Eastern Europe: Turns out PiS is not stored in the ballots

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Eastern Europe: Turns out PiS is not stored in the ballots

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Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

From the previous thread:

Tuna-Fish posted:

Point of order, the green transformation makes central europe more dependent on Russian gas, not less. We are still very far (multiple decades) away from when there is sufficient renewable+storage capacity to handle the times when it's both dark and not windy. This means that Germany must have substantial dispatchable capacity to back up their intermittent power, and they are continuing to run down their baseload production.

Given the massive methane leaks from Russian gas production, the most environmentally friendly way for Germany to supply their domestic power for the next few decades would be to start fracking their shale deposits. But that can't be done because someone made a documentary full of lies about it or something.

Yeah, they are screwed. No idea what they can do short term, but they are also the friendliest countries w/r/t Russia so bullying them is a bad idea compared to bullying Poland and the Baltics which were already hostile. Though Putin's current act is putting russia-understanders in a very awkward place and inshallah this will force the countries to look for alternatives

a podcast for cats posted:

In the same vein, Portugal being honorary Eastern Europe due to various socioeconomic metrics is a Reddit meme I've noticed. I'll reserve judgement on whether it's true until I get a chance to visit.

As an eastern euro who moved to Portugal for wife can confirm. Feels like home on the economic periphery with mass emigration and a bit more sun and the sh sound in every word makes everyone sound like a slav

Ataxerxes posted:

Yea, Finnish or English only, sadly.

And that literacy thing is interesting. I remember reader and article about Ukraine I think (but I might misremember) at that time when the Russian authorities banned printing books in Ukrainian but re-printing old ones were allowed. People supposedly kept printing all sorts of stuff and insisting they were repringts of a particular innocent poetry books. Supposedly to this day no-one knows all the things that got printed under that one title. From Marx to mathematics books, supposedly everything.

Check this out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_book_smugglers

# ¿ Feb 15, 2022 00:45

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 06:33

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Torrannor posted:

Too bad that there's a perfectly fine carbon neutral energy source that for example France utilizes heavily, but is for unfortunate reasons not the most populous energy source in many parts of the world. Primarily due to a thing happening in EE.

Well Hungary is building a bunch of them but afaik they're with Rosatom which might not be the optimal solution and will take until the late 2020s.

Good analysis on the insider trying to articulate the negotiating goals by Moscow being achieved in the gopnik mind games style/5D chess: https://theins.ru/opinions/pavel-luzin/248544

quote:

Who will blink first. Against the backdrop of unprecedented tensions, the political bargaining that Moscow wanted begins

Last week, expectations of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine reached a peak by mid-February, and became almost a consensus in the public space. The President of France, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense of Great Britain visited Moscow without much success, and a meeting of political advisers to the leaders of the countries participating in the Normandy format was held in Berlin, following which the Russian representative Dmitry Kozak did not hide his disappointment.

In addition, Vladimir Putin held telephone conversations with the President of the United States and once again with the President of France, and is also waiting for a meeting with the German Chancellor on February 15. At the same time, Ukraine turned to the OSCE on the issue of Russian military activity, and the Baltic countries turned to the same on the issue of military activity on the territory of Belarus, where the major Russian-Belarusian military exercise "Allied Resolve" is being held from February 10 to 20, 2022. All this happened against the backdrop of the inexplicable evacuation of Western diplomats and military advisers from Ukraine, as well as the relocation of the consulates of some Western countries to Lviv. For comparison, in 2012, American diplomats continued to work in Libya even in the face of obvious mortal danger (unfortunately, materialized).

At the same time, Moscow is holding a pause: at the time of writing, it still does not give its official reaction to the US and NATO response to Russian demands for security guarantees, does not take radical or simply abrupt steps, but does not relieve the tension it has created either. Even the deputies of the State Duma, who were going to appeal to Vladimir Putin with a request to recognize the DPR/LPR, may have decided to wait. In general, there is a classic game of "who will blink first." However, the rational political framework of this game still seems clearer today.

