I came here to post that Snyder article too! I think thols2 has already alluded to the prospect of Russian warlords with private armies vying for power (IE Prigozhin and Kadyrov) - a daunting thought. But plausible.
Ukraine: From Propaganda to Reality
Just watched that video you posted of the Yale Professor and it was utterly engrossing.
Anyone with an hour free and an interest in Ukraine and how it’s history and current fight back effects us all should definitely watch it.👍
Seconded.
Brings a hell of a lot of stuff together, but still easy to follow.
Great summary.
Everyone should listen to it.
Now I'm only really following the conflict from the posts on here, but the ISW link above had this map which is the first I've seen showing a Ukrainian Partisan Warfare area around Melitopol.
Just watched that video you posted of the Yale Professor and it was utterly engrossing.Anyone with an hour free and an interest in Ukraine and how it’s history and current fight back effects us all should definitely watch it.
Agreed, an hour well spent now ive listened to it
So, you posted it before listening to it yourself... 🤣 ...got lucky! An hour of it on in the background was well spent... better than anything on the radio this morning I'm sure. Thanks.
Absolute chancer me 😉
In what little defence i can muster i did say
Ive not watched it but hopefully will.
Luckily I didn't take enough care reading your post, and just clicked play. 😉
Strongly suggest everyone else listens to it.
According to the Bild the gold teeth in a box thing is false Ukrainian propaganda
Could very well be Ukrainian propaganda or misrepresentation, but then I also don't trust die Bild at all. It's an awful shitrag tabloid
Video bookmarked for later thanks.
Snyder’s book bloodlands is also excellent if anyone wants a more in depth read of the history. Hard going at times, but covers everything to the east of Germany from 1939 to the 1950s and gives context to the comments above about Poles etc having a deep rooted dislike of Russia.
Edited to add that this thread has been really good for drawing together sources like the blog and video above. Thanks to those who have contributed.
Could very well be Ukrainian propaganda or misrepresentation, but then I also don’t trust die Bild at all. It’s an awful shitrag tabloid
Literally just read that elsewhere, is it an equivalent of the Express?
Snyder’s book bloodlands is also excellent if anyone wants a more in depth read of the history.
He mentions that in passing in the video. It's on my list of books to read now.
Literally just read that elsewhere, is it an equivalent of the Express?
Express x The Sun x Daily Fail - It's sensationalist and has been caught out telling fibs in the past.
Claims non-partisanship but plays favourites
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/16/bild-zeitung-tabloid-julian-reichelt-angela-merkel-germany
EDIT: From the wiki page
Punk rock band Die Ärzte summarized Bild's content as "fear, hate, tits and the weather report" (Aus Angst, Hass, Titten und dem Wetterbericht)
The Yale Professor video was very interesting although I thought he was talking about British politics from 2010 from about 48 mins onwards.
Some interesting articles on yahoo relating to some of the convo up there -
A Kremlin-installed leader has suggested Sergei Shoigu, Russia's defence minister and one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies, should shoot himself because of failures in the Ukraine conflict.
Kirill Stremouso, deputy head of the annexed Kherson region, poured scorn on Moscow's generals in a highly rare public rebuke of its top brass.
In a four-minute video message, he said: "Indeed, many say: if they were a defence minister who had allowed such a state of affairs, they could, as officers, have shot themselves.
Also, US saying they believe ukraine authorised that car bomb
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/ukrainians-behind-car-bombing-killed-050000328.html
No idea as to validity of yahoo as a news source
he was talking about British politics from 2010 from about 48 mins onwards
Politics across the whole of Europe, and the USA.
That Yale Professor I linked to has a lecture on YT from 2014 looking at Ukraine, its 1hr, Ive not watched it but hopefully will.
Just sharing in case its of interest to anyone.
Watching it now, thanks for posting
No idea as to validity of yahoo as a news source
Regarding the car bombing. Yahoo are just recycling it.
Its being reported via quite a few outlets
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That Yale professor was a good watch.
His concept of "applied post modernism" rather sums up the world of Brexit and Trump that we have been living in during the 8 years since that talk was given.
