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What's on your mind?


Apoc

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Russia's motivation seems fairly clear to me. Ukraine, or more specifically Crimea, is a valuable asset to Russia. Certainly whilst the former government was in place Ukraine was a strong ally of Russia. It makes perfect sense they would flex their muscle in order to intimidate the new government so as to continue that relationship. Russia are, for all intents and purposes, planting the idea that failure to co-operate fully will result in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine costing many lives (i.e. the lives of all who are not loyal to Russia).

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Just got some awesome news and am pumped as hell I've been cast an an extra in guillermo del toro's new horror flick crimson peak! I don't have many people to share the news with but that is something currently on my mind Sent from my LG-E971 using Tapatalk
That's amazing! Congrats! Guillermo Del Toro is awesome. I loved Pan's Labyrinth and he is EP on one of my favorite movies ever: El Orfanato.
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Just got some awesome news and am pumped as hell I've been cast an an extra in guillermo del toro's new horror flick crimson peak! I don't have many people to share the news with but that is something currently on my mind Sent from my LG-E971 using Tapatalk
Be sure to post photos or a video of your grisly death when possible! :D
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Not really' date=' there's a remarkable amount of evidence for their intervention in Crimea. Even a decision to occupy eastern border towns wouldn't really be a massive problem since Ukraine's sovereignty is up in the air at the moment given that Crimea voted for independence. No way in hell is the UN going to get involved in any way other than sanctions, and if anything the US is even less enamored of the idea. Maybe the UN could intervene effectively in a small country with a tiny insurgency, flat terrain, friendly countries on the border and a vastly sympathetic population, but using force to dissuade separatism in Ukraine is a bad idea considering Russia's oil resources and the fact that it's got one of the most powerful militaries in the world. The Russian authorities been remarkably prudent in conducting all this.[/quote'] Perhaps but it seems unlikely this would end in Ukraine. Pro-Russian sentiment isn't isolated to Crimea and given Putin's less then stable nature the situation in Eastern Europe could escalate. Putin has after all indicated he feels Europe would be better off if the Eastern Bloc was still united.
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Re: What's on your mind?

Perhaps but it seems unlikely this would end in Ukraine. Pro-Russian sentiment isn't isolated to Crimea and given Putin's less then stable nature the situation in Eastern Europe could escalate. Putin has after all indicated he feels Europe would be better off if the Eastern Bloc was still united.
I have been having a hard time wrapping my head around this whole thing. Can someone please give a cheat sheet version on this? I don't follow international politics enough to fully understand what is going on but interested in learning Sent from my LG-E971 using Tapatalk
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Basically the pro-Russian leader of Ukraine was deposed, the new anti-Russian government passed a law removing Russian as an official language. Pro-Russian sentiment in Crimea (the area around the Crimean Sea) has always been strong and they moved to seperate from Ukraine and join Russia. After successfully passing a referendum Crimea announced it would split from Ukraine and join Russia. Russia then sent a military force to ensure the process went smoothly. That military force has been raiding Ukrainian military bases and arresting anti-Russian demonstrators during the course of their "peacekeeping efforts" which leads me to believe Russia aren't expecting any significant penalties for their hostile actions. If they were I don't see why Russia would be so brazen with regards to their occupying force.

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Russia are' date=' for all intents and purposes, planting the idea that failure to co-operate fully will result in a full-scale invasion of Ukraine costing many lives (i.e. the lives of all who are not loyal to Russia).[/quote'] It is true that Russia seeks Ukraine's subservience, but they can't easily threaten a full-scale invasion unless they have at least a good pretext for doing so, which they do - although it remains to be seen whether or to what extent Russia was involved with the recent political decisions by Crimea. Ukraine depends on Russia for gas so they're already in a less-than optimal bargaining position; I suspect that Russia is merely taking the opportunity to cast itself in a good light by 'stabilizing' the situation with troops. What exactly that stability involves remains to be seen.
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Re: What's on your mind?

It is true that Russia seeks Ukraine's subservience' date=' but they can't easily threaten a full-scale invasion unless they have at least a good pretext for doing so, which they do - although it remains to be seen whether or to what extent Russia was involved with the recent political decisions by Crimea. Ukraine depends on Russia for gas so they're already in a less-than optimal bargaining position; I suspect that Russia is merely taking the opportunity to cast itself in a good light by 'stabilizing' the situation with troops. What exactly that stability involves remains to be seen.[/quote'] Thank you Sent from my LG-E971 using Tapatalk
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Re: What's on your mind?

