Russia Invades Ukraine. Again by captaincrunch

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Ukraine rules out any ceasefire deal that would involve ceding territory to Russia | May 22, 2022

Ukraine has said it will not agree to any ceasefire deal that would involve handing over territory to Russia, as Moscow intensified its attack in the eastern Donbas region on Sunday.

“The war must end with the complete restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” said Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, in a Twitter post.

The Polish president, Andrzej Duda, offered Warsaw’s backing, telling politicians in Kyiv that the international community had to demand Russia’s complete withdrawal and that sacrificing any of Ukraine’s territory would be a “huge blow” to the west.

“Worrying voices have appeared, saying that Ukraine should give in to Putin’s demands,” Duda said, in the first in-person address to the Ukrainian parliament by a foreign leader since Russia’s invasion on 24 February. “Only Ukraine has the right to decide about its future,” he said.

On Saturday, Ukraine’s lead negotiator in the stalled peace talks, Mykhailo Podolyak, said: “Any concession to Russia is not a path to peace, but a war postponed for several years. Ukraine trades neither its sovereignty, nor territories and Ukrainians living on them.”

Podolyak made clear that Ukraine would not accept any deal with Russia that involved ceding territory, and that agreeing to a ceasefire now while making concessions to Russia would backfire on Ukraine because “Moscow would hit back harder after any break in fighting”.

More at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/22/ukraine-russia-ceasefire
-deal-territory-donbas

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

The War Won’t End Until Putin Loses

Offering the Russian president a face-saving compromise will only enable future aggression.

The expression off-ramp has a pleasing physicality, evoking a thing that can be constructed out of concrete and steel. But at the moment, anyone talking about an off-ramp in Ukraine — and many people are doing so, in governments, on radio stations, in a million private arguments — is using the term metaphorically, referring to a deal that could persuade Vladimir Putin to halt his invasion. Some believe that such an off-ramp could easily be built if only diplomats were willing to make the effort, or if only the White House weren’t so bellicose. It’s a nice idea. Unfortunately, the assumptions that underlie that belief are wrong.

1) The first assumption is that Russia’s president wants to end the war, that he needs an off-ramp, and that he is actually searching for a way to save face and to avoid, in French President Emmanuel Macron’s words, further “humiliation.” It is true that Putin’s army has performed badly, that Russian troops unexpectedly retreated from northern Ukraine, and that they have, at least temporarily, given up the idea of destroying the Ukrainian state. They suffered far greater casualties than anyone expected, lost impressive quantities of equipment, and demonstrated more logistical incompetence than most experts thought possible. But they have now regrouped in eastern and southern Ukraine, where their goals remain audacious: They seek to wear down Ukrainian troops, wear out Ukraine’s international partners, and exhaust the Ukrainian economy, which may already have contracted by as much as half.

Buoyed by oil and gas revenues, the Russian economy is experiencing a much less severe recession than Ukraine. Unconcerned by public opinion, the Russian army seems not to care how many of its soldiers die. For all of those reasons, Putin may well believe that a long-term war of attrition is his to win, not just in southern and eastern Ukraine but eventually in Kyiv and beyond. Certainly that’s what Kremlin propagandists are still telling the Russian people. On state television, the Russian army is triumphant, Russian soldiers are protecting civilians, and only Ukrainians commit atrocities. With a few minor exceptions, no one has prepared the Russian public to expect anything except total victory.

2) The second assumption made by those advocating off-ramps is that Russia, even if it were to begin negotiating, would stick to the agreements it signed. Even an ordinary cease-fire has to involve concessions on both sides, and anything more substantive would require a longer list of pledges and promises. But brazen dishonesty is now a normal part of Russian foreign policy as well as domestic propaganda. In the run-up to the war, senior Russian officials repeatedly denied that they intended to invade Ukraine, Russian state television mocked the Western warnings of invasion as “hysterical,” and Putin personally promised the French president that no war was coming. None of that was true. No future promises made by the Russian state, so long as it is controlled by Putin, can be believed either.

The second assumption made by those advocating off-ramps is that Russia, even if it were to begin negotiating, would stick to the agreements it signed. Even an ordinary cease-fire has to involve concessions on both sides, and anything more substantive would require a longer list of pledges and promises. But brazen dishonesty is now a normal part of Russian foreign policy as well as domestic propaganda. In the run-up to the war, senior Russian officials repeatedly denied that they intended to invade Ukraine, Russian state television mocked the Western warnings of invasion as “hysterical,” and Putin personally promised the French president that no war was coming. None of that was true. No future promises made by the Russian state, so long as it is controlled by Putin, can be believed either.

3) The third assumption is that this Ukrainian government, or any Ukrainian government, is politically able to swap territory for peace. To do so would be to reward Russia for invading, and to accept that Russia has the right to kidnap leaders, murder civilians, rape women, and deport anybody it chooses from Ukrainian territory. What Ukrainian president or prime minister can agree to that deal and expect to stay in office? Russian cruelty also means that any territory that is temporarily ceded will, sooner or later, become the source of an insurgency, because no Ukrainian population can promise to endure that kind of torture indefinitely. Already, guerrillas in the city of Melitopol, occupied since the first days of the war, claim to have killed several Russian officers and carried out acts of sabotage. An underground is emerging in occupied Kherson and will appear in other places too. To concede territory for a deal now will simply set up another conflict later on. The end of one kind of violence will lead to other kinds of violence.

This does not mean that the war can or should go on forever, or that diplomacy has no place at all. Nor does it mean that Americans and Europeans should be blind to the real challenges that a long conflict will pose to Ukraine. The Western coalition backing Kyiv could certainly fray; the wave of adrenaline that has so far propelled the Ukrainian army and leadership could crash. Ukraine’s economy could grow worse, making the fight much harder or even impossible to sustain.

But even so, off-ramp remains the wrong metaphor and the wrong goal. The West should not aim to offer Putin an off-ramp; our goal, our endgame, should be defeat. In fact, the only solution that offers some hope of long-term stability in Europe is rapid defeat, or even, to borrow Macron’s phrase, humiliation. In truth, the Russian president not only has to stop fighting the war; he has to conclude that the war was a terrible mistake, one that can never be repeated. More to the point, the people around him — leaders of the army, the security services, the business community — have to conclude exactly the same thing. The Russian public must eventually come to agree too.

More at https://web.archive.org/web/20220523170929/https://www.theatlantic.com
/ideas/archive/2022/05/why-ukraine-must-defeat-putin-russia/629940/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 8:52 AM

Gas prices have hit a record high every day for three straight weeks.

Nobody gives one single shit about Ukraine and Russia.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 10:12 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Gas prices have hit a record high every day for three straight weeks.

Nobody gives one single shit about Ukraine and Russia.

People who drive Ford F-150 Lightnings don't buy gasoline. People who own Exxon-Mobile stock are prospering with high gasoline prices and are buying electric pickup trucks. People who have vacationed in Europe do care about Ukraine and Russia. Those people are not like 6ix.

https://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/f150-lightning/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 10:43 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Gas prices have hit a record high every day for three straight weeks.

Nobody gives one single shit about Ukraine and Russia.
People who drive Ford F-150 Lightnings don't buy gasoline.

Nope. They just drive around with 1,800 lb batteries that cost $26,000 to replace and are hazardous waste. They also buy into the "zero-emissions" claims because they think that electricity is magical.

Meanwhile, they continue to rally against nuclear power and are going to be responsible for both home electricity prices per kWh skyrocketing and redoubled efforts for coal mining to feed their addiction because, spoiler alert, there ain't enough land for wind farms and solar power on every planet in the Milky Way to charge all the electric cars you morons are pushing.

(For now, let's not even dive into how much money and emissions are exhausted mining for the materials that you morons used to use in your tiny cell phone batteriess and are now putting into batteries that are 1/3 the weight of your vehicles).

Meanwhile, a new F-150 Lightning is just a few years away from becoming a 6,171 lb paper weight, because unlike mid-90's to early 2000's Toyotas, there isn't going to be any used car market for them when the difference in replacement cost for a battery is 26,000%.

Quote:
Those people are not like 6ix.

You're right. There wouldn't have ever been enough beer in the world for me to drink to become as stupid as these people.

I hardly drive dude.

