How a US Tech Firm Struggled to Get Its Employees Out of Kyiv (washingtonpost.com) 167
On Friday the Washington Post's live updates on the Russia-Ukraine situation included the story of a tech firm trying to get its employees out of Kyiv:
John Sung Kim, chief executive of the software outsourcing company JetBridge, has been communicating with his 24 employees in Kyiv, all software developers, through Slack. Half of them are trying to leave Ukraine, but Kim says he is struggling to help them and has been unable to get them train tickets, a rental car or gasoline.
"The other half of my team wants to stay and fight," said Kim. "I got on an all-hands with them this morning and told them it's not their responsibility to be soldiers and there's other ways they can contribute since they're software engineers, but there's nothing I can say to dissuade them." Kim said JetBridge's clients are almost exclusively Silicon Valley tech companies that are publicly traded or have raised venture capital financing. "The universal issue other than transportation logistics seems to be grandparents. 'My babushka' is the common theme of why they're torn from actually leaving," he said. The fallout from Russia's invasion has also impacted JetBridge's employees in Belarus. "The males in Belarus are scared that there's going to be military conscription, and unlike the Ukrainians, my Belarusian engineers have zero desire to pick up a rifle. Zero," he said.
In anticipation of European Union sanctions on Belarus, Kim said JetBridge has started paying employees in bitcoin.
"The other half of my team wants to stay and fight," said Kim. "I got on an all-hands with them this morning and told them it's not their responsibility to be soldiers and there's other ways they can contribute since they're software engineers, but there's nothing I can say to dissuade them." Kim said JetBridge's clients are almost exclusively Silicon Valley tech companies that are publicly traded or have raised venture capital financing. "The universal issue other than transportation logistics seems to be grandparents. 'My babushka' is the common theme of why they're torn from actually leaving," he said. The fallout from Russia's invasion has also impacted JetBridge's employees in Belarus. "The males in Belarus are scared that there's going to be military conscription, and unlike the Ukrainians, my Belarusian engineers have zero desire to pick up a rifle. Zero," he said.
In anticipation of European Union sanctions on Belarus, Kim said JetBridge has started paying employees in bitcoin.
Huh (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Huh (Score:4, Insightful)
It wasn't really a "dangerous part of the world" until Putin just decided to get the USSR back together, but with blackjack and hookers and without all the cool socialist stuff.
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Some things are worth fighting for (Score:5, Insightful)
"The other half of my team wants to stay and fight," said Kim. "I got on an all-hands with them this morning and told them it's not their responsibility to be soldiers and there's other ways they can contribute since they're software engineers, but there's nothing I can say to dissuade them."
Maybe they've decided their country needs them now? That loyalty is more important to them than making money?
Kim said "JetBridge's clients are almost exclusively Silicon Valley tech companies that are publicly traded or have raised venture capital financing. "
Sound like he is more worried about losing clients than letting them find "other ways they can contribute."
"The universal issue other than transportation logistics seems to be grandparents. 'My babushka' is the common theme of why they're torn from actually leaving,"
You mean they may actual care about their family more than a job? Must be nice to sit in a comfortable home and not have your world being destroyed around you.
Re:Some things are worth fighting for (Score:4, Insightful)
"The other half of my team wants to stay and fight," said Kim. "I got on an all-hands with them this morning and told them it's not their responsibility to be soldiers and there's other ways they can contribute since they're software engineers, but there's nothing I can say to dissuade them."
Maybe they've decided their country needs them now? That loyalty is more important to them than making money?
Ukraine has said that any male 18-60 is expected to fight... It seems this guy is just trying to protect his meal ticket like you said. Maybe he should hire a smuggler, because for a while those are the only people who will be able to get able bodied men across the border.
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Maybe but also he may not want his employees to die because he knows them as people—silly thought, I know
I don’t want any Ukrainians to die either, and I don’t even personally know any.
But I’m safe in my home and not suffering an unjustified invasion from a hostile force being driven by a megalomaniac.
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Its not just that its driven by a megalomaniac. Russia's economy is terrible, oligarchs/crooks stole everything. Now they need Ukraine's resources, you know a fresh chest to raid. This war is all about money.
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Its not just that its driven by a megalomaniac. Russia's economy is terrible, oligarchs/crooks stole everything. Now they need Ukraine's resources, you know a fresh chest to raid. This war is all about money.
Why is Russia's economy terrible? Why were the oligarchs allowed to run free? I'd say that a certain megalomaniac had his hand in all that.
But I'm suspicious of any answer that suggests that Russia just wants resources. While it's GDP may not be healthy compared to western nations, it is the physically largest country in the world, it exports a metric shit ton of wheat and (potentially) gas among other things, so it is not hurting for resources.
