Russia/Ukraine

[cville]

I am so angry and feel so impotent.


And I keep thinking how the worst case scenario plays out. Next Belarus, then Taiwan, then etc.

Obviously I am not giving up hope of a successful push back. But my brain is in disaster mode. Fuck Putin.

[wawa]

msmerymac, I get it that it feels weird to send something personal like that to somebody with whom you have a work only relationship (I just had a similar issue with a public death affecting a client and I felt iffy enough about it that I had to ask my HR for advice on how to word because saying nothing felt really wrong but "sorry for your loss" in our weekly status check in also felt wrong) but definitely acknowledge. a simple "My thoughts are with you and your family" is almost never wrong.

[cattledogkisses]

Biden will address the nation at 12:30 EST.

[erbear]

Feb 24, 2022 9:24:02 GMT -5 bears said:

Pictures of Ukraine today: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ukraine-invasion-latest-pictures-s98bpt7b3?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=Russia_invades_Ukraine&utm_medium=branded_social

Well, that just devastated me

[lust2hart]

msmerymac, the world needs a little extra kindness today. Tell your client you're thinking of them.

[RitzyHeifer]

Feb 24, 2022 10:02:16 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

msmerymac I've been getting a lot of messages from colleagues and friends and I'm a second generation US born Ukrainian. I vote not weird to let someone know you're thinking about them.

I work at a university so have students and colleagues not from the US. When something happens in their home countries I often reach out with a simple message that I’m thinking of them; those I’m closest to have always responded to say they appreciate it (but I obviously don’t expect a response!)

[mrsukyankee]

I am horrified by my government's response to all of this. They sanctioned five small banks (not the big hitters) and a few high net individuals. They basically allowed those in our gov't and with a lot of money to make sure they got their money out of the bigger banks before anything further would happen. It's such a weak response and is peddling to the rich from Russia (many are certain that our gov't is compromised by Russia in a similar way to Trump and many Republicans). Here's a response article: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/22/vladimir-putin-ukraine-sanctions-boris-johnson

[mrsukyankee]

I am also horrified by Putin's actions. It feels he's been working toward destabilizing everything in democracy around the world and this is a big step to see how the world responds.

[mbcdefg]

Ukraine’s president said Russian forces were trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, and Ukrainian forces were battling other troops just miles from Kyiv for control of a strategic airport.

apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-attack-a05e7c4563ac94b963134bba83187d46

[Aloe Vera]

Feb 24, 2022 11:42:27 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Ukraine’s president said Russian forces were trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, and Ukrainian forces were battling other troops just miles from Kyiv for control of a strategic airport.

apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-attack-a05e7c4563ac94b963134bba83187d46

What would they want to do with Chernobyl? This is a ghost town. There's nothing but ruins.

[rupertpenny]

Feb 22, 2022 12:40:32 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

Feb 22, 2022 9:50:34 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Putin's "peacekeeping" claims are based on his false narrative that Ukrainians are committing genocide against ethnic Russians, so no, this is just his way of trying to justify a likely violent invasion.

I think it was on NPR yesterday evening that someone mentioned "defending ethnic XYZ nationality" was the initial reason Hitler and Mussolini gave for their invasions. Hitler said he was trying to defend "ethnic Germans" in Poland.

So that bodes horribly in terms of context/history.

Yes, protecting ethnic Germans was the rationalization for the annexation of Sudetenland which happened a year before Blitzkrieg in Poland. 

I feel like we are in some kind of time warp. It is all so familiar and unbelievable at the same time. It hasn't even been a hundred years, how are we here again?

[stever]

Feb 24, 2022 11:31:46 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

I am horrified by my government's response to all of this. They sanctioned five small banks (not the big hitters) and a few high net individuals. They basically allowed those in our gov't and with a lot of money to make sure they got their money out of the bigger banks before anything further would happen. It's such a weak response and is peddling to the rich from Russia (many are certain that our gov't is compromised by Russia in a similar way to Trump and many Republicans). Here's a response article: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/22/vladimir-putin-ukraine-sanctions-boris-johnson

P owns the Tories like he owns the GOP.

