#and of course there's still the whole Ukraine and Russia thing

[icannotgetoverbirds]

best of luck to british ppl rn, things over there sound Not Good. may this chapter in the history books be short - and better than we hoped for.

#idek what else to say #idk enough about y'alls politics to say much more than im so sorry for whatever shit is about to go down because of this #good luck y'all #i just hope this isn't the breaking point #or the beginning of the breaking point #because it feels like everything in both the US and the UK is going to shit #and of course there's still the whole Ukraine and Russia thing #and monkeypox. and covid #and inflation #and the housing crisis #and the wealth gap #and and and #like. this is the part in the history books where everybody loses their shit #all i want is to move to canada and get my ass out of the us where conservatives are taking over (or at least that's how it feels) #and maybe i can at least do something of value to bring forward progressive politics in canada #maybe i can carve out a life somewhere in rural ontario with my reptiles and horse(s) #maybe despite being disabled and potentially chronically ill i can survive whatever comes next #maybe i can make it out of here before shit hits the fan but it feels like shit is already hitting the fan #as a kid i wanted an exciting life but now i crave something 'boring' #something simple #i crave the mundane #have politics ever been mundane? #maybe for those with privilege #who are able to ignore the atrocities committed to benefit them #but otherwise. no i don't think so #not really #byrd chirps #tag rambling #tag ramblings #tag rambles

[qqueenofhades]

-Runs back into the room from having been wrapped up in the Sub Shitshow- context PLEASE on what’s up with Putin!?

Lol okay buckle up:

Yevgeny Prighozin is (well, as of now) one of Putin's closest allies. He is Putin's former chef and now the CEO of Wagner Group, the Russian private army of mercenaries who have spent a decade plundering Africa and destroying Syria in the employ of various terrible local dictators. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Wagner has become one of the Russian army's mainstays, mostly because they're the only ones who seem able to actually do anything. Of course, it did still take them nine months to take Bakhmut, Ukraine's *checks notes* 53rd largest city with very little strategic value, but given what a shitshow the regular Russian army has been, that's good. Or something.

The Russian army is mostly good at destroying dams and bombing civilians, which are obviously terrible for many reasons, but not that useful in the military scheme of things.

However, Wagner are also -- I hasten to stress -- thoroughly terrible people. Aside from all the shit in Africa and Syria, they've done likewise in Ukraine and will continue to do so. Legally speaking, they technically "don't exist," which has allowed them to get around a lot of the usual rules and regulations that are supposed to "bind" (ha) the Russian army. They are obviously in Ukraine directly at Putin's behest and doing Putin's bidding, but it turns out that giving an ambitious and amoral psychopathic warlord his own private army of criminals, rapists, killers, and whoever else they can dredge out of Russia's prisons to throw at the front line and die en masse may not be a good idea?

Shocking, I know.

Anyway, Prigozhin has spent months ripping into the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, for what a whole shitshow clusterfuck this whole stupid war patently is. (Not, however, that this has stopped him from continuing to eagerly carry it out, since he's just as much or indeed even more of a zealot as the rest of Putin's government.) This has included blaming Shoigu for equipment losses, underprovisioning of Wagner troops, general strategic numbnuttery, etc. Prigozhin has not, however -- again, until now -- attacked Putin directly, or backed off from getting his losers killed in Bakhmut and/or wherever else. One suspects that Putin has been perfectly happy to let Prigozhin scapegoat Shoigu for the war's failures, since this means Shoigu can always just conveniently fall out a window or something if it gets too necessary to make a public show of displeasure, and not Putin.

HOWEVER, things took a turn VERY FAST today, within about 12 hours. Prigozhin has, as noted, spent months tearing the Russian military leadership a new asshole -- not because he's a good guy (he's a fucking war criminal on like, 10 different levels), but because it is plainly obvious what a shitshow this is and even a war criminal has his limits as to how much totally pointless murderous bullshit he wants to go through, I guess. (That includes telling the truth about why the war started -- i.e. to steal Ukrainian stuff/land for the oligarchs, and not any of Putin's other stupid excuses.)

Today (June 23) Prigozhin accused the Russian Ministry of Defense of orchestrating a rocket attack on Wagner's camp in eastern Ukraine (near the Russian border) and causing massive casualties;

We don't have proof of this yet, or indeed much else of what Prigozhin is talking about, BUT he finally decided to put his Coup Hat On and get serious about "punishing" Russian military leadership, i.e. presumably Shoigu, declaring that "there are 25,000 of us [Wagner soldiers] and we're coming into Russia to sort out this chaos"

So -- again, according to Prigozhin, who is not the world's most reliable source on anything -- he turned his army of yoinks around, left Ukraine, and marched into the southwestern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, where the Russian military command in charge of the assault on Ukraine is headquartered;

For a while, there was nothing but Prigozhin's various unhinged rants on Telegram to prove any of this, but it's now early tomorrow morning in Russia and there are indeed a lot of videos of what DOES IN FACT LOOK like Wagner mercenaries rolling into Rostov and storming Ministry of Defense buildings;

Firm information on what is going on is almost nonexistent, even for Russia, but Putin is clearly taking this seriously; Moscow is shut down, there are armored vehicles on the streets, Google is down in Russia, and Russian newscasters are interrupting their broadcasts to insist Don't Look, Everything Is Fine Here, Totally Fine, Do You Hear Swan Lake? I Don't Hear Swan Lake!

Nobody can find Putin either, allegedly, but don't worry! He has been "briefed on the situation and everything is under control!"

The Russian FSB (successor to the KGB) has meanwhile issued a warrant for Prigozhin's arrest, said they'll charge/prosecute him for treason and armed rebellion against the state, and ordered him to stand down/his own men to arrest him

This, uh, does not appear to be working

ANYWAY, Putin's basically fucked no matter how this ends. Wagner literally just led an armed mutiny, he can't feel good about sending his ex-bestie Prigozhin back to Ukraine with any confidence that his orders will continue to be obeyed, it's Russian-on-Russian open war in the streets of Rostov and God knows where else, he's totally lost control of the narrative, the war, the domestic political situation, Wagner, probably good chunks of the Russian military command/elite establishment, etc., and we all know what happens to dictators in Russia who can no longer dictate

(And yet the Russian army is still finding time to lob some missiles at civilian buildings in Kyiv tonight, because they suck).

This is obviously a huge lucky break for Ukraine as well, since if the Russians are busy fighting each other, they can continue to push for a big breakthrough on their counteroffensive.

So yeah. Pride Month really wheeling out the big guns here, after Putin was the top option picked for Lady Karma to do her thing on in my poll a few weeks ago.

Stay tuned.

#anonymous #ask #russia ukraine war

[mothmvn]

Kyiv (hopefully) renaming metro stations to scrub out our ties to the vile empire <3

and I know very well that renaming placenames is a can of worms with its pile of inconveniences, but I’d so much rather be inconvenienced by having to remember that “Druzhby Narodiv” (”[station of] The Friendship of [Soviet] Nations”) is now “Botanichna” (“Botanical [garden]”) instead of having to keep calling ANY place in Kyiv “of the friendship of Soviet nations”. these new names - Heroiiv Ukraiiny (”of the heroes of Ukraine”), Vasyl’ Stus (Ukrainian poet, replacing Leo Tolstoy station), Varshavs’ka (Warsaw), Buchan’ska (Bucha) - they’re names my city can wear with pride :-)

#ukraine #kyiv #all else aside russian cities are simply uncomfortable to look at on a map at times because they have SO MANY SOVIET NAMES! still there!!! #because they're proud of it - it's a point of pride! they kept their lenins and stalins and octobers and its so fucking weird to see #coming from Ukraine & being pretty young basically my whole conscious life all things soviet have been things 2 tear out at the root #and of course. of course that's russia's attitude. but FUCK does it grate the eyes just seeing an address from one of their cities

[odinsblog]

Arnold Schwarzenegger, MAR 17, 2022

Full transcript below the cut

Hello everybody, and thank you for sharing your time with me. I'm sending this message through various different channels to reach my dear Russian friends, and the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine.