I’ve started on his “The making of modern Ukraine” lecture series, there’s 9 so far and I’m onto #2,
Watched that lecture, @piemonster, very interesting, thanks for finding and posting it.
If the UAF can clear Kherson, Donetsk and Lushachank in the next week to 10 days then its pretty much game over.
Hold positions to solidify gains, root out RU remainers and then re arm, re group and re sup.
Then it's a dash for the border or coastline. In my mind its 50 odd miles at the nearest point. Sever all potential road links to stop the rusks getting food, ammo etc.
Hopefully then whatever is left of the Russian army will capitulate to save themselves. Local commanders will agree terms and the hardware gets assimulted into the uaf arsenal.
Cant see it not happening, just might have to wait till spring, or if its a hard winter then the weather will play a part. Frozen soldiers cant fire back.
I worry for the mental health of the troops. Imagine being a Baker, lorry driver, teacher etc then suddenly you are seeing people dead or dieing on a daily basis, or bits of people blown apart by mines of shelling. Doesn't matter which side they were on. Still harrowing to see, a stump of a leg in a boot, or just an arm with the torso nowhere to be seen.
Be with them forever
@piemonster - Can you share where you got the Bias Distribution chart from? That's something I would be keen to read a bit more about
Isn't that from ground news?
That is indeed from Ground News. It seems pretty good for what it cost, but I could easily be missing some major flaws.
I worry for the mental health of the troops. Imagine being a Baker, lorry driver, teacher etc then suddenly you are seeing people dead or dieing on a daily basis, or bits of people blown apart by mines of shelling
I worry about this too. I work in healthcare in an area of London that has a Cypriot community, and I have patients with PTSD from the war there. That was 1974, nearly 50 years ago! Unfortunately the mental health legacy of this kind of conflict is horrible and very, very long lasting
Got to hand it to the Ukrainian social media bods. Apparently Kher means 'male chicken' or 'fornicate you'. And the best watermelons in the world are apparently grown in Kherson. So the picture is saying to the Russians 'F you soon in Kherson'
I worry for the mental health of the troops. Imagine being a Baker, lorry driver, teacher etc then suddenly you are seeing people dead or dieing on a daily basis, or bits of people blown apart by mines of shelling
It doesn't really matter what your previous occupation was, PTSD is a probability and wars (call them what you will) are terrible.
We've moved on from the early days of WW1 when soldiers were shot for cowardice. By 1917 men were given a few days rest, but not diagnosed with "shell shock" because the term was banned. In 2006 men convicted of the various associated crimes during WW1, including cowardice and desertion, were pardoned.
As recently as this century we've continued to learn about the effects of explosions that don't cause an obvious injury to the brain, but do cause neurologic trauma at a molecular level
A bit of an add-on to the post about the OPEC+ oil supply cuts ^^
Sanctions, that don't work according to some, had already forced Russian oil production to below the level required by OPEC+ to achieve the greatest reduction since 2020 and C19. The upside for Russia is that they will benefit from a price increase for no loss of output, but the European ban will still impact later this year so the rest of that post stands
The blame game in Russia is publicly underway with Sergei Shoigu firmly in their sights. Shoigu has been President Putin's ally and Minister of Defence for a decade, often holidaying together, so IMHO this is pretty close to treason.
Kirill Stremousov, Russian deputy leader of Kherson region said yesterday, "Many people say that the Minister of Defense, who allowed this state of affairs to happen, could, as an officer, shoot himself, but, you know, the word 'officer' is an incomprehensible word for many."
He added, that Russia's defense ministry consists of "ministers, mediocre and corrupt generals and marauders."
https://www.newsweek.com/kherson-counteroffensive-sergei-shoigu-kirill-stremousov-1749452
We’ve moved on from the early days of WW1 when soldiers were shot for cowardice.
I'm not sure they have, there was an article posted about a Wagner Group unit torturing deserters in Syria, with a bit of light digging I found the original published article that, following the guys hands and feet being smashed to bits with hammers had a jubilant photo of the unit holding his severed head aloft.
