@KraftTea@mastodon.social
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

KraftTea

@KraftTea@mastodon.social

Real men don't vote for rapists.
Brutally kind.
Semi-reformed S.V. digerati nerd.
2nd in charge of LiveJournal, back when LJ was sorta kinda cool.
Fighting for tearing down online walled gardens, since '99.
Semi-retired semi-professional schmoozer.
❤ˡᶦᵗᵗˡᵉ ᶦⁿᵗᶦᵐᵃᵗᵉ ᵉˣᶜʰᵃⁿᵍᵉˢ
Enby. (And many other things as well.)
Fan of well-regulated chaos.
Aesthetically promiscuous.
Realistically cynical optimist.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

KraftTea, to random
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

There's reason to suspect that getting enough trained Ukrainian pilots to use the "more than 60" F-16s earmarked for Ukraine might take some time.

While the Air National Guard doesn't want to say how many Ukrainians graduated, it was recently mentioned in a Congressional letter to Def. Sec. Austin that only 12 Ukrainian pilots are on track to graduation this year.

Unless there are alternative routes for training Ukraine's pilots, this sounds like a serious clusterf*ck.
https://intelligence.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1415

image/png

eunews, to random
@eunews@mastodon.social avatar

Germany's far-right AfD party expelled from European Parliament group

The move comes as a Greens politician told reporters in Brussels that the EU's far-right parties are a "major risk" to the continent.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/05/23/european-parliaments-id-party-requests-to-expel-far-right-afd

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@eunews This reminds me of the amusing, appropriate irony of the lyrics of Beethoven's 9th / the EU's theme song.

AfD... and Europe's far right, in general: Those who have failed.

glennf, to random
@glennf@twit.social avatar

Good news! I have hit the word count for my book! Bad news! All the words are not yet in the right places!

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@glennf So, all these words...
Are they the right words?!

Or is that a question for the next book?

kcarruthers, to random
@kcarruthers@mastodon.social avatar

Of course Mandager is a weak word. Jeg liker ikke Mandager!

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@kcarruthers Tell me why it don't like Mondays.

KraftTea, to Texas
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

Massive swept from central through at 70+ MPH last evening, knocking out power towers. Not telephone polls. Big, metal towers. Trees & telephone polls widely downed. Massive lightning and risks.

Numerous broken windows in downtown skyscrapers. Nearly a million people without power, perhaps for days. Basically everything cancelled. For days?! also slammed.

Climate change would like to assure you that it is a real thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQysD7D9j0U

campuscodi, to random
@campuscodi@mastodon.social avatar

Twitter is full of idiots blaming the Fico assassination attempt on everything under the sun. From the WHO to Soros.

That site keeps digging its own grave of irrelevance

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@ErikJonker @campuscodi Meanwhile, the guy who did the shooting told us that he hates Fico's totalitarian policies, specifically citing his party's censorship of the media.
https://elk.zone/mastodon.social/@KraftTea/112448060358484778

KraftTea, to random
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

Russia is taking advantage of their "window of opportunity" to die in growing, unsustainable numbers, while eroding their tanks, artillery, and special equipment.

At the moment, my best guess is that a lot hinges on electronic warfare. Russia is gradually losing some degree of dominance with artillery, and I think it likely that Russia is going to lose dominance with jets and cruise bombs, but EW losses will likely define dominance with drones and artillery lethality.

KraftTea, to random
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

As I've often cited as a historical reminder of foolishness in not taking a unified stand against fascism, the communists in Germany during the 1930s chose to attack and try to make political gains from the centrists, rather than take a united stand against Hitler, as urged by Trotsky.

The end result was that they were many of the 1st victims of Hitler's concentration camps. And Trotsky was brutally assassinated by the communists, who ALLIED with the Nazis, until they were stabbed in the back.

MAKS23, to random Ukrainian
@MAKS23@mastodon.social avatar

Hello friends :) A personal appeal to you! 🙏💜

Please put a like or write comments under this post, it is very important for me to know what activity is here!

❗️ I understand that many people passively read the news, but sometimes I get the feeling that I also write news here for 10 people, and there is no one else here...

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@MAKS23 There are definitely quite a few people here. (Significantly more than Bluesky, according to latest stats.) It's just that most are readers, not sharers of content.

I both share what you post here, and sometimes what you post on Telegram. I also tend to screenshot you occasionally, and comment on things you have pointed out.

KraftTea, to random
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

A modest proposal for Chatham House.

image/png

KraftTea, to random
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

For those of you who ask, "You're obviously talented. Why haven't you done more that we know of, or released any creative works to the public recently?", I just want you all to know that I'm currently sitting on several terabytes of rap beefs about all y'all, just in case I need to throw down.

skinnylatte, to random
@skinnylatte@hachyderm.io avatar

I haven’t encountered a single vegetable-centered dish at any of the Thai, Japanese, Malaysian restaurants I’ve visited in LA. It is possible to eat differently from the rest of the world (re a conversation a few days ago about always having to order veggies)

(To be clear, I agree everyone should eat veggies if they want! But also that, there are many cuisines which simply aren’t vegetable-centered)

(I had a very large raw papaya salad, lots of fiber but also enough chilli to kill a bear)

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@skinnylatte I miss even San Francisco's variety of tofu. I need to drive to Denver to get anything close.

