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Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The words do not have to be perfect.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

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The willow is too close to the house.

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Nothing worth doing is easy.

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There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

“I never thought they’d lock HIM up,” sobbed a distraught member of the Lock Her Up Party.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

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It’s the corruption, stupid.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

“Look, it’s not against the rules anywhere, but a black woman with power was dating and there has to be something wrong with that.”

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

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There is one struggling party in US right now, and it’s not the Democrats.

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You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Countries / Canada / Sunday Morning Open Thread: Foreign Affairs News Updates

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Foreign Affairs News Updates

by Anne Laurie|  February 20, 20229:55 am| 314 Comments

This post is in: Canada, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Russia

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'There's a price to pay for what Putin has put us through now. This isn't, bully the world and then take a walk and you're off the hook,' U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after participating in security talks in Germany pic.twitter.com/ypHVV4lIfb

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 20, 2022

The thing about Biden is that he would much rather be embarrassed than right on this one, which is why he's a good president. https://t.co/ukaaJLShnE

— Jeff Fecke (@jkfecke) February 18, 2022

??Asked what US should be prepared to brace for if “war” happens, @VP Kamala Harris tells me Americans may have to “put ourselves out there” and may see energy costs rise. “But we are taking very specific and appropriate I believe steps to mitigate what that cost, if it happens.” pic.twitter.com/Wcqi31OYxk

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 20, 2022

VP Kalama Harris using word "war" for 1st time. At Munich gaggle, she declared US intel solid: "Putin has made his decision. Period.” She sidestepped Zelenskiy's criticism, said US won't impose sanctions ahead of Russia invasion, suggested SWIFT action may happen if escalation. pic.twitter.com/AVdNzFIKXr

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) February 20, 2022

This is my shocked face. https://t.co/9KbZa6nczF

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) February 20, 2022

************

Canadian police make final push to end weeks-long protest in capital https://t.co/RIGNCNndzn pic.twitter.com/vvKsNp4dl9

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 20, 2022

BREAKING:

The Mayor of Ottawa just said the city is looking into selling the seized trucks from the Freedumb Truckers to help offset costs of the occupation.

Brilliant. ??????

— THE SAD TRUTH (@SmnWeekly) February 19, 2022

Tell me you don’t know a thing about Tiananmen without telling me. https://t.co/S1pOGUZopv

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec) February 19, 2022

I swear I will physically tackle the next person who pulls up references to tank man, June 4th massacre, the Cultural Revolution in relation to the current crackdown in Ottawa.

don't test me, I played rugby & I hit hard.

— Cherie Wong ??? ??x3 (@chercywong) February 19, 2022

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Previous Post: « Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Resist the Cruel Winter
Next Post: A Little Kindness To Begin The Week A Little Kindness To Begin The Week»

Reader Interactions

314Comments

  1. 1.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 10:06 am

    The Times reports that people have noticed that Putin “has fundamentally changed amid the pandemic, a shift that may have left him more paranoid, more aggrieved, and more reckless.” Two years since the onset of COVID, the Russian leader remains severely isolated, interacting with cabinet officials largely via video and keeping trips abroad to a minimum. When he does have to meet people face-to-face in Moscow, whether it’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov or French president Emmanuel Macron, they must first pass through a “disinfection tunnel” and then sit at a social distance of Olympian proportions, at tables so long that they have become a physical manifestation of Putin’s remoteness from the rest of the world.

  2. 2.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 10:09 am

    I just can’t with the ignorance (distortion, aka LIES) of the various historical references used by the RW (genocide! Tiananmen! Cultural Revolution!). I have personal connections to all three events, and Ottawa isn’t even in the same solar system, make that universe. Same goes for vaccinating and mask-wearing. Sheesh.

    Edited.

  3. 3.

    Sure Lurkalot

    February 20, 2022 at 10:11 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: The contortions the right wing needs to go through to be Team Covid are amazing.

  4. 4.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 10:15 am

    @Sure Lurkalot: At this point, apart from their puppetmasters, I don’t think it’s contortions for them. Ignorance and stupidity provide fertile ground for their fevered imaginations.

  5. 5.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 10:17 am

    Jamie Raskin: “The Republican Party is almost like a religious cult surrounding an organized crime family.”

    — Duty To Warn ? (@duty2warn) February 19, 2022

  6. 6.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 10:20 am

    @germy: He’s such a candyass.

    ETA: When I think about my friends, vaccinated with what’s available to them (Sputnik), having to move through crowded Moscow, losing people right and left, and instead of working to make things better, he tries to take over another country.

  7. 7.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2022 at 10:20 am

    Zelensky is right and Harris is wrong. Sanctions should have already been ramped up.

  8. 8.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 10:20 am

    Happy anniversary to this murder. Clean kill. No notes. pic.twitter.com/inhglEzEEh

    — tré easton (@treeaston) February 19, 2022

    there aren't a whole lot of things I enjoyed more than Morning Joe's presidential candidate getting ethered on live television; so glorious watching him eat shit, let's remember to do the same to Eric Adams in 2024 https://t.co/JbCiPrZmck

    — Jason Linkins (@dceiver) February 20, 2022

  9. 9.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 10:21 am

    I’m tempted to wear masks forever just to own the cons.

  10. 10.

    Low Key Swagger

    February 20, 2022 at 10:22 am

    Still looking for the link, but there’s a great bit of reporting wrt to the situation in Belarus.  Covid running rampant thru the ranks, demoralized and bored soldiers selling off fuel and equipment, locals complaining of troops stealing livestock to eat, assault and rapes on the rise etc.  I followed a Twitter link and can’t find it, so, apologies, but if you have strong Google-fu you could find and link here.

  11. 11.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 10:23 am

    I was very happy to wake up to no war, but am also happy because this:

    Wordle 246 2/6

    ?⬜??⬜
    ?????

  12. 12.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 10:24 am

    Informative thread:

    A lesson in how misinformation becomes fact in too many minds. Thread:

    Meet @SaraCarterDC. Her bio says she's an award winning correspondent who works with @FoxNews.

    Three hours ago, Sara tweeted that someone in the occupier demo died after police on horses pushed through. 1/ pic.twitter.com/fpaYDctQVn

    — The Family Soup Company (@mypoortiredsoul) February 19, 2022

  13. 13.

    Low Key Swagger

    February 20, 2022 at 10:25 am

    https://twitter.com/kshmatsina/status/1494655948912267264

  14. 14.

    bbleh

    February 20, 2022 at 10:26 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: They’re like low-end 2-year-olds; they have no ability to modulate.  It’s all or nothing: dull blankness or screaming outrage.  I think it’s in part because they’re such anger junkies — they live to be angry, and if they don’t have something to be angry about, they’ll invent it — and in part because they’re so far down their own paranoid rabbit hole that any disagreement is seen as an existential threat.

    This btw is one of the reasons I no longer listen to people who say we have to change our “message” or our actions to appeal to them or avoid antagonizing them; they can’t be appealed to, and they live to be antagonized.

  15. 15.

    New Deal democrat

    February 20, 2022 at 10:27 am

    I have put some further thought into the question of why Putin didn’t invade Ukraine during Trump’s presidency. My initial thought was that it was because Trump is so unstable that he couldn’t be trusted *not* to launch the nukes.  But on further reflection, I think there is a better explanation.

    Putin’s most far reaching goal, according to several analyses I have read, is to break apart NATO and cause the US to leave Europe. He believed the US was at its most vulnerable and that he had the most leverage.

    In that context, reuniting the lands of the former USSR was to be undertaken in a manner that most advanced his first goal above.

    If we look at it that way, all of Putin’s actions make sense. There have been several press accounts that one of Trump’s big agenda items, had he been re-elected, was to pull the US out of NATO (I wonder if that was among the marching orders Putin gave him at Helsinki). He certainly did order the Pentagon to move troops out of Germany in the last several months of his presidency, so there is objective evidence in support of this proposition.

    Had Trump been re-elected and pulled the US out of NATO, the US for all intents and purposes would simply be gone. Putin could then have marched into, not just Ukraine, but presumably the Baltics as well, with no organized international military opposition and most likely no unified European economic front either. There is also a  good chance that with a weakened and divided Europe he could have at least pressed “Finlandization” on the former Warsaw Pact countries, if not station Russian troops there as before 1989.

    I think that was Putin’s “Plan A.” But Trump didn’t get re-elected, so he went with “Plan B.” If that is the case, it is no coincidence that Russia’s de facto annexation of Belarus, as well as the military buildup around Ukraine, started last year almost as soon as Biden was sworn in as US President.

    Putin is still hoping to exert maximum pressure to destabilize NATO (and may be succeeding somewhat with Germany, which wants its Russian gas). But, even if under Plan B he doesn’t succeed in driving the US out, or causing the breakup of NATO, he still gets his nearer goal of reconstituting as much of the old USSR as currently possible, with the hope that if Trump is re-elected in 2024, or another compromised GOP toady is elected, he can proceed with the rest of Plan A then.

    Again, once we hypothesize that Putin’s wider goal is destroying NATO, then his timing makes perfect sense.

  16. 16.

    Chip Daniels

    February 20, 2022 at 10:29 am

    The Temper Tantrum Truckers are an example of white privilege in action.

    They aren’t suffering from any oppression, and don’t have popular support, but feel entitled to rule regardless.

  17. 17.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 10:29 am

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Then what would Putin have to lose by starting a war? He’d know Russia’s “punishment” and just ramp up his response.

  18. 18.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2022 at 10:30 am

    @New Deal democrat: He cannot occupy a nation of 40 million with 150,000 troops.

  19. 19.

    RandomMonster

    February 20, 2022 at 10:30 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: I just can’t with the ignorance (distortion, aka LIES) of the various historical references

    Wait, you’re saying that quarantines in a hotel aren’t the same as Nazi concentration camps?

    (An ex-friend of mine used exactly that analogy. Sigh.)

  20. 20.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2022 at 10:32 am

    @debbie: Sanctions are not all or nothing. I said ramp up. Tighten screws slowly, but start already.

