Товарищ

[bubblesort]

Well, it's a point of view...

Biden’s Threats Aren’t About Protecting Ukraine’s Independence. They’re About Extending US Hegemony.

Rather than moving arms and armies eastwards, the need is to revive the Minsk process and arrive at a democratic...

www.stopwar.org.uk

Stop The War, which first brought together Britain's extra-parliamentary far left, the far left of the Labour Party (notably Jeremy Corbyn), Hamas, Hezbollah and assorted Baathists, is now pushing the official Kremlin line on Ukraine, thus aligning themselves with Tucker Carlson.

Yeah, that's a bit crazy. It's kind of along the lines of what I expect from the UK, though, if I squint hard. I wouldn't blame the UK for not wanting to fight, if that's how things go down.

In previous decades, I wouldn't even bother asking this, but... after Iraq and Afghanistan, is the UK really ready to follow America into battle again? Where's public sentiment on this? I mean, I know the conflict is in Europe this time, which might change things, but I thought our losses might blunt enthusiasm for such things.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Yeah, that's a bit crazy. It's kind of along the lines of what I expect from the UK, though, if I squint hard. I wouldn't blame the UK for not wanting to fight, if that's how things go down.

In previous decades, I wouldn't even bother asking this, but... after Iraq and Afghanistan, is the UK really ready to follow America into battle again? Where's public sentiment on this? I mean, I know the conflict is in Europe this time, which might change things, but I thought our losses might blunt enthusiasm for such things.

I think the important question at the moment, for the UK and all the other European NATO members, is whether we trust the US to honour its commitments if Russia attacks a NATO member country, particularly the Baltic states, or to stand up for Ukraine's right to self-determination.

As to whether the UK is going to follow the US anywhere, almost certainly no, quite simply, not after Iraq if it involves committing ground troops. From this side of the Atlantic, while Biden is clearly more likable than Trump and not actively hostile to liberal democracy, his foreign policy and attitude to the traditional allies of the US doesn't seem much different.

And, of course, we're all a bit worried about what happens next November, and then what happens again two years after that.

ETA


The history of Ukraine during the previous century was particularly dark and bloody -- there's a large Ukrainian community in Nottingham, where I'm from, and I first heard from friends, as a teenager, something of what had happened, both during the Holodomor, the great famine caused deliberately by Stalin, the purges, and then the Nazi occupation, during which many Ukrainians greeted the Nazis as liberators, until they discovered the hard way that, bad though the Russian communists were, some people were even worse.

 

[Free]

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Secessio plebis - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Millennials Are Supercharging the Housing Market

The generation that supposedly didn’t want to buy things now accounts for over half of all home-purchase loan applications. Economists expect them to keep demand strong for years.

www.wsj.com

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Clara D.]

More fool them, I will continue to get house brand "toaster pastries."

 

[Free]

That whole "Owner wanted a cut" bit is what burns my ass.

 

[WolfEyes]

Thousands of Fred Meyer, QFC employees in Oregon go on strike

A strike is underway affecting a number of Oregon supermarkets, barely a week before Christmas Day.

www.opb.org

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Katheryne Helendale]

That whole "Owner wanted a cut" bit is what burns my ass.

I find the fact that we still live in a tip culture - especially one that pays its tipped staff several times less than minimum wage - revolting. But for the owner of a business, who profits off those workers, to demand a cut is just reprehensible.

Anyone see that episode of Kitchen Nightmares (US) featuring Amy's Baking Company in Scottsdale, AZ? Yeah, it's pretty much like that.

I'd say that I hope she files a complaint with the state's labor board, but I'm pretty sure Arkansas is an "at-will" state.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

The four genders.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

'The animals in that store [treat] the people who worked there like sh*t': Apple employees strike after spitting incident

In an announcement via Twitter, Apple employees said that they will be striking on Christmas Eve. They say one incident sparked action.

www.dailydot.com

Strike, Comrades.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]