Hatfort

Zelensky is just ridiculous, what a joke plan. No call for negotiations, but what he calls the Victory Plan with five points. He asks to enter NATO immediately and later in the EU. That's one of the main reasons Russia attacked, it didn't accept NATO on his border with Ukraine before, and it's not going to accept now that it's winning. He asks for permission to use long-range weapons against Russian territory. That would be a direct war between Russia and NATO at that point, not even the Pentagon wants this. Understand that Russia can't let a long-range attack in its territory unanswered, and they have those kinds too, otherwise it sends the message that it can be attacked like that, and the attackers can get away with it. Russia won't accept that scenario, it's not that weak, in fact it's not weak at all. He offers the natural resources of Ukraine to US and EU. Cool, he is selling his country to Western companies, Zelensky the patriot. For the post-war era he wants to deploy Ukrainian soldiers in NATO's bases throughout all Europe. Sure, that should be accepted by the other European countries, that's what we want.

Freedom of press and speech is important, of course, many countries have a path to walk yet. Since the Internet era, a lot more voices can be shared and heard, that it's double edged sword, because a lot of garbage and direct lies get to spread too, but I definitely consider it better than a monopoly of conventional mediums being the only ones giving their version of the news. Conventional mediums are still extremely strong and have a huge influence on public opinion and politics. Journalism is not profitable, and it's not free, it has to be funded by wealthy bosses or companies that put money into them, the same lobbies that have a lot in the game, and the ones paying put some conditions and red lines, in Qatar and in the West. Many small YouTubers have the same payers as those mediums, so that's not completely clean either. A lot of independent ones ask for help on Patreon, those who don't receive big funds from big donors, I think that's okay, they have to eat too.

Exactly, it's somewhere else to check the news, not the only one. It's not surprising Israel doesn't like this medium because it exposes things they prefer hidden. Not only they don't like it, but target their journalists that cover Gaza. A prominent one was Shireen Abu Aklee, shot by a sniper in 2022, another terrorist attack by the IDF. During last year so many journalists of different mediums have been killed, not as a collateral damage, but targeted.

I wasn't talking about you, but about Westerners' perception in general about a name like that. Being from Qatar doesn't mean it's not making good coverage about this conflict and others. What would be more biased in this case would be to hide atrocities done to civilians. That has always been considered newsworthy by the media, as it should, and it has to be covered. Al Jazeera is doing it well. https://www.aljazeera.com/

Al Jazeera is making a good coverage of the war, I check it sometimes. It has an Arab name and that's triggering for many in the West, especially since 9/11. The best is to take a look, it's a good place to follow what's happening. https://www.aljazeera.com/

Seems that the ground operations ended fast. My guess is that IDF soldiers are telling their officials that they don't want to go to Lebanon to die, because that's what will happen to them, as it happened in 2006, but now Hezbollah is much stronger than then. If Israel continues bombing Lebanon civilians, it risks getting the same coin at some point, because unlike Hamas, Hezbollah can respond strongly. Then all escalates like crazy. Iran is involved too, although Hezbollah is its own thing, the relation is clear. Israel hasn't responded to Iran's attack yet, they are thinking twice about it. If the US enters, all their bases in the region blow too, they are not sure they want that either. They may not do it this time, but if they do, I think it's big trouble, to say it lightly.

Yes, Ukraine will lose for certain. I don't think it will be the whole country, I hope it's not. I think it may be easier even for Russia if Ukraine holds some territory for itself, to avoid more inner tensions, that will probably have anyway. But conditions will be signed, which Ukraine will have to abide by from now on. I think Russia will extend from the four territories it already holds, including Odessa for its sea and proximity with Transnistria. The time it takes is hard to predict, but after the elections in the US are done and Biden leaves office, things will probably accelerate, no matter if it's Trump or Harris. It's becoming more unpopular to send money to foreign wars, it's more noticeable when there are disasters like hurricanes, but many people are struggling in their daily lives too.

You know what happened to oligarchs? That the moneys they had out of Russia have been taken by the West, so they became weak, and can't negotiate anything with Putin and his government anymore, they have to bend. This also weakened the West, because their banks are not trustful anymore for foreign rich people. Oligarchs are a burden anyway, so not a big loss for Russia.