The Russian authorities are hardly driven by suicidal moods to plan a "Ukrainian blitzkrieg" in the current situation and in the presence of relevant experience of several military campaigns. However, they want to make the most of the situation they have created. Thus, it is obvious that the Russian agencies involved are working out and agreeing on a political reaction to the proposals received from the US and NATO on various aspects of arms control. If this reaction involves the implementation of unnamed military-technical measures, then these measures should serve as a prologue to the subsequent and possibly lengthy negotiation process. Meaning, they should keep in place, and even better, expand Russia's space for diplomatic maneuver, and not reduce it. If the Russian leadership is preparing to come up with counter proposals and sit down at the negotiating table, then it is very important for it not to sell too cheap. Reducing tensions and moving away from the original demands for security guarantees, if things go well, should not be a condition for starting negotiations, but an asset that is exchanged for concessions from the United States and the West as a whole.

The d�tente should not be a condition for starting negotiations, but an asset to be exchanged for concessions from the West

Such desired concessions in the Kremlin can be considered, for example, the actual coercion by Western players of Kiev to implement the Set of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements (Minsk-2) on Russian terms. That is, we are talking first about the reintegration of the DPR/LPR into Ukraine, and only then about the transfer of control over the border of these entities with Russia to Ukraine, while Ukraine itself naturally wants the process from the opposite end. True, Moscow itself probably no longer believes in the relevance of Minsk-2, which recently turned seven years old. And therefore, another concession option can be considered the tacit consent of the West to Moscow's unilateral reformatting of the entire Donbass problem without a serious violation of the current line of demarcation.

Here I repeat once again that it is impossible to rule out the open introduction of Russian troops into the DPR/LPR (unofficially they have been present there for the past few years) under the pretext of protecting several hundred thousand Russian citizens, followed by limited but demoralizing strikes against the Ukrainian armed forces. The result here can be either forcing Kiev to the conditional �Minsk-3�, or even recognition of the DNR/LNR. The latter, although it will reduce Russia's ability to exert political pressure on Ukraine, can hypothetically be seen as an opportunity to turn the page in relations with the West - by analogy with Abkhazia and South Ossetia after the August 2008 war.

Interestingly, during a telephone conversation between Putin and Biden on February 12, the American president warned Russia against �further invasion� of Ukraine (��if Russia undertakes a further invasion of Ukraine��). This thesis can also be read as follows: if Moscow does not invade the territory that the Ukrainian government actually controls as of today, then the United States could turn a blind eye to the rest. That is, at the level of political rhetoric, a new status quo is being constituted, where the West, in everyday political practice, does not ask Russia about its presence in the DPR/LPR, and even more so does not ask about Crimea. As a result, the Ukrainian agenda in Russia's relations with the United States and Europe is receding into the background, giving way to diplomatic classics - arms control and big trade issues. And even in this scenario, the American administration could get the symbolic role it seeks as a side that prevented a hypothetical major war. At a minimum, the Kremlin is very sensitive to such rhetorical details and can interpret them as written above.

Moreover, at the current stage of the crisis, almost no one is asking the question about Belarus, which in military terms is reaching a qualitatively different level of interaction with Russia, further eroding the political autonomy of the Lukashenka regime. In this context, it is no longer so important how many troops Russia deployed to the republic for the Allied Resolve-2022 exercises. For example, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg spoke about 30,000 people. Putin allegedly informed French President Macron that this figure was up to 30,000. My conservative estimates give only 5-7 thousand people, since I proceed from the fact that Russia complies with the Vienna Document regulating the number of troops involved in military exercises, and in the modern Russian army there is a large range of various military equipment, creating the impression of transferring tens of thousands of military personnel

However, this, by and large, is not so important: according to the results of autumn 2021 - winter 2022. Moscow, in fact, is accustoming the West to the idea of a permanent Russian military presence in Belarus. And the West is showing agreement with this situation. Moreover, any future negotiations on this matter will most likely no longer concern the very fact of the Russian military presence in this country, but only specific types of weapons and forces deployed there.

