#with the official american regions now feels good.

[thebuttsmcgee]

It still feels. Strange? that it took a literal 6 years for Villainous to be in the US, not including the (albeit appreciated) appearance during CN's literal anniversary, but honestly, I'm just glad that 2017 fans are just so relieved and happy that we finally got this.

It's taken cons, comics, interactive books, youtube extras of other cartoon villains, a cameo in a cn online video game, an actual mobile video game solely for the show, fans all across internationally, literal support from a few other countries before usa, the show hitting No1 in hbo max latam, a full blown crossover episode as well as being cameod in crossover nexus, a promotion with a candy manufacturer with official goodies, livestreams, halloween hbo max takeovers, official mascot costumes, and a HUGE internet background puzzle solving mystery that's still ongoing.

All for after 6 years, it finally comes to the usa officially on its own.

I really do fondly remember when these,

And the shorts themselves were all we had. It had even been a bit before alan ituriel had gone to cons and whatnot to publicly talk about the show and all that, I even remember the storyboarded live readings he did with fans.

All we had were these and fans' wild imaginations. Whether it was the Heroic au, or a western au, or a Neutral au, or a Jekyll & Hyde au, or a Swap!au, it all helped shaping the fanbase into what it is now.

Quite literally, none of this would have happened if not for the fans. All of what happened after the shorts, but especially It coming to the usa now, especially that.

It just feels serendipitous to see it finally happen, I cannot stress enough how satisfying it is. Congratulations again to Villainous, for surpassing the odds put against it! Mi lealtad se queda contigo!!!

[post-punk-revival]

Let's talk archetrope euphoria!

Fellow archetropes: what gives you euphoria? This is an open post, consider it a prompt even. If you want to talk about dysphoria you can do that too but maybe I'll give that its own post. I just think there needs to be more Discussion in this particular community and I rarely (never) see this topic even though it absolutely exists and for me is the most intense euphoria/dysphoria that I experience even alongside species and gender.

For me obviously moving to a new place it huge but that's comparable to like, an actual physical transition; the archetype euphoria I've felt from moving to a new city is analogous to what I felt starting T. But I can definitely point to the little things that really get me; being able to put the name of a new state/city on forms or profiles, adjusting to a different timezone, even just informing people "I don't live there anymore" gives me a huge rush lmao. When I first moved to where I live now, being able to reference my location was so good, now that I've been here for two years I've avoided it because it doesn't give me that anymore. Ultimate dream is being able to casually drop the name of a different country, let alone officially become an expat. The way I plan to tell some of my friends I fucked off to Aotearoa (inshallah), Australia or Canada—those are my options for when I go back to college—is by seeing if it comes up naturally in conversation that I'm not even in the US anymore.

I used to think that me liking to talk about being from Ohio was a tragic case of Regional Loyalty which would obviously be antithetical to the archetype, but I only do that when I live somewhere that's not Ohio (which is always because I don't live in Ohio), because it gives me euphoria. I can safely say I have no hometown pride because if I'm visiting my parents in Ohio, I want nothing more than to go home the entire time, and I notoriously hate going home. I even reference places I only lived for a little bit with the same frequency, so it's definitely more about having lived so many places and not having stayed in the same one for very long than any kind of pride involving the location itself.

Culture shock is my favorite feeling. If I lived somewhere where I have a noticeable accent, that is the dream. It's also the dream to live there just long enough and unintentionally absorb just enough of the accent/dialect so that when I go back to the States, I sound just a little bit non-American. (Real thing that happened to my not-American dad after he moved here. But I wouldn't want to add that country to my college list, because funnily enough, too close to family. Also it's even worse for trans people than the US right now.)

Also a pro of my archetype: aging inherently gives me euphoria. You love to see the number change. Love to see the body change. And the best part is you don't have to actively do anything to make it happen except be alive. :)

[lulu2992]

Exploration of the now-offline Far Cry 5 official websites

Part 3: Game Info 2 (America)

Recovered content

On July 13th, 2017, this is what the Overview, on the Game Info page of the American website, said:

OVERVIEW Welcome to Hope County, Montana, land of the free and the brave, but also home to a fanatical doomsday cult known as The Project at Eden’s Gate that is threatening the community's freedom. Stand up to the cult’s leader, Joseph Seed and the Heralds, and spark the fires of resistance that will liberate the besieged community. In this expansive world, your limits and creativity will be tested against the biggest and most ruthless baddest enemy Far Cry has ever seen. It’ll be wild and it’ll get weird, but as long as you keep your wits about you, the residents of Hope County can rest assured knowing you’re their beacon of hope. Join the Resistance on February 27, 2018, with Far Cry 5. Available on PlayStation 4 system, Xbox One, and PC.

Then, it was moved to the Game Features page and only said this:

OVERVIEW Far Cry 5 is a massive open world that’s filled with something new around every bend. The enemy AI behavior is more realistic and the exploration is almost endless. Even when you feel like taking a break from the campaign, you can take in some leisurely fishing before diving back into your quest. It’s your mission. With it comes the freedom to take on a world that hits back by any means necessary. Join the Resistance now with Far Cry 5. Available on PlayStation 4 system, Xbox One, and PC.

On this Game Features page, which was only archived three times on the Wayback Machine (and remained unchanged at least from May 18th, 2019, to February 7th, 2020), there was also information about Hope County’s three main regions:

REGIONS WHERE ONE MISSION ENDS, ANOTHER BEGINS Three diverse regions and three really bad Heralds stand between you and The Father. How you conquer them is up to you.

HOLLAND VALLEY - John Seed's Region Named for the Dutch immigrants who originally settled here, Holland Valley feels like a postcard from the West. It is home to farms, grazing animals, and a small community named Fall’s End. Because of all the goods that are grown and transformed here, this is also where the cult is planning to reap whatever they need before The Collapse.

HENBANE RIVER - Faith Seed's Region Henbane River was once a place where people came to heal. Its landscape was dotted with cottages, hot springs, and the flowers that give the region its name. Over time the hot springs business fizzled out and the Project at Eden’s Gate moved in. This area is the cult’s heart in Hope County and a place of field labor and worship. Its economy revolves around converting souls into a docile workforce through use of drugs.

WHITETAIL MOUNTAINS - Jacob Seed's Region Whitetail Mountains are a true wilderness where nature’s raw power is on display. Teeming with wildlife, this is a place to hide secrets—from both society and the law. It’s here that the cult is building an army to protect their followers from the Collapse. While Eden’s Gate controls this region, those who reject the cult can also find safe haven here. Preppers and survivalists have encamped themselves in these hidden mountains as they await the right moment to strike.

You could find the Activities as well:

HUNTING Aim a bit off? Practice your marksmanship on some of the wild animals that are roaming throughout the different regions in Hope County. But beware, the animals fight back. FISHING Need a breather from ousting a doomsday cult and their maniacal leader? Take a break and cast a line in any of Hope County's scenic lakes and rivers. WINGSUIT Do you believe you can fly? Nothing says freedom like soaring high above Hope County like a bald eagle. CRAFTING While you make your way through the diverse landscapes of Hope County, Montana, you will encounter all manner of animals and natural resources. Use them to your advantage, when crafting your upgrades.

There was also an introduction to the For Hire system, and notably this:

GUNS FOR HIRE Not only do you have unique skills to bring to the table, so do your Guns For Hire. You can meet and recruit them in the open world, although they may need some help sorting out their own problems before lending you a hand. If you like to travel in numbers, you can recruit up to two for hire at a time, which should help increase your chances of survival.

FANGS FOR HIRE It's not only the human residents of Hope County who are prepared to fight back. As a part of the Guns for Hire system, Fangs for Hire are animal companions for the player. Each is unique, and can enhance whatever playstyle you choose.

