Russian-Ukrainian War: Live Thread

[BenDhyan]

Ukraine refugee crisis passes one million in the first week of Russia's invasion, UN says

One million people – mostly women and children – have fled Ukraine in the first week of Russia's invasion, according to the head of the United Nations refugee agency.

More than half a million of the refugees have fled to Poland, while the rest have crossed borders into Hungary, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania, and other European countries.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/ukraine-refugee-one-million-people-russia-un

Ukraine: Russian troops take control of key city of Kherson - mayor

Kherson is the first major city to be taken by Russia, after heavy fighting, since it invaded a week ago.

Its mayor, Igor Kolykhaev, said Russian troops had forced their way into the city council building and imposed a curfew on residents.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60597367

[MacCruiskeen]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FM4OEonXsAA ... name=small


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FM4OFRZXEBE ... name=small

[drstrangelove]

Mystery as another oligarch is found dead in Surrey: Police are called after Ukrainian-born tycoon's body is discovered in mansion in 'unexplained' tragedy
A Ukranian-born tycoon who made his fortune in oil and gas has been found dead at his Surrey mansion.

Police are treating father-of-three Mikhail Watford’s death as ‘unexplained’, but it is not thought to be suspicious.

-https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10571051/Police-called-Ukrainian-born-tycoons-body-discovered-mansion-unexplained-tragedy.html

So is this entire situation best seen as a fight between Western and Russian oligarchs over the allegiances of Ukrainian oligarchs?

[drstrangelove]

The International Cat Federation has banned Russian-bred cats from its shows
The International Cat Federation has banned Russian cats from competing in their shows in the latest response to the invasion of Ukraine.

The Fédération Internationale Féline (FIFe) confirmed on Tuesday that cats bred in Russia will not be allowed to compete in their cat shows until May 31 at the earliest following Vladimir Putin's invasion on Ukraine on February 24.

The FIFe executive board also confirmed that cat-owners who live in Russia are also banned from the organisation until further notice.

- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... Putin.html

[drstrangelove]

I feel we are entering into an austerity world war. Tensions will escalate but kinetic action(aside from cyberattacks) will be contained within Ukraine. There, the ever defiant Zelensky will continue to feed his population into the meatgrinder while Putin works the crank faster and faster, spraying blood all over his face to sure up corporate media. Meanwhile, we of the West, yes WE(the pronoun I has become hatespeech)enter into a war of attrition with the Russian population. We can see the future already - people posting videos of the ingenious ways they are managing to make do with our rapidly declining standards of living. It will be all mad max "Witness ME!!!" martyrdom by people dying of sedentary on their couch, maybe vaccine cancer, who knows, too much noise. bread and circuses, but less bread more circus. actors all know each other but they never appear together on stage. maybe the director drops a nuke. the whole show is in the playbill but no spoilers, shhhhhh, don't tell us if they drop the nuke. but for the amish. . life just goes on as usual

[JackRiddler]

You have probably seen by now that RT America laid off all staff and cancelled its programming. Been watching it, figuring this was coming. The U.S. national broadcasters' association called for it to be dropped from cable/sat services, but this is unrelated. The RT channel is still broadcasting, exclusively from Moscow, with allegedly hourly news updates, a lot of Lavrov, and this documentary on the Donbass war since 2015 that they seemingly have on a semi-permanent loop. This ends the programs from Hedges, Redacted Tonight, the (oddball) news produced in Washington, Boom-Bust, Keizer, etc. etc.

[BenDhyan]

Wrong think, no alternative views allowed.

Substitute teacher suspended after expressing support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine

ARLINGTON, Va. — A substitute teacher is suspended after he reportedly expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin in the classroom.

The Washington Post reports that John Stanton was substitute teaching a Spanish class in Virginia on Friday when he said he backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urged students to read Russian state propaganda outlets.

Stanton said he was offering students an opposing viewpoint, by telling them to read Sputnik News, which has been declared a “state-run propaganda machine” by the FBI, CIA and NSA.

https://www.wcpo.com/news/national/substitute-teacher-suspended-after-expressing-support-for-russias-invasion-of-ukraine

[PufPuf93]

You have probably seen by now that RT America laid off all staff and cancelled its programming. Been watching it, figuring this was coming. The U.S. national broadcasters' association called for it to be dropped from cable/sat services, but this is unrelated. The RT channel is still broadcasting, exclusively from Moscow, with allegedly hourly news updates, a lot of Lavrov, and this documentary on the Donbass war since 2015 that they seemingly have on a semi-permanent loop. This ends the programs from Hedges, Redacted Tonight, the (oddball) news produced in Washington, Boom-Bust, Keizer, etc. etc.

Use Dish TV (Satellite). It sucks in general. Has many channels, few that I ever watch. Because live remote, choice in TV is Dish or DirectTV. Internet TV not an option as fastest choices are satellite ViaSat or Hughes, both have a soft data down loud cap and max download speed is too poor for much streaming, never HD.

Never watch RT but thought RT somewhere on the menu. It is and is still broadcasting as of this moment, Lavrov was talking.

