Lovren's Lounge - The Off-Topic Chat Thread

Oh boy.

 

You underestimate Putin's psychology there. He doesn't scare. That's the whole point with him. It's all about who has the bigger willy in his mind.

 

It would be in Israel's interest to help build up the infrastructure and develop essential services in Gaza rather than keeping it in a perpetual state of siege and on the verge of economic collapse. People would be less willing to antagonise a regional power if they actually have something to lose. When nearly 40% of 18-24 year olds are unemployed, in their eyes, what have they got to lose?

 

He hates the fact the old Soviet Union, as a superpower, was broken up in the way it was. He'll do what he can to try and rebuild something along those lines, by hook, crook, or missile. The man has a megolamaniacy and ego that utterly dwarfs the likes of our own ex-Chairman, and it's all centred around being "a MAN" and looking all powerful and strong.

 

I don't suppose sticking a sniper on a hillside in Crimea to take Putin's head off would be a solution to everything?

 

Well Dutch TV are speculating that this missile was trying to take down Putin's jet that was flying nearby, though that sounds a little fanciful.

The trouble is as well, he knows full well that he can go and get away with things like what he's been up to in Ukraine, as nobody will stand up to him - the stakes are just too high.

 

He must love the strength of the current German leadership then! (Although she may have a bigger willy than him)

 

Just had a great night out in some anonymous New York town. But devastated by the airline news. Night all.

 

I'm not even sure that it's about building Russia back to its standing to a dominant power so much as the struggle to keep it relevant enough to keep himself in power. Russia is tremendously nationalistic, and Putin has done well casting himself as the defender of that pride against the West's attempts to tear it down. He may be an egomaniac, but most of this seems more like the actions of a desperate man to me...Sochi was to be a sort of restorative, a shining example of Russian can-do and nationalist pride, and instead turned into a source of mockery inside and outside Russia. Beyond the usual pressure from reformists, the hardline nationalists in Russia have been agitating for him to show a bit of mettle in the face of EU 'encroachment'; he had to act in Ukraine or he'd swiftly lose credibility with the people propping him up. But it would rather much appear that he miscalculated the way this would play out...even before this ghastly incident, he had scared off a tonne of foreign investment, sending their economy into a tailspin in the process, and the boost in popularity was fading. But by the time they started arming 'militias', it'd already spiraled out of his control; geopolitics ain't as easy as wrestling tranquilized bears.

That originated with Russia Today, the Kremlin's mouthpiece. They stated that it was because the jet looked like Putin's...how exactly one can see the plane's livery at 30,000 feet, I don't know.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about Russia; they can't afford a full-blown war, and though they're a pretty massive power in terms of the size of their military, their opposition would be even bigger, better organised, and in a better economic position to take the massive financial blow that wartime always brings. They know they can **** with Ukraine because they don't have as close of an alliance with the EU (yet) and the US, but so much as lay a finger on Finland or Poland or Lithuania and they'll very quickly be retreating when practically the whole of the western world is on their asses. I doubt they'd even be able to take on these four alone, let alone the rest.

As for what we should be doing right now - we should be steadily moving our trade elsewhere and reducing our reliance on Russian energy. It's a pretty massive problem how much we rely on trade with Russia.

 

Yes, but the trouble is, should something like that happen, you press the big red button and nobody wins that war......

A lot of truth in what you're saying there Schad I'm quite sure.

 

I don't think any big red button pressing will ever happen. Humanity has been backing out of the nuclear era for some time, and we much prefer a more sneaky kind of warfare with drones and hacking and stuff, going right for the heart of the enemy rather than just going for massive collateral damage.

 

Sky Sports News masturbating over Harry Redknapp again, even discussing the fact he is just buying a cup of tea. Wow.

 

Two Newcastle United fans traveling to New Zealand to watch their pre-season tour there are amongst the victims in the Ukraine plane crash yesterday. Awful news

 

For me the Malaysian Airline bosses need to get skinned for this as well. While it was flying at a technically safe altitude who on earth would fly over an active war zone were both sides have advanced anti aircraft capability?

Ukraine is a large country but not so large or strategically placed that it couldn't be avoided relatively easily and in light of the recent plane disappearance you would've thought Malaysian Airlines would have wanted to go to extreme measures to repair its safety record.

 

That's a bit harsh, for two reasons...

1) Many other airlines were taking the same flightpath. Look at the amount of airlines who have had to come out and say that they're altering their flightpaths away from eastern Ukraine. Even yesterday, flight tracker websites were noting delays with flights which had been rerouted mid-flight in the hours following the crash.

2) We still don't know what happened with MH370. Unless you've got some information which no one else knows, I wouldn't be throwing the blame at Malaysian Airlines right now. Admittedly they could've handled the aftermath better, but as for the incident itself, there's still no information on that.

 

1) Most flights have avoided the area since the start. Admittedly not all and i think that's something the airlines should be forced to tell you before purchasing a ticket as it would probably persuade a few people to go elsewhere

Area flight map

2) I wasn't blaming them for the incident however an incident did occur and you would've thought that the board/bosses would've wanted to repair the company's tarnished image (no matter who's at fault for it.)

 

Was that flight map from before the incident yesterday?

 

How many Russian nukes do you think are actually in working order anyways?

 

Can't remember how long their lifespan is, but I think the Cold War ones might not be past their use-by date yet.