Well, *that's* going to make for an awkward evening meal

Post #414,543 by rcareaga 10/16/16 7:15:35 PM 10/16/16 7:41:20 PM Reply	Well, that's going to make for an awkward evening meal A friend of ours is staying with us this weekend, helping the spousette with some filing downstairs in the law cave. The friend (born in the USSR sixty years ago; stateside resident since late in the last century although she retains an apartment in St. Petersburg; lately a US citizen) is distraught today because a family friend (and apparently his wife and child, although this fact is not mentioned in the news accounts I've found so far) was killed today by a bomb in Donetsk. The late chum appears to have been a very unsavory character. From a 2015 news account: A Russian commander in the Kremlin-backed separatist battalion in eastern Ukraine claims to have shot dead 15 Ukrainian soldiers taken captive by his fighters. Meanwhile, Amnesty International discovered evidence of summary killings of Ukrainian soldiers at the hands of separatists. In a telephone interview with the Kyiv Post on April 3, Arseny Pavlov, commander of the separatists' Sparta Battalion, said he had killed the troops when asked about accounts from witnesses who claim he executed Ihor Branovytsky, a Ukrainian soldier. Branovytsky fought in the battle for Donetsk Airport before surrendering, and being taken prisoner by the separatists. "I don't give a fck about what I am accused of, believe it or not," Pavlov, better known by his nom de guerre, "Motorola," is heard saying on the recorded phone conversation. "I shot 15 prisoners dead. I don't give a fck. No comment. I kill if I want to. I don't if I don't." (Internal Wikipedia linky added in blockquote above.) Since our friend has already been involved in a small social set-to here already this weekend, singing Trump's praises at a small dinner party last night, saying "I theenk Heelary ees the devil" (not surprisingly, she is an ardent admirer of Russia's president) and that the Crimea, the rest of the Ukraine and the Baltics are all properly Russian property—the other guests were diplomatic but clearly a bit nonplussed—I am determined to spare us further awkwardness when, as it inevitably must, this comes up in conversation tonight: I will make noncommittal expressions of regret and pretend I never heard of the guy. tactfully, Edited by rcareaga Oct. 16, 2016, 07:41:20 PM EDT Expand All History
Post #414,550 by Another Scott 10/16/16 8:39:36 PM 10/16/16 8:39:36 PM Reply	Wow. It's a small world, and Trumpism/Putinism is all too common. Hoping for the best this evening
Post #414,555 by a6l6e6x 10/16/16 9:58:37 PM 10/16/16 9:58:37 PM Reply	"A very unsavory character" -- is that a PC term for savage? Couldn't happen to a nicer guy, I say. Alex "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." -- Isaac Asimov
Post #414,558 by rcareaga 10/16/16 10:10:30 PM 10/16/16 10:10:30 PM Reply	Re: "A very unsavory character" -- is that a PC term for savage? My guess is that among the relatively small number of savages still at large in remote parts of the world, few are as unsavory as this guy appears to have been. Our Russian friend was too distraught to remain for dinner, and went back to San Francisco. Here's how RT describes hum, by the way (emphasis added): The DNR’s ministry of defense confirmed the death of Arsen Pavlov, better known under the alias Motorola, who led one of the self-defense units resisting the Ukrainian government forces in the beginning of the conflict in Donbas. We will await mmoffitt's clarification before we attempt to resolve the apparent contradiction between the accounts. cordially,
Post #414,559 by boxley 10/16/16 10:16:14 PM 10/16/16 10:16:14 PM Reply	sounds like mafiya, wonder what his tats were always look out for number one and don't step in number two
Post #414,583 by mmoffitt 10/17/16 9:03:45 AM 10/17/16 9:03:45 AM Reply	"Mashable cannot verify the authenticity of the recording." Truth is the first casualty of war. You know this. We backed (if not initiated outright) the coup of a legitimately elected government. There is little dispute of that, AFAIK. The duly elected President turned East (why is the subject of debate - see anything by Stephen Cohen vs. Popular Meedja for the period) instead of West and immediately became extremely unpopular in Western Ukraine. A new election was scheduled in less than a year, but we (the US) and our unnamed allies (Neo-Fascist Ultra-Nationalists in Ukraine) couldn't wait. For more than two years unspeakable horrors have been committed by both sides in this conflict and the truth of any accusation (from either side) is highly suspect. IOW, we (the U.S.) did for Ukraine what we did for Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Libya. Some of us here are celebrating the likelihood that one of the chief architects of those five disasters will likely be the next President of the United States. And yet, some of us still cannot understand why there are people in the world that consider that very person to be "the devil." That help? bcnu, Mikem bcnu, Mikem We read one day, We hold these truths to be self evident. That all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But if a man doesn't have a job or an income, he has neither life, nor liberty, nor the pursuit of happiness. He merely exists. MLK
Post #414,557 by mmoffitt 10/16/16 10:07:06 PM 10/16/16 10:07:06 PM Reply	That conflict gets nowhere near the attention it should. Best of luck with a horribly awkward situation. bcnu, Mikem We read one day, We hold these truths to be self evident. That all men are created equal. That they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But if a man doesn't have a job or an income, he has neither life, nor liberty, nor the pursuit of happiness. He merely exists. MLK
Post #414,582 by mmoffitt 10/17/16 9:01:31 AM 10/17/16 9:04:06 AM Reply	Dupe. Edited by mmoffitt Oct. 17, 2016, 09:04:06 AM EDT Expand All History

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