True, but I think if the book is given to the right (group of) people, their curiosity to figure out of the book will likely lead them to it being translated rather fast.

That’s quite the plan - sounds like it could be a good movie (I feel like we already have movies like these, but can’t recall any on top of my head).

I appreciate the understanding tone - I easily lose my cool with topics as severe as these.

Regarding the interpretation of my comments, I completely agree with you. It was indeed unintentional to potentially give fuel to those who actually defend this stuff. I oftentimes write things directly off my mind, and it doesn’t necessarily convey the correct message.

I find conversations like these to be very engaging, and I find it constructive to discuss with people of conflicting opinions/perspectives. Nevertheless, it is indeed something that should be done with care. Talking AFK is probably a lot better in this regard, as there are elements like tone of voice, body language, etc. that contribute to an understanding.

Keep up the good comments - I think you made a perfect response to me here :-)

I even linked to the war crimes, and you’re accusing me of defending genocide? I even prefaced the comment with Russia not having any right (they are in the wrong).

“Misplaced” was a bad choice of words, as I did not mean to imply that they are orphans whose family is gone. But they are forcibly placed in an unfavorable place.

I didn’t see anything that would hint at their old society being bad, but there was indeed “here is good” present, which could imply the former, depending on the angle. And the angle being “Russia is a great country”, there’s easily the corresponding association of its enemies, I concur.

By trying to look at the “not so bad” aspects of things, I’m not defending the bad. Thoughts are not black and white, having to be either for or against. For example:
My grandpa dies, and I say “He lived a long and prosperous life”. I’m not implying that dying is not bad, therefore good. There are nuances, just like with this conflict. “At least the kids get to laugh” is not defending/encouraging them being stolen away from their families.

What I’m getting at, is that considering the dark times we live in, we should not ignore the nuances. There are many good things that have come from this conflict, like an unprecedented unity among nations, people standing up against heinous acts, and an incredible support system.
But let me capitalize the following, so it’s abundantly clear:

This does not excuse the villains nor their acts!

While consequences should be given to the perpetrators, we should try and not get consumed by the darkness. There are many people caught in the middle suffering - do not let them suffer just because they are part of a system that is failing them. This includes Russia, US, as well as the rest of the world.

Russia is definitely not the country that has any right of taking in these children, as the aggressor and the sole reason for their misplacement. But from what I can tell, it’s not as bad as it could’ve been. There are ordinary, non-military non-political people there who wish these kids well, who have their head on top of their body. At the very least are attempting to teach love and not hatred, which is arguably much more constructive in the long term, regardless of what side you’re on. Though a love for “your nation” and “your government” can be shoved up a certain place regardless of what country is in the talks.

Good on the anonymous child psychologist who try and treat their early development of PTSD though, when there are things like this happening:

“When the children were on a boat on the Neva River and heard the cannon fired from the Peter and Paul Fortress, they dropped flat on the deck, face down — no one had warned them it was just a ceremonial shot,” the psychologist recalled.

I still wish to believe in the good people that are not corrupted by the government and politicians (yet?).

Who knows though, it might all be smoke and mirrors to avoid further persecution of the atrocities that were committed in the first place.

Also, I’d love to get the source for this (couldn’t find it skimming through VK):

A few days later, on Russia Day, counselors asked the children, “What does Russia mean to you?” and filmed their answers.

Здравствуйте все!
I’ve been actively trying to learn Russian for about two years now, and I’m still not very capable of having even simple conversations, due to the great difficulty of constructing sentences in my head. I guess I let the grammar get to me, with all the various prefixes and suffixes, so I choke. That, and the positioning of the words in a sentence. And also the concept of cases (all 7 of them). I know English and Norwegian from before, none of which has this slavic sentence logic/rules, so I find it incredibly difficult to remember/associate words/variations with their use.

I use Duolingo, Babbel, and sometime Rocket Language, in addition to trying to expose myself to having to read/listen/reply to other native speakers, but man am I having a hard time. Any suggestions?

Здравствуйте друг студент! I’ve been trying to learn it as well over the past 2-ish years, and it has proven to be a much slower progress than I had hoped for. How are you faring? And what methods do you use to learn?

Does Actiona suit your needs?

Unsure why you’re getting downvoted (this is “No Stupid Questions”, after all), but I’ll give my 5 cents:

Reason 1:
The people is essentially the reason why a government has power. Without the people (and their support), the government governs a whole lot of nothing, and they will be forced to do labour themselves.

