#russia '95

[usafphantom2]

⚡️Anti-submarine aircraft Tu-142MK "Alexander Klubov" (tail number 53 "red") of the 🇷🇺Russian Navy escorted by F-35A fighters of the 🇳🇴Norwegian Air Force, September 2024, strategic command and staff exercises "Ocean-2024".

@Front_ukrainian🇺🇦

[blackros78]

Tupolev Tu-95 Bear

[tomorrowusa]

Yes, Russia is using old tires to protect its strategic bombers from Ukrainian drones.

Russia is covering aircraft with car tires, potentially to protect them from Ukrainian drones

This is the same sort of technology that gave us the recent Luna-25 lunar lander. 😝

All Ukraine has to do is use infrared cameras – if they're even really needed. The burning tires will only make the fires harder to put out.

If the Russians ever need to use those planes in a hurry, they're going to fall behind schedule by having to remove those tires.

[dronescapesvideos]

The #Soviet #Menace. From The First #Russian Bombers To The Nuclear #Tupolev Tu-95 Bear. Documentary VIDEO: https://youtu.be/KPHNmN9BaBw

[the-jam-to-the-unicorn]

The other state leaders really gifted Ze tanks for his birthday, huh?! 😄

Also...

There really is a Kvartal clip for absolutely everything:

[br1ghtestlight]

ppl are like "i cant believe there are more trees on earth than stars in the galaxy omg" but if you have ever driven through the pacific northwest or nothern canada it is not very hard to believe

[xtruss]

The US Sent Cluster Munitions to Ukraine But Activists Still Seek to Bolster a Treaty Banning Them

Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions are striving to prevent erosion in support for it after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against ...

— By Jamey Keaten | September 5, 2023

Police officers look at collected fragments of the Russian rockets, including cluster rounds, that hit Kharkiv, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Dec. 3, 2022. Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions are striving to prevent erosion in support for it after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against Russia. Advocacy groups in the Cluster Munitions Coalition released their latest annual report on Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023. AP Photo/Libkos . The Associated Press

Geneva, Switzerland — Backers of an international agreement that bans cluster munitions are striving to prevent erosion in support for the deal after what one leading human rights group calls an “unconscionable” U.S. decision to ship such weapons to Ukraine for its fight against Russia.

Advocacy groups in the Cluster Munitions Coalition released their latest annual report on Tuesday, ahead of a meeting next week of envoys from the 112 countries that have acceded to or ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The treaty prohibits the explosives and calls for clearing areas where they litter the ground because they harm and kill many more civilians than combatants,

A further 12 countries have signed the convention. The United States and Russia are not among them.

Mary Wareham of Human Rights Watch, who has long championed the 15-year-old convention, says the coalition was “extremely concerned” about the U.S. move in July, after an intense debate among U.S. leaders, to transfer unspecified thousands of 155mm artillery-delivered cluster munition rounds to Ukraine.

More than 20 government leaders and officials have criticized that decision, the coalition says.

Hoping to avoid defections from the convention, Wareham says supporters hope signatories will “stay strong — that they do not weaken their position on the treaty as a result of the U.S. decision. And we don’t see that happening yet. But it’s always a danger.”

U.S. officials argue that the munitions — a type of bomb that opens in the air and releases smaller “bomblets” across a wide area — could help Kyiv bolster its offensive and push through Russian front lines.

Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP Via Getty Images

U.S. leaders have said the transfer involves a version of the munition that has a reduced “dud rate,” meaning fewer of the smaller bomblets fail to explode. The bomblets can take out tanks and equipment, as well as troops, hitting multiple targets at the same time.

But Wareham cited “widespread evidence of civilian harm that (is) caused by these weapons. It was just an unconscionable decision.”

The report says civilians accounted for 95% of cluster munition casualties that were recorded last year, totaling some 1,172 in eight countries: Azerbaijan, Iraq, Laos, Lebanon, Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen. The monitor noted efforts in places like Bulgaria, Peru and Slovakia to destroy their stockpiles of the munitions in 2022 and earlier this year.

Children made up 71% of casualties from explosions of cluster-munition remnants last year, the report said.

It said Russia had “repeatedly” used cluster munitions in Ukraine since President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to invade Ukraine in February last year, while Ukraine had used them “to a lesser extent.”

Washington’s decision “is certainly a setback,” said Wareham, “but it’s not the end of the road for the Convention on Cluster Munitions by far.”

