Ukraine might be on the brink of collapse but it’s still capable of inflicting losses to the Russians, especially using drones. As the Russians themselves have said, the nature of warfare has changed a lot due to the introduction of cheap small drones in the battlefield. Any significant mass of men, weapon platforms or ammunition is instantly targeted. Therefore, the tactical approach now for both Russia and Ukraine is to use very small groups of soldiers in any attack, so as not to attract drone attacks. Furthermore, massed artillery is no longer practical due to the target they would present and neither is storing ammo/supplies in large quantities anywhere near the front, as they’d be extremely vulnerable to drones.
Also, we should keep in mind that due to constant satellite surveillance, all the above can be identified and targeted very easily. Also, the surveillance makes it hard for Russians to draw or prepare to execute massive pushes, as they would be easily anticipated. Therefore, they try to keep things moving everywhere all at once, and wait for advantages to develop before pouring resources to those sectors that would prove the most beneficial.
Hence, any advances made are small and incremental. The advantage that Russia has now is that it can perform these advances everywhere at the same time, and, because the Ukrainian ability to respond has been minimized, most of these small advances can be immediately successful.
Ok, so Zelensky has banned opposition parties, arrested political opponents. And furthermore he cancelled elections that were supposed to happen next month. Will you be condemning Ukrainian conscription then, since the government will neither be democratic or legally elected?
Couple things regarding the Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in Syria:
a) Israel’s move was not borne out of desperation. It was actually quite brilliant. They had nothing left to lose, with their reputation already been in tatters. What did they gain? They killed the 3 most important Iranian military officers for coordinating the region against the US and Israel: The coordinators with Syria, Lebanon/Palestine and with Yemen. They were there in an unprecedented meeting to plan their next moves. Israel got whiff of it and immediately bombed them. Iran made a tremendous mistake by placing them all in the same room within missile range of Israel.
b) Iran has basically lost its tactical/diplomatic leadership in the area with the deaths of these 3 officers. Retaliating militarily right now would be a mistake and it’s exactly what Israel wants. Iran would be unable to coordinate effectively with its allies. Meanwhile, the US would feel obliged to intervene on behalf of Israel, which would lead to direct war between US and Iran, a war that Iran might win, but Yemen and Palestine would certainly lose. Such a war would also remove the public eye from Palestine, allowing Israel (and its Arab collaborators like Jordan and Egypt) to finally evacuate Gaza.
Iran (and Lebanon) should avoid retaliating at this moment. The best thing they can do right now is to maintain the moral high ground, and continue working diplomatically to isolate Israel politically, while letting Hamas do its own thing and let Netanyahu grow truly desperate.
On the other hand, if Israel attempts to invade Lebanon, in an effort to distract its people from Palestine and save Netanyahu’s reputation, then neither the US, nor anyone else will be willing to join in with Israel. And Hezzbolah, with the help of Iran, will utterly destroy Israel, possibly liberating all of the Syrian and Lebanese lands up to Galilee.
For these reasons, as well as the other things going on mentioned in the article, Iran should retaliate politically and not militarily.
For context, I’m a USian who became interested in Islamic cultures as a young adult, and from there found something magnetic about the faith of Islam....
I don’t think you should convert for the sake of having a religion. In my opinion, if what interests you is the philosophy, then try to practice it on your own. At least the parts you like. If you aren’t interested in the rituals, then there is no reason to officially convert.
As you’ve observed, organized religions are millenia old, and as such, they carry a lot of cultural archaic baggage that they can’t get rid of, because it would invalidate their dogma. You don’t have to abide by those traditions if they don’t represent you.
If you want the community that accompanies religious practice, I’d suggest looking up for a Unity Church near you. Although it’s based on Christianity, it’s a place of worship for people like you, who want a religion but are not attracted to the whole of it. They encourage you a lot to talk about your own version of what you worship and why. I tried it a few times in the UK and it was fun talking to Muslims, Budhists, Christians and Wiccans amicably in the same room.
Israel will lose this war on every level. There’s potential that it will be dismantled, especially if it keeps trying to escalate with Hezzbolah. Hamas was right to stage the October 7 attack. It is very saddening to see so many Palestinians suffer due to the war, but it was either this or slow genocide while the rest of the Arab world (and rest of the world) befriends Israel.
Israel is constantly losing soldiers, who are mostly untrained, and equipment, which is quite expensive, while notoriously being one of the most casualty-averse armies in the world. Settlers are constantly leaving to their home countries. The Israeli government is trying to expand the war to Hezzbolah, which will be disastrous for them and will probably lead them into losing the Golan heights and northern Israel. The warcrimes of Israel have been exposed for the world to see, to the extend where the entire global South is now against them, as well as their Western benefactors. And as you said, the majority of people everywhere are now sensitized to what Palestinians are going through.
It is not an understatement to conclude that America’s government and political system are in a state of monumental dysfunction perhaps not seen since 1861. The evidence is overwhelming....