At the same time, the process of transferring and concentrating troops and military equipment also has a completely valuable practical meaning - Russia is working out military logistics for the future in a priority direction for itself. The fact is that the military reform has been carried out, weapons have been updated, confrontation with NATO has long been a part of long-term political and military planning, and Russia had no experience of a relatively quick transfer of large forces within the continent until 2021. In addition, the State Armaments Program (SAP) for 2024-2033. is under development, and the current Russian military activity can be perceived as a necessary condition for its adequate formation. Here it is also necessary to take into account that the previous SAP for 2011-2020. was created on the basis of the experience of the war with Georgia, and the current SAP for 2018-2027. is the �homework� of GPV 2020 plus lessons learned from the campaign in Syria. Thus, the Russian military and defense industry has already received a lot of valuable information from the current situation.

Thus, the Kremlin is trying to force the West into a deal. He wants to include in it a wide range of issues in the field of arms control, a new status quo in Belarus and, possibly, Donbass (the latter, I repeat, is valuable for Moscow not in itself, but only in the context of relations with the West), as well as general stabilization political and economic relations with the United States and Europe. And the fact that on February 14 there was talk of Ukraine's voluntary abandonment of its course towards joining NATO speaks in favor of the bargaining that has begun, and not in favor of the fact that Moscow is going to land amphibious assault forces in Odessa in a couple of days.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2022 09:47

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

cinci zoo sniper posted:

That�s an incredibly long way to say �in case we�ve owned ourselves, we�ll try to make the best use of what already is offered, and maybe also do that thing which is entirely in our purview�.

Yeah basically, I don't know how to articulate the street thug style of intimidation and dynamic goal shifting familiar to Eastern Europeans but apparently completely novel to others ready to accept Security Concerns as an honest, legitimate demand and not a part of a mind game. Maxim Mironov wrote a funny piece on it before regarding Navalny's poisoning but I'm not sure it translates to english well, but it is absolutely bullseye in describing the negotiation tactic used by the Kremlin all the time and the origins of it

https://mmironov.livejournal.com/58713.html

quote:

Почему я про это вспомнил и так долго рассказывал? Потому что события, которые происходили со мной 30 лет назад, очень напоминают то, как Путин пытается развести Меркель. Путин пытается втянуть ее в бесконечный диалог, где при любых раскладах Путин окажется победителем. Как этот диалог выглядит на настоящий момент:
20 августа. Песков заявил, что в России будет проведено расследование, если подтвердится информация об отравлении Навального (https://meduza.io/news/2020/08/20/peskov-pozhelal-navalnomu-vyzdorovleniya-i-poobeschal-pomoch-s-ego-evakuatsiey-v-zarubezhnuyu-kliniku).
24 августа. Немецкая клиника Шарите заявила, что Навальный был отравлен (https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-53894273). Казалось бы, условие, которое ставил Песков 20 августа, выполнено. Нужно начинать расследование. Но на следующий день Кремль ставит новое условие:
25 августа. По словам Пескова, повода для расследования пока нет, так как неизвестно, воздействию какого вещества подвергся Навальный (https://www.bbc.com/russian/news-53903583).
Какой вывод должен сделать нормальный человек? По каким-то причинам для старта расследования нужно идентифицировать вещество. Как только станет понятно, чем отравили Навального, расследование тут же начнется.
2 сентября. Немецкие власти заявили, что Навальный был отравлен �Новичком�, причем заявление было сделано на самом высшем уровне � канцлером ФРГ (https://www.rbc.ru/politics/02/09/2020/5f4fbc0e9a79470e60c60b3f). Начинает ли Кремль расследование, как обещал Песков 25 августа? Нет, не начинает. Следует череда новых требований и отговорок � создание совместного консилиума с российскими врачами (https://rg.ru/2020/09/05/roshal-predlozhil-nemeckim-vracham-sovmestno-izuchit-sostoianie-navalnogo.html), непредоставление данных России от Германии (https://www.rbc.ru/politics/11/09/2020/5f5a9bba9a7947ae551d1b82), если Навального и отравили, то не в России, а в Германии (https://www.rbc.ru/politics/02/09/2020/5f4fc4e49a794711d70ec368), следователям МВД нужно дать доступ к Навальному (https://www.znak.com/2020-09-11/v_mvd_poprosyat_germaniyu_dat_rossiyskim_sledovatelyam_dostup_k_navalnomu).

