Putin Invades Ukraine II

[dualstow]

…
Where did you read about the nuclear threat, Seajay? I have only read Putin’s veiled threats about using nukes, but only if the U.S. or another NATO nation were to cross the line by directly killing Russian troops.

From Ukrainian military top brass, can't recall the name, TV news instead of being read, some months back and along the lines of if Ukraine loses the whole world loses with highlighting of the number/size of nuclear reactors across Ukraine and the widespread radiation that could arise, a strong inference that the rest of the world should be taking greater steps against Russia/support of Ukraine to avoid major nuclear incidents. Shortly thereafter Zelenskyy was putting out about the risk Russia was inducing against possible nuclear reactors across Ukraine i.e. redirection that if nuclear reactor de-caps did occur then both sides could imply it was the other as being the cause.

You have to remember that the 1930's Soviet engineered famine killed a large proportion of the Ukrainian population and Russia has a history of purging populations. In Mariupol the city was leveled whilst women/children were blocked from leaving - had to spend two months in below ground darkness before taking the risk of moving out of the city under gun-fire. Even a building within which children were massed and had CHILDREN written in large letters observable from the sky Russian planes intentionally bombed the building. There are mass burials of women/children that Russians didn't take as prisoners, just executed. Very much a fight and die, rather than surrender and die Ukrainian mentality. Russians don't just target military, rather they look to indiscriminately exterminate the population via mass bombardment that collectively is little different to a nuclear strike in the damaged caused.

Yes Putin has threatened nuclear if any of Russia is taken,
…

Interesting post, as always. I thought that 2nd paragraph was going to be all about the 1930’s, but I remember the fairly recent story about the bombing of the CHILDREN-labeled building.

I had forgotten, but now I also remember that nuclear scare early on in this war, though the details were fuzzy. Only that there was a firefight around a reactor, and Russia was refusing to let the Ukrainians or even a third party secure the area. They just kept shooting.

I don’t quite know what de-caps means, but chatGPT guesses that it refers to the removal of protective caps.

[dualstow]

Germany thwarted a planned attack by ISIS on Sweden’s Parliament building.
Reddit: How could Ukraine do this? /s

One that bugs me is the use of "like", which has sadly expanded far beyond the Valley girls. Somebody will relay a story to me and say "I was like, 'what were you thinking?'". I'll reply, "You were 'LIKE' that? Does that mean you said it or you thought it?"

Guilty. I caught that bug early in life and have never been able to rid myself of it, in certain social situations. It can mean either and sometimes has to be clarified later.

[Mountaineer]

Germany thwarted a planned attack by ISIS on Sweden’s Parliament building.
Reddit: How could Ukraine do this? /s

One that bugs me is the use of "like", which has sadly expanded far beyond the Valley girls. Somebody will relay a story to me and say "I was like, 'what were you thinking?'". I'll reply, "You were 'LIKE' that? Does that mean you said it or you thought it?"

Guilty. I caught that bug early in life and have never been able to rid myself of it, in certain social situations. It can mean either and sometimes has to be clarified later.

Like, WOW Dude!

[dualstow]

I know, I know. I’m not proud of it

[Mountaineer]

I know, I know. I’m not proud of it

Dual, you sound “like, hey man” like you would be a great person to have a beer or ten with, “like” if we met in person. It would definitely be a blast!

[dualstow]

I’m decidedly unimpressive in person, M. I consider myself very lucky to have some long-time friends who know my quirks and put up with me.

Back on topic- do I dare ask Smithers what his fiancee thinks about all this? I don’t think he visits this subtopic. I’ll ask in the Check-in thread.

[Smith1776]

I’m decidedly unimpressive in person, M. I consider myself very lucky to have some long-time friends who know my quirks and put up with me.

Back on topic- do I dare ask Smithers what his fiancee thinks about all this? I don’t think he visits this subtopic. I’ll ask in the Check-in thread.

From Mrs. Smithers:

Even before he entered politics, my family respected him as a person. He is very educated, and even the story of his life and actions can tell a lot (even an example of the fact that he spent his entire career as an artist with his team from the beginning, refusing any money and offers for himself).
As a politician, he was not competent at all, but he was elected because his goals were for the sake of the country and the people. He is the voice of the people, as in this his series (Servant of the people), the same ordinary person.

