BlueOak

@zazen You can cloak war, pushing out influence, and territorial expansion in any noble sentiment you like. I used to listen to liberals say we are liberating people from dictators all the time. Now I listen to BRICS saying we are liberating people, and in your case, 'it is simply incentive driven towards sovereignty.' - That's how the authoritarians love to frame it now; they just keep pushing the borders out for what that sovereignty is. Oh, it's this map, no, it's this one; I think we'll push the lines further out this year, what can we take next year? It's still warmongers making war for money, wealth, and power. It encourages the same; it always encourages the same cycle. People have learned nothing other than to frame it to make themselves sound better than their targets.

@Ajay0 You just told me that the EU reduced its imports down by a factor of 16. I haven't seen that extreme amount supported, but I'll take your source's word for it. There is no way you can phrase that, which makes it seem like the EU hasn't massively cut imports; they would be importing 1/16th of what they were. As you can see here, most of the LNG being used in the EU is coming in from America, and they keep increasing that. https://www.bruegel.org/dataset/european-natural-gas-imports Quote from your article: Yet much of this LNG is not needed by the European market and is being handled at European ports before being reexported to third countries worldwide, with some EU states and companies profiting as a result. "A lot of the Russian LNG that goes to Europe is just being 'trans-shipped,'" said Hilgenstock. "So that has nothing to do with Europe's natural gas supply. It's just European companies making money facilitating Russian LNG exports." End Quote Like the Indian and Turkish resellers you are speaking about, this is mainly individual billionaires and their companies profiteering, and these individuals will often be global in nature, shipping resources on through their existing supply chains. - Do I like this? No, but it is small potatoes comparatively that Spain and Belgium are using their maritime assets to profit for others. Otherwise, all those long-running supply chains will go bankrupt or adversely impact world trade. Russian supplies are still getting discounted; it's still hurting their war economy, it's still not going to fuel Europe, but yes, war profiteering should still be banned. Any money going to Russia, even indirectly shipped by companies with assets in Europe, needs to be squeezed. AND if other countries in BRICS or others didn't buy this Russian LNG through Spanish and Belgian companies, it wouldn't go through them in the first place!

