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Rad Russian posted:UK has been the country of choice for all the oligarchs for some reason. Almost every single rich Russian has property, boats, and various companies registered in the UK. Even one of the most storied futbol teams there was owned by an oligarch. I'm not sure why they all specifically picked UK, however, there must have been favorable conditions for them all to pile there and not any other European country. It's also been a very long trend of 10-15 years, not something super recent. I think the Russian connection thing in fact goes back in history much further, further even than the fall of the Soviet Union. I read somewhere that in the 1950s when the cold war was getting started, USA and USSR both decided to forbid directly doing business with one another. But because rich people wanted to do business anyway, in some way, London UK became the place for that. Hence the historically very large banking sector of the UK, which is still over-large w.r.t. rest of the UK economy, and Russian influence Don't have any sources to hand right now sorry (so be skeptical, this might be complete gibberish) Other news: according to Iltalehti (Finnish tabloid), the purpose of the Finnish president's trip to the USA might be trying to secure MNNA status for Finland. Article about MNNA and what it is (in Finnish): quote:NATO's stepsister If this is true, it might indeed be that the plan is: 1) USA grants security guarantees for Finland (and Sweden) very quickly 2) Finland and Sweden immediately start the NATO application process, which will take a while, but while that's being ratified etc they already have the security guarantee. I thought this security guarantees business was pretty far fetched, excited to hear that it might in fact be possible.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:39
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mustard_tiger posted:Every person in Canada knows what a poutine is, especially in Quebec. This makes no sense other than maybe people from outside the country getting confused. There's poutine places everywhere here. It’s a Canadian news article but it’s discussing France. Poutine is not at all common in France and the rare times I have seen a poutine place with people someone has always mentioned Putin. In France/Belgium/Switzerland. Also a lot of people are loving dumb. There was is an Eric Zemmour hair salon in like Montpellier that kept getting attacked and vandalized and they had to change the name. It has nothing to do with the politician and had existed since like the 1990s or something.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:39
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Why is that VDV song so drat catchy. It's been running through my brain all day now.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:40
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OctaMurk posted:Hopefully America bans facebook next tbh. Banning Facebook and Twitter would do wonders.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:40
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TulliusCicero posted:Honestly sorry to hear that I am just thankful I lived at a truly unprecedented time when that utopian image of the internet existed for a minute, an open communication channel with ease of access and instant communication with people anywhere on the planet. I think in a few decades we will look at that with much nostalgia despite all of the challenges it also brought. I should've reached out to more people.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:42
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FishBulbia posted:
That's a Kord, the replacement for the DShK. For a .50 caliber machine gun, it's lightweight enough it can be fired from the hip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwu3ivAJ68U
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Mar 4, 2022 21:42
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Dapper_Swindler posted:i dont think they have the aircraft to do it. if they had the aircraft, they would have put them at the border by now. i think the Russians airforce is more of shitshow then their army. Speaking of their airforce, was it ever confirmed that the reason the transport plane crashed in russia on the first day was because its tail separated?
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Mar 4, 2022 21:43
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John F Bennett posted:Why is that VDV song so drat catchy. It's been running through my brain all day now. I hate it so much
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Mar 4, 2022 21:43
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Young Freud posted:Not sure if this was posted, but it's a security consultant for the BBC talking about why we're seeing so many Russian officers getting killed in combat... I still don't understand why "Officials feel Russia will adapt" is a thing? If your officers are full of corrupt fail-sons and your average infantryman doesn't know what the gently caress is going on, how do you adapt? Has anyone seen any adaptation besides "oh they are shelling civilians now"? You can't adapt when your logistics are hosed and your chain of command is FUBAR
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Mar 4, 2022 21:44
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John F Bennett posted:Why is that VDV song so drat catchy. It's been running through my brain all day now. It's propaganda. It's literally meant to do this.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:44
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quote:The Forum on the Arms Trade has been keeping track of all the weapons transfers to Ukraine announced so far. Looking just at portable anti-tank weapons, the list of what has been promised by different countries so looks like this, in descending order of numbers: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidh...m_medium=social
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Mar 4, 2022 21:45
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Another maybe not yet so noticeable effect of the war. It's very hard to book trucks for transport in Europe due to all the Ukrainian drivers having returned home to drive trucks and tanks and to take care of their families. This could have a significant impact over time as it did in the UK after brexit.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:45
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TulliusCicero posted:I still don't understand why "Officials feel Russia will adapt" is a thing? Tempering expectations. If they start fighting competently, they can definitely win. They've become more moderate in their concerns over the past week, but we're still a good way out from "Russia doesn't have the capability to continue offensives."