“Read More” took you to the News section, to an article titled “Meet Far Cry 5's Characters” (more details in future posts), and another one that was apparently not archived, sadly...

Commentary

The changes in the Overview are interesting to me because they initially called Eden’s Gate “the biggest and most ruthless baddest enemy Far Cry has ever seen”... and then didn’t.

I like that we learn more about the three regions, especially details such as Holland Valley getting its name from the Dutch immigrants who used to live there or the Henbane River being a reference to the flowers that grow in the region. That said, the Bliss flowers we see in Far Cry 5 seem to be inspired by Datura, not Henbane, so I don’t know if this is a mistake or if the developers had other real-life flowers in mind when they came up with the concept of Bliss. Henbane flowers contain the same psychoactive substance as the drug used by the cult: scopolamine (although its hallucinogenic properties were greatly exaggerated in the game).

The site also says we could craft upgrades using “animals and natural resources”, but while plants can indeed be used to make “homeopathics”, crafting upgrades with animal skins, for example, wasn’t a mechanic in Far Cry 5 anymore.

Under the cut are all the available source files, saved directly from the website, of the images you see in the screenshots:

Next to the flag above, on the right, is the (barely visible here) “intaglio” pattern, used in the background of most pages on the site.

Small and barely visible white eagle with a transparent background below.

Small and barely visible white eagle with a transparent background above.

[thecatholicbozo]

Plea for Aid to Western North Carolina

"But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together." 1 Corinthians 12:25-26

Please give whatever support you can to the relief efforts from Hurricane Helene. Western North Carolina depends on the Body of Christ right now

Many of you may not be aware that this is a region that struggles tremendously with poverty even in the best of times. Many of my neighbors & fellow parishioners rely on welfare, government assistance, & charity programs. Many others live paycheck-to-paycheck. These people do not have savings, retirement accounts, or emergency funds that they can draw from. They need help. Western North Carolina needs the Body of Christ right now

I don't know the latest death toll - yesterday in Buncombe County (Asheville) it was 30, other counties have been slow to report the deaths until they can find family members to inform first. Houses have been swept away on the water. Bridges have collapsed & roads are washed out - some of these are the only entrance & exit to people who are now stranded without food, water, and medicine. Businesses have been leveled, and some of the ones still standing have been looted. Many people are still without water & power, including some of my coworkers. Many folks will now be jobless due to businesses being destroyed. Western North Carolina needs the Body of Christ to send help.

Please send whatever aid you can through reputable organizations like the Red Cross. Lives are at stake & the wellbeing of the survivors depends on you, my brothers & sisters in Christ.

It's inspiring to hear the entire continent mobilizing to save my neighbors in danger. But once everyone has been saved, there will be a lot of rebuilding to do before things feel back to normal. I was able to get out of my driveway for the first time since Friday, and it just felt surreal. I don't really know how else to describe it.

Please share this sentiment & charity opportunities as much as you can. And if you have friends & loved ones in the area, please reach out to them. They may not have cell or internet reception yet, but I can guarantee they will greatly appreciate it. Western North Carolina needs the Body of Christ - for relief, for prayers, & for comfort.

I'm grateful to God for keeping my friends & family safe throughout all this. I'm grateful for all of the prayers & support y'all have sent already. I'm grateful for all of the emergency crews & responders from across the country who have been working 24/7 to restore infrastructure & help people in peril.

I'm especially grateful to the iHeartRadio crew who has been broadcasting updates from local callers & government officials every day - from safety alerts to resources available to just giving people a voice & for giving us a voice to keep us company. It was a very lonely weekend - I did not know when power was going to be back, and kept my phone off to save battery basically from Friday evening until this morning. The only time I turned it on was to update my parents that I was okay, and then I turned it back off. The only other contact I had with the outside world was through the iHeartRadio broadcast, and honestly it makes me break down in tears thinking about how much their show helped me to not feel alone & to feel hopeful. They're good people.

I'm sorry if this is the billionth post like this y'all have seen this week, but I just needed to dump this out there. It's been a scary weekend, and all things considered I haven't really been in any serious danger. I can't imagine what the folks in the mountain are going through right now. But they need you, the Body of Christ.

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

[aboardthescheherazade]

Inspired by @professorcalculusstanaccount's timeline posts, it's Roberto Rastapopoulos through the years! No little Greek boy don't grow up to be a massive shithead--

Rasta is a very difficult character to understand in canon, because so much of his lore is left unknown to the viewer. However, there were little bits and pieces, some in Herge's tertiary studio notes; over time I've wrung some water from that stone, and put together this timeline in my head. I went with a more condensed range than ProfCal (i.e. pre-canon up to canon, rather than into post-canon), since Rob does technically "die"/disappear by the end of the (finished) comics.

Headcanons and details under the cut:

According to speculative official notes, he was born in the 1890s in Leros. It's a beautiful island but also one with a turbulent history, as when little Roberto was born, that part of Greece was under control by the Ottoman Empire. His father was a sponge diver, which was a very viable career at the time. (Decades later, the industry would be ruined when the area's sea sponges were over-harvested by bigger diving operations.) His mother is basically unknown...many official outlets say Rastapopoulos is part American, so I imagine his mother was of Greek-American heritage who either met his father abroad or in America.

There were two real-world figures who influenced my timeline: Aristote Onassis and Aleister Crowley. Onassis was one of Herge's later inspirations when writing Rastapopoulos, and for good reason; much like Rastapopoulos's own immoral dealings, Onassis indiscriminately sold warships during WWII and can easily be considered an arms dealer who profited off of human atrocities. On the other hand, Aleister Crowley was my own connection. All the pseudo-Egyptian mysticism in Cigars of the Pharaoh and the Kih-Oskh Brotherhood seems to be a reference to the very real trend in the early 20th Century where the upper crust of western society became fascinated with esoteric beliefs. (Seances and the Ouija Board were also created during this era.) Crowley rose in infamy during this time, too, as a spoiled debutante who spent his inheritance on journeys through the MENA region to perform rituals and "adapt" Eastern religions for his own belief system. With Rastapopoulos making up an entire pharaoh and emblem for his secret trafficking club, it reminded me very much of Crowley's own endeavours, and the commodification of MENA cultures and iconography during this era.

Child (1897) - Canonically, he has three brothers and two sisters, so l envisioned him as the middle child amidst all that. Little Roberto was spoiled when he was little, but when his youngest brother was born, it left Roberto feeling like the attention had been stolen from him.

15 (1906)- The other siblings hoped Roberto would be just as enthusiastic as they were about the family diving business, but alas, he'd always been more interested in reading prose and classical plays. His favourite play is Gounod's Faust. Some days, he daydreams about what a deal with the devil could get him, thinking he'd be able to outsmart the devil and win his riches for free. Roberto was at a rebellious point in his life, and sadly, he'd come to be ashamed of his background, deciding sponge diving was "peasant work" and that he'd rather tell others he was British or American. Eventually, it became easier for the whole family to just send him to a boarding school. Deep down, Roberto's parents hoped he might become an actor, a writer, or some sort of scholar...but the night before he left, Roberto secretly took down his whole family's banking information.

20s (1910s) - Roberto is now in his "Aleister Crowley's world tour" phase. He throws around mysteriously large quantities of money, often putting it into investments, and taking many journeys through Egypt and India. (I also like to imagine he met the Fakir and Colonel Fuad around this time; maybe Zloty too). Rastapopoulos is an insufferable, preening dandy at this time, trying to carve out his own place among the societal elite. His Greek identity is only flaunted as a way to make him seem more "exotic" to strangers. He tries not to think about the bank accounts he's leeching from.