I'm speaking to you today because there are things that are going on in the world that are being kept from you—terrible things that you should know about. But before I talk about the harsh realities, let me just talk about the Russian who became my hero.

In 1961 when I was 14 years-old, a very good friend of mine invited me to come to Vienna to watch the World Weightlifting Championship. I was in the audience when Yuri Petrovich Vlasov won the World Championship title, becoming the first human being to lift 200 kilograms over his head. And somehow a friend of mine got me backstage.

All of a sudden, there I was, a 14-year-old boy standing in front of the strongest man in the world. I couldn't believe it. He reached out to shake my hand—I mean, I still had a boy's hand. He had this powerful man's hand that swallowed mine, but he was kind, and he smiled at me. I will never forget that day. Never.

I went home and I put his photo above my bed to inspire me when I started lifting weights. My father told me to take down that picture and to find a German or an Austrian hero. He got really angry, and we argued back and forth.

He didn't like Russians, because of his experience in the second World War. You see, he was injured at Leningrad, where the Nazi army that he was part of did vicious harm to the great city and to its brave people. But I did not take the photograph down, no. Because it didn't matter to me what flag Yuri Vlasov carried.

My connections to Russia didn't stop there, by the way. Oh, it actually deepened when I traveled there, with bodybuilding and for my movies and met all my Russian fans.

And then one of those trips I remember I met Yuri Vlasov once again. It was in Moscow during the filming of Red Heat, which was the first American movie allowed to film in Red Square. Now, he and I spent the day together. He was so thoughtful, so kind, and so smart. And, of course, very giving. He gave me this beautiful, blue coffee cup. And ever since then I've been drinking my coffee out of it every morning.

Now, the reason why I'm telling you all of those things is that ever since I was 14 years old, I've had nothing but affections and respect for the people of Russia. The strength and the heart of the Russian people have always inspired me.

And that is why I hope that you will let me tell you the truth about the war in the Ukraine and what is happening there.

No one likes to hear something critical of their government. I understand that. But, as a longtime friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say. And may I remind you that I speak with the same heartfelt concern as I spoke to the American people when there was an attempted insurrection on January sixth last year, when a wild crowd was storming the U.S. Capital, trying to overthrow our government.

You see, there are moments like this that are so wrong, and then we have to speak up. This is exactly the same with your government. I know that your government has told you that this is a war to denazify Ukraine. Denazify Ukraine? This is not true! Ukraine is a country with a Jewish president. A Jewish president, I might add, whose father's three brothers were all murdered by the Nazis.

You see, Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis. Those in power in the Kremlin started this war. This is not the Russian people's war. No. As a matter of fact, let me tell you, what you should know is that 141 nations at the U.N. voted that Russia was the aggressor. They called for it to remove its troops immediately.

Only four countries in the entire world voted with Russia. That is a fact. See, the world has turned against Russia because of its actions in the Ukraine. Whole city blocks have been flattened by Russian artillery and bombs, including a children's hospital and a maternity ward. Three million Ukrainian refugees—mainly women, children, and the elderly—fled their country, and many more are trying to seek to get out.

It is a humanitarian crisis. Because of its brutality, Russia is now isolated from the society of nations.

You're also not being told the truth about the consequences of this war on Russia itself. I regret to tell you that thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed. They have been caught between the Ukrainians fighting for their homeland and the Russian leadership fighting for conquest.

Massive amounts of Russian equipment have been destroyed or abandoned. The destruction that Russian bombs are raining down upon innocent civilians has so outraged the world that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on your country. Those who don't deserve it on both sides of the war will suffer.

The Russian government has lied, not only to the citizens, but to its soldiers. Some of the soldiers were told they were going to fight Nazis. Some were told that the Ukrainian people would greet them like heroes. And some were told that they were simply going on exercises—they didn't even know that they were going into war. And some were told that they were there to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine. None of this is true.

The fact is that Russian soldiers have faced fierce resistance from the Ukrainians who want to protect their families and their country. When I see babies being pulled out of ruins, I think that I am watching a documentary about the horrors of the Second World War, not the the news of today.

Now let me tell you, when my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government. And when he left Leningrad, he was broken, physically and mentally. He lived the rest of his life in pain. Pain from a broken back, pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible years. And pain from the guilt that he felt.

To the Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast, you already know much of the truth that I've been speaking. You have seen it with your own eyes. I don't want you to be broken like my father. This is not the war to defend Russia that your grandfathers or your great-grandfathers fought. This is an illegal war.

Your lives, your limbs, your futures, are being sacrificed for a senseless war condemned by the entire world.

Now, to those in power in the Kremlin, let me just ask you: Why would you sacrifice those young men for your own ambitions?

To the soldiers who are listening to this, remember that 11 million Russians have family connections to Ukraine. So every bullet you shoot, you shoot a brother or a sister. Every bomb or every shell that falls, is falling not on an enemy but on a school, or a hospital, or a home. I know that the Russian people are not aware that such things are happening.

So I urge the Russian people and the Russian soldiers in Ukraine to understand the propaganda and the disinformation that you are being told. I ask you to help me spread the truth. Let your fellow Russians know the human catastrophe that is happening in Ukraine.

And to President Putin, I say: You started this war. You are leading this war. You can stop this war.

Now let me close with a message to all of the Russians who have been protesting in the streets against the invasion of Ukraine: The world has seen your bravery. We know that you have suffered the consequences of your courage. You have been arrested. You have been jailed. And you have been beaten. You are my new heroes.

You have the strength of Yuri Petrovich Vlasov. You have the true heart of Russia. My dear Russian friends, may God bless you all.

(source)

#politics #ukraine #russia #arnold schwarzenegger #🇺🇦

[peakwealth]

You Run

Vladimir Putin, flanked by airline cabin crew (reportedly Aeroflot trainees), shortly before ordering the invasion of Ukraine.

Two recent quotes stick in my mind. The first one was by an American woman who escaped from a mass shooting incident after the US Super Bowl in Kansas City. (One dead, twenty-two injured.) Interviewed minutes later on TV, she said: In this day and age, you run.

I forget where I saw the second quote but I thought of it after Donald Trump's threat to pull the plug on NATO, should he be re-elected this year: It's as if the devil had changed sides.

Near panic broke out across Europe. Trump was willing to throw European countries, previously known as America's allies, to the wolves.

Vladimir Putin, do as you please. Ukraine, prepare to be sacrificed. And by extension, Taiwan, your time is up.

I keep coming back to this: the West isn't what it used to be. I think of myself as fortunate to have grown up in a 'eurocentric' world order, or the outcome of the second world war if you prefer. It may have been delusional but it was printed on perfume bottles: PARIS - LONDON - NEW YORK.

