If I may spend my two cents in this discussion I’d like to also propose Mr. Hicks as one of the true thinkers and philosopher of the last century. He had a lot in common with George from a social analysis standpoint and he also saw us humans as bi-faced entities capable of producing both the nastiest and the most beautiful acts while recognising that usually the lowest and most destructive instincts were the one guiding our choices.

As George did for you he also helped me forming my vision of the world and its current state of affairs while also making me laugh manically.

A huge thanks to both these men for helping some of us finding a way to navigate through this sensless journey, you’ll not be forgotten

Here in Italy the first one to learn and adapt is always the mafia. The state is so clunky and unnecessarily complicated that it takes ages for it to change and adapt its ways, once this happens the mafia has already changed and transformed to keep away from the law enforcement hands as much as possible.

Nowadays mafiosi do not go around in poor clothing with weapons on them, the wear nice suits and briefcases filled with documents to keep on their shady businesses as they did from the Borbonic times

Yeah, I know, but even his story is far from being over. He might be dead but his clan and his way if conducting business are certainly not over: assuming the opposite is exactly what mafia would like us to know since it requires ignorance from both the people and the state to thrive at the best of its abilities.

Cave semper canem when talking about mafia and choose your words carefully as they are vmmasters if trickery and deception on top of being horrible human beings (if such kind of animals can be even called “humans” at this point).

Peppino Impastato forever an hero, Messina Denaro forever a shitstain on the heel of the Italian boot

puts the end to a story of violence and blood

Yeah, sure Biondi, we can rest easy knowing mafia has been defeated once and for all. /s

What a fucking clown in a fucking circus if a country. Mafia will never be healthier than when we think it to be dead, they thrive in the shadows and in the cover this kind of happenings provide.

Well, one of the two parties available is bent over in respecting corporate interests while eroding societal safety nets, the other is doing the same but with an accent on religious authoritarianism in service of an orange Cheeto.

There would be more than enough space for them to cooperate on common ground but, unfortunately for the oligarchs, the latter party seems to have lost the script of the standard political play and is now giving it’s leading roles to real nutsacks who are (unwillingly) exposing the inner workings of the political machine for everyone to see. As I see the situation from Italy this can only be a good thing as seeing the innards of a broken machine is the first step to start its necessary maintenance

Well, a fall from a high window is not the best way to survive captivity :)

Of course he will be discredited as a doctor and he will be found to be a west-paid spy for a large number of years before falling from the window of his prison cell (in Russia they are so humane prison cells don’t have bars on them).

I sure hope Putin’s next doctor won’t be as careful when dosing his medications. I’d love to see some ipecac being distributed in the coffe cups of a closed meeting between Putler and the north-korean bimbo

You seem to equate a family not having a body with not having news of that soldier. But Ukraine has been collecting and identifying Russian bodies since the start of the war, and notifying families wherever possible. Many of the soldiers also have their own phones, and those phones have told the west a great deal about what is really going on behind Russian lines. Yet you seem sure that none of those soldiers would use their phones to speak of deaths within the unit. Interesting take.

You seem to forget that, following the bombing caused by a massive presence of phone signals in a single spot, Russia has been much more careful in letting its trooper use their cellphones. Beside that I imagine a family not having any news from his relatives at the front would be anxious for their loved ones and would start asking questions, even if it meant facing criminal charges. Ukraine can identify a portion of the bodies from the battlefield I imagine, and they would be able to reach the families of an even small percentage I reckon.

LOL. Think that over a bit and get back to me. Seriously.

I’ve thought about it and I really can’t see who can pay Wagner’s operators salaries, let alone arming them according to their standards (much better than the Russian army ones, can we agree on that?).

As far as I know Russia pays its soldiers 300-400€ a month and Wagner mercenaries are paid circa 2k (those who are not serving instead of being in a cell). Prigozhin was capable of providing for Wagner through his affairs in Africa and through the money he got from the Kremlin, will Putin be able to substitute such an income? What will happen if not? I’ve got my answers but they are just hypotheticals, who will live will see.