[anatolienne]

watching any movie (regardless of whay genre it is) that takes place in the 40s-60s means getting facist american anti-communism lowkey pro capitalist propaganda thrown at your face. Welcome to hollywood history lessons

[lady-nightmare]

Takiego ataku Lwów jeszcze nie widział. Są ogromne zniszczenia, ranni i ...

[usafphantom2]

Wolfhounds on Bear escort. a 32 TFS F-15C intercepts a TU-95 during a QRA scramble over the North Sea approximately 27 nmi NNW of Wilhelmshaven, (West) Germany, c. 37 years ago.#f15 #EagleCountry skytrailer.nl #F15eagle #Airpower #USA #USAF

@SkytrailerCOM via X

[kramlabs]

KH-101 and Tu-95

.

.

How the fuck do the “coaxial contra-rotating propellers” even work?

::

::

[germiyahu]

When the war ends (who knows when that will be though) and you know at least 95% of Gazans are still alive and can begin rebuilding their lives (hopefully with Israeli financial compensation), the antisemites who insist a genocide is occurring will do one of a few things:

Refuse to acknowledge that Israel was interested in a peace plan. They will never give Israel credit for deescalating or withdrawing. They will most likely attribute any (semi) permanent ceasefire and hostage deal to Joe Byron "forcing" Netanyahu to comply. I don't think this is too likely as I can't really see them switching up on Biden and suddenly thinking he's a good leader or a morally driven person. So this group might delusionally believe that Egypt or Saudi Arabia, maybe Iran/Russia... or laughably, Hamas or the Houthis, were the ones to "force" Israel to back down. And you know what, I'll take it personally. As long as they can see that no genocide occurred, I don't care if they're too petty to admit that Israel never intended to commit one.

Lose interest. It's that simple. When the dust settles and no evidence of genocide is constantly being fabricated and shoved in their lazy incurious faces... they'll move on to something else. Some of them will become lifelong obsessed antizionists and will probably agitate all their circles to continue talking about The Genocide That (almost) Was, but even they will have to go "dormant" about it eventually.

Continue to insist that a genocide is occurring. Whether it's the people who play with semantics and devalue words and change definitions who'll be saying that Israel committed/is committing a "psychological" genocide or something... or the conspiracy theorists who will cite the lack of evidence and news coverage as proof that the Genocide has moved on to a quieter stage... or the people who say "this genocide has been ongoing for 80 years this is just a lull in Isnotreal's ethnic cleansing program to save face and wait for further instructions from their American masters!" I think this will be the largest group. Antisemitism, as a conspiracy theory, is just too fun and too addicting for these people. They don't have the tools to get themselves out of this cult. And it's not Jews' responsibility to help them. Thankfully the other two groups' existing, and of course, all of us normal people, will make this a small minority in the grand scheme of things.

[unofficial-estonia]

The Soviets deported 95 000 Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians to Siberia between 25th and 29th March 1949.

Over just a few days, the Soviets deported 3% of Estonia's population. Entire towns' worth of people were just uprooted from their homes to be sent to work and starve in inhumane conditions.

Most of them were women and children under the age of 16, all transported to Siberia in cattle cars. Many of them died on the way, and others broke under the harsh conditions in Siberia. Thousands never made it back home.

Every family in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania has a story and name(s). Many of these stories will never have closure.

Russia has never formally apologised for these actions or paid reparations. Russia has never formally apologised for these and many, many more actions.

Today Russia is deporting Ukrainians from their homeland. Since 24th February 2022, Russia has deported and displaced 20,000 children from Ukraine.

It’s been 75 years. There still hasn’t been any justice.

It's been 75 years and nothing has changed. This is actively, right now, happening in Ukraine.

[mewlabu]

So the UN mission to monitor RU treatment of Ukrainian POWs confirms that 95% of POWs are tortured.

"They are beaten with metal rods, subjected to severe electric shock. They are stripped of their clothes. It is horrifying. It is the worst thing I've seen in my 20-year career visiting prisons on behalf of the UN" - Danielle Bell, head of UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission

Torture violates Article 3 of the Geneva convention.

While Ukraine has given full access to the UN of its Russian POWs, Russia doesn't let UN communicate with Ukrainian prisoners.

[flowerishness]

Sonchus arvensis (perennial sow-thistle)

Round-up

A perennial sow-thistle enjoys a sunny day at the beach. This plant is native to Eurasia but is often described (by farmers) as a noxious, invasive weed, and is now 'naturalized' throughout North America, South America, Russia, New Zealand and Australia. Like it's relative the dandelion, it arrived from Europe during the Age of Exploration and it's probably been growing in North America for five hundred years. I have no doubt that the first seeds arrived on someone's muddy boot.

