Russia always likes to expand their boarders, they are looking at you, Poland.

My brother has been going on about the third world war happening for years with every minor incident. This one's really fucking major. Can't wait to talk to him.

Does this affect my access to hamburgers - Y/N?

If N, then I don't care.

Ukraine really can't catch a break.

WWI was kicked off by far less serious events...

However, unless countries started their whole "secret alliance treaty" thing back up (they've been doing secret business treaties, but I've not heard blips about alliances), I don't think this will escalate into a full WW. It will probably become a China-Hong Kong thing.

Although, China is rattling sabers over islands that Japan has claimed. And then there are the riots and fighting in Venezuela and Syria, the civil unrest in much of Europe and America... none of these things alone will lead to a global conflict, but if any of them spill over into another it might.

I think Russia going into Ukraine is an attempt to distract both Russians and the world at large from their homosexual "problem" and other various internal issues. It could also be Putin trying to prove he's still badass after the relative disaster that was Sochi (he has a large ego, so I wouldn't be surprised.) In either case, wars have been used often in history as a way to distract people. Since Ukraine was already imploding, their invasion isn't nearly as bad as if, say, America invaded Canada (or even Mexico.) Though the world may not like Russia stepping in, if it brings stability to the country without reports of mass bloodshed then it will be indifferent.

What's fun is that the UN can't do shit about this, because Russia has a veto on the Security Council, meaning they can't even put out a sternly worded letter (nevermind an empty threat.) So if any country is going to act against Russia in this matter, they'll have to do so under their own auspices.

I always hated my home country, but now I hate it even more.

Predictions: Russia will annex Crimea, most people there wont' mind because they are mostly Russian to begin with, Ukraine will have to suck it up since the other option is getting it's ass beaten hard, and both Obama and whoever runs the EU with bitch a lot but ultimately do nothing in action. There will be no happening, other than Puting getting a even more inflated ego.

Crimea doesn't want to break away or be absorbed by Russia, they simply have no other choice because the current "government" of Ukraine has not been elected, they have seized power by violent means.
Analogy tiem -- If some rioters in DC burned down the white house and exiled the president, would the governor of Arizona, Florida, Texas, California or Kentucky recognize the authority of the rioters? Or would they listen to the exiled president? Add to that the fact that the rioters are acting very racist to people from the other states and the answer is obvious.
Crimea won't listen to the people in Kiev unless they get a chance to vote for them, and they certainly wont let the chaos and bloodshed spread across their state as well. The Crimean governor is acting very responsibly.

As for the Russian troops currently there, they are fully allowed by pre-existing agreements with Ukraine. Russia has a permanent military base, airport and port in Crimea and a right to reinforce or transfer however many people they want to the area due to agreements since the collapse of USSR. Russia hasn't really broken any international laws or even violated Ukrainian sovereignty. In fact the elected Ukrainian president can pretty much ask for Russian help in stabilizing his country, and the Russians would be 100% in the right to help them. In the inverse of that, what gives the West the balls to say they are in the right by supporting rabble who gained power through violence and want to spread that violence through neighboring areas?

>to distract both Russians
>relative disaster that was Sochi
lol are you being serious? Sochi was better than most Olympic games and the internal issues there have been unchanging for decades, nothing to start a war over.

>>390112
WWIII gets kicked down the road a few more years, War, war never changes.

>>390117
There will never be a World War like part 1 and 2. The US army is A) too big and powerful to be fought directly, and B) too much of a pussy and deluded into being the "good guys" to be the outright aggressors in a expansionistic conquest. Plus, regional dominace is made via economic and cultural means, which have proven to be much better tools than actual employ of force (of course, you still need the threat of force to assure the dominance).

And lets not forget that MAD never stopped being a thing. There will always be war, but not on that level.

>>390119
I've had a few profs say if there is a nuclear conflict then it will come from India and Pakistan.

This involvement will hurt Russia severely in the future. And I don't mean sanctions or disapproval from outside players.

