Russia Invades Ukraine. Again by captaincrunch

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
NATO intelligence meanwhile estimates that for every Ukrainian soldier killed defending Bakhmut, Russian forces have lost at least five, a military official with the alliance told CNN on Monday. The official cautioned the 5-to-1 ratio was an informed estimate based on intelligence.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/europe/ukraine-volodymyr-zelensky-cnn-i
nterview-bakhmut-intl/index.html

Zelenskyy’s national security chief Oleksiy Danilov on Friday said the casualties had been “one to seven in our favour”.
https://www.ft.com/content/439aa6b0-2f3c-4eca-b81f-b7e9c8eb286f

Is it 7-to-1 ratio?
5-to-1?
1-to-1?

That ratio controls who eventually wins. What is the real ratio?

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

More like 5:1 (or higher) Russia's favor.

The "Russian human wave" narrative is part of the "Russia is running out of weapons/ammunition" narrative, which western sources have been claiming since ... well, early 2022. But so far no slackening of the number of missiles, drones, mortars and shells used in this war. According to some Ukrainian soldiers fighting in Bakhmut, it is UKRAINE that's throwing poorly-trained humans in the Bakhmut "meat grinder".

As former CIA officer Larry Johnson said, CIA (and by extension NATO, western) intelligence no longer recruits spies and no longer has on the ground human intelligence. They rely on their "affiliates" ... For example, in the case of Iraq, CIA took info from MI6 and one unreliable expat codenamed "Curveball". In this case, western intelligence relies on whatever Kiev tells them. There is little independent investigation.

When there is one, things look a lot different. The BBC, along with an anti-Putin website called Meduza, has done a running estimate of Russian dead by looking at funeral notices, burials, death benefits etc. across Russia. They recently updated their estimate from 14,000 to 16,000. The figure they might have missed some, so they say IIRC add 30%. That's about 21,000.
Compare that to what Kiev is claiming.
Kiev lies constantly. I can't think of a single instance where they're actually told the truth.

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”- Philip K. Dick

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 2:31 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reiterated boilerplate rhetoric seeking to deter further Western military aid to Ukraine during a conference call on March 7.[7] Shoigu reiterated senior Russian officials’ tired claims that Western states aim to destroy Russia by providing arms to Ukraine and have begun an information war targeting Russia. Shoigu invoked the commonly referenced historical memory of World War II to justify the war in Ukraine, calling on Russians to prevent lessons learned from defeating Nazism “to be distorted and forgotten.” Shoigu claimed that Russian forces killed over 11,000 Ukrainian military personnel in February 2023, which he claimed was a 40 percent increase from Ukrainian casualties in January. Shoigu’s speech did not craft any new rhetorical arguments that could shape the Russian information space and garner more domestic support for the war effort, continuing to rely on standard tropes in the absence of any Russian successes.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-march-7-2023

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 3:07 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Because, of course, the west ISN'T trying to regime-change or destroy Russia with comprehensive financial and economic sanctions, terror attacks in German gas supplies, and a NATO- supported proxy war in Ukraine

/snicker

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 4:19 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Because, of course, the west ISN'T trying to regime-change or destroy Russia with comprehensive financial and economic sanctions, terror attacks in German gas supplies, and a NATO- supported proxy war in Ukraine

/snicker

Russia is like Hugh Everett III. Everett was a genius, but he smoked, drank, and ate until he died at 51. The Russian Federation (created Dec 25, 1991) might not live to be 51 if it continues behaving as it has, but that won't be a surprise, except to Russians, when it comes to an early end. Everett's son said about his father:

Quote:
I think about how angry I was that my dad didn't take better care of himself. How he never went to a doctor, let himself become grossly overweight, smoked three packs a day, drank like a fish and never exercised. But then I think about how his colleague mentioned that, days before dying, my dad had said he lived a good life and that he was satisfied. I realize that there is a certain value in my father's way of life. He ate, smoked and drank as he pleased, and one day he just suddenly and quickly died. Given some of the other choices I'd witnessed, it turns out that enjoying yourself and then dying quickly is not such a hard way to go.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Everett_III#Death_and_legacy

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 5:39 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Well, if Russia is doomed to fail, why has the west been working so hard to kill it? If it's marching toward a cliff, why not just let it go its merry way?

Maybe bc western elites quietly sense that Russia ISN'T going to implode? That it might offer better deals, a better civilizational model, and options to other nations, making it impossible for the west continuing as (attempted) global hegemon?

Just asking, isall.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 6:08 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Well, if Russia is doomed to fail, why has the west been working so hard to kill it? If it's marching toward a cliff, why not just let it go its merry way?

Maybe bc western elites quietly sense that Russia ISN'T going to implode? That it might offer better deals, a better civilizational model, and options to other nations, making it impossible for the west continuing as (attempted) global hegemon?

Just asking, isall.

Do you recall that North Korea has been threatening to nuke the World? Where did Kim learn that anti-social behavior from? Oh-Oh! Signym, I guess you forgot that Russia has also been threatening to nuke the World. There is the Answer To Your Question, Signym.

As a side note on who has a better civilization model: don't forget that North Korea is an impoverished economy compared to South Korea. Where did North Korea learn to be inadequate? From Russia, which has an impoverished economy compared to the EU.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Wednesday, March 8, 2023 6:47 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Well, if Russia is doomed to fail, why has the west been working so hard to kill it? If it's marching toward a cliff, why not just let it go its merry way?

Maybe bc western elites quietly sense that Russia ISN'T going to implode? That it might offer better deals, a better civilizational model, and options to other nations, making it impossible for the west continuing as (attempted) global hegemon?

Just asking, isall.
Do you recall that North Korea has been threatening to nuke the World? Where did Kim learn that anti-social behavior from?

N Korea learned that behavior from us.

Qaddafi abandoned his nuclear weapons program, and where did it get him? Bayonetted up the ass by American-sponsored jihadists. Saddam got rid if HIS chemical weapons, and where did that get HIM? Invaded by American forces. Iran negotiated away their nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions. Sanctions were never lifted and the USA backed out of the deal. So where did it get THEM?

Russia negotiated a number of nuclear treaties with us, and we backed out of almost every nuclear treaty. Where did that get THEM? And we still maintain a picture of "first strike".

We do whatever the hell we feel we can get away with, and we make it suicidal for any other nation to limit their WMD capability.

So, aside from being the ONLY nation ever to use nuclear weapons in war, it's not like we have a great ongoing record.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 5:46 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

N Korea learned that behavior from us.

