History and gaming enthusiast from Finland. Also into politics and culture.
Historiasta ja peleistä kiinnostunut pirkanmaalainen. Seuraan myös politiikkaa ja kulttuuria.
Striimailen pelejä viikottain Youtubeen, asialinjalla ja ilman turhaa kohkausta: https://youtube.com/@NukeminHerttua
It's difficult to build lasting peace when the aggressor does not want it. Sure the Russians are open to peace in their terms, but imo that is just escalate things again in few years to come.
Don't get me wrong, EU is in big part a peace project. That however shouldn't happen at just any cost. Free, independent and territorially whole Ukraine is important for the future peace, Ukraine, Europe and even good for Russia.
I'm sure it also has something to do with that when you get older, you've had those experiences many more times than as a child. They just don't feel that specia anymore.l
Depends who you are, I guess. For women, leaving alone is very difficult if not impossible as you would need a male guardian to escort you.
As a man it it's easier but comes down to the money. Most people there are very poor and in a country where family an tribal ties are really important, it is very difficult to pack up your things and leave.
Also, poor Afgan refugees are not received very well by other countries. They are also afraid of the lunacy of the fundamentalist religious movement spreading.
Like any country Afganistan has wealthy people too and for them leaving is probably the easiest.
On general note, Afganistan is a prime example of what a fundamentalist leadership and religion can lead to. Can happen in other countries and outside of Islam too. We should be aware of this.
Not counting the obvious blackmail aspect of the Two Pence Sultan's demand, the whole idea is stupid.
EU and NATO are separate organizations with separate structures. While most of EU are NATO members, NATO issues aren't, shouldn't and cannot be decided in EU bodies. I'd be very surprised if anyone in EU (including Sweden) would change their stance towards Turkey unless they themselves undergo fundamental changes to match the applicant criteria.
Unless Erdogan has his head totally up in his own arse, He knows this. He's probably upping the ante to later back off and make a deal on some other issue that has been too much for NATO or the US up to this point.
Ofcourse this is just my reading of the situation and I'm not an expert on Turkey or international policy. It just seems to fit Erdogan's Modus operandi.
That's a helluva expensive shot. I mean, you should definitely get it, but nobody should have to pay that much for it. I guess that's USA...
Florida should just be removed from the rest of the US and continue to exist as an isolated island for assholes.
At this point those are just empty words.
China's version of socialism is pretty much authoritarian capitalism while Musk is keen on promoting capitalist authoritarism. So it's really a match made in heaven...
Stupid question, but what's Shodan and why should I get it?
Forcing this might very well be something EU opposes. While there is a lot of corporate lobbying, Google would be forcing everyone to either use chromium or make compatibility changes into other browser. While not a total monopoly, it still limits the options radically. Therefore there might be hope that EU forbids this type of action. Let's see...
I don't want to diss anyones taste, but just to help you find a subtitute: have you ever tried any other beers?😅
I mean, the world has a bigger selection of quality beers than it has ever had. For each Heineken there's a gazillion of very similiar and an abundance of way better beers available. I bet it's not difficult to find a better substitute 🙂
Uh, they've been in war like state most of the time since 1970s. Wars caused by outsiders. I'm pretty sure that at this point, most people just want to live in peace, no matter how shitty that peace is.
This is in part where the Taliban's strength stems from: at least they are domestic oppressors, not troops from abroad.
There is an easy way to end the war: Russian withdrawal. It really is as simple as that.
At any point in history Russian Federation had no right or business to occupy any part of Ukraine. It was up to Ukraine to decide what to do with those areas.
While we all want the war to stop, it cannot be done at any price. Ukraine must be allowed to return the areas stolen from it and Russia must return to pre 2014 borders. Either they do it willingly or with force. No one likes it, but it's Russia that chose to attack, not Ukraine.
I hope your friends are safe, but at the same time I hope they have the sense to leave Crimea until things settle.
And let's hope for peace, but recognize that it cannot be achieved by giving into the offender's demands.
Leaving Twitter was easy.
Just log out once and since you can't even read embedded tweets without being logged in, you are practically isolated from the whole platform. If you last a few days, you realize that you're not really missing anything...
