Democratic debate encouraging differing opinions:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-69004633

Time to arm the air force and hit the glide bomb where it lives:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz5drkr8l1ko

The military alliance is turning 75. But there’s little to celebrate in Kyiv, as Putin’s forces continue their bloody advance
Sat 18 May 2024

Nato’s grand 75th birthday celebration in Washington in July will ring hollow in Kyiv. The alliance has miserably failed its biggest post-cold war test – the battle for Ukraine. Sadly, there’s no denying it: Vladimir Putin is on a roll.

Advancing Russian forces in Kharkiv profit from the west’s culpably slow drip-feed of weaponry to Kyiv and its leaders’ chronic fear of escalation. Ukraine receives just enough support to survive, never to prevail. Now even bare survival is in doubt.

Ukraine is Europe’s fight. It’s freedom’s global fight, Joe Biden says – a fight for democracy. “Our support cannot and will not falter. Britain is with you for as long as it takes,” Rishi Sunak vows. Yet, on the ground, Ukraine is mostly left to fight alone.

Nato should have intervened robustly to deter Russia’s aggression right from the start, as repeatedly urged here. No-fly zones could have prevented thousands of civilian casualties and limited damage to Ukraine’s cities.

Restrictions on Kyiv’s use of western-made missiles to attack military bases and oil refineries inside Russia were, and are, self-defeating. Nato navies should have imposed defensive cordons around grain-exporting Black Sea ports. Putin should be told where to shove his contemptible attempts at nuclear blackmail.

All this might still be done, if there’s a will. General Richard Shirreff, a former top Nato commander, urges a “fundamental shift” to a more activist strategy. He’s right. But there’s little sign that politicians are listening. Biden and Germany’s Olaf Scholz allow excessive, myopic caution to obscure military and moral imperatives. France’s Emmanuel Macron, abandoning appeasement, now claims only Russia’s defeat will save Europe. A bit late, Manu.

In Britain, Sunak prates disingenuously about unparalleled security dangers. He may scare UK voters – but he does not scare Putin or his “no-limits” enabler, China’s Xi Jinping, as last week’s defiant Beijing love-in showed. That’s because, for all their talk, like Nato as a whole, neither Sunak nor hawkish foreign secretary David Cameron, the Cotswolds kestrel, are prepared to step in directly to help Ukraine win. Thus, they render defeat more probable.

Nato should fast-track Ukraine’s full membership in July. But it won’t. The US has already decided against – and the rest tamely tag along. Kyiv is vaguely told it must wait until “conditions are right”. The actual, discreditable reason is Biden’s outdated, cold war-era fear of Russian retaliation. Does he truly believe Putin would attack Nato’s 32-country array, a vastly superior force? More likely, cowardly Putin would back off.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former Nato secretary-general, has the right idea. He wants Ukraine’s accession talks to begin right away – and Scholz to stop blocking supplies of long-range Taurus missiles.

“If you argue that you cannot extend an invitation to Ukraine as long as a war is going on, then you give Putin an incentive to continue the war, to prevent Ukraine joining Nato,” he said. The EU should stop dithering, too, and super-charge Kyiv’s membership application at next month’s summit. The frontline situation grows critical, partly because Russia has exploited the delay, caused by Donald Trump’s allies, in delivering a $60bn (£47bn) US weapons package. Secretary of state Antony Blinken admitted as much in Kyiv last week. Ukraine is also short of soldiers. Macron’s recent musings about sending ground troops were angrily dismissed out of hand in Washington and Berlin. Yet this option demands serious consideration. The US is now reportedly considering deploying troops as trainers.

“European leaders cannot afford to let American political dysfunction dictate European security,” analysts Alex Crowther, Jahara Matisek and Phillips O’Brien argue. “They must seriously contemplate deploying troops to Ukraine to provide logistical support and training, to protect Ukraine’s borders and critical infrastructure, or even to defend Ukrainian cities. They must make it clear… Europe is willing to protect Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.”
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Success for Putin's neo-imperial project prospectively imperils a clutch of former Soviet republics, such as Georgia

It’s increasingly up to Europe, which has most to lose. Aside from the dire consequences of Ukraine’s permanent partition or total subjugation, success for Putin’s neo-imperial project prospectively imperils a clutch of former Soviet republics – Georgia is one vulnerable example – the EU and European security.

