No one is looking ahead to the future. If Ukraine comes out of this war as victors, they are going to be a powerful military, proficient on the battlefield, in drone warfare, with EW and cyber, in detection and generally winning wars. Are you paying attention in the back? Have you ever heard of PTSD? Now think PTSD for a nation of 40 million. Ukraine is going to have be handled carefully in future. We do not want them outside of NATO. We should understand how beneficial it will be to have them inside NATO.
as for ptsd, i recommend iboga, maybe psilocybin microdosing, but everyone has their own therapy. there is no doubt ukrainians will keep on fighting (because their country will cease to exist if they stop fighting).
as for nato, accession won't be possible until ukraine has an independent judiciary, functioning parliament and independent (at least, according to its own constitution) institutions, e.g. national bank, accounting chamber, etc). we're a long way off
Strange, youtube says all these songs not available anymore. Will reset my VPN to Ukraine and try again. I think the psychological impact of this war on Ukraine is going to be felt for generations and it is going to have an impact not just in Ukraine but in Europe as well. More Russian damage and more things they will pay for later. Agree on NATO but all those things will be good for Ukraine too. Hang in there.
Do you think I am a fascist? I’m not, but by your description I am. If this is how you feel, let me know as I am not an unwitting dupe,stooge or fucking Nazi following today’s Hitler. If so, pull me off your fucking list. I’m voting for Trump and am working the polls in my district. The nastier you jerks get, the more support he gets.
So, convicted felon is inaccurate. Not convicted by law until sentence imposed (you missed that) /risk to the stability of our Republic/ the End of Democracy/ Donald Trump will imprison and kill his opponents are just bitter ranting.
You can support the depraved Bidens and that noted intellect and hardworking Harris from afar. Like those two give a fuck about Ukraine. Riiight.
I hope you feel better. I’m furious at an ignorant asshole who knows better than everyone what is in people’s hearts.
Highly recommend you commiserate with Crit and the other worshipers of Saint Liz Cheney. Bye
Couldn't agree more with Pastukhov's post. If the West doesn't want to play in the nuclear/world war casino then Z's play to save lives is to start peace negotiations as soon as possible---knowing that both parties will not be pleased or save face. In the end, with the West not risking their "chips" this must be his ultimate decision. In the interim he could prolong the war with an intense effort to push the invaders' line back east before agreeing to start negotiating a peace, but this effort must be weighed against the cost of lives for probably what would be a marginal territorial retention. And what this looks like is something like Putin retains Crimea and some of eastern Ukraine and the West provides explicit security guarantees for the Ukraine going forward. And I admit, I want to vomit when I suggest that Putin gets anything....but can't see an end any other way.
... and the china/russia/hungary/iran/north korea/maga bullshit factories will all provide sympathetic pundits with wacko justifications for a truce: parts of ukraine were actually part of russia in the first place, people there speak russian, areas were inhabited by russia during the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th centuries, et cetera. just let russia keep 25% of ukraine because putin promises to then stop bombing children's hospitals, flattening villages, kidnapping kids.
this will be the *illusional peace* we're worried about, because it would mean the end of international law, morality, stability, order, freedom, human rights, and ukraine's national interests, starting with its own national security. sanctions will be lifted, russia will re-arm and we'll do it all over again in two years, if there's anyone left. the west's resolve to defend the post-potsdam world order will have been tested, kind of. it's a sad story,
Putin doesn't have to ask anyone if they are willing to die on a particular hill. Zelensky has to ask everybody. If you equate Putin with Zelensky then you are fighting for the wrong side. We all have a rendezvous with Death, the only question is 'will it have meaning?'
hi, vaughan. i think i got carried away thinking about *dying on this hill.* we certainly don't want z telling his top commanders *what hill they should die on.* i think volodymyr tries to explain in his post that the political stakes (win/lose -- zero sum) for putin and z are the same, but that western leaders have to weigh risks on whether to increase the risk of putin making the catastrophe worse. scholz has since turned down flat yesterday's call by z for ukraine's partners to use western weapons on targets deep in russia. he said the consensus position and us position is a categorical *no.* as for rendezvous with death, i agree. that hundreds of thousands of russian invaders have died for no good reason, in vain, boggles the mind. z said in one of his first interviews w/ western media in march 2022 that victory in the war meant saving as many [ukrainian] lives as possible (https://tinyurl.com/4y9jersb). i wonder whether he hasn't been distracted since.
