" The Gulag system ended definitively six years later on 25 January 1960, when the remains of the administration were dissolved by Khrushchev. The legal practice of sentencing convicts to penal labor, though restrained, was not fully abolished and continues to this day, although to a far more limited capacity."
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No, thanks. Donāt need to hear āBut da slaveryā from 10 posters in response.
Ukraine has no real impact on us. It affects Europe, which makes me think itās their problem. Yet Europe seems very casual about the whole thing.
Taiwan is a very different story. Decades long treaties, the entirety of east Asia embroiled in war and most importantly a very lucrative supply chain choke point. The last one is easily solved by simply make our own shit again. Taiwan matters to everybody. Yet for some reason the american left will pillory you for daring to suggest Taiwan is even a country. But we will go to war to defend them, left and right. Common sense is unfortunately very uncommon.
I wanted to point out the absurdity of comparing any Western country with a dictatorship that is Russia.
For example, at todayās televised trial of Navalny, the star witness for the prosecution refused to testify, claiming to have been forced to do so he conveniently disappeared after a break and another witness appeared whose qualifications according to his own testimony are that he hates Navalny and that a friend of his father-in-law was somehow wronged by the defendant.
Thatās Stalinism in the digital era.
Of course they still have them. Did you seriously believe that the archipelago was dismantled?
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Putin is testing Biden and the rest of the world for weakness and China is paying close attention to this as they want to go into Taiwan, North Korea may then decide to go into South Korea
Biden has proven once again that he is the most incompetent President the USA has ever had
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You donāt have to agree. NATO is a cold war relic. Itās purpose was to protect against the USSR which does not exist. Ukraine is not in NATO and wonāt be in NATO for the foreseeable future regardless of Russia. We have no allegiance to Ukraine save for the presidentās dirty laundry resides there. So an attack on Ukraine is an attack on Ukraine. We have no treaties. We have a U.S. Ukraine Charter, which relies on them being a democracy, which they are not. (Neither are we, but I digress) And this charter is a whopping 5 months old. Hardly a long indebted friendship.
Even if they were planning on invading Germany, I still expect Europe to put up the lionās share of the defense as itās their territory under threat. And Europe seems utterly unconcerned. Where is their military? The US is not and should not be Europeās first line of defense. If Europe has dedicated anything resembling a military stand up, itās well buried, I cannot find it. The only call ups are US, Ukrainian and Russian.
The thing nobody discusses is what do the Ukrainian people want? Perhaps a bit of polling or a vote from the people might be a good indication. And nobody seems to care what the Ukrainian people want. It seems what the Ukrainianās want is irrelevant to this whole thing. Thatās one of many issues I have with this whole thing.
Two for yea:
Survey says! I have no idea. Glean what you want if you believe any of these sources.
https://www.npr.org/2017/06/24/534207470/many-in-eastern-ukraine-want-to-join-russia
One against:
https://theglobalobservatory.org/2014/06/what-do-ukrainians-want/
I would like to see a vote. Say if 60% of Ukrainians want to be a part of Russia or a satellite of Russia, give them what they want.
I quite frankly do not trust any of these sources for obvious reasons. An official vote, with oversight and all that, maybe gives us a better indication.
Hell, Russia has the biggest prize already in Crimea and we didnāt care then, whatās different now? Burisma, right.
We are involved because we are dependent on russia for oil, thanks to Biden for destroying our energy dependence
Germany is also dependent on russia supplying oil due to Merkle eliminating nuclear energy
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And biden is failing that test, along with any cognitive test he will never take and probably not a drug test either. I reckon Putin is as confused as we are. I sure cannot understand what the fuck he says.
I think biden said that if russia steps a toe over this ever changing line, he is going to have his granny put a dead dog in his front yard. Or heās really going to bring the ātruinabidabadpressureā ā whatever that means, I am sure heās serious.
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When Putin dies itās gonna be one hell of a succession fight. Everyone in his inner circle is pushing seventy.
Saw him on a horse without a shirtā¦he is not dying anytime soon, lol
The grim reaper will show up to take him and come down with Novichok poisoning.
Yes, territorial fragmentation. Iām all for it now.
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We also became a bully and interloper in the process.
America is no longer a nation but rather an economic zone, and a violent and unmanageable one at that.
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Did someone mention slavery when you were talking about something else and you didnāt even mention slavery? Thatās a typical emotional-black-mail conversation strategy.
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Not in this conversation, but itās brought up anytime secession is discussed.
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And if we stop, another nation will become that bully and interloper (aka china). Itās extremely profitable to be so. You and your family will likely be poorer for it (we as a country certainly will be), and we as a country will face a much more realistic military threat to the homeland.
It is naive (though possibly altruistic) to think we can be isolationist and not suffer large economic and security related impacts.
As an american, i take pride in being unmanageable. 
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Being unmanageable is sort of the basis for our entire system. Gridlock should be the norm. Comedians telling good jokes about the people in power should be the norm.
The vast number of firearms already dispersed among our population should be cause enough for everyone in the USA to assume that any random person they are interacting with is likely armed with a gun. I realize this may upset some people who wish it wasnāt so, but I think the assumption that the other person can kill you forms a good foundation for a respectful dialogue when making first impressions.
This isnāt a very good situation compared to a world where violence doesnāt exist, but it still beats a state monopoly on violence in my humble opinion.
Edit: Iām sorry for derailing this thread to a tangent about 'merica and guns. We should stay on-topic, if this is to be our thread about this developing situation.
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Right, but thatās not what I was talking about.
I have a gun. And if I could, Iād get and carry other weapons that are outlawed in New York.
I highly doubt youāre an anti-social, impulsive, predatory, corrupt person. So thatās not what I was referring to.
If youāre implying you are a rugged individualist, log-cabin libertarian, or one who reasonably questions authority, thatās not bad per se, but Iāve routinely said that unbridled individualism is just one reason why i think America is terminally ill.
Perhaps youāll respond, and I donāt say any of this to insult anyone. I donāt want to derail the thread further, but I am not fond of interfering with other countries while the center cannot hold here. A war with Russia will be terrible anyway.