Now creating that deterrence will simply get some people to think that your war-hungry. Well, I'm not. — ssu

Something along those lines has come up before.

can all defense be narrated as offense, can all defensive measures be cast as threats? — Apr 8, 2024

A naïve attitude towards Putin's regressive Russia is, well, not particularly smart, or is a particularly kind of blindness, or whatever. Not going to repeat all evidence already posted. (Besides, you ignore requests to account for whatever observations with your theory.) — Jul 25, 2024

The only blind ones are you oompaloompas I keep wasting my time on. :lol: — Tzeentch

:shrug:

With Principes élémentaires de propagande de guerre (2001), Anne Morelli (1948-) summarized Falsehood in War-Time (1928) by Arthur Ponsonby (1871-1946) (and others):

1. we do not want war
2. the opposite party alone is guilty of war
3. the enemy is inherently evil and resembles the devil
4. we defend a noble cause, not our own interests
5. the enemy commits atrocities on purpose; our mishaps are involuntary
6. the enemy uses forbidden weapons
7. we suffer small losses, those of the enemy are enormous
8. recognized artists and intellectuals back our cause
9. our cause is sacred
10. all who doubt our propaganda are traitors

Some of this stuff stretches back, including the 1^st world war.
Part of the task is to separate true and false statements, im/plausible statements, figure out contexts, "To what end?", (freedom to) point out propaganda, etc.
Looks to me like some of the above apply to whatever party here.
More importantly, what say you?

, can't read that one inquiry, responds to the others? :brow: (won't ≠ can't)

Say, how does your story account for the ...

deNazification, this, sham referenda + swift annexations, this, irredentism — Jul 22, 2024

as mentioned before, what they're doing won't solve their (supposed) NATO-phobia — Jul 22, 2024

Protesters opposed what they saw as widespread government corruption, abuse of power, human rights violations,⁽⁹¹⁾ and the influence of oligarchs.⁽⁹²⁾ — Euromaidan

...? How does your story stack up against whatever else?


Apple bows to Russian VPN crackdown: What it means for internet freedom (Karah Rucker · Straight Arrow News · Jul 10, 2024 · 2m:31s)

Are you aware of this knee-jerk reaction you seem to have, where every attempt at diplomacy is caricatured as "giving up on everything and doing as Russia wants"?

"Diplomacy is capitulation" I hear you saying, like you're the minister of propaganda in a George Orwell novel. — Tzeentch

When one side issues conditions (declarations/demands/ultimatums masquerading as proposals, which have to already be accepted) — conditions that go against international law and recognized land and borders, instead of demonstrating wanting to come to the talking table to negotiate — then there's no negotiation on the horizon, there's a "Yes" or "No" to those conditions.

At the moment we see no grounds for hope that there will be any positive changes in the foreseeable future. Russia remains open and ready to discuss the most difficult issues at the negotiating table. But not to the detriment of our own interests.
— Dmitry Peskov — Oct 25, 2022

It is completely not feasible. It is not possible to implement this. It’s not realistic and everybody understands this, but at the same time, they say this is the only basis for negotiations. — Sergey Lavrov · Sep 23, 2023

In Ukraine, those who are aggressive towards Russia, and in Europe and in the United States – do they want to negotiate? Let them. But we will do it based on our national interests. We will not give up what is ours.
— Pukin — Dec 19, 2023

A naïve attitude towards Putin's regressive Russia is, well, not particularly smart, or is a particularly kind of blindness, or whatever. Not going to repeat all evidence already posted. (Besides, you ignore requests to account for whatever observations with your theory.)

By "a peculiar turn of events", this mathematics (calculus) has been taken up extensively by physicists (and other scientists), showing that it indeed works to a tee, thereby indirectly giving these mathematical methods empirical support. ;) Cool eh?

:)

once the US starts backing coups in Ukraine — Tzeentch

Ah yes, an evil covert coup by the CIA :D

Protesters opposed what they saw as widespread government corruption, abuse of power, human rights violations,⁽⁹¹⁾ and the influence of oligarchs.⁽⁹²⁾ — Euromaidan

Been over this, @Tzeentch

I'm aware of the context — Tzeentch

Goodie, then you also know about the

deNazification, this, sham referenda + swift annexations, this, irredentism — Jul 22, 2024

yet keep skirting how to fit it all into your story/theory, hence the question.

