though it is true that the Soviet ties of the Russian president, most notably his years spent as a KGB officer, matter a great deal
Deserving only of the biggest and most exaggerated jackoff motion you can make.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 18:56 (two years ago) link
Even if they did, it wouldn't fly with the six or seven people who control the national economy or the legions of corrupt officials in their pockets.
lol, that is what my Ukrainian ex-pat friend says about his home country. There is a sense of futility (on his & his family's part) that it's basically a pawn and there is no foundation for it to not be dysfunctional.
― sarahell, Wednesday, 9 February 2022 19:03 (two years ago) link
fwiw his perception of his country is also colored by the fact his family is Jewish, and Ukraine is "a bit anti-Semitic"
― sarahell, Wednesday, 9 February 2022 19:06 (two years ago) link
Reaching back to Applebaum's analysis of 'what Putin wants'. It is probably correct in all its particulars, because it has the advantage of ignoring 'what Putin can achieve'. That whole list of 'wants' is just his Christmas wishlist and portraying it as a list of achievable goals is unforgivably lazy and disingenuous.
As for her analysis that Putin's motives are directly tied to the trauma of the breakup of the USSR, its hogwash. Putin may be the most personally wealthy head of state on earth. His greatest motivation is to ensure the indefinite continuation of his personal wealth and power. Bullying Ukraine is useful in that it helps him politically with the Russian public.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Wednesday, 9 February 2022 19:06 (two years ago) link
and Ukraine is "a bit anti-Semitic"
Heard a lecture once on that "thematic" restaurant they built in a former Jewish ghetto where the waiters have fake noses and you're supposed to haggle over the bill, yikes.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 10 February 2022 11:04 (two years ago) link
It’s also the only country other than Israel to have had a Jewish President and Prime Minister at the same time, tbf!
― Scampo di tutti i Scampi (ShariVari), Thursday, 10 February 2022 11:15 (two years ago) link
The Normandy talks about Minsk in Berlin unsurprisingly didn’t go anywhere:
https://tass.com/politics/1401333
The risk is that if Zelenskiy agrees to implement the Minsk accords, he gets framed as a traitor and couped.
If he doesn’t implement them, Russia might unilaterally declare recognition of an independent LNR / DNR. Failure to respond to that with military action leads to Zelenskiy being framed as a traitor and couped.
― Scampo di tutti i Scampi (ShariVari), Friday, 11 February 2022 13:07 (two years ago) link
NEW: The US believes Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade Ukraine, and has communicated that decision to the Russian military, three Western and defense officials tell me.— Nick Schifrin (@nickschifrin) February 11, 2022
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Friday, 11 February 2022 18:39 (two years ago) link
how the hell does this guy know that?
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Friday, 11 February 2022 18:40 (two years ago) link
"three Western and defense officials tell me"
so like a cowboy and two generals?
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Friday, 11 February 2022 18:42 (two years ago) link
Wouldn't the Russian military already know?
― peace, man, Friday, 11 February 2022 18:46 (two years ago) link
Not if the US doesn't tell them, per trusted twitter sources
― Evan, Friday, 11 February 2022 18:54 (two years ago) link
Plenty of long-tenured autocrats have unshakeable faith in their own strength and contempt for the weakness of their opponents, so it's quite possible he'll go ahead with it.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Friday, 11 February 2022 19:07 (two years ago) link
Asked about my earlier reporting, @JakeSullivan46 says the US has not concluded that Putin gave the order to invade.— Nick Schifrin (@nickschifrin) February 11, 2022
― Scampo di tutti i Scampi (ShariVari), Friday, 11 February 2022 20:13 (two years ago) link
this fuckin guy
― (•̪●) (carne asada), Friday, 11 February 2022 20:17 (two years ago) link
"oopsie"
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 11 February 2022 20:19 (two years ago) link
Make your mind up guys.
― Bastards of Fish (Tom D.), Friday, 11 February 2022 20:31 (two years ago) link
Predictable from one of Twitter's most popular bullshit genres, the "I got the scoop" tweet first ask for forgiveness later because in the end I got the attention/visibility either way idiots.
― Evan, Friday, 11 February 2022 20:59 (two years ago) link
Why not just skip the middle man and announce that Russia has already successfully invaded and occupied Ukraine and save everyone the stress, time and suffering?
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 11 February 2022 21:41 (two years ago) link
Russia has already successfully invaded and occupied Ukraine
And that would be true... Crimea
― Andy the Grasshopper, Friday, 11 February 2022 22:08 (two years ago) link
That was just a lil' invasion.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 11 February 2022 22:33 (two years ago) link
impressionable posho liberal tools who need to believe their own wretched country occupies some kind of moral high ground in this
It’s not too hard to occupy the moral high ground in this situation, just don’t be the guy who’s invading a peaceful neighbor.
― o. nate, Monday, 14 February 2022 01:33 (two years ago) link
you mean like the US has done throughout its entire existence?