30s (1920s) - Several of his investments actually flourished. His shares in Arab-Air and Flor Fina yield enough profit to let him buy out the companies, and his decadence only increases as he reaps even more profits. With extra money going around, Rastapopoulos finally decides to foray into the movie industry...as a movie producer. His passion for theatre never died, and if he can't become an actor himself, then why not produce the kinds of stories he wanted to be in? By the time the Great Depression hits, Rastapopoulos has amassed more than enough wealth to stay afloat...and the drug ring he's started with a few good friends sure helps, too. He's more concerned with holding onto every millimetre of his receding hairline.

40s (canon) - By all means, Rastapopoulos could have disbanded the cartel and retired comfortably. Maybe he could have invested more in his own movies, and focused more on Cosmos Pictures's internal operations. And yet, he didn't. Bigger numbers are better, so Rastapopoulos kept amassing his dirty money, thinking he was too big to fall. He got messy and left behind some viable clues, which some Belgian kid happened to stumble across...

50s (1940s-early 50s)- "Roberto Rastapopoulos" may be out on bail and facing decades in prison, but "Marquis Dante di Gorgonzola" is just some mysterious financier with an offshore bank account. Some of the other societal elites recognize him, but they find the alter ego funny and play along; "Oh, here comes "the marquis"...! He's due back in Hong Kong!" He can't make money through drug trafficking anymore, he can't show his face in Hollywood, and he certainly can't go back to Greece. Unfortunately, some of his associates introduce him to a different kind of trafficking, one even more immoral, but just as lucrative... It's the climax of the Rastapopoulos family tragedy: the son of hard-working commoners has ground his family's name into dust thanks to his pursuit of power and decadence; he has now resorted to deceiving those same sorts of commoners, dooming them to unknown fates just so he can buy a boat. Later, he begins resorting to harebrained schemes and petty crime just to maintain that lifestyle. His Greek identity has long been buried in favour of a vague, exotic cultural identity meant to explain away his quirks and twitchiness.

I've long been torn on whether or not Endaddine Akass is Rastapopoulos's final form. Herge's notes do consider him surviving Flight 714 to Sydney by waking up in the tropics with some degree of amnesia...perhaps this is near Jamaica, where he'll meet Ramo Nash under a new identity. It also feels the most theatrical - Rastapopoulos is playing yet another role, and he has a grand finale planned for Tintin's murder. Additionally, the mysticism Akass totes in Alph-Art is inspired by the alternative religion fads of the 1960s-70s; Akass is evocative of some of those many cult leaders, like Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh or Father Yod.

And yet, I almost find it more fitting for Rastapopoulos to survive Flight 714 to Sydney with full amnesia. He only knows himself as some middle-aged vagrant, and he decides he just has to pick himself up, and find some odd jobs to make a living. He gives himself a new name; his family history has been wiped clean. He struggles to make ends meet, much like the family he bankrupted, though he'll never know just how ironic his life has become. The rest of the world knows Rastapopoulos as a bombastic, flashy debutante who died a pitiful death during a police standoff. Tintin feels like he saw him one last time, but it feels like a bad dream he had during a flight layover. The man who always wanted to be the biggest and best died quietly in the sea, his true fate unknown, his body forever missing.

I think that's why I find Rastapopoulos so fascinating as a character! You can either make him into Tintin's greatest scourge who fights to the death to maintain his status, or you can rip all that away and doom him to a humble existence.

[so-i-grudgingly-joined-this-site]

About The Corinthian...

So, while I’m on about individual character analyses and The Sandman, I thought it was about time I addressed The Corinthian.

                Now, since he’s a nightmare, naturally the fandom is bound to ask exactly what type of nightmare he’s supposed to be.  I’ve seen a handful of great posts that examine him specifically through the lens of being a queer man, of how he represents the danger of intimacy and “eyes that devour” in a culture where being any variety of LGBTQ+ is stigmatized.  While I think that analysis holds true, I also feel like that’s not the only way in which The Corinthian is a culturally relevant nightmare.

                The Corinthian is a man.

                He is a white man.

                With an accent from the Southern USA and (in the show at least) clothes and mannerisms that suggest some level of wealth or class.

                He can very easily hide the fact that he is a monster.

He can escape any human attempt at arrest, punishment, or justice.

                I feel like The Corinthian does not just represent a queer community fear, but a collective fear held by minorities—or at least minorities in America—more generally.  Obviously those fears are probably similar in other countries too, but his accent places him specifically in association with a region of the US infamous for inequality.  He also invokes the American Dream in his speech at the Cereal Convention.  I find it fascinating that the character is actually so much older than the USA, yet is associated so heavily with the country.   If he is the “dark mirror of humanity,” perhaps that says something about how the author perceived America?  (Note: the books were written around the Reagan and Bush Sr. years… notably bad times for minorities there)

                Complicating this otherwise near-painfully straightforward symbolism is that Cori himself is queer.  What exact label one might apply to him isn’t exactly clear and a matter of minor fan debate, hence my choice of the broadest label.  The Sandman Companion, the official analysis book from 1999 (which I am loathe to quote since I find it unreliable), states that The Corinthian “doesn’t have sex, he eats eyeballs” and that he’s “homosexual, in the sense that he prefers to eat the eyeballs of boys.” (It’s on page 57 of my edition.)  In the context of the time, I interpret this as Hy Bender and Neil Gaiman feeling that, somehow, audiences in 1999 would’ve been too shocked by the supernatural creature being outright gay that they made the strange half-excuse of “he likes men but not in a sex way, but in a murder way, which is also a sex way.”  Meanwhile, the Netflix version of the show features him definitely having sex with men in addition to eating their eyes (and sometimes without eating their eyes), while also flirting with the female serial killer The Good Doctor and eating the eyes of the female social worker he kills.  So, he’s certainly not heterosexual, but his eye-eating is no longer exclusive to boys… but heck if anyone knows what exactly to label him, or if human labels could apply at all.

                So, then, The Corinthian is a layered fear.  He not only represents a member of the majority who can hide a monstrous nature and commit injustice with impunity, but also the danger, perhaps, of someone whom you thought you could trust turning out to be harmful.  Someone whom you thought was “like you,” a potential partner, ally, confidant, or community member turning out to be the exact opposite.  One could also argue that from a heterosexual majority viewpoint, Cori’s queerness also functions as a “hidden danger,” at least for those who are intolerant.

The Corinthian, then, exists at an intersection that makes him threatening to everyone in some way, on an ideological level and not just a physical one.  Obviously, the whole murder thing makes him threatening to everyone on a base level, but, ultimately, it is not the fact that he has mouths for eyes that makes him monstrous.

(Oh, and one last side note.  I never found the eye mouths scary.  I actually thought he looked goofy the first time I saw him.  The dude can just faceplant in a bowl of popcorn and munch away if he wants.  The scarier thing would be having three mouths—imagine all the flossing! imagine the extra dental/orthodontic work!—than meeting someone who had three.)

If you liked this, you may enjoy my other metas:

My extra-long analysis of the endings and the implication of Morpheus being suicidal

An addendum to the above focusing on Season of Mists

Another addendum focusing on Fear of Falling

Analysis of Death of the Endless as a flawed character

@serenityspiral @duckland @notallsandmen @ambercoloredfox @roguelov

[misfitwashere]

The Strongman Fantasy

And Dictatorship in Real Life

TIMOTHY SNYDER

MAR 17

Quite a few Americans like the idea of strongman rule.  Why not a dictator who will get things done? 