In reality, eurocentrism and the colonial empires that created it were already faltering by the time I came into this world. It took, however, a long time to see and accept it. As for the 'American century', it ended in 2001 with the apocalyptic scenes of 9/11 in New York City. As the towers collapsed, the world pivoted into a new era. To put it differently, the world was changing hands.

---------------

On February 24 2022 I woke up in a small, no-nonsense hotel south of Granada and went downstairs to have coffee at the bar. I flipped open my tablet and there it was:

RUSSIA ATTACKS UKRAINE

Until then I - we - had assumed there existed a fundamental contract with European history, immovably rooted in postwar reality: never again, no more major wars in Europe. No one in their right mind would want to mess with that contract.

Except that Vladimir Putin had just ordered his army across the border into Ukraine.

Now I wake up every day and want to hit my head against the wall as the Russian war of aggression grinds on. Grind, meat grinder, human waves, trench warfare. The words are all desperately wrong.

After two years of daily annihilation, hundreds of thousands of lives casually erased or ruined, it goes on and on. Both sides, it has been reported, are running short of young men to waste at the front.

We do not know exactly what goes on on those front lines. We hear about Russian soldiers dispatched to their deaths as a matter of course. But we do not get to see that, nor do we get any real casualty numbers. At the beginning of the war, things were more graphic, the bodies photographed where they had fallen. Two years on, we don't know. But the broken, blasted cities tell the story, as they do in Gaza: not many people walk away alive.

And now no one seems quite sure what to do about Ukraine. The war looks unwinnable because Putin does not care about the cost in human lives.

Why fight if you can't win? Is a negotiated settlement still possible? Land for peace would mean the partition of Ukraine accepted as a fait accompli. But can there be peace without justice for Ukraine, which would effectively be sacrificed in the hope of keeping Putin's Russia in check? Putin, however, cannot be trusted, nor can Trump for that matter.

Should Trump return to the White House, a new world order might emerge overwhelmingly inimical to the west or what would be left of it. It might not even be clear where the USA would position itself. As for the loss of Ukraine, in whole or in part, it would be like small change.

You can go on like this, endlessly turning over the options and arguments in your head, none of them acceptable: Ukraine's outright surrender? Or an indefinite ceasefire that would humiliate Kyiv but leave it attached to Europe?

Faced with a historic opportunity to rewrite everything, a moment of dizzying recalculation of how the planet works and who's boss, it is hard to imagine that China would hesitate to seize the moment. Others would follow, like India, Indonesia, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, eventually lining up with Russia in an historic act of opportunism and Schadenfreude.

In this day and age, you run.

A lot is at stake in 2024.

[dirtyvulture]

😎 Now for my sergeant beef au thoughts brought on by the snow fall ❄️. I also should post more on this au but sadly I am having more Darkest Knight Au houghts. But I still love Sergeant Beef and want to keep that alive .

Obviously Nat and Yelena were born in Eastern Europe ( Nat in Russia 🇷🇺 and Yelena from Ukraine 🇺🇦) so the cold weather is baked into them and if they still lived in Ohio for a time than yeah they both know winter and snow very well. They probably played together in the snow all the time in the winter. Making snowmen , sledding , snowball fights ( god little Natty and Lenny would be so competitive in these little battles) , making snow angels ….. the whole nine yards. * Also Little Natty would very  concerned with making sure that Lenny was all bundled up and warm ( Natty would tell her dad Alexei to be nice to her baby sister but then would purposely pull the hood over Lenny’s face and eyes ) . They would have enjoyed hot chocolate and getting all warmed up again.

I think the Beef siblings also lived and grew up in a place that had snow fall and winter and they did all the winter fun things that the Eastern European siblings did growing up . * But I think that the beef siblings also would shovel their neighbor’s driveway , steps and front door but did it anonymously. They didn’t want their neighbors knowing that is was them . *Sergeant Beef then slim jim probably even shoveled a path in the back yard for their childhood family dog as a kid too.

Now this winter they are a pouty sad little golden retriever beef because while they are getting better and growing stronger again , their nurse sister still forbids them to do any heavy lifting and anything that requires them to stand for long periods of time so that means no shoving snow . *Beef is sad because they planed on doing their yearly anonymous work of shoving the driveway of their elderly neighbors ( if they’re in a apartment complex they still put salt and shoving a path away for their neighbors) and were planning on doing the same for their sister and for Nat all of which anonymously of course ( they know that Nat is more than capable and their sister has her partner but they still want to do this because they love them and acts of service is one of their love languages) . They love doing things for people and making them happy, they are such a good one golden.

* While R is laying down on the couch they hear something and got up to see what that sounds was , only to find their In law shoving for them . They got up grabbing their wallet and as going to pay their in law . The in law was admittedly refusing payment until SB played dirty and said use the money to buy something for the baby knowing that In Law can’t say no to that.

* These are also based on me and my family a bit . When I was little and my sister would do this with my dad. She would check all the buttons and make sure Dad did everything correctly on my snow gear and making sure I was ok and going to be warm. Making sure Dad was being nice to me , her baby sister and then purposely pull my hood down over my face and eyes so I couldn’t see. My sister and I anonymously shoveled the driveway, steps and front door of our next door neighbor as kids ( I know that they were an older couple with adult children) and to my knowledge they never knew it was us. We never told them and we were never caught.

I shoved pathways in the backyard for my childhood family dog . I also shovel pathways and lay down salt at my apartment complex anonymously for my neighbors now as an adult . Back in the day my Dad would shovel the driveway of a neighbor that he had known growing up and that neighbor was in her older years. Dad was caught shoveling her driveway and she was insisting on paying him for it but he admittedly refused until the neighbor played dirty and said get something for the baby ( my sister as I wasn’t born yet) KNOWING my dad couldn’t say no to that . To this day I have never been caught and the people I have anonymously shoveled/ laid down salt for has never known it was me sooo shhhhh it’s our little secret 🤫 🤐.

The last bit of this post. I can see both Kate and SB respectively looking at their Eastern European sibling in absolute Awwwe as all the snow fakes get caught in their Red / Blonde hair.

SB ( Not even trying to hide it ) and Kate( thinks she is hiding it but isn’t) : absolute heart eyes 😍 and CONVINCE that this is an ANGEL in person.

Nat and Yelena ( May or May Not have a thing for ✨KaTe BiShoP✨) : Looking at their person and thinking/ doing the same thing.

I full heartedly believe that Yelena called Nat ( I believe she did in the BW Ohio flash back) Natty and still does as an adult because that is HER NAME for her big sister ( I have a similar thing for my own big sister. A nickname only I call her) and Nat called and still calls Yelena Lenny which again only her sister calls her that ( maybe one Katherine Elizabeth Bishop does or could too ? 👀👀👀)

I'm so happy you're here to keep the Sergeant Beef universe alive while I devote all my attention to Wolvie!R right now lol

I feel bad now that you're naming all the fun, happy things people do in the winter/snow when I am just sitting here freezing and without snow lol. Since SB was a little beanstalk in their youth, would they have even been able to lift a shovel full of snow? 😂

And that's a very sweet memory you have of your own family. :) Do you still shovel snow for them? And of course, your secret is safe with us.

I love how in love SB is with Nat ❤️

#😎 anon #vulture answers #sergeant beef au

[lilietsblog]

So I'm probably making myself a target for some nasty shit by doing this, but it's just bothering me a lot to scroll through tumblr in the middle of all this, so here it is: my understanding of the whole Gaza/Israel issue.

