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[Helgoland]

Reminds me of Caspar David Friedrich:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not really my style, but I find the technique interesting - I'll look out for the name, the originals must be impressive.

UR, he spent the majority of his life inside Russia proper though, right? And since it was all part of the Empire back then... I guess it's just another case of Western ignorance towards Eastern Europe that he's considered a Russian painter without thinking twice.

[smjjames]

If USA really cared about countries breaking international laws, it would deal with a whole lot more of cases than just Crimea.

Not to mention answering to the bits of pushing the laws here and there that we have done.

[Knit tie]

I think UR is trying to argue that Malevich wasn't Russian in the same way Napoleon wasn't French - different ethnicity, different birthplace.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

UR, he spent the majority of his life inside Russia proper though, right? And since it was all part of the Empire back then... I guess it's just another case of Western ignorance towards Eastern Europe that he's considered a Russian painter without thinking twice.

IMO, key aspect here is self identification. Malevich always called himself a Pole. Also, Kazemir is a Polish name, far far from being typical for Russians or Ukrainians.

[Guardian G.I.]

I think UR is trying to argue that Malevich wasn't Russian in the same way Napoleon wasn't French - different ethnicity, different birthplace.

UR, he spent the majority of his life inside Russia proper though, right? And since it was all part of the Empire back then... I guess it's just another case of Western ignorance towards Eastern Europe that he's considered a Russian painter without thinking twice.

IMO, key aspect here is self identification. Malevich always called himself a Pole. Also, Kazemir is a Polish name, far far from being typical for Russians or Ukrainians.

The nationality of many historical figures who were born in the former Rzeczpospolita territories is rather confusing. For example, Napoleon Orda, an early XIXth century landscape artist who was born near Pinsk in Southern Belarus, becomes Polish, Polish-Lithuanian, or Belarusian Polish depending on the source.

[Knit tie]

You know, I noticed that this thread tends to stay silent until somebody posts something inflammatory, then it's back to the old political flamewar until the sides grow tired of the pointless bickering and everything falls silent again.

I think that this thread is just a battlefield for opinionated and vocal anti-Russians to shout their opinion at equally vocal and opinionated pro-Russians and vice versa, the amount of actual discussion about Russia here is close to zero.

[Sergarr]

You know, I noticed that this thread tends to stay silent until somebody posts something inflammatory, then it's back to the old political flamewar until the sides grow tired of the pointless bickering and everything falls silent again.

I think that this thread is just a battlefield for opinionated and vocal anti-Russians to shout their opinion at equally vocal and opinionated pro-Russians and vice versa, the amount of actual discussion about Russia here is close to zero.

Peter Hitchens: Maybe we shouldn't get involved in third party conflicts that eagerly.

Pro-Russian news: Putin's supported by everyone but Russian Chardonnay Socialists. Also, do check out the source of this article.

You know, if you don't want flames, then maybe you should stop posting inflammatory stuff, first???

[Helgoland]

Such is the nature of politics threads, alas. Don't blame me, I tried discussing art

[LordSlowpoke]

see, back in the day you could just sing "oh is it bliss, to chug a jar of piss" and swim in cashmoney

now you actually have to produce a jar of piss

that's a lot of piss you know

[Comrade P.]

Such is the nature of politics threads, alas. Don't blame me, I tried discussing art

Yeah, art. We have it in Russia as well as every country in the wide world, along with all the other stuff we have. Unfortunately, I have to confess that I know a little about art. It takes mostly actual knowledge for discussing art, while it takes mostly having an opinion to discuss politics.

[LordSlowpoke]

i don't think anything less than a mason jar of piss would be adequate for purposes of even calling it a jar, so that's still at least a cup's worth

[Sheb]

Reading those arguments about how people supports Putin because of the 90's make me think of Gitta's Albert Speer: His Battle With Truth, one of the few books that made me think "I could have been a Nazi back then". Speer was not much of an antisemite, or a believer in Hitler's racist theories, but he appreciated the calm and relative prosperity that Hitler's rules brought to Germany, as well as the sense of national self-worth and purpose he created.

Now, I'm not saying that Putin is Hitler, because that would be ridiculous, but that the arguments used to support Putin's regime are the same that have been used by otherwise intelligent people to overlook the atrocities of the world's worst regime ever. Russians should be wary of not falling into the same traps and overlooking the failings of their own leader.

[Knit tie]

Reading those arguments about how people supports Putin because of the 90's make me think of Gitta's Albert Speer: His Battle With Truth, one of the few books that made me think "I could have been a Nazi back then". Speer was not much of an antisemite, or a believer in Hitler's racist theories, but he appreciated the calm and relative prosperity that Hitler's rules brought to Germany, as well as the sense of national self-worth and purpose he created.

Now, I'm not saying that Putin is Hitler, because that would be ridiculous, but that the arguments used to support Putin's regime are the same that have been used by otherwise intelligent people to overlook the atrocities of the world's worst regime ever. Russians should be wary of not falling into the same traps and overlooking the failings of their own leader.

Well, for starters, the failings of Hitler and the Failings of Putin are incomparable in scale and gravity. Saying that Putin shouldn't be excused from being an arguably enlightened authoritarian and an unapologetic realpolitiker by the virtue of him bringing prosperity and stability to his country because Hitler isn't excused from being the world's worst tyrant for the same reason is like saying that a poor, starving man who steals a loaf of bread is as bad a criminal as a poor, starving man who slaughters a family in their sleep and robs their house blind. Putin has plenty of faults and many Russians think that Putin's Russia really could use some more liberalism and democracy, but many Russians also think that Putin, despite all said faults, is one of the best rulers Russia has ever had, that there is no reason to oppose him like the Arabs opposed their rulers during the Arab Spring, and that instead of grassroots revolution, Russia's change needs to occur through top-down, gradual reforms.

Of course, some Russians really are hadcore, irrational fanatics of Putin, but I hold them in no higher regard that the Ukrainian fanatics of Poroshenko.

In news today: Russia to sell gas and electricity to Ukraine at lower prices and with no prepayment.

[Sergarr]

Many Russians also think that Putin's Russia really could use more oppression and death directed onto thieves of national wealth, i.e. almost all oligarchs and most government officials.

And I think that any top-down reforms are impossible when the economy is controlled by exports of a single raw material, and no effort has been made to change that despite ultra-high profits and more than a decade of relative peace-time.

So the only way to change the system remained is to drastically cut down the profits of the raw stuff exporters, to make them much less influential in the way of politics. Hopefully the oil prices will remain low until somebody invents practical fusion...

[Askot Bokbondeler]

ptw