War

How much is true and how much is propaganda? Perhaps there were some instances, but really how, widespread is sabotage among the Russians? Some of the fires in Russia were and some of the tanks, but the rate might increase, as dissatisfaction grows and the idea catches on. It is an indicator of poor morale though and if they are showing the burned out tanks on TV in Russia, then trying to draft the young people of the nation could be a problem. One only has to remember the Vietnam war and the protest in America to understand what might happen in Russia. In America they burned draft cards, in Russia they burn the offices containing the records. Expect a lot of Russian draft dodgers in Europe!
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Z-symbols, Fewer Tanks and No Guests: Russia Prepares to Mark Victory Day as Ukraine War Rages
Russia will mark Monday the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazism amid expectations that ongoing fighting in Ukraine will cast a long shadow over the popular event.

In particular, the set piece military parade on Moscow’s Red Square will see significantly fewer soldiers and equipment compared to last year, which experts have linked to significant losses sustained by Russia in its ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine.

“This is one of the few times when Russia is conducting a conventional war at its borders at the same time as having the parade,” Aglaya Snetkov, an expert in Russian foreign policy at University College London told The Moscow Times.

cannabineer said:

In a working society, the thought must be held in stasis until a fact comes in. Entrenched in the public mind is pure argumentum ad populum. It’s perfectly possible to fully cage Vladolf in provables, so let’s not use propaganda.

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Hey, I've gone tribal! That's my story and I'm stick'n to it! When ya go tribal facts become of secondary importance... Ya don't argue the finer points of philosophy with the likes of Putin, ya kill the bastard!

Want's, Odesa. Needs, Crimea land bridge. As long as the Russians remain in the Donbas they could claim victory. Putin expects a bump in approval from May 9 to last a number of weeks. The will pour as much as they can into the fight to save that. At this point if they lose the areas they now hold Putin's political power may end. With the instability happening in Russia he may need to abandon Ukraine to tighten the police state even more.

Ukraine Claims Advances In Counterattacks Against Russian Donbas Offensive
Ukrainian forces reportedly advanced on Russian positions near Kharkiv and Kherson, making small territorial gains amid an ongoing Russian offensive in the eastern Donbas region.

Russia, meanwhile, claimed it destroyed a Ukrainian cache of weaponry that had been supplied by the United States and Europe.

The May 7 claims by Oleskiy Arestovych, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that Ukraine had made battlefield advances come just two days before Russia holds ceremonies to mark Victory Day, the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Here is the guy who appears to be most responsible for the Russian's defeat, they say he is very good at his job, keeps a low profile and doesn't seek the limelight. They are giving him an award for something and the battle in the east has just begun, the retired NATO officers who trained him and his army have a high opinion of his abilities.
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DIY-HP-LED said:

Moral perfectionism

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No. Intellectual hygiene. “Don’t believe a thing unless you are pretty damned sure it is true.”

This is hard to do, and I fail often and hard. But the thought just struck me: the above pronciple plays poorly in religious communities, and they’re getting a steady indoctrination into the idea that believing something gives it greater reality. Poor intellectual hygiene being actively encouraged by those who have declared themselves our arbiters.

The evangelicals especially use emotioneering to sink the faith home, which is a characteristic of a cult.

Ukrainian Military Says Drone Destroys Russian Landing Craft Near Snake Island In Black Sea
The Ukrainian military says it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea near Snake Island, declaring that a missile launched from a Bayraktar drone struck a Russian landing craft.

“In the waters of the Black Sea, an enemy landing craft of the type Serna was destroyed," military spokesman Serhiy Bratschuk said on his Telegram channel on May 7.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said an armed Bayraktar drone also destroyed a missile defense system on Snake Island, a small islet under Russian control.

The ministry posted what it says was a video of the ship sinking on its Twitter account.

cannabineer said:

No. Intellectual hygiene. “Don’t believe a thing unless you are pretty damned sure it is true.”

This is hard to do, and I fail often and hard. But the thought just struck me: the above pronciple plays poorly in religious communities, and they’re getting a steady indoctrination into the idea that believing something gives it greater reality. Poor intellectual hygiene being actively encouraged by those who have declared themselves our arbiters.

