Blurred in case it also hints at a spoiler (and as a gentle warning - I suppose some gentle souls might find upset here).
Ah - a Soylent Meat situation. The Russian troops would be pleased to see horsemeat, I’m sure. But that plot device makes me wonder … Lord knows what Wagner would feed them.
More to the point here (I sincerely hope) is that a horse that gets shot in that episode is dragged back to the community to be butchered.
In fact, there was a horse shot in that episode, and as far as I can tell, it was NOT brought back to be eaten.
I sincerely hope that the desperate hunger of Russian troops would be satisfied with things like horse and dog meat, but I won’t assume.
I seem to recall the head honcho telling two of his minions to drag the horse back, but maybe I misheard.
Ah, well, at least that would be something.
But, they never made it back.
When a repressive state’s demand for ideological uniformity meets the human capacity for free thought, the result is terror but also absurdity. As the gap between official versions of the truth and reality widens, the central power insists on ever more grotesque levels of acquiescence. Passive obedience is no longer sufficient. Citizens must abase themselves with displays of loyalty.
Rafael Behr channelling George Orwell, to pointed effect, I think.
The war in Ukraine is driven by the interests of several “empires” and not just the “Russian empire”, Pope Francis said in an interview published on Friday.
Francis said the conflict was fuelled by “imperial interests, not just of the Russian empire, but of empires from elsewhere”.
The pontiff was speaking to the Italian Swiss television channel RSI, in an interview due to be broadcast on Sunday.
It is unclear what exactly Pope Francis meant by his comments.
How is this unclear?
Omnes aeque nocentes.
Francis should consider that Pius XXII is not the best Pope to emulate.
The Russian regime is good at controlling demonstrations and political opposition. It is not good at controlling what circulates on the Internet, nor at controlling images in general in this war. “Loyal” and connected protest can be difficult to manage.
Who would have thunk that Kyiv would be the hottest tourist attraction of the 2020s?
Putin channelling Stalin. Much of the article that @GagHalfrunt linked to could have been written in the 1930s, just with a few name changes.
Helena Smith
Here’s a dispatch from Helena Smith in the Greek capital Athens, as Cyprus’ new president has been criticising the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Over in Cyprus newly installed president Nicos Christodoulides has gone out of his way to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine barely ten days after assuming power.
In his first interview with a foreign TV channel, Christodoulides told Greece’s state broadcaster, ERT, that opposing Moscow’s self-styled “special military operation” put the island on the “right side of history.”
“As a country that has suffered something similar we could not have a different stance,” he said, referring to the 1974 Turkish invasion, which saw the northern third of the island being seized by troops sent in by Ankara.
The invasion was ordered after Greek right-wingers staged a coup aimed at uniting the Mediterranean country with Greece – a move that prompted Ankara to invade in the name of protecting the island’s Turkish Cypriot community. Talks aimed at reuniting the island have floundered ever since.
Prior to the invasion Greek Cypriots enjoyed strong ties with Russia, so much so that the island had earned the moniker of “Moscow on the Med.” Limassol, the republic’s second largest city, has long been home to a flourishing Russian community including companies closely connected to allies of Putin.
The extent of the ties are such – economically, politically and culturally – that the new president’s predecessor**, Nicos Anastasiades**, hesitated condemning the invasion last February.
Cyprus’ about –turn as an EU member state has incensed Russia, as has that of Athens. It is not a Nato member. As a member of the alliance, Greece has not only criticised the invasion but allowed US bases on its soil to be used to deliver weapons, including tanks, to Ukraine.
Hours before the ERT interview was aired, Moscow’s ambassador to Cyprus, Murat Zyazikov, a former KGB operative and close Putin ally, told Russia’s state-run news agency he believed relations between the two nations were still strong despite “temporary political adventures.”
In a noticeable change of tone that may speak to Moscow’s increasing sense of isolation, Zyazikov said: “I’d like to stress that the people of Cyprus were, are, and will always remain friendly with us. These are not just words … The friendship between our two peoples is based on mutual feelings of affinity between common people, on the close historic, spiritual and cultural relations between our two countries over centuries. I don’t think that any temporary political adventures can hurt this friendship.”
Divers used chartered yacht to sabotage Nord Stream pipelines – report
Wait just a second! I was assured by a Very Serious Journalist, that it was US that did it.
