BbzzbB

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271.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
I do too, but how would that look like? I'm not sure how likely it is to when the incumbent empire and the aspiring one are both armed to the tits, neither of which will give up on their claim or their military. Even without confrontat
272.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Russia waltzed into the Black Sea with it's navy without a hitch.
273.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
I hope we don't live to see China and the USA in a hot war.
274.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Isn't their capacity to maintain an ongoing assault about available meat sacks, ammunition, food and oil - none of which they lack - rather than money?
275.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
FWIW I'm not arguing we should, I just find it hypocritical to say Europeans (which I'll extrapolate to the rest of us in the West) are taking responsibility as opposed to Russians when we are doing so from the comfort of our inta
276.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Do you expect the Kremlin to tell The Economist "We will indeed declare martial law in X days" and nothing short of that is believable? Or for the media (don't recall which it was) that announced the rumor based on a source t
277.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Easy for us in the West to show responsibility when it's not our and our families' lives that are on the line. Our non-willingness (if political decisions can be considered collective, as so many here imply for Russia) to die is m
278.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
I find it weird this idea that Putin was so scared of Ukraine joining NATO because he fears some NATO aggression. By now the most likely objective as far as I'm concerned is that conquering formerly soviet Ukraine has always been in
279.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Georgia and Moldova asked to joined the EU 2 days ago, the Russo-Ukrainian war basically started when they turned to the EU rather then the EAEU (Euromaiden). I'm afraid it won't be exactly be a safe place for long, I'd try t
280.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Yeah right, just like he's denazifying Ukraine. He "won't have a choice" (horrific words in this context) but to use military force to compel the populace into complacency if there's merely a hint of civil revolutio
281.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
A million people marching won't change Putin's mind, only a bullet to the head could (tho I don't expect protesters have a chance to reach him in his bunker), but it could convince even more citizens to walk into fire. Howeve
282.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
I'm glad you left in time, hope you find somewhere to stay and that your loved ones are safe too. First sinister thought that crossed my mind when two days ago I heard he'll likely prevent people fleeing on the 5th was that there
283.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
You're right, that could (and probably is) part of the peace negotiations.
284.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Something I can't wrap my head around is why is there even Internet in Ukraine still? Shouldn't the first step of Russian OPs have been to take out telecom? Phones went out in a hurry in ex-Yu (per my parents), but in Ukraine ther
285.
Russian central bank confirms block on foreign bids to sell Russian securities(reuters.com)
198 points by BbzzbB 5y ago|232 comments
286.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Looks like they weren't ahead of the game after all when the market opens and they're not allowed to sell i.e. they've been expropriated. Waiting for the weekend to pass in the hopes in blows over will have been a costly gamb
287.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
There's some game theory here I hope we don't get to test, but you could rationalize why the West wouldn't retaliate with more nuclear bombs despite MAD (or rather because of). For instance, not walking into a nuclear apocaly
288.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
I'm not American (hello from Canada, born in ex-Yugoslavia), but that's silly. You don't get the difference between a conscript and an enlisted soldier? Ask my father if it was propaganda made him chose to defend some warlord
289.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
If it's on the front page you're just late to comment and your message disappears in new.
290.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
FWIW, I've seen a few stories of people - nobodies - sending a letter as a thank for the knowledge provided, the inspiration or what not and getting a genuine letter back. Obviously not a whole spiel, but a sentence or two indicating i
291.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Is that related to this [0] Python library? If not, is it something one can run locally or is it purely an AWS product? 0: https://textract.readthedocs.io/en/stable/
292.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
I guess that's the source of our disagreement as I don't agree with that despite living in a free democracy with no intention of leaving such a system (CC: my prior comment w.r.t. Western ideals). Narcissist, certainly; immoral an
293.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
How do you define an autocrat as "irrational" if not as one that's "lost sanity"? I interpreted your comment as meaning that, as well as this quote of being "deranged". Sanity (Oxfod, 2nd def) : >the st
294.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Well, for (1) there's that weird exchange where Russia's spy chief says/slips his (shaky) support about the entry of Donetsk and Luhansk to the Russian Federation before being corrected. https://twitter.com/pe
295.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Didn't even seem to be that critical from what I gather he (16th richest man) got expropriated and thrown in jail for starting Open Russia Foundation whose mission was "to foster enhanced openness, understanding and integration
296.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Wouldn't the result of Russia losing all it's allies be an even more unstable situation? Assuming others follow suit to China, tho I have no idea how realistic that is, for instance India isn't close to China AFAIK. Barring a
297.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
>I'm hoping that Putin will lose, and does try to use a nuke That doesn't end (nor start for that matter) with a nuke. You can bet Russians (and basically anyone alive) would prefer the scenario where he remains their autocra
298.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
But isn't he creating himself NATO neighbors by expanding his borders up to it? Whereas the alternative status quo is NATO not daring to add Ukraine to it's ranks. Tho I guess the calculation could've been that Ukraine was on
299.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Is there any reason to think he's a geopolitical idiot? I wouldn't exactly go praise his actions at a dinner with political donors ( cough cough ), but his history doesn't strike me as one from someone who doesn't know h
300.
by BbzzbB 5y ago
Plus they're actually able to ensure the rightfulness of their ownership in said stock, unlike other participants which can get expropriated should they decide it is in their interest [0]. Would also expect insiders won't be bliss

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