US officials say Russia has asked China for military help in Ukraine

[ancianita]

63. Right.

Things like the Internet have changed. While he's been busy cordoning off the Internet to control information access, the rest of the ex-Soviet nations' younger people have been changed by Internet information, and with the oral history of what life behind the Iron Curtain was for their ancestors, are better aware of mis- and disinformation than we who've not been behind the Iron Curtain.

I say this because I'd rather err in being a wrong pessimist than a wrong optimist. So imo. The West should see it could be taken over by corporate and strong man autocracy. The EU and NATO have really got to step up for their own sakes. And we really have to join with them for ours. It's not that Russia is strong, it's that Putin is a criminal at large, with bag men everywhere who are like trumpcult -- willing to smash everything and go down with the West and its values over joining in any collective project to advance of humanity and give up fossil energy addiction. I hope we're powerful enough to force Big Fossil to transition because they're not going down without a fight. I could be wrong, but imo, Big Corp will take their chances, having mercenaries of their own, and plans to outlast most humans on the gamble that they'll eventually run nations, with Xi proving Joe wrong, and Russia being its dependent energy partner with the Belt and Road networking north. I'm pretty sure Xi already has that planned.