Walter Ostanek
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Posts posted by Walter Ostanek
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On 4/12/2024 at 4:04 PM, Nebraska said:
Cross between Hasselhoff and my 67 year old brain-damaged uncle who still lives with his mum
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If I may recommend the following series of fantastically researched videos that are mega worth a watch, like crack out a couple of six packs and strap in for an evening. I've had Ukes and Russians tell me that they learnt tonnes about their own history from watching these
1: The Orange and Maidan revolutions and the role played by oligarch factional bullshit and its relationship to russia[n meddling]
(That fight in the Rada halfway through this vid, I remember Tony Hawks (of Round Ireland with a Fridge fame) taking the piss out of that at the time, on his shitty show on Auntie Beeb)
2: Girkin's fake revolution in Donbas, creeping direct russian involvement, plus good points on timescale manipulation in the media.Fuck, I was watching all this shit on Vice during the aphex soundcloud dump, and it's been absolutely nuts to get to know people as refugees who were there through all this at the time
(also on this topic, I highly recommend reading "Hybrid Warriors" by Anna Arutunyan, who attempted to interview Girkin)
(also, I lost my job at the time because of those post-MH17 sanctions lol)
3: The way the "NATO started it" argument went from semi-plausible to total-wank, plus why Mearsheimer et al are cunts4: The way Iraq, and LaRouchian horseshoe-theory conspiracy nuttery, influenced Russian and far-right US thinking, and provided a lot of the ideological backdrop to the invasion
The LaRouchian view of "colour revolutions" is absolutely central to this - Putin's utter incapability of grasping that the masses might have agency, and the LaRouchist denial of agency to the masses as a point of principle. Like, to debunk it, just talk to someone who was there FFS
Christ, I didn't realise Glazyev was a LaRouchist until I saw this
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In the glory days of Limewire there was a chill dnb track attributed to Squarepusher called "Sarah's World", much like kickass violin solo etc
Anyone else know it? Anyone got it?
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wye know eclipse thread?
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Post lush vocoders that make you feel warm and fuzzy (not beastie boys)
(spillover from Where's the OMD Love)
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What threats? What evidence is there that Putin wants to invade these places
Do I really need to list examples? Start with the at least weekly threats of nuclear war against various states on primetime state TV (often made by sitting government figures). Or you could play a game where you google "Medvedev [country] tweet" to come up with a list of threats that the (drunken?) head of russia's security council has made to a broad swath of countries over the last couple of years. And to think that I used to admire the chap as fairly level-headed.
It's not about ability, it's about intent, and knowing that they will do it when they gain the ability to. Because they say that they want to. And I don't think it will end in nuclear war, because their hybrid attacks have already demonstrably worked. That's why I find it funny that some people still care about these maps of the whole world peppered with US military bases. The material context has drastically changed. Hard power is heavily undermined in a world of troll farms and deniable PMCs. Imagine russia using twitter to conjure up an acute domestic political crisis in Lithuania and then have mysterious masked gunmen start appearing in out-of-the-way villages a la Donbas? Does Russia need to nuke anybody to take it over? Does NATO's Article 5 have any meaning at all in that situation?
As for georgia, the oft-overlooked point is that they were quite cuntish to their autonomous regions prior to 2008, and those vague NATO invitations were stupid. Russia's meddling there was grim but somewhat understandable.
QuoteObviously the terms would not be in Ukraine's favor, but it would stop the killing
It wouldn't, though. In exactly the same way as a Gaza ceasefire will not stop Israel from peppering civilian crowds with bullets in occupied territory whenever it pleases.
QuoteCall it what you will (imperialism or sphere of influence), would you rather have Russia and China be the dominant force in the east and then rest of world or the United States. That is what is at stake, and the way that America chooses to make war with Russia instead of cooperating and driving a wedge between Russia and China, is foolish and also incompetent. It creates and sustains military conflict and leeches off the material profits of these unnecessary wars.
Not sure how any of that leads towards a more desired outcome. In some parts of the world, the decline of US imperialism would be a great thing. And if anything, russia and china being in opposing camps seems like a higher risk of nuclear war...
