Does Bonfire have any public instances?
Not really anything serious.
By poking around bonfire.fediverse.observer/lis… I found two (and only two) with open sign ups that do not say "demo and testing instance":
Try:
It's kinda amazing to me how they convinced so many people to give them money when that is all they have. I guess people want to have hope.
Fediverse Observer checks all sites in the fediverse and gives you an easy way to find a home from a map or list or automatically.
Bonfire Sites Status. Find a Bonfire server to sign up for, find one close to you!bonfire.fediverse.observer
Thank you for sharing the links! I just signed to one of them.
I am also surprised how much money they were able to raise. I hope they deliver on the things they promised
I know, right.
After they've finished doing maintenance no one will be able to see any visible difference and will just have to believe them when they ask for more money. They were upfront about that so maybe it'll go ok but yeah seems risky as hell.
What is Bonfire? Plural by design
Bonfire is difficult to pin down with a single definition, and that's a feature, not a bug. The project's very structure is about enabling a tapestry of social spaces, all built with shared building blocks but diverging in flavour, practice, and purp…bonfirenetworks.org
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You got flavors which is a set of features pre-selected features. One of them offer microblogging but you can completely disable it or choose another flavor. You can build with bonfire any type of platform like an peer tube and pixeled alternative or even novel applications like a platform for collaborative peer review in science
I think it is a big mistake to have an clone to mastodon as a demo. Instead of promoting the unique capabilities
piefed.zip/c/fediverse/p/78677…
Bonfire - Why Community Matters: Groups as the Next Step for the Fediverse
Federated groups in Bonfire will be spaces where communities gather to organise, care, and coordinate across the fediverse. They'll live next to your personal feed, but each group having a specific purpose: a study circle, a lab team, an activist collective, a local mutual aid crew, a project team. Inside you’ll find posts, conversations, calendars, shared resources, and more. Crucially, groups will be portable and interoperable.
is for testing Bonfire Social, the microblogging part. (This one not federated)
Thailand launches air strikes at Cambodia as border tensions reignite
cross-posted from: lemmy.zip/post/54551509
Thailand launches air strikes at Cambodia as border tensions reignite
Bombed Chornobyl shelter no longer blocks radiation and needs major repair – IAEA
Drone attack that Ukraine blamed on Russia blew hole in painstakingly erected €1.5bn shield meant to allow for final clean-up of 1986 meltdown site
The protective shield over the Chornobyl disaster nuclear reactor in Ukraine, which was hit by a drone in February, can no longer perform its main function of blocking radiation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has announced.
In February a drone strike blew a hole in the “new safe confinement”, which was painstakingly built at a cost of €1.5bn ($1.75bn) next to the destroyed reactor and then hauled into place on tracks, with the work completed in 2019 by a Europe-led initiative. The IAEA said an inspection last week of the steel confinement structure found the drone impact had degraded the structure.
The 1986 Chornobyl explosion – which happened when Ukraine was under Moscow’s rule as part of the Soviet Union – sent radiation across Europe. In the scramble to contain the meltdown, the Soviets built over the reactor a concrete “sarcophagus” with only a 30-year lifespan. The new confinement was built to contain radiation during the decades-long final removal of the sarcophagus, ruined reactor building underneath it and the melted-down nuclear fuel itself.
bombedChernobyl
Two words I'd never imagine seeing together in the same sentence
Whoever decided to do this should go toes first through a wood chipper
No they don't, it's a really REALLY bad idea.
Think about it. If you win, you will win a nuclear hell scape that will cost you huge amounts of money to control and maintain, awesome!
There is a difference between what we want reality to be and what it actually is.
If we were talking about what we want, we wouldn't have this war in the first place.
Changes to U.S. Security Strategy 'Largely Consistent' With Russia's Vision – Kremlin -
Russia has welcomed changes in the U.S. National Security Strategy, saying the adjustments that marked a radical departure from Washington's previous policy were "largely consistent" with Moscow's vision.
Washington's new National Security Strategy, published early Friday, took aim at allies in Europe, calling them over-regulated, lacking in "self-confidence" and facing "civilizational erasure" due to immigration.
Immigrants approved for citizenship ‘plucked out’ of line moments before pledging allegiance: report
Immigrants were moments away from pledging allegiance to the United States in Boston — the final step of the long process to becoming a U.S. citizen — when government officials pulled them out of line, according to a new report.
The scene unfolded at Boston’s Faneuil Hall on Thursday, Dec. 4, according to the report from WGBH, a National Public Radio member station.
As people who were already approved to be naturalized — having completed the lengthy U.S. citizenship process — lined up to pledge allegiance, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officials told them they could not continue due to their countries of origin, the outlet reported.