Don't worry about me. I was never going to vote for your idiots. Worry about all of the wage slaves who aren't going to vote the way you want them to in November because Democrats are cancer.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 11:27 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Those people are not like 6ix.

These people are nothing like me either...

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hungry-parents-sacrificing-amid-soaring
-090109778.html

But they're certainly nothing like you and they're not going to vote the way you want them to.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 12:02 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Nope. They just drive around with 1,800 lb batteries that cost $26,000 to replace and are hazardous waste. They also buy into the "zero-emissions" claims because they think that electricity is magical.

I got a 60 month plan with MP2 Energy:
100% Renewable Electric Vehicle Charging plans give residential customers free charging during specific off-peak hours, a fixed energy rate to avoid unexpected price fluctuations, and access to our first-class customer service.
https://www.mp2energy.com/EV

6ix, you know less than nothing because what you are sure is true isn't true.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 12:27 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Those people are not like 6ix.

These people are nothing like me either...

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hungry-parents-sacrificing-amid-soaring
-090109778.html

But they're certainly nothing like you and they're not going to vote the way you want them to.

Your hungry parents -- Smith earns $67,000 a year. Her husband brings home about $20,000 to $30,000 a year. She says she "makes too much for assistance" but too little to get by. Makes too much is very true because Georgia Median Household Income is $58,700. Makes "too little to get by" is very false.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/median-household-inco
me-by-state

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 12:45 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Open Letter to Noam Chomsky (and other like-minded intellectuals) on the Russia-Ukraine war

Yuriy Gorodnichenko, professor of economics | May 19, 2022
coauthored with Bohdan Kukharskyy (City University of New York), Anastassia Fedyk (UC Berkeley) and Ilona Sologoub (VoxUkraine)

Dear Professor Chomsky,

We are a group of Ukrainian academic economists who were grieved by a series of your recent interviews and commentaries on the Russian war on Ukraine. We believe that your public opinion on this matter is counter-productive to bringing an end to the unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine and all the deaths and suffering it has brought into our home country.

Having familiarized ourselves with the body of your interviews on this matter, we noticed several recurring fallacies in your line of argument. In what follows, we wish to point out these patterns to you, alongside with our brief response:

Pattern #1: Denying Ukraine’s sovereign integrity

In your interview to Jeremy Scahill at The Intercept from April 14, 2022 you claimed: “The fact of the matter is Crimea is off the table. We may not like it. Crimeans apparently do like it.” We wish to bring to your attention several historical facts:

First, Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 has violated the Budapest memorandum (in which it promised to respect and protect Ukrainian borders, including Crimea), the Treaty on Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation (which it signed with Ukraine in 1997 with the same promises), and, according to the order of the UN International Court of Justice, it violated the international law.

Second, “Crimeans” is not an ethnicity or a cohesive group of people – but Crimean Tatars are. These are the indigenous people of Crimea, who were deported by Stalin in 1944 (and were able to come back home only after the USSR fell apart), and were forced to flee again in 2014 when Russia occupied Crimea. Of those who stayed, dozens have been persecuted, jailed on false charges and missing, probably dead.

Third, if by ‘liking’ you refer to the outcome of the Crimean “referendum” on March 16, 2014, please note that this “referendum” was held at gunpoint and declared invalid by the General Assembly of the United Nations. At the same time, the majority of voters in Crimea supported Ukraine’s independence in 1991.

Pattern #2: Treating Ukraine as an American pawn on a geo-political chessboard

Whether willingly or unwillingly, your interviews insinuate that Ukrainians are fighting with Russians because the U.S. instigated them to do so, that Euromaidan happened because the U.S. tried to detach Ukraine from the Russian sphere of influence, etc. Such an attitude denies the agency of Ukraine and is a slap in the face to millions of Ukrainians who are risking their lives for the desire to live in a free country. Simply put, have you considered the possibility that Ukrainians would like to detach from the Russian sphere of influence due to a history of genocide, cultural oppression, and constant denial of the right to self-determination?

Pattern #3. Suggesting that Russia was threatened by NATO

In your interviews, you are eager to bring up the alleged promise by [US Secretary of State] James Baker and President George H.W. Bush to Gorbachev that, if he agreed to allow a unified Germany to rejoin NATO, the U.S. would ensure that NATO would move ‘not one inch eastward.’ First, please note that the historicity of this promise is highly contested among scholars, although Russia has been active in promoting it. The premise is that NATO’s eastward expansion left Putin with no other choice but to attack. But the reality is different. Eastern European states joined, and Ukraine and Georgia aspired to join NATO, in order to defend themselves from Russian imperialism. They were right in their aspirations, given that Russia did attack Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014. Moreover, current requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO came in direct response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, consistent with NATO expansion being a consequence of Russian imperialism, and not vice versa.

In addition, we disagree with the notion that sovereign nations shouldn’t be making alliances based on the will of their people because of disputed verbal promises made by James Baker and George H.W. Bush to Gorbachev.

Pattern #4. Stating that the U.S. isn’t any better than Russia

While you admittedly call the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “war crime,” it appears to us that you cannot do so without naming in the same breath all of the past atrocities committed by the U.S. abroad (e.g., in Iraq or Afghanistan) and, ultimately, spending most of your time discussing the latter. As economists, we are not in a position to correct your historical metaphors and, needless to say, we condemn the unjustified killings of civilians by any power in the past. However, not bringing Putin up on war crime charges at the International Criminal Court in the Hague just because some past leader did not receive similar treatment would be the wrong conclusion to draw from any historical analogy. In contrast, we argue that prosecuting Putin for the war crimes that are being deliberately committed in Ukraine would set an international precedent for the world leaders attempting to do the same in the future.

Pattern #5. Whitewashing Putin’s goals for invading Ukraine

In your interviews, you go to great lengths to rationalize Putin’s goals of “demilitarization” and “neutralization” of Ukraine. Please note that, in his TV address from February 24, 2022, marking the beginning of the war, the verbatim goal declared by Putin for this “military operation” is to “denazify” Ukraine. This concept builds on his long pseudo-historical article from July 2021, denying Ukraine’s existence and claiming that Ukrainians were not a nation. As elaborated in the ‘denazification manual’ published by the Russian official press agency RIA Novosti, a “Nazi” is simply a human being who self-identifies as Ukrainian, the establishment of a Ukrainian state thirty years ago was the “Nazification of Ukraine,” and any attempt to build such a state has to be a “Nazi” act. According to this genocide handbook, denazification implies a military defeat, purging, and population-level “re-education”. ‘Demilitarization’ and ‘neutralization’ imply the same goal – without weapons Ukraine will not be able to defend itself, and Russia will reach its long-term goal of destroying Ukraine.

Pattern #6. Assuming that Putin is interested in a diplomatic solution

All of us very much hoped for a cease-fire and a negotiated settlement, which could have saved many human lives. Yet, we find it preposterous how you repeatedly assign the blame for not reaching this settlement to Ukraine (for not offering Putin some “escape hatch”) or the U.S. (for supposedly insisting on the military rather than diplomatic solution) instead of the actual aggressor, who has repeatedly and intentionally bombed civilians, maternity wards, hospitals, and humanitarian corridors during those very “negotiations”. Given the escalatory rhetoric (cited above) of the Russian state media, Russia’s goal is erasure and subjugation of Ukraine, not a “diplomatic solution.”

Pattern #7. Advocating that yielding to Russian demands is the way to avert the nuclear war

Since the Russian invasion, Ukraine lives in a constant nuclear threat, not just due to being a prime target for Russian nuclear missiles but also due to the Russian occupation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

But what are the alternatives to fighting for freedom? Unconditional surrender and then elimination of Ukrainians off the face of the Earth (see above)? Have you ever wondered why President Zelenskyy, with the overwhelming support of the Ukrainian people, is pleading with Western leaders to provide heavy weapons despite the potential threat of nuclear escalation? The answer to this question is not “Because of Uncle Sam”, but rather due to the fact that Russian war crimes in Bucha and many other Ukrainian cities and villages have shown that living under Russian occupation is a tangible “hell on earth” happening right now, requiring immediate action.

Arguably, any concessions to Russia will not reduce the probability of a nuclear war but lead to escalation. If Ukraine falls, Russia may attack other countries (Moldova, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Finland or Sweden) and can also use its nuclear blackmail to push the rest of Europe into submission. And Russia is not the only nuclear power in the world. Other countries, such as China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea are watching. Just imagine what will happen if they learn that nuclear powers can get whatever they want using nuclear blackmail.