  21. 21.

    bbleh

    February 20, 2022 at 10:32 am

    @New Deal democrat: As has long been observed, Putin usually plays a bad hand well, but it’s still a bad hand.  And in this case, I’m not sure he hasn’t overplayed it.  If one of his goals here was/is to drive wedges into NATO, it certainly seems to have done the opposite, and even I can think of more effective (and subtle) ways of using the leverage his natural gas supply affords.

  22. 22.

    bbleh

    February 20, 2022 at 10:35 am

    And BTW, regarding Harris’s role, good on her and them for putting her out front, but I still think a President Nancy would scare the sh!t out of any opponent domestic or foreign.

  23. 23.

    Haydnseek

    February 20, 2022 at 10:36 am

    If I invent a word game relating to how shitty Mitch McConnell is I’m gonna call it Turdle.

  24. 24.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 10:37 am

    @RandomMonster:

    Besides the different conditions of confinement, the moral culpability of the people involved are not analogous.

  25. 25.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 10:38 am

    As has been widely reported in the press and @VP confirmed here at #MSC, the US and its allies plan to have ‘the largest and most severe <sanctions>, targeting <Russian> financial companies’https://t.co/McCBc4MNvN

    — Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) February 20, 2022

    In addition, there are reports of intention to use the foreign direct product rule to ban global exports of semiconductors to Russiahttps://t.co/bFqCAOmIIU

    — Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) February 20, 2022

    Make no mistake about this: the combination of sanctions on top Russian banks and ban on chips has high potential to cripple the Russian economy

    — Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) February 20, 2022

    And while many in the West may initially cheer at the prospect of crippling Russia economically and see it as a just punishment for invasion, it also has a high likelihood to trigger a massive retaliation from Russia

    — Dmitri Alperovitch (@DAlperovitch) February 20, 2022

  26. 26.

    New Deal democrat

    February 20, 2022 at 10:40 am

    @Gin & Tonic: @bbleh: 

    I didn’t say it was a great plan, or a plan that will succeed; just that I think it *is* his plan. Since obviously, he does have a plan.

  27. 27.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 10:41 am

    @Low Key Swagger:

    demoralized and bored soldiers selling off fuel and equipment, locals complaining of troops stealing livestock to eat, assault and rapes on the rise etc

    This was why Russia sent KGB combat battalions to Hungary in ’68, without the NKVD behind then with machine guns, the Russian Army loses focus fast

  28. 28.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 20, 2022 at 10:42 am

    @Haydnseek:

    Today is McConnell’s 80th birthday. All morning I’ve been singing:

    Happy birthday to you,

    You belong in a zoo.

    You look like a turtle,

    You smell like one too.

  29. 29.

    Spanky

    February 20, 2022 at 10:43 am

    @germy: “The Last Days of Vladimir Putin”. Coming soon to a bookseller near you.

    I wonder if he’s taken to wearing Kleenex boxes for slippers yet.

  30. 30.

    Betty Cracker

    February 20, 2022 at 10:44 am

    @Gin & Tonic: From what I’ve read, it’s difficult if not impossible to get all the sanction participants on board in the absence of further invasion, and imposing sanctions without unity on the question weakens them considerably.

  31. 31.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 20, 2022 at 10:46 am

    @Baud: As one who lives among the plague rats, I expect to.

  32. 32.

    New Breed Leader

    February 20, 2022 at 10:47 am

    @Haydnseek: LOL

  33. 33.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 10:47 am

    @germy: But she is – she won (really bought second hand) the famous “Golden Sow” award that belonged to Les Nessman. She thought it would look great in the Fake (aka fox) News trophy cabinet containing their “Golden Calf” award.

  34. 34.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 10:52 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    They understand history as well as they understand the Constitution. ?

  35. 35.

    Toadrick Elfheart

    February 20, 2022 at 10:52 am

    @New Deal democrat: I think his goal is restoring Imperial Russia, not the former country whose ideology is totally backwards from that of modern Russia.

  36. 36.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 10:53 am

    @Low Key Swagger:

    russian troops morale in belarus

    The info is coming from Radio Free Yada Yada and Anglo intel agencies. Are the soldiers doing that? Probably, they are bivouacked in tents in the forest, and the Russian Army historically doesn’t bother to pay the locals for supplies “we’re here to defend you, bitch”

     

    Just as likely the Army is doing this to put them in a killing mood

  37. 37.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 10:55 am

    @New Deal democrat: You do realize that even w/o the US, NATO forces are still significantly bigger and have far better/deadlier weapons then Russia. Also, France stands with NATO and Canada remains a member. Between the greater manpower, vastly better air forces and ground forces, Russia wouldn’t dare start a shooting war in the Baltics much less intimidate the former Warsaw members. Only in total nukes and subs does Russia stand well above Europe. Also, a direct attack on our former allies, even Dump couldn’t prevent a massive outcry that would make him look weak and spineless. Even putin knows that Dump would then have to react to protect his monstrous ego- and that would be scary since, unlike Biden, dump would consider nukes. Even putin isn’t that crazy

    Acting now only strengthens NATO as we are seeing.

    Putin has his reasons and they make sense but not for the reasons you are considering.

  38. 38.

    jonas

    February 20, 2022 at 10:56 am

    @Gin & Tonic: Make that 150,000 poorly trained and equipped conscripts who would probably rather be anywhere else right now than sitting around in sub-freezing weather waiting for Putin to shit or get off the can.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 20, 2022 at 10:58 am

    @The Pale Scot:

    RUSSIAN troops have seemingly taken to the bottle as Vladimir Putin faces a potentially critical break down in military morale.

    As I understand it, the only thing worse for Russian military morale than too much vodka, is not enough vodka.

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 11:01 am

    Jeffrey A. Tucker, reactionary asshat. What an imbecile. What an ultra maroon.

  41. 41.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 11:02 am

    @jonas: This is an accurate assessment, I believe.

  42. 42.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 11:03 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Soviet Air Force ground maintenance troops used to drink the alcohol out of the jets they maintained.

  43. 43.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 11:04 am

    Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was asked by ABC about the possibility of Russian tanks moving through the streets of Kyiv. “I mean that’s highly likely you could see that,” he said. “You could see a significant amount of combat power move very quickly to take Kyiv.”
    — Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) February 20, 2022

  44. 44.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:04 am

    @Baud: I haven’t had a cold, flu, or other airborne illness since we started wearing masks so long, long ago. Seems like a good reason to continue in public settings.

  45. 45.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:06 am

    @bbleh: Apart from the insult to two-year-olds, I agree with you. :)

  46. 46.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 11:06 am

    @jo6pac: О да, как американец вы это говорите? Интересно.

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 20, 2022 at 11:07 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: Sounds about right.

  48. 48.

    bbleh

    February 20, 2022 at 11:08 am

    @New Deal democrat: Yeah, I think he did — to the extent any plan is really useful — and I think he has now — with considerable help from Biden, who has played this very well — boxed himself in.

    And as so often seems to happen with military adventurism, pretty much everybody is going to end up losing…

  49. 49.

    Mike in NC

    February 20, 2022 at 11:09 am

    Switched on the boob tube this morning only to discover we’re facing numerous “crises”, including the Ukraine crisis, the inflation crisis, etc. and apparently there was even an avocado crisis, which was recently solved, thank God! Now I can sleep better at night.

    Funny how when Putin’s puppet was sitting at 1600, we never were warned about a crisis.

  50. 50.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 11:09 am

    @germy: Without massive infantry support, Russian tanks are easy to destroy using simple Molotov cocktails (thrown from second story buildings – their outer armor is based on mounted explosive charges to counter RPG’s) ; they lost a complete tank division in Chechnya by making that stupid move. More likely mobile mech forces would occupy the city with a few tanks in protected open areas.

  51. 51.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 20, 2022 at 11:09 am

    @jo6pac: Thanks for your perspective Vlad.

  52. 52.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 20, 2022 at 11:09 am

    I see a Russian troll has found this top 10,000 blog. I hope the next one can at least write passable English.

  53. 53.

    Chip Daniels

    February 20, 2022 at 11:10 am

    @jo6pac:

    Your English is almost fluent.

     

    Practice saying “Moose and Squirrel” a few times.

  54. 54.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 11:10 am

    Local residents are concerned with the behaviour of soldiers, who blow off steam & the article hints that soldiers from other parts of Russia (non-Slavic) are the centre of tensions. Nothing like racism to help an army unite. 3/9

    — Katsiaryna Shmatsina (@kshmatsina) February 18, 2022

    RU military seems to be stripping whole areas of forest of firewood to heat camps & food, leaving little left for locals to heat their homes. Nature park areas are also damaged with the Russian army not cleaning up after themselves. Sounds like a problem Napoleon would’ve had. 4/9

    — Katsiaryna Shmatsina (@kshmatsina) February 18, 2022

    An extended period of heavy vehicles in the area has damaged roads & other infrastructure. The article says the Russians don’t care and that probably there isn’t the money to repair what were new roads anyway. 5/9

    — Katsiaryna Shmatsina (@kshmatsina) February 18, 2022

    Videos of soldiers complaining of bad food have been uploaded to social media. If unable to barter for food (see next tweet), domestic animals vanish. Locals are too scared to report any of this to their authorities who probably can’t do much to young men with guns anyway. 7/9

    — Katsiaryna Shmatsina (@kshmatsina) February 18, 2022

    So Putin has to decide to invade soon or go home before those of his soldiers who aren’t incapacitated with COVID drink themselves to death after robbing his army blind leaving it unable to fight and stuck in a country they’ve trashed. 9/9

    — Katsiaryna Shmatsina (@kshmatsina) February 18, 2022

  55. 55.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:11 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: OMG, was that ever garbled. Maybe run through the beta version of google translate?

  56. 56.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 11:12 am

    @jo6pac: Hell, I think we have a real russian troll! Wow, we rate that high, now? John should be proud. Maybe an asswipe FSB but rather stupid  so more likely just putin. Hey putin, besides being a dead eye snake, killing russians via covid is your only talent.

  57. 57.

    bbleh

    February 20, 2022 at 11:14 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: Lol thus the modifier.  Definitely #notAllTwoYearOlds.  My great-nephew is one of the canniest little fkers I’ve ever seen …

  58. 58.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 11:14 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Oy.

