|
Oh, this ephemeral Russian expansion... Where? What about NATO expansion? Or does it not count? I am still not totally convinced that ISIS is not an artificial construct, like Taliban Mk.II.
|
|
|
|
When I think of Norway I don't see too many pros from a no cash policy...
The major pro is stopping the mints. Norway is largely non-cash as it were already. You cannot pay with cash in hospitals or medical centers. Many shops already have cashless counters. If you try to pay with cash for public transportation in Oslo, you pay higher price than if you were using a prepayed card (equivalent of €6.15 per hour instead of €3.70) and such cards can be mostly charged cashlessly. When I think about it, the last time I held cash was about 4 months ago... |
|
|
|
I didn't realise you were old enough to remember the Nazis. Shouldn't you be wise enough to stop being such a warrior at your ripe old age of 80-something? You brave warlord!
I don't remember Nazis, but unlike someone in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world, I didn't unlearn to read and listen. You, on the other hand is not wise enough to even start reading history or listening to people who went through the hell that was WWII. "You brave warlord!"  A warlord of the pen, maybe. They do say that pen is mightier than a sword. Thanks for a laugh. Though I don't exactly see where I was posturing as a warlord... Well, back on ignore with you, I guess... |
|
|
|
It's still 50/50 chances if this will happen or not. I think that to much emotions is involved here and no so much reasons. If Scotland will have to apply to join EU and start their own currency, than independence will be no so good choice for them. It will be really interesting to see what happens  Why would they need to do so? Norway refused to join EU twice and is using it's own krone. Norway and Scotland have much in common both when it comes to fjords and gas/oil reserves. Neither need EU. EFTA, at most, would suffice. |
|
|
|
It would be really nice if these degenerates (CIA private squad) would unite the world and let this Ukraine/Russia thing chill out.
I've been thinking about this statement of yours. You know, maybe it is the behind-the-scenes reason for their creation? A way for USA/NATO and Russia to back off from the Ukraine conflict without either losing face? |
|
|
|
Btw, I thank the Ukraine fiasco. I was learning Russian language half-heartedly before but this drama forced me to really read Russian language Cyrillic script to keep abreast with the news. Good news, I can understand 95% of the time without using the dictionary. Thank you, Novorussians! I just added Russian to my fluentlanguage list: I also speak French, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch and Hungarian. By learning Russian, I discovered I can also read Bulgarian, though without the declensions. The Slavic languages are close: I can understand half of what the Serbian, Croatian (actually similar to Serbian)and Polish are saying.I don't bother with the Ukrainian much, it's about another reality altogether.
Well done! Молодчина! Yes, knowing Russian you can read Bulgarian for about 80%, but beware of several words that are written the same, but which meaning diverged, like направо, which means "to the right" in Russian and "strait ahead" in Bulgarian. As you noticed, other Slavic languages (with the exception of Latvian, which diverged quite a lot) are close between each other to be understood with a little effort and careful thinking about the words' roots. Modern Ukrainian is an artificial construct, which is about 50% Polish, 25% German and 25% Russian. This hybrid is mainly pushed from Galicia, while central Ukraine speaks "Surszhik", which is less diluted. It is interesting to note in this regards the thoughts expressed by the last hetman of Ukraine - Pavel Petrovich Skoropadskij, of which Ukrainians do not learn in schools as he does not align with the ideals of Bandera: " ...Узкое украинство - исключительно продукт, привезенный нам из Галиции, культуру каковой целиком пересаживать нам не имеет никакого смысла: никаких данных на успех нет и это является просто преступлением, так как там, собс твенно, и культуры нет. Ведь галичане живут объедками от немецкого и польского стола. Уже один язык их ясно это отражает, где на пять слов - 4 польского или немецкого происхождения..."
"Великороссы и наши украинцы создали общими усилиями русскую науку, русскую литературу, музыку и художество, и отказываться от этого своего высокого и хорошего для того, чтобы взять то убожество, которое нам, украинцам, так любезно предлагают галичане, просто смешно и немыслимо..."
