Russia Invades Ukraine. Again by captaincrunch

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

Putin's informational efforts are likely intended to convince the Russian public that an ongoing Ukrainian presence in Kursk Oblast is tolerable in exchange for the Russian seizure of Pokrovsk. The Kremlin is reportedly trying to condition Russian society to accept that the limited Ukrainian presence in Kursk Oblast is a "new normal," possibly in order to afford itself time and space to respond to the incursion after seizing Pokrovsk.[29] Putin delayed declaring a "counterterrorism operation" for several days following the incursion and has largely avoided redeploying the large numbers of experienced and combat effective forces that Russia will likely need to push Ukrainian forces from Kursk Oblast.[30] ISW continues to assess that Putin is likely prioritizing Russian offensive operations in the Pokrovsk direction over pushing Ukrainian forces from Kursk Oblast, and Putin's rhetorical efforts further support this assessment.[31] Putin also attempted to marginally rehabilitate the Russian MoD's public image during his speech by claiming that the MoD is "objective" and by presenting battlefield reports from the MoD as accurate.[32] Putin may also intend to influence select Western audiences with his comments about the Ukrainian incursion. Putin may assess that he can encourage Western decision-makers to pressure Ukraine into withdrawing its forces from Kursk Oblast, which would allow Putin to continue his offensive operations in Ukraine without having to redeploy additional forces to Kursk Oblast. Putin's ostensible comfort with allowing Ukrainian forces to hold Russian territory for a protracted time is a stunning reversal of longstanding Russian rhetoric and doctrine about the inviolability of Russia's borders and calls into question the significance of Russia's supposed "red lines."[33]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-5-2024

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

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Friday, September 6, 2024 9:34 AM

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

After losing a chunk of Russian territory to Ukraine, Putin said it wasn't that important anyway

By Tom Porter | Sep 6, 2024, 6:18 AM CDT

https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-claims-ukraine-seizing-russian-t
erritory-doesnt-really-matter-2024-9

Having been caught on the back foot, Kremlin leaders are now trying to portray the incursion as a mistake by Ukraine.

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

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Friday, September 6, 2024 3:58 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
'Don't Joke About Our Red Lines,' Russia Warns U.S.

"Joking about our red lines is one of our red lines. If you make joke, you cross another red line and force us to make more red lines. You joke, we make more. Then you joke more but we just red line more and more. Then you run out of joke, and we still have red lines so who's laughing then? We win!"
-Sergey Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister)

It's too bad he didn't really say that. I thought it was damn funny!!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
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Saturday, September 7, 2024 5:33 AM

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

Biden believes Russian Red lines are real. The old fool is easy to fool:

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated on September 6 that no specific weapon would be a "game changer" for Ukraine and that allowing Ukrainian forces to use US-provided weapons for long-range strikes against Russian military targets within Russia would not change the status of the war.[12] Austin is correct that no single weapon system will change the course of the war, but his comments ignore how weapon systems and their accompanying rules of engagement do affect Ukrainian capabilities, and that changes in capabilities can change the course of wars. Western military assistance remains crucial for Ukraine's ability to defend itself, and Austin’s statement ignores the Ukrainian long-range strike capability requirement necessary to disrupt Russian rear staging areas. Austin reiterated a Biden Administration talking point that since Russia has moved aircraft conducting glide bomb strikes out of range of US-provided ATACMS missiles, it somehow renders Ukraine’s request to use ATACMS in Russian territory against hundreds of known stationary military objects moot.[13] ISW has previously noted there are at least 209 of 245 (over 85 percent) known Russian military objects in range of ATACMS that are not air bases and not within range of US-provided HIMARS that the US does allow Ukraine to use in Russia under limited circumstances.[14] Austin also argued that Ukraine has its own domestically produced capabilities that can attack Russian targets well beyond the range of Western-provided Storm Shadow cruise missiles.[15] Most of Ukraine's long-range strike capabilities come from domestically produced long-range drones, which Ukraine cannot use to cause the same level of damage as long-range missiles due to drone payload limitations. Russian forces can also more easily harden facilities against Ukrainian drones than Western-provided missiles. Ukraine has begun to produce and successfully field long-range precision weapons with payloads more comparable to Western-provided long-range missiles but currently lacks the quantity of these domestically produced systems to significantly threaten Russian military targets within Russia at scale.[16]

Ukraine therefore can only use a limited number of domestically produced long-range strike systems and Western-provided HIMARS to significantly threaten a limited number of Russian military objects within Russia. This scarcity is not reflective of all the long-range strike capabilities that Ukraine possesses, and Western decision-making continues to artificially suppress Ukraine's overall long-range strike capability. ISW has assessed at length that long-range strikes against Russian military targets within Russia would degrade Russia's ability to leverage sanctuary space in Russia for offensive operations in Ukraine and place significant operational pressures on the deployment of Russian air defense, electronic warfare (EW), logistics, command and control (C2), and military support assets.[17] Russia, on the contrary, continues to actively expand its ability to maintain deep precision strikes against Ukraine by increasingly procuring ballistic missiles from Iran and North Korea, and continuing to expand its missile production.[18]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-6-2024

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Sunday, September 8, 2024 6:30 AM

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

Opinion: Russian soldiers in Ukraine are ‘ordinary guys’ who commit horrific war crimes

By Kate Tsurkan | September 8, 2024 12:20 AM

https://kyivindependent.com/opinion-russian-soldiers-in-ukraine-are-or
dinary-guys-who-commit-horrific-war-crimes/

After two and a half years of brutal aggression and growing evidence of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers, some people abroad still cling to the hope that the reality of what’s happening in Ukraine isn't as grim as it seems: a nation of nearly 150 million people can’t possibly support the invasion of its neighbor and Russian soldiers have no choice but to obey orders – it’s Vladimir Putin’s war.

But the reality is grim. People need to come to terms with the fact that a seemingly ordinary man with a family, with his own hopes and dreams, can also take part in the invasion of a country where he commits acts of torture, rape, and murder. It is this capacity for cruelty — his ability to suppress his humanity, if it ever truly existed — that makes him so terrifying.

Hannah Arendt famously explored this unsettling truth in her 1963 book, “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.” Against the backdrop of the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a high-ranking Nazi official who helped to orchestrate the logistics of the Holocaust, Arendt wrote about how evil manifests itself not in monstrous aberrations that belong to the realm of fairy tales but in individuals who choose to follow horrific orders without much hesitation or introspection.

The world’s failure to fully comprehend the threat Russia poses has allowed apologists for genocide to find a platform within some of the world’s most esteemed cultural institutions. A documentary film that attempts “through the fog of war” to “humanize” Russian soldiers fighting a war of aggression against Ukraine has not only been screened recently at the Venice Film Festival and will soon be shown at the Toronto Film Festival, but reportedly also received funding from the Canadian government.

The director of “Russians at War,” Canadian-Russian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, claims that she “secretly” embedded with Russian troops fighting in their war of aggression against Ukraine without getting permission from the Russian Defense Ministry. (Maybe her contacts at Russian state-controlled RT, which produced several of her previous documentaries, fizzled out?) In press coverage for the film, she spoke about not wanting to “judge” the Russian soldiers and discovering that they were “absolutely ordinary guys with a sense of humor.” The interviewers just listen and nod.