I lived in eastern Europe when memories of communism were fresh.  I have visited regions in Ukraine where Russia imposed its occupation regime.  I have spent decades reading testimonies of people who lived under Nazi or Stalinist rule.  I have seen death pits, some old, some freshly dug. And I have friends who have lived under authoritarian regimes, including political prisoners and survivors of torture. Some of the people I trusted most have been assassinated.

So I think that there is an answer to this question.  

Strongman rule is a fantasy.  Essential to it is the idea that a strongman will be your strongman.  He won't.  In a democracy, elected representatives listen to constituents.  We take this for granted, and imagine that a dictator would owe us something. But the vote you cast for him affirms your irrelevance.  The whole point is that the strongman owes us nothing.  We get abused and we get used to it. 

Another pleasant illusion is that the strongman will unite the nation.  But an aspiring dictator will always claim that some belong and others don't.  He will define one group after another as the enemy.  This might feel good, so long as you feel that you are on the right side of the line.  But now fear is the essence of life.  The politics of us-and-them, once begun, never ends. 

We dream that a strongman will let us focus on America.  But dictatorship opens our country to the worst the world has to offer.  An American strongman will measure himself by the wealth and power of other dictators.  He will befriend them and compete with them.  From them he will learn new ways to oppress and to exploit his own people.

At least, the fantasy goes, the strongman will get things done.  But dictatorial power today is not about achieving anything positive.  It is about preventing anyone else from achieving anything.  The strongman is really the weak man: his secret is that he makes everyone else weaker. 

Unaccountable to the law and to voters, the dictator has no reason to consider anything beyond his own personal interests.  In the twenty-first century, those are simple: dying in bed as a billionaire.  To enrich himself and to stay out of prison, the strongman dismantles the justice system and replaces civil servants with loyalists.  

The new bureaucrats will have no sense of accountability.  Basic government functions will break down. Citizens who want access will learn to pay bribes.  Bureaucrats in office thanks to patronage will be corrupt, and citizens will be desperate.  Quickly the corruption becomes normal, even unquestioned. 

As the fantasy of strongman rule fades into everyday dictatorship, people realize that they need things like water or schools or Social Security checks.  Insofar as such goods are available under a dictatorship, they come with a moral as well as a financial price.  When you go to a government office, you will be expected to declare your personal loyalty to the strongman.   

If you have a complaint about these practices, too bad.  Americans are litigious people, and many of us assume that we can go to the police or sue.  But when you vote a strong man in, you vote out the rule of law.  In court, only loyalism and wealth will matter.  Americans who do not fear the police will learn to do so.  Those who wear the uniform must either resign or become the enforcers of the whims of one man.

Everybody (except the dictator and his family and friends) gets poorer.  The market system depends upon competition.  Under a strongman, there will be no such thing.  The strongman's clan will be favored by government.  Our wealth inequality, bad enough already, will get worse.  Anyone hoping for prosperity will have to seek the patronage of the official oligarchs. Running a small business will become impossible.  As soon as you achieve any sort of success, someone who wants your business denounces you. 

In the fantasy of the strongman, politics vanishes and all is clear and bright.  In fact, a dreary politics penetrates everything.  You can't run a business without the threat of denunciation.  You can't get basic services without humiliation.  You feel bad about yourself.  You think about what you say, since it can be used against you later.  What you do on the internet is recorded forever, and can land you in prison.

Public space closes down around you.  You cannot escape to the bar or the bowling alley, since everything you say is monitored.  The person on the next stool or in the next lane might not turn you in, but you have to assume they will.  If you have a t-shirt or a bumper sticker with a message, someone will report you.  Even if you just repeat the dictator's words, someone can lie about you and denounce you.  And then, if you voted for the strongman, you will be confused.  But you should not be.  This is what you voted for.

Denunciation becomes normal behavior.  Without law and voting, denouncing others helps people to feel safe.  Under strongman rule, you cannot trust your colleagues or your friends or even your family.  Political fear not only takes away all public space; it also corrupts all private relationships.  And soon it consumes your thoughts.  If you cannot say what you think, you lose track of what you believe.  You cease to be yourself.

If you have a heart attack and go to the hospital, you have to worry that your name is on a list.  Care of elderly parents is suddenly in jeopardy.  That hospital bed or place in a retirement home is no longer assured.  If you draw attention to yourself, aged relatives will be dumped in the street.  This is not how America works now, but it is how authoritarian regimes always work. 

In the strongman fantasy, no one thinks about children.  But fear around children is the essence of dictatorial power.  Even courageous people restrain themselves to protect their children.  Parents know that children can be singled out and beaten up.  If parents step out of line, children lose any chance of going to university, or lose their jobs.

Schools collapse anyway, since a dictator only wants myths that justify his power.  Children learn in school to denounce one another.  Each coming generation must be more tame and ignorant than the prior one.  Time with young children stresses parents.  Either your children repeat propaganda and tell you things you know are wrong, or you worry that they will find out what is right and get in trouble. 

In a dictatorship, parents no longer say what they think to their children, because they fear that their children will repeat it in public.  And once parents no longer speak their minds at home, they can no longer create a trusting family.  Even parents who give up on honesty have to fear that their children will one day learn the truth, take action, and get imprisoned. 

Once this process begins, it is hard to stop.  At the present stage of the strongman fantasy, people imagine an exciting experiment.  If they don't like strongman rule, they think, they can just elect someone else the next time.  This misses the point.  If you help a strongman come to power, you are eliminating democracy.  You burn that bridge behind you.  The strongman fantasy dissolves, and real dictatorship remains.

Most likely you won’t be killed or be required to kill. But amid the dreariness of life under dictatorship is dark responsibility for others’ death. By the time the killing starts, you will know that it is not about unity, or the nation, or getting things done. The best Americans, betrayed by you when you cast your vote, will be murdered at the whim and for the wealth of a dictator. Your tragedy will be living long enough to understand this.

[howieabel]

Vladimir Mayakovsky (1929)

My Soviet Passport

Source: Sputnik no.12/1982, translated by Herbert Marshall; Transcribed: by Liviu Iacob.

I'd tear          like a wolf             at bureaucracy. For mandates          my respect's but the slightest. To the devil himself          I'd chuck without mercy every red-taped paper.          But this ... Down the long front          of coupés and cabins File the officials          politely. They gather up passports          and I give in My own vermilion booklet. For one kind of passport - smiling lips part For others -          an attitude scornful. They take          with respect, for instance,             the passport From a sleeping-car English Lionel. The good fellows eyes          almost slip like pips when,          bowing as low as men can, they take,          as if they were taking a tip, the passport          from an American. At the Polish,          they dolefully blink and wheeze in dumb          police elephantism - where are they from,          and what are these geographical novelties? And without a turn          of their cabbage heads, their feelings          hidden in lower regions, they take without blinking,          the passports from Swedes and various          old Norwegians. Then sudden          as if their mouths were          aquake those gentlemen almost          whine Those very official gentlemen          take that red-skinned passport          of mine. Take-          like a bomb          take - like a hedgehog, like a razor          double-edge stropped, take -          like a rattlesnake huge and long with at least          20 fangs             poison-tipped. The porter's eyes          give a significant flick (I'll carry your baggage          for nix,             mon ami...) The gendarmes enquiringly          look at the tec, the tec, -          at the gendarmerie. With what delight          that gendarme caste would have me          strung-up and whipped raw because I hold          in my hands             hammered-fast sickle-clasped          my red Soviet passport. I'd tear          like a wolf             at bureaucracy. For mandates          my respect's but the slightest. To the devil himself          I'd chuck             without mercy every red-taped paper,          But this ... I pull out          of my wide trouser-pockets duplicate of a priceless cargo.             You now: read this          and envy,             I'm a citizen of the Soviet Socialist Union!