Professor Chomsky, we hope you will consider the facts and re-evaluate your conclusions. If you truly value Ukrainian lives as you claim to, we would like to kindly ask you to refrain from adding further fuel to the Russian war machine by spreading views very much akin to Russian propaganda.

Should you wish to engage further on any of the above-mentioned points, we are always open to discussion.

Kind regards,

Bohdan Kukharskyy, City University of New York

Anastassia Fedyk, University of California, Berkeley

Yuriy Gorodnichenko, University of California, Berkeley

Ilona Sologoub, VoxUkraine NGO

https://blogs.berkeley.edu/2022/05/19/open-letter-to-noam-chomsky-and-
other-like-minded-intellectuals-on-the-russia-ukraine-war/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 5:42 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Nope. They just drive around with 1,800 lb batteries that cost $26,000 to replace and are hazardous waste. They also buy into the "zero-emissions" claims because they think that electricity is magical.
I got a 60 month plan with MP2 Energy:
100% Renewable Electric Vehicle Charging plans give residential customers free charging during specific off-peak hours, a fixed energy rate to avoid unexpected price fluctuations, and access to our first-class customer service.
https://www.mp2energy.com/EV

6ix, you know less than nothing because what you are sure is true isn't true.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Oh. You were talking about YOU. That's priceless.

LOL

Some people got Disney+ for free with their Verizon phones for a year too. What's your point?

I'll put the rest of my post you quoted here in answer to this dumb shit.

Have fun selling that paperweight for nothing once the battery dies, moron.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Meanwhile, they continue to rally against nuclear power and are going to be responsible for both home electricity prices per kWh skyrocketing and redoubled efforts for coal mining to feed their addiction because, spoiler alert, there ain't enough land for wind farms and solar power on every planet in the Milky Way to charge all the electric cars you morons are pushing.

(For now, let's not even dive into how much money and emissions are exhausted mining for the materials that you morons used to use in your tiny cell phone batteriess and are now putting into batteries that are 1/3 the weight of your vehicles).

Meanwhile, a new F-150 Lightning is just a few years away from becoming a 6,171 lb paper weight, because unlike mid-90's to early 2000's Toyotas, there isn't going to be any used car market for them when the difference in replacement cost for a battery is 26,000%.

Quote:
Those people are not like 6ix.

You're right. There wouldn't have ever been enough beer in the world for me to drink to become as stupid as these people.

I hardly drive dude.

Don't worry about me. I was never going to vote for your idiots. Worry about all of the wage slaves who aren't going to vote the way you want them to in November because Democrats are cancer.

Ford wants to thank your dumb white ass for being an early test subject... I mean for "saving the planet".

Mud in his blood and a vehicle that lost 95% of its sticker price the second he drove it off the lot.

Keep throwing your money and life at the Corps who don't give a shit about you or the environment because they have a large budget for their Virtue Signalling Department.

Hey? Maybe your Ford F-150 Lightning could be repurposed as your casket when you die from your Booster Shots now that they've given you AIDS?

Meanwhile, I'll be driving around your used gas powered Ford F-150 until 2050.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 5:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Those people are not like 6ix.

These people are nothing like me either...

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hungry-parents-sacrificing-amid-soaring
-090109778.html

But they're certainly nothing like you and they're not going to vote the way you want them to.
Your hungry parents

Nobody in my family is going hungry.

Quote:
-- Smith earns $67,000 a year. Her husband brings home about $20,000 to $30,000 a year. She says she "makes too much for assistance" but too little to get by. Makes too much is very true because Georgia Median Household Income is $58,700. Makes "too little to get by" is very false.

I live off of just north of 1/10th the Georgia median, and about 1/11th of what Smith grosses in a year. In fact, I live on less than the $7508.00 in Federal Taxes that she will pay in April. Who do you think you're talking to son?

I get a great laugh when I see stories of families making $100k per year and bitching they don't have enough money.

That's not my point here. My point is that they're not voting the way that YOU want them to.

Have a nice day.

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 5:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Open Letter to Noam Chomsky (and other like-minded intellectuals) on the Russia-Ukraine war

They're just pissy that your boy Noam agrees with me.

And so are you.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 6:58 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

That's not my point here. My point is that they're not voting the way that YOU want them to.

Have a nice day.

My Mother had a saying that people dig their own graves with their teeth. She would never be so rude as to withhold food from fat people (my Mother and Father worked at Burger King) but her meaning was apparent to her children because we could see fat people dying all over East Texas. Since then, it has become apparent to my children that Republicans dig their own graves with their voting. 6ix, your kind are free to kill yourself whatever way makes you feel good - food, alcohol, tobacco, Trump. Your habits put money in my pocket. Your voting for Republicans means I pay lower taxes when those Republicans, as they always do when in power, lower my taxes.

Let me help your understanding. I make money owning tobacco stocks. I won't use tobacco, but the people who do are making me richer. Thank you for smoking. I am not going to be so rude as to withhold tobacco from an adult. Smokers make their own decisions and I benefit.

One more example: I definitely support the Ukraine War. I also definitely support the extra money I make from higher prices for natural gas, which is connected to Putin's decisions. He is an adult and I'm not going to stop him putting money into my pocket.

Just for the record, there are a lot of fat Americans, Democrat, Republican and Independent. Them getting fat, sick and dead is very profitable for me. I choose not to get fat, but if they want to, I'll sell them beef to fatten them up. (It's health care stocks that make more money for me than beef.) From 1999–2000 through 2017–March 2020, US obesity prevalence increased from 30.5% to 41.9%. During the same time, the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%. Perfect freedom for them to get fatter/sicker/dumber by choice while I get richer by choice.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 8:32 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Is the United States Totalitarian?

In the three months since Russia began its war of aggression, the character of the country has been changing before our eyes. Its much-vaunted military has been exposed as not only weak, disorganized, and corrupt, but also criminal, engaging in pillaging and the torture and mass slaughter of unarmed Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war. Resorting to a practice not seen since the Stalin era, Vladimir Putin’s government has also been deporting captured Ukrainians, apparently by the hundreds of thousands, to distant portions of Russia, first passing them through “filtration” camps where prisoners are interrogated for nationalist leanings and selected out for punishment. The Russian judicial system has been mobilized to crack down on dissent against the war; among other things, it is a crime punishable by up to 15 years in a labor camp to refer to it as anything but a “special military operation.” To the extent that there were independent media before the war, they have been shut down and the only voices now in print or on the air are official propaganda. Access to independent news sources on the internet has also been sharply restricted. In sum, Russia has taken a number of steps back toward the repression of the Soviet era.

But as draconian as these various measures all are, Russia is not yet properly called “totalitarian” as it rightly was during the reign of Joseph Stalin or even much of the Leonid Brezhnev era. About a century ago, Benito Mussolini called fascist Italy a “totalitarian state,” a concept that he defined with brilliant clarity: “Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State.” But whether the label of totalitarian actually applies to Mussolini-era Italian fascism, or, again, to Putin’s Russia today, is open to serious question. All-encompassing statism was more of an aspiration than an Italian accomplishment. Even the more thoroughgoing oppression of Nazi Germany did not quite fit the totalitarian model, at least according to the criteria set forth by Zbigniew Brzezinski and Carl Friedrich in their influential 1956 volume, “Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy.”

Much more at https://www.lawfareblog.com/united-states-totalitarian

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 9:52 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by SECOND: blah blah blah...

Just so you know SECOND: I haven't read any of your recent posts.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 11:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
My Mother had a saying that people dig their own graves with their teeth.

Oh bummer. I guess I can't do that anymore.

Fuck off, Second.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022 11:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Those people are not like 6ix.

These people are nothing like me either...

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hungry-parents-sacrificing-amid-soaring
-090109778.html

But they're certainly nothing like you and they're not going to vote the way you want them to.

Looks like the Associated Press (fake Leftist "news") is finally admitting that nobody gives a shit about Ukraine or Russia too.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/05/24/massive_turns_in
_opinion_on_dcs_response_to_russia_147644.html

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 7:00 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

These people are nothing like me either...
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hungry-parents-sacrificing-amid-soaring
-090109778.html
But they're certainly nothing like you and they're not going to vote the way you want them to.