"Нельзя упрекнуть Шевченко, что он не любил Украины, но пусть мне галичане или кто-нибудь из наших украинских шовинистов скажет по совести, что, если бы он был теперь жив, отказался бы от русской культуры, от Пушкина, Гоголя и тому подобных и признал бы лишь галицийскую культуру; несомненно, что он, ни минуты не задумываясь, сказал бы, что он никогда от русской культуры отказаться не может и не желает, чтобы украинцы от нее отказались. Но одновременно с этим он бы работал над развитием своей собственной, украинской, если бы условия давали бы ему возможность это делать. Насколько я считаю необходимым, чтобы дети дома и в школе говорили на том же самом языке, на котором мать их учила, знали бы подробно историю своей Украины, ее географию, насколько я полагаю необходимым, чтобы украинцы работали над созданием своей собственной культуры, настолько же я считаю бессмысленным и гибельным для Украины оторваться от России, особенно в культурном отношении. ...Narrow Ukrainianism is an exceptional product, brought to us from Galicia, the culture of which it makes no sense to transplant to us: it has no chance for success and will simply be a crime, as, simply speaking, there is no culture to be had there. After All, Galicians live on the breadcrumbs from the Polish and German tables. Their language alone reflects it clearly, where for each 5 words there are 4 of Polish or German origin..."
"Velikorossians (meaning Russians) and we Ukrainians (also called Malorossians) created with our joint efforts Russian science, Russian literature, music, art, and to refuse all this high and good so as to take that monstrosity that we Ukrainians are so kindly offered by the Galicians is laughable and unthinkable..."
"One cannot blame Shevchenko that he didn't love Ukraine, but let Galicians or some of our Ukrainian chauvinists tell me in all earnesty that he, if he were alive today, would decry Russian culture, would decry Pushkin, Gogol, and such, and would only be acknowledging Galician culture; it is without doubt that he, without pausing, would have said that he would never be able to decry Russian culture, and would not wish for Ukrainians to decry it either. But at the same time he would have worked on development of its own, Ukrainian culture, if the conditions allowed him to do so. Just as I think it paramount that children at home and at school spoke the same language that their mothers taught them, knew in detail the history of their Ukraine, its geography, so do I consider paramount that Ukrainians work on creation of their own culture, and just equally do I consider it pointless and disastrous for ukraine to severe its ties with Russia, especially in the cultural sense."
-- Skoropadskij, Pavel Petrovich (1873-1945)
His memoirs were written in 1918, and first published in 1995 Forward reply: Yes, yes. Now that the Russians have won, they can proudly withdraw their victorious forces and stop killing people.
It's hard to withdraw something that wasn't there to begin with. Ukrainian army can stop killing people of Ukraine/Novorossia because said people managed to defend themselves. blablahblah, you still remind me of those Germans in 1940s that screamed about bad Russians who would not stop defending themselves in the face of glorious German army. |
|
|
|
|
Just read a joke, which sums up the essence of the disaster:
Eurostandards
If Boeing is shot down...
... by the freedom fighters, then it's an act of terrorism;
... by Russia, then it's a terrible crime;
... by Ukraine, then its a regrettable misunderstanding;
... by USA, then it's the fault of Boeing itself.
|
|
|
|
How long do you not deposit on bitstamp?
About a month. I usually do monthly deposits. Guess it was bound to happen, seeing as I never checked the payment information once it was in my bank's payment register. Well, next times I'll conduct thorough checks. You always loose something on transfers. 30 euros is not that bad.
That wasn't just transfers, but the fee to return my money back to my account, taken by the recipient bank, because the recipient account no longer existed. |
|
|
|
Ukraine crisis: NATO to create 'high-readiness force:
Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- NATO members meeting this week in Wales are expected to create "a very high-readiness force" to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine and other international conflicts, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday. Rasmussen said the fighting force will be part of an overall Readiness Action Plan that "responds to Russia's aggressive behavior.
"We are also facing crises to the southeast and south," said a senior NATO official. The plan "needs to be able to deal with all crises that we might be facing in the future from wherever they might come."
Rasmussen said President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine will attend the summit and NATO will "make clear our support for Ukraine."
