Ukraine War discussion

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#3097448 29-Jun-2023 23:05

kingdragonfly: Why are we protecting him? [DotCom]

I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Who is that "we"? and how is that "we" you speak of protecting DotCom in particular?

kingdragonfly

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#3097502 30-Jun-2023 00:14

When I say "we" I mean the New Zealand taxpayers, protecting Kim Dotcom and two friends Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk wanted by U.S. prosecutors for racketeering and other crimes.

Perhaps the New Zealand government should say: "Kim you've been a persona non grata for a decade. Your two friends have reached a deal avoiding extradition to the U.S. in exchange for facing charges in New Zealand. We'll be gracious. If you want to avoid taking a con-air flight to the United States in a month's time, we'll allow you to flee before then" and hand him a travel guide.

neb

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#3097503 30-Jun-2023 00:24

kingdragonfly: When I say "we" I mean the New Zealand taxpayers, protecting Kim Dotcom and two friends Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk

Also known as "following the rule of law, whether we agree with how it works or not".

This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

gzt

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#3097521 30-Jun-2023 07:57

kingdragonfly: When I say "we" I mean the New Zealand taxpayers, protecting Kim Dotcom and two friends Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk wanted by U.S. prosecutors for racketeering and other crimes.

Citation please. On that point I think you'll find the NZ government is trying to have him extradited to USA and has spent all that and more that trying to achieve it. There is a Dotcom topic.

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#3097551 30-Jun-2023 10:05

Back to Ukraine

Business Insider: How Putin defenders among the US right reacted to the Wagner mutiny
...
Several figures from the US right weighed in on the events – many of whom have previously expressed admiration for the Russian president.

Most of the responses fell along two key themes: implying that it would be worse to have Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in charge of Russia than Putin or vaguely implying that the US government under Joe Biden somehow supported the uprising.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a Putin superfan, remained silent however.
...

Tinkerisk

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#3098072 1-Jul-2023 04:30

US short-range missiles with a range of 300km for Ukraine ... now things are heating up!

- NET: FTTH, OPNsense, 10G backbone, GWN APs, ipPBX
- SRV: 12 RU HA server cluster, 0.1 PB storage on premise
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- 3D: two 3D printers, 3D scanner, CNC router, laser cutter

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#3098080 1-Jul-2023 08:31

Before the coup attempt

New York Times: Chinese Firm Sent Large Shipments of Gunpowder to Russian Munitions Factory

On two separate occasions last year, railroad cars carrying tens of thousands of kilograms of smokeless powder — enough propellant to collectively make at least 80 million rounds of ammunition — rumbled across the China-Russia border at the remote town of Zabaykalsk.

The powder had been shipped by Poly Technologies, a state-owned Chinese company on which the United States had previously imposed sanctions for its global sales of missile technology and providing support to Iran. Its destination was Barnaul Cartridge Plant, an ammunition factory in central Russia with a history of supplying the Russian government.

These previously unreported shipments, which were identified by Import Genius, a U.S.-based trade data aggregator, raise new questions about the role China has played in supporting Russia as it fights to capture Ukrainian territory. U.S. officials have expressed concerns that China could funnel products to Russia that would help in its war effort — what is known as “lethal aid” — though they have not said outright that China has made such shipments.

Speaking from Beijing on Monday, Antony J. Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, said China had assured the United States that it was not providing lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine, and that the U.S. government had “not seen anything right now to contradict that.”

“But what we are concerned about is private companies in China that may be providing assistance,” Mr. Blinken said.
...
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AP News: In China, a muted reaction to the revolt in Russia belies anxiety over war, global balance of power

China’s muted reaction to the Wagner mercenary group uprising against Russia’s military belies Beijing’s growing anxieties over the war in Ukraine and how this affects the global balance of power.

China’s ruling Communist Party called the swift end of the 22-hour revolt Moscow’s “internal affair,” with state media affirming China’s support for Russia.

Chinese observers said the incident showed how overblown Western rhetoric was regarding the “Russian internal conflict” and that President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power remains secure.

