The one third from the right is a Rocket Scientist entrepreneur only fans model.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-14621665/conspiracy-fake-HAND-Blue-Origin.html

I used to date this lady in my youth, one of the very first lady astronauts:

Stefanyshyn-Piper was raised in the Ukrainian cultural community of Minneapolis–Saint Paul, is a member of Plast – a Ukrainian scouting organization,[6] and speaks Ukrainian.

The Daily Mail is always on the job. Yesterday they reported the mission logo is an upside down baphomet.

The electric blue in the image does make it look like a photoshop job. The Daily Mail is doing yeoman work kind of as shown in this video. Message is at the beginning then later Clorinda at ~ 4:17.

Did you ask her about Project Paperclip?

Nah, I knew her before she got involved with NASA. Besides, she was born in the USA. Her mother was of German descent, but I don’t think that she had a scientific background, a housewife as I recall.

….housewife as I recall.

You dated a housewive? Easy there old man…:) And you accuse others of godlessness. But I give it to you she was quite shapely, the Ukies are a good stock…

Hitting the palinka too much lately, even during the daytime?

I was clearly referencing Heidi’s mother you Do Do Bird:

Her mother was of German descent, but I don’t think that she had a scientific background, a housewife as I recall.

🙂

They say that NASA sent up the first lady astronauts with bandoliers of 100 tampons because nobody knew what would happen up there, and they wanted to take the worst Earthside example and add a safety factor.

(And I could go into more details but won’t)

Clif High testifies that he has spoken with bug alien life forms here on earth. If you pay close attention you realize that he was under the influence of psilocybin mushrooms during the episode but he just slips that part in there. The bug aliens are the bad guys in his cosmic warfare narrative.

Putin was presenting the hostage family he believes he saved. Their grandmother was also released in November 2023, which is from the government’s pressure, while the Amazon software engineer Trufanov was released in February. .

Putin says awkwardly thank you to Hamas and they are saved because of result of the relations between Russia and Hamas political leadership.

Video Link
In its meetings with Hamas, Russian government and religious authorities, has just moved this family higher in the Hamas priority list for release and probably made Hamas feed them more food.

Hamas doesn’t want to damage its relation with Russian government, which still formally recognizes political relation, so they were releasing hostages from families with Russian passports in a better condition.

So, Putin’s pressure helps Hamas release the family and feed them more, but also probably also other hostages are not released because in the agreement Hamas only releases specified number of hostages.

The similarity of Meloni and Macron seems like an example of unimportance of voting in many European countries.

She markets as “right-wing” while Macron markets as “centre”.

But real policies of Macron and Meloni are difficult to see very different.

–

There differences which seem to exist are more in terms of symbols.

Macron wanted a different statement about the G7 about the importance of the right to abortion, while Meloni doesn’t want this statement.

Meloni criticizes some of the German funding for NGOs which help immigrants, while Macron doesn’t criticize Berlin in this area.

The US releasing millions of needles into space was not a bungle, but an act of great foresight. Next, we only need to send up the bales of cloth for these amazonauts to sew.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_West_Ford

Who knows, perhaps open heart surgery too? But alas, the copper needles have diffused long ago…

You get around Mr.Hack: all ages and full female representation of the Nazi alliance, good for you. I have no idea what palinka is, another one of your romantic interests?

Did you ever see Star Trek VI: the Undiscovered Country? Haven’t seen it in a great many years, but IIRC, there is a scene with

The “Nazi Alliance”? Maybe I’ve got you pegged wrong, maybe you find your inspiration from a tube of model airplane glue? 🙂

real policies of Macron and Meloni are difficult to see very different….Macron wanted a different statement…about the importance of the right to abortion

I knew it! Macron is the woman in the relationship…:) But the real policy is very simple: keep everything the same and march eastward. That has been the policy of the Euro elite for hundreds of years. They don’t have much imagination and are scared of their people. Then they get beat by Russia, quickly put in place a few social policies, wait a generation or two….and start all over again.

Meloni seems more normal but she is also a total fake – trained opposition. She talks a lot like all Italians, waves her arms, then plays dead. She is not that different from Duce but with better facial control. If she sends Italians to fight Russia she may end up like Clara Petacci…

“Nazi Alliance”?

Don’t play stupid, Germans and Ukrainians (Galicians) were the core of the Nazi alliance. So the offspring of the two is quite symbolically interesting…:) I think the Freedland woman in Canada is the same.

I don’t think that I’ve seen this film,but will be on the lookout for it as it looks interesting. I’ve always enjoyed Magritte’s “floating” masterpieces:

Actually, Hitler was taking his orders from Stepan Bandera in this alliance. 🙂

Speaking of floating things, the new Fantastic Four has a Silver Suffragette.

Again, I really hate SciShow because it is so woke (tattooed presenter, WTF?!), but this is a good example of common medical wisdom for years being what I would call blatantly and obviously wrong about something. (I.e. that urine is sterile.)

The fascist parents the CIA imported tended not to tell the children anything about realpolitik and substituted American propaganda. I knew a couple of the children when they were grown and they were nothing like Freeland appears. When I found out about the American Bandera memorial and such I was unpleasantly surprised. I thought all of that was behind and it was a Brand New Day for them.

When you start over, do that. Start over. Forget old enemies. You will acquire new enemies plenty soon enough.

Gypsies like Gandhi drink the stuff as a tonic. We should ask Singh about piss drinking.

Short faced bear. One of the less friendly extinct megafauna.

Speaking of floating things, the new Fantastic Four has a Silver Suffragette.

How can you tell? The CGI on Silver Bint (*) is horrific. Could the grotesque, gargoyle like characterization be a Trans allegory?

Cast interviews reveal that both Invisible Woman and Human Torch have been updated to appeal to the nonexistent “modern audience”.

Casting Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards was a terrible decision.
____

As we see with Minecraft, a poor film can rake in box office.

If Disney can shut cast up, Fantastic 4 might break even with $550-600MM at the box office. Large number of tickets pre-sell before wide spread, honest reviews warn people off.
____

Another potential momentum killer is the launch of Ironheart 3 or 4 weeks before FF4

Why is Disney releasing this anywhere near another project. Yes. It is on Disney+ streaming, so few will directly see it. However, memes spread faster than fire. This is a risk they do not need.

PEACE 😇
__________

(*) I only heard this term a few years ago, but it is really useful.

…Forget old enemies. You will acquire new enemies plenty soon enough.

Family myths require having an enemy, myths holds communities together. Galician-Ukies had some leeway because of the Bolshie issue so they more openly embraced their fascist past. Germans hid it but it’s coming out with vengeance – the Merz guy is as much as saying Germany will refight WW2, this time by genuflecting to the Jews who may or may not care, and with UK-France on his side. These people are literally crazy.

Myths are dreams that went public…dreams are messy and incoherent with a few kernels of truth. At the end nobody understands what it was all about. The shrinking group of core-Ukies is searching for perfect justice. Great, except it leads to a lot of dead people all around and still no “justice”. See Shakespeare for how it works…

It is also a thing in Nigeria. Of course, those are very diverse places – and I am not sure which tribes in Nigeria, but I do wonder in passing whether Badenoch and Sunak both are connected to the practice by a few short generations.

And supposedly Buddhists in Myanmar and Zoroastrians. (Was it the original Iranians who brought the practice to India?)

Anyway, it probably makes more sense than ingesting mercury.

I used to date this lady in my youth, one of the very first lady astronauts:

Please explain what happened between dating her and now dating/rooming 90 year old man.

Lord Robert Skidelsky

Re: Below Linked Video

Mild mannered Glenn Diesen is the Clark Kent of Russia pundits. With room for some respectful disagreement, Lord Robert Skidelsky provides an excellent must watch summation of what’s wrong with the Collective West.

The exact opposite of BBC puff pieces with the likes of pro-Kiev regime lobbyist William Taylor. On the Beeb, Taylor suggests that Steve Witkoff has been duped by the Russian government. Ironic given how the BBC’s coverage subconsciously dupes people who uncritically rely on it.

Contrary to Skidelsky, Russia hasn’t bombed Ukraine to smithereens. Compare to the WW II Allied bombing of Germany and the US bombing of Japan. Thereafter, the US was able to maintain a relatively good standing in the two former Axis countries. Look at the situation in Georgia today, relative to Russia and the EU.

In its early stage, Russia’s limited Special Military Operation got the Kiev regime to negotiate a settlement. Anglo-American neocons and neolibs worked against that goal. Since then, the Kiev regime and its key backers haven’t fared better than Russia. Russia can make a strong case that it gave peace a chance much unlike how some others are more trigger happy when they choose armed conflict.

For you fitness buffs:

https://www.gq.com/story/strength-training-vs-cardio?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

That’s cruel. Upon second thought, it was mentioned that said roomie had a pressing health issue. I’ve limits on jesting on such matter.

If Disney can shut cast up, Fantastic 4 might break even with $550-600MM at the box office.

Do people really care what actors say? I could see it influencing some people, but it is hard for me to believe that it could ever explain a bomb.

How can you tell? The CGI on Silver Bint (*) is horrific. Could the grotesque, gargoyle like characterization be a Trans allegory?

A sex swap on something that looks like a still of a morph effect from the ’80s is pretty weird. Hard to explain. Was it women in Disney or the director wanting to put his own stamp on it? Will Mr. Hack still watch it?

As we see with Minecraft, a poor film can rake in box office.

yes, that was pretty unexpected. I wonder if that would be the biggest gross for a live-action video game movie.

But I would suppose it was some sort of nostalgia trip for people for people who spent many youthful hours on the game. Maybe, they were looking for the social experience but the audience being fans, but if it really was a bad movie, it seems kind of sad. It is like it was a success because the culural void today is so great. It is hard to imagine such a thing 20 years ago.

, Germans and Ukrainians (Galicians) were the core of the Nazi alliance

Guilty people often like to falsely spread their guilt around.

Slovakia was a Nazi ally who sent 10,000s of troops in support of their ally and who actually paid the Nazis to kill their Jews (no one else did that IIRC). They did this out of opportunism and their descendants brag about how clever it was – Slovaks did not suffer like the Poles, who unlike them, dared resist the Nazis.

Fico and you (who seem to be his follower?) are the spiritual descendant of those pro-Nazi Slovaks of World War II. Now Ukrainians are playing the role of Poles, opportunistic Slovaks (and Hungarians, another Nazi ally turned Putin ally) are trying to gain advantage through links with Putin, hoping that similarly-minded allies in the West come to power. Orban hopes that he can grab a piece of Ukraine if he is lucky, same as what Hungarians did during World War II. This is another example of history rhyming.

If Disney can shut cast up, Fantastic 4 might break even with $550-600MM at the box office.

Do people really care what actors say? I could see it influencing some people, but it is hard for me to believe that it could ever explain a bomb.

Rachel Zegler shows that actors can damage projects. Stating that the film will not follow the source material will reach those who care about the original work. She was so vocal about deliberately damaging the brand, even international audiences stayed away from Snow White.

Will this one magazine article by the cast of Fantastic 4 by itself tank the film? Probably not. However, if they keep generating negative publicity IMHO the box office damage will be considerable.

It is hard to scientifically prove either way. Intuitively, antagonizing those who care about the source material is a bad move. The rise of social media increases the spread and magnifies the impact when actors make mistakes.

As we see with Minecraft, a poor film can rake in box office.

yes, that was pretty unexpected. I wonder if that would be the biggest gross for a live-action video game movie.

But I would suppose it was some sort of nostalgia trip for people for people who spent many youthful hours on the game.

I think it is the top box office for live-action game adaptation. However, there are few movies to compare against in such a tightly defined space. Inflation adjusted, Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider is probably the closest competitor.

Mario Brothers was less expensive and more successful. 3d animation is a good option for making characters with the correct look.

PEACE 😇

According to one of these comments, some of Karmelo Anthony’s donors were in Liberia

Rubio says the US is about ready to throw in the towel on Ukraine peace negotiations.

Is Trump’s fabled “twenty four hours” almost up?

Will this threat to end negotiations move the Noviops to do something wacky on the Russian negotiating side (Dmitriev)? Alternatively, will sensible people inside Ukraine be forced into making a strong move against the current regime?

Will the US immediately expand military support for Ukraine (in hour 25), joining in a coalition with the other death wish countries?

Now that Trump has gotten this Ukraine peace idea out of his system, will Tory Nuland resurface?

When I found out about the American Bandera memorial and such I was unpleasantly surprised

Bandera was a monster and his movement’s crimes against civilians are inexcusable, but the overall cause (liberation of Ukrainians from 1930s Polish nationalists and from Bolshevik killers) was nothing to be ashamed of, unlike in the case of most other fascist movements. Bandera’s fascism had a strong anti-colonial aspect to it, and his people fought both Bolsheviks and Nazis (the latter reluctantly and after a failed alliance, but still). Irish nationalists also flirted with a German alliance during World War II, if the Nazis had successfully landed on the islands there would have been a high chance of an Irish ally.

So it would be logical for Banderists to hide the specific crimes, while supporting the general movement.

Croats’ fascist wartime government was even worse than Bandera’s movement, but Croatian-Americans seem to be as nationalistic as Ukrainian-Americans.

I thought all of that was behind and it was a Brand New Day for them.

They (not only Banderists, but also non-Banderist Ukrainians such as my grandparents) came not as economic migrants or people fleeing a discredited past but as political exiles with nothing to be ashamed of about that. Given the national nature of the struggle, to preserve the culture and language. I recall reading that intermarriage rates of Ukrainians in the West are far lower than amongst most European immigrant groups. Freeland and Mr. Hack’s -ex are exceptions though even products of mixed marriages tend to be able to speak Ukrainian. My kids do. Ukrainian-Americans are not rootless, but have roots in both countries and have been pro-American. There are a number of Ukrainian-American military veterans, for example, and until Trump Ukrainian Americans tended to strongly vote Republican.

The fascist parents the CIA imported tended not to tell the children anything about realpolitik and substituted American propaganda. I knew a couple of the children when they were grown

Rubio says the US is about ready to throw in the towel on Ukraine peace negotiations.

Please provide some citations on this.

Remember, the Fake Stream Media routinely creates propaganda by taking a single clip out of context and misportraying it as the opposite of what actually meant.

Putin recently spent 5 HOURS with Witkoff in Saint Petersburg (1).

Within the brief moments provided by Hannity for Witkoff to speak, the envoy of President Trump noted both Putin and Trump understand the core issues and are aligned to solve the problem despite the CIA and SSCI efforts to keep wedging them apart. Additionally, Trump and Putin see a future where geopolitical and economic alignment can be very beneficial for both Russia and the United States; they just need to find a way to navigate the complex politics on the U.S/NATO side of the mess.

Within the Witkoff conversations with President Putin, you can be relatively assured this background context openly frames their discussions, solutions and approaches. Vladimir Putin knows President Trump is navigating some deeply complicated networks within the G7, NATO, European Union, Great Britain, CIA, U.S. Senate and beyond.

The extent Putin is willing to go providing Trump room to negotiate these political land mines is increasingly clear within Putin’s nonresponse to the ongoing CIA provocations.

Trump and Putin will work to box in Zelenskyy while simultaneously Trump will threaten and even bash Putin a little. Actually, when you stop pretending this is a little fun to watch unfold.

IMHO there are no signs that a sudden change is coming in Trump’s stance.

The budget provides $0.00 in direct assistance to Kiev aggression. And, Trump is trying to find a graceful way to disengage from this mess without alienating European governments.

PEACE 😇
__________

(1) https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/04/15/envoy-steve-witkoff-gives-topline-review-following-5-hour-meeting-with-vladimir-putin/

Looks like the Belgians invented drive-by shooting in 1890’s already!

Japan is producing miscegenation propaganda now.

At the presser, he was wearing glasses and a bow tie.

@Mikel (from previous Open Thread):

Intent is just something in the mind of the killer but for the innocent people with brains, limbs and guts blown up and for their relatives it doesn’t matter in the slightest what is going on inside the butcher’s mind.

The tragedy of losing a loved one is the same, whether the killer intended to kill them or not. Having a loved one burn to death in an apartment fire caused by a person carelessly forgetting about a lit cigarette would be as horrific as one killed by a deliberate arson, but we are discussing the killer and not the victim, so intent matters.

I think that if I lost a loved one in the bombing of a civilian area I would feel more contempt for the killer who defended his action for some political motive

How do you define “political motive?”

Is killing someone while conducting self-defense from a a violent invading and rebel force that has already killed and promises to continue killing a purely “political” motive? I think that sort of thing transcends politics.

I’m not going to re-litigate the Lugansk butchery with you for the 20th time here but I notice that you’re now making new stuff up. As many western Ukraine supporters concluded at the time, it was just a war crime

Before it became clear that the rebel leadership was in the building at the time of the attack, it certainly looked like a war crime. Bombing a random civilian building, no military target, would qualify.

But the rebel leadership turned that building into a legitimate military target by placing themselves there. If anyone committed a war crime it was them for doing so.

The chances of killing any particular individual inside that building with unguided bombs (and according to western observers, strafing of the area) were about zero

Nonsense. Bombing and strafing a building with the military leadership in it had a high (though obviously not 100% ) chance of killing them. The rebel leaders were lucky to have escaped.

You’re also making stuff up when you compare the Allies going all-in against the Nazis in France with Poroshenko ordering an “anti-terrorist operation” in Donbas. For starters, it wasn’t the French liberating their own territory. It was almost exclusively the British and the Americans bombing those French cities from the air

Just as I said, the French were also involved.

This is what I wrote: “Do you think that the 30,000 French civilians who were killed during the Allied liberation of northern France were murdered by the Americans, Brits and Free French forces”

[estimates of civilian deaths go higher, up to almost 60,000]

While most of the bombing was done by the Americans and Brits, the Free French also bombed targets in France and killed French civilians, though fewer than did the Americans and Brits.

I did not “make stuff up.”

It’s an interesting story, with close parallels to the Donbas war. Including with attempts to minimize civilian casualties by Poroshenko, as by the Free French bombers. Poroshenko’s forces killed only 2,600 civilians out of a population of 6 million during almost 2 years of warfare against Russian invaders and their local rebel proxies.

I’m not sure how many of the 30,000-60,000 French civilians who died during the liberation of northern France were killed specifically by French bombers. I’d guess at least a few hundred, perhaps a thousand or two. The French are not eager to list this number.

Note that the article writes about causing fewer civilian casualties, or minimizing the number. So French did kill French while liberating France. It is a sad inevitability in war. Blame rests on those who started it – Germany in France, Russia in Donbas.

https://francehistory.wordpress.com/2024/05/16/the-free-french-air-force-and-the-liberation-of-france-in-1944/

Bomber crews faced even greater moral dilemmas, knowing that they were not only bombing their own country but potentially killing innocent French civilians.

Some justified their actions by arguing that if they did not do it, other allied airmen would and would be less motivated than the British and Americans to be careful. Others opted to accept greater risks to themselves by conducting raids at lower altitudes so that they would be more accurate and cause fewer civilian casualties.

Such was the case in the raid on the power stations at Chevilly-Larue near Paris on 3 October 1943 led by French Lt-Col de Rancourt. He instructed that the first 4 aircraft would release their bombs at very low altitude, while the other 8 would drop theirs from an altitude of no more than 1500 feet (450m). He emphasised the importance of minimising French casualties, ordering French crews that they must not hit civilian homes on any account.

Some simply accepted that they needed to bomb targets in France as part of the combat against the Germans for the liberation. Others, such as Jean Maridor, who flew with 612 squadron from RAF Perranporth in attacks on Normandy in December 1941, expressed their concerns about the potential dangers. He thought about families getting ready for Christmas.

Freeland and Mr. Hack’s -ex are exceptions though even products of mixed marriages tend to be able to speak Ukrainian.

Come again, I’m not following? How exactly am I and or my “ex” and Freeland exceptions? Exceptions to what?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast

There’s only 12 stories and they all have been told a million different ways.

They are exceptions in that intermarriage with non-Ukrainians wasn’t so common among Ukrainians, at least of that generation.

My 93 year old roommate and best friend recently passed away, that’s what happened. There, do you feel more enlightened now?

Terrible trailer. And why does the invisible woman look like Kamala? Triggering.

The power going out all over the Eastern Seaboard of course made me think of New York City 1977.

The Dwarkesh Gwern interview is worthwhile in transcript form. The podcast interview with avatar and impersonation reader being ridiculous is just who they are. They still are in the drunk afterglow of the arrival of ChatGPT3 which I guess could be the biggest all time nerdgasm so far.

https://www.dwarkesh.com/p/gwern-branwen

Intelligence = a lot of compute applied to a lot of data with a lot of parameters

OK. Maybe in another 50 years they can figure out that a neuron, one neuron, has a big whopping supercomputer on the inside of it.

Zvi has a post just on the Sam Altman interview. Sam now has a legal gay marriage and a legal baby, genetics of / for baby not provided in his post. Sam claims his child will never be as smart as an AI. No update on when he gets his seven trillion dollars.

https://thezvi.substack.com/p/openai-13-altman-at-ted-and-openai

Trump and Putin see a future where geopolitical and economic alignment can be very beneficial for both Russia and the United States; they just need to find a way to navigate the complex politics on the U.S/NATO side of the mess.

Or more accurately stated:

Trump and Putin see a future where geopolitical and economic alignment can be very beneficial for both Russia and the United States; they just need to find a way to promote the idea that Trump’s Russian appeasement policies are designed to counter Zelensky’s supposed aggressive start of these hostilities, something that over 70% of Americans find to be misleading and part of Trump’s inherent derangement syndrome.

Do they still have steroid growth hormone guys on their cover? I haven’t seen one in awhile. How about the gila monster venom?

Everyone notices that Mikel never gives practical and realistic alternatives.

What can a defender do when faced with the fact an existential threat is using human shields?

The issue is even more clear with genocidal Hamas. Islam is to blame for the death of their coreligionists expended as human shields.

Palestinian Jews must fight to protect their children from murderers. What other practical & realistic option is there?

Excessive philosophical purity is often a vice, not a virtue. Mikel is not the only commenter here with this serious character flaw.

PEACE 😇

Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index tale type561M: miscegenation propaganda to promote replacement migration.

There is a lot of foreign money flowing into Japanese productions now, but it is interesting to see that NHK made this.

@Pericles
Would be funny if instead of going in a woke direction they went in the opposite direction and had Sue Storm use her invisibility and force field when she was walking past a certain demographic on the street.

You do realize that Ramirez backs Ukraine’s defensive military actions 100% and that he has no compunctions to ridicule Trump?

Perhaps, you should find somebody else to help you promote your partisan messages?

https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9weLK2AJ9JEt2Tt8f/politics-is-the-mind-killer

Since 2007 Eliezer Yudkowsky has decided we should bomb big AI data centers for humanitarian reasons.

Sorry for your loss.

No familiar with that venue. The posted article makes sense, regarding all around fitness meshing strength training with cardio activity.

Rubio says the US is about ready to throw in the towel on Ukraine peace negotiations.

Is Trump’s fabled “twenty four hours” almost up?

Will this threat to end negotiations move the Noviops to do something wacky on the Russian negotiating side (Dmitriev)? Alternatively, will sensible people inside Ukraine be forced into making a strong move against the current regime?

Will the US immediately expand military support for Ukraine (in hour 25), joining in a coalition with the other death wish countries?

Now that Trump has gotten this Ukraine peace idea out of his system, will Tory Nuland resurface?

Trump said it’s Biden’s war. As long as Trump militarily supports the Kiev regime, it’s his war as well as a co-belligerent. He’s not a mediator, but a party to the losing side.

One disagreement with Alexander Mercouris in the below video. Trump wasn’t mistaken to have attempted negotiations to end the NATO proxy war against Russia. His methodology has been off. This doesn’t mean Trump’s attempt will ultimately fail.

One faultline is his overly stated optimism for ending the conflict soon. There’re significant differences among the adversaries which make it unreasonable for a quick end. Trump gives his detractors something to tap dance on.

Another faultline was appointing Keith Kellogg to initially lead the negotiating process. Upon being made a chief negotiator, Kellogg exhibited an extreme ignorance of realities pertaining to Russia’s economy and military capability – something that was evident with him beforehand.

Shortly thereafter, Kellogg was seemingly replaced by Trump’s friend Steve Witkoff as evidenced by Witkoff’s presence at the first high level Trump administration-Russian government meeting in Saudi Arabia, with Kellogg sidelined.

Kellogg hasn’t completely left the scene, saying that a French-British presence on Kiev regime-controlled soil should be no big deal and accepted by Russia. Kellogg’s penchant for being off the mark is clearcut. As the side winning and likely to win the NATO proxy war against it, Russia has made clear its opposition to any troops from NATO countries on the territory of the former Ukrainian SSR.

On the flip side, Witkoff is scorned by the Kiev regime and its main backers in the EU and UK, as well as their fellow travelers in the US. He has underscored unpleasant realities for that grouping.

Recalling a prior era, Mercouris notes (as I have) the Nixon administration accepting reality by reaching an understanding with North Vietnam at the protestation of South Vietnam.

Within the present Trump administration, Trump, Vance and Gabbard, along with Witkoff exhibit some independence from the misguided neocon-neolib anti-Russian slant.