Reason 2:
Poisoning the water is not very accurate, and may lead to both the death of many whom already are supportive of the government (which will create distrust), and people only getting sick depending on the amount they drink (the dose makes the poison).

Reason 3:
Despite a population having a lot of dissidents, these people still work and contribute to society in some ways. It has to get pretty bad before it will be “worth it” to remove them from society.

Reason 4:
Even if it’s so bad that you’re looking at an open revolt against the government, poisoning the water will only really yield MAD, which is usually undesirable.

Ultimately, it’s unlikely desirable for any government to do this, as there are better ways (for the government). However, there have been some attempts at genocide through water supplies before, so it’s not completely unheard of. Check out Project Coast.

I just now realized that the monkeys have this capability (reference StackOverflow), and this does open for some fun experimentation. Have you by any chance used a userscript for such a purpose before?

Depends on the conditions, I’d say. If you have an area that has low oxygen and high saline concentration, one could potentially preserve large parts of the carcass. A big challenge though is the substances brought by the carcass itself, like enzymes and bacteria that are not directly exposed to the oxygen-deficient saline-abundant water, which can thrive and remain active for a long period of time. However, if this carcass sinks to incredible depths, where the pressure is really high, temperature is a constant 4 degrees, very low concentration of scavengers or thriving organisms, and potentially sinks a bit into the sediment for a long time, you’ll essentially get pickle juice fossil fuel.

They only recently made it mandatory for three visa types, but since introduced in October 2016, it’s always been an optional field when applying for an ESTA.

Edit:
Not that not providing your social media handle will benefit you, of course.

Do you often (if at all) run into conflicts with the .. alias? I can’t think of any case on top of my head, but it feels a bit sketchy. The more than 2 dots however I imagine is pretty safe.

Depends on the level of technology you’re willing to go to:

Smart phones today you’re probably all out of luck, whether it’s Google’s Android, Huawei’s HarmonyOS, or Apple’s iOS. Same with any desktop PC.
Dumb phones without internet connectivity, like the Mudita Pure, can get you pretty far, but as you’re making calls and sending texts through your telecall provider, your provider might use that data for training purposes still.

For other technological devices, like fitness trackers, TVs, cars, fridges, or any IoT device really, that somehow either connects to internet or syncs to a device with such capability (your phone) in order to phone home, you’re likely out of luck.
Dumb devices, like mechanical timepieces, monitors, and “normal refridgerators” can get you pretty far, but remember that your purchases of these things, along with all the metadata of those purchases, might also be tracked and trained on.

I have a slight feeling that they will require “proof” of no existing social media profile: Either you give them something, anything, or they will try and search the web for any account that matches your identity.

And of course, if your cooperation is unsatisfactory, they reserve the right to deny you entry.

I’d say Linux Mint, ZorinOS, and Manjaro Linux are all viable options for Windows users who want an easy transition. Although I don’t think any distro will ever be considered a “plug-and-play” experience. There are varying degrees of user-friendliness, but if one wants user-friendliness like not having to do root/sudo actions even once, I think one might be better off with MacOS…? Though from what I’ve heard, the main reason Windows users are looking towards Linux and not MacOS is exactly because of the ability to customize more than just the wallpaper (and also the entire boycott US movement).

I love the blunt title of “… for Windows 10 Exiles”, though I wonder if it will rub people the right or wrong way when reading it.

Now, don’t get me wrong, but all the hype around the so-called “apocalyptic” October 14 feels a little overblown.

I agree somewhat - the date itself is not that big of a deal, as it’s just a date that Microsoft has set in order to have a spesific time to keep as a reference for when they have their last support push for Windows 10:

Windows 10 will reach the end of support on October 14, 2025. At this point technical assistance, feature updates and security updates will no longer be provided.

This doesn’t mean that it will immediately be defunct or a serious security risk. But from this point on, the more time that passes, the higher is the likelyhood of security holes being found (and used), that will not be patched.

Windows 11 has proven itself to have - a - lot - of - anti-features. Being forced to choose between having to deal with those, or change the entire system which you’ve grown so very used to, can be a rather difficult decision for many. KDE trying to ease the transition I think is appreciated by many who find themselves stuck in this choice. Or at least to give Linux a try.

It’s impressive to see that they save in the money they spend on licenses this quickly! It’s a little bit of work to transfer the current systems and get used to a different system, but it’s very doable it seems (albeit over years of work), as well as economically attractive. I hope this inspires the rest of the country!