And for shits and giggles, Tommy Tuberville (GOP senator fro
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Probably not too far off the mark. His most likely causes of death are either old age or a coup. So he makes sure the generals are rich, and thus loyal, but he can't really control everyone down the line so easily.
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But I'm suspicious of any answer that suggests that Russia just wants resources.
I believe Putin considers all of the former Soviet Union territory to be Russia property. The resources are just a bonus.
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While it's GDP may not be healthy compared to western nations, it is the physically largest country in the world
Much of that is tundra, kind of like Canada. Miles and miles and miles of barren land.
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Oligarchs running a country is the same as corporations running a country, except that the board of directors are smaller. So instead of it being Google and IBM running things, it's instead privately held companies like Koch and Cargill, And then, since it's an oligarchy, they get given state approved monopolies. You don't need to work to make money in that environment, you just sit back and let the money flow in.
I think the whole socialism/communism obsession is the far right having run out of a good buga
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Like Maggie Thatcher said, the problem with oligarchies is that they eventually run out of other people's money.
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I don't think it's any of that. I think this war is about two things:
- Building up Putin's image
- Restoring Russia's national pride
We've seen a variation of this movie already:
Germany loses World War I, becomes basically a joke, and Europeans point and laugh at them. Germans get tired of it, and long for the days when they were feared. Economic hard times hit worldwide, and people everywhere are looking for answers. Hitler comes along, strokes their egos, says everything is not the fault of the great "Germa
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If Putin takes Ukraine, would he stop after that? I don't know, but Europe seems to be counting on it. The politicians in the US and the UK seem more than willing to go all the way, but without Europe doing that as well it's rather pointless.
Did Putin stop after he took Crimea?
Did Hitler stop after he took Poland?
This war is just beginning...
Re:Some things are worth fighting for (Score:4, Interesting)
If the situation was an invasion of the United States, the first thing on my mind WOULD be to go find a rifle (easy to do, this is America after all) and head into the combat zone.
Like them I'm basically a software engineer (although my job title doesn't reflect that) and I'd almost guarantee that my employer would rather I stay, especially given my job description is to protect the cybersecurity infrastructure of a major health care provider. But the way I do so is very indirect, and honestly I think killing Putin's commies takes a much higher priority, and unlike the vast majority of the country, I do have actual combat training. Even if it is 20 years out of date and my eyesight isn't what it used to be, it's still better than nothing.
Hell, just watching what resistance Ukraine is able to put up is actually strongly inspiring and even brought a tear to my eye earlier today, part of me would even like to go there and fight with them (actually if somebody paid my bills while I was out, they might even be able to convince me to do so, though it may not be worth it as my combat effectiveness is questionable these days.) Prior to this I didn't even know they would have as much resolve as they do, which is especially impressive considering early propaganda spreading all over the internet (and even here on Slashdot) was suggesting that Ukraine's military had already fallen within the first few hours of fighting, and yet that didn't seem to dissuade them.
If any Ukrainians are reading this, know this: This war is far from over. Even if your government falls, it's still far from over. We've seen many times throughout history where disparate, lightly armed militias have taken on and even won against vastly superior armies. I strongly believe Ukraine will come out on top, even if a bit bruised, and will turn Putin into a national embarrassment for Russia, and the punch line of every joke everywhere else. Stay strong, and stay vigilant.
Re: Some things are worth fighting for (Score:2)
You know, one nice thing about America is that they won't arrest you at the border for trying to leave.
Re:Some things are worth fighting for (Score:4, Informative)
Ah, bravado. Why a rifle? Are you hunting? Or do you mean assault rifle which consumers cannot legally get?
Actually there isn't really a big difference between the two. This is mostly just a distinction made by hollywood, politicians, and weapon salesmen. One of the hard things about banning assault rifles is that hardly anybody can agree what exactly an assault rifle is. The Armalite platform itself (Armalite as in AR-15) is commonly used in rifles marketed and sold specifically for hunting. The way politicians try to ban them is they say things like "if it has a flash suppressor, it's an assault rifle" which is sheer ignorance because they obviously have no idea why you put a flash suppressor on any rifle at all. They often think it makes it so that you can't see where a shooter is, but it does no such thing, in fact it doesn't even diminish it at all to anybody except for the gunman, and for the gunman its only purpose is to stop from temporarily blinding them at night. Hunters often do hunt at night, so a flash suppressor would be useful for them.
Or do you also have an illegal conversion kit so turns your civil "assault rifle" into automatic fire?
No, and you don't really need the burst fire capability of the M16 (presumably what you're talking about, as the M16A2 and later do not have automatic fire) to fight in combat. In fact, it's generally best to not use it in most cases because it mostly just wastes ammo, which is exactly why the US military no longer uses it. Typically the best place to use burst fire, or even full auto if you have it, is for suppressive fire. Suppressive fire, if you don't know, is to force the enemy to take cover while your battle buddy either withdraws or advances; the intention isn't necessarily to hit anybody, even though that would be a desirable outcome.