A humanist here, working in the cultural heritage (which is also increasingly digital) field.
I reckon I have more computer skills than an average user but in no way I am a "techie". It's just that I know how to search for tech solutions and am not afraid of breaking the computer. Due to using Unity I also have some experience with C# and currently I am trying to learn python (mostly just for fun but you'll never know if it ends up being helpful at some point).
So definetily not a tech person, but interested in both the humanist and technological side if life.
It's baffling how shortsighted it was to blow up the damn. Unless the Russians know that they are losing and want to make sure that life in the liberated areas will remain terrible. Here's to hoping a swift end to the war and lot of support for rebuilding.
Strange. It is almost as if they don't give a shit about anything 😱 Surprise, surprise...
You are awfully considerate of the Russian law. I suppose it was okay for them to start the war because the law permitted it (did it?)? Annexation of Ukrainian land became okay too, because they made a law that permitted it, right? No matter what the Ukrainian or international law says, right? Please elaborate on how it's the Russian law that we need to take into consideration and not the others.
This reminded me that, thank God Russia was able to use Wagner troops, because the Russian law recognizes independent military organis...wait a minute, it doesn't. My point: Russia can and will interpret and implement it's laws however the guy on the top wishes. Law there has nothing to do with regulated and supervised legislature most of the so called western countries have.
Trying to take Crimea by force is not optimal, but if it is the only way to do it, and the Ukraisinian's decide to try it, it's their decision because it is their territory. Might succeed, might fail, might escalate, might not...we don't get to decide that, however terrifying the outcome might be. That's the sad truth, but Ukraine has the right to decide.
The reason I care for "offenders demands" is that if you give into them, they start demanding more and more and more. Putin's Russia is on a path of escalation and it has shown that it cannot be trusted to participate in the international community. The more they get out of Ukraine, the more they emboldened to makes demands and take aggressive steps towards their neighbors. This has been the trajectory since Russo-Georgian war in 2008 and it is not going to stop until they hit a brick wall. And currently the wall they are hitting is Ukraine. Also note that this is a historical phenomenon and the way Russia has operated at least since Soviet Union and a case could be made for even earlier than that.
If you must know, I'd probably be what most people call a socialist and a pacifist. I hate war and want nothing to do with weapons or the army. I don't care for flags or national symbols and I despise imperialism ND colonialism. However, I do care for the letter of law and a rules based international system. Currently Russia is wiping it's arse on these and that must be stopped, otherwise it'll just continue and get worse.
Just stated using Revanced Extended YouTube. One of the best apps there is. Makes everything so much more convenient and with zero cost.
That table is just begging to be flipped. Enter Flipper the Dolphin.
It's 4th of July. Aliens attack, a wild Will Smith appears.
Damn, we are using them at my work and they have been very good as remotely updateable media kiosks. I just started to learn how to use them. Ofcourse well keep using them for some time still, but at some point we'll need to find another solution.
I was also thinking getting one to work as a streaming computer. Currently I use one computer setup, which causes performance issues with some games. Would a nuc work as a computer to encode the video live or would it make more sense to use a machine with s proper GPU? Any thoughts?
This reminds me: I should finish Hollow Knight.
It's a bit off an off-topic but, can someone explain me the difference between IMAX and iSense? I've googled it but don't fully understand it. How does iSense compare to this beast of an IMAX film reel for example? What about more standard IMAX theatres?
Thanks!
The tech industry for example. It is easily the biggest, most varied and in many cases the most innovative (due to educated people and resources) in the world. This benefits the economy and the military for example.
Well yes and no. In some sense US is very backwards, in others it's ahead of everyone else. It's a big country so lots of different things fit there.
I think you seriously underestimate Russia. They have a helluva lot of manpower, natural resources and money. They are also able to import western sanctioned materials via China and Central Asian countries.
Russian society is being organized to resemble a war economy. There are new laws that make drafting more difficult to avoid and with more severe punishments. Also they have just raised the age for conscription. They are playing the long game and preparing for future eg. mobilizing the whole society under one delirious cause. Late 20s, early 30s it is totally possible that Russia has a better military capacity than it currently has. Sure, the life of average Russian will suck way more than it does now, but there's not really an option if you want to keep your job in a tank factory and avoid going to prison. You have no choice but to participate.
