@MI_Nationalist "Looming threat of death" as if this war was some inevitable, unstoppable force of nature and not something that Russia brought upon Ukraine. You should be able to understand the perspective of the Ukrainian artist and not use such crass language.
Are you Russian by any chance?
🇷🇺 18–20 SEPTEMBER 2026: RUSSIA VOTES — BUT DOES RUSSIA REALLY HAVE A CHOICE? The new State Duma will have 450 seats, but the central question is not how many boxes appear on the ballot paper. The real question is whether any of those choices can actually remove the Kremlin system from power. That is the meaning of this poster. FOUR PARTIES. ONE KREMLIN. ZERO DEMOCRACY. United Russia is the governing machine. The Communist Party, LDPR and New People have different histories, voters and rhetoric, but they operate inside a tightly controlled political system in which genuine alternation of power has become almost impossible. This is satire, not a literal claim that Putin is personally the candidate of all four parties. The point is deeper: authoritarian systems often preserve the appearance of pluralism while controlling the space in which politics is allowed to happen. Different logos. Different colours. Different slogans. But where is the real possibility of replacing the people who rule Russia? Democracy is not simply four names printed on a ballot. Democracy means the government can lose. Democracy means opposition parties can organise freely. Democracy means candidates are not excluded because they threaten the system. Democracy means independent media can investigate those in power. Democracy means observers can verify the process. Democracy means citizens can campaign against war without fear of repression. Democracy means power can change hands peacefully. Russia today fails that basic test. For years, the Kremlin has systematically narrowed the space for independent political competition. Opposition movements have been dismantled, activists imprisoned or pushed into exile, independent media restricted, and the political system structured around preserving presidential power rather than allowing voters to replace it. That is why the September Duma vote must not be treated as an ordinary European parliamentary election. We should look beyond the ballot boxes and ask who was allowed to run, who was excluded, who controls television, who controls institutions, and whether any opposition force is genuinely capable of winning power. There is another fundamental issue: Russia is also trying to use electoral procedures to legitimise its occupation of Ukrainian territory. No democratic process can make illegal occupation legal. No ballot organised by an occupying power can erase Ukraine’s sovereignty. Europe must reject any attempt to turn occupation into legitimacy through staged political procedures. The Kremlin wants the photographs: voters entering polling stations, ballot boxes, turnout figures, party percentages and a newly constituted parliament. Those images create the appearance of normal constitutional politics. But the essence of democracy is not appearance. It is uncertainty. It is the possibility that those in power wake up after election day and discover that the voters have removed them. When was the last time Putin seriously faced that possibility? That is why 18–20 September matters. Watch Russia. Watch the Duma. Watch who is allowed to compete. Watch who is silenced. Watch who controls the media. Watch whether international observers are allowed to see the process. And above all, do not confuse managed pluralism with democracy. Russia deserves real political competition. Russia deserves free parties, free media, independent courts, independent observers, free political prisoners and elections in which the Kremlin does not already control the limits of possible outcomes. 🇪🇺🇺🇦🇷🇺 FOUR PARTIES. ONE KREMLIN. ZERO DEMOCRACY. MANY LOGOS. NO REAL CHANGE OF POWER. #Russia #Putin #StateDuma #Russia2026 #SeptemberElection #UnitedRussia #LDPR #KPRF #NewPeople #Democracy #FreeRussia #Ukraine #Europe #Kremlin #HumanRights #PaxEuropeana #FehlingerJahn
Ever wondered how the shoulder muscles actually move with every motion?
Understanding the movement makes your character’s anatomy feel so much more alive.
Hey @grok what's it called when a country deliberately targets civilian infrastructure in a neighboring country, intentionally killing and starving civilians?