Four of my poems are in the latest issue of Asymptote @asymptotejrnl translated by the ever brilliant Larissa Kyzer @KyzerLarissa.
Appropriately for the weather, all of these poems are very snowy and chilly.
https://t.co/9izu4PKs4V
What happened to Belarusian soccer? What was once a hopeful, ascendent sport — BATE Borisov facing off against Chelsea and Barcelona in the UCL — has since been crushed by a regime intent on silencing players and fans at all costs. @Kattullus reports:
@jonawils@draper_rob This was extremely interesting. Is Löw part of the Stuttgart School, or was he slightly different?
Oh, and a good musical analogy for Wolfgang Frank is Young Marble Giants, limited underground success, but influenced major guitar bands from Nirvana to Franz Ferdinand to The xx.
My column on the latest developments in the Post Office scandal - an incredible tale of total corporate psychopathy that I absolutely BEG you to stay very very cross about https://t.co/sy7ubpvjoc
@MarkAschParody I once knew a guy who loved Nothing but Trouble over all other films. I saw it twice back then, and remember almost nothing about it, except a general sense of boredom.
But the sheer unbridled love that guy, who’s a cop now, had for it makes me want to see if it’s defensible.
PEN America mourns the death of prize-winning Ukrainian author and @PenUkraine member Victoria Amelina who was struck by a Russian missile in Kramatorsk on Tuesday and died on July 1.
https://t.co/1t8WmiHtZp #VictoriaAmelina#RIP
This is weird to say out loud, but I actually am kinda an expert in rate limiting, so I'm gonna explain some stuff.
About half of incidents in large-scale production systems involve having more requests than you can serve. There are two categories of this kind of incident:
Frítt er margt sem Ísland á,
þótt oft sé hart und fótum.
Hraunið svart á berin blá,
og blómaskart í gjótum.
Theódóra Thoroddsen, skáld og kvenréttindakona, fæddist á þessum degi, 1. júlí, fyrir 160 árum.
Lol I can't believe that for like the third or fourth time in my life a rich guy swooped in and destroyed a website I like bc he didn't like how the people on it were talking about him. And I'm supposed to root for this? These are our kings?
@naglalakk alltaf þegar ég kem aftur í Gamla vesturbæinn þá fer sumarið í það að flandra fram á einhver páskaegg í borgarlandslaginu sem ég hafði alveg gleymt
@MarkAschParody I wish Wikipedians would embrace that—let a hundred thousand nerds write about their objects of niche interest—and not twist themselves in knots over “notability”
Thank you so much @hyperallergic for following up with me about how the British Museum has handled everything after I first discovered they used my translations without my permission
https://t.co/Q4XFG410cn
"The lab-leak conspiracy gang has smeared scientists and misled the public into believing a theory that has no factual support whatsoever. They should be ashamed."
Once again @hiltzikm nails it by calling a conspiracy theory by its name.
https://t.co/fWr3asxEQV
Below is a brief description of Prigozhin's mutiny and the factors that contributed to its outcome. We, as observers, initially missed important details due to the scarcity of information and lack of time for in-depth analysis. Here's the perspective that currently seems most plausible:
1️⃣ Prigozhin's rebellion wasn't a bid for power or an attempt to overtake the Kremlin. It arose from a sense of desperation; Prigozhin was forced out of Ukraine and found himself unable to sustain Wagner the way he did before, while the state machinery was turning against him. To top it off, Putin was ignoring him and publicly supporting his most dangerous adversaries.
2️⃣ Prigozhin's objective was to draw Putin's attention and to impose a discussion about conditions to preserve his activities - a defined role, security, and funding. These weren't demands for a governmental overthrow; they were a desperate bid to save the enterprise, hoping that Prigozhin's merits in taking Bakhmut (that's why he needed it!) would be taken into account and the concerns would catch Putin's serious attention. Now it appears that these merits helped Prigozhin to get out of this crisis alive, but without a political future in Russia (at least while Putin is in power).
3️⃣ Prigozhin was caught off-guard by Putin's reaction and found himself unprepared to assume the role of a revolutionary. He also wasn't prepared for the fact that Wagner was about to reach Moscow where his only option remained - to "take the Kremlin" - an action that would inevitably result in him and his fighters being eradicated.
4️⃣ Those in the elites who were able reached out to Prigozhin with offers to surrender. This likely added to his sense of impending doom. However, I don't believe any high-level negotiations took place. Lukashenko presented Prigozhin with a Putin-endorsed offer to retreat on the condition that Prigozhin would leave Russia and Wagner would be dissolved.
5️⃣ I don't think Prigozhin was in a position to make demands (such as the resignation of Shoigu or Gerasimov - something many observers expect today. If that happens, it will be due to another reason.) After Putin's address in the morning of June 24th, Prigozhin's primary concern was to find an off-ramp. The situation would have led to inevitable death in merely a few hours. It is possible that Putin has promised him safety on the condition that Prigozhin remains quietly in Belarus.
I stand by my previous assertion that Putin and the state have been dealt a severe blow (which will have significant repercussions for the regime). However, I want to emphasize that image has always been a secondary concern for Putin. Setting optics aside, Putin objectively resolved the Wagner and Prigozhin problem by dissolving the former and expelling the latter. The situation would have been far worse if it had culminated in a bloody mess in the outskirts of Moscow.
And no, Putin doesn't need Wagner or Prigozhin. He can manage with his own forces. He's now certainly convinced of that.
I will disclose many more details in my bulletin to be issued tomorrow evening.