Why are we rushing to defend Ukraine? [merged threads]

[TBoneTX 45,572]

Interesting opinion piece, and note especially the observations about social media, second half of article. Does anyone else here have any ideas about that?

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/03/its_not_prorussian_to_refuse_to_join_the_rush_to_war.html

[Ellie_7 103]

The observations certainly make sense with the updates about the war that I've read from missionaries in Ukraine.

[millefleur 5,047]

14 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Interesting opinion piece, and note especially the observations about social media, second half of article. Does anyone else here have any ideas about that?

I've found the whole Biden laptop story to be reappearing in the middle of all this very odd. Maybe they thought they could just....sneak it in under the radar as the war news dominates? Really a question for another thread but given the Ukraine/East Europe ties there, it does make you wonder.

 

In terms of the social media aspect and lack of stuff coming from Ukraine: I heard the Starlink system is a joke and simply doesn't work in Ukraine, the system is in beta and barely works in developed countries. It's another Musk ploy to eek himself into the national spotlight and hog it up to peddle his wares. I'm shocked that believe just...believe it, because he said so. Sorry, I'm obviously very biased against him and think he's a charlatan, but I'm hearing this from people I know in Ukraine: there's practically no working Starlink internet there, perhaps at best in some tiny pockets, but I've not been able to verify even that.

 

In terms of why social media is lacking other coverage: probably it mostly comes down to language barrier and American reporters having no idea what to look for. A bunch of Ukrainians are Russian speakers, so they might assume something published in Russian on Twitter or other socials is just "pro-Putin propaganda" when in reality it's just a civilian made video or news from a Russian speaking Ukrainian. And then there's just the Ukrainian language barrier itself: unlike other parts of Europe, most people in Ukraine don't speak English. How would they convey or get their updates to anglonews sources? Unless you speak Russian, Ukrainian (or both) and English, there's just going to be a huge information gap. That would be my explanation. Also, for the people that I know in Ukraine, conventional internet is still working in places, so it's not just lack of internet.

[TBoneTX 45,572]

2 hours ago, millefleur said:

In terms of the social media aspect and lack of stuff coming from Ukraine [...]

Excellent insights, ma'am. 👍

[Mike E 11,741]

2 hours ago, millefleur said:

And then there's just the Ukrainian language barrier itself: unlike other parts of Europe, most people in Ukraine don't speak English. How would they convey or get their updates to anglonews sources?

And yet the ISIS conquest of Iraq and Syria was thoroughly reported. Ditto the Taliban conquest of Afghanistan. 
 

And not that anyone cares but the Chinese proxy way in Burma, aka the coup by the military junta is being thoroughly reported (if one bothers to seek out the news) and has been so since February 1 (2021).
 

Ditto the coup in Sudan and successful counter coup of 2021-2022.   
 

The lack of ground reporting in Ukraine is strange.  Especially without the western volunteers.  Why isn’t Wali blogging about how many Russian heads he has exploded with his sniper rifle?
 

Still we are being told Ukrainian resistance is stiff and we had sone concrete data to prove it.   With a land area just 40 percent larger than Iraq, and the invasion by Russia arguably should have completed  by now. The USA and the rest of the coalition took all of Iraq in a month, and Baghdad fell in 6 days.  Kiev has been under attack for 3 weeks and foreign heads of states saunter in and out of Kiev for at will.  
 

And so this goes back to what I wrote in my first comment on this thread.  
 

Europe can handle this without the USA sending boots, planes, or boats. Even the UK’s anti tank weapons are well up to the task, and arguably doing a better job than the American weapons.  The UK doesn’t seem worried about escalating  things with Putin … that’s the thing where you have nukes and live on an impregnable island.  

[millefleur 5,047]

6 hours ago, Mike E said:

The UK doesn’t seem worried about escalating  things with Putin … that’s the thing where you have nukes and live on an impregnable island.  

I'm glad for the UK. It's just too bad they didn't sanction and kick out the oligarchs decades ago. They were too keen to get rich off of that stolen money.

