I went by hitchhiking through China from Khorgos to the Laotian border and was hosted by several local families in their homes on the way. I have seen more of Chinese everyday life than you have.
Your view of China has been trapped in Chinese propaganda.
And also: I would not say that the Chinese that are living a lavish life with a lot of luxury are living a socialist life. They might be an example of how "capitalism makes people happy", but I don't think that's really correct either.
Depends on what was destroyed and what technology it is based on.
Typically, the Russia has been destroying transformers in the Ukrainian power stations. This is how it looks when a transformer is being transported by a train (just look at how many wheels the special wagon needs and how small a regular passenger wagon looks in comparison!)
So, if a transformer was destroyed, something of that size will have to be brought in to replace it. Somebody will also have to produce one first before it can be brought in. I'd say several weeks to a few years. Depending on whether they have any spare transformers laying around and whether you need to order the transformer from abroad, such as from a western country.
The polling stations are always organized by the country that is holding the elections. When I voted in Finnish elections while living in Berlin, I had to go to the embassy of Finland for that, and it was the Finnish state that organized the voting there, not anything German.
Of course, at the same time: Why the heck would Moldova organize polling places in the Russia? Typically the voting from abroad happens in embassies and consulates, not elsewhere. If the Russia wanted to support Moldova having more consulates across the Russia, they could definitely have motivated Moldova to open them by being extra friendly to Moldova and Moldovans.
Shortages of gasoline are not limited to Crimea. The shortages are at their worst in Crimea, but there are kilometre-long queues in several parts of the Russia. Most parts, even!
Pretty much.
I'd like to know where in Ukraine that guy is from, though.
Had they lived between 2014 and 2022 in Crimea or someplace such as Poltava or L'viv? That makes for a huge difference. Someone who was 13-year-old in 2014 was 21-year-old in 2022. They would have the Ukrainian passport, but it would still feel misleading saying that "a Ukrainian was caught" in such a case.
I believe the only reason the Russia is continuing its war now is what comes after.
It has about 700 000 living soldiers that have been specifically trained to blindly use violence against everything that moves or doesn't move, and to be completely okay with all forms of sexual violence, regardless of age or anything. They have been trained to rob and pillage. Now, once the war ends, those 700 000 will return home.
In the end of 1980's, USSR retreated from Afghanistan, and about 90 000 soldiers returned home. They had a similar training, and the results for the society were horrendous. Yet, the current training has been even more inhumane. And now the Russia has about half the population of USSR of 1989. Which means that the effect of one returning soldier is about doubled.
Those 90 000 veterans of the war in Afghanistan were one of the biggest reason for USSR collapsing, and they were the main reason for 1990's being such a traumatizing hellscape for the Russia. Now, 700 000 will return. And because of the population difference, their effect is the same as if 1 400 000 veterans had returned to USSR instead of the 90 000 that did.
And: At the same time, the Russian economy will be absolutely gutted. There will be a huge amount of unemployment. All the same pieces that caused Russians to get very strongly collectively traumatized by their 1990's will be present again, but now about a magnitude worse. The difference between 1 400 000 and 90 000 is 15-fold. If you take the 1990's mafia violence in the Russia and multiply that by whopping 15, you get the 2030's of the Russia as a result.
As much as the Russia is suffering from this war, it's nothing compared to what will happen once their soldiers return home. Every day that keeps the soldiers away from home is a day more without hell having broken loose for them.
I believe their only goal is to prolong the war as long as possible.
There is huge difference in accuracy between a Russian and a western artillery cannon.
At least in 2022 it was commonly estimated that in order to hit a specific target, you need to shoot about ten times as many artillery rounds with a Russian cannon as you would with a western cannon.
Of course, if you don't have a specific target, the accuracy doesn't really matter. The Russian artillery rounds are very useful for carpet bombing a city, but not for any actual military use. And when you're comparing the efficiency of armed forces, actually only the military uses are relevant. For that use, you can use a multiplier of 10. 25 000 western shells have about the same battlefield impact as 250 000 Russian shells.
Then remember that each time you fire a shell, it causes wear and tear in the cannon. That means, the Russian cannons get ten times as much wear and tear as western cannons. Atop them being of a much lower quality. The Russia uses a lot of shells for obliterating Ukrainian cities. Ukraine does not do anything similar. That skews the numbers even more yet.
I'd like to correct that it's one million of their soldiers lost in a pointless war, not died. About 2/3 of those losses are severe permanent injuries that render the soldier useless for military use.
The goal of Ukraine is not to kill the maximum amount of orcs, but to neutralize the maximum amount of orcs.
You can see it this way: There are, in any case, about two serious injuries per one death. In human armies it tends to be about five injuries per one death, but in the Russian army a lot of people who would end up counting as "injured" end up counting as "dead", as there is no healthcare available for them. If there really were 1,1 million dead, the total losses would be in the ballpark of 3½ million soldiers. And the Russian military has not lost 3½ million soldiers yet. Therefore, it must be that the number includes also the seriously permanently wounded.
Nah. Nobody reasoned with him. He just got angry at Putin. He's an animal of instincts and feelings, not one of logic. He does random things. A random decision can sometimes be good, sometimes bad.
You cannot really say anything about the quality of a decision just from it being in the group of "decisions that can also be chosen randomly".
)
No nordic country is socialist, though. Having a labour union does not turn a capitalist country into a socialist one. Having a social democrat party does not make a country socialism. It's not "Socialist democratic party", it's "Social democratic party". Their goal is not socialism and they are not doing socialist politics. They are doing nothing to end private ownership of property.