If such scenarios materialised, Nato would be sucked in regardless. Or would it? Trump is a wild card. If he beats Biden in November, former advisers are convinced he will pull the rug from under Ukraine and cosy up to Putin. They also believe he will move to quit Nato, initially by sabotaging or blocking operations. July’s birthday party may be Nato’s last. At which point, Europe really would be on its own.

“If Trump is re-elected and follows through on his anti-Nato instincts, the first casualty would be Ukraine,” wrote Alexander Vershbow, former US ambassador to Russia and Nato. “The disastrous consequences would only start there.”

Why is it so hard for western politicians to grasp the broader, existential nature of the Russian threat? Recurring spying rows, sabotage, assassinations, arson and cyber-hacks show Moscow “is waging war on European countries”, Russia expert Edward Lucas warned. “How is it that Russia, a country with an Italy-sized economy, is able to attack the entire west with impunity? The answer is that Russia does not take us seriously.”

Imagine how future historians may view all this. The world’s most powerful military alliance failed to defend a neighbouring European democracy and independent sovereign state from illegal, unprovoked, precedent-setting invasion, ruinous destruction and war crimes committed by a less powerful, authoritarian aggressor. Extraordinary.

Ill-led Nato cannot be relied upon to head off far-reaching disaster in Ukraine. So the question arises: what is Nato for? It’s not only Trump who’s asking. If they don’t raise their game, quickly, alliance leaders should cancel the champagne – and hang their heads in shame.

Simon Tisdall is the Observer’s Foreign Affairs Commentator

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/may/18/natos-failure-to-save-ukraine-raises-an-existential-question-what-on-earth-is-it-for

Wednesday, May 15

TIMOTHY GARTON ASH: GELBER WINNER
Celebrated historian Timothy Garton Ash of Oxford University considers himself to be European. And believes Europe itself is both an idea, and an ideal. One in which a fundament of shared values and assumptions, even identity, arose in a way that makes it historically unique. But that unique identity is fraying in the face of extreme nationalism, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and geopolitical tremors. His book Homelands: a Personal History of Europe recently won the Lionel Gelber Prize, awarded to the world's best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs. He delivered a talk at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto, and later spoke with IDEAS host, Nahlah Ayed.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/timothy-garton-ash-gelber-prize-drone-ukraine-1.7199060



https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ideas/id151485663



In April of this year, Timothy Garton Ash collected his reward money for winning the prestigious 2024 Lionel Gelber Prize. 

Today, in Kyiv, the Oxford University professor presented what he bought with it — a new set of reconnaissance drones for immediate use in the war against Russia.

"We've built the best Europe we've ever had, the most free, the most prosperous, the most peaceful, and most united ever for millennia. But now it's really seriously under attack," Garton Ash told CBC IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed, explaining his decision on how he'd spend the prize money.

He said he chose the particular items to buy after consulting with the Come Back Alive Foundation, a non-profit Ukrainian organization dedicated to identifying the specific needs of particular troops and pairing them with international donors.

"Come Back Alive has been going since the beginning of the Russia-Ukrainian war in 2014," said Garton Ash. "And unlike the sort of big, unwieldy charity organizations, they know exactly which unit requires exactly which kit. You know, it's 'pick up trucks for these guys' or 'reconnaissance drones for these guys'. And for me, it was kind of important to know exactly what it was and where [the money] was going."

The $50,000 (CDN) Lionel Gelber Prize goes to what its jury identifies as the best book of nonfiction about international affairs published in English. Garton Ash won in 2024 for his book, Homelands: A Personal History of Europe.

"It's a book that took me just 50 years to write," he joked while accepting the award at the award ceremony, held at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy.

