Russian lawmakers authorize Putin to use military force outside the country

[robkelk]

One we missed yesterday: Putin criminalizes any online information Russia considers fake reports; Netflix and TikTok suspend service in Russia

Today, Shopify suspends operations in Russia and Belarus, and announces they will not collect fees from their Ukrainian clients

[Labster]

We did talk about that before -- I even told a joke about going to the gulag.  We haven't been good about providing links -- honestly there is too much going on these days.  When Dartz posts something I haven't heard about yet, I look it up if I'm interested.  Netflix is leaving mostly because it (and no other streamers) would forced to be carried live broadcasts from the official state news, and also because the optics are bad.

-- UK Home Office clarifies that they haven't admitted only 50 Ukranians.  It's a whole 300 Ukrainians!
-- For perspective, this is three No.10 lockdown BYOB parties worth of Ukranians
-- For perspective, this is one Spartan army at Thermopylae, if you only count the Spartiates and not any of the multiple lower castes from Sparta
-- Moldovan oil tanker still on fire in the Black Sea.  It has been on fire since the first day of the invasion, after a Russian missile hit it.  Sad it will never again see the shores of Moldova.
-- Apparently the trade with Poland for fighter jets is not happening (yet?).  Poland presented it to the media as if it was a done deal; US DOD hears the offer for the first time in the media.
-- As an American, I think the Polish government are dicks (ask me about my airplane crash conspiracy), but it might be worth it.  Seems like the kind of complicated thing where we hire people to make decisions on our behalf, like say government officials.
-- Garry Kasperov thinks the planes should be sent over, though, and he's good at chess.
-- China issues "calm down guys" statement.  China proves it is mature, responsible leader of the world stage, then returns to oppressing Hong Kong and Uyghurs.
-- Saudi Arabia, UAE both tap "decline" on phone calls from Biden.
-- Biden cozying up to Venezuela.  Generalissimo Maduro may give us all the oil, by which we mean all the oil that his shitty infrastructure will provide before it breaks.
-- Russian government bonds degraded below "junk bond" status.
-- The Failing New York Times leaves Russia for the first time since 1921, after reporting facts is criminalized.
-- Army volunteers offered Ukranian citizenship after liberation.
-- Russian economy still smaller than Benelux, just like last month.

[robkelk]

...  We haven't been good about providing links ...

I usually do, just so I don't have to answer the question "where did you hear that?" under oath. Yeah, I'm getting paranoid in my old age.

---

To quote from The Register's story five days ago about Cogent turning off its Internet backbone connections to Russia:

If more backbones follow in Cogent's steps, Russia will be increasingly cut off from the global internet.

Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.

Well... Lumen is shutting down its Internet backbone connection to Russia, citing "increased security risk".

---

The Express is reporting that Russians are fleeing their country because of rumours that martial law will be declared. Trains from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki are packed - and tickets are going for £7,500, which tells one which sort of Russians are doing the fleeing.

[Dartz]

Week 2 draws to a close. More shit I remember off the top of my head from today.


