The funny part is that Russia literally did it first, they occupied Poland for 123 years. Then Poland was reformed after WW1, along with Lithuania. Then of course the Russians attacked Poland 2 years after it was reformed / independent, and got their teeth kicked in so hard, they had to wait 20 years to try again and ally with Nazi Germany to succeed.
So they invaded Poland to get back at the US? Like they invaded Poland in 1920 when they got their ass handed to them by a newly sovereign country? Just like they are doing now to Ukraine?
They got plenty of answers and in return get insults from you. So people don't bother anymore, you are just one of the hundreds of tankies on this site that will completely deny truth and try to twist the narrative.
Compared to before, no, there aren't. There has been an ongoing genocide since the tsarist times, that the soviet union "finished". Thousands of people completely relocated. That's why people are "wary" of Russia - because it is a genocidal state since time immemorial.
"EU dislodging itself" would be better, but US being bogged down in Ukraine would still be good. So why would they help Ukraine in that case? Or are you suggesting we abandon Ukraine?
China is absolutely bullying the EU. Otherwise they wouldn't be supporting the greatest threat to the EU.
So "if Europe caves to the bully, joins the side that is actively supporting its enemy that invaded a sovereign country, maybe China will see a benefit and do something countrary to their interest and work towards peace in Ukraine". Have you even thought how your post sounds? If it is beneficial to keep the war in Ukraine going, why would they "switch sides"? The US would still be "bogged down" in Ukraine even if the EU started better relations with China. So either we would totally need to cut off Ukraine (in which case Russia wins) or China would magically do something that's completely stupid from their POV.
They're not here to see "more nuanced takes" nor they care about them. They are here to brigade posts, spread propaganda and make any discussion a pain. You can't even imagine how often tankies tried to tell me the history of my country is fake and they know the ultimate truth about it all, way better than the people who actually lived that history.
Kewl. If only there wasn't a country that invaded another country on our borders, that openly talks about invading even more, fucking about with our utilities and using spies, the internet and sabotage to fuck around even more.
A comfy life needs to be secured with military might, like it or not. Otherwise you get assholes in shitholes trying to forcefully take it from you. Rome knew that, the US knows that, the EU knows this (otherwise it wouldn't exist - since it is made to increase bargaining power and contains mutual defense clauses).
So until Russia stops being a militaristic shithole that invades its neighbors and starts building those schools, power plants, hospitals and highways, we need to spend taxes on military. And yes, Russia is a threat - Georgia shown us, 2014 has shown us, 2022 has shown us.
Everything is skewed, even the measured studies. Most insecure people won't go to a literal dick measuring contest. Which means even the measured ones trend "upwards" of the actual average.
I hissed at him mostly when I first got him as a foster home. He had lots of bad habits since he lived on the streets for so long. He broke those habits quickly and we have been a "hissless" home since. Sometimes we understood one another without words - he kept peeing behind a wall on the floor, I put the litterbox there and he knew what to do next.
He was so spooked initially he didn't eat for a month and hid under the sofa. What got him out was me watching a female cat that was peeking out of her carrier and meowing at the camera (almost playing peekaboo). Though to be fair, he was exploring at night - I caught him doing it next morning when I saw pawprints on a dusty shelf, like 10cm away from my head when I was sleeping. He just didn't eat anything (wetfood, egg yolk, dry food) which is scary when a cat does that, they need to eat each day or they get liver issues. Pheromones weren't working. Vet said he needs exposure therapy which meant back to a cage with him. Spent hours sitting next to him watching either bird videos or some series / cartoons I was watching at the time. He still runs at the slightest rustle but he has chilled out immensly, became a complete and utter lapcat, and knows how to use voice buttons to say what he needs. My latest trick with him is asking him to turn off the lights. There are two outcomes, either he goes and turns them off, or he gets up, presses the "no" button and goes back to sleep / whatever he was doing. Both outcomes are hilarious obviously
People being brutal, people crying over critique isn't "just how art goes", and isn't a universal experience. I would actually call it "abuse" instead.
Gaza gets destroyed regularly since 1947. They always rebuild.