Originally Posted by jgw
Last night I watched a show which described just how much theft and looting was taking place in Ukraine. They looted and stole entire contents of Museums and did the same for any and all art in general. I suspect the other stuff; clothes, tools, food, etc. were personal for the soldier thieves, murderers and hungry guys just having a good time in between rapes.

The facts are that the Ukranians seem to be a bit better than the Russian forces and now they are getting war stuff from the united states which is approximately 70 years newer than the old stuff the Russians have. That, and the apparent fact that the Russian army seems to be made up of untrained kids kinda changes the whole thing.

Now, if Putin doesn't go nuclear the whole mess just might get solved but, I suspect, the stuff that gets agreed on is going to be interesting as well?
I heard and read this morning reports of the organized theft of Ukrainian property by Russian forces - on the scale of Nazi looting in WWII. Russians plunder $5M farm vehicles from Ukraine -- to find they've been remotely disabled (CNN); Russia says its businesses can steal patents from anyone in ‘unfriendly’ countries (WaPo). What this demonstrates is that the Russian Kleptocracy is now institutionalized and affects every level of Russian official society.

A well reasoned argument is like a diamond: impervious to corruption and crystal clear - and infinitely rarer.

Here, as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game -- an economy that won't respond, a democracy that won't listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards. - Robert Reich