Looks like the Associated Press (fake Leftist "news") is finally admitting that nobody gives a shit about Ukraine or Russia too.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/05/24/massive_turns_in
_opinion_on_dcs_response_to_russia_147644.html

I think they pushed the RUSSIA!RUSSIA! button too often, and for no good (or mostly fake) reasons. People are seeing past the bullshit.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 8:31 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
Quote:
Originally posted by SECOND: blah blah blah...

Just so you know SECOND: I haven't read any of your recent posts.

I read all your posts. Most recently
http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=65059&mid=11561
63#1156163

Signym, you write fan fiction where Putin and Trump are the heroes of the stories.

Signym wrote: "Anyway, no alternatives of the scale necessary have been found, which is why the gas-for-rubles payment system is being conceded and why the oil embargo cant get off the ground." That is fantasy. Reality is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is considered Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest EU ally, is opposed to the oil embargo.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hungary-proposes-removi
ng-russian-oil-embargo-eu-agenda-84961904

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 8:44 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Signym, you write fan fiction where Putin and Trump are the heroes of the stories.

Trump's story ain't done yet.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 8:54 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Signym, you write fan fiction where Putin and Trump are the heroes of the stories.

Trump's story ain't done yet.

Trump's fantasy was that Putin would not have attacked Ukraine if Trump were President, but if Trump were President and there was an attack despite his personal friendship with Putin, he would win it and all Ukrainians would be so grateful for him bringing peace. Trump has no shame when he spins fantasies about himself as the hero of every story.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220427072409/https://www.vanityfair.com/
news/2022/04/donald-trump-piers-morgan-ukraine-rigged-election

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 8:59 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Signym, you write fan fiction where Putin and Trump are the heroes of the stories.

Trump's story ain't done yet.
Trump's fantasy was that Putin would not have attacked Ukraine if Trump were President, but if Trump were President and there was an attack despite his personal friendship with Putin, he would win it and all Ukrainians would be so grateful for him bringing peace. Trump has no shame when he spins fantasies about himself as the hero of every story.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220427072409/https://www.vanityfair.com/
news/2022/04/donald-trump-piers-morgan-ukraine-rigged-election

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Oh. I'm not talking about that story that nobody cares about.

I'm talking about the one that is going to have broad impact here in the states.

How about Chapter 1: SCOTUS?

Bring on the gun control, baby. See what happens.

In Biden*'s fantasies about himself, he's the Good Humor Man.

He gets to eat ice cream all day, every day, and has plenty of opportunity to sniff your daughter's and granddaughter's hair.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 9:54 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Oh. I'm not talking about that story that nobody cares about.

I'm talking about the one that is going to have broad impact here in the states.

How about Chapter 1: SCOTUS?

Bring on the gun control, baby. See what happens.

In Biden*'s fantasies about himself, he's the Good Humor Man.

He gets to eat ice cream all day, every day, and has plenty of opportunity to sniff your daughter's and granddaughter's hair.

The 2nd Amendment was written by slave-owners to prevent abolitionists from forbidding state militias hunting down and killing runaway/rebellious slaves. The Republicans on the Supreme Court would change their minds about the 2nd Amendment if a gunman entering the Supreme Court hunted down and killed Republican Supreme Court justices as if they were rebellious slaves. In 2008, the Court made a 5-4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. Kill those 5 Republicans and the decision would go the other way. The Supreme Court is in the District of Columbia, which means it would be particularly ironic that the judges killed are the ones who changed the law so that they could be killed.
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/blog/on-this-d
ay-a-divided-supreme-court-rules-on-the-second-amendment

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 10:24 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Oh. I'm not talking about that story that nobody cares about.

I'm talking about the one that is going to have broad impact here in the states.

How about Chapter 1: SCOTUS?

Bring on the gun control, baby. See what happens.

In Biden*'s fantasies about himself, he's the Good Humor Man.

He gets to eat ice cream all day, every day, and has plenty of opportunity to sniff your daughter's and granddaughter's hair.
The 2nd Amendment was written by slave-owners to prevent abolitionists from forbidding state militias hunting down and killing runaway/rebellious slaves. The Republicans on the Supreme Court would change their minds about the 2nd Amendment if a gunman entering the Supreme Court hunted down and killed Republican Supreme Court justices as if they were rebellious slaves. In 2008, the Court made a 5-4 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. Kill those 5 Republicans and the decision would go the other way. The Supreme Court is in the District of Columbia, which means it would be particularly ironic that the judges killed are the ones who changed the law so that they could be killed.
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/blog/on-this-d
ay-a-divided-supreme-court-rules-on-the-second-amendment

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Archived.

You've really outdone yourself this time, Arthur.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 12:07 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Archived.

You've really outdone yourself this time, Arthur.

6ix, a Federal Marshall handles death threats against Federal judges. I think you should call them, 6ix, because "archiving" does nothing to protect Republican Supreme Court judges who have gone crazy. For example, among constitutional scholars, Dred Scott v. Sandford is widely considered the worst and craziest decision ever rendered by the Supreme Court. A War between the States followed.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Dred-Scott-decision

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-judge-threats-attack-60-minutes-2
021-05-30/

On a similar note, if Vladimir Putin is captured, he will be executed for his crimes. Tit for tat, Putin would do the same to Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he was captured.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 1:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Archived.

You've really outdone yourself this time, Arthur.
6ix, a Federal Marshall handles death threats against Federal judges. I think you should call them, 6ix, because "archiving" does nothing to protect Republican Supreme Court judges who have gone crazy. For example, among constitutional scholars, Dred Scott v. Sandford is widely considered the worst and craziest decision ever rendered by the Supreme Court. A War between the States followed.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Dred-Scott-decision

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-judge-threats-attack-60-minutes-2
021-05-30/

On a similar note, if Vladimir Putin is captured, he will be executed for his crimes. Tit for tat, Putin would do the same to Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he was captured.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

I'm not their protector. I don't have a cushy Government job with a pension.

But if anything like what you were explaining were ever to happen to 5 Republican Justices I'm sure the Marshals* would like to see this. (one L, stupid... This isn't a Department Store.)

Hope you enjoy legal trouble and paying lawyers for saying stupid shit.

Maybe you can explain to your fake wife and fake daughters and fake cats why you're being subpoenaed to Federal court if and when that day comes, Arthur.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 5:55 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Editorial: The Kyiv Independent’s response to the New York Times editorial board
May 24, 2022 8:38 pm

https://kyivindependent.com/opinion/editorial-the-kyiv-independents-re
sponse-to-the-new-york-times-editorial-board/

The New York Times editorial, “The War in Ukraine Is Getting Complicated, and America Isn’t Ready,” published on May 19, immediately caused an uproar in Ukraine.

A veiled manifesto of appeasement from a newspaper known for its stellar coverage of Russia’s horrific invasion has disappointed many.

In the editorial, the New York Times editorial board argues that it’s too dangerous to assume that Ukraine can win the war. It says “Russia is too strong,” that Ukraine should make a “painful compromise” and give up some territories to Russia. The U.S. must understand the futility and stop “taunting” Russia, the editorial says. Meaning: Ukraine will lose anyway, stop helping it so it’s over faster.

In short, the editorial attempts to pass off appeasement and betrayal of the free world’s values as pragmatic reasoning.

Dark times have always shed light on those willing to compromise their values to preserve their daily comforts. Neither a French president, a German intellectual, nor an award-winning American newspaper are exempt from being wrong.

As a newsroom witnessing the war from inside Ukraine, we want to set the record straight.

Ukraine winning the war with Russia isn’t “unrealistic” or even “likely.” If we want the world to be anything like what we know it to be, then Ukraine winning is the only option.

And Western financial and military support for Ukraine is the only way to establish “long-term peace and security on the European continent” that the New York Times editorial board is rooting for.

Ukraine’s belief in its victory isn’t based on overconfidence. It’s based on necessity.

Any concession to Russia now will lead to another war sooner or later, while Ukrainians stuck in any region occupied by Russia will be tortured, raped, or killed. The New York Times is running story after story about the living hell through which Russia puts Ukrainian civilians in occupied territories. Meanwhile, its editorial board is suggesting that Ukraine should cede territories to Russia, where more atrocities will undoubtedly happen.

Appeasement isn’t the voice of reason. It’s fear and short-sightedness that will only make things worse, something we’ve all seen too many times in the past.