The USA and a lot of European nations benefit from being contained in veritable ivory towers, allowing them to conduct operations like this as they please. The Russian Federation does not benefit from such a status. European nations are locked in next to other affluent European countries, providing quality border security. The USA is on another continent and its largest border is with an affluent nation. Americans really don't appreciate how vital Canada was during the Cold War in terms of defense of the heartland. But, Russia has the largest border of any nation and is utterly impossible to even ineffectively police. Russian border security isn't so much a sieve as it is a gaping wide hole.

There is an enormous Anti-Russian sentiment through out the region, even large pockets of it in very friendly nations like Kazakhstan.

There is still an insurgency in the North Caucasus.

This will lead to terrorism. Already, Narco-Terrorism is in full swing in Russia and has been for years, as evidenced by the current state of Siberia and other such regions hardest hit by drug abuse and substances like Krokodil. This event is guaranteed to bring violent reprisals upon Russian cities. Terrorism is often maligned in the West as Bogeyman owing to the Bush Administration, but it's a very very real possibility and threat to the average Russian. And with armed responses that have been marred with incompetence, I'd be keeping the Russian people in my prayers if I were still a religious man.

>>390120
I'm still betting on Israel flying off the fucking handle. The entire country hasn't had a single rational thought in decades. They're engulfed in complete fucking hate and paranoia.

>>390137
If terrorism goes up, that would give Putin a valid excuse for further military interventions on Russia's neighbors. I mean, how could the US say anything against it, after Afghanistan and Iraq?

>>390140
>I mean, how could the US say anything against it, after Afghanistan and Iraq?
Very easily, considering that was a different administration.

>>390145
Also that America has had no problem toppling countries in the past, though we were more covert about it.

>>390146
Russia is not trying to topple, they're trying to preserve. That is much harder.

>>390145
So if the Russian administration changes today, but they keep invading Crimea, everything is ok?

>>390145
> considering that was a different administration.

You are talking like the day Obama put his foot on the White House, he ordered every troop to retire from the Middle West. How many years it took for him to actually consider fucking off from that shithole that is Afghanistan?

>>390140
Easily, hypocrisy doesn't even enter into it. When you get to the size and influence of the US or even Russia, you spew rhetoric as you please.

Oh, Russia and that nationalist pan-slavic obsession of theirs that comes from Alexander I of the Romanov House.
It's all over again with this shit.

>>390182
Uh, no? This has nothing to do with Russia's ethnic policies really, Putin just wants direct control of Sevastopol.

>>390151
Yeah. America's foreign policy is very much "Do as I say, not as I do."

Read these reasonable, well-stated articles to clean up your shitty ideas.

http://www.thenation.com/article/178344/distorting-russia

http://nplusonemag.com/ukraine-putin-and-the-west

>>390148
>So if the Russian administration changes today, but they keep invading Crimea, everything is ok?

I don't think you understand what he's saying.

The United States is a democracy, and a very large, very diverse one, at that. The foreign policy changes once every 2-4 years. Going "OH MY GOD AMERICA IS SO HYPOCRITICAL" and using the actions of past administrations as evidence makes about as much sense as saying Obama has no right to comment on human rights abuses because America used to have Slavery.

Not to say there aren't legitimately fucked up parts of US foreign policy, but it's really infuriating to see idiots reply to any and all foreign incidents in which America plays the good guy be interpreted as "LOL CHECK OUT THESE FAGS SUCKS TO BE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF IT, HUH? YEAH [insert foreign agressor, dictator, etc.] SHOW OBUMMER WHO'S BOSS!"

For the record, I don't consider the Russian government's action in this to be as cut-and-dry evil as their actions in regards to Syria. They're just looking out for their interests. Strong-arming the Ukrainian government so blatantly was an incredibly shit move, though. I'm surprised they thought it would work. They're been protesting and fighting eastern influence for over a decade now.

>>390297
thank you

>>390297
>Whitewashing actual fucked up shit as bias.

Political commentators have this really retarded iron-clad victim complex, holy shit. Going so far as to imply that Putin's one-inch-of-give on Syria despite spending 2 years hampering the international community's attempts to interfere was a gift to Obama's presidency is a very special type of stupid.

>>390302

I'm the last to give heed to buzzword heavy-handedness like whitewashing, but the articles themselves serve as a great cross-reference (ie: against each other as well) to getting some frank facts out of what is a completely politicized shitstorm on 99% of media outlets and their respective bias's.