On the surface, it’s good for Trump to have different views within his administration. It’s up to him to make the right call.

Brent Seales believes they will image 100 scrolls this year (think this corresponds to the number of “complete” or nonfragmentary scrolls.). Estimates they will eventually be able to read 90% of it.

Seales suggests the possibility of recovering scrolls in the Black Sea. Frankly, I suspect this is crazy talk. Anaerobic does not mean zero bacteria and salt water probably is a sort of solvent.

Trump said it’s Biden’s war. As long as Trump militarily supports the Kiev regime, it’s his war as well as a co-belligerent. He’s not a mediator, but a party to the losing side.

There are shades of grey. When the European Empire was running Team Biden, they were extracting ~$10 Billion per month with minimal restrictions on Führer Zelensky’s aggression. Under Trump, the direct funding is headed to zero and there are many more limitations.

Putin has to see that as huge improvement. He also is sufficiently politically savvy to see that Trump’s 2nd term has exceedingly slim margins in the House and Senate. Also, Putin is aware that Trump has many political balls in the air, and Kiev is only one of them.

Another faultline was appointing Keith Kellogg to initially lead the negotiating process. Upon being made a chief negotiator, Kellogg exhibited an extreme ignorance of realities pertaining to Russia’s economy and military capability

Getting nominations through the Senate is not easy. While having less influence this time around, they still had sufficient leverage to push in some of their choices. Kellogg was fairly obviously a Senate not Trump selection. Mike Waltz is another odd choice that makes more sense as a quid pro quo with the Senate.

One faultline is his overly stated optimism for ending the conflict soon. There’re significant differences among the adversaries which make it unreasonable for a quick end. Trump gives his detractors something to tap dance on.

A sense of urgency can propel negotiations forward. Without such motivation, they can drag on interminably. Everyone knew that “Day 1” was an aspirational, not practical goal.

The real hope for accelerated timing was Kiev aggression running out of external support. Germany, France, and the UK all have economic issues at home. They really cannot afford to fund Führer Zelensky. Yet, as we have seen in the German debt deal, they are going to try anyway.

This leaves Trump more positioned as ‘broker’ rather than ‘participant’. If Europe keeps their puppet in the field, America cannot force Merz, Macron, and Starmer to stop. Putin sees this limitation, and realizes publicly pushing Trump would be counter productive.

It looks like QCIC’s source had the story 180° backwards. Here is a better read on Rubio’s stance: (1)

Secretary of State Marco Rubio Says
U.S. Willing to Walk Away from Ukraine
Conflict, Decision in “Days Not Weeks”

“This is not our war.” ~ Secretary Rubio

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters in Paris on April 18 about the prolonged peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. However, a frustrated Rubio warned that the U.S. could “move on” from its involvement in negotiations to end the war if no progress is made “within a matter of days and weeks.” That’s the mainstream media narrative.

The non-pretending summary is that Ukraine, France, Great Britain, the EU, NATO et al are all trying to retain their interests in the conflict. Russia has simple terms, but the war machinery controlled by the intel apparatus (CIA and EU) and the financial stakeholders in the EU region are unhappy. [Too many cooks] A frustrated Secretary Rubio says, make up your mind, if no deal – we’re done

President Trump ends the USA side of the proxy war. President Trump pulls back all support for Ukraine; stops sending money, weapons and to the extent he can, intelligence to Ukraine. This opens the door for Russia to go full combat as the ground thaws, without concern for USA to engage.

The EU will have to step up with funding, intelligence and war material to continue supporting Ukraine. Rubio is calling the EU/UK bluff here because he knows without the USA the EU/UK will not commit to fight Russia.

Remember if no one does anything, Russia has already gained the ground they want and will just continue grinding western Ukraine to ever expanding rubble. Factually, doing nothing is a big win for Russia, especially if Trump withdraws.

PEACE 😇
__________

(1) https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/04/18/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-says-u-s-willing-to-walk-away-from-ukraine-conflict-decision-in-days-not-weeks/

You can play with your mythical rhymes, it all amounts to nonsense talk by childish people. Galician Ukies were the most loyal Nazi allies – they helped to run the camps and killed a lot of Poles, Jews, Russians,… on their own. A sick group to celebrate – as they are celebrated in Ukraine today, Bandera streets, stadiums, statues…

Slovaks did not suffer…their descendants brag about how clever it was

I am not sure our WW2 behavior was all that clever, but it was the only thing we could do – with some modifications on the margins. Normal people are not suicidal and opt to live. Running at machine-guns is simply stupid. Today very few Euros will volunteer if the Brussels madmen send them to fight Russia. I doubt more than 10% of eligible Poles would do it. Are all of us now clever?

Ukies seem an exception, a throwback to dumber times. But we have been over it and you can’t ever agree for it would devastate you. So go on about their “heroism”, it’s harmless.

My comment was based on a ten minute segment of Rubio answering reporter questions on the tarmac and did not include any MSM editorializing as far as I could tell; I think it was largely free of deceptive editing. My impression is this clip was from yesterday. He mentioned Witkoff’s meeting.

My impression is that Rubio was telling both sides that if they want the US to help broker a deal they need to make positive moves immediately as in a couple of days and this needs to be followed by substantive progress within weeks, though he realizes a full negotiation will take much longer.

His words seemed to be intended to pressure both Ukraine and Russia, mostly Russia. More importantly it looks like Team Trump is beginning to socialize the idea that the USA is at risk of walking away from the negotiation immediately to worry about other statecraft challenges. He mentioned something to the effect that the combat in Ukraine is a stalemate that neither side can win.

One of Helmer’s recent pieces has an interesting quote from Lavrov. He stated there are now many Russians who do want the sanctions to end too soon. Intriguingly, the Western sanctions against Russia are doing for the Russians what Team Trump is trying to do for the USA with tariffs and increased defense budgets. Another piece of the larger puzzle in my opinion is the general vacuum created by the collapse of the Soviet Union was at least partially responsible for the unnaturally rapid and extended growth in the Chinese economy.

This leaves Trump more positioned as ‘broker’ rather than ‘participant’.

The US are not acting as an honest broker but as a vulture preying on a victim. The US is not even abiding by basic international and moral law.

We don’t need your fake “brokering” which is essentially siding with Russia at this point – we already know what Russia wants, we don’t need you to help them get it, better that you step out entirely then.

a frustrated Rubio warned that the U.S. could “move on” from its involvement in negotiations to end the war if no progress is made “within a matter of days and weeks.”

But then you move on all the way, be honest. Step away from the “minerals deal” (robbing of a victim), and quit meddling in European affairs. Don’t count on our future support.

I am not sure our WW2 behavior was all that clever

Don’t pretend it was just an issue of intelligence or historical contingency – there was plenty of ideological support for the Nazis.

I am not sure our WW2 behavior was all that clever, but it was the only thing we could do – with some modifications on the margins. Normal people are not suicidal and opt to live. Running at machine-guns is simply stupid.

How come you don’t have the same standards for the Balts then? The Balts were in an ven shittier position than the Slovaks. You have double standards – one set for your own (if you’re in fact Slovak and not Jewish), and another for other occupied nations. I know why, it’s just that this debases your statements.

Ukies seem an exception, a throwback to dumber times.

They’re fighting not just for their land and freedom but for their lives – they would be killed and tortured under Russian occupation. Fighting for survival is not dumb – you’re not smarter than evolution.

I think if the Trump Peace effort is sidelined that is de facto support for the NATO and Western European military buildup against Ukraine. It will require public firing of some US government warhawks to convince me otherwise. I doubt Russia is surprised, though. It does put some pressure on their timeline which has been “as long as it takes” for two years. Of course Trump stirring the pot of world trade could make some countries behave differently with respect to the Ukraine conflict.

The text you quoted is similar to what I was trying to convey. I forgot about Rubio’s comment, “This is not our war” since it is the BIG LIE. The USA led the expansion of NATO, led the dismantling of the nuclear arms control framework, put US missile bases in Eastern Europe and led the meddling in Ukraine and other FSU countries. Sure Britain and France helped, but they are just cheerleaders in many respects. I think the risk of this mess escalating to nuclear weapons remains high until someone important in our government acknowledges the leading US role in driving this process and creating this bloody crisis. This might be with some “coded” tacit acknowledgement which loses the least amount of face, but breaks the ice to allow this mess to be repaired. Maybe Team Trump will be strong enough to do that in year three if we make it that far.

Alternatively, the main reason I can see the RusFed possibly capitulating sooner is the longer the fighting continues the more powerful the military political block becomes. They may already be too strong for Putin to control as he apparently was able to do in the past.

My impression is that Rubio was telling both sides that if they want the US to help broker a deal they need to make positive moves immediately as in a couple of days and this needs to be followed by substantive progress within weeks

Did he say this to Putin or Lavrov?

What he needs to understand is that this is a real European war where one of the parties is a revanchist, imperialist minded Russia which is being backed by China. This is a real war – not some deal making session, the kind they have in New York real estate circles.

His words seemed to be intended to pressure both Ukraine and Russia, mostly Russia.

You don’t threaten Russia, you act. But there seems to be no will to even hurt your besties even slightly. Buddy buddy.

It will fail.

…there was plenty of ideological support for the Nazis.

About the same as in UK, France, Belgium or Czechia. It was the zeitgeist of that era. In Slovakia it had a clerical tinge, similar to Spain or Bavaria. But it was a minority view.

The Baltic states were very different: they murdered their minorities and formed SS units on their own. We didn’t. That’s a huge difference. We were told to send Jews to the Polish labor camps and Germany charged us for the train tickets – Germans are weird that way, petty accounting and lots of paperwork. We have also throughly removed the WW2 fascist sympathizers and nobody would dream of naming streets after them or having statues. While Latvians have an annual Latvian Waffen SS march. It’s very different. (I am a Slovak Lutheran, and none of my people were involved at all – the clericals disliked us, they were Papist and we are traditionally pro-Czech.)

they would be killed and tortured under Russian occupation.

Obviously not. You can pretend and make up scary stories but it’s on its face a lie. Nothing would happen to any Ukies if they had stayed normal and friendly with all neighbors. But you will have to repeat it not to feel horribly stupid about the unnecessary war that the Ukies (with NATO) provoked and are now losing.

In my opinion Rubio’s words are supportive of your general position, though everything is cryptic. If there is no public backlash against Rubio from Trump himself this will be a green light for Western Europe to continue accelerating their support for the Ukraine project. It is all very Machiavellian and hard to predict. However, this could lead to a reverse Article 5 trap where the Western Euros get in over their heads and expect the US to bail them out and Trump says, “Hell no, this is not our war.” By “reverse…trap” I mean that Article 5 is often viewed as a tripwire to escalate a conflict up to World War 3, whereas the reverse situation is that a conflict leads to NATO being disbanded.

About the same as in UK, France, Belgium or Czechia.

This would require a deeper look to check if it’s true. Each of these countries had a different situation, the UK was never occupied by Germany and the UK has a different geopolitical position. Normally, I would sympathize with Slovakia, but not in this case when you attack Balts and Ukrainians (which most Slovaks never used to do before).

It was the zeitgeist of that era.

Of course it was the zeitgeist, nobody knew what would happen. But then this particular aspect would also apply to the Baltic States and Ukraine. Then you can’t throw the “Nazi” around as liberally as your side does.

We were told to send Jews to the Polish labor camps and Germany charged us for the train tickets – Germans are weird that way, petty accounting and lots of paperwork.

I would have to check this to get more detail to see what was really going on – I do not trust your word for it, sorry.

The Baltic states were very different: they murdered their minorities and formed SS units on their own.

That’s just not true – first, the Baltic States were in a much more difficult position than Slovakia, because they had already been occupied and ravaged before by Stalin. Their militaries and a large portion of the elite had already been destroyed. A repeat of that was being threatened by the returning Soviet invasion. It is dishonest to ignore that very important factor.

Second, if not for the German occupation, which became very strict and oppressive, very quickly, within months essentially, there would be no formation of SS units. It was not “on their own”, we had our commanders but they were under the Germans. It was not like in Norway with the Nasjonal Samling and even there, they had strict German oversight. Later in the war, when things became harder for Germany, mobilization of Latvian youths was carried out by FORCE, avoiding being mobilized could result in execution.

And with all that Latvia still had forces that fought against both the German and Soviet occupations – those were Latvian nationalists. Lithuania didn’t even have the SS units because they pushed back (and many of them were executed for this).

Btw, are you aware how many pro-Nazi officers the Russians had? And the overall number of Russians who volunteered with the Nazi SS – wasn’t it something like a million, no?

Anyway, do not veer away from the original topic – as a Slovak you’re not in a good position to call others “Nazis” or “Nazi collaborators” or what not.

Obviously not.

Obviously yes. A big yes. Just look at what is going on in the occupied territories – full of torture chambers and killings. Or living in constant fear. More importantly, as a Slovak – e.g., someone who has never dealt with the Russians and their Asian friends and servants directly – you don’t understand that laying under him will not necessarily save you from death. We, Balts, learned that lesson in 1940-1949. We know, you don’t. You get killed, exiled, oppressed even if you do not resist – or rather it is guaranteed in that case. You fail to understand how different things are for Russia’s neighbors vs other countries further away such as Slovakia, Czech, Romania, Germany, etc. If they had gotten closer to you or if they had more need for you, you would’ve suffered the same fate.

Thankfully, the Ukrainians have more strength to withstand Putin’s aggression.

Nothing would happen to any Ukies if they had stayed normal and friendly with all neighbors.

You have a strange definition of “normal and friendly”. Why didn’t the Czechs stay “normal and friendly” with the Germans? Why didn’t the Russians stay “normal and friendly” with the Poles in the 17th century?

People will never willingly give up their identity. Russia wants sheeple, and Russia fears any neighbor who has agency and is conscious of his identity (Russia calls this “Nazis”). Only they themselves are allowed to have agency as they are the “great” ones. While simultaneously they don’t even have a strong ethnic identity left. Maybe that’s why they cling so hard to their inflated “greatness” (the same might be true of “Americans”).

You’re simply a Russian shill, so I don’t expect you to understand or recognize this.

NATO should have been disbanded 30 years ago. It’s every country in Europe and mostly a country not even in Europe all allied against one country in Europe. It is absolute stupidity.

I’m sure you can get a 40000 word explanation out of Chat GPT that would make perfect sense to Kamala Harris but most of us know about garbage in and out.

If there is no public backlash against Rubio from Trump himself this will be a green light for Western Europe to continue accelerating their support for the Ukraine project.

Europe doesn’t need a “green light” from anybody to continue helping Ukraine.

I don’t even blame the US for failing – this is a very difficult struggle, that started probably even before Ivan Grozny. And Trump’s expectations were delusional from the get-go.

The US had a chance to make a difference in 2023 when Zaluzhny was “standing 80 kms from Melitopol” and asking for the weapons – the US chose not to help then and a breakthrough wasn’t made, even though Ukraine was doing quite well back then (without even having half of the weapons they have now – timing is everything in war, the US stalled Ukraine’s advance for “balancing” reasons). Right after the successful Kharkiv operation, when Russians were expelled, the US stopped assistance for 8 months. So this is a choice that the US made. If salvaging a genocidal Russia is more of a priority for the US than the security of Europeans, then this is where our roads part.

However, this could lead to a reverse Article 5 trap where the Western Euros get in over their heads and expect the US to bail them out

The coalition of the willing is not NATO. That of course brings up the question of what does the US bring to the table for the European security?

All that is asked of the US is to not interfere on the Russian side. The US has already come very close to that. Trump and Putin are allies. The US should rethink this position.

I think if the Trump Peace effort is sidelined that is de facto support for the NATO and Western European military buildup against Ukraine.

I think if the Trump Peace effort is sidelined by Western European intransigence that is de facto rejection of Kiev aggression and the European Empire’s military buildup against Ukraine.

There is no indication that Trump’s administration has any plans to support Globalist elite escalation. Absolutely nada no facto.

The text you quoted is similar to what I was trying to convey. I forgot about Rubio’s comment, “This is not our war” since it is the BIG LIE.

It is the BIG TRUTH. This is EUROPE’S Folly, not America’s war!

• European Angela “Welcome Rape-ugees” Merkel tanked the Minsk Agreements
• European Scholz and European BoJo undermined the Istanbul deal

Nothing is 100%. Under Obama, more than a decade ago, creatures like Victoria Nuland were making things worse. However, the *recent* key decisions that created and escalated the fighting were driven by Europeans (not Americans).

America, under Trump, will regain national honour and prestige by walking away from Europe’s Folly.

The deep state turned Team Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal into a fiasco that left American troops dead. Trump’s disengagement from Ukraine must head off resistance designed to discredit good policy. The plan will be gradual to avoid risks from establishment malice.

PEACE 😇

Mr Martyanov and Mr Cosman having fun with the Trumphouse tech guy Kratsios’ claim that the US has technology that can manipulate time and space:

Galician Ukies were the most loyal Nazi allies

Not as loyal as Hungarians and Slovaks. Galicians allied with Germans because the Soviets has murdered 10,000s of them. Slovaks and Hungarians had no such excuse. It was just pure opportunism. As it is now, allying with Putin.

How can ne tell who is most like 1930s Germany? Just look to see with whom Hungary and Slovakia ally.

they helped to run the camps

Galicians were not involved in the Nazi concentration camps. The Ukrainians working in those camps were primarily Soviet Ukrainian POWs. Red Army men. The kind of Ukrainians you prefer. Like this guy:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Demjanjuk

Demjanjuk was born in Dubovi Makharyntsi (formerly Kiev Governorate, presently Koziatyn district, Vinnytsia Oblast), a farming village in the western part of Soviet Ukraine

I am not sure our WW2 behavior was all that clever, but it was the only thing we could do… Normal people are not suicidal and opt to live. Running at machine-guns is simply stupid.

Exactly. You became a Nazi ally and exterminator of Jews because for your people it was “normal” in comparison to refusing Nazi demands, resisting the Nazis, and being killed by them, as “abonormal” Poles did.

Kratsios’ Kay Fabe. Have you seen that Eric Weinstein thing where he believes what he was told that the CIA has its own laws of Physics?

RFKJr might want to go after the stupidity crisis after he does obesity.

There’s a guy on the internet that has been on like 50 podcasts who has a perpetual motion machine and he has a video that proves unidentified flying plasma objects sucked MH317 into other dimensions. I heard later he has the U.S. government did it with secret weapons to teach the chinks a lesson but I didn’t hear that episode in his research development.

…This would require a deeper look to check

Are you really that historically unaware? How about Vichy and the very collaborative French? How about Degrelle and his rule in Belgium? You are playing dumb.

I do not trust your word for it…

I don’t trust yours, you are quite willing to deny the obvious that can easily be checked. E,g. Latvian fascists murdered minorities and leftists on their own – even before Germans got settled in. So did the Ukrainians in Lviv-Galicia. You obfuscate by omitting core historical events – Latvia was a fascist dictatorship from 1934-40 (Ulmanis)…

Latvia still had forces that fought against both

Who would that be? Latvia had a Waffen SS division fighting against Russia and Latvians in the RTed Army (Latvians were quite the commies in their day). Are you saying there was a “third force”? Where? Who were they?

look at what is going on in the occupied territories – full of torture chambers and killings.

How do you know? I haven’t seen a single report – there is minor local abuse as there is in Ukraine, but not what you describe. BBC and DW tried to write articles about the “abuse” and it was some guys who took government computers put in jail (temporarily), few people unable to travel, small stuff. Where do you come up with “killing”?

You exaggerate ad absurdum so one can’t take you seriously. And you are one-sided, Ukies have done more than their share of abuse and killing.

The war is about the NATO expansion to Ukraine (stopped now) and the normal European-like rights for the huge Russian minority in Ukraine. You have nothing to say about those two real causes so you b…shit with “torture” and “identity”, stuff that is so subjective and hear-say that it means nothing. Address the stupid NATO plan to expand to Ukraine and the banning of the Russian language – are you afraid to do that?

Kratsios studied humanities, Martyanov and others like Berletic always looks at the educational background of leaders or journalists when judging how seriously they should be taken. It sounds like common sense to me, the argument is that a STEM background seems to provide better preparation for high office or for doing analysis. Think of an airhead politician like Analena Bearbock as another example, she studied political science.

I like YouTube these days for many reasons, one of them is to try and spot trends and patterns in the suggested videos on the feed. Lots of YouTubers seem to make content that repeat themes that gather higher viewer numbers, the weird science stuff too, like bad takes on history such as Nazi weapons that never existed and AI generated “historical” photographs.

Like where I live it’s becoming a trend to have multiracial YTers go to Orania to make a video about how shocked they are at a town in Africa full of white people. There’s a new video by a different channel on the theme every now and then, usually with a thumbnail of them making an emotional soy face. Also look at how many YT channels only do videos on how pathetic or evil China is, year after year for some of them.

we are discussing the killer and not the victim, so intent matters.

I don’t know what you think you are discussing but I am discussing the carnage of civilians in armed conflicts so no, from the relevant perspective (that of the victims) the intent of their butchers matters very little. Why should I care more about the mind streams of the animals who launched 2 missiles to downtown Sumy at midday than about the children and innocent people that they killed? I really couldn’t care less what goes on in their minds and how they justify what they did.

Occupy your own mind analyzing the intent of that scum if you want but don’t involve me in that analysis.

How do you define “political motive?”

This is something I have always found tragically funny. When you guys start justifying the killing of innocent civilians all you do invariably is use political terms. Sovereignty, nation, national interest, national security, right to defend national borders, legitimate actions, government’s duties,… abstract concepts removed several steps from the natural action of one human defending himself or his progeny from an attack. But for some reason very often you are not even aware of the political nature of your justifications. It’s what kingdoms, empires and nation-states have been doing throughout history so you lose perspective of the nature of your arguments and treat them as immutable laws of nature. Well no, it’s been several centuries since the start of the scientific revolution and nobody has discovered anywhere any natural law establishing that the cosmos would collapse if people who fail to solve their differences peacefully stopped killing other people who are not part of that dispute.

the rebel leadership turned that building into a legitimate military target by placing themselves there. If anyone committed a war crime it was them for doing so.

This is the Netanyahu fig-leaf: the Hamas militants don’t come out in the open to fight us wearing uniforms so that we can dispatch them all in one day from the air, therefore we are entitled to level their cities and kill women, children and elderly to our heart’s content.

Nonsense. Bombing and strafing a building with the military leadership in it had a high (though obviously not 100% ) chance of killing them.

Bullcr*p. Throwing a small unguided bomb to a huge concrete building and strafing it had near 0% chances of killing anyone in particular hiding inside it but was guaranteed to cause a carnage among the many civilians outside, which is what happened. The very outcome of the action, with zero fatalities inside the building, proves how I am right and you are dead wrong, no more debate needed. And that is assuming that the pilot even knew who was inside the Lugansk Administration building at the time, which is unknown because the Ukrainian government always denied being responsible for the attack.

Bomber crews faced even greater moral dilemmas, knowing that they were not only bombing their own country but potentially killing innocent French civilians.

Some justified their actions by arguing that if they did not do it, other allied airmen would and would be less motivated than the British and Americans to be careful. Others opted to accept greater risks to themselves by conducting raids at lower altitudes so that they would be more accurate and cause fewer civilian casualties.

Sounds like the opposite of Putin’s, Poroshenko’s and Netanyahu’s philosophy. Even in the last months of the Donbas war, with Zelensky commanding the operations, the OSCE reports showed that the Ukrainian army continued to kill more civilians than the rebels, even though they were both entrenched in inhabited areas and used similar counter-battery and mining tactics. As we’ve seen later, none of the parties conducts itself in a particularly humanitarian way at all but it’s just logical that people are much less prone to kill their own kin than outsiders, as your own passage shows. Btw, returning to the purely political aspects, how much can one talk of a “defensive” operation when one sends an army largely comprised of outsiders, sometimes from many hundreds of km away, to quell a rebellion of local militias and their allied co-ethnics from across the border that also kills thousands of innocent natives? It reeks of the Operación Especial Norte launched by the Spaniards against us. Thousands of armed outsiders sent to pacify a rebellious region. But their own Constitutional Tribunal ended up declaring it unlawful.

Galicians allied with Germans because the Soviets has murdered 10,000s of them. Slovaks and Hungarians had no such excuse. It was just pure opportunism. As it is now, allying with Putin.

It’s even more peculiar today – Fico apparently owns shares in those Slovak defense companies which send their equipment to Ukraine (probably both sold and as donations). But he still wants to attend the May 9 event in Moscow. Wouldn’t it be funny if a drone flew into the Red Square that had been provided by Slovakia? That would really be some grotesque spectacle with Fico standing there, greeting his own drone.

I wonder if when Slovaks sided with the Nazis, if they were still purchasing oil or metals from Stalin…

Yes, the Premier loves surprises.

You are either with us or you are with the terrorists.

: )

Are you really that historically unaware? How about Vichy and the very collaborative French? How about Degrelle and his rule in Belgium? You are playing dumb.

