Merged Ukraine erupts in riots and general strike.

[Caustic Logic]

"In people’s hearts and minds, Crimea has always been an inseparable part of Russia."

"...which is trivially easy to disprove if you have any grasp on history."


Really? How?

 

[jimbob]

One thing that concerns me is what Putin thinks he'll do after he stops being in power.

I can't see a graceful way out.

There isn't. Ergo, he will never leave.

How many general elections before they become complete travesties?

That ship has already sailed.

I'd have said that the last election had an unfair media and no real alternative, with opposition leaders locked up, but was under the impression that the actual ballots were in general an accurate representation of the votes that were cast - not my rather careful choice of language.

tldr: The dice were loaded, but I get the impression that people were actually recording the score that they came up with.


A couple of electoral cycles down the line and that probably won't be sufficient.

 

[jimbob]

"In people’s hearts and minds, Crimea has always been an inseparable part of Russia."

"...which is trivially easy to disprove if you have any grasp on history."


Really? How?

When it was an Ottoman vassal state, perhaps?

 

[jimbob]

Kerry is a buffoon. But you have no credibility either. If you want to know who sides with tyrants, just look at living conditions in the actual countries in question. You always side with the tyrants, CE. You always make excuses for them. But living conditions in the states you champion reveal the truth. Russia is a mess. Venezuela is imploding so badly that you aren't even bothering to defend them anymore, but have fled those threads completely. But we haven't forgotten which side you chose. You have learned nothing.

You missed the "Syrian rebels gassed themselves in an attempt to make Assad look bad and get western intervention" thread.

 

[uke2se]

"In people’s hearts and minds, Crimea has always been an inseparable part of Russia."

"...which is trivially easy to disprove if you have any grasp on history."


Really? How?

Well, naturally I can't prove or disprove what people think, but it is trivially easy to prove that Crimea isn't and has never been an inseparable part of Russia in any real meaningful (read: legal) way. It doesn't matter what people in Russia think. What matters is what's legal, and what Russia is doing isn't.

It's also worth noting that Putin asserts that the belief he describes is based on "truth and justice". So, your objection sort of falls apart there.

 

[Arcade22]

After seeing her i can only say: go Russia!

 

[uke2se]

[qimg]http://i.imgur.com/i9DrSbm.jpg[/qimg]

After seeing her i can only say: go Russia!

Image doesn't work for me.

 

[trustbutverify]

Non-compliance will not be tolerated.

On the peninsula, a Ukrainian serviceman was killed when a base still held by Kiev came under attack in the main town of Simferopol, the first death in Crimea from a military clash since Russia seized control three weeks ago.

Kiev said the attackers had been wearing Russian military uniforms, and it responded by authorizing its soldiers in Crimea to use weapons to protect their lives, reversing previous orders that they should avoid using arms against attack.

 

[A'isha]

Non-compliance will not be tolerated.

But the US invaded Iraq 11 years ago, so it's okay.

 

[WildCat]

[qimg]http://i.imgur.com/i9DrSbm.jpg[/qimg]

After seeing her i can only say: go Russia!

The halo is too much, they're trying too hard to make her look credible.

 

[Dcdrac]

Putin's "I have no designs on the Ukraine" must be the 21st Century Version of "I have made my last territorial demand in Europe".

That is exactly how I felt about this when I watched the speech.

A Ukrainian soldier has already been killed.

It is really weird to see the extreme left line up with an autocrat freedom hater like Putin.

 

[L.Y.S.]

Reading comprahension fail. I don't even see the need to respond with more than this.

McHrozni

I get what you said, but Russia still has considerable oil fields and pipelines in the east. Russia will benefit greatly from a Chinese pipeline. Russia will most likely be forced into this option as the Ukraine crisis unfolds.

 

[L.Y.S.]

But the US invaded Iraq 11 years ago, so it's okay.

How can the US expect Russia to conduct itself properly when it can manage to the do the same itself? The US doesn't care about Ukraine. It never has. Most people protesting don't care about Ukraine. They care about smiting Russia.

 

[dudalb]

How can the US expect Russia to conduct itself properly when it can manage to the do the same itself? The US doesn't care about Ukraine. It never has. Most people protesting don't care about Ukraine. They care about smiting Russia.

Ah,moral equvilency again. I think you are going find out, very quickly, that is not going to sell very well in the US after the events of the past two weeks.

 

[dudalb]

Taking bets as to how long until "ethnic cleansing" of the Crimean Tartars begins.......

 

[WildCat]

I get what you said, but Russia still has considerable oil fields and pipelines in the east. Russia will benefit greatly from a Chinese pipeline. Russia will most likely be forced into this option as the Ukraine crisis unfolds.

Why would China want to be dependent on Russia for petroleum when they have much friendlier governments elsewhere to get it from? Governments who don't use it as a weapon to force political compliance like Russia does?

China and Russia do not have a friendly history.

 

[LSSBB]

But the US invaded Iraq 11 years ago, so it's okay.

And they're STILL THERE! (Oh wait, not...)

 

[trustbutverify]

How can the US expect Russia to conduct itself properly when it can manage to the do the same itself? The US doesn't care about Ukraine. It never has. Most people protesting don't care about Ukraine. They care about smiting Russia.

I thought you said you couldn't care less about Ukraine; that you wanted them to side with Russia in order to prevent a nuclear war and to control the US and its allies. And now you're complaining about ulterior motives? Please.

 

[Darth Rotor]

I have to agree with CE on one point. The empire does indeed stand naked. I'm not sure she realizes which empire that is, though.

What, his shirtless act was just a burlesque warm up routine?

Putin's "I have no designs on the Ukraine" must be the 21st Century Version of "I have made my last territorial demand in Europe".

I'll believe that when he grows that crappy little mustache.

Taking bets as to how long until "ethnic cleansing" of the Crimean Tartars begins.......

The American response will be to bomb Belgrade Simferpol ... I think.
(Need to call a few folks who still work in DC, may have missed a few memos ...)

 

[Childlike Empress]

Back in Kiev, today the "Deputy head of the Parliament's Committee on Freedom of Speech", member of Svoboda, showed how qualified he is for the job when he ...

... entered by force into the office of the National Television Company of Ukraine together with other members of Svoboda party. There he assaulted the head of the company Oleksandr Panteleymonov and forced him to write a letter of resignation. Video of this event was published by the Svoboda party press-secretary Alexandr Aronets in his videoblog.