Allowing Russia to annex Crimea emboldened Russia to try to swallow the Donbas. When it invaded in 2014, carving up a sovereign state and killing civilians, the other world leaders’ tepid response made Russia’s bloody dictator feel empowered to do more.

It’s obvious that he’s been planning the full-scale invasion of Ukraine ever since. It’s often been said by world leaders and analysts that one of Vladimir Putin’s main miscalculations was assuming that the West would let him take Ukraine easily. It didn’t.

Now the New York Times is calling for the West to do what Putin expected and give up.

Make no mistake: If you appease a dictator, whose troops regularly indulge in war crimes, it will lead to a catastrophic geopolitical shift.

A Russian military victory would lead to land grabs and brutal conquest becoming the new norm. Allowing a power-hungry fascist dictatorship to succeed will encourage other dictatorships to try.

Telling the U.S. and NATO to ask Ukraine to sacrifice itself for the delusional hope of “long-term peace and security on the European continent” is the same as urging them to cede Taiwan to China. It’s the same as averting eyes from the rape, torture, and what appears to be a planned-out genocide committed by the Russians in Ukraine and by the Chinese in Xinjiang.

It’s a deal that shouldn’t be taken.

Nor are we forced to take it. The assumption that Russia, despite its colossal battlefield losses, is still a superpower with a potent military is a lie groomed by Russian propaganda over the past 15 years.

It’s a lie many in the West still believe, in spite of Russia’s modest-at-best progress in Ukraine and its losses of tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of vehicles.

Russia has already lost over 40% of the territories it invaded since February. And yet, some continue to think that the Russian military is unbeatable.

The reality is that Russian corruption, theft, mismanagement, and lack of transparency led to the country’s military being poorly trained and equipped. Highly-motivated soldiers could have offset these problems. But Russia has no viable justification for the war it could feed its demoralized soldiers, who are often used as cannon fodder.

The Russian military is weak, its command structure is abysmal and it can very well lose the war to the smaller but much more motivated Ukrainian forces willing to defend their homes, families, and country until the last breath.

Meanwhile, following the New York Times’ advice will lead to more war, more destruction and a heavier burden on American people in the long run.

But perhaps one of the most striking features of the editorial is the complete lack of understanding of Ukraine and Ukrainians.

Ironically, the New York Times makes the same mistake that the Russians did when they attacked Ukraine in February. The Russians assumed that Ukrainians would welcome them or surrender. The New York Times editorial board should know better than to make similar assumptions about Ukrainians now.

If anything, the Gray Lady should learn from its mistakes, like when it ran a story about how modern and lethal the Russian military is, a month before the invasion would prove otherwise.

Because here’s the thing. Ukrainian society will never agree to any concessions. Those who don’t understand this simple fact don’t understand Ukraine at all, and perhaps shouldn’t share their uneducated speculations in one of the world’s leading media publications.

Even President Volodymyr Zelensky, however popular he is now, wouldn’t be able to persuade Ukrainians to concede. According to a recent poll by the Kyiv International Sociology Institute, 82% of Ukrainians believe that Ukraine should not give up territory for peace under any circumstances.

After seeing the atrocities committed by Russian troops in Borodyanka, Bucha and Mariupol, the Ukrainian people see very clearly that this is a war for survival against a fascist regime that denies Ukrainians the right to exist. Concessions would be a swift death sentence for thousands of Ukrainians. This fact apparently escapes the New York Times editorial board.

The newspaper doesn’t have to go far to find some clarity.

As professor Timothy Snyder pointed out in his spectacular guest essay, published on the same day as the controversial editorial, “so long as Nazi Germany seemed strong, Europeans and others were tempted. It was only on the battlefields of World War II that fascism was defeated.”

Ukraine will win, sooner or later, because no fascist state has ever truly prevailed over a free country.

The democratic world can make this victory come sooner and be less costly for the people of Ukraine and for the world. It can do so by stepping up military support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia.

Ukraine is fighting this war on behalf of the free world – to make sure it remains free. The free world must at least try to match the Ukrainians’ bravery.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 6:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Ukraine is fighting this war on behalf of the free world – to make sure it remains free. The free world must at least try to match the Ukrainians’ bravery.

Yeah. Match it with Billions of taxpayer dollars.

Fuck off, Ukraine.

There isn't one goddamned thing that would change in my life today, tomorrow or 20 years from now if you were part of Russia immediately after I click submit on this post.

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 7:16 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

I wonder how all of that Ukraine -Biden money laundering, as documented in Hunter's laptop, will play in the "free" press.

Probably not at all.

But let's not forget that Ukraine is the poorest AND the most corrupt nation in Europe. And that includes Albania, which is saying something!

Fighting for "freedom"??
Piffle!
But at least I got a chuckle out of the concept.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, May 25, 2022 7:53 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
I wonder how all of that Ukraine -Biden money laundering, as documented in Hunter's laptop, will play in the "free" press.

Where is the document publicized? Same place as Trump's promised tax returns?

Trump paid no federal income taxes for 10 years
https://fortune.com/2020/09/27/trump-paid-no-income-taxes/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 3:01 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Supposedly at

https://bidenlaptopemails.com

Quote:
120,000 emails from Hunter’s infamous laptop made public within a searchable database
In what is being touted as “a modern Rosetta Stone of white and blue-collar crime,” a former staffer from President Donald Trump’s administration made more than 120,000 emails from Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop public within a searchable database.

Garrett Ziegler, 26, worked in the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy under Director and Assistant to the President Peter Navarro. Using the nom de plume Marco Polo, the former aide reportedly created the site BidenLaptopEmails.com “to see justice delivered.”...
“Here are 128k emails from the Biden Laptop, which is a modern Rosetta Stone of white and blue-collar crime under the patina of ‘the Delaware Way,'” the site reads, referencing an expression of President Joe Biden. While some previously reported emails were left out, the “10 for the big guy” message alleging the former vice president’s involvement in Hunter’s business dealings can be found.

https://www.bizpacreview.com/2022/05/18/120000-emails-from-hunters-inf
amous-laptop-made-public-within-a-searchable-database-1239176/

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 3:08 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Oh BTW... LOTS of wealthy pople pay no "income" taxes because they make sure not to be paid as "income" but as capital gains. That's a widely acknowledged fault of tax law.

Instead of using this fact as a vehicle for your longstanding war against Republicans and Trump, why don't you use some of that vast wealth that you claim to have and agitate to have the law changed?

Or would that cut into your lifestyle too much?

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 4:11 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Escobar: NATO vs Russia - What Happens Next

Thursday, May 26, 2022 - 06:00 AM

Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

In Davos and beyond, NATO's upbeat narrative plays like a broken record, while on the ground, Russia is stacking up wins that could sink the Atlantic order...

Three months after the start of Russia’s Operation Z in Ukraine, the battle of The West (12 percent) against The Rest (88 percent) keeps metastasizing. Yet the narrative – oddly – remains the same.

On Monday, from Davos, World Economic Forum Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab introduced Ukrainian comedian-cum-President Volodymyr Zelensky, on the latest leg of his weapons-solicitation-tour, with a glowing tribute. Herr Schwab stressed that an actor impersonating a president defending neo-Nazis is supported by “all of Europe and the international order.”

He means, of course, everyone except the 88 percent of the planet that subscribes to the Rule of Law – instead of the faux construct the west calls a ‘rules-based international order.’

Back in the real world, Russia, slowly but surely has been rewriting the Art of Hybrid War. Yet within the carnival of NATO psyops, aggressive cognitive infiltration, and stunning media sycophancy, much is being made of the new $40 billion US ‘aid’ package to Ukraine, deemed capable of becoming a game-changer in the war.

This ‘game-changing’ narrative comes courtesy of the same people who burned though trillions of dollars to secure Afghanistan and Iraq. And we saw how that went down.

Ukraine is the Holy Grail of international corruption. That $40 billion can be a game-changer for only two classes of people: First, the US military-industrial complex, and second, a bunch of Ukrainian oligarchs and neo-connish NGOs, that will corner the black market for weapons and humanitarian aid, and then launder the profits in the Cayman Islands.

