Russia-Ukraine

[Zoidberg]

Honey, I shrunk the table…

Looks like the same centerpiece though!

Well spotted

Meanwhile, flying over Ukraine right now, FORTE11 does its daily sweep of the territory...

I know drones have their bad reputation for obvious reasons, but they are such an amazing piece of technology...

 

[ericwn]

Not so. This is him meeting Kazakhstan's newest strongman on the 10th this month:

It's his way of being petty:

Big table = "I'll sit down with you and pretend I listen to you and we both know I don't care about what you say, but you have to keep the appearances, and the table will show on every picture and people will talk about how big it is and how I put you at the other end on purpose."

Small table = "See, I had other tables, I just chose to use the big one for you so in every picture of the meeting the table will remind everyone of how little I care about you and how I made you talk to me for hours even though I had no intention of negotiating."

Well said, the big table is only for those with differing opinions.

 

[Zoidberg]

On a lighter note...

Russia pulls back from Ukraine to avoid further visits from Liz Truss

Moscow has ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the Ukrainian border in an attempt to avoid any more diplomatic visits from Liz Truss.

newsthump.com

 

[DT]

Ahh, there we go, sharing a nice little Russian lap table ...

 

[Thomas Veil]

Yeah, I kind of thought this is what was going to happen.

U.S. says Russia lied about pullback from near Ukraine, is sending in more troops

“There’s what Russia says and then there’s what Russia does,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.

www.nbcnews.com

So much for withdrawing some of its soldiers.

I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. You probably did too. But we all know what a liar Putin is. And for whatever reason, he seems to be having an extended 'roid rage of dickishness.

U.S., Russian planes have close encounters over Mediterranean, Pentagon says

U.S. officials said no one was injured in the weekend incidents but that the "intercepts" by Russian aircraft were “unprofessional.”

www.nbcnews.com

He's taunting, of course. Between that and the lying, it just reminds me of why Trump and he got along so famously. They're two of a kind.

 

[fooferdoggie]

He's taunting, of course. Between that and the lying, it just reminds me of why Trump and he got along so famously. They're two of a kind.

two tumors on the ass of the earth?

 

[User.45]

Well spotted

Meanwhile, flying over Ukraine right now, FORTE11 does its daily sweep of the territory...

View attachment 11758

I know drones have their bad reputation for obvious reasons, but they are such an amazing piece of technology...

looks like a phallus with wings

 

[AG_PhamD]

From the meeting in Moscow between Putin and Scholz (the German chancellor):

Caption this...

Scholz, could you pass me your pen.

The other 10 member of the meeting couldn’t make it due to illness, some sort of food poisoning… polonium or something?

 

[Zoidberg]

looks like a phallus with wings

Which –you have to admit– is a significant improvement over plain old regular wingless phalluses.

 

[Thomas Veil]

US cranks up the information warfare against Putin

Analysis: US cranks up the information warfare against Putin

Far from buying into claims the Ukraine showdown is easing, the United States is cranking up its relentless informational warfare campaign against Russia, keeping the world on high alert for a possible invasion of Ukraine.

www.cnn.com

The new US claims represented the latest gambit in a highly unusual public relations campaign using declassified intelligence meant to remove the element of surprise from Putin and to deprive Moscow of the usual advantage it secures with its mastery of misinformation tactics.

This is a big reason we elected Joe. Trump would be on Vlad’s side, minimizing this situation as “fake news“. Biden, on the other hand, isn’t having it. Putting out this information is not only recognizing the reality of it, it’s also calling Putin’s bluff.

I think it’s interesting how this situation is dragging on, given that Putin already has all the troops he needs to invade. It’s been said he’s looking for a pretext. Just sitting there while still amassing troops, it’s starting to remind me of one of those football tricks where you use signals and cadence to try to draw the opposing team into a fall start. I think he’s hoping the West will make a mistake.

 

[Thomas Veil]

The Russian Ministry of Defense released this video of a trainload of equipment “returning” to Russia.

So speaking of lies…does this look CG to you?

Russian Ministry of Defense releases video of armor crossing Crimea bridge | CNN

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released footage purporting to show military equipment crossing the Crimean bridge from Crimea into Russia. It is unclear where the units are heading. CNN's Jim Scuitto has more.

www.cnn.com

 

[yaxomoxay]

Looks like Putin doesn’t think his demands were met, hence war is inevitable. Told ya!

Now the only deterrent would be to have Ukraine enter NATO in the next few hours which would be virtually impossible, plus I am not sure how many Europeans and Americans are willing to die for the Ukrainian people.

What a sad story.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Looks like Putin doesn’t think his demands were met, hence war is inevitable. Told ya!

