IWETHEY v. 0.3.0 | TODO
1,095 registered users | 0 active users | 0 LpH | Statistics
Login | Create New User
IWETHEY Banner

Welcome to IWETHEY!

New Alex, I'm sorry, but ^ he's right.
It sickens me to see what is happening in Ukraine. A lot of the US video I've seen has the hotel my family and I lived in during our stay in Kiev in the background (my fourth grade school was behind that hotel). I said at the outset that we were going to let Putin have all of Ukraine to avoid risking nuclear confrontation with Russia. If anyone thinks Putin isn't batshit crazy enough to launch as a final middle finger to the West then they haven't been paying attention and/or don't understand Soviet thinking. And make no mistake, that's what we're dealing with in the Russian government now - aging Soviets who grew up in a country that no longer exists and whose experiences and education are anchor-less in a world in which there is no CCCP. Things will not get better in Russia until this generation dies and a new generation, born after the end of the Soviet Union takes power. Of course, it could be too late by then.

This is not to suggest that we are entirely blameless here. Declassified documents demonstrate that Gorbachev's claim he was lied to about NATO expansion turns out to be true. That the unindicted war criminal Victoria Nuland was involved with members of the Svoboda Neo-Nazis, I think, is beyond dispute. That Svoboda candidates got less than 2% of the vote in the last election is a fact buried under a tsunami of Soviet Russian "Anti-Nazi" propaganda. (Aside: this is classic Soviet propaganda: distort a fact and use it as the basis for your outlandish, false claims). Putin's actions in Ukraine are unspeakably barbaric and cannot be dismissed. There is no context in which Putin's actions are understandable, let alone excusable.

None of that really matters. What matters is Ukrainians can look neither West nor East for protection. Not East for obvious reasons. Not West over a not completely unjustified fear of nuclear war.

Not to be glib, but in a Star Trek film Captain Picard said it best when speaking about the Borg, "They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here. This far. No further."

This is the attitude we must have with Russian aggression - even at the risk of nuclear war. For if we can allow the savagery being committed by Russians against Ukrainians for the sake of a little temporary peace, what is the point of "saving" any of us?

I hope your family and friends are safe and survive this horror, Alex. But I fear Macron was right when he said this week, "The worst is yet to come."
bcnu,
Mikem

It's mourning in America again.
Expand Edited by mmoffitt March 4, 2022, 09:30:19 AM EST
New MM is totally right. How often do I agree with MM?
New Are you trying to weaken my conviction? </jk>
bcnu,
Mikem

It's mourning in America again.
New I'm glad to see your post and see that you're getting real news.
It is depressing to see what the Russians have done so far.

But, I am proud of what the Ukrainians have done. They have fought back smartly and effectively given their much smaller resources. The 3 day takeover of Ukraine that was predicted did not happen. Kyiv while Putin's primary target is still Ukrainian. That's where Putin expects to to have a bogus government set up.

Kharkiv, only 20 miles away from the border with Russia and where almost everyone speaks Russian has made it obvious that they are Ukrainian and do not want to lose freedom. When Russian's begin to kill civilians and wipe out buildings, it tells us the Russian military know they are not welcome and will be paying a heavy price.

200K soldiers are not enough to control 40M Ukrainians. It would not surprise me if they never make it to control West Ukraine (e.g. city of Lviv).

The total dismemberment of all non-government TV and and Radio in Russia and silencing of international news reporters works for a while, but truth will eventually make it to the Russian public. Using the words "war" or "invasion" in talking about the Russian military activity in Ukraine puts you in prison for 15 years! Several thousand protestors have been arrested. It may be a very slow process, but the truth of what is happening in Ukraine and Russia may lead to Putin's end. The sanctions will make everyone want to know why they are suffering.