-- Maternity/Childrens hospital bombed in Mariupol. I rather wish I hadn't clicked that link
-- It seems, some of the humanitarian corridors remained open. People are getting out.
-- The situation is still getting worse. Food and other supplies are getting low
-- An Orchestra plays upbeat music in Euromaiden square in Kyiv
-- A military band plays 'Don't worry, be happy' in Odesa. (I heard it on the radio and may be misremembering)
-- Chernobyl has lost all electrical power.
-- Cooling pumps for the spent fuel pools will stop. Not great, but not terrible. The fuel is old enough - natural convection should keep it happy.
-- Station staff are still forced to reside at the station. At least one engineer has run away into the zone to hide.
-- Slavutych - the worker's town - is still in Ukrainian hands, but is effectively locked down. 2 days food remain
-- Russia claims evidence of special military operation by 'Euromaidan Regime' to seize Donbass/Luhansk found in Ukraine
-- Documents refer to government as 'Euromaidan regime'. (I think - did I misread that?)
-- Russian casualties at somewhere between 5 and 8% of initial capability.
-- About 55% of Russia's total military capability is now committed to this
-- The rest probably only exists on paper. with some lad growing fat off their salaries and maintenance fees
-- Starbucks, Coke, Pepsi and a bunch of others finally pull out of Russia
-- Converting Rubles to foreign currencies now heavily restricted, until at least September. (Wonder if this is the reason)
-- It's unlikely the economic 'discomfort' itself will force Russia to the table - the oligarchs know which cock they suck. It only affects actual human beings.
-- But it may prevent them from paying civil servants, soldiers and suppliers in the near future.
-- Russia bond status, official Junk
-- Ukraine bond status - not junk.
-- Ukraine ceases all food exports until the war is over
-- This is going to make things uncomfortable in Europe with bread and grain prices going up in the next week. But worse everywhere else.
-- Back here in the parish, excise taxes on fuel were dropped by about 20 cent a litre.
-- Ten minutes after tax cut announced, but before it came into effect tonight, the local filling station added 20 cent a litre to the price of petrol. (Fucking scumbags need to be arrested for profiteering.)
-- Inflation might hit 10% this year. Driven mostly by fuel. Anything that needs a tractor to till is going up in price
-- Fucking Green parties. We all knew they were in Putin's pocket. But here we are.
-- I'm working out how much untaxed kero' I can add to the car's tank without killing the injector pump.
-- Putin gunning the gaslines as a 'sanction' may be a secret positive. Nobody in Germany has to take the blame for making the hard choice.
-- For the time being, the gas still flows
-- The Liveline (Radio show featuring the salt of the arse) this afternoon was a shitshow of farmers complaining about prices, farmers insisting we return to subsistance farming, and farmers who understand economics and business and why 'just planting wheat' won't work getting shouted down by the pig-ignorants.
-- The Government here have been quietly considering worst case scenarios - such as fuel/electricity rationing and food supply issues.
-- China is still rodgering itself with the fence - but accelerating food and fuel prices, Europe and America not buying its shit will hurt it a lot more than Russia will.
-- CCP's legitamacy is based on stability and the steady increase and maintenance of living standards.
-- EU sanctions on Russia will fuck that too as collateral damage. Increasing food and fuel prices will make China sad.
-- Metal prices and raw material prices are going unstable which is causing problems in the market.
-- When it comes to economic war, the EU can afford to loose a lot more than Russia - the EU makes a lot more shit that sells internationally, for a start.
-- In Russian terms, we have reserves.
-- Like a whole herd of cats frightened by a loud noise in the room, the EU acted quickly and with aggressive vehemence. The cats may be getting a little bit - catty again now that the shock has worn off.
-- The saga of the Polish Migs continues, with nobody really wanting to take responsibility for moving the damned things
-- Dancing a line between hurting the bear, and provoking it into a retaliation.
-- The Russian army continues to grind inexorably through Ukraine.
-- They may have learned to defend their convoys
-- Or that bright-spark tank-commander will be demoted for independant thinking.
-- Bayraktar still drops in on fuel tankers - but the 'leaks' are getting fewer and fewer.

------


One thing I almost missed

Irish government has issued a response to the whole Gategate thing


One thing I forgot, but shouldnt have


--Ukraine maybe issues stamps to commemorate the Russian Warship, Go Fuck Yourself
--The crew of the Go Fuck Yourself could not be reached for comment - having been sunk by unguided artillery a day ago.

[Labster]

Is the Russian Air Force Actually Incapable of Complex Air Operations?. Article was published last week but still seems valid. I know NATO intel is being fed real-time to Ukraine’s air defense, but still you’d expect some signs of life over there.

Meanwhile, Russia has accused the United States of running a chemical warfare program in Ukraine. You know what that means? Someone’s gonna get gassed~! Of course it’s ridiculous for that to be true, because chemical weapons have no place in a modern system army. They’re just worse than other weapons we can afford. If they do use gas attacks, it’s a sign of weakness and desperation.

It’s looking like Russia simply does not have a modern system army, making them strictly less strong than anyone who does: China, USA, Britain, France, even Japan. America’s moment of weakness was losing to an insurgency on the other side of the world after 20 years; Russia can’t even control the airspace of its neighbor.