  59. 59.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 11:14 am

    Честно говоря, я скучала по нашим троллям.

  60. 60.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 11:15 am

    @jo6pac:  I personally as an Amerikan

    "Hello, fellow kids" ;)#terapia #DDA #DDDR #nawesoło pic.twitter.com/UDrnhoLgFW

    — SPZTUiW (@SPZTUiW) February 13, 2022

  61. 61.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 11:15 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Maybe WaterGirl can get Vlad for the next BJ book club Zoom.

    Where is she anyway?  I haven’t seen her in a while.

  62. 62.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:16 am

    @zhena gogolia: It seems they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel now. Is it wrong to demand better-quality trolls?

  63. 63.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 11:16 am

    @zhena gogolia:

    Я начал думать, что мы потеряли влияние.

  64. 64.

    Jay

    February 20, 2022 at 11:17 am

    @jo6pac:

    Idiot obvious Russian troll, Ukraine isn’t a member of the EU.

  65. 65.

    Repatriated

    February 20, 2022 at 11:17 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’m offended by their lack of professionalism.  We deserve better trolling than that insultingly inept ‘effort’.

  66. 66.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 11:17 am

    @jo6pac: ​
     Vlad’s propaganda twits heard from again.

  67. 67.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 11:18 am

    When the Biden admin is releasing all that intel from Russia, doesn’t that include an implicit cyber threat? Like US Solar Winds concerns in reverse: we are in your systems, therefore we could sabotage them, not just gather intel.

    — Kimberly Marten (@KimberlyMarten) February 20, 2022

  68. 68.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 11:18 am

    @Low Key Swagger: Thanks for the pointer.

    I assume that if/when VVP orders the invasion (beyond the ramped up actions already going on in earnest in Donbas and Luhansk) then artillery will see heavy action and the mobile ground forces will come a little later.  They can do a lot of damage even with drunk and unmotivated ground troops.  :-(

    AlJazeera reports that Macron and Putin had a phone call today where they agreed their ministers would meet in coming days to discuss concerns and a possible ceasefire.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  69. 69.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 11:18 am

    @germy: They’re being total idiots, losing hearts and minds as fast as they can.

  70. 70.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 11:20 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Sort of like the U.S. in the Middle East.

  71. 71.

    Spanky

    February 20, 2022 at 11:20 am

    @zhena gogolia:
    Я думаю, он говорит дерьмо

  72. 72.

    Jay

    February 20, 2022 at 11:21 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    we would have to rank higher in the top 10,000 blogs, (blogs? How 90’s, all the good trolls are on Spotify), to get better trolls,

    be careful in what you wish for,……

  73. 73.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 11:22 am

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    “Hello fellow amerikan citzens…  I em another good amerikan like yourselves. My nem is jo 6 pak.  Who wants a cold one, i have mass quantities in my insulated receptacle beverage.”

  74. 74.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 11:22 am

    @Baud: Pretty good!

  75. 75.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 11:23 am

    @germy:

    I love American football just like my fellow countrymen.

  76. 76.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 11:24 am

    @Spanky: Он несет страшнейшую хуйню.

  77. 77.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 20, 2022 at 11:24 am

    @Baud: Heh. I might even end my Zoom boycott for that.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 11:24 am

    @germy:

    Maybe.  Or it could be good old fashioned human intel.

  79. 79.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 11:25 am

    The big tell is they always disappear after one comment. The sincere ones, like BiP, stick around for the conversation.

    ETA: I stand corrected, he’s back.

  80. 80.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 11:25 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Sorry, it would be boring and disgusting. He’s no Adam Schiff.

  81. 81.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:27 am

    @Jay:

    be careful in what you wish for,……

    Oh, I know. It’s just that this one was so very bad, it was borderline insulting. Have we dropped in the rankings?

    Oh look, more authentic Amerikan gibberish at #82.

  82. 82.

    Betty Cracker

    February 20, 2022 at 11:28 am

    @zhena gogolia: The commenter has been around a long time. Not a frequent commenter but a long-term one who habitually misspells “America,” etc.

  83. 83.

    Spanky

    February 20, 2022 at 11:29 am

    @germy: Just for those who missed the very start of these tweets, they’re about the Rooskies encamped in Belarus. I had to dig a bit to find exactly where she was talking about.

    Hearts and minds. Greeted as liberators with flowers and candy vodka and goats.

  84. 84.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:29 am

    @Betty Cracker: Doesn’t necessarily mean they ain’t a troll. :)

  85. 85.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 11:30 am

    @zhena gogolia: Jo doesn’t post very often any more, but he’s been here a long time (since at least 2007).

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  86. 86.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 11:31 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I hate that you have to watch it.

    Like much of modern conservatism, it is very insidious, despite being utterly crude in aim and method. It serves multiple purposes:

    First, it amps up their sense of grievance.

    On a deeper level, it gives them the validation they desperately crave by allowing them to self-insert with actual oppressed people. They basically get to pretend that they would totally have been on the right side of history (when, in truth, they would have been honking and clapping like circus seals for Deng and telling the PLA to fix bayonets). It’s essentially appropriation of other peoples’ suffering. A way to steal the valor of Tank Man, without having to get off the couch – let alone get snatched up afterward.

    It also belittles and insults people who actually stand up to tyranny by conflating such small stakes and gentle consequences with actual instances of bloody-handed historical oppression. It’s…it’s almost like oppression nostalgia, I guess???

    Genuinely vile stuff, either way.

  87. 87.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 11:32 am

    @germy: In fairness, criminal enterprises and religious cults really are perfect partners.

  88. 88.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:33 am

    @Subsole:

    It also belittles and insults people who actually stand up to tyranny by conflating such small stakes and gentle consequences with actual instances of bloody-handed historical oppression. It’s…it’s almost like oppression nostalgia, I guess???

    Genuinely vile stuff, either way.

    QFT. Your whole comment, really.

    ETA: The RWNJs I know were definitely clapping and honking with approval like seals at TFG’s every heinous act, including family separations at the border, so your observation is correct.

  89. 89.

    Spanky

    February 20, 2022 at 11:34 am

    @jo6pac:

    …the wonderful remarks you haven’t let down

    Oh Sweetheart, you have no idea of the remarks I haven’t let down.

  90. 90.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 11:35 am

    @germy: Marine to Iraqi farmer: “Have you seen any foreign fighters around?”

    Iraqi farmer: “I’m looking at one right now.”

  91. 91.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 11:36 am

    @Subsole: Modern American “conservatism” is really a reactionary movement.  They stopped being conservative a long time ago.

  92. 92.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 11:36 am

    @Subsole: I’ve never seen a difference except one is upfront about it criminality.

  93. 93.

    MagdaInBlack

    February 20, 2022 at 11:37 am

    @Betty Cracker: Yeah, It kind of felt familiar. Too much effort in making grammar and spelling “mistakes.”

    Snore.

  94. 94.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 11:37 am

    @Another Scott: You mean it’s not BiP with a new nym?

  95. 95.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 11:38 am

    @Subsole:

    On point.

  96. 96.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:39 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: As I recall, BiP had a better command of English.

  97. 97.

    Spanky

    February 20, 2022 at 11:39 am

    @Villago Delenda Est: I thought BiP had a better grasp of Eeeenglish.

    ETA Psych!

  98. 98.

    JMG

    February 20, 2022 at 11:39 am

    Throughout the history of warfare, one of the main threats to besieging armies has been dissolution from within from disease, lack of supplies and fallen morale. It’s why people built castles. Granted that even Russian Army logistics are much improved from the days of the Middle Ages, but no country can keep a large army on the verge of combat for a prolonged period without actually either fighting or going back to base. The stress is just too much.

  99. 99.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 11:39 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    @Another Scott:

    It seems clear that there is a cohort of people who can’t mentally process the U.S. being on the right side of a foreign affairs problem, especially one involving military conflict.

    ETA: edited for multiple grammar issues.

  100. 100.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 11:41 am

    @Low Key Swagger:

    So, basically what military deployments have traditionally degenerated into (to varying degrees) since Sargon of Akkad.

    A miserable subcycle of a miserable activity we are always doomed to repeat because we are always doomed to forget, because it isn’t “exciting”. Just dirty.

  101. 101.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:42 am

    @Baud:

    “there is a cohort of people who can’t mentally process”

    FIFY. :)

  102. 102.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 11:42 am

    @debbie: Good for you!

  103. 103.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 11:42 am

    Gosar always looks like he’s actively deflating.

    — Schooley (@Rschooley) February 19, 2022

  104. 104.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 11:42 am

    @Another Scott: I think that it’s appropriate to answer the Russian party line in Russian.

  105. 105.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 11:43 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    I think I fixed all the problems before you caught them. But thanks.

  106. 106.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 11:43 am

    My English is failing me today in non-Russian ways.

  107. 107.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 20, 2022 at 11:44 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of these MAGA hat/ Q-anon types come from a Minimalist back ground (like the book “Left Behind”) with their desperate need to claim persecution.

  108. 108.

    Betty Cracker

    February 20, 2022 at 11:45 am

    Discovered two interesting series on HBO Max that helped me while away some insomnia-cursed hours: “Somebody Somewhere,” which is about a middle-aged, single woman in small town Kansas who is disappointed with the direction of her life and struggling to cope with family relationships. She feels lost and isolated until she starts hanging out with a flock of fellow odd ducks at a not-quite-legit choir practice at a local church.

    The second is “Wellington Paranormal,” a mockumentary about a trio of bumbling cops in New Zealand who investigate cases involving the occult. OMG, it’s hilarious.

  109. 109.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 20, 2022 at 11:46 am

    @Low Key Swagger: Gwads, I am re-reading “Waiting For Hitler” again and that sounds like what the civilians in the Soviet Union were complaining about the Red Army in the ’30s.  Talk about War Never Changes.

  110. 110.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:47 am

    Baud: Actually, no. I was trying to commit snark, apart from any fixes that were made. I’m crushed that I was not understood on this here nearly top-10k blog. ?

  111. 111.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 11:50 am

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Ah, sorry. I missed it.

  112. 112.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 11:52 am

     

     

    @jo6pac:

    I ain’t reading all that shit.