It's not NATO-like, but there's already an alliance of those countries you list, so it doesn't have to be created or made official. They have some cultural commonalities, share a history and a region, and are they are the target of other alliances in different ways. There's also BRICS, which is not a military alliance, it's an economic one Iran is interested in joining, and it's likely to happen. I wouldn't underestimate it, they are not only big, but very powerful economies.

I saw this short, a father in Israel telling a very innocent tale to his son, Alon and Lebanon. The story seems that Alon is a Jewish boy and the lands of Lebanon belong to him and his kind. The only reason why Lebanon is not part of Israel is because they couldn't, they've tried. The justifications may have worked exactly the same, they can say that the land was inhabited by Jews 2000 years ago, how brutal the Arabs are against them, and they need to defend themselves once established there using force.

I got that wrong then. They can choose what they want, and that's fine. But they won't get a better economic deal from the EU than what they actually have with Russia. They need Russia more than vice-versa. NATO is still a red line though, like in Ukraine.

What a bad speech, this didn't help Trump. Also, this is what Trump said about Elon not long ago, I think in the primaries.

That's not true, Russia hasn't intervened in Ukrainian elections. Obviously, they didn't like the far-right 2014 coup where the elected president Yanukovych was made to resign, as he was more friendly to them, but that's precisely the opposite of democracy. The Ukrainians didn't choose that. Georgia just had elections and said no to those NATO friends who had money injected, which is rightfully considered an illegitimate political intervention that no country accepts in their laws. Which is what they did with more success in Ukraine and tried everywhere they could. I'll say it again, the US has to step back from messing in other countries' political life. If they have something bad to say about them, just say it, but that's it. People will agree or not, and that's okay. I think Armenia wants to embrace the West politically and economically, after receiving a few treats. Okay, leave the arms of Russia, and deal with your conflicts with Azerbaijan with the West. Decisions have consequences, which we can say in advance, the EU won't really help. Azerbaijan right now is receiving a lot of love and friendship from everywhere, as they have oil, which apparently goes to Israel through Turkey. Erdogan's recent criticism of Israel, beautiful words, but they don't go accompanied by coherent action, for now. Taiwan has its autonomy level and elections, but it's part of China. Their chances for independence are zero, because China is not going to allow it. I wouldn't oppose it if they democratically chose that, I'm just being realistic saying it won't happen.

I'm saying that if NATO had not messed politically and militarily with Ukraine, the invasion would not have happened and both countries could have continued having a cordial relationship with each other, with economic benefits for both, if they both chose to have so. Not that different from Georgia or Belarus, who are fine by Russia, unless they align with the enemies that are a threat to them. If they want to break their economic and political relationship that's fair game too in democracy, you do you, but a military alliance with the enemy is an understandable red line. What I support is a diplomatic end to the conflict, which would have resulted in much better terms for Ukraine. A peace deal was almost achieved after the first incursion, but NATO said no, let's use this chance to weaken Russia with a blockade and a war that others will fight for us. Besides we have a lot of weapons starting to rust and that's bad for our business. Russia has prevailed though, both militarily and economically. There have been more chances for peace deals, each time worse for Ukraine. I don't think there will be more negotiations after the Kursk invasion though. Ukrainians are not stupid, those who are not collecting the aid money in their bank accounts and are sent to a certain death, want negotiations the sooner the better. But they are sent to prison if they are caught saying something in that line or opposing the cocaine addict puppet whose term as president ended months ago. The Eastern population of Ukraine is fine about being Russian and many would have wanted this to happen earlier, because the Ukrainian nationalists were violently targeting them since the 2014 cue.

Migration is allowed for those who wanna move to another country. But that has nothing to do with the political and military intervention policies that the US normally gets away with, but this time it has failed for them and their puppet in Ukraine. The US has to step back, start fixing their own problems, and have a less deceptive international approach with the rest of the glove. It's legit to try to benefit one's economy first, but not by screwing other region and country's peace and wellbeing.

China should chill out or else what? I mean, why is the US messing in their matters with Taiwan? I'm just saying China and Russia are not messing with the problems the USA has with Puerto Rico, which historically are a lot. They exposed with radiation their pro-independence leader Pedro Albizu Campos in the 50s, who was left silenced and paralyzed for the rest of his years. The good guys, of course. Today they have their economy kidnapped and in perpetual debt.