I'll give you the point, as I agreed it wasn't the best transition or analogy on the article, but it's larger theme, as I read it, is and devilifying a country trying to do best by it's national interests just as we are, and the instances where the U.S. doesn't exactly see eye to eye shouldn't become a point of victimized contention to escalate bias and bullshit, in particular the media creating the point of contention in the first place.

also, >responding to Moe, etc

>>390289
It's less about ethnicity and more about russian nationalism and their obsession with a russian EU equivalent or a similar concept. Russia has also convincing a lot of other former soviet republics onto his favor over the last decade.

>>390307
You're applying an ideological motivation to Putin though, which is utterly flawed. This is 100% realpolitik, it's not about his overwhelming nationalist spirit (which he doesn't have, though he freely makes use of nationalists for political support just like he does everyone else), it's about making the best of bad situation by doing what he sees as being practical.

Yes Putin leaned on Yanu to join his little Eurasian customs union, but of course he did, it's in his interests to restore as much of Moscow's lost turf as possible. He gambled and lost when the Ukranian people said "fuck that shit" and Kiev fell under rule of an opposition unfriendly to Moscow.

Crimea, whether the initial uprising was homegrown or the FSB stirring shit up, is him trying to salvage the situation by at least not having to pay for lodging for the black sea fleet anymore. Now, to my mind this is a poor choice on his part since first of all this guarantees that Kiev will never be friendly to Moscow again, and second of all even though he's probably getting out of this one sanction free since the US and EU aren't terribly interested in risking the Eurasian economy from Lisbon to Kamchakta over Crimea, the Russian economy has been suffering since the initial wargames on the border. All of this, I should mention, on top of him throwing away what little political gain he got out of his 50 billion dollar, 7 years of labor vanity Olympics and the possible threat of the Turks (who are right pissed about this) closing the straits to Russian vessels (which they've been discussing apparently and which would completely negate any real value Russia gets from the Black Sea fleet).

>>390300
>makes about as much sense as saying Obama has no right to comment on human rights abuses because America used to have Slavery.
What the fuck are you talking about? How does that compare to slavery? Obama supported and continued the wars Bush started, and Obama personally ordered invasions of several other countries. The only way your analogy would work is if Obama owned a slave.

>Russian government's action in this to be as cut-and-dry evil as their actions in regards to Syria.
Russian action with regards to Syria had to do with protecting a Russian naval base in Tartus, same as the Crimean action has to do with Russians trying to protect a base in Sevastopol. Both were realpolitik.

>>390303
Aside from the CNN/Fox angle of PUTIN IS A MAD DOG AND ITS ALL BECAUSE AMERICA IS RUN BY PUSSIES WHY AREN'T WE BOMBING THEM, most coverage is trying very hard to be even, or at least appear even. People pretending Crimea will lead to WW3 are biased. People who are calling out bad living conditions, or a shitty human rights record, or generally unethical moves on the global stage aren't being biased.

>>390311
>Obama supported and continued the wars Bush started, and Obama personally ordered invasions of several other countries
Continuing wars that were already started instead of arbitrarily ending them without regards to the effect on the local governments? And invasions like Libya? You could at least bring up drone strikes, or something legitimate.

>Russian action with regards to Syria had to do with protecting a Russian naval base in Tartus, same as the Crimean action has to do with Russians trying to protect a base in Sevastopol. Both were realpolitik.
Only one involved a government going so full-retard in response to demonstrations that they started murdering people and triggered a civil war, and having it drag on for ages because a world power wanted to protect said government.

>>390322
>finding myself agreeing with MOE
WELP THAT'S ENOUGH INTERNET FOR ONE DAY

>>390322
Iraq and Afghanistan already have interim governments, continuing the occupation under New Dawn is nothing short of imperialism, he has had five fucking years to fulfill his campaign promises of pulling out of the countries. Besides maintaining Bush's wars and thus being equally culpable, there was also Oddysey Dawn, the Neptune Spear invasion of Pakistan, the drone strikes in Yemen and half the fucking globe, the involvement in the civil wars of Chad, Uganda, Mali, Somalia... the current administration does not have a leg to stand on when criticizing someone of invasion or involvement into civil wars, or the moral high ground to call someone imperialist while ordering drone strikes on American citizens and civilians of foreign nations.

