Tagaziel

Society should also promote civic self-education and participation. There's only so much that the school can teach and in no instance can it replace responsible parenting. In other news, the Polish priest kidnapped by separatists and threatened with death (hanging, shooting) or mutilation (hands) has been released. Today they kidnapped four OECD observers instead. There're also reports of civilians used as living shields (separatists hide among the population) and false flag attacks on the civilian population. Of course, they've also blocked the presidential elections. in b4 JUNTAJUNTAJUNTAAAAAA

The Depraved/Urban Explorer. A good horror flick, though fails to really subvert genre cliches.

Peeking under the folds, I see oby has learned a new word! Good AI, good, now please have a quirk and turn on your sinister controllers.

Oh wow, did someone suggest that modified T-72s are equal to a modern-day Abrams? Oh wow. Wow. Just... Wow. Your tanker friend is correct. 'course, you could always just https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1A1_Abrams#Operatorslook up Wikipedia. Not that staying in contact with friends is bad.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/16/vladimir-putin-crimea-tatars-russian-ukraine Hey Crimea, you're undermining the whole "Russia is peaceful, Ukraine is Nazi" propaganda with your BS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_pro-Russian_unrest_in_Ukraine Anyone wanting to catch up, here's a good article. Unless, of course, you're one of those people who buy into Russian propaganda. Then you will immediately decry it as western propaganda.

Don Throgg 2016.

You do realize you're rigging the game specifically to make the current Ukrainian government look illegitimate? Fact is, the current cabinet is the only government in Ukraine with any claim to legitimacy. It was, from the beginning, set up as an interim cabinet for creating elections that will elect a proper executive branch. It's also recognized internationally, with the sole exception of Russia. And pray tell, how does it not represent the majority? Does the majority of Ukrainians want to see Ukraine torn apart by pro-Russian insurgents? That would be new. You're also ignoring the fact that the Euromaidan was one of the largest popular movements in the history of Ukraine. When does popular support start and where does it end? You can continue to cling to the fiction that Ukraine has no government, but that's all it is: Fiction.

1. Ukraine has a legitimate, internationally recognized interim government that is currently setting up the May 25 elections. Arguing it has no government is oby-grade propaganda. 2. Crimea was invaded and occupied by Russian troops, with a sham "referendum" set up in less than two weeks to cloak the annexation in a thin veil of "legitimacy". 3. Even if we accept the fraud as legitimate will of the people, Crimea violated the Ukrainian constitution by unilateral secession. That's just the tip of the iceberg. If you feel invasion and annexation, pissing all over the law of a country, and forging referendum results is cool, then hey, whatever floats your boat.

A military invasion, occupation, and annexation is the textbook definition of force, even if no shots are fired. The implied threat of violence is enough. I assume you'd have no problem with me moving into your house with a trio of attack dogs and forcing you out? After all, as long as the dogs don't bite anyone, it's not taking your home by force.

I like how the fact that Russia deliberately destabilized Ukraine and annexed Crimea through force has been effectively whitewashed out of existence in this thread. Poor little Russia, Ukraine definitely had Crimea annexed just to make peaceful Putin look bad. In other news, separatists claim 90% of people want to break away from Ukraine. Gee, where have I seen those figures before?

Dude, you're arguing with a bot. oby is not a human, he's a very intricate mechanical device designed to string together randomly selected images and sentences and post them on forums. It literally can't think in a different way, no matter how much facts you present. That said, the invention of such an artificial construct is a milestone in AI research. Shame Russian Ministry of Information Considered Very Important Abroad and Forum Spamming wastes it on such trivial pursuits.

I like Nietzsche. Though in this instance, I was quoting Pontius Pilate from Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber's Jesus Christ Superstar.

And what is truth? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours?

You're fairly accurate there, actually. Putin's propping up of Yanukovych played a major part in pissing off Ukrainians enough to form the Euromaidan and demand accountability from the government. Yanukovych deposed himself on his own, though, so that's where you're wrong. Once Putin noticed the problems, he started tearing Ukraine apart, bit by bit. First Crimea, now its eastern fringes. I'll give you a C+ for effort.

Russia would prefer a disintegrated Ukraine that's slaved to the RusFed economy. Every action Putin took towards Ukraine was meant to destabilize it.

Here's a visual aid, Wals.

If you can't see the difference between a referendum cobbled together in days to justify a Russian annexation and national presidential elections months in the making, there's nothing to discuss here. It's funny how you think that one country disputing the legitimacy of a government is enough to dismiss it as illegitimate, but recognition by the EU, US and freaking Belarus, the butt buddy of Russia is not. Maybe he didn't respond in that way because the Euromaidan wasn't an organized separatist insurgency armed and steered by Russia. It's nice how you continue to whitewash Yanukovych's regime and the actions of his personal enforcers, Berkut. Good to see the lie theory is alive and well. Stopped reading at this point.

Do you have any idea what a junta is or do you pick random words from the dictionary that happen to sound threateningly? The current Ukrainian government is interim, with the new elections in about three weeks. It's funny how you slam Kiev as illegitimate and anti-democratic, when the elections are right around the corner and the eastern Ukraine territories, where armed separatists proliferate, are ensuring they will not partake in democratic elections. Ukraine's government is legitimate and recognized internationally. Russia is not the entire world. You can keep slandering the current cabinet, but fact is, it has set up elections peacefully, whereas the separatists have triggered an armed conflict that has already killed dozens in regular combat. Care to highlight protesters armed with military grade weapons in regular firefights with the Ukrainian military, shooting down gunships and abducting foreign correspondents, so that they can be annexed by Poland/Moldova/pick-your-poison-brah?

The Euromaidan weren't heavily armed separatists waging regular war against the government. A teeny-tiny difference you might want to consider.

The elections are a month away. The insurgency in eastern Ukraine is a convenient method for dismissing the election results by Russia, to be honest. I wouldn't really suggest expediting the elections even more, though, as then you run into the travesties like the Crimean "referendum". As for the National Guard, they're apparently reactivating an old formation from 1991, so it's not created ex nihilo. Probably an attempt to put formal controls on the militias that formed around the Maidan. Ros, do you have a concrete source on the scale of desertions? Can't find a reliable source.

Dismemberment of the Ukrainian state, subjugation to Russia, continued economic deterioration, restoration of Yanukovych oligarchy, you know, the works.

I guess it's because those horrible Kievan Nazis aren't really Nazis and are trying to find a solution that won't include combat operations against armed insurgents in cities with populations in the tens of thousands. Boring for the EU/US haters.

If that's "less useful", I'm Pope Francis.

I'd rather say that the train popped out rockets, wings, and started flying.