The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by Meds »

Per wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 4:45 pm Finland’s president and PM both announced today that they favour Nato membership for Finland. The formal decision will probably be taken next week.

Meanwhile, a Swedish parliamentary committe will announce its findings on the Nato membership question tomorrow. The Social Democrats, who are governing, will have a leadership meeting on Sunday, in which they are expected to abandon their long standing neutrality stance, and on Monday we will have a parliamentary debate on whether to join Nato or not. If the Social democrats switch foot, as expected, all major parties will be in favour of membership. If so, Sweden and Finland will probably nointly apply for membership. It makes sense as we have very close military cooperation, and it could be hampered if one country joins and the other doesn’t.

Putin is very upset, he considers Finland’s announcement a hostile move and says it requires a proportional response. He has made similar threats toward Sweden. But he needs to look himself in the mirror.

Before Russia’s unprovoked illegal attack on their neighbour Ukraine, only 20% of the population in either of Finland and Sweden favoured Nato membership. A vast majority preferred neutrality. It is Russia’s aggression that has forced us to reevaluate this stance. If he didn’t want us to join Nato he should just have respected the sovereignty of his neighbours. As one pro-Nato politician said to the leader of the Left Party, the only party not in favour of joining: ”there’s a madman standing at the entrance of the house with a can of petrol and a lighter, and you question whether we need home insurance”.
LMAO! Elect that man as your next leader. :lol:
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

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Mëds wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 7:15 am
Per wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 4:45 pmAs one pro-Nato politician said to the leader of the Left Party, the only party not in favour of joining: ”there’s a madman standing at the entrance of the house with a can of petrol and a lighter, and you question whether we need home insurance”.
LMAO! Elect that man as your next leader. :lol:
Yeah…. I’m afraid I have to inform you he is the leader of our liberal party… :oops:

And he won’t be Sweden’s next PM. In fact they most likely won’t make the 4% threshold to parliament in the upcoming September elections. They’ve messed up bad. In the post ww2 era the liberals have typically aligned themselves with the conservatives. But as the far right Sweden Democrats have gained traction, a non-socialist government would need their seats to get a majority. Now as I’ve stated before, liberals can be anywhere on the economy related left-right scale, that is better suited to describe socialists and conservatives. Liberals belong on a freedom scale where they are the opposite of fascism, and while the Sweden Democrats have tried their best to make people ignore their neonazi roots, there is still a strong odour of fascism surrounding them. Thus following the last elections the liberal party crossed the aisle and supported a social democratic PM rather than a conservative one that would be dependent on the Sweden democrats for a majority.

Now,this pissed of the right wing liberals, who started abandoning the party. In a desperate move to gain them back, the party elected a new leader (who has since quit), who promised to honour the agreement for the time being, but supporting the conservstive candidate in the next election, even if that would mean backing a government dependent on the Sweden democrat MPs. This, in turn, pissed off all the left leaning liberals, who started abandoning the party, while the right wing liberal voters had already switched over to the conservatives and were not that easily swayed to come back. At present the party is hovering around 2.5% of the vote, and unless you reach 4% you won’t get a single seat in parliament. Or, well, technically you can if you have more than 12% in a specific district, but that has only happened once, for the Christian Democrats.

At present I actually think what would be best for Sweden in these troubling times is for the social democrats and conservatives to form a government of national unity, like we had during ww2, governing from the middle and leaving the extremists on both sides, left and right, outside looking in. Both Finland and Germany frequently have government coalitions between conservatives and social democrats, but for some reason it seems unthinkable in Sweden. Maybe the war in Ukraine can change that?
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by Per »

Great win for Ukraine last night, they won the Eurovision Song Contest. Not sure it was entirely based on musical merit, they were in like 4th place after the jury votes, but when they added the public votes they won by a landslide. Zelensky has promised they will do everything they can to try to host the competition in Mariupol next year. Otherwise I think Crimea would be nice too. :look:

https://youtu.be/Z8Z51no1TD0


But they’re doing well on the battlefield as well. The Russians parked a whole battalion near a river while constructing a pontoon bridge to cross it, the Ukies found out and blew them all to kingdom come.