― bad milk blood robot (sleeve), Monday, 14 February 2022 02:13 (two years ago) link
(xp to o. nate)
― bad milk blood robot (sleeve), Monday, 14 February 2022 02:14 (two years ago) link
iirc, last time the US invaded a peaceful neighbor was in 1848. all those other times we generally had even less excuse.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 14 February 2022 03:09 (two years ago) link
oops. forgot all those islands we invaded that share an oceanic border. so, I'll retract the first sentence, but not the second one.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Monday, 14 February 2022 03:24 (two years ago) link
nailed it
Putin has big weekend plans in Ukraine: 1) he's going to cut power and heat, knock out Ukrainian navy and air force, kill general staff and hit them with cyber attack; 2) then install pro-Russian president and 3) resort to full-scale military invasion if Ukraine doesn't give in— Melinda Haring (@melindaharing) February 11, 2022
― mookieproof, Monday, 14 February 2022 05:28 (two years ago) link
Deputy director @ACEurasia @AtlanticCouncil.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Monday, 14 February 2022 07:05 (two years ago) link
xpost "If I Did It," by Vlad Putin.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 February 2022 14:18 (two years ago) link
lot of you lads been watching Red Dawn all weekend yeah?
― I have a voulez-vous? with death (Noodle Vague), Monday, 14 February 2022 14:23 (two years ago) link
Putin may be the most personally wealthy head of state on earth. His greatest motivation is to ensure the indefinite continuation of his personal wealth and power. Bullying Ukraine is useful in that it helps him politically with the Russian public.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Wednesday, February 9, 2022 7:06 PM
I tried to drill down into this a little bit, suspecting that Xi might be a contender. There's a lot of speculation out there about Putin's net worth but not much hard data. Most estimates show him being at least an order of magnitude richer than Xi tho. (Xi and Trump are probably on par.)
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Monday, 14 February 2022 16:02 (two years ago) link
If you're a de facto dictator, what does money even mean? You have as much of anything as you will ever want, on demand, as long as you hold power, and it's hard to see Putin or Xi willingly going anywhere. And if they went unwillingly, then money likely won't help them.
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 February 2022 16:06 (two years ago) link
Dictators still need to negotiate power and keep wealth onside to some extent if they want to hang on to their position (skeptical of to what extent it makes sense to treat Putin and Xi as if they were in comparable positions, tbh).
Likewise immense wealth has been of much use to many an ex-tyrant getting themselves a comfortable place in exile.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 14 February 2022 16:11 (two years ago) link
shocked that autocrats are wealthy, you don't get that shit in a democracy
― I have a voulez-vous? with death (Noodle Vague), Monday, 14 February 2022 16:12 (two years ago) link
hi guys just started playing really enjoying it so far but finding it all very complicated has anyone got a user guide for how to start eg week one of this, ive selected biden as my player but havent gotten too far into the save so would be open to picking one of the others and going from there!
― Ár an broc a mhic (darraghmac), Monday, 14 February 2022 16:15 (two years ago) link
you want to max out your balls stat as soon as poss
― I have a voulez-vous? with death (Noodle Vague), Monday, 14 February 2022 16:16 (two years ago) link
Trump is massively in debt and his businesses hemorrhage money left and right
Putin might actually be the richest man on the planet
― frogbs, Monday, 14 February 2022 16:18 (two years ago) link
Emotions running high and I let them get the better of me. I still expect action this week but Putin may drag this out. We still don't know. Bottom line is that I recognize that I need to be more judicious. https://t.co/clc9c8gm8s— Melinda Haring (@melindaharing) February 14, 2022
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 14 February 2022 16:23 (two years ago) link
"it was a goof!"
― snarl self own (Karl Malone), Monday, 14 February 2022 16:28 (two years ago) link
So if that person now think it might not happen, does that mean ... it is going to happen?
― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 14 February 2022 16:40 (two years ago) link
https://gimlet.spotifycdn.com/page_art/9fdb9f7f-75f0-4aab-954e-5f81156438a7/fallbackL-R: United States, Russia, Ukraine.
omg
― peace, man, Monday, 14 February 2022 16:45 (two years ago) link
ha, i wouldn't be too hasty to add your predictions on this thread
― snarl self own (Karl Malone), Monday, 14 February 2022 16:47 (two years ago) link
shocked that autocrats are wealthy, you don't get that shit in a democracyIt seems like generally in autocracy, power is a path to wealth; in US ‘democracy’ wealth is a path to power more like. (The US senate is also the single most anti-democratic institution in our entire government system.)
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Monday, 14 February 2022 17:01 (two years ago) link
Putin Very Bad but honestly can’t imagine a world where his hard-on for Ukraine portends anything worse for the avg citizen there than the US’ hyper-ventilating state dept and western media’s track record on these issues not helping the case imo
― concentrating on Rationality (the book) (will), Monday, 14 February 2022 17:06 (two years ago) link
lol
― bulb after bulb, Monday, 14 February 2022 17:11 (two years ago) link
BREAKING: Office of Ukraine's president says his statement that Wednesday will be 'day of attack' was said with irony— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) February 14, 2022
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 14 February 2022 21:42 (two years ago) link
“What, you can’t take a joke?”
― Legalize Suburban Benches (Raymond Cummings), Monday, 14 February 2022 21:52 (two years ago) link
Seems like it was bad reporting / translation from NBC, not that Zelenskiy was unclear.
― Scampo di tutti i Scampi (ShariVari), Monday, 14 February 2022 21:57 (two years ago) link
so not gonna happen
― Andy the Grasshopper, Monday, 14 February 2022 22:00 (two years ago) link