No, Signym. North Korea learned that from its parent, Russia. Who taught the North Koreans about political prison fatalities? Russians taught them how to run prisons:

6,872,000 Victims: Post-Stalin Period, 1954-1987

With Stalin’s death, the terror was gradually alleviated, though not really ended until the 1980s under Gorbachev. Beria, Stalin’s chief enforcer and head of the KGB, was executed; many other lesser lights were purged.

The “crimes” of the Stalin years, particularly the Great Terror (in which top party members were executed) were secretly revealed by Khrushchev. The camp population was gradually reduced and the camp regime improved in the post-Stalin 1950s. However, the death camps at Kolyma still continued into the early 1960s, when they were also subject to reform, and perhaps largely closed by the middle 1960s.

15,613,000 Victims: Postwar and Stalin’s Twilight Period, 1945-1953

In Soviet-occupied Eastern Europe and Asia, the end of World War II may have been noted by booming cannons and celebrating soldiers, but little else. Terror, executions, and the deadly deportations continued unabated. Among those the Soviets deported to Siberia or other inhospitable regions from the Soviet-occupied countries of Europe were 50,000 East Germans, 120,000 Hungarians, 500,000 to 600,000 Balts (from 1945 to 1952), 107,000 German-Rumanians, 400,000 Japanese from Sakhalin, over 850,000 Rumanian-Bessarabians and North Bukovians (from 1944 to 1949), over 1,000,000 Rumanians from Moldavia (from 1950 to 1952), over 150,000 Bulgarian peasant families, almost 2,000,000 Czechs and Slovaks, and 4,500,000 Poles in 1945 and after. As before and during the war, “enemies of the people” were swept from the conquered territories into the Soviet labor camps to replace the millions who had died.

From the book Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder since 1917 by R. J. Rummel
Download the free book from https://libgen.unblockit.boo/search.php?req=R.+J.+Rummel

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Thursday, March 9, 2023 6:40 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines stated on March 8 that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely recognizes the Russian military’s current limited capability to sustain a short-term offensive and may pursue a protracted war.[8] Haines stated on March 8 that Putin is likely only temporarily focused on pursuing short-term military objectives in Ukraine and may believe that prolonging the war will increase the likelihood of achieving his strategic goals. ISW has previously assessed that Putin maintains maximalist war goals in Ukraine despite Russian forces’ currently limited capabilities to achieve these goals.[9] Haines stated that Russia will increasingly struggle to maintain its current tempo of operations in Ukraine without conducting full mobilization and securing adequate ammunition to mitigate Russia’s current shortage. Haines noted that Russian forces are suffering high losses to take Bakhmut, which Haines characterized as “not particularly strategic,” supporting ISW’s prior assessments that a Pyrrhic tactical victory in Bakhmut would not further Russia’s operational or strategic battlefield aims.[10] ISW previously assessed on January 15 that the Kremlin was preparing for a strategically decisive effort in 2023 while simultaneously preparing for a protracted war.[11]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-march-8-2023

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Thursday, March 9, 2023 10:19 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Who knows if the Ukrainians are as competent as they claim? But we will soon find out:

A high-ranking Ukrainian military official on Thursday dismissed warnings from NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that the hotly contested city of Bakhmut could soon fall to the Russians. Col. Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Group of Forces, said NATO does not fully understand that Ukrainians have developed "much greater stability and power of tactical solutions" as the war has dragged on, he said.

"They approach this purely pragmatically with dry calculations," Cherevaty said. "I think that NATO is studying this and they need to study it all further. I think that such statements should be treated with respect, but with the understanding that they do not fully understand the whole situation."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/03/09/ukraine-russia-wa
r-live-updates/11433880002/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Thursday, March 9, 2023 11:49 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

N Korea learned that behavior from us.
No, Signym. North Korea learned that from its parent, Russia. Who taught the North Koreans about political prison fatalities? Russians taught them how to run prisons:

Your point was about Russian nuclear weapons. You changed the topic to N Korea and got your ass handed to you and changed the topic. Again. If you can't find one excuse to hate, you'll latch onto another. Your roulette wheel of excuses to hate just keeps going round and round. Anything to keep that hate going, huh?

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 1:21 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines stated on March 8 that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely recognizes the Russian military’s current limited capability to sustain a short-term offensive and may pursue a protracted war.

OMFG. Thank you Captain Obvious!
Maybe someone finally listened to the Russian MoD? Bc that's what they've been saying for at least three months!

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 1:29 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

N Korea learned that behavior from us.
No, Signym. North Korea learned that from its parent, Russia. Who taught the North Koreans about political prison fatalities? Russians taught them how to run prisons:

Your point was about Russian nuclear weapons. You changed the topic to N Korea and got your ass handed to you and changed topics. Again. If you can't find one excuse to hate, you'll latch onto another. Your roulette wheel of excuses to hate just keeps going round and round. Anything to keep that hate going, huh?

Signym, I was hoping you'd understood that Russia has been impoverished and in trouble for many decades because it has repeatedly threatened to nuke the world. But you don't seem to understand that.

Signym, you don't seem to understand that North Korea has repeatedly threatened to nuke the world and it, too, is an impoverished and troubled land because of the exact same behavior as Russia constantly engages in.

By the way, North Korea says it is not North Korea threatening to nuke the world, but rather the US. If you knew anything about North Korea or Russia, you'd know that both of them blame their bad behavior on the US.

Signym, the funny thing is that Canada, right next door to the supposed cause of all Russia's and North Korea's problems, has a bigger economy than Russia. At the same time, Canada doesn't feel a need to threaten to nuke the US or anybody.

I wonder how Canada has prospered so easily while Russia and North Korea struggle and bluster and threaten their neighboring countries. It must be some huge and inexplicable mystery that Signym will never understand. Certainly, Russia and North Korea don't understand how to get along peacefully with their neighbors. It might have something to do with the millions and millions of political prisoners that both Russia and North Korea have killed to bring "peace".

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Thursday, March 9, 2023 2:36 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

The War in Ukraine Is Just Getting Started

In the Iran-Iraq war, both sides refused to back down despite a long, bloody stalemate. The same thing could happen to Russia and Ukraine.

By Murtaza Hussain

March 9 2023, 9:36 a.m.

For nearly a decade in the 1980s, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the newly founded Islamic Republic of Iran waged a merciless war against each other. The fighting saw the return of World War I-style human-wave offensives, trench warfare, and chemical weapons attacks.

