State TV says Russia could turn US to 'radioactive ash' (Congress, death)

[malamute]

It's foolish for us to believe that obama can threaten and threaten and threaten Russia and that they won't make any threats in return. Just be glad that's all it is at least for now.

[Dean Trails]

I just wish Obama would take McCain on a vacation. Do a lot of golfing, have nice meals and relax in the sun. It is what Barry does best and perhaps it will calm John down a bit. It will all just blow over and we can get back to letting the Government focus back on our problems here at home.

OH MY GOSH!! What am i saying? You go Barry and McCain stick your noses in Russia's business all you like! Just leave us alone!!

[spm62]

Originally Posted by mag32gie

Please explain this to me?
If the people voted to be a part of Russia again, why are we sticking our noses in?
I don't keep up with things but this is why.

I agree. If they voted to be a part of Russia, why are we involved? We don't like when any other country tries to tell us what to do. Why do we have to always get involved? Did they try to stop us in Iraq or anywhere else in the middle east. We have enough issues and no money. What happens if China tells us to stay out of it or they will stop lending us money? That is the problem with us borrowing so much money. Whoever you owe money to has the leverage. You now become beholding to them. Whether on a personal level, national, or international level. We need to concentrate on getting out of debt and not owing anyone money. In the past, we were the lenders and that gave us leverage around the world. We are losing that leverage and respect around the world.

[IloveYOU2]

[oceangaia]

Originally Posted by alaskaboy

We can track anything and every thing on earth and so on.

Except for Malaysian jets, apparently.

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by Dean Trails

I just wish Obama would take McCain on a vacation. Do a lot of golfing, have nice meals and relax in the sun. It is what Barry does best and perhaps it will calm John down a bit. It will all just blow over and we can get back to letting the Government focus back on our problems here at home.

OH MY GOSH!! What am i saying? You go Barry and McCain stick your noses in Russia's business all you like! Just leave us alone!!

Are you like me, do you ever wish these guys would take a trip out of the country and stay there?

[maui-intoxicated]

Originally Posted by CraigCreek

Okay, I have been keeping up with things, following websites ranging all over the place. Here's some of what's been reported today - sorry, at this point, I can't cite sources.

- Armed Russian "guards" were at Crimean polling places.

- Ballot boxes were made of plexiglass, or some other similarly transparent substance. Ballots were filled out by hand, and placed in one of two (clear) boxes, apparently depending on which way the vote went. There was no confidentiality or anonymity or anything approaching a secret ballot. Ballots were filled out behind curtains - but then the voter placed the ballot in a clear box.

-Multiple reports of non-Ukrainian citizens voting. Russian citizens were allowed to vote, even if they were not Crimean residents but were just passing through or visiting for whatever purpose.

-Multiple reports of voters placing more than one ballot in the clear boxes.

-Multiple reports of voters voting at two or more polling places.

-Much disinformation from the Russian press, especially RT: that Ukrainians of Russian ethnicity were experiencing discrimination and threats from the current Ukrainian government, that the current Ukrainian government is made up primarily of Nazis and fascists, that the United States, NATO, and the EU are running things in Ukraine, especially events which occurred in the Maidan and as a result of that which occurred in the Maidan.

-Multiple reports of Ukrainian clergy being arrested, some during church services in Crimea.

-Multiple reports of those opposing Russian invasion and occupation of Crimea being arrested.

-Multiple reports of arrests of Tatars in Crimea.

-Multiple reports of residences of Tatars in Crimea being marked with X.

-Multiple reports of efforts to intimidate and harass journalists, especially Western journalists. including a so-called "drill" in which uniformed and armed Russian soldiers invaded a Crimean hotel in which many Western journalists were staying, breaking into rooms, threatening civilians with weapons and in some cases actually striking them.

-Multiple reports of Ukrainian television and radio stations being blocked from reception in Crimea, while Russian stations were freely broadcast.

-Multiple reports of the families of Ukrainian servicemen stations in Crimea being forced by Russian forces to leave their houses and apartments and evacuate to mainland Ukraine, with little notice and only what they could carry with them.

-Multiple reports of pro-Russian posters prominently placed in polling places.

-Multiple reports of forcible "exit polls", in which voters were made to reveal how they voted.

-Multiple reports of helicopter-borne Russian troops attempting to seize a gas processing facility just outside the Crimean border, in a town in mainland Ukraine.

-Multiple reports of Russian efforts to foment violence during peaceful demonstrations by Ukrainians in support of the Kyiv government, so that Russia could claim her assistance is needed to "protect" Ukrainians of Russian ethnicity and to suppress violence.

