Quote :

"[quote]OH NO. A COUNTRY WE DON'T LIKE BENEFITED FROM DEMOCRACY. WE MUST RESPOND!"

[/quote]

3/20/2014 7:09:09 PM

Can't tell if you guys are serious. But what happened in Crimea was anything but democracy. Scary if you think that vote was anything but Russian propaganda.

3/20/2014 9:56:06 PM

Crimea is 58% ethnic Russians. Democracy is mob rule. The people have spoken.

3/20/2014 10:01:21 PM

^Keep in mind, it became that way only in the 20th century due to Kremlin deliberate moving out Tatars and Ukrainians and moving in Russians. Imagine if California in 2050 would separate from the US, aided by the Mexican government, under the reasoning that the populations is 58% ethnic Mexicans (not even Hispanic, mind you, but specifically Mexicans, because of those 58% Russians many are actually from other ethnicities from all over ex-Soviet Union)

3/21/2014 10:06:32 AM

Perhaps Mexican illegal immigration is a hidden conspiracy by Mexico to reacquire the Territory it lost in the Mexican-American war

3/21/2014 10:21:20 AM

Texas has a 38% mexican population. If they become the majority and vote for secession, that should be allowed. Or, more realistically, the western part of Texas should be allowed to split and return to Mexico. It is to be expected that the United States would attempt to arrest or harass anyone seen entering a polling place when secession is on the ballot. It is therefore entirely reasonable for Mexico to send armed troops into Texas to ensure accurate voting.

3/21/2014 1:11:46 PM

A poll released today shows 40% of scots favor independence from the UK in this year's coming referendum, with 15% still undecided. The United States should impose sanctions on Scotland.

3/21/2014 4:39:28 PM

Quote :

"Article 73 of the Ukrainian constitution states: “Alterations to the territory of Ukraine shall be resolved exclusively by the All-Ukrainian referendum”. But Crimea has not allowed the rest of Ukraine’s people to discuss the fate of the peninsula. This secession is therefore very different from what will take place in Scotland, where voters will decide on the issue of independence in a referendum in September. But this has been legislated for by Scotland’s effective parent, the UK parliament. The UK is therefore bound to accept the referendum result."

http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/2014/03/is-crimeas-referendum-vote-legal/

3/22/2014 8:42:48 AM

Maybe Germany can use Russia's precedence against them and reclaim Kaliningrad which is an historical German fatherland of Prussia.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/if-russia-gets-crimea-should-germany-get-kaliningrad/496558.html

[Edited on March 24, 2014 at 3:55 PM. Reason : a]

3/24/2014 3:54:38 PM

germany has permanently lost their right to annex places

3/24/2014 5:07:30 PM

If anything, Germany should get back that piece of France that makes great pizza.

3/25/2014 12:23:13 PM

the Russians "expelled" (ie, killed) all the Germans in Kaliningrad during/after the war...there's only about 8,000 left. the rest are Russians, or pro-Russian minorities. Russia makes sure to stack the deck on territory they don't deserve

3/25/2014 3:08:51 PM

Quote :

"What would the US do if Mexico tried to take over Baja, citing popular support? Doesn't seem like it'd go over well."

Was this a joke?

3/25/2014 4:34:38 PM

OMG LOOKS LIKE IT ALREADY HAPPENED. DOWN WITH MEXICO!

3/26/2014 8:57:54 AM

3/26/2014 12:55:49 PM

TWW liberals should kick moron out of the cool club. He's stymying their air of intellectual superiority lately.

3/26/2014 6:56:22 PM

3/26/2014 10:50:18 PM

Quote :

""

3/27/2014 9:56:44 PM

Russia has 100k troops on the border

3/27/2014 9:57:56 PM

RUSSIA IS TRYING TO ANNEX ALASKA, NORTH POLE

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/is-vladimir-putin-coming-for-the-north-pole-next-20140327


http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/27/thousands-sign-official-white-house-petition-to-return-alaska-to-russia/

3/30/2014 1:01:10 AM

http://www.janes.com/article/36120/russian-invasion-of-eastern-ukraine-could-happen-any-day-officials-warn

Quote :

""Under this kind of decision-making process an invasion [of Ukraine] becomes even more probable," said the same intelligence officer, "and the world is quickly running out of time to prevent it from happening.""

4/1/2014 10:42:09 AM

http://spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=45536

Quote :

"NASA Internal Memo: Suspension of NASA contact with Russian entities Status Report Source: NASA HQPosted Wednesday, April 2, 2014 From: O'Brien, Michael F (HQ-TA000) Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2014 9:33 AM To: [Deleted] Cc: [Deleted] Subject: Suspension of NASA contact with Russian entities Dear Colleagues, Given Russia's ongoing violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, until further notice, the U.S. Government has determined that all NASA contacts with Russian Government representatives are suspended, unless the activity has been specifically excepted. This suspension includes NASA travel to Russia and visits by Russian Government representatives to NASA facilities, bilateral meetings, email, and teleconferences or videoconferences. At the present time, only operational International Space Station activities have been excepted. In addition, multilateral meetings held outside of Russia that may include Russian participation are not precluded under the present guidance. If desired, our office will assist in communication with Russian entities regarding this suspension of activities. Specific questions regarding the implementation of this guidance can be directed to Ms. Meredith McKay, 202.358.1240 or meredith.mckay@nasa.gov, in our office. We remain in close contact with the Department of State and other U.S. Government departments and agencies. If the situation changes, further guidance will be disseminated. Obie Michael F. O'Brien Associate Administrator for International and Interagency Relations National Aeronautics and Space Administration"

4/2/2014 3:18:32 PM

shits about to go down.

