The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    What's going on in Russia? (Ongoing Thread) - Part II

    By artappraiser on Thu, 03/24/2022 - 5:55pm |

    EVERYONE: FEEL FREE TO USE.  Part I is here, Feb. 28 thru March 24

    Exclusive: Inside a rare US meeting with a Russian general in Moscow. By Barbara Starr and Jeremy Herb, CNN, Updated 1:16 AM ET, March 24

    (CNN) A rare face-to-face meeting between Russian and US military officials last week led to an "outburst" of emotion from a normally stoic Russian general, a "revealing moment" that the Americans present believe hinted at larger morale problems in Russia's military, according to a closely held US military readout of what transpired.

    The readout, which was reviewed by CNN, describes the perspective of the two defense attachés who attended and their own impressions of what they saw and heard [....]

    The meeting, held at the Russian ministry of defense in Moscow, is a rare instance of Russian and American defense officials sitting down in person since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. The readout describes the meeting as tense, with visible signs of stress on the Russian side [....]

    Comments


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/24/2022 - 10:55pm

    Cold war echoes as African leaders resist criticising Putin’s war https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/28/cold-war-echoes-african-leaders-resist-criticising-putins-war-ukraine

     


    by Orion on Tue, 04/05/2022 - 5:09am


    by artappraiser on Fri, 03/25/2022 - 3:49pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 12:33am

    Vanity Fair scolding people for believing longtime Vanity Fare.
    It's all Cinderella, ain't it? (or "Zolushka", depending)


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 7:16am

    (found retweeted by Conrad Hackett, Senior Demographer at Pew Research)


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 12:38am

    too hot not to share even if it is agitprop:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 3:19am

    End of Putin? https://youtu.be/3qgz8g7-yzo


    by Orion on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 5:26am

    if you sometimes despair over the nuts we have in Congress that pander to nuts, here's a reminder that it can always be worse - a Russian M.P. to the right of Putin:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 03/26/2022 - 6:31pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 03/28/2022 - 1:58am

    regarding those threats against NATO:


    by artappraiser on Mon, 03/28/2022 - 10:04pm

    PAYWALL can't access, still think it was worth sharing the tweets if the story develops further with other outlets


    by artappraiser on Tue, 03/29/2022 - 12:58am

    Bellingcat & BBC:

    See whole thread here

    and


    by artappraiser on Tue, 03/29/2022 - 1:41am


    by artappraiser on Tue, 03/29/2022 - 2:34am

    NATO allies split on whether to talk to Putin:


    by artappraiser on Tue, 03/29/2022 - 4:26am

    Watch @InnaSovsun tell @AliVelshi, correctly, that average Russians supports Putin and we need to stop being in denial about it. As I've said before, even if Putin falls, many Russians will still hold anti-Ukraine, colonial views. It's bigger than Putin. https://t.co/e6sAfpSFtc

    — Terrell Jermaine Starr (@terrelljstarr) March 29, 2022

    by artappraiser on Tue, 03/29/2022 - 7:37am

    Wow, not all Russians think alike- what insight.

    "Many" is quite the weasel word, esp when we look at communicating & transforming. Many Russians are westward looking, but i can't estimate what %.


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 03/29/2022 - 8:32am

    LETTER FROM FINLAND: What I Heard From Passengers on the Last Train Out of Russia

    For a month after the invasion of Ukraine, the high-speed Allegro train carried disaffected Russians to Helsinki. On Sunday, that final rail connection to Europe was severed.

    By WILLIAM DOYLE @ Politco Magazine, 03/29/2022 12:30 PM EDT​

    William Doyle is a writer and producer who lives part-time in Helsinki.


    by artappraiser on Wed, 03/30/2022 - 1:43pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/31/2022 - 4:05pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/31/2022 - 10:17pm

    Silence around Brittney Griner's Russia detainment is deafening, and likely intentional

    Anything publicly shared about the WNBA All-Star could be used against her in Russia, according to an expert.

    https://twitter.com/i/events/1509529975971475461

    more at the twitter events link


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/01/2022 - 1:28am

    A month into Russia’s invasion Ukraine, the ruble is already back to pre-war levels. ⁦@TomStub⁩ and ⁦@polinaivanovva⁩ explain how https://t.co/HLwvyM2QPS

    — max seddon (@maxseddon) April 1, 2022

    paywalled but you get the gist from the summary at the bottom of the tweet, and this is why he wants to be paid in rubles for oil or gas


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/01/2022 - 1:49am

    "Kazakhstan is truly blazing a new trail here." Not willing to follow crazy dictator off cliff again!


