The important question…
Since when did Key-ev become Keev?
Apparently news organizations have been changing over for the last several years now.
Oh…and fuck Putin.
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My wife traveled to Kyiv with a group in college, and they were all surprised to learn that that’s how they pronounce it.
Did they make a long journey from Milan to Minsk?
Oh, and fuck Putin
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Much later than Peking becoming Beijing.
I learned in Russia (in much happier days):
Mos cow
is
Mos co
Mockba in Russian
Fuck Putin (and Trump, his fanboy)
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At least our response is apparently rational, cut off Russia and draw a line at Poland.
There was a Johns Hopkins professor on NPR this morning who said that to prevent the mass murder of Ukrainians we should offer to enter treaty negotiations with Putin. I guess that’s the dilemma Neville Chamberlain faced.
Like Pete Clemenza said…”you gotta stop them at the beginning. Like they shoulda done with Hitler at Munich. They shoulda never let him get away with that, they was just askin for trouble.”
So someone explain to me the scenario where we aren’t headed for a WW2 sized European conflict
It will be worse?
It seems like Ukraine is on their own to do the actual fighting which will keep things from spiraling. In theory.
At least for now. But if Putin takes Ukraine I have little reason to think he will stop at there, though.
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When China throws in with Putin, it will be. At least it won’t be limited to Europe.
This business will get out of control. It will get out of control, and we’ll all be lucky to live through it.
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The devastation about to be wrought on the Russian economy - and the wealth of its oligarchs - will be epic.
Russia and China are both facing demographic collapse. Both are authoritarian regimes looking to use populist nationalism to stay in power. Russia’s economy is entirely extractive. Crude oil, gas, and some minerals are what they have for international trade, no value add; they don’t even export refined petroleum product in any volume. China, on the other hand, is all about value add in their economy, and they depend on international trade.
I am skeptical that China will act militarily in concert with Russia. I hope I’m right.
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Russia’s economy is (was) the same size as Italy’s, but spread across a much larger population and vastly larger expanse. It was unsustainable prior to this invasion; I expect (hope) that this will be the death - literally or figuratively - of Putin and his regime.
I’m not certain that everyone is going to be onboard with harsh sanctions. I fear some key European countries will balk because of the pain the sanctions will cause them in the short term.
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Oh great the Russkies just attacked the Chernobyl site and blew up a radioactive waste suppository.
According to one Brit I was talking to yesterday, the cost of gas for heating homes has already doubled and threatens to climb. That’s obviously Russia’s big hammer but it’s an effective one.
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