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Faneuil Hall (/ˈfænjəl/ or /ˈfænəl/; previously /ˈfʌnəl/) is a marketplace and meeting hall near the waterfront and Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Opened in 1742,[2] it was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain.
Hmm. What's next? We gonna start hanging out at the steps of lady liberty herself, right in front of Lazarus's poem, asking for papers?
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Haiti is on the list of 19 countries with full or partial restrictions, which also includes Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.
Donald Trump pardons Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar
Cuellar also on Wednesday filed for reelection as a Democrat, quieting speculation that he planned to switch parties. On the House floor Wednesday afternoon, numerous Democratic colleagues greeted Cuellar warmly, hugging him and shaking his hand.
...
This cycle, he is facing a serious Republican opponent — Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina, a former Democrat, who announced his candidacy Tuesday and noted that Cuellar was facing “serious federal corruption accusations that have shaken the trust of the people he is supposed to serve,” in a statement announcing his candidacy.
Donald Trump pardons Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar
Cuellar had faced a dozen charges of bribery, money laundering and conspiracy. On Wednesday, he filed for reelection as a Democrat, quieting speculation that he might switch parties.Gabby Birenbaum (The Texas Tribune)
No one is going to try and primary him.
He's survived two primaries already, in large part thanks to Pelosi bailing him out.
US may end support for Ukraine war effort, says Donald Trump Jr
Eldest son of Donald Trump makes speculative comments during tirade against Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU
Donald Trump may walk away from the Ukrainian war, the US president’s oldest son has said in comments to a Middle East conference.
In a lengthy tirade against the purpose of continued fighting in Ukraine, Donald Trump Jr also said Ukraine’s “corrupt” rich had fled their country leaving “what they believed to be the peasant class” to fight the war.
Trump Jr has no formal role inside his father’s administration, but is a key figure in the MAGA movement. His intervention reflects the antipathy among some inside the Trump team towards the Ukrainian government, and comes as Trump’s negotiating team is putting pressure on Kyiv to give up territory.
Literally. They are collecting Russian kickbacks on one side, and collecting ransom payout on the other.
Meanwhile Ukrainian citizens are being murdered by an expansionist aggressor and our own nation is trying to twist the narrative so that it's a "war between two leaders" so that it seems petty and pointless to US citizens.
And the worst part is our collective attention spans are so low, that this actually works. We have a collective attention span of only a couple years, anything past that is now forgotten in the endless haze of scrolling and sensationalism.
Exit polling after Trump was elected to his second term revealed this basically. People said they didn't know if there was a meaningful difference between the candidates and many people just voted for whoever seemed "more genuine" and while they weren't necessarily wrong that Trump is a more "genuine" person than Harris, it still meant that most people had forgotten what Trump's first administration was like, just four years prior.
In fact, in conversations with people, I'm more and more baffled and horrified how many people don't have strong memory anymore. Things we did a year ago together have become fuzzy and lost, anything before that seems to be almost non-existent unless it made a huge impact. The epidemic of scrolling for dopamine hits is impacting our shared memory of reality.
In a lengthy tirade against the purpose of continued fighting in Ukraine, Donald Trump Jr also said Ukraine’s “corrupt” rich had fled their country leaving “what they believed to be the peasant class” to fight the war.
If this was true (it isn't) he is saying that the US should stop supporting the less we'll off because the corrupt people left. He is saying we should only support a country while the corrupt wealthy people are still there.
It is false because the stated cause, "corrupt rich people leaving", is not true so it would not lead to the "peasant class" being left behind to do the fighting.
Yes, the "peasant class" always fights the wars, but not because of something that didn't happen.
Rich people are leaving, though. They could literally bribe recruiters to avoid serving in the war.
theguardian.com/world/2023/aug…
The only people who are stuck are the ones who can't afford to leave.
Bribes and hiding at home: the Ukrainian men trying to avoid conscription
Some are spending life savings to stay out of the war, but such actions are seen as treasonous by those already fightingShaun Walker (The Guardian)
Trump DoJ ‘immediately’ stops enforcing prison rape protections for trans and intersex people, according to leaked memo
The Department of Justice instructed prison auditors across the country to simply stop assessing whether facilities are violating laws designed to shield LGBT+ prisoners from sexual abuse
The U.S. Department of Justice will "immediately" stop enforcing a swathe of federal regulations protecting trans and intersex prisoners from rape and sexual assault, according to leaked documents.
In a memo obtained by the non-profit news outlet Prism, DoJ official Tammie M. Gregg told prison auditors across the nation to "immediately pause" all "compliance determinations" for key safety rules concerning LGBTQI+ inmates, and advise prisons to "disregard" them.
Those rules include requiring trans and intersex prisoners to be allowed separate showers, banning body searches purely for the purpose of finding out what genitals they have, and requiring prison staff to consider their safety when assigning them to male or female wings.
