Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion

Buster15

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In USA, the "government" works in a very different way than in Germany (or most European countries).

In Germany, you elect the Parliament, and then the majority of the parliament elect the Government, which makes the decisions. So, if a decision of the Government does not pass, it probably means that the Government has lost support of the parliament and this may lead to new elections.

In USA, basically the President is independent of the Parliament, and it is the President that chooses "the government". The parliament does not choose the government, but the parliament passes the laws. And elections happen every two years for parts of the Parliament, and every four years for President. So these two (Parliament, Government) are not connected that much, and both have a lot of power. USA does not have a prime minister, and actually the President is something very different.

In USA, you can have a President from one Party, and the majority of the Parliament from the other Party, which is a situation that does not really make sense in Germany or Italy or most European countries.

So, even the minority leader has a lot of power in USA, while in Germany he practically has no power.
And in the UK, you vote for your local member of parliament. And the winning party decide who is to be their leader and he/she becomes the Prime Minister.
And the PM is a compulsive liar, doesn't give a sh1t about the people and breaks the law.
And the people think he is wonderful and let him get away with anything he likes because he is such a loveable rogue.
 

frostbite

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I largely agree with this post and it reflects how for example the Supreme Court has become so conservative despite having a Democrat as president for 10 of the last 14 years.

Anyways time to get back on topic and with that say that I do think Baerbock visiting Kyiv is more important than McConnell only apart from the fact that it's reassuring that both Democrats and Republicans are committing to the defense of Ukraine.
In my opinion, it is very important for Ukraine that McConnell visited Kyiv. Because Democrats might lose the House or the Senate next November. Since USA has already given Ukraine more than $40 billion, having the Congress on their side is far more important than having any other country on their side. The whole EU has given peanuts, compared to what USA has provided so far.

(And it was nice that he went there after Nancy Pelosi. )
 
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NicolaSacco

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In my opinion, it is very important for Ukraine that McConnell visited Kyiv. Because Democrats might lose the House or the Senate next November. Since USA has already given Ukraine more than $40 billion, having the Congress on their side is far more important than having any other country on their side. The whole EU has given peanuts, compared to what USA has provided so far.

(And it was nice that he went there after Nancy Pelosi. )
Exactly. It’s vital that he shows support. I hate the guy and disagree with most of his politics but this could easily have been another culture wars scenario where the American right lined up against Biden. Getting this 40 billion through now, as you say before the midterms happen, is huge in terms of continuing Biden’s ability to support Ukraine for the next couple of years.
 

NicolaSacco

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Assuming that bomb drops in free fall, i.e. with no momentum at the beginning of the drop, then it’s barely 50 meters above the tank. I wonder if they could hear it from that height. Must be terrifying.
 

GlastonSpur

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Dude, a) thanks for your regular updates, they’re fascinating, and b) where do you get all this info?! I know the simple answer is ‘the internet’ but you seem to have a treasure trove of different pieces of info, are you getting them from somewhere that collated all these sources?

Don’t stop, by the way!
I just get them from two different twitter feeds + the BBC + around four or five YouTube channels that I follow.
 

The Firestarter

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Exactly. It’s vital that he shows support. I hate the guy and disagree with most of his politics but this could easily have been another culture wars scenario where the American right lined up against Biden. Getting this 40 billion through now, as you say before the midterms happen, is huge in terms of continuing Biden’s ability to support Ukraine for the next couple of years.
The maga world is against Ukraine already so its not that far off.
 

Zehner

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Assuming that bomb drops in free fall, i.e. with no momentum at the beginning of the drop, then it’s barely 50 meters above the tank. I wonder if they could hear it from that height. Must be terrifying.
Probably like mosquito bites. One moment of not paying attention and it has already happened. Can't imagine it's not stressing the shit out of them.


In USA, the "government" works in a very different way than in Germany (or most European countries).

In Germany, you elect the Parliament, and then the majority of the parliament elect the Government, which makes the decisions. So, if a decision of the Government does not pass, it probably means that the Government has lost support of the parliament and this may lead to new elections.

In USA, basically the President is independent of the Parliament, and it is the President that chooses "the government". The parliament does not choose the government, but the parliament passes the laws. And elections happen every two years for parts of the Parliament, and every four years for President. So these two (Parliament, Government) are not connected that much, and both have a lot of power. USA does not have a prime minister, and actually the President is something very different.

In USA, you can have a President from one Party, and the majority of the Parliament from the other Party, which is a situation that does not really make sense in Germany or Italy or most European countries.

