MrPiss

One thing I always try to keep straight when thinking about gdp is real vs nominal growth since inflation also inflates gdp numbers. Basically if inflation is higher than nominal gdp growth then in real terms the gdp contracted. Anyway, looking at the first charts I get, both France and Germany have basically flat gdp growths of <1% since the SMO began. From what I see on Germanys chart the real gdp number actually shrank last quarter in real terms.

The euros at large almost had a 1% growth rate and I expect that to generally get worse.

Germany: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CLVMNACSCAB1GQDE

France: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CLVMNACSCAB1GQFR

Eurozone: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CLVMEURSCAB1GQEA19

A note for the liquid soap incident said the door seal fitting instructions were "vague and unclear on what specifications or actions are to be followed or recorded by the mechanic,'" per The Times.

This line is so fucking funny to me. I'm gonna use it whenever I fuck up at work. The instructions were vague so I just did whatever I wanted.

Also, how do they not have a generic grease or lubricant? Like I work vaguely in a manufacturing setting and the guys who assemble everything just have a tub of goop they use for basically everything.

It really isn't that interesting. Nothing new or unique. A few key quotes:

Supporting a Ukrainian victory would reassert US global preeminence for around 5 percent of the annual US defense budget, and without the cost of American lives. ... Russia would be militarily defeated by a reinvigorated American defense industrial base

They really do believe that the Ukrainians destroyed the Russian army twice over for the cost of a candy bar. As discussed consistently in the news megas, Ukraine has already lost not just the war but its future. The USA also cannot even produce half as much key military hardware and munitions that Russia does at a fraction the cost.

If, however, the United States fails to support Ukraine, expect the opposite. ... Furthermore, the United States’ ability to defend its global interests—the same interests that give Americans their extraordinary standard of living

From the same kinds of people who will say we aren't an empire built on the suffering of the global south.

It would be true in that he wasn't on the payroll but withdrew money from the company directly. Or at least something like that. Him saying that is probably also a cudgel he uses to rhetorically discipline his workers for not raising their pay. Then when they don't know how to respond he reads it as their reverence for him.

Yeah I get those dumb fantasies too. I view it the same way I view American politics getting better in any way, the delusions of an idle mind wanting a better world.

In other words, I miss him so much it hurts sometimes.

I can understand your view on that, but I think the important Ukrainians will flee as, uh, something. Not sure what they'll call themselves really, government in exile or maybe political refugees? Anyone who stays will be a moron and they'll all be selling each other out in what will partly be a real war crimes trial and partially be a show trial. I don't expect the west to help in any way because they wouldn't want to "legitimize" putler or whatever. NATO also still has some escalation in them so it's impossible to know how this all ends, too. We can only hope for the best really.

After reading your comment and replies I want to address your thoughts and concerns. Putin has been very clear that Russia is a sovereign state and will no longer be prostrating itself to the west. Russia will be seeking its own national interest and will not submit itself to the interests of the NATO imperialists. There is no reason that we should believe that Russia will cower before the mighty west and give up because Joe Biden asked him to.

Within the war, Russia has shown itself to basically have the most powerful modern army if you know what to look for. Their military had basically destroyed the Ukrainian military in the opening weeks of the war by destroying the majority of Ukraines military stockpiles and have destroyed every army that Ukraine has reconstituted with western aid. Ukraine has so thoroughly collapsed on the inside that there is no future for the country. Demographically it already lacked young people and a lot of them will not be coming back and the middle aged men are dying at the front. Ukraine cannot pose a threat to Russia anymore even if Russia withdrew to its previous borders and NATO gave all of its military stocks to Ukraine.

Russia has weathered everything the west has thrown at it and come out stronger for it. There is no material reason for them to just give up because they have already won. We're just waiting to see how they win at this point.

PS: They can actually still lose if NATO escalates to nuclear war.

They were, allegedly, on the verge of finalizing the draft treaty and signing it from what I remember. We can't know how true that really is though. Until we have real historical access to diaries and internal communications we won't know how many people in Ukraine were willing to sign it and how many people were just going through the motions waiting for more western aid so that they could kill more works.

We mostly understand Boris Johnson was a key figure in the NATO war push, but it's possible Ukraine was never really serious in those negotiations.

I don't know who set it up because I don't really care about the debate, but it probably originates from the organization hosting it. The people setting it up might not have understood who he was, maybe they are pro Israel and wanted an everyman e-celeb, maybe they are pro khamas and wanted someone embarrassing to represent Israel, maybe they didn't really know much beyond he's an internet debatelord, and finally maybe no one else was willing to represent Israel in this climate and go up against . Like, would you want to try to defend an active genocide? I know I wouldn't.

Also, Destiny is a stupid person who loves to get owned so he also had to be willing to do this.

This reads like another instance of them being incapable of diplomacy. The western governments really do only understand violence and domination. It's very fortunate that they are losing their power in all areas except financial, and even that too will go away with time.

My first thought is that they also must protect their countries failchildren who were sent to loot Ukraine. can't be the only one right? There have to be important EU leaders who would be caught up in that corruption but that's mostly a guess.

“Given what is possible with AI and digital trickery today, isn’t it even more important for the Royal Family and its minions to be authentic and transparent in all their dealings with the public and Press"

What if the royal family were entirely AI? See you're all thinking about getting rid of the royal family. You're not asking the bigger questions like, what if we brought the queen back with holograms and shitty voice reproduction software? Everyone's saying the royal family is outdated, which is why we need to modernize it.