#molotov solution

[markushasadeathwish]

[andyxphantom]

i really miss the windbreaker, spinkick/cartwheel, crowdkill your homies, slow breakdowns and super downtuned deathcore from 09' to the early mid 2010s decade or so, and also those bands promoted in breakdown compilation videos or that old chugcore blogspot

good times

keep staying br00tal in the year of 2024 my friends

[samuelroukin]

hc that ghost likes deathcore too just for my personal enjoyment

[the-acid-pear]

Literally closer to becoming a terrorist everyday 🥰

[bookshelfdreams]

one thing i love about charles is that he's always ready to throw down. no problem is so complex it can't be solved with violence. he looked at this fucked up, illogical world of supernatural horrors beyond comprehension with its myriad complicated rules, where every entity has it's own unique vulnerability and decided that you know what? there actually is a universal solution to every problem called Bash That Thing's Fucking Head In - and it works a solid 99% of the time!

Much like he doesn't care about every lock having a unique key, he doesn't care about the specifics of defeating monsters and nightmares. Yeah he knows all about casting spells, this next one is something called MOLOTOV COCKTAIL

[tragedy-machine]

something that keeps me up at night is charles needs to put stuff in his backpack to be able to use it. so at some point, it is unclear when, he put a lit molotov cocktail in there thinking "this will definitely come in handy" also the fact that he had multiple different kinds of bombs in there. i have so many questions: how long were those in there? was the lit molotov cocktail in the backpack when they put becky aspen in there? what did edwin say when they were packing stuff for a case and he saw charles shoving multiple pre-lit bombs into his backpack? how many more does he have? how did he even get a molotov cocktail? did he make it? i cant stop thinking about this, everything about it is just so funny to me

Lmaooo, this is a great ask!

It is truly funny, I bet it started as an experiment of sorts? after Charles figures out that time basically stops/works differently in the backpack since it's an entire pocket-dimension (hence why he can keep a jar of alive bees inside for however long he wants to), he begins to play with it, like yeah you can actually put in a lit match in and take it out as it's still burning, even after a few hours!

Also, maybe there was a case for which he packed all those bombs and only at the scene realized he had nothing to light them up with. So Edwin had to figure out a fire spell practically on the spot for that lmao

So Charles finally comes up with the perfect solution - just put in the bombs already set off to go! And put them far away from flammable objects in the bag? Lol, no, I'd reckon the objects inside don't interact with each other at all, each of them in a dimension of its own, so Becky probably never had the pleasure of meeting said lit molotov cocktail nor the jar of bees

[strangerwheelerthings]

The way Robin and Nancy's protective instincts differ is so fascinating to me.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone directly talk about it, but one reason Nancy's single-minded focus during dangerous situations is so compelling is because that isn't how it manifests in anyone else. Everyone in the Hawkins crew would die for the rest without question, but Nancy alone becomes tunnel minded on the danger.

She focuses all her attention on the source of the issue and tries to kill or stop it. She hunts it down and attempts to shoot it and set it on fire. She leaves the little ones alone at the school in the process. She sees a boy possessed and realizes the solution is to stab him to increase the heat. She prioritizes ending the danger over the horror of his family seeing her do that. She investigates and stays up all night when the mind flayer rears its head, only thinking to call everyone else in the morning. She ignores her pounding heart and the visions of her family's deaths to organize a strike team against Vecna. She roars in, guns blazing, focusing on no one else in the moment.

Robin does not.

Someone once pointed out the direction of Robin's focus during this scene. Which, yay, cute ronance moment, but, setting that aside, actually shows the fundamental difference between her and Nancy.

Whereas Nancy’s focus never leaves the monsters and getting to the root of the danger, Robin tends to pay more attention to those around her. Nancy, while amazing, doesn't typically take the time to check in with people in the midst of everything else. Robin is the one worrying over rabies and how Steve is doing. She's the one who is willing to let Nancy lead the charge while she keeps an eye on the morale and health of the crew.

Both of these instincts are rooted in a protectiveness and care for the group, but they cover different parts of the group's needs. And it's not that Robin can't be a badass with a molotov cocktail, just like it's not that Nancy can't express care and worry for the others, like attempting to clean El's wounds, and checking in on Max. How they choose to deal with their fears just come from fundamentally different approaches that compliment each other.

Anyway, just a thought.