I tried to twice start a new thread for this, but I could not get the quotes to format correctly, so I'll take it as a sign to leave it here! @ArcticGong All I see is other countries pursuing their own self-interests. This does not change anything about what I said. All countries pursue their self-interest in all things at all times. The effect is the undermining of the EU by trying to replace them, take the land and resources of sympathetic countries, seize the trade connections, replace the world currency, and overthrow their liberal or allied governments. Part of the UK DID undermine the EU, yes. Nigel Farage’s (UKIP now Reform Party) and the Far Right’s primary goal is to break apart the EU. That’s what could happen now with the far-right swing in the latest EU vote, but it's still somewhat unlikely. A country is not an individual; it has many competing interests; the EU is about unity between nations, and the far right is about nationalism. Sanctions against Russia have already proven ineffective because it didn't stop them. At least Western allies could hold up to 300,000 billion of Russian assets for leverage. If the dollar is replaced by the Yuan, and China takes over more of world banking as they want to, the only bargaining chip we have is words and force. What else is there? These two sets of competing interests set up the perfect conditions for WW3, adding to it far-right governments gaining power everywhere and aggressive dictators expanding their borders. The only answer when we are threatened is war; China's expansion and the Russian conflict especially have proven this to EU leaders. Yes, war fuels migration, and war is the policy of far-right people who hate immigration. Their warlike actions, disregard for climate damage to food/water/living areas, and the inequality they create cause migration/immigration, which they then vilify people for. It’s a complete farce. With the rise of BRICS countries, people are celebrating the end of millions of lives. This is not hyperbole; either we sit on our hands and let BRICS roll over millions into authoritarian suppression, torture, and death, including those in Europe, or we fight. Yes, all countries do stupid things. This moral equivalency argument you are giving me changes nothing. I don’t excuse BRCIS's warlike aggression because America was also warlike. Otherwise, when you or those close to you are being hit, I’ll have to excuse it again. Oh well, Russia did it, so it's okay that Venezuela does it to Guyana, or it's okay when Turkey invades Greece, or it’s OK when China invades Taiwan, France hits back in Africa, or 'the West', as we now call it final gets fed up of being pushed around and launches an invasion of its own. Europe is being forced to remilitarize, and the far right is gaining power there; the far right needs an external opponent to stay in power. Everything is a cycle, but it doesn’t make it ‘okay’ or in any way better that people carry out the cycle. https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/12/07/venezuela-maduro-guyana-esequibo-interstate-war-oil-referendum-icj/ Espionage has different levels of involvement. Like anything, it can increase or decrease. People are being killed off now, arrested in senior positions of the bureaucracy, and assassinated, not just monitored or secrets leaked. @Ajay0 Spain is not in BRICS. Turkey is thinking of joining. Turkey is not in the EU; it wants to join. It won't get in both. Turkey is trying to play the middle ground due to their geopolitical location; if the world order continues to break down, it will be central to much of the planet's ability to function. Lots of countries imported Russian gas, but there has been a considerable shift away from it. The primary purpose of this was to end funding for the war. BRICS bought up the excess to continue funding the war. Article Quote: In short, EU dependence on Russian gas fell from 45% in 2021, to only 15% in 2023. Also stated as a 71% drop by 2023, and it's more now Source: https://energy.ec.europa.eu/news/focus-eu-energy-security-and-gas-supplies-2024-02-15_en Lots of countries imported Russian fossil fuels, but there has been a huge shift away from it. The primary purpose of which was to end funding for the war. BRICS bought up the excess to continue funding or allow funding of the war to continue. Article Quote: Oil: China is the largest buyer of Russian crude oil, purchasing 52%, followed by India (33%), the EU (8%), and Turkey (5%) since the EU’s ban on crude oil from Russia on 5 December 2022. Oil via pipeline is only partially sanctioned. The EU’s crude oil imports have arrived via sea to Bulgaria and via pipeline for the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. But critically Russian LNG gas is not under sanctions, which remains a real problem in the EU, no arguments there. The EU was so dependent on Russian oil/gas it has been a real struggle to break that hold, but is happening. The problem is, its made little difference because BRICS just bought up the difference. - So, do you understand why economic pressure is no longer an effective tool in a multi-polar world? It'll have to be words, followed by force, which is war, and with two large blocks, with far-right governments gaining ground in all major countries, a high potential for WW3. Article Quote: China was the largest importer of Russian fossil fuels in January, accounting for 33% (EUR 7.1 bn) of total imports. Turkey recorded the second highest imports, accounting for 20% (EUR 3.1 bn), while India was third with an 18% (EUR 2.8 bn) import share. The EU and Brazil contributed 13% (EUR 2.1 bn) and 4% (EUR 0.7 bn) to Russian fossil fuel exports, respectively. Source: https://energyandcleanair.org/january-2024-monthly-analysis-of-russian-fossil-fuel-exports-and-sanctions/

