The last stats I saw were about 30% of Ukrainians speak Russian as their first language. Most of these were bilingual in Russian and Ukrainian.

That was one of Putin's excuses for invading is that these were Russian people being mistreated.

I thought the Russians were on the verge of collapse nearly a year ago? People assured me this was the case.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
Interesting anecdote I read somewhere like UK Daily Mail about Ukrainian "refugees" in Germany refusing/not willing to work and instead are sucking up the generous public dole, this one commenter said all his local shops there were "full of well-dressed Ukrainian women jabbering in Russian on the latest smartphone."

Do the majority of them speak Russian?

I live by a lake with lots of tourists during the summer and during the Independence Day weekend this year, there was a group of about 20 adult "refugees" inside the local Food Lion grocery store that had 4 carts loaded to the brim with goodies. I ended up at the register beside them while paying and it was all put on an EBT card. Keep in mind that rental properties the size they needed run about $3-5k per night during major holidays. VRBO Examples

I think this dim bulb is the stupidest grifter of all of them.

https://twitter.com/gatewaypun.../1727157591476785303

She likes to use really big words and string them together in long sentences to sound extra smart.

Truly, I believe she's a dim bulb, an honest to goodness, prime example of the Peter Principle. In the Biden administration, the stupider you are and the less capable you are, the higher you go.

I look at her and all I can think is the old TV sign-off: "This station has concluded its broadcasting day."

quote:

Truly, I believe she's a dim bulb, an honest to goodness, prime example of the Peter Principle. In the Biden administration, the stupider you are and the less capable you are, the higher you go.

I look at her and all I can think is the old TV sign-off: "This station has concluded its broadcasting day."

She served as a Federal Reserve Governor appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994. I had the opportunity to ask a former retired Fed Governor what his thoughts were about her when she was appointed as Fed Chair. His response, “I didn’t think she was smart back then and I doubt anything has changed”. She a devout Keynesian economist and proves every day that she might be the dumbest member of Joe Biden’s administration, which says a lot because the whole thing is a clown show.

I ask again of the Ukraine war hawks, these are the people you trust to manage it?

NATO Chief: West Should Brace For More 'Bad News' From Ukraine

https://www.zerohedge.com/geop...ore-bad-news-ukraine

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a fresh interview warned the Western alliance to brace for more "bad news" from Ukraine, according to Saturday remarks given to Germany's national ARD television.

He was asked whether he thinks the situation will worsen for Ukrainian forces in the future, after the counteroffensive has been widely acknowledged as a failure. "We should also be prepared for bad news," he responded. "Wars develop in phases. But we have to support Ukraine in both good and bad times."

He said that in response to the current "critical situation" the West must boost ammunition production. "I will leave it to the Ukrainians and military commanders to make these difficult operational decisions," Stoltenberg explained.

"One of the issues we should address is the fragmentation of the European defense industry," he said. Countries have gone from being enthusiastic supporters and donors of Ukraine's cause to more lately sounding the alarm over dwindling or tapped defense stockpiles, as ammo production also can't keep up.

A week ago, a German official raised eyebrows by speculating that if Germany was forced to enter a major war its troops would only last "two days in battle" due to severe shortages of defense supplied and ammunition as a result of giving them to Ukraine. Below are the German politician's words, according to a translation:

The combat capacity of the German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, has been seriously weakened by the shortage caused by the continuous supplies of material and ammunition to Kiev, said Johann Wadephul, German deputy of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. His comments come as it was discovered nearly half of Germans want to see the coalition government dissolved.

“Crucial [German] troop units can only last a maximum of two days in a battle [due to these shortages]. And that is a catastrophic finding overall,” Wadephul said. “Anyone who even talks about being ready for war, but expects the Bundeswehr to be at least ready to defend itself, should have ensured that such a bad situation does not occur. Unfortunately, the opposite is the case.”

Wadephul argued that the process of improving the combat capacity of the country’s armed forces was slow and blamed the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, for the current state of things. He added that he sees high-sounding statements but little real action to change the current situation.

According to the politician, “the turning point” for the Bundeswehr has not yet arrived.

“Even when it comes to replacement procurement, the Bundeswehr is actually making a loss. As correct as the donations to Ukraine are in terms of material and ammunition, in the current security situation, it is unacceptable that there is no compensation,” Wadephul said. “We need much more [weapons] than we have had.”