Мы видим, что требования Кремля растут как головы гидры. Стоит выполнить одно условие, как появляются другие. Эта игра без конца и края, и Меркель в ней не может победить, если следовать правилам, навязанным Путиным. Предположим, что Германия согласится пустить российских специалистов, чтобы они сами удостоверились в наличии �Новичка�. Если им просто показать анализы, то ответ будет, скорее всего: �Мы не верим, покажите нам, как вы его нашли�. Если Германия покажет (и тем самым нашим разработчикам химоружия уйдет ценная информация, в каком месте они прокололись), то всегда можно сказать: �Да, �Новичок� там есть. Но ведь его могли изготовить и не у нас, ведь его рецепт есть у стран НАТО� (https://www.interfax.ru/russia/724718). Как можно доказать, что �Новичок� приехал из России? Чисто теоретически немецкие специалисты могут приехать в Россию и обследовать все места, где был Навальный в то утро. И тут два сценария. Если они ничего не найдут (ведь у гбшников были три недели, чтобы почистить следы), то кремлевские скажут: �Ага�, вот видите, ничего у нас не нашли, значит, вы и отравили�. Если же немецким специалистам удастся что-то найти, то опять включат пластинку: �А где гарантия, что вы не привезли с собой, ведь всем известно, что �Новичок� производится в странах НАТО�. Если же немцы откажутся ехать в Россию (например, по соображениям собственной безопасности), то кремлевские скажут: �Ага�, вот видите, они не хотят ехать, хотя мы их и зовем. Значит, точно они подкинули�. Если же Германия не пускает наших специалистов: �Вот видите, они не пускают наших специалистов, чтобы те все проверили, значит, им есть что скрывать�. А если Германия не отвечает на бессмысленные запросы: �Вот видите, они сами отказываются отвечать на наши запросы, как мы можем возбудить дело?�

Гопник Путин пытается втянуть Меркель в этот бесконечный диалог, где он гарантировано выйдет победителем. Чем дальше ему удастся продвинуться в этом диалоге, тем больше у него будет козырей. На каждый ответ Германии можно задать десяток своих вопросов (по делу и не по делу), на каждый факт � выдвинуть десяток альтернативных объяснений. На каждый вывод, выдвинуть десяток сомнений. Гопника невозможно в чем-то убедить или что-то ему доказать. Он одновременно является и прокурором, и судьей. Степень убедительности вашего довода будет оценивать именно гопник, а не вы, если даже вам самим ваш довод кажется очень убедительным. И его цель � не найти правду, он ее и так знает.

Путин не первый раз применяет подобную тактику � втянуть партнеров в бесконечный диалог, чтобы посеять множество сомнений. Это было и в случае с малазийским боингом, и с отравлением Скрипалей, и в случае с Литвиненко. Это, пожалуй, первый раз, когда Запад, в частности Меркель, перестала вестись на гопнические разводки Путина. Мы видим, что после двух раундов (�докажите, что он отравлен� и �скажите, каким веществом�), Германия просто решила игнорировать Путина и отправляет все данные в ОЗХО (Организация по запрещению химического оружия) и партнерам по �Большой семерке�. Тратить время на бесконечные разговоры, в результате которого сам и окажешься виноват, видимо, никому больше не хочется.

The original insider article also notes that some uncomfortable topics can be "left in the past" as already accomplished like loss of sovereignty of Belarus which is something to keep in mind. Huilo might not get everything he wants but that doesn't mean he won't try to gently caress up at least someone and this can be just accepted quietly because the West is busy with preventing World War 3 and discussing clancy-scenarios

Like right now Navalny is going through a kangaroo trial and about to be sentenced away for a decade but it's under the radar since everyone is too busy reading each twitch of Putin on video trying to guess does that mean he will attack or he won't attack

Somaen fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Feb 15, 2022

# ¿ Feb 15, 2022 14:01

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Lavrov going full gopnik, demands the US shavkas answer for the bazar. Why is he becoming worse and more boorish at diplomacy instead of more skilled and subtle?

https://twitter.com/mkomsomolets/status/1494641398393540641?s=20&t=PL0JQhn7Dbv2av3bRzD9cw

buglord posted:

Again forgive the clumsiness of the question, but if anyone has input on it. I�d like to travel over there at some point in the future but not if I�m gonna be tortured and murdered.