 

The other standalone nuclear power in Europe is France. Did anyone see Macron's weird photo session supposedly taken after his talks with Putin? Talk about a Norma Desmond "I'm ready for my close up" moment, not sure what he was trying to convey here...

 

 

[Ban Hammer 13,421]

7 hours ago, millefleur said:

 Talk about a Norma Desmond "I'm ready for my close up" moment, not sure what he was trying to convey here...

 

 

maybe putin threatened to send him naked pics of hillary and pelosi?

[Neonred 3,576]

1 hour ago, Ban Hammer said:

maybe putin threatened to send him naked pics of hillary and pelosi?

Well, I do know there is one VJ member that has said he thinks they are hot.

[millefleur 5,047]

Interesting how global supply chains are affected. Japan might finally have to go without some good, cheap sushi.

Even Japan’s sushi makers are feeling the bite of Russia’s war

TOKYO — Thousands of miles from the war in Ukraine, Japanese sushi restaurants and fish markets are feeling the pain of their country’s sanctions on Russia.

Prices of popular seafood and delicacies are soaring in Japan, a major importer of seafood from Russia, which sells salmon, crab, roe (fish eggs) and sea urchin at cheaper prices than sellers in Europe or Canada, or even some local fishermen.

 

But Japan’s limits on imports from Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine have thrown a wrench into the seafood supply chain in the island nation, where seafood is a staple — exacerbating the economic woes Japanese restaurants and vendors have endured from the pandemic.

 

Seafood imports from Norway have also declined because of rerouted and canceled flights out of Europe after sanctions limited access to Russian airspace, according to Japanese media reports.

 

Restaurant owners and fish market vendors are also concerned about higher fuel prices following the invasion, and they worry about a prolonged impact from the sanctions.

 

Read more here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/even-japan-e2-80-99s-sushi-makers-are-feeling-the-bite-of-russia-e2-80-99s-war/ar-AAVdHKI

[TBoneTX 45,572]

23 minutes ago, millefleur said:

roe

"Doe, a deer, a female deer..."

 

Whenever I see the word roe, I think:

"Roe, a rear, a female rear..."

 

Sorry if this makes me the butt of anyone's joke.

[Dashinka 24,629]

This will be interesting.  It looks like the MENA countries and to a lesser extent China will be hit the most.  Regardless, there will be a shortage as I don't see much agriculture going on in Ukraine this year unless things end very quickly.

 

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine threatens a global wheat crisis

 

Together, Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat exports. However, following Russia’s attack on its neighbor, both vital supply chains have been crippled. The war will impact global grain markets most acutely in the MENA region, with possibly devastating economic and political ripple effects.

 

Following Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian port infrastructure has been destroyed and the Black Sea is now mined and blocked. The impact on Ukraine’s wheat trade has been severe. Nearly 80% of Ukraine’s grain exports flow through its southwestern ports of Odessa, Pivdennyi, Mykolayiv, and Chornomorsk into the Black Sea. Today, even if ships are able to find a place to dock and load bulk grain shipments (which most fail to do), insurance is either prohibitively expensive or unavailable to sustain a voyage. 

 

Unlike Ukraine, Russian exports are, largely, not diminished by production disruptions. Rather, decreased Russian wheat exports are the result of merchants electing to not participate in the Russian market. Although food is not subject to sanctions, traders and banks are reluctant to facilitate trade from Russia for fear of being fined by foreign governments, or shamed by the Western press. Russia has also experienced exceptionally high insurance premiums on shipping, with rates jumping at least 400%, from an estimated pre-invasion rate of 0.025% to anywhere between 1% to 2%, reaching as high as 5%. The costs of trading with Russia are simply too high—both optically and literally.

 

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/econographics/putins-invasion-of-ukraine-could-spark-a-global-food-crisis/

Edited March 23, 2022 by Dashinka

[millefleur 5,047]

Israel walks the tight rope between trying to be friends to both Russia and Ukraine at the same time.