[JackRiddler]

Use Dish TV (Satellite). It sucks in general. Has many channels, few that I ever watch. Because live remote, choice in TV is Dish or DirectTV. Internet TV not an option as fastest choices are satellite ViaSat or Hughes, both have a soft data down loud cap and max download speed is too poor for much streaming, never HD.

Never watch RT but thought RT somewhere on the menu. It is and is still broadcasting as of this moment, Lavrov was talking.

Read what I wrote again, in which I report what's on RT currently. How do I do that? Dish. For the moment, they still have it on and like you, I'm seeing Lavrov & the oft-repeated Donbass documentary and the updates from Moscow. Point is, today RT laid off all of the staff of the RT America subdivision, and suspended/canceled all US-produced programming like Hedges, etc. Meanwhile RT broadcasts are being ended in Europe on government orders and Youtube & co. have also suspended them there. Looks like a matter of time before the same is implemented here.

.

[PufPuf93]

Use Dish TV (Satellite). It sucks in general. Has many channels, few that I ever watch. Because live remote, choice in TV is Dish or DirectTV. Internet TV not an option as fastest choices are satellite ViaSat or Hughes, both have a soft data down loud cap and max download speed is too poor for much streaming, never HD.

Never watch RT but thought RT somewhere on the menu. It is and is still broadcasting as of this moment, Lavrov was talking.

Read what I wrote again, in which I report what's on RT currently. How do I do that? Dish. For the moment, they still have it on and like you, I'm seeing Lavrov & the oft-repeated Donbass documentary and the updates from Moscow. Point is, today RT laid off all of the staff of the RT America subdivision, and suspended/canceled all US-produced programming like Hedges, etc. Meanwhile RT broadcasts are being ended in Europe on government orders and Youtube & co. have also suspended them there. Looks like a matter of time before the same is implemented here.

.

Just adding another data point about RT status. Do expect just a delay until RT is gone.

The Russian firing on and fire at the nuke plant is concerning. Wes Clark saying perhaps the no fly zone and Russian nuclear deterrent should be re-visited is also concerning.

Dish TV really sucks in any case.

[drstrangelove]

Morrison government asks Facebook, Twitter and Google to block Russian state media ‘disinformation’
Communications minister writes to tech giants about ‘content promoting violence, extremism and disinformation in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine’

- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... nformation

‘Please leave’: Stan Grant ejects pro-Putin audience member from Q&A set
Q&A host Stan Grant took the extraordinary step of expelling a member of the audience from the studio on Thursday night after the young man, named Sasha, expressed support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The decision was greeted by cheers from the studio audience and met largely with approval on Twitter, though some dissenting voices saw it as an alarming attempt to restrict the conversation of one of the most serious global conflicts of our times.

. . .

“You can ask a question, but you cannot advocate for violence,” he said. “I should have asked you to leave then, it’s been playing on my mind, but I do have to ask you to leave.”

- https://www.theage.com.au/culture/tv-an ... 5a1kw.html

When the only loophole to free speech is inciting violence, everything becomes violence. Logic gets real abstract to the point the wings of butterflies are cut off to protect distant others from tornadoes.

[conniption]

Pepe Escobar
@RealPepeEscobar
https://twitter.com/RealPepeEscobar

[Marionumber1]

When the only loophole to free speech is inciting violence, everything becomes violence. Logic gets real abstract to the point the wings of butterflies are cut off to protect distant others from tornadoes.

Absolutely agreed in general, but I think that supporting one country's invasion of another is a pretty clear instance where one of these controversial statements genuinely is an expression of violence. It is literally a position in support of war. And as much as the US (with its allies) has escalated the situation in Ukraine to an insane level that they would immediately go to war over if they faced it themselves (e.g. if Russia started building up anti-US armies on the Mexican border), it's pretty well-recognized that preemptive wars are not acceptable. Two wrongs don't make a right. (Though admittedly, I am not sure exactly what else could be done in Russia's position to force the removal of a covert Western army in Ukraine that most of the establishment refuses to admit even exists. The deck tends to be stacked in a situation like that.)

That doesn't make censorship the right approach, and it's clear that the issue with the statement was not about promoting violence, but about promoting violence by the "wrong" side. (To the extent there are sides: I'm still holding on to the suspicion that Putin's actions are tailor-made to help out the US/NATO and the vested interests they most strongly represent.)

[drstrangelove]

Yes, very important to read the room right now. No use crying about the free speech of a civil society why actively acknowledging you live in a wartime uncivil society without rules. You gotta be sneaky, like a gorilla fighter. You dress like one of them and initiate stealth kills using argument to question rather than to state. "But didn't like, the democratically elected Ukrainian government get like, thrown out or something in 2014?". . ."Ohh wikipedia says that was a revolution, yeah I remember reading something about that, I think one of the main groups of people were called Azov or something. Who were they?". . ."Oh wow, that's insane no way! Are you sure you aren't reading Russian propaganda?". . ."Oh wow, that's the New York Times article, that's insane no way!"

[drstrangelove]

Extraordinary meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs (updated)
An extraordinary meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) at the level of Ministers of Foreign Affairs will take place at the NATO Headquarters on Friday 04 March. The meeting will be in person and will be chaired by the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg. The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Finland and Sweden, as well as the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign And Security Policy, will take part.

- https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_192634.htm