ListNook

RealisticForYou 16 hr ago +859

Needle sharing.... There are cities in the U.S. who distribute fresh needles to homeless drug addicts on the streets...this is the reason right here. Sharing needles is a for sure way to spread disease. And as a place like Moscow becomes more poverty stricken, I wonder if sharing needles is much of the problem.

859

h_danielle 15 hr ago +350

Correct. I remember reading a study in university about Insite in Vancouver, North America’s first safe injection site. The ‘no questions asked’ access to clean supplies reduced the incidence of HIV & at the time saved approximately $14 million in health care costs.

350

VagrantShadow 10 hr ago +21

That reminds me of Season 3 of The Wire and the creation of Hamsterdam. Hamsterdam was a free drug market in the city of Baltimore in the series. This was done beyond watchful eyes of the upper heads of the Baltimore Police Department, but there were many positives that happened because of it. One in which clean needles were being provided, contraceptives and other supplies were being given to help combat the spread of STI's in city, as well as some users were finding a way to get cleaned. Bunny's idea was revolutionary given the frame of time that season of the show came out. When it comes to things like sharing needles and other drug related tools, that is just another form of russian r*******.

21

[deleted] 14 hr ago -89

[deleted]

-89

CyberneticSaturn 13 hr ago +50

I mean, the real result of not doing isn’t no homeless zombies, it’s HIV infected homeless zombies.

50

vanbikecouver 14 hr ago +67

I live here and walk around everywhere without fear, even the bad parts. Sure, there's addicts but they keep to themselves if you leave them alone too. I don't even see discarded syringes that often anymore, crews come around and clean them up or maybe they're just smoking their drugs more now.

67

nconinDi 13 hr ago -5

Walk down East Hastings lol. Generally they keep to themselves so yeah not typically “scary” but around Downtown and Chinatown area is dirty asf and they tend to setup their camps in the middle of the pedestrian paths for some reason??

-5

Curious_Cloud_1131 12 hr ago +9

Insite is a symptom, not the cause. These issues exist in every province and medium (or larger) sized city in the country right now.

9

The_Fluffness 14 hr ago +80

It's not just this. Although, for sure part of it. There's also a very serious underground gay community in Russia.... And I don't mean a good one.... I'm a bi male, so bare with me as this is going to sound homophobic but it's really highlighting an issue with Russian culture and gay sexuality. First of all, most Russians are homophobic....but not if you're a top.... Not in the same way that say a bottom would be treated. It's a very toxic relationship between the two and is used socially in a very homoerotic way. That of course to Russians is in no way homo e*****. In the west it would be. It's hard to explain. It's almost a form of social dominance. This, mixed with Russians continued disregard to sexual health for gay individuals means that the suppression of education and systems in place in the west are not offered in Russia. This is furthered through the prison system.... Where dominance is key, and sexual dominance is used as a tool of control. All this also ties into drug use but I feel it's in everyone best interest to also understand the facts above. It's something that came to my interest after reading stories about Russian soldiers were being raped by commanders. Dig deeper and you'll find a very underground, extremely unsafe, and downright immoral use of gay sexuality within Russian culture that seems to permeate a lot of their major cities and institutions. Edit I feel I should add that there are plenty of wonderful gay Russians that are not like this at all. It's just REALLY prominent. The war has made this all worse as well. Russian macho culture is homo e***** as hell, and the war ties directly into that. So do drugs and alcohol.

80

RealisticForYou 14 hr ago +13

I look at this problem as “what has changed“ to cause such a spike? You say it’s a systemic problem that has been ignored within the community, which does make sense. I’m just highlighting that here in the U.S. needle use is a real culprit in spreading disease. Economic news in the U.S. says that the Russian rubles has crashed while hyperinflation has put many Russians on the streets. The homeless population with drug use could have been the tipping point, too.

13

The_Fluffness 13 hr ago +9

The issue is kind of hand in hand is all I'm saying. I felt there's just an ignorance regarding what is going on over there in regards to the cultural use of gay sex as a method of controlling someone. Drugs are for sure a big part of that, and so is poverty. If you dig into communities with the highest transmissiom of HIV from sexual contact in the US it is usually in line with the highest transmission of HIV through needle sharing. So it's a hand in hand issue, just from an angel I didn't think many people can see from.

