. Even if one survives unscathed, IMO one will come to envy the dead. In the southern Pacific, if we escape the actual conflict I doubt China will be wasting any time without the US to intervene. However, hopefully wise heads will be advising those that make such decisions, and it won't happen.

Environment and world domination are two different subjects.

and if not dependent on Russia, on which nation(s) will it be dependent? Who has all the oil and gas? Could be exchanging one problem for another. Perhaps Europe could accept reality and go back to coal, of which there is plenty, or nuclear. France of course has a flourishing nuclear power industry. IMO they must be laughing at Germany that apparently abandoned it's nuclear power option. How is that working out?

Fast track for a nation in the midst of war, so presumably the EU would need to become militarily engaged- what could possibly go wrong with that? As the EU is in NATO then the US would probably have to become involved- what could possibly go wrong with that? This isn't sleepwalking to WW3 IMO, it's running full tilt into it. Never mind, I'm sure Ms von der Leyen has a spot in a nuclear shelter for when it does all go wrong.

LOL. IMO more to do with anti mandate riots at parliament scaring politicians <deleted>.