It has become difficult to differentiate between the ridiculous
and the absurd.
Let me prefix this with the fact that I do not condone war in the Ukraine, Yemen, Syria or elsewhere.
This US and its lemmings have gone into bizzaro world. Sanction happy nations and entities are trying to outdo each other.
We have the usual sanctions but that is not quite enough. Olympic diplomatic boycotts were only the beginning. Russian soccer has been banned from the World Cup. An Italian university suspended a course on Dostoevsky due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) idea to expel Russian students from U.S. universities has generated controversy, and for good reason. The idea raises questions about what expelling students would accomplish and the wisdom of targeting students who have no connection to the Russian government or the invasion of Ukraine.
I just came across this and could figure if it was satire or the truth. I think it is true sadly.
Sanctions on cats?
Russian-owned cats have been banned from international competition following the invasion of Ukraine. FIFe (Fédération Internationale Féline) has also ruled that no Russian-bred cat can be imported and registered in its pedigree book outside Russia. pic.twitter.com/8CBHfgGTOZ
— CGTN Europe (@CGTNEurope) March 2, 2022
I really do not have more to say as I am speechless.
Time for another drink.
Comments
Have at it folks if you desire
I likely won't be back until this afternoon unless the constant SMH does some serious damage.
My bad. I have one additional comment
Sanctions kill
Period. Some people in our government think that if our sanctions hurt the populace enough that they would rise up and overthrow their government. Well we’ve been sanctioned here for a very long time because our money goes to the military and so far no one has thought to overthrow our government yet. In fact we just keep voting for the people who have been doing it to us. Besides there is no chance that we can take on our militarized police.
Sanctions on Iran saw many deaths from cancer and many other diseases just like they killed Iraqi women and children. Sanctions are an act of war but we have been using them more often to get countries to bend to our will. And because of xenophobia most people here are happy with us doing it.
Weird how the people who once practiced duck and cover are screaming for us to be more aggressive against Russia including no fly zones. I can’t figure that out.
I’m appalled at the countries that are targeting athletes. That’s hitting below the belt and it’s fcking hypocritical because none have ever done it to ours after our many military adventures. All the world is a fcking hypocritical stage and I’m not laughing.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Richard Medhurst, born in Damascas with both parents diplomats
is in Vienna right now and he talks about sanctions being no different than bombs, killing is killing the means don't matter.
"... In my opinion sanctions like when you go and starve someone to death, or if I come to you and shoot you in the head or I starve you to death you know I'm still killing you, I'm still an aggressor.
If you do that to someone don't come here and tell me bombs are more humane or something than starving someone to death. They're both attacks and sanctions I mean they don't even treat that as something serious, it's just like 'whatever'... you know it is illegal under international law.
Make no mistake when the US puts sanctions on Russia for example they're not sanctioned by the UN, no pun intended, the UN didn't allow the sanctions so technically they're not legal under international law, they're unilateral coercive measures and so no one's gets punished.
I mean you know that famous quote from the US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright where she's asked by a reporter do you think it was worth killing 500 thousand children in Iraq with sanctions (she answered it was "worth it" but wasn't questioned about what was that "it"), not bombs,sanctions killed half a million children in Iraq and again that's supposedly legal does that make it right?
No it's just as brutal, I don't think you could have even killed 500 thousand Iraqi children with bombs if you try ,I mean you know it's incredible." (all emphasis mine)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHmF9nn24B8]
Bombs are Forever
Sanctions can be lifted.
[video:https://youtu.be/gdcuOsakgPY]
Being dead is forever, how one gets there doesn't matter n/t
How many die by sanctions
. . . depend on how long they are held in place.
As far as death goes, I prefer my chances vis-a-vis sanctions than by bombs or The Bomb.
And I'm sure the Ukrainian people would opt for having sanctions imposed against them right now instead of the Russian military juggernaut.
Progressive voices call for sanctions but not for little people
I watched a few YouTube videos by Kyle Kalinski of Secular Talk who favors sanctions only against Putin and his cabal. But not against ordinary Russians and he did list sanctions which would hurt regular Russians. The commentators definitely agree on sanctions and a decent amount favored fully sanctioning the entire population.
Problem which Kyle does not seem to understand is that sanctions always hurt regular people. VZ could not import insulin because banks refused to handle the transactions. Progressives like him never bothered to much understand how the US and allies sanction countries. He thinks oh yah, pinpoint sanctions are possible and desired. They are neither pinpoint nor even desired as the is to push for regime change.
Amazing isn’t it?
Just appalled by so many on the ‘left' who are behind the worsening situation in Ukraine instead of hoping for a peaceful solution.
They once knew that. How could they have forgotten how our sanctions on Iraq killed all those kids that as mentioned was worth it to Albright? They also once knew that just like Venezuela not getting insulin people in Iran couldn’t get treatment for cancer? Have they really forgotten or are they just so damn bloodthirsty because they’ve been taught to hate all things Russia? They have become xenophobic. My uncle is cheering Molotov cocktails. He’s been anti war his entire life! Just sad.
