10 Likes
Who cares what Naill Ferguson says? He campaigned against Brexit but when his side lost he came out and said that he was actually pro-Brexit but he lied because Cameron was his good friend (which should really make you doubt his decision making in the first place).
He’s a liar for hire, That man should never be quoted as if he is in good faith.
27 Likes
21 Likes
There are some Russians whose stuff I read on Twitter and they started out being upset about the invasion of Ukraine and now blame Putin for “destroying” both Ukraine and Russia and describe the current situation as a living nightmare. Of course they aren’t buying into the propaganda, but there are those who do - and believe it apparently even over their own family members in Ukraine telling them about bombings. Makes me wonder how many Russians are in each group…
11 Likes
Niall of the 900 lies.
7 Likes
You could legitimately agree or disagree with his historiography when it came to his earlier academic work. Once he sold out fully to media fame and gave into pundit brain it was as you describe, though.
I’ll enter the pool with my usual bet on 73% who don’t buy Putin’s propaganda and 27% who do. Strangely, it’s probably the same bet for the U.S. right now.
6 Likes
Probably true, even though I suspect a lot of the US supporters don’t even know what the propaganda is - they’re just reflexively supporting him as a right-wing authoritarian.
6 Likes
Yeah, I had friends (historians) who disagree wiith his interpretation of what part monetary policy played in (currency crises and famines in the Soviet Union?) but nothing major. When he flat out tells you he is lying for his friends, or when he does a homophobia when he thinks the cameras aren’t on him and says he would never and then keeps on doing it…
Nice!
5 Likes
7 Likes
Putin is rapidly becoming a cornered animal. He needs a face-saving option to extract his sorry ass from the disaster hes created. without such an option he could go nuclear and is easily soulless enough to do so. He fell into the trap of believing his own glory. His shirtless horse-riding stunt days are over. He;s fallen face first into his own bullshit and people are beginning notice. I don’t know what the face save might look like but a cornered animal needs an out or has to be put down. Hopefully his own team will do the right thing and lose him.
8 Likes
Almost made me do a spit take with a granola bar. That was fun.
1 Like
[Crossposting]
In addition to ordering citizens and companies to exchange 80% of their revenue in foreign currencies for rubles…
7 Likes
“For the average Russian, it’s enough to make them wonder just what the fuck their leaders are doing.”
Yeah, nut that’s been a way of life in Russia for centuries. Czar, Commissar or “President”, only the title has changed.
4 Likes
Completely off-topic:
I never noticed until now that the Star Trek character of Checkov was named using the method [in the 1960s], “Quick! Think of a Russian who isn’t a bad guy!”
10 Likes
They had a lot of choices. Lots of famous Russians who weren’t bad guys. But I agree that using the playwright’s name was an excellent choice.
6 Likes
Easier to pronounce than other Russian literary figures, too.
4 Likes
If nothing else, Putin wants to maintain his wealth and health. On the former, I hope Anonymous’ crack-hackers can locate his riches and hurt him there. As far as the latter… angered oligarchs and citizenry could help there.
11 Likes
I have a feeling the thing most likely to trigger the generals (apart from, as you say, things going bad enough in the war) would be an order from Putin to plop even one nuclear warhead in a remote unpopulated area, and that as a signal of his resolve. He’s fighting for his life now and – like Trump – numero uno always come first.
5 Likes
19 Likes
At least one yacht was moving vertically.
16 Likes