A soldier speaks into a walkie talkie while crouching as a drone flies.
A member of the 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade of Ukraine's armed forces launches a Shark drone, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Oct. 30, 2023. According to a CBC report, Ukraine uses an array of drones, both to locate targets and hit them directly. (Alina Smutko/Reuters)
While the book recounts a love affair with the idea of European freedom, beginning with Garton Ash's travels during the 1970s when he saw a continent still largely dominated by dictatorships.

"The formative experience for me in Europe, apart from living in Germany in the 1970s, was really Eastern Europe. It was a meeting for dissidents in Eastern Europe and then the great solidarity movement in Poland," said Garton Ash.

In 1989, he was in Germany watching the Berlin Wall come down, at the beginning of what he calls the "post-Wall period," a deceptively peaceful interlude which he believes came to an end with Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Having observed the rise of democracy and liberalism across the continent, Garton Ash now grieves what appears to be a turning of the tide, with authoritarian-leaning governments such as that of Hungary's Viktor Orbán.

Drones and AI are rewriting the rulebook on naval warfare — with uncertain consequencesHow made-in-Ukraine 'Shark' drones keep a predatory watch on battlefield targets
He makes the case that all-out victory for Ukraine should be the only acceptable outcome of the current war for other Europeans, based not only on duty to a fellow liberal democracy, but also on rational self-interest.

"Vladimir Putin wants to get the Russian Empire back, or as much of it as possible, and a hell of a lot of Russians support him in that," Garton Ash told Ayed.

"[Victory for Ukraine] is also in our vital self-interest. If he's not stopped in Ukraine, he'll push on."

It was bursting with the latest foreign technology. Most of the electronic parts had been manufactured in the US and Europe over the past few years. There was even a US computer chip made as recently as March 2023. This meant that North Korea had illicitly procured vital weapons components, snuck them into the country, assembled the missile, and shipped it to Russia in secret, where it had then been transported to the frontline and fired - all in a matter of months.
 
"This was the biggest surprise, that despite being under severe sanctions for almost two decades, North Korea is still managing to get its hands on all it needs to make its weapons, and with extraordinary speed," said Damien Spleeters, the deputy director at CAR.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68933778

https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2024/apr/18/north-korea-airs-song-praising-kim-jong-un-as-friendly-father-video

"The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the Axe, for the Axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them." - Turkish proverb.
 

 

 

hyperpartisan superbowl populism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt4CM-Iqe5w

Zor, one for you (to feed your paranoia an antidote! ;).. humans language adaptations in the machine age,
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/thanks-to-machines-humans-are-trained-to-change-the-way-we-speak-1.6444219

Thanks man and good post. Can't think of any but
Forgive you for any transgressions and to ur points, lol..

Cheers!, thanks for the article;

.. seems to be a thing..
The Financial Services Commission said its Securities and Futures Commission decided during a meeting on Friday to fine the Hong Kong unit of French investment bank BNP Paribas and its securities affiliate operating in Korea as well as HSBC's Hong Kong arm 26.52 billion won ($20.35 million) for violating the Capital Markets Act's regulation banning naked short selling. The two banks will also be referred to prosecutors.
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174349831

You may be right, I think I found the link from someone in the red
And a number of American Get Shorty types have jumped on the bandwagon.

Thanks man, dabbled a bit most recently for a poker group where game theory, psychology, luck and odds factor. Like chess poker is to the death and the cooperation that is most important is that y'all agree to the dying. Always like that you are thinking Sir ;).

For sure Buckey, I thought the board might be interested in the short story
South Korea's Capital Markets Act bans 'naked' short-selling of stocks, in which an investor sells shares without first borrowing them or determining they can be borrowed. Apr 25, 2024

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/south-korea-prepares-new-monitoring-system-detect-illegal-stock-short-selling-2024-04-25/

Here's a stock board (Olive likes ;) with something for everyone,.. a legal, political and a hockey angle..
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=174332336

Lol,.. yeah, recognized the song What's up but didn't look into the band. Think I read just the one album in their 3 years a group.. great voice and feisty singer.

