kiko Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 1 minute ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: @kiko Do you speak Russian? If not is there an app that will quickly translate spoken Russian? I did learn Russian but can't speak it at all. Colossal waste of time. We really should push to give Esperanto another go. Each language worth learning because a lot of people speak has been spread by murdering as many people as possible not speaking that language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 Another lovely Russian: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 And yet another Russian I’m sure the German Chancellor would be delighted to have visiting Berlin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiko Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 17 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: And yet another Russian I’m sure the German Chancellor would be delighted to have visiting Berlin: What makes you believe that Scholz would be delighted to have this guy in Germany? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 37 minutes ago, kiko said: What makes you believe that Scholz would be delighted to have this guy in Germany? His unwillingness to even discuss restrictions upon tourist visas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiko Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 7 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: His unwillingness to even discuss restrictions upon tourist visas. You mean on Twitter? Eta: This back and forth is somewhat stupid. But maybe you take some time to think and acknowledge the fact that this is not necessarily a binary decision and also this doesn't have to be discussed in public on that level. Don't we have seen that again and again, not only with this Russian attack but also before? There is first one loud minority posting maximum demands, then frustration because those demands apparently bounce off and finally a sudden resolution that somehow manages to bring everyone on board. Also regarding a visa ban. As an American, it is also not wrong to know your history. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_St._Louis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 Posting random Twitter videos of even more random people yelling utter nonsense isn't hugely helpful to the conversation or how long it takes the pages to load. Meanwhile, the Dzhankoi ammo dump explosion has been followed by further bombings at Gvardeyskoye Airbase in the centre of Crimea. This is one of the largest resupply sorting centres for troops, material and equipment for the southern front of the campaign. If Gvardeyskoye Airbase is put under repeated fire, like Saki, then the Russians may be forced to redeploy to another airfield further away for safe resupply. The problem is that this means effectively halting the use of any airfield in Crimea and pulling all the way back to Rostov. The Zyabrauka airfield used by Russian aircraft in Belarus early in the war has apparently been rocked by massive explosions. In this case it appears to be a genuine accident involving refuelling vehicles, Ukraine has chosen so far not to hit targets in Belarus as long as they are not being used against Ukraine, and this airfield hasn't been used for a while. It's so close to Chernihiv across the border that aircraft using it are in easy range of Ukrainian AA systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted August 17, 2022 Author Share Posted August 17, 2022 Mea Culpa. I’ve been on twitter… a lot. It isn’t particularly conducive to thoughtful evaluation of events. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiko Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 16 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: Mea Culpa. I’ve been on twitter… a lot. It isn’t particularly conducive to thoughtful evaluation of events. Nothing wrong with Twitter as such, it can be a good source of information. Just don't go down the rabbit hole and also try not to listen to the extremist on both sides. I had to block some people who have technically the same opinion as me and are followed by people I respect but post pretty vile and upsetting stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 4 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: His unwillingness to even discuss restrictions upon tourist visas. Scot, I love you, but you are being unreasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padraig Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 11 hours ago, broken one said: There was a bit more of what I said than just that. In general - I am sceptical as for possibility of reintegration for all the reasons I have mentioned (and more). Fair. I feared I wasn't getting everything across. And maybe you are right on your specific points. But it does disagree with what Werthead has posted. As he mentioned, it is fair to say that the Donbas was a lot more partial towards Russia before 2014. We have election results to prove that. But that doesn't mean they wanted to join Russia. Just that they wanted more Russian friendly leaders. maarsen also has a point that one way to change people's mind is to give them what they want. Living under Russian "control" since 2014 may not have been as glorious as some expected. Propaganda can of course counter that but that may also not work as well as people expect. Each situation is different and the