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Post by lugg on Feb 25, 2022 20:05:33 GMT
If anybody is wondering why Russia has not been suspended from the SWIFT international banking system, it is because Germany and several other EU countries need to keep buying Russian gas. So far, no country wants to hurt itself to hurt Russia. That may change. Or not. I read a really good piece about sanctions and the withdrawal of SWIFT and I don't think it is quite as simple . I will see if I can find it
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Post by lugg on Feb 25, 2022 20:11:43 GMT
One thing that has really struck home for me ( aside from the horror of it all) is the fear it is causing some young people/ young adults I know I remember being really scared as a child about the 4 minute nuclear warning and years later being horrified by the news /images from the Falklands ... and of course my parents and their generation lived in fear throughout WW2; but this is the first time I think that the under 30s in the UK are really contemplating what another war might mean.
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Post by Kimby on Feb 25, 2022 20:38:36 GMT
Mr. Kimby heard that cyber attacks are occurring here and there and he’s worried about financial systems (electronic records of deposits, etc.) becoming unusable.
So we are busy gathering “real money” from between sofa cushions and in jacket pockets and our sock drawers so we can buy food and gas when the sh*t hits the fan.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Feb 25, 2022 21:57:32 GMT
It's a worry...
OH bought a refill for one of our calor gas cannisters. He has a calor gas fire in the garage (his man cave) and we may resort to bringing it indoors....the cost of natural gas went up by 60% yesterday and it looks like our gas supplies are going to be under threat.
Heartbreaking pictures of families being split up as mothers try to take the children to safety..men between 18 and 60 have to remain behind...altho presumably women will be volunteering too. I've seen plenty of women firefighters, police and in the armed forces.
The decision to deploy NATO forces in vulnerable eastern european countries as a precaution may be necessary, but will Putin see it as provocation? He does seem to be scarily obsessed with power. Demonstrations against the invasion within Russia are rapidly quashed.
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Post by questa on Feb 25, 2022 22:44:29 GMT
I only hope that the powers-that-be in Canberra don't do the usual thing and rush Australian troops into battle in another country's war. This is a multi-faceted war in which Australia has no part. It is not a fight for freedom or land or rights, but a peevish old man trying to hang onto his memories of being feared.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 26, 2022 15:57:52 GMT
France seized a Russian cargo ship bound for St. Petersburg in the English Channel today. We could probably make quite a collection of those.
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Post by mich64 on Feb 26, 2022 17:24:49 GMT
Like almost everyone, I have been watching and reading the reports about the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. I have watched and read many accounts of patriotism, bravery but also the struggles of people/children having to flee, about those who can not flee and those who have stayed to fight. I also have listened to the lies and propoganda spewed from Putin and his representatives trying to validate the act of war against Ukraine. I think Putin has severely underestimated the reactions from Russians, neighbouring countries, his own allies and the rest of the world. I do not know which way he will go, to seek a truce or to escalate the war, but I do think he is not in the position he thought he was going to be in. When I went to the bank the other day (I do banking for my mom and dad), my dad added a note requesting a surprising amount of cash they wanted. I did not think much about it as they often help out my siblings or their grandchildren but now I think they were thinking they should prepare in case the banks are hacked. and of course my parents and their generation lived in fear throughout WW2 My mother-in-law has been recalling memories of cities, towns, villages in France, that with her mother and brother, they were taken to during WW2 after her town was taken over. She has been writing down these memories and when we visit she asks my husband to get out his phone and search places she is remembering, she asks questions and wants to see pictures. This has evoked memories she has never told us about before.
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Post by casimira on Feb 26, 2022 18:27:01 GMT
I'm sure your Mother-in-law will appreciate that Mich. How very thoughtful of you to do that.
I remember my maternal Grandmother telling us stories of Russians invading their village in Poland and routinely having to hide in the cabbage patches when they received warnings by word of mouth that they were on their way. I think of how frightening it would be as a child to experience this and recall with such vivid detail what they had to endure.