[despazito]

leftism without economic theory is painful to watch like it is nuts that women are now fantasizing of becoming stay at home housewives again as a solution to the current state of “work”. or people imagining utopias where work doesn’t exist at all, im sorry that’s just completely unrealistic regardless of how much we can automate

i think that a deep drive to pursue goals is an intrinsic part of the human condition. we like to work, we feel good when we solve something complicated or finish a task, our brain gives us good chemicals in return. even those of us with disabilities who can struggle to work still want to do something. the issue is how labour gets treated and which labour is rewarded by society.

our current system values antisocial leadership practices that will do anything to improve capital, and creates bullshit jobs nobody likes for the sole purpose of extracting the most capital possible. it’s no surprise people feel alienated from such employment especially if your job is scamming people with a few extra steps. i think the disappearance of family trades run by dedicated craftsmen who owned their own means of production has also hurt. instead it’s been emotionally sterilized through college courses and employment by faceless corporations who kindly let you use their equipment in return for a fraction of your labour’s actual value.

jobs like teaching and nursing are the backbone of society but instead their labour is deemed worthless, so even folks performing these important meaningful roles want to quit because financially the world is telling them to go fuck themselves.

it doesn’t help that the new consumerist class has been groomed to feel entitled to everything and anything, combined with the aggravated political polarization its just a molotov cocktail for any potential social interaction with a stranger to become a nightmare. i don’t blame people who want to lay flat and check out of this environment, but in the long term removing yourself entirely from the labour force and removing yourself physically from everybody you may not like or want to be around won’t fix any of these community problems!!

imagine a society instead where jobs were created out of social need and valued by how they can improve life both physically and spiritually. personally the stuff i wanna do most falls squarely under ‘volunteer’ work in this current system. i’d love to donate my time to wildlife rehab and animal shelters, hell i’d gladly pick up trash from parks all day and clean up the environment if i got a living wage. because i know i’m doing something of value instead of making my boss richer.

there’s a reason women fought so hard for equal opportunities in the work force. we wanted to find societal roles and value beyond those ascribed to us from birth. i’m not gonna let tiktokers girlboss our way back into tradlife!! (not to mention the setup of supporting an entire family on a single income was very much a heterosexual white middle class concept, many poor and nonwhite women couldn’t be stay at home moms even if they wanted to!)

[mollysunder]

On Silco and Molatovs

I still think about how the creators of Arcane wanted the opening scene to be a young Silco throwing a molotov cocktail during the Day of Ash on the bridge. It's supposed to be implied that Silco's actions were the trigger for why that day escalated to such violence and death. But honestly, all it does is vindicate the success of Silco's leadership in Zaun.

Most of the problems Silco faces in Act 2 & 3 are practically the same challenges Vander faced, but worse. His kid blew up a building and intentionally murdered people while doing it. The operation he had his kid go on got interrupted by a rival gang of young people with the objective literally up in flames. Piltover's putting (economic) pressure on Zaun to find the culprit on the Progress Day attack. Silco also has to put up with upstarts attempting to undermine his leadership position as tensions starts to mount. In spite of all the pressures Silco faced, he was able to manuever around them all a lot better than Vander did.

Let's take Jinx's hexgem heist for the first example. One building robbed and vandalized, another building set on fire and bombed, and six enforcers killed. Yet the only enforcer that was in Zaun for that escapade was Marcus, because Marcus couldn't treat Silco like Grayson treated Vander.

When the kids accidentally blew up the Kiramman building during their heist, no one died, but enforcers were flooded into Zaun, because Grayson saw it in her capacity to do that. Even when Grayson goes to calmly speak with Vander, she's still flanked by aggressive underlings who consistently escalate tensions. Grayson, as the Sheriff Vander trusts, either can't control the enforcers in her charge or is incredibly lax with how they operate, and that's because Grayson had no incentive to be genuinely effective.

Grayson and Vander operated on knowledge where both assumed Piltover's forces had the upperhand on Zaun and could demolish them. No matter how cordial Vander and Grayson were to eachother, Grayson held the cards in that dynamic. There was nothing Vander could do if Grayson just changed her mind about keeping enforcers out of Zaun. Grayson just believed it was for the good of both cities to avoid further bloodshed (that Zaun risked) by delegating responsibility of Zaun to Vander. They manage to work together essentially through Grayson's grace, rather than Vander's own legitimacy as a leader.

