Four Year Wonders Got Married: Ochka and ML

[ML]

Boe, thanks for doing the legwork to support my assertions.

[Boethius]

I found an excerpt from the SBU recording I described -

http://www.facebook.com/SecurSerUkraine/videos/420986662742961

"I would inject them with with drugs, and if it worked, I'd look into their eyes and say "Die, suffer."  I would cut their wee wees and carve stars out of their backs, and cut out parts of their ear every day, their finger, so that they would hurt badly." 

The husband answers "They're children, Yulia."

She responds "I just hate these Ukrainians, I hate them."

[Chelseaboy]

It's clear there are plenty of sick and twisted Russians out there...men and women.

[Boethius]

This is Vladimir Zolkin, a journalist and Ukrainian activist. He interviews Russian POWs, with their permission. Typically he calls their parents, tells them their son is safe, asks why their government is killing Ukrainians, then allows the POW to speak to their parents. Those conversations typically are about how the POW is safe. Sometimes, the POW and parents break down in tears.

Here is one attempted interview that demonstrates a typical Russian mentality.

http://mobile.twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1582492174922395648?s=20&t=kvPFP0FTs05GbdaxdcI5NQ

[Boethius]

Anton Krasovsky, director of broadcasting for state owned Russia Today, in a broadcast, suggests drowning or burning Ukrainian children, and that rapes have not occurred (despite it being investigated and verified by independent investigative bodies, including the UN).

The fact this is broadcast means it’s officially accepted, perhaps even directed.

Anyone who believes the Russian population doesn’t endorse this is not accepting reality.

BTW, the writer being interviewed, Sergei Lyukanenko (a Ukrainian surname) is either outright lying about being told by children in 1980 that "moskali" occupied Ukraine, or his family was under suspicion for "anti Soviet activity" in 1980.  No child would have said that at that time, it would have been extremely dangerous for the child's family, unless they were asked to do so by authorities.


Lyukanenko would have known this, as would Krasovsky, as both were former communist party members.

http://mobile.twitter.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1584054018145685504

[Boethius]

Russian pundits denying the existence of Ukrainians.

http://tinyurl.com/4sxn436c

[BC]

Russian pundits denying the existence of Ukrainians.

http://tinyurl.com/4sxn436c

That is probably why it's still called a 'special military operation.'  If the official stance is that Ukraine does not exist (as Putin says), and RU declares war, it becomes a civil war.

[ML]

UW wife and I signed to purchase another house.
It is older and needs a lot of fix-up.
For some reason, wife instantly became attached to it.
It does meet a lot of our criteria, and is especially appealing in that she can walk to the University.
We checked, one mile and 20 minutes.  Slight and very gradual incline going to University.
We plan to keep existing house for at least a year or so until we know that the other house and location will be acceptable.
Will be quite a change as we go from multiple acres to less than half acre.  Noise is non existent here . . . but always a possibility in town.
As is my rule . . . we made very 'low ball' offer.
But it was accepted as we are cash buyers which is a relief to sellers as many deals take 3 months or more to close due to loan processing and can even fall apart if buyer doesn't get a loan. 
And the current interest rates have taken many buyers out of the market.  That's another reason for us holding on to existing house for a year or so.

We are hoping the cold weather and snow holds off quite a while so we can get some exterior work done in the next couple of months.

[BC]

Sounds great ML!  Half acre is still sizeable.

At least the way home from work will be downhill

Enjoy your new home together!

[ML]

Wall Street Journal  November 15, 2022

Researchers surveyed a national, demographically representative sample of 5,000 single Americans age 18 and older who aren’t in a committed relationship.

Single people had a lot of time to think during the pandemic, says Helen Fisher, a senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute and the lead researcher on the study. Now, many have a clearer idea of what they want—and what to do to get it.

Nearly three-quarters of participants say they want to find a partner who wants to marry, roughly similar to last year and up from 58% in 2019. And half of singles say they’re even more eager to find a relationship this year than in the past.

Almost three-quarters of single people say they only want to go on a first date with someone they already know they have good chemistry with, the study shows. To figure this out, they’re spending more time on phone calls and video chats. Today, one-quarter of singles say they’ve had a video chat with a date before meeting in person, up from 6% in 2019. 

When they do meet, slightly more than one-third of singles say they will wait to have sex. And—surprise!—men were more likely than women to say they’d wait: 40%, compared with 33% of women. 

Three traits are new to the top five since the pandemic: Singles said they’re looking for partners who are comfortable with their own sexuality; able to communicate their own wants and needs; and who are emotionally mature. (This last one hit the top five for the first time last year, as the pandemic raged.)

A sense of humor stayed on the list—it’s always a favorite.

And what dropped out of the top five during the pandemic? Physical attraction.

