Russia's War Against Ukraine

[GDS_Starfury]

fucking love Arnold!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1504426844199669762

[SirAndrewD]

fucking love Arnold!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1504426844199669762

Dude's amazing. 

[Anguille]

Yeah, great guy

[Gusington]

The Arnie video is setting the world on fire! (In a good way, not in a Putin way.)

[MengJiao]

and heres some good news for a change.
the theater that the russians bombed yesterday, while pretty much totally destroyed, served its function as a bomb shelter pretty damn well.
the civilians that were sheltered there survived and are being rescued now as they clear debris from the entrances.

Well, that's good!  In other news, the Russians have repeated that they have the right to blow up things coming into Ukraine (and NATO was already assuming it was odd that the Russians
weren't doing anything about weapons coming into Ukraine from NATO).  In fact, the Russians say, it is "illegal" to ship certain stuff into Ukraine:

Lavrov said Soviet and Russian-made missile defense systems, which are available to some NATO countries, cannot be legally transferred to third countries, according to TASS.


    On the other hand it is "legal" to blow up anything you want to blow up.  I'm somewhat puzzled by the specifying that it is "illegal"...does that legalize blowing up the stuff?  Aren't they
doing that day and night anyway?  I don't get the "illegal" specification.  This would seem surreal if it didn't already seem surreal.  Maybe the more excuses about blowing stuff up the better?
Or is it a warning?  It's not like NATO didn't already know the Russians would like to blow up whatever they send in...just very odd.  Or it would be odd if it wasn't already very odd.

[ArizonaTank]

Putin held a massive rally with waving flags and music to celebrate the 8th year of the Crimean annexation. Goebbels would have been jealous.

Putin then went into a speech that talked about what a 'great job' Russia has been doing 'developing' the region.

But he never finished it...at least on the broadcast. Suddenly the camera cut away from him mid-sentence and went to music.

The network is saying it was a "technical glitch". Maybe it was some sort of silent protest from the editing room? Or, maybe he was quickly hustled off the stage by security? Or maybe just terrible editing? Hard to tell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp8qLWbxVTQ

The whole speech and some analysis from CNN:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NZxNAZdHQo

[Gusington]

That was grotesque and bizarre at the same time. The CNN commentators didn't appear to say anything live about Putin disappearing. Maybe there was a security threat to him or something similar?

[Pete Dero]

That was grotesque and bizarre at the same time. The CNN commentators didn't appear to say anything live about Putin disappearing. Maybe there was a security threat to him or something similar?

I think the speech was prerecorded and they messed up mixing it in to the live event.  A paranoid maniac like Putin wouldn't appear in public on a specific time and a specific place.


BBC News producer Will Vernon, reporting from Moscow, tweeted that after talking to dozens of people who attended the rally, he learned that many of them worked in the public sector and had been pressured into attending.

https://twitter.com/BBCWillVernon/status/1504838570917474304?s=20&t=R3Hkaj4HbdMknheDKteCUQ

Many said they worked in the public sector (e.g. schoolteachers), and that they had been pressured into attending by their employers. One group of teachers, from a town near Moscow, were being told what to say to us by a woman who appeared to be from the local administration.

Students told us they had been given the option of a day off from lectures if they attended 'a concert.'  Some of them didn't even know that the event was dedicated, in part, to support for Russian forces in Ukraine.

[JudgeDredd]

fucking love Arnold!

https://twitter.com/i/status/1504426844199669762

That was incredibly touching

[ArizonaTank]

That was grotesque and bizarre at the same time. The CNN commentators didn't appear to say anything live about Putin disappearing. Maybe there was a security threat to him or something similar?

I think the speech was prerecorded and they messed up mixing it in to the live event.  A paranoid maniac like Putin wouldn't appear in public on a specific time and a specific place.


BBC News producer Will Vernon, reporting from Moscow, tweeted that after talking to dozens of people who attended the rally, he learned that many of them worked in the public sector and had been pressured into attending.

https://twitter.com/BBCWillVernon/status/1504838570917474304?s=20&t=R3Hkaj4HbdMknheDKteCUQ

Many said they worked in the public sector (e.g. schoolteachers), and that they had been pressured into attending by their employers. One group of teachers, from a town near Moscow, were being told what to say to us by a woman who appeared to be from the local administration.

Students told us they had been given the option of a day off from lectures if they attended 'a concert.'  Some of them didn't even know that the event was dedicated, in part, to support for Russian forces in Ukraine.

CNN is reporting that the entire speech has been rebroadcast now. So some sort of editing error...or who knows...a little bit of sabotage in protest? I guess somebody gets reassigned to TV Siberia.

But as you say, it looked pre-recorded.

[SirAndrewD]

This is relevant to our interests. 

Humble is doing a huge charity sale.  About $2500 in value of books and games for $40, all going to Ukraine.

Worth it just for Metro alone. 

https://www.humblebundle.com/stand-with-ukraine-bundle?fbclid=IwAR0zn7TCQ4VeQe4duiJJAC7X5UGliaPIy00voux5fcIL_MstAZLdS8ThzR0

[Gusington]

^Metro Exodus is solid, I just finished it last night.

[al_infierno]

This is relevant to our interests. 

Humble is doing a huge charity sale.  About $2500 in value of books and games for $40, all going to Ukraine.

Worth it just for Metro alone. 

https://www.humblebundle.com/stand-with-ukraine-bundle?fbclid=IwAR0zn7TCQ4VeQe4duiJJAC7X5UGliaPIy00voux5fcIL_MstAZLdS8ThzR0

Thanks for the heads up, lots of cool stuff in that bundle.  Automate the Boring Stuff with Python is also well worth the price for anyone interested in learning programming for basic day-to-day purposes.

[bobarossa]

$1.8 million raised so far.  Also contains Endless Space 2, Radio Commander, This War of Mine, Expedition Viking, along with Metro Exodus.  And of course Lust from Beyond!  Minimum of $40.

[ArizonaTank]

Satisfactory is also very solid and a bunch of fun if you like base building / logistics / factory type games. A few nasty beasties thrown in...but mostly chill..