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chamomilewrittingblock · 5 months

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Solo Leveling Brainrots #2

Hi hi!l'm glad you lot liked my rots dhrufbjfnf here's more!! Fun fact: I actually wrote this a while ago, I just found it!

Hear me out: Jin Woo with a shy!s/o who can sing like a Siren but thinks their voice is bad

I think the first time he heard them sing he'd be shocked. First time he heard them sing was when he was an E- rank while reader thought he was asleep.This being after a particulary rough raid. Kinda just singing random melodies to help him sleep. When he asks about singing, s/o denys it using the excuse of the radio playing.

(When he hears a recording of the same voice, it's from Jin Ah's phone as a ring tone. Jin Ah doesn't dare tell him, being sworn secrecy by s/o, saying "oh, it's just a friend". It would be funny if this is something Jin Ah holds over him too ajdbhdbd)

After his second awakening, I'd imagine he'd finally hear the singing again. when he arrives home early without his s/o noticing using Shadow Exchange Divine melodies floating though the space, just to find his s/o by themselves filling the silence. Wher his presence is acknowledged his s/o is startled af and gets shy, denying profusely while blushing up a storm.

Jinwoo is now seriously considering trying tobuy a copy of his s/o's voice recoding from JinAh. (Jin Ah did not take the offer and insisted it was made for them, teasing him EVEN MORE)

Mf treats it like a forbidden fruit. aluxury that he keeps trying to indulgein. Jinwoo's been trying to find a way to hear them sing again but s/o hasbeen successful in his evasion after that one time sjbdidj. (He thinks the shadows are helping them .. He is 100% correct)EVEN THE SHADOWS GET TO HEAR THEM SING DIRECTLY TO THEM (ONLY ONCE OR TWICE BUT STILL)(doesn't even include the ones when s/o is just singing to fill the silence) Its even more funny if it BOOSTS MORAL foR The ShADOW ARMY TOO. Sure Jinwoo can hear them sing through the shadows but its muffled and nothing compares to hearing it in personally.

I think it would eventually accumulate to Jinwoo arriving home on a particularly bad day, drowing in his own thoughts. And reader being the only thing that pulls him out of it.

Jinwoo barely registers coming home at all, taking of his shoes. Nothing. Just him and his thoughts. The abyss threatening to take hold ofhis mind. Eventually he comes to his senses. First thing he registers, is a voice. After a while, it's then fingers combing through his hair, and then the surrounding softness. He's in bed, cleaned up, with his head laying on his s/o lap. Opening his eyes, Jinwoo sees s/o staring into space while feeling their running fingers through his hair. Serenading him with the same melodies from the first time Jinwoo heard them as an E-Rank. He doesn't dare break the moment of peace. When his s/o notices he's back, there's palpable relief, no shyness or doubt: And after checking in on eachother, they enter a comfortable silence before switching positions so Jinwoo is laying on s/o chest before exhaustion takes hold completely. The next morning, Jinwoo asks how he got cleaned up. Still in bed, and nestled in eachothers arms, his s/o very quietly confessed to just giving him commands while singing to getting himself cleaned up. But also notes the aid from the shadows too. (The shadow soildures taking comands from his s/o? S/o comanding him like a siren??? Questions for another day) Then he asks about why s/o doesn't sing around him. After a bit of resistance and wiggling in protest. Flustered, shy to high heaven and unable to escape Jinwoos grasp, s/o admits that they think their singing is bad. What.? ( The same voice thats Jinwoos been trying to hear again for months?? The same voice that his-sister uses a recroding of against him? The voice that shadow army worships to a concerning degree?? That voice??) After some silence, Jinwoo proceeds to reluctantly confess his obsession with their voice. The jealousy he has for his sister and the army hearing them sing before he could once again. (Hes kinda pouty but dosent want to admit it ajndjdn). All while showering them in affection, giving playful kisses here and there. Jinwoo savours how cute their s/o becomes as they fluster under the attention and giggle about his pettiness. In the end, s/o agrees to stop hiding their voice from them. A few days later, Jinwoo receives a recording from s/o of them singing a familiar melody. If he proceeds to lowkey rub it in Jin Ah's face, then it's none of our buisness.

After that, Jinwoo picks up the habit of sneaking up on his s/o singing and not saying anything untill their done Even teasing them a bit, before showering them in compliments wth the most lovestruck look. (Theres something so domestic about coming home to his s/o singing that fills him with so much love, that it makes him more determined to protect)

Its to the point that Jinwoo will ocassionally space out if he hears his s/o singing though his shadows… Has he gotten distracted durring sparing sessions with other s-ranks or during meetings because of this? Yes. Does he care? Absolutely not. Will it happen again? Probably. (Even funnier if he has a blank expression while spacing out scaring people unintentionally) It would be even sweeter if Jinwoo starts calling them "little siren" much to s/o flustered dismay.

Ajbdjndjdn oki thank you for reading…

#solo leveling x reader #sung jin woo x reader #sung jinwoo x reader #solo leveling #brainrots??

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mariacallous · 7 months

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(JTA) — As we mark the grim second anniversary of the Ukraine conflict this Shabbat, I’m reminded of a haunting melody I heard in the city of Poltava last month.

I was standing before Sonia Bunina, a plucky 17-year-old, when she opened her mouth to sing when an air raid siren rang out.

I flinched. Not Sonia — she didn’t miss a beat.

“Kol haolam kulo gesher t’zar meod, veha’ikar lo lifached k’lal,” she belted out before seeking shelter. “The whole world is a very narrow bridge, and the most important thing is to have no fear at all.”

Sonia, like so many Jews I know in Ukraine, is many things — determined, grieving, focused — but she’s certainly not cowering.

As she sang those words by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov — the Ukrainian Jewish sage whose followers continue to come by the tens of thousands to his grave in Uman annually — she embodied the prayer’s indomitable spirit.

Sonia and I met outside Poltava’s Hesed, part of the network of Jewish humanitarian hubs founded by my organization — the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, or JDC — more than three decades ago. Today they’re a lifeline to tens of thousands of Jews facing loss and strife. Since she was a toddler, Sonia has been attending activities at Hesed — her mother coordinates cultural programs for the elderly, and she connects teen volunteers like herself with isolated seniors, a critical source of comfort these last two years.

These days, traveling to Ukraine feels like a pilgrimage — there’s a pull in my soul to visit family near Lviv, to bear witness to Ukrainian Jewish resilience, and to be inspired by the clarity of purpose that is so palpable there. Since my first trip in 2011, I’ve been eight times. Last year, I wrote about how a year of crisis had transformed the ordinary into the sacred in Ukraine. Now, visiting feels even more essential with the worsening humanitarian situation.

Ukrainian Jews aren’t blasé about these challenges — far from it. Just take the delicate ballet of emotions on their faces when checking their phones during an air alert — contacting loved ones, scrolling through photos of devastation, and analyzing Telegram chats speculating on a given rocket’s make and trajectory.

But life goes on — there’s work to do — and though they’ve lost so much, they refuse to give any more away.

Showing up for each other, whatever it takes, is now baked into their very essence as Jews, and in Ukraine, there are tens of thousands to serve — hungry old women and displaced young families, disabled Holocaust survivors and stunned middle-aged professionals, shocked to now need help when they were once donors and volunteers.

They act fearlessly to ensure their communities make it through this crisis, body and soul intact. Can we expect anything less than boundless creativity from the people who birthed Sholem Aleichem and the Baal Shem Tov?

“These bombings, all these things that are killing people, destroying houses, leaving children homeless … it’s very scary,” Galina Limarenko, an 82-year-old retired nurse, told me in her small bedroom in Berezivka, taking note of the warm blanket, firewood, and other winter supplies my colleagues provided. “Thank God for the Jewish community, which never gives up and always shares even their very last piece of bread.”

I saw that irrepressible spirit again at our Beit Dan JCC in battered Kharkiv — a shapeshifting wellspring of strength just a few dozen kilometers from the eastern border. Shortly after Feb. 24, 2022, the center became a staging ground for truckloads of emergency aid — part of the 800 tons of humanitarian assistance we’ve delivered so far.

A few blocks from missile strikes, it now hosts children’s camps and soulful Shabbat services and operates a “kids hub,” offering academic enrichment to children who haven’t had in-person school for years — robbed of normal childhood by the pandemic and now the ongoing crisis.

And amidst blizzards and blackouts, Beit Dan has also become a “warm hub,” a safe place for beleaguered Jewish Kharkivites to charge their devices and obtain a hot drink and warm meal.

“If you share in our pain, and provide support where it’s needed, I’m forever grateful,” said Nika Simonova, Beit Dan’s program director. “The ability to remain human is the main thing. Done right, I believe that can save the world.”

That’s why we at JDC, aided by a coalition of partners including the Jewish Federations, Claims Conference, and International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, deployed a historic response to this conflict and remain committed to the Jewish future here.

We’re focused on ongoing humanitarian support for more than 41,000 Ukrainian Jews, expanding trauma relief, closing children’s educational gaps, and getting unemployed Jewish community members, among millions of Ukrainians plunged into poverty, back to work.