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/02/2022 - 1:47am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/02/2022 - 2:59am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/02/2022 - 2:33pm

    Is Germany complicit in Putin's war in Ukraine? https://youtu.be/omoyumTFvuE


    by Orion on Sat, 04/02/2022 - 5:29pm

    Putin's little German idiots article is pretty accurate. I was also too naive trusting Merkel and how she was handling Putin, energy, etc. Shutting down German nuclear gave Putin a huge lever over Europe as well, but the appeasing attitude gave Russians the opening much earlier.


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 04/02/2022 - 11:50pm

    more Germany bashing, FWIW


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/04/2022 - 8:25pm

    now there's Angela bashing too:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/09/2022 - 1:32pm

    Note I'm not bashing her - for one her leadership may have held, Russia might have moved sooner, etc. I was skeptical about shutting down nuclear, but Germany's been antinukes for decades - not just politicians. Politics is complex, even with Angie.


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 04/09/2022 - 4:10pm

    Holy smoke and fire!!! Popes usually don't say such things!

    Pope lashes out at ‘potentate’ Putin over ‘anachronistic claims’ on Ukraine

    ‘Icy winds of war … bring only death, destruction and hatred in their wake,’ Pope Francis says.

    BY LAURENZ GEHRKE @ Politico.com, April 2, 2022 

    Pope Francis on Saturday implicitly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine during a speech in the Maltese capital Valletta.

    Without explicitly mentioning Putin or the war in Ukraine, the pope touched on “the wind blowing from the east of Europe,” according to the Vatican’s news agency Vatican News.

    “The icy winds of war, which bring only death, destruction and hatred in their wake, have swept down powerfully upon the lives of many people and affected us all,” Francis said, adding that “once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, whereas ordinary people sense the need to build a future that will either be shared or not be at all.”

    The pope had previously called the war in Ukraine a “massacre,” and “unacceptable armed aggression,” but had never before had such a relatively unconcealed go at Putin.

    On Saturday, he used the opportunity during his trip to Malta to depict the island EU member country as an incentive to end all war. “Malta, which shines brilliantly in the heart of the Mediterranean, can serve as an inspiration to us, for it is urgent to restore beauty to the face of a humanity marred by war,” he said.

    Francis deplored the return of animosities across the world and what he perceived as waning enthusiasm for peace, which he said goes along with increased investments in the armaments industry.

    “In this way … not only peace but also so many great questions, like the fight against hunger and inequality are no longer on the list of the main political agendas,” he said.

    Later on Saturday, the pope set off a series of tweets about migration, including one calling for a broadly shared effort to help those displaced from Ukraine.

    “The growing migration emergency — here we can think of the refugees from war-torn Ukraine — calls for a broad-based and shared response,” the tweet read. “Some countries cannot respond to the entire problem, while others remain indifferent onlookers!” [....]

     


    by artappraiser on Sun, 04/03/2022 - 2:07am


    by artappraiser on Sun, 04/03/2022 - 4:18am


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/04/2022 - 9:54pm

    coincidentally, I see Joe Walsh is on a similar meme:


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/04/2022 - 10:03pm

    I saw that post too.

    I already knew that Jonah Goldberg had moved on but I was watching News Nation and saw that George Will had taken on a sort of constructive criticism consultant role for a progressive news host. 

    Meanwhile, what's left of conservatism is a bunch of people who clearly have some sort of financial connection role with Russia. It's strange how we ended up getting here - Russia is actually a declining country with a pathetic economy - but here we are.


    by Orion on Tue, 04/05/2022 - 5:03am

    Interesting to have your input on it. In the end, can't help but think about how one man, Trump, destroyed the whole setup the conservatives had going for them. The minute he decided to enter the GOP primary, he started to steal all their culture wars memes and run with them, while at the same time wouldn't follow the conservative establishment rules. And he stole a crucial 1/3 of the electorate doing that, including right wing Christians. Lesson, from Putin too: don't underestimate how many people just hate the culture of "the liberal  western elite"? They drop all other beliefs to go with someone doing a good job of bashing that demographic?


