Google xlate yields: Shame on anyone who thinks wrong.fresh_42 said:
1984 was about a global order involving three competing totalitarian powers who were in perpetual war against each other. To reach that scenario would need Russia to overrun all of Europe, the US to be taken over by a right-wing coup, say, and China to make up the third. That said, we have potentially more than three with the Islamic world on the one hand, and India transforming into a Hindu dictatorship.phinds said:
DennisN said:
This is just for the show. Putin was very close, handshaking without any facemask the president of Argentina a few days before the invasion, just google Alberto fernandez putin. Granted that president was vaccinated by Sputnik and had gotten covid, it doesn't change the fact that the same treatment was not done with Macron like one or two days later, who was also vaccinated and had gotten Covid as well. Just for the show.fresh_42 said:
Exactly, and Putin has probably the best medical care available that money and authority can buy so I too am skeptical of the idea that somehow Putin got so scared of Covid that his hiding in a bunker since early 2020.fluidistic said:
There is China to consider regarding Economic dependency also.Astronuc said:
:Perhaps, as its government moves closer to direct involvement in Ukraine.Rive said:
This reminds me of one of the first jokes told by Yakov Smirnoff, the Russian ** standup comic told when he first immigrated to America.artis said:
The Big Vlad: two rancid beef patties, special military operation sauce, some random junk on a bun with a sesame seed (1).artis said:
And to stay true to current Russian military logistics , the whole meal doesn't arrive in time, is missing some ingredients and if you dare to complain to the kitchen then you get 15 years in toilet.bob012345 said:
I always asked myself what the prename of McDonald was. Now, we know. Although, Vania is quite uncommon in Scottland.artis said:
I just (10 minutes ago) read in the news ticker of a news channel that Russians bomb particularly hospitals and doctors' offices. Barbaric. I hope Putin will end up in The Hague.berkeman said:
How likely is it that that is intentionally done as a policy rather than happening through callous disregard?fresh_42 said:
With nowadays weapons? 100% intentionally.bob012345 said:
Through my EMS training, I have some anti-terrorist training and yes, schools and hospitals are specifically targeted by terrorists. Possibly Putin's training in the KGB is part of his planning and approval of targets...bob012345 said:
I'm not so sure. All missiles that has been leftover from USSR went probably to Russia together with the nuclear weapons. And they likely haven't thought about an attack from their former brothers, and certainly not from the west.bob012345 said:
bob012345 said:
It says nothing about intervening on Ukraine's behalf in a dispute with someone else.
Legality is irrelvant. What is RELEVANT is whether or not it will start WWIII and the consensus seems to be that it would.BillTre said:
BillTre said:
Yes. the same goes for the Russians, which obviously is not worth much.bob012345 said:
They also bombed a theater filled with more than 1,000 sheltering civilians, especially children. Just prior to that, someone released a video plea from the location for humanitarian aid, because they were running out of food.bob012345 said:
bob012345 said:
True but tricky. What's tricky is identifying the target and proving whether it's [known] military or civilian. Using human shields is a war crime. Soldiers dressing as civilians is a war crime. Russia is claiming that Ukrainian forces are mixing with civilians, thus making the otherwise civilian targets legitimate military targets. Proving Putin is knowingly attacking purely civilian targets would be difficult.fresh_42 said:
Agree with the first part but not the second. The second part is a tautology (war between the West and Russia is the typical definition of WWIII) and isn't what matters. What matters is whether that war would become nuclear*. And I don't think there's a consensus about that. Some people seem to think it would be inevitable, others that it would be possible to likely and still others (me) believe it would almost certainly not happen. Of course, still others would say that "almost certainly not" is still too high a risk.phinds said:
https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...-if-its-existence-were-threatened-2022-03-22/
That's an odd walk back given most of their recent rhetoric, but it does align with their announced doctrine.russ_watters said:
It's intentional for sure. Make no mistake, ordinary unguided bombs are not that precise but also not that imprecise. The bombs don't have a tolerance factor of +-10miles. In a big city you don't exactly have a hospital on every street corner. So to hit a hospital when the nearest military target is say 5 miles is not a mistake.bob012345 said:
I'm afraid they don't have any such capability. They only have close range weapons, from manpads to RPG's to some surface to air tools. Russian troops are already within their territory, the only real way they could send a bomb within Russian territory is either by a ballistic missile or through a bomber or fighter jet, but Russia has concentrated large SAM power near the border so realistically they would be shot down.bob012345 said:
Not to excuse Russian war crimes but I think there is some truth to that. Certainly Ukrainians aren't the first ones who came up with the tactic to hide behind civilian "facades" when fighting. Taliban etc are doing it all the time.russ_watters said:
fresh_42 said:
