Dude, listen. Besides being almost universally untrue, few things (which are not actual criminal acts) are more cruel than telling a tired old soldier that they just haven't been fighting hard enough. This is a grieving process, not a failure, and the important thing is to just listen and be present.

Also there's things that you really do lose becoming a soldier. You don't have to be in incredible atrocities to truly be fucked up by war.

To be honest, I was using the word "soldier" figuratively in this case (at least as far as I know). What you suggest would make belittling it so much worse.

The downside is we can do little this far away while innocents watch their country get crushed by Stalin 2.0

Yeah, it's so tiring to care about things when everything is a mess

That aggression is so /pointless/ ...even Russians think so. Probably the vast majority of them...

Yeha, from grand view of things is pointless.

But I'm literally wonder if those politics who say that his action have little sense are telling truth about what they think or they are that stupid.

It's not his confrontation is having some odd goals. The confrontation itself is the goal. His goal ARE sanctions and this time he was successful, again. Not occupation of some territory or some resources. He's ready to sacrifice his country's economic and lives of its people to stay in power and economic isolation hurts his opponents and hurt common powerless (or clueless) folks while bolden's party in power.

They they say that sanctions are stopping development. But Russia is in control of lions, not foxes, while foxes are ones who do development while are forced by lions to stay in line and not to say wrong things. Or else. yeah there are few foxes who wear pelts of killed lions and they joined that elite. West perceives that sanctions against elite would change mind of those poeple. It's hard to change mind when there is a gun's barrel pressed to back of the head. ALso most of those sanctions are late. Too late when everything essential for staying in power and having strong military they removed can be replaced. Unless west somehow would sway China to go back on some deals. THat's unrealistic.

Everyone in power knew this was going to happen. Putin warned borh nato and the EU about expanding into Ukraine. Am I supportinf this war? No, no I'm not. Do I underatand why it happened? Yes.

Also, who do you think will bare the brunt of these economic sanctions? You and me. If we thought shit was getting expensive during the pandemic, prices will only keep rising now.

Also, cudos to Germany. They shut down their nuclear power plants, and now they're probably going to get their largest import of natural gas shut off. I am curious though, will they do it themselves, or will they try to keep the gas flowing?

It was clear that would happen in 2014. Did majority of common folk want to believe in that? No. Neither in Russia nor in Europe.

Whole set of sanctions and countersactions and import replacement were well-argumented and were well-orchestrated dance to get ready for war.

Was it possible to shape things differently? Yes, if we had shopped to chant "Crimea is ours" and thought "What's next?"


They actually already did say that they would close it and North Stream 2 s not going to be launched. There are alternative sources of energy. Look at austria which banned most of those sources already.

Yup. Putin doesn't give a fuck about sanctions. As usual they'll hurt everyone but those at the top.

Not just that, he loves them. They give him ammo and destroy economical basis of his opponents.

It's not a new strategy at all, to use eternal threat to subdue opposition. We saw that at least twice in history of Europe, one as long ago as dying Roman Empire.

Your radius of action is your own well-being, that of your friends and family and that of your community. This is something we can all do, support each other in this awful time. Take care of that, and have faith that everyone who has the ability to push against this is doing everything in their power for people like you.

Stay strong!

I never got on twitter in the first place.

Spent almost my entire tax return on Ukrainian charities and still feels like…nothing. The doom scrolling is unhealthy and I haven’t slept since this started.

Good call: Twitter is not a good place to my understanding and yeah... I know that feeling of powerlessness well. I wish there was more I could do for a lot of the world, but we still have the little things we can do to try and make things better. It feels like it sometimes, but we are not entirely powerless.

I was just about to make a journal about this:
So, I'm an environmental student. Most environmental students, as you can imagine, are fucking miserable people. We are C O N S T A N T L Y inundated with bad news, our own faults, and feeling like the weight of the world rests on our shoulders as we face a nigh-existential threat that we *know* has been construed and contorted to be our fault by the real perpetrators.

I have seen so many of my peers resign themselves to complacency and grief, misanthropy and apathy. For some reason, I have not succumbed to this. I don't know exactly why. I am very, very strong in my conviction that a better world is possible, but I rarely look to the global or national level when I think about how to do it. For me, it has been better to focus on what I KNOW I can change, and what I can see change. I manage a food forest in a town with a high poverty rate. What I am doing is small - the forest I am making is half the size of a soccer field right now. But I am providing my town and the students on my campus with food. I am giving pollinators habitat. I am breaking through the mold of monoculture and showing people that other types of agriculture are possible.