Though it dragged on for years, the Iran-Iraq war benefited neither side. In the end, the conflict claimed the lives of over a million people, since, despite the carnage and wishes of ordinary people on both sides to end it, no diplomatic solution proved possible over eight years of fighting.

There is good reason to worry that this ugly history is repeating itself today in Eastern Europe.

Like the Iran-Iraq war, the war in Ukraine was triggered by an expansionist dictator hoping to make quick work of a neighbor whom he had wrongly predicted would prove incapable of defending itself. Now, over a year into the fighting, the conflict, which has already claimed hundreds of thousands of casualties by some estimates, has ground to a bloody stalemate that has transformed once-anonymous Ukrainian towns like Bakhmut and Marinka into killing fields.

A peace treaty that puts a stop to this chaos is attractive for many obvious reasons, and foreign powers like China and India have recently indicated that they would like to encourage one. Yet observers say that all signs point to the war dragging on for years to come, with both sides — like Iranians and Iraqis in the past — committed to the belief that victory is within their grasp and that pressing the war forward is worthwhile.

“I don’t see any prospect of diplomacy. What both sides would accept as an equitable settlement to the war is very far apart,” said Rajan Menon, the author of “Conflict in Ukraine: The Unwinding of the Post-Cold War Order” and a research fellow at Columbia University. Menon pointed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s declaration that the four Russian-controlled Ukrainian provinces had already been annexed — a position he is extremely unlikely to back away from.

“I don’t see any prospect of diplomacy. What both sides would accept as an equitable settlement to the war is very far apart.”

“On the Ukrainian side,” Menon said, “because their country has been invaded and has witnessed immense destruction and atrocities, there is a coming together of Ukrainian sentiment to fight against Russia. They have no illusions about a quick victory and have already priced in that they will have to endure this for a long time.”

Menon argues that the war is thus likely to continue for many years to come, a prediction that is echoed by many other observers. Some have argued that the conflict will become a permanent part of the international system, only concluding if either Ukraine or Russia collapses, or both cease to exist as states. Even if a negotiated settlement emerges sometime in the future, the amount of destruction that will have likely taken place by that time will be staggering.

The war has already taken a devastating toll on the Ukrainian population, which has suffered civilian massacres and systematic destruction of infrastructure. Yet it has also proved damaging to Russia. In addition to suffering Western sanctions, which are likely to escalate in the years to come, huge numbers of young Russian men have been killed, wounded, or simply fled the country to escape military enlistment. According to The Economist, this exodus and killing off of young Russians means that there are now 10 million more Russian women than men in the country — a situation that portends a demographic nightmare for an already rapidly aging population.

In a sense, the U.S. has played a role in prolonging the conflict by heavily arming the Ukrainians to resist Russia’s aggression. The position has drawn scrutiny from some sectors of the U.S. political establishment. Noninterventionist foreign policy observers from the realist, right-wing, and left-wing camps have characterized the conflict as overly costly in financial terms, blamed the U.S. for provoking Russia with the prospect of NATO expansion, or suggested that it would be the lesser evil to cease arms shipments to the Ukrainians and let the conflict conclude swiftly, accepting a likely Russian victory.

What these positions fail to account for are the actions of Ukrainians, who, over a year of grueling fighting, have proven themselves very committed to preserving their own nationhood and territorial integrity.

“If you are calling to stop the war right now, and you’re a person on the left, you’re effectively telling Ukrainians to accept the partition of their country, which is the same position as the MAGA right,” Menon said. “Ukraine would have to cease existing as a coherent state and be truncated. But through his actions, Putin has kind of remade Ukrainian nationalism, and they have a commitment to win.”

Despite the unlikelihood of a negotiated outcome to the war coming any time soon, there are signs of longer-term planning for an endgame by the United States.

While U.S. leaders were glad to egg on the Iran-Iraq war for years — including arming both sides and helping facilitate chemical weapons attacks against Iran by Saddam — there seems to be less appetite for the risk of an indefinite conflict involving a nuclear power like Russia.

A recent report by the RAND Corporation laid out the consequences for the U.S. of a very long war in Ukraine, including the small but persistent possibility of nuclear escalation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2510-1.html The report acknowledged that Ukrainian and American interests may well diverge in the future, with Americans coming to prioritize ending the conflict over helping Ukraine regain full control of its occupied territory — a goal ultimately more important to Ukrainians than Americans.

“The U.S. is currently engaged in a protracted attempt to punish Russia because they have offended our moral sensibilities. I don’t think that is inherently wrong, but it’s different from saying that it’s a critical national security interest,” said Benjamin Friedman, policy director at the realist foreign policy think tank Defense Priorities and a lecturer at George Washington University. “We have already underlined that invading other countries in this day and age is very costly. Russia has been punished heavily for violating Ukrainian sovereignty, and I don’t think that anyone would look at them after today and say that they are an example to emulate.”

For now, the fighting will continue and may even increase. Ukraine is likely to pursue a counteroffensive against Russia this spring, even as soldiers on both sides continue to die in the grueling battle for the town of Bakhmut.

The U.S., for its part, is reportedly looking at upping its own support by providing F-16s to the Ukrainian military, with pilots now being brought stateside for training. Unlike in the Iran-Iraq war, where the U.S. armed both countries at various times in order to keep the conflict going and kill as many people on both sides as possible, in the Ukraine war, it has clearly picked one side to support to the hilt.

Faced with the Russian invasion, heavily arming Ukraine may indeed be the least bad option. Yet despite paying dividends in slain Russian troops, this policy, likely to keep the war going for a long time to come, will keep the risk of far more dangerous escalation alive down the road. Just as the horror of the Iran-Iraq war had unintended long-term consequences for U.S. politics in the Middle East, an endless conflict in Ukraine will likely give shape to an Eastern Europe that is more radicalized and dangerous for Americans in the future.

“A lot of people basically have the view that it’s great that we’re killing Russians and weakening Russia for the future. It will prevent them from invading other countries, and, so long as it’s Ukrainians who are signed up on the front lines, there’s no real issue for the United States,” said Friedman. “But the war going on and on is bad for the United States. The war has a low probability of a serious escalation, but the longer you continue to roll those dice, even if the odds are low, the more likely you are to hit on a future disaster.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20230309154200/https://theintercept.com/20
23/03/09/ukraine-war-russia-iran-iraq/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 3:54 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
SIGNYM:
N Korea learned that behavior from us.

SECIND: No, Signym. North Korea learned that from its parent, Russia. Who taught the North Koreans about political prison fatalities? Russians taught them how to run prisons: blah blah blah...