So, even the minority leader has a lot of power in USA, while in Germany he practically has no power.
Thanks :) I believe the advantage of the parliament electing the government is that it there aren't situations like in the USA in which the government is almost unable to act because they are held hostage by the senate. So over here the opposition leader more of a sparrings partner for the government. I think this is actually quite an interesting role if you interpret it in a constructive manner and increase pressure on the government where you truly believe something is going wrong. Unfortunately, in practice most minority leaders interpret it in a very opportunistic way in which you criticize everything the government does to position yourself for the next election. As expected, Merz took it to another level by visiting Kyev. Hugely annoying.
 

the hea

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Assuming that bomb drops in free fall, i.e. with no momentum at the beginning of the drop, then it’s barely 50 meters above the tank. I wonder if they could hear it from that height. Must be terrifying.
The UI on the drone says altitude is 150m so a little bit higher but still pretty close to the soldiers, the electrical engines wont make much noise though so I think it would be hard to hear it even at that low altitude. This is assuming the tank has its engine shut down because standing next to a tank with its engine running it would be impossible to hear it.
 

calodo2003

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In my opinion, it is very important for Ukraine that McConnell visited Kyiv. Because Democrats might lose the House or the Senate next November. Since USA has already given Ukraine more than $40 billion, having the Congress on their side is far more important than having any other country on their side. The whole EU has given peanuts, compared to what USA has provided so far.

(And it was nice that he went there after Nancy Pelosi. )
We haven’t given the 40 billion yet, it’s held up by one senator.
 

NicolaSacco

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We haven’t given the 40 billion yet, it’s held up by one senator.
As I understand it he can only delay it until next week and the numbers in the senate seem to make its eventual progress inevitable. But yes it’s not rubber stamped yet.
 

NotThatSoph

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McConnell in Kyiv! Wow! That's a surprise!

Only Scholz hasn't visited Ukraine yet! Why? Is he afraid that Putin might not like it?
No, not only Scholz. Scholz is the chancellor of Germany, so lets take a look at a few people in similar positions. Mistakes are possible, I'm just googling.

  • Joe Biden, president of the United States.
  • Mario Draghi, prime minister of Italy.
  • Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands.
  • Alexander De Croo, prime minister of Belgium.
  • Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prime minister of Greece.
  • Jonas Gahr Støre, prime minister of Norway.
  • Magdalena Andersson, prime minister of Sweden.
  • Sanna Marin, prime minister of Finland.
  • Micheál Martin, prime minister of Ireland.
 

stefan92

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No, not only Scholz. Scholz is the chancellor of Germany, so lets take a look at a few people in similar positions. Mistakes are possible, I'm just googling.

  • Joe Biden, president of the United States.
  • Mario Draghi, prime minister of Italy.
  • Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands.
  • Alexander De Croo, prime minister of Belgium.
  • Kyriakos Mitsotakis, prime minister of Greece.
  • Jonas Gahr Støre, prime minister of Norway.
  • Magdalena Andersson, prime minister of Sweden.
  • Sanna Marin, prime minister of Finland.
  • Micheál Martin, prime minister of Ireland.
And we can look at in from another perspective, who did visit from German politicians? Sorted in order of protocollary rank:
  • President Frank-Walter Steinmeier - wasn't actually there, visit refused by Zelensky
  • President of Parliament Bärbel Bas (formally ranking ahead of chancellor Scholz)
  • Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock
  • Heads of Parliamentary committees for defence (Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann), Europe (Anton Hofreiter) and foreign affairs (Michael Roth)
  • Opposition leader Friedrich Merz
Notable absentees are indeed chancellor Scholz and maybe defence minister Lambrecht, but she's a disaster in every regard. But overall that is a pretty broad group of German politicians, coming from four different parties and representing about 85% of the voters. Only the small opposition parties (The Left and the Alternative for Germany) aren't represented.
 

calodo2003

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That’s getting close to the males who were conscripted by the nazis to defend Berlin, dregs of the barrel shit.
 

Krakenzero

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So about 10 days of casualties at the allegedly current rate?

Maybe the conscription thing and getting closer to the war will make the russian people more open to help end it. It's difficult to see a better scenario.
 

RedDevilQuebecois

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That’s getting close to the males who were conscripted by the nazis to defend Berlin, dregs of the barrel shit.
It is close, but not there yet. For the record, the Wehrmacht had ages 18 through 45 for service eligibility.

Regardless, it is a worrying trend. Germany had the Volkssturm, Britain had the British Home Guard, and Japan had the Kokumin Giyū Sentōtai (Volunteer Fighting Corps) in contexts that were justifiable for territorial defense under the specter of invasion. However, Russia is nowhere near under threat of having enemy tanks rolling their way towards Moscow soon. It is just silliness over silliness over silliness.
 

ZIDANE

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There’s a lot of talk about Finland and Sweden joining NATO but has anyone given an indication of timelines for how long it takes to apply and for it to become official? Not that Russia can do much given how terrible it seems it is going for them - really surprised by the whole thing.
 

