All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[Catlady in training]

Russia tests nuclear-capable missile in warning to enemies
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...llistic-weapon

“The new complex has the highest tactical and technical characteristics and is capable of overcoming all modern means of anti-missile defence. It has no analogues in the world and will not have for a long time to come,” Putin said.

“This truly unique weapon will strengthen the combat potential of our armed forces, reliably ensure Russia’s security from external threats and provide food for thought for those who, in the heat of frenzied aggressive rhetoric, try to threaten our country.”

As I said before, a terrorist country, that seems to be only determined to threaten the rest of the world. On one hand, I am very worried, on the other, they are really pathetic, like a bully in a school.


Russia issues new warning about Finland, Sweden joining Nato
https://yle.fi/news/3-12410667

Russia has issued a new warning about consequences of Finland and Sweden possibly joining Nato, according to Russian state news outlet TASS.

The warning came from Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who made the comments on TV channel Russia-24 on Wednesday, the same day Finnish MPs were to formally begin debating the Nato issue.

"Under the auspices of the US, Brussels has been pulling Sweden and Finland into its structures for a while, there have been various hybrid measures on the actual pulling in, under the guise of drills or training sessions," Zakharova said.

"We made all our warnings — both publicly and via bilateral channels. They know about this, so there are no surprises. They were informed about everything, what it will lead to," she added, without specifying the consequences.

Talk about Finland's possible Nato membership significantly increased after Russia invaded Ukraine towards the end of February.

Russia has issued a number of warnings about Finland's possible accession to the military alliance, particularly as the idea gained support from the Finnish public as well as in political spheres.

Last week, former Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, warned that if Finland and Sweden were to join Nato, Russia would have to bolster its defences in the Baltic Sea region, including by deploying nuclear weapons.

More warnings for sovereign countries about what they can and cannot do.

Ukrainian holocaust survivor, 91, dies during Mariupol siege
https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...mariupol-siege

A 91-year-old holocaust survivor died while sheltering from Russian strikes during the siege of Mariupol, her daughter has said.

Vanda Semyonovna Obiedkova died on 4 April while sheltering in a freezing basement without water, in a grim echo of how she had hidden in a basement from the Nazis when she was 10 years old, her daughter Larissa told Chabad.org.

Obiedkova, the second holocaust survivor known to have died during Russia’s war in Ukraine, “didn’t deserve such a death”, said Larissa, who was with her at the time.

Larissa described the conditions in Mariupol as “living like animals”.

“There was no water, no electricity, no heat – and it was unbearably cold,” she said. Her mother was ill and immobile. “Every time a bomb fell, the entire building shook,” Larissa said. “My mother kept saying she didn’t remember anything like this during the Great Patriotic War [second world war].”

Of course, people of that age die all the time, but it's sad to see someone go through that kind of horror again after such a long time.

[Catlady in training]

And to have a little brighter story:
‘Russian warship, go …!’: Ukrainians queue for stamp celebrating act of defiance

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ct-of-defiance

After spending four hours in a queue, Viktor Fyodorovich showed off his shiny new purchase. “I’m 63 years old. I’ve never felt so much pride before in our nation. It’s a symbol of our courage and steadfastness,” he said.

Fyodorovich was the proud owner of two sheets of stamps, 16 in total. Available from Kyiv’s central post office, the stamps show a Ukrainian soldier giving the finger to the flagship Russian cruiser Moskva. On the sheet’s perforated margin is the phrase that has become a rallying slogan for Ukrainians in their underdog battle against Moscow: “Russian warship, go …!” The “fuck yourself” is tactfully omitted.

The words were spoken by Roman Hrybov when the warship’s crew asked him and his fellow border guards on Snake Island, south of the port of Odesa, to surrender in the early hours of Vladimir Putin’s invasion. The phrase has since gone global. Last week the national postal service, Ukrposhta, released the design as a special commemorative stamp.

[Ozymandias]

Yes, I nearly always go on the defensive when Britain is critisized.

Of course, I know intellectually that my country has done many bad things, but my gut reaction is that I love the UK…so often leap to the defence without thinking things through.

And you love it with good reason, you have the best pop culture in the word, and you have London.

[Nasty_Boys]

Not sure what the fuss is over the mask stuff. Doesn't say anywhere you can't wear them. Doesn't need to be a mandate, if you want to wear it then wear it, if not don't.

Turn on the TV for any sporting event, concert, wrestlemania, ect. and hardly anybody is wearing them and these places are more crowded than busses, planes, ect.

I live in a city of 100,000+ people and everywhere I go for dining, grocery shopping, comic store, ect. nobody is wearing them.

[Dalak]

Not sure what the fuss is over the mask stuff. Doesn't say anywhere you can't wear them. Doesn't need to be a mandate, if you want to wear it then wear it, if not don't.

Turn on the TV for any sporting event, concert, wrestlemania, ect. and hardly anybody is wearing them and these places are more crowded than busses, planes, ect.