***
"усі будуть щасливі, якщо одна особа у світі, неважливо - дональд трамп чи хтось інший, нехай дональд трамп, змогла б зупинити війну за 24 години. але питання у тому, якою ціною і хто її платитиме. ...це означатиме просто зупинитися - і віддати (території - ред.), і забути. санкції знімуть, путін отримає землю, зробить із цього перемогу для свого суспільства. ми ніколи на це не підемо і немає нікого у світі, хто може підштовхнути нас до цього." https://censor.net/ua/n3500518
"everyone will be happy if one person in the world, it doesn't matter who -- trump or someone else, let it be trump -- could stop the war in 24 hours. but the question is at what cost and who will pay it. ...this will mean simply stopping - ceding [territory] and forgetting. sanctions will be lifted, putin will get the land, he will make it a victory for his society. we will never go for that and there is no one in the world who can push us to this," -- z yesterday in london
***
i'm less interested in hills we can defend than ukrainian lives we can save
I was trying to get across that Z has to ask, Putin gets to tell, what hill you are dying on. That is the difference and it is worth fighting (and dying) for. There is no way Ukraine gets through this without massive casualties and deaths. You have already paid a steep price and it's not over yet. Your society has to come up with the acceptable figure. It may be a combination of deaths and land lost, or it may be more deaths and land recovered. Z is right in that no-one tells the Ukrainians what that is, despite Trump's wet dreams. It is still a horrible fucking choice and it is heartbreaking to see what is happening to Ukraine. All I can offer is my support, my pitiful donations and my faith in Ukrainian people.
hi, vaughan. i agree. i have been rambling in recent posts and gone off on tangents. the assassination of two public figures, most recently of farion in lviv, is one more dangerous distraction. a lot is happening. getting back to putin and z: pastukhov, i think, makes a good point, namely that putin can afford a pause in the fighting (call it what u want, ceasefire, truce, armistice), while z can't, because the the war is the only thing keeping him and his top managers afloat. when the war stops, z will be shown the exits for reasons i don't write about here because we should not write about ultra-competitive ukrainian-style politics when cruise missile are whistling above our heads.
i am a big fan of the cold war (in which i participated) because it prevented military confrontation and the senseless loss of millions of lives. i think people all over the world who support ukraine and ukrainians today in this horrible unfair fight are wonderful. it really is a black/white, evil/good situation
Who was Farion and why was he murdered? I think you are right on some level about Z, the west has latched on to him as a new Churchill and that suspiciously fits the narrative too neatly (and he might be, I'm not ruling that out. People forget that in the 1930's Churchill was seen as a bit of a joke, failed as First Sea Lord at the Admiralty in WW1, Gallipoli was his big fuckup. Ok, he was right about Hitler. In WW2 he continued his idea of Europe's soft underbelly and got the Americans to invade Italy, another debacle. He was immediately voted out with a huge landslide against him when the war was over. But I digress). Ukraine needs to be more than Z. Your political structure needs to be more robust than one man. The glorious leader scenario is a risky one, despite its obvious attractions. I know, I'm stating the obvious here (Doh!). I hate to say it, but I fear you are being somewhat nostalgic about the Cold War. Those days are over bro, cooked, done. Even if a large part of the electorate in the West (and maybe a growing number of people in Russia) is hankering after it again. We have to wake up and realise WW3 is just around the corner. The big question is how to get through it without using nukes. Is it just coincidence that Fallout was a big hit on Netflix this year?
1. an autocrat of low character (liar, felon, corrupt businessman, seditionist, bigot, would-be dictator).
2. an extremist, cult-like political movement with no proven capacity or inclination to govern responsibility.
3. a politicized supreme court with little respect for the u.s. constitution or legal precedent.
4. a large media presence that promotes lies, hate and misinformation.
5. a heavily gerrymandered electorate in republican states that, combined with voter suppression, could make an electoral college difference in a close election.
6. a fascist plan of action supported by extremists likely to staff a trump administration.
i don't keep fascist lists or pretend to know what is in people's hearts.
