Ellesmere said:

View attachment 373447<img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GeAvbcLX0AA-EPN.jpg" alt="Roman Sheremeta on X"/>





THE BUDAPEST MEMORANDUM (1994)- the agreement that should have prevented the Ukraine/Russia conflict!

1) With the demise of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991, Ukraine and the other 14 Republics would emerge as independent sovereign states!

2) Four of those former 15 republics, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the Russian Federation all inherited nuclear stockpiles from the now defunct USSR - upon obtaining the status of a new nation in 1991, Ukraine also found itself to be the unwitting custodian of the world's 3rd largest stockpile of nuclear weapons!

3) The United States, United Kingdom and the Russian Federation proposed that Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine relinquish control of their aging nuclear weapons from the Soviet era in exchange for security guarantees - America agreed to provide political and economic support but would not commit to military intervention!

4) Some Ukrainians opposed handing over these nuclear weapons - given their nation's "tortured" relationship in the past with the former USSR, they argued that these stockpiles would provide the only viable deterrent to prevent aggression along the 1226 miles of joint international border that it shared with the Russian Federation!

5) The majority, however, would view the exchange of nuclear weapons for border security as their best option - Ukraine subsequently joined Belarus and Kazakhstan with all 3 former republics signing the Budapest Memorandum (1994) with the nuclear nations of the USA, UK and Russian Federation serving as guarantors!

6) Fast forward 20 years and in 2014 the Russian Federation reneges on the terms of Budapest Memorandum agreements by occupying the Crimean Peninsula and then promoting civilian unrest in Ukraine's eastern provinces west of the Russian border - perhaps with the added assistance of Putin's military dressed as Ukrainian civilians!

7) In 2022, the Russian Federation directed its military to invade all of Ukraine - after occupying approximately 20% of that nation's territory that included 3 to 4 million inhabitants, the war then degenerated into a standoff, a 21st C version of trench warfare from WW1!

8) Within this context, its paifully obvious that Trump is totally committed to imposing a peace treaty on Ukraine, any peace treaty - given that Russia's Putin has proven virtually impossible to manipulate, the pressure from the White House will be placed on Zelensky to provide this American President with an agreement that will in turn fuel his personal campaign to lobby for his real priority - the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize!

9) President Trump and his Administration appear oblivious to the fact that as a signatory to the Budapest Memorandum, with its exchange of nuclear stockpiles for preserving border security - why should Ukraine which is already in total compliance with the terms of the Memorandum, now be expected to provide additional concessions to the one member that has actually violated it repeatedly?

10) While not providing direct military intervention, America's first priority should be providing Ukraine with all the considerable political, economic and military support at its disposal that would pressure Putin to return to Ukraine's original 1991 borders - which were supposedly already guaranteed under the terms of the Memorandum!

11) Given that Putin already has a history of not honoring past signed agreements, why should the Ukraine allow itself to be pressured by the Trump Administration's into accepting a bad peace agreement, only to find itself in a similar position at some later date - once again negotiating with an adversary that can't be trusted and with supposed allies that continue not to hold the Russian Federation accountable for its actions!

12) With the continued proliferation of nations having nuclear weapons, the problems that continue to plague Ukraine, despite having signed the Budapest Memorandums, will only make those nations in the future that may find themselves confronted, under similar circumstances, all the more reluctant to dispense with their stockpiles - given its role as a deterrent in discouraging nations from engaging in military incursions into a neighbor's territory!

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Take note: acquire nuclear weapons and never let go of them.

The world's population has grown by 3 billion in 32 years?!

I learn something new every day.

Say it aint so said:

What comes out of the white house is the concern. Listen, we banter back and forth about the expected protection provided by white house lawyers or whether they have anything to be concerned about.

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I don't think you understood what I was saying.

Here is the thing about adjunct corps in the military (legal, intelligence, medical, meteorological, et cetera). If the commander has a mission, it is never the job of the adjunct corps to say, "You can't do it." It's their job to tell him how he can do it.

Military lawyers don't say, "That's illegal." They tell the commander how to do it it legally.

The same is true for White House lawyers. They don't say "no," they say "how."

That might even involve first "preparing the battlefield" by taking prior steps to adjust the situation to make what the president wants to do legal, or redefining terms or broadening pre-established conditions. Presidents do that all the time.

These may be things lawyers may dispute in court, but the fact that they must be disputed in court means they are not "manifestly illegal."

Say it aint so said:

Yet it's clear there are some wearing the uniform who are concerned and just don't want to be put in that position. It's sad the commander in chief rather than reassuring he would never put them in the position of doing anything illegal, instead screams for treason and the the death penalty. It's sad.

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Welcome to CF!

Either Ethics and Morality or The Kitchen Sink subforums may be good places to talk about or debate philosophy. @Sam266 For the topic you mentioned The Kitchen Sink would by far be the better choice.

Welcome!

Gracious Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus,
Praise God for relationship restoration and relief from abuse! I pray for Your hand of preservation for that, that it may continue. I pray that You would continue your healing work in April's life and restore her in body as well as in spirit, and may Your name be glorified.
In Christ's Name,
Amen

Daniel Martinovich said:

Consider the verse below when thinking about the modern nation of Israel.

Isaiah 54:9 To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again.

The Apostle Paul declares the obvious in Galatians 4:26-27. That Isaiah 54 is a prophecy about the New Jerusalem.

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Hi Daniel,

Have you ever considered that `Jerusalem` above is made up of two parts - Mount Zion and the city, the New Jerusalem.

`But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,...` (Heb. 12: 22)

Mount Zion is where the Lord Jesus rules from His own throne. His Father has set Him there.