I live in a city of 100,000+ people and everywhere I go for dining, grocery shopping, comic store, ect. nobody is wearing them.

It wouldn't be a problem if so many that refuse to wear masks also refused to use Vaccines and so get people who are vaccinated and also wearing masks sick despite it. I know it happened to me despite all the precautions I continue to take, and I was lucky that it was a mild case (likely thanks to the Vaccine).

[Tami]

NEW: The Florida Department of Health just issued guidelines telling doctors to medically de-transition all transgender youth and banned them from social transition treatment, including “name, pronoun, and clothing changes.”

[Tami]

If Biden’s Plan Is Like a ‘New Deal,’ Why Don’t Voters Care?

Unlike the New Deal, however, this $1.9 trillion federal investment in American communities has barely registered with voters. Rather than a trophy for Mr. Biden and his party, the program has become a case study in how easily voters can overlook even a lavishly funded government initiative delivering benefits close to home.

Mr. Biden’s popularity has declined in polls over the past year, and voters are giving him less credit for the country’s economic recovery than his advisers had anticipated. In Virginia, Democrats got shellacked in the 2021 off-year elections amid the country’s halting emergence from the depths of the pandemic.

Ambivalence among voters stems partly from the fact that many of the projects being funded are, for now, invisible.

[Zelena]

I only watched a few minutes, not a fan of her smug look. Her statements about protecting women's freedom by banning a piece of clothing many of them may have chosen freely to wear (as they live in a free country) are something.

On the other hand, I have to commend that they both seemed to be very civil to each other, no shouting. What does it say about the current standards for presidential debates that that's one of the first things on my mind?

Presidential debates are usually civil… Five years ago, Marine Le Pen failed to convince that she could be a president by being restless and messy. She certainly didn’t want to repeat the same mistake… Macron tried to be more offensive than he usually is but it’s not really in his nature.

[Catlady in training]

‘Hide the girls’: How Russian soldiers rape and torture Ukrainians
https://kyivindependent.com/national...ure-ukrainians

[4saken1]

NEW: The Florida Department of Health just issued guidelines telling doctors to medically de-transition all transgender youth and banned them from social transition treatment, including “name, pronoun, and clothing changes.”

How can you possibly doubt this decision? They cited a review which states that "hormonal treatments for transgender adolescents can achieve their intended physical effects, but evidence regarding their psychosocial and cognitive impact is generally lacking." I'm sure they didn't completely ignore any studies with contradictory findings at all!

[DanMad1977]

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure what to think either. There have been comments about Schröder for years, and now after Ukraine declined Steinmeier's visit I've read that he has also been a fan of Putin, but I never heard anything like that about Scholz. But I only follow German politics very little under normal circumstances

I do think Scholz is more of a weak president than pro Putin.

With Schröder its common knowledge that he is on the side of Russia, at least financially.

[Malvolio]

Not sure what the fuss is over the mask stuff. Doesn't say anywhere you can't wear them. Doesn't need to be a mandate, if you want to wear it then wear it, if not don't.

Turn on the TV for any sporting event, concert, wrestlemania, ect. and hardly anybody is wearing them and these places are more crowded than busses, planes, ect.

I live in a city of 100,000+ people and everywhere I go for dining, grocery shopping, comic store, ect. nobody is wearing them.

When you go to a concert, sporting event, or restaurant, and you don't feel safe because other people aren't wearing masks, you can leave. But if the airplane is already in the air when you realize how many people are choosing not to wear masks, you have nowhere to go. You're trapped. That was the real reason for the mandate.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

NEW: The Florida Department of Health just issued guidelines telling doctors to medically de-transition all transgender youth and banned them from social transition treatment, including “name, pronoun, and clothing changes.”

At least a couple of posters asked where the American Medical Association was in all this, and that’s a damn good question. The silence from them is concerning, especially since these “guidelines” will only hurt, not help transgender youth.

[Jack Dracula]

When you go to a concert, sporting event, or restaurant, and you don't feel safe because other people aren't wearing masks, you can leave. But if the airplane is already in the air when you realize how many people are choosing not to wear masks, you have nowhere to go. You're trapped. That was the real reason for the mandate.

There’s also the fact that one unmasked infected person can infect several other unmasked passengers who then go on to their various destinations to infect unmasked people there. Not that facts ever matter to the willfully ignorant.

[JackDaw]

In UK, members of parliament have voted to have a probe into whether or not Boris Johnson misled Parliament over Partygate.

I suppose it’s better than effectively voting for a cover up.

But it’s laughable really…it’s like having an investigation to find out if the sun rises in the east. (I honestly doubt if any sane person who follows UK politics hasn’t realised by now that BoJo regularly tells untruths. I almost said regularly lied, except I think he may have deep seated psychological problems that make it difficult for him to discern fact from fiction.)