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9 votes
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Ukrainian forces withdraw from Avdiivka; megathread for news/updates/discussion of Russian invasion of Ukraine - February 17
There hasn't been a megathread for a while so I wanted to post the latest news as well as a couple other pieces of news from the past week along with a couple articles providing additional...
There hasn't been a megathread for a while so I wanted to post the latest news as well as a couple other pieces of news from the past week along with a couple articles providing additional context.
The latest piece of news is Ukrainian forces withdraw from Avdiivka to avoid encirclement, army chief says. This is very concerning and I hope encourages people to continue urging their politicians to find ways of supporting Ukraine in a larger capacity than they have in recent months.
The other day there was also this article titled Rate of Russian military production worries Europe's war planners. If you don't have time to listen to Perun's hour-long PowerPoint from 4 months ago on the same subject (Russian Defence Production 2023 - Can Russia keep up with equipment attrition in Ukraine?), then The Guardian article is a decent primer.
It also links to a Foreign Affairs article published in January of 2024 going into more detail about Russia's economic expenditures and its uneven footing: Putin’s Unsustainable Spending Spree: How the War in Ukraine Will Overheat the Russian Economy (Archive.is link). This is a particularly interesting article as it details the expenses as a percent of GDP that have recently made the rounds in the news this week, as well as how military spending as spurred growth in some industries, while others also tangentially related are lagging behind despite the government's stimulus. Additionally, Russia is spending the equivalent of billions of dollars on annexed regions of Ukraine. It then details the consequences of this substantially increased spending and increased wages that may be dislocating the civilian economy in favor of maintaining enough supplies for a further extended attritional war.
The Guardian article say that:
New analysis by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) estimates that Russia has lost 3,000 armoured fighting vehicles in the last year and close to 8,800 since the war began.
Unable to produce anywhere near that number of vehicles, Russia has mainly refurbished ageing hardware ...
Russian factories claimed to have delivered 1,500 main battle tanks this year, of which 1,180 to 1,280 had been reactivated from storage, according to IISS. Those numbers, along with reactivated armoured personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, meant Russia would “be able to sustain its assault on Ukraine at current attrition rates for another two to three years, and maybe even longer”, the group said.For reference, the landing ship that was recently destroyed by Ukrainian Unmanned Surface Vessels (Magura V5 sea drones), Caesar Kunikov, could carry 10 main battle tanks and 340 troops or 12 armored personnel carriers and 340 troops. Though it's not clear what role that ship was playing, as trains play a significant role in deploying men and materiel to the frontlines.
Finally, an article I'd meant to post several months ago to just sort of talk about in general terms: What would happen if Russia invaded Finland? I went to a giant war game in London to find out. Has anyone ever participated in war gaming, have a background or took a class on game theory, or enjoyed the history of tabletop gaming that dates back to this war-time activity? Just interested in what people have to say.
50 votes -
The Israeli settlers attacking their Palestinian neighbors – With the world’s focus on Gaza, settlers have used wartime chaos as cover for violence and dispossession
24 votes -
Album of the Week #21: Fiction - Dark Tranquillity
This is Album of the Week #22 ~ This week's album is Dark Tranquillity - Fiction Year of Release: 2006 Genre(s): Melodic Death Metal Country: Sweden Length: 46 minutes RYM | Listen! Excerpt from...
This is Album of the Week #22 ~ This week's album is Dark Tranquillity - Fiction
Year of Release: 2006
Genre(s): Melodic Death Metal
Country: Sweden
Length: 46 minutes
RYM | Listen!Excerpt from MetalReviews:
Dark Tranquillity stand as one of the few Gothenburg bands who have remained true to their roots throughout their careers, and it’s a welcome thing to know that such bands still exist and are putting out quality material without sounding the least bit stale or tired. On Fiction, Dark Tranquillity handles multiple strands of melody and atmosphere with a master’s touch, crafting something that easily stands against accusations of stagnancy in the genre. Simply put – this is one of the good ones.
Discussion points:
Have you heard this artist/album before? Is this your first time hearing?
Do you enjoy this genre? Is this an album you would have chosen?
Does this album remind you of something you've heard before?
What were the album's strengths or weaknesses?
Was there a standout track for you?
How did you hear the album? Where were you? What was your setup?--
Album of the week is currently chosen randomly (via random.org) from the top 5000 albums from a custom all-time RYM chart, with a 4/5 popularity weighting. The chart is recalculated weekly.
Missed last week? It can be found here.
