Moose & Squirrel v Boris & Natasha: what's the deal with the rooskies and trumpland?

[skinsmarydu]

We have truly hit "rock bottom" as a Nation. 

[China]

4 hours ago, skinsmarydu said:

We have truly hit "rock bottom" as a Nation. 

 

Unfortunately, I think it can, and may, get worse.

[Larry]

5 hours ago, skinsmarydu said:

We have truly hit "rock bottom" as a Nation. 

I said the same thing. About a year into W's administration. 

[Llevron]

6 hours ago, skinsmarydu said:

We have truly hit "rock bottom" as a Nation. 

Sig bet? 

[Hersh]

10 minutes ago, Llevron said:

Sig bet? 

 

We aren't even close. It's gonna get a lot worse before there is any chance it gets better. 

[LD0506]

14 hours ago, Hersh said:

 

We aren't even close. It's gonna get a lot worse before there is any chance it gets better. 

 

Not only going to get worse, it has to get worse because a substantial % of the populace remains convinced that they can ride it all out on the couch with a bag of Doritos.

[China]

Federal agencies warn of Russian hackers targeting critical infrastructure

 

Federal agencies are warning about Russian hackers potentially targeting critical infrastructure in the United States.

 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI and National Security Agency released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory on Tuesday detailing cyber operations sponsored by the Russian state, including commonly used tactics, techniques and procedures.

 

The advisory also outlines detection actions, incident response guidance and mitigation measures.

 

The agencies said they released the memo to “warn organizations of cyber threats and help the cybersecurity community reduce the risk presented by these threats.” It does not, however, mention any specific threats.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Mr. Sinister]

Gee, I hope that 4 year ****show didn't do a number on our (already woeful) nationwide grid. 

[China]

 

 

Meanwhile....

 

Most of Ukraine's government sites back online after "massive" cyberattack

 

About 90% of Ukrainian government websites that were knocked offline on Friday by a cyberattack of unidentified origins were functioning again, Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President's Office, said during a Eurasia Center event.

 

Why it matters: The cyberattack, which Yermak said did not target country's critical infrastructure, came less than a day after key security talks failed to ease tensions between the U.S. and Europe and Russia.

 

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, raising fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin could invade in an attempt to stop Ukraine from strengthening its ties with the West.

"Ukrainian! All your personal data was uploaded to the public network. All data on the computer is destroyed, it is impossible to restore it," a message written on the hacked websites said, according to Reuters.

The note, written in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish, added: "All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect the worst. This is for your past, present and future."

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

 

[Larry]

Really think we should add Ukraine to NATO. All of Ukraine. 
 

I'm tired of this ****. 

[Barry.Randolphe]

17 hours ago, Larry said:

Really think we should add Ukraine to NATO. All of Ukraine. 
 

I'm tired of this ****. 

 

100%. They're not annexing Ukraine. Enough is enough

[China]

What it's like to be a 'traitor' of Vladimir Putin

 

When Russian politician Vladimir Kara-Murza landed in the hospital due to a sudden illness in 2017, news quickly spread that he believed it was a deliberate poisoning. Although there were alternative explanations for his critical condition, Kara-Murza suspects his and other opposition leaders' dire experiences were not 'strange accidents'.

 

The Man Putin Couldn't Kill delves into the lives of some of Vladimir Putin's most outspoken crtics, particularly Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and explores their hospitalisations and deaths.

 

Watch the full documentary on BBC Select

[China]

EU’s Imports Of U.S. LNG Five Times Higher Than Russian Supply

 

So far this month, the European Union has received U.S. natural gas volumes five times higher than Russia’s pipeline deliveries, according to Polish outlet rp.pl, the first time in history in which American LNG has surpassed Russian gas deliveries.  

 

Last month, at least 30 tankers with liquefied natural gas from the United States were headed to Europe, where the gas and energy crisis pushed regional LNG prices way above the Asian LNG benchmark and 14 times higher than the U.S. Henry Hub price.

 

At the same time, Russian gas deliveries have been lower than usual in recent weeks. Low Russian supply and cold weather have been the two main drivers of rising gas prices in Europe in recent weeks when Russia’s deliveries via Poland and Ukraine have been lower than historical norms.

 

Low natural gas deliveries from Russia appear to have artificially tightened the European gas market, the International Energy Agency’s Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Thursday, adding that energy systems “face significant risks” by relying too much on one supplier for a key energy source.

 

“We see strong elements of ‘artificial tightness’ in European gas markets, which appears to be due to the behaviour of Russia’s state-controlled gas supplier,” Birol wrote in a LinkedIn post.

 

Even with normal winter weather conditions, Europe faces storage inventories dropping to a record low of below 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) by the end of March, Wood Mackenzie said on Thursday.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

On 1/14/2022 at 1:21 PM, China said:

Most of Ukraine's government sites back online after "massive" cyberattack

 

About 90% of Ukrainian government websites that were knocked offline on Friday by a cyberattack of unidentified origins were functioning again, Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President's Office, said during a Eurasia Center event.

 

Why it matters: The cyberattack, which Yermak said did not target country's critical infrastructure, came less than a day after key security talks failed to ease tensions between the U.S. and Europe and Russia.

 

Russia has amassed more than 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, raising fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin could invade in an attempt to stop Ukraine from strengthening its ties with the West.

"Ukrainian! All your personal data was uploaded to the public network. All data on the computer is destroyed, it is impossible to restore it," a message written on the hacked websites said, according to Reuters.

The note, written in Ukrainian, Russian and Polish, added: "All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect the worst. This is for your past, present and future."