The evangelicals especially use emotioneering to sink the faith home, which is a characteristic of a cult.

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I look at it in scientific and evolutionary terms and this is heavily weighted by my personal experiences with meditation and Buddhism, particularly Buddhist psychology. Much of it has to do with the effects of tribalism, in the past most churches were local and like a village they represented a community within a larger society and often provided social services to their few hundred members.

We humans form hierarchical communities based on social ranking that are for the most part caring and sharing. Without pernicious influences like bigotry and other stupid social division, liberal democracies become more humane, inclusive and just. However the effects of tribalism are both positive and negative and are deeply rooted in human nature. Humans band together and organize to face threats and challenges, real or imagined, we always have. Ukraine exemplifies many of the positive aspects of tribalism and Russia it's worst. As Churchill said, you do your worst and we'll do our best. There are neutral perspectives that sit above it all, but that is difficult to do when one is under real or perceived threat. In this circumstance it also requires amorality to remain neutral about atrocities.

DIY-HP-LED said:

I look at it in scientific and evolutionary terms and this is heavily weighted by my personal experiences with meditation and Buddhism, particularly Buddhist psychology. Much of it has to do with the effects of tribalism, in the past most churches were local and like a village they represented a community within a larger society and often provided social services to their few hundred members.

We humans form hierarchical communities based on social ranking that are for the most part caring and sharing. Without pernicious influences like bigotry and other stupid social division, liberal democracies become more humane, inclusive and just. However the effects of tribalism are both positive and negative and are deeply rooted in human nature. Humans band together and organize to face threats and challenges, real or imagined, we always have. Ukraine exemplifies many of the positive aspects of tribalism and Russia it's worst. As Churchill said, you do your worst and we'll do our best. There are neutral perspectives that sit above it all, but that is difficult to do when one is under real or perceived threat. In this circumstance it also requires amorality to remain neutral about atrocities.

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I disagree with the bolded. For almost all of our history, those hierarchical communities did not run on sharing and caring. (This is the exact hinge on which utopian ideologies fail.) They were based on privilege and slavery. The removal of slavery (which is still not complete) is a new phenomenon.

printer said:

Ukrainian Military Says Drone Destroys Russian Landing Craft Near Snake Island In Black Sea
The Ukrainian military says it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea near Snake Island, declaring that a missile launched from a Bayraktar drone struck a Russian landing craft.

“In the waters of the Black Sea, an enemy landing craft of the type Serna was destroyed," military spokesman Serhiy Bratschuk said on his Telegram channel on May 7.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said an armed Bayraktar drone also destroyed a missile defense system on Snake Island, a small islet under Russian control.

The ministry posted what it says was a video of the ship sinking on its Twitter account.

"The traditional parade of the Russian Black Sea fleet on May 9 this year will be held near Snake Island -- at the bottom of the sea," the Defense Ministry said.

According to GlobalSecurity.org, a Serna-class craft is a high-speed air-cavity patrol boat designed for the transportation and disembarkation of troops on an unprepared shore.

The report of the warship sinking could not immediately be independently confirmed and it was not clear when the incident occurred. There was no immediate comment from the Russian military.

On May 2, General Valery Zaluzhny, commander of Ukraine's armed forces, said the Ukrainian military destroyed two Russian Raptor boats near Snake Island.

In the May 7 announcement, the Ukrainian military said the Bayraktar drone strike had also destroyed a Tor-M2 antiaircraft system that was being delivered to Snake island.

Ukrainian Military Says Drone Destroys Russian Landing Craft Near Snake Island In Black Sea

The Ukrainian military says it has sunk another Russian warship in the Black Sea near Snake Island, declaring that a missile launched from a Bayraktar drone struck a Russian landing craft.

www.rferl.org

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Snake Island for the Russians is gonna be a lot like those Pacific island outposts the Japs held in the in WW2, cut off and allowed the whither on the vine. They have troops there, but their offensive capabilities have been destroyed and they are basically bait for Ukrainian missiles and drones when they try to resupply or evacuate. I imagine the same applies to their cut off forces in Transnistria, they can't resupply them or reinforce them.