It's unsettling to hear such statements, especially after seeing photos of Yaroslav Bazylevych at the funeral of his wife and three daughters who were killed in the Sept. 4 Russian attack on Lviv, a city in the west of Ukraine. It's surreal after speaking with the friends of Nika Kozhushko, a talented 18-year-old artist killed in the Aug. 30 Russian strike on Kharkiv, a city in the east of Ukraine. It's outright maddening while an air raid siren wails in the background. Surely, we must inhabit two different worlds.

Though I have yet to view the full documentary, the commentary from those who attended its screening at the Venice Film Festival, combined with the footage available in the online trailer, started to paint a pretty clear picture. Nothing that I’ve heard or seen suggests it’s an “anti-war film.”

In the trailer, for example, one soldier claims that Ukraine and Russia are "inseparable" and that he misses the "brotherly union." This conveniently overlooks the reality that, in both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, the Russian language and culture dominated. Throughout different periods in history, this dominance was enforced through the violent subjugation of Ukrainians and other groups. What this soldier is actually expressing is nostalgia for an era when the Ukrainian nation-state was denied the right to exist.

And how are Russians trying to prove to Ukrainians that they are “brotherly nations”? By launching ballistic missiles and drones that kill civilians, reducing cities to rubble, occupying cities, taking those living under occupation who resist for some "reeducation" in basements, raping women and children, executing Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner, sending abducted Ukrainian children to the far reaches of Russia… The scale of Russian war crimes committed in Ukraine is staggering, with the Prosecutor General’s Office documenting 141,739 cases to date. As long as the full-scale war continues, that number will only continue to grow.

Trofimova, the director of “Russians at War,” has publicly stated that she witnessed no war crimes being committed during her time on the front line. But what is she suggesting — that the survivors of these atrocities are somehow mistaken? Are their testimonies to be valued less than her own? By making such claims, she engages in a dangerous narrative, sowing doubt in what should be a clear and undeniable truth: Russia is conducting a genocide against Ukraine, and those who carry it out must be held accountable.

Wanting to “look through the fog of war” and “humanize” these Russian soldiers is only meant to portray them in a sympathetic light. Are we supposed to say, “Sure, Misha raped a Ukrainian woman in front of her small children, but he has kids of his own back home, so he can’t be all that bad, right?”

In the war against Ukraine, Russian soldiers made a conscious choice to participate, just as they and their fellow citizens chose to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to remain in power and oversee the rise of an increasingly authoritarian regime. While some Russian families claim “indifference” to politics, others are deeply entrenched in the state propaganda that floods their television screens, so much so that they are willing to report their own sons for attempting to flee the country and evade military service. The vast majority of Russians bear responsibility for this war. It is not solely Putin’s war — it is theirs as well.

To describe Russian soldiers as mere "tools in a larger political game," as Trofimova suggests, edges dangerously close to echoing the very talking points propagated by the Russian government — claims like Russia's supposed right to invade in order to halt NATO’s encroachment on its "sphere of influence."

It’s not always the bombastic voices on state-controlled television shouting about taking Kyiv in three days that pose the greatest threat. More nefarious are the seemingly neutral voices — those who claim to be “just asking questions,” with no allegiance but to the truth. These quiet skeptics, who foster uncertainty in an otherwise clear-cut narrative, can ultimately inflict the most harm. The moment we begin to blur the truth is the very moment when falsehoods risk becoming accepted as reality.

It is our responsibility to categorically reject any attempts to excuse or rehabilitate the Russian war crimes being committed in Ukraine, and to ensure that the suffering of Russia’s victims is neither forgotten nor minimized — it’s the very least we can do for the tens of thousands of Ukrainians whose lives they stole and destroyed.

The opinions expressed in the op-ed section are those of the authors and do not purport to reflect the views of the Kyiv Independent.

Sep 4, 2024 RUSSIANS AT WAR Trailer | TIFF 2024

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

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Sunday, September 8, 2024 11:48 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

This is what Trofimova said

Quote:
Trofimova said she saw no signs of war crimes during her time near the front...
There were no other stories. This is another story," she said.
"This is my attempt to see through the fog of war and to see people for people."

Another documentary premiered at Venice, "Songs of Slow Burning Earth," showed the suffering of Ukraine, and its director criticised the decision to screen the Russian film, saying it was too soon to portray the invaders in a sympathetic light.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/russian-soldiers-given-their-chance-
speak-venice-2024-09-05/

If there's one thing I learned from reading Kiev media, is that it's 95% lies.

Same with SECOND, who has an unerring nose for propaganda.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
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Sunday, September 8, 2024 1:18 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:
This is what Trofimova said

Quote:
Trofimova said she saw no signs of war crimes during her time near the front...
There were no other stories. This is another story," she said.
"This is my attempt to see through the fog of war and to see people for people."

Another documentary premiered at Venice, "Songs of Slow Burning Earth," showed the suffering of Ukraine, and its director criticised the decision to screen the Russian film, saying it was too soon to portray the invaders in a sympathetic light.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/russian-soldiers-given-their-chance-
speak-venice-2024-09-05/

If there's one thing I learned from reading Kiev media, is that it's 95% lies.

Same with SECOND, who has an unerring nose for propaganda.

Signym, does your nose tell you that this propaganda? If it does, your sinuses need an operation, Signym.

20 October 2023 - A new UN report has found continued evidence of war crimes and human rights violations committed by Russian authorities in Ukraine, including torture, rape and the deportation of children.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142617

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

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Sunday, September 8, 2024 2:14 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
This is what Trofimova said

Quote:
Trofimova said she saw no signs of war crimes during her time near the front...
There were no other stories. This is another story," she said.
"This is my attempt to see through the fog of war and to see people for people."

Another documentary premiered at Venice, "Songs of Slow Burning Earth," showed the suffering of Ukraine, and its director criticised the decision to screen the Russian film, saying it was too soon to portray the invaders in a sympathetic light.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/russian-soldiers-given-their-chance-
speak-venice-2024-09-05/

If there's one thing I learned from reading Kiev media, is that it's 95% lies.

Same with SECOND, who has an unerring nose for propaganda.

SECOND: Signym, does your nose tell you that this propaganda?

Yep, pretty much.

Quote:
SECOND: 20 October 2023 - A new UN report has found continued evidence of war crimes and human rights violations committed by Russian authorities in Ukraine, including torture, rape and the deportation of children.

First of all, the phrasing: Russia does not torture and rape children. The reader could be forgiven for thinking that, the writer can't be forgiven for writing that.

Last time you brought up that whole "deporting children" trope [OMG!! Evacuating apparent unattached children from a war zone!!] the specific complaint was that Russia refused to surrender a child to a 16-year old cousin.
Is that the worst they could come up with?

AFA "torture and rape", or the strike on one building... if this was done by interview only, people can allege all kinds of things.