There is no doubt that the Jewish world is now responding to crises on multiple fronts, including this one, but we have been here so many times before. We must draw strength from our history and from the sure knowledge that this is what we’re built for. Our compassion and commitment, when leveraged with that timeless sense of mutual Jewish responsibility, means we can tackle the challenges we face — and come out on the other side even stronger.

As I walked through Lviv on my last day in Ukraine, I asked my cousin Anna Saprun, a 25-year-old business analyst, how this period has changed her.

“I hate what’s brought me here, but I love who I’ve become,” she said with a fierce and feisty smile. “Nothing scares me anymore. I feel powerful.”

Two years after the conflict began, Ukraine’s Jews are inspired anew each day, resolute in the sure knowledge that they know exactly who they’re working for — each other.

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old-school-butch · 6 months

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It's honestly sickening how easily you justify the murder of civilians. The loss of life on 10/7 was a tragedy, but how many more lives have been lost by Israel murdering civilians? What do you stand for? If you can rightfully be enraged by the loss of life on 10/7 and condemn Hamas for it, why can you not condemn Israel for this? What does Israel stand for if they can be outraged by the loss of life of their civilians but see tens of thousands of more deaths as nothing? What do you stand for? Because it's not that the loss of human life is a tragedy if you can condemn Hamas but not Israel. Why are the lives of Palestinians so worthless to you? What do you stand for? If one group kills less than 2,000, and the other kills tens of thousands, what do you stand for?

Peace, in the very TLDR version, I stand for peace. We clearly have different views about how to achieve that, but maybe its good for you to consider that people who disagree with you are as human as you are.

Where do I begin?

As bizarre as it seems, war is a human means of communication. Policy by other means, as the saying goes, where conflicts move from ideas and words to deeds, where emphasis is added with explosions, where commitments are made with life and limb and we argue through this kinetic medium until we reach some compromise, or at least a one-sided silence.

This almost sounds reasonable, until you consider that the ideal outcome of war, from any individual point of view, is to risk as little as possible and force your opponent to sacrifice as much as possible. The inevitable discrepancies in power mean that the poor, the weak, the dependent, ill, elderly, women and children inevitably make up much of those sacrifices. Men, with broad freedoms to loot, rape and kill among 'the enemy', will tell themselves that the ordinary rules of society don't matter here and feed their darkest desires to punctuate their own moments of fear and terror.

So, while I view conflict as inevitable between people and societies, I am opposed to war. I stand for peace. I would like to see peace in the Levant.

I support:

the self-determination of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples.

the recognition and declaration of an independent Palestinian state, or perhaps 2 states since they are not contiguous.

Israel's removal of its settlements from the occupied territories of the West Bank

the end of UNWRA and all claims of 'right of return'

normalization of relations between Gaza, Egypt and Israel and the West Bank and its neighbors.

That's a baseline. In more ideal terms I want to see:

free and fair elections for all people in every nation.

a Human Rights code established in all Levant states

lifting people out of poverty by finally focusing on economic development instead of decades of dependence on foreign aid

puppies and rainbows while I'm at it

Hamas started this particular war on October 7th, their 3rd try since Israel ended their occupation of Gaza in 2005 and Hamas defeated the PLA on its bloody path to power. Hamas' actions were a series of territorial incursions and war crimes targeting civilians and taking hostages. That sent a pointed message to Israel - we will kill your people wherever we find you, we will destroy you and we have no regard for the conventions of war.

That's not a one-time communique though. Hostages are still being held and Hamas' cruelty and indifference to life has turned to its own people - there are no air raid sirens, no shelters, no civilian-only zones where Hamas fighters separate themselves from civilians, Hamas fighters wear no uniforms to identify who's a combatant so civilians are safer. Multiple countries are sending humanitarian aid and Hamas not only fails to distribute it but instead captures it and sells it to fund their war, so the poorest and most vulnerable people are left to starve. That also sends a message I think too many in the West ignore - Palestinian life has no value to Hamas.

A nationalist Arab movement emerged in the Palestine region in the 1920s, just as Zionism swelled among Jews in the same era. It was the end of the 500 year old Ottoman empire and as it collapsed, new opportunities emerged. However, older ideas also surged including the desire to rebuild the Caliphate.

This was the vast settler-colonial Empire built from the start of Islam, under the prophet/warrior king Muhammad, until it peaked here. The caliphs is like a king, the Supreme court and the Pope all rolled into one - his right to rule came directly from Allah and his Prophet, and was head of both state and church where regional or secular laws were abolished and obedience to Allah, Muhammad as his prophet, and the Caliph as his heir was absolute. Differing claims about legitimacy led to splintering into multiple factions, which were then vulnerable to the Mongol, Byzantine and eventually the Ottoman Empires that would itself claim the title of caliph to shore up its own legitimacy.

Islamists are radical Muslims who have fundamentally colonial aspirations, first in this region and ultimately across the globe. Most of the conflict in the MENA area result from factions within this broader movement - Shia versus Sunni, Persian versus Arab, the Kurds Khorason and Wahhabists are all competing dynasties and sects who vie for control.

To Islamists who are inspired by this history and wants to recreate its colonial glory before moving on to conquer the world, it's clear that you can't have a Jewish state right smack in the middle of your beautiful Empire. They are super pissed that European colonial powers ruined their own Arabian colonial plans, so they've adapted their arguments. Those forces have found it convenient to continue the 'Palestinian cause' as a stepping stone to wiping out Israel and establishing an Islamic state by framing it as a struggle of national self-determination. Thus, it can appeal to the West and the U.N. as a nationalist struggle while continuing to pursue imperialist goals. The PLO was violent and somewhat deluded, but I at least believed that Arafat actually thought he would lead an actual Palestinian state and I supported their goal to remove Israel from the occupied territories.

Hamas' goals in the conflict are shared with all Islamist factions. Yes, even when Islamists are fighting each other, they are still all trying to establish the caliphate, they only disagree on who should be in charge of it. This ideology is already at war with the West but the West is blissfully ignorant of this colonizing and intensely violent movement, because Islamist energies are currently consumed with attacking each other, competing for followers, and punishing Muslim populations who are insufficiently enthusiastic about their rise to power.

Currently, radical Islamist regimes have already seized power in enough of the middle east that conflict is limited to proxy wars and destroying Israel (unless you're in Syria where 5 different proxies are in a multi-sided conflict) and the most intense insurgent fighting is now happening across Africa in a dozen different countries.

Strangely, the West barely acknowledges, much less compiles, this new threat of Empire. This wikipedia entry looks long, but it's only documenting the wars of the IS. That's just one group. Overall, Islamists are involved in the overwhelming majority of current conflicts, coups and insurgencies, and the West - with its ideals on nationalism, religious freedom, democracy and its own more material interests, doesn't have a good handle on what to do. I don't want to see a return to Cold War approach where the U.S. would back any dictator who said he hated communists. And, since there are internal struggles, we're already backing Islamists like the Saudis even though they supported Al Quaeda, ISIS etc. (who now think the Saudis are apostates who are too friendly with the West) or the Syrian dictator. These extremist, woman-hating, slave-fueled regimes are horrifying, and the less we have to do with them, the better.

I think we have to hold to our ideals but also accept that you can't bring peace to people who don't want it, and sometimes there is no 'good guy' to back in a fight, just less worse actions that both sides can be encouraged to take.

So these are the things I read and care about, and then I read your opinions about Gaza. So many deaths, you say, while Arab Islamists kill 300,000 Africans in the Sudan without a peep of concern from you, and you ask me what do I stand for? The Muslim Rohingya in northern Myanmar tried and failed to create a separatist Islamic state, and are now being expelled en masse - their population of 1.2 million destroyed as 900,000 fled (mostly to neighboring Bangladesh) and most of those who remain are confined to refugee camps. But I'm a terrible person who supports genocide, and you're a good person who cares about genocide... but only when white people involved in some way? Islamists have perfectly targeted white guilt and ignorance to gain your inaction in global conflicts and shift it to Gaza.

Personally, I find religious zealots hazardous to my health and, philosophically, I do believe in the ideals of liberal democracy and would like them to continue. I also believe that, under the rhetoric and extremism, many people living in the Levant area also want to be free from these regimes. I believe there are Palestinians who would like self-government and, like many violent regimes, Hamas is a parasite on the people.

Anyway, I don't blame Israel for this war because what alternative does it have? Allow its people to be raided, raped, murdered and kidnapped? Even if it somehow ignored October 7th - and the families of hostages are making it difficult enough as things stand now - Israel has no incentive to return to another ceasefire situation where they wait for the next raid.

I have many, many critiques of Israel and actions I would like it to undertake, and I think undertaking this entire campaign has been a mistake, but they have a goal to remove Hamas and I think that's a good goal. I also think Israel will fail in that goal to remove Hamas from power, just as Hamas has failed to destroy Israel.

I don't think a ceasefire will help Palestinians, whether it comes sooner or later, they're in for more of the same as long as Hamas remains. But the over-arching conflict of Islamism and its goals won't change in Gaza unless the bigger picture changes.

So I'll ask you the same question - what do you stand for? Isn't this war just one step of a bold, revolutionary vision to overthrow Israel, drive out the Jews and link up with the glories of the new Caliphate? Aren't these deaths worthwhile to support that vision? There was a ceasefire in place before October 7th, what was so wrong with that situation that this war was needed? A ceasefire now would hardly return Palestinians to better conditions, so the next war will be just as justifiable as the last one. That's what Hamas stands for, what about you?