About half of their total forces are committed to Ukraine. The other half must be necessary to keep the people from rising up, or they’re mainly paper forces paid to the local Milo Minderbendsky. Probably a little of both.

[Black Aeronaut]

*Snorts in utter disgust*

If the Russians do resort to CBR weapons then it would just be par for the course. (Really, they already have been in the sense that they've been fucking blowing up nuclear reactors - why bother building a dirty bomb when you can have the next best thing by cooking off a reactor?) They've already been actively targeting civilians - whether they've been trying to escape or sheltering in-place. Using CBR is just the next logical step in this farce of a war.

I really, REALLY, hope there's going to be a lot of Russian officials showing up in the Hague over the next few years. Anything less is going to be an injustice that will go down in the books.

[robkelk]

They've already attacked a maternity hospital. Why would they care what people think when if they use chemical weapons?

(Attacking a hospital is a war crime. Even the Taliban know that.)

[Jinx999]

Lavrov didn't even try to be remotely convincing or sane.

Russia has decided to ban certain exports. I don't know if this is empty posturing or a fuck to the Russian economy.

How many people are going to die because putin can't get it up any more?

[Dartz]

Day 15


--Russian tactics can be summed up as either Mass suicide, or mass murder, with moments of effectiveness mixed in to liven things up
--These moments of effectiveness are still
--Russia has, officially, lost its 1000th armoured vehicle. The 1000th customer was an abandoned T90 (IIRC) with a cope-cage
--Do they grow on trees in Siberia?
--The mix of vehicles in the field is getting eclectic - from brand new, to bottom of the barrel, in the same column.
--One still flew the Hammer and Sickle.
--The all die the same when the shells drop on them
--I know fuck all about war, but driving columns down predictable roads within range of artillery doesn't like a good idea
--But they have figured out how to jam the TB-2's controls.
--Which might explain why there's so few attacks this week.
--More shit abandoned- from ballistic missiles, to howitzers, to tanks.
--Russia has claimed that the maternity hospital it destroyed yesterday hosted irregular forces.
-- And That is was destroyed by Ukraine itself as a provocation
-- We didn't do it, and if we did those babies deserved it.
--Attacks on Civil medical infrastructure, like hospitals, paramedics and ambulances are frequent according to WHO.
--Whether it's just a normal 'War' thing that happens or a deliberate pattern, I don't know.
--Russia also making more noises about Biowarfare labs and Chemical weapons and WMD;s
--A Grim Parody of the Iraq war 20 years ago. (Was it really that long?)
--There's a suspicion this is a build up to using Chemical/Bioweapons on the field.
--People stopped using chemical weapons because they're actually shit when competent countries fight each other
--But if you want to murder and terrorise civilians, then maybe.
--Ukraine has been busy turning its cities into fortresses. 2 Weeks is a long time in the 21st century
--Kyiv's population has, otherwise, halved. Most people have left the city if they had the chance.
--Zalensky remains. Despite 12 attempts
--Russian saboteurs may have been in Kyiv since 2021
--There is a now Canadian battalion in the Ukrainian foreign legion. Most of the world is represented on some level,
--Russia is increasingly isolated. Bank of International Settlements had cut the Russian Central Bank off
--I have no idea what the fuck that means for anything, but it happened.
--The US has signed the bill, banning the import of Russian fuels.
--To a significant fraction of a certain political alignment, Vladmir Putin is their saviour. The guardian of the white race.
--Meanwhile Germany continues to suck on Russian Gas
--Russia, of course, is proudly saying its still meeting its contracts. Mildly embarrassing.
--Also - about all those advanced MANPads shipped to Ukraine? Shame if anything happened to a Civil Airliner (Again)
--Government here is expecting some form of cyberattack on RTE or other infrastructure
--Sweden is raising its military budget to 2% of GDP. (Or considering it anyway)
--There're noises from OPEC about increasing output to stabilise prices.
--ECB is considering measures - like ending its bond program - to try slow inflation.
--Also considering monetary measures to help Ukraine.
--Russia, meanwhile, is talking about imposing price controls.
--Roman Abramovich now on the shitlist. Chelsea football club may have trouble selling tickets.
--Aughnish Alumina in Ireland also on Shitlist due to Rusal
--China is refusing to sell aircraft spares to Russia.
--Well - at this point, how the fuck would Russia pay for them?