Also on Monday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament that the presence of Russian soldiers on Ukraine soil is completely unjustified and unacceptable. "Russia appears to be trying to force to Ukraine to abandon its democratic choices through the barrel of a gun," he said. Cameron said new sanctions measures will be drawn up by the EU within a week. http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/01/world/europe/ukraine-crisis/index.html?hpt=hp_t1Hmm. Let's see. The customary one-sided story, failing to address the realities, and designed to black-paint Russia. Let me try to bring a little balance into it. Cameron deliberately fails to mention several thousand Ukrainian soldiers that crossed into Russian territory, both armed with malicious intent, and unarmed seeking refuge. All are being repatriated back to Ukraine, with due diplomatic notes. But why mention it, when such facts will detract from a nice prefabricated narrative of "bad Russia"? Furthermore, the border between Ukraine and Russia is as clear as the border between Belgium and Netherlands or between Oklahoma and Texas. Families live on both sides of the border. A guy might go from Russia further down a road to visit his girlfriend in Ukraine; your son-in-law might come come across a field from Ukraine to help you with your harvest in Russia. Would NATO actually go to war with Russia to save Ukraine even though she is not a member? Wouldn't that be against their long established principles of staying out of scraps between non member states? If that was the case what would stop NATO from going after Isis [Islamic State] in Iraq and Syria? Is the fact they are preparing a possible conflict with Russia suggest that NATO's mission has changed? Should it change? Is this a new reality? A second cold war? What do you think is going on here?
The problem we have right now, is that we (NATO) promised Ukraine that we'd protect them if they were willing to give up their nuclear arsenal after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Probably not the best promise to make, considering it doesn't account for a megalomaniacal tyrant like Puten to come into power in Russia, but we did it. Now we have to decide which is worse - going back on our word and letting Ukraine fall, or risking all out nuclear war with the Mad Man of Moscow (AKA, hero of the American conservative movement). Sana, I see you fall for the same demonisation/black myth strategy by applying the stigmas of "tyrant" and perverting the name of a leader. I don't know if you do it with malicious intent or just parroting. I have started a thread back in April, when I started seeing signs of escalation of aggressive verbal assaults against Russia and its leaders, that was characteristic for the times before all previous invasions of Russia. I called it "Is the West gearing up to invade Russia once again?" ( https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=584031.0) Sana, what would you say about Yeltsin, then? An "angelic wonderful leader", who is associated with the chaotic "wild" 90's and total economic collapse, subjugating Russia politically and economically to the West. You see, each and every time during the last centuries, when a Russia leader is called "good" by the West, Russia ends up on a brink of total destruction. Conversely once a leader does something right for Russia, the West screams "megalomaniacal tyrant". More on it here: "An antidote to the Western poison of defamation and black myths about Russia" https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=740020.0And to counter your statement further: Russia is also a guarantor of Ukraine, and as your "tyrant" tried to get the conflicting parties to talk, and suggested peaceful solutions, the West slammed them down, so the democratic ethnic cleansing took to the worse and worse. So, Russia did make a promise to Ukraine, "Probably not the best promise to make, considering it doesn't account for a" Western puppet having been installed by the West through coup d'etat that would proceed to ruthlessly kill the population of Ukraine. |
|
|
|
You know , there are lots of people who want the whole EU to resemble Belgium and to be called Belgians. I will take it as a compliment  And then there is the "the rudest word in the Universe"... We also call it here the most polluted country of EU. PS: By the way, it's interesting that you took my remark to mean something derogatory, and responded defensively, whereas I mentioned it as an example of an unreasonable generalisations. Take an example: If, say, some Romanian higher-ups do something stupid, but later during the course of history Belgians are blamed for it, those Belgians might get offended. Also, for example, it is highly misleading to say that that for example Belgium borders Russia, just as it is misleading to say that Russia (meaning USSR) bordered Romania. PSS: Besides, Belgians proper have approximately the same influence on the running of EU as Russians proper had on the running of USSR, i.e. - very little. My point is: use consistently correct terminology, unless of course, your agenda is to demonise Russia and promote Russophbia, in which case carry on. |
|
|
|
|
Don't expect either of the above points being permanent.
