Cyprus-Forum.com

[repulsewarrior]

Democracy; a matter of Faith...



Bigger than Watergate

...what is the dereliction of duty?

(...what is Criminal intent?)

[repulsewarrior]

...a review of the Report released yesterday; news no one has heard before, and the facts as they've emerged.

[repulsewarrior]

State of the Union



..."possibilities"; "we're just getting started", "let's finish the job".

A very stirring speech.

[Londonrake]

Anybody noticed?

With a year to go Trump’s beavering away, steadily building a campaign for the GOP nomination. Targets and tactics as per 2016. Despite his Florida Governorship win, DeSantis is starting to look less and less like the new Republican Messiah, whilst Pence’s recent intervention seems to have fallen flat.

Still probably an outside bet but………….

I hope I’m not going to be searching back to my early Biden days prediction for an “I told you so” post.

[Lordo]

In reality there is very little difference between the two except one is blatant and the other is underhanded.

Shit is shit whether blatant or underhanded but somehow Trump is that much more shit then the rest

[Kikapu]

I hope I’m not going to be searching back to my early Biden days prediction for an “I told you so” post.

Yes, because you were also saying at that time that Biden won’t be able to stand up against Putin.

I wished you were right about that so that we wouldn’t have had this war in Ukraine with hundreds of thousands dead.

[Londonrake]

I hope I’m not going to be searching back to my early Biden days prediction for an “I told you so” post.

Yes, because you were also saying at that time that Biden won’t be able to stand up against Putin.

I wished you were right about that so that we wouldn’t have had this war in Ukraine with hundreds of thousands dead.

You've got me there. Do you have a link or quote? I've no recollection of that.

I ask, because comments I made about the possibility of a disastrous Trump resurgence were in the early days of Biden's Presidency. When it became clear his "national unity" inaugural speech was just rhetoric. That, after Putin annexed the Crimea certainly but before anybody had anticipated February 2022's events.

As far as the outcome of the war so far's concerned. As always, I can't get my head around anything other than what to me are the clear realities. Yes, hundreds of thousands dead (however anybody wants to apportion the breakdown). Eight million driven from their homes and refugeed. Entire towns (Mariupol, et al) literally raised to the ground. The war's effects spreading across the world like ripples on a pond.

As much as I've disliked the man, all of that hasn't been down to Biden but Vladimir Putin and Russian guns/missiles/bombs. IMHO, there isn't and never has been justification for the tragedy that's been inflicted upon the people of Ukraine. To spin it as unavoidable, not actually Putin's fault - the man had no choice - I personally regard as absurdity in extremis.

As I've said many times though, this is not something that will ever be agreed upon between opposing factions on platforms like this. Events will prevail and barring some unforeseeable happenstance I suspect they're likely to go on for a considerable time.

[Kikapu]

I hope I’m not going to be searching back to my early Biden days prediction for an “I told you so” post.

Yes, because you were also saying at that time that Biden won’t be able to stand up against Putin.

I wished you were right about that so that we wouldn’t have had this war in Ukraine with hundreds of thousands dead.

You've got me there. Do you have a link or quote? I've no recollection of that.

I ask, because comments I made about the possibility of a disastrous Trump resurgence were in the early days of Biden's Presidency. When it became clear his "national unity" inaugural speech was just rhetoric. That, after Putin annexed the Crimea certainly but before anybody had anticipated February 2022's events.

As far as the outcome of the war so far's concerned. As always, I can't get my head around anything other than what to me are the clear realities. Yes, hundreds of thousands dead (however anybody wants to apportion the breakdown). Eight million driven from their homes and refugeed. Entire towns (Mariupol, et al) literally raised to the ground. The war's effects spreading across the world like ripples on a pond.

As much as I've disliked the man, all of that hasn't been down to Biden but Vladimir Putin and Russian guns/missiles/bombs. IMHO, there isn't and never has been justification for the tragedy that's been inflicted upon the people of Ukraine. To spin it as unavoidable, not actually Putin's fault - the man had no choice - I personally regard as absurdity in extremis.

As I've said many times though, this is not something that will ever be agreed upon between opposing factions on platforms like this. Events will prevail and barring some unforeseeable happenstance I suspect they're likely to go on for a considerable time.

I could try and and find the quote but it is not necessary as it isn’t really important as it is not meant to be a “gotcha” moment.

You may have said it before the elections.

For the avoidance of all the destructions you have mentioned above were in the hands of Zelensky and Biden, in the form of the collective West. Had the 2014 Minsk treaty was ratified during the 8 years before the war in 2022, there wouldn’t have been a war. The war would have have happened back in 2014 at a much faster rate at much less death and destruction to Ukraine. The was going to be a war come what may in order to protect the Russian speaking Ukrainians in the East, and the threat of Ukraine becoming a NATO member put the icing on the cake for the war. The rest is history as they say!

[Londonrake]

]

I could try and and find the quote but it is not necessary as it isn’t really important as it is not meant to be a “gotcha” moment.

You may have said it before the elections.

For the avoidance of all the destructions you have mentioned above were in the hands of Zelensky and Biden, in the form of the collective West. Had the 2014 Minsk treaty was ratified during the 8 years before the war in 2022, there wouldn’t have been a war. The war would have have happened back in 2014 at a much faster rate at much less death and destruction to Ukraine. The was going to be a war come what may in order to protect the Russian speaking Ukrainians in the East, and the threat of Ukraine becoming a NATO member put the icing on the cake for the war. The rest is history as they say!

