The Brink of War?

[alvnv]

Pathetic

[dab69]

========130000 Russian troops surround Ukraine's borders=====

This is fiction. Game of US. US trying to push war, because they want to stop North Stream - 2 gas pipeline, but Germany doesn't agree. If war will starts then Germany will have to abort North Stream and US will be able to sell gas to Europe. With working North Stream US has no chances: Russian prices are unbeatable.

But fact is: "Russian troops" are based in camp near Yelnya - small town in Smolensk district, that is near Belorussian border. Just read news carefully and you will see that town name, newspapers say Yelnya is located near Ukrainian border, but by fact Yelnya is 100 km from Belorussian border and distance to closest point on Ukrainian border is 248 km. By the way: distance from Yelnya to closest point of Moscow is 249 km. So "near Ukrainian border" is just propaganda: with the same proximity to truth they can write "Russian troops are near Moscow" - 248 vs 249 km

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...aine-maps.html

Pictures from Google map, you may check my measurements yourself:

Attachment 12214

Attachment 12215

Moses sure knows his shit...

[Dragonman]

McDonalds in Moscow will be reopened at June 12 by its franchise company.

Law that ends trademark protection for companies and brands who leaving Russia works - companies changes decision to leave, or distributors of that brands from another countries come and restore presence of brand on Russian market.

Again, half-truths.

McDonald's earlier had announced it would sell its Russian business to a local buyer and "de-arch" all its restaurants in the country, meaning that the company's name, branding, menu, and logo could not be used. McDonald's had about 850 locations in Russia, of which only about 100 were locally owned and which had refused to close. Complicated legal agreements made it hard for the company to enforce closures at such franchise stores.

On May 19, however, McDonald's announced that it had struck a deal to sell its Russian business to Alexander Govor, its current licensee in the market. Govor will acquire all of McDonald’s locations in Russia and will operate them under a new brand. He also agreed to retain employees for at least two years, on equivalent terms, and fund the salaries of corporate employees who work in 45 regions of the country until the deal closes and existing liabilities to suppliers, landlords and utilities.

Gorov will rebrand the restaurants under a new name (https://www.businessinsider.com/meet...-of-the-deal-3).

Note that the restaurants will be re-branded and operated by Govor's organization.

Therefore, logically, the statement "McDonald's in Moscow will be reopened at June 12 by its franchise company" is false.

Changes in Russian legislation, particularly the "Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 06.03.2022 No. 299 "On Amendments to Clause 2 of the Methodology for Determining the Amount of Compensation Paid to a Patent Owner When Deciding to Use an Invention, Utility Model or Industrial Design without His Consent, and the Procedure for Its Payment," allow local companies and individuals to use inventions, utility models and industrial designs held by owners from “unfriendly countries” without their consent and without paying any compensation.

This is government-sanctioned theft - and a two-edged sword. Foreign governments under pressure from their own industrialists could introduce legislation specifically voiding Russian intellectual property rights and patents on significant Russian inventions if there is international consensus that this Russian decree signifies that Russia has backtracked on its 2017 acceptance of the TRIPS Agreement, to date the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property.

The long-term effect of this law will probably be an example of The Law of Unintended Consequences" (the phenomenon in which any action has results that are not part of the actor's purpose), such as increasing the probability that firms from the 48 countries on Russia's unfriendly list will probably not consider future investment in, or cooperation with, any Russian organization in future. Academics cooperating with Russian counterparts in work that could lead to the registration of patents and intellectual property rights will reconsider such cooperation. The longer-term effects for the Russian economy are likely to be bleak, whatever the outcome of the "special military operation."

Incidentally, Putin's vocabulary is an interesting insight into his personality, particularly his penchant for avoiding the use of the word "war" in relation to the Russian Federation's invasion of other countries. For example, the use of "special military operation" for the invasion of Ukraine, and "peace enforcement operation" for the 2008 invasion of Georgia. This is doublespeak, a public speaking skill that employs methods and language that are intended to be euphemistic, obscure, and ambiguous. It is essentially being verbally evasive. In the USA, under Trump, doublespeak statements were "alternative facts." Its use lets leaders avoid the reputational costs of lying, such as under GW Bush "torture" was "enhanced interrogation." He's lying - and he knows he's lying.

[Dragonman]

========130000 Russian troops surround Ukraine's borders=====

This is fiction....... Just read news carefully and you will see that town name......

Moses sure knows his shit...

An internet search using the term "130000 Russian troops surround Ukraine's borders" turns up no reports with that exact wording, i.e., "surround Ukraine's borders." There are reports with similar headings, some of which mention Yelnya - I did "read news carefully and you will see that town name,..." but I also noticed they all also include mention of other gathering sites.

Four examples:

1. A 23rd February BBC report "Ukraine conflict: Where are Russia's troops?" (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60158694) stated, "Military units heading into Ukraine will be drawn from up to 190,000 personnel gathered close to Ukraine's borders in recent months). The body of the report stated, "On Friday, the US government said Russia had between 169,000 and 190,000 personnel in and around Ukraine. A statement by the US ambassador to the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Michael Carpenter said: "This estimate includes military troops along the border, in Belarus, and in occupied Crimea; Russian National Guard and other internal security units deployed to these areas; and Russian-led forces in eastern Ukraine." That is, the troops are "gathered close to Ukraine's borders."

2. A CNN report on February 15th said "Russia has surrounded Ukraine on three sides. Here's where an invasion could be launched" (https://edition.cnn.com/2022/02/12/e...ntl/index.html), stating "Russia has amassed more than 130,000 troops near Ukraine's border in recent weeks, according to US estimates, raising fears from Western and Ukrainian intelligence officials that an invasion could be imminent." Yelnya was only one of the sites mentioned for troop concentrations. That is, the troops are "near Ukraine's borders."

