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#unpredictable

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Xamanismo Coletivo

"It feels as if the whole world has been transformed into images of the world and has thus been drawn into the human realm, which now encompasses everything. There is no place, no thing, no person or phenomenon that I cannot obtain as image or #information. One might think this adds substance to the world, since one knows more about it, not less, but the opposite is true: it empties the world; it becomes thinner. That’s because knowledge of the world and the experience of the world are two fundamentally different things. While knowledge has no particular time or place and can be transmitted, experience is tied to a specific time and place and can never be repeated. For the same reason, it also can’t be predicted. Exactly those two dimensions—the #unrepeatable and the #unpredictable—are what #technology abolishes."

harpers.org/archive/2025/06/th

Harper's MagazineThe Reenchanted World, by Karl Ove Knausgaard, Translated by Olivia Lasky, Damion SearlsOn finding mystery in the digital age
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Kyiv Independent Daily Headlines
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Saturday, May 17The Kyiv Independent [unofficial]

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Russia’s war against Ukraine

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan chairs Turkiye-Russia-Ukraine Trilateral Meeting at Dolmabahce Presidential Office in Istanbul, Turkiye on May 16, 2025. (Arda Kucukkaya / Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ukraine-Russia talks in Istanbul end, Moscow demands Kyiv withdraw from 4 regions, no ceasefire agreement. Some of Russia’s demands include the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from their own territory as a condition for a ceasefire, an unnamed Ukrainian source told Sky News.

Ukraine, Russia agree to hold follow-up meeting after Istanbul peace talks. “Parties have agreed in principle to come together again,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

‘Time to increase the pressure‘ — Zelensky, European leaders speak with Trump following Istanbul peace talks. The conversation took place shortly after the conclusion of the Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul, which ended with little progress beyond an agreement on prisoner exchange.

Russia, Ukraine agree on 1,000-for-1,000 POW exchange in Istanbul, Umerov says. “We know the date, but we’re not going to say it yet,” Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.

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Trump says he’s returning to US, expects to meet Putin ‘as soon as we can set it up.’ “I think it’s time for us to just do it,” U.S. Presidnet Donald Trump said in Abu Dhabi, adding that the meeting between the two would happen “as soon as we can set it up.”

Up to 640,000 Russian troops fighting against Ukraine, Syrskyi says. Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency (HUR), reported in March that Russia had deployed 620,000 soldiers to fight in Ukraine, a rise from his previous estimate of nearly 580,000 in November 2024.

Putin appoints general who led Mariupol assault as new Russian Ground Forces Commander. Under Andrey Mordvichev’s command, Russian troops carried out the destruction of civilian infrastructure and committed atrocities against both civilians and the Ukrainian military, Ukraine has said.

Explosions rock occupied Crimea as drone attack reportedly sets Russian ammo depot on fire. A fire broke out at an ammunition depot in the village of Perevalne in Russian-occupied Crimea following a series of explosions during a drone attack on the morning of May 16, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported, citing local residents.

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Ukraine war latest: Moscow demands Kyiv withdraw from 4 regions following the talks, no ceasefire agreement

Ukrainian and Russian delegations concluded their talks in Istanbul on May 16 after speaking for less than two hours, with no agreement reached on a full, 30-day ceasefire, and Moscow demanding Kyiv withdraw completely from Ukraine’s four oblasts that President Vladimir Putin claims to have annexed.

Photo: Arif Yaman / Anadolu via Getty Images

Learn more

‘Putin is laughing at Trump’ — Ukraine in disbelief as Russia makes a mockery of US-led ceasefire attempts

Russian President Vladimir Putin had rebuffed President Volodymyr Zelensky, his European allies, and the U.S., and in response, Donald Trump simply went along with it, excusing his Russian counterpart for not attending the peace talks in Istanbul that Putin himself proposed.

Photo: Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images

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‘It’s all a farce’ — Ukrainian soldiers on Russia’s ‘smokescreen’ peace talks in Istanbul

Ukraine continues to insist on a ceasefire, supported by the U.S. and Europe, saying that a halt to active warfare must come before any real peace talks are possible. Russia has so far rejected a truce four times — on March 11, March 25, May 11 and the most recent one on May 16 in Istanbul.

Photo: Contributor / Getty Images

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Who is Vladimir Medinsky? The Putin aide leading Russia’s delegation at Ukraine peace talks

Despite an invitation from Volodymyr Zelensky to meet in Istanbul, Vladimir Putin was a no-show in Turkey, sending instead an aide, Vladimir Medinsky, to head the Russian delegation in peace talks. Medinsky headed the only other direct talks between the two sides in March–April 2022.

Photo: Yasin Akgul / AFP via Getty Images

Learn more

Human cost of Russia’s war

Ukraine brings back bodies of 909 fallen soldiers. The bodies of soldiers were recovered from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts as well as from morgues in Russia.

With Ukraine’s Peaky Blinders chasing Russian soldiers near Pokrovsk

International response

‘This is turkey time’ — Trump vows sanctions on Moscow if peace talks fail, says Putin is ‘tired’ of war. “Honestly, I will (impose sanctions), if we’re not gonna make a deal,” Trump told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview published on May 16. “This would be crushing for Russia because they’re having a hard time now with the economy.”

‘We have to increase the pressure‘ — Von der Leyen vows new Russia sanctions after Putin skips peace talks. Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Commission is preparing a new sanctions package, which would include sanctions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, additional listings of vessels from Russia’s shadow fleet, a lower oil price cap, and sanctions on Russia’s financial sector.