The Minnesota Wildflowers website reports, "This species is a rapid colonizer from deep, extensive underground root systems. Once listed as a Minnesota state noxious weed, it is now widely established throughout the state but is not as problematic agronomically as was once thought. Round-up Ready crops took care of much of the problem." '

Round-up (2,4-d) is a powerful broad-spectrum herbicide used extensively in modern agriculture. Round-up Ready crops include soy, corn, canola, alfalfa, sugar beets and cotton and Round-up resistant wheat is under development. Round-up has been extensively tested and under normal concentrations it is not considered injurious to human health but this research is controversial and many lawsuits are pending. In 2023, 91% of the corn, 95% of soybeans, and 94% of cotton produced in the United States were from genetically modified, herbicide-resistant strains. For everybody's sake, I hope these safety studies are correct.

A final note: as a gardener you are advised to wear long pants, a long sleeved shirt, gloves, goggles and a mask when applying Round-up, not that anybody does. Personally, I never use the stuff. I get rid of weeds the old-fashioned way - I use my hands.

[lingthusiasm]

95: Lo! An undetached collection of meaning-parts!

Imagine you're in a field with someone whose language you don't speak. A rabbit scurries by. The other person says "Gavagai!" You probably assumed they meant "rabbit" but they could have meant something else, like "scurrying" or even "lo! an undetatched rabbit-part!"

In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about how we manage to understand each other when we're learning new words, inspired by the famous "Gavagai" thought experiment from the philosopher of language WVO Quine. We talk about how children have a whole object assumption when learning language, and how linguists go about learning languages that are new to them through either translating standardized cross-linguistic wordlists known as Swadesh lists or staying monolingual and acting out concepts. We also talk about when our baseline assumptions are challenged, such as in categorizing kangaroos and wallabies by their hopping rather than their shape, and when useful folk categories, like "trees" and "fish" don't line up with evolutionary taxonomies.

Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice or read the transcript here.

Announcements: We have new Lingthusiasm merch!

Imagine you're in a field with someone whose language you don't speak. A rabbit scurries by. The other person says "Gavagai!" You probably assumed they meant "rabbit" but they could have meant something else, like "scurrying" or even "lo! an undetached rabbit-part!" Inspired by the famous Gavagai thought experiment, these items feature a running rabbit and the caption "lo, an undetached rabbit-part!" in a woodblock engraving crossed with vaporwave style in magenta, indigo, teal, cream, and black/white on shirts, scarves, and more!

"More people have been to Russia than I have" is a sentence that at first seems fine, but then gets weirder and weirder the more you read it. Inspired by these Escher sentences, we've made self-referential shirts saying "More people have read the text on this shirt than I have" (also available on tote bags, mugs, and hats), so you can wear them in old-time typewriter font and see who does a double take.

Finally, we've made a design that simply says "Ask me about linguistics" in a style that looks like a classic "Hello, my name is..." sticker, and you can put it on stickers and buttons and shirts and assorted other portable items for when you want to skip the small talk and go right to a topic you're excited about.

Also, there are lots of other designs of Lingthusiasm merch, and we love to see your photos of it! Feel free to tag us @lingthusiasm on social media so we can see it out in the world.

In this month’s bonus episode we get enthusiastic about the word "do"! We talk about the various functions of "do" as illustrated by lyrics from ABBA and other pop songs, what makes the word "do" so unique in English compared to other languages, and the drama of how "do" caught on and then almost got driven out again

Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 80+ other bonus episodes. You’ll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds.

Here are the links mentioned in the episode:

Wikipedia entry for 'Indeterminacy of translation'

Wikipedia entry for 'Inscrutability of reference'

Wikipedia entry for 'Word learning biases'

Wikipedia entry for 'Swadesh list'

Wikipedia entry for 'Morris Swadesh'

The Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus

Tumblr thread on how there's no such thing as a fish

Lingthusiasm bonus episode 'Is X a sandwich? Solving the word-meaning argument once and for all'

Monolingual fieldwork demonstration by Mark Sicoli on YouTube

You can listen to this episode via Lingthusiasm.com, Soundcloud, RSS, Apple Podcasts/iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also download an mp3 via the Soundcloud page for offline listening.

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Gretchen is on Bluesky as @GretchenMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic.

Lauren is on Bluesky as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our production editor is Sarah Dopierala, our production assistant is Martha Tsutsui Billins, and our editorial assistant is Jon Kruk. Our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles.

This episode of Lingthusiasm is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license (CC 4.0 BY-NC-SA).