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hirkyy · 1 year

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I don't want anyone to look away because that is a privilege Ukrainians don't get. This is just a tiny fraction of the immeasurable amount of atrocities that have been going on for more than a year. And even more will never be confirmed or documented but forever haunting victims and their families and loved ones.

Excerpts from the official reports by the United Nations Independent Commission refering to findings about events in Ukraine since 24 February 2022.

The mother of a man executed in Kyiv Province stated: "I still wake up at night, stand in the dark and scream, call for my son and cry out of pain"."

"The attacks occurred when civilians were trying to evacuate or while carrying out routine activities. In all the cases, the victims were wearing civilian clothes, were not armed, and were driving civilian cars, some with signs “children” on the windows. [...] The Commission interviewed survivors of attacks, as well as witnesses and relatives of those who were killed, and reviewed footage showing yet more damaged cars on this highway. [...] Some of them seemed deliberate, for example when soldiers opened fire on civilian cars that posed no risk because they had stopped or were driving away from them."

"Rapes were committed at gunpoint, with extreme brutality and with acts of torture, such as beatings and strangling. Perpetrators at times threatened to kill the victim or her family, if she resisted. In some cases, more than one soldier raped the same victim, or rape of the same victim was committed several times. In one incident, the victim was pregnant and begged, in vain, the soldiers to spare her; she had a miscarriage a few days later. Perpetrators also, in some instances, executed or tortured husbands and other male relatives. Family members, including children, were sometimes forced to watch perpetrators rape their loved ones."

"In Kyiv Province, in March 2022, two Russian soldiers entered a home, raped a 22-year-old woman several times, committed acts of sexual violence on her husband and forced the couple to have sexual intercourse in their presence. Then one of the soldiers forced their 4-year-old daughter to perform oral sex on him [...] In another village, Russian armed forces took a woman out of her house and forced her to go to a neighbouring house, where one of the soldiers of the Russian armed forces had shot dead a man who had tried to defend his wife. Two soldiers took both women to another house that served as their base. The soldiers proceeded to different rooms to rape and sexually assault the two women."

"The Commission confirmed cases of sexual violence in which Russian armed forces raped girls when entering or occupying civilian homes. Further, a 4-year-old girl could hear her mother screaming while she was raped in the adjacent room."

The extensive use of explosive weapons has caused immediate and long-lasting trauma and damage and has severely disrupted people's lives, forcing them to flee or live in fear. One older woman, who fled as hostilities raged in the Kharkiv area, told the Commission: "I don't live, I just exist; I have nothing left in my soul".

"Those who stayed were exposed to explosions and air raid sirens, and many witnessed traumatic events, including the killing or maiming of parents and loved ones. Parents, family members and aid workers described how all these factors had had a deep psychological effect on children. Some are afraid of loud noises, of being alone and of men, particularly men in uniform. [...] After an attack with explosive weapons in a residential area of Kharkiv a mother described how the attack had impacted her daughter, saying "she is very traumatized and will only sleep in the corridor; she also goes to the corridor every time she hears sirens during the daytime and starts to shake"."

"The Commission has documented patterns of wilful killings, unlawful confinement, torture, rape, and unlawful transfers of detainees in the areas that came under the control of Russian authorities in Ukraine. Violations were also committed against persons deported from Ukraine to the Russian Federation."

"Furthermore, when Russian authorities controlled areas during longer periods of time, they established dedicated detention facilities, used more diverse methods of torture, and in addition, targeted persons who refused to cooperate."

"[...] after initial detention in Ukraine, individuals were forcibly transferred and unlawfully deported through Belarus, or directly, to the Russian Federation [...] In the Russian Federation, victims were further held in detention facilities. [...] Many people are still missing from the areas that were under the occupation of Russian armed forces. [...] While relatives have received confirmation that some of them are in detention in the Russian Federation, the fate of many is still unknown."

"In the Russian Federation, confinement at times started with an abusive “acceptance procedure”. Victims reported electric shocks with a taser, beatings with a baton, suffocation with plastic bags, and forced nudity in front of others. A former detainee underwent beatings as a “punishment for speaking Ukrainian” and for “not remembering the lyrics of the anthem of the Russian Federation”. One woman said that she passed out a few times from beatings, but perpetrators woke her up to continue."

"The soldiers degraded and violated the dignity of the detainees. There was very limited access to food and water, and close to no access to medical care [...] In the yard, the soldiers randomly shot near the victims to scare them. Ten older persons died during the confinement as a result of the inhumane conditions [...] The Commission visited the basement and saw the writings of the confined victims on the wall listing the names of those who had died."

"Ukrainian and Russian officials have declared that hundreds of thousands of children have been transferred from Ukraine to the Russian Federation since 24 February 2022 [...] Parents or children told the Commission that during the children’s stay in the Russian Federation or in Russian-controlled areas in Ukraine, on some occasions, social services told the children that they would be placed in institutions, accommodated in foster families, or be adopted. Parents also told the Commission that in some places of transfer children wore dirty clothes, were screamed at, and called names. Meals were poor and some children with disabilities did not receive adequate care and medication. Children expressed a profound fear of being permanently separated from parents, guardians, or relatives."

Sources: 1 / 2.

#russian invasion of ukraine

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girlactionfigure · 7 months

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🔅ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting the World to Israel in Realtime

‼️Hezbollah (from Lebanon) - Rockets -at Ibtin, Kfar Hassidim (just east of HAIFA). Interceptions.

🔻Hamas (from Gaza) - Rocket -at Sa’ad and Kfar Aza.

▪️HAMAS LEADER SINWAR SAYS.. “Mounting civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip will intensify global pressure on Israel to halt its military actions against Hamas” Sinwar told fellow Hamas officials handling cease-fire talks in Qatar, per the Wall Street Journal.

▪️MASSACRE OF THE DAY.. (( some realistic sarcasm in this article )) Gazans report 15,000, or maybe 1,500, or maybe 150 - or really 15, were killed in an Israeli airstrike near Rafah - while waiting to loot, umm, access aid trucks. They are noting the inhumanity of civilians being used as human shields by a terror squad would get hurt by Israel!

Actual reports: 150 killed, 70 killed, videos support maybe 15 killed.

▪️HOSTAGE CEASEFIRE / DEAL LEAKS.. (NY Times) “Despite Biden’s hopes, Hamas rejected the latest proposal.”

▪️SYRIA ATTACKED.. Drone strike on “a car” driving the border area near al-Nahariya between Syria and Lebanon. Occupants killed. Attacker and attacked unidentified.

▪️GAZA.. IDF captures a rocket manufacturing site in the Zeitoun neighborhood.

▪️COUNTER-TERROR.. arrests in Halhol, near Hebron. Security forces enter Jenin, firefights. (( Did you know Jenin has “IDF raid sirens” like Israel has air raid sirens? ))

#Israel #Realtime War Updates #October 7 #Operation Swords of Iron #Hamas Massacre #Israel/HamasWar

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nerdylilpeebee · 6 months

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nevermind! have just seen your stance on gazan genocide. racial conflict and racial power dynamics are above you, white supremacy eludes and/or invisibly benefits you, you have no qualms depicting palestinians as barbaric terrorists colluding to lie about thousands upon thousands of civilian casualties and deliberate famine reported straight from the strip by independent journalists watching their native communities being blown apart by fascists simply because theyre arabic, you have no grasp of israel's/the idf's continued bloody history of settler violence for generations before you and i were born, the humanity of gazans who have lived their whole lives enduring this deep suffering and humiliation, this soul-deep degradation, is just drivel and sob stories to you, and most crucially,

you lack the conceptualization to engage in discourse beyond fandom. so dont.

human lives arent 'discourse'. this isnt online drama. its not trendy, its not mascot horror, its not problematic fanfic, its not animation, its not a trope, its not a callout post. you cant understand the human elements of the palestinian genocide, you just see your gracious, god-sent mighty white murderers exterminating the brown vermin in a faraway land. my inlaws who have their house shot at every other day arent human to you. my fiance who shakes uncontrollably when they hear thunder isnt human to you. they are not afraid of hamas bombing their apartment. hamas flies no planes over their building, hamas sets off no raid sirens, hamas deprives them of no aid. the dignity of protest and resistance is not afforded to the average palestinian because the moment they speak out theyre threatened with loss of jobs, scholarships, expulsions from their schools. theyre immediately branded as unstable terrorists, dangers to society- that is, their israeli, white supremacist society. consider who benefits from you believing that ONLY a babykilling jewhating subhuman psychopath could ever POSSIBLY oppose and protest palestinians being sexually assaulted and humiliated in detention centers, murdered and treated as second class citizens in their own homes. it was never about religion (let me ask you if you have found it in your hollow heart to even read this far: do you truly think it is impossible for jewishness, for jewish joy and community to flourish without the blood of arabs on their hands? is that so outlandish to you, that you are so hellbent on seeing a word where jewish people are constantly that unsafe, that they lack homes, communities, safe havens, or the basic ability or agency to reach out for help and connection? do they really need to be sealed away in israel to shelter them from the rest of the nations where millions have already established meaningful lives? do you really think all jews are zionists and those who dont want to see palestinians killed for simply being born here are selfhating and deluded? do you think that zionists really care about holocaust survivors and nonwhite jews? again, please research before speaking on matters that may be out of your usual scope of fandom content...). it was just about eliminating as many palestinians as possible while the world turned a blind eye. israel was built on the mass killing and exodus of palestinians and the sustained oppression of the native population, and youll probably never understand this. but we can see. more than ever, we can see. if you did actually manage to read this youve already done more than most zionists ever have to understand how the average innocent palestinian suffers. i dont expect to have changed your mind on the conflict at all, really, but i do hope youll at least stop trying to tackle global conflicts the same way you post about media consumption. this is inconceivably real blood being shed, lives being ruined, and youre posting about it like youre giving your take on a cartoon or videogame. you dont even have to respond to this ask. just please consider stopping and sticking to fandom.