Any feedback on the format is welcome ~~
8 votes -
McKinsey website touted its advice to Chinese government ministries
7 votes -
Who's in your corner?
Tell me about someone who supports you. Who are they? What's their relationship to you? How do they support you? What do they mean to you?
22 votes -
The US Army is slashing thousands of jobs to focus on Russia and China
8 votes -
Return to office policies do not improve company value, but do make employees miserable: Study
83 votes -
Crooked House: Owners of wonky UK pub ordered to rebuild
22 votes -
New Music Fridays: MGMT, SZA, Real Estate, and more
This is a thread to discuss 2024 releases that have recently arrived on our doorstep, or been announced for the future. Feel free to share albums, singles, EPs or reissues that have caught your...
This is a thread to discuss 2024 releases that have recently arrived on our doorstep, or been announced for the future. Feel free to share albums, singles, EPs or reissues that have caught your eye and interest, or share your thoughts about any new music that you've had the chance to listen to this week.
Discussion Points
Is there anything you've been looking forward to listening to?
Any releases that have surprised you?
Have you listened to any new music recently? What are your thoughts?
What have you enjoyed from these artists in the past? How does their latest work compare?Links:
Pitchfork - Out This Week
AllMusic - All New Releases
Stereogum - New Music~~ Feedback on the format welcome
19 votes -
An American education: Notes from UATX
4 votes -
Florida’s recommendations give room for measles to spread
32 votes -
All aboard the bureaucracy train
17 votes -
Tiny little mobile feature request: dot indicator
When viewing the desktop version of the website, there is a little orange notification to the left of my name when there are replies to my messages. When viewing the website in mobile, there is no...
When viewing the desktop version of the website, there is a little orange notification to the left of my name when there are replies to my messages.
When viewing the website in mobile, there is no such indication, and I have to open up the sidebar to see if I have any new replies.
Could we get a simple, orange "dot" indicator to the left the Sidebar link in mobile to let us know when we have unread messages?
I apologize in advance for the imgur link, but it could look something like this: Example
10 votes -
The plastic chemicals hiding in your food. Test results for bisphenols/phthalates.
14 votes -
Sardinia elects leftwing president, in blow to Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni
17 votes -
French president Emmanuel Macron says sending troops to Ukraine cannot be ruled out
22 votes -
Texas is right. The tech giants need to be regulated.
10 votes -
The business of winding down startups is booming
15 votes -
US Federal Trade Commission and eight states sue to block supermarket merger between Kroger and Albertsons
37 votes -
What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking?
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
5 votes -
The Watchers | Official teaser trailer
3 votes -
Hungarian MPs have overwhelmingly ratified Sweden's bid to join NATO in a long-delayed vote which paves the way for the Nordic nation's membership
29 votes -
Police bodycam shows sheriff hunting for 'obscene' books at library
54 votes -
New report from US Federal Aviation Administration: Boeing lacks key elements of safety culture
19 votes -
Stardew Valley 1.6 release date announced: March 19th
60 votes -
Exclusive: Why the Kansas City Royals are using full-size NOB lettering
6 votes -
UK's NHS faces legal action over contract with data firm Palantir
12 votes -
Palestinian pop singer Bashar Murad is hoping to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest and bring “a Palestinian voice to the main stage”
12 votes -
Shaun on Palestine
23 votes -
Sweden midfielder Kristoffer Olsson has been placed on a ventilator in hospital after losing consciousness at home
6 votes -
Framing everyday life with Ryutaro Nakamoto
4 votes -
Sri Lanka ends visas for hundreds of thousands of Russians staying there to avoid war
21 votes -
Active US Air Force serviceman self-immolates himself in front of the Embassy of Israel
36 votes -
EA offering players $600 and a free game to appear in College Football 25
8 votes -
The end of Françafrique? Festering resentment of French neocolonialism is motivating a backlash against Paris across West Africa.
11 votes -
Former Denmark striker Jon Dahl Tomasson was hired as the first foreign-born manager of Sweden on Monday
4 votes -
Feeling lost with mental health treatment
At 22 years old, after months long assessments, I have been diagnosed with severe ADHD, depression and moderate anxiety. Here is a quick timeline of my experience: May - August : I started CBT...
At 22 years old, after months long assessments, I have been diagnosed with severe ADHD, depression and moderate anxiety. Here is a quick timeline of my experience:
- May - August :
- I started CBT therapy and Sertraline 50mg
- Gradually I was upped to the a dose of 75mg.