Based on tumblr's usual noise, but also on Ukrainian news sources, which I p much trust on this because... well, because of the specific things they say that check out, and also because Israel isn't actually supporting Ukraine in this war, and is apparently also trying to suck up to Russia (it's not working, Putin and Co are too antisemitic for that), so no reason for our news to suck up to them. (Especially the independent opposition bloggers I also follow)

Yes, Israel got itself into the whole mess via its own very special ill-thought-out policy. And they're basically stuck this way because of external and internal political reasons. Here's hope they manage to sort it out in a way that doesn't result in ever more deaths, misery and horror -_-

Yes, there was a violent terrorist attack by HAMAS that resulted in... at least several hundred deaths, including torture, rape etc of civilians, including visiting foreigners.

Yes, Gaza inhabitants are often aggressively antisemitic in a "want to kill them all" way. That's where HAMAS recruits its terrorists from.

Yes, again, it's predominantly the fault of the government of Israel and the decisions it's made. No, it's not the fault of each individual citizen of Israel, let alone every Jew, and it's not the fault of every single person who thinks Israel deserves to exist as an independent country, either.

No, Israel did not bomb the hospital. I have yet to see a single relevant photo on tumblr, but I did see relevant photos in Ukrainian sources, and they're of an explosion in the parking lot. The casualty numbers were grossly overexaggerated in the initial reports, and the actual cause for the explosion was a misfired rocket from HAMAS. There've been corrections from some sources, none from others, but overall I believe that the final version is that.

No, Palestinians are by and large not inhuman monsters who deliberately use their own children as human shields then blame Israel. There are, have been and will be a few fanatics who do do that though - even besides specific reports, I'd be very skeptical if someone told me apropos of nothing that after several decades of conflict there wasn't a SINGLE person who was that far gone. It's just how human variance works. I mean, I'd buy it if someone said that a Ukrainian did that, too - have you read Taras Bulba?

Yes, HAMAS absolutely does use Palestinian civilians (including children) as human shields. It's a terrorist organization that thinks they're in the right and the ends justify any and all means. Of course they would.

Yes, Israel is doing some fucked up shit with forcing civilian population to evacuate within 24 hours, shutting off water and gas, etc. I don't think they're enacting deliberate genocide and I do think they're at least trying to avoid casualties (see: telling them to evacuate instead of bombing as is, and shoutout to Russia for absolutely not doing that), but their solutions are still horrifying and lead to misery and deaths.

Pretty sure Egypt is not helping either, I trust the Ukrainian sources on that. Nothing to gain from lying, there.

The whole thing is resulting in an explosion of antisemitic AND islamophobic AND just overall racist violence all over the world, including riots BY the affected populations in response to it. Everyone is in the wrong, and everything sucks. I'll be blocking people for both sentiments should any make their way through tumblr savior, so fair warning here. Have an opinion based on the understanding of both sides as actual human people, or go fuck yourself with a rusty fork. Thanks.

So this one might be the most controversial, but: I think it'll be good for Israel to get US weapons. They don't need them against Gaza, they can handle Gaza. Those are against hostile neighbours that support HAMAS and are currently, right now, attacking the territory of Israel. I do not think they should get to do that, and I think Israel should continue to exist as a country. A country that could very much stand to improve its internal and external policies, but that the world is better off having than not anyway.

(I'm seriously biased in that last one, because weapons for Israel getting bundled with weapons for Ukraine is VERY VERY GOOD for us specifically, including for personally me in my personal interest of not getting personally blown up by a rocket from Russia. Very much biased here)

(And to be clear, I don't think this bias affects the news sources, because those news were posted before the bundle idea came up)

(And yes, I do think US military intervention / aid can be in the right and make the world a better place. Not because US is flawless, colonialism is good, etc, but - broken clock, twice a day, you know the drill. I think these are both the twice a day in question.)

#absolutely not tagging this

[unofficial-estonia]

the countryhumans post reminded me of “the dreaded hetalia”. specifically in how the character for russia is literally stated multiple times as wanting sunflowers, which at points was acknowledged as being symbolic for wanting Ukraine’s land. and yet there was always such a casual characterization of that in a “haha so funny joke” way

mind you, i have not interacted with that whole thing in like a decade, so i forgot there were places online i still followed things related to it. (context for following). so. literally a MONTH after the war started, suddenly there were ppl posting only about the characters for russia and belarus. need i say more? and that place was dead, empty, abandoned. nothing. and of COURSE they used the fUXKIGN SUNFLWOWR MOTIF AGIAIN

That's horrifying, I never knew that the sunflower symbolism in H*talia stood for R*ssia wanting Ukraine's land. Every time I learn something new about that comic it gets worse. Isn't it also canon that all the countries occupied by the Soviet Union were happy to be there or something??

Also, after every national tragedy or conflict, the h*talia fans and c*ntryh*man fans pop up making (NSFW) fanart, it's been a long-time thing.

[djuvlipen]

The whole slavic anon talk got me thinking, but I don't do original posts so I thought maybe you'd like this little thinkpiece/explanation. Don't feel the need to respond.

Slavic radbrl's extreme defensiveness over being accused of racism/"mixed up with the rest of white people" points me to extreme disconnection from their own community with a pinch of being terminally online. Navigating the power dynamic where you're white but not white enough to be considered part of the "civilized world" is hard and can be painful at times, which is why you'd see slavic people trying so hard to stick with poc with the whole "we're not like other white people" rhetoric. Because xenophobia is never talked or taken about seriously they can't explain why we're treated like that by western europeans, so searching for community with poc just makes sense to them. You see the word racism used by slavic ppl instead of what it actually is (xenophobia) for the exact same reason.

(also, there's legitimate movements to recognise slavic people as people of color, most of them seem to be spearheaded as Ukrainians or people of Ukrainian ancestry, which is not a coincidence imo)

Getting a reality check that yeah, you're still an opressor class, actually, sets off a defensive response in many people because they've personally never gotten the privileges of being a part of the opressor class (or, yknow. Never realised they did), which makes sense, but honestly I'd expect a better attitude from the community that seems to understand how intersectionality works.

But there's also this disconnect where slavic people tend to be very distant from our (admittedly pretty ugly) history and culture, only nit-picking the bits they like, because the rest of it reminds them that we ultimately live in a culture that is incredibly misogynist, racist, homophobic and xenophobic, which doesn't fit with the idea of being that perfect victim a lot of slavic ppl on the internet strive to be.

There's this idea that the only way to gain sympathy from the west (which we subconsciously aim for despite all out sneers at them because sometimes it feels like it's the only way for our countries to survive, and sometimes it actually is) is to make them realise we never actually "deserved" the way we treated. Facing all the pain we've caused to Roma and Jewish people and countless other nations makes you doubt and think that maybe you *did* deserve that - which is a very wrong way to go to begin with, but it's just easier to distance yourself from your history - your responsibility - and live in that comfy little bubble where your people never done any wrong because understanding that we still don't deserve the shit we get from the west despite all this, but at the same time should finally take some action against racism and discrimination we take part in today and at least apologise for what we did in the past takes some damn reflexion and mental resource and thought not all people are capable of. Especially not those who came to radbrl to escape the already painful reality with having to deal with Eastern European men, lol.