Speaking for the Baltics, the LGB couples that I know visiting here don't show affection in public, you will get stared at and possibly yelled at by god-fearing middle aged women or macho thugs. There is still a way to go as a society and just learning to mind your own business. In 2010 during our first pride parade march the marchers were fenced off and protected by hundreds of policemen against a counter-protest of thousands of neonazis and... more archaic layers of society, can't choose a word here. Right now we have them every year (instead of once per capital city iirc) and they're very fun and safe, with tiny counter-protests of total harmless freaks

If you decide to go I recommend visiting during a pride march to meet good progressive people or finding a Facebook group of LGBT folks of that country and someone will like to make friends with a visitor and advise on where to visit and what to stay away from

# ¿ Feb 18, 2022 15:32

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

That's a great question and I would appreciate some good reading suggestions on the topic too. In the Baltics we also had Chicago school advisors during the 90s advising on various steps to move to the market economy with mixed results, but in the end our strategic transportation/energy/health sectors are state-owned with little support for privatizing even though we had kind of a reputation of being neoliberal hellholes/Scandinavian colonies. To my understanding Russia had a big powerful nomenclature that drove the push for privatizing strategic assets with ideological backing from free marketers while in the Baltics there was less political will for that and some fear of assets falling into hostile hands, but even then I've heard stories of armed thugs in courthouses during hearings of passing on [minor] state assets. Also heard stores about US consultants for the privatization of more significant assets like an oil refinery being paid like 5000$/day with all costs covered too and... not good results. This ties in to the politics of today in that sometimes you see democratic/anti-corruption politicians in EE treated with the suspicion sometimes to the level of a caricature of a suited wall street manager from 1994 with the sole goal of trying to privatize everything to international corporations [in spooky caps] and destroy the state, which is not unwarranted but sometimes very much disconnected from reality

Speaking of, in news that are getting drowned out by that other thing, Navalny's court case is being heard now and he is probably going to get 10-15 years more. One of the witnesses against him yesterday directly said that during the investigation he was being pressured by the prosecution to sign a made up case and threatened if he refuses to do it. Today he didn't show up but seems to be ok, just understandably fearful for his safety
https://theins.ru/news/248758

Somaen fucked around with this message at 10:22 on Feb 22, 2022

# ¿ Feb 22, 2022 10:19

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Только проснулся, какая пизда друзья

# ¿ Feb 24, 2022 07:46

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

https://mobile.twitter.com/askorobogatov/status/1495864873040896004

Shout-out to everyone who knew the above was correct and watching helplessly for two decades as appeasers let another hitler grow up and rise

# ¿ Feb 24, 2022 08:42

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Good sign, his allies are starting to abandon him. I hope after this every piece of poo poo politician and propagandist who were Kremlin shills get a financial deep cavity search

https://twitter.com/RikardJozwiak/status/1496790200764227585

# ¿ Feb 24, 2022 11:26

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Most of the FX reserves are frozen with the sanctions on the central bank. Also most of the riot police is away on the Ukrainian border. So economically Russia prepared worse for this than the physical war

In LT some prominent politicians are coming out to tell people that this is against Putin and not Russian-speakers which was a nice gesture. In general russophobia in the Baltics doesn't make much sense since you have Russian-speaking poles, belarussians, ukrainians, jews and russians who lived there pre-USSR or moved recently to escape repressions in the multicultural cities, though you still got insulated nationalists and personal-level conflicts

The soviet generation is having a rough time since they generally tend to only watch Russian state TV which is back to back Putin's crackpot fantasies transmitted as reality. There is some issue with dealing with that as there is sometimes little common basis on the understanding of the things going on. I tend to blame this on the EU for not having a massive Russian-speaking TV channel to counter the Kremlin's controlled state TV

