Putin formalizes annexation claims even as Ukraine forces Russian military to retreat Kyiv said that its troops were making rapid advances in the south and the east, retaking land and exposing the Kremlin’s struggle to match its political theater with the reality on the battlefield. ........ Ukrainian advances exposed the Kremlin’s struggle to match its political theater with the reality on the battlefield. ....... Ukraine's military has forced Russian troops to fall back to their second defensive line, but there has not yet been a collapse like the one seen during Ukraine’s lightning counteroffensive in the northeast last month ...... The troops being mobilized will still take weeks to arrive in numbers, and seem likely to be poorly trained, badly equipped and supplied, and fed into a military organization that is already in many cases demoralized ....... “Modern land warfare is lethal to poorly trained troops,” he added. “It is likely that any newly mobilized forces will evaporate like water under the stress of combat.”
As for my endeavors, since you asked, that you are unaware of what my colleagues and I have given and what we have lost in this long fight says much about your interest in Ukraine, Russia, and Putin. You speak of hacking risks, not poisonings, prison, and exile.
I am privileged to be alive, free and able to do what I can to support Ukraine and fight dictatorship. At @HRF, @Renew_Democracy, raising funds, and traveling the world to advocate. It is an honor, not a sacrifice. That is for the heroes of Ukraine. I hope you can join me.
Thank you @POTUS for a substantial support for 🇺🇦, including a new $625 million security assistance package! As usual, we had a meaningful phone call today. Our victories within the ongoing defense operation are a joint success of 🇺🇦, 🇺🇸 and the entire free world.
Russian soldiers pulled out gold teeth caps and dentures in occupied territories. Exactly like Nazis did in the WWII. This is what happens with civilians in the territories occupied by #Russia.
-Wrote product spec for a new feature -Design meeting with team -Call with potential intern -Call with founder -Gave feedback to some founders -Catchup with an investor -EOM user analytics -Design feedback
It’s only 3:30pm!
— Samuel Spitz is coming to NY (@samuel_spitz) October 4, 2022
Banning it is also not right. The French wear some of the weirdest headgear. Where do you want to start?
But to make the hijab compulsory is to reduce God to that one piece of cloth. How shallow can you get?
There were those who quoted the Bible to justify slavery in America. They obviously skipped the Book Of Exodus.
If you managed to figure out one or the other prophet's hairstyle, and decided copying that hairstyle was the beginning and the end of your faith, then where are we?
Oppression is Satan's way. Liberation is God's.
The women of Iran are in the right and are leading the way. May the men of that land follow them.
A barrier of fear has been broken in Iran. The regime may be at a point of no return A woman dressed in black raises a framed portrait of her son, Siavash Mahmoudi, in the air as she paces the sidewalk in Iran’s capital, Tehran. “I am not scared of anyone. They told me to be silent. I will not be,” the woman seen in a viral social media video yells, her voice fraught with emotion. “I will carry my son’s picture everywhere. They killed him.” ....... For weeks, a nationwide protest movement has relentlessly gathered momentum and appears to have blunted the government’s decades-old intimidation tactics. Slogans against the clerical leadership echo throughout the city. Videos of schoolgirls waving their headscarves in the air as they sing protest songs in classrooms have gone viral, as have images of protesters fighting back against members of the formidable paramilitary group Basij. ....... these protests transcend Iran’s many social and ethnic divisions, breaking a decades-old barrier of fear and posing an unprecedented threat to the regime. ...... At night, a chant that has become a staple of the protests — “death to the dictator” — sounds from the rooftops of buildings. It’s a reference to Khamenei, who was once considered beyond reproach because of his elevated clerical status. ...... Anti-regime demonstrations have also penetrated the Islamic Republic’s power bases, including the Shia holy cities of Mashhad and Qom. Ethnic minorities — notably Kurds in the country’s north and northwest, and Baloch people in the southeast — have also staged protests, enduring what appear to be some of the most brutal crackdowns, with scores reportedly killed. Secondary schools and universities around the country are flashpoints, and women and girls have been taking off their mandatory headscarves, known as hijabs. ...... “If the dust settles and we stop protesting, they are going to kill even more of us. They are going to detain even more people and they are going to turn us to North Korea,” the impassioned protester said. “This is not the end. I promise you that.” ........ The threat posed by these protests, analysts say, is existential to the regime ......... “I say clearly that these riots and the insecurity were engineered by the US and the occupying, false Zionist regime (Israel), as well as their paid agents, with the help of some traitorous Iranians abroad,” said Khamenei in his address. ........ “The protests transcend social sectarian boundaries, bringing together a much broader strata of Iranian society than we have seen in years,” said Ali Vaez, director of the International Crisis Group’s Iran Project. “But they suffer from the same shortcomings that the previous movements in Iran also suffered from. Primarily, the lack of leadership.