Not an excuse, of course, this phenomenon just seems very interesting to me personally since I observe it often in real life too.

(also the whole "slavic countries, aside from Russia" thing just feels so pretentious to me as a Ukrainian. I'd bet some serious money these people only mean Russia's attitude towards Ukraine that came to light recently and maybe other Eastern European countries, but not the North Asian native people that Russian colonised and killed because they wouldn't have even added that little "except Russia" to the list of they knew their own country's history with racism, which I'm sure there is some. Also, all that aside, is Russia not overwhelmingly slavic with slavic mindset and culture anyway? What's your reason for putting it aside like that, anon? Uncomfortable with the fact they're part of our ethnicity? Yeah, me too.)

Hi! Thank you for your input. You made a lot of good points, especially regarding the lack of education about xenophobia, and I don't think I can add much besides saying 'yeah that's true', especially since I'm a Westerner it wouldn't be fair of me to speak over you.

However as a Romani woman there are some parts where I disagree with you. I don't think Slavic people are trying to stick with people of colour by saying they are not like other white people. To me the very statement that Slavic people aren't like other white people is baffling. We can agree that Slavic people face xenophobia and persecution in the West based on the idea that they are not white *enough*, but the emphasis here is on "enough". They are still white and they have historically oppressed Romani people and they continue to do so. I don't see Slavic people distancing themselves from whiteness as an attempt at solidarity with poc. Roma have faced and still face institutionalized segregation, police brutality, forced sterilization, being put in ghettos, being denied access to school and healthcare, they never got compensation for slavery or for the pogroms and massacres they survived. Because the majority of us (esp. in Eastern Europe) are visibly brown and have a dark skin. Slavic people can't relate to that and the fact that they still continue to be so racist against Roma (like, the situation of Roma in Eastern Europe is so appalling, human rights violations are being committed against Roma everyday and we all know it) yet think of themselves as different from other white people is laughable at best. I am not only talking about myself here, all the other Romani women I've talked to on the matter echoed that sentiment and some were way, way less polite than I am when talking about this, because they live(d) in Eastern European countries and they have experienced racism first hand.

The idea that Slavic people are somehow different from other white people lies on the idea that racism against Roma is less reprehensible that racism against other people of colour. Slavic people who argue they are different from white westerners say they never colonized third world countries and say they never enslaved black Africans. So they recognize that racism against third world people and black people is bad. But they can't apply the same thinking when it comes to racism against Roma.

For the same reason, I wouldn't say Slavic people who say this are nit-picking bits of their history to leave aside the parts they don't like. I think it's actively rewriting history to try and pretend Slavic people were never racist against Roma to the same extent white westerners were to other poc. And this erasure has deep consequences on the lives of Roma today: they still haven't gotten reparation for slavery and we barely got any reparation for the Holocaust. The reason white people erase anti-Roma racism from history is because they don't want to compensate us and they don't want to acknowledge anti-Roma racism is bad, because they hate us. And the idea that Slavic people were not like other white people or were even people of colour (ridiculous considering that they have a white skin) has been used to silence acknowledging the severity of anti-Roma racism. Years ago when I was talking about Czech policemen kneeling on a Romani man's neck and smothering him to death, Czech users replied by insulting me, saying I was racist against Czech people, put me on blocklists, and then sent me anon hate telling me my whole family should be shot and Europe should be cleaned of gypsies.

So I think the main characteristic of that "not like other whites" phenomenon is how it erases the history of anti-Roma racism and acts like it isn't as bad as what other poc go through when Romani rights are constantly violated every other day in Slavic countries. But I do agree with a lot of what you are saying, I don't think Slavic people's anti-Roma racism or antisemitism should be used to justify persecuting them, and I agree that more people should be aware of how xenophobia is and works. I agree that there must be a lot of psychological reasons behind this phenomenon, you highlighted them very well and it was very interesting!

#roma #asks #anon #anti roma racism

[pricklypear1997]

Wowowowoowow. This dumb bitch is still going off about me lol 😂. Suddenly I’m full blooded chetnik Serb now lol ok. Go ahead wishing violence and death upon another nation even though you’re the only one actually spreading genocidal hatred towards a neighbor country while also claiming shit that just isn’t yours. The tumblr is called @talking-about-albanians and she’s obsessed with Serbs and calls everyone a rapist and assumes we’re all Serbs, Chetniks and r*pists for calling out her blatant genocidal hatred and stupidity. This person is sick. Don’t believe me? It’s all over her profile.

Now these articles are here to simply prove a point; Albanians today are killing Serbs, and that there are clear statistics that both sides harmed one another HOWEVER, there was no Albanian “Genocide” before the bombings. The CIA had infiltrated and trained the KLA (Kosovo liberation army), and they did horrible things to Serbs, but sure the Albanians will deny any responsibility of course because everything is Serbia’s fault and ALL Serbs are murderers and rapists, despite the plethora of evidence against Albanians and their mistreatment of Serbs. The countless Serbs who actually ironically had to evacuate Serbia and move elsewhere including the US, describing the atrocities that were inflicted onto them by the Albanians in Kosovo. The CIA and NATO are pure evil organizations that killed so many innocent civilians, that includes Serbs AND Albanians. I don’t understand why Albanians are convinced the Serbs killed them en masse when it was obviously the bombing inflicted by NATO of Kosovo that did that. The US created instability between the 2 people groups as a way to weaken Serbia and make them financially unstable. Why? Because the US viewed Serbia as a threat. Why did they view them as a threat? Good question. It’s probably because they’re a Slavic ethnic nation that was also previously communistic, which is ironic considering how many American elites and politicians are suddenly pro socialist (as long as it suits their needs) despite the more laissez faire capitalistic mentality imbedded in American “culture”. NATO is also using (my country) Bulgaria as a puppet, I mean just look at our shitty corrupt politicians and this obsession with trying to get into the EU while also somewhat supporting American government intervention and other things such as supporting Kosovo and even having our own military stationed in Afghanistan (I mean what the fuck)… I hate NATO and the CIA with such great passion. They are a pure evil and the bane of all our existences, yet Albanians are so delusional and play right into their hands. DO NOT get me started on the whole Russia VS Ukraine shit of a pointless war that once again the US/NATO/CIA is just using Ukraine as a pawn against a long time enemy; Russia. It’s honestly just sick. All of it. There’s literally no excuse for bombing foreign land, ESPECIALLY CIVILIANS. THERE IS NO EXCUSE IN STARTING WAR IN FOREIGN LAND. GET THE FUCK OUT OF OUR LANDS YOU WESTERNIZED SHITBAG TRAILER TRASH GHETTO RAPPING CASTRATING CHILDREN PEDOPHILE LOVING RETARDS. IT’S SO FUCKING OBVIOUS WHAT THIS SHIT IS, AND ITS A CULTURE WAR. AMERICA HATES CULTURE. AMERICA HATES COUNTRIES WITH RELIGION IMBEDDED IN THEIR CULTURES. AMERICA HATES COUNTRIES THAT ARE MUCH OLDER THAN IT AND HAVE REAL HISTORY AND CULTURE AND ETHNIC IDENTITY, UNLIKE THE US. THE US USED ALBANIANS TO DESTROY SERBIA’S REPUTATION, THEY’RE DOING IT ALL OVER AGAIN WITH UKRAINE AND RUSSIA. THEY HATE EASTERN EUROPE AND THE BALKANS AND THEY ONLY SEEK TO DESTROY US.

