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Post by onlyMark on Mar 1, 2022 12:54:22 GMT
Taxi driver I had back from the airport yesterday was quite scathing about Putin and the Russians. Said people here are running scared. Went to the supermarket just now and they have restocked with big bags of stuff, like 25kg bags or flour and rice, five and ten litre bottles of oil etc. It was flying off the shelves.
Side note is that there is no compulsory mask wearing here now. All back to pre-covid.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 1, 2022 12:58:16 GMT
Masks are so 2021.
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Post by casimira on Mar 1, 2022 14:30:22 GMT
Not TODAY in NOLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by mossie on Mar 1, 2022 15:39:37 GMT
I agree, you can see how paranoid he is when the TV shows him meeting someone who has to sit on the other end of a very big table. If you must sup with the devil use a long spoon comes to mind.
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Post by patricklondon on Mar 1, 2022 15:39:41 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. My guess is, "old man in a hurry" syndrome. Maybe he's ill, knows it, and wants to cement his historic legacy into place (as he sees it). Plus, of course, frustration (Wilhelm II style) at not getting what he thinks of as Russia's (and his) due, and determination to overthrow the dominance of Western-style democratic and legalistic values (which his KGB background sees as a deep conspiracy against Russia).
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 1, 2022 15:53:49 GMT
Perhaps an earwig is drilling into his brain.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 1, 2022 16:11:47 GMT
My guess is, "old man in a hurry" syndrome. Maybe he's ill, knows it, and wants to cement his historic legacy into place (as he sees it). Plus, of course, frustration (Wilhelm II style) at not getting what he thinks of as Russia's (and his) due, and determination to overthrow the dominance of Western-style democratic and legalistic values (which his KGB background sees as a deep conspiracy against Russia). That seems so plausible, Patrick. I thought much the same about his seeming rush to realize all his ambitions, but hadn't considered possible illness as a motive. That he is out of touch with reality is another thing -- in his bubble where everyone tells him what he wants to hear. There is trouble in that paradise, though perhaps not from Putin's most inner circle: A few members of the Russian Parliament speak out against the war.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 1, 2022 19:13:01 GMT
It is getting tough to watch the evening news here.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 1, 2022 19:20:36 GMT
Andorra will convoke its parliament tomorrow the modify its laws. At the moment, it is impossible to block or stop transactions with foreign countries. That will change tomorrow. It will be the first time in its history that Andorra will take action against a foreign country.
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Post by questa on Mar 1, 2022 22:33:09 GMT
That seems so plausible, Patrick. I thought much the same about his seeming rush to realize all his ambitions, but hadn't considered possible illness as a motive. First thing I thought when he started this action was," Has he just had a prostatectomy?" For a leader who worshipped his body and physical prowess, growing old and losing power would easily tip him into this spiteful state. His political ambitions are secondary to his "Mine is bigger than yours" mentality and current unhinged actions.
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Post by bjd on Mar 2, 2022 7:35:19 GMT
Until recently, Putin's genital apparatus was still working. After he divorced his wife, he has a new one and two young boys.
I talked to my Canadian-Ukrainian friend last night. He said that given Putin's declarations and ambition to get rid of the Ukrainian government, people have no choice but to fight to the death. He was also very depressed about the whole thing and said he spent his time reading and watching internet and TV news.
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Post by whatagain on Mar 2, 2022 9:22:56 GMT
The only positive aspect is that since the invasion, nobody talks about Covid anymore. Seems like there is no room for 2 major pieces of news on the telly.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 2, 2022 12:20:29 GMT
Not just covid, but it's as though Fashion Week is not happening right now. Every cloud has a silver lining.
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Post by casimira on Mar 2, 2022 17:57:08 GMT
One of the country's that Putin was relying on for support, Hungary has bowed out of giving him any support. One by one, like dominoes they are falling.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 2, 2022 18:12:24 GMT
Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Belarus and a few other countries* actively support Russia. They are not the most popular kids in town.
India and China are staying silent, but both of them have neighbours they would like to invade, so they want to see how this plays out.
Another country saying nothing is Saudi Arabia. It has so much to gain from surging oil prices, no matter what the reason.
* of course this is without risk for them but being Russia's cheerleaders could help them, depending on the outcome, since they are already on the world's shit list.
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Post by whatagain on Mar 3, 2022 18:30:45 GMT
Ukraine is definitely winning propaganda war. One side says everything goes as planned. And uses goebel like rhetoric. Ukraine invites mothers of Pows to come at a border and get their sons back. Brilliant. And humane.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 3, 2022 18:42:51 GMT
Yes, I thought that asking Russian mothers to come and get their POW sons back was a nice touch. But I doubt that any of them will be allowed to do it. And yet mothers are the dominant force of the world.