Where is this imperialist Russia that wants to "Finlandize Europe"? — Tzeentch

This is just the reality Ukraine has to deal with. — Tzeentch

They told us exactly what the problem was, and they told us exactly what the consequences would be. — Tzeentch

And,

as mentioned before, what they're doing won't solve their (supposed) NATO-phobia — Jul 22, 2024

anyway.

So ... fit into your story?

, OK, follow the thread, where the bottom quote seemingly confused you (I've underlined some snippets):

With denazification and all that? — ssu

Where is this imperialist Russia that wants to "Finlandize Europe"? — Tzeentch

↪Tzeentch, do you think the demilitarization deNazification irredentism stuff (pertaining just to Ukraine) was blather for the gallery? (I'm guessing yes, except when in service of neo-colonialism.) — jorndoe

No, they mean it. — Tzeentch

This is just the reality Ukraine has to deal with. — Tzeentch

They told us exactly what the problem was, and they told us exactly what the consequences would be. — Tzeentch

↪Tzeentch, and deNazification, this, sham referenda + swift annexations, this, irredentism? And, as mentioned before, what they're doing won't solve their (supposed) NATO-phobia. Seems odd if they wouldn't know that. :shrug:

On another note, I considered doing a poll: Is NATO more of an existential threat to Russia, than Russia is to Ukraine? Since there's no proof, it would be a matter of honest assessment. Seems reasonably clear what assessments have come out of Finland and Sweden. — jorndoe

By the way, which do you think is the larger threat there (if any/comparable)?

, and deNazification, this, sham referenda + swift annexations, this, irredentism? And, as mentioned before, what they're doing won't solve their (supposed) NATO-phobia. Seems odd if they wouldn't know that. :shrug:

On another note, I considered doing a poll: Is NATO more of an existential threat to Russia, than Russia is to Ukraine? Since there's no proof, it would be a matter of honest assessment. Seems reasonably clear what assessments have come out of Finland and Sweden.

According to Johnson, if McClown has a say about the war, it'll be something like...

• supporters allow Ukraine to use ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles, as well as other weapons, to target airfields in Russia; once Russian troops are pushed back, Putin could offer a deal
• Russia retreats to the borders as of Feb 24, 2022; Ukrainian territory under Kyiv's control is recognized as a free country with the prospect of rapid accession to the EU and NATO
• after the war, some Ukrainian troops are to be stationed in Europe to replace part of the 70,000 US troops deployed to deter potential Russian aggression; this would save US $s, bring American troops home, and compel Europeans to up defense, which is one of his goals
• Russia declares that the "Special Military Operation" has fulfilled its mission and deNazified the country; special protective measures are to be introduced for the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine

Not really consistent with prior statements, and not consistent with his present VP pick, but who knows.

, do you think the demilitarization deNazification irredentism stuff (pertaining just to Ukraine) was blather for the gallery? (I'm guessing yes, except when in service of neo-colonialism.)

Congratz :up: :cool:

There we go again.

Trump uses false claim about Chinese auto plants in Mexico to call for UAW president to be fired
^{— Tom Krisher, Mark Stevenson · AP · Jul 19, 2024}

Serial bullshitter, serial liar, going for the White House.

From basement to battlefield: Ukrainian startups create low-cost robots to fight Russia (— Derek Gatopoulos, Anton Shtuka · AP · Jul 15, 2024)

Worrisome? Well, something similar is likely going on elsewhere. Seems unlikely it'll have much impact for the time being.

Adding to other reports (schools, language, museums) ... land grab, Russification ...

^{• Ukrainians say they were pressured to register babies as Russian during occupation (— Reuters · Mar 3, 2023)
• Russia Threatens Ukrainians Who Refuse Russian Citizenship (— HRW · May 16, 2023)
• Russia forces Ukrainians in occupied territories to take its passports – and fight in its army (— AP · Mar 15, 2024)
• The enemy does not register pregnant women without a Russian passport (— UA Gov · Jul 7, 2024)
• Russia’s Occupiers Steal Homes, Hearts, and Minds (— CEPA · Jul 10, 2024)
• Enemy threats to seize cars from Ukrainians who do not receive a Russian passport starting in 2025 (— UA Gov · Jul 18, 2024)}

External responses have been fairly consistent ... Leave Moldova be^{(radiochisinau, rferl)}, leave Ukraine be^(nato) ...

