Russia v Ukraine

[TheHowieLama]

1 minute ago, Jordy Brouwer said:

I like Greenwald too. Cool your tits. 

 

Tom Cooper on facebook is awesome. Show me better.

That woosh sound is not a drone overhead.

[Numero Veinticinco]

1 minute ago, TheHowieLama said:

There have been talks everyday - yesterday Lavrov stated that Russia has not invaded Ukraine.

 

That is a difficult starting point for any negotiations.

How many times do I have to say this, man; talk at them better. Example, scream at the top of your voice 'oh yes you have' when they say there's no invasion. That'll fucking convince them to stop the invasion they've not started. 

[Section_31]

2 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

There have been talks everyday - yesterday Lavrov stated that Russia has not invaded Ukraine.

 

That is a difficult starting point for any negotiations.

 

What's the vibe over in the States Howie?

 

My Uncle is a pro Trumper (even though he's British) and lives in North Carolina. He follows the Trump playbook to the letter on everything, from vaccines scepticism and having grenade launchers in nurseries to Pelosi being the devil incarnate and everything in between, and yet....he's lapping this Russia stuff up something fierce. I thought he'd be Pro Putin but he's calling for Russia to be bombed to hell and partiatianed among the western nations. I can't keep up.

[Pureblood]

2 minutes ago, Numero Veinticinco said:

How many times do I have to say this, man; talk at them better. Example, scream at the top of your voice 'oh yes you have' when they say there's no invasion. That'll fucking convince them to stop the invasion they've not started. 

Calm down, love. Put some manpads in those menstruations. 

[Section_31]

Oh hello.

 

Pundits have reportedly spoken out against the Ukraine war on Russian state television including one who called it “Afghanistan, but even worse”.

Guests appeared to break ranks with Kremlinpropaganda by calling for an end to the deadly invasion, according to media reports.

[Numero Veinticinco]

2 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

 

What's the vibe over in the States Howie?

 

My Uncle is a pro Trumper (even though he's British) and lives in North Carolina. He follows the Trump playbook to the letter on everything, from vaccines scepticism and having grenade launchers in nurseries to Pelosi being the devil incarnate and everything in between, and yet....he's lapping this Russia stuff up something fierce. I thought he'd be Pro Putin but he's calling for Russia to be bombed to hell and partiatianed among the western nations. I can't keep up.

If we are chopping up Russia and its assets, can I please have at least one of those perfect looking women with amazing tits. Ta. 

[SasaS]

On sanctions, I read a couple of opinions published and private from younger economists I usually follow, they think sanction are biting hard, at least in the short-term immediate stage, probably harder than Russians expected and apparently went further than Russians expected, Mostly those linked to financial sector, so they have trouble selling and buying stuff, the central bank cannot access a lot of the foreign reserves and defend the currency which has plunged, there is a massive, crippling lack of liquidity in the system so possibly horrible inflation rate will hit them, or they will struggle to pay people pensions, soldiers wages etc. Russia has already defaulted on its debt for all practical purposes.

 

Actually, I have not seen any of the analysts from whatever discipline understanding what the fuck is Russia's plan with this invasion. Myself, I don't see what they possibly stand to gain from all this. It is really bizarre. It is really a test of Russian people's endurance, how much shit from your political elite that is destroying your life, for no visible gain or reason, are you willing to take.

[Red Phoenix]

2 hours ago, Em City said:

Putin invaded Ukraine with the aim of annexing it and installing a puppet regime.

 

It doesn't work cutting out everything that happened from 2014 onwards. If NATO countries hadn't helped install their own puppet regime and armed, trained and funded neo-Nazis for years on end the chances of Putin "annexing and installing a puppet regime" might've been reduced a fair bit.

 

Or we can ignore all that and try this again a few times in the future with other countries, this has been fairly dangerous so far though to say the least, so that might not be the best idea.