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/05/2022 - 5:05pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/05/2022 - 8:21pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/05/2022 - 8:50pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/05/2022 - 8:55pm

     There's a 10-tweet Thread by Alexey Navalny himself (or someone representing him?) on the latest news on Russian tv,

    the thread is in Russian, you have to click on each tweet individually to get a translation link, here's the first

    1/10 How the viewer of Russian TV sees it. And that's exactly what I am. I learned about the monstrous events in Bucha yesterday morning from the news that Russia is convening the UN Security Council in connection with the massacre that the Ukrainian Nazis staged in Bucha. In the evening, the TV presenter of Channel 1 explained everything:

    11:41 AM · Apr 5, 2022·Twitter for iPhone

    translated from this:

    1/10 Как это видит зритель российского ТВ. А я именно такой.

    О чудовищных событиях в Буче я узнал вчера утром из новости о том, что Россия созывает Совбез ООН в связи с резней, которую украинские нацисты устроили в Буче.

    Вечером телеведущий 1 канала все объяснил:

    — Alexey Navalny (@navalny) April 5, 2022

    If you're interested you can do the rest of the translations yourself


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/05/2022 - 11:59pm

    Estonia Expels a Colorful Russian Diplomat

    Envoy Sergey Nalobin, who was previously asked to leave the UK, had ties to the FSB

    by two Estonian investigative journalists @ New Lines Magazine, April 6


    by artappraiser on Wed, 04/06/2022 - 7:16pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 12:06am


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 12:41am

    Anonymous hacks Kremlin

    Glad they seem to be on our side


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 12:43am

    using this dupe entry to say that bringing up Anonymous made me think of Ed Snowden so I went to check his Twitter account and last communication is still this from Feb. 27


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 2:30am

    thanks, made me look for other things they may be up to

    Work is underway to identify all soldiers that are part of Unit 51460 of the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade from Khabarovsk (near Vladivostok).

    The unit allegedly played a leading role in the Bucha Massacre.

    Its commander is Omurbekov Azatbek Asanbekovich.

    Spread it far and wide! https://t.co/12mf4XWJHF pic.twitter.com/bM04JH7pgu

    — Anonymous News (@Anonymous_Link) April 6, 2022


    Website of the Moscow regional public organization for the prevention of rescue and safety in the water of the Russian Federation.

    https://t.co/MfOfeUGB71

    Let them know that we are for the defense of Ukraine! #OpRussia Defend Ukraine #Anonymous pic.twitter.com/AGWwjjc5yw

    — Anonymous News (@Anonymous_Link) April 6, 2022

    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 2:26am

    Feds announce disruption of Russian malware attack in operation aided by Pittsburgh FBI, U.S. Attorney's officehttps://t.co/8y4HAyyn1F

    — OG_Tek (@OG_Tek1) April 7, 2022

    "Sandworm is the same group that in 2015 attacked the Ukrainian electric grid, and led cyber attacks during the 2018 Olympics, Wray said."

    — Jane Moore(@janeworld1) April 7, 2022


    https://t.co/vEyRyGzkL8

    Here's a breakdown, and the Fed warrant posted . Cyclops Blink, GRU Botnet

    — OG_Tek (@OG_Tek1) April 7, 2022

    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 3:45am

    firewalled, but from the intro, sounds like the Germans have war crimes evidence:


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 3:56am

    Try google translate with this one:
    https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article238035659/Ukraine-Krieg-im-Li...


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 8:23am

    a Der Spiegel editor has now put up a paywall-free English version:

    note that's part of a thread in which he summarizes/analyzes the main points if you're interested


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 4:45pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/07/2022 - 3:41pm

    Boris to Vlad: you thought Brexit meant we liked you?