Trump administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans and intersex people, memo says
A Department of Justice memo says certain standards under the Prison Rape Elimination Act do not align with Trump’s executive orderAdam Rhodes (Prism)
Yeah, to al the assholes who decided not to vote for a progressive
We could've had West abolish prisons
Fucking hilarious! Hey, real quick, what’s West been up to since November?
Remember when we tried to tell you that he and all the rest of the party dividers would disappear post-election?
Yeah. Maybe you’ll listen next time. That dude didn’t give a shit. He’s paid to split the vote and that’s what he does.
Yeah, the difference is, none of us that were voting for her ever claimed or believed that she was going to change the world-
-instead, we just thought she’d play spoiler to the one person that would bring us fascism.
Those 3rd party clowns were supposed to usher in a new world of perfection and bliss according to all the kids crying about things like…. “aBoLiSh pRiSoNs!” LMAO!
-Instead, all they did was play spoiler to the one person that could have stopped fascism….
What state would have been for Harris if all 7 voters for West voted for her?
EDIT: And there is is, no answer.
Trump Makes Weird Bid to Turn His Birthday Into a Holiday
President Donald Trump has taken an extraordinary step in his efforts to turn his birthday into a national celebration, with the National Park Service revealing that on June 14, his birthday, admission to national parks will be free for U.S. citizens.
In addition, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth have been removed from the schedule of free park admission days, despite both being federally recognized holidays.
Trump Makes Weird Bid to Turn His Birthday Into a Holiday
Americans will be able to visit national parks for free on the president’s birthday next year.Catherine Bouris (The Daily Beast)
Next day, he turns up, and does the same thing. Buys it, glances at the front page, throws it in the trash.
Next day, same thing. The newsstand worker is increasingly puzzled, but doesn't say anything.
But eventually, after a couple of weeks of this, he can't take it. "I'm sorry, friend, but I must ask: why do you buy the paper every day and then just look at the front page and throw it out?"
"Oh, I'm just checking for something."
"OK, but: what are you checking for?"
"I'm checking for a particular obituary."
"But sir, you don't even open the newspaper! The obituaries aren't even on the front page!"
"Oh, believe me, the one I'm waiting for will be."
I will make it a tradition to celebrate his death every year.
Religious people love doing that.
Well, don’t get me wrong. I don’t like the man any more than you do. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that most people on the planet does not give a fuck, or might even know who the guy is.
My critique is not of the intent of the message, just the fact that ppl from the US think that all that happens in the US must be on the world agenda, and is probably that most important thing in the universe right now..
This self importance is tiring, and stretches from left to right in US politics.
There's a better chance that MAGA will collapse into factional infighting.
It's always been an uneasy alliance between Putin-aligned kleptocrats, fundamentalist morons, neo-Nazis, quacks, con artists and tech bros (yeah, I know, there's overlap), and all of those groups have competing interests.
Gross. Fuck off fascist. No one wants to celebrate the day your mom shat you out.
We'll celebrate the day you last draw breath though! Gonna get me some nice booze. None of that cheap stuff.
Maybe he dimly realizes it too, and that's why he's obsessively building monuments, giving himself fake awards, and other imbecilic pursuits of "legacy."
Possibly also why the mask is off with respect to being a Russian-controlled quisling.
Good, it will be a great day to Protest on.
Also, gorsh, I wonder what Juneteenth and MLK Jr. day have in common that Republicans and only Republicans dislike so much? /s
Also, gorsh, I wonder what Juneteenth and MLK Jr. day have in common that Republicans and only Republicans dislike so much?
I find it simply hilarious that, even still, now that their mask has been completely removed, you still have conservatives and Republicans trying that age-old chestnut about how it is really the Democrats that are the racists, because Lincoln was a Republican, and because of the Dixiecrats. And trying to yadda yadda something about Robert Byrd, etc.
All while they go apoplectic about "woke", DEI, CRT and "political correctness", etc...
Of course, entirely ignoring everything that had happened in more recent times, like the Southern Strategy, and the Civil Rights movement, etc...there was some Republican idiot on the DP comment section that even kept rejecting the Southern Strategy as fake news for some contrived reason that only made sense in his head.
It was always so goddamned pathetic, just like their attempt to tie socialism to Nazis merely because of the label, even if it's easy to point out the fact that the Nazis targeted unions, Communists and socialists.
But the fact that they are still trying this nonsense is beyond pathetic.
Gavin Newsom opposes California ‘billionaire tax’ as he eyes 2028 White House bid
Gavin Newsom opposes California ‘billionaire tax’ as he eyes 2028 White House bid
A campaign to plug California’s leaky health care system by squeezing the state’s richest has a high-profile opponent: Gov. Gavin Newsom.Annie Gaus (New York Post)
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If Newsome gets the nod, which is the assumption we were all OBVIOUSLY operating one for the purpose of this conversation, people are already all over this thread saying they wouldn't vote him and would hand the presidency to Republicans.