https://youtu.be/pI3aYCK_rfE
Last edited by Per on Sun May 15, 2022 6:29 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

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A great joint statement by the foreign secretaries/ministers of the G7:
We, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, are steadfast in our solidarity with and our support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s unjustifiable, unprovoked and illegal war of aggression, a war in which Belarus is complicit. We are committed to helping Ukraine, a democracy and a UN member, uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity, to defend itself and resist future attacks or coercion, choose its own future and prosper.

In the presence of the Foreign Ministers of Ukraine and Moldova, we underscore Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and right for self-defence under the UN Charter. This war of aggression has reaffirmed our determination to reject outright attempts to redraw borders by force in violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

We are providing significant humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and its neighbours to meet urgent protection and other lifesaving needs. We continue to make substantial financial and economic support available to Ukraine to strengthen the resilience of its economy. We reaffirm our commitment to support Ukraine, including in the reconstruction of the country, and call on all partners to join our efforts to ensure support for Ukraine in meeting its immediate humanitarian and financial needs and for Ukraine to rebuild its future. We will pursue our ongoing military and defense assistance to Ukraine as long as necessary.

We reiterate our demand that Russia put an end to the war it started unprovoked and to end the tragic suffering and loss of life it continues to cause. We also continue to call on Belarus to stop enabling Russia’s aggression and to abide by its international obligations. We urge full compliance with international humanitarian law, allowing and facilitating rapid, safe and unimpeded humanitarian access as well as the humanitarian evacuation of civilians safeguarding evacuees’ freedom to choose their destination. We call on Russia to immediately comply with the legally binding order of the International Court of Justice of 16 March 2022 and to abide by the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and stop its military aggression – to cease fire, and immediately and unconditionally withdraw its troops from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.

Russia has violated the UN Charter, undermined the fundamental principles of the European security architecture as enshrined in the Helsinki Final Act and the Charter of Paris and will have to face consequences for its actions. We reject any notion of spheres of influence and any use of force that is not in compliance with international law. We will never recognize borders Russia has attempted to change by military aggression, and will uphold our engagement in the support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea, and all states. We condemn as irresponsible threats of use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons or related materials by Russia and reiterate that any use of such weapons would be met with severe consequences.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine as well as its unilateral actions restraining Ukrainian agricultural exports, are leading to steep price rises in commodity markets and the threats we are now seeing to global food security. As global markets suffer from Russia’s war of choice by rising food and commodity prices, thus affecting the lives of people around the world and exacerbating existing humanitarian and protection needs, we are determined to contribute additional resources to and support all relevant efforts that aim to ensure availability and accessibility of food, energy and financial resources as well as basic commodities for all. We call on Russia to cease immediately its attacks on key transport infrastructure in Ukraine, including ports, so that they can be used for exporting Ukrainian agricultural products. We will address the causes and consequences of the global food crisis through a Global Alliance for Food Security, that is to be launched officially at the G7 Development Ministers meeting, and other efforts in close cooperation with international partners and organisations beyond the G7. We will closely cooperate with international parters and organisations beyond the G7, and, with the aim of transforming political commitments into concrete actions as planned by various international initiatives such as the Food and Agricultural Resilience Mission (FARM) and key regional outreach initiatives, including towards African and Mediterranean countries.

We underscore that our sanctions and export controls against Russia do not and will not target essential exports of food and agricultural inputs to developing countries and to this end include measures to avoid any negative consequences for the production and distribution of food. We reaffirm our commitment to protect the most vulnerable countries and people suffering from Russia’s war against Ukraine and its global repercussions.