    “The Europe we knew just six weeks ago no longer exists”

    UK PM Boris Johnson says Russian President Putin’s actions has united Europe and the transatlantic alliance, adding “his ambition to divide us has demonstrably failed”https://t.co/ftZ937vm8n pic.twitter.com/6a5AWQKkzL

    — BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 8, 2022

    (edit to fix typo)

     


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/08/2022 - 7:32pm

    And Boris parting with Russian in Milan multiple times?


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 04/09/2022 - 1:11am

    admit it could be this tho:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/09/2022 - 11:39am

    another pic, team Boris with team Zelenskyy:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/09/2022 - 12:26pm

    just the winningest Special Operation ever!


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/08/2022 - 7:30pm

    more on the winning plan!

     


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/09/2022 - 12:23pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/09/2022 - 7:37pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/11/2022 - 1:23pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/11/2022 - 2:03pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/11/2022 - 2:12pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/11/2022 - 3:47pm

    Behind every successful man is a good woman.


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 04/11/2022 - 4:38pm

    NEW: A “Stalinist” mass purge of Russian secret intelligence is under way after more than 100 agents were removed from their jobs and the head of the department responsible for Ukraine was sent to prison https://t.co/QgfENfjgkN

    — The Times (@thetimes) April 11, 2022


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/11/2022 - 8:12pm

    It's happening, the more Putin digs in, the bigger his failing:


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 3:13am


    by artappraiser on Wed, 04/13/2022 - 4:38pm

    Putin primer


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 5:30am

    ^ I cannot recommend Galeev's threads on Russian society & government enough. I've read several of them now, they are like taking a "Russia 101" course in college, complete with slides. To the point where I wonder why he does such work for free on Twitter. They are often super-interesting, this one was actually a little drier than most...


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 1:52pm

    It gave me details i was sorely lacking, so not dry for me. Now i understand how a printer repairman can become a billionaire oligarch.


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 3:24pm


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 5:55pm

    tweet from Kara-Murza's wife (found retweeted by Francis Fukuyama):


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 8:24pm

    Kasparov:


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 11:54pm

    The Moscow Times reports that Poland's report does not use the word assassination BUT you know -


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 8:28pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/12/2022 - 8:34pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 04/13/2022 - 12:05am


    by artappraiser on Wed, 04/13/2022 - 7:30pm

    Living on $30/month in ice cold regions is prolly not happening in the US, is in various Russian oblasts (money figures slightly off, but the "both sides" is inaccurate, and we don't have forced or coerced conscription in the US).


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 04/13/2022 - 11:25pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/14/2022 - 4:52am


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/15/2022 - 6:32am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/16/2022 - 1:00am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/16/2022 - 1:09am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/16/2022 - 2:16am

    Greyzone abroad - where's Lulu?


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 04/16/2022 - 8:07am


    by artappraiser on Sun, 04/17/2022 - 2:51am


    by artappraiser on Sun, 04/17/2022 - 2:58am


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/19/2022 - 3:37pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 04/19/2022 - 5:17pm

    So Pootie's going all out with delusions of grandeur, gonna start a whole new world, don't need any of you other fuckers, sort of a Russian version of Wakanda, or new human settlement on Mars....?

     


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 12:43am

    Aka "shooting oneself in the dick" (and yes, it feels like a move only a male could make)


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 2:01am


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 3:58am

    Conservative analysis of Putin:

    Vladimir Putin perfected the kleptocratic autocracy that was built in Russia, in the 1990s. This authoritarian model is worthy of the name, “Putinism.” By 2000, Putin became the de facto dictator. Within a few years, the organized crime format that was prevalent in post-Soviet Russia was overhauled into a highly personalistic dictatorship, where all the tentacles of power: economic, political, intelligence, and military, were beholden to him. An economic class of oligarchs would be made rich, thanks to Putinism. The sociologist, Max Weber, would have labeled this leadership type as sultanism.  

    From what I have read this is off the mark. Putin was put in place by a system and that system appears to have kept him in place for as long as it has. His poor decision making may also represent fear, much as Stalin lived in fear during his declining years.


    by Orion on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 12:05pm

    Nothing demonstrates more how much the world has changed over the past 20 years than that George Galloway is somehow now on the right. 

