ok what the fuck is happening in ukraine

one thing we could do is try to help the countries accepting refugees

Growing opinion that Putin may be losing his shit:

Bernard Guetta, a member of the European parliament for Macron’s grouping, told France Inter radio on Thursday morning, after military invasion began: “I think this man is losing his sense of reality, to say it politely.” Asked by the interviewer if that meant he thought Putin had gone mad, he said “yes”.

Guetta is not alone. Milos Zeman, the Czech president and long one of Vlaldimir Putin’s staunchest supporters, denounced Putin a “madman” after the invasion.

“All our Russia-watchers, watching his press conferences, think that he’s descending even more into a despotic mindset,” another European diplomat said.

one thing we could do is try to help the countries accepting refugees

― Heez, Thursday, February 24, 2022 3:18 PM (four seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

This looms very large indeed. Hungary and Poland are not likely to be helpful unfortunately.

Gonna start hauling some snacks and juice boxes down to my bunker, which is actually just a crawlspace

https://i.imgur.com/4SjYWgR.gif

100% on refugees, of course.

xp daniel_rf, just to be clear, i don't want a military intervention either. of course not. i'm really worried about where this leads, too. i'd like to think of myself as "anti-war", but it hits situations like this. what can be done? it is excruciating.

(damn, that corrupted simpsons loop is 100% fitting, lol)

Anything that heightens the scenario is bad - sending more troops, moving F-35s to Latvia, flooding regional governments with weapons and money. Expanding NATO has been bad from the start, backing the 2014 coup was bad.

If that resolves to "do nothing" so be it but I find no upside in "doing something" just to do it. The horse is out of the barn here.

"2014 coup"

Revealing choice of terminology there.

What if Latvia wants to be a full part of NATO?

‘Ah sorry a country which should have no sovereignty over you is hurt because it is nostalgic of a time it use to repress you, because of that you can’t join this alliance’.

nobody has ideas. it's impossible obviously. other countries can't stop each other from doing what they want to citizens within that country up to and probably including operating concentration camps and they also can't stop powerful nations invading less powerful ones. if there ever was a general idea that this could be prevented or that the invaded country could be protected then Iraq has put a stop to that.

i think that's generally right, but it's important to note that if it's true, the foundation of NATO and the UN and the oft-cited "no democracy has ever waged a war against another democracy" factoid (extra popular because it allows the citer to make up their own definition of democracy) will crumble. which, shit, i don't know! i don't know what's there to replace it! i just know that this is a key, fundamental building block of post-WW2 live, which is all of us, i believe

The US should leave NATO, so if Latvia wants to join the successor alliance good for them.

Revealing choice of terminology there.

You got me, secretly on Moscow's payroll over here.

i have not read most of this thread (all the good threads get hundreds of replies in a day, it seems), but do people actually think the US is going to attack russia? russia doesn't seem too bothered by using nukes and causing collateral damage. and nato is not going to do anything militarily. so i assume the US and a few other western countries are going to do more passive or indirect attacks (withholding resources, tariffs, financial stuff, basically, and some stealthy so-called "choke points", etc.)

is talk of collusion frowned upon on this message board? though i guess pretty much everything is speculation at this point

What if Latvia wants to be a full part of NATO?

Latvia is already a full member of NATO?

Yes, and that heighten the scenario that Milo absolutely doesn’t want to be heighten because it would hurt Putin’s feelings, nevermind that nations should be able to self-determinate.

doesn’t want to be heighten because it would hurt Putin’s feelings

Yes that's the ultimate concern, totes.

That's right, go on, pick a fight with Milo now and then be all "Why are they picking on me" afterwards.

As per...

I just think Latvia should be able to self-determinate and decides with alliance it should be part of, if Milo considers this to be ‘heightening the scenario’ in that it increases the chances of conflicts between the West and Russia, then so be it, I think it’s on Russia to make a crisis out of NATO expanding. No insults were exchanged, it’s a disagreement, not a fight.