[Section_31]

[Pureblood]

2 minutes ago, SasaS said:

On sanctions, I read a couple of opinions published and private from younger economists I usually follow, they think sanction are biting hard, at least in the short-term immediate stage, probably harder than Russians expected and apparently went further than Russians expected, Mostly those linked to financial sector, so they have trouble selling and buying stuff, the central bank cannot access a lot of the foreign reserves and defend the currency which has plunged, there is a massive, crippling lack of liquidity in the system so possibly horrible inflation rate will hit them, or they will struggle to pay people pensions, soldiers wages etc. Russia has already defaulted on its debt for all practical purposes.

 

Actually, I have not seen any of the analysts from whatever disciplined understanding what the fuck is Russia's plan with this invasion. Myself, I don't see what they possibly stand to gain from all this. It is really bizarre. It is really a test of Russian people's endurance, how much shit from your political elite that is destroying your life, for no visible gain or reason, are you willing to take.

I think it was Alex_K (RIP) who said that the whole of Russia would go under in about a week, he seemed pretty confident about that because he claimed to have "intimate knowledge". Doesn't seem to be happening, though.  Some bloke on the Beeb was saying that Russia would be able to absorb sanctions for at least two years with relative comfort, that's a pretty long time. 

[SasaS]

4 minutes ago, Red Phoenix said:

 

It doesn't work cutting out everything that happened from 2014 onwards. If NATO countries hadn't helped install their own puppet regime and armed, trained and funded neo-Nazis for years on end the chances of Putin "annexing and installing a puppet regime" might've been reduced a fair bit.

 

Or we can ignore all that and try this again a few times in the future with other countries, this has been fairly dangerous so far though so that might not be the best idea.

How about NATO finally installs a puppet regime in Russia, if that is so easy? I mean, how hard can it be, staging a coup?

[Captain Turdseye]

The idea that the Russians were maybe gonna try to carve off the east of Ukraine seems flawed now that it looks like they’re heading west too. 
 

Quote

 

Attacks appeared to be intensifying in western Ukraine with air-raid sirens heard in Lviv, explosions reported in Lutsk, and bombing in Ivano-Frankivsk. Dnipro, a major stronghold in central-eastern Ukraine, suffered air strikes on Friday morning, leaving at least one person dead, state emergency services said.

The strike in Lutsk targeted an airfield according to city’s mayor, Igor Polishchuk, who urged his citizens to take cover in a Facebook post early on Friday.

 

[SasaS]

3 minutes ago, Pureblood said:

I think it was Alex_K (RIP) who said that the whole of Russia would go under in about a week, he seemed pretty confident about that because he claimed to have "intimate knowledge". Doesn't seem to be happening, though.  Some bloke on the Beeb was saying that Russia would be able to absorb sanctions for at least two years with relative comfort, that's a pretty long time. 

Yeah, I've seen that opinions too, the issue may be, what does "absorb" actually mean? If their GDP tanks 15 percent as they are forecasting now, after the Covid years, it will affect the standard of living, and it all depends on what are you used to and what are you prepared to suffer through, for what cause. This is not a Homeland Liberation War for ordinery Russians, a matter of life or death, national survival. That is where the Ukrainians are. Constructed narrative to justify this war will go only so far, if the war is not over quickly and if it starts to bite you on every steo in your daily life, people in Russia do not trust their government.

[TheHowieLama]

11 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

 

What's the vibe over in the States Howie?

 

My Uncle is a pro Trumper (even though he's British) and lives in North Carolina. He follows the Trump playbook to the letter on everything, from vaccines scepticism and having grenade launchers in nurseries to Pelosi being the devil incarnate and everything in between, and yet....he's lapping this Russia stuff up something fierce. I thought he'd be Pro Putin but he's calling for Russia to be bombed to hell and partiatianed among the western nations. I can't keep up.

The only folks who read the room on Russia worse than Trump were Fox News. Both thought they could praise Russia and their actions at first and all the MAGA would fall in line. 

One thing that is ingrained in most Americans is the USSR=Bad Guys. So that has quite understandably become Russia=Bad Guys. No chance the average fella in North Carolina has any time for a Russian narrative.

Alot of folks feel Trump was way too cozy with Putin - from the very beginning.  