We condemn and will systematically expose Russia's policy of information manipulation and interference, including disinformation which it employs to justify and support its war of aggression against Ukraine and which deliberately aims at manipulating public opinions domestically and worldwide with a view to covering its responsibilities in the ongoing war. We will continue to work together to address this manipulative behavior, in particular within the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism, and promote the exercise of freedom of opinion and expression and access to reliable information from free, pluralistic and independent media, notably on the war and its consequences for the world.

We stand united against Russia’s violation of the UN Charter and other fundamental principles of international law. We condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing attacks killing and wounding civilians and non-combatants, the systematic targeting of critical infrastructure and the extensive harm to healthcare personnel and facilities, as well as conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence in Ukraine. We will continue to support the ongoing investigations into violations of international law, including violations of international humanitarian law, and human rights violations and potential war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine. We support investigations by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, the Prosecutor-General of Ukraine, and other national prosecutors who are able to establish jurisdiction under national law. Further, we fully support the Commission of Inquiry mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and efforts of civil society organizations to investigate violations and document potential war crimes. We commit to providing investigative support, technical expertise, funding and other assistance to work towards ensuring the accountability of those who are responsible for the atrocities and crimes committed.

A number of countries have shown solidarity and provided safe haven for those who have fled from Russia’s war of aggression. We particularly commend Moldova’s remarkable efforts in hosting so many refugees, both in relative and absolute terms. Through the Moldova Support Platform launched in Berlin on 5 April and other formats, we will support Moldova to meet short-term needs and its longer-term development and reform programme. We express our concern regarding the recent attempts to destabilise the Transnistrian region and emphasize our support to Moldova’s stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

We reaffirm our determination to further increase economic and political pressure on Russia, continuing to act in unity. We will do so, as underlined by G7 Leaders on 8 May, by imposing coordinated further restrictive measures on Russia‘s economy and financial system; by further targeting Russian elites including economic actors, the central government institutions and the military, that enable President Putin to lead his war of choice; and by isolating Russia from our economies, the international financial system, and within global institutions. We will broaden our sanctions measures to include sectors on which Russia has a particular dependence.

We commend partners that have aligned with us, and encourage others to adopt measures to increase the cost of the war for Russia by isolating it, and Belarus for its support, from the global economy, and to prevent sanctions evasion, circumvention and backfilling. We will listen to and work with partners around the world through increased outreach to mitigate any impacts to their own economies caused by Putin’s war, and pledge our support in mitigating the costs.

We will expedite our efforts to reduce and end reliance on Russian energy supplies as quickly as possible, building on G7 commitments to phase out or ban imports of Russian coal and oil. We will accelerate the energy transition and enhance energy efficiency in the context of the accelerated phasing out of our dependency on Russian energy, in accordance with our climate objectives and energy security imperatives, thereby steadily reducing foreign currency flows into Russia and restricting the financial means available to fund Russia’s war machinery. We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies.

We deplore the domestic repressions in Russia and Belarus against independent media, civil society, the opposition and citizens who peacefully express their disapproval of Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Russians and Belarusians deserve better: They should be able to make full use of fundamental human rights, most basically the right to decide their own fate and the fate of their countries. We, the G7, are not at war with Russia or the Russian people. The Russian decision to attack Ukraine was taken by leaders who reject democratic responsibility. We lend our support to those who have fallen victim to repression. We reaffirm the right of Russians and Belarusians to seek, receive and impart fact-based information from free, pluralistic and independent media and condemn the Russian government’s and Belarusian regime’s recourse to censorship and other methods of hampering Russians’ and Belarusians’ access to independent media, including through restrictions on access to the internet and social media platforms.

We condemn actions perpetrated by Russia, which compromise the safety and security of nuclear material and facilities in Ukraine and consequently pose serious risks to human life and the environment. We underline our full support for the efforts of the IAEA and its Director-General to ensure the nuclear safety and security of, and the application of safeguards to, nuclear material and facilities in Ukraine. We call on Russia to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine’s nuclear facilities and to return full control to legitimate Ukrainian authorities. We reiterate that the IAEA must be able to access all nuclear facilities in Ukraine safely and without any impediments.
https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/news ... ne/2531268

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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by Cousin Strawberry »

Like they give 2 fucks.

