Ukraine Riots

[tinselwolverine]

Is today even really Easter in Ukraine/Russia?

I would have thought they would all be Orthodox, which has its Easter a little bit later in the year.

 

[Michchamp]

Is today even really Easter in Ukraine/Russia?

I would have thought they would all be Orthodox, which has its Easter a little bit later in the year.

yeah. this year they were at the same time for some reason. my wife made her orthodox easter cake things this weekend.

I didn't celebrate anything though.

 

[tinselwolverine]

yeah. this year they were at the same time for some reason.

I'll be darned.

Learn something new everyday.

 

[Gulo Blue]

Vice reporter detained:

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/20...partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimesworld&_r=0

 

[Michchamp]

Vice reporter detained:

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/20...partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimesworld&_r=0

crazy. my wife's family's town is further west than all that, but not by much. it's basically two oblasts over, kinda on the 50/50 line of Ukrainian speakers/Russian speakers. If Russia tried to re-annex Ukraine up to the most logical natural boundary, her town would be on the wrong side of the line (the Dnieper River).

she's been saying she wants to go visit, but I'm kinda like "Are you F'ing serious???" without quite saying it like that. the annoying thing is her family wants her to come, so they keep telling her everything there is fine, but one of her friends who still lives there told her there was a massive street fight between pro- and anti- Russian people the other day. sounds like a great place to visit with a 6 month old...

Heh. I was telling one of my coworkers about this, and he said "Wow. I guess I can't really complain about having to go visit my in-laws in Minneapolis anymore."

 

[Gulo Blue]

Yeah...maybe now would be a good time for them to visit you. Everything may be fine there for someone who's been there their whole life, and not at all fine for an American.

 

[Michchamp]

Yeah...maybe now would be a good time for them to visit you. Everything may be fine there for someone who's been there their whole life, and not at all fine for an American.

they can't. the Embassy denied them non-immigrant visitor visas. We even had our congresswoman intervene. sucks for them.

I can visit there without a visa because I was lucky to be born in a country that is not total crap, only sort of crap.

side note: places that would be better to be born from a work/life balance, health and life expectancy point-of-view: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Japan, Switzerland, or Canada. But the U.S. isn't that bad. None of those places have NASCAR, but Canada is close enough to get broadcasts, I think.

 

[Gulo Blue]

they can't. the Embassy denied them non-immigrant visitor visas. We even had our congresswoman intervene. sucks for them.

I can visit there without a visa because I was lucky to be born in a country that is not total crap, only sort of crap.

side note: places that would be better to be born from a work/life balance, health and life expectancy point-of-view: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, Japan, Switzerland, or Canada. But the U.S. isn't that bad. None of those places have Michigan Football, but Canada is close enough to get broadcasts, I think.

Fixed.

 

[Michchamp]

Fixed.

I was being sarcastic, but good point. Not sure how I'd deal without that. I guess I'd find a challenge in spreading the gospel to my fellow Frenchmen, Dutch, or Norse... but some of them might like it. You can get American TV via satellite in those countries, right? I'd make that a priority upon becoming an ex-pat.

 

[Gulo Blue]

I was being sarcastic, but good point. Not sure how I'd deal without that. I guess I'd find a challenge in spreading the gospel to my fellow Frenchmen, Dutch, or Norse... but some of them might like it. You can get American TV via satellite in those countries, right? I'd make that a priority upon becoming an ex-pat.

If Dave Brandon can make a buck, there's a way.

 

[Gulo Blue]

Escalation. Ukrainian helicopter shot down in eastern Ukraine as they try to retake separatist city.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europ...egin-assault-slovyansk-20145235428643470.html

 

[Michchamp]

Escalation. Ukrainian helicopter shot down in eastern Ukraine as they try to retake separatist city.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europ...egin-assault-slovyansk-20145235428643470.html

"The SBU said man-portable missiles were used against one helicopter - proof that "trained, highly qualified foreign military specialists" were operating in the area "and not local civilians, as the Russian government says, armed only with guns taken from hunting stores."
​

Yeah... pretty much.

I don't know what their strategy is. They're already having trouble in provinces to the west of that. I would think they'd want to secure their rear first before moving that way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:2014_pro-Russian_unrest_in_Ukraine.png

I was reading some other articles on how screwed up their military and intelligence services are. The government in some areas doesn't even have secure communications in place to convey orders to the military, and the military in some areas resorts to passing orders by cell phone, or worse. and both the Ukrainian military and intelligence agency have been thoroughly infiltrated by Russian agents for years. The term "purge" has unfortunate Stalinist connotations, but if there was ever a time one was necessary...

 

[Michchamp]

wife talked to a friend of hers who's parents have (or had) a dacha in Crimea.

he went to check on it recently and there were some dudes living there who told him to STFU and GTFO, and also that if he stuck around they'd shoot him, and he was lucky he hadn't been shot already.

apparently all across Crimea, Russian "emigrants" have appropriated property there.

 

[zyxt9]

wife talked to a friend of hers who's parents have (or had) a dacha in Crimea.

he went to check on it recently and there were some dudes living there who told him to STFU and GTFO, and also that if he stuck around they'd shoot him, and he was lucky he hadn't been shot already.

apparently all across Crimea, Russian "emigrants" have appropriated property there.