True enough. But that does not make either of us an expert on Russian affairs. His article does make one of us a fantasy writer, though.

He certainly knows Wagner better than you since he probably met them on the battlefield.

Works for me, lol. It’s just an opinion, and everyone’s got one.

But it helps, when forming an opinion, to acquaint oneself with all available fact first. And to be completely honest, you didn’t even spot the most questionable opinion in my post. (Hint: Who is Sergei Shoigu?) But keep working on it, because as far as I’m concerned the more people that are interested in the subject as whole, whether right or wrong, the better.

Thank you for taking the time to state your disagreement.

No problems, it’s a pleasure to have a conversation about these thematics since there is always to learn about any subject. In this sense, who is Sergei Shoigu? What I know about him is that he is a Putin sycophant only good as a yes man and coming from a political career scarcely linked to any military activity. Am I missing any information about the man?

Prighozin was funding much of Wagner himself, for example.

So, who is going to pay now that he’s dead?

And that Russia’s young men are not coming home in boxes because they are just not coming home (Russia doesn’t want the bodies so as to avoid paying death benefits to families)

I imagine these families will be happier and happier each day that goes by without having any information about their loved ones.

But honestly, the biggest head scratcher here is the plain fact that mercenaries “to dispose of Putin” have been available forever

But if Prigozhin was paying their fees and keeping them in check with his control structure how could they have been available to change their masters?

I see your reply to the article as you see the article itself: full of speculations and assumptions but the main difference between the OP post and yours is that you are a nobody giving his opinion on the internet while the author of OP post was assistant director intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for the HQ Land Command.

Given the status I’m more inclined to listen to his speculations rather than yours, respectfully

Thank you for expressing so well a simple thought that seems to be complicated to some of the people intervening in this thread!

Kudos!

While you were on active duty and patroling the streets this dude has been (and I quote) “from 2007 to 2010, he was based at HQ Land Command as assistant director intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance”.

Do you think in this timeframe and under this qualification he might have had the chance to gather information and intelligence on some of the most well-known paramilitary and private mercenary armies such as Wagner?

IMHO I reckon he had more knowledge about these issues than a grunt on the groun so, if you aren’t qualified to speak about these issues, I don’t see the same situation with Mr. Gordon.

Then again these are just speculations on his side but they are far more informed than what you are trying to sell me with your (willingly?) limited and inaccurate analysis of his career.

Dude has a problem with his question being answered.

The guy who wrote the article has experience in a combat zone and has seen more military action than he will ever have.

By any standard these are speculations but they are presented by someone who has direct knowledge about these kind of groups, therefore they might be slightly more reliable than the average person’s point of view.

If you are not happy with this explanation I’m afraid I cannot provide you with anything else

I’ve heard about this book before but I haven’t had the chance to read it yet.

Definitely a reading I must add to my list, I’ll try to find a copy of it to correct this lack of information.

Thanks a lot for the suggestion!!

Too bad that you wouldn’t be damaging just the leisure of a super rich person but also the environment around it.

We need to find ways to hurt them without damaging the environment worst than they are already doing if possible

Have you ever tried to remove shit from a (both natural and artificial )leather jacket? Expecially shit moist with urine?

I don’t see anybody using the soft and comfortable sofas usually provided to these boats for a very long time

Lol, they might be a bit dad-joke like but I find these wordplays very funny.

Thanks for the laugh!

I’d personally prefer the use of manure or animal dung instead of spray paint as the former is a bit more natural and should not create any issue to the environment.

Furthermore, if used in the right quantity and of the right quality manure can permanently stick to a porous surface thus rendering the entire yatch, car, jet, helicopter or transport mean completely unusable for a very long time. For this application I’d suggest the use of carnivore ejections as these are usually far more unbearable than those coming from herbivores.

Anyway, keep up the good fight!!