Russian invasion of Ukraine

[Nymrohd]

The problem with that is that it is very difficult to find anyone identifying as citizens of the local states because Russia genocides them either directly by killing them or by shipping them to Siberia and spreading them out so that they could not form communities based on their original culture.

You'd just have given Russia the chance to get rid of those people to a neighbouring country. It is more cost effective for them.
Ofc you can argue that the cruelty is the point. If they cared about being effective, the USSR's economy might not have collapsed.

[Gabriel]

You'd just have given Russia the chance to get rid of those people to a neighbouring country. It is more cost effective for them.
Ofc you can argue that the cruelty is the point. If they cared about being effective, the USSR's economy might not have collapsed.

A dead local citizen is a citizen that can't come back to you in the future to claim back their home.

[Nymrohd]

A dead local citizen is a citizen that can't come back to you in the future to claim back their home.

Yeah, I don't exactly expect to claim back the homes of any of my grandparents, all four of which moved to Greece in the exchange. Pretty sure Lausanne covered that.

[Iphie]

Being a Russians isn't an ethnicity tho. Russia isn't a monoculture.

Being a russian is definitely an ethnicity, being a russian citizen is a whole other thing.

If I would get my Finnish citizenship (working on it! damn Persut) I would be ethnically Dutch with a Finnish citizenship. (Let's not delf too deeply into my *actual* ethnicity because that's just a hopeless disaster.)

[Gabriel]

Being a russian is definitely an ethnicity, being a russian citizen is a whole other thing.

If I would get my Finnish citizenship (working on it! damn Persut) I would be ethnically Dutch with a Finnish citizenship. (Let's not delf too deeply into my *actual* ethnicity because that's just a hopeless disaster.)

Dutch or Finnish ethnicity is a lot narrower description than Russian ethnicity (yeah there are different ethnic groups within Dutch and Finnish "ethnicities"). Russia on the other hand, is made up of close to 200 ethnic groups, and the ethnic "Russians" (Slavic European Russians) alone consist of several culturally distinct groups.

Btw I wish you luck with your citizenship project!

[Iphie]

Btw I wish you luck with your citizenship project!

Thanks.

Onneksi osan jo suomea, koska olen asunut Suomessa yli 12 vuotta. (En ole tyhmä ulkomaalainen joka asuu paikalla ilman oppia kieli)

But I still make mistakes and some things are just downright terrifying. It's the thought that counts and the effort. (I'm sure trying to do it in Swedish would be easier but alas, I am a stubborn fool.)

[Kallisto]

Yeah, I don't exactly expect to claim back the homes of any of my grandparents, all four of which moved to Greece in the exchange. Pretty sure Lausanne covered that.

Yeah, it pretty much did for any home still standing. Some places like my great grandfather's village was burned to the ground by the advancing Turks during that war.

[Gabriel]

Thanks.

Onneksi osan jo suomea, koska olen asunut Suomessa yli 12 vuotta. (En ole tyhmä ulkomaalainen joka asuu paikalla ilman oppia kieli)

But I still make mistakes and some things are just downright terrifying. It's the thought that counts and the effort. (I'm sure trying to do it in Swedish would be easier but alas, I am a stubborn fool.)

You would unironically be more ostracized if you tried to become a Swedish speaking Finnish citizen than if you didn't learn Finnish or Swedish at all and just spoke English everywhere.


Goddamn bättre folk... *shakes fist*

[Iphie]

You would unironically be more ostracized if you tried to become a Swedish speaking Finnish citizen than if you didn't learn Finnish or Swedish at all and just spoke English everywhere.


Goddamn bättre folk... *shakes fist*

Hey! I know the important sentences: papa betaler and Jag prater inte svenska.

But yeah I have to learn Swedish or I can't graduate university. Goddamn pakkoruotsi..

[Gabriel]

Hey! I know the important sentences: papa betaler and Jag prater inte svenska.

But yeah I have to learn Swedish or I can't graduate university. Goddamn pakkoruotsi..

Ahh, well, good luck with that. I struggled with my compulsory Swedish course in uni too.

[YUPPIE]

Joe Biden claims the probability Putin will use nuclear weapons is real and is frustrated that no one seems to take him seriously.

"When I was out here about two years ago saying I worried about the Colorado river drying up, everybody looked at me like I was crazy, Biden told a group of donors in California on Monday. They looked at me like that when I said I worry about Putin using tactical nuclear weapons. It's real, Biden said."
---------------

President Joe Biden said on Monday the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is "real", days after denouncing Russia's deployment of such weapons in Belarus.

On Saturday, Biden called Putin's announcement that Russia had deployed its first tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus "absolutely irresponsible".

The deployment is Russia's first move of such warheads - shorter-range, less powerful nuclear weapons that could be used on the battlefield - outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The United States has said it has no intention of altering its stance on strategic nuclear weapons in response to the deployment but has not seen any signs yet that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon.

The Russian deployment is being watched closely by the United States and its allies as well as by China.

[Shadowferal]

If Putin uses nukes then he not only acknowledges he lost Ukraine, but that he's willing to lose Russia as well.

[Cynical Asshole]

Well David Sacks isn't very confident that Ukraine is getting any work done, and Elon Musk agrees.

[Wilian]

Well David Sacks isn't very confident that Ukraine is getting any work done, and Elon Musk agrees.

Elon Musk also agreed that tanks are obsolote. That airhead agrees to anything that smells even slightly anti-Ukrainian.

[alach]

Well David Sacks isn't very confident that Ukraine is getting any work done, and Elon Musk agrees.

Counterpoint

But military analysts say there’s a reason that this latest counteroffensive is proceeding cautiously and that Kyiv has a strategy — that of probing for weaknesses along Russia’s long and deep defensive lines, and that larger-scale attacks are expected to follow.

“We will see the main punches of Ukrainian forces in the nearest future. The main goal right now is to cut and destroy the land bridge to Crimea [referring to a swathe of land in southern and eastern Ukraine connecting mainland Russia to Russian-occupied Crimea] and to then move forward. Ukraine has also some prospects to move forward in the Donbas region and to liberate Bakhmut even.”

“So we will see bigger attacks of Ukrainian forces in the near future, and also what’s very important is that Russians have used all their reserves that they have already, but Ukraine hasn’t,” he added.

RUSI’s Reynolds agreed, noting that “I think expectations were set very, very high ... and I think they were too high.”
“The risk is that the talk of the counteroffensive sets such unrealistic expectations that the Ukrainians are pressurised into taking operational risks, so I think perhaps a slow offensive is the smart thing to do.”

Also, make a deal with Russia not to join Nato in exchange for peace? Really? I would say open up a history book, but Russia breaking deals happens often and recently. Joining Nato is the only way Ukraine is safe in the future.

[Elder Millennial]

Well David Sacks isn't very confident that Ukraine is getting any work done, and Elon Musk agrees.

Everyone has an opinion, especially clueless billionaires with outsized platforms and massive echo chambers where all their dumb-ass ideas are treated like some god's gift to humanity.

[Edge-]

Well David Sacks isn't very confident that Ukraine is getting any work done, and Elon Musk agrees.

I too look to techbro VC's for my latest analysis of military conflict on the other side of the world.

rofl, what fuckin losers, who gives a shit what idiots like elom think

[Deus Mortis]

I too look to techbro VC's for my latest analysis of military conflict on the other side of the world.

rofl, what fuckin losers, who gives a shit what idiots like elom think

I hate celebrity worship. Like these people are not special, they are just another human being the same as any other. Seeing news feeds of what xx did or said constantly, like who gives a fuck.

[enigma77]

Because, honestly, no matter how you play this as
helping a country, Americans just want to afford gas, groceries and other day-to-day expenses.

If that gets disrupted and costs increased, they’ll be against it. And can you really blame them? We haven’t even recovered fully from COVID and now the US economy is getting doubled-fuck with this war.

It’s why, if Biden does lose, it will be for that reason. Americans, ultimately, just want to afford to live. The wars come second.

I'm sure Putin will stop after genociding and subjugating the Ukrainian people. And not cause even more trouble, which will have an even worse effect on the global economy. After all Hitler became a peace loving man after annexing the Sudetenland and Austria.

We already know the Baltics were planned to be invaded next. It's an open secret.

[The Stormbringer]

I mean, I get that this could happen, but you're not going to change the mind of people struggling to get by. It is what it is.

Those people are short-sighted and misinformed. Not only is the war in Ukraine barely costing us anything compared to our actual military spending, but letting Russia win would just prolong the global economic turmoil caused by the war. Surviving in the now is crucial, but surviving in the long term is also pretty damn important. Sacrificing the future to enjoy a slightly better present would be an incredibly bad move.