just discovered this guy. hes honestly really talented, im pretty sure he does the production himself. his album "eroica" is a perfect mix of silly and serious and i think hes got major potential. he covers a lot of serious topics like toxic masculinity and capitalism juxtaposed with humor that gives his songs this wild polarity; hes also genuinely funny

this was from monday, but i didnt see this round of aid posted on this comm

$60 billion, but its different this time in that they are going to use frozen Russian assets to partially fund it. this is actually a crazy move that flies in the face of the neoliberal rules-based international order. more than that, it’s sets a precedent for economic warfare. the US has seized assets from enemies during war, but the US is not at war with Russia. this is an egregious faux pas with deleterious consequences for the US (Russia doing the same to US-owned assets in Russia), but it may also mean the US intends to directly declare war against Russia (unlikely). what’s more likely is that the US strong-arms european allies to do this. ukraine simply doesn’t have the manpower to continue for much longer.

the article notes that this asset seizure is illegal. the author also hypothesizes that the US will force the EU to act similarly. this will lead to an even deeper rift between “the west” and Russia that will be near impossible to mend. this illegal asset forfeiture was enabled by bipartisan support (vote of 360-58 in the house). the global times agrees with this perspective

Putin will be visiting China soon, and Blinken just finished a 3-day visit that seemed rather unproductive and uneventful. blinken was tactless and the topics he brought up were the usual “China bad” drivel. among these topics was “concern” about China supporting Russia’s military industrial capacity

the US is also sending more of its troops as “military advisors”. so less than a quarter of this $60 billion is going to weapons for Ukraine, 11 billion is going toward the US troops, and the rest is to replenish the US weapon stockpile. $50 billion just handed over to the MIC. basically, they’re not sending enough for a counteroffensive, which is probably the best thing for ukrainians considering how much of a failure every single one of those has been.

the most “exciting” new toy ukraine is getting is the ATACMS (attack ‘em up real good). this missile system brings Crimea into range. however the US is running into problems meeting its goal of 100,000 shells per month by 2025. the deindustrialization of the US has consequences?!

ive been playing this game since 2011 when i was in middle school and im still coming back to it. im sinking hours into it after work while my puppy sleeps next to my desk and my gf is working evening shift. its such a cozy game and reminds me of when i spent all day after school playing MC and other games w friends. its not just nostalgia tho, its just such a cute game that can be whatever the player wants. after all this time, i still derive so much joy from exploring a new world, building a sprawling estate, spelunking, and even just mining. even tho MC doesnt track ur hours played, im certain its my most played game

just wanted to share that i love this game

chose Mint with Cinnamon DE bc its easy. its been a great experience so far and i dont think ill ever look back. Victoria 3 works and thats the only game ill care abt before TES 6 comes out

my last post abt her was when she was 4 months old https://hexbear.net/post/435569 . shes now 8 months and over 50 pounds! she has a much more developed personality now, shes so friendly and playful but can be sassy (prob her being a puppy, we are trying to train her but, both of us being first time puppy owners, we are still figuring it out). she takes up training really quickly tho, its just hard to get her to not bark and snap at us when she’s not getting non-stop attention

shes the best tho! i love her so much and try my best to spoil her w toys, treats, and playtime

update to https://hexbear.net/post/1251794

i passed! it was an oral swab test and the last time i smoked was a week before the test. unfortunately, i was talking with some of my coworkers who are already internal employees and the company does a lot of random tests, so ill prob only smoke on the occasional friday from now on (no biggie, i took a 4 month break recently and after coming back to it i only smoke twice a week max). if i wanna smoke more, i just have to wait 8 months to when i start grad school (pending acceptance 🤞 )

thanks for all the reassurance comrades! ive been MIA from hexbear for a couple months but i wanna be active here again

i recently applied to go from a contractor to an internal employee and got the official job offer last week. my drug test is tomorrow and the form says its an oral fluids test, which i will pass, but i have this gnawing anxiety that ill go in and they spring a urine test on me (i would not pass this). i have powdered urine from testclear, and ive used it before and passed a urine test two years ago, but this test will be given on the jobsite and will be harder to pull off.

wish me luck that its a saliva test, i really dont want to lose this job :(

Hello Blahaj users,

Unfortunately we have been discussing defederation. I would like for this to be sorted out, but our trans and disabled users deserve to be protected from transphobia and ableism. We know these are behaviors are perpetrated by a minority of Blahaj users, but they are tolerated here in the form of the 196 community. Of course, most Hexbear users are willing to re-federate once this bigoted community is removed. The admin Ada has been very helpful and I have faith in her to do the right thing for the safety of her community members.

In the meantime, I would like to extend an invitation to all leftists here to make an account on Hexbear. As long as you are anti-capitalist, you will be welcome there. We are hyper-inclusive and are strict against all forms of bigotry. There has been much disinformation spread about us, so if you have good faith questions, feel free to ask. We are not “pro-Russia” as many of our detractors claim, we are anti-NATO, as they perpetuate the amerikan empire. Please ask us anything in this thread!

