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I'm not a Bloomberg fan but I think this is a good article on the global state of affairs

Dottleshead

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BuffJim KOM / QOM

BuffJim

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Canada, Western Europe, Australia, NZ, Japan and Korea, have gotten a free ride defensively over the past 70 years. That is coming to an end. 
It was in US interest to provide that defense, so I’m not complaining. And it was financed by Trillions of $$ of US debt. Which may come crashing down on us all. Times are shifting, and I predict plenty of upheaval this decade. 

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Dottleshead Flahute

Dottleshead ★

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6 minutes ago, BuffJim said:

Canada, Western Europe, Australia, NZ, Japan and Korea, have gotten a free ride defensively over the past 70 years. That is coming to an end. 
It was in US interest to provide that defense, so I’m not complaining. And it was financed by Trillions of $$ of US debt. Which may come crashing down on us all. Times are shifting, and I predict plenty of upheaval this decade. 

Yep. Unfortunately that vacuum is going to be filled with darkness.  I think our joy ride is over.  We'll be OK but I expect sacrifice and some suffering.

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Razors Edge Flahute

Razors Edge ★

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5 minutes ago, Dottles said:

Nothing now.  I just view the free porn.

So, other than Pornhub, you're pretty much not a fan of any news?  Yay.  "Democracy dies in darkness" must just be wasted on you!  I sure hope the Seahawks can make things turn around - especially for this pesky Ukraine situation :D

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Dottleshead Flahute

Dottleshead ★

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Just now, Razors Edge said:

So, other than Pornhub, you're pretty much not a fan of any news?  Yay.  "Democracy dies in darkness" must just be wasted on you!  I sure hope the Seahawks can make things turn around - especially for this pesky Ukraine situation :D

I read all kinds of articles on the Net.  It's decentralized but that fits my guerrilla tendencies.

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Dottleshead Flahute

Dottleshead ★

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2 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

So, other than Pornhub, you're pretty much not a fan of any news?  Yay.  "Democracy dies in darkness" must just be wasted on you!  I sure hope the Seahawks can make things turn around - especially for this pesky Ukraine situation :D

Oddly I don't think we are doomed.  I just don't see us competing for a super bowl anytime soon.  So back to the article.  I'm curious to read what you have to say.  Read the whole thing please.

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maddmaxx Flahute

maddmaxx ★

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31 minutes ago, BuffJim said:

Canada, Western Europe, Australia, NZ, Japan and Korea, have gotten a free ride defensively over the past 70 years. That is coming to an end. 
It was in US interest to provide that defense, so I’m not complaining. And it was financed by Trillions of $$ of US debt. Which may come crashing down on us all. Times are shifting, and I predict plenty of upheaval this decade. 

We prefer to defend our country on other people's beaches, not on our own.

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Page Turner KOM / QOM

Page Turner

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2 hours ago, Dottles said:

I'm interested to know what @Wilbur, @maddmaxx, and 

@Page Turner have to say about it in particular. 

......the Bloombergs lived three doors down from my grandmother's  brick row townhouse in Coney Island.

They, like all the other Jews I've known and loved, were a part of the international Jewish conspiracy that dates all the way back to the protocols of the Elders of Zion.

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Page Turner KOM / QOM

Page Turner

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Henry Kissinger has written: “World order cannot be achieved by any one country acting alone … its components, while maintaining their own values, need to acquire a second culture that is global, structural and juridical … the goal of our era must be to achieve that equilibrium while restraining the dogs of war.”

...or as my mom always told me, do what I say, not what I do.  

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Dottleshead Flahute

Dottleshead ★

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3 hours ago, Bikeguy said:

@Dottles   Did you see this article?    

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-04-14/russia-ukraine-war-u-s-is-running-out-of-weapons-aiding-kyiv

I had not seen this specific article, no, but read similar stories elsewhere.  This whole war is going down the toilet... which is what Senor Putin wants IMO.

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12string Domestique

12string

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The author threw a lot of darts on targets, but completely missed the pattern they created.

He got this one:

At that high point of post-Cold War hubris, the U.S. declared that there was “a single sustainable model for national success: freedom, democracy and free enterprise.”

And then missed what it meant to his topic.  The current "Cold War" isn't Russia v. NATO, East v. West, The US, EU, India - it's not geography or nationality, alliance or uneasy truces.  It's one thing, irrespective of boundaries or cultures: Autocracy v democracy.

Democracy has been on the decline for a while.  People got to pick their governments, grew free and prosperous, grew complacent, and as humans do, want more than the everything they have.  Into that void steps the autocrats who promise a return to the good old days where you had everything (and humans easily fall prey to "the good old days" thinking) and you won't have to deal with thinking that challenges your complacency.  That's the natural next step to the hubris.  But the statement remains true as autocracies by their very definition have one result: A tiny ruling class despised by the vast majority, who will eventually find a way to shed their oppression and remove the autocrats.