Marcus however, must actually attempt restraint because both he and Silco have actual stakes in their relationship. So Marcus enters Zaun ALONE to figure out a solution with it's defacto leader, Marcus is just upset about it the whole time. Frankly that's why I think Jinx intentionally caused as much loud and obvious damage because she KNEW she would get away with it, she still kind of has (she isn't in Stillwater). Jinx has been with Silco for at least seven years, she knows he's got Marcus in bind that's only getting tighter, and knows Silco won't hesitate to throw someone (the Firelights) under the bus for it, unlike Vander.

And even when passage through the bridge is shut down and Zaunites are out in anger protesting, no one dies. Some Zaunite there literally threw a molotov cocktail at the enforcer line and yet violence on the scale of the Day of Ash didn't transpire, because Silco put them, specifically Marcus, in a position where the had to be restraint. In every aspect of Vander's leadership that's about real material gain, Silco has managed to succeed where he failed. Practically every act of aggression at Piltover under Silco's regime never saw the same level of retribution that Vander's did. Sevika chose Silco over Vander because she believed he truly was a more effective leader, and she was right! In the end, she didn't betray Silco because he easily outpaced all the other contenders.

Tldr: Whenever the writers bring up Silco's faults, sometimes it just makes him look better than his counterparts in terms of skill and effectiveness. Silco managed to get Zaun treated like a separate nation faster than Vander could have dreamed.

[tobiasdrake]

What do you think makes Junko Enoshima a compelling character and antagonist? She's very popular, but I've found that the reasons why can vary a lot between people.

She's a bored hyper-genius gyaru supermodel in high school who burned civilization to the ground through unshakable charisma, aggressive recruiting of society's victims, and endless copies of her robot fursona.

There's. Not. Really. Anything like her in media.

There's a bit of a Joker angle to her. She's a scenery-chewing madwoman who mesmerizes the audience every second she's onscreen. Reprehensible and unforgivable in her crimes but so bombastic and bizarre that it's fun to watch her commit them.

But she's not just doing crime. Junko provides a platform to talk about the sickness in society itself. She's not a cartoon bank robber running away with all of the jewels. Her adversary is a society we all live in and her weapon of choice is the belief that things won't get better.

Junko is a temptation. She's the shoulder devil looking at the interweaving of fossil fuels, the stock market, and the government, and saying with a coy smile, "Maybe we should just crash the economy. If you can't untangle the knot, then you break out the scissors."

She is a product of a broken world and the architect of its doom. One day, a bunch of rich old guys who run the world decided that Junko is the superior class of human being and uplifted her into privilege and guaranteed prosperity to reward her for being better than everyone else. She is very good at fashion, so they named her ubermensch and welcomed her into their eugenics program.

And then she killed them all and burned everything down around herself. There's something very applicable about the sickness in Hope's Peak to our own world and our own lives. And something recognizably wicked yet unmistakably appealing about Junko's response to it.

But she is still unmistakably a villain. Still got that bad guy swagger about her. The confident, shameless amorality. Junko isn't a liberator. She's not here to make a better world. She's just a cult leader ideologically obsessed with despair.

But that's also what gives her so much staying power. She represents an idea, a feeling even, instead of a particular goal or motive. This makes her applicable far beyond the specific plot of her story.

She's the mascot of the feelings we get when we have to think about wealth inequality, which can only be solved if the rich choose to persecute the rich for being rich. Or broken politics whose obvious flaws are carved into the source code of the country such that they can never and will never change. Climate change. Genocide. Nuclear weapons. She's inescapable.

Once you've met her, it's easy to associate Junko with the feeling of despair itself. We all have despair in our lives. We all have a place for Junko Enoshima.

She's a fire that rages when it's pitch black. She's the alternative when hope fades away. She is the guillotine solution to billionaires. The molotov solution to political inequity. She is where you can turn when you have nowhere else left to go.

You don't always have to listen to Junko; In fact, more often than not, you shouldn't listen to Junko. But she is always at the table. A voice in the conversation that probably shouldn't be heeded but needs to be heard, lest those negotiating forget that she's there.

...

And all of that is wrapped up in a funny and charismatic fictional serial murderer who is unapologetically hyper-feminine yet presents herself through a wacky he/him fursona, whose worldview is as captivatingly bizarre as it is confidently presented yet complex and interesting all the same.

