Dedicated Russian thread

[Retired bloke]

Having just driven through Wolverhampton ( keep the usual jokes until the end, please lads) Via the ring road, the Council controlled traffic matrix signs read "Ukraine we support you" in glorious blue and yellow.
Highly commendable but for one thing, not a million miles away is a factory that produces Depleted uranium shell for whats left of our army. This show of solidarity will i think , put Wolverhampton on the short list for a burst of instant sunshine, at some time in the near future, maybe, possibly ,could be.
Awaiting incoming, from two directions ...3...2...1...

And before you ask, NO i do not live in Wolverhampton.

 

[javaguzzisti]

Having just gone through the COVID-19 lockdown I'm not looking forward to the nuclear fall out lockdown, and I am looking for a bit more reassurance than "probably won't come to that" before endorsing a course of action that might lead to it.

And as a civie for the last 36 years I cannot give that to you.
I can only voice an opinion.
BTW how important is your endorsement?

 

[smartascarrots]

BTW how important is your endorsement?

Citizens in democratic nations with freedom of conscience and of vote have a much more important endorsement than those of other countries.

Much more collective responsibility for their country's actions, too. The buck stops at the ballot box.

 

[javaguzzisti]

Citizens in democratic nations with freedom of conscience and of vote have a much more important endorsement than those of other countries.

Much more collective responsibility for their country's actions, too. The buck stops at the ballot box.

Dead right. it stopped TC Blairs war crimes in their tracks.

 

[smartascarrots]

Dead right. it stopped TC Blairs war crimes in their tracks.

A responsibility we all bear.

If democratic elections and the full panoply of institutions can't prevent a government committing these acts, are they really all they're hyped up to be?

 

[javaguzzisti]

A responsibility we all bear.

If democratic elections and the full panoply of institutions can't prevent a government committing these acts, are they really all they're hyped up to be?

As in the old saw, not perfect but better than the rest.
That is the main reason socialism/Communism cannot work. It relies on human perfection which does not exist.

 

[smartascarrots]

As in the old saw, not perfect but better than the rest

Granted, but also not a blanket exemption from responsibility.

As the other saw goes, you can't have authority without responsibility. The electorate have the authority to choose their government and it's policies, so...

 

[Retired bloke]

The electorate have the authority to choose their government and it's policies, so...

When it suits to implement them, All governments when campaigning for office tell the electorate exactly what the want to hear, once in, they shit on the faceless masses from a great height.

"I wouldn't piss in their mouth if their teeth were on fire"

 

[smartascarrots]

When it suits to implement them, All governments when campaigning for office tell the electorate exactly what the want to hear, once in, they shit on the faceless masses from a great height.

The electorate have the authority to vote them back out again.

If someone leaves the back window open habitually, it's their own damned stupid fault if they keep getting burgled. Likewise voting for the corrupt, the incompetent and the occasionally evil.

 

[javaguzzisti]

The electorate have the authority to vote them back out again.

If someone leaves the back window open habitually, it's their own damned stupid fault if they keep getting burgled. Likewise voting for the corrupt, the incompetent and the occasionally evil.

Only if there is something else to vote for.
Humanity is never perfect, nor would I want it to be.

 

[smartascarrots]

Only if there is something else to vote for.

There is always something else to vote for, even if it's just someone else. If that's not enough, there's the opportunity to set up new parties which are.

Passive acceptance of the status quo isn't absolution. An electorate which doesn't punish its governing party for the unacceptable is de facto accepting it - far more so when the only risk is a bit of effort and inconvenience than when it's 20 years hard labour for 'giving comfort to the state's enemies'.

 

[javaguzzisti]

There is always something else to vote for, even if it's just someone else. If that's not enough, there's the opportunity to set up new parties which are.

Passive acceptance of the status quo isn't absolution. An electorate which doesn't punish its governing party for the unacceptable is de facto accepting it - far more so when the only risk is a bit of effort and inconvenience than when it's 20 years hard labour for 'giving comfort to the state's enemies'.

I am going to get bored with this.
Humans are human, not perfect.
Either accept that or remain stupid and intolerant.

 

[smartascarrots]

Either accept that or remain stupid and intolerant.

I do accept it. I don't like it but I accept it.

I don't accept that it's a blanket exemption from responsibility, or that it's an excuse for not trying harder.

We've bombed people for things their government did that they had no hand in because they lived under dictatorships - if they're to take the pain, why not us too?

 

[CutLunchCommando]

I can't think of a better place to ask but what is the historical signifigance of this location? I infer it relates to an assult across the river?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[terminal]

I can't think of a better place to ask but what is the historical signifigance of this location? I infer it relates to an assult across the river?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

It's a war memorial relating to WWII, but given the relative lack of Google results I suspect it can't have been that significant of one. Given that it overlooks a river it almost certainly is related to a river crossing or an attempt at one.

 

[KGB_resident]

I can't think of a better place to ask but what is the historical signifigance of this location? I infer it relates to an assult across the river?

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

https://wikimapia.org/15920941/ru/Мемориал-«Привольнянский-плацдарм»
It is a place of WW2 memorial "Privolnoye Bridgehead"

The Privolnyansky bridgehead is a front line where fierce battles took place in 1943, which claimed the lives of about 2,300 Red Army soldiers, maybe there were more, but there is no documentary evidence. Privolye was twice occupied by Nazi invaders - for 400 days and nights there was a front line here. 22 enemy divisions, were thrown into the capture of the Privolnyansky heights. They were opposed by only four Soviet rifle divisions. In open areas with elevation changes from 50 to 190 meters, only infantrymen could break through, making their way from one high-rise to another. Therefore, it was not possible to use motorized units here. But the Germans turned this area into their armored fist, stuffing it with pillboxes with steel caps, covering the approaches to them with minefields. Day after day, our troops lost hundreds, thousands of soldiers. In terms of intensity and cruelty, the battles on the Privolnyansky bridgehead were not inferior to Stalingrad. It was a strategically important height. The divisions fighting on the bridgehead diverted part of the attack directed by the Germans on the Kursk salient. The victory of the Red Army at the Privolnyansky bridgehead in 1943 opened the way to the liberation of the entire Donbass.