Funny or just sad?
(midwest.social)
FunnyThis comic is kinda old already, but still stays relevant.
Get ready for others also sucking off Russia soon if the AfD victory is indication of anything.
Do you like fishsticks?
It is not like they do it of the goodness of their hearts. It is just a strategic decision for them (that might be what the comic also implies anyways...) We have seen how much they responded against Israel. Some like Germany infact went the other way.
Both.
Kanye isn’t the only one that loves fish sticks
Russia's economy is smaller than California's, yet we still pretend that they're a massive threat so that we can continue buying aircraft carriers. Graphic should have USA fish about 10x bigger than Russia fish.
Also, needs Iran and China fishes.
... and the opposing fishes should be shown buying Russia's oil with their frowny faces. "I can't believe that you're making me buy your oil, you are deplorable. Here's 50 billion dollars. Jerk. You're a jerk."
Russia’s economy is smaller than California’s, yet we still pretend that they’re a massive threat so that we can continue buying aircraft carriers. Graphic should have USA fish about 10x bigger than Russia fish.
The problem is that California uses US weapons that costs magnitudes more for at best marginal improvements over weapons used by both Russia and Ukraine that cost less than vodka by weight, and which US cannot feasibly produce for less than 10X price, so it kind of levels out. Throwing money at Ukraine to produce them is smart, but there's only so many they can make.
Ukrainian here, glad someone understands. Russia is still the threat, and a very real threat to the whole Europe. No European country is ready for the war of drones - neither on the frontlines vs FPV (which we see repeatedly in European-Ukrainian trainings) and in the air vs reactive jet shaheds.
Like ffs just count the amount of antiair rockets you have in your country and check out the history of russian aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities. Its 200-300 shaheds every second day. Would your stocks last a week? Okay, two? USA is learning this in Iran, but they are on the other side of the world so they can take the L and move on.
In a way. But Russia is a lot more willing to spill blood.
They're regularly having weeks as bad as 9/11 and they're just not all that notable.
If it came down to both countries fighting for their lives like WWII, then yeah, the 20x would be accurate.
What's with this weird orientalism going on? Talking about Russians like youre some 18th century phrenologist detailing how the Savage hun can withstand harsher climates than the genteel anglo-saxon.
They’re regularly having weeks as bad as 9/11 and they’re just not all that notable.
More than a 9/11 died from covid in the US every week and nobody gave a shit. There's a shitton of carcrashes, and no one gives a shit. Britain is full of people starving and no one gives a shit. Long term COVID is crippling the population everywhere and no one gives a shit.
The US had a bunch of grunts perish in Operation Epstein Fury, and all it led to was some coverups and no one gives a shit.
This isn't because the "mind of the mob" is cowed or bred or somehow different from the rest of us. Its because of material conditions. Russia has a lot of military casualties and soldiers on, not because "the Russian mind" or whatever other idealistic dumbassery people in this thread will pull out of their ass, but because of complex political, social, cultural and material structures.
Russia used to have a lot of tanks left over from the soviet union. Ukraine has blown most of them up.
Electrified everything I own because fuck Putin. I think the next think to look at is a battery to use off peak energy. Just looked and it appears some much better capacity/£ options are available since I last looked. Its always looking more and more tempting but then I always think about what if I wait for the next one to come out which is even batter?
Some companies offer modular batteries, so instead of buying like one big 15kWh battery, you can get 3 5kWh batteries. And there's usually a cabinet or server rack where you can put them together.
That way it's more scalable and easier to add capacity. And when it's time to upgrade or replace them, you can do that in smaller steps instead of all at once.
Have wondered about those, not sure how hard it would be to connect to the whole house. A single ring I could probably do quite easily. Think you need proper sockets/plugs to do it safely rather than the technically works but you may die if you touch the pin kinda cable. Then just flip the circuit breaker to remove that ring from the grid.
But that wouldn't cover cooking or my heat pump. Not sure if that could properly be done as a DIY job.
Though doing 1 ring from the battery would make it pretty easy to measure my non cooking/heating energy usage. Suppose lighting is separate but that should be all LEDs anyway.
To be completely fair, Russia has been the number 1 donor of tanks to Ukraine, so they weren't all blown up.
Russia's potential economy is much bigger though:
- 130M of obedient slaves
- largest land mass in the world
- access to the melting arctic
- loads of natural resources
130M of obedient slaves
Just open, Nazi tier racism. But the shitlibs here will upvote it anyway because they're just as racist as the worst MAGA chud, so long as it's against the right target
Obedient slaves.
Yeah man, those simple slavs, their brainpan just isn't shaped for Democracy(TM).