Just like they did last November. They're right to scrutinize Harries, every politician should be. But they're WRONG to stop at Harris. They give Trump a pass. Then they act like they have the moral high ground and gloat about bringing Trump back to power.
If Newsome gets the nod, which is the assumption we were all OBVIOUSLY operating one for the purpose of this conversation
That's a weird assumption to make considering I started this conversation by saying, "The minute [Newsom] enters the primary...he's going to flame out fast."
No criticism, only votes!
No platform, only votes!
No primaries, only votes!
No speech, only votes!
You voted in a way they didn't like? HOW DARE YOU!
She was the vice president, the person we choose to take over when a president is incapacitated. I would love to hear about all the ways she's worse than Trump.
Nothing more infuriating to see people thoroughly scrutinize one candidate while absolutely refusing to do so for the other.
they said she had no shot of winning the primary
The neither did Sanders.
She was NOT GOING TO LOSE CALIFORNIA. For fuck's sake, who could possibly be this fucking stupid. You know the election happened right? SHE WON CALIFORNIA, YOU IMPOSSIBLE DUMBASS.
She was essentially a younger Biden so you might want to look into whatever unconscious issues you have with voting for a non-white man.
You're saying Harris shouldn't have been elected.... that means you support Trump. You certainly worked extra hard for him spreading your bullshit lies and blatant propaganda. You're the same as MAGA, no thought, no reasoning, no HONESTY. Fucking shameful.
She was NOT GOING TO LOSE CALIFORNIA. For fuck's sake, who could possibly be this fucking stupid.
OK, but yes, she absolutely was..
You know the election happened right? SHE WON CALIFORNIA, YOU IMPOSSIBLE DUMBASS.
Again, no. She dropped out before the California ballot deadline, most likely to spare herself the embarrassment of losing her home state.
The neither did Sanders.
Sanders won several states. Kamala was polling so badly she dropped out before Iowa.
I'm sorry that accurately remembering the 2020 primary is so upsetting to you, but Kamala did not win a single state, even as a VP choice. She dropped out in December of 2019. Voting started in February of 2020. Biden eventually secured the nomination, and on August 11th, the day that the final state voted, he named Kamala as his running mate.. Anyway, maybe before you jump into a thread and start calling people dumbasses, you should make sure that literally everything you're saying isn't wrong.
Sen. Kamala Harris drops out of 2020 presidential race
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., announced Tuesday she was dropping out of 2020 presidential race.Adam Edelman (NBC News)
If this is the Democratic candidate, and there is no adequate progressive 3rd party candidate, 2028 will be the first election I sit out since 2000.
I am DONE accepting milquetoast corporate right wing democrats just because they aren’t literally insane. John Kerry was my first, and Kamala Harris is my last. I swear to fucking god.
It fucking blows my mind that with all Trump is doing, you people STILL refuse to learn what happens when good is positioned to be the enemy of perfect.
Heads up bud-
There will NEVER be a candidate you will like. Because ALL of them know how the game is played. YOU don’t. And as a result of this, from your perspective, they will all fail you in one way or another… guaranteed.
So go ahead and pout and stay at home all because a perfect candidate isn’t running. The rest of us will be voting against fascism while you’re enjoy those cartoons on Election Day.
I guess you missed the part where I said I’ve done exactly what you are suggesting for nearly 30 years now. I mean, what’s the definition of insanity, again?
I’m not looking for a perfect, ideal candidate. I’m looking for a candidate that doesn’t continue to help the right shift the Overton window further in their direction. Especially in the case of corporate power and campaign finance. That’s it. Bill Clinton was why my first vote was cast was for Ralph Nader. George Bush, and everyone blaming him on people like me, was why I “fell in line” with the Democrats. I’m done playing their games until they’re done playing the Game you are referring to. Democrats have become complacent, feckless, and lazy. They need to learn how to earn a vote like mine again. Zohran understood this. Sorry, I’m voting for whomever I feel like from now on.
The Left is not the reason Kamala lost, the facts DO NOT SUPPORT this narrative. You are spreading misinformation because it is part of a story that riles you up and "feels" right to you, it is irresponsible.
Back up your accusations or stop pushing this narrative.
MTG Says Trump Told Her Releasing Epstein Files Would 'Hurt People'
Marjorie Taylor Greene Says ‘Furious’ Trump Told Her That Releasing the Epstein Files ‘W ...