Does it help in that situation? Absolutely, but at the same time you can still be very combat effective without it. And while I wouldn't go out of my way to get it, I know somebody who has a CNC milling machine and could easily modify the bolt to enable the burst capability in the AR-15.
I think you've seen too many Rambo movies BTW. No competent soldier is going to run into battle firing their weapon in full auto.
You'd make a great Russian soldier though, as that is a bit more reminiscent of their combat style. No really, it is, that is basically both how they design their weapons and how they engage in warfare. The Russians preferred the Kalashnikov because of its sheer force of power, despite its lower accuracy and effective range. The US and all of NATO preferred the M16, despite its increased cost, complexity, and diminished reliability, because of its higher accuracy, versatility, and longer effective range.
In Kiev, this week, the Russians still demonstrate that personality of using more blunt force while using a lot less discretion. I'm sure by now you've seen the pictures of that apartment building with a big crater in its side. I'm sure they were aiming for something else as it makes no sense to hit a target with basically zero strategic value, but they're surely satisfied that at least they left a big hole in it. They claim they're not targeting civilians, hospitals, etc, despite hitting them anyways. I'm inclined to believe them because yeah...that's exactly how Russia tends to do things. Always has been.
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Actually there isn't really a big difference between the two. This is mostly just a distinction made by hollywood, politicians, and weapon salesmen.
Um yes there is. An assault rifle [wikipedia.org] is generally classified with the firing mode as selectable in semiautomatic, automatic, or burst mode..
One of the hard things about banning assault rifles is that hardly anybody can agree what exactly an assault rifle is.
Again, not true. Wikipedia clearly notes factors in determining what is and is not an assault rifle [wikipedia.org]. Namely: 1) It must be capable of selective fire. 2) It must have an intermediate-power cartridge: more power than a pistol but less than a standard rifle or battle rifle, examples of intermediate cartridges are the 7.92×33mm Kurz, the 7.62×39mm and 5.56×45mm
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Um yes there is. An assault rifle [wikipedia.org] is generally classified with the firing mode as selectable in semiautomatic, automatic, or burst mode..
Again, not true. Wikipedia clearly notes factors in determining what is and is not an assault rifle [wikipedia.org]. Namely: 1) It must be capable of selective fire. 2) It must have an intermediate-power cartridge: more power than a pistol but less than a standard rifle or battle rifle, examples of intermediate cartridges are the 7.92×33mm Kurz, the 7.62×39mm and 5.56×45mm NATO. 3) Its ammunition must be supplied from a detachable box magazine. 4) It must have an effective range of at least 300 metres (330 yards).
During the time you spent typing all of that up, did it never occur to you that when politicians talk about banning "assault rifles", they weren't at any point using this definition? Or that the AR-15, which is the main weapon progressives are referring to when they say "assault rifle", doesn't meet this definition?
Flash suppressors have nothing to do on whether or not an AR-15 is an assault rifle.
I didn't say it was, and even if I had, that completely misses the point I was making. But back to the first thing you said:
Um yes there is.
If adding a selective fire to an AR-15 is a big difference to you, then
Awww... Some NFT-monkey got upset! :'( (Score:2)
Poo widdle snowy-flaky. Can't handle the wealidy. So sad.
Or was it some aspiring slurper of Vovochka's and Sashenka's cloacae? Hard to tell the difference these days.
Anyway, as I was saying before said snowflake tried to mod down reality...
It seems this guy is just trying to protect his meal ticket like you said.
He's not "protecting his meal ticket".
He's using a currently ongoing Russian invasion of a sovereign democratic country TO PROMOTE HIS COMPANY.
Cause if he can no longer exploit people's work - maybe there's a way to exploit their plight as free advertisement.
Also, to shil
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"The other half of my team wants to stay and fight," said Kim. "I got on an all-hands with them this morning and told them it's not their responsibility to be soldiers and there's other ways they can contribute since they're software engineers, but there's nothing I can say to dissuade them."
Maybe they've decided their country needs them now? That loyalty is more important to them than making money?
Good on them. In their place I think (hope) I'd be making the same choice.
"The universal issue other than transportation logistics seems to be grandparents. 'My babushka' is the common theme of why they're torn from actually leaving,"
You mean they may actual care about their family more than a job? Must be nice to sit in a comfortable home and not have your world being destroyed around you.
Frankly, the one thing most likely to keep me from fighting would the obligation of first getting my family to safety.
That's a lot of pessimism (Score:2)
That's pretty pessimistic. How about instead maybe he actually gives a rats ass about the wellbeing of these people and doesnt want to see them get hurt or killed. I know I look out for those who work under me at work and it's not as if he cant just hire new coders after all.
