Meanwhile, over in Georgia

Or maybe this was partially stage-managed by the Russians? Whatever the case, for this to start at the beginning of the Olympics is no coincidence

x-post Bush is probably drunk in anticipation that he'll get to go back to the ranch after all these years of being center-stage

These conspiracy theories ... it's like the US has become Israel all of a sudden

so russia is "moving around" in georgia. anyone think they're planning an occupation of the whole country? or are they just trying to pull the "irregulars" into line, to stop future flare-ups? (like they say)?

still kinda shook

It's getting colder out there: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080814/pl_nm/shield_poland_dc

U.S. and Poland sign missile shield deal

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland finally agreed on Thursday to host elements of U.S. global anti-missile system on its territory after Washington improved the terms of the deal amid the Georgia crisis.

---

RUSSIA VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED

If everything goes to schedule, the interceptor base would be ready by around 2012, officials have said. The Czechs have already signed an agreement to host the radar although parliament there must ratify it.

Russia has vehemently opposed placing the shield installations in central Europe, saying they would threaten its security and upset the post-Cold War balance of power in Europe.

Washington reiterated on Thursday this was not the case.

"In no way is the (U.S.) president's plan for missile defense aimed at Russia," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "The purpose of missile defense is to protect our European allies from any rogue threats."

Moscow has threatened to take retaliatory steps against Poland and the Czech Republic, its former reluctant vassals who are now part of the European Union and NATO.

---

"rare success"

Russia has also been angered by Poland's strong verbal support for Georgia.

The shield deal, if approved by parliaments in Prague and Warsaw, will be a rare success for President George W. Bush who has argued it is essential to contain the threat of a potentially nuclear-armed Iran.

Washington hopes the shield might persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear program, although Teheran says it wants to develop nuclear energy only to generate electricity and not to make nuclear weapons.

Not sure how this snuck into the press, but one of my (reliable) friends reported reading in a story today that a Russian regular army soldier - a Chechen, in fact - said that his unit had been in South Ossetia for months (i.e. Russia had planned for this eventuality).

http://osinform.ru/foto/7787-vojjna-v-juzhnojj-osetii-89-fotografijj.html

Thanks. Some of those are none too pretty. Funny how you can know how that's what war's all about, but not really think of 'til you see the pictures

Kremlin announces that South Ossetia will join 'one united Russian state' says the Times. It's pretty brazen stuff now by Russia. The backstory seems to be shifting slightly day by day too, so that what initially seemed a crazy gamble by Saakashvili now looks more like a last-ditch attempt to pre-empt an imminent invasion that was going to happen anyway - exactly what Mitya said three posts above

saakashvili met this girl at the vancouver olympics and made her the georgian economy minister! she was in my grad class!

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/georgian-minister-rues-nightclub-photo/

╔══════════════ ೋღ☃ღೋ ══════════════╗
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Repost this if ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ you are a beautiful strong black woman ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ who don’t need no man ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
╚══════════════ ೋღ☃ღೋ ══════════════╝

― jaxon, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 04:13 (18 hours ago)

Uh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYHLHTUSwU0

^^ that is Ivanishvili's son rapping about (I think) Georgian Dream, his eccentric billionaire father's political movement.

Not sure what to make of Georgian Dream. Saakashvili is fairly widely discredited but Ivanishvili's alliance seems to be held together by little more than his personality / cash.

Yeah, shit is bananas over there. I heard something about a horrible prison rape scandal, but haven't read much about it.

opening chords sound like "Bye Bye Bye"

His lipgloss is something else. Apparently there is a Saakashvili supported rapper who Bera has beefed with publicly.

Kakha Kaladze appears to be Deputy Prime Minister now!

Wow. Apparently they're going with the "invite all the cool kids to the party" approach?

There appears to have been a coup / revolution, of sorts, in Abkhazia. Protesters have taken over government buildings, the President has fled and the government has resigned. It's not entirely clear what their objective is at the moment.

Twitter now being used for pass-agg diplomacy:

Carl Bildt
‏@carlbildt

If @PrimeMinisterGE does not want to listen to the best friends of his country in EU that’s his choice. We take note. @LinkeviciusL

Bildt - Swedish Foreign Minister
PrimeMinisterGE - PM of Georgia
Linkevicius - Lithuanian Foreign Minister

Context: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/08/07/saakashvili_doesnt_need_a_little_help_from_his_friends

წყლის ჭავლი pic.twitter.com/0BOZzjYtHc

— Rezo 🇬🇪 (@RezoBear) March 7, 2023

The first inhabitants of Nagorno-Karabakh have reached Armenia. Nearly the entirety of the population - 120,000 people - are expected to leave the territory as Azerbaijan takes control. https://t.co/ok1Wz2JLeb

— Neil Hauer (@NeilPHauer) September 24, 2023

The President of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), Samvel Shahramanyan, has signed a degree on its dissolution, effective immediately. The Republic is no more. https://t.co/pyIszJ8tBU

— Neil Hauer (@NeilPHauer) September 28, 2023

auto-correct doesn't know about decrees?

That's right. Knowing how to spell doesn't make you less of a shit.

grumpy much today, xyzzzz?

Spare us the posts where you feel you are "hated" by some on here, or you made to feel "less than human".

That's all I'll say.

Protests escalating again

HappeningNow: #Tbilisi’s main avenue is packed with tens of thousands of people protesting against the #RussianLaw.
People keep coming irrespective of tear gas and rubber bullets.#NoToOligarch #Ivanishvili pic.twitter.com/MPghQQKdQS

— Giorgi Oniani (@OnianiG) May 1, 2024

This is Tbilisi. Heart of Europe. 10:25 pic.twitter.com/vciUS2gyeq

— Nodar Rukhadze (@xonoda) May 2, 2024

A lot of conflicting reports on just how big these crowds are but certainly appear to be growing

Fascinating to see!

Yeah, good for them... hope it's not another Belarus situation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5lEcJCJec0

Further footage here

Yeah, good for them... hope it's not another Belarus situation

Has something of a Maidan feel, with the arrival of Titushky as well, though so far small in number

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB1S7d91fLk

Starting to look like Maidan

Chichinadze street side of the parliament right now. Police pushed people here and stopped for now. pic.twitter.com/bRJ853bcKk

— Mariam Nikuradze (@mari_nikuradze) May 13, 2024

What foreigners and the Vake/youth liberal bubble needs to understand is this:

YES. Most (but not all) of the country is on their side on the Russian law

YES. 80%+ are pro-EU

YES. Almost everyone hates Russia

BUT....🧵 https://t.co/2Zb6PqIqYO

— Alex Scrivener - ალეკო სკრივენერი (@alscriv) May 17, 2024

Not exactly a counter-argument as such, but could be a broader picture on where the Georgian public as a whole is right, now. b

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GOW5WWaXUAIWbxJ?format=jpg&name=large

not backing down