Russia can get the message: back off. How about you get out of Ukraine and stop the illegal and immoral war that you’re engaged in and how about you try to stop interfering in domestic affairs of other sovereign nations. — Anthony Albanese (via The Guardian · Jul 13, 2024)

Official bullshits to everyone's faces (again), maybe that's become the norm:

We are concerned about the freedom of the media and opinions as you are. We did not immediately respond when you started expelling our journalists and closing entire bureaus. I discussed this issue with Maria Zakharova. I believed that we should not do what they were doing, that we should remain true to our principles and the principles of the OSCE. But then it came to disgusting, reckless and aggressive steps. So, it’s an eye for an eye then. — Sergey Lavrov · via The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Jul 17, 2024

Maybe Ukraine should go for "an eye for an eye"?

Trump and NATO: Global Perspectives on the 2024 NATO Summit and America (— Liana Fix (US), Alessandro Marrone (Italy), Wojciech Lorenz (Poland), Fyodor Lukyanov (Russia) · CFR · Jul 17, 2024)

While glancing through these memos, I get a recurring sense of missed perspective - to what end?

, I didn't want to assassinate Clown McClown, let alone tried to. You have me confused with someone else, and have too many "They"s in your...comments.

Biden incited them to shoot Trump. Isn’t that how it works?
“We’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye."
- Joe Biden — NOS4A2

Assassination was all they had left. They failed even that. — NOS4A2

They wanted Trump to be assassinated. That much is clear. — NOS4A2

President Joe Biden says it was a ‘mistake’ to say he wanted to put a ‘bull’s-eye’ on Donald Trump (— Seung Min Kim, Mary Clare Jalonick, Aamer Madhani, Lisa Mascaro, Zeke Miller · AP · Jul 15, 2024)

Depending on who "They" are (again), it's not "clear".

a massive tax break for corporate America, who he’s always slavishly served — Mikie

It's a bit ironic, having been put forth as the Messiah for "the little man". Well, the Clown cult operates differently.

Apparently, there are some worries in Canada about the US (2024Jun11), nothing high up on the agenda, but reported nonetheless.


(2020Jul11)

they’re — NOS4A2

:D "They" are out to get'im. Crooks certainly was (he fits in a US pattern). "They" didn't miss John Lennon. :/ (by the way, surely Gore has more wits than Bush)

At least the Chinese military in Belarus wasn't ehh disturbed, that we know of anyway:

The Shahed entered Belarus at 3 a.m. and flew over 350 km (— Belarusian Hajun project · Jul 13, 2024)
The Shahed entered Belarus at 3 a.m. and flew more than 350 km (— Belarusian Gayun | Belarusian Hajun project · Jul 13, 2024)

Four enemy UAVs were shot down by units of mobile fire groups of the Defense Forces in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions. The fifth - left the airspace of Ukraine in the direction of the Gomel region of Belarus. (— Air Force Commander Mykola Oleschuk · Jul 13, 2024)
Russian drone incursion prompts Belarusian military response (— TWA · essanews · Jul 13, 2024)

As far as I know, just about the only response to Kremlinian nuclear rattling, was Washington saying that there would be severe consequences. Maybe something more was said behind closed doors.

A different response could be for NATO to publically declare a reciprocal return. Say, if Russia uses a nuclear bomb, then they'll get one in return, and so on. That would then be more proactive/direct — nothing preemptive, but as a "mechanistic" reaction, sort of "set in stone", seemingly predictable.

Are there strategies here, in terms of public perception versus deterrence? Outright nuclear war, however unlikely, would be bad for all, fear thereof can be useful. Then there's the North Korean wildcard.

Floor fights, boos and a too-long kiss. How the dramatic and the bizarre define convention history (— Will Weissert · AP · Jul 15, 2024)

:D I wonder how Gore would have fared.

They’ve … their … They’re … they’ve … their
their … their … their … they … They failed even that — NOS4A2

They … They wanted Trump to be assassinated … their — NOS4A2

:D

False implies anything, so (by example) nope.

In principle, it comes down to doctors·nurses·researchers·specialists to figure out what (not) to do, while learning/improving along the way.
It starts as a medical problem that would inform subsequent political decisions, etc.
Too bad that the implementation of the whole process has proven fragile/vulnerable; pathogens don't care about human crap.

Is the Kremlin conducting more operations outside Ukraine, than Kyiv is conducting inside Russia?