9

TamaDarya 9 hr ago +8

LGBT crackdowns drove the community underground in the past 4 years. There were still popular gay clubs and gay dating apps and groups in Russia before the "Gay propaganda" law. Now gay dating has been pushed entirely underground, anonymized for safety and simultaneously infiltrated by bad actors - homophobes looking to assault (physically or sexually, re: "topping doesn't make you gay") or blackmail gay men, and just plain evil bastards using the lack of transparency to find abuse targets. It's harder than ever to vet a potential partner to make sure they're clean and safe, since everybody tries to provide as little information as possible and it's harder to warn others about someone with no open public communication. Drugs are definitely the bigger issue, just by percentage of population anyway, but I wouldn't be surprised if HIV cases spiked due to what I described above.

8

Fox_Kurama 8 hr ago +1

Yeah, I am generally friendly to the community and don't care what they do because they don't do it in front or me or involving me (I can handle seeing kissing fine). But Russian stuff is different. It disgusts me even though I only have some second hand accounts from people who escaped that area. As far as I can tell, everything a "normal homophobe" might actually (and normally misplacingly) fear about homosexuals is in fact true in Russia. ESPECIALLY in official positions including and ESPECIALLY including the military. Nowhere else. Just Russia. Not China. Not Merica. Not Europe. Not Random Island Pacifica #42. Only Russia. Something about this just being a normal way to humiliate those beneath you there.

1

420_SixtyNine 8 hr ago +1

It has actually nothing to do with being gay. This is how they force people who have made imaginary offenses to sign conscriptions against their will. They tell them to sign or they r*** them, and they do it as a form of social "dominance" rather than gayness. In turn this dogshit culture gets proliferated outside of the prisons but also into every authoritarian member of Putlers state. The truth is way more insidious than you think. They weaponize people's darkest fears and use it against them to do their bidding.

1

The_Fluffness 8 hr ago +1

Its even more insidious the more nuanced it gets to. Early in the war Russian VDV troops (airborne) were raping Ukrainian POWs. Now I haven't heard that happening recently but that doesn't mean it's not happening. That's a professional military Unit. Famous for the battle of Hostomel and Bucha. (obviously they lost those two battles but in Russia its sold as successful at distracting Ukraine Forces) on top of being the key talking point for Russian War Crimes in Bucha. It just shows how systemic it is. Like you get a prison unit and I can see the use of gay sex as a form of control.... but VDV? Spetznaz? I was kinda shook learning some of that. (Not that I had a high opinion of Russia after 2014, but I still respected their professional solders like VDV up until Bucha and Hostomel.

1

420_SixtyNine 8 hr ago +1

That's how it proliferates. Right now they are sending Russian troops to the front on basis of monetary and social hierarchy. That kind of culture is right at home with their actions. And if you don't join or agree with it you're just 1 sentence away from the meatgrinder or being blown up by Russian drones for defecting. Back then at the start of the war this shit was already that bad, imagine how it is right now. Even when this war ends, Putler's mark on Russian society will be felt for a long time. This country is beyond fucked.

1

PlansThatComeTrue 10 hr ago +1

What are you trying to say? It’s common for gay tops to r*** and abuse bottoms in Russia? It’s homoerotic so they both like it? Is that the type of relationship they go for?

1

Choozery 9 hr ago +1

I think he's trying to say that in Russia there is a widespread, deeply rooted prison culture. Which carries with itself an idea that male on male r*** is not an act of homosexuality but of dominance. The victim is branded as "lowered" (опущенный), while the rapist (who actually gets hard for another mans butt) is seen as strong, dominant, definitely non-gay manly man. As always, it is not everybody in Russian who thinks like that. A lot of younger, better educated people, liberal people, see the hypocrisy and call it out. But in the country where a significant portion of population are or have been in prison for generations, its a steep hill to fight for.

1

The_Fluffness 8 hr ago +1

This guy got it way more right than I did. And yeah 100% not all gay men in Russia are partaking in male r*** as a form of dominance.

1

Facktat 16 hr ago +176

As a European it sounds crazy to me that this implies that this isn‘t standard in all developed cities of the world.

176

RealisticForYou 16 hr ago +246

Worse than that. Many U.S. people on Listnook believe that passing out needles means that cities support drug use on the street. The problem with the U.S. is that we have 50 different States all managed by different leaders. It's the liberal cities that try to avoid the spread of disease, while other parts of the U.S. don't give a shit.

246

Userdataunavailable 14 hr ago +53

Even worse some pharmacies won't sell them without a prescription, their reason is "without the needles they can't do the drugs". Source: was a p******* tech for 10 years and heard those words from a head pharmacist.

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GayMormonPirate 12 hr ago +10

This is actually by state law in some places. I think Connecticut and NJ and a few other states require a prescription for them; even if you are a diabetic and need insulin, they'll require you to go to a doctor's office and get an Rx to buy more needles. Kind of dumb, IMO.

10

Rentta 11 hr ago +1

I mean they do that here in Finland too (or at least used to). To clarify i was buying super thick needles for e-cig use but some pharmacies just refused to sell any kind of needles if you didn't have prescription. This wasn't just me but at the time quite common problem if you used e-cings

1

Traditional-Goal-229 15 hr ago +37

This is always so weird. Why governments push anti-vaxx or things like ignoring needle sharing is always so odd. It hurts their economy. Even if a country doesn’t care about its people, the spread of disease hurts their wallets eventually. They gain nothing either. Again it’s just strange but definitely happens all over the world.

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Few-Sheepherder-1655 14 hr ago +11

I think it’s more of a thing where those people are completely counter to their beliefs

11

Ikrit122 14 hr ago +15

It's the choice between reducing diseases and seeming to encourage drug use. The idea is that if it is safer to take drugs that use needles, then people may be more inclined to take them because it is safer. That the fear of HIV or other diseases might outweigh the desire to do heroin or whatever. Of course, the big question is whether these programs actually increase the number of users or if that is just fearmongering.

15

Traditional-Goal-229 14 hr ago +19

Except we have a history that shows that drug increase doesn’t really increase significantly but the spread of diseases shoot’s up. And governments have this information. And no one is not taking drugs because they fear getting HIV from a needle. That’s the kind of myth that comes from people guessing. I know plenty of drug users and none think like that. It’s 100% fear mongering. And that doesn’t even address anti-vaxx. Again I don’t get why a government would push this nonsense. It only hurts everyone.

19

dystopianartlover 11 hr ago -4

> And no one is not taking drugs because they fear getting HIV from a needle. That's definitely not true. For example about 16% of people avoid vaccinations because of fear of needles. I also have met a lot of drug users, and needles are a big reason for why some people stay away from certain drugs for their entire life. What you're suggesting is mostly true however for people who are comfortable using needles.

-4

ZenoxDemin 14 hr ago +6

It hurt "them" more than it cost "us" and "we" don't suffer from it is how they view it. Cruelty is the point.

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Majik_Sheff 14 hr ago +2

If there was ever a real-time illustration of this is was in 2020.

2

DRKMSTR 14 hr ago -12

Maybe we should fund mandatory rehab instead of needles? My town near me boasts about how they're reducing the homeless population, what they don't say is that they made a drug safe-haven (no police allowed in one area) and we often have weekends where 5-10 OD and die - seen it in person. Emergency services treat it as routine, one of the reasons I moved. Compassion like this isn't helping, it's killing.

-12

gingersquatchin 14 hr ago +17

>Maybe we should fund mandatory rehab instead of needles? Where do the homeless go after mandatory rehab? Back to being homeless? Congrats you've done absolutely nothing but slap lipstick on jail. Safe injection spaces with clean needles in that area could reduce those overdoses to 0-1. Clean needle access alone REDUCES costs astronomically (anywhere with public health care) by reducing the burden on health care significantly.

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ZenoxDemin 14 hr ago +7

Congratz you made money for the shareholders of the rehab center and the shareholders of the prison!

7

blueskies8484 15 hr ago +33

Harm reduction as an entire concept is a wildly debated idea in the US.

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More_Bigger 14 hr ago +34

They demonize it as enabling. If narcan had been readily available to the public in 2012 my sister might still be alive. Its despicable to me a former opiate addict like RFK would try to end the federal narcan program.

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Breadloafs 13 hr ago +15

There's a particular American delusion that making something illegal will mean that it just disappears on the spot. It's a constant debate in my city, and the side that wants to remove safe needle drops honestly believes that removing city resources from the equation will solve the entire issue somehow.

15

CountVonTroll 9 hr ago +1

> There's a particular American delusion that making something illegal will mean that it just disappears on the spot. Exceptions apply when discussing gun control policies.

1

finny_d420 13 hr ago +8

Indiana Gov Mike Pence shut down a free needle program. HIV rates tripled. Hepatitis cases went up. He also cut the states medicaid budget thus denying those same people access to care. Pence went on to become VP of TACO first term. The J6ers wanted to hang him for not participating in their little game of treason.

8

Scholarly-Nerd 13 hr ago +3

Russia is not a developed country. It is a gas stop with rockets.

3

Ritaredditonce 15 hr ago +14

Very likely, Krokodil abuse in Russia is bad. It's typically costs 5 times less than heroin.

14

scorpius_rex 15 hr ago +17

I still remember reading about it in Vice years ago, [Krokodil Tears](https://www.vice.com/en/article/krokodil-tears-v18n9/)

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Affectionate-Day-359 15 hr ago +14

Lmao … tell me you get your news from VICE 15 years ago without saying it

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TheGoodspeed15 13 hr ago +3

😂 Okay so you watch the vice video on YouTube 15 years ago? That wasn't really a thing.

3

quick_justice 9 hr ago +1

There are various vectors, but most importantly HIV is still stigmatised in Russia, considered both a mark of a immoral character, and rare. People would hide their status, people would believe it’s almost impossible to catch in the wild through heterosexual sex. It doesn’t help, but Russia can’t ideologically have open discussion as it naturally leads to things like sexual education, needle and condom dispersal etc. and they can’t have it. They are ideologically follow a doctrine of nuclear family led by Orthodox church, and officially admitting that there are ways of dealing with sexually transmitted diseases other than abstinence is not acceptable. While means of contraception are readily available in Russia and as far as I know there's no limits to use of them, and prices are acceptable, it isn't talked about. In fact HIV situations get bad when the infection vector shifts from the risk groups (drug addicts sharing needles, homosexual men practicing unprotected sex) to general population (heterosexual sex, blood transfusion, etc). This is when you know it’s bad, and it of course is happening in Russia for a long while.

1

IntelArtiGen 8 hr ago +1

Can they easily access the treatment? Because afaik it's quite easy to live with it now and if you're treated you can't transmit it. It shouldn't be as stigmatised, at least in countries where you can have access to the treatment.

1

Affectionate-Day-359 16 hr ago +1

I’m guessing if the rates are the same as in Africa the population being affected is the same as in Africa … here’s a hint it ain’t drug users or queers…. I say queer as a queer

1

RealisticForYou 15 hr ago +22

Thanks for your lack of statistical analysis.

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Affectionate-Day-359 15 hr ago -6

Here ya go.. I was implying you were smart enough to know or perhaps even have the ability to use Google “In Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, over 25 million people live with HIV, with the highest burden in Eastern and Southern Africa. Adolescent girls and young women (15–24) are disproportionately affected, often accounting for over 80% of new infections in their age group.”

-6

RealisticForYou 15 hr ago +8

But that’s Africa. Africa has had the worst problem with AIDS for decades.…which does not mean everyone is queer. And as I recall, HIV was first found in Africa. This is a very poor country that has never been able to control this disease. The U.S. has HIV under control due to Big Pharma that has found drugs to combat the disease. The outbreak in Moscow could be caused for many reasons. Needle use is a problem everywhere…and not just from being queer. Moscow is in a bad way. Many years of war with Ukraine, their economy is shit while more people are homeless.

8

Investigaator_188 14 hr ago +145

thankfully there are meds to manage being HIV positive and heroin to manage being a Russian.

145

hildenborg 10 hr ago +28

And if heroin is too expensive for you, then there is always krokodil.

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_Ocean_Machine_ 10 hr ago +11

And if krokodil is too expensive, there’s always 3rd story window

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llDS2ll 9 hr ago +2

I got banned from Listnook for a week for making a window joke exactly like this one time, fyi

2

_Ocean_Machine_ 9 hr ago +1

I will get banned for life before I limit myself

1

Flatus_Diabolic 9 hr ago +6

> thankfully there are meds to manage being HIV positive According to the Ukrainians (so, grain of salt..) [Russia has HIV battalions](https://kyivindependent.com/to-fill-its-ranks-russia-seeks-hiv-positive-recruits-via-social-media-and-ukraines-occupied-territories/). Basically, they withhold the meds unless you sign a military contract and go to Ukraine. The Russians call them Zombie units (because they’re the walking dead) and they have to wear red armbands so that the other Russians know not to try to give them first aid of they get wounded and start bleeding. Not that they would have. They’re Russians.

6

Brief_Original 12 hr ago +54

When a country has to test a third of its population for HIV the systemic failure is the real story. This is what happens when healthcare is treated as optional.

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Broad-Performance-38 17 hr ago +233

When they said they were upset about all the aids Ukraine was getting, I don't think this is what they meant...

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miakodakot 13 hr ago +46

Ukraine is getting western aid, Russia is getting AIDS Wtf, why is this so poetic

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Ok-Addition1264 16 hr ago +146

They are broke.. they ain't doing this.

146

Chokycorgi 15 hr ago +18

Aren’t HIV tests prertt affordable?

18

AschAschAsch 14 hr ago +30

Around $7 in Russia. They are also frequently free on HIV-awareness events. Also free if you donate blood or go to hospital.

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ouath 10 hr ago +7

They send their wounded soldiers back to the front with walking sticks, it is not about affortable, they just don't care.

7

keeper420 10 hr ago +3

It's a good way to screen for the front lines. Don't have to worry about HIV spreading through your country if you just ship them off to Ukraine to die.

3

Flatus_Diabolic 9 hr ago +2

Or you can withhold the HIV drugs unless you sign a military contract, which is what the Ukrainians are [alleging](https://kyivindependent.com/to-fill-its-ranks-russia-seeks-hiv-positive-recruits-via-social-media-and-ukraines-occupied-territories/)

2

Nervous_Squirrel_ 15 hr ago +2

They are earning a ton currently with the high oil prices. Russia ain’t broke.

2

RealisticForYou 14 hr ago +25

The ruble has crashed as the country is suffering from hyperinflation.

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Late_Winner6859 13 hr ago +9

Crashed compared to what? It hasn’t moved much against $ or € (Though it should crash eventually imo)

9

FunSpiritual7596 12 hr ago +5

Putin ain't broke*

5

Nova225 14 hr ago +57

HIV? But only *gay people* get HIV. And we all know there's no gay people in Russia. /s

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Flatus_Diabolic 9 hr ago +3

Yup. Russia is so convinced of that fact that most western HIV awareness and aid charities have been blocked from the country as “undesirable” or “foreign agents”

3

IowaJL 13 hr ago +15

I was once told that the cases go down if you just don’t report them.

15

neo_vino 16 hr ago +78

Be Russian, get HIV test, it's positive, now you're a Russian with HIV, drink up!

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Phoe-nix 15 hr ago +44

Probably straight to the front lines. At least you got positive news!

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Upset-Freedom-4181 14 hr ago +10

And if you’re a Russian without HIV?

10

Gatlindragon 14 hr ago +48

Believe it or not, you also go to the front lines!

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Majik_Sheff 14 hr ago +20

They reused the needle to draw your blood. Now you do.

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neo_vino 14 hr ago +6

Just a Russian which is still sad

6

Vlad_TheImpalla 13 hr ago +1

Now they sent you to frontline, you die no more HIV.

1

Affectionate-Day-359 16 hr ago +42

So on par with Africa … definitely a world power

42

datdude2589 11 hr ago +6

Hmmn in the comments section: It turns out if your entire country's HIV stats are compared to literally a whole continent, you're doomed.

6

Ambitious-Ear-3724 13 hr ago +10

It's been done for a while. Everytime i get any blood work done at my local hospital, i get a HIV and syphilis slip as well. It's probably bc i live in a high hiv infection rate region

10

-_GIZMO_ 16 hr ago +59

We'll im shure the soldiers raping each other constantly ain't a big part of this..

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detrans-rights 15 hr ago +38

Correct. It's needle sharing Thanks for playing

38

Anderrn 8 hr ago +1

What a weird comment that downplays/diminishes the unfortunate reality for many Russians in the military.

1

FlakyIndependent6814 13 hr ago +4

Yeah, that's definitely not helping the situation at all.

4

Fastikonio 13 hr ago +9

Those Ukrainian bio laboratories finally weaponized the pigeons

9

lordm30 12 hr ago +7

Rotten society.

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ManicPanda767 16 hr ago +13

People over there are doing anything to get out of being drafted.

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Dazd_cnfsd 13 hr ago +3

Get tested and/or get conscripted

3

DeLoresDelorean 11 hr ago +3

Abolishing talking about homosexuality sure pays off.

3

kyngslinn 11 hr ago +6

Russia deserves suffering.

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This_Robot 9 hr ago +1

Uhh, no?

1

Stable_Orange_Genius 12 hr ago +4

Thank God I wasn't born in Russia

4

Jazzlike-Equipment45 12 hr ago +1

Russia was fucked with heroin and needle sharing in the 80s and it still hasn't gotten better.

1

ftgyhujikolp 10 hr ago +1

Didn't Russia recently claim that they had no cases of HIV because there were no gay people? Weird.

1

IntelArtiGen 7 hr ago +1

If that's what they say in Russia it clearly explains why they're not fighting HIV correctly.

1

Alex-310 8 hr ago +1

Failed state, you probably don't know this, but in Russia have their own conspiracy theories, like our flat earthers or climate change deniers, never been to the moon etc, well one of the most popular theories in Russia the last years is that Hiv doesn't exit! I kid you not! So a lot of people don't use condoms, addicts don't protect themselves form needles etc, is a disaster, and a very interesting field for study, how some morons writing idiotistic things in social media can damage society so much

1

CyberWanker 8 hr ago +1

when im sittin on the bus and it stops and the engine makes it vibrate, yeah, i wanna f*** a bus

1

burgonies 11 hr ago +1

Find all the people with HIV. Send them all to die in Ukraine. Release propaganda that Ukraine is full of people with HIV dying.

1

papaniq 10 hr ago +1

being a HIV patient is one of the key conservative values and ideals that russian nation represents, you degenerates from europe wouldn't understand that.

1

i_am_a_lurker69 16 hr ago -13

Just stop banging monkeys

-13

PatRice695 16 hr ago +13

Then get a cage for your mom already

13

Majik_Sheff 14 hr ago +2

Or at least a muzzle so we don't have to listen to it.

2

itscancerous 16 hr ago -8

Idk sounds kinda gay (Be gay be happy idc, but Russia getting butt fucked would be nicely ironic)

-8

EverNeko200 11 hr ago -1

When the wall came down and them Russians rushed out, it was a day when Freedom won. But then when David Hasselhoff started singing on cars, they were putting the wall back up.

-1

remer_1z101 11 hr ago -4

I wanted to go to Moscow so bad since 2020. Glad that conditions were unsuitable

-4

konart 11 hr ago -1

To be fair - Moscow is really low on stds. And HIV is almost exclusively is Siberian thing. More than half of cases are there.

-1

remer_1z101 8 hr ago +1

Do they not have access to condoms ?

1

Russia Urges HIV Testing for One-Third of Population as Cases Rise

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