Russians: Now Using Poison Underpants

[Alisamer]

35 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Ok, whoever made the legal threats, do you not know who you are fornicating with?

Dude, the Queen is in her 90s but can still probably fire a machine gun with the best of em like she could in the 1990s.

 

The royals are very pampered, but people tend to forget most of them have military training and experience. Including the queen, during WWII. I'm just an American looking from afar but everything I've read about her gives me the impression that if things had gone post-apocalyptic at some point in her reign, and it was clear that action was more important than keeping up a facade of normalcy for morale's sake, she'd be actually doing something. She knows how to drive and change tires and such, at minimum. It might be generational but there has always seemed to be a practicality to her under all the gilding. (Unlike someone like Trump, who would wet his diaper if someone pointed a weapon at him.)

[47of74]

A writer for the Irish Examiner says Vlad the Invader reminds her of a Bond villain

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That boat-length white table where he met Macron, each sitting miles away at opposite ends – was that really about social distancing, or has Putin been watching too many Game of Thrones and Bond movies? Has he lost the plot? Or he is just massively playing us?

“I am a specialist in human relations,” he has said. Certainly, he is the political performance artist of our era, blank, inscrutable, ageless. (He’s almost 70, his face smooth as an ice rink). He is ranked eighth dan in judo – a black belt – which is all about honour, respect, humility. Like his UK counterpart, nobody quite knows how many children he has – definitely two, possibly three. He only ever presents himself as a single entity, wedded to Mother Russia, its modern-day Tsar.

All of this armchair psychology was all very well until the moment he actually sent the tanks in. I don’t know about you, but I had a jolly time idly googling ‘Putin psychological profile’ to see what came up beyond the usual KGB thug, kleptocrat, autocrat. All I could think about was that long white table. All he needed was a fluffy white cat to complete the picture.

British-American foreign affairs academic Fiona Hill suggests that Putin is a composite of six characters: statist, history man, survivalist, outsider, free marketeer, case officer. He was never one of the Moscow elite, until he was the elitist of all; he viewed the fall of Russia in the 90s as shameful, its restoration a matter of national honour; he has been stockpiling resources ever since, from animal feed to weaponry. Ironically his restoration of Russian pride and power has created an affluent middle class that would prefer European-style politics to nationalism and autocracy. And now he wants Ukraine back. How is this going to end?

She ended by saying Boorish Johnson must be real glad Vlad has taken the heat off of him.

[Howl]

I think there is literally no bottom to Putin's cruelty, savagery, and his ability and ruthless desire to inflict suffering on millions of Ukrainians and, in a different way, his own citizens. 

There will be pogroms and purges, possibly famine in besieged cities. 

I hope HOPE this will be Putin's downfall.  I don't know if his generals, his sycophants, his enablers -- if any of them will put a stop to it.  I can't even imagine how many firewalls there have been erected to protect Putin from harm.  I don't think anyone from the outside world would be able to get close enough to him for assassination and who among those close to Putin would even try to find an accomplice?

 

[Cartmann99]

RT America ceases productions and lays off most of its staff

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New York (CNN Business)RT America will cease productions and lay off most of its staff, according to a memo from T&R Productions, the production company behind the Russian state-funded network, which CNN obtained.

Misha Solodovnikov, the general manager of T&R Productions, told staff in the memo that it will be "ceasing production" at all of its locations "as a result of unforeseen business interruption events."

"Unfortunately, we anticipate this layoff will be permanent, meaning that this will result in the permanent separation from employment of most T&R employees at all locations," Solodovnikov wrote.

T&R Productions operated offices in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC.

The news would mean an effective end to RT America. The network, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's main mouthpieces in the US, was dropped earlier this week by DirecTV, dealing a major financial blow to it. The satellite carrier was one of the two major television providers in the US to carry the network.

Roku, a company that sells hardware which allows users to stream content through the internet, also said that it had also banished RT America from its platform.

 

[47of74]

4 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

RT America ceases productions and lays off most of its staff

 

 Vlad the Invader probably wants to focus on the Russian’s primary mouthpiece (aka Faux News).  

[samurai_sarah]

According to Putin, the Ukraine uses civilians as human shields. It couldn't have anything to do with not wanting a war in the first place, and fighting back the only way they peacefully can?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10573065/Ukraine-war-Kyiv-convoy-hardly-moved-three-days.html

[SassyPants]

Nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia Ukraine on fire after Russian assault.