    It reminds me of something Christopher Hitchens once said - they're not anti-war. They are pro-war for the other side. Guess who is writing him a check these days:

    In recent months Galloway has been dedicating much of his time to his talk show Sputnik, which he co-hosts with his wife Gayatri on Russia Today. 

    Of course!


    by Orion on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 1:09pm

    Kafka in full bloom:


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 2:50pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 7:26pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 9:38pm

    Massive fire in the #Tyumen and #Omsk Oblasts, #Siberia, #Russial 15 April 2022 #Copernicus #Sentinel-2 Full-size https://t.co/KctLn3EpvA + https://t.co/ZyPQRpHLKv #OpenData #scicomm #wildfire Images are about 165 kilometers wide pic.twitter.com/17jpyYPKi7

    — Pierre Markuse (@Pierre_Markuse) April 20, 2022

    This fire occurred on the same day, today as this one:https://t.co/6xGfIEAwR3

    — Igor Sushko (@igorsushko) April 21, 2022

    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 11:37pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 04/21/2022 - 11:22pm

    Search for "fantasy"

    http://xpae.ru/en/peremoga-chto-eto-takoe-opredelenie-znachenie-perevod-...


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 04/22/2022 - 12:17am

    Pope Francis scrapped his plans to visit Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in Israel out of concerns that the meeting could stir "confusion at this moment" as the war in Ukraine rages.https://t.co/3IxwSmdkD5

    — Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 22, 2022


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/22/2022 - 12:35pm

    Ukraine war: The Russia I knew no longer exists - Steve Rosenberg by Steve Rosenberg Russia Editor @ BBC NEWS Published 7 hours ago

    Z symbol on a T-shirt

    There are no shells exploding in Moscow. There are no foreign forces encircling the city. What Muscovites are experiencing now is nothing compared to the horrors in Ukraine.

    At first glance life here even looks normal. As usual, Moscow's Garden Ring is packed with traffic. Crowds are streaming from the metro station opposite me.

    In reality, though, little here could be described as normal. Normality ended on 24 February when Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine for his "Special Military Operation".

    I have experienced Communist Russia. I have lived through post-Soviet Russia. Now the world's largest country has metamorphosed again.

    Let me take you on a tour of "Special Military Operation Russia".

    I get in the car to drive to the supermarket. By force of habit, I switch on the radio [....]


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/22/2022 - 1:18pm


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/22/2022 - 1:51pm

    Rumors circulating that Putin has Parkinson's: https://www.newsweek.com/vladimir-putin-health-speculation-meeting-video...


    by Orion on Fri, 04/22/2022 - 6:17pm

    Quoting Louise Mensch is pretty pathetic.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 04/22/2022 - 8:37pm

    I hear Victim Olympics as well.


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/23/2022 - 11:01pm

    and then there's


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/23/2022 - 11:05pm

    pretty interesting Galeev thread, I quote his conclusion, go to Twitter for the rest:

    So what does the story of Putin and Lukashenko teach us? First, how easy it is to manipulate Putin if you understand him. Putin is *way* more powerful than Lukashenko. And yet, the latter still wags the dog. Because he pretend he'll give Putin the carrot and yet, never gives it pic.twitter.com/MwC5QLVxeR

    — Kamil Galeev (@kamilkazani) April 24, 2022

     


    by artappraiser on Sun, 04/24/2022 - 9:03pm

    Amazing. From start:


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 04/25/2022 - 4:45am

    large fire at oil depot in Bryansk:


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/25/2022 - 12:14am


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/25/2022 - 3:08am


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/25/2022 - 2:15pm

    ("Signature Unclear" apparently an internet figure and a TV show/character?)


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 04/25/2022 - 5:18pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 04/25/2022 - 11:41pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 04/27/2022 - 5:13pm

    translates as How he is at work. How it is at private parties.