---

I'm sure there's shit I've forgotten - there always is - but those're the things I remember from today. I may stop soon.

[classicdrogn]

At least according to Steven Colbert's quick explanation as part of yesterday's show, Russia is on the verge of a Sovereign Default, with it's national credit rating now dropped to the lowest category. Assuming there was anyone willing to let them borrow/buy their bonds to begin with.

[robkelk]

--Russia is increasingly isolated. Bank of International Settlements had cut the Russian Central Bank off
--I have no idea what the fuck that means for anything, but it happened.

It means that a financial organization that is so apolitical that it was willing to work with both the Allies and Nazi Germany during World War II is no longer willing to work with Russia.

[Black Aeronaut]

Day 15

<snip>

--China is refusing to sell aircraft spares to Russia.

Wow.

That's actually a pretty damn bold move on their part.

Thing is, China kinda has this thing where they'll trade with anyone.  They quite frankly don't give a shit how much blood is on the money and/or goods.  If you got it, and you wanna make a deal, China will negotiate something with you even if you're the Devil himself.  The only thing that matters to them is how much money can they make off of you, and how much technology they can copy off of you.

[Labster]

BA-kun, China will trade with anyone. But trade implies an exchange of things of value, and right now, China is the only side with anything of value. China's not going to give jets to the poor neighbors according to their need -- a communist country need some serious dough to run.

-- Russia is hot to trotsky over biological and chemical weapons, and is calling an emergency session of UNSC on US secret weapon stashes in Ukraine
-- China goes, "Oh yeah, maybe there was a lab leak over there? Definitely not here. Look at US labs in Ukraine."
-- US spokesman at UN who said Russia is "gaslighting the world" is nominated for best black comedy pun performance by a government official
-- But even Russian allies like China can't say it with a straight face, and are sticking to talking points that embarrass the Americans just enough.
-- China secretly embarrassed about drunken behavior of Russia, but agreed to be designated driver beforehand so doesn't want to get stuck in the car with an angry drunk later tonight. "Of course bro, Poland definitely looked at you weird." <rolls eyes>
-- US Congress thinks about maybe possibly revoking Russia's status as Most Favored Nation.
-- War serious enough to make US Congress pass a budget and not shut down the government
-- Sanctions on Chelsea FC are just freaking weird.
-- I wish we could also sanction the Oakland Raiders.
-- Or actually, just sanction Raiders fans. The team itself is fine.
-- Racist numbnuts in Canada's Montreal Symphony Orchestra cancel performance of anti-war Russian pianist
-- Global display of passive-aggression in renaming the streets alongside Russian embassies something pro-Ukrainian
-- Historical aside: Americans complained that their embassy was located at Place de Bitche, so the French government renamed it Place des États-Unis
-- North Koreans at a loss as to how to regain their rightful crown as world's worst country. Maybe ban laughter? Damn, they did that back in December, and how does that even compete with bombing a children's hospital?
-- All video game console companies have left Russia. Nepu!
-- Clouds have cleared over Ukraine. Satellite imagery shows lots of buildings now missing, replaced with piles of rubble and ashes.
-- The Mega Convoy is now missing. If you find it, please call 1-800-BAYRAKTAR
-- WNBA player Brittney Griner still in Russia on suspected possession of cannabis. What a American lesbian was doing in Russia on the eve of an invasion is beyond me.
-- Kazakh airline Air Astana has stopped flying to Russia, because it can't get insurance for the flights.
-- These aren't sanctions, people just don't want to do business in Russia. Seriously, the chance they just fucking steal the plane is probably over 5%, and how do you insure that? Expensively, or not at all.
-- Alexei Navalny called for mass protest on Sunday. I'm scared for them.
-- 2.5 million refugees so far.
-- Versailles summit gets quick agreement that EU will double Ukraine military aid, now a billion euros
-- But no EU Candidate status for Ukraine... yet.

[robkelk]

-- WNBA player Brittney Griner still in Russia on suspected possession of cannabis.  What a American lesbian was doing in Russia on the eve of an invasion is beyond me.