- In this whole period I did not experience any improvements or side effects, except a loss of appetite in the first few days.
- September:
- I started taking Methylphenidate 18mg and went back to just 50mg of Sertraline.
- From the first day I had felt a sentiment of calmness and control. But it slowly faded away and I still felt I could not concentrate on things or act productive.
- I also stopped going to therapy as I saw that CBT was not effective for me.
- October - November:
- This was a completely different month. I wasn't fully in control of my attention span but it was much better than I've ever been. What was more shocking was how internally I felt at peace and something that I'd describe now as euphoric (as I assume this was just a side effect of the medication). U
- Until mid november I was actually going around telling people I think I might not be depressed anymore, as I had felt for the first time in a way that I haven't felt since early childhood. I was able to accomplish incredible feats related to discipline and I saw my academic results improving greatly. Unfortunately this sentiment slowly faded away and I was back to my old self by the end of November.
- December - Now I was upped to 36mg of Methylphenidate and I noticed a much better control of my attention but unfortunately I have not felt that feeling of relief again. And as it seems the effectiveness of the dose diminished from the first few days to now.
Since December I've had numerous breakdowns, feeling completely exhausted and burnt out. I suffered from classic problems of procrastination starting to work on difficult projects only a couple of days before the deadline and it was all crashing down. I submitted multiple disgustingly low quality pieces of work because I just did not work in time enough but the few days I did work I did incredible amounts of effort and I do feel like the pills helped me stay focused. After this deadline period though I was just met with my normal depression symptoms where I had a long streak of days that I could not even get out of bed or brush my teeth.
I don't know what more to do. I always knew I was broken and needed help. And for all my life I thought that seeing a psychiatrist is a last resort in case "I can't fix myself" on my own. Now it's been almost a whole year and I am in a critical time period where I need to excel and put in the work but I find myself succumbing to my symptoms while jumping up and down with the doses of some pills that barely seem to have an effect.
I didn't have many people around me from the start, and many of them would not understand my condition at all (nobody from my family does). But now it seems that even the few that were empathetic I have unfortunately tired out. I've heard my fair share of bad remarks that have gradually demoralised me (ADHD is not real. I'm just lazy. I just like to complain. etc) and due to the fact that I also have codependency problems this has greatly hurt me and made me feel like I am completely alone and nobody cares for my troubles or has my wellbeing in their best interest. Right now I just wish I'd know what to do. I wish there was some clear step by step goal oriented way to "happiness" or at least normality. I don't even know what more to tell my psychiatrist other than how I don't feel well, which is what I've been telling him since the start.
If you've been through a similar journey, I'd love to hear your experience and any advice you wish you had received earlier.
33 votes - May - August :
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Matt Levine's Money Stuff: Reddit plans to allow users to buy IPO shares, Nvidia share purchases and Three Arrows Capital [a collapsed crypto company]
19 votes -
#! Useful use of cat(1)
15 votes -
What have you been listening to this week?
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as...
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)
Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.
You can make a chart if you use last.fm:
http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/
Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.
9 votes -
Godzilla vs King Kong | Epic Rap Battles Of History
14 votes -
Donald Trump trials - Georgia defendant Kenneth Chesebro caught lying to Michigan prosecutors about alt Twitter account
21 votes -
Cornell hockey claims men’s and women’s Ivy League titles
3 votes -
What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking?
What food and drinks have you been enjoying (or not enjoying) recently? Have you cooked or created anything interesting? Tell us about it!
6 votes -
Philadelphia SEPTA won a $317 million federal grant to help replace aging Market-Frankford Line cars
16 votes -
Indexing the information age - Over a weekend in 1995, a small group gathered in Ohio to unleash the power of the internet by making it navigable
13 votes -
The Arizona school setting kids with autism up for success
11 votes -
UK Conservative party suspends MP Lee Anderson over claims that Islamists have "got control" of London's Mayor Sadiq Kahn and the capital
12 votes -
Movie of the Week #18 - Gangs of New York
Warning: this post may contain spoilers
Second Martin Scorsese movie is Gangs of New York from 2002.
Besides any thoughts any thoughts on this movie, now that we have done this little comparison between Scorsese and superhero movies, what do you think sets these types of movies apart and are they really as opposites as it is sometimes made out to be?
The schedule for March is:
- 4th: There Will Be Blood
- 11th: Life is beautiful
- 18th: High Noon
- 25th: Saving Private Ryan
8 votes