Putin has made his mind and the struggle in Ukraine only makes him more determined that He is fighting an existential battle with the west, especially since he believes that democracies and western liberal lifestyle are on a path of inevitable decline.
Sure, if he is stupid enough He might start a conflict with NATO, believing that the alliance will break when under pressure. He might think that He is prepared and the west is weak. And while there's 95% change that he is mistaken, it doesn't matter if he himself believes the crap the yesmen around him and He himself are feeding him. That's the real risk and to me, a defeat in Ukraine makes this scenario less likely to happen.
Yes I know that very well. In fact I took part in creating a exhibition about American Child laborers in the turn of the 20th century. It's just that news like this remind you how backwards the world's greatest superpower can be...
I think the point is that as long as certain services or fundamentals for living are based on good-will and philanthropy, they are in the end at the mercy of whims or calculated actions of those doing well.
It is PR in the sense that it does not only make the philanthropist look good, it also ties the subjects of the philanthrophy into a bond between the giver and receiver: as a receiver you are forever thankful to the philanthropist and in some perverted way constantly reminded of your subordinate status towards the giver. This strengthens the societal structures that benefit the rich and helps them stay powerful compared to massess. While I am sure that most rich people genuinely donate money to make things better and help others, it is still them who get to choose where the money is spent.
More equal and transparent option is to make sure that there is enough tax revenue to cover these kinds of costs from public spending.
I have also been playing with an idea of a philanthropic fund that allows anyone to donate, but not to decide where the money is spent. If the target for philanthropy could be decided by a group of experts/public poll, money could probably be allocated to places where it is needed the most. However, I am sure there would be a lack of bigger donations as the PR effect would be smaller...
You really seem to enjoy crafting strawman arguments.
Ukraine is fighting an existential war. Boosting nationalism is a way to cope with that and survive. I hate that nationalistic shit myself, but in their situation Ukrainians are both allowed to express themselves in a nationalistic way as well as fight back. And from the viewpoint of opposing nationalism: the fact that Ukrainians are more nationalistic, was mostly caused by drum roll Russia.
Ukrainian rulers appointed by the Ukrainians in free and increasingly transparent elections. In representative democracy, it's the representatives job to decide on behalf of the pople. Also, Zelensky is hugely popular president with support from the opposition too. Most of Ukraine support their leaders and they have a mandate from the people (especially the president).
You seem to confuse being leftist and a pro russian. The way I see it, they closed pro-Russian stations, some of which claimed themselves to be leftist. During a war, anti-war channels usually tend to go silent too (wonder why).
As a person many would call a left leaning socialist myself, I find it astonishing how some self-proclaimed leftists are hell bent on claiming that Russian Federation was somehow a champion of socialist values. In fact, it's pretty much the exact opposite of those and has nothing to do with leftist or socialist values.
Also, if you identify as a leftist and support Russia to oppose the US or "the West", you really need to:
Unicorns argue wether or not they should defederalize Meta: Zuckerberg grows into 3x3.
Radical/Rad!
I think there is a widely shared misconcpetion in the West that the models and values of a society and governance are universal. This is a very colonial mindset, even when the intent is benevolent.
Note that I am not an expert on Afghan society so if someone knows better, please correct me.
My perspective is, and like others here have pointed out, that Afghanistan has never been a state in the sense we understand states being. Concepts such as central government, civil society, national army were brought in by the English in the 19th century. Small parts of the society were organized based on western ideals (in supervision of the Brits) but most of the country remained decentralized, traditionalist and tribal. This is not to say that this is somehow worse, it is an ancient way of life with very rich traditions and it is something that has kept people in there are alive for centuries. For big part of the country things like nationalism, democracy, institutions, politics etc. are just indifferent.