#albanians #psycho #psychopath #tumblr drama #I’m just calling out your lies and bullshit #stop claiming shit that isn’t yours #nato #USA #politics #foreign policy #American politics #Serbia #kosovo #Bulgaria #cia #fbi #tumblr #weirdos #sjw #colonizer #bulgarian artist #artists of tumblr #nobody cares about you #stupid Albanian #foreign intervention #the clintons #Biden #Obama #culture war #corruption

[karisworldofwords]

Alright, incoming rant about ESC, you've been warned. See this as a continuation of the reblog I posted earlier by the way.

I feel like ever since 2018, ESC has just really taken a nose dive. This might be personal bias since 2018 was the last year Germany made it into the top ten with Michael Schulte on fourth place and ever since, we've consistently scored only last place at best, negative last at worst like it sometimes felt but I digress - my point still stands. Of course, I absolutely loved last year's ESC, especially the entries from Finland, Norway, Germany, Australia, Czechia and Slovenia, but it doesn't change the fact that Eurovision quite recently just lost its usual flair and charme to me that it had all these other years. Might be because it's getting too political, might be because songs make it into the competition that most people don't want to have there aka rigging and such, might just be a mix of both - choose whatever fits you most.

And quite honestly, I may have lied a bit when I said in the hashtags that, due to my lack of connection to this year's ESC already, I don't have as much of a hard time boycotting it because truthfully, my heart does break in various places when I know I want to watch, eat or do something that I usually enjoy, but I can't because otherwise, I'd just show my silent support and approval for something that's happening or just generally going on that I don't agree with because, well, my personal morals would like to have a word there. Think of it as me being a queer American eating at Chick-fil-A - I'd actively go against my own community by supporting this company, as it's known that they regularly donate rather large sums of money to openly homophobic and transphobic organizations. It's something along those lines.

Key words here: The Russia-Ukraine war and the Palestinian genocide. Especially the latter however.

And I wanna use this opportunity and say: If you support Isr*hell and you follow my page, please unfollow me. Block me if you must, but at least unfollow me - because I do not support genocide in any way, shape or form. And you cannot argue with me that what Isr*hell is doing isn't genocide, because going from the word's definition, it quite literally is.

Just today, I learned through that post I reposted onto my feed here that Isr*hell is still allowed to participate in ESC, despite its atrocious deeds against Palestine. Just today, I also learned through a trusted friend that the Palestinian flag isn't allowed in the venue in Malmö during the contest, whereas the Isr*helli flag is still allowed. All while Russia is still banned from said contest for reasons quite similar to what Isr*hell is currently committing. It's called ethnic cleansing, by the way, there's no use in dancing around the topic and trying to talk it prettier - "schön reden", as we Germans say.

Once I heard of these things, my decision was clear as day - and I openly admit that I didn't have a broken heart at first. That only set in later, once the realization of the actual gravity of this whole situation completely hit me, as if I just got smacked by a brick straight in the face and my glasses shattered into my opened eyes. That's what it felt like to me once everything finally set in - once I knew "Yeah, a country has fucked up again yet is still allowed to do its thing so I'll have to boycott it because I have a conscience, unlike those people".

Now think about what the EBU decided to do. When Russia first started attacking Ukraine so mercilessly, Russia was kicked from Eurovision. Unrelated to the Slavic war but when Belarus pretty much abolished freedom of speech, they were kicked as well. But now that Isr*hell is actively lynching thousands of people day by day, it's suddenly alright and they're still allowed to participate? Where does the hypocrisy stem from? The absolutely blatant double-standard? The utter definition of "Rules for thee, not for me"? My guess lies in what happened during the 40's - which might also very well be the reason why my country's government vehemently defends this straight-up murderous country whilst claiming the country these individuals (to stay at least somewhat respectful although I don't really believe they deserve it) are currently actively demolishing, pulverizing and erasing from the maps never existed in the first place and thus, it doesn't really matter. Because Isr*hell is the place where Jews were from, where they started spreading from - not like a disease of course, just generally speaking - and where their roots have always lied. Because of what happened to them back then, they're now all scared to openly say "Ayo, guys, that ain't exactly right, don'tcha think?" since it's pretty clear - at least to me - that then, these people would pull the N*zi card almost immediately and scream discrimination based on just that.

A religion's basis being somewhere specific and having had to watch that religion be almost wiped out completely due to absolute lunatics back then isn't a reason to abuse that power though and play victim whenever it feels right to them. If anything, one would think that it'd be more of a reason to look back at what happened during those times and teach the future generations "This is what happened, let's all work together and make sure we never become like them back then". But instead, they abuse their victim status of back then into today's day and age, making many Jews around the world look absolutely horrendous in the process and throwing their own people under the bus by openly doing what had once been done to them. Makes me question if it's a weird form of Stockholm Syndrome, to be honest.

And the EBU allows it. When just a year or two before, they went all strict parent on another aggressor who did quite a similar thing. Make it make sense.

Thanks for coming to my Tumblr TED talk, and sorry for the length of it - I also have no idea if all of this makes sense, I'm just really pissed about this situation at the moment and needed to vent. Feel free to add your own thoughts as well, if you'd like, I'm always open for discussions as long as they're respectful and in a dignified manner.

#esc #eurovision 2024 #eurovision song contest #eurovision #free palestine #🍉 #ebu #and again just so y'all get it #those of you who follow me who support these murderers can fuck right off #unfollow me block me what have you #just don't fucking interact with me #and don't even *try* to start an argument with me as you *will* be blocked instantly #thanks y'all

[myrddin-wylt]

News:

EU has condemned Poland's recent judicial reforms, as have a good number of Poles. I'm hopeful but knocking on wood that we'll start to see the lessening of this backslide.

Ukraine launched "offensive actions" in Donetsk. I thought that meant the beginning of the offensive as a whole, and it may be, but it apparently may be just minor attacks. the Ukrainians have gotten really damn good at fake-outs lol. this is the third time I've thought offensive has begun and I'm still not sure it has. of course secrecy is kinda key here atm.

Putin had a 600yro Orthodox icon moved from its place in Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery to be displayed in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. apparently the icon is extremely fragile and the museum restorers are "categorically against this" as it could result in major damage. I'm just. Sigh. Russia, this is why we can't have nice things.

The PRC is back on its bullshit. apparently they've been buzzing US ships and cutting them off and generally being reckless, aggressive dicks. nothing new there except the sudden frequency.

Haiti's death toll from the recent flood has gone up to 42. please consider donating to any of the groups on my pinned post if you're able.

GodDAMMIT ERDOGAN WHAT IS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM

I guess the US must be thinking the same thing because apparently Greece is going to get its F-35 sooner than expected. speculation is that Greece got bumped up in line and has taken what was previously Turkey's spot and ftr I am laughing my ass off about it. congrats, Erdogan, on spending $1.4 billion so that Greece could get F-35s sooner lmaooo

Iran is going to reopen its embassy in Saudi Arabia. also the US and UK are accusing Iran of bullying merchant ships again. also-also, the UN's nuclear watchdog group apparently ended their investigation re: Marivan, Iran. naturally, Netanyahu is screaming his head off but tbh I got really distracted by this picture of Director General Rafael Grossi of the IAEA and what the fuck is that face--

?????

Canada is very literally on fire but like much more and worse than usual.