One thing Trump did get right was the country's desire to pull back - Biden took the bullet for the withdrawal in Afghanistan

[Red Phoenix]

9 minutes ago, SasaS said:

How about NATO finally installs a puppet regime in Russia, if that is so easy? I mean, how hard can it be, staging a coup?

 

Maybe not so easy in Russia, they seem a bit wiser to some of the tactics : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/28/national-endowment-for-democracy-banned-russia

[DJLJ]

27 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

There have been talks everyday - yesterday Lavrov stated that Russia has not invaded Ukraine.

 

That is a difficult starting point for any negotiations.

Surrender. No. Surrender. No. Rinse and repeat for an hour and the ‘negotiations’ was over. 

[Numero Veinticinco]

20 minutes ago, SasaS said:

On sanctions, I read a couple of opinions published and private from younger economists I usually follow, they think sanction are biting hard, at least in the short-term immediate stage, probably harder than Russians expected and apparently went further than Russians expected, Mostly those linked to financial sector, so they have trouble selling and buying stuff, the central bank cannot access a lot of the foreign reserves and defend the currency which has plunged, there is a massive, crippling lack of liquidity in the system so possibly horrible inflation rate will hit them, or they will struggle to pay people pensions, soldiers wages etc. Russia has already defaulted on its debt for all practical purposes.

 

Actually, I have not seen any of the analysts from whatever discipline understanding what the fuck is Russia's plan with this invasion. Myself, I don't see what they possibly stand to gain from all this. It is really bizarre. It is really a test of Russian people's endurance, how much shit from your political elite that is destroying your life, for no visible gain or reason, are you willing to take.

Yeah, absolutely. They're biting very hard, their economy is crashing, inflation is crazy, and it's only been a little while since they were put in place. It's the only realistic, not 'spiral into WW3' way to push back against this aggression. The long term prospects of this are looking more and more bleak with each passing day. It's not sustainable for the long term. I can understand Putin wanting to take Ukraine or parts of it for a couple of reasons, firstly militarily it allows them to operate their fleet in the way it wants and because of the natural resources, and because he clearly just considers it part of Russia and wants to rebuild Russia. If you can do those with a quick march into Kyiv, then install your puppet, and jobsagoodun. That clearly hasn't happened. So knowing where it's going to go from here, how he and his ego will react, is actually - at best - a judgement call but really it's a guess. I absolutely wouldn't put it beyond him to grind and grind until he meets his military objectives, but this fuckin' sanctions package clearly wasn't expected and it's clearly hurting. The authoritarian measures aren't going to help him. I've only got one friend inside Russia, and she's scared shitless and practically whispers criticism of Putin.

 

What happens next? Who knows. What I do know is that if you're looking to make him stop, giving him access to more money and less internal pressure isn't the way. In fact, it's a signal to carry on doing what you want. 

[Pureblood]

 

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10594815/Drivers-form-huge-lines-outside-Costco-gas-stations-seeking-cheaper-gas.html

 

Gas prices nudge EIGHT DOLLARS a gallon in LA

[Section_31]

Putin apparently ready to meet Zalenski amid talk of 'positive progress'. The fact they bombed three previously unbombed cities last night did have an air of 'Bill Gates breaking Homer's pencils' about it. I suspect he's gonna lob a few more shitballs then get ghost. 

[dockers_strike]

1 minute ago, Section_31 said:

Putin apparently ready to meet Zalenski amid talk of 'positive progress'. The fact they bombed three previously unbombed cities last night did have an air of 'Bill Gates breaking Homer's pencils' about it. I suspect he's gonna lob a few more shitballs then get ghost. 

Obviously, I dont know how true it is but there are stories flying around that Putin has instructed some of his forces to stage a 'terrorist' attack on the Chernobyl plant.

[polymerpunkah]

If I were Zelenskyy I think I'd make it a Zoom.

[ManéMan]

 

[Gnasher]

 

 

[cochyn]

14 minutes ago, ManéMan said:

 

Fucking Antarcticans, shithouses to a man and woman.

[Jairzinho]

French Guyana not getting the memo in South America.