Another target he hit without discovering what the target was:

In the wake of World War II, a cluster of international institutions were created — the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, later followed by the World Trade Organization — to assist the peaceful resolution of disputes, promote free trade and encourage global commerce. Looking back, it is remarkable how much these bodies have achieved, and for how long their moral and economic authority was exercised to do good.

So he simply walked away from it.  What that cluster of institutions achieved, along with the dawning of the small globe internet age,  was a global economy that requires countries participate fully or be left behind.  That participation is tenuous.  While the indeed result has yet to be achieved - mostly because of a lack of reality in Putin's mind, that financial cooperation is a carrot and a stick.  When this is done, Russia will be generations away from becoming a global player in any sense.  Xi is far more intelligent, and undoubtedly sees what's coming.  And even more, knows China is nothing without money from The US, UK, et al.

The author is trying to fit Earth 2022 into Earth 1946 clothing.  No wonder he can't seem to make his point.  Let's see an article on the current autocracy v democracy battle that will truly define how the next few generations go.

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Dottleshead Flahute

Dottleshead ★

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1 hour ago, 12string said:

The author threw a lot of darts on targets, but completely missed the pattern they created.

He got this one:

At that high point of post-Cold War hubris, the U.S. declared that there was “a single sustainable model for national success: freedom, democracy and free enterprise.”

And then missed what it meant to his topic.  The current "Cold War" isn't Russia v. NATO, East v. West, The US, EU, India - it's not geography or nationality, alliance or uneasy truces.  It's one thing, irrespective of boundaries or cultures: Autocracy v democracy.

Democracy has been on the decline for a while.  People got to pick their governments, grew free and prosperous, grew complacent, and as humans do, want more than the everything they have.  Into that void steps the autocrats who promise a return to the good old days where you had everything (and humans easily fall prey to "the good old days" thinking) and you won't have to deal with thinking that challenges your complacency.  That's the natural next step to the hubris.  But the statement remains true as autocracies by their very definition have one result: A tiny ruling class despised by the vast majority, who will eventually find a way to shed their oppression and remove the autocrats.

Another target he hit without discovering what the target was:

In the wake of World War II, a cluster of international institutions were created — the UN, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, later followed by the World Trade Organization — to assist the peaceful resolution of disputes, promote free trade and encourage global commerce. Looking back, it is remarkable how much these bodies have achieved, and for how long their moral and economic authority was exercised to do good.

So he simply walked away from it.  What that cluster of institutions achieved, along with the dawning of the small globe internet age,  was a global economy that requires countries participate fully or be left behind.  That participation is tenuous.  While the indeed result has yet to be achieved - mostly because of a lack of reality in Putin's mind, that financial cooperation is a carrot and a stick.  When this is done, Russia will be generations away from becoming a global player in any sense.  Xi is far more intelligent, and undoubtedly sees what's coming.  And even more, knows China is nothing without money from The US, UK, et al.

The author is trying to fit Earth 2022 into Earth 1946 clothing.  No wonder he can't seem to make his point.  Let's see an article on the current autocracy v democracy battle that will truly define how the next few generations go.

Ain't nobody refuting that.  Except maybe China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and some others.

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MickinMD KOM / QOM

MickinMD ★

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The article seems to be spinning info to reach a preconceived conclusion.

The E.U. is providing $1.6 billion in aid to Ukraine and Germany recently announced it "will increase its Ertüchtigungshilfe — a financial support tool to strengthen military and security forces in partner countries — to €2 billion ($2.2 billion), adding that “the funds will largely benefit Ukraine.”"

NATO was growing less and less united, but now the fear of Russia is creating a new Cold War between Russia and NATO.

The article states "The old Cold War certainties, the meticulously prepared plans to make common cause in confrontation scenarios between the Soviet Union and the West, no longer exist."

Then why are Sweden and Finland in such a hurry to join NATO?

It goes on, "Germany claims to back NATO action, but has yet to provide meaningful military aid, and is funding Putin’s war effort by continuing to buy his gas and oil."

It leaves out that Germany was highly dependent of Russian energy and can't end it overnight without drastic problems for Germany.  Yet it has dropped it's Russian natural gas use from 55% to 40% and it's Russian oil use from 35% to 25%.  I canceled a pipeline that's virtually completed in the Baltic Sea coming from Russia.  Yet the article misleads us by saying it's "continuing" to buy Russian energy.  What a cheap shot!

 

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