  113. 113.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    February 20, 2022 at 11:52 am

    @jo6pac: So your position is the Ukrian is weak, so Putin has to right to rape that country?

  114. 114.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 11:56 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Well, when you put it that way….

  115. 115.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 11:56 am

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: No, it’s weak because we overthrew their lovely Russian-aligned government and they want to be in the EU now. (translating the comment, not my position; we did not overthrow their government, they did)

  116. 116.

    Miss Bianca

    February 20, 2022 at 11:56 am

    @germy: “almost”?

  117. 117.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 11:57 am

     

     

    @Repatriated: Meh. “You get what you pay for” is just as true in upper central southwest Macedonia as it is here in the US…

  118. 118.

    Stacib

    February 20, 2022 at 11:58 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: LOL. At first, I thought it was me. It took a couple minutes to realize it’s nonsense-speak.

  119. 119.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 11:59 am

    @germy: In point of fact, yes.

    Which is part of what makes the absurd caterwauling from various “anti-imperialism” fashion-plates so eye-rollingly tedious.

  120. 120.

    Cameron

    February 20, 2022 at 11:59 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: I suspect this is parody – the English is a bit too fractured.

  121. 121.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    @Baud: You mean you hate all the other teams marginally less than you hate your favorite?

  122. 122.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 12:01 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    There must be a translated version of one of his marathon annual addresses somewhere on youtube

    I prefer Colbert’s takes. Here’s one.

  123. 123.

    Mallard Filmore

    February 20, 2022 at 12:02 pm

    @jo6pac: 

    I didn’t say it was a member it’s just that Poor

    Do you think they would be less poor under Putin’s control?

  124. 124.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 12:02 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Well, he was being polite.

  125. 125.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 12:03 pm

     

     

    @Betty Cracker: That particular misspelling is very popular among the craniorectally-inverted Tankie subset of the Lefterest-than-thou…

  126. 126.

    Alce _e_ardillo

    February 20, 2022 at 12:04 pm

    @New Deal democrat: If Putin’s goal was/is to destabilize NATO then he is an abject failure.His ham-handed tactics have backfired spectacularly, by driving Europe closer together, and having them agree to moves that would have been unthinkable 4 years ago.

  127. 127.

    Mallard Filmore

    February 20, 2022 at 12:05 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

     

    family separations at the border

    A polite euphemism for ‘baby snatching’.

  128. 128.

    Ancient Atheist

    February 20, 2022 at 12:06 pm

    Putin will invade Ukraine and Trump will never see the inside of a courtroom.

  129. 129.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    @Alce _e_ardillo: Yes. Mr. P is cunning and brutal, but not necessarily smart. Kind of like his mentee, TFG.

  130. 130.

    Cameron

    February 20, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    @Subsole: Isn’t it usually “Amerikkka” for those folks?

  131. 131.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 20, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    @Mallard Filmore:  Agreed. And still these family-values “Christians” honked and clapped in approval.

  132. 132.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 12:07 pm

     

     

    @Villago Delenda Est: True. One of many bitter ironies is just how thoroughly modern conservatism has corroded the actual social institutions conservatives ostensibly claim to be conserving – from business to church to culture and community.

  133. 133.

    Alce _e_ardillo

    February 20, 2022 at 12:08 pm

    @New Deal democrat: If Putin’s goal was/is to destabilize NATO then he is an abject failure.His ham-handed tactics have backfired spectacularly, by driving Europe closer together, and having them agree to moves that would have been unthinkable 4 years ago.

     

    @jo6pac: ? -e.e.cummings you’re not

  134. 134.

    Miss Bianca

    February 20, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    The second is “Wellington Paranormal,” a mockumentary about a trio of bumbling cops in New Zealand who investigate cases involving the occult. OMG, it’s hilarious.

    That sounds like fun. Also sounds like something the “What We Do In The Shadows” crowd of creators would have been involved with. Off to IMDb to look up…

  135. 135.

    satby

    February 20, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    @Baud: she had two posts and commented on John’s yesterday.

  136. 136.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 12:09 pm

    @Alce _e_ardillo:

    Also, NATO was created as a mutual defense organization. Putin has proven it’s very much needed.

  137. 137.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 12:10 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Ukrainians were killed in greater numbers by Stalin’s actions (30’s) then by Hitler’s. That said, Hitler still killed more slavs than Stalin/Lenin (though, it was close, I believe.

     

    I’ll add – being ex-KGB, putin certainly considers NATO a severe threat if Ukraine joins NATO and he certainly thinks killing Ukrainians is no big loss.

  138. 138.

    scav

    February 20, 2022 at 12:11 pm

    Imagine being so without character that it’s a long-term coping strategy to dress up as a really really bad troll to attain a) social notice and b) twinges of self-congratulation (86).

  139. 139.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 12:13 pm

    @satby:

    Ok, thanks. That’s good to hear.

  140. 140.

    Skepticat

    February 20, 2022 at 12:13 pm

    @Haydnseek: If I invent a word game relating to how shitty Mitch McConnell is I’m gonna call it Turdle.

    I love this, though all the words would have to be profoundly obscene.

  141. 141.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 12:14 pm

    @Mallard Filmore: It will never happen, but I would love for my tax dollars to start shaking Betsy deVos’ adoption agencies and see if any child trafficking falls out…

  142. 142.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 12:17 pm

    BREAKING:The Mayor of Ottawa just said the city is looking into selling the seized trucks from the Freedumb Truckers to help offset costs of the occupation.Brilliant. ???— THE SAD TRUTH (@SmnWeekly) February 19, 2022

    Auction them off and make the Canadian Trump trash watch!

  143. 143.

    jo6pac

    February 20, 2022 at 12:17 pm

    No Russia doesn’t the right to invade and won’t unless Dobass is. Russia doesn’t want the country that Amerika drove down to very poor. The citizen there don’t deserve what we have done to them. You have to remember that one of the ukraines armies Neo- Nazi army that’s highly trained and has the best weapons. Amerikas Neo-Nazis have been there for training then allowed back, why is that.

  144. 144.

    Kathleen

    February 20, 2022 at 12:19 pm

    @Subsole:  Yup. Has been since at least the 60’s.

  145. 145.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 12:21 pm

    @Cameron: I have seen both forms. The triple-k version tends to be a lot more common with people emphasizing social-justice issues, rather than tankies (who tend to discount socjus in favor of class war). At least online.

    The single-k spelling hearkens to old Nazi renderings of America. It insinuates that America is fascist in nature. That tends to be more in line with the tankie conceptualization of our home as an inherently irredeemable structure that must be pulled down. (And, y’know, fuck all the people it gets pulled down on. They’re just props in a rebellion fantasy anyway. Scenery, really.)

  146. 146.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 12:22 pm

    Sitting senator to a former first lady, still mildly startling even as commonplace as this is now pic.twitter.com/q3CHawytEp

    — Dennis B. Hooper (@dennisbhooper) February 20, 2022

    (Ted Cruz made a joke about HRC)

  147. 147.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 12:24 pm

    @Kathleen: Really? Huh.

    Everything old would be new, if it ever went away…

  148. 148.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 12:24 pm

    @germy:

    Pretty sure she’s not in Cancun.

  149. 149.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 12:25 pm

    @Cameron:

    A single “k” was very subversive in the 1960s. All the kids loved it.

  150. 150.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 12:26 pm

    popeye: hey i ordered spinach with this

    waiter: what are you gonna do about it bitch

    popeye: i guess nothing

    — shen the bird (@Shen_the_Bird) February 5, 2022

  151. 151.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 12:27 pm

    OT.

    http://www.worker.gov

  152. 152.

    Alce _e_ardillo

    February 20, 2022 at 12:30 pm

    @jo6pac: Subjects need a verb to create a sentence.

  153. 153.

    oldgold

    February 20, 2022 at 12:30 pm

    @satby: You are telling me the rumor she ran-off to Vegas with Adam is not true?

  154. 154.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 12:32 pm

    I think we should start dumping pallets of vodka with little parachutes along the borders when the wind is right to blow them over. Include smokes, Vienna sausages, Dutch chocolates and copies of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

  155. 155.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 12:33 pm

    @Mike in NC: 

    Funny how when Putin’s puppet was sitting at 1600, we never were warned about a crisis. 

    A lot of us knew that the squatter in the White House was Putin’s bitch.  (Yes, I get your point.)

  156. 156.

    Starfish

    February 20, 2022 at 12:37 pm

    @Baud: Same. They freak out every time anyone asks them to step back and mind their own business.

  157. 157.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 12:38 pm

    @The Pale Scot: And Pushkin.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  158. 158.

    Sloane Ranger

    February 20, 2022 at 12:42 pm

    @debbie: Rats! And I was soooo pleased to get it in three!

  159. 159.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 12:43 pm

    @Subsole:

    @debbie:

    And I thought they were just fans of this miniseries.

  160. 160.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    @jo6pac: That is a very nuance view of the situation that I am sure everyone will give all appropriate consideration.

  161. 161.

    Starfish

    February 20, 2022 at 12:46 pm

    @Another Scott: Yeah, I thought he had been here a while.

  162. 162.

    Starfish

    February 20, 2022 at 12:49 pm

    @Baud: Как сказать пирог по-русски?

  163. 163.

    Kirk Spencer

    February 20, 2022 at 12:51 pm

    Isn’t Jo6pac one of DougJ’s troll gotchas?

  164. 164.

    Cathie from Canada

    February 20, 2022 at 12:54 pm

    @New Deal democrat: I’m late to this party, but your analysis makes a lot of sense. One further point: here in Canada, there seem to have been a lot of shadowy forces behind the Trucker Convoy, and I suspect some of them are from Russia, trying to depose Trudeau and thus remove from NATO of one of its strongest backers.

  165. 165.

    Spanky

    February 20, 2022 at 12:54 pm

    @Starfish:
    И пропустить все нагромождения?

  166. 166.

    Cathie from Canada

    February 20, 2022 at 12:55 pm

    @The Pale Scot: Someone on twitter said yesterday that if NATO offered western Europe citizenship to any Russian soldier who defected, the Russian army would disappear overnight.

  167. 167.