Junko Enoshima is a fucking experience.

[ohsalome]

Not long ago I finished reading @TimothyDSnyder's book "Bloodlands. Europe between Hitler and Stalin".

I wanted to share some quotes from the chapter on the Holodomor that struck me personally the most. It is difficult to imagine what was happening then. A small but heavy thread:

The peasants who were slowly dying of starvation were believed to be saboteurs who were actually playing into the hands of the capitalist powers who wanted to discredit the Soviet Union. Hunger is resistance, and resistance is a sign of the imminent victory of socialism.

Forced to pass off their swollen bellies as a manifestation of political opposition, they came to the conclusion that the saboteurs hated socialism so much that they deliberately brought their families to starvation.

On 22 January 1933, Balytsky warned Moscow that peasants were fleeing the republic, and Stalin and Molotov ordered law enforcement agencies to stop the flow of people. The next day, the sale of long-distance railway tickets to peasants was banned.

The Ukrainian musician Yosyp Panasenko was sent with a group of bandura players to the countryside to bring culture to the starving peasants. Having taken away the last piece of bread from the peasants, the authorities had a grotesque intention to raise the mood and spirit of the deathly hungry people. The musicians found completely empty villages.

Children born in the Soviet Union in the late 1920s and early 1930s found themselves in a world of death, surrounded by helpless parents and a hostile government. The average life expectancy for a boy born in 1933 was seven years.

One father in the Vinnytsia region came to the cemetery to bury two of his children, and when he returned, he saw that another child had died. Some parents locked their children in the house to save them from cannibals.

Parents gave their children to distant relatives or strangers, left them at railway stations. Desperate peasants who held their babies through the windows of the wagons did not necessarily beg for bread: very often they wanted to give their children away, to strangers who lived in cities and did not suffer from hunger.

Countless parents killed and ate their own children and then died of hunger anyway. One mother boiled her son for food for herself and her daughter. A six-year-old girl rescued by relatives last saw her father sharpening a knife to stab her.

The children's stomachs were swollen, their whole bodies were covered in wounds, scabs, and abscesses. We took them, laid them on the sheets, and they were moaning. One day, the children suddenly stopped talking, and we looked at them and saw that they were eating the youngest one, Petrus. They were pulling off his scabs and eating them. And Petrus was doing the same thing - pulling off his scabs and eating them, eating as much as he could. Other children were sucking blood from their own wounds. We pulled the children away from this activity and cried.

There came a time when there was virtually no grain left in Ukraine, and human meat was the only type of meat.

One Komsomol member in the Kharkiv region reported to his superiors that he could only meet the meat supply plan at the expense of human beings.

More than one Ukrainian child has told a brother or sister: "Mum said we should eat her if she dies". This tragic solution was found by love and care

[ms-m-astrologer]

Transiting Venus enters Virgo

Monday, August 5 - Thursday, August 29, 2024

Full disclosure: this may not be a fun transit. There are plenty of challenges. Also, Venus is said to be in her “fall” in Virgo, occupying the sign opposite where she is exalted (Pisces). Astrologers March and McEvers likened this to “you’re staying in a strange house, and you don’t know the rules.”

My belief is that the planets all can stand to learn something when they’re in signs they don’t like - and in Virgo, Venus is working on her skills. Throughout her areas:

Art - working on technique is favored. That would be scales for a musician, for example. We could also work on developing healthy responses to criticism.

Beauty - looking like you’re in good health is usually sufficient - think Ingrid Bergman. Not a lot of makeup or “styling.” We could explore more of a thrifty approach to our clothes (like learning to sew a button back on, for example).

Love - keep aiming for being truly helpful. Sometimes we think we’re helping by pointing out everything wrong with someone, or by nagging. We evaluate relationships based on how willing we are to work on them.

Money - penny wise and pound foolish. The only placement that will blow its entire paycheck on vitamins.

If we’ve made any questionable choices over the past weeks (raises hand), we may just be in for a comeuppance while Venus is in Virgo. Where we’re lacking, will be made clear. Are we going to be humble about it and work harder, or are we going to skulk off in bitterness?

Monday, August 5 - Venus/Virgo inconjunct Pluto Rx/Aquarius, 0°33’. Adjustments. Cold indifference (regardless of its source, ourselves or others) makes us realize we need to recalibrate.

