There are no words… (only bullets?)
even at the risk of this comment getting moderated into oblivion.
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“Horrific” doesn’t begin to describe it. It’s a declared programme of ethnic genocide, with the “deNazification” excuse being the most grotesque example of projection most of us have ever seen.
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The last drops of Russia’s soft power has evaporated away.
Great job there Vladdy.
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The company is leaving, but the game is staying under operation from a separate company. A shame, because pulling the game would have stung ordinary Russians (who bloody love it) particularly hard.
In any case, another example of how educated creatives and techies see no future for themselves under Putin or his lickspittle Lukashenko.
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And a not insignificant amount of Unbeatable Russian Tanks™ horse shit circles around it.
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Read a translation. I have the impression that much of it is informed by someone who has a very twisted perspective about what happened in Germany after The Second World War. Especially in the part which became the GDR.
FTFY:
That is, when the hypothesis “the people are good - the government is bad” does not work. Recognition of this fact is the basis of the policy
of denazificationtowards Russia, of all its measures, and the fact itself is its subject matter.
(Disclaimer: I quote this explicitly out of context. Of course, I am NOT advocating any of the positions brought forth in this piece towards Russia. Which are a perversion of fascism as de-nazification.)
This is something which increasingly is mentioned in discussions I am aware of: we cannot ignore that the Russian government is gathering support, not losing it, in the Russian public. A newspaper recently compared this to the American public after 9/11, gathering behind the Bush administration.
Just FTR, again, this piece calls for a breakup of Ukraine in a western (“catholic”) and an eastern, Russian part. This would mean controlling the gas, oil, and coal fields. (I am not sure about uranium - geologists here?)
Add that they name all of the Black Sea harbours as Russian. This is what Russia still is be aiming at. This isn’t a war against something: this is colonialism by force alone. And this piece masterfully anticipated that and has the gall to paint Russia as inherently anti-colonial, which will be heard southwards of the US, southwards and south-eastwards of the EU.
Colour me not surprised.
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Everything about the massacres speaks of desperation and failure, and that Russia isn’t learning from the past, in particular how the brutality of the German invasion of the USSR only intensified resistance.
This has made it so peace talks will be more difficult, and it eggs on NATO to supply Ukraine with more aid. Maybe Putin’s insane enough that that’s what he really wants.
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Fascinating economics article/interview with the highly respected Jim O’Neill, describes several wider facets of Russian background that are pertinent today. Very much worth a read.
an entire country cannot rely on oil and gas prices rising forever if the economy as a whole is going to grow and be healthy. In the case of Russia, it’s the scale of corruption and the terrible demographics – in particular, the low life expectancy among men. Productivity was and still is a huge issue. On this basis, one might be able to manage 2 percent growth for a few years. But for a stable, long-term development with significantly more growth, profound reforms and reliable and viable institutions are necessary.
Viable institutions under Putin? 'Ee’s ‘avin’ a larf, ain’t he!
Was nobody interested in your criticism in Russia?
O’Neill: It was completely unwanted. Most of my contacts, technocrats from the Central Bank or the Finance Ministry, seemed to feel they were on a safe path with Putin. I was often struck by how widely-held the belief was regarding his excellence as a strategist.
and
It was clear that his huge popularity was bound to decline as soon as the oil price fell, which happened from 2014 onwards.
DER SPIEGEL: And what did the great strategist do then?
O’Neill: He had to change tack when he realized that he couldn’t achieve the growth that had taken place pre-crisis. Nor could he really reform, because much of his personal financial benefit and that of some of the people close to him depended on the status quo. So he began propagating the goal, so to speak, of: “Make Russia Great Again!” Instead of growth, Russians were now getting nationalism. From what we can see, Putin has brought himself economic bankruptcy along with it.
It goes on - recommended read.
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(Attributed without proof to Marx, Lenin and Stalin.)
Capitalists: And how are you going to buy that rope without participating in our market and monetary systems? Ha ha!
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“Unfortunately”, their assets are stashed in western real estate—not banana stands.
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This is almost a month old now, but early in the war a Russian firebombed his local recruitment office, deliberately focusing on the area that held info on conscripts so that hopefully they wouldn’t get called up.
He also painted the door in Ukrainian colors and wrote “I will not go kill my bothers.”
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