It's small, but it's something.

Last semester I had the pleasure of seeing William deBuys speak about his book "The Trail to Kanjiroba" during an environmental conference at my university. This conference was focusing on finding hope amid grief and reconciling with the reality that climate change is already here. DeBuys talked about having a care versus cure approach to the world, the reigning philosophy in hospice care, and talked about the difference between intrinsic and instrumental good, in which the former was goodness for the sake of goodness and the latter in which good was done out of the hope for a desirable outcome.

Hope, as he described, follows the former logic. To be hopeful is to do good because it is good, regardless of outcome.
This is how I have chosen to live my life. The forest I am building probably won't exist in a couple centuries. I am building it because it is good to do so and because it is something I can do.

Now, when I was thinking about Ukraine this morning, it did strike me that it felt so unfathomably far away. Usually when I am presented with an issue, I write about it (as I'm doing now) with the hopes that I can very least get someone to think about something new or raise awareness. I really couldn't do that with my lack of knowledge, but I HAD to engage in some way. So I opened up charity comms.

It's small, but its something.

All of that said, I do deeply sympathize. It's very difficult and it's reasonable to take a step back and breathe for a while.

Yeah, being in environmental science must be like. Being in a major composed entirely of Cassandras. An entire major who knows the truth but are doomed not be listened to. Mad respect.

A favorite video of mine is this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qfI3DZmmQw

Part of my major, specifically (heavier on the writing side than the hard science side) is learning how to communicate these issues more effectively. We have a whole generation of people who are tearing their hair out wondering why nobody will listen to them when they keep pushing bare data and statistics. Of course, oil giants in the 1970s pushing propaganda about invdidual carbon footprints and making climate change a partisan issue (It did not use to be) are the main perpetrators but we are also at fault for pushing doom and gloom so heavily for so many years. I push super hard for narratives of hope and action, emphasizing alternative forms of communication (like art, as the video discusses) because appealing to pathos is essential.
I don't necessarily think we're doomed not to be listened to, we just have to change our own rhetoric.

I have never heard of a food forest, but I looked it up and that is a really cool thing to do.
The closest thing I've seen is forests of corn.

It is really cool - all things considered, ecological restoration and permaculture is one of those things the invdidual (provided you are not restricted by HOAs) can very feasibly do.

I feel the same, sincerely. We all can do something together, but not lone. Its frustrating

"Nobody can do everything, but all of us can do something."

Donate a small sum to refugees from Ukraina?
https://donate.unhcr.org/int/en/ukr.....299.1645777781

Iraq second war, Ukraine, same logic. There will be more.

Hopefully this is resolved soon and people can go back to living their life in Ukraine. One good thing at least is that nowadays you don't get your city flattened by carpet bombing, unlike in WWII.

Tell that to the people in Grozny and several cities in Syria

It can get worse.
https://blogs.reading.ac.uk/france-.....ostcards06.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe.....athausturm.jpg

"Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it."
- Mahatma Gandhi

I'm convinced that Twitter is poison. Their whole model is vampiric surveillance capitalism, and it has a particularly crappy format for sharing art.

Why's it always the untrustworthy little shits that get the seats of power in this world

The question kind of answers itself.

Because their toolbox is bigger? I mean, if you're resolved to not stab people in the back then you put yourself at a disadvantage to those who are.

"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

But honestly, ignorance is bliss. A wise man who is no longer with us once said the best thing you can do some times it just turn it off, no news for a week and you'll feel mentally so much better after. Thanks to media and the internet, we are bombarded by the harsh realities of our world constantly with no breaks from it and its easy to succumb to such punishment and feel hopeless. So offer yourself a port in the storm, turn it off and focus on some thing else for a while to take your mind off it. Sure, turning a blind eye to suffering doesn't make the suffering go away but if you don't take a break now and then it will break you or make you go numb to it and neither of those will help either.

Agreed, it's so incredibly frustrating.

RIP Humanity

I'm glad you say it! Because wow does it blow!!

I've been advised to take a break from social media because of this but it feels impossible.

Avoiding Twitter is a great start. Help what you can in your own circle, to a reasonable degree. The impact you have on those around you is profound.

It's miserable. But there are ways to help, usually by supporting initiatives to help the Ukranian people monetarily.