Besides, Balthazar already posted infografics showing the percentage of Russian oil exports relative to Russia's GDP.
|
|
|
|
Niothor, in the wake of our discussion of Moldova, I think that you (and others) will find the following interesting: Europe’s Faultline: Pridnestrovie and Moldova – Eurasian Union vs EU http://futuristrendcast.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/ladaraylive-2-europes-faultline-pridnestrovie-moldova-eurasian-union-vs-eu/Moldova and Pridnestrovie – I call them the stepchildren of Europe. The unrecognized Pridnestrovie – PMR (aka, Transnistria or TransDniestria) seceded from Moldova in 1990-1992, following a brutal civil war, and it has been knocking on the door of the Russian Federation ever since. In February 2014 Moldova’s other area, the Gagauzia Autonomy, had a referendum in which citizens voted overwhelmingly to secede from Moldova and join Customs Union with Russia. The new party, “Moldova’s Choice – Customs Union” has been formed in the capital of Moldova, Chisinau (Kishinev), and north Moldovan farmers, who are about to be bankrupted because of sanctions, are on the march. Meanwhile, the Chisinau (Kishinev) politicians and elites continue leading the country into EU. In three months, Moldova will have parliamentary elections. The explosion is coming. Will Moldova turn into another Ukraine? Listen to the very detailed and heartfelt analysis and predictions from Lada Ray, who grew up in those parts and who knows them intimately. |
|
|
|
Missing Russian journalist Andrey Stenin confirmed dead in Ukrainehttp://rt.com/news/184232-russian-journalist-ukraine-dead/ “The car had been shot up and burnt on a highway in the vicinity of Donetsk,” he said in a statement. “The autopsy results came back this morning. He was indeed in that car – the 33-year-old young man, a brilliant professional, someone who cared.”
...
The unit that carried out the attack was also using a tank, according to the investigators.
More than 10 cars containing peaceful civilians had been shot up. The contents of the vehicles, including the civilians' belongings, had come into Ukrainian posession. So the death toll so far: 5 Russian, 1 French and 1 Italian journalists. Sad news. As it was said before, many of the dead journalists were no strangers to hot spots, reporting from Iraq, Syria, Northern Africa, and yet they met their end in Ukraine.  In memory of.... ‘I’ll be home soon’: The life and work of Andrey Stenin (1980-2014)http://rt.com/news/184292-stenin-journalist-dead-ukraine/
|
|
|
|
Let's hope "they" will not ban the .. ASICs !! ASICs will be on the top of the hit-list. What about kill two birds with one stone? They can protect the bankers who sponsor them, and at the same time give an impression that they are doing something to reduce the harmful effects of global warming. BTW... I am not sure whether large-scale Bitcoin mining occurs in the EU or not. Electricity there is insanely expensive.  KnC has a large hangar farm up in the North of Sweden. Electricity is relatively cheap and cooling is natural. By the way, Norway (not in EU) is almost 100% renewable, seeing is electricity is generated in hydo-powerplants. We do everything with electricity here: heating, cooking, lighting. It's kind of pointless prohibiting hair-driers, when we have 7-8 1000W-1500W panels heating the house 24/7 for better part of the year. ASICs are just "free" heating. |
|
|
|
Russia is still pushing for progress in the investigation, not letting the issue to slink into nothingness: Russia wants PACE to discuss MH17 crash over Ukraine http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/747782Experts ask Donetsk militia to comb MH17 crash site for small belongings http://en.itar-tass.com/world/747743DONETSK, September 02. /ITAR-TASS/. International experts investigating the downing of a Malaysian Airlines plane ask the authorities of Ukraine’s self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic to once again comb the crash site for small belongings of crash victims, republic’s top official told ITAR-TASS on Tuesday.
“We have finally got an official letter asking us to comb through a concrete zone of some 40 square kilometers,” first deputy prime minister Andrei Purgin said, adding that most things had been collected immediately.