A quick breakdown of the $40 billion reveals $8.7 billion will go to replenish the US weapons stockpile (thus not going to Ukraine at all); $3.9 billion for USEUCOM (the ‘office’ that dictates military tactics to Kiev); $5 billion for a fuzzy, unspecified “global food supply chain”; $6 billion for actual weapons and “training” to Ukraine; $9 billion in “economic assistance” (which will disappear into selected pockets); and $0.9 billion for refugees.

US risk agencies have downgraded Kiev to the dumpster of non-reimbursing-loan entities, so large American investment funds are ditching Ukraine, leaving the European Union (EU) and its member-states as the country’s only option.

Few of those countries, apart from Russophobic entities such as Poland, can justify to their own populations sending huge sums of direct aid to a failed state. So it will fall to the Brussels-based EU machine to do just enough to maintain Ukraine in an economic coma – independent from any input from member-states and institutions.

These EU ‘loans’ – mostly in the form of weapons shipments – can always be reimbursed by Kiev’s wheat exports. This is already happening on a small scale via the port of Constanta in Romania, where Ukrainian wheat arrives in barges over the Danube and is loaded into dozens of cargo ships everyday. Or, via convoys of trucks rolling with the weapons-for-wheat racket. However, Ukrainian wheat will keep feeding the wealthy west, not impoverished Ukrainians.

Moreover, expect NATO this summer to come up with another monster psyop to defend its divine (not legal) right to enter the Black Sea with warships to escort Ukrainian vessels transporting wheat. Pro-NATO media will spin it as the west being ‘saved’ from the global food crisis – which happens to be directly caused by serial, hysterical packages of western sanctions.
Poland goes for soft annexation

NATO is indeed massively ramping up its ‘support’ to Ukraine via the western border with Poland. That’s in synch with Washington’s two overarching targets: First, a ‘long war,’ insurgency-style, just like Afghanistan in the 1980s, with jihadis replaced by mercenaries and neo-Nazis. Second, the sanctions instrumentalized to “weaken” Russia, militarily and economically.

Other targets remain unchanged, but are subordinate to the Top Two: make sure that the Democrats are re-elected in the mid-terms (that’s not going to happen); irrigate the industrial-military complex with funds that are recycled back as kickbacks (already happening); and keep the hegemony of the US dollar by all means (tricky: the multipolar world is getting its act together).

A key target being met with astonishing ease is the destruction of the German – and consequently the EU’s – economy, with a great deal of the surviving companies to be eventually sold off to American interests.

Take, for instance, BMW board member Milan Nedeljkovic telling Reuters that “our industry accounts for about 37 percent of natural gas consumption in Germany” which will sink without Russian gas supplies.

Washington’s plan is to keep the new ‘long war’ going at a not-too-incandescent level – think Syria during the 2010s – fueled by rows of mercenaries, and featuring periodic NATO escalations by anyone from Poland and the Baltic midgets to Germany.

Last week, that pitiful Eurocrat posing as High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, gave away the game when previewing the upcoming meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.

Borrell admitted that “the conflict will be long” and “the priority of the EU member states” in Ukraine “consists in the supply of heavy weapons.”

Then Polish President Andrzej Duda met with Zelensky in Kiev. The slew of agreements the two signed indicate that Warsaw intends to profit handsomely from the war to enhance its politico-military, economic, and cultural influence in western Ukraine. Polish nationals will be allowed to be elected to Ukrainian government bodies and even aim to become constitutional judges.

In practice, that means Kiev is all but transferring management of the Ukrainian failed state to Poland. Warsaw won’t even have to send troops. Call it a soft annexation.
The steamroller on the move

As it stands, the situation on the battlefield can be examined in this map. Intercepted communications from the Ukrainian command reveal their aim to build a layered defense from Poltava through Dnepropetrovsk, Zaporozhia, Krivoy Rog, and Nikolaev – which happens to be a shield for the already fortified Odessa. None of that guarantees success against the incoming Russian onslaught.

It’s always important to remember that Operation Z started on February 24 with around 150,000 or so fighters – and definitely not Russia’s elite forces. And yet they liberated Mariupol and destroyed the elite neo-Nazi Azov batallion in a matter of only fifty days, cleaning up a city of 400,000 people with minimal casualties.

While fighting a real war on the ground – not those indiscriminate US bombings from the air – in a huge country against a large army, facing multiple technical, financial and logistical challenges, the Russians also managed to liberate Kherson, Zaporizhia and virtually the whole area of the ‘baby twins,’ the popular republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russia’s ground forces commander, General Aleksandr Dvornikov, has turbo-charged missile, artillery and air strikes to a pace five times faster than during the first phase of Operation Z, while the Ukrainians, overall, are low or very low on fuel, ammo for artillery, trained specialists, drones, and radars.

What American armchair and TV generals simply cannot comprehend is that in Russia’s view of this war – which military expert Andrei Martyanov defines as a “combined arms and police operation” – the two top targets are the destruction of all military assets of the enemy while preserving the life of its own soldiers.

So while losing tanks is not a big deal for Moscow, losing lives is. And that accounts for those massive Russian bombings; each military target must be conclusively destroyed. Precision strikes are crucial.

There is a raging debate among Russian military experts on why the Ministry of Defense does not go for a fast strategic victory. They could have reduced Ukraine to rubble – American style – in no time. That’s not going to happen. The Russians prefer to advance slowly and surely, in a sort of steamroller pattern. They only advance after sappers have fully surveilled the terrain; after all there are mines everywhere.

The overall pattern is unmistakable, whatever the NATO spin barrage. Ukrainian losses are becoming exponential – as many as 1,500 killed or wounded each day, everyday. If there are 50,000 Ukrainians in the several Donbass cauldrons, they will be gone by the end of June.

Ukraine must have lost as many as 20,000 soldiers in and around Mariupol alone. That’s a massive military defeat, largely surpassing Debaltsevo in 2015 and previously Ilovaisk in 2014. The losses near Izyum may be even higher than in Mariupol. And now come the losses in the Severodonetsk corner.

We’re talking here about the best Ukrainian forces. It doesn’t even matter that only 70 percent of Western weapons sent by NATO ever make it to the battlefield: the major problem is that the best soldiers are going…going…gone, and won’t be replaced. Azov neo-Nazis, the 24th Brigade, the 36th Brigade, various Air Assault brigades – they all suffered losses of 60+ percent or have been completely demolished.

So the key question, as several Russian military experts have stressed, is not when Kiev will ‘lose’ as a point of no return; it is how many soldiers Moscow is prepared to lose to get to this point.

The entire Ukrainian defense is based on artillery. So the key battles ahead involve long-range artillery. There will be problems, because the US is about to deliver M270 MLRS systems with precision-guided ammunition, capable of hitting targets at a distance of up to 70 kilometers or more.

Russia, though, has a counterpunch: the Hermes Small Operational-Tactical Complex, using high precision munitions, possibility of laser guidance, and a range of more than 100 kilometers. And they can work in conjunction with the already mass-produced Pantsir air defense systems.
The sinking ship

Ukraine, within its current borders, is already a thing of the past. Georgy Muradov, permanent representative of Crimea to the President of Russia and Deputy Prime Minister of the Crimean government, is adamant: “Ukraine in the form in which it was, I think, will no longer remain. This is already the former Ukraine.”

The Sea of ??Azov has now become a “sea of ??joint use” by Russia and the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), as confirmed by Muradov.

Mariupol will be restored. Russia has had plenty of experience in this business in both Grozny and Crimea. The Russia-Crimea land corridor is on. Four hospitals among five in Mariupol have already reopened and public transportation is back, as well as three gas stations.

The imminent loss of Severodonetsk and Lysichansk will ring serious alarm bells in Washington and Brussels, because that will represent the beginning of the end of the current regime in Kiev. And that, for all practical purposes – and beyond all the lofty rhetoric of “the west stands with you” – means heavy players won’t be exactly encouraged to bet on a sinking ship.

On the sanctions front, Moscow knows exactly what to expect, as detailed by Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov: “Russia proceeds from the fact that sanctions against it are a rather long-term trend, and from the fact that the pivot to Asia, the acceleration of reorientation to eastern markets, to Asian markets is a strategic direction for Russia. We will make every effort to integrate into value chains precisely together with Asian countries, together with Arab countries, together with South America.”

On efforts to “intimidate Russia,” players would be wise to listen to the hypersonic sound of 50 Sarmat state-of-the-art missiles ready for combat this autumn, as explained by Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin.