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"The other half of my team wants to stay and fight," said Kim. "I got on an all-hands with them this morning and told them it's not their responsibility to be soldiers and there's other ways they can contribute since they're software engineers, but there's nothing I can say to dissuade them."
Maybe they've decided their country needs them now? That loyalty is more important to them than making money?
Yeah, I don't exactly know how you tell someone whose country is being actively invaded what it is, or is not, their responsibility to do in order to secure their homeland, protect their community, or attempt to safeguard their family. As someone sitting comfortably in silicon valley, thousands of miles away from this conflict, what the fuck do I know about what Ukranians on the frontline should be doing right now???
If a massively superior military force showed up at my border with 150,000 soldiers, planes,
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Bosses have zero authority to claim what someone's responsibilities are. People are people first, and employees second (or third, or...).
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I have 817 people working for me in Ukraine (also a few dozen in other places).
We have a network of hundreds of people, constantly communicating, we worked together, found 2 buses to move people from Nikolaev, a bus full of women and children is only within a couple of hours away from the Polish border, I hope they make it out today. Another bus with people that cannot and will not leave the country just reached one of their main destination points and will get some other people a bit further tomorrow, the
Tell These Idiots (Score:5, Insightful)
google the phrase "cannon fodder"
It's like the president of Ukraine handing out AKs to the general population.
All that's going to do is make the Russians worried about any one they can see.
And before you guys say I don't know what I'm talking about, I spent a year and a half as a doorgunner/crew chief on a helicopter on Vietnam.
War is't a video game. Just get away from it if you can.
Re: Tell These Idiots (Score:2)
A cursory reading of world history and current events should tell you that spite and pride and loyalty can be as powerful a motivator as fear and self preservation.
A lot (perhaps not most, but enough) people understand exactly what you said and will pick up a gun anyway.
Some call it foolishness and some call it bravery. I suppose time will clarify which is which. And so will the eventual outcome.
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I call it patriotism and putting country first. Which is what it should be. Defend homeland at all costs. Honor means more to a man that life. Dying for one's country is something worth dying for.
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Re: Tell These Idiots (Score:2)
Like in Vietnam? When rice farmers defeated the most powerful military force on Earth?
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You think the Russian military is going to stay in Ukraine for 20 years? They learned that lesson (and we did too) in Afghanistan
There are ways to fight against an invading force and a completely different way against an occupying force.
Be smart when your life and country is on the line.
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I'm not sure in what world that's called a defeat, but OK.
The fact is, in a brutal enough world, were they WW2 rules, the US could have continued until every single man, woman, and child on that strip of land was ash.
Was i
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Ukraine has a GDP of the county I live in. They're even broker than Russia, and with a lot less Soviet hardware laying around to use.
They have the home-field advantage, for sure, but Russia has what it's always had- sheer numbers of terrible performing troops, and no shits to give about sending them into a meat grinder.
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I think this is just like what they did in Georgia. I think they're just slapping a satellite back into line.
They want Russian speaking parts to become Russia, and they want Ukrainian speaking parts to acknowledge Russian hegemony over what they consider their sphere of influence.
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Its interesting how the narrative of the MSM changes based the political needs of the day isn't it.
One of the things Lee is credited for is not telling the confederate population to generally go the way of the James gang and fight an insurgency. Which is what this will be and frankly is at this point. The Ukrainian government is no longer really in control of its territory, that is just the reality on the ground.
Arming the general public and telling them to fight uniform military, is very likely to get a
Re:Tell These Idiots (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yes, if you want to damage tanks and APCs you need to use IEDs.
Russia has a small number of really excellent armored vehicles your IEDs probably won't destroy or even disable, and a shitload of really old ones that they will probably destroy. So mounting a useful resistance needs to be based on either saturation, or excellent intelligence. Hopefully the USA can provide some of the latter to Ukraine based on satellite imagery, spy plane, etc.
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Yes, they have constitutions :-)
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google the phrase "cannon fodder" It's like the president of Ukraine handing out AKs to the general population. All that's going to do is make the Russians worried about any one they can see. And before you guys say I don't know what I'm talking about, I spent a year and a half as a doorgunner/crew chief on a helicopter on Vietnam. War is't a video game. Just get away from it if you can.