regime there doesn't seem particularly effective. That is why I believe we don't know enough about what the residents there think right now. Unless I am missing other relevant info. We can fear the worst (and I certainly can't reject your case) but hope for better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felice Posted August 17, 2022 Share Posted August 17, 2022 9 hours ago, kiko said: I did learn Russian but can't speak it at all. Colossal waste of time. We really should push to give Esperanto another go. Mi akordas, tio estus bonega ideo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilbur Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 This is an excellent reporting of the intelligence and political build up to the invasion from the WaPo. As Russia prepared to invade Ukraine, U.S. struggled to convince Zelensky, allies of threat - Washington Post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 A Russian soldier has published a 141-page diary of his time at the front, moving from Crimea to Kherson, and how horrendous it was. He now wants the war to end and has fled the country for fear of his life. Quote “I don’t see justice in this war. I don’t see truth here,” he said over a tucked-away cafe table in the Moscow financial district. It was his first time sitting down in person with a journalist since returning from the war in Ukraine. “I am not afraid to fight in war. But I need to feel justice, to understand that what I’m doing is right. And I believe that this is all failing not only because the government has stolen everything, but because we, Russians, don’t feel that what we are doing is right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted August 18, 2022 Author Share Posted August 18, 2022 Russian bullying or are the Russians planning to do something incredibly stupid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 It's actually incredibly difficult to blow up a nuclear power plant in a way that causes damage, because people learned that lesson from Chornobyl and nobody learned that lesson better than Ukraine. The only way to do it would be to get a bunch of Russians up on the reactor casing, drilling into it for some considerably time and shoving explosives in there. I'm not seeing anyone volunteering for that task. Someone else said, well Russia could drop a tactical nuke on the reactor, which they could, but that vapourise a lot of the stuff they'd be trying to release. And you'd might as well just drop a tactical nuke somewhere else. Plus the Russians know using a tactical nuke on Ukraine completely transforms the parameters of the conflict, risks losing the support of the countries currently back-channelling stuff to them and risks WWIII. More likely is that Russia kidnaps and removes the staff (like they did at Chornobyl) and possibly retreats from the reactor to leave it to go haywire to inconvenience the Ukrainians when they retake it (they'd be able to get it under control again very quickly). Also, if the wind is blowing west to east, the fallout would fall on the DPR, LPR and Rostov, as well as a vast swathe of south-western Russia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 14 minutes ago, Werthead said: It's actually incredibly difficult to blow up a nuclear power plant in a way that causes damage, because people learned that lesson from Chornobyl and nobody learned that lesson better than Ukraine. The only way to do it would be to get a bunch of Russians up on the reactor casing, drilling into it for some considerably time and shoving explosives in there. I'm not seeing anyone volunteering for that task. Someone else said, well Russia could drop a tactical nuke on the reactor, which they could, but that vapourise a lot of the stuff they'd be trying to release. And you'd might as well just drop a tactical nuke somewhere else. Plus the Russians know using a tactical nuke on Ukraine completely transforms the parameters of the conflict, risks losing the support of the countries currently back-channelling stuff to them and risks WWIII. More likely is that Russia kidnaps and removes the staff (like they did at Chornobyl) and possibly retreats from the reactor to leave it to go haywire to inconvenience the Ukrainians when they retake it (they'd be able to get it under control again very quickly). Also, if the wind is blowing west to east, the fallout would fall on the DPR, LPR and Rostov, as well as a vast swathe of south-western Russia. The Russians would probably view blowing up the nuclear power plant as a victory for common sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 Not even remotely concerning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted August 18, 2022 Author Share Posted August 18, 2022 7 minutes ago, Werthead said: Not even remotely concerning. This could be an effort to eliminate the plant’s ability to generate and transmit electricity rather than an effort to destroy the plant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade1865 Posted August 18, 2022 Share Posted August 18, 2022 1 minute ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said: This could be an effort to eliminate the plant’s ability to transmit electricity rather than an effort to destroy the plant? Ser Scot A Ellison — that’s a great guess, imo. But I think the Russians will fail to sabotage it correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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