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Mar 4, 2022 21:46
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FishBulbia posted:I am just thankful I lived at a truly unprecedented time when that utopian image of the internet existed for a minute, an open communication channel with ease of access and instant communication with people anywhere on the planet. I think in a few decades we will look at that with much nostalgia despite all of the challenges it also brought. I should've reached out to more people. I hope Putin pulls his head out of his rear end soon or someone else does, because millions are going to suffer for no reason gently caress this war is utterly pointless
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Mar 4, 2022 21:48
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steinrokkan posted:There are Ukrainians living abroad as well. Personally I've been surprised I haven't seen more infighting between the two communities, given how numerous they are around here. I work at a national lab and we have a lot of scientists that are expatriates from both country. No one really talks about the war here for good reasons. Funny side note, Russia born scientists basically refuse to put data anywhere but on physical media they have access to. They very much hate anything that could come across as big brother ish, like putting all your data in OneDrive were the government can gently caress with it.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:48
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Some updates from my end: The nuclear incident rightly has everyone spooked. Even if the thread has a NO PANIC clause the people living in Ukraine do not. Former student is traveling back to her town in Western Ukraine from the EU just for one day to see her father and grandparents in case there's some sort of nuclear incident/attack and she'll never see them again. My former schools have been turned into volunteer stations to help the war and humanitarian efforts. I offered to do English classes via Zoom since the schools can't be used to teach at the moment. Another student in the EU is helping refugees at the border by translating for Ukrainians. Lots of mothers and their children. Family in Chernihiv is still alive as of now. No one can get out. I didn't want to message my friend in Russia in case he's being monitored. He definitely is. I saw him active on FB before the ban went through.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:48
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https://twitter.com/jmkorhonen/status/1498989114691133443 cough an interesting thread, all round
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Mar 4, 2022 21:49
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Madkal posted:Does this mean Russian troll farms are going to be shut down too? Will comment sections only be a mild tire fire of discussion instead of a raging uncontrollable fire of stupidity. if china is any indicator no, they will be allowed for special peacekeeping operations
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Mar 4, 2022 21:50
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TulliusCicero posted:I still don't understand why "Officials feel Russia will adapt" is a thing? Given what we've experienced with our institutions and leaders completely failing during COVID, I'm also not sure why people have confidence in large, corrupt institutions being able to adapt. It's just more foreign policy/military fetishization of a "strongman" empire to me.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:50
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TulliusCicero posted:I still don't understand why "Officials feel Russia will adapt" is a thing? You have to assume the enemy will stop loving up at some point and get a clue. You plan for worst case, not best case. Besides if you saw a dude shoot himself in the foot once, would you expect him to line up and carefully shoot himself in the other foot also? I think people are assuming that there must be some competent people somewhere in the Russian hierarchy and at some point Putin will realize he needs to put them in charge. Just like Ukraine did after 2014, when they realized "oh gently caress, we don't have an army" so they spent the past eight years building one. Problems with that assumption are 1) reorganization takes time Russia doesn't have and 2) it's not clear any such competent people exist given apparent decades of institutional rot 3) it's not clear the people at the very top (Putin and his immediate underlings) have the necessary competencies to distinguish the competent from the incompetent
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Mar 4, 2022 21:50
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You know if I was Ukraine and NATO I'd send pilot trainees and other specialized trainees like anti-air, etc to get trained on NATO aircraft. Getting the pilots trained on F-16s for example would make procurement from the US pretty easy. Same as other hardware. Of course it is long term investment but I don't think this conflict is ending at time soon.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:50
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TulliusCicero posted:I hope Putin pulls his head out of his rear end soon or someone else does, because millions are going to suffer for no reason I know like 3 people who were basically social media managers. It's apparently a sought after job in Russia. Job doesn't exist anymore
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Mar 4, 2022 21:51
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As a swede it feels good somehow that 60s years of Swedish military technology is being used to repell a Russian invasion. As it was meant for.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:52
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Antigravitas posted:The German Nazi party holds 10% of seats in parliament. No it doesn’t. There is no Nazi party in Germany. It is outlawed. I get what you’re trying to communicate here, and that’s fair, but there is not a “German Nazi party” with elected officials in any part of Germany.