He's just enabling an insurgency which is something Ukranians have a history of being *REALLY* good at since they are not the kind of people who meekly submit to being anybody's vassals. The more the Russians act like the Wehrmacht in the Soviet Union the worse it will be for Russia. It is Russia's great and good fortune that Russian troops have so far seem to have behaved in a very professional fashion. Let's hope for everybody's sake that things stay that way and don't degenerate into the kind of mass abu
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Putin doesn't plan on an occupation. He'll take out the government, and while he'd ideally love to install a puppet government it doesn't matter if he can't. He'll have secured big advances for his rebels in the east and destroyed the Ukraine military's ability to press the civil war there. Most importantly, he'll have forced the new government (even though that government may loathe him) to consider a peace settlement. The settlement will force the rump Ukraine to concede Crimea and Donbas, at the least, a
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Russia will have no route out of sanctions. In fact, the sanctions put in place in 2014 were still in place. Trump spent 4 years trying to get Russia back into the G7 without success, and this will only make it less likely. And now there is serious talk about kicking Russia out of SWIFT. It seems that Russia is building or has built its own transaction clearing house, but frankly if you banks are kicked out of SWIFT, it will make currency transactions VERY painful, and anyone you do trade with will ream
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well Ivan, the roubles you're getting paid for that post are worth less and less. Is it worth it?
Russia is never getting a buffer with NATO because Estonia and Latvia are in NATO. This is an attempt to secure more resources. Take your lies elsewhere.
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Well if you think I'm a troll, Russian or otherwise you are truly an idiot.
Well if you're going to spout Russian propaganda, then people are going think you're a Russian troll.
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Well if you're going to spout Russian propaganda, then people are going think you're a Russian troll.
It's not propaganda, it's just pointing out something that neocons and neoliberals don't want anyone pointing out.
Which one are you?
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I'm the kind of person who can read a map. NATO already borders Russia and that is never going to change. Ergo this isn't about keeping a buffer. Think for yourself rather than swallowing Putin's swill, mmkay?
And Putin has no say in what agreements other countries sign.
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Your history needs some work.
That being said, that doesn't justify Mr. Ukraine-is-not-a-legitimate-state Putin and his attempts at rebuilding the empire he grew up in.
May $DIETY smile upon us and convince someone in h
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The territory that is today Ukraine has been a vassal since the Kieven Rus headed north to Moscow with a horde of highly proficient murdery mongols at their heels. They've been beaten to piss and split between empires and states in East Asia, Eastern Europe, and for a spell, even Anatolia. Your history needs some work.
Really? The Grand Principality of Moscow began it's existence as a vassal state to the Mongol Empire, it was literally a creation of the Mongols [wikipedia.org] so take your own advice. You cannot possibly be to lazy to read the first few lines of a Wikipedia page before shooting your mouth off and you clearly speak English so you must be either too arrogant or just plain too dumb, I'm guessing the former? My point was that they never took vassal status like a pet dog rolling onto it's back for a belly rub from 'master'. T
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The Grand Principality of Moscow began it's existence as a vassal state to the Mongol Empire, it was literally a creation of the Mongols [wikipedia.org] so take your own advice.
Try again ;) [wikipedia.org]
Moscow was a small town within the land of the Kievan Rus.
Since you appear to be reading impared, I'll go ahead and highlight some passages for you.
When the Mongols invaded the lands of Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, Moscow was an insignificant trading outpost in the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal.
Vladimir-Suzdal, also Vladimir-Suzdalian Rus', formally known as the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, was one of the major principalities that succeeded Kievan Rus' in the late 12th century, centered in Vladimir-on-Klyazma.
You cannot possibly be to lazy to read the first few lines of a Wikipedia page before shooting your mouth off and you clearly speak English so you must be either too arrogant or just plain too dumb, I'm guessing the former?
The problem is that you only read a few lines of a wiki page, and I read it all ;)
But what a great fool of yourself that you've made!
My point was that they never took vassal status like a pet dog rolling onto it's back for a belly rub from 'master'.
And your point is wrong.
They always rose up and they always fought on, the Mongols, the Turks, the Russians, the Poles, the Germans and the Soviets, now the Russians again and they've been struggling for independence many times longer than the US has even existed as a nation.
A great story, but with almost no connection to reality.
It's true that "they" sometimes fought. It's also true that most of the time they did not. They've been a political football between
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The Grand Principality of Moscow began it's existence as a vassal state to the Mongol Empire, it was literally a creation of the Mongols [wikipedia.org] so take your own advice.
Try again ;) [wikipedia.org]
Moscow was a small town within the land of the Kievan Rus.
Since you appear to be reading impared, I'll go ahead and highlight some passages for you.
When the Mongols invaded the lands of Kievan Rus' in the 13th century, Moscow was an insignificant trading outpost in the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal.
Vladimir-Suzdal, also Vladimir-Suzdalian Rus', formally known as the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, was one of the major principalities that succeeded Kievan Rus' in the late 12th century, centered in Vladimir-on-Klyazma.
You cannot possibly be to lazy to read the first few lines of a Wikipedia page before shooting your mouth off and you clearly speak English so you must be either too arrogant or just plain too dumb, I'm guessing the former?
The problem is that you only read a few lines of a wiki page, and I read it all ;)
But what a great fool of yourself that you've made!
