Russia/Ukraine

[fernweh]

Mar 10, 2022 11:20:12 GMT -5 Birdie said:

Mar 10, 2022 9:58:50 GMT -5 cous0226 said:

I just saw an alert that Goldman Sachs is exiting Russia. That would seem like a big deal

I've seen so many companies announce this in the past few days, as well as internet access becoming severely restricted. I feel so bad for the everyday Russian just trying to live their lives.

Me too. I was actually reading last night that there are thousands of Russian tourists stranded in Thailand. They can’t get home because of no fly zones and many of them have lost access to their money because their bank cards are visa/Mastercard and something with the American sanctions makes the cards not work.

[Birdie]

Mar 10, 2022 11:35:03 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Mar 10, 2022 11:20:12 GMT -5 Birdie said:

I've seen so many companies announce this in the past few days, as well as internet access becoming severely restricted. I feel so bad for the everyday Russian just trying to live their lives.

Me too. I was actually reading last night that there are thousands of Russian tourists stranded in Thailand. They can’t get home because of no fly zones and many of them have lost access to their money because their bank cards are visa/Mastercard and something with the American sanctions makes the cards not work.

That's awful, but I'm also trying to decide if they're better off on the inside or out. Inside they have their own homes, etc but they'll also be shut out from the world.

[fernweh]

Mar 10, 2022 11:36:55 GMT -5 Birdie said:

Mar 10, 2022 11:35:03 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Me too. I was actually reading last night that there are thousands of Russian tourists stranded in Thailand. They can’t get home because of no fly zones and many of them have lost access to their money because their bank cards are visa/Mastercard and something with the American sanctions makes the cards not work.

That's awful, but I'm also trying to decide if they're better off on the inside or out. Inside they have their own homes, etc but they'll also be shut out from the world.

My concern is not having access to money. Are the hotels letting them stay on credit? What about food?

[wawa]

Mar 10, 2022 11:41:18 GMT -5 fernweh said:

Mar 10, 2022 11:36:55 GMT -5 Birdie said:

That's awful, but I'm also trying to decide if they're better off on the inside or out. Inside they have their own homes, etc but they'll also be shut out from the world.

My concern is not having access to money. Are the hotels letting them stay on credit? What about food?

I was abroad once when my credit card and bank card stopped working (fraud lock...despite my sending the appropriate messages beforehand that I'd be abroad) and it was really stressful. Even though it only lasted about 36 hours before we got it ironed out. My mom had to wire me money. I can't imagine what you'd do in a situation like this if you didn't have an option along those lines and didn't know how long it'd last.

this feels weird to me though. I feel for the people of russia impacted by this the sanctions. I feel a hell of a lot more for the people of Ukraine with their country being attacked. I'd rather be stranded on vacation in Thailand than under missile fire. I don't conflate the actions of Putin with the citizens of the country as a whole, but when it comes to literal war and the consequences thereof....Don't start none, won't be none?

[carmenere]

Mar 10, 2022 11:54:23 GMT -5 wawa said:

Mar 10, 2022 11:41:18 GMT -5 fernweh said:

My concern is not having access to money. Are the hotels letting them stay on credit? What about food?

I was abroad once when my credit card and bank card stopped working (fraud lock...despite my sending the appropriate messages beforehand that I'd be abroad) and it was really stressful. Even though it only lasted about 36 hours before we got it ironed out. My mom had to wire me money. I can't imagine what you'd do in a situation like this if you didn't have an option along those lines and didn't know how long it'd last.

this feels weird to me though. I feel for the people of russia impacted by this the sanctions. I feel a hell of a lot more for the people of Ukraine with their country being attacked. I'd rather be stranded on vacation in Thailand than under missile fire. I don't conflate the actions of Putin with the citizens of the country as a whole, but when it comes to literal war and the consequences thereof....Don't start none, won't be none?