Twitter is just so horrible. Just stay away from it.

This is the moment when I'm ashamed to be a russian person. No one here wants this. These politicians games are a stupid piece of nonsense, this is terrible.

Yeah, that's kind of the impression i've gotten... i've seen several Russian people comment similarly, no one wants this...
I'm sorry for the people who will blame you, the Russian people, for what your shitty, greedy politicians are guilty of. ;_;

While I don't have any presently, I've had a couple russian friends in past. All pretty cool people, chill, hardy, pragmatic, wicked sense of gallows humor at times which I can appreciate. Maybe that's a typecast? Haven't known enough to know for sure.

Lots of people here in Germany know that it is the leadership and not the average Russian. The overwhelming majority of Russians do not want war. We hear you!

Definitely a good move for personal care.

*hugs* Yeah, I know the feeling. I had a bit of a breakdown yesterday because of all the crap going on right now. It feels like the horrible people in the world are winning right now.

This is why I stay away from any politics.
I don't even watch the news or get cable TV.
If it's important ill either hear about it or look it up.
It sucks that people in power suck and one person change anything without an insane amount of influence or money.
It may seem ignorant of me, but I honestly just tune it all out. I get heated about this kind of stuff and am 110% happier if I either ignore it, or don't know about it in the first place.
I hope I don't make anyone upset with this, I just wanted to share my two cents.

'w'... Life is hard... I feel this way too hard. Powerlessness is a dangerous feeling, but know there are ways to aid, passive ways. It can be hard in this world to do much. I have no excess money, no excess time, so it is harder for me to help others.

We need a world built on kindness, not built on profit. We need a world where we aid one another, not exploit each other. *sigh* ;w;...

'w'! But I am going to at least try being a better person. Even if horrible people try to tear down the wall of progress I've made! They are just parasites attempting to leech my success in becoming better, nothing more. I believe you are starting this purge process too. You're a good person.

We've had so much general peace these last several decades, we sometimes forget this is what human history was generally like. It sucks, civilization is going through a tough time right now, we just need to focus (individually) on the times we can control instead of becoming lost lamenting what we cannot.

Same here.

I wonder how many people used "May you live in interesting times."

Hell yeah, brother.

Putin just wants the glories of the old Soviet Union, Remember, he was head of the KGB during that time during the cold war. Plus he's been siphoning off BILLIONS over the years for his own personal gain. The fact that he took the Crimea in 2014 using the excuse the Russians have no warm water port and need it for 'Security' . And literally got away with it. Plus how many remember his tactical invasion of Georgia in 2008, that he got away with, cause the UN is spineless.

Plus people forgot that it was Russian backed separatists using a BUK anti-aircraft missile to shoot down Malaysia Airlines flight 17 in 2014 during the Crimea crisis . Putin did NOTHING to the separatists (Except rapidly clean up the scene of the crash to hide the evidence).

Claiming that Ukraine is a nest of Nazi's is a poor ass excuse, he wants it for the land and minerals contained within. Its one of the largest wheat producers in the world, the oil reserves are huge, plus numerous other minerals and rare earth minerals. Using the separatist areas as the excuse to "Send in a peacekeeping force".

People forget that under Stalin in the 30s, The Soviets took over the Ukraine and caused the Holodomor, the "Great Starvation" that claimed the lives of MILLIONS of Ukrainians. And no wonder when the Germans invaded Russia in 1941 the Ukrainians greeted them as liberators, even joining the Wehrmacht in fighting the Soviets. (Then again, quite a few Ukrainians teamed up with the Soviets as well).

The fact the Russian military also invaded Moldavia at the same time shows that Putin doesn't give a damn. Poland, Romania, Finland and the Baltic states are all nervous as all hell that they could be next. Even Sweden has taken up extra precautions, Finland, a neutral country, even said they will join NATO if Putin moves west towards Finland. The Finns still remember 1939 and the Winter war when Stalin just bombed and marched his way in. The Finn's did eventually capitulate, but also gave the Soviets a serious bloodletting (And ended up with MORE tanks and weapons than they started with, all captured!).

I hold zero beef with the average Russian citizen, they too are upset at this attack, its Putin and those in the power circle that are sheer assholes and I don't trust for shit!