Meanwhile, I am feeling sorry for Macron who is spending 90 minutes on the phone with Putin every day. He is the only Western leader still talking to Putin, but I suppose that he is obliged to do it since France is in charge of the EU for the first six months of the year. (Next up after France will be Czechia in July.) But maybe these 90 minutes are delaying Putin from doing anything stupid at least during their conversation. (The conversation is only half that amount of time due to the interpreters.)
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 3, 2022 19:30:07 GMT
Poland is skyrocketing in the esteem of the rest of the EU due to it magnificent humanitarian effort. It needed a boost since it made so many wrong decisions in recent years.
Meanwhile, the first refugees from Ukraine are beginning to arrive in France by bus or private cars. After all, it is 4000 kilometres. But quite a few French cities have prepared apartments and houses for the people arriving.
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Post by bjd on Mar 3, 2022 19:45:21 GMT
Poland is indeed improving its reputation somewhat, but I find absolutely shameful the skinhead Polish "nationalists" who attacked some Indian citizens who crossed the border and are not allowing African, Middle Eastern or other darker-skinned refugees into Poland. They are vicious morons.
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Post by mich64 on Mar 3, 2022 19:52:28 GMT
One issue that I would like to see is the media concentrating on the fact that the Ukraine people fleeing are heading WEST not towards the EAST so the argument Putin makes for invading Ukraine is completely inaccurate.
If the Ukraine people needed to be saved from the nazi drug addicted government, why are they heading WEST, if they wanted or needed Russian protection or intervention, you would think they would be trying to flee EAST.
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Post by htmb on Mar 3, 2022 20:47:19 GMT
Good point, Mich.
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Post by kerouac2 on Mar 3, 2022 21:11:33 GMT
Maybe it's time for something a bit more lighthearted. President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was after all an actor and comedian before being elected, was the voice of the titular character in the Ukrainian version of Paddington and Paddington 2.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 3, 2022 23:46:20 GMT
re: Huckle's headlines of interest ~ that tax break must be a big relief for the new owners of the pre-loved tanks! " style="max-width:100%;"] One issue that I would like to see is the media concentrating on the fact that the Ukraine people fleeing are heading WEST not towards the EAST so the argument Putin makes for invading Ukraine is completely inaccurate. If the Ukraine people needed to be saved from the nazi drug addicted government, why are they heading WEST, if they wanted or needed Russian protection or intervention, you would think they would be trying to flee EAST. Perfect, Mich! skinhead Polish "nationalists" who attacked some Indian citizens who crossed the border and are not allowing African, Middle Eastern or other darker-skinned refugees into Poland. And also ~ [copied from today's The Guardian:]The Biden administration will allow Ukrainians in the US Temporary Protected Status, a designation that will them to continue living and working in the country for 18 months. [75,000 Ukrainians in the US will be eligible to apply] But the US has yet to extend similar protections for tens of thousands of Afghans in US prior to and following the chaotic evacuation last summer.
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Post by bjd on Mar 4, 2022 7:10:54 GMT
Lots of the Ukraianians in Toronto are also Uniate Catholics from Western Ukraine.
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Post by questa on Mar 4, 2022 10:30:10 GMT
I was engaged to a man who was born in Ukraine in the early 40s. His father was a civil engineer who hated the Soviets so that when he had to design a bridge etc he would build in a fault which caused problems for Russia.
The family were put in a displaced persons camp then with 2 other families set out to travel to freedom. They were also on a list of wanted people by the KGB. Most of the time they had to walk and sleep where they could.
With the several children and women it seemed they were not the people the police were looking for. The children were not to speak to anyone at all, not even other kids because they might use a word in the wrong dialect and give the group away. They zig zagged back and forth across Europe coming close to starving and finally fell into the arms of a USA displaced persons camp. Here with Ice Cream, bubble gum and US support, they shipped out to Oz.
By the time they got here he spoke Ukrainian. Russian, Polish. Czech and later added Italian and English however he found it difficult to initiate conversation.
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 4, 2022 11:29:00 GMT
So what happened to the engagement?
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Post by Kimby on Mar 4, 2022 21:29:04 GMT
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Post by mickthecactus on Mar 4, 2022 21:42:41 GMT
Good article thanks Kimby.
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Post by questa on Mar 4, 2022 21:47:58 GMT
So what happened to the engagement? Mutual agreement...wouldn't have been good for either of us!
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Post by Kimby on Mar 4, 2022 21:51:02 GMT
“People too young to remember the Cold War are going to be very surprised about how fundamentally their lives are going to change from here on.”
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