On a related note, people in Tajikistan are also hurting as a result of the sanctions.

www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/3/7/far-from-putins-russia-tajikistans-people-feel-sanctions-pain

About 70 percent of Tajik families depend on remittances, with the remaining 30 percent relying on the help of relatives and their own earnings, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the Research Institute under the Tajik National Bank. In 2019 alone, migrant workers sent more than $2.5bn to Tajikistan, according to the Central Bank of Russia.

[kath16]

ETA: removed @@

]
i'm sure i would be really stressed out if i was stuck in a different country, away from my family with no money and no way home in uncertain times because of my governments actions. i have empathy for those people, and i can have it at the same time as extreme empathy and desperation for those in the Ukraine. it's possible to have both.

[wawa]

Mar 10, 2022 12:49:35 GMT -5 kath16 said:

@@@

i'm sure i would be really stressed out if i was stuck in a different country, away from my family (my kids maybe? surely some are away from their children) with no money and no way home in uncertain times because of my governments actions. i have empathy for those people, and i can have it at the same time as extreme empathy and desperation for those in the Ukraine. it's possible to have both.

of course it is. I was just expressing my own discomfort talking about how much it must suck for russians while people are literally being bombed.

[lust2hart]

kath16, can you please edit out your @ content?

[kath16]

Mar 10, 2022 13:32:47 GMT -5 lust2hart said:

kath16, can you please edit out your @ content?

Oh my gosh yes of course I’ll remove it

[glw]

Here's a flavor of crazy that I hadn't heard of before...

"The war in Ukraine has reignited beliefs among some conservative evangelicals that Russia could help fulfill biblical prophecies about the end of the world.
These evangelicals, particularly charismatic Christians who focus on end-times theories, have long believed that Russia has a special role to play in the end times and are sharing new theories about why the invasion of Ukraine might be part of God’s plan."


www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/03/10/russia-putin-end-of-the-world/

[tacokick]

Mar 10, 2022 16:53:51 GMT -5 glw said:

Here's a flavor of crazy that I hadn't heard of before...

"The war in Ukraine has reignited beliefs among some conservative evangelicals that Russia could help fulfill biblical prophecies about the end of the world.
These evangelicals, particularly charismatic Christians who focus on end-times theories, have long believed that Russia has a special role to play in the end times and are sharing new theories about why the invasion of Ukraine might be part of God’s plan."


www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/03/10/russia-putin-end-of-the-world/

What don’t these people think is a sign for the end times? A lot of them voted for Trump because they thought he’d help usher it in too. I guess that’s dragging on.

[dirtyred]

The Ukrainian army now has more tanks (due to capturing Russian equipment) than it did at the start of the war.

[Velar Fricative]

Watching ABC News and they reported that Russia is bringing in chem/bio suits into Ukraine. Putin is fucked up.

[icedcoffee]

Mar 11, 2022 18:42:30 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Watching ABC News and they reported that Russia is bringing in chem/bio suits into Ukraine. Putin is fucked up.

😞😞😞

I can’t wrap my head around this. I’m so scared for Ukraine.

[cous0226]

Mar 11, 2022 18:42:30 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Watching ABC News and they reported that Russia is bringing in chem/bio suits into Ukraine. Putin is fucked up.

Biden said there would be serious consequences if he used chemical weapons but I don’t know what does that exactly mean.

[noodleoo]

Mar 11, 2022 20:14:02 GMT -5 cous0226 said:

Mar 11, 2022 18:42:30 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Watching ABC News and they reported that Russia is bringing in chem/bio suits into Ukraine. Putin is fucked up.

Biden said there would be serious consequences if he used chemical weapons but I don’t know what does that exactly mean.