SIGNY: Your point was about Russian nuclear weapons. You changed the topic to N Korea and got your ass handed to you and changed topics. Again. If you can't find one excuse to hate, you'll latch onto another. Your roulette wheel of excuses to hate just keeps going round and round. Anything to keep that hate going, huh?

SECOND: Signym, I was hoping you'd understood that Russia has been impoverished and in trouble for many decades because it has repeatedly threatened to nuke the world. But you don't seem to understand that.

I don't understand that because

1) YOU'RE WRONG, and

2) you keep shifting your "point"... WHATEVER IT IS... From nukes to Trump to prisons to "Trumptards" to imperialism to inability to fight wars to whatever the fuck pops up on the media that moment. Your posts are a Rorschach splatter of shit. And when you get your ass handed to you on one point, you just shift focus to a different blob of shit.

So, let's go back to your point about WHO threatens the world with nukes, and whether that has any bearing on a nation's wealth. And this time, try to stick to a point.

And please, no dodges to Trump, "Trumptards", Putin, N Korea, genocide, or whatever the fuck pops into your brain, m'kay?

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 4:54 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

I don't understand that because

1) YOU'RE WRONG, and

2) you keep shifting your "point"... WHATEVER IT IS... From nukes to Trump to prisons to "Trumptards" to imperialism to inability to fight wars to whatever the fuck pops up on the media that moment. Your posts are a Rorschach splatter of shit. And when you get your ass handed to you on one point, you just shift focus to a different blob of shit.

So, let's go back to your point about WHO threatens the world with nukes, and whether that has any bearing on a nation's wealth. And this time, try to stick to a point.

And please, no dodges to Trump, "Trumptards", Putin, N Korea, genocide, or whatever the fuck pops into your brain, m'kay?

You do NOT live in the United States, Signym, if you think Russia is superior to the US. Russia is a mud puddle of a country. It murdered tens of millions of its citizens for political reasons. It has a dinky economy. Its European neighbors hate it. And that is after a thousand years of history, plenty of time for Russia to become a beacon of enlightenment, freedom and humanity. But that didn't happen.

Signym, if you and Russians think the Russian economy isn't impoverished by a multi-year War in Ukraine and by pouring money into making Russia into an even bigger nuclear threat than it was last year, you and the Russians are headed for poverty.

Freedom in the World 2023
Russia Score & Status: 16/100 & Not Free

Political Rights 5/40
Civil Liberties 11/60

Last Year's Score & Status: 19/100 & Not Free
https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2023

Signym, you could compare that to the United States if you want to know what a better-run country looks like. It would also explain the things about the United States that Russia seriously lacks.
https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-states/freedom-world/2023

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
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Thursday, March 9, 2023 6:30 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

I don't understand that because

1) YOU'RE WRONG, and

2) you keep shifting your "point"... WHATEVER IT IS... From nukes to Trump to prisons to "Trumptards" to imperialism to inability to fight wars to whatever the fuck pops up on the media that moment. Your posts are a Rorschach splatter of shit. And when you get your ass handed to you on one point, you just shift focus to a different blob of shit.

So, let's go back to your point about WHO threatens the world with nukes, and whether that has any bearing on a nation's wealth. And this time, try to stick to a point.

And please, no dodges to Trump, "Trumptards", Putin, N Korea, genocide, or whatever the fuck pops into your brain, m'kay?
You do NOT live in the United States, Signym, if you think Russia is superior to the US.

DID I POST THIS?
NO, I DID NOT.

WAS THIS THE POINT OF DISCUSSION?
NO, IT WAS NOT.

You're just a shit-splattering troll.
Thank you for proving my point.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 8:05 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:

US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines stated on March 8 that Russian President Vladimir Putin likely recognizes the Russian military’s current limited capability to sustain a short-term offensive and may pursue a protracted war.
OMFG. Thank you Captain Obvious!
Maybe someone finally listened to the Russian MoD? Bc that's what they've been saying for at least three months!

Russia’s biggest bank suffers 78% collapse in profit as sanctions bite

Russia’s dominant lender Sberbank reported a nearly 80% plunge in 2022 net profit Thursday as sweeping Western sanctions rattled Russia’s financial sector in what the bank’s CEO called “the most difficult year.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/russia-s-biggest-bank-suffers-78-
collapse-in-profit-as-sanctions-bite/ar-AA18p9dI?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=574b8737c1ec49a98ed6ae09246b8034&ei=84

T

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Thursday, March 9, 2023 9:36 PM

Tell it to Lehman Bros.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Friday, March 10, 2023 5:37 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Russia's Sberbank expects strong profit rebound after sanctions-hit 2022

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/russias-sberbank-posts-357-bln-
net-profit-2022-2023-03-09/

Yanno THUGR, when Russia comes out a winner from the sanctions war by the west, and a winner in the proxy war in Ukraine- as I fully expect it will- I'll be so glad to stuff it up your and SECOND's ass sideways.

Not because I'm such a Russophile but because you've been such pricks, and stupid ones to boot.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, March 10, 2023 5:48 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

How many Russians have been killed in Ukraine?

The death toll probably exceeds all Soviet and Russian wars since 1945 combined

NEARLY 1,200 Russian soldiers were recently killed in a single day around Bakhmut, according to Mark Milley, America’s top general, in an interview with Politico, a news website. “That’s Iwo Jima,” he reflected, referring to a brutal 36-day Pacific battle during the second world war. “That’s Shiloh”—a battle in the American civil war. A recently published paper offers a new assessment of the extraordinary losses Russia is facing in Ukraine.

The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a think-tank in Washington, says that Russia is likely to have suffered 60,000 to 70,000 combat fatalities in the first year of its invasion, citing American and other Western officials, as well as public reports. Our chart depicts the central estimate in that range. Including those killed, wounded and missing, total casualty numbers swell to 200,000 to 250,000. Calculating such things is a highly uncertain business. But the CSIS tally is only a little higher than Western government estimates that draw on intelligence.

Stratospheric Russian casualties are unsurprising. Russia’s initial blitzkrieg in February 2022 failed, and the conflict has since turned into a war of attrition: huge volumes of shellfire continue to pound forces on each side. In its quest to capture the eastern city of Bakhmut, which is teetering, Russia sent waves of conscripts and prisoners to fight. They have been mown down in large numbers. For two weeks in late January and early February, as Russia intensified its attacks across eastern Ukraine, its casualties probably reached over 800 per day, killed and wounded, according to British defence intelligence.