More NATO peacekeepers have arrived in Kosovo. This particular unit is from Turkey, which I am... not sure about the wisdom of that decision tbh? hm. we shall see. no news on the elections. well, some news in that Albin Kurti is back and so is the US's headache. but at least he was fairly elected...

Macron is being super fucking French about NATO again. he opposes a NATO office with Japan because Reasons. It might make NATO "lose focus" on the North Atlantic ie Europe. this is days after Macron sorta-semi supported Ukraine's ascension to NATO (but not right now) and walked back his 2019 "NATO is braindead" thing. I'm so tired of Macron's bullshit that I can't even mock him. Why can't you just be normal

Some rare domestic news:

Robert Hanssen is dead lmaoooo

It's been confirmed that the plane that crashed yesterday had no survivors, and that the passengers onboard were family members of the pilot. between this and one of the F-16 pilots describing the pilot as "out cold," the current assumption is that something (hypoxia?) incapacitated him and the plane's bizarre path was caused by the autopilot. so, the F-16s apparently did not shoot them down.

Pence announced his campaign for the primary. no one cares.

Trump's lawyers were seen at the DC's DoJ headquarters earlier today and now Trump is throwing an apocalyptic fit on his Twitter ripoff so it looks like we'll see charges against him soon regarding the classified documents. I can't believe I have to specify which legal case against him that I'm talking about but that's Trump for you.

[millennial-review]

1. 51 migrants dead in San Antonio thanks to inhumane border policies.

Over 50 people are dead in San Antonio, they were being smuggled into the United States in a trailer in the deadly summer heat. Temperatures in San Antonio have been in triple digits for weeks and in similar incidents it’s estimated the temperature in the back of a truck can reach as high as 175 degrees. It should also be noted that these deaths come amid record border crossings and historically inhumane border policy that makes entering this country incredibly dangerous and legally onerous, forcing many to pursue options such as those that lead to this tragedy.

2. Judge rules abortions may continue in Texas.

A judge granted a temporary restraining order allowing abortions to continue in Texas for two weeks. Texas has a trigger law that will go into effect 30 days after the ruling. From the Washington Post, Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee said the restraining order will last until the next hearing, scheduled for July 12, unless it is extended. But it is “irrelevant” once the trigger ban takes effect, he said.

3. Turkey backs Finland and Sweden NATO membership.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine Finland and Sweden have shown an interest in joining NATO. However, they have not joined yet as they did not have Turkey’s support. Now they do. This paves the way for an expanded NATO and while we’re sympathetic to the urge to defend oneself in the face of Russian aggression, that we’ve reached a point where NATO is expanding and there is an active ground war in Europe, is an absolute disaster. In the end a growing web of military alliances and hostility is bad for everyone. NATO should have been abolished with the death of the USSR but now it grows.

4. Ghislane Maxwell sentenced to 20 years in prison for sex trafficking.

Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted last year of trafficking sexual abuse victims to Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors sought 30 years due to her “instrumental” role in the trafficking scheme and the significant scope thereof. This comes after a lot of speculation however given the size and scope of the entire operation it still seems odd none of the powerful people involved are being charged. People like Bill Gates and Bill Clinton who were known associates during the time period should be subject to far more public scrutiny especially in the face of this conviction and sentence.

5. Trump tried to drive limo to capital insurrection on January 6th.

Our approach at Millennial Review has been to mostly not focus on January 6th because Democrats have already stated they won’t be seeking prosecutions so the whole thing seems kind of pointless. But today there were some developments that were pretty funny so they seem worth talking about. Specifically that when fascists stormed the capital Donald Trump asked his security detail to drive the presidential limo to the capital so he could join them, when they refused, he tried to take the wheel and drive himself. Trump also reportedly stated he didn’t care if people involved in the breach on the capital had weapons because “they weren’t going after him.” Again without prosecutions, a year late, and with Biden’s public approval dropping it seems strange to focus on this event specifically but some of the testimony, today specifically, is funny enough to cover.

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[rhaenyras]

Palestine has no airforce, no tanks, no navy, no armoured vehicles and is going up against a military that’s funded to the tune of billions by the US. Israel has advanced weapons, an airforce, air defence and has nuclear weapons. It’s not an even fight, never has been.

it's SETTLER COLONIALISM AT ITS FINEST AND MOST BLATANT. how can we deem ourselves educated civilized members of a so called advanced society if we allow israel to carry on with the ethnic cleansing and undiscriminated apartheid of an entire people? how can western media have it all backwards when it comes to telling the whole story? do they not feel the least shame when they apply such blatantly outrageous double standards to the narrative of a very disproportionate conflict where one side is evidently attacking and the other is barely hanging in there without the basic means to live with dignity? then when palestine actually fights back the colonial occupation of their land, they're the ruthless child-beheading (another fake news) terrorists?? it's fun bc israel violates god knows how many UN resolutions like it's nothing and it's still ok, like, nobody will mind or call israel back to order. nothing israel does can ever threaten to taint the legitimacy of their cause in the eyes of the UN, no matter how gruesome and sadistically cruel they get with the continuous endless torture, victimisation and apartheid of harmless palestinians. but god forbid palestine detonates ONE (1) bomb on their ass, israel will be crying for days and summon the entire world to action, as if they're the true victims here.

I'll tell you what. europe and usa don't give a shit about anti-colonialism, human rights and lives, the children's safety, etc... like, at all. they couldn't care less, in fact. only thing they care about is securing a white christian outpost in the all-islamic middle east. israel is supposed to be an enclave of whiteness and western values/culture in the midst of islamic local majorities aka the so called "barbarians". of course the logistics and geopolitics aspects of the matter are more complex but ultimately that's all it boils down to imo. this is the only sensible explanation i can give myself. otherwise i cannot find a reason as to why the international community will choose to unanimously side with ukraine against russia's invasion, but won't do the same when it's an islamic country that gets invaded by a foreign much bigger and more powerful military force. it must be all about securing the sphere of influence of the west over the east, like in the cold war or something. therefore the international community needs israel to stay right where it is. they have no interest in putting an end to the war. they will withdraw their political and financial support to israel only once the entirety of palestine is under israeli control and the palestinians are either dead or relocated as refugees elsewhere. preferably the former rather than the latter. it's absolutely beastly and it's all happening right before our eyes. the media is feeding us all sorts of misinformation and zionist propaganda and we're gulping it all down like it's our last meal on earth

#ask #anon #anonymous #palestine

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

I don't get how you can support Ze in that thing?!? Or how can keep supporting him. On which side are you on???

I'm on both sides and no sides at all. Both sides are understandable but both sides fucked up.

And why shouldn't I keep supporting Ze in general?!

Was the comment okay the way he said at infront of the UN? No. But it still holds truth. The whole grain fight benefits Russia and with blocking Ukrainian grain it also helps Russia in the war because Ukraine doesn't get the money from the (non) sold grain for financing the war. Of course, this doesn't make Poland a Russian puppet or anything. Which Ze, btw, never said. His statement was misinterpreted so many times ... . He said the behaviour of some countries is helping to "set the stage for a Moscow actor". Which is essential true, even thought Ze voiced it the completely wrong way.

Maybe Ze actually meant countries like Hungary. Maybe he didn't. In the end, now it doesn't matter any longer. He fucked up royally with that statement and should have known, especially with the tension before, that people would think he talks about Poland. Which he did, with the wording he used.

