Serious

[glass wyvern]

I’m afraid of nukes but I don’t expect they will be used

[grave brook]

noone expected this happening too

but here we are

[deep saddle]

It would backfire on them also

[finite sail]

yeah, because theyre afraid of nukes

afraid of escalating the conflict

[sleek river]

Hasn't the U.S intelligence been saying that Russia would invade?

[finite sail]

putin actin unstable and stuff, no bueno

[grave brook]

they were, but for example in russia we laughed at that

[jagged birch]

I expect the number of military personnel in Poland to rise considerably in the coming weeks. Enough that the Russian Government is going to become alarmed.

[sick sleet]

fwiw, we laughed in the west too, because that did sound like so much more hawkish bollocks

[jagged birch]

Even putin laughed at the idea of invasion, but then he was lying about it

He likes to play both sides against the middle

Always has

[sleek river]

I heard rumors that the belarusian army isn't accepting lukashenkos orders

[glass wyvern]

There’s a few sad similarities with this conflict and what Milosevic carried out back at the turn of the century

[jagged birch]

Part of Russia's disinformation campaign has always been politically to play both sides against the middle

[sick sleet]

@grave brook the US said russia is going to invade, and they were right. ukraine said russia is not ready to invade, and they were right.

[jagged birch]

Russia said they weren't going to invade, and they were wrong

Sorry it's not an invasion. It's a military operation.

So what...Ethnic cleansing?

[sick sleet]

@grave brook #memes🤡 message

[grave brook]

Well, about being ready... tbh if they went full-on, ua would be ruined in one day

The reason why it stuttered is bcoz they really try to avoid civil casualties

[sleek river]

Russia doesn't have enough resources to field their entire army

[jagged birch]

They can't even get the gas together to go "full on"

[sick sleet]

that is not what it looks like from over here, unless your full-on includes use of strategic nukes.

[sleek river]

You sure about that?

[jagged birch]

There are no strategic nukes

Not a single nuke has been fired.

[grave brook]

Not nukes, but there is a plenty non-nuclear stuff able to ruin a city

[glass wyvern]

Most is against the laws of conflict now

[jagged birch]

It's important to avoid hyperbole where nukes are a concern

[grave brook]

Abiut this one yes
The sheer amount of assets is incomparable

[jagged birch]

Russia doesn't get sarcasm or hyperbole

[grave brook]

Noone ever cares, remember belgrad, iraq, etc

[sleek river]

I'm talking about civilian casualties

[grave brook]

Yes

[glass wyvern]

Yes I do, I’m old enough to have seen it before YouTube

It doesn’t make it right and it’s sad that shit gets to this stage

[grave brook]

If they wanted to kill civilians, drop one on two random missiles in random places is not a way to go
As bad as it sounds

[jagged birch]

Russia should withdraw. No negotiation. No agreements. Just walk away. Tell the nationalists in Ukraine...the loyalists - "You got what help you were going to get" and let the chips fall.

Ukraine will be pissed but probably won't retaliate

Nations will slowly release their grip

[glass wyvern]

I don’t believe that Putin is capable of that

[sleek river]

If they wanted to avoid civilian strikes they would use targeted ammunition

[glass wyvern]

He’s the sort I think that seems to need to save face

I might be wrong though

[jagged birch]

It would save face.

[glass wyvern]

Not in his mind

[dawn quartz]

Agreed, and let's hope that's not true

[jagged birch]

They punched Ukraine in the balls for their loyalists.

[deep saddle]

We can all agree there was no legit or credible reason to invade in the first place and cause all this. But we are past that point now.

[jagged birch]

All they need to do is frame why they were there under the guise of their loyalists

Supporting Russians in Ukraine

Then blame the loyalists for the failure

Say it was not enough information or misinformation from loyalists

The Russian Federation saves face and the loyalists become scape goats

Which they always have been

and russia can save their loyalists morale by simply offering them asylum from ukraine

Not like russia protecting terrorists isn't already a thing.

[dawn quartz]

"War is rich old men protecting their wealth by sending lower and middle-class young men off to die" — George Carlin

[glass wyvern]

I mean I think there are a few facts here. There has been killing of pro-Russian persons since 2014/15 but this was small and localised and due to the fact there was militia groups. There has been an issue in the fact that Azov battalion were incorporated into the armed force a few years ago.. it’s never smart to incorporate a far right group to your military. Russia has also done this with the contract servicemen. What is also a fact that if this was a problem then Russia as a member of the UN should have highlighted it than let shit boil down so much that only the dried crap remained on the bottom of the pan. Instead they have gone in heavy handed when it could have been resolved far more diplomatically.

[grave brook]

But the effect turned out to be quite opposite

[jagged birch]

In order to make the argument they are denazifying ukraine, they'd need to clean their own house first.

IE-Wagner Group

Military contractors are a blight on the military

In any nation

They should not be allowed

[glass wyvern]

Agreed

[grave brook]

This wouldnt work for 2 reasons
1 - the world is US-centered and US will sweep it under the rug
2 - UN is useless

[glass wyvern]

You pay them for a job and it’s not like you monitor their performance or ethics with KPIs lol

[glass wyvern]

It’s only useless if people keep thinking this way

If people try to use it and help shape it it no longer becomes useless

[grave brook]

Naah its just powerless

It cant even do anything with Russia, not to mention US

[dawn quartz]

I appreciate Chris Hedges' take on the current situation.
We've been pushing buttons over there to be fair, and Putin just took the bait as he put it.

[jagged birch]

The UN is political theater. It isn't useless or powerless. It is representative of the state of mind in different nations and the behavior and conduct of its members often is used as a predicate for other organizations to move

Where the UN fails, others use it as a harbinger and act

The UN is the doorman at the party

His job isn't to tell you what to do. It's to tell others about you.

[glass wyvern]

Buttons have been pushed yeah. I mean I can kind of see the point of Russia “isn’t allied to get bigger but NATO can” it is pretty one sided in that regard but then They are two sides of the same coin and different ways of flipping that coin

[grave brook]

Maybe its a doorman, but the point about crimes of ua nazis and givernment remains the same - they got away with it

[jagged birch]

What ua nazis?

[glass wyvern]

But the evidence should be gathered and presented

It cannot be hearsay

[sick sleet]

azov. but also see wagner.

[jagged birch]

Wagner is russian

[sick sleet]

thats why i said "also see".

[jagged birch]

Realistically, every country has nazis

[sick sleet]

@jagged birch the UA equiv is the azov brigades.

[dawn quartz]

Excerpt from a recent interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR_UeNZ_8zY

[grave brook]

Azov, aidar troops mentioned above, and some ppl from the government who pushed them into regular army

[jagged birch]

That's not something you go to war over.

[grave brook]

Sure thing, but not in any country they are legally allowed to do their thing

[jagged birch]

What is their thing?

[grave brook]

Ethnic killing

[glass wyvern]

I never try to pretend the west is innocent or the righteous are truly what they claim. At the end of the day it’s hard to trust any group at the top but what is needed is freedom of speech and freedom of the Internet etc. Something that I’m genuinely concerned with in terms of what Russia has now done in the last days. Their people deserved the right to oppose and to understand the exact truths and make their mind up.

[grave brook]

Tortures

Rapes

All this stuff

[jagged birch]

Torturing and rape have nothing to do with nazis.

[sick sleet]

oh, thats all the stuff currently reported the russian troops are doing, including their pet nazi corps?

[jagged birch]

Be more specific

[dawn quartz]

As was pointed out, Wagner Group seems "cut from the same cloth".

[jagged birch]

I don't know a single military group on earth, be they contract or official that doesn't have torture and rape on their resume

[grave brook]

One group is torturing a member of other group for being loyal to russia, is that nazi enough?

Oh i typod

[jagged birch]

I said be specific, not make up arguments that support the claim without evidence.

[grave brook]

U want me to give videos or...

[jagged birch]

Give me at least a source

I can do my own research. Give me anything

[grave brook]

Dude it was 7 years ago...

[sick sleet]

oh, you mean the war crimes russian wagner group mercs have been committing in ukraine for years? the original phrasing seemed more correct?

[glass wyvern]

That’s not Nazi per se. I mean look at the conflict in Northern Ireland. They weren’t Nazi-esque there, just militant

[jagged birch]

So 2015?

[dawn quartz]

Wagner Group's namesake, Dmitri Utkin:
https://static.wixstatic.com/media/251599_cb3b2bb8f85e4a7aa0f1049011f8e780~mv2.jpg

[grave brook]

14-15 ye

Ye wagners are animals too, never denied that

But im not sure they are as legal as azov

[jagged birch]

So there was a nationalist military group in 2015 that was raping and torturing people in Ukraine for not being loyal to Ukraine?

[grave brook]

Now im in doubt

[jagged birch]

Do we have a specific incident?

[grave brook]

This group is present now, just google azov

[glass wyvern]

I’m not sure if they are officially incorporated into the Russian armed force

[dawn quartz]

So you understand that bringing up Asov in this contest is "whataboutism" at best?

[jagged birch]

Not saying it didn't happen, but in looking up the source I want to see if this was a disgusting human or motivated by nationalism....because rapists don't rape and torturers do not torture out of a pride for their nation.

[grave brook]

Absolutely, but they are the main nazi group in ru gov eyes aswell

Thats why im bringing them up

[dawn quartz]

That's propaganda

[jagged birch]

You can be a nazi and still not torture or rape people though.

[grave brook]

Yes u can

But how can u get evidence then

[dawn quartz]

And vice versa

[jagged birch]

Going after nazis specifically ignores the actual problem of the disgusting human atrocities that include rape and torture.

There are nazis everywhere

Eliminating nazis won't eleviate the problem

[glass wyvern]

Interesting theory

[jagged birch]

Nazism at its root is borne of a culture indifference

[grave brook]

Ok, i worded it not well in my statements about crimes being unpunished by worldwide organs

[jagged birch]

I want to believe that Russia had some good intelligence to justify whatever action they took against Ukraine, but they aren't providing any...and have every single reason in the world to

[grave brook]

But u can probably google azov's stuff being called out by UN special team, what is the acronym in eng...

Still no measures

Its to that talk about trying to solve everything through UN

[glass wyvern]

UNSC?

[dawn quartz]

I would like to note that my heart aches for all the innocent people who are getting swept up in the nonsense.
None of us knows how this will turn out so I just hope for a quick resolution and an end to the senseless violence.

[glass wyvern]

Yeah I totally agree

[jagged birch]

Azov is disgusting as an organization.

So is Wagner

So is every other far right nationalist

[glass wyvern]

I would like things to be normal again for our Russian friends who what nothing to do with this.