This level of carnage far exceeds what Russia has faced in any of its modern conflicts. It lost 95 to 185 soldiers per month in Chechnya between 1999 and 2009 and 130 to 145 soldiers per month in Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. In Ukraine it has seen 5,000 to 5,800 military deaths (including mercenaries) per month. The number of Russian soldiers killed in the past year probably exceeds the death toll in every other Russian and Soviet conflict since 1945, combined. Its casualties are dwarfed only by the second world war, in which the Soviet Union lost more than 8m men.

Russia’s severe losses forced it to conduct a mobilisation drive in September but it has largely frittered away those forces. It could launch another wave of mobilisation, though that would come with political risks. Already, two-thirds of Russians know someone who has been mobilised or is fighting in the war. Moreover, the troops killed in 2022 were many of Russia’s best young officers and most experienced soldiers. The men who replace them will have less training, discipline and skill. Nor will they have the same quality of equipment.

When American intelligence officials briefed Congress on Russian preparations for war last year, they suggested that 25,000 to 50,000 Ukrainian civilians might die. The true total has been considerably smaller: at least 8,000 confirmed civilian deaths, according to the UN. The officials also estimated that Russia would lose 3,000 to 10,000 military personnel—a range that reflected expectations of a relatively short conventional war. They could not have imagined that Russia would immolate an entire army in the space of a year.

https://web.archive.org/web/20230309093157/https://www.economist.com/g
raphic-detail/2023/03/08/how-many-russians-have-been-killed-in-ukraine

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, March 10, 2023 6:18 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Yanno THUGR, when Russia comes out a winner from the sanctions war by the west, and a winner in the proxy war in Ukraine- as I fully expect it will- I'll be so glad to stuff it up your and SECOND's ass sideways.

Not because I'm such a Russophile but because you've been such pricks, and stupid ones to boot.

Signym, you are howling-at-the-moon mad. Here is a sample of Signym foaming at the mouth:

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Given that their plans look blatantly ineffective to anyone who gives them a moment's thought, who do TPTB think they're fooling? Certainly not Chinese and Russian officials who realize that they're in power only bc they raised the standard of living in their countries, and not the many people of the globe who aspire to a better life and are willing to work for it, in an even partially honest system.

No, they're meant to fool guilty westerners who've been edged or inveigled into being "consumers". People who don't know how they earn their place in the world. Permanent students. Advanced degrees in useless fields working in McJobs. People living on government dole or in mom's basement. Bc while they aspired to be "consumers", in a consumer society, they didn't realize that "consumer" is just another word for "useless eater".

TPTB foresaw a future where they'll no longer be able to freely plunder an entire world, and the only way for them to maintain THEIR extravagant standard of living is to plunder their home economies and people. And the only way to do THAT is to get people to acquiesce to being plundered by sacrificing themselves to a Great Cause.

There is more Signym ranting and raging at
http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=64016&mid=11706
31#1170631

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, March 10, 2023 7:16 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
There is more Signym ranting and raging at

There is more of Second ranting and raging at
http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=65116

--------------------------------------------------

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Friday, March 10, 2023 8:35 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
There is more Signym ranting and raging at

There is more of Second ranting and raging at
http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=65116

6ix, that whole thread is you ranting and raging against me: "I'm (6ixStringJack) asking Haken now to finally remove Second from these boards. Ever since his other handle Reaverfan was banned from Fireflyfans.net, his Second handle has devolved into little more than a violence fantasy factory."

6ix, whoever was Reaverfan was not me, alias "second". And 6ix, did you notice that Haken didn't do what you wanted? I can't be certain, but I don't think Haken will do what you want. I theorize that the reason is Haken thinks you are crazy. But it could be that Haken wants you to use this website for therapy. Haken is here to help you recover from your traumatic life, 6ix. Maybe Haken is your psychiatrist, your Sigmund Freud. Or Signym is your Signym Freud. Maybe the war against Ukraine is all about you, 6ix and Signym, not about Ukrainians fighting Russians who intend to murder them and erase the word Ukraine from the maps of the world.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, March 10, 2023 9:01 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Jen Psaki on Trump praising Putin’s moves into Ukraine:
“Well, as a matter of policy, we try not to take advice from anyone who praises President Putin.” That is a quote from White House Hits Back at Donald Trump for Praising Putin's 'Genius' on Ukraine
https://www.newsweek.com/white-house-hits-back-donald-trump-praise-vla
dimir-putin-genius-ukraine-russia-1681635

Donald Trump is a narcissistic grifter and a sociopath. How anyone trusts him is mind-boggling.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Friday, March 10, 2023 9:27 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by second:
There is more Signym ranting and raging at

There is more of Second ranting and raging at
http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=65116
6ix, that whole thread is you ranting and raging against me

No it's not. Click on the links. It's a nice collection of the words of a sociopath.

Quote:
6ix, whoever was Reaverfan was not me, alias "second".

Yes. It was you. I have receipts.

Quote:
And 6ix, did you notice that Haken didn't do what you wanted?

Not yet. But you haven't crossed the line and told individuals here to kill themselves and how to do it in gory detail with your appropriately name second handle. That's what ultimately got your Reaverfan handle banned. Apparently Haken believes that death threats to public figures falls under free speech. As a free speech advocate myself, I'll admit... maybe he's right. Putting it in writing on an old website where a simple Google search could find them and any non-member is free to come in and read all of them in their entirety is still a really fucking dumb thing to do though.

But that's okay. I've got your death threats all on record and backed up at several archive sites in case one of the people you have threatened end up having an accident.

I know it wasn't you who did it if that happens because you're nothing but a loudmouthed pussy, but I'd be happy to contribute to your miserable life by adding legal pressures on you because of the dumb shit you've said online that you can't erase.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Friday, March 10, 2023 11:38 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Yanno THUGR, when Russia comes out a winner from the sanctions war by the west, and a winner in the proxy war in Ukraine- as I fully expect it will- I'll be so glad to stuff it up your and SECOND's ass sideways.

Not because I'm such a Russophile but because you've been such pricks, and stupid ones to boot.
Signym, you are howling-at-the-moon mad. Here is a sample of Signym foaming at the mouth:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Given that their plans look blatantly ineffective to anyone who gives them a moment's thought, who do TPTB think they're fooling? Certainly not Chinese and Russian officials who realize that they're in power only bc they raised the standard of living in their countries, and not the many people of the globe who aspire to a better life and are willing to work for it, in an even partially honest system.

