@altoids582:

I think Trump's White House's comments regarding Crimea are being exaggerated a bit regarding how meaningful they are.

He's seemed against the notion of doing more sanctions for just zero reason, with it also being a bit difficult to just immediately lift sanctions because you have mega anti-Russians like Senator McCain and much of the Democrats (since it's involved in their current narrative) that would flip their shit if Trump moved quickly on easing relations in the first couple weeks. There's also been the matter that there's a ton of employees in places like the state department that were eagerly anti-Trump and anti-Russia that seemed interested in working against him which need to be ousted first. There's been a massive amount of layoffs at the state department once Rex Tillerson got in which should probably help a bit. Some of those getting laid off even commented to reporters that this was terrible because it meant no one would be around to subvert the oval office as though that was something they were meant to be doing.

I feel like we'd be seeing more being done about improving relations if we didn't have so many lifetime bureaucrats that needed to be fired first which could only happen once the appropriate cabinet positions get confirmed.

I also have the same opinion, what talking White House about Crimea.

Maybe it's good to have such obstacles, like McCain, if sanctions will be lift immediately. For Russia, there will not be good for our currency, cause our business already working with low Ruble's exchange rate, and if it will go up, heavy industry will lose a lot money. Mostly only Moscow and Petesburg will be happy, cause we're mostly consumers than producers and love to travel. For USA immediately canceling sanctions, also wouldn't so good, cause, as I understand, Trump tired, that media calling him Putin's puppet and if he lifts sanctions immediately there will real mass media hysteria. So no one interested in that.

Oh bureaucrats, a lot of them, you are right, they are make things  slow ;D, I thought only in Russia, there are politics, who know nothing and get well paid, but then I saw this black woman, who talked about how Russia "attacking Korea". OMG Korea\Crimea who cares, sounds almost the same, she knows nothing, but talk with such serious face, it was real LOL))

@raphjd:

:police: Please take a breath and calm down.   Don't post in anger.   :police:

Oh, if you talk about this Greece boy, I already don't care  

@TheNewt:

I agree with your post.  I have a lot of Russian and Ukrainian friends who I grew up with, and I live around a lot of Russian immigrants and Russian-Americans as well. Those countries do not hate the United States, and when I asked my friends what they thought about how the United States' media claims that Russians hacked the elections, and that Trump is connected to Russia, etc. they just laughed at this.

Yep, we love classic american people, their character are way more closer than european for us, but also we hated Obama and his Russian anti-rhetoric. From the start of Obama's presidency we all know that it will be complicated relationship, here the video: Obama with Putin in 2009 at the cup of tea.

Youtube Video

All completely wrong, he didn't eat anything, talked about some politics, sitting like an 8 year old boy. Putin looks at him like a snake at the rabbit. Maybe Bush was stupid, but acted like a man, not a boy.

So all end it, that the most of the Russians hate him in 2015. "OBAMA CHMO" was popular car sticker, CHMO (Ч.М.О.) has a lot meanings, mostly it means "Human with Low Morality"

Photos of others stickers

!

It was, not only about sanctions, all this nonsense especially about Nobel Peace Prize and after what happend in Libya, and than Ukraine and Syria.

2016, yep, you're right we started laughing how this old lady Clinton shout out loud, how we aggresive, very aggresive, oh Crimea river….  ;D Pity that she didn't learn history, Crimea was always russian, no wonder that referendum went so piecefull. USA always wanted Crimea, always want a super-duper-rocket-nato-nuclear base on this territory, here the video: 1988 when USSR was at almost end and very weak. Several days before my birth. Near Crimea, big US ship cross USSR border and get what deserve and all this Russian sailors seems to be don't care.

Youtube Video

After that I fully understand why Crimea is so important for US gov, why US take care about Ukraine so much, cause of one little rocket base, not poor people. Reminds me ring from the LOTR, everybody want it.  ;D

Now history continues, US with Trump still talking about "occupation" and sanctions, but we simply don't care, all this sanctions, only closed doors for foreign business, but open doors for our business. Our farmers pray: "do not cancel sanctions, business started to grow". About Crimea it's better to the whole world simply forget, it will be only with Russia. We like Trump only for one reason  :hug:, he doesn't want a WAR with us, cause as you saw in this 29 year-old video with ships, nothing has changed, we will fight in any case, if there will be real danger from US or other country.

@raphjd:

Our forum software changes the thread icon based on down vote and up votes of the original post.  I confirmed this by manually resetting it several times and it immediately changed back to th Thumbs Down icon.

This isn't caused by a "bad" moderator.

Thanks, helpdesk already answer and explain it. It's kind of smart algorithm, but maybe then, there is sense to disable choosing pic function when create a topic. If it's not brings sense what owner of the topic want to say, only public opinion.

@Minerboh80:

Ιn your twisted imagination, maybe. And drop the attitude. By all means, i am not your 'honey''.
Go have a cold drink and then, we can talk.

Oh, guuuuurl, Your Crown makes holes in ozone layer.

@Minerboh80:

check my profil before replying and stating weird things.

and after that

@Minerboh80:

but that doesn't mean that you should be hostile.

nice, very nice… you started it first, honey...

@Minerboh80:

Welcome! 

So, in that case, what this weird "Welcome" means?
Maybe you should stop to write wierd, non-sense things…

@Minerboh80:

Welcome!  