I would like Ukrainians to have their homes back

[grave brook]

In russian its european organisation of security and collaboration

[verbal shadow]

I feel the same 🥺

[grave brook]

They sure are, i just brang them up as an argument of international organizations cant do shit even when they gathered evidence themselves

[glass wyvern]

If it’s European only then maybe European security council rather than UN Security Council

[grave brook]

Maybe

Looks like its OSCE

[sleek river]

Georgians too please my village is in danger of being taken over slowly

[jagged birch]

At the end of the day, the ball is in Russia's court. Azov was not a justification...even as disgusting as they are conceptually. There are far right militia all over the world. Everywhere.

Including inside russia

[glass wyvern]

I also wish people at the top would just be fucking normal humans and have the decency to talk shit through before resorting to a posing contest

[glass wyvern]

Indeed man, you guys too. Anyone that could get swept up in this. None of it is necessary

[grave brook]

The justification was ukrain troops bombing donetsk

And the region, not donetsk itself maybe

[sleek river]

They literally are pushing the border bit by bit

[grave brook]

And i have acquaintances that confirm it

[sleek river]

Ain't the separatists shelling Ukraine too?

[jagged birch]

Separatists have been.

[glass wyvern]

It was part of the Eastern area of Donetsk I believe; not the city itself yeah

[grave brook]

They were bombing it like 7 years ago tho...

[jagged birch]

They have been shelling and hiding in Donetsk

[grave brook]

I dont have aquaintances confirming it

[jagged birch]

The eastern side of Ukraine has been a staging ground getting military equipment from Russia

[dawn quartz]

The current state of economic sanctions is very powerful.
But that being said, I am not going to attempt to change your perspective because of the risk that entails to you, should you acknowledge certain facts.
Please consider that no such risk is on my shoulders personally, and what ramifications that has for truth, justice, human rights etc.
And do not post any agreement on my behalf please.

[deep saddle]

Economic sanctions can take longer to work also. They don't fix any immediate attacks and suffering.

[sleek river]

Do the acquaintances live in Ukraine?

[grave brook]

Of course

I dont trust anything else now

[jagged birch]

I want to see Russia survive this. I want to see Ukraine survive this. The cause of this war is a Governmental decision to open fire. The end of this war will be nothing less.

[deep saddle]

And I believe Joe Biden has dodged the media asking him if he will sanction Putin directly, every time they ask.

[jagged birch]

If Russia wants to be the voice, they have to call it...otherwise they will be the silence.

It is simple logic

[grave brook]

Ok guys thank you for lending me an ear

I feel better now

[sick sleet]

the real cringe is the UK though ...

[jagged birch]

There is a reason Biden is hiding sanctions against Putin. The amount of investments Putin has in the US are billions.

[dawn quartz]

Stay safe and all the best to you and yours.

[deep saddle]

Yea

[sick sleet]

thank you for speaking up!

[jagged birch]

Biden is a stupid old man that thinks he can negotiate with everyone

[deep saddle]

I know the US has a complex history with Russia and China.

[marble relic]

So much for evacuating Mariupol, Christ

[glass wyvern]

Anytime man, you seem like a good person and I hope you don’t feel that a bunch of westerners have ganged up on you. I wish you had freedom of speech to fully engage but I appreciate you for the comments and stance you have given in the circumstance

[deep saddle]

And many US Politicans on both sides are establishment and support corporations

[sick sleet]

the "lets have artillery strikes on civilian areas during ceasefire // peacetalks" thing?

[jagged birch]

It would cost the US billions to sanction Russia fully, because they have economic barbs in US infrastructure

So the cost would be forwarded

[marble relic]

Yep

[deep saddle]

Like those sanctions against China hurt our workers and farmers I believe.

[jagged birch]

The US government would need to seize those assets entirely, essentially stealing from Russia what was purchased over a century

[deep saddle]

They won't do that.

[jagged birch]

The impact would completely dwarf the great depression

[deep saddle]

Too many connections and donors

[jagged birch]

So yeah....Biden likely won't hit Putin too hard

Not personally

[deep saddle]

Nope

[jagged birch]

Though it would be interesting to see a world where American made was a necessity is north america and not just a luxury

[marble relic]

I just wanna know what the hell it'll take to make putin realize taking Ukraine ain't worth it and stop this bullshit

[deep saddle]

Yea.

[sick sleet]

someone becoming a millionaire, even if just briefly?

[jagged birch]

Honestly, if economic collapse isn't enough - I fear the cost he's looking for is the complete destruction of moscow or st petersberg

He may be a nihilist

If he's a nihilist and I know he's a philosopher, that means his values are not necessarily in line with long term interests

[sleek river]

He a дебил

[jagged birch]

Pronounce that in Russian

But spell it in english (the pronounciation not the translation)

[sleek river]

Debil I guess

[jagged birch]

lol

Debil

He's a debil

I don't know what he is. I know what he does.

[sleek river]

I could teach you Georgian swear words too but they are a bit vulgar

[jagged birch]

If we're defined by our actions, at the very least he is boisterously arrogant.

He wears it with pride though,

That implies he might have a psycho-social problem

[sleek river]

He'll get the strange bullet in the head disease

[jagged birch]

But then....That's politics for you.

Politicians that are too proud are often psychotic.

...and for some reason people love psychopaths

Though I wouldn't categorize all politicians as psychopaths.

Some are sociopaths.

[sick sleet]

you have to be a bit weird in the head to want that kind of job.

(which is one of the reasons i like zelensky. i am not sure he really wanted it, or it was a joke that got seriously out of hand...)

[jagged birch]

It's weird watching things in Ukraine these days. Feels like watching the future unfold but you can't see far enough into it that you can trust anything good will come of it all

Just leads to anxiety

Like a slow motion car crash

[glass wyvern]

Bloody hell. Visa and MasterCard are suspending in Russia now also.

[sick sleet]

didnt they do that a week ago?

[glass wyvern]

Not according to what I’ve just read

[sleek river]

Yeah

Maybe a bigger thing happened?

[sick sleet]

otoh ... https://www.reuters.com/business/mastercard-blocks-multiple-russian-financial-institutions-network-2022-03-01/

[glass wyvern]

This is the caveat on what I was reading

[sick sleet]

(though i have no idea what credit card "network services" are?)

[sleek river]

Payment

[sick sleet]

yeah, but there are, like, several different angles on that? "visa card issued to a russian person by a russian bank and used in russia" is very different from "visa card issued to a non-russian person by a non-russian bank and used in russia" and ... too much typing. all possible permutations of these bits. 😉

[sleek river]

Russia has it's own payment system called mir

[sick sleet]

@sleek river which, last i checked, worked in russia, and a bit in china, end of list.

[sleek river]

So useless?

[sick sleet]

(probably belarus too)

@sleek river no, i was wondering about what visa/mc did 4d ago vs what they are doing now.

[sleek river]

Ah

[sick sleet]

my guess is its about different permutations on that transaction-bitmap i tried to outline above.

[grave brook]

Ill try to order food tomorrow with mc card and report haha

4d ago was SWIFT withdrawal for some banks, wasnt it?

[wild phoenix]

If this is current, this is fucked up

[grave brook]

This is a crude photoshop isnt it?

For a meme

[sleek river]

?

[grave brook]

On a second glance maybe not

[wild phoenix]

From my friend in Kyiv

[sleek river]

It's a real photo

[grave brook]

Oh

Then its prob not

Yikes

[glass wyvern]

Cannot attest to the above ground part but the below ground is accurate

[grave brook]

Ok two different crowd pics, not photoshop

Omg

this pic doesnt look real wtf

[glass wyvern]

Yeah it’s pretty sad

[grave brook]

Whats the context i wonder

Ah its a refugee route

[glass wyvern]

That your mate Denis, Nate?

[wild phoenix]

Yarp

This is a video he posted a week ago

[grave brook]

Hope hes safe

[glass wyvern]

It was the only way they could cross from what I understood

[glass wyvern]

I saw this one last week actualy

[grave brook]

Ye looks like it

[wild phoenix]

Fucking mad bruv, two days before it kicked off he was posting his UE4 stuff

[sleek river]

Nlaws are big

[glass wyvern]

Yeah man. I don’t envy anyone over in that part of the world right now

[grave brook]

Oh its another topic i wanted to vent on

But not this time i guess

[glass wyvern]

Lum1nus, quick question… as much as you aren’t allowed to bash on Putin and the Russian army.. are you free to rip into the little slug that is Lukashenko?

[wild phoenix]

Clearly people there had no idea shit had kicked off

Or they don't care

Don't make him say anything, they will send nerve agents in the mail @glass wyvern

[glass wyvern]

Maybe both in some cases man

[wild phoenix]

Like he did here

[grave brook]

Not sure as hes the milop participant haha

[wild phoenix]

Another friend of mine served in the Russian army and I haven't heard from him

[glass wyvern]

They did it here also I’m sure actually. Also blew up a munitions depot in eastern CZ

[wild phoenix]

I'm worried if they continue to shell nuclear places

[glass wyvern]

But we can agree he’s a total twat thought right? Lol

[grave brook]

What do u think they had to do?

[wild phoenix]

They were asking the guys about work and they just didn't know probably

I don't even know what people can do

He has a tight grip

It's horrible

[grave brook]

How he handled the revolution attempt in his country made everything clear about him

[wild phoenix]

@grave brook I hope you are safe there btw mate

[grave brook]

I mean, its a work chat, why bring the stuff even there when its fucking everywhere around it.
He got angry and let his anger out, and got kicked for it

[glass wyvern]

One of the guys I work with has a Russian girlfriend and the first thing my wife and I did was to make sure they know to contact us if she starts getting problems here. She’s not wanting any of this but you know what people can be like. She said she’s ok for now, still allowed to attend university classes but she knows some lecturers threw the Russian students out of class and refused to teach them which is total horse shit. People can’t be tarring everyone with the same brush. Narrow minded stances are rife sadly

[glass wyvern]

Yeah true

[wild phoenix]

Yeah but for them it's like they had no compassion, so I see why he's angry

They should have made a thread like this one

It's not their fault though

Not like anyone tells that guy what to do

Impossible situation

[grave brook]

"Im the victim let me take" mindset is always destructive
Not like im the one to talk, its not me be8ng bombed, but still... hatred and anger will produce only more hatred and anger

[glass wyvern]

Yeah it’s not easy. Some people also have problems conveying emotion and stuff I guess

[wild phoenix]

Yeah man, my dad is from Sri Lanka. Genocide/ethnic cleansing can be a bitch

I remember stuff as a kid

And the situation is just beyond messed up

[grave brook]

Maybe the second saddest thing about all this after deaths is that Ukrainians are now united by hatred and bloodlust, and their gov is fueling it

[wild phoenix]

Maybe similar to other countries from recent years

More sad stuff

I may have mentioned in off topic a while back, meeting some Afghan refugees

A mentality that I could hopefully never understand

[jagged birch]

Russia would've been better off letting the international community into Ukraine to saturate that country with people that aren't like Ukraine's ultra right wing militia

It would've ended up exposing everyone and if Russia were correct, dismantling Azov

A big if

[grave brook]

Russia will never be exposed to be correct

no matter if it is actually correct or not

and China aswell

[wild phoenix]

@glass wyvern might be time for me to sign up bruv

[sleek river]

Do you have any military experience?

