Politics

[moonshadow0825]

And this is all great stuff, but Putin still has a trump card, burning it all down to spite everyone. But yes, so far things are going terribly for him. Hopefully he doesn't have some other scheme in mind.

I don't discount the nuke aspect, hell, I'm old enough to recall living in fear of MAD by nukes, I also remember Vancouver being scared sh*tless when an air raid siren went off in the 70's during the dinner hour when the radio was announcing nuclear sabre-rattling.

there was a good point also made about there being less support in Russia these days for the nuclear option than there was in the midst of the cold war. hundreds of thousands of Russians have emigrated to the US and Europe, the oligarchs have most of their lives offshore these days so not only do they not want to see destruction but regular Russians don't want to see their families nor their assets burnt to ash.
perhaps it's sad and cynical but I really hope that personal greed and families ties are strong enough to decide that a new regime is warranted.

[PortKells]

I don't discount the nuke aspect, hell, I'm old enough to recall living in fear of MAD by nukes, I also remember Vancouver being scared sh*tless when an air raid siren went off in the 70's during the dinner hour when the radio was announcing nuclear sabre-rattling.

there was a good point also made about there being less support in Russia these days for the nuclear option than there was in the midst of the cold war. hundreds of thousands of Russians have emigrated to the US and Europe, the oligarchs have most of their lives offshore these days so not only do they not want to see destruction but regular Russians don't want to see their families nor their assets burnt to ash.
perhaps it's sad and cynical but I really hope that personal greed and families ties are strong enough to decide that a new regime is warranted.

Intellectually, it doesn't make sense to think it's going to happen. But intellect seems to be missing here so it's not to get a little clenching going on.

The next few days will be fascinating. Ukraine might actually have a chance here.

[PortKells]

Great to see how there is justified swift action taken against one nation due to the invasion at present. Surely there is consistency applied throughout the world in that manner, correct?

Answering yes to that question is unfortunately the wrong response . When another nation has done so year after year, invading not just one country but multiple for god knows how long.... crickets.

Hypocrisy at its finest. Clear as day to see, but whenever anyone raises this unconvenient fact, the response is typically laced with demonization, full of statements like "siding with the enemy", "spreading propaganda", etc.

Ok I think most of us know that the USA has done evil to the world and deserved a lot more consequences. But that doesn't really change this situation imo. I also don't recall the USA threatening to nuke everyone.

[PortKells]

I also heard a couple of Canadians being interviewed ,one was at the vacouver rally yesterday and the other currently just outside of Kyiv, they both know of some Russian soldiers being captured and that the soldiers said they were shocked at the resistance,they were told they would be able to take Ukraine like a knife through butter and that the Ukraine people would run to them with open arms,lol, nothing could be further from the truth. You have to wonder what load of B.S. the Kremlin is telling them. Some said they were told they were just going near the border for some military exercises,then they were told to invade Ukraine,unreal. I was just thinking yesterday as to what the thoughts are of these Russian soldiers about this meaningless unprovoked war. Some now are freezing in the snow with no food.

It's a failure all around and an indictment. Let's hope his cronies take him out.

[Typeing3]

Ok I think most of us know that the USA has done evil to the world and deserved a lot more consequences. But that doesn't really change this situation imo. I also don't recall the USA threatening to nuke everyone.

Yeah of course the situation doesn't change. Russia invaded Ukraine, and deservedly face consequences. Just brought it up because at least a little consistency would be nice but of course we never see that.

Side note: The US did threaten the usage of nuclear weapons in 1962.

[SouthSardiswx]

Yeah of course the situation doesn't change. Russia invaded Ukraine, and deservedly face consequences. Just brought it up because at least a little consistency would be nice but of course we never see that.

Side note: The US did threaten the usage of nuclear weapons in 1962.

The October missle crisis, l was 3 at the time so l don't remember.
I remember my parents saying it was a scary time indeed.

[Forrest Gump]

The October missle crisis, l was 3 at the time so l don't remember.
I remember my parents saying it was a scary time indeed.

I was living in Montreal at the time ,don't remember that either, I was too busy playing in a cardboard box, and singing Beatles songs. , But I do remember my parents being glued to the black&white tv when Kennedy got assasinated and the Trudeau mania a few years later. Lived in an area with many immigrants and I remember our immediate neighbors said they were Ukrainian, there was no mention of Soviet Union or Russia I don't think.

[moonshadow0825]

Intellectually, it doesn't make sense to think it's going to happen. But intellect seems to be missing here so it's not to get a little clenching going on.