He spent easily 45 minutes talking about how we don’t appreciate our “democracy” and how China was le evil communist dictatorship in which people are at the mercy of the see see pee and you could get disappeared if you weren’t friendly to them. Also mentioned how “Hitler was elected democratically” and the CPSU had...
You need to be smart about this, but there’s plenty you could do with a simple complaint that your professor wastes class time to talk about irrelevant things.
If you are in the US or UK, you should remember to include that class time is paid at a premium rate by you or your parents.
Also tell them you do not feel that the material being delivered adequately prepares you for exams. Or the time spent on these comments could have been utilized for revision or new knowledge instead.
And that these kinds of rants create a hostile learning environment. Especially to people from countries targeted by your prof’s rants (i.e. Chinese students). Also mention that your prof’s empassioned attitude during these speeches makes you feel unsure about discussing the issue with him directly, since he might perceive you as an ideological enemy and make achieving your academic goals difficult for you (and then stress that you make your complaint anonymously for this reason).
Use a couple examples to demonstrate how his rant was irrelevant to the curicullum supposingly being delivered, and emphasize the time spent on these things.
As a fellow teacher, you are going about this the wrong way. Your student sounds like the type who’ll keep escalating if you keep escalating, particularly over something that there’s no school rule against it. This escalation might spill over into other areas and damage your relation with other kids.
Here’s my advice:
Stop thinking of her as a kid/student and think of her as a fallible human. You can’t “save” her by treating her as an inferior or by acting dominant. She will just turtle down and probably get worse out of reaction. 9/10 times, these kids are seeking attention, and that’s the only way they feel they can get it. You need to show her she can have your attention via other means. Some empathy and patience goes a long way.
Accept that your efforts might not succeed. Desperation that you are not doing enough will not just make you feel guilty/depressed, it will also backfire on your attempts to teach her to be a better human. Do the best you can, and hope it works. If it doesn’t, you tried. Keep in mind that what you do might not have an immediate effect, but might actually help her stop being a racist years later.
Remember you are not the only influence in her life. You should investigate quietly where her racism is stemming from. Usually it comes from parents or other friends. Understanding the source will help you better in helping.
Don’t tell her to not be racist. Show her how and why she shouldn’t be a racist. Try to involve her in activities that bring her into contact with people who she’s racist against.
Set a good example to be followed. People desire happiness and acceptance. Show her, in a positive way, that it’s easier to be happy and accepted by not being a racist, rather than being one.
This is the most important bit: just sit down and talk with her. Not about racism, but about life. Make a connection, so she can be more open with you and more accepting of your advice. Kids respond really well when you show them some rudimentary respect and treat them like grown-ups. They become even more responsive when you prove that you can be dependable for them.
Fixing the behaviour of kids is a lot like treating drug addicts. You won’t achieve anything long-term with anger, dominance and punishment.
The Times has come under fire from family members of Gal Abdush, the so-called “girl in the black dress” who features as Exhibit A in Gettleman and company’s attempt to demonstrate a pattern of rape by Hamas on October 7. Not only have Abdush’s sister and brother-in-law each denied that she was raped, the former has...
Former soviet republics still have a far better literacy score, more doctors per capita, and a more equal representation of women in sciences and academics than many Western capitalist countries.
Spencer’s analysis is just an overview of the current symptom.
This is the real disease:
because it sees a new platform it can scale to feed the financial growth demanded by investors.
Investors/shareholders demand infinite growth, but there’s finite space to grow (millions of games, few customers). This is why, in the past 2 decades we’ve been seeing the scummiest of practices being employed again and again, as well as a 300% hike in base prices. Capitalism has eaten gaming.
But we’ve been observing this trend in AAA and AA publishers/developers mostly. Indie gaming is alive and well and evolving towards being better and better. Why? Because indie developers are not usually beholden to investors.
Once you hear a gaming company you used to like has gone public, say your condolences and then run away.
The budget is also a marketing ploy. The average person hears about a game costing hundreds of millions to make and they think “well then, it MUST be good”. It’s more or a pissing contest among publishers. Most of that budget does indeed go to marketing and executive wages/bonuses.
And from the publisher’s perspectives, that’s really a good investment of the budget, because it doesn’t just drive up sales. It also cultivates customer loyalty and fanboyism (e.g. “we are spending all that money because we believe in the game, and we want to give our loyal fans the best experience possible” is a very common line in pre-release interviews).
For example, there’s a false equivalency among gamers, propagated by this kind of propaganda: “I have to pay the high prices and engage in microtransactions/DLC, because that supports the game developers and their high budgets”. In reality, the people who actually make the game see very little of that money. Their wages, in most instances, are shit and do not reflect the hours they put in. However, gamers rarely want to understand that, and instead extend the publisher pissing contest among themselves (“the game I’m playing now spent more money than the game you are playing, therefore it’s the superior product”).