    Cameron

    February 20, 2022 at 12:56 pm

    Maybe some good news – if true.  I read a piece at Asia Times claiming that a renewed treaty with Iran is in the offing.  I wish that would inspire a diplomatic solution in the Ukraine crisis, and soon.  Even without an invasion, the ongoing threat is playing hell with the economy there.

  168. 168.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    February 20, 2022 at 12:56 pm

    If we’re going to get Russian trolling, can we at least ask for quality equal to Constantine the Frog?

  169. 169.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    February 20, 2022 at 12:57 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: LOL. What is good in life?

  170. 170.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 1:02 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Canadian Trump trash crying harder as their trucks are auctioned off. :)

    Also, I wonder if those portable hot tub assclowns have been arrested yet.

  171. 171.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 1:03 pm

    Short thread:

    Leaving Moscow after 5 d of intense conversations. Early in the week most people were hopeful about signs of deescalation. Moderates thought Kremlin was calming down. Hawks believed RU would get what it wants merely by mil posturing. This changed in past 2 days.

    — Sabine Fischer (@SabFis3) February 20, 2022

    (via CherylRofer)

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  172. 172.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 1:04 pm

    Not sure if it was fake news, but someone tweeted last night that one of the Ottawa protesters was arrested and demanded his Miranda rights, only to learn they don’t apply in other countries.

  173. 173.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 1:08 pm

    @Subsole: ​
     Vlad stooge remains a Vlad stooge.

  174. 174.

    Steeplejack

    February 20, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Agree that Wellington Paranormal is hilarious. In the NZ humor zone with Flight of the Conchords and What We Do in the Shadows.

  175. 175.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 1:11 pm

    @Subsole: “Amerika” is the German spelling.  Hence the Nazi overtone.

  176. 176.

    trollhattan

    February 20, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Trump worked (meaning of “work” in Trumpland subject to interpretation, drool usually involved) at undercutting NATO over his four years. Vlad could sit back and watch how far he’d get.

    Lucky for everybody, Trump’s ability to focus on just one thing for any length of time (notable exception: Ivanka) is slender, at best.

    So now, it’s Vlad deciding that he’s waited long enough, damnit, and rather than Donny, he’s the one who’s been “treated so unfairly.”

    When I hear one of Russia’s various ambassadors spew their list of grievances, I find myself thinking it was not Gish who invented the Gish gallop.

  177. 177.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 20, 2022 at 1:12 pm

    @debbie: All too plausible given the abject idiocy of the anti-vaxx crowd.

  178. 178.

    Kay

    February 20, 2022 at 1:14 pm

    Ron Filipkowski
    @RonFilipkowski
    · 3h
    Marge Greene yesterday told a complete lie that “Ukraine was the number one donor to Hillary Clinton when she was running for president.”

    One of their exclusively Right wing “news” sites and all of the dopes around her are solemnly nodding their heads in agreement. One Big Grift.

  179. 179.

    trollhattan

    February 20, 2022 at 1:14 pm

    @Steeplejack: ​Shoot, we don’t get Max and that kind of Kiwi humour gets me dead center in the funny bone.

  180. 180.

    trollhattan

    February 20, 2022 at 1:16 pm

    @Kay: Who would be stupid enough…okay, I’ll stop right there.

    Ukraine bucks is best bucks. (conversion from hryvnia optional)

  181. 181.

    Geminid

    February 20, 2022 at 1:18 pm

    @Subsole: I always figured that anyone who spells America with a “k” is a klown.

  182. 182.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    @Kay:

    That’s why Real Amerikans support Mother Russia.

  183. 183.

    Ruckus

    February 20, 2022 at 1:20 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    They don’t care at all about history. Likely because they have distorted every bit of it they reference. They know that their followers know even less. So these are shibboleths for them, catch phrases to use rather than any reality. This is propaganda, nothing more, nothing less. But it’s reality that they are avoiding at all costs, because reality is so far away from their side they can’t see reality. They don’t want the 21st century world, they are hoping for the 16th century but will settle for up to the early 19th if they have to, as long as they can also have the travel and monetary system of the 21st. Boiled down they want a caste system, based upon wealth, race, and hate. Democracy is the exact opposite of what they want, because it doesn’t favor their sorry asses.

  184. 184.

    Spanky

    February 20, 2022 at 1:22 pm

    @Spanky: OK, I translated that back into English with Google Translate, and I think I can see where ol’ Jo went off the rails.

  185. 185.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 1:23 pm

    @trollhattan: I didn’t mean “squatter” in the lazy sense.  Dump and his shitstain cabinet did plenty of damage to the country.

    Yes, we were lucky the Kremlin’s orange fascist shitstain is also a mostly lazy, undisciplined manbaby.  Other members of the Rethuglican party aren’t lazy and undisciplined in being fascist shitstains however.

  186. 186.

    Ruckus

    February 20, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    @germy:

    almost?

    ALMOST?

    Is Jamie trying to make a funny?

  187. 187.

    NotMax

    February 20, 2022 at 1:24 pm

    @trollhattan

    AFAIK, Wellington Paranormal streams free on The CW channel and The CW Seed.

  188. 188.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 1:27 pm

    @Ruckus: Haha, my thoughts too.

  189. 189.

    Geminid

    February 20, 2022 at 1:28 pm

    @Cameron: Yesterday, from the Times of Israel:

        Israel is readying for the world powers and Iran to reach an agreement next week to revive the deal aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program, Israeli television reported last week

    This was in an article reporting on a short meeting in Munich between Vice President Harris and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

    Cheryl Rofer has been following the JCPOA talks on her Twitter feed, linking to longer articles.

  190. 190.

    Tony Jay

    February 20, 2022 at 1:31 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    Wellington Paranormal is a spin-off from the original What We Do In The Shadows film (the two officers in question are the ones who turn up at the vampire house-share to investigate all the screaming) and is just as funny.

  191. 191.

    trollhattan

    February 20, 2022 at 1:34 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: Flynn and Pompeo and Bannon would have blown NATO apart, given the chance. Hate to think we have Bolton to thank for putting sand in the gears, but then the history (the parts not flushed down the loo) has yet to be chronicled.

  192. 192.

    trollhattan

    February 20, 2022 at 1:35 pm

    @NotMax: Thanks. Must. Chase. Down.

  193. 193.

    Kay

    February 20, 2022 at 1:35 pm

    @Baud:

    So weird. JD Vance said yesterday he doesn’t give a shit about Ukraine which is just….off for an Ohio politician to say because there’s a recognition there’s a large Ukranian-American population in the state.

    Maybe they don’t know that in the “holler” where he pretends to come from. Know about Cleveland Ohio. Or Toledo Ohio. Or Youngstown Ohio. Like…who are or where they came from.

  194. 194.

    Abnormal Hiker

    February 20, 2022 at 1:40 pm

    @debbie: It was a claim of a right to silence under the 1st Amendment!

  195. 195.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 1:40 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    Have you seen Jacob Rees-Mogg’s library?

    You call this a library?
    It’s very clean.
    It’s almost entirely uncontaminated by books. pic.twitter.com/MU9kJVFL88

    — John Bleasdale (@drjonty) February 20, 2022

    Chair positioned hastily with scattered board games that fails to hide the big TV in the corner

    — Paul Ashton (@callcardscript) February 20, 2022

  196. 196.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 1:42 pm

    @trollhattan: I know.  I was there -Ace Ventura lived through it too.

  197. 197.

    NotMax

    February 20, 2022 at 1:48 pm

    @trollhattan</a.

    Several other NZ series to check out:

    The Almighty Johnsons (Roku channel, IMDb TV via Prime, Tubi)
    Step Dave (Roku Channel, IMDb TV via Prime, Tubi, FilmRise)
    Nothing Trivial (Roku channel, IMDb TV via Prime, FilmRise)
    .

  198. 198.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 1:49 pm

    @germy: Do British people define library differently?  And I thought the numbers were hilariously pointing out books at first.  Nope.

  199. 199.

    scav

    February 20, 2022 at 1:49 pm

    @germy: Amazing how it looks like it all recently came out of a Skymall catalogue.  How does one manage that in a theoretically authentic setting? Even the dog seems to be looking offscreen for validation from his trainer.

  200. 200.

    NotMax

    February 20, 2022 at 1:50 pm

    Fumble fingers fix.

    @trollhattan

    Several other NZ series to check out:

    The Almighty Johnsons (Roku channel, IMDb TV via Prime, Tubi)
    Step Dave (Roku Channel, IMDb TV via Prime, Tubi, FilmRise)
    Nothing Trivial (Roku channel, IMDb TV via Prime, FilmRise)
    .

  201. 201.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 1:52 pm

    @scav:

    The dog is trying to avoid seeing the wallpaper.

     

    @mrmoshpotato:

    I’m not sure what the numbers are indicating?

  202. 202.

    NotMax

    February 20, 2022 at 1:52 pm

    As it’s Open Thread –

    Viewers stayed away in alarming numbers, and NBC has to wonder whether it was extraordinarily bad luck or if the brand of a once-unifying event for tens of millions of people is permanently tainted.
    [snip]
    Through Tuesday, an average of 12.2 million people watched the Olympics in prime-time on NBC, cable or the Peacock streaming service, down 42 percent from the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. The average for NBC alone was 10 million, a 47 percent drop, the Nielsen company said.

    That’s even with the average inflated by airing directly after the Super Bowl, a night that brought in 24 million viewers. Source

  203. 203.

    jo6pac

    February 20, 2022 at 1:53 pm

    A little read material for you all.

     

    https://thedissenter.org/british-officials-launder-us-intel-russian-coup-plot-ukraine/

  204. 204.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 1:54 pm

    @NotMax:

    Matt Lauer was the glue that kept everything together

  205. 205.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 1:56 pm

    In 2018, after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, NATO called an urgency summit to discuss Russian sanctions. Johnson left it, skipped his security detail & flew to Italy where he met an ex-KGB officer whose son he later ennobled https://t.co/bqifjUyWUo

    — Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) February 20, 2022

    Boris Johnson.

  206. 206.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 1:57 pm

    @Kay:

    The dude is spinning faster than a top trying to appease all the different interest groups.

