woolley 19,198 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 1 hour ago, Max Power said: A lot of them wish they'd put the wall back up! The Eastern bloc certainly insulated Western Europe from a lot of inconvenient reality, that's for sure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the stinking enigma 11,207 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 The US owns the Ukraine, Poland and many other countries in that region. I'd say western europe is far more insulated in that sense, well, as insulated as any buffer zone can be anyway. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pongo 4,407 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 18 minutes ago, the stinking enigma said: The US owns the Ukraine, Poland and many other countries in that region. I'd say western europe is far more insulated in that sense, well, as insulated as any buffer zone can be anyway. The idea of a "buffer zone" in Europe is peculiarly Russian. In many ways it predates even Soviet thinking. It's partly, at least, to do with them having such a long border. The Soviets, especially, developed this into the bogus idea of "spheres of influence" which more or less caused the cold-war. It's one of the reasons why the Putin Kremlin is so anti EU and Nato - and why they are so much about failed 19th Century ideas of the "nation state". And why they support "nation-staters". They would rather have a border with lots of little countries. It's because they are still essentially on a war footing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dilligaf 9,415 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 5 hours ago, Declan said: That would be an absurdity. There's a clear distinction between removing a statue meant to glorify and honour an individual and tearing down a building that is still in use. But then that's what people have been doing throughout this discussion. Taking a reasonable argument like removing slave owners statues and saying that's the same as razing Liverpool to the ground ... then producing a absurd example that isn't the same. People say George Floyd shouldn't have been killed and you say "what about..." and name some unrelated death; people say "you shouldn't say coloured" and you say "ahh what about people of colour". People say "the protest yesterday was peaceful" and people say "what about social distancing" so they say "we were socially distanced" and it's "what about people who can't go to funerals". It's like people want to kill off anti-racist action by a thousand nitpicks and whatabouts. Who would want to do that? So just how old are you ? You sound like student. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
the stinking enigma 11,207 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 8 minutes ago, pongo said: The idea of a "buffer zone" in Europe is peculiarly Russian. In many ways it predates even Soviet thinking. It's partly, at least, to do with them having such a long border. The Soviets, especially, developed this into the bogus idea of "spheres of influence" which more or less caused the cold-war. It's one of the reasons why the Putin Kremlin is so anti EU and Nato - and why they are so much about failed 19th Century ideas of the "nation state". And why they support "nation-staters". They would rather have a border with lots of little countries. It's because they are still essentially on a war footing. I dont see the Putin Kremlin as being anti EU. Quite the opposite in fact. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Neil Down 7,973 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 8 minutes ago, dilligaf said: So just how old are you ? You sound like student. Not a very intelligent student either 1 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pongo 4,407 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, the stinking enigma said: I dont see the Putin Kremlin as being anti EU. Quite the opposite in fact. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they choose to align themselves with anything which undermines unity and the status quo in the countries which they border. Which over the past decade or more has been about funding populist propoganda, social media trolling etc. Today they back anti status quo populists - in a very similar way to how, in another era, the USSR attempted to co-opt the populist left. It's strategic and unsubtle but it works. Edited June 10, 2020 by pongo 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SJR 303 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 15 minutes ago, Neil Down said: Not a very intelligent student either Declan is the forum idiot and on a minimum wage but who would employ him.Apparently worked for an egaming company.Until the floors needed a proper clean and it the contract was given to a Polish Company.. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Holte End 616 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 25 minutes ago, the stinking enigma said: I dont see the Putin Kremlin as being anti EU. Quite the opposite in fact. Not according to the EU they stopped communism. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WTF 5,988 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 2 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quilp 10,609 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 Is it ok to laugh at that..? 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cHarlie Grant 3 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 19 minutes ago, quilp said: Is it ok to laugh at that..? Yes, I think so.....hope so, cause I'm killing myself here. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheTeapot 9,909 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 27 minutes ago, quilp said: Is it ok to laugh at that..? You've got to laugh at something, lots of people seem to have forgotten how. 3 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Newbie 855 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 45 minutes ago, SJR said: Declan is the forum idiot and on a minimum wage but who would employ him.Apparently worked for an egaming company.Until the floors needed a proper clean and it the contract was given to a Polish Company.. That’s unfair. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheTeapot 9,909 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 Its also untrue, Declan is sound, although he doesn't need me to defend him. 2 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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