Isaac

Talking of Goebbels... It's fascinating how native the suite of propaganda techniques have become... Dehumanise your opposition, choose to repeat your...

I'm sure they can. My question was what mechanism ensured they actually did. I see. So what is it that entitles someone to adequate healthcare, educat...

We could let them sure, but what compels them? Or are you suggesting we leave it up to chance? If not, talk me through the mechanism which ensures eve...

How?

I see. So the proof that Russia made a massive tactical error is that they wouldn't be so stupid as to make a massive tactical error.

Why dumb? What events are so incompatible with that narrative as to render it dumb. Your alternative might be equally plausible. You might even render...

No, neither am I, but I don't have any trustworthy expert views either way, so the only way forward, it seems is to argue the hypothetical - if Russia...

Is a psychological analysis of the factors clouding our judgments really a route you want to go down? Happy to, but it cuts both ways. You seem to be ...

Slightly different, I agree, but not a difference which automatically then constitute a demonstration of the theory. Astore is describing a military w...

Your assessment seems corroborated by those from within the military too William J. Astore - military professor U.S. Air Force Academy says... Trouble...

So the US military, DoD, and government are a collection of honest, open individuals working toward collective goals? I don't buy it. The US has manag...

These are the two narratives I can't seem to square. Putin has been in power for a long time. Against the wishes of the population (otherwise there'd ...

My understanding of this war is that Putin, an opportunistic kleptocrat, saw an opportunity, in the machinations of US imperialism, to consolidate his...

That's bullshit. Were fucking selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. We've dealt with the most ruthless despots when it suits us. And there'd be a de facto ...

Again, if you're publishing this information on a free internet forum, then presumably it's in the public domain. Do Russian generals not have interne...

So 'empire-building on a budget', that's the narrative you're going with? Putin's prepared to make the entire country an international pariah, run it ...

Then from whom, with whom and by whose permit was such a catastrophe of a state created. You guys really need to get your Putin story straight. A minu...

But this isn't about Putin, it's about basic military strategy and procurement. Do you seriously think Putin is directly in charge of what tanks to bu...

Ah, that generalised Russian uselessness we hear so much about. An entire nation just generally a bit crap. A far more plausible explanation for Putin...

You'll have to fill in a few blanks for me. The theory is that an almost complete autocrat obsessed with expanding his empire has, nevertheless, knowi...

So what, he's going to do so by stealth? Steal Latvia while they're all out?

So you're not on board with the idea that Putin is ideologically committed to expanding the Russian empire militarily?

That's not your claim though is it? Your claim was that they packed too much, not that they made an informed decision about the trade off between pros...

Nothing whatsoever I should think... https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/13/oil-gas-producers-first-quarter-2022-profits Do you see any reas...

Interesting. So, if you know this, and you're not committing treason by openly saying it on the internet, then how is it that Russian generals don't k...

Fucks sake man. You complain about strawmanning then you go ahead and treat... ...as... Come on! Nowhere in the argument laid out is there even the sl...

The place will be empty by next Thursday. All 145 million of them citing the fact that they suddenly realised that killing innocent people is bad. Mos...

Of course I wouldn't dream of doing any actual factual analysis about war crimes before the most important matters are dealt with. I'd get straight on...

Wow. According to my back of the envelope calculations; with a 1% margin of error, to 99% confidence you'd need a sample of 15556 to be able to make s...

It's not often used that way, but in terms of 'capacity' it's largely to do with the retention and repetition of relevant data rather then the outcome...

I think this is right, but there might be limits. There's nothing algorithmic about the phrase "put the kettle on" which somehow forces my brain to un...

...and then? Ukraine continues to win back territory as it has been doing, rebutting Russian advances as it has been. Go on with your story...What doe...

To be fair to @"boethius", the question he was answering was a request for... ...not necessarily a wholesale agreement with such an assessment. The po...

No one has presented any arguments to the contrary. There's nothing to say. What is this obsession with having every thought committed to social media...

Oh, and just for @"Jamal" here's the report about Zelensky's prisoner release in Ukrainian (linked to directly as a source in the Grayzone article, bu...

That wasn't what I asked. I asked about your derogatory use of the term 'Putinists'. Does it apply to Gabuev when he concludes that the protests are t...

Ha! Yes. Lucky for those fluent Russian speakers we have here that the issue of the day is to do with Russia. I wondered why there was so little talk ...

Unlike your good self, I don't feel the need to use discussion forums just to tell the world how I feel about things. If someone wants to put forward ...

What a bizarre critique. Does your source go on to say why Centrists know more Russian? Is it just Russian? Do leftists know more Swahili than Centris...

So you'd include Gabuev as a Putinist then? Interesting assessment... ...or is it only Putinist when we say it?

There's no need for the scares quotes, they are literally anecdotal videos. Do you think Gabuev is wrong then, when he says... ...?

Interesting article. Fairly typical of the western response trying to tie itself in knots. So... Phew! Incompetent, stupid Russians can just be left t...

I found it. It's Wikipedia, for evidence citing a Times article about the BBC pursuit of Tim Hayward (who cited Grayzone). A pursuit for which they la...

Ha! Thought you'd like that one (of course the news was reported in major British newspapers like the Telegraph too, but the Grayzone version's more p...

Uh huh. Whereas this... https://thegrayzone.com/2022/07/30/zelensky-militants-convicted-child-rape-torture-military/ ...is presumably a genius move fr...

That's not depressing, it's brilliant. You've discovered the attractor of philosophical discourse.

I see. I'm struggling to see the moral imperative for a non-owner to have no input deciding where the profits are allocated. Is there some harm you fo...

Yes, let's see... ...oh well, maybe later, eh?

I agree. I think this is where relevant expertise comes in - not that 'relevance' isn't a judgement in itself, but this comes down to what you say her...

Thanks. One of the aspects of psychology I'm interested in is how people make judgments like that, particularly ones which seem to inform beliefs. I t...