The Ukraine Situation

[StringThing]

Today I saw $3.99 - $4.09 in town. We got gas at Costco a couple days ago for $3.79 which was cheaper than anywhere else I saw on the way there.

Ah well, I'm ready for it. At least we don't have to drive far to get where we need to go around here. I do feel bad for people that have to put on
a lot of miles though.

Yep it was 4 something here today.

It's already 5-7 in other western countries.

I can see this kind of price increase making it unaffordable for some people to get to work.

[herbalhippie]

Today I saw $3.99 - $4.09 in town. We got gas at Costco a couple days ago for $3.79 which was cheaper than anywhere else I saw on the way there.

Ah well, I'm ready for it. At least we don't have to drive far to get where we need to go around here. I do feel bad for people that have to put on
a lot of miles though.

It's already 5-7 in other western countries.

holy hell...

[StringThing]

Today I saw $3.99 - $4.09 in town. We got gas at Costco a couple days ago for $3.79 which was cheaper than anywhere else I saw on the way there.

Ah well, I'm ready for it. At least we don't have to drive far to get where we need to go around here. I do feel bad for people that have to put on
a lot of miles though.

It's already 5-7 in other western countries.

holy hell...

Yep its pretty crazy. Especially if you factor in the cost of living for different countries. Eastern Europeans are totally utterly screwed right now with gas.

This is going to jack up inflation even more, but IDK. I have a hard time complaining about it with everything going on. America is doing okay. No dictators yet. No war. Grocery stores still filled with food. Gas is comparatively cheap. Rent went up but wages are also going up, and I was able to negotiate a raise last year. USD is pretty stable. Life could definitely be a lot worse. My biggest problem today was choosing between vanilla ice cream or a raspberry popsicle.

[herbalhippie]

Normally I would have been prepping like a madwoman right now. I've been trying to control the urge, I prepped pretty good in early March 2020 when I didn't know yet if going to the store was going to kill me or not. We used most of it and what's left will be good for a while yet. I've got a brand new Costco card and Costco is less than a mile up the road, so it's been kind of hard not to.

[StringThing]

Normally I would have been prepping like a madwoman right now. I've been trying to control the urge, I prepped pretty good in early March 2020 when I didn't know yet if going to the store was going to kill me or not. We used most of it and what's left will be good for a while yet. I've got a brand new Costco card and Costco is less than a mile up the road, so it's been kind of hard not to.

Costco is dangerous lol. Once I'm inside, I can't stop myself.

[StringThing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pA9Wf4_RrM&t=48s

Putin says invasion going according to plan'

This is the full speech. Just now watching it and he seems stressed as hell.

I think he believes his own shit. He seems to believe he's really a liberator.

Have heard multiple world leaders say he's seemed 'different' and more motivated after talking with him these last few months. Macron is the latest and is saying 'the worst is yet to come'.

I'm having another popsicle.

[herbalhippie]

Did you see this???

https://twitter.com/lindseygrahamsc/sta ... KX8iZR6XKk

[StringThing]

Did you see this???

https://twitter.com/lindseygrahamsc/sta ... KX8iZR6XKk

Saw that this morning.

Really fucking depressing, honestly. What a massive, flaming, stupid fucking idiot.

There is a non-insignificant part of the population--the ultra religious, protestant/evangelical types, who believe that the bible is the ultimate truth--that are speaking about these times being the end times. It really exploded with the pandemic and here they are again. History repeats itself. These are the Qanon types, the 'great reset' types, the types who claim to be 'Christian' or 'soldiers of God' or whatever.

Not to say that all religious people are like this (not anywhere close) it's just a certain percentage. It's like, they want war. They want apocalypse. It is foretold, and they are ready to go to the Kingdom of Heaven. They feel they are the only ones aware of God's plan, and that the rest of us have been fooled by agents of Satan.

Absolutely baffling to see right wing media go from: 'The West is overreacting' to 'This is Biden's fault' to 'we need to kill Putin and send our troops in'

Like obviously, YEAH. It would be great if Putin got assassinated. But he's a Senator and should know better than to say these things on national television. Putin is watching, and we do NOT want him to feel like his life is under threat. The more he feels under threat, the more this escalates. And he is making threats daily right now.

[herbalhippie]

You laid it all out quite nicely. This is kind of worrisome.

[StringThing]

You laid it all out quite nicely. This is kind of worrisome.