Thanks for your reasonable/reasoned response.

If this is too long, stop here and take the rest of the day off.

No. I'm certain I never said I had fears about Biden standing up to Putin. My principal concern then was about the man's physical and mental condition. Put simply, whether he was up to the job. For anybody who might be interested there are many YT vids showing his problems. Faux pas, physical stumbling, staring intently into autocues but still managing to mispronounce places and people's names. Etc. Embarrassing, but the MSM, unlike with Trump's faults, has tended to pointedly ignore much of it. Personally, I find the idea of another 4 years of Biden as President hard to assimilate. Although, we need to pray for his well being. The thought of "Cackling" Kamala in the West Wing remains terrifying. We would all be doomed - surely?

It's hard not to believe that Putin's view and decision making wasn't affected by his perception of Biden's apparent weakness.

You've often spoken of the Minsk agreements. As though they were the Holy Grail of these sad events. It seems to me though that it's a bit like expressing WW2 myopically within the framework of Dresden/Hiroshima. If we're into standing on our principles upon solemn treaties, the fundamental foundation surely is Budapest 1994?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_ ... d%20Russia.

A long read. Let me help. Russia was one of the Guarantor states declaring their support for Ukraine's territorial sovereignty. That, in return for the country giving up all of their, quite considerable, nuclear weapon stockpile.

Minsk - which both sides seem to have usurped - took place after Putin's much lauded annexation of Crimea and after he had moved to support the Russian speaking areas of Ukraine with arms and troops. The same rank-less but uniformed outfits that weren't involved in Crimea.

So much for Russia's word. A bit reminiscent of how Putin/Lavrov said in early Feb 2022 that talk of Russia invading Ukraine was "Western propaganda".

Moreover though, Minsk took place after Putin's invasion and annexation of the Crimea. It was not the source of all this devastation.

BIDEN ARRIVES.

Biden.jpg

Whilst we are both happily trashing the Don's thread

As our man on the scene. How's the Credit Suisse debacle playing out there?

[Kikapu]

Ukraine–NATO relations

Relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) started in 1991.[1] Ukraine applied to integrate with a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) in 2008.[2][3] Plans for NATO membership were shelved by Ukraine following the 2010 presidential election in which Viktor Yanukovych, who preferred to keep the country non-aligned, was elected President.[4][5] Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014 during the Revolution of Dignity.[6] The interim Yatsenyuk Government initially said that it had no plans to join NATO.[7] However, following the Russian annexation of Crimea and Russian military support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the Second Yatsenyuk Government made joining NATO a priority.[8] In February 2019, the Ukrainian parliament voted to amend the Constitution of Ukraine to state Ukraine's goal of NATO and European Union membership.[9][10]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine–NATO_relations

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation

For the 1783 event, see Annexation of the Crimean Khanate by the Russian Empire.
Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation

In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula, taking it from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War.

The events in Kyiv that ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych on 22 February 2014 sparked pro-Russian demonstrations as of 23 February against the incoming new Ukrainian government. At the same time Russian president Vladimir Putin discussed Ukrainian events with security service chiefs remarking that "we must start working on returning Crimea to Russia". On 27 February, Russian troops[32] captured strategic sites across Crimea,[33][34] followed by the installation of the pro-Russian Aksyonov government in Crimea, the Crimean status referendum, and the declaration of Crimea's independence on 16 March 2014.[35][36] Although Russia initially claimed their military was not involved in the events,[37] Putin later admitted that troops were deployed to "stand behind Crimea's self-defence forces".[38] Russia formally incorporated Crimea on 18 March 2014.[39][38

@LR,

There are always starting points for events in history, and they not need to go back to the invention of the wheel, or the WWII.

The Ukraine issue is a simple one and it only dates back to 1991, then 2008 and finally 2014 as the above article(s) points out for Russia taking action in Crimea and supporting Russian speaking Ukrainians in the Donbas regions from persecution by the Ukrainians. Regardless of Russia’s commitment to retain Ukraine’s territorial integrity for them giving up their Nuclear weapons, Russia had the right to take back Crimea since it was Russian to begin with since the 1780s based on their National Security as the political map was changing with Ukraine and Ukraine’s attitude towards Russian speaking Ukrainians in Ukraine. Russia preempted by preventing the eventuality of NATO at it’s backyard in the form of Crimea and the Sea of Azov.

Had the attitude of Ukraine towards Russia remained neutral, more than likely Ukraine’s territorial integrity would have remained as agreed with Russia. It is no wonder Zelensky wants Crimea back and the Donbas regions, because that is the Crown Jewels for NATO to have. Without it, the rest of Ukraine is of no use for NATO, especially once takes over the Odessa reigns too, which means NATO won’t have any use for Zelensky either. I see the whole events of war in Ukraine now as a means to prevent Nuclear WWIII in the future had NATO achieved it’s objectives to be in Crimea and the Sea of Azov.

As for Credit Suisse, I am staying put with the bank as it’s wealth management and share prices are two different matters, which some people tend to panic on the banks stability based on it’s share price by selling their shares at a loss and by pulling their money out. It just means that with dirt cheap share prices the bank become vulnerable for a takeover by another institution.