Live data from Hacker News

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

lite.cnn.com

91–100 of 146 posts

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

#91
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 indo…

Yes I've noticed the open outdoor malls are more popular now. I live in Fremont so Newpark Mall is the one I was talking about. You can see the plans on the attached link.

https://www.newark.org/home/showpublisheddocument/7665/63758...

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

#93
post #34

Quoted post unavailable.

Sometimes one is tempted to think of the West as a Sinkhole for talent rather than a magnet. Alas...

Whaddyamean marketing and advertising aren't the highest and most worthy pursuit of our time? How absurd!

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

#94
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

It’s a defensive pact for smaller countries to protect themselves from Russian aggression and imperialism.

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

#95
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The truth is readily available in Russia. But just like everywhere else, truth and lies are rejected or embraced regardless of how flimsy or strong they are. Human bias and other psychology can be astounding.

The scary thing is that there's no TV or radio channel to tune to or a newspaper to buy that would offer an alternative, truthful take. Even foreign press suspended activities in Russia after the March 4th law that made independent reporting punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Determined people may seek out independent online sources if they can digest that everything they've been told is a lie, but that's an insignificant fraction of the whole population and their activism is mercilessly crushed by security services. The critical majority remains unaware of what the whole world has seen on front pages for the past several weeks and instead lives in a parallel reality where the widely reported bombing of Mariupol's hospital didn't happen, or if it did, they were all Nazis and crisis actors. It's Alex Jones and InfoWars adopted as state religion. Insane.

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

#96
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Putin seems quite rational in the interviews I've seen. A much more rational clear-thinker in fact than the last couple US presidents. I think it is fair to call him a power-hungry, aggressive, ruthless authoritarian.

Even if NATO is just a fig leaf, why give it to him? Why give him the chess piece that makes it easier to justify this war?

One of the great things about a liberal democracy is that we can openly criticize the strategic choices our government has made. I sure hope that we can continue to do that without labeling those dissenters as supporting ruthless authoritarianism.

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

#97

Doesn't he risk a 15-year prison sentence, by writing this? Pretty gutsy, to let it be published while he's still in Moscow.

Oh yeah, some Russians have my utmost respect for putting up and being vocal about that brutal regime they’re under. I think it toughens you up after some point but from my outsider perspective I would be simply terrified to speak up.

It’s not a brutal regime. That’s what the media wants you to believe. Have you lived there and been treated brutally? The US is a brutal regime. Check the incarceration rates.

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

#98
post #60
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.

You find it sad because you have never experienced the beauty of a society without malls. With small little local shops instead of the big corporations and high street brands that all look the same. Europeans have. But it is being destroyed by the malls.

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

#99
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

Maybe it's simply because among the millions and millions of LA residents there are enough people who still like malls. Other areas might not be able to compensate the general loss of interest.

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

#100
post #5

What an epic blunder by Putin which we can only hope leads to some kind of change in Russia.

How about hoping for change in your own country? Have you considered that you may be wrong about what Russian want? It’s not nord Korea, you know.
Post reply on HN