The next few days will be fascinating. Ukraine might actually have a chance here.

the stock market opens up in Russia in 4 hours (I'm posting this at 6pm-ish) Moscow has instructed that brokers cannot fill offshore sell orders which means unfilled orders are going to jam up the Russian exchange driving it down
with Russian banks out of SWIFT (eta, aside from oil and gas trades.. ) they won't be able to get money out anyway - Japan just joined Europe and N America in removing Russia from SWIFT

photos out of Russia show lines at the ATMs which ran out of money in 40 minutes. allegedly $10Billion has already been withdrawn
Visa and Mastercard have frozen Russian cards - they will no longer work outside of Russia. Paypal has done something similar
there is speculation that Oligarchs will use Crypto to get around SWIFT as apparently Russia has a significant portion of crypto reserves but that trade will be dodgy and traditional buyer may not want to play (no guarantee of getting their funds)

this will likely lead to a run on the Russian banks tomorrow morning- an Austria based subsidiary of Russian bank Sberbank has already been ruled to likely to fail tomorrow

as of an hour ago the ruble was down 30%...er make that 47% in "pre-trading", the Russian market is down 50% since September and there will be nothing to support it due to the above

this just became a huge civil crisis in Russia, obviously I can't predict but I do suspect that the pending civil crisis just became a new front in Putin's war, I hope it will distract and make the whole nuke things irrelevant.

[Rubus_Leucodermis]

Intellectually, it doesn't make sense to think it's going to happen. But intellect seems to be missing here so it's not to get a little clenching going on.

It is worrying, because Putin is acting so irrationally. Even from a purely Machiavellian standpoint, trying to invade all of Ukraine just made no sense, because it was likely to be biting off more than Russia could easily chew. That is why I wasn’t expecting it to happen. I was expecting Russia to whittle off another chunk of Ukraine, such as by annexing one of the areas already controlled by Russia-backed rebels. That was at least a practical goal, militarily speaking.

Putin has obviously lost most connection with reality, and he controls the world’s second largest nuclear arsenal. Frightening stuff.

My hope is that, if he seriously tries it, it will prompt a coup. The kleptocrats the run Russia are ruthless, callous, and greedy, but even they realize that a nuclear Armageddon serves nobody’s best interests.

[Rubus_Leucodermis]

Time magazine covers back in July 1996, soon after Russia's second election:
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ZtL8zf1.jpg

Source: http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,1 ... 15,00.html

Try 1993. Remember it happening. Blogged about it some years ago.

https://blackcap.name/blog/new/?p=2443
section: "The Events of 1993"

[PortKells]

Honestly I just feel bad for the Russian people.

[Typeing3]

Try 1993. Remember it happening. Blogged about it some years ago.

https://blackcap.name/blog/new/?p=2443
section: "The Events of 1993"

Yep, those middle years between the 1991 and 1996 elections were extremely tough for Russia, after the USSR collapsed. Ultimately Yeltsin was in part created by America (just as I agree with you Putin was as well) and by 1996 only held on to power because of tremendous financial backing. Otherwise the communist party was on the path for victory in that election, which is really a sign of how horrible life had gotten for the common folk in Russia in their extreme fast track transition from socialism to capitalism. Rampant unemployment, poverty, material loss (i.e. home/car/etc), starvation, prostitution, you name it.

That cover was definitely from July 1996 though. It's time-stamped in the link I shared. After this election: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Ru ... l_election

[SouthSardiswx]

A little laugh from your fish @ the pond in south Sardis.
https://youtu.be/VE3lwiOWvIY

https://youtu.be/YS52P8JZ_Fc

[Rubus_Leucodermis]

Interesting exchange from an interview with Fiona Hill:

[interviewer]: So Putin is being driven by emotion right now, not by some kind of logical plan?

Hill: I think there’s been a logical, methodical plan that goes back a very long way, at least to 2007 when he put the world, and certainly Europe, on notice that Moscow would not accept the further expansion of NATO. And then within a year in 2008 NATO gave an open door to Georgia and Ukraine. It absolutely goes back to that juncture.

Oh, and Fiona Hill is not some MAGA-right Putin-worshipper or a lefty activist type: she’s a career national security professional, about as Establishment as they come.

Interview also contains some frightening insights into how likely Putin might be to literally go nuclear.

Full text here: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... e-00012340

[SouthSardiswx]

Interesting exchange from an interview with Fiona Hill:



Oh, and Fiona Hill is not some MAGA-right Putin-worshipper or a lefty activist type: she’s a career national security professional, about as Establishment as they come.

Interview also contains some frightening insights into how likely Putin might be to literally go nuclear.

Full text here: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/ ... e-00012340

Yes l did read this also Rubes a couple day's ago.