>demonstrations
By Islamists who beheaded people and started ethnically cleansing the regions under their command?
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ead_1372329728
Yeah you should be real proud for arming, training and supporting those guys.

>>390336

>Neptune Spear invasion of Pakistan

'Twelve guys and a helicopter' is not what one typically calls an 'invasion', especially when the local government had given consent to the operation.

>>390326
Moe's a pretty agreeable dude when he's not ruseing.

I think the biggest flaw in the argument you guys are missing here is that we learn at age 4 that "the other kids were doing it too" is not an acceptable excuse.

>>390392
You seem to have a skewed idea of what an invasion is. A single unauthorized soldier, a single missile killing a single citizen in another country is an invasion of sovereignty.

>consent
No, Pakistan did not give consent, they didn't even know about the operation until it was over. USA went in with stealth choppers because the Pakistanis would have brought them down otherwise, and they were equipped to fight their way out if the Pakistani military tried to stop them.

>Twelve guys
48 navy seals, unknown number of crewmen and non-special forces, two stealth choppers, two chinooks, a combat search and rescue helicopter and several fixed wing fighters. Another 25 navy seals and more troops were waiting ready just across the border into Afghanistan, so America was ready to escalate.
If this doesn't indicate a clear disregard and lack of respect for national sovereignty, I don't know what does.

>>390399
I also remember learning in Sunday school that he who is without sin should cast the first stone.
It has nothing to do with excuses, it has to do with who has the moral high ground on which to stand when judging someone. The Swiss (for example) are allowed to criticize Russian acts in Ukraine, people from countries that regularly do worse things aren't.

>>390401
>he who is without sin should cast the first stone.
>It has nothing to do with excuses, it has to do with who has the moral high ground on which to stand when judging someone. The Swiss (for example) are allowed to criticize Russian acts in Ukraine, people from countries that regularly do worse things aren't.

Wait are you saying that phrase means people can judge each other but only if one is morally superior?

That phrase means no one should judge anyone else because no one is without sin. Not that it's okay to judge someone if you're better than them.

I don't think you used that quote very well for evidence, Anon.

>>390403
I pressed return after the first sentence because the first part tackles the "hurr learned in school derp" bullshit while the rest of that response deals with the accusation that I'm making excuses. Here you go, some help:
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/1_Carlys_Family_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/2_Spider_Webs_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/3_Robots_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/4_Materials_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/5_Fruit_Fly_Fix_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/6_The_Rio_Grande_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/7_The_Incredible_Machine_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/8_Tools_of_Persuasion_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/9_Summer_Rain_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/10_Battle_of_Chancellorsville_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/11_Chronic_Traumatic_Encephalopathy_Free_Sample.pdf
http://englishforeveryone.org/PDFs/12_A_Streetcar_Named_Desire_Free_Sample.pdf

>>390407
>called out on being a douche so I'll be an even bigger douche

Your "moral high ground" argument makes no fucking sense to anyone who regularly has to deal with reality. This isn't about criticizing, this is about preventing a major international conflict, something that would be far worse than drone strikes. All of these steps are being taken to prevent war, not engage in it, btw. The drones may not be a good solution, and limited invasion forces fall into the exact same category, but there is a qualitative difference between targeted killing and a ground war. It is the lesser of two evils, even if it is still very evil.

>>390410
No civilian or military deaths.... This is worse than drone strikes on hundreds of civilians and children.

>>390417
Potential deaths, you idiot. If shit actually goes down, instead of the just the troop movements and political blustering we're seeing, we're going to see way more civilian deaths and mayhem than a few isolated drone strikes. The current situation is that there are no deaths, and minimal damage from demonstrations. For various reasons that go well beyond simply protecting civilians, the U.S. is pressuring Russia to not make this an actual war. Obviously, the U.S. isn't doing this simply for the civilians, however the fact of the civilians being okay for the moment is a good thing, even for the monster that is the U.S. government.

Being a sinner does not preclude you for ever doing "good". Although being a Saint certainly seems to make you blind to what real "good" is.

