X Fan
Active Member
Happy for her (beyond the drugs, why she needed to go there to play in a challenging environment is my Question) but the Marine who has been locked up for 4 years should have also been negotiated free.
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Russia/Ukraine conflict
- Thread starter amolina
- Start date
The Russians weren't willing to negotiate on Whelan. He also holds British, Irish, and Canadian citizenships, so I hope those countries are also making strong efforts to get him freed. I'm sure Griner is well aware of how collosally stupid it was for her to attempt to leave Russia with the Cannabis oil.
The guy they traded was actually an arms dealer. Maybe nativewolf was saying it would have been better to swap a spy instead. The Russians had most of the leverage here, though. At least the arms dealer already served 15 years in prison.
bkp_duke
Well-Known Member
But did they have the leverage? Did we REALLY want her back? I mean, legit, she did break their laws (which are bonkers for 420-based products), but her excuse was she didn't know. . .
adiggs
Well-Known Member
Yes. The Russians had the leverage in exactly the same way that kidnappers have leverage.
Britney had the misfortune of being a pebble that caught between the grinding stones of US / Russia diplomacy. US had strong public opinion that what happened wasn't warranted, and the Russians were able to lever that into their arms dealer.
bkp_duke
Well-Known Member
I'm sure we can make up for it, Uncle SAM is after all the largest arms dealer in the world.
"OK Ukraine, here are 50 more HIMARS units. Take a peak in the back of the ship, I think we accidentally loaded a few ATACMS onto the ship by accident."
EVNow
Well-Known Member
The Owners like his ratings and the money. And it is free speech, opinion, so no one is accountable.
That's easy. They are interested in appealing to their racist, bigoted, misogynist audience. As someone else said even Fox has claimed they are not news. They are entertainment and propaganda. His saying these awful things is what they want.
petit_bateau
Active Member
lolachampcar
Well-Known Member
A Dominion verdict that bankrupts the Murdochs will do the trick.
It is a sad day when tort law is the closest thing we have to common sense.
It is a sad day when tort law is the closest thing we have to common sense.
How could anyone who’s been paying even a little attention still need to watch this?
Drunk Putin explains why they are attacking civilian infrastructure:
"Yes we do it, but who started it, who struck the Crimean bridge?"
So there we have it, Ukraine started it.
Book suggestion, The Laws of Human Nature, it has a chapter on Grandiose Delusion, think Putin fits well into that chapter. https://www.amazon.com/Laws-Human-Nature-Robert-Greene/dp/0525428143
Wish I had read that book a long time a go, would have saved me so much money and headache.
"Yes we do it, but who started it, who struck the Crimean bridge?"
So there we have it, Ukraine started it.
Book suggestion, The Laws of Human Nature, it has a chapter on Grandiose Delusion, think Putin fits well into that chapter. https://www.amazon.com/Laws-Human-Nature-Robert-Greene/dp/0525428143
Wish I had read that book a long time a go, would have saved me so much money and headache.
BitJam
Active Member
All of use are imperfect beings in an imperfect world.
-- Haruki Murakami
Allegedly. Haven't read it. Behind paywall. Saw it referenced on a Swedish news site. Circumventing paywall has been discussed previously in this thread. But don't think I was interested in the article that was discussed then so didn't learn...
WSJ News Exclusive | U.S. Altered Himars Rocket Launchers to Keep Ukraine From Firing Missiles Into Russia
The U.S. secretly modified the advanced Himars rocket launchers it gave Ukraine so they can’t be used to fire long-range missiles into Russia, U.S. officials said, a precaution the Biden administration says is necessary to reduce the risk of a wider war with Moscow.www.wsj.com
I saw the story elsewhere. The HIMARS may have been modified, but we don't know what the systems donated from other countries have had done to them. The MARS from Germany may still be capable of firing the longer range missiles?
It was pretty obvious the Russians were setting her up as trade fodder from the start. She plead guilty to get on with the trade because the Russians said they wouldn't do a trade unless she was convicted, but early on she said she had been framed. We'll see what she says when she gets out.
He makes money for the network and the owner, Rupert Murdoch doesn't care if it's true or completely made up. If the network makes money, he's happy.
Fox News is one of the few things in his media empire that makes much profit. Most of that profit is not from advertising, but from what's called carriage fees. These are fees the cable and satellite providers pay Fox to carry their channel. Fox News gets the largest carriage fees in the industry.
It is the highest rated channel on cable/satellite, but that's misleading. Their audience is older. I don't see any recent numbers, but a few years ago the average ago of their viewers was 65. Most younger viewers are going elsewhere for their news and TV viewing. Cable subscriptions are declining as people move towards streaming services. Live sports on cable/satellite are the only things that draw anybody to cable anymore. Sporting events draw far more people than anything else on cable/satellite.
A few years ago when cable news other than Fox was still viable, Fox had a monopoly on the right for what passed for news. Like cult leaders they told their viewers that only they were telling the truth and every other source were lies. A couple of other conservative news channels popped up, One America News, and Newsmax which tried to maneuver even further right than Fox, but they have faded from significance. For TV news Fox is competing with a large array of other channels who are reporting factual news: 4 over air broadcast channels that have national news at least once a day (ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS), other cable news channels, plus many online sources.
An increasing number of people have been moving online for their news. Unfortunately quite a few are seeking out news that confirms their biases rather than seeking factual information. That's a problem across the political spectrum now. Though from what I've seen of left wing news they tend to report the actual facts and then they opine on them. Though sometimes some factual information is left out.
Many sources on the right just make stuff up like what Tucker Carlson was saying that clip, then they opine on that like it's actually factual. There are people who have right of center viewpoints who do live in the factual world, but they are pariahs to the core of the right in the US.
I am concerned that these right wing nutters are going to try and sabotage US support for Ukraine. They did manage to gain control of one house of Congress in the elections. The bulk of the Republicans in the House appear to support Ukraine, but there are some very loud bullies who seem to be running the show.
And the civilian infrastructure attacked before the Crimean bridge attack?
Yes, she made a convenient and valuable pawn. I'm fairly sure she exercised extremely poor judgement and knew exactly what she was packing in her luggage though. Lesson learned. Probably very few vacations to Moscow in her future.
You think she actually traveled with that and it wasn’t planted by the Russians? What makes you so “sure” about that?
Yes. She's admitted that those were her vape pens in her bag. I don't think she was coerced into that admission. The only real question is if she truly forgot that they were in her bag. I doubt it, but she'll stick to that story, I'm sure(I probably would too). It's ridiculous that it's a crime anyhow.
So you don’t think there is a chance that the Russians told her if she doesn’t admit to it than she will spend life in jail?. Or in other words, if you want any chance of going home you better plead guilty?
I am not saying it’s true or isn’t, I just want to know how you(or anyone) can be so sure she was actually carrying those items. It’s not like the Russians don’t have a track record of doing these things or lying about everything.
But I agree, even if she was stupid enough to have that in her possession, it’s ridiculous that it is a crime that you would have to spend years in jail for.