4/13/2014 4:15:37 PM

hopefully this doesn't turn into a war and we just get some new combat flight simulators and video games

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNITED_STATES_RUSSIA_SHIP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

4/14/2014 12:12:00 PM

I don't see how this ends without bloodshed. Russia is largest country on the planet, claiming a tiny bit of territory is nothing but spitefulness and aggression. Even if they end up giving the territory back, it won't happen without the "insurgents" fighting back.

4/14/2014 12:48:30 PM

We don't really have a thread specific to Russia, so I thought I'd post it here. RAF fighters chasing off Russian spy planes/bombers.

http://news.sky.com/story/1247985/raf-jet-chases-russian-planes-away-from-uk

4/23/2014 2:48:19 PM

i know the dialouge of the media but what is this whole thing really about? There has to be more going on.

4/23/2014 5:27:24 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/25/pentagon-russian-spy-ship-operating-near-us/

4/25/2014 10:03:10 AM

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/25/new-sanctions-against-russia-expected-to-be-announced-monday/

4/26/2014 12:09:04 AM

Quote :

"i know the dialouge of the media but what is this whole thing really about? There has to be more going on."

seizing control of natural resources so to wield and maintain power over other people?

i haven't followed media coverage of this closely at all, but isn't that what most (at least military) State actions are about?

4/26/2014 1:35:10 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/04/26/pro-russian-activists-detain-foreign-military-observers-in-eastern-ukraine/

4/26/2014 8:10:19 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/04/30/us-astronauts-should-use-trampolines-to-get-into-space-russian-official-says/?intcmp=latestnews

4/30/2014 9:51:57 AM

^^ especially sad given that Russia is a member of the OSCE

4/30/2014 10:29:30 AM

President Vladimir Putin says Russian troops have been pulled back from the Ukrainian border, The Associated Press reported.

5/7/2014 11:05:58 AM

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/05/08/pro-russian-separatists-to-go-ahead-with-eastern-ukraine-referendum/

PUTIN LOSING CONTROL

5/8/2014 10:18:24 PM

PUTIN MAKE ME LOSE CONTROL

5/8/2014 11:24:57 PM

these satellite pics are from march, so they show what was happening at that time, but very cool

http://www.policymic.com/articles/84673/3-satellite-images-show-exactly-what-is-happening-between-ukraine-and-russia-right-now

5/8/2014 11:46:29 PM

Quote :

"Backhoes and dump trucks from the steelworkers’ factory dismantled all the barricades, without resistance from either demonstrators or pro-Russian militants."

Maybe they should add right to bear construction equipment to the constitution.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ukrainian-steelworkers-rout-separatists-in-city-of-mariupol/article18711105/

5/15/2014 10:59:25 PM

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/07/report-malaysian-jet-crashes-near-ukraine-2014717151147473508.html

If you haven't seen it yet, a Malaysian B777 went down over separatist territory in the Ukraine at cruising altitude of about 30,000 ft. Everything so far is pointing to it being shot down; at that altitude, it would have to be an air defense system, not a simple MANPAD. Ukrainians are blaming the rebels and Russians, the Russians are denying, and the rebels are blaming the Ukrainians.

Tragedy and complete fubar. Evidence is still coming in, but my personal theory is that the Russians give the rebels an advanced anti-aircraft system to help fight the Ukrainian air force. Those rebels, being a bit jumpy, thought the plane was an AN-26 and brought it out of the sky. There are alleged tweets that soon after the plane disappeared from the radar, Rebels were bragging on twitter on how they brought down a Ukrainian AN-26. Otherwise, I simply don't see the Ukrainians or Russians, who are experienced in managing integrated air defense systems, would make an amateur mistake like this.

7/17/2014 1:16:55 PM

If the western nations were at all inclined to support the Ukraine militarily, this is the pretext.

At this point I'd support a NATO air campaign against the rebels or at least their SAM sites.

And the toughest sanctions we can envision. Putin fucked up big time on this and if he's still in office a year from now, US power means nothing. If we're truly going to be isolationists, let's at least have a military budget that reflects it.




[Edited on July 17, 2014 at 3:29 PM. Reason : ]

7/17/2014 3:28:29 PM

Quote :

" Breaking News: Putin says Kiev bears responsibility for crash of passenger plane because it was brought down in Ukraine: RIA"

7/17/2014 4:53:46 PM

by that reasoning Ireland is responsible for the flight 182 bombing and Russia was responsible for the flight 1353 and 1047 bombings in 2004.

7/17/2014 5:14:01 PM

What a shit show. We want no parts of this.

7/17/2014 5:55:28 PM

Seems like there's probably at least 1 treaty that makes us have a part in this.

7/17/2014 9:23:40 PM

We'll we ARE fighting a war on terror, aren't w?? This definitely fits the bill. Americans were killed! Why should we NOT be a part of this? Certainly beats our reasons for invading Iraq.

7/17/2014 10:47:17 PM

Apparently the plane was carrying a large number of top AIDS researchers who were on their way to an Australian conference.

This will not end well...

7/18/2014 5:42:03 PM

Adjusting for scale, the number of people from the Netherlands that died on that plan was almost as bad as 9/11 was to us.

7/18/2014 7:38:49 PM

adjusting for scale the netherlands should therefore invade bermuda

7/18/2014 7:51:42 PM

I couldn't imagine what the families of those folks are going through. I don't know why this hits me so hard, I guess because the plane was just shot out of the air for no good reason. I would feel different I think if it had been some kind of mechanical failure.

7/18/2014 9:43:03 PM

it was a mechanical failure

cause by a missile

these families arent feeling any differently than those of any other airliner tragedy

you want revenge

7/19/2014 7:22:41 PM