Vladimir Putin 'spits in Trump's face'

[andy06shake]

You understand the rules of the game!

If it's the great game.

I don't think there are rules anymore.

The goalposts move around that freely.

No matter how hard you try to aim for them.

You never know where you'll end up scoring.

Or if scoring even counts.

Written rules change, social rules drift, and the personal ones just get rewritten by circumstance.

[chr0naut]

I was hoping Trump would be more productive in getting Putin to the table, but I don't think Putin is interested. He just wants to make Trump believe he willing to negotiate.

Trump clearly has no skin in the game at all.

The only reason he is in the press are appeals to his own in-vanity.

It's like Dr Evil has a weird bald cat, but you'd never think it was part of any negotiations.

[UltraBudgie]

It's like Dr Evil has a weird bald cat, but you'd never think it was part of any negotiations.

I am both proud and aghast that I immediately knew you were referring to Mr Bigglesworth, of course:



I think he knows more than he lets on. Just look at that puss!

[Maxmars]

If it's the great game.

I don't think there are rules anymore.

The goalposts move around that freely.

No matter how hard you try to aim for them.

You never know where you'll end up scoring.

Or if scoring even counts.

Written rules change, social rules drift, and the personal ones just get rewritten by circumstance.

Regarding today*...

The game appears to be....

"Pour hatred upon the national "face-men."
"Inflame points of contention"... not dispassionately, but morally.
Offer opinion as reporting.

What goalpost?  Can anyone actually "see" a goalpost anywhere...
they've erected thousands of duplicate goal posts... and they are 'selling' each one... great marketing.

The score is always the same... "you lose."
... but they always claim they have a "solution," don't they?

The game I think more pertinently is 'if you can't attack and destroy the messenger... clip the message with something else... "object endlessly" and "never let your angle dissipate."  

This translates into "keep referring to the same nuance," (as if it ruled the argument in the first place)
... over and over and over...

[andy06shake]

Regarding today*...

The game appears to be....

"Pour hatred upon the national "face-men."
"Inflame points of contention"... not dispassionately, but morally.
Offer opinion as reporting.

What goalpost?  Can anyone actually "see" a goalpost anywhere...
they've erected thousands of duplicate goal posts... and they are 'selling' each one... great marketing.

The score is always the same... "you lose."
... but they always claim they have a "solution," don't they?

The game I think more pertinently is 'if you can't attack and destroy the messenger... clip the message with something else... "object endlessly" and "never let your angle dissipate."  

This translates into "keep referring to the same nuance," (as if it ruled the argument in the first place)
... over and over and over...

Peace seems to be a goalpost that keeps being moved around.

I think we would all like to see that goalpost miraculously materialise at somepoint on the horizon. 

But we can't have peace while one party is still using force to impose terms.  

As to nuance, well, when everyone seems to be recycled, is it any wonder the signal gets clipped by noise?

[UltraBudgie]

* Please ignore unless dangling footnotes bother you too.

[Maxmars]

* Please ignore unless dangling footnotes bother you too.

I was wondering if anyone would notice! 

* - Today consists of what punctuates the news cycle.

[UltraBudgie]

I was wondering if anyone would notice! 

* - Today consists of what punctuates the news cycle.

For a moment I thought it might be a sly trick to make us read your post twice, but then I realized that it's probably just me that would work on.

[Kurokage]

Russia should not have invaded, but I see it from their side that they were trying to stop the genocide of populations by Ukraine's own government, and also they were responding to Western meddling.  So if you keep thinking I am giving Russia a free pass for invasion you are mistaken, I am merely trying to see it from both sides. Which you seem unable or unwilling to do.  Fini.  

As if in response to this thread, I read this news today.
THE HAGUE recognises Russia's claim of Ukraine's genocide, as admissible in Court:
https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/fi...-00-en.pdf

... the Applicant requests the Court to “[a]djudge and declare that there is no credible evidence that Ukraine is responsible for committing genocide in violation of the Genocide Convention in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine”, and that the submission in question was admissible

I agree, any serious claims of genocide should be investigated, and this is the Hague agreeing to do so, but it's not any admission of Ukraine being guilty.
Add to that Russia was sending weapons and fighters to Ukraine long before they invaded or took Crimea, adding to the unrest in eastern Ukraine. 
https://military-history.fandom.com/wiki...93present)

In November 2014, the Ukrainian military reported intensive movement of troops and equipment from Russia into the separatist controlled parts of eastern Ukraine.[sup][74][/sup] The Associated Press reported 80 unmarked military vehicles on the move in rebel-controlled areas.[sup][75][/sup] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission observed convoys of heavy weapons and tanks in DPR-controlled territory without insignia.[sup][76][/sup] OSCE monitors further stated they observed vehicles transporting ammunition and soldiers' dead bodies crossing the Russian-Ukrainian border under the guise of humanitarian aid convoys.[sup][77][/sup] As of early August 2015, OSCE observed over 21 such vehicles marked with the Russian military code for soldiers killed in action.[sup][78][/sup] According to The Moscow Times, Russia has tried to intimidate and silence human rights workers discussing Russian soldiers' deaths in the conflict.[sup][79][/sup] OSCE repeatedly reported that its observers were denied access to the areas controlled by "combined Russian-separatist forces".[sup][80][/sup]

[Kurokage]

 For a moment you had me going... I thought I might have completely misspoken...

People are vested emotionally...

I keep reminding myself that this is like being neighbors with a fighting couple.

I don't want to know their lives, or endure their collective "dealing with it" crap...

I just want them to stop fighting.  It is a disturbance.

Problematically, the media thrives on turning every problem into a "show."
Enter 'fans of either side' to ensure that no one can ever be certain that they have the whole story.

It hearkens us to a different centuries-old antagonism... that seemingly won't be 'resolved.'
It's one of media's favorites... employs thousands to "comment" for them.
But I don't directly mention it, cause I really don't want to 'dance that dance.'

Sometimes you seem to comment without actually really commenting?? You remind me a little of Master Po!
The lines I've emboldened are fairly accurate though.

If you don't understand the couples issues and just bang on the wall to shut them up, then you're just adding to the noise, and it will just keep happening. Sometimes its the neighbours intervention that fixes the problem. They see an abusive partner and report it for example.