Keep Fighting - Fireflight - Ukraine. This dedicated to Ukraine (officially endorsed) hopefully, maybe, if somebody actually asked Fireflight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I87im7jpUd0
No one is looking ahead to the future. If Ukraine comes out of this war as victors, they are going to be a powerful military, proficient on the battlefield, in drone warfare, with EW and cyber, in detection and generally winning wars. Are you paying attention in the back? Have you ever heard of PTSD? Now think PTSD for a nation of 40 million. Ukraine is going to have be handled carefully in future. We do not want them outside of NATO. We should understand how beneficial it will be to have them inside NATO.
hi, vaughan. i'm a big fan.
one of the most popular songs of the orange revolution was razom nas bohato (which i hated) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzlme1ow2nu
of the revolution of dignity: ой, у лузі червона калина revolution -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvvshh2dyuw
(but i liked lyapis' грай -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0fmi7dz1n0)
there have been lots of war songs since early 2022:
ярмак - вавилон: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=metzatxiwum
at the start of the war we had fun with *invaders must die* -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unmjgny5sbg
as for ptsd, i recommend iboga, maybe psilocybin microdosing, but everyone has their own therapy. there is no doubt ukrainians will keep on fighting (because their country will cease to exist if they stop fighting).
as for nato, accession won't be possible until ukraine has an independent judiciary, functioning parliament and independent (at least, according to its own constitution) institutions, e.g. national bank, accounting chamber, etc). we're a long way off
Strange, youtube says all these songs not available anymore. Will reset my VPN to Ukraine and try again. I think the psychological impact of this war on Ukraine is going to be felt for generations and it is going to have an impact not just in Ukraine but in Europe as well. More Russian damage and more things they will pay for later. Agree on NATO but all those things will be good for Ukraine too. Hang in there.
ah. maybe because i always comment in lower case.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8Bz2-Q9H_E (invaders must die)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meTzAtXIwuM (yarmak - vavilon)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srE0ozyqDM0 (lyapsis grai, ukraine version)
just search for razom nas bohato and ой, у лузі червона
Do you think I am a fascist? I’m not, but by your description I am. If this is how you feel, let me know as I am not an unwitting dupe,stooge or fucking Nazi following today’s Hitler. If so, pull me off your fucking list. I’m voting for Trump and am working the polls in my district. The nastier you jerks get, the more support he gets.
So, convicted felon is inaccurate. Not convicted by law until sentence imposed (you missed that) /risk to the stability of our Republic/ the End of Democracy/ Donald Trump will imprison and kill his opponents are just bitter ranting.
You can support the depraved Bidens and that noted intellect and hardworking Harris from afar. Like those two give a fuck about Ukraine. Riiight.
I hope you feel better. I’m furious at an ignorant asshole who knows better than everyone what is in people’s hearts.
Highly recommend you commiserate with Crit and the other worshipers of Saint Liz Cheney. Bye
Couldn't agree more with Pastukhov's post. If the West doesn't want to play in the nuclear/world war casino then Z's play to save lives is to start peace negotiations as soon as possible---knowing that both parties will not be pleased or save face. In the end, with the West not risking their "chips" this must be his ultimate decision. In the interim he could prolong the war with an intense effort to push the invaders' line back east before agreeing to start negotiating a peace, but this effort must be weighed against the cost of lives for probably what would be a marginal territorial retention. And what this looks like is something like Putin retains Crimea and some of eastern Ukraine and the West provides explicit security guarantees for the Ukraine going forward. And I admit, I want to vomit when I suggest that Putin gets anything....but can't see an end any other way.
hi, mark
... and the china/russia/hungary/iran/north korea/maga bullshit factories will all provide sympathetic pundits with wacko justifications for a truce: parts of ukraine were actually part of russia in the first place, people there speak russian, areas were inhabited by russia during the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th centuries, et cetera. just let russia keep 25% of ukraine because putin promises to then stop bombing children's hospitals, flattening villages, kidnapping kids.
this will be the *illusional peace* we're worried about, because it would mean the end of international law, morality, stability, order, freedom, human rights, and ukraine's national interests, starting with its own national security. sanctions will be lifted, russia will re-arm and we'll do it all over again in two years, if there's anyone left. the west's resolve to defend the post-potsdam world order will have been tested, kind of. it's a sad story,
read what pastukhov wrote two weeks before they tried to decapitate kyiv https://tinyurl.com/2t629ybf
Putin doesn't have to ask anyone if they are willing to die on a particular hill. Zelensky has to ask everybody. If you equate Putin with Zelensky then you are fighting for the wrong side. We all have a rendezvous with Death, the only question is 'will it have meaning?'
hi, vaughan. i think i got carried away thinking about *dying on this hill.* we certainly don't want z telling his top commanders *what hill they should die on.* i think volodymyr tries to explain in his post that the political stakes (win/lose -- zero sum) for putin and z are the same, but that western leaders have to weigh risks on whether to increase the risk of putin making the catastrophe worse. scholz has since turned down flat yesterday's call by z for ukraine's partners to use western weapons on targets deep in russia. he said the consensus position and us position is a categorical *no.* as for rendezvous with death, i agree. that hundreds of thousands of russian invaders have died for no good reason, in vain, boggles the mind. z said in one of his first interviews w/ western media in march 2022 that victory in the war meant saving as many [ukrainian] lives as possible (https://tinyurl.com/4y9jersb). i wonder whether he hasn't been distracted since.
