rjshae

Yes it seems to be something along those lines. The Trumpies like to accuse the left leaning (and even moderates like me) of virtue signalling, so perhaps this is a counterpoint? A type of value signalling by the right.

I'm not sure I quite understand the significance of this so-called "don't say gay" bill. Is it mostly symbolic? I mean 8 year old kids probably won't understand the issue anyway.

I don't see much benefit in grabbing this region as a bulwark against NATO. Speculatively it does provide some agricultural land, natural resources, and direct access to the Crimea. Perhaps Putin also views this aggrandizement as a potential jumping off point for further incursions? A step by step takeover. Are Ukraine's vast natural resources a real reason behind Russia's invasion?

Tell Putin that the expansion of NATO is about to Finnish...

Pass them along to somebody else? 😬

Speaking of "sound" treatments, I read this interesting result recently: Diabetes successfully treated using ultrasound in preclinical study It "sounds" almost like an archaic medical treatment, but if it works that will be enormous.

The article is paywalled. Did you mean an 'ethnics' study course? But I suppose calling it 'Ethics' would play better with conservatives.

Russian Tanks Massing Near Ukraine Sport Mods Against Drones, Javelin Missiles

^ These days the right can be set off just by the appearance of virtue signalling, so who knows really?

I thought only some of the Russian tanks had deployed reactive armor?

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

We watched the latest Dune movie and enjoyed it. The music is very moody but the visuals and effects are impressive. I could easily watch it a few more times. One thing I wish media movie releases would do is provide an option where the vocals are increased by about 15-30 Db. It's hard to hear them over the ambient background noises and music.

It's missing the wingnut, but I suppose that's not specific to the far right. 😄

During conflicts certain uncomfortable topics may get set aside or minimized as they can be used for disinformation purposes by an adversary. The Russians have already been exploiting racial divisions in the US to sew further discord.

Yes, it's an expedient perspective that minimizes distraction from the main goal. Such is human nature.

The precedent for lowering the sanctions will be a binding peace treaty between Russia and Ukraine, with the US and EU as interested participants and guarantors. We could speculate about what shape that will take, but without a treaty Russia has little diplomatic leverage on the West. Hopefully such a treaty will stick, or they could be fighting another war in 10-20 years.