Half of the singles surveyed this year said they’ve fallen in love with someone they weren’t initially attracted to, up from 39% in 2019. This is the highest this number has been in the past decade.

[ML]

Despite not needing a loan to purchase (which drags out a lot of purchases), this deal dragged on for a couple of months due to chain-of-title issues.

Husband and wife bought, then transferred a half interest to an elderly relative who transferred that half interest to a niece who then transferred back to man who then transferred to a trust.

But I caught the fact that he only transferred the half interest to trust which meant the other half interest went into his estate when he died a few years back.

Widow thought she could transfer entire property to us as Trustee . . .  but I said, no-go . . . you must also sign as Executor of Estate and I want a grown daughter (who lived in distant state) to sign also.

That caused a snag as widow hadn't planned to give daughter anything.

After some weeks, daughter finally signed.  I suppose (but don't know) that she extracted some money from the mother.

But now it is too cold for us to get much done on the exterior of the property as we had planned.

[ML]

Time for final exams at university next week, so wife was busy all weekend preparing exams.
Then she will be busy for several days grading.
I will even get to help on the 'simplest' questions!

[BC]

Guess it's nice to get some closure (pun intended). Have fun with your new home!

Ahh, grading time!  I remember us young kids taking turns sitting on dad's knee in the evening, "helping" him grade... Sometimes he'd let us write the letters and +-

Enjoy it all you can while you can!

[ML]

I just fell for Internet scam.
Got email from Lowes.
Asked me to fill out survey and have chance to win a Dewalt Power Station only paying shipping charges.
I filled out the survey and clicked go.
Congratulations, I won !!
Gave my credit card info for $6.99 payment.

Only about 3 minutes later did I look at the  original email purportedly from Lowes.
The email was from:  Iamthewebman.com

Immediately contacted my credit card company and cancelled our two cards.

They wouldn't cancel the charge right now as I admitted I did the transaction.
So have to  do an appeal.
But the important thing was to get the cards cancelled before Iamthewebman started running up big charges.

[ML]

On the TV series Last Man Standing, owners Ed and Mike discover a valued employee is actually in USA illegally.

Mike:  We need to try to help him fix this up.

Ed:  I will contact an Immigration Attorney who helped me with a problem I had with an ex-girlfriend.

Mike: But wasn't the result that she was deported?

Ed:  Yes, and that wasn't easy for us to achieve, since she was born in Kansas !!

[BC]

I just fell for Internet scam.
Got email from Lowes.

Yeah, I noticed lowes sends out a survey almost every time you shop, so it's easy to get suckered in as being 'just another one of those, and is legit.

Treat any too-good-to-be-true emails as suspect.  Glad you had second thoughts and checked again.

Gmail usually does a pretty good, but not perfect, job of filtering such.

[ML]

FIGHT ALZHEIMER'S    !!!!!!!!!!

Five delegates A, B, C, D, E were at a conference.

1) Three delegates could speak Ukrainian.
2) The most common language was Spanish.
3) The only common language between C and E was Polish.
4) The only common language between A, B, and E was French.
5) B and C spoke English, but when D joined them, their only common language was Spanish.
6) One of the delegates spoke all 5 languages; another spoke 4, another spoke 3, another spoke 2 and the remaining spoke only one language.

What language(s) did each delegate speak?

[Bee Farmer]

FIGHT ALZHEIMER'S    !!!!!!!!!!

Five delegates A, B, C, D, E were at a conference.

1) Three delegates could speak Ukrainian.
2) The most common language was Spanish.
3) The only common language between C and E was Polish.
4) The only common language between A, B, and E was French.
5) B and C spoke English, but when D joined them, their only common language was Spanish.
6) One of the delegates spoke all 5 languages; another spoke 4, another spoke 3, another spoke 2 and the remaining spoke only one language.

What language(s) did each delegate speak?

A French Spanish Ukrainian

B French English Spanish Ukrainian Polish

C Polish English Spanish Ukrainian

D Spanish

E Polish French   

[ML]

Wife's friends back in Ukraine tell about what is a Royal Flush in  Ukraine now.

1. Running cold water.
2. Running hot water.
3. Electricity.
4. Heat.
5. Internet.

Not many have achieved a Royal Flush recently.

One female friend reported to my wife that she had been without electricity for 3 days.
She turned on light switch in her bedroom so light might wake her up if/when electricity came on.

Electricity came on at 3:30 AM today; so she jumped up and ran 2 loads of laundry through washer and dryer.

[ML]

Merry Orthodox Christmas to one and all.

Ochka spent quite a bit of time yesterday making tons of  багата кутя and bushel baskets of пиріжки (with apples and cherries inside) . . .  or so it seems.

