Extra irony on the fact that many places we are in an arcade renaissance of sorts, there's like 4 in my area, but they're just for adults, they serve booze.

Yeah, the Russians!

Wherever you got this information from I assure you information to the contrary is available. One side is pushing this narrative pretty hard...

Then stop bringing up morality. Is this hard international diplomacy or morals? Come on, you cant pontificate on both ways, the word "morals" has come out of your side on his discussion 10x of mine. What you refuse to accept is your position is as just a moral one of mine. We're either both moralizing or we're both not so stop saying that pedantic bullshit and you know it's bullshit because most people talking about this aren't actually in the war.

The only reason to say this is for some virtue superiority? It's fucking useless statement, not worth the keystrokes to type out. What are we doing here?

Oh so easy to have both sides of the argument when you just say I'm the one moralizing and you are not. Stop saying morals already , please

Again, ask the Ukrainians, you got got like all the literal textbook Russian talking points out there, somehow your media diet has given them to you and you refuse to believe there is another side of the story. At the very least we're both in the mud buddy.

Also generally in the scope of the world, here in America and the land of our allies I don't think it's a good practical, logistical, economical , diplomatic and yes even moral to let an autocratic dictator take over a fledgling European democracy just because he wants it and destabilize an entire region of the world and everyone food and other economic factors. Not outcome of this war achieves the justifications Putin says they want. Is it work Ukrainian lives? Again that's up to them, they can surrender and negotiate anytime they want.

There is a word for this that your position really grounds out to: appeasement. Let the dictator have 1/3 of Ukraine because he wants it and so long as he's willing to put some of his troops in harms way then he gets to have it right? Think of the children, he's just gotta be allowed to take it. Then he promises to stop. Pinky swear!

I definitely don't disagree with this as an option it's just very humorously American. Guns, that's our first answer for every problem!

"Hey Kiro, I'm finding that you really suck at generating code. Please rewrite your internal codebase so you suck less."

It's Australia, so maybe they'll just all go walkabout.

I work at a university. Even old me is aware that Discord is used quite a bit by our students. Good luck regulating THAT.

Okay Boomer.

Any folks in Australia can describe what social activities for bored teens? At least here in America we've been shutting down the stereotypical things; the malls are dead, movie theaters are expensive and dying.

My town tried to open a skate park and it became a neighborhood controversy, yard signs were erected, multiple meetings had, families were torn apart. Ok I made that one up part up but seriously, we've made the world a bit hostile for teenagers and if you're like many here as well they live in the 'burbs where you need a car to even get the things you want. Again at least in my area every year the police budget goes up and up but the things like parks and programs are begging for funds.

All that said I think this is a good thing overall but it's a good step.

Cumberbatch also portrayed Smaug and Sauron in The Hobbit films (2012-2014), Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and Dr. Strange in six Marvel movies.

Yeah, let's not mention the role that made him famous - Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock, which was pretty darn good for the first couple of seasons (before it fell off a cliff).

Next will be incredibly tight regulation on VPN access and use. Leading up to government-run vpns and a Chinese style great firewall.

This is a authoritarian power grab and once authoritarians start grabbing power they don't stop.

I don't think it's anything that can be stopped because voters are too distracted by the culture war bullshit.

The next step is to ban vpns. They will be more tightly regulated than guns.

Not that it matters because human civilization is collapsing but all this think of the children bullshit is just a power grab by authoritarians.

We can't do anything about it because we're too busy worrying about woke trans drag queens forcing us to say happy holidays while playing Mortal Kombat on the Sega Genesis.

Saying the invasion of Iraq is immortal and equating that with defending Saddam Hussein is a fucking wild jump of logic my autistic comrade.

*Why* are people dying in great pain in Ukraine? It's not a natural disaster now is it. It's a choice by a nation.

Oh that cup is still empty, stop trying to get water from it.

You should see what those people actually have to say. They say they want to fight for their homeland, they want arms, they want support. They're very clear in their position. You are also imparting your morals onto them by telling them its hopeless and lay down and take it.

Again, this is more your position than mine. Your morals line up with Russia goals and desires, mine line up with the people of Ukraine and their desires. So we're at a standstill of opposing moral positions and we can let the audience and the world decide who is right. Good luck with that.

Georgia, Chechnya, Moldova,South Ossetia

It's precisely because wants it's sphere of influence that those nations wanted to join NATO and lobbied hard for it. You think they feel unjustified in that feeling today, or from however many decades of Soviet/Russian rule over their nations? Come on guy, again this is just saying none of those nations have their own agency because of Russia's feelings.

They can desire a sphere of influence all they want that doesn't mean it exists, it only exists so far as those nations feel it does and they don't so Russia wants to enforce it with military, where they can of course, again, the Baltics are feeling pretty good about their choice right now. They have even less reason to think that today sicne Ukraine has shown Russia to be something of a paper tiger. If wasn't for those nukes we all know this war would be settled quickly.

If you're American maybe you remember that 10 months ago were were seriously wondering if the US was going to Invade Canada, this attitude says they should just lay down and take such an action because they are in the US sphere of influence. This is why this whole realist school, your Mearshimers is relevant only today because Russia props those folks up, it has little predictive power in the post-cold war world. It's propaganda now, not actual way of the world.

Yeah except it had no teeth and was broken by both parties like, immediately. Neither one of them want a stalemate, they both want victory. Why should Ukraine feel it just has to give up the Donbass? Should the US just give up Wisconsin if the Canadians come down for it?

2014 is right when Russia started hostilities though. Russia is not attacking Ukraine because they fear Ukrainian military attacks.

Taking the position Russia was antagonized is what Russia wants people to think. If that's accepted as justification then they can justify war against anybody around them.