Somaen fucked around with this message at 12:46 on Feb 28, 2022

# ¿ Feb 28, 2022 12:42

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

He kept his promise, he returned it to 1937 last year and 1941 this one

# ¿ Feb 28, 2022 12:47

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

I'm so loving tired of being anxious all the time

Probably never going to speak to half of my vata family ever again for becoming warmongering shitbrained vegetables

# ¿ Mar 4, 2022 11:17

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

How is the difference between the Cyprus communities now? I remember a few years ago it being reported that reunification was polling positively for everyone but got blocked by Turkey or somesuch. It's an interesting case for the potential outcomes for Crimea as an annexed land that is sanctioned and wants to rejoin the original state despite the ethnic divisions

In other news today is the day "actually it's mass death due to incompetence and mismanagement NOT genocide" dictator died and I remember this art piece from a few years ago (someone put up these posters on bus stops overnight), 2017-18?

https://mobile.twitter.com/Inga_Kudracheva/status/1499981418918723584

THAT ONE DIED

THIS ONE SHALL TOO

# ¿ Mar 5, 2022 10:14

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Media zona, the best independent outlet in Russia, (originally about the prison system and ongoing cases but, lots of war related reporting too) translated their first article into English

https://zona.media/translate/2022/03/12/brateevo

Moscow police beat and torture women after anti‑war protests

# ¿ Mar 12, 2022 14:07

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

a podcast for cats posted:

A weird thing Lithuanians do with women's last names is that the ending depends on the marital status of the woman. Surnames of married women invariably end with -ienė while unmarried women's names can end with either -aitė, -ytė, -utė, and -iūtė.

The -ienė comes from the patriarchal family model being reflected in the last names, the ending says that the woman is the wife of a man and -ytė/ūtė signify an unmarried daughter

E.g. the man is born with and keeps his last name Goonys/Gūnys unchanged through his life. His wife after marriage becomes Goonienė (or currently it's common to combine the maiden name and the husband's name over a dash Maidenytė-Goonienė). Their unmarried daughter would be Goonytė until she decides to change it

The progressive thing to do now for women is to add just -ė which hides the marital status. Interestingly historically it was used if the husband died and the woman became a widow

cinci zoo sniper posted:

I�ve asked this once to a Lithuanian lass I know, and she told me that I�m crazy and there�s no such thing.

Wtf? 2/3rds of Lithuanian families follow this convention

# ¿ Mar 14, 2022 19:03

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Jesus christ

Hanging is one of methods that the KGB likes to use to get rid of belarussian dissidents, that's what happened to Shishov in Ukraine. He went for a run and definitely didn't decide he's had enough suddenly

I can definitely see him having a change of heart and wanting to go home and Luka not being fine with that

Somaen fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Mar 17, 2022

# ¿ Mar 17, 2022 16:08

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

a podcast for cats posted:

I am not sure where I saw this, but I think a few thread regulars (cinci zoo sniper, Somaen?) may have mentioned in the past that a part of the nominally liberal Russian opposition may oppose the Kremlin, but still see "near abroad" as part of the Russian sphere and I wonder if there's a good source on getting more insight on that.

I'm asking because one of the more interesting (and divisive) public discussions taking place in Latvia right now is what to make of Russian exiles who have escaped Russia since the beginning of the war, but are not outspokenly pro-Ukrainian or pro-Western. Chulpan Khamatova kind of kicked off the debate by arriving in Riga, but it's including others as well.

That's interesting, I think there might not be a single source of info because liberal russians are a loose coalition ranging from radical prometheists who experienced repression to government-aligned soft opposition that was fine with Putin until their holiday plans in Italy got ruined. They all have a different vision for the Wonderful Russia of the Future and different levels of understanding of the near abroad (e.g. some of them ran away to the Baltics and lived there and some know about them as flyover country and from history books)

One related case of this was recently that Belarusians leaked a list of people that snitched on their neighbours that participated in anti-Batka protests. One woman was found to have done that and after applied as a refugee to Lithuania from the repressions. Dunno what happened to her so far but the local Belarusian diaspora was very upset.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2022 09:31

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Antigravitas posted:

Correct, and not specific to Ukraine but to enlargement in general. The fuckery around the COVID fund(s) has made it very clear that the EU is dangerously easy to sabotage and that problem grows more acute the more members there are.