I have a Ukrainian friend, who's been been in the States since 1991 and a US Citizen, His grandmother still lives in Ukraine and two cousins. One of his cousins was killed in late December by "The Little Green Men" (Russian Separatists) and he went back in early January to get his grandmother out and surviving cousin. But has taken up arms to defend his mother country. I truly fear for him, he might not come home.

But yeah, I can't help but feel helpless watching this all unravel. And I avoid Twitter at all costs, its nothing but a huge dumpster fire! And I'm certainly happier for that.

None of this is surprising. NATO has been capitulating to Putin for decades trying to avoid conflict and they seemed to have forgotten they were talking to someone that wants it. Most reasonable people don't want wars, don't want to take part in them, or to see others in them. But, unfortunately, some people only learn/respond when you punch them in the fucking face. And that person is Putin.

My big worry is that China sees NATO do jack shit, again, and thinks, "Seems like as good a time as any to take back Taiwan!" And the countries that haven't entered NATO, that easily could have, are suddenly scared and thinking about joining. Maybe if they had joined a long time ago... Only hope to save the remaining ex-Soviet states is to induct them into NATO no matter how much Putin cries about it because he most certainly will. Unfortunately, Belarus and Chechnya are firmly Russian backed and it's unlikely they'll attempt a coup like Ukraine did to dispose of their Russian backed president.

I went to Afghanistan and the US spent 20 years wasting its time, lives and money and didn't make things better due to not fully committing. But if the US entered the war to support Ukraine, I would go down to the nearest recruiter and try and get back into the Marines.

'w';... Aren't you a heavy right wing furry who hates liberals and consumes a ton of right wing media? What's your take on the Trump complimenting Putin... And your take on several republicans complimenting the invasion and using it as a way to slander left wing people? Do you still side with them now that they show their true colors?

Also... Did you not read ECM's last journal? Effectively villainizing people like you for supporting right wing lunatics that condemn the transgender and various demisexual groups, as well as attempting to ruin childrens' lives by reinforcing abuse towards them or taking them away from their parents?

I'm honestly curious, why you come here. You seem to have this righteous glory for Ukraine and against Russia, but your affiliation says otherwise, is it not counterintuitive?

Also... It's kind of scummy to make profits off of T-Shirts for pro-Ukraine... You should be donating your profits to any Ukraine support organizations instead... 'w';...

I very carefully curate the sources I get my political news from. Commentators, mostly, no straight newscasters, since while they claim to be only reporting straight facts it can be a deceptive narrative told by which facts they chose to report and which to omit...

Commentators that I've found have a track record of being more-or-less accurate in their assessments, skilled at portraying a combination of facts and perspectives, willing to give multiple perspectives if they have them, and very importantly, willing to admit when they simply dont or can't know, and a willingness to honestly rep their ideology rather than pretend to be 'totally neutral and unbiased.'

No one is unbiased, it's impossible, so if someone is claiming they are, that's points off right at the get go for lying on the face of it.

it's a very small list of commentators i add to my playlist by hand, and I don't use autoplay because I know the algorithm will try to force feed me CNN and FOX...

I mean, I'm into force feeding, but.. usually food and people, not propaganda...

Propagandists?

Draw a fat cow devouring propaganda pundits. XD

But back on topic, I've made a point to stay away from all social media, since its inception. from the beginning I thought it was vapid and vain, so more just a passive 'not my thing' thing, but as it became more mainstream, it quickly became more toxic, and emblematic of something I detest most in modern society, this notion of disposable people. It's tailor made to breed hate, resentment, fear, all of those wonderfully extreme and addictive negative emotions, to fuel engagement and make them money at the expense of your emotional well being.

So I'm glad to have avoided it, and aim to keep it that way, even though it means I miss out on commissioning some artists...

Do what you need to do to take care of yourself. You're no help to anyone in even a hypothetical sense if you yourself are broken and non-functional. I've been a long time watcher, and hope to watch a long time yet.

I too thought social media was just a boring waste of time. "Really? Who wants to know what I ate for breakfast? _I_ don't want to know what you ate for breakfast. I think I have more important things than to waste my time "liking" that. Get back to me when something important happens!"
I did not anticipate the tribalism, the hate, the anger, the conspiracies, the lies, and they affect us all.