    I for one will enjoy witnessing his implosion.

  207. 207.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 1:59 pm

    @germy:

    The dog is probably made to read to him every night.

  208. 208.

    germy

    February 20, 2022 at 2:01 pm

    @debbie:

    And then when Mogg falls asleep, the dog tosses the book down in disgust and licks its behind while questioning its career choice.

  209. 209.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 2:01 pm

    @Kay:

    I remember when the Ohio Ukrainians were going to cost Trump the state. Didn’t happen.

  210. 210.

    Steeplejack

    February 20, 2022 at 2:02 pm

    @Subsole:

    I think the spelling Amerika arose as a political marker in the ’60s with the popularity of Kafka’s novels in the iconic New Directions paperback editions. It was a symbol of America as dystopia beneath the shiny surface, and then it got used by the anti-Vietnam War left. And then, of course, like everything else, it became a cliché to be used by one and all. The kkk variant adds in a little Klan/​racism spin.

  211. 211.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    February 20, 2022 at 2:02 pm

    @NotMax: Mr DAW watched hours of curling, but that was the only Olympics we saw. I found I didn’t have energy to care.

    I’m reading John Scalzi’s COLLAPSING EMPIRE. Very different from Liane Moriarty’s NINE PERFECT STRANGERS, which I just finished, but also entertaining. You just have to be willing to make the genre switch.

  212. 212.

    Baud

    February 20, 2022 at 2:03 pm

    @NotMax:

    NBC’s coverage was awful.  Part of it was not being able to be onsite, but there was more to it than that.  By far the worst I remember.

  213. 213.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 2:03 pm

    @debbie:

    The dog is probably made to read to him every night. 

    Peabody?

  214. 214.

    NotMax

    February 20, 2022 at 2:06 pm

    @germy

    Oh so proper ‘Brits.’

    :)

  215. 215.

    Geminid

    February 20, 2022 at 2:06 pm

    @debbie: People are pretty hot about the despicable comeback Vance made when retired Barry McCaffrey called him a “Russian stooge.” The Bulwark reported on it yesterday.

  216. 216.

    Eunicecycle

    February 20, 2022 at 2:07 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I am a big Scalzi fan. I loved the Empire series; I think I liked the Old Man’s War series a little better.

  217. 217.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 2:08 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Excuse me Zhena, how reliable do you think this website is?

    https://belprauda-com.translate.goog/budni-soyuznoj-reshimosti-2022/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

     

    And, if you read it, what does solarium mean?

    Thnx

  218. 218.

    scav

    February 20, 2022 at 2:10 pm

    @NotMax: This library at least has books!

  219. 219.

    sab

    February 20, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Yeah. Been in my pie filter for ages.

  220. 220.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    February 20, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    @Eunicecycle: I liked Old Man’s War. Also Redshirts. I loved the associations to Star Trek in that one. Also, recently, Lock In. I read that whole thing without noticing that Scalzi never tells you what gender the main character is. He’s clever.

  221. 221.

    Uncle Cosmo

    February 20, 2022 at 2:11 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: @OzarkHillbilly: Soviet Air Force ground maintenance troops used to drink the alcohol out of the jets they maintained.​

    To the extent that the Tu-22 “Blinder” was widely known in the Red Air Force as “the supersonic booze carrier”.

  222. 222.

    CaseyL

    February 20, 2022 at 2:12 pm

    @Kay: Vance is polling very poorly, and that could be one of them.  Though I don’t know how involved Ukrainian-Americans in Ohio are with their ancestral lands, or whether what’s happening in Ukraine would outweigh the benefits of having a real, honest-to-God moral/ethical vacuity as their Senator.

  223. 223.

    Kay

    February 20, 2022 at 2:13 pm

    @Geminid:

    Gives him too much credit. Vance will say whatever he’s supposed to say, will be whatever he needs to be for the next donor or the next news cycle or the next Right wing fad. He’s another loud, empty barrel.

    That so many fancy people cooed over him is a testament to how shallow and stupid they all are- not even the MAGAS fall for his bullshit.

  224. 224.

    Kay

    February 20, 2022 at 2:16 pm

    @CaseyL:

    Just to go out of your way to tell them to fuck off? It’s dumb. But it’s required now I guess, on the Right, and he does what’s required.

    I’m rooting for Mandel in their primary. I hope the wingnuts don’t let me down.

  225. 225.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 2:18 pm

    @The Pale Scot:

    I have no idea. I’m not really a scholar of these things. I don’t have time to read the whole thing — where is “solarium”?

  226. 226.

    Steeplejack

    February 20, 2022 at 2:22 pm

    @trollhattan:

    The first two seasons are available (for free) on the CW Network, apparently. I ran the first part of Episode 1.1 and it worked fine.​

  227. 227.

    Chip Daniels

    February 20, 2022 at 2:23 pm

    @Kay:

    I’m not wired into Ohio politics; Is the Republican a lock to win, or does the Democrat have a chance?

  228. 228.

    Eunicecycle

    February 20, 2022 at 2:26 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I loved Redshirts, too and the Lock In world is interesting, especially in Covid times.

  229. 229.

    Eunicecycle

    February 20, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    @Kay: I read Jane Timken has hired Kelly Ann Conway and Portman just endorsed her. Looking for the endorsement of TFG?

  230. 230.

    M31

    February 20, 2022 at 2:35 pm

    Some of those ‘truckers’ started yelling about First Amendment rights so Canadians started asking what the recognition of Manitoba in 1871 had to do with it?

    lol

  231. 231.

    Dopey-o

    February 20, 2022 at 2:38 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Zelensky is right and Harris is wrong. Sanctions should have already been ramped up.

    Any sanctions imposed before Russian aggression will be viewed as a provocation. Once sanctions go into effect, Putin will be unable to back down.

    We want Putin to back down. Biden’s job is to help Putin do that gracefully, without carving up Ukraine. Or killing thousands. So no sanctions, yet. But once Kyiv falls, SWIFT revenge.

  232. 232.

    Citizen Alan

    February 20, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    @jo6pac: The battle cry of the unimaginative cretin: “Do your own research!”

  233. 233.

    sab

    February 20, 2022 at 2:39 pm

    @CaseyL: I know Ukrainian-Americans in Cleveland who still speak Ukrainian at home, four generations after they got here.

  234. 234.

    CaseyL

    February 20, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    @sab: I think that’s unusual; I think most families move entirely to English by 3 generations. So, yeah, that sounds like a strong attachment.

  235. 235.

    Citizen Alan

    February 20, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Man, I haven’t thought about the Left Behind series since Tim LaHaye died and went to hell. So much of what we’re seeing today was foreshadowed in 1995 when millions of Americans started fappng to a lot of Christian Revenge Snuff Porn.

  236. 236.

    Kay

    February 20, 2022 at 2:48 pm

    @Chip Daniels:

    80/20 R, I think. Maybe 75/25. Honestly. But that’s worth it. Ryan has to be lucky and smart :)

    It would be an upset but upsets happen and you can’t win if you don’t play, right?

    There’s no better candidate for this state than Ryan of the candidates available, so far so good. I just think Mandel is an unappealing candidate so he’s the best opponent for us. He’s not an especially talented person. I think his lurch Right is predicated on his mediocrity. It’s the only thing that is special about him- that he’s a shameless wingnut.

  237. 237.

    prostratedragon

    February 20, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    @germy:  I truly almost screamed when that wallpaper cleared up on the screen.  Anyone might look like Howdy Doody against a background like that  …

  238. 238.

    Kay

    February 20, 2022 at 2:53 pm

    @Eunicecycle:

    I think they hire the Trump people to gain Trump’s favor although I personally don’t think he gives a rats ass about Conway (or anyone else) and probably resents that she can trade on his name.

    Trumpism is kind of self hating. Self negating. No one comes out of it better than when they went it. Always worse.

  239. 239.

    Spanky

    February 20, 2022 at 3:04 pm

    According to the latest US intelligence assessment, Russia now has close to 75% of its conventional forces postured against Ukraine, a US official with direct knowledge of the intelligence told CNN.

    Seems like that’s leaving themselves exposed in a lot of other places. It’d be a shame if separatists on the south/east took this opportunity to stir some shit up.

  240. 240.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @Spanky: There are few (North Korea) that can be as brutal and savage as Russians when it comes to internal security – I’d say ask some Chechens rebel family members (like wives and children) but most all of them are dead via execution

  241. 241.

    J R in WV

    February 20, 2022 at 3:16 pm

    @Baud: ​
     

    I’m tempted to wear masks forever just to own the cons.

    I’m tempted to wear masks forever just because — no colds, no flu, no illness other than elderly bodies getting older.

    And Fuck those anti-mask RWNJ fools who don’t believe in one of the biggest life saving inventions in human history — vaccinations.

  242. 242.

    smedley the uncertain

    February 20, 2022 at 3:21 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est:  Nothing to compare with Torpedo Juice and Tang.

  243. 243.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 3:21 pm

    @Spanky: Ugh. Not good.

  244. 244.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 3:22 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Second to last paragraph;

    And – it’s true, with such a number of troops, equipment, equipment that is now in Belarus, no one will notice the loss of any pistol or machine gun, hundreds of boxes of rations and several tons of solarium, how can this be written off as expenses during the exercises? The “rear front” knows perfectly well, there is definitely no doubt about this.

    И – правда, при таком количестве войск, техники, оборудования, которое сейчас находится в Беларуси, пропажу какого-нибудь пистолета или автомата, сотен ящиков пайков и несколько тон соляры никто и не заметит, как такое списать на расходы во время учений? «тыловики» отлично знают, вот в этом сомневаться точно не приходится.

    Thanks for your time

  245. 245.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 3:26 pm

    @The Pale Scot: Looks like it’s a mistranslation for diesel fuel.

  246. 246.

    opiejeanne

    February 20, 2022 at 3:32 pm

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: It’s nice now that all of the series has been printed. I read them as they were published, and waiting in between them erased some of my memory of who was doing what with whom. Had to backtrack a bit.

  247. 247.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 3:33 pm

    @J R in WV: How’s your wife doing, if you don’t mind my asking?

  248. 248.