With background like this it's no wonder Afghans were not able to build a society that mimicis western ideals. 20 years (or even 50) is a relatively short time when compared to traditions and interpretations of religion that have existed for hundreds of years. Sure, some people benefitted from the British, Soviet and the US presence, but i'd guess those that genuinely wanted to turn Afghanistan into a modern state, were in a great minority. In a society based on family and tribal ties, things like politics or civil society don't mean much if anything. Ethics are very different from the European traditions too.
Unfortunately Taleban is the only group there with power and organization that can form anything resembling a centralized nation state. The problem is that they are fundamentalist lunatics. While there are people who oppose them, it is very difficult to get enough people organized and overcome the fear of brutal punishments by the regime.
Because the civil society is small and disorganized, most of the people are apolitical and couldn't care less how the society is organized. I'd wager that most men in any position care about making a living and being left alone. Those who don't, try to leave the country. There just isn't a structure that allows for a major rebellion.
Never really used it that much and I've been much more active in Lemmy than ever in Reddit.
However, if I have problem that need a quick answer, I usually search Reddit. This in not because it is somehow amazing, but because Google searches suck nowadays. Typing Reddit into the search query usually brings out the answer I need instantly.
Love Tyrian, especially the soundtrack. Did not know there was an Android version. Does it honestly play well?
I vaguely remember playing UrQuan Masters on Android and remember it being quite cumbersome. With a proper port, that would be amazing!
Sorry, I'm bad at math (even though it was a rhetorical question) 😃
I'd like to point out however, that while having 4 wives might be allowed in some branches of Islam, there are others where this is not the case. So while Taliban might allow it (and I don't know whether they do as I am not an expert, but I'm currently too lazy to check it out), not everyone in the Muslim world does.
I say this because us living in the west have a very limited view of Islam and generally it is bad to enforce stereotypes. So this was not aimed against you, just pointing out something that bothers me in general 🙂
Fascinating! Never heard of this guy and I understand why He and his friends were arrested. Yet I appreciate the amount of work they must've put in their prank.
There's a little game called Dorfromantik in which you build a map with tiles. The PC version is my go to game when I need to multitask (made long Teams meetings during covid bearable). It's very simple, yet I have like 150h put into it. Not even that expensive to buy.
There's also a board game version which apparently ok too.
5 bucks for network monitoring made it a deal for me. Thanks 🙂
Now we are getting somewhere. 🙂
It’s not about being “considerate” of the Russian law it’s about recognising what is and is not possible for the Russians to do, under their law. If the law disallows it they literally can’t do it.
Pray tell then, if the law is the main factor here, how it was possible for Russia to use Wagner forces in Ukraine? I sincerely wish to know, because independent militias are illegal in Russia, yet they were able to operate there for over a year. If they were able to do that despite it being against the law, howcome they are not able to return occupied territories, even if it was agains their law? You surely don't mean they just choose to obey laws they deem beneficial at any given point in time, cause that would be shocking😮.
Put it another way, you could say that america should allow states to secede because that’s morally right if the people want to...
This is a false equivalence. Contemporary United States has not invaded those states and annexed them to the Union. Russia has.
You could argue that the US has annexed territories in the past and that the American civil war was fought to keep the Union togerther, but even then that was the matter of states attempting to cede from the Union they were part of, which in turn led to the war.
Ukraine's relation to Russian Federation is not the same, as it is an independent country, not part of the federation. Ukraine ceded from Soviet Union in 1991 and was recognized by the international community as well as the contemporary Russian state. In 2014 Russia broke that recognition and in 2022 it openly attacked it's sovereign neighbour.
You are mistaking my observance of the reality of the situation for a value judgement.
Maybe up to a point, but the fact is that current regime in Russia can do whatever it wants, including giving up the occupied areas. Law in Russia is subjugate to its rulers. Just like they were able to craft these particular laws in a few weeks, they are able to overturn them if need be or the situation forces them to. If a law is used as a talking point, then the law must also be able to bare scrutiny. Using Russian law to justify occupation does not do this, even if you and 99% of Russians believed it did.
The “international community” is just code that the anglo american empire uses to refer to the west and its interests. Africa, the Middle East and Asia are not included in it.