[Loveday]

23 minutes ago, SassyPants said:

Nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia Ukraine on fire after Russian assault.

And apparently no one is being allowed to get in to fight the blaze, if it's even possible. This is terrifying.

[clueliss]

I’m watching MSNBC right now oh my gosh the people who worked at the nuclear power plant and the people in the town nearby formed a human shield to protect this plant.

[47of74]

Some younger Russians aren’t down with what Vlad the Invader is doing. 

Quote

Young Russian elites are advocating for peace in Ukraine on social media, highlighting the generational divide that threatens Putin's power in Russia.

Russian elites publicly protesting the war include the children of oligarchs and government officials close to Putin.

 

[molecule]

I am afraid that Putin's goal is to make Ukraine into a complete wasteland, along the lines of "If I can't have Ukraine, then no one gets to have Ukraine." I expect him to slowly and methodically destroy everything that means something to the Ukrainians, including the very land. 

[Smash!]

13 hours ago, Howl said:

I think there is literally no bottom to Putin's cruelty, savagery, and his ability and ruthless desire to inflict suffering on millions of Ukrainians and, in a different way, his own citizens. 

There will be pogroms and purges, possibly famine in besieged cities. 

 

I don’t want to sound like Putin‘s atrocities aren‘t horrible. But this is war. So many people are upset about Ukraine but forget it‘s the same in Syria and other places. Why? As @JoyfulSel said the war in Balkan was horrible. People got shot (in Sarajevo?) while waiting in line for groceries. The snipers specifically targeted those people. I remember the pictures of the massacre of Szrebrenica (spelling). Those countries are beautiful but when I was there a few years ago there were still traces of the war.

Long story short: What I don‘t understand is why the same people who didn’t/don’t bat an eye on the wars in Syria/Jemen/Africa are upset about the horrible things happening in the Ukraine. War is war. Cruelties like massacres, mass rapings etc. are part of it.

I get it happens close to home and Putin invaded a country. It‘s not a civil war. It has way bigger implications and a possibility to escalate. I do hope this will be Putin‘s downfall and a signal to other autocrats that their actions have consequences.

[klein_roeschen]

10 hours ago, SassyPants said:

Nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia Ukraine on fire after Russian assault.

Last news I read was that they put out the fire, but that the power plant was captured by russian soldiers. That specific nuclear power plant is the biggest in Europe and one of 4 operating plants in Ukraine, Chernobyl not counting. I'm just here hoping, hoping, hoping that they aren't mad and stupid enough to destroy a nuclear facility.

[Smee]

23 minutes ago, Smash! said:

I don’t want to sound like Putin‘s atrocities aren‘t horrible. But this is war. So many people are upset about Ukraine but forget it‘s the same in Syria and other places. Why? As @JoyfulSel said the war in Balkan was horrible. People got shot (in Sarajevo?) while waiting in line for groceries. The snipers specifically targeted those people. I remember the pictures of the massacre of Szrebrenica (spelling). Those countries are beautiful but when I was there a few years ago there were still traces of the war.

Long story short: What I don‘t understand is why the same people who didn’t/don’t bat an eye on the wars in Syria/Jemen/Africa are upset about the horrible things happening in the Ukraine. War is war. Cruelties like massacres, mass rapings etc. are part of it.

I get it happens close to home and Putin invaded a country. It‘s not a civil war. It has way bigger implications and a possibility to escalate. I do hope this will be Putin‘s downfall and a signal to other autocrats that their actions have consequences.

I’ve been pondering this too because much as I hate to admit it, I know far more about this war than about the others going on in the world right now, or how they began. I think part of it for me is internalised racism and European countries feeling “closer to home”, which needs to be challenged. I don’t know, I’m English by birth so that might be a factor or just generally globalisation and dominant western culture, Christianity (although a different flavour) as the main religion, personally knowing more Russian & Eastern European people than Iraqi or Syrian or Afghani - it all combines to feel more relatable if that makes sense. I’m not saying it’s right or fair.
 

But another part is the fact that Russia has nuclear weapons and there’s a possibility that a cornered Putin will blow up half the world with him.

[Smash!]

@Smee I‘m guilty of that too and I recognize my own hypocrisy especially towards refugees from different countries. The reaction to the war from people around me but also from the media (what are they showing/writing about?) has started a thought process for sure. 

