uphillbothways @ uphillbothways @kbin.social

ghost riding the apocalypse cuz there’s no way off this ride

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2 yr. ago

You are right. That's fair.

You know, as an American, I have difficulty trying to figure out how to react and resist against my country's imperialistic endeavors, among other things. Many other things. I think our police probably share more qualities with yours than they have differences, as one for instance.

But, I think that, again, when family and friends, neighbors and loved ones are being conscripted in a draft and killed in a war that isn't even a matter of self-defense, but that is also inviting retaliation closer to home that philosophy becomes much less lofty. Much more practical.

When you are being forced into seriously unjust actions that invite current harm AND future harm, that calculus seems much easier to figure out. When there is already harm being directed at you by your government, the path of less harm might just be taking direct action to solve that source of all the attendant problems.

I sincerely hope the Russian people can find a way to limit the harms their government is targeting them with. And, that they find a way to prosper and contribute and enjoy both the fruits of their labor AND their renewed place in a world that can similarly find itself on a better track. Because, honestly, humanity as whole is a fucking mess and we all need each other right now and going forward.

Is it better to lose life, freedom and loved ones in the pursuit of an unjust war in Ukraine that will provoke further violence at home? Or, is it better to direct violence at home against the ones who would send you or your loved ones to be killed fighting the Ukrainian people who themselves are just trying to defend their loved ones and their homes?

If you are too afraid and unwilling to fight back against the architects of your current torment, are you not already imprisoned?

but he has refrained from explicitly condemning Moscow for the war, while suggesting it may have been provoked by the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Europe’s east.

Countries' decisions in how they defend themselves is self-determination in internal affairs.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is unmasked aggression outside of their borders without provocation.

Equating the two is wrong. Full stop.

NATO is only designed to kick into action in the event of attacks on member countries. It is a defensive treaty organization. If Russia wasn't being a bunch of dickholes, they'd have nothing to worry about from NATO.

If the weather doesn’t cooperate for viewing this weekend, don’t worry; while it will diminish in brightness, Saturn will be visible in the evening sky for the remainder of the year.

Search for Saturn rise and set times where you are and go take a look. Saturn moves really slow. A few nights are less than a percent of its orbit. Barely makes a difference.

For what it's worth, I've been able to successfully view Saturn's rings from fairly large metro areas with a pair of 15x70 binoculars. Not in the greatest or most minute detail, but at least be able to see they are there. You can definitely see the shape.

I'm looking forward to taking a look the next couple nights. It's not astronomical science by any means, but it's a fun activity outside.

Because they're being sold a narrative that isn't even in their interests. It's not culture if it doesn't come from the people and act for them.

There's also probably a lot to be said for his 3 or so years at HQ Land Command as assistant director intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. While I don't have any personal experience to speak of in this regard either, "intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance" at his level seems like he would have seen a lot of paid informant sources on the ground and been involved in analysis in terms of both intelligence and counter-intelligence of those sources. That could have been both sources being paid for information and to give misinformation, evaluation of who might be paying those sources to give you misinformation, and reports on a variety of mercenary activities. That experience might be doing the heavy lifting here.

And, there's always the chance that he's still involved in some capacity post retirement. If that continuing relationship did exist, it could mean he has information he's been asked to speak publicly from or it could be he's asked to spin public narratives.

What he has to say probably means something, but there's probably no way to tell what exactly that is. I mean, there's a wikipedia page about this guy's career. That's not true for most people.

Resources at all levels of the ecosystem are stretched thin. That is bound to cause conflict.

With the collapse of the ruble are they even still one of the 20 largest economies? Putin has destroyed that country. It's crazy.

An analysis by the IMF warns that government financial aid for polluting energy sources continues to grow, and calls for its complete elimination

This would have been so great 20 years ago.

If you take into account the effects of subsidies (which are social programs) on the availability of certain types of foods and how lobbying efforts form which subsidies make their way into law and practice, the aims of different forms of social programs definitely can be inferred. Further, the dollars spent on lobbying efforts come indirectly from the profitability of certain industries under given subsidy programs, so that sort of magnifies the effects of those dollars, based on where and what industries they are focused on.

These are all choices made by societies, indirectly or directly, at some level. None of them are just given. There's definitely an influence from differing environmental factors (land use, suitability and availability, differing climates, soil types, etc across the globe), but none of them have to be the way they ended up.

All of that may be outside the scope of this report, but they are definitely contributing factors. Summed up, they speak to the aims of a given social structure.

On this epsiode of Range Marshal Bill.... "Lemme show ya somethin! Let's say great leader calls about a performance and loyalty pledge..."

Mom jokes, spicy chilis and twisting your hands around someone's arm in opposite directions also temporarily off limits.

No. You're right. I should have typed "surrogate forces" in quotations or 'supposed surrogate forces' or something. Point being, at the time and for a few news cycles after there was a story used to interject and/or some attempt to introduce uncertainty. That story was bullshit, it was even pretty obvious at the time, but they tried. This is much more cut and dry. That Putin wanted to send a message is obvious, but there was no concern this time about that message being too loud or it sending warning signals to unintended targets.

This could spook business from returning, as mentioned by another response below. This could have knock on effects. Putin didn't even try to act like he cared about any of that. That could mean a lot of things. I don't think any of them are good.

Taking down a private plane in civilian airspace with Russian air defense is a surprising escalation, even for Putin. Even Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed by surrogate forces offering a certain amount of deniability.

Being able to look forward to terms like "economically inactive" and "unretirement" makes being classified "biologically inactive" and "unalive" seem better and better, here and now.

She knows you've undertaken an epic journey overcoming incalculable difficulty to secure survival resources. She wants to bask in your shine. You're her hero.