And if he really feels that way he should have told Duda in private. Send a strong worded WhatsApp or a voice message rant. But don't say something like that during the UNGA, infront of everyone. Especially after Poland just gave a support speech for you.

Same goes for Duda. You can't give a support speech infront of UNGA and be all about "We have to support Ukraine and show empathy and sympathy" and everything ... and then say in an interview that Ukraine is like a drowning man when they literally fight for their survival (because, hello!, genocidial war). And again, yes, Duda's metaphor was fitting but the wording, timing and place was just wrong. Tell Ze to get it together and get a grip in private and convince him, you only wanna help but you can't if the farmers at home start a rebellion in private. But don't take it to a public stage (applies to both of them).

In the end, I think way before Duda and Ze got involved, several people fucked up and said stuff that's not okay. And some point it was no longer about a problem that can be solved by negotiations and talks. It became personal and emotional and some people's ego and pride was way too big.

In a recent interview Ze mentioned that he understand perfectly well the tension the upcoming election causes and this is thr root for certain things happening. Problem is, as it seems so, not everyone gets that. And it started to escalate and escalate until Duda and Ze got involved into the mess other people caused.

That the media or journalists or other politicans are now fueling the fire with fake news, false informations, statements that can be easily taken out of the context ("we send no more weapons") and so on, is not helping at all.

Both sides are in a difficult position. If Poland blocks the grain from their market, they protect their farmers but hurt the Ukrainian economy badly and Ukraine doesn't have the money for the war, which helps Russia.

If Poland allows the grain on their market, Ukraine does get the money, but it hurts the Polish economy badly which causes problems with their farmers and the support for Ukraine in general, which again helps Russia.

So yeah, I understand both sides. I also understand both President's for trying to protect their countries interests and putting them first. Because for Ukraine, this is about surviving and their existence. And for Poland this is about Ukraine and their survival and existence. If Poland allows this now, this could hurt the support in the long term because people could be against it. But if Poland blocks it, it hurts the support right now and (at least in the moment) also the support long term, because of the fighting.

Ze and Duda need to come together, hug it out and find a solution that's fine for both sides and doesn't hurt the support or the friendship.

It shouldn't be "us against them". It should be "us against Russia".

All that being said: Ze fucked up. Yes. So? He's also just human. That man is going through hell for more than 500 days and has probably trauma we can't even imagine. And one bad thing shouldn't erase the 100 good things he did and said. It was Ze, after all, who worked a lot to strenghten that friendship and make these two countries closer again. And he did a lot of other good things (isn't it funny how quickly people forgot the remembrance service with Duda that was literally historical?!).

I wish people would give Ze a break and don't always expect him to be some mystical creature who is the definition of perfection and never makes mistakes.

And honestly, give him some slack. The man travelled to the UN in the middle of a war were he had to face Russia and a bunch of pro-Russian countries and their bullshit, had to try to get UN and UNSC involved, giving speeches in English all the time, holding important negotiations all while preparing the visit to Biden. And God knows what else was going on behind the scenes (Ukraine getting bombed, the war, Olena hurting herself, ...).

Critize him all you want (in a fair way!) But geeez. Let the man breathe and don't cancel him every time he isn't picture perfect.

In the end - we need more of that again:

#make voda not fight

[docholligay]

I guess I want to get murdered for my birthday

Do me a favor and read to the end of this before you lose your mind. Maybe go take a walk. I certainly took my time. 

Now that three months have passed, and we’ve calmed down some, I hope we can all admit that Ukraine’s Eurovision win was a political one, unattached from the merits of the song. There was a LOT of feelings in the air right after the win, and there was some severe lack of critical thinking skills going on. 

“I liked the song” “I want to feel like Ukraine is being supported” and “They won because of the political situation, and would not have otherwise” are not COMPETING or EXCLUSIVE thoughts. They can all sit on the plate together just fine. There is not a single thing wrong with any of those thoughts. 

They got something like 96% of the available televote, I think. Wacky numbers. We all know that was not sheerly out of a deep love of sopilka and hip hop. You are not stupid people. They could have sent Embers, and won. Even more shocking is the jury vote--juries traditionally HATE this stuff, and that was also more a show of political support than anything. In normal times, they would have eaten Stefania for breakfast. The fact that Eurovision fanblogs and forums have dozens of posts about how the results might have gone if there wasn’t a war on Ukraine, with statistical backing a different formulae--a whole category of discussion--shows this point pretty clearly. 

There are a couple questions that came up and retorts offered in the immediate after, and I think now, when we’ve all had a breather, is a better time to talk about them. 

Was the result FAIR? In the sense that I think absolutely no cheating went on, yes, it was fair. Now another meaning of fair is “Did it deserve it?” and that goes onto all the questions above--I don’t think that’s answerable, I think it’s too slippery. But going from a sheer “was there funny business?” no, it won fairly. 

I think for me the more compelling question is: Was it SATISFYING? I’ve tried to think about this as if it had been Shum, a song I fucking LOVE, and not Stefania, which in full fucking fairness, I DO hate. If it had been Shum, I would still be disappointed, because I know for the rest of Eurovision history, it would never be thought of as a song that won in its own right. Stefania will NEVER be able to come up without the contextual discussion of the war and how it won. And anyone who tries to assert that the song was “just that amazing” is going to sound sillier and sillier as we go down the line. It almost immediately started to get whupped on by Space Man and SloMo in the streaming stats. SloMo has more than twice the streams. And I HATED SloMo, this is not me trying to elevate Spain here. It’s just the accurate numbers reflecting people’s actual attitudes. 

But mostly I’m frustrated that it made Eurovision boring. The winner was chosen the second the news rolled out. 

It can be frustrating to see a song crush before the competition even starts, and I don’t think it was very fair the way anyone who was annoyed and frustrated by the domination was shouted down as some kinda pro-Russian bot. Obviously this is part and parcel of the internet problem of thinking of things as binaries but come on now. Use your heads for something other than a hatrack. Being frustrated that what is at least OSTENSIBLY a song competition became some classically social way of ‘showing Russia’ without actually having to DO anything for Ukraine, is not an anti-Ukraine stance. 

UKRAINE won, but Kalush Orchestra didn’t, you know? I think it’s okay to support Ukraine and find that deeply frustrating. Eurovision has always been political, of course--who knows how the fuck Greece decided to allocate points this year, I’m sure it kept them up at night--but it’s usually not so NAKEDLY so, and I, as a long time and fairly invested fan, found it unsatisfying to try and engage with a decided contest. 

But much worse than that was the denial that it was a decided contest. I much prefer someone say, “It was a known game, disconnected from the song, and I am fine with that.” Fantastic. I have no argument with that! How could I possibly? Fair enough. My only hope is that we can hold with two hands, “I am fine with Ukraine’s political win” and “people who were irritated by it are not necessarily pro-Russia.” 

Thank you, and goodnight. 

#I mean I fucking hate Russia for a MYRIAD of personal and political reasons #But that doesn't make Stefania the greatest song ever made by European hands #Doc isn't your family of Ukrainian descent? #YES AND NO #Yeah my great grandparents came over from Ukraine #but we're Jews and so weren't really considered Ukrainian by Ukraine #PALE OF SETTLEMENT JEWS FOR LIFE #You know initially I was disappointed that this years hosting is gonna be such a MASSIVE shitshow #but I'm leaning into the 'I just love mess' idea about it