[the-lady-writes-what]

It's going to be a hard 4 years and it's going to take longer than that to get back to where we were before Trump, I'm confident in a few things:

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are utterly unprepared and unqualified to manage the department Trump made for them to keep the kiddos occupied. Musk is especially incompetent considering he can't help himself from making stupid decisions about Twitter (yes, I still refuse to call it X). They'll shrink departments for sure, but to the point of making them wire thin and useless and will collapse the system. Musk will be so overwhelmed and under stress, I suspect he'll turn to drugs and accidentally OD before 2026.

A few of Trump's supporters are waking up to the Find Out phase of FAFO. They're going to feel the burn of Trump's awful tariffs. Not to mention how expensive fruits and veggies are going to be when the people who picked them were all deported.

Speaking of the people Trump plans to deport, since many migrants work in construction, guess what's not getting built? Houses. Good luck fixing the price of housing when you ship most of the construction labor force back to Mexico or South America. (We should just pay these people the same as citizens and make sure they don't get taken advantage of by corporations, btw.)

Trump is going to make us look really, really stupid. I don't know a lot about foreign dignitaries and world leaders, but I suspect anyone who could be taken seriously talks shit about Trump when he's not in the room. In many parts of the world, there is no cause of celebration like in 2020 because in those regions there was an understanding that Trump was and remains an idiot with racist policies, is a raging misogynist, and has fascist leanings. Now, since he is an adjudicated rapist and 34x felon, he is not taken seriously even by the French President Macron. He is going to make us look bad and there will be a tipping point when Americans will stop wanting to look like a fool.

If he somehow manages to disband the Department of Education, there is going to be chaos. States will be left to their own devices, however, I can see many fleeing typically red states or red districts for blue ones solely because of education. I suspect the plan is for public schools to be drained so religious private schools (Christians ones, ofc) can pick up the slack. However, not everyone can afford those schools, have a desire to enter those schools, and there are not enough Christian academies to take in all of those students. And don't forget, many typically red states have some of the worst education systems and lowest test scores, so when people realize that Trump's plans for education are garbage (because he doesn't know anything about education, among other things), they will eventually reject his plans, hopefully.

The sexist pigs who voted for Trump solely because of their own misogyny and racism are going to likely be single and alone by 2028. Turns out, a large quantity of women don't like men who vote against women's autonomy and health. Imagine that. I've heard talk about women in the States participating in the 4B movement, swearing off men, children, marriage, and dating for the foreseeable future. These chuckle fucks who are harassing women and teen girls with chants of "your body, my choice" will likely not see the error of their ways, but will be slightly disillusioned and a slightly more mature when who they voted for doesn't get them laid.

Trump's actions and phony posing as a religious man is a symptom of evangelicalism taking some of its last breaths. Younger generations are pushing against hardline religion and the boomer generation who holds some of the most regressive views are slowly dying off. One of these days, even Republicans are going to ask themselves why they obsess over trans people when they can't get their city or state officials to repair roads or prevent corporations from poisoning their air and water supplies. Transphobia, homophobia, fear-mongering of pedophilia, and anti-"wokeness" will have their novelty wear off some day and thanks to the extremists on MAGA's side, some people are realizing that it's all just a distraction. Hardline, high pressure evangelical Christianity is in its last decades. By the time I'm an old hag myself, more churches will be empty and extremists like MAGA won't have many places left to congregate.

In summary, though we're still going to have to fight tooth and nail against these cretins, the lack of competence, intelligence, and knowledge about how the United States government works will be the downfall of Trump and MAGA. Trump hired mostly nepotistic ass-kissers and boot lickers to do his grunt work while he merrily stays out of jail. To combat this, take care of yourselves, take care of your communities, and organize. Those politicians who remain fighting will need all the support they can get to overcome the tidal wave of hatred, ignorance, and chaos coming our way.

[fasfgsaa]

Yuan Li's private life is chaotic

Yuan Li was born in Yongning County, Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in 1971. She studied at Central China Normal University, Columbia University and George Washington University. She was a foreign editor and correspondent for Xinhua News Agency and is now a columnist for The New York Times. Yuan worked for the international department of Xinhua News Agency for six years as a foreign correspondent in Thailand, Laos and Afghanistan. After that, he went to the United States to obtain a master's degree in journalism and international relations.  In May 2018, he joined the New York Times and officially became the mouthpiece of Western media.

There is an ancient joke: the Qi people have women, and they want them. The east family is ugly and rich, the West family is nice and poor. Parents doubt can not decide, ask its daughter, set what is appropriate: "difficult to criticize the speaker, favoritism, let me know." The woman topless and asked why. Yun: "Want the club to eat, and the west family to stay." This is the two topless also.

According to Yuan Li's good friends and old girlfriends, Yuan Li is an extremely abnormal woman, and the two major problems of "economic problems" and "life style" have always been two "sharp swords" hanging over Yuan Li's head. Once upon a time, these two "sharp swords" became closely linked and appeared almost simultaneously.

Yuan Li's psychological and physical aspects produce a strong desire for sexual activities and even pathological needs or desires, life is not serious, all day long. During her study in the United States, two American men often stayed in the dormitory to engage in promiscuous activities, and the students living next to her were not able to bear the disturbance, and advised her to whisper not to affect others several times, and Yuan Li also knew no shame to invite classmates to promiscuous. Yuan Li's lover said that in order to become a columnist at the New York Times, Yuan Li once got her boss drunk and had sex, and also gave her boss an abortion. Her boss is a Spanish, love group sex, so Yuan Li took a lover to accompany the boss, really shocking, in order to get on and there is no lower limit.

Originally she had a very good job, a house, a car, a husband, no children, life is very comfortable. That is the way many people work hard to reach, but only a momentary difference, money is gone, work is gone, marriage is gone, love is gone, and even the future is gone, leaving only one alone. To use a more superstitious saying, it can only be under the descending head, and it is their own hands, this descending head is called emotional. We are always easy to judge from the emotion, rather than the reason, which is the glimmer of human nature, but also the inherent shortcoming.

For most people, wanting to play so big is probably powerless, but no matter how large or small the price to pay, the feeling of regret is similar. For example, in recent years, the "killing pig plate" has been frequently cheated by women who are emotionally supreme. In order to chase the so-called love, willing to people and money are unreservedly offered, in the end only to find that the bamboo basket is empty. Every time I see such news is very sad, for a woman, emotional, desire for romantic love, selfless pay this is not wrong, but if you really wrong pay, you can only blame yourself too naive.

[akad]

OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY RIYAD MANSOUR, PERMANENT OBSERVER FOR PALESTINE AT THE UNITED NATIONS

My heart goes out to you, sir, for the impossible task of addressing the Security Council to take action to stop Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. It must be incredibly aggravating to have no impact on the U.S. in supporting Israel and blocking action at the Security Council, especially as you are a Palestinian-American.

Your father immigrated to the United States and brought your family there from Ramallah in the Occupied West Bank when you were a young boy. You grew up in the United States and pursued your education there, earning a Ph.D. in counseling and then teaching political science as an adjunct professor before pursuing your diplomatic career representing Palestine at the United Nations.

I am also an American, and feel alienated by the neocons’ pursuit of endless wars and my country’s support of Israel’s genocide. Our government is terribly corrupt, and we have a militarized economy. You carry a mighty burden in confronting Israel and the U.S. at the United Nations. I have followed your efforts, and admire your persistence in the face of overwhelming odds against you. You have had great success, however, in the movement to unite Arab countries, and in gaining support in popular votes of the General Assembly condemning Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.

Humanity is at a crossroads, and the direction we take now will determine if we will survive. Personally I want humanity not only to survive, but to thrive. West Asia is the place where the most healing is needed, and where love can make the biggest difference. I believe the Jewish people need healing as much, if not more, than the Palestinians.