-False claims of Ukrainian discrimination against Russian-speaking Ukrainians, Jews, and other minorities.

I could go on, but you get the idea, I hope. Some of the sources I've been closely following online include The Kyiv Post, Euromaidan in English on Facebook, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, NPR, the BBC, Al Jazeera, Espresso TV, YouTube videos posted by a wide variety of people and groups, and blogs, Facebook pages, and websites of both American and Ukrainian NGOs and charities active in Ukraine, as well as blogs of Americans currently in Ukraine. I've also had a look at the American embassy's site.

Many of these websites have very interesting links, and the Ukrainian sites tend to be much more current and detailed than do the American ones. I've also factored in obvious points of views and political persuasions. I also watched a couple of the morning news interview shows earlier on Sunday.

As to why the U.S.A. is getting involved, we have an obligation to Ukraine dating to an agreement made in the 1990s that we would help with defense if Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons in exchange for Russia (and other countries) respecting Ukraine's national borders.

We also have considerable interest in access to the Black Sea, in particular the Sea of Azov, whose narrow entrance is about to be bridged between Crimea and Russia - by Russia. There is also the oil and gas issue, and what lack of adequate oil and gas would do to both the economy and the people of Europe.

And there's doing what's right, to support the cause of self-determination, freedom of expression, justice, and democracy.

There's also the notion of balance of power, and an effort to maintain peace without it being the kind of "peace" that happens due to dishonesty, threats and harsh suppression of all opposition, stark economic contrasts between the haves and have-nots, and fear of those in power. Yet we must consider the dangers and move with wisdom, knowledge - and caution, carefully weighing our choices and decisions.

Accurate information is essential now - along with recognizing that much of what is coming out of Russia is spin, and is spun for pretty obvious reasons. It's not being done very well, thankfully for the Ukrainians - in fact, much of it is laughably clumsy. Unfortunately, it's also backed up with a great deal of military power...

Comments from readers on the various news sources are also very revealing - there are many, many pro-Russian commentators who appear to be posting from Russia and posting Putin's POV. The same lines repeat over and over again - makes me think of that big room full of monkeys typing until they recreate Shakespeare, somehow. But these commentators appear to be paid for their efforts - in more than bananas.

You can even find some examples of this kind of posting right here at C-D. Just look for threads dealing with Ukraine, and they'll pop right up, with obvious examples of twisted logic, limited knowledge of both history and more recent events, etc.

So - yes, we do have a dog in what I hope won't be a major fight, but we'd better train him well and keep a strong leash on him for the time being, while recognizing that the time is changing at a very fast pace these days.

Keep your dog near - and make sure he's a good guard dog, as well as a good watch dog. And keep your eye on that other dog, too. He can be a very mean one.

So what you are saying is the voting went almost as well as the winter Olympics.

[IloveYOU2]

Originally Posted by maui-intoxicated

So what you are saying is the voting went almost as well as the winter Olympics.

[Unsettomati]

Originally Posted by alaskaboy

The Russian military while quite large and powerful is light-years behind in technology and capability to ours. Yes, even in these slow economic times.

The US has capabilities that sci-fi movie directors could only dream of. We sit upon a mountain of top secret military capability the rest of the world can only speculate on.

Long, long ago, we began developing systems that would render a nuclear arsenal unlaunchable if needed. We will only reveal our entire capability in the event it became necessary for our survival as a nation.

No one out there, I repeat no one, can touch the US in a real end-all game.

We have developed microwave technologies that can black out an entire region and make people unable to perform basic mundane tasks over entire regions, we have sound wave and laser technologies capable of slicing a dime in half from space. We can track anything and every thing on earth and so on.

Russia, is flexing it's muscle and those in the know and just smiling and thinking, "go ahead and try you fool."

You're a complete fool if you believe the absurd nonsense you're typing.

While it's certainly true that the United States could destroy Russia or any other state, Russia could do the same with its nuclear arsenal - your vague appeals to non-existent technologies with non-existent capabilities notwithstanding.

That's the entire point of having a strategic nuclear deterrent, which is why there will be no hot West-vs-Russia conflict over Ukraine.

What someone on Russian state TV said was simply something that has been true ever since the USSR built up a substantial number of ICBMs in the mid-1960s.

Turn off the James Bond movie you're watching, quit believing nonsense you read just because it's filled with big, technological-sounding words you don't understand, and get at least half a clue.

[Osito]

Oh here we go again...