[sick sleet]

(any that is not "online", in particular)

[glass wyvern]

Something else happened?

[marble relic]

One of my friends in the UK has a bunch of family in the navy and apparently his brother and cousin who serve on the Prince of Wales carrier are on standby as of 2 or 3 days ago

[sick sleet]

germany had a massive wave of "traffic cameras everywhere shut down for security reasons" in the last days, and then lots of people posting pics/vids of mil transports ...

[marble relic]

And F-35s have been loaded onto it

[sick sleet]

germany also had a surprise/bonus F-35 today! one in transit to poland emergency-landed at BER airport, and no one really knew how to handle that kind of situation. 😄

[marble relic]

😆

[sick sleet]

pics/reports of regular police awkwardly standing around it to secure the area, but everything official just going "plane? what plane? we know of no plane."

[marble relic]

Apparently there's two, lol
https://www.anews.com.tr/world/2022/03/05/technical-problem-causes-two-us-f-35-stealth-jets-to-land-in-berlin

[sick sleet]

both landed, but one moved on on its own "minutes" later.

as in, they were just making sure their squaddie made it safely to ground, then took off again and went on their way. the other was still on the ground hours later.

[marble relic]

Ah

[sick sleet]

which led to the mentioned "no one sure what to do there" situation. 😄

[marble relic]

Sit on it til air force mechanics show up, lol. Or truck comes to take it to closest air base for repairs

[sick sleet]

tbh, them having emergency landings on our civilian airports is an improvement. compared to the classic joke about F-104 ... q: "how do you get a starfighter?" ... a: "just buy a patch of land and wait."

[marble relic]

Lol

[grave brook]

F-104 are piloted by NMS X-class modules traders confirmed

[sick sleet]

@grave brook @sleek river some context for my sometimes fierce/confused antiwar stance ... german. two generations after ww2. still meant growing up with plenty of evacuations because every time some neighbour was digging deeper than planting petunias they found some ww2 UXO. also meant seeing foreign tanks on the village square on your way to school, randomly. or plenty of sonic booms when people were training to defend us from the russians.

as in, while i personally dont have exp with wars, i grew up seeing wars having consequences, decades after they were fought.

and that kind of shit continues to this day in germany. you might have heard of the tesla gigafactory near berlin? the first thing they had to do was to send in experts to clear out a ton or three of uxo from the area.

because even without digging, to this day, 70+ years after ww2, there are plenty of areas in germany that are just marked "not safe". as in, if you go there, you might get gibbed if you step on the wrong thing.

[grave brook]

Woah, Germany has it rough

Today i learned smth new

Have been to Germany twice but never heard about it

[sick sleet]

@grave brook note not complaining there. it is somewhat of a thing among the german nazis to complain about "war crimes" commited during ww2. i am very much not one of them. but i also have seen and continue to see that a war is not over when its "over". it continues to have a day-to-day impact, for a fscking long time.

[grave brook]

Yea, i understand

[deep saddle]

The US allowed a Russian plane to land today so they could take their ambassador back

US talking to Poland about possibly sending fighter jets to Ukraine.

[sick sleet]

so far they have been politely hanging out on the polish side of the border.

[deep saddle]

Yea. And they're increasing sanctions against Oligarchs which surprised me. We have a saying that is fairly true, that the US is less of a democracy and more of an Oligarchy.

Yea the sanctions are affecting gas prices in the US and around the world even. California is over $5 usd per gallon now.

I drive a BMW that only takes premium gas. Idk what the prices will be when I return home Thursday.

[sick sleet]

this is still very much amusing from this side of the planet. the fuel price here is like 1.90 eur/liter to begin with. so 9.62 USD/gallon...

(thats the absolute low end of the scale.)

[dawn quartz]

I recall doing the conversion in my head as a teen in DK, and thinking it wasn't so bad, then I remembered it was a liter not a gallon lol

[sick sleet]

yeah, everytime i see northamericans complain there i am like z0mgwtfbbq? because if you actualy do the math, they are at ridicu-low prices, probably heavily subsidized, and ... they are complaining? what?

srsly, burning dead dinosaurs is very much a dead-end, and not just "this week", but "for a whole while now".

[deep saddle]

Wow that sounds crazy to me. I'm used to like $3.50 ish a gallon usd at most. At one point it went as high as maybe $4.70.
I thought gas came from the middle east. Does a lot of it come from Russia?

[sick sleet]

as i tried to point out, that pricing is not a recent or UA-RU related thing, at all.

[deep saddle]

Pricing no. But I meant the gas that arrives by boat is from a mix of Russia and the Middle East?

[sick sleet]

tbh, i have nfi where dino-juice for cars here comes from.

[deep saddle]

Some of it might be Alaska also if the approval went through by Donald Trump. Not sure

[sick sleet]

(expanding on the disclosure above? i was too poor to get a drivers license, and the solution for that was to get your DL during your mandatory military service. and then the draft decided i was entirely unsuitable for service. not even acceptable for desk duty and making coffee. while that means me (and the mil org) dodged one, it also kinda resulted in me not having a drivers license to this day. so take all my statements about cars with an extra-large grain of salt...)

[deep saddle]

Ah. Gotcha.

[sick sleet]

i can still read price charts without a license. i am just less personally involved there. 😉

[deep saddle]

Driving is kind of a right of passage in the US when you're in high school. A lot of us get our first cars as a gift from our parents when we get our license.

[sick sleet]

same here really.

[deep saddle]

We have bike trails expanding, but it's rarer to see people bicycle to work like China or the Netherlands.

Many people still get oil deliveries to the house. Which all is affected by the sanctions

[sick sleet]

i lived in very different contexts over the decades, and in some of them (the rural ones), i consider a drivers license and a car somewhat important. but for the last several decades, i lived in big cities, and its ... not really an issue here. the 1-3 times a year i really would need a car, i hire a cab, and i very much come out ahead financially that way.

(i dont have a bicycle either, but thats more a personal problem, because the place i live at means i would have to carry it to the fourth floor each time if i want to keep it more than three days, and ... uh ... i am not up for that tbh.)

[sick sleet]

no oil here. but hot water, heating, and cooking are ... natural gas. and most of that ... is russian. so personally, i am a bit twitchy about the topic while the temps outside are in the "water gets solid" range of things. but also very much in a "i am pretty sure we can find a solution for that not involving fellating vlad" mood.

[dawn quartz]

CA has loads of oil.
But how and why it ends up where it does is a convoluted mess lol

That state used to be littered with derricks, some are hidden in plain sight in LA to this day

[sick sleet]

(oh, the other CA?)

[dawn quartz]

California

[sick sleet]

on my side of things (iso3166), CA is canada. 😄

they also have oil though.

[jagged birch]

Canada doesn't have tons of oil tho. That's pretty much Alberta alone. Unless you mean like...Canola oil

[dawn quartz]

Yes I was staying with the previous context lol

[jagged birch]

Muh truck powered by the rapeseed

[sick sleet]

my earlier point is that perhaps (fscking finally) europe gets the memo that burning dinosaurs is no long-term sustainable solution.

[dawn quartz]

Petroleum has some traits that make it very difficult to replace

[sick sleet]

for some usecases? certainly. shouldnt keep us from replacing it for all the usecases where its really not that hard.

[dawn quartz]

Even just as a fuel source, there's nothing remotely comparable right now

[sick sleet]

but fuel for what?

[dawn quartz]

Cars, planes energy

[deep saddle]

Hydrogen wasn't working out as hoped for. And electric hasn't rolled out to a point it's affordable and practical to find charging stations.

Do we start installing solar panels on cars?

[sick sleet]

lets take cars. if you replace an ICE car by an electric one, and generate all the electricity for it by burning dead dinosaurs to make the electricity, you save 50% dinosaur juice. and, uh, we have several way to make electricity that dont involve dinosaurs at this point.

[sick sleet]

completely futile.

[dawn quartz]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hatav_Rdnno

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJL9MasBFvM

He's an EV fan ftr, and owns one

But he brings the maths

[sick sleet]

(gimme a minute or three to look at that one, because i am not familiar with that person)

[dawn quartz]

For a more in depth look
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9js5291m

Granted some of those issues will likely be overcome by better battery tech, but there are other issues involved that make petroleum much simpler and cheaper
Not to mention the environmental impact of all those batteries.
We're just substituting lithium mines in part, for oil

And subsidies cloud the issue there as well

[sick sleet]

first point (energy density) is more like that with dinosaurs you are talking about a one-time-usable resource, and with batteries you are talking about a rechargable. that matters to the low percentage of car users who "daily" exceed the range of their batteries.

[dawn quartz]

Batteries die too, and the materials are also finite

[sick sleet]

at the end of their (practical/usable) lifetime, a lithium battery contains exactly as much lithium as at the start though.

[dawn quartz]

Human population and the related consumption is the insurmountable problem.
Well you're talking about making many orders of magnitude more of them.
Our grid can't even support charging that lol

[sick sleet]

i cant speak for your grid, but the one over here absolutely can. and when EV adoption climbs to points where it cant, EE production changes to ways that adapt to this.

[dawn quartz]

Increases in efficiency are marginal as well.
Just bringing up the entire world to our standards is a huge problem, energy and resources wise

[sick sleet]

the whole "and if everyone plugs in their EV, it implodes the grid" is absolutely true. so is "if everyone starts their electric water kettle at the same time". they. dont.

[dawn quartz]

People tend to do exactly that,. thus rush hour, the work day etc

[sick sleet]

people have different schedules. some will charge at work. some will charge at home. and the rest is a software problem.

[jagged birch]

this is why everyone should invest in solar and create substations that exist grid wide

Then grid integrity is reinforced

[dawn quartz]

Is this false?
https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/germanys-stressed-grid-is-causing-trouble-across-europe

[sick sleet]

i am so very much on board with this. put PV on every. single. fucking. roof. that changes the problem to "uh-uh, we need software how to use all this energy." 😄

[dawn quartz]

Solar takes lots of space, and there are things like night and winter that make it impractical as well

[jagged birch]

Ain't nothin about solar that's impractical

[dawn quartz]

heck, clouds could ruin your day

[sick sleet]

space? roofs. nights? batteries. which dont have to be li-ion at all like that yt vid implies. there are sooo many better battery tech you can put in a basement for distributed storage.

[dawn quartz]

Tell that to an Alaskan

[sick sleet]

thats very much not the case with any PV this side of 1990

[dawn quartz]

Lol, I know you didn't read that academic source yet

[jagged birch]

I did research on a solar system including batteries for my home. Talking 30k and it would take ten years before it finished paying for itself.

