My LJ post on Ukraine

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 09:07:57 GMT

I am still worried that LJ may disappear outside Russia. After all, we are a point of contact with the outside world and, as Putin tries to convince Russians that black is white and up is down, this might eventually be noticed. Apart from the possibility of it being cut off at our end.

But, as I mentioned to cairistiona7, I know that my journal is often read by 200+ people in a day as I leave many of my entries set to public. And who knows, some of those anonymous readers may be from the Russian side of LJ. So this is a post about Ukraine. And if my journal disappears my friends know I have one ready to use at Dreamwidth, and I have all my entries archived on a pen drive! Not that I really think my journal is that important.

Ukraine - I am very distressed by the unprovoked invasion of this independent country by the Russian forces. I am upset and distressed by the pictures coming out of the whole country of Ukraine of apartment blocks being demolished by Russian forces, of families with small children sheltering in underground stations from aerial bombardment by Russian war planes in scenes reminiscent of WW2.

I am just as saddened for the young Russian soldiers, and their families. It is clear that most of them have no idea why they are there. If they even vaguely are aware that they are meant to be crushing a nazist oppressive regime they quickly realise this is not true.

Whilst they may not realise just how pointedly insulting President Putin is to President Zelenskiy, who had relatives who died in Nazi Concentration Camps, to use that term, they are told, in no uncertain terms, by the Ukrainians they are now meeting face to face.

They are not welcomed as some sort of liberators. The Russian military is invading an innocent neighbour. The captain of the Russian warship who demanded that the 13 coastal guards on what we know as Snake Island (between Ukraine and Romania) hand over any weapons, learnt that he was not welcome when they told him to F*** Off. It is thought that all 13 may have been killed when the warship then opened fire on them.

The Russian soldiers confronted by an elderly lady, at least as old as their Grandmothers, realised they were not wanted when she told them to go home - and, if they would not go, to take some of her sunflower seeds and put them in their pockets... so that something Ukrainian might grow from their bodies if they died on Ukrainian soil.

The Russian troops confronted by fellow Russians whose homes and lives are in Ukraine, know they are not liberating anyone - for they have been told so face to face. Especially the ones who got lost and ran out of fuel for their tank... the local populace told them to turn around and go home.

The people they are fighting against are the people who usually sit at desks, deliver the mail, work behind shop counters - they are learning how to make petrol bombs because they do not want to be 'liberated' - they want Russians to come for holidays, for business, to visit friends and family, not to try to overthrow a democratically elected government. They were planning birthday parties for their children - the children now sheltering in the underground stations building tanks and guns from the new lego set birthday presents.

And now President Putin is telling his people that 'Western countries are being unfriendly' and so it is all their fault. So unfriendly that he might have to use nuclear weapons.

The Western countries are being so unfriendly that they have decided not to hold the European Champions League final in Russia, have cancelled the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix, and told Russia they are no longer welcome to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. So unfriendly that some countries have said they won't play international football against Russia, even if it means being classed as defaulting.

Now this is sad for all the people of Russia who enjoy the football, the motor-racing, and Eurovision and we would much rather have you enjoying the fun with the rest of us - but would you want to spend your leisure time with someone who has just turned on another of your friends and tried to batter them to death?

And now the Western countries are being so unfriendly that they have decided to slow down money transferring between themselves and Russia, and are preparing to not buy your oil and gas rather than waiting for President Putin to say they can't have it.

But let's get this straight in simple terms we can all understand. He is the guy who has sent his kids out with instructions to totally trash his next door neighbour's garden, dig up the plants and shit in the grass - and now he says the rest of the neighbourhood is totally at fault because they won't let him play in their gardens with their ball... and so he might just get a bulldozer and smash their houses.

And, finally -

The Joint Public Issues Team of the United Reformed Church, Methodist Church and Baptist Union in the UK has issued the following prayer:

God of all,
with alarm and concern we bring before you
the military intervention in Ukraine.

In a world you made for peace and flourishing,
we lament the use of armed force.

We mourn every casualty of this conflict,
every precious life extinguished by war.

We pray comfort for those who grieve
and those who are fearful.

Hear our longing that leaders and nations
will honour the worth of all people
by having the courage
to resolve conflict through dialogue.

May all our human failings be transformed
by your wonderful grace and goodness.

We ask this in the name of Christ,
the author of peace and sustainer of Creation.
Amen.

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Fanfic and Semen...

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 21:01:04 GMT

There have been a good deal of posts, in the Tolkien fandom, about a fic site which has been bought by someone who has said, in the past, that he intends to become very rich by buying (I paraphrase because I am too lazy to go and check exact words...) 'run-down sites where the current owner has no idea how commercially valuable they may be.' And that he intends to 'take over fandom'.

As you can imagine a lot of people are very pissed off at someone intends to make money from their creative work, and worry that he will draw the wrath of the Tolkien Estate, which can be extremely wrathful, if it looks as if he is making any money at all out of Tolkien related stuff. (If you are interested Esteliel has written a good account of the whole thing.)

I didn't post there, and hardly ever read there - the default is grey print on black, and even if you change to the alternative grey on cream it isn't an easy place to read.

So - why am I mentioning it at all?

Well - the person who had developed the site has said one reason she sold it was because she was paying a lot out of her own pocket because no matter how often she asked for donations almost no-one gave...

Do you read fanfic at any of the archive sites that has a 'donate' button? Have you ever donated? If not, why not?

Do you want to find your favourite archive disappearing, or being bought by someone who annoys so many of your favourite authors that they withdraw their stories? No? Then go and click on that 'Donate' button. And yes - I do - I reckon I get a lot of pleasure from my favourite sites and on the three of them that have a 'Donate' button I click it at least once a year.

It is not expensive - if every reader gave the cost of one paper-back book a year to their favourite sites there would be no question of any of them having problems keeping going. So - just_ann_now gave me a really good book (Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner) - the cover price is $6.99. I can donate that much money, or even just $5.00, and I can read guilt-free for a year.

Take a lesson from the Lord of the Rings Fanfiction buy out and make sure your favourite archive in whatever fandom has the support it needs. And the second lesson - if you want me to read, don't use grey on black as your default...

And now for the semen... This is a short clip from an e-mail from my daughter, currently having a whale of a time in Buenos Aires having been stuck in London for two days by a Chilean volcano until British Airways got her onto an Iberia flight from Madrid -

There was no inflight entertainment on the Iberia flight and I've been on nicer areoplanes with flybe and easyjet! But it got me here and I can hardly complain when BA had put me up in the Hilton and the Marriott and paid for all my meals the last 2 days!

I got through a rather lax customs, full of signs warning against importing semen into the country(!), and to Katie's with no problems...

I leave you to make of that what you will!!

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The Way of the Wombat

My LJ post on Ukraine

Fanfic and Semen...