A bit of bitter humor. Learn basic facts about Russian aggression against Ukraine while practicing English tenses.

Present Simple
Russian soldiers are in Ukraine.

Present Continuous
Russia is invading Ukraine

Present Perfect
Russia has invaded Ukraine

Present Perfect Continuous
Russia has been invading Ukraine since March.

Past Simple
Putin admitted he sent Russian soldiers to Crimea before the Annexation.

Past Continuous
Putin was lying when he said there were no Russian soldiers in Crimea.

Past Perfect
Russian soldiers had been in Crimea since mid February.

Past Perfect Continuous
Putin had been lying about Crimea the whole time.

Future Simple
Putin will admit that Russian soldiers are in Donbas in the near future.

Future Continuous
Ukraine will be fighting against Russia until Putin is gone.

Future Perfect
Ukrainians will have killed many Russian soldiers in Donbas by the end of this month.

Future Perfect Continuous
By the time he is held accountable, Putin will have been lying about his invasions for years.

Source: http://on.fb.me/1B9wIAy

the important thing, do Americans care? We have much more pressing issues here at home to deal with. We liberated you once, this time you are on your own...

Well, I care!

National jingoism, and terrorism are world problems, not just Ukrainian.

It is coming here too. With our multi-multi-cultural society and porous borders I suspect a BIG terrorist bomb in a major U.S. city will be the opening round. Then when our federal government proves unable to protect us, regardless how advanced our technology, it will become "every-group for itself".

Militias will form and they too will use terror as a major method of controlling their own nesting areas.

And it doesn't much matter how much anyone has hoarded...hoarders just become more easily identified and specific targets.

The world has let a 600 pound tiger our of a 10-pound potato sack by insisting on the "democratic" model of government for all societies, and allowing, assisting and even arming all manner of nut-groups world wide. Putting it back into the sack is going to cost millions more lives I suspect.

Saddam Hussein was one of the best things that ever happened to the middle east but we couldn't understand why that was true, so we had to play goodie-two-shoes and destroy the balance of power both within and around Iraq.

And now it seems we have not learned, and have contributed to the same result in Syria.

And other groups learn from watching that sort of play go unthwarted world wide.

Future historians will have a tough time explaining the thoughts and beliefs which brought on the coming chaos which many of us will see.

Realpolitik is a lose-lose game.

quote:

We have much more pressing issues here at home to deal with.

Yup! We have to pay attention to the latest utterances from Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin and Rand Paul, not to mention the presidential elections in 2 years, etc. etc. Nothing is happening in Congress. Nothing at all!
We should be paying attention, because it could be the Baltic states next (many of them have significant Russian populations). This is a new era, and America, and ESPECIALLY Europe, need to be aware of this. Peace and prosperity is, and has been, nice, but Russia under Putin, and with the support of a significant percentage of the population who (just like the Germans before WW2) want a return to their prior glory. 20 years from now I suspect folks will be asking "What were they thinking?". That it would go away? That they had other, more pressing things at home to worry about?
The Europeans have NO excuse. They are just going to have to spend more on defense, and, be prepared to use it. NATO has not been really tested against the reason why it came into being.
Peter.

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:

Saddam Hussein was one of the best things that ever happened to the middle east but we couldn't understand why that was true, so we had to play goodie-two-shoes and destroy the balance of power both within and around Iraq.

The first time (invading Kuwait) he was naughty and deserved a slap on the wrist.

The second time USA wanted to thwat him because he started to sell oil in Euro and not in Dollars. The whole WMD thing was just an excuse.

If the world starts to use Euro instead of Dollars paying for oil and as a second currency in ustable countries, then you as a county is in deep poo!
The US giggled when the Euro was introduced but that smile faded when they ended up costing the same and now the Euro is rock solid and the Dollar flundering.

It's all about the money!
The west wouldnt give a toss if there was no oil in that sand and leave the worlds largest sandbox to itself.
We wouldnt give a second thought to the Ukraninian invasion if there was no cheap Russian LPG running through there.

Putin flexes his mussels because of the eastern mentality. If he didnt he would end up looking weak and ready to be replased.
He buys food for the LPG money and it is only a matter of time before the russian people starts to demand replenished shelves in their supermarkets again.
It's all about the money!

quote:

Originally posted by Peter:

quote:

We have much more pressing issues here at home to deal with.

Yup! We have to pay attention to the latest utterances from Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin and Rand Paul, not to mention the presidential elections in 2 years, etc. etc. Nothing is happening in Congress. Nothing at all!
We should be paying attention, because it could be the Baltic states next (many of them have significant Russian populations). This is a new era, and America, and ESPECIALLY Europe, need to be aware of this. Peace and prosperity is, and has been, nice, but Russia under Putin, and with the support of a significant percentage of the population who (just like the Germans before WW2) want a return to their prior glory. 20 years from now I suspect folks will be asking "What were they thinking?". That it would go away? That they had other, more pressing things at home to worry about?
The Europeans have NO excuse. They are just going to have to spend more on defense, and, be prepared to use it. NATO has not been really tested against the reason why it came into being.


Peter.

Peter, do you suggest we pay attention to Obama, Pelosi and Boxer?

"Putin so many times feed in troops to Ukraine over the past few months that it looks like frictions".
But if the moderators will not keep order, the category of "Humor" will be the same garbage as "Politic".

sez a russian troll who has been the main purveyor of rubbish in ARPF..

If one really wants to understand why Russians support Putin, they really need to read a book named "Tiger" by John Vaillant published in 2011. It is a true tale about both hunting the Siberian Tiger and surviving in Primorye Territory (Pry-more-yah) of Russia's far east.

The people, the villages, the geography, flora, fauna, and all else including the hunt for a man-eating Siberian Tiger are all real & true.

Most of all a picture of post USSR Russia is painted in well put together and easily understood English.

It describes in detail a place here there is no longer any rule of law, few if any amenities such as local newspapers, medical clinics, running water, electrical or gas power supplies, sewage treatment, or border security (it's on the Chinese border and China has long nibbled away at it).

It is a land of anarchy, vicious natural law, starvation, freezing cold, no work, vicious fleh eating flies that can bite through bull hide, clouds of mosquitos in the summer and all the other bad things which haunt the lives of all parents, children, everyone else in a sort of 24/7/365 bad dream. We can only experience the fear in our very worst nightmares. The Russians are now living it.

Many of them now refer to perestroika as "katastroika".

Why wouldn't such a population look back at the days of their recent past as a desirable goal to achieve again? Bad as it was even under he certifiably mad-man Stalin, it was far better in terms of life expectancy, understandable laws, education, clothing, food, heat, and all the other requirements which make life meaningful. It was infinitely better than now.

In Putin, they see a man trying to bring some of the past back into being. And because he truly has the majority of the population supporting him, he is more powerful than any recent head of the Russian State.

And how would a fear of an atomic war deter a people who now in their eyes have nothing more to lose...?