I don't really want to get into this argument, but somebody said that operation Neptune Spear was done with the consent of the Pakistani goverment, and that simply wasn't the case. I mean, when the US officers say "we called them when we were finished doing it", and the president of Pakistan claims that while Osama's death is something that he approved, it wasn't a joint operation, it's difficult to argue otherwise.

>>390401
>>390336
>>390311
Is this Rainbow Kid coming back without a name this time or what?

>>390426
>If shit actually goes down
It won't, Ukraine has 6000 combat ready troops, a third of which are either loyal to Russia or disloyal in some way to the government of Kiev. The only way there could be war is if NATO succeeds in forcing bloodshed.

>U.S. is pressuring Russia to not make this an actual war
Er no.... what the fuck...

NATO so far is pressuring Russia to make this into a shooting war. On the military side NATO moved extra troops to the Baltics (nowhere near Ukraine) which forced Russia to move troops to Kaliningrad for simple defense. There are other movements which force Russia to raise their national military readiness level, like sending a nuke armed CVBG to the black sea. Quite a few Russian generals think the entire Ukrainian revolution was manufactured to get more NATO troops near Russian border in preparation for an invasion, and NATO seems to be hell bent on proving them right at every step. The proper response to a serious situation like that is not saber rattling.
On the political side EU has been caught red handed supporting the violent revolutionaries and the new government of Kiev to the detriment of Crimeans. NATO has been trying to enlist Turkish help for a military action through diplomatic channels, which Russian spies in Turkey couldn't possibly miss, and which the Russian political leadership has to view as NATO planning to invade Russia. Calls for economic sanctions are continuing to paint NATO into a role of an enemy instead of a level-headed friend to the region.

None of these acts are aimed at de-escalation, and all are aimed at escalating the conflict to bloodshed.

>sinner
Oh for... that was a stupid analogy in response to a stupid analogy, can we drop it please? This has nothing to do with which country is 'evil' either, countries aren't people they don't work that way.
It has to do with how a country (or alliance of countries) acts historically by which one can judge if their political leadership is competent or how they will act in the future. NATO has a history of not acting properly and so far hasn't acted properly in response to this situation either. That's the point.

>>390442
Links for any of these points? Saber-rattling is not what seems to be going on internationally

>>390442
Y'know, supporting your argument instead of just resorting to personal attacks?

>>390442
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/15/ukraine-crisis-fatal-clashes-as-tensions-rise-before-crimea-vote-live

This doesn't look like a simply matter of NATO provoking this. There are some issues with troop movements, yeah, but it looks more like Russia has its' panties in a bunch over NATO being prepared to intervene. Not saber-rattling or checkmating, simply moving the pieces around just in case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine%E2%80%93NATO_relations

The problems seem to stem more from the Russia trying to antagonize, not the other way around

>>390451
What are you talking about?

>>390453
>Russia trying to antagonize
They're making the nuts in Kiev angry that's for sure, but they aren't escalating the conflict outside of the region like NATO is trying to do.

There is a big difference between a police action in a breakaway territory (what Russia is doing) and threatening global thermonuclear war (what NATO is doing). The point is that Russia was not offensively moving a single troop against NATO, so for NATO to make offensive moves and to escalate the tension is unsane.

>>390491
>Threatening global thermonuclear war like NATO is
You really need to start posting links and not just making bullshit claims like this with no back up. No one is threatening global thermonuclear war over anything. M.A.D. is still a very real thing, and nobody with nukes is going to be using them anytime soon

>>390491
Do you work for the FSB?

http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/03/16/japanese-netizens-put-reality-on-hold-for-a-moment-fall-in-love-with-new-attorney-general-of-crimea/

>The MYSTIC program is the latest revelation from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden
>Media outlets have agree to not specify which country was targeted at the request of government officials
>MYSTIC gives NSA analysts the ability to record every telephone conversation in a specified country and listen to the recordings more than a month later
>Documents show the NSA plans to use the program in other countries
>The MYSTIC program dates back to 2009
Ho Lee Sheet

>>390595
Holy shit, is she like 18 or something? I can't blame Japan, she's super cute.
>33-year-old Natalia Poklonskaya
Goddamn. Article even has vanity shots. Suddenly I care about Attorney Generals (Attorneys General?)

>>390597
It was America. They were recording America.