That is one HELL of an essay that I have no intention of reading given you started it talking about the "Gazan genocide" (a genocide is not happening) and tried to say I painted all Palestinians as barbaric terrorists who colluded to lie about thousands of civilian deaths.

You literally ignored what I actually said to create a straw man that supported your idea that I don't understand racial conflict and racial power dynamics (Israel vs Palestine is not a race issue, you freak, they're literally two groups of POC, their race means nothing, at MOST their nationality is the issue. XD) so yeah, fuck off. :P I'm not wasting my time on a straw-manner who is also a big fucking racist. :P deny that if you want, but you wouldn't be trying to argue "power dynamics" if it was someone being racist to black people, even if it was taking place in Africa.

#tvp discourse #long post #israel #arab israeli conflict #hamas #gaza

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thezeinterviews · 7 months

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Sky News: 'Matter of life and death': Ukraine's First Lady begs Congress to approve more funding to war-torn nation, says air defence is her top priority

Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska has called on Western politicians to stop the "political point-scoring" and think about the lives at stake during an interview for “Piers Morgan Uncensored” in London.

Piers Morgan New York Post Columnist

March 4, 2024 - 12:59PM

Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, fixed me with an ice-cold gaze when I asked her what message she has for America’s politicians currently holding up $60 billion of aid to help her country beat Vladimir Putin’s Russian invaders.

“This is a matter of life and death,” she said, “and I’d really like for those decision makers to understand that very profoundly. It’s not about money. It’s not about political point-scoring. It’s about life.”

Congress is engaged in a stand-off with hard-line Republicans insisting any more funding for Ukraine must be linked to stricter policies on the US southern border.

And the softly-spoken tension in Ms. Zelenska’s voice belies the desperation that many Ukrainians feel for its biggest, most powerful ally to step up again for them, before it’s too late.

Congress is engaged in a stand-off with hard-line Republicans insisting any more funding for Ukraine must be linked to stricter policies on the US southern border.

And the softly-spoken tension in Ms. Zelenska’s voice belies the desperation that many Ukrainians feel for its biggest, most powerful ally to step up again for them, before it’s too late.

“While decisions are being taken,” she told me in an exclusive interview for “Piers Morgan Uncensored” in London, “people are dying and that’s the worst thing that can happen. I want them to feel that every hour that they hesitate, that they go to their offices, that they meet with their colleagues — in Ukraine, people are dying, and they do not have to be dying, and that’s the worst thing that is happening. I am sure that the majority of people there want to help Ukraine. And we understand the internal political processes in the United States, and we know they’re complex, they’re not simple. And we’re awaiting this decision, but we really, really need it.”

Top of her priority list is more funding for Ukraine’s air defense systems.

“Just for the civilian population,” she explained, “air defense saves lives everywhere in Ukraine. Russia, with their missiles and their drones, can reach any part of Ukraine and they’re constantly doing this. They want us to live in fear. And, yes, when we hear the siren of an air raid, we go down to our shelters, but not every place in Ukraine has shelters. And still, children in schools are dying. Children in their homes are dying while sleeping. And if we had enough air defense, we’d feel more resilient.”

It had been 20 months since I’d last seen Ms. Zelenska in Kyiv with her husband President Volodymyr Zelensky just four months after Russia brutally invaded her country.

But she was confused when I told her that timescale.

“I thought we met more recently?’ she replied with a quizzical expression.

“Not so long ago? My feeling was that not so much time has passed, so from this feeling, I can understand that for us, time has stopped in some way. In one way, things are happening very quickly, things are changing. But at the same time, we feel that time is static, I don’t think that in my life, something has changed significantly. We’re still living in the same mood as four months after the start of the large-scale war.”

Ms. Zelenska arrived for our interview with her team including the obligatory bodyguards who protect her everywhere she goes.

When the war began, she was identified by intelligence sources as Vladimir Putin’s No. 2 highest-priority target in Ukraine – after the President.

If the Russians could capture her, they could use that as maximum leverage to exert pressure on her husband.

Yet far from being cowed by this chilling ongoing reality, she exudes an air of impressively resilient defiance.

Ms. Zelenska arrived looking immaculately elegant in a black two-piece suit and cream blouse, clutching an iPhone, and greeting me in English with a warm smile: “Hi Piers, nice to see you again!”

“You must be exhausted?” I suggested.

“I’m a little tired,” she admitted. “But it’s OK. I don’t want to complain.”

Her sad eyes indicated a weariness at the sheer relentless hell of war and when we sat down, I asked a simple question: “How are you?”

“It’s difficult,” she conceded. “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. You have to maintain your energy at some level. I compare the state to a smartphone when the battery is running out and you have an opportunity to charge it somewhere to make sure that you’re still online. You do it but you don’t have an opportunity to fully charge your battery. You can’t get distracted from the war. You can’t forget about the war, go on holiday for a week, away from the war. You’re constantly in this state and you cannot fully recharge. Ever. But the objective is to have enough energy. Enough to continue living, to carry on with life.”

Her spirits had been rallied in the UK by the support of the British Royal Family.

Last week, on the second anniversary of the invasion, King Charles, who is suffering from cancer, issued a message saying: “The determination and strength of the Ukrainian people continues to inspire, as the unprovoked attack on their land, their lives and livelihoods enters a third, tragic, year. Despite the tremendous hardship and pain inflicted upon them, Ukrainians continue to show the heroism with which the world associates them so closely. Theirs is true valor, in the face of indescribable aggression.”

“We were moved by his address,” said Ms. Zelenska, who met with Queen Camilla during her UK visit last week. “It’s very good to know that we have very sincere and powerful friends in the Royal Family.”

She wasn’t as moved by Putin’s State of the Nation address in Moscow last Thursday.

When I ask her if she has a message for the Russian dictator, her face tenses in visible disgust.

“To be honest, I wouldn’t even want to say this name. When we were children in the Soviet Union, sometimes children would write letters and put them in a time capsule and send them to space. And maybe somebody, sometime an alien will find this capsule and will read this message from these Soviet children from the 1970s. It’s the same thing. Why would I write this message to nowhere? Nobody will hear it. Nobody will pay any attention. It’s just addressed to nowhere.”

But when I pressed her again about what she would say to Putin if he was watching the interview, she said: “I just don’t know what this is for? I could never understand this. I do not understand any of the answers that he gives. I do not understand it, and I don’t know how a normal person can live with this?”

Then I asked her: “There have been hundreds of cases of Ukrainian women raped and abused by Russian soldiers. Over 20,000 Ukrainian children have been effectively kidnapped and taken out of the country. There have been barbaric attacks on maternity units and whole cities razed to the ground. I went to Bucha myself when I was over in Ukraine to hear the devastating stories of (the atrocity) what happened there. These are all war crimes. Should Putin be in an international court facing war crime charges?”

Ms. Zelenska replied: “Behind every crime, there is a person who carried out the crime and a person who commissioned the crime and we don’t know every person that carried out the crime, but we definitely know who commissioned the crime, who ordered the crime. And there needs to be punishment for every crime.”

The war, coming on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, has taken a terrible toll of millions of Ukrainian families, not least on her own two children, a 19-year-old daughter Oleksandra and 11-year-old son Kyrylo.

“It would not be right to complain because the situation for our family is not that different from other families in Ukraine,’ she said. “But it’s painful for me that they’re losing these years of childhood… it’s difficult when you can’t plan anything for your children. You can’t dream together with them, to fill their lives with positive emotions. So, everything is on pause. No holidays, no rest. Everyone thinks about the war. My son talks constantly, and it’s very difficult to explain this to children. When your child asks you, ‘When will the war be over? Can you tell me?’ There is no answer. Nobody has this answer. We all want for this horrible time in our lives to be over.”

How often do the kids see Volodymyr?

“About once a week for a few hours. Sometimes less frequently when he has foreign visits, or he cannot meet us for other reasons. Never more frequent. Of course, it’s a very difficult time for him. He gets very tired. But he has his own ways to recharge. The children always help. And he can have a silly time with them, to sing silly songs, laugh with them, and that also helps him to recharge.”

And her?

“I can see him at the residential office sometimes, because I have my own office. And sometimes I can call him and if he’s not too busy, I can go into his office and see him. We can sometimes have lunch together but not too often. We have parallel lives but that’s normal.”

Does she ever get overwhelmed by the horror?

“It is a tragedy to live in the situation that we find ourselves and to see casualties every day. You cannot switch off your emotions. Recently, I was shaken by the tragedy of a whole family killed by missile strike, a mother together with her two sons. One of them was younger than one year old,” she says.

