Just one newspaper headline, that illustrates that Europe and Ukraine are on their own and can't count on the US. How can we expect Ukraine not to hit non-civilian targets like refineries, in response to Russia hitting civilian targets in Ukraine constantly ? #geopolitics#USA#EU#Ukraine#Russia@geopolitics
@ErikJonker@weddige@geopolitics If true as presented, that policy request is preposterous, and very poorly thought: a disservice to the interests of the US and its allies. Regardless: the EU must care for its own defense and not rely on others.
Okay just a little experiment I'm gonna link a couple songs, can you listen to a bit of it, and give me a couple adjectives about how it makes you feel?
@RickiTarr Thank you very much, a beautiful piece, often it comes down to Bach. On a personal note, about a decade ago, my wife came out of retirement for one last concert, she played Brahms' transcription for piano (left hand only) of this Chaconne. Bach always makes me feel something...
Diplomacy is a profession , an art maybe. Scholz is not mastering it and doesn't think about deterrence and deliberate/strategic ambiguity etc. Instead he makes absolutely clear Russia does not need to fear NATO troops and weapons in any context in Ukraine. True maybe, but why make Putin more secure and confident ?
Maybe he should agree a pact like in the Molotov-Ribbentrop days (being cynical here). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Policy_of_deliberate_ambiguity
@ErikJonker@geopolitics I believe a sovereign nation should never publicly rule out any meanings of war. Russia must be aware that with, or without the US (initially), some nations will not tolerate its constant attacks on other sovereign nations because it's known how that ends: a far more bloody and widespread conflict.
Two years since Russia's full invasion of Ukraine (as part of the war started by Russia in 2014) Ukraine and its people remain free and strong. Ukraine has become the line of defense of civilization and democracy: we must increase our support for Ukraine now! #StandWithUkraine #Ukraine #ThatCountry #ThatTyrant #EU #US #NATO #OTAN
"A failure by the United States to continue military aid to Ukraine would spell disaster for Ukraine and its Western allies while emboldening Russia and other potential aggressors"
There's a point when we must consider sacrifices to preserve that which is more precious to us: our lives, our freedoms, and our civilization. We're reaching a point where our survival could depend in our ability to defeat our enemies with whom peace has proven to be impossible. I think an extreme show of readiness and force is needed immediately.
I've just finished migrating toot.community to Hetzner. It's now operating on Talos Linux with a managed Kubernetes setup across several bare-metal servers.
Utilizing managed Kubernetes on VMs proved to be increasingly costly. While DigitalOcean's managed experience is great, a shift in strategy is needed to maintain financial stability due to the gradual decline in donations each month.
As always, it's a financial trade-off between being cared for, and taking care of.
Europe can have ordoliberalism, or it can have a future by János Allenbach-Ammann
Yes, this is a description of an issue #we might want to do something about. I believe #we should eventually do something more than #WhatAreWeDoingHere. Any #Unionian willing to try to agree on priorities and what #we will do?
@elCelio I think any treaty changes could arrive by the end of 2029. The last couple of enlargements were poorly handled and evaluated by the Commission, a change now is not yet possible, even if extremely desirable.
@Veza85UE That's why it's very important to push for EU focused journalism and education. My generation suffered too, I know folks who bought into the private retirement schemes and have now a total value lower than the monthly pension they expected. Many have to sale their houses to survive after retirement. Their handling was catastrophic, and missed a chance for great infrastructural investments, the "no debt" obsession is irrational.
@Veza85UE An interesting French perspective, but a perception nevertheless. I don't agree with their analysis which appears focused on achieving a predetermined conclusion. Very french. Good read anyway.
@Veza85UE@jmaris@abolitionniste@ashtime@OBabasch Back to the lobby issue, not as important as the failure to invest while rates are basically zero, but a constant impact in our daily lives too. Lobby is very opaque, and poorly regulated, in the EU. All proposals I've read so far will change nothing.