Assad gassed his own people.
Qaddafi massacred his own people.
Saddam had WMD.

The only way you can get to the truth is an objective investigation looking for evidence that corroborates hearsay.

For example, did anyone examine the missile (if it was a misile) debris from that apartment building? Air defense missiles often land astray after failing to hit their target. Were people phyiscally examined?

I find it suspicious, for example, that UN hasn't found any evidence of UKRAINIAN human rights violations, despite Kiev's shelling of civilians with cluster munitions including "flechettes" and petal mines, and the widely publicized death of American citizen Gonzalo Lira in Ukrainian custody.

Given the UN's (and OSCE's and OPCW's and most of the NGO's) long and amply demonstrated pro-USA history, I don't take what they say as gospel.

Of course, I never take what anyone says as gospel, but I apply an extra heavy layer of skepticism to organizations that are ostensibly international but clearly biased.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142617

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
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Sunday, September 8, 2024 7:15 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:

Given the UN's (and OSCE's and OPCW's and most of the NGO's) long and amply demonstrated pro-USA history, I don't take what they say as gospel.

Of course, I never take what anyone says as gospel, but I apply an extra heavy layer of skepticism to organizations that are ostensibly international but clearly biased.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/10/1142617

I get the strong feeling that you are not part of the whole world, Signym, but dwell within an imaginary realm.

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

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Sunday, September 8, 2024 9:21 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
SECOND: I get the strong feeling that you are not part of the whole world, Signym, but dwell within an imaginary realm.

I get the strong feeling you're just a bot in a computer.

Russia is winning.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
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Sunday, September 8, 2024 9:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
SECOND: I get the strong feeling that you are not part of the whole world, Signym, but dwell within an imaginary realm.

I get the strong feeling you're just a bot in a computer.

Russia is winning.

Wetware is essentially a bot, although he's not physically in the computer.

Russia isn't really winning though. Russia doesn't even want to fight a war, but NATO is the constant aggressor and keeps pushing the issue. It's unfortunate for all the Ukrainian wives and children who are losing their husbands and fathers for Raytheon profits, and the profits of the 200 Republicans who just recently backed Kamala Harris. And Dick Cheney.

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

Trump will be fine.
He will also be your next President.

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Sunday, September 8, 2024 10:27 PM

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 SIGNYM:
Quote:
SECOND: I get the strong feeling that you are not part of the whole world, Signym, but dwell within an imaginary realm.

I get the strong feeling you're just a bot in a computer.

Russia is winning.

Wetware is essentially a bot, although he's not physically in the computer.

Russia isn't really winning though. Russia doesn't even want to fight a war, but NATO is the constant aggressor and keeps pushing the issue. It's unfortunate for all the Ukrainian wives and children who are losing their husbands and fathers for Raytheon profits, and the profits of the 200 Republicans who just recently backed Kamala Harris. And Dick Cheney.

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

Trump will be fine.
He will also be your next President.

6ix, Nato exists because Russia invaded Eastern Europe, killed millions who had already surrendered, and threatened to take the rest of Europe, killing more millions, if the U.S. Army withdrew. Russia didn't leave Europe until the Soviet Union collapsed. Russia is now taking back Eastern Europe, again. Ukraine is the first step. The last time Russia ruled Ukraine, four million Ukrainians were killed by the Russians in Holodomor. The Ukrainians remember even if Trumptards don't.

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

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Sunday, September 8, 2024 10:49 PM

Lies, lies. *yawn*

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

Trump will be fine.
He will also be your next President.

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Sunday, September 8, 2024 11:07 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
;6ix, Nato exists because Russia invaded Eastern Europe, killed millions who had already surrendered, and threatened to take the rest of Europe,

Oh, baloney!!!
Jeez, SECOND.

How WWII was settled: Yalta Conference
https://www.britannica.com/event/Yalta-Conference

Rewriting history doesn't change it.
But that doesn't stop you, does it?

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
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Sunday, September 8, 2024 11:26 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:
;6ix, Nato exists because Russia invaded Eastern Europe, killed millions who had already surrendered, and threatened to take the rest of Europe,

Oh, baloney!!!
Jeez, SECOND.

How WWII was settled: Yalta Conference
https://www.britannica.com/event/Yalta-Conference

Rewriting history doesn't change it.
But that doesn't stop you, does it?

Signym, you are full of shit. Russia killed millions of Europeans after the Yalta Conference in 1945. Russians say, "No, we didn't." But Russians did kill millions and didn't stop until they left Eastern Europe after the Soviet Union collapsed. Those surviving Eastern Europeans joined NATO so that Russia would be intimidated into NOT murdering even more millions once Russia recovered from that collapse. All this offends the Russians, but they are still murderers despite their denials of what they did.

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

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Monday, September 9, 2024 3:58 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

If you're referring to the Holdomor, that moldy topic you burp up over and over, that was BEFORE WWII.

Ya got nothin'.
Admit it.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
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Monday, September 9, 2024 6:26 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:
If you're referring to the Holdomor, that moldy topic you burp up over and over, that was BEFORE WWII.

Ya got nothin'.
Admit it.

Because you can't handle complexity, the author helpfully divided the Russian murder rampages into 8 periods:

Russia killed 62 million of its own citizens.
From the book Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder since 1917 by R. J. Rummel
Download the free book from http://libgen.is/search.php?req=R.+J.+Rummel
https://www.amazon.com/Lethal-Politics-Soviet-Genocide-Murder-ebook/dp
/B073RQ94KF/

1 61,911,000 Victims: Utopianism Empowered, 1917-1987

2 3,284,000 Victims: The Civil War Period, 1917-1922

3 2,200,000 Victims: The NEP Period 1923-1928

4 11,440,000 Victims: The Collectivization Period, 1929-1935

5 4,345,000 Victims: The Great Terror Period 1936-1938

6 5,104,000 Victims: Pre-World War II Period 1939-June 1941

7 13,053,000 Victims: World War II Period, June 1941-1945

8 15,613,000 Victims: Postwar and Stalin’s Twilight Period, 1945-1953

9 6,872,000 Victims: Post-Stalin Period, 1954-1987

Lethal Politics: Soviet Genocide and Mass Murder since 1917 by R. J. Rummel
Download the free book from http://libgen.is/search.php?req=R.+J.+Rummel
https://www.amazon.com/Lethal-Politics-Soviet-Genocide-Murder-ebook/dp
/B073RQ94KF/

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

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Monday, September 9, 2024 6:30 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:
If you're referring to the Holdomor, that moldy topic you burp up over and over, that was BEFORE WWII.

Ya got nothin'.
Admit it.