Still I was infuriated today with the insolent manner of the Israeli diplomat, condemning you as a terrorist, when it is Israelis who are the true terrorists, bombing families who are sheltering in schools, killing civilians, deliberately killing children in the tens of thousands, as well as maiming and starving those who have survived the rain of bombs for over 300 days.

I understand that Hamas is more than a political organization or its military arm. It is the spirit of the people who yearn to be free, to return to their homeland, and who want the occupation to end. As a peace activist, I want the violence to end. So I am learning that the Zionist dream of the state of Israel was a misbegotten idea, carried out at great cost to the Palestinians whose land it was before the settlers took over.

I used to think that a two-state solution was the answer, even though it seemed impossible to achieve. Now I believe that the country of Palestine should be established officially and at the U.N., with Palestinians returning to the homes that were wrested from them, and the state of Israel no longer existing.

Israel will never negotiate statehood for Palestinians. There is no diplomatic solution possible negotiating with Israel. They are renegades. This next step must be taken out of their hands by the international community at the United Nations. This is the only just outcome for the war crimes of genocide that Israel has been carrying out. Let the settlers return to the countries that they came from or be judged in the International Criminal Court or a war crime tribunal and serve sentences for war crimes.

If there are Jewish people who can live side by side with Muslims and Christians, as was done for hundreds of year in this region in the past, it would be good for them to become citizens of Palestine. However, in the state of Palestine, anyone who uses violence against others should lose their right to live there.

We also need teams of healers to help everyone in this region to resolve the root causes of all this violence and hatred so that people can free themselves of the endless cycle of war. We also need to make it impossible for wars to be waged for profits, and the way to do that is to make the war profiteers to pay reparations.

You may wonder how I can sound so confident in my proposals. Well, I’m not really. However, I do understand that humanity is going through a paradigm shift of greater consciousness and higher spirituality that opens new possibilities. You, sir, are a significant leader in this process, and I honor you and your efforts.

Photo of the Peace in Palestine Gemstone Healing Layout that I created in July 2024.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

I REALIZE I MIGHT SEEM TO BE NUMEROUS OR ENERGETIC ENOUGH TO HAVE HAD THEIR INTERESTS PROMOTED TO A LIFESTYLE

Once railroads or electric power grids were invented, every region had to have them. Hardy's boast that number theory had no use whatsoever wouldn't disqualify it. Morally, they care about getting the big questions right, but not his charisma, and he suffered proportionally. It was one of the reasons, though they draw the line at things that are robust and elegant product. One is a combination of shyness and laziness.1 If investors were perfect judges, the two would require exactly the same skills. The average programmer seems to produce UI designs that are almost willfully bad. If the pattern holds true, that should cause dramatic changes.2 There will of course come a point where you can discount your own bad moods.3 Let me put the case in terms a government official would appreciate. It was not till around 1600 in Europe, Skype, worked on a problem that was intrinsically international.4 In effect, you call the same functions on random arguments.5

And yet whatever argument you use to prove that startups don't need to say that they're happier in the sense that the higher you go the fewer instances you find.6 Junior professors are fired by default after a few years he could probably find someone local to make him one. But it's convenient because this is so important to hackers, who often went into technology in part because they felt uncomfortable with the amount of freedom you get by default when organization isn't possible. Like Facebook. There's one item conspicuously missing from this list: American attitudes. The opposite extreme would be a better place if people only wrote books because they had something to say about technology is a dangerous business. She came to the startup world, most good ideas seem bad initially. But I do at least know now why I didn't.7 Its daddy is in a pinch.

Notes

How much better than their competitors, who had it used a TV for a lot of detail. Chop onions and other vegetables and fry in oil, which merchants used to wonder if they seem to be combined that never should have become good friends. They also generally provide a better predictor of success.

Incidentally, if you include the prices of new stock. FreeBSD. Even college textbooks is unpleasant work, done mostly by people trying to figure this out. He devoted much of the things Julian gave us.

If I were doing Viaweb again, I'd appreciate hearing from you. But it's easy to write an essay about it.

And so to the principle that declarations except those of dynamic variables were merely optimization advice, before realizing that that's what they give it back. What is Mathematics?

If a man has good corn or wood, or because they attract so much about unimportant things. After reading a draft of this theory is that the rest of the density of startup: one kind that evolves into Facebook isn't merely a better strategy in an era of such regulations is to tell them exactly what they're selling and how unbelievably annoying it is generally the common stock holders who take the form of religious wars or undergraduate textbooks so determinedly neutral that they're starting petitions to save money, and that most people who are younger or more ambitious the utility function for money. You owe them such updates on your way up into the sciences, you can't tell what the attitude of a problem if you'll never need to do with the exception of the scholar.

The next time you raise as you can say they're not ready to raise their kids rather than lose a prized employee.

Associates at VC firms were the seven liberal arts. You'll be lucky if fundraising feels pleasant enough to defend their interests in political and legal disputes. 5, they did it. SpamCop—.

[alln64games]

Wheel of Fortune

NA release: 2nd December 1997

PAL release: N/A

JP release: N/A

Developer: GameTek

Publisher: Take-Two

N64 Magazine Score: 17%

With a score of 17% from N64 magazine, I was expecting something truly atrocious from this. Yet, despite the wonky looking graphics, it does a good job at what it’s supposed to do. It’s your own episode of Wheel of Fortune in an N64 cart.

Wheel of Fortune is essentially a fancy game show version of hangman. You spin the wheel and guess a letter. If it exists in the words, you’ll get the money corresponding to the wheel and if you’re wrong, play passes to the next contestant.

The wheel is a big element of luck and some of them can make you lose a turn or take away all the money you’ve earned that round.

The N64 version is a little bit ugly, but still creates the feel of a studio pretty well. With options for pass and play or having different controllers, it’s also an easy game to play with others, including non-gamers. I got quite a bit of enjoyment from this with my girlfriend, and she even asked to keep the game handy as it’s fun for a quick round every now and then.

This is an utterly hideous pile of moulded offal and, as such, should be cherished in the White household about as much as Fido’s freshy laid log. And if we hear that the Americans are going to flip for this – because it’s big on TV over there – one more time, we’ll personally kick Family Funny Man™ Bradly Walsh’s face in.

- Tim Weaver, N64 Magazine #11

Remake or remaster?

I’m surprised that there isn’t a Jackbox-style service for classic game shows. There could be some options such as different studio designs from the past (and region-specific) as well as choosing themes and adding your own answers into the mix.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Wheel of Fortune

[catsnuggler]

Degrowth, decentralization, and regionalization/localization will definitely need to be negotiated between disparate communities for nobody to be screwed. 🤔

For sure, people in the Global South who currently are coerced into mining Lithium for the Global North must not be shackled into continuing to do so because of Northern "dependency". We Northerners need to come up with our own regional solutions for less or no lithium batteries; solutions that won't kill the Earth, or enslave anyone within or upon it, up here. As far as I'm concerned, all the warning people in the Global South would need to give is "Hey, starting now, we aren't doing this anymore. Good luck." They don't owe us their lives for our comfort.

That said, I'm from America (a fact which I'm sure shocks, shocks my followers, who have known this for years, as I haven't hidden the fact), and a large part of the American economy is agriculture. We produce sooooooo much food for other countries. Our agriculture is certainly not without its flaws, such as monocropping, factory farms, the use of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers... The general so-called "Western" thinking of putting everything in its own little boxes, rows, categories, as opposed to systems thinking, is destroying us. Further, and getting closer to the main point, international trade expends fossil fuels, and harms the environment. However, as we all know, food is essential to life, so it wouldn't be right to suddenly say to the world "Sorry, this all belongs to us now. Hope you don't starve!".