It definitely is.

Have you ever seen the anime Barefoot Gen?

It's about the nuclear bombs dropped in Japan during WWII. Some very good animation and emotionally impactful. Worth a watch even if you don't like anime.

The way it portrays the peaceful moments before destruction is just... idk. It's really powerful. Very graphic as they don't just limit the nuclear explosion to a few seconds of 'boom' but actually show people and buildings melting and suffering.

Full movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olFmklCCccE

Bomb scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI--ISLhYkk

I hope this isn't me, innocently living my life, unaware of the destruction to come. It's a scary thought.

[herbalhippie]

I think I'll pass, thanks.

There was a movie in the 80s called The Day After about nuclear war. This is the movie that caused my husband and I to immediately become preppers.

[StringThing]

I think I'll pass, thanks.

There was a movie in the 80s called The Day After about nuclear war. This is the movie that caused my husband and I to immediately become preppers.

Totally understand passing lol. It's very graphic. I'm not usually effected by TV and movies but that bombing scene makes something in my chest drop.

Definitely going to have to watch that movie now. I read the plot and it sounds very realistic outside of the nuclear explosion in the air somehow causing an EMP attack.

edit: nvm its NEMP.

[StringThing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kELta9MLOzg

How Russians Reacted When We Showed Them Pictures From Ukraine

In terms of public opinion I take videos like this with a grain of salt, but its interesting hearing some of the rationalizations for this.

I like the old lady at the end that more or less says: "Putin? To hell with him."

[StringThing]

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... 6786832840

Russians take Ukraine nuclear plant; no radiation after fire

Firefighters put out the blaze, and no radiation was released, U.N. and Ukrainian officials said....

[StringThing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk5DgCwdTCw

On the Ground in Ukraine: A VICE News Tonight Special Report

[herbalhippie]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk5DgCwdTCw

On the Ground in Ukraine: A VICE News Tonight Special Report

Thank you. I'll watch it when I get a minute. Or 22 minutes.

[StringThing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c77JgJcrO9s

GASOLINE PRICES in Russia after SANCTIONS 2022!


Another Russian youtuber I follow. This guy is uh, a conspiracy theorist tbh. But I have been watching this couple ever since they had their baby and idk, they seem like good people, even if they get fooled by the propaganda.

Looks like 1-2USD per gallon there. Average income is 5-6k USD. So to me that price seems about similar (adjusting for the cost of living) to here in the US, another oil producing nation.

For some reason the footage of him driving around reminds me of Florida. That rain/sun combo.

Man I hate cars. Almost as bad as teeth.

[StringThing]

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... b1ac27294d

Russia cracks down on dissenting media, blocks Facebook

The bill, quickly rubber-stamped by both houses of the Kremlin-controlled parliament and signed by Putin, imposes prison sentences of up to 15 years for those spreading information that goes against the Russian government’s narrative on the war.

Jesus

Russia is about to arrest a lot of journalists.

[StringThing]

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-inva ... e-12555163

Ukraine invasion: Kremlin policy adviser reveals his shock over Vladimir Putin's decision to invade


"it's very embarrassing for all of us, not only because we turned out to be wrong, but also because Russia, and all Russians will be in a difficult position in many countries, not even only western countries but all over the place for a long time"

[StringThing]

Right wingers from the Canadian convoy sharing their opinion on Putin, seemingly before the invasion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo7tWhre9hs

"Putin is doing the right thing,"

"They can easily fake a war if they wanted to."

"We shouldn't have anything to do with it at all"

"The deep state has always made Putin to look like the bad guy, but he's a good guy"

"FREEEEDOM!"

[herbalhippie]

FREEEEEDUMBASABOXOFROCKS

[StringThing]

I blame the DEEP SLATE for making people dumb as rocks

Granite, they are free to believe in whatever they choose.

This country, and the world, ore hitting rock bottom, it seems.

Of quartz, I only know what I read in the media

[herbalhippie]

THEY'RE MINERALS, MARIE

[BallzDeep9]

Not to say that all religious people are like this (not anywhere close) it's just a certain percentage. It's like, they want war. They want apocalypse. It is foretold, and they are ready to go to the Kingdom of Heaven. They feel they are the only ones aware of God's plan, and that the rest of us have been fooled by agents of Satan.