Wednesday, August 7 - Venus/Virgo conjunct Mercury Rx/Virgo, 3°43’. We may actually feel this one late on August 5, when the Virgo Moon will conjunct both Venus and Mercury. It’s charming and helpful and humble, but it’s also about a lightweight as astrology gets.

Sunday, August 11 - Monday, August 12:

Venus/Virgo trine Ceres Rx/Capricorn, 8°07’

Venus/Virgo (8°25’) sesquiquad Chiron Rx/Aries (23°25’)

Venus/Virgo inconjunct North Node/Aries, semi-sextile South Node/Libra, 8°59’

Traditional values. We are looking for practical, womanly solutions. Have a strategy for when this irritates people, and don’t be too perfectionist to ignore helping hands. Be patient.

Tuesday, August 13 - Venus/Virgo (10°26’) sesquiquad Eris Rx/Aries (25°26’). Angry women! Eris wants to throw Molotov cocktails but Venus wants to nitpick. Some of us will nag people so hard it will feel like a Molotov cocktail. Adjust your approach to addressing problems.

Saturday, August 17 - Monday, August 19

Venus/Virgo (15°17’) sesquiquad Pluto Rx/Aquarius (0°17’)

Venus/Virgo square Jupiter/Gemini, 17°21’

Venus/Virgo opposite Saturn Rx/Pisces, 17°29’

This is the biggest event of Venus/Virgo - having the honor (?) to help trigger the first (of three) of the Jupiter-Saturn squares. Mars will have set this off a few days earlier, making us feel like we want to get going on something right now but feeling held back and hampered - and we now find ourselves in a new situation (mutable signs) - remembering the “assist” from Pluto, which happens to be on the same degree as the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of December 20, 2020. Something is going to take more hard work than we anticipated, and it’s going to take longer. It’s important to blend optimism with being realistic - don’t feel you have to take on all the job yourself, but accept help - and don’t let “perfect” be the enemy of “good.” Build up relationships by looking for common ground.

Thursday, August 22 - Friday, August 23:

Venus/Virgo square Mars/Gemini, 22°08’

Venus/Virgo semi-sextile Mercury Rx/Leo, 22°59’

Venus/Virgo inconjunct Chiron Rx/Aries, 23°11’

Venus square Mars can be sexy, but in mutable signs it feels more jittery and anxious. We could be trying too hard; we could be mistaken in how we interpret others. Watch your mouth.

Sunday, August 25 - Venus/Virgo inconjunct Eris Rx/Aries, 25°23’. Angry women time again. We want to be more effective about how we address our grievances, so we’ll need to adjust a bit.

Monday, August 26 - Tuesday, August 27:

Venus/Virgo sextile Pallas/Scorpio, 26°32’

Venus/Virgo trine Uranus/Taurus, 27°14’

Finally, some flowing energy. This will enable us to come up with very clever and unique solutions and possibilities. We may do a little mediating while we’re at it.

Wednesday, August 28 - Venus/Virgo opposite Neptune Rx/Pisces, 29°08’. Stones fan that I am, I’m pretty sure that as long as Neptune makes the final aspect, regardless of the circumstances, we’ll all be singing along with Mick, “You can’t always get what you want - but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.” If we haven’t let “perfect” be the enemy of “good,” some precious illumination is in store.

———————————

Venmo @ Mary_Brack

PayPal @ MaryVBrack

Thank you!

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by John Hayward

A video went viral on Thursday that showed Israeli troops using a trebuchet to lob fireballs over the wall near the Israeli border with Lebanon, apparently to clear brush.

The Israeli broadcaster KAN published a video of the “creative solution” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers used to reportedly clear dense brush near the border with Lebanon. 

Trebuchets, which drop a heavy weight to propel a long throwing arm with a sling assembly on the end, have considerably longer range and better accuracy than older catapult designs. They were regarded as such a marvel of technology in their day that trebuchet engineering had a substantial influence on the study of physics across a span of centuries. Some physics and engineering classes still construct trebuchets to demonstrate various principles. Using modern materials and technology to improve the design is a niche hobby. 

The soldiers in the video appeared to choose a classic trebuchet design, evidently using a pallet of cinderblocks as the counterweight. They also went with a time-tested recipe for their fireball ammunition, employing vegetation soaked with oil or gasoline.

