Sounds good to me:

The above-mentioned politicians believe that after the “elimination” of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russians will elect the Constituent Assembly, which will create the “State Council”. The latter will, in particular:

conclude a peace agreement with Ukraine recognising its territory within the borders of 1991; justly compensate Ukraine for the damage that the country suffered as a result of the war. Afterwards, it will take Russia along the way that the country had already traveled before, during Boris Yeltsin’s presidency. Russia will then be integrated into Euro-Atlantic institutions, whereas Russian regions will be decentralised.

If I remember correctly, it is explicitly referred during the time Dream is held captive by the Burgess family. It is explained that the universe tries to make up for Dreams absence and a guy sees nightmares that cease only when he starts wearing a gas mask and fighting crime. This is the pulp version of the Sandman, so yes, He is part of the Gaiman lore.

Makes sense. Thanks for the info!

I’ve always thought that CAPTCHA also checksfor time, e.g. if the correct solution is entered too fast, it will determine that you are a bot. This would mean that a fast bot would not really “win”. Not sure if this is the case or why I’ve thought it is, but it came to my mind from this 😅

Radical/Rad!

Just an ordinary day/week/month in any other culture and time period. Given that I understood the language of course 😅 Would be much more interesting than witnessing any particular event that is considered “historical”.

😀

Nah…I’m perfectly fine just finishing the story.

…

Unless that’s part of the story 😅

I think I’m supposed to go to the area with the bees. I never found the entrance so the game’s been on hold for a few years 😬

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This reminds me: I should finish Hollow Knight.

Remember, unionizing in not just for your own benefit. It’s about protecting rights of every coworker near and far. And through that, it is also for your for benefit.

Some time ago I read about a similar situation with copyright preventing use of pictures of 70+ year old paintings in a doctoral dissertation. The dissertation was all about analyzing those paintings so the situation was sort of ridiculous.

Even worse, the owner of the paintings (the artist’s heirs) had given their permission for the use, but the the high quality photographs of the paintings were owned by institution that requested thousands of euros for their use. While 100% lawful and I understand cultural institutions also need money, the whole situation felt really wrong and against common sense and decency.

I understand requesting money from a commercial project, but for and academic dissertation that’s not fair. Same goes for emoji’s that are anyways used by millions of people every day. No one is going to profit directly from a dissertation anyways.It’s just stupid and should be changed.

Sure. One thing is pretty certain though: thing won’t be getting better under the current regime.

I think you seriously underestimate Russia. They have a helluva lot of manpower, natural resources and money. They are also able to import western sanctioned materials via China and Central Asian countries.

Russian society is being organized to resemble a war economy. There are new laws that make drafting more difficult to avoid and with more severe punishments. Also they have just raised the age for conscription. They are playing the long game and preparing for future eg. mobilizing the whole society under one delirious cause. Late 20s, early 30s it is totally possible that Russia has a better military capacity than it currently has. Sure, the life of average Russian will suck way more than it does now, but there’s not really an option if you want to keep your job in a tank factory and avoid going to prison. You have no choice but to participate.

Putin has made his mind and the struggle in Ukraine only makes him more determined that He is fighting an existential battle with the west, especially since he believes that democracies and western liberal lifestyle are on a path of inevitable decline.

Sure, if he is stupid enough He might start a conflict with NATO, believing that the alliance will break when under pressure. He might think that He is prepared and the west is weak. And while there’s 95% change that he is mistaken, it doesn’t matter if he himself believes the crap the yesmen around him and He himself are feeding him. That’s the real risk and to me, a defeat in Ukraine makes this scenario less likely to happen.

If beaten in Ukraine, there is a chance that the trajectory of the Russian Federation changes. Currently they are trying to fulfill a senseless imperial project which is doomed to eventually fail.

With defeat in Ukraine, there’s a chance that the growing destabilization within Russia leads to abandonment of the imperial dream. It might also force a change in the leadership albeit not necessarily for the better. What it would do however, is to show that the Putinist system is not the only option and that the actions it has taken, are in fact harmful for Russia and Russians. In a way, it opens up a way to politicize the apolitical Russian public.

In the semi long/long term this would benefit the population as it would not only challenge the idea of Russia as an Empire, but also allow for a less authoritarian model of governance.

Well, this is one possible outcome, although not necessary. For example Finland was able to patch it’s relations with Russia after 2 brutal wars with tens of thousands of casualties and a huge chunk of lost land. Of course the friendly relations were somewhat forced and a survival mechanism for a small country in Cold War era (Russia had a hold on Finland while Finland navigated in it’s position to gain as much political freedoms it could) but it genuinely got rid of open hostilities between the countries.

Even after the cold war ended and up to today, majority of the population in Finland has not had a revanchist opinion towards Russians, albeit they were not fully trusted either. Finns learned to live as neighbors and in peace while preparing just in case.

So while it is probably likely that loosing land would cause a negative nationalistic turn in Ukraine and grievances towards Russia, it’s not set in stone. Actually I am way more concerned that if Russia can claim a victory, they expand their delirious imperial/quasifascist project and escalate the conflict with the west further.

It’s difficult to build lasting peace when the aggressor does not want it. Sure the Russians are open to peace in their terms, but imo that is just escalate things again in few years to come.

Don’t get me wrong, EU is in big part a peace project. That however shouldn’t happen at just any cost. Free, independent and territorially whole Ukraine is important for the future peace, Ukraine, Europe and even good for Russia.

Yeah, I vaguely remember the guy. Terrific look and great villain material 🙂

Sounds fun. I need to check that at some point. Thanks!