I just left DK and can’t believe how many there are pushing for more aggressive actions against Russia. Including doing things that are considered war crimes. Occupy democrats are pushing for a no fly zone over Ukraine and sending them more planes so they can fight Russia in the air. And bomb that ‘stalled convoy' to smithereens! Russia has already taken out more radar stations and I’m betting that they know they can protect the convoy. They are trying to get Ukraine to let people evacuate cities before they go in. I’ve read that the Nazis are not allowing people to leave and are using civilians as shields.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
DNC war mongers
I checked DK headlines the last few days, and the worst diaries are by staff members to measure the mood. I don't read the articles nor the comments. I saw the quality and war mongering during Trump era. I guess that was because I was kick off the platform.
Good idea to skip the comments
I just found this doozy:
Sad that he doesn’t feel the same way about the people in Yemen, Afghanistan, Venezuela and all the other countries that we are messing in. Might have something to do with the skin color? People weren’t ready to risk nuclear war over our transgressions if anyone would have stood up to us.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
I had better shut off my computer to remain sane.
This is what it ha gotten to! Now they pick on the disabled.
https://tass.com/sport/1415641
There's a bit more to it than meets the eye
Russia qua Russia has already been banned for the last two Olympic cycles, due to the doping scandals that leaked out after the Sochi (2014) Olympics. They were, however, permitted to send certified "clean" athletes with no doping record under a neutral flag and label. In 2018 they were "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR) - and there were still some doping scandals even though the athletes were supposed to have been "clean". So in 2022 the permission was changed to require no reference to the country name at all, and their athletes arrived as "ROC" (which everyone knew stood for "Russian Olympic Committee"). And - there was ANOTHER doping scandal.
So the IOC was already under pressure to impose a complete ban with no loopholes (no neutral flags, no nothing), and this mess in Ukraine provided the perfect cover. Banning Belarus as well was more cover.
Of course, the US has done some pretty horrific things, but nobody ever bans their athletes. That probably shows that the Hegemon is in charge here.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Unfortunately still awake
Here is a song
Significant only if you believe in the title
Aside from that I like the tune.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRpiBpDy7MQ]
Good Morning---From Russia, With Love
Yes, another map.
http://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2022/03/to-give-some-impression-of-scope...
And a short analysis.
"Those who expect that war to be over in 72 hours, you better get educated on the meaning of the deep operations and urban combat. Some people call on Russia now to go into overdrive. Russia can do that but she will not do that because this will mean many more civilian casualties. Especially against the background of ukies using human shields all over the place, such as not allowing civilians to leave for humanitarian corridors Russian Army opened all over: from Kiev to Mariupol. Nazis are desperate, as are their masters from Washington and London."
All my ancestors and my husband's ancestors came from Eastern Europe--Kiev, Warsaw, Latvia--- and ALL of them and I, consider ourselves to have come to America from Russia. Lines on a map and name changes do not alter who people are.
Here's a pretty song I remember from long ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ok5NyVEls_M
and LOL quote of today
"Putin has established his credibility through his actions... whatever else you want to say about the man he has stood behind his word...
The West is still trying to figure out its pronouns..."
(As Humphrey has noted. Marienpol is still under heavy attack and Odessa looks to be up next with a naval assault.)
One more chuckle worthy bit:
NYCVG
Ooh that’s going to leave a mark
The West is still trying to figure out its pronouns..."
I’m going to stop there so what I’m thinking isn’t taken the wrong way.
We import rocket engines from Russia because of course we do. It’s going to get interesting one day when the world finally wakes up and sees that because we barely make anything here anymore all they need to do is stop sending us what we need. Obama privatized the space agency and all the research that we have paid for was just given to private companies. Good luck to them getting rockets so they can go play in space and feel that they have accomplished something.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
As we discussed on C 99
during the Port Blockage, Isaac Asimov's The Foundation spelled all this out a long time ago.
Let your enemy depend on you and stop all manufacturing except weaponry and sooner or later your enemy will crumble and self-sufficient countries and empires will prevail.
Russia has Oil. Gas. Land. Fertilizer. Vigorous trade relations with China.
USA has Pentagon.
NATO will see what their sanctions are worth against China/Russia and their self-sufficiency.
NYCVG
Just watched The Duran
Here's my foremost problem with this otherwise predominantly sober analysis:
Putin kept saying he wasn't going to stage a full scale invasion of Ukraine. I figured he'd limit himself to the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk. Well, fool me once . . . .
And the guy on Duran was flat off wrong about Belarus getting involved.
I see Putin actually just called Macron. Macron later said that he fears that "the worst is yet to come" for Ukraine. See: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/after-call-with-putin-macron-convin...
The Duran on Rumble:
https://rumble.com/vw518i-us-and-eu-make-big-push-for-regime-change-in-r...
Wally,
I've been reading your comments and agreeing with some. And I've been reading at another forum where many supporters of the Russian position became increasingly convinced that Russia would NOT invade, pointing to Lavrov or other Russian officials saying they had no intention of invading.