Each country has slightly different circumstances. The ones you mention are Westerners – they are culturally closer to Germany. Of course, it doesn’t justify collaboration with the occupying force from the point of view of the constitutions of those states but it is different than what Slovakia did – you actually helped Germans invade Poland…

We were part of Ostland and we had a Gauleiter, we were not allowed to have our own government, you were literally a client state of the Third Reich with your own authoritarian leader. You were in a more favorable position because you mattered less – not on the border with Russia, so no need to control you more, and also Germans needed you to “divide and rule” vis a vis the Czechs.

As I said, it was closer to the Norwegian Nasjonal Samling with Quisling. Of course, the circumstances were complex and somewhat tragic (more so for the Czechs and especially the Poles) but you are in no position to accuse others (even if such accusations mattered in 2025), especially those who had been ravaged by Stalin and those who were in more precarious circumstances due to their sheer geography. You were sheltered.

Latvian fascists murdered minorities and leftists on their own – even before Germans got settled in.

Unfortunately, the head of Latvian fascists was put in the Flossenbürg concentration camp and was never in power.

You obfuscate by omitting core historical events

No, you do – you ignore very important events that happened just a couple of years earlier.

Latvia was a fascist dictatorship from 1934-40 (Ulmanis)…

Hahahaha, Ulmanis imprisoned the head of our fascists (a very small group) and drove him into exile. He was far from a fascist, not even Italian style. You believe every authoritarian is a fascist? Or is it just the antifa in you talking…

Who would that be? Latvia had a Waffen SS division fighting against Russia and Latvians in the RTed Army (Latvians were quite the commies in their day). Are you saying there was a “third force”? Where? Who were they?

Yes, there was a third force, it was a group of nationalists. There were even some nationalists who fought the Germans at the very end, during the period of the Kurland pocket. You should know that the official position of the state is that there were two occupations and both were illegal and harmful.

How do you know?

There is research by international human rights orgs and a lot of evidence by Ukrainians themselves. There is a network of torture facilities in the East, at least it existed in the first two years of the war. It is run by the Russian secret services. The Russians were cleaning out anyone who sympathized with Ukraine very carefully. I wish they hadn’t but this matters to them a lot – they do not have a real nationality of their own, so they are jealous that others have a strong identity that is not subordinate to theirs.

You exaggerate ad absurdum so one can’t take you seriously.

I’m not striving to “be taken seriously” especially by Sovoks and pro-putinists on some obscure website. What matters is that all of this evidence is gathered and taken seriously at international criminal courts, purely based on facts and forensic evidence, not what you or I say.

the normal European-like rights for the huge Russian minority in Ukraine.

The problem is that Russians anywhere within the so called former Soviet Union are not a normal or what is termed “a traditional minority” in the context of the EU law. And even the EU law can be interpreted in different ways. Why should European law apply to Russians if they did not create this law, did not create the type of rule of law characteristic only to the European civilization and that they themselves despise this law and despise the EU by calling them “fags”? More over – when they themselves broke all these international laws by invading Ukraine and killing so many Ukrainians? Do you ever care about the minority rights in the RusFedia? What about the rights of the Finnic and Turkic peoples?

Besides – Ukraine is not in the EU, and most importantly – international law no longer holds after what has transpired after 2022. It is clearly visible in the actions of the current US administration.

Japan wants to quadrupole its cultural exports by 2033. Seems overly ambitious.

I remember the day the UAF bombed the Lugansk city administration building. I watched the video. I remember the women dying in the parking lot and the bystanders crying for help and cursing the murderers. I also remember how the Ukrainian nationalists joked about the “air conditioner explosion”, just like they joked about the “grilled potato bugs” after the Odessa incident. They truly dehumanized their Russian-speaking co-citizens (I won’t call them co-ethnics) they literally saw them as less than human, enjoying their suffering and deaths.

Nowadays, Alex Parker is posting similarly disgusting comments about the dying Ukrainians on Telegram. Alex described his own story once; he is a Russian born and raised in Kiev, when Maidan happened he was in his late twenties (IIRC). He watched as Ukrainian nationalists joyfully sang about hanging his kin, then he witnessed the coup supported by the « peaceful NATO » and the « democratic West ». He heard of the Odessa incident and saw the insane gloating about the death of the pro-Russian militants. Finally, he watched the Lugansk bombing videos, read the Ukrainian nationalists comments, quit his job, left everything he had in Kiev and went to Donbas to join the pro-Russian militias to kill Ukrainians. And killing some he did until he got wounded, was healed, but got disbanded by his commanding officers (he was with Bednov IIRC). Then he witnessed the Wagnerites eliminate the local charismatic war leaders that did not agree with Surkov’s strategy, including Bednov. Alex moved to Moscow and witnessed the Noviop Moskvabad lifestyle, so far removed from the Russian Realm that he was fighting for in Donbas. Finally he emigrated and became a bloodthirsty ultranationalist blogger who posts the darkest memes supporting the murder of Ukrainians (including POWs and civilians) and deriding the Noviop RusFed.

Alex became a genocidal sociopath. He no longer feels the pain and suffering of the peaceful, oftentimes misguided, civilians who die in this war. He enjoys their suffering, like the ultranationalist Ukrainian mob enjoyed the suffering of the Odessa, Kharkov and Donbas “Moskali” in the spring of 2014. He celebrates the death of the Ukrainian children, just like the Maidanite enjoyed the death of Donbas children. He dreams of a “purification of the Russian Realm” through violence, and the complete destruction of Ukraine, just like the Maidanite crowd dreamed of the purification of Ukraine and the complete destruction of the “Moscovites”.

Alex is a pur, undiluted and unfiltered dialectical byproduct of the Maidan. Without Maidan there would be no Alex Parker. Without the Maidan there would have been no Odessa incident and no insurrection in Donbas. There would have been no conflict in its present form, no war. Those who danced and sang on Maidan to the tune of “hang the Moskal from the branch”, those who posted the memes about the “grilled larvae of the potato beetles” when they shelled Donetsk, those who supported the “promise them whatever today, we will hung them later” attitude of the new government in Kiev and its oligarchic backers, those people have created Alex Parker. Alex Parker is their ugly image in the mirror.

And yet, some people still don’t understand that hatred only produces more hatred. That violence is easily started but is difficult to stop. That once the demons of the Civil War have been awakened and released, it is hard to put them under control and put them back to sleep. That Civil War often leads to foreign intervention. These people still justify the Maidan, they glorify it and minimize the suffering of the Donbas people. These people are blind to the fact that “what goes around comes around “ and that oftentimes those “who’ve sown the wind have harvested the storm”, that the side of the conflict that they support created the problem in the first place. Sad…

Each country has slightly different circumstances. The ones you mention are Westerners – they are culturally closer to Germany.

It seems likely that countries that had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918 would be more in the sphere of German cultural influence than France. I think before the Allied victory in 1945 and the Cold War division, the cultural and political configuration of Europe into spheres of influence and similarity will have been different.

A new Simplicius article that covers a few of the usual points. Also the Trump administration threatening to walk away from peace negotiations. The question is, are they abandoning Ukraine, or distancing themselves for political reasons whilst continuing support for Ukraine under the table through their European proxy?

https://simplicius76.substack.com?utm_source=navbar&utm_medium=web

I also remember what you describe about 2014, I saw it through alternative media like LiveLeak a while later, during my first experiences outside MSM narrative. Before that I held pretty standard Western liberal beliefs, like thinking that it was clever stuff to talk about Putler and drunken Russian commies.

As my views changed I formed an emotional rapport with the Russian Federation as the good guys versus the evil Western hegemon. Things like the Arab Spring being exposed as a NATO proxy war and the emergence of ISIS and the Islamic State reinforced this idea of Russia trying to stop the carnage within modest means.

I’m still stuck with this emotional attachment, but trying to temper it and also trying not to have a stereotypical view of Ukrainians. I realize that I am part of what you would call commentators with no dog in this fight. I had no idea back then that the Ukraine war would become so destructive and I try to moderate the frivolousness of my earlier views. I did not even believe that there would be a war considering Russia’s energy advantage over Europe through Nordstream 2.

Speculation about this war and geopolitics in general is necessary I feel as a way to deal with uncertainty about the future. Also understand that I live in a violent place where war is not uncommon, and peace is often more dangerous in many circumstances than war because of crime and racial tensions. I mean no disrespect.

I salute those who go thru hell with a level headed morality.

Many, if not most and perhaps all conflicts aren’t simple matters of 100% good versus 100% evil. Before, during and after WW II, the USSR, UK and US had clear ethical issues.

Nonetheless, there’s the matter of determining who is the more just.

A new Simplicius article that covers a few of the usual points. Also the Trump administration threatening to walk away from peace negotiations. The question is, are they abandoning Ukraine, or distancing themselves for political reasons whilst continuing support for Ukraine under the table through their European proxy?

https://simplicius76.substack.com?utm_source=navbar&utm_medium=web

Trump has a weak hand with other priorities. He wants to maintain the best possible appearance in conjunction with his core views.

I’m still stuck with this emotional attachment

We all need to have some “embodiment of good” that is fighting the “just war” against some “embodiment of evil”. Life is more complicated, it’s all shades of gray. I have written many times that in this war in Ukraine, there are no “good guys” and there are no “bad guys” either. Both sides are responsible for the ongoing destruction, both sides better stop and think about how it happened. Putting all the blame on the khokhols or katsaps/moskals is naive. They’re in it together, один (не братский) народ. The real question is how did it come to this and how to avoid it elsewhere. Because what happened there could also happen elsewhere.

There are no such people. Hell is a place where one gets lost for a while. But it’s possible to go back to a better place by renouncing hatred and ignorance. It’s a difficult thing to do.

Will Poland get hate speech laws?

But it’s possible to go back to a better place by renouncing hatred and ignorance.

I’ll try and remember your message the next time I speak to two of my cousins. One who is forced to hide in his vegetable cellar whenever the Russian bombs get close, and the other one who just last week had to witness 11 neighbor’s houses totally cratered less than 1 kilometer from where he lives.

Why don’t you continue your very moralistic story in the context of Russia’s recent denial of halting the current hostilities for one month with the goals of creating a more permanent peace? Clearly, both sides aren’t equally responsible for this missed opportunity.

continuing support for Ukraine under the table through their European proxy?

Trump made his intent to separate from Kiev aggression transparent via his budget allocating ZERO for direct assistance. He has also gone after back door routes like USAID. Who could misunderstand such clear signals?

China is Trump’s #1 strategic priority. Pushing Russia towards China is an obvious policy error. Sadly, Europe is not America’s proxy. If they were, he would simply order them to stop.
___

Kiev aggression is driven by external support. What is the world wide total over 2 years? IIRC over $400 billion. Trump taking a huge chunk out of that cash flow should have caused Kiev to take negotiations seriously. Knowing that they would have much less in the future is a strong motivation to cut the best deal now. So what is stumbling block?

Führer Zelensky is Europe’s proxy.

This should surprise no one. The best off ramps that could have prevented or ended the armed conflict were blocked by Europeans — Merkel, BoJo, and Scholz. Germany is committing national suicide by escalating. To gain the ability to issue more debt, they amended their constitution to include carbon neutrality by 2040.

The Ukrainian people need to get rid of Europe’s proxy, Führer Zelensky, and install negotiation capable leadership. Unfortunately, he just cancelled elections for another 3 months. There is no mechanism to change the status quo.

Trump administration threatening to walk away from peace negotiations. The question is, are they abandoning Ukraine

It looks looks Germany, France, and the UK will cause negotiations to fail. I would suggest caution with the term ‘abandon’ as it carries connotations that may not apply. Instead I suggest this will lead to American ‘disengagement’.

There will not be a visible cut and run scenario. The deep state would try to create another Afghanistan style fiasco. Instead U.S. intelligence staff and their gear will be taken out in secure batches over time.

Also, there may be some full price, cash upfront sales. With F-16’s in service, America cannot cut off necessary spares. What would that do to the internationalized F-35 program?
_____

Conservative Treehouse gives a good summary (1), which I shared above at #60.

You may also enjoy their write up of the Paris meeting: (2)

REMINDER: Steve Witkoff is the literal voice and ears of President Trump. However, the EU narrative around Steve Witkoff doesn’t realize Wikkoff is literally Trump’s voice, and they are emphasizing the meeting in France as the first time Witkoff has met the counter position from his time with Putin. France and U.K don’t like how much time Witkoff has spent with Russian President Putin and view him as too warm toward Russia. Witkoff is, because Trump is.

During the sessions, Macron would break away to talk to Zelenskyy by phone, and Rubio would break away to talk with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov by phone.

The EU, specifically represented by France and the U.K representing the interests of the NATO/Corporate industrial military complex who want bigger conflict and more war, sit at the table with officials from Germany and Ukraine. The only elements who want the ceasefire are the two-thirds of the USA group, Witkoff and Rubio. USA representative Keith Kellogg wants to sit on the warmonger side with Macron (EU), the U.K and NATO.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Macron doing the bureaucratic thing that Brussels is well known for, announced that another meeting for talk and banter must be scheduled in London, because Kier Starmer needs to talk a lot, inject himself into all the conversations and have his important pictures taken too.

The site is not mine. I link to it to offer it some free promotion. It is usually solid.

In this case, they may be a bit too optimistic. Merz and Starmer are recently elected and seem fairly committed to dumping money into Kiev aggression. Germany’s AfD and UK Reform will continue to gain strength. However, early federal elections that would empower anti-war parties seem unlikely.

PEACE 😇
__________

(1) https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/04/18/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-says-u-s-willing-to-walk-away-from-ukraine-conflict-decision-in-days-not-weeks/

(2) https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2025/04/18/rubio-witkoff-and-kellogg-meet-with-french-president-macron-ukraine-and-uk-delegation-to-discuss-outline-of-ceasefire/

This war started in 2013.

You remember the silly funny little rhymes about москаляку на гиляку and кто не скачет тот москаль ?

Which rapidly became одна нация, одна мова, одна краина – це Украина ?

Then included the UPA slogan Украина понад усе?

Where was the first place they started these ?

Was it Drogobych in Western Ukraine ?

What was the place that the armed ultranationalist militias invaded and overtook the Regional City Administrations first, was it in Galicia ?

Как аукнется – так и откликнется…

When the Southeast raised in protest against this ultranationalist agenda, and used the same tactics that Ukrainian nationalists used in the West of the country, the illegitimate post-Maidan government attempted to stomp down on the Russian-speaking opposition. It lead to insurrection, then Civil War and finally proxy intervention by RF and NATO. Only eight years later, after several attempts to fix the situation through negotiations, did it all end up with an outright Russian invasion.

This war didn’t start in 2022 Mr Hack.

And yes again, both sides are wrong and they both should do everything for this insanity to stop.

This war better stop this year because twelve years of conflict is long enough.

Повоевали идиоты и хватит, поубивали, попогибали, по домам пора. До дому – до хаты, детей рожать да растить. Строить а не разрушать…

The Ukrainian people need to get rid of Europe’s proxy, Führer Zelensky, and install negotiation capable leadership. Unfortunately, he just cancelled elections for another 3 months. There is no mechanism to change the status quo.

Why should the Ukrainian people “get rid” of Zelensky? They voted him in, and his current popularity is high. Besides, there’s a clause within the Ukrainian constitution that allows that elections can be postponed during wartime. To follow your advice, is to follow the advice of Putler’s quisling, Donald Trump. If he doesn’t watch it, it’ll be Trump that will soon be evicted from office. I wonder what his approval rates are currently within the US?

And yes again, both sides are wrong and they both should do everything for this insanity to stop.

But only one side has recently walked away from the negotiating table. With your supposed stance of “peace at all costs” I’d think that you’d want to condemn this recent development very vociferously. Yet, all we get from you is a luke warm whimper of disapproval. 🙁

You remember the silly funny little rhymes about москаляку на гиляку and кто не скачет тот москаль ?

Russian morality:

Songs and poems are an excuse to kill, and if someone kills in response to songs and poems the two sides are equally guilty. Both sides are the same, the singer and the killer.

A convenient morality for those whose side are the murderers.

The first people who killed in 2013-2014 were the Russians. In Donetsk, in Luhansk, and in Odessa.

But those pro-Russian murderers, who started the killing, weren’t the ones who started it, according to Russian logic. People who sang songs were the ones who started it.

A murderous people collectively, it is best to keep them on another side of a border, but they insist on a union.

So if the war didn’t start with the Russian invasion in 2022, it started when Russians started killing Ukrainians in 2014.

When the Southeast raised in protest against this ultranationalist agenda, and used the same tactics that Ukrainian nationalists used in the West of the country, the illegitimate post-Maidan government

The pre-Maidan government lost its legitimacy in 2010 when it illegally and undemocratically undid the results of the parliamentary election (which the Orange coalition had won) and gave itself a fake parliamentary majority (which no no had voted for), which then passed a lot of fake laws including new election laws that insured that the “Blue” side would control parliament even if they lost the popular vote.

The government that came into power after Maidan consisted of the parties who won the 2012 popular vote and would have controlled the parliament had the fake parliament not changed the election laws.

RF didn’t walk away from that the negotiations’ table. And Ukraine didn’t agree to negotiate on US terms.

Also, there were negotiations in Minsk and Istanbul, where did these negotiations lead to?

Nowhere…

As long as the hatred and will to harm are there, no reasonable agreement is possible.

Again:

1. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.

2. Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.

3. “He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me.” Those who harbor such thoughts do not still their hatred.

4. “He abused me, he struck me, he overpowered me, he robbed me.” Those who do not harbor such thoughts still their hatred.

5. Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.

6. There are those who do not realize that one day we all must die. But those who do realize this settle their quarrels.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.01.budd.html

First one needs to understand that a mistake was made, second one needs to understand that one was misled, third that misleading was possible because of mind’s delusion, fourth one needs to rectify one’s mind, fifth one needs to rectify one’s actions. Only then peace and harmony come back to those who embraced hatred and violence. But oftentimes they die, suffering from the negative consequences of their mindset before the healing process is completed. One should always hurry to heal one’s hatred towards others. Death would not wait for one to do that…

I remember the day the UAF bombed the Lugansk city administration building. I watched the video. I remember the women dying in the parking lot and the bystanders crying for help and cursing the murderers. I also remember how the Ukrainian nationalists joked about the “air conditioner explosion”, just like they joked about the “grilled potato bugs” after the Odessa incident.

But you didn’t remember that the Luhansk bombing followed the killing of Ukrainian border guards by Russian forces commanded by people who were in the building in Luhansk that was bombed.

You didn’t remember that the first person killed in Odesa was a pro-Ukrainian protester, murdered by pro-Russians for the purpose of dispersing the Ukrainians and taking over the city as they had previously done in Donetsk (where they also murdered a Ukrainian protester and then succeeded in conquering the streets). In Odessa, the balance of forces was quite different than in Donetsk, and the Russians lost. And the Ukrainians cheered that they had won in Odessa following the murder of Ukrainians, after having lost in Donetsk.

You didn’t remember that the Ukrainian gloating followed Russian gloating that they would soon take all of “New Russia.”

How convenient.

You present yourself as objective, and I think you are honest and sincerely believe that, but in reality you are blinded too.

People do not become “genocidal sociopaths” in their late 20s. This Alex Parker was always such, he only made excuses as such creatures do. The Russian cause in Ukraine naturally attracts psychopaths, sex criminals, and other unsavory people.

You speak of karma, and believe that suffering indicates who has been most guilty of something. Perhaps you should reflect why the biggest sufferers of this war are the people of Donbas, who have been killed by the Russian state far more than by the Ukrainian one, and those who have suffered least are the ones from Galicia.

Why do you think that is?

AP be very careful with your Russophobia. You have Russian family connections. Your children are partly Russian. The more you feed your Russophobia and the more you risk experiencing very negative consequences. But of course you can always keep with your casuistry and sophisms. It suits you well, it makes you feel a first tier Ukrainian. It feeds your ego…

Russians are neither worse nor better than Ukrainians, but Russians did not start the hatred. Your Western Ukrainian kin did. They poured this hatred among the Ukrainian people and poisoned their interactions leading in 2013 to a violent and disgusting conflict ending in an outright invasion in 2022. Your Galician folks are the main culprits for what is happening now. You should tone down your rhetoric and reflect on that before it becomes problematic.

There’s this Russian joke that goes like that:

« Идёт хохол с ружьем по хутору. Соседи спрашивают – ты куда? Он в ответ – москалей стрелять. Они говорят – а если они в ответ тебя пристрелят ? Он – а меня за что ?»

I hope you understand, but if you don’t there’s nothing I can do about it. Life will eventually make you realize what’s wrong with your support for that war.

Why do you think that is?

Because they betrayed their motherland. But they didn’t do it in 2014. They did it in 1991. They should never have supported the separation of Ukraine from Russia. It was the right thing to do for the Galician Uniates, not the Novorossian Orthodox. So Galicians did the right thing in 1991, but the Southeastern Ukrainian russophone population made a monumental mistake. Galicia should have become independent, like the Baltic states are. Novorossia and Crimea should have been integrated with RF in an Eastern Slavic confederation along with Belarus. It would have been much better for everyone concerned.

RF didn’t walk away from that the negotiations’ table. And Ukraine didn’t agree to negotiate on US terms.

But Ukraine did give its endorsement of a 30 day truce, to be used to start real negotiations. And Russia has officially bowed its way out:

https://www.daynews.tv/2025/03/13/russia-rejects-30-day-ceasefire-as-us-pushes-for-peace/

AP’s characterization of you as being “blinded” makes sense. No matter what, you still seem to see things through the prism of just another Russian chauvinist. Why don’t you take the time to try and counter AP’s list of Russian original malfeasances within Ukraine, instead of hiding behind pretty sounding sophisms?

we are discussing the killer and not the victim, so intent matters.

I don’t know what you think you are discussing but I am discussing the carnage of civilians in armed conflicts so no, from the relevant perspective (that of the victims)

When you render judgments on Putin, Poroshenko, Netanyahu you are discussing not only the victims. So when you discuss such people, intent matters.

How do you define “political motive?”

This is something I have always found tragically funny. When you guys start justifying the killing of innocent civilians When you guys start justifying the killing of innocent civilians all you do invariably is use political terms. Sovereignty, nation, national interest, national security, right to defend national borders, legitimate actions, government’s duties,… abstract concepts removed several steps from the natural action of one human defending himself or his progeny from an attack.

They are not removed at all in the case of a country that is literally being invaded. Violating borders means killing people on other side of the border that you invaded. National security means stopping those killers.

the rebel leadership turned that building into a legitimate military target by placing themselves there. If anyone committed a war crime it was them for doing so.

This is the Netanyahu fig-leaf: the Hamas militants don’t come out in the open to fight us wearing uniforms so that we can dispatch them all in one day from the air, therefore we are entitled to level their cities and kill women, children and elderly to our heart’s content.

Except Poroshenko did not level cities from the air but attacked one specific building with weapons that did not even destroy the entire building, thereby minimizing civilian casualties.

There is plenty of footage of cities leveled by the Russians or the Israelies. Show me the entire cities or entire housing blocks leveled by Poroshenko in 2014-2015.

Nonsense. Bombing and strafing a building with the military leadership in it had a high (though obviously not 100% ) chance of killing them.

Bullcr*p. Throwing a small unguided bomb to a huge concrete building and strafing it had near 0% chances of killing anyone in particular hiding inside

A bomb and machine gun fire had a good chance of killing people who were not hiding but meeting inside.

The very outcome of the action, with zero fatalities inside the building, proves how I am right and you are dead wrong

That’s like someone falsely claiming that flipping a coin always results in heads (in reality the probability is 50/50 heads or tails) is proven right if as a result of the coin flip it happens to be heads.

And that is assuming that the pilot even knew who was inside the Lugansk Administration building at the time, which is unknown because the Ukrainian government always denied being responsible for the attack.

Are you seriously going to claim that it was a complete coincidence that the Ukrainians happened to send a plane to bomb one specific building at one specific time right when the rebel military leadership was meeting there?

Obviously the Ukrainians were tipped off.

Sounds like the opposite of Putin’s, Poroshenko’s and Netanyahu’s philosophy

The three do not have a unified philosophy.

Putin, unlike Netanyahu and Poroshenko, attacked first. He initiated the aggression and as a result he (like Hamas in Israel) is ultimately responsible for the carnage that followed. Netanyahu and Poroshenko responded to being attacked and their actions served to protect their people from invaders who were killing them. And the invaders were operating out of populated areas, so some civilian deaths were inevitable.

Poroshenko, unlike Putin and Netanyahu, did not engage in massive indiscriminate bombing of entire neighborhoods, killing 10,000s of people. It’s quite telling that the example you keep bringing up involves Ukraine sending a plane to hit one specific building at a specific time when it held rebel leaders, resulting in the unwanted deaths of 8 civilians. They didn’t even try to destroy the entire building with a massive bomb or artillery hit. Compare to Gaza, or Sumy, or Mariupol, etc. etc. Entire buildings and blocks leveled.

So to summarize:

Putin both initiates war and death, and applies death on a large scale with many civilian casualties when doing so. He is like Hamas or other aggressive terrorists, or 1930s warmongering dictators.

Netanhayu does not initiate war and death, but when it comes to him he responds by applying death on a mass brutal scale with many civilian casualties. He is like World War II-era Americans or Brits.

