2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine (Part 3)

Very much true. What Clearview AI and Ukraine are doing is basically uncharted territory, governed more by the rule of immediate needs than the rule of law. The only limit I see in the future is if the EU sets regulations governing racial recognition, then Ukraine will eventually comply in their desire to join.

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In truth there are EU nations - aside from Hungary - who have reservations about expanding the bloc.

Tough. Expansion always costs in the short term, the alternatives are regressive. The soggy economic dumpster fire of post-Brexit :uk: is instructive, is it not?

It is perhaps my interpretation, but I think the EU was never really about national economics, and more about stopping a repeat of the industrially powered “prequel” Franco-Prussian War, and World War Part 1 and 2. Bind Europe by trade and freedom of movement as a way to access resources, and build mutual knowledge and dignity, rather than take resources by war. Locally costly, sometimes; globally beneficial in a “global” :eu: sense.

The :ru: war in :ukraine: is a resource grab by people who care nothing about the means (and the means inevitably shape the ends). Putting :ukraine: in the :eu: means putting their resources into the trade system of Europe and is the best way forward. Obviously :ru: would prefer to colonize and steal instead. That national instinct to theft has to be utterly crushed, or the post-colonial Western project, with its promise of a democratic leveling of economic resources, risks failure.

Edit: spelling, punctuation

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It was both. The point of the European Coal and Steel Community was to make the economies of France/Germany/Italy/Belgium/Netherlands/Luxembourg so interlinked that another war would be a bad move for all countries. Despite what nationalist arseholes think, it was a success, so other countries joined and it became the EEC then later the EU.

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DC already has a Leather Week.

Are they suggesting a Gay Camo/Adidas week too?

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Russia does not have unlimited bodies for cannon fodder either, no matter what their propaganda might claim, or how recklessly they spend them right now.

Even Soviet Union did not have unlimited bodies for cannon fodder, despite having vastly better demographics than Russia and broader base to draw on, and the losses they sustained in WW II had a serious impact on Soviet society and economy for generations afterwards.

And I would be cautious about buying into the idea that they are “adept with advanced drones”, too.

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Although Russia continues to rely on the country’s traditional meat-grinder/human-wave approach to tactics, operations, strategy, and grand strategy, we shouldn’t underestimate their technical adeptness in certain areas, either. The Kremlin spent decades nurturing sophisticated criminal hacker organisations whose ransom and theft operations were easily pivoted to warfare. And while the Lancet drone may seem clunky compared to American ones, a kamikaze run by a trained remote operator still gets the job done cheaply.

All of which is to say, Putin can maintain a stalemate or even gain some ground with this “good enough” approach. Especially if the right-wing parties of the West are successful in withdrawing support for Ukraine.

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https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1734607331391045741

Polish far-right and pro-Russian lawmaker creates a scandal by using a fire extinguisher on a Hanukkiyah in the Polish parliament. Wow.

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I think it’s specifically those sophisticated information manipulators that are why Russians haven’t realized just how bad things are getting for them. Much like Germany during the two World Wars, making it a crime to talk about the war means dissatisfaction is dangerous to express. But it is there, simmering under a strong inferiority complex, a carefully curated, centuries old resentment to Europe and the rest of the world. And support for Putin is not nearly as deep as he thought it was, as the Wagner Rebellion showed. Russians have learned to only say what they think the interviewer wants to hear and to play the role to the hilt lest Friend Computer the local official suspects them of not being loyal enough.

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