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Europe
Belarus retaliates against West with sanctions
2006-06-09
Belarus said on Thursday it had barred entry to European Union and US officials in retaliation to a similar ban by Western countries to denounce President Alexander Lukashenko's re-election. Western countries, long critical of Lukashenko's tough line on dissent, dismissed as blatantly rigged Lukashenko's landslide victory in March giving him a third term in office.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. One of the great minds of the 20th century at work.
Posted by:Fred

#18  LOLOLOL Jenifer - I'm just a willing tool of the evil oppressers
Posted by: Frank G   2006-06-09 21:13  

#17  mcsegeek1, I've lived a very sheltered life -- JosephM is the first wacko I've ever known, so I have no basis for comparison. When he first started posting here, the level and prescriptions of his medication were openly questioned. Now I think he's just playing with us much of the time, although anonymous5089 says he's hooked into some of the odder brands of conspiracy thought.

Frank G., you are a wicked, wicked man!
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-06-09 20:49  

#16  Joe is actually an early Borg for Earth. Soon you will all be assimilated. Notice "Shipman" no longer posts?
Posted by: Frank G   2006-06-09 19:09  

#15  It's like he uses math operators like + and = instead of verbs and such. He also inserts thoughts from different levels of awarness into the middle of a sentence. Then, there are the title-like adjectives which bring summaries of whole eras into an explanation, like WW2 Lend-Lease. The noun collapses under the weight of the text of descriptions suggested by these adjectives, leaving the sentence a trainwreck laying beside the highway of thought.
Thanks, nontheless, Joe.
Posted by: wxjames   2006-06-09 18:30  

#14  "At confusingly irregular intervals, he says something concise, informative and insightful"

TW, I've no quarrel with you my dear. After all, anyone who appreciates my recipes and calls my Mother 'loving' has me hooked. However, the statement above could also be said about nearly every wacko I've known. Not that JM's a wacko, mind you, just mind-numbing to read.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-06-09 12:23  

#13  On the other hand, we don't get first comments that say, "First!!!" Life is a trade-off. ;-)

And be careful skipping straight over JosephM's comments. At confusingly irregular intervals, he says something concise, informative and insightful. There's some very interesting stuff buried deep in that brain of his -- although whether the result of personal experience or good dinner parties I'm not qualified to judge.
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-06-09 12:14  

#12  Is it official policy...

Policy? No. More like tradition.
Posted by: Dreadnought   2006-06-09 11:58  

#11  Is it official policy that the first comment in every thread is given to a person with a reputation for run-on sentence after run-on sentence?
Posted by: Crusader   2006-06-09 11:35  

#10  Believe it or not there was talk in the early 90s about a Poland-Belarus merger.
Posted by: Rafael   2006-06-09 11:26  

#9  "You'll miss me when I'm gone! Just you wait! You'll see!"
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-06-09 10:16  

#8  possible merger of UKRAINE-POLAND

2x4 is right: this is a non-starter. I've got Ukrainian ancestors and one aunt who married a Pole. Trust me on this one. Just a few reasons (overly generalized but more or less valid):

Ukrainians: Orthodox church
Poles: Roman Catholic

Ukraine: the western frontier (= meaning of 'Ukraina') of the steppes
Poland: the eastern edge of Europe

Lots and lots of history wrapped up in just those two differences.

Alliance? Maybe, if Ukraine moves into the US-friendly sphere of eastern European countries that are seeking some shelter from both the EU and Russia. But more likely, Poland solidifies its position in the EU and Ukraine ... swings back and forth, unfortunately.


Posted by: lotp   2006-06-09 10:03  

#7  it being feared that if the Jews learnt how to march and clean guns, they might turn those skills to self-defence against the Arabs when they returned home

Events seem to have shown that to be a reasonable fear.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-06-09 09:36  

#6  Ditto. I've yet to read a coherent sentence from him.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-06-09 09:25  

#5  Wow, someone actually reads the Mendola posts? I just breeze through them onto the way to the next comment.
Posted by: gromky   2006-06-09 07:05  

#4  OMG! Sanctions I am going to have to do with what? Belarus doesn't provide any thing I need or that I use.


It's jst Alexander Lukashenko falp, fap, fapping away.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2006-06-09 06:13  

#3  possible merger of UKRAINE-POLAND

Not bloody likely, Joe, it would be like merger of fire and water. Alliance yes, merger no.
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-06-09 04:21  

#2  I didn't realize the Iran route had been that important, JosephM. My father was involved in that effort, as a Russian translator for the British (the Jewish community of Palestine provided a group of translators for the war effort, since at the time Britain refused to allow them to join the army -- it being feared that if the Jews learnt how to march and clean guns, they might turn those skills to self-defence against the Arabs when they returned home). One of his many experiences in that time that he hasn't told his offspring more than the very barest of details. But he did learn to speak some Farsi...
Posted by: trailing wife   2006-06-09 01:37  

#1  HHHHHHHmmmmmm, no follow-up article in the 'BURG concerning RUSSIA's potens move of its Black Sea fleet to its new naval base in TARTARUS, SYRIA, plus the growing alliance/possible merger of UKRAINE-POLAND and other nations. TARTARUS > since both Russia's former Red Banner Northern Fleet and Pacfic Fleet is mostly laid up, hard up, and rusting away, basically Russia is protecting its econ vital WW2 Lend-Lease land route thru Iran, as protected or covered by Russian ground, air, and strategic missle forces since the Navy can't do it anymore. Iff my histoire' is correct, the Iran lend-lease route was second only to the NORTH ATLANTIC/MURMANSK RUN to helping Stalin's human-wave happy Soviet Army survive and fight agz Hitler's OSTWAR.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2006-06-09 01:07  

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