Poroshenko did not initiate war and death, and when it was brought to him he responded in a measured way, with relatively few casualties. A modern European or American (sometimes).

And Mikel who doesn’t consider intentionality thinks that all three are the same.

the OSCE reports showed that the Ukrainian army continued to kill more civilians than the rebels, even though they were both entrenched in inhabited areas and used similar counter-battery and mining tactics.

In 2021, something like 7 civilians were killed by the Ukrainian side and 2 by the Russian side. Those numbers are too low to draw definitive conclusions.

Another dozen or so were killed by landmines.

The frontline went by two large cities under Russian control (Donetsk and Horlivka), and none under Ukrainian control. The largest Ukrainian-controlled city, Mariupol, was about 30 km from the front line. So that would easily explain the discrepancy in killings.

They should never have supported the separation of Ukraine from Russia.

But they did, and why do you think that they voted for independence from Russia? Maybe the Galicians held a gun to their heads?

The fighting in Ukraine is the current hot spot in the West’s long-standing project to destroy Russia. It is not clear the Ukraine mess can be resolved unless the West is willing to walk away from this project in a broader sense. Talk is cheap so the US needs to clearly demonstrate this intention with real action. In other words, Russia is not simply going to forget about the US dismantling the nuclear arms control framework, US emplacing missiles in Romania and Poland and greatly expanding NATO. They are also not going to forget about Western wars specifically waged or stirred up to weaken Russia, including the Balkans, Georgia, Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh and also any Western role in the DICh [arguably Iraq 1 should be on the list]. The West has a lot of damage to either repair or at least disavow before Russia can trust them. All of this talk about Ukrainian negotiations seems to ignore the fact that the West is completely untrustworthy from a Russian perspective. Not slightly untrustworthy, but completely.

Team Trump has no way to back up any major promises which are made to achieve any concessions from Russia. It is obvious to everyone there is a lot of political turmoil in the USA. The previous Presidential election was probably stolen and given to a zombie puppet. A very visible and nearly successful assassination attempt was made on the Presidential candidate and no substantial retribution was applied to the security forces who allowed this to happen. The point is that the US seems to be on the verge of chaos. We are probably not, but it is something that a Russian negotiator must factor into the process.

There are a few moves Trump could make which might be useful, but they are probably political suicide at the moment. Maybe if Trump has a few big wins in the next year he can circle back to Ukraine negotiations. Unfortunately, it is not clear how the MIC/DeepState people behind this entire anti-Russia project will react to Trump trying to undermine their life’s ambition to crush Russia.

Three substantial steps Trump may consider to create some good faith would be to restrict Ukraine’s access to US satellite data, unilaterally recognize Crimea as a permanent part of Russia and agree in a general sense to a new nuclear arms control framework. The last one is very difficult at the moment.

AP be very careful with your Russophobia. You have Russian family connections.

My wife is half-Polish and spars with her Russian relatives also (as do many other Russians living in the USA).

Your children are partly Russian.

They are 100% on the side of Ukraine, as are many ethnic Russians in Ukraine such as the spouse of one of my cousins in Ukraine. Alex Parker is just a psychopath and always was. Those psychopaths and moral degenerates are the types who support Russia.

There is a lot good about Russia and Russians, but its political culture is beastly and murderous. Even a brilliant and well-meaning person such as you demonstrates this with your “two sides are equally guilty” approach when the same side started the killing in 2014 and invaded in 2022.

It’s why there needs to be a strong armed border between Russians and other Slavs.

you can always keep with your casuistry and sophisms

It is not “casuistry and sophisms” to point out that Russians started the killings in Odesa, Luhansk and Donetsk, while Ukrainians stated the dancing and poetry.

And to marvel at how even a very intelligent and thoughtful Russian seriously believes that this killing is somehow equal to songs and poetry about Moskals.

but Russians did not start the hatred.

Dostoyevsky mentioned a law of blood. He wrote that the one who hates is the one who was bled, not the one who bled the other. Russians (including under their Georgian master) started mass killing of Ukrainians. In Western Ukraine, 10,000s were murdered by them in 1939-1941. Far fewer than the number starved to death and murdered in Soviet Ukraine in the 1930s, but still this was unprecedented.

Your Western Ukrainian kin did. They poured this hatred among the Ukrainian people and poisoned their interactions leading in 2013 to a violent and disgusting conflict ending in an outright invasion in 2022. Your Galician folks are the main culprits for what is happening now.

If that were true, the Galicians would have seen karmic justice from 1991. Instead they created the most pleasant place in Ukraine, and even now suffer the least. They will probably end this war being better off than before it began.

About Karma and Donbas being punished while Galicia being okay:

Because they betrayed their motherland. But they didn’t do it in 2014. They did it in 1991. They should never have supported the separation of Ukraine from Russia. It was the right thing to do for the Galician Uniates, not the Novorossian Orthodox. So Galicians did the right thing in 1991, but the Southeastern Ukrainian russophone population made a monumental mistake.

I actually agree with most of this, but you are wrong about so-called Novorossiya.

Odessans are okay, it is Donbas specifically that has suffered enormously. So if karma is the guide, it was only the Donbassers who should have left Ukraine and stayed with Russia in 1991.

So the divide is not linguistic but ethnic. Odessans are mostly ethnic Ukrainian, Donbassers from the Republics have a slight Russian majority.

Instead they stayed in Ukraine and did nasty things for 25 years such as preventing Ukraine from joining its polish brothers in the West, imposing would-be dictators like Yanukovich, and generally corrupting the entire country.

Of course, another interpretation could be that Donbassers are being karmically punished precisely because they prevented Ukraine from joining EU and NATO in the 1990s or early 2000s when it was possible. Had they not done so, Ukraine would have been safely in NATO, and their people would not have been burned alive by Russian bombs or raped by Chechen marauders. They would have been happy. But instead they voted for Yanukovych and prevented ties with EU and NATO.

substantial steps Trump may consider to create some good faith would be to restrict Ukraine’s access to US satellite data, unilaterally recognize Crimea as a permanent part of Russia

These are reasonable steps.

There are potentially vulnerable intelligence staff and equipment on the ground in Ukraine. Permanent removal would likely be in small groups over time to prevent the possibility of a false flag or other potential issues.

agree in a general sense to a new nuclear arms control framework. The last one is very difficult at the moment.

Bilateral agreements had to end as China would not come to the table while they could free ride on them. Chances of a 3-way deal are fairly poor, but preliminary discussions including the CCP could take place.
___

Other things that could help:

There are some assets that could be released and sanctions eased. However, these are small on the U.S. side. Most of the restrictions are European.

Improving Russia’s access to U.S. dollar institutions would help in terms of financial transactions. It may be possible to undercut some EU limitations.

PEACE 😇

But they did

At the time, most people in the Soviet Union were very naive. Because they were isolated from the wider world and lived in an artificially constructed ideological system (a bit like what the West would become if the Wokism prevails for a few generations). In a sense, we were ignorant fools and didn’t know what we were doing. Ignorance is at the root of all evil because it prevents us from being able to realize the full extent of consequences of our actions.

Southeastern Ukraine was very developed on industrial scale and when compared to other regions of USSR, had a somewhat better standard of living. During the Brezhnev era, the Dnepropetrovsk Nomenklatura clan accrued a lot of power on the federal level. Ukrainians (including the Russian speaking ones) started looking down at Russians on social and economic levels. They truly believed that as soon as they would become independent, they would have a much better standard of living. Будем как Франция…

The Donbas miners were the « elite of the working class» according to the official narrative. They received salaries that were way higher than that of the average Russian worker on the other side of the border. They had a lot of privilege, such as the free Azov / Black Sea resort vacations, early retirement etc. For reasons unknown, they thought they would be even better off under capitalism. To some extent, same attitude was also found among the other Ukrainian manufacturing sector workers and the peasantry. They thought that economically and socially Ukraine would be better off without the Union. Ukraine was supposedly « feeding the lazy drunk Russian muzhiks » (that were the exact words of a Russian speaking Ukrainian that I knew well).

That was the Масло зъили москали, сало зъили москали attitude that many shared at the time. That’s why they voted for the independence and betrayed their brothers and their family links. In a sense they did it for the proverbial « 30 silver shekels ». And the consequences are dire. They’re paying the full price now.

I don’t disagree, but I am being careful before being optimistic. One of the possibilities I consider is the idea of continuity of agenda as suggested by Brian Berletic. It holds that that USAID’s function has become part of US statecraft, the same things will continue being done. DOGE is just a way of making a process that spans previous US governments more efficient.

You really do have this need to be on the « right side of history » and to naively believe that you are a « better person » and a better Slav / Ukrainian than the « beastly Russians ». Alright, if you need it, have it. But remember, hatred is a disease and as with any disease, there will be negative consequences. 🙂

Many, if not most and perhaps all conflicts aren’t simple matters of 100% good versus 100% evil. Before, during and after WW II, the USSR, UK and US had clear ethical issues.

Nonetheless, there’s the matter of determining who is the more just.

People have the same problem with the various leaders. They’re either saints, or fiends in human form. If the official story takes one version, revisionists rocket to the opposite extreme and pat themselves on the back for their cleverness.

It gets tedious. Hitler wasn’t unalloyed evil — but that doesn’t mean Blessed Hitler of Linz is any more accurate. Ditto — albeit in the opposite direction — for Roosevelt and Churchill. There was a lot to be said for both — perhaps particularly for Roosevelt. That they weren’t all goodness and light and wisdom doesn’t demonstrate that they were darkness incarnate.

In general, we as humans all have subjective preferences that are not based on objective reality. Sometimes it leads to conflicts…

There are no such people. Hell is a place where one gets lost for a while. But it’s possible to go back to a better place by renouncing hatred and ignorance. It’s a difficult thing to do.

But can happen.

Why don’t you continue your very moralistic story in the context of Russia’s recent denial of halting the current hostilities for one month with the goals of creating a more permanent peace? Clearly, both sides aren’t equally responsible for this missed opportunity.

Kiev regime didn’t honor the ceasefire against attacking energy infrastructure. The Black Sea ceasefire was thwarted by the EU/UK not okaying clearance for Russian agriculture and fertilizer payments and insurance for transport vessels involved in that process. There’s also the matter of policing clandestine Back Sea shipping of arms to the Kiev regime.

Russia has again proposed an Easter truce. As for an unconditional across the board ceasefire, when in the history of armed conflict has the winning side agreed to such? That move serves to benefit the losing side only.

I’ll try and remember your message the next time I speak to two of my cousins. One who is forced to hide in his vegetable cellar whenever the Russian bombs get close, and the other one who just last week had to witness 11 neighbor’s houses totally cratered less than 1 kilometer from where he lives.

Plenty of stories like that beforehand of Kiev regime shellings. Ive heard them from people who identify themselves as Ukrainians . Yesterday’s hero Nadiya Savchenko acknowledged this. Partly explains her fall from grace.

USAID’s function has become part of US statecraft, the same things will continue being done.

USAID had two functions as a vicious, anti-democracy institution:

-1- Funnel money to serve the ambitions of IslamoGloboHomo (including elements of the CIA). This was structured to prevent effective oversight allowing anti-American activities to continue, even if elected officials were in opposition.

-2- Provide a direct source of graft for DNC elites and their families. The more money they received via USAID funded NGO’s, the less likely they were to ask questions.

In the short-term, take the wins for what they are. Large numbers of bad programs have been stopped.

While Trump is definitely sincere, he is term limited. If MAGA is not re-elected, or is compromised from the inside, your concern is real.

PEACE 😇

Shades of Franjo Tudjman.

The side that happens to start killing and happens to start invading is the wrong side.

If you can’t recognize that I can’t help you.

And Russia has a pattern of doing that to its western neighbors.

We disagree that the USA had to end nuclear arms control agreements with Russia in order to create new agreements which included China or that this was actually a sincere part of their plan. I consider this perspective unbelievably shallow and an attempt to make excuses for one of the biggest military-diplomatic policy mistakes in history. Maybe this broken framework can eventually be used to foster tri-party treaties. That will be great but was not the reason the West decided to pressure Russia in this way.

There is no way something as bad and as large as USAID just stopped. We can hope it has been hobbled and pruned back. Maybe we will find out.

Palantir has direct links to the White House as do other In-Q-Tel mega projects. You can’t seriously help MAGA goals if you are a rube.

I remember the day the UAF bombed the Lugansk city administration building. I watched the video. I remember the women dying in the parking lot and the bystanders crying for help and cursing the murderers. I also remember how the Ukrainian nationalists joked about the “air conditioner explosion”, just like they joked about the “grilled potato bugs” after the Odessa incident.

Those are the types of images and details that you suddenly had to get from obscure Russian/Ukrainian channels if you wanted to get unfiltered information and have some clue of what was really going on. It was a watershed moment for me, when I fully realized how biased our MSM is.

Compared to what’s happened later, the Lugansk massacre was almost insignificant but it has plenty of value because it was all captured on video (CCTV and passersby phones) so we know exactly what happened and how the various actors reacted. It showed the full extent of Kiev’s barbarity and mendacity and, as you say, it must have caused lots of hatred among the locals, fueling the spiral that brought us here.

You know the place and circumstances incomparably better than me but, from my vantage point, this all looks like a terribly sad chain of events that didn’t need to happen. Independent Ukraine looked from the very beginning like a patchwork of regions, suddenly forming a unified country but with big ethno-linguistic differences among them and a strong east-west divide. On top of that it never managed to reach any decent level of prosperity and saw itself lagging behind its neighbors amid rampant corruption. People seemed to get tired of this backwardness, that one of the sides blamed on the other ethno-linguistic group (as is usual in nationalist disputes), and the revolution/coup, rebellion and civil war all followed from there.

As for Russia, I think that many decades of communist-materialistic ideology coupled with the anarchic 90s don’t go in vain and the Kremlin rulers, headed by an ex KGB agent, acted exactly as you would expect, in the ruthless, cruel and equally mendacious way that they were brought up in.

But perhaps the most tragic aspect of this war is that it was criminally stoked from outside and I don’t believe it would have reached the horrors we’re seeing if it hadn’t been for the ridiculous policy of the West of blindly siding with one of the tribal sides at every point of the escalation.

As for an unconditional across the board ceasefire, when in the history of armed conflict has the winning side agreed to such? That move serves to benefit the losing side only.

Yes. This complaint is all the evidence anybody needs and if they were clever they would not bring it up. These guys are not the Vietnamese that is for sure.

Ukraine set this all in motion by joining the Western pressure campaign against Russia. Many intelligent people knew that this alliance against Russia was extremely dangerous. Others such as yourself thought it was worth the risk. Considering the Cold War which was just ending this was not an innocent or subtle move.

Battle of the Nations

Denmark Norway
Latvia Poland

Jonathan Mahler Busted

Re: https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2025/04/14/the-new-york-times-presents-russia-for-dummies/

Good job by James Carden with some additional points for Mahler and his like-minded kin to maybe ponder. The following are excerpts from Mahlers’ article, followed by my replies.

Re: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/magazine/trump-russia-putin.html

Excerpt –

He has claimed that Ukraine was responsible for its own invasion by Russia and berated Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, during a televised meeting in the Oval Office.

Zelensky admitted to never intending to honor the Minsk Accords the Kiev regime signed. In the week leading up to the Russian Special Military Operation, Kiev regime forces dramatically increased their shelling on rebel held Donbass territory as confirmed by OSCE observers.

Stoletenberg acknowledged that a warlike situation was already evident on the territory of the former Ukrainian SSR for a good few years prior to the SMO, with NATO arming and training Kiev regime forces.

Upon assuming the presidency in 2019, Zelensky drifted away from his preference for ending the Donbass conflict and improving relations with Russia. He won the Ukrainian presidency decisively against Petro Poroshenko, who at the time was supported by the Banderite nationalists.

A full review of the Oval Office meeting shows a disrespectfully combative Zelensky dishing out anti-Russian/anti-Putin propaganda, followed by his interrupting JD Vance’s call for diplomacy. Zelensky got a well deserved and long overdue rebuke.

Excerpt –

His administration also joined North Korea and several other autocratic governments in refusing to endorse a United Nations resolution condemning Russia for the attack. And he has filled his cabinet with like-minded officials, including his director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who has been described as a “comrade” by Russian state TV.

Israel and Hungary also voted for that resolution. Most UN states didn’t vote for that pro-Kiev regime/anti-Russian statement. Who on Russian TV referred to TG as a “comrade”? How many times has this been said at that venue? Sleazy nouveau McCarthyism on the part of Mahler. Regarding foreign policy, Gabbard has been among the most, if not the most sane person in Trump’s administration.

Excerpt –

Others see it as primarily personal. Trump has never made a secret of his affinity for Putin, and the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election only brought the two leaders closer together. “Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me,” Trump said during his meeting in the Oval Office with Zelensky.

No mention that the Steele Dossier was proven to be anti-Russian crock, along with the disingenuous attempt by the Biden administration to suggest that the Hunter Biden laptop issue was a Kremlin orchestrated disinformation campaign. In more recent times, Keir Starmer’s party blatantly meddled in the last US presidential election against Trump.

Excerpt –

Before Trump’s recent reset, the dark-double framework defined the Russia-U.S. relationship going back to the last decades of the 19th century, when the United States first took up the cause of trying to redeem Russia. In the summer of 1882, an American journalist named James Buel traveled across the country and returned with an account of a “barbarous” nation that desperately needed to be freed from tsarist oppression — “whether with bayonet or psalm-book,” he wrote.

Classic cherry picked anti-Russian bigotry, along the lines of Banderite propaganda, depicting a historically evil Russia. (Refer to Bernadine Bailey’s 1969 published book. Richard Sakwa mentions a certain Eurasia Review article on that work in Sakwa’s Frontline Ukraine book.)

America’s freeing of the slaves occurred around the same time of the serfs being given freedom in Russia. Problems for both still existed. Russian serfdom wasn’t racially based unlike US slavery. During the US Civil War, Russia showed a clear preference for the Union, with France and Britain preferring the Confederacy.

Russia had a revolution in 1905. Had there been no WW I or had it started a few years later (when Russia would’ve been better militarily prepared), the Bolsheviks would likely haven’t usurped power. Instead, a gradually peaceful and more democratic process could’ve prevailed.

Excerpt –

According to a Quinnipiac poll released in mid-March, only 7 percent of American voters have a favorable opinion of Putin, while 81 percent have an unfavorable opinion of him. Similarly, 55 percent of American voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war in Ukraine, and only 38 percent approve of it. Trump and his cabinet may look at today’s Russia and see a kindred soul. But most of America still sees a dark double.

Many Americans have a secondary at best interest of Russia, which results in many of them being subconsciously duped by the mass media they uncritically rely on. Contrary to what Mahler suggests in his piece, there’re left of center Americans who’ve similar takes to the right of center types underscored by The NYT staff writer.

Anglo-American mass media at large has generally shunned informative point-counterpoint exchanges on Russia related matter.

You can’t seriously help MAGA goals if you are a rube.

Are you self identifying as a rube?

You cannot help MAGA goals if you preemptively surrender. It is not rational to expect 100% of absolutely everything instantly.

There is no way something as bad and as large as USAID just stopped. We can hope it has been hobbled and pruned back.

The first battle against USAID has been won. It is shutdown and its staff fired. Next comes the sunlight part of the exercise where we keep obtaining details about what they funded. Ideally we will see claw backs and maybe even some prosecutions.

Winning one battle does not guarantee winning the war. Obviously, USAID was not the only bad actor in the U.S. government. DOGE will keep going to find other pockets of deep state malfeasance to excise.

PEACE 😇

As previously noted, an independent Ukraine within its dubiously drawn Communist boundary could’ve existed if it remained militarily neutral and respected the pro-Russian community.

Not doing so is what led to the armed conflict. NATO rejected Russian overtures for membership, while being top heavy with anti-Russian advocacy.

Reminded of the goon who was gunned down in Odessa. The Kyiv Independent describes him as an “activist” without noting his violent manner. Some comparative media:

https://kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-activist-demyan-hanul-shot-dead-in-central-odesa/

https://www.rt.com/russia/614211-odessa-murder-demyan-ganul/

New deck of most wanted playing cards for Luigi wannabes.

There really aren’t that many people out there who want to be Luigis. Right?

Poroshenko did not initiate war and death, and when it was brought to him he responded in a measured way, with relatively few casualties.

It’s very tiring to see you repeating Kremlin narratives and talking points time and again.

Putin and Poroshenko could have perfectly decided that killing thousands of innocent people (the very people they claimed to be protecting at that) was not a price worth paying to respond to the provocations they both felt were so intolerable. But they both decided against it and consciously ordered actions that would inevitably result in huge loss of life and human suffering.

Every time you come up with arguments to justify what one of them did you’re just making excuses that the other one could perfectly use, verbatim, to justify his own decisions. So much so that Putin has used exactly every excuse of yours I have highlighted above. That’s what he told Tucker.

When you render judgments on Putin, Poroshenko, Netanyahu you are discussing not only the victims. So when you discuss such people, intent matters.

For a thorough analysis we should also include in the debate Attila’s, Napoleon’s and Genghis Khan’s intents, among so many other historical figures who engaged in the killings of innocent people. Perhaps the leaders of the Tollense tribes as well. But I don’t know how many times I’ll have to repeat that I’m not interested. Each of them would use different language, adapted to the culture of their times, but it’s all just cheap talk to hide what really lies behind: primitive simian behavior. As you keep admitting yourself, once war breaks out, barbarity ensues and innocent people almost invariably die in large numbers. That’s all there is to it.

You just want this state of affairs to continue. I want for humanity to continue evolving and for perfectly avoidable horrors like Sumy or Lugansk to follow the fate of once undisputed norms like slavery or torture.

A bomb and machine gun fire had a good chance of killing people who were not hiding but meeting inside.

This is the kind of silly statements that sap my energy to continue debating any topic with you. Throwing a small, imprecise bomb and strafing a huge concrete building had a “good chance” of killing someone inside it, even though, as expected, it miserably failed to do so. Why? Because AP repeats it enough times in order to fatigue his interlocutors into submission and that’s the whole extent of his argumentation.

I have debated the old topic of means versus ends multiple times since I was a teenager. It was a hotly debated subject, for good reason, where I grew up. And quite frankly, the debates I had at that time were much deeper than this. For starters, many people in Euskadi were fully aware that they were defending armed action for political reasons and didn’t shy away from admitting it. They were influenced by the materialistic philosophy of the Left at the time and argued that violence is the inevitable driving force of social changes. Or that small nations don’t have any other choice but terrorism to free themselves from their oppressors. All tremendously unpersuasive for me but the more intellectual types had read plenty of ideological material and wouldn’t waste their time arguing against the laws of physics and common sense like you are doing here.

RF invaded in 2022, the conflict started in 2013. That’s a 9 years period during which the solution should have been found. That is why I say that both sides are wrong, not because I somehow try to justify the invasion, but because I firmly believe that the conflict itself should have been avoided or at least solved before the invasion.

The conflict occurred because there were deep rooted tensions in the Ukrainian society. These tensions should have been taken into account and managed skillfully during the initial period of Ukrainian nation-building. Viacheslav Chornovol has adequately assessed the situation in 1990 when he wrote about the structure he envisioned for the future Ukrainian state. He wrote that it should be a pluralistic confederation because it was impossible to make Ukraine a unitary state with just one culture, religion and language.

Unfortunately, most Ukrainian nationalists did not understand the value of the approach that Chornovol advocated. They preferred to enforce a unitary cultural and linguistic policy on the very diverse regions of Ukraine. As a consequence, маемо шо маемо.

Ukraine should have been a bridge between EU and RF it should have benefited from its economic links with both sides, it should have used its cultural, linguistic and religious plurality to build an adaptive society. Instead of this, the Ukrainian dimwit politicians opted for an identity mostly based on negating their common past with Russians. Украина – не Россия, кто не скачет то Москаль.

Nothing strong can be built on negations. You need affirmation as well to know what to build. What is the positive goal of Ukrainian statehood? What’s the endpoint, the telos of the Ukrainian nation-building?

Dying under a Russian bombing in Toretsk to take back Crimea and force all Russian-speakers there and elsewhere in Ukrainian territory to finally switch to the мова?

Is it worth the price?

🙂

You are absolutely correct and I just have nothing to add. It is exactly as you described.

I want for humanity to continue evolving and for perfectly avoidable horrors like Sumy or Lugansk to follow the fate of once undisputed norms like slavery or torture.

Pretty sure we still have plenty of torture. Slavery is only frowned upon. We don’t see it reported but your Trumps and your Putins have diplomatic relations with Big Men who have slavers under their org if you dig deep enough.

You should get a dog. The Pyrenean Mastiff looks like a good specimen shepherd dog.

It looks similar to the Caucasian Ovcharka:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_Shepherd_Dog

This one is a star.

Missing toddler who walked 7 miles alone
Through wilderness is led to safety by dog

Yavapai County Sheriff says it received reports of a missing two-year-old boy on Monday night. Despite search efforts including dozens of people to find the youngster, they were unsuccessful until a local farmer reported he had turned up on his property.

 

 

“I look up and the little kid is standing there with my dog.”

Mr Dunton said Buford, an Anatolian Pyrenees, normally patrols his land and wards off coyotes.

