Europe at War

[Todd]

[LKB]

Constructive, as always.

[Todd]

Constructive, as always.

Sikorski has built that reputation, yes.

[Todd]

Washington's Pointless War on Behalf of a Fake Nation

Nor is Orbán the only one calling for an end to sanctions, with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotaki calling for a repeal of Russian sanctions as well. Other political leaders, such as Matteo Salvini, who leads the conservative League party and will be a major force in Italy's new government, says that Europe needs a "rethink" on Russian sanctions due to the harmful economic effects.

Oh yeah, and: German conservative leader accuses Ukrainian refugees of 'welfare tourism'

Ukraine had really better be worth all this.

[LKB]

Washington's Pointless War on Behalf of a Fake Nation

Oh yeah, and: German conservative leader accuses Ukrainian refugees of 'welfare tourism'

Ukraine had really better be worth all this.

Your status as a Putin apologist and purveyor of decidedly un-American attitudes is more apparent than ever,  grats!

[Todd]

Your status as a Putin apologist and purveyor of decidedly un-American attitudes is more apparent than ever,  grats!

I guess it makes sense that you liked HUAC.

[Madiel]

Washington's Pointless War on Behalf of a Fake Nation

Oh yeah, and: German conservative leader accuses Ukrainian refugees of 'welfare tourism'

Ukraine had really better be worth all this.

The claim that Ukraine is a fake nation is straight out of the Russian playbook. Ukrainians feel rather differently about that. Which is the whole fucking point. As I discussed several weeks ago.

The existence of the Soviet Union as a federation, rather than a unitary state, gives a lie to the proposition that Ukraine lacks a separate identity. It's just that Russia prefers to rule the nations around it.

One could just as easily argue that Norway or Iceland is a fake nation. Only the Danes were less aggressive about keeping their kingdom intact.

[Todd]

If Russia invades - that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine, again - then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2.  We will bring an end to it.

But how will you do that exactly, since the project and control of the project is within Germany's control?

We will, I promise you, we'll be able to do it.

[Todd]

From Foreign Policy:

Russia's Defeat Would Be America's Problem

Victory in Ukraine could easily mean hubris in Washington.

The opening paragraphs cite Pericles and Burke, so it's a goodun.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I will read. I was just saying that GB/AU dual citizenship was the sole creation of AU. It didn't require a special protocol between the two countries. Just that AU needed to stop being a bit of a dick about it. Might well not apply to Russia/US; I wouldn't know, but will happily learn about from your links as I read them.

I already notice that "U.S. immigration law requires Americans to use U.S. passports when entering or leaving the United States", which I find very interesting because I have never been entirely sure which passport (UK or AU) to display, and when. It seems to be more a matter of whim where those two countries are concerned! I have recently been told that you leave on the passport of the country you're leaving from, and arrive on the passport of the country you're arriving at I wouldn't have a clue and tend to stick to one or the other, as the whims of the check-in people appear to dictate! I always carry both, just in case, but yes: it's a bit murky for us Aussie-Poms. Or, at least, for me

Got what you were saying.  Pardon me, but by the way, what are "Aussie-Poms"?  Hadn't heard that term before.  And yes, in the case of dual-citizenship, I would imagine that it would be important to know all of the rules when traveling....hard though it be.

I'm still curious as to what happened (or changes in legislation??) in 1992 re Russia.

     These are YouTubers I have followed since before the war. They are pretty well known as Russian vloggers go. They went.

Thanks.  I don't often watch YouTubers (99.999999999% anyway)...trying hard to keep up with the news; there's a lot of it out there.     And I don't "follow" anyone.

Best,

PD

[drogulus]

Thanks.  I don't often watch YouTubers (99.999999999% anyway)...trying hard to keep up with the news; there's a lot of it out there.     And I don't "follow" anyone.

Best,

PD

     I don't subscribe to any YTers except Cap at Grim Reapers. I watch the Russians because I'm interested in what's going on there, and unlike with China I'm not limited to intermediaries. In the China case there's a bunch of people pushing the line that the country will collapse in 4 days, or 27 days, that kind of thing. That's not how it will happen. It's going to take years, maybe a decade to get to the "I knew it all along" stage.

[Herman]

Your status as a Putin apologist and purveyor of decidedly un-American attitudes is more apparent than ever,  grats!

Let's not invoke "un-American". Lotta folks here are not USA American, you're going to call them un-American, too?

[Madiel]

Let's not invoke "un-American". Lotta folks here are not USA American, you're going to call them un-American, too?

No, because in the English language "America" means the USA. When you are writing in a language where "America" means a whole continent, you can use the term with that meaning. Meanwhile in English it's The Americas, North America, Central America, South America.

Meanwhile, Todd is from the USA.

[71 dB]

Finland is closing the Russian border next night in order to reduce Russian turism significantly. The border remains open for certain reasons such as relatives living in Finland, work, studies, humanitarian reasons and cargo.

[Spotted Horses]

For an individual to have dual citizenship, there must be a protocol between the two nations. My understanding (quite likely outdated) was that Russia hadn't coordinated with the US on this. Perhaps by now they have, but Russian bureaucracy being itself, the process would doubtless be onerous to the applicant.

Dual US/Russian citizenship is a de facto situation, rather than an acknowledged protocol, on both sides. The U.S. will require you to foreswear allegiance to any foreign state, but won't force you to tear up your foreign passport. But if you are a Russian citizen that subsequently becomes a naturalized US citizen and you want to travel to Russia, you have two options. If you want to enter using a Russian passport you just present yourself at the border. If you want to enter using a US passport you have to get a visa in advance, which may involve visiting a Russian consulate in the U.S., or someone you are going to visit visiting a consulate in Russia. It is an onerous process. And whatever passport you use to enter must be used to leave. If you enter with a Russian passport you risk the passport not being honored when you try to leave. Now, with military conscriptions and the U.S. and Russia at a state of hostility bordering war, it seems more likely that something will go wrong.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

My apologies. Australians tend to call anyone from Britain a "pommie" or a "pom" for short. Because Brits apparently complain a lot, they are frequently called "whingeing poms".

So a pom=someone from Britain.

And Aussie is someone from Australia.

So me being an Aussie-Pom is just shorthand for saying "someone with dual British and Australian citizenship".

Though technically I'm probably more a Pommie-Aussie, as I was born in Britain before migrating to Australia.

But then I retired back to the UK, which just confuses the picture even more...

Thanks.  I was guessing that, but had never heard that term before.

PD

[LKB]

Annexation is to occur tomorrow:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63072113

Soon, we all may learn where the real huevos are located, Ukranians aside.

[Todd]

'Better than killing people': Russians flee into Mongolia

More elite Russians exploiting their wealth.

[71 dB]

Lately I have become very pessimistic. We are heading to WW III and we all may have very little time left. We may experience the last Christmas literally. Russia is destroying the whole World and has become the biggest terrorist state surpassing even the US and Israel. Russia shows zero intent to de-escalate, zero interest in even their own citizens let alone anyone else! All they care about is the glory of Russia being the country that caused the end off humanity.

[Harry]

Lately I have become very pessimistic. We are heading to WW III and we all may have very little time left. We may experience the last Christmas literally. Russia is destroying the whole World and has become the biggest terrorist state surpassing even the US and Israel. Russia shows zero intent to de-escalate, zero interest in even their own citizens let alone anyone else! All they care about is the glory of Russia being the country that caused the end off humanity.

You could easily be right Poju, I think it needs but little, and we are on the brink of disaster.