    Πως είναι στη δουλειά.
    Πως είναι στα πριβέ πάρτυ. pic.twitter.com/DaHixcKjm5

    — YGKPOWER (@ygkpower) April 27, 2022

    and this one is "In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"

     


    by artappraiser on Wed, 04/27/2022 - 6:25pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 04/27/2022 - 10:36pm

    New development!!! Russia and Belarus form new USSR, call on former satellite states to join: https://www.newsweek.com/russia-belarus-form-new-ussr-call-ex-soviet-nat...


    by Orion on Fri, 04/29/2022 - 6:03am

    don't mind me but just want a cross-link here to your entire news thread on that theme

    http://dagblog.com/link/cuba-adopts-russian-narrative-ukraine-war-35321


    by artappraiser on Fri, 04/29/2022 - 1:06pm

    Comrade, get on board the tractor, we're going back to the USSR. https://i.stuff.co.nz/opinion/128490744/comrade-get-onboard-the-tractor-...


    by Orion on Sat, 04/30/2022 - 2:41am

    reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Boris_Nemtsov


    by artappraiser on Sat, 04/30/2022 - 2:09pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 05/01/2022 - 5:29am

    I like to preface this by vouching that Tom Ricks has been around the block some and more on military issues, especially from brass and their bullshit, not very likely to fall for inaccurate reporting:


    by artappraiser on Sun, 05/01/2022 - 9:56am


    by artappraiser on Mon, 05/02/2022 - 2:10am


    by artappraiser on Tue, 05/03/2022 - 3:14am

    Still hard to cheer burning books - hope they were beyond the pale propaganda.


    by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 05/03/2022 - 5:43pm


    by artappraiser on Fri, 05/06/2022 - 12:50pm

    The War in Ukraine, as Seen on Russian TV

    @ NYTimes.com May 6, 2022

    ....The New York Times reviewed more than 50 hours of television footage to show how the war was being presented to Russians through the country’s news media....


    by artappraiser on Fri, 05/06/2022 - 4:28pm


    by artappraiser on Fri, 05/06/2022 - 6:52pm

    Assad be shitting bricks


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 05/07/2022 - 7:55am

    https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/09/politics/linda-thomas-greenfield-vladimir...


    by Orion on Mon, 05/09/2022 - 7:29pm

    but lots of his people are still nuts:

    (admittedly, we have similar problems!)


    by artappraiser on Mon, 05/09/2022 - 8:52pm

    Z goose stepping: 


    by Orion on Tue, 05/10/2022 - 1:05am

    Russians accused of raping men, women and children - https://youtu.be/OmWMBtjBf24


    by Orion on Wed, 05/11/2022 - 2:23am


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 05/13/2022 - 7:30pm

    UFO magazine loves Putin: https://www.newdawnmagazine.com/product/new-dawn-special-issue-vol-16-no-2


    by Orion on Sat, 05/14/2022 - 7:20am


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 05/16/2022 - 6:59pm

    ^ wow. and you know, I came to post this on the Ukraine war thread, but on 2nd thought it fits right here, it sort of symbolizes almost everything he said!

     


    by artappraiser on Mon, 05/16/2022 - 7:15pm

    Oops, candour shut down


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 05/18/2022 - 6:32pm

    incredible!


    by artappraiser on Thu, 06/02/2022 - 3:38pm

    Kholkhoz collective porn - but with more attractive & healthier bustier women!
    And Nureyev in space! and flags, lots of big flags!
    Kolkhoz - Wikipedia

    Tovarischi - chleb, zemya, mir! (comrades - bread, land, peace!)
    Even the old hens are with you, Vova!

     

    Meanwhile, a new Simonyan (RT) appears as the warhawk on state TV:


     

    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 06/03/2022 - 12:07am

    Reliving glory of Korean War years -
    Make Russia Great Again from 70 years ago - 
    before that usurper Kruschev screwed things up.
    Yes, missiles coming to West Europe - we'll take on
    the capitalist lapdogs where they live...


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 06/03/2022 - 12:17am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 06/04/2022 - 12:47pm

    Russia threatens to retaliate against Lithuania, a NATO member, over restrictions on shipments to Kaliningrad.