This week’s meetings in Davos brings to light another alignment forming in the world’s overarching unipolar vs. multipolar battle. Russia, the baby twins, Chechnya and allies such as Belarus are now pitted against ‘Davos leaders’ – in other words, the combined western elite, with a few exceptions like Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Zelensky will be fine. He’s protected by British and American special forces. The family is reportedly living in an $8 million mansion in Israel. He owns a $34 million villa in Miami Beach, and another in Tuscany. Average Ukrainians were lied to, robbed, and in many cases, murdered, by the Kiev gang he presides over – oligarchs, security service (SBU) fanatics, neo-Nazis. And those Ukrainians that remain (10 million have already fled) will continue to be treated as expendable.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir “the new Hitler” Putin is in absolutely no hurry to end this larger than life drama that is ruining and rotting the already decaying west to its core. Why should he? He tried everything, since 2007, on the “why can’t we get along” front. Putin was totally rejected. So now it’s time to sit back, relax, and watch the Decline of the West.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 6:51 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Oh BTW... LOTS of wealthy pople pay no "income" taxes because they make sure not to be paid as "income" but as capital gains. That's a widely acknowledged fault of tax law.

Instead of using this fact as a vehicle for your longstanding war against Republicans and Trump, why don't you use some of that vast wealth that you claim to have and agitate to have the law changed?

Or would that cut into your lifestyle too much?

Trump took his tax returns to the Supreme Court twice while he was President. That is not what a sane, honest man of integrity would do, especially after promising to make the information public. Then there was Trump calling for the death of his Vice-President. Then there are thousands of law suits which he has lost where he was cheating people out of their money. Trump is a rotten apple, but there are millions of Americans who are just as rotten because they swallow rotten Trump with delight. He is so tasty for them. Putin is another rotten apple. Signym eats him with gusto!
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/05/donald-trump-mike-pence-ja
n-6-politico.html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 7:09 AM

CAPTAINCRUNCH

... stay crunchy...

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:

Escobar: NATO vs Russia - What Happens Next

Thursday, May 26, 2022 - 06:00 AM

Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

I'd love to know if "Pepe" was paid in USD or rubbles.

I bet I know what he's going to use to buy stuff with.

"A Jew is the new Hitler." That's dark comedy gold.

I missed Pepe pointing out that the source of ALL OF THIS death and destruction is one person. One person acting without any logical, achievable goal in mind other than pure destruction and murder.

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 7:26 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by CAPTAINCRUNCH:
Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:

Escobar: NATO vs Russia - What Happens Next

Thursday, May 26, 2022 - 06:00 AM

Authored by Pepe Escobar via The Cradle,

I'd love to know if "Pepe" was paid in USD or rubbles. I bet I know what he's going to use to buy stuff with.

"A Jew is the new Hitler." That's dark comedy gold.

I missed Pepe pointing out that the source of ALL OF THIS death and destruction is one person. One person acting without any logical, achievable goal in mind other than pure destruction and murder.

You noticed that, too. It is called the Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model.
https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html

My favorite two sentences from the firehose: "Zelensky will be fine. He’s protected by British and American special forces." -- If true, that would have been noticed by the MSM.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 8:40 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Oh BTW... LOTS of wealthy pople pay no "income" taxes because they make sure not to be paid as "income" but as capital gains. That's a widely acknowledged fault of tax law.

Instead of using this fact as a vehicle for your longstanding war against Republicans and Trump, why don't you use some of that vast wealth that you claim to have and agitate to have the law changed?

Or would that cut into your lifestyle too much?
Trump took his tax returns to the Supreme Court twice while he was President. That is not what a sane, honest man of integrity would do, especially after promising to make the information public. Then there was Trump calling for the death of his Vice-President. Then there are thousands of law suits which he has lost where he was cheating people out of their money. Trump is a rotten apple, but there are millions of Americans who are just as rotten because they swallow rotten Trump with delight. He is so tasty for them. Putin is another rotten apple. Signym eats him with gusto!
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/05/donald-trump-mike-pence-ja
n-6-politico.html

Jesus Christ.

Can you even say anything without lying at this point?

--------------------------------------------------

Me: "Remember Covid?"

Useless Idiots: "What's Covid, durr? Russia, Ukraine, Putin, NATO *drool*. DURRRR!!!!"

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 9:54 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Jesus Christ. Can you even say anything without lying at this point?

Accusing people who disrespect Trump of lying is a personality quirk shared by Trump voters, except the rich Trump voters. The rich disrespect Trump, but they voted for him because he makes them richer. Similarly, accusing people who disrespect Putin of lying is a personality quirk shared by Putin voters, except for the Oligarchs.

How Putin Conquered Russia's Oligarchy : Planet Money - NPR

In the summer of 2000, 21 of the richest men in Russia exited their bulletproof limousines and entered the Kremlin for a historic meeting. In the previous decade, these men had risen seemingly out of nowhere, amassing spectacular fortunes as the country around them descended into chaos. Through shady deals, outright corruption, and even murder, these rapacious "oligarchs" — as Russians had come to derisively call them — had seized control of much of Russia's economy, and, increasingly, its fledgling democracy. But now, their nation's newly elected president, Vladimir Putin, wanted to tell them, face to face, who was really in charge.

"I want to draw your attention to the fact that you built this state yourself, to a great degree, through the political or semi-political structures under your control,'' Putin reportedly said in the closed-door meeting. ''So there is no point in blaming the reflection in the mirror. So let us get down to the point and be open and do what is necessary to do to make our relationship in this field civilized and transparent.''

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2022/03/29/1088886554/how-putin-con
quered-russias-oligarchy

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 1:13 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Escobar is a Brazilian reporter whose main "beat" was Asia, often from central Asia, but he's reported from all over the globe.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 3:48 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 4:29 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

A much better summary on Rumble
https://sp.rmbl.ws/s8/2/O/l/L/n/OlLne.caa.mp4

This Military Summary channel also exists on YouTube

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 7:41 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

How Ukraine’s Greatest Novelist Is Fighting for His Country

Andrey Kurkov has spent his life writing about realities so absurd they defy satire. It was perfect preparation for this moment.

On the morning of Feb. 25, the day after Russian bombs began falling on his country, Andrey Kurkov, Ukraine’s most famous living writer, received a phone call at his home near Independence Square in central Kyiv. The call was from an old friend, a businessman with close ties to the government, who had just got hold of some privileged information: Kurkov, a longtime critic of Vladimir Putin, was on a list of “pro-Ukrainian activists” drawn up by the Kremlin, whose forces could seize the capital in a matter of days. He needed to get out.

As it happened, Kurkov was working on a novel about an earlier Russian invasion, the so-called Soviet-Ukrainian war of 1917-21, in which Ukrainian nationalists, aided by various Western powers, established an independent republic for the first time in their history — only to see it swiftly absorbed into the new Communist imperium rising in the east. The novel, the third in a series of books about this turbulent period, was inspired by a cache of secret-police files, which the daughter of a former K.G.B. officer bequeathed to Kurkov several years earlier. The documents evoked, in granular detail, the terror of life under Russian occupation, as well as its piquant absurdities. Kurkov, a sly satirist in the tradition of Gogol and Bulgakov, was especially delighted to learn about a Russian Underwear Tax, whereby each Ukrainian family was required to donate three pairs of undergarments to the ill-equipped Red Army. The same went for a Russian Furniture Tax, which stipulated that Ukrainian households could possess only as many chairs as there were household members, plus one for guests; the rest were requisitioned.

Kurkov dedicated himself to chronicling and contextualizing the war for foreign audiences, a task he has performed with prodigious zeal. Hardly a day goes by now without a new article, radio broadcast, television appearance or public lecture.

“I think everybody should do what he can do best for the country,” Kurkov said recently. “The snipers should kill the enemy. The singers should sing for the soldiers and the refugees. What I can do is write and tell things, and that is what I am doing.”

“Arrested, taken to Russia, put in prison,” Kurkov said nonchalantly, as though describing his plans for the weekend, when I asked him, in late March, what he thought would happen if the enemy got its hands on him. As he was quick to emphasize, his situation was hardly unique; in fact, it was the norm. In Russian-occupied territory in the east, the military was systematically detaining journalists and intellectuals, a number of whom have not been heard from since.

