Ukraine

[m8son666]

Philippines

[titchbit]

only *european country / country that had tensions during the cold war.

my point is chris wallace only calls it "the ukraine" to rile up the rednecks watching his show and make them think it's 1983 again. plenty of ppl in this country live in the past and secretly wish the cold war was still going on.

[magma]

the only country that is allowed to have a "the" in front of it is the netherlands ffs.

Congo

The Congo and The Gambia are named after their main rivers and The Lebanon is named for its biggest mountain... using the The seems optional, but probably best not to. Although a quick check just showed that Gambia and Congo use it in their official English name now. I guess it's similar to referring to Dordogne in France as The Dordogne, which a lot of people seem to do.

The Ukraine apparently has its roots in Russian - perhaps someone a bit more familiar with the language can confirm - but I think it means "The Borderlands" or something similar from when it used to be the edge of the Russian Empire. Now that it's a country in its own right, I think it's probably inappropriate to keep using the The.

We're not alone in this... isn't Switzerland called Die Schweitz in German?

[titchbit]

why do ppl call it "the" ukraine. it annoys the fuck out of me. sounds like backwards looking blowhards trying to rehash cold war terminology & animus.

but i could be wrong. that's the sense i get when ppl say it

calling it "the" ukraine is actually incorrect ever since it became its own country. the name ukraine is derived from the russian word for "the" boarder "Окраина". but now since it is no longer the boarder of the USSR, calling it the ukraine is incorrect. #WhatYouLearnInRussianClass

[Terpit]

the only country that is allowed to have a "the" in front of it is the netherlands ffs.

lol aren't you from The USA?

[magma]

Oh, shit. Sorry ehbs.

[titchbit]

the only country that is allowed to have a "the" in front of it is the netherlands ffs.

lol aren't you from The USA?

America.




...or, 'murica, if you'd prefer






____________

in all seriousness though, it's a bit different when it's a long name with words that aren't unique to the country per se, ie "The United States of America," "The United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland," "Democratic Republic of the Congo," "The People's Republic of China," "Republic of the Philippines."

I'm pretty lost trying to find one for the UAE. "The United Arab Emirates." Those are all common words, not 'country titles' like America or Ireland.

[jrkhnds]

We're not alone in this... isn't Switzerland called Die Schweitz in German?

Die Schweiz, yeah.

[nowaysj]

[ehbes]

Oh, shit. Sorry ehbs.

don't let it happen again

[Terpit]

the only country that is allowed to have a "the" in front of it is the netherlands ffs.

lol aren't you from The USA?

America.




...or, 'murica, if you'd prefer






____________

in all seriousness though, it's a bit different when it's a long name with words that aren't unique to the country per se, ie "The United States of America," "The United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland," "Democratic Republic of the Congo," "The People's Republic of China," "Republic of the Philippines."

I'm pretty lost trying to find one for the UAE. "The United Arab Emirates." Those are all common words, not 'country titles' like America or Ireland.

But America is a continent, not a country

[nowaysj]

People getting snipped in the street, and ch'all are discussing the proper usage of the word 'the'.

[titchbit]

Starving children in africa, and you're using a computer?!?!?

How bout you sell ur computer and donate that money to africa, you selfish jerk.

[nowaysj]

Was the only one on here trying to buy a snh goat and send it to africa this christmas. No love whatsoever.

[ezza]

boat**

[faultier]

As Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland made clear in her speech last December and in the leaked recording of her telephone conversation with the US ambassador in Kiev, Washington spent $5 billion of US taxpayer dollars engineering a coup in Ukraine that overthrew the elected democratic government.

That it was a coup is also underlined by the obvious public lies that Obama has told about the situation, blaming, of course, the overthrown government, and by the total misrepresentation of Ukrainian developments by the US and European presstitute media. The only reason to misrepresent the events is to support the coup and to cover up Washington’s hand. (...)
The question at the moment is whether Washington miscalculated and lost control of the coup to the neo-izan elements who seem to have taken control from the Washington-paid moderates in Kiev, or whether the Washington neocons have been working with the neo-sizan for years. (...)
If Washington has lost control of the coup and is unable to restore control to the moderates whom it has aligned with the EU and NATO, war would seem to be unavoidable. There is no doubt that the Russian provinces would seek and be granted Russia’s protection. Whether Russia would go further and overthrow the neo-sizan in western Ukraine is unknown. Whether Washington, which seems to have positioned military forces in the region, would provide the military might for the moderates to defeat the neo-sizan is also an open question, as is Russia’s response.

In a previous column I described the situation as “Sleepwalking Again,” an analogy to how miscalculations resulted in World War 1.

full article: http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/26/ ... n-ukraine/

[nowaysj]

As I understand it, Russian troops are amassing just outside of the city, and there is this:

Presidential National Security Adviser Susan Rice said that events in the Ukraine “reflect the will of the Ukrainian people and the interests of the United States and Europe.”

She added that Russia would be making a “grave mistake” if Moscow deployed troops to halt actions by the demonstrators or attempted to place forces in eastern Ukraine, which is pro-Russian.

Her comments represent the drawing of yet another “red line” by the Obama administration, this time aimed at Putin. The last “red line” from Obama was toward Syria over alleged use of chemical weapons.

[magma]

I was just wondering why you'd not predicted the start of WW3 yet; this all seems right up your alley.

[nowaysj]

The conclusion that I reached is that ww3 has essentially already started.

I was wondering why the language in masson's post was so clear. hehe.

[nowaysj]

AndersFogh Rasmussen ‏@AndersFoghR 2 min
I'm concerned about developments in #Crimea. I urge #Russia not to take any action that can escalate tension or create misunderstanding

And I think those Russian troops are outside of Simferopol.