Chill writes: In my news bubble, if something positive for Ukraine in the war happens, I'll hear it, and if things go bad I won't know. I know about Trump's withdrawal of aid, and I don't hear news from the front so I figure things must be bad. Yesterday, I read Farley over at LGM extensively excerpting Michael Kofman (LGM link, original Kofman is behind a New York Magazine wall). What hit me hardest were Farleys comments at the end where he says Ukraine is drawing dead and will never be able to regain the territory Russia has taken. If true, that's grimmer than I had thought. I still have a lot of questions. In the short term, how long does Ukraine keep fighting? How well can Europe prop them up? Is there a ceasefire? Is there any scenario in which negotiating with Russia makes sense for Ukraine or do they just fight until the last man falls? In the medium-term, if Ukraine loses the war, what does that look like? (Ugh, this is when I think my news bubble keeping the bad stuff from me is good for my mental health). And I guess in the long term, if there's some negotiated piece that leaves Ukraine with some sovereignty, how long until Russia launches a third war of conquest, and what can Europe do to forestall that?

Heebie's take: Yes, how/what?

I thought it would be fun to see where exactly we were in mid-April in Trump's first term, so I went back to Unfogged 2017, and here's the WTFuckery thread of that week.

Main themes:
- Jeff Sessions is a dipshit. Dahlia Lithwick: "Nobody doubts for even one second that it's 1959 every single day in Sessions' brain. We were warned."
- Trump and Trudeau being nice to each other
- Trump governing like a run-of-the-mill nihilist Republican
- "Several scientists gravely declaring that they don't believe in protesting in support of science is so fucking naïve" and a protest march day for science.
- Comey deemed decisive in tipping the 2016 election.

Clearly I'm very into finding semi-parallel situations lately, and seeing how people are coping.

Dedicated pope thread.

1. Trump implementing the Schedule F thing. (Actually, I thought it was already implemented. I assumed that was the pretext for all the mass firings. But it scares me that it's pouring an accelerant on what's already happening.)

2. The birthright case. Would they actually overturn birthright citizenship?! In their heart of hearts, is the Roberts' court aware of their role in our plunge towards facism?!