Israel blocked Ukraine from buying Pegasus spyware, fearing Russia’s anger

Revelation of denial offers new insight into the way Israel’s relationship with Moscow has undermined Ukrainian objectives

 

Israel blocked Ukraine from buying NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware for fear that Russian officials would be angered by the sale of the sophisticated hacking tool to a regional foe, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

The revelation, following a joint investigation by the Guardian and Washington Post, offers new insight into the way Israel’s relationship with Russia has at times undermined Ukraine’s offensive capabilities – and contradicted US priorities.

 

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been critical of Israel’s stance since Russia launched its full and bloody invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, saying in a recent address before members of Israel’s Knesset that Israel would have to “give answers” on why it had not given weapons to Ukraine or applied sanctions on Russians.

 

Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/23/israel-ukraine-pegasus-spyware-russia

 

 

Edited March 23, 2022 by millefleur

[Dashinka 24,629]

44 minutes ago, millefleur said:

Israel walks the tight rope between trying to be friends to both Russia and Ukraine at the same time.

Israel blocked Ukraine from buying Pegasus spyware, fearing Russia’s anger

Revelation of denial offers new insight into the way Israel’s relationship with Moscow has undermined Ukrainian objectives

 

Israel blocked Ukraine from buying NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware for fear that Russian officials would be angered by the sale of the sophisticated hacking tool to a regional foe, according to people familiar with the matter.

 

The revelation, following a joint investigation by the Guardian and Washington Post, offers new insight into the way Israel’s relationship with Russia has at times undermined Ukraine’s offensive capabilities – and contradicted US priorities.

 

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been critical of Israel’s stance since Russia launched its full and bloody invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, saying in a recent address before members of Israel’s Knesset that Israel would have to “give answers” on why it had not given weapons to Ukraine or applied sanctions on Russians.

 

Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/23/israel-ukraine-pegasus-spyware-russia

 

 

It seems there are a lot of countries that are walking the tightrope.  As the story opines, this might have something to do with Israel needing Russia's help with the atrocious Iran nuclear deal that Joe is pushing.

[millefleur 5,047]

10 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

It seems there are a lot of countries that are walking the tightrope.  As the story opines, this might have something to do with Israel needing Russia's help with the atrocious Iran nuclear deal that Joe is pushing.

I think it's a bunch of factors. Many Israelis have family in Russia, lots of Russian speakers there, supposedly Russian troops are right on their border in Syria still. Right now the West is pushing Russia closer to Iran, so I can see why Israel is nervous. It's a bit unfair to brush off Israel's behavior as cowardly or sellout, they have a lot to consider here and it's not so easy.

 

Also, when Zelensky the other day tried to make a one-to-one comparison to the Holocaust and what's happening in Ukraine, that angered a lot of Israelis. Especially when he tried to downplay the antisemitic history of Ukraine. Not sure where he was going with that as a Jew himself, I guess maybe just trying to sway Israel to his side but it rather backfired it seems.

[Dashinka 24,629]

34 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I think it's a bunch of factors. Many Israelis have family in Russia, lots of Russian speakers there, supposedly Russian troops are right on their border in Syria still. Right now the West is pushing Russia closer to Iran, so I can see why Israel is nervous. It's a bit unfair to brush off Israel's behavior as cowardly or sellout, they have a lot to consider here and it's not so easy.

 

Also, when Zelensky the other day tried to make a one-to-one comparison to the Holocaust and what's happening in Ukraine, that angered a lot of Israelis. Especially when he tried to downplay the antisemitic history of Ukraine. Not sure where he was going with that as a Jew himself, I guess maybe just trying to sway Israel to his side but it rather backfired it seems.

Zelenskyy is a performer, and all of his speeches were tailored for his audience, channeling Churchill in the UK, referencing Pearl Harbor, and 911 in the US etc.  India is another country tightrope walking due to its concern about China and Russia strengthening ties.  A lot of geopolitics going on.