3. An Al Arabiya report (https://english.alarabiya.net/News/w...utside-Ukraine) stated "The Russians have deployed missile, air, naval and special operations forces, as well as supplies to sustain an invasion. This week, Russia moved six amphibious assault ships into the Black Sea, augmenting its capability to land on the coast." That is, the troops are "now staged outside" Ukraine's borders. Al Arabiya refers to the build-up of forces in Yelsk (rather than in Yelnya), i.e., a town in the Gomel Region of Belarus just across the border with Ukraine.

4. On January 22, 2022, The Atlantic Council report "Russian Hybrid Threats Report: Troops arrive in Belarus as propaganda narratives heat up" (https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blog...tives-heat-up/) had stated that "More recently, the DFRLab observed equipment from the 36th Motor-Rifle Brigade in Transbaikal and the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade in Vladivostok arriving in Brest, the 37th Motor-Rifle Brigade in Buryatiya arriving in Rechitsa near Gomel, and the 38th Motor-Rifle Brigade arriving in Yelsk near Mazyr. Equipment from an undetermined unit has also been observed arriving in Gomel city." The Brest and Gomel regions (the latter containing Rechitsa, Mazyr and Yelsk) are on the Ukrainian border, with the Gomel region being north of Kyiv.

Not so much fiction as alternative truth as it directs attention to one area of build-up and redirects it away from other reports.

[Dragonman]

Irony: a literary technique, originally used in Greek tragedy, by which the full significance of a character's words or actions is clear to the audience or reader although unknown to the character.

Best quote on the Ukrainian "special military operation" so far by Putin: "Stealing other people's assets has never brought any good to anyone." At the 3.27 minute mark in the May 27 report "Putin says 'Thanks God' European companies are leaving Russia," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2ZBw5y8Fqo, during a video conference at the EAEU Economic Forum.

[Moses]

A German enters a bar and orders a beer.
The bartender tells him:
- 100 euro!
German in shock
— Why 100 euros? yesterday was 10 euros!
— Well, today it is 100 euros.
— Why 100, damn it?
— I explain: 10 euros is a beer. 10 to help Ukraine. 20 — assistance to European countries that have imposed sanctions and are not members of the EU. 10 euros to help the UK, for the successful implementation of sanctions against Russia. Another 10 euros to the Balkan countries as assistance for the purchase of furnace coal. And finally 40 euros for a gas subsidy for the EU and a fund to help maintain sanctions!
The German silently took out the money and gave the bartender 100 euros. The bartender took them, put them in the cash register and gave him 10 euros back.
The German is confused
— Wait, you said 100, I gave you 100! Why are you giving me back 10 euros?
— Ahh ... the beer is over...

[Dragonman]

A German enters a bar and orders a beer.
The bartender tells him:
- 100 euro!
German in shock
— Why 100 euros? yesterday was 10 euros!
— Well, today it is 100 euros.
— Why 100, damn it?
— I explain: 10 euros is a beer. 10 to help Ukraine. 20 — assistance to European countries that have imposed sanctions and are not members of the EU. 10 euros to help the UK, for the successful implementation of sanctions against Russia. Another 10 euros to the Balkan countries as assistance for the purchase of furnace coal. And finally 40 euros for a gas subsidy for the EU and a fund to help maintain sanctions!
The German silently took out the money and gave the bartender 100 euros. The bartender took them, put them in the cash register and gave him 10 euros back.
The German is confused
— Wait, you said 100, I gave you 100! Why are you giving me back 10 euros?
— Ahh ... the beer is over...

Vladimir Putin walks into a meeting with all his remaining generals and demands, “How is my special military operation against Ukraine and NATO Nazis going?"

The generals all look at each other very nervously.

"Well...." demands Putin again, "Tell me now!!"

The most senior general stands and says, "Well we have been fighting for 95 days. We have lost over 28,700 brave soldiers, 12 generals, more than 650 tanks and about 3,000 other armored vehicles, 5 ships, 200 planes and drones, and 2000 trucks so far."

"And what of NATO’s losses?" Putin asks

"Well..." the general scratches his head nervously. "Well... they haven't turned up yet"

[Moses]

A record volume of Russian oil is on board tankers, with unprecedented amounts heading to India and China as other nations restrict imports because of the war in Ukraine.

Between 74 million and 79 million barrels from the OPEC+ producer were in transit and floating storage over the past week, more than double the 27 million barrels just before the February invasion of Ukraine, according to Kpler. Asia overtook Europe as the largest buyer for the first time last month, and that gap is set to widen in May, according to the data and analytics company.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-shift-to-asia

[Moses]

Oh, yeah.

WSJ: "Russia's blockade of Ukraine ports is further complicating dire baby formula shortages in the US". It explains all. Who else should be blamed?

Putin is behind of all US's troubles. In every unpleasant situation you should blame Putin. How else democrats may explain their f*ckups?


Year 2025. Democrats greet tsar Putin in the Capitol.

photo_2020-06-22_09-13-46.jpg

[Moses]

Zelensky starts to cut "most high trees" around him, even in anti-Russian opposition parties.

Yesterday: (Reuters) - Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was prevented from leaving Ukraine to take part in a meeting of a NATO body in Lithuania, his party's parliamentary faction said on Saturday.

Poroshenko was stopped twice at a border crossing with Poland while he was on his way to the meeting of NATO's Parliamentary Assembly, a consultative interparliamentary organisation, the statement said.