The War in Europe

It feels unfair that there's such a pile on, but what other response is there to so much error and misconception? You mention YouTube far less than you used to, but my guess is that that's because you now realize in what low regard they are held. But you still mention YouTube videos occasionally, and my bet is that it's mostly self-proclaimed YouTube experts driving all your crazy messages. Different people would phrase it differently, but without getting into the details of all that Trump's done since first announcing for president in 2015, what can one say about anyone who lived through those years and still voted for him? Others have already corrected you on this, so I'll approach it a little differently. Do you know what the largest country in Europe is? Russia (just the portion in Europe all by itself). Do you know what the second largest is? Ukraine. Third is France, though it's second if you include its overseas territories left over from its colonial empire. Trump's history and flaws strongly suggest the inadvisability of taking Trump at his word. Do you have any reasons for believing otherwise? Why do you think we need to assume this? Doesn't Trump's history suggest that he will pursue those avenues most advantageous to him? Since two impeachments were ineffective at holding Trump's "feet to the fire," and since all branches of government are now under Republican control with a significant MAGA influence, how would you propose this be done? Finally, a rational statement. I think you might be the first person in this thread besides me to acknowledge this, but I've been saying it for nearly two years.--Percy

Trump is showing what he thinks of peace in Gaza by threatening Hamas with ALL HELL TO PAY unless they release the hostages. So, upping the conflict instead of ending it.How he intends to arrange that without sending US forces in remains to be seen. If he’s bluffing I think it will not go well for him, because I don’t see Hamas caving. BBC

Is this a response to Phat's comment that Trump "wants to stop wars rather than accelerate them"?--Percy

I already responded that so I decided to reply to the most recent message in the subthread with the new information.

I wonder if outrage is fueling your error barrage. An article in today's Washington Post suggests this is the case: Outraged? You’re more likely to share misinformation, study finds.Outrage also causes the release of dopamine, which explains your addiction to content that produces outrage. Then you come here to spread the misinformation. Some excerpts from the article:

Washington Post:

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As foreign disinformation flourishes, a study finds outrage is key to its spread.
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The report comes on the heels of academic research that identifies outrage as key to the spread of online falsehoods.
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Combining laboratory experiments on users with data from Facebook and Twitter in the United States in 2017 and 2021, researchers at Northwestern, Princeton, Yale and St. John’s University found that when social media users encounter content that outrages them, they become more likely to share it without reading it, let alone taking steps to verify its accuracy. They further found that content from low-quality information sources, including fake and hyperpartisan news sites, tends to be more outrage-inducing than content from trustworthy sources.

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Together, those findings suggest that purveyors of propaganda and disinformation are exploiting people’s outrage to spread lies, a dynamic that social networks’ engagement-based algorithms tend to amplify.

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Summarizing, by presenting propaganda and disinformation in ways that provoke outrage, purveyors increase the likelihood that it will be amplified in social media. For example, you're outraged by fiat currencies, by the deficits, by the BRIC countries, by the impending demise of the dollar, and by our support for Ukraine to continue the war, yet almost everything you say to support your positions is erroneous.Providing you correct information doesn't help. You ignore it, don't respond, then make the same exact errors a week or two later.Accurate information is frequently boring. Misinformation is much more exciting. By the way, the lady across the hall from you? She may seem quiet and harmless, but in reality she posts on social media about, among other things, Haitian migrants continuing to eat pets in Springfield, Ohio.--Percy

Following your link.
Trump appears to threaten Hamas with 'all hell to pay' over hostages, I found no direct quote. What I did find was this:

BBC:

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Without mentioning Hamas by name, Trump posted online the same day: "Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America."

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In my mind, this quote appears more likely to threaten Iran directly rather than the ragtag remnants of Hamas. GAZA already has suffered Hell. What more can be done there? If you cut off a weed at the surface, the weed regrows. If you take out the weed at its roots, the problem is solved.Iran is the problem. Only the United States can destroy the underground nuclear bunkers. Only the United States can end the sponsorship of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in one fell swoop, securing Saudi Arabia, ending any capacity for Israels enemies to do any more harm to them, and giving the weary IDF a rest. Or would you prefer that the UN and the International Court of Justice in the heart of Social Democratic Europe solve the problem?

First, I will address your statement. I am not "outraged" by fiat currencies. That would be as bad as King Lear raging against the wind! I am outraged by deficit spending, which in my opinion weakens the chief fiat currency, the global reserve currency, the US dollar. I am NOT outraged by the BRICS alliance. I am outraged that US hubris in regard to social democracy does not see the alliance as a threat to US hegemony.I am NOT outraged that we support Ukraine. I AM outraged that we support Europe and view Ukrainians as a simple buffer against Vladimir Putin. Do you know how many Ukrainians have died? (Nevermind how many Russians)Earlier, you quoted me. "The sanctions against Russia are not working". In tying all of this together, my point in that war is that you can't beat Russia. For better or worse, you can beat Iran, quickly and without loads of casualties. If you can end the war in Ukraine through diplomacy and spend money to rebuild Ukraine and Gaza, you likely won't be "paying hell". You will be investing in Blackrock...in the worst-case scenario.
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Way to miss the point.The adjective doesn't matter. Outrage, obsession, fascination, whatever, you keep coming back to these topics in error-filled posts whose misinformation (probably from YouTube videos) you never bother to verify. That's why you say things like Ukraine isn't in Europe, Ukraine is in the wrong to encroach into Russia, Ukraine is committing the same atrocities as Israel, NATO has gone on the offensive against Russia, Europe is capable of its own defense, the progressives are to blame for an unending list of things, the dollar is devaluing - it just never stops.Would you please either get your facts straight or stop posting? And please stop ignoring when errors are called to your attention, then later just repeating them. And please start getting your information from reliable sources instead of YouTube videos.--Percy