If Russia were to withdraw all its forces from Ukrainian territories - and yes, that includes Crimea - then peace moves can be made. But is there anyone on earth who is capable of homing in that point to Putin? The four recently "annexed" regions and Crimea could be demilitarized and referendums held in each territory under international supervision. This is Scotland style democracy, and if Ukraine is a democracy it should not be afraid of this proppsal.
The missing piece is that noone seems to be attempting this. Xi Jinping, Modi, Erdogan, Macron, Olaf should all be pushing for this. If you push this proposal hard, and Putin does not accept, then he still loses politically.
The talk of nuclear armageddon is adults on both sides having turned this into a video game. The political conversation is missing. War hardware is ruling the day on both sides. If you do this, I will do that. If I do that, I think you might do this.
There is no such thing called a limited nuclear strike. Right now there is time to think, ponder, discuss, elaborate, communicate. The very first nuclear strike puts the world on a one way escalator.
There is a slim chance that as Putin escalates his rhetoric, some on his side might depose him. But that talk is no strategy. It is more like fantasy. A legitimate strategy is one where all possible global players actively weigh in on the situation.
If all Russian forces were to withdraw and get out of Ukrainian territory, that would deal a body blow to the Putin regime inside Russia. A Saddam regime necessarily needs to enter Kuwait to maintain internal cohesion.
Using every possible channel, private and public, to make the offer of globally supervised referendums should the Russian forces withdraw will not require a cessation of Ukrainian military efforts. If Putin does not accept, that will legitimize Ukrainian military efforts. But the effort for peace has to be ceaselessly made. Right now there is time. After the first nuclear strike, which would be a suicidal move for Putin, there will be much less time. But a suicidal maniac could do much damage before dying. Hoping for a breakdown in the Russian chain of command and orders for nuclear strike being disobeyed is not a sound strategy.
For all the decades that the planet has had nucler weapons, this is as close to an all out nuclear war as the world has ever been. Compared to this threat, a rise in food and oil prices or even a cold winter are small potatoes. For much of its existence, Europe has not had heating oil and gas. Nuclear radiation is another matter.
Xi Jinping, Modi, Erdogan, Macron, Olaf, Merkel, Blair, Clinton, Obama should not wait for inviations from either side. They should all actively engage both sides.
Europe is not neutral. China is not. Turkey is too small a country. The Russian-Indian friendship has a long history. Bollywood is big in Russia. Putin and Modi have a genuine rapport. Modi is best positioned to take the lead. If you want veto power, make peace happen. Earn it. Actively wage peace. You have to have a concrete proposal before you talk to either party.
Deescalation is an acute need of the hour.
It is possible minority Russians living inside Ukraine face discrimination, but that political problem has only a peaceful political solution. Minorities inside Russia face the same problem. Nuclear war is no solution.
Even if the referendum results might go in Ukraine's favor, Kyiv should at the outset guarantee political safety nets to protect the rights of Russian minorities.
If hate had a nuclear button solution, then hate would be as easy to solve as the energy crisis. But that is not so. You don't add super hate to hate. Don't try to douse a campfire with a forest fire. Tone it down.
The peace proposal would involve Putin paying for a rebuilding of the damage done. And an impartial look into war crimes allegations.
India's Modi says ready to contribute to peace efforts in Ukraine India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that his country is ready to contribute to peace efforts in the ongoing conflict with Russia that has raged for seven months. "He expressed his firm conviction that there can be no military solution to the conflict and conveyed India's readiness to contribute to any peace efforts," the Indian prime minister's office said in a statement after a telephone conversation between Modi and Zelenskiy.
Kremlin welcomes Elon Musk proposal for Ukraine settlement denounced by Kyiv The Kremlin praised Tesla boss Elon Musk on Tuesday for suggesting a possible peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, after Kyiv rebuked Musk for proposing terms it views as rewarding Russia. ........ "It is very positive that somebody like Elon Musk is looking for a peaceful way out of this situation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a conference call. "Compared to many professional diplomats, Musk is still searching for ways to achieve peace. And achieving peace without fulfilling Russia's conditions is absolutely impossible," he added. ........ In a Twitter poll posted on Monday, the Tesla boss proposed Ukraine permanently cede Crimea to Russia, that new referendums be held under U.N. auspices to determine the fate of Russian-controlled territory, and that Ukraine agree to neutrality. Kyiv says it will never agree to cede land taken by force, and lawful referendums cannot be held in occupied territory where many people have been killed or driven out. After Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of four Ukrainian provinces last week, Kyiv said it was applying to join NATO, and would not negotiate with Russia as long as Putin is president.