Russia has another murder rampage planned, but the CIA thinks Russia is bluffing:

Central Intelligence Agency Director (CIA) William Burns cautioned the West against concern about boilerplate Russian nuclear saber-rattling, which ISW has long identified as part of a Kremlin effort to promote Western self-deterrence and influence key moments in Western policy debates about support for Ukraine. Burns stated during a panel with United Kingdom Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Chief Richard Moore on September 7 that Russian President Vladimir Putin will continue to issue periodic threats of direct confrontation against the West but that these threats should not intimidate the West.[1] Burns stated that the CIA had assessed that Russian forces may have considered using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine in the fall of 2022 and that he was in contact with Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin on the matter.[2] The CIA's assessment of possible Russian readiness to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine in the fall of 2022 corresponded with intensified Russian rhetoric about nuclear confrontation amid the successful Ukrainian counteroffensive operations in Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts.[3] This rhetoric was likely more a part of a routine information operation designed to deter Western security assistance to Ukraine than an indicator of Russian readiness to use nuclear weapons, however.[4] The Kremlin has repeatedly invoked thinly veiled threats of a nuclear confrontation between Russia and the West during key moments in Western political discussions about further military assistance to Ukraine, such as in the fall of 2022, to induce fear among decision makers.[5] ISW continues to assess that Russia is very unlikely to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine or elsewhere.[6]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-8-2024

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

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Monday, September 9, 2024 8:22 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Yeah! Let's provoke our way into nuclear Armageddon!
/snark

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
Or, any verification or thought.

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Monday, September 9, 2024 8:53 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:
Yeah! Let's provoke our way into nuclear Armageddon!
/snark

The only country that has ever nuked women, children, and old men is the United States. The US did it twice and would have kept dropping bombs week after week after week. Russia should worry about provoking the US to nuke Moscow. Is Russia brave enough to nuke Washington DC? Not going to happen because the Russians know in their bones they will all die if they do.

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

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Monday, September 9, 2024 10:44 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by captaincrunch:
Quote:
Originally posted by THG:
Quote:
Originally posted by captaincrunch:

What an evil selfish prick Putin is. Does anyone but him benefit from this? And now? After 2 years of covid crap? Kill thousands and crash the world economy so he can redraw a MAP?!?? What fcking dinosaur. I look forward to watching this blow up in his face.

Hey G. Can you stick around a bit? It would be so so good to have another sane person keeping tabs on this. Also, its' good to see you're good.

T

Hey T - good to see you as well. I've checked in from time to time, but sadly nothing ever seems to change. Same broken logic, same idiocy, same lack of any intelligent discussion. Just stupid blah blah and repeat. We'll see.

In case you're watching G, I've decided to repost some bits of Signyms posts to show how she changed her Rederic about Russia's prowess. And threats to use nuclear weapons.

Stop in, we'll chat.

T

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Monday, September 9, 2024 10:52 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
If they can cut off bank accounts to an entire nation, the Freedom Convoy never stood a chance.

The New World Order is in control now.

Look back fondly on 2019 and before it. Because the life we used to know will never be again.

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

Vaccinated People: "You need to get muh vaccination shots that don't work because I got muh vaccination shots that don't work and I'm afraid of people that didn't get muh vaccination shots that don't work because muh vaccination shots that don't work don't work."

Poor Jack, stupid then and stupid now. The ruling world order is already in power. This world order is called democracy.

T

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Monday, September 9, 2024 10:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Jongsstraw:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

If they can cut off bank accounts to an entire nation, the Freedom Convoy never stood a chance.

The New World Order is in control now.

Look back fondly on 2019 and before it. Because the life we used to know will never be again.

Russia, China, and Iran are the New Axis powers. Between them they have everything they need (armies, nukes, oil revenues) to take over half the world, especially when the weak and woke West is "too civilized" to do a damn thing about it.

During 1945 when Russia was invading Germany from the East and then sacking Berlin, the Russian Army was actually encouraged by their officers to terrorize the civilian population. As many as 3 million German women and girls were brutalized and raped, often gang-raped. I wonder how CNN and the rest of their oh-so-progressive ilk will live with that reality playing out in front of their smug self-righteous retarded faces.

Nope, wrong again. As it turns out the biggest of your axis, Russia, is a paper tiger. It's getting its ass kicked by Ukraine. So much so, at least half its hardware is destroyed and its original army troops are long dead or wounded, and out of the fight. Their current front-line troops have been in the military for about a month.

China is clasping in dept and doing what it can to avoid American sanctions. Iran is about to get crushed because it's fucking with Israel.

T

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Monday, September 9, 2024 11:11 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM: Sunday, February 27, 2022 3:13 PM

SIGNYM

Kiev surrounded, says the mayor.

Comrade signym, it is now 9/9/2024. So if you're correct, Russia was such a shit army they not only could not take Kiev, they got their asses kick and had to retreat. And hey, what contributed to this Debock'll? The Russians forgot to bring food and fuel.

Can you see me laughing?

T

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Monday, September 9, 2024 11:17 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:
Originally posted by THG:

All flights out of Russia, commercial or otherwise, are prohibited from flying over Europe.

That's huge...

T

Sounds racist to me.

Oh. Not this time, huh?

What, get a dictionary and look up the word stupid.

T

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Monday, September 9, 2024 11:25 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Wasted effort on your part, Ted.

There's not a single thing you would ever post that I'd look at other than to ridicule and mock how gullible and useless you are.

Of course, because you feel the same about any information that disputes your way of thinking. You've said it a thousand times. Mainstream media, their educated experienced guests and their reporting is nothing but lies. You're unteachable, which is why you flunked out of school three times.

T

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Monday, September 9, 2024 12:17 PM

OK, everybody all at once; laugh...

T

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Monday, September 9, 2024 1:30 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by captaincrunch:

What an evil selfish prick Putin is. Does anyone but him benefit from this? And now? After 2 years of covid crap? Kill thousands and crash the world economy so he can redraw a MAP?!?? What fcking dinosaur. I look forward to watching this blow up in his face.

THUGR: Hey G. Can you stick around a bit? It would be so so good to have another sane person keeping tabs on this. Also, its' good to see you.

G (AKA CAPNCRUNCH, AND TOO MANY OTHER NAMES TO REMEMBER) : Hey T - good to see you as well. I've checked in from time to time, but sadly nothing ever seems to change. Same broken logic, same idiocy, same lack of any intelligent discussion. Just stupid blah blah and repeat. We'll see.

THUGR: In case you're watching G, I've decided to repost some bits of Signyms posts to show how she changed her Rederic about Russia's prowess. And threats to use nuclear weapons.

Stop in, we'll chat.

Looking forward to those reposts.

BTW its RHETORIC. I have no idea who Rederic is.

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Monday, September 9, 2024 1:35 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Yeah! Let's provoke our way into nuclear Armageddon!
/snark
The only country that has ever nuked women, children, and old men is the United States. The US did it twice and would have kept dropping bombs week after week after week. Russia should worry about provoking the US to nuke Moscow. Is Russia brave enough to nuke Washington DC? Not going to happen because the Russians know in their bones they will all die if they do.

So now you're saying the USA is more evil than Russia?

Dood, you're confusing yourself.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
Or, any verification or thought.

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Monday, September 9, 2024 1:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by THG:
Quote:
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

Wasted effort on your part, Ted.

There's not a single thing you would ever post that I'd look at other than to ridicule and mock how gullible and useless you are.

A lot of good that degree did you, Ted. You're living out the rest of your sad and lonely life in a studio apartment with no surviving family members that talk to you and no friends, living paycheck to paycheck off your Social Security checks.

