Gloomy Saturday

+792 is Russia. Never had a call from there before and I don't answer when I see a number like that.
Putting my paranoid hat on it seems rather coincidental with my crowd funding suggestion. Maybe I should withdraw my polonium coated samovar idea.
 
Gazz said:
+792 is Russia. Never had a call from there before and I don't answer when I see a number like that.
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If you're a Russian oligarch, what (or who) is the main thing ruining your life right now? Perhaps the +792 caller is a halo (horns?) investor looking for a piece of that crowd-funding idea of yours. Never look a gift kleptocrat in the mouth as they say.
 
Gazz said:
+792 is Russia. Never had a call from there before and I don't answer when I see a number like that.
Putting my paranoid hat on it seems rather coincidental with my crowd funding suggestion. Maybe I should withdraw my polonium coated samovar idea.
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Better answer the call. Likely to be somebody that wants to hide his mega yacht in your area, skipper.
 
Dan Wood said:
World Central Kitchen is a great way to support the Ukraine refuges.

WCK ramps up Ukraine response; Nearly 1 million meals served

mailchi.mp
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I suppose soon Poland will also need help dealing with the Ukranian refugees.
Biden whispered at the end his teleprompter session two days ago that Russia will pay a heavy price if they use chemical weapons in Ukraine. He did not name the price though. DQ usually puts people in their place when they list for sale items with no location or price :).
 
Dan Wood said:
World Central Kitchen is a great way to support the Ukraine refuges.

WCK ramps up Ukraine response; Nearly 1 million meals served

mailchi.mp
Click to expand...
Chef Andres is the best. Yes, he's become a media darling, but it's because he also walks the walk, doesn't just talk the talk. Long before he became a "personality", he was doing the work of love and charity that most of us wish we could do in our local communities, but on a world-wide scale wherever there is mayhem. We are in awe of his energy and will continue to supports his efforts.
 
dave v. in nc said:
Chef Andres is the best. Yes, he's become a media darling, but it's because he also walks the walk, doesn't just talk the talk. Long before he became a "personality", he was doing the work of love and charity that most of us wish we could do in our local communities, but on a world-wide scale wherever there is mayhem. We are in awe of his energy and will continue to supports his efforts.
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Awesome, and they are cooking in Poland that huge Boscht! Maybe they can given Biden the leftover beets so he can paint his red line. I can donate the WH a permanent marker.
 
HB Chris said:
Arde, enough with your dislike of Biden please.
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Apologies Chris if I crossed the line. For the record I did not vote for Trump. I think Putin is trying to enter history like JFK did with the Cuban missile crisis, and I really hope he does not. I think that history is being written now.
 
WALTER said:
I’ve done security cooperation in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and in Africa; you don’t give a military something without the training that goes into learning that equipment, it could be disaster if you did. It’s all good until the wrong aircraft gets shot down. ...
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Well, since the Poles offered their entire fleet of Mig-29s to be transferred through the US, your valid point Walter is no longer a training issue. It is a valid "fear of escalation" political decision. It seems to be about what constitutes a proxy war vs. a direct war, according to this very interesting article:
us.yahoo.com

Exclusive: Secret CIA training program in Ukraine helped Kyiv prepare for Russian invasion

As the battle lines hardened in the Donbas following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, a small, select group of veteran CIA paramilitaries made their first secret trips to the frontlines to meet with Ukrainian counterparts there, according to former U.S. officials.
us.yahoo.com us.yahoo.com
 
Arde said:
"fear of escalation"
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I think he is testing the international communities tolerance to Russian violence. He may not stop until he has found the threshold for where the USA is finally willing to take more direct action.
 
Am I missing something because it seems to me that Putin could be doing a lot worse to Ukraine than he has done so far.
 
JFENG said:
I think he is testing the international communities tolerance to Russian violence. He may not stop until he has found the threshold for where the USA is finally willing to take more direct action.
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If he was worried about a threshold why would he even start an invasion? I suspect he is far more interested in Europe's response, especially Germany and nuclear France. Don't forget that Ukraine's border is only 500 klms from Moscow. I see that NATO has denied Ukraine fast track membership. This could be an appeasement.
 
Well, it's been 3 1/2 weeks since the first post. And - All is still Noisy on the Eastern Front (shameless parody).

Seems missiles, bombs, and artillery keep hitting Ukrainian apartment buildings and hospitals (well, I've heard of one military installation hit this week). So sad. If I remember correctly, at the end of the 'State of the Union' message on 3/1/2022, the 'leader of the free world' stated "Putin doesn't know what's in store for him". Two weeks later, after increasing the assault, Putin still doesn't know because essentially nothing has happened 'to' him. The US did sanction oil purchases, but the private companies had already essentially accomplished that over the past 3 months by just not buying Russia oil. Their actions preceded government decisions/action. Still a lot of Russian banks operating within the SWIFT system.

Any guesses on how many Ukrainians will die in the next week while the west is waiting to gather for a 'pow wow' in Brussels on 3/25? There will be no 'red lines', however - according to the White House press secretary - guess we learned something about those in regard to Syria and Russia a few years ago.

I can not express the admiration I have for the bravery the free people of Ukraine have demonstrated. Nor the respect I have for "the leader of the free Ukraine" nation. My hope is that his 'wishes' can come true. People who are practitioners of Political Science are expected to know how to solve political problems, and should have some creative skills. Looking forward to a resolution and Peace for the Ukrainian citizens.

Gary
 
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Hi Gary - Biden has taken harsh action against Putin, but Putin doesn't much care for the opinions of the international community. Nor will he be disuaded by economic sanctions. He will continue until he is stopped, and stopping him will likely entail force. But Europe cannot sit back and wait for us to stop him. In my view, we need to come to a consensus on how to do so, jointly, as Gazz noted, with Germany and France (and the British Commonwealth). The Visegard countries, the Baltics, Romania and Bulgaria will readily follow, but the rich powerful countries need to lead.

As to the bombing, I think Russia has been very restrained if you look at their history. They usually like to indiscriminantly bomb before moving in troops, which they have not done in Ukraine. They remain rather casual about measures to avoid killing civilians, but so far, their approach is not as brutal as your typical Russian military advance.
 
I just learned the US will sanction Putin's daughters.
Not sure what that means. Their Netflix account will be removed, no more Gucci gear from Amazon.
Is this a game changer? You can probably sense my disappointment...
 
Arde said:
I just learned the US will sanction Putin's daughters.
Not sure what that means. Their Netflix account will be removed, no more Gucci gear from Amazon.
Is this a game changer? You can probably sense my disappointment...
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Someone with daughters thought this up. Lots of storming out of rooms and slamming of doors. This puts immense pressure on Putin.
 
Gazz said:
Someone with daughters thought this up. Lots of storming out of rooms and slamming of doors. This puts immense pressure on Putin.
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You bring out a great point. Can the women in the male leader's life influence him towards peace?
Or are we at the mercy of Sheryl Sandberg's logic as “No two countries run by women would ever go to war”.

Her approach means that any pair of adjacent countries should have women as rulers, as one is not enough for peace (ask Golda Meir who was attacked by Anwar El Sadat in 1973).

And World Peace, by induction, means that all countries are run by women.
I am not making this shit up:
www.cnbc.com

Meta's Sheryl Sandberg: 'No two countries run by women would ever go to war'

If half the world were run by women, Sandberg believes the world would be "safer" and "much more prosperous."
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
 
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