The Chief Editor of the independent newspaper "Novaya Gazeta,"
(no longer able to be published in Russia due to Putin's
censorship) explained in a recent interview how pollsters have
much more information about citizens they call for their surveys
than just their phone numbers.

Russians are well aware of that and when they get a call asking
whether they support Putin they of course are much more likely
to say "yes" fearing a "no" would have negative consequences
for them.

The rate of those who refuse to respond in the first place is
quite high (75%). With such shroud analytics no wonder the
official results show that Putin's approval rate is high.

The Kremlin's industrial-sized propaganda machine is aimed at
keeping the Russian people misinformed and politically passive.
This machine along with a total lack of political freedom
and the recent purge of ALL major independent media outlets has
contributed to the formation of a layer of society known as
" vatniki" ( from the Russian word for a type of warm coat).

These people live shrouded in apathy generated by Putin's
propaganda as if wrapped in a comfortable warm coat.

AC,

What a pile of bollocks.

The Western countries have about 50x the manufacturing capability of Russia and are supplying Ukraine with way more equipment than Russia can hope to produce.

If you want to see how Ukraine has advanced look here:

http://deepstatemap.live/en#8/47.981/36.705

If you want to see photos of all the Russian equipment destroyed look here:

http\://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02/attack-on-europe-documenting-equipment.html

Russia has lost more than 50% of its fighting capability.

Ukraine is using cluster munitions to wipe out any Russians on the move. All Russia's ammo dumps are blowing up.

Russia is losing this war.

Dear Shadow Minister,

I think it's time that we all leave this discussion.
We should not be giving a pro Putin supporter a
platform to continue to spout Putin's propaganda.
He can always start his own discussions on this
Forum - and see how many takers he gets. Arguing
with people like that only encourages them to
continue to divert.

AC wrote: "I'm not wrong, and you ain't proved squat."

1. Lavrov - had said that Ukraine was trying to ban the Russian language. You asserted that that was obviously true because Lavrov wouldn't lie. I proved he lied. You even admitted it (repeat.....YOU EVEN ADMITTED IT) although you are now (rather ineptly) trying to find a way to back-track on that. You now want to change the point by talking about what happened a decade ago. But my point was this - the Lavrov issue shows how you fall for anything the Russians say simply because you can't bring yourself to accept that they lie. Someone interested in the truth would have used this error to re-examine all the other Russian claims that you just accept at face value. But instead you just keep on believing any and all unverified assertions.

2. Crimea. For reasons that aren't clear you thought that an opinion poll of Crimean residents proved that the USA orchestrated the Euromaidan revolt. But as I showed you, had completely misunderstood the opinion poll because you had misunderstood the nature of Crimea's status within Ukraine. So, in your ignorance, you thought the poll showed Crimeans wanting out of Ukraine when in fact it showed Crimeans wanting to remain in Ukraine.

3. As you flailed around trying to hide your Crimea error, you stumbled on a one sentence summary of a poll about Ukrainian attitudes to the Russian invasion. And you made big assertions about that. But you failed to look more closely at the poll, which, again, showed the opposite of what you hoped it said.

AC, you make all sorts of claims about the war, most of which can neither be proven nor disproven. But every time you make a claim that is capable of being checked, it turns out you were hopelessly wrong. Which, of course, calls into question all those other assertions.

Not called into question by you, of course, but by anyone else more interested in the truth than the propaganda.

Foxyy,
"We should not be giving a pro Putin supporter a
platform to continue to spout Putin's propaganda.'

Well looks like 'cancel culture' liberals like wolves in sheeps clothing have finally reared their ugly heads on OLO.

You want to know who gave the Pro-Putin supporter a platform?
You did ya dingbat when you started this thread, and what's more if I started my own there's no way you could not help yourself to throw your 2 cents in (and you know it), as is your right, as is every Australians right.

Your attitude is what ruined this country Foxy.
Same type of people that said anti-vaxxers had no right to speak, and got thousands of people killed though vaccine side effects like blood clots.
- People just dropping dead for seemingly no reason at all.

No one has the right to cancel anyone else from having a voice.
This type of ideology is authoritarian, and I'm not entirely sure it's supported or welcome on this platform.

You don't have to like what I say, but you don't have a right to prevent me from saying anything, only the forum owner or moderator can do that.

If you have a problem with the things I say, go ahead and report me.

What you are trying to impose is 'social justice'.
That is, impose a punishment against a person when no criminal laws are broken and no crime has occurred.
It's not actual justice, it's just rule by the mob, fascist and authoritarian.
It's a point of view diametrically opposed to democracy.

AC has a right to express what opinion he has. Whether anybody else agrees with it is irrelevant. Personal attacks are not on, but almost anything else is ok. Once unpopular views are banned, olo is no longer a discussion forum.