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said President Donald Trump was "furious" with her over her advocacy of the release of the Epstein files, and that doing so would "hurt people."Michael Luciano (Mediaite)
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Texas AG Ken Paxton sues EPIC to stop Muslim housing project
The East Plano Islamic Center has pitched a residential development, formerly called EPIC City, with more than 1,000 residential units, a mosque, a K-12 faith-based school and retail shops outside of Dallas. The project drew numerous state investigations earlier this year — some for unclear reasons — including one from Paxton, who said in March he was looking into potential violations of consumer protection laws.
...
“The leaders behind EPIC City have engaged in a radical plot to destroy hundreds of acres of beautiful Texas land and line their own pockets,” Paxton said in a statement, vowing to stop the development. “I will relentlessly bring the full force of the law against anyone who thinks they can ignore the rules and hurt Texans.”
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues to stop Muslim housing project in North Texas
Paxton began investigating the East Plano Islamic Center in March for potential violations of consumer protection laws.Alejandro Serrano (The Texas Tribune)
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The development is no longer called EPIC City and is instead called The Meadow. EPIC could not be reached for comment Friday night.
To hell with the Texas Ttibune. They wish to be known by another name but the Tribune ignores it.
The legal action is the latest development to bring attention to the community, which has been the recipient of Islamaphic vitriol for months.
“Islamaphic” is not a word you dumbass.
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The leaders behind EPIC City have engaged in a radical plot to destroy hundreds of acres of beautiful Texas land and line their own pockets
— Texas AG Ken Paxton
That's really odd for a State that has regularly written off all the various pollution Musk does over at his launchpad. And of course that ignores the obvious anything and everything that has anything to with oil production there.
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Putin should have accepted Trump’s deal. Now Russia’s collapsing economy could lead to his downfall | Simon Tisdall
People in Britain who think they are governed by fools should take a closer look at the Russian and US presidents. Vladimir Putin is systematically ruining his country. His war of choice in Ukraine is an economic, financial, geopolitical and human calamity for Russia that worsens by the day. For his own murky reasons, Donald Trump, another national menace, offered him a lifeline last week. Yet Putin spurned it. These two fools deserve each other.
On the table in Moscow was a “peace” deal that, broadly speaking, rewarded Russia’s aggression by handing over large chunks of Ukrainian land, compromised Kyiv’s independence and weakened its defences against any future attack. The Trump deal, if forced through, would have split the US and Europe; ruptured Nato, perhaps fatally; reprieved Russia’s pariah economy; and probably toppled Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government.
These are key Russian war aims. But Putin, suffering from neo-imperial fantasies and legacy issues, said “no”. He reckons he can get it all, and more, by fighting on. He has persuaded the idiot Trump that Russia’s victory is inevitable – and that scheming Europeans are the real warmongers. Yet his premise is fundamentally flawed. Hard facts confound him. Almost four years on, he’s still trapped in Donbas mud and ice. And at home, things fall apart.
Putin should have accepted Trump’s deal. Now Russia’s collapsing economy could lead to his downfall
The war against Ukraine has hit ordinary Russians hard, and the deteriorating situation is likely to inflame tensions, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon TisdallSimon Tisdall (The Guardian)
Russia still kicking Ukraine's ass
What, in your mind, is the attrition/casualty rate per kilometer of advancement by the Russian army?
I don't think you're getting information from an impartial news source.
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If I have impartial news sources, please, show yours where it is shown that Ukraine is pushing Russians out instead. I'll be more than happy to see those.
They don’t need to push Russia out so long as Russia is losing far more men and equipment. This is a war of attrition and despite being far larger Russia is losing.
Fighting age men and equipment are finite resources.
They might gain ground now but Russia will be unable to hold it, assuming that the EU and US continue to back Ukraine.
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OK, you are speaking like the Ukraine has infinite resources and tactically loosing ground just to deplete Russia. I'm sure that they have the plan to loose strategically important cities just for that.
US continue to back Ukraine? Please, do a reality check. While EU is only backing Ukraine halfheartedly and not even the entire EU.
It’s ‘Ukraine,’ not ‘the Ukraine’ – here’s why
That three-letter word erases the country’s political sovereignty.The Conversation
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"The" before a place name is an odd choice, isn't it? There are really very few places (in English) that have it. "The Hague" being probably the best known. There's one locally here called "The Dalles".
Odd that it's so common in Spanish but not English.
The Gambia is another one.
I don't know, I see Ukraine vs the Ukraine in a similar light as Democrat Party vs Democratic Party. Yes, it's possible that it's an innocent mistake, but looking at everything else the person is saying, it's usually pretty clear when they have an ulterior motive.
Wikipedia on the Name of Ukriane
We don't necessarily disagree, but proclaiming disregard for Ukrainian souvereignty based on the use of a definitive article in an international forum is bad faith conduct. It's specifically an English thing and a Ukrainian/Russian thing. There are languages that are using the definitve article based on how their languages work and these kind of usages will sometimes transfer into English.