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

Trump will be fine.
He will also be your next President.

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Monday, September 9, 2024 5:11 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Quote:
Originally posted by captaincrunch:

What an evil selfish prick Putin is. Does anyone but him benefit from this? And now? After 2 years of covid crap? Kill thousands and crash the world economy so he can redraw a MAP?!?? What fcking dinosaur. I look forward to watching this blow up in his face.

THUGR: Hey G. Can you stick around a bit? It would be so so good to have another sane person keeping tabs on this. Also, its' good to see you.

G (AKA CAPNCRUNCH, AND TOO MANY OTHER NAMES TO REMEMBER) : Hey T - good to see you as well. I've checked in from time to time, but sadly nothing ever seems to change. Same broken logic, same idiocy, same lack of any intelligent discussion. Just stupid blah blah and repeat. We'll see.

THUGR: In case you're watching G, I've decided to repost some bits of Signyms posts to show how she changed her Rederic about Russia's prowess. And threats to use nuclear weapons.

Stop in, we'll chat.

Looking forward to those reposts.

BTW its RHETORIC. I have no idea who Rederic is.

Still looking forward to those reposts.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
Or, any verification or thought.

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Monday, September 9, 2024 5:16 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Of course, because you feel the same about any information that disputes your way of thinking. You've said it a thousand times. Mainstream media, their educated experienced guests and their reporting is nothing but lies. You're unteachable, which is why you flunked out of school three times.

Well, I DIDN'T flunk out. I graduated from a large, competitive university suma cum laude majoring in chemistry, with a minor in physics. Worked as a supervising chemist in a legally sensitive environment.

And even I think you're closed minded as all hell.

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
Or, any verification or thought.

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Tuesday, September 10, 2024 6:53 AM

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

I expect Signym to believe the Ukrainians are lying about Russia using banned chemical weapons. If "summa cum laude" Signym does comment, the story will be flipped upside down, with Ukrainians using banned chemicals:

Ukrainian officials continue to warn that Russian forces are increasingly using chemical weapons in Ukraine. Ukraine's Support Forces Command reported on September 9 that Russian forces used ammunition equipped with dangerous chemicals and chemical agents 447 times in August 2024 and 4,035 times between February 15, 2023 and August 24, 2024.[23] The Ukrainian Support Forces Command stated that Russian forces are using K-51 and RG-VO gas grenades to deliver munitions containing banned chemical agents and are also using unidentified chemical compounds. Ukrainian officials, and a Russian military unit, have previously reported on increasingly common instances of Russian forces using chemical agents in combat that are banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which Russia is a signatory.[24]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-9-2024

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

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Wednesday, September 11, 2024 6:16 AM

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

The German-based Kiel Institute for the World Economy published a report on September 9 warning that Russia has significantly increased its defense industrial base (DIB) capabilities since 2022 and that depleting weapons and equipment stockpiles may not significantly impact future Russian DIB production.[74]

The Kiel Institute reported that between the final quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2024, Russia increased tank production by 215 percent from 123 to 387 per quarter; armored vehicle production by 141 percent from 585 to 1,409 per quarter; artillery gun production by 149 percent from 45 to 112 per quarter; short-range air defense systems by 200 percent from nine to 38 per quarter; medium- and long-range air defense systems by 100 percent from six to 12 per quarter; and Lancet loitering munitions by 475 percent from 93 to 535 per quarter. The Kiel Institute caveated these statistics with the fact that 80 percent of Russian armored vehicle and tank production thus far has been a result of retrofitting existing tank hulls from pre-existing stockpiles rather than producing new vehicles, but warned that Russian armored vehicle production may not significantly decrease when Russia's existing stockpiles run out. The Kiel Institute assessed that Russia's armored vehicle production rate will likely decrease beginning in 2026 as Russia burns through its Soviet-era stockpiles but that Russia will likely open new production lines in the coming years to prepare to mitigate that effect.

The Kiel Institute estimated that Russia will likely produce 350 modern tanks per year after 2026 even if Russia does not open additional production lines. The Kiel Institute also warned that Russia is working to increase domestic production of "rear systems" such as artillery and air defense and reduce its reliance on pre-existing stockpiles of such systems.

The Kiel Institute also credited North Korean ammunition provisions with giving Russia a "strong oversupply" of artillery ammunition and reported that Russian forces are firing 10,000 shells per day.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-10-2024

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

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Wednesday, September 11, 2024 10:18 AM

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

Harris-Trump Presidential Debate

September 11, 2024, 12:28 AM

https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/09/11/harris-trump-debate-foreign-polic
y-election/

Russia-Ukraine

Asked whether he would like to see Ukraine win the war against Russia, Trump responded that he wants to stop the war and pledged to “settle” the war before taking office if he wins in November, without offering any details as to how he would accomplish that. “What I’ll do is I’ll speak to one and I’ll speak to the other,” he said. “I’ll get them together.”

He reiterated his past claim that the war would never have happened had he been in office instead of Biden and insisted that he is more respected by world leaders than Biden or Harris is. “I know [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky very well, and I know [Russian President Vladimir] Putin very well,” he said. “They respect me. They don’t respect Biden.”

Trump also touted the support he has gotten from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has visited Trump in Florida twice this year and bragged that he has “deep involvement” in the Trump team’s policy deliberations. Orban maintains close ties with Putin and has repeatedly tried to curtail Europe’s attempts to aid and arm Ukraine. “Let me just say about world leaders, Viktor Orban, one of the most respected men, they call him a strong man. He’s a tough person. Smart prime minister of Hungary. They said, ‘Why is the whole world blowing up?’” Trump said.

“[Orban] said, ‘Because you need Trump back as president. They were afraid of him. China was afraid.’ And I don’t like to use the word ‘afraid,’ but I’m just quoting him. ‘China was afraid of him. North Korea was afraid of him.’ Look at what’s going on with North Korea, by the way. He said, ‘Russia was afraid of him,’” Trump added.

Trump also criticized the Biden administration for how much it has spent on defending Ukraine compared with how much European countries have spent. But total European aid to Ukraine actually exceeds U.S. aid to the country, both in terms of pledged commitments and actual allocations, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker.

Asked how she would deal with Putin and whether her approach would diverge from Biden’s, Harris highlighted the role she played in the run-up to the invasion, including meeting with Zelensky at the Munich Security Conference in February 2022 to deliver the latest U.S. intelligence assessments warning of Russia’s plans, less than a week before Russian troops streamed into Ukraine.

The vice president recounted the Biden administration’s record on the war, rallying allies in support of Kyiv and providing critical military aid. “Because of our support, because of the air defense, the ammunition, the artillery, the Javelins, the Abrams tanks that we have provided, Ukraine stands as an independent and free country.”

Harris did not offer any forward-looking agenda as to how she may look to support Ukraine in a potential future administration or any clues as to where she stands on the ongoing debate over whether to allow Ukraine to use U.S. long-range missiles to strike targets deep in Russia.