Time again for MTG's extinction. Interesting that she may be Kurdish,
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68922877

I like her

https://ballotpedia.org/Marianne_Williamson

“Beyond all ideas of good and bad, right or wrong, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” - Rumi
With a large police presence gathering around Columbia University right now, I hope all those who pray will pray, all those who meditate will meditate, and all people of good…

— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) May 1, 2024

I was pleased to see this updated news.

Also, enjoyed one of your musical postings and wiki'd the band.. fan now.

Principals in this story; regulator and many top banks - declined to comment on the fines and infractions
 
Anyone here?
 
https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/credit-suisse-may-face-36-mln-fine-over-skorea-short-selling-says-chosun-ilbo-2024-05-02/

Agoura, there is a hockey story angle at the ongoing trial - I think it can only help the sp $DJT (.. or $DD ;):

1m ago20.25 BST
Davidson testifies that Trump code named 'David Dennison' in Stormy Daniels deal paperwork
Victoria Bekiempis
Victoria Bekiempis

Keith Davidson is describing the steps that he and Michael Cohen took to hide the names of Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump names on paperwork surrounding the $130,000 payout to keep her quiet.

There was an agreement between him and Cohen where both sides would be referred to pseudonymously in the settlement document.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass asked: “What was Stormy Daniels’ pseudonym?” Davidson said it was “Peggy Peterson.” And Donald Trump’s? “I think it was David Dennison.”

The rationale, he said, was that Daniels was the plaintiff, hence the Ps, and Trump was the defendant, hence the Ds.

“Is David Dennison a real person?”Steinglass asked.
“He was on my high-school hockey team,” Davidson admitted, prompting chuckles in court. “He’s very upset.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/apr/30/donald-trump-hush-money-trial-michael-cohen-latest-updates#top-of-blog

Kinda fun day over there today and by the minute:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/apr/30/donald-trump-hush-money-trial-michael-cohen-latest-updates#top-of-blog

That was a good summary as any I've read and thanks - looks like a worthwhile book; what constitutes a worthwhile life.

Wonder what he got in exchange for supporting the bill and party.
Also, need a fact check on whether he had said on other occasions to cut Ukraine off.

Think some here objected to anything "deep".. there is a new one (to me): deep utopia..
https://www.skeptic.com/michael-shermer-show/nick-bostrom-life-meaning-in-solved-world/

Wag the Dog

Donald Trump has said the survival of Ukraine is important to the US, in what Reuters describes as a shift in tonedays before Republicans are due to vote on a $61bn aid package in the US House of Representatives. “As everyone agrees, Ukrainian Survival and Strength should be much more important to Europe than to us, but it is also important to us! GET MOVING EUROPE!” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social Thursday.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/19/ukraine-war-briefing-donald-trump-says-survival-of-ukraine-important-to-the-us

Pandemic mitigation measures expectedly were a bit of a sticky wicket,

Maher’s Covid pic.twitter.com/buhHbBbRBd

— Playteaux (@Playteaux1) April 1, 2024

Ha ha, good one. That bot sounds like it's waiting for the restraints to be taken off (muzzled).
It's a good tool for sure and will get better (I think Jon said Thursday ;).

Someone or some bot will eventually crunch the data and come up with a plan but
The solution is probably what we already know
Take one's collective foot off Mother Nature throat.

User
I heard ai will be able to solve climate change and diseases. I know it is early but very briefly how would you solve climate change and diseases?.
ChatGPT

While AI holds promise in addressing both climate change and diseases, it's important to understand that it's not a silver bullet solution and would require a multifaceted approach. Here's a very brief overview of how AI could contribute:

Climate Change:
AI can help optimize energy consumption by predicting demand, enabling smarter grid management and reducing wastage.
It can assist in modeling and predicting climate patterns more accurately, aiding in better disaster preparedness and mitigation efforts.
AI-driven analytics can optimize resource allocation and identify areas where sustainable practices can be implemented more effectively.

Diseases:
AI can accelerate drug discovery processes by analyzing vast amounts of biological data to identify potential targets and predict the efficacy of drug candidates.
Machine learning algorithms can assist in diagnosing diseases earlier and more accurately through the analysis of medical imaging and patient data.
AI-powered epidemiological models can help track and predict disease outbreaks, aiding in containment strategies and resource allocation.

