Reply to: Ukraine Unrest

[doodab]

I bet some of his best friends are Ukrainian.

Regardless of who I do or don't know I don't see why you should assume I don't care just because I happen not to agree with everything you say.

You clearly think being eastern European gives you some sort of privilege to express an opinion, especially when it's based on recycling the usual old conspiracy theory crap and blaming everyone else for what has been a long running situation. Ukraine is quite obviously a divided country and these tensions have been there and growing since the breakup of the USSR, in fact I think if you look at the history of being torn between east and west it goes back quite a bit longer. The situation is clearly far more complex than the simple protesters right, government wrong and everything being stirred up by external agents you seem to think, the fact you have ruling party MPs voting against the president, the head of the armed forces resigning and various provinces declaring the government illegitimate while the crimeans make noises about going it alone ought to tell you that the divisions run a bit deeper than that.

The president may not be fully legitimate and you may not like what he's doing with regard to closer ties to Russia or turning his back on constitutional reform (which served as the trigger for the recent escalation) but the reality seems to be that a sizable minority of the population would prefer closer ties to Russia over the EU. The anti government protesters aren't the only voices that need to be listened to and if they get everything they want there is every chance of a reaction elsewhere.

One positive sign is that a fair number of high ranking officials have stood up and done what they think is the right thing to do which shows that civil society and moral decency is still alive and the situation is not lost. So lets hope the sensible heads prevail and both the government and the more extreme opposition are willing to compromise and move things forwards before it gets any worse. I still think there are going to be sticking points because the divisions obviously run deep and perhaps a separation into two states that can go their own way is the best solution.

[MyUserName]

I bet some of his best friends are Ukrainian.

Mine aren't. I do not know anyone from the Ukraine.
That does not stop me hoping that people over there stop killing each soon.

[mos]

1/10

I bet some of his best friends are Ukrainian.

[suityou01]

like you care.

1/10

[doodab]

Apparently they also have policemen from western Ukraine turning up to protect the protesters from their colleagues now, which just goes to show how deep the divisions run.

No doubt this isn't true as I read it on the BBC though, eh mos?

[MyUserName]

like you care.

What makes you think that he (or the rest of us) would not care about the suffering of others?
Do you care about the plight of people other than your own fellow nationals?

[doodab]

like you care.

Actually I have a couple of friends from the Ukraine including my best mates wife whose family still live in Kiev. So I do care, and you can **** off and shove your media led conspiracy theories back up your arse where they came from. Dickhead.

[mos]

Lets hope that puts and end to the killing at least.

like you care.

[doodab]

Well it looks like el presidente is seeing sense and the original constitutional reforms are back on the table.

BBC News - Ukrainian President Yanukovych agrees early election

Lets hope that puts and end to the killing at least.

[SpontaneousOrder]

In ex-Soviet republics hunting rifles are usually smooth bore, so they can't be too accurate because there is no rifling on them. In USA it's different - people can get effectively sniper/assault rifle with scope for hunting.

The difference is big - attacker with proper guns with rifling can engage 300-500 meters away, and people with smoothbore maybe got 100-200 meters effective range.

Granted, I don't think it will take long for the protestors to get similar firearms - some arsenals have already been raided, if situation escalates then it will be proper war zone but even now Ukrainian President (who was a criminal convicted for rape in the past!!!) got nowhere to go now that there are >100 dead, such orders could have come up only from high level and he'll carry responsibility for it until he is dead.

Guns have wheels! (apart from machine guns )

[mos]

Reminds me of the joke about a bear chasing a rabbit through the forest. A genie appears and grants each a wish. The bear wants all the other bears in the forest to be female. The rabbit wants the bear to be gay.

[BrilloPad]

I bet someone just argued that all bears in Russia are gay, and then it all kicked off

Reminds me of the joke about a bear chasing a rabbit through the forest. A genie appears and grants each a wish. The bear wants all the other bears in the forest to be female. The rabbit wants the bear to be gay.

[MicrosoftBob]

Not true. Its an argument over the best way to bleed a radiator.

I bet someone just argued that all bears in Russia are gay, and then it all kicked off

[BrilloPad]

My very limited knowledge of this is that one side wants closer ties with the EU, the other lot (including those in power) closer ties with Russia.

Not true. Its an argument over the best way to bleed a radiator.

[darmstadt]

None of which are rifles, even ignoring the semantic?

Correct, how about this then: Crosman | Outlet Store | Phantom 1000 Rifle Smooth Bore (.177)




(But it is actually an air rifle!)