    Ruckus

    February 20, 2022 at 3:34 pm

    @bbleh:

    At his base vlad is a Russian oligarch. Money is his number one goal, power is what gets him there. He’s a smarter and eviler trump. But he has the power to destroy humans and things and isn’t afraid to use them but is smart enough to know when he’s out gunned. As G&T says 150K troops is not enough to control a country of 40 million. Sure they may be somewhat better armed but if you destroy the country and a large segment of the people he really won’t have gained what he wants. And he knows it. His country is not in good shape. Partially through his guidance or lack thereof and partially through his stripping the country of value for his own means and partially that most of his citizens are being fucked and know it.

  249. 249.

    NotMax

    February 20, 2022 at 3:38 pm

    @Ruckus

    partially that most of his citizens are being fucked and know it

    Stoic resignation is as Russian as vodka.

    //

  250. 250.

    Ruckus

    February 20, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    He’s been here before. He’s not new.

  251. 251.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 3:42 pm

    @zhena gogolia:

    Thank you

  252. 252.

    J R in WV

    February 20, 2022 at 3:50 pm

    @germy: ​
     

    In 2018, after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, NATO called an urgency summit to discuss Russian sanctions. Johnson left it, skipped his security detail & flew to Italy where he met an ex-KGB officer whose son he later ennobled https://t.co/bqifjUyWUo

    — Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) February 20, 2022

    Boris Johnson.

    Actually, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson — even more Russian with his whole name spelled out like that~!!~

  253. 253.

    Ruckus

    February 20, 2022 at 3:51 pm

    @Skepticat:

    I love this, though all the words would have to be profoundly obscene.

    So?

  254. 254.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    @Skepticat:

    @Ruckus: Sweardle

  255. 255.

    J R in WV

    February 20, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    @Citizen Alan: ​
     

    Man, I haven’t thought about the Left Behind series since Tim LaHaye died and went to hell.

    Many years ago we visited Wife’s younger sister near Richmond. When I saw some of the Left Behind series laying out in their living room, I knew there was going to be trouble. Wife no longer speaks to either sister, both turned into fundy RWNJs.

    The Left Behind books were a sure sign. Plus her husband tormented their dogs… total prick to think it’s fun to torment a dog in front of company. Proud of his family’s CSA history!

  256. 256.

    J R in WV

    February 20, 2022 at 4:05 pm

    @mrmoshpotato: ​
     

    @J R in WV: How’s your wife doing, if you don’t mind my asking?

    She is doing well, home health care visits, making many Dr appointments to get her approved for eventual surgery to repair her cervical disk issue. New prescriptions were a bit of a thing to deal with, on top of her already many medications.

    The day after she got home our deep well pump failed, so stressful few days there. Then Friday home PT guy couldn’t get here, called to say there was a tree down across the farm road to the house, I dealt with that with the tractor, but really miserable cold afternoon to fire diesel engine up.

    Thanks for asking, good to know that jackals care!

  257. 257.

    Kathleen

    February 20, 2022 at 4:05 pm

    @Subsole: “Right on!”

  258. 258.

    Kathleen

    February 20, 2022 at 4:09 pm

    @Kay: The Guy He Wants To Replace (Portman) who as you know prides himself on his support of Ukrainian constituency.

  259. 259.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 4:19 pm

    @J R in WV: Glad to hear she’s doing well.

    And show that downed tree who’s boss!

  260. 260.

    yellowdog

    February 20, 2022 at 4:26 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: He doesn’t have to. He just has to replace the government.

  261. 261.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    @Baud:

    It was the IOC’s network behind the cameras. They then sold it to NBC and other broadcasters.

  262. 262.

    MagdaInBlack

    February 20, 2022 at 4:30 pm

    @J R in WV: We care. Thank you for the update.

  263. 263.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 4:35 pm

    I get the feeling sometimes some people are rooting for Putin.

  264. 264.

    zhena gogolia

    February 20, 2022 at 4:35 pm

    @J R in WV: Yes, please keep us updated!

  265. 265.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 4:40 pm

    @J R in WV: Best of luck to Mrs. J R and to you.  Home issues are never fun, especially not in the cold!

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  266. 266.

    Jim Appleton

    February 20, 2022 at 4:41 pm

    Deleted

  267. 267.

    Bill Arnold

    February 20, 2022 at 4:49 pm

    @jo6pac:

    Amerikas Neo-Nazis have been there for training then allowed back, why is that.

    Why does Russia tolerate an organization that (allegedly) provides training for Nazis, on Russian soil?
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Imperial_Movement

    The Russian Imperial Movement (RIM; Russian: Русское Имперское Движениe, romanized: Russkoe imperskoe dvizhenie, RID)[6] is a Russian ultranationalist, white supremacist,[7] far-right paramilitary organization[8] based in Saint Petersburg.

    (Seriously; if anyone else can explain how Russia can un-hypocritically propagandize about Nazi elements in Ukraine, would be appreciated.)

  268. 268.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2022 at 4:54 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Some people are.

  269. 269.

    Patricia Kayden

    February 20, 2022 at 5:04 pm

    More than 150,000 Russian soldiers are lined up on the Ukraine border to support Putin’s assault on democracy. GOP senators such as Ron Johnson are lined up in Congress to do the same. pic.twitter.com/o1Ap1kpDBj— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) February 20, 2022

  270. 270.

    Bill Arnold

    February 20, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    @Kirk Spencer:
    Isn’t Jo6pac one of DougJ’s troll gotchas?
    Goes back to 2007 in this blog, mixed content, some pretty coherent, some … not. (I treat it at face value, because if it is parody, it consistent and high-quality.)

  271. 271.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 5:05 pm

    My TV machine tells me that I shouldn’t be like Larry David.

    What? What’s that??

    BREAKING: Over $200,000,000 worth of NFTs have been stolen from OpenSea via an email phishing hack. pic.twitter.com/nBplXiO4gt

    — Plugged Inn (@pluggedinn) February 20, 2022

    [womp, womp]

    (via nycsouthpaw)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  272. 272.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 5:09 pm

    @Another Scott: But I saw so many crypto commercials during the Super Bowl!  It can’t be shady bullshit! /S

  273. 273.

    Geminid

    February 20, 2022 at 5:14 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: There is an interesting article today on Wisconsin Republican intra-party strife, in Politico. Some Republicans are still trying to “Stop the Steal,” and demand support. Party officials say that everyone will come together after the primaries, but they don’t don’t sound so convinced.

  274. 274.

    TEL

    February 20, 2022 at 5:18 pm

    @jo6pac: Welp another one added to the pie list.

  275. 275.

    Patricia Kayden

    February 20, 2022 at 5:24 pm

    ?

    Tamara Lich withdrew a million dollars from her GFM fundraiser. Her husband flew to Ottawa via private jet. Tamara has been staying at an expensive hotel while many protesters slept in their vehicles. People are reporting that Tamara recently purchased an $80K vehicle.— The Platypus (@ThePlatypusCA) February 19, 2022

  276. 276.

    Tony Jay

    February 20, 2022 at 5:25 pm

    @germy:

    Heh, no, I haven’t, but nothing that Slytherin dropout does to appear more than 20% human comes off at all convincing.

    He’s as authentic as a Keanu Reeves English accent.

  277. 277.

    Bill Arnold

    February 20, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    @jo6pac:

    A little read material for you all.

    Spotted at least 2 falsehoods and the rest was mostly deliberately misleading. (Consider the possibility that you are gullible, if you regularly huff that stuff uncritically.)
    The raw intelligence (some probably of it just intercepted chatter) is being lightly washed (of methods and sources) and dumped, with some timing involved, to the press, to try to prevent an invasion of Ukraine. Current Russian propaganda is trying to justify an invasion, i.e. is warmongering. Open source intelligence  (we need more!) is generally agreeing with Western intelligence source public releases. (E.g. commercial satellite imaging is no longer extremely expensive.)
    Current Russian propaganda is akin the to unforgivable American GWBush administration propaganda to push for a war with Iraq, and is similarly loathsome and unforgivable.

  278. 278.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 5:27 pm

    US sources saying that orders to start operations have been distributed to Russian commanders.

    Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck

  279. 279.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 5:36 pm

    Pravda.com.ua (with Google Translate):

    According to Ukrainian intelligence, ORDLO residents evacuated to Russia are returning home on their own because “no one feeds or resettles them” in Russia.

    Source : Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on 1 + 1 TV channel

    Direct speech : “The fact that Ukrainian citizens are allegedly being taken out en masse from the ORDLO to the Russian Federation is also a farce today, they have taken out several thousand.

    Now our intelligence has accurate information that people are returning home on their own, they are not fed or resettled there. It’s just a production for Mosfilm or who’s doing their movies there. ”

    What preceded : On February 18, the leaders of the so-called “DPR” and “LPR” announced the evacuation of women and children to Russia under the contrived pretext of alleged aggression by Ukraine.

    Later, the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported that hundreds of evacuated ORDO residents spent the whole night in cold buses in the Rostov region of the Russian Federation and were not received anywhere.

    VVP’s people don’t seem to understand how the world of cell-phone video works now. You can’t just announce something and ignore the reality for long – the truth will come out.

    (via KyivIndependent)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  280. 280.

    scav

    February 20, 2022 at 5:37 pm

    @Tony Jay: Merely for precision’s sake, is that better or worse than Dick Van Dyke’s?  Or, possibly, just DVD’s in new money.

  281. 281.

    Jim Appleton

    February 20, 2022 at 5:38 pm

    Sloane Ranger:   Me too.  But I like D’s train of thought.

  282. 282.

    Tony Jay

    February 20, 2022 at 5:42 pm

    @The Pale Scot:

    If that turns out to be solid Putin is clearly huffing some crazy gas. While he was just undermining democracy with misinformation and dark money he had some buffer, but openly declaring war on a country everyone and their mother has said they will do whatever it takes to protect… that’s reckless lunacy.

    But hey, if that’s how he wants to play it, hopefully it will become very hot, very fast for his bought and paid for agents in the US, UK and elsewhere. Better sell on that three story central London townhouse ASAP, the bottom might be dropping out of that market a lot earlier than anyone expected.