Economic competition is supposed to be fair game, which the USA has always promoted as long as they have been winning, which is changing. Now they are not so sure. Propaganda wars are unavoidable too, I don't like them either, so many manipulations and lies make it through, but as long as it's on paper or screen, it's the world we live in. The West is the champion on those fronts too, Goebles would be impressed at the propaganda levels we have reached. But that's not what the US is doing. It's messing politically and militarily in front of other power's noses. It's messing with Taiwan. Is China messing with Puerto Rico? With the awful things the USA has done to that country, and now they don't even like it enough to completely annex it, but are China or Russia getting their noses there? No, they aren't. That's the USA's and Puerto Rico's business. Same with Ukraine, the USA and NATO messing there is not a secret, the cue in 2014 and blatant military trade, to say it lightly. That's not acceptable for Russia. There's one power that has to understand that the world is not unipolar now. The others do. My suggestion would be, instead of trying to weaken others by putting money and resources into promoting conflicts, use that to grow your own economy, including companies and workers, both. The more purchase power the workers have, the better the companies do too. That's another tip.

The situation for Ukraine is unsustainable, I'd say in the medium term. As Russia wins, will set the terms of surrender of the other side when they collapse, the times for saving face for both sides ended in Kurks last month. Sending more money and weapons won't change anything. The news in all fronts are awful for Ukraine, Russia keeps advancing, as fast as drones let them, which is not much, but it's continuous. Voices in Ukraine against Zelensky are being persecuted since the beginning, now they are afraid to say they don't want this war to continue, they want a deal. Most men don't want to be sent to die, because that's their fate in the front lines. The Banderas guys most loyal to Zelensky are not sent to the first front. I understand the martial law situation, but how much and how long? Yeah, Putin is awful in many ways. NATO shouldn't do what it does against Russia anyway, that's what has provoked the invasion. The USA and NATO should have learned a lesson the hard way, I'm not sure they have. The world is multipolar now, there's the USA, and there's Russia and China that at least are blockade resistant, unlike small countries like Venezuela or Cuba. They are also huge, and like themselves they have a good military power, including nuclear. That means you don't mess with them and they don't mess with you, no more, no less.

Purchasing lands in a foreign country may give you some rights as a private owner, but not the right to make your own country. If a big group of Chinese people bought a significant part of Namibia, they wouldn't get the right to their own state, that's not how it works. At most they could get to live there as immigrants and abide by the laws there. Zionists may have purchased a part of Palestine while it was the British Empire, but that doesn't make it less Palestine either. If a group of Japanese had bought 10% of Chad from the French Empire, once decolonized, they wouldn't have the right to establish their colony there showing legal papers of their purchase. Palestine wasn't empty, it had to be ethnically cleansed with violence so people from foreign countries could establish in there. Israel is a colony, an ethnostate created by and for foreign people without any consideration for the natives that have been relegated to a minority in some places as best, an apartheid system livelihood the second best, an open-air prison life the third, and being massacred at last, and like that for decades, not only now. It's not acceptable, the international community has and is failing. It's only possible because the USA enables it with its money and weapons. In Biden's words, if there wasn't an Israel they would have to invent it, it's unfortunately a strategically valuable point for them in economic geopolitics for many reasons, so there is that too. This is what's happening.

Biden was making that point too, he doesn't want the war to escalate. I think Israel shouldn't respond, but I doubt they won't. The counterstrike made a clear point, the Iron Dome doesn't work. A war with Iran is not in the interest of the US and the West either, economically speaking. Although the dog is unleashed, it can happen.

I think Israel should stop escalating now, but for real, and for their own sake too. First time Iran attacked they responded with something small, but in weeks they were attacking Iranian soil again, killing opponent leaders, plus acts that can only be defined as terrorism against civilians. If that's their approach again, the third attack from Iran will be harder, as the second was. The Iron Dome doesn't work, there hasn't been bigger damage because Iran decided not to hit harder. But at some point, restraint is not worth it if only your side applies it. Netanyahu and his whole government are out of their mind though, they will probably attack Iran again, if it's not now, it will be later, they can't help themselves. Their ground operations in Lebanon are a disaster. They are only good at bombing buildings from the air, and killing unarmed civilians in Gaza or the West Bank. They have also a pretty good intelligence and spy service, that we can acknowledge. But for real war, in Lebanon, there's Hezbollah, they have no chance, it's not the first time they've tried. Hamas is nothing compared to Hezbollah, and they have not defeated Hamas, by the way. Palestinians don't hate Hamas, they hate Israel for what they are doing to them, they see Hamas as their defender, because that's exactly what they are, and they won't be short on recruits in the future. Hasbara is fine, but that won't win you a war. Besides history is stubborn, it doesn't change no matter how much you insist or gaslight.