Frankly a bullet to the head would have been a kindness in comparison.
Pretty sure when the articles were reporting Wagner group recruiting from prisons, they were openly saying deserters would be killed.
Biden slips again, off camera comments to the point we are destined to Nuclear Armagaeddon very soon not understanding the paranoia and stirring of many a dictator with itchy trigger fingers and the mental health of billions.
It’ll be seen a sabre rattling to Putin with Biden purporting to lay waste to the world if Putin uses a tactical nuke -it’ll just push Putin to try it. Makes you think; stupid comment or global nuclear power with a equal measure of willingness to kill en-masse, I’m quickly going off the US.
Imagine what trump would have been saying.
Imagine what trump would have been saying.
Oh god that would have been horrific
On that...
Politico article
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/06/biden-cuban-missile-crisis-russia-nuclear-00060877
And Tass
https://tass.com/world/1519061
Also, and with some timing
"I am once again turning to the international community as I did before 24 February. Preventative strikes, so that they know what will await them if they use [a nuclear weapon]," Zelensky said in the video
For a bit of a calmer viewpoint
https://twitter.com/ThreshedThought/status/1578290662885429248?t=hfPDQQqz6B-v5OTug-lwrg&s=19
Always interesting reading Tass, especially when you consider that its for western consumption.
That article looks actually quite reasonable/sober right up to the bit about Zaphorizia nuclear power plant and moves to a subtext of "but if it wasn't for those horrible Ukranians everything would be alright and its the West that is threatening us with Nuclear armageddon not us because we're nice and just telling it like it is and because they can't keep their nose out of our private business because that's what they do and, and , and, and nobody likes us, ooh its just sooooo unfair..."
I might have overstretched that a bit but you get the general idea.
Those sneaky Ukrainians and the 180 degree turning shells.
(I actually have no idea what sort of adjustments stuff like Excalibur can do? But I dont think they can turn 180)
To be honest, I'm not seeing Biden's actual comments being an issue - seems to have just stated the obvious.
Imagine what trump would have been saying.
He is Putin's mate so on a much broader scale it would have been interesting to know what the USA's response would have been to the invasion.
I’m quickly going off the US.
The US is thoroughly rotten and has been for most of its existence. Have you only just realised this?
He is Putin’s mate so on a much broader scale it would have been interesting to know what the USA’s response would have been to the invasion
I've wondered that to, I think he would have limited US involvement early on much more, both sanctions and lethal aid and without the US's support I wonder what the rest of NATO/West would have done. Yet another reason it's a good job he wasn't re-elected...
I’m quickly going off the US.
The US is thoroughly rotten and has been for most of its existence. Have you only just realised this?
The U.S. was pioneering in having a written constitution that stated very high ideals. No real country will ever be able to fully live up to such lofty principles, the real world is just too complex, but the U.S. has often failed far beyond that. The problem isn't with the ideals, but that the U.S. is both hypocritical and also the most powerful nation on earth. Other countries behave much worse but aren't global superpowers, so the U.S. is criticized when others are ignored. This irritates Americans and makes things even worse.
However, the U.S. does have a reasonably open system with journalists who are willing to expose wrongdoing. Vietnam was an utter catastrophe and American journalists documented that. The invasion of Iraq was another huge catastrophe, and that was also documented by American journalists. Part of the problem for Russia is that journalists have been intimidated and murdered and there is no honest reporting of Putin's crimes. If Putin hadn't silenced all his critics, they could have warned him that he was making a terrible mistake.
However, despite their frequent foreign policy disaster, the U.S. also does a lot of good work, so that should be reported honestly along with reporting on the disasters. In the case of Ukraine, the U.S. has done an exemplary job, and that should be commended. Hopefully, Iraq and Afghanistan have taught the U.S. the lesson that it should have learned from Vietnam and it won't be stupid enough to try establishing liberal democracy at gunpoint. Hopefully too, Ukraine has taught the U.S. that supporting democracies fighting against fascists is good policy.