***
"усі будуть щасливі, якщо одна особа у світі, неважливо - дональд трамп чи хтось інший, нехай дональд трамп, змогла б зупинити війну за 24 години. але питання у тому, якою ціною і хто її платитиме. ...це означатиме просто зупинитися - і віддати (території - ред.), і забути. санкції знімуть, путін отримає землю, зробить із цього перемогу для свого суспільства. ми ніколи на це не підемо і немає нікого у світі, хто може підштовхнути нас до цього." https://censor.net/ua/n3500518
"everyone will be happy if one person in the world, it doesn't matter who -- trump or someone else, let it be trump -- could stop the war in 24 hours. but the question is at what cost and who will pay it. ...this will mean simply stopping - ceding [territory] and forgetting. sanctions will be lifted, putin will get the land, he will make it a victory for his society. we will never go for that and there is no one in the world who can push us to this," -- z yesterday in london
***
i'm less interested in hills we can defend than ukrainian lives we can save
I was trying to get across that Z has to ask, Putin gets to tell, what hill you are dying on. That is the difference and it is worth fighting (and dying) for. There is no way Ukraine gets through this without massive casualties and deaths. You have already paid a steep price and it's not over yet. Your society has to come up with the acceptable figure. It may be a combination of deaths and land lost, or it may be more deaths and land recovered. Z is right in that no-one tells the Ukrainians what that is, despite Trump's wet dreams. It is still a horrible fucking choice and it is heartbreaking to see what is happening to Ukraine. All I can offer is my support, my pitiful donations and my faith in Ukrainian people.
hi, vaughan. i agree. i have been rambling in recent posts and gone off on tangents. the assassination of two public figures, most recently of farion in lviv, is one more dangerous distraction. a lot is happening. getting back to putin and z: pastukhov, i think, makes a good point, namely that putin can afford a pause in the fighting (call it what u want, ceasefire, truce, armistice), while z can't, because the the war is the only thing keeping him and his top managers afloat. when the war stops, z will be shown the exits for reasons i don't write about here because we should not write about ultra-competitive ukrainian-style politics when cruise missile are whistling above our heads.
i am a big fan of the cold war (in which i participated) because it prevented military confrontation and the senseless loss of millions of lives. i think people all over the world who support ukraine and ukrainians today in this horrible unfair fight are wonderful. it really is a black/white, evil/good situation
Who was Farion and why was he murdered? I think you are right on some level about Z, the west has latched on to him as a new Churchill and that suspiciously fits the narrative too neatly (and he might be, I'm not ruling that out. People forget that in the 1930's Churchill was seen as a bit of a joke, failed as First Sea Lord at the Admiralty in WW1, Gallipoli was his big fuckup. Ok, he was right about Hitler. In WW2 he continued his idea of Europe's soft underbelly and got the Americans to invade Italy, another debacle. He was immediately voted out with a huge landslide against him when the war was over. But I digress). Ukraine needs to be more than Z. Your political structure needs to be more robust than one man. The glorious leader scenario is a risky one, despite its obvious attractions. I know, I'm stating the obvious here (Doh!). I hate to say it, but I fear you are being somewhat nostalgic about the Cold War. Those days are over bro, cooked, done. Even if a large part of the electorate in the West (and maybe a growing number of people in Russia) is hankering after it again. We have to wake up and realise WW3 is just around the corner. The big question is how to get through it without using nukes. Is it just coincidence that Fallout was a big hit on Netflix this year?
hi, maura.
features of american fascism:
1. an autocrat of low character (liar, felon, corrupt businessman, seditionist, bigot, would-be dictator).
2. an extremist, cult-like political movement with no proven capacity or inclination to govern responsibility.
3. a politicized supreme court with little respect for the u.s. constitution or legal precedent.
4. a large media presence that promotes lies, hate and misinformation.
5. a heavily gerrymandered electorate in republican states that, combined with voter suppression, could make an electoral college difference in a close election.
6. a fascist plan of action supported by extremists likely to staff a trump administration.
i don't keep fascist lists or pretend to know what is in people's hearts.