The State Duma called for another special operation in Ukraine
The Russian military must conduct a special operation to evacuate grandmother Anna, who came out to the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a red banner of Victory, from the Kharkov region. This initiative was made by the Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Nina Ostanina, commenting on the opening of the monument to the heroic old woman in Mariupol.

“I think that it would be more useful not only to open a monument, but also to conduct a special operation to free Anna's grandmother and her husband from the hands of the Nazis in the Kharkov region. Take them to Russia and invite them to honorable participation in the parade on Red Square, ”Ostanina wrote on Telegram.

Earlier , a monument to the grandmother , who came out to the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the red banner of Victory, appeared in Mariupol. The fact is that an elderly resident of Ukraine got on the video of the Ukrainian military: the woman went out to the Ukrainian soldiers, raising the Soviet flag. The fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, filming the pensioner on video, mocked her views, trampling the banner. After that, the woman refused the canned food handed over by the Ukrainian soldiers and began to explain the importance of the flag.

Later it turned out that the name of the woman living in the Dvurechensky district of the Kharkov region is Anna . Russian and foreign residents admired the grandmother's courage. So, Yekaterinburg artists drew street art with a brave old woman , and a wooden sculpture of an elderly woman appeared on the Kurgan-Yekaterinburg highway . It is believed that the grandmother became a symbol of the special operation of the Russian Federation for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.

Political scientist: what is dangerous for the Russian Federation the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO
The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO carries certain risks for Russia. This was stated by political scientist of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies Vladimir Bruter in an interview with URA.RU.

“The approach of NATO infrastructure to Russian borders always carries certain risks, at least in terms of the time it takes to reach Russian territory,” Bruter said. The political scientist considers it reckless to underestimate the danger of Sweden and Finland joining the North Atlantic Alliance, based on the fact that the countries are already integrated into NATO structures. “It is worth noting that Finland is located several tens of kilometers from St. Petersburg,” the source said.

The political scientist explained the cause of concern due to NATO expansion using the US position as an example. “After all, the United States objects to Russia deploying strike weapons in Cuba, in Venezuela. Since their location near the American border always carries a danger. But the US itself is going to do just that, ”said Bruter.

Earlier it became known that Sweden and Finland will decide to apply for NATO membership in May. The United States, in turn, promised them to solve the security problems that may arise after applying for membership in the North Atlantic Alliance.

Despite this, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic opposed the membership of Sweden and Finland in NATO. Later, the American political scientist Ann Slaughter, in an article for the Financial Times, said that the entry of Finland and Sweden into the NATO military alliance would lead to a halt in the economic and cultural development of all of Europe in the 21st century.

Fires damaged 484 buildings in the Krasnoyarsk Territory
In the Krasnoyarsk Territory, 484 buildings were damaged as a result of large fires caused by storm winds. Earlier , a state of emergency was declared in the region, as a result of fires in the Sharypovsky and Kazachinsky districts, five people died . In the village of Uyar, six people were injured.

“The greatest number of buildings were damaged in the Uyarsky, Dzerzhinsky, Rybinsk and Bolshemurtinsky districts,” reports the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Emergency Situations for the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In 13 municipalities, 484 buildings were damaged. Now localized 14 major fires.

Localization has not yet been announced in the village of Uyar, where a difficult fire hazard situation is observed. There, as a result of a fire, six people were injured, Interfax was told in the press service of the Ministry of Health of the region. “Two of them were prescribed outpatient treatment, four were hospitalized in a state of moderate severity. Hospitalized adults,” the ministry said.

In the Irkutsk region, an emergency mode was introduced due to adverse weather conditions against the backdrop of fires
The first fire occurred in the village of Polovino-Cheremkhovo, Taishet region. As a result, six residential and two non-residential houses, as well as a school, burned down. “Extinguishing was complicated by strong winds - up to 16 meters per second,” Mr. Kobzev wrote in his Telegram channel . According to him, the preliminary cause of the fire is a broken power line. By evening, the fire was contained.

