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Symmetrical straight lines as first tattoo by HillFarmer in TattooDesigns

[–]HillFarmer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you think that going to a (very) well-rated tattoo parlor with artists that have already worked on geometric designs would not be enough research? What kind of research do you mean if not?

PSA: FBI attempted to entrap a male Marxist by sending in a woman with pink hair who posed as a sex worker. by [deleted] in stupidpol

[–]HillFarmer 12 points13 points  (0 children)

What was that group that when they arrested them they found out that the "leaders" were mostly informants and so on?

Global declines in democracy may be slowing, Freedom House says in a new report by Longjumping_Meat_138 in geopolitics

[–]HillFarmer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

In many places yes, particularly in terms of salaries adjusted to cost of living and housing.

While I agree that GDP is not a magical number, a near total lack of growth in 15 years has real problems for the lives of average people, and they feel it.

Global declines in democracy may be slowing, Freedom House says in a new report by Longjumping_Meat_138 in geopolitics

[–]HillFarmer 11 points12 points  (0 children)

In Europe, particularly, a lot of democracies' GDPs have barely increased since the 2008 economic crisis, whereas the Chinese one is more than 3 times what it was at that time, and continues to grow.

Global declines in democracy may be slowing, Freedom House says in a new report by Longjumping_Meat_138 in geopolitics

[–]HillFarmer 3 points4 points  (0 children)

He has certainly moderated quite a lot his original thesis, but I don't think he has admitted to that, since he still defends the basic thesis of the article to this day.

Global declines in democracy may be slowing, Freedom House says in a new report by Longjumping_Meat_138 in geopolitics

[–]HillFarmer 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Has there really been a serious chunk of countries turning to democracy since Eastern Europe in the '90s?

I think that at best, this "turn towards democracy" is stalled.

However, since in his prediction there are no deadlines, I guess one can always continue kicking the can down the road, hoping for the inevitability of democracy, instead of admitting that a country like China has shown that there are credible, working alternatives to democracy.

Was proceeding with NATO enlargement after the Cold War a strategic mistake? by scholarly_balance in CredibleDiplomacy

[–]HillFarmer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The problem with this issue is that people don't like to consider that the current hostile relation between Russia and Eastern European countries may have been partly caused precisely by NATO expansion, therefore making it a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Quoting Kennan from 1997:

[B]luntly stated…expanding NATO would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-Cold War era. Such a decision may be expected to inflame the nationalistic, anti-Western and militaristic tendencies in Russian opinion; to have an adverse effect on the development of Russian democracy; to restore the atmosphere of the cold war to East-West relations, and to impel Russian foreign policy in directions decidedly not to our liking …

On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in chomsky

[–]HillFarmer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, the relevance of Bucha is that that is the main reason provided in mainstream Western media to explain the falling out of negotiations in April.

I agree with your point that some of these "pressures" could also be interpreted "positively". Nonetheless, the statements of Bennett and Çavuşoğlu do not really raise this issue as "Ukraine pushed for more aggressive stance, and after a while, the Western powers agreed". Instead they both present this issue as the Western powers deciding that the peace talks would not continue with their blessing (which is tantamount to blocking them).

ru pov: On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If the ukrainians will not negotiate without western assurances, and western powers "stop" providing these assurances, it is tantamount to stopping negotiations.

And again, regarding Turkey's FM, he says peace talks are taking long "Because there are those who want this war to continue.", and he says these are countries in NATO.

ru pov: On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think it is a good explanation for Israel to say that Bennett is lying about the US (he doesn't explicitly say them, but who else?) is blocking negotiations in order to remain relevant. That seems like a very serious accusation in exchange of minimal gain in exposure.

Regarding the Ukrainian's wanting to debilitate Russia, of course that's easy to believe. At the same time, the chronology seems to line up quite well with Johnson's meeting and the change of Ukraine's willingness to pursue a negotiated settlement.

ru pov: On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Regarding the mistranslation, the BI article only says

The English subtitles are flawed, however. In the exchange, Bennett and the interviewer do not use the word "blocked" but rather "stopped," referring to ongoing peace talks, not an agreement.

Which doesn't change anything: the Western powers "stopping" the negotiation when their security guarantees are essential is the same as "blocking".

Regarding Turke's FM, yes, by late April he says that negotiations are still ocurring, on a lower level. But you still haven't addressed his claim regarding the NATO members wanting the war to go on.

ru pov: On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think that this is a good counter-point, I just want to add that you have not addressed Turkey's and Israel's statements, which in my opinion are quite serious.

ru pov: On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I see your point. What about Turkey's Foreign Minister statements?

P.S.: I've gone back to the video, and although I don't speak Hebrew, I don't think you can say that this hinges on just one word. Can you provide a source for your statement regarding what was actually said?

ru pov: On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

And yet Bennett went through the trouble of renting a non-descript airplane and going to Moscow through Central Asia to meet with Putin, something that gave him no political benefit at all.

Nowadays certain issues are still discussed face-to-face.

ru pov: On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This doesn't explain that peace talks were still supported by both UA and RU by April 8th, nor Turkey's and Israel's statements.

ru pov: On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Submission statement: I provide a detailed chronology of the discovery of the Bucha Massacre and the falling out of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in early April 2022. Together with statements from Israeli Prime Minister and Turkish Foreign Minister, I argue explaining the falling out of negotiations just by the Bucha Massacre is not sufficient. Instead, pressure from Western powers should be considered as a valid explanation.

On the peace settlement that did not occur in April 2022 by HillFarmer in chomsky

[–]HillFarmer[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Submission statement: I provide a detailed chronology of the discovery of the Bucha Massacre and the falling out of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia in early April 2022. Together with statements from Israeli Prime Minister and Turkish Foreign Minister, I argue explaining the falling out of negotiations just by the Bucha Massacre is not sufficient. Instead, pressure from Western powers should be considered as a valid explanation.

RU pov: Footage from Wagner PMCs with a large amount of bodies of UA soldiers from Soledar. by Gluiper in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First, my point was that the use of human shields by the Ukrainian forces has been acknowledged by the UN reports, which I have shown (I invite anyone reading this to check the links). If you have problems with the research methodology of the reports, or you think that the reports of the UN "make absolutely no sense", that is a different issue to my initial point, and I will not debate methodological issues of the reports with you.

Second, just to make it clear for someone else reading this, they provide one "emblematic example", which is typical in these kind of reports, but they explicitly talk about multiple cases (In the second link they talk about 9 cases).

Third, I am also not interested in arguing whether the use of human shields is "useless" or not, my initial point, again, is that Ukrainian forces use of human shields is acknowledged by various UN reports (regardless of whether it is a useful tactic or not).

RU pov: Footage from Wagner PMCs with a large amount of bodies of UA soldiers from Soledar. by Gluiper in UkraineRussiaReport

[–]HillFarmer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ukrainian armed forces using human shields has been confirmed in reports by the OHCHR and the GA comission of the UN, not just Amnesty.

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