The Russian Invasion of the Ukraine.

[Skeptic Ginger]

TripAdvisor has allegedly been shutting down on Moscow restaurant reviews after Twitter users were using reviews of random restaurants it to inform Moscovites (sometimes in Russian) what is happening in Ukraine. The battle has moved to Google Reviews...

https://mashable.com/article/google-reviews-share-misinformation-russia-ukraine

What's very sporting about it is that they're often posting 5 star reviews to do it.

That's fascinating.

 

[David RP]

The BBC has launched a new shortwave radio service in Ukraine to ensure the resilience of its news operations in Ukraine and Russia, the corporation has announced.

The new broadcasts will make four hours of World Service English news available every day and will reach audiences in Ukraine and parts of Russia.

Listeners in the area will be able to tune into the broadcasts at 15735 kHz from 16:00-18:00 GMT and 5875 kHz from 22:00-00:00 GMT.

Are those times correct. Just having a listen now and Radio Free Asia is on that frequency

5875 Radio Free Asia Tibetan 23:00/24:00gmt Dushanbe-Orzu Power 250KW

5875 BBC Ukrainian/Russian 08:00 / 10:00 Yerevan-Gavar Power 300K KW Distance from your location 3955 KM

 

[theprestige]

"This restaurant? Probably good people who just want to have peace and sell food. Five stars. Your president, though? A bag of dicks."

Also, shame on Tripadvisor for not adopting a "we know nothing!" policy on this.

 

[blutoski]

On that note I am wondering if the US stock market is being propped up in part due to oligarchs moving their money out of the Russian market. RUB->BTC->intermediary shell company->US broker.

Depends on what you mean by 'market'.

The Russian stock market is closed, so they're not selling public shares. As for private share trades... who's going to be buying a business in that economy?

Cash, maybe. But they'd have to find a bank willing to break the law and transfer cash out of a bank and into a BTC wallet. But as I say, maybe... bribes happen.


In terms of the S&P500... no, Russia's economy is way too small for one percent of the world's equities to have their wealthy one percent of that one percent figure out how to move money into the West, much less specifically into the US stock market and have any noticeable impact on valuations.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Okay question I have zero illusions I receive a logical or indeed even coherent answer to.

The USSR broke up about 23 years ago. Why now? Why not in 1992 or 2042?

Putin's getting older, no time left to leave his legacy?

This is a completely unqualified opinion, mind you.

 

[Michel H]

I'm in Ireland. RT is still available, so that is a flat out lie by RT.com. Their twitter account is suspended. Does not stop anyone from reading their website.

I actually quoted Twitter (https://twitter.com/rt_com), not RT.com.

The fact that the RT.com website can still be accessed from Ireland (but not from Belgium) reflects perhaps a slightly softer political line (?), or a greater concern for freedom of speech.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Are those times correct. Just having a listen now and Radio Free Asia is on that frequency

5875 Radio Free Asia Tibetan 23:00/24:00gmt Dushanbe-Orzu Power 250KW

5875 BBC Ukrainian/Russian 08:00 / 10:00 Yerevan-Gavar Power 300K KW Distance from your location 3955 KM

It's information from the BBC.

 

[Stacyhs]

Russian soldiers have been caught on CCTV stealing from Ukraine banks.

Vacuum bombs, which suck the air out of people's lungs, are part of that Russian convoy.

Stinger anti-aircraft missiles have been delivered from the US to Ukraine...about 200...with more coming. Use them well, Ukraine.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Vacuum bombs, which suck the air out of people's lungs, are part of that Russian convoy.

No, we discussed Thermobaric explosives yesterday.

 

[theprestige]

No, we discussed Thermobaric explosives yesterday.

"You see, Ivan, our bombs knock the wind out of you the old-fashioned way, just before the shockwave kills you. That's why we're not war criminals and you are."

It's always fun to get a lecture on the ethics of bombs from people who don't know what bombs are or how they work.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Compare the Market, the UK price comparison website has dropped it's popular Russian Meerkat Aleksandr Orlov and his loyal companion Sergei from it's TV and online advertising.

 

[slyjoe]

The Germans got themselves a brand new boat!