No, they're meant to fool guilty westerners who've been edged or inveigled into being "consumers". People who don't know how they earn their place in the world. Permanent students. Advanced degrees in useless fields working in McJobs. People living on government dole or in mom's basement. Bc while they aspired to be "consumers", in a consumer society, they didn't realize that "consumer" is just another word for "useless eater".

TPTB foresaw a future where they'll no longer be able to freely plunder an entire world, and the only way for them to maintain THEIR extravagant standard of living is to plunder their home economies and people. And the only way to do THAT is to get people to acquiesce to being plundered by sacrificing themselves to a Great Cause.
There is more Signym ranting and raging at
http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=64016&mid=11706
31#1170631

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

You think that's ranting and raging? Read any threats?
I wasn't angry at all! I was thinking out loud, just connecting facts together using logic.

I think the guilty (that's you) flees when nobody is pursuing.

But thanks for linking the thread!

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, March 10, 2023 2:10 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Russia's Sberbank expects strong profit rebound after sanctions-hit 2022

https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/russias-sberbank-posts-357-bln-
net-profit-2022-2023-03-09/

Yanno THUGR, when Russia comes out a winner from the sanctions war by the west, and a winner in the proxy war in Ukraine- as I fully expect it will- I'll be so glad to stuff it up your and SECOND's ass sideways.

Not because I'm such a Russophile but because you've been such pricks, and stupid ones to boot.

Don't think so comrade. The Russia economy is doomed for decades at this point. And of course the bank says it is going to do better next quarter. They say whatever Putin tells them to say.

T

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Friday, March 10, 2023 2:10 PM

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Friday, March 10, 2023 2:18 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

If any economy is doomed, THUGR, it is the EU's, followed by the USA's.

You think Sberbank is big news? They're talking about a reduction in profits. But that means they're still profitable.

How about the failure of the 17th largest bank in the USA- Silicon Valley Bank?

Game Over: FDIC Shutters Silicon Valley Bank, Appoints Receiver
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/silicon-valley-bank-crashes-65-halte
d-pending-news

Or Credit Suisses's continuing problems?
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/embattled-credit-suisse-loses-a-to
p-shareholder

Seriously, dood, you need to expand your sources of information and get past that wall of propaganda.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, March 10, 2023 2:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

If any economy is doomed, THUGR, it is the EU's, followed by the USA's.

You think Sberbank is big news? They're talking about a reduction in profits. But that means they're still profitable.

How about the failure of the 17th largest bank in the USA- Silicon Valley Bank?

Game Over: FDIC Shutters Silicon Valley Bank, Appoints Receiver
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/silicon-valley-bank-crashes-65-halte
d-pending-news

Or Credit Suisses's continuing problems?
https://www.thestreet.com/investing/embattled-credit-suisse-loses-a-to
p-shareholder

Seriously, dood, you need to expand your sources of information and get past that wall of propaganda.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

Funny, let me remind you. Russia’s biggest bank suffers 78% collapse in profit as sanctions bite. Russia's biggest bank comrade. There's more but I won't waste my time with that now.

T

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Friday, March 10, 2023 2:40 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

And the USA's 17th largest bank just failed. Utterly. Insolvent. Broke. Kaput.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) would love to be in Sberbank's shoes right now, but they're broke.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Friday, March 10, 2023 5:34 PM

Yeah. I read about SVB this morning. Couldn't remember which thread it would have been relevant to since Second and Ted mucked it all up with their dumb shit like they always do.

--------------------------------------------------

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Friday, March 10, 2023 5:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
And the USA's 17th largest bank just failed. Utterly. Insolvent. Broke. Kaput.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) would love to be in Sberbank's shoes right now, but they're broke.

‘Nervous’ Putin Faces Mutiny: Doomed Troops Refuse To Be ‘Sent To Slaughter’ — As Battle For Power Splits Russian Forces

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/nervous-putin-faces-mutiny-doomed
-troops-refuse-to-be-sent-to-slaughter-as-battle-for-power-splits-russian-forces/ar-AA18t9aS?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=b5d46860f6644309b86cf9214bebc145&ei=21

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Friday, March 10, 2023 5:40 PM

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private Russian army Wagner Group, says he and his fighters have been pleading for more ammunition, but they have been "cut off" by Putin

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/head-of-private-russian-army-says
-he-s-been-cut-off-by-putin/vi-AA18qWfk?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=b5d46860f6644309b86cf9214bebc145&ei=29

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Friday, March 10, 2023 6:37 PM

I'm sure these stories are true.

--------------------------------------------------

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 6:00 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Putin Opposition Calls Ukraine War a 'Dead End,' Urges Peace

By Isabel van Brugen , 3/10/23 at 10:05 AM EST

Grigory Yavlinsky, a Russian opposition politician and founder of Moscow's last liberal party, is calling for a ceasefire in Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, describing it as a "dead end."

"I want a ceasefire to happen before thousands and thousands of people are killed," Yavlinsky told Newsweek in a phone interview from Moscow. On Tuesday, Ukraine reported that over 1,000 Russians had been killed the day prior, bringing Moscow's total losses since the start of the invasion to 154,830.

Yavlinsky, 70, the founder of the Yabloko party, has vocalized his opposition to Putin's decision to invade Ukraine since the conflict began last February. He has described the war, for his nation, as "akin to a self-imposed nuclear strike."

The official, who has twice run against Putin in presidential elections, said that regardless of so-called "gains and victories," the war would end with "a heap of corpses" and nobody would ever forgive either Putin or Russia. He has also described the conflict as a "crime against humanity" that would represent a "massive leap forward towards Russia's liquidation as a state in the 21st century."

On the eve of the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Yabloko held a concert marathon under the slogan "Say Yes to the Peace!" during which 45 videos were shown where Yabloko members nationwide detailed their struggles throughout the year of war.

Yavlinsky gave an opening speech, saying that "today, Russia is being adjusted to Vladimir Putin's reality."

His opposition to the war has come at a cost, however. There have been numerous attempts by those who support the conflict to liquidate Yabloko, a social-liberal party that has deputies in four regional parliaments: Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Pskov region and Karelia.

State-run news agency RIA Novosti reported on March 7 that a member of Russia's State Duma, Nikolai Novichkov, sent an appeal to the country's Minister of Justice Konstantin Chuichenko with a proposal to consider the possibility of filing a lawsuit in court to liquidate the party "due to possible signs of extremist activities."