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I found no direct quote

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Then you need to look harder.

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In my mind, this quote appears more likely to threaten Iran directly rather than the ragtag remnants of Hamas. GAZA already has suffered Hell. What more can be done there? If you cut off a weed at the surface, the weed regrows. If you take out the weed at its roots, the problem is solved

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So you think that Trump is threatening to start a new war. That’s not exactly a better - or quick - way to bring peace. And it assumes that Hamas is completely dependent on Iran. I don’t think that destroying Iran would be sufficient to remove Hamas.You’re making Trump’s claims that he would bring Peace look like even bigger lies.

It is statements like that that are the earmark of what is called an "elitist". You are no smarter than the other 50%. You just have different problems.
Theo might have the characteristics of an elitist.
Dr.Jones even brags about being one.Education in and of itself does not make a person any better than anyone else. *just like Christianity or Judaism or "knowing Jesus" * does not make an individual any better than an atheist or secular humanist.The only advantage that self-professed elitists have, apart from being social democratic snobs, is that they do know the disciplines of study and understand a complete paragraph. I'm still learning...

It's not a new war. It's a very very old war. The weapons that allowed Hamas and later Hezbollah even to be able to hurt Israel came from Iran. Many of those weapons have been found and destroyed. If Iran is socked strongly in the nose the same way that NATO has proposed to sock Russia in the nose, both bullies will be contained. There is no reason to believe that Iran wants a war with the United States. It is all about Israel. Ideologically, no. Even today, the displaced people are the seeds of future militants.Sanctions no longer work in this world. Keep in mind, however, that Iran was and is the main threat to Saudi Arabia. We can still protect them *our oil* better than China can.BRICS is but a vague concept of an alternative to the US Dollar, but due to its collective population and the natural resources of its members (it)will overtake the dollar quicker than either NATO or the United States imagine.

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It's not a new war

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It certainly would be a new war. Tensions with Iran haven’t reached the point of open conflict with the US. Iran’s support for Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis is not that significant - only the last have really clashed with US forces and even that falls short of a war.How can the US be at war with a state that only supports violent movements that are not at war with the US support?

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If Iran is socked strongly in the nose the same way that NATO has proposed to sock Russia in the nose, both bullies will be contained

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So you’re suggesting that the way to bring immediate peace to the Middle East is to somehow get Iran to invade a neighbour and then wear down Iran by providing support for the invaded nation over a period of years. Does that really make sense to you? How are you going to get Iran to invade anywhere for a start? Don’t you see the obvious contradiction between reaching a quick peace and provoking a long war?Or are you just echoing Russian propaganda about how NATO intends to attack Russia? Because that isn’t going to happen.

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There is no reason to believe that Iran wants a war with the United States

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But according to you they’ve been waging one for years. Can’t you spot that contradiction either?

Because we stand behind Israel. The fact is that Iran is supporting 3 terrorist organizations. Do I need to give you evidence of this? Israeli intelligence confirms a link between Iran and the 3 terror organizations. Perhaps we can just give Israel the weapons to do the job. Why should Israel, now nearly broke, be forced to fix Gaza? Or Lebanon? And why shouldn't Iran get punched in the nose? You guys sure seemed eager to bloody Russia's nose.

Of course Iran is providing support for terrorist organizations, but I find the possibility of you providing evidence of something intriguing. Yes, please provide evidence.--Percy

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Because we stand behind Israel. The fact is that Iran is supporting 3 terrorist organizations. Do I need to give you evidence of this?

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That’s not a state of war. Even Israel is not at war with Iran.

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Israeli intelligence confirms a link between Iran and the 3 terror organizations

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Which doesn’t change the important differences between the situations.

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Perhaps we can just give Israel the weapons to do the job

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Because starting an actual shooting war is peace?

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And why shouldn't Iran get punched in the nose?

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I’m not arguing about that. I’m arguing that escalating hostilities in the Middle East - to the point of war - isn’t bringing peace. Is that too difficult for you to understand? (But I don’t think that level of escalation is good for anyone.)

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You guys sure seemed eager to bloody Russia's nose.

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I want Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to fail. If Iran was actually invading somewhere I’d want that to fail too. If Russia was only backing separatists in Ukraine I wouldn’t be pushing for the US to encourage and arm Ukraine to invade Russia.This is really getting increasingly Orwellian. We’re not required to lie for Trump. You might as well go full on WAR IS PEACE and have done with it.