We have to take the thread seriously and accept our adversary as what he is. That doesn’t mean copying his despicable methods. Our most effective defense is defending Ukraine.

It’s almost as if Putin’s regime was a hyper violent group of thugs, bent on threatening and killing everyone standing in their way of dominance.

It’s called inflation.

Yeah, the main issue is migration (here in Germany). And I believe propaganda is also a factor. People are bombarded with bad stories about migrants, but also about the government. This includes tabloids and social media of course. But also the conservative opposition. They are always talking about the government as if it was the worst in German history, when in reality it is not so different from their previous one.

Btw. the reasons why people vote for extremists are not smart. They are emotional. AfD voters tend to be less educated and porer.

I think Anders’ analysis is correct (as usual). The sad thing is, that I believe not only the US is making this mistake, but also some European leaders. They should really know better and we will have to pay the price for it.

Also right (and left) wing populists are on the rise. And they openly support Russia. We are all fucked.

Putin is not as smart as his propaganda paints him. In fact it’s probably the most successful part of his propaganda. Even people who see through most of his propaganda tend to believe that he’s always playing 4D chess.

Still, remember that when Putin threatens us, he is telling us what he doesn’t like. Threats don’t cost him anything. By now we should have learned that his threats are empty, but many people are just too afraid.

Actually, it does. It says that the Russian people have nowhere to go. Their only option is to band together (behind Putin).

Edit: Oh, btw. I’m not saying that this video is definitely part of a propaganda campaign. She could also be a victim of propaganda.

Your line of reasoning is very hard to follow. You are alternating between soldiers/civilians and people/individuals. You are arguing against a point I never made. You are not engaging with my concerns. So let me state this again. The video is highly emotional, completely one-sided. Contains no concrete information. And fits perfectly into the Kremlin’s propaganda. I wonder if all these Mexicans still hate her after she tells them that she disagrees with Putin and his war.

She says:

I can’t stand it anymore because our real nationality is strong

Not sure what to make of this. We only have a video of an upset girl. Is she being treated unfairly? Who the fuck knows. All I know is that it plays perfectly into the Kremlin’s propaganda: We are the good guys and the world hates us for no good reason.

Either that, or it was a way to build a wide alliance to support Ukraine (with some countries being more eager and some more hesitant to help).

Regardless, it was a half measure and should be abandoned rather sooner than later.

You can’t know for sure given only this footage. But drones don’t exactly have great armor. So detonating something so close makes a kill very likely.

The Kremlin has already been hit by drones last year. No nuclear war. Instead you guys have forgotten about it.

It’s one indicator of economic health out of many. Unlike many other assets, real estate is immovable. So it has a strong association with the location.

Yes, work from home is a good argument, why falling office prices might not be a big deal. The question then becomes, is this trend more pronounced in Germany than in other countries? Maybe, but probably not.

Also unfortunately the article mentions Signa (commercial) and vonovia (residential) real estate. So there’s no clear separation. But overall the trend is true for both.

Property prices are used here as a proxy for the health of the economy.

The author may or may not be concerned about the affordability of homes. But that’s a different issue. This is just about absolute prices. And low prices mean low interest in Germany. As the article says, people are interested more in London or Paris.

This leads to fewer investments in the economy and Germany is at risk of falling behind.

Absolutely. Not sure what it does to morale, though, if the tanks you’re receiving are getting older and older.

Perun talked about that two weeks ago (https://youtu.be/nQLI8xnINqk?si=fh-d-WXtQAEBXsi7, 64min).
If I remember correctly, the gist is that Russia can keep this up for a while, but the quality of the equipment is going down, not up. And in two years or so they will run out.

And here is another related video (https://youtu.be/bJK5NYxGNOQ?si=z_8zYB0bMqqsxD0Y, 11min).
Basically the same message. Russia is at an advantage right now, but the West can catch up, if we want to.

In other words Germany has to leave the “Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs”. Fine by me.

Btw. Canada and Uruguay are already in violation of the treaty. Nobody seems to care. 🤷

Yes, it is a boomer move. But don’t let Cisco off the hook. What kind of specially certified security feature is that, if it can be turned off so easily by accident.

Sounds like the encryption is automatically turned off if someone calls in via phone. So technically e2e encryption is supported, but it’s a shit design just waiting for someone to accidentally misuse it.

I don’t know if hippie is the right word either. But your analogy is way too disconnected.