My point was that they never took vassal status like a pet dog rolling onto it's back for a belly rub from 'master'.
And your point is wrong.
They always rose up and they always fought on, the Mongols, the Turks, the Russians, the Poles, the Germans and the Soviets, now the Russians again and they've been struggling for independence many times longer than the US has even existed as a nation.
A great story, but with almost no connection to reality. It's true that "they" sometimes fought. It's also true that most of the time they did not. They've been a political football between stronger nations ever since the Mongols took their state from them. You're clearly trying to invent a history to meet your conceptions. That's not how it works, obviously, but hey. It's the post-fact 21st century.
None of this changes the fact that what became the Grand Principality of Moscow, was created by the Mongols as a vassal state to the Mongol Empire. But let me get this straight and sum up the idiocy you are spewing here. You are basically claiming is that the Kievan Rus headed north to Moscow 'a tiny insignificant trading post' with a horde of highly proficient murdery mongols at their heels seeking protection from the inhabitants of that 'insignificant trading post' which was a vassal of the aforementioned
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The title of grand prince of Kiev lost its importance, and the 13th-century Mongol conquest decisively ended Kiev’s power. Remnants of the Kievan state persisted in the western principalities of Galicia and Volhynia, but by the 14th century those territories had been absorbed by Poland and Lithuania, respectively.
Grand Principality of Moscow [britannica.com]
Grand Principality of Moscow, also called Muscovy, Russian Moskovskoye Velikoye Knazhestvo, medieval principality that, under the leadership of a branch of the Rurik dynasty, was transformed from a small settlement in the Rostov-Suzdal principality into the dominant political unit in northeastern Russia.
Muscovy became a distinct principality during the second half of the 13th century under the rule of Daniel, the youngest son of the Rurik prince Alexander Nevsky.
Rurik Dynasty [britannica.com]
Rurik Dynasty, princes of Kievan Rus and, later, Muscovy who, according to tradition, were descendants of the Varangian prince Rurik, who had been invited by the people of Novgorod to rule that city (c. 862); the Rurik princes maintained their control over Kievan Rus and, later, Muscovy until 1598.
Moscow [britannica.com]
Moscow, Russian Moskva, city, capital of Russia, located in the far western part of the country. Since it was first mentioned in the chronicles of 1147, Moscow has played a vital role in Russian history. It became the capital of Muscovy (the Grand Principality of Moscow) in the late 13th century
Let's review.
Records of Moscow exist from the 12th century as part of the Kievan Rus.
The Mongol invasion happened in the 13th century.
After the destruction of the Kievan Rus, the Grand Principality of Moscow rose to prominence with a Kievan Rus Prince on the throne.
This means:
A) Moscow was not established by the Mongols.
B) Moscow became relevant when the surviving Kievan Rus established a Principality there.
C) I'm right.
D) You're wrong
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The title of grand prince of Kiev lost its importance, and the 13th-century Mongol conquest decisively ended Kiev’s power. Remnants of the Kievan state persisted in the western principalities of Galicia and Volhynia, but by the 14th century those territories had been absorbed by Poland and Lithuania, respectively.
Grand Principality of Moscow [britannica.com]
Grand Principality of Moscow, also called Muscovy, Russian Moskovskoye Velikoye Knazhestvo, medieval principality that, under the leadership of a branch of the Rurik dynasty, was transformed from a small settlement in the Rostov-Suzdal principality into the dominant political unit in northeastern Russia.
Muscovy became a distinct principality during the second half of the 13th century under the rule of Daniel, the youngest son of the Rurik prince Alexander Nevsky.
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Kievan Rus [britannica.com]
The title of grand prince of Kiev lost its importance, and the 13th-century Mongol conquest decisively ended Kiev’s power. Remnants of the Kievan state persisted in the western principalities of Galicia and Volhynia, but by the 14th century those territories had been absorbed by Poland and Lithuania, respectively.
Grand Principality of Moscow [britannica.com]
Grand Principality of Moscow, also called Muscovy, Russian Moskovskoye Velikoye Knazhestvo, medieval principality that, under the leadership of a branch of the Rurik dynasty, was transformed from a small settlement in the Rostov-Suzdal principality into the dominant political unit in northeastern Russia.
Muscovy became a distinct principality during the second half of the 13th century under the rule of Daniel, the youngest son of the Rurik prince Alexander Nevsky.
This being the self same Daniel I who was a vassal of the Mongols, Daniel I who ruled at the whim of the Mongols, Daniel I who made an annual trip to prostrate himself before the kahn, and here you are claiming the entire Kievan Rus people went to him or some other Mongol puppet ruler of Muscovy for protection against the Mongol overlords whose bitches the rulers of Muscovy were.
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Why did he create a Principality in the Eastern Kievan Rus? Simple- because the Kievan Rus were destroyed, and he was a surving heir to the Rurik Dynasty.