As for news, definitely avoid all of the cable channels. MSNBC and FOX have incredible political biases, and CNN, while better has some biases, but as you mentioned.. they aren't willing to say they don't know, and then just get back to us when they do. No, they have 24 hours of programming to fill! So in come the weirdo "experts," and the endless speculation, and keeping a reporter in the field talking, endlessly talking, even though he has nothing to say because he doesn't know anything yet, but he HAS to talk endlessly, otherwise people will change the channel when they stop hearing the sound of his voice.
Good God, you certainly wouldn't want to be one of those morons who hears things an hour or two later! Breaking news, being there exactly when it happens, that's the only virtue now.

Aaaargh, this story has brought out ALL the news ranting now.
About a year ago I watched Network for the first time, and for a movie that is nearly 50 years old, it described our news landscape now... perfectly.

twitter and facebook are toxic. it makes others crazy with fear and hate and tribalism. Best to excape social media instead of letting it chew you up and spit you out into something changed and made of hate and vileness.

~w~;... And it makes a REALLY shitty gallery for artists who exclusively use it... *sigh*

so very true

I do not think that we have become more enlightened, or better people, or more connected (amazingly), or happier due to the existence of Twitter.
We have absolutely become more angry at everyone, but mostly "those others," we get worked up, sometimes over something important, but mostly over things that won't mean shit in the long run. And worst of all, we build our echo chambers where that anger feeds on and amplifies the anger in others, over and over, in an endless cycle. That is what Twitter is. That is what it pushes. That is what gets it "engagement," and clicks and money.
Facebook is similar, but many times worse.
Screw them both. What monstrous ways we have built to communicate. You are not showing weakness in kicking them to the curb, even if just for awhile.

I know that feeling, man. Technology allows us to see everything in the world happening at once, and its overwhelming to think of how small and powerless you are in comparison. Bit you can't blame yourself; our minds simply aren't built to handle disasters of this scale and number.

Nobody can change the world by themself. The best you can do is shift your focus to where you are and what you can do to improve where you live, even a little. If everyone did that, things could be better in the future.

I've been dealing with related mounting frustration like this since 2019 or so. Its hard carrying on when you feel like the world is getting just a little worse every day. Its clear these days that we live in a global society, and we all need to care about each other or we are all fucked, yet the powers that be, in all their wealth and comfort, would rather us all cannibalize each other for the sake of entertainment. Like living in a science fiction novel.

We all know the world has always been bad, but its fatiguing being reminded of it constantly.

All you do do is focus on the tiny things you can do to make the world better, or even just the tiny things that make yourself feel better. Creating porn for everyone, eating a tasty food when you can. That's what gets me through. Do anything you need to do, though I have come to enjoy your twitter musings a lot!

I wish there was social media that wasn't co-opted by outrage machinery but that kind of button pushing is inseparable from any social site with momentum enough to be worth using nowadays.

The frustration is understandable. But personaly I take some comfort in the fact that I am not in controll or that I don't have to make decisions of such gravity. Like being a politican or someone with the influence and power where the choices decide about war, peace or what ever is inbetween. Not having any say, means you also don't bear the responsibility. I mean god if I had to be a member of some nation that had to negotiate with Putin? Maybe for years? I am glad those things don't fall into my responsibility.

I guess that's a good way of looking at it. I always assume those people don't really give a shit about regular people who are hurt by their decisions, but they are human too, so sometimes they probably do have to think about the consequences, and that must suck. Plus it's an all-consuming thing that you can't just take a vacation from. No world leader is going to have the time or mental serenity to sit around for 10 hours drawing furry erotica. ...and that is something i DO have the privilege of being able to do. I will chose that, thanks :P

I wish I could tell what I know but until things get worse everywhere I'll just get attacked and told I'm wrong mother reads all news sources left of center and right of center all I can say is go to the blaze and daily wire and only look at the great reset and ESG articles those people will give you the distopia point of view that explains what is happening , and what we all should prepare for, I should have listened to my conspiracy theory neighbor when everything I now know was just a conspiracy I'm going to copy paste this to the three artist I've seen comment about this , just so we are clear there is no hate in my heart I love everyone no matter what they believe in politically I just wish I could show them what I've seen from research only you and I can do

I COMPLETELY get what you're saying. I am so damn frustrated feeling like my life and happiness are hijacked by the insanity of hoomans determined to destroy our beautiful planet. A big reason I'm a furry is because I hate feeling like I am part of humanity, which is a species that I find reprehensible. I try to make myself feel better by doing good things when I can, which is why I write "Ask Papabear" and run the Good Furry Awards. But yeah, the world is terrifying.