Russian Invasion of Ukraine

[Suliso]

That's what they say now to save face. Surely we don't think anymore that Putin is playing 4D chess?

[Deuce]

It's a very sad state of affairs when people cheer and celebrate others being killed - no matter if it's the good guys or the bad guys.
Human lives are viewed as nothing but points to be gained by eliminating them...

Something went tragically wrong with the blueprint of the human animal.

[ponchi101]

...

The tweet is gone?


The newspaper cover translation above is accurate (Don't think I need to state it, but it's obviously sarcasm)

Ah, no, thanks for pointing it out. I am not well versed on Russian humor, so it is good to know that it is sarcasm.
(Stuff like that happens in Venezuela so sarcasm for us is hard to discern).

[mmmm8]

...

The tweet is gone?


The newspaper cover translation above is accurate (Don't think I need to state it, but it's obviously sarcasm)

Ah, no, thanks for pointing it out. I am not well versed on Russian humor, so it is good to know that it is sarcasm.
(Stuff like that happens in Venezuela so sarcasm for us is hard to discern).

One issue my Venezuelan SO and I have is that he cannot understand why I use humor or sarcasm at a low moment (for myself or to cheer him up) or in a fight, etc. I don't understand how you could not. I know it's a personality thing in part, but it's also conditioned. Many centuries of adversity as a Russian and a Jewish person make joking about it the only immediate way to ameliorate any situation.

So, you'll see a lot of people and media use humor, irony and sarcasm, especially now that open speech is so restricted.

[ponchi101]

We claim to have a sense of humor, but it is different. I used to tell Russian jokes after Chavez was elected, telling people "this is what will happen to us" and they did not find them funny.
Then again, dear ponchi101 has never been the light of any party. So indeed, go ahead and joke about the low points. Nothing more terrible will happen to you.

[mick1303]

We claim to have a sense of humor, but it is different. I used to tell Russian jokes after Chavez was elected, telling people "this is what will happen to us" and they did not find them funny.
Then again, dear ponchi101 has never been the light of any party. So indeed, go ahead and joke about the low points. Nothing more terrible will happen to you.

It is a well-known fact that those prisoners of Nazi death camps (Auschwitz, etc.) that were making jokes and were trying to look at their helpless situation with a humor, lived longer. Humor is a powerful defense mechanism.

[ti-amie]

P1

[ti-amie]

P2L

[ponchi101]

Because Vlad would NEVER poison anybody...

[mmmm8]

Just watched a 1.5 hour interview of Zelensky with 4 Russian independent journalists (that tweet above is referring to information he shared). Very informal, unpretentious, thoughtful, open and honest discussion. I think he's fully worth the hype he's getting.

[meganfernandez]

Just watched a 1.5 hour interview of Zelensky with 4 Russian independent journalists (that tweet above is referring to information he shared). Very informal, unpretentious, thoughtful, open and honest discussion. I think he's fully worth the hype he's getting.

I just hope he survives. He is an incredible leader. Wish I could listen to these interviews, but the language barrier...

[ponchi101]

Zelensky is proof that a "civilian" can be a good president. Here in the USA, because of the election of Tiny, some people say that we should leave politics to politicians ONLY; that is false.
Unfortunately, I can only think of one more: Vaclav Havel in the Czeck Republic. People that truly only want to serve the country, and do not see this position as privilege, but a responsibility. Douglas Adams had it right in his HITCHHIKER'S trilogy: anybody that wants to be president, should NOT be president.
With Megan. It would be good to be able to hear him speak in the native language.

[mmmm8]

Just watched a 1.5 hour interview of Zelensky with 4 Russian independent journalists (that tweet above is referring to information he shared). Very informal, unpretentious, thoughtful, open and honest discussion. I think he's fully worth the hype he's getting.

I just hope he survives. He is an incredible leader. Wish I could listen to these interviews, but the language barrier...

If you don't mind reading subtitles, it's published with those in English by a bunch of media sources. This is the one I watched - whenever I looked at the subtitles they were a decent translation, they are by the publisher, not auto-generated

[mmmm8]

Zelensky is proof that a "civilian" can be a good president. Here in the USA, because of the election of Tiny, some people say that we should leave politics to politicians ONLY; that is false.
Unfortunately, I can only think of one more: Vaclav Havel in the Czeck Republic. People that truly only want to serve the country, and do not see this position as privilege, but a responsibility. Douglas Adams had it right in his HITCHHIKER'S trilogy: anybody that wants to be president, should NOT be president.
With Megan. It would be good to be able to hear him speak in the native language.

Which for him is primarily Russian (and the interview was in Russian) but, funnily enough, he was forgetting Russian words throughout the interview and had to have the interviewers and his press guy tell him.

[Suliso]

I agree that Zelensky is a good leader, but it also makes me think how much people are made by events. Would any of you know who Zelensky is if Putin had not attacked or threatened to attack? Sometimes events meet people and people are found lacking the right stuff. Hard to say which other leaders would perform well under the circumstances and which would not.