There is urgent need to reform the EU decision process so it can't be paralysed in times of crisis. And make no mistake, Orban going Full Putin is a serious crisis for an organisation that requires unanimity for important decisions.

We've learned nothing from Liberum Veto and having Russia pay off one turd to obstruct

Xarn posted:

How the gently caress is Latvia winning by a whole litre?

Used to be that Poland and Lithuania got a lot of booze from Belarus that was dirt cheap and sometimes killing people. My guess would be that now the contraband over the border is cut off and people haven't started producing it in the same quantities

# ¿ Apr 11, 2022 11:57

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

cinci zoo sniper posted:

Lunch-time drinks are uncommon here. People just drink as a hobby, so they�ll come home from work at 6pm on Tuesday and crack a cold one as the first thing.

That's a lot of countries though, I think what really pushes the average up are the lifestyle alcoholics that are going from light drinks to vodka on Monday afternoon and stop only when money ends. This includes middle aged people and everyone from small places with nothing to do for kids, so after school finishes they start drinking from the age of 13-14

# ¿ Apr 12, 2022 13:52

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Aren't you a week early, schismatic? :smuggo:

# ¿ Apr 17, 2022 14:55

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

cinci zoo sniper posted:

My grandpa is an Old Believer, so I get to do both versions of every religious holiday anyway.

The best manifestation of this is celebrating Catholic Christmas with one part of your family, then Moscow time new year's hour, then new year's local time, then orthodox Christmas and then the old new year's

# ¿ Apr 17, 2022 22:08

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Weeks before in the Feygin-Arestovych daily briefs he was saying that if the cockroach forces the Belarusian forces to invade he expects them to largely give up and join the Ukrainian forces

Probably genuinely thankful for the sabotage and also creating good vibes between the people now that the Kyiv direction is emptying out to reinforce the Donbas? Pretty out there but if they're trying to activate the alco-troops in Transnistria Attempts to draw in Belarus might still be going on

# ¿ Apr 27, 2022 08:20

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Yesterday the polish-lithuanian gas pipeline opened up further integrating the Baltics and that hermit alcoholic up north into the European energy infrastructure

# ¿ May 2, 2022 19:44

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Rust Martialis posted:

København isn't that far north and I can stop drinking whenever I want

Wrong pipe, the one through you opens up later this year I think. Uniting us all in semicircle of natural gas and alcohol problems

# ¿ May 2, 2022 19:56

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

drat what a poo poo show :smith:

In Latvia and Estonia I always felt like due to the size of the community you can stay isolated among russian speakers and there aren't serious attempts to integrate it and pull it away from the infosphere of Russian state channels. That should have changed since the whole bronze soldier stuff

# ¿ May 11, 2022 08:17

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

President of a smoker: personal heavily armored jet with a brigade of special services

President of a healthy person:

# ¿ May 17, 2022 14:55

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

cinci zoo sniper posted:

President of a person?

I was trying to see if the "___ курильщика / ___ здорового человека" meme translates well

Szurumbur posted:

Google tells me she's Maia Sandu, president of Moldavia. No idea how healthy a person Moldavia is, though

Not too much but they're on the right track, I'm lazily following what they're doing and it's very encouraging after years of Dodon. And she takes wizzair, like us non-reptiloids

# ¿ May 18, 2022 08:58

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

As war fatigue sets in I'm seeing a lot of charities warn of people giving up on sending money, so a Lithuanian celebrity/influencer/politics guy worked with the foreign ministry to crowdfund 5 million for a bayraktar and it was collected in 4 days

https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1702258/lithuanian-influencer-launches-eur5m-crowdfunding-to-gift-bayraktar-drone-to-ukraine

The Baltics have a very clear picture that if the conflict dies down the military-security grandpas of the russian state will do everything for revenge lol

# ¿ May 28, 2022 20:32

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

cinci zoo sniper posted:

https://www.lsm.lv/raksts/zinas/latvija/tiesa-pirmo-reizi-latvija-atzist-viendzimuma-para-gimenes-attiecibas.a459312/

In a first for a Latvian court, a homosexual relationship has been legally classified as a family, in reference to our constitution�s 110th article, entitling them to state support and protection.