Basically the pro-Russian leader of Ukraine was deposed, the new anti-Russian government passed a law removing Russian as an official language. Pro-Russian sentiment in Crimea (the area around the Crimean Sea) has always been strong and they moved to seperate from Ukraine and join Russia. After successfully passing a referendum Crimea announced it would split from Ukraine and join Russia. Russia then sent a military force to ensure the process went smoothly. That military force has been raiding Ukrainian military bases and arresting anti-Russian demonstrators during the course of their "peacekeeping efforts" which leads me to believe Russia aren't expecting any significant penalties for their hostile actions. If they were I don't see why Russia would be so brazen with regards to their occupying force.
Thank you Sent from my LG-E971 using Tapatalk
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Given that Russian troops have already raided two Ukraine air bases I think we can assume that "stability" will be similar to what we see in Russia: critics are locked up' date=' intimidated, or made to vanish.[/quote'] If I recall those airbases were in Crimea, which as of now I think is in the process of becoming Russian territory, so I think the sovereignty issues are confounded. The Ukrainian government is plenty corrupt, I doubt that future local oppression would have much to do with Russian control other than that the police and security services may well be funded by Russian tax money and trained by Russian troops. Empires, especially modern ones, don't generally prefer or take a micromanaging hands-on approach unless they're stupid or French.
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Re: What's on your mind? I'm slowly getting caught up with life as I train my three new staff up, its becoming less work on me. I saw The Sword play live a few days ago and it was unbelievably good! I also showed up utterly stoned out of my mind so maybe that contributed, but iconsider it compulsory indulgement for doom metal gigs. They played some of their older thrashier stuff and the pits were insane. Overall ihad an amazing time. Tomorrow I'm off to see Carcass, super excited for that gig. Thursday a metal friend of mine from the interwebs flies in to visit and I'm really excited, we've been buddies for maybe 8 years or so, finally get to meet! And I'm right about to head into dance class. That's about all that's up with me. As for what's in my mind. ..I have the travel bug pretty bad and can't wait to get over to Europe and Scandinavia.

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I'm slowly getting caught up with life as I train my three new staff up, its becoming less work on me. I saw The Sword play live a few days ago and it was unbelievably good! I also showed up utterly stoned out of my mind so maybe that contributed, but iconsider it compulsory indulgement for doom metal gigs. They played some of their older thrashier stuff and the pits were insane. Overall ihad an amazing time. Tomorrow I'm off to see Carcass, super excited for that gig. Thursday a metal friend of mine from the interwebs flies in to visit and I'm really excited, we've been buddies for maybe 8 years or so, finally get to meet! And I'm right about to head into dance class. That's about all that's up with me. As for what's in my mind. ..I have the travel bug pretty bad and can't wait to get over to Europe and Scandinavia.
Aaand that's the news from Lake Wobeghoulz. :D Welcome back!
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Nice to have you back Ghouls if only for a little while Yes Crimea is in the process of becoming a Russian territory but at the time of the raids was still under Ukrainian sovreignship. It wouldn't take much for Russia to install a president in Ukraine who would essentially run the country as if it were part of Russia. Surely such an approach would earn less ire then the exercise of military force?

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Yes Crimea is in the process of becoming a Russian territory but at the time of the raids was still under Ukrainian sovreignship. It wouldn't take much for Russia to install a president in Ukraine who would essentially run the country as if it were part of Russia. Surely such an approach would earn less ire then the exercise of military force?
Yes. What was even more useful was when the public themselves voted for a pro-Russian president in 2010 and 2012, when they voted for Yanukovych and his party.
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I'm slowly getting caught up with life as I train my three new staff up, its becoming less work on me. I saw The Sword play live a few days ago and it was unbelievably good! I also showed up utterly stoned out of my mind so maybe that contributed, but iconsider it compulsory indulgement for doom metal gigs. They played some of their older thrashier stuff and the pits were insane. Overall ihad an amazing time. Tomorrow I'm off to see Carcass, super excited for that gig. Thursday a metal friend of mine from the interwebs flies in to visit and I'm really excited, we've been buddies for maybe 8 years or so, finally get to meet! And I'm right about to head into dance class. That's about all that's up with me. As for what's in my mind. ..I have the travel bug pretty bad and can't wait to get over to Europe and Scandinavia.
Welcome back. Ghouly
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Re: What's on your mind?

I'm slowly getting caught up with life as I train my three new staff up, its becoming less work on me. I saw The Sword play live a few days ago and it was unbelievably good! I also showed up utterly stoned out of my mind so maybe that contributed, but iconsider it compulsory indulgement for doom metal gigs. They played some of their older thrashier stuff and the pits were insane. Overall ihad an amazing time. Tomorrow I'm off to see Carcass, super excited for that gig. Thursday a metal friend of mine from the interwebs flies in to visit and I'm really excited, we've been buddies for maybe 8 years or so, finally get to meet! And I'm right about to head into dance class. That's about all that's up with me. As for what's in my mind. ..I have the travel bug pretty bad and can't wait to get over to Europe and Scandinavia.
I wouldn't call myself a fan of The Sword, but I would love to catch Carcass live. As far as the travel bug goes, Maryland is calling your name... Welcome back in any case, hopefully things will keep improving for you at work, which I'm still waiting for them to do with me. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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Yes. What was even more useful was when the public themselves voted for a pro-Russian president in 2010 and 2012' date=' when they voted for Yanukovych and his party.[/quote'] Unfortunately from a Russian (or Ukranian depending on your perspective) point of view his popularity declined and he is now wanted by Ukranian authorities.
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Re: What's on your mind?

Waking up for work is always the worst part of the day' date=' but a nice shower feels great.[/quote'] I have nearly fallen out of my scalding hot showers multiple times in the last two weeks, I've been so tired that even the heat can't keep me awake and I catch myself before falling. I really need to catch up on sleep. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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