It's gotten to the point now solar companies are offering them for 40 year rentals with upkeep included instead of selling the systems on their own

[sick sleet]

i am, uh, somewhat familiar with the topic in general, so me watching the yt vid is mainly looking for which idiot red herrings they toss. 😉

[dawn quartz]

I meant the link, YT != academic source

And clouds certainly affect pv cells, not ot mention night and winter

[jagged birch]

What ever happened to that guy that invented the segway and was going to build electrical grids in africa

[dawn quartz]

Sounds to me like Germany's grid is maxed out right now

[jagged birch]

Dean Kamen

[sick sleet]

the thing with PV and winter is ... PV complements wind power very nicely there. as in, in the summer PV is stronger, in the winter wind is. and that pretty much cancels each other out.

[dawn quartz]

Sorry, sounds nice but it's pipe dreams

[sick sleet]

its not. whats maxed out is the very idiotic way the grids billing is structured, sadly.

[dawn quartz]

https://www.technologyreview.com/2016/05/24/159991/germany-runs-up-against-the-limits-of-renewables/

[sick sleet]

note the "2016" part.

[dawn quartz]

Lots of issues on all corners, not to mention the subsidies.
We need to curb population, there is no energy source or gains in efficiency that can hold a candle to this.
We doubled it in 50 years.

[dawn quartz]

So do you have a contradictory, academic source, that's more recent?

I suspect little has changed

[sick sleet]

@dawn quartz on which particular part?

[dawn quartz]

Good question, you made kind of an empty observation about the date.

Also, speakng of red herrings, beware of numbers talking about "energy" as if it that means "electricity".

[sick sleet]

the main point of the paper seems to be "germany is adding political pressure to reduce renewable energy production so their coal-subsudies will run longer". if there is a technical problem with renewables in it, please point it out.

[dawn quartz]

I see that often in relation to renewable/sustainable sources, they ignore all the cars, trucks, plances etc, that are gobbling up petroleum for energy.

[dawn quartz]

If that's what your takeaway is Im not sure what to say.

[sick sleet]

and, as pointed out earlier, i absolutely see problems like "planes" where "electrification" is not an option at this point, but also that this very much shouldnt keep us from electrifying the parts where it very much isnt.

[dawn quartz]

Something is amiss with the site itself so I can't link the source atm
But this is still the basic state of affairs rn, worldwide
https://i1.wp.com/ourfiniteworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/per-capita-consumption-of-various-fuels_line.png

We have a really long way to go before petroleum gets replaced

https://i1.wp.com/ourfiniteworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/per-capita-world-energy-by-source.png
Different view

[sick sleet]

@dawn quartz for comparison, germany, late 2021, and i will have to translate some of that ... https://graslutscher.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Stromerzeugung-KW-52-2021-pfeil-1024x640.png

[dawn quartz]

That's not very color-blind friendly either lol

[sick sleet]

wind (grey/green) == wind. kernenergie (red) == nuclear. biomasse (dark green) == biomass. baunkohle (brown-grey) == soft coal.

the rest are ... mainly irrelevant.

note the tiny-tiny yellow parts. thats PV. which is almost irrelevant during european winter. and how wind makes more than up for it.

[dawn quartz]

Emphasis on tiny

[sick sleet]

the black line is "usage".

so during that week, there was one window of 1-2 hours-ish where "oh, yeah, how about more batteries" might have been required.

[dawn quartz]

So that's electricity then, not "energy"?

[sick sleet]

yes, thats just electricity.

[dawn quartz]

So that's a red herring

[sick sleet]

no. thats a practical real-world example of answering your "but germanies electrical grid is not up to it" bullshit.

[dawn quartz]

No because you haven't added all those non-existent electric cars

[sick sleet]

(which would make a difference about as "big" as the tiny remaining amount of nuclear power there, so 99% of that graph less than whats above the black line...)

[dawn quartz]

Lol no

Just look at your fossil fuel imports

[sick sleet]

i do. that was the starting point of the argument afair. because right now, without imported natural gas from russia, my ball would be very, very cold, which wouldnt improve my mood.

[dawn quartz]

Petroleum and other liquids

Petroleum and other liquids continue to be Germany's main source of energy and account for 35% of the country’s total primary energy consumption. In 2019, Germany consumed 2.4 million barrels per day (b/d).

https://www.eia.gov/international/analysis/country/DEU

[sick sleet]

yeah. very much aware. that was kinda the point.

[dawn quartz]

The transportation sector accounts for the largest share of petroleum product demand.

So yeah...

It's your main source of energy and transportation accounts for the lions share of it

[sick sleet]

exactly. so by just changing the very large percentage of the "transportation sector" to electric, we would cut that external dependency by ... a lot.

[dawn quartz]

Oh right, just like that lol!

You just got through saying it was a tiny amount

It's your largest source in fact

[sick sleet]

no. not just like that. i am not saying "lets ban ice cars this moment" either. but again, how about we stop considering them the future. because they wont be.

[sick sleet]

which part? 🤔

[dawn quartz]

Again, your largest source of energy is still petrol etc, and transportation accounts for most of that.

That's why your graph is a red herring, it overlooks the elephants in the room

[sick sleet]

as pointed out, you were the one to start pointing at the "but the grid cant handle it" with ... outdated information. 😉

[dawn quartz]

Lmao, no, it's not.
The context is millions of added EVs

You are moving goalposts

[sick sleet]

thats a problem if you snip add "millions of EVs" to 2016 energy grid. which you dont.

[dawn quartz]

Again, you don't have enough energy or the grid.
Where is tha energy going to come from?

Anyhow, I gotta get back to the fights.

[sick sleet]

the average car lifetime is like 30 years. so even if we stopped producing ICE cars right this moment and went all EV (which we dont), this would be a process of 30 years.

[dawn quartz]

Ok but you still haven't proposed where that energy will come from, and ther eis nothing on the horizon that can fill that void

[sick sleet]

the 2016 article you linked mentions (but doesnt explain) several problems of the german "energiewende". for example, it strongly encourages people with PV to NOT use their energy. because they will be paid more if they dont use it. which, on a technical level, is entirely idiotic.

[dawn quartz]

That's similar to the California oil thing tbh.
Los Angeles is floating on the stuff but they sell that an import other oil lol.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2019/06/21/californias-oil-hypocrisy-presents-a-national-security-risk/?sh=350e49a4252a

[sick sleet]

there are also significant parts of germany which ... effectively banned wind power. they set up a "any wind power installation has to be 10x as far away from any inhabited building as it is tall" rule. which, if you check a map, means "no wind power in this state, at all". unsurprisingly, they are the same guys who dont want any other kind of power station in their state. everyone wants power, no one wants power stations...

[dawn quartz]

Wind power has seen some considerable resistance here in Hawai'i too.
Trust me, I wish there were better solutions, but if we aren't frank about the reality we won't be able to make the right choices

Anyhow, back to the fights, always a pleasure lol

[sick sleet]

tbh, i dont know about the situation in hawaii? that seems like a great spot for geothermal power. 😄

[dawn quartz]

We go though an enormous tanker a week in crude, 500k barrels

Alternative energy was part of my undergrad, geothermal, "OTEC" etc

[sick sleet]

my main personal exp with that is ... iceland. which is sooo weird on so many levels i dont even know where to start. it has this "freezing your balls off most of the year" problem hawaii doesnt share, but they also have geothermal installations so much all over the place that "heating" is like a non-issue.

[dawn quartz]

Honolulu has nearly 10x the population of Reykyavik lol

[sick sleet]

they also dont need to spend any energy on balls-not-freezing.

[dawn quartz]

Pop density of 3/km vs 657/km

We have air conditioning to be fair

[sick sleet]

we dont, and sometimes i wish we had... 😐

[dawn quartz]

I live in a cool area so I can leave it off usually, but the people in the city and businesses run it most of the time

[sick sleet]

(good point there, thanks. iceland sortof has it easy with the geothermals, because their problem is "too cold", which is easily remedied with hot (smelly) water coming out of the ground. but if your problem is "too hot", you need to take the roundtrip to electricity and AC, pretty much...)

takes note ... so hawaii and iceland are not directly comparable. 😄

[dawn quartz]

OTEC is pretty interesting, basically you use ocean surface water(read: heat) to evaporate ammonia which drives an electric turbine, and that plus some deep water condenses the ammonia back to liquid

But anything in/near the ocean is a nightmare to maintain

[sick sleet]

but thats again like more than half my point? how about we focus on the engineering challenges that ... dont involve dead dinosaurs?

[dawn quartz]

So long as we acknowledge that for the foreseeable future, oil is here to stay, I have no problem with that of course.
The issue is when people get hoodwinked into believing things that aren't true, like thinking their country is using renewable etc sources for most of their energy needs, when in fact that's not the case.
We need to accept certain realities to make rational decisions.
That's all.

Current events, (to circle back on topic lol) also serve as a reminder of the risks regarding nuclear.

[sick sleet]

yeah. and looking at the late-2021-germany stats i posted above, i think there is about 0 reason for the idiot-german sentiment right now of "we should have kept nuclear", even before the whole "80% of our uranium was coming from russia too, ffs" detail.

[wild phoenix]

Just had a feeling bruv

[wild phoenix]

I'll message you in a bit, omw home

[jagged birch]

https://twitter.com/AlArabiya_Brk/status/1500467571459510274

العربية عاجل (@AlArabiya_Brk)

مجلس مدينة ماريوبول: تعذر إجلاء المدنيين بسبب القصف الروسي المتواصل #العربية_عاجل https://t.co/a1vIGVFnOW

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 1:45 PM

https://twitter.com/AlArabiya_Brk/status/1500469754393513991

العربية عاجل (@AlArabiya_Brk)

قصف صاروخي روسي عنيف على محيط العاصمة الأوكرانية كييف #العربية_عاجل https://t.co/a1vIGVFnOW

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 1:54 PM

Curious why the news is coming from an arab outlet.

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/al-arabiya/

[sick sleet]

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500147298520768515

Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24)

A team of Russian soldiers wanted to use the elevator to reach the roof of an office building.

The Ukrainian administration of the building trapped them inside by cutting off the electricity.

The Ukrainians also used an industrial camera to take this commemorative photo. https://t.co/JwF9tHh1T5

Likes

127542

Retweets

26633

Twitter · Mar 5, 2022, 4:32 PM

[glass wyvern]

My wife showed me this one the one yesterday. Never use an elevator in an emergency scenario… war is an emergency scenario, right?

Just seen this also, gave me a smile.

Only wish they had had a happier day perhaps. But good on them.

