I feel sorry for the honest folks that may live in Ukraine, but as they say, I have my own troubles. Spending US money on other countries seems to make me angry. I'd like my Social Security to be protected before anything else.

How much value do you think your Social Security will provide you when the rest of the world is controlled by Russia and China? Spending money there so the war does not come HERE is a GREAT investment!

In due time, war will "come here." No nation is truly exempt. (Ours certainly wasn't: a war that we fought with ourselves killed more American soldiers than all of the wars that we have ever fought to date ... combined. More than 600,000. Along with an uncounted number of civilians, estimated by some at more than 2 million at a time when the entire population of the country was about 36 million. They died of violence, starvation, disease, and exposure.)

I don't understand what's wrong with the American right today. How do you end up simping for a shitty dollar tree version of Hitler? Shameful

If EU would not buy the gas/oil/... from Russia (like Germany), that would decrease the income of Russian economy. About 30 pct of budget goes for warfare/war destroyer/war games of Mr. P.

That is not a good excuse for inviting or hastening was impacting your population to save a few dollars.

Most EU countries have TRIED to cut back on or eliminate Russian oil. Some did succeed, but events and markets conspired to subvert that in others. They are not going to let their own populations starve or freeze to impact Russia, and I do not blame them! The EU in general has done more to convert off fossil fuels and save the world than the USA, so we have little to say.

They are more at immediate risk from Russia than the USA is, so they are more motivated to bring pressure for peace.

Pretty sure the US can survive if Russia and China control the world. I heard Putin wanted California. I'd be willing to give him that. I have enough ammo to defend Texas.


If Africa and South America and Europe and India don't care then why should the US? Not even sure Canada cares.

hey come on, they can build solar, wind, and many nuclear plants. There is only responsibility on EU to not cut down the Oil/Gas from Russia...

What I am saying is that they have done a lot more to move to wind, solar, and wave power than the USA. And we cannot expect them to freeze their people just to avoid their main supplier. They cut back to almost zero, then had to ramp back up when cold weather hit. They are still working on rolling out more green energy and re-opening nuclear plants but that is an ongoing project Some countries have virtually eliminated Russian products of ALL kinds to include oil, but some have been unable to complete that effort. They will.

The economic damage to Russia in a best case scenario is not going to act fast enough to prevent Ukraine form falling to the invaders if the other nations to not adequately provide arms and munitions in support. That should be the highest priority right now. The other priorities need attention, but arms come first or the rest will no longer matter.

Europe needs energy, and that energy still comes from Russia. It is now simply going through a few more hands.

Eventually, Europe will repair the damage to NordStream 2, because it cannot do without it.

Russia is now matter-of-factly demonstrating that it still remembers what EU and USA have forgot: what “real war” is, and what “domestic manufacturing” is.But also, what “patience” is …

Rich people lie, and poor people die. War is stupid. Parents who teach there children that nothing can be done about it normalize it. War is a parental problem. Parents are supposed to protect their children. How do you protect children from war? Teach them how stupid it is and to never support or join it. If parents did their job, there would be no soldiers. To defer the safety of your children to authorities does not make much sense in this case, since authorities use war to fight war... the authorities are not going to protect your children; the authorities are going to get your children killed. Parents need to quit going to their regular jobs, and go to a peace rally instead. All the parents of the world do this = no more war. Violence is not ever a solution. Period.

So when Russia (or any country) rolls tanks into your country... you hold up peace signs? Like Tiananmen Square I suppose? Works well. Human nature ... is human nature. Someone always wants to be king of the mountain... So to Speak. Not going to change no matter what Utopia you define for yourself or 'what it should be'...

I like to look at it like pH:

Take an alkaline solution, such as borax and water, and add a few drops of phenolphthalein (a pH indicator): the solution will turn purple. That is the blood of humanity from its perpetual belief in the king of the mountain, scared to practice peace, and turning to violence time and time again.

Every now and then, someone tries peace, and they are martyred, like at Tieneman square. For each martyr, add a drop of clear vinegar. Everybody sees that after those clear drops, the solution is still bloody, and they say -- see that didn't work--like Tieneman square, and they continue to teach their children to enlist and serve the king of the mountain, and so their drops are just more of the same purple...

And then another clear drop comes along... maybe a Jesus, maybe a Ghandi, maybe the bab, maybe an Agatha, or an Agnes; the rest watch as these clear drops enter, but the solution stays bloody.

Drop the vinegar in one drop at a time... eventually one of the drops changes the pH, and the entire solution turns clear before your eyes.

Nobody knows which drop will be that drop for humanity... it could be you. Without all the previous martyrs, it wouldn't have been possible--they don't die in vain. They show that there are those who will choose peace all the way to the grave. Because, I don't know if you've noticed, but humanity is running out of time... the game is up... the king of the toxic sludgeheap is not worth killing for.

And there are also people who will choose to burn themselves up on a street corner outside a courthouse, for absolutely no lasting reason at all . . .

"Now they are dead, after a suitable period of personal agony," and nobody cares nor remembers.