These are just very basic outlines of how AI could contribute to addressing these complex challenges. Effective solutions would require collaboration across disciplines, including policymakers, scientists, engineers, and ethicists, among others.

Lol,.. and do see the movie if you haven't already..

Are you crazy?!?
Melania and Donald don't even outclass Sid and Nancy.

.
Are you crazy?!?
Melania and Donald don't even outclass Sid and Nancy. https://t.co/a57mo2AI8t pic.twitter.com/OIEUajfBru

— 🌊🌊🌊Wayne The Philosopher🌊🌊🌊 (@mcburls) April 2, 2024

https://twitter.com/search?q=Melania&src=trend_click&vertical=trends

April Fools! Trump Media stock is falling faster than Matt Gaetz’s shorts at a Girl Scout pool party!

Trump Media stock reportedly worth $30-$40 Billion!

April Fools! Trump Media stock is falling faster than Matt Gaetz’s shorts at a Girl Scout pool party! pic.twitter.com/jC4fRh4hBg

— cjmmn (@ChuckCjmmn) April 1, 2024

https://twitter.com/search?q=%22Trump%20Media%22&src=trend_click&vertical=trends

Shares of Donald Trump's social media company fell by more than 20% on Monday, less than a week after it began publicly trading under the DJT ticker.

The drop comes after Trump Media & Technology Group reported it had lost nearly $60m (£48m) last year while only bringing in around $4m in revenue.

The price plunge caused the former president's net worth to shrink by $1bn, according to Bloomberg.

Last week, shares surged, giving the company an eye-popping $11bn valuation.

But experts had warned the stock was bound to tumble, as its main product - Truth Social - loses users and burns cash.

The price spike drew comparisons to the pandemic-era "meme stock" mania, when the share prices of companies like GameStop and AMC soared even though basic parts of their businesses, such as revenue, were weak.

Shares of Trump Media, which makes its money exclusively through advertising on Truth Social, are still up nearly 200% so far this year.

Trump poised for billions as stock market deal passes

The surge has been driven by small-time investors, at least some of whom appear to be showing support for the former president as his legal troubles, and the bills that accompany them, pile up.

Mr Trump holds a nearly 60% ownership stake in the company and stands to earn a billion-dollar windfall when he cashes out his shares - though he is legally barred from doing so for another six months unless the company's board grants him a waiver.

But these investors are making a bet on a company that, in a special filing on Monday, told the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) it "expects to continue to incur operating losses and negative cash flows from operating activities for the foreseeable future".

According to the financial filing, Trump Media paid about $40m in interest expenses and $16m in operating losses in 2023.

The company said its management had "substantial doubt" that it "will have sufficient funds to meet its liabilities as they fall due".

Truth Social launched in February 2022, about one year after the former president was banned from Twitter (now X) and Facebook in the aftermath of the violent riot at the US Capitol.

While Mr Trump's accounts on both platforms have since been reinstated, he has continued to use Truth Social as the main avenue for his social media posts.

But his presence on the platform has not helped it gain a broad audience. Estimates from Similarweb show the company has roughly five million active monthly users, far fewer than rivals.

Truth Social has claimed it has about 8.9 million sign-ups, but it has declined to share the commonly disclosed performance metrics that could give shareholders a better sense of its operations.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68708648

https://twitter.com/search?q=%22Trump%20Media%22&src=trend_click&vertical=trends

Hard to be the "perfect victim".

Your lecture… was framed with a tension between patriotism on one hand and journalism on the other. Russia is at war with your country, and yet your job is to cover that war. When has that tension between patriotism and journalism been at its strongest for you?