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Mar 4, 2022 21:57
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John F Bennett posted:Why is that VDV song so drat catchy. It's been running through my brain all day now. I remember from years ago someone uploaded the video with subtitles of what it sounds like he's saying. I still can't unhear "whateva, snip a privet!" and "tennis, small boys, and more popcorn", and I haven't seen it in years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGhPdYsOAv8
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Mar 4, 2022 22:00
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https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1499853152287399936
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Mar 4, 2022 22:06
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Because of the war or because nobody in Russia can afford their stuff any more?
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Mar 4, 2022 22:10
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A good video on why the Russian Air Force is MIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amIQklYDHdM
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Mar 4, 2022 22:11
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Apologies if this has been posted already - I checked and didn't see it, but it strikes me as fairly significant: https://twitter.com/OphirGottlieb/status/1499782977340932097
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Mar 4, 2022 22:13
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:Because of the war or because nobody in Russia can afford their stuff any more? The ruble has collapsed so much it literally costs too much just to do business in Russia All these businesses and companies pulling out, it's not because of their hearts or stance on the war it's because of viability and feasibility - capitalism does not give a poo poo about what is right and what is wrong. At the end of the day it's all about cold hard money and there's none to be had in Russia
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Mar 4, 2022 22:13
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ronya posted:https://twitter.com/jmkorhonen/status/1498989114691133443 It's very good. "if they can avoid exhaustion, they can win". But it would take an enormous will to continue, even knowing time is on your side, when your cities are getting turned into rubble and civilians are eating boots. Edward Luttwak believes that the ongoing "peace" talks are an indication that Putin is being pressured internally by his own people to "do something". How can you treat with drug addicts and nazis, he says, indicating the dilemma. Why would you treat with them for recognition of Donbas etc? To treat is to recognize them. He's recognizing the addicts and nazis? So there must be internal pressure.
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Mar 4, 2022 22:13
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Vincent Van Goatse posted:Because of the war or because nobody in Russia can afford their stuff any more? The people that could afford them before still can, I would imagine. But now they'll just have to travel to China to get the spring line.
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Mar 4, 2022 22:16
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TulliusCicero posted:I still don't understand why "Officials feel Russia will adapt" is a thing? It's generally safer, better, and more realistic to make plans and ideas based on the assumption your enemy is competent and not an idiot. They're not at a point where it's impossible for them to adapt so you need to assume they can/will.
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Mar 4, 2022 22:21
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https://twitter.com/idreesali114/status/1499844253786288133 I don't want to restart NFZ chat but the poll gives you a sense of where the American public is at (it almost certainly shows that many Americans probably don't understand the implications of a NFZ).
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Mar 4, 2022 22:22
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TulliusCicero posted:I still don't understand why "Officials feel Russia will adapt" is a thing? I mean, eventually if Russia just keeps tossing bodies in they're going to end up with a bunch of hardened veterans simply due to how probability works. It's not going to be a miracle fix for them but it is one of the reasons I believe Russia's going to win this war if they throw everything they have at it. It might just get ridiculously expensive and bloody for them if Ukraine keeps putting up this kind of fight.
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Mar 4, 2022 22:24
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MRLOLAST posted:As a swede it feels good somehow that 60s years of Swedish military technology is being used to repell a Russian invasion. I assumed you meant a Carl Gustav there, lol
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Mar 4, 2022 22:25
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HappyHippo posted:https://twitter.com/idreesali114/status/1499844253786288133 christ, that's sobering. hopefully joe will repeat the afghanistan withdrawal by not caring about poll numbers when it comes to foreign policy
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Mar 4, 2022 22:25
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If you have that stupid VDV song stuck in your head, I shall repost a far superior earworm to cleanse it: ik edit:  russian soldiers blow up with droneshttps://twitter.com/yenisafakEN/status/1498950686456881152 (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST) Somebody fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Mar 4, 2022 |
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Mar 4, 2022 22:26
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HappyHippo posted:https://twitter.com/idreesali114/status/1499844253786288133 It feels wierd being in the minority in one of these polls for once, but I guess it's because I know what that would mean escalation wise.
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Mar 4, 2022 22:26
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HappyHippo posted:https://twitter.com/idreesali114/status/1499844253786288133 Pretty amazing watching decades of cold war propaganda kick right back in.
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