“He just loves kids, so I can’t imagine he would’ve left him alone,” he added.

After calming the young boy down, who police said was wearing a vest and pyjama bottoms, Mr Dunton said the youngster told him how he had “laid up under a tree” overnight before Buford later found him.

We know God loves us, because he gave us dogs.

PEACE 😇
__________

(1) https://news.sky.com/story/missing-toddler-who-walked-7-miles-alone-through-wilderness-is-led-to-safety-by-dog-13350027

Ukraine was doing quite well back then (without even having half of the weapons they have now – timing is everything in war, the US stalled Ukraine’s advance for “balancing” reasons).

How can you write such a nonsense…without the US help since the 2014 until now (not to mention the EU warmongers help), what the hell could corrupt Ukraine do against Russia? Can you see the Kiev greenman has been daily begging for help allover the places. Ironically, without help the Ukraine would not be in this mess dying for the NATO existence. What was wrong with neutrality and autonomy for Russian speakers?

Russia was stalled by the fake Minsk agreement – NATO slimy morons buying time. Now the problem for the peace agreement is more complicated for Russia. Russia cannot sign agreement with Ukraine alone but there must be an agreement with the sponsors of this bloodbath, namely US (specifically Republican die-hard neocons clan and DNC clan) and the EU political elite (with single digit support).

In general, we as humans all have subjective preferences that are not based on objective reality. Sometimes it leads to conflicts…

We tend to be keenly appreciative of the merits of our own point of view. Our ability to appreciate that of our adversaries varies.

There’s a strange Chinese military axiom that one should always leave one’s opponent a route of escape. Strictly from a military point of view, that’s nonsensical; but taken more widely, there is much to be said for the idea that one should leave one’s foe a place he can retreat to while keeping whatever he truly has to have — be it land, resources, security, or even just self-respect.

Much of the reason the Ukraine War is dragging on ultimately comes down to a willful failure to realize that. Similarly, the Israel-Palestine conflict continues because — all their lies notwithstanding — the Jews will not permit the Palestinians a tolerable national existence.

Conversely, the Mexican-American War ended with little more than lingering national resentment on the part of Mexico because — while we stripped Mexico of a great deal of territory — none of it was essential to Mexico’s continued national existence. Similarly, in the successive victories that established a unified Germany, Bismarck strove to limit his demands to those that his opponents could accept without fatal internal consequences. He wasn’t completely successful in the case of France, but that’s because he was overruled by his generals.

Hitler might well have done much better if he had been prepared to accept that there would necessarily have to continue to be national Slavic entities of some kind. Instead, he pursued policies that left his adversaries no choice but continued resistance. It was perhaps the most indefensible part of his programme.

Putin, unlike Netanyahu and Poroshenko, attacked first. He initiated the aggression and as a result he (like Hamas in Israel) is ultimately responsible for the carnage that followed.

This is fodder for feeble minded by simpleminded. Russia – as an inheritor of the Soviet Union – enabled Ukraine independence not for aspiring to become a member of Russia’s biggest enemy club NATO.

The circling foreign vultures were allowed by Ukraine corrupt ruling elite to direct the Ukraine hostile foreign policies towards Russia for easy bribes. Without the public input they rejected the geopolitical player Russia red line demands of Ukraine neutrality and autonomy for Russian mistreated minority. Those demands were not only rejected but arrogant engagement in escalation against Russia took place (14000 ethnic Russians killed in Donbas). Listening to Garden of Eden snake advise on the NEUTRALITY and AUTONOMY instead of advise from the big brother, is ultimately responsible for the carnage that followed.

there is much to be said for the idea that one should leave one’s foe a place he can retreat to while keeping whatever he truly has to have — be it land, resources, security, or even just self-respect.

Much of the reason the Ukraine War is dragging on ultimately comes down to a willful failure to realize that. Similarly, the Israel-Palestine conflict continues because — all their lies notwithstanding — the Jews will not permit the Palestinians a tolerable national existence.

The two have a key difference:
___

The situation in Ukraine offers vastly more geographic scope. A new border along current lines would give both sides what they need to survive and prosper. The civilian population fled both west and east depending on their affiliation. As people return home they will naturally flow to the areas where they will fit.

The key issue will be verifiable and enforceable limits on Kiev’s offensive potential. They abrogated Minsk and started Round 1. Russia will wisely refuse to accept terms that lead to Round 2. Ukraine will be able to pursue economic integration within Europe. However, NATO and other foreign forces must be permanently excluded to establish a de facto military neutrality.
____

What breaks Sun Tzu’s axiom is the fact that Islam provides the camp guards forcing their coreligionists to remain captives. Over half would leave at least temporarily. And, given the difficulties of polling in Iranian Hamas controlled territory, this number is surely very low.

The Muslim occupation of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza is based on the promise of genocide “From the River the Sea”. Muslims have had opportunities to live in peace and have jettisoned them all.

The most serious physical problem is that Iranian Hamas destroyed the fresh water aquifer supplying the Muslim colony in Gaza. They did this long before they launched their October 7 genocide attack.

How will Islam deal with the shortage of fresh water created by Muslims?

I have asked this question many times, and no one will tackle it directly. Stealing water from nuclear armed Palestinian Jews is clearly not going to happen. The Muslim Authority in Judea & Samaria has no excess water for Gaza either. Demographers running math on current trends project a population of 4+ Million by 2050.

Any practical & realistic plan to develop Gaza needs to tackle this issue head on. The strip could prosper with a Muslim population of ~500K. Over 8x that number seems unworkable unless vast amounts of fresh water is piped in or desalination is deployed on a mass scale. If supply cannot be increased that means the demand has to go down via emigration to Muslim countries.

Once the fresh water plan is locked in — Other reconstruction will be shaped by that natural resource limitation.

PEACE 😇

I agree with what you wrote. Even a rat when completely cornered becomes way more aggressive and dangerous.

Re. Hitler, the numbers of Hiwi fighters on the Eastern Front is proof enough many fighters that Eastern Slavs were ready to turn against the Communist regime. Hitler with his racial supremacist views and the German recklessness in punishing the local population for the partisan activities, made the Eastern Slavs stick around the CPSU, fighting the Wehrmacht to the bitter end and prevailing against the Reich.

Same about NATO, if NATO agreed to leave some space around RF not joining until RF itself joins, all the current West-RF conflict would have been prevented and China would be in a less favourable position in its current standoff with US. A standoff that China might well prevail in, upending Western global dominance. If it happens, it’ll be a very painful experience for the Western middle class. I certainly hope that it will not come to that.

How can you write such a nonsense…without the US help since the 2014 until now (not to mention the EU warmongers help), what the hell could corrupt Ukraine do against Russia?

First, Ukraine was already fighting the RusFed since 2014, without significant help. Second, I’m not sure you’re catching my drift – we might be talking about two different things here, I didn’t mean the overall assistance, that came not just from the US, but the whole world, because the world was shocked by the invasion.

But what I was referring to was the decisions that were made during the crucial months of 2023 – recently, some details were revealed about this by the New York Times regarding the interactions between the Ukrainian generals and the US counterparts, not saying this is all true – but it sheds some light. Why the long range weapons were not given to Zaluzhny at a crucial moment? The article brings up some reasons – the US were cautious and wanted to be prudent, which is understandable, except you don’t win wars that way – you have to take calculated risk. They did not rely on Zaluzhny who knew the situation on the ground much better than they. Why? Could it be because Ukraine was doing too well? And that if large parts of the Kherson region were taken back, and Crimea exposed again, that could cause major problems for the RusFed? What the American’s motivations were… is all speculative.

A strong theme is currently going through some Ukrainian commentary that the US is salvaging Russia – I’m not sure you would understand, since you seem to have already decided to have a categorical stance here. The situation is not black and white with the US. The US has sided with Russia on many occasions before, against continental Europe. The US needs a bully in Europe to make themselves useful and needed, to have leverage. Just because they are not siding and allying with putinist Russia all the way doesn’t mean they are not assisting her. They are saving her by delaying help.

But they might fail – because they are not as mighty and powerful as they perceive themselves to be. And things are sometimes out of their control.

What was wrong with neutrality and autonomy for Russian speakers?

Will Russia be neutral?

Neutrality only works when one is armed – and Russia really dislikes it when her neighbors are armed. Russia enjoys being full of her own weapons, and very close to the European borders, projecting weapons and power, yet when one of the neighbors has as littles as a couple of thousand troop increase Russia gets uneasy. There is asymmetry here – either we are all armed, or none. This would require that Russia, too, disarm, or move her troops and assets deeper inside, a longer distance from her borders with her Western neighbors. But they have done exactly the opposite in the last 20 or so years (except the part where they had to move troops from the Western districts to go fight in Ukraine).

The Russian speakers should have autonomy when it comes to language, for sure, they are all bilingual anyway, meaning, even if they use Russian mainly, a lot of them know Ukrainian well. They could learn Ukrainian three times a week in school from grade one the way they did with the non-Russian children in the SU. Remember that there are also Ukrainian families who live in those regions. There was also Sloboda Ukraine. It’s a kind of a mixed region, not just “Russian”. In Luhansk region, there were Baltic tribes that lived there in antiquity (but that was probably too long ago to count).

Language is not the issue, but loyalties. When you live inside one country and you root for another country that is hostile, that is a big problem especially when that big country meddles. The Donbas population was used and manipulated.

And autonomy is a very broad concept, it’s the details that matter. And that’s not what Russia with Dugin, Putin, Patrushev and Surkov wanted. Are you aware that Zhirinovsky was agitating for carving out large regions of Ukraine and giving them to Russia already in the early 1990s? The problem is that there were Ukrainians living there who did not want to be part of Russia. And also talking openly about changing another country’s borders by force, from a state official, is really aggressive. There is so much that came from the Russian side that people such as yourself and all these American russophile posters here simply ignore (or are not even aware of). But if you are from the East, you should know about these dynamics.

but taken more widely, there is much to be said for the idea that one should leave one’s foe a place he can retreat to while keeping whatever he truly has to have — be it land, resources, security, or even just self-respect.

The problem here is that, in the case with the RusFed, it is not America’s land to dispose of. America does not own the land on Russia’s borders so it is not for America to trade with this land. The reason America was even involved in this, is the unfortunate post 1945 arrangement which now seems to have run its course.

Hitler might well have done much better if he had been prepared to accept that there would necessarily have to continue to be national Slavic entities of some kind. Instead, he pursued policies that left his adversaries no choice but continued resistance. It was perhaps the most indefensible part of his programme.

Or alternately, Hitler could’ve incorporated only some “national Slavic entities”, as you call them. It seems like in the original Greater German Reich ideas, only small parts of what is currently the Russian Federation would be included, it seems like up to areas near Moscow but not Moscow itself (so the charges on to Moscow in November 1941 were in fact futile, if they wanted to have the result shown in the maps below, they could’ve stopped in Belarus and built defensive lines there). Would need a closer map to see which Russian cities and regions they wanted to conquer (seems like Ingria and a few others but not even most of Western Russia). They could’ve avoided battles for Moscow and Stalingrad and still had a lot.

There is a fortification line drawn there where they probably had intended to stop and build a strong defensive line. This is all of course theoretical, but since you brought this up…

https://strategic-culture.su/news/2019/12/14/czech-russian-relations-and-the-roa-conflicting-historical-narratives/

It wasn’t just ethnic Russian Communists who were heavy handed in the former Habsburg ruled part of Ukraine.

The collective guilt advocacy on the part of the svidomites is justly opposed. Note how they support a blanket ban on all Russian athletes or only want them to compete as neutrals with a strict oversight of what they’ve done and said.

Meantime, it’s quite okay to support the NATO proxy war and/or glorify Bandera.

https://www.eurasiareview.com/20082024-orwellian-reality-2024-dei-paris-summer-olympics-oped/

Forget about putting a police detail on it – they ought to electrify the statue of Molly Malone.

Perhaps this will help your understanding.

PEACE 😇

‘…Re. Hitler, the numbers of Hiwi fighters on the Eastern Front is proof enough many fighters that Eastern Slavs were ready to turn against the Communist regime…’

Yeah. That’s something that could do with more research…the more so because Hitler strictly forbade the use of Hiwis…which led to their employment being somewhat surreptitious. ‘Why can’t three-quarters of the men in this unit even speak German? Oh, they must be very shy. Good workers, though…’

I know every German infantry division that took part in Case Blue seems to have had a ‘tenth battalion’ of some kind of non-German. I’ve also wondered about the almost bizarre fighting power of German divisions in late 1943 that were often only carrying a few thousand soldiers ‘on the books,’ so to speak. Just what proportion of those units consisted of Soviets of one flavor or another?

After all, consider the various possible conditions to choose if you’re in the Ukraine in say, November, 1943. Peasant, liable to be swept up for slave labor in Germany? Partisan? Conscripted into advancing Red Army? Up for the next human wave attack?

A German infantry division would have been one of the safer places to be. Fed, competently led, carefully spent…

Considering camp followers, some of those units must have looked like circuses.

The maps imply a decidedly unhappy fate for Poland.

The maps imply a decidedly unhappy fate for Poland.

That’s beside the point. The point was that some Slavic national entities would still be left alone, namely, the land that constitutes the most of today’s Russian Federation. Of course, it was all Soviet Union back then (an artificial entity anyway), but the point is that Hitler didn’t have to over reach – he could’ve taken only most of Eastern Europe and only a little bit of today’s Russia. The large cities behind the new wall, including Moscow, would be isolated and start languishing (they always relied on trade and money from Europe) or turn to Asia.

In that case, of course, there would be no Soviet Union and the United States as superpowers, and there would also be no liberalism (race mixing, Marxism, etc) in Europe.

Outback Boys react to Outdoor Boys.

Considering camp followers, some of those units must have looked like circuses.

One of the most bizarre stories I have read, was the story of a young woman, Antonina Makarova, who managed to escape a cauldron where her Red Army unit got wiped out in 1941. Later, she joined the Kaminski brigade (also known as the Russian People’s Liberation Army or the 29. Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS „RONA” ) in the Lokot Autonomous Zone and was tasked with machine-gunning the people sentenced to death.

She murdered around 1500 people; mostly partisans and their family members oftentimes gunning up to 30 people at a time and up to 90 people a day. When the Red Army made its comeback, she was in a hospital , being cured of siphilis (she was also into prostitution). She got evacuated to Köningsberg by her German soldier lover, where she ended up in a concentration camp in 1945. When the Red Army took the town she managed to somehow steal ID papers, she then married a Jew taking the name of her husband and becoming Antonina Ginsburg. She had kids (two daughters) with the man, then became a respected worker in her own profession, and paraded as a decorated war veteran (military nurse) only to be arrested decades later (in 1979) and executed.

She was one of the only three women executed in USSR in the post-Stalin period. What is crazy is that she wasn’t anti-Soviet at all and actually went to war as a Communist Youth volunteer. It seems that her early war experience and trauma had completely altered her personality and made her a complete sociopath. Her daughters and her husband didn’t suspect at all that she collaborated with the Wehrmacht. When her husband, who truly loved her, learned the truth about her, he became completely devastated. He died in 1993.

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0,_%D0%90%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B0

Another interesting story:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hryhoriy_Vasiura

A Jewish-Belarusian woman I know, told me that her grandmother – who survived the war – once said that during the occupation they were afraid of Germans, but were even more terrified of the Ukrainian collaborators.

Courtney Love had a similar career.

Did any of the Outback fellows mention that it must be hard to find good bugs to eat with the ground covered in snow?

A good test to see if someone is an idiot.

According to the UN, there were about 13,300 people killed in the 2014-2022 war in Donbas.

~10,000 were military, ~ 3,000 were civilian, ~300 were on that plane.

An idiot would just see 13,300 and claim Ukraine killed 13,000 people. Some Russians do write that number. Bonus idiot points for rounding up to 14,000.

Derer wrote:

Those demands were not only rejected but arrogant engagement in escalation against Russia took place (14000 ethnic Russians killed in Donbas)

Greeks were polytheists though, with afaik indeterminate views on whether the gods/Gods of barbarians existed,

Greeks and Romans used the same name too refer to Devas.

Babylon even used to translate different dieties.

As far as Mr Hack

You’ll say churka but not nigger.
This is because you’re an 🇺🇸 sex slave

A123 is not irrational, simply duplicitous.

Nascar lovers can’t forget or forgive.

Peace.

A standoff that China might well prevail in, upending Western global dominance. If it happens, it’ll be a very painful experience for the Western middle class.

Can China prevail against the West, without becoming like the West, with the openness and permeability to the rest of the world that is involved in that?

One of the consequences of this is that the Western middle class is changing to become less ethnically or racially Western in the historic sense, and more like something else already.

All hope lies in adopting British Institutions, only then will progress be made, the Pearl of the Orient.

Monkey see, Monkey do!

Buryat gopnik?

Yeah, it’s been difficult for me. I know that it may sound strange, but my roommate was like a child for me. Although quite intelligent (he spoke five languages quite fluently and had an encyclopedic knowledge of world geography) he often appeared to be quite naive and childlike. He loved others and was the most altruistic person that I ever knew, always ready to help others with his time and finances. He loved Ukraine and our holy Church with all of his heart. I’m up early today, and am getting ready to go to church to have my Easter basket blessed. I wish you, your family and all people of good will a blessed holy Easter Sunday today. Христос Воскрес!

What IELTS score for each test component Listening and Speaking do you think the Buryat gopnik received?

Am not sure they understand snow enough to understand that. Maybe, but maybe not.

It was interesting how they were talking about cold. I thought Abos were good at cold, but maybe not that part of Australia.

Aboriginal Australians possess inherited abilities to adapt to a wide range of environmental temperatures in various ways. A study in 1958 comparing cold adaptation in the desert-dwelling Pitjantjatjara people compared with a group of European people showed that the cooling adaptation of the Aboriginal group differed from that of the white people, and that they were able to sleep more soundly through a cold desert night.[52] A 2014 Cambridge University study found that a beneficial mutation in two genes which regulate thyroxine, a hormone involved in regulating body metabolism, helps to regulate body temperature in response to fever. The effect of this is that the desert people are able to have a higher body temperature without accelerating the activity of the whole of the body, which can be especially detrimental in childhood diseases. This helps protect people to survive the side-effects of infection.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Australians

Then again it is true that there are different degrees of cold.

Воістину Воскрес!

Wish you and the others a blessed Easter.

There’s a recent fad for young Chinese nationalists to go to the British Museum in traditional hanfu, as a form of silent protest

https://twitter.com/wake_neko/status/1913902042218926301

…for the items there that were looted by Britain and France during the Second Opium War

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Summer_Palace#Destruction

It’s not a good look on both sides– one can argue that those cultural artifacts, had they been not looted, would have been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution.

But those Chinese artifacts, as are many other artifacts from the world, arrived at the British Museum, afterall, by means of stealing and plundering.

That was the preface to your “openness and permeability”. Britain and London still profits from this in terms of tourist revenue and cultural cachet.

Agree, and I hope Mr. Hack had a safe journey to the Navajo mission he was undoubtedly driving to so early in the morning.

It’s not a good look on both sides

profits from this in terms of tourist revenue and cultural cachet.

Louis Collin, 25, and Joe Burdon, 24, were wearing only their underwear, but carrying a digital camera in a bucket, when they were caught by the Imperial Guard on Sunday morning.

According to media reports in Tokyo, they told police that they wanted to photograph the palace itself, the home of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko.

Happy sunny Easter for all the celebrating;)

Trapped in energy poverty for generations due to the cost of imported fossil fuels, you may have a chance to avoid recession thanks to affordable renewables.

This plundering would be an example of establishing hegemony by force of arms, like right of conquest.

But, in a democratising, industrialising age a minority maintaining its hegemony by force looks difficult. For it to be feasible, the ruled have to be promised a share in the hegemony. One day there will be an Indian prime minister in London, or a man of African descent as US president, etc.

In the specific case of artefacts from the British Museum, this would be something like that they will be sent back, and/or the curators will end up being of Chinese/Indian/African etc. descent. (Iirc the British Museum is one of the leading British institutions in attempting to decolonise the collections and its staff).

I think in theory any power or possession of an asset deriving from historical right of conquest or use force could be seen as illegitimate, like the production of any asset that occurred when those involved were not equal in power, and giving free, informed consent to participation in the process.

In March 1988, a Filipino treasure hunter named Rogelio Roxas filed a lawsuit in the state of Hawaii against the former president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, and his wife Imelda for theft and human rights abuses. Roxas claimed that in 1961 he met the son of a former member of the Japanese army who mapped for him the location of the legendary Yamashita Treasure.

It was named after the Japanese general Tomoyuki Yamashita, dubbed as “The Tiger of Malaya”, who conquered Malaya from the British.

The stolen property reportedly included many different kinds of valuables looted from banks, depositories, other commercial premises, museums, private homes, and religious buildings.

The loot was initially concentrated in Singapore, and later transported to the Philippines. The Japanese hoped to ship the treasure from the Philippines to the Japanese Home Islands after the war ended.

The loot, including more than 6000 tonnes of gold, was organized on a massive scale, by both yakuza gangsters and the highest levels of Japanese society, including Emperor Hirohito. The Japanese government intended that loot from Southeast Asia would finance Japan’s war effort. Hirohito appointed his brother, Prince Yasuhito Chichibu, to head a secret organization named Kin no yuri (金の百合, “Golden Lily”), after a poem that the Emperor Hirohito had written.

Fortunately many of those who knew the locations of the loot were killed during the war, or later tried by the Allies for war crimes and executed or incarcerated.

I finished reading the Dwarkesh Gwern transcript. Informative! Also I read most of the r/slatestarcodex comments on same.

1. My insinuation that Gwern is uglier than Scott Alexander and Eric Weinstein put together was erroneous. The broader point that the avatar and actor’s voice are used because he has no confidence to present his person is accurate. He is deaf and feels he is at a severe disadvantage in the forum of talking.

2. If you thought he was a programmer worker bee and spun off these brilliant blog posts in his free time (I presumed this) you were incorrect. His biography is far more fascinating. He writes full time and the sparkle in his presentations is due to research, draft, re-write, re-write again over and over. If you know anything about the modern business of professional writing, the way to describe this is that it is kind of crazy. His income is like a thousand dollars a month off patreon.

3. Dwarkesh thinks Evolution as Backstop for Reinforcement Learningis peak Gwern. It isn’t bad.

https://gwern.net/backstop

4. If you missed the post where Gwern wrote we have not heard the last of Elizabeth Holmes–she is a six-sigma talent and we can expect to see her doing start-ups again and maybe soon–you might want to check it out. This interview was in 2024 so too early to ask about Ziz but Dwarkesh did not ask about Sam Bankman Fried. This is the biggest stupid gap in the interview.

5. In the r/slatestarcodex comment thread they have Claude clocking Gwern, Zvi, and Robin Hanson from small writing samples. I wonder if the LLM’s have access to our ISP addresses and our corporate trade secreted e-mails? The NSA and CIA and Palantir all know our identities but I wonder how much of our purported private communications are in the training sets and authorship-tagged. Presumably all of it and screw the fragrant illegality.

6. Dwarkesh places much weight on the Gwern (his original as far as I know) proposal that we all should by default want our work being used for LLM training. It is a personal contribution to which
collective future will actualize. It’s almost a duty like voting.

I don’t vote so I consider this pointless and stupid. Then again the bulk of the Dwarkesh project is pointless and stupid so I maybe shouldn’t even mention it. This interview most definitely is not although that one point is.

Trump plans to effectively abandon Africa.

“A draft of a Trump administration executive order proposes a drastic restructuring of the State Department, including eliminating almost all of its Africa operations and shutting down embassies and consulates across the continent.”

– NYTimes

Is the Nilotic Bantu dichotomy wrong.

Horror as spring break mob desecrates gorgeous beach with drugs, brawls and empty bottles

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14629083/orror-spring-break-mob-desecrates-beach-tybee-island-georgia.html

Negroes makin’ gypsies look good.

This is worth watching for two minutes. Not one second longer. Best time stamp if you know this guest might be 24:26, LLM’s for building Magic the Gathering playing decks.

AP = Asinine Person…in his pea sized brain stipulates the real number of Donbas Russians killed by the UkieNazi regime is 13300. This bandera disciple got furious at my higher number of 14000 killed.

To reduce the UkieNazi crimes against the ethnic Russians in Ukraine, this AP imbecile, suggests that 10000 were military. I guess he means UkieNazi military because Russians military liberation started in 2022.

The only excuse for his stupidity must be his alcoholic upbringing.

This piece by Arvo Pärt, Dopo la vittoria (After the victory (over death)) was taken from an Old Church Slavonic text and translated into Italian:

Who give a fk about your faggy solar panels? This Chinese youtuber says:

種族與格鬥：白人黑人碾壓黃種人！黃種人無法面對的殘酷現實

Race and combat sports: whites and blacks crush the yellow race! The cruel reality that yellow men cannot face

What are your thoughts?

He also says blacks are generally stronger than whites, even pure strength competitions like bench and squat. And Slavs generally beat up Anglos in combat sports.

Not so fast, the USA may need a few embassies to facilitate return of the African illegal immigrants back to their native lands.