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

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Thursday, September 12, 2024 11:39 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

I think that Russia's path to military victory in Ukraine seems pretty clear. Despite massive provocation from Ukraine, the USA, and Britain (drone strikes on civilians, invasion into Kursk, and now USA and UK targetng of longer range missiles on targets in Russia proper) , Russia hasn't taken the bait.

This has caused frustration in Russia and some reputational damage for Putin, but it's sustainable as long as Russia is winning in Ukraine.

Russia is clearly working on collapsing Kiev's army. There are already local collapses on the Donbas front, with newly mobilized and poorly motivated, badly trained troops running away or getting slaughtered. IMHO the focus is on Pokrovsk, but Russia will advance wherever a weakness presents itself (like Ugledar), and simply attrit Kiev forces where their defense is strong.

The bigger problem is, what happens near the end? There will be some sort of laying down of arms, but quite possibly no formal surrender by Zelenskiy or other Kiev politicians. Who then to negotiate with?

Furthermore, some BRICS nations and wannabes (India, Brazil, Turkey), sensing the end is nigh and anxious to burnish their credit with the USA over possible secondary USA banking sanctions, have been pressing Russia to negotiate now. Russia has already told them to buzz off.

I think this all comes to a boil at the BRICS summit in Kazan Oct 22-24, when BRICS nations will be presented with the oppty to join a non-SWIFT interbank messaging system that could both provoke and protect them from secondary USA banking sanctions. Such systems are already in place in Russia, China, and India, the issue is to coordinate them. This may polarize world banking system if the USA intends to make SWIFT exclusive.

My sense is that Russia has been going slow, militarily, because not only does it suit their attritional style of warfare, they've been waiting for trade, political, and financial arrangements to catch up. But with the BRICS meeting coming up, Russia may step on the gas, militarily, to present some of the wavering states with a fait accompli.

Nations at the meeting maybface the same choice as Ukraine in 2014, when the west made Yanukovich choose between trade with the EU or trade with the EAEU. (EAEU was OK with joint trade relationships) If these nations choose not to join the new interbank system bc the USA insists on exclusivity, what then for BRICS?

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
Or, any verification or thought.

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Friday, September 13, 2024 6:25 AM

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

What Will Shake Russians' Apathy Toward the War?

By Vladislav Inozemtsev, Ph.D. in economics, serves as a special advisor to the Russian Media Studies Project at MEMRI, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

Sept 12, 2024

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/12/what-will-shake-russians-apa
thy-toward-the-war-a86335

A number of analysts have recently attempted to explain why Russian society is so indifferent to the ongoing war, including the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ incursion into the Kursk region. Russians are also indifferent to the recent elections, which ended without a single surprise, and to corruption, which has reached a completely unprecedented scale.

Researchers attribute this to a societal tendency: “In response to radical and significant external changes, which to us as observers seem colossal, Russian society tends to minimize changes in its way of life, thinking and emotions.”

This may be true, but it is not quite clear to me why we are discussing “Russian society” in the first place. It seems that this society does not even exist in a meaningful sense — there is only a collection of individuals who are profoundly alienated from one another.

But in this case, the source of indifference becomes clearer — and much more rational and thorough.

In a relatively normal (I don't like this word, but I won't try to find another one right now) society, a person devotes the most attention to what directly affects their lives, and much less to what has a limited impact. This gives rise to a situation in which people are primarily concerned with their families, jobs, income, material living conditions and social security prospects.

They tend to focus less on issues that affect their communities like infrastructure, state development, preservation of historical heritage or environmental concerns. Issues like foreign policy, defense doctrine and the global balance of power occupy even less of their attention.

This distribution of attention sustains a fairly stable social system, creating a cohesive society built on the interaction of individual interests.

In the Russian context, this dynamic looks different.

Atomized individuals are almost exclusively concerned with their personal interests. They strive to preserve what they've achieved — which is why most people do not even consider attempting to protest, which would bring them significant problems — and, on the other hand, to improve their living conditions.

In this system, the war and the increasing authoritarianism of the regime barely register. While these events make life harder for hundreds of thousands of people — perhaps even millions, when factoring in psychological strain — a much larger number sees them as an opportunity for additional income, government benefits or new job prospects. The extreme rationality of Russians’ individual behavior ensures that the state remains unthreatened by potential dissent.

This atomization also leads to a neglect of the public sphere. For many people, owning an apartment is more important than enjoying a well-maintained urban environment. Having a private car is more valued than good public roads, and access to private healthcare is prioritized over functional public clinics. This allows the authorities to embezzle as much as they want and throw trillions of rubles away on a senseless war without public outcry. In an atomized society, spending on communal welfare feels irrelevant.

At the same time, this disunity fuels a compensatory desire for an abstract unity, provided by the state, which proclaims grandiose but largely unattainable goals that attract little scrutiny.

In a normal society, one could illustrate a person’s concerns as concentric circles, with the individual at the center and wider social and political issues radiating outward. But in Russia, this structure has been reduced to two “shining peaks” — individual self-interest and the Kremlin — with a vast desert of indifference in between.

In such a scenario, governance relies on two levers: improving people’s quality of life and feeding them demagoguery about national greatness. In the 2000s, Vladimir Putin emphasized the former. After 2014, he leaned heavily on the latter. By 2022, he had crafted a near-perfect blend of the two.

Throughout modern Russian history, people have never been deeply engaged or outraged by what happens in the space between the individual and the state. This explains why, over the past 30 years, Russia has seen a proliferation of consumer-oriented businesses — from trendy cafés to mobile communications and instant banking services — but no modern highway network, no high-speed trains and no improved living environments outside the megacities. (I am not talking about non-corrupt and efficient local and regional authorities).

The passivity of Russian citizens (not “society,” in the absence thereof), then, is not driven by apathy or emotion, but by a pragmatic calculation of interests.

Do people feel the injustice of corruption? Undoubtedly. But does it directly impact their personal interests? More often than not, the answer is no. In Russia, fighting corruption offers no tangible benefit to individual prosperity. Even if officials steal less, the money saved would likely go toward more bombs and missiles aimed at Ukraine, not toward better hospitals in remote regions.

Do people view the war as criminal and immoral? It’s not out of the question. Yet apart from the brief period of mobilization in the fall of 2022, the war has left most citizens unscathed. Any future consequences — such as reparations to Ukraine in the event of defeat, or the need to reconstruct occupied Ukrainian territories instead of roads and hospitals in Russia in the event of victory — seem distant and unthreatening. Few believe these outcomes would affect their pensions or salaries.

All of this explains the Russian opposition's complete inability to engage the public. Their slogans tend to focus either on moral issues — such as the immorality of war and the need for justice — or on institutional reforms like fighting corruption, democracy and government accountability. Meanwhile, the Kremlin is focused on what resonates with atomized individuals: handing out money and touting unattainable geopolitical ambitions.

Only two things could wake people from their apathy: either widespread poverty or the catastrophic collapse of these grand geopolitical dreams. So far, we have seen neither — let alone both at the same time. As a result, Putin’s stability seems poised to endure for decades to come.