This, again, does not mean what you trying to do, discrediting another user's opinions or arguments based on an improper use of a foreign language. That is the opposite of civil behaviour.
As a german, I had to actively learn to not use "the" in combination with "Ukraine". It happened because of a confrontation with clever individuals like you, but that really can be done politely hinting at the proper use in the English language and not by shaming the other person.
(reup, edited out the meany words, lol, because imagine the uncivility that might be caused in this post)
Yeah, they are still able to trade with China (which happens to make everything anyway), and as opposed to most countries, Russia can still draw on a lot of the remaining Soviet infrastructure that was specifically built because Russia needed to be self sufficient during the cold war.
As long as Putin can manage to remain in power Russia can keep this war going.
Not for much longer. While they may have the equipment but they are lacking the most important thing: manpower. They already lost a huge amount of men and they can't really conscript more since that will just make the collapse come faster. All those men, dead, or fighting are just people that can't work and pay taxes, can't start families. It's a productivity and demographic disaster. It's unsustainable and you don't need an economics degree to see it.
Though I suspect the reason Putin is keeping the war going is because he has no choice. He was offered one of the best peace deals by the US and they refused it. Why? Because Putin is scared. Once the war ends a lot of angry men with combat experience are going to return home. And those men will look at how the war was run, how some people were safe while they died in the mud. That's just a revolution waiting to happen. It has happened before, World War 1 veterans overthrew the Kaiser in Germany and installed the Weimar republic. The 1917 Russian revolution was started by WW1 veterans. Hitler was a WW1 veteran and he tapped into the anger of other veterans to help him gain power early on.
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They can’t and have neither. The soviet era equipment is a crumbling pile of junk and if they try to draft more soldiers Putin faces mutiny, something he absolutely doesn’t need right now. Russias economy is in shambles. After 4 years of war.
The best thing they can do is just pretend they are so strong that they can carry on in this war forever. So… just shut the fuck up.
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Yet we didn’t hear it from the beginning. In the beginning we saw the might of the second strongest military of the world ready to crush a smaller country in no time. 100 000s of troops, a fleet of battleships, fighter jets and tanks. We all remember this giant column of thousands and thousands of tanks on the way to Kiev. They’re were untouchable.
Where are they now? Where is the flagship of one of the worlds strongest militaries? Where are the men that first heralded the attack? Where are those untouchable tanks?
I’m generally rude to russian propagandists. What I can’t stand even less are useful idiots. What are you?
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This comment strikes me as incredibly out of touch and full of straw men. Nobody was impressed with the Russian military in 2022. That's why they've been waging a hybrid war since before they annexed Crimea. Their economy is the size of Italy's. Ukraine has a lot of land area for a power like that to conquer, and so it's been adrawn-out war of attrition and slow gains. You're asking where they are? Mostly the same place that they started, with half a million casualties and an occupied pile of rubble.
The useful idiots are the people who drag this conflict out, thinking that one side can win. We need a cease fire, the map has to be redrawn, and security guarantees need to be made to both sides regarding the region. Instead we'll get another half million dead and a frozen conflict in the middle of the most fertile land in Europe. In the meantime we'll keep hearing about how another 20 F-16s will turn the tide and Putin's government is on the verge of collapse. And everyone who points out how absurd that is gets called a Russian propagandist.
Oh look, another one. Funny, I think your comment is fundamentally dishonest and contradictory.
We need a cease fire, the map has to be redrawn, and security guarantees need to be made to both sides regarding the region
That are many words for just saying Ukraine should surrender.
If you‘re so concerned about the people, maybe you should ask your dear leader to stop the war of aggression?
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I think you’re being abrasive about it, but are making a decent point.
Yes, lots of clickbait exaggerated Russia's fragility. Some actual analysts underestimated certain aspects of Russia.
And Russia won many geopolitical dice rolls:
- Trump won.
- Europe is still bickering internally.
- India bought their oil for a long time.
- China stayed tolerant.
- Wagner coup failed, but only barely.
And so on.
There are some nasty, ambitious figures in Russian politics apparently “reigned in” by Putin now. If he's deposed… what happens? Do we get a Russia fractured by warlords armed with Soviet warheads? I’d much rather see it vassalized by China or something.
And yeah, at the end of the day this is the physically
largest country on Earth, backed by the most populous, invading a tiny one. Endless war is utterly catastrophic for the Russian people, but (if the US basically withdraws from NATO and Europe keeps being Europe), they are on an extremely slow track to grind down Ukraine and claim the ashes :(
Anyway, you should read ISW’s reports on the war:
They have a quite grounded take. And from the even before the war started (when forces massed on the border), they’ve been warning that Russia has the political power to grind on. They tried to warn policymakers about the clickbait.