[Cora Persephona]

For me it's proximity and fear of nuclear weapons in the hands of a mad man. My country and Ukraine are neighbours, my friends and family are actively discussing if we will be next, if we should have emergency bags packed, where we should go in case we need to leave the capital/country etc.

There is a degree of racism (internalised for some, straight up for others) as well, I'm sure. In general, it's harder to close your eyes when atrocities happen to people that look like you and have a similar culture. That is absolutely not right or fair, but here we are. 

ETA: When I say here we are, I don't mean to excuse it. In an ideal world we should all have the same amount of empathy for all and we should try to be more aware and more helpful towards people no matter the race. But a shift in society (and sometimes even in ourselves or in people close to us) is very slow and hard to come by unfortunately.

Edited March 4, 2022 by Cora Persephona

[Emma]

Civil war (e.g. Syria, Yemen)= internal factions fighting with each other within their own borders

INVASION of a sovereign nation by another country e.g. Ukraine INVADED by Russia across the country’s borders.

Civil war and INVASION are two very different things.

[Alisamer]

I think comparing this to other wars may be apples to oranges. An invasion of one sovereign country by another has potential global danger that civil wars simply don't have. 

They are both horrible, just different varieties of horrible. 

And the unpredictable crazy and potential nuclear capabilities of Putin make this even more newsworthy than it would have been otherwise. 

Sure, Syria, etc. all should be getting attention. But it's highly unlikely that the war in Syria would end up dumping nuclear fallout on half the planet, and I don't think the leaders there have ambitions of taking over other nations if they succeed. 

Putin is the sort of villain we see in cartoons and movies. More powerful than he should be, unpredictable, and with no apparent goal other than to "rule the world!" He's scary because if he gets too cornered, he is likely to take as many people down with him as possible out of spite. 

[klein_roeschen]

4 hours ago, Smash! said:

I don’t want to sound like Putin‘s atrocities aren‘t horrible. But this is war. So many people are upset about Ukraine but forget it‘s the same in Syria and other places. Why? As @JoyfulSel said the war in Balkan was horrible. People got shot (in Sarajevo?) while waiting in line for groceries. The snipers specifically targeted those people. I remember the pictures of the massacre of Szrebrenica (spelling). Those countries are beautiful but when I was there a few years ago there were still traces of the war.

Long story short: What I don‘t understand is why the same people who didn’t/don’t bat an eye on the wars in Syria/Jemen/Africa are upset about the horrible things happening in the Ukraine. War is war. Cruelties like massacres, mass rapings etc. are part of it.

I get it happens close to home and Putin invaded a country. It‘s not a civil war. It has way bigger implications and a possibility to escalate. I do hope this will be Putin‘s downfall and a signal to other autocrats that their actions have consequences.

I think a part of why the russian invasion into Ukraine is now so prominent in media is how we use media today. Thanks to smartphones and the internet, we are much nearer to that fighting than to wars in the past. We see shared videos and messages from people there and what is happening instead of relying on war reporters for large media outlets. And social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram help spread their messages even further. Most of the astrocities from former wars where made public after these wars where over. This is like the first war we can follow nearly in life on social media and it's also a war fought on social media.

And another factor for their prominence in media, the conflicts in Syria, Jemen, Africa aren't new. They go on for years, sometimes decades, you get used to it.

For me personally, I live in the former GDR part of Germany. And I'm born in the GDR and lived my first 7 years until the fall of the Berlin Wall. While my memories aren't much about the life back then, I heard enough stories. And I'm afraid that Putins grand ideas of getting the former eastern block countries under his reign, does this mean also my part of Germany as stupid as it sounds. And as a german, I just need to look at our history to see what will happen if a madman and his cronies decide to invade other countries to get their land and resources. So I cheer for the ukrianian people in their fight and for the EU and the Nato to finally stand together and do that what they should had done in 2008 in Georgia and 2014 with the Krim.

[Emma]

Rumor: Putin wants to recreate the Russian empire as it was in the times of the czar. Which included Alaska!

 

My parents were trapped in West Berlin during the blockade after the war. I remember my heart just about burst with joy when I turned on the tv and saw people taking sledgehammers to the Berlin Wall.

Edited March 4, 2022 by Emma

[Smash!]