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

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Friday, September 13, 2024 9:42 AM

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

Vladimir Putin Told To 'End The War In Ukraine In 5 Minutes With 1 Phone Call'

Poland's foreign minister also said the Russian president "wouldn't dare" start a war with the west.

By Kevin Schofield | 13/09/2024 11:19am BST

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/vladimir-putin-told-to-end-the-
war-in-ukraine-in-5-minutes-with-1-phone-call_uk_66e3fe7be4b03e3cc0ffd5a8

Vladimir Putin could end the war in Ukraine “in five minutes by making a phone call”, according to a senior diplomat.

Radek Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister also said the Russian president “wouldn’t dare” start a war with the West, despite his threats to do so.

Putin issued his warning about an escalation in the conflict as the UK and America prepare to give Ukraine the go-ahead to use British long-range missiles to attack targets in Russia.

Keir Starmer has arrived in Washington for talks with Joe Biden about the crisis, although no formal announcement is expected until next week at the earliest.

In response, Putin said that “would mean that Nato countries, the United States, and European countries, are at war with Russia”.

On Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Sikorski said: “When you supply weapons you usually allow the vicrtim of aggression to use all force necessary to counter the act of aggression, and it’s very difficult to know what to make of President Putin’s words because he is such a liar.

“He’s lost credibility and therefore we don’t know whether he means it.”

Asked about the threat of the war spreading, Sikorski said: “There are always risks, but I don’t think Russia would dare to start a war with Nato because Russia is finding it impossible to defeat Ukraine, let alone Nato.

“He could end this war in five minutes by making a phone call and he should.”

Speaking to reporters as he flew to Washington, Starmer insisted the UK does not “seek any conflict with Russia”.

But he added: “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia could end this conflict straight away.

“Ukraine has the right to self defence and we’ve obviously been absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine’s right to self-defence.”

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

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Friday, September 13, 2024 2:24 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

But "the west" wants to start a war with Russia.

Son, Ukraine's military is already toast.
It's the part that comes after that's still being worked out.

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Friday, September 13, 2024 2:38 PM

Fuck Ukraine.

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

Trump will be fine.
He will also be your next President.

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Saturday, September 14, 2024 6:11 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:
But "the west" wants to start a war with Russia.

Son, Ukraine's military is already toast.
It's the part that comes after that's still being worked out.

Are you misunderstanding war? It is trivial to start a war. "The west" doesn't need Russia's permission or cooperation to start a war. If Ukraine is toast, then the war would have already been over rather than building into more and more violence, month after month. Russia needs Ukrainians to fight on Russia's side. A Ukrainian teenager would have to be stupid to join their enemy's army but I am sure weak-willed dimwits would. I have seen that kind in America. When they reach voting age, they become Trumptards.

Russian authorities continue attempts to coerce minorities and Ukrainian youth living in occupied Ukraine to sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense (MoD) to avoid conducting a wider mobilization. Luhansk Oblast Military Administration Head Artem Lysohor stated on September 13 that Russian occupation authorities distributed materials encouraging Ukrainian high school students at schools in occupied Starobilsk, Luhansk Oblast to sign military service contracts with the Russian MoD.[82] Indian news media New Delhi Television (NDTV), referencing the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), reported on September 13 that unspecified Russian actors deceived 45 Indian citizens into signing a contract with the Russian MoD and have since been released after intervention by the Indian government.[83] Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra stated on July 9 that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “strongly” raised the need for Russia to facilitate the early discharge of Indian nationals “who have been misled” into fighting in Ukraine as part of the Russian military during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on July 8.[84]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campai
gn-assessment-september-13-2024

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

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Saturday, September 14, 2024 10:21 AM

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

Trump wants Ukraine to surrender to Putin

J.D. Vance has let slip Donald Trump's secret plan for peace in Ukraine:

Mr. Vance said Mr. Trump would sit down with Russians, Ukrainians and Europeans and say, “You guys need to figure out what a peaceful settlement looks like.” The Russians would retain the land they have taken and Russia would get a “guarantee of neutrality” from Ukraine. “It doesn’t join NATO, it doesn’t join some of these sort of allied institutions,” Mr. Vance said. “I think that’s ultimately what this looks like.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/13/us/politics/vance-trump-ukraine-rus
sia-war.html

Stop me if I'm missing something, but Trump’s deal Vance has outlined is "Putin gets everything he wants." I expected a little more from the master of dealmaking. And in a laughable coda, Vance added that the Ukrainian side of the new border would be "heavily fortified" to make sure Putin can't reopen the war later. I'm sure this latter day Maginot Line would work great.

So much for the Churchill of the modern world. I assume Vance was chosen to deliver this message so that Trump can repudiate it if the snickering gets to be too much.

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

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Saturday, September 14, 2024 12:15 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
But "the west" wants to start a war with Russia.

Son, Ukraine's military is already toast.
It's the part that comes after that's still being worked out.

SECOND: Are you misunderstanding war? It is trivial to start a war. "The west" doesn't need Russia's permission or cooperation to start a war.
If Ukraine is toast, then the war would have already been over rather than building into more and more violence, month after month.

Now would be an appropriate time to think about how WWII ended in Europe. The last year had the highest casualties, the vast majority on the Eastern Front.
Various tables
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_casualties_in_World_War_II

Quote:
SECOND Russia needs Ukrainians to fight on Russia's side. A Ukrainian teenager would have to be stupid to join their enemy's army but I am sure weak-willed dimwits would. I have seen that kind in America. When they reach voting age, they become Trumptards.

This takes the weekly prize for tortured logic. I think it's an attempted segue from YOUR post to someone else's unacknowledged writing, while jamming in a reference to "Trumptards", but all you managed was garbled hate speech.

Warmongers kill nations in order to "preserve" them and destroy democracy to in order to "protect" it. Their highest goal is world dominance, and they become worse than their worst enemy in the process.

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Saturday, September 14, 2024 1:12 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

So I've been thinking about "long range missiles striking Russia".

Like everything else about this conflict, it's been grossly lied about in western media.

Despite what you heard to read over and over, Ukrainians don't need our "permission" to use our long range missiles to strike Russia.

They need our military technicians, IN UKRAINE, to do it for them.

Kiev doesn't have satellite intel. Kiev's soldiers and technicians don't have access to the targeting interface. They don't know how to program those misiles with our proprietary targeting software.

If you read about long-range missile strikes into Russia, it's not Ukraine firing those missiles, IT'S US. And THAT is Russia's actual red line, an actual cause for war, and a cause for Russian retaliation.

Lloyd Austin, Sec Def, knows this, and that's why he's very much against it. But Blinken and Sullivan are so ideologically possesed, so divorced from reality and the consequences of open war with Russia, they're all for it. They think it matters that they can portray Russian retaliation as "unprovked" to low informations Americans, which is most of us.

But Russia knows the truth.
And now, so do you. (I've posted about this before, but this FACT has been deliberately buried in a torrent of bullshit.)

*****

On to other things.