“They burned alive. These things don’t allow you to be happy or calm, ever, and there are some things that just finish you off, when you just start crying, and sobbing. Recently, there is a documentary made by one of our directors (Alan Badoev’s ‘A Long Day’) and I wasn’t able to watch it till the end.

“It consists fully of things that were filmed by people on their telephones at the start of the invasion. I could not stand it for a very long time. I was in tears. I felt overwhelmed. Emotions. It was really powerful. I will finish watching this film today, but I just didn’t have enough emotional reserves to finish it the first time. There’s another documentary, ’20 Days in Mariupol.’

“My daughter went to see it at the premiere with her boyfriend who is from Mariupol. And he and his parents hid in the basement of their building for several weeks before they were able to flee. And he saw with his own eyes the bodies of his neighbors that had been killed. And I asked her, ‘How did you take it?’ And she said, ‘I cried.’ He cried also. But also, the rest of the people in the cinema cried.

“On the one hand, it’s very difficult but on the other hand, sometimes you need to let it out. You need to cry. All of the emotions that we accumulate every day. I’m very grateful to the people who made these documentaries because they tell the world about us and for us it’s a way of therapy. A way to let it go to…and we cannot do it all the time.

My job is to keep smiling, to keep talking to people, to inspire people. Regardless of whether or not I have the energy for that, so I try to keep my emotions inside. And these things are a way for me to let go for at least a few minutes.”

To lighten the mood, I read a tribute Volodymyr had paid to her in Vogue Magazine, when he said: “She is my love. She is my greatest friend. Olena really is my best friend. She’s also a patriot, and she deeply loves Ukraine, and she’s an excellent mother.”

Olena’s face instantly lit up into a beaming grin.

“I can only say thank you for the words. It’s not the first time I hear this, fortunately he tells me this very often. But we are really friends and I think that’s the secret of our relationship. We don’t have a difficult time with each other. We understand each other and we support each other. It’s not just the words, well done, keep working, I believe in you. No, we can make each other laugh when it’s needed or we can tell each other, ‘Get a grip, go get your job done.’ So, we feel each other. It’s very nice for me that he’s so open with his feelings with the media, however, I don’t need to hear them. I know this and I can feel it.”

The worst moment for them came in those first chaotic hours of the war.

“The most difficult time for us was when we were separated. He stayed in Kyiv, and I had to go outside of Kyiv and spend several weeks outside of Kyiv. And this is when I had the most horrible thoughts come to my head and I was thinking that perhaps we’ll never see each other again. And what allowed me to hold on is that we still have a lot to do together, that I want to do together.”

On his birthday on Jan. 25, 2022, just before the war started, she posted a photo of Volodymyr smiling at her at a party, and wrote: “I wish every woman had these views… I always feel your love… as long as you look like that, I’m not afraid of anything. We have to realize everything we dream of together. Happy birthday to my love.”

This year, on the same day, a Russian military transport plane crashed killing 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

“I didn’t post on his birthday because that day, many tragic things had happened,” she said, “and we agreed that I’m not going to wish him happy birthday publicly. It wasn’t the right time to talk about happy things. I suggested that we stay silent on that day, and he understood that.”

President Zelensky has come under increasing criticism in Ukraine where political opponents have accused him of corruption and becoming an autocrat, and this has led to falling approval ratings.

The Mayor of Kyiv, former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Vitali Klitschko, sniped recently: “Zelensky is paying for mistakes he’s made. At some point, we will no longer be any different from Russia, where everything depends on the whim of one man.”

Ms. Zelenska is phlegmatic about the attacks: “I would very much like for the person who is responsible for everything to be somebody else, not my husband whom I love and respect. But he is responsible for everything, and he carries the responsibility. Political struggle never stops. Not even during the war. That’s how the world is. Nobody’s ever happy with everything, especially in a difficult time like this. Of course, it is difficult for the people to carry this load of war. Sometimes people see bad things happening and they’re looking for someone to blame and I guess, the easiest person to blame is the person who’s responsible for everything. I’m fine about this criticism.

“What I don’t accept is total hatred which is not based in facts. And I know that the aggressor (Russia) will always stoke any kind of tension inside the country that would undermine our unity. And a lot of resources are spent on this. They use every opportunity in Ukrainian society to stoke the negative things. And I understand the rules and I’m fine with this. He will take any criticism. For me, perhaps, it’s more difficult emotionally because I take offense sometimes, I get upset. All of these things are hurtful when it’s being said about the person you love and respect, it’s never nice.”

There are growing calls for the transfer of Russian assets in countries like the United States to pay for the recovery of Ukraine.

“I think this is fair,” said Ms. Zelenska. “Russia has to pay financially for the damage done to Ukraine, for the destruction of our infrastructure. We understand that we may never see any financial compensation directly, so it would be fair for these financial assets that Russia has in our partner countries to be frozen and to be spent on the renewal of our infrastructure. Why should our partners help us to rebuild? Why shouldn’t it be the people who destroyed it?”

One of Ukraine’s biggest problems is global “war fatigue” with the media’s attention drifting away to other conflicts like the Israel and Hamas war in Gaza.

“We need to understand that more wars can start in other places, but it doesn’t mean that the war in Ukraine will stop,” she says.

“And this fatigue from the war, well, of course, it’s hurtful to hear for us. The Ukrainians have much more fatigue! Ukrainians are tired, but we have to hold on, because this is a matter of our survival. Don’t get tired. If you’re tired, you’re not our allies. We cannot allow you to get tired. We cannot say, ‘Don’t look at us. Don’t look at us suffering.’ If you’re tired, you’re not our friends. It’s sad but that’s life and we’re going to continue fighting for our lives, for the lives of our children, and we will not get tired doing this.”

Her response to Donald Trump’s claim he could end the war in 24 hours?

“I don’t think that anyone can end this war in 24 hours except Putin.”

As to those who want Ukraine to throw in the towel and make a peace deal where Putin gets to keep the land he’s murderously stolen, Ms. Zelenska is emphatic in refuting the notion of surrender:

“President Zelensky gave a very clear answer. And it’s not just his opinion as the leader and president of our country, it’s an opinion that he expresses on behalf of our nation. We’re not prepared to make allowances. We understand that the aggressor (Putin) does not stop when he receives what he wants. He will continue moving further and further. We don’t want our children to still be fighting in this war and then our grandchildren. We want to stop this now, but we will not stop this on their terms.”

And with that final passionate declaration, First Lady Olena Zelenska bid me farewell and hurried away to start the long 20-hour plane-train-car journey back home to Kyiv, and the war that never ends.

Originally published as 'Matter of life and death': Ukraine's First Lady begs Congress to approve more funding to war-torn nation, says air defence is her top priority

Article

#olena zelenska #russia #ukraine #war #ze interview #olena interview #olena selenska #interview 2024 #2024 #zelenska #new york post #new york post interview

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leeenuu · 2 years

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Taisiia Kovaliova, 15, stands amongst the rubble of a playground in front of her house hit by a Russian missile in Mykolaiv, Sunday, October 23, 2022. "I spent all my childhood and life at this courtyard, I already feel nostalgic. I went to this swing that stood it all" Taisiia said. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Destroyed domes lie next to a damaged church in the retaken village of Bohorodychne, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, October 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Andriy Andriyenko)

People queuing up hold plastic bottles to refill drinking water from a tank in the center of Mykolaiv, Monday, October 24, 2022. Since mid-April, citizens of Mykolaiv, with a pre-war population of half a million people, have lived without a centralized drinking water supply. Russian Forces cut off the pipeline through which the city received drinking water for the last 40 years. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Zoo worker Svitlana Shmaldii feeds a giraffe at Mykolaiv Zoo, Ukraine on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. "I go to work at the Zoo every day, despite the sirens and the sounds of explosions, it's scary, but who will look after the animals?" Svitlana said to the Associated Press. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Ancient stone faceless statues of polovets baba (woman), the symbol of ancestors, are seen against the background of recently retaken city of Izium, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, October 25, 2022. The Turkish group of the Polovtsian tribes had inhabited Eastern European steppes in the 11th-13th centuries. There are nine ancient statutes near Izium, one of them was ruined by the Russian shelling. Ukrainian cultural officials have said that 377 cultural objects were damaged or ruined since the Russian invasion on February 24. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

A view shows the city centre without electricity after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, October 24, 2022. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)

People queue at the post office to receive back payments of their pension and state aid from the seven-month period of Russian occupation in their town, whereby they say they received no payments and could not work or leave, in Savyntsi, Ukraine, Saturday, October 22, 2022. (REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne)

A house damaged by the Russian shelling is seen in Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest battle against the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Wednesday, October 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Tamara, 50, mourns at the grave of her only son, a military servicemen, killed during a Russian bombing raid, at a cemetery in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Tamara did not learn of her son's death until four months after he died, when she managed to escape from her village in Kherson occupied by Russian troops. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

#war in ukraine #russian world

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lesbian-nautica · 2 years

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WELCOME TO THE ROBOT HUSBAND BATTLE ROYALE!

@novafire-is-thinking 's robot husband poll was amazing, but I think there is one way to improve it.

Make it more chaotic.