[sick sleet]

https://twitter.com/Militarylandnet/status/1499786877448200192

MilitaryLand.net (@Militarylandnet)

As correctly pointed out by some of you, Ukrainian troops seems to flooded the area north of Kyiv. That's the reason why the Russian advance is stagnating there. #Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar #Kyiv https://t.co/ZUmQMRlvAh

Likes

4099

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1344

▶ Play video

Twitter · Mar 4, 2022, 4:40 PM

the other kind of "going dutch"

i commented on zelensky being only 44 before ... but his minister of cyber-cyber is ... 31 ... https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-60608222

and this is a situation where the quality of your comms app encryption is ... not helping a whole lot
https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1500458582902460420

Kevin Rothrock (@KevinRothrock)

Police officers in Moscow today are stopping people, demanding to see their phones, READING THEIR MESSAGES, and refusing to release them if they refuse. This from Kommersant journalist Ana Vasilyeva. https://t.co/E8oBw3XPz1 https://t.co/rxk7AmdzOp

Likes

15984

Retweets

10595

▶ Play video

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 1:09 PM

[glass wyvern]

It really does seem like it’s regressed back to fascist totalitarianism. I see another 2000-3000 have been arrested today in protests in St Petersburg, Moscow, and over in the east in Siberia also.

[sick sleet]

bulk debunk thread ... (linking into the middle, can scroll up a LOT from there) ... https://twitter.com/Shayan86/status/1500214755625246721

Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86)

2. This is an illusion caused by a low-res video and Twitter's compression. Check high-res videos/images of the meeting and there's nothing unusual about the mic and Mr Putin's hand.

The same conspiracies were spread about this Joe Biden video last year.
https://t.co/79Ov369zr1 https://t.co/WX3AdLp5PP

Likes

926

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303

▶ Play video

Twitter · Mar 5, 2022, 9:00 PM

[elfin frost]

https://twitter.com/no_itsmyturn/status/1500544406117621762

Aleph א #IStandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 (@no_itsmyturn)

Blinken says NATO countries have "green light" to send fighter jets to Ukraine
#Ukraine 🇺🇦
https://t.co/sVhgs0UDOV

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 6:50 PM

wait

nato countries can go fight in ukraine?

[bold moss]

Think they mean hardware

[dawn quartz]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy.
Yikes.

[elfin frost]

hmm

ressource to ukraine

oof that was a close one https://twitter.com/no_itsmyturn/status/1500427031590416384

Aleph א #IStandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 (@no_itsmyturn)

Russian strike caught on camera,
Irpin,
Kyiv oblast https://t.co/ehBo1JnZnn

Likes

377

Retweets

183

▶ Play video

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 11:04 AM

cautious it may be sensible for some of u

[dawn quartz]

Putin's language/lies lately reminds me of the behavior of some addicts, who just keep lying despite all evidence to the contrary and no one believing their shit.

[fierce garden]

1 L of diesel goes up by 16 cents (EUR) 😮

[glass wyvern]

Not NATO themselves, but they are arranging to have old MiG fighters transferred from ex-soviet member states to Ukraine as their pilots can fly them and in return the US plans to ship som old F series to replace the MiG.

[glass wyvern]

It is man. It’s really bloody sad also

[dawn quartz]

It really is.
Shocking how swiftly it got so much worse.

[glass wyvern]

Totally. I can only assume that this shit has been building up in his head for decades and now he’s got some yes men that are stroking the fractured psyche and exacerbating it

[dawn quartz]

Meanwhile, people on the other side of the planet are upset that masks are supposedly violating their rights...

[sleek river]

https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1500575619381399557

NEXTA (@nexta_tv)

❗️United States admits that Sergei Shoigu is planning a military coup against Putin. The bunker dictator is seriously afraid of this.

It is assumed that soon Shoigu will be imprisoned for corruption or treason. https://t.co/9PS8PrhCwc

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 8:54 PM

[glass wyvern]

🤦‍♂️

[glass wyvern]

Doesn’t seem prudent to plaster it all over social medias lmao. Not exactly “covert” or anything haha

[sleek river]

I know , but the coup maybe already started in secret

[glass wyvern]

secret lol

I mean we can but hope, maybe it’s a red herring to draw attention away from the real coup leader

[sleek river]

By secret I mean , officials switching sides

[sick sleet]

lots of the comms around it seem psycho-strategic at this point. as in, why not feed their paranoia and turn them against each other...

like all that talk about "sources withing FSB" ... 😄

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1500531665826942980

Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1)

PayPal has shut down its services in Russia. @NBCNews

Likes

14606

Retweets

1706

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 6:00 PM

and, oh. lemme find an english source on that one, but ... putin signed some kind of decree allowing him to grab oligarch bank accounts?

https://then24.com/2022/03/06/putin-signed-a-decree-on-the-confiscation-of-illegal-funds-of-officials/

[bold moss]

Russia is going to implode

[sleek river]

That's a no no

[sick sleet]

also talk about them planning to detach entirely from the interwebs.

[sleek river]

North Korea

[sick sleet]

big north korea. my thoughts pretty much.

https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1500179892511592453

Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24)

Hundreds of Croatian fighters travelled to Ukraine to fight against Russia.

Moscow summoned the Croatian military attaché to hand in a protest not regarding those fighters.

He simply refused to take it.

🇭🇷-🇷🇺 https://t.co/12EcVrcxlu

Likes

14354

Retweets

3309

Twitter · Mar 5, 2022, 6:42 PM

[sleek river]

If they are gonna turn into North Korea , they ain't gonna be much of a threat to the real world right?

[sick sleet]

"special weapons and tactics" ... https://twitter.com/TsybulskaLiubov/status/1500075457798189057

Liubov Tsybulska (@TsybulskaLiubov)

In Kyiv a woman knocked down a Russian drone from a balcony with a jar of cucumbers. How did they expect to occupy this country?

Likes

265937

Retweets

44648

Twitter · Mar 5, 2022, 11:47 AM

https://twitter.com/cliffordlevy/status/1500126505380286464

Cliff Levy (@cliffordlevy)

Incredible video of the inside of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as Russian forces attack.
“Stop firing at the nuclear facility … You are endangering the safety of the entire world.”
Footage verified by @nytimes visual investigations team.
https://t.co/echxxE8hRd https://t.co/znbyz8CdnL

Likes

3107

Retweets

1477

▶ Play video

Twitter · Mar 5, 2022, 3:10 PM

'''In other news, I own a police car! Well, it's a car with a couple of bumper stickers saying "Police".'''
https://twitter.com/ASBMilitary/status/1500505238507249664

ASB News / MILITARY〽️ (@ASBMilitary)

BREAKING: Russia finds NATO equipment at the headquarters of a Ukrainian nazi group “the right sector” https://t.co/7tSaDgxOli

Likes

11255

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5068

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 4:15 PM

[sleek river]

Nice thinkpad

[wild phoenix]

Aren't they considered a threat? 😉

Just like Saddam Hussein was a threat...

[sleek river]

?

[wild phoenix]

Even if North Korea is detached people still consider them a threat

Saddam was considered a threat and he had no weapons

I have a suspicion that a lot of news is bullshit

[sleek river]

North Korea generally just threatens other countries , then it shut ups , just a bluff Meister really

[sick sleet]

@wild phoenix NK is very much a cyber threat, at least.

[wild phoenix]

I've always considered Putin a threat because he poisons people here

And nobody does shit

[wild phoenix]

From what I heard they are

[glass wyvern]

Speaking of cyber threats. I just had an email from work that apparently someone in another EU institution launched the available DDoS software from their work account 🤦‍♂️ fuck me sideways. What a numpty

[sleek river]

Wait I'm confused , on the work PC?

Or is there an online ddos service where you can sign up on, lol?

[sick sleet]

@sleek river combinations? you run something on a pc, and it becomes part of a ddos cluster?

[sleek river]

I know that

[glass wyvern]

Yes

[sleek river]

Ah

I was confused with work account

[glass wyvern]

You can get the DDoS stuff on GitHub right now

[sick sleet]

yes, people absolutely run dumb things on work computers.

[glass wyvern]

I can’t believe someone clicked it to run on their work PC

[sleek river]

That's stupid

[glass wyvern]

Yep lmao

[sick sleet]

welcome to planet earth

[sleek river]

At least get a bootable Linux installation go to some PC cafe, and spam it from there

And I wouldn't particularly get involved with a voluntary botnet

[glass wyvern]

Run it from a cloud somewhere

[sleek river]

There maybe a threat actor hidden in there

[glass wyvern]

Make the most of the infra lol

[sleek river]

Maybe Amazon?

They'll probably ban you , if you're too suspicious

[sick sleet]

(at some point i wrote some distributed proxy network scripts and asked coworkers to run on them on their private machines at home... many did.)

[wild phoenix]

Naughty people

[glass wyvern]

Blindly following aion will get you in trouble

[sleek river]

People are stupid , what do you expect

[wild phoenix]

I stopped expecting after all the shit in my short lifetime

[sleek river]

My family members literally have the same passwords on all of their accounts

It's infuriating

[wild phoenix]

Gon4shv1l1

[sleek river]

Lol

I'd implant a worm in the Russian networks to spread quickly before they close off

[dawn quartz]

https://www.businessinsider.com/ukraine-3000-americans-have-volunteered-to-fight-russian-invaders-2022-3

[sleek river]

Lots of volunteers going there

[dawn quartz]

https://twitter.com/AnonOpsSE/status/1500543638669041666?t=l1_ryznlsGSaSW36JjP_iw&s=19

Anonymous Operations (@AnonOpsSE)

BREAKING: Russia is preparing to disconnect from the global Internet. https://t.co/IDdYPwaXEf

Likes

2764

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1350

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 6:47 PM

[sick sleet]

(toldyaso)

[sleek river]

So , just implant a worm in there before it's too late

Most of them probably don't have SIEMs or SOARs

Or any security at all

It'll be easy to collapse Russian websites

[dawn quartz]

https://twitter.com/PekkaVainio3/status/1500526224162045956

Pekka Vainio 🇺🇦 (@PekkaVainio3)

St Petersburg police beating anti-war demonstrating women.

Likes

449

Retweets

120

▶ Play video

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 5:38 PM

[glass wyvern]

I wonder if there will still be Tor users if they disconnect…

[sick sleet]

tor still requires some internet connection as basic transport.

[sleek river]

Yeah they'll be completely shut off

Maybe someone could get a starlink terminal

Doubt it tho

[glass wyvern]

Yeah I’m thinking sat users

I just need to know that some are still getting real info. I hate to think of them being totally isolated

[dawn quartz]

Dark times for them

[glass wyvern]

Yeah this is not cool

Too many being fucked over for one man’s bullshit

It needs to end somehow. But how

[sick sleet]

@glass wyvern march 14th?

[glass wyvern]

Ides of March?

[sick sleet]

yup.

[glass wyvern]

I think they are 15th this year

[sick sleet]

(of course they are. 🤦 my bad.)

[glass wyvern]

Well not ally they are between 13th and 15th so 14th isn’t a bad call lol

[sleek river]

?

[glass wyvern]

It’s the new moon of the month, but for some reason the idea of March are a bad omen

[dawn quartz]

https://twitter.com/PekkaVainio3/status/1500535741822164995

Pekka Vainio 🇺🇦 (@PekkaVainio3)

Security of Jekaterinburg calming down a man. Takes just six against one.