Sure let's tackle that. I sympathize because, for years, I hated being called 'the West' or NATO. I'd never considered my part of this nebulous 'the west' until it was shouted in my ear every week. Firstly, economic support for Russia's war against democracy in Europe is obvious in Russia's case. India's purchase of oil/weapons and countries like Brazil for fertilizer/oil is a huge reason why the war has been able to continue from Russia's side. BRICS is directly trying to topple the Dollar as the world currency, and they support China, Iran and Russia's aggressive expansionist policy. Here are a few references to get started on that front, I didn't comb these for details thoroughly but I can pull 15 more if needed. For Russia: India: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russian-oil-shaves-indias-import-costs-by-about-27-bln-2023-11-08/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-64899489 Brazil: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/22/russia-ukraine-war-whats-behind-brazils-neutral-position https://www.ft.com/content/7ebb679e-099e-49ac-a750-73ca46538dee South Africa: https://theconversation.com/south-africas-pact-with-russia-and-its-actions-cast-doubt-on-its-claims-of-non-alignment-206020 For Iran: India: https://thediplomat.com/2022/10/the-challenges-and-limitations-in-india-iran-relations/ Brazil: https://www.tasnimnews.com/en/news/2024/05/30/3095400/iran-brazil-joint-economic-cooperation-commission-meeting-to-be-held-soon South Africa: https://www.cfr.org/blog/shedding-light-iran-south-africa-relationship If you are going to come back with, well, it's the same as X country helping Y country. Yes. That's the point. Or if you say, Brazil, India, or South Africa are not involved in what this or that country does with the support they offer. Welcome to my world before all of this started, yet NATO has been blamed for the actions of one or two members for decades. So it's going to happen to BRICS, too. If these countries trade with the aggressors and fund and support their efforts, they will be associated with them. It's not unreasonable either; their money has allowed Russia, Iran, and China to finance their wars and expansion of their influence. There are two competing powers in the world, with BRICS trying to overthrow one of them and take their place. If you split the world in two you conflict. This is shown in BRICS colonial ambitions, the expansion of their territory, stealing claims of trade routes, the attempts to replace the dollar, putting countries into debt traps so they can buy up ports, their cyber attacks on Europe, their funding of extremists in Europe, flooding Europe with immigrants and general chaos their members want to cause. You can't deny the political support they've given other BRICS members as well; although they try to cloak it under the pretense of non-involvement, they are involved, they are not neutral. Neutral would having no interest in the result of something; they clearly favor a Russian, Iranian, and Chinese victory in the current geopolitical struggles. 'European Liberalism' is a threat to BRICS, according to Putin, which is part of his want to drive further into Europe, politically, financially, and militarily. Its not uncommon now for Chinese and Russia spies to be arrested to uncovered in Europe. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-66609633 Brazil's push for a common currency is being taken seriously. I want you to consider this carefully. If a common BRICS currency is agreed upon, sanctions no longer work hardly at all (they barely work now with so many countries feeding the aggressor's war effort). So, the political tool for pressure is either words or violence instead. *If we want this to continue in-depth, we should probably switch topics, so I'll see how you reply. However, if I do another long one, I'll spin it off into its own topic.

@LSD-Rumi True. Something that caused people to question and justify their own beliefs would be helpful to ground them in a collective understanding. Or more simply put cause them to focus on others too. The four core areas of Epistemology Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology @Nivsch Often yes. It depends on what the center is doing at the moment; the global center, yes, is usually more harmonious. This sort of analysis or inquiry typically draws people to the center because the only way to justify your beliefs is to look at the results of your belief reflected in, with, or involving others. When on the fringe, this reflection shows more harm than good unless it's for a brief moment of action. If someone is too selfish or narcissistic, they will never have this moment of self-reflection because all they see (or want to see) is their own ego. At best, I can hope this far-right swing is to strengthen European immigration policy and dies out as that is done, but the pattern and external forces pushing people that way won't let the momentum stop. The countries won't suddenly become white Christian stage blue nations, for example, and the suppression required to achieve that, if it's pushed, is just constant internal strife. @zazen I used to say swings were the norm, but it only becomes true when something is out of balance or being pushed. Governance is constantly being pushed and unbalanced by others, as well as internal pressures. BRICS are working overtime to unbalance Europe, and they are succeeding; the trouble is for them, if it goes too far to the right, then it's WW3. That's the natural conclusion of this long pattern we've been in. People always create what they say they don't want, but deep down far-right individuals need an enemy so *shrug*. As an example of the opposite, pick something or somewhere in your life that never changes. My home village never changes. There is no big swing; it's the opposite of what's happening globally.