So instead of 1v1, we are putting everyone into groups of 10. (To make it easier for me, I just did it alphabetically) May the best husband win, links to each fight below!

ROUND ONE:

A: Afterburner v Air Raid v Alpha Trion v Ambulon v Astrotrain v Barricade v Beachcomber v Blackout v Blades v Blaster WINNER: BLADES

B: Blitzwing v Bluestreak v Blurr v Bonecrusher v Boulder v Brainstorm v Brawl v Brawn v Breakdown v Brimstone WINNER: BREAKDOWN

C: Broadside v Bulkhead v Bumblebee v Censere (Necrobot) v Cerebros v Chase v Cheetor v Chromedome v Cliffjumper v Cosmos WINNER: CHROMEDOME

D: Crankcase v Cyclonus v Dai Atlas v Dead End v Deathsaurus v Depth Charge v Dinobot v Dirge v Dominus Ambus v Doubledealer WINNER: CYCLONUS

E: Drag Strip v Dreadwing v Drift v Eject v Ferak v Fireflight v First Aid v Flatline v Fortress Maximus v Fracas WINNER: FIRST AID AND FORTRESS MAXIMUS WITH A TIE

F: Frenzy v Froid v Fulcrum v Gears v Grapple v Grimlock v Guzzle v Hardhead v Hardshell v Heatwave WINNER: GRIMLOCK

G: Helex v High Tide v Hoist v Hook v Hot Shot v Hound v Hubcap v Huffer v Impactor v Inferno WINNER: IMPACTOR

H: Jazz v Kaon v Kickback v Knockout v Lockdown v Long Haul v Lugnut v Maccadam v Meteorfire v Metroplex WINNER: JAZZ

I: Megatron v Mirage v Misfire v Mixmaster v Motormaster V Nemesis Prime v Nightbeat v Offroad v Optimus Primal v Optimus Prime WINNER: MISFIRE

J: Overlord v Perceptor v Pharma v Powerglide v Predaking v Prowl v Quickstrike v Ramjet v Rampage v Getaway because I accidentally forgot him earlier oops WINNER: PERCEPTOR

K: Ratchet v Rattrap v Ravage v Red Alert v Red Inferno v Rewind v Rhinox v Riptide v Rodimus Prime v Rumble WINNER: RODIMUS PRIME

L: Runabout v Runamuck v Rung v Scavenger v Scorponok v Scrapper v Seaspray v Sentinel Prime v Shockwave v Sideswipe WINNER: RUNG

M: Silverbolt v Skids v Sky-Byte v Skydive v Skyfire/Jetfire v Skyquake v Slingshot v Sludge v Slug v Smokescreen WINNER: SKIDS

N: Snarl v Soundblaster v Soundwave v Spinister v Springer v Star Saber v Starscream v Sunder v Sundor v Sunstorm WINNER: SOUNDWAVE

O: Sunstreaker v Swerve v Swindle v Swoop v Tailgate v Tarantulas v Tarn v Ten v Terrorsaur v Tesaurus WINNER: TAILGATE

P: Thrust v Thunderclash v Thundercracker v Thunderhoof v Thunderhowl v Tigatron v Topspin v Tracks v Trepan WINNER: THUNDERCRACKER

Q: Tyrest v Ultra Magnus/Minimus Ambus v Vox v Warpath v Waspinator v Wheeljack v Whirl v Wildrider v Windcharger v Wing WINNER: WHIRL

R for remembering late (aka the "hey what about-" round): Blast Off v Onslaught v Skywarp v Tripodeca v Toaster v Siren v Hot Rod v Jetfire v Galvatron v Vortex WINNER: SKYWARP

SEMIFINALS 1:

SEMIFINALS 2:

#robot husband poll #robot husband battle royale #transformers poll

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negative-speedforce · 6 months

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Your OCs are walking through the park at night (why? who knows?) and hear a clamor down by the pond. It's Rae, attempting to fight off a group of muggers from stealing an older lady's purse. Rae has her fists up, and her hands are glowing faintly with the energy of her shields, but her nose is bloody and she seems to be tiring.

What do your OCs do?

Siv: All Rae sees is a burst of red lightning drag all the muggers into the middle of the pond. Then, Siv stops really quick to take a look at Rae and make sure she's okay, and without saying a word, vanishes into the night.

Jay: Makes a distraction by shooting a series of energy pulses from his gauntlets into the sky, so Rae can take care of the muggers while they're distracted, then asks if she's okay once she's done.

Cassandra: Shadowy tentacles rise up from portals in the ground and drag the muggers into the abyss. She'll let them out later, when they're thoroughly traumatized.

Hailey: Beats the ever-loving shit out of the muggers, and while they're all tied up waiting for her to bring them to jail, she checks Rae over for serious injuries.

Esme: Probably takes off her shoes and throws them at the muggers, because a platform heel to the face? Ouch.

Arya: Tells Rae to shield herself, then uses their siren calls to incapacitate the muggers, but only to the point of temporarily knocking them out.

Gina: Hides behind some trees and makes some weird vocal trills so the muggers get distracted for a few moments, then leaves once she's sure Rae's handling the situation.

Ember: Is far scrappier than they look, from decades of fighting off cops when they tried to raid her club. He joins in the fight, successfully taking care of a couple of the muggers, then she offers to walk Rae home once they're done.

Cat: Pulls out her handgun from her waistband, threatening the muggers to back off. Once they leave, she makes sure Rae is okay.

Max: Uses his earrings to summon one of his smaller mech suits, then remotely controls it to beat up a few of the muggers, and walk Rae home.

Kyle: He works for a charity that helps people get out of domestic violence situations, so he knows what he's doing. He'll probably just put on a big light show, with electricity everywhere and glowing eyes and stuff, to scare the muggers off, then he'll walk Rae home since he's probably much more intimidating-looking than she is.

Eric: Scares off the muggers with some magic, then makes sure that Rae and the old lady are alright.

Jacob: A well-timed punch to the nose takes care of the muggers, then he stops to make sure that everyone is okay and that Rae doesn't need any more help.

Khalil: Probably doesn't actually get involved, but he might shout "Hey!" from far away to temporarily distract the muggers so Rae can take care of them.

Ameerah: Strikes fear into the hearts of the muggers with her empathic abilities, then steals all the money for herself. Payment for saving Rae's skin, or so she says.

Rania: Keeps walking, but calls the local authorities. She doesn't have any powers or fighting experience, so she'd just get in the way.

Antonio: Doesn't get involved, since he's a literal child and is kinda scared of getting beat up by a bunch of grown men, but he telekinetically throws the muggers into the pond.

Reggie: Sneaks up behind the muggers and knocks out two of them by hitting them on the back of the head with xir skateboard. Then, once Rae's taken care of the rest, xe makes sure that everyone is okay, proudly informing everyone that xe just got xir first aid badge in Girl Scouts!

Director Hawke: Watches from afar, hoping that the muggers will take care of Rae. If not, then Rae's about to have her hands full with a genocidal witch on her tail.

Meredith: All Rae sees is a sudden burst of lightning and the muggers vanish into thin air.

Kelsie: Vines suddenly reach out of the ground, wrapping the muggers up, and one vine reaches out and returns the purse to the old lady. As of yet, people are probably still attributing that save to Poison Ivy, which annoys Kelsie to no end.

Cory: Walks up to the muggers, grinning like Kevin McCalister, then they suddenly start floating in the air, which confuses them for long enough for Rae to take care of them. Then, they stop to make sure no one needs him to call an ambulance or something.

Torryn: Doesn't get involved, but he calls the authorities on a random payphone to take care of it. After all, they're legally dead, and he doesn't want anyone to know otherwise.

Onnie: Walks right by, since it's not her problem. Then, two blocks later, she sighs and goes back, running Rae and the old lady a couple blocks away to safety, telling them "No one is ever going to believe that I saved you."

Jessi: Doesn't get involved. She honestly feels sorry for that poor girl, who isn't rich or powerful enough to have a burly bodyguard to protect her, but that's not her problem.

Pippa: Throws all the muggers in the lake, then uses her field medicine knowledge to check to see if Rae needs someone to reset her nose.

Hyun-Ki: Since he doesn't have powers and can't really fight, he doesn't get involved. He does call the authorities to come and take care of the situation, though.

Marie: Nerve-pinches the muggers to knock them all out. Then, she uses her 25th-century medical knowledge to take care of Rae and the old lady and make sure they're okay, before offering to do a quick site-to-site transport of them to their respective homes.

Liah: Doesn't physically get involved due to her pacifistic tendencies, but she does puff herself up so she looks bigger and more intimidating, then approaches the muggers and asks "Is there a problem here?". Unsurprisingly, they don't want to get involved with the 6'3 terrifying alien lady who looks like she bench-presses a car.

Qiara: Adjusts the laws of physics for a few moments so the sun shines directly into all the muggers' eyes, then, while they're incapacitated, she helps Rae take care of them.

Soraya: Sets her phaser to stun, knocks them all out, then beams them all directly into the brig of her ship. She offers Rae and the old lady medical attention if they need it.

Athena: Probably keeps walking, but if she gets involved, she'll stun all the muggers to bring them back to her lab to be human experiments. Then, she takes Rae's money and the old lady's as payment for her services.