Oh it's you change it back, icon of Question Mark near with the name of the topic?
Pity that strange moderator, changes it back to "thumb down".

Thought all americans know their constitution especially part of freedom of speech, now I know that not all… sad

@altoids582:

I'm still amazed how little attention anyone people have to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton both talking during the second(?) Democratic primary debate that they wanted to form a Bush style coalition of countries to go into Syria with. Both even seemed perfectly comfortable with having the US fighting Russia as though that made any sense whatsoever.

It's helped to make me incredibly happy to see as Trump was getting into office all those "moderate rebel" groups lamenting they weren't receiving so much support from the US anymore. America's foreign policy has been batshit insane for years and we finally have someone in office that is against going dick waving with our military in every country that looks at us funny. Yet in spite of this, we have a collection of Russophobic journalists in the media that try fear mongering regarding Russia at every turn, some of the loonier ones like Louise Mensch suggesting anyone on social media that isn't petrified of Russia (or even god forbid pro-Putin) is secretly some paid Russian internet troll.

It's the same old story over and over and over again, in the middle centures it was Europe, now it's US, nothing new. This person which above your reply, classic example. Pity that US gov, very active rewriting the history, pity that with them money destroying history of the world, when was destroyed Temple of Baalshamin and Triumphal Arch in Palmyra by ISIS, they still shout that they are poor freedom army not terrorists and how dare this agressive Russians came and save object of UNESCO World Heritage. So now ISIS again conquer Palmyra and destroyed already Roman Theater. All this doing only for dividing countries, divide Syria was US plan, and it didn't work, but works with Iraq, works with Libya. Make a mess in countries very strange US gov. tradition, as I know, from Trump books, it's all about dollar and big debt before US people, and War for the US gov is the only answer. No matter with whom, but it must be the war.

Every day I ask a question, how so young country like a teenager, does all this bad stuff and nothing happend with him, but offsping period will end someday, maybe somethings will change in Adult period, but if not, I don't know what exactly will happend with such country, definetely it will be something bad, and it's too sad as for me, cause of: Art-Deco, Detroit Borocco, Space Age Style, and some classic Hollywood. It's real good things, but all this was in the past, not now.

In conclusion for the most Russians, Gays or Straights no matter, all this rhetoric from the West, already makes us smile and sometimes laugh. I think Putin (based on the west media) nowadays everywhere, you can blame him for everything you want, you had a bad haircut, your telephone is broken, your boyfriend break up with you, all bad things in your life, that you can imagine. Only one man guilty for this — PUTIN. It's a fun paradox, non-sense and absurd for us, but we ok with that, just some political satire, cause life is not easy in Russia, and we have to deal with a lot problems, we simply don't have time to care about poor pandas, lgbt, feminism and etc. We just want blue sky above our heads.
How sang Victor Tsoi in one of his songs:
"But if there's a pack of cigarettes in my pocket
Then the day's not all that bad"

rezurrected
Oh, i think, now I understand, who changed my pic near with the name of my topic, from "question mark" to "thumb down", I wrote already about it, to helpdesk, hope they will find this man with power, but without brains.

So, anyway, you're like those strange people who shout out loud, without ANY arguments, only talking words: "hypocrisy", "educate yourself" and others very highly educated things… good luck...

@Optimah:

Duterte is a murderer, his "methods" are called murder, Russians might be OK with that but that's certainly not what the US is going to do.

We live in interesting time, this man want health nation and clean up trash. West media says that he is a murderer.. But at the same time real mass marderer Anders Behring Breivik live in nice prison and moaning about that he has only PlayStation 3 and wants PlayStation 4.
Our World is up side down…

@rawr:

The US has been at war with drugs for 40+ years. It doesn't really work, the US has the largest prison population of any country. Duterte's tactics may work in such a small country, but I don't see it lasting and there's zero evidence that such tactics are effective long term. The people who participate in the drug trade are attracted to risk and the money associated with high risk activities. All US policy has done, is make the drug business more lucrative for the dealers.

US Tax payers are paying. Mexico isn't paying for anything. The estimate for the wall is 20-25 billion dollars.

Time will show, I think. I will hope that World is now starting new Era, hope it will be truer and more transparent.

@rawr:

We don't have "open borders" that's a political/media lie. I definitely think we need better border security on the southern border (and the vast majority of Americans agree) but a physical wall is incredibly cost ineffective. I have no idea where the majority of drugs entering the US come from, but I do know that there are many, many other sources than the Mexican border. Even if the wall could effectively stop the flow of drugs from Mexico (it won't) that does absolutely nothing to stop the flow in other regions. Even, in regions of the southern border where there are walls, the drug cartels tunnel underneath it, or smuggle the drugs in cars/trucks and go right through the border crossing.

Some members of the TSA (Airport Security Police Force) were recently caught smuggling massive amounts of cocaine. Walls don't stop airplanes and it's nothing new.

https://www.rt.com/usa/377252-tsa-cocaine-smuggling-tons/

Of course it's not fully helps, but as for me, more control on the borders, could help, at least tunnels, most of them, will be closed and prevent to build another. The Great Wall helps China through the history, why such wall couldn't help there. 95% of the drugs comes from South America. I like Duterte position about drugs, so maybe US could took his methods in the future. With air is always more control, then with ground. Also good law-height radar-system near with border will helps, too. Cost ineffective or effective, who cares, if Mexico will pay for that.