QuoteEurope has enough power collectively to challenge American policy. They are essentially America's bitch at this point, and ironically the war in Ukraine accelerated this trend especially concerning the cost of energy oil and natural gas
Agreed and this is what infuriates me to no end. Germany's Energiewende was one of the dumbest political decisions of this century. That's what got them hooked on russian gas, and drastically constrained the political agency of Europe as a whole. I hoped Nordstream would force Europe seriously onto a path of energy independence (not to say decarbonising), but (to a first approximation anyway) it hasn't. Although another aspect of that is Russian shenanigans in a swath of Sahel states, i.e. the neo-colonies France relied on for its nuclear power. Europe has collectively failed miserably to assert itself, part by russian design but part by truly pathetic short-sightedness
QuoteAmerica's sec of state just announced today that Ukraine will be a NATO member.
Weird to imply it's being shoved down their neck when they really want it. Whether they should want it or not is another matter, hybrid warfare is demonstrating its uselessness. I also simply don't buy the line that Russia is scared of NATO given their aforementioned mastery of hybrid power, and additionally the fact that Putin very eagerly worked alongside NATO during the War on
IslamTerror - something that has been weirdly airbrushed. There were "NATO Bases" on Russian soil in the 2000s... Putin invited them there!-
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bola "now playing" thread
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9 hours ago, decibal cooper said:
Washington's 'plan' is just to continue throwing money at the situation and to extend the war for as long as possible, to fight to the last dead Ukrainian.
I do find it funny how some of the domestic critics of yanqui imperialism are the least able to step outside of that imperalist mindset. Now I agree, the yanks are bumbling along not really knowing what their aim is. But, this isn't about America. The ukes would be fighting whether or not the yanks arm them. It'd just turn from a war into a huge insurgency.
QuoteYou don't have shit to say about the 2022 negotiations in Istanbul and how this whole thing could have been avoided.
How do you think it went? Did Sleepy Joe forbid the Ze from surrendering? Do you recall the context of the negotiations - taking place just as the ukes discovered the first mass graves? When they realised what continued russian occupation of any part of the country meant for the people there?
Now I will say that I wouldn't be surprised if Ze was hoodwinked by Bojo's grandiose Churchillian crap. I'm sure he made promises that he couldn't keep.
QuoteYou make it seem like they haven't already lost four oblasts that they have very little hope of retaking
They haven't - they've lost Crimea and Luhansk, but retain large chunks of Kherson, Zap and Donetsk. Russia has never occupied Zaporizhia city, and I dread to think what kind of Gaza-like apocalypse russia would unleash if they got their mitts on the place (or Kharkiv city).
8 hours ago, decibal cooper said:All of the rhetoric painting Putin as the next Hitler on his way to conquer Europe
Except that that is Putin's own rhetoric. The threats of invasion and nuclear annihilation against Poland, the Baltics, Finland, Germany, the UK, even Ireland come from he himself - the autocratic leader of the Russian state, plus his apparatchiks who he controls (Drunk Dmitri almost comically so) and the talking heads of his state-controlled media. When imperialist nutjobs make threats, they should be believed. You can hardly accuse people of vilifying Putin as some brutal monster when he openly, willingly (in front of voluntary interviews!) paints himself as one. Have you forgotten when he victim-blamed Poland for Hitler's invasion in front of an audicence of millions of braindead yanks?
Note that the political superstructure that Putin has created, comes with built-in off-ramps. At any time he chooses, he can blame his boyars, his advisers, his ultranationalist outriders, of deceiving him or misinforming him. He could very easily and (actually semi-plausibly) blame Girkin and Malofeyev for the entire unpleasantness since 2014 (he even has Girkin in prison already). He does have options to climb down and save his own skin. But he doesn't, because this is what he wants to happen.
5 hours ago, decibal cooper said:To be honest with you, I am convinced most by the American political scientist John Mearsheimer,
The Realist viewpoint might be a passive, pragmatic endorsement of imperialism, rather than an active, enthusiastic one, but it is an endorsement of imperialism all the same. A "sphere of influence" IS imperialism. It's the same logic behind the Bay of Pigs and the Monroe Doctrine.
It's also funny how most of the more popular commentators within that tradition are also terminally captured by yank-o-centrism; they can't comprehend that Europe might be, or could be (or should be), its own independent geopolitical entity. And it's Europe that Ukrainians want to join, it's that that caused loads of them to first rise up in 2013. Most Ukrainians were against joining NATO when (and for a long time after) Russia first invaded in 2014.
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On 1/31/2024 at 3:31 AM, user said:
DJ Slipped Disc
holy shit that one is actually good
DJ Detweiler
DJ P.Eng
DJ Mavic
DJ Hypnodisc from Robot Wars
DJ Harvey (MBE)
DJ Peter Mansbridge
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still not managed to see it but can't wait. who plays the pug in this version?