... YEAH. It would be great if Putin got assassinated. But he's a Senator and should know better than to say these things on national television.

My position is... we're screwed. . Based on Polls. the Radical Religious Republican conservatives WIN our Midterms this year... while conservative Putin is about to destroy the planet. 20 years of conservative bullshit - those Neo Cons invading Iraq, cost us how many lives, and $ Trillions - the same Christian Doom Prophets have been pushing for war with Iran, remember ? Donald Rump nearly did start one! - NOW - IF we could quickly kiss & make-up with Iran, seems a no brainer solution to our problem with Russian OIL - a slim hope?

But yeah. I'm a general believer in the De-Evolution philosophy... remember rock band DEVO ? . Saw 'em live in 1980. Have all their albums. Quite obviously the PEAK of American society was the 60's through 80's ... America can't handle The Internet - it's driving those Jeezus people crazy. IF "conservatives" take control of Congress this year ? Nothing gets done. Biden's economic plan is already DOA. And then... IF Rump, or a Rump Clone, gets elected President in 2024 - it's all over...

News Junkie. Love VICE news, DVR their show nightly. Got plenty of Kratom doomsday stash... I've enjoyed a good long life! Not gonna get stressed out. We Are DEVO!

[StringThing]

Not to say that all religious people are like this (not anywhere close) it's just a certain percentage. It's like, they want war. They want apocalypse. It is foretold, and they are ready to go to the Kingdom of Heaven. They feel they are the only ones aware of God's plan, and that the rest of us have been fooled by agents of Satan.

... YEAH. It would be great if Putin got assassinated. But he's a Senator and should know better than to say these things on national television.

My position is... we're screwed. . Based on Polls. the Radical Religious Republican conservatives WIN our Midterms this year... while conservative Putin is about to destroy the planet. 20 years of conservative bullshit - those Neo Cons invading Iraq, cost us how many lives, and $ Trillions - the same Christian Doom Prophets have been pushing for war with Iran, remember ? Donald Rump nearly did start one! - NOW - IF we could quickly kiss & make-up with Iran, seems a no brainer solution to our problem with Russian OIL - a slim hope?

But yeah. I'm a general believer in the De-Evolution philosophy... remember rock band DEVO ? . Saw 'em live in 1980. Have all their albums. Quite obviously the PEAK of American society was the 60's through 80's ... America can't handle The Internet - it's driving those Jeezus people crazy. IF "conservatives" take control of Congress this year ? Nothing gets done. Biden's economic plan is already DOA. And then... IF Rump, or a Rump Clone, gets elected President in 2024 - it's all over...

News Junkie. Love VICE news, DVR their show nightly. Got plenty of Kratom doomsday stash... I've enjoyed a good long life! Not gonna get stressed out. We Are DEVO!

I think the world will move forward no matter what. If conservatives had their way, we'd still have slaves.

I'm confident the 2030's will be better. Or it'll be a nuclear wasteland IDK. I'm prepared to run directly into the blast zone though.

[StringThing]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/po ... ar-AAUGvAo

Pope Francis dispatches 2 cardinals to Ukraine

[StringThing]

Every time I want to see what Russians are saying on RT news, the site is under DDOS attack lol. They even got some new DDOS protection plugin thing that I saw last time I actually got on, so I guess that STILL isn't enough lol.

[herbalhippie]

now I know who to ask when I need something photoshopped

[herbalhippie]

Every time I want to see what Russians are saying on RT news, the site is under DDOS attack lol. They even got some new DDOS protection plugin thing that I saw last time I actually got on, so I guess that STILL isn't enough lol.

I saw something about that last night. Another IT proficient group.

[herbalhippie]

This babushka was already arrested once for protesting. What a QUEEN!

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... war_in_st/

[StringThing]

Lol the cardinals I didn't do. The kratom babushka, yes

This babushka was already arrested once for protesting. What a QUEEN!

https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... war_in_st/

IRON BABUSHKA

she has some nice looking signs too, damn.

I've noticed an increasing amount of videos of Russians fighting back against the police. Huge protests this weekend.


In line with the hacking stuff, I really liked this: https://www.reddit.com/r/ukraine/commen ... n_russian/

video is showing this type of equipment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UVB-76

[StringThing]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edyptyXmld8

What do Russians think now? 1 week after the start.

Interviewer has to start calling 'war' a 'special operation' to actually get interviews.