Not yet, but keep trying.

xp of course i'm not ok xyzzzz, i've been on the ilx slack, everyone there knows what my problems are

i know this is a fucking crazy hypothetical question, but, here me out. if i'm not ok because it's so incredibly ridiculous to risk a conflict with a nuclear weapon-wielding country, what was your stance when the US invaded iraq?

― dig your way out of the shit with a gold magic shovel! (Karl Malone), Thursday, 24 February 2022 bookmarkflaglink

I wasn't actually meaning to allude to your posts on the slack when I asked that btw. I don't see what US invading Iraq has to do with anything. Like Ukraine it has no means to defend itself. And countries outside that conflict could not stop the US. Nor can the US stop Russia now.

one thing we could do is try to help the countries accepting refugees

― Heez, Thursday, 24 February 2022 bookmarkflaglink

Right. You being "sick of this shit" is pointless unless you have a nuclear warhead you are willing to point at Moscow.

But Western powers can actually help to deal with refugees.

Gonna start hauling some snacks and juice boxes down to my bunker, which is actually just a crawlspace

I'm going to camp on the Yellowstone caldera and hope for a twofer.

Maybe if we all go back to worrying about nuclear war all the time, music will get good again like it was in the '80s?

I just think Latvia should be able to self-determinate and decides with alliance it should be part of, if Milo considers this to be ‘heightening the scenario’ in that it increases the chances of conflicts between the West and Russia, then so be it, I think it’s on Russia to make a crisis out of NATO expanding. No insults were exchanged, it’s a disagreement, not a fight.

― Van Horn Street, Thursday, 24 February 2022 bookmarkflaglink

One thing this invasion stops is NATO expansion for at least a decade. But you clearly are looking for more of a crisis, as if this isn't enough.

Glad I was too young in 1983 to really appreciate how close to the edge Reagan brought us.

Although it brought us 99 Luftballons so it’s a wash

then he watched The Day After on the teevee and changed his mind

Man my whole 5th grade class was talking about it the next day but I was too scared to watch.

i have not read most of this thread (all the good threads get hundreds of replies in a day, it seems)

Threads is streaming on Shudder in the US.

One thing this invasion stops is NATO expansion for at least a decade. But you clearly are looking for more of a crisis, as if this isn't enough.

― xyzzzz__, Thursday, February 24, 2022 4:24 PM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Go ahead with the victim blaming.

Man my whole 5th grade class was talking about it the next day but I was too scared to watch.

*had*

Is that true about NATO expansion? Some are saying this puts NATO expansion back on the table for Finland. Also I wouldn't be surprised if this helps achieve one long-standing US objective, which is to get other NATO members to spend more on defense.

Doubt any country around Russia's borders will be joining until Putin goes. Prove me wrong, Finland.

Huh... I didn't know about Finland:

Together with Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, and Malta, Finland and Sweden are the only EU states that are not members of NATO.

Neutral ninnies

Has Latvia left NATO and no-one told me?

knocked out in the qualifiers

VAR is hell.

lol

the russian invasion of the ukraine is good now

This is...not good.

New — Ukraine Interior Minister says 10,000 automatic rifles have now been handed out in Kyiv

— Oliver Carroll (@olliecarroll) February 24, 2022

Kinda wonder if Putin is being last-minute added to the CPAC speaker lineup... Rittenhouse will warm up the crowd

VAR is hell.

so - i've seen a few "reports" of troops on the polish border. not sure i believe it – this would certainly trigger military intervention from half the fucking planet, and Putin can't be that nuts, can he?? tho i thought a full invasion of the Ukraine was not going to happen and here we are. if it is true, maybe they've just been placed there as a precaution against nato intervention (tho I'm not convinced it's true)?

Has Latvia left NATO and no-one told me?

Not sure where VHS was going with that line of argument tbh, I was referencing the deployment of F-35s to the region (to current NATO member nations).

Defense official: Six US F-35s deploying to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, two each.

— Paul McLeary (@paulmcleary) February 24, 2022

Though this just gives the F-35 more places to crash so I guess it's not really much of a conflict escalation aside from the eternal war with gravity.

Yes let’s mock the Baltic states desire to protect itself from an imperial and nuclear power that just started a war on a neighbour.