As Russia sticks to hardline demands during peace talks, Europe frustrated with Trump’s swerves, Bloomberg reports. European officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they remain unsure of U.S. President Donald Trump’s next move and fear that his unpredictable stance could undercut momentum toward a unified Western response.

‘It was my duty to step down‘ — Former US Ambassador to Ukraine confirms resignation over Trump’s policy. Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, who held the role since 2022, accused the Trump administration of prioritizing pressure on Ukraine, the victim of Russia’s full-scale invasion, rather than confronting the Kremlin.

This issue was powered by the Kyiv Independent’s community of 18,000 paid members. We wouldn’t be here without them.

In other news

Russian economic growth slowing down, Rosstat reports. Russia’s economy is experiencing a sharp slowdown in growth, according to a report released by the governmental statistics agency Rosstat on May 16. GDP only grew by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2025 – a notable decline from 4.5% growth in the previous quarter and 5.4% in the same period last year.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Martin Fornusek, Kateryna Denisova, Francis Farrell, Tymur Zadorozhnyy, Olena Goncharova, and Lucy Pakhnyuk.

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vblog of Ukraine’s Peaky Blinders drone unit chasing Russian soldiers near Pokrovsk
#ammodepot#atrocities#bodies
Continued thread
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Nonilex

The #FBI has shut down its #ForeignInfluence task force. #CISA has ended its efforts to expose #disinformation. And this week the #State Dept put employees who tracked global disinformation on leave, shutting down the effort that had publicized the spread of #Chinese & #Russian #propaganda.

Almost 3 months into #Trump’s 2nd term, the guardrails intended to prevent #NationalSecurity missteps have come down as the new team races to anticipate & amplify the wishes of an #unpredictable president.

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Kevin Karhan :verified:

Except THIS is not how any of this works!....

#Trump literally lashing out against friends and neighbours will only backfire hard, and I expect @EUCommission and @europarl_en to enact #PrizeFreezes for #US #products & #services whilst forcing #Retaliatory #Tariffs on all US #products and espechally #services, demanding 100%+ in all #fees, and #revenue of #GAFAMs' services and products to the point that they'll effectively cancel half their revenue that flows back.

  • Plus forcing all products and services to be processed and sold via a #EU-based #corporation and adding a 30% "#AlienTax" as the #USA already does for i.e. #App #developers that ain't from the US even if they never sold a single license to a US customer.

Not to mention cancelling any #DataProtection agreements that only stalled the foreseeable court decision that #CloudAct is incompatible with #GDPR, thus banning #Office365 / #Microsoft365, #iCloud et. al. from the EU!

Given #Trump can't be assed to even fake any #loyality or #allied status even for the cameras, this is a #ForeseeableConsequence.

Unless we want to end up #downgraded into the state of a US-occupied overseas possession without statehood, like #Guam, #PuertoRico or #AVI...

YouTubeWhy Trump's tariff chaos actually makes sense (big picture)By Money & Macro
#USpol
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skua

Tariffs
Start with Trump being a #Genius and the amounts and the way those amounts were arrived at don't surprise or even look unusual.

From here that's a dominance display - Trump showing all the other players that their expectations that he'll be bound by norms, treaties, tradition, reason and logic are useless fantasies.

"I can do whatever the fuck I want, and you can't know what I'll do next. I'm #Unpredictable and you're all piss-weak."

#Tariffs#TrumpGenius#Spectacle
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Canvases By Peter

Look, as we all know, he's going to keep doing this, he's a person of self-absorption & whim not of law or reliability. The best possible thing other countries can do right now is to find alternate trading partners for the same goods, so that they have a secure reliable supply that isn't at the whim of a madman/conman, and then drop the U.S. as a trading partner all together.

theguardian.com/us-news/2025/m

The Guardian · Trump administration briefing: Trump changes tack on tariffs – again – as US plans to close consulatesBy Guardian staff reporter
#Tariffs#Unpredictable#Unreliable
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Nonilex

These days, Demarais said, big #corporations may do their best to stay under the radar & wait out #Trump’s term. Opening a major production facility takes billions of dollars & a lot of time.

And #business leaders may be wary of investing in the #UnitedStates when #policy is so #unpredictable. Last week, for instance, Trump unexpectedly raised the possibility of doubling #taxes on foreign nationals & companies.

#tariffs#economy#inflation
Continued thread
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Nonilex

…This week’s pause is fueled at least partly by uncertainty over the way #Trump could enact new policies, such as a return to an #aggressive & #unpredictable global #trade overhaul w/ #threats to impose significant #tariffs on US trading partners. Though it’s unclear exactly how those policies will affect the #economy, some #Fed ofcls have already begun to factor these policies into their economic projections.

#FederalReserve#TheFed#inflation
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🤘 The Metal Dog 🤘

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#MetalInjection
JOSH HOMME Looks Back On KYUSS' Infamous Generator Parties: "By Today's Standards, It Would Be Downright Illegal, And Outrageous"
"We would take a generator into the desert and play in order to get away from the police busting up house parties.”

metalinjection.net/news/josh-h

#generatorparties#Kyuss#JoshHomme
Continued thread
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Ramesh #NotGoingBack

⬆️ YES, #Trudeau, yes, but not entirely #unpredictable

A win for #Republican frontrunner Donald #Trump in #US #Election2024 would mean … "unpredictability" for #Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday

While Trudeau is correctly focused on the #political and #economic fallout, like Trump #tariffs on #Canadian steel and abandonment of #NAFTA in favor of #USMCA under Trump, he should also keep eye on #extremists within Canada

9/11 was a #FailureOfImagination

reuters.com/world/americas/tru

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