`I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.` (Ps. 2: 6) `...a throne set in heaven, and one sat on the throne..` (Rev. 4: 2)

The city part is for the Old Testament Saints.

`But they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.` (Heb. 11: 16)

So...Mount Zion is the seat of the Lord`s rule and in the highest, with His Body of believers.

`To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with me on my throne...` (Rev. 3: 21)


Then the city part comes down out of the highest heaven to the universe realm and is the rule over the earth.

`Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,...` (Rev. 21: 2)

Gracious Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus,
I pray for healing for Carmen and her son. Please be with Jakeb to encourage his heart.
In Christ's Name,
Amen

First.

Michie said:

I’ll tag @linux.poet so she can see this here.

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Michie said:

I tagged @linux.poet to help you.

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Basically I've been beaten to the punch here.

Apple Sky said:

Click on where you usually log out & you'll see an icon with a little man next to a star, click on that & then you'll see option in the left hand column then click on account details & right on top of that page you'll see user name change.

Hope this helps

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This is correct. Click on your username on the upper right, click on the man/gear icon, click on Account Details. Top of the screen, next to your username you'll see a button that reads "Change", click on that. This will bring up a menu where you can enter your username and a reason for the change. Hit save and you should be good to go.

For non-supporter members you may need to use your Blessings to buy a username change in the Shop, but that should come up on that screen if that's something you need to do. The caution about not being able to change your name again until December on the menu should not be a cause for concern - that came up for me too.

If you run into weird problems with this, PM an admin because this is not something I've ever done. Very happy with my username.

I hope that person, if found guilty in a court of law, is given the maximum allowable punishment.

BNR32FAN said:

They’re a long way from having AI controlled robots out on the streets. AI requires hundreds of thousands of GPUs which won’t fit into an human sized robot, and at present we don’t have a wireless signal that can carry the vast amount of data fast enough for them to be controlled remotely. Personally I’m hoping that there’s a technological ceiling that prevents this from ever being a possibility. But bigger robots like the ED 209 from Robocop might be capable of containing enough GPU s at some point.

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How about A.I. controlled suicide bomber vehicles or kamikaze planes then? One could fit a lot of GPUs in the back of a 4Runner or a Promaster and get some hardcore 50-caliber machine gun fire through an open window too. Serial killers would love those. Ugh.

Sorry, I have a sick criminal mind that thinks of all kinds of terrible worse case scenarios. Don't try that at home.

Pepperdoodle said:

The worst would be abusing, misusing, manipulating God and His word.
Sadly I think it's already being dipped into.

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A.I. pastors should be Dead On Arrival. Since when do computers have the Holy Spirit?

People worshipping A.I. as an idol would also be Very Very Bad.

BNR32FAN said:

No that’s not true at all, I can be held liable by DOT as far as fines if I’ve broken a law but as far as being financially responsible for paying for damages I can’t be held responsible.

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Yeah, I recently started a job with the Post Office and they have their own insurance for their vehicles. Though if I get a ticket I am responsible for paying it. I see that this has been rebutted already though, so beside the point.

partinobodycular said:

I'm not convinced that people's obsession with unrestrained liberty isn't actually part of the problem.

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And this is the first sentence down the road to total oppression. Our current society already feels like oppression to me, and now this post is on the way to make it worse?

jonojim1337 said:

No understanding for you then.

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Perhaps not. But I do know one thing, I value my ignorance far more than I'll ever value your understanding.

I think it would be very helpful if we defined our terms before beginning these threads and entering into debate.

By Israel, is one speaking of the tiny nation in the middle east?
The blood descendants of Jacob?
The Israel of God?

By Jew, do we mean those who are from the tribe of Judah?
Those who practice the Jewish faith?
And which one, Talmudic, Orthodox?
Can someone be a Jew who is also an atheist, how so?
If someone is an ethnic Jew, are they Sephardic, Ethiopian, Khazharian?
Are Khazarians even ethnically Jews?
Were the ten northern tribes Jewish? In what way.
Are they really lost?
Are all Israel Jews.

Hentenza said:

I’ve had several people that keep the sabbath argue that the sabbath is a moral commandment, therefore, those that do not worship on Saturday are sinning and consequently living in sin. The poll is self explanatory. If you choose maybe please post why.

Be blessed.

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Not at this time in the worlds history. There will come a time when this is true, but it is not true right now. Just before the 2nd coming of Jesus there will be a time when God will make sure everyone understands the issues involved and have to decode for or against it as God is just. But, that has not happened yet.

Palestinia, as designated by Emperor Hadrian;- 135 AD, was part of the Holy Land. Genesis 15:18
Today, it is just a figment of some peoples imagination.

Thank you

I'm apostolic but I can't find a counselor that shares my faith. I really need counseling.
I feel like no one gets it.

One of our partners in Pakistan supports Christians in communities who are often enslaved in brick kiln work and who are constantly vulnerable to abuse, because they are Christians.

Support groups provide biblical discipling, as well as collaboration to deal with specific social problems faced by Christian families. The groups run savings programmes to enable members to start self-supporting businesses.

Pray for those in the groups with health issues.

Please pray also for those seeking healing from past drug addition. Pray for real spiritual growth.

Pray for those in the support groups who are now out of work: for God’s provision for them and that they might know God’s peace when burdened with loans.

Pray for younger family members, to be guided and blessed by the Lord in their
faith and struggles.

Pray for the nation of Pakistan: that its government and law enforcement agencies will have the courage and wisdom to implement justice and protect its citizens.

Pray particularly for the rights of Christians and that they would stand strong in their faith in the midst of persecution and hardship.

Reluctant Theologian said:

Why not speak to your local church pastor or priest? You need someone in-person I think. Be blessed ...

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I don't have one.