We hope this defederation is temporary, or better yet, never comes. We do not wish to split two large queer instances just weeks after federating, but we must do what we think is right.

Trans rights forever!

full album on yt

put this on the turntable to chill this fine saturday afternoon while my gf is at work. great album thats also a comforting part of queer culture for me. it reminds me of when i was in the early stages of discovering my transness and the euphoria that brought, so listening to it makes me all warm inside. my gf got this vinyl for me this past xmas. from the second i came out to her she has been super supportive and encouraging! i am so grateful for her and i love her so much!!

Western media have finally change course. They are now admitting that the much promoted Ukrainian counter-offensive has failed. In fact, the acknowledge that it never had a chance to win in the first place.

The Hill, the Washington Post and CNN now agree that the Ukrainian army will never achieve its aims.

western MSM has a rare encounter with reality!

That makes it difficult for the Biden administration to get Congress approval for $24 billion in additional 'aid' to Ukraine. It does not make sense to pay for a cause that is evidently lost.

b seems overly hopeful regarding the rationality of US congress, but i think hes right- why would we throw more money at them, US politicians have made it clear they do not support bringing Ukraine into NATO if they do not win this conflict. of course, US politicians are prone to lying and misleading

Nothing has come from the 'peace conference' which Saudi Arabia arranged on Ukraine's behalf

lol. lmao even. props to big dog MBS for trying

Despite the onslaught of bad news the Ukrainian army is still trying to take Russian positions in the south and east of Ukraine. But it simply does not have enough in men and material to break through the lines.

Even if they would manage to get a local breakthrough there are not enough reserves to push for the necessary follow up. Just one of the NATO trained brigades has still been held back. All others have been mauled in their various deployment zones.

nothing has changed it seems

In the northeast around Kupyansk the Russians have started their own offensive which has the Ukrainians on the run. Ukraine has ordered the evacuation of the area

But Kupyansk is a Russian city and people refuse to leave.

show this to the libs claiming Russians are committing genocide in the regions they capture. curious that these civilians are content with Russian occupation when you believe what western media claims

The Russian campaign is slowly speeding up. As the Ukrainian Strana.news reports (machine translation):

Also in Ukraine, it is recorded that from Kupyansk to Bakhmut, Russia has increased the number of attacks.

"Over the past month, the total number of attacks in the Kupyansk, Limansky and Bakhmut directions has grown significantly. In July, during the week there were 6-6.5 thousand attacks, during the last week-9 thousand attacks, " - said the representative of the National Guard Ruslan Muzychuk.

According to him, the Russian Federation does not experience "shell hunger".

Aviation is also actively used, and over the past few weeks, more than 50 air attacks have been taking place every day, and sometimes more than 80.

That is bad news for the Ukrainian side which lacks the reserves to counter the Russian onslaught. There are also less weapons coming in from the West. F-16 fighter jets will be delayed for another nine months due to training issues. Tanks and other material are in short supply.

these supply issues sure bode well for the west’s performance in WW3

Strana also report of an interview with a knowledgeable Ukrainian soldier (machine translation):

Continuing the topic of the situation at the front, an interesting interview was given by a Ukrainian sniper fighting near Bakhmut with the call sign "Grandfather". On the air of political scientist Yuri Romanenko, he was introduced as Konstantin Proshinsky (this is a pseudonym).

The fighter spoke in detail about his vision of the situation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Russian army.

1. Mobilization. In his opinion, it is conducted incorrectly. Recruits are sent to the front who have never been trained, and they are often over 50 years old and with a whole bunch of diseases.

2. No rotation. The soldier says that "the same brigades" are fighting at the front, and people are not taken out of the front line for six months or more. Whereas by Western standards, they can be kept in a war zone for no more than three months.

3. Behavior of mid-and high-level commanders. According to Proshinsky, many of them are trying to arrange a "mini-Stalingrad" on the positions, forcing them to go into frontal assaults on well-fortified Russian positions.

4. The Russian Army began to fight better.

5. Proshinsky believes that Russia has not yet used much of what it has against Ukraine.

The soldier thinks that the Russians will not move from their positions and that a stalemate peace like in Korea would be the end result.

UAF in real dire times— recruiting the elderly, poor logistics, engaging the enemy at inopportune times, and Russia has yet to waver

I believe that to be wrong. Russia's aim is to liberate at least the four regions that it has claimed for itself. For political reasons it can not stop before that is done.

Should the Ukraine continue to fight after that, Russia is likely to set new aims and take more land.

more editorializing, but it doesnt seem unreasonable. i thought Russia would stick to its original goal of Donetsk and Luhansk, but if Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are receptive to Russian governance, it would be foolish for Russia to give them up