Ukraine (Mod Note & Threadbanned Users in OP)

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Press Association reports FIFA is in advanced talks with UEFA over the indefinite suspension of the Russian Football Union

About time!!!!!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709187#Comment_118709187

Scary times. I was dwelling on living in the 90s, pre 9/11 era earlier. Although conflict still existed, it was idyllic compared to now.

Perhaps I'm wearing rose tinted glasses. It just feels like everything went downhill after 9/11. A new age of extremes.

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709342#Comment_118709342

Im pretty shocked FIFA finally came round, they should get no praise for this imo, its days late and they are still only in talks about it.

VinLieger

Ukraine pulling out the legal argument about Russia technically never formally joining the UN after the Soviet Union dissolution.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709345#Comment_118709345

Yugoslavia, large scale issues in Africa, 1st Gulf War, and even Northern Ireland.

The reason it all seems so much worse (in general) is internet and, to a horrid degree, social media thriving on negativity

Manach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118708353#Comment_118708353

Second this. I'd done a course on International relations/Law and he was one the key readings: an interesting real-politik take.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709392#Comment_118709392

Plus, seems apt, now that you mention historical anxieties, we mustn't forget the constant, realistic threat of nuclear armageddon throughout the entirety of the Cold War. Putin's recent sabre rattling over nuclear readiness has been generally regarded as Russia puffing out its chest ... as opposed to the many decades where America & the USSR came within hair's lengths of launching the nukes. The Cuban Missile Crisis being the obvious standout.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709392#Comment_118709392

Yeah, I forgot about Yugoslavia actually. It's a reminder how things in Ukraine could become much worse, now that I think of it.

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709391#Comment_118709391

A very powerful speech from the Ukranian in the UNGA - perhaps we can have a transcript - The part about Putin not needing nuclear arms if he 'wants to kill himself'; he should do what hitler did in 1945. Crazy to see this in the UN

Compare the Ukrainian speech to the UNGA- with the current Rants of the Russian Representative - its insane -

-NAZI's in Ukraine shelling the Donbas

-NeoNazis are in power

-Ukraine is seeking Nuclear Weapons

-NATO is inciting Nazi Ukrainians

I cannot believe this - it is literally garbage from start to finish, and he is STILL TALKING (4:04PM)

VinLieger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709479#Comment_118709479

Its meandering waffling garbage, it makes no sense whatsoever and is impossible to follow what hes talking about

liamtech

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709497#Comment_118709497

It was actually very shocking. I doubt there was a single verifiable fact in that statement. At one point he actually stated that Russia has no intention of occupying the Ukraine, and that its all to save the Donbas (someone should really tell the Russian Army group that is 30KM north of Kiev, i fear they may have gotten lost)

The EU observer also made a fantastic speech (still ongoing) which began by listing the NON EU states which have aligned themselves with European Union standings on the issue

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709342#Comment_118709342

Probably one of the first of not the first time either organisation acted morally.

They also need to take the Gazprom signs down for the remainder of the Champions League.

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Really scary at the moment across Ukraine judging all those videos on Sky News.

A big 24hrs ahead

breezy1985

Is there not a ceasefire during negotiations. Seems very unusual to hear of talks and bombs at the same time.

PopePalpatine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118709741#Comment_118709741

Nah, those are totally the freedom fighters of Luhansk and Donetsk. /s

Markcheese

https://twitter.com/JoshuaPotash/status/1498332884121399307?s=20&t=YbCZmNcGJ0zDj1Xh8LSKOQ

Hopefully give a laugh - it's somegirls tik-tok , on how to steal a Russian apc ..

For real

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118710236#Comment_118710236

That's both amazing and appalling at the same time. Does it have value? Citizens would seem better off serving as flying brigades than trying to go toe to toe with the actual Russian army on equal grounds. But what do I know? I barely get tiktok, let alone best practises on how to start a tank/APC.

kravmaga

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118710236#Comment_118710236

A Ukranian farmer started to tow a Russian Apc , not sure if its genuine footage though, gave me a chuckle though :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLQhxgqxOEg&ab_channel=DownGridSurvival

liamtech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Sa8idATO0

Included is a link from Ed Nash - Ed is a Military Aviation youtuber, who's information tends to be well sourced, and he provides analysis of both historical and contemporary matters relating to all things Aircraft related.

In the above, he discusses the limits of what the EU could provide, noting as some of us did, that the aircraft are coming from former SSR/WARSAW PACT states, now in NATO. He provides an accurate inventory on said aircraft, where they can come from, and numbers/models involved.

He also provides his understanding on what exactly the Ukrainian Air force has been able to achieve, and what could be expected in coming days. There is also discussion on how the aircraft involved (i.e, those being provided to the UAF) can take off and land from rough terrain - which does seem vital given the situation on the ground.

I thought this would be interesting for those of us who were scratching our heads last night when the EU announced it would provide aircraft to the Ukraine. Some, including myself, speculated that this would involve former Warsaw pact era planes, and Ed seems to confirm this. MORE INTERESTING is the fact that said planes have been modernized up to NATO STANDARDS over the past decade.

Hope the mods are ok with the link - Ed Nash is decent and i decided it was worth posting, and i hope thats ok

Tell me how

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been uneasy at the voyeurism that social media has brought to this conflict.

Never before has a war such as this been as visible to those not directly affected and while this has some benefits, (I believe the massive public response in support of Ukraine was partily influenced by this) it also has its very significant downsides including people being exposed to distressing images before they realise it due to the auto-playing of videos on various platforms.

