The Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Ab]

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/worl...aine-1.4821438

United Nations orders staff not to say ‘war’ or ‘invasion’ regarding Ukraine

[Ab]

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has condemned Russia for its occupation of the southern part of the Kuril Islands.

In this statement in Parliament, he said that the islands are “original territories of Japan”

https://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0008341466

It’s on

[fixed_truth]

Oh it's more than on ...


Coke and Pepsi suspend sales, McDonald's closes Russian stores over Ukraine invasion

[sidbo]

It's over.

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/rus...I4W0n7Q72skdQf

[StN]

/Pulls Geiger counter out of garage and pops it on the window sill...

[Ab]

Originally Posted by fixed_truth

Oh it's more than on ...


Coke and Pepsi suspend sales, McDonald's closes Russian stores over Ukraine invasion

isn't this the first time that a country with McDonaldses has invaded another country with McDonaldses?

I guess only one of them does now.

[_indigo1]

Originally Posted by Ajax

There have been dozens of pics and vids of intact Russian heavy equipment being towed away by Ukraine's John Deere Brigade. Crazy attrition.

What's ironic is that I'm pretty sure the Ukranians would have no issue using those military vehicles - unlike the John Deere stuff which if stolen can likely be remotely disabled using DRM!
I believe this applies to American military equipment also - they can't repair half their shit without manufacturer unlocks.

Yay for backwards priorities!

[DrTiTus]

Victoria Nuland states that Ukraine has "biological research facilities"

I think I've heard this story before, and I think it was dismissed as "misinformation". I filed it away under "no evidence" - but now there seems to be evidence.

[_indigo1]

Originally Posted by DrTiTus

Victoria Nuland states that Ukraine has "biological research facilities"

I think I've heard this story before, and I think it was dismissed as "misinformation". I filed it away under "no evidence" - but now there seems to be evidence.

DrTitus!
I'm surprised @ you!

Not only using Twitter as an info source - but one following known MSM at that!

[StN]

Originally Posted by _indigo1

What's ironic is that I'm pretty sure the Ukranians would have no issue using those military vehicles - unlike the John Deere stuff which if stolen can likely be remotely disabled using DRM!
I believe this applies to American military equipment also - they can't repair half their shit without manufacturer unlocks.

Yay for backwards priorities!

RiskyBiz mentioned last week that the Ruskies are using open channel radio (Software defined) that isn't encrypted because they don't have enough high end ones.

[Ab]

Russian warship that attacked Ukraine’s Snake Island is ‘destroyed’
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/r...oyed-h279r25pc

One of the two Russian warships that attacked Snake Island, a sliver of land in the Black Sea, has been destroyed, according to Ukrainian military sources.

The Vasily Bykov, a large patrol corvette that was commissioned in December 2018, appears to have been hit during a firefight in the early hours yesterday.

Video shared by the Ukrainian navy showed rocket exchange, followed by the sound of two men trying to work out whether they hit the ship.

“We f***ing hit them”, one of the men confirms. The second man invokes the Ukrainian soldier’s words from when the island was attacked, saying: “Russian warship, go f*** yourself.”

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Ab

This is starting to look a bit, you know, weird...?



Wall Street Journal:

U.S., Allies Are Ramping Up Sanctions on Russia, but One Country Is Sitting Out


Jacinda smiles and waves:



Nothing to see here.

I can't help but wonder how much oil money the Kremlin has been funneling into causes and orgs left and right around the world to buy influence or silence. Russia has always been great at this stuff, from the Empire to today.

[_indigo1]

Originally Posted by StN

RiskyBiz mentioned last week that the Ruskies are using open channel radio (Software defined) that isn't encrypted because they don't have enough high end ones.

I thought they were using Ukraine's 4G network (encrypted) but once those were destroyed they had to switch to open channel.

[StN]

Originally Posted by _indigo1

I thought they were using Ukraine's 4G network (encrypted) but once those were destroyed they had to switch to open channel.

Even funnier - so when they knocked out the massive TV broadcast masts, they probably also took out the Telco ones...

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Ab

I can't help but wonder how much oil money the Kremlin has been funneling into causes and orgs left and right around the world to buy influence or silence. Russia has always been great at this stuff, from the Empire to today.

Case in point, today at The Standard:

One of Vladimir Putin’s objectives in the Russian incursion into Ukraine was to “denazify Ukraine.” With the breakdown in the agreement to allow a humanitarian corridor out of Mariupol, this task will be much harder and the terrorist toll much higher. Once Russia has succeeded however, the world will be a better place for it.

Posted by Mike Smith, former General Secretary of the NZ Labour Party.

[smudge]

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/03/...umen-shuns-ru/

I'm cautiously optimistic .ru being cut off from the internet will reduce the toxicity/mis-information.

[_indigo1]

Originally Posted by smudge

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/03/...umen-shuns-ru/

I'm cautiously optimistic .ru being cut off from the internet will reduce the toxicity/mis-information.

I don't think you mean what you wrote - i.e. cutting .ru domain off DNS.
I think that's a stupid idea personally. Russia will just up it's own DNS root so all it will punish is the west.

But I assume by .ru you actually meant Russia?

[DrTiTus]

I don't think it will happen from one or two carriers. They might block Russia's traffic on their own network, but based on the submarine cable map they'll need a whole bunch of countries to get in on it to cut off Russia completely. Otherwise routes will update, and sure, traffic might slow down a bit, but isolation is very optimistic unless Russia chooses to isolate themselves.

The article even claims Cogent is blocking traffic, but I suspect it might be blocking particular IPs/domains since I did a visual traceroute just now to Yandex and it showed it was going through Cogent links. Either that the block was a very temporary measure.

[smudge]

Originally Posted by _indigo1

But I assume by .ru you actually meant Russia?

I might have misunderstood the article, but was thinking we're heading towards russian citizens being unable to access western websites. Either by this or the russians gov doing it themselves.

[Ab]

https://twitter.com/gbrumfiel/status...22969797431301

[_indigo1]

Originally Posted by Ab

https://twitter.com/gbrumfiel/status...22969797431301

Perhaps this is similar to right wingers flying the confederate flag in the US?
Every country's gotta have em, right?

[StN]

Originally Posted by _indigo1

Perhaps this is similar to right wingers flying the confederate flag in the US?
Every country's gotta have em, right?

Remind me - was that US or OZ?

[_indigo1]

Originally Posted by StN

Remind me - was that US or OZ?

No idea. Just cherry picked an image; however you know it has to have happened in places like Iraq and Afghan.
Those F450 driving, bandana wearing, three-finger-saluting, freedom-militia types are exactly the types who go for the army.

[MadMax]

https://bank.gov.ua/en/news/all/nats...potrebi-armiyi

Donate.

[DrTiTus]

сука в чём дело, ай...

These people aren't much different to us, despite the funny alphabet.

And I'm not donating to the Ukrainian government or Ab's Nazi mates with crypto. They're getting $1.7B USD of aid + weapons from other countries. This money will go to admin, like all donations. If you're not doing anything physically, you're not really helping. Symbolic gestures aren't shit. 10 bucks won't stop a missile. I'm pretty sure they're faking it for givealittle donations.

[DrTiTus]

Jimmy Dore has my back

My own personal take: Anyone who talks about the region as "THE" Ukraine should not be listened to. That's some outdated shit and showing their ignorance and don't know anything, just repeating bollocks. Listen out for it. Don't trust me, who am I? But who are these people telling you your information? People in power? Oh yeah, they would never lie to you.

I love the Ukraine people, but I hate the US government (and all they support). Sure, it's a bias, I won't deny it. But I have many reasons, all very real. You may have heard of them as you've grown up, while the US fights wars, never on their soil.

I think (which is a fact, because I do think it) this is the beginning of the end of the US as a dominant superpower.

Learn Mandarin, or Russian. Both if you want. Fuck these 30 trillion in debt ridden warmongers.

[Ab]

Originally Posted by DrTiTus

My own personal take: Anyone who talks about the region as "THE" Ukraine should not be listened to.

at least we agree on something

[Ab]

https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-pos...t-zelenskiy-rd

Pranksters in Wellington have renamed Messines Rd – where the Russian Embassy is based – to “Zelenskiy Rd” in honour of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Wellington City Council spokesperson Richard MacLean said the council would change the sign back eventually, but it was not a top priority.

“We recognise and sympathise with the international outrage over the Russian invasion. We also acknowledge that our contractors are very, very busy at the moment and may not be able to attend to this issue as a matter of urgency,” Maclean said.

“We hope residents in the neighbourhood will understand.”

[DrTiTus]

Just had some snap messages from another friend - a "rakah" (rocket/missile I assume) blew up her apartment, which included her phone trapped under rubble. She sent pics, but I hadn't set her chat to 24-hour delete, so they disappeared when I closed it. She's using her grandma's phone but internet is not reliable. I haven't had any messages of anyone I know/their family getting injured which is good? I am under the impression that they [the Russians] are not just indiscriminately killing civilians, although I am sure there will be "collateral damage" for people in bad luck situations. All the concern seems to be on buildings/infrastructure disappearing, not fearing for their lives from bloodthirsty soldiers. That's the feeling I get from a sample size of about 5 people that I would expect would say so if they knew it was happening around them or to their friends/family.

[Lightspeed]

[_indigo1]

I wonder if this event marks the end of Ukraine culturally.
I mean supposing the war ends and of course there will be rebuilding required - but there is no going back on the popularity and mindshare Ukraine has built as an idea, a people, and country, especially in the western world as a whole.

Is it destined to become a meme country for the west, it's culture ultimately eroded and watered down over time as rubbernecking westerners and western companies shift in?

It's well known that rampant globalisation removes cultural diversity.

Hawaii for example.

[Ab]

Originally Posted by _indigo1

Hawaii for example.

Yeah because hawai’ian culture doesn’t exist any more

[_indigo1]

I'm trying to get my head around why you replied in this way. It's a bit ridiculous.
It's only you who has said that hawai'ian culture no longer exists.

I used it as an example of globalisation having a major effect on cultural diversity.

However I detect a hint of sacrasm - so let me return in kind.

Yeah because becoming a western meme country has had NO impact on the diversity of hawai'ian culture as a whole, in fact globalisation preserves cultural diversity and doesn't reduce it at ALL.

https://www.culturalsurvival.org/pub...waiian-culture

https://www.outdoorrevival.com/news/...n-culture.html

https://www.quora.com/Did-America-de...waiian-culture

[Lightspeed]

Cultural dominance and interplay isn't straightforward. European culture has forever been in a state of flux to dramatic effect. It's a shift in culture Putin is ostensibly in reaction to. Or just loss of a population to bleed. Which is kind of the same thing.

This war is without a doubt murdering Ukraine. Putin needs to be worried about what survives in its stead.

[Ab]

Originally Posted by _indigo1

cultural diversity

what do you mean when you use these two words together?

[_indigo1]

Originally Posted by Ab

what do you mean when you use these two words together?

The opposite to cultural homogenisation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_homogenization

Cultural homogenization is an aspect of cultural globalization, listed as one of its main characteristics, and refers to the reduction in cultural diversity through the popularization and diffusion of a wide array of cultural symbols—not only physical objects but customs, ideas and values...
...the process by which local cultures are transformed or absorbed by a dominant outside culture

[Ab]

I get your point, and I apologise for being late-night brusque. I think this isn't really a Ukraine thing.

I think Ukraine has already won this war. The only way Putin was going to win was if his Blitzkrieg worked, Zelenskiy fled, and a puppet government was installed in the space of 72 hours. None of those things happened and every hour that this drags on is a bigger loss for Putin. Which scares the shit out of me, because when you lose a game that you were supposed to win, its awfully tempting to kick over the table, because when people are on their hands and knees picking up cards and dice they're not talking about how you got beaten.

Garry Kasparov just did a really good interview on Sam Harris's "Making Sense" podcast. Check it out.

[_indigo1]

Oh yeah for sure.
Yeah I'll peg that one for a listen. Good ol Harris.

I was merely pondering past the immediate situation and thought wouldn't it be a shame if the very thing that put Ukraine on the world stage in their courage to stand up and boldly claim their right to exist, in fact ended up having a blowback effect.

Without sounding insensitive; in many ways war is a lot easier to deal with as it's overt - whereas slow cultural erosion is much more insidious until it's too late.

It's kind of like the left vs right thing.
Far right is a lot easier to combat than radical left - as one is way more overt.

But yeah probs overthinking it lel

[Cyberbob]

I can't remember who said it recently, but there was a good soundbite variant of the old 'You are playing checkers while they are playing chess', illustrating that while the west is playing chess, Putin is playing poker.

Putin's actually made numerous references over the years to a childhood story involving a rat he that he had cornered with nowhere to go, and it jumped out at him, relating to learning a valuable lesson about the dangers of backing opponents into a corner.
I'm sure armchair wargame strategists all over the world are lapping it all up.

[StN]

Originally Posted by Cyberbob

...I'm sure armchair wargame strategists all over the world are lapping it all up.

Dan's take from a couple of weeks ago.