Carolina Red

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There’s a lot of talk about Finland and Sweden joining NATO but has anyone given an indication of timelines for how long it takes to apply and for it to become official? Not that Russia can do much given how terrible it seems it is going for them - really surprised by the whole thing.
It’s a 5 step process that involves auditing the country’s ability to join, officially changing the NATO treaty, the country’s legislature ratifying the change, etc. but considering how closely Sweden and Finland have been to NATO members for years, it could be done “in a couple of weeks” to “less than 4 months” to “about a year” - it just depends on who you ask.

https://www.newsweek.com/ho-long-does-it-take-join-nato-timeline-finland-sweden-1706031?amp=1
 

Buster15

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It’s a 5 step process that involves auditing the country’s ability to join, officially changing the NATO treaty, the country’s legislature ratifying the change, etc. but considering how closely Sweden and Finland have been to NATO members for years, it could be done “in a couple of weeks” to “less than 4 months” to “about a year” - it just depends on who you ask.

https://www.newsweek.com/ho-long-does-it-take-join-nato-timeline-finland-sweden-1706031?amp=1
You would like to think that NATO and its member states would make this a matter of urgency given the situation.
It is important to keep piling on the pressure on Putin as well as showing the unity and strength of NATO. I am aware that Turkey has some concerns. But they can not be allowed to stand in the way of Sweden and Finland joining.
 

phelans shorts

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You would like to think that NATO and its member states would make this a matter of urgency given the situation.
It is important to keep piling on the pressure on Putin as well as showing the unity and strength of NATO. I am aware that Turkey has some concerns. But they can not be allowed to stand in the way of Sweden and Finland joining.
but NATO rules are very clear that if Turkey say no that they can’t just be ignored. It’s really rather specific about it.
 

stefan92

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but NATO rules are very clear that if Turkey say no that they can’t just be ignored. It’s really rather specific about it.
Nonetheless they should be convinced by other NATO members. Of course they can't be forced, you are right the rules are very clear.

But I think some Bayraktars would fit the Finnish and Swedish army well, it's focus on easy operability and maintenance everywhere fits their jet fighter doctrine (embodied in the JAS39 Gripen) so maybe they should just order some :smirk:
 

Revan

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That’s a good point, but why are Turkey saying no?
Sweden/Finland's opposition to Turkey and their support for Kurds.

In truth, it is more about cause the West has broken relations with Turkey and Turkey feels mistreated by them (from the EU stopping Turkey's path to EU, in fact, not even allowing Turkish citizens to visit EU without a visa, to EU's and especially France's unconditional support to Greece on Greence/Turkey's cold conflict). Now that these countries seem to need Turkey's help, Turkey wants them to make concessions towards Turkey, otherwise they will veto.
 

frostbite

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https://www.npr.org/2022/05/15/1099...-the-largest-ukraine-aid-package-yet-on-wedne

McConnell says the Senate will pass the largest Ukraine aid package yet on Wednesday

McConnell said he supported adding Russia to the list of state sponsors of terrorism and would back holding a vote on the issue, but urged President Biden to do it on his own.

[...]

"So we're all on the same team on this," McConnell also told NPR. "The Russians need to lose. The Ukrainians need to win."
 

Buster15

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but NATO rules are very clear that if Turkey say no that they can’t just be ignored. It’s really rather specific about it.
That is correct. But you must know that Turkey is probably using that as leverage to extract something they think they can get. But there is so much of a bigger agenda that they will be heavily leaned on.
 

Organic Potatoes

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This felt inevitable, but it still feels good to get confirmation of them pushing the Russians back to the border NE of Kharkiv.

 

harms

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I'm ineligible for conscription even during the war time, thankfully (that's as of today, who knows what laws they're going to change next).

My workplace just got it's first war-related denunciation (is this the right word when someone sends the info to the police on you) though and I feel weirdly proud of it. How's the saying goes, snitches get favourable mortgage rates?
 

NicolaSacco

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That is correct. But you must know that Turkey is probably using that as leverage to extract something they think they can get. But there is so much of a bigger agenda that they will be heavily leaned on.
Exactly. It’s in Turkey’s security interests for Nato to be powerful and have a strong northern flank. They are a regional power, vying with a bigger power in Russia for influence over, for example Azerbaijan, Armenia, Syria, Iraq, possibly Iran. Anything that limits Russia’s power projection in that area will be seen as a net positive for them, and forcing Russia to recalibrate its posture to take into account Nato expansion will achieve just that. Erdogan is just taking advantage of his power of veto to achieve leverage.
 

The Firestarter

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I'm ineligible for conscription even during the war time, thankfully (that's as of today, who knows what laws they're going to change next).

My workplace just got it's first war-related denunciation (is this the right word when someone sends the info to the police on you) though and I feel weirdly proud of it. How's the saying goes, snitches get favourable mortgage rates?
Thankfully your version of gestapo is not that efficient compared to the original.
 

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That’s getting close to the males who were conscripted by the nazis to defend Berlin, dregs of the barrel shit.
I imagine they're a former soldier eligible for recall. British soldiers used to be open to recall up to 55, which seems terribly old to me.

Germany had conscripted the entire younger population before they moved on to the old, not quite the same.