At the moment the far right thinks it'll regain control by squeezing the population into narrower definitions of what is allowed. But that's a tale as old as time, and it leads to revolution. Its a cycle that's happened over and over and over again. Nothing goes away, it goes unconscious, and then gets expressed explosively.

You have to meet people where they are, otherwise they will not accept your governance. Even if the powers that be allowed a stage yellow leader who had the capacity and understanding to arrange a broad spectrum team to represent him both privately and publicly, one who had the temperament to fully allow his perspective to be adjusted and overridden on core issues that he was in duality toward - even in that rare 1 in a million individual, he's not going to adequately cover millions of people in what really matters to maintaining governance and peace: public and international perception. But we are not at the stage where any influential power will allow a stage-yellow leader because such a person, by definition, is less susceptible to being swayed toward any single position. Therefore, the government itself must be structured in a consciously higher framework so that it collectively gets as close to a tier 2 country as possible. Like this thread represents more than you or I; collectively, we represent a group. The highest form of which would be a council of leaders, not political parties, chosen not only for their skill (Skill is an important stage orange component), but also their capacity to adequately represent and speak to the concerns and challenges facing a wide spectrum of people. This is not a closely tied-together stage blue or red population; it is very well-educated and extremely diverse in makeup. Yes, skill is a factor, but it is one of many; skill should dictate who is selected after the shortlist to represent different sectors of business, the different faiths, the different civil institutions, regions of the country, infrastructure, environmental agencies, and educational bodies etc have been made. Then these positions need to be interlinked. Environment and Infrastructure should be, if not the same office or position, then closely linked as an example. Rather than replacing the whole government at elections, individual positions and how they link together need to become more of the focus. tl;dr A system is elected, not just an individual

That's like asking a religious person to give up faith, a capitalist to give up money, or a soldier to give up his uniform. You can't replace stage orange/green with blue/red and have it not result in massive social unrest. (Which should be demonstrated at the start of this thread).

Update: Russian air defense pushed out of Crimea under sustained attack.

@Karmadhi Pre 2014, In regards Ukraine and Russia all I can say is I was told the opposite if we are talking on a personal level, between people. There was not the level of hatred you are telling me there was. A vote before this would have been preferably yes from our perspective but Putin would have never respected any of Ukraine leaving his control, certainly not in those border regions. Why do the EU not donate as much as the US? They are, but also GDP https://www.ifw-kiel.de/topics/war-against-ukraine/ukraine-support-tracker/ As a % of their GDP's some countries are giving more than the US is. On top of that, as you are aware though, Europe is still remilitarizing, and does not have the same military industrial complex that the US does. Its barely a few % of America's military budget, as opposed to a much large chunk of the EU's, In raw numbers if we added all of Europe together, the number is not as dissimilar as you are making out (one graph has it being more). https://www.statista.com/chart/28489/ukrainian-military-humanitarian-and-financial-aid-donors/ https://www.statista.com/chart/27278/military-aid-to-ukraine-by-country/ You keep coming back to the US does X. I really couldn't care less, when they were doing it I felt exactly the same. The moral equivalency as a reason to do something is what allows it to continue. It tries to excuse something going on. You wanting the war to end for humanitarian reasons is understandable, if it was going to end here i'd be with you. It won't until the will or capability of Russia to expand aggressively is stopped. They have a long pattern of fighting conflicts to expand their influence, and there is little indication that they have changed their mind: Their state TV says this nonesense all the time, and have done for decades in one form or another.

Imagine there is in fact a playful monkey on your knee, you can't really cage him up he's always got the keys. So what do you do? What do you do with any animal that's jumping around, looking for you attention? That Cat that keeps jumping up on your lap, or the dog giving you puppy eyes and resting its chin on your leg. I'm using this softer imagery as you are a bit harsh on monkey, which is probably why he kicks up a fuss. It doesn't sound very integrated in your experience, like a piece of you edged out.