Home | Institute for the Study of War
ISW is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy research organization that advances an informed understanding of military affairs.Understanding War
Couldn't care less if they all fall. The only good thing about the US is they speak the same language as me.
Also Scarlett Johansson
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Scarlett Johansson
You make an excellent point.
I do hope that, when the US fractures, Caloreginton will continue to provide good work for talented people in entertainment. Or at least a plane ticket to Hollywood North.
I hope Putin is discovered while fleeing, and promptly suffers the divine plight of kings...
Really, all dictators should end up this way.
If all American foreign policy just disappeared the world would be at a net positive overnight - and it's not even close.
3 years of us arming Ukraine, encouraging them to NOT negotiate (when they had much better position to previously than they do now), and then abandoning them once we finished dumping all our weapons. America was proud to fight to the last Ukrainian.
Russia is like the bullie that punches you in the face.
America is like the bullie that spends weeks pretending to be your friend just so they can steal your lunch money, humiliate you in front of your friends, and then push you into the other bullie that'll punch you in the face for bumping into them.
Also, Trump just puts a blunt face to what America has always been. Foreign wars in this country are bipartisan. Ukraine would be just as fucked if Harris was president. She'd just have a better narrative for it to make Americans feel less guilty for the fucked up way we treat our "allies".
the war has “dramatically improved” the incomes of 20% of Russians, it is hugely socially divisive. “For the bulk of Russians, real incomes have fallen by 16% to 42%,”
Like most wars, this is why they tend to go on so long - because those that are making the most money from the war, reinvest some of it to keep the war going as long as possible. After all, they aren't paying the price in money or blood, they just collect the spoils.
Putin’s readiness to risk the lives and wellbeing of ordinary Russians is only too evident, symbolised by the cynical signing-up fees and death benefits paid to infantry volunteers from poor rural areas – whose average frontline life expectancy is 12 days.
This is what will eventually end the war - they will simply run out of draftees, or the people will finally get sick of sacrificing their sons to advance corruption, and revolt, although that could be tough with any fighting-age men off getting slaughtered less than two weeks after joining. We may see something crazy like a Mother's Rebellion, with a million mothers marching on the Kremlin and taking it over. It would be pretty tough to get Russian soldiers to fire on their own mothers.
the people will finally get sick of sacrificing their sons
This is what happened in the US with Iraq and Afghanistan, arguably similar forever-wars instigated to benefit a few. But holy fuck, it took nearly two decades.
I don't know about that, I wasn't hearing too many calls to end the over the number of soldiers being killed. Casualties were fairly low in the 9/11 wars, compared to Vietnam, which had 55,000 deaths in about a decade.
Calls to end the war over the high body count were much, MUCH, louder in the Vietnam era, to the point that it became a political liability beyond the young protesters. That's why they finally abolished the draft, then probably would have left soon anyway, if they hadn't been chased out by the North Vietnamese.
In Afghanistan and Iraq, there seemed to be more outrage over the amount of money that was being wasted to keep a war going with no real agenda or final objective. After a while it gets hard for Republicans to complain about the National Debt when they are wasting trillions of dollars on wars over nothing.
People in Britain who think they are governed by fools should take a closer look at the Russian and US presidents.
That bigger fools exist doesn't stop your fools from screwing up too.
ICE has arrested nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records, data shows
ICE has arrested nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records, data shows
More than a third of the roughly 220,000 people arrested by ICE officers in the first nine months of the Trump administration had no criminal histories.Laura Strickler (NBC News)
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I don't think that's true. I believe there was one guy who stole a truck and went across state boundaries?
There are probably a few that have been arrested so far, and I wish the media would report in this. The narrative should make it clear that they're criminals, yet the efforts to stop their activities are lacking
With Hollywood strapped for cash, Saudi Arabia is re-emerging as a key financial backer
Hollywood is feeling the lure of Saudi Arabian money (...)Saudi money is also behind a portion of Paramount Skydance’s more than $60 billion bid this week for Warner Bros Discovery, according to Variety, which cites multiple sources, and Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the discussions. A spokesperson for Paramount declined to comment.
Additionally, the kingdom is backing a $1 billion new independent content studio called Arena SNK launched in October by former Lionsgate executive Erik Feig, and a $55 billion deal for video game maker Electronic Arts announced in September. A representative for Feig declined to comment.
Executives from Sony traveled to Saudi Arabia this fall for meetings, a spokesperson confirmed. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts also traveled to the country this fall to attend a conference and view a potential theme park site in Qiddiya, a tourism megaproject in Riyadh province, according to a source with knowledge of Roberts’ trip who was not authorized to speak on the record about it. (Comcast owns NBCUniversal, which is the parent company of NBC News.)