>>390595
Well they already waifu'd Tymoshenko in that one manga.

>>390600
Still it feels weird to be the last generation that comprehends privacy. When we're old, young people will be asking us what it was like when internet was free? What does privacy mean? Don't we think it's selfish to hoard information and not make it public?

Etc.

Mind boggling.

>>390604
We're not the last one to comprehend privacy; it will just change how it works. For instance, one's sexuality used to be private by societal norms; in the last 30 years it's become more common to discuss it at least in a general sense, especially on the internet.

This is overreach by the government, not a change to society's values; the question is if society will do enough to force it back the other way.

>>390595
>>390600
>>390601
And it seems she just arrived at /b/.

http://time.com/30545/its-time-to-end-rape-culture-hysteria/
>In the last few years, there has been an unfortunate trend towards blaming “rape culture” for the extensive problem of sexual violence on campus. While it is helpful to point out the systemic barriers to addressing the problem, it is important not to lose sight of a simple fact: Rape is caused not by cultural factors but by the conscious decisions, of a small percentage of the community, to commit a violent crime.
Finally...

>>390653
I think you meant to post that on the politic thread on >>389194.
This is the Ukranian Crisis General thread.

>>390655
Thread about politics isn't a politic thread?

>>390656
This is an Ukraine general. Ukrainian Crisis only.
There's already a politics general as >>390655 pointed out.

Things don't seem particularly awful so far, from what I've seen on the news and a quick look at Wikipedia. One confirmed death and some missing/captured/tortured people isn't good, and busting into the Ukranian bases like they did wasn't the most orderly way to evict them, but actual war might be avoided, so there's that. It looks like Crimean Tartars have the most to be concerned about, but I'm sure what in particular they'll have to deal with or why Russsia would bother messing with them anyway.

>>390735
>I'm sure
*I'm NOT sure

A friend told me there is a video going around the internet showing a group of Ukranian rebels protesting that they were not paid what was promised for them to take up arms.

Is this true, or my friend is full of shit?

>>390743
Who were they protesting at?

>>390743
Gonna need a lot more context than that. The whole thing has been relatively bloodless, I think there's been maybe 1 confirmed death? It'd help if your friend could provide a site, or context, or anything. Just having some random unverified viral video doesn't mean a whole lot.

>>390752
>The whole thing has been relatively bloodles
A hundred died in Kiev alone.

Also there's multiple attempted secessions going on in Ukraine now fyi

>>391151
Oh a lot of people died in the riot fueled violent takeover of the Kiev government for sure.

But only two people died in the (relatively) non-violent takeover of Crimea. Essentially the Russian military came in, held hands and walked across enemy bases to capture them (ok not quite that but you get the point).

I think they reported that crime actually went down during the breakoff.

>>390112
> Predictions: Russia will annex Crimea, most people there wont' mind because they are mostly Russian to begin with, Ukraine will have to suck it up since the other option is getting it's ass beaten hard, and both Obama and whoever runs the EU with bitch a lot but ultimately do nothing in action. There will be no happening, other than Puting getting a even more inflated ego.

So, it seems that I was 100% right.

>>391157
Although, no one predicted those two cities declaring themselves as independent republics.

>>391159
I heard about Donetsk , but what other city did that?

>>391160
Apparently, three more cities: Luhansk, Odessa and Kharkiv.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Re2NLrXV5c
Here we go.

>>391198
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27005783
News on the event. Shit is going the fuck down.

Welp, this is it. World War 3.

>>391198
I love all the pedestrians/photographers still hanging around (cameraman included) even after they start firing (though I'm not sure they actually shot anyone? Just warning shots?) Either it's fake or the Russian "Don't be a pussy" motto extends to Ukraine.

>>391217
>Militants, possibly even Russian soldiers, take over a police station
>WWIII
Nah man. A full-out Ukraine civil war with Russia fueling one side and the EU/US fueling the other? Maybe. However, if Putin tries to take land from anyone else, I sincerely hope and expect that everyone else will just fucking take over their whole country, because we don't need Germany II: Russian Boogaloo. That might lead to WWIII.

>>Germany II: Russian Boogaloo

I'll approve of this war if this is what everyone called it.
The Boogaloo Rebellion is also a good name.