Maybe in your bubble, but for most of us it means sovereign countries conducting diplomacy, trade, co-operation and (up-to-a point) war/conflict, in commonly agreed framework of rules and practices. These include African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries too. Now you can argue wether the current international order is fair and benefits everyone equally, but it does not change the fact that we have commonly agreed upon international framework and organizations for conducting international affairs. Members of those organizations have agreed to commit to those rules. That system has kept the world relatively peaceful for around 80 years.
UN alone has over 193 member states that have agreed to shared rules for conducting foreign affairs. Another example is the Geneva Convention or the OSCE Helsinki Final Act of 1975, which by the way states, that there is a agreement on respect for territorial integrity, meaning that nation states should not attempt to promote secessionist movements or to promote border changes in other nation-states, nor impose a border change through the use of force. Russia has signed these and many more agreements and many more, yet here we are.
This is just the soft wording that the west uses for their own international hegemony.
See above.
I personally don’t give a shit that it doesn’t observe western hegemony or the “international community” (the west), but I agree that it needs to be stopped.
From your perspective the international community/law is just a synonym for western hegemony. You base you arguments on terms like "the West" and "western hegemony" as if they were some sort of monolithic actors in international affairs, set out to destroy or dominate the world. Usually this type of mindset stems from either ideological or conspiratorial background (or both). Judging by your name, I presume the the first hits the mark?
While I agree that the relations between the more developed countries (or "the West") and the BRICS countries or the global south have their frictions and tensions, the global affairs is much more complicated and nuanced than what the type of explanation you are offering here, can explain.
I am amazed how some people still parrot the idea that the "Anglo-Americans" are pulling the strings and even forcibly keeping rest of the west in their sphere (suggesting that those countries are really not independent). Hate to break the news to you but, there is no such individual political actor as "the West". What there is, is a set of countries that share enough common values and political capital that it makes sense for them to co-operate. Each of them have their own aims and concerns, in fact so much so that, quite often it is difficult for them to even makes common decisions. Just look at the EU for example and the ways that it is constantly at odds with itself and the United States on many topics. Yet everyone that is part of that co-operative network realizes that it is the best and the safest option currently available to them. And again, there are many changes I wished to happen within "the west", but none of those would be achieved by tearing everything down and starting from scratch. Also, the other options (like Russia's return to 19th and 20th century imperialism) or the totalitarian capitalism of China are even scarier options.
If you use terms like "the west", please atleast try to define what you mean by them, otherwise it's just going to sound like repeating talking points you've adopted somewhere along the way. I mean, this stuff originates in the early 2000s and has not really developed after that.
And more importantly: what would be a valid option for the contemporary rules based system? Seriously, the whole point the post WW2 international system was to avoid major conflicts and later on, to protect sovereignity of nation states despite their size. Sure, it has had a lot of problems, yet it kept us from the Cold War turning into WW3. How does Russia's breach of those rules contribute in building anything better? How would you restructure this system to make it more fair while at the same time protecting nations from each other?
I am all-in for refroming UN and other international institutions, but tearing them down and disregarding agreed-upon rules is a certain way for more war and chaos. This is unfortunately exactly what is happening in Ukraine right now. And ofcourse other countries like the US have broken those rules, but what Russia has been doing since 2008 is directly and openly aimed towards tearing down that system.
What this entails is sitting around a negotiating table though and both sides giving something up to come away with narratives to look like winners to their people. This results in the political stability of both states afterwards. And is the only realistic way that you get both sides to agree to something. Otherwise this war will go on forever until either Ukraine runs out of men or nukes fly.
Yes, there has to be discussion at some point and probably both sides will have to give up on something. The real point though is to end the hostilities for good. And that's the problem. All signs point to that Russia will just use peace to rearm itself and have another go at Ukraine or Nato in a few years time. The more Ukraine is able to get their land back (especially Crimea), the more unlikely another conflict will be. For Putin, losing Crimea would be a catastrophic outcome, but it would not be the end of Russia. In fact, it might be even better for them to suffer a defeat now and bury their imperialist dreams for good.
Every time I think that the US is a civilized "first world" country, they find a way to remind me of the reality. It really is shocking how backwards some things are in certain states.
Hope you get a federal law to prevent similar accidents in the future...