[imimahoney]

Feb 24, 2022 11:46:27 GMT -5 Aloe Vera said:

Feb 24, 2022 11:42:27 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Ukraine’s president said Russian forces were trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, and Ukrainian forces were battling other troops just miles from Kyiv for control of a strategic airport.

apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-attack-a05e7c4563ac94b963134bba83187d46

What would they want to do with Chernobyl? This is a ghost town. There's nothing but ruins.

Twitter saying it was would allow the easiest path into Kyiv. They intend to take the capital.

The president needs to get to safety or he's going to die.

[cattledogkisses]

Feb 24, 2022 11:46:27 GMT -5 Aloe Vera said:

Feb 24, 2022 11:42:27 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Ukraine’s president said Russian forces were trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, and Ukrainian forces were battling other troops just miles from Kyiv for control of a strategic airport.

apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-attack-a05e7c4563ac94b963134bba83187d46

What would they want to do with Chernobyl? This is a ghost town. There's nothing but ruins.

Also, isn't the Chernobyl exclusion zone still hazardous to humans?

[Aloe Vera]

Feb 24, 2022 12:02:01 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Feb 24, 2022 11:46:27 GMT -5 Aloe Vera said:

What would they want to do with Chernobyl? This is a ghost town. There's nothing but ruins.

Also, isn't the Chernobyl exclusion zone still hazardous to humans?

Yes, last I heard, you're only allowed to be there for a certain time.

[rupertpenny]

I wouldn't be surprised if Putin also wanted to further restrict access to Chernobyl and re-write history on that too. It was and is a huge embarrassment for the USSR/Russia.

[wildrice]

msmerymac, I think I'd reach out. Back in 2017 when the old guy issued the "Muslim ban", I had similarly conflicted thoughts about reaching out to an employee from Libya and offering her my support and sympathy. I was worried it would be overstepping but didn't want to just ignore it, either. She was gracious about it at the time.

We have since become good friends (she is no longer my employee and hasn't been for a few years) and she's mentioned to me multiple times how much that email meant to her. In hindsight I'm so glad I did and it made me feel a lot more confident about the appropriateness of doing similar in the future.

[just]

Feb 24, 2022 10:12:31 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Biden will address the nation at 12:30 EST.

Moved to 1:30

[Deleted]

Trump went on Fox and said this is happening because of the rigged election.


"He was going to be satisfied with a peace, and now he sees the weakness and the incompetence and the stupidity of this administration, and, as an American, I'm angry about it, and I'm saddened by it," he continued, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "And it all happened because of a rigged election. This would have never happened."

[tacokick]

Feb 24, 2022 11:55:51 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Feb 22, 2022 12:40:32 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

I think it was on NPR yesterday evening that someone mentioned "defending ethnic XYZ nationality" was the initial reason Hitler and Mussolini gave for their invasions. Hitler said he was trying to defend "ethnic Germans" in Poland.

So that bodes horribly in terms of context/history.

Yes, protecting ethnic Germans was the rationalization for the annexation of Sudetenland which happened a year before Blitzkrieg in Poland. 

I feel like we are in some kind of time warp. It is all so familiar and unbelievable at the same time. It hasn't even been a hundred years, how are we here again?

Yes! I feel like it’s kind of intuitive to think that things will move forward and we will learn from history and evolve as a people but it’s really clear that’s not reality.

[rubytue]

Feb 24, 2022 12:42:06 GMT -5 @princessbubbleyum said:

Trump went on Fox and said this is happening because of the rigged election.


"He was going to be satisfied with a peace, and now he sees the weakness and the incompetence and the stupidity of this administration, and, as an American, I'm angry about it, and I'm saddened by it," he continued, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "And it all happened because of a rigged election. This would have never happened."

I miss Reagan Republicans.