"It first happened in April, last year, and then it happens all the time. It's very difficult even to calculate how many times," Yavlinsky told Newsweek. "There are a lot of people...who are just supporting the current regime...and attacking the people who are not supporting the war, like Yabloko—organized political structures, which are against the war. They are trying to destroy this structure, they don't want this structure to exist."

Although the Yabloko party currently has "no political dialogue" with the Kremlin, Yavlinsky is persisting with his efforts to call for a ceasefire in the conflict, which passed the one-year mark on February 24.

"It's necessary to do it as soon as possible," said Yavlinsky. "I think that nobody's winning. This is a dead end, okay? This is a dead end, nobody can win in that kind of situation."

"That's why I'm saying that a ceasefire is necessary. And it's necessary to stop killing people. Because there are no positive developments. There is no positive future."

Yavlinsky described the year since the war began as "the most difficult and painful year" in his life. When asked whether he has concerns about speaking publicly against Putin, the politician said he tries not to think about it, "otherwise, it would be not possible to work."

"I was an opponent of Putin in presidential elections twice, and there were millions of people which were voting for me. So it's my obligation to say the truth and to say what I think, especially in that dangerous situation," he said. "What will be the consequences? We'll see."

Newsweek reached out to Russia's foreign ministry via email for comment.

More at https://www.newsweek.com/putin-critic-grigory-yavlinsky-ukraine-war-ce
asefire-peace-1786969

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 6:12 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Why the West fears victory in Ukraine

by Stephen Blank, Opinion Contributor - 03/10/23 11:30 AM ET

Despite Ukraine’s heroic valor, the West is in serious danger of losing the war and, with it, the ensuing peace. The West risks losing for three specific but intertwined reasons: lack of a strategy, fear of victory and an unwillingness to campaign publicly for Ukraine’s victory.

Russia’s criminal aggression against Ukraine and military failures offers the West a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape European and international security. Therefore, it is increasingly urgent to take advantage of this opportunity.

Yet neither in Washington nor in any European capital west of Warsaw do we hear anyone advocating victory; the decisive defeat of Russia; full restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity; and Ukraine’s subsequent full integration into NATO and the European Union.

Public support for supporting Ukraine notwithstanding, leaders are privately increasingly skeptical that Ukraine can or apparently should win. Despite fulsome pledges of tanks, all we see is a trickle of them. The United States’s Abrams tanks will not even be available until 2024.

Meanwhile the long-range artillery and aircraft Ukraine needs to win is withheld due to specious arguments about the training time needed, that other weapons are better suited for the task or – the real, but unspoken motive – fear of provoking Russia.

Thus, the West’s protracted public dithering inhibited Kyiv from capitalizing on its 2022 offensive and allowed Russia time to mobilize new forces, build stronger defenses and even launch its own offensive.

Nevertheless, the recent anniversary of the war triggered an undeserved outburst of self-congratulation since timely provision of armaments may well have helped Ukraine inflict a decisive defeat upon Russia. Indeed, Kyiv might have to surrender Bakhmut and delay its spring offensive because the West cannot get its act together even after 13 months and send weapons it has already pledged.

Despite Putin’s oft-repeated intransigeance regarding negotiations and territorial conquests, this Western equivocation reflects an increasingly groundless fear of victory, which entails a genuine and long-lasting security and economic commitment to Ukraine and to holding Russia accountable.

Although Western governments are increasingly discounting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats, they remain unwilling to give Ukraine the military and economic support it needs. For example, Kyiv has received only 31 of the 64 billion pledged to it, and the sorry story of tank support is well known. Moreover, many experts still advocate negotiations yet have no idea how they could advance Ukraine’s security.

This fear of victory justifies Putin’s determination and belief that he can win by outlasting what he perceives as a decadent, effete adversary. Second it inhibits the formulation and prosecution of a resolute Western strategy. Third, it provides new opportunities for the claque of experts arguing, even in the mouth of Putin’s cannons, for negotiations.

This advocacy disregards Putin’s refusal to negotiate, reveals a basic failure to grasp that Russian policy emerges from an entirely different cognitive milieu than does Western thinking, clutches at misconceived analogies to other wars and without saying so, manifests disdain if not contempt for Ukraine’s interests. Apart from assuming that a grinding war of attrition is the only possible outcome here (and advocating measures to ensure it stays that way), one of these experts contends that Ukraine faces either annihilation or continued Russian occupation of its territories.

Other experts contend that Ukraine, not Russia, must be coerced to negotiate. And lying behind all of this argumentation is the misconceived notion that Russia cannot or should not be defeated, an utterly unfounded argument, but one that reflects an inexplicable but pervasive underlying fear of a Ukrainian victory.

Lastly, the failure to articulate a strategy both expresses and stimulates the division within domestic public opinion here and Europe. Normally, presidents campaign publicly and repeatedly to build support for major policy initiatives. Nothing of the sort has occurred here, leaving the door open to unflagging and often misinformed attacks on the cost of the aid to Ukraine and its supposedly not being in our vital interest.

Thus, it is no surprise that public support for Ukraine aid is falling among Republicans.

After all, nature abhors a vacuum. But the absence of a public White House campaign strongly suggests not just a neglect or disdain for such campaigning but also a worrisome and clearly long-running inability to fashion a strategy either internally or among the allies. That too would be another reason for the demands that Kyiv negotiate with Moscow.

These interactive deficiencies of Western policy have already delayed at least one Ukrainian offensive and may force postponement of others while giving Moscow a respite from the consequences of its own strategic incompetence in this war. If we fail to ensure a Ukrainian victory, the history books will record our strategic incompetence and the entire world will have to suffer the consequences.

Stephen Blank, Ph.D., is a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). He is a former professor of Russian national security studies and national security affairs at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College and a former MacArthur fellow at the U.S. Army War College. Blank is an independent consultant focused on the geopolitics and geostrategy of the former Soviet Union, Russia and Eurasia.

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/3893871-why-the-west-fea
rs-victory-in-ukraine/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 7:44 AM

Fuck Ukraine.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Saturday, March 11, 2023 5:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:

And the USA's 17th largest bank just failed. Utterly. Insolvent. Broke. Kaput.

Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) would love to be in Sberbank's shoes right now, but they're broke.

Yes, as you say, the 17th largest bank comrade not the biggest as is the case with Russia's largest bank. The American bank catered to startups and didn't diversify. Not smart.

