Vrubel

Definitely not! I am a zionist in the sense that a core belief of mine is that the Jews should have their own state. Netanyahu is basically hollowing out the secular liberal Zionism that has built the country and alienating (even demonizing) the people who contribute the most to it in terms of economy and defense. He is divorcing Israel from the West and making it a predominantly religious and a more autocratic Middle Eastern state similar to Turkey. And the religious people tend to contribute less to Israel's economy and its standing in the world.

Golda Meir had to resign for the surprise attack during the Yom Kippur war but maybe times have changed. Now people are united because they are focused on war but there is a lot of hatred for Netanyahu in Israel that will bubble up after, with a new passion. There was definitely a deterioration of deterrence due to his selfish and divisive politicking. Putting himself before the country's best interest.

After this war, Netanyahu will definitely be held responsible for such a blunder and is going to face unprecedented pressured to resign. But Ironicly Israel is more integrating into the region by letting stage blue win out over orange and green. Blue people are religious and have a lot of kids so naturally in a democracy they will end up dominating. Also, I would add to the Palestine-Tibet comparison. It plays a huge role in this conflict that Palestinians are mostly stage red. Even the Israeli Arabs who have more comfortable lives constantly murder and blood-feud amongst themselves.

Thus a tragedy of history and geography

Israel and Egypt because of Hamas.

Mua... They would radicalize either way being trapped in Gaza. Even Egypt blocks them out for being so vicious. It's a tragedy of history and geography. Historically these kinds of issues were settled with ethnic cleansing. In its early days, Israel was definitely under real danger of being wiped out.

Settlements don't help and make Israel lose out on a lot of international support. But this would happen either way because they simply don't agree with Israel existing.

I won't be surprised if I wake up tomorrow and there is no Gaza anymore

Huge blunder from Israel, this is the nightmare scenario. This is Israel's 9/11. The response on Gaza might get near-genocidal. No targeted killing or "knocks on the roof" anymore, out with chivalry.

This does not apply to all women as many do have a sense of propriety. But lately, I have been dating this Latina girl, we went on two dates. Both went well, she definitely enjoyed them and felt really feminine. I paid for the first because that is what I do and enjoy. I also paid for the second because she had to go to the bathroom and just to make it smooth I paid. I don't really care that much about paying. But what really bothered me is that after the date she doesn't bother with sending a 'thank you' text, and I am always the first to engage her and in a sense to pursue her to get her on the next date. She did show some interest and agreed to meet but was stretching time. Because she was indeed a very busy engineer. But then I message her with the intent to plan our next date, and out of nowhere she says: "I haven't seen Johan in a long time so we are planning on doing something first". WTF who is Johan? (never heard of the guy) Why would you mention it like this to me? I never felt so humiliated. Obviously, she can see whoever she wants and decide to stop seeing me but why would she communicate it in such a way with zero regard for me as a person? She could have said a million other things including the same thing but in a respectful way. I replied: "I don't think you're appreciating me, I am not interested then". she replied: "ok". The fact that I paid for both dates made me feel like such a sucker. I still would not have minded paying for both dates if she had opted out but expressed some basic appreciation and respect.

I agree to a degree and Russia has a tough history and it's enormous and multicultural, (though ethnic Russians do make a comfortable majority) but on the other hand, Russians are very capable and educated people. Why is Russia the only Slavic country to be such a retard in the 21 century?

I see, noted. In my mind, I was just being respectful towards her because I feel pretty secure in my masculinity, because of that I don't feel the need to play games or "act" disinterested. Maybe it's a cultural thing because I mostly go for Eastern European women where old-fashioned gentleman behavior is more the norm. At the end of each date, she glowed so I cannot say she was creeped off.

Well, I was indeed trying to get her on a date again, do you count that as manipulation? I was mostly very plain about it, no elaborate manipulative tricks or texts. I get your point. Obviously, there was some attachment otherwise I wouldn't had such a strong emotional reaction. I always get attached to a degree in proportion to how much we met, clicked, and connected, but yeah I cared for her. I feel like such a fool. This is one of the nastiest dating stings I ever had. Again I would have felt better if it was slightly more respectful or even an old-fashioned flake. But hey, there are the worst things in life. Last week was my first time wearing a suit and I myself actually got approached by a very stylish Eastern European girl and she even asked for my number, but even she is flakey as fuck haha. Not sure if I can get her on a date.