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Post by bjd on Feb 26, 2022 18:50:58 GMT
Our son, who has two small kids, was here for two days. As we watched and listened to news about the Russian invasion, he said that it struck him much more forcefully than it would have before. Seeing the people evacuating with small children, families sheltering in subway stations... He said it brought home to him how awful it must be for them all.
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Post by lugg on Feb 26, 2022 18:53:46 GMT
I am hesitant to say this but on the BBC tonight was an appraisal of the current situation which on the one hand gave me hope that the Ukraine can hold out. ( really in relation to the fact that it appears Russia has underestimated the level of resistance ) On the other hand it filled me with dread as will that mnan Putin resorts to greater use of weaponary? Heartrending interview with a mother and her baby who have left their father/husband behind to escape to Poland.
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Post by whatagain on Feb 26, 2022 18:58:00 GMT
I read tons of books about war bug never really 'felt' what a waste it is until my own children were born. Then i could feel in my flesh how i would have reacted to war.
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 26, 2022 21:42:49 GMT
I was watching thousands of Ukrainians trying to get on a train to Poland and it reminded me of the poor people being forced onto trains to Auschwitz.
This should never be happening in this day and age.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 26, 2022 22:00:52 GMT
My mother and grandparents had to walk down endless roads with their suitcases when they had to flee Lorraine in 1940. When they were lucky, they were allowed to sleep in a cellar at a peasant house. Sometimes they would sit on a train for 12 hour waiting for it to leave, but it never did. About 50 years later, I was on a little road trip with my parents and a sign indicated that we were headed in the direction of Ribeauvillé. My mother blurted out "we can't go there!" My father and I both looked at her in consternation. She explained "if you go there, there's no way to leave!" (sort of like the Hotel California, I guess) Anyway, it was what happened to her and her parents when they fled there. I don't know how long they were stuck.
Anyway, I heard the stories so many times that I feel a personal connection to the fleeing Ukrainians.
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Post by bjd on Feb 27, 2022 7:35:09 GMT
I was watching thousands of Ukrainians trying to get on a train to Poland and it reminded me of the poor people being forced onto trains to Auschwitz. The Ukrainians are not being herded onto cattle cars at the point of a gun. Neither are those lining the roads in their cars heading to Poland or Romania.
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Post by mossie on Feb 27, 2022 8:32:32 GMT
I can remember being told that if there was an invasion we were to stay put at home. The sentence I particularly remember is , IF THE GERMANS COME , YOU BOYS ARE TO PUT SUGAR IN THEIR PETROL TANKS. I was 8 at the time.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 27, 2022 9:07:51 GMT
It appears so far that the Russian attempt at a Blitzkrieg has not yet succeeded. The problem is not getting sufficient verifiable information to know the real situation. There are still a number of foreign journalists in Kiev, but even they are mostly holed up in hotels, so what are they really seeing other than explosions on the horizon. The Ukrainian military claim to be satisfied with their resistance to the invasion and the Russian soldiers they have captured are young, scared and inexperienced. Of course those are the easiest to capture, but is it even true? Can't tell yet...
To amuse myself, I turned on the Russian channel Planeta this morning. There was a lovely programme about village life where all of the women are wearing the traditional dresses and scarves. All of the clothes looked brand new. In my own poor country, I am more used to people in villages wearing old and faded clothes. Now there is a another show with a man who seems to be warning us about both plastic and coronavirus. He pulled out a little fan to blow on a pile of confetti, but I'm not sure what the point was. In any case, all is well in Russia.
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Post by bjd on Feb 27, 2022 10:24:00 GMT
Russian media is not allowed to mention the Russian "invasion", "attack" or anything other than a "peace-keeping mission" or they will be fined and stopped from broadcasting. They are probably not showing the anti-war demonstrators being arrested in Russian cities.
Sending a conscript army into what was considered a fraternal nation is probably not a good idea either.
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Post by whatagain on Feb 27, 2022 14:09:13 GMT
Ghe alleged answer of Ukrainian president to a US offer of exfiltration is 'I don't need a ride, i need ammunition.