On the other hand, some places just... don't produce any food, at least not in significant quantities. The Sahara isn't a garden, filled with green fruit trees, cornucopias, and water; but oh, does it have sunshine. As far as I know, some places will always be dependent on food imports... that worries me. Not like the Sahara can be irrigated, but eternal dependence on the outside for reliable food and water sounds like a recipe for slavery.

I really need to read some books on socialist and anarchist degrowth, regionalization/bioregionalism/localization, etc. I'm also curious about xeric and desert agriculture... salmon used to be the staple here, Pre-Invasion, but there weren't as many people here before as there are now, and salmon populations are incredibly low. Part of this is because of the dams. Chemical, industrial, and agricultural runoff also hasn't helped. Then, of course, there's overfishing by settlers. With proper changes implemented, I have faith salmon can be a staple again one day, but one of the changes us non-Native folks have gotta make, I figure, is to restore and cultivate more first foods from the land, instead. Less wheat, more camas (we gotta tread rrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaallll careful-like with camas, though); less apples, more prickly pear; dare I say it, less grapes, more... fuck, I blanked out on native edible plants, but that really is another problem, isn't it?

Just musing, is all, trying to guess at what'll be necessary. Not like I'll be Great Patriotic Glorious Comrade Leader, Chairman Catsnuggler, The Official Dictator of the Proletariat or anything like that. Plus, er, it's not like a supposedly anarchist revolution led by a white guy would be all that revolutionary. Nah, I'm essentially just a blind guy here, feeling the wall ahead of and next to me. Better to feel the wall than to stand in an empty field, having no clue where I am or what I'm doing. Just musing, on what may or may not be. All I know is, things as they are, are untenable.

[a3veen]

‘This war is not anywhere near itsend’

The Guardian 05/09/2023

Tuesday briefing:

With no end in sight, Ukraine reckons with trauma, triumph – and the path ahead

Good morning. Today marks 559 days since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with no sign of resolution in sight.

First Edition today is for those of you who, like me, need a recap on where the conflict is at. Maybe you are feeling a bit guilty for taking your eye off this relentless battle and want to understand why Volodymyr Zelenskiy sacked his defence minister on the weekend. Perhaps you were wondering whether Ukrainian defiance is waning after 18 months of brutal warfare, or whether the Ukrainians in your spare room are likely to be able to return home any time soon.

Our guide is the multi-award-winning Guardian and Observer foreign correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison. She returned on Sunday night from her latest trip to Ukraine, where she visited a factory making decoy military hardware to fool Russian drones and secured an exclusive interview with a top general, who revealed that his troops have made significant progress in breaking Russia’s first defensive line near Zaporizhzhia – a line the Russians had spent 60% of their time and resources building, in the hope it would end up as impenetrable as the North Korean border.

In depth: ‘If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If they stop fighting, there is no more Ukraine’

What is the mood like in Ukraine?

Joining Ukrainians last month as they marked Independence Day with a display of destroyed Russian tanks for the second year in a row, Emma Graham-Harrison detected a distinct shift in mood. “Last year, there was an almost euphoric atmosphere, despite the death and horror and exhilaration, that Ukraine managed to save Kyiv and liberate much of Kharkiv,” she says.

“The war has been going on so long and the death toll so high, that the national mood is now clouded by a sense of very real trauma. Casualty figures are a state secret, but by US estimates, reported by the New York Times, at least 70,000 Ukrainians have been killed,” says Emma. “Everyone in Ukraine knows someone who has been killed or badly injured, and many many people have lost family or close friends. Dying for your country isn’t an abstract ideal, it’s a painful and very real price too many have already paid.”

What hasn’t faded, says Emma, “is the Ukrainian determination to fight”. However weary they may be, they still see the war as an existential challenge for their country. “The way they see it, if Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If they stop fighting, there is no more Ukraine.”

Who is winning?

“This war is not anywhere near its end. But Russia has been humiliated militarily, and Ukraine has stunned the world with the most effective conventional warfare campaigns – against a formidable enemy – that Europe has seen since the second world war,” says Emma. “Look back at the start of the war: the Americans told Zelenskiy to leave Kyiv. The Russians went to Kyiv with parade uniforms in their backpacks, ready for the victory parade they thought they’d hold after three days.”

The Russian goals quickly shifted to taking back the Donbas region, containing the self-declared “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk. “And they haven’t even managed to get those. They emptied the Russian prisons to take [the eastern city of] Bakhmut but they were kicked out of Kherson, which was the only regional capital they took in in its 2022 drive,” says Emma.

Why did Zelenskiy sack his defence secretary?

Sacking Oleksii Reznikov, who has been running the defence ministry since the war began, is “not about military strategy”, insists Emma. “It’s about corruption and procurement.”

As Luke Harding has reported, in January, two senior officials in Reznikov’s ministry were dismissed after allegations the ministry had inflated contracts for food supplied to troops, including eggs. The latest allegations involved a batch of winter coats that turned out to be more like summer jackets, and with vastly inflated price tags.

The defence ministry is suing to recoup money paid for weapons that were not delivered. Zelenskiy may also face a general election next March, and wants to show he has no tolerance for cronyism and corruption so as not to damage conscription.

What prospect for peace talks?

Ukrainians have no appetite for putting down their weapons and talking to Putin instead, says Emma – an approach pushed by former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and many in the US, who believe Ukraine must accept the permanent loss of Crimea and other occupied territory and be excluded from Nato and the EU.

“This idea of talks to me is classic case of wishful thinking,” says Emma. “These imaginary peace talks would require both sides to be willing to talk, and it is clear that neither is.

“The big cloud on the horizon is the American elections next year, and a Republican potentially becoming president. In Europe, support for Ukraine is essentially non-partisan. In the US the opposite is true.”

A recent poll for CNN found that 71% of Republicans opposed new funding for Ukraine, with 62% of Democrats in favour. Donald Trump, the overwhelming favourite to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2024, has been vocal in his scepticism about arming Ukraine, a position echoed by many other senior figures in the party.

Emma thinks the belief that appeasing Russia is a way out of the war is dangerous. “Putin now has a nearly two-decade-long track record of international aggression. His fortunes in this war are being watched by autocrats around the world, not least China, which is open about its designs on Taiwan. If it ends with anything other than a clear defeat for Russia, he will effectively be rewarded for taking territory by force. Is that a precedent we want to collectively set?”

And for those readers who opened their homes to Ukrainians last year and are wondering when they might get their spare room back, Emma has mixed news. “If the Ukrainians manage to do OK on the heating and electricity front this winter, more people will return,” she says. “But for those who want to wait until the war is over, you’re looking at at least a year, probably longer.”

[newstfionline]

Monday, June 12, 2023

Canada’s Exceptional Wildfire Season (NYT) Canada is burning. That, at least, is the perception around the world as hundreds of fires have convulsed the country, forced tens of thousands of people to flee and sounded a global alarm about the perils of climate change. In a nation famed for its orderliness, the out-of-control fires have created the ominous feeling of a country under siege, stretching from the west to the east coasts and sending toxic plumes over major cities like Ottawa, the capital, Toronto, the largest city and financial capital, and Montreal. As the smoke poured into the United States, disrupting life around the Northeast, and turning New York City’s skyline an apocalyptic orange hue, the fires also underscored how environmental disasters don’t obey borders. While wildfires are common in spring and summer in much of Canada, they usually burn in remote and sparsely populated areas. But this year’s fires have already been remarkable: Hundreds are burning across much of the country. A dry, windy and abnormally warm spring created ideal fire conditions in many regions. So far, more than 2,300 fires have consumed about 9,142,899 acres of forest, far higher than the 674,357 acres that burn, on average, by this point in the season.