In the afternoon, a state of emergency was introduced in the Taishet region due to a fire. The Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Irkutsk region reported that 69 people and 25 pieces of equipment, including a fire train, were involved in extinguishing it.

The second fire occurred in the holiday village of Morgudon in the Bratsk region. As a result, 35 houses were damaged, most of them were non-residential. As a result, one person died, about 150 more people were evacuated. “Again, the liquidation was complicated by strong gusty winds,” Igor Kovtun said. He added that the fire was contained. The preliminary cause of the fire is believed to be the human factor.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, 52 people, 22 pieces of equipment and a fire train were involved in extinguishing the fire.

Since April 30, in some areas of the Irkutsk region, an increased fire regime has been in place due to meteorological conditions. On May 4, local authorities reported that 2.04 thousand hectares of forest area were on fire in the region. 402 employees of forest fire stations, 34 mobilized citizens, 188 units of ground equipment are involved in extinguishing fires. Aviation monitoring of the forest fire situation is carried out by one light aircraft and four An-2s.
Blinken: Putin is trying to distort history to justify what is happening in Ukraine
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to justify the military operation in Ukraine by "distorting history." Mr. Blinken stated this in his address on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the end of World War II.

“As war rages again in Europe, we must stand firmer against those who are now trying to manipulate historical memory to justify their own ambitions,” the US Secretary of State said in a statement .

He stated that it was necessary to "tell the truth about the past" as well as "to support those who are fighting for freedom in our time."

On February 24, Vladimir Putin announced that the goal of the military operation in Ukraine was the “demilitarization” and “denazification” of Ukraine. He also called the goals of the operation "protection of the inhabitants of Donbass" and "salvation from genocide."

cannabineer said:

I disagree with the bolded. For almost all of our history, those hierarchical communities did not run on sharong and caring. (This is the exact hinge on which utopian ideologies fail.) They were based on provilege and slavery. The removal of slavery (which is still not complete) is a new phenomenon.

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I was speaking in terms of our evolutionary history, before agrarian civilization formed us into larger more impersonal communities. However these propensities still have great sway over our personal and social behavior and are the simplest explanation for phenomena. Almost all community organizations have a humanitarian aim or adopt one, I'm not talking about the fear driven mobs of bigots either. There are other factors like greed (social status and ranking) not just bigotry that cause problems in societies, even social statues breeds bigotry and the rich believe they are actually better than the rest. These are the ills of maladapted humans to civil culture and structures, it is a messy process!

Slavery is a product of tribalism, as well as human greed.

DIY-HP-LED said:

I was speaking in terms of our evolutionary history, before agrarian civilization formed us into larger more impersonal communities. However these propensities still have great sway over our personal and social behavior and are the simplest explanation for phenomena. Almost all community organizations have a humanitarian aim or adopt one, I'm not talking about the fear driven mobs of bigots either. There are other factors like greed (social status and ranking) not just bigotry that cause problems in societies, even social statues breeds bigotry and the rick believe they are actually better than the rest. These are the ills of maladapted humans to civil culture and structures, it is a messy process!

Slavery is a product of tribalism, as well as human greed.

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Sonce you are describing speculation on our prehistory, I disagree still.

cannabineer said:

Sonce you are describing speculation on our prehistory, I disagree still.

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Now evolutionary psychology is a hot topic of debate! Like all science nothing is settled, there is just a preponderance of evidence and almost anything can change with a new theoretical construct that fits the evidence better than the competing one.

The moral animal by Robert Wright, a science writer, is a good book that examines these questions in detail and builds on it with "Why Buddhism is True" a provocative title if there ever was one. It deals with the naturalistic aspects of Buddhism and how it helps us deal with this difference between our evolutionary propensities and the social requirements of a larger civilization.

Russian aircraft shot down Ukrainian Su-24s and Su-27s near Zmeiny Island
Russian operational-tactical and army aviation shot down three Mi-8 helicopters with landing troops and two Ukrainian aircraft - Su-24 and Su-27 near Zmeiny Island, Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said at a briefing. In addition, two unmanned aerial vehicles "Bayraktar-TB2" and a Ukrainian assault boat "Stanislav" were destroyed.