    @ NYTimes.com, June 20


    by artappraiser on Mon, 06/20/2022 - 5:26pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 06/21/2022 - 6:52am


    by artappraiser on Thu, 06/23/2022 - 3:13pm

     


    by artappraiser on Tue, 06/21/2022 - 5:44am


    by artappraiser on Thu, 06/23/2022 - 5:08pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 06/25/2022 - 6:40am

    clearly there's a massive western social media propaganda campaign going on today against "PUTLER"


    by artappraiser on Mon, 06/27/2022 - 7:11pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 06/28/2022 - 12:15am


    by artappraiser on Thu, 06/30/2022 - 2:13am

    Biden:

    Just the facts! I like that.


    by artappraiser on Thu, 06/30/2022 - 7:31pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 07/06/2022 - 9:38pm

    re: Brittney Grener in court today:

    She also retweeted this video

    more detail at her feed


    by artappraiser on Thu, 07/07/2022 - 6:21pm

    Moscow councillor jailed for seven years after criticising Ukraine war


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/08/2022 - 8:21am


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/08/2022 - 9:32am

    Thread retweeted by Fukuyama:


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/08/2022 - 9:39am


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 07/08/2022 - 4:55pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 07/11/2022 - 2:11pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 07/16/2022 - 3:32pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 07/17/2022 - 1:45am

    CAASTA Waiver for India has been passed by House of Representatives, USA ``with 330-99 votes.

    Five democrats voted against CAASTA Waiver for India

    • Alexandria Ocasio
    • Ilhan Omar
    • Rashida Tlaib
    • Jamaal Bowman
    • Cori Bush

    — Ankur (@unapologeticAnk) July 17, 2022

    Explained: America’s CAATSA law and the waiver that the US House has passed for India

    CAATSA, which was signed into a federal law in 2017, allows the United States to punish countries that carry out 'significant transactions with Iran, North Korea and Russia'. India's purchase of the S-400 defence system from Russia had raised fears that it would be sanctioned under this legislation

    FP ExplainersJuly 15, 2022 13:45:56 IST


    by artappraiser on Mon, 07/18/2022 - 5:14am


    by artappraiser on Mon, 07/18/2022 - 3:25pm


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/22/2022 - 10:01pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 07/23/2022 - 2:55am

    PowerPoint

    https://yale.box.com/s/7f6agg5ezscj234kahx35lil04udqgeo

    Still, I'm not sure I want the Russian economy to collapse - i want the government and Russian imperialism to collapse


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 07/23/2022 - 3:16am

    CNN Exclusive: Biden admin has offered to exchange Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence, in potential deal for release of detained Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, @kylieatwood @evanperez @jmhansler reporting

    — Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) July 27, 2022

    The notorious Viktor Bout!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Bout

    edit to add: here's the CNN link

    The US offers to swap convicted Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout as part of an exchange for imprisoned Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan. https://t.co/6DkgC5RUrI

    — CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) July 27, 2022

    by artappraiser on Wed, 07/27/2022 - 4:59pm

    doh


    by artappraiser on Thu, 07/28/2022 - 1:06am

    Nasty dumbfucks - 2 mins on the internetz and everyone feels it's ok to blather out their stupid ignorant baseless opinions and judge people, including a poor girl caught up in a Russian mess for 5 fucking months. Do i fucking know there's no Miranda anywhere else? Fuck no. Do i assume there is? Fuck no. Do i assume there isn't? Fuck no. Do i throw slurs against a young woman/professional athlete just because Reuters put out a stupid fucking context-free blurb being too lazy to post a real story re: her court appearance? Fuck no. So after a thread of people piling on, including some nasty sexist or racist comments, someone helpfully posts:

    Well fuck me, maybe Russia has some laws on the books - who knew? (perhaps Navalny & Pussy Riot, that's who. Maybe anyone who's lived in a communist or totalitarian system who knows how laws are twisted and bent as much as non-existent). Will it stop the shit posters? Hardly. Stupid is as stupid does, said the great Forrest Gump. 