Russia's BRICS partners are pressuring Russia to negotiate a settlement NOW. With military victory in sight, that's the last thing the Kremlin wants. (Russia will be happy to take Kiev's surrender, tho, when the time is right.)

But Russia doesn't want to appear intransigent, so they've been forced to entertain various unacceptable "peace deals" from their BRICS partners to string things along until military victory.

Fortunately for Russia, cokehead Zelenskiy is their secret ally. He's doing everything in HIS power to torpedo negotiations, and his latest stunt was an apparently scatological diatribe against Brazil and China, who have offered their mediation services.
Good on you, Z!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Why SECOND'S posts are brainless: "I clocked how much time: no more than 10 minutes per day. With cut-and-paste (Ctrl C and Ctrl V) and AI, none of this takes much time."
Or, any verification or thought.

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Sunday, September 15, 2024 7:13 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:
So I've been thinking about "long range missiles striking Russia".

Like everything else about this conflict, it's been grossly lied about in western media.

Despite what you heard to read over and over, Ukrainians don't need our "permission" to use our long range missiles to strike Russia.

They need our military technicians, IN UKRAINE, to do it for them.

Kiev doesn't have satellite intel. Kiev's soldiers and technicians don't have access to the targeting interface. They don't know how to program those misiles with our proprietary targeting software.

If you read about long-range missile strikes into Russia, it's not Ukraine firing those missiles, IT'S US. And THAT is Russia's actual red line, an actual cause for war, and a cause for Russian retaliation.

Lloyd Austin, Sec Def, knows this, and that's why he's very much against it. But Blinken and Sullivan are so ideologically possesed, so divorced from reality and the consequences of open war with Russia, they're all for it. They think it matters that they can portray Russian retaliation as "unprovked" to low informations Americans, which is most of us.

But Russia knows the truth.
And now, so do you. (I've posted about this before, but this FACT has been deliberately buried in a torrent of bullshit.)

Signym and Putin are full of shit. Putin will not shoot down the NATO nations airplanes, sink ships, blow up factories and famous landmarks. He is huffing and puffing and bluffing, the old belligerent fool and his ramshackle nation, just a big North Korea.

Sweden, Finland will not prohibit Ukraine from striking Russia with its weapons amid Putin's threats to NATO

By Kateryna Hodunova | September 13, 2024 10:24 PM

https://kyivindependent.com/sweden-finland-not-to-prohibit-ukraine-fro
m-striking-russia-with-its-weapons-amid-putins-threats-to-nato/

Helsinki and Stockholm declared on Sept. 13 that they would not prohibit Ukraine from attacking Russia with their weapons amid Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent threats against NATO.

The day before, Putin said that Ukraine's use of Western long-range weapons against Russia would mean that NATO countries were directly involved in the full-scale war. According to Putin, allowing Ukraine to use such weapons would change the "nature of the conflict," meaning that NATO countries would be fighting against Russia.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, during a joint press conference with her Swedish counterpart Maria Malmer Stenergard, said that the only restriction for Ukraine is that Western weapons supplied by Finland must be used in accordance with international law, the media outlet YLE reported.

Malmer Stenergard echoed Valtonen's stance, adding that the use of Swedish-provided weapons is not limited to the territory of Ukraine and can be used to strike Russia.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who held a press conference on the same day, said that Canada "fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry to prevent and interdict Russia's continued ability to degrade Ukrainian civilian infrastructure" and kill civilians, the Canadian public broadcaster CBC News reported.

"(Putin) is trying to extremely destabilize the rules-based international order that protects all of us, not just in every democracy in the world, but in every country in the world," Trudeau said.

Ukraine has received shipments of long-range U.S.-made ATACMS and U.K.-made Storm Shadow missiles, but the two countries have not permitted their use inside Russian territory so far.

While Western countries eased restrictions on the use of certain arms just across the border after a Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast in May, limits on long-range strikes deep inside Russia remained in place.

Multiple Western outlets, such as Politico and the Guardian, recently wrote that this position may be shifting as U.S. and U.K. officials are preparing plans to ease the restrictions further.

http://fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=24342

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Sunday, September 15, 2024 4:34 PM

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

“This Is Standard Kremlin Nonsense” – U.S. Department of State

Sep 15, 2024 at 4:08 PM EDT

https://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-solovyov-says-putin-already-has-basi
s-start-nuclear-war-1954049

During a recent Russian-state media program, Russian TV host Vladimir Solovyov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin already has a "basis to start a nuclear war" based on the country's current nuclear doctrine.

"We have a very simple problem. First, they were striking against our eyes that would detect a nuclear strike against Russia. According to our doctrine, this is already a basis to start a nuclear war against them," Solovyov said in a translated video posted to YouTube on Saturday by the Russian Media Monitor watchdog group.

He added: "You say that everything is going according to plan. Pardon me, but the Nazi troops have invaded the territory of the Kursk region. This isn't part of the plan. We have a clear and concise doctrine and we act according to it, including the use of nuclear weapons."

The Kremlin has repeatedly attempted to justify its invasion by claiming a "neo-Nazi regime" is in charge in Kyiv. This has been emphatically rejected by Ukraine and the international community.

This is not the first time Russians have warned of a nuclear response. Former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Putin, issued a new nuclear response warning on Saturday stating that it would be a decision with "irreversible consequences."

In a Saturday Telegram post, Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council and former Russian president, spoke about a nuclear response and said that it is a "hugely complex decision with irreversible consequences," but warned that "you can only test someone's patience for so long."

"Yet, Russia has been patient. It is obvious that a nuclear response is a hugely complex decision with irreversible consequences. What arrogant Anglo-Saxon dimwits fail to admit, though, is that you can only test someone's patience for so long," Medvedev said.

He added: "It will turn out in the end that certain moderate Western analysts were right when they warned: 'True, the Russians are not likely to use this response, although...it's still a possibility. Besides, they may use new delivery vehicles with conventional payloads.' And then—it's over. A giant blot of molten-grey mass in the place where 'the mother of Russian cities' [historical name of Kiev] once stood. Holy s***, it's impossible, but it happened..."

Responding to a previous inquiry from Newsweek, the U.S. Department of State dismissed the seriousness of Medvedev's various statements.

"We know by now not to take Medvedev seriously," a department spokesperson wrote. "This is standard Kremlin nonsense."

Medvedev will conceal his identity after the war is over.
After his failure to capture River Tam. The Operative, Chiwetel Ejiofor, as Lola in "Kinky Boots" (2005)
http://fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=22444

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

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Sunday, September 15, 2024 4:48 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by second:
After his failure to capture River Tam. The Operative, Chiwetel Ejiofor, as Lola in "Kinky Boots" (2005)
http://fireflyfans.net/bluesun.aspx?bid=22444

I'm sure that in Whedon's future Universe, had he not been #MeToo'd, that drag queens would be commonplace and that disguise wouldn't fly anymore.

Doesn't Disney technically own Firefly now? Probably coming sooner than you think, whether Joss is a part of it or not.

Watch all the decades of collective love for Firefly peter out and die if they do it.

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

Trump will be fine.
He will also be your next President.

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Sunday, September 15, 2024 7:04 PM