In addition, Russian Iskanders liquidated large batches of weapons and equipment from the United States and Western countries, as well as the personnel of units of the 58th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near the Krasnograd and Karlovka railway stations in the Kharkov region . Also, aircraft at the airfields in Artsyz, Odessa and Voznesensk were hit by high-precision long-range sea and air-based weapons.
Operational-tactical aviation liquidated two command posts, 21 areas of concentration of personnel and military equipment, two ammunition depots and an artillery battery in firing positions. Also, high-precision missiles destroyed 42 areas of concentration of manpower and Ukrainian military equipment in the area of the Volcheyarovka settlement in the LPR and two ammunition depots in the area of the Seversk settlement in the DPR .

Rocket troops and artillery hit 31 command posts and 245 strongholds, areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In total, 154 aircraft, 115 helicopters, 764 unmanned aerial vehicles, 296 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,902 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 333 multiple rocket launchers, 1,378 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 2,728 special military units have been destroyed since the beginning of the special operation. automotive technology.

Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine on February 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin called its goal "the protection of people who have been subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." According to the Ministry of Defense, as of March 25, the Russian Armed Forces completed the main tasks of the first stage of the special operation - they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine.

The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. On April 19, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the start of the next phase of the special operation. Volnovakha , a strategically important regional center south of Donetsk , and Mariupol , the largest city on the coast of the Sea of Azov , have been liberated in the DPR . In the LPR, according to the Ministry of Defense, as of March 25, 93 percent of the former Luhansk region was liberated, within whose borders a republic was proclaimed in 2014.

How much is real above? The interesting thing of the article is the last paragraph. Before every article had the following.

"Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal "the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for "bloody crimes against civilians" in Donbass."

"The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. On April 19, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the start of the next phase of the special operation. Volnovakha , a strategically important regional center south of Donetsk , and Mariupol , the largest city on the coast of the Sea of Azov , have been liberated in the DPR . In the LPR, according to the Ministry of Defense, as of March 25, 93 percent of the former Luhansk region was liberated, within whose borders a republic was proclaimed in 2014."

Seems they are re-framing their goals again. Forget about the metal-works, they have the city as far as Russians are told here. They only need 7% of the area in LPR, everything is going according to plan.

DIY-HP-LED said:

Now evolutionary psychology is a hot topic of debate! Like all science nothing is settled, there is just a preponderance of evidence and almost anything can change with a new theoretical construct that fits the evidence better than the competing one.

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Maybe do a study of the 300 year cycle?

Putin 'doesn't believe he can afford to lose' in Ukraine: CIA chief
Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that he cannot afford to lose in Ukraine and is "doubling down" on the war, but shows no signs of planning to use tactical nuclear weapons, CIA director Bill Burns said Saturday.

Despite the failure of Russian forces to capture Kyiv and their struggle to advance along the war's main frontlines in the southeastern Donbas region, the Russian leader has not changed his view that his troops can defeat Ukraine's, Burns said.

Putin's belief in the Russian military's ability to wear down Ukrainian resistance probably has not been shaken despite key battlefield defeats, the US spy chief told a Financial Times conference.

"I think he's in a frame of mind in which he doesn't believe he can afford to lose," Burns said.

He said Putin has been "stewing" for years over Ukraine -- once part of the Soviet Union -- in a "very combustible combination of grievance and ambition and insecurity."

Putin has not been deterred by the resistance in the war "because he staked so much on the choices that he made to launch this invasion," Burns said.

"I think he's convinced right now that doubling down still will enable him to make progress," Burns said.

Burns, a former US ambassador to Russia who has spent much time studying the Russian leader, said his and other Western intelligence agencies see no sign that Moscow is prepared to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in order to gain a victory in Ukraine or to target Kyiv's supporters.

Russia placed its nuclear forces on high alert shortly after launching the invasion on February 24.

Since then Putin has made thinly veiled threats hinting at willingness to deploy Russia's tactical nuclear weapons if the West directly intervenes in the Ukraine conflict.

"We don't see, as an intelligence community, practical evidence at this point of Russian planning for the deployment or even potential use of tactical nuclear weapons," Burns said.