From $7 graffiti to arson and a bomb plot: How Russia’s ‘shadow war’ on NATO members has evolved
^{— Nick Paton Walsh, Sarah Dean, Karolina Jeznach, Clayton Nagel · CNN · Jul 10, 2024}
Russian assassination plots against those supporting Ukraine uncovered in Europe, official says
^{— Aamer Madhani, Geir Moulson, Ellen Knickmeyer, Rebecca Santana · AP · Jul 12, 2024}

They're close to committing acts of war against a bunch of countries. I guess it's consistent with their ramblings about 2 or 3 continents.

2x⁴ + 4x² + 2
isn't an equation :D

Officials confirm human case of plague in Colorado (— Maya Davis · CNN · Jul 9, 2024)

I'm ba-ack

Anyway, are we (people, societies) ready for the next one?

re Michelle Obama

Apart from general Democrat programs, she hasn't aired much I know of, though she's associated with her husband and his administration. Yep, she comes across as smart, knowledgeable, strong, present, "heart in the right place", not a serial bullshitter (or liar for that matter), she could stand up to, and be respected by, the world. I don't think that's an obsession, more like a contrast that perhaps many would welcome.

She'd get under the microscope, though, face extreme scrutiny, whether from political opponents, foreign (covert) campaigns, tabloids seeking to make a buck, mudslingers, 1-shot magnification of some issue, heck racists even, ... (From memory, there was one bullshit story about one of their kids narrowly escaping that horrible horrible family; OK, I'm exaggerating, yet that's the kind of thing associated with that crap.) I can see why she wouldn't want to put her and her's through that.

I still think Michelle Obama could be chosen at the convention, with Biden retiring. She would have my vote. — jgill

Seems like you're not the only one:

Only Michelle Obama bests Trump as an alternative to Biden in 2024 (Chris Jackson, Annaleise Azevedo Lohr, Charlie Rollason · Reuters/Ipsos · Jul 2, 2024)
One in three Democrats think Biden should quit the race, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds (Jason Lange, Scott Malone, Howard Goller · Reuters · Jul 2, 2024)


Wouldn't she need a sufficiently detailed political program? And present it for all to see? Or is that no longer relevant? :)

Judging by what I've seen of/from her, I can see her as US president. Surely a whole class above the Clown. From memory, she had some qualms about a normal life with/for their kids.

Watched Civil War (2024).

Nothing glorious about war, absurdity of human crap, ... Bits and pieces captured by the photojournalists who are the main characters. Ranges from tranquil town, through city unrest, executions, mad racists, to :fire: destruction, affecting our reporters. Don't know about the general storyline (maybe with more details), but some snippets/sounds are realistic enough.

Short 1m:37s music score

Russian boats remain the primary (or ≈ only remaining) suspects in cutting cables between Svalbard and mainland Norway in January 2022:

Kabelmysteriene (original Norwegian)
The cable mysteries (English translation via google)
^{— Benjamin Fredriksen, Beth M Pettersen, Gyda K Hesla, Inghild Eriksen, Håvard Gulldahl · NRK · Jun 26, 2022}

Hybrid CoE Paper 18: The Arctic after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: The increased risk of conflict and hybrid threats
^{— Andreas Østhagen · Hybrid CoE · May 10, 2023}

Whatever the case, Canada and others have made various parallel observations. ^{(2021Apr4, 2021Apr5, 2021Apr12, 2022Mar28, 2022Nov16, 2022Nov22, 2022Nov25, 2023Feb20, 2023Apr20, 2023May2, 2024Jun20)}

Venturing a guess, in some cases, the Kremlin machine is running basic empirical procedures: test, watch, learn.

↑ not all directly related to Ukraine, but to try catching contours of wider endeavors

The Putin System | Putin – 20 years
^{— Fabian Burkhardt (translation by Robert Orttung) · дekoder · Mar 18, 2020}

Surely there must be something better to bomb?

Russia’s heaviest bombardment of Kyiv in 4 months kills at least 31 and hits a children’s hospital (footage 54s) (— Hanna Arhirova, Illia Novikov, Samya Kullab · AP · Jul 8, 2024)

Russian missile attacks kill at least 41, hit children's hospital, Ukraine says (— Olena Harmash, Max Hunder, Anastasiia Malenko, Yuliia Dysa, Oleksander Kozhukhar, Kanishka Singh, Emma Farge, Tom Balmforth, Ron Popeski, Cynthia Osterman, Christopher Cushing · Reuters · Jul 8, 2024)

As far as I can tell...
Are morals arbitrary, random, mere matter of whatever opinion? No.
Are morals existentially mind-dependent? Yes.
I'm not seeing a problem with that, though.