Laila: If she's feeling particularly nice, she might Force-choke all the muggers and vanish into the night, never to be seen again by Rae.

Reyna: Decides that this is a great time to test one of her new inventions, which proceeds to blow up in her face. Thankfully, the chaos that causes distracts the muggers for long enough for Rae to take care of them.

Thalia: Runs in headfirst and punches the living shit out of the muggers, then uses her Force-healing ability to fix Rae's nose, before vanishing into the night.

Pyrrha: Is at first tempted to go in lightsaber blazing, but she doesn't really do that anymore, so she goes into her med kit and pulls out some sedative, and knocks out the muggers, before offering her medic skills to Rae and the old lady.

Samira: Keeps walking, but calls the authorities. She doesn't really have any relevant skills for the fight, but she keeps an eye out from a distance to make sure that Rae is okay.

Aldrich: Literally just bites the muggers. Rae might get suddenly confused by the revelation that vampires are real.

Sohelia: Holds her breath so she doesn't get distracted by the smell of Rae's nosebleed, and uses a few vampire-enhanced-strength powered punches to bring the muggers to the ground, before vanishing into the night.

Vanessa: Surprises the muggers with the fact that she's basically indestructible and bulletproof, allowing Rae to take care of them.

Matt: Doesn't get involved, since he couldn't really help with the fight itself, but once Rae's taken care of everything, he comes in and offers his medic skills for any injuries she's sustained.

Dolores: Doesn't get involved, since she can smell Rae's nosebleed from a mile away and she doesn't particularly want to lose control and hurt someone.

Victorie: Doesn't get involved for the same reasons as Dolores.

Kayla: Wishes she could get involved, but doesn't, since she thinks it might be a trap.

Dori: Takes the form of some famous pop star and starts singing and dancing on the top of a small hill nearby, distracting the muggers just long enough for Rae to knock them out.

Ellis: Going behind Rae as not to scare her with their true angelic form, they go all "BE NOT AFRAID" on the muggers, scaring them shitless, before using their miraculous powers to fix Rae's nose and any other injuries she may have sustained.

Gabi: Doesn't get involved, but calls the authorities, since there's not much help that Gabi could offer.

#ask revan #oc shit #practically-an-x-man

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brexiiton · 9 months

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Hamas leader visits Cairo as talks over another Gaza ceasefire gather pace

By Associated Press, 7:28am Dec 21, 2023

Hamas' top leader has travelled to Cairo for talks on the war in Gaza, part of a flurry of diplomacy aimed at securing another cease-fire and swap of hostages for Palestinian prisoners at a moment when Israel's offensive shows no signs of slowing.

Hamas militants have been putting up stiff resistance, even as the Israeli army claims to be making great progress in eradicating them. The visit to Cairo on Wednesday by its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, came a day after Hamas fired rockets that set off air raid sirens in central Israel.

It was a show of strength after a 10-week war that has devastated much of northern Gaza, killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, and driven some 1.9 million - nearly 85 per cent of the population - from their homes.

A photo from 2021 released by Lebanese government, of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas,.(Dalati Nohra/Lebanese Official Government via AP.File)(AP)

Israel has called on the rest of the world to blacklist Hamas as a terrorist organisation, saying it must be removed from power in Gaza in the wake of its October 7 rampage across southern Israel that triggered the war.

But the sides have recently relaunched indirect talks, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States. The goal is to achieve another cease-fire, and to free more hostages Hamas took in its attack in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

"These are very serious discussions and negotiations, and we hope that they lead somewhere," the White House's national security spokesman, John Kirby, said on Wednesday aboard the presidential jet Air Force One while travelling with US President Joe Biden to Wisconsin.

Mobile phone and internet service was down across Gaza again on Wednesday, an outage that could complicate efforts to communicate with Hamas leaders inside the territory who went into hiding after October 7.

The war has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Tens of thousands of people are crammed into overcrowded shelters and tent camps amid shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies. Israel's foreign minister travelled to Cyprus to discuss the possibility of establishing a maritime corridor that would allow the delivery of large amounts of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Despite a burst of diplomacy by high-level officials in recent days, the two sides appeared to be far from an agreement.

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, December 20. (AP)

Hamas has said no more hostages will be released until the war ends, and is expected to insist on the release of large numbers of Palestinian prisoners, including high-level militants, for the captives that remain.

Israel has rejected the demands so far. But it has a history of lopsided exchanges for captive Israelis, and the government is under heavy public pressure to bring the hostages home safely.

Egypt, along with Qatar, helped mediate a weeklong cease-fire in November in which Hamas freed over 100 hostages in exchange for Israel's release of 240 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas and other militants are still holding an estimated 129 captives.

UN Security Council members are negotiating an Arab-sponsored resolution to halt the fighting in some way to allow for an increase in desperately needed humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza. A vote on the resolution, first scheduled for Monday, was pushed back again until Wednesday as talks continued in the hopes of getting the US to abstain or vote "yes" on the resolution after it vetoed an earlier cease-fire call.

#terrorwave #terror wave #terror #news #israel #israeli #palestine #gaza war #hamas #cairo #ceasefire

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 2 years

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LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 20, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

We awoke this morning to news that President Joe Biden was in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he pledged “our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” Air raid sirens blared as Biden and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky walked through the streets during the U.S. president’s five-hour stay.

As National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters, Biden’s visit was the first time a U.S. president has visited “the capital of a country at war where the United States military does not control the critical infrastructure”…in other words, an active war zone. Biden traveled in a special mission plane from Germany to Poland, then took a train from Poland to Kyiv. To make sure there would be no attacks, the U.S. notified the Russians that Biden would be in Kyiv, but a Russian MiG 30 flew from Belarus during Biden’s visit, triggering air raid sirens.

According to Sullivan, Biden felt it was important to visit Kyiv at the anniversary of the 2022 Russian invasion. The image of Biden and Zelensky standing together sent a message to Russian president Vladimir Putin, as David Rothkopf put it in the Daily Beast: “I am here in Kyiv and you are not. You not only did not take Kyiv in days as some predicted, but your attack was rebuffed. Your army suffered a humiliating defeat from which it has not recovered.”

Just under a year ago, the global equation looked very different. On February 4, 2022, Chinese president Xi Jinping hosted Russian president Vladimir Putin on the opening day of the Winter Olympics. The two men pledged to work together in a partnership with “no limits” in a transparent attempt to counter U.S. global leadership and assert a new international order based on their own authoritarian systems.

At the time, Russia was massing troops on its border with Ukraine but fervently denied it was planning to invade. On February 24, 2022, Russian tanks rolled across the border and Russian planes covered them in the air. Biden remembered that Zelensky called him and said he could hear the explosions as they spoke. “I’ll never forget that,” Biden said. “The world was about to change.” When Biden asked what he could do to help, Zelensky said: “Gather the leaders of the world. Ask them to support Ukraine.”

And over 50 nations stepped up to make sure the rules-based international order in place since World War II, which prevents one country from attacking another, held. Those backing Ukraine against Russian aggression have squeezed Russia with economic sanctions and supported Ukraine with military and humanitarian aid. As Biden said today, standing next to Zelensky: “Kyiv stands and Ukraine stands. Democracy stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.”

Biden pledged another $460 million in aid to Ukraine, emphasizing that U.S. support for the country is bipartisan.

Biden mourned the cost Ukraine has had to bear, but championed its successes. “Russia’s aim was to wipe Ukraine off the map,” Biden said, but “Putin’s war of conquest is failing. Russia’s military has lost half its territory it once occupied. Young, talented Russians are fleeing by the tens of thousands, not wanting to come back to Russia. Not…just fleeing from the military, fleeing from Russia itself, because they see no future in their country. Russia’s economy is now a backwater, isolated and struggling.”

“Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided,” Biden said. He remembered telling Zelensky that Putin was “counting on us not sticking together. He was counting on the inability to keep NATO united. He was counting on us not to be able to bring in others on the side of Ukraine.” While Biden didn’t say it, Putin had reason to think those things: the four years of the Trump administration had seen the U.S. offending allies and threatening to pull out of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that stands against Russian aggression.

“He thought he could outlast us,” Biden said. “I don’t think he’s thinking that right now…. [H]e’s just been plain wrong. Plain wrong.” A year later, Biden said, “We stand here together.”

“You and all Ukrainians…remind the world every single day what the meaning of the word ‘courage’ is—from all sectors of your economy, all walks of life. It’s astounding. Astounding.

You remind us that freedom is priceless; it’s worth fighting for for as long as it takes. And that’s how long we’re going to be with you, Mr. President: for as long as it takes.”

Zelensky answered, “We’ll do it.”

The world could stand behind Ukraine as it has because Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have held a coalition together and presented a united front with Zelensky and allies and partners in defense of democracy.

In contrast today, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) explicitly called for dividing the nation. She tweeted: “We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government. Everyone I talk to says this.” For once I will spare you my usual lecture on how elite southern enslavers in the 1850s made this same argument because they resented the majority rule that threatened their ability to impose their will on their Black neighbors.

(I will note, though, that former representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) helpfully reviewed “some of the governing principles of America” for Greene, tweeting: “Our country is governed by the Constitution. You swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Secession is unconstitutional. No member of Congress should advocate secession, Marjorie.”)