 

Click on the link for the full article

 

Microsoft discloses malware attack on Ukraine govt networks

 

Microsoft said late Saturday that dozens of computer systems at an unspecified number of Ukrainian government agencies have been infected with destructive malware disguised as ransomware, a disclosure suggesting an attention-grabbing defacement attack on official websites was a diversion. The extent of the damage was not immediately clear.

 

The attack comes as the threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine looms and diplomatic talks to resolve the tense stand-off appear stalled.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

 

[China]

UK gives Ukraine anti-tank weapons as Canada sends special forces

 

The United Kingdom has begun supplying Ukraine with anti-tank weapons and Canada has reportedly deployed a small contingent of special forces to Kyiv amid concerns of a possible invasion by Russia.

 

The developments came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov angrily rejected claims by the United States last week that Moscow was preparing a pretext to invade Ukraine if diplomacy failed to meet its objectives.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[LadySkinsFan]

Lavrov is a snake, just like his boss. He's probably Trump's handler since TFG invited him into the Oval Office right after inauguration without anyone else except Russians. 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by LadySkinsFan

[JCB]

God, I remember that, LSF. And the "party of Reagan" just went la-la-la.

[Larry]

1 hour ago, China said:

The developments came as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov angrily rejected claims by the United States last week that Moscow was preparing a pretext to invade Ukraine if diplomacy failed to meet its objectives.

 

. .  and by "diplomacy", they mean "threats of invasion".  

22 minutes ago, JCB said:

God, I remember that, LSF. And the "party of Reagan" just went la-la-la.

 

Russia endorsed Trump. (By using their national spy services to hack the DNC.)  

 

And when they did it, the R's did not change their opinion of Trump.  

 

They changed their opinion of Russia.  

[CousinsCowgirl84]

So much for standing with Allies.

 

During his news conference marking one year in office, Biden suggested a "minor incursion" by Russia would elicit a lesser response than a full-scale invasion of the country.

 

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/joe-biden-press-conference-01-19-22/index.html

 

just a minor incursion means what??? 
 

 

well, after reading the article that article links too, he is not talking about the US position on it, but NATOs position, eg not all nato countries in agreement on what to do in the case of a small incursion vs an invasion…. But… honestly I don’t see how you delineate the two…

Edited January 19, 2022 by CousinsCowgirl84

[Barry.Randolphe]

It's stupid to even discuss hypotheticals out in the open right now because of situations like this

[China]

Flotilla Of Russian Amphibious Warships Has Entered The English Channel

 

Agroup of Russian amphibious warfare vessels — three of which left the Baltic Sea region yesterday, preceded by another three the day before — have started to enter the English Channel. Some expect that their journey will eventually take them to the Black Sea to participate in an invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces.

 

Multiple reports confirm that all six of the Russian Navy warships have begun their passage through the English Channel, after which they will enter the Atlantic Ocean. The vessels comprise the Project 775 Ropucha class amphibious warfare ships Olenegorskiy Gornyak and Georgiy Pobedonosets, as well as the Project 11711 Ivan Gren class landing ship Pyotr Morgunov, from the Northern Fleet, plus three other Ropuchas, the Korolev, Minsk, and Kaliningrad, from the Baltic Fleet.

 

The Netherlands-based Marineschepen website reported today that the Royal Netherlands Navy hydrographic survey vessel Zr.Ms. Luymes and its embarked NH90 helicopter escorted three of the Russian vessels through international waters in the North Sea, while they were en route to the Channel. “Supervision was then taken over by Belgian and British naval vessels,” the website added, with the Royal Navy apparently having sent the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon to shadow the Russian vessels. At least one French Navy warship is also understood to have been dispatched to monitor the progress of the Russian ships.

 

The warships from the Northern Fleet had already been the cause of alarm during their time in the Baltic, which began on January 12. Their movements were judged “highly irregular” by the Swedish authorities, which led to hundreds of troops and armored vehicles being deployed to the island of Gotland.

 

With tensions continuing to surround Moscow’s build-up of troops and equipment around its borders with Ukraine, there has been much speculation that the movements of the six amphibious warfare vessels are connected to it.

 

While we have already discussed the capabilities of these warships in our previous coverage, it’s worth noting that they are both landing ship tank (LST) designs that can unload troops, vehicles, and other loads directly onto the beach via clamshell bow doors. The Soviet-era Ropucha class ships each displace close to 4,100 tons with a full load and can carry up to 10 main battle tanks, 340 troops, 550 tons of cargo, or a mixture of all three.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

US Embassy in Kyiv asks State Dept. to authorize departure of nonessential personnel

 

The US Embassy in Kyiv has requested that the State Department authorize the departure of all nonessential staff and their families, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

 

A State Department spokesperson said they have "nothing to announce at this time," adding, "We conduct rigorous contingency planning, as we always do, in the event the security situation deteriorates." A spokesperson for the embassy declined to confirm and referred CNN to the State Department in Washington.

 

A source close to the Ukrainian government told CNN that the US has informed Ukraine that it is "likely to start evacuations as early as next week" of the families of diplomats from the embassy in Kyiv. The source said President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about the matter and told him that if the United States took such a dramatic step, it would be an "overreaction." CNN has asked the Ukrainian government for comment.

A State Department official said the department would not comment on private discussions, adding that decisions about overseas staff are based on a single criterion: the safety and security of Americans.

The embassy's request marks an escalation from CNN's report last month that the US was working on contingency planning to evacuate Americans from Ukraine, as Russia has continued to mass troops near the border and spark fears of a renewed invasion. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry's latest intelligence assessment, shared with CNN this week, assessed that Russia has now deployed more than 127,000 troops in the region.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]