Today's News: Why does Europe care about Putin's delicate fee-fees?

So this is discouraging news:

There’s a growing divide in Europe over what would constitute an acceptable conclusion to the Russia/Ukraine war. Macron is saying publicly what a lot of senior people say in private. https://t.co/5XIqEPEclI

— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) June 4, 2022

Macron says, once again, that he does not want to "humiliate" Putin. But unless Putin loses - and fully understands that he has lost- the war will not end. https://t.co/8P22WPBGct

— Anne Applebaum (@anneapplebaum) June 4, 2022

Security analyist Michael Horowitz says:

The main problem is not that Macron's call is "sheltering Putin from the sense that he is losing", but sending the message that Russia is, in fact, winning https://t.co/wNsBI5nUAU

— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) June 4, 2022

The Russian gamble is that the West just can't bear even the slightliest crisis, whereas Russia can withstand sanctions, giving it ample time to break the West's resolve.

Macron is not giving Putin an off-ramp, he is giving him a reason to persevere.

— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) June 4, 2022

And Ukraine is winning. But I'm afraid that some in the West don't believe it -- or, perhaps, they are just swallowing Russian propaganda. Or worse, they are promoting it:

Obliterated / A whole Russian army has been destroyed at Izyum, Ukraine official reveals https://t.co/bhMrMUibIq

— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) June 5, 2022

The fighting in the city of Severodonetsk is becoming interesting; in my many years of urban warfare research I cannot recall any urban battle in history where such a large counter-attack by the defending force has occurred. A new precedent? @ChasAHKnight? @INTELonIRAN? https://t.co/stJqUJgR5N

— Jayson Geroux (@JaysonGeroux) June 4, 2022

As I mentioned this morning, if the Russians don’t try and move forward again soon, that might be it. Culmination. Actually failure is a better word. People talking about some important Russian victories in the Donbas might have to reconsider. Here is the report btw. https://t.co/s2kfw87qbb

— Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) June 4, 2022

In other news, I'm seeing more and more commentary to the effect that lots of people have just lost their minds lately. 

Its not just the random shooters we're reading about every single day. Its the continuing chaos of Trump's Big Lie. Plus now Republicans are apparently obsessed with sex and children, and there's something very creepy about that.  Plus now we have MonkeyPox and Long Covid to worry about. Plus our Conservative leadership clown car ...

That intellectual twerp Lindsey Graham is already saying what gun controls are “off the table”. After reading Republican senators responses I agree guns are a mental health issue. Literally all the Republicans are crazy

— American Veteran (@amvetsupport) June 3, 2022

"The far right has joined forces, where once it was a grab bag of various sorts of fools. Their pundits and figureheads positively incite those on that side to go out and rip whatever hole in the fabric of civilization they can — and people do it." https://t.co/RfcZSHvoIp pic.twitter.com/zRKIpva5c9

— ‏ًً (@politicalplayer) June 4, 2022

I hear the nagging question you ask inside your head a few hundred times a day: "Is it me, or has a huge portion of this country lost its mind?"

It isn't you.

You're quite fine. This is of course both good and terrible news. https://t.co/US2l01nTik

— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) June 4, 2022

Finally, here are some random observations:

I've been on this earth for 53 years and I'm still waiting for a single Conservative to tell me why someone else's sexual orientation is any of their business.

— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) June 2, 2022

Worrying about “a culture of free debate and inquiry” at universities is like worrying about the shuffleboard schedule on the Titanic.

— honor sachs (@drhonor) June 4, 2022

i need to be 15 again… i know what to do this time

— Porter ✰ (@ItsRetrop) June 4, 2022

my boss was like “people working from home are just pretending to work” and it’s like, dude, what do you think i’m doing in the office?

— Robert Schultz (@_RobertSchultz) June 4, 2022

somehow, I thought this place would look more erotic https://t.co/hIIhF7URIu

— Neil Lowenthal (@NeilLowenthal1) May 28, 2022

on a side note: it's kinda sad how I wait for The OED word of the day at 2am each dia. It's my favorite part of every night. 🤓

— Jeremy Morgan ; 🏴‍☠️ (@porpster) June 5, 2022

Finally here are some great tweets from the new Indigenous Archival Photo Project which just started posting in May:

‘That is me in the bottom right. I was Miss Saskatchewan Indian Princess 1970. I am still reigning since there wasn't another pageant since then.’ - Celina Jones. From a found private photo collection named through the project. Saskatchewan powwow ca. 1970 pic.twitter.com/4hHuGYUA85

— Indigenous Archival Photo Project (@PhotoIndigenous) June 4, 2022

Minnie Spotted Wolf, ca. 1944. First Native American woman to join the U.S. Marine Corps, she also taught for three decades on reservation schools in Montana.

Photo: Kanai Studies Archives / © Univ. Of Lethbridge Archives pic.twitter.com/1lk2sL3dfp

— Indigenous Archival Photo Project (@PhotoIndigenous) June 1, 2022

Joe Black Fox and smoke. New York City, 1898.

Photo: Gertrude Käsebier / © Bill Cody Archives pic.twitter.com/AGbbq5Kq7e

— Indigenous Archival Photo Project (@PhotoIndigenous) June 5, 2022