I have no contacts in Ukraine. My father had a sister that never married and his uncles died in Siberia back in the 1930's. My mother had sisters who had children, but when she died, so did any communication with them. Unfortunately, they are located just North of Crimea and now under Russian control.
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
New You are quite right to be proud of Ukrainians.
The whole world should be proud of them. On this being the end for Putin, I was speaking to a friend of mine about the invasion on the first or second day of Russia's invasion and after discussing the likely prospect that no one would come to Ukraine's aid (militarily), I said, "The only positive thing one can hope, and it is nowhere near sufficient to accept anything Russia has done, is that this will be Putin's Afghanistan. Afghanistan cost Gorbachev everything, hopefully Ukraine will cost Putin everything."

(Aside: I know the flaw in this analogy. Unlike Putin, Gorbachev considered Afghanistan a mistake and began planning an exit as soon as he became General Secretary. However, that Afghanistan accelerated the fall of the Soviet Union cannot be argued against imo.)

That's not enough, of course. But if we aren't prepared to risk a nuclear exchange over what is being done to Ukrainians then there is nothing worthy of the risk.
bcnu,
Mikem

It's mourning in America again.
     The arsehole went and did it: Russia invading Ukraine. - (CRConrad) - (36)
         Ukraine to challenge Russia’s seat and veto on the UN Security Council? - (CRConrad) - (27)
             Putin doesn't care - (crazy) - (26)
                 It's not 2014. - (Another Scott) - (20)
                     he will install a pro russian government and slowly withdraw after pacification - (boxley) - (3)
                         Well, even Russians are not going along with the invasion. - (a6l6e6x) - (2)
                             It's worse than 2014 - (crazy)
                             Remember the Russian apartment bombings? - (crazy)
                     No, exactly. - (CRConrad)
                     No, maybe 100,000 spread across that population will. - (crazy) - (14)
                         Ukraine has a very long history of fighting outsiders. - (Another Scott) - (13)
                             "with many cases of collaboration with the German forces" don't hold yer breath on tht group -NT - (boxley) - (10)
                                 I was reluctant to cite that, but didn't have time to find something better. - (Another Scott)
                                 You couldn't have found a better way of sounding exactly like... - (CRConrad) - (2)
                                     nope, putin is entirely wrong and I hope the russian people pull him off his throne - (boxley) - (1)
                                         Then why the fuck do you sound exactly like his trolls all the time? - (CRConrad)
                                 Only ~9 years before Operation Barbarossa - (scoenye) - (5)
                                     You got it! And a lot of people sufferred from communism in other ways too. - (a6l6e6x) - (4)
                                         Here's some related information in Smithsonian magazine. - (a6l6e6x) - (3)
                                             A kinda related thread, on Russia's economy. - (Another Scott) - (1)
                                                 Interesting! Makes sanctions more powerful to bring Russia down. -NT - (a6l6e6x)
                                             Good read. Thank you. - (scoenye)
                             You are citing a group of people from 70 years ago - (crazy) - (1)
                                 They threw off an attempted dictator in 2014. A million in the streets. - (Another Scott)
                 Alex, I'm sorry, but ^ he's right. - (mmoffitt) - (4)
                     MM is totally right. How often do I agree with MM? -NT - (crazy) - (1)
                         Are you trying to weaken my conviction? </jk> -NT - (mmoffitt)
                     I'm glad to see your post and see that you're getting real news. - (a6l6e6x) - (1)
                         You are quite right to be proud of Ukrainians. - (mmoffitt)
         Hmm.... Could this actually be a true story? (Spoiler alert: No.) - (CRConrad)
         DW livestream from Kyiv - (Another Scott)
         Ukraine strikes Russian air base. - (Another Scott) - (1)
             Need to do that in White Russia (Belarus) as well! -NT - (a6l6e6x)
         Molotov cocktails... - (Another Scott) - (2)
             Link didn't work. -NT - (a6l6e6x) - (1)
                 It's a clip from a 2015 Maidan movie that's going around. - (Another Scott)
         Deutsche Sprachübung: - (CRConrad)

If you're going to be paranoid, don't stop at half measures.
91 ms