[noodleoo]

Feb 24, 2022 12:45:07 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Feb 24, 2022 11:55:51 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

Yes, protecting ethnic Germans was the rationalization for the annexation of Sudetenland which happened a year before Blitzkrieg in Poland. 

I feel like we are in some kind of time warp. It is all so familiar and unbelievable at the same time. It hasn't even been a hundred years, how are we here again?

Yes! I feel like it’s kind of intuitive to think that things will move forward and we will learn from history and evolve as a people but it’s really clear that’s not reality.

I was talking about this with a friend.  I realized I lost all faith in humanity when 45 was elected.  I used to be an idealist.  The last few years have broken me.

[pixy0stix]

Feb 24, 2022 12:47:45 GMT -5 rubytue said:

Feb 24, 2022 12:42:06 GMT -5 @princessbubbleyum said:

Trump went on Fox and said this is happening because of the rigged election.


"He was going to be satisfied with a peace, and now he sees the weakness and the incompetence and the stupidity of this administration, and, as an American, I'm angry about it, and I'm saddened by it," he continued, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. "And it all happened because of a rigged election. This would have never happened."

I miss Reagan Republicans.

These are Reagan Republicans. They just stopped codifying their speech and now they're saying the quiet parts out loud.

[wesleycrusher]

Feb 24, 2022 13:06:05 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Feb 24, 2022 12:45:07 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Yes! I feel like it’s kind of intuitive to think that things will move forward and we will learn from history and evolve as a people but it’s really clear that’s not reality.

I was talking about this with a friend.  I realized I lost all faith in humanity when 45 was elected.  I used to be an idealist.  The last few years have broken me.

I said to DH earlier that my thoughts of the invasion were similar to the Trump election. "It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen....but what if...no, it's not going to happen." And then it did.



@@my nephew- my (adopted) son's oldest brother- was deployed to Poland a couple weeks ago, went to Ukraine last week, but I think is back in Poland. My son is 9 and knows this- DH and I have to figure out how to talk to him this afterschool. The school is K-8 and very up on current events, so I am sure he will have heard in school and be worried.  If you could keep good thoughts for him and us, I'd appreciate it

[rubytue]

Feb 24, 2022 13:11:54 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Feb 24, 2022 12:47:45 GMT -5 rubytue said:

I miss Reagan Republicans.

These are Reagan Republicans. They just stopped codifying their speech and now they're saying the quiet parts out loud.

Well, they aren’t the very anti-Russian Reagan Republicans.  Most of the ones I knew would not every support Russia. 🤷‍♀️

[anodyne]

Feb 24, 2022 11:42:27 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Ukraine’s president said Russian forces were trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, and Ukrainian forces were battling other troops just miles from Kyiv for control of a strategic airport.

apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-attack-a05e7c4563ac94b963134bba83187d46

MSNBC live reporting that Russia has taken control of Chernobyl

[mbcdefg]

Feb 24, 2022 13:33:38 GMT -5 anodyne said:

Feb 24, 2022 11:42:27 GMT -5 mbcdefg said:

Ukraine’s president said Russian forces were trying to seize the Chernobyl nuclear plant, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, and Ukrainian forces were battling other troops just miles from Kyiv for control of a strategic airport.

apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-attack-a05e7c4563ac94b963134bba83187d46

MSNBC live reporting that Russia has taken control of Chernobyl

apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-attack-a05e7c4563ac94b963134bba83187d46

[noodleoo]

Feb 24, 2022 12:32:11 GMT -5 just said:

Feb 24, 2022 10:12:31 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Biden will address the nation at 12:30 EST.

Moved to 1:30

Did they move it again?

[bcv513]

This is absolutely terrifying

[just]

Feb 24, 2022 13:39:49 GMT -5 noodleoo said:

Feb 24, 2022 12:32:11 GMT -5 just said:

Moved to 1:30

Did they move it again?

Still saying they'll begin shortly.


www.whitehouse.gov/live/