>>391221
Germany is turning more and more pro Russia lately....

>>391223
As a German I would very much like to know where you're getting that impression from. Because that's a quote from Putin, who isn't really in a postition to speak for Germany.

>>391224
>as an american officer stationed in germany, id really like to know where...
lol

But seriously, check out Mutti and her statements on Russia. She's only being critical where forced by EU/UK/US interests, and is probably the only western politician calling for reason and de-escalation of sanctions.

>>391225

You do realize that Germany's voice in the EU is so strong that it basically runs the whole show, right? Germany isn't being forced into anything.

>if Putin tries to take land from anyone else

There will be more sanctions, and everyone will merely denounce him as if they're playing Civilization. Nobody will mobilize an army because they'll be afraid that it will cause WWIII right away. If Putin manages to prove a complete nutcase, he'll most likely end up assassinated, and even though everyone will know that it was a US SEAL team, they'll pretend it wasn't. Everything will continue to go on much as it has for decades.

There are more powerful forces at work controlling the world than people like us can possibly imagine.

>>391279
>There are more powerful forces at work controlling the world than people like us can possibly imagine.

HA HA HA HA HA HA!

YOU WISH!

>>391273
If that was true UK would be in the eurozone by now.

>>391283

>If that was true a totally unrelated thing would be true

Uh, okay.

>>391279
>controlling the world
The world as a whole is not in control.

>>391284
>eurozone unrelated to the european union
>decades long battle by germany to expand the eurozone halted at uk
>uk the only european union state not obliged to join the eurozone

DudeWithMoney be eating lead paint chips, no need to respond to him.

>>391287

...and why might the UK have not wanted to join the Eurozone? Might it have something to do with the fact that doing so would require shackling their monetary policy to the European Central Bank, which is located in Germany and is functionally controlled by the German government?

So they wield less power over the UK than other parts of the EU. Whoopdie fucking shit. Bringing up the Eurozone doesn't disprove that Germany is the dominant power of the EU, it's the other way around.

Them Krauts are indeed the defacto heads of the EU, I am not sure how that can be argued. I mean, Greece didn't go crying "save us" to Spain or Portugal, right?

It helps that Germany is the one country in the Eurozone that managed to keep their economy from shitting itself.

>>391292
de facto slave =/= de facto head

I really don't know how you have to be to come off of five years of the ECB foisting disastrous austerity policies onto Eurozone members in order to cushion the German economy and bankers from the debt crisisand think that the EU is running Germany instead of the other way around.

Ruh-roh

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/17/jews-ordered-to-register-in-east-ukraine/7816951/

It's like a new shoah!

>>391306
No definitive proof that it was done by the militants, and they've denied it. Could just be some random assholes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/world/europe/nato-ukraine.html

We WW3 yet?

>>391306
>papers claim its an official move
>photoshopped stamps and signatures
>officials say nuh uh!
Nothing to see here folks.

Odd how the media made sucha fuss about the whole Jew registration in Donetsk, but almost no word on the official ban to anybody Russian to enter Ukraine.

>>391337
These are two very, very different things and you fucking know it.

>>391338
Right, of course they're different.

The Jewish (and other religion) registration leaflets are unofficial and humorous, with all the power of a demographics survey.

Whereas the ban of an ethnicity from entering a country is not only racist, but racism at the highest level of government enforced by a military.

>Following the four-side meeting on the Ukrainian crisis in Geneva on Wednesday, John Kerry lashed out at a letter that was allegedly sent to Jewish citizens in Ukraine’s eastern town of Donetsk, asking them to register and report all their property, or be stripped of citizenship and face expulsion.
>“In year 2014, after all of the miles traveled in all the journey of history, this is not just intolerable, it's grotesque… beyond unacceptable," he stated.

>Pushilin denied he had anything to do with the letter, claiming it was a fake.
>“There are similar letters not only addressed to Jews, but also to businessmen, foreign students, people of certain other occupations, this is actually a fake, and not a good one. There’s a sign “People’s Governor”. First of all, no one calls me by that title, no one elected me. Secondly, the stamp is the former mayor’s. Everything’s photoshopped.”