Libs and chauvinism go hand in hand
Are they not? I'm a russian language speaker in Thailand right now and everyone who's not an obedient fool has escaped long time ago or became an obedient slave.
1.5m people either dead or disabled by the war, economy on the brink of collapse, completely outcast from the cosmopolitan world - is that not obedient slavery?
You vastly underestimate how poor a bunch of Russians are, the poor class often stays behind when a crisis hits. While the middle and upper classes use their wealth and connections to jump the boat.
Most refugees were relative to their country, not poor.
Stays behind when crisis hit? The crisis is of their own doing. Russia is a rotten country and a rotten culture that has no one else to blame.
I generally don't like destructive change like revolution but Russians will never recover, never. The culture is so far gone and so broken and so passive that the best thing that could happen to an average russian is complete dissolution of the entire Russian project into independent smaller states.
I generally don’t like destructive change like revolution but Russians will never recover, never. The culture is so far gone and so broken and so passive that the best thing that could happen to an average russian is complete dissolution of the entire Russian project into independent smaller states.
What a simplistic and reductive worldview. You would do well as an orientalist professor at Oxford in the 1800's. You should look into phrenology.
All you're saying here could be said about most nations, as I exemplified with Britain.
::: spoiler Yeah man, its like when I hear the poors complain about stress. Why don't they simply take a vacation?
"Since I speak english this means I have a unique insight into the mind of the anglo-saxon, and let me tell you, if they haven't uprooted themselves from Albion, then that means they're mindless dolts, unlike me: A person who simply moved to Thailand. Whats stopping them? Why do they not simply overthrow their heinous monarch? It must be because the simple bog-dwellers cannot comprehend morality" <- You, in an alternate universe.
:::
completely out cast from the Cosmopolitan world.
Lmao what a delusional eurocentric take. "The Cosmopolitan world" somehow consists of the US and parts of Europe. Alright bud. Whatever shall the Russians do, now that they can only trade with most of the world? Im sure they're crying over the lack of paperwork, while they have to settle for trading with China, India, well- really all of Asia.
And we need all the fish on the right giving missiles to Israel and Israel as it slaughters a little Palestinian fish and they should be sucking off America as they both try to kill the Iran fish.
Yes, but, nuclear bombs. That matters much less for the usa cause im pretty sure russia literally doesnt have the capabilites to bomb the us cause of missile defense but for europe it matters.
I think at least China, Iran and North Korea could be added as participants on Russia's side
Are we counting Belarus as its own country or as the puppet state it actually is?
More of a remora, aka suckerfish.
Why would you count Belarus Oblast as its own country??
Trump asks Zelensky to not attack Russian refineries.
Imagine your country having been invaded, Russia is trying to kill you, has brought in soldiers not just from Russia but from other countries. You've toured countless bombed cities, and regularly see soldiers and civilians, men, women, and children missing limbs. You regularly get casualty numbers, names, and stories of your fellow countrymen.... for years. Year after year.
...and some fat American President who watches Fox news and is a child rapist, is telling you to go easy on the country invading you.
JK Rowling really likes to make the villains in her books fat. Umbridge, Vernon, Dudley, Goyle. The characters who embody bullying are nearly always fat. She thinks a person's weight is okay to make fun of if they're a bad person. Rowling fans like to cite Molly as a counterexample, but I think that's missing the point. The fact that the narrator is so mean about these characters' weight makes it clear that weight is on the table as something to make fun of, if Rowling thinks you deserve it. She thinks being fat is shameful, she's just polite when she talks about nice (cis) people.
There's a lot of people who think the same way as Rowling when they talk about Trump.
Yeah, being a US vassal tends to be detrimental in the long run.
It may be dangerous to be America's enemy but it is deadly to be their ally
- Henry Kissinger (paraphrased)
Ukraine is far from a US vassal state, they also have Europe on their side and have developed domestic military power beyond anyone's imagination in 2022. They haven't been listening to Trump at all
Ahh yes, Europe, famously not just an extension of US foreign policy. Its not like the US has spent decades shaping politics in Europe through things like Operation Gladio. Its not as if most of the European nations house American military bases or support the US in all its insane foreign involvements. Its not as if Europe is just spitting billions to Israel. Yeah Europe is totally a separate entity from the US, and with the destruction of Nord Stream 2 its not like the Europeans are reliant on US LNG. Or, you know, the slow devolution of German industry certainty doesn't envelop Europe under the American curtain even more.
You're naive if you dont consider the majority of European countries to be little more than US proxies.
Charles de Gaulle was right about the atlanticists.