Especially miss getting fresh tofu cut on trays for you at Wo Chong on Washington St. Even after COVID, the price per block went up from 25 cents to 30 cents. I met the owner of Wo Chong when he came into the store once. He usually works in the factory, but he was a really, really nice guy who keeps their little market open there as a way of helping the community.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/wo-chong-company-san-francisco-3

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@skinnylatte I lived half a block from those Vietnamese markets, and yes, normally I would go there to get the fresh Wo Chong... but after a few experiences where the Vietnamese Wo Chong tasted sour, I checked out the main store, which was MUCH fresher.

Not sure whether it's still open there, but there was another Vietnamese market a block south and around the corner from the one on Larkin. They had some really good fresh tofu there in larger blocks, as well as fresh tofu pudding everyday.

MAKS23, to random Ukrainian
@MAKS23@mastodon.social avatar

👀 Eternal flight, bothers... ✈️💥🔥

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@MAKS23 Poor guys.

They need more company...!

kravietz, to Russia
@kravietz@agora.echelon.pl avatar

In the context of discussions about the current state of the economy, a Russian opposition economist Vladimir Milov published a very detailed analysis in April (thanks to @KraftTea):

https://martenscentre.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Milov-Russian-Economy-.pdf

If one prefers the spoken word, Milov talks about it in an interview with Nacke:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ue7NzpK-g84 (in Russian)

In short: Putin was able to decree a war economy in parts of the arms industry, but the rest of the economy, as predicted, is rolling downhill as a result of sanctions, export reductions and labour shortages. Russia was able to stay afloat thanks to the huge reserves made before the war but all previous predictions were correct and are coming true, only belatedly. While the Russian war machine will be difficult to defeat on the battlefield because of the disparity of forces, this machine requires a constant flow of cash, and this is being cut as much as possible because most of Russia’s profits have so far just come from the West. The ‘reorientation to Asia’ is hitting the Russians hard, as exports to China are loss-making (!) and made below cost.

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@kravietz @nlupo Russia has actually been kind of lucky, in that Turkey and China have really had a hard time economically. This has stopped the ruble sliding against their currencies... but even still, falling about 40% vs. the yuan had a really painful impact on both exports and imports. Interest rates are way high, in part, to stop the currency from sliding again, as the Russians don't want to be priced out of Chinese imports, which they are highly reliant on.

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@kravietz I wouldn't dismiss inflation / currency deflation / interest rates, either. As Milov says, all the trends are inflationary.

Russia already had an bubble economy in housing, which meant investors were looking to a growth of a wealthy class, well-paid specialists, and increased "property as an investment" speculators to get rich. But now its facing serious headwinds.

People can't afford the new housing, as the nation is heavily in debt. Many are in a debt spiral high interest rates.

KraftTea, to random
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

The TL;DR version of Vladimir Milov's critique of the Russian economy.

Basically, GDP lies, because military production is a bubble economy that is not indefinitely sustainable, with every company creating inflationary demand for the SAME people and SAME limited resources. This distorts the mainstream economy, making the cost of living worse for everyone, especially those on fixed incomes.

"Nearly all factors arising from the war and Western sanctions... are pro-inflationary in the long run."

image/png

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@kravietz I shared it earlier, but it is at https://www.martenscentre.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Milov-Russian-Economy-.pdf

KraftTea, to random
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

Russia enlists a Ukrainian...
who shoots six Russians, including the commander, giving them all a coup de grâce, before fleeing the unit.

docpop, to bluesky
@docpop@mastodon.social avatar

Jack Dorsey referred to Twitter, the privately owned company that blocked links to competing social media platforms like Mastodon, as "freedom technology". What a clown.

He also deleted his account on Bluesky announced he's no longer on Bluesky's board of directors. Jack's involvement was one of the reasons I was never excited about , TBH.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/05/jack-dorsey-says-hes-no-longer-on-the-bluesky-board/?guccounter=butts

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@docpop Bluesky is a failed experiment, that was only ever intended as a proof-of-concept... and Jack has money tied to X still, so he's more than willing to lie for Elon, even if it means betraying Twitter's former customers.

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@markdarb @docpop It's enough simply to say that Bluesky is quite small, has failed to garner sustainable attention or growth, and was designed as simply a proof-of-concept anyway, not as a functional enterprise.

Jack going away is a likely sign that continued funding for the proof-of-concept has been yoinked as well.

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@markdarb @docpop Given that the seed capital for Bluesky is likely drying up with Jack's departure, and those involved were drawing big paychecks, and will likely maintain that expectation, I suspect we'll see Bluesky forced to seek out VC funding, which may be hard to do. If it was worth much as a business, Jack would likely not cut ties.

There are lots of ways they can try to monetize it, basically making it less competitive vs. Mastodon. And demographics are old.

Growth not promising.

KraftTea, to random
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

Netanyahu announces effort to kill the Israeli hostages and do more war crimes.

MAKS23, to random Ukrainian
@MAKS23@mastodon.social avatar

Let's make it clear! 🇺🇸🇺🇦

🤔 Who do you think will be the best US president for Ukraine? And why?

🙄 If Trump - will he stop aid to Ukraine, or on the contrary "force" Europe to help more than USA, as the Telegraph writes?

KraftTea,
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

@MAKS23 Biden.

Because Trump is completely untrustworthy, and voting for Republicans is voting for empowering their extremists.

KraftTea, to random
@KraftTea@mastodon.social avatar

Since supplies are arriving in Ukraine, as we speak, I think we can say something important has likely occurred...

IF Ukraine can resolve its personnel recruitment issues...
And IF the US and NATO can expeditiously handle the kind and level of supplies needed to equip perhaps hundreds of thousands of new troops...
And IF Ukrainian troops are willing to sacrifice in order to hold Russia back, until those troops are fielded...

I think this is likely the culminating point of Russia in this war.

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