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 07/28/2022 - 12:47pm


    by artappraiser on Fri, 07/29/2022 - 9:42pm

     


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 08/01/2022 - 5:17pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 08/03/2022 - 12:47am


    by artappraiser on Wed, 08/03/2022 - 1:15pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 08/09/2022 - 3:13pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 08/17/2022 - 5:18pm

    !!!!!!


    by artappraiser on Sun, 08/21/2022 - 1:17am


    by artappraiser on Sun, 08/21/2022 - 1:44am

    see everything he tweeted inbetweeten the above and the below


    by artappraiser on Mon, 08/22/2022 - 5:09pm


    by artappraiser on Tue, 08/23/2022 - 12:50pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 08/24/2022 - 2:04pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 08/24/2022 - 3:45pm


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 08/24/2022 - 9:55pm

    The old window thing!


    by artappraiser on Thu, 09/01/2022 - 9:25am

    Indeed it is getting old. Imagine a bonesawing ever 4-6 months...


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 09/01/2022 - 1:01pm

    Kompromat thread:


    by artappraiser on Thu, 09/01/2022 - 9:35am


    by artappraiser on Sun, 09/04/2022 - 8:08pm

    (may be a repost)


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/05/2022 - 2:16am

    From the link: Russia’s war against Ukraine has demonstrated that all speculations on the end of the tank era have been somewhat premature. 

    This is only true because Ukraine doesn't have planes and Russia isn't using their's. American air power would have wiped out 90% of those Russian tanks in long straight lines on the roads to Kyiv like the dragons in GoT


    by ocean-kat on Mon, 09/05/2022 - 3:02am


    by artappraiser on Tue, 09/06/2022 - 12:25am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/10/2022 - 4:17am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/10/2022 - 1:30pm

    Not so cryptic:

    Khrushchev’s Fall From Power

    The break with China and food shortages in the USSR eroded Khrushchev’s legitimacy in the eyes of other high-ranking Soviet officials, who were already bothered by what they saw as his erratic tendency to undercut their authority. In October 1964 Khrushchev was called back from a vacation in Pitsunda, Georgia, and forced to resign as both premier and head of the Communist Party. Khrushchev wrote his memoirs and quietly lived out the remainder of his days before dying of a heart attack in September 1971. Nonetheless, his spirit of reform lived on during the perestroika era of the 1980s.


    by PeraclesPlease on Sat, 09/10/2022 - 11:38pm

    Moscow Municipal Lawmakers Demand Putin's Resignation


    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/10/2022 - 11:02pm


    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/10/2022 - 11:11pm

    NYTimes

    Daily Beast, "watch the windows"


    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/10/2022 - 11:27pm

    My goodness how what pundits are saying has changed:


    by artappraiser on Sun, 09/11/2022 - 9:01pm

    3 commentators pushing back - "so our 10-year-olda will still be fighting!"  "If you tell people they don't exist, their language doesn't exist, they're not going to give you hugs". Yet still the Nazi accusations, and "just hit them harder" logic.


    by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/12/2022 - 3:35pm

    lol:


    by artappraiser on Thu, 09/15/2022 - 4:27pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/21/2022 - 5:22pm

    found retweeted by Laura Rozen


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/21/2022 - 6:10pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/21/2022 - 6:18pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/21/2022 - 6:27pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/21/2022 - 6:40pm

    Media incorrectly represents situation at Finnish-Russian border, officials confirm

    Several videos and images circulating depicting irregular queues at the Finnish-Russian border have been falsely attributed to reactions after Russian President Vladimir Putin's mobilization announcement. Several Finnish officials confirm that the situation remains normal at the border with regular queues, traffic and flow.

    @ Twitter events last night, including

    Matti Pitkäniitty is the head of the internal affairs unit of the Finnish Border Guard.

    and

    Harri Ohra-aho is Finland's Ministerial Adviser for Intelligence.


    by artappraiser on Thu, 09/22/2022 - 12:12pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/21/2022 - 6:42pm


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 09/23/2022 - 12:31am


    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/24/2022 - 2:33am

    just saw this on CNN tv about the former president of Mongolia; pretty striking:

     


    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/24/2022 - 3:18am

    Fukuyama retweeted:


    by artappraiser on Sat, 09/24/2022 - 9:35pm


    by artappraiser on Sun, 09/25/2022 - 6:41pm


    by artappraiser on Mon, 09/26/2022 - 3:26am


    by artappraiser on Mon, 09/26/2022 - 5:35pm


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/28/2022 - 9:39pm


    by artappraiser on Thu, 09/29/2022 - 12:28pm