And Ukraine has been a US playground since 2014, do you not read up on foreign policy before discussing it? Both Trump and Viden have had massive corruption scandals tied to Ukraine. The Ukrainian post-coup government was hand-picked by the US, there's even leaked conversations of the picking being done.
Charles de Gaulle was right about the atlanticists.
I have strong negative feelings about Gaulle but he had balls I'll give him that
Me too, but I can't disagree with him about the anglos or on what he said about China.
The Ukrainian post-coup government was hand-picked by the US, there's even leaked conversations of the picking being done.
Right wing national groups, famously large ultras were just way better organised than any other group in Ukraine.
That's the very short conclusion, for why the initial cabinet was full on nationalists.
Sure. That, and the fact that the cabinet was hand-picked by the US, as was shown through leaked phone calls.
Besides that another question one might ask is "Why were the right wing militias so much better supplied and organised?"
Because sports fans are psychos is the very short answer. The former president didn't feel the need to suppress Ultra organisations, as he saw them as weekend warriors fighting one another.
It's quite common world wide that football ultras are among the best organised groups in their local arena. Same shit happened in Brazil, for the protests that ended up getting Jair elected - Despite the majority of demonstrators on the street being fairly left wing. The Ultras were organised cells, that managed to capture the movement and give Jair the much needed push to be a true contender
Jair Bolsonaro? The other guy who got installed with the backing of the US? You dont ever stop to consider that maybe there's more going on than just "people being psychos"? You dont ever stop to wonder why these movements happen to have the resources, skills and manpower necessary to organise and mobilise right on cue to install some stooge picked out by the US state dept? You really just contend yourself with "because people are crazy"?
You missed the part where the Viden one was all projection and made up.
As far as I can tell Hunter Biden did have some do-nothing job in the Ukrainian energy sector. Whether or not the specifics of the case were enough for the courts to act doesn't really matter all that much to me. These two cases are also just handy examples to use when one wishes to point out that Ukraine, after 2014, was the US's playground.
Cute that you think Europe isnt also vassalized too.
Ukraine has kept bombing Russian refineries regardless of what the US says. Good for them.
This is art
A art
FTFY
What
An Art
The pedant in me cant help but point out that that isnt how shark anatomy works. Male sharks have two analogous structures, called claspers, and they are located on the back of their pelvic fins.
Really I should have said this
Stereo penises.
Humans have fingers. That's like 5.1 surround penis
I think there's a German word for this that means both at the same time.
Tragi-comic. Its english too.
What’s the original?
Just the first two panels.
https://www.unitedcharity.de/en/Auctions/Ukraine-Cartoon
Don't like the implication that european nations are just hapless little fishies hounded by predator. This is a large geopolitical war between economic blocs. The Europeans have agency and actively pushed boundaries as well. They aren't victims of a mindless aggressor attacking them out of pure instinct. Both sides of this conflict have distinct political-economic motives that led to this war. Nation's are rational actors.
Please name one thing Canada did that forced Russia to invade Ukraine.
I said Europe for a reason but Canada is part of NATO no? NATO is effectively the economic bloc I am referring to here so increasing tensions with Russia at least happened with Canada's acceptance. Regardless Canada is not genuinely threatened by Russia and their support for the war in Ukraine is primarily along geopolitical lines. As a rule Nation's do not act out of sympathy for oppressed people, look at palestine for example, so it can't truly be argued that Canada supports Ukraine out of moral concern.
This is a battle between the authoritarian countries and democratic countries of the world. If you can set aside the vaguely racist tankie paradigm for just five minutes and think about which countries are democracies and which are not, you might be able to understand the world a little better.
So Russia had to invade Ukraine because NATO won't trade with Russia even though they do?
Sort of, NATO was practicing an method of economic and physical encirclement intended to suffocate the Russian economy. I don't personally think this was feasible but Russia has for about 2 decades and made their stance clear on this matter. If NATO continued on this path it would lead to war. Russia has stated this repeatedly and high ranking members of NATO have as well. Everyone involved knew this but to NATO's credit, they pushed those boundaries for a very long time and Russia never actually did anything about it. Mostly because it was not economically or militarily feasible.
Ukraine was the final red line though. Sure, morally speaking, one nation should not be able to limit the treaties another nation decides to make or coalitions they try to join but geopolitics is not governed by morality. It was stupid to believe that Russia would just accept Ukraine's entrance into NATO which is why no one in power genuinely believed this. Russia was not going to accept an alliance that allowed for a military buildup so close to their key infrastructure and ballistic missiles within a few minutes of Moscow. Russia fully understands that NATO is an imperial organ and necessarily a threat to its existence as a decently sized economy largely independent of it and brimming with natural resources.