What Greene had to say next is of more interest in this moment. The Munich Security Conference, the world’s largest gathering for international security discussions, has just reported that the Russian war on Ukraine is a war of authoritarianism on a rules-based international order. At that conference, Vice President Kamala Harris said the U.S. had determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity and noted that the bipartisan U.S. delegation to the conference was the largest we have ever sent. The U.S. president has just entered a war zone to declare U.S. support for democracy and is now in Poland, where he will speak with the leaders of the nine countries that make up NATO’s eastern flank and will deliver a speech that Blinken has described as “very significant.”

In contrast, Greene echoed authoritarian leaders Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Putin himself when she called for splitting the nation over “the sick and disgusting woke culture issues shoved down our throats” and “the Democrat’s [sic] traitorous America Last policies.” Authoritarian leaders insist that the equality that underpins liberal democracy threatens traditional society because it means that LGBTQ people, women, and minorities should have the same rights as white men. Greene appears to be taking the same position.

Meanwhile, Fox News Channel personalities, including Tucker Carlson, are trying to spin Biden’s visit to Ukraine as proof that he doesn’t care about the train derailment in Ohio. Scholar of disinformation behavior Caroline Orr Bueno noted: “There’s a narrative being planted here; watch how support for Ukraine is framed as incompatible with US national interests.” She notes that a similar narrative in Canada argues that support for Ukraine hurts Canadian veterans.

A filing in Dominion Voter Systems’ lawsuit against FNC for defamation revealed last week that FNC personalities knowingly lied to their viewers about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, acting as a propaganda outlet for Trump. This information is a handy backdrop for the news reported today by Mike Allen of Axios, who says that House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has given to FNC host Carlson—who figured prominently in the election fraud lies—exclusive access to 41,000 hours of footage from the U.S. Capitol of the January 6, 2021, attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. According to Allen, Carlson’s producers have already begun going through it to see what they can use on his show.

Putin is scheduled to address the Russian Federal Assembly tomorrow. Billboards in Russia proclaim: “Russia’s border ends nowhere,” but observers believe that he was hoping for a major victory on a battlefield in Ukraine before the speech. Instead, Russian forces have taken severe losses in their recent stalled offensive in eastern Ukraine near Bakhmut.

Biden’s speech in Poland will follow later in the day.

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

#Heather Cox Richardson #Letters From An American #Volodymyr Zelensky #Joe Biden #War in Ukriane #Authoritarian GOP #FOX News #Munich Security Conference #vp kamala harris

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mariacallous · 7 months

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Even as missiles fall on Ukraine and troops brace for a Russian spring offensive from the east, Kyiv is looking west. The U.S. congressional fight over aid to Ukraine, entangled as it is with border policy and presidential politics, has become a matter of survival for 43 million Ukrainians. In more than two years of war, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not broken Ukrainian will. Abandonment by the United States could achieve what Putin never has.

This month, I made a 1300-mile trip around Ukraine as part of a delegation hosted by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We visited Kyiv and Odesa as well as Dnipro, Kharkiv, and other places farther east. The situation on the ground is changing, and U.S. political leaders should understand the enormous stakes. Those now debating the fate of assistance to Ukraine are deliberating over the fate of Ukraine itself.

The first thing that strikes a visitor to wartime in Ukraine is how remarkably normal life seems in many areas. Normal, that is, until the signs of war creep in—gradually and then suddenly.

Odesa’s elegantly beautiful theater remains open, and operas and shows go on. (Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco and Franco Alfano and Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot played a few days after our visit.) Yet the city was under an air alert as we arrived, and a walk along the seaside promenade revealed coiled barbed wire at each staircase.

In a mostly unheralded success, Ukraine has cleared the Black Sea coast of Russian warships—despite having a tiny navy with no warships of its own—and now exports grain from Odesa at near prewar levels. Ships load grain and skirt the coast as they head west, staying away from Russian predation. Outside the city, soldiers man roadside checkpoints to examine the papers of draft-age men.

In a town that we visited in Kherson Oblast, which suffered under Russian occupation until late 2022, virtually every building was damaged. Missile strikes, mortar fire, and machine guns took a serious toll. Many inhabitants fled the fighting, joining either the 6.5 million Ukrainian refugees outside the country or the 3.7 million displaced inside it. UNHCR and other aid agencies are assisting those who remained and others who have returned. Some never will.

We met one man in the town who stayed through it all. “It’s like you see on TV in America,” he said. “You know when there’s a hurricane and someone says, ‘It’s my home, I’m not leaving?’ That was me.”

The biggest problem, he said, were soldiers from the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, the puppet governments set up in the regions by Moscow. Often drunk, the soldiers looted houses, hassled people, and carted home everything they could. A local official said that Russian troops had established multiple torture centers during the occupation.

The man’s son, a tall 15-year-old with a grin and the taciturn bearing of a teenage boy, described life before and after the Russians came. Did he miss the way things were before the war? Yes, he said: “Some of my acquaintances have passed away.”

Downtown Dnipro could pass for Vancouver or Boston, with its illuminated streets, pedestrian areas, fine restaurants, and high-end boutiques. Couples dine, families stroll at night, and the stores are stocked. Yet the war wasn’t far away during our visit; an air alert awakened us early in the morning. As our phone alerts went off and air raid sirens sounded, we headed to the shelter. Russia launched more than 60 drones and missiles at Ukraine that day, some of which made it to Kyiv. The attack set a large apartment building on fire in the capital and killed four people. Two days later, we would visit this site, where the rebuilding had already begun.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, has emerged as an epicenter of recent Russian military activity. Most students there are relegated to online learning, since their schools lack the shelters necessary to protect against air attacks. More than 2,000 children go to class underground in subway stations. We visited one of these subway schools, watching fourth graders solve math problems and work on projects. Play areas took up space at the backs of classrooms. I wish members of the U.S. Congress could see the effects of Russia’s two-year war on the country and witness Ukrainian resilience in the face of relentless attack.

Ukrainians are resilient but not invincible. They see bombed-out buildings, awaken to air alert sirens each night, and feel Moscow’s newfound confidence on the battlefield. They know that last year’s counteroffensive produced few gains, and that Avdiivka’s recent fall marks Russia’s first significant territorial gain since May 2023. Diminishing supplies of ammunition and other Western-provided weapons have made the war more difficult and more costly in terms of Ukrainian lives.

Yet most wish to fight on. Polls show a small but growing number of Ukrainians wishing to trade land for peace, if such an outcome is possible. The majority wish to continue the fight. They watched Putin’s interview with Tucker Carlson and saw the Russian president’s insistence on their country’s historic artificiality. They know, from the atrocities that have occurred in Bucha and elsewhere, what Russian occupation might mean. They see the war as a fight for survival.

Ukrainians also know, however, that they cannot keep it up alone. They quietly observe that European aid (generous though it is) won’t be sufficient, either. In Kyiv, officials follow every twist and turn of the $60 billion earmarked for Ukraine in a proposed supplemental aid package from the United States. It’s a large amount of money, equivalent to roughly 7 percent of the U.S. Defense Department’s annual budget, and combines military, humanitarian, and budget support. Ukraine’s future turns greatly on it.

U.S. missile defense currently protects Ukrainian cities, and officials worry about the violence that Russia will unleash if U.S. interceptors stop arriving. Front-line Ukrainian troops are running out of ammunition, and declining access to military equipment could allow Russia to take more territory. Even factoring in the latest European aid package, Ukrainian officials (and those at the U.S. Treasury Department) project empty government coffers within months, rendering them unable to pay worker salaries or pensions. Their fallback plan is to print more money, fully understanding the disastrous hyperinflation such a move would produce.

In the meantime, U.S. humanitarian aid provides food, shelter, medical care, and other support for a traumatized population that nevertheless wishes to carry on.

Beyond material support, my visit made clear that the psychological effect of global solidarity, especially from the United States, remains vital. In conversations with everyone, from the top of government to citizens living just miles from the front lines, there was one message: Please stay with us—we can’t do this alone. U.S. abandonment would be devastating.

There is a lot of trouble in the world today, some of it far closer to home for Washington than places such as Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Kherson. A poll conducted in February by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Ipsos found that a majority of Americans continue to support helping Ukraine, as do majorities in both houses of Congress. Yet two years in, and after billions of aid has already been delivered, Americans might reasonably ask why more, and why now.

Calls to defend the rules-based international order tend to provoke eye-rolling derision these days. So too do descriptions of the United States’ indispensability in the face of global problems. Yet the prohibition against forcible conquest stands at the heart of the postwar global order. Putin’s violation of that taboo—if ultimately successful—would augur a new and more dangerous era. The United States, unfashionable though it may be to observe, is indispensable in resisting it.

Ultimately, Ukraine is fighting a shift from order to the law of the jungle, where the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must. In a world awash with trouble, and with huge demands on U.S. resources, the stakes in Ukraine remain very high—and perhaps unique. The alternative to continued Western support is not an indefinite stalemate or frozen conflict. It is a potential Russian victory.

This is the context in which today’s debate should take place. It’s clear on the ground: Ukrainian will to resist aggression is remarkable, but it remains inextricably linked to U.S. support and solidarity. If the United States abandons Ukraine, then the West may well accomplish the very thing that Putin has thus far found impossible.

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