Smuel's good morning extravaganza

Small update: they couldn't decide who was going to be head of the state (one even voted for Maradona*) so at the 7th try they re-elected the previous guy who actually asked to step down in the first place since he is too old.

* yes, the football player. As someone says here, "Italy is not a country, it's a dream"

 

You all are still at it.

That's a comfort.

Good morning!

 

Well. It would have been very disappointing if we did not, right?

Good midday.

 

Dunno about "all", but yeah, here we are.

Good morning.

 

There's an Internet outage at work so I am unable to log in to start my day.

In the pre-COVID days this would be the equivalent of all of the roads exploding.

Good morning!

 

So, how about that World War 3, eh?

Good morning.

 

I was going to go skiing in the Alps during my stay here in Europe. Even brought my ski boots. Now with the end of ski season creeping closer, it is clear that's not going to happen. Thanks a lot Putin.

But seriously, fuck that guy. I'm really pulling for Ukraine, and I hope they're able to hold long enough that Putin has to relent to antiwar pressure and give it up. I don't know how realistic that hope is though. Probably a lot of young guys are going to have to kill each other before this is over, and that makes me sad.

 

I fear war will expand to the rest of Europe, Taiwan (by the chinese) and the rest of the world. Like Covid wasn't enough.

 

I can't believe it. How many days are passed? Ukraine is still standing. ✊

Good morning and good resistance.

 

In some ways that's more worrying. I expect that Putin was assuming that it would go the same way as with Crimea, where the Russian take-over was swift and undeniable, with a grand total of 5 casualties, and the international community grumbled about it but didn't actually do anything.

Now that the rest of Ukraine has not gone according to plan, he's in a difficult position - if he withdraws then that will be seen as a humiliating defeat. But the longer the conflict goes on, the harder it is for him to maintain the position that he's liberating the grateful pro-Russian people of Ukraine from their corrupt leadership. If he does something brutal and decisive to win, the more likely it is that other countries will then respond, which is likely to result in a humiliating defeat further down the line. I can't see a good way out of this one, and in the meantime deaths are in the thousands...

Good morning.

 

Knocking down the military and occupying the territory is just the first layer of the onion, as the US learned in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even if Russia accomplishes that first task, they're going to find it extremely challenging to rule an unwilling populace amid the ruins of all the infrastructure they're destroying. And any resistance/insurgency is likely to be well funded and equipped by the West.

Good evening

 

Anxiety rampaging, but I'm still on my feet. How are you doing?

Good morning.

 

The same, but sitting down.

Good morning.

 

It's well documented that Americans pronounce T like D, e.g. calling water "wadder".

But now I've noticed that they've started to pronounce D like T, e.g. instead of saying "second" they say "sekint".

What's up with that? Why can't they just pronounce everything normally and 100% consistently like British people do?

Mornin' all.

 

Looks like they just want to sound very posh and well educated.

Good morning.

 

Sounds like you just want to look very smart and witty.

Good morning.

 

Which english should I learn? American or British?

Also, the italian alphabet (just for curiosity):

 

It's a me, Smuelissimo!

Good morning.

 

To the bridge!

Good morning.