• 11 Posts
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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 11th, 2023

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  • Yes. Every country on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea has recently left the land mine ban.

    Unlike Ukraine, we don’t have hundreds of kilometers of space for a strategic retreat. So if signs start indicating that an invasion might come, border areas will have mine fields.

    If it comforts anyone: many modern land mines have electronic detonators. They can be designed to become inert after a set amount of time, or when their battery runs out of juice. Old models had mechanical / piezo detonators, and could survive decades in the right conditions.




  • Just when one thinks IDF has reached rock bottom depravity, some war criminal finds a way to go deeper.

    I hope the pepetrators (and if a command was given, their commanders, and if directions were given, the political leaders) are held responsible.

    It will take a lot of time and maneuvering. Politically, Israel must lose status and become considerably weaker before justice can occur. Meanwhile, the ICC must gain status and become considerably more influential. Then…



  • Yes, it involves assumptions.

    On the background of Hamas having tortured and killed opponents before, and on the background of demonstrations having occured against them in Gaza at the end of Ramadan, as reported here

    Videos verified by The New York Times showed groups of Gazans in the half-ruined streets in the northern town of Beit Lahiya. Some carried more neutral signs that opposed the continuation of the war, while others chanted slogans calling for Hamas to get out.

    …it is not a big assumption that Hamas leaders would ask their security service to find out who organized protests against them, and to kill those persons. They are not shy. It is not news that they kill civilians. It is not a big assumption.

    However, time will clarify things. People will be asking Gaza residents if they know someone who knows someone named Oday Nasser Al Rabay, and soon enough we should have more information. If such a person isn’t found, or turns up alive, it will be news too.


  • Checking one’s sources implies that you read them, see what evidence they offer (e.g. relatives’ posts, photos or videos from burial ceremonies), cross-check if the material is new or has been placed into a different context… and decide if you trust the material. The source can be direct or another publication. A journalist is better equipped to do that, since they can ask from quite many colleagues. They have the benefit of experience.

    Material that gets re-published can usually be considered somewhat credible.

    Material that does not get re-published, typically is not.


  • Not really.

    The only veteran with weight here is Petro Poroshenko, the president who took office after Yanukovich fled, and left office after losing elections to Zelensky.

    Sadly, Poroshenko has been harassed quite considerably (charges are being considered, his properties have been sanctioned)… for things he did as a president, did openly, and at that moment, did for the benefit of Ukraine. One of those deeds was buying coal from Russian-occupied territories - until coal could be obtained from other places.

    To me, the accusations against him have seemed more than a bit unfair - a man who did what he could in 2014 has been held against today’s standards and found wanting. It is natural that Trumpists would seek out Poroshenko and try to talk him over to their side. Him being pissed off, he might not reject their advances.

    Former President Petro Poroshenko, the de facto leader of Ukraine’s opposition, said following the scuffle that he wouldn’t criticize Zelensky “because this is not what the country needs now.”

    Following his team’s reported meetings with members of the Trump administration, the former president changed his tune and lashed out at his successor.

    He criticized Zelensky for the sanctions imposed on him and said that Zelensky is the “unfortunate leader of the team who moves the nation to dictatorship.”

    However, on the background of today’s Ukraine, the person with the biggest amount of support - ex-commander of the armed forces Zaluzhny - has probably not been approached, or has rejected them.













  • Indeed, forums are almost gone. In particular, I miss one forum about science fiction, one about aeromodelism, one about electric vehicles (another still exists) and one about anarchism. An interesting hold-out in the country where I live, is a military forum, where rules say that respectful discussion is the only kind of discussion accepted - ironically, the military forum has a peaceful atmosphere. But it could come crashing down much easier than a social media company.

    As for why forums disappeared - I think that people became too convenient. They wanted zero expense (hosting a forum incurs some expenses and needs a bit of time and attention), and wanted all their discussion in one place. Advertisers wanted a place where masses could be manipulated. Social media companies wanted people to interact more (read: pick more heated arguments) and see more ads - and built their environments accordingly. Not for the public good.

    I think the most urgent job is getting rid of algorithmically steered social media - sites where one can’t know why something appears on one’s feed.