Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Loud Whispers]

Because then they say "no", carry on, and what ya gonna do? Shoot first?

Release the marines

[Strongpoint]

When your "ally" tries to impose war reparations on you.

[Strongpoint]

Hmmm... I never heard as much air defense fire near my house as tonight. Well, -15C means a massive attack against energy and heating infrastructure. Nothing to be surprised about. Russia got unlucky this year - winter was very warm... only late February decided to give proper freezing temperatures

[martinuzz]

When your "ally" tries to impose war reparations on you.

Jesus Christ. That is full blown colonialism. The US wants new plantation slaves. And what do they mean 'hostile parties to the conflict'? There is only one of those, Russia.

[Starver]

When your "ally" tries to impose war reparations on you.

Jesus Christ. That is full blown colonialism. The US wants new plantation slaves. And what do they mean 'hostile parties to the conflict'? There is only one of those, Russia.

Before the popover "popovered" to offer me seven days of free access[1], I got to the bit where the agreement would be under the laws of New York...

...which seems to me a wonderful opportunity by New York State, should it ever[2] become true...

[1] Then what? ...it zoomed back to top of page, so I didn't even bother considering the obscurifying registration terms. I hate how news-sites make the implementations of paywalls both horribly inefficient and discouragingly resource-hoggy.

[2] Preferably not, as it seems like a coorporate claw-back with menaces, at least as much as I got to read, which isn't even surprising for the godemiche concerned.

[Duuvian]

Russia-linked propaganda campaign pushes to undercut German support for Ukraine
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/russia-linked-propaganda-campaign-pushes-undercut-german-support-ukraine-2025-02-18/

Read this one, it says the Russian government is infiltrating protest movements. This helps to explain how eccentric protests have become lately. Gen-Z, this is why Uncle Millennial was upset at some of the things he saw at those university protests. Like the fucking standing next to antisemitism. I still love you in the least creepy way this is possible, and I hope you will do better next time in not standing next to things that are clearly not a wise thing to. I too am saddened by the great carnage of the war, but I feel that having stood next to such while protesting casualties perhaps actually had the opposite intended effect by generally increasing the level of rage. A better route may have been to call for the release of the hostages instead while also expressing disappointment at the damage particularly early in the war when it was at it's heaviest. If you are still interested in the matter and can remember the advice I gave above, it appears that Saar has said that the pro-Netanyahu judicial reforms are going to be pushed forward in the coming weeks so your actual, real political allies are likely going to have to decide whether to protest this or not. I am sure the article I linked at the top will not make that any easier of a decision. I am sure that having seen some of the things it will not be an easy decision. However that should be something to read about as well. Here is a good Israeli newspaper I would like to provide a link to, because it has given me many insights into how our liberal friends are thinking, because it's unlikely you will hear a damn about them in US papers' websites.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/

I would suggest in addition to this there is likely effort being made to influence policymakers. Once again I will explain that the internet regulation things being proposed by some Democrat old guard is unusually whacky even for elderly gentlepersons. Whatever experts they are listening to are steering them wrong. They should listen to people like Mike Masnick about this issue even if he is a critic of many, many things. Generally the part of the internet that he is a part of tends toward being correct-most of anyone on internet policy in the whole world in my decades of experience. I often declaim that I am not an expert in things because that is the fair thing to do; in this I am actually an expert of sorts though most unofficially and by virtue of end-userdom that pre-dates the Millennium. This is far longer than since the pandemic, and also I do read quite a lot about these things without having recently formed an opinion from a scary book that sold a bazillion copies because I don't know Oprah said she liked it or something (much respect to Oprah). My advice to the Democrat party policymakers is to put down the public-scare books people sold for money and start reading Mike Masnick to have a better grasp of internet policy that will not make your already well-educated on the matter voting base despise you.  He is actually quite agreeable to people trying to do the right thing at the time:

https://www.techdirt.com/2025/02/14/trumps-doj-corruption-laid-bare-by-his-own-conservative-prosecutors/

[Great Order]

Russia/USSR have been infiltrating protest movements since the cold war. This isn't new. It's been a goal to stoke community tensions by promoting competing views and radicalising them.

[MonkeyHead]

Thoughts on the vibes coming out of the US\Russia meeting today?

Russia apparently open to Ukraine joining the EU... No doubt as they see Ukrainian membership as a means to interference akin to Hungary.

USA open to peace negotiations, potentially allowing Russia to keep territory. I suspect this is a move to legitimise a landgrab of their own - say, Panama?

[Strongpoint]

USA open to peace negotiations

Peace negotiations happen between sides that are at war. It is not the case.

What happens is yet another "reset" in relationships between Russia and the US.

[martinuzz]

Russia apparently open to Ukraine joining the EU... No doubt as they see Ukrainian membership as a means to interference akin to Hungary.

That's meaningless words and Russia knows it. EU membership is a long bureaucratic process, and offers no military protection like NATO membership does. Multiple EU member states voted against Ukraine joining not too long ago as well.

Then again, things are changing fast and forming a EU army is on the table.

[Strongpoint]

TRUMP: “We have a situation where we haven't had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law ... the leader in Ukraine, I hate to say it, but he's down at 4% approval rating….

Laughs hysterically. It is like 50-60. And most of the rest are like - "he is shit but elections are still not the best idea" or "he is shit but we know that he'll win elections anyway" or "he is shit but alternatives are worse."



But what I want to know is why Russians (and therefore Trump) want Ukrainian elections so badly. Is it to destabilize? Do they plan to win it with full control over social networks (after all, All social networks Ukrainians use are either American or Chinese or Russian)? Is it simply understanding that Ukraine won't agree so they can label Zelensky as a dictator? What is the plan here?

[Grim Portent]

Probably framing him as a dictator so they can try the whole 'denazify Ukraine' angle again.

It doesn't need to be at all sensible or logical, the purpose would be entirely for feeding to their bases of support as a reason to continue the war (Putin) or to pull out support completely (Trump).

[martinuzz]

I don't think Zelensky is shit. Sure, he didn't manage to root out corruption as fast as he promised when he was still a stand-up comedian, but then again, how much time did he get being a president before war broke out? Did he turn corrupt himself?

He did a great job in the first months of the war rallying support around the globe, and is still managing to unite his country in the struggle against Russia.

For someone who had zero political experience just a few years, I do give him credits. Try standing in this man's shoes.

[EuchreJack]

When your "ally" tries to impose war reparations on you.

Jesus Christ. That is full blown colonialism. The US wants new plantation slaves. And what do they mean 'hostile parties to the conflict'? There is only one of those, Russia.

That has largely been the actual intended result of the Anti-Immigration movement.

[da_nang]

-snip-

Whatever the plan is, it has The Great Perfidious American Betrayal written all over it.