No, I don't think using force is automatically bad either. But I'm not speaking in general, I'm speaking about this particular escalation situation, I think it could have been prevented, Biden had months for that. Holistically speaking, who knows, we may get results we could not predict. Time will tell, I guess.

The escalation in the last weeks has been enormous. Israel has been acting unrestrained, the pager attack and Hezbollah leader assassination, plus hundreds of civilians in the same residential zone. The country in celebration, Netanyahu even more emboldened, not only to continue on Gaza, but on Lebanon, with no sign of stepping back at all. Iran has now attacked with missiles, which had been threatening since Israel killed the leader of Hamas on his soil, who was a guest at the funeral of his previous president. Israel has already said that it will respond to Iran. A war with Iran could disturb global commerce, I don't think Israel can get a green light on this, like on maybe Lebanon, and certainly on Gaza and the West Bank. Also, although they have hurt Hezbollah badly, it's far from being defeated in any meaningful way, meaning its capabilities are intact. Like a hydra, when you cut a head, another emerges. If I was a Zionist, I would be concerned, and not only in the short term.

Ukraine didn't need to offer neutrality, they had to demonstrate it, that their signature on the Minsk Accords was more than words, but genuine intention. Which it wasn't, as they were bragging about the huge number of soldiers per year that were being trained by NATO and the number of weapons carried there, at least in the Trump era, and continued in the Biden one. Ukraine was becoming a defacto NATO nation in front of the nose of Putin and Russia, and filling the Donbass with the most Nazi-Banderas fanatics they had in Ukraine, for the suffering of the more Russian-friendly people that were living there, that only lament about why Russia didn't intervene sooner. Now we cry, of course. Invading Kursk has been stupid, it has divided Ukraine's limited forces, Russia didn't deduct from the other fronts, but took from its reserves in the vicinities of Moscow and from Belarus. The advance in Donetsk has continued steadily these weeks. If the gain for Ukraine has been to boost the morale and reactivate all the propagandists, okay then. But at what price? Putin has definitively stood up from the negotiation table, the war will finish when he and his war cabinet decide it's finished. They are regaining Kursk already, and it's possible that they will use the momentum and the forces that they have brought there to start another front, and deepen in the attrition war. Ukraine has turned the region of Sumy a target, and what Russia takes, is going to keep. Ukraine is not defeated yet, and can cause harm to Russia, as it has exploding a reserve of weapons days ago, and the Kurks invasion itself. But the trend is clear, Russia is winning, of course it can continue to invade, more way more than Ukraine can defend itself. They will not rush, it's not a race, it will take the time that it takes. You guys gotta wake up, it's not a matter of propaganda, it's a matter of reading what's happening on the battlefield. Trump is a lunatic, he could screw things even more, so yeah, I don't want him in office, I don't want to give another impression. Biden has been horrible in the Ukraine and Palestine conflicts, but Trump has the potential to be even worse. I don't expect much from Kamala either, if she wins. The thing is, Russia is going to win no matter who is in office. The only thing that could prevent this is a nuclear war, but then we all die. A long-range weapon escalation, then Russia would attack with the same coin to NATO nations for making it possible, which would possibly lead to a nuclear apocalypse too. At least Biden and NATO have been wise enough to understand this and not sign for it, it seems. It's very cool to use long-range and nuclear weapons on others, and not be responded with the same coin, but Russia has clearly said that that won't be the case, that's the point of deterrence.

The social approach should be to ensure the safety of children. Parting from that, I guess offering psychological treatment to pedophiles would be a reasonable route. I think it can be categorized as a paraphilia, a non-healthy sexual desire, with danger for innocents in this case, so psychological treatment at least, as said. In the case of them acting on these desires, by acting or consuming images, the punitive route, no doubt.