As for why the IDF would be using a trebuchet to shoot fireballs at Lebanon, when Breitbart News asked the Israeli government on Thursday about social media videos of the incendiary device, a spokesman said he had not heard about it.

The Israeli military later told KAN News (via the Jerusalem Post) that the Lebanese border region is littered with “boulders, thickets, and dense thorn vegetation, which poses a challenge to the IDF troops deployed in defense.”

The IDF said the trebuchet was constructed by reservists at a northern outpost who wanted an efficient way to clear the thorns and thickets on the other side of the border barrier. The video that went viral was reportedly filmed in May.

“This is a local initiative and not a tool that is widely used,” the military spokesperson added.

Other videos showed archers shooting flaming arrows and improvised mortars firing Molotov cocktails. Some commenters on social media joked that the Israeli reservists had likely come up with designs for medieval weapons due to boredom. Israeli troops have been at the border for months, awaiting a possible war with Hezbollah.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

punknoir is like

noir: while rioting obviously had its in place in social justice, it’s extremely important to remember that leftism must permeate through systems of governance as well. for example; our society needs a socialist legal system, and it is up to us leftists to take up the boring work to create one.

hobie: I AM GOING TO BURN DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️💥💥💥💥💥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 AND THEN GO LIVE IN THE WOODS WITH MY BAND 🎶🎶🎶🎶🎸🎸🎸🎸🎤🎤🎤🎤🎤 GOODBYE LOSERS

(this is obviously an overexaggeration blah blah blah i thought it was funny.)

Okay but this!! Noir is sitting there breaking down the rise of dictatorship and how a deep analysis of how President Osborne weaponizes the police and how his tactics mirror that of past oppressive leaders and the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1940's and Hobie just goes

"imma bash his fucken skull in m8' NO ELABORATION.

He just says it straight faced and ends the sentence there. Noir is like "And then what" because SURELY he must have some plan beyond that

But Hobie is like 'what do u mean?? the bloke with be bloody dead thats what'

his only other plan is a beer with a rag and some gas in his back pocket. he chugs the beer and is like 'emergency molotov cocktail-'

thats his only plan B. He probably thinks molotov cocktails are the solution to any sticky situation

[maximumphilosopheranchor]

"The schizofascist lies displaced the events in Ukraine and the experiences of Ukrainians. Under the weight of all of the contradictory concepts and hallucinatory visions of spring 2014, who would see or remember the individual on the Maidan, with his or her facts and passions, his or her desire to be in history and make history?

Russians, Europeans, and Americans were meant to forget the students who were beaten on a cold November night because they wanted a future. And the mothers and fathers and grandparents and veterans and workers who then came to the streets in defense of “our children.” And the lawyers and consultants who found themselves throwing Molotov cocktails. The hundreds of thousands of people who broke themselves away from television and internet and who journeyed to Kyiv to put their bodies at risk. The Ukrainian citizens who were not thinking of Russia or geopolitics or ideology but of the next generation. The young historian of the Holocaust, the sole supporter of his family, who went back to the Maidan during the sniper massacre to rescue a wounded man, or the university lecturer who took a sniper’s bullet to the skull that day.

One can record that these people were not fascists or Nazis or members of a gay international conspiracy or Jewish international conspiracy or a gay Nazi Jewish international conspiracy, as Russian propaganda suggested to various target audiences. One can mark the fictions and contradictions. This is not enough. These utterances were not logical arguments or factual assessments, but a calculated effort to undo logic and factuality. Once the intellectual moorings were loosed, it was easy for Russians (and Europeans, and Americans) to latch on to well-funded narratives provided by television and the internet, but it was impossible to work one’s way towards an understanding of people in their own setting: to grasp where they were coming from, what they thought they were doing, what sort of future they imagined for themselves.

Ukrainians who began by defending a European future found themselves, once the propaganda and the violence began, fighting for a sense that there could be a past, a present, and a future. The Maidan began as Ukrainian citizens sought to find a solution for Ukrainian problems. It ended with Ukrainians trying to remind Europeans and Americans that moments of high emotion require sober thought. Distant observers jumped at the shadows of the story, only to tumble into a void darker than ignorance. It was tempting, amidst the whirl of Russian accusations in 2014, to make some kind of compromise, as many Europeans and Americans did, and accept the Russian claim that the Maidan was a “right-wing coup.”"

Timothy Snyder, The Road To Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America