  283. 283.

    ema

    February 20, 2022 at 5:50 pm

    @NotMax:

    When you hold the Olympics in a brutal totalitarian state with active concentration camps you should expect people not to watch.

  284. 284.

    Tony Jay

    February 20, 2022 at 5:51 pm

    @scav:

    DVD at least attempted a facsimile of an exaggerated Cockney accent, but Keanu (lovely guy that he is) adopts the tone and intonation of a constipated Bahrainian bank manager suffering an asthma attack.

  285. 285.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 5:52 pm

    Meanwhile, …

    Difficult to tell from the initial reports whether Credit Suisse is in legal trouble. But it’s hard to be a successful private bank if you cannot reliably keep your wealthy clients’ details private.https://t.co/BzR2FIkuUd

    — Peter Thal Larsen (@peter_tl) February 20, 2022

    [womp, womp]

    (via dsquareddigest)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  286. 286.

    Cermet

    February 20, 2022 at 5:53 pm

    The ace in the hole putin has that so many ignore is that sanctions will hurt both Europe and the US, too; energy prices will really climb. putin isn’t worried about russians hurting – that he can control. But if energy and then inflation really snowballs here in the US, then the midterms will be a blood bath for dems. Then if things (and sanctions continue) so will a bad economy in the US and Europe – loss of the biggest energy exporter will do that. Enter the orange turd come 2024. Then with low dem turn out but high thug, the dump wins. Sanctions go away, putin holds the Ukraine and it is win/win for that bastard.

  287. 287.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 20, 2022 at 5:56 pm

    @Cermet: Interesting new argument.  No more convincing than your last one, but I thank you for trying.

  288. 288.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 5:59 pm

    @The Pale Scot:

    JUST IN??Ukraine’s Defense Minister: Russia has not yet formed any assault groups in regions bordering Ukraine. Invasion is not going to happen “today or tomorrow”

    — Illia Ponomarenko (@IAPonomarenko) February 20, 2022

    FWIW.

    (via CherylRofer)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  289. 289.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    @Another Scott:  Probably related to this (and similar things):

    Credit Suisse Account Played Role in Scheme That Destroyed Ukrainian Agriculture Firm

    Mriya Agro Holding collapsed after its Ukrainian owners, members of the Guta family, siphoned over $100 million of the company’s money into shell companies. SuisseSecrets data reveals that the money was moved from an account at Credit Suisse — which should have noticed major red flags in the transactions, an expert said.

    (via KyivIndependent)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  290. 290.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2022 at 6:04 pm

    @Another Scott:  For those who don’t know, ORDLO means the occupied territories. It is the Ukrainian acronym for “Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts” (an oblast is like a state in the US.)

  291. 291.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 6:07 pm

    @germy:

    Dude, I had blotter that looked exactly like the wallpaper

  292. 292.

    debbie

    February 20, 2022 at 6:10 pm

    @Cermet:

    I’m guessing the sanctions NATO allies have in store for Putin will hurt him and his allies, not to mention the nation, a whole lot more.

  293. 293.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2022 at 6:10 pm

    @jo6pac: Have you heard of the Wagner Group?

  294. 294.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 6:14 pm

    @Steeplejack: Huh.

    Thanks. I never knew any of that.

    I remember similar connotations  from some of the antiwar folks I ran with back in the Dubya years.

    Which, for the record, a lot of these “anti-imperialist” voices are trying WAAAAAY too hard to be. I was there for the domestic side of that fiasco, kids. This shit y’all think you’re doing right now over Ukraine? This ain’t that. At all…

     

    @Kay: It makes sense when you realize Vance is just selling the same bullshit as those vacuities from Duck Dynasty.

    Not a good ol’ boy, but he can sure play one on tv! (Or at least, a certain kind of reasonably well off suburban/upscale white person’s idea of a good ol’ boy…) Basically the white trash noble savage version of a minstrel show. The yuppies yearning for some down home cred will ALWAYS line up for that crap.

  295. 295.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2022 at 6:15 pm

    @yellowdog: How many people constitute “the government”?

  296. 296.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 6:21 pm

     

     

    @Kathleen: Heh. Righteous example.

  297. 297.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 6:26 pm

     

     

    @Bill Arnold: Shit. This cat’s gonna flip when he starts reading about Wagner…

    Y’know, the Russian version of Blackwater – whose C.O. has actual schutzstaffel runes tattooed on his neck?

    ETA: Hell, there are neonazi Poles. Explain THAT…

  298. 298.

    cain

    February 20, 2022 at 6:28 pm

    Shit – y’all – reports of shelling and firing in the border cities:

    https://twitter.com/Himat75/status/1495420402901868552

    It’s between pro-Russia militia and Ukraine.

  299. 299.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Seriously. The fact Fishsticks Goebbels (thanks, TTBD!) and Dr. J.B. Lobsterclaw are out there hawking that crypto shit should really give the stans pause…

  300. 300.

    Gin & Tonic

    February 20, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    @cain: There’s been shelling all weekend.

  301. 301.

    Brachiator

    February 20, 2022 at 6:37 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    It was a symbol of America as dystopia beneath the shiny surface, and then it got used by the anti-Vietnam War left. And then, of course, like everything else, it became a cliché to be used by one and all. The kkk variant adds in a little Klan/​racism spin.

    I think this sums it up very neatly. I recall seeing this spelling in antiwar material in the 60s and 70s.

  302. 302.

    Subsole

    February 20, 2022 at 6:41 pm

    @Tony Jay: If Vlad really wants to put his pantsu on his head and set his pubes on fire, he could go ahead and start a bunch of cyber attacks against various Allied infrastructure networks. Or cut off the gas qnd plunge into a full on economic war with the rest of the west.

     

    @Omnes Omnibus: Ehhhh…I can actually see Putin banking on it. Not that I necessarily see it working here in the US (I don’t know how vulnerable Europe is to that kind of  pressure). But if he’s pants-on-head crazy enough to invade, he’s certainly crazy enough to think the GOP will save him.

    On that note. If our intel people are good enough to snag access to Russian invasion timetables, is there ANY chance we can ferrett out some of these GOP moles working for Russia???

  303. 303.

    Dopey-o

    February 20, 2022 at 6:48 pm

    @Ruckus: But he has the power to destroy humans and things and isn’t afraid to use them but is smart enough to know when he’s out gunned. As G&T says 150K troops is not enough to control a country of 40 million. Sure they may be somewhat better armed but if you destroy the country and a large segment of the people he really won’t have gained what he wants.

     

    Someone should send Vlad a copy of The Battle of Algiers. Ya know, the movie they show to all the cadets at West Point.

    The lesson learned is that there is no way to suppress a popular insurgency, short of leveling the occupied territory. Vlad should have learned this in Afghanistan.

    A protracted struggle in Kyiv will provoke a prolonged insurgency with lots of materiel flowing in from the West. The best Vlad can hope for is install a puppet and retreat. I hope.

  304. 304.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 20, 2022 at 6:49 pm

    ?

    O Canada.https://t.co/iFq6Vpery4 pic.twitter.com/JoEKFbvsr9— Neil Steinberg (@NeilSteinberg) February 20, 2022

  305. 305.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 6:53 pm

    @cain:

    France24:

    Highest number of ceasefire violations recorded in 2022

    Observers from the OSCE European security body on Saturday reported more than 1,500 ceasefire violations in east Ukraine in a single day, the highest number this year.

    In a report covering attacks on Friday, its monitors recorded 591 breaches in Donetsk and 975 violations in neighbouring Lugansk, two regions partly held by Russian-backed separatists.

    As G&T says, there’s already a war going on.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  306. 306.

    cain

    February 20, 2022 at 7:04 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Damn,  sucks. In the tweet, the person there was tweeting that US intelligence believes Putin has already given the word to go with the invasion.

  307. 307.

    cain

    February 20, 2022 at 7:08 pm

    @Another Scott:  Putin is fuckin crazy.. As others have noted.. you might have the forces to unseat the govt, but you’re going to need way more to keep it, and you have plenty of actors who will be happy to have Russia be in another quagmire.

    How long before the populace (already pissed off about Afghanistan) is going to start agitating at home?

  308. 308.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 7:47 pm

    @cain: Nobody knows.  War is chaotic and usually has all kinds of consequences.  It’s hard to know how much real information the folks in Russia will get…

    Fighting has been going on in the east for almost 8 years. There’s little reason to think that it would be over quickly in the rest of the country. But VVP seemingly wants to try to rule in ruin…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  309. 309.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 8:11 pm

    USAF Global Hawk is keeping an eye out. Live – FlightRadar24

    (via VladDavidzon)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  310. 310.

    Lyrebird

    February 20, 2022 at 8:15 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa: Yeah, Ms. Wong has an advantage on me with her rugby skills, but it’s staggering.  Words like “hypocrisy” are nowhere near enough.

  311. 311.

    Another Scott

    February 20, 2022 at 9:14 pm

    Psaki says that Biden and VVP will meet soon, if VVP doesn’t invade first.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  312. 312.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 9:42 pm

    @Tony Jay:

    hopefully it will become very hot, very fast for his bought and paid for agents in the US, UK and elsewhere.

    I said that over at LGM, intel will pull the gloves off. Might want keep an eye on FartBag and some Senators. They hop on unscheduled private jets the balloon is rising

    @Another Scott:

    Going by what observers are saying, the ground is too muddy, the tanks are older models without their reactive armor kits on, and the equipment needed to refuel quickly advancing tanks (Mi-26s and fuel bladders stationed at rear depots) hasn’t been spotted. He can take Donbass as is no problem, but it’s a worthless area populated by pensioners. Seems like some sort of misdirection, or maybe COVID and his political situation is worse than thought

  313. 313.

    The Pale Scot

    February 20, 2022 at 10:40 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Cool

  314. 314.

    Bill Arnold

    February 20, 2022 at 10:43 pm

    @The Pale Scot:
    Re mud, weather underground has history. E.g. (appears to be Fahrenheit) :
    https://www.wunderground.com/history/monthly/ua/kyiv/UKKK
    it has been frozen-mud-melting weather for a while. Plenty of days where the sun helped the mud to melt, too.

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