Dipshittery and Cope:

• Mariupol is almost wiped out but will 'never surrender', says top Zelensky adviser
• Russian troops in Ukraine have suffered as many deaths as the entire 9-year Afghan war that contributed to the USSR's collapse

"It is our assessment that approximately 15,000 Russian personnel have been killed during their offensive," Ben Wallace, UK's Secretary of State for Defense said in a statement released by the British embassy in Washington on Monday. He also estimated that approximately a quarter of the battalion tactical groups were "not combat effective."

"Russia has so far failed in nearly every one of its objectives," he added. How many articles repeating the exact same fucking bullshit points can they write?

• Will the Ukrainian Army Hold in Its East? Dipshittery or analysis… dipshittery or analysis…

Beyond tactical assessments, there are two primary reasons I’ve said Ukraine would win this fight. Here’s… why…. Reason 1: Conventional joint and combined arms operations are hard. Real hard. … Good militaries understand all this, and good military leaders ensure it happens…. Less-than-good militaries put conscripts under arms, field equipment with inherent faults, and allow corruption.

The second reason I’ve been bold is because I had the chance to see how seemingly small things contribute to big failure … Not-so-good units don’t accept critiques, don’t fix broken processes, repeatedly allow small issues to turn into big problems, and don’t reflect on their own leadership failures.

Ah, dipshittery.

• Putin wanted a militarily weaker Ukraine. He got the opposite
• Gen. Mark Milley: If Russia gets away with war on Ukraine 'cost-free,' then 'so goes' international order

"What's at stake is the security of Europe," Milley said, adding that Russia's invasion "is the greatest challenge to the security of Europe since the end of World War II."

Yeah, says the US, with all their mili… wait, what’s in this next paragraph?

"And indeed, you can easily make the case that what's at stake is the global international security order that was put in place in 1945," Milley told CNN at Ramstein Air Base in Germany following a meeting hosted by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with allied countries.

Goddamn it, they beat me to the joke! Though I don't think it was intentional.

Milley said the post-war world order has "prevented great power war, and underlining that entire concept is the idea that large nations will not conduct military aggression against smaller nations, and that's exactly what's happened here, an unprovoked military aggression by Russia against a smaller nation."

I assume they’re saying shit like this just to piss us off at this point.

• Russian troops in Mariupol are making local Ukrainians dig mass graves in exchange for food and water, mayor says

I assume they’re doing this while twirling their mustaches, showing off their mobile crematoriums, and shoving babies out of incubators?

• Putin May Not Like How He’s Changed Europe

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has transformed Europe within a matter of weeks. A continent once fractured by the refugee crisis is now taking in millions of refugees. Countries such as Germany have made considerable pledges to increase military spending. The European Union said it would cut off Russian oil and gas “well before 2030” — a once unthinkable prospect. The European project seems more confident in itself than at any other time in recent history.

We discuss how European identity went from revolving around war to being centered on economic trade, why Europe has treated the Ukrainian refugee crisis so differently from previous refugee crises, how the West’s overly economic understanding of human motivation blinded it to Putin’s plans, what the relative success of politicians like Le Pen and Orban means for the future of Europe, how fears of demographic change can help explain phenomena as different as Putin’s invasion and Donald Trump’s election, whether Putin’s invasion can reawaken an exhausted European liberalism and much more.

Sounds like a fascinating conversation.

• Is this the Western alliance’s last hurrah?

• My mother fled Ukraine in World War II. She says this is worse. I don't doubt this is awful for many Ukrainians, but like, holy shit. This is not worse than the Nazi fucking invasion.

• Why no one dare tell China's Xi the awful truth -- zero-Covid isn't working

• 538: Were The Stimulus Checks A Mistake?

• A Real Foreign Policy for the Middle Class. Basically “we’ve gotta get more racist towards China”. Not worth the read.

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I Thought I'd Mention:

• Weary of many disasters? UN says worse to come. Also: Humanity entering ‘spiral of self-destruction’, UN warns

If current trends continue the world will go from around 400 disasters per year in 2015 to an onslaught of about 560 catastrophes a year by 2030.

By comparison from 1970 to 2000, the world suffered just 90 to 100 medium to large scale disasters a year, the report said.

• Ukraine’s long-persecuted Roma minority joins war effort

Despite being persecuted and marginalised throughout Ukraine’s history, the Roma minority – an estimated 400,000 people – have contributed enthusiastically to the war effort.

Such optimism is refreshing, but Ukrainian media outlets have not been too proactive in reporting the Roma community’s efforts, and many outside are unaware of their contribution.

And while the war is creating a sense of unity, a shared sense of patriotism is unlikely to ease the level of discrimination faced by the minority.

When the war ends, Roma service members who survive the conflict will return to dirt-poor communities where barriers to social integration remain and where the pace of change is glacial.

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Some Good News! Well, Until They Retaliate I Guess, But In The Meantime:

• Number of US police officers murdered up by 59%