Ukraine has similarly low birth rates, so it's not a solution. And in any case, the present Russian regime has been solving the birth rate issue in a way similar to most other countries - by immigration (from Central Asia).

The problem with economic sanctions is that they, ironically, work to solidify Putin's power hold.

The original reason for strong popular support behind Putin was that he oversaw a decade of steady economic growth. For many people in Russia, it was the time where they saw their lives change from borderline poverty to something reasonable. It can be argued that he is not the one to take credit, and that it's all due to high oil prices etc, but either way he got to reap the benefits. It's also what triggered the entire "imperial revival" mentality: people see that their country is more prosperous, therefore it is stronger, therefore it is time to remember the old squabbles.

Now, Russian economy was already in recession as it is, and likely one from which it will not require. The sanctions will undeniably accelerate it, but at the same time they give Putin and his clique the ultimate excuse with respect to anything bad that happens with the economy: "Americans did it". Thus, all the rage will be channeled overseas, instead of the people in charge. And if economy does collapse, what you have now is a country of 140 million, raging, armed to teeth, with a history of willing and able to pile up the bodies two to one (and even higher) to win. Oh, and with nukes.

I strongly suspect that, if the sanctions are ultimately successful, the immediate consequence will be the full-on ground invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Not the present proxy war with subtle aid here and there, but Russian tanks on the streets of Kiev, that kind of thing.

If the West really wants to help Ukraine, it needs to give it direct military assistance.

Yeah right, the infamous "mushroom cloud" comment was all about chemical weapons. Also I'm old enough to recall the attack on the Kurds, it happened in the 80's long before Clinton was elected. The Bush administration lied about nukes and lied about Saddam's connection to 911 because they wanted to "fix" the ME once and for all.

Sure most people wanted Saddam gone but most people could also see the end was not worth the means. The US should have backed down when it did not gain the support of the UN but they did the exact opposite. The US should have kept Iraq's public service intact but they disbanded them on the third day and the entire nation went on a looting rampage from which they still haven't recovered.

Well, these prosthetics are kinda available for everyone too. You could even gain an upper leg over him (bad pun, ok), by getting two of those...

Well, when you got 3rd grade politicians, don't expect 1st grade rulings...

Well, the 10 commandments aren't that far away from "universal", timeless principles and rules as well. Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't kill. Somehow I don't think that will ever go out of fashion in a civilized world. There are a few dated ones, and that's actually where the constitution and most other "normal" (as compared to divine) laws have a huge advantage: They can be adapted to reality.

The problem is that the ones that could adapt them are too adept at circumventing them, and they sure as HELL won't do anything to plug the loopholes they themselves are abusing.

Well, if I elect them, it makes it kinda immoral to shoot them...

Actually, to be blunt, it is less "truly" fascist and resembles closer the German Nazism, complete with the ideal of the superiority of the own race, its right to rule over the lands it claims to "always have been" part of their "home land", the need for "Lebensraum", which has to be taken from others, preferably a group of people you can use as a scapegoat for all the ill that befalls your country and its people, a full blown paranoia over the (perceived or real) threat its neighbors present that can best be countered by preemptive strikes, along with pushing the "enemy people" in the own country in sub-prime areas ... I don't want to say ghettos, we're not getting THAT far just yet, but when you look around between Israel and Palestine, you can't help but ponder the parallels to what happened to the Native Americans when the White Man needed more space and what space was left for the Natives, i.e. mostly desert and crap nobody wants. And so on.

Personally, I consider it incredibly sad that of all the people on the planet, of all the countries and governments on this planet... Hell, if there was ONE people, one government, one country that should KNOW for a fact that the whole crap doesn't work out and that it can only lead to destruction...

Very interesting! I'll check with one of the old-timers to see if they remember if there were a lot of fiber failures after the flood. I'm wondering if they just blanked replaced everything afterwards to avoid the future maintenance problems.

Thanks!

Perhaps you don't understand how governments and large corporations structure themselves in order to save money: they use contractors instead of employees for exactly that reason.

Regardless of the disaster scenario, employee/employer rules stipulate they have to pay their employees during the time when they're normally expected to work, even if they can get no productive work from them. If they have extended downtime due to fire, construction, etc., They would have to lay off the unused workers, which means paying unemployment benefits. Contracts, on the other hand, can be written so they can be paused or terminated at will. It's up to the contracting firm to manage the pay when they're "sitting on the bench", and most of those contracts provide no compensation for periods of non-work.

On the flip side, when you are hired as a contractor, you explicitly sign up for those risks. Even though it may look like a regular job, it isn't. It's a contract.

The human side of the equation was carefully measured and surgically extracted back when the government decided to use contractors instead of employees. Employees cost too much.

The "fun" part is that being anti-Israel currently is less antisemitic than it is antifascist...

So ... we need a search engine where the search results are not crippled by EU "right to be forgotten" legislation and US "no right to get your content" DMCA. Hmm. Where the heck could we find a really free search engine.

How about baidu? I mean, I at least as long as I don't plan to search for Tiananmen Square or Tibet it should give me more accurate results...

If you mean that it will take another generation 'til people don't believe readily what they read simply 'cause someone wrote it, then I agree.

But until people realize that 99% of what they read on the internet is bullshit, we should maybe find a way to keep people from having their lives ruined by slander.

And the cost is going to be paid by some company or the other for the benefit of some class action house or another.

Well, at the current moment too many people still buy into the illusion of freedom. It took quite long for the East Bloc to collapse as well. What it takes is the majority of people realizing it, not just a select few who manage to see past the show created to keep them complacent.

That takes time. In the end of the East Bloc, the difference between the show and the illusion created for the people and the reality they faced every day grew out of proportion. We're not at that point yet. People still believe what they are being told.

We have to wait. There's little we can do but wait.