50 dollars were console games. On PC you’d often find the same game at 30 dollars (disk) or 20 dollars (steam) on release. The difference was due to console makers taking a standard fee cut from every sale.
The first AAA games back then to be released at 40 and 50 dollars on PC were COD MW1 and BF3, which set the trend for all other games since then. This was pure profit for the publishers, since there was no cut for console makers on PC. And before you say it, no, the Steam cut back then wasn’t even comparable (much less since it was a % cut and not a standard fee). In fact Steam hiked their cut because of the price hike triggered by EA and Activision, which is what then made EA pull their games off Steam and create Origin.
I follow the SYRIZA elections, and I have to say that if Kasselakis is elected, then SYRIZA will completely abandon its left-wing character, aside from certain social issues like gender equality, gay rights, etc. For example, yesterday the Greek Parliament voted in favor of an anti-strike measure that also allows employers to expand the 8-hour day to 13-14 hours, as well as removing a lot of worker rights and protections. SYRIZA abstained from the vote, when it was prepared to vote against. Kasselakis had come out earlier making remarks in favor of this new law package, and his influence probably made SYRIZA to abstain instead of voting against.
Sept. 21 (UPI) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol warned during an address to the United Nations General Assembly that Seoul and its allies will not "stand idly by" if Russia gives North Korea technical assistance with its nuclear and missile programs.
Oh they haven’t? India-Pakistan conflict did not happen then. The Cuban missile crisis didn’t happen either. I guess the US hasn’t been trying to kill Iran’s nuclear program with drone bombings and assassinations either.
I’d say open a book, but I don’t think you have the capacity to benefit from it.
A) it is when you ignore every single point except the one you can twist
B) and you were wrong
C) yet you’ve been minimizing the Ukrainian coup orchestrated by the US, and denying the right of self-determination to people in the Donbass
D) you didn’t use it as a negative at all. Nowhere in your comment do you condemn the Iraq war. In fact you are whitewashing it by implying that somehow the US should be praised for not doing ethnic cleansing (which they did, lest we forget the 1.5 million dead Iraqi)
Kharkiv offensive has started! (lemmygrad.ml)
No maps yet, it started few hours ago, probably coming tomorrow.
What do you think will happen if we don't pass the aid for Ukraine?
I'm writing again. We may be seeing the end of Israel. (criticalresist.substack.com)
I'm interested in converting to Islam, but have always had hang-ups
For context, I’m a USian who became interested in Islamic cultures as a young adult, and from there found something magnetic about the faith of Islam....
Just a reminder: While libs are convincing people to give the finger to Gazans, back in 2014 Palestinians were giving advice to help contend with police brutality during the Ferguson protests (www.dazeddigital.com)
The very same Palestinians we’re being promised would gut us if they had the chance....
Only the KGB could have planted the seeds for our dysfunctional US government | The Hill (ghostarchive.org)
It is not an understatement to conclude that America’s government and political system are in a state of monumental dysfunction perhaps not seen since 1861. The evidence is overwhelming....
My cryptography professor is a fucking turbolib
He spent easily 45 minutes talking about how we don’t appreciate our “democracy” and how China was le evil communist dictatorship in which people are at the mercy of the see see pee and you could get disappeared if you weren’t friendly to them. Also mentioned how “Hitler was elected democratically” and the CPSU had...
How can I effectively enforce anti-racism in the classroom as a middle school teacher?
I never thought I’d have to deal with this, but here we are. It’s not common sense that racism is shameful and bad....
Russia and China are designing and testing counter-space weapons to deny, disrupt or destroy satellites and space services (www.bloomberg.com)
Screams without proof: questions for NYT about shoddy 'Hamas mass rape' report - The Grayzone (thegrayzone.com)
The Times has come under fire from family members of Gal Abdush, the so-called “girl in the black dress” who features as Exhibit A in Gettleman and company’s attempt to demonstrate a pattern of rape by Hamas on October 7. Not only have Abdush’s sister and brother-in-law each denied that she was raped, the former has...
These are the Same mfs who said china is genocidal btw (lemmygrad.ml)
On this day in 1917 the October Revolution started, marking the rise of the Soviet Union (lemmygrad.ml)
It changed Russia from a tsarist emprie into a global socialist superpower within decades....
Work. - A history of how capitalists ruined work (www.youtube.com)
Leaked Xbox Boss Email Perfectly Explains Why Game Publishers Are Eating Themselves Alive (kotaku.com)
Stefanos Kasselakis: the political outsider hoping to revive the Greek left (www.theguardian.com)
Yoon: Seoul will not ‘stand idly by’ if Russia and North Korea make weapons deal - UPI.com (www.upi.com)
Sept. 21 (UPI) -- South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol warned during an address to the United Nations General Assembly that Seoul and its allies will not "stand idly by" if Russia gives North Korea technical assistance with its nuclear and missile programs.
Head of NATO says Russia invaded Ukraine because of NATO expansionism (www.nato.int)
From the guy’s own mouth.