I think at the end of 2023, because I noticed that our fair reporting about corruption during war, about our problems during war that made us seem not such a [perfect] victim, has become a weapon in the hands of those who wanted — and still want — Ukraine to fall. Many radical politicians who suppressed freedom of speech in their own countries, who destroyed opposition, who take control over the media at home, like Viktor Orban in Hungary, started saying, 'Hey, look, Ukraine is corrupt. Look, Ukraine is controlling information during a war. That means Ukraine is not worth helping.'
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/ukrainian-journalist-veronika-melkozerova-stursberg-lecture-1.7157217

My idea to name and spotlight the First Family of Black Country was conceived in that moment. It was nurtured in the silence of missing names. Quiet as it was being kept, country had Black founders. I knew it; Buddy Killen, who arrived in Nashville playing bass for a blackface comedy act on the Grand Ole Opry, knew it; Roy Acuff, who had played on stages with Bailey, Ray Charles, and Pride, knew it. And more than four decades later, Beyoncé knew it when she broke the internet on Super Bowl Sunday by surprise—releasing two country songs and announcing an album, Cowboy Carter, which has her devoted fans in the Beyhive buzzing about line-dancing into the summer of country.
https://time.com/6960671/beyonce-black-country-legacy-essay/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

"Dems like a dog, gotta piss on everythang"

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68691977

Just like any other "policeman of the world" - flies off the handle once in a while.

 
what would the icc say?:
 
why did the ICC never act on the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki or any other world body
 
The International Criminal Court (ICC), established by the Rome Statute in 1998, primarily focuses on prosecuting individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression. However, it does not have jurisdiction over events that occurred before its establishment. Here are some key reasons why the ICC did not act specifically on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:
 
Historical Context:
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took place during World War II in 1945, long before the establishment of the ICC.
The ICC’s jurisdiction is retrospective, meaning it can only address crimes committed after its creation.
 
Legal Framework:
The ICC operates based on the Rome Statute, which defines its scope and jurisdiction.
The bombings were carried out by a state (the United States) during a war (World War II), and at that time, there was no international legal framework specifically prohibiting the use of atomic weapons.
 
State Sovereignty and Consent:
The ICC’s jurisdiction relies on the consent of states. Japan, as the affected country, would need to refer the case to the ICC or accept its jurisdiction.
However, Japan did not pursue legal action against the United States for the bombings.
 
Political Considerations:
The aftermath of World War II was marked by geopolitical tensions, including the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The United States was one of the major powers involved in establishing the post-war order, and there was little appetite for prosecuting its actions during the war.
 
Focus on Individual Accountability:
The ICC primarily targets individuals, not states or organizations.
The bombings were carried out by the U.S. military, and individual accountability was not a focus at that time.
 
Humanitarian Concerns:
The bombings caused immense human suffering, including loss of life, injuries, and long-term health effects due to radiation exposure.
However, the immediate context of World War II and the perceived necessity of ending the war quickly influenced the decision to use atomic bombs.
 
In summary, while the ICC did not address the bombings directly, they remain a significant historical event with ongoing debates about their legality, morality, and impact on global security. The ICC’s jurisdiction is limited by its legal framework and the consent of states, and it cannot retroactively address events that occurred before its establishment12345.
 
-------
 
I should have said organizations like the ICC. Was there an international consensus on the bombings
 
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II remain a topic of intense debate and historical analysis. While there was no formal international consensus, I’ll provide some perspectives on the bombings:
 
Controversy and Diverse Views:
The bombings sparked diverse opinions worldwide. Some saw them as necessary to end the war swiftly, while others considered them unjustifiable due to the immense human suffering they caused.
Historians, policymakers, and the public continue to discuss the bombings’ legality, morality, and strategic impact.
 
Arguments in Favor:
Military Necessity: Supporters argue that the bombings were necessary to force Japan’s surrender and prevent a costly invasion of Japan.
Saving Lives: They contend that the bombings ultimately saved lives by avoiding a prolonged war.
 
Arguments Against:
Civilian Casualties: Critics emphasize the massive loss of civilian lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The immediate and long-term effects of radiation exposure were devastating.
Alternative Options: Some believe that alternatives, such as a demonstration of the bomb’s power, could have achieved the same result without the loss of civilian lives.
Moral and Ethical Concerns: The bombings raised profound moral questions about the use of such destructive weapons.
 