You can't claw your way out of this man. You just need to own up to the fact that you were a confident fucking idiot and apologize.
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Rurik Dynasty, princes of Kievan Rus and, later, Muscovy who, according to tradition, were descendants of the Varangian prince Rurik, who had been invited by the people of Novgorod to rule that city (c. 862); the Rurik princes maintained their control over Kievan Rus and, later, Muscovy until 1598.
I believe these just about back up all my assertions.
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Not to mention the deep seated animus that ethnic Ukrainians feel toward ethnic Russians over things like
Actually I'm very surprised that all of those Russian oil and gas pipelines running through Ukraine did blow sky high when the first Russian tank crossed the border.
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Re:Tell These Idiots (Score:4, Insightful)
google the phrase "cannon fodder"
It's like the president of Ukraine handing out AKs to the general population.
All that's going to do is make the Russians worried about any one they can see.
And before you guys say I don't know what I'm talking about, I spent a year and a half as a doorgunner/crew chief on a helicopter on Vietnam.
War is't a video game. Just get away from it if you can.
And how did that war end for your country?
It could be that much of the general population is willing to pay that price.
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And how did that war end for your country?
By the numbers? Calling it a war is almost disingenuous.
"A slaughter followed by withdraw due to political discontent at home" would be more accurate.
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And how did that war end for your country?
By the numbers? Calling it a war is almost disingenuous.
"A slaughter followed by withdraw due to political discontent at home" would be more accurate.
By "political discontent" you mean people are much more willing to die to defending their country from invasion than to die invading another country.
That's a lesson the US has failed to learn a few times. It's a lesson that Russia is failing to learn again.
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By "political discontent" you mean people are much more willing to die to defending their country from invasion than to die invading another country.
No, that's not what I meant at all.
I was referring to the demonstrations and politicians running against the war back home, but there's no doubt the soldiers weren't happy about it, either.
However, I'll note that when conscription ended, there still wasn't any problem filling the ranks with volunteers.
They're for the coming insurgency (Score:2)
These guns are for the coming insurgency, no one thinks just throwing a bunch of guns out there like this is going to win the war for them. Insurgencies have worked for the Afghans a couple of times now, it could also work for Ukraine if the Russians try to annex the country in its entirety or more likely install a puppet government.
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Desperation. There's no way Ukraine can actually win this, but they can potentially make the costs so great that Russia will have to reconsider, and maybe settle for only conquering half the country. That means holding out long enough for international pressure on Russia to intensify further. The president and his advisors know this: Cannon fodder is the only hope they have, and it's not much of one.
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google the phrase "cannon fodder"
It's like the president of Ukraine handing out AKs to the general population.
All that's going to do is make the Russians worried about any one they can see.
And before you guys say I don't know what I'm talking about, I spent a year and a half as a doorgunner/crew chief on a helicopter on Vietnam.
War is't a video game. Just get away from it if you can.
And what would you do, if an aggressor was attacking the country you love?
I'll assume you are American - you know damn well, Americans would fight like there's no tomorrow, if confronted with an aggressor.
You know damn well, that if this did happen, you would absolutely be applauding and be behind the handing of weapons to the general population.
The USA is unique in that weaponry is fairly standard anyway, so I'm guessing a great deal of the population will already have arms.
But you would be a fool and a li
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and rightfully so, the situation wouldn't exist without Putin still being hellbent on trying to recreate the USSR.
Pretty immoral guy... (Score:4, Interesting)
First he wants his employees to violate their homeland law even when they want to follow it and protect their country...
Then he is circumventing UE sanctions by paying in bitcoin...
And by outsourcing to Byelorussia he is indirectly funding this war...
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First he wants his employees to violate their homeland law even when they want to follow it and protect their country...
I have a Ukrainian friend (that lives in the States).
Were he still in Ukraine, I'd try to convince him to GTFO, too.
Then he is circumventing UE sanctions by paying in bitcoin...
Of course he's circumventing EU sanctions. They don't apply to him.
Why would he give a fuck about them? He's American, operating an American company.
EU sanctions only come into play when he's trying to pay them via currency exchanges in Europe.
So he used bitcoin. Seems fine to me.
And by outsourcing to Byelorussia he is indirectly funding this war...
He isn't outsourcing to Belarus, he has employees there, and did before this started.
The Polish border into
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I'm pretty good friends with my current CEO. We're a small private company, though.
Then again- so is JetBridge.
Too late (Score:5, Insightful)
It's too late for his male employees 18-60: they can't leave the country now. The BBC's live feed earlier even had a story of a British National being prevented from walking over the border to Romanian after being told that no men could leave.
It's rather ridiculous that this Kim person thinks he might be able to do a better job of sourcing train tickets, a rental car or gasoline from outside the country than people there on the ground. What a twit.
