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Daractenus

@Daractenus

Oct 20

As I've split my Russian cities "travel guide" into a myriad of different threads and posts, I've decided to finally gather them all in one place (mostly so I can have something to pin on my profile).

Welcome to "Posh Russian cities - The Definitive Edition" 🧵

While a romantic sunset, sunrise or the sun in general is not something you're likely to experience in Norilsk - a city that fields a beautiful bi-annual Biblical plague when the local river runs red with pollution, is one for sure bound to go straight to your heart. And lungs.

Having "Leave" as the most common answer to the "Things to do in..." question, Magnitogorsk's mix of local dishes is widely recommended as an excellent way to encourage hair loss, while a dip in the local river is equally advised to those looking to possibly acquire superpowers.

Read 13 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Oct 17

Having always been mildly curious about the topic, I decided to use my nonexistent financial and legal expertise to find out how much money Navalny's "anti-corruption foundation" makes and just what it is they spend it on - and it has been one extraordinary journey! 🧵

As a starting point, I figured I'd take a look at their official website - which while kind enough to list every payment method humanity ever managed to create as available to give them money - makes absolutely sure not to provide any kind of financial reports on that money (very much a standard when it comes to transparent NGOs and not-for-profit websites).

What the website does do, somewhere down below in a corner, with a font size possibly chosen out of a sincere desire to blind their inquisitive enemies, is mention a NY employer identification number (85-0774334).

The good news is that if one is sufficiently determined to navigate through the NY GOV website, you can use the EIN to finally dig up some financial statements.

The bad news is that Navalny's "anti-corruption foundation", fighting so very hard against the lack of institutional corruption and lack of transparency, last published any sort of financial info back in 2022, which, apart from being ironic - also looks solidly legal.

As per their last report, about 80% of their funds ($1.4 million out of approximately $1.8 million) were spent as "grant distributions", with every single cent of those "grants" being transferred to, as I am sure you all guessed it, an obscure Lithuanian NGO named POSTERUM.

Read 7 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Aug 23

For the sake of better understanding the inner workings of the "mysterious Russian soul", I've compiled a long list of polls which, put together, make for a rather compelling image, one that I hope will dismiss the idea of the "silent majority of the good Russian people". 🧵

While apparently a lot of people in Africa still hold somewhat of a positive view of Russia, less then 1 in 10 Russians would even conceive having someone from Africa as a family member, neighbor, friend, coworker or all round go as far as to see them as a human being.

When it comes to the Central Asian migrants, I presume those miniscule percentages of the good Russian people willing to see them as more than slaves, are the Russian people of Central Asian origin.

Read 15 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Aug 7

Truth is the possibility of war is incredibly far removed for the majority of Europeans (especially as one moves westwards)- and fair enough, that's kinda what human nature and about 80 years of peace tends to do to one.

Unfortunately, this also translates into a very real lack of public pressure for our governments to increase defense spending (which typically require some rather unpopular cuts into other budgets).

In the light of all the above and some illusory hopes of raising awareness, here's an incomplete list of the warnings made (just within the last 10 months or so) by what I hope we can all agree are the most informed and competent people in Europe to assess the likelihood of a war with Russia:

Gen. VLAD, Chief of the General Staff of the Romanian Army (May, 2024):

"I'm convinced that Putin will escalate the war in the near future. (...) the population of Romania, like the entire population of Europe, must adopt appropriate measures to be prepared for war."

Adm. HOFMAN, Belgian Army Chief of Staff (December, 2023):

“Europe must urgently prepare for war. (...) it is by no means out of the question that they will open a second front at some time in the near future. Either in the south, in Moldova or the Baltic States."

Read 13 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Jul 14

I've noticed almost every post unfavorable to Viktor Orban gets bombarded by comments praising his "excellent governance" and the "great things he's done for Hungary" (usually coming from subject matter experts that can't actually point Hungary on a map).

So I figure we should take a lot at the great things he's done for Hungary, and in the spirit of me trying to get as many insults as possible from pro-Orban Hungarian ultra-nationalists, I'll do it by comparing Hungary to quite possible their favorite neighbor and a country often traditionally seen as having one of EU's most corrupt and incompetent political elites (a point I do not dispute): Romania.

Despite having about half of Romania's population, in 2003 (shortly after Orban's first term), Hungary had a GDP of $85 bil. while Romania's GDP was $57 bil.

Today, after too many Orban years to count, Hungary's GDP is about $220 billion, while Romania's stands at $370 bil.

In 2010, just as Orban started his second reign, the country stood as the 53rd least corrupt country in the world, while Romania was ranked as 75th.

In 2023, after 13 years of Orban, Hungary succeeded in being ranked as more corrupt than Romania, which is quite impressive.

Read 7 tweets

Daractenus

@Daractenus

Jun 26

Since my travel guide to Russia's wonderful working class cities turned so popular, I figured it would only be fair to take you on a journey through the humble dwellings some of the pro-war Russian elites bought (and lived in) throughout the collapsing decadent West.

A fervent supporter of the war he won't die in, Andrei Bokarev is a great Russian patriot which - like all other great Russian patriots - used to drown his sorrows as far away from Russia as possible and dream of Chelyabinsk from his modest $100 million Saint-Tropes cottage.

A devoted Z man with a fitting name, Iskandar Makhmudov found his "Russian soul" to be most at peace (much like Russian troops do in trenches) very much outside Russian borders, in a meager $85 million, 24 bathrooms, 16th century French chateau with 1500 acres hunting grounds.

Read 7 tweets

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