Other than that, this sounds like a great idea. There is probably nothing in Africa which cannot be acquired with much less hassle in Greenland.

There is probably nothing in Africa which cannot be acquired with much less hassle in Greenland.

Look at a globe. Africa is freakin’ huge. The unknown earth crust volume in Africa is many Greenlands. What is the hassle in letting the chinks mine it and we buy what we need?

OK I read the purported Gwern’s greatest ever post again and I had forgotten he referenced Cosma Shazili In Soviet Union, Optimization Problem Solves You.

https://crookedtimber.org/2012/05/30/in-soviet-union-optimization-problem-solves-you/

Shouldn’t that be In Soviet Russia Optimization Problem Solves You?

Is the Nilotic Bantu dichotomy wrong.

A lot of the distance runners are Kalenjin specifically. South Sudan doesn’t have as high an altitude as Kenya. Wouldn’t be surprised if a few of them had fast twitch variants. Probably helps to dodge spears.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manny_Pacquiao

😉

If he does it, I’ll applaud.

African news seems to mainly be concerned about visas.

Santa semana in Spain.

Answering Zelensky

Re: https://www.rt.com/russia/615542-zelensky-dmitriev-ukrainian-separatist/

Excerpt –

Commenting on Dmitriev’s role as a negotiator on Wednesday, Zelensky referred to him as “a separ who was born in Ukraine.” The shorthand for “separatist” has been prevalent in Ukraine since the 2014 coup in Kiev, and is used to denounce those seen as disloyal to the Ukrainian government.

On par with calling Zelensky a separ for going against the land of his birth that was affiliated with Russia for a lengthy period, including the Soviet and pre-Soviet eras.

Like Kirill Dmitriev, the aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky, was born in Kiev when that city was affiliated with Russia. Shame on Dmitriev and Sikorsky for seeing themselves as Russian. Another sinner is Zaporozhye born Russian cosmonaut Alexey Zubritsky.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Zubritsky

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=53edcb558038ad52&q=Alexey+Zubritsky&tbm=nws&source=lnms&fbs=ABzOT_CWdhQLP1FcmU5B0fn3xuWpmDtIGL1r84kuKz6yAcD_igefx-eKq1gCPHF3zhthFoneNn6lL83lY3KLybUMxCNDHQus4VIx3LaatjzUq_py4-z0NEea5j6m-ShGqcvkgwY6X8X01GJE9N5yRzmv-xanm5RCM1t-GPR3AHH1wy1ZGzfHblHc2o-lkQ70mavZDv9be7sRk0DNYbCAyIQZhG0VmcEH6g&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJ94O7-ueMAxXoElkFHefFBRQQ0pQJegQIIRAB&biw=1024&bih=615&dpr=1

After becoming Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelensky went against his prior position when he said that people who like Russia and want to speak Russian should go to Russia.

Therein lies the essence of the NATO proxy war against Russia with the Kiev regime as a pawn. Post-Soviet Russia accepted an independent Ukrainian state within a dubiously drawn Communist boundary, as long as it remained neutral and respected the pro-Russian community on that land.

Cancel culturing Catherine the Great, the founder of Odessa, while treating Stepan Bandera as a hero is one of numerous tell all examples of going against prudently ethical manner.

A more important factor is that Dmitriev’s wife is a friend and colleague of Katerina Tikhonova, one of Putin’s daughters. He probably talks to the Americans more about the Russian assets and Gazprom ownership than Ukraine.

Brown and black bears can interbreed.

At least sort of. There’s been theoretical introgression and they have bred in captivity, though the offspring didn’t reach adulthood.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ursid_hybrid

Pretty wild. That is like chimp distance to humans, except the chromosomes are the same number.

Brown and black bears can interbreed.

Aren’t the black bears much smaller than brown bears? Although I’ve seen scratch marks from black bear nails on a tree bark (from climbing up) and they were quite impressive. But could be kind of an ordeal for a black bear female if she had been courted by a brown bear male, not sure she could support a larger than normal fetus through gestation and could be difficult to give birth. Or maybe the cub would have hybrid vigor. Where did this happen, in California?

There’s the the grizzly-polar bear mix, a byproduct of climate change.

Might be disinfo – a Ukrainian source reported that Lavrov and Dmitriev had a sharp exchange before the meeting with the US contingent in SA. According to this claim, Lavrov insisted that Dmitriev sit out of the meeting with the latter refusing.

Could be a parallel Witkoff-Rubio situation at play. Rubio and Lavrov are supposed to be the main point person. Witkoff and Dmitriev might be seen as outsiders with a different agenda.

The Russian Foreign Ministry and Putin might not always be so agreeable with each other. I’ve heard it said that the Russian Foreign Ministry and for that matter the Russian Defense Ministry thinks that Putin is too soft on Israel.

In turn, Witkoff and Trump aren’t beholden to neocon/neolib slants on Russia, which wasn’t and still might very well not be the case with Rubio and Waltz.

A grizzly and a polar bear might be closer in size – those are both huge. Black bears are much smaller. Btw, I saw a real grizzly bear skull recently. It’s large and kind of stretched out, and there is a sagital crest – it helps those big jaws work better when they’re chewing. It means they’re an omnivore and can take a powerful bite.

Ron Unz has undergone a religious epiphany and has recognized political k-fabe.

https://www.unz.com/runz/trump-vs-harvard-in-a-political-wrestling-match/

He doesn’t recognize the genius of the Trump brand Janus presentation as both face and heel but this is his first match so we maybe should cut him slack.

Who give a fk about your faggy solar panels?

Japan is making a desperate move in the global renewable energy race, investing $5 billion to commercialize next-generation perovskite solar technology. This initiative is a strategic effort to challenge China’s dominance in solar energy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

“we cannot continue in terms of energy security to buy from China,” said Yana Hryshko, head of solar supply chain research at Wood Mackenzie. However, she noted that China remains the only country capable of scaling up solar production at the speed and cost necessary to drive global adoption.

“If we can clear these challenges, we will firmly enter mass production,” said Futoshi Kamiwaki, President of Sekisui Solar Film.

Looking beyond Japan, Sekisui is eyeing export markets in the U.S. and Europe, where demand for decentralized renewable energy solutions is growing. “In the domain of solar energy, this is our last chance to tackle China’s market dominance”.

Mönkhbatyn Davaajargal (Мөнхбатын Даваажаргал)

Greatest sumo wrestler of all time.

He was given the ring name (shikona) Hakuhō, with haku meaning “white” and hō, meaning the Chinese mythological bird Peng.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakuh%C5%8D_Sh%C5%8D

🤔

I know you’re interested in this sector, are you familiar with her work?

Yana Hryshko
Managing Consultant and Head of Global Solar Supply Chain Research

https://www.woodmac.com/profiles/people-profiles/yana-hryshko/

ML, Chinese Politics and Diplomacy, Fudan University ​

MS, Foreign politics, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv​

BA, Chinese Language, Literature and Translation, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv

Well I would hope MAGA stays in power after Trump, it makes more sense than whatever was being done before. I like old Trump, and power is a fascinating thing.

I deal with it by speculating, and currently I would consider many possibilities before making up my mind since it’s not yet clear to me what is happening or what the plan is.

Kinetic energy is influenced by both speed and mass, but speed has a more pronounced effect because it’s squared.

(Bonus points for the keffyeh)

The plan is a western perestroika. Call it westerstroika and hope it wouldn’t end in a catastrophic katastroika as the late and regretted Alexander Zinoviev (of Homo sovieticus fame) warned the Soviet people back then. Problem was, nobody listened to him, as usually the masses never listen to or follow high IQ individuals. That’s why Trump needs to act dumb, so people can relate. I’m not saying Trump is as smart as Zinoviev was, far from it. But Zinoviev had near zero influence while thinking and acting smart, while Trump has an outstanding influence while seemingly acting dumb. Trump isn’t dumb, he’s just seemingly acting dumb because it’s always useful when your opponents think you’re stupid. And Trump is facing a lot of opposition both at home and abroad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Zinoviev

Sic transit gloria mundi.

They truly believed that as soon as they would become independent, they would have a much better standard of living. Будем как Франция…

Nothing wrong with aspiring to something better. Even you, at some point, decided to leave Russia for greener pastures in France, or was it Montreal in Canada? Nothing worse than a hypocrite. 🙁

They thought that economically and socially Ukraine would be better off without the Union. Ukraine was supposedly « feeding the lazy drunk Russian muzhiks » (that were the exact words of a Russian speaking Ukrainian that I knew well).

Once again, having been duped and disillusioned with life within the SU, why not want to separate from it all and try something new, something possibly better? Remember, it was Russia itself that first decided to cut the umbilical and leave the SU behind, and it was Ukraine that followed suit.

That was the Масло зъили москали, сало зъили москали attitude that many shared at the time. That’s why they voted for the independence and betrayed their brothers and their family links.

The foundation and trappings of Ukrainian statehood had already been laid some 70 years earlier, why not put it to use? Other countries like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia had already separated and disentangled themselves from the communist mess and had gone on to prosper?….

Besides, you had also already “betrayed your brothers and family links” and don’t seem to be any worse for the experience, as you dream of purchasing a brand new karman ghia with a case of some great french wine in the trunk. Are you really shedding many tears as you watch your own kids grow up eating french baguettes instead of dark russian rye?

I don’t think the location of the archeo stuff can be worked out too firmly.

The one firmly established cross was at the London zoo in the 1800s, a male black bear x female brown.

Some believe there was a wild cross in Alaska that back bred with brown bears, but it is uncertain.

http://messybeast.com/genetics/hybrid-bears.htm

Thanks, I’ll check it out.

I do think that there is method in the madness of Team Trump, but that he does face dissent amongst some of the people he has to rely on, and manipulation of the information that he has access to.

He seems to be more of a team player than he gets credit for, there was a now removed YT video of his election team interacting during the elections, it was quite informative about their process. Things like media communications seemed to be the result of brainstorming by several team members, and they seemed to have been working as a team quite smoothly for some time. Of course the tweets and statements get released as Trump’s voice.

I think that part of Trump’s popularity lies in the fact that he is a brand rather than just a politician. That personification of policy seems like a kind of marketing strategy, government is speaking directly to the people through Trump. I would agree that it can useful for Trump to be underestimated, he turned the tables on plenty of opponents so far.

Daniel Davis and Douglass McGregor offer some useful speculation on the subject of Trump’s advisors I believe:

Would be funny if they widely adopted this system but also put the race/ethnic group of the perp.

Cancel culturing Catherine the Great, the founder of Odessa, while treating Stepan Bandera as a hero

Neither should be celebrated but Catherine the Great was a German lady who killed her more-Russian husband, expanded and dramatically worsened serfdom among Slavs (both Russians and Ukrainians), invited in large numbers of German settlers into Slavic lands, and killed native Slavs who dared resist her. It’s telling that servile Russians adore this foreign overlord. Thanks for demonstrating that, even though you are generations removed from Russia and don’t even speak your ancestral language you still have that Muscovite instinct to venerate your brutal foreign master. As long as she extended the power and size of the “Russian” (foreigner-owned) German state.

In contrast to Catherine the Great, Bandera was a monstrous nationalist whose forces murdered up to 100,000 of our Polish brothers and low 10,000s Jews. He was a bad man but at least was not some sort of foreign overlord of his people but on the contrary did terrible things in support of their liberation from outsider nationalists (Poles) and Bolsheviks.

It is certainly less strange for Ukrainians to make a statue to Bandera than for Russians to put up statues to Catherine or her 20th century counterpart Stalin who like her also extended the power of a state controlled by non-Russians but based in Russia.

There are fundamental errors in the first 40 seconds of the video. I know that punchy openings help retain viewers, but this is absurd.

-1- The title of the video, chosen by Davis, is obviously wrong. This is Europe’s War, not Trump’s.

-2- Macgregor claims Trump has done nothing, which is incorrect. Trump recently signed a Continuing Resolution contains $0.00 direct assistance for Kiev aggression. That is a huge reduction from Team Biden’s number.

-3- Macgregor is correct that Zelensky is an obstacle, but he does not provide an actual mechanism for removing him. What he proposes is:

• Immediately cut off support to Ukraine
• Subsequently pulling out all Americans

Would this cause Zelensky to step down or be removed? I see no reason to believe this is the case. The more likely scenario is that Zelensky would remain in charge and be angry with the decisions.

Macgregor is willing to unnecessarily put American lives at risk. Pulling our people out of a nation that is very upset with the U.S. is fraught with peril.

A much better plan is quietly & gradually withdrawing staff and their equipment in small groups that can be protected. It may be worth leaving in place defensive systems such as Patriot with their associated support teams to facilitate the draw down of offense related capabilities.

Daniel Davis and Douglass McGregor offer some useful speculation on the subject of Trump’s advisors I believe:

Would you please provide a time stamp for this part of the discussion?

PEACE 😇

Also, Matthew 4:4.

🙂

Mr. Hack’s response was more than adequate but this comment reminds me of an anecdote. It’s almost certainly a joke, I think, but given Russian obedience it might not be. With regards to “betrayal”, the Ukrainian people did indeed want to grey the hell away from Russians but the Russians were the ones who started the killing, in 2014 and escalating exponentially in 2022 and it was the Russians under their Georgian, Jewish etc. masters who murdered millions of Ukrainians in the last century, not vice versa. So please, it’s not a “two peoples equally betrayed their common legacy”.

Anyways, the anecdote:

The WWII story of a Ukrainian who was in German captivity:

“The Germans forced us to dig a hole. When the hole was ready, they lined us up. The German officer said:

-P – Rus, get out of line!

The Russians came out.

– Rus, jump into the hole!

The Russians jumped.

– Ukrainian, take the shovels and bury the Russian! We looked at each other and none of us took up the shovels. Then the German said:

– Rus, get out! Ukrainian, jump into the hole! Rus, bury Ukrainian!

Here the Russians grabbed their shovels and quickly began to bury us. When the earth reached our waist, the German stopped the Russians and asked us:

– Well, what about you, Ukrainian? Do you understand who a Russian is?

This is an excellent article, if you haven’t read it already.

https://johnhawks.net/weblog/lactase-and-the-neandertals/

New research shows that a common gene variant that may explain some lactase persistence in East Asia is introgressed from Neandertals.

Occasionally a new study finds something very counterintuitive. Those make for the most interesting results, the ones that make you think. Last week one came across my desk: Around 25% of people in China inherited a haplotype from Neandertals that may help them to digest milk when they are adults.

Also Matthew 7:6.

🙂

RF invaded in 2022, the conflict started in 2013. That’s a 9 years period during which the solution should have been found. That is why I say that both sides are wrong, not because I somehow try to justify the invasion, but because I firmly believe that the conflict itself should have been avoided or at least solved before the invasion

I agree with this paragraph almost completely.

Where we disagree is on the fact the one side started the killing and one side has killed more. So while both sides bear responsibility for not managing the conflict, only one side turned it into a deadly one and a war. First limited a civil war with about 13,000-14,000 deaths, then a full war with 100,000s killed.

I agree that you do not justify the invasion, you wish it never happened, but you spread the blame for this unwanted by you invasion in a way that unrealistically lessens Russian guilt for it.

most Ukrainian nationalists did not understand the value of the approach that Chornovol advocated. They preferred to enforce a unitary cultural and linguistic policy on the very diverse regions of Ukraine. As a consequence, маемо шо маемо

Prior to 2014, Crimea was given autonomous status with Russian as an official language de jure. Russian was de facto the official language in Donbas. Kiev was mostly Russian speaking, though Ukrainian by loyalty. Those Russian-speaking ethnic Ukrainians were patriots of their county and wanted their kids to learn in and speak the Ukrainian language of their rural cousins and great-grandparents. And they wanted Ukraine to leave Russia and its political culture behind and join their Polish and Baltic brothers in the EU.

Yanukovich was pushing to solidify the status of Russian, and (in late 2013, triggering Maidan) to bind Ukraine with Russia, separating it from Europe. A minority of his electorate wanted full union with Russia, the majority preferred an independent Ukraine that was politically and economically linked to Russia and that was mostly Russian-speaking, like Canada to the USA before Trump’s idiocy.

So there were two mutually exclusive visions for Ukraine and its place, each with about half support. For demographic reasons, by 2013 the pro-Western side had a slight advantage (52%-48%), western Ukrainians had been having more kids and had a longer life expectancy since 1990.

The pro-Russians responded by changing the political rules so that the slight Ukrainian majority was prevented from taking power. This is what prompted the Maidan uprising, by the Ukrainian majority. Why does the pro-Russian side conveniently forget this?

So there was mutual pushing by pro-Russians and ethnic Russians in the East and South, and the people of the ethnic Ukrainian heartland in the West, Center, and North. It wasn’t just aggressive westerners.

Putin removed the most pro-Russian parts in 2014, and by slaughtering easterners and southerners in Odesa, Kharkiv etc. he has ended the pro-Russian political orientation in those parts. Those people no longer want their country to be Russia’s Canada. They are done with Russia.

Ukraine should have been a bridge between EU and RF it should have benefited from its economic links with both sides, it should have used its cultural, linguistic and religious plurality to build an adaptive society

Russians already sort of have their own country. Why should Ukrainians not have their own county too, but should have a hybrid half-Russian country simply because 20% other population was ethnic Russian?

Are you a Slavic Patriot, an all-Rus Patriot, or a Russian one only?

Because from an all-Rus perspective it shouldn’t matter if Russians are assimilated into the Ukrainian language because the Ukrainian language is also a Rus language – it was once called Little Russian. In fact, an all Rus patriot should encourage the flowering and strengthening of all the Rus cultures.

mostly based on negating their common past with Russians

One can just as easily say that Russian nationalists who claim Ukrainian union with Russia are negating Ukrainians’ common past with Poles, which has been more extensive than the common past with Russians. Rus split up into separate warring principalities around 1150, western Rus joined Poland and Lithuania around 1350, union with Russia really only happened in 1709 for eastern Ukraine*, 1770s for the Right Bank. Galicia never was fully a part of Russia other than for a few months in 1915 – in 1939 it joined the Ukrainian SSR.

What is the positive goal of Ukrainian statehood? What’s the endpoint, the telos of the Ukrainian nation-building?

A democratic state rather than autocratic state with the Ukrainian language, Ukrainian churches, linked to western brother-nations in the EU and developing similarly to them. Not decentralized, but democratic from the level of village councils to the national level.

* Although eastern Ukraine recognized the tsar since the 1650’s, until the Battle of Poltava in 1709 it had its own government, army, courts, and used Polish currency. Polish was used in higher education in Eastern Ukraine until the 1800s.

Yana is very articulate and I was not familiar with her. Solar modules at 8 cents per watt is nice. The Chinese solar cell production overcapacity is a familiar scenario that happened in many other manufacturing industries. Eventually they will weed out all the little guys making lower quality, higher cost product and they are left with a gigantic, possibly unsubsidized industry which is difficult for anyone to compete against on cost.

It sounds like there are a lot of US solar cell manufacturing ventures which are probably energized by Trump tariffs. I wonder if the crucial polysilicon raw material still has to come from China?

nations in the EU and developing similarly to them

Careful what you wish for…

🙂

Your accusations are your confessions, as usual. Sorry to hear about your alcoholic upbringing.

The 14,000 number for deaths in the Donbas war comes from the UN. I was wrong when saying it was 13,300 from memory – it was 14,000 or so. But I was correct that the total number of civilians casualties was around 3,300.

Here is the actual UN report:

https://ukraine.un.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/Conflict-related%20civilian%20casualties%20as%20of%2031%20December%202021%20%28rev%2027%20January%202022%29%20corr%20EN_0.pdf

Page 3 (I can’t cut and paste from my phone for some reason).

14,400 total killed from 2014-2021 (mostly from 2014-2015). At least 3,404 civilians killed including the 298 people on the Malaysian airplane, 4,400 Ukrainian forces killed and 6,500 rebel forces killed.

Those killed include people killed by land mines and in the case of soldiers road accidents and improper handling of equipment. Not all of the killed were hit by bullets, bombs or missiles.

Russian propagandists and the idiots who believe them, such as Derer, just use that 14,000 number as the number of “Russian” civilians killed by Ukrainian forces.

::::::::

So whenever someone claims that 14,000 Russian civilians were killed by Ukraine’s forces, understand that the person making that claim is either a liar or an idiot.

I would say it’s indeed Trump’s war as long as the US continues to give support to Ukraine. He needs to prove that it’s not his war despite the perils of withdrawal. I would wait for proof. Saying that withdrawal would endanger US personnel sounds very similar to the justifications used to stay involved in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, etc. Suggesting tiptoeing out of Ukraine does not mean that some Ukrainians won’t realize what’s up and attack despite security arrangements.

Keep in mind that I am sceptical about USAID and other cloak and dagger operations simply coming to an end in stead of being reorganized and repurposed. Berletic may be a bit of a doomer these days, but I would not discount his take on what might be happening in the dark. Maybe it’s prudent to first see if there are still new US made weapons coming into Ukrainian hands through NATO.

Zelensky is stumbling block to peace, but that could make him useful to those who wish to continue the war. If I look at it from a perspective sympathetic to Russia, keeping Zelensky in power gives them cause to reject a forced peace plan and continue seeking a military solution.

Trump may want peace but there are those in the US government and deep state who probably would not want peace, again Zelensky is useful. I still think that there is enough reason to see Europe as a US proxy despite their disagreements. US support for Ukraine could conceivably continue indirectly while Trump washes his hands.

In the video Gorkha, Waltz, Hegseth and Rubio are named as bad advisors somewhere in the last few minutes, sounds like reasonable speculation to me, and other sources say the same things. I’m not going to watch it again.

LOL, people and commentators are entitled to their opinions, so it’s kind of bizarre if you and certain others go around calling other people wrong as if you can’t be wrong yourself. Whether McGregor or anyone else I listen to is wrong or right about something is not a big problem for me since I can agree or disagree with aspects of what they say and compare different commentators and sources that I find credible to make up my own opinion. I would share things that I allow to influence my views, but I don’t believe that there are absolute oracles of truth.

It’s very tiring to see you repeating Kremlin narratives

The problem is that you naively take politicians’ words at face value. You think they because politicians all say the same thing (“we are defending ourselves”) their actions are all equivalent. So by your reasoning, Hitler was equivalent to the Poles in 1939, because both sides stated they were defending themselves and someone stating pro-Polish narratives was “repeating Berlin narratives.”

Because that is what you are doing when claiming Poroshenko and Putin are the same regarding the much milder events of 2014..

Yes, an invader can and will use the same words as the invaded. Does that confuse you? Does that mean the invaded’s statements about self-defense are invalid? That because they use the same words they are really the same?

Did Russia send people across the border into Ukraine, who then killed Ukrainians, in 2014? Yes or no? Did Ukrainian shootings and bombing follow this and was therefore a response to it? Yes or no? Did Ukrainians kill more militants and invaders when responding than they did civilians? Yes or no?

Even more so for 2022.

You just want this state of affairs [wars] to continue

Of course I do not want wars and invasions to continue.

Nor do I want victims to be defenseless.

Throwing a small, imprecise bomb and strafing a huge concrete building had a “good chance” of killing someone inside it, even though, as expected, it miserably failed to do so

I guess we’ll agree to disagree about whether bombing and strafing a building with a meeting of military leadership inside it had a good chance of killing those military leaders inside. It’s a rather funny discussion though. Like:

Mikel: When you flip a coin it is almost always heads.

AP: There’s a good chance it will be tails.

[coin is flipped; it is heads]

Mikel: as expected, it miserably failed to do so [be tails]

I have debated the old topic of means versus ends multiple times

It was much simpler than that. Russia invaded Ukraine, killed Ukrainians and was going to continue to do that, Ukrainians fought against the invaders but in the process civilians inevitably were killed also, about 1 for every 3 invaders.

You equate the invader with the invaded because both sides said words about self-defense.

I summarized the differences between the leaders you mentioned, naturally you ignored it but focused on the fact that everyone uses similar words no matter what their actual actions. For someone who thinks intent doesn’t matter, you sure do like to use their words to show that they are all the same.

In a recent video Macgregor related a quote (from someone else) to describe the situation with Trump’s advisors: “If you hire a bunch of clowns you get a circus.” LOL.

I saw that Kellogg apparently changed his tune over the weekend, saying Russia gets Crimea and no Ukraine in NATO as part of the “term sheet”. He loosely implied the idea of no Ukraine in NATO was the policy going back to Burn’s comments in 2008. More LOL. Maybe he is trying to save his job to get a fresh chance to stab Trump in the back.

He implied that if Kiev accepts the “term sheet” they will send something similar to Russia. I wonder if the Kremlin will hold out for “deNazification”?

This is a stupid and cowardly response to my comment. I was starting to expect better from you…..

I am very skeptical of all the public theater related to Zelensky. My first interpretation of Volodymyr’s insult to Dmitriev is it is intended to give Kirill a bit more street cred in Russia. With this he isn’t immediately criticized as a Russian sellout when he maneuvers Russia into a partial capitulation which is against their interest. To defend against criticism that Dmitriev is an Atlanticist sellout, his handlers will say, “Hey, Zelensky hates him, how bad can he be?”

Cancel culturing Catherine the Great, the founder of Odessa, while treating Stepan Bandera as a hero

Neither should be celebrated but Catherine the Great was a German lady who killed her more-Russian husband, expanded and dramatically worsened serfdom among Slavs (both Russians and Ukrainians), invited in large numbers of German settlers into Slavic lands, and killed native Slavs who dared resist her. It’s telling that servile Russians adore this foreign overlord. Thanks for demonstrating that, even though you are generations removed from Russia and don’t even speak your ancestral language you still have that Muscovite instinct to venerate your brutal foreign master. As long as she extended the power and size of the “Russian” (foreigner-owned) German state.

In contrast to Catherine the Great, Bandera was a monstrous nationalist whose forces murdered up to 100,000 of our Polish brothers and low 10,000s Jews. He was a bad man but at least was not some sort of foreign overlord of his people but on the contrary did terrible things in support of their liberation from outsider nationalists (Poles) and Bolsheviks.

It is certainly less strange for Ukrainians to make a statue to Bandera than for Russians to put up statues to Catherine or her 20th century counterpart Stalin who like her also extended the power of a state controlled by non-Russians but based in Russia.

To get to your low level of prose, thanks for further confirming the svidomite ass that you are.

In point of fact, Catherine, who founded Odessa, is cancel cultured by the Kiev regime unlike Bandera who is honored. Catherine was a Prussian by birth who became more Russian than many Russians. The Russian ideal embraces folks of part Russian and non-Russian backgrounds who support Russia.

This is something anathema to racist simpletons who essentially masturbate over a person’s IQ and DNA. Regarding your persona:

https://www.google.com/search?q=can+an+autistic+person+have+a+high+iq&sca_esv=0bc33a5bd2acc5d5&source=hp&ei=11cGaJDgFsSf5NoPoK_p-AE&iflsig=ACkRmUkAAAAAaAZl52A0wrqwV1nDbYHMp59VHFjT6pVt&oq=can+an+autistic+peerson+have+a+high+IQ&gs_lp=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&sclient=gws-wiz

During her reign, Russia experienced an enhancement of culture and sciences, as well as the founding of many new cities, universities, and theaters, along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe. Besides Odessa, the other cities founded under Catherine are Yekaterinoslav (Dnipro/Dnipropetrovsk), Kherson, Nikolayev, and Sevastopol.

FYI, Catherine’s husband was a Germanphile who cheated on her, while carrying on in an immature manner, thereby explaining your uncritical characterization of him. BTW, he was born Charles Peter Ulrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, the grandson of Peter the Great and great-grandson of Charles XI of Sweden. His apparent more Russian DNA to Catherine underscores your idiotic talking point.

Catherine should be assessed by what the world was like back then. Reminded of the number of slaves Thomas Jefferson had.

Bandera was involved in killing a good number of Ukrainians who opposed him. More Ukrainians fought on the side of the Red Army than with Bandera. His religious affiliation constitutes a minority of Ukrainian Christians. Hence, it’s quite asinine of you to say that his legacy should command more reverence than Catherine’s.

Contrary to what you said, I’m not “generations removed from Russia.” Not that the intended subject matter should get personal – something that svidomites like yourself will sleazily bring up to divert attention away from the crackpot notions you peddle.

I am very skeptical of all the public theater related to Zelensky. My first interpretation of Volodymyr’s insult to Dmitriev is it is intended to give Kirill a bit more street cred in Russia. With this he isn’t immediately criticized as a Russian sellout when he maneuvers Russia into a partial capitulation which is against their interest. To defend against criticism that Dmitriev is an Atlanticist sellout, his handlers will say, “Hey, Zelensky hates him, how bad can he be?”

Zelensky isn’t politically sophisticated to act in such a manner. He’s a turncoat who has gone the svidomite route.

Regardless, I disagree with the notion that D’s US biz educational upbringing and focus on biz issues makes him a opponent against Russia’s core interests. He has been put in a specialist role with Lavrov handling the geopolitical aspects the latter is tasked with.

Putin knows that D’s biz emphasis is an attraction to Trump-Witkoff.

That response was the most adequate one Mr Hack.

Oftentimes humour is the best way of handling cringe situations.

What can I really reply to someone who is accusing me of being a venal hypocrite, a traitor and is writing silly stuff about my kids ?

Get angry at an old man that I rather appreciate?

I prefer staying cool and take it lightly.

We learn to do that in Zen Buddhism.

We also learn to look deeply into causes and consequences of difficult situations.

Perhaps you should also try this, it sometimes helps to see the picture more clearly.

BTW, I understand why you are frustrated with my attitude, you would like me to write that the Ukrainian side of the conflict did nothing wrong and are innocent victims of an unprovoked Russian aggression.

I agree that they are victims and that some of them are indeed innocent. However, unfortunately Russian aggression in this case, although deplorable and unjustified, is far from being unprovoked.

Everything happens for a reason Mr Hack, including my reply to you.

I hope you understand, if not then as a Russian saying goes: “горбатого могила исправит».

At the risk of repeating myself:

There are those who do not realize that one day we all must die. But those who do realize this settle their quarrels.

https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.01.budd.html

🙂

I would say it’s indeed Trump’s war as long as the US continues to give support to Ukraine

An incredibly scant number of people thinking this does not make it true.

Almost everyone understands that Trump inherited the problem from Team Biden. Some things can be solved instantly. Alas, international statecraft does not fall in that category. One of the steps in making a graceful exit is a sincere effort at reaching a deal.
___

Let me try to illustrate the semantic issue.

You are driving a car.
A tree falls in front of you.
You do what can to stop.
You hit the tree.

What would your response be if someone said you intentionally hit the tree — It is “James’s War” versus the Tree — James picked a fight with that Tree and lost. Clearly James is at fault because he did not stop the car instantly.

I suspect that you would say that is not correct. You inherited the problem when the tree fell in front if you.

Now apply that same logic & language choice to Trump inheriting the Kiev problem from Team Biden. Remember that Trump is a President, not a God Emperor. His 2nd term administration has a less than fully cooperative House, Senate, Judiciary, and deep state. The White House has many other priorities that it is juggling. Despite all those obstacles, Trump has done more to push for peace than anyone else.

Neither “James’s War” nor “Trump’s War” are helpful as a linguistic constructs. In both cases it incorrectly connotes blame when the problem demonstrably started elsewhere.

Saying that withdrawal would endanger US personnel sounds very similar to the justifications used to stay involved in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, etc.

What happened when there was a precipitous withdrawal in Afghanistan?

• Troops died.
• Massive amounts of material was abandoned.
• American civilians were cut off instead of being evacuated.
• Unvetted Afghanis were brought to the U.S. who turned out to be bad actors.

Given this recently demonstrated fiasco, why do you want a “Cut & Run”?

Do you not see that you are proposing a *maximum* risk approach?

Suggesting tiptoeing out of Ukraine does not mean that some Ukrainians won’t realize what’s up and attack despite security arrangements.

Nothing is perfect. All Trump can do is *minimize* risk. This means not backing the Kiev regime into a corner where they feel compelled to lash out. These are not the only possible components, but two pieces to such a strategy could include:

-1- Do not provoke the Kiev regime with spectacle. Take manpower and material out slowly without public announcements.

-2- Let them keep something tangible that would be lost if there is an attack. Patriot is strictly defensive but high visibility. This is one option, but feel free to suggest others.

Would such a method be guaranteed 100% success. Of course not. However, this approach is vastly safer than a very public “Cut & Run”.

Zelensky is stumbling block to peace, but that could make him useful to those who wish to continue the war.

I concur.

The European Empire (primarily Germany, France, UK) wants the war to continue even though America wants it to stop. Führer Zelensky is their proxy or puppet. However, they will have to come up with an ADDITIONAL €5 billion+ per month to keep the fight going How long can they afford to do so?

from a perspective sympathetic to Russia, keeping Zelensky in power gives them cause to reject a forced peace plan and continue seeking a military solution.

Russia would take a fair peace at this point. They have achieved key gains that represent a win:

• Parts of 4 oblasts, effectively a land bridge protecting Crimea
• ZNPP to provide electricity for industrial and commercial purposes
• Access to the Dniper to refill the Crimean canal system

The hardest part of any deal will be coming up with enforceable provisions that prevent Ukraine from being used by Europe to start Round 2 some years down the line.

I still think that there is enough reason to see Europe as a US proxy despite their disagreements.

I must disagree. Europe ran Team Biden’s Ukraine policy. During that time there was enough reason to see the White House occupant as Europe’s proxy.

Does the European Empire still have deep state influence and actors inside the U.S. government? This is a reasonable assumption.

As I often point out — It is impossible to obtain 100% of absolutely everything instantly. Terminating USAID was only one step towards solving a much larger problem. Hopefully, the complete staff clear means that preserved documents will lead to other anti-American deep state cells.

In the video Gorkha, Waltz, Hegseth and Rubio are named as bad advisors somewhere in the last few minutes, sounds like reasonable speculation to me, and other sources say the same things. I’m not going to watch it again.

• Gorkha is working counter terrorism. He is not in the room when Ukraine is being discussed. Even if he would offer bad advice, he does not have the opportunity to so. IMHO he really should not speak publicly outside his portfolio. If he is allowed to do so, his personal views are not those of the administration.

• Waltz is indeed highly questionable. To expedite Senate confirmations, Trump had to let key Senators select a few names. Waltz is suspected to be one of those horse trades.

• Are there any specifics related to Hegseth or Rubio? I doubt either would be providing bad Ukraine advice. Hegseth wants to rebuild U.S. strength, which means restocking depleted stores. His brief would include, stop sending stuff overseas.

LOL, people and commentators are entitled to their opinions, so it’s kind of bizarre if you and certain others go around calling other people wrong as if you can’t be wrong yourself.

Apologies.

Alas, the TUR commentariat is often less than civilized. Many are not very bright. Sometimes it seems like progress is being made, then the shrill whine JJJjjjOOOoooozzzzz comes in crushing rational though.

To push back against these problems one has to write assertively, bluntly, and sadly often repetitively.

PEACE 😇

Team Trump’s efforts related to the Ukraine conflict in the current term are good and very promising. Unfortunately, we have not had enough time to discern what is really going on.

Considering the Ukraine war is clearly a proxy war between the USA-led NATO and Russia, then Trump is as involved as anyone. It is definitely his war.

Trump was at the helm when the USA dropped out of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) nuclear arms control treaty and also the Open Skies arms control treaties. You have previously made excuses for the USA departure from INF, but from a Russian perspective this was obviously a serious escalation from the US side. This move put the lie to the ridiculous claim that the USA withdrawal from the ABM nuclear arms control treaty was not directed at Russia. As such it was a huge escalation and made it clear that the USA was reviving the nuclear Cold War. Trump was in charge when this happened. Arguably these two actions made it much more difficult for Russia to pursue a compromise in Ukraine and may have contributed to the Russian decision to start the SMO less than two years later. The Minsk II subterfuge was also occurring on Trump’s watch.

I understand there may be favorable justifications and explanations for the Trump behavior, but they ring hollow until we know more. Until that information is available pretending this is not his war is unreasonable.

The Ukraine fight is clearly a proxy war between imperial Europe and Russia. It was never America’s fight. The European Empire used the prior White House occupant as a proxy. The fight predated Trump.

• It is definitely *not* America’s war.
• It is definitely *not* Trump’s war.
___

You have previously made many excuses, thus giving China a free ride. Why do you keep shilling for their position by wanting restrictions on the U.S. but none on China’s ABM development? Your assertion that China would give up the advantage of a free ride is an unrealistic sugar plum fantasy.

The INF treaty was conceived of before cruise missile technology was the norm. It made sense on its signing date as a trade off for land based ballistic missiles. Unfortunately, technological advancement made it functionally obsolete. IIRC Russia was building artificial ponds for “water launch” cruise. At the same time, America was vastly increasing its “air launch” capabilities. Despite your excessive protestations, Russia did not believe the end of the INF treaty was particularly provocative.
___

To assign blame you need to look at European IslamoGloboHomo leaders:

• Not a Jew Angela “Welcome Rape-ugees” Merkel, single handedly convinced Zelensky to abrogate the Minsk deal. She openly admits she did it.
• Not a Jew BoJo and not a Jew Scholz tanked the Istanbul talks.

The responsibility of non-Jewish Europeans is amazingly obvious. They are the backers and puppet masters of Führer Zelensky.

Pretending that Kiev aggression is American or Trump’s is wholly unreasonable. Worse yet, misportraying the situation to cover for European led IslamoGloboHomo perfidy only makes it harder to solve the problems. What do you get out of endlessly griping about Trump when he is sincerely pushing for a peace deal?

If you want Kiev aggression to stop — you need to find a way to pressure the likes of Merz, Macron, and Starmer.

PEACE 😇

Buzz off with your lies A sinine P erson! Lies, and more lies and slander…stick to your f Galicia.

Sorry to say this but this Pope did not appear to me…the previous German Pope Benedict (close friend of John Paul II) was chased out by machination and replaced by this too old Cardinal.

Benedict (close friend of John Paul II) was chased out by machination

That is an interesting way to phrase it. I read it was blackmail. Too tied up with too many pedos.

Did you see the latest J. D. Vance chat leak? Jared Kushner told him to tell the Pope to make sure and sun his balls.

On a more positive note Daily Mail has a review on the new Elvis book.

Elvis Presley’s dark confessions revealed in spine-chilling exposé about his occult obsession… and the fate of those under his spell

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14626717/elvis-presley-alien-new-book-occult.html

no paywall: https://archive.ph/FTmJw#selection-865.0-865.134

Awesome collection of Elvis photos.

You have to remember AP is autistic with a maturity of an 8-year old. He is also experiencing a complete collapse of his worldview – it’s all gone: mono-lingual Ukraine, NATO, “Europe” or “Rzceczpospolita” (not sure what that is, but it’s gone)…

It will get harder, US-Trump pulled the plug on the Greater Ukraine project because it failed. AP, LatW, Johnson will be spotting defecting Norkie soldiers, counting obituaries, calming themselves with hatred. Then they will go silent, we are almost there…

https://polymarket.com/event/who-will-be-the-next-pope

Pietro Parolin 36%
Luis Antonio Tagle 25.4%
Pierbattista Pizzaballa 10.3%
Péter Erdő 7.4%

I don’t have anything against Trump or MAGA, in fact I like both, but I will take what you say as a possibility, just like the other possibilities I mentioned. The US under Trump is intervening in my country and it’s raising already high tensions, so for Trump to fail would leave some people here high and dry. We have been a proxy of the West before. I’ll have to take the path my people choose no matter what I believe.

I don’t think that Ukraine or Russia is willing to stop fighting, and I would remain sceptical about peace for now, even if it is only to avoid disappointment. I’m also biased towards the Russian Federation which leads me to believe that they may negotiate but probably not settle for the current situation. Part of the tragedy is what has been unleashed, it’s going to be hard to stop such a process, and I don’t believe that Russia has been tested to her limits just yet.

Yes it’s not always easy to stay reasonable when commentating here, but I’m finding that I am feeling more at ease as I get to try to understand things. As I remember I trolled a lot more in the past.

They should bring in a subsaharan African pope. That would be truly inclusive. Aren’t we all God’s children?

🙂

Putin’s announcement in 2018 of the six advanced weapon systems designed to protect and counterbalance Russia against the long-standing and increasingly aggressive posture of the USA and Europe occurred on Trump’s watch. This announcement occurred in the second year of Trump’s term, so apparently his presidency had not reassured the Russian leadership. Presumably the announcement was somewhat of a bargaining chip which might have been used to delay Russian deployment in exchange for the USA to stop her aggressive anti-Russia activities, particularly in Ukraine. Trump’s inability to pursue actions and treaties to slow deployment of this set of Russian weapons is his worst failure. OK, third worst failure after COVID and the Warp Speed mRNA travesty. Since then the Kinzhal and Zircon have been used in combat, the Avangard is on active duty and Sarmat may be on limited duty. The status of Burevestnik is unknown, but the Oreshnik got ramped into use last year. Peresvet is reportedly fielded since 2019. In other words, Trump’s track record on this stuff is worse than I had realized. Of course these issues go back to earlier administrations, but there is no evidence Trump made any improvement in these critical areas in term one. Let’s pray that he does better this time.

Sure, America is not the major driving force behind the Ukraine conflict, whatever you say. Believe whatever fantasy you want. Maybe you should invite Hack over for one of your glue sniffing parties. Every time he says “Slava Ukraini!” you can say “Trump, Trump, Trump!”

The top negro bishop hates homos. Nobody has the courage to ask him about trannies.

In other words no way. In polymarket terms .000000000001%

Tagle is a Filipino. I like saying Pierbattista Pizzaballa.

Skip to 1:00 for the punch line.

You do not understand the reality of professional wrestling.

These fellows take a lot of drugs.

Time may tell.

I still assume Zelensky is 100% puppet, though he may have gained a bit of agency by learning about the skeletons in the closet.

Trump has two domestic snakes that he has to face…namely the obvious one vindictive DNC and then his party neocons that are silently against him. His hesitation in making a good relation with Russia is obvious…potential impeachment is on his mind especially after unsuccessful mid term. Bringing back Bannon teaming up with Vance as his top advisers will bring success.

What can I really reply to someone who is accusing me of being a venal hypocrite, a traitor and is writing silly stuff about my kids ?

I tried to reply to your unsuccessful attempts at trying to somehow denigrate Ukraine’s attempts to separate itself from Russia just after the break-up of the Soviet Union. I inferred that Ukraine’s bid for sovereignty and to seek a better course for its future were very similar to your own, when you left Russia at approximately the same time. It’s okay for you to pursue a better life for yourself somewhere in France while you’ve left Russia behind, yet when a whole people that couldn’t just get up and leave decide to try and implement some of the same values that helped to make France an enviable destination to work and live within, you’re the one that calls the people of Ukraine those that “betrayed [its] brothers and family links”. Has Ukraine really betrayed its “brothers and family links” any more than you have by leaving Russia behind and taking up permanent residence somewhere in France? Yes, I think that calling you a hypocrite is appropriate in this instance.

Besides, “brothers” don’t start a war by invading their neighbor’s country, rape its women and kill its defenseless civilians including children. Why don’t you go back to Russia and help your brothers and family out in this glorious fight for unification of the whole family?

There is fundamental problem with trying to blame America with grand geopolitical plans for Ukraine. For years, we have been simultaneously dysfunctional and wrapped up in our own internal issues.

If you go all the way back to Obama, he had figures like Nuland that were indeed trouble makers. However, it is not clear that Ukraine was a specific priority. He and his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, created problems around the globe. Does everyone remember Benghazi?

Trump’s 1st term was blighted by a rogue special prosecutor and the now 100% debunked Russia, Russia, Russia myth. There was a single package of over $100MM for Ukraine. It was timed to coincide with a Putin election win and was obviously intended for domestic concerns. Despite the money flowing overseas it had nothing to do with foreign policy.

The Veggie-in-Chief and his druggie son were on sale to the highest bidder on a case by case basis. European Globalists bought the rights to the Ukraine arms and money laundering operation. The American people were comprehensively sold out by Team Biden.

Which brings us to the current date. The faux impeachment sham is gone. Trump’s 2nd term is disengaging from prior problems. However, it is not an instantaneous process. Given his budget of $0.00 for Kiev aggression, it is clear that Trump is trying to, as gracefully as possible, extract America from Europe’s Folly.

I strongly suggest patience, rather than premature panic.

I don’t think that Ukraine or Russia is willing to stop fighting, and I would remain sceptical about peace for now, even if it is only to avoid disappointment.

The Ukrainian people cannot want to “Fight to the Last Ukrainian” for antisemitic European Globalism. Alas, European elites own & operate Führer Zelensky, enemy of the Jews. The Ukrainian people need to replace Zelensky with negotiation capable leadership. Unfortunately, there is no orderly path for this given cancelling of elections, banning of opposition parties, etc.

There is good reason to believe that Putin would stop if there was a good deal. Taking Odessa and leaving Ukraine landlocked looks good on paper. However, his generals must be pointing out the huge liability of a hostile population. The people of Mariupol wanted to be Russian. Odessa does not. The long-term insurgent problem would be massive.

PEACE 😇

AP, LatW, Johnson will be spotting defecting Norkie soldiers, counting obituaries, calming themselves with hatred. Then they will go silent, we are almost there…

Just because some of us leave this forum (which is almost an echo chamber – with only a few exceptions – for people who want to hear only certain things and to affirm their beliefs with similar thinking folks), doesn’t mean we are ‘going silent’, as you say. The most interesting things in the world affairs are only beginning…

The Russians position (so far leaked gossip) to Trump is simple – war is completed, 4 oblasts to Russia and recognized by the US/UN. If this variant is rejected – war continues for Kharkov, Dnipro and Odesa oblasts added for annexation. Russia is rolling and the variant II is for augmented motivation to accept the variant I.

Putin’s announcement in 2018 of the six advanced weapon systems designed to protect and counterbalance Russia against the long-standing and increasingly aggressive posture of the USA and Europe occurred on Trump’s watch.

And if Trump had not withdrawn from INF, all six would have still been rolled out. The PR might have been slightly different, but systems with years or even more than a decade of development do not rest on a single piece of paper being kept or cancelled.

You are repeatedly making the proverbial mountain out of the equally proverbial molehill. Those few who could be convinced of your fringe theory have already accepted your wild suppositions. You are not going to make more converts to your extremist cult.
____

Everyone notices that you ignored the most critical part of my post. Let me refresh your memory.

If you want Kiev aggression to stop — you need to find a way to pressure the likes of Merz, Macron, and Starmer.

How does your screeching over INF impact Not-a-Jew Merz?
How does your screaming over INF impact Not-a-Jew Macron?
How does your wailing over INF impact Not-a-Jew Starmer (∆)?

The answer to all three question is the same… It does not. To address the issue that exists *now* you must deal with the money flows present *now*. That *current* support is predominantly via the Islamophile nations of Germany, France, and the UK.

After WW III is averted, please feel free to write a specialist history text about the minutiae of ABM and INF wind down. Perhaps it will find favor among ivory tower academics like Jeffery Sachs.

PEACE 😇
__________

(∆) Starmer is an open atheist despite his wife’s religion.

You are the one who posted the number 14,000. You stupidly repeated it it was 14,000 killed Russian civilians.

I posted the source for that 14,000 number, the UN report, that also the details of what it includes – about 11,000 dead soldiers and about 3,000 dead civilians.

If the UN lied then the number 14,000 that you used was also a lie.

When your side are caught lying or being stupid all you can do scream and cry. Typical and predictable. With Beckow it is autism, with you it is lie or alcoholic families. You guys each just display your personal issues.

The Russians position (so far leaked gossip) to Trump is simple – war is completed, 4 oblasts to Russia and recognized by the US/UN

The leaked U.S. Kellogg maps are consistent with this. Fundamentally, the new border would be similar to the current contact line and include a DMZ on both sides.

Why combine US/UN? Do you mean UNSC? Or, UNGA? Let’s face it. The UN is totally worthless. It is best to exclude them entirely.

PEACE 😇

Why don’t you go back to Russia and help your brothers and family out in this glorious fight for unification of the whole family?

Because I am against the war since day one and against Putin’s regime since 1999. Just in case you missed it, I actually left RF after losing hope that the political situation will change there. Not that I need to somehow justify myself. Anyway, as I already mentioned a few weeks ago, you seem to have a weird idea of me. That’s okay, we’re all biased one way or another and war certainly can exacerbate some biases in some people. Especially the elderly (I see it now with my mom that I often have to bring back to reality when she starts ranting too much about the khokhols) so I don’t judge you harshly Mr Hack.

Also, Matthew 7: 1-6

🙂

I wonder if there are still too many people who want to keep fighting on every side including Ukraine, Russia, USA and Western Europe? I don’t think it stops until either the Ukrainians decide to reject the USA and Western Europe or simply most of the Ukrainian country is destroyed and cannot put up resistance. Otherwise this crisis probably just revives in a few years in some way which is even harder for Russia.

There is good reason to believe that Putin would stop if there was a good deal. Taking Odessa and leaving Ukraine landlocked looks good on paper.

Why should Putin get Odessa when he hasn’t taken Kharkiv?

What is with this weird obsession over landlocking Ukraine in the Black sea?

You do realize we have this thing called trains?

The people of Mariupol wanted to be Russian.

What is your basis of that belief? Mariupol was never part of the separatist movement.

More Russian assault e-scooters spotted

Maybe you can start a gofundme for solar chargers. Help Russian soldiers charge their e-scooters in the field for the glory of Russia.

I actually left RF after losing hope that the political situation will change there.

I’m sure that after several centuries of trying to co-exist with their russian “brothers”, many Ukrainians felt the same way and felt that a separation and different orientation would help in the long run. It’s strange to me that you can’t seem to understand this, having left Russia behind and finding something better far away. You’re not the only one, and there are even worse hypocrites like Geraldina who is a cowardly draft dodger standing on the sidelines cheering Putler’s war in Ukraine.

Have previously read, and commented on, but it certainly is an interesting theory.

What I was wondering is if it could be promoting some neotenous shift in the immune system – a different profile for dealing with certain common childhood diseases – that could have use in adulthood in certain environments. But it is just a crazy theory.

Another possibility which I think I abandoned for some reason is that maybe lactase itself could be useful against some bacterial coatings.

Funny how you, AP and LatW soured on me just because I happen to be Russian, although my attitude towards this war has been consistent and didn’t change since day one. I just want this absurd and deadly conflict to end ASAP.

Haters gonna hate, I suppose…

Also, Luke 6:41-42.

🙂

That looks like the legendary Bob Lazar jet engine hot rod.

Reform UK is now accepting BNP members (Bangladeshi Nationalist Party.)

…The most interesting things in the world affairs are only beginning…

I agree. But it could be said many times in the past…The difference today is that many accumulated contradictions are no longer ignorable or even solvable. It will be a roller-coaster for a while.

…almost an echo chamber

That’s not the case, there are fairly in-depth coherent statements of different views. Don’t underestimate how much of it penetrates. The issue we are facing is that in a war there are eventually only two sides, we have become very polarized – AP used to favor Donbas going to Russia, he even welcomed it, he won’t do it now. It’s all or nothing making our discussion unhinged. But a victory in a war is always unhinged, it cuts through the complexity and is by definition unjust to somebody.

I find the recent escapes into minutia (Norkies!) by the Kiev supporters illuminating. Why do it? It’s meaningless trivia. But it’s also an emotional support – no matter what they avoid staring at the reality of an inevitable loss.

It’s not over yet, I have argued for years it will end in Russia’s win: small, medium, or big…It certainly looks that way. I didn’t think the hapless Euros would jump in to share in the loss but that’s what Euro elites always do. We all learn something every day…:)

Quite probably just a coincidence but several bacterial infections can cause temporary lactose intolerance by disrupting lactase expression.

There is good reason to believe that Putin would stop if there was a good deal. Taking Odessa and leaving Ukraine landlocked looks good on paper.

What is with this weird obsession over landlocking Ukraine in the Black sea?

You do realize we have this thing called trains?

You do realize that cargo ships are larger and cheaper than trains?

You do realize that Western Europe can only buy a fraction of Ukraine’s agricultural output.

You do realize that sea freighters directly connect Ukrainian sellers to often African buyers without expensive transshipment through Europe?

As a high-level strategic concept having a huge chunk of Ukraine’s hard currency trade and overall economy totally dependent on Russian ports is a concept with considerable upside. This is neither weird nor an obsession.

If Ukraine negotiates in good faith now, this entire scenario becomes moot. The key problem is that Europe’s puppet, Führer Zelensky, is not negotiation capable.

PEACE 😇

Saying that withdrawal would endanger US personnel sounds very similar to the justifications used to stay involved in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, etc. Suggesting tiptoeing out of Ukraine does not mean that some Ukrainians won’t realize what’s up and attack despite security arrangements.

Claiming that the Ukrainians would attack Americans personnel is a bold and vile accusation of something that has not even happened – and most likely will never happen. Yes, the current American actions (and even more so the current rhetoric) do deserve disdain (not just from Ukrainians), but to assume that American nationals would be physically attacked, unprovoked, is a fantastical scenario. Very unethical to even contemplate such. Besides, there is not a lot of American personnel in Ukraine to begin with – the US never sent troops, but mostly aging weapons. I’m not going into details into how this all benefited the US (which it did, even just purely from the war intelligence aspect).

That said, the ambassador unfortunately just bailed – it proved to be too tough to defend or downplay the killings of Ukrainian children by Putin, the way Trumpists must have instructed her. An honest woman, she stepped down.

Keep in mind that I am skeptical about USAID and other cloak and dagger operations simply coming to an end in stead of being reorganized and repurposed.

USAID, while important, was just one wing of US power and it did in fact focus more on humanitarian aspects. The current US administration, despite of attempting to wreck the State Department, has decided to retain a few offices, such as the Envoy for Holocaust issues and the Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism. There is most likely a significant effort on the financial sector end as well. Of course, everything now is in disarray due to Trump’s actions, so we still need to wait to see what remains when the dust settles. It’s clear that they will continue meddling, just in a different way (and they may not succeed because they have wrecked a lot of useful systems and relationships in the process).

Zelensky is stumbling block to peace, but that could make him useful to those who wish to continue the war.

Zelensky is just a politician, you have to consider the ideas, not the person – most Ukrainians will fight for the territorial integrity and freedom of their country. There are millions, possibly tens of millions in Europe who stand behind this Ukrainian aspiration and their sacred right to live freely on their land. When you’re trashing Zelensky, you’re attacking all of these people. It’s not about Zelensky, a different president would be expected to support and serve the idea of Ukraine’s sovereignty and the interests of her people. What is happening in Ukraine has great implications for overall European security so most Europeans support Ukraine. I just thought you should know this, even if you might be further removed since you’re on the African continent. But if you respect the principle of sovereignty, then it should matter to you, too.

I still think that there is enough reason to see Europe as a US proxy despite their disagreements.

The US will have to return to the friendly transatlantic family, if they do not want to stay alone. Russia will never replace Europe in relation to the US, as Trump, Vance and Witkoff are hoping. Some of us who have principles, will no longer take them back but the governments most likely will.

US support for Ukraine could conceivably continue indirectly while Trump washes his hands.

Whatever support there is (or isn’t) is not hard to detect, because it directly affects the front lines. The officers on the front lines regularly inform the public of what is missing and what isn’t.

Whether McGregor or anyone else I listen to is wrong or right about something is not a big problem for me since I can agree or disagree with aspects of what they say and compare different commentators and sources that I find credible to make up my own opinion.

I would highly recommend to you to expand your sources beyond McGregor. There are good sources beyond the so called ‘mainstream media’, best is to take from Ukrainians themselves.

Should Trump go to Berlin and give a speech to adulating crowds of supporters and command “Mr. Merz, tear down this wall of wokeness! Ich bin ein AfD-Anhänger!“?

I haven’t started to hate you because you’re a Russian. I’m disappointed in you because you try to paint Ukraine as some ungrateful state that has somehow ““betrayed [its] brothers and family links”.

Perhaps you have actually “betrayed your brothers and family links” that you left behind when you left home in search of a better life abroad? So you could be projecting your own guilt onto others, in this case the whole Ukrainian people. But I don’t hate you for this, and in fact understand your motivations. Just quit being a hypocrite, and we’ll resume our longstanding friendship here at this blog site. Heck, you can resume your untenable stance, and I’ll still respect you. 🙂

But it could be said many times in the past…The difference today is that many accumulated contradictions are no longer ignorable or even solvable. It will be a roller-coaster for a while.

There are new elements now, such as new strong actors (a much stronger China), there is a much stronger interconnectivity due to globalism, new technologies. But the human nature is the same.

That’s not the case, there are fairly in-depth coherent statements of different views.

Well, it is true that there are a few very intelligent posters here (the only reason I stuck around this long). But there is also what seems an emotional need for confirmation of one’s views (maybe on both sides). I was just showing some skepticism that the pro-Ukrainian side would just go silent, as you implied. 🙂 There are still plenty of avenues out there to stay busy on. 🙂

Don’t underestimate how much of it penetrates.

I can see very well where it’s penetrating, it’s not that complicated.

The issue we are facing is that in a war there are eventually only two sides, we have become very polarized – AP used to favor Donbas going to Russia, he even welcomed it, he won’t do it now.

That’s because the geopolitical realities are changing very quickly right now, it’s normal for sides to get stabilized on their own interests and especially in the light of potential danger, for positions to harden (in fact, you could see positions to go even further than what we have now, depending on what happens). The children’s security is at stake, and one’s freedom, not just one’s lifestyles or opinions.

It’s all or nothing making our discussion unhinged.

It’s not unhinged (with a few exceptions, people can have moments). It’s the nature of human conflict.

I find the recent escapes into minutia (Norkies!) by the Kiev supporters illuminating. Why do it? It’s meaningless trivia.

Actually, it’s not – the presence of North Korean (and now Chinese) troops in Ukraine, so close to the EU, is a very big deal. Many in Europe understand this and are concerned, while the likes of yourself feign complacency. That Asians (I know a very broad term) are present – that is nothing new, Moscow has always used Asians to attack Europeans (even Ivan Grozny had Tatar troops when attacking Livonia), and that should be a concern in and of itself, but that Norks are now used, is very concerning, in fact Moscow is using a myriad of nations to attack Europe via Ukraine – one can see various sorts of Africans, Cubans, many Eurasian nationalities, the Ukrainians even captured an eskimo who is more related to Aleuts, who live out there.. this is being truly underestimated by the Western Euros and especially the US.

…you could see positions to go even further than what we have now, depending on what happens…one’s freedom, not just one’s lifestyles or opinions.

That’s why Trump’s attempt to go sober and realistic should be welcomed. We don’t want to end up on a bunch of tangents into infinity with no common ground.

I am skeptical of “freedom” talk and abstract terms that don’t translate into much. Freedom is an individual thing, some have it, others prefer not to risk it. But it’s not a general good to build a society on or fight a war – wars diminish freedom for all involved, it’s built into what a war is. Let’s stay closer to the ground, the highfalutin concepts like ‘freedom’, ‘justice’ are a dead-end – each side sees them in its own way.

That Asians are present is nothing new, Moscow has always used Asians to attack Europeans…even Ivan Grozny had Tatar troops when attacking Livonia

Tatars live in Europe – check out the map, see where Kazan is…:) The Ukie side has Colombians, Asians, Africans, and Russians just caught a Mexican mercenary. Why not Norkies or Chinese? Both side use them, you are making a big deal about nothing. In the past UK used Nepalese, France used Africans, UK-France allied with Ottomans to attack Russia…that’s the way it has always been, how are Russians different? You seem confused.

You do realize that cargo ships are larger and cheaper than trains?

Yes but the cost difference isn’t significant.

Would Russia shut off the ports to Ukrainian grain? Of course not. That would be throwing away money.

You do realize that Western Europe can only buy a fraction of Ukraine’s agricultural output.

It would go on rail to another port like Constanta.

Shipping to China is easy from any European port. They normally have empty ships going back to China because of the Euro/Chinese trade deficit. The same is true for the US.

You guys are thinking in terms of WW2 or something. As if Russia would sink the ships with submarines.

As a high-level strategic concept having a huge chunk of Ukraine’s hard currency trade and overall economy totally dependent on Russian ports is a concept with considerable upside. This is neither weird nor an obsession.

Nothing would be dependent on Russian ports. Look a map before making up your lines of bullshit.

Russia would in fact have to provide a competitive price or else the grain will go to Poland or Romania.

Even under Putin they are still selling Uranium to the US. Your dwarf hero can’t turn down a dollar.

A future Russia could give it all back. Putin’s support depends on USSR nostalgic boomers. Melitopol and Crimea have changed hands numerous times.

The US under Trump is intervening in my country and it’s raising already high tensions

Could you please elaborate what it is exactly that the US under Trump are doing that makes you say they are intervening in your country (South Africa, right)? And what exactly is it that is “raising tensions”? Thanks.

Aren’t the black bears much smaller than brown bears?

It is artificial insemination and I imagine they deliver through C-section, but the cama (camel x lama) has only been successully created using female lamas, even though they are significantly smaller animals.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cama_(animal)

They supposedly diverged 17 million years ago.

It is so obvious, Zelensky is doing everything to stay in power in the role of being a PR servant for the gang (relatively a small group)…without that he is finished politically and biologically. The war keeps him in power but there is a limit to that, the UkieNazi will whack him when he won’t be able to deliver dough and hardware anymore. The gang is now getting desperate when rejected Minsk agreement appears to be a bonanza in comparison to the present predicament with fading US support.

but the cama (camel x lama) has only been successully created using female lamas, even though they are significantly smaller animals.

There has been an alpaca craze in the Baltic states in the recent years – people keep them on farms and make textiles from their fur. These camas seem to have much less fur so I wonder if they have any use besides just being pets.

Have recently been watching these super cute videos about mini cows – they are like those super hairy Scottish cows, just smaller. I hadn’t known such even existed. They were probably artificially selected.

The large Scottish cows seem quite valuable to keep, but these mini ones are probably just good to keep as pets (or for a petting zoo for kids).

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LqnYPBAXzA0

I’m not projecting anything on Ukrainians. I lived through the fall of the USSR, I know what I am talking about. If you re-read carefully enough what I answered AP, I wrote that all us poor “советские люди” were quite naive and ignorant of the basic principles of life in a capitalist economy. We all just wanted a “better life” and misunderstood what a “good life” really means.

And to justify our desires, we attached it to nationalism, freedom seeking, religious liberation, return to “the land of the ancestors” (in the case of Soviet Jews seeking emigration to Israel) etc. Soviet system was too rational (strangely enough it was) for a normal human being to find normal human life in it.

Ukrainians went their own way, Russians went their own route, it would have stayed a mild separation if not for Southeastern Ukraine, especially Donbas, where there was a gradient of identity, not a clear separation. If you asked most Russians what they thought of Galicians in 1985, they would have said that they’re as foreign as Balts (we always saw Balts as foreign, that’s why we don’t care that they’re not white us, they’re not “family”). But if you asked about Donbas the answer would have been different, most people would have answered “they’re like us, they’re not really different”. About central Ukraine, the feeling would have been different “they’re similar, but not quite”, a kind of 50/50. But with Donbas, it was “свои люди”.

And yet they voted for separation and independence. And it’s about them, not about the Ukrainians in general that I wrote that they actually suffer because there was that betrayal. The Galicians didn’t betray anything, they were forced into USSR, the Ukrainians (a separate category from the Galicians/Zapadentsy) were a mixed bag, they contributed mighty to Soviet buildup, but Donbasers, Odessites and Russian Crimeans were Soviet a 100%, they spoke Russian, had the same folklore and customs, same food etc. No difference, and yet they preferred separation from their kin and kind. They did because they thought they would gain more and gain more specifically on a material level, they would be more wealthy.

They got it wrong because in fact – on the opposite of what they were saying in their separatist slogans – it was Russia that was “feeding” the other republics through a massive transfer of wealth as natural resources and energy and yeah population to build and develop local economies. I went to Odessa in 2018, it looked like Leningrad in 1998. It was going down, not up. And my Ukrainian friends told me that it is not better elsewhere in Ukraine, Odessa was good, some other places were worse.

Meanwhile, most major RF towns were experiencing a renaissance, although glubinka (the hinterland) was damaged and actually oftentimes getting worse. Why that difference? Simple: because RF is a wealthier country resources-wise. And this is precisely why the collective West needs it weakened and dependent, because otherwise it’s too strong to be pushed around and manipulated. Ukraine became a tool of Western pressure on RF. It didn’t have to be that way. As you know well «ласкова теля двух маток сосе». Ukraine could have the best of both worlds, but it is ending up losing both.

It’s a tragedy…

That’s why Trump’s attempt to go sober and realistic should be welcomed.

It’s not realistic, because he wanted to take all of Ukraine’s resources, indefinitely, and give it to Americans or just American oligarchs. Without giving literally zero in return. That’s even crazier than the British terms for Hong Kong (they had a date when they would leave). It’s not just unrealistic, but simply delusional.

You can’t have your cake and eat it too.

I am skeptical of “freedom” talk and abstract terms that don’t translate into much. Freedom is an individual thing, some have it, others prefer not to risk it.

Freedom can be very concrete – both for individuals and whole nations. So if someone is trying infringe upon that freedom, it’s definitely high time to push back.

But it’s not a general good to build a society on or fight a war – wars diminish freedom for all involved, it’s built into what a war is.

During war time, freedom can be diminished with a strict purpose, but it is frreedom that is fought for.

Freedom absolutely is a “general good”, when other nations try to dictate to your nation. Then to fight off those nations is absolutely worth it. Because the odds are often good that one will be successful.

Let’s stay closer to the ground, the highfalutin concepts like ‘freedom’, ‘justice’ are a dead-end – each side sees them in its own way.

I have no problem whatsoever to talk about concrete things, as I have. The problem is that you try to speak for others, for Ukrainians, Latvians, etc., trying to lecture them as it you know better what is good for them. Yet when your people are in question, you immediately change and start bringing up excuses. Why can’t Slovaks be in one state with the Czechs? And why can’t Slovaks be a part of a larger Hungary? Why do Slovaks even need to be inside of the EU or much less NATO, which you so despise? You see, we don’t decide these things for you but for some reason you believe that you can judge whether others should value their freedom or not, and you insist that others be subjugated by larger nations.

Tatars live in Europe – check out the map, see where Kazan is…:)

True, Tatars are relatively close, although their religion is alien to Euros. And there are different types of Tatars, and these Tatars have also fought Moscow. However, for the Livonians they were alien intruders. The Livonians didn’t attack Tartaria. But for some reasons the Tatars felt it’s ok to come to Livonia and kill and torture its inhabitants. If it wasn’t for them, our population would be much larger today. Maybe this is exactly what Moscow did not want?

You are on the side of non-Euros killing Euros. Noted.

Same as now – we have done nothing to the Buryats or North Korenas. But somehow they believe it was ok to come to Ukraine and murder Ukrainian sons. That you feel that this is ok only speaks for who you are.

The Ukie side has Colombians, Asians, Africans, and Russians just caught a Mexican mercenary. Why not Norkies or Chinese?

There is a fundamental difference if one is fighting on the side of an invading occupationist, genocidal force (the Russian Federation) or a country that is defending itself (Ukraine). Don’t pretend these are the same. You know very well they’re not.

And yet they [woke of SE an Ukraine] voted for separation and independence. And it’s about them, not about the Ukrainians in general that I wrote that they actually suffer because there was that betrayal. The Galicians didn’t betray anything, they were forced into USSR, the Ukrainians (a separate category from the Galicians/Zapadentsy) were a mixed bag, they contributed mighty to Soviet buildup, but Donbasers, Odessites and Russian Crimeans were Soviet a 100%, they spoke Russian, had the same folklore and customs, same food etc

This is a far more reasonable and insightful take than when you claim Ukrainians and Russians are equally responsible for the war.

But they can also be criticized for not betraying “enough.” That is, they voted to leave the USSR but then prevented the state that they chose to join from integrating with the EU, and becoming a member of NATO. So they betrayed everyone. Both betrayals led to their complete misery. Had they maintained union with Russia they would not have experienced war, and had they from the 1990’s voted for pro-Western parties and gotten into NATO they would not have experienced the recent wars.

I went to Odessa in 2018, it looked like Leningrad in 1998. It was going down, not up. And my Ukrainian friends told me that it is not better elsewhere in Ukraine, Odessa was good, some other places were worse.

Lviv was great in 2017 and when I visited earlier. Friends from Poland who travelled there in 2016 said it reminded them of Krakow in 2006. Poorer than modern Krakow of course, but full of life, getting better and richer. A nice place, not one that seemed poor and that elicited feelings of pity. And well ahead of the bleak Soviet times.

I have family in the Right Bank and Kiev also. We used to send them help until around 2018-2019 when they said they for the first time they (and their community) didn’t feel poor. They started travelling to modest resorts in Turkey and Egypt, or Hungary. So there was certainly improvement by 2018, compared to 2010 or 1995. It was not going down.

Meanwhile, most major RF towns were experiencing a renaissance, although glubinka (the hinterland) was damaged and actually oftentimes getting worse

No Ukrainian city came close to Moscow or Saint Petersburg. However Russian villages (specifically, those that did not contain dachas owned by wealthy Muscovites) I drove past in Moscow oblast on the way to a wealthy dacha community did not appear better than Ukraine. Sure, likely the cars were newer and of better makes, but the buildings were similar if not worse, there was a lot of garbage everywhere, much more than in Ukrainian villages.

And if villages in Moscow oblast are that bad, I can only imagine what they must be like deep in the provinces.

But they can also be criticized for not betraying “enough.” That is, they voted to leave the USSR but then prevented the state that they chose to join from integrating with the EU, and becoming a member of NATO. So they betrayed everyone.

Well, that’s a bit too harsh towards the Donbas. In 1991, they left the USSR with the rest of the country, those types of decisions are typically made in the capital (and such a decision was made in Moscow in fact) with a broad consensus and in that historical moment everyone was leaving the USSR (it was a huge wave that swept all of Eastern Europe). That Donbas left the USSR along with the rest of Ukraine doesn’t mean they should’ve or could’ve joined the newly founded Russian Federation. In fact, wouldn’t that have created a civil war? Since it’s doubtful that Kyiv would’ve been ok with them leaving, plus there are ethnic Ukrainians who always lived there and helped build it.

As to the EU and NATO, the Donbas could not have imagined that Ukraine would develop those aspirations. I also don’t think that the EU offer was presented to them in a good way, to them it was presented together with “Bandera” which is not to their liking. It’s a dilemma because Ukraine has a right to develop as a nation state. Also, can everyone in Donbas be blamed – Russia intervened, and while some of them were screaming “Putin, bring in the troops” – it wasn’t everyone. They were kind of used by the Kremlin to attack Kyiv and then discarded.

As to this formulation of “betrayal” – it’s a bit too accusatory, we are assuming here that Donbas (or anyone) owes something to others, when that’s not even a given. Why would they owe anything to Moscow? They may have cultural ties to Russia, but do they really owe Moscow to join the Russian Federation or fight Kyiv? After all, the rebellion would’ve been quelled if it weren’t for the interference from Russia.

Hindus drink piss,
West has parades dedicated to getting pissed on.

I am neither.

https://twitter.com/YungBhujang/status/1135840818818932737

ਅਕਾਲ

Same thing with Juliet’s statue in Verona, Italy. It’s a thing, although I was a bit taken aback by the Indian tourist enthusiastically groping her boob in front of his wife and kids.

“What men would do if they could”

She has a point. Men have been very keen on the female bosom since the species began, and that’s not going to change.

In Victorian times groping a statue would have been boorish and not the act of a gentleman.

Found it.

https://www.unz.com/akarlin/open-thread-268-2/#comment-7030330

You’ve had many insightful takes about lactase over the years.

I don’t think the answer is temperature. It is possible to be tall and lithe, and the Maasai are quite tall. I’d guess one factor would be lactase persistence (persistent=> selection for tallness).

as foreign, that’s why we don’t care that they’re not white

🤔😉

I’m not blaming America or Trump, but the optics are not good for him just yet. It sure seems that there are people and factions in the US government who are determined to not let it go easily, like this guy:

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/congressman-visits-ukraine-frontlines-filmed-firing-heavy-weapon

It looks like some neocons or whatever they are are till trying to drum up popular support through media that is biased towards continued involvement in Ukraine.

I think that peace is not entirely the Ukrainian- or Russian governments decision alone, many are sick of war but there are just as many who would be difficult to convince to lay down their arms after investing so much in war. As I understand Zelensky received threats from hardliners like the Azov militia to stay the course. If the Oblasts are offered to Russia, would the Ukrainian army conveniently leave the parts they still occupy is another question.

My biased belief is that Russia would be likely to take what they claimed and continue the attrition process, calling it de-Nazification. There was also talk of safety barriers, no-man’s-land that would keep Ukrainian artillery further away from Russian assets in the future. If I’m wrong, cool, it’s no skin it’s no skin off my teeth.

When Mikhail mentioned Skidelsky in his comment 30, my first thought was “is he still alive?”, because from being a frequently quoted media figure, I’ve not heard from him for a decade or more.

Wiki might provide some answers:

“was made an opposition spokesman in the Lords, first for Culture, then on the Treasury (1997–1999), but he was removed by William Hague, then party leader, for publicly opposing NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999”

“In September 2015 Skidelsky endorsed Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign in the Labour Party leadership election”

On 28 February 2022, he signed a letter to the Financial Times on the subject of Ukraine, along with David Owen and others, that stated: “NATO governments have rightly said they are willing to address Russia’s security concerns, but then say in the same breath that Russia has no legitimate security concerns because NATO is a purely defensive alliance. Whether we like it or not, a NATO that now borders Russia and could in future border even more of Russia is seen by Russia as a security concern.”

It looks as if Skidelsky has suffered the fate of AJP Taylor, whose revisionist 1960s “Origins Of The Second World War” saw him sacked from Oxford, despite being such a popular lecturer “that he had to give his lectures at 8:30 a.m. to avoid the room becoming over-crowded.”

Someone here was calling Russia “genocidal” – what a heap of crap. Russia has tried (and generally succeeded) to minimise civilian casualties.

Genocidal is the OUN in Galicia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacres_of_Poles_in_Volhynia_and_Eastern_Galicia

The peak of the massacres took place in July and August 1943. These killings were exceptionally brutal, and most of the victims were women and children. The UPA’s actions resulted in up to 100,000 Polish deaths.Estimates of the death toll range from 60,000 to 120,000. Other victims of the massacres included several hundred Armenians, Jews, Russians, Czechs, Georgians, and Ukrainians who were part of Polish families or opposed the UPA and impeded the massacres by hiding Polish escapees.

The ethnic cleansing was a Ukrainian attempt to prevent the post-war Polish state from asserting its sovereignty over Ukrainian-majority areas that had been part of the pre-war Polish state.

Note that last. Stalin would have approved the method if not the aim. I must say I wouldn’t fancy being a Russian prisoner of a Ukrainian unit with Mr Hack or LatW in charge.

(This is a reply to Mikhail 30)