I may go dow in history along Cambronne's 'Merde' at Waterloo, 'Nuts' from Mc Auliffe at Bastogne or 'I'll be back' from Mc Arthur at Bataan...
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Post by whatagain on Feb 27, 2022 14:12:20 GMT
I am like K.
We kack verifiable info...
However i am appalled by the number of anti West comments on LinkedIn...
From 'the US has never been cindemned when it supported corrupt regimes' to 'it is NATO's fault uf Putin had to react to its exoansion' with the inevitable 'Russia won Ww2'. (Forgetting to mention USSR started it... ).
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 27, 2022 14:41:41 GMT
Putin puts the nuclear deterrent on special alert? Jeez, he is starting to sound as crazy as Trump.
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Post by casimira on Feb 27, 2022 19:38:09 GMT
As with Trump many are questioning Putin's mental health at this point.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 27, 2022 19:51:33 GMT
I am very happy to see all of the civilian Ukrainian defence volunteers wearing their surgical masks. It proves to me that they are not planning to die.
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Post by mickthecactus on Feb 27, 2022 21:08:01 GMT
Putin puts the nuclear deterrent on special alert? Jeez, he is starting to sound as crazy as Trump. I've no doubt NATO has reciprocated.
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Post by kerouac2 on Feb 28, 2022 16:56:59 GMT
Switzerland has joined the EU sanctions against Russia. This is a pretty amazing move for a country that prides its neutrality.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 28, 2022 20:46:54 GMT
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Post by whatagain on Feb 28, 2022 21:52:39 GMT
Some sources cite 4000 kia or wia among russian forces, which other sources said numbered 200 000. Makes 2pc writtem off + some pows.
We see some burning vehicles, in zones still held by Ukrainians.
Russians might not find it so easy after all...
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Post by bjd on Mar 1, 2022 7:54:19 GMT
What would scare me if I were Ukrainian are the Chechen brigade (10,000 men) being sent to Ukraine on the Russian side. These are tough guys, not only because they see themselves as Islamic fighters, but because of their terrible human rights abuses in Chechnya and elsewhere.
The news this morning shows a 65-km long convoy of Russian tanks, armoured cars and heavy equipment heading for Kyiv. Putin has lost the war, even if he wins the battles and destroys the city.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 1, 2022 8:35:31 GMT
Salomé Zourabichvili, the president of Georgia, is in France at the moment and was interviewed on television this morning. One of the things asked was how she feels about the solidarity with Ukraine compared to the Georgian war with Russia in 2008. The war lasted 5 days and Georgia lost 20% of its territory. The rest of the world just shrugged and looked in the other direction.
Her response was extremely diplomatic and concentrated on the current situation, letting bygones be bygones. She is probably far more indugent than a "pure" Georgian since she was born in France and actually used to be the French ambassador to Georgia. (Her parents were Georgian political emigrants.) Just like Ukraine, she is hoping that the new landscape will permit Georgia and Moldova to join the EU, although she knows that this is a long term goal.
In other good news, Monaco has decided to apply the EU sanctions to Russia as well. It has 750 Russian residents, mostly millionaires. Since the popiulation of Monaco is 38,000, that a pretty big chunk of the population. Since only 9600 people have Monacan nationality, it is more a video game than a country.
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Post by questa on Mar 1, 2022 11:53:47 GMT
Putin has lost the war, even if he wins the battles and destroys the city. Putin has lost his marbles, that is what has happened. WHY and WHY NOT have puzzled me. What has happened to cause him to over-react now. I can understand something has made him lose his cool, Maybe a border skirmish or 'reporter fatal accident' but to set off this massive movement and raise the Nuclear option are the actions of someone out of touch with reality.
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Post by bjd on Mar 1, 2022 11:56:45 GMT
Not at all, Questa. I have a good Ukrainian friend in Canada who has been sending me magazine and news articles for months about Putin's intentions in Ukraine.
That he is out of touch with reality is another thing -- in his bubble where everyone tells him what he wants to hear.
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