All of this is also part of the 'war fatigue' echoed in media headlines. Still, Stoltenberg and the Biden White House are pressing European leaders to double and triple down. Stoltenberg also recently tried to swat down assertions that fatigue has finally set in even among NATO leadership.

And in his latest interview, the NATO chief emphasized that "Wars are inherently unpredictable" - but that "we know that the more we support Ukraine, the faster the war will end." Yet this strategy hasn't worked out so far.

Zelensky Abruptly Cancels Address To Senators, Lashes Out At Failure To Secure More Taxpayer Funds

https://www.zerohedge.com/poli...-more-taxpayer-funds

On Tuesday Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly canceled at the last minute a planned appearance via video link before US Senators mulling an emergency aid package containing over $60 billion for Kiev.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was the one to announce it to reporters: "Zelensky by the way could not make it to -- something happened at the last minute -- to our briefing," Schumer said.

With just weeks to go before Ukraine aid stops flowing, and amid a row in Congress which threatens to discontinue the war funding, Ukraine is now saying it will lose the war if it can't access more US funds and weaponry.

Zelensky's chief of staff issued the words Tuesday:

If the United States postpones military aid to Ukraine, there is a “big risk” the country could lose its war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Tuesday.

Speaking at the U.S. Institute for Peace during a visit to Washington, Yermak said failure by Congress to approve more aid to Ukraine could make it “impossible” to liberate more territory captured by Russia and “give the big risk to lose this war.”

“If the help which (is) now debating in Congress will be just postponed. ... It gives the big risk that we can be in same position (where) we’re located now,” said Yermak, speaking in English.

“That is why it is extremely critically important that this support will be voted and will be voted as soon as possible,” he said.

But the reality is that Ukrainian forces were already losing the war, given top US officials have long acknowledged the counteroffensive has stalled and failed, even with all the weapons the US has already poured in.

Thus Yermak's statements seem more like an early blame-game: Ukraine seems to be saying it will be Washington's fault when the war is lost and Kiev is forced to finally negotiate and cede territory.
Senate Republicans have tied Biden's foreign defense funding to tackling the migrant crisis at the southern border, prolonging the Ukraine aid holdup further, and maybe indefinitely.

Interestingly, the Senate forum that Zelensky was to address involved a classified briefing. Likely he realized he was not going to convince anyone, and his 'star status' has long since been in decline. At this moment, even the mayor of Kyiv is attacking him, calling Zelensky an "autocrat" and "corrupt" - and saying Ukraine is losing because of this.

ALSO:

Zelensky is losing popularity because of his mistakes, says mayor of Kyiv

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/ne...takes-191123541.html

Tell me Zelenskyy isn't a just a big time grifter

^^^^^^^^

He is the classic Gold Digging Whore.

I don't forget the praise Putin gave Trump over the years and his administration's commitment to seeing Trump win in 2016. Russia is our enemy in Biden's mind but to me a lot of Putin's policies closely align with those of Trump: Allegience to country first, fiscally conservative, anti-LGBT, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Carpentermaass84:
I don't forget the praise Putin gave Trump over the years and his administration's commitment to seeing Trump win in 2016. Russia is our enemy in Biden's mind but to me a lot of Putin's policies closely align with those of Trump: Allegience to country first, fiscally conservative, anti-LGBT, etc.

I'm sorry, I must have missed how Putin's administration was committed to seeing Trump win in 2016. Could you elucidate your comments?

I'm not sure why that is something to be ashamed of. Clinton made it clear she was opposed to Russia's liberation of Crimea and that her administration would provide military support to Zelensky. Putin would have been the world's biggest idiot if he just sat on the sidelines and increased the odds of Clinton winning. Do you really believe Putin wanted a stronger NATO backed by Hillary knocking on his door? Any half-wit in his position would have done everything possible to meddle in our elections to make sure that did not happen. Frankly speaking, I support any assistance Russia is willing to provide in 2024 to make sure Trump wins.

Well, you didn't specifically answer my question, but I really don't want any help from Russia in our election process.

Total bullshit, but I love the fact that they are so desperate, they're actually trying this bluff.

Report: Defense Secretary Warned Congress U.S. Troops Could Be Deployed If Ukraine Aid Is Not Sent

Vlarpamir must have some pretty good dirt on "the big guy" for him to be so desperate to keep the money flowing.