« I will be the kind of person whom they will first throw mud at, then they will learn to respect, and then they will cry when I leave." – Zelensky

When the war began, we won the blitzkrieg in the first days of the offensive, only because he remained at the post against everything and started "calling" the whole world.
And yes, that period was our triumph, optimism, all this black humor and mockery from russia. Everyone said that we won, 100%.
Nevertheless, in any war there are fractures, pauses, offensives... And if you believed in victory yesterday, it does not mean that today you will not wait for your own death. For the second year now, this hell does not end, we have no weapons, no people to fight the "elephant", and the West only worries about their pockets and political games.
Are we pessimists now?1 I don't think so. All the time everybody are scolded, why didn't we surrender to them, let them get theirs... But the more you fight for something, the more important it becomes, no matter how many people died for that particular city, you can't just give up.
In addition, will it stop these rashist2 idiots without a sense of proportion? They will feel permissive and will go further to others. And are West as fucked up as we are to stop tanks with hands? …
Now russia believes that they can simply continue the war and eventually exhaust the material support of the West. Is it a contest of wills?
But russia's defeat is not the same as Ukraine's victory. russia has already lost. But at what price will our victory be? The price is in sacrifices, the fullness of the country and time. And the timer is still ticking.
Optimists? Pessimists? Hopeful? ... Rather, disappointed in people, the world, and a genetically stubborn nation that will die, but will not give ours.


1 – Sid

Sid Video.mp4.zip

(663 KiB) Downloaded 18 times

2 – fascist + russians = rashist

EDIT: spelling

[dualstow]

Wow, very interesting read. Thank you for that, Mr and Mrs Smithers.
I read and hear a lot about Zelensky and corruption but I mean he's there. He didn't abscond with cash, and Бог knows he could have. He only leaves to drum up more support for the war effort. (I don't want to cheapen things by saying it bc I mean it in a good way: that quote sounds like Batman).

I have not downloaded the file. What is that?

[Smith1776]

Wow, very interesting read. Thank you for that, Mr and Mrs Smithers.
I read and hear a lot about Zelensky and corruption but I mean he's there. He didn't abscond with cash, and Бог knows he could have. He only leaves to drum up more support for the war effort. (I don't want to cheapen things by saying it bc I mean it in a good way: that quote sounds like Batman).

I have not downloaded the file. What is that?

I thought her perspective was very interesting as well.

It's a clip from the movie Ice Age that summarizes Mrs. Smithers' and every Ukrainian's attitude about the war. It's a legit file, no worries.

[dualstow]

I love rashist by the way.

[Smith1776]

I love rashist by the way.

Her vocabulary is a never-ending source of entertainment in our house.

[Xan]

Ukraine Is Now 'Holy War,' Russian Church Declares
https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine ... ly-1884577

"From a spiritual and moral point of view, the special military operation is a Holy War, in which Russia and its people, are defending the single spiritual space of Holy Russia," the document released on Wednesday said under the heading "special military operation," which is the official Kremlin term for the invasion.

Yikes... I would love to ask our resident Orthodox, Ad Orientem, about this, but he's gone. This seems totally beyond the pale of things a supposedly Christian church should be saying. "Holy Russia"?

[dualstow]

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church is kind of like a Chinese-appointed Dalai Lama.

[Smith1776]

We are already making tentative plans for another trip in December 2024, but who knows what the country will be like at that point.

[dualstow]

We are already making tentative plans for another trip in December 2024, but who knows what the country will be like at that point.

They’re playing ‘Men Without Hats’ on the radio. That’s about as close as I’ll probably get to Ukraine at this point

[dualstow]

Reading about glide bombs in the Financial Times. Pretty depressing.

[seajay]

We are already making tentative plans for another trip in December 2024, but who knows what the country will be like at that point.

With the US clearly indicating that its abandoned Ukraine !!!

[dualstow]

Not just the U.S. but much of the west, sadly.

[vnatale]

We are already making tentative plans for another trip in December 2024, but who knows what the country will be like at that point.

With the US clearly indicating that its abandoned Ukraine !!!

Did I miss some major breaking news of some new development regarding the United States and where it stands with Ukraine.

Seems that most of the current lack of support is due to the highly dysfunctional House caused by the Republican behavior in it.

[dualstow]

It has been said that if Israel takes out Iran’s drone facility in its anticipated response, this will degrade Russia’s ability to use drones against Kyiv.
Wouldn’t mind seeing that.

[vnatale]

It has been said that if Israel takes out Iran’s drone facility in its anticipated response, this will degrade Russia’s ability to use drones against Kyiv.
Wouldn’t mind seeing that.

But then how does Iran respond to Israel?

[dualstow]

Who knows

[vnatale]

Who knows

Well, I think we can all agree that the possibilities are higher that they do something toward Israel if Israel does as you suggest?

[dualstow]

It’s an interesting question for sure, Vin. I was just thinking about the upshot for Ukraine.