The Russians are Coming, the Russians are...oh, they're here...

[MrFanti]

Ukraine: Is Europe starting to change its strategy?

https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-is-eur...egy/a-68188384

[Stavros]

Ukraine: Is Europe starting to change its strategy?

https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-is-eur...egy/a-68188384

Here in the UK it has been pointed out that defence spending has been cut from around 5% to 2% of GDP. If there is an incoming Labour Govt or Coalition later this year, I would expect defence spending to rise, as Labour since the 1960s was seen as weak on defence, albeit of a nuclear aspect during the Cold War. Recruitment into the armed forces is down, but the other problem is that those having joined up don't stay to make it a life long career, so it may be that in the defence budget provisions are made for more perks for armed forces with regard to low cost accommodation.

But part of this is a manufactured fear by those supporting the broader arms business, given that the Ukraine project has exposed a critical weakness in Russia's armed forces which may be attempting to rebuild but is draining financial resources, much as it did under Brezhnev in the 1970s until it was laid waste in Afghanistan and led to regime change, mostly though death, in the Kremlin.

As NATO expands, so one assumes pressure will rise to meet the staple budget contribution, but in realistic terms, if Russia were to meddle in Finland, the Baltics or even Poland, it would be out of desperation. That doesn't mean we should not be too worried about Russian aggression, but place it in a context where at the moment, Russia is failing on every front.

[Stavros]

Tucker Carlson's special pleading merely shows how out of touch he is. Putin has never been shy about declaring what his aims are in Ukraine, the speeches he has made are all widely available on the internet. The same goes for Americans who want to know what it happening in the Ukraine, the only caveat being that by now there is a lot of stuff to get through.

What Carlson seems to me to be doing is trying to create the same alternative narrative that he has been doing on domestic politics in the US. Or is he going to visit Bucha or Mariupol and ask the people there, or any survivors, what happened and who did it? Are the armed forces of Ukraine Saints? I doubt it, but if Carlson is really interested in the truth, he needs to do more than bend the knee to a man like Putin.

Tucker Carlson interviews Putin in Moscow after years of anti-Ukraine vitriol | The Independent

[filghy2]

Latest outrageous statement from Trump
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO member country that doesn’t meet spending guidelines on defense in a stunning admission he would not abide by the collective-defense clause at the heart of the alliance if reelected.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...n-t-pay-enough

[Stavros]

Classic Trump:

"“One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, ‘Well sir, if we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us?’ I said, ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ He said, ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want,” Trump said.“You gotta pay. You gotta pay your bills,” he added."
Trump Says He Might 'Encourage' Russia To Attack NATO Allies (yahoo.com)

From a man who never pays his bills but gets other people to do it for him.

Who laundered money for the Russian mafia in his New Jersey Casinos, and formed a business relationship with convicted racketeer and Russian Mafioso, Felix Sater?

Is the Republican Party now an adjunct of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union -which is Putin's Russia in all but name?

[filghy2]

Echoing credulous leftist visitors to the old Soviet Union, Putin's useful idiot Tucker Carlson has concluded that Russians are much better off than Americans, based on a visit to a ritzy grocery store and subway station in central Moscow.
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other...ayal-of-russia

If he believes this, why doesn't he emigrate?

[Stavros]

Your link is dead, but this one should work

Tucker Carlson Says Trip to Russian Grocery Store Has 'Radicalized' Him Against US Leaders: 'Legitimately Angry' - TheWrap

The man is an idiot. How much does he think Russians get paid? Not the same as Americans. I even wonder if he has ever gone grocery shopping in his own country.
If Carlson did move to Russia, either he would be a protected species with a nice apartment, a cleaner, a chauffeur and crucially the amusement of the Govt-or, if he lived like a local, would be on the next plane out of there.

[filghy2]

According to this source the average income in Russia, adjusted for purchasing power, is only one-third of the average income in the USA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispos..._capita_income

His comment about crime was also clueless. Russia has an even higher murder rate than the USA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._homicide_rate

[Stavros]

The other thing I meant to say is that Carlson estimated the bill for his groceries in the US would be around $400 and that this was to him the average weekly spend -but is it? I could not see precisely what he was buying -there was a loaf of bread, some cooked meats and what looked like packets of vegetables and so on, so I don't know.

This site says the average US family spends $270 a week, with children $331-
How much do Americans spend on groceries each week? See chart (usatoday.com)

But note that these figures vary depending on the location, eg the State as some States are more expensive than others, but it is still much less than $400 a week.

This site claims the average weekly spend for a family of 3 in the UK is £102-
Average UK Household Cost of Food 2023 | NimbleFins

Again this must vary, and, for example, does it include alcohol, takeaways and so on?

[filghy2]

I'm sure Carlson lives in an upscale neighbourhood and, if he does his own shopping at all it would be at an expensive local shop.

According to this site, the average cost of living in the USA is 2.5 times the cost in Russia, and the cost of groceries is about 2.9 times. As anyone who has travelled should know, costs are lowest in the poorest countries.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/co...ing-by-country

Anyway, there are more important things than the cost of living. I wonder what Carlson and the other Putin apologists will have to say about Navalny's death.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/02/16/e...ntl/index.html