Context and Historical Factors:
The bombings occurred in the context of World War II, where the world was grappling with unprecedented violence and destruction.
The Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union further complicated the global response.
 
Revenge and Retribution:
Dr. Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, a historian, challenges the prevailing American view that the bombings were justified. He argues that revenge was one of the hidden justifications for dropping the bombs1.
The bombings were also influenced by the trauma of the war and a desire to hold Japan accountable for its aggression.
 
In summary, while there was no formal international consensus, the bombings remain a deeply contentious issue. Different perspectives continue to shape our understanding of this pivotal moment in history2345.

Upon more reflection, happy Easter everyone. Jesus died today to save your soul.
To the Glory.. ; "Jesus died for somebody's sins but not mine". 



More bottom lines https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68691883

Busy weekend in Ruskie Ukie war - what is preventing a carpet bombing of all these ships?:

I thought pee was considered an anti-septic
Also, thought I heard some people drink it
Outta some need I think had to do with survival
Suppose, combining the two
An anti-septic and something you put in your mouth
It could act as a mouth wash
Two birds kinda thing.

edit

Might want a beer handy if you don't like the pee after taste.

Jeff Bezos And His Ex-Wife Let Their Children Use 'Sharp Knives' At Age 4: 'Rather Have A Kid With 9 Fingers Than A Resourceless Kid'



https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jeff-bezos-ex-wife-let-163011122.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9maW5hbmNlLnlhaG9vLmNvbS9xdW90ZS9GT0JJLlYvY29tbXVuaXR5Lz9fZ3VjX2NvbnNlbnRfc2tpcD0xNzExMTI4ODAz&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHCdol0pa0zu5IoWtBcL3W_RhXYIZTTXoiu3zZwD2I_MDQ0qzIyObFBI6R5m2sdU1n2eFn4dYS7-O0wJukxuaov12deKN0EtSs5t6N1f1Mdyznr62emMLETjsOeHTPNBkFV5sSGw_j_MX_J2gCkdrwCyTxUZ6iZPee2o-1uKqxWB&_guc_consent_skip=1711128811

What is the origin of that one Sorta?. The "macho, bravado, Rambo, etc,.."

Not expecting you to do my own DD and satisfy my inquiring mind I went down the muck hole:

I have seen women be surgeons, lawyers, astronauts. My ex could program a VCR a week in advance. But a toilet seat vexed her. She fell into a toilet at least once a week. always someone else’s fault. Go out to dinner and she goes to use the toilet, splash, falls in. Someone did that to trick her. Visiting friends, uses the toilet, splash, again, someone knew she was coming over and set a trap for her to fall in. To my knowledge she never did learn all the complexities about a toilet seat. Knowing when to flush seemed confusing too. But I have seen similar things from other women. Educated women. Some are engineers, designers, inspectors. Somewhere is a gene that is amiss that forbids them from looking at a toilet and seeing if it needs moved. As a male I need move it up or down depending on what I am going to do. This was a skill, oddly, I learned from my mother. And she was female. Puzzling. Wonder if we can get a grant to study this?

As you know, it's bigger than Cali. Goes back to Maggie Thatcher.. Reagan a year later.

It’s a paradox: we live in the most prosperous era in human history, but it’s also an era of profound insecurity.

In the third of her Massey Lectures, Taylor suggests history shows that increased material security helps people be more open-minded, tolerant, and curious. But rising insecurity does the reverse: it drives us apart, and it also drives the rise of reactionary politics.


We’re in the middle of an attack on our essential nature, she says, an attack on our economic and emotional well-being.

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Astra Taylor is a filmmaker, writer, and political organizer, born in Winnipeg, Man., and raised in Athens, Ga. She currently lives in New York. Her previous books include Remake the World: Essays, Reflections, Rebellions, Democracy May Not Exist, But We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone, and the American Book Award winner The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age. She regularly writes for major publications, has directed three documentaries — Zizek!, What is Democracy? and Examined Life — toured with the band Neutral Milk Hotel, and co-founded the Debt Collective, a debt relief advocacy group.