I’m having a hard time with the fact that we know shit is going to happen, but we are waiting until after it does to do anything about it. I understand why, but it hurts my heart  to know innocent people are getting hurt and we’re watching and waiting. 😔

[underwaterrhymes]

This woman is incredibly brave:

www.nytimes.com/2022/03/14/world/europe/russian-protester-tv.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwAR0Q2K16EJhQX5bquV27a-9iSp_95mOzMYoagtHyMEUo66oP3Qw43wYRF_I

[Bad Dingo]

www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/03/14/world/europe/ukraine-refugees-poland-belarus.amp.html

This article is so real and so anger inducing. The excuse that they can't accept an African or Arab refugee into their home is that they wouldn't know what to feed them? We all know that is not the reason.

[sakoro]

Mar 14, 2022 20:42:34 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/03/14/world/europe/ukraine-refugees-poland-belarus.amp.html

This article is so real and so anger inducing. The excuse that they can't accept an African or Arab refugee into their home is that they wouldn't know what to feed them? We all know that is not the reason.

Same thing happening at the Southern US border. Ukrainians are being allowed in but families escaping cartel violence in Honduras are stuck due to COVID hiatus on refugees.

[mbcdefg]

Mar 14, 2022 19:09:08 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

This woman is incredibly brave:

www.nytimes.com/2022/03/14/world/europe/russian-protester-tv.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwAR0Q2K16EJhQX5bquV27a-9iSp_95mOzMYoagtHyMEUo66oP3Qw43wYRF_I

A Twitter account posing as a journalist who staged a bold anti-war protest on Russia's main evening news program went viral on Tuesday, amassing more than 10,000 followers before becoming inaccessible.

NBC News' Social Newsgathering team was able to analyze the account, which posed as Channel One journalist Marina Oysyannikova, while it was still available on Twitter and confirm that it did not belong to her.

www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/ukraine-russia-war-live-updates-kyiv-under-fire-eu-leaders-n1291880

(She’s sadly in danger either way, I’m sure)

[mbcdefg]

Fox News cameraman killed, correspondent injured:

[suburbanzookeeper]

Slightly lighter hearted... I chortled.

[Bad Dingo]

Today I learned that Biden's middle name is Robinette. (From the tweet above)

[notreal]

Mar 15, 2022 14:50:04 GMT -5 suburbanzookeeper said:

Slightly lighter hearted... I chortled.

I am amused that that list shows Hillary but not Bill.  Russia recognizes the real power player in that family.

[icedcoffee]

I'm still dying at HRC's tweet 12 hours later. LOL It was perfect.

[Bernadine]

www.cnn.com/2022/03/16/politics/zelensky-ukraine-speech-to-congress/index.html

President Zelensky spoke to Congress this morning.

[bcv513]

Mar 16, 2022 8:54:35 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

I'm still dying at HRC's tweet 12 hours later. LOL It was perfect.

She is incredibly witty. I bet she's a ton of fun to have a few drinks with.

[mbcdefg]

Biden says US sending more anti-aircraft, anti-armor weapons, drones to Ukraine to assist in defense against Russia.

In President Zelensky’s address to Congress this morning he also asked for a no-fly zone but that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen at least for right now.


Sooo … what’s the end game, here?

[carmenere]

Mar 16, 2022 12:38:11 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Biden says US sending more anti-aircraft, anti-armor weapons, drones to Ukraine to assist in defense against Russia.

In President Zelensky’s address to Congress this morning he also asked for a no-fly zone but that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen at least for right now.


Sooo … what’s the end game, here?

To make this war as painful and costly for Putin as possible without getting us into a direct conflict with Russia?

[mbcdefg]

Mar 16, 2022 13:50:04 GMT -5 carmenere said:

Mar 16, 2022 12:38:11 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Biden says US sending more anti-aircraft, anti-armor weapons, drones to Ukraine to assist in defense against Russia.

In President Zelensky’s address to Congress this morning he also asked for a no-fly zone but that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen at least for right now.


Sooo … what’s the end game, here?

To make this war as painful and costly for Putin as possible without getting us into a direct conflict with Russia?

Sorry, I should have clarified that I’m wondering about Putin’s end game.