45 minutes ago, klein_roeschen said:

I think a part of why the russian invasion into Ukraine is now so prominent in media is how we use media today. Thanks to smartphones and the internet, we are much nearer to that fighting than to wars in the past. We see shared videos and messages from people there and what is happening instead of relying on war reporters for large media outlets. And social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram help spread their messages even further. Most of the astrocities from former wars where made public after these wars where over. This is like the first war we can follow nearly in life on social media and it's also a war fought on social media.

And another factor for their prominence in media, the conflicts in Syria, Jemen, Africa aren't new. They go on for years, sometimes decades, you get used to it.

For me personally, I live in the former GDR part of Germany. And I'm born in the GDR and lived my first 7 years until the fall of the Berlin Wall. While my memories aren't much about the life back then, I heard enough stories. And I'm afraid that Putins grand ideas of getting the former eastern block countries under his reign, does this mean also my part of Germany as stupid as it sounds. And as a german, I just need to look at our history to see what will happen if a madman and his cronies decide to invade other countries to get their land and resources. So I cheer for the ukrianian people in their fight and for the EU and the Nato to finally stand together and do that what they should had done in 2008 in Georgia and 2014 with the Krim.

All of this. Unfortunately I think the war on social media creates unnecessary fear and this is exactly what despotes like Putin want. This is actually my main point. I was almost paralyzed by fear after Putin invaded Ukraine. Everywhere I looked - stories of people fleeing Ukraine, the latest bombs dropped by Russians. Pictures of destroyed buildings. My mainly Covid feed on Twitter suddenly became one of the Ukrainian war. Same with Instagram. I wondered if I needed to pack an emergency bag. 

Sharing the latest bombs or pictures of the war is sensationalism because it carries no new information. Someone - I think it was Heather Cox Richardson - wrote that we will look back to the Ukraine war as the first Information war and I think she‘s right.

I had to pause social media and now read only select articles that have new information.   Granted I don’t live near the Ukraine and Switzerland fared well during WW2 by working with the Hitler regime. 

[47of74]

Russia's actions are causing some cities to reconsider their sister city relationships with Russian cities.

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Dubuque has been in a sister city relationship with the city of Pyatigorsk, Russia, since the 1980s. The sister city relationship was established to promote cultural and commercial ties between the two cities. 

The City of Dubuque had a Sister City Relationships Advisory Commission from 2010 to 2017. At that time, sister city activities were transitioned to Travel Dubuque.

Travel Dubuque President and CEO Keith Rahe told the Telegraph Herald that the committee dealing with sister cities will meet on Thursday, March 10, and discuss the sister-city arrangement with Pyatigorsk. 

Rahe said Travel Dubuque received a letter from Sister Cities International recommending that sister-city relationships with Russian municipalities not be severed.

Other cities have been taking a hard look at their sister city relationships.  Chicago temporarily suspended its relationship with Moscow after Vlad the Invader attacked Ukraine. 

[WiseGirl]

Putin Says Ukraine's Future in Doubt... https://www.yahoo.com/news/reports-russia-observe-ceasefire-2-070133818.html

2 quotes that stood out to me: "If they continue to do what they are doing, they are calling into question the future of Ukrainian statehood,” he said. “And if this happens, it will be entirely on their conscience."

My thoughts: No bud it is on YOUR conscience!  You F*cking invaded another country.

And cheery little quote #2 "These sanctions that are being imposed, they are akin to declaring war,” he said during a televised meeting with flight attendants from Russian airline Aeroflot. “But thank God, we haven’t got there yet.”  (bolding is mine)

Again, madman, you INVADED another country. YOU brought this on yourself and your worse you country.  Not exactly popular among young adults.

I know I'm preaching to the choir but damn I swear to Rufus I hope this is the undoing of him.

 

[47of74]

BTW about my earlier post RE sister cities.  Some US sister cities need to grow a fucking spine and sever the sister city relationships.  It's just feel good stuff that cities can boast about.  Take a fucking stand and tell these Russian cities that they don't approve of Vlad the Invader's bullshit.

[JoyfulSel]

Brittney Griner, who is a star WNBA player, has been detained in Russia (apparently for about a month now?) and the news is just only now being reported on. She plays in Russia during the WNBA off-season.

https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/33429212/basketball-player-brittney-griner-reportedly-detained-russia-wnba-representatives-working-get-home