Great to see. In LT this is going very slowly unfortunately, only the weed and gay marriage libs are in full support and they're small. Though it's not an ideological issue and the pro/anti crowd is divided largely by age

# ¿ Jun 1, 2022 09:44

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Sekenr posted:

Baltics is the hope for us all. Lithuania who I always felt as a distant cousin who is ashamed of us turned out a true brother in 2020, were the engine of entire EU response who wanted to "express concern" as usual. I just wanna kiss you all.

I long for that day when we can have fun internet arguments trying to divide the legacy of the grand duchy and who were the real people in charge five hundred years ago instead of worrying what the insane dictator is going to do next or who he might send the death squads after

Having stable countries where people are free increases the stability and prosperity of everyone around

What stuck with me were interviews to LT press by the kurd/persian/african migrants that Batka was trying to send over the border -- they said that they had pretty good jobs and lives in their home countries until they went to a protest once for x/y/z reason and the government made their lives hell, they lost their jobs and they had to escape for a better life. Pretty much the same as all the belarussians that were not long after relocating to Lithuania. All lovely dictatorships just follow the same rulebook to immiserate their people even if for a while it can be disguised during times of economic growth as "wise management led by a strong hand", all that poo poo eventually falls apart into repressions

Somaen fucked around with this message at 11:00 on Jun 2, 2022

# ¿ Jun 2, 2022 10:55

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Vincent Van Goatse posted:

I know this isn't exactly a chat thread but what kind of spicy foods do y'all have and how can the West use things like Mexican jalapenos to our strategic advantage?

We had to establish friendship and visa-free travel with far away lands with similar fates to get exotic herbs and mayonnaise uncovered food i.e. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajika

# ¿ Jun 3, 2022 10:54

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

cinci zoo sniper posted:

It�s so difficult to get good adjika here.

This gives me the idea to ask the local georgian restaurants where they source their good stuff

================
In honor of pride week
https://twitter.com/nikicaga/status/1532075364075200512

# ¿ Jun 3, 2022 11:53

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Anne Frank Funk posted:

Why would you assume we do?

Old believers sounds like they could be really old and pagan

cinci zoo sniper posted:

Happy upcoming summer solstice celebrations! (Pretty sure that Baltics are the only EE countries tha celebrate it.)

Time to look for the blooming ferns and roll around naked in the dew

# ¿ Jun 22, 2022 20:56

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Slovenia legalized gay marriage which is rad

Now we need the Balkans not to blow up in a civil war

# ¿ Jul 11, 2022 06:16

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Looks like another CIA funded coup attempt against a brave anti-imperialist

# ¿ Jul 17, 2022 16:05

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

As an aside it's a great time for going mushroom picking into the forrest, saw tons of people with buckets of foxies/"chanterelles" around

# ¿ Aug 1, 2022 08:35

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Lmao, good idea to start looking into booking an appointment early to avoid the queues

That post is also probably punishable by at least a fine for discrediting the armed forces

# ¿ Sep 9, 2022 22:24

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

# ¿ Oct 6, 2022 22:47

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

I heard he's now done with potatoes but there's a big pile of shoelaces that need ironing

# ¿ Oct 6, 2022 23:15

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Is that really him? No blue checkmark

From yesterday, protests against him:
https://twitter.com/dw_russian/status/1584508751293296640

This week the ECB is probably going to raise the interest rate another 0.75% and man countries with week economies are not going to be in a good place

# ¿ Oct 24, 2022 14:05

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 06:33

Somaen: Nov 19, 2007; by vyelkin

Reading the names of victims of totalitarianism is a good event and i am glad they are spreading.

https://mobile.twitter.com/sankuperis/status/1586390280374128640

Also on these days
https://mobile.twitter.com/DeWilcz/status/1586370966195941376

# ¿ Oct 30, 2022 22:50

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Eastern Europe: Turns out PiS is not stored in the ballots

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