Now the only deterrent would be to have Ukraine enter NATO in the next few hours which would be virtually impossible, plus I am not sure how many Europeans and Americans are willing to die for the Ukrainian people.

What a sad story.

The whole thing is really bizarre to me and feels like an extension of the near open market corruption we have now and both lead to the question “What exactly are you, the powerless cannon and economic fodder masses, going to do about it?” We thought exposing them would get them to reverse course. Instead they decided to go with Plan B, stop trying to hide it. Brag about it, even.

 

[yaxomoxay]

The whole thing is really bizarre to me and feels like an extension of the near open market corruption we have now and both lead to the question “What exactly are you, the powerless cannon and economic fodder masses, going to do about it?” We thought exposing them would get them to reverse course. Instead they decided to go with Plan B, stop trying to hide it. Brag about it, even.

A long time ago I used to wonder why some people decide to go in a monastery (Catholic, Buddhist, whatever) or live the ascetic solitary life. I just didn’t understand it.

Now, years later, I do understand.

 

[Thomas Veil]

Blinken is not holding back. He's calling out all of Putin's plays before Putin can execute them.

"We don't know precisely how things will play out. But here's what the world can expect to see unfold," Blinken said.

"First, Russia plans to manufacture a pretext for its attack. ... We don't know exactly the form it will take. It could be a fabricated so-called terrorist bombing inside Russia. The invented discovery of the mass grave, a staged drone strike against civilians or a fake, even a real attack using chemical weapons," he said.

"Russia may describe this event as ethnic cleansing or a genocide, making a mockery of a concept that we in this chamber do not take lightly, nor do I take lightly based on my family history. In the past few days, Russian media has already begun to spread some of these false alarms and claims to maximize public outrage, to lay the groundwork for an inventive justification for war. Today, that only intensified in Russia's state controlled media. We've heard the allegations from Russian backed speakers here today," Blinken continued.

Then, he said, "the highest levels of the Russian government may theatrically convene crisis and Russia must respond to defend citizens or ethnic Russians in Ukraine."

Blinken outlines ways Russia may target Ukraine, including "plans to manufacture a pretext for its attack"

The United States says Russia has added thousands of troops to its buildup on Ukraine's border, despite Moscow's claims that some troops were being sent back to base. Follow here for the latest news.

www.cnn.com

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

"Russia may describe this event as ethnic cleansing or a genocide, making a mockery of a concept that we in this chamber do not take lightly,"

Meanwhile in Yemen....

But hey, we're talking white people here. SERIOUS BUSINESS.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I’m struggling to see what the point is of the government issuing daily new Russia invasion fanfiction. We get it. There are troops meandering around the border. And then not. And then again. They could attack any minute. There might be a false flag operation. WE GET IT. Now how about you shut your pie hole and take care of strategy behind the scenes. WTF do you expect me to do about it? If there is an attack absolutely nobody is going to go “Why didn’t you warn me sooner!? I could have prevented this!” Quit attempting to shell game our attention away from our internal issues.

 

[yaxomoxay]

I’m struggling to see what the point is of the government issuing daily new Russia invasion fanfiction. We get it. There are troops meandering around the border. And then not. And then again. They could attack any minute. There might be a false flag operation. WE GET IT. Now how about you shut your pie hole and take care of strategy behind the scenes. WTF do you expect me to do about it? If there is an attack absolutely nobody is going to go “Why didn’t you warn me sooner!? I could have prevented this!” Quit attempting to shell game our attention away from our internal issues.

The reason for this is obvious.

Less obvious is this continuous talk about a false flag operation. One thing is a passing comment, another thing is making it a foreign policy issue. If anything else happens (false flag or not), Russia will immediately blame this “false flag talk” on the U.S. and Europe as preemptive talk “to shield foreign operations against Russia.”

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

The reason for this is obvious.

Less obvious is this continuous talk about a false flag operation. One thing is a passing comment, another thing is making it a foreign policy issue. If anything else happens (false flag or not), Russia will immediately blame this “false flag talk” on the U.S. and Europe as preemptive talk “to shield foreign operations against Russia.”

Similar to how Trump and his supporters should zip it on adhering to law and order, the US military should zip it on false flag operations.

It’s like the US military is saying “We’re aware of how you know about us fucking up every military intervention over the last half-century and how we lied about our motivations and intentions, but check this one out. This is the real deal. We swear. Take a look at it again. How about from this angle?”

 

[yaxomoxay]

Similar to how Trump and his supporters should zip it on adhering to law and order, the US military should zip it on false flag operations.

It’s like the US military is saying “We’re aware of how you know about us fucking up every military intervention over the last half-century and how we lied about our motivations and intentions, but check this one out. This is the real deal. We swear. Take a look at it again. How about from this angle?”

Don’t forget the “our intelligence sources say that…”