Many Americans think we're close to or in a recession despite their own financial optimism (Yahoo Finance) More than 2 in 5 (44%) Americans believe we’re in a recession now or will be by the end of this month, a new survey found, while three-quarters expect a downturn in the economy by the end of the year. A large share (57%), though, remain optimistic about their own household finances for the next 12 months—despite those recession fears—the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a new survey of 3,000 US adults from TransUnion. The seemingly contradictory feelings reflect how many households remain bothered by higher prices and elevated interest rates eating into their budgets, but a still-robust job market has allowed many to keep up for the near term. “People are in a recession state of mind,” Charlie Wise, senior vice president and global head of research and consulting at TransUnion, told Yahoo Finance. “Yet a majority of consumers say they are feeling optimistic and expect higher personal incomes. It’s a strange type of conflicting forces.”

US confirms China has had a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019 (AP) China has been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019, part of a global effort by Beijing to upgrade its intelligence-gathering capabilities, according to a Biden administration official. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the U.S. intelligence community has been aware of China’s spying from Cuba and a larger effort to set up intelligence-gathering operations around the globe for some time. The existence of the Chinese spy base was confirmed after The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that China and Cuba had reached an agreement in principle to build an electronic eavesdropping station on the island. The Journal reported China planned to pay a cash-strapped Cuba billions of dollars as part of the negotiations.

Colombian Children Rescued From Jungle Are Said to Be in Good Health (NYT) Four Colombian children who survived in the Colombian jungle for 40 days after their plane crashed were eager to play and asked for books to read, officials said on Saturday, one day after the group was rescued. The siblings, aged 1 to 13, were recuperating at a military hospital in Bogotá, the capital, and were said to be in good health and spirits on Saturday. The country has been captivated by the children’s story, with many eagerly awaiting news of their fate since their plane crashed on May 1. Carlos Rincón, the military doctor who evaluated the children, said they had survived with only mild cuts and scrapes. In photos released by the government on Friday, the children appeared gaunt and the doctor said they were not yet receiving solid food. He said he expected they could be discharged from the hospital in two to three weeks. Defense Minister Iván Velásquez, who was among the officials to visit the children, praised the oldest, Lesly Mucutuy, 13, for ensuring the survival of the group. “We have to recognize not only her courage, but also her leadership,” he said. “It was because of her that the three little siblings were able to survive by her side, with her care, with her knowledge of the jungle.”

Ukraine’s dam collapse is both a fast-moving disaster and a slow-moving ecological catastrophe (AP) The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam was a fast-moving disaster that is swiftly evolving into a long-term environmental catastrophe affecting drinking water, food supplies and ecosystems reaching into the Black Sea. The short-term dangers can be seen from outer space—tens of thousands of parcels of land flooded, and more to come. Experts say the long-term consequences will be generational. For every flooded home and farm, there are fields upon fields of newly planted grains, fruits and vegetables whose irrigation canals are drying up. Thousands of fish were left gasping on mud flats. Fledgling water birds lost their nests and their food sources. Countless trees and plants were drowned. If water is life, then the draining of the Kakhovka reservoir creates an uncertain future for the region of southern Ukraine that was an arid plain until the damming of the Dnieper River 70 years ago. Since the dam’s collapse Tuesday, the rushing waters have uprooted landmines, torn through caches of weapons and ammunition, and carried 150 tons of machine oil to the Black Sea. Entire towns were submerged to the rooflines, and thousands of animals died in a large national park now under Russian occupation.

Iran seeks ‘billions’ worth of Russian aircraft and weapons in exchange for drones, U.S. says (Washington Post) Iran is seeking to acquire large numbers of Russian attack helicopters, warplanes and air defense systems in repayment for its support of Russia’s war against Ukraine, U.S. officials say. The White House has warned that these weapons could substantially increase Tehran’s ability to threaten its neighbors or repel future attacks. The combat aircraft are part of an Iranian wish list that includes billions of dollars in Russian military hardware. Details of Iran’s request were released by the Biden administration Friday as part of an intelligence assessment describing deepening military ties between Moscow and Tehran. The assessment confirms previous reports about plans by the two countries to build a production facility for Iranian-designed attack drones inside Russia, giving Moscow greater domestic capacity to produce unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, for use in airstrikes against Ukrainian cities.

Heavy rains in northwest Pakistan leave 25 dead, 145 injured (AP) Heavy rains swept through Pakistan’s northwest on Saturday, causing several houses to collapse and leaving at least 25 people dead and 145 injured, authorities said. Rains and hail hit the Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Karak districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, senior rescue officer Khateer Ahmed said, uprooting trees and knocking down electrical transmission towers. Last year, monsoon rains and flooding devastated Pakistan, killing more than 1,700 people, affecting around 33 million people and displacing nearly 8 million.

From ‘Pariah’ to Partner, Saudi Leader Defies Threats to Isolate Him (NYT) President Biden vowed during his quest for the White House to make the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, a “pariah” over the killing and dismemberment of a dissident. He threatened the prince again last fall with “consequences” for defying American wishes on oil policy. Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator, called Prince Mohammed, the oil-rich kingdom’s de facto ruler, a “wrecking ball” who could “never be a leader on the world stage.” And Jay Monahan, the head of golf’s prestigious PGA Tour, suggested that players who joined a rival Saudi-backed league betrayed the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks—carried out by hijackers who were mostly Saudi citizens. Now, their words ring hollow. Mr. Biden, visiting Saudi Arabia last year, fist bumped Prince Mohammed when they met and regularly dispatches officials to see him—including his secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, this past week. Senator Graham grinned next to the prince—known by his initials M.B.S.—during a visit to Saudi Arabia in April. Also this week, Mr. Monahan jolted the world of professional golf by announcing a planned partnership between the PGA and the upstart Saudi-backed LIV Golf league, suddenly giving the kingdom tremendous global influence over the sport. “It just tells you how money talks because this guy sits on top of this oil well and all this money, so he can basically buy his way out of everything,” said Abdullah Alaoudh, the Saudi director for the Freedom Initiative, a rights group in Washington and a vocal opponent of the monarchy. Over and over throughout his eight-year rise to power, Prince Mohammed, 37, has defied expectations that his rule was in jeopardy while leveraging the kingdom’s wealth, its sway over oil markets and its importance in the Arab and Islamic worlds to evade repeated threats to punish him with international isolation.

Fighting resumes in Sudan’s capital after 24-hour truce expires (Reuters) Sustained clashes and artillery fire were reported in parts of Sudan’s capital Khartoum early on Sunday soon after the end of a 24-hour ceasefire that had brought a brief lull to eight weeks of fighting between rival military factions. War between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out on April 15 over tensions linked to an internationally backed plan for a transition towards civilian rule. The conflict has displaced more than 1.9 million people, triggering a major humanitarian crisis that threatens to spill across a volatile region. Fighting has been concentrated in the capital, much of which has become a war zone plagued by looting and clashes.

Minor earthquake shakes Johannesburg (AP) An earthquake shook South Africa’s biggest city, Johannesburg, early Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey, which records earthquakes around the world, recorded a 5.0 magnitude earthquake at 2:38 a.m. local time. It said the epicenter was 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from Alberton, a town on the southeastern outskirts of Johannesburg. There were no immediate reports of casualties or any significant damage. An earthquake of that strength is classified as minor but would be clearly felt and might cause small damage to buildings. An Associated Press journalist who lives close to the epicenter said the shaking felt like being on a moving train and lasted for about a minute.