Putin obviously wanted a return to the Soviet era style isolation of his people. Much easier to control and manipulate
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by Per »

Oddly, after threatening with nukes and whatnot if we even gleaned at Nato, Putin is now saying that Sweden and Finland joining is "not a problem".

Of course, Colbert is comparing it to when you call your mother to tell you are not coming home for xmas, but going on a trip with your new girlfriend instead and she says. " OK, no problem." :lol:

Meanwhile, new members need to be approved by all Nato members, and now Erdogan is threatening to block Sweden and Finland from becoming members. The conspiracy minded could think he may have a side deal with Putin, which could explain his sudden calmness, but most likely it is just an attempt of pork barrelling. Trying to get some favours. Both Sweden and Finland have some sanctions in place against Turkey, like eg not selling weapons to them, and Erdogan is accusing us of harbouring and supporting terrorists. Of course, in Erdogan's world a terrorist is anyone not supporting him, as well as anyone Kurdish.
Just like the rest of the EU, Sweden has declared the PKK a terrorist organisation, but we have been supportive of the Kurdish YPG in Syria, which forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Front, and was an essential player when it came to defeating Isis there.

Anyway, most people believe this is just an attempt by Erdogan to pressure the US into selling them some of the weapon systems they haven't been granted access to so far. It will most likely be worked out pretty soon. Everyone else is anxious to get Sweden and Finland aboard, as we will be net providers, increasing the security of the Baltic states while not being likely targets for Russian attacks to begin with, so since membership requires unanimous approval by current members Erdogan saw his chance to demand some concessions from everyone else.
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by Per »

A lot of brave people, but you can notice many ate not comfortable answering these questions.


https://youtu.be/kCrDgJdhKMA

The guy saying it was better in the 90’s gives me hope. Under Yeltsin the Russians did catch a glimpse of what democracy is. Sure, there was a lot of corruption even then, but there was freedom of speech and free and (relatively) fair elections with multiple parties competing on an almost level playing field. Sadly it all ended when Putin came to power.

But at 69 he is already older than the average life expectancy for Russian men… he won’t rule forever.
The question is who will replace him. There is no heir apparant, and he has had every opposition leader murdered (eg Nemtsov) or jailed (eg Navalny) so there will be a power vacuum. I think most likely the military will try to take over. But we’ll see. At least it cannot get any worse than the current cleptocracy.
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by Strangelove »

Happy Birthday Per! :rockin:
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by donlever »

Strangelove wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 6:57 pm Happy Birthday Per! :rockin:
So...

...you're taking over for rats while he's "busy"

...it is indeed Pers birthday

...this is the thread you wish him well in for shits and giggles

....that about it?
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by Strangelove »

donlever wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 12:04 pm
Strangelove wrote: Sat Jun 04, 2022 6:57 pm Happy Birthday Per! :rockin:
So...

...you're taking over for rats while he's "busy"

...it is indeed Pers birthday

...this is the thread you wish him well in for shits and giggles

....that about it?
I'm new at this, man I hope Ratski gets himself unbusy soon.

I guess I figured Per lives in this thread

... so yeah, just wanted to make sure he received the well-wishes!

PER BUDDY!!! :thumbs:
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by donlever »

Ok then....so now I'm up to the minute here.

Happy belated Per.

Cheers....
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by BCExpat »

donlever wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 12:58 pm Ok then....so now I'm up to the minute here.

Happy belated Per.

Cheers....
Happy belated birthday Per.
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Re: The Absurd and Whimsical Humour of Vladimir "Dobby" Putin

Post by Meds »

BCExpat wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 1:56 pm
donlever wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 12:58 pm Ok then....so now I'm up to the minute here.

Happy belated Per.

Cheers....
Happy belated birthday Per.
Likewise Per, hopefully this year is a better one for ya.
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