I don't mind paying and not meeting each other again! As I said before. I always demand basic decency and respect from all humans I interact with. I am not compromising on that. I would not want to play such elaborate games with a girl. To me thats very manipulating and undignified. Again, she has every right to see other people and not see me. This is not the issue. I've got a really nasty aftertaste because of her total disrespect and disregard. I think this is the case indeed, man... I feel like such a fool. I seriously accept a lot of shit from women (flaking/indirectness/long response times) as long as they leave me within my dignity.

@NoSelfSelf I decided to pay because she was in the bathroom and I was just waiting, I didn't think much of it. I have no problem with both askin the girl to pay or paying myself. I did both in the past and never had a nasty experience like here. I have had a relatively expensive dinner date with a Ukrainian refugee woman. It was not super expensive but it was way beyond a normal date. We never really followed up but I still could have seen I gave her a good time and the support she needed and in return, she did appreciate and respect me. So it was all good. She all of a sudden dropped a random guys name and basically said I had to wait in line before she saw him again. How would you respond? For me, it felt totally unacceptable that she communicated it like this. It was not a shit test because for me there was no way I could have won. If I went along like a submissive little puppy I would have compromised severely on my integrity and that would have been very manipulative of me.

@hoodrow trillson I noticed that even on extremely toxic internet communities where people are very cynical, contrarian, racist, sexist and borderline fascist they still tend to strongly support Ukraine, really tells you something. Also weirdly wholesome.

@Emotionalmosquito Obviously, if you approach her you're attracted, (don't approach girls you're not attracted to) but approaching doesn't mean you're sold on her because hopefully, you have high standards. You want to feel the girl out first and get to know her a little, maybe she turns out to be very lame.

What is his genius worth?

@Someone here It is so clear that he is being forceful and inauthentic. This is what the newbie stage looks like, eventually you gotta develop that cool. But props to him for learning and It's very hard to open a sitting girl.

I think you're really overreaching here. Don't insult the Ukrainians fighting. Motivation is the key factor, directly defending your own land because a war is imposed upon you and you have no choice is the deepest and biggest motivation there is. Of course, without aid, they would die, anybody would. America would have died without French aid. I have been to Ukraine I saw how corrupt it was, in a sense, it was not a respectable country. To be a country you need to fight for your independence and they are doing it right now. INDEPENDENCE, to determine your own destiny. I don't think this is true at all. Sure, I believe that Putin did a lot of projection because he himself is so criminal-minded or maybe 19th-century "war is the norm"-minded. Even in Africa or South America countries don't invade each other in the 21st century. Finland just joined NATO, so what? Again you're really stretching it with these justifications, and calling Putin a genius. Maybe you can learn from Russian literature that life is raw, hard, and unromantic and that shooting yourself in the foot has been more than once the Russian way.

For some reason, this thread attracted the biggest nutjobs here haha.

"The (evil) rich elites control the economy, media and government." It is fertile ground for old-style antisemitism that is making a resurgence nowadays. When I was growing up that kind of antisemitism was viewed as utterly untrue and something from a different age. Now it seems to be making a comeback. Antisemitism has its own evolution: first people demonized Jews for being Christ-killers, then as malevolent controlling elites, Then came ww2 and the Holocaust. After which antisemitism significantly died down in the West. Then the new antisemitism became obsessing-over and hating Israel. But now we are making a comeback to the pre-WW2 era of Jews being controlling elites again. What's next hating Jews for being Christ killers again?

America did not really invest in the Ukrainian military before the 2014 Crimea takeover. Yes, funding but also motivated and capable people. In war anything can happen but for now the Russians are not going anywhere outside of their holes. Ukraine might get a good chance after they receive Western fighter jets next year. If they're not booking any success then, it will be a serious cause for concern. But I still highly disagree with the notion that this war is somehow strategically beneficial for Russia. Worst case scenario they will border a westen aligned country with democratic ideals and human rights. Some countries border with worse like South Korea and Israel.

@Leo Gura America? I'm talking little corrupt Ukraine compared to giant oil and gas-rich Russia. Before the war, I thought Russia could take on the whole of Europe. I seriously don't know about what kind of genius you're talking about. There is a list from here to Tokyo about how this war negatively affects Russia and its strategic standing in the world.

The Russian army went from second in the world to second in Ukraine, doesn't sound really strong to me. If it wasn't for nuclear weapons the West would kick the Russian's ass 19th-century Crimean war style.