The Red Sea Film Festival 2025 is going on right now (Dec 4-13). The glitterati are partying with Saudi royalty & following the money while blithely ignoring Saudi human rights abuses
With Hollywood strapped for cash, Saudi Arabia is re-emerging as a key financial backer
Hollywood is feeling the lure of Saudi Arabian money.Rebecca Keegan (NBC News)
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And nostalgia for Liquor Prohibition. Alcohol is bad you know.
Ooooh and tradwife heroines! Stay home, modest God-fearing womenfolks.
Hollywood strapped for cash
Have they tried making good movies again?
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Me thinks the problem is that very few people go to the movies unless there's some kind of hook, e.g. their favorite actor or a known franchise.
Direct to streaming movies seldom make Hollywood money.
Well the real problem is that what you're saying does exist to some extent, and it's a very easily controlled variable
So when execs and investors look at marvel, they learn the wrong lesson. Endgame threw in an insane number of expensive actors and made an insane amount of money
Instead of looking at the years of setup and buildup of characters in this grand artistic vision, they're working with spreadsheets to try to min-max the actor to box office numbers
It's why everything just keeping getting worse. The finance brained people are running the world, and you can always count on them to learn the wrong lesson
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How fucking dare you try to get in the way of millionaires making millions?
If we didn't pay them that much, then we literally wouldn't have movies or art.
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Oh my god, so many possibilities!
A slapstick comedy about accidentally killing a journalist in an embassy and desperately trying to get rid of the body by dismembering it and taking it out in suitcases.
Alien invasion movie, it turns out the only thing that kills the aliens is crude oil.
Historical drama about prophet Mohammad: first ever movie where the main character is always just out of frame.
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I thought it was funny how it was some magical conglomerate of Iran and Russia, and how the plot literally included the exact nuclear refinery target that was bombed earlier this year.
Ignoring all the insane air fight stupidity, the only thing I could think about during the whole movie was the WKUK Nerf Nuke spoof.
Hostile powers sending spies to west’s universities, says former security chief
Canadian expert David Vigneault warns of China’s ‘industrial-strength’ attempts to steal new technologies
Hostile spy agencies are now as focused on infiltrating western universities and companies as they are on doing so to governments, according to the former head of Canada’s intelligence service.
David Vigneault warned that a recent “industrial-scale” attempt by China to steal new technologies showed the need for increased vigilance from academics.
“The frontline has moved, from being focused on government information to private sector innovation, research innovation and universities,” he told the Guardian in his first interview since leaving the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which is part of the “Five Eyes” intelligence sharing alliance with the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand.
Hundreds of works in the Louvre damaged by flooding
Hundreds of works in the Louvre damaged by flooding
Hundreds of works were damaged at the Louvre in Paris when a pipe burst because of flooding, the museum’s deputy general administrator saidMarlene Lenthang (NBC News)
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NBC's AI can't write worth a hoot:
Hundreds of works were damaged at the Louvre in Paris when a pipe burst because of flooding, the museum’s deputy general administrator said.The flooding led to a burst pipe and affected one of the three rooms of the library in the Egyptian antiquities department, he said.
Above are paragraphs 1 and 3 from the referenced article.
A simple but logical reading of both states that "a flood occurred (first), and the flood is what caused the pipe to burst (second)". Extremely disappointed in this level of journalistic competence.
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Well, there's nothing we can do.
How about paying a living wage for human writers who actually give a damn about the integrity of the end product?
Like I said, there is nothing whatsoever that we could possibly do about this...
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Fire any remaining people then take that money and run! /s
I don't think it's AI. It looks like bad human writing. An AI wouldn't use clunky non-idiomatic phrases like this:
He noted that the area of the pipe break is part of museum spaces that will undergo a major renovation...
Also, A LLM would be unlikely to say a flood led to a burst pipe when it has lots of examples of writing where the causation is the other way round. A human having a brain fart might make that mistake though.
I suspect this article was written in a hurry by someone whose English isn't great.
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Good gravy! I was giving NBC at least a little credit for trying to do mediocre journalism.
I know English is not everyone's first (or even second) language, but if your job is writing for a living in English at least get some help.
P.S. I only know one language myself and couldn't read/write/speak/understand any other to save my soul, so I think people that can are really gifted. It's just that NBC obviously didn't care about this article in the least.
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LeninWeave [none/use name, any]
in reply to Yuritopiaposadism [none/use name] • • •lmao
qcop [none/use name]
in reply to LeninWeave [none/use name, any] • • •Cethin
in reply to qcop [none/use name] • • •the country holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves
Yeah, just like that time, the excuse given is almost certainly bullshit.
Venezuela has the world’s most oil: Why doesn’t it earn more from exports?
Mohammed Haddad (Al Jazeera)