"We could call UMMC Ekaterinburg her off-season job, except that team likely pays Griner several times what the Phoenix Mercury do."

[Dartz]

Day 16. It's Friday which means it's

--Isreal's Prime Minister Bennett suggested Ukraine surrender
--President Zelensky suggested No
--Isreal will not ship weapons to Ukraine and has asked that they stop asking
--Meanwhile, some right wing clown in the States has called Zelensky a thug
--If they'd called him a Jew they'd probably have outed themselves
--More leaks from our FSB agent, fed via a Russia racing driver.
--Half Gonzo, half unbelieveable - and supiciously confirming what we all suspected.
--Russia's current plan probably to force a negotiated unequal peace, and slowly murder, corrode and arrest the surviving Ukrainian government until they can be replaced by Russian toads.
--Like what they did to Afghanistan
--Speaking of the 'stan - Russian casualties now somewhere between 50 and 100% of what they suffered in ten years of Afghanistan.
--Igor, who found a Russian Radar Vehicle, has now gotten the SAM missile that go with it.
--Residents of occupied cities being rounded up and arrested. Including the mayor of Melitopol
--400 in Kherson arrested.
--Mass Graves have been dug in Mariupol - casualties well beyond the offical 1200 figure. Nobody has time to bury the bodies.
--Attempts to relieve Mariupol, or get food and supplies in, have failed.
--More Ukrainian civilians have been killed, than soldiers.
--Rumours are swimming, of Russian troops feigning surrender, then opening fire
--This may make it harder on real surrenderers. Or, create a propaganda trap.
--Russia attempts to raise a 'foreign legion' too to fight on its behalf in Ukraine
--Claims 16,000 Africans, Serbs and Syrians
--Video footage looks suspiciously thin. Maybe they got a few decimal points wrong
--Mercs also like being paid.
--Speaking of people who like being paid, Goldman Sachs is abandoning Russia.
--At this point, there's no fucking moral component. Just, Russia's inability to pony up the dough
--Shells of western businesses in Russia threatened with nationalisation
--Kabarovsk Fried Chicken?
--Threats of nationalisation and the sense that these fuckers won't be able to pay is doing more harm to Russian business than EU sanctions ever did
--Blowback from EU sanctions is threatening the resurrected Iranian deal -
--Iran doesn't want to be caught in the maelstrom through its current dealings with Russia.
--The Big Hats in the field continue to be the big targets. More dead generals
--Tank columns have a habit of bunching up together when their leader gets killed and nobody can coordinate them
--Russian player clearly hasn't figured out he can allocate wounds to the rest of the squad to save the character
--(Can you still do that in current edition 40k - been a while since I played)
--There's safety in numbers - until the artillery gets its eye in.
--Russian soldiers, much the same. They stick close to each other because - well, that's natural for humans.
--Smart war-brains compare them to Ukrainian soldiers which are more separated and don't huddle
--On the International stage, Russia continues to beat the NBC drum - calling a session to the UN Security council to discuss Ukraines Bioweapons program
--And they're still shooting nuclear reactors. This time, it's a Kharkiv research reactor.
--But if you want to know what Russia's going to do - just look at what they're accusing other people off doing.
--The Megaconvoy of Doom has finally gotten its finger out and dispersed into the countryside - possibly to attack Kyiv
--Zelensky Address to the Nation. The War has reached a strategic turning point.
--One last push to defeat the Russians
--Just in case, state archives, national treasure and art have been hidden beneath Lviv.
--Belarus looks set to finally join the game at 9pm
--Did Russia just Bomb Belarus?


----

I'm a lot less abreast of the goings on than I was a week ago.
This is a copy-paste of a post I'm making on another forum.

I'm thinking of stopping this because - I dont know - it's just a bit dull. I'm struggling to make them interesting


-----

And late to the party

It's time for some Piracy - and not the software kind.

[Labster]

I'm interested, because Europeans have a different perspective than American news.  For instance:
-- Americans not increasing defense spending, citing "told ya so"
but really I think we're heading into the phase where we start counting the bodies.  And that's going to be grim, and not fun at all.