But the uprising also threatens to deepen growing anxieties in Beijing over Russia’s war in Ukraine, given China’s limited ability to influence the situation.

China has maintained a consistent position on the war: neutral on paper, but favoring Russia in practice, with frequent state visits and joint military drills between the two nations. It’s a delicate balance, calibrated carefully to avoid damaging relations with Russia or Europe, both of which Beijing sees as critical to countering American power.
...

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#3098379 1-Jul-2023 16:22

FT: Russia detains ‘General Armageddon’ in crackdown on pro-Wagner elites

Top Russian army general Sergei Surovikin has been detained as Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin cracks down on Wagner sympathisers following the militia’s failed mutiny last week.

Surovikin, a senior Russian general known to have a good relationship with Wagner’s leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, has not been heard from for several days and has been detained, according to sources in Russia’s elite and western government officials familiar with the matter.

It remains unclear whether Surovikin, the deputy commander of Russia’s invasion force in Ukraine and head of its aerospace forces, has been charged as a plotter in the uprising or simply detained for interrogation, and where he is being held.

The Kremlin has declined to explain why the general disappeared from public view, while Surovikin’s daughter Veronika claimed:

“Honestly, no, nothing has happened to him, he’s at work. When did he appear in the media every day? He never made any statements every day. As I understand, everything is sort of flowing as things normally happen. Everyone is at their workplace, everything is fine.”

Putin has begun a clean-up operation at the top of the security services, members of the Moscow elite and western officials have said, with the president moving to quash critics, restore order and re-establish his dominance after the first coup attempt in Russia in three decades.

Many of the hardliners who have been known to sympathise with Wagner and criticise the regular armed forces have disappeared from view in recent days.
...

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#3098380 1-Jul-2023 16:27

Technofreak

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#3098408 1-Jul-2023 18:25

Today Russia, tomorrow China.

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gzt

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#3098413 1-Jul-2023 18:48

Technofreak: Today Russia, tomorrow China.

Unlikely. China does not have or support any mercenary army.

Any short reading will tell you mercenary armies turn on their employer and cause serious problems. Even worse - instant problems if they don't get paid. This situation is significantly, more complex. And now.. they're going to Belarus apparently.

ezbee

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#3098415 1-Jul-2023 19:16

If you don't have a Mercenary Army to turn on you there is always your real Army.

Your Dictator is then a General or a committee of Generals, rather than a political operative from elite.
Create a strong military and you might create a military strong enough to get ideas.

Argentia might be a good historical example? Myanmar a current one.

Technofreak

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#3098476 1-Jul-2023 21:08

gzt:
Technofreak: Today Russia, tomorrow China.

Unlikely. China does not have or support any mercenary army.

Any short reading will tell you mercenary armies turn on their employer and cause serious problems. Even worse - instant problems if they don't get paid. This situation is significantly, more complex. And now.. they're going to Belarus apparently.

Sorry wrong context. My post was intended to go directly below the one about the Chinese supporting Russia but didn't get sent at the time it was written.

I could have been a bit less cryptic. I was trying to say we are battling Russia now and we will be battling China next. You have only to look at their actions in the South China Sea to see there is another territory grab happening bit by bit, and that added to the increasing influence in the likes of the Solomon's. Actions not too far different to what Russia has been up to.

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neb

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#3098482 1-Jul-2023 21:33

Technofreak:
I was trying to say we are battling Russia now and we will be battling China next.

Or not. China has looked at what happened to Russia, which no-one including Russia could have predicted before 2022, and decided that's not for them. So they're quietly supplying Russia to fight a proxy war, but won't risk global isolation over a few islands. Belt and Road is far more effective than military action.

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#3098497 1-Jul-2023 23:34

neb:
Technofreak:

I was trying to say we are battling Russia now and we will be battling China next.

Or not. China has looked at what happened to Russia, which no-one including Russia could have predicted before 2022, and decided that's not for them. So they're quietly supplying Russia to fight a proxy war, but won't risk global isolation over a few islands. Belt and Road is far more effective than military action.

I hope so too, but I fear not.

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