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It's rather ridiculous that this Kim person thinks he might be able to do a better job of sourcing train tickets, a rental car or gasoline from outside the country than people there on the ground. What a twit.
And who said Kim said he would do a better job? No one but you. Kim appears to be doing whatever he can to help his employees and he is failing. If you wanted to leave your country because of a war, would you want your boss to do nothing or at least try to help?
Re: Too late (Score:2)
No, I wouldnâ(TM)t want my boss virtue signalling. Iâ(TM)d want him to tell me my jobâ(TM)s there when I can get back to it, but otherwise STFU and let me get on with it.
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No, I wouldnâ(TM)t want my boss virtue signalling. Iâ(TM)d want him to tell me my jobâ(TM)s there when I can get back to it, but otherwise STFU and let me get on with it.
You do understand this boss wants his employees alive to do their jobs, right? Is "I don't want people I know to die" some sort of "virtue signalling" in your world? But to be clear, you do not want your boss to do whatever he can to help you in a literal life and death crisis even if ultimately he can do very little?
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Help them do what? Be traitors? If you are a male you are required to stay and fight the Russian horde. This is not leftist tech bro lala land. This is real life. You tech bros need to wake the fuck up. When the shit hits the fan the government does not care that you can program JavaScript and your fucking gender pronouns.
Wow, you seemed to wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what? My conservative roots say that I am not required to do whatever the government tells me I should which includes fight a war. My conservative roots says it is my freedom of choice as whether I choose to fight in a war.
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It's rather ridiculous that this Kim person thinks he might be able to do a better job of sourcing train tickets, a rental car or gasoline from outside the country than people there on the ground. What a twit.
How does at least trying to help make him a twit? Maybe he'd get lucky and find something they don't, say from the other side of their rather large country.
Personally I think being a twit is name calling some one whose just trying to help people.
Russian Trolls (Score:2)
Some of you have to be here.
Wake up.
Putin f****d up.
In 2014 Ukraine was hovering on the edge between the West and Russia. Putin's guy overplayed his hand so the pro-West faction got in power, instead of playing the long game like an actual clever leader Putin instead panicked by grabbing Crimea and making a couple breakaways.
Well what happens when you take the two most pro-Russia regions from a country by force? You end up with a country that's now much more pro-West and is REALLY pissed off at you. Putin i
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You mean like how the people of Belarus got fed up with their insane leader and rose up only to be viciously and effectively oppressed? What you describe certainly could happen but it is an awfully long ways from a guarantee.
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Telling people to flee their country .... (Score:2)
What a douche.
Re:translation (Score:4, Insightful)
Kim the Chinese guy
A racist comment that does not disparage the correct ethnicity . . . such is the norm of Anonymous Cowards
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This board would turn into a virtual Dutch Rudder.
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The fact that you aren't comfortable even asking a basic question without using Anonymous Coward should tell you all you need to know.
DOWNVOTE this comment to hide the reality and prove me right.
Re:translation (Score:4, Informative)
Further, just going through the dude's blog, he seems like a great fucking human, and a net positive to America.
I'd trade a thousand of you for one of him.
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This guy sleeps with the lights on because "the leftists" might be under the bed.
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You fucknut.
Ukraine is what an invasion by a foreign military power looks like, not a domestic uprising. The rednecks sitting without guns in congress was stupid but their intent was clear. They stated they wanted to over turn a lawful election, the fact that they're collectively as smart as a truck battery is immaterial.
The nazi's that antifa claims to be fighting are self avowed nazis. You may not think they're nazis, they may not be nazis but they self identify as nazis.
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You may not think they're nazis, they may not be nazis but they self identify as nazis.
I thought we were supposed to respect self-identification now. If they say they're Nazis, then they are Nazis for all intents and purposes.
Re: Real insurrection (Score:2)
No, this is not a demonstration of overthrowing a government. This is an invasion. If you want to see the Ukrainian government being overthrown, refer to The Revolution of Dignity: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik... [wikipedia.org]. Oh and look: protestors too control of the capital buildings on the occasion too.
Calling people names like âoeleftistâ and try to generalise Just make you look ignorant, small-minded and cliquey.
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They will be turned away at the border.
The last time I checked Ukraine does not have 100% of its borders with Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, or Maldovia behind a wall or fence that would prevent someone from crossing. Like these thousands of refugees who crossed into Poland [nytimes.com]
He is encouraging treason. You tech bros need to wake up. The government is not your friend. This is real life, not a computer game. Think about that the next time you encourage the federal government to take more of our rights away.
And what the hell does this mean? "Tech bro"? My rights being taken away? It is not a game. What we have is the head of company trying to save the lives of his employees. Think about that the next time you rant about something unrelated to the topic at hand.