It's clear that Russia's leadership will not change strategies, despite the economic cost and the cost in lives.  It's clear that across the global West, there is a lot of commitment to sanctions, even enthusiasm.  This means that it will be long enough to pay the short-term costs of those sanctions, and the long-term costs probably won't exist, as our economies will fully decouple.  Nuclear weapons mean that the range of actions here is limited on both sides.  So there's not much to do except count the bodies until someone gets sick of losing.

It's not a job though, no one is expecting you to post.  I mainly post things I find surprising.

-- Deutsche Bank says it is not leaving Russia because it has a humanitarian responsibility, yesterday
-- Deutsche Bank says it is leaving Russia after all, today.  Not sure what big idea made it into their tiny, corrupt minds to change course, but there's a reason it's Trump's fav bank
-- Mariupol mayor charged with terrorism after Russian rendition
-- Russian media removed from YouTube for simple ToS violation: trivializing atrocities
-- Meta under investigation in Russia for promoting violence.  So sad; they seemed so happy together back during the 2016 election promoting misinformation together.  Such a bad breakup.
-- I'm impressed at how fast a city can be fortified in the 21st century.  Of course we're not talking fixed fortifications like castles, but flexible, improvised fortifications.  Digging ditches all around Kyiv, welding hedgehogs with construction material.
-- Ukranian rail carrying 90k people per day at 6x capacity.  Indians unimpressed.  Ukraine still controls 90% of its rail lines.
-- Russia details insidious American plan to attack Mother Russia with infected migratory birds.  The US did in fact fund such research in the past, but probably would never actually do it.
-- Killing Russian generals really does seem to stop Russian armor divisions.  They tend to clump up in groups afterwards, so they can all wave hi to Bayraktar.  This is a major weakness of authoritarian governments.  In a similar situation, I would expect with near certainty that an American colonel, or lieutenant, or even a sergeant would assume command and carry out the mission.  Or at least actively try not to get everyone killed.  This is one of those hidden powers of republics: people are not so frightened of their own commanders that they stop fighting the war entirely.  A bad judgement is almost always better than no judgement call at all.

[Dartz]

Summ ab ignaris. Early today because I'm going to go get pissed and typoing while drink is not classy. (And now in the right fucking thread).

We'll keep rolling so long as I've been able to make it reasonably interesting.

--Day 17 of a 3 day war.
--Lukashenko suggests route around sanctions. Belarus and Russia become trading partners!
--This intelligent statement from a man who'd rather be a Soviet colonel than President of Belarus
--Most people in Belarus would rather he be an army colonel, than President of Belarus.
--He still can't get his army to join the war - even after Russia bombed them as 'encouragement'
--The other nations in Russia's orbit are making mild noises against the whole thing - or are allowing their people to.
--Russia threatens to attack NATO weapon's shipments to Ukraine
--The first appearance of a Red Line in the wild. President Biden announced that no matter what a NATO country does on its own - a retaliation by all will be assured in the event of a Russian attack. 'Even if it risks starting World War'
--I can hear the ticking of the Doomsday Clock.
--Me sitting wondering if my favourite fic will update one last time before we all get incinerated
--Posture probably the old Cold War 'Bombing a Polish Truck in Ukraine is an incident', 'Bombing a Polish truck in Poland is WAR'
--Up to 10,000 may now be dead in Mariupol, by one figure.
--Unable to defeat the Ukrainian army, mass murder is the only strategy left to Russia.
--They are still grinding forward slowly to encircle Kyiv
--Quantities of abandoned vehicles on Twitter suggest another offensive is underway
--Tank traps in Kyiv are spotted with plaques on them. They've been taken from a WW2 museum - once more asked to stopped the fascist tracks from rolling forward
--Assessment from USAF General. Russian Anti-aircraft systems are effective -- when in the hands of Ukraine.
--Bayraktar strikes have basically eliminated the Russian air-defenses that didn't end up in Ukrainian hands
--Ukrainian Strike aircraft can now attack convoys without worrying too much about ground fire.
--Russian bombers limited to night-time sorties.
--A Dam on the River Irpin has been destroyed intentionally - blocking a road and flooding the land.
--The director of Roscosmos proved he never watched Tom and Jerry. He compares Russia to Tom, and Jerry to Ukraine. (The Mouse always Wins)
--Another 'Big Hat' has gotten himself killed. This time it's the man in charge of the Rosgvardia - who are supposed to be the riot police pacifying the people after the sort victorious war.
--A Russian Airline Pilot is fired after telling passengers over the intercom that the war is a crime. People on the plane clapped.
--Instead of Russia cutting itself off from the Internet. The internet is slowly cutting itself off from Russia. LINX unlinked itself
--The Russia embassy in Portugal has been lit up in the colours of the Ukrainian flag by protestors in the surrounding buildings.
--On the other side of the world, Russia has sailed a naval group through the Tsugaru straights.
--No fishing boats were harmed in the course of this expedition. Japan annoyed though.
--Russia still trying to create the sort of narrative space that would allow it to explain the appearrance of chemical weapons
--Continued US Policy of saying 'Well Actually....' is basically denying them the space to paint it as anything other than an attoricty
--The only winning move is not to play
--There're noises coming out of Armenia about gaslines being cut to Nagorno-Karabakh (But this came from a suspected Putinbot so....)
--President Zelensky has called on Macron and Schulz to assist in securing release of mayor of Melitopol
--G7 countries to remove Most Favoured Nation status from Russia.
--Point of the day "It's worse than a crime, it's a mistake"