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On 3/31/2024 at 11:59 PM, ignatius said:
it doesn't even need an article because it's retina-burningly obvious, but here's one anyway discussing the use of the Baltimore bridge disaster by certain actors to whip up a geostrategic media frenzy:
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used to love this lad, haven't listened for yonks
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do we live in a timeline where you can admit to war crimes on reddit?
Spoiler
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4 minutes ago, ignatius said:
yeah.. i updated the post to add some commentary. people took him to task in the comments about some statements he made about Poland and how polish people hate ukraine.
I have to wonder if this line of thinking, if a voice like his, is prominent somewhere in the halls of congress or the pentagon or whatever..
the news and narratives we get are so vastly different from what he says.
Furthermore I'm so fucking sick of these ideas that people want to be imperial subjects of Putin because they speak Russian or because they opposed Maidan. I've got to know so many people like that over the last couple of years, these narratives couldn't be further from the truth.
At least he touched on the resource issue - that is, indeed, a very material underpinning to the "SVO". Though he's weirdly off-kilter about France's interests in Ukrainian uranium, they can (and do) have a far safer, far higher-grade supplier in the form Canada.
Been talking to a friend in russia all evening, he is scared shitless of what comes next, everyone with a brain there remembers how Chechnya unfolded. I talk to a couple of friends in Kharkiv most days... but can't tonight because they still have blackouts after the last missile attack.
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1 hour ago, ignatius said:
this guy has interesting insights. first video is from 5 or so months ago. this guy has worked/works in various government positions related to defense, intelligence etc etc.. 2nd video is from 7 days ago
Christ that has some nauseating takes. Simping for imperialism based on the etymology of a country's name and historical linguistic regions. I hope the Swiss don't find out!
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I remember my mum getting upset with me when I came home with the CD version and she saw the bewbs on the cover lol. And fond memories of intricately adding all the symbols in Word so I could paste them into Winamp and give the second track its proper name
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59 minutes ago, decibal cooper said:
Hmm, they were warning about something like this happening a couple of weeks ago. What a convenient excuse for even more dictatorial powers - so soon after an "election" too! An awful lot like how Chechnya first kicked off, no? It'll also be a great way of putting the yanks in a bind too: "you're fine with Israel committing genocide after the murderous Hamas raid, so how can you criticise our vindictive brutality?"
Funnily enough, barely anyone gave a shit in the news about the russian rockets lobbed at a Ukrainian hydroelectric dam last night.
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3 hours ago, auxien said:
America is reaping plenty of rewards both monetarily and in terms of our power dominance. i’m not saying this is good, just pointing it out…lots of parties have much to gain from these conflicts. whatever side of things you’re on, if you’re cashing some checks, a lot of powerful people are happy.
and the deaths of children don’t matter to those powerful people. world keeps spinning & their influence + bank accts grow, that’s all that matters to them.
The yanks benefit immensely from Israel's existence, it's a nice little toehold from which to play geopolitical chess in the ME, though I don't see any material benefit accruing to the US from Bibi's latest escapade in unmatched brutality. They want an Israel that keeps Iran in check, not an Israel that dents their own credibility.
Whereas russia and china have a lot to gain from the continued outrage
3 hours ago, decibal cooper said:One theme I hear repeated a lot by political analysts is that the common people or citizens of a lot of Muslim countries in that area really do care about the people there, same with other countries throughout the world, but that the elites/leaders in those countries do not really care that much so long as the situation does not impact their country's security and bottom line.
That's it in a nutshell. The Gulf sheikhs throw them the odd bone, and undoubtedly help with negotiations, but it never amounts to anything substantial. Why would any state offer any *actual* help the Palestinians? They're poor. They have nothing to offer in return. (By Israel's design)
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23 minutes ago, auxien said:
it got vetoed this morning by Russia & China. reasoning was due to the inclusion of language requiring Hamas to release all hostages, whereas previous ceasefire resolutions (supported by most except the US) have been unconditional.
They are reaping the geopolitical gains from the fallout of this brutality, so why would they support a ceasefire?
In Palestine they are well aware that no country in the world actually gives a toss about them
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35 minutes ago, decibal cooper said:
ask yourself: who benefits from [engineering] this state of affairs
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how to beat off to autechre
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stupid first world problems you're dealing with
in General Banter
Posted
my shed is falling apart so i put a tarp on it for a roof, but the bloke nextdoor keeps flicking his fagends on top of it
hasn't started a fire yet