True. Infinite love has no conditions and no expectations. That was my biggest realization during that work when I became infinite love for 5 minutes. Whatever story we are telling ourselves here about why, is a story too. I love stories :D. The BS is love, the problems are love, the fantasy is love, the mental wellness is love, lack of peace is love, having your life in pieces is love, having it together is love. Wholeness.

Yes. Even if it wasn't true, it would still be love. Let me give you an example: have you ever been in a really good mood? I mean, everything is going great. Then BOOM Out of the blue, you are blindsided by something; maybe someone sideswipes your car, causing you some dull pain in your leg. That's the feeling. I don't know how to remain in a loving state when that happens, with large amounts of energy moving through my body. Because getting angry when you are like that is like jumping off a building, it physically hurts. At the moment, I'm nowhere near a loving state; I could get angry and get a small headache, because it is no big deal.

@zurew I won't tag Leo again, he gets tagged enough, but to both of you: I am seeing this pattern come up with people seeking an absolute truth more at the moment, and I understand why, there is more uncertainty in the world. So perhaps it helps to define a few more grounded truths that people and society can stand on to regain more certainty in their lives. But if we are in this forum, having this conversation, there is no universal truth beyond what is occurring at this very moment. Because infinity is every possibility that could exist. In this context or lens: It is every falsification and every nonfalsification about everything.

Oh, and for the OP if you don't 'see love'. Its everything. Hope that helps you awaken to it. From this message, to your left toe, to the bird and the concrete. Everything.

Yes! But what about the guy shouting at me in the face? - If you did a video on that it'd be great. Is it only about detaching the preconditioned emotional response so I am less triggered by anger and can maintain that love for the experience? He and his concerns, his emotions taken as a reflection of myself, etc. Or is there something I am missing Question to anyone/everyone.

What about all the other collectives (collective you's) that exist? You are just a concept in your head, as are they, but all of them would have an impact on creating the dream. The word dream also bothers me, as that's a concept in your head; it brings implications that can or cannot exist depending on what you want to experience. You couldn't create an awakening process if you didn't create a sleeping one as an example; you couldn't have insights into it or reveal spiritual truths. Everyone here wouldn't have this shared experience (and that's fun, even if it's just in my head), but it's all optional. I think the attachment to it is overdone. People here (including me) are understandably very individualist, given their culture, their framing, and their experiences. You could just as easily swap I, for we, or me for them, and then have to design a slightly different way of framing your reality to realise it. So if anyone is saying it has to be this way or that, not really. That's all your creation, from the seed of an idea/life to now.

I understand why a lot of people on Earth say they create things, and when they reach this awakening, they understand they create a family, etc. But you are not even here. You are not creating anything, creation is a concept you decided on after a long series of events. This is nothing to create, nothing to watch, nothing to see, or nothing to have and hold. Then there is everything: to create, hold, watch, and see. - Because all reality is now. So at this moment, this WORD is reality. When you shrink everything down to this focal point we are looking through.

I think blowing our minds every so often helps, but that's just me. Could you speak it in an analogy or story? That's what others have done historically. Then people can keep whatever BS makes them happy, and some of the ideas will filter down. I've heard you speak about writing a book before. I have no problem being alone with or from people because we always are creating an experience. What I struggle with is being alone from the act of creation itself. Everything else, all the concepts, the framing, the construction— Did you ever have that? I want to be able to make sense of the world and create meaning from nothing, while realizing there is nothing to make sense of but what I choose to create. It's extremely addictive all the same, like a person doing a painting or writing a story. A void. Create a concept. Create a meaning. Change happens: Creating a void. Create new concepts. Give them new meaning

There is no truth, as you are trying to define it in infinity, which encompasses all possibilities and none.

Also, annoyingly, I can't edit these earlier posts anymore, which is unfortunate; I didn't realize the edit window was so short! Oh well. It was a good concept to try to keep the thread organized.