International experts are no longer interested in debris of the plane, he said. “Anyway, it would be a problem to remove them, as the railway was blasted, and vehicles are not suitable either” as the scene is an area of combat operations. Preliminary report on Malaysia MH17 crash due shortly http://en.itar-tass.com/world/747765The report will be ready either at the end of the week or early next week, she said. Vernooij said the preliminary report will shed certain light on the cause of the tragedy, but many questions still remain unanswered. In order to answer them, a more thorough investigation was needed and its results would be published next spring according to the board’s preliminary estimates, she said. |
|
|
|
Looks like Russia is going to make a symmetric response to the US' "Russian aggression prevention act 2266". It is suggested to include USA as the main adversary in Russia's military doctrine, designating it as the target for delivery of a preventive nuclear strike: http://rusvesna.su/news/1409743376 |
|
|
|
Belgium* has agreed to impose new sanctions against Russia: http://rusvesna.su/news/1409741500I guess it has something to do with Putin urging the freedom fighters to move to peace talks and the Belgians* (with their London/Washington handlers) not wishing to have peace in Ukraine. Italian business blames Belgium for destroying cooperation with Russia: http://rusvesna.su/news/1409741026*Following niothor's insistence on mixing Soviet Union with Russia, and calling all former SU citizens for Russians, I use the term Belgians for all EU citizens, while EU is henceforth known as just Belgium. |
|
|
|
Most important thing is to force Kiev to accept DNR/LNR as legal party in all current and future negotiations. I think it's pretty safe to say at this point that ATO has been defeated so it's perfect time to move this conflict onto political ground and give people of Donbass freedom of choice.
The ironic thing, that even if DNR/LNR stay as federative subjects of Ukraine, this whole bloodshed could have been avoided if the coup government of Kiev heeded to original federalisation/self-determinations demands from the East. If the Western "allies" of Ukraine were not so stubbornly blocking Russia's diplomatic initiatives to avoid the conflict back in May. But as someone said at the beginning of the conflict - freedom can seldom be just granted, it must be fought for.
Reading RusVesna, I see stand-off still continues: Putin appeals to the freedom fighters to stop advancing in Donetsk and Lugansk directions: http://rusvesna.su/news/1409747166In English: Ukraine ceasefire: Putin lays out 7-step plan to stop hostilities in E. Ukraine http://rt.com/news/184791-putin-ukraine-kiev-militia/In Odessa -region (Ismail) Ukrainian flags were taken down: http://rusvesna.su/news/1409747166Continuation of Ukraine falling apart at the seams Resistance: "This is some kind of a game from Kiev. This decision was taken without us. Conditions for end ceasefire, pull out of the troops": http://rusvesna.su/news/1409747274 Purgin said that Kiev's conditions are bot possible to fulfil as long as the Ukrainian soldiers are on the territory of DNR 23 towns/villages were freed by Lugansk freedom fighters. Ukrainians are on retreat: http://rusvesna.su/news/1409746672The coup government continues to threaten to concentrate its troops on the border with Transnistria: http://rusvesna.su/news/1409738665Looks like the conflict is to be exported to Moldova after all. Jatsenjuk talks about project "Wall". Building a possibly physical wall on Ukrainian/Russian border. Berlin 2.0? http://rusvesna.su/news/1409741500Ukrainian army loses plane, three tanks, 80 troops in night combat — militia http://en.itar-tass.com/world/747885“In the Donetsk area, the fascists are shelling from artillery weapons residential neighbourhoods on the southwest outskirts of Donetsk and in Yenakiyevo. Two civilians have been killed and one injured,” the bureau said.
“In the Luhansk area the South East Army in a fast advance liberated from the fascists Illiriya, Petrovskoye, Shchetovo, Kazakovka, Krasny Kut, Proletarsky, Kamenka” and established control over several other settlements. “The operation to search and destroy enemy’s sabotage and reconnaissance groups and small isolated groups that have failed to back track, finding themselves in the rear of the advancing militia forces, continues,” says the command of the Southeast Army. |
|
|
|
Another one?! They are still sending in trolls? I thought the situation was stabilising..? |
|
|
|
Just got my SEPA transfer returned to sender, when trying to deposit to Bitstamp. It turns they changed their bank from UNICREDIT BANKA SLOVENIJA D.D. to Raiffeisen Banka d.d. and I didn't notice it (the account numbers look not that different), sending to the address saved from the previous transfers. Lost €30 on return surcharges and rate deviations made by Unicredit. |
|
|
|
|
Show Posts