I'll probably gain another 5 pounds.

After several years of her here, I look about 7 months pregnant now.

[Bee Farmer]

Look on the bright side.  In another 2 months you get your old figure back.

[Shadow]

Make sure your champagne is stocked for old new year net week.

[ML]

Make sure your Champagne is stocked for old new year net week.

Already taken care of, due to getting a gift of Champagne.

I actually don't care much for Champagne.

Much prefer Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay, or even Sparkling Apple Cider.

During this season and previously on Thanksgiving, we drank quite a bit of Egg Nog, which is generally only available this time of year.

Probably only has around a thousand calories per glass, plus tons of cholesterol.

[ML]

We have contributed to 3 such programs.  All run by people known to Ukrainian families here in our city.
- - - - - - - - -
Crowdfunded Technology Gives Ukraine Edge on Front Line
Wall Street Journal January 11, 2022

LVIV, Ukraine—From his base at a century-old villa here, computer programmer Dmytro Zhlutenko fielded a call from the front line with an urgent request. A unit lost one of the aerial drones it uses to track Russian troops and help artillery target them. Could he send a fresh one?  Mr. Zhlutenko messaged a contact in the Netherlands, who found a suitable craft on eBay and shipped it to Poland.  From there, another volunteer sent it by car to the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, where Mr. Zhlutenko drove it east.  Within a week, a reconnaissance team at the front was using it to spot Russian tanks and troops, and drop small bombs on them.

Such small-scale crowd funded operations have been instrumental in helping Ukraine turn the tide against Russia.  Mr. Zhlutenko’s fund—named Dzyga’s Paw, after his dog—is one of hundreds that function outside regular military procurement channels, delivering vital equipment to the front line, from encrypted radios to Starlink internet terminals.  The informal, decentralized networks are hard for authoritarian Russia to stop or replicate.  They align with the approach of the Ukrainian military, where on-the-ground commanders are given much autonomy.

The equipment provided by Mr. Zhlutenko helps units operate in small, autonomous teams that have given Ukraine a critical advantage in combating Russia’s lumbering army.  The commercially available equipment—which largely can be brought across the border from Poland with no paperwork— has helped the army use Western weapons, as well as Soviet-era models, more effectively by providing data that helps aim their fire, thus conserving ammunition.  Volunteers get instant feedback from the front line on which makes and models work best.

While his friends headed to the front lines at the start of the war in February, Mr. Zhlutenko left his job and turned his tech savvy to the war effort. The 24-year-old put about $60,000 into equipping his friends. After he shared posts about his efforts on Twitter, others asked how they
could chip in. He created a fund run like a startup from his iPad in his home in Lviv. So far, he
has raised roughly $700,000.

Daan Nielander, a 34-year old Dutch janitor, is one of his suppliers. Mr. Nielander began by sourcing encrypted radios for Ukrainian troops. He tracked down a set of radios for a modest price and offered them on Twitter. Mr. Zhlutenko bought them and they started working together.  One day in September, Mr. Zhlutenko messaged Mr. Nielander with the request for a drone. The call came from Skala Battalion, a crew of about 120 men named after its commander, whose towering frame earned him the same alias as U.S. actor Dwayne Johnson: the Rock, or Skala.

Mr. Nielander trawled websites for a good deal on a secondhand Mavic 3, made by China’s SZ DJI Technology Co., the world’s largest maker of consumer drones. Powered by four rotors, it weighs about 2 pounds and is beloved by video graphers — and military reconnaissance teams — for its powerful zoom camera. Skala’s men often attach a 3D-printed plastic claw that releases a bomblet when triggered by a button on the remote-control panel.  Mr. Nielander ships the equipment to an intermediary in Warsaw, who dispatches parcels via private vehicles across the border to Mr. Zhlutenko in Lviv.  Mr. Zhlutenko sends them to the front line or takes them himself.

In September, he sped east in his car packed with Starlink terminals, the drone, food, sleeping bags and other supplies for Skala and other units.  Mr. Zhlutenko got to know Skala—whose real name is Maj. Yuriy Harkaviy—through a volunteer named Viktor Yatsunyk, after helping Mr. Yatsunyk tweak some small, radio-controlled drones to prevent the Russians from tracking them.

Mr. Yatsunyk, better known as Britanets, or Brit, because he had lived in the U.K. for 25 years, received the shipment at the group’s headquarters in a village house.  Small teams typically
launch drones and beam live feeds to artillery units nearby using Starlink. Those units use the images to direct their fire in real time.  “This is a war of technology,”  said Britanets, who was
killed days later by a land mine.

[ML]

I posted before that wife's contacts reported that Ukrainians were in Oklahoma training regarding Patriots.

Now she got the word that other Ukrainians are here training regarding F-16s.