UK Election Videos, Parties, and Polling Numbers Debate Thread here Thread Aim: A Broad Spectrum Coverage of the Election. Videos and Data; the other thread above is excellent for debate. Contents: 1, Party Videos 2, Early Polling Data 3, Important Election Updates - Please suggest videos or articles 4, Ongoing Polling Data and Videos - Please suggest polls 5, Final Election Results Starting with lesser known parties Alliance for Democracy and Freedom: https://adfparty.uk/ Rejoin EU: https://therejoineuparty.com/ Reform UK: https://www.reformparty.uk/ Plaid Cymru https://www.partyof.wales/ Sinn Fein https://vote.sinnfein.ie/ Democratic Unionist Party https://mydup.com/ The Green Party https://www.greenparty.org.uk/ The Liberal Democrats https://www.libdems.org.uk/ SNP https://www.snp.org/ Labour https://labour.org.uk/ Conservatives https://www.conservatives.com/ Monster Raving Loony Party https://www.loonyparty.com/

BBC Election Debate Highlights. Annoyingly, I haven't located a full clip of this, if anyone does please let me know. This is the BBC's general page for election coverage: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/crggn4j2lm0t LBC Debate analysis: GB News Comments: D-Day Question: D-Day Context

@creativepursuit The world does try to change others, not allow what is. This is a good synchronicity for me in this podcast below. Gratitude. Transactions have been on my mind of late, more than ever. His view is overly bleak and disconnected (and he calls out that I'd think that), but it is a necessary framing to the people he's talking to in the time we are in. To start with, he speaks to Gen Z's need for attention or validation and to the distant and overly cerebral world we inhabit. It's part of the ongoing collapse of anything but the necessities, which is part of the larger pattern we are in now. Life goes through contractions and expansions, like breathing. I see this through a long-term view of putting people back in touch with the earth, which is as real as it gets here. This was the first video I watched of his, the latest on his channel. It is true that when you are real with others, they usually can't handle it unless you prepare the ground/conversation/person first. Most people prefer fake happiness to an uncomfortable truth. Dopamine makes people go after shorter solutions, hard-wired into the brain, and the cerebral nature of our current existence has led to a large-scale addiction to short bursts of it. Fast solutions. It is false that humans, society, etc, don't have patterned problems (and solutions); he's completely wrong there. He just can't see them. I can see them most of the time now because I spent my life looking for them, certainly with a conversation with a person capable of reflecting on their life. True, we don't fix things outright with a prescription; we improve or worsen lives. It becomes people's (or my own) willingness to address the problems I can identify as an example. Prescriptions aren't inherently wrong, no more than a rock is; it just depends on how they are used, and I agree there has been an overreliance on them. He speaks a bit about the transactional nature I am still stuck in; I appreciated that and would like to hear an entire video from that perspective. His judgment about falling flat on the face when seeking a result is extreme, but it seems to be the reality I am in now as well. People do change their thinking I have, often. It depends on how much suffering you experience, and your willingness to adapt. Things tend to move in small adaptations and, for many, are driven by collective experience; he doesn't recognize this enough in his analysis: Everyone expands and contracts, inescapably in life, even if it's slow going. Time doesn't exist for infinity (which you are), so speed doesn't matter anyway. Yes. Internal peace, you don't go anywhere to find it - I especially liked that line. I would always like to see more videos on viewing experiences in a transactional nature as being a pitfall, and the allowance of what is over what I would want. I tend to think these things are eternally holding me and others back.

You define what you are inside your mind. You don't exist outside of your mind; nothing does. The people telling you something here are parts of yourself. In this physical body, infinity masks itself in the concept of this form that you walk around as, held together by the mind. If you go one step further, the mind is also a concept we use to create this experience. Without it, there is infinity, which I've experienced as either an infinite love, an unending void, or infinite sorrow. Set an intent to experience infinity in a way you'll recognize, because experience is the only way we know anything for sure. I can tell you that nothing exists but this moment. No past, no future, just this moment you are having. Everything else is a thought in your head, holding together how we frame reality.