There's a hilarious couple at 2:14. The girlfriend is like: "We don't want war. Can I swear? Fuck war."

And the boyfriend is joking around like "Our noble soldiers will win an unconditional victory. The further to the west, the better. We won't stop there, next one is Poland, Germany, and in the end, Paris, and 1941-1945 will repeat" "Russians will go to heaven, it is promised to us"

[IndelibleDotInk]

I'm not even sure what stance to take on this; it's like China/Taiwan but murky. I don't have a clear view of common Ukranian sentiment, NATO's position, who stands to benefit/lose... I'm just hoping everyone is ok with ceasing of violence.

[brave777]

I honestly think putin made a mistake going in, he should just back out. I cant believe he decided to cut all the Russians to money. Cut them selfs out from the whole world. I think he will gain a lot of hate for that. If he would be smart he would make win win situation for ukrain and russian itself, like if they need oil or what ever and get peace/respect in return. I got some ukraian friends and sure they have to leave their own city is F'ed up. I think this war will be like north korea and south korea, last over 50 years or more with a wall build somewhere. but who knows, its got out of control.

[CatfatherB]

I'm not even sure what stance to take on this; it's like China/Taiwan but murky. I don't have a clear view of common Ukranian sentiment, NATO's position, who stands to benefit/lose... I'm just hoping everyone is ok with ceasing of violence.

Mehh, you likely won't hear much on that, at least on msm, it doesn't fit their narrative.

[StringThing]

I'm not even sure what stance to take on this; it's like China/Taiwan but murky. I don't have a clear view of common Ukranian sentiment, NATO's position, who stands to benefit/lose... I'm just hoping everyone is ok with ceasing of violence.

There's only one moral stance to take in war: the defenders.

To support the aggressors in war, is to support violence.

NATO cannot be an aggressor as they are an opt-in defense treaty.

In this thread I've been trying to see what every country is saying about this... Russia is almost entirely alone.

Map of UN vote to condemn Putin's invasion. Almost every country has spoken out.

The only ones on Putin's side are: Syria, Belarus, Myanmar, North Korea, Cuba, and the Houthis (terrorist organization in Yemen.)

Even China released a statement on state news saying that 'NATO shouldn't expand, and Russia should respect Ukraine's sovereignty.' They abstained from the UN vote, but the statement is very telling.





I don't see how any informed person could *ever* take Putin's side in this, honestly. You have to realize, that when he alludes to genocide, he is talking about CULTURAL GENOCIDE.

If Putin cares so much about genocide, he should invade Xinjiang instead.

[StringThing]

I'm not even sure what stance to take on this; it's like China/Taiwan but murky. I don't have a clear view of common Ukranian sentiment, NATO's position, who stands to benefit/lose... I'm just hoping everyone is ok with ceasing of violence.

Mehh, you likely won't hear much on that, at least on msm, it doesn't fit their narrative.

Yes, you won't ever hear that stuff on mainstream media in the US, or Europe, or South America, or Africa, or most of Asia.

Just doesn't fit their narrative.

Where do you like to get your news from? I get it from all over the world, and you are just so right! I never see that narrative. Crazy!

[StringThing]

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-700559

Russia publishes an official list of states it deems 'unfriendly' to it

The countries, international organizations and territories considered "unfriendly" include: "Australia, Albania, Andorra, United Kingdom, including Jersey, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Gibraltar, the member states of the European Union, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, USA, Taiwan, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, Japan."

fucking NATO. Goddamn Biden!

[herbalhippie]

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-700559

Russia publishes an official list of states it deems 'unfriendly' to it

Everyone but who's in red on the map up there?

[StringThing]

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-700559

Russia publishes an official list of states it deems 'unfriendly' to it

Everyone but who's in red on the map up there?

Just the key players: 'the west', ex-soviet states, and some of China' potential enemies--a lot of countries, isn't it?

I used to play Crusader Kings II which is a medieval strategy game that is very realistic. Lets you choose tax rates, set laws, imprison your family, incest (and genetic mutations because of it), invade other lands, fight coups, deal with plague, etc.

This statement reminds me so much of that game lol. You always have to choose which countries you can afford to piss off, and which ones you can't. I notice a lack of Finland and Sweden in Putin's list, despite the fact that they both recently have broke their neutrality to send weapons to Ukraine, and are considering joining NATO asap after Putin's threats last week.