The knowledge he had come to impart was that Ukraine and Russia, for all their tragically intertwined history, were two distinct nations with two distinct mentalities — one anarchic and free-spirited, the other pliant and long-suffering. In the past 20 years alone, while Putin has been stifling dissent and consolidating his autocracy in Moscow, Kyiv has experienced a pair of bottom-up revolutions, in 2004 and 2014, each of them inspired by the wish to cast off Russian influence and forge closer ties to Europe.

“I think people have become much more fragile,” Kurkov said, sounding not unlike Solzhenitsyn, who in a notorious commencement address at Harvard in 1978 argued that the West’s material abundance had brought about a corresponding “decline in courage.” Kurkov felt that something similar had happened in today’s Russia, where living standards have drastically improved since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic turmoil of the 1990s. Under Communism, he suggested, rather provocatively, the choice between the privations of a “free” existence and those of the Gulag may have seemed less stark. “Now you can have either quality of life or prison,” he said. “So they go for quality of life.”

The Soviet Union was an empire that specialized in failure — missed quotas, bungled engineering projects, swelling portfolios of abandoned political reforms — but it did have one resounding success. It destroyed Nazi Germany and won the Second World War. That achievement came at a cost of some 27 million Soviet lives, the highest body count of any belligerent nation. (The figure for the United States is slightly more than 400,000.) Because the Allied victory segued so smoothly into the onset of the Cold War, the scale of Soviet losses went largely unacknowledged in the West for many years. At home, meanwhile, the victory over Nazi Germany and the sacrifice it entailed became the source of an all-encompassing national mythology, which the young Kurkov readily imbibed.

His father, Yuri, was a pilot in the Soviet Air Force who had to look for new employment when Nikita Khrushchev, first secretary of the Communist Party, decommissioned large numbers of military personnel as part of a fleeting season of good will between the world’s two superpowers that followed in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Yuri, who had been stationed near Leningrad, found a job at the Antonov aviation factory, in Kyiv, and moved his young family into an apartment building just across the street. Kurkov was 1 at the time, and he grew up to the sound of jet engines, in a country whose leaders claimed it was roaring toward the future; and yet, for all the talk of soon-to-arrive material plenty, the Soviet Union remained fixated on the past, which offered the regime a source of legitimacy as its promises were scaled back and then quietly forgotten.

More at https://web.archive.org/web/20220526064013/https://www.nytimes.com/202
2/05/24/magazine/ukraine-andrey-kurkov.html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 8:02 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Former NATO general says Putin has 9-month window to win war

Ukraine has fought valiantly and driven the Russians back from the northern cities of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv in recent weeks, but its counteroffensive has not been sustained because Ukrainian forces need time to assimilate Western military equipment, a retired NATO commander said.

“Tanks and armoured vehicles need an initial stage of personal training and team training for the driver, gunner, reloader and commander,” said Lt-Gen Konstantinos Loukopoulos, who has taught tank warfare at military academies in Kyiv and Moscow.

“They need tactical training, including test firing and exercises, which cannot be done in a few weeks. The training cycle is at least six months, and that doesn’t change in wartime,” he said.

“After [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illusions about winning the war in 96 hours, the illusions began on the Western side,” he added.

The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and the Czech Republic are among those who have pledged various types of armour and artillery, and that complicates matters, Loukopoulos said.

For instance, out of 90 howitzer M777 artillery pieces sent by the US to Ukraine, about 18 have been absorbed, he said, adding that it is unknown how many of the 12 or 14 César self-propelled howitzers sent by France are in use.

“For Ukraine to absorb the weapons from the West and make them operational, form the right units, and train them, it needs eight, nine months. It can’t pull active units from the front to train them,” Loukopoulos said.

That is the timeframe, he believes, within which Putin must win the war on the ground and reach a negotiated settlement.

“Under the present balance of forces, the general trend is in favour of the Russians. Right now nothing can change that,” he said.

“After a few months, with training of reserve units, there could be a Ukrainian strategic counteroffensive that could throw the Russians out.”

Loukopoulos believes this could likely be done by Ukraine seizing Russian territory that it could exchange for its own territory in negotiations.

“Can the Ukrainians create a fact on the ground to counter Russian gains? Right now they cannot,” he said.

“Whether we like it or not, Russia has the political and military initiative. The West is reacting to what Putin is doing.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/26/nato-general-putin-has-8-9-mo
nths-to-win-the-war

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, May 26, 2022 11:14 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

More fantasies about Ukraine winning the war?

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, May 27, 2022 7:45 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
More fantasies about Ukraine winning the war?

The article was by an instructor who has taught tank warfare at military academies in Kyiv and Moscow warning that the "fantastic and miraculous" weapons Ukraine receives will require 9 months for the Ukrainians to learn how to use efficiently. That gives the Russians 9 easier months before the war shifts to harder.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Friday, May 27, 2022 2:47 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
and Originally posted by second:
Former NATO general says Putin has 9-month window to win war

“After a few months, with training of reserve units, there could be a Ukrainian strategic counteroffensive that could throw the Russians out.”

Loukopoulos believes this could likely be done by Ukraine seizing Russian territory that it could exchange for its own territory in negotiations.

“Can the Ukrainians create a fact on the ground to counter Russian gains? Right now they cannot,” he said.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/26/nato-general-putin-has-8-9-mo
nths-to-win-the-war

He's just shilling for more aid for Ukraine by holding out an impossible hope.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, May 27, 2022 2:50 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

News of the day

Quote:
In Stunning Shift, WaPo Admits Catastrophic-Conditions, Collapsing-Morale Of Ukraine Front-Line Forces

https://www.zerohedge.com/military/wapo-stunning-first-admits-catastro
phic-conditions-collapsing-morale-ukraine-forces-front
So, more aid for Ukraine!!!

Quote:
Biden Readies Approval Of Long-Range Rockets To Ukraine - Russia Warns Over "Red Line"

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-prepares-approve-long-range-
rockets-ukraine-russia-warns-over-red-line
Oh look! More aid for Ukraine!!

Quote:
US General Floats Military Options to Help Export Ukrainian Grain

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/us-general-floats-military-optio
ns-help-export-ukrainian-grain
Because Ukraine needs more help! (Despite the fact that Russia is keeping two sea lanes open for cargo ships.)

Anyone notice the narrative shift? Kiev was "winning" until a week ago. Now, it is desperate, and needs our help desperately!

---------------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, May 27, 2022 7:17 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

What stake do we have in the Russia-Ukraine War?

I would put it this way: This is a war to prevent the realities of the 20th century from becoming our future in the 21st century. Russia today is an Orwellian nightmare, a dictatorship directly descended from the Soviet KGB that takes brutal retribution against its critics and hardly bothers to conceal it, the better to instill fear in others. It commits war crimes with the same moral indifference and the same strategic purpose. It is also an economically backward regime that has moved from communism to kleptocracy, and from left to right, without changing its basic character.

The Ukrainians have every reason to fear being dragged back under Moscow’s deadening control: Putin himself has said Ukraine has no right to exist, and he has put Moldova, the Baltic countries, and other former Soviet states on notice. No wonder the Swedes and Finns, who long preferred official neutrality, now want to join NATO. We too now have to weigh the prospect of being dragged back into a past when our friends feared for their freedom and the specter of nuclear annihilation made us all fear for our lives.

In Russia today, no lie is too fantastic to be fed to the public. In a perfect example of Orwellian Newspeak, the “special military operation” in Ukraine is supposedly aimed at “de-Nazifying” the only country other than Israel with a Jewish head of government. (“So what if Zelensky is Jewish,” Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said recently in response to a question. “I believe that Hitler also had Jewish blood.”) In its utter contempt for the truth, this kind of institutionalized lying has its parallel in the practiced deceit of Putin’s greatest American admirer, Donald Trump, and the debasement of Republican leaders and right-wing media that parrot Trump’s lies or stand silent, refusing to contradict them.

Resisting the extension of this kind of regime is what the struggle in Ukraine and the struggle at home are both about. In the world today, we are back to basics, the basics of liberal democracy.

More at https://prospect.org/world/what-we-have-at-stake-in-ukraine/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Friday, May 27, 2022 9:02 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
What stake do we have in the Russia-Ukraine War?

As far as I got.
Answer: none.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, May 27, 2022 10:29 PM