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   kravietz 🦇 (kravietz@agora.echelon.pl)'s status on Friday, 05-Dec-2025 00:40:27 JST kravietz 🦇

   Many US media outlets are now publishing details of the ‘US-Russia peace talks’, including the fact that #Russia’s ‘red line’ is now the remaining 20% of the #Donetsk region controlled by #Ukraine, which seems to be the main point of disagreement. The crown jewel is the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration, which Russia has failed to capture by military means in some areas (e.g. Horlivka-Toretsk), despite how surprising that may sound. The front line has moved by merely ~10 km since 2014!

   There is one material argument behind this demand: Slovyansk controls the system of waterways that provide Donbas with water, which would otherwise be very scarce due to extensive mining. However, given that it took Russia over three years to reach and almost capture Pokrovsk, the military capture of the remaining key agglomeration could potentially take another two to three years, cost the lives of hundreds of thousands more Russian soldiers, and delay the ‘victory’ that Putin needs in order to appear to be ‘keeping his word’ and remain a ‘respectable leader’. This is the most important part of his current social contract in Russia.

   I once wrote that Putin could only sell a ceasefire to the Russians if Ukraine were clearly and visibly humiliated. Territory and all other issues are of secondary importance because Putin does not need the ruins of the Donbas region.

   However, he desperately needs to humiliate Ukraine because only against this backdrop can the pathetic achievements of the “special military operation” (SVO) over the past four years be sold as a “victory”. The perception of victory is something that Putin needs in order to ‘save face’.

   This is probably why the issue of the ZSU leaving Donbas is so important; the withdrawal of Ukrainian units from the Slavic agglomeration would be celebrated by the Russian media for years as a victory for Russian souls offended by the defeat in the war.

   Surprisingly, under the current circumstances, there is no question of leaving the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, even though, legally speaking, they are just as ‘Russian’ as Donbas. This shows that Putin knows he overplayed his hand in 2023 and is ready to give up anything to save his face.

   As long as he can humiliate Ukraine symbolically and sell it as ‘achieving the goals of the SWO’, those Russians who care about it can at least pretend to believe it.

   The second part of this equation is Ukraine - whether it can hold the Slovyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration for another 2-3 years, I have no idea. There’s a military, social and economic dimension to it. Over the next few months we will probably see the answer.

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   Ian Z (soviut@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 10-Sep-2025 11:28:59 JST Ian Z

   @thomasfuchs Not really seeing the "sports" aspect you're talking about unless you're still referring to that "MAX" font they used? That, or the "look, this thing is dust and dirt proof" so you can use it to shoot a movie while debris hits your camera operator's face.

   As for other reasons to get a Pro, the Pro Max for the bigger (frankly, better) screen.

   As for the camera, yes, that's been the differentiator. The Pro can shoot in raw formats as well as ProRes for video. In the case of 17, each lens is now 48MP, and it has an 8x optical zoom on the extra telephoto lens, etc. And faster USB-C port for transferring footage.

   The regular iPhone 17 has a decent 48MP camera, just not telephoto. No ProRes support for video, etc.

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   Randahl Fink (randahl@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 02-Aug-2024 20:34:01 JST Randahl Fink

   Six years ago today, the Danish parliament introduced the first law ever to regulate what clothes citizens are allowed to wear.

   The law came as a culmination of decades of political persecution of religious minorities, and the most extreme parties celebrated, that Muslims could now no longer wear religious clothing which covers the face.

   As a consequence, a large number of citizens have been fined for wearing everything from scarfs to balaclavas to Halloween costumes.

   This is not the way.

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   Nick Tylwalk (nicktylwalk@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 31-Jan-2023 12:22:54 JST Nick Tylwalk

   With Rhea Ripley choosing Charlotte Flair for her WrestleMania challenge, that left an open question about who Bianca Belair would face.

   As we learned tonight, the Women's Elimination Chamber match will determine Bianca's opponent, with the last 4 eliminations from Royal Rumble already qualified: Liv Morgan, Asuka, Nikki Cross, Raquel Rodriguez