-----------

Maybe if we buy up these old Soviet Red Buttons they won't be able to find the actual Red Button

I kind of want to push one now.

[classicdrogn]

I too really appreciate your persdpective on these, Dartz! That said...

--Point of the day "It's worse than a crime, it's a mistake"

... I hope not

[Bob Schroeck]

Instead of Russia cutting itself off from the Internet. The internet is slowly cutting itself off from Russia.

"The Net interprets Russia as damage and routes around it."

[classicdrogn]

In soviet Russia, internet disconnects from you!



What? Someone had to say it.

[Labster]

I too really appreciate your persdpective on these, Dartz! That said...

--Point of the day "It's worse than a crime, it's a mistake"

... I hope not

[ It's a Mistake music video ]

If you missed the original context, it's a requote of a comment on Napoleon's execution of the Duc d'Enghien.  This one in particular suppressed domestic resistance to Napoleon, but united the monarchies of Europe against him.

I don't have much to say, but
-- Russia bombs 20 km from the Polish border -- a military target at least
-- Moscow Stock Exchange on bank holiday for yet another week.  Another symptom of late capitalism.
-- Anonymous declares war on Russia.  They do not forgive, they do not forget, they do not have day jobs.  Expect flashy but low-value hacks, along with the choicest of memes.
-- Europe still buying Russian gas.  Got fuel to burn, got roads to drive.  Keep on rockin' in the Free World.
-- Ukrainian rail is on a different gauge than Europe, with 5-foot gauge.  So transfers and bogie-exchange take place at the border, though a couple lines continue at Soviet gauge into Europe.
-- Puppet government beginning to take shape in Mariupol.

Will probably have more to say when markets and governments reopen on Monday, since that's kind of my thing.

[hazard]

If Ukraine survives you can bet one of the changes they will make is shifting rail gauge to EU standard, if any, and will definitely not stick with Russian gauge.

[robkelk]

According to the Kremlin, Putin laid out terms for ending the war. For ending hostilities, Moscow has demanded that:

• Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO and adopt a neutral status.
  
• Acknowledge the Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
  
• Recognize the independence of separatist regions in the country's east.
  
• Agree to demilitarize.
  

Copied from this article

[Jinx999]

According to the Kremlin, Putin laid out terms for ending the war. For ending hostilities, Moscow has demanded that:

• Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO and adopt a neutral status.
  
• Acknowledge the Russian sovereignty over Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
  
• Recognize the independence of separatist regions in the country's east.
  
• Agree to demilitarize.
  

Copied from this article

And their future freedom and independence will be protected by Russian honor and self restraint. (better known as fuck all)

[Bob Schroeck]

Meanwhile, people all over the world are booking and paying for rooms in Ukraine through AirBnb, with no intention of actually using them.