Maybe Sherman went a bit over the top here

Opinion | Why the sociopaths are winning — and the obvious thing we’re not doing about it (— Jeremy Sherman · AlterNet · Jul 6, 2024)

If you argue with stupid, they'll drag you down and beat you with experience. — whoever

Either way, some worthwhile observations/ethics can be found

Shame constrains us. Shamelessness is a liberation.

Learning to be absolutely shameless is easy.

It is our civic duty to make motivated sociopathy costly.

Some (post-rationalizing) individuals gravitate naturally towards conflict, which can empower the demagogue. Anyway, nutn' much new here, jus'sayin.

, you think there's a large number of people in the US that want war (civil or wider)? A US civil war would play straight into the hands of hungry foreign forces, which might just come back to haunt them.

, generally, the Clown doesn't dispel myths, he just bullshits.

Another Trump LIE, more than half the Authors of project2025 worked in his administration. (Karma is coming · Jul 5, 2024)

Here is Trump Senior Advisor and former appointee John McEntee, who helped draft Project 2025, explaining to Steve Bannon last July how Trump plans to implement the plan immediately after taking office. But Trump doesn’t know these people or anything about it. (Ron Filipkowski · Jul 5, 2024 · 2m:26s)

, have you run a correlation with happiest countries, and places of violence or war, for example?

:up:

When a clown moves into a palace, he does not become a king. The palace becomes a circus. — Elizabeth Bangs · Jan 23, 2022

^{Blog 6 When is an old Turkish proverb not an old Turkish proverb? (Elizabeth Bangs · Dec 31, 2022)}

Poll trends generally changed sometime around May 2021.
Referendum in 2016, departure in 2020.

• Share of people who think Brexit was the right or wrong decision 2020-2024 (Statista · May 13, 2024)
• Brexit (YouGov UK)



Inconveniences (e.g. traveling, moving to / studying in the EU, other difficulties)?
Daily life changed (e.g. jobs, prices, availabilities)?
New freedoms not as originally thought (e.g. rash decision, bregret, less influence on the EU)?
UK security concerns?
...?

, as mentioned, some (supposed) vague unknown isn't of particular concern here. By the way, are you sure you want to define your supposed deity/deities by these apologist arguments? There could be (unforeseen) implications.

As an aside, the modal logic comes up every now and then. ^{(e.g. 2021Jul7, 2021Jul5)} Possible worlds are, in short, self-consistent wholes. Necessities hold for all of them. Possibilities hold for (at least) one. Contingency and impossibility are derived from there, which rounds up the typical four subjunctive modalities. So, anyway, whatever necessity would be common to all possible worlds. Coffee doesn't figure in Euclidean space, R³, which is a self-consistent whole, hence coffee is not necessarily around. Well, it is a necessity to me, so this is offensive. ;) I'm not seeing "the Vedic Shiva, the Avestan Ahura Mazda, the Biblical Yahweh, and a few others", either.

It becomes difficult to see the point of a proof of God's existence when it is construed as a proof of an individual's existence. Does one use arguments to become acquainted with an individual? Either that individual exists or it doesn't, and experience alone can tell us which. The project of a proof of God's existence thus ironically comes to appear meaningless to contemporary philosophers of religion. — Theism and Atheism: Opposing Arguments In Philosophy (2019) by Joseph Koterski, Graham Oppy

Sorry for the sidetrack, this is just about Anselmian ontology:

If we suppose that existence and non-existence (the negation) can be properties of something, X, then what does it mean to say that X does not exist?
What was that X in the first place, then? :chin:
Either it's nonsense, or such a property already presupposes existence (implicitly) in some way, i.e. that X we spoke of that so happens to not exist.
As a starting point, I'm guessing that failure to differentiate imaginary/fictional and real can lead to reification; that certainly holds elsewhere.

By the way, in mathematics, a proper existential quantification form can be:
p = ∃x∈S φx
where p is the proposition, x is a (bound) variable, S a set, and φ a predicate.
Note that x is bound by S, and ∃ and φ aren't quite interchangeable.
Less confusion invited.

We watched Dark Matter (2024).
It's an adventure into many-worlds quantum mechanics, though cross-world interaction can take place; has creative observer effects, superposition, all that.
"You are made by the choices you make" could be a sub-title, except all choices are made, including some that make you an enemy of yourself (make that enemies (plural) of yourselves).
Has dark tones to it, visually well-made, better entertainment than "The Apprentice", but your mileage may vary.

, Whitmer maybe? I guess it's a bit late for anyone to jump in.