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s custom-built 512-foot yacht Dilbar — which Usmanov purchased in 2016 for $600 million and was, at one point, the largest yacht in the world by tonnage — was seized two days after the European Union announced plans to sanction the oligarch. The Dilbar was docked in Hamburg, Germany, where it was undergoing a refitting job since October 2021, Forbes reports, adding that shipbuilders that were working on the Dilbar didn’t show up for work Wednesday because the German government had taken the yacht.

https://news.yahoo.com/russian-oligarch-superyacht-seized-germany-224410214.html

 

[blutoski]

The Germans got themselves a brand new boat!



https://news.yahoo.com/russian-oligarch-superyacht-seized-germany-224410214.html

One thing that I didn't quite understand about this was whether it's temporary seizure or full expropriation.

Is the idea that it's like freezing funds to prevent it from being transported to Russia during the sanctions period, or is it just being flat out confiscated by the state?

 

[slyjoe]

One thing that I didn't quite understand about this was whether it's temporary seizure or full expropriation.

Is the idea that it's like freezing funds to prevent it from being transported to Russia during the sanctions period, or is it just being flat out confiscated by the state?

I'm not sure either. Biden in the SOTU sure made it sound like he was trying to seize "ill begotten gains", which would imply permanence. ETA: But this was in Germany just to be clear.

 

[blutoski]

I'm not sure either. Biden in the SOTU sure made it sound like he was trying to seize "ill begotten gains", which would imply permanence. ETA: But this was in Germany just to be clear.

Yeah, definitely the USA has an established history of what's called "civil asset forfeiture" - frustrating, because generally I'm opposed to it because it's been so widely abused.

But as you say, this is Germany, so maybe, maybe not.

 

[trustbutverify]

Really wiling to sell other peopple down the river, are we?
FUnny, that was tried in the 1930's and did not work.

If our bear-riding hero is really willing to revenge-nuke, then he holds most of the cards, i'm sorry to say.

 

[theprestige]

If our bear-riding hero is really willing to revenge-nuke, then he holds most of the cards, i'm sorry to say.

Why has this rhetoric been all one sided? Why not tell him we're ready to revenge nuke, and let him crap his pants and back down for a bit?

 

[tyr_13]

My guess is that part of the goal is that, having bled Russians dry, they're looking to have another intact economy to loot. They are aware that the more they break, the more expensive it'll be to get Ukraine into full milking condition.

So this means scale the invasion upward gradually.

First, hope that shock and awe will result in immediate surrender with minimal damage.

OK, that didn't work, so maybe scare them a bit with an armoured column of death.

Darn, that didn't work, OK, idunno, hit some infrastructure or something to show them we mean business but will treat them decently if they surrender.

Hm. That didn't work. It's almost as if they think we'll mistreat them upon surrender. Well, what's next in the playbook... Here it is... Let's soften them up a bit with some indiscriminate shelling of residential areas to show them we're willing to murder civilians. Maybe they were hoping bad publicity would stop us, this'll convince them otherwise and they'll surrender in droves. We can still polish that turd.

What? Nothing? Ok, let's open the binder again... Hm, looks like we've moved up to carpet bombing and public executions with mass graves? Maaaan, that sounds like work. Whelp, better get started, this country's not going to murder itself. Gonna cost us, but when all's done, I'm sure there'll be oil and wheatfields left for the remaining Ukrainian slaves to work, just as long as we have something left for the oligarchs to split up.

Exactly. It can be confusing to some because their outlook is based in the 'reasonable' view of war, constructing it under the framework of a 'police action' or 'interests conflict', even if they intellectually understand that is not the case.

Every good raider knows it is 'rape, pillage, then burn'. Any other order makes things worse.

 

[trustbutverify]

One might wonder for how long:


(https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...anned-over-ukraine-disinformation-2022-03-02/)

I found that RT.com actually did a generally good reporting work, and was a good source for knowing Putin's demands.

This ban (and censorship) does show you that bad things are happening in our Western countries too. It should perhaps be an eye-opener for many of you in this thread who seem to naively believe that only Hitler and Putin can do bad things.

Russia Today is not a news organization. It's a propaganda division of the Kremlin, posing as a news organization. You approve of it's "work" for the same reason bible-beaters approve of the 700 club.

 

[blutoski]

Why has this rhetoric been all one sided? Why not tell him we're ready to revenge nuke, and let him crap his pants and back down for a bit?

Everybody including Putin knows that NATO has a commitment to retaliate, and that's the point of concern.

Combined with his current willingness to put Russians through another fresh hell of sanctions, there's the growing perception that he may simply be willing to take the planet down with him, Russian citizens and all.

So, the diplomatic language is quite rational I think, in steering him away from the topic by just saying ixnay on the ukenay and maybe he'll forget.