> Meanwhile, a Ukrainian MP who has visited the turbulent region, Boris Kolesnikov of the Party of Regions, has urged that information coming from Ukraine should be double-checked. He believes that Ukrainian law enforcement agencies aren’t being totally honest when they describe the people participating in the protests and claim there are Russian servicemen among them.
>Kolesnikov specifically referred to a video which earlier appeared online. In it a man in a military uniform told police officers, who switched sides in the city of Gorlovka and joined protesters, that he was Russian lieutenant-colonel from Simpheropol, Crimea. The man was later identified by Gorlovka residents as the former director of a local cemetery.
>“Officially, I’ve only seen one Russian serviceman,” Kolesnikov said. “The next day he appeared to be the ex-director of the Gorlovka cemetery, fired 2 years ago for selling 38 fences, stealing a monument and extorting money from old women for new graves. There are Interior Ministry and intelligence services in the country, which should give us truthful information.”

tl;dr John Kerry took what was possibly a troll/joke seriously and you should not trust information with no primary sources, because the journalistic integrity the region is shit right now

>>391342
It could also have been a scam.
"We're here to seize your TV because you won't register ma'am."

>>391338
> These are two very, very different things and you fucking know it.

Yes, one was fake, the other was real. Why is the fake one getting the most attention?

>>391342
The US ambassador who validated the whole thing by saying the pamphlets were the "real deal", retracted the statement by more or less saying "you guise didn't get me, I said the pamphlets were the the real deal as in they actually existed, not that they were legit!"

Fucking stupid.

>>391341
Yes, odd that Kiev would be anti-Russian at the moment when Russia is trying to chop Ukraine in half. Can't imagine why!

Stop trying so hard FSB-kun.

>>391366
Oh sure, make excuses for racism.

>chop Ukraine in half
Er no, the separation of Russian regions happened almost a year after start of riots in kiev, it was in fact in response to the riots.
The rioters seized power through violence at the expense of the outlying majority Russian regions, and even tried sending appointed pupped "leaders" to the Russian regions which the people in those regions did not vote for or want.

Then those same regions took the example set by Kievite rioters in the first place and seized their own power to prevent the leadership without representation.
So if you want to blame someone for the breakup of the country, blame the undemocratic government in Kiev.

About the worst the Russians have done so far is landing troops in Crimea to intimidate the Kiev government in not trying a military takeover, this was done legally and without firing a shot.
The Russian government has not started Euromaidan, has not forced the new Kiev government into acting like a dick towards other regions, and has certainly not invaded anything.
And in fact because Russia can't put troops in the eastern regions legally (as in crimea) they probably won't do it at all, so the situation will be internally resolved.

>The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that states have the right to ban the consideration of race in the college admission process, dealing another defeat to advocates of affirmative action.

>In a 6-2 ruling, the justices upheld a Michigan ballot initiative known as Proposal 2 that was approved in 2006 and changed the state’s constitution to prohibit public colleges and universities from considering race.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/204041-supreme-court-upholds-michigans-affirmative-action-ban#ixzz2zeenINg6

Finally a step in the right direction.

>Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the Internet a project controlled by the US Central Intelligence Agency and "is still developing as such."

>Putin also warned the Russian people against making Google searches, emphasizing that every entry made into Google goes through servers in the United States.

>Putin's remarks come on the backdrop of revelations made public by US surveillance whistleblower, Edward Snowden.

>Snowden is now in Russia after Moscow granted him asylum in August 2013 for one year.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/04/24/359943/putin-says-internet-cia-project/

>>391468
Maybe not fully controlled, just surveyed

>rumors eu is funding maidan
Hurr must be a lie.

>rumors from kiev government that russians are funding some separatists
Herpaderp must be true.

>biden openly says us department is paying 40 million to ensure proper democratic president in the next ukrainian election
...

>some fake anti jew letters published
OMG HOW RACIST RUSSIANS ARE!

>meanwhile ethnic russians actually murdered in their beds
Oh that's a lie because Kiev government wouldn't do that.

>>391474
Pootin pls.

>>391476
The vid shows a family of two being murdered. Well the woman is just beaten on screen, might be lucky to get off with rape.

>>391478
>family of 2
It's called a "couple." Your handlers really should work on your English FSB-kun.