When I went to Twitter earlier, I had another example of this new world that made me very uncomfortable. I clicked on the link to the Ukraine Conflict in the trending section and was met with the following.

The visual display of something which was being live streamed like a PPV sports event or similar juxtaposed with the heading that many people had been killed in the actions I found quite unsettling.

I'm not suggesting that actual deaths were being broadcast but it just seemed too much like something that was being broadcast for entertainment or that many people might be looking at it in that way from the safety of being 1000's of miles away.

All the shots of incredibly brave and honorable Ukrainians picking up arms to defend their country are admirable but let's not forget what it really means which is completely untrained people being put in life or death situations in which at least a significant number of them will like freeze in panic. I really hope the conflict ends quickly and do believe that the international response, and particularly that of the EU is more likely to make that actually happen but I'm also aware that in many places around the world, right now even, the same horrific things are happening and yet the international community has turned a blind eye to it.

War is hell, all war, not just that which has peoples attention right now. We've also seen some very dubious commentary from media people covering the events and those suffering in conflicts in places such as the middle east and Africa must be looking on with dismay at the speed of the response and the support for Ukraine and feel more alone and isolated than they even did before. That same international community which is acting proactively now will have to explain why it doesn't do so in so many other instances. I know the answer relates to the proximity of the threat but there is also a racial element to this and we should recognize that conflict anywhere that is ignored or facilitated emboldens others in different regions who think that it is acceptable. Or at least that some version of it might be.

Podge_irl

The visual display of something which was being live streamed like a PPV sports event or similar juxtaposed with the heading that many people had been killed in the actions I found quite unsettling.

It is deeply unsettling, though it also provides reality to the empty words coming out of the Russian government.

I would agree there is an issue with glorifying war, and it is a pretty difficult line to tread at times. But I also do not think there is a problem with showing what MLRS attacks on a city actually mean. These things are happening - is it so wrong that we are confronted with what that means?

amacca

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118710462#Comment_118710462

Thank you. Much appreciated, very informative......although it did feel a bit like Tony Cascarino was voicing the video!

Tell me how

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118710575#Comment_118710575

I would agree there is an issue with glorifying war, and it is a pretty difficult line to tread at times. But I also do not think there is a problem with showing what MLRS attacks on a city actually mean. These things are happening - is it so wrong that we are confronted with what that means?

I'm not sure. Part of me thinks it is right to show the harsh reality of war, but also I think it can desensitize people to it who treat it nearly like a movie and don't stop and think about the reality behind it.

It has probably been the case since TV emerged really, I can remember watching some very horrific footage on the 6pm news from the genocide being carried out in Rawanda in the mid 90's and some of that imagery has stuck with me.

Don't know that there's a completely right answer one way or the other.

pixelburp

8 EU heads if state wrote an open letter arguing for Ukraine getting fast tracked into the accession process for EU membership; with Zelensky himself making the same appeal earlier via a formal application. The latter can't have been seriously expecting much traction, though all of the bloc's most eastern nations (bar Hungary, because of course) agreeing to the idea was a surprise.

Assuming there still is a Ukraine when this all ends, not sure how far continental support would extend to bringing in, then rebuilding a war torn country. Even before the war, was the country even remotely near the EU's benchmarks?

https://mobile.twitter.com/ianbateson/status/1498326574600536072

Markcheese

https://youtu.be/TJHeltDiUfs

This isn't voyeurism - it's just tragic - the Ukrainian ambassador reading a text conversation between a now dead young Russian soldier and his mam ...

Blowfish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118710517#Comment_118710517

It's actually not quite the first, the Syrian Civil War had/has an incredible amount of footage from all sides, often with combatants filming while in combat. Russia actually produced a lot of footage during that which was played back on their state media. They are doing the opposite now in Ukraine, they seem to have a media blackout of actual footage on the ground.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118708169#Comment_118708169

It will affect both. The Central Bank rate is basically the rate that the Central Bank loans money to retail banks at. That will then set a baseline for the savings rates and the borrowing rates that retail banks set. The retail banks then will either add or subtract from that figure depending on whether they are loaning money out or rewarding savers (that's how they make their money). So if the Central Bank rate is now 20% a variable rate mortage might charge 22% whereas a savings account might pay 18%. These figures are illustrative only - just to give you an idea of how it works - the real values might be quite different but that's the gist of it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118708156#Comment_118708156

I see where you are coming from but there are other important factors to account for namely inflation and the value of the Ruble.

1. Inflation: You really wouldn't love it if we had 20% interest rates. That would be a sign that something had gone seriously wrong in the economy - most typically we would be experiencing massive levels of inflation. In that scenario the price of goods and services would be rocketing up and overall you would be doing extremely well if your money was keeping pace with that. So in currency terms you might feel richer but when everything that you would like to spend your money on would also be shooting up.
2. The value of the Ruble: The Ruble is collapsing against the dollar (and all of the other currencies). So you may be getting 20% per annum by holding your money in Rubles in a deposit account but that's scant consolation if the value of Rubles against the dollar falls by 20% in a few days. You're losing out massively by keeping your money in the bank. Now, you might be thinking "Fine, why do I need dollars anyway - all the shops use Rubles". That may be the case but every single thing that is imported into the country needs to be paid for in foreign currency. That means that they will cost more and that will result in the prices of items in Rubles going up.

If I had any money in Rubles I'd be trying to get it into dollars, euros, sterling, Yen or even Bitcoin immediately.

bigroad

Is anyone on here going to go over and fight for Ukraine.

Gary kk

Probably a great time to buy Rubles... Right that is how it works?

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118710919#Comment_118710919

If you got the spare cash yes.