Will Russia use nuclear weapons? Putin's warnings explained By claiming 18% of Ukraine as part of Russia, the room for nuclear threats increases as Putin could cast any attack on these territories as an attack on Russia itself. ....... Russia's nuclear doctrine allows for a nuclear strike after "aggression against the Russian Federation with conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is threatened". ....... "He is bluffing right now," said Yuri Fyodorov, a military analyst based in Prague. "But what will happen in a week or a month from now is difficult to say - when he understands the war is lost." ....... Burns, though, said U.S. intelligence had no "practical evidence" that Putin was moving towards using tactical nuclear weapons imminently. ........ Although Russia has specialised nuclear forces trained to fight in such an apocalyptic battlefield, it is unclear how its army of regular troops, mercenaries, drafted reservists and local militias would cope. ...... U.S. President Joe Biden's option would include a non-military response, responding with another nuclear strike that would risk escalation, and responding with a conventional attack that could involve Washington in a direct war with Moscow. ........ Retired General and former CIA chief David Petraeus said that if Moscow used nuclear weapons, then the United States and its NATO allies would destroy Russian troops and equipment in Ukraine - and sink its entire Black Sea fleet. ........
both Moscow and Washington have enough firepower to destroy the world many times over.
........ The U.S. tactical nuclear weapons have adjustable yields of 0.3 to 170 kilotons (the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was equivalent to about 15 kilotons of dynamite).
Switzerland has 'systemic' racism issues, UN experts say Switzerland has a serious systemic problem with racism against people of African descent, according to a report presented to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, giving a broad range of examples from police brutality to a children's game. ......... "The ubiquity and impunity of this misconduct indicates a serious systemic problem exists," it said. ....... Switzerland's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva broadly accepted the findings in comments to the council, although questioned the experts' use of a limited number of examples to draw wider conclusions. Landlocked Switzerland was never a colonial power but its banks, traders and municipalities invested heavily and benefited from the transatlantic triangular trade, the report said. ........ It noted efforts to raise public awareness about aspects of Swiss history, such as a petition and debate around the removal of the statue of a banker whose fortune relied on exploitation of enslaved Africans, in the canton of Neuchatel. However, others remained valorised such as Louis Agassiz, an advocate of scientific racism, who has an Alpine peak named after him.
Swiss playground games persist such as "Who is afraid of the Black man?", which have a racially discriminatory effect, the experts said.
Oct 2021: Speculating on ape jpegs with absurd amounts of $$
Oct 2022: Speculating on the collapse of one of the biggest banks in Europe
The fastest way to end the war with the fewest deaths is to support Ukrainian victory. If you care about the people of Ukraine, get them the weapons they are asking for and seriously sanction Russia
We Know Shockingly Little About What Makes Humanity Prosper Patrick Collison calls for a new “science of progress.” ......... And before you get to really unbelievable and sci-fi-like dimensions of artificial intelligence, you just have a thing that is going to democratize a lot of capabilities in a way that’s going to put the money for those capabilities both a little bit back into the pockets of the people who need them, and then a lot into the people who run the best A.I. rigs and is going to have a really weird geographically destabilizing effect. ....... try to assess what’s the sentiment of people in Poland, what’s the sentiment of people in India, or what’s the sentiment of people in Indonesia, they view the internet extremely positively .............. that paradox of the internet both democratizing geography, and then concentrating wealth and capital in very small areas is, to me, a central challenge
Who are you to reward years of Putin's war crimes with Ukrainian blood and land? To declare done what evil crimes must be undone? It is not too late to delete this and say you were high. Please do.
Let’s be honest @elonmusk you’re just quietly shorting Tesla shares and trying to create a media disguise by using a popular topic pic.twitter.com/etUHYRdMqz
While Elon Musk is preaching #russian propaganda and creating stupid polls whether #Ukraine should give up or not, #UkrainianArmy is liberating its territories. Because every inch of 🇺🇦 land means people who live there. And for 🇺🇦 people’s lives matter. Every single one of them. pic.twitter.com/8Kx6gjdIG2
My proposal, Elon Musk has to give away all of his assets, change his name, and start over without anyone lending or giving him any help. If he can become a billionaire again, we take him seriously. https://t.co/7S4qT1G581
Went far into the mountains. This is not a performance for us. It’s just their normal match making rituals. Different type of matching engine. 😆 pic.twitter.com/7T1pgW7Iub