Meanwhile,

Outskirts of Bakhmut littered with corpses of Russians, and collaborators are fleeing to Russia – Ukrainian official

Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC), has said that the outskirts of Bakhmut are littered with corpses of Russian invaders, and no one takes them away.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/outskirts-of-bakhmut-littered-wit
h-corpses-of-russians-and-collaborators-are-fleeing-to-russia-ukrainian-official/ar-AA18vy5T?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=9605bdd61a2c4c0abec275770545fd22&ei=35

T

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Sunday, March 12, 2023 9:33 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Fuck Ukraine.

A top Russian official has said that her government is deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. The Telegram post by Russia's commissioner on children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, confirms reports since the start of Moscow's invasion that Ukrainian children have been sent to Russia.

In reporting Lvova-Belova's comments, the Institute for the Study of War think tank said that the forced deportation and adoption of Ukrainian children is an apparent violation of the Geneva Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. The ISW added that the move is part "of a wider ethnic-cleaning campaign."

Lvova-Belova's post on Friday tried to disprove Western accusations that deporting children was illegal. She said that "fear and panic" was being "artificially" created by the West and that the real picture of events had been distorted.

Lvova-Belova wrote that parents in the oblasts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv had "voluntarily" sent their children to "sanatoriums" and health camps in occupied Crimea and the Russian region of Krasnodar for "rest" and protection from hostilities.

Lvova-Belova justified a delay in the return of children by saying that the situation on the front line was often not safe for parents to get them back.

"Despite all the difficulties, most of the children, fortunately, have already returned to their families," Lvova-Belova said. She added that 89 children remain in southern Russia. Her post added an email address for parents to use "for help in finding your child."

"Lvova-Belova's claim that a certain number of Ukrainian children are being returned to their families does not negate the reality that the vast majority of abducted children do not return to Ukraine," the ISW said on Friday.

Russia has insisted such camps are part of a humanitarian project for abandoned, war-traumatized orphans. But Ukrainian officials have said that Moscow has evacuated thousands of children without parental consent.

A report released in February by Yale University said there is a network of at least 43 child custody centers right across Russia, including two camps in Siberia and one in the Far East. The Yale team said at least 6,000 Ukrainian children, ranging from toddlers to teenagers, had been detained, although it believes there are thousands more.

Some are adopted, while other cases involve children going to summer-camp programs from which they do not return. The primary purpose of at least a third of the camps appears to be "political re-education," the report said.

The sophistication of the operation pointed to the program being controlled from the top of the Russian government, concluded the report, undertaken in collaboration with the U.S. State Department, which Newsweek has contacted for comment.

"It is a massive logistical undertaking that does not happen by accident," Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of Yale University Humanitarian Research Lab, told NPR.

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-putin-lvova-belova-deporting-1
787084

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, March 12, 2023 9:57 AM

Fuck Ukraine.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Sunday, March 12, 2023 12:07 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Russian State Media Urges This Could 'Solve Any Issue' on Frontlines

A Russian TV analyst recently said that enlisting 70 million Russians as volunteers to fight in Ukraine would "solve any issue" their country is facing in the ongoing war, adding that the "entire country should be together."

"If, like in the WW2, every man (not burdened with managerial functions) realizes that it's his war, too, we will move mountains. No one will be scary enough to us. It's important not to be among those who sit this one out thinking 'oh they'll manage without me.'"

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-state-media-urges-this-could-solve-an
y-issue-frontlines-1787123

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Sunday, March 12, 2023 12:48 PM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

“The administration doesn’t have a clear policy objective and a clear goal. Is it to drag this thing out, which is precisely what Vladimir Putin wants?” said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “Is it to just give them enough to survive and not to win? I don’t see a policy for victory right now, and if we don’t have that, then what are we doing?”

“I do think the administration is split, the National Security Council split” on what weapons to send to Ukraine, said McCaul, who’s in constant touch with senior Biden officials. “I talk to a lot of top military brass and they are, in large part, supportive of giving them the ATACMS.”

The administration hasn’t provided those long-range missiles. There’s fear that Ukraine might strike faraway Russian targets, potentially escalating the war. (The US must be sensitive to Putin's personal preferences. Otherwise, Putin might threaten to nuke the US. Whoopsy daisy! Too late! Putin already made that threat a hundred times. Perhaps it is time for Biden to tell Putin to shove his nukes because Biden is sending every ATACMS to Ukraine and building more.)

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/12/biden-united-states-ukraine-r
elationship-cracks-00086654

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, March 13, 2023 12:04 AM

Fuck Ukraine.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Monday, March 13, 2023 3:09 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

SECOND and THGR reliably get things bass akwards. I've never seen such deliberate stupdity in my life.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake

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Monday, March 13, 2023 8:33 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SECOND and THGR reliably get things bass akwards. I've never seen such deliberate stupdity in my life.

You very succinctly told the world what you are:

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Putin's legacy for the world will be amazing

Many nations will finally be able to crawl out from under the USA's fat behind.

http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=18&tid=65026&mid=11701
92#1170192

And 6ixStringJack cannot stop telling the world what he is, but he is not amazing:

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Fuck Ukraine.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, March 13, 2023 9:37 AM

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

‘Navalny,’ film about dissident fighting Kremlin, wins Academy Award

Navalny has for many years been a headache for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He’s released numerous reports about corruption in Russia and the Putin administration and become a popular and rallying figure among like-minded Russians.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/12/navalny-documentary-academy-a
ward-00086728

Navalny 2022
METASCORE 82
Universal acclaim based on 22 Critic Reviews
https://www.metacritic.com/movie/navalny

The Russian opposition leader, currently the guest of a Putin penal colony, is a charming, natural performer, something that’s helped make him an international online sensation and prominent thorn in the side of the charisma-free Russian president, who dismisses his opponent as insignificant by refusing, with considerable effort, to utter the name Navalny in public — the results being quite the reverse of the intention. This is an example of what Mr. Navalny shorthands as “moscow4”: According to the now-45-year-old anticorruption activist, when a high-ranking intelligence officer under Mr. Putin was hacked—his password was moscow1—he changed it to moscow2. When that was hacked, he changed it to moscow3. It’s a story that doesn’t need the punchline. But it illustrates Mr. Navalny’s position that the brutality of the Kremlin is a byproduct of basic incompetence and stupidity, something its current conduct in Ukraine seems to be confirming.

Navalny 2022 [RUSSIAN]
Action / Biography / Documentary

Available in:
720p.WEB | 1080p.WEB
WEB: same quality as BluRay

Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 99% - Critics
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 90% - Audience

https://yts.mx/movies/navalny-2022

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

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Monday, March 13, 2023 3:55 PM