Russia didn't "have to" invade Ukraine but if it didn't it would effectively look like rolling over to their largest geopolitical enemy and, strictly speaking, put them in a strategically compromised position.
This doesn't make it morally right or a great thing that I just fucking love but in the world of real politik it is rational. They weren't forced into this action but were put in a position where not doing it would be strategically untenable in the long term. The Russian ruling class is simply protecting their economic interests.
You don't have to be Russia's number one fan to understand this conflict as more complex than the western propaganda narrative that Russia is just an evil imperialist taking Ukraine because it wants to.
Sort of, NATO was practicing an method of economic and physical encirclement intended to suffocate the Russian economy.
What the fuck are you even talking about? EU trade with Russia was at an all time high at the start of 2022.
It was stupid to believe that Russia would just accept Ukraine’s entrance into NATO
Again, what the fuck are you talking about. Ukraine declared its neutral status in 2010 and again in 2014, stating that they were not seeking NATO membership. That position only changed after the annexation of Crimea.
Stop writing walls of nonsense on shit you clearly have no idea about.
I'm tired and had a bit to drink so I won't be super in depth here and I apologize for that but I will explain my reasoning as simply as possible.
The 2022 and previous state of NATO member nations economic relationship with Russia was one of opportunism and convenience that does not reflect their long term strategic goals in the region.
Ukraine declared neutrality on the matter because it knew joining NATO would lead to it being invaded. This changed after the highly western backed and financed Maiden "revolution". This occured concurrently with the Russian invasion of Crimea and it is arguable that both influenced each other in turn. Russia recognized the changing political tides towards western powers in Ukraine and responded to it while Ukrainian nationalism swelled in response to Russian invasion. None of these events were beneficial to the working people of Ukraine.
Edit: you can disagree with my reasoning here and I'd kinda understand, I don't expect to convince you, but at least I am consistent.
NATO is not an economic block. NATO does not trade or have anything to do with international trade deals. It is a defence pact just as the Warsaw pact was. Russia was free to trade with whoever they wanted to after the fall of the USSR. What changed after that?
I used NATO as a shorthand for the economic bloc the countries within it make up and I apologize for any confusion that caused. NATO members are and have been for some time highly economically intertwined and aligned on geostrategic goals. They tend to sanction nations that threaten the economic order they benefit from in order to preserve that system as a group. They often, though not necessarily through the organ of NATO, invade the same nations as a coalition for the same reason. NATO is not the economic organ but its members are part of an economic organ.
IIRC, there was no serious talk of Ukraine joining NATO before Russia invaded Crimea
You're kidding, right?
(Seeing your nickname here) you're probably just jealous of the US fish ;p
Pssssh... nuh uh
Curious how you'd break that down, other than Putin and monied right-wing sources tampering with major, global elections, as we've abundantly seen as on ongoing process, non?
Of course the tankie regurgitates Putins narrative.
If it's "Putin's narrative" that wars start for more complex reasons than "some nations are just evil and bad" then I fear he just has a better understanding of how the world works than someone who accepts that premise. Some nations being simply evil and bad is the type of thinking that fascists actively encourage. Do not fall for it. At least attempt to develop an understanding of the real material reasons for international military conflict.
I probably hate the Russian ruling class more than you and for better reasons but that's no reason to simplify geopolitics to such a degree.
We can discuss why Russia decided to invade Ukraine, but it doesn't change the fact that they did. They started the war with Ukraine, twice. I'm not sure if it is your intention but your comments do come off as though you're equating Russia's actions with the actions of the EU, in terms of explaining why hundreds of thousands of people are dead, which surely is not good. Assigning blame is absolutely a reasonable thing to do when people are violently killed, and in this instance that blame lies with Putin and Russia.
Certainly much of the immediate death is at the hands of the Russian ruling class but to claim this happened in isolation of broader geopolitical forces because Russia just does that is infantile and chauvinistic. This is my issue with the meme. Atlanticist nations are active participants in this war and it is not even their workers dying for it. It is Ukrainian workers dying for Atlanticist goals. Imperialist war is a disgusting awful thing where workers are forced to die for the interests of their oppressors but at least the Russians are dying for Russia. Even if Ukraine miraculously "wins" this war there will not be a free Ukraine. Their rulers owe the west too much. This is a war over ownership of Ukrainian resources and labor power, nothing more.
To claim that Russia is an instinctual aggressor and Atlanticist powers are a benevolent allies of Ukraine is nakedly propagandistic.
32 countries that make up the most useless and deceptive organization ever created, second only to the ONU.
Governments have relied on the US before. It's not new.
