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In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

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Re: In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

#81

Post by nostrademons »

pkaye wrote: post #49
smoyer wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ours seems to be staying open because of a planet fitness that took over a large section. Macys, Penney's, Seats and BonTon were the anchor stores. It's likely a casino will take over half the building.

Our local mall (in SF bay area) will be shrunk down in size maybe 50% and the additional space and bulk of the parking will be converted into housing with some commercial stores in the bottom. Costco will take over a portion of the mall and some restaurant/food court area will remain. Not sure what will happen to the rest.

It's been interesting to watch the decline and fall of some malls and the rise of others. Hillsdale in San Mateo, Santana Row / Valley Fair in San Jose, and Main Street Cupertino are hopping. Vallco in Cupertino and Tanforan in San Bruno are dead already, and Mercado in Sunnyvale is getting there.

It feels like there's a certain style of "1980s mall", and another style of "2020s mall". The former is 2 stories of indoor corridors, primarily retail shops, with interspersed fully-enclosed restaurants and few areas to sit down. The latter is mixed-use, with condos, hotels, restaurants, and retail shops surrounding an open-air green space with lots of public seating and lawns. 1980s malls are dying fast, but 2020s malls are springing up in their place, and successfully drawing people to them.

Re: In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

#82

Post by [deleted] »

GekkePrutser wrote: post #54
smoyer wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in my late twenties and expecting my first child ...it was definitely a positive time and the economy was just starting to pick back up. Even the first gulf war seemed like a just cause (liberating Kuwait). I did a lot of work in Europe as well as a couple projects in Brazil and Americans weren't largely disp ised then.

When people mention US aggression the first gulf war is never really one of them. I think most people still consider it pretty justified. I'm sure their motive was more about the oil but Iraq totally started it. It also didn't leave a power vacuum in the country afterwards that allowed a worse enemy to grow (Like Isis in Iraq, the Taliban's return in Afghanistan). Civilian casualties were also an order of magnitude l…

[deleted]

Re: In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

#83

Post by jquery »

aeternum wrote: post #45
TillE wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really know anything about his personal goals - he's an old man who will probably be dead in around 10 years. But it's difficult to see how even a successful conquest of Ukraine is a positive result. Russia would have gained some territory of minimal value at the cost of crushing sanctions. There's no rational benefit, it's just the bizarre thinking that a physical buffer between Moscow and NATO is somehow he…

There really should not be a rational benefit, perhaps only a symbolic benefit (not letting an enemy alliance set up camp on your doorstep). On the flip side, it's ridiculous that the US and NATO leaders are willing to risk nuclear war over something symbolic with miniscule strategic value. If WW3 is started over something as foolish as this when all we had to say was 'Ukraine will never join NATO'. In a way it is hy…

So the West is to blame for Putin’s irrationality now? What kind of a double-standard is that? How can we possibly negotiate rationally with a madman? Should we have just given him anything he said he wanted? Of course not.

It was never about NATO, that was just a fig leaf to people with terminal “both sides” mentality. This has always been sold to Russia has returning to its rightful place as a glorious empire. That’s Putin’s personal motivations as well and he was damn clear about it in his invasion-eve speech.

This is about liberal democracy versus ruthless authoritarianism, and if you repeat Kremlin talking points, you’ve chosen the side of ruthless authoritarianism. Russia faked evidence and used it as pretext for their invasion. This is a war of aggression based on misinformation.

Re: In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

#84

Post by WalterGR »

xeromal wrote: post #60
smoyer wrote: post #2

"Has become a mall society" - And the US has spent the last 30 years abandoning or malls. When I was a teenager it was definitely the place to hang out on weekends!

It's funny you say that because in Los Angeles, mall culture is MASSIVE. Malls aren't stagnant. They are high-end and a lot of fun. Kids go there to hang out and adults go there to shop. I love it and it's sad it didn't take in other areas.

> I love it and it's sad it didn't take in other areas.

It did take for a long time in other areas. (Long = approximately the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.) But visits to malls across the US have been declining for some time.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail_apocalypse (Not mall-specific.)

Re: In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

#85

Post by bingohbangoh »

kcb wrote: post #67
bingohbangoh wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

Strange. Last I checked the US arms many countries that share borders with friends. The Netherlands didn't seem to care when the US sold F-35s to Belgium.

Why does NATO exist again?

Re: In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

#86

Post by foverzar »

mopsi wrote: post #42
_8j50 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the problem is morale for russia. If they have it, they can annex ukraine like the USSR days. Chechnya fought very hard like ukraine.

The morale is such that Russia imprisons people who call this a war and any reporting other than rehashing official PR statements is banned, all independent media has been shut down. In official statements, there's only a limited "special operation" against "Neo-Nazi drug addicts" in Ukraine and it's going well, while on the ground everything's falling apart and in some sectors they've deployed rear troops that shoot…

Yeah, most of this is untrue, you're read too much CNN

Re: In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

#87

Post by biztos »

skhr0680 wrote: post #43
VWWHFSfQ wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my tangential experience, Russian society is about 20 years behind the West, and 30+ years behind USA. As an American, I absolutely _loved_ mall society. But that peaked in the 1980s and 1990s in USA. It's mostly over at this point. I envy that they are (were) still enjoying it.

It really depends on the country. Malls are huge and packed in Japan

Ditto Thailand, and in Bangkok a few of them are really beautiful.

Re: In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

#89

Post by xeromal »

WalterGR wrote: post #84
xeromal wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny you say that because in Los Angeles, mall culture is MASSIVE. Malls aren't stagnant. They are high-end and a lot of fun. Kids go there to hang out and adults go there to shop. I love it and it's sad it didn't take in other areas.

> I love it and it's sad it didn't take in other areas. It did take for a long time in other areas. (Long = approximately the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.) But visits to malls across the US have been declining for some time. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retail_apocalypse (Not mall-specific.)

Yeah, I guess I meant why didn't it stay. Was it too much expansion or is the culture in Los Angeles just different?

Re: In Moscow, McDonald's packs up, radio falls silent and the brain drain begins

#90

Post by [deleted] »

TillE wrote: post #31
_8j50 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with the blunder part but only if he ends up failing to control ukraine. So long as he succeeds there, the russian people will lose big time but Putin will do just fine. But if he loses, I don't think he will leave peacefully but he will leave.

I don't really know anything about his personal goals - he's an old man who will probably be dead in around 10 years. But it's difficult to see how even a successful conquest of Ukraine is a positive result. Russia would have gained some territory of minimal value at the cost of crushing sanctions. There's no rational benefit, it's just the bizarre thinking that a physical buffer between Moscow and NATO is somehow he…

[deleted]
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