But I think people like me, who have been paying as close attention as we could to what Putin, Lavrov, and their officials were saying, understood that the whole effort to get a security agreement in writing, soon, not later, meant that the current state of affairs was totally unacceptable. They made that clear. So I think it's fair and honest for them to have said, "We have no intention of invading," meaning, "we really don't want that to happen, but if we're pushed into a corner, we may have to."
Given what the western press allows people to know about this whole crisis, from 2014 onward, I guess it looks like everything was fine, happy, peaceful and plentiful in Ukraine, and then Putin, because he is a madman, invaded for no reason. That's not what I see.
Nuclear missiles in Ukraine may conceivably eliminate Mutually Assured Destruction. They could arrive at their targets in Russia before Russia had time to verify and respond. Putin has repeatedly said that 5-7 minutes is too short a time in which to verify, so Russia would launch MAD if missiles were launched from Ukraine. This is unacceptable because it increases the chances of accidents, mistakes, or neocon insanity leading to planetary death. Putin has said this repeatedly and clearly.
There is no reason to put strategic missiles in Ukraine other than to destroy Russia without receiving retaliation. We already have nuclear weapons in Europe. This threat, combined with arming outspoken, uniformed Nazi military forces engaged in ethnic cleansing, is a perfect combination of factors necessitating a Russian response.
And there is nothing more frustrating for people like me than Nazi military forces killing babies and the person who stands up to them being called Hitler. I have pictures on my computer of the carnage in Eastern Ukraine during the 8 year civil war. These photographs and first hand reporting by refugees are exactly what motivates the Russian people to want Putin to do something to stop this rise of another Hitler in Europe.
Thank you for elucidating so clearly your thinking.
It is difficult to gain an ear when the noise of cultured and widely disseminated partisan information (aka-propaganda) fills the airwaves. I applaud your effort to add another perspective.
As Lily Tomlin once said: “No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up.”
Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all."
- John Maynard Keynes
One thing that hasn’t been discussed here
is that after Russia said that it would recognize the 2 countries all of its troops were still in Russia, but the world started to sanction them anyway. So they decided that since the world wasn’t interested in calming things down and hostilities would continue and they were being punished anyway why not put a stop to the war on the Donbas and stop the Nazis from killing Russians which they had been doing for 8 years.
Most people think that the sanctions were because they invaded, but they came before. It’s sad that the people watching the event in the colosseum don’t understand how they have been manipulated into giving their consent for war. I’m very glad that the shitlibs aren’t in power because they would have escalated acts against Russia making nuclear weapons more possible.
After 5 years of Russia Russia the xenophobia and McCarthyism has gone into high orbit. I too am seeing people say they’d be happy to pay $4 for gas or even higher if that means that Russia is destroyed. Dumb fcks don’t know that if that happens then China is next.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Warlord Trump just called the Russian Invasion a Holocaust
[video:https://youtu.be/I6KSMmHRxzo]
Sanctions Will Not Hold
Non- NATO countries will do as they see fit.
NATO countries, aware that the USA breaks every promise, will eventually do what is best for their own economies.
NYCVG
I want to be rich
. . . but will I ever be?
Will the US simply roll over and let SK and Samsung play footsies with Putin?
I don't think so on any of these counts.
They already did
Lots of countries are getting exemptions and you should be glad that they are unless you are hoping that the global economy collapses? We’ve exempted ourselves from Russian gas too as well as many other things that we need from them. It’s what makes all this so damned stupid.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Something for the US and its puppets to consider.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Giving out rifles probably not a good idea
Through a friend who is in contact with a woman in the Ukraine said that the Russians came through and did not fire on anybody. People did start singing patriotic songs in groups. Russians just ignored them. From some of the videos I have seen I have to wonder if what will happen is that neo-Nazis and criminal gangs will turn the weapons on other Ukrainians. Pro-Russians are calling the untrained civilians with guns "volksstrum", which Hitler created right before the fall of Berlin.
Saw this also from Greek outlet. Did not know so many Greeks live in Ukraine. Neo-Nazis shooting people who try to leave the city.
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/01/greek-in-mariupol-fascist-ukrainian/
Reminders of WWII?
Wife told me that a gem/stone shop on the Oregon Coast got rid of their "Russian stones". WTH is a Russian stone? She said in some of the hobby forums and classes she attends online, a lot of harassment of Russians.
The demonization of Russians has been no surprise the last five or so years, but the depth of the hatred and xenophobia has been stunning not just in the US but also in Europe as the result of the invasion.
Are the Russians becoming for the West what the Jews were to the German Nazis before WWII? Or the West has taken up Nazi beliefs and narratives about Slavic people?
I’m seeing this
Comments are fully xenophobic about Russia and especially Putin.
In what way should Biden challenge Putin?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
After watching Zelenskij's news conference today
. . . it's pretty obvious to me that Putin insists on unconditional surrender.
They're just military exercises. No need to worry about an invasion.
It's just about the Donbas, no NATO, no nukes, denazification.
Maybe, just maybe an independent, demilitarized, no NATO, no nukes, denazified Ukraine west of the Dnieper.
It's about NO independent Ukraine.
Right now, it sure seems like it's just a matter of how many Ukrainians and Russians die. And how long hostilities will continue.