▶ Play video

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 6:16 PM

[glass wyvern]

It probably comes from Shakespeare and the play where Caesar says “beware the ides of March”

[sick sleet]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Julius_Caesar

[sleek river]

Ah

[glass wyvern]

Yeah that would do it

I forgot he was actually assassinated on the ides of March

[wild phoenix]

@glass wyvern Ealing Road

[sleek river]

?

[glass wyvern]

Jewellers got done over with a mini bomb I’d say..

[wild phoenix]

Ramraid

Watch that last video

[sick sleet]

@jagged birch "At least there is now a national intelligence agency that is keen to take the fight to the enemy. Australia will be doing their “that’s not an exploit… this is an exploit” routine on the ransomware scene, and it’ll be amusing,"

[glass wyvern]

Jesus

That dude storming down the street wasn’t a friendly guy.

[jagged birch]

Not sure it's the wisest decision to announce your country is full of foreigners fighting foreigners

[jagged birch]

I thought twitter was banned in russia

[dawn quartz]

Poster is Finnish if Im not mistaken

[jagged birch]

Also a dumb move to interfere in a cop arresting someone. Not defending the cops, but seriously...the framing of that video is horse shit

He went to arrest the woman who was directly interfering in another woman being arrested and a mob encircled him

[dawn quartz]

I suggest, humbly, that intervening is a very brave and just act in that circumstance

[jagged birch]

It's not brave at all unless you're willing to die or you accept the consequences because 10/10 chances, it's going to escalate

[dawn quartz]

That's what makes it brave

[jagged birch]

Someone is going to die doing this and the cops will have the perfect defense.

[dawn quartz]

The cops are abusing citizens.
I think you ought to re-examine your position.

There is no perfect defense for that.

[jagged birch]

Explain how arresting that woman for protesting without a permit is abuse

Or responding with violence to someone directly interfering with the arrest

With a mob around you no less

[dawn quartz]

They are stomping on people and striking them, using batons etc.
Totally unnecessary.
They shouldn't be arresting them in the first place.

Im so sure that lone woman was a threat to those officers lmao

[jagged birch]

Where is the baton in that video

[dawn quartz]

I posted more than one video.
Im speaking about the whole situation

[jagged birch]

Do not conflate two different situations

Each one is its own creature

[dawn quartz]

Im talking about both, they are both abusive lol
The were stomping on women ffs

[jagged birch]

No stomping in that video, either. He tripped the person interfering and moved to arrest them, they rolled over and swung at him, he swung back, the crowd jumped in, the person on the ground grabbed his leg, he pulled back and moved away

[dawn quartz]

That's why bystanders were intervening
I find your comments repugnant

You are literally being an apologist for the jackboots

That is cringey af

[jagged birch]

I'm not apologizing. That person interfering in an arrest was being arrested. Cop is doing his job. I'm not sorry for cops doing their job. They had the authority to use a lot more force than they did.

[dawn quartz]

"Apologist"

Yes, their laws are unjust, and you are ok with that it seems

That's fucking gross

[jagged birch]

Im not okay with it. Russia is a country of corrupt politicians and cops who just do their jobs and citizens that vote them into power.

[dawn quartz]

You're literally playing apologist

"Just doing their jobs"
Yikes

[jagged birch]

In order for any change to occur there needs to be a complete paradigm shift. Not a bunch of whining on twitter about cops, the literal weakest part of the totem pole

[dawn quartz]

I don't have the patience for that nonsense, sorry.

[jagged birch]

Go after the politicians, judges and legislators making this law

[jagged birch]

Your ignorance does not change anything.

[jagged birch]

What happened there? Danyaal jewelers? Where is that?

Google says UK

Birmingham

Second time that place has been hit

(in 10 years)

...and the same way

I wonder where they got the utility truck

Also the dude prob drove away there at the end in the black vehicle and lost his license plate. He'd best hope that car is stolen. Otherwise he's caught.

[sick sleet]

lost a license plate that was stuck-on with adhesive tape at the back. so it seems like a fair guess the license plate is unrelated to the care used.

[jagged birch]

Just seems like a messy smash and grab. This shit is what drives up and motivates even more police cameras in a country with the highest number of cameras on the planet.

Do these smash and grabs happen successfully in London?

[sly vortex]

Let’s all keep praying for the safety and protection of the people of Ukraine and elsewhere. Our God is waiting for us to acknowledge him, and prayer works.

it works better than talking and arguing about it all

[wild phoenix]

Jewelers in Wembley got ramraided also

It doesn't happen often

[jagged birch]

Do you know the name of the shop?

[wild phoenix]

But dudes with axes turning up is mad

[wild phoenix]

The one in Birmingham or Wembley?

[jagged birch]

Axes...I mean. Sounds like the kinda shit the IRA used to do.

Wembley

[wild phoenix]

Hatton Gardens got done a while ago

[wild phoenix]

I'll message my mate that sent it

[wild phoenix]

Nah the IRA did way worse

I grew up with that shit

[jagged birch]

I feel incredibly fortunate to have lived apart from that world and experienced first hand none of it.

[wild phoenix]

Nail bombs and the like

Bomb scares on the way to school

Mad shit

[jagged birch]

and angry at the same time if that makes sense, that it even happened, like a part of me expected the world to not be so different from the tiny town I grew up in and I know that's incredibly naive but I can't help but feel some sense that there's so much that needs to be done to right the wrong, it's impossible to fix

If it ever was broken.

Maybe broken is the way it's supposed to be.

[wild phoenix]

I grew up in North West London with a lot of Irish people, a lot of people supported the IRA because of the horrific things the British have done

[jagged birch]

Pisses me off that there are people who never get happiness.

[wild phoenix]

Yeah man

Too many stories like that unfortunately

[jagged birch]

I understand now why the pope sent two cardinals to the ukraine.

Hope

It is the last piece that will come from this pandoras box.

The last thing Russia needs with its catholic population is the chain of wearing the death of two cardinals that didn't have to happen on their neck.

At the very least it might destabilize the entire Belarus region support system

We'll see what the Archbishop of Constantinople thinks.

[sick sleet]

there was some completely rabid pro-invasion talk by some orthodox elder

[jagged birch]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D48gJGR9pE

This was interesting. I've not been following the splits over the years....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT5phMHzIlI

[sick sleet]

https://twitter.com/mjluxmoore/status/1500473613828464641

Matthew Luxmoore (@mjluxmoore)

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill unsurprisingly endorsing Putin’s narrative on Ukraine in a sermon today. According to him the West essentially organises genocide campaigns against countries that refuse to stage gay parades 🤯 https://t.co/mXc89tXj4m

Likes

4456

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2366

▶ Play video

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 2:09 PM

[jagged birch]

Wow. That's next level wtfness

Does the Patriarch not know how much that will alienate his own followers?

[sick sleet]

not terribly useful

[sly vortex]

More useful than most things we jabber about

[jagged birch]

Ukraine's orthodoxy and Russia's orthodoxy aren't so different that they can not be restored. That kind of rhetoric though sets the patriarch behind a politician.

Worse than being behind a king.

ouch

[sly vortex]

nope, it doesn’t. Do you think all your posts and constant sharing is useful?

[jagged birch]

lemme stop this now. Step back. Drink coffee.

Ukraine needs clarity

I was watching a news interview that was basically saying it looks like Russia is firing at opportunities because of a failure to secure their primary targets easly

Did they really have to use a stock photo from Adobe to represent their religious website?

https://twitter.com/backandalive/status/1500602553578446848

Повернись живим (@BackAndAlive)

💪🏻В ході ведення бойових дій звільнено Чугуїв на Харківщині.

Likes

298

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 10:41 PM

General Staff: In the course of hostilities, Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region was cleared from Russian forces

40 mile convoy remains stalled

[sly vortex]

does that really bother you? maybe you shouldn’t judge it by the image and read the article

[jagged birch]

There's a reason this channel specifically says no religious debate.

I'm not taking your bait

[sly vortex]

aion, sorry, but i can’t take you seriously

my bait. lol

[marble relic]

Damn, still?

[jagged birch]

Yes.

Allegedly. I heard on the news that there might be movement to refuel it

Don't honestly think the movement will be successful. They can barely manage the logistics to feed their soldiers

The russian front is struggling

[marble relic]

https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1500160062354034689?t=tItFxsXLh3oezCDjdLU5Bg&s=19

OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical)

When I said the Russians were starting to take rear area security a bit more seriously this is not what I had in mind https://t.co/tpVo6JR5BH

Likes

10995

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1695

Twitter · Mar 5, 2022, 5:23 PM

They're using logs as makeshift armor, apparently

[jagged birch]

I'm a little worried they're going to try and starve and freeze Kyiv into submission

hold the capital siege until it falls

It might explain why Mariupol keeps getting shelled in direct violation of cease fire agreements if thats their intention there too

Force the city to spend its resources surviving

[sick sleet]

@marble relic did you see the pics of the "soft shell ERA"? the "egg cartons"? that one had me frown for a minute or three.

[jagged birch]

What is happening in Ukraine is a humanitarian crisis, but in responding to a Humanitarian crisis on humanitarian grounds, I can totally see the Russian military confiscating all of the food meant for starving citizens unable to escape

Something tells me they're in a position that they would justify it just to get food.

[dawn quartz]

Seems the wood is used to help construct makeshift roads

[marble relic]

Smart

[dawn quartz]

Esp when they are getting flooded lol

[jagged birch]

When you have to go over a ditch and can't afford to get stuck, wood is the perfect temporary bridge

plus you can cut it down where youre at

[deep saddle]

I doubt the US will declare war crimes even though they have enough evidence for it. It can feel frustrating when politics take a front seat and real tangible action takes a back seat.

[jagged birch]

Declarations are just screaming in the dark at this point. Russia has demonstrated no interest in heeding warnings or backing down. Nobody, literally no-one wants this to get worse...but the madness has to stop and it might take a lot more than russia can hope to muster to fully come to grips with the issue.

Assume for a second Russia's argument about nazis could float (it can't), they should be more than happy to back down with the offer of international intervention in Ukraine to dismantle any Nazi organizations with the help of the Ukrainian government who ought to be more than happy to rid themselves of the scourge.

I have yet to even see a hint of this idea on a table anywhere

[deep saddle]

Pretty much

[jagged birch]

and if some office scab in Canada can muster up the idea, ya know for sure they've already posited it in both Ukraine and Russia

Nobody is bringing it to the table.

Ukraine probably saying it isn't happening and Russia saying "We tried this and nothing happened"

The difference now being it's not something Ukraine would be in charge of overseeing.

A full inquirey

Ultimately it would likely come to the conclusion Russia is full of shit, that there are racists everywhere in eastern europe and in Russia - while Ukraine would argue they have rules and laws in place but they don't include rules of association.

It would be pot kettle black all over

and I guess what I'm saying is, this whole premise used to justify war is literally bullshit propaganda evidenced by their own hypocrisy

[dawn quartz]

https://twitter.com/andreivkozyrev/status/1500611398245634050?t=7vCgpbkDZWxJw94Y99G7uQ&s=19

Andrei V Kozyrev (@andreivkozyrev)

2. Russian military. The Kremlin spent the last 20 years trying to modernize its military. Much of that budget was stolen and spent on mega-yachts in Cyprus. But as a military advisor you cannot report that to the President. So they reported lies to him instead. Potemkin military

Likes

6109

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1162

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 11:16 PM

[jagged birch]

I was hoping Malta and Cyprus would suspend accounts to Russia

I mean since everyone else did

They never did though...

These two locations being enormous money laundering hubs for russian oligarchs

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/russia-ukraine-crisis/russian-warships-denied-berth-in-southern-cyprus/2524972

It will be interesting how Venezuela and Panama evolve in the fallout of what is happening out there.

US have already sent representatives to talk with Venezeula and Cuba in case Russia puts the squeeze on them

[deep saddle]

I mean Venezuela basically already repeated the talking points being used by Russia. That it isn't an invasion and such.

[jagged birch]

If Venezuela push their luck and compromise US Security, I do not envy them...The US will be rolling over them like they did Panama.

It won't be some long drawn out political fight either.

That was already tried, when the US decided to step back and support the otherwise legitimate leader (not Maduro) (Update: Juan Guaido)

[wild phoenix]

@jagged birch sorry for the late reply, it was Kenya Jewellers in Wembley that got raided

Hatton Gardens is still the biggest one I think

[marble relic]

Ugh, they're still shelling residential areas

[jagged birch]

https://t.me/suspilnekherson/8944

[fierce garden]

more and more people in russia getting arrested apparently, for protests against the war

even they aren't happy about this whole damn thing.

[timber delta]

its still a half n half situation according to my friend

constant stream of propaganda + not everyone having access to the internet and half of them chalk it up as American propaganda

[dawn quartz]

There's a significant % of Americans who think a lot of nonsense is true too.
They've been rehashing old nazi propaganda in fact.

Q = Protocols of the Elders of Zion 2.0

Well, more like 3 or 4 lol

[jagged birch]

It doesn't help when people start claiming anti-zionism is the same as anti-semitism

I'm like...that's idiotic. Not all jews are judaists.

[dawn quartz]

American icon Henry Ford was responsible for what was likely ver 2.0

Ford also republished the Protocols of the Elders of Zion -- what is that?

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was a notorious forgery that originally came from Russia, and [was] translated into English. [It] claimed the existence of an international Jewish conspiracy -- that a group of Jews got together and basically planned the fate of the world, be it financial catastrophe, be it war. The world was controlled by this little cabal of Jews. [This forgery was] printed in The Dearborn Independent as a factual piece. And so someone reading it would take this to be the news

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/henryford-antisemitism/

He was also lauded by the nazis:

In 1938, Ford received an award from the Nazi regime called the "Grand Cross of the German Eagle." How do we make sense of this award? What does it mean?

The Germans honor Ford, we could say, for a couple reasons. For one thing, they're very taken with the whole assembly line technological modernization. The Model T and Volkswagen are sort of similar cars. The idea of the Volkswagen, the people's car, was to be affordable to the average German. It's kind of like the Model T of its day; that the automobile shouldn't just be something for the elite, but it should be a car that the ordinary German could afford. So the Ford Model T and Volkswagen, we might think of as sort of in a similar category.

From the point of view of anti-Semitism, Hitler could look at Ford as somebody who was -- let's call him an age-mate. They were both in the 1920s beginning to write and disseminate information about what they both considered to be this great powerful threat, "the Jew."

And Hitler was very much inspired by Ford's writing. And the idea that this could happen in the United States, I think, was very important to Hitler as well, because as people in the United States were speaking out against Nazism and were using a kind of rhetoric, "Well, it could never happen here," and "We are the bastions of democracy," I think Hitler would have derived a degree of satisfaction to be able to point to Ford as, in a way, just as good an anti-Semite as he was.

[jagged birch]

Not so sure I'd call Henry Ford an American Icon...anymore than I'd call Oh Henry an American icon

[glass wyvern]

Powerful letter from a survivor of conflict in Sarajevo to those fighting for Ukraine

https://twitter.com/bbcworldservice/status/1500056028695699457?s=20&t=H_5stRZogfWWn1l2HZhLzg

BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice)

The letter from Aida Cerkez featured on #Weekend, and can be read here 👇 https://t.co/qvnryz1jcu

Likes

726

Retweets

333

Twitter · Mar 5, 2022, 10:30 AM

[jagged birch]

Dear friends,

Humanitarian organizations here in Sarajevo are collecting aid for you, and I am sitting in front of the closet in my apartment trying to remember what you would be needing the most now.

It's not my warm socks or my jacket or my warm boots that you most need now.

It's my now 30-year-old T-shirt imprinted with a slogan that kept me up during the 1,425 days that Bosnian Serbs fired at will and held my city under siege with no water, no food, no electricity, no heating, and no communication with the outside world. I wore that shirt and read its message as more than 2 million shells fell on our heads, and I dodged countless bullets but 11,000 of my neighbours didn't.

The T-shirt says: Sarajevo will be, everything else will pass.

Bad times are ahead of you, my friends. But weapons are being sent so you can defend yourself and the values you stand for. We Bosnians fought back then for the same values, but the world imposed an arms embargo on us. It did not understand what the fight was about in Sarajevo. Thank God, it understands now in Kyiv.

You are going to be hungry, thirsty, cold and dirty. You will lose your homes, friends and family members, but what will hurt the most will be the lies. Lies that you are somehow to blame for what is happening to you. Lies that you are actually doing what is being done to you. Those lies will poke countless holes into your hearts, but without stopping them from beating and without freezing them.

I see they just destroyed your TV tower. Ha! They want to keep you in the dark just as they kept us in the dark. They want to turn the lights off so we cannot see what they are doing to you.

Write down everything! Record it! One day it will define your history, explain what happened to Ukrainians who are yet to be born, and most likely, end up being used as evidence and proof in a court against those trying to kill you.

In the dark times that are ahead of you, you will lose faith sometimes and be overwhelmed by exhaustion. But I'm writing to you from the future and I'm telling you: You will prevail just as we did. I was supposed to be dead but I survived and I multiplied. I am going to take my grandchildren for a walk tomorrow.

You will one day too because I can see in you the same resilience I saw here. I hear you singing your anthem while pushing tanks away with your bare hands.

Over time you will sing, as we did, new songs about your courage during this plight. You will recite poetry not yet written and you will come up with your own slogans that will keep you alive.

For now, I am sending you the most previous thing I have. It's my slogan, a bit modified for you: Ukraine will be, everything else will pass.

Slava Ukraini,
Sarajevo

Canada imposes a 35% tariff on Russian and Belarus imports. When will countries ever learn tariffs used as weapons only punish the country receiving goods that end up needing to pay more for the goods to cover the tariffs.

They almost never hurt the country exporting - Especially if the goods are not necessities.

hahaha, United States is sending military jets to Ukraine

Russian stock market is closed to prevent the market from complete collapse

[marble relic]

Technically we're sending jets to Poland to replace the old MiGs they're sending to Ukraine, unless something changed and I didn't hear about it

[jagged birch]

The best kind of technical

[marble relic]

We're not sending our fancy expensive jets to Ukraine because most of their air force wouldn't have a clue what to do with them, but they do know how to use old Russian MiGs, which Poland has a few of. So Poland will send those to Ukraine and we'll replace them with our F-35s so Poland's air force stays up to snuff

[modern gulch]

https://mobile.twitter.com/EuromaidanPR/status/1500574438990958599

EMPR.MEDIA (@EuromaidanPR)

#Russia began active preparations for disconnection from the global Internet

All servers and domains must be transferred to the #Russian zone no later than March 11.

Detailed data on the network infrastructure of the sites is being collected. | EMPR via @nexta_tv
#Ukraine https://t.co/W82xFLNYPy

Likes

833

Retweets

551

Twitter · Mar 6, 2022, 8:50 PM

LOL? YOU CAN JUST DO THAT?

[sacred isle]

They've been working on it for a while

[jagged birch]

China will be in on it too, watch.

They already have the framework from China

This will lead to a new kind of cyberwar. The Darkweb is about to become a god damn war zone.

I don't know though that I'd call what they are doing a complete disconnect. More of a consolidation of information.

Under the guise of battling disinformation no doubt

The hypocrisy of that being the origins of disinformation troll farms are russian

[fathom leaf]

This is a map of Russia's "humanitarian corridors" that they say will be opened to evacuees.
Does this not look VERY SUSPECIOUS?
Lol WTF?
Putin: "Everything okay, you want evacuate, come to my Kremlin. We have long table. Everyone fit."

[jagged birch]

Those were already rejected at talks. They are not being used.

The latest from what I understand is in Kyiv, heading west

The train leaves Kyiv and takes about 8 hours to reach Lviv

From Lviv, further facilities are prepared to push west into Poland. The train there takes about 5 hours and doesn't leave until it's full.

There are no trains that head from Kyiv presently to Belarus.

Highlighted in blue that is the only 24 hour train route open

All other grey ones are subject to a curfew and close in the evening

Surprised how entrenched CNN are in the region

Some are getting right into the thick.

Reporters in Odesa, in Lviv, at the border. Across the country.

[dawn quartz]

Not to mention:
https://www.newsweek.com/evacuation-route-offered-fleeing-ukrainians-mined-1685418

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/08/fact-sheet-united-states-bans-imports-of-russian-oil-liquefied-natural-gas-and-coal/

[sleek river]

@sick sleet not gonna lie , I think the sanctions are fucking me over too lol

[glass wyvern]

That would not be surprising. They also have an impact on those that impose them. However they usually amount to a calculated risk and an acceptable obstacle given the greater scheme of things and the ultimate goal. Other trade agreements will pop up that start to ease them in due course I’m sure / hope. But while they come into force, things will be a little more difficult overall. Generally that’s what happens at least.

[jagged birch]

In Canada sanctions have lead to public transit costs in city hubs being cut in half with an option for free transit to individuals in poverty.

At least in some cities

[sleek river]

My country didn't even impose them , because we don't have anything to sanction with

[glass wyvern]

That’s an impressive consequence

[sleek river]

Our political power is too weak

[jagged birch]

Russia will pass the cost of the sanctions down the line to everything else they can, trying to float.

[glass wyvern]

I’m saying that you will feel the knock on, but your government will make some trade deals with other governments to ease them in due course

[jagged birch]

This will impact nearly every trade market they are in.

[sleek river]

Well my national currency is inflating

[jagged birch]

Inflating?

Why?

[sleek river]

It has been for the past few years

That's why I'm getting broker by the years

[glass wyvern]

At present there are countries looking at how to ease the food shortage issue this will cause due to the lack of Russian and Ukrainian wheat; this in effect means problems with bread in some countries for the short term. But this will be circumvented through new deals that will be signed soon enough. Not everything is predicted and it takes some time in some instances to see where the holes are that need plugging

[sleek river]

This time it inflated very quickly

[jagged birch]

In spite of the pain this causes your economy, it can actually be a sign of a strengthening currency

[sleek river]

1 Georgian Lari = 0.29$

[jagged birch]

Your country needs to invest in its workers so they can feed the machine and keep your currency flowing

That happens in Canada some times.

It's usually the fault of the lower and middle class not being given their fair share of profits, resulting in a stagnant economic flow

[glass wyvern]

It’s also true that events like this teach economies where there is too much of a dependency and where investment needs to be made in your own infrastructure etc

[sleek river]

Man the opposition storms the Parliament once every year , honesty it sucks

[jagged birch]

Middle and lower class fuel economic blood a lot more than higher. More consumers in those classes

[sleek river]

https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GEL&to=USD

Look at the drop

[glass wyvern]

It’s true, lower classes are usually bound by their own economies while higher classes tend to shop further availed for premium items

[jagged birch]

Never and I do mean never - Compare your currency to the US in trying to establish any sort of Norm. US Currency is heavily inflated.

[sleek river]

The currency got literally halved in 10 years

[jagged birch]

I don't know the cause specifically, but I suspect it's a calculation in the priority of economics. Smarter people than I in Georgia will already be ringing the bell about solutions by now

[sleek river]

It's an "Ah, fuck..." Situation

[glass wyvern]

There’s a possibility that investment in Georgia has taken a hit due to fears of backlash or fears of invasion. Not that I’m saying that this will happen but most companies will perform risk assessment when deciding to make their investments and if they consider that the political situation is highly volatile they will take the next best thing and so your economy may take a hit. Some of the stick will have been hedged on impeding investment that may have taken a sudden U turn. This will also even out in the long run, generally. But we need to see worldwide what is about to happen with the other sanctions etc. I think you might be witnessing a compounding of political status, geographic location, and state of the global economy with uncertainty

[sleek river]

That's why I want to get a remote job

[jagged birch]

According to Transparency International, Georgia outperforms every one of its neighbors including the EU for a state with the least amount of corruption.

That would impact inflation. Growth

[sleek river]

So I get payed a foreign currency

[jagged birch]

Seek investment from the EU. Avoid investments from Russia

[glass wyvern]

As someone that gets paid in a foreign currency compared to where I live, I can tell you it’s generally swings and roundabouts in terms of gains and losses. You generally break even. But, that said; the two comparison currencies would possibly be seen as more stage as they are seen as bound to a reasonable degree

[jagged birch]

Not to mention taxes

What a nightmare paying taxes twice

[glass wyvern]

That depends on agreements

EU has bilateral double taxation agreement meaning it doesn’t happen

So I pay once and that’s it done thankfully

[sleek river]

If I would get a 1500$ per month , I would be golden

[jagged birch]

Nice...So not just a foreign currency but a specific currency

[glass wyvern]

Yeah

[sleek river]

150$ would go taxes and another 100$ too food

All that's left would be mine

[jagged birch]

Inflation will slow down if there's more infrastructure at home. It's not like the average worker would notice it first, though.'

Georgia's human development index has risen 15% in twenty years. That's enormous growth.

Like the growth rate of Rome levels of potential

I sure hope that investments in Georgia and economic investments in infrastructure and workers goes up faster, before it really starts to hurt

[sleek river]

Man , I just want to afford stuff again

[glass wyvern]

I suspect a lot of neighbouring countries are looking a lot at local investment for the medium to long term and trade deals for the short term to circumvent what’s happing next door

[jagged birch]

Might need to identify what the new industry pawg is that all the kids are doing.

[glass wyvern]

It’s also possible that some deals include an agreement on a bilateral infra that is a longer term trade agreement subject to investment in the specified areas

[marble relic]

Damn

[sleek river]

We have 239 million tons of manganese , that good?

[marble relic]

Poland sending all it's MiGs to Germany? God damn

[glass wyvern]

Yeah they have allowed the US to effectively purchase them and do with them as they will on the assurance that the US takes part responsibility for any fall out from it

[jagged birch]

The UK must be suicidal to be phasing russian oil out over a year.

Russia is going to be gouging the market for years to try and recoup

[glass wyvern]

They are also encouraging other nations with MiG to do the same; i.e. Slovakia and Bulgaria

[jagged birch]

Phasing is going to result in the UK hemorrhaging money

only shows you how much dependency they have on russian oil

[glass wyvern]

Looks like that oil field to the north west of Scotland is about to be tapped then

[jagged birch]

Next phase of russian sanctions should be for all nations to strip russian sovereignty over any oil rigs in their nation states.

So any oil rigs on American soil owned by Russia are confiscated.

[glass wyvern]

Manganese has many uses in the pharmaceutical industry and laboratory fields so I would say so yeah

[sleek river]

It's one of the largest deposits in the world

I don't understand why we aren't using it

[glass wyvern]

Depends if you have the infrastructure to use it. Sometimes it’s easier to sell for instant profit than longer term steady growth

[sleek river]

Man , I've gotta run for office once I turn 30 lol

[jagged birch]

The valuation of manganese is steady and has been steady over decades at about $4 per metric ton unit. Flood the market and the valuation drops

[glass wyvern]

Why wait?

[sleek river]

Cause I'm too young?

[glass wyvern]

This is also true, not uncommon at all to slow the release so as to keep it afloat

[jagged birch]

Lots of countries have age restrictions on political positions

[sleek river]

And the situation is pretty bad too, politically speaking

[jagged birch]

In America you can't be president until you're IIRC 34

No age limit though....so you can be 115 and become president

You just can't be of an age where your demographic would have to live with the consequences of your actions

[glass wyvern]

Yeah but to be in office in political sense can mean local office or junior minister etc

[jagged birch]

Oh for sure

[glass wyvern]

No reason why he couldn’t start now

[jagged birch]

$$$

[glass wyvern]

Get the experience and all that

[jagged birch]

All you really need to get started is a firm grasp on the roots of the problems, first locally, then the ability to expand that

Get an idea to fix em, tell people, run for office, get votes...local offices tend to be easier to run for unless you're up against some shill who got their job because the local labour or trade organizations are funding them

[glass wyvern]

Or their daddy is mayor or some shit

[jagged birch]

Those groups tend to have a lot of influence in local votes because they appeal to the largest voting blocks

Used to be lobbying was an honest profession

Now it's a pay to win subscription model for politics

[glass wyvern]

The same way that most things go these days unfortunately

[jagged birch]

Coca cola and mcdonalds are finally slowing down in russia and my thoughts are oh ....that's "nice". It's almost like they needed to be reminded that punching babies is a bad thing.

[glass wyvern]

Starbucks and Pepsi also, but Pepsi will still provide some of the dairy side of their business in Russia as mothers depend on them for the baby formula

I respect that to be honest

[marble relic]

McDonald's, Starbucks, and Coke are pausing their operations in Russia, and yeah the Pepsi thing is cool

[jagged birch]

The argument they make that russian people deserve their products and restricting them is punishing the russian people, not the government is about as asinine as all get out. It ignores the larger issue - Corporate state sponsored terrorism and reinforces trade agreements that cripple sanctions

What dairy products?

There's no way Russian mothers depend on them such that they aren't going to turn a profit to provide them

[marble relic]

Now that I think about it I'm not sure what sending a bunch of jets from the 70's is gonna do against modern Russian aircraft

[glass wyvern]

About ten years ago PepsiCo bought a dairy business in Russia for around $5 billion. That makes baby formula and products that a lot of people depend on

[marble relic]

A fight between those two jets is uh, over really quickly unless the Ukrainian pilots are damn aces

[glass wyvern]

The Russians use a lot of the same MiG. The point is that the Ukrainians don’t know how to fly a F-16 or F-35. They know how to fly a MiG-29 as that’s what they learned on. They don’t have time to learn a new fighter jet and get comfortable so better to fly what you know and have a chance

[jagged birch]

Its not like Russia isn't flying Mig 21s too

They aren't going to be flying an air force of all Su 25s and Su 30 and Su 34s...They keep getting shot down.

[marble relic]

I get that part, but if Russians are mostly using modern jets it's gonna be a slaughter. Jets haven't been built for dogfights for years, they're just a "Can I spot the other guy from further away and send hell at them before they know I'm here?" type of thing as far as I'm aware

[marble relic]

Ah, makes sense

[jagged birch]

Russia lost a Su 34 and Su 25 just two days ago to people shooting up at them from the ground.

[marble relic]

😬

[glass wyvern]

As far as I know, the Russian airforce lacks in two areas; 1 is that it is not the best airforce around, they rely more on the heir army and navy. 2 is that a lot of the lineup that was supposed to be spent on the upgrade of said military was embezzled and spent off shore

Ergo, it’s not as sophisticated as they would have us believe

[jagged birch]

and the Ukrainians keep shooting down the russian drones that they rely on for strikes

There's someone in the Ukrainian army with infuckingcredible aim

[glass wyvern]

If this war has taught me anything. It’s “don’t fuck with Ukrainians”

[jagged birch]

The aircraft losses between russia and ukraine have been heavily bought and paid for by Russia

[sleek river]

Germany should send the Gustav cannon if it still exists

[jagged birch]

I wonder what the fuel consumption is of a su 34

I bet it's so high that they have to return to base more than fly

[marble relic]

A lot when it gets shot down, lol

[jagged birch]

Like...high enough that their only value is as a first strike weapon

[dawn quartz]

https://rusi.org/explore-our-research/publications/rusi-defence-systems/russian-air-force-actually-incapable-complex-air-operations

[glass wyvern]

This is what I said earlier, they don’t rely on their airforce. They rely on the medium range ballistics

[jagged birch]

They spent a lot destroying as much of the Ukrainian planes before they could take off.

[glass wyvern]

Unfortunately these are inaccurate more often than not and I feel this is a deliberate thing right now

My typing is horrible right now, apologies for the typos

[dawn quartz]

Yes, your assessment earlier seems on point

[glass wyvern]

To be frank, it wasn’t so much my assessment as me regurgitating an amalgamation of other assessments 😬

[dawn quartz]

Fair lol

[marble relic]

Oof
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1499472139333746691?t=4xMhWRK32PAciLem0fimvA&s=19

Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

Important warning: Starlink is the only non-Russian communications system still working in some parts of Ukraine, so probability of being targeted is high. Please use with caution.

Likes

370247

Retweets

42651

Twitter · Mar 3, 2022, 7:49 PM

[glass wyvern]

Regardless; I hope they cease and desist sooner rather than later for all parties involved. Ukraine is free and always will be, everyday Russian people need to be able to live normally before the divide starts to increase and we end up in a shitty future

[glass wyvern]

Have to appreciate the guy for what he’s done and his availability during this situation

He gets a bad press but he’s doing good things