To be disgusted at the talks between Russia and the US

[SunnyDayInFeb]

So Russia and the US are meeting in Saudia Arabia to carve up Ukraine.

And Ukraine, whose people have been fighting and dying since their country was invaded, haven't even been invited to the table.

It's like we are back in the 19th century with the European colonial powers drawing lines on a map to divide Africa between them.

Nazi salutes are now common place at maga events as is wielding chainsaws

@bemoresloth really? Which MAGA events routinely feature Nazi Salutes?

Cpac is the latest one

Number one, while our Western European allies' security has benefitted greatly from the generosity of the United States, they pursue domestic policies (on migration and censorship) that offend the sensibilities of most Americans

The sensibilities of Americans are not offended by Putin's ruthless oppression of the Russian people and his willingness to send young men to their deaths in order for him to play out his fantasy of recreating the USSR, though. OK.

Trump and Vance: dumb and dumber.

Also if the US didn't want to give Ukraine anymore weapons there are other options available

1. Offer to sell weapons to the Europeans to give to the Ukrainians. They could use seized russia assets to pay for them
2. Go in hard in negotiations with Russia (consulting with the Ukrainians) and try to get them a decentish deal
3. Just walk off saying they aren't going to help

They have gone for option 4

1. Undermine Ukraine in every possible way diplomatically, including blaming them for the conflict. Cut out the Europeans and Ukraine from discussions. Give away concessions to the Russians before talks have started in exchange for nothing.

Some people have said that the US has wasted its money helping Ukraine. Well that is pretty much something they have done to themselves by embracing the worst possible option that they could have done at this point.

Also people talk about Ukrainian defeat as if it were inevitable. I doubt it. Military supplies have been slow walked all along. Russia has now reached the point where they have started having to use North Korean troops. I think if Ukraine was given all the ammo and arms they needed (perhaps using Russia assets to fund it) they would win.

@SunnyDayInFeb but since this started there has been huge agonising over whether to supply x y and z because putin has held the threat of a nuclear option over everyone's heads.
We've had to tread this really fine line of supporting Ukraine without triggering the bear.

I don't think that Ukraine even has enough ammunition. They could probably hold there own and even gain ground if just supplied with ample quantities of the basic weapons they need.

Well I heard we also don't have enough ammo? Apparently there is general shortage, what eu countries are supplying ammo.

Much stock is depleted of all our supplies.

The Chinese have already started to sell US debt. Well noted

We need to manufacture some more ammunition I would suggest. The UK needs to develop its arms industry and increase the numbers in its armed forces. God knows how we are going to do that given our difficulty in organising anything and the state of the country's finances. But I think it's a priority as we can't rely on the US anymore.

Anyway I wouldn't even be alarmed if the US were trying to negotiate in good faith the best possible deal for Ukrainians with the Russians. It's the fact they seem to have gone over to their side which is so disturbing.

The US have turned out a bit like Saruman in the LOTR only not so persuasive. Unfortunately I don't think there are any angry trees on hand to save the day....Maybe Canadian ones....

I watched Musk at Cpac. He was certainly wielding a chainsaw, and appeared rather rambling and unable to answer questions in a coherent manner.

@bemoresloth oh right, so anyone now raising their arm is executing a Nazi salute, got it.

Steve Bannon has a visceral loathing of Musk but perhaps they’ll put aside their differences for the benefit of the 4th Reich.

https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3linvt6goec2i

just 'raising arm'

https://forward.com/fast-forward/698485/steve-bannon-nazi-salute-elon-musk-cpac/

@bombastix who are Chinese selling the US debt to?
Is it to a generic market or to a specific country. I am not familiar the the process.
Hopefully not Russia. But any buyer could be of concern depending on ulterior motives.

I think I may have said this already, Trump is a bully, pure and simple and like all bullies he surrounds himself with his little bully minions who ensure that anyone who says anything that he doesn’t like are somehow beaten. Horrible people, zero respect from any of them, Ukraine will suffer as a result despite anything Europe may try to do. We have four more years of this utter megalomaniac, God help us all

@Branster - visibility is difficult. It looks like private investors.

Obviously that means a degree of market volatility for US debt in the same way that Liz Truss experienced. I am not saying it would happen, but the implication for living standards in the US if it did are stark. And us too.

The Chinese holdings in US debt dropped two days ago. Part of this is a connected to Trump's use of tariffs but it was already happening in May 2024.

They are apparently moving into gold.

@bemoresloth there are videos of Macron, Kamala etc etc of literally doing exactly the same movement.

No, there really isn't. There might be still images pulled from videos, but that isn't the same thing at all. I could be waving at someone in a video, and a screen grab could be made from it of me doing a similar movement.

I've watched the video of Bannon carefully. He nods to the crowd afterwards as an acknowledgement - that was without any doubt a Nazi salute. He had just called for Trump to run again in 2028, too, so turning him into a dictator more or less - so it fits.

And Putin is soooo popular he got 88%of the vote in last election...AYE Right.

Didn’t he get 87% before they even had the election, not to mention any serious opponent withdrawing beforehand usually as a result of a fall from a height or being beaten to death in prison, but in Trumpland he’s definitely not a dictator

Trump is already discussing running for a third term. I don't think the U.K. should be imagining our special relationship is anywhere but in the bin, frankly

It’d mean a real change to the constitution. It’s an interesting, for me as I have no skin in the game, conundrum. If the Supreme Court justices who have made decisions on the basis of harking back to the original intentions of the founding fathers would do a 180 to allow Trump to stand again.

I think Trump will keel over at some point, although honestly he looks in better shape than the first time round and seems to have hired better people to do his hair and make up but still you know he is getting on and those arteries have had a lifetime of kfc.

Then we will have the lovely JD Vance who has gone from condemning Trump as Americas Hitler to going all in on the idea. Women should be having babies, not all women I assume, just the suitable ones.

He has a definite Gillead commander vibe.

I do wonder what the Chinese make of Trump he is mercurial and unpredictable in a way that might make them want to wait until the next one before they move on Taiwan. I suppose that is a major difference if you aren’t dependant upon being re elected then you can play a long game.

Well their tourist industry has already lost a lot of Canadian customers. They're rapidly turning into a pariah state and sooner or later will collapse entirely.

There was no limit before FDR did four terms which broke him. I imagine the change is easily done.

God knows what a fair election will look like though. The US may not have one.