I'd try to return around 4am and poor many gallons of gas around the outside then toss a couple molitov cocktails in and tell them to go ahead and stay there as long as they want, but they probably have sentries or someone staying up keeping an eye on the place.

sure seems things are heating up with the shootouts, fires, and such.

 

[Michchamp]

I'd try to return around 4am and poor many gallons of gas around the outside then toss a couple molitov cocktails in and tell them to go ahead and stay there as long as they want, but they probably have sentries or someone staying up keeping an eye on the place.

...

If I were going to try that, I wouldn't stick around to see how it turned out, lest I be shot. I definitely wouldn't yell shit action-hero-style... the whole peninsula is controlled by Russian troops & militia and under martial law.

the people getting totally fucked are the Crimean Tatars now, from what I hear. they're either Mongol or Turkic, 17% of the population, and the remnant of centuries of nomadic migrations through the steppes there. the Russians are in the process of kicking them out/seizing all their shit. My wife has a friend who is Crimean Tatar, and was studying abroad in England when all this went down. She posted on her FB page something like "Shit, I am now officially stateless and have no where to go." She has to start applying for refugee status.

 

[zyxt9]

If I were going to try that, I wouldn't stick around to see how it turned out, lest I be shot. I definitely wouldn't yell shit action-hero-style... the whole peninsula is controlled by Russian troops & militia and under martial law.

the people getting totally fucked are the Crimean Tatars now, from what I hear. they're either Mongol or Turkic, 17% of the population, and the remnant of centuries of nomadic migrations through the steppes there. the Russians are in the process of kicking them out/seizing all their shit. My wife has a friend who is Crimean Tatar, and was studying abroad in England when all this went down. She posted on her FB page something like "Shit, I am now officially stateless and have no where to go." She has to start applying for refugee status.

In my younger, single, less responsibility days I would have definitely been part of the underground and blown some shit up, hopefully taking out as many Russians as possible.

Now that I'm older and have a family and would really like to watch my son grow up and be in his life as long as possible, I can't say I would do much of anything. Still, one night raid would be planned at a minimum, and likely executed on a moonless night...even if it was using a sniper rifle from a reasonably practiced distance. I just don't think I could merely walk away without someone paying a price of some sort, especially a punk ass POS Russian spouting off like that one did. He would have absolutely been in my crosshairs. Maybe I don't make it back alive, but I think in the chaotic environment that currently exists I would have a higher percentage chance to make it out on a hit and run mission that is intelligently planned in advance.

The trickiest part would be sneaking out so the wife never finds out.

 

[Thumb]

In my younger, single, less responsibility days I would have definitely been part of the underground and blown some shit up, hopefully taking out as many Russians as possible.

Now that I'm older and have a family and would really like to watch my son grow up and be in his life as long as possible, I can't say I would do much of anything. Still, one night raid would be planned at a minimum, and likely executed on a moonless night...even if it was using a sniper rifle from a reasonably practiced distance. I just don't think I could merely walk away without someone paying a price of some sort, especially a punk ass POS Russian spouting off like that one did. He would have absolutely been in my crosshairs. Maybe I don't make it back alive, but I think in the chaotic environment that currently exists I would have a higher percentage chance to make it out on a hit and run mission that is intelligently planned in advance.

The trickiest part would be sneaking out so the wife never finds out.

Okay ^^ this guy right here^^ is the reason for thorough background checks and possibly psych evaluations before allowing him to buy anything bigger then a BB gun.

 

[zyxt9]

Okay ^^ this guy right here^^ is the reason for thorough background checks and possibly psych evaluations before allowing him to buy anything bigger then a BB gun.

I don't own a gun, but that does not mean I cant get one without government approval and bypassing background checks.

not understanding why defending one's home is psychotic in your opinion. it was pretty common throughout the history of this nation, both for right (Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, Mexican War, Wild West, and more) and for wrong (taking land from Native Americans).

I guess if someone invaded your home you would just hand them the keys, alarm code, safe, money, etc. then walk away and just continue on like it wasn't a problem at all, eh?

 

[Michchamp]

I don't own a gun, but that does not mean I cant get one without government approval and bypassing background checks.

not understanding why defending one's home is psychotic in your opinion. it was pretty common throughout the history of this nation, both for right (Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Spanish-American War, Mexican War, Wild West, and more) and for wrong (taking land from Native Americans).

I guess if someone invaded your home you would just hand them the keys, alarm code, safe, money, etc. then walk away and just continue on like it wasn't a problem at all, eh?

I think you're presenting a false dichotomy with that last sentence. Also the problem (as I see it) with your approach is that killing someone (could be anyone?) who happened to be in or near your former house with a sniper rifle =/= defending your home. If you're standing there with a rifle keeping them away, that would be different, but venturing back to randomly kill at a distance is more akin to cold blooded murder than self-defense.

 

[zyxt9]

I think you're presenting a false dichotomy with that last sentence. Also the problem (as I see it) with your approach is that killing someone (could be anyone?) who happened to be in or near your former house with a sniper rifle =/= defending your home. If you're standing there with a rifle keeping them away, that would be different, but venturing back to randomly kill at a distance is more akin to cold blooded murder than self-defense.

If I make a threat assessment that deems it is better to escape from my home initially and then return to target someone who does not belong there